It was a Depressingly Hilarious Night

Last night we said goodbye to the perpetually awkward Michael Scott.

*moment of silence*

No longer will we get to feel as awkward as we did when watching him push a morbidly obese man onto a table. Nor will we be given any more heartfelt moments like when he proposed to Holly. Never again will we wonder when he'll realize that Jan's baby isn't actually his. However, tonight will be a true night at the theatre. There will be laughs. There will be tears. But most importantly, there will be a tub full of awkwardness just gushing over the edges. In true Office fashion, this bitter-sweet event will go down in probably a little bit of infamy.

Won't lie, I cried like a baby for the last half hour of the show. Hell, it gets me all teary-eyed thinking about it now.

Thank God it wasn't just an hour-long sob fest though. By far one of the funniest moments was Michael Scott giving Oscar some weird doll he made and then the cut-scene to M. Scott just laughing his ass off because he knows he just pulled a huge prank on Oscar. Even in good-bye's humor isn't lost on this man.

Of course, the best goodbyes were Dwight, Jim, and Pam, even if you didn't get to hear exactly what they said to each other.

Now it is time to look to the future of the show though. How is it going to handle not having the crazy glue to hold everything together?

It won't be easy, and it most likely won't work, but I'm glad they're trying. The show, while it may focus around Michael Scott, was largely not about him. Obviously you have Jim and Pam who dominated seasons 3-6 with their relationship/engagement/wedding, and now we have another relationship in the works with Erin and Andy. They've used pretty much the same formula too with Erin dating someone and being unavailable while she clearly is in love with Andy.

Overall though, the show needs to make us REALLY care about the rest of the characters giving them more dimensions than what we've seen so far with the caricatures that they've created so perfectly. I actually think the one thing that is going to ruin the show is trying to bring another Michael Scott type character, unless they don't focus too much on that character's development for a while, or ever really. Let's be honest, the show only had about one more year in it anyway (it probably should have just said it would be done this season, but NBC's track record of trying to find new comedies has been atrocious from Outsourced to Perfect Couples and then the Paul Reiser show which was cancelled after only 2 episodes, thankfully).

I'd love to see at least one season with the rest of the cast in it, but I also don't want it continuing down the Scrubs path it appears to be on where Scrubs got rid of Zach Braff and tried to reinvent the show, but then it cancelled (for like, the 5th time during its run). Hopefully they don't technically 'cancel' The Office and instead just let it play out for one more year while they try probably another 10 sitcoms before they finally find one good enough to get some legitimate ratings.

While it was hard to see Steve Carrell leave the show, he definitely made the smart choice of abandoning ship before it sinks.

Lions and Gays and Bears! Oh My!

Okay. Before reading my ramblings, scan this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/27/glee-born-this-way-lady-gaga-gay-conservative_n_854193.html
I totally agree that we should in fact be teaching our kids (your kids, not my kids, I'm 23 and gay, definitely don't have kids) to hate themselves, and fix what's wrong with them. *vomit*

Could these haters be anymore ridiculous? Unfortunately, the answer is most likely a definite probably.

So, 'publicans are upset that the "liberal media" has attacked their Tea Party goddesses in the form of a conservative's worst nightmare, Kathy Griffin. Get over it? Just because you can't parody a liberal as easily or well as we can doesn't mean you should get angry with us for being better, try improving yourself, isn't that like, one of the core values of your party anyway? And if you think it attacked the Tea Party in general, I'd say you couldn't be more mistaken. She played a mix between Palin and O'Donnell. I mean, are you really that upset that they put in a zinger about not being a witch? Why don't y'all just jump on the bandwagon and laugh a little at the ridiculousness that is Palin and O'Donnell, it's not like you're voting in the polls shows Palin anywhere near the top of the contenders for el Presidente.

Rant. Over.

At least that rant...

<---- The face of hate, Dan Gainor.

So, Mr. Dan Gainor thinks that this past episode was pushing a gay agenda. (As we all know, the gay agenda is to convert as many people as we can to our side for the purpose of... umm... well... I'm not sure. I haven't ascended to that level of Homotology.) To his credit though, it was pushing a gay-ish agenda: Acceptance, of other people and of yourself. So, kudos to you Mr. Gainor for reading between the lyrics of this episode.

