Watching The Office

The sixth episode of The Office, which airs November 1st, sees the return of Karen Filippelli, Jim Halpert’s ex-girlfriend. The episode is written by Mindy Kaling, who plays Kelly on the show and Joss Whedon returns as director. Whedon first did Business School for The Office back in Season 3.

Episode Title: Branch Wars
Episode Summary: When Karen tries to woo Stanley away from Scranton, Michael fights back, dragging her ex, Jim, into his war. Meanwhile, the existence of a “Finer Things Club”; further disturbs Dunder Mifflin’s calm.

And here’s the promo video or TV spot for this episode, where you can watch how Michael rounds up Jim and Dwight, while all three are garbed in what looks like janitor clothes and mustache. The episode by the way, is the Halloween offering for this season:

Plus, an 8-minute preview, which was shown during last weekend’s Office Convention (the audio isn’t of best quality, though)

The Office, The Office episode preview, The Office Branch Wars, Joss Whedon

Early this year, news of a spin-off for the character of Dwight Schrute abuzzed on the interweb. That soon became a rumor and not a fact.  Will this latest news go the same way, too? For apparently, another spin-off of The Office is in the works, as it is exclusively reported by TV Guide.

Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that the Peacock is developing an episode of The Office that would introduce several new characters who would then be spun off into a new series à la Private Practice.

And of course, skepticism, especially from hard-core fans abound. I’m one of those not too thrilled with the idea simply because the show by itself is already a “spin-off” of the British version…How many more of this do we really need?

The planned spin-off is supposed to take someone who already has a “name” in the business….why not give whoever that person is a totally different, original show? 

And it is unclear to me whether or not the creative staff will also be working on the spin-off — would they be dividing writers and producers in between The Office and its spawn? More often than not, this only leads to one thing: Two shows with decent or less than impressive quality, as compared to one very, very good show.

Please rethink the spin-off.

The Office, The Office spin-off

Lines from Andy:

• Break me off a piece of that applesauce. Chrysler car. Football cream.
• Break me off a piece of that Grey Poupon.
• It’s gotta rhyme with “piece”… Fancy Feast! Break me off a piece of that Fancy Feast!

Angela: I find the mystery genre disgusting. I hate being titillated.

Darryl: What’s rap?

Lines from Dwight:

• “Angelaâ€? can stay the same, but we’ll change “Andyâ€? to “Dwight.â€?
•  I signed up for Second Life about a year ago. Back then, my life was so great, that I literally wanted a second one. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly.

Dwight: Second Life is not a game. It is a multi-user, virtual environment. It doesn’t have points or scores, it doesn’t have winners or losers.
Jim: Oh it has losers.

Jim: I think it’s great that the company’s making a commercial. Because not very many people have heard of us. I mean, when I tell people that I work at Dunder Mifflin, they think that we sell mufflers. Or muffins. Or mittens, or … and frankly, all of those sound better than paper, so … I let it slide.

Kevin: My nickname in high school used to be Kool-Aid Man.

Lines from Michael:

• Actually, I don’t get paid by the hour anymore, but thank you. I get paid by the year.
• Advertising is about big ideas. If you want to sell a can of Coke, you don’t just show a can of damn Coke. You show a baby picking flowers on the moon. And then people are like, woah, I’m thirsty. You know? It’s not rocket science.
• And thus, Michael Scott sealed his own destiny. In a good way.
• I can’t cook, and I am starting a restaurant. Mike’s Cereal Shack.
• I don’t hate it. I just don’t like it at all.
• I just drew a picture of a horse that could fly over rainbows and had a huge spike in its head. Five. Five years old. Couldn’t even talk yet.
• I would like you to meet Andrew Bernard. The Nard Dog. Who let the Nard Dog out.
• Oscar, I would like you to do costume design, obviously.
• Phyllis is like our Mrs. Butterworth. Kind of a less urban Aunt Jemima.
• Ryan is being a little bitch again.
• These are our accountants. And as you can see, they are very different sizes.
• This would be a huge coop, people.
• Welcome, one and all, to the world premiere of Corporate Crapfest! 07!
• You are so much more creative than all of the other dry boring morons that you work with.
• You need to learn a lot about your own culture. I’ll make you a mix.

