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Eleven long weeks after news of his guest arc was first reported, Will Ferrell’s four-episode Office arc finally began last night. In terms of ratings, the outing was a definite success — it delivered 7.7 million viewers and a 3.9 adult demo rating, making it Thursday’s top-rated scripted show. But as I said in my recap of last night’s half hour, I felt a little lukewarm about Ferrell’s debut. His character, Deangelo Vickers, is more of a collection of quirks than a fully-formed person, and his first day at The Office also felt way too similar to Charles Miner‘s. At the same time, though, Deangelo made me laugh plenty of times — the episode’s cold open especially hit all the right notes — and Ferrell is so appealing that I’ll enjoy watching him for the rest of the season even if Deangelo himself is sort of half-baked.
But enough about me. What did you think of Ferrell’s return to NBC? Are you wishing that he’d replace Michael full time, or that the comedian had signed on for one episode (or no episodes) instead of four? Vote in the poll below, then tell us why you voted the way you did in the comments.
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I loved your comparison to Charles Miner. I was confused about why the Dundler-Mifflin crowd seemed to be throwing themselves at this new guy. I would get it if it seemed like they were afraid they might lose their jobs, but nothing like that was insinuated. So, I hope the story doesn’t follow the same Charles Miner pattern. Yes, Deangelo is kinda goofy like Michael, but he can also be a big cold jerk. I kinda hope the D-M people end up really, really loving him, only to have to let him go.
Home run last night for The Office. Steve and Will worked great together. It felt a little like an Anchorman reunion. This episode was so much better than I expected. Bravo!
I’m with you — why did the gang eat his jive up? did they really hate Michael so damned much (not that they shouldn’t have — I did)?
I think they feel that Michael is choosing to leaving them and instead of showing they are sad, they are upset and rebounding onto Deangelo
I agree with you on that one Samira, that was my take too, and hopefully the writers will have them come around. My belief is they are in denial as he has threatend his co-workers with his departure before! Over all a good episode though, very touching with him going into his office alone at the end.
I feel like I can’t decide about him until I see him without Michael. Last night’s ep was a total miss for me, mostly because I hate the eps where Michael is purposefully cruel to people (and yes, I say that with the awareness that this means I have a lot of eps of the Office that I hate). I like to see Michael as well-intentioned but basically ignorant. Giving out PB&J sandwiches when the new boss is allergic to peanuts is just mean and potentially fatal.
About the sandwiches — is it really that dangerous for someone with a peanut allergy to touch them? Or be in the vicinity? I thought ingestion of any food that could contain or be made in a facility with peanuts was the problem for anyone with this allergy. Correct me if I’m wrong
For some people who are allergic, it can be very deadly. In this case, the allergy is a bit over-stated.
I think i need to see another episode before i can make a final assesment. It wasn’t bad, just not great.
“Luke warm” describes exactly how I felt about Will Ferrell’s performance during his office debut. I think that a better choice to replace Steve Carell would have been Stephen Colbert!
Show was quite a drag. I watched because of Ferrell, and he didn’t help much. Liked Parks and Rec a lot better,
I agree, Parks and Rec was awesome last night! I was glad that it was so good because it helped me get over the crappy Office episode.
Will Ferrell did what Will Ferrell does.
I worry that this string of popular guest stints are some sort of effort to breathe life into this once-great show that is CLEARLY dying. As it crawls toward the light, there’s Will Ferrell/Will Arnett/Ray Romano grabbing it by the heels and pulling it back.
The Office should be allowed to die with dignity.
Completely agree with everything you just said. It is time for this show to END, not be dragged out for another 3 seasons, which is what the new showrunner seems intent on doing. Oh, Toby…
I remember how early on Jerome Bettis (season 3′s “The Convention”) is what passed for a “big-name” guest star on this show. (Even when Amy Adams was on the show in seasons 1 and 2, it was before she was really famous.)
I still think the show is very funny, but I still feel the show should’ve ended whenever Michael left. I also agree that, even though the ratings are actually still pretty good, stuff like this just makes them look desperate.
I disagree, I still like the show very much. Remember, Will approached them about being on the final episodes, not sure about any others, but still would understand that so many other actors/friends of Steve’s admire the show as well.
I think that adding Ferrell to the show will help to boost ratings for a while. Even if interest in him dies out, they can at least get a few ratings from curious fans. I also think this might make the cost of commercials during this time slot go up. Advertisers know that at least for a little while they will be exposing their product to a larger audience than normal.
Boring.Sorry I don’t get Wil although I loved him in Elf.
Hated it. I also think it was boring…. Will Ferrell does not belong on the office. It seems like they are trying too hard.
I stopped watching this season. Michael Scott had become unwatchable.
Ditto.
Right there with you.
I honestly thought that Will was great and this was by far the best episode of an otherwise very lackluster season. I loved the persona that Will is playing and he made me laugh out loud repeatedly which is all I can ask for. And that shaving bit was really hilarious, especially Ryan’s response.
I think the episodes leading up to this one were much better. I really liked the one when Michael got left at the gas station bathroom and Holly found him. Last night’s episode just left me flat.
I keep hoping that someone will announce that Dwight Schrute has bought a controlling interest in the company, and his run as owner will be more akin to the British version of the show. Otherwise it is a continuum of the Cheers/Friends/whoknowshowmanyother shows that depend on some possibilty of certain characters hooking up. The Jim/Pam thing is tired. They’ve turned Kevin into a bit of a dim-witted creep, and Andy’s promising beginning as an office Machiavellian quickly disappeared.
Ferrell is about as funny as a kidney stone.
I didn’t feel that many of DeAngelo’s quirks were revealed or explored in the episode. We only caught a glimpse of Michael’s first realization of moving on.
I think that we have to wait and hope that DeAngelo offers us some comedic quirks to rival Michael’s in the last 3 episodes.
His character, to me, came off as a cross between Ferrell’s Dr. Rick Marshall from “Land of the Lost” and Detective Allen Gamble from “The Other Guys.”