Episode 1 of the sixth season of NBC’s The Office aired last week and felt…well, a hell of a lot like Season 5. It began with a scene full of absolute silliness and good laughs, and ended with a touching moment between The Office couple, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), who is now pregnant (though Jim says he did the peeing on a stick, and it was inconclusive).
The in-between was filled with a reintroduction to the supporting cast, well-written and mostly-funny dramedy with the always awkward Michael Scott (Steve Carell) spreading false rumors around Dunder-Mifflinites to cover up the one real bit of information he let slip – Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) is having an affair. He also tells everyone that Pam is pregnant as one of his “false” rumors.
If the Season 6 premiere is a sign of what is in store for the rest of the season, fans should be happy with it. When The Office first introduced itself to American audiences more than four years ago, it went through a very brief shaky introduction of trying to mimic the successful BBC original, featuring the immensely talented, more-awkward-than Michael Scott-could-ever-be Ricky Gervais. The American version quickly found its footing, however, and evolved into its own show.
Five seasons into things, the Jim and Pam business is definitely starting to wear thin, proving why maybe the Brits don’t have it wrong ending their arcs after two seasons. First Pam suffered a horrible relationship, and Jim won her over in the first couple seasons. The two then had to endure being separated by way of Pam heading to art school, just to build up the tension, and of course the awkward proposal arc, where Jim faced obstacles getting to the right moment. All the while viewers were stuck wading through the cutesy moments to get back to the jokes.
Now Pam is pregnant, which will surely provide more drama than its worth throughout the season, as hormones kick in and test their relationship more than ever. If the hormones aren’t enough, they will also be put to the test by the rest of the cast, as the couple has been painted to audiences as the two sane characters amidst a sea of craziness at Dunder Mifflin.
Carell still has plenty of moments, but is becoming a bit trying as Michael Scott, not because of his inappropriateness derived from his inability to self-censor and the awkward moments he creates, but because of his sheer stupidity. The thing that made Gervais’ David Brent so great is that he was unwaveringly awkward, but it came from the fact that he was a smug bastard with good intentions who just didn’t get it. He wasn’t a bad guy, really; he just had no filter to the different way his mind worked. Scott has some of those traits, with a painful urge to be accepted by who he considers his peers. And when he’s riding that idea, it works well, but it seems more often than not the problems in The Office come from the fact that he is just dumb, and that can become tiresome to watch.
Still, the opening of the season had plenty of moments that kept it cemented as one of the best mainstream-accepted comedies to come along in years. In the opening sequences, the crew runs around the office jumping over and slapping things while yelling “parkour,” simply because they have picked up on what Jim noted was a 2004 YouTube sensation and included in a James Bond film. Creed (Creed Bratton) still kept mostly quiet, reserving his old-man energy for one or two great lines over the course of the episode. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) has also seemingly finally broken free from the love triangle with Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), just in time for him to start questioning his sexuality due to one of Michael’s rumors.
The premiere gave this reviewer confidence that Season 6 of The Office won’t likely be the breaking point for the show, as it can be for many. While the cast seems a bit tired in their roles at this stage, the writing remains creative enough to entice mainstream audiences while catering to the oddball crowd the show originally attracted. If anything, it seems a bit cleaned up, with most of the extra cast added over the past few years nowhere to be found. Let’s hope it stays that way. The Jim and Pam saga will continue to be overburdening on the show, but it is likely still a big draw in certain crowds, and if it brings those people into a show that is otherwise filled with genuine laughs, then it is hard to completely fault. Season 6 likely won’t recapture the acclaim and energy of the first couple seasons, but The Office doesn’t seem to be trailing off just yet.
Not that they offer much information in the way of a spoiler or teaser, but tonight’s episode title is “The Meeting,” while next week’s has been dubbed “The Promotion.” The Office airs on NBC Thursday evenings.
About the Writer:
Bill Jones is editor-in-chief of padsandpanels.com, a site dedicated to coverage of comics and games.
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