The Office on NBC

it wasn't bad but it was a bit underwhelming. for a finale it didn't seem like anything major happened, everything that did was business based with almost nothing character based happening.

I liked it. It was low key enough to feel like business as usual but with enough of a story to drive things along. Sovereign is right that Woof and David Wallace were the highlights, but it was a nice little story all around. We even delved into Jo's motivations a bit.

As far as I know, that's the first time they mentioned that they're located on Slough Street.

i nearly died laughing when they showed toby trying to hold up the vending machine.

i liked it. i'm glad it was more low key because i think that's what the office needs. lately when they try to go big, they stumble, but they didn't do that here.good episode.

oh, and i laughed really hard at how ashamed Darryl was that the reporter he talked to at the bar wasn't even hot

Enjoyable episode with a good use of the cast. This is some of the most endearing Michael and Jo have been all season, and it was cool seeing them work together at the end. We got a little bit of everyone too--Jim's level-headedness, Toby's meek and shy side, Meredith's perversion, Creed's insanity ("Angela. Get her, boys."), Angela's snippiness, Dwight being conniving as usual, and even the washed-up David Wallace. I wasn't quite sure why everyone was so bitter at Andy at the end considering nothing really happened to them (although Kevin shouting at him off-screen was funny).

It's a decent finale and I liked how it brought together several elements of the season (Sabre, the "IT guy," Jo, David Wallace, Michael's lousy relationships of the year, the printer fire plotline, and Darryl working in the office). I still don't like how nasty and bitter everyone in the office seems to be, as a group. The scene with Nick was pretty funny, but I thought the crew was uncharacteristically mean as a collective whole and I felt a little better when Nick started revealing their hard drive secrets.

Looking forward to seeing Holly again! That ending made me smile.

The IT huy part cracked me up. Seriously awesome to watch him snap and everyone else just not give a shit

Yeah, I liked when he told everyone daryll was on facebook

Originally Posted by Sniper Squirrel

Yeah, I liked when he told everyone daryll was on facebook

better was his incredibly ashamed reaction to that.

"everybody wants to be your friend!"

not the funniest episode, but still one of my favorites of the season. i really liked the nice conversation between michael and jo (where michael was as likable as he's been all season).

highlight of the episode: WOOF

Good episode, but eh, as mentioned already, was sort of underwhelming. I really dislike Jo and Gabe, the more and more they're in the show. David's cameo was good though, always liked him. The IT guy snapping was hilarious though, probably the funniest part of the episode.

The second half of the season was stronger than the first half overall. Looking forward to the next, and hopefully the last, season.

woof was so awesome. i love how they've just been using ryan for small but so so memorable moments each episode recently.
also, it's good to catch up with david wallace.

Originally Posted by General Jack D. Ripper

woof was so awesome. i love how they've just been using ryan for small but so so memorable moments each episode recently.

yeah, i might complain that ryan has become much more ridiculous than he used to be if he wasn't consistantly providing the biggest laughs on the show right now.

i i enjoyed the season finale, but i think maybe it's time to call it a day after next season. i can't get past how over the top the characters have become. i mean, would the kelly of today even know she was being insulted by michael in the diversity day episode? meredith has become a caricature of herself, creed, while i admit he's a guilty pleasure, comes off like he's completely full of shit, and i'm not so sure the writers intended that. it's still a funny show, but the cycle is approaching the ramp.....

Originally Posted by Samuel L Bronkowitz

i mean, would the kelly of today even know she was being insulted by michael in the diversity day episode? meredith has become a caricature of herself

True, and yet somehow the Kelly of today is...FUNNIER than the Kelly of the diversity day episode.

oh thank fucking god.

'The Office' Season 7: Holly's back ... in a big way

With this being Steve Carell's last season on "The Office," the show couldn't very well get away with not bringing back Michael Scott's true love, Holly Flax.

NBC confirmed on Thursday (July 15) that Amy Ryan will return this season as Holly -- and writer/executive producer/cast member Paul Lieberstein says she'll be making much more than just a token appearance.

