Thursdays are all about THE OFFICE--5/4/06

No comments today but as it's sweeps, I wanted to send an email anyway so you'd know what's airing. My head is still spinning from LOST! I need another day to absorb and re-watch the episode. So much happened and I have questions which may be answered upon a second viewing. I really like that ABC is putting episodes on their website for free. That experiment is currently scheduled to end June 30 (I think).

INVASION is really saving everything for the season finale which irritates me to no end.

I'll be catching up on quite a bit of TV this weekend. Also, an early heads up: Tom Hanks will host SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this Saturday with musical guest Red Hot Chili Peppers. Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosts next Saturday May 13 and Kevin Spacey hosts the May 20 season finale.

Sweeps continue tonight so everything is new!

Here's tonight's rundown:
ABC: American Inventor: Best of Auditions, American Inventor, Primetime Live (Returns to the Time Period)

CBS: Survivor: Panama, CSI, Without A Trace
5 SURVIVORS are left.

The CSI team investigates the death of a high-stakes gambler.

The TRACE team tries to track down a widower and his two kids and all they have to go on is the bloody living room the family left behind.

NBC: Will & Grace, Will & Grace (Special Repeat, 8:30pm), My Name Is Earl, The Office, ER
The very funny Carol Leifer guests on the fresh episode of WILL & GRACE as Grace's childbirth teacher.

"EARL tackles number 147 on his list," shot Gwen Waters (guest star Miriam Shor) with a BB gun." To do so, Earl must reunite Gwen with her estranged father. Getting the father to cooperate proves incredibly difficult, but Earl refuses to give up, in part, because Earl remembers why he used to have a crush on Gwen Waters. He always liked to see her smile."

Found a chunk of info about tonight's OFFICE episode in Alan Sepinwall's column (NJ Star-Ledger). It's detailed so if you'd rather not know, SCROLL DOWN NOW.

In "Conflict Resolution," Michael learns that his nemesis, human resources rep Toby (Paul Lieberstein), deals with conflicts between employees by letting the aggrieved party vent and then forgetting about it. This isn't good enough for Michael -- "What do you know about conflict resolution?" he asks. "Your answer to everything is to get divorced." He decides it's time to air every bit of office dirty laundry, in the misguided belief that it will bring the staff closer together. "Cage matches?" he suggests. "Yeah, they work. How could they not work? If they didn't work, they'd still be in the cage."

Naturally, it's a fiasco that has everyone hating each other by the end. (When one staffer says she thought she was close to a person who complained about her, he tells her, "We sit close.") Threads from throughout the series are pushed to the front: Pam, who has covered for Dwight and Angela's secret relationship all year, gets upset when she thinks Angela has complained about her wedding planning on company time. The creepy baby poster Angela received in the Secret Santa episode becomes a point of strife in the accounting department. Dwight recites a list of pranks Jim has pulled on him at such length that even Jim gets uncomfortable. "These actually don't sound all that funny all together," Jim admits. "But he does deserve it." Throughout the episode, the staffers are posing for I.D. badge photos. There's a moment where Toby, overwhelmed by another soul-crushing day of dealing with Michael, sits for the photographer, barks, "Just take it!" and is halfway out of the chair be fore the shutter clicks."

In an OFFICE-related note, the Dwight Schrute bobblehead is now available. Click here if you need it, love it and have to have it: http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/detail.php?p=8368&SESSID=18b0db6fc2667d1846bbf7523c3992c3

ER continues the story of Doctors Pratt and Carter in Darfur. "Dr. Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) settles into his new job in Darfur but is troubled by the astounding number of people needing care. A sheik and his pregnant wife come into Ramalah Camp looking for treatment. Carter (Noah Wyle) and Dakarai (Eamonn Walker) work on fixing the man's gunshot wound, but they are quickly interrupted by government officials trying to arrest the man. As Carter works on delivering the wife's baby, it is apparent that the mother is suffering from delivery complications. Pratt and Dakarai are forced to make journey at night to a hospital in El Fashir at the risk of getting stopped by the Janjaweed millitant group. Meanwhile, Debbie (Mary McCormack) tries to convince Dr. Dakarai to seek proper treatment for his medical condition."

FOX: That '70s Show, That '70s Show, The O.C.
Best O.C. item of the week is from Defamer about the producers wanting to kill off Marissa Cooper (Misha Barton's character). I'm sure her pouting will be missed.

WB: Smallville, Supernatural (Season Finale)

UPN: Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc., Eve, CutsTonight's CHRIS episode is "Everybody Hates Jail" - sounds like a classic in the making.

A&E: Dallas SWAT
BET: College Hill, Season of the Tiger
Comedy Central: Showbiz Show
Court TV: Body of Evidence, Investigators
MTV: True Life (Season Premiere)
Spike: UFC's Unleashed, Ultimate Fighter
TNT: NBA Playoffs: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers (Live, 7:30pm EST)

Today's SURF REPORT written while listening to Rod Stewart's "Every Picture Tells a Story".

That's a wrap for today.