Today marks the last day of summer interns being in the office, and the staff are making the most of it. Gossip flies as people suspect that two of the interns are hooking up. Michael is feeling left out because he’s the only one who didn’t suspect the affair.

I was uncomfortable only 8 minutes into this season; that is a good sign. The ability to draw you in so much that you fell the discomfort of the characters as Michael mis behaves is a sign of the top notch writing on the show. Was it a perfect episode? No. But a very good start to the season.

This episode provided a look into what The Office is all about. It had outrageous situations (parkour), Micheal overreacting (feeling left out of the gossip, and his remedy of spreading false gossip), and the heart that makes the show more than just another comedy (Jim ‘falling on his sword’). In all it was a very fun episode that kicked off the season nicely.

What did you think?

Popcrunch reports that Amy Ryan is returning:

Amy Ryan, the Oscar nominated actress who had the meaty role as Michael Scott’s love interest on last season’s finale of The Office, is set to appear again on the series this fall.

Also, TVGasm is reporting Steve Carell is back:

Steve Carell has signed on for at least three more years of playing Michael Scott in The Office.

There is no doubt that keeping Carell is essential to the continued success of “The Office”. He is the core of the ensemble cast, and without him, it would become a different show altogether. Amy Ryan’s character was good, but I’ll miss Toby.

Toby (played by executive producer and writer Paul Lieberstein) was originally not supposed to be a foreground character. As with much of the supporting cast, Lieberstein is a writer on the show. Because his character was loved by the studio, he was thrust further into the foreground.

Holly is an interesting character, and her interactions with Kevin in the finale were terrific. Are you happy to see Holly back? Will you miss Toby?

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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.       

I’m not sure if I am excited or not about this.  The Office showed this season that too much is too much.  I wonder if having a second series in that universe would be too much.

Some other great moments were the interchanges between Dwight and Andy over Angela.  That story is turning out some excellent television.  Part of me wonders if Angela and Andy aren’t working together to taunt Dwight, but most likely Andy is true in his infatuation with Angela.

I hope that The Office continues this consistency for the rest of the season.  For not, it has earned its must-see status.

After driving into the lake last week, and now this, ugh. Steve Carell is a better actor than that. This show should NOT be an hour long.

A bright spot in the episode was the Jim/Pam relationship (roof-pizza, joke on Dwight). Jim and Pam together as a couple is better than I expected. It’s giving us some nice comedic and dramatic moments in the show. Also, the Dwight/Angela [non]relationship is working well into the show. Now with Andy making his move, we should be in for some great moments.

I really love The Office, but one more week like this and it moves from must-see to if I have time.

The show has always had its silly side, but they took it too far. Micheal is not an idiot, and today they made him one. To be true to his character, he should have had some small bit of success, and acted as if it was huge. Remember, they’ve shown us time and time again that no matter what his faults are, Micheal is a good salesman.

Maybe it’s because they stretched a half-hour episode into an hour. I don’t know, but I hope they do not do this again. Micheal deserves more.

Some tibits from the promo are that Karen isn't gone (at least yet) even though Jim dumped her (and rumors that Rashida Jones was leaving for a pilot), and that the first 4 episodes will be an hour long.  Though better than the faux 'supersized' episodes last year, I wonder if The Office works as an hour long episode.