Sweeps are upon us and tonight we get our first new episode of “The Office” since Feb. 12.

Tonight’s Episode:

“Blood Drive”
Written by Brent Forrester.
It’s Valentine’s Day at the office. Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) meets a mysterious woman at a Valentine’s blood drive. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) pair up with single women at the office “Lonely Hearts Party.” Meanwhile Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) are banished from the office for being too publicly affectionate, and have an awkward lunch with Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) and Bob (Robert Ray Shafer).

Next Week:

“Golden Ticket” Written by Mindy Kaling. Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) causes a huge problem in the office when he comes up with the idea to put “golden tickets” into packages of paper for clients to redeem for discounts. Andy (Ed Helms), Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) give Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) differing advice on wooing a woman. Rainn Wilson, Leslie David Baker, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton and Paul Lieberstein also star.

March 19th:

“New Boss” Written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Michael has big plans for his 15th anniversary party at Dunder Mifflin, but is in for a shock when the new, no-nonsense Vice President (guest star Idris Elba) has some ideas of his own. Meanwhile, Jim’s prank on Dwight has some unexpected results.

And on March 26th:

“Two Weeks” Written by Aaron Shure. Michael’s (Steve Carell) relationship with the new vice president (guest star Idris Elba) becomes increasingly tense, as Michael finds an excuse to goof off even more than usual. Meanwhile, Pam (Jenna Fischer) faces the challenge of a new copier and Kelly (Mindy Kaling) develops a crush.

NBC is firmly behind “The Office”, “30 Rock”, and “The Biggest Loser”. All three shows have been renewed for next season, and the network is continuing to shake things up with its programming schedule.

The untitled Amy Poehler comedy from producer Greg Daniels will be premiering April 9th, even though there is no pilot, and no title for the series at this time.

NBC is experimenting with its line-up heavily, adding Jay Leno every week night, and still committing to producing the same number of scripted dramas.

If this works as they seem to have it planned – it could be a huge boost for the network. By having Leno on every night – it lessens the programming slots to fill. What does this mean? Well, it means that they can produce the same number of scripted dramas – and run new shows all year long, instead of having to rely on repeats.

This could ultimately end up being a good thing for viewers. Only time will tell.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Amy Ryan is returning to “The Office” this season.

Holly Flax has been greatly missed since she left earlier this season due to other commitments on the part of Amy Ryan. Greg Daniels, the head-honcho at “The Office” has stated, though, that she will be returning – and if they can get her to agree to stay…it will be for a long haul.

I sincerely hope Amy Ryan can be convinced to stick with the show because the chemistry and fun between herself and Steve Carell is just unbelievable.

We’ll let you know more when we know more.

(Se05, Ep 11) “The Duel”

Last night “The Office” returned to NBC after the holiday break in full force. The show was slightly uneven this week, but it was a good installment, and a welcome episode that moved the plot of the Angela/Dwight/Andy love triangle forward in an interesting way.

Michael Scott didn’t have much to do this week. To keep him busy, the writers sent him to David Wallace’s office at corporate. Michael assumed he was going to get in trouble for doing something wrong, but instead he was praised for the fact that his branch was out-performing all the other branches.

Of course, this went straight to his head, and he became a demanding child that offered no input as to why his branch was successful.

This subplot for the episode served to keep Michael out of the picture while other things transpired at the actual office itself, but it also explains to us why he doesn’t get fired. Michael is a bit of a child at times, and very, very hard to tolerate in some instances, but he’s also incredibly loyal to the company, and one of the best salespersons they’ve ever had.

Still, there wasn’t much for Steve Carell to do in this episode, but luckily, there was plenty happening back at the office.

Moments before Michael left, he told Andy that Angela and Dwight had been sleeping together. Andy was floored, but handled it very well (considering his rage issues in the past). He eventually challenged Dwight to a duel, and ultimately attempted run him over with his Prius, but other than that – it was completely civil.

Ultimately Dwight discovers that Angela has actually slept with Andy twice…a fact that he was completely unaware of. This lead to the end of the duel, where Andy and Dwight both returned to the office. Andy called to cancel his wedding cake, and Dwight threw his bobble-head in the trash. Both direct indications to Angela that she’s lost both of the men she’s been seeing.

Where will it go from here?

Who knows.

One thing that I found particularly interesting in this episode was that we really got a chance to see the office with Jim in charge. He attempted to keep Andy and Dwight under control – and it didn’t work out so well.

What it clearly showed us was that if Steve Carell ever decides to leave the show, “The Office” could continue, and still be an interesting series with Jim in the manger’s office.

Let me start this by saying that I am a t-shirt designer. I have previous made a nice living working full time as a designer of t-shirts. I am currently making a few extra bucks throwing designs up on CafePress.com – I’m as much of a “professional t-shirt designer” as you’re ever going to meet.

Having said that – I have to say, I find NBC’s latest “contest” to be pretty damn offensive.

