My Food Chain Gang

Kids say the darndest things, as we all know - they even made a tv show about it.  Here is a list of some of the cute mispronounciations my kids have made and their ages when they said them.

“ah-cro-poose” said by Sammie, age 3.  Translation: octopus

“Taylor lelled at me” said by Sammie, age 4.  Translation: lelled = yelled

“Beeber” said by Disney, age 2.  Translation: Christopher (her baby brother).  This has actually led to Christopher having nicknames of Beeber and Beebs.

“Kipper” said by Disney, age 2.  Translation: Christopher.  She moved out of the Beeber phase and now calls him Kipper.

“may-sa-peer” said by Sammie, age 3.  Translation: disappear

“tormado” said by Sammie, age 4.  Translation: tornado.  Look closely at how I typed the word - she replaces the “n” with an “m” sound.

“ith ith” said by Taylor, age 1.  Translation: kitty.

“diaper call off!” said by Disney, age 2.  Translation: Help!  My diaper is falling off!

“gggg” said by Christopher, age 5 months.  Translation: various.  I just wanted to put his sounds in this list too.

What follows is an insignificant blog post about nothing of particular importance - pure fluff!  And this post is for Office fans only!  Have you noticed that Pam Beesly has changed her look?  When you watch episodes of The Office from Seasons 1, 2 or even 3, you’ll notice that Pam used to be frumpy.  Her hair was blah, and she wore the ugliest shirts, sometimes two at a time!  But nowadays, she has a nice chic hairdo and dresses less like a 60-year-old libarian and more like a young woman in her late 20’s or early 30’s.  At first, I was wondering if the popularity of the show and the character was the inspiration for the change in her character - you know, make her more appealling to her adoring fans.  But The Office is my favorite show, and I don’t like to think that it’s sinking to that level - I prefer to attribute the change in Pam to her finally being happily in true love.  In the first few seasons, she wasn’t yet in love with Jim (that she was consciously aware of, anyway), and she was unhappy being a receptionist because that’s a far cry from her calling in life - art and illustration.  Now she is truly happy, she is in love, and her looks-update reflects this.  Ironic that as the character Pam Beesly finds love, the actress who plays her, Jenna Fischer,  is in the process of a real-life divorce from her husband, James Gunn.  I don’t know, what do you think?

All I know for sure is that I am happy to see Pam’s old wardrobe go by the wayside.  It was truly hideous and sometimes even difficult to watch - as you can see by watching some of the older episodes!

Here’s a fun game for the holidays, providing you like Superman and the show Seinfeld, for that matter.  I read an interesting little blurb in the paper the other day about how Jerry Seinfeld is a huge fan of Superman.  So much so that there is a reference or an image of the “Man of Steel” in every episode of Seinfeld.  So this holiday season, while your turkey is cooking, digesting, or being cleaned up for you by your guests (how do you think I found the time to write this post on Thanksgiving Day?), pop in a few old episodes of Seinfeld and try to pinpoint the Superman allusion.

Well, we’ve now gotten a taste of two new episodes for this season, and I think I can safely say that the Office is back on track and as funny as ever!  It’s always been funny; it’s just that the few episodes that aired after the writer’s strike weren’t the best ones.  But I’m happy to see that so far, this season is a riot and will keep me looking forward to Thursday nights.

Entitled, ‘Business Ethics’, the 2nd Office episode of the season saw Michael and Holly in a major disagreement.  But no need to fret, it was resolved by the end of the show, thank goodness.  Sorry if I spoiled something for you, but you wouldn’t want to be left hanging about that, now would you?  I think I’ll copy n paste the tvguide.com episode sysopsis and comment on it.  That’s an easy way to write a review of the show and share the tvguide.com summary which I always enjoy.  Tvguide.com is in italics, my comments are in BOLD CAPS.

With the exemplary premiere behind us, in which we were treated to Jim and Pam’s engagement, Dwight and Angela’s torrid and super-secret affair, Michael and Holly’s evolving ‘friendship’ and Ryan’s return as Pam’s temporary replacement, does the second episode of the Office continue the momentum? The answer, my friends, is …

Definitely. Maybe. Ummm … Not so much.

