The Office
Thursday Night 'Lights: Ho-Hum Halloween
It’s always fun to see how our favorite shows celebrate Halloween. This week’s comedies featured wacky costumes and even ghost stories, and yet all felt like a bit of a letdown. Let’s take a look at how each comedy tackled the spook-tacular holiday.
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Thursday Night 'Lights: Which Characters Need a Shake Up?
This week, our favorite comedy block was in reruns. So instead of recaps, I’m singling out characters from each show who seem to be in a rut, and how they can get out of it.
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Thursday Night 'Lights: A Fun Night Out
“I want to go to there.” This Liz Lemon quote kept echoing inside my head while watching three-fourths of NBC’s Thursday comedy block this week. Almost all the shows ventured out of familiar settings, and as a result we were treated to a housewarming party, a camping trip (with candy! and... Read more »
Thursday Night 'Lights: Since We're Stuck With Whitney, Let's Improve the Show
For this installment of TNL, I’ve decided to focus on the most beloved new show of the fall season. That’s right, Whitney. Since NBC has chosen to give it a full season pickup, I think its time to accept the show is here to stay until May. So before I get to the other recaps... Read more »
Thursday Night 'Lights: Who Won Must-See TV's Battle Royale?
In a kooky coincidence, the phrase “battle royale” was uttered on both Community and Parks and Recreation. In the spirit of the strange competitions exhibited on both shows this week, I’m going to crown one of our NBC comedies the winner of the Thursday Night Battle Royale... Read more »
Thursday Night 'Lights: NBC's New Must-See TV (and Whitney)
Like many people in the ’90s, I tuned into NBC’s enormously popular Thursday night comedy block for Friends, Seinfeld and many other shows in that time slot over the decade. At the time, it was like the TV equivalent of seeing Jurassic Park... Read more »
TelevIsm: The Office's Problematic Construction of Rape
Though The Office is not a rhetorically anti-oppression show, it's a show that I think has some strong instincts about how to portray oppression in a critical light. But one thing that's always stuck in my feminist craw is... Read more »
TelevIsm: The Office's Subversive Messages About Fatness
Image: A dressed-up Phyllis Lapin with Bob Vance
As The Office is a show about white people and men primarily; it is also a show about size-privileged... Read more »
TelevIsm: Pambition! The Office's Abandoned Artist
Image: Pam Halpert from The Office, in front of her watercolors
The Office is a show that focuses on men–four out the five stars are male. Nonetheless, it's one of my very favorite shows, and I think it has strong, likable, interesting female characters. It's launched the career of Mindy Kaling,... Read more »
TelevIsm: How can jokes both show and fight oppression?
Comedy is a prime weapon for devaluing and belittling marginalized bodies. Laughter aimed at an oppressed person because of their oppression intensifies and isolates the victim, and emphasizes their status as an outsider. I don't have to tell you this – if you're interested in feminism, you've... Read more »
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