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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.

OK, so far so good. Not a great episode, but a promising one, and after six weeks away, we’ll take it.

And then it goes wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

Suddenly, we have a clip show.

Admittedly, this isn’t like anxiously awaiting the return of a show like “Lost” or “24.” “The Office” is like an old friend who you haven’t seen for some time. You look forward to having dinner with your friend, catching up, sharing some laughs.

This friend showed up late for dinner without apology, told a few old jokes and then up and left, sticking you with the check.

Of course, some of those old jokes were good. Especially Meredith’s literal interpretation of “casual day,” Michael’s failure to give up “that’s what she said” cold turkey, Michael and Jan’s dinner party, a drunken Pam at Chili’s, Stanley’s lack of mad hoop skilz, and, of course, Jim and Pam’s wedding.

The point is, they were old jokes, jokes we could have revisited by simply turning to TBS or pulling out an old DVD.

I’m looking forward to that old friend returning next week with some amusing stories, stories we haven’t already heard before.