TVSquad

Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.

10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist
You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.

(S06E07) "You know, I really would have appreciated a heads up that you were into dating mothers. I would have introduced you to mine." - Dwight

Ahh, that's more like it. After last week's garbage episode, "Mafia," The Office seems to be back on track by exploring two of the best plots the show has had in quite some time. Jim and Pam's wedding is obviously still the high-water mark, and it will probably continue to be that way for quite some time, but "The Lover" was certainly a step in the right direction.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• I'm always up for a good Dwight Schrute bobblehead, but a Terminator one? I'm not sure I really get the appeal there.
• I get more than enough of Evangeline Lily on Lost, so I'm definitely not sitting around wishing she was in more movies. However, she made the Cinematical Seven: TV Stars Who Should Be In More Movies (female edition) list. See who else made it over at Cinematical.
• Apparently fans have been up in arms about Jonah Hill remaking 21 Jump Street, saying that he was going to make it into a comedy. I loved 21 Jump Street, and I had no idea it wasn't a comedy already.
• I haven't seen Sam Raimi's newest horror flick, Drag Me To Hell yet, but I fully intend to. See what rating Cinematical readers are giving it.
• Cinematical is even suggesting you make it a double-feature weekend, seeing both Drag Me to Hell and Pixar's latest film, Up. Having seen Up, I highly recommend this. It is an amazing movie that will have you in tears throughout the entire thing (but was still really funny!).

For a while there I thought The Office was meandering a bit. Over the top situations, some episodes (especially the hour-long ones) that weren't particularly funny, plot developments I didn't like. But it's been really good again lately. I thought the whole "Michael Scott starts his own paper company" arc was going to be a disaster, but it turned out to be funny, interesting, even important. Here's a clip from the recent "Casual Friday" episode. It features the Dunder-Mifflin gang talking about whether or not failure is an option.

I don't usually offer advice to television characters for a variety of reasons, number one being they (or the people who create them) don't listen to me, and number two being I don't want to be taken away by the authorities. However, I'm risking the latter and flying in the face of the former to serve up some counsel to Jim Halpert. Attention Jim: you are on the verge of being fired!

All the signs are there on The Office. Jim has thrived in Dunder Mifflin under Michael Scott's leadership (such as it was), by doing just enough to satisfy corporate. He had a comfy niche in the Scranton branch. Well, the happy times are over. The new boss, Charles Miner, does not like Jim.

As Jay pointed out in his reviews of The Office this week (read them here and here), the writers have managed to take an established show into amazing new directions. After quitting in a huff, Michael Scott started his own paper company, and The Michael Scott Paper Company already has a Web site up and running.

"Serving Scranton's paper needs since 2009," the site touts, the company is more than just paper. It's about creating meaningful relationships with people.

(S05E17) I'm with Jay Black: last week's episode of The Office was kind of "meh" for me. Luckily, this week more than made up for it. Even though season five has our favorite Dunder-Mifflinites looking way more glamorous than in the first season (I mean, really. I know Pam's in love, but it does not make your hair that shiny), we've gone back to season one levels of Michael Scott stupidity.

At first, when Jim and Michael were freaking out about giving 10% off to one of their biggest clients, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. I mean, I love sales and all, but 10% isn't enough "whimsy" to make me want to wear a top hat. Then I realized that the coupon was for 10% the entire year -- and as Darryl said, they use three pallets of paper a week. So that's bad enough -- but then it turned into 50%, and I can see why everyone was freaking out.

Random House defines outrageous as highly unusual or unconventional; extravagant; remarkable. It's as though they've been watching TV, and wrote their definition to fit some of the crazy characters on television shows today.

Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I love these larger-than-life characters, played to perfection by the talented actors who grace these roles. Some fit in perfectly with their surroundings, others stand out like a sore thumb amongst castmates. One thing they all have in common, though, is that watching them is pure entertainment.

Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker on The Mentalist)
Jane doesn't quite have the social graces to blend into society, and that's why I love him. The frumpy suits, the obnoxious antics, and the constant pushing of the envelope make for some good TV. From card counting in the casino to reading Lisbon's mind; hypnotizing suspects to making a sandwich in a victim's home, Jane's done it all. Unconventional, to say the least.

In an effort to promote his new movie The Rocker, Rainn Wilson has "kidnapped" his co-star of The Office Jenna Fischer. On a post on Jenna's MySpace page, Wilson promises that she will be released if his movie grosses 18.7 million dollars (presumably the cost of making it).

There's even a website up detailing the progress of the kidnapping: FreeJennaNow.com. The first question I have is: what happens to Jenna if the movie doesn't reach the $18.7 million goal? That answer is left intentionally vague. My guess is he'll let her go anyway.

