119 comments

  1. Okay… Pam and Jim and the sunlight behind them… sweet. Michael’s question to Phyllis… priceless.

    Seems to be another great one coming soon!

    TWSS!

  2. “Would an average row boat support her without capsizing.” Michael’s awesome. Can’t wait to see who his date will be.

  3. This must be the episode where Pam sets Michael up on a date! Which must mean that the dinner party was the end of Michael and Jan. Happy for Michael, a little bummed for me, even though I knew it was coming. Because I really enjoyed Jan’s character and thought she was interesting and funny (and I can add “scary” to that list now!).

    Oops, I said before that I was done speculating. Oh well, I think we all see the demise of Michael and Jan coming soon (if it hasn’t already happened), so I’m going to give myself a pass on this one!

  4. I can’t believe we have to wait a week for this! I’m in the middle of finals right now and the Office may very well cause the downfall of my University career…I just can’t concentrate anymore.

    I’m glad this episode will be back in the office though. Dinner party was great but it just didn’t feel the same.

  5. I love it:
    “can an average rowboat hold her without capsizing?…it bothers me that you aren’t answering that.” Oh Michael!
    I can’t wait for next week! I’m excited to see all the other members of the Office again :)

  6. Oh man, this is great! I enjoyed Dinner Party, but this one clip looks funnier than most scenes from it. Can’t wait!

  7. Oh my JAM! They looked extremely cute (and might I add, happy) walking hand-in-hand!!
    I can’t wait… Thursdays are officially my favorite day of the week!

  8. Wow! This looks funny, hopefully it’ll be better than Dinner Party. I wonder who the model will be. I bet the model’ll be Elizabeththestripper or Katy (oooh stress on Jam) or possibly even…Hannah? Something tells me they’ll bring back a character, rather than introducing a random character. Office instinct maybe lol

  9. How exciting! Jim and Pam look so HAPPY in their short little clip, so I’m guessing the “something major” is a good thing *wiggles eyebrows*

    Also, I rarely laugh aloud at previews, but I cracked up when Michael was weirded out by Phyllis not answering his rowboat question. Question: How much do I LOVE Phyllis? Answer: A lot.

  10. “It bothers me that your not answering the question/” Oh, Michael!! And JAM, too cute!!

  11. Awww! I saw an adorable JAM scene in there! I’m glad to see them back in the office next week. I LOVED Dinner Party but nothing beats the dynamic of having the entire cast in the office

  12. Does Phyllis have any friends that won’t make a rowboat sink?
    I don’t think so, either, Michael.

  13. “It bothers me that you won’t answer the question.” lol.

    This is hysterical already, and after last night’s “meh” episode, I’m quite excited over giggling over just a preview. I knew you wouldn’t let me down, B.J.

    Next Thursday can’t come fast enough.

  14. Awwww!!! The cuteness of JAM walking together so happy! :o)

    And, LOL at:

    “Would an average rowboat support her without capsizing?”

    HAHAHAHA! Hilarious- can’t wait!

  15. Omg, loving it already!! Jam, so cute! Amazing how one tiny moment is enough to make next Thursday just too far away.

  16. Hmm… I’m sensing some awesome Jam moments in the next episode! That little tiny part where there holding hands for like 2 seconds got me all giddy!

  17. Awwww, Jim and Pam! I wonder what’s going on… they look so formal! And ohhh, right after that, is that Michael on a date with some pretty young thang? What if Jim and Pam stalk them? That would equal the best episode ever. I need to stop getting so ahead of myself.

    A big LOL at “it bothers me that you’re not answering the question.”

    So psyched!

  18. Let’s roll that JAM footage!!! Was it just me – or did that scene look like dream sequence footage? Really bright, cheery, and less-documentary-esque?

  19. Would an average row boat support her without capsizing? HAHAHAHAHA I can’t even wait!

  20. I SO can`t wait to watch the office on thursday,and Jim and Pam look so cute together,by the looks of it I`m pretty sure Jim is going to propose to Pam!Cross your fingers!

  21. Okay so this episode already wins. First, Jim/Pam… need I say more? Also that Michael and Phyllis bit. GOD I CAN’T WAIT.

