Woman Under the Influence: Jan Makes The Office Wonderfully Twisted

In the end, maybe the WGA Strike wasn't such a bad thing.

If tonight's episode of The Office is any indication, the work stoppage might have been just what the show needed to get back to it's former heights of excellence. Because make no mistake about it, tonight's episode was the best of the fourth season.

By a lot.

Which is crazy, because on the face of it, this is the type of episode that could have been an outright disaster. Usually when The Office leaves the confines of the office environment, we get episodes like Dwight and Ryan running around a beet field. In fact, given the opportunity, I probably would have killed this episode, sight unseen. I could hear myself saying: "Dinner party? Pfft. Terrible."

But by breaking format, and delving into the domestic life that Michael and Jan have carved for themselves, The Office produced pure amazement. There is no way I could accurately describe to you how uncomfortable this episode was. It was 22 minutes of complete awkwardness. Everything from Michael's clothes to Jan's incredibly fake boobs (or "candles" as Michael called them) to Jim's sleazy attempt at abandoning Pam at the party (Hello, it's me, Foreshadowing. I'll be seeing you soon), had me literally hiding my eyes. I mean really, were you able to watch the scene when Michael and Jan were arguing about children and vasectomies without both simultaneously laughing hysterical and cringing uncontrollably? Because I wasn't.

And at the center of this Cassavettes-like episode of relationship unrest was Melora Hardin's Jan. Since the end of last season, when Jan became an unhinged, stretch pants wearing, Looney Toon, something just clicked into place for Hardin. She went from fun supporting player who spent her time on screen making frowny faces at Michael's antics to full blown interesting character. Tonight, Hardin played everything perfectly: from the way she called Michael "baby," to the way she clenched her teeth and jaw every time she talked to Pam and even to the way she attempted to Crazy Glue one of Michael's Dundee's back together after she tossed it into his 13" Plasma screen TV. Hardin was like a woman possessed. It was the type of one-off performance that obviously wouldn't get noticed by the Emmy awards, but all the same, was entirely Emmy worthy. She was brilliant.

More importantly, she's the perfect comedic foil for Steve Carell. Just a couple of weeks ago I wished that Kristen Wiig would be cast as a new love interest for Michael. Now? I want to see so much more of Michael and Jan, I'm hoping the ill-fated Office spin-off revolves around Jan.

Everything in "Dinner Party," felt fresh, funny and spot-on. And that wasn't just because it was the first new episode of The Office since November 2007. How do I know? Because 30 Rock returned tonight and, for lack of a better word, it stunk. MILF Island? Dick Cheney jokes? Hands getting caught in vending machines? It felt about as cutting edge as a calendar from 2005. Or a Simpsons episode. Plus I found myself totally distracted by the way it was shot: crappy blue screen work, too might tight close-up shots. It was like they were hiding pregnancies from every character. And it wasn't particularly funny. (Though, as I say that, who couldn't laugh at something as hilariously simple as "eat my poo?")

Whereas The Office came across as well thought out and put together, 30 Rock felt like it was written in less than one day. Still, it's nothing to worry about. One less-than-hilarious episode of 30 Rock doesn't call for a crisis. The Office needed an episode like this. Not just for the remainder of the season, but for the remainder of the series. At most, this bodes well for future out-of-office endeavors. And at the very least, for one Thursday night, The Office was the funniest show on television. Well done.