"No More S'mores"

Thursday night's episode, "Survivor Man," was full of Michael not being as awesome as he thinks he is. First off, you find out there was a special camping trip that Ryan put together where Michael wasn't invited. You find this out from 4 or 5 different interviews. The best part is, Toby was. This has been the first episode in which I have actually laughed at Toby's jokes. The incredibly corny "no more s'mores" was definitely his best line. After Michael hears he wasn't invited, he decides to come up with a ridiculous idea to 1-up Toby and Ryan's weekend. Michael is inspired by Survivorman, and decides he will go and be dropped in the woods of Scranton and then have to fend for himself. Jim declines the invite since today was his day to donate blood. Also, there may be some asbestos in the office.

Now Michael needs to things to survive in the wild: duct tape and a knife. This is when Dwight really shines with his office knife collection. I especially liked his dart blow gun from the bathroom. Not that Michael and Dwight are ready to go, Michael puts Jim in charge and tells Pam he is taking a personal day for the next day or two. During the car ride, Michael blindfolds himself, and Dwight proceeds to hit him with his shoe in order to knock him out. Genius.

Back at the office, it is Creed's birthday. Of course, Angela is planning and Jim has to deal with her. Jim is not a big fan of the whole birthday celebration, so he decides to group all the November birthdays into one day. Angela is not ok with that. And surprisingly, neither is the rest of the office. For the first time, Jim has to deal with the office like as if he is the boss, and everyone treats him like the boss. After the peach cobbler and fudgey the whale cake requests, and an additional birthday request from Toby, Jim is annoyed with what is taking place. This is when Phyllis calls him Michael, which causes Jim to really look at his life. Is Jim going to be the new Michael?

Back to the jungle. or forest. Michael cuts his pants into shorts, then realizes its cold, and proceeds to duct tape his pants back together. Only Michael. Dwight, concerned for Michaels safety, stays close behind Michael. My favorite quote of the episode is when Dwight is talking about watching Michael explaining, "I will let him die, but I will not let him lose his dignity." Classic Dwight. This is also followed by some more classic Dwight when he takes a bird's nest from a tree, and steals the eggs for lunch. At this point, Michael's pants are now a shelter, and it's time to look for some food. Of course, he decides to eat mushrooms, where a intense Dwight sprints towards him from across the woods, tackles him, and rips the mushrooms out of his mouth. A normal day in the life of Dwight.

Jim has finally decided to celebrate just Creed's birthday, and Michael and Dwight return just in time for Michael to sign the high harmony for "Happy Birthday." He then tells Creed to skip around the room, in which Creed does some sweet Irish-type jig for a bit. Everyone is happy again. Andy has his fudgey the whale, Jim and Pam share a fun moment together showing they're still happy, and Michael is decked out in Dwight's Battlestar Galactica sweatshirt. The final scene is Jim and Michael talking about the whole birthday fiasco, where Michael tells Jim he made a rookie mistake trying to put the birthdays together. Then Jim proceeds to make a "thats what she said joke." This heartfelt moment made Jim realize that Michael is not necessarily a bad guy, he is just the boss so he basically has to be hated. It also makes Jim realize he needs to do something with his life.

Sadly, next weeks episode could be the last episode for a long time. It's the last episode written before the writers strike, so I really need to decide how I'm going to spend the rest of my Thursday nights. Jan decides to sue Dunder Mifflin, and an epic ping pong game takes place between Jim and Darryl. Savor it, people. Savor it.

The WGA Is On Strike

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike, which is pretty big news. The strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTT) has caused many writers and produces to put down their pens and pick up a sign. More than 50 shows have had their staff picketing at one point over the last two days. The notables include The Office, Lost, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and CSI. For the most part, this strike affects all shows besides reality shows, whose writers are not part of the WGA.

The reason the WGA is on strike is fairly legitimate. With all the new media today shows are available in so many more places. DVD seasons now are available for almost every primetime TV show, even if it is The Rules of Engagement. Also, the 4 major networks offer select shows on their websites for viewers to watch, for free! This is a great new development for the people who have that meeting every Monday at 9 and always miss Heroes. The WGA believes that with these new opportunities for shows to be viewed should give them a higher salary. Since there work can now be viewed in many more places, they should be paid for more than just their work on the TV. Until this problem is resolved, there won't be writing anytime soon.

While this may not seem like a big deal to some avid TV viewers, the big problem could occur in 2008. The Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America both have contracts expiring. If these contracts aren't renewed, then all actors, directors, and writers in these guilds would be on strike. There would literally be no more movies or shows. That would be just too up setting. I am already upset enough that The Office production has closed down, I would not know what to do if it was gone forever. I think the writers deserve support, and they should keep fighting.

The Office Kind of Disappointed me Last Night

So I was pretty pumped for The Office last night. The hour long half-good episodes were a thing of the past, and I loved last weeks episode (break me off a piece of that applesauce and 'limitless paper in a paperless' world, genius). I sat down to this episode with high expectations.

Those expectations didn't really come through for me.

The episode starts off with Michael pulling a Ferris Bueler, which I found funny because Michael would rather have people think he is sleeping in his office instead of out. Another enjoyable pre-theme song scene. Then i just feel like it sort of went downhill from there.

Karen wants Stanley in Utica where she is the new Branch Manager, and Michael cannot let this happen. He decides to pull some pranks on the Utica branch after unsuccessfully trying to win over Utica's top salesman. Of course, Dwight is ready to go with Michael, and they con Jim along telling him they're on a sales call. Jim's reaction when he finds out they're going to Utica is priceless.

Meanwhile, Pam, Oscar, and Toby create a 'Finer Things Club' where they just sort of hang around and dress up. I felt this whole storyline was filled with forced humor. Andy showing up with the book before he is shot down by Pam, Kevin getting a snack from the vending machine, and Phillis using the microwave in the break room to make popcorn because the other one smelled like popcorn. Creed could have made a humorous appearance sometime during the scene, but he was non-existent during this episode. The same goes for Kelly, Angela, and Merideth.

Back to Utica. Now Jim, Michael, and Dwight are decked out in mustaches and warehouse suits. I must say the shot of the three of them wearing mustaches brought laughs. Then that was followed by Dwight peeing into a can, where he proceeds to scream out: "I think I cut my penis on the lid." I'm glad Dwight is back to being the ridiculous person that he is and not moping over Angela. They arrive at the branch, and Jim refuses to go in. This then creates a "The Injury"-esque walkie talkie conversation with Michael and Dwight and how they are stealing an industrial copier until you hear a smash.

This is when Karen enters the picture and talks to Jim for the first time since they've broken up. It's awkward of course. Karen then yells at the three and tells them Stanley is hers. Jim then is awesome and indirectly (or maybe purposely) makes Karen upset. Great point of the episode.

When everything comes to the end, Stanley was just bluffing for a raise and doesn't take the job. Does this mean he actually likes it at Scranton? Michael's whole mission was unnecessary , and the episode ends with nothing new and everything the same as it was when the episode started. Although it did get its laughs (which The Office always does), it went absolutely nowhere.

I am already anticipating next week's episode, "Survivor Man," where Michael tries to survive in the woods with nothing more than what he is wearing, while Jim works on an awesome birthday party back at the office.