    Also, I got excited seeing Dwight in Michael’s office. Dunno why. Reminds me of previous seasons I suppose.

  22. LOLOLOLOL at the expression on Phyllis’ face when Michael asks her that oh so inappropriate question.

    And Pam looked adorable.

  23. JAM is the only couple that gets me this exciting about handholding. ;) They did it in Fun Run and they’re doing it again.

    Is it Thursday yet?

  24. BTW it’s a tiny change but the name of the episode changed again, to just “Chair Model” with no “The.”

    Link

    [from tanster: thanks gruntled!]

  25. Need a whole episode on Jim – with or without Pam
    although i love the hand-holding thing too!

  26. I’m thinking it’s them moving in together. Wouldn’t that make sense, before an engagement?

  27. if you look at the summary for did i stutter? the summary says pam stays the night at jims! ooh exciting:)

  28. Phyllis got burned!

    “It bothers me that you’re not answering the question.”

    Once again, everybody…..”Oh, Michael.”

  29. 53- Same here! I couldn’t see good enough to find out if there was a rock on her finger. They look happy! I cannot wait!

  30. Wait, I just realizes Michael could be asking for a girl to date. Does this mean he dumped Jan or Jan dumped him? Hmmm….(I’m not very fond of Jan.)

  31. May I just ASK what it IS about JAM that people think is cute? Because I find them boring…give me Michael and Jan and NOW we have excitment!

    I just think that the tension between JAM the 1st couple seasons (before they were together) was a whole lot better! I don’t know, I’m just stating my opinion.

  32. Phyllis, I love ya but you gotta stand up to Michael! You’re gonna keep reinforcing his inappropriate behavior, you should just counter it with some active reflective listening and ask him why he asked that.
    Come on, Phyllis!

  33. 74,

    There’s a lot of JAM fans out there, that’s all. To me, in my opinion, they’re not boring. They actually ‘feel’ like a real couple. That’s probably the thing. I’ve seen boring couples and they’re no where close to that.

  34. #74 I thought that the tension was getting old. I think it’s nice to see the characters moving into new territory. I used to watch Grey’s Anatomy (then I found The Office) and I just couldn’t take the back and forth, let’s stay together, no let’s break up– over and over again. It gets annoying.

  35. This episode looks very promising! Hopefully it really will be! JAM I cannot even begin to describe my feelings on :)And Michael and Phyllis? Brilliance.

  36. Got that Babe:
    I have to agree with most everyone else. I actually like that they got Jim and Pam together and I hope they avoid the pitfall of breaking them up and uniting them over the course of the show that gets old. Jim and Pam can be in a relationship and still be interesting. As for conflict or tension there are many things that occur in any relationship the writers can explore.

  37. 74, I think the appeal to Jim and Pam is that they’re best friends who fall in love. I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely had the experience of falling for my best friend. A LOT of people can relate, and I think it’s more than just the characters people are into, it’s the idea.

  38. I agree with I think it was #77…They seem real.

    They say dumb things sometimes, but for the most part, they spend their day with their jaws dropped at the stupidity of stuff that happens in the office.

    They just seem like the only people in the office that I would ever really want to have over to my house.

    And I think it gives people a sense of hope (in a strange sort of way) that if Jim and Pam can get together, maybe there’s someone perfect out there for them too.

  39. #78 Laura, i could NOT agree with you more! nicely put. my thursdays used to be all about Grey’s, now i refuse to watch it. it’s nice to see honest relationship continuity that’s not just about sex in hospital supply closets :-/

  40. GO #74! I don’t like jam too much either.

    …Michael and Jan broke up. Damn it, babe!

  41. I think that when Pam and Jim are holding hands, they are walking out of DM. And #74, I think most people like JAM because they have been waiting a LONG time for them to get together (and might I say they are the awesomest couple ever!). It just makes sense for everyone to love them, especially when Michael starts bugging them about being together (ie. “Oh yeah, say good bye to Pam. I love you pam…” etc)

  42. Im excited for this! So…are Michael and Jan totally over? i mean, if he’s looking for a new girl….

  43. #74,

    I think I know what you are getting at: The dynamic between Jim-Pam has changed. It used to be electric and sweet, and the connection was palpable (you could call that “tension,” I guess).

