Can 'The Office' recover?

The Office had grown slightly less funny and less interesting over time, which is nartural, but last season, the plunge accelerated, and it fell off a clip once they started the Michael Scott Paper Company storyline all spring.

In one year, The Office went from the funniest show on TV to intolerable. (Meanwhile, 30 Rock got so damn good it would have passed The Office anyway, but still, what a drop.)

So they have had a summer off to think about it. Can they figure it out? Tonight, we find out--or at least the first big indication. They have one hell of a talented writing pool and cast. I'm pulling for them.

Great shows have gone astray and then corrected before. Survivor, for instance--a completely different kind of show, but so what--really seemed to have jumped the shark with it's dreadful All Stars show way back, and it had just gotten too predictable. (And yes, I think Survivor was/is a brilliant show. Most reality TV is garbage, but so is most TV in general. Writing it all off together is just silly.) Anyway, Survivor really figured out a new formula--or just enough of a change each season to keep it interesting. I don't rush home to see it like the early days, but I still enjoy it.


I hope The Office is one of those turnarounds.

I'll weigh in soon on how they did. And maybe I'll talk about Survivor, too.