In case you hadn’t heard, Steve Carell (Michael Scott) won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy. I admit, I was torn because I also enjoy Scrubs and My Name Is Earl quite a bit. And both Zach Braff and Jason Lee were also nominated for the award.

That being said, I think it is good that Steve Carell won because his acceptance speech was just great. It is rare that these speeches are at all entertaining, but he did a good job. There was a little hint of Michael Scott in his words, “I don’t know about that.”

(Note: clicking on the center of the screen will bring you to the youtube.com website to watch the video. If you click on the play button at the bottom of the player, it will play the video right on this page. )

I’ve had a good time creating ringtones that blast sounds from The Office. It is fun to have your phone go off in public and watch who turns their head to see where The Office is being played.

I decided to make a page on the site to post the ones that I make. Right now, there is only a ring tone of The Office Theme, but there will be more added over time that focus on specific characters and their memorable lines.

Check out The Office Ringtones

I was reading through an LA Times article on The Office and it helped me realize something. The Office has been getting better for me because they have been catering more towards the kind of comedy that Americans like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve liked The Office since it first started airing here, but it has become even more enjoyable.

When I was flying home from London last Summer, I watched a few of the UK episodes of The Office on the plane. While it was funny, I had a harder time with it. It was good, but less pleasing. No offense to the UK show, but there is no getting around it. The humor in the US and in the UK are quite different. The LA Times put it right:

“The Office” presented some hurdles of its own, because the British version had become well known among many TV fans thanks to a successful run on the cable outlet BBC America…Early on, the American producers decided to keep many of the British version’s memorable touches, including the absence of a laugh track and the trick of having the characters tell their stories to documentary filmmakers. But comparisons were inevitable, and the website tvsquad.com runs a lengthy discussion board arguing the merits of each version.

The American producers eventually realized that many viewers were put off by the funny-but-pathetic tone that prevailed in the BBC series — in one famously brutal scene, David pretends to fire his secretary, who is not in on the joke and promptly bursts into tears. So this season the NBC writers have added more upbeat plot developments, such as occasionally revealing Michael’s (limited) competence. “I think Americans need a little bit more hope than the British,” Reilly said diplomatically.”

I think that’s right. Kudos to the US writers from taking something that was superb already and adapting it to the audience without taking away the greatness.

By the way, the whole article is a good read on the gamle that NBC took on the show. It can be read here

I don’t want to comment on this picture. I just want to put it up for you to “mull it” over.

Let me assure that I won’t ever do this again, but I thought it would be appropriate to bring this up once so that everyone is aware.

On the right hand side of this blog, there is a banner that says “Download on iTunes, The Office.” Clicking this banner will bring you straight to “The Office” in iTunes. If you plan to buy an episode of “The Office”, please do so by clicking on this banner. Each time an episode is bought that way, iTunes will give a little kick back to Life In The Office (but your price will be the same). It’s also a very quick way to get to “The Office” in iTunes.

We have had a GREAT response to this blog. There are a ton of fans of “The Office” for good reason. I bring this up because I’m sure that there are a lot of you out there that won’t mind helping the site out now that you know about it. Thanks.

This is the first of what will be a weekly addition to Life In The Office. I present to you, Dave Caolo. You may recognize his name from The Unofficial Apple Weblog, but around this part of the office he is the “Scranton Insider.” Dunder Mifflin is based in Scranton, PA and Dave is a Scranton native. Each week, he’ll give us a few things you wouldn’t notice unless you are a Scrantonian.

So, at the risk of me being outblogged on my own blog, here is the Scranton Insider on “The Carpet”. Show him some love.

In tonight’s episode of The Office, Michael is displaced from his office for the day when he discovers…well, a poop on the carpet. A thorough cleaning by the custodian doesn’t take care of the smell, so Michael has the whole thing ripped up. But enough about the plot, let’s talk about all the great Scranton references that appeared in this week’s episode!

Pam explains that she spent her vacation in “The Poconos.” This is where every Scrantonian spends his/her vacation. It’s about thirty miles south of Scranton on Rte. 380. Most Scrantonians refer to the Poconos as “The Hideaway,” and always return complaining that it’s infested with vacationing New Yorkers.

While sharing close quarters with Michael, Dwight was trying to win a radio contest with the station Rock 107. This is a real station, and has existed for as long as I can remember. It’s in the same building as the Scranton Times newspaper, and the huge radio tower that’s on top of the building (which is strung with Christmas lights year round, by the way, although they’re only lit in December) is commonly referred to as “The Times Tower.”

When I was a kid, the morning show on Rock 107 featured a pair of DJ’s named Daniels and Webster. They were really pretty funny, and most of their humor poked fun at life in Scranton. Scrantonians have a peculiar way of speaking, and there are certain words that don’t appear outside the 18504 area code. The most notable is “Heyna.” It’s a bastardization of the phrase, “ain’t it,” and can be used to request your listener’s confirmation of any statement you make, simply by tagging it on to the end of a sentence. For example, “These hot dogs are good, heyna?” This means, “Do you agree that these hot dogs are good?” Daniels and Webster once recored a parody song called “The Heyna Family” to the tune of “The Aadams Family” that ripped on this practice pretty brutally. People wore T-shirts that said, “Heyna Proud.” It was amazingly funny (and sad). (You can hear the song here if you’re interested.)