Oscar: When I was younger, I always wanted to be an actor in commercials. Then I realized I had a brain.

For more of The Office Quotes, click this.
For a full recap of this episode, click this.

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Ratings Update: Ratings remain steady for The Office last Thursday as the show goes back to its half-hour offering. It still remains as the highest rating comedy on NBC.

1. “Grey’s Anatomy� (ABC) 17.95m
2. “World Series Game 2� (FOX) 15.64m
3. “CSI� (Repeat) (CBS) 14.76m
4. “Survivor: China� (CBS) 14.16m
5. “Without a Trace� (CBS) 12.75m
6. “Ugly Betty� (ABC) 9.84m
7. “ER� (NBC) 9.12m
8. “The Office� (NBC) 8.98m
9. “My Name is Earl� (NBC) 8.23m
10. “Big Shots� (ABC) 8.08m
11. “Scrubs� (Season Premiere) (NBC) 7.03m
12. “30 Rock� (NBC) 6.53m
13. “Smallville� (CW) 4.50m
14. “Supernatural� (CW) 3.27m

Steve in Real Life: Steve Carell’s Dan in Real Life opened last October 26 ranking #2 on its first day, according to Movie Web. The story is about an advice columnist named Dan Burns, who is coping as a single father. He meets a woman who he absolutely likes but she also happens to be his brother’s new girlfriend. The movie also stars Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook.

Steve was all over the press this week doing interviews and and appearances:

• Monday Night Football
• David Letterman
• The Early Show
• Ellen DeGeneres Show
• Regis and Kelly
• Interview on FreshAir (NPR)
• Chicago Sun-Times

The Office Convention: The biggest Office event took place over the weekend as The Office Convention kicks off what will hopefully be an annual gathering of fans. Of course, the cast were there to grace the event and join in the fun, too. Watch the videos from the convention via MSNBC. Or get the updates from OfficeTally, which reports that a Casino Night also took place at the convention.

Congratulations to the organizers for hosting a very successful event! I wish I were able to go. But that would mean a huge cost in plane fare in order for me to get there.

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Michael Scott and his crew get very creative this week, as The Office opens its very first half hour episode since the season premiere.

Michael is gathering ideas from his staff for the local TV ad Dunder Mifflin is making. Jim notes that having the ad would be good for the company since it is literally unknown in the area. But Dunder-Mifflin Corporate has hired a crew of advertising professionals to create the TV commercial and Michael simply did not like what the concept was.  So he tells the crew to leave Scranton. He calls the bigwigs in New York and tells them Scranton is coming up with their own production. But Ryan, his boss, tells him he’s not the creative type. Nonetheless, Michael proceeds with his plan.

Pam volunteers to do the logo, since she’s also learning computer animation. She stays up late at night working on it. Michael assigns the rest of the staff in task he thought they do best —

• Kelly is on make-up
• Oscar is in charge of costume, which appears to have offended Oscar since it’s such a gay stereotype
• Andy, Creed, Kevin with Kelly, sing the background vocals for the commercial jingle Darryl was composing. But Michael had to drop this due to a creative difference between him and Darryl, in that Michael hated it.
• Phyllis is task to go around Scranton and find a celebrity and one just happened to be in town. Mystery novelist Sue Grafton is at the local mall for a book signing event. So Michael instructs Phyllis to get Sue Grafton for the ad and to persist in asking. Moments later, Phyllis comes back from the mall and she’s sobbing. The mall guards apparently threw her out when she refused to take a no from Sue.

Anyhow, Michael stays at the office overnight, along with Dwight and Pam, and did some editing work. And at crunch time, the crew from Scranton was able to finish something Michael emails this to Corporate. Ten days later, we learn that it was rejected as Michael heads to Poor Richards bar where everyone was, to watch the actual commercial. It was the very same one that the ad professionals showed Michael before. It was decent but typical of any office supply commercial you must have already seen. Jim then presents to everyone the ad they made, which corporate rejected and calls it the “Michael Scott Director’s Cut”. To be truthful about it, it was way better than the original, inspite the cheesy music. Everyone in the gang seemed to love it, too. And even if it wasn’t the one running on local TV, Michael sure was proud of their efforts and bought everyone a round of drinks (apparently, he doesn’t have money problems now?).

