The Office Season 8 Discussion (Spoilers)

[Spot's Meow]

I'm surprised there isn't a thread on this already, I know there was a lot of discussion a few months ago about how this season will be changing things up without Steve Carell there.

So, what did you all think?

A lot happened in the first few minutes. Pam and Jim are having a baby boy in a couple of months, Angela is pregnant as well, Robert California was chosen as the new manager but instead weaseled his way into becoming the new CEO of the company, and Andy is the new manager now. It's a lot to process in a short amount of time!

I'm actually quite happy about this, as I was not looking forward to having Robert California as manager. I didn't find his guest appearance in the finale last season to be all that funny, and I definitely thought it would be too much to handle on a full time basis. At least this way he can be used as much or as little as necessary.

The rest of the episode was really funny. For some reason the whole sequence where Pam is copying the notebook and Kevin is yelling "WARNING, WARNING" struck me as extra hilarious. Especially when, immediately following that scene, they take the list to Andy and he says in a completely serious tone, "Great list guys, thanks for the good work." I was laughing so hard I had to pause the show so I didn't miss anything.

I don't think Carell's absence hurt the show at all, at least not in this premiere episode. What do you guys think?

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

I don't think his absence hurt the show either. But I found the episode sort of a mixed bag much like the last couple seasons. At its best, the show has me laughing out loud a lot. That didn't happen too much with this episode but it was still decent.

 

[Ood Sigma]

I liked this one a lot. Definitely had some laugh out loud moments. For some reason, weepy Pam made me giggle. And while I thought Andy was a terrible choice for manager, he actually redeemed himself a bit by standing up for his friends to the new boss.

 

[Starbreaker]

I thought this was a great episode... especially the "little Michael Scott" line delivered by Pam. I'm not a James Spader fan at all, but some of his deadpan deliveries were perfect. Andy calling Gabe a loser, Jim talking about Jo getting talked out of her job, and a few other things had me laughing out loud. I rarely do that, so I was impressed with the episode. The show has some great writers and they will probably be able to showcase their talents even more now that Carrell doesn't have to be in every scene.

 

[jep316]

"Left side of the List ATTACK!!!"

 

[1001001]

"Left side of the List ATTACK!!!"

That was hysterical.



Overall, not bad. I like Robert California. He's so weird. So oddly self-confident. A totally different energy than Michael Scott.

I'll keep going with it.

 

[Broccoli]

I liked it. I was curious on how successful this season was going to be w/o Carrell, but the first one out was a good start, and you didn't really miss Michael Scott.

And while I thought Andy was a terrible choice for manager, he actually redeemed himself a bit by standing up for his friends to the new boss.

I think that was an intentional part of the episode that Andy being manager is a terrible decision, but he starts to assert himself to a seemingly pleased/impressed Robert.

 

[AliciaD496]

I agree with everyone, while I was skeptical of a non-Michael Scott season if this episode is any indication I think it's going to be alright. Robert California is an intriguing character in his own way, and he basically the other side of the coin from Michael Scott. Cool and self assured and possibly competent, but looks to lack real personal skills.

Weepy Pam was kind funny in a way, and Jim reminded me AGAIN why I hope some day I can find my own 'Jim'. He's too sweet. The 'pregnancy war' between Pam and Angela should be a nice little diversion, and Angela must be the most oblivious beard EVER. Or is she really a beard if she managed to get pregnant?

As for Andy being the new manager? Yeah, he WAS the wrong choice. But he's just about the only one aside from Darryl that hasn't been manager and flamed out. Honestly Jim showed REAL management skills during the search, but we've seen it before so I can see why the writers didn't choose him. Andy did show a glimmer of real back bone, it'll interesting to see where it goes.

 

[David cgc]

The 'pregnancy war' between Pam and Angela should be a nice little diversion, and Angela must be the most oblivious beard EVER. Or is she really a beard if she managed to get pregnant?

We've seen that Angela is a lot more sexually assertive than she advertises as part of her image. Between that and her willful obliviousness about her husband, she probably coerced him without even realizing that she was doing it. Actually, wait a minute, wasn't the Senator with his kid(s?) when Angela met him at Dwight's fair? Maybe he's just committed to his cover.

