"When I grow up i want to have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends and no one can say no to being my friend"

That line of Andy: "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good ol'days, before you've actually left them". Hit me so hard.

It’s true that Jim is the normal one for the audience to relate to, but Michael is still absolutely the main character for the first 7 seasons. The plot revolves around him.

I think The Office definitely ended later than it should have, but I also think they didn't let it get _completely_ bad before killing it. It never got _Simpsons_ depressing.

Michael has a crush on Pam but gets rejected by her so dates her mom for awhile Improvise Adapt Overcome

Don’t trash Creed Bratton. The last person to do that. Creed Bratton.

"How could Dwight settle for a woman who's so unpleasant?" While Dwight went through some weird characterization in the later seasons, I always felt Angela was a good fit for Dwight with them both being The Office hardasses.

I was always perfectly fine with Dwight’s “transformation”. Season 8&9 Dwight is still a weirdo, yes, but he’s more driven rather than all over the place, less gullible, more compassionate, better at reading social situations and interacting with other characters we like. These are things we the audience like to see because it shows character growth while still honoring his core traits.

The biggest mistake was completely reversing Andy's character development in season 9. That really ruined it for me tbh

“Can we do this forever, and the answer is... that’s what she said...”

I can't get past how wrong they did Andy and you described it perfectly. Why build him up only to tear him down? In the end he lost Erin and his job. Seems to be the only one without a happy ending.

I think you're right. They should've installed Dwight as manager after Michael left. The show was based on the office workers reaction to their manager. With Dwight in charge, they could have spun the show 180 degrees for new stories instead of trying to repeat Michael Scott with Andy. The character Robert California never really clicked either. A shame they couldn't hold on to Kathy Bates.

Things that killed The Office: -Andy's botched character development -Nelly -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving

I will never forgive the runners/writers of this show for not showing us Michael's wedding or children. Ever.

as much as i love Erin I genuinely never knew what to make of her the way they wrote her was kind all over the place i never really knew what to make of her

To me the decline of a sitcom generally happens when ancillary characters start becoming featured characters and the main characters start becoming ancillary. In the British office the minor characters stayed minor cos it was sposed to be a documentary but the American office gets too far away from documentary and into just straight up sitcom with every office character becoming a cartoon.

One thing they did do well was build the Jim and Dwight friendship

Nail 1: Sabre Nail 2: Michael Leaving Final nail: Andy's character assassination

The Office isn’t office-ing without Michael Scott. No one can change my mind.

dwight is like the kramer of the office. the more mysterious his life is, the better. you never want to know how he does crazy things because its fun to think of how he does them.

The show died when the main character *Devon* was fired

I always took Dwight's success with women being due to his confident in who he is.

Ask yourself this question. If there had never been a Michael Scott or the first 7 seasons and the series began with Will Ferrell, would the show be anything worth watching? It only survived the two seasons because of the equity and loyalty it built up with the fans.

When Dwight was picking up girls easily, it was meant to show that dwight can do it because he's not obsessed with how others perceive him, and he's just unapologetically being himself. Unlike Michael.

Just a reminder, a show declining from brilliant to pretty good is still pretty good.

In Japan, heart surgeon. Number one. Steady hand. One day, Yakuza boss need new heart. I do operation. But, mistake! Yakuza boss die! Yakuza very mad. I hide in fishing boat, come to America. No english, no food, no money. Darryl give me job. Now I have house, American car, and new woman. Darryl save life. My big secret: I kill yakuza boss on purpose. I good surgeon. The best

I actually really like how Dwight’s character shifted. The underdog turning into a badass story may not be comedic, but it sure is interesting. The only reason I kept watching the show was because of the comedy and Dwight’s Character Arc.

The last point is key. In the later seasons the whole premise of the show was completely lost. Its meant to be a somewhat relatable workplace comedy about meaning and humour in the mundane and social awkwardness but it turns into a whacky Family Guy type universe where everyone is completely mental and life is just a succession of crazy shenanigans

I hate how the writers just completely ruined andy. I was really rooting for the relationship between him and Erin.

Even at its worst it was still better than 99% of other sitcoms.