Other moments to note:

• Dwight has been a Second Life Player for over a year now. His avatar in the virtual reality game is an exact replica of him. Except that, Dwight on Second Life is able to fly. Jim also created a character on Second Life, who Pam calls Philly Jim, the guitar playing bad-ass sports writer from Philadelphia. Philly Jim’s mission is to spy on Dwight.
• Andy has been trying to get more intimate with Angela and seeks the advice of Dwight, not realizing his past relationship with her. Dwight was of course not happy to learn of this but when Andy told him that while they were kissing, Angela spoke, “Oh, D!â€?. Andy thought it was short for Andy. But Dwight saw a glimmer of hope since D is what Angela calls him.
• Andy sings snippets of a commercial jingle and couldn’t exactly place what product it was (KitKat).
• Angela isn’t thrilled about being titillated.
• Kevin in high school was called the Kool-Aid man, and has the face for it.
• To Jim’s friends Dunder Mifflin is a muffler, muffin or mittens company.
• Darryl can sing.

All in all, it’s one good episode with all the good stuff The Office is known for.

Here’s the ad the gang from Scranton made:

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During last Thursday’s episode, Money, the whole Office ensemble launched a debate that, to me, showed how effective this group is. It was simply a spontaneously funny moment. Everyone in the room had something to say that wasn’t necessarily the punchline (my favorite was from Kelly —“Ryan used me as an object.”), but it was undoubtedly one of the funniest scenes from the show.

When it all came together, it was perfection. When the whole cast is in one scene together, what do you expect to get? Comedy Gold!

But to address this whole whoever/whomever debate, Literal Minded, picks it out and explains the usage for us, quite technically.

As might have been guessed by my choice of whoever or whomever, the rule in Standard English is that the embedded clause wins. Thus, it doesn’t matter that whoever did this is the direct object of the matrix clause; all that matters is that whoever is the subject of did. It doesn’t matter that whomever Tom invites is the subject of the matrix clause; all that matters is that whomever is the direct object of invites. In some languages, though, sentences like these would be a problem. In German, for instance, you simply can’t use fused relatives unless the who(m)ever equivalent serves the same function in both matrix and embedded clauses, like in the earlier two examples.

And in the process of reading through that, the technical explanation sounded like Creed was right the whole time, when he said, “It’s a made up word used to trick college students!”

Ryan: What I really want honestly, Michael is for you to know it so you can communicate it to the people here, to your clients, to whomever.

Michael: Oh, okay

Ryan: What?

Michael: It’s whoever, not whomever.

Ryan: No, it’s whomever

Michael: No…whomever is never actually right.

Jim: Well, sometimes it’s right.

Creed: Michael is right. It’s a made-up word used to trick students.

Andy: No. Actually, whomever is the formal version of the word.

Oscar: Obviously, it’s a real word, but I don’t know when to use it correctly.

Michael (talking to the camera): Not a native speaker.

Kevin: I know what’s right, but I’m not gonna say because you’re all jerks who didn’t come see my band last night.

Ryan: Do you really know which one is correct?

Kevin: I don’t know.

Pam: It’s whom when it’s the object of the sentence and who when it’s the subject.

Phyllis: That sounds right.

Michael: Well, it sounds right, but is it?

Stanley: How did Ryan use it, as an object?

Ryan: As an object.

Kelly: Ryan used me as an object.

Stanley: Is he right about that?

Pam: How did he use it again?

Toby: It was…Ryan wanted Michael, the subject, to, uh explain the computer system, the subject–

Michael: Yes!

Toby: –to whomever, meaning us, the indirect object…which is the correct usage of the word.

Michael: No one asked you anything, ever, so whomever’s name is Toby, why don’t you take a letter opener and stick it into your skull?

