How Did Michael Scott Go From Ass To Awesome?

"Yeah okay, this is going to hurt like a motherf***er."

Watching Steve Carell’s second to last episode of the office last week a few things dawned on me.  The first thing was that Carell will be remembered as one of the best comedic performers in television history.  Another thing was that Michael Scott would be remembered as one of the most iconic characters in TV history.  It was not until the rest of the office sang their version of the Rent song “Seasons of Love” that another thing hit me, the people at Dunder Mifflin Sabre are really going to miss Michael Scott, not only as a boss, but as a friend.  It is crazy to think of the journey that character has taken because once upon a time, these people hated Michael.  Not in the way that they sometimes do now but ultimately forgive him, they genuinely despised him.  When the series first started, Michael Scott was a huge jerk.  So how did the show so expertly convert this once despised man into someone the rest of the staff would send off in emotional song?  The transformation has been astounding really.

At the beginning of "The Office," Michael was so scorned by the staff - and rightly so, given his insensitivity, his offensive sense of humor and his completely tone-deafness of most social situations - that he had to buy himself a "World's Best Boss" mug to celebrate what he wanted his standing to be.  He leaves with something far better than that mug: with the knowledge that these people really do like him, and they get him, and they can play his reindeer games from time to time because of how much they matter to him.  Below, I will discuss some of the turning points in the character arc of Michael Scott

Season 2, “The Client” The first thing that confused me was, if Michael was SO dumb, how did he achieve the success he already had?  It was somewhat baffling that Michael had risen to the job of branch manager, let alone how he had managed to hold onto the title.  Here we finally get to see Michael at his best.  When he can get a few drinks in himself and the people around him, he is downright charming.  Not only is Michael able to convince a big shot client to sign with Dunder Mifflin, He is able to seduce Jan in to having the first (of many) sexual liaisons with him

Season 2, “The Booze Cruise” This was the first real moment that it seemed someone from the Office could actually become friends with Michael.  Sure he was being an attention starved diva for most of the episode, but the brilliance came in his conversation with Jim after Jim had just revealed his feelings for Pam.  His delivery of the line, “Engaged ain’t married”, is priceless and you can’t help but like the guy after he tell Jim to never give up.

Season 3, “Business School” This is one of the biggest moments in the transformation into the Michael Scott that everyone knows and loves.  Even when Michael has been at his most petulant over the last couple years, it always seems as Pam was the one willing to hear him out and stick by him, while still attempting to protect him.  This is where I really feel that that relationship was first cemented.  By being the only person to show up at her art show, Michael really had Pam believing that the Office could be the family that Michael had always wanted it to be.

Season 4, “Survivor Man” If Booze Cruise didn’t solidify the fact that Jim and Michael could be friends, this episode did.  While Michael is gone all day, Jim is left in charge and finds out that it is much harder than it looks.  Upon Michaels return, the 2 share war stories about their time as manager and it seems like Jim really has a new found respect for someone who he had been reluctant to get close to up until that point

Season 4, “Goodbye Toby” The episode where Michael meets the love of his life has to be included in the discussion of the growth of Michael Scott.  These last few seasons I found Michael to easily be at his best whenever he was around Holly, an HR representative for the company.  Holly is Michael's ideal woman: cute and sweet and with a nearly-identical, dorky sense of humor.  By giving Michael a love interest that suited him more then someone like Jan, it really helped the character grow

Season 5, “Broke”.  Michael starts his own self-titled paper company, recruiting Pam and Ryan as his sales force, and manages to put a big hurt on Dunder-Mifflin's business by underselling to many former clients.  Dunder-Mifflin CFO David Wallace comes to try to buy out the fledgling company, and Michael - with a lot of coaching from Pam and Ryan, who know what a horrible poker face their boss has - manages to dominate the negotiation, using his own childish impulses, and David's knowledge of them, to scare David into giving him, Pam and even Ryan their full-time jobs back. It's a huge win for Michael - and, shockingly, one that feels completely earned and satisfying.

