Cool News
UPDATED With New Webisode!! Flenderson For THE OFFICE!! Plus Steve Martin Meets The Backstage Crew At 30 ROCK!!
I am – Hercules!!
NBC.com just posted the first in a new series of "Office" webisodes:
Tonight on “30 Rock,” Steve Martin plays Gavin Volure, one of Jack’s most eccentric friends. Jack is played by Alec Baldwin, who has hosted the second most episodes of “Saturday Night Live.”
Also, Toby’s hands return just as Beesley’s knees find their way back beneath the Scranton branch’s reception desk.
Tonight:
“Frame Toby”
A mysterious person in the office has made a huge mess in the microwave and will not clean it up. Meanwhile, Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) has to come to terms with the fact that there have been certain personnel changes in his staff without his knowing.
Dec. 4:
“Surplus”
Oscar (Oscar Nunez) informs Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) that the office must spend a $4300 surplus or lose it in next year’s budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) takes Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Andy (Ed Helms) to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans.
Dec. 11:
“Moroccan Christmas”
Phyllis’ (Phyllis Smith) Moroccan-themed holiday party goes up in flames when Meredith’s (Kate Flannery) hair catches on fire and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is forced to deal with the accident. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) corners the market on the hottest toy of the Christmas season.
Scenes deleted from last week’s “Business Trip”:
“The Office”: 9 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
“30 Rock”: 9:30 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
Black Friday Bargains Now!!
“The Venture Bros.” last week: $24.99.
Today: $12.99!! (57% Off!!)
“Looney Tunes” last week: $44.99!!
Today: $25.99!! (60% Off!!)
“The West Wing” last week: $41.99.
Today: $17.99!! (70% Off!!)
“Gilmore Girls” last week: $26.49.
Today: $14.99!! (75% Off!!)
“The OC” last week: $36.95.
Today: $14.99!! (75% Off!!)
“Smallville” last week: $37.99!!
Today: $14.99!! (75% Off!!)
“Six Feet Under” last week: $51.99.
Today: $19.99-$23.99!!
550-Title DVD/Blu-ray Sale!!
Was $200!!
544 Pages Now $44.10!!
“Frame Toby”
A mysterious person in the office has made a huge mess in the microwave and will not clean it up. Meanwhile, Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) has to come to terms with the fact that there have been certain personnel changes in his staff without his knowing.
“Surplus”
Oscar (Oscar Nunez) informs Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) that the office must spend a $4300 surplus or lose it in next year’s budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) takes Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Andy (Ed Helms) to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans.
“Moroccan Christmas”
Phyllis’ (Phyllis Smith) Moroccan-themed holiday party goes up in flames when Meredith’s (Kate Flannery) hair catches on fire and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is forced to deal with the accident. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) corners the market on the hottest toy of the Christmas season.
-
+ Expand All
-
...isnt very good.
-
here's your attention. ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION!!!!there you go kiddo, is that what you needed? a big pile of attention. now go play in your room.
-
not the case at all. i dont disrespect those who do like the show, thats their opinion...i just dont think its very good. im sure its been argued back and forth on these boards time and time again, but i, personally, think its an average show. 30 rock is superior to it, in my opinion. it may be the other way round in yours.
-
Was this in an episode of SNL or what?
-
Is usually commented on as 'not very good' and usually by Brits who have never even watched it. I'm a Brit and loved the original BBC show but prefer the American version cause I care more about the characters and find it so much more funnier.
-
you're obviously entitles to your opinion and your fractured funny bone. but my point was that one doesn't write "american office no good" to argue a point or somehow inspire discourse. they just want to poke the hornet's nest and get attention in the talkback. which is sad, but hey, whatever works. now I've given you 2 posts worth of attention, that should be enough, yeah?
-
you can believe whatever you want, but im standing bored as shit at work, the dvd player is fucked so its completely silent (i work at a video store) so im going a bit insane...i saw "american office" and thought "thats not great". thats all.
