Original Air Date: May 15, 2008

Well, it looks like H.R. man Toby really is leaving, after twelve years at Dunder Mifflin, and for Costa Rica, too. Despite the fact that he despises him, Michael wants to throw a big farewell party for Toby to celebrate having a huge weight lifted off his back. Obsessively frugal Angela is against a huge to-do due to a lack of funds, which leaves Phyllis in charge of finding an anti-gravity machine per Michael’s request after the boss hands over a shoeful of dough he’s saved.

Toby’s replacement, Holly (Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan, who was so good in Gone Baby Gone that I expected her to turn up looking haggard after a night of boozing and drugging), arrives and quickly manages to convince a downright rude Michael that she’s nothing like her predecessor by calling Toby boring to his face. She later reveals a charming ability to “get” Michael and his weird (for a grown businessman, at least) eccentricities, such as imitating Yoda.

It’s only a matter of time at this point before Michael falls hopelessly in love with the new woman in the office, and, sure enough, in the span of one commercial break, he’s already calling her Hollygram and making a mix tape for her commute into Scranton. Unfortunately, he forgets/doesn’t bother to inform Dwight that the hazing they agreed on before they met Holly is no longer necessary.

So, Dwight continues to feed her lies, including the claim that Kevin is slow in the brain. This inevitably leads to a love triangle of sorts because Holly is extra nice to allegedly mentally challenged Kevin, who predictably gets the idea that she’s totally into him because she wants him to bang her.

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If you’ve been hankering for more of Michael and Dwight and Pam and Jim and everybody else on The Office, tonight is your night.

After pulling Monk and Psych from the schedule last week due to unimpressive ratings, NBC has replaced the repurposed cable programming with a two-hour block of Dunder Mifflin repeats tonight.

Each hour will feature one of those double episodes the sitcom is known for: both installments of the fourth-season premiere “Fun Run” at 8pm EST, followed by the two parts of “Dunder-Mifflin Infinity” at 9pm.

Original Air Date: May 8, 2008

We get off to a typically funny “Michael is an idiot” start when, excited to be going to a job fair at Pam’s alma mater Valley View High School, he declares Daryl can hire some students to work in the warehouse and nobody has to worry about giving them internships since they’re definitely not going to college. Daryl’s instant, spot-on comeback is to ask Michael which college he attended. Michael ignores the question, of course, because he didn’t go to college either, presumably.

While Michael lugs Daryl (blue-collar rep), Oscar (accounting rep), and Pam (eye candy) along to the school, Jim hits the golf course with Andy and Kevin to woo potential client Phil Maguire, who uses lots of paper for his company’s direct mail campaigns. Andy has hands covered in blisters from practicing golf all night the day before, and Kevin is determined to turn a few dollars of petty cash into “next month’s rent.” Who doesn’t love a person with that kind of ambition?

Back at the office, Dwight tries to assert his authority now that he’s the default person supposedly in charge by forcing everyone left behind to stay until 5pm, the normal end of the workday. Stanley is the first to walk out, regardless of Dwight’s threat that he’ll tell Michael (when he finally does, Michael agrees with the employees who bail that there’s no reason for them to stay with so many coworkers at the job fair or on the golf course).

Creed, Kelly, Meredith, and Phyllis follow soon afterwards when Dwight is in the bathroom. The fact that Angela is the only person who stays is kind of bittersweet because it shows how she and Dwight are perfect for each other despite their failed romance. Maybe they’ll give it another shot later.

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Original Air Date: April 24, 2008

While MICHAEL bemoans the poor quality of the women people have been setting him up with — according to him, they lack a certain Cindy Crawfordness — RYAN takes a trip to the Scranton branch after informing everyone they’ll have to work the next day, a Saturday. Why? The goal is to reformulate the sales they’ve been making by phone as website sales through Dunder Mifflin Infinity, a change that will get the sales reps no commission.

