EW’s Great TV “I Love You”s

I’m a couple days late sharing this, but for Valentine’s Day, EW.com had a gallery of the great “I Love You”s in TV history, and look who just happens to be the first picture in the list.

25 Great TV ‘I Love You’s

It’s gets me every time, too. As does the last 5 minutes of “The Job”.

Pam Pong Round 12: The Fight

Previous Round, Halloween: When Pam encourages Jim to go for a better job in a different state, Jim can’t hide that he’s a bit hurt. They barely talk for the rest of the day, until Pam pulls Jim aside and says she doesn’t actually want him to leave, to bring the score to +4.

Pam Pong Scorecard
Episode 206: The Fight

When reading Jim’s palm, Pam says he’s has bad fortune: -1
But she complements his teeth, and Jim smiles: +2
Jim has a hard time convincing Pam to help set up a fight between Dwight and Michael: -1
But she agrees when he says he’ll buy her chips: +2
And she does a great job provoking Michael: +1
Jim teases Pam by reading her gloved palm: +1
She teases him back by lightly hitting him, and play fighting him: +3
Though she’s laughing when Jim picks her up, Pam asks him to put her down: -1
Then when Meredith sees them, Pam demands Jim puts her down, and walk away annoyed: -5
Pam avoids looking at Jim the rest of the day: -2
Jim starts to write Pam an email: +2
But then erases it when he sees the camera zooming in: -1
Pam doesn’t look at Jim when he says goodbye to her: -1
But she notices he bought her chips, and glances over at him: +2

Final Score, +1: While this episode ended with things lukewarm at best between Jim and Pam, there are are positives to draw from their “fight”. It wasn’t Jim’s “play-fighting” that upset Pam, it was that Meredith saw them being so close and flirty. Pam wouldn’t care about that if she wasn’t harboring feelings for Jim. Of course, we are seeing that Pam’s way’s of dealing with problems is avoidance, so what will she do when there’s something that she can’t avoid?

Next Round, The Client

The Fight: Episode 2.06

“The Fight”
Season 2 Episode 3
Air Date: November 1, 2005
Writer: Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg
Summary: Jim helps orchestrate a showdown between Michael and Dwight, however Pam and Jim have a “fight” of their own.

Pam Pong Round 11: Halloween

Previous Round, The Fire: It was a constant back and forth as we saw Pam deal the reality of another woman in Jim’s life. On the plus side, Katy’s presence made Pam’s feelings for Jim creep up to the surface. But on the down side, Pam acted a bit immature as she openly mocked Katy and purposely kissed Roy in front of Jim, resulting in a score of -4.

Pam Pong Scorecard
Episode 205: Halloween

Jim is at Pam’s desk when Dwight makes his dumb “3-hole-PUNCH” joke: +1
And they immediately team up for a brilliant prank on Dwight: +2
Plus Jim takes advantage of being behind the desk with Pam, leaning over her the whole time: +2
Pam smiles at Jim the whole time he’s impersonating Michael: +1
And they share an air five: +1
Pam thinks Jim is very talented and deserving of a better job: +1
But Jim takes her encouragement as a sign that she doesn’t want or need him around and is visibly upset as he leaves her desk: -7
Pam is extremely worried when Jim is called into Michael’s office: +2
She runs up and grabs his hand when he leaves Michael’s office: +3
But Jim is short with Pam and walks away: -3
Pam pulls Jim aside to apologize: +1
Jim is not very responsive to Pam’s apology: -2
But after she joking says she would “blow her brains out” if he left, he chuckles and motions for her to come along: +1
And the camera’s catch him break into a big smile: +2
Jim tells the camera’s if Pam ever left, he would probably look for another job: -1

Final score, +4: Things were going swimmingly for Pam and Jim, but Jim’s reaction to Pam’s job suggestion set the Pam Pong score back to zero and Pam spent the rest of the day trying to get back in Jim’s good graces. She managed to pull it off in the last couple minutes, but some concerns still remain. We see in this episode that even the slightest rejection from Pam hurts Jim very much. Since Pam’s engaged, we can only brace ourselves for the inevitable rejections Jim will suffer. But on the plus side, Pam recognized Jim’s hurt and did everything she could to make it better.

Next Round: The Fight

Halloween: Episode 2.05

“Halloween”
Season 2 Episode 5
Air Date: October 18, 2005
Writer: Greg Daniels
Summary: While the office celebrates Halloween, Michael tries to avoid the fact that he has to fire someone by the end of the day (and has no idea who!). Jim and Pam secretly post Dwight’s resume online.

Pam Pong Round 10: The Fire

Previous Round, Office Olympics: Jim and Pam displayed their teamwork skills as they work together all day on Office Games, but Pam is beyond uncomfortable when Angela suggests Pam and Jim are too friendly with each other. Still, Jim and Pam has a lot of fun and resulted in a final score of +2.