Here’s the actual video:

The Office, The Office episode, The Office Money, The Office Whoever Whomever, The Office ensemble

And we’re back to the 30 minute episodes for The Office this week! I previously wasn’t too thrilled about the extended or supersized episodes, so I’m looking forward to this one.

Airing October 25th, the newest episode is entitled ”Local Ad”.

And it carries the following synopsis:

When the Scranton branch is asked to participate in a Dunder Mifflin ad, Michael seizes his chance to exhibit his creativity.

Which means, more of those ”Michael Scott Joint” videos, huh?

Meanwhile, Dwight explores the online world of Second Life.

Alright, I won’t pretend to know what Second Life is, as I honestly don’t. My online activities are so far limited to watching TV series and keeping my blogs up to date. So,  I went ahead and googled for more information and evidently it’s a very popular social networking service/virtual reality game that began in 2003 and now has some 10 Million users. Alright, that’s not exactly my cup of tea, but it looks like an interesting playground.

But I definitely could not imagine that it is something Dwight could get into because, let’s face it, he’s one of the less sociable characters we know.

So, what is Dwight doing on Second Life? Is this his way of getting over Angela? Is he trying to hook up online? Or maybe he’s conquering the world of DunMiff/Sys which he has, so far, outsold and outperformed at Dunder Mifflin.

Promos for Local Ad is up at Youtube, and you can view them here and here. If you’re looking for photos, there are tons posted on this website.

Local Ad is the first 30-minute episode of the season and showtime is at 9 PM.

By the way, last week’s episode, Money, drew very divided opinions from fans of the show. Has the show been going in the wrong direction? Slate Magazine outlines what could be wrong with The Office today:

NBC finally has a hit on its hands, but now the network is giving the audience too much of what it wants—Jim and Pam together, Michael acting infantile, Dwight killing innocent animals, Ryan being a villain. It’s true that the hourlong episodes make the problems we’ve enumerated seem more glaring. But they’re problems all the same. Will the show return to form next week when it goes back to the half-hour format? That would be awesome.

Suffice to say, tomorrow night is going to be the real test, now that the show returns to its 30-minute format. But is anyone actually expecting perfection from this show?

The Office, The Office Local Ad, The Office episode guide, The Office episode preview, Second Life, Slate Magazine

Ryan: I really want people there using Powerpoint.

Dwight: No, I’m sorry no king beds. No queen either. Well, we make our own mattresses but don’t conform to the traditional sizes.

Dwight: Agrotourism is more than a bed and breakfast. It consist of tourist coming to a farm, showing them around, giving them a bed, giving them breakfast.

Dwight: TripAdvisor is the lifeblood of the agrotourism industry.

Dwight: Perhaps you’ll be interested in a Moses table-making demonstation?

Jan: Why don’t you just pretend that you have a car?

Kevin: It is so important that you all come and applaud only for my band Scantonicity 2. Not Scrantonicity, which I am no longer a part of.

Michael: I just love sales. I love it to death and I don’t get to do it as a manager, so I took this second job…kind of a hobby. Some people have golf, so…

Michael: His meetings are useless…. (referring to his boss at his second job)

Dwight: As of this morning, we are completely wireless here at Schrute Farms but as soon as I find out where Mose hid the wires, we’ll get that power back on.

Stanley: When I’m at home at night, in my own house, in my sweats, drinking some red wine, watching my mystery stories, the last thing in the whole god-forsaken world I want to hear is the voice of Michael Scott.

Michael: Medical school must have cost, like, $40 or a donkey or something?

Michael: I would have been chief of surgery. Or a cowboy.

Pam: Oh my god, what century is this?!

Jim: I heard crying or moaning in here.
Dwight: Oh, I’ll look that up in the morning. Thank you for bringing that to the attention of the staff.

Michael: Yes, I forgot about Ryan’s presentation. And yes it would have been nice to do well in the first presentation he had given me. But you know what else would have been nice? Winning the lottery.

Creed: He is right. It’s a made up word used to trick college students.
Andy: Actually whomever is the formal version of the word.
Kelly: Ryan used me as an object.
Michael: No one asked you anything ever…so whomever’s name is Toby, why don’t you take a letter opener and stick it in your skull.

