Shark Bytes

I know I am in the minority on this... but I actually have pretty high hopes for season 5.

I was one of those people who thought season 4 was just getting on a roll when the strike hit. [In fact, one of my all-time top 5 shows was in season 4: "Branch Wars"].

Don't get me wrong... there are LOTS of problems. The writers really ruined a good thing between Michael and Jan when they made the "Dinner party" episode [my personal vote for Series' worst show.] It made no sense to have that tear-jerking bonding between M & J in the "Money" episode, only to break it all down in a very un-funny NIGHT OF THE IGUANA satire. Seriously, what were they thinking??

And you folks are right about all the sexual intrigue... it truly is unrealistic. We've all seen this stuff at work in real life, but DM-Scranton is an office where the ENTIRE worforce is about 12 people... lol. It's truly a desperate measure for the writers to just hook up everybody like this!

Still...

The talent is SO good we all keep watching. You know it's true... lol. That says a lot right there. I like the new HR lady; best addition since Andy Bernard. Ryan sort of had to come back... he's in the opening credits. LOL Toby is not that great of a loss to me... I only loved his interaction with Michael, which could be downright fascinating... very interesting conflict there, FULL of possibilities for embellishment. I have a strong feeling Toby will return but not regularly, which to my mind would be about perfect. Jim and Pam need to stay cute, I guess, but we need some more hotties in that office! I was also one of the weird people who LOVED Karen. That actress was smokin' and her comedic timing was excellent. The Dwight and Angela arc has me interested at least, unlike the terrible Kelly and Darrel hook-up... that thing SO needs to go away quietly.

Again, high hopes. OFFICE is still my favorite current TV show.

What Mattew Harris said, word by word.

I agree, I'm an avid fan of the office but season 4 was trash to me. They totally dropped the subtle social interactions that defined the series and started trying way too hard to be over the top. I thought seasons 1 - 3 were all hilarious but the only episode that seemed to capture the original appeal since then is "Did I Stutter?"

...as much as i think the nbc version is fine in it's own right but straying badly since last year...the bbc version always stayed in the humor and awkwardness of "real life" and the quirks of people...the problem with doing too many episodes is you have to grasp for story lines to fill time even if they are unrealistic and then probably not as funny...

...they should not do hour long shows…forced and drawn out...stop with the hour long episodes...for this show to work like the bbc version did so well you must believe that this stuff can actually happen...this humor has to be based in the reality of the moments...there is a reason they only did 13 episodes...a beginning middle and end...nbc will run into the ground and hence jump the shark...so many jump the shark moments last season like michael driving car into lake cause the gps told him to...ok then...

....and no i did not want to see a copycat version of the bbc version...i am glad they went in their own direction...i view them as two different shows.....but the nbc version could stay true to the ricky gervais bbc vision of "the unending drudgery that is the workplace and poke fun at it, not invent implausible scenarios that would not ever happen in real life..."

"...would like to see the office find the humor in the simplest of things... there doesn't have to be anything exciting and defining happen every episode..."

...staying away from any gimmicky broad sitcom stereotypes..."

...this is when the show is at it's best...

for example...look what they've done to dwight...spraying raid on peoples food?
kicking a cake all over?...just doing outright mean things...not the quirky innocent things of earlier episodes...

...yes it is a supposed fake documentary but what makes it the best is when it could "really" happen...too much of the show has become it would probably never happen...think of last years finale...phyllis was told in the morning to get stuff together for toby's going away party that afternoon...and in just a few hours the whole parking lot was transformed into a small amusement park
with even a ferris wheel, live etc...a simple mention of phyllis has been working on this for a week(s) or whatever would have worked but nope...

...if this show continues they should probably wrap up the documentary crew and just transform into a regular sitcom...

Weird, I always thought "mock" umentries were supposed to be funny. That eliminates any new episode of the Office from falling into that catagory. Maybe if they called it a lameomentry or a suckballsumentry.

It's a mockumentary people.

