Alan Sepinwall brings up a good point on his blog today (yes, two days in a row with Alan. What can I say, he's good): Why is Michael Scott, Dunder-Mifflin's favorite goofy manager, still being portrayed as the sad lonely clown? In last night's episode, not only do we see Michael lamenting the fact that both his old boss and the bird died alone, we also see Pam give a bird eulogy that essentially told Michael that he still has people who love him. But here's the interesting thing: doesn't Michael have a girlfriend?Sure, Jan isn't that happy with Michael -- though I contend that she still likes him a little, considering she warned him of Dwight's traitorous ways in last week's episode -- but isn't he still dating Carol the real-estate agent (played by Steve Carell's real-life wife, Nancy Walls)? It makes me wonder if the writers are subtly trying to tell us that things between Michael and Carol aren't going that well, or they just simply forgot about that detail. Writers are human; they can forget. And they can also "conveniently forget" things to service a plot; Greg Daniels worked on a show that did that all the time in The Simpsons. So what do you folks think? Are we going to see Carol again? Let me know in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-13-2006 @ 3:51PM
J-Spot said...
I heard that this week's episode was originally suppoed to be a different one, so there's the possibility that something was mentioned about her in the episode that was supposed to air. Then again, I imagine it's more a case of the "convenient forgetting" you mentioned.
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10-13-2006 @ 3:39PM
rolando said...
they talked about her in the season premiere. Michael say somthing like: "Jan don't be made that i choose carol" and Jan acts like she doesn't care over the phone.
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10-13-2006 @ 3:49PM
elf said...
I think Jan alerted Michael to Dwight's "traitorous ways" because she knows Dwight is an idiot and didn't want to have to deal with him again. In this case, from a professional viewpoint and irrespective of any personal feelings for Michael, between he and Dwight, Michael is by far the lesser of two idiots. And she'd figure that Michael would either then fire Dwight or put him in his place so that he'd never bother her in the future.
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10-13-2006 @ 4:11PM
Sohan said...
In the deleted scenes for "Gay Witch Hunt", which is available online at http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/, Michael mentions that he's seen Carol 7 times for the past 3 months and that things are going well. He also says that he likes spending time with her kids, Tommy and "the little girl." Michael couldn't remember her name! So, it doesn't look like things are going as well as they seem, at least from my perspective. If things were actually going well, he should have seen Carol more than 7 times in 3 months (which is not even once a week!) and should know her daughter's name. Right?
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10-13-2006 @ 6:20PM
rico said...
On last week's episode, Michael mentioned his "two" girlfriends. I doubt they've forgotten; it's more likely just become a backgound thing. But as any smarmy, lonely man can attest to, even if you do eventually get a girlfriend, those old feelings of paranoia don't just magically disappear. He's still Michael Scott, Boob™.
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10-13-2006 @ 4:25PM
SamMalone said...
I think just like Michael makes more of his relationship with Jan, the same would be true for his relationship with Carol. These are not complicated characters, but extreme caricatures of your typical office creatures.
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10-13-2006 @ 4:28PM
Steve said...
Keep in mind that Michael is inherently self-centered and has a deep-seated need for everyone to like him. He was upset because no one in the office was upset (enough) by the death of his old boss. He internalized that as "If *I* died, no one in the office would be upset about me."
The fact that he may or may not have a girlfriend who would care about him if he died is secondary to his need for his office "friends" to care about him.
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10-24-2006 @ 12:05AM
sblue said...
The NBC press release synopsis for the Nov. 2 episode 'Diwali'
MICHAEL URGES THE ENTIRE OFFICE TO SUPPORT DIVERSITY BY CELEBRATING DIWALI, THE HINDU FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS — SCRIPT WRITTEN BY SERIES STAR MINDY KALING — Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) encourages the entire Scranton branch to support Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and attend a local celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. As Ryan (B.J. Novak) nervously faces Kelly’s family at the event, Michael, new girlfriend Carol (guest star Nancy Walls, “The Daily Show”), and the staff sample a range of Indian culture and cuisine. Meanwhile, Andy (Ed Helms) convinces Jim (John Krasinski) to turn a late night of work into a drinking game. Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Melora Hardin, David Denman, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nuñez, Phyllis Smith and Paul Lieberstein also star, and Ed Helms (”The Daily Show”), Rashida Jones (”Wanted”) and Charles Esten (”Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) guest star.
"Michael, new girlfriend Carol (guest star Nancy Walls, “The Daily Show”)"
There you go.
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10-13-2006 @ 6:03PM
Sohan said...
An episode about Diwali!?!?! That is AWESOME!! I am Indian, and I can't wait to see this episode!
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