Season Pass

Kind of uneven episodes of "30 Rock" and "The Office" tonight, at least by their standards.  But let the record show that bringing Jim and Pam together hasn't ruined them at all.  Sure, most of the tension's gone, but they remain a pure treat to watch. 

– Jon Weisman

Is Jan Levinson crazy, or too crazy?

That's the hot-button issue on this year's episodes of "The Office," particularly this week. Some fans — perhaps even a majority — have been ready to throw a Dundee at their 10-inch plasma TV out of concern that the producers of the show have taken Jan (played by Melora Hardin) too far off the deep end with her manic behavior, capped by her all-points meltdown in last week's "Dinner Party" episode.

But for a couple seasons now, "Office" showrunner Greg Daniels and his staff have laid the groundwork for Jan's eggshell instability.

After all, what was our first peek into Jan's personal life, other than the fact that she is divorced?  Under the influence of alcohol, Jan impulsively swooped in to kiss fox-like-a-crazy Michael after he successfully landed an account in "The Client," a second-season episode that aired back in November 2005. Within a few months, Jan was starting to turn her life upside down for Michael, bringing an overnight bag when he invited her to an office party in the season finale, "Casino Night." The fact that he spurned her at that moment for his real-estate agent, Carol, further vexed her.

In season three, after Michael breaks up with Carol, he and Jan were reunited as a couple when she accepted his offer to go to good ol' Sandals, Jamaica. ("Officially, I did not see her," Michael says, barely able to contain his glee."But I did see Jan there. In our room. At night. And in the morning. That’s all I’m going to say. Sex. We had sex. I had sex with her. I had sex with Jan.") At the conclusion of the January 2007 episode, "Back From Vacation," in which she showed her commitment to Michael, Jan revealed that she had been seeing, well, the Michael Scott of shrinks.

"My psychiatrist thinks that I have some self-destructive tendencies, and that, for once, I should indulge them," she told Michael.

This is who we're dealing with: a woman who has the red carpet laid out over her preexisting path to self-destruction. Talking to the unseen "Office" documentarian a month later in February 2007's "Cocktails" (an episode that also offered interesting insight into Michael and Jan's sexual relationship), Jan elaborated on her mindset, in one of the great lines in the show's exceptional history.

"I am taking a calculated risk," she said. "What’s the upside? I overcome my nausea, fall deeply in love, babies, normalcy, no more self-loathing. Downside, I date Michael Scott publicly and collapse into myself like a dying star."

By the end of season three, Jan's personal torment — which included a decision to get breast implants under the admittedly logical reasoning that they would keep Michael from dumping her — had seeped into her workplace. In May 2007, her boss, David Wallace, told her he was firing her, adding that "your behavior in the last two years has been completely erratic."  Uprooted from the one stable part of her life, her day-to-day job, it's no surprise that Jan went further off the deep end.

This brought us to the current season, which found Jan living in Michael's condo and continuing to self-indulge, from interior decoration to candle-making ventures. For much of the season, Michael and Jan were making a go of it as a couple — their most touching moment was when Jan came to support a distraught Michael after he declared bankruptcy (by hilariously shouting in the office, "I declare bankruptcy!").  But in the final episode before the Writers Guild of America strike interrupted production, Michael sided with Dunder-Mifflin (and the truth) against Jan, torpedoing her lawsuit against the company. Their drive home was, to say the least, tense.

"You expect to get screwed by your company," Michael says. "But you never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend."

While "The Deposition" episode aired five months ago, in the world of "The Office," the wounds were still fresh when Michael and Jan staged their dinner party, which showed Jan at her most unstrung — belittling Michael, his possessions and his friends. Though her lines were often sharply funny — there's no doubt that Hardin is doing great work in this part — Jan's behavior was altogether unpleasant.

And maybe that's the bugaboo.  "The Office" has always been an odd breed — a half-hour comedy that repeatedly produces cringeworthy moments. It's been this way from the get-go — it's fundamental to its charm — though even some diehard viewers are taken aback at times by how much the show can make them squirm. It used to be that Michael and Dwight were the models for bizarre behavior, but now Jan has arguably passed them by. Yet her character is so brittle at this point that she doesn't always provide the refreshing good time that makes Michael and Dwight such a pleasure to watch.

I suspect that those who are saying that Jan has been made illogically crazy either haven't been paying attention, or perhaps more likely, they simply haven't enjoyed the real Jan, her flaws exposed for all to see. People know "The Office" can be dark, but Jan's situation makes things seem too dark for some.

For my part, I think the path of her character has been brilliant — one of the show's many, many virtues.  And I think it's worth taking time to salute both Hardin and her writers for this, because based on what I've seen, I can't help but feel that Michael and Jan are headed for a breakup. I don't have any inside information on this, so I could be completely wrong, but it just seems like the logical conclusion. You can only go to the implant well so many times to keep your fella ... and Michael seems have reached his considerable limit for being put down ... and I don't know that Jan is capable of changing her behavior enough to keep him.

