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Boom roasted episode9/17/2023 ![]() ![]() Lieberstein has said that "We wanted to do a stand-alone comedy episode that could bring people in" who had never seen the show before, and I think he more than accomplished that. It was so meticulously set up, and so well paid-off, repeatedly (Andy thinking the fire was shooting at them, Kevin looting the vending machine), that I would have applauded it if I wasn't laughing so damn hard. I know there's a tendency for instant hagiography or demonization in the blogosphere - to immediately put things in Comic Book Guy terms as the best or worst thing ever - but I can easily see these five minutes going into a time capsule with the "Taxi" yellow light discussion, or Lucy doing a TV commercial, or the honkies shooting Jack Donaghy, or any of the other usual suspects. ![]() That was just a dazzling comic set piece, marvelously set up by writer Paul Lieberstein, fiendishly orchestrated by director Jeff Blitz, and played with the right mix of realism (from Jim and Pam and Phyllis) and over-the-top antics (from Andy and Kevin and, of course, Michael) to make it not only the best "Office" pre-credits sequence ever, but an all-time sitcom classic. I suppose I could have also chosen Angela's plea for Oscar to save her cat, which led to the incredible sight gag of Bandit going up into the ceiling - and then immediately crashing back down - but that one was all in the visuals.īy the way, time for the inevitable rant about NBC putting all of the best jokes into the ads, which featured both Bandit's brief flight and "Barack is president!" Everyone says they were funny in the promos, but I can't imagine them being as hilarious as they were in context, in the midst of that ever-escalating chaos of Dwight's fire drill. I thought about Stanley's monologue about working in his own casket, which seemed to sum up the national mood these days (for those of us lucky enough to still be employed, at least).īut in the end, I had to go with Michael's desperate plea for Stanley to not die, which was so explosively, absurdly funny that it had to come right before the opening credits, if only so the audience could catch its breath. ![]() ![]() I thought about quoting Creed's line about recognizing the CPR instructor from the parking lot, as it was the kind of hilarious non-sequitur that these one-hour episodes have room for. Great twist, great twist," since it conveyed a rare moment of Michael self-awareness (sort of) in an episode that turned out to be largely about Michael being confronted with his own shortcomings, at his own request. I thought about "Turns out I'm the killer. I thought about "Boom, roasted!," which I'm planning to work into everyday conversation now, and which neatly sums up Michael's unwavering belief in his own comic genius. There were just too many to choose from - from both a comic and thematic standpoint - from this balls to the wall, gut-busting, amazing "Office" episode. "Stanley! Barack is president! YOU ARE BLACK, STANLEY!" -Michael ScottI spent a long time deliberating on what quote I wanted to lead this review with. Spoilers for tonight's super-special Super Bowl episode of "The Office" coming up just as soon as I save a cat. ![]()
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