Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: TruLife

Season six of "The Office" has reminded me of all the things I miss about the old seasons. The big changes on this NBC half-hour mockumentary, which airs Thursdays at 8 p.m., are mostly work-related at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Adorable Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) has moved up to the position of co-manager with Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the two struggle to find a balance, and rumors fly about Dunder Mifflin filing for bankruptcy.

But I don't want change. I want more of the same.

It seems like some characters have taken even more of a back seat on the show this season­-like my favorites, slow-talking Kevin Malone (played by the hilarious Brian Baumgartner - look up an interview with him online. He actually speaks like a normal person!) and the formidably petite Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey). I want some romance in Kevin's life. What happened to the fling he met at a party during the season five episode "Blood Drive"? And what about Angela and Dwight (Rainn Wilson)? Will they ever rekindle their torrid romance? I firmly believe those two are just as meant for each other as newlyweds Jim and Pam (Truman alumna Jenna Fischer).

But now that Jim and Pam have finally tied the knot in probably the best episode of this season, "Niagara," I feel like part of their spark is gone. It's like they've grown up now that they have little baby Halpert on the way. No more practical jokes together, no more sly glances or inside jokes. I wish they had a little more interaction during the work hours.

But there have been some hilarious moments thus far in the current season. In episode two, "The Meeting," Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) and Dwight stake out Darryl's (Craig Robinson) house to see if he was lying about a work-related injury and mistake Darryl's sister for Darryl, making me hopeful that office shenanigans always will be original on this show. My pal Kevin was the star of episode four, "Niagara," with his shoe debacle. After mistakenly setting out his shoes for a shoe shine, Kevin is forced to wear empty tissue boxes as shoes to the wedding. And the sight of Kevin sticking his large, smelly feet in the hotel ice machine after a long day of dancing solidified his position as my favorite supporting office worker. Angela had her shining moment in the most recent episode, "Murder," when Michael orders everyone to play a murder mystery game, and Angela's character is "Voodoo Mama JuJu." The sight of Angela holding a voodoo doll head made my Thursday complete.

I think my favorite change to this season is crazy pregnant Pam. The opening sequence to "Niagara" has been my favorite Pam moment thus far. She goes from politely asking Dwight to remove his hardboiled egg lunch to staring him down as she pukes into her trash can, just to spite him. Right on, Pam, right on. Pam freaking out and mouthing off to Michael when she finds out he is dating her mother in the episode "The Lover" is another hilarious highlight. Apparently, pregnancy has done wonders for Pam's ability to stand up for herself.

Although the season on the whole hasn't been my favorite, there are some new aspects I enjoy. When main characters start settling down and having babies and the boy with no interest in his job starts working hard and gets a promotion, it usually signals the imminent end of the series. But "The Office," keeps finding ways to reinvent its tricks, its heart and itself.

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