Comedy needs the cubicle at its core

WILL they? Won’t they? NBC sitcoms love little more than they do star-crossed lovers: Ross and Rachel of “Friends,” Niles and Daphne from “Frasier,” which stem from “Cheers’ ” Sam and Diane.

These days, it’s Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) of “The Office,” whose unsatisfied attraction mirrored that of Tim (Martin Freeman) and Dawn (Lucy Davis) on the BBC version of the show. While Tim and Dawn’s affection was obviously mutual, the series ended after two seasons without romantic fulfillment. After all, the show was about the boredom and disappointments of real life in an office, so why would they have a happy ending? (Well, OK, they did in the show’s final installment, a Christmas special.)

The U.S. version of “The Office,” though, is now in its fourth season, and after three rounds of agonizing missed opportunities, Jim and Pam are finally together. So far, it’s been a surprisingly seamless transition. Love them or hate them as a couple, Jim and Pam have been able to maintain the jocular sarcasm that made them so appealing as a duo before. This is the kind of good relationship that can happen when friends become lovers. You know, like Monica and Chandler on “Friends,” and not like Rachel and Joey on “Friends.”

But lately, and oddly, the Pam-Jim relationship is one of the few elements of the show that actually feels real. The appeal of the program, in both its British and American incarnations, is its relatability. Just about everyone knows the experience of a dead-end job, a crazy co-worker, a colleague desperate to fit in. In the office, the smallest distractions become adventures, and glitches can bring about strife or temporary alliances.

Cheap tricks

The first few episodes of the new season, though, have focused less on the reality of the show’s premise and more on turning the characters into caricatures. Take, for instance, Jan’s (Melora Hardin) teaching Michael (Steve Carell) the concept of “ageism” in the season’s second episode. Michael’s well-intentioned but ridiculous lessons can be amusing, but his crusade to teach Dunder Mifflin Scranton the value of the aged mirrored his lesson on the value of the handicapped in a previous season (which was referenced in one of the funny points of the episode). This might not seem so repetitious except that in the season premiere the week before, the office was subjected to another of Michael’s idiotic schemes, the fun run. It’s unbelievable that a boss with as little authority as Michael would be able to hold his employees (much less his new boss and former protege, Ryan [B.J. Novak]) captive for such silly reasons.

In another odd instance, Michael drove his car into a lake, believing that those were the directions given to him by his GPS system. This was grandiosely slapstick for a show where the best visual gags are the ones that can be found in a boring day at any office: a too-large security badge or a bat on the loose. These new, wacky scenarios are making the show feel more like a traditional sitcom -- where unrealistic, yet predictable things happen -- and less like its wry, observant self.

Even the camera seems to be mugging a little. With the documentary-style format, it seemed strange to open the season with the cameras in Michael’s house, let alone in his bedroom showing boss-turned-girlfriend Jan snoring. And while Creed’s (Creed Bratton) dyeing his hair was a hilarious visual joke, it seemed cheapened by the camera following him before the big “reveal.”

We nitpick because we love. “The Office” is part of a wave of subtler, wittier sitcoms in prime time, ones wherein a laugh track, outrageous circumstances or crazy mix-ups do not have to prompt audiences to know when things are funny. The series about tedium and awkwardness is in there, somewhere. Maybe the show is dealing with growing pains as it works with its temporary hourlong formula. But like real life, perhaps things will feel boring and routine again once everyone’s settled down from summer vacation. We can only hope.