Saturday, August 17, 2019

August 17

I spend a lot of time by myself, which means my faithful companion (other than my cats) is the TV. I have cycled through all of Seinfeld, dug through some of the vintage Friends seasons, seen every House episode multiple times (I still long for an alternate world where Big Love and Cutthroat Bitch end up on the second team .. alas), and will amuse myself with a classic Good Place episode in a pinch. 

My latest fixation is The Office. I watched it for a little while when it originally aired but I never quite "got" it - was it supposed to be HA HA funny or cringe-worthy funny? Sometimes it was not funny at all. Indeed, watching episodes in 2019, there are a lot of jokes and plot lines that would not cut it in today's climate. There is rampant sexual harassment, a lot of icky racial and ethnic jokes, and general lack of sensitivity that I do not think would fly. But underneath all that, there is this odd familial feeling at Dunder Mifflin. The show runs almost every day on Comedy Central. It takes about 2 weeks to get through all nine seasons. I've probably seen all or some of at least 175 episodes, maybe more. There are a few that really stand out - The Dinner Party, Business School, the mini arc of the Michael Scott Paper Company, Night Out, Cafe Disco, The Dundies, A Benihana Christmas, and Pool Party, all stand out to me. 

I really like Stanley (although the fire drill episode when he had a heart attack and the one when he asked Michael DID I STUTTER were no chill). Andy annoys the shit out of me. I feel like the show ran a season or two longer than it should have. The post Carrell seasons are uneven (at best) but they pretty much stuck the landing with the finale. Ryan was a weasel. The evolution of Pam, Dwight, and Jim's friendship was sweet. Pam and Jim set a relationship standard no humans in real life could ever meet. Dwight and Angela were oddly well paired (though I did like his little fling with Isabella). 

Follow me on Twitter - @scarylawyerguy 

No comments:

Post a Comment