At least The Office is still better than 30 Rock

Cold (and bold) statement, I know, but as bad as The Office can be some weeks, it’s still not the slog that 30 Rock has turned into. Sorry Bob, but last night’s episode managed to do the impossible: for the first time it even made Jacky D. unbearable.

But back to The Office … so let me get this straight: Jim had jury duty, and after being dismissed at noon on the first day, he decided to take the entire day off from work … and then help Pam out at home the next day … and then take the following three days off just for the hell of it. Gee, a five day trial must have been at least moderately interesting, so he made up a whole story to sell to the office. Then, he calls a food cart a restaurant once, and Dwight spends the rest of the episode uncovering the lie that was Jim’s jury duty. Jim’s guilt results in Andy lying to cover for him so that Andy doesn’t have to fire Jim like he promised he would. And Jim, trying to win the office back over, brings in the wife and kids to gain their sympathy and understanding. And, episode.

Seriously?

I’ll admit I didn’t bother to plot what else could have been done with the story, but then again no one pays me lots of money to do so. The writers had significantly longer than sixteen hours to come with something funny, and they didn’t, so why should I bother? But come on! That was so stupid! Even Dwight’s involvement a) didn’t elevate the plot, and b) wasn’t particularly enjoyable on its own.  I loved the back story to how he knew no one calls food carts restaurants — “I was in Los Angles last year; Jim tricked me into thinking I’d won a walk-on part on NCIS.” Now that’s something that would have been worth building an episode around! — but his attempts at uncovering Jim’s lie, and Andy’s subsequent cover-up, were not fun.

The other plot last night was the birth of Angela’s baby. That’s right, an entire episode dedicated to members of the office discovering that the baby was not premature, and rather had been conceived out of wedlock. Were we meant to be surprised to learn that Angela had had premarital sex with the senator after knowing that she slept with Dwight in secret, with Andy while they were engaged, with Dwight while she was engaged to Andy, and with Dwight again as a result of their baby pact? The more surprising thing was that her husband had actually consummated their relationship, but that’s not really the shock value that Angela was looking to avoid, given the fact that she’s yet to realize that her husband is gay.

Only Kevin was mildly funny during the baby plot. Loved his line about the baby back in the office — “Is it black? Cause that would be hilarious.” — as well as his referring to the baby as “Little Kevin,” ostensibly because of how big it was (although to me it only looked like it wasn’t premature, not like it was abnormally large).

The one place the episode got me to perk up was when Dwight discovered that Angela’s baby might be his. I’m not sure how they maintain that plot without veering off into stupid or soap opera land, but I’m genuinely interested in following that story. Let’s hope it somehow breaks the news to Angela that she is nothing more than a glorified beard, because ever since she and the senator got together she’s been insufferable.

On a side note, I wonder if his anger at Andy not firing Jim will somehow be the impetus for the Dwight Schrute spin off that’s been rumored to be in the works. If so, will Dwight straddle both shows? Because, can you imagine The Office without him?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 03, 2012 @ 15:00 EST5EDT