Finally this week, there’s a flyer on the refrigerator in the staff break room for Abe’s Deli. Abe’s is a real place. It’s a kosher deli on Wyoming Avenue right in the middle of downtown, and it’s just fantastic. This appearance of the Abe’s flyer is kind of interesting, as it helps pinpoint just where in Scranton the Dunder Mifflin building is located. In the opening credits, we see a street sign that reads “Mulberry Street.” This is one of the main streets in town, and is only a block and a half away from Abe’s. Also, at the end of Mulberry Street is Mifflin Avenue. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

That’s all for this week. Check back here after the next episode, and I’ll have more “Scranton insider” information for you.

It’ll be fun, heyna?

Season 2 Episode 14

When someone soils the carpet in Michael’s ( Steve Carell) office, Michael begins to question his popularity with his staff. He temporarily takes Jim’s (John Krasinski) desk in the bullpen in order to bond with his troops - and initiates a sales contest to boost morale. Jim is forced to sit by chatterbox Kelly (Mindy Kaling), where he can’t make any eye contact with Pam (Jenna Fischer).

The part of the episode last night that really got me laughing was in the first 30 seconds when Ryan the temp shares, “Jim has been looking at me…kind of a lot this week. I would be creeped out by it, but it’s nothing the way Michael looks at me.”

Another part that got me laughing was when Angela scared Dwight in their raid by giving him the hairy eye. He counters by only throwing her pen. That must have been a tough moment for Dwight. He was torn between supporting the man he worships and the woman he loves.

What was your gut busting moment?

The USA Today has an article about The Office. They share an interesting note about how the show is filmed.

“To get the right feel, The Office tries to keep the set hermetically sealed, limiting the presence of crewmembers to create a more office-like feel. Actors do makeup touchups at their desks to limit the time of makeup artists, and they can use their desk phones and computers, which have Web access.”

Also, TVGuide.com has a weekly “blog” entry from Jenna Fischer. (Although, I struggle to call it a “blog” because there are no comments allowed and it has to be turned in on schedule each week, but oh well.) Here is what we learn from this week’s post.

• The Office [Thursdays at 9:30 pm/ET on NBC] has been picked up for a third season! It is rare in this business to hear news of a pickup so early. Most shows have to wait until May to find out if they will return in the fall. (May is when networks traditionally make their decisions and announce their fall schedules to the press.) It is a huge vote of confidence from NBC to make a decision about our show so early.
• Some people were confused by reports this season of The Office “is ending in March.” No worries. We will complete our 21-episode order for this year, and all of our current episodes will finish airing at the end of March. Steve [Carell] starts filming Evan Almighty (which, from what he told us, sounds very funny), and then the whole cast will be back in the fall, ready to make 22 new episodes.
• This week we bring you “The Carpet,” written by the brilliant Paul Lieberstein (who also plays Toby). In this episode, someone leaves a “gift” on the carpet in Michael’s office. It’s soft. It’s smelly. It’s brown. It is the exact same gift you wish you could leave in your boss’ office. The question is: Whodunit? Everyone is a suspect. Michael is determined to find out. To keep a close eye on the office, he takes over Jim’s desk, forcing Jim to work at an empty desk near Kelly. Jim quickly learns why Kelly works in the back by herself.
• But the biggest surprise of this episode might be that you finally see Pam and Roy getting along. They’ve just returned from a romantic vacation in the Poconos. Roy spends the day replacing Michael’s carpet, and I’m happy that the audience will witness some sweet moments between them.

Boooooo! Down with Roy! Power to the Jim!

As I watched last weeks episode, I noticed the desktop picture that a lot of the office computers had on them.

I thought, “How cool to have that for myself.”

Today on Flickr, a user uploaded that same background for everyone to use. And he offers it in three sizes. (1680×1050, 1280×1024, and 1024×768)

I think that it is not EXACTLY the same. I can see that the “INC” is missing. But I still think it’s swell.

I was going through the pages at TV.com and saw a few more interesting tidbits:

• Phyllis’ boyfriend, Bob Vance, owns the company Vance Refrigeration. (”Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.”) If you look closely, Vance Refrigeration is Dunder Mifflin’s next-door neighbor in that office complex. Phyllis is a little prowler.
• When Pam is watching tapes of prior years’ Dundie Awards, one of Michael’s performances is a version of “Mambo Number Five” by Lou Bega. This tune will also serve as Michael’s cellphone ringtone in later episodes.
• Michael uses the term “that’s what she said” a lot. (I still laugh each time.) In the original British BBC version David Brent would say “As the actress said to bishop”. Both phrases are said when someone says something that might be found sexual whether by accident or not.

As always, you are welcome to leave more tidbits in the comments, or send them to me to be posted later.