‘The Office’ rolls along with another funny, endearing and somewhat hollow episode. The sad part to a fan like me is that no matter how hard I laugh, I can’t help but feel that something is missing and way too much has been gained.

I usually write about reality shows. I know, I know, ‘The Office’ is not reality and I hear you. It’s just that my eye can’t help but wander. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Beth getting punched in the face as much as anyone. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the brilliance of ‘Flavor of Love’. Watching a potential suitor have a bowel movement on the floor during a rose ceremony could represent the pinnacle of my life thus far. But short of that, the reality market remains barren so I decided to check on ‘The Office’ gossip.

‘The Office’ is a brand of faux reality known as mock-umentary. The immortal ‘Spinal Tap’ pioneered and quite possibly perfected the medium but ‘The Office’ gives it a run for its money. This year, upper management made some questionable decisions and I hate to say it but I saw trouble coming. What I didn’t see was how extreme the measures would be. Just imagine a suit at NBC pitching, “Hey, I got it, why don’t we have Jim and Pam stop our hearts with a kiss captivating the country and then, then….they’ll never see each other ever again! And while we’re at it, since we’ve got the greatest cast since Cheers, let’s bring in a whole new cast!”

I wrote of my concerns about the finale’s kiss preseason saying that once you’ve been “there”, you can’t go back. Apparently, the producers agreed so they haven’t come within three states of “there” since. An entire new office emerged and Jim was promoted to Stamford severing ties with Pam. That relationship was the staple of the show, but in one fell swoop it was hacked entirely from the script.

With the creation of the Stamford office, they violated another cardinal sin: too much of a good thing is almost always a bad thing. I think I may have mentioned this before, (you’d have an easier time finding a column where I didn’t mention it) but running nine seasons of the Apprentice in one year is a big part of why I’m writing a non-reality column today. Over-saturation is a running problem that has plagued us in all forms of life and I’m tired of it.

In college, a Boston Chicken opened nearby changing fast food forever while destroying pizza as the cure for the munchies. After its initial success, they selfishly decided the bottom line was rosier if they went beyond chicken. They added half inch thick turkey and some slimy ham and added two pounds of celery to the stuffing changing their name to Boston Market. It was never the same again and Lorenzo, the dollar slice guy was euphoric. It’s déjà vu for me when I drive to work every morning and cringe at the sign for a Vanilla Frosty. Next to scallop potatoes, the Frosty was perfection of sustenance. Now, Wendy is dead to me.

Why do we insist on changing things that are great to begin with? ‘The Office’ lacks that same discipline. We have to adjust to a new boss, a new nut job and a new love interest that looks like she could use a nap. That’s just too much celery. Did they really have to make changes that dire? These are decisions made by a show in desperation mode like Jonathan Winters on ‘Mork & Mindy’ or ‘Roseanne’ winning the lottery.

So far, they’ve rationed us a two minute Jim-Pam conversation and they couldn’t have pulled it off better. But in the end, it left me longing for the good ole days when it was still considered strange to poop on the floor during a reality show.

I guess the word of the day for me is confliction. The new cast has some upside but I can’t help but resent their presence. As bothered as I am by their separation I’ll admit I’m looking forward to the inevitable Jim-Pam reunion. I guess I just have to embrace the new even if I miss the old. Because to be perfectly honest with you, a vanilla Frosty sounds pretty freaking good.