Ahahaha.

Awww, a signing cat...

Tonight's episode was back up to snuff, I thought, by the way.

[font=century gothic]Great episode tonight. From a comedic standpoint it came very close to being as good as the premiere. From a plot standpoint, best episode of the year where as the premiere was the worst. I'm just disappointed I missed the first five minutes.

The scenes in the barn with Dwight and Ryan were hilarious.[/font]

There's a deleted scene up that is better than some of what made the final cut:

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/

article about ratings and TiVo

The TiVo Nation has arrived.

Nielsen has begun measuring playback on digital video recorders, and the first results are handing a big lift to some of TV's top shows.

As expected, the biggest hits and series in brutally competitive time slots are among the most frequently "time-shifted": Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Survivor, House. Of the 18.8 million Lost fans for last week's season opener, 1 million — or more than 5% of the audience — watched the show later Wednesday night.

And NBC's The Office had the biggest percentage of delayed viewers: The show's ratings spiked nearly 7% when viewing later Thursday night is counted, and more than 11% from viewing up to a week later.

House gained 1.4 million viewers, or 10.5%, from tardy fans up to seven days after its Sept. 19 episode, and the Grey's season opener grew 8%, adding 1.8 million who watched CSI or did something else instead on Thursday night.

The ratings lifts are even more startling considering that only 12% of homes have DVRs, according to unofficial Nielsen estimates, and they account for just 9% of Nielsen's ratings sample.

"Those people watch these shows at a much higher rate than the general population," CBS research chief David Poltrack says.

Initiative Media's Stacey Lynn Koerner calls the ratings jump "a big shift. It comes from multiple options, with more shows in competitive time periods that people want to watch. It's a great validation for television."

And it's part of a widening circle of viewing options that include streaming videos or iPod downloads.

When recorded, water-cooler shows such as Grey's and Survivor are most often watched that night; other series (House, CSI) get their biggest bumps days later in the week. Yet viewers almost never record newsmagazines, game shows, Spanish-language telenovelas and sports events.

And while Nielsen expects the ratings lift to accelerate by year's end, when its sample of homes will match the proportion of DVR households, networks can't yet profit from their newfound gains: After advertisers resisted, networks backed off plans to set ad rates that factored in DVR ratings.

The next episode is called "Diwali."

In this publicity interview Carell says he's choked cast members just like they do on Grey's Anatomy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD313Lb_Pg0

"there's no reason that as the star of the show, I shouldn't have the ability to choke people. That is within my rights."

It's been confirmed by Newsday that:

-- Harold Ramis will direct the Christmas episode, which will be an hour long.
-- JJ Abrams will direct a February episode.

The original's Christmas special has a place in my heart. I wonder how this episode will fare.

JJ Abrams will direct the first half of the February episode, abandon it, and move on to other projects.

Ramis I understand but Abrams has nothing to contribute to this show. Unless he plans on killing off someone.

Ugh. I can't stand Abrams.

I don't have a problem with Abrams directing an episode, unless they make it out to be some Tarentino-esque event.

$10 it's a Dwight-centric episode. With flashbacks, natch. :lame:

And I didn't recognize the name at first, but Harold Ramis? Awesome. I hope both names make The Office a hot-spot for talent to try out the small screen (Even if Abrams IS a TV person). Next: An Alexander Payne episode?

And, as expected [spoil]The Stamford and Scranton branches will be merging in the super-sized November 16 episode (Which according to The Futon Critic goes from 8:36-9:20 ).[/spoil]

Interesting...

Also from Newsday...

Apparently at this time last year the show was on the verge of cancellation.

iTunes, though, to the rescue.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny ... columnists

Funny episode. I knew he wouldn't get 5 minutes in without mentioning Apu. I'm still not wild about some of the creative choices they've made this season but it was fun.

I thought it was another sub-par episode.

I thought it was great: "These aren't my shoes."

Kinda felt bad for Roy though.

heh .. loved it.

Very funny episode. I love the drinking scene with "Big tuna" and Ed Helms.

It's still one of the best shows on TV, but I just feel like this season, sadly, has been a bit off.

Jim's placement in a new office has set the season off. Other than that, I've been enjoying the episodes, especially last night's. Michael's at his best when confronted with something he knows nothing about. And the Michael/Pam scene was The Office at its most uncomfortable and most awkward.

hey guys, I need an MP3 of the end song by Michael.

http://niralimagazine.com/mp3/Diwali_Song.mp3

I don't know if it's possible for you to get it downloaded from that or not.