Ok, I'm only going to say this once. All you people who think you're too good for the U.S. version of The Office need to shut the hell up. Yeah, it's not the same. Ricky Gervais is brilliant. The pilot was just a lame retread of the original. I agree with you. But there's room in my heart for anything that's funny. And this show is funny.

Why am I being so bossy? Isn't it Maggie's job to plug The Office and re-cap season finales? Well, she's at her brother's graduation and I got here first. And I just got done watching the finale of season twice in a row. And it drives me crazy that you snooty bastards are missing out.

This was some great television folks. Let's hit the highlights.

Last things first: Jim kissed Pam. It wasn't the best kiss, but they get points for situation, not execution. And man is it a great situation. Now obviously Pam is a girl who should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how. But there's not going to be a second kiss for a long time. Their awkward, unrequited love needs to last for at least 6 more years. Pam's still going to get married. One kiss isn't enough to break up the kind of inertia that holds together a couple like Pam and Roy. I have a whole theory of relationships involving the movement of interstellar bodies that I put in one of my movies (about 10 minutes in if you're interested). And even though in the movie it's used as an example of madness, I stil think it's pretty accurate. And it's crucial for the future of this show.

Prediction for Season 3 premiere: Jim transferred to Stamford, Pam got married, and they thought everything was behind them. But at the end of the summer Jim gets transferred back to Scranton, having impressed Jan with his skill and intelligence. His mission is to turn the branch around and get them out of the "top 80%" Now he's kind of the boss. Naturally this just ratchets up the possibility for uncomfortable situations. Michael is still the manager, but Jim has some kind of authority over him which Michael refuses to recognize. And Jim tries to be professional with Pam now. So it's her turn to have a bit of a crush on him. Yes, it's a lot like season 2 of The Office. But that doesn't make it any less funny.

And then there's Michael. What a guy. The setup is classic bad sitcom. Two dates at one event. Gotta keep them separate. He expects fireworks, but gets something different. The way this situation plays with Michael's and our expectations is brilliant. Since it's Michael we have to assume that neither woman is actually interested in him. Jan has been very vocal on this point. Carol did kind of give him the eye at his birthday party, but he's bound to screw that up. I mean, he bought that condo right? She knows he's a sucker and she thought Dwight was his boyfriend. It starts out weird when he kisses Carol and tries to play it off as something they always do (and the awestruck look on Dwight's face when Michael kissed him was wonderful) but she actually tells Jan that they're on their first date. She could have easily called it a retroactive non-date. I've seen it happen.

Now we start to wonder why exactly Jan came all this way. Casino night can't be that fun. And Dwight in his brilliant insensitivity asks where she's staying. Wow. She's lonely and she came out here to sleep with Michael because he was a sure thing. But for once he's not, and it's all her fault

The Office is wonderful at mining the everyday misery of living. There were dozens of miniature examples in this episode. Ryan steps up to the bar and orders one beer and one 7 and 7 with 8 maraschino cherries, sugar on the rim, blended if you can. Yes, Ryan is still at this crappy job, and he's still involved with a girl he doesn't like. Dwight finally shows public affection for Angela and she slaps him. He's a little hurt, but she gives an involuntary grin as she leaves. Angela's happiness is like misery for other people. Because she's so awful it's actually fun to see her enjoy herself. Kevin won the 2002 $2,500, no-limit duece to seven draw tournament at the World Series of Poker in Vegas, but Phyllis beats him with a flush she doesn't know she has.

And Kevin has a band. One of the advantages of watching TV with headphones (I don't have speakers with me in Berlin) is that I hear all the rushed audio edits. I'm pretty sure they changed the name of Kevin's band (Scrantonicity) in post-production.

Arrested Development, House, and The Office did some incredible things this year, and we'll have 2 out of 3 of those shows coming back in the fall. I can't wait to see what happens next.