I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE MAJOR PART OF THE WORK OF A PRESIDENT IS TO INCREASE THE GATE RECEIPTS OF EXPOSITIONS AND FAIRS AND BRING TOURISTS TO TOWN: The Washington Nationals will announce tomorrow that William Howard Taft ("Bill"/"Big Chief") will join the Rushmore Four of George, Tom, Abe, and Teddy as the newest Racing President. Not Kennedy, not Reagan, not Van Buren, not Bartlet. Damn.

FINALLY, A CREED CONCERT PEOPLE WILL SEE WILLINGLY:  Folks, Creed Bratton is going on tour:

An American actor and musician, a former member of The Grass Roots with hits like "Let's Live for Today" and "Midnight Confessions". Nowadays, he is best known for playing a fictional version of himself on the American adaptation of the hit television show "The Office" on NBC. Creed's show is a musical journey. He'll play a selection of songs from his beginnings in folk with the "Young Californians", complete with his comic tales of hitch hiking through Europe and Africa in the 60's. Also a candid account of his insane time with the The Grass Roots. The often touching yet still funny stories of his down and out days before he made it on "The Office". All the while playing songs from his six solo albums and perhaps even a Grass Root tune thrown in. You'll laugh you'll cry and wet your seat. Creed Bratton is an enigma to himself…. even though he'll deny it. HE expects to be sued by all of "The Office" cast members after this tour.

WE JUST WANT TO SEE HOW YOU END UP:  That's what the off screen camera crew on The Office said when we heard from them for the first time earlier this season (in the context of Jim and Pam asking about why the crew stuck around Scranton so long), and it's also a pretty accurate reason of why the remaining audience is watching.  We haven't talked about the show in a while, and 90% of last night's episode followed the standard pattern of an amusing cold open basically unrelated to the episode's plot and the remainder of the episode returning to wells of diminishing revenue (Dwight is a Jackass, Andy/Erin/Pete love triangle, basically anything to do with Nellie, even if pairing her with Toby is kind of inspired). 

That said, the final few minutes of the episode, in which Pam finally has a breakdown about Jim being in Philly and we see the camera crew for the first time were tonally jarring, really well performed by Krasinski (getting to play against his nice guy image for once) and Fischer, and made me wonder if The Office might actually have a downbeat ending.  It was particularly shattering after a 30 Rock in which things moved rapidly towards an implausibly happy ending for everyone.  We'll see where they go with this (the cast and producers' statements indicate that this is a big milestone on the way to the end), but I'm in it to the end.

WOMEN WHO TRY TO DO THINGS SURE DO GET KILLED A LOT:  Do we have to go back to The Larry Sanders Show to find a tv comedy with as satisfying, and funny of a final season as 30 Rock's? My goodness am I going to miss this joke factory (with occasional character development), and my expectations are now pretty stratospheric for the final landing.

Remember in the poker episode, when Jack said of Kenneth: "In five years we'll all either be working for him ... or be dead by his hand"? Look where we are now.

added: Poniewozik reminds me of one of my favorite lines from last night, Kenneth's “No, sir, it’s a magical, ruth-filled business!”

added: Dot Com supercut!

I'M VERY WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS; I KEEP A BUSY SCHEDULE TRYING TO FIT THEM IN: Warren Zevon would have turned 66 today. Cancer sucks.

Here's his very first Letterman appearance, performing "Excitable Boy" and "The Overdraft" with a long talk with Dave in the middle as to the autobiographical nature of the former; and from his last, "Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner". And, because I always link to it, his appearance on a particularly cursed episode of The Larry Sanders Show.

SO DOES THIS MEAN RAMBALDI WAS A JEDI?  Multiple reports now claim that Star Wars: Episode 7 will be directed by J.J. Abrams, with Ben Affleck having been the other finalist.  Abrams' filmography is admittedly not all that long, but is pretty darn impressive for what it is.  I'm certainly intrigued, though what this means for the great Star Wars/Star Trek conflict remains uncertain.

THERE IS A NEW PRINCE SONG AND IT IS STRIPPED DOWN AND AWESOME GUITAR POP:  "Screwdriver." Now.