How I repaired my television marriage (or how I stopped worrying and learned to love The Office again) – Part 3

by Keith McDuffee

Here’s part three of five for guest clacker Julia Hass. Be sure to check out part one and two if you haven’t already.

My Third Concern: Pam And Jim Get Their Groove Back (Separately)
As I’ve mentioned before, I do love me some Pam and Jim. They’re delightful characters who are equally delightful together as a couple. But lately they’ve been completely attached at the hip, seemingly unable to have story lines that do not revolve around them as a couple. It’s an widespread problem a lot of television shows have of portraying couples as one person with one set or problems instead of thinking that maybe, perhaps, a couple is made up of two people who do have parts of their lives that do not revolve strictly around each other. It’s a revolutionary thought process, I know. Until recently I didn’t think The Office would be able to follow me down this twisty and untested road.

I should have had more faith.

Two weeks ago showed Jim and Pam apart from each other, and it was like meeting them again for the first time. We had the return of Jim and Dwight, the best of frenemies, as co-chairs of the Party Planning Committee, which was pretty much the most charming and genius plot device that I am amazed no one ever thought of before. While Jim only stopped slacking off long enough to tell Dwight off for incompetence, Pam went on the lecture circuit with Michael, alternately rolling over to meet his demands while mothering him into some semblance of respectability. This separation allowed me to fall back in love with Jim and Pam, instead of trying to, for the billionth time in a row, stomach JimandPam, and god, I missed being able to do that.

Check back tomorrow for part four!

Photo Credit: NBC

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Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Feb 16, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT

2 Responses to “How I repaired my television marriage (or how I stopped worrying and learned to love The Office again) – Part 3”

Melly

February 19, 2009 at 1:42 AM

So true, so true. You need to see a couple apart from time to time, or else they become the tv equivalent of that couple in high school who were practically married. Which is cute, until you realize you no longer refer to them by separate names.

Amy

February 20, 2009 at 3:03 AM

I loved that they can be apart, but really, I don’t think I will tire of JimandPam. May in the minority, but I don’t care. I love my little lovebirds. (Plus there are lot of times that I don’t really like Pam.)

But I agree that two people in a relationship don’t make one couple. It felt more like the writers were ignoring those two, in general, instead of having them have single storylines.