This one, about the complexity of the Digital TV transition, is funny.

Jack Black’s bathtub makeout session in last night’s Office episode is not (at 2:09).

The characters on The Office was really what made the show unique – it was a comedy that actually bothered to develop their characters. Yet I found that “Stress Relief” maximized the characters into horrible caricatures of what they used to be. The recent transition of Michael Scott from socially awkward boss to complete idiot is a grave mistake, as is the conversion of Dwight from overzealous to completely over-the-top. Both were painfully salient in this episode. Stanley’s heart attack and subsequent focus on mortality made for an entire middle section of show that was depressing – the last time I checked, that is the opposite of funny. Contrast this with Meredith getting hit by Michael’s car last season in “Fun Run.”

The highly promoted appearances by Jack Black and Jessica Alba were abominable. The two seconds of Alba’s screen time were barely worth mentioning, and the little “movie” featuring Jack Black was the kind of excrement-passing-for-comedy I would expect from MADtv. Playing shock value for laughs died with the 90s; we just don’t get shocked anymore. Again, that’s the kind of mistake I would expect to find in a two-bit “comedy” like The Love Guru or a movie featuring Kevin James without Will Smith, and finding that in what has been my most favorite show was extremely disappointing.

Television writers and producers need realize that dumbing down a show to “attract new viewers” is exactly what kills good television. If there’s anything we’ve learned in the early part of the 21st century, it is that the most effective marketing strategy is viral. Person-to-person communication is best way to advertise in an age when the public has finally begun to doubt industry spoon-feeding. Turning The Office into a live-action cartoon eliminates the intelligence that made the show unique.