Maybe you should estimate me.

No update yesterday—my apologies to all who stopped by! It was a busy day, but it ended, as all good Thursdays do, with a new episode of The Office. A Scranton native, I watched the premiere of the U.S. Office out of a sense of hometown obligation, but with low expectations... and since then I've been a religiously observant fan. I could talk for hours about just what it is that makes the show so enjoyable, but right now I will focus on one thing: the cast. Anyone who loves theatre is familiar with the thrill you get from witnessing a truly great performance onstage; I get a similar thrill every week from watching Steve Carrell as Michael Scott. The last two episodes have found Michael in the unusual position of the Annoyed, rather than the Annoyer, which is a brilliant move on the writers' part. On the surface, he has had less to do, but because the character has been so fully realized by Carrell up to this point, it is fascinating just to see him reacting in a new, but still totally in-character, way to his new situation. To see Michael saying "Stop! Just stop! You're going to drive me crazy!" to someone else is indescribably delicious. (Having him ask the camera, "How can a person have so little self-awareness?" was a bit too on-the-nose, I thought, but fortunately it was paired with a very funny visual gag.) Ed Helms is also giving a virtuoso performance—but am I alone in hoping that his character's arc is nearing its end? I can only take so much of Andy and his irredeemable douche-iness; I can't imagine that character ever moving me, the way Dwight and Angela did when their eyes filled with tears (in separate contexts!). Anyone can play a sitcom weirdo, but to bring such multidimensionality to a character like Angela is true artistry. Meanwhile, John Krasinski is so consistently wonderful that I don't even notice it anymore, but what other sitcom—what drama, for that matter—can offer a moment as affecting and real as that moment when (spoiler alert!) a sheepish Jim responded to Karen's "Do you still have feelings for her?" with a barely imperceptible nod? And Jenna Fischer, who I sometimes think is really the star of the show, keeps finding new ways to make Pam come alive, in her quiet, endearing, totally honest way. (And that's not just my shirt talking.)

When the episode was over, the boyfriend and I experienced the usual bereft feeling, that sinking sensation of "Man, next Thursday is so far away!", which we tried to alleviate by watching a recorded-and-saved episode of Arrested Development. I said when I started this blog that I might sometimes get something wrong and/or revise an opinion, but I will accept no challenges to this statement: No television program has ever had a better ensemble cast than that assembled for Arrested Development. If I started giving individual examples of excellence on that show, I would be here all day. Instead, I invite your comments: Do you have a favorite Office cast member? Do you agree about Arrested? Do you dare disagree with me about either? The lines are open! (And if you're here for the theatre talk, I promise I'll have more theatre to write about soon!)