Jimbo

I know it's a classic episode, but I don't think it's the best ever either. Personally, I don't think it's even the best Season 4 episode--Goodbye, Toby and The Deposition are both better. Yeah...cringeworthy humor was The Office's trademark, but Scott's Tots may have went a bit overboard.

One article I read made a valid point--ABC didn't advertise this show at all. Going by their advertising you would hardly know it aired. FOX plans to put some "marketing muscle" behind the show and see if that helps push ratings beyond what they were during the last few years at ABC. Who knows if it will help, but I think it's definitely worth a shot.

Really glad this show is coming back!! Ed's pilot isn't expected to be picked up, and so he should be back. Same here.

Ed's only commitment is to a pilot that isn't expected to be picked up. So I read that as long as that goes how it's expected to go, he's back. Nancy Travis' commitment was to a Netflix show and she is also confirmed to come back to LMS, according to what I read. So no worries with those two.

Originally posted this in another thread; realized it fit better here: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ON 2/17/2015 AT 8:01 AM, AMENSISTERFRIEND SAID: In keeping with my general 'S4 is sadly underrated!' theme, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I go back and forth in regards to my feelings on Season 4. On the one hand, Goodbye, Toby is my favorite episode of the entire series. I think it's close to perfect. I'm not a fan of Holly, but this episode is great. Michael singing his song "Goodbye, Toby" in uninhibited fashion in front of everyone in the parking lot is one of my favorite moments. Dinner Party is (rightly) hailed as a great episode, and I think The Deposition may be better when it comes to cringe-worthy comedy. Either way, both are great. On the other hand...Season 4 has some weak stretches. Episodes like Chair Model and Survivor Man are pretty bad. I never got the love for Did I Stutter? I mean, yes, in terms of Michael's growth as a person and a boss, it's a pretty big moment, but I have never found it funny. And while none of the hour-long shows at the start of the season were bad--none of them should have been hour-long shows. The Office did great with their "super-sized" episodes (the ones like Casino Party and Goodbye, Michael that were longer than the normal 22 minutes, but didn't stretch over the entire hour). And they had a few hour-long shows throughout the years that were classics (like Goodbye, Toby!). But none of the early Season 4 hour-longs were classic eps. Probably shouldn't have been hour-long eps.

I go back and forth in regards to my feelings on Season 4. On the one hand, Goodbye, Toby is my favorite episode of the entire series. I think it's close to perfect. I'm not a fan of Holly, but this episode is great. Michael singing his song "Goodbye, Toby" in uninhibited fashion in front of everyone in the parking lot is one of my favorite moments. Dinner Party is (rightly) hailed as a great episode, and I think The Deposition may be better when it comes to cringe-worthy comedy. Either way, both are great. On the other hand...Season 4 has some weak stretches. Episodes like Chair Model and Survivor Man are pretty bad. I never got the love for Did I Stutter? I mean, yes, in terms of Michael's growth as a person and a boss, it's a pretty big moment, but I have never found it funny. And while none of the hour-long shows at the start of the season were bad--none of them should have been hour-long shows. The Office did great with their "super-sized" episodes (the ones like Casino Party and Goodbye, Michael that were longer than the normal 22 minutes, but didn't stretch over the entire hour). And they had a few hour-long shows throughout the years that were classics (like Goodbye, Toby!). But none of the early Season 4 hour-longs were classic eps. Probably shouldn't have been hour-long eps.

Oh, I know that--it doesn't explain any of the terrible storylines they foisted on his character. Unless they were angry at his absence and took it out on his character, which hardly makes sense.

IMO (which is all this is!), Season 9 was only a half-step better than 8. They did rectify some of the worst blunders of that season (getting rid of the Robert California character, for instance) though there was more that they should have done (the Nellie character never should have been kept around--unlike some of the other posters here, I never warmed up to her). But for every good thing Season 9 did (showing the documentary crew, the addition of Clark Duke as Dwight's protege, and, yes, the last handful episodes were all good choices) there was a terrible, head-scratching decision made (changing Andy's character into an out-of-control tyrant, breaking up Andy/Erin and pairing her with a background character and then completely dropping that plotline, and the introduction of Brian into Pam's life were all horrible story choices). So it's a little better than Season 8, but still well below all the other seasons. For me, the show just didn't work after Steve Carell left. I suspected at the time it wouldn't, but was definitely willing to give it a chance. He was the heart and soul of the show, and, though I didn't realize it at the time, he kind of gave it a bit of narrative direction, and when he left, the show went from my all-time favorite to...something far inferior. I have never really grown to like the last two seasons. Again, just my opinion. Dwight was fine in the first three seasons, but really beginning in Season 5, they took him way too far. That really hurt the show, taking a character who most of us know a version of and turning him into someone that nobody can possible relate to. Yep--they could have redeemed this story by keeping Andy with Erin, but no, they had to destroy that relationship too.

I will never, ever understand this. The writers had never been especially consistent with Andy's character throughout the years, but he was generally likable and certainly never intentionally malevolent. And then, out of left field, they made him into this overweening jerk in Season 9. AND they broke up the Andy-Erin relationship that they had spent years cultivating, only to pair her with that forgettable guy (don't remember his name, but "Jim-lite" works!) and then that subplot was dropped and never resumed. It was straight-up character assassination of the highest order, almost as if the writers had an axe to grind against Ed Helms and took it out on his character. Just one more reason (of many) why Seasons 8 and 9 are terrible. Andy DID get a decent ending--admissions officer at Cornell (not bad!), but they found a way to botch that story too, only revealing this in the final minutes of the finale, after leading the audience to believe he was some sort of sad-sack loser when he actually was doing fine. I will never understand why they did what they did to the character of Andy Bernard...