It’s hard to follow up near-perfection.  WHILE I AGREE WITH THAT COMMENT, I WILL DISAGREE WITH THIS WRITER TO SAY THAT I THINK THE 2ND EPISODE WAS ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST - THERE’S JUST NO COMPETING BETWEEN AN HOUR OF THE OFFICE AND A HALF-HOUR OF THE OFFICE. “Weight Loss” was a one-hour gem, while “Business Ethics” had some nice moments, particularly during the beginning of the show, but it had some disappointments for me as well. I’ll list out my quibbles with this episode first, and then I’ll get to the funny:

1) The Absence of Pam
After their shocking engagement, Pam is relegated to a disembodied voice on the telephone at the beginning of the show. No doubt there will be plenty of opportunities for her to take center stage as the season develops, and I understand that sending her to school makes it difficult to include her in the office’s day-to-day, but it was jarring to all but ignore the Jim and Pam relationship right after their shocking engagement.  AGREED - I MISSED PAM TOO, BUT IT WAS ONLY ONE EPISODE, AFTER ALL.  IF SHE ISN’T THERE NEXT WEEK, I WILL HAVE A BEEF.
2) Ryan’s ethics
Reflecting back on an episode entitled “Business Ethics” I guess I was surprised that it focused primarily on Michael, Holly and Meredith, and only tangentially referred to the busted and now-humbled Ryan. I was expecting the episode to center more on Ryan somehow (don’t ask me how, I’m just a recapper).  RYAN CAN BE ANNOYING IN LARGE DOSES, SO I’M GLAD HE WAS ONLY ON THIS EPISODE FOR A LITTLE BIT.
3) Holding back the crazy
Creed didn’t say or do anything Creed-like; Andy didn’t sing a capella or punch a wall; even Michael and Holly’s “Let’s Get Ethical” intro was a schtick we’ve seen before. So even in an episode with Dwight peeing into a soda bottle, the usual absurdities of the Office family felt somehow muzzled or restrained.  CREED DID SAY AT LEAST ONE REALLY FUNNY THING - SEE BELOW.

But enough with the criticisms. Let’s get to the kudos. I thought the “personal time” subplot was the highlight of the show, and led to the episode’s two best scenes:

Jim: Hey Andy
Andy: Yo
Jim: By any chance did you see Battlestar Galactica last night?
Andy: No I did not. Is that any good?
Jim: Actually not, it’s really so-so.
Jim: I don’t like all the crazy monsters and stuff, like Klingons and Wookies and all that.
Jim (looking at Dwight): Sorry, is there something you wanted to add Dwight?
Andy: Is that like the original Battlestar Galactica?
Jim: You know what’s weird, it’s practically a shot-for-shot remake

(Dwight crumbles paper in frustration)

Jim: The story is kinda bland, it’s about this guy called “Dumbledore Calrissian” who needs to return the ring to back to Mordor
Andy: That doesn’t sound right …

2) 19:48

It’s easy for Jim to push Dwight’s buttons, and it’s easy for us to laugh at it. Jim’s pranks on Dwight have been the stuff of legend, but this was the first time that Dwight had it over on Jim – and Jim didn’t even know it.

The smugness on Jim’s face when he got Dwight to admit that he took “personal time” paled in comparison to the sidelong glance Dwight gave the camera when he admitted that “Yes, maybe I’m not” ethical. The camera panned over to Angela buttoning up her shirt, and we understood how Dwight spent that 19:48. I loved that the writers gave Dwight this moment over Jim – unexpectedly turning the tables and making Jim’s prank just seem irrelevant.  THAT WAS A NICE MOMENT.

And finally, here are my favorite one-off lines:

“The tall guy got engaged” – Creed  CLASSIC CREED, HILARIOUS!

“I’ve listened to Cookie Monster Sings Chocolate Rain 5,000 times” – Michael. (By the way, I tried like heck to find this video on You Tube, but no luck. But here’s the consolation prize)

“You’ve been cuckolded by a stronger, smarter male” – Dwight

So, what did you guys think?  LOVED IT.  Am I right that this episode – while good – did not live up to the season premiere’s lofty heights?   I THINK YOU’RE WRONG.  IT WASN’T AS GOOD AS THE PREMIERE, BUT PROBABLY ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY HALF AS LONG AND FOR THE PREMIERE EPISODE, WE WERE SO HAPPY TO HAVE THIS AWESOME SHOW BACK AFTER SUMMER HIATUS!

