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"What&amp;#039;s life like in the Dunder Mifflin office without Michael Scott? Episode one of season eight provided some reassuring answers as we were treated to planking, pizza parties and petty politics from our friends in the Scranton branch. Ashton Kutcher proved earlier this week on Two and a Half Men that losing your lead character doesn&amp;#039;t have to spell disaster (quite the opposite in fact when it came to the CBS show&amp;#039;s ratings). Steve Carell will be missed, but last night&amp;#039;s season premiere suggested that any talk of the show&amp;#039;s demise is premature. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) has taken the helm (&amp;quot;I wasn&amp;#039;t the first choice, but I was the first choice&amp;#039;s first choice&amp;quot;), after Robert California (James Spader) managed to work his way up from manager to CEO in the space of a meeting.  Bernard is a very different beast from the &amp;#039;Nard dog&amp;#039; character who first arrived on the show in season three. His anger issues and &amp;#039;big tuna&amp;#039; jibes at Jim were always laughable, but over the past five seasons the writers have cleverly crafted a much more warm and lovable figure.  His little &amp;#039;wassup&amp;#039; dance and musical door knocking make him a loser, but a lovable one. Much like Michael Scott. Aside from Andy&amp;#039;s promotion to regional manager, the main talking point of &amp;#039;The List&amp;#039; was the full-time arrival of California. James Spader&amp;#039;s mind-bending, delightfully manic boss caused havoc in the office as he left a list of employees lying on Erin&amp;#039;s desk with a dividing line splitting them into two teams. What the teams meant, only California and his special brand of mumbo jumbo knows. This was a brilliant set-up that allowed the writers to establish the dynamics of the group without Carell in the mix and it reminded us what a strong ensemble cast the show has. Kevin was allowed to come to the fore much more, Pam is now a sweet but gibbering wreck (and she&amp;#039;s pregnant again), Dwight is working as Andy&amp;#039;s No.2 and enforcer, while Stanley has a new lease of life thanks to a new &amp;quot;butt&amp;quot; gag that may just replace &amp;quot;that&amp;#039;s what she said&amp;quot; as the show&amp;#039;s most popular catchphrase. It was a strong season opener that balanced resetting the show (Andy&amp;#039;s defiance against California has won him the respect that Michael Scott held over the office) alongside plenty of heart (Jim &amp;amp; Pam still going strong, Erin &amp;amp; Andy still in the pipeline) and some classic Office surrealism thrown in for good measure (Meredith planking in the restroom, California&amp;#039;s Sesame Street debate). Quotables: Kevin: &amp;quot;The thing I like about Elmo... is the tickling.&amp;quot; Andy: &amp;quot;Not my job, not my prob, I&amp;#039;m off to the warehouse to polish my knob.&amp;quot; Stanley: &amp;quot;Shove it up your butt!... It&amp;#039;s my thing now.&amp;quot; Andy: &amp;quot;Pizza party! Pizza party!&amp;quot; Robert California: &amp;quot;Isn&amp;#039;t it funny how the penises are always circumcised?&amp;quot; Did you enjoy &amp;#039;The List&amp;#039;? Is Ed Helms the right choice for boss? What did you think of James Spader? Share your views below "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-office/review/a341949/the-office-the-list-recap/>