(By the way, whenever Angela mentions "the Senator," my buddy and I automatically say "State Senator." We aren't the only ones, right?)

 

[Chaos Descending]

^^^ I think Dwight is the father of Angela's baby.

 

[1001001]

^^^ I think Dwight is the father of Angela's baby.

Agreed.

 

[Kirby]

"Left side of the List ATTACK!!!"

I loved that scene, especially when he bonked Kelly and Meredith's heads together.

I really enjoyed the episode, and loved how the great supporting cast all got much more to do. I'm still playing it week by week, but thumbs up so far.

 

[AliciaD496]

^^^ I think Dwight is the father of Angela's baby.

Agreed.

The more I think about I'm almost certain you two are right, and it's not like there aren't certain superficial similarities (hair and eye color at least) between the two that she could use as cover. I think that is correct that he was with his kids at the hay bale maze when they met, so the senator really is committed to his cover.

Hmmm...Dwight will know the child is likely his, how could he not? With the way he is, and how meticulous they were about that contract, he's not going to be happy about another man raising HIS child. Should make for an interesting few episodes there if it comes out in the open. Or maybe it's not Dwight's at all and Angela has a different piece of side action, not like it hasn't happened before.

 

[Mr Light]

I always thought the strength of the show was the ensemble and not Steve Carrell so I'm barely noticing his absence. I liked the premiere but I hope that Robert California is not in too many episodes, he's too intense and serious.

 

[Corran Horn]

"Left side of the List ATTACK!!!"

That made me literally laugh out loud. Same thing with Dwight defeating the 'plankers' like Meredith and the guy in the warehouse.

Andy stood up for his people and that's all you can hope for in a manager. That was a big part of selling him in the role, to me.

 

[the G-man]

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the show worked. Granted, it's still not as good as, say, "Season 3" office, but its at least as good as some of the lesser Michael seasons.

It's funny how Andy has become such a different person from the original version of the character (who was angry and manipulative). However, it's not surprising he'd get picked for the manager job since: (a) Jim, the logical choice, turned it down; (b) Dwight took himself out of the running with his antics; (c) the Cornell degree probably did count for something.

I agree there is a good chance that Angela's kid is Dwight's. However, the State Senator had a kid before from his first wife too. Therefore, I would be no less surprised to find out that, not unlike Ted Haggard, Angela's husband is so deep in denial that he can, and does, father kids (and thinks it proves he isn't gay).

I'm assuming that Robert was made CEO because they didn't think Kathy bates would have time to come back due to Harry's Law. However, given that the ratings for this season's HL premiere were really bad, that may not be a safe assumption.

 

[AliciaD496]

So...new episode last night. I think if there's one good thing that's come from Carell's departure it's been the emphasis on the entire cast ensemble rather than it being split between Michael and a b-plot. The thing that killed me about last night's episode was once again Jim shows his ability to be a good manager (his pep talk to Andy) yet he's refused to take up the mantle. It's intersting how much Jim has matured from the first and second season, I don't see this Jim pulling the jello prank or the faxes from the future stunt. The writers have done a good job making it a natural progression for his character, and I like what they've done for him. On the other hand it seems like most of the characters are fairly stagnant. Angela is still the same, Dwight has had some good stories but always seems to revert after a certain point, everyone else is still pretty much the same as they were in season one as well outside of their relationships. Hopefully the writers can take a little time to develop them now that it's not quite the Michael Scott show any more.

 

[the G-man]

There used to be a running subtext that, whenever Jim stepped in as manager, he basically turned into "Michael Jr" and screwed up (there was a reveal that, in 90s, Michael was the office "Jim," the funny rebel). Of course, now Jim is married with (soon) two kids. He should be growing up. I think that's one of the better aspects of the show, actually: the idea of Jim maturing.

 

[timothy]

I hope they do name the second michael scott that would be a great tribute.
andy is a fantastic manager and does'nt carry any weapons at all<(aka dwight).

so how many here think that this is going to be the last season?

 

[PsychoPere]

That'll depend on the ratings, which so far over these first two episodes are comparable to the ratings from season seven. If the majority of the remainder of the season is at least as strong as these first two episodes have been, I hope that it's not the last season.