Re-Tooling "The Office"

I, for one, love the casting of Amy Ryan as Toby's successor of everything HR on The Office. Of course, she provides the necessary love interest for Michael Scott now that Jan's become part of the lunatic fringe (I loved that she sang the Dusty Springfield song for 20 minutes during the post-natal baby shower on yesterday's episode). But Holly also appears to have 1) what could be a really interesting backstory and 2) the part of the brain that Michael Scott is missing. I'm interested to see how this current story line goes down.

Having said that, I really miss Toby and can't believe I'm the only one. There was something about that vitriolic relationship with Michael (although the vitriol always appeared one-sided) that balanced things out at Dunder Mifflin. Toby added another dimension to the inter-office relationships that, in his absence, now seem somewhat flat. Given that I think Holly can never be a replacement for Toby, I'm hoping that there's a comeback slated for later this season. I have a feeling that's just wishful thinking but one can hope.

And while I'm on the subject of missing my favorites from Dunder Mifflin, WE NEED PAM BACK. I'm scratching my head as to why they've chosen to write her off to New York and leave us with Jim who's whole "aww-shucks" appeal really blossoms when Pam is around. This whole Jim/Pam story seems ill-fated and makes me tense. I don't want to be tense with those two...yet.

And furthermore, where's the Angela we all know and love in that non-love-y way. She used to be funny because of her abject prudish-ness and her choice to shop at the American Girl store for her work wear. The fact that she's now the center of this "love triangle" with Dwight and Andy just betrays that brilliantly conceived original character. We haven't even seen one reference to cats or those t-shirts with the kids one them.

I still love this show. I'm glad they got past their 2nd season hour-long foibles and the writers' strike. But, I hope they don't forfeit the greatness of these characters as they were originally conceived to serve what seem to be overly-drawn, over-emphasized story lines.

Bottom line: I want to see more Meredith, Creed, Kevin, and Phyllis...and Stanley and Ryan and Oscar. And where's Pam?

Thank you.