Shark Bytes

I just started getting into this show earlier this year when reruns started airing in syndication on TBS. I love it! I haven't been watching the new Thursday shows on NBC that much because Thursdays are usually pretty busy for me, but from what I've seen, the shows haven't been as horrible as people are saying on here. If you just read about Ryan being on drugs, you'd think it was more serious than the show actually was, meaning, it wasn't serious at all. It was pretty funny. People who expect shows to never fall into the soap opera trap are just being unrealistic. Yes, it's a show that is supposed to be a documentary, but if you need to realize that all shows, even a mockumentary, need to have character development and storylines that make people tune in. Otherwise, what's the point? NBC doesn't have much to hang its hat on lately, but I don't think they'll screw up this show any time soon.

I love this show more than any of the shows I've watched (after ten years in online fandom, that's plenty), but I agree the fourth season was rocky. However, I'm giving it (and other shows I watch) a HUGE pass for the strike disruption. They needed to make a lot of adjustments with the new Jim/Pam storyline at the beginning, and since the show tends to have "long game" plots much of what they were working with probably got derailed during the strike hiatus. Now that they've had the summer to plan, I'll judge the fifth season as the "real" season to deal with the changes on the show.

When I watched the last few episodes of this past season, I thought, "what the heck happend?" I chalked it up to the writers being rusty after being on strike.

Ryan having a drug problem? Please. Is this and After-School Special now?

As I watched the season finale and saw that Jan was pregnant, I literally said, "The Office has just jumped the shark."

Whenever a show is lagging, something "life changing" seems to pop up. Usually a pregnancy. Please. I thought The Office was the one adult show I could watch without having to listen to crying babies or whiny teenagers. Guess not.

Yet another show is going down the drain going for cheap laughs. Oh no! How will Michael handle being a father?? My guess is he's going to screw it up and there will be a lot of dumb moments. <insert sarcasm>

I don't see why everyone is so upset Pam said Toby was cute. Remember way back in "The Fire", when Pam and Roy were actually engaged and Pam said Toby was cute? Nobody seemed to care then about Roy.

This show ROCKS. Definitely the best show on television today, and the funniest. Michael & Dwight are the best characters on TV without a doubt. Never jumped.

With Jim and Pam together, the show just seemed to fall apart. All of the sudden, it seemed to be trying so hard to be funny, but failed. Character developments became just too cartoonish and ridiculous. The opening and closing montages, the best parts of the show the first three seasons, were not memorable and just not funny. The Office (US) definitely jumped teh shark in the fourth season.

No way is Toby leaving. With Ryan's arrest, isn't it clear Toby's going to get offered Ryan's job and become Michael's boss?

Seriously, there's no need for bold, underlined type.

This show jumped when the "documentary" crew filmed Jim and Pam staying overnight at Schrute Farms and Jan and Micheal's dinner party. It was stupid when Michael purposely drove into the lake, and it was sleezy and gross to see Dwight and Angela naked in the office having sex as the last scene for season four. What happened to this show? This show used to be witty, clever and full of awkward moments, but now the show has gotten unrealistic, unreasonable and characters are doing things that are uncharacteristic of them. It's like the writers have forgotten how to write for their characters. This show is not as good as it used to be.

very popular show, may never jump...jumping categories, in my opinion, are as follows: clean kitchens, guys who wear shirts to sleep (unrealistic), non-utilization of talent

Jumped when Angela and Oscar were guest judges on Last Comic Standing. That was about as stinky as the "hate-crime" Packer left in Michael's office.

A lot of the appeal, to me any way, was the fact that most of the actors were relatively unknown in the beginning. It was nice to see some fresh faces on NBC, but with more of the actors taking movie roles, it's now becoming too chum-like to safely be floating in the water.

The hour-long episodes were a little tough to handle as well, but I'm still a fan, regardless of what happens.

Just when did this show devolve into a soap opera? It started out as a funny and realistic look at life working in an office. Now it's making the bed-hopping and corporate intrigue of Dynasty look down-to-earth. Here are some of the soapy plot elements of the woeful fourth season:

*Dwight cries in a stairwell; Jim comforts him. They share a new closeness as a result.

*Michael and Jan experience a rocky relationship due to her shopping addiction and his financial difficulties. They break up, then a few episodes later Michael discovers Jan is pregnant...and the father isn't him, it's a sperm bank donor. But Michael wants to be a dad, so he'll take Jan to birthing classes and treat the tot as his own.

*Angela breaks up with Dwight after discovering he has killed her cat.

*Angela gets together with Andy, agrees to marry him, then has sex with Dwight on top of a desk.

*Jim plans to propose to Pam, then...doesn't.

*Pam appears to be attracted to the departing Toby.

*Ryan develops a severe drug addiction and appears to be on the verge of being fired.

Now, did anyone else hear a violin playing under all that melodrama, or was it just me?

I used to love The Office. LOVE it. What the hell happened?

I could have not been so puzzled and confused through any other television show other than the season finale of the office. First, Jim not proposing to Pam is ridiculous. Second, Pam actually saying she thought TOBY WAS CUTE threw me though a fricking loop and the fact she's leaving for art school for 3 months is dumb.

I swear if she hooks up with Roy, Toby, or anybody else within those three months away from Jim I'm officially not watching this show anymore. It's a complete love/hate relationship for me.

Just a word about the product placement; several companies aren't actually paying (Chilies and Apple are two examples) but they are used because the writers/creators thought that would make the show more realistic because they are things people actually use. I think that is a little different than when shows/movies are paid for their placement so a can of pop is perfectly placed in the shot, etc.

Kezia-
You wondered about Pam going to art school for 3 months. Easy - between the season finale and premiere, the 3 months is summarized at the beginning of the premiere. You want to see Pam gone and recast for 2 years in the reception position or do you just want a 10 second summary in the premiere episode in September?