The Office (4ª Temporada) (Import Movie) (European Format - Zone 2) (2011) Angela Kinsey; Steve Care

My love for THE OFFICE is definite but complex. There are funnier shows (for instance, 30 ROCK), but few comedies are more rewarding. I've long argued that while nothing in the NBC version of THE OFFICE is as brilliant as the absolutely transcendent performance by Ricky Gervais in the BBC original, the NBC series is superior simply because of the way that we have gotten to know the entire group of characters in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton office. Although Steve Carrell is brilliant, the greater virtues of the show lie with the wonderful collection of workers we've gotten to know. Due to this, the NBC version of the show has a depth that the BBC original could never hope to achieve.

I love that in Season Four the producers and writers of THE OFFICE tried taking the show in new and challenging directions. First and foremost, they attempted to negotiate the most difficult obstacle in all of television: how to keep things interesting once you get the show's main romantic couple together. While the dynamics of each episode is always primarily driven by the antics of Steve Carrell's Michael Scott, the emotional center of the show has always lain with the deep attraction between Pamela Beesley and Jim Halpert. But ever since the ratings collapse of MOONLIGHTING after David and Maddie ceased chasing each other and ended up sleeping with one another, virtually every show has striven to keep lovers apart, rather than exploring their relationship together. (Shows that started off with couples together are a different matter. Eric and Tami Taylor on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS have a completely different romantic dynamic than Pam and Jim.) In Season Two we all knew how deeply Jim and Pam were attracted to one another, even though she was engaged to Roy. In Season Three Pam was free, but Jim was emotionally distant after she rejected him in the Season Two finale. The Season Three finale, however, saw Jim asking Pam out on a date to end the season. Season Four begins with them a happy couple, a status that they maintain for the entire season, much to Toby's regret. But the amazing thing is that the writers managed to keep it fun. The season ended with Jim making elaborate plans to propose to Pam, plans that were dashed when the oafish Andy proposed to Angela at the precise moment Jim was about to pop the question to Pam (Angela's reply -- "OK. Just OK." -- was one of the funniest lines of the season).

Although romance blossomed for Pam and Jim, Angela and Dwight ended their secret office romance after he euthanized her cat by placing it in her freezer. Her involvement with Andy was one of the least passionate romances in TV history. (The "OK" reply pretty much summarized it, Angela refusing to give the more positive "Yes" reply to Andy's proposal.) Personally, I found the Michael/Jan relationship to be intensely unpleasant to witness. I'm not a sadistic person and I don't really enjoy seeing it on display in a relationship.

One interesting decision that they producers made concerned Angela Kinsey's real-life pregnancy. I'm sure it had to be a momentary temptation to have her pregnant by Dwight, but in the end they decided not to work her pregnancy into the story. The season's final episodes were filmed shortly before Angela gave birth. Most of her scenes were shot with her standing behind chest high barriers or sitting so that her torso was largely hidden.

On another real life note, it was good to see Jenna Fischer moving around without too much difficulty early in the season. In the June 2007 Up Fronts in New York, she took a nasty spill down a staircase, breaking several discs in her back. Sadly it appears to have been a very painful injury, but luckily one that did not result in any nerve damage.

I've told many friends that I believe that the 2008-2009 television season could well be the finest in TV history. This is partly because so many great series that are at their peak are returning (series like PUSHING DAISIES, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, DEXTER, LOST, 30 ROCK, 24, ELI STONE, and THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES), partly because one truly great series is wrapping up (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA), and some potentially great new series are debuting (mainly DOLLHOUSE, but also THE FRINGE). And part of this is because THE OFFICE, I'm confident, will continue to be one of the most interesting shows on television. It is going to be a very, very good year.

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