Dinner & a TV Show: The Office - The Merger

I'm rarely home until at least 6pm or so most evenings, so I appreciate quick recipes.

Chili Jack Chicken

Skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies

Prepared Mustard

Garlic

Salt

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter for 10 minutes; drain. Add the broth, chilies, mustard, garlic, and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Stir in the cream; simmer until thickened. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted.

The Office: The Merger

The show has a great mix of normal characters I can easily relate to (such as Jim, Pam, and nearly everyone from the now-closed Stamford branch except Andy) working with over-the-top, abrasive and alternately creepy/annoying characters like Michael, Dwight and Andy. Arguably, the funniest moment in the entire episode was before the credits even began to roll, as Pam was making Dwight run laps around the office building, while "timing" him with an electronic thermometer. It was the kind of perfect Dwight-mocking prank that Pam and Jim excel at.

It's extremely painful to watch Pam get so excited by Jim's return only to be heartbroken when she sees he's apparently moved on to Karen. But as hard as it is for me to watch, things like this help ground the series in reality. After being rejected by Pam (and not hearing from her since, even though she had broken off her engagement) Jim would have been understandably hurt and frustrated. Having him act on a similar playful/flirty office relationship makes sense, from his character's standpoint -- he may have waited too long with Pam, and he wouldn't want to screw things up with Karen the same way.

With both Michael and Dwight toplining the antics in the Scranton office, one would think that the introduction of equally zany Andy would mean a little too much craziness in one office. But on the contrary, Andy's proven to be an even better source of hilarity than he ever was in the Stamford office, as he seeks to replace Dwight as Michael's lackey and even ends up hitting on Dwight's secret lover, Angela.

Based on the events of the Branch Closing episode, it was a little surprising that Jan wasn't in the office at all, only talking to Michael once during the day, after he fires Anthony. That seems extremely out of character for someone who didn't want to give Michael the job overseeing the combined offices in the first place. She has no faith in Michael's managerial abilities, and yet she allowed him to meet the Stamford employees by himself and show a "funny" with "a little bit of a zing to it" orientation video without her supervision.

Movie Review: Hairspray

Originally, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see this movie, but some of my friends just kept talking about how great it was. Let me tell you, it wasn't that great. It will appeal to a certain demographic (children, some teens, and baby boomer adults who like corny movies). And it was almost decent until the middle where it just seemed to drag on.

The story, if you don't already know, is about Tracy Turnblad, an overweight but feisty young girl who wants to be a star. When she gets the chance to dance on the Corny Collins show, she becomes a local celebrity, and wins the love of show heartthrob Link Larkin, the boyfriend of snotty teen queen Amber, who is the daughter of the vixen station manager, Velma Von Tussle. But when the show refuses to integrate white dancers with black, and then cancels "Negro Day," Tracy leads her friends in a protest.

There were just so many bad things about the movie that I don't know where to begin. John Travolta as a woman was ... horrible. His accent, his acting, his make-up, and everything was a big FLOP. The dancing was the worst. Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken, can't dance to save their lives and should never try it on screen again. It was painful to watch. Amanda Bynes just smiled the entire movie and Nikki Blonsky wasn't nearly as interesting as the hype built up around her. Pairing her with Zac Efron was a mistake, especially since he looked confused and in his own world throughout most of the movie.I could go on and on about how the directors just found a bunch of big-named actors (well, sort of) of all ages and pieced them together in this long, drawn out movie, but I won't.

I'll try to say something positive about the movie ... half of the songs were decent, but after a while they started to drive me crazy. The costumes were nice ... except for Blonsky's. (All they did was give her a white button-down shirt for nearly every outfit and sneakers that didn't work well). The sets and staging were nice and ...I really can't find anything else to say about this movie that's positive. Just be prepared for an overly extended movie that fails to measure up against other REAL musicals. I'll take Grease any day of the week over Hairspray!

Soup of the Week & The Office: Branch Closing

This chunky soup makes a great main course. Best of all, it's ready...set...serve in just 25 minutes.

