The Office Thursday on Give Me My Remote

It’s been two weeks since we last saw our favorite Office workers. Remind me again how we got through the summer? The countdown has begun to an all new episode of The Office…just hours to go. As always,GMMR is here with all the Office gossip. A Thursday just isn’t a Thursday without Office Thursdays on Give Me My Remote.
As always, check back for updates throughout the day. On we go….

Tonight’s Episode – “The Convict”…
There’s an ex-con in the office and Michael’s determined to be supportive – once he discovers their identity. Meanwhile, Andy makes a move on Pam with a little help from Jim. Prepare yourself for some super cringeworthy moments, after all it was written by original UK Office creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. I was lucky enough to see an advanced screener, so make sure you check out my review of The Office: The Convict (warning, minor spoilers)

From the desk of Meredith Palmer…
Kate Flannery has penned another great blog for TVGuide.com. Check out her thoughts on working with Gervais/Merchant and find out which one of her co-stars she thinks is a “genius”. As always, please make sure you leave Kate some love on her blog by leaving a comment. If you have nothing to say, then just let her know that everyone at GiveMeMyRemote.com loves her! (Read Kate’s blog)

This week, USA Today’s Pop Candy interviewed Kate about her role as Meredith, how she got the part and her comedy act The Lampshades. You can listen to the interview online right now, just click here.

Michael Scott’s Words of Wisdom?….
Business 2.0 magazine knows who to turn to for sage business advice – Michael Scott. Michael talks to the magazine about the finer points of employee motivation. Here’s an example of the genius of this man: “The three keys to motivating your staff are love (positive reinforcement), fear (negative enforcement) and chocolate (chocolate reinforcement)” (Read the fully story at The Office LJ Community)

As an added bonus, check out this great video of Paul Lieberstein (Toby) as he talks about Michael’s business philosophies while taking us on the tour of Dunder Mifflin.

MORE Office Thursday after the jump!

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NBC Thursdays Enter New Golden Age

Thursday nights are a good time to be alive. With the triumphant return of Scrubs to the Must-See-TV lineup, NBC will be pumping out two hours of the most rock-solid comedy in recent memory. My Name Is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, and Scrubs is about as good as it gets.One can’t help but think back to those carefree Thursdays when Cheers was in its prime, or when Friends was still in its infancy. Assuming Scrubs picks up where it left off, viewers will be treated to four wickedly smart comedies in a row. (Okay, maybe Earl isn’t smart. But it’s fun!)

The Office continues to do the heavy lifting on Thursdays, but there are now three other legitimate load-bearing sitcoms to help out. Even The Simpsons can’t boast that kind of support.

Expectations were sky-high for both The Office and Earl after last season, and neither show has disappointed. Earl continues to chip away at everything uptight and stuffy in this world, while The Office has added a whole new dimension. Jim has proven to be the heart of the show, now that he’s made yet another Dunder-Mifflin branch funny as hell. He’s even found a new Pam*, who not only adores him, but also is completely available. Maybe nice guys don’t finish last after all. The merger has only made life better for those of us who like a little sexual tension with our comedy.

Meanwhile, 30 Rock shrugged off an onslaught of bad reviews before its premiere, and has become a standout among both new and established shows. It’s not every day that a parody is better than the show at which it’s poking fun (SNL), but Tina Fey is just that good.

Finally, it’s nice to see that the world wasn’t done with Scrubs yet. With hospital dramas popping up like a lottery winner’s long-lost relatives, Scrubs is the perfect antidote for too much drama.

So don’t take this moment in time for granted. Quit your Thursday bowling league, hire a sitter for the kids, drop out of night school, TiVo ‘til it hurts…do whatever you have to do. Just make Thursday night television a priority again. You’ll be glad you did.

*IMPORTANT!!! This article came from my friends at  TV with MeeVee.  Would you seriously EVER think that I would say Jim has found a new Pam?!  Come on now.  Let’s not be crazy.
Related Links and Stories:

• My Name Is Earl
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Scrubs

The Office: US Meets the UK in “The Convict”

You know who I think might be the most intriguing woman in all of television? It’s going to be hard to guess, because she’s never actually been on TV. But I’ll tell ya….it’s Michael Scott’s mother. I am consumed with curiosity about the woman who raised the bewildering and befuddled man that is Michael Gary Scott. Don’t tell me you aren’t the least bit curious.

In this week’s episode of The Office, Michael Scott outdoes even Michael Scott when he learns that one of his employees once spent time in prison. Under the always present guise of good intentions, Michael outs the man’s criminal past to the entire office, who in turn have a lot of question about prison life.

