Pam and Jim have baby Cecilia baptized on ‘The Office.’

We’d all like to hop on that bus.

The bus that takes us far, far from here. The bus that takes us away from our jobs, our responsibilities, our lives.

We want to get on that bus to be the generous, caring, compassionate people we all, deep down, truly want to be.

Then we get a little nervous. Leaving everything behind, well, maybe that’s not such a good thing …

Maybe I don’t want to give up my life. Maybe I don’t want to give up my belongings. Maybe I don’t want to give up the stress.

And maybe, just maybe, three months of hard labor South of the border with a church youth group isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Hey, we’ve all been there. Read the full story

Dunder Mifflin staff (from left) Meredith, Erin, Oscar and Ryan celebrate Halloween.

“Halloween should be a day we honor monsters and not be mad at each other.”

The author of these profound, thoughtful words? Gandhi? No. Martin Luther King? Hardly. JFK? Try again.

These words to live by were uttered by everyone’s favorite super-intelligent, super-special operative MacGruber, of course.

Well, not exactly the real MacGruber. More like Michael Scott as MacGruber, which doesn’t take away from the significance of the words.

In its latest Halloween installment, “The Office” continues a string of better-than-average episodes featuring Kevin as Michael Moore, Andy as Bill Compton and Gabe as a very-creepy Lady GaGa.

Sorry, redundant … Read the full story

Darryl and Andy form a band on ‘The Office.’

If you can’t beat ’em, hire ’em.

A business stealing a top-performing employee from its competition is not surprising. It is surprising, however, when it’s Michael Scott making such a solid — if slightly underhanded — business decision.

On “The Sting,” we’re introduced to Danny Cordray, the top salesman for Osprey Paper in Throop (gotta love those silly-sounding Pennsylvania cities), played by Sheriff Bullock himself, Timothy Olyphant. The last time “The Office” had a guest star from a late, great HBO show, Idris Elba of “The Wire” left his Stringer Bell charisma behind on the streets of Baltimore to play Charles Miner, Michael’s humorless Dunder Mifflin boss.

Read the full story

The fifth, and sadly, final season of “Friday Night Lights” kicks off Wednesday on DirecTV, and the producers of the best show on television have provided a tantalizing 30-second look at the upcoming season.

Of course, the biggest question from the preview is what does Julie mean about providing an “epic” last night in Dillon for Landry? I’m thinking (hoping?) that that’s just the producers being coy and that the two won’t, um, come together …

I like the idea of Billy joining the East Dillon staff. Billy’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s the kind of guy you root for and, with his brother apparently locked up in the pokey, should provide some patented Riggins levity.

I also look forward to watching Eric and Tami dealing with their daughter leaving the nest. Watching how the stern coach will handle his Princess leaving home, for this father of a 15-year-old girl, should be particularly compelling.

I’ll be watching Wednesday and this blog will return with episode recaps next spring when NBC airs the final season of “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.”

Andy leads a staff discussion on sex ed on "The Office."

In the most recent episode of “The Office,” Michael Scott is visited by Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

Well, he actually visited them, but you get the idea …

In “Sex Ed,” Michael is dealing with a health scare in which he believes the best course of action, of course, is to cover it up. With a moustache. Not just any old moustache. He chooses a big, ol’ Wyatt Earp moustache that he promptly drops into his coffee, revealing a “pimple” on his lip.

Michael doesn’t seem concerned, saying Avril Lavigne gets “pimples” all the time “and she rocks harder than anyone alive.”

While the staff expresses their concern for their boss, Meredith downplays the significance, saying she knows “tons of people” who have the STD. Meredith’s lack of moral fiber literally leaves Angela breathless. Read the full story

Andy takes center stage on "The Office."

Now, that’s more like it.

After the first two episodes of Season 7 of  The Office continued the disheartening trend of uninspired efforts from last season, the show bounced back with one of its best efforts in years.

