The Office, Season 3

[Ravenbomb]

HA! "You think he's black!"

[Hank Kingsley]

So many quotable lines in the first act alone. This is great.

[Ravenbomb]

They've been whittling down the Stamford group pretty quick. I don't know if I like it or not. I mean, some of them were pretty superfluous, but it seems kinda...I dunno, it just seems kindof abrupt

[Hank Kingsley]

I don't really care about that. Especially if Hannah leaves next week or soon.

 

Easily best ep of the season. I was almost crying during Michael's Scared Straight. And Jim's looks were awesome.

[Jonathon]

Carrell sounded like Pacino during "Scared Straight".

[Craig Th]

The best episode of the season. Since they finally got the Stamford thing over with, merging and what not, we can finally focus on the Office itself. As much as I like season long storylines in dramas, I like my comedies to be more centric (if that is the right word).

[Guest Shylock]

It was a good episode, but definately not the best episode of the season.

[Lord of The Curry]

I'd still put The Merger or Branch Closing above this but it was still awesome. Creed taunting the baby with paper clips had me pissing myself.

[iggymcfly]

I must be in the minority. I really haven't liked any of the last three episodes. Michael's gone from being the kind of dim-witted authority figure that we can all identify with having to deal with to being a ridiculous cartoon. The "scared straight" thing was more embarrassing than humorous. I really hope that this is just a transition phase while they combine the branches, because I haven't liked the last few episodes at all.

[Craig Th]

Umm, Michael has always been a ridculoous cartoon.

[USC Wuz Robbed!]

And he's just overdoing it lately to impress the Stamford people, which will naturally set up uncomfortable moments, as intended.

[Man Who Sold The World]

"Close your eyes.

 

Picture a convict. Cap turned backwords, baggy jeans. Are u picturing a black male?

 

It's a white lady.

 

Shame on you."

 

 

Classic stuff. Strong episode and of course I was paraphrasing, I had a little bit to drink before work

[KingPK]

I just liked Dwight bending over in front of the black guy with the money hanging out of his pocket.

[Darthtiki]

I was fucking dying during Prison Mike and the comparisons of white people to black people, especially when he mentioned Apollo Creed

[iggymcfly]

Umm, Michael has always been a ridculoous cartoon.

 

Nah, Michael's had some genuine moments. The episode where he closes the deal at Friday's with Jan when Tim Meadows is visiting is one of my favorites. And the episode where he brings in the video when he was on the kid's show, and it's about he just wants to have a wife and a big family, that feels genuine. Or even when he's hosting the Dundee's and trying to be entertaining, but butchering the whole thing, that's funny too.

 

But when he's proposing to someone he's known for a few weeks in front of a crowded room, or bringing a huge room full of people together to do an imitation of a prison inmate to try to make people realize "prison's worse than work" when not even a five year old would use that thought process, that's just embarrassingly bad television.

 

Michael, the silly insecure boss? I love it. Michael the five year old incapable of rational thought? Not so much.

[Youth N Asia]

Michael putting Apollo Creed over Jeses Christ killed me.

 

As did Dwight trying to charge the convict. I was a little bummed that Dwight didn't get much to do this week.

[Craig Th]

Umm, Michael has always been a ridculoous cartoon.

 

Nah, Michael's had some genuine moments. The episode where he closes the deal at Friday's with Jan when Tim Meadows is visiting is one of my favorites. And the episode where he brings in the video when he was on the kid's show, and it's about he just wants to have a wife and a big family, that feels genuine. Or even when he's hosting the Dundee's and trying to be entertaining, but butchering the whole thing, that's funny too.

 

But when he's proposing to someone he's known for a few weeks in front of a crowded room, or bringing a huge room full of people together to do an imitation of a prison inmate to try to make people realize "prison's worse than work" when not even a five year old would use that thought process, that's just embarrassingly bad television.

 

Michael, the silly insecure boss? I love it. Michael the five year old incapable of rational thought? Not so much.

But if Michael was just a regular boss like that, then he isn't Michael. He is supposed to be over the top and what not.

[Hank Kingsley]

The next episode is on December 14th, "A Benihana Christmas." Harold Ramis is directing, I believe.

 

In a special one hour Christmas episode, Michael sends out an inappropriate Christmas Card which lands him in hot water with his girlfriend Carol. Meanwhile tensions mount on the party planning committee between Angela, Pam and Karen. The resulting tension leave the office with two competing Christmas parties.

 

 

I would assume that Jim will be stuck in the middle and forced to choose which party, Pam's or Karen's, to attend.