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!  THIS POST DETAILS THE HAPPENINGS DURING THE OFFICE PREMIERE - YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

I can’t believe I didn’t get around to writing about the Office season premiere until now!  For goodness sakes, it aired almost two weeks ago!  It all began when our kids were acting up so much that we didn’t catch the premiere episode when it aired on tv the Thursday night before last Thursday night.  Still with me?  Doesn’t really matter…  just skip to the part of the post you like.  Thinking we had set our computer to tape The Office premiere or that we could find it online, we didn’t fret too much until it was time for bed and we still hadn’t found it.  Finally got ahold of it late Friday night after some corn maze fun, stayed up way too late to watch it, followed by a busy weekend, a chaotic week, and another bustling weekend before I got a chance to write about it!  So anyway, here is my take on The Office’s premiere episode.  I always like what tvguide.com has to say in their tv show blogs, so I copied and pasted their tv show blog synopsis of the premiere and that’s in italics.  I will interject my own comments throughout the article, and those are in BOLD CAPS.  A brief break for the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday, and then some more funny new Office episodes begin this Thurday!!!

Last season ended with cliff-hangers galore: Andy proposed to Angela, Jim was thwarted from proposing to Pam, Michael commited to playing babydaddy to Jan’s mystery spawn, and — this really killed me because my DVR cut off early and I only found out about this the next day — the cameras, those ubiquitous Office cameras, caught Dwight and Angela boinking minutes after she accepted Andy’s proposal. The writers developed great storylines last season, and this premiere episode did a great job picking up those threads and setting up some great arcs for this season.  (AGREED!  AT THE RISK OF ALIENATING POTENTIAL VIEWERS, I WILL SAY THAT THIS SHOW IS A COMEDY WITH SOAPY CHARACTERISTICS  GIVEN ITS CONTINUING STORYLINES AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.  BUT IF YOU’VE NEVER WATCHED THE OFFICE, DON’T LET THIS OBSERVATION DISCOURAGE YOU!  MOST TV SIT-COMS HAVE CONTINUING STORYLINES - YOU JUST DON’T ALWAYS REALIZE IT!)

***SPOILER ALERT***

Thursday’s premiere was chock-full of big shockers: Jim’s proposal to Pam at a rest stop, Ryan’s return as a receptionist bent on revenge (IT’S GREAT FUN TO SEE RYAN AT THE BOTTOM ONCE AGAIN - EVEN MORE FUN TO SEE HIM AT THE BOTTOM NOW AFTER HIS SMARMY ATTITUDE ALIENATING HIS CO-WORKERS), and Dwight and Angela’s secret affair — consummated in an out-of-the way warehouse closet. Lots to talk about, so let’s get started.

The episode begins with the announcement of a corporate weight-loss contest, a still-unengaged Pam leaving for Pratt Design in New York (“what up, 2-1-2?”) and Angela beeping Dwight for some Office lovin’, right after Andy serenades her with a personalized version of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (“Angela-ela-ela”). Honestly, I would page Dwight for a booty call if somebody did that to me, so I’m definitely not going to moralize.

Meanwhile, Michael is in the “friend zone” with Holly, and, according to Jim, “killing it” because “she’s kind of a dork.” Cut to the “wicka-wicka-wicka” bebop (I think that’s what the kids call it), and you appreciate that there’s a special chemistry there. (I also loved the “Acting!” and Yoda impersonations in last season’s finale.) Clearly, Jan and the baby are going to complicate matters, but since Michael may have found in Holly the only woman with whom he could possibly have a healthy relationship, I’m rooting for them. The writers, though, seem hell-bent on making his journey with Jan and the baby as difficult as possible. I’m looking forward to the ride.  (I SO WANT MICHAEL AND HOLLY TO END UP TOGETHER - THEY’RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER AND SHE SEEMS TO ACTUALLY LIKE HIM.  HE KEEPS BEING SO CLUELESS ABOUT IT THOUGH, ITS FRUSTRATINGLY FUN TO WATCH!)

