The show started off with everyone smelling maple syrup in different sections of New York. And then, Liz was really excited about the delivery of her prescription shampoo. Your laughs have been fantastic!

The show is pretty quotable. Dare I say classic Simpsons quotable? To prove she wasn’t racist, Liz recalled the time she asked a black guy if he had seen Sideways. Ahhh, us white guys are so lame.

30 Rock is like three wonderful intertwining sketches that don’t overstay their welcome. We have Liz who thinks she lives next to a terrorist. Jack who slept with a Democrat. And Kenneth is trying to earn money to replace pants. All plots done well on their own. All great when put together.

Okay, 30 Rock. My opinions about you, the ones with no particular basis, were incorrect. My feelings, like Liz’s feelings about her neighbors, were wrong. How can we make this right, 30 Rock? What if I wrote nice things about you? Deal.

The plot for this episode of The Office centers aroudn Michael not being invited on Ryan’s camping trip. Toby, Michael’s point of focus for all anger, was invited. And now, Michael is going to find someway to make his own camping thinger.

Michael will actually be trying to survive by himself for a couple days. And with that framework, let the funny begin.

Did I make it clear enough that we should be supporting the striking writers? Because we should.

Dwight is fake abducting Michael, so Michael can feel like he is really stranded.

The office related humor for this episode comes from a month of birthdays. Kelly, Creed, Oscar, and Meredith all have their birthdays this month. Jim, put in charge during Michael’s adventure, thinks consolidating the birthdays into one big party would be the best idea. It is not easy. And funny conflicts happen.

Were you aware that the actors and directors don’t get paid when their shows are run online either? They’ll be striking too when their union contracts are up, unless things change. If the writers win, that will make further strikes and TV stoppage unnecessary.

Creed wanted a birthday peach cobbler. Michael, gone for less than a day, was back just in time for the end of the birthday debacle.

So in conclusion, support the writers! And enjoy the last Office that is in the can next week!

Now, let’s watch My Name Is Earl. Will these 40 minutes seem too long? Possibly. Probably. As always, I hope for joy.

Randy and Earl got a job. But never mind that. Jonathan Slavin just made me laugh really hard. And there’s that hobbit that was also on 24.

Earl’s goal this episode is to move from his new job in warehouse to a newer job in the showroom. The guys in the warehouse are trying to bring him down. The funny guys in the warehouse. That makes it unlike any warehouse I have ever worked in. That would be two. Two warehouses.

There is an increasing number that keeps flashing in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This is important. It must mean something. Wait, now it’s going down.

Joy is escaping her impending trial date. She is off to Mexico. I think less people would escape to Mexico if there were a country full of trees and cardboard boxes. Wait, is Canada full of those things?

It has been half an hour. I am sleepy. Watching TV is tough work sometimes. Sometimes my fingers don’t want to move. Oh, and it’s over. That…wasn’t…really…supersized.

Well, that bit into the next half an hour. Huh. See you in twenty minutes, I guess.

Hooray! I’m already smiling! Some excellent comedic timing so far. Thanks for getting me out of the grumpy dumps, Scrubs!

JD has given up his inner monologue to everyone else this episode. It is terribly goofy and awfully funny. Hmmm, terrible and awful aren’t the right words. Find and replace them with “really” please.

Many many plots going on at the same time don’t seem overpowering this episode. I don’t know what it is, but it’s being handled really well. Come on, brain! Work better! Find the formula that is making the funny!

1/4 of the evening was great. That’s a terrible ratio, but it ended on a nice note. Now I can go to bed happy. Thanks, voters!

Ahhh, Michelle said “dude.” I forgot the overpowering sea of catchphrases that Full House is. You can’t even see across it.

Joey gets to open for Wayne Newton in Vegas. He doesn’t want his father there. What do the girls do? Invite his dad. Ready, set, situation comedy! Whoa, the first act just ended with Joey’s dad showing up. That seems a little quick.

Joey’s dad is disappointed that he is a comedian. Funny, that disappoints me too.

“Cut it out.” Drink.

Do Popeye impressions count as a comedy act? Don’t answer. It’s rhetorical. If you are a slow reader and answered already, apology accepted.

Joey and daddy are making up. How can I tell? The soft piano is swelling. That also means the credits are coming. That’s the best new I’ve heard all day!

Someone is dead. Someone was born. Now everyone is acting differently. Temporarily, of course. Funeral blues don’t last forever. Everything changes, but they tend to go back to the way they always were.

Eliot is being the best girlfriend ever. Dr. Cox is annoyed. There are some deaf people.

Emotions emotions humor emotions emotions emotions. Humor.

My beliefs in the NBC Thursday night lineup has been confirmed. So it goes.

