The Office Episode 3-15 Ben Franklin

Originally aired Feb. 1.

The US series is now over 40 episodes old and continues to show originality which I expect to dwindle every week. And every new episode has at least one fresh idea. In this episode, instead of hiring a male stripper for Phyllis's bachelorette party (for equal opportunity), Jim calls the Scholastic Speaker of Pennsylvania and Ben Franklin shows up. The ladies of the office were expecting a stripper and they get a little out of hand with one of the Founding Fathers.

Earlier this season, I worried when they disposed of so many of the characters from the Stamford branch after the merger. (Only Karen remains, although Andy may return after anger management.) I thought they should have kept Dwight at Staples for a few more weeks. But clearly, the writers/creators know what they're doing and have deep reserves of stories and plotlines. B+