This Thursday marks the return of all four of NBC’s sitcoms to the Thursday night lineup (My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and Scrubs), with all but Scrubs showing a new episode. I’m most excited for the return of The Office, one of the earliest victims of the Writer’s Strike. They started off Season 4 with an experiment, of sorts, with three or four (I can’t remember the exact number and I can’t be bothered to, so bugger off) hour-long (read: 45 minutes) episodes that only served to highlight the fact that The Office belongs in the half-hour (read: 21 minutes) range for it to be effectively funny. The more zany Michael Scott/Dwight Shrute behaviors and situations have been compared to the ridiculous Homer Simpson-centered years of The Simpsons, which actually does have me concerned. My least favorite laugh is when they actually had Michael Scott drive his car into a lake because of GPS. It takes a lot for a sitcom to throw me out of the moment, but this really took me out of suspension of disbelief mode and into “What is this show becoming?” mode. Honestly, I worry that they’re dumbing down or awkward-ing down The Office to satisfy the more conventional sitcom fan. we’ll see how or if this changes tonight and maybe we’ll see a shift back toward the stellar second season. ...

You’ve probably heard the saying that hindsight is 20/20 on Monday morning, so just imagine how well I can call ’em two days later on Wednesday. That’s right, it’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. So the Marlins are off to a decent start this season, leading the NL East at the moment with 4 wins, 3 losses. They suffered two brutal losses to the Mets, but came back and slapped the Pirates around for two games. The Pirates fought back the third game with a large victory, but the Marlins have hit the road strong with a 10-7 victory over the Washington Nationals. Check the videos on the game recap to watch Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, and Robert Andino’s 2nd home runs of the season, bringing the Marlins to 5 players with 2 home runs each. ...

On this glorious day, my British buddy Phil is finalizing his dual citizenship with the U.S. and U.K. As a courtesy to him, I’ve prepared this list of vital differences between America and England to facilitate his naturalization. 1. Stop putting extra letters in your words. Prime examples are as follows: color, armor, flavor, honor. Seriously guys, you’re just cheating at Scrabble when you do that. 2. No one in the states acclimatizes to anything. We become acclimated. ...

Hey sports fans, it’s Monday and you no doubt know what that means, it’s time for Embedded Reporter, this blog’s weekly internet video feature. Each week I’ll embed something to enjoy. This week I bring you Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series Episode 1. My friend Duffy recommended these to me saying they were hilarious. I’m inclined to agree. Sure, the jokes are a bit juvenile and don’t mean as much unless you’ve seen the god-awful English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I’ve enjoyed up to the 9th episode of this great series. Apparently they also do Abridged Series for other anime and shows too, which I might check out. Enjoy! ...