The Office Should Go Long
If you've ever seen the full extended versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you know how much you missed out in the theaters. It's like that every week now with The Office, whose expanded cast and tendency for short scenes sometimes makes you feel like you're reading a condensed Reader's Digest story. Show creator Greg Daniels helps the situation by posting two of the week's deleted scenes online each week. The cutting room floor material is almost more fun than the actual show, and that's the case in two delightful clips that somehow didn't end up in this week's ep.When it comes to the audience for The Office, an hour did initially feel too long. But the show's ensemble cast has gone much further than the BBC series in developing storylines and conflicts. Twenty-two minutes is just not enough time to follow the show's umpteen characters properly. More Stanley is just never a bad thing. Since consumers are getting used to dictating the amount of time they spend interacting with a given piece of content, it almost makes sense to offer the long version for those who prefer a more full-featured Office, and show a clipped, digestible edition for those who don't want the extra few scenes. Until that kind of choice is possible, or the show's spin-off kills our desire for more Office, we'll have to deal with the abbreviated version.
Still, it's hard to imagine that these scenes should have fallen on the cutting room floor.When you hit on a duo as perfect as Oscar and Andy, it's time to milk that straight-gay friendship for all the comedy it deserves. Here's Andy playing wingman on the flight to Winnipeg: Click to view Usually I have a hard time watching Michael Scott flail around. It's a neat twist on the British series that Scott is actually a capable salesman, and watching him be a fool, and then confident savant sets up an incredible phone conversation with his boss, David Wallace near the end of the episode. In this clip Michael gets money to spent in the metropolis of Winnipeg. Click to view Now we just need to find out exactly influenced Pam to give up graphic design, because it sure wasn't that she "missed Scranton."