That's what TVGuide.com thinks.
However, unlike Practice, which stole Grey's regular Kate Walsh to anchor the new series, the proposed Office 2 is not expected to include any of the mother ship's core cast. In fact, producers are already casting about for a "name" to headline the potential show.
The more I watch The Office, the more I think that all of the main characters are pretty unlikeable (yes, including Jim and Pam). The only people in the cast that stand out as not a sad and/or terrible person were Kevin and Karen, so I don't know if the creators are capable or generating enough interesting characters for a spin off.
Good lord, man. That's ... just ... wrong.
At least Pam seems to be shooting for something with the fancy new Beasley. Jim just seems like he's destined to be a corporate drone all of his life, and I can't really support the man for his lack of ambition.
I think you're being hard on Jim, if not objectively wrong. As far as career goes, he's fresh off pursuing the big promotion, which he had in the bag but sacrificed for love. Hardly qualities of a bad person.
Any career change, like say sportswriting (which he might not even have any talent for), would involve starting over. I think it's okay that he gets to enjoy life alongside Pam for a little while before he figures out his next step.
-Out of character to pursue that promotion in the first place.
-Him giving up on his life goals and resigning himself to a life of paper.
I want to make the comparison to the British Office, but I've only seen the first season so I can't quite say this with authority. Tim realizes he's working a dead end job, so he quits. Maybe he ends up staying and Werner Hogg, I don't know, but that one act makes him a better hero than Jim.
The man has worked for at least seven years at Dunder Mifflin, and seems like he's given up. I do agree that's he's partly staying for Pam, but unless they're setting Jim up to be some kind of tragic figure, I think the choices he's made makes him not all that likeable of a character.
It's funny - had this whole Little thing not happened, I was going to do a post this very day wondering aloud how Jim ended up at Dunder-Mifflin. But I think for the past three years, it's clear that his life goal was Pam, and though that may not be enough of a life goal, I don't see how that makes him unlikable.
I'm not going to tell you to like someone you don't like, but your rationale isn't making any sense to me. He clearly hasn't given up - if anything, he's reborn. Meanwhile, you're making the case that anyone who doesn't put career ahead of all things is unworthy.
That makes ... you unlikable :)
However, at the end of the second season Tim is offered a much larger promotion and he refuses because he doesn't want to make Werner Hogg his career, even though clearly already is his career as he is 30 (not that you can't change careers at 30, but Tim isn't going anywhere). Tim is a borderline masochistic person, but that show is much darker (and better in my opinion).
Maybe I'm putting too much stock into a throwaway line from season one, but the last thing Jim wanted then was to get promoted. Since then, he's seems to do nothing but advance in the company. I think that Pam has grown throughout the years, but I'm seeing no real rebirth in Jim. In fact, I think the fact that Pam has shown real change while Jim has remained pretty much the same is what's going to cause the seemingly inevitable conflict in their relationship. Jim feel for quiet, mousy Pam, not fancy new Beasley.
Don't let your sexually charged friendship ever pay off. Well, they did it, and they did it in a way that leaves every option open, everything from Pam trying to inspire Jim to become more like "Philly Jim" to them breaking up b/c Pam is attracted to guys like her "bad boy" fiance.
None of the characters is perfect, to be sure. But in all their flaws and self-deceptions, they are well-rounded characters who are getting rounder and rounder as the writers pay more attention to intially more marginal characters. And that's another aspect of the show's genius; there really isn't just one protagonist. Everyone on that show is the star of their own life, and their various strands of life bump into each other in this small world they all share.
But to reg's point, yeah, Jim is a little bit of a sellout. He's kidding himself in ways he doesn't see. He's got a cruel streak, like all practical jokers do. So? He's still likable. Just not all the time.
13 - I don't run into too many non-sellouts in the working world. I think all things considered, Jim ranks among the better ones as far as decency.
What is the evidence that Jim will have any kind of problem at all with computer animation Pam? That he was kind of bummed he had to ride home with Marilyn? Pretty skimpy.
First of all, I must say that I'm a lot like Jim in many ways. I'm not all that ambitious when it comes to work, I'd rather just have a happy life while using work as a way to make enough money to get by. This seems to be how Jim operates - he doesn't necessarily like his job, but he loves being around Pam so much that it doesn't matter to him if he has to put up with all the crap that goes along with it.
As for him not liking New Pam, I don't really see how different she is than Original Pam. Her personality is pretty much exactly the same and I'm pretty sure that's why Jim fell for her (and why I like her better than Karen). I also find Pam way more attractive than Karen, but to each his own.
As for Jim being unlikeable, it's true that he wasn't all that fair to Karen and Amy, but as a viewer it was easy for me to sympathize with him due to his unshakable love for Pam.
Holy cow, I've typed myself into a corner.
Really enjoyed the bar scene and the video last week. Stanley smiled, it was cool.
29
Yes it is now off my list as is the How I met your Mother. I'm down to the Thursday Night Lineup.
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/10/behind_the_scen.html
Last season's conclusion was very subtle in its reference to how the original series (Christmas special) ended but this time in reverse, its Jim who while on the verge of making a life change sees Pam's gift. And wasn't some standard cliched sloppy little note professing everlasting love but instead it was something that showed him that she only wanted him to pursue his dreams and that she would always care for him just like Dawn getting the art supplies and then realizing what was really important.
Now, I only realized this afterwards because I had not seen the Christmas episode until after last year's finale and really hadn't thought about the similarity until right now.
My point is that now Jim and Pam are in this strange time where they are still doing their shennigans in the office but now they are a couple and they have to figure that part out. It really isn't that big a piece of the story so far and I think how Jim reacts to Pam's growth will be a continuing storyline.
And Pam may have the best smile on TV.
About the Office characters, what makes the show endearing to more people than not is that the characters are not without realistic flaws. I agree with regairfield that there are certain things about everyone's personalities that are grating, even though I don't necessarily agree with all the things he listed. But that's true about anyone.. at work, in family, etc. etc.
Also, you can't take something Jim said about his career a few years ago and apply it to now. Everyone makes grand statements when they are younger about how they will never end up a certain way, and yet people do. And it's not a bad thing. After years of being a salesman, he could easily have come to the realization that he is good at it, and the money's good and he gets to be around people he loves and he doesn't hate his job as much as when he first started, and all that is enough for now. I have no problem with that.
About Pam, the same logic kinda applies. People change and she has changed a lot. But sometimes, when you like a person (say a girlfriend or even any close friend) and you watch them evolve, the change does not always feel drastic and it doesn't make you not like the person because they are different at 30 than they were at 25.
I still love my Office, but I am not looking forward to the spinoff. I will watch it, but usually the idea does not turn out well. But, one of my favorite shows of all time spun out of another one of my favorite shows and as much as I used to like the original, I became a bigger fan of the spin-off.
http://tinyurl.com/3586wj
37 - On a slower day at DT, I would have led with that.
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