Season 7, “Garage Sale” Michael, against his original instincts, settles on a subtle yet beautiful way to propose to Holly.  And how did he arrive at this decision?  By confronting the other people in the office, the same people who hated Michael just 6 years prior.  He finally has a woman he loves in his life, and now had the family he always wanted the Office to be.  A true win for Michael Scott in every sense of the word.

So tonight ends the evolution of Michael Scott.  It has been a fun, ludicrous, sweet, and uncomfortable ride from beginning to end.  No matter what happens tonight, whether Michael's farewell episode is a success or a flop, I will always think back to that “Seasons of Love” scene and think to myself that that was a fantastic send off and a fantastic demonstration of the growth of one of my favorite people in Television history.  Goodbye Michael Scott, Hopefully whatever life throws at you, you will be able to stay happy and push through.  And yes, that’s what she said.

My Thoughts On American Idol "Top 6 Perform"

Welcome back everybody to your favorite American Idol recap.  Earlier today, I wrote a review on last nights 90 minute episode of Glee, check out the website for that.  Last week saw Stefano rightfully go home.  What we have now is a top 6 where I don’t like anybody except for Casey and sometimes Haley.

Ryan introduces us to the top 6 before we even get our customary “This Is American Idol”.  That’s how you know its important kids!  Voiceover guy introduces us to the judges.  If I honestly had to pick and MVP of the season it would be voice over guy.  He just never misses a beat.  The theme of the week is music by Carole King.  I am asleep already.  The performances had better be great because this truly might be the most boring theme American Idol has ever picked.  Brief tangent here:  a rival network debuts a show that is going to compete with American Idol, on that show they throw 4 of the most popular musicians at this moment at the audience, so how does Idol respond?  With Carole freaking King?  Someone has lost touch with their audience.  Ok my tangent is over.  Jimmy Iovine has brought Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds to help mentor.  Oh Joy!

Jacob Lusk is up first.  He is doing “Oh No, Not My Baby”  What follows is a hilarious montage of Jacob butchering the song in every possible way.  I am usually not one to comment on someone’s style, but what the hell is Jacob wearing?  it’s a strange combo of yellow shirt, teal vest, purple bow tie, and a checkered jacket.  The song is a little more upbeat then Jacob has done throughout the competition so that’s a positive.  Parts of the song he sings decently but there are a lot of parts that are just screechy and screamy.  I bet the judges love it though!  I am so over Jacob’s whole act.  Steven likes that Jacob shook his tail feathers.  Jennifer likes that he stuck with the song and even thought there were spaces where it wasn’t perfect, he killed it in the end.  Randy agrees it was sharp in a few spots but he likes that he brought the energy and that he went back to just singing.

Lauren Alana is up next.  I think she is really hamming up her southern accent because for the life of me I understand the name of the song she says she is singing.  Its never been an issue before.  Jimmy surprises Lauren by bringing out Miley Cyrus.  How come nobody ever surprises me with a Miley Cyrus?  After further research the song she is singing is called “Where You Lead”  Its not as boring as she has been the last couple weeks but it is still not that memorable.  Lauren has this issue in when she lacks energy, she gets drowned out by her background singers.  The definitely happens once or twice during this performance.  Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, id give it a Meh.  Jennifer says she felt her pushing and she is proud that she was pushing.  She never says whether it was a good or bad performance though.  Randy starts with his usual over generalities and basically says he liked Laurens attitude.  He wants he to continue to go hard for it.  Steven thinks the breaks in her voice show character.  Ryan calls a young guy on stage who was ogling Lauren.  The kid is 19 so Ryan tells him they have rules.  Ok, that was pretty funny.

We are also doing duets tonight.  The duets are usually terrible.  First up is Haley and Casey.  They are singing “I Feel The Earth Move”  Casey says he likes growling with her.  Its funny because they are dating.  Ill keep my reviews of these duets brief.  I feel like Casey should have done this song as his solo.  Its an entertaining duet.  There voices really do mesh well together.  Wow.  Stevens first words after the song: “Hey weird beard, how much in love with Haley are you?”  This is awkward.  He thought the performance was great.