The Peacock network wants you to design their next wave of t-shirts based on the hit series “The Office”. Being a fan of the show, my ears perked up at that. I’d LOVE to design t-shirts for “The Office”.

Then I found out what the “prize” is for “winning” this “contest” (notice all the sarcastic “s?). The “winner” gets the following:

Your design will be sold exclusively through The NBC Store!
10 free T-shirts (when produced)
Choice of any three t-shirts from NBCstore.com
Dunderize Your Cube
DM Shot Glass (four pack)
Lunch Bag
Exclusive Dwight Bobblehead Golf Balls (3)
Star Mug Set

Yes – that’s right folks, the BIG prize is a Dunder-Mifflin grab back of crap and the privilege of someone else profiting from your creative work.

Woo-Hoo! Where do I start?

Oh wait – that’s a complete rip-off. See, a good t-shirt design is worth thousands of dollars. It’s worth either a large up-front payment, or a continuing royalty. Offering a prize pack that’s this cheap is just plain insulting.

Now, I’m sure there will be some of you that think I’m over reacting. That’s fine – by all means – spend your time designing “Office” shirts – me? I’ll be over her not being taken advantage of by NBC.

Jack Black will be stopping by “The Office” in a special Post-Superbowl episode of the show. The episode will feature a “roast” of Michael Scott (Steve Carell), and will be a special 1 hour long episode.

Details on Blacks involvement in the episode is sparse at the moment. We only know that he’s not going to be playing himself. Personally I think its going to be kind of weird seeing him in the show. For the most part “The Office” seems very much based in reality, and having a movie star come in and play another role seems like it might be distracting to me -but having Jack Black on the show can only be a good thing. He’s amazingly funny, and will hopefully bring some new eyes to the Dunder-Mifflin crew.

Official Episode Description:

“Moroccan Christmas”
Phyllis’ (Phyllis Smith) Moroccan-themed holiday party goes up in flames when Meredith’s (Kate Flannery) hair catches on fire and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is forced to deal with the accident. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) corners the market on the hottest toy of the Christmas season.

The last “Office” of 2008 was an interestingly odd mix of subjects for the show. Sure, the staples of awkward humor, office politics, and a few good belly-laughs were all present, but in a very odd mix.

The show takes place entirely at and around the office Christmas party, which has a “Moroccan” theme this year thanks to Phyllis. She pushes Angela all throughout the night, forcing her to do menial tasks in order to keep Phyllis from spilling the beans about her affair with Dwight.

The booze get out early, and Michael is happily feeding them to Meredith until she gets so drunk she catches her hair on fire. Then he decides its time for an intervention.

Meanwhile Dwight is selling Christmas dolls on the black market to “lazy parents”.

Things get out of hand with each story in different ways.

The intervention doesn’t really go well – mainly because no one really cares about Meredith or her drinking problem…except Michael. He’s determined to help her – no matter how much she might resist.

It goes so far that he tricks her into going to a rehab clinic, then physically chases her down and drags her kicking and screaming in the facility, only to discover that he can’t leave her there unless she wants to stay…so he has to driver her home.

Dwight sells dolls to parents throughout the show, and Toby (in an attempt to win points with his daughter) calls up his little girl to see if she wants one – of course she goes nuts, and Toby is convinced he will be a hero. He goes to Dwight…and finds out he’s just sold the last one to Darryl. Toby begs Darryl to let him have the doll, and Darryl agrees to sell it for twice as much as he paid. Toby agrees, sees the doll, then discovers that its a black version of the toy.

Phyllis’ demands of Angela get increasingly mean throughout the episode, and Angela finally calls her bluff in the closing moments of the show. She tells Phyllis that she doesn’t believe she’ll tell because she’ll no longer get to be the head of the party planning committee. Phyllis cowers and walks away – then turns and address the entire office, telling all of them that Angela has been sleeping with Dwight.

Andy, was continently in another room learning to play an instrument, and didn’t hear – but everyone else did, and now they all know the truth…except Andy.

Pam and Jim were almost non-existent in this episode, only getting a few lines in. For the most part the show was good – but the personal boundaries that seem to be continually violated this season are really off putting to me. I don’t dislike the show, but I’m growing more uncomfortable with some of the things they’re doing as characters.

Still – not a bad episode, and it is certainly going to be interesting to see what the new year brings to the fine folks at Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

Official Episode Description:

“Surplus”
Oscar (Oscar Nunez) informs Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) that the office must spend a $4300 surplus or lose it in next year’s budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) takes Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Andy (Ed Helms) to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans.

Tonight’s episode was fun, and mostly drama-free. Which was a nice change, as the show sometimes dives off odd cliffs (like framing Toby for drug possession). It’s refreshing to get back to something that actually might happen in a real office.

The episode opens with Oscar explaining to Michael that the branch has s $4,300 surplus that must be spent by the end of the day – or they’ll lose it. Oscar immediately throws in his 2 cents on how it should be spent…he wants a new copier.

Pam has other ideas, though. She wants new chairs for the office, and is shocked when Jim doesn’t take her side. The remainder of the A plot of the episode revolves entirely around the two sides both doing their best to convince Michael that he should give them what they want.

