It’s Time to Downsize THE OFFICE

Sitting through last night’s hour long episode of THE OFFICE, this TV Addict couldn’t help but sympathize with Michael Scott as he quickly grew impatient while old man Dunder reminisced about his company’s humble beginnings. From the painfully bad acting on behalf of B.J. Novak’s ‘Angry Ryan,’ to the utter ridiculousness of Michael driving his car into the lake, I found myself doing something I’ve never done while watching the show — itching to change the channel.

For lack of a better word, the episode was uneven. The hilarity of Creed trying to act younger, Kelly’s fake pregnancy and Toby’s futile attempt to put the kibosh on Jim and Pam’s relationship were brought down by the stupidity of the gift basket story-line and some product placements so shameful they’d make Jack Donaghey proud.

Is THE OFFICE so publicity starved that they’d devote almost an entire thirty minutes to promoting dundermifflininfinity.com? How much do we think Blackberry paid for their not-at-all-subtle infomercial? Is anyone else shocked that the gift basket’s weren’t provided courtesy of giftbaskets.com?

These forced hour-long episodes and parade of cheesy product placements befitting a reality TV show point to one thing. Corporate meddling [and greed]. If you’re reading this NBC President Ben Silverman — it’s time to give back the dedicated fans of THE OFFICE the show they deserve. Thirty tightly packed brilliant minutes of comedy. In other words, it’s time to downsize this office.