Pam Pong Scorecard
Episode 204: The Fire

Pam answers a call from Katy: -1
She “talks really loud” as she talks about Katy and Jim going out: +1
Jim is very flirtatious as he talks to Katy: -2
Pam tells Jim he should give Katy his extension number (so she doesn’t have to talk to her): -1
Pam and Jim have fun during the “Desert Island” game (and goofing on their coworkers choices): +2
Jim is adorably awkward as he comes to Pam’s defense by trying to change the “Who would you do” rules: +1
They also have fun “cheering up” a depressed Dwight: +2
Roy wants to hang out with the office folks: -2
But it’s not long before he shows his somewhat insensitive nature: +1
Pam is interested when Jim is asked who he would do: +1
But when asked who she would do, Pam answers Oscar or Toby: -1
Jim and Katy are quite flirty and cute with each other: -2
But Jim is far from smitten with Katy: +1
Pam laughs at Katy when she says she would bring “Legally Blond” to a desert island: -1
Pam is a little too (read: fake) sweet as she talks about Katy and Jim: -0.5
She also grabs and kisses Roy right in front of Jim and everyone: -3
Katy comments Roy and Pam are “so cute”: -0.5

Final score: -4, Jim and Pam just couldn’t get ahead as every step forward seemed to be immediately countered by a step backward. Jim is all smiles with Katy, but when she’s not around, it’s “out of sight, out of mind” and he’s back to flirting with Pam. Pam’s obvious jealousy of Katy is actually quite promising, as it makes her well-suppressed feelings for Jim bubble up to the surface a bit. But it also makes her act in a rather immature way as she laughs at Katy’s movie choice and plants a kiss on Roy, knowing full-well Jim would probably see.

Next Round: Halloween

The Fire: Episode 2.04

“The Fire”
Season 2 Episode 4
Air Date: October 11, 2005
Writer: BJ Novak
Summary: The staff evacuates to the parking lot after a fire starts in the kitchen. Dwight can’t hide his jealously over Michael’s interest in Ryan, while the rest of the staff engages in games such as “Desert Island” and “Who would you do?”

Pam Pong Round 9: Office Olympics

Previous Round, Sexual Harassment: There wasn’t a lot of interaction between Jim and Pam, and Jim’s effort to meet Pam’s mom was thwarted by Roy. However, as soon as Roy left, Jim heard Pam’s mom ask Pam “Which one is Jim?” indicating Pam has talked to her mom about Jim, and resulting in a final score of +5

Pam Pong Scorecard
Episode 203: Office Olympics

Mild flirting occurs when Jim “dies” and Pam has to entertain him: +1
They worked together to create the Office Olympic Games: +1
Roy doesn’t make an appearance, nor is there any mention of him: +1
Pam tells the camera how Jim does a great job when he’s excited about something: +1
But counters that since he works at Dunder Mifflin, Jim rarely gets excited about things: -1
Angela indicates that she thinks Jim and Pam are more-than-friendly with each other: -2
Pam is also quick to deny she and Jim are anything more than friends: -3
Jim compliments Pam’s doves, and high-fives her: +1
But then Pam sees Angela checking off on her “Pam Pong” card: -1
Pam helps Jim with the closing ceremonies despite all her messages: +2
And Jim and Pam exchange smiles during the “Closing Ceremonies”: +1

Final Score: +2 This episode showcases how well Jim and Pam work as a team, and how they can bring the best out in each other. However, it also shows Pam being a bit in denial about her feelings for Jim, and gets extremely uncomfortable with other people thinking she and Jim are more than friends.

Next Round: The Fire

Office Olympics: Episode 2.03

“Office Olympics”
Season 2 Episode 3
Air Date: October 4, 2005
Writer: Michael Schur
Summary: While Michael takes Dwight with him to close on his condo, Jim learns about the games staffers play during their “down time”, and initiates Office Games.

Pam Pong Round 8: Sexual Harassment

Previous Round, The Dundies: The early departure of Roy and more than a few margaritas helped Pam release some inhibitions at the Dundies, resulting in her drunkenly kissing Jim. Though she chickened out of asking Jim a question at the end, it was still the best Dundies ever, and resulted in a final score of +8

Pam Pong Scorecard
Episode 202: Sexual Harassment

Jim is looking forward to meeting Pam’s mom: +2
When Jim talks about his “office relationship” for a second it sounds like he’s talking about Pam (but it was the doll): +1
Roy walks in right when Jim’s about to introduce himself to Pam’s mom: -2
Pam’s mom acts really friendly towards Roy: -2
Plus Roy is actually acting like a nice, funny guy: -3
However, as soon as Roy leaves, Pam’s mom asks “Which one is Jim?”: +5
Pam is embarrassed, but also a little giggly at her mom’s question: +2
And of course, it probably made Jim’s day: +2

Final Score: +5, There wasn’t a terrible amount of interaction between Jim and Pam in the episode, but the “Which one is Jim?” moment was extremely promising. Pam’s mom whispered the question, and Pam reacted like a schoolgirl with a crush. It’s clear Pam has talked about Jim with her mom, and not just in a co-worker capacity.

Next Round: Office Olympics