-
why do we have to go through this every week "Original Office is so much better", "American Office sucks", these are two totally different beasts. Listen I've never seen the Britsh show that Sanford and Son was based on nor the one All In The Family was based on but both of those shows are funny, but totally different, from what I understand, of the originals. Same with the Office, The US version isn't as mean spirited, Steve Carrell is more good natured while totally clueless. When they do (or did) try and copy the original (see first season) Carrell comes across more ecringe worthy. Sorry folks, but most Americans like guys like this more sweet and stupid then mean and stupid. (See Bill Cosby's transformation on Cosby from crumedgon to babysitter, Carrell on the Office, even Archie Bunker). The (US) Office has also had to fill in many more seasons allowing for a greater range of char. and changes arcs, but also a greater number of subpar episodes, it's the nature of the beast with American TVbut I think we all can agree, despite what NBC is trying to tell us in their promos, that KATH AND KIM blows goats
-
I can't think of one loveable asshole on American TV, Dr. House maybe?
-
i honestly didnt mean to start any sort of shitfight. i dont hate on anyone who likes the show, comedy is just that sort of beast, isnt it? some things work for some whilst others work for others. in the case of the office im not particularly fond of either incarnation, but dont mind others loving it. im from australia and i couldnt stand our kath and kim, i thought it just wasnt funny at all. but i couldnt care if someone next door to me loved it. infact, my sister adores it...and thats her decision. im just really, really fucking bored at work.
-
hey I respect being bored at work, I am too. And from your comments I'm going to guess that you havene't ben on the talkbacks, espically the Office ones, because every week, it turns into this. you seem like a good guy, and I gotta respect that,, most of the time we get stuff like "this sucks" with no backup why and no defense lateer.true that about comedy though, everyone has differeent tastes totally, I stated in the AMAD column, that noone should ever have to apologize for liking a movie, citing my love for Evil Dead but some friends hate of it as an example. Same with comedy, I love the original FLETCH movies (and books) but I have friends that can't watch them, think they are stupid, but will watch something I think is totally retarded and enjoy it.
-
it feels as if the episodes this season are just a hair shorter,and with all these great deleted scenes it seems like a shame they aren't being used.i wish they would release extended episodes since they always seem to overshoot .
-
Did I miss that? I thought there would at least be a deleted scene explaining it. Or do we just have to imagine it?
-
I thought I might have missed it too because I was getting ready for work about that time, but here's what I presummed happend, in Micheal's mind, concierge=geisha=prostitue=Micheal getting shot down and/or slapped
-
1st season was mediocre, the 2nd season was damn good, but this 3rd season is too heavily dependent on these fucking guest appearances and lacking in the writing department.
Tina Fey is a hack. -
They sure manage to cull some very impressive guest stars. I may watch this just for Steve Martin.
-
30 Rock was ok year one, great year two and is poor this year. Too many guest stars. This show is not "Will and Grace."
-
It's downward spiral will likely continue and summaries like "Meredith's hair catches on fire" are heavily indicative of this. They've gone so broad and stopped focusing on the characters - just the jokes. Pam an Jim have become annoying and they've neglected the overarching sense that encapsulated the first 2 (maybe 3) seasons. I'll keep watching, but this show is at about 30% of the level of quality it was a few years ago.
-
Hey, thanks for spoiling tonights episode of "Kath and Kim"!
-
...i assume we're talking about the same steve martin here, yes?
-
The show is definitely depending too much on guest stars, but NBC is pushing the show and TV execs are far too shallow to understand that you must write funny things and not just rely on stunt-casting. The pattern is becoming, "Guest star shows up and acts like a complete lunatic." It's kind of like how being a guest star on The Simpons back in the early years made you cool, especially when you came as some character and your appearance was barely hyped. Now, every celebrity seems to be required to appear on the Simpsons, and they usually play themselves, and it's advertised months in advance.
