Sadly for NBC, interest in the revamped, post-Steve Carell “The Office” was not a television event in the vein of the first Charlie Sheen-less “Two and a Half Men.”
Still, if the overnight metered market ratings are any indication, “The Office” remains a reliable performer for NBC. TV Media Insights says the show posted a 5.4 household number, which forecasts an adults 18-49/total viewership performance in the higher-end of its recent ballpark (the only disappointment being that there was no newsworthy spike for James Spader’s debut as a regular or the news that Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard is the new regional manager).
(Update: “The Office” posted a decent 3.9 adults 18-49 rating–a figure that is above what it was averaging in the latter portion of last season but down from last season’s premiere)
“The Office” also helped “Whitney” get a solid start for a NBC comedy–it opened to a 5.0 rating, retaining the near-entirety of its lead-in. Whitney Cummings fans should not get too excited yet, however, as several recent comedies (“Community,” “Outsourced”) launched well enough behind “The Office” before slowing as the season went on.
(Update: “Whitney” posted a solid 3.2 in adults 18-49)
I think that The Office was completely uninspired. I found myself not interested in the characters, who used to be 3 dimensional. Tonight, they were one dimensional, at best. It was weird. And wasn’t there already a storyline about a list or something? It seems like I’ve been there, done that. Which is weird, because it should have been fresh and in a totally new, fun groove with James Spader.
Whitney was ok. NOt laugh out loud funny like 2 Broke Girls, which Whitney Cummings produces. It felt like when Seinfeld first started – lots of ‘material’ from her stand up routines. I’ll stick with it, because it has alot of room to grow. And I LOVED her two best friends. They had alot of character.
Whitney was horrible. The jokes were all tired old cliches and the direction awful. Most of the time it seemed like the actors were just standing there waiting to deliver jokes.
The biggest problem for me was how completely unlikeable the main character of the show was. What the producers might have thought was cute was just obnoxious.
I hated Whitney! And I like her on everything else! What annoyed the crap outta me was the “laughter” after EVERYTHING she said. It sounded like a laugh track, and they said it was taped in front of a live studio audience. It was super annoying. I LOVE Parks and Rec! Hope it is around for a long time!