Midway through Michael discovers that if he turns in the report as-is, he’ll get a 15% bonus of $645 to put in his pocket. Of course, he decides that’s the route he’d like to take. The office does not agree.

All the while this is happening, Andy and Angela are visiting Shrute Farms, with Dwight as their guide. Angela and Dwight bicker like a married couple throughout, but when Angela rehearses the wedding with Dwight filling in for Andy, she feels like she’s made a mistake. That is, until she finds out that Dwight rigged up the rehearsal and it was, in fact, real and legally binding.

Later, back at the office Angela makes out with Andy in front of everyone, before heading off to have the marriage annealed.

Ultimately, Michael tells the two factions to decide for themselves who gets what (expecting them to be unable to make a decision). Much to his surprise – they work it out and pick the chairs.

Official Episode Description:

“Frame Toby”
A mysterious person in the office has made a huge mess in the microwave and will not clean it up. Meanwhile, Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) has to come to terms with the fact that there have been certain personnel changes in his staff without his knowing.

tonight’s episode reminded me very much of last year’s “Dinner Party”. That episode was very uncomfortable to watch in its first airing, and so was this one for the most part. The bulk of the episode is taken up with Michael and Dwight trying to find some way of framing Toby to get him fired (after he returns to work without Michael even noticing).

Michael even goes so far as to buy what he thinks is weed in order to plant it into Toby’s desk. Dwight then calls the police – and hilarity ensues. Except – it really wasn’t that funny. It was mean, and had it been real, Toby could have been convicted of a federal offense…and really – that’s just not funny.

Ryan’s departure from the show was also set up, with him saying he was going to take an extended trip with his friends. Hopefully, he’ll never return.

The other main point of the episode was Jim revealing to Pam that he’d purchased his parents house. Jim’s initial walk thru of the house was hilarious – and the clown painting on the wall made me laugh out loud. When Jim showed Pam the house, though it was uncomfortable for several minutes. The entire walk through was just a ball of stress waiting for Pam to freak out, or mask her disappointment or something…instead, though, Pam seemed to genuinely love that Jim bought her a house…which was nice.

Overall, though, this was not the most fun episode to watch. Maybe that will change over repeat viewings – but I doubt it. Every season has to have a low-point. I hope this is it.

Also NBC has posted the first episode of a new “Office Webisode” series on online:

Official Episode Description:

“Business Trip”
Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is ecstatic when David Wallace (Andy Buckley) decides to send him on a business trip to Canada. Andy (Ed Helms) and Oscar (Oscar Nunez) become unlikely friends when Michael decides to bring them along on the trip. Meanwhile, Jim (John Krasinski) is counting down the days until Pam (Jenna Fischer) gets back from art school.

WOW! What a night!

This show has been firing on all cylinders all season long, and has – thankfully – taken us places that I didn’t expect it to go.

In this episode Michael, Andy, and Oscar were headed to Canada for a business trip with a large client. David Wallace picked Michael for the trip because he was hoping to lift his spirits after having to transfer Holly (and also because no one else wanted to go).

Meanwhile Jim is counting the days awaiting Pam’s return, and everyone else in the office seems to be doing it too…in sometimes uncomfortable ways. Pam calls him a few minutes into the episode telling him that she’s failing graphic design. If she’s going to complete her course, she’s going to have to stay for another 12 weeks and retake it.

After last week’s conversation about staying in New York after the program was over you couldn’t help but wonder where this was going to go.

Michael and the gang’s trip started out ok, with much hilarity ensuing on the plane, but thing really kicked into high gear when Michael met the concierge at the hotel. With Andy’s help she and Michael hit it off at a bar a short time later, and Michael Scott had his first one night stand.

Andy and Oscar also got to know one another better, and ended up drunk dialing Angela (who was in bed with Dwight). Andy’s drunk demands for sex were hilarious, and matched only by Oscar’s gut busting reaction to the call. Fantastic work by Ed and Oscar here.

Another thread running through the episode was Ryan trying to get back together with Kelly. After doing a few push ups she was his to be had, but not long after that, Ryan was very unhappy to discover that Daryl didn’t care. Like a man who was suddenly sober, it hit Ryan all at once what he was getting back into.

On the way home, after making the sale, Michael let his feelings be known to David Wallace. Laying into him about how terrible the trip was, and berating him for making Holly move away. It was the most ballsy that Michael has ever been…and at the same time it seemed desperate and sad. Steve Carrel deserves as many Emmy’s as they fit in his house.

Finally, at the end of the episode, Jim is walking to his car…and guess who was waiting for him?

Yup…Pam.

It was yet another great Pam and Jim moment, but somehow I don’t think the New York story is final just yet. I’m not sure where it will go from here, but I can’t wait to see. Pam told Jim that she just didn’t want to do graphic design. She hated it, and she missed Scranton, and she wanted to come home.

Next week’s episode can’t get here fast enough!