As for Jim and Pam: The writers really have it in for them, don’t they? First, unrequited love. Then, Jim leaves and returns with a girlfriend. When he comes back, Jim is almost killed by Roy — thank God for Deputy Dwight and his can of mace! — and now, a long-distance relationship? Really? The Office has been great at avoiding clichés, and I hope it continues to do so by not sucking Pam into a complicating “friendship” with some college dude.  (I WAS NOT HAPPY TO SEE THE FRIENDSHIP WITH THE COLLEGE DUDE.  PAM HAD BETTER NOT PULL A “ROSS” (REMEMBER THE TV SHOW FRIENDS?) AND CHEAT ON HER SOULMATE - SHE AND JIM ARE MADE FOR EACH OTHER, AND I THINK THE SHOW WOULD BE JUST AS ENTERTAINING IF THEY GO AHEAD AND LET THESE TWO GET MARRIED.  IF THEY WANT TO FOLLOW IN CHEESY SITCOM FOOTSTEPS, THEN ADD A BABY OR TWO DOWN THE ROAD, BUT DON’T BREAK THEM UP!)

And now on to my favorite scenes:

The return of Ryan
I found myself clapping out loud, it was that awesome that a humbled, court-ordered-community-service-oriented Ryan returns as Pam’s temp fill-in. Ryan’s out for some weird revenge angle, as evidenced by his menacing goatee, his black attire and his anti-Earl list, which includes Jim and — strangely enough — Kevin. I’m sure Michael will figure out a way to keep him around longer, but I wonder if the once-humble intern truly has turned irrevocably to the dark side.  (I THINK SO - RYAN WAS NEVER A NICE PERSON.  SURE, THEY MADE YOU FEEL SORRY FOR HIM WHEN HE WAS A TEMP THE FIRST TIME, BUT HE WAS STILL A JERK.)

“So you think it’s a choice?”
The patented Office awkwardness of Oscar and Holly having the “I’m a lesbian… No, I’m actually not” exchange was fantastic. It certainly didn’t reach the cringeworthy heights of last year’s classic dinner-party episode, but it still managed to make me laugh and squirm like no other show on TV does. For some reason, that appeals to me.  (THIS SCENE WAS HILARIOUS AND ONE OF MY FAVORITES - NUFF SAID!)

“That wasn’t a tapeworm.”
I would like to proclaim, in this, my initial Office blog, that Creed is my hero. He may be my favorite sitcom character of all time. Kelly says she swallowed a tapeworm to lose weight… that Creed sold her. Cut to Creed: “That wasn’t a tapeworm.” The only question that remains, and I’m afraid of the answer: What was it?  (I AM A BIG FAN OF CREED ALSO - HE IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER, SOOO FUNNY.  MY FAVORITE CREED LINE IS WHEN HE SAYS “YEP, IT’S CRAZY.  IT’S CRAZY.” IN THE EPISODE WHERE DWIGHT WANTS TO COOK A GOOSE IN THE OFFICE.  IT DOESN’T LOOK NEARLY AS FUNNY IN TYPE; YOU HAVE TO SEE THE EPISODE.  AND THEN THERE’S THE EPISODE WHERE CREED DYES HIS HAIR AND STARTS USING SLANG TO APPEAR YOUNGER - CLASSIC!)

“I’ve replaced Angela as head of the party-planning committee.”
Phyllis reveals her Machiavellian side with this power play. As she caught Angela and Dwight doing their illicit dirty deed, her little upward smile indicated at the very moment she caught them that the party-planning committee chairmanship was all hers. You go, girl!

The big shocker: Jim and Pam get engaged!
On exit 17 off of what I can only assume is the New Jersey Turnpike, Jim drops on one knee and pops the question. I’m really glad they didn’t drag it out and save the engagement for some sweeps or finale ploy. The unexpectedness of the proposal, and how unassuming it was, really kept true to the nature of their relationship. For me, this is one the main reasons why this show is so great: The writers don’t betray their characters.  (AGREED!)

