I'd be lacking in my pop culture critiquing ways if I didn't at least mention my love for “The Office.” I think it’s the best comedy on television, and probably the second best show on television. As far as comedies go, I can’t think of many other shows that are both genuinely funny and genuinely heartfelt.

Seeing how it’s in my DNA to compare shows to one another, I have to say that I think “The Office” is just as good as “Arrested Development” was. In some ways, “The Office” is actually better. It’s hard to compare these shows because when it comes to the laugh count, “Arrested Development” trumps any and all comers, but if there was one thing “AD” lacked, it’s a sense of realism and heart. It’s hard for me to rank these shows off of one another because I sometimes prefer the brilliant cleverness of “Arrested Development” to the satirical take on daily office life.

I can take this a step further. “The Office” is similar to “LOST,” in that both shows deal heavily in archetypes. Just as every human archetype shows up on “LOST,” every type of office worker shows up on “The Office.” Pam is the typical receptionist, kind of dowdy but very nice and open. Jim is the typical 20 something stuck in a job that he really doesn’t like. Dwight is the typical creepy office co-worker; always very eager to please his boss, Michael, who is the typical bad boss; always making inappropriate jokes and relying on the work of his staff to keep the office open.

But yeah, I thought last night’s episode was one of their strongest yet. I mean, there are episodes where the show’s narrative takes a backseat to putting the characters in awkward situations, such as last week’s Diwali episode, in which the office staff attended a “Diwali” celebration, described by Michael as an “Indian Halloween.” But last night’s episode was a “mythology” episode, which addressed the goings on of key characters.

One of the things I truly LOVE about the office is the diversity of the cast. It’s the only show I can think of that has a cast of normal looking people. Think about it, this show doesn’t have one Jennifer Anniston or Matthew Perry type of person. It has quite the opposite actually. Pam and Jim are attractive people, yet they seem like the type of attractive person that actually exists in real life. That’s not even mentioning the rest of the office staff, which has people of all nationalities and all sizes.
The cast of the show is probably the strongest ensemble cast on a television show that isn’t “LOST.” Each actor really knows all the ins and outs of the characters they’re playing. I think it’s somewhat easy to take this type of cast for granted, but at the end of the day, these people know what they’re doing.

I like that the show has a sense of both absurdness and realism. Like the episode from a couple of weeks ago, Jim and his coworkers had to stay late to work on a sales drive. To pass the time, Jim and his two other co-workers took the occasional shot of liquor once they passed a certain sales milestone. Now, I don’t think that salespeople would actually sit in their offices taking shots, although I’d imagine that it’s been done before. But the actors all played it perfectly. It’s rare to see “drunk” played realistically on television. Usually, portrayals of drunk people on television are very typical and unoriginal, and ultimately, very unrealistic. But the actors on the show really nailed it. There are numerous examples of people acting on this show exactly how “real” people act. See the basketball episode for further proof.

I’ve rambled on long enough. Back to work I go.

matt