That's not to say, obviously, that there couldn't be any surprises left for us and Jan. However, the fact that "The Office" parted ways with Roy after spending nearly three seasons with him proves that the series isn't afraid to say farewell to critical supporting characters.  If Jan does get written out of the show, all I can say is that I sure hope she finds happiness someday. 

— Jon Weisman

All season long, Deborah had been portrayed as the one to beat on NBC's chart-busting "MILF Island." But in the unprecedented tri-elimination finale, who would have thought that the Deborah-Deborah finale would create such ...

Okay, we'll stop right there.  "MILF Island" is just a fictional show within a fictional show – not that it wasn't hard to tell the difference between its bikini-laden fake scenes on "30 Rock" tonight and NBC's real skimpy-clothed ads for "Deal or No Deal." But "MILF Island" (produced, if you noticed, by Jack Donaghy and Jerry Seinfeld) did provide an effective backdrop for the Liz Lemon's own struggle to out of harm's way on a rousing post-strike return for the Emmy-winning sitcom.

It was interesting to see series creator Tina Fey push her Liz character to what for her was a darker place - willing to put other people's jobs in jeopardy longer than usual just because she was fed up with being the fall gal. (Sort of like seeing Mary Tyler Moore really give someone the stinkeye.)  Her poker face when she forced Kenneth to take the blame for calling Jack a "Class A moron" was absolutely perfect, and the exchanges between the three carried the episode. Less effective was the subplot involving Pete getting his arm caught in a vending machine, but even those scenes didn't drag the episode down.

As for "MILF Island," as phony as it looked, how easy was it to imagine as a show that would actually air? More importantly, how much pure fun was Jack's enthusiasm for it?

Immediately after "30 Rock" came the return of "The Office," and though both shows remain the funniest on TV, the contrast between them is striking.  Never in a million years will "30 Rock" go as dark and brooding as "The Office" did in depicting the transcendent dysfunction of Michael and Jan's relationship. (Those who haven't bought into or enjoyed Jan's descent into craziness will have been frustrated tonight by that being doubled-down, but I'd argue the groundwork has long been laid.) In any case, babe, you had to love the setup that drew Jim, Pam and the others to Michael's condo for the dinner party to truly end all dinner parties. 

All in all, it's good to have our friends back.

– Jon Weisman

By far the most thrilling thing to come out of the big NBC scheduling announcement Wednesday was the news that our beloved “Friday Night Lights” will return with 13 new episodes next season. Wow. Clear eyes, full hearts, we really did win! NBC has engineered a unique deal with DirecTV wherein the sat provider will air the episodes first in the fall, with NBC airing them beginning in February. More to come on this later on Season Pass.

The other news was not so exciting. “ER” is back for another year, limping to its long overdue conclusion at the end of next season. Listen, I’m the biggest “ER” fan out there; I’ve never missed an episode. But this show is really a shell of its former greatness and should have been put out to pasture at least a year ago. I will still be there for every episode but it will continue to be a chore and no longer a joy, as it was for about 12 seasons. What? I’m going to stop now after 14 years?

“The Office” spinoff was met with mixed reaction here at Season Pass. It could be great, it could feel like a ripoff. And, God forbid, it could dilute the mojo of the original. It remains to be seen. More on "The Office" at Cynthia Littleton's On The Air blog.

As for the new offerings… you tell us. I will, of course give each of these shows a fair shot by viewing the pilot before forming an opinion. But at first glance, there’s nothing on the list that follows that engenders the least bit of anticipation for me. I don't see a lot of new Season Passes for my Tivo coming out of this bunch.

Opinions?

— Kathy Lyford

In strike-tinted hindsight, one of the more interesting programming decisions of the 2007-08 season was NBC's choice to start off "The Office" with four hour-long episodes.

Putting aside the critical debate over the 60-minute segs (some adored them, others thought they were bloated — though I expect they'll hold up quite nicely once they're divided up into half-hour segments for future airings), the effect was to rob "The Office" of a month's worth of first-run content pending a writers' strike that, of course, is no longer pending. With this week's shutdown of the show's production, instead of six weeks of "Office" remaining, there are only two. It's like TV's groundhog saw its shadow or something.

Still, the programming gimmick may yet pay dividends for NBC. It helped "The Office" establish a presence at its new 9 p.m. Thursday timeslot, with the series solidly in the top 20 among viewers 18-49 despite running against "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI." Meanwhile, "The Office" also lends itself well to repeat viewing, compared with those programs that will head straight for DVD-land or oblivion once they've aired their first-run fare.

For fans of the series, the thought of having to wait untold weeks or months for the next great "Office" episode is a major strike casualty. At the same time, for fans of the series, seeing an "Office" episode just once is never enough.

— Jon Weisman

The strike is claiming its earliest victims with sitcoms "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Back to You" (pictured below), "’Til Death," "Rules of Engagement" and "The Office" already shut down. And of course the latenight shows immediately went dark. For more details see the story from our TV gurus (and fellow Season Passers) Mike Schneider and Joe Adalian here.

