TVSquad

(S06E01) Welcome to season six of The Office (wow... who would have thought we'd be looking at the sixth season of this show? I didn't, and I liked the show from day one). Jay Black did a great job of reviewing the show the last couple of years, but his stand-up and other duties have called him away on Thursday nights. So your humble editor has decided to take over and sink his teeth into one of his all-time favorite shows.

Even though we pick up season six somewhat where we left off last year -- Pam's preggers, but she and Jim haven't told anyone around the office yet -- it's otherwise just a regular day around Dunder Mifflin. Well, regular in that Michael spends the day telling rumors to cover up one that's actually true, we find out that not all is what it seems in Stanley's life, and Andy is seriously questioning his sexuality. Like I said, just a normal day...

As they've done for the last five seasons, the writers of The Office do a nice job of showing that despite the grand events that go on in the life of the Scrantonites, the fallout isn't always felt right away, if at all. The pregnancy is just another thing that happened. No one talks about the closing of the Buffalo branch and what that might mean, and Michael isn't pining after Holly.

Instead, we open with Dwight, Andy and Michael practicing parkour -- "the Internet sensation of 2004," as Jim put it -- around the office. And the fact that Andy seems to get seriously hurt at the end of the cold open and then seems fine after the opening credits doesn't seem like a disconnect, because he could have fully recovered in the time in between.

So, on to the Michael Scott Rumor Company... every time we think Michael has achieved some sort of self-awareness, he goes and pulls something like this. He just had to be the one with the hot gossip, didn't he? So, instead of being human and just trying to squelch the turns-out-to-be-true rumor about Stanley, he spreads other rumors to make people forget. The fact that one of the rumors was that Pam was pregnant was purely coincidental. Of course, Pam and Jim were able to save Michael's bacon by verifying the rumor, which is what seems to happen a lot. Amazing how much those two look out for Michael and save him from himself time after time.

Is it a surprise that the gay rumor has dogged Andy going all the way back to his college days? I don't think so, given his proclivity for homoerotic fraternity hijinks. The funniest part of that story, though, was that even Andy isn't sure at this point. "Michael, am I gay?" is what he pleadingly asks when Michael tells everyone his rumors are false. Heck, anyone who comes up with the Brad Pitt scenario he gave to Oscar would have doubts, too...

More fun stuff:

• Somehow only Michael can call an intern a "stupid son of a bitch" and not get into trouble.
• Loved the Hangman game Michael played with Kevin... and Kevin still didn't get it, even with clues like "He's holding a pencil... He could be doing a crossword puzzle with that pencil."
• Also, only Michael would get more upset that his people are using "going on sales calls" as a smokescreen for doing something else than the fact that Stanley just admitted to him that he's indeed having an affair.
• You'd think that holding tissues for Kelly's crying jags, opening jars for Andy, and being dry humped by Meredith would be a crummy way to be an intern. But I've seen worse. And, for some reason, they all seem to like Dwight.
• Michael's knowledge of the movie Spartacus is a bit spotty, isn't it? Not just the "I am Spartacus" scene, though; he called it a "whodunit."
• Fun aside: Erin saying "she always eats my lunch" when Michael tells her Kelly has an eating disorder.
• Kevin to Andy: "Tea. You would." Since when was drinking tea a sign of gayness?
• Creed: "If I can't SCUBA, then what has this all been about? What have I been working toward?" So, all of Creed's craziness has been about SCUBA?
• The funniest fake rumor was that there's another person inside Kevin, working him with controls.
• I really, really don't want to know where Dwight's manure comes from. The fact that he showed Michael makes it all the worse.
• Erin to Kelly: "I'm so happy that you're eating again." Kelly: "Me too!"
• Pam on why they didn't want to reveal the pregnancy: "I don't want to go down the aisle and have people whispering "There goes the fancy whore."

So, we have a fun, light way to start the sixth season. As we know, there's a wedding and all sorts of interesting stuff coming up. Good to see the gang back.

Of course, you can see clips and free episodes from our friends at SlashControl.