Macaroni Bean Soup

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups tomato juice

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

1 cup slice carrotts

Garlic

2 medium yellow summer squash, sliced

1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and rained

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a large saucepan, ring the broth, tomato juice, macaroni, carrots, and garlic to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until carrots are tender. Stir in the squash, beans, seasoned salt and pepper; simmer for 10 minutes or until macaroni and vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat; stir in the Parmesan cheese and lemon juice.

The Office: Branch Closing

I've known people who have been laid off from their jobs, so this episode surely hit home .

Jan tells Michael that corporate has decided to close the Scranton office and will transfer a few staffers to the Stamford branch. Someone once said to me that you never truly find out what a person is made of until you seem him/her deal with a crisis. Watching Michael go to extremes to save his employees (and himself) showed that despite his overbearing, obnoxious, pompous personality, he does have a soul, and I ended up rooting for him to save the day. Of course, it was all moot when I learned earlier that after Josh decided to move on to Staples, the Stamford branch would be closed and merged into Scranton.

I thought Stanley's initial reaction to finding out that his job would probably be eliminated was priceless! The look on his face when he talked about retiring and taking it easy was marvelous and, of course, the disappointed demeanor he had when he learned that he would still be on the job was great too. Stanley is truly a terrific character and I would like to see an episode where he gets the bulk of the attention.

Of course, the inevitable "reunion" of Jim and Pam back in the same office was a major theme throughout this episode. They both awkwardly referred to it, but they didn't come out and say what they were feeling. Well, Jim did tell Jan that he was unsure about taking on the number two role in Scranton because of a personal situation, but in the end he took it because, frankly, he figured the job will pay him more and he gets to go back home. Plus, I know there's still something between him and Pam, and maybe he wants to take another shot at winning her. Let's not forget that Roy will be lurking about as well, albeit as an employee of a new company taking over the warehouse. However, Karen flat out admitted that she had a thing for Jim.

I have to say though that Ryan's attitude toward Kelly is getting a bit tiresome. He expresses all sorts of feelings that he doesn't want to be with her, but he attended the Diwali celebration with her and they seem to spend a lot of time together. His attempt to break up with her fell very flat, and when she ran into his arms after finding out their jobs were save, he didn't exactly resist. It's put up or shut up time for him.

Still, the attempt by Michael to imitate Michael Moore and confront the corporate bosses (with Dwight tagging along) demonstrated that he does have some backbone. OK, probably a very disjointed backbone, but give him credit for having enough guts to even attempt to carry out his and Dwight's plan.

Speaking of Dwight, how's he going to handle Jim as Michael's number two? If I thought there was tension between them before, wait until they are back in the same room again.

Studio 60: K & R, Part 3

While it's true that the show has found some solid ground, it's also tackling stories that it probably wouldn't had the show gone on to another season. These latest episodes, the three-part "K & R" story, are something of a kitchen sink attempt at saving a series that had been stuck in neutral.

The level and number of crises are worthy of a daytime soap opera: a main character in the ICU, her boyfriend without legal rights to her new daughter, Network executives talking about wiring millions of dollars to rescue the brother of a comedian who is being held by terrorists in Pakistan. It's all…a bit much.

And yet - it works. It's a contradiction that sets my head spinning. This shouldn't work - it should be laughable. And yet, the writing, direction and top notch performances by all involved carry it through. They are pushing this dying, bloated and pretentious show up a hill, on ice, in the dark, and other conditional metaphors that would make it very difficult - and somehow they're getting the job done. Does that mean I'm sorry to the see the show go? Not really. I think this may have been all the show had in it - it was best when it knew the jig was up and Sorkin pulled the trigger on storylines that are hard to top. How many times will the show be able to put characters in moral peril? How many times can TV actors play a role in national security?

Of course, all of that is speculation now. Steven Weber is stealing the show as Jack Rudolph. He's become the most complex and interesting character of the group. He's a bit of a hard nose, there's no denying that - but he's a realist and his heart is in the right place - when it can afford to be.