So, what did you guys think? Was the Season 5 premiere worth the wait?  (IT WAS GREAT, BUT NEVER WORTH THE WAIT CUZ THAT MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO GO WITHOUT THE SHOW!)  What did you think of the engagement?  (VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT - CALMS MY FEARS ABOUT THAT RANDOM COLLEGE DUDE A LITTLE BIT - I WAS FEELING JEALOUS FOR JIM!)  Did you see it coming or were you, like me, totally shocked?  (I WAS SHOCKED, DIDN’T SEE IT COMING AT ALL, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING I WAS REALLY HAPPY ABOUT.  I’M GLAD THEY DIDN’T SHOW IT TO US IN A PREVIEW!)  Finally, what were your favorite scenes?  (THE OSCAR / HOLLY EXCHANGE AND THE CREED / KELLY TAPEWORM INCIDENT WERE MY FAVORITES - KELLY LOOKING SO SICK AND PASSING OUT WERE PRICELESS!  OVERALL, AS SO OFTEN HAPPENS WITH TV SHOWS, THE SEASON PREMIERE DID NOT DISAPPOINT IN THE SLIGHTEST!  CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY!!!!!)

With all the storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean lately, I’ve been especially interested in hurricanes.  I’ve lived a lot of places, but since I’ve only resided in the midwest, I’ve never witnessed a hurricane firsthand.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  There was a hurricane a couple of years ago (I forgot its name unfortunately) that ventured up to our corner of Ohio.  By the time it got here, it had been over land for quite some time which had reduced it to nothing but rain, lots of rain.  It was really no different than any other rain we’ve gotten, except that I had been watching the radar, and I knew that it had been a hurricane in a past life - that made it special to me; I really enjoyed it.

Anyway, last night, the baby decided to wake up right as we were going to bed, so I was stuck watching tv while I fed him.  And it’s strange, because I really used to enjoy tv, but that’s changed for me recently.  Maybe it’s because we are so busy all the time so I got used to not watching tv…  I don’t know what it is.  All I know is that I used to be the kind of person who could be happy watching anything on tv -  I could find something that would entertain me at any time of the day or night.  Not so much anymore.  I still like tv, and I love watching my favorite shows (like The Office - almost time for new episodes!!!), but “junk tv” as I call it (reality shows, documentaries, etc.) isn’t so appealing anymore.  My point in detailing all of this is to explain how interesting I found some random documentary I caught last night on the History Channel while I was feeding my son.

The documentary was about giant snakes, specifically pythons, and how they are starting to become a threat to people in Florida.  What I found most fascinating about this is the fact that these snakes are not indigenous to the United States, but in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, many pet stores and homes that had kept these animals as pets were destroyed.  Baby pythons were released into the wild and because of Florida’s tropical climate, especially in the Everglades, these animals now have a wild population that is thriving.  On the show, they had pictures of one snake that had swallowed an adult human whole.  They weren’t sure if the pictures were real or a hoax, and unfortunatley I never found out because my son let me go to bed before the show was over.  They also had pictures of a snake that had swallowed a 6-foot-long alligator whole, but it had ruptured the snake, causing his death.  In the words of a snake expert on the show, “snakes can digest anything” - it’s just that the alligator probably clawed the snake open.  But you could see the outline of the alligator in the snake - it looked like an alligator colored like a snake - it was bizarre.

I may have to find this documentary again so I can watch it when I’m not half asleep.  But it’s really interesting to me that because of a hurricane, Florida now has another fearsome reptile lurking in the Everglades.  I’m sure that was the last thing on people’s minds after Hurricane Andrew wreaked its havoc 16 years ago - I bet this scenario didn’t cross anyone’s mind.  Who knows what unforseen side effects we’ll see from Hurricane Katrina in a couple of decades?  One can only imagine… 

SPOILER ALERT:  No one was eliminated and we didn’t find out who the mole was this week, so since there is nothing to spoil, go ahead and read my post!

I don’t have much to say about this week’s episode…  probably cuz I missed most of it.  But no matter, it’s not like we learned anything about the mole’s identity - that big reveal will be next week.  Chris thought Mark getting the mole’s dossier was mole-y, so that is his guess this week now that Paul is out.  Mark struck me from the very beginning as NOT being the mole; I don’t know why, so I am sticking with my Nicole guess…  any thoughts jamiahsh?

Chris - Mark
Lisa - Nicole

SPOILER ALERT - The following contains a synopsis of the June 30th episode of the ABC show, The Mole.  Do not read if you don’t want to know what happened, including results of the elimination quiz!

