The Office Season Premiere: Have You Heard...

I thought this one was kind of uneven. A lot of it made me laugh out loud, but it was a bit distressing to see Michael acting this immature and cartoonish, after the more grown-up version of him we'd seen last year.

 Then again, a Michael that acts like a mature, professional boss means an end to the show, which is why we had him spreading a rather vicious rumor, not to be mean, but because he was happy to finally be the first to know something.

 And yeah, some of the deflection rumors he spread later to discredit the first one were kind of funny. (My favorite was Angela dating the 81-year-old billionaire who made his fortune with a Quizno's on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.)

 But it seemed like the stuff I was really laughing at had nothing to do with the main storyline: the stuff with the interns, and -- especially -- the parkour! scene.

 Also: Jim and Pam -- still great together. Don't mess this up, writers.

 Tom Coombe

Comments

[Mr. Whirly]

I liked this one a lot. I thought they could have done more with the interns (especially Matt Damon) but overall it was very good. You said it yourself, an emotionally mature Michael is the end of the show (see The Office Special BBC version.) Best line was Creed's, "Who's your OB/Gyn?" Plus, Andy's questioning of his own sexuality because Michael made up the rumor about it was very well done.

Parkour!

[Tom]

It's a testament to how insecure Andy is that he'll feel "gay" if people think he is.

[Kara]

Looks like him, but it wasn't Matt Damon. It was one of the sons on Desperate Housewives....sorry I don't know the actor's name.