I'm glad Jenna is being a good sport about all this (watch the videos to see how Jenna is playing along), otherwise I would find any sort of image involving tying up a woman and leaving her in a vehicle somewhat disturbing. I guess he needed to "kidnap" someone America cares about in order for this Dwight-like scheme to work (and a co-worker who would go along with this silly promotion in the first place). Of course, for better publicity,he could have kidnapped Michael Scott. I think more people would have noticed if Steve Carell was missing.

To some, the only games that matter this summer will be the Olympics in Beijing. To others, Scranton, Pennsylvania will be the place to be for the real games.

On Saturday, July 19, The Office's number one on-screen enthusiast, spunky Kelly Kapoor -- played by actress/writer/co-executive producer Mindy Kaling -- will host a series of games to promote the release of two new The Office products. NBC and Pressman Toy have created The Office DVD Board Game and The Office Trivia Game.

In last season's finale of The Office, sparks flew between Michael Scott and Toby's HR replacement Holly. Amy Ryan, seen for four seasons on The Wire, brought a new dynamic to the show as Holly with her interactions with Steve Carell's Michael. "Amy gave the character of Holly an openness and matured innocence that exposed a new side of Michael," said Paul Lieberstein, who played Toby and was recently promoted to executive producer on the show. "She placed her character right on his level."

All I can say is bring on more Holly and congratulations to Toby! I guess since Lieberstein will still be so involved with the show, there's always a chance of more Toby in the future, but the beautiful Ryan will add a new dynamic to the series. While Amy Ryan's currently only set for five or so episodes, I hope they can expand that if it works. Now that Pam is back off the market and Karen's gone, Holly represents a new amorous target for the boys of the office. And having her be the HR rep at the same time makes it all the more taboo to pursue. Which means Michael will be all over it like Dwight on Second Life.

"This is man is an impostor. Do not do business with him. This is not Dwight Schrute." --Dwight to Jim

NBC has released a sneak peek of The Office's season finale called "Good-bye Toby." After Thursday night's stellar episode, I'm psyched for the finale even though I tend to be underwhelmed by one-hour Office episodes. How about you? Ready for next Thursday?

In the scene, Jim reprograms Dwight's phone to forward to his own. Dwight reacts...well, exactly how you'd expect him to. It's pretty hilarious. I love the Jim-Pam-Dwight dynamic. And I love any time Jim pulls a prank on Dwight. My favorite prank had to be when Jim sent Dwight a fax from "future Dwight" telling him not to drink the coffee.

I put the video after the jump. I also put the two-minute recap of last Thursday's show just in case you missed it. The Office's one-hour season finale is Thursday May 15th at 9 p.m. ET / PT.

Who saw last night's episode of The Office? Were you mesmerized as Dwight swindled Andy into taking a lower offer for his Nissan Xterra? Were you jealous and wished that you could do the same thing? Well now's your chance... sort of. Although, by the time this auction is over, you may have some issues flipping it for a higher price like Dwight did.

Our sister site Autoblog stumbled onto a great find earlier today - the actual SUV used in the episode "Did I Stutter?" is up for auction on eBay. The Xterra in question is owned by one of the studio hairstylists on The Office. The car had been used as a prop car - the car Andy "owned" on the show. Hoping to capitalize on the car's newfound fame, the owner has put it up for sale. To entice Office fans, some extras (not furnished by the dealer) are included:

(S04E12) Jay Black couldn't be with us today because he was called away suddenly. Something about not leaving the table until he'd finished all his vegetables but he didn't like asparagus and yet that didn't matter he can sit there all night if he has to or until the asparagus evolves arms and legs and jumps off his plate and leaves on its own. So he figured since my name is the closest to his, maybe we could get away with this last minute pinch hit.

I got an episode that won't necessarily go down in the annals of time as an Office classic, but does bring us back to the core of the show: the office. The episode takes place entirely in one day, entirely in the office, and virtually every cast member gets pulled into one storyline or the other. For me, this is when The Office is at its best, when its presenting us barely controlled chaos. Offices are constantly bustling with activity productive or otherwise. Tonight's episode captured just that, and very well.

This is my third Festivus at TV Squad and, in past years, just a few of my wishes have come true. For instance: a Kate and Sawyer hook-up on Lost, another season of My Name is Earl, and a little faith in Scrubs from NBC. All those came true after my first Festivus, last year's wish list wasn't really granted. And, CBS has yet to kill off a main character on CSI. Sara almost died, but didn't. Drat!

This year, all I really want for Festivus is for the writers to get a fair shake and for my favorite shows to return to television. But, since that's kind-of a downer, I made a list that's a little more fun.