Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Jim and Pam! Jim and Pam! Jim and Pam! Say it with me one time, people – Jim and Pam!
Of course, we always knew those crazy kids would get together, and we knew from the first two minutes of last night’s season premiere of The Office that they had in fact done so. But is it any less worthwhile for knowing that it was going to happen? Of course, there is the big issue, which hopefully the producers have figured out: how to stop it from getting all Sam and Diane or even Sam and Rebecca. It’s a problem that so many shows seem to face – they set up these characters that the audience roots for to end up together, drag it out over several seasons, and then when the characters do get together not only is the audience no longer interested, but they liked the earlier dynamic better. Of course, if you don’t get the characters together then the audience complains too.
You people are so fickle. It is as though you never heard the saying that the grass is always greener on the other side. Or, maybe you heard it and decided that this time it would not be the case, this time the grass not only appears to be greener on the other side, but it will in fact be oh-ever-so-luscious and you won’t for one single minute regret your wanting to be on that other side.
Well, I’m going to stick my neck out (sort of) and I’m going to say that the producers of The Office are going to make this whole thing work. The Jim and Pam relationship may or may not succeed, but the show will be no less quirky and wonderful for their relationship moving forward (or abruptly ceasing). You heard it here first (or maybe second or third, but you did hear it here). As proof I lay out the fact that last night’s episode was absolutely fall down on the floor, doubled over laughing hysterical. The 5K run? Hysterical. Michael running over Meredith? Hysterical (oh come on, I’m not morbid, you know you laughed when she went flying across the windshield, don’t lie to me). Dwight euthanizing the cat? Hysterical (seriously, I’m not morbid at all, it was the producers that came up with the funny).
Then, sadly for me, the only other show I watched last night (besides Wednesday’s Kid Nation, which we can’t discuss because I won’t speak badly of children no matter how badly they need to be spoken of and even if they are placed in “Town Council” positions of power and in desperate need of one or more comeuppances, which I would deliver were it not totally and completely immoral for me to say bad things about the children) was My Name is Earl.
The unquestionable highlight here was Randy and his stupidity. I tend to think usually that his character is slightly too over the top to be funny, but last night he was so far over the top that he became hilarious. Am I wrong here? Do we disagree on this? Seriously, tell me, because I thought that licking the bug zapper was one of the greater comedic moments I have seen on television this season. I wonder if the producers recognized just how funny his parts were last night, because the double episode ended with him stealing a car and announcing to everyone that he was doing as much so he could get thrown in jail with his brother. It was easily the topper in Randy’s idiosyncrasies last night. If the show goes for a whole comedic Prison Break thing this year I think they could have a winner on their hands.
And tonight we get to see the fate of Ed Deline on a two-hour Las Vegas. I love premiere week.
