This page of the thread has had some decent discussion, thankfully. The last page, like so many before it, has just become a never-ending mob mentality circle jerk to talk about how terrible this show is. As I've said numerous times, it just becomes the cool thing to do at some point to just endlessly bash something. At that point it's no longer about just discussing the show or anything like that, it's just a race to see who can bash and mock the show the best.

I've enjoyed the last few episodes. Shoot, I've enjoyed the whole series. Maybe I didn't get the memo that we are supposed to start referring to half the characters as "caricatures" (that's a popular one) and the other half as "worthless now and no longer funny" and never be happy anymore. I still laugh every single week. Is it as good as it was with Michael Scott? No... but that's just because Michael Scott was really the glue of show and was, IMO, one of the best t.v. characters of all time.

I thought the last scene with Jim and Pam arguing was perfectly believable, but my wife didn't. I can understand why some of you thought it was forced, but as someone else mentioned above, there has been little stuff brewing beneath the surface with those two, which is why it was believable to me. Plus, EVERY married couple argues. Just because they've not shown much drama between those two doesn't mean that they are unique in the history of married couples.

Regardless of whether it was forced or not, I thought the scene was incredibly well acted by Pam's character. The whole episode was, in fact. I thought it was one of the best acting performances of the entire series.

I thought the episode was fine. I liked the fact that they showed the camera crew and had them interact. It humanized the characters more in a very human moment.

Now the rest of the episode was hit or miss, though the dot matrix printer killed me.

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Maybe I didn't get the memo that we are supposed to start referring to half the characters as "caricatures" (that's a popular one)

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This isn't unique to this show. Virtually every show (especialy comedies) that has been on for a long time has this problem. Over 5/6/7 years, the writers get the unique aspects of a character stuck in their head and tend to approach all their lines/situations from that one angle instead of from the more balanced approach that existed as the characters were developed from square one when just the idea of their unique personality existed. Just a couple of the most blaring examples that I can think of off the top of my head...

Friends - Monica went from a normal person with a few personality quirks to a hyper obsessed anal retentive person in every situation. Joey went from a normal clueless guy that we all know to an outright dumbace by the end that was so unaware of everything in life that the character was unbelievable in most situations.

Two and a Half Men - When Charlie Sheen was on the show, Allen was the subtle mooch who would try and manipulate situations to his benefit while still maintaining an air of innocence. When he took on a bigger role after Charlie left, this aspect of his personality became the sole focus of his character (and the show) and there was no subtleness anymore as he was outwardly trying to be a mooch and everyone treated him just as that.

Unfortunately long standing comedic characters DO tend to migrate towards "caricatures" and, to me, that is the number 1 sign that a show needs to go.

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I thought the last scene with Jim and Pam arguing was perfectly believable, but my wife didn't. I can understand why some of you thought it was forced, but as someone else mentioned above, there has been little stuff brewing beneath the surface with those two, which is why it was believable to me.

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While a fight like this is very common, I think the underlying complaint by people was how out of character it was, thereby, feeling forced. Jim in that scene turned into a person that no one had ever seen before in the series. Before that scene, everytime he felt stress, he would deal with it in a joking manner and akwardly laugh his way through it. Yes, stress can have that effect on people, but in real life, it is not usually a flip that switches and suddenly a guy that almost never showed anger turns into a complete and agressive jerk. Typically in life, the stress gradually builds to the point that Jim showed in that scene. I think that is the build up people wanted to see. The occcassion snide comment at first, gradually morphing into the more harsh and jerky Jim shown in the last scene. The last scene in and of itself wasn't bad and I agree that the acting was better than most in that show, but without seeing the outward signs of tension in their previous intractions, it felt forced and rushed.

Sci-fi's rant on the issue, which he calls Brain Bugs

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I think they could have shown a few more disagreements or arguments leading up to this one, which would make it feel more serious.

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This is one of the primary points of the camera-crew scene. The crew is shown being willing not to film some of the Office employees' really bad moments. Jim and Pam may have had hundreds of arguments that weren't filmed.

Groosome- I agree and realize that it happens on every show. Turk and JD, Monica, Joey, etc. Why not just realize that's the reality and stop complaining all the time? They become caricatures because the caricatures are funny. Writers find out what parts of a character are likeable and funny and then focus on that. And that's ok. It doesn't ruin anything.

The amount of hatred and hyperbole from some people regarding these shows that they still obviously watch is just silly. That's what drives me crazy. It's a t.v. show for entertainment. 22 minutes a week. Why get so mad? If it doesn't entertain you, don't watch. If it does, great, let's talk about the parts we liked and even disliked, but it really gets old listening to the mob mentality take over, combined with the "if something isn't the best ever, it's the worst ever" mentality.

Preach!

watty.

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They become caricatures because the caricatures are funny. Writers find out what parts of a character are likeable and funny and then focus on that. And that's ok. It doesn't ruin anything.

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This is where I disagree with you. I don't think that they become that because that caricature is super funny. I think it is more in line with a "writer's rut" and I think it minimizes the funniness of the characters. To me, the humor is the applicability of said humor to real life. Once the characters morph into unreal beaings, they stop being funny IMO.

But all that being said, I do agre with you regarding the people always griping. Just eiher accept and take it for what it is or stop watching.

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though the dot matrix printer killed me

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True story.

for watty


Also, what happened to Ryan (BJ Novak)?

I liked this last week's episode. It was the first time Nellie has seemed even the slightest bit likable. I didn't really enjoy Lice very much, thought Suit Warehouse had funny moments but was only okay, and thought this past episode was solid. Hope they finish strong.

Also, count me as another one who feels that the fight between Jim and Pam realistic. I didn't mind it at all. In particular, you could see Pam trying to keep things together and laughing about the video when in reality she was pretty frustrated by the whole situation. When Jim blows up, it's just too much for her to handle.

