TVSquad

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.

(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.