I was just reading that BJ Novak (Ryan on The Office) is going to take a leave of absence from the show in order to be in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Aside from thinking, "Woah! Tarantino is making movies again? Is it that time of the decade already?" I also realized that this was more or less inevitable--though I suppose I'm glad that he's not leaving to star in a comedy about taking care of 5 adorable-but-mischevious kids. The question is how long a show can stay good and relevant once the actors start leaving for movie projects.
Hopefully, The Office will be at least partially immune from movie creep. After all, the star of the show had a decent movie career before the show. And a lot of the actors also write for it. (The gossip says that Novak may or may not return as Ryan, but will likely continue on as a writer.) And John Krasinski (Jim) was in a Clooney film not to far back, not to mention Rainn Wilson's rock comedy and sci-fi vehicles. But we can take heart from the fact that no one has done anything with a dog or monkey sidekick. That would be a very bad sign.
I was thinking of doing a regular feature on The Office, but I realize I would have to do a recap, since I don't think I could fill an "Issues With" column on it. Well, I suppose I could, but I only have one issue, and I don't think it will go down well with most Office fans:
I don't like Jim and Pam together as a couple.
I thought I would. I liked them as an almost-couple. I rooted for them and hoped that Pam would call off her wedding. I thought the season-ending cliffhanger with the kiss was awesome. But now that they're actually engaged and such? I'm sorry, it's just not working for me. I won't argue that it's as realistic as fiction can be and that watching them pine and flirt and misunderstand each other for seasons on end would have gotten tired. And I know this makes me a typical fickle fan who's too into the tension of the sexual chemistry. But they're just too cutesy and matchy as a couple. It's not interesting. And I kind of liked Karen.
There, I said it.
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