And all it needed was Andy Bernard singing show tunes.

Whodathunk?

“Andy’s Play” opens with the star of the show and the cast from Sweeney Todd dropping into Dunder Mifflin for a pickup performance geared to gain interest in the troupe’s final performance at Scranton’s own Loose Screw Playhouse.

Erin is impressed, asking Andy if he had written the song. Not exactly surprising that our favorite dim-witted receptionist isn’t familiar with the works of Stephen Sondheim …

Andy is confident that if Erin comes to watch him perform, that she’ll fall in love with him and drop that loser Gabe.

“Women cannot resist a man singing show tunes,” Andy says matter-of-factly. “It’s so powerful, even a lot of men can’t resist a man singing show tunes.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Read the full story

Toby and Michael use different counseling techniques on "The Office."

Life hasn’t been a bowl of cherries for Toby Flenderson.

First, there’s the unfortunate name.

Secondly, there’s the failed marriage.

Third, there’s the unrequited love for Pam.

Lastly, there’s the boss who, quite simply, hates his guts.

Yet, Dunder Mifflin’s human resources representative continues to plug away, going to work each day, where he has to deal with the woman he loves as well as the man who loathes him.

The question is, why does he put up with the pain and aggravation when he could have stayed on the beach in Costa Rica?

Read the full story

Dwight Schrute continues to show he's one of a kind on "The Office" season premiere.

Did the seventh season of The Office get off to a hilarious start?

To quote Human Beinz: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no—”

Well, uh, you get the idea …

Though the episode was shocking at times (Erin and Gabe? WHAT?!) and mildly amusing at times (Andy fantasizing about an outback whale violently killing the man who stole his girlfriend), we got more of Jim and Pam trying to get under the Schrutemeister’s skin.

Been there, done that for oh, about six seasons now …

As for the opening “Nobody But Me” singalong, it was tiresome seconds in and paled in comparison to last year’s “Subtle Sexuality” webisode video. I gotta admit, though, that seeing Creed returning to his Grass Roots with the air guitar was sorta funny …

The main plot point of “Nepotismy” revolves around Michael hiring his nephew, Luke, as his personal assistant, aka coffee monkey and gofer. It was obvious that Gabe was going to get his in the end, although it was a little surprising that his punishment, doled out by Uncle Michael, came in the, um, well, end for the slacker … Read the full story

Ladder 62 does its best to adjust to life after Damian's accident.

Jimmy and Connor, meet Damian. The latest ghost to move into Tommy Gavin’s ever-growing neighborhood.

But, in a twist, unlike his late cousin and son, Tommy’s godson is very much alive. Physically, at least.

An uneven sixth season of “Rescue Me” came to a shocking finale, with the revelation that Damian hadn’t, in fact, died from his injuries suffered in a warehouse fire, as last week’s episode led us to believe.

Damian is alive, which in Tommy’s world, just might be even worse than the alternative.

“A.D.D.” opens with a grieving Sheila seemingly entombed in her bedroom, receiving counseling over the phone. She says she blames herself and also blames her son. She even blames “the stupid baby” her son rescued a week before the accident.

After repeating the mantra “It’s not my fault” three times, she exhales, thanks her therapist and hangs up. Read the full story

Damian struggles with his future on the FDNY.

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched this week’s “Rescue Me,” or if you’re one of those weirdos who don’t watch the next week’s preview, you probably should stop right here.

Is it the young punk?

Or is it the old fart?

Is it both?

Is it neither?

It’s kind of hard to tell after watching the latest episode of “Rescue Me.” If next week’s preview is to be trusted, however, it appears that Young Dude Damian met his untimely demise while Old Dude Lou survived. In the preview, Lou is seen talking to his doctor about having “just lost a guy on our crew; a young kid.”

Of course, this is “Rescue Me,” which has a propensity toward having ghosts running around the place, so maybe Lou, in fact, is dead.

Now I’m starting to confuse myself … Read the full story