Scotty McCreery is up next.  He is doing “You’ve Got a Friend”  Jimmy says this is the most romantic song that Scotty has done and that he really needs to bring the subtlety,  This is definitely not a country song.  Granted it still sounds like country because anything he sings is going to sound country, but this is so much better then last week its not even funny.  It really is a beautiful performance of a beautiful song.  It pains me to say it because I don’t like Scotty, but I think he absolutely crushed it.  In the words of Billy Bob from Varsity Blues “It was a fucking 10!”  Randy says it was excellent but he needs to not fall off on the high notes.  Steven doesn’t think he has ever sang better.  Jennifer says when they hear him sing a song like this, that’s why they need to get on him when he sings a song like last week.  She also says h e is a great storyteller.

James Durbin is up next.  He is doing “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”  James is leaving the theatrics at home for this performances and that’s good because it’s a sweet and subtle song.  Jimmy and Babyface are loving this.  I have to say, this new side of James is very good.  He shows he does not need to be going a mile a minute and does not need to scream every not in order to be successful.  It is a very nice performance.  Steven says he had him sold right from the beginning.  He also says that was the first song he ever made out with a girl to.  Jennifer thought it was magical.  She thinks he is going to be the star of the night.  Oh my god shut up Randy.  “In It To Win It” is the new “pitchy”  He says James finally showed he could sing with the best of them.  Randy also says he thinks James is going to win.

Next is a duet from Lauren and Scotty.  Ryan tries to insinuate something going on between them but they both insist they have more of a brother and sister relationship.  They are doing “Up on The Roof”  They both sing well but it is an extremely boring duet.  Jennifer says that it was very beautiful.

Casey Abrams is up next.  He is doing “Hi-De-Ho”  Him and the mentors have a blast just jamming to the song.  What Casey does he basically is an extended version of the blues.  I happen to think the performance is excellent but it is the kind of song choice that may not resonate with everyone.  Randy loves that he keeps it different every time.  He feels like the song was written for Casey.  Steven says it was beautiful and that it made his scalp itch.  Jennifer loved it but would like to see Casey loosen up a little more.

Haley Reinhart is the last solo act.  She is doing “Beautiful”  Jimmy tell her she needs to hit the word “Get” harder.  We come back from the video and Idol is having some technical difficulties.  She does a pretty good job with it.  There is a couple parts where the song really slows down where it sound a little off but she makes up for it by really hitting on the rest of the song, complete with her signature growling.  Steven says she is as beautiful as that song, and It made him see god.  Jennifer says she has one of the best voices in the competition and it was beautiful.  Randy did not like the beginning and he is met with a chorus of boo’s from everyone including Jennifer.  He says he really got into it at the end though.

The last duet is with Jacob and James.  They are singing “I’m into something good”  The song starts off sounding really cheesy and does not really get any better.  James does a decent enough job but Jacob is definitely the weak link of the two.  Steven did not really like it but said at least they had fun.

If you didn’t watch and are just reading the recap, the second half of the show was EXTREMELY rushed.  First time this year they have had an issue with time.  I actually think American and I will agree this week.  The Bottom 3 will be Jacob, Lauren and Haley, with Jacob Lusk going home.

My Thoughts on Glee "Born This Way"

"The only straight I am is straight up bitch."

I don’t know if a show has ever had ADD more than Glee has had this season.  The writers bounce from story to story so quickly that sometimes we get 3 new plots in one episode, and they all resolve themselves within the hour.  This has lead to characters largely being forgotten about for long periods of time and over saturation of other characters (I’m pointing at you Sue Sylvester).  You would think with a 90 minute supersized episode and a topic that lends itself to the premise of the show as well as Lady Gaga, that last night was the perfect opportunity for the show to regain focus and to gear up for the home stretch of the season.  Instead, what we got was another up and down episode that focused on way too many stories

What stories did we get in this episode of Glee?  There’s Will trying YET AGAIN (Its getting old) to help Emma with her OCD.  There is the underlying sexual tension between Will and Emma.  There is Rachel maybe getting a nose job.  There is Finn and his still confusing feelings for Rachel.  There is Quinn, Lauren and Santana running for prom queen.  There is Quinn as a former ugly duckling and Lauren exposing it.  There is Santana and Brittany relationship stuff.

