Season 6, Episode 7 of The Office, titled 'Koi Pond', was another hilarious episode.  But not, apparently, to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

In the opening scene of the episode Michael Scott (Steve Carell) fakes a hanging suicide in order to scare some very young children at a makeshift Halloween party, thinking it would be funny. He then smiles, gives the thumbs up and explains to the children: "Kids, just remember, suicide is not the answer. It is the easy way out."

The foundation's problem is with entertainers using suicide in comedy. They're worried that comedic depiction of suicide might encourage mentally ill people to take their own lives.

"We try not to be zealots about this," said Robert Gebbia, the foundation's executive director. "But this one ... kind of crossed the line."

NBC haven't made a public comment about the issue, but I will.

There was nothing about glorifying suicide in The Office skit and there was nothing in that skit that could be taken out of context. If anything, the final message of the joke was not to do it.

I've known plenty of people diagnosed with mental illness, many who have contemplated suicide, and some who have actually done it. I've also lost friends and family to a variety of illnesses that I've also seen portrayed in comedy sketches. Yes, sometimes humor can cross the line, but guess what, that's the nature (and beauty) of Steve Carell's character - he's socially inept. It's also the one thing that separates comedy from serious drama - it is not meant to be taken seriously.

"We're not trying to be censors or fall into the trap of wanting everything to be PC, politically correct," Gebbia said. "But on the other hand, it's offensive to some people who have lost relatives to suicide by hanging."

If all works of entertainment, particularly comedy, had to avoid sensitive subject matter on the basis that some people feel offended, there would be virtually no subject that could be touched. In the case of The Office every episode could be seen as being offensive to someone, somewhere.

I would rather see a hundred more shows like The Office making a joke of all kinds of death than the sheer volumes of drama series we have depicting death in all its seriousness night after night. How many crime shows do we have to endure that realistcally depict rape, murder, torture and so on? More comedy, I say.

I'm sorry, but people just have to lighten up.

Source: THR

You can watch the episode in question via the link below:

See larger image Koi Pond (Video On Demand) New From: $1.99 In Stock Released October 30, 2009.

Tags: The Office