Darryl: You need to access your uncrazy side.

Darryl: It’s like she only wants to hook up when Ryan comes around. It’s gotten to the point where I get all excited everytime I see that little dude walk through the door.

Andy: I’ve moonwalked past Accounting like ten times.

Michael: I’m out of answers, Jan.

Jan: My whole family still won’t talk to me on the advise of counsel. What I’m trying to say is, Michael, you were there for me.

For more of The Office Quotes, click this.
For a full recap of this episode, click this.

The Office, The Office Quotes, The Office Money Quotes

Ratings Update: The Office’s rating remains steady and stays solid in it’s key demo. Overall ranking’s for shows that aired last Thursday night:

1. “CSI� (CBS) 20.80m
2. “Grey’s Anatomy� (ABC) 17.67m
3. “Survivor: China� (CBS) 13.92m
4. “ALCS Game 5� (FOX) (8:30-11) 12.81m
5. “ER� (NBC) 10.01m
6. “Ugly Betty� (ABC) 9.67m
7. “Viva Laughlin� (Series Premiere) (CBS) 8.83m
8. “The Office� (NBC) 8.50m
9. “Big Shots� (ABC) 8.34m
10. “My Name is Earl� (NBC) 7.26m
11. “30 Rock� (NBC) 6.27m
12. “Smallville� (CW) 5.06m
13. “Supernatural� (CW) 3.06m

The Office in the News:

Rolling Stone Magazine picks out The 25 Greatest Moments from The Office. Among their choices is the episode Product Recall from Season 3, where Jim mocks Dwight by dressing up like him, as seen in this video. Incidentally, John Krisinski just celebrated his birthday last Saturday.

Waterloo Chronicle (Canada) has a feature on Melora Hardin, who plays Jan. And she tells them what we should expect from her character:

“They’ll get to see Jan trying to be the best housewife she can be, but she’s just not cut out for it. I think with them, it will be revealed what their love is about, and that there are so many dimensions to their love.”

BJ Novak, who plays Ryan, is also featured in this month’s issue of Z!NK magazine. He’s got some great photos in there. But personally, he’s looking a bit like Elliot Yamin of American Idol.

Check this website if you will. It’s from the Launch Party episode…is it by chance a real website or fan-made or something done to tie in the show? Because it’s competing pizza place has a website that seems pretty legit.

And finally, rounding up our Office-related news this Monday… Blog Updates:

Angela

Things I’ve observed and or done on set in the last few days…
*Ed playing the Banjo.
*Brian’s cute green sneakers. (He’s very fashionable.)
*A little spoiler…lots and lots of cake on set!!!
*Oscar watching bullfighting at his desk with a gaggle of crew guys around him ooohing and aaahing.
*Creed dancing.
*Me, Steve and Jenna hanging out at front reception and chatting.
*Getting a hug from Paul Feig in the morning and at the end of day. He is delightful and such a great director to work with. A little trivia on Paul Feig…he always wears a suit and tie. Last year in his honor on his last day of filming we had “tie day” and all of the crew wore ties.

Kevin

THE OFFICE. The last of the one hour shows is tomorrow night. Let’s make it a big one. (Again, she said.) We will be on from 9- 10pm, and 8-9pm in the central. It should make you laugh. And cry. OK, maybe not cry. I will leave the crying to the folks at Grey’s Anatomy. BTW- Is it really fair to call something ANATOMY in the title, and then never show any anatomy. Maybe we should file a lawsuit about false advertising. If there was real anatomy shown, then maybe I would actually watch it. OK, you are right…. no i wouldn’t.

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Last night’s episode of The Office reminded me of the British version’s treatment. Sure, there was hardly a scene that was extra funny…in fact, it was a slightly dramatic episode; and yet, I would have to say that Money easily slides into one of this show’s best, for three reasons: 1) it had heart, 2) it allowed viewers to be more sympathetic to the characters, and 3) the camera direction is so raw, it stays true to how the show originally tells the story.

