Going soft

Here's how you know ABC is moving "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday nights: NBC wants you to think that "The Office" is getting soft. Based solely on the promo spots for the comedy's third season -- the maudlin ones that focus on the Jim and Pam relationship -- you'd have no idea this show was a comedy. Steve Carell is earnest, even in a moment when his character isn't supposed to be. The words that flash across the screen are thick with sap: "We cheered him on when hope seemed lost." "We held our breath." (Isn't there something nongrammatical about that? If not, there should be.)

I'm as much a Jim/Pam fan as anyone, but I like that plotline because it's secondary. Makes the vicious comedy a little less vicious. The real reason to watch "The Office" -- and if you aren't, shame on you -- has more to do with Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson. I'll get my star-crossed fix on Thursdays at 9, when I change the channel to ABC.