Concerned about "The Office" and "30 Rock?"

Last night's season finale of "30 Rock" and the penultimate "The Office" episode of the season have left some folks out there grumpy or worried. Not me. Bob Bianco at USA Today, usually a voice of sanity, sez "30 Rock" has gone downhill over the last few episodes by adopting a shotgun approach to wacky comedy, a la "Family Guy," and dragging Tina Fey's Liz Lemon into it. The recapper at TV Squad has some doubts too, albeit mostly about the return of the insufferable Dennis. Now, I agree that Liz Lemon has joined the inmates lately instead of just running the asylum. But it doesn't bother me. In fact I kinda like it. And how can you have doubts about a show with dialogue like this, as captured by TV Squad:

Jenna: "I can't watch American Idol, because I have perfect pitch."
Kenneth: "I can't watch American Idol, because there's a waterbug on my channel changer!"

Meanwhile, our friend Kathie over at GMMR, the most dedicated "The Office" fan I know, was thoroughly "underwhelmed" by last night's episode because, she sez, it just wasn't very funny. Moreover, she sees troubling signs for the future of Jim and Pam - Pam's once again dreaming of art school, Jim's chafing against the grimness of his Dunder Mifflin future. Myself, I thought it was a funny episode. And maybe this makes me a bad JAM fan, but I think the uncertainty and poignance of Jim and Pam's existence (as so ably portrayed by John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) makes their relationship all the more compelling and deepens the show beyond Michael Scott's comic idiocy. That's what she said!

Oscar over at Buddy TV sort of splits the difference between me and GMMR in a review of last night's episode. He shares some of GMMR's concerns, but nails this: "The Office is often a depressing show. The characters have been built up over four seasons to the point where the audience truly cares about them. It is sometimes difficult to watch these people toil away in their dead-end jobs ... The Office is probably more
true to life than any other office setting in television history and that it actually is a little depressing. There are Michael Scotts and Jim Halperts and Pam Beesleys and Dwight Schrutes in the world, only the real ones don't make people laugh; they just go home and get ready to go back to work the next day." All the more reason that it's important to have a Jim or Pam to share with.

Oscar also offers this thought: "The writers, as much as I hate to say it, have painted themselves into a corner with Jim and Pam. Now that they are together and happy, they have no reason to stay miserable at Dunder-Mifflin." And he wonders, could THEY be the seeds of the spinoff we've all been hearing about? That would be a WOW.

But anyway, how can you have doubts about a show with dialogue like this gem from Michael as he tries to recruit an unpaid summer intern from a high-school job fair: “Kids are very wary of being lured these days. Thank you, Dateline.”