Wow, SorryICalledYouFaggy, deep.

Please tell me you are writing your thesis (I assume you are and undergrad or grad student in Media Studies) on the complexities of these characters. If you are, I'd love to read it!

My first edit-before-I actually-post: Or I could just read the link. Duh.

What about siblings?

Don't you get the feeling Michael is an only child?

Please tell me you are writing your thesis (I assume you are and undergrad or grad student in Media Studies) on the complexities of these characters. If you are, I'd love to read it!

That's already out of the way (undergrad and grad). The site is simply an study of an area that I'm still totally fascinated with (I graduated 4 years ago, am in the entertainment industry now, and still have a hankerin' for heavy duty Media Studies discussions and theories and writings).

Don't you get the feeling Michael is an only child?

Without a doubt. I also get the feeling he was pretty close to his Mother growing up and didn't have much involvement from his Father.

I love this character so much! Glad you're interested, however! I think the site will basically serve as one giant thesis that a college student can one day steal, submit to their professor and call their own. Here's hoping!

nice catch.. any others?

There is the "Big Brother" reference in E-Mail Surveillance where Michael says that when he thinks of Big Brother, he thinks, "I love my big brother," but that could be explained as just something nice to say in conjunction with Big Brother to make the surveillance seem not that bad.

I'm of a mind that he's an only child. The scene from the Pilot could then be explained as a mistake owing to the fact that (a) it was the pilot, and they hadn't thought through what their take on Michael was going to be yet, and (b) they were ripping the script from the British version anyway, so it wasn't even necessarily a conscious decision to give him a brother.

I've always thought of Michael as an only child because he acts like one. At least the ones I've known well in real life. The constant need for attention, thinking everything should focus on him, etc. He also comes across to me as a bit of a momma's boy.

There's a deleted scene out there somewhere where Michael talks about his father and trying to getting his attention as a kid. I'm completely blanking on the episode though. Perhaps someone out there can help.

I have no insights on Michael's upbringing, but I just had to say that SorryICalledYouFaggy makes me laugh whenever I see it. I've said it before... an emotional Michael is for some reason just the funniest thing.

You know, garbagethrower, I’m like Bette Midler in “For the Boys.” Gotta keep the troops entertained.

I agree, an emotional Michael is funny, but sometimes, it just crushes me. Reminds me of Pam's speech about Ed Truck.. "Lastly, we can’t help but notice that he was by himself when he died. But of course, we all know that doesn’t mean he was alone. Because I’m sure that there were lots of other birds out there who cared for him very much."

Didn;t he go hunting with his dad once? And he had to hit a deer with a shovel? Was he with his dad?

Didn;t he go hunting with his dad once? And he had to hit a deer with a shovel? Was he with his dad?

AGH! That's driving me crazy now! Where did we see that? It was a deleted scene but I don't remember if it was from this season or the S2 DVD...

halloween, i think

Michael doesn't say anything about who he went hunting with.

"Yeah, I went hunting once. Shot the deer in the leg, had to kill it with a shovel. Took about an hour. Why do you ask?"

In The Carpet Michael says, "You can love a boss like you do a father." Seems to be relating to having a father, although he doesn't actually say so.

Michael said that he had a brother when he was talking to Jan in The Pilot regarding throwing the fax from corporate into the trash.

"That was a joke that, uh, was actually my brother's, and it was, it was supposed to be with bills. And it doesn't work great with faxes."

In The Carpet Michael says, "You can love a boss like you do a father." Seems to be relating to having a father, although he doesn't actually say so.

Except that loving your boss is absolutely nothing at all like loving your father, so if he's trying to relate the two he's completely guessing.

Except that loving your boss is absolutely nothing at all like loving your father, so if he's trying to relate the two he's completely guessing.

Yes, but I think to Michael, it absolutely is. Ed Truck says something like: why can't your boss be your boss, your family be your family, and your friends be your friends. Michael really thinks of his employees as family and friends, and not simply employees (or he WANTS to think of them that way) and he wants people to look at him as some kind of father figure - perhaps one that he never had, and also as a figure he so longs to be. You can tell, just by Carell's facial expression, when Truck tells him this, that he is absolutely crushed by the fact that his employees see him as nothing more than a boss.

Michael: Last week I would have given a kidney to anyone in this office. I would have reached right into my stomach and pulled it out for them. But now, no. I don’t have the relationship with these people that I thought I did. I hope they ask, so they can hear me say, uh no, I only give my organs to my real friends. Go get yourself a monkey kidney.

Go get yourself a monkey kidney.

But don't eat it.

I knew the writers would start peppering us with tidbits soon enough. In yesterdays' ep, Michael makes a comment about his mom moving in in with "Jeff," and like then, it becomes his job to fix it. Man, this character just keeps pulling the tricks. It's funny how you can see why Michael acts the way he does sometimes....

:)

Again, another mention of Michael's Step-dad!

You ever worry that some of these old posters who haven't logged on in ages are actually still here under a different name or lurking without logging on when you're about to say something snooty to them, SorryICalledYouFaggy?

Clearly there's an inside joke developing here. I'd like to be part of one of those one day.

You ever worry that some of these old posters who haven't logged on in ages are actually still here under a different name or lurking without logging on when you're about to say something snooty to them

You've outed me, ST. I am, indeed, Baric

I actually do recall that username, weirdly.

I think I remember baric saying something... not so nice. Anyone else remember this? And baric, if you're out there in some form, sorry that this is my memory of you.

Ooookay. I found it. I'm not gonna link to it but he (?) and whatevs had a little tiff in the Branch Closing thread.

Boy, with all this thread-sleuthing, I'm glad that I never expressed those bad thoughts I had about Single Tear long ago.

And I'm glad that I've never said anything controversial about TO, politics or sports!

Yeah, every time I think of baric I feel bad. I did apologize, though...

Boy, with all this thread-sleuthing, I'm glad that I never expressed those bad thoughts I had about Single Tear long ago.

Yeah, people have been pretty nice to me. When I say something stupid or annoying, I just get politely ignored. See, watch...

Anyone know when the new season of Survivor starts?

I like David Cook.

How about that Cloverfield movie?