SOMETIMES I WATCH THE TEE VEE
So I have been enjoying the S3 DVD of The Office -- including the deleted scenes, which, unlike most shows' deleted scenes, are extremely funny -- while dreading every preview I read of S4. Each one I've seen indicates that they will be focusing more on Steve Carrell and less on the ensemble cast.
This is a big, big mistake.
Carrell is (aside from the interminable Jim/Pam stuff) the weakest part of the show. I'm not a Carrell hater or anything, it's just that he's fulfilling a role that was done better in the British version and which can't, alone, carry the show. The strength of the US version of The Office -- the thing that sets it apart and above the UK version -- is the focus on the ensemble cast, the development of the peripheral characters. It's always better when it does this, and always worse when it sticks to showing Carrell being clueless and smarmy. I know why they're doing it (it's because of his increasingly high profile on the big screen), but I think it's going to be a major misstep. Michael Scott isn't the power of the show. Toby, Creed, Kelly and the peripheral characters are. I hope the previews are overstating the case, but if not, S3 might end up being the last good season as well as the best season.
We'll see.
"I'm sorry. Phyllis didn't mention your promiscuity."
This is a big, big mistake.
Carrell is (aside from the interminable Jim/Pam stuff) the weakest part of the show. I'm not a Carrell hater or anything, it's just that he's fulfilling a role that was done better in the British version and which can't, alone, carry the show. The strength of the US version of The Office -- the thing that sets it apart and above the UK version -- is the focus on the ensemble cast, the development of the peripheral characters. It's always better when it does this, and always worse when it sticks to showing Carrell being clueless and smarmy. I know why they're doing it (it's because of his increasingly high profile on the big screen), but I think it's going to be a major misstep. Michael Scott isn't the power of the show. Toby, Creed, Kelly and the peripheral characters are. I hope the previews are overstating the case, but if not, S3 might end up being the last good season as well as the best season.
We'll see.
"I'm sorry. Phyllis didn't mention your promiscuity."