-
People, don't fall for the "american office" is bad comments. It's just baiting from trolls.
-
If you had said "seemingly unwarranted" I'd give you thebenefit of the doubt, but you are obviously either really young, really ignorant, or both. Steve Martin in the early eighties was the highest point stand-up comedy ever reached. No one else, before or since, could touch him. He was basically the complete opposite of a Dane Cook. But he burned out on that and proceeded to make a bunch of incredibly horrible/maudlin movies punctuated by a few decent ones thus ruining his reputation. In a few of those movies you can still, if you look hard enough, detect pieces of his former self, mostly through the precision and uniqueness of his physical comedy, and vocal intonation, and timing.
-
If they can't say "... with special guest star..." they are lost. I think the only time Scrubs ever got promoted (other than "...followed by an all-new Scrubs") were the episodes with Juliana Margules and the one with Colin Farrell.
-
Venture Bros is 48% off, not 57%Looney Tunes is 42% off, not 60%West Wing is 57% off, not 70%Gilmore Girls is 43% off, not 75%The OC is 59% off, not 75%Smallville is 60% off, not 75%
-
Selma Blair is such a bitch in it, I can't help but laugh.
-
Makes me want to tap her even more.
-
I was a fan of the UK Office before the American one debuted and I honestly spent the better part of two years trying to decide which one I enjoyed more. But the truth is that they are, as some have said, both totally different animals. As much as the Tim and Dawn plotline worked, the British show was a showcase for Ricky Gervais. And because it was such a short-lived series, it could afford to be a bit more mean-spirited and unsypathetic; and Gervais is so brilliant that he can pull the performance off.
But the American one, last as long as it is, can't just go for the mean or unsympathetic boss plot over and again. And I think they have done the right thing in making Carrell a likeable doofus. Plus I think the show has the best supporting cast of any comedy on TV and they've shown how to utilize them, play around with different comedic pairing (Oscar and Andy was great) and even trick the audience a bit. It's a great show and that doesn't make the British one a bad show.
As for 30 Rock, I do worry that they're going to become a Will and Grace-esque sitcom, dependant on too many guest stars. I personally think it must be studio-mandated, though, as a way to garner ratings (it was probably planned way before Tina Fey became so popular as Sarah Palin). I hope once the show gets enough viewers it settles back into its old crazy routine. -
...you could argue that the characters Kurtwood Smith plays on tv are loveable assholes. And I could probably make a case for Dwight on The Office. And maybe even Sheldon on the Big Bang theory, he certainly is a pain in the ass and has been an asshole to Penny. But maybe its easier to be a loveable asshole in a comedy.
-
Emmies and guest stars notwithstanding, it's always 3rd or 4th in its time period. Test patterns earn better Nielsens. Nobody wants to watch the fraternization of a child abuser and ice princess (zip sex appeal). Tiny Fey writes chick flicks--and she's no Nora Ephron. Not even the "infallible" Oprah Winfrey, in another tedious guest spot, could rescue this turkey.
-
Maybe Fey can make some money after 30 Rock gets cancelled in about a year or two.
-
I like the show but come on, didn't we already have Ryan "starting the fire" with the toaster oven in the break room.
-
...really funny on the Office. I think that Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) should have a spin-off show of his own. I could see Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) on television all day if I could. Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) seems to be really stupid, but I think he is smarter than he appears to be on the show. Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) thinks of the Office like a family, and not a business, and he just wants to be friends with everyone. That is what the character of Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) so special. I can't wait to see Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) on the Office tonight.
-
They never do office stuff anymore. I was more entertained when it would make me think, "MY work does that too - though in a less exaggerated kind of way." Now it's all relationships Pam/Jim, Dwight/Angela, Andy/Angela, Michael/Jan, Michael/Holly, Kelly/Darryl, Kelly/Ryan. They've already gotten rid of the best thing of the season (Holly), so what's the point anymore. Sorry. I'm just disappointed this year.