While this is a solid episode, this story still didn't need to be stretched to three episodes. Much of what's good in this episode, was seen last episode. The scenes with Jack trying to coax an apology out of Simon are redundant, the flashbacks to when Jack fought with Matt and Danny are padded for time and not that much happens in general. Tom is still waiting for news, Danny is still waiting for news, and everyone else is still…waiting. Sorkin is running out the clock for the one big finish episode that will hopefully preserve the show's legacy. It's all class and high caliber work, but at the same time if ever a show had spent its ammunition in one final daring charge - it's this one.

The Office: Casino Night

In my humble opinion, The Office is hands down the best comedy on television today. Great writing, great acting, great stories--I could go on and on. This episode, the season finale from 2006, was, in a word, brilliant.

Let me briefly sum up what happened. Dunder Mifflin, led by Michael, holds a Casino Night charity function in the warehouse of the Scranton branch. Michael (played by the excellent Steve Carell) is doing his best to choose a suitable charity after the staff nixes the Boy Scouts. After some interplay, they decide to do something for AIDS patients, so that Michael can prove to everyone that he is a great "philanderer". (Love Michael's butchering of words.)

At the same time, the flirtation between Jim and Pam reaches a fever pitch when he offers to help her choose a band for her wedding. Just looking at them making eye contact with each other is enough to make you just want to shout at the screen, "Come on! Get together already!" In addition, how funny was seeing Kevin in "Scranton-icity"? The Wedding Singer flashed in front of my eyes at that moment.

Michael also is in a bit of a "love triangle drama" when he ends up inviting his real estate agent (Carol) and his boss (Jan) to the event. Of course, his bravado gets in the way and he looks foolish trying to "balance" both women, but still I root for Michael to find romance despite his boorishness. As I've seen over the course of the many episodes, despite his over-the-top behavior, he exhibits a sensitive, human side that makes me think that deep down, he's a good guy who just needs some understanding.

Of course, like the rest of the viewers of The Office, I was chomping at the bit to see what finally transpires between Jim and Pam. The flirtation was strong between them the entire episode, and the subplot was whether Jim was going to tell anyone about his possible transfer out of Scranton because of the lack of a future there. After hanging out in the parking lot with Jan, she tells him he has to say something to somebody.

Finally, after Roy leaves, Jim finally professes his love for Pam. Shockingly, but not surprisingly, Pam rebuffs Jim, saying that he misinterpreted things. He says he wants to be more than friends, but she apparently doesn't. We then see Pam alone in a darkened office calling her mother and telling her what transpired. Jim walks in, and after hanging up the phone, Pam and Jim finally kiss! I would imagine most Office fans stood up and cheered (me included), but I also thought Pam maybe would reject Jim's advances.

Rescue Me: Tuesday

In its fourth season Rescue Me is sticking to its core as it gets things rolling. Last season the guys all had stories that kept them apart and involved other characters and there was something lacking with fewer scenes of them just sitting around talking in the firehouse. With this great ensemble cast, the more I see them together and explore that dynamic, the better.

The best scene in the episode occurs when Garrity, being himself, lets slip that Janet has a place in his "spank bank" - the catalogue of women he uses for sexual fantasies. Watching Tommy's slow burn of rage while Garrity attempt to talk his way out of it and only making it worse is hilarious, helped along by the fact that the whole moment recalls when, last season, Tommy sat across from his brother before launching across a table to beat him to a pulp.

There's some of the patented man-child humor that Rescue Me regularly employs to mixed effect. Of all the things that Sheila tells Tommy about what "really happened" the night of the fire - he's most disturbed by the fact that he wasn't able to perform sexually. This leads to some awkward moments as Tommy is afraid others will find out about this - which didn't happen and was totally made up by Sheila. The funny part is that Sheila knows exactly how to play Tommy, and realized he wouldn't ask questions about a preposterous story if he became insecure about his sexual prowess.

Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke) makes another appearance here, and once again the show suffers for it. Teddy ground the show to a halt last season with his prison wife storyline, and the same happens here. The character just doesn't work and feels like it's a square peg in a round hole and the sooner he gets killed off or simply disappears the better. The only value here is that Teddy's wife makes the situation with Colleen running away with a member of a rock band seem worse.

