TVSquad

(S06E08) You know, as a solitary episode, "Koi Pond" was incredibly satisfying from beginning to end. Outside the office, you had Andy and Pam making cold calls, while back at the office you had the aftermath of a different sales call Jim and Michael had gone on.

It was the perfect blend of everything that makes The Office work, when it's on its game. There were plenty of laughs, great lines and little moments for everyone in the office. We got some developments on the dramatic side, and most important of all -- an incredibly awkward moment with Michael Scott.

As for Jim, he's really struggling with aspects of his new position, and it's adding a whole new dimension to his character. He's always been a little insecure about his leadership ability, but now we're seeing that he's about as ineffective in controlling the Scranton branch as Michael ever was, thus realizing many of his worst fears.

(S06E03) Your regular host, the esteemed Joel Keller, is off hiking the Appalachian Trail this week, so he asked me to cover for him. He should be back in time for the nuptials of Pam and Jim next week. But before we could get to that, David Wallace decided to throw new co-manager Jim a major curveball fresh into his new job.

I'm with Joel on the David Wallace situation. Is he really as clueless about how things are at the Scranton branch? My experience with executives is that ... well, he probably is. In fact, on the one hand, I'll say it's a smart move to make Jim and Michael co-managers. Wallace knows the branch brings in solid sales figures, but he also knows what a loose cannon Michael is.

Maybe the thought was that Jim could reign him in and bring a semblance of sanity to the office. If tonight's challenge is any indication, it's not gonna happen.

(S05E05) [Jay couldn't be here tonight, as he's off being Jay Black somewhere.] Tonight's theme seemed to be about relationship crossroads. We had three storylines interweaving, and all of them centered on the three major hook-ups on the show. Dwight decided that the only way to come to terms with how he felt about Andy and Angela's impending nuptials was to goad Andy into a pointless feud. Michael and Holly had to deal with the fallout of David Wallace discovering that they'd become romantically involved (the hint is in the episode title), and Pam had to have quite possibly the most awkward lunch in history with Jim's brothers.

As always, The Office manages to weave slapstick humor brilliantly with moments of raw emotion and pathos. Particularly, again, with a wonderful performance by Steve Carell. With most of the action centering on the major storylines, we didn't get much work out of the supporting cast, so it was at least good to see them having some costume fun in the cold open. Don't forget the rest of the cast, writers, we love them all!

Ah, summertime. The heat, the haze, the traffic, the lack of The Office; what's not to hate? Luckily, the brilliant folks behind The Office have been busy figuring out ways to tide us over until the fall. Starting Thursday, July 10, NBC.com will be airing Office webisodes. For those of you who like your Dunder Mifflin-ites live, Mindy Kaling (Kelly) will be hosting the Office Games in Scranton on Saturday, July 19.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Mindy Kaling and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) as they discussed the webisodes, Office Games, friendly competition and the status of a few MIA Dunder Mifflin employees.

What would Ryan do? B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan on The Office, is also a writer for the show. So, will he show up for work today? He belongs to competing unions: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has stipulated that actors must show up for work. However, as a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), he could be fined by his union if he crosses the picket line.

A while back, I showcased some blogs that celebrities were (at the time) keeping. David Duchovny had one for a while, but it was just to promote one of his movies and he stopped it. Zach Braff had one for Garden State, but doesn't update it as much as he used to at his new site (though it's still pretty entertaining). And of course we know that Rosie O'Donnell updates hers, a little too much probably.

But there are other TV celebs who blog too, so it's time for an update. After the jump, a list of some of the better blogs out there.

The wife and I were watching The Office last evening and we saw one of NBC's "The More You Know" PSA's.  It featured Mindy Kaling (Kelly from The Office) talking about something or other, but it sounded sort of confusing (more than usual on those 10 second announcements) and the phone number they usually show at the top left- or right-hand corner of the screen really didn't make sense. I just tossed it aside and waited to watch ER.

Turns out, it was all a fake! Kaling, as well as Rainn Wilson (Dwight), John Krasinski (Jim), Jenna Fischer (Pam) and B.J. Novak (Ryan) recorded a whole mess of fake PSA's for the April Fool's holiday.  Some of the subjects they cover in the spots are Beer (walk away from a $9 brew) Lipstick (use two shades for maximum cuteness) and Cake (don't smush it in the bride's face because it just messes up her makeup).

There are sixteen PSA's in total and they are done with the seriousness on the normal ones that appear during the network's shows.  They can all be seen at the show's website.