The Office used to put on good holiday episodes

=The Office used to put on good holiday episodes=

by Aryeh S.

==Season two when corporate’s demand that Michael fire an employee ruins Halloween … season seven with the costume contest … even costume cold opens. 'The Office' hasn’t celebrated Halloween every year, but its always done the holiday better than this!==

CliqueClack TVTV ShowsThe Office- Season 8, Episode 5 - "Spooked" 

Even the presence of Robert California couldn’t save last night’s episode of The Office, although he certainly gave it a fighting chance at the end. I’ve been enjoying the show this season a lot more than I have in years, but the ensemble is still struggling to find the legs it misplaced a long time ago.

And I’m sure I’ll be saying this from now until he makes his grand exit, but what in the world is the CEO of a printer company based in Florida doing spending so much time at one branch of the multi-branch paper company that his company bought a few years back as a companion piece to its main business line? I enjoy Robert’s presence … I just don’t understand how its substantiated. Oh well.

I know that many of you enjoy how naive and innocent Erin can be, but the self-consciousness on display last night surely must have been too much even for you. Her obsession with what Andy thinks about her, and why he was seemingly undermining her, was ridiculous. First of all, does she not know that Andy may very well be even more self-conscious than she is? Second, if you’re so concerned then march into his office and say something! The good relationship that the two enjoy should have made it that much easier for her to do.

How about Jim and Pam spending the episode arguing about the existence of ghosts, and how Pam would handle a hypothetical question from baby CeCe? Is that rock bottom? Because it’ll take their hitting rock bottom before they start to get better … lets hope that happens soon.

It was Robert collecting his employees’ fears that marked the beginning of the good part of the episode for me; too bad it came all the way at the end. I enjoyed how crazy his story was, and how randomly he weaved together all the various fears floating around the office. His son Bert cracking up when he finished was perfect.

I think this is one of those episodes that could have a ton of fun outtakes, and potentially a treasure-trove of bonus features for a DVD set, with each character talking about their costume, their fears, the actors’ favorite Halloween stories, etc. But as far as the episode that we got to see is concerned? Here were the only good parts (aside from Robert at the end): But otherwise … pick it up, The Office.
 * Andy implying disappointment in the effort the office made for the party … while being dressed as a construction worker. I can’t believe no one called him on that!
 * Robert’s son Bert. He provided some brief levity while tracking a hurricane, jousting with Dwight, and not allowing Jim to take his desk back.
 * Plus Bert’s firing of Toby in the coda. Just awesome.
 * The skeleton dance, performed artfully by Gabe, Kelly, and Toby. That was cool.
 * Kevin’s fear of mummies. Some of the other fears were funny, too, but this one was particularly amusing. Especially given his reaction.
 * Robert telling Andy, “I’m never uncomfortable” (plus his sitting down in Andy’s office after saying that the conversation between Andy and Erin was none of his business). That — and the story, by the way — was so James Spader.

 Photo Credit: NBCShort URL: http://clak.us/t2k5c Categories: | Episode Reviews | Features | General | News | The Office | TV Shows | Some posts that may be related to this:*TV on DVD – 2 Broke Girls, Fringe, The Good Wife, and more Clacked by Aryeh S. on Oct 28, 2011 @ 12:43 EST5EDT
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6 Responses to “The Office used to put on good holiday episodes”
acOctober 28, 2011 at 1:20 PMComing on after two much more hilarious shows (Community and Parks and Rec) has really made the show seem so much more awful and unfunny than it probably would on its on. However on its own, it would still be at a point where the show fell in quality so much that I would have stopped watching. Coming on right after two shows I’m actually still excited to tune into weekly is the only thing making me keep up my obligation of lumping The Office with them on my DVR recording.

Though maybe if I actually bothered to watch Whitney maybe The Office would seem funnier than it actually is in comparison? Aryeh S. RubyOctober 28, 2011 at 3:04 PMI thought Andy was dressed as Bob the Builder, but no one said anything about it!
 * POST AUTHOR*October 28, 2011 at 3:19 PMI think you’d regret that decision even for the sake of an experiment! :)

I have to agree with you about the Pam and Jim “argument” about believing in ghosts. If that wasn’t rock bottom for them, it was close. Not funny, not cute, just stupid. How about a real argument between them? I would love to see them genuinely mad at each other for some odd but believable reason. Their “cuteness” was already stale a season ago.

I disagree with you about Erin. Yes, she’s kind of an idiot, but she was consistent with her character. First, she’s always been self-conscious and worried about being good at her job; that’s why she’s always comparing herself to Pam and seeking the approval of her boss (first Michael, now Andy). Second, she’s always been oblivious to Andy’s feelings, so it’s not surprising that she doesn’t realize how self-conscious he feels. Third, when has she ever shown herself capable of asking a straight question like, “What am I doing wrong?” She always tries to figure things out herself or pretend that she knows what she’s doing.

It’s kind of sad – she makes Andy look intelligent. Aryeh S.
 * POST AUTHOR*October 28, 2011 at 3:18 PMInteresting … now that you mention it he did look like Bob the Builder, but yeah, he didn’t even say that in response to Robert California calling him a laborer.

I see what you’re saying about Erin, but she’s too needy and sad for me. I think just an inch in the opposite direction might make for a better balance, but right now she’s too far off to one side for me. KrystynNovember 1, 2011 at 4:45 PMI think the reason Robert is always at the Scranton Branch is because it has a new Manager…the other branches do not. So while HE may be new to the whole company, why would he need to check on the other branches who are operating just as they were prior to his coming on? There’s no need. However, Scranton got a new Manager, and as new CEO, he may feel the need to make sure the transition occurs successfully. Plus, we all know he personally chose Andy as the new Manager, and he may feel an obligation to monitor his little experiment. Aryeh S.
 * POST AUTHOR*November 1, 2011 at 6:24 PMReasonable enough … BUT, Dunder Mifflin is a tiny corner of Sabre; in my mind I imagine it as 15-20% of Sabre’s business. If that’s the case, what’s drawing him from Florida regularly to monitor one branch of a company that makes up a tiny slice of his business … especially when he needs to acclimate himself to running a printer business, which he has no experience with? :)