Off-topic pop-culture blogging

I've never really gotten or dug the whole Ricky Gervais phenomenon, but The Office (American version) is about as good as network TV gets. Partly it's because most of them are trained in improv comedy, partly it's because they're actually an ensemble (y'know, with story arcs and character development and all that other "archaic" shit that Reality TV made "irrelevant"), partly because the writing is top-notch, partly because this is television obviously aimed at an audience made up of grownups--not Ritalined-out adolescent teenage boys (think The Girls Next Door) or terrified retirees (the entire Fox "News" network).

But mostly it's because of the acting: people standing on a soundstage portraying complex, flawed, likable/excruciating characters.

And, there's this: from a fan-base who obviously have way too much time on their hands: