If I wasn’t spending my entire day blogging for charity, I would be at a movie theater, or on my way to one, right about now to see Steve Carell in Get Smart. Since I’m stuck in front of my computer, though, I’ve had the chance to dawdle around at Metacritic to learn what the professional reviewers think, not that I usually care.
Surprisingly — or perhaps not if you think about it — they don’t seem generally enthusiastic about the big-screen adaptation. The movie’s average score among critics is currently an unimpressive 53, although users have given it …read more

There’s something about that Steve Carell that just makes everybody love him. Even my mother likes him, which is a pretty big deal, believe me.
A couple of days ago, Carell paid a visit to his dear old friend Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, where he was a correspondent for five years, from 19999 to 2004. The appearance was to promote Carell’s latest movie, the big-screen adaptation of one of the funniest sitcoms of all time, Get Smart.
The film opens in U.S. theaters today, and you can get a head start on the fun by watching the following …read more

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, …read more

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.

Photo: NBC

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 …read more

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 …read more

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.

Photo: NBC

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 …read more

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 …read more

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 …read more