It was a sublimely awkward moment, Jim's confession, but I was incredibly glad that the show wasn't going to hang on to the same relationship dynamic for an undending length. Hand it to the show's writers (Carrell for this episode, apparently) for taking a risk, too: they've taken the defining relationship of the show, and put it in a situation that will certainly change it.

Kudos to NBC for providing us with one of the funniest shows on TV in quite sometime.

I know the show is a copy of the BBC show, but I think it has really branched out this year and now stands on its own legs.

With The Office and My Name is Earl, NBC has again turned Thursday nights into Must See TV.

See what happens Hollywood producers when you move beyond the standard Fat Guy-Hot Wife brand of lame comedies you've been cranking out for the last five years.

The finale was satisfying and yet not. They did bring the whole Pam-Jim sitch to a head, which was well done, but now that the cat is out of the bag, the main dramatic tension is gone. The most enjoyable moments were the innocent yet highly charged interactions between those two. (e.g. the play fight that goes just that little bit too far - brilliant!) I should have faith that the show's writers will be able to take this to a new interesting level, but those moments were so delicious, it's hard to see how they will be matched.

Huh. I was shocked to say the least with the Jim and Pam kiss. Of course, fans of the BBC Office know that the gut wrenching resolution to Tim and Dawn's relationship is brilliant. In the BBC Office, the meta-theme really is about being trapped (trapped in relationships, trapped in middle-management) and never having the guts to get out. For every guffaw inducing joke in the BBC Office, there is a genuinely sad, heart-wringing moment as well. This Office, while nicely not being a remake-remake, has really dropped that theme, and as such has lost the poigancy of the original. Now it seems they will take on the Niles-Daphne, Maddie-David, Sam-Diane story arc that served those repsective shows so poorly and also presided over each of their creative downfalls. Pity.

okay, 1st of all, the term "jump the shark" or "jumping the shark" or any variation thereof, has jumped the shark-- PLEASE find a new and ORIGINAL way to say a show has recahed its creative peak. That said, anyone who thinks that the Pam-Jim relationship will somehow all of a sudden render the brilliant writers of the Office brainless and unable to make a good show is crazy (and wow, i didn't know carrel wrote the episdoe- is this guys a genius or what?).

This wasn't a Shark Jump, it was great TV.

It's a real pleasure to watch these characters evolve. And so Jim's move is completely believable.

If anyone thinks that the dramatic tension will drop away, think again. Pam's *engaged*, don't forget. So she's not just a women with quite a bit of guilt, she's a woman with a knuckle-dragging doofus of a fiance, who happens to work in the same office. Big problem.

Also great was the scene where Michael's boss throws her overnight bag into the back seat of her car in disgust.

Can't wait to see what the writers do with this next season.

On the British "Office Christmas Special", the Pam and Jim characters (I forget their names on the UK show) end up kissing as well. It was an excellent episode...

Whether or not the show jumped the shark when Jim told Pam how he feels about here remains to be seen. It depends on that they do with it next season.

There comes a point at which unresolved romantic tension becomes contrived and ridiculous. If Pam didn't figure Jim's feelings out soon, she would go from being clueless but sweet to being an annoying dolt.

I'll definitely watch next season.

Just saying.

"Finale wrap-up" was too cryptic for you?

In the future try not reading articles about shows that have already aired that you haven't seen yet and don't want to know about.

I wasn't a fan of NBC's The Office in its first season, mainly because I'm a huge fan of the original BBC series and the few episodes of the American version that I caught seemed to pale in comparison. Season two, however, has been brilliant. I'm so glad that I gave this show another chance.

Like the BBC version, the storyline that really propels the NBC version is the relationship between Jim and Pam (Tim and Dawn in the original). Tim confessed his love to Dawn at the very end of the second series in the original; however, she rejected him because she was leaving her job and moving to the US with her fiance. The series officially ended after this, but came back to resolve things in a two-part special a couple years later. It was a great ending, and the series as a whole is about as perfect a sitcom as you can get.

It'll be interesting to see what the writers NBC's The Office will do with the Jim and Pam storyline to keep the series from getting stale. The show's got other things going for it, but Dwight's weirdness and Michael's idiocy will only take it so far. We need that Jim and Pam romantic tension!

I thought no meant no! Pam told Jim that she was not interested and that she wanted their relationship to be platonic. Why did he feel that he could just walk in and kiss her? She should have kicked him in the balls and called the cops. Jim obviously played lacrosse at Duke.

It is "Jenna Fischer", not "Jenna Fisher". And there is a missing quotation mark at the end of the quote from Pam about Jim helping with wedding planning.

....but but but I think this piece is dead wrong. Jim and Pam's relationship is about the most cliched and boring part of the whole show. Plus it's been overplayed to the point that I am beginning to feel sorry for Roy, Pam's fiance, and I don't think that's what I'm supposed to feel.

Interesting "Office" relationships:

Dwight and Michael

Dwight and Jim

Dwight and Angela

Angela and Oscar

Phyllis and Marilyn

Michael and Jan

Michael and Carol

Michael and well, everybody

Kelly and the Intern

Phyllis and her fiance

I could go on and on -- all of those relationships are compelling to me on several levels.

But Pam and Jim - enough already. Get a room. Wrap it up and move on.