The episode closes with Tommy commandeering a fire truck to race after his 18-year-old daughter who ran off with her 26-year-old boyfriend. Lou reminds him "Tommy, we're not even legally on a call. You have insurance investigators breathing down your neck, you really want to bring more trouble down?" And Tommy - being himself - says "It's my God damn daughter Lou." And the guys look at him and leave it at that, no further argument necessary. It's this unspoken bond between these men that holds the show together - helped along by the terrific performances of all of the cast.

A comment also must be made about this show's use of music. Many episodes end with the rest of the soundtrack dropping away to focus on the music. Music can sometimes be a crutch, or the mark of lazy writing - but in Rescue Me it's almost always used to great effect. Whether it's at the end of the premiere last season or when Tommy beats the snot out of Johnny. The music works perfectly as the show fades to black on Tommy's desperate face as he races to another emergency - not a fire - but the possible loss of his little girl to an adulthood for which he's not ready.

The Closer: Homewrecker

I was very happy that The Closer didn't attempt to go with a big blow-out episode right out of the gate. The season premier was really a pretty typical crime and subsequent investigation. It allowed me to get comfortable with the characters again and reminded me why I like the show. The characters are quirky and there are always plenty of twists and turns in each investigation. Sometimes I can see where they're going, sometimes I can't.

The opening scene featured a series of shaky camera shots and frequent fades to black as an LAPD cameraman stumbles through a crime scene where Brenda and the rest of the high priority homicide team are investigating the murders of a husband, wife, and daughter. The crafty open was a two-fold mechanism to reintroduce me to the team and to establish the case. Pretty successful, I thought.

Brenda and the detectives find a teenage boy hiding in the attic. He's high on ecstasy and he's the only survivor in the family, which automatically makes him a suspect in the brutal stabbings of his parents and his kid sister. The fact that he lies about his whereabouts that night doesn't help him. But I know he's not guilty, right? It's too early in the episode to be picking out a real suspect. I loved the scene where Brenda was interrogating the teenager in the hospital room where she pretended to stab herself with plastic cups and screamed and wailed and hit the walls. I've seen this show enough and I know the Brenda Leigh Johnson character well enough that I knew exactly what she was up to. And, it turned out I was right: she was trying to make the kid feel guilty and want to die so she could hold him longer and put him on suicide watch. It was a tad bit immoral, really, to make the kid think he was responsible for his family's deaths and you could see that in Sgt. Gabriel's face as he reacted to Dep. Chief Johnson's screaming scene.

I also figured out ahead of Brenda that the father who was killed was a bigamist. Sometimes that happens with this series and I'm just thankful that it happened with this interesting plot twist that didn't necessarily reveal the killer. It's a little corny how she always gets a flash of brilliance about her case based on something inconsequential that someone else says in conversation. This time, it was Dep. Chief Taylor's mention of "breaking up a family" that made Brenda realize who her victim really was.

She eventually got the father's other son to cop to the crime. If there wasn't a constant stream of snot running into the actor's mouth, I'd say he rocked that scene. But the quivering lip and the spit and the snot was just a bit much for me. I mean, who just lets snot run into their mouth? I still felt so bad for the kid, though. His father was living a double life and the one he had with the other family was much nicer than the one he had with that kid. Heartbreaking, really.

As for the side stories, I'm hoping this is the last we'll see of the budget cuts plot line. It seems as though Sgt. Gabriel came up with a way to save the homicide team and get Chief Pope some federal dollars to help with overtime. I've been wondering what was going to happen with Brenda and the team this season since a lot of their conflicts are in the past. The first season, she was trying to prove herself to some strong-willed detectives. By the second season, she had won them over but she faced some trying times due to her past relationship with Chief Pope.

This season? Hopefully not budget cuts. I did read that one of the executive producers hinted that Sgt. Gabriel and Dep. Chief Johnson will not be getting along very well. I'm not sure that this episode set that up, really. She suggested to him that he transfer to another homicide division, but really left it up to him. And he was the one who saved her behind so I'm not sure where this conflict will stem from.

It looks like I'm in for more relationship tension between Fritz and Brenda as they move into a larger house together. I've seen some write-ups and I see that her mother is returning this season, and her father will make his first appearance. So that should make for a couple of entertaining episodes.