Blog #7: Dunder Mifflin - Paper, Persons, Paper, People

I like to think we all have a favorite TV show we are crazy about. A show we could always watch and never seem to get bored of. Quoting lines here and there, collecting the seasons when they come out and getting a collectible of sorts that references the show (like a shirt or bobble head).  Even if we don't, thinking that makes me sound much more sane. Anyway, my favorite TV show is The Office, the US version that airs on NBC. With the success of the original UK Office created by Ricky Gervais, that stemmed into multiple versions spanning across different countries. Including a French, German, Chilean, Israeli and Brazilian version, the US Office is the longest running. Now in their eighth season, I am still very much entertained and enjoying the cast and plots.

Without giving specifics away, if anybody was ever to watch it, a general outline of the characters and background seems appropriate. The plot is, as it has always been, a camera crew follows the lives of simple office workers. A group of thirteen or so, with some additions and subtractions over the years, are centered in Scranton, Pennsylvania working for a paper company named Dunder Mifflin. The outrageous manager is Michael Scott (Steve Carell), his odd and far too dedicated (pseudo) number two is Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), and the love interest we root for throughout is the average guy salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and sweet receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer). Of course, other characters and personalities populate the office, but these main four bring the most comedy and influence each other the best.

Jim relentlessly pranks Dwight and plays of his weirdness as a coworker. He as well constantly talks to Pam as he secretly admires her (I mean, who wouldn't? Pam is the best), and deals with Michael to the best of his abilities. Jim is by far my favorite and never disappoints as a funny and genuine role. He is an everyman that really doesn't give any effort, except for his facial expressions, those are classic. Michael however tries so hard to be comedic and everyone's friend, only for it to blow up in his face. Dwight meanwhile dedicates all of his time to the company and side to Michael, and is both emotionless and uncaring to anything that doesn't directly affect him. Finally, Pam she ... well, she just answers the phones. She is engaged to a warehouse worker Roy, and from that, leaves Jim heartbroken from time to time.

Despite all the laughs, you can really pull away some memorable quotes. Some are even kind of profound and deep. Out of any of them though, Dwight's quotes are the absolute best. One of my favorites is a monologue he does about the perfect crime, which is as follows:

What is my perfect crime? I break into Tiffany's at midnight, do I go for the vault? No. I go for the chandelier, it's priceless. As I'm taking it down a woman catches me, she tells me to stop; it's her father's business, she's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning the cops come, and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to go to Mexico, but I go to Canada; I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later I get a postcard, "I have a son, and he's the chief of police", this is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet me in Paris by the Trocadéro; she's been waiting for me all these years, she'd never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin, that's where I stashed the chandelier.