    But since they have officially been a couple, the connection, the spark, the “tension,” if you like, seems to be gone.

    On the other hand, the “tension” between Jan and Michael is not about a lovely connection between two people; it’s about fighting and traumatic attachment.

    …which was one of the major themes of the original “Office” – that the genuine, mutually growth-promoting, healthy and loving connection, among all of those dysfunctional attachments surrounding it, will rise to the top like cream and demonstrate to everyone what the ideal should be.

    I’m hoping the moments that reveal the bond between Jim and Pam make a comeback. The clip from next week’s episode is promising!

    Thank you, tanster, for maintaining this Web site, by the way! (Do you ever sleep??)

  44. Any episode that has to do with Michael’s love life has ‘all kinds of awesome’ written all over it.

  45. I feel like I need to defend Jim/Pam. Why are fans so excited for them? Because we’ve been waiting ever since the show started. Because we watched both of them struggle with their feelings. Because we all know that even more than wanting to get out of Dunder Mifflin, what Jim really wanted was Pam. Because looking at Pam, season three was one of the most beautiful storylines in allowing a character to grow.

    And after all of that, they are finally together and happy. I don’t think The Office does happy boring. I think a less talented group of writers could make a couple like Jim/Pam boring. But they’ve been able to keep the old Jim/Pam we love in addition to making them fancy and new. ;)

  46. Parking is gonna be such a good episode.
    (it will always be Parking in my heart.)
    It seems so reminiscent of Season 2 (:
    Minus Jim and Pam holding hands.

  47. #78, I couldn’t agree with you more. I used to watch Grey’s Anatomy too and it just got old! I love The Office for the reason that they don’t follow the typical sitcom style. It is just the most awesome show ever.

  48. okay so mostly everyone loves jim and pam still.
    and for those who find them boring or think there will be no more tension …i have one question.

    Would you really still want them not dating and having awkward “I wanna tell you how i feel” moments.

    I mean cmon ..we’ve been waiting for 4 seasons for this to happen!! it’s long overdue. If they still weren’t dating by now.. i think i’d just be mad every thursday.

    let me know what you guys think. =)

  49. I think that JAM’s appeal comes in the way that they are an authentic relationship. Rather than tearing them apart and bringing them back together for the sake of drama, the writers have allowed it to unfold into a more realistic picture of two people who really love each other. Besides, after all of the agony they have put us through for this relationship, I think we all deserve a little JAMmy hand holding!

  50. i also agree with number 5. and hahah why does creed’s name have quotation marks around it?

  51. Love the come on Phyllis comment, Janie…
    Yes, I am defending JAM as well….it makes us happy…there are other scenarios that happen in the Office, we love all the characters, but that Jim, he’s scrum-tral-es-ent!

  52. #91 – “Sarah in Philly”

    ‘Parking’ will also be parking in MY heart. Haha! That’s awesome. Thanks for making me smile.

  53. I understand that the promos are a lot more heavy-handed than most episodes, but I’m getting pretty irritated by the repetitive ‘Michael has love problems’/’Everyone loves Pam and Jim, nomnomnom!’. The former has made the switch from ‘chronically pathetic’ to ‘terminally involved’ pretty fast (Jan is just theatrical now, and a date with a chair model? What?!); the latter don’t need to have an angstfest to be compelling, but they do need individual storylines and motivations that aren’t ‘look pretty and happy, serving as a romantic foil for everyone’. I never thought I’d say it, but I want a little less feeling in my Office and more rapid-fire cynicism. NBC and all the newfound primetime money are easy to blame. The writers need to resist the temptation to indulge every possible plotline complication for such rich characters. Everyone together now: “Less is more”.

  54. Doesn’t it look as though Kevin is maybe congratulating Jim, and perhaps he said thank you to Andy and hence the enthusiastic You’re Welcome? Could they be congratulating him on an engagement? I know I’m probably reading into this WAY too much!

  55. I hope this means that we have seen the end of Jan for awhile. Michael, you can do so much better! Also, I hope this means the writers will show us some sweet, jammy moments instead of the sort of edgy interplay we have seen between Jim & Pam. Sadly, I think I don’t really know Jim & Pam anymore.

