The future of Pam Beesley?

You may have already heard this proposal if I've talked to you in the past two days, but I think I have a great idea on a new job for ol' Pammy (and don't call me Pammy) on The Office:

ART DIRECTOR
IN-HOUSE (ADVERTISING)
at VANCE REFRIGERATION

Why?

SPOILER ALERT: Pam's back in Scranton. Ostensibly, for good. She has Pratt graphic design experience behind her, whether or not she likes it. So maybe she's not the master of Flash, and doesn't like making logos. Doesn't mean she doesn't have a future ahead of her utilizing those (other) art skills in another context like advertising.

And Vance Refrigeration doesn't seem like a big enough company to do their advertising off-site or at an agency. Read into the show much? In-house advertising is a very feasible option for Pam's character.

If ol' Pam works at VR, she could talk all day on the phone to Jim. (Vance Refrigeration is Dunder Mifflin's neighborhood business in the Scranton Business Park.) And she could attend lots of Dunder Mifflin gatherings. Not to mention be there for lunches mid-day.

Just saying.

This set-up would still give her interactions with other Office characters. And according to this week's preview, Toby will be back this week. Interesting...

By the way, to echo a friend's very astute observation... has Pam ever looked more radiant than she did sitting on the hood of Jim's car, waiting for him to get out of work during last week's episode? I think not.



Oh Dwight -- your eternal creepiness -- you never disappoint.

Lights out on NBC in Austin

So at midnight last night (this morning?) KXAN, Austin's NBC affiliate turned off its airwaves to Time Warner cable subscribers. KXAN and Time Warner are in an apparent disagreement about subscribers fees, and were unable to reach an agreement before KXAN pulled the plug.

Who wins when this happens? Definitely not Time Warner cable subscribers. DirecTV certainly benefits from the situation. It's been putting out ads trying to get NBC fans of Heroes, The Office, and 30 Rock to switch to their service, which still carries the network.

If I weren't leaving Austin in three months I'd certainly consider the switch. As mentioned earlier, new Friday Night Lights episodes will only be available to DirecTV subscribers until February 2009.

If that weren't bad enough, the rumor has it that the CW Austin has been threatening to drop from Time Warner cable as well. Which would mean no Gossip Girl. What does that actually leave me with? Mad Men (AMC), no My Boys (TBS) since it's only a summer show, and ESPN and Food Network. Yeah, so basically my only show I'd have left is Mad Men. And How I Met Your Mother, which I keep stupidly forgetting to DVR.

I passionately hope that the CW split is just a rumor, though I'm 90% sure I saw a commercial the other day warning viewers that cable may longer carry the CW later in October. I'm not completely certain on that though. Let's hope I heard and remember wrong!

Fear not though about all the NBC shows besides Friday Night Lights... they're all available for free on Hulu. The newest Office episode's up already if you missed it last week. So glad it's back!

Crazy Candy IHOP Pancakes

So the other night I went out to dinner at IHOP, where I was greeted by a colorful, eye-catching sign advertising IHOP's new promotional menu to celebrate the Dr. Seuss movie, Horton Hears a Who. These types of signs generally don't get my attention, but I was immediately struck by the fact that IHOP was offering pancakes that looked like candy. Here's a quick view of what I mean:

When I got to my table to scan the menu for strawberry waffles and hashbrowns I came across a laminated insert where I saw these candy-looking pancakes again. They were baffling. Who would order these? What on earth would candy pancakes taste like? I couldn't believe they put a lollipop through the pancakes stack! I was intrigued.

I browsed the menu and found out these so-called "Who-Cakes" are actually are made of astonishingly normal ingredients, despite their appearance. It was just a stack of four pancakes, covered with boysenberry and blueberry syrups and covered with rainbow chocolate chips. Granted the lollipop toothpick was a little bizarre, but who doesn't enjoy a piece of candy or a mint to tie up a meal?

The menu also featured a famous Dr. Seuss favorite, Green Eggs and Ham. If these weren't enough, they also had a special drink concoction you could order in order to wash it all down with: Beezlenut Splash. The Beezlenut Splash was simply lemon-lime soda (I assume Sprite) with red and blue Jello cubes interspersed throughout. Crazy! The drink was only $2 and you could get all-you-can-drink refills.

Needless to say, as a child trapped in a twenty-something's body, I am completely psyched about this whole Horton promotion. I am in the process of recruiting people for an IHOP and movie doubleheader. The movie features Jim Carrey, Steve Carell (of my beloved The Office), Will Arnett (from Arrested Development), and his wife, Amy Poehler (of SNL). Pretty awesome cast, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more excited about the prospect of partaking in these Who-Cakes.

In other news, The Office returns in a mere week! Jim Halpert, how my weeks have longed for your return...

Pictures source: IHOP website, http://www.ihop.com/