The Office: Dinner Party
By fred | April 11, 2008
(S04E09) Like with any other show, The Office has been away for some time. Except that unlike others, The Office was one of the first to shut down production as well as to vanish from our screens when the writers’ strike kicked in, and for that reason and many others like my total addiction for this show, it feels like it’s been years since I got to see a new episode of this show, and I was waiting for this one to return more than any other.
I really was, and I had some pretty enormous expectations for it, because it’s The Office, for one, but also because ever since they shut down production 4 years ago (or something like that), everyone – producers, writers, actors – have kept repeating how this episode, Dinner Party, which was written before the strike, was simply the funniest script they ever read.
So I wasn’t just waiting for the show to come back, I was waiting for an episode to be spectacular !
And ? And it hurts, I was literally hurt watching it. No really, my stomach hurt because I laughed so much ! I don’t think I’ve laughed like that for such a long time, it was absolutely incredible. It was just brilliant, a laugh coming up in the opening and never leaving all the way till the end, it never stopped, it kept getting stronger and stronger, that laugh lasted and lasted I couldn’t stop it, it was long, it was hard, and I loved it! That’s what she said!
Seriously, when this episode started, just as Jim did, you had to give it to Michael for his little plan ensuring that Jim & Pam couldn’t say no, even though you could tell that was the case early on. Still, great stuff, and retroactively I wonder if he didn’t desperately tried to get them over just because he didn’t want to stay at home alone with Jan. Of course, he probably didn’t expected things to turn the way they have.
But as Jam showed up at Michael and Jan’s place, that is, it is his place, he bought it, but she’s the one making all the decisions here and pretty much pushing Michael away : she has an office, a work place, probably a couple of other rooms Michael isn’t allowed in, and that little bench by their bed, well that’s actually Michael’s own bed. At this point it’s almost impressive to see that she let him have his awards and that own-made “table” anywhere else than in the garage.
Anyways, at first, when Jim & Pam showed up, I was a little worried. I have nothing against episodes that took place out of the office, but I usually like it better when they stay there, and I have pretty bad memories of hour-long episodes going out-doors only to end up in awful Survivor-like bits, or driving into a lake. Of course, it was at the office that they kidnapped the pizza delivery boy, but I wasn’t sure. I could read on Jim & Pam’s face, though, that they wished they were anywhere but here, and that look never really left, it was pretty horrible, but – for us – in a very good way.
As soon as I heard that dinner wouldn’t be ready before hours, and we got to get a tour of the place, it was obvious we were in for a real treat, and I couldn’t possibly have had any doubts, because I could not stop laughing.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: The Office
