The New ‘Office’ Doesn’t Work, Yet
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James Spader joined "The Office" on Thursday.
There are winners and there are losers. Thursday’s episode of “The Office” was a loser.
The season eight opener of the once sharp NBC sitcom fell flat, but don’t blame Steve Carell‘s absence or James Spader‘s appearance. No one could have saved the lackluster storyline, in which Spader’s Robert California swoops in as the new CEO of Sabre-Dunder Mifflin, makes a list of the “winners” and “losers” of the Scranton office and takes the “winners” out to lunch while the “losers” swallow their fate with slices of wannabe margherita pizza.
With no Michael Scott to chirp “That’s what she said,” the writers floated another catch phrase — Stanley Hudson adding “in your butt” to the end of seemingly serious sentences, apropos of nothing. The Brad and Angelina of this cubicle city didn’t help matters. Pam cried about feeling fat, pregnant and a “loser,” Jim made a list of his own to show that she’s always a winner in his heart.
It’s natural for a show to falter when its founding star takes off (though “Two and a Half Men” didn’t have that problem). Spader can make “The Office” work — he was the highlight of “Boston Legal” — if the writers ditch the half-baked jokes and saccharine sub plots.
Did you see Thursday’s season premiere of “The Office?” What did you think?
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I enjoyed it. But James Spader looks a mess! Still a good show though…
Posted by: Wow | September 23, 2011, 11:32 am 11:32 am
I thought the show had some great moments & laughs. Dwight blowing Meredith off her plank was hilarious! Andy moving into the managers role should work. He already has the “loser” side of the office on his side (Meredith). Considering who left, I think they did a good job.
Posted by: Kevin | September 23, 2011, 12:03 pm 12:03 pm
I was surprised, I liked the “New” Office’s opening episode! I laughed often and was interested in watching Andy try to get a grasp being the boss.
James Spader as Robert California should be a good addition to the show. I thought the material they gave him to work with was a bit weak in this first episode, but his line delivery was perfect. Here’s hoping the material they give him can justify having this talented of an actor in the role.
Posted by: Sophie | September 23, 2011, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
More true to life. My office doesn’t really work, either.
Posted by: BN | September 23, 2011, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm
EVERY sitcom in U.S. history works in marriage and/or babies when they’re about to die. Pam’s married with baby #2 on the way. Angela supposedly got married and is pregnant. All that’s left to do is signoff the air.
Posted by: s | September 23, 2011, 12:47 pm 12:47 pm
The plot line of the first episode was sheer brilliance. Robert California doodles a random list of names and then “forgets” his notebook on Erin’s desk. Then he whips everyone into a frenzy about whether they’re a winner or a loser, and it’s up to Andy, the unsure and unproven new boss, to confront California and defend his employees by listing off what makes each of them so great, thus making everyone feel good about themselves and letting it be known that Andy isn’t afraid to stand up to corporate for his employees – just like Michael was. The big difference is that Michael wouldn’t have been smart enough to come up with a scenario like “the list” and neither would Andy… which is why we have Robert California.
Posted by: NF | September 23, 2011, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
I like James Spader, but c’mon…”The Office” without Steve Carrell? Really? The shark has been jumped., I’m afraid.
Posted by: propwash72 | September 23, 2011, 1:41 pm 1:41 pm
I think ABC might be a little biased, hmm?
Posted by: ElleBoogie | September 23, 2011, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
Bland, boring and a waste of time. Whitney is smart-ass funny and Prime Suspect rocks.
Posted by: LA Carlson | September 23, 2011, 2:40 pm 2:40 pm
Sheila, you go that review dead on the money. I am hanging in there for that “Yet” because they have a lot of talent to work with.
Posted by: David F | September 23, 2011, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
I though the episode was hillarious and I laughed really hard at a lot of parts!! I did think that the writers tried to add too much to make the show more interesting but the only reason why Pam is pregnant again is because Jenna Fischer is preggers in real life. Over all I loved the show!!
Posted by: Em | September 23, 2011, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm
I thought the episode was funny. The reference to “Two and a Half Men” not having a problem readjusting is kind of a joke, because that show sucked with Charlie Sheen, so it’s not a stretch to say it still sucks without him. Easy transition.
Also, you got the Stanley joke wrong. So, as he would say, you can take your article and “shove it up your butt.”
Posted by: Maggie M. | September 23, 2011, 3:41 pm 3:41 pm
James Spader was excellent. The episode was wonderful. Pam broke my heart many times over. She’s just wonderful!
