Well, my fearless prediction for “The Whistleblower” was incorrect; All through Season Six, The Office had a running gag going about the “Scranton Strangler.” I had a hunch that the elusive evil-doer was going to be undone in the season finale, and I even had the perpetrator identified! I was sure the culprit was Hidetoshi Hasagawa, the mysterious Japanese doctor with the “steady hands,” who got hired to work in the warehouse. And I even had the plot twist figured out: As the northeastern Pennsylvania news crews swarmed on Dunder-Mifflin, to get the story on the exploding printers, the police would be surrounding the Scranton Business Park to take Hide into custody. I thought the set-up was perfect. The spectacular SWAT-team takedown in the warehouse would totally distract the news jackals, who would promptly forget about covering the suddenly tame story of defective technology. The arresting development of the “Scranton Strangler” caper would be a screaming front page headline in the Times-Tribune, knocking the printer fire story into a little blip at the bottom of the business section… Solving Sabre’s embarrassing predicament, as the press hounds sprinted after the sexier story. Win-win-win! Uh… except none of that happened. The Office writers just up and left the “Scranton Strangler” storyline dangling, like the proverbial participle. (which is a writing error that I am probably guilty of, but since I don’t even know what it is, I remain blissfully unaware.) Oh well, blissfully unaware, and on to “The Whistleblower.” Read on »
Archive for May 2010
Can you believe we’ve arrived at the season finale already? It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the season premier; wondering how the news of Pam’s pregnancy would be revealed to the office. A lot has happened during this season including the JAM relationship coming full circle, as well as major changes to Dunder Mifflin as a company. Which leads us to wonder what story there may be left to tell of our friends in The Office? Sadly, the season finale left me underwhelmed. The episode itself was just ok, not stellar, but not a complete dud either. It just kind of ended with no major cliff hanger or twist that we’ve come to expect from a season finale. This worries me because rumors have been circulating about this coming season becoming the last for the American version of The Office. As a fan, I hate to see that happen; however I’d rather remember the show for the quality that we’ve come to know then have it continue at a sub-par level.
I will now step off my soap box and begin the recap:
The latest Office episode, “The Chump” has provided the Scranton Chamber Of Commerce with a memorable slogan that just might catch on: “The Paris of northeastern Pennysylvania.” I can see how this will grow in popularity, finally reaching a point where the city of Paris begins to refer to itself as… the “Scranton of north central France.” Now that’s catchy. This will probably lead to an increase in tourism in both cities, as tourists flock to scintillating Steamtown and the extra-awesome Anthracite Coal Museum in Scranton, and then they just might be inspired to visit “sister city” Paris. There’s a pretty big tower there, and some other old stuff, too. (yawn) But au revoir to all that for now. We’re here to talk about Scranton. 
Read on »
Well, this is my 6th and final recap for the 6th season. The episodes I had previously (“The Promotion”, “Koi Pond”, “Scott’s Tots”, “Manager and Salesman” and “Happy Hour”) were not classics but had some good moments interspersed in them. Kind of uneven, you could say. I guess they were setting the stage for “The Chump’ which is, in my opinion, the most uneven episode of the season. Read on »
Our Office peeps are popping up everywhere these days. I don’t know if anyone has gotten into this new show, spearheaded by the great Jerry Seinfeld, but it’s shaping up to be one of the funniest ‘reality’ shows on TV; touting along some serious star power. Last night our favorite Warehouse Manager joins OCD Game Show Host, Howie Mandel and the Divine Ms. M, Bette Midler to try and sway The Marriage Ref. See the full show here. Craig has some very interesting points of view.
Enjoy!
Suri (aka HDF)
What would The Office be if our quirky receptionist had gone with her initial career choice? Last night Ellie tells Jay Leno her alternate choice. I’m glad she decided to go into show business instead. I can’t imagine a better replacement for Pam. Turns out she’s just as quirky in real life and says ‘um’ a lot. I guess she hasn’t mastered the art of interviews yet, but she’ll get there. See the full interview below.
Enjoy!
Suri (aka HDF)
The arbitration continues with an argument over which is better, guns or swords.
I thought this one went a bit too far with Angela’s character. She doesn’t seem like a person who condones violence at any level, but then again, she did have a relationship with Dwight who’s all about the art of killing; so maybe he’s rubbed off on her. TWSS
What do you think?
Suri (aka HDF)
More of Dwight’s gym antics that hit the cutting room floor.
Enjoy!
Suri (aka HDF)
As a native of Scranton, I was glued to “The Office” for 5 seasons, marveling at ALL of the local references to my hometown. (Dunmore, 
my high school!) Imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity here at LITO to chronicle these local references for Season 6! This “golden ticket” just happened to coincide with “The Office,” uh… moving away from using local references. Writing “Scrantonicity” got pretty challenging, and some episodes I had to dig pretty deeply to find anything. Luckily, I never had to resort to just making things up, although don’t think that didn’t cross my mind! And… luckily-er, “The Cover-Up” featured plenty of local references, including probably the wildest, most personal local reference that there will ever be for me… which in true show-biz fashion I will save for the very end of this column. Read on »