The American Office nails its Halloween episode with a spot-on Sarah Kerrigan costume – on a dude.
Primetime American sitcoms have really amped up the geek references in recent years. Community‘s episode about a D&D session was pretty darn good. Big Bang Theory is basically one long slow nod to nerddom, while animated shows like The Simpsons and South Park have always used obscure sci-fi or gaming references. For a show about boring life in middle America, the writers of The Office are able to work in some great references, but other than odd salesmen Dwight Schrute claiming he plays Second Life all the time, pop-culture and internet memes have been more common than gaming or nerdy references – unless it’s Harry Potter. That is, until last night’s Halloween episode when Dwight – played by Rainn Wilson – walked into the office dressed as Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades herself.
Actually, Dwight Schrute’s Halloween costumes have always been hilariously awkward sendups of geek movies. One year, he dressed as a Sith Lord and said his costume was superior to rival Jim Halpert because the plastic lightsaber cost him $129. Then Schrute was even more embarrassingly creepy as the Heath Ledger version of the Joker from The Dark Knight.
The show may have switched tracks with the departure of Steve Carrell as the boss, and it will never beat the British show for gleefully awkward moments, but The Office is still one of the funnier things on television right now.
Other than back episodes of Judge Judy, that is – what a crazy old coot she is!
