Case Closed on the "Office" Webisodes Wrap-up

Just in time for the start of the fall season, NBC's The Office (now an Emmy-winning comedy, no less) has wrapped up its summer-time webisode series, "The Accountants," and the crack sleuthing team of Dunder-Mifflin accountants Oscar (Oscar Nunez), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), and Angela (Angela Kinsey) has finally located that missing $3000.

Okay, so maybe they're not such a crack sleuthing team, after all.

In the web series' final installment ("The Best Day of My Life"), Dwight (Rainn Wilson) makes a rare appearance as he and Angela confer in the break room about how to proceed with the investigation. Causing a little but of a rift between our two secretive lovers, Angela suspects Michael of some corporate malfeasance and Dwight naturally defends Michael against any financial impropriety. What about that waterbed that Michael's been bragging about lately? Dwight is quick to counter that Michael bought it on his Discover card and got cash back. He's a smart one. Besides, it's got to be Meredith. Or Creed. Or... Meredith. But Angela's not buying any of it. She wants to go after Michael but Dwight cautions her. If she wrongfully accuses him, she'll be court-martialed in front of a firing squad. Didn't she ever see A Few Good Men? (He has it on DVD, natch.)

Meanwhile, Oscar and Kevin are doing some snooping of their own... this time in Angela's accounting books. And sure enough, that's where the missing $3000 has been hiding. (Not literally, of course, because Angela's no thief.) Turns out that Angela made a little accounting error (gasp!) and inadvertently double-charged for the deprecation of some office equipment. The proof is all right there in red ink. Angela denies any mistakes ("That doesn't sound like me," she offers), but unless someone had access to her books, Oscar and Kevin have found the "culprit." True to her character, Angela never apologizes or acknowledges any mistake but just says that the case is closed, then... causing Kevin to admit that this has been the best day of his life. (Poor guy, he needs to get out more.)

I don't know about you, but I'm a little sad that the webisodes have wrapped up. But, at the same time, it's only a matter of two weeks (less, in fact) until the third season premiere of The Office on September 21st in its new 8:30 pm ET/PT timeslot. Get your Dunder-Mifflin snow globes, your wooden train whistles, and your paper supplies and settle in for what looks to be another hilarious season in Scranton. I am so there.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); Dateline (NBC); What I Like About You/Twins (WB); America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC); Nanny 911 (FOX); Desire (MyNet)

9 pm: Fashion Rocks (CBS; 9-11 pm); Las Vegas (NBC); Reba/Living with Fran (WB); 20/20 (ABC); Celebrity Duets (FOX); Fashion House (MyNet)

10 pm: Law & Order (NBC); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

10 pm: The Kumars at No. 42 on BBC America.

The hilarious semi-improvised sitcom/talk show hybrid returns with a new season of celebrity interviews. In the studio tonight: singer/song writer Elvis Costello and TV presenter Carol Vorderman.

10:40 pm: Little Britain on BBC America.

If you missed this outrageous sketch comedy's third season, here's your chance to catch it from the beginning. Marjorie asks each of the Fat Fighters attendees to bring in a picture of them looking their best, just for, you know, inspiration.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

Continue reading full story...

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Continue reading full story...

In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj

Continue reading full story...

[Televisionary]

Search This Blog