I got some really interesting comments about mole-y behavior on last week’s post.  They were thought provoking and fun to read, so keep them coming!  As for this week, unfortunately my kids were going completely crazy during my viewing of the show, so I won’t be able to go into much detail since I missed a lot.

My husband thought Craig was acting very mole-y.  I somewhat agree, although I just don’t get the moleish vibe from him.  Could someone really be SO intolerant to cold weather just from living in California?  If so, that seems really unhealthy!  But anyway, back to the episode.  In my opinion, Kristen and Mark were the least suspectable contestants left, so I just knew one of them was going to be eliminated.  I think Paul seems like too much of a loose cannon to be the mole, but who knows, it could always be an act.  This week, I think my official guess will be Nicole.  It stinks because I think I’m really influenced by my husband’s equation using Nicole’s name - (N+I) (C+O) L E = M O L E
In past seasons, the show has been known to do things like this, and I just can’t get it out of my head.  Plus, last night I noticed a change in her personality where she seemed to act like an actual human being for the first time during the run of the show.  So that makes me think the extreme bitchiness was just a facade and as the show progresses, it’s starting to crack.  I mean, could anyone really be THAT much of a bitch?  During the first few weeks of the show, I thought that her extremely bitchy and arrogant personality excluded her from being the mole, but now I’m not so sure, and I don’t know if it’s just that equation getting to me or not.

So continue to comment and post your thoughts and feelings - I really enjoy reading all the theories and observations.  Here are the official guesses for this week:

Jamiah - Paul

Chris - Paul

Taylhis - Nicole

The Mole is the best reality show ever, I think.  And now it is back for another season, starting Monday, June 2.  It airs on ABC, and I highly recommend it.  A quick synopsis in case you missed my previous post about the Mole - 12 contestants complete various stunts and missions, although one of them is the mole.  The audience and other players don’t know who the mole is, and he or she tries to sabotage the missions while staying undercover.  Each week, the contestants take a quiz about the mole, and the person who guesses the most answers incorrectly must leave the game.  About the new season, I must say how much I don’t like the new host, but other than that, the show seems to be just as it was before - extremely entertaining, thought provoking, and FUN!

I think it’d be fun to keep a running tally of Mole guesses for viewers who read my blog.  So if you’re a Mole fan also, submit your guess to me each week and I wil post it.  So far after week one, my guess for the Mole would be Clay, and Chris is guessing Paul.

It’s fun to see if anyone can guess who the mole is from early on, so stay tuned to my blog throughout the summer for updates on the show, and if you decide to watch it, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do, join in the fun by posting me a comment with your thoughts on the episodes and guesses on who is…
THE MOLE!

Just reading the synopsis of last night’s episode even before I saw it made me laugh out loud:

Michael and Dwight decide a trip to the Big Apple is in order.  There, they hope to mingle with bigwig Ryan and his colleagues at the nightclubs.  Back in Scranton, the staffers must work on Ryan’s pet website project - on a Saturday, no less.

The episode was hilarious, as usual.  I won’t give too much away, except that I almost fell off my couch laughing when Earl or Hank (or whatever the security guard’s name ended up being) made a cameo - priceless!

For my friends who have just started watching the show, I don’t know about you, but I really like to read tvguide’s blog about the show the day after I watch it.  Go to tvguide.com, find the tab at the top that says “What’s on TV”, and then go to Tv Show Blogs under that and find The Office.  Here is a quick link to the tvguide write-up of this week’s episode.

I agree with the tvguide writer - I caught on to Ryan’s drug use pretty early in the episode, just before he ran for the bathroom sniffling, which only confirmed my suspicion.  But I think the writer of the episode (BJ Novak, aka “Ryan” himself) meant for it to be obvious that Ryan was experimenting with the nose candy.  And to answer the tvguide blogger’s question, yes, I think it will spell problems for him with corporate in the future.  He’s really been on my nerves lately, but in a good way, he is fun to watch and be annoyed with.  Now with his drug problem and the fact that his ‘perfect life’ facade is starting to crack, I feel badly for him.  It’s been fun to watch his transformation from temp to corporate bigwig, and along the way, he’s always been kind of a jerk, not a very likable person at all.  But that’s what is so great about the Office - as the tvguide blogger says, “The Office is a terrific show because most of its comedy is rooted in real human behavior (no matter how exaggerated)…” - I couldn’t agree more!