When one of the employees likens prison to the office, Michael sets out to prove to everyone how good they truly have it there at Dunder Mifflin. As you might expect, Michael’s tactics are just a little bit left of center, and no one is amused.

Thursday’s episode, entitled “The Convict”, was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant who were of course the creators of the original UK version of The Office. Although Gervais and Merchant have both said that they wrote the episode specific to the American version of the show, fans of the UK version may feel a sense of familiarity. Although you won’t be hearing Dwight Schrute saying “cheers” as he leaves the office, or Ryan inviting Kelly out for bangers and mash, the uncomfortable, unbearably awkward moments that the UK version perfected are definitely present throughout the episode.

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Uh, Sorry :(

Just a quick note to say that I’m sorry that I’ve hardly posted anything but recaps the past two days. Things have been wacky around here, and I just haven’t had much time for GMMR. I’m hoping to be back to our regularly scheduled posting tonight.
In addition to sharing my thoughts on last night’s Veronica Mars, I’m going to give you Office fans a sneak peek at this week’s episode.  I watched it last night, and holy Lord it’s funny (but I guess that goes without saying).  I’m also heading home tonight to watch the season premiere of Scrubs, so more on that later.

Just bear with me…please 🙂

Gilmore Girls Recap: “Knit, People, Knit”

Title: “Knit, People, Knit!”
Original airdate: 11/2/2006

It’s Friday night dinner at maison Gilmore and they’re sitting around holding champagne glasses. Richard is making a toast to the new couple but Lorelai is eyeing the present in front of her. It’s very long and slim, so I’m guessing it’s not a house like they were planning for her and Luke. Totally should have married him Lor. Anyway they finally let her open it and the look on her face is priceless, and we get to see its an etching called “Wolfgirl” I know art is subjective and all…but that is hideous. Chris and Lorelai pretend to like it which makes Emily happy, since she didn’t know what to get with a lack of registry and all. Emily also shares that they found out the happy couple was married via their answering machine. Yes folks, she left them a freaking voice message. Emily even plays it for everyone, again and again.

Sitting at the dinner table Emily decides she wants to throw a wedding party for Chris and Lor. Richard doesn’t want anyone to think they are “ashamed” of their marriage so they must throw one, and as soon as possible. Lorelai is against it so Emily asks Rory’s opinion, and unsurprisingly Rory feels the marriage should be celebrated. Since Chris would never turn down a free cocktail his wife okays it. Emily wants a list of people Lor would like to invite to the shindig, but she only wants Sookie, Jackson and Michel there…and Logan if he wants to come. That’s it? What about all her Stars Hollow friends? Lorelai avoids the question. I’m pretty sure they all must be dead because we haven’t really seen any of them in a while. Emily lets it go but Chris gives her a funny look.

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House Recap” “Finding Judas”

Title: “Finding Judas”
Original Airdate: 11/28/06

First off, let me just start this recap by saying that after perusing various “House” message boards and reading various comments left my policemen and relatives of policemen, I am happy to state with confidence that in reality, NO, Tritter does NOT have the power to seize everyone’s assets. America is not a Police State – only judges and district attorneys, after presenting a substantial amount of evidence, have this power. Cops could never get away with what Tritter is getting away with. There. Now, don’t we all feel better? I know I do.

And now back to the unrealistic world of TV. So we begin the episode with our patient of the week, i.e. a cute little girl and her dad at some sort of amusement park. But while on some sort of spinning ride, the cute little girl suddenly has some sort of bad reaction, and goes into some sort of… Oh, sorry. Basically, she starts screaming like a banshee for no apparent reason – well after the ride stops. Cut to the hospital; cute little girl is in a hospital bed, and Cameron is trying vainly to get some solid answers about the girl’s medical history out of her bitterly bickering parents. To the surprise of no one, we learn this couple is divorced. They also fight constantly about how to raise their daughter – while said daughter is present, I might add. And not surprisingly, this upsets and depresses the child. Poor little Stuck in the Middle Girl. Stupid Selfish Parents.

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Veronica Mars Recap: “Spit and Eggs”

I can’t believe we are already here. The first mystery arc for Veronica Mars is over. Those responsible for the Hearst rapes has been revealed, and the second mystery for our little Roni is already in full swing.

Due to my concern for the safety of your eyesight and your sanity, I’m only going to recap last night’s episode in this post. But there is a LOT to discuss and I will be back later with my take on Season 3 thus far, as well as my thoughts on the rapist reveal, and the second mystery arc. But for now, I think you have enough to deal with given the length of this recap. Now you know why I leave recapping to the others. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!