The plot has been developing while I haven’t been watching. Jack is in some sort of trouble. Liz has some sort of new boyfriend. Tracy is still crazy.

Tracy is pretending to be Thomas Jefferson. That’s all I need to be convinced that this half hour is hilarious.

As funny as these two hours on NBC are, I wouldn’t watch anything but The Office if I weren’t forced. Oh, and Andy Barker, P.I.. But that has already been canceled. Soooooooo, hmmmm. TV people suck.

Jack is trying to get between Liz and her new boyfriend. And…whatever. Thomas Jefferson!

Andy’s back from anger management! And he is calling himself Drew! Thank the good dude for hilarious cold opens.

Michael is being much louder and more ignorant than usual. Which makes me cringe and laugh and cringe some more.

Head thrown back in a fit of laughter at least once? Check.

The last few weeks, we have been seeing a lot more of Kelly and Ryan’s relationship. There is a lot more to it than we have been lead to believe. There are so many dimensions on this show, and their dynamics can be change only slightly for maximum results. The Office is an amazing machine.

Embarrassed by the constant dangers of the warehouse, Michael has decided to show how dangerous regular office work can be. How can he do that? By creating a visual aid for suicide. This, of course, turned into an almost real suicide.

How do you do it, The Office? How do you take these harsh topics with such perfect humorous twists?

It appears to be a standard Thursday here on Make Me Watch TV. Nothing but NBC, raining down on me. Maybe My Name Is Earl has gotten better while I haven’t been looking.

Earl and Randy pestered a local journalist in their less than desirable days. To make up for it, she gets the exclusive on Earl’s karma list.

“Bull weevils” are funny. There is one laugh. Thanks, Earl.

I’m not in love with the characters on this show any more. Randy is okay, when rationed out across episodes. Earl himself feels a little flat. And then the rest. You don’t want to be part of the rest. I won’t even name you then.

Oh yeah! Joy has some court thing that has been going on all season. Which is a nice idea, but we don’t really care. Sorry, I didn’t mean to involve you in this. I mean, I don’t really care.

Instead of doing a story on Earl’s list, the reporter turned it into a story about Randy being mentally retarded. Which he wasn’t.

Karma noticed Randy, just like he wanted. Everyone is happy. Especially me. Because The Office is on now.

It is contract renegotiation time for Josh, and Jack is very pleased. And Tracy made out on a 419 scam.

Ahhhh, I have already laughed. Already this episode is funnier than your standard episode of The Simpsons.

Kenny has just joined Tracy’s entourage. Why was he asked to join? Because he and Tracy could harmonize. Delightful. But then he beat Tracy at Halo. Man, I should play some Halo.

Fun and goofy. I laughed more than at Scrubs and My Name Is Earl combined tonight. Not that it can hold a candle to The Office. But look at me. I’m a broken record.

JD has been living in a tent for the last two episodes. Probably more.

Elliott has her boyfriend move in. So it’s time for the standard “women be different from men” fair. No coaster? Tee hee. I can so relate.

Turk broke his arm and is busted back down to being a hospital resident. Ummm, JD is helping a guy with brain damage who needs physical therapy. JD is scared of girls. Let’s see, janitor is growing facial hair. Do you need some more plot for a half hour? I hope not.

Did you know the Ghost Rider was the number one movie in America last weekend? And the week before it was Norbit? It’s like a big storm of terrible giving the Oscars the finger.

J.J. Abrams, of Lost, Alias, and What About Brian? fame, is directing this episode. That means it should be long and confusing. Haha, yeah. I went with the obvious joke that a five year old could have thought of.

Uncomfortable points to cause drama and humor for the episode? Michael and Jan go to a work party as boyfriend and girlfriend. Roy and Pam are already hitting rough waters after getting back together last week.

The framework is there. Nothing left to do but place the bricks. The hilarious bricks.

Oh! My! God! Pam just told Roy that Jim had kissed her. Then he and his brother went crazy and wrecked up the bar. Seriously! I totally did not image that happening, considering how nice Roy has been this season. It was a fantastic shock!

Jamie Pressly is pregnant. In real life. So the last two episodes have featured her being pregnant. Do you imagine that writers hate writing pregnancy into scripts?

This is a flashback episode. We get taken back to the other times that Joy was pregnant. I don’t think Earl’s karma list existed in the past. Not the distant past, at least.

Earl’s baby came out of different color than him. He decided to move back in with his parents. Which doesn’t last long.

Aside from a couple of laughs, I have been pretty bored. Earl’s dad is throwing gerbils out of a window. That’s okay. Don’t worry, they didn’t get hurt.

