Andy Bernard is one of the Dunder Mifflin sales staff members under the gun.

With the “talent” running roughshod on “The Office,” the Dunder Mifflin worker bees rose up and demanded fair treatment.

Instead, they got pastries.

With Sabre offering rich sale rewards, the sales staff’s bloodlust can only be sated by new leads.

Michael, upset over the staff’s smashing of his honey and jelly sandwich, isn’t giving the leads up, even after Phyllis’ chilling “Hand them over, numbnuts” threat.

Longing for the good ol’ days when staff made friends first, made sales second and made love third, “in no particular order,” Michael decides to teach his sales staff a lesson by giving the leads to non-salespeople.

This proved a revelation to me, as I know what the trio from accounting do, of course, but what Creed and Meredith do, well, I was a bit hazy on that one.

Through extensive research done on NBC.com and Wikipedia, I learned, to my surprise, that Creed is a “quality assurance representative.” Of course, that vague title kinda fits the mysterious Creed … Read the full story

Michael does his best to impress his new boss.

We’ve all been there.

Trying to impress the new boss, showing him or her how talented we are, how hard working we are, how different we are from … Well, how we really are.

Living in Tahoe a number of years ago, I wanted to develop a closer relationship with my boss (i.e. suck up to him) and being a guy, knew there were only two things I needed to win him over. Read the full story

Pam and Jim, and the Dunder Mifflin staff, await the arrival of the baby.

All it took for “The Office” to get back on track was 19-plus hours of hard labor.

The arrival of little Cecilia Marie Halpert finally came after parents Jim and Pam delayed the inevitable as long as they could, so as to get the best HMO benefit.

“The Delivery  Part 1 and Part 2″ opens with Dwight lecturing the expectant parents about exploiting their upcoming baby for sales. He does, however, admit he would welcome a baby and confesses to a propensity to waking up cradling a gord.

And haven’t we all been there before … Read the full story

Sabre CEO Jo Bennett meets with the staff of Dunder Mifflin.

The Winter Olympics couldn’t have come at a better time for NBC and for “The Office.”

The network gets the chance to distance itself from Lenogate while displaying the world’s greatest athletes in picturesque Canada  over the next 16 days.

Fans of “The Office,” meanwhile, get a break from a show that, for whatever reason, hasn’t been very funny of late.

Thursday’s “Manager and Salesman” continued a disappointing trend for the show – a skimply premise with very few amusing jokes sprinkled in here and there.

Read the full story

Kathy Bates makes her, um, present felt on "The Office."

I’ve always liked Kathy Bates.

Her stunning breakout in “Misery” scared the bejebus out of me, a Stephen King character even more scary on screen than in print.

Her turn as Annie Wilkes, chastising James Caan as a “dirty birdie” and “hobbling” him for his own good, well, that’s the kind of stuff that stays with you.

As scary as she was in “Misery,” Bates was nearly as frightening as Jay Leno’s manager on “The Late Shift,” screaming obscenities at anyone who dared to criticize her weaselly boss.

In the first of a multi-episode arc, Bates plays the same type character on this week’s “The Office.” As Jo Bennett, CEO of Sabre, the company that purchases Dunder Mifflin, she quickly shows who’s boss.

“Sabre” opens with Michael excited about a new box that leads to an unfortunate chant with Erin, who, bless her clueless heart, seems to be hemorrhaging IQ points by the week. Read the full story

Related: ‘The Office’ irony: CFO a real financial adviser

After a long wait, fans of “The Office” finally got a new episode Thursday.

Well, not really …

“The Banker” revolves around an investment banker who visits Dunder Mifflin Scranton to sign off on the sale of the branch. Michael makes some “cosmetic tweaks” for a more appealing office environment, using the same principals “that made Lady Gaga a star or any number of drag queens.”

Inside the office, Michael shows off his Segway and Computron, which sounds strangely like Dwight.

Pam plays along as the branch’s international salesperson, although she does show some reticence when it comes to Fake Stanley, “although I get it.”

Ryan, meanwhile, remains banished to his closet office and is ignored when he asks for a space heater. As for Toby, he is delayed in his favorite stall, reading the “Best American Mystery Stories of 1999″ before emerging to learn Dwight has stolen his identity. Read the full story

Related:  The “return” of ‘The Office’ proves a letdown

Apparently, Andy Buckley’s real-life business acumen hasn’t helped him in his TV-life role as Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace.

In Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, Buckley discusses his day job at an unnamed wealth-management advisory firm in Los Angeles. Buckley seems perfectly happy to have a full-time career in finance and part-time career as an actor.

“Instead of playing golf, this is what I do with my time away from the office,” Buckley told The Journal.

Video: Shareholder Meeting* episode after the jump

* Michael feels honored when David Wallace invites him to New York CIty to speak at a shareholder’s meeting and invites Oscar, Dwight and Andy along for the ride.

Read the full story

Michael isn't thrilled about Phyllis' portrayal of Santa.

The Dunder Mifflin Christmas party had it all – Santa wars, a petulant Jesus, job uncertainty and, of course, 12 drummers drumming.

Thankfully, no maids a-milking were involved.

“Secret Santa” opens up with Dwight announcing he has put his diabolical plot to take down Jim on hold for Christmas. He cites his being tired, the short days and wonders aloud whether he’s depressed.

He’s not depressed. It’s just the holidays, brother.

As Erin’s secret Santa, Andy comes up with the great idea of giving her the 12 Days of Christmas. Problem is, her cat kills a turtle dove and the French hens pull out her hair for nesting purposes.

Andy decides this is one Secret Santa who should remain just that, never to be revealed.

After years of lobbying for the job, only to be passed over time and again, Phyllis finally lands the St. Nick gig. Boasting the right temperament and figure, she deftly assumes the role and has to break the news to a nervous Creed that he will get coal after his being “really, really bad. More evil than strictly ‘wrong.’ ” Read the full story

Michael is reunited with a group of kids he met 10 years ago.

In Michel Scott’s world, tomorrow never comes.

His lack of foresight goes a long way in explaining why he’s a 40-something bachelor who is co-manager of a failing paper company.

It also explains why the idea of promising a bunch of third-graders that if they graduate from high school, he’ll pay for their college seemed like a good idea 10 years ago.

Well, those chickens came home to roost in the form of 15 soon-to-be-high school graduates expecting a windfall from Michael.

“Scott’s Tots” opens with Michael lecturing Andy on his annoying baby talk-habit. Andy defends himself, saying he’d rather say he has a “boo-boo tummy” than “irritable bowel syndrome.”

Valid point.

Andy brings up the fact that some office workers don’t appreciate Michael’s Elvis impersonation and suddenly we are in the middle of the Hell doublebill matinee of “Viva Las Vegas” and “Look Who’s Talking Too.” Read the full story

Michael travels in style to New York to be honored.

Dunder Mifflin thought they had the perfect stooge.

Bring the sucker to the Big Apple in a big stretch limo. Have him sit at the head table, shower him with praise and maybe, just maybe, the company employees would be temporarily distracted from the annoying fact that the company is, well, careering headlong into bankruptcy.

Problem is, in Michael Scott, they chose the wrong stooge. Read the full story