  56. I feel like people, especially Office fans, shouldn’t need drama to make things interesting. This is a show about real people and real situations (however crazy that may become!), and the sweet JAM fluffiness is realistic, especially because of their history.

    It just seems like all of the drama has shifted to the Dwight/Angela and Michael/Jan camp, and Jim and Pam remain stable through it all. The dynamic has changed, and that’s kind of nice.

  57. I do think that Jim and Pam are a tad boring sometimes. But the thing is, the writers understand this, so they only show little snippets of Jim and Pam moments. In dinner party, there were kind of a lot, but in all of the episodes before that their relationship wasn’t a huge theme. I love them together though!!!!!!

  58. so did they just change the name of the episode or what? i thought this was called parking. I was just wondering. BTW, jim+pam+holdinghands=amazing:)

  59. it says that there is an ‘unexpected inconvenience’ after pam spends the night at jim’s…what do you guys think it is?

  60. Isn’t it funny that when us office fans see Jim and Pam doing as little as holding hands we go crazy! I love seeing them being together, but I wish they showed us more.

    I am like obsessed with the JAM story line.

  61. I think the quotes around Creed’s name are because Dwight suspects/knows this isn’t his real name. I’m not sure Creed knows what his real name is. Although he was at least at one time William Charles Schneider.. which is the real Creed’s real name. Okay, I’m not explaining this as well as Wikipedia does!
    P.S. I’m not sure that Michael CAN do better than Jan.. unless you mean he has a chance with Dwight, who probably would treat him better.

  62. Some nights pam and jim are the best thing about the office. There is something so real there that without it there would be a definite void. There’s enough craziness in the office to go around without trying to “soap opera” up Jam. Breaking them up for the sake of drama is not something that is easily done after the huge build up. Seeing them together is normal and one of the more appealing things about the show.

  63. Yeah, I concur with comment 100: New Diabetic. I’m sick of the “sweet Jammy moments.” They’re far, far to adorable, and cutesy, and not what this show should be about. Rapid cynicism… yeah I like that. That’s what this show is about. Not the, “awww look at them holding hands!” *Sigh* The writers are incredibly intelligent, funny people… I wish they’d show that side of them off more (not that these episodes aren’t funny. They’ve just got too much… other stuff in them).

  64. Bravo comment 100, pretty much all I wanted to say and more… and much better said at that!

  65. #102, That’s exactly what I was thinking! I have watched that tiny clip a ridiculous number of times and I don’t know if it’s because the thought is already in my head, or what, but I can’t see any other possibility in it.

    Watch, Kevin and Andy are probably congratulating Jim on winning a bet or something.

  66. I also agree with 100. Some of the greatest episodes from earlier seasons all had very little plot. They don’t have to have all these extra continuing plotlines. Just about the only thing that had a continuing line of plot in earlier seasons was relationships.

  67. Yay! Looks like we get another awkward Michael Scott facial expression…and another blatant rip on Phyllis’s physique courtesy Mr. Scott!

    Looks hilarious!

  68. I am in the camp defending the Jamminess. After all the prolonged drama surrounding them through seasons one through three, it is satisfying to actually be rewarded with some cute/sappy Jam moments. I am a far bigger Dwangela fan than a Jam fan, but since I can’t have dwangela lovin’ I settle for watching for adorable jam moments.
    That being said, I do miss the funnier JAM moments we enjoyed in earlier seasons. Where are the truly awesome pranks and inside jokes? I think those of us who like to have our romance-fix could still get that without it getting all cuddly romantic if they went back to some of the old material.

  69. sorry but it was much more fun and anticipated when pam and jim were in pursuit of one another. being together is just, kinda dull

  70. I agree #104! I like that JAM are (is? not sure of the subject/verb agreement) the steady/constant in the face of the upheaval with Michael and Jan and Dwight/Angela/Andy.

  71. 118- I think it is great that after four years (or 3) JAM is finally one (if you know what I mean). If there was one more season with this “wrong timing” nonsense, I would fall over dead. Most viewers like JAM because they have waited forever for each other and both of them have had to see the other with another person (Pam/Roy, Jim/Karen). I personally think it is a relief that they are together. I’m not a person who loves four or five straight seasons of tension.

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