Best So Far: Office's "Viewing Party" and Walking Dead's "Tell It to the Frogs"

For some reason I'm completely up to date with The Office and The Walking Dead. I say that because it's unlike me to be up to date with any show I've ever liked. My usual procedure is to watch a few episodes here and there and then revisit the whole season on Netflix or just end up buying it (The Sopranos, Futurama, King of the Hill, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Larry Sanders Show, Da Ali G Show, 30 Rock, Entourage, East Bound & Down and the list goes on from there).

This year I've literally gone out of my way to watch both of these shows within days after they air. Obviously, with all the Dynex 24" HDTVs and Rocketfish wall mounts, this season is always the busiest for me but here's what I think are the best episodes so far from the shows I'm currently watching:

It's hard for me to picture watching The Office without Steve Carrell. It's a true testament to his acting skills that Michael's childish antics and immature behavior get under your skin and still manage to make you laugh. Viewing Party had a great example of this when Michael, bothered and bored about not being the life of the party, goes downstairs to cut the cable wire to Gabe's TV to ruin the Glee party. When everyone watching is confused and upset, Michael offers to go down and take a look to see if he can fix the problem he created and hopefully look like the hero he so desperately wants to be. Every scene with him played out so well, including the hilarious father-daughter confrontation that happens later between Michael and Erin. Now with all that said, I know I will keep watching The Office after Steve leaves so long as there will be more group heavy storylines like this one and more episodes written by Jon Vitti.


I'm a sucker for many of the episodes that are heavy on a group storyline because I think the show works best when you get a little bit of everyone (including Creed) at a group function (See also: Moroccan Christmas, Dunder Mifflin Picnic, Rabies Fun Run, or Survivor parody). One of my all time favorite group clips is when Dwight does the fire safety drill and you get to watch Angela throw her cat into the roof, Kevin kick in the glass of the vending machine, and Stanley suffer a heart attack. Viewing Party's group dynamic saved what I was considering a pretty slow start to the season and I guess it's just a coincidence that it was the first episode written by famed Simpsons writer, Jon Vitti. Vitti joined the show this year but he's famous for the 25 episodes he wrote for The Simpsons which include Radio Bart, Bart the Lover, and of course, Mr. Plow. Vitti has also written for a few more of my all time favorite shows (Larry Sanders, King of the Hill) so I guess it just makes sense that he'd find his way to The Office. Vitti's influence hopefully means the show will have legs after Steve departs and stays funny as ever.

Not to steal David's thunder for a possible future article, but The Walking Dead is still in its infancy on television and I'm beginning to think this show could run for ten years with the right direction.

Tell It to the Frogs did its part in stirring up a ton of future storylines that will keep you guessing and ultimately entertained for weeks. There were so many reveals in this episode, but I'll start with Rick's wife and her coping with the fact that he's not dead. It wouldn't be a great drama so far if we didn't already get to watch Shane take her into the woods and surprise her with something you could never classify as undead. Not to mention that now Rick is reunited with his family and Shane is out of the picture. Will Shane tell Rick he banged his wife? Will Rick's wife explain the banging? Who knows!

A second reveal came when we got to see some (well deserved) spousal abuse (kidding). Characters Carol and Ed have this love-hate relationship going on; he loves to watch her do women's work, and she hates getting beaten. After a highly questionable Sex in the City moment occurs regarding a vibrator joke (boo!), Ed walks over to Carol and slaps her for having a laugh while doing laundry. Shane sees the slap and beats Ed to a pulp. Will Shane and Ed coexist peacefully? How long will Carol stay with Ed? Only time will tell.

Finally it's time for my favorite reveal of them all: what's his name saws his own hand off on the roof. Forgive me but it's only been three episodes and I can't keep using Wikipedia to remember who the hell any of these people are. Anyways, Rick and them go back to free that racist dude from the roof only to find out that he's gone. Apparently he got close enough to reach the hacksaw and off went his hand from cuffs. I'm particularly interested in his escape and how they plan on reuniting his character with the group. Is he still alive? Will he take someone hostage? How soon before he gets to sleep with Rick's wife? WE JUST DON'T KNOW YET!

Stay tuned for the next edition of Best So Far and have a great weekend everyone.