Don't take it so seriously. Michael said he'd give the temp agency anything if they'd let him hire Ryan again.

Obviously it wouldn't happen in real life.

Obviously it wouldn't take 5 years to make a documentary about a small paper company.

Painful. That is my only reaction to watching what has become of this show. I guess the Brits got it right and didn't let the show linger. There is not a single character on the show that I remotely connect to now or consider endearing. I liked Michael and Creed for a long time but everyone is playing for the camera way too much. The show was much better when they didn't. Let me get this straight - now Ryan is the receptionist. Who writes this stuff, whoops, I forgot BJ Novak does. Painful and sad. This show jumped the shark long ago.

Why would the camera follow Jim when he goes to visit Pam in NY? They need to drop the documentary aspect of the show. A documentary about a small, insignificant paper company branch would not take 5 years to tape.

Also, does anyone else find Jim extremely annoying? Has anyone noticed that other than Pam he has zero friends? He just hangs out all day acting like he's better than everyone else.

I watch the crapfest first episode of the 5th season last night. This show was great during the first two point five seasons, but now it's gotten all Knots Landing & stupid. If any one of these characters put as much effort into work as they do into have "crazy" affairs, someone from that office would own Dunder Mifflin by now. Jim & Pam make me throw up in my mouth everytime I see them now. What used to be a sweet relationship has turned into an obnoxious show of two egotistical losers that can't make time for anyone else because they're too busy being "cool & in love". Pam couldn't even say goodbye to Michael without rolling her dead eyes & trying to drive off in the car??? The straight hair doesn't seem to do anything for her horrible selfish personality. And I refuse to even mention the sleep inducing boredom that is Angela/Dwight/guy from the Daily Show 2 years ago.

Having said all that, I realized what actually made it jump the shark were all the new faces shoved down the watchers throat every couple of episodes. I'm tired of watching new people flow in & out of the office. The new receptionist, the new HR lady, Karen & the stamford branch... jeesh. I work in an office that has a pretty high turnover rate & we don't have new people every 3 days. The Scranton office is supposed to be a small time office in a small town - where are all these people coming from??? Once you needed a flowchart to figure out who's who & who's new love interest they were supposed to be, the show jumped.

The new season greatly improved on the last- it seems the writers and directors have got it back on the original premise of a show within a documentary- but they continue to grasp at that straw when it just would not make any sense for the cameras to be there. Why bring Ryan back- he was always the weak link... The loading dock guy has gotten large- is this due to rehab or too much pot and munchies? No intro on Dwight and Angela's slut cheating- it just happened. Dwight is still too over the top, although they seemed to bring Michael a little more down to earth with the new HR lady.

If you are a die-hard dry-humored Office fan then you will know that it never jumped the shark and as long as people are interested in Jim and Pam and Dwight and Angela and Stanley and Ryan and Andy and everyone, then it never will.
Season 5 episode 1 was perfect.
I can't wait for more.

How is Season 4 not an option? Because that's definitely when it jumped. Season one was alright, Season 2 was absolutely classic, Season 3 was great but maybe pushing it a tiiiiny bit, and then Season 4 was over the top and over the shark. I just finished watching the season premiere of Season 5 tonight and I can't say I have high hopes for this one bringing it back, either...ah well.

Season 4 was a mess. The destruction of Jan is emblematic of what went wrong here. Taking a subtle, fascinating character and hamfistedly (word?) turning her into an over the top psychobitch for "laughs" parallels what went wrong with season 4. No subtlety, just straight for easy laughs and pathos and to hell with the funny, yet complex network of complex characters that had evolved in the first 3 season. Fix Jan. Fix the show.

What the hell? Season 4 isn't an option? But it's so clear-cut! Season 4 was garbage, Season 3 was passable.

The problem with the show, as TV Guide noticed, is that it's technically a documentary. And after four seasons, shouldn't they have enough footage already? There are more than enough ideas about the modern office to keep them going, but from a story standpoint, the show should really be over. Maybe that's why the British version only did two seasons.