I am not done yet, I just needed a break

There is Kurt leaving the Warblers and coming back to McKinley.  There is Santana finding out about Karofsky’s secret then using to blackmail him into helping her convince Kurt to come back to school.  There is the fact that she is doing this just so she can win prom queen and force Brittany to date her.  Then there is the overall theme of the episode which is that while you can be accepting of others, you also need to be accepting of yourself.

Packed all of this into one episode is not anything new.  It just has been the reason why this whole season has been exponentially worse than season one.    Sure some of the stories work, and that’s where the frustration sets in, The writers need to focus on these stories that work.  Instead of the Emma Pillsbury OCD fest part 10, give us more insight on Kurt coming back to McKinley.  Instead of the at this point completely insufferable Lauren Zises, give us a scene between Finn and Karofsky where Finn vows to protect Kurt.  The stories that should be focused on are good stories, and they showed us in season 1 they can create good drama when they come up with good stories.  Right now though, its almost like they are just throwing hundreds of different plot lines out at the same time just to see what stuck.

The Musical numbers were up and down this week as well.  The highlight was definitely Rachel and Quinn performing a haunting mash-up up the TLC’s “Unpretty” and “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story.  The other songs all ranged from ok to mediocre but at least fit the story well.  There was one ridiculous song and I don’t even really know how to describe it but here goes:  It is a techno song that a flash mob starts dancing to at the mall. The only words in the song are “Barbara Streisand”

Not a good outing for Glee.  I will give it a 4 out 10 and continue to hope the writers can figure out some way to focus the show before the finale in May

My Thoughts On American Idol "Top 7 Perform"

Welcome back to your favorite American Idol recap.  I know it has been a few weeks.  Between health issues, life issues, work issues and car issues, I just have not been able to write much lately.  I am still feeling a little under the weather now so if I go off on random tangents… well then it wont be much different then normal.  I should be back to a more normal writing schedule next week.

We start the show off with Ryan telling us that the theme is songs from the 21st century.  Earlier I said it would be a damn shame if Haley does not do “Rehab” and if Jacob does not do “Crazy” by Gnarles Barkley,  which surely means they wont.  We start off with all the people that have been eliminated doing “So what”  With 5 guys and one girl, its more then a little awkward.  In fact its almost like Idol was saying “Yeah we know the show is gender bias and racist, and we are going to show it off”  Almost like they are just saying…”So What”.  Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week.  This just in, Paul still lacks any real form of talent.

Scotty McCreery is up first.  This week the idols get to say what they feel about each other.  Everyone makes fun of how Scotty holds the mic and sings out of the side of his mouth.  Its not a joking matter, its really creepy and annoying.  You would think that would stop him but he keeps on doing it.  He is doing “Swingin” by LeAnn Rhimes.  My complaints on Scotty have had nothing to do with his talent, just the fact that he refuses to do a non country song.  Well this week I actually don’t even like how he performs the song.  I feel like parts of it he is not even singing, he is just talking.  I am sure the judges will love it though.  Stupid Mad TV cover wannabe.  Steven loves it.  He wants Scotty to bootscoot more.  Yeah, I don’t know.  Jennifer is not happy that he is not pushing past his comfort zone!  Finally!  Randy agrees with Jennifer.  He says it was very safe and that made it very boring.  Well then, were off to a good start from the judges.

This week we are cutting backstage to the green room and everyone is trying to cheer Scotty up.  Stefano looks bored with it.  James Durbin is next in all of his twitchy goodness.  Casey makes fun of his scarf tails.  The rest of the contestants follow suit.  Then they make fun of his screechyness.   He is doing “Uprising” by Muse.  I don’t like this song choice.  I thought he should have done The White Stripes or Green Day.  Jimmy Iovine disagrees with me.  Ill knock that hat off his head if he does it again.  James comes out with drummers from a marching band.  They fail to cover up the fact that its not a great performance.  Its really weird. Parts of it sound downright satanic.  I do not like it at all in fact.  I’m also really tired of his arrangements for these songs.  Jennifer said it was amazing.  Randy says he was unbelievable up there.  He also name drops someone from Muse.  I hate Randy.  Steven says it was crazy good. Whatever.

