As “The Office” Season 6 progresses, the once-prolific local Scranton references keep dwindling down and downer. The show still features quality writing, but they seem to have gotten away from the charming “verisimilitude” of the past. (Thanks for the big word, loyal LITO-reader Dave!) Well, as far as the near-total lack of local Scranton references is concerned, and my response… I’m going to quote Andy here, as he discusses his ongoing pursuit of Erin: “I suppose a gentleman might… throw in the towel at this point. Guess what? Not gonna happen.”
There was one scene in “Secret Santa” when a local Scranton business might be referenced, but I can’t quite tell. Michael sent Dwight out to buy pizza for the Dunder-Mifflin staff. When Dwight returned, a dozen pizza boxes are shown piled up on a table in the conference room. In the past, they would have mentioned the pizza by name, for instance Cugino’s, or Alfredo’s, or several other real establishments. But no name is dropped, and due to the angle of the pizza boxes and the brevity of the scene, I can’t read the name. Maybe if I had the sophisticated computer equipment necessary to freeze-frame the scene and enlarge the image, I could do so. Actually, “Life In The Office” did cut me a check to buy such sophisticated equipment, but I ended up spending most of the money on liquor for the LITO Christmas party… and the rest I just frittered away on non-essential stuff. (This is so not true.)
At least we can console ourselves with this: they cared enough to stage a realistic snowy parking lot scene at the end of the episode. It has always amused me that “The Office” has gone to great lengths to simulate cold weather as they film in southern California. In hilarious interviews, cast members have talked about how hot they were, wearing winter clothing as they acted outdoors in temperatures approaching 100º! The bird funeral scene in “Grief Counseling” is one where they all wore heavy coats in the heat. Anyway, the show has staged some spectacular “snowfalls” in the Dunder-Mifflin parking lot, and it was a hoot to see the “Twelve Drummers drumming” in the snow. The internet features plenty of companies that will make it “faux-snow” for you. Here is one: http://www.effectspecialist.com/fauxSnow.htm if you feel you may need their services.
Office Tally, perhaps spurred on by last week’s Scrantonicity, 
has just posted an “inside report” detailing the faux Scranton Times newspaper article about “Scott’s Tots.” It is very interesting, and the fake “article” mentions that the lucky third graders attend Daniel J. Flood Elementary School. That is a real northeastern Pennsylvania school, but oddly enough, it is located in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton’s “twin city.” According to the figures of the US Census Bureau, Wilkes-Barre is even less ethnically diverse than Scranton, so that doesn’t solve any mysteries.
There are no more new Office episodes scheduled until February 2010, so it is liable to get a little quiet around LITO. I hope everyone has a happy holiday season, and if you desire, a white Christmas… even it’s only “faux snow!”
~Bob
Great post Bob, even with precious little to work with. What are these Office writer’s doing to you lately?
Hardly any Scranton references! That will be my Christmas wish for you Bob. This February, I wish for a Scranton-reference filled new episode!
Even with almost nothing, you always manage to come up with something. For that alone, I wish I could bestow the LITO riches upon you.
Thanks, Donna! I don’t want to dwell on the negative. The show is still fun, and I’ll STILL find something to write about, even if they don’t mention Scranton much anymore. I really like the “Andy” approach: I’m not throwing in the towel… not gonna happen!” AND… let me tell ya, when they finally DO drop another Scranton reference, I’ll be there just like Andy in front of his drummers, and I’LL be dancing and crashing my cymbals together!
Great article, Bob! But yeah, they are sure curtailing the Scranton references. Is there some sort of mini-feud between the show and the town? Maybe you and loyal “Scrantonicity” reader Dave can team up for a hard hitting investigative report. We here at LITO want answers!!
Honestly, I think that it is pure laziness on the writer’s part. If you have never been to Scranton, that city RUNS on two things: 1) The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and 2) The Office. The Steamtown mall STILL has up their effigies of the characters, and every where you go, The Office is there. Hell, the two things even intermingle in that on St. Patrick’s Day, you can buy a green Dunder Mifflin shirt. So, with this in mind, I doubt that there is a feud because that city would do anything for that show. I mean, they have featured the “Scranton Times”, Steg 150 beer, Tinks, and on and on and on. I honestly think that this is just laziness…..which is probably why they have not had a subsequent Office “Convention” even though it was a HUGE success.
(Disclaimer: This is not to say that the entire Wyoming Valley revolves around those two things. Truly, the SWB Yankees and the WBS Penguins are all important, along with high school football and such……by the way, SWB and WBS was intentional)
That’s funny, Dave. Do they actually have it as Scranton-Wilkes Barre for The Yankees and vice versa for the Penguins? Did they flip for it? lol…. that’s very interesting.
Yes, it is ACTUALLY “Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees” and “Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins.” You can check their websites to see that those are their “official” names. The reasoning for this is that the Penguins are in Wilkes Barre and the Yankees are in Scranton (actually is has more to do with the Luzurne vs. Lackawanna County debate, but that is a story for another time) Also if you ever visit the Whyoming Valley, people WILL correct you if you mix up the order….that is just something you don’t do. Along with routing against the Irish…..don’t do it.
Dave, as always, thanks a million for your valuable input! In the fake Scranton Times “Scott’s Tots” article, they mention that the “tots” attend the Daniel J. Flood Elementary School. A little research turned up that school in Wilkes-Barre. That information naturally led me to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Flood
If you read the Wiki bio, you will see that US Representative Daniel Flood ALWAYS favored Wilkes-Barre over Scranton with his legislative clout. This is very interesting stuff!
Ok, you guys are talking way above my head with the local Scranton stuff, but I’m glad you’re having fun and finding ways to occupy yourselves until we get new episodes.
Great post Bob, way to stay positive.
Wow I’m glad that I discovered this site, I love The Office ha! In my hours of wasting my life away on the internet I ran across a great site that has a lot of the full episodes from The Office. Go check them out http://tvtent.com they have a lot of other tv shows too!