THINK YOUR OFFICE IS A FREAK SHOW?

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THE OFFICE -- Pictured: (l-r) Standing: Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Lapin, Paul Lieberstein as Toby, Oscar Nu'ez as Oscar Martinez, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, Angela Kinsey as Angela, B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard, Creed Bratton as Creed, Steve Carell as Michael Scott, Brian Baumgartner as Kevin, Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer, Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, Leslie David Baker as Stanley, David Denman as Roy; Seated: John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Mindy Kaling as Kelly, Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute -- NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth For Alex Strachan (Canwest) CNS-TV-THE-OFFICE (CNS NBC UNIVERSAL, INC.)

There will always be something to love about Michael Scott.

At least, that's the perspective of actor Steve Carell, who plays America's most inept manager in the hit NBC series The Office, which airs Thursdays at 8 p.m.

Yes, he spreads scurrilous rumours about his underlings, just to feel like he's in the office-gossip loop. And yes, he never met a moment when he couldn't find exactly the wrong thing to blurt out. And yes, oh, my, yes, he did sleep with the mother of one of his employees.

But...

"I've always seen him as sort of a sympathetic character," Carell said last summer when TV critics from around North America visited The Office's Hollywood soundstage. "Even with people who are obnoxious and in your face and unlikable to most, I believe that there are other sides and other grey areas. And I've always felt that he was the kind of guy whose intentions were good and whose heart was in the right place, but he just has a disconnect socially and sort of an emotional blind spot.

"So that's kind of how I've proceeded with the character."

After a fifth season in which The Office's central irritant left Dunder Mifflin and took an unsuccessful run at operating his own firm, The Michael Scott Paper Company, the current campaign finds Michael back behind his familiar desk, though not so firmly in control of things since former salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) has been elevated to co-manager.

Still, it's a restoration of the natural order of things at Dunder Mifflin, with Michael back to bumbling and Jim being forced to confront the notion that his boss's job isn't quite as easy as it seems.

"I think Jim's ambition has always been more of an issue than his skill," cast member and writer/producer B.J. Novak explained. "I think it seems to most of the writers that he would be great if he tried, and one of the themes this year is Jim going for it more, and trying, and challenging himself -- particularly with the wedding and the baby on the way.

"I think that's really fun to see."

And speaking of that wedding, Krasinski and onscreen spouse Jenna Fischer said they've been overwhelmed by the support from the show's fans who obviously feel very strongly about Jim and Pam finding their own sitcom version of Happily Ever After.

"You know, when the relationship started and it was kind of an unrequited love relationship, I would get a lot of fan mail from people who were also pining away for someone else in their office, and they were enjoying watching that," said Fischer. "And then when we finally got together, we would get mail like that. And now I'm getting a bunch of mail that's like, 'I can't wait to see you guys have a baby, because we're expecting.'

"So I think we're sort of growing up with our fans, and we're going through the same life stages as the people who have been watching us from the beginning. I think that's maybe one of the reasons the relationship has continued to be successful -- it's been growing realistically."

Whether Jim and Pam remain happy into their post-series-finale ever after remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: when their baby is born, it will receive the most inappropriate gift imaginable from Michael Scott.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

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Dancing With the Stars finale (Tuesday at 8 p.m., ABC) -- After a season that has been decidedly light on star power and excitement, one couple will finally fox-trot off with the sort-of-coveted mirror-ball trophy. Anyone in the final three has a decent shot at grabbing the bauble.

Criminal Minds (Wednesday at 8 p.m., CBS/CTV) -- The veteran crime-solving series hits the 100-episode milestone with a special instalment in which the BAU team unearths clues that lead -- finally -- to The Reaper's location.

TV ON DVD:

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7. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

8. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

9. Land of the Lost

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-- Rogers Plus, week ending Nov. 15

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 19, 2009 E4