My thing is that I can at least tell that they put some effort into Frank's Brother, and we still have a decent amount of scenes with the whole gang. A Cricket's Tale just came across as complete filler to me, like they felt they had nine good episodes but had to throw that one together at the last minute because the cast was too busy or something
Yeah I don't think either was really funny but Frank's brother was at least a little interesting. The liberty bell episode is really underrated IMO. Not one of the best, obviously, but there are more jokes in that episode that make me laugh compared to some of the episodes in the last couple of seasons. But like this last post said, it actually felt like they put effort into that theme and it wasn't just some filler thing.
Yeah I've never understood the Liberty Bell hate. Just the scene where Dennis, Mac, and Dee run into Colonel Cricket alone makes me laugh more than Frank's Brother and A Cricket's Tale combined. I mean, there's no question Liberty Bell is one of the weakest entries from its era of the show, but some of the dialog is still classic Sunny.
When they first meet cricket and then Frank and Charlie for pretty much the entire episode. Hilarious. I love the part where they find out the guns are jammed so they start firing at each other.
So is Dennis gonna appear in season 13 & beyond? I will be gutted if he never comes back (like is rumoured) but I think the other 4 are strong enough to carry perhaps one season of 10 or so episodes without him.
I finally gave The Office a chance and good lord is it good. I didn't expect it to be so dark for a popular basic cable show. Michael and Dwight could fit right in with the cast of Sunny. I want to see a cross over where they walk into Patty's pup and Michael is trying to "out idea" Dennis and Dwight and Mac compete in fake karate lol.
I would be really surprised if that happens, even with what people have said. They HAVE to be getting close to the end of the show, and they're already taking a longer hiatus this time between seasons so...I guess I don't get why they would take all of that time and still continue on without him. Honestly, if they were going to do a season without Dennis (or even with limited screen time), I would rather them just call it a day.
Not gonna lie, I totally bought into the whole "Dennis might not come back" thing when it first started, but once I spent like a day thinking about it I realized they know what they're doing and would never actually stick with that for more than maybe one episode
I think Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack might be my favorite episode. Pepe Silvia, the siblings' fitness turned beauty regimen, and Frank's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest bits are all prime.
I've finished season 1 again and, while the eps are good, Frank coming in really does take the show up a level and I was glad to get on to season 2.
Season 1 feels like a different show a lot of the time, the characters are all a lot more tame. Still ridiculous but not as outlandishly so. Edit: Now I'm watching season 1 too. I think I've seen seasons 2-4 a lot more than any other seasons. Hands down the best. Seasons 5 and 6 are also excellent but not quite as consistent.
When season 13 starts, they should have a guest actor play Dennis and be real meta about what Glenn had said.
So I noticed Dennis's turn to a more dark side to be around the Dennis system episode which is followed by marrying and divorcing Maureen and then the boat episode where he talks about the implication. There may have been more signs in earlier episodes but that's when it clicked for me.