[C Dubya 04]

I thought last nights episode was okay, not great. I really liked some of it, but other parts just didn't quite feel right. It seems like they jumped the Jim and Karen thing without giving much background on it, but it seems like it is also a doomed relationship as Jim is hiding it from Pam and the rest of the office.

 

I liked Jim setting up Andy, Creed taunting the baby and the Apollo Creed line. Wasn't as into Prison Mike as other's here seemed to be. It just didn't quite come across right to me.

[nl5xsk1]

The parts I liked, I really liked. The parts that I didn't, I really didn't.

 

Anything to do with Michael being non-racist was hilarious. Pretty much everything that Kevin said or did last night was hilarious. Jim setting Andy up to prank Pam was, you guessed it, hilarious.

 

But the "Prison Mike" scene went on far too long (well, technically, it got funnier when people started asking him questoins to force him to improvise, but it wasn't that funny to begin with. So, in total, went on far too long). Michael emulating "Look Who's Talking" should have ended much sooner than it did as well.

 

I dunno, there were just times that I found myself anxiously waiting for a scene to end.

[C Dubya 04]

The Michael "Look Who's Talking" was pretty bad to me except for the end where he said "I want some milk. You know where that comes from. (pause) Breasts." Him throwing the breasts on at the end was pretty funny.

 

I also liked Andy's version of Rainbow Connection as his love song for Pam. And that he called her "Pam a lam a ding dong". Nice throwback to Michael and showing their simalarities.

[Youth N Asia]

Did anyone else catch this?

 

IN season 2 when they were exchanging gifts and Dwight wanted the tea pot so he could stick it up his nose...

 

On Six Feet Under George showed Arthur (Rainn Wilson, aka DWIGHT) the exact same thing.

 

Always wondered if they borrowed that

[C Dubya 04]

I didn't catch that, but Dwight was delightfully creepy on that show. It is really amazing to realize it's the same actor.

[DrVenkman PhD]

The opening bit with Kevin and Michael discussing racism was my favourite bit, but I enjoyed the episode overall. Was it just me (my cable was a bit flickery during the 1st act) or was a line Angela said at the beginning of the episode muted out?

[Lord of The Curry]

The next episode is on December 14th, "A Benihana Christmas." Harold Ramis is directing, I believe.

 

In a special one hour Christmas episode, Michael sends out an inappropriate Christmas Card which lands him in hot water with his girlfriend Carol. Meanwhile tensions mount on the party planning committee between Angela, Pam and Karen. The resulting tension leave the office with two competing Christmas parties.

 

 

I would assume that Jim will be stuck in the middle and forced to choose which party, Pam's or Karen's, to attend.

 

One would think after Diwali that Michael and Carol were either done for good or at least on some kind of a break but I guess not.

 

Helms might be the MVP of this season so far.

 

- The handshake with Dwight

- Jager night at Stamford

- Argument with Dwight

- All of the Big Tuna references

- Playing "Rainbow Connection" for Pam on the banjo

- Horny Andy

- Freaking out over the stapler in the jell-o

[Angle-plex]

Wow season three is so much worse than season 2. Michael's prison thing was beyond awful television. Not funny at all. What happened to the subtle funny from last season? It's like they changed writers after last season.

[Craig Th]

Did anyone else catch this?

 

IN season 2 when they were exchanging gifts and Dwight wanted the tea pot so he could stick it up his nose...

 

On Six Feet Under George showed Arthur (Rainn Wilson, aka DWIGHT) the exact same thing.

 

Always wondered if they borrowed that

Well in the commentaries, they said that Greg Daniels tried that once.

 

What happened to the subtle funny from last season? It's like they changed writers after last season.

Well last nights episode was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the creators of the UK Office. You can't get any closer to the same writers there.

 

The Dementors from last nights episode. This had me laughing my ass off.

[bob_barron]

No, Season 3 is still really funny.

 

Prison Mike was funny but went a bit too long. That's the one problem- the Michael acts insane stuff always goes on past its funny point.

[C Dubya 04]

My only problem with it is that it seems the Michael acts insane stuff is becoming more and more the focus instead of just another part of the office.

[Angle-plex]

It's the same thing that happened to Curb Your Enthusiasm; after a great season 2, things started acting more like a sitcom than a mocumentary (Dwight's farm thing, Michael becoming really stupid with no genuine moments like he had in season 2). I can pick where the laugh track would be in most of these recent episodes because the humor is subtle anymore.

 

Here is hoping things get better as more of the Stanford people leave.