Title: “Spit and Eggs”
Original airdate: 11/28/2006
As we open, Mac and Piz are standing on the roof of a frat party looking for Veronica. They won’t find her there, she’s pretty busy running down the halls of Hearst, clearly being chased, but by whom. A hurt and bleeding Veronica collapses against Piz and Wallace’s locked dorm room door, only to look up and see….

(…a long time ago, we used to be friends)

dniwer ot reilrae ni eht yad…

Veronica’s VO is waxing poetic in the courtyard when she spies Hearst Hotties, Logan and Dick laughing. Her VO laments that it’s nice to know that Logan can still smile since she hasn’t seen it lately. Well that’s what you get for blowing off your mega-hot, mega-rich boyfriend Veronica….deal.

The three exchange some snarky quibbles before Dick drops trou and moons a truck filled with women celebrating the end of Greek life at Hearst. And no, they lost a huge opportunity here by NOT showing Dick’s naked ass.

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How I Met Your Mother Recap: “Single Stamina”

Title: “Single Stamina”
Original Airdate: November 27, 2006

Ahhh, winter time is so beautiful. Especially if you can stay inside and just admire it through the windows.

That’s the beauty of being a couple I guess. Lilypad and Marshmallow, Robin and Ted, they can all stay inside in “couple hibernation mode” while enjoy each other’s company without having to worry about going outside too much. But, poor Swarley Barney, being the bachelor that he is, he has to go out to find his good times still. This leaves Barney as his own wingman.
Yea, not so much. That doesn’t work. He decided to bring in reinforcements. Stinson. James Stinson. Yep, you heard that right, he brought in his brother James (Wayne Brady) as his reinforcement.

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Heroes Recap: “Six Months Ago”

“Six Months Ago”
Original Air Date: 11/27/2006

Hiro’s right where we left him, in the diner in Midland Texas, six months ago. Charlie comes by with the coffee, and he jumps on the opportunity to tell her “My name is Hiro Nakamura. I’m here to save your life.” Unfortunately, his message from the future is interrupted by birthday song for Charlie. He follows her, still trying to talk to her and is captured with uncomfortable smile in the birthday picture we saw last week.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a Clark Kent-looking fellow in complicated spectacles carefully assembles a watch, putting its intricate gears together. He’s interrupted as well, when Chandra Suresh arrives hoping “Mr. Gray” can help him. Gabriel tells him his watch is broken; he can hear it running 2 seconds slow, and fixes it in a jiffy. Suresh tells the watchman who he is and that he thinks he, Gabriel, might be special. He hands Gabriel a copy of “Activating Evolution” and leaves.

Matt pulls over a woman in sports car. It’s Eden, with long brown hair. Girlfriend was speeding, and she’s got a bottle of booze on the seat. Matt wants her to get out, but she’s got another idea: “I think you really want to eat some doughnuts.” She gives him a focused stare and her voice goes a bit wiggy. He walks back to his car gets in and drives away. In front of her car is the Haitian.

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Prison Break Recap: “The Killing Box”

Title: “The Killing Box”
Original Airdate: 11/28/2006
Felt weird to watch the “Fall Finale” of “Prison Break” right in front of my Christmas tree, but I’ll take Michael Scofield and company any way I can get ‘em. Even if in front of a fake pine tree.

So, after the intentional car crash, Mahone has Lincoln and Michael on their knees and tells them to turn around; apparently he wants to kill them on the spot.

“If you’re gonna murder us, Alex, you’re gonna have to look us in the eyes while you do it,” Michael tells him.

And Mahone can’t do that. He tells them he just wants is own life back, and Michael asks him if he’s willing to murder two innocent people to do it. He obviously fails to see the irony in his own question; let’s not forget that Michael has been willing to let literally dozens of innocent people be murdered and otherwise wronged in his quest to give his brother back his life. Mahone, God bless ‘em, lets this fact slide. And then border patrol shows up and makes all of the men, including Mahone, surrender. His chance to kill the brothers has been lost. Border patrol takes everyone into custody.

Sucre is in his plane, headed toward the Mexican border. Suddenly, his plane is being pursued by another – the pilot says border patrol, but I could have sworn I heard the other guy identify himself as DEA, so who knows? – and Sucre and his pilot prepare to jump. “Pull the cord and pray,” his pilot tells Sucre, before he assures him that he certainly WILL land – it’s just a matter of how hard he’ll land. Sucre takes a big swig of liquor (atta boy) and jumps into the middle of the desert. We find out later he landed safely and he literally walks into the sunset. I hope that’s not the last time we see him.

