Dear God, has The Office jumped the shark?!!!????!!??????!!!????? (spoilers ahead)
The Office
No more hour long episodes, pleeeeze! A little of a good thing goes a long way. Once again I thought last week’s expanded episode lacked comic spark. There were some gems, but there also seemed to be a lot of padding in between the good bits. While I loved Ryan “The Wunderkind” coming back and getting all corporate on Michael and the gang, I thought the second half with the gift baskets was a real stretch with little comic payoff. One of my favorite episodes last season followed the gang on their sales calls (remember Karen and Phyllis’ make-overs?) were we got to see that these people are actually good at what they do. Even Michael and Dwight made a good tag team. So the scene in the law office, where Dwight and Michael return to claim the gift basket and freak out over the turtles undid all that and seemed as desperate for laughs as they were for turtles.
And I hate myself for thinking this, but I had the dreaded feeling that The Office may have “jumped the shark” when Michael drove his car into the lake. The way that scene played, with Michael gripping the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at a road that ended in water as he floored the rental car forward, was too much. Michael is ridiculous, but he’s not blind. (Though I did like the navigation system saying “Make a u-turn if possible.”)
30 Rock
It’s back and in great form. Loved, loved Seinfeld-Vision, Jack’s over-the-top programming idea–so ridiculous it’s almost believable. Kenneth giggling uncontrolably whenever Seinfeld was around and the country only rich people know about. And the $4,000 wedding dress napkin. Tina Fey is a comedy god.
Cavemen
I caught the second half of last week’s episode and didn’t so much as crack a smile. I don’t get it. Granted, I was never charmed by the Geico advertising campaign that spawned this series, but I just don’t get why a boring relationship comedy is funny just because the dudes with girl troubles are extra hairy. I’d rather watch a comedy starring the Slowskys. (Actually, I’m kind of serious about that.)
2 Things @ Once 
I’ve never seen The Office and probably won’t until it goes into syndication. That’s how I see most tv shows– all at once, knowing what to expect.
But I’d like to see 30 Rock now and I keep forgetting that it exists. This post is a good reminder to me to at least remember to program it into the VCR– where I’ll probably forget to watch it, but I’ll be a step farther along the road to tv literacy!