pam and jim

The Academy Awards - Sunday March 7, 8 pm, CTV/ABC

Most years, there are five best picture nominees and I've usually seen one or none of them. This is due in part to the fact that the noms are usually released in theatres about five minutes before the ceremony, and the fact that I'm a lazy bum who never goes to theatres. But this year there are ten nominees in this category. Guess what? I've seen one of them. Go 'Inglourious Basterds'! As far as I know, you are totally the best picture!

(S06E04 / S06E05) The one thing you knew going into this episode was that Pam and Jim were going to be married at the end of it. There wasn't any big mystery; no old lovers were going to come back to interrupt the proceedings; Jim wasn't going to say Karen's name instead of Pam's.

Nope, that's been the beauty of the Jam pairing from the minute they got together; they just continue being a solid couple in the background while the craziness spins around them. Even when one of them gets sucked into the craziness -- Pam defecting to the Michael Scott Paper Company, Jim becoming co-manager -- the pairing is still solid.

That's what made this hour-long wedding episode so enjoyable. It wasn't the fact that Pam and Jim got married, it's that they had a memorable, very PB & J-style wedding despite the presence of the crew from Scranton.

The event that all of us hopeless romantics have been waiting for is almost here. On this Thursday's one-hour episode of The Office, titled "Niagara," Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly will finally tie the knot. Their big plan was to have the wedding at Niagara Falls, so that no one from the office would be able to make it. Unfortunately, Michael gave everyone the time off to go to the wedding. Bad for Pam and Jim. Great for us.

I'm one of those people who's been patiently waiting for this day to happen. In fact, it ranks right up there with Luke and Laura on my list of most anticipated TV weddings. Ever since Jim planted a big smooch on Pam after Casino Night (season two finale), my heart's been all aflutter for these two. Sniff ... I knew they'd be walking down the aisle (or whatever they have at Niagara Falls) one day.

After the jump, check out seven sneak peek clips straight from AOL's awesome video site, SlashControl.

Michael Ausiello is reporting that the role of Pam's mom has been cast on The Office. The name Linda Purl may not sound familiar to you, unless of course, you're a huge Matlock fan, but the woman best known for playing Matlock's daughter has snagged the role of Mrs. Beesly.

Some fans may be disappointed that the role didn't go to a bigger name, but if you think about it, that's just kind of the way of The Office. As BJ Novak says, "it is supposed to be real average Joes, and casting a famous actor takes away from that." So casting Glen Close, for instance, would be a bit of a distraction. However, this news still disappoints me-- but for a different reason.