The Office – Give us a real prank!

If only personal time machines had become a thing, I’d be able to go back to last year’s The Office Christmas special and add this caveat to my review: “If you thought this was bad, just wait until next year.” Wow.

Unfortunately last night’s The Office Christmas was that bad. Has the show really gone so far afield that Robert California and Erin could be major plot players? What happened to the characters we’ve come to know and love?

Dwight and Jim did have a story all their own, but I felt like it was a promise unfulfilled. After Pam’s replacement Cathy (Lindsey Broad) tells on them for their constant pranking and one-upmanship (Did we miss something? Is this happening solely off-camera now?), Andy threatens the pair’s bonuses. Which promised to make for either an awesome back-and-forth of taunting, or a fun episode with the two enemies being unnaturally kind to one another.

What actually happened was some weird mash-up of the two, and it was done so very poorly. Dwight bought Pam a $200 flower arrangement using Jim’s credit card; Dwight wrote on his car and on his forehead in an effort to frame Jim; Jim defaced a picture of CeCe to do the same to Dwight; Dwight planted his pet porcupine in his own desk. Ooooh! Did anyone get a kick out of any of that?

Then there was Erin, finding solace in a bottle after Andy brought his super serious secret girlfriend Jessica (Eleanor Seigler) to the holiday office party. I’m sure some of you enjoyed a drunk Erin, and I’m glad for that. But not me. The entire thing was boring … save for Andy’s concern that Erin and Jessica might be talking about something personal. “I hope you’re not talking about my penis.” I can’t believe he actually said that out loud!

Anything else worth mentioning? Let’s see:

• Stanley’s rant during what turned out not to be a cold open. I didn’t make the connection myself, but it’s hilarious to think that Lewis Black’s rant-styled show might have rubbed off on him, and influenced his rant for a normal Christmas.
• Creed asking Andy, “What’s Ruth’s deal, man?” I love that Andy had to warn Creed afterward that Gam Gam is off limits.
• Toby’s fictional character Chad Flenderman. And I love that Toby went on and on about him, and that Chad became part of a discussion at one point. Very funny.
• Kevin circling back to Erin after she explodes at Andy. “So there was talk of oatmeal….”
• The all-too-brief montage of gifts that the office mates bought for one another. Meredith’s vasectomy pamphlet for Jim; the “Ask, then touch” t-shirt for Angela. I thought the shirt would make some sly reference to the fact that her husband is gay, but this was good too.

The episode, however? Not good. What ever happened to the days when everyone would sit around exchanging gifts that they’d bought for one specific person but were being forced to trade around the room? And I know that didn’t disappear with Michael Scott, because he presided over plenty of stinker Christmas episodes. Well, I suppose there’s always next year. Because, if you thought this was bad….

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 09, 2011 @ 13:37 EST5EDT