Mr. Gainor: "It's a high school most parents would not want to send their kids to."

Absolutely. I would never send my kid to that high school. Who wants their kid to grow up in Ohio, the Mecca of homosexuals?! But seriously. Who wouldn't want their kid to go to a school promoting positive thinking and kindness towards others regardless of their differences? Where does self-hatred get anyone besides into a chair underneath a knife or even worse. I mean, what the hell are these people so upset about? That the show is teaching young kids who may feel different that neither bullying nor suicide is the answer? My god, if for some magical reason Christians were killing themselves because they were teased about being Christians, some would ask those bullies be put to death.

It's hard enough for young gays to come out to their family and friends, and it seems to be proving even more difficult for us to come out as a group.

What? You don't want your kid watching the show because he might learn that its okay that he's gay? Well guess what. Whether he watches this show or not, he's still going to be a big 'ol gay, and maybe JUST maybe if he gets a healthy attitude about himself, he won't end up in an unhealthy and unsafe lifestyle.

Phew! Okay. I'm getting some serious wrist problems from this frantic typing.

I'm going to say it: Quinn has one of the prettiest, most ethereal voices on the show, and I cannot get enough of her. Obviously Rachel has the most incredible voice (bar Mercedes), and the two of them together, along with it being one of the best TLC songs ever made for one of the best scenes of this show. My latest obsession for you all is Glee's mash-up (sort of, it barely has I Feel Pretty in it) I Feel Pretty/Unpretty.

New Beginnings and Happy Endings

ABC has FINALLY found a Comedy to replace their horrible streak of wannabes (Better With You, Mr. Sunshine. Sorry, Matthew Perry, your Chandler character is only funny in friends.)

I was hesitant about the show. I really wanted it to work out because Elisa Cuthbert (She was in the later seasons of scrubs as a dude acting chick intern and was in an episode of Flight of the Conchords also as a chick who acted more like a dude when it came to sex.) is phenomenally funny, and hot. It took my 14 year old sister to point out that the brunette female was on one season of SNL (kicked off after cursing on air in the beginning of the season, although they did let her play the rest of the year out). But honestly, she's way better off doing this show than SNL. This woman is easily the most funny character on the show. She really was the only one that instantly grabbed my attention in the scene where the ladies are at the gym and she just yells at herself "COME ON YOU STUPID SLUT. YOU CAN DO THIS!" or something along those lines. Can't say I didn't see a little of myself in that.

Another refreshing character is Max, the chubby gay guy who is described as a straight dude who likes guys (which we're seeing more of in Hollywood with the new movie Friends with Benefits where Woody Allen appears to play a similar role). It works perfectly.

Elisa Cuthbert changes up her standard character by playing an organized, controlling, and sexy married woman reaching more into the feminine and branching away from her dude-esque roles she played in Scrubs and Flight of the Conchords, and it works perfectly. I suppose in every role she's played, she is the dominating force in her relationships. Not that I'm complaining, I'd be submissive towards her any day.

The episodes run pretty causally throwing in zingers every once in a while, but most of the comedy comes from the brunette, the gay, and Elisa Cuthbert. The others seem to be there to mostly set up the comedy for the other three. I'm guessing as the season progresses the others will find their niche in the show as well. It is fast paced, smart, and all the characters are likable and funny (excluding perhaps the blond chick who ran out on the wedding in the first episode. We have yet to get a feel for why she's funny or why we should even care about her.)

A lot of haters out there are calling it a Friends rip-off. Well congratulations for finding the similarity between the two shows: 3 guys and 3 girls that are all friends. You must have gone to Harvard to figure that one out. If we vilified every show that seemed to copy the formula for another show, nothing would be legit anymore. Cougar Town: 3 guys, 3 girls, and it even has Courtney Cox pretty much playing Monica again. Has anyone noticed the latest slew of 5 people going through life together where 4 of them are obviously going to end up as couples, and one is left being the sex fiend? It happens because it works. Ratings go up when diversity appears in a show because obviously more people can find something to relate to. Stop hating and start enjoying a happy ending when it is given to you.

Luckily, as with most shows, they become more enjoyable the more episodes you can watch in a row to get a better feel for it. You can watch the first 4 episodes on Hulu right now.

You gotta do it. Who doesn't love a happy ending?