Haley Reinhart is up next.  The guys all mock her trademark growl.  While Jacob says that she is sweetie, Stefano calls her a brat and I think Lauren calls her Ms. Sass Grass.  Wow, seems like Stefano and Haley really don’t like each other.  I bet Stefano took a run at her and was shot down.  She is doing “Rolling Deep” by Adele.  That would have been my 2nd choice for her after “Rehab”.  Its pretty good.  Its not fantastic, but not bad at all.  My main issue with it is that it’s a song that has a lot of emotion to it, and she just stood in one spot the whole time.  Its something I think she needs to work on in all of her performances.  Randy thinks she chose the perfect direction for her.  He said at times it was a little sharp but otherwise it was a great performance.  Steven thinks it was great.  I think I’m just going to copy and paste that.  Jennifer thought there were moments where Haley sang it just as good, if not better than Adele.

Jacob Lusk is up next.  He is going to do “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross.  Really?!?  You have a chance to finally sound contemporary, and you pick Luther freaking Vandross.  All the other contestants call Jacob a Diva.  I’m still so mad about the song choice.  Jacob bonds with Jimmy Iovine over there emotions toward the song.  And now he is dedicating this song to all the fathers that have been lost.  Seriously, just and upbeat song already!  I swear the only place with a higher suicide rate then Seattle is wherever Jacob is.  The performance is fine.  It’s the same as every single Jacob performance has been.  That been my problem with a lot of these contestants.  They have no variety.  He sings the song very well, but I’m bored with it.  I’m sure the judges will love it.  Steven thinks it was great.  Jennifer has a round about way of saying it was an emotionally beautiful performance.  Randy says he sang it well, but he feels like he is putting the restraints on.  Jacob blames the track screwing up in his ear. Meh.

Mark Ballas from Dancing With the Stars is there.  He says Casey Abrams is his favorite.  You see kids, its funny because Mark Ballas is dating Pia Toscano.  Please hold your questions for after class.  All the other idols call Casey odd, but a genius.  He is doing “Harder to Breathe” by Maroon 5.  This is a great song choice for him.  A fun song that he can really wail on.  He sings the song really well.  He lets out a very odd grunt in the middle of it, and has some strange scatting towards the end, but other then that it’s a fantastic performance.  Casey kisses Jlo on the cheek while he is singing the last note!  Atta boy Casey!  Jennifer says Casey has soft lips.  Jennifer loved it, thought it was really great, and he took a pop song and made it all the way rock.  Randy loved it and he wants Casey to continue to take chances.  Randy reiterates that he thought it was amazing.  Steven likes it.  Then proceeds to swear.  A lot.  Ryan comes out wearing a Casey beard,  What is going on right now?

Poor Stefano Langone.  First he more then likely gets shot down by Haley.  Then he is in the bottom 2 basically every week.  And now, the week where he is more then likely going home no matter what, he has to follow Casey.  Steven has duct tape on his mouth.  I think he’s officially back on the crack pipe.  The other idols all say Stefano tries to be a ladies man and he is a really big flirt.  Stefano is doing “Closer” NeYo.  If I was him I probably would have gone with “Grenade” by Bruno Mars, but not a bad choice.  Jimmy Iovine swears at Stefano to be better.  If he was watching this performances, he probably started swearing again because it was not good.  It all felt rushed and very screamy.  At one point it seemed like Stefano was moving around too much and lost his breath. Randy thought it was going to be bad but he said it turned out to be not bad.  Steven was happy Stefano danced.  Jennifer thought it was very good and it felt like a concert.  For the record, they were all wrong.

Lauren Alana and her brand new tan are set to close things up.  Everyone else makes fun of how she talks and the amount that she talks.  Jimmy thinks Lauren has a fear of failing and that causes her to pull back.  To prove his point, he brings in Miley Cyrus’s producers and she instantly holds back in front of them.  Good job Jimmy.  She is doing “Born to Fly” by Sarah Evans.  I don’t know the song but I do know its country.  And despite the fact that I hate country, its actually a not bad performance.  Its up beat and she doesn’t seem to hold back as much, although she still does a little.  The song itself is a little to easy.  Steven thought it was great.  He wants her to sing Faith Hill or Shania Twain next time.  Jennifer thought parts of it were beautiful but she wants he to sing some big notes.  Randy completely agrees with Jennifer and he doesn’t think that she knows how good she is and she really needs to challenge herself.