-
Bad timing, and a slap at the fans who don't watch the show as it happens: http://tinyurl.com/5qwukq.
-
Steve Martin is overrated, the american Office sucks, and 30 Rock is going down the tube.jesus christ guys...even from talkback trolls, that is a really just pathetically sad display of idiocy.
-
sweeneydave and Kid Idioteque nailed the problem with The Office, which I have loved and supported for most of its existence.
As much of a fan I am of the Original, this is not an "original versus remake" argument. My argument is that the US version used to be brilliant in a completely different way, but is now mostly a show about hysterical situations and office romances. It's really a shame, and I hope they find their footing again.
There ARE continued moments of brilliance - Oscar and Andy's drunk conversation, for example. But it no longer feels like a mockumentary satire - it just feels like a sitcom without a laugh track, shot with a hand-held camera.
Still watch it every week, though. Bad Office is not exactly According to Jim. -
A lot of people apparently got into it thinking it was Dilbert, the Series but it has always been about these specific characters and it has since early season 2 had a bunch of episodes each season with a significant amount of time spent outside the office.
-
"(Serialization is) a very flawed way of telling stories on network television right now, because of the advent of the DVR and online streaming. The engine that drove [serialized TV] was you had to be in front of the TV [when it aired]. Now you can watch it when you want, where you want, how you want to watch it, and almost all of those ways are superior to watching it on air. So [watching it] on air is related to the saps and the dipshits who can't figure out how to watch it in a superior way."
-
The two versions of the show I know well (UK/US) are ALL about characters, yes. That was never in dispute. The problem is that the 'crazy situations' are overwhelming the characters... and the only plots concentrating SOLELY on character about about pairing/relationships.
-
that was the time that network tv was flawed for serialized tv. Because back then, if you miss an episode, you miss an episode. Sure, you could tape it, but it's not always easy to find the right place on the right tape. With the DVR, just click on the recorded program and there you go; no more rewinding or fast-forwarding in hopes that the episode is somewhere.
-
still can't fucking believe it. What a knobish thing to say. Out loud. To the Press.
-
He's been there a week?? "I have cause. Because I hate him". *flailing*
-
justify the mean. Amen, Micheal.
-
I love the Office so much, UK and US, but I just don't know what this show is anymore. This season has been so weird. It was easier to put my finger on the flaw of Season 4: the show had continually tried to up the ante in terms of zaniness and ridiculous, over-the-top situations to put Michael/Dwight/Andy in, and it had gotten to the point where the humor was (often) too broad and unbelievable to seem like the same show that was so real and sad and down-to-earth in Seasons 1-3. Season 4 still had its moments, but it was like the shine of brilliance from Seasons 2 and 3 had just worn off a bit.
But now, I don't even know what to think anymore. This episode that just aired--it was just weird. It wasn't exactly too broad or over-the-top. I just kind of didn't get it. There were long stretches that didn't even seem like they were supposed to be funny; they just kind of happened. That's what the show has been like this season.
The formula for this season seems to be this: each show has an A, B, and C plot. Plot A is really goofy. Plot B is really sweet/sad. Plot C is--well, neither goofy nor sad; it just kind of exists.
In this episode, the 'A' plot was Michael trying to frame Toby. There was very little that we haven't seen a dozen times before: Michael irrationally hates Toby, and says so to his face. This was funny for a while, but they aren't going anywhere new with it, so why bother? Toby had been written off; we don't have a good reason, or excuse, for him returning. Michael tries to frame him by buying 'pot' that is actually a salad (a joke that I've heard too many times to laugh at) and putting it in his drawer and calling the cops. The kind of person that would find this joke funny is the probably not the kind of person who would have watched the Office two years ago. Compared with, say, the Drug Testing episode from Season 2 (which similarly centers around the idea of drugs found in the workplace), this episode is so obviously deficient in subtlety and cleverness. I did get a laugh out of Dwight's assertion that he had 'framed' a raccoon and a bear.
