[Vid] Philippines & Pinoys were Special Mentions in The Office Finale

I haven't completely processed the final episode of The Office. My eyes are still not dry. I've been nostalgic and teary-eyed since yesterday.

The finale? It wasn't the best send-off I've seen. Like many of the show's loyal viewers, I also believed that the The Office would've been better ending when Steve Carell left after Season 7. Yet, they pressed on for two years and since then, I've had a love-hate relationship with the show.

Howver, it didn't feel right to miss the series finale, despite how mad I was the previous episodes leading to it. In a way, that's how passionate I was for The Office. It has been one helluva trip.

Briefly, I wanna say...

• Thank you for these 9 impressionable and remarkable seasons. Some of the best moments from television & pop culture are from this show. I'm thrilled to have witnessed it.
• Thank you for Jim and Pam. And for Dwight & Angela.
• Thank you for bringing Steve Carell back to close the show. Happiest. Fan. Moment. Ever. (And the guy has not lost his touch as Michael Scott!)

Lastly, thank you for this! I'd like to believe it's the show's way of reaching out to fans in the Philippines. It truly felt like The Office came full circle for me.

Goodbye, Dunder Mifflin.

I'm gonna miss this.

PS. Can someone name who these Filipinos are in the video? 

Violent post ahead: The Trouble With Jim & Pam from THE OFFICE

Lately, watching The Office's final season is making my blood pressure shoot up. The first four or five episodes were fine. But when the writers started messing with Jim & Pam's storyline, I also started cursing at my TV. Why are they doing to this relationship?

To those unaware, Jim & Pam started out as very good friends before their incredible courtship. It made for some of the best moments for the show. They were perfect together. They were on the same wavelength. They were soulmates. (And the actors playing them had immense chemistry, it was so believable.)

Married less than four years and with two small children on the show, and now it seems these two no longer connect.

What the hell happened?  I mean, WHAT THE HELL, writers??!!

For a solid pair that used to be able to discuss EVERYTHING together, Jim & Pam couldn't even talk about a marital problem that, in all honestly? Is not even the worst, most hellish problem couples have to deal with. (17 years in a committed relationship here!)

And that's what's pissing me off!

I've developed violent feelings for what's happening to one of my favorite TV couples.

I wanted to reach out to my TV and slap Pam silly for being ridiculously short-sighted and for talking to insignificant people about her problems!

I can't even keep track of her marital issues.

It's like one complaint about her marriage is propping up every episode.

And I'm sitting here, watching and thinking (more like shouting in my head), "WHY AREN'T YOU TALKING ABOUT THIS TO YOUR HUSBAND????!!! YOUR HUSBAND, YOUR BEST FRIEND? THE FIRST PERSON YOU RUN TO WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY?? REMEMBER WHAT THAT RELATIONSHIP WAS LIKE??" 

Jim's reaction to this whole "mess" is just as ridiculous. I can't even qualify it as a mess. Your problems, Jim & Pam, are PEANUTS! IT IS NOT A CRISIS!!!! 

Marriage counselling, seriously Jim? Have you tried talking to each other first?

How can these two perfectly connected individuals suddenly become disconnected??  Yes, I know...the disconnection? It happens in real life, to real people, real couples. Marriage? It ruins the courtship. Having kids? It ruins the honeymoon stage.

But these things? They happen over long periods of resentments. In the first few years, couples can still normally talk it over and flush things out. ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE LIKE JIM & PAM. Who had this strong dynamics from the very beginning of their relationship. I mean, I can imagine them flushing out every single thing they can discuss. I can imagine them butting heads together, regardless if the issue was serious or mundane.  So, why can't they do it for this particular problem? (I would've have been a lot less passionate if Jim & Pam were a troubled pair from the get go. But they are not!)

I see what the writers are doing.

I see that they are probably preparing viewers for a grand happy ending for Jim & Pam. So, they set this whole thing up to crush our spirits, only to lift it up when the show ends.

I hate it.

I hate that this is what they are giving me on the show's final year.

I hate what they have done to these characters. They have easily destroyed the thing I hold dear about Jim & Pam, by showing that they are not solid as I thought they were.

What a way to ruin this relationship for me, writers. You suck!

Which Love Story Would Leave You More Gutted on MR. SELFRIDGE?