Who is going to be in the bottom 3?  If it were up to me, I would say they bottom 3 should be James, Jacob and Stefano with Stefano going home.  However we all know that’s not going to be the case.  I think America will make the bottom 3 Stefano, Haley and Lauren with Stefano going home.  Tune in tomorrow to see who is out of here.

American Idol: Why Did Pia Toscano Get Sent Home?

If you watched American Idol last night, you probably had the same reaction that I did.

“So, I’m not watching this show anymore…”

I mean what is the point right?  Here the show had one of the better pure singers it has ever had (albeit slightly boring) and they were sending her home in 9^th place.  Let’s be honest though, 99% of us who say we are not going to watch any more will still tune in next week.  So instead of stewing in anger, why don’t we take a look at a few reasons as to how this could have happened.

American Idol has an Age and Gender Problem-  And I'm not talking about the contestants on the show, I am talking about the voting public.  Bottom line is that most of American Idols fans that vote are not in my demographic; they are female and are between the ages of 13-19.  That being the case, not only are people in that demographic too young to truly know what a fantastic performance is, they are basically voting based on their hormones as opposed to voting based on talent.  The last three winners were guys, and four of the last five. Every year, Randy proclaims this "The Year of the Girl," and every year the women go home early and they go home often. The previous two seasons have featured only one woman in the top 5, and the year before that only had two. Out of eight remaining contestants this season, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart are the only females left. The vast majority of people who vote for this show are female, and they're apparently not voting for someone they can relate to, but someone they're attracted to.   Pretty women seem to get targeted especially these days, and as J-Lo noted often, and noted tonight, Pia was gorgeous.  Some of you may argue that Carrie Underwood was a beautiful woman and she won.  That is very true, but not only did Carrie appeal to a large section of fans (Country fans), she competed in a time where voting was not as accessible.  With texting being much more prominent now, and this year adding a vote online option, the voting has become much easier for people in the “problem” demographic.  Unless Idol figures out a way to fix this problem, I can definitely see it losing steam, especially once the X Factor debuts

The Judges are just too Weak-  Not everyone can hear the difference between a mediocre performance, a decent performance and a spectacular performance.  Those people rely on the judge’s comments to decide just how well one person did.  This season for the judges, everything has been rainbows and butterflies.  Even the most atrocious of performances have not gotten torn apart.  We all knew this was going to be a problem when Simon, and to a lesser extent, Kara, got replaced with two superstar musicians with a fan base to cater to.  Steven Tyler is barely there and has nothing to add to the proceedings.  JLo occasionally shows signs that shes willing to criticize someone but she always falls back into her pattern of saying “You were so good, but I want to see more”.  It seemed for a couple of weeks that Randy would try to be the resident bad guy, but he fell out of that very quickly.  While Simon Cowell could be a jerk at times, he was unquestionably powerful at scaring people - both the contestants and their fans - out of complacency. If Simon was still around, Casey Abrams (another one-time frontrunner) likely wouldn't have needed to be saved two weeks ago, because Simon would have called his recent performances self-indulgent, and it either would have shaken Casey out of his rut, or it would have put his fans on high alert to vote more often, or both. That didn't happen, the Judges Save got deployed much earlier than anyone expected - and wasn't available for Pia.  Similarly, Simon would not have tolerated Pia's long run of technically-proficient but mind-numbingly similar ballads, nor would he have treated Wednesday night's performance of "River Deep, Mountain High" like some brave journey out of Pia's ballad box, when (once you factor out the idea that Pia is capable of movement) it wasn't markedly different from any of her previous vocals. The judges let Pia coast for a long time, which made Pia and her fans complacent, and which led to this.

I can say that i wont as many times as I want, but I am going to continue to watch American Idol.  Untill they find a way to fix the problems that I have described, I am going to be watching it as just an entertaining couple of hours, and not as a serious singing competition.