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Don’t Believe “The OC” Rumors

The rumor mill has been working overtime today with the buzz that The OC was shutting down production this week and not filming its full 16 episode season. Well, I’m here to say that the rumors are NOT TRUE (thank goodness). Just a little while ago I emailed show creator Josh Schwartz and asked him about the rumors. His reply: “...not true… we’re moving forward with our 16 episode order as planned which has us shooting/airing into feb“. So there you have it.

Now, these rumors are out there because The OC is getting its ass kicked in its current time slot. Thursdays at 9pm is tough, and when you are going up again Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, and now Scrubs/30 Rock…well you need all the eyes you can get. So guess what?! I’m asking you once again to give Season 4 of The OC a shot. The show is back in full force and it’s so worthy of your time. Just give it a chance, and you’ll see. And if you won’t do it for me, do it for Captain Oats, Princess Sparkles, or Dead Marissa!

No excuses….the first four episodes are online and ready for you to check out. I couldn’t have made it any easier for you. Just click on the image below to start catching up on Season 4 RIGHT NOW!! It’s fun, it’s fast and it’s free…come on, now you have me begging. But if it takes putting my pride aside to get you to watch it, so be it! Now start watching…STAT (that’s medical jargon for those of you who watch Grey’s rather than The OC).

100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases

“Here it is, your moment of zen.” “Welcome to the OC, Bitch.” Ah yes, phrases so ingrained in our lexicon we can hardly remember the world before them. And starting on Monday, December 11th, TV Land will count down the the 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases in a week-long look at the memorable sayings from cartoons, television series, commercials and news programs over the past 60 years.

From Neil Armstrong’s unforgettable “One small step … ” to Fred Flintstone’s cartoon catchphrase “Yabba dabba do” to The Price is Right’s Johnny Olson’s call to “Come on down,” TV Land’s The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases will take viewers from 100 to 1 in week-long countdown show.

We’ve got a sneak peek at what phrases made the Top 100 (after the jump). To see the order, you’re going to have to tune into TV land December 11th-15th at 10pm.

Did your favorite TV quotes make the list? If not, tell us what should have been there.

… if it weren’t for you meddling kids! (Various villains, Scooby Doo,Where Are You?)
Aaay! (Fonzie, Happy Days)
And that’s the way it is. (Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News)
Ask not what your country can do for you … (John F. Kennedy)
Baby, you’re the greatest. (Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners)
Bam! (Emeril Lagasse, Emeril Live)
Book ’em, Danno. (Steve McGarrett, Hawaii Five-O)
Come on down! (Johnny Olson, et al, The Price is Right)
Danger, Will Robinson! (Robot, Lost in Space)
De plane! De plane! (Tattoo, Fantasy Island)
Denny Crane. (Denny Crane, Boston Legal)

…read the rest after the jump!!

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Watchlist: Monday, November 27, 2006

How I Met Your Mother – Single Stamina
Barney’s black, gay brother, James (Wayne Brady), visits and Robin, the only one in the group who’s never met him, is surprised. But James has a surprise for Barney that he finds hard to accept.

The Bachelor: Rome
Lorenzo has one rose left to bestow in the season finale, but first he has intimate dates with finalists Sadie and Jennifer, and he asks permission from both of their fathers if he may marry their daughters.

Heroes – Six Months Ago
The past is revisited as the clock turns back six months to when Mohinder’s father, Chandra Suresh (Erick Avari), arrived in New York to search for individuals with extraordinary powers. At the same time, Peter graduates from nursing school.

Studio 60 – B-12
A virus takes its toll on the cast, and Matt faces the challenge of coming up with material with a reduced writing staff. Also, Jordan drops a bombshell on Danny.

Prison Break – The Killing Box
SPOILER ALERT!! In the Fall finale, Mahone catches up with Michael and Linc, but the border patrol arrives at the scene before he can shoot them. This is bad news for Mahone and Kim, but not for Kellerman (or Michael and Linc). Meanwhile, T-Bag needs a new hand.

I can’t get enough of the promo for tonight’s Fall Finale of Prison Break featuring “It’s Not Over” from Chris Daughtry(American Idol)

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Almost Back to our Regulary Scheduled Programming

I don’t know about you, but the holidays have thrown everything just a bit off for me over the past few days. Hey, I’m not complaining about a four day weekend, but I have felt a little out of sorts as of late. Perhaps it’s all the time with the family and away from my TV (again, not saying that’s a bad thing). There is a little part of me that is looking forward to getting back to my routine tomorrow. Blog, work, dinner, watch TV, blog, sleep….ugh, forget about it, maybe that’s NOT worthwhile to get back to. Anyway, I’ve missed all of you and I’m looking forward to catching up. Here’s a little glimpse of the week ahead on Give Me My Remote.