As the episode opens, we find Michael in his office with Jan, going over some swatches for Michael’s apartment. Jan is currently doing a project — she’s redecorating his place and keeping herself busy now that she’s jobless.  But Michael admits his cashflow isn’t well-funded. So Jan’s project becomes a big problem for him.  They’ve both already given up one of two cars (kept the Porsche, of course) so sometimes one of them has to walk or commute to wherever they have to go.   While discussing the money situation with Jan,  they are interrupted by Ryan’s call reminding Michael about a presentation he’s supposed to have already done on Powerpoint. Ryan’s voice is very firm. He rrreally wants everyone  to use the program for their presentations.

Outside Michael’s office, Dwight receives a different kind of sales call. Someone is inquiring about accommodations at Schrute Farms, Dwight’s Bed and Breakfast establishment. Jim overhears the conversation and becomes very curious . Pam immediately makes a reservation for two at Schrute Farms. They are to drive to Schrute Farms (aka the Beets Motel) later.  And this will actually be the couple’s first ”romantic getaway”.

(more…)

As soon as I learned from reading spoilers that the Dwangela Romance will hit a bump in the very first episode, it immediately occurred to me that Andy might just easily scoop into the picture. I stopped reading any spoilers after episode one but to my surprise and delight, last week’s Launch Party showed exactly what I was thinking — Andy makes his move on Angela….and I couldn’t be any happier.

I mean, I love Dwight and I’m sorry to see him so heart broken over the break-up. And I also love Dwangela. But what we have now is the spice that will keep Season 4 of The Office so much more interesting. This definitively bizarre love triangle will be something we’ll all want to see develop. And I say its bizarre because the three of them have such strong and distinct personalities, their relationship dynamics is quite an odd-mix. I’m sure that writing and playing their characters poses a welcome challenge for the people behind Dwight, Angela and Andy.

Anyway, last week’s scene with Andy serenading Angela wasn’t exactly like a Say Anything moment, but I think a lot of viewers (guys and ladies all) were encouraged by Andy’s wooing. You sort of expected something like this from a character like Andy. And you sort of expected Angela’s reaction (she pretended to be unaffected…but keeps a smile to herself). But what makes this scene perfect? It’s in the delivery, baby.

Here’s that scene again:

Anyone coined a name for the Andy and Angela coupling to rival “Dwangela” yet?

The Office, Dwangela, Angela Martin, Dwight Schrute, Andy Bernard

This week’s episode on The Office features Michael declaring bankruptcy in a less than normal fashion — by shouting “Bankruptcyyyyy!” out for everyone to hear.

Click on the image to be directed to the video

The video is a combination of three shows (My Name is Earl, 30 Rock and The Office) so the previews for each are a bit short, there’s nothing much to actually be very excited about yet. But these pictures of PB & J perhaps will.  

And just to remind you of what The Office will be about this Thursday, here’s the summary:

Episode Title: Money
Episode Summary: As Jan renovates the condo, Michael confronts his growing debt every way he can, which includes pressuring his employees for a loan. Pam and Jim spend a night out on Dwight’s family farm, now a bed and breakfast.

The Office, The Office episode preview, The Office Money, The Office Michael Scott, The Office Pam, The Office Jim, The Office Pam and Jim

The Scranton Convention is definitely moving along. In our last entry, it has not been confirmed which of the writers or actors are coming to the event. But last week, Kate Flannery, who plays Meredith on the show, confirms quite a handful of them are joining the convention. Expected to grace the festitivies are Oscar (Oscar Nunez), Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), Creed (Creed Bratton), Angela (Angela Kinsey), Kelly (Mindy Kaling), Toby (Paul Lieberstein), Bob Vance (Bobby Rae Shafer), Darryl (Craig Robinson) and executive producer Greg Daniels.

The Office Scranton Convention will be held on October 26 to 28 at Scranton, Pennsylvania. This is the very first big gathering of The Office fans across America.

For more information on the convention, visit the official website.

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Michael: Well, the website is the brainchild of my brainchild, Ryan. It is my brain-grandchild.