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Before that scene, everytime he felt stress, he would deal with it in a joking manner and akwardly laugh his way through it. Yes, stress can have that effect on people, but in real life, it is not usually a flip that switches and suddenly a guy that almost never showed anger turns into a complete and agressive jerk.

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The difference here is that this is the first time we've seen Jim really care about a job, and he is becoming what a lot of us become, more focused on the job than his family. Not because he's a bad person, just because he really wants this to work for the sake of the family. They've shown this to us over and over this season as the Philly thing happened.

I thought the fight was very believable. Jim had just had a major (HUGE) setback and was looking to find relief from home, but instead got more frustrating news. I think what people don't like is that it was also uncomfortable in a silly comedy to confront something that serious and common. I found myself wondering why they did it.

I am with you on the sound-guy love interest thing. It almost felt that way, but I'm not really sure.

When is Andy coming back?

I found the fight to be believable. And did not see the camera crew guy as being any sort of love interest. Perhaps they should have made him a fat middle aged bespectacled guy in order to not confuse the audience. Or perhaps I'm way off base and the crew has been running a train on Pam for nine years. We'll see

Well-stated points from Groosome.

I also thought that the Jim/Pam fight seemed somewhat contrived, possibly just because we really never have seen them have any real conflict before, although I can admit that in "real life" this is a perfectly believable scenario for any married couple. Jenna Fischer's acting was outstanding, though... the most real emotion I've seen portrayed since Michael left.

Which brings up another point discussed earlier on this board: I know there are some hoping for a Michael cameo before the series ends, but I for one thought his exit was absolutely perfect, and I hope they don't ruin it by trying to somehow fit him back into a storyline just for the sake of having him back on screen.

Anybody know if Meredith really shaved her head?

"Jenna Fischer's acting was outstanding, though..."

Agreed, for a goofy sitcom, she nailed it.

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I know there are some hoping for a Michael cameo before the series ends, but I for one thought his exit was absolutely perfect, and I hope they don't ruin it by trying to somehow fit him back into a storyline just for the sake of having him back on screen.

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It was formally nixed a week or two ago, and I can't help but assume that it's related to the suckage of the show at this point. Carrell's known for being a class act, it seems a little odd for him not to come back. Even Clooney came back for ERs end.

[This message has been edited by 20ag07 (edited 1/28/2013 9:14p).]

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Anybody know if Meredith really shaved her head?

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She didn't

I agree with Michael Scott's ending being perfect. I don't want to see him come back as any part of the final story, but I would love to see Michale Scott sitting in Colorado drinking from his World's Best Boss mug as the final cut away.

Is Andy ever coming back before the finale?

Just caught up on the last several episodes. Watching the four or five of them in a row, we came off feeling like they're just writing everyone to be a jerk, except for Dwight, strangely enough.

The resolution to the affair was pretty forced. Just, "welp, that's over! Now Angela's really mean to Oscar!" Not sure they knew where they were going with that.

Sort of the same with Andy.

I don't have a problem with Jim and Pam having a fight, but I don't really see the resolution. I'm afraid they'll sell Jim coming home and giving up on the business as his romantic sacrifice.

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I'm afraid they'll sell Jim coming home and giving up on the business as his romantic sacrifice.

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I think they'll move to Philly toward the very end of the season. Pam will get a graphic design job in the city or some crap.

I'm pretty disappointed that Michael Scott won't be making a final appearance. It would have been realistic if Michael had invited the office to his wedding and they showed up.

Every week I find myself wondering why I still watch this show. I just don't find it funny anymore. No reason to rip on it since its just 22 minutes of entertainment and no one is forcing me to watch. It's just interesting that I still want to finish watching this show only because I have seen every prior episode. Hypothetically if this were a new show I would have turned it off and never thought about it again. But because of my attachment to the show I almost feel compelled to finish for completeness sake.

Regardless, I will still consider The Office one of my favorite shows of all time. I'll never re-watch a syndicated episode that doesn't include Michael Scott though.

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Every week I find myself wondering why I still watch this show. I just don't find it funny anymore. No reason to rip on it since its just 22 minutes of entertainment and no one is forcing me to watch. It's just interesting that I still want to finish watching this show only because I have seen every prior episode. Hypothetically if this were a new show I would have turned it off and never thought about it again. But because of my attachment to the show I almost feel compelled to finish for completeness sake.

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Same here.

Yup, this last week was the worst for me, for the first time I just really wanted to turn it off, but some sense of loyalty just made me leave it on.

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Every week I find myself wondering why I still watch this show. I just don't find it funny anymore. No reason to rip on it since its just 22 minutes of entertainment and no one is forcing me to watch. It's just interesting that I still want to finish watching this show only because I have seen every prior episode. Hypothetically if this were a new show I would have turned it off and never thought about it again. But because of my attachment to the show I almost feel compelled to finish for completeness sake.

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only reason I watched last year and this year...the year previous to last year I still had some sense of hope it could be what it once was, but these last two seasons I'm just blowing 22 minutes every thursday because I've been with the series so long.

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But because of my attachment to the show I almost feel compelled to finish for completeness sake.

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That's the only reason well over 50% of the audience is watching, I fear. I think it still has its funny moments, but when I think back after the episode I can't remember exactly what they were.

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Now Angela's really mean to Oscar!" Not sure they knew where they were going with that.

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You do realize she has a reason to be mean, don't you?

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But because of my attachment to the show I almost feel compelled to finish for completeness sake.

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Looks like two episodes tonight.

Here we go

Lol, lots of throwback characters.

[This message has been edited by T Bow (edited 1/31/2013 8:26p).]

Eric Wareheim!