The Newbies...

Yes, I have sacrificed a good portion of my Sunday afternoon for YOU. How may you ask? Well I’ll tell you. I had a whole bin of unwatched screeners just taking up space in my living room. With all my existing appointment TV, it’s hard to make time for the screeners. But I have finally made the time and this week you’ll get my two cents on a few of the new midseason replacement shows coming your way – one of which I really liked a lot. As an avid TV viewer you want reviews to come in right before the show airs…not months in advance, right? I know I want to be able to make that game time decision to throw a newbie on to my TiVo or not. So later this week expect the inside scoop on TBS’s two new comedies: My Boys and 10 Items of Less, as well as SciFi’s new miniseries The Lost Room starring Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) and Juliana Margulies (ER).
My Picks of the Week…

Monday

Prison Break – Tomorrow night is the Fall Finale of the show, so be prepared to expect BIG things, as well as a cliffhanger to tide us over until the show returns in late January.

How I Met Your Mother – Wayne Brady (Whose Line is it Anyway?) guest stars as Swarley’s Barney’s gay, black brother. Yeah, this one is going to be good.

Tuesday

Veronica Mars – The Hearst rapist is revealed and someone goes the way of Lily Kane, Beaver, Harry Hamlin and Guttenberg by the time all is said and done. Rumor has it this is a BIG episode for LoVers (uh oh, not good). Never a dull moment for Roni.

Wednesday

Day Break – Ok, maybe it’s not filling the void of Lost, but it is an hour filled with Taye Diggs, and THAT my friends ain’t ever a bad thing. So what’s going to happen? Well, Taye wakes up at 6:18am and relives his day all over again (oh damn, should I have marked that one with a SPOILER ALERT?)

Thursday

The Office – I’m just counting the hours until the cold open. This week Michael is going to find out one of this employee’s has a criminal past and then act all Michael-like and embarrass himself, Dunder Mifflin and mankind in general.

Must See TV! is back this week with an all new Thursday night comedy lineup on NBC. More on this later, but get prepared to laugh your asses of again on Thursday nights; My Name is Earl (8pm), The Office (8:30pm), Scrubs (9pm) and 30 Rock (9:30pm). Note to self – NEVER leave the house on a Thursday night again

Friday

Battlestar Galactica – Conflict still remains between the former settlers of New Caprica and those who remained with the fleet during the Cylon occupation. Admiral Adama organizes a boxing match to work out some aggression, and in the case of Apollo and Starbuck, some SERIOUS sexual tension.

“The Nine” – Another Casualty of the “New” Drama

So much for seeing what really went down during those 52 hours in the bank. ABC has announced that effective immediately, it is pulling the freshman drama The Nine from its schedule. The show, which only aired seven episodes, will be replaced this week by a special edition of 20/20 (Nov 29th) and then Primetime will take over the Wednesday 10pm timeslot. According to Zap2it, ABC has said that The Nine will return later this season but they aren’t sure when. Yeah, I’m not holding my breath on this one.

I know I’m making a circle argument here, but let me just say that THIS is why people are hesitant to tune into shows like The Nine in the first place. Why would people want to invest time in a show that you have to watch week in and week out when networks are so quick to pull them from the air? People have been burned in the past and aren’t going to take the risk with these new layered-paced-dramas if the networks continue to pull them mid-season.

Forgive me for bitching about the problem without offering up a solution. Again, it’s a circle argument. People aren’t going to watch a show if they think the networks are going to pull it, and networks are going to pull a show if people aren’t watching. But I think the networks (and I mean all the networks) need to take a step back and figure out to approach these relatively new kind of dramas. This is the same problem that plagued Alias and continues to plague Lost today (although lucky for Lost fans, the ratings are good).

Maybe the answer lies within the recent trend of September/January premieres. Maybe more complicated dramas have their time split with other similar type shows (i.e., Lost and Day Break). Yes, the viewers get less episodes, but they also aren’t faced with a ridiculous amount of reruns throughout the season. The networks would benefit too, as it is less of a risk to commit to 10-12 episodes rather than a traditional full season of 22. Just a thought.

Anyway, here’s to hoping the networks figure out their issues before viewers get too gun shy to even watch new dramas. And let’s too hope that The Nine makes it way back on to the schedule, because I really, really want to know how this whole hostage thing plays out.

P.S.  In case The Nine is over for good, can someone start to look for another show for Scott Wolf? How about Grey’s Anatomy? Scott played a doctor or Everwood and a doctor on The Nine. He will fit right in there. He could play McBailey! Oh no that won’t work. How about McDimples? Yup, done and done. McDimples it is.

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