After this morning's rally by showrunners, who convened outside ABC, there should be several more shows going dark as more folks at the helm of shows realize they can't, in good conscience, picket the companies as writers and then turn around and work for them as producers.

"Ugly Betty" exec producer-creator Silvio Horta explained the dilemma succinctly saying “The perfectionist in me wants to participate, the Norma Rae in me wants to support my union.”

For more reactions like this, see the story above and Variety's new strike blog, Scribe Vibe.

Buckle up folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

— Kathy Lyford

Not only was Thursday's hour of "The Office" another tremendous installment, firmly reasserting the show as TV's top comedy, along the way it cleverly poked fun at those who thought the show might be in trouble once Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) got together.

In the second half-hour, Jim ambled over to Pam's desk:

Jim: I just have to ask. Now that we're public, um, is the magic gone?

Pam: It's funny you bring that up because ... yes it is.

Jim: I knew it. Oh, man.  Just like that, huh?

Pam: I think, I mean, I don't, I don't know what it is, but I now find you ... repulsive?

Jim: That's honest.  All right.  Fair enough. ... It was really fun while it lasted.

Pam (shrugs): Eh ...

Jim: For me, it was.

Pam: Okay.

Jim turned to walk back to his desk, while Pam smiled, truly giddy.  No, "The Office" isn't in any trouble, not at all.  Besides, now there's bigtime drama between Dwight and Angela.

For more great lines from Thursday's "Office," go to the fan site OfficeTally.

— Jon Weisman

What'er the only two new shows to crack TiVo's top 50 Season Pass (no relation) rankings?

Surprise, surprise: "Private Practice" and "Bionic Woman." ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff "Practice" (pictured left) ranks No. 18 on TiVo's ranking of most its most popular Season Pass settings, in which the whiz-bang DVR grabs all original segs of a designated series."Bionic" (pictured below) ranks No. 43 on the list.

TiVo's Season Pass top 10, not surprisingly, closely corresponds to the Nielsen top 10: "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "House," "Lost," "CSI," "Heroes," "American Idol," "24," "The Office" and "CSI: Miami." Pretty sad to see only one comedy on the list; god bless "The Office."

A little surprising to see ABC's big buzz show "Pushing Daisies" not make the top 100, particularly after last night's solid preem. NBC's "Journeyman" ranks head-scratchingly high at No. 54, followed by ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" (No. 55); Fox's "Back to You" (No. 65); CBS' "Cane" (No. 70); NBC's "Chuck" (No. 75); PBS' Ken Burns mini "The War" (No. 76); CBS' "Kid Nation" (No. 89); and ABC's "Big Shots" (No. 95).

Last fall the only newcomer to crack the top 50 was NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and we all know what happened there...

--Cynthia Littleton

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" kicked off its sixth season tonight with an episode that, for a show that has always treaded a thin line between annoying and uproarious, leaned a bit too much toward the former -- if only because so much of the episode was predictable.  There was one gambit involving repeated references to a certain dessert that paid off, but for the most part the premiere was underwhelming. This was no picking up a prostitute to get access to the carpool lane.

During the episode, I wondered if "Curb," which was groundbreaking in just how far it was willing to stretch the annoyance envelope, has now seen its moment pass. Other shows from "The Office" to "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" risk antagonizing their audience, yet seem fresher in doing so.  In particular, "The Office," which wears its heart on its sleeve right after sticking a knife in it, seems to shine a light on the limitations of "Curb."

But maybe tonight simply wasn't the best "Curb" will have to offer this season - certainly, Larry David and Co. have generated utter masterpieces in the not-too-distant past.  And of course, it only gets harder as a show gets older, and we'll have to see whether something like "It's Always Sunny" can keep the pace.

— Jon Weisman

Welcome to Season Pass, Variety.com’s blog for dishing about fall’s new scripted TV shows.
We wanted to give readers a wide range of opinions on the fall fare so eight of us spent a good chunk of our summer watching all of it. We like to complain, but it was really kind of fun.

Each of us has rated all the shows using four categories:

Love it, setting a season pass now

Worth another try

OK, but not for me

Won't watch again

"Reaper" (below) was one show that took us all by surprise. I did not expect to like it and it ended up being one of my favorites

The shows that rated the highest (one or two thumbs up) among our group of TV junkies were: ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” (seven season passes), NBC’s “Chuck” (four season passes), the CW’s “Reaper” (six season passes), CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” (three season passes), the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” (one season pass), Fox’s “Back To You” (one season pass) and CBS’ midseason entry “Swingtown” (one season pass).

See the chart for more details.

Our opinions are meant as a guide only. We encourage you to give all the shows a try and see for yourself what shows speak to you.

We’ll be blogging after each episode to track the shows’ progress. And we’ll weigh in on topics related to the season.

Have fun and happy channel surfing!