Tuesday, April 12, 2016

An Alcoholic Mother: Meredith Palmer

It seemed to be ironic that Meredith Palmer would be given “The Best Mom Award” at one of Michael Scott’s dundie awards ceremonies. This is because Meredith Palmer is the opposite of the best mom. In Scranton, Meredith started off in season one with the job title as an account. Towards the end of season 9, her title was Supplier Relations. Meredith considers herself as a “party girl.” In almost every episode that she appears in, she initiates a comment or action that is considered sexual harassment in the workplace. She has a huge physical crush on Jim Halpert but dislikes him at the same time. Meredith is a raging alcoholic who usually shows up to work hungover every day. Have you ever known an employee that gets way too intoxicated work parties? If you have, then Meredith Palmer is exactly that. She comically gets injured throughout the series. One episode, Michael Scott accidentally hit her with his car in the parking lot. There was a very humorous episode when a small fire broke out in the office. Dwight Schrute ended up unnecessarily spraying Meredith with a fire extinguisher. There are times when the audience felt sympathy for Meredith. During an episode Pam Halpert knowingly brought lice to the office they she got from her child CeCe. Pam let Meredith take the blame resulting in Meredith taking the action to shave her entire head. In later seasons, Meredith gets admitted to rehab and her actions change very seldom. Her son Jake however, ends up becoming a male stripper and performing at Angela’s bachelorette party.

Monday, April 11, 2016

The Goofy and Unfortunate Life of Andy Bernard

Have you ever came across that “corky” co-worker? He/she might not but the funniest, athletic, or popular but you love them anyway. For Dunder Mifflin Scranton, that guy is our lovable Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms). In the series, Andy Bernard started off on the sales team at the Stamford branch. In season three, he transfers to the Scranton branch with Jim Halpert after the Stamford branch was force to close due to under-performing sales and company cutbacks. Andy’s character changes throughout the series. He began his character as a cocky graduate from Cornell University. Andy’s family is very rich, however; his parents are very “stuck up” and treats Andy with neglect. His parents gives all of their attention to his older brother whom they respect more. This neglecting relationship he encounters with his parents adds to his insecure character we see throughout the series. He was engaged to Angela Martin from the accounting department, but that came to a quick end when she decided to have an affair with Dwight Schrute (her true lover and future husband). Andy did at one point and up in a happy relationship with his office crush Erin Hannon. When Andy’s family went broke, he began over-stressing and showing neglect to his girlfriend Erin. In season 9, Erin was fed up with his actions and decided to leave him. Andy left the company during his regional manager position in a quest to find himself with his moderate musical talents. As you may imagine, this did not go as planned and he ended up alone and unemployed.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Presenting: "The Dundie Awards"

Every successful work environment has a set way to show employee recognition. At Dunder Mifflin Scranton, Michael Scott started his own annual reward ceremony and named it “The Dundie Awards.” Before the dundie awards ceremony begins, each employee has to get a nomination certificate personally from Michael Scott (in which every employee receives one anyway). Of course this event is not like your ordinary awards ceremony that is usually based on work performance. Michael Scott decides to give out an award for just about anything, bringing out his comical and inappropriate behavior his character portrays during the entire series. Some awards that were given seemed to be civil and appropriate for a work setting. For example, in 2004 Stanley Hudson was given “The Great Work Award.” In 2011, Jim Halpert was given “The Best Dad Award.” Awards like those did not seem to violate any company restrictions. However, most of all the other awards that Michael Scott presented to his staff broke many company restrictions. For instance, in 2011 Angela Martin (played by Angela Kinsey) received the “Kind of a Bitch Award.” In addition, Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms) “Doobie Doobie Pothead Stoner of the Year Award for smoking marijuana during his college years. These dundie awards continue annually until Michael Scott throws his last one on the 14th annual celebration. In this season of the last dundie awards, Michael Scott will be moving on and leaving the company for good in pursuit of starting a new life with his soon to be wife Holly Flax. He co-hosted the last event with the allegedly new branch manager Deangelo Vickers (play by Will Ferrell).