'The Office': Webisodes all summer!
May 31, 2006, 12:49 PM | by Scott Brown
Categories: Television
Whipper-snappers, I'm old enough to remember when NBC's summer strategy consisted of re-runs aired under the saggy rubric "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you!" How far we've come. Now, while ABC's Lost occupies its fans all summer long with a massive online alternate reality game, NBC's The Office -- the best comedy on television, hands down -- will be providing its fans with 10 all-new web shorts.
That's smart. The plot arc is even smarter: It's nominally a mystery -- $3,000 is missing from the Scranton division's coffers -- investigated by the fractious Accounts Dept. troika of Angela (Angela Kinsey), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), and Oscar (Oscar Nunez). Brilliant: The showdown between fundie prig Angela and quietly gay Oscar has been brewing for a while, and watching it develop against the backdrop of a "serious investigation" is a fantastic way to up the ante. It also neatly avoids dealing with the thorny Jim-Pam romance. Not to mention the business savvy: The Office's core audience consumes web shorts like so many corn chips.
I'm ridiculously giddy about this. Speaking of which: Who'd like to see a TV Watch on this show next season? Because I have a Dwight-like loyalty to it, and that could work out for all of us.

Comments