TVSquad

(S06E09) There was so much comedic potential in this week's episode, that I ended up coming away from this one unsatisfied. It played out as essentially two mini-episodes, and while the second one was better than the first, neither was particularly funny.

Michael Scott is always funnier when he produces cringe-worthy moments via his cluelessness. Cruelty just doesn't suit him well, and the only time it really works for him is when he's dressing down Dwight. What I was expecting to see during his and Helaine's double date with Pam and Jim was some blissful obliviousness on Michael's part and seething anger on Pam's part. What we got was a Michael that was about as cruel as he's been to anyone in quite some time.

(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.

Since Fringe comes on at the same time as The Office now, I'm a little behind on my Office viewing. But no worries, because the folks at SlashControl are fantastic about getting new episodes on the site shortly after they air. That means even if you missed last week's episode of The Office, "The Lover," and your DVR / TIVO failed to record it for you, you can watch it at SlashControl.

(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.

(S06E04 / S06E05) The one thing you knew going into this episode was that Pam and Jim were going to be married at the end of it. There wasn't any big mystery; no old lovers were going to come back to interrupt the proceedings; Jim wasn't going to say Karen's name instead of Pam's.

Nope, that's been the beauty of the Jam pairing from the minute they got together; they just continue being a solid couple in the background while the craziness spins around them. Even when one of them gets sucked into the craziness -- Pam defecting to the Michael Scott Paper Company, Jim becoming co-manager -- the pairing is still solid.

That's what made this hour-long wedding episode so enjoyable. It wasn't the fact that Pam and Jim got married, it's that they had a memorable, very PB & J-style wedding despite the presence of the crew from Scranton.

The event that all of us hopeless romantics have been waiting for is almost here. On this Thursday's one-hour episode of The Office, titled "Niagara," Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly will finally tie the knot. Their big plan was to have the wedding at Niagara Falls, so that no one from the office would be able to make it. Unfortunately, Michael gave everyone the time off to go to the wedding. Bad for Pam and Jim. Great for us.

I'm one of those people who's been patiently waiting for this day to happen. In fact, it ranks right up there with Luke and Laura on my list of most anticipated TV weddings. Ever since Jim planted a big smooch on Pam after Casino Night (season two finale), my heart's been all aflutter for these two. Sniff ... I knew they'd be walking down the aisle (or whatever they have at Niagara Falls) one day.

After the jump, check out seven sneak peek clips straight from AOL's awesome video site, SlashControl.

(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.

(S06E02) Well, we knew the closing of the Buffalo branch would intrude on the world of Scranton at some point. Little did we know that it would produce convoluted but ultimately positive results.

Well, the results could have been even more positive, but you just know that can't happen in the world of Dunder Mifflin, not with the insecure Michael Scott running the branch and the seemingly clueless David Wallace in the executive offices.

This episode proves to me that Wallace is either a brilliant executive or the most patient sap I've ever seen in an executive position.

Most wedding-related websites tend to be annoying. The website for the wedding of Pam and Jim ... well, it almost was. However, the quote from the "About Us" section of the site which states "Together, we're easily the seventh most interesting couple in Northeastern Pennsylvania paper sales" sold me on the concept.

This isn't the first time The Office has launched an Internet campaign. Who remembers Schrute Farms? This one seems similarly clever, although most of the sections give you a pop-up window that says "Coming Soon!" (hopefully it won't remain that way indefinitely).

Look in the Guest Book for comments from other characters (my favorite, of course, is from Michael Scott: "Pam, you are like a daughter to me, and Jim is like a son. I'm so proud that my son and daughter are to be wed!"). Apparently anybody can leave comments as well, so go for it. Try not to overwhelm the web servers.

(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...

Readers of TV Squad know that our fearless editor-in-chief Joel has been at the Television Critics Association press tour, scooping up all the cool news and interviews, and posting them here for all of us to read.

It's a lot of work attending these events; you have to be "on" all the time and not only attend panels, do set visits, conduct interviews, and hob-nob with celebrities, but also write everything up and post it to the site in a timely fashion. I have to give a big shout-out to Joel, because I love seeing all the TCA news coming through.

I'm especially geeked about the news he posted after his set visit to The Office. In case anyone wants to stay spoiler-free (which would be tough regarding this particular news, since it's all over the place and was pretty much a given anyway), I'll post my commentary after the jump.

All the talk last week was about Conan O'Brien's first week at The Tonight Show (and rightfully so), but let's not forget that David Letterman had new episodes too. The CBS site offers a recap of the best moments from The Late Show and I've posted it below. It features comments about Jay Leno and Conan, Bill Cosby, John Krasinski, Paris Hilton, Paula Abdul, Jessica Biel, a cranky new neighbor, and a giant bird flying around the studio audience.

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:

• Land of the Lost, the new Will Ferrell movie, opened in theaters this weekend. I'm kind of undecided about whether or not I want to see it, but Cinematical's interview with director Brad Silberling is pretty interesting.
• The Summer of '91: Truth or Dare, Boyz n the Hood, Thelma & Louise, and Point Break. It was a good time. Relive it with Cinematical.
• Although I'm not so sure about John Krasinski's beard in this film, I do like the idea of he and Maya Rudolph playing a couple. Plus, Away We Go is directed by Sam Mendes, who helmed American Beauty. I'm so there.
• In honor of this weekend's release of The Hangover, Cinematical Seven looks at Wicked Hangovers on Film.
• Wow. This is probably the greatest wedding invitation in the history of the world. Cinematical gets away with posting this by calling it a "short film," so I'm totally going to link to it too. The video is four minutes long, but it's amazing.

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:

• The Cinematical crew is staying at Sundance until the bitter end. Check out their Sundance in 60 Seconds for Friday, January 23.
• I've been hearing a lot about the new Lil' Wayne documentary and it sounds really interesting. Check out what Cinematical has to say about The Carter.
• John Krasinski is more than the adorable Jim Halpert on The Office; he's also a budding director. He premiered his first film, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men at Sundance. Jim Rocchi got a chance to interview him. Check it out here.
• Another movie that premiered at Sundance that I'm excited about is Paper Heart. Starring Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi. It's both a comedy about a documentary and a documentary about a comedy, if that makes sense. Cinematical explains it all in their review.
• Hey! Oscar nominations were this week! Check out what gott snubbed!

So let's talk about last night's episode of The Office. Should Hilary Swank be offended that half of Dunder-Mifflin didn't find her "hot," or should she be flattered that the other half did?

It's funny that this even came up because just the other day I made a reference to Swank in another post about a reality TV star that was rather unfair so I won't link to again, and here we see a major network sitcom discussing whether Swank is hot or not.

This being the web, where a mention of something on a TV show can mean an almost instantaneous response (even Wikipedia locked the Janis Joplin entry after last night's 30 Rock episode), we knew there would be a lot of talk about Swank, and someone has put up a site called IsHilarySwankHot.com. It's pretty basic, you just go there and click yes or no.

For the record, I have no opinion on the matter.