The 'B' Plot is that Jim has bought his parents house for Pam and him to live in. I guess this is kind of sweet--a plot thread designed to appeal to the type of person who watches shows like this for the relationships, and likes to coo at the idea of two attractive actors in love with each other. I kept thinking back to an episode a few years ago (I think the "Boys and Girls" episode, again from Season 2) where Pam mentions that she always used to have a dream that she'd have a house with a balcony, and then says how silly that dream is because there are no houses like that in Scranton, and then loses it for a moment and cries at the realization that the dreams she once had would never happen. The last few episodes seemed to acknowledge that Pam has to choose between following her dreams and being an artist or living a simple and unremarkable life in Scranton with Jim--I hope that the element of this house will bring up that tension in future episodes, and not just be a reason for certain viewers to say "how cute".
And the 'C' plot--where someone leaves a mess in the microwave, and Pam leaves a long note about it--was so underdeveloped that it's hard to say anything about it. It's this kind of mundane piece of controversy that the show used to make the center of everything, and I was disappointed that it seemed to be nothing but filler here. Anyone who has worked in an office will relate to this--the twin offenses of someone too inconsiderate to clean after himself, and someone so holier-than-thou that they feel the need to leave a long and preachy note. When you spend your whole day doing mindless and repetitive work, little situations like this take on a heightened level of drama and importance, people take sides, and feelings are hurt out of proportion to the actual offense. This is what the Office used to be about! But here, it's a good idea that's wasted: the story never goes anywhere interesting, and we never even find out who left the mess. The Office used to be able to take insignificant little episodes like this and turn them into something greater and more touching, but I really don't feel that the writers have that level of sophistication anymore. I have been really disappointed with this show lately, and the reason is because it used to be something so special, and now it really seems to have lost its way. -
Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) in Entourage.
-
I try to cut this show slack as you can see from my above posts but other than a couple of jokes, this episode was pointless. Why did Toby come back? They never explained it. They also never explained who did what in the microwave. I like Mindy but I'm thinking writing isn't her thing, she should stick to acting.
-
Watching the show now is just weird. It's not unfunny, but not funny in the way that seasons two and three were. I actually look more forward to the reruns on TBS of the earlier seasons that Thursday for the new ones.
-
And where's the "Always Sunny" finale talkback?
-
There are way too many trolls on here. I laughed. Had a good time. That's all I can ask for really. I would say more, but THE NIGHTMAN COMETH!
-
was bloody brilliant. as usual.
-
the "C Plot", as you put it, is a setup for Jim showing off the house to Pam. we see her throughout the episode being frustrated with the messiness of something, and here Jim as bought a run down house with shag carpeting and other messy attributes. so when she loves it and is honored by it you're surprised, because everyone thought she was going to have a big problem with it and it would be used as a sort of phony plot device to make them at odds with eachother.
-
so funny!
-
Don't say it...just do it.
-
....poor Charlie...I need to get hooked up with the same shit those guys use when they write the show...
-
Gotta agree w/ Big Jim on serialization. Isn't the age of DVR, DVD's, Hulu, etc. the BEST possible thing for serialized shows? Last I checked, "Lost" ratings are doing pretty well, and don't most of their fans watch it on Tivo (which are now being counted in the ratings) & DVD like myself? I don't get where this "Heroes" writer is coming from, he seems to think that most Heroes viewers are rubes with tin-foil antennas. Heaven forbid their dwindling ratings could be because his show is flawed...