Michael: We’ll be partying with New York City’s finest. And I do not mean the policemen.

Ryan: I don’t wanna reinvent the wheel here, but it is what it is. Buying paper just became fun!

Pam: Dwight mercy-killed Angela’s cat. It’s very complicated. It has caused a lot of unpleasantness between Dwight and Angela. Who are both already prone to unpleasantness.

Andy: I can’t tell if he’s mocking me.
Dwight: Just ignore him
Andy: I can’t do that. It is hard for me to let things go.
Jim: I was mocking you.

Kevin: Isn’t 7 PM a little late for a lunch party?

Phyllis: Angela’s worse than usual lately and we have a party to throw. So, I googled “How to deal with difficult people” and got all of these (shows her print-outs). So, we’re gonna try something new today.

Dwight: Three reams! Yeah! In your face, machine!

Dwight: It appears that the website has become alive.

Dwight: I have been salesman of the month 13 out of the last 12 months. Yeah, you heard me. I did so well last February, that corporate gave me 2 plaques in lieu of a pay raise.

Oscar: Is this why I’m here??
- To Michael, who needed the ladies’ style sense on an outfit he plans to wear to the party

Michael: Do I have your permission to date Carol?
Jan (on the phone): No!
Michael: Alright, I’ll find somebody I haven’t slept with

Michael: You know what this is like? This is like when a freshman would throw a party and would not let the seniors go!

Angela: How do you tell someone that it’s over? You send them a notarized letter, right? Well, what if the recepient is your notary?

Michael: I wasn’t as important as I thought I was to young executive. I’m not gonna cry over it. I did that in the car, on the way home.

Michael: I want it to be a party where they watch it on the webcam and the guys in New York would say, “Wow, how did they get Al Roker to come?”

Dwight: I think it’s inappropriate to date someone you work with
Andy: Isn’t that part of the fun?
Dwight: I think you should date Kelly.
Andy: She works here, too. How is that any different?
Dwight: Uh, she works in the annex. You are also welcome to date Toby.

Dwight (pretending to be Ryan): I started a fire!
Michael (pretending to be Ryan): Now I got a beard!

For more of The Office Quotes, click this.
For a full recap of this episode, click this.

The Office, The Office Quotes, The Office Launch Party Quotes

Ratings for the episode, Launch Party: In spite my personal opinion towards last week’s episode (and I find I was not alone in feeling it had a few misses), The Office is still picking up steam and is still rating high with its key demographics, the 18-49 year old viewers.  As  the 9 PM slot seems to be the most crucial battle ground on Thursday nights, the show managed to pull 8.91 Million viewers with a +4.95%  increase from last week.

Not bad. Not bad at all!

Thursday, Oct. 11 Rating:
1. “CSI� (CBS) 19.63m
2. “Grey’s Anatomy� (ABC) 18.65m
3. “Survivor: China� (CBS) 14.00m
4. “Without a Trace� (CBS) 13.63m
5. “Ugly Betty� (ABC) 10.35m
6. “Big Shots� (ABC) 9.26m
7. “The Office� (NBC) 8.91m
8. “ER� (NBC) 8.41m
9. “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?� (FOX) 8.16m
10. “My Name is Earl� (NBC) 7.74m
11. “30 Rock� (NBC) 6.61m
12. “Don’t Forget the Lyrics� (FOX) 5.60m
13. “Smallville� (CW) 4.75m
14. “Supernatural� (CW) 3.23m

The Office in the News
Because….everybody’s getting busy!

• PB&J gets a jeer from this TV Guide post.
• Rolling Stones has an article featuring the writers of the show.
• There is also a lovely feature on Phyllis from the St. Louis Magazine
• NY Post interviews John Krasinski, while Backstage.Com talks to Oscar Nunez; and Creed engages The Scranton Times Tribune
• And it looks like several of the actors are getting a pay increase this season.
• NY Times thinks Michael and Jan are wrong for each other, but right for the show.

And finally, deleted scenes from the Launch Party is already on NBC.

The Office, The Office ratings, The Office Launch Party, John Krasinski, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Branton