I kind of got hurt a little. Isn’t sweeps supposed to be the best of the best? I see none of these things going on with Earl.

And how bad does Ghost Rider look? And how good does Andy Barker, P.I. look?

Liz got called the “C” word. This is also an opportunity to ALMOST say that word time after time, but being interrupted “amusingly.”

Tracy and Jack are golfing in a tournament. And then it turns into a race thing.

Sigh. This is going to be a tired episode, isn’t it?

How long do we have to endure Jerry Maguire jokes? “You had me at” shut the hell up already! It wasn’t funny the first time OVER 10 YEARS AGO!

I haven’t been preached at yet. So far so good with this episode.

Are you aware that Norbit was the number one movie in America last weekend? I don’t know what to say, America. I’m just very disappointed in you. Know that.

JD has a condition which causes him to pass out due to stress. Well, stress and going number two. Scrubs sure likes the doody jokes.

We’re supposed to go to www.thetoddtime.com. You know, if it was working properly. Get some more bandwidth for your jokes, Scrubs!

Now JD is in jail for pushing his scooter while drunk. He put the key in to listen to the radio. Whoops. It other plot news, Turk is taken off of surgery for telling the truth. I’m waiting for a Pinocchio joke to come up somewhere.

Here’s an odd thought that ties into the theme of the episode. What’s the evolutionary benefit of loneliness? Yeah. Someone help me out here.

Micheal is going to speak at Ryan’s business school in this episode. It will be uncomfortable. Very very uncomfortable.

Pam is, officially, back with Roy. That will be a fun enough dynamic to play with until Karen leaves for some reason. Probably because she did a pilot for another TV show.

And there is a bat loose in the office. Not Batman. Just a bat. And Dwight thinks Jim might become a vampire.

Plenty of creepy Creed moments this episode. In fact, we’re getting a little bit of everybody. Kelly and Toby are getting their fair shake. Kevin is a hero.

I’d have to say that I love The Office even more than 24. I look forward to both, but I get all happy inside when The Office is coming. It’s like my heart is smiling to hard.

So harsh and funny and sweet. The Office doesn’t rest. Not a straight comedy. Not a straight drama. It’s the perfect mix of everything that is wonderful.

It is Earl’s birthday. He is celebrating all the good things he has done this past year. At his party, people are actually focusing on all the bad things he hasn’t fixed yet. That’s a nice enough twist on the show’s original theme. I accept this plot.

This is rather fun. It is mostly flashbacks of the terrible things Earl has done. It’s like a clip show, but of stuff we have never seen.

And things were crossed off the list! That was Earl’s birthday present. All of his friends forgave him for one thing and crossed it off. You know what? That was a pretty good episode.

See? That’s a pleasant surprise. I assumed it would be bad and it turned out good. It doesn’t matter that I was wrong because now I am happy! I’m one of them there cheerful pessimists.

Two laughs in the first minute. I made a good guarantee.

Phillis is getting married in a week, so the office is getting ready to celebrate. It will involve a “one hour shower with guys.”

Packard! He hasn’t been around for a while! What a wonderful jerk.

Michael has decided that it’s a good idea to hire strippers. Jim, charged with hiring a male stripper, hired an educational speaker who dressed as Benjamin Franklin. I’m smiling really big right now. You could see my teeth of you took a look.

Creed! Finally some creepy Creed scarffing down man meat.

Lots of fantastic Pam-Jim-Karen tension this episode.

Who knew just how uncomfortable a non-dead stripper at a bachelor party could be?

Benjamin Franklin is coming on to Pam.

Earl is back to his list this episode. He picked on an exchange student in school, and sent this French fellow a ticket to give America another try. That’s pretty good. Then he totally atomized an apple into the back of his head. I laughed really hard.

Pierre punched Earl in the face. Then Earl stole his passport so he couldn’t leave. Now snooty Pierre is trying to get to know America in Hicktown, USA.

This show has been a little less horrible than usual, but I haven’t belly laughed like I used to. Remember when we sat hand in hand under the banana trees, My Name Is Earl? What happened to us?

Pierre just wanted to kiss American girls. Easily solved. Who doesn’t love kissing American girls? Spiders? Spiders.

Ted and Robin had their first fight. Ted is goaded into using his architect status (architect status?) to pick up the ladies now. His lady, who got snippy with him about listening to his work stories, is now worried that he will fall into the arms of another temptress. And funny things are said. That’s TV for you.

Ahhhh, brilliant. Ted did go out to work, and all the flashbacks were actually Barney pretending to be “Ted Mosby, Architect.” That’s some good writing. Remember when I said “that’s TV for you?” They sure showed me. You can stuff my mouth with honey and cement, leaving it to dry in the Grecian sun.