Posted by: Annachestnut | September 23, 2011, 4:24 pm 4:24 pm
I’m sorry but to say that Two and a Half Men “works” without Charlie Sheen and The Office doesn’t is an insult to viewers and readers. I thought the episode was fine. It wasn’t hilarious, but it had great humor and was really touching
Posted by: Nathan | September 23, 2011, 6:25 pm 6:25 pm
I just hope it doesnt do bad and get canceled
Posted by: logan | September 24, 2011, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
I loved this episode of the office! I actually laughed out loud a few times, and there are very few shows that ever make me do that. I thought the Stanley up your butt thing was dumb, but the heart of this show has always been that it really is what it’s like working in an office, and there will always be some idiot who does things like finish every sentence with something stupid like “shove it up your butt”. Love that someone, above, said that they get people pregnant when a show is failing. Yes, I’m sure Jenna Fischer and her husband conceived with just that in mind. I watched 2.5 Men for the first time, and although I thought Ashton kutcher was surprisingly excellent, I couldn’t believe how stupid that whole show was. Nothing amusing about it and bizarrely sexist. Whitney/– I didn’t even crack a smile. They just tried to hard the whole time.
Posted by: brittany | September 25, 2011, 10:52 am 10:52 am
Are you kidding!? This was one of the funniest Office episodes to date!!! I’m sorry but it was about time that the most annoying boss on the planet, Micheal Scott left. I thoroughly enjoying Robert California and I think that they have finally invited some life and interest back to the show. Last season I was mainly watching Grey’s Anatomy Thursday nights and watching the Office later (if ever) on nbc.com but now I am switching to watching the Office during primetime and probably won’t watch Grey’s Anatomy at all. And the scene when Dwight uses the fire extinguisher to planking Meredith in the bathroom was pure GENIUS!!!
Posted by: Lauren | September 27, 2011, 3:08 pm 3:08 pm
I was seriously a huge Office fan… I thought the characters, acting, and writing were brilliant…
I started to lose interest in The Office after season 5 though. It’s true… you start to add marriage and babies in the mix and it gives a show a feeling of making its way towards the end of the series.
I hope The Office will discontinue after this year so that they may still retain some dignity.
Posted by: Katie | September 29, 2011, 10:22 am 10:22 am
The only thing that could make this travesty worse would be to bring on Ashton Kutcher as the new manager! Please let this great show die with dignity. On second thought, what about Charlie Sheen as the new manager?
Posted by: RICK | September 29, 2011, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm
Pam sucks! Anything about babies is a death rattle for the Office.
Posted by: RICK | September 29, 2011, 9:16 pm 9:16 pm
Robert California is great! My favorite new character. I feel like he will certainly become the highlight soon enough.
The planking scene was HILARIOUS. As long as we have Dwight, Jim, Pam, Stanley, Andy and Toby, The Office will be great.
Yes, I said Toby.
Posted by: DAVID | October 7, 2011, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
Sheila, please. You need to rewatch the episode, as I have done several times. It is absolutely brilliant and hilarious. Get with it. Even Pam’s whimpering “That’s just regular pizza” had me in stitches. If you need to be walked through it to learn its finer points, then there’s no use in arguing the case. Go and watch reruns of That’s So Raven and leave off these dismissive so-called reviews of one of the few, truly original comedy shows. Thanks!
Posted by: Andrew | October 8, 2011, 1:00 am 1:00 am
Ed Helms is Steve Carrell’s replacement, not necessarily James Spader. Ed is a very talented actor who we’ve seen in the Hangover movies and playing “Andy” on the show. He’ll do fine replacing Carrell as an actor. But Carrell was also a writer, and that’ll be the important role to fill.
Posted by: Blake | October 19, 2011, 12:38 pm 12:38 pm
Well here it is March 2012, Pam is fat, pushy, “empowered”, aggressive and the Office should be spiraling into television history soon. The writers seem to be trying to fall back on political correctness and female empowerment to replace the authentic humor the show once had and it’s a FAILURE.
Pam was lovable because she was vulnerable with men and unfulfilled dreams for her future you morons! Now you made her into some angry business beech blob with no purpose and no relationship to the cast ..especially her “husband”. The fact that Jenna has bulked up and losing her looks again is certainly no help.
All of the characters have been “retooled” into a steaming mess. I don’t think replacing Jenna Fischer with a young hottey will be enough to save the show – you could try hiring new writers with some talent but more likely, just put the show out of it’s misery.
Posted by: shepard145 | March 1, 2012, 11:24 pm 11:24 pm