Lieberstein tells Zap2it that Ryan will appear in a whopping eight episodes. That's right: you'll get to see the Holly-Michael magic for a full third of the season.

Read on for more from Lieberstein about Holly's return, Andy's Scranton stage debut, Dwight Schrute, landlord and more (spoilers ahoy!).

The groundwork for Holly's return was laid in last season's finale, when Michael asked Sabre CEO Jo (Kathy Bates) if she could bring Holly back. The show was preparing for it behind the scenes as well; Lieberstein says the producers were already talking to Ryan when they were writing the finale.

Season 7 will find Jo making good on her promise to Michael, but "Holly is not happy at all about coming back to Scranton." She's built a pretty good life with boyfriend A.J. (Rob Huebel -- Lieberstein isn't sure yet if he'll return as well) and doesn't want to leave it.

As for Michael's departure from Dunder Mifflin, Lieberstein says he doesn't want Carell to leave the show, but at the same time he thinks it presents a chance for "The Office" to refresh itself. "To actually get to write someone out who's a main character, it's a cool opportunity. Not that I want Steve to leave, but in the long run" it could benefit the series, he says.

"No one wants to see him go. We still hope he changes his mind," Lieberstein says of Carell. "But we are forced to imagine 'The Office' without him."

Lieberstein also teased a few stories from the first half of the season. Among them:

- Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) efforts to buy the building that houses Dunder Mifflin were successful, which Lieberstein says will result in the salesman/beet farmer becoming overworked and open up new avenues for Jim (John Krasinski) to pull pranks.

- Bates will return as Jo in the season premiere, but she's also starring in NBC's midseason series "Harry's Law," so Lieberstein isn't sure if she'll be able to do more than that.

- Jo's son (who hasn't been cast yet) will come to Dunder Mifflin as part of a series of "low-level" jobs he's doing at various units of Sabre.

- Andy (Ed Helms) will perform in a community theater production. "We think it will be 'Sweeney Todd,'" Lieberstein says.

- We'll let Lieberstein describe the last one himself: "Michael gets a cold sore, and he finds out that's [a form of] herpes, so he feels the need to call every woman he's ever been with and inform them."

"The Office" season premiere is scheduled for Sept. 23.

That last story described is gold.

Not unexpected, but spoilers please.

Yep, I figured Holly would have an opinion of her own about being brought back against her will. Those plots also sound pretty good, if this really is Carell's last year than it sounds like he's leaving on a high note

I'm liking the angle about Holly being there against her will and Michael's cold sore.

possible steve carell replacements?

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/08/...de-rhys-darby/

Eh, I just don't see it. I don't think I'd tune in for these guys

i like rhys darby, but it's nearly impossible that he wouldn't just do a murray rehash.

maybe i need to watch more eastbound and down, but i really don't get danny mcbride. he just seems like a less funny, less talented amalgamation of all the comedians he surrounds himself with, except he swears and talks about sex more.

love both dudes but i'm gonna be constantly thinking "murray hewitt" or "kenny powers" if either one is cast

Danny Mcbride would be awesome, but I have kind of given up on the show. I don't even find it all that funny anymore. Just annoying.

wait why do they need a replacement. that fat dude looks like ricky gervais's younger brother, no thanks. plus they already have what seems like 30 cast members. i mean, seriously, find a way to bump stanley or toby into the hot seat. somebody we're familiar with who has to deal with an unexpected change

(or just end the fucking show please)

ending the show would definitely be for the best (really not sure i can think of a single case where changing the lead late in a series has resulted in a better show), but since they're obviously not going to do that and we'll be stuck with at least one vastly inferior season, i'm with chris. bump someone up.

i wouldn't want to see dwight promoted. we've already seen bits and pieces of dwight in charge and his character is so over the top that it even makes michael seem like a credible boss. since the show isn't going to have quite the same dynamic without michael anyway, i'd like to see a different sort of boss. i think darryl could be pretty funny (or at least as funny as anyone can be in a show that will be in it's 8th season by then).

the office is going to end up finishing it's run with more bad seasons than good, i'm afraid. that blows. end it now, it's been wounded since the end of season three.