The Office – Season Premiere

Last week’s season premier of The Office was highly anticipated.  Steve Carell is gone as Michael Scott.  James Spader has been added to the cast and will play Robert California, Michael’s replacement.  Based on what we saw during last season’s finale, I thought that his character would be able to provide some funny moments, especially after seeing Dwight’s interaction with Robert California.  “Stop trying to figure me out!”

I had heard that Robert California wouldn’t be a branch manager for long – I was told he would be promoted pretty quickly.  It was not really a promotion though.  Robert spent 30 seconds in the office, then flew to Tallahassee and convinced Jo to make him the CEO of the company.  That’s a little far-fetched, but this is television and it’s The Office, so we’ll go along with that.  It speaks volumes for the type of person Robert is.  As a result Any Bernard was promoted to the branch manager position, a move that I didn’t really expect to see, but it makes sense to me.  During the show, I could see flashes of Michael in the way Andy handled himself.  I felt like “been there done that” sort of, but Andy has been a really funny character on the show, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the show now that he’s a major player.

I think the season opener was lackluster, it left me thinking, that’s it?  I don’t remember too many high points, there were some laughs, but I wish there were more.  I know it’s the first episode of the new season, but I was hoping they’d knock it outta the park, but they didn’t.  James Spader didn’t have much air time that was memorable.  With all the hype surrounding his addition to the show, I was expecting him to be the focus a little more.

All in all, The Office is back and I’m happy.  I love watching the show and have become attached to the characters.  My wife and I watch past episodes on DVD and Netflix whenever we can.  It’s exciting to be able to watch new episodes and we look forward to many laughs this season.