-
I get what you're saying, and that's not a bad interpretation (that the messy microwave is sort of a parallel to the messy house, and we expect Pam to act a certain way to the second because of how she acts to the first). But I'm not sure I entirely buy it. The point of the microwave storyline, as I understood it, was about the different characters' attitudes about respectfulness in the office. People on both sides thought the other side was being disrespectful. Pam thought the person who left the mess was disrespecting everyone else by expecting others to clean up their mess; the other people thought that Pam was being disrespectful by leaving such a snotty note. Because neither side knew who the other was (the note and mess were both anonymous), people felt free to talk about this anonymous offender a lot more harshly and rudely than they would if they knew who they were talking about. All that is really interesting little stuff, and I think if they had focused the whole episode on the details of THAT, it could have been better in a more "Office" way. The particular "Office" brand of humor, as I see it, has a lot to do with how giant people working together make insignificant things (like the politics of the Party Planning Committee).
When I labeled the plots as A, B, and C, I wasn't trying to suggest that that was their order of importance. I just meant that the same structure of this episode applies to some others from this season--for example, the one where Dwight and Andy face off about Cornell (A: the goofy plot that's a little too far over the top), Michael and Daryl move Holly to her new home (B: the plot that's obviously supposed to tug at our heartstrings), and Jim and Pam have lunch with Jim's brothers (C: the plot that kind of hangs there, that could have been good if they'd actually done something with it). -
can relate to the microwave storyline. I think they could have gotten an entire episode out of it. No one admits to it, no one wants to clean it up, and no one cares about it until they need to use it. Ryan not so subtly telling Pam to clean it up should not have been the end of that story. Something like that will sit there until someone can't stand it anymore and cleans it. I could see it becoming an issue where Michael finally steps in and orders Dwight to to an investigation to find the person responsible, then hold a kangaroo court in the conference room to convict the suspect and sentence them to a week of being responsible for cleaning the kitchen. Maybe that will be part of the deleted scenes that will be available next week (except in my region).
-
Sure it never had a jump the shark moment, and it is still good for a funny moment or three every episode - Creed last night when the cops arrived - and yes, there is enough genuine comedy talent behind, and on, the screen for it to hit the occasional moment of genius, such as the 'Girl who cried rape' bit from last week, which could have been pulled straight from the original British Office.
However, the show has drifted until it is just a sit-com. With sit-com characters, rather than with the exagerated real world figures that represented both the original British Office and the first few seasons of the US version. Seriously, some of the plots are only half a skip away from being rejected ideas from Three's Company.
-
I noticed lately the only times he's been funny on camera are when he's around Tina Fey. He was hysterical in Baby Mama and he's pretty funny here too. I say keep him there to avoid a Pink Panther 3.
-
...except it wasn't the microwave, it was the sole unisex toilet. And we knew who did it. One of the coders who looked like Harry's twin obliterated it. It looked like someone shoved a cherry bomb into a foot-long turd and lit it up. It was horrendous. Locutusofborg, I'm looking at you.
-
thank you for smoking, juno....that guy. Didn't pick up on that until the rewatch.
-
than actually watching 30 ROCK. The media, including NBC, tried to shove Tiny Fey up everyone's ass. Didn't work. The "Palin" routine is yesterday's bad news. Time to write more chick flicks--or beg for a role on Amy's new sitcom.
-
Anyone who says The Office has went downhill is a cynical nerdy cunt, the show is still fucking hilarious. Just because not all of the characters spend their time awash in misery now doesn't mean it can't still be funny. Lick my fucking grundle sack
-
right, except that the season premiere drew 8.5 million viewers and every episode is now getting about 8 million viewers. considering the first season averaged 5.8, and the second season averaged 6.4, I think they're doing fine.and Tina Fey is just about to write a book for like $4 mil, so I think she's okay. your completely incorrect assumptions aside, she's doing fine and she's riding a big wave of success.in other news, thegreatwhatzit declares that the Jets performed poorly this weekend.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 325 total posts 322 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 106 total posts 106 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 63 total posts 60 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 74 total posts 58 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 159 total posts 51 posts
- If the Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day drops her pen, pick it up, but don’t look at her legs or else it will be on your record. -- 47 total posts 41 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 161 total posts 34 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 488 total posts 33 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 121 total posts 23 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 70 total posts 20 posts