For the most part, I enjoy watching the first series of Mr. Selfridge because, as someone who's guilty about loving shopping, it's fun to follow what goes on behind a fashion empire's rise to the top.

I'm not sure how much of this series is patterned after real life. All I know is that Selfridge still exists in London as a high-end department store. And if ever its beginnings and history has been romanticized for the sake of TV, I don't care much for that. I'm just glad it's been a good series so far.

Part of the appeal of this show for me is the characters' backstories, beginning with Mr. Selfridge's wandering eye...

You have to watch all 10 episodes to get where this scene is coming from. But this happened during the series finale, which aired this week. (Spoiler alert!) This was when Mr. Selfridge's wife, Rose, declared she and the kids were leaving him.

I was crying my heart out watching this unfold:

Rose Selfridge: When I saw Rosalie, tonight in the play, I just wanted to sink to the floor. I felt so guilty and ashamed of myself.
Harry Selfridge: Even the children are everything to me, I'm lost without you.
Rose: You always say that, Harry.
Harry: So, where does it stand between you and me?
Rose: I don't know.
Harry: Are you gonna leave me? I'm gonna go to the store tomorrow and face all those people at 9 am. And I don't think that I could do it, if I didn't know that I was coming home to you.
Rose: Then why do you have other women?
Harry: I don't...I'm just...I'm just a damn fool. That's all and that's the truth.
Rose: I'm sorry Harry, we're leaving for Chicago...

Not a pretty portrait at the Selfridge's mansion

I though they were gonna make it! There was a brief moment in Episode 7 or 8 where they went through something and supported each other as man & wife. I really thought that was a turning point!

 Now, my favorite character on the show is Ms. Mardle, the head of the accessories department. (That I really love accessories has something to do with my love for her, too!) Ms. Mardle has been keeping her relationship with Selfridge's chief-of-staff, Mr. Grove, a secret since it's forbidden at work. 

A couple of episodes back, Mr. Grove, a widower without any heir, experienced a personal crisis and decided to break it off with Ms. Mardle...only to marry a younger shopkeeper, Doris Miller, not long after. Ms. Mardle remained a supportive friend to Mr. Grove, but I guess this scene was the last straw. 

I also couldn't stop crying watching this:

Mr. Grove: I was struck by this terrible sense of my own mortality. With dying, without leaving something of myself behind.
Ms. Mardle: I would have gladly bore your child.
Mr. Grove: I always thought you were wedded to your work.
Ms. Mardle: A little human will show what we women really long for. But now of course it's too late for me. Miss Miller on the other hand... 
Mr. Grove: She has a true kind heart and she wants nothing more in life than to be someone's wife and mother. And Doris can save me from the terror of dying without leaving any trace of me behind.
Ms. Mardle: I hope you will be a good husband to her, Roger.
Mr. Grove: She will never know I loved another far, far more.
Ms. Mardle: And did you, truly?
Mr. Grove: I did. I do. You're the love of my life.
Ms. Mardle: Thank you for saying that. Whether it's true or not, I shall always remember it.

Ms. Mardle's got the sads...

Mr. Grove: It need not end like this.
Ms. Mardle: I don't understand.
Mr. Grove: We can still have our precious Tuesday evenings together. Doris would never know, I would never hurt her unnecessarily. I could tell her I spend one night a week in my club, as I've always have. We need to see each other after all.
Ms. Mardle: But it seems so wrong.
Mr. Grove: It is not wrong in our hearts.
Ms. Mardle: To me it is. I could never do that to Doris...I want you to leave now, please, Roger.

Coz you, Mr. Grove, are an arse...

Gutted. Gutted. Gutted.

I don't know where I cried harder, for Miss Mardle or for Rose Selfridge.

I did not expect to love this show so much. The finale was....to borrow the famous word: PERFECTION.

The other thing I love about Mr. Selfridge? The women's clothes! Particularly Rose Selfridge's who wore a lot of laces.

I am so digging the granny look! 
She wore other prettier lacey dresses, I just can't find the photos of it. 

Anyway, have you caught this British series? This will work if you're missing your Downton Abbey fix, I promise you. Refer to Mr.  Selfridge on IMDb for show info.

P.S.