As the staffers complain during the unenthusiastic meeting Michael calls with Ryan, it’s not just switching the origins of sales that bothers them. Apparently, the website has an unnecessary social network feature that’s been infiltrated by sexual predators — of course, kinky CREED thinks the development’s just keen — not to mention that there’s no logical reason why a paper company needs a Web 2.0 site anyway.

Ryan promises everything will get better when Dunder Mifflin Infinity 2.0 arrives at a date TBD. But, Michael is more interested in whether Ryan can hook him up with some beautiful women in New York, where Ryan claims he meets tons at clubs.

So, what does Michael do? After inviting JIM first because he doesn’t realize Jim and PAM are still together, Michael decides to take DWIGHT along to pay Ryan a surprise visit in New York. Meanwhile, Jim convinces the Scranton staff they won’t have to come in the next day if they spend two hours that night working intensely while Michael is out of the way.

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Uh-oh! An office fight of sorts is in store on the May 1 episode of The Office involving Michael — of course — and Stanley.

I can’t imagine how the title “Did I Stutter?” relates to that, but I have full confidence that I know which Dunder Mifflin-ite is going to come out on top. Hint: Not the eternally annoying one.

The Office airs Thursdays on NBC at 9pm EST.

The April 24 episode of The Office is all about misplaced intentions and ruined plans … again.

On “Night Out,” Michael and Dwight attempt to have just that, and unfortunately for Ryan in New York, they want him to come along. Sounds like good times … for us.

While Michael and Dwight are busy infiltrating his life, the employees back in Scranton are busy hating on Ryan for ruining their weekend. I bet payback is gonna be fun to watch, too, because you know the office crew isn’t going to take that sitting down.

The Office airs Thursdays on NBC at 9pm EST.

The April 17 episode of The Office is just plain weird, which hopefully means it’ll be twice or even three times the funny.

On “The Chairmodel” (the episode has been retitled; it was originally called “Parking,” which is why I’m posting the description again), silly Andy and Kevin take advantage of boss Michael’s fixation on a chair model (yes, I wrote that correctly) to get into a big confrontation with other nearby businesses over — wait for it — parking spaces. Apparently, they can be stolen, and Andy and Kevin want Dunder-Mifflin’s back.

The Office airs Thursdays on NBC at 9pm EST.

Original Air Date: April 10, 2008

The Con

Bad, Michael Scott! Bad, Michael Scott!

The bossman fakes an order from corporate for the Scranton branch to work late one Friday night, all so he can corner JIM and PAM and force them to come to his house for a three-couple dinner party. They’ve already gotten out of such an invitation about nine times, but they aren’t so lucky now, to Jim’s great, great consternation. Poor DWIGHT also gets the blues when he learns one of the invited couples is ANDY and ANGELA, and, worse, he can’t attend because MICHAEL claims to only have six wine glasses.

Into the Wilderness

Jim and Pam give the gathering their best shot, though, and Pam even brings along a bottle of wine for the hosts. Michael and JAN — calling each other “babe” and “honey” ad nauseam — initially attempt to be charming hosts. But they’re not charming enough for Pam and Jim, who throw wide-eyed WTF looks at each other throughout the tour M&J give. The biggest shocker awaits in the master bedroom, where the guests see Michael forgot to hide the video camera on the tripod at the foot of the bed. We don’t have to think too hard about what they do with that.

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The April 17 episode of The Office is just plain weird, which hopefully means it’ll be twice or even three times the funny.

On “Parking,” silly Andy and Kevin take advantage of boss Michael’s fixation on a chair model (yes, I wrote that correctly) to get into a big confrontation with other nearby businesses over — wait for it — parking spaces. Apparently, they can be stolen, and Andy and Kevin want Dunder-Mifflin’s back.

The Office airs Thursdays on NBC at 9pm EST.

It’s couples night when The Office returns with the series’ first new post-strike episode on April 10.

Boss Michael Scott throws a special “Dinner Party” for a few employees on the midseason premiere. The only problems are (1) Pam and Jim really don’t want to be there and (2) neither does Dwight when he sees who accompanies his ex Angela. Good times!

The Office airs Thursdays on NBC at 9pm EST.