Site concerns: I seem to have lost my page rank and I'm still trying to figure out why this site is no longer indexing in the search engines. I may have to suspend posting the news link for now and observe what is happening.

Thank you for watching with me, as always!

Marnie Covers Kanye on GIRLS

It was so awkward listening to Marnie make a fool of herself on Girls tonight. Why is she still throwing herself over Charlie?? I honestly believe she's weakest, in the psychological sense, of all the characters. I've been hatin' her guts since last season. I mean, GET A GRIP GIRL and HAVE SELF-RESPECT! Watching Marnie stresses me out!

Anyway, this is the song. Is it even original to Girls? I am not sure, I Googled and didn't come up with any good hits about the song. But I've transcribed this by ear, so some lyrics are probably not accurate. You can help me correct this by making a comment below. Thanks!

Work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better faster stronger.
That, that don't kill me,
Can only make me stronger.
I need you to hurry up now
Coz I can't wait much longer.
Let's get lost tonight,
You can be my white (Kate Moss) tonight.
Play secretary, you're the boss tonight.
And you don't give a fuck what they all say, right?
Bow in the presence of greatness
Coz right now, thou has forsaken us
You should be honored by my lateness,
That I would even show up to this fake-shit
So, go ahead, go nuts, go ape-shit.
Specially my pastels and my babe-shit.
I know I got to be right now.
Coz I can't get much wrong-er
Man, I've been waiting all night now.
That's how long I've been on you.....

Update: (8PM) Apparently, this song is originally Kanye's. Which I didn't know. Coz I am too dorky for Kanye's music. Haha.

Here's the actual trainwreck that was....Marnie!

Oh, TV! How You Disappoint Me So!

I wanted to initially start this entry by saying, "I'm sorry I haven't been blogging often," but apologizing should mean I won't be making the same mistake again. And that's something I cannot promise.

So, instead I'll just start off by saying --- I've had a helluva week! Not complaining, just stating a fact.

Which is why I couldn't keep with the summary of news updates I started doing last month. I know some of you come to this site for that (like, 3 of you haha --- so I apologize to the 3 of you!). But I still do up-to-the-minute updates on my Twitter, so you can still get your fix there.

Anyway...

Trying to relax by watching TV isn't helping right now because, as much as I try to stay glued to all the shows I'm following...this Winter TV Season run? Sucks balls! I don't know if someone out there gets what I'm trying to say (Oh, there was at least one on Twitter! Hi, Monica!) but as this article --- "Why new shows are a turn-off?" --- puts it, there are 6 reasons why this is so.

I'm on board Theory #2.

It's the show, stupid. Or put another way, most people don't want to watch boring, derivative TV anymore. [snipped] "At the end of the day if you make something people want to see, they will come, and I think this has been a year where there has not been a lot of compelling new shows on broadcast TV."

Derivative is the right word to use for it. The similarities in concepts? It's making American network television,  well......bland. (American cable TV, not so much. Saving grace, I know!)

Which is probably why, I tend to look for other shows to watch outside US more and more these days. Among the ones I can recommend: The Spa, Mr. Selfridge, Ripper Street and Broadchurch, which just started this week.

The women of Mr. Selfridge and their lace-y gowns
are two reasons why I'm loving this show!

I can remember a time when Winter TV season used to have shows that ended up surprising a lot of viewers because, not only were they entertaining, they had quality. They were potential gems. Grey's Anatomy premiered during Winter season (aka mid-season). So did The Office. In their *earlier* years (stress on earlier), these shows were really in their own league.

No show is quite like these two this season.  No gems this time, it seems. Haven't been so for...probably two-three years now, in fact. For someone who breathes TV, realizing that bums me out big time.

I tend to have high expectations during pilot development season. When development was happening last year, I was hopeful TV 2012-2013 was going to be fantastic. Look where it is now. I'm close to abandoning a lot of shows this year, especially from the freshies. And I still question why Emily Owens, M.D. was cancelled!!!

Anyway...this is a list of shows in development for TV 2013-2014, which we shall begin watching by September. And because I'm not getting along with American TV so well these days, I'm trying not to be excited about this list.

I'm not getting my hopes up. Coz, just maybe, that will help me appreciate TV next season, huh?

What about you? Disapponted by TV lately?