I mean Dwight was a pretty good story in terms of character growth, he went from being a kiss ass dork who gets made fun of, to a more mature version of himself, and the final episode perfectly encapsulates the whole relationship with Jim and Michael

The Michael Scott seasons of the Office will forever be the greatest sitcom of all time imo

I think they used Creed perfectly. Not too much for us to grow bored, but not too less for us to forget. I'm glad that the writers didn't give him a full episode to be 'Creed', but rather spread out his weirdness in very small parts across the episodes (in general he has only two-three funny lines per episode).

The best part about Michael leaving, was Creed being manager

Good analysis. The reason the first four seasons were the best was because you could still relate to some of the situations the characters were in. By Season 9, once they were tranquilizing Stanley, you knew the show had jumped the shark long ago.

For the first few seasons up until about 4 or 5, I felt like they did a good job of keeping characters and the atmosphere of the show pretty grounded and derived humor through ways that were believable within a dapper office setting. Humor involved things within a reality (or close to at least) that an everyday person could visualize themselves in, a huge reason why they chose the cast that they did. Character interactions were individually unique based on how particular personalities would potentially interact with another in a real-ish world without over the top "wackiness". Those first seasons felt like there was a camera crew documenting the demise of a business that draws unavoidably closer every day to becoming obsolete. Characters would interact with the crew as if they were on a subtle reality series and would share information accordingly and based on the character and how they handled various work situations. (characters none of which were outlandish, i.e. Kevin, Kelly, Ryan, Meredith, Creed, Angela, Pam... I feel like I could do individual segments on almost every character and at what point their doppelganger opposites took over. It's insane to compare how some of them were portrayed in seasons 1/2, and how completely unrealistic and over the top they were heading into the final few.) It got to the point through the mid-seasons where characters wouldn't discuss anything regarding the business, and it turned into a personal confessions room for them to talk about the interactions with whoever they were dealing with in whatever episode. I've talked about this all and made so many points to people that you brought up, I plan on directing a few people to your video which manages to explain clearly what my incoherent ramblings fail to.I'm gonna wrap this one up though because I'm starting to notice its already well beyond the length that anyone's going to read it.

The Office is the metaphor for Jan Levinson's character, she was normal at first then slowly collapsed like a dying star towards the end.

That kiss between Michael and Oscar was completely unscripted and improvised solely by Steve Carrel - the reaction from the other Office cast is genuine. Great scene.

it still angers me so much what they did to andy. he had such a great and natural feeling build up and to see it all crumble and in such a shitty way is upsetting

I had no idea Michael was mispronouncing words. I love his character even more. He was always my favourite

"Michael insults people but it's unintentional".... Toby: am I a joke to you?

the scene with kevin shooting hoops was actually just the actor doing it between takes and the camera crew filmed it

Dwight character progression is something I loved. I loved when show writers did not settle for a generic goof joke but made him look smart. All seasons were ok, some better and some worse but in the end of the day it was successful.

For me , Micheal Scott was the heart and soul of the office.. when he left after that 7th season, I still continued to watch the remaining seasons but in the middle of the 8th season, I started to miss Michael a lot. So now I have started it again from the 1st episode.. Steve carell nailed that character..

Creed is the one character I never minded being completely bizarre because no matter where you are you’re gonna have that complete fucknut

I think what really killed the show for me was Andys character being butchered, it was almost unbearable to watch

A perfect example of a good character like Dwight is Charles Boyle from Brooklyn 99, he starts out as a suck up, awkward, and in-confident guy. In the end he’s still a suck up who is socially awkward but he is more confident, he grew as a person, he didn’t change who he was fundamentally he just accepted it and grew. When he’s more confident it’s an arc and not lazy writing

idk if you ever watched boy meets world but I remember the actor who played Eric talking about how they did something similar to the character. In the beginning of the series he's shown as not the smartest but still has moments where he surprises people (alot like kevin). But by the end they slowly turned him into an actual braindead looneytoons character.

While the office is a comedy, not everything in it has to be funny. It’s ok for Dwight to grow away from Michael and for his people skills to grow. He’s a main character so it’s ok for him to grow into a more successful person, even if you think it’s not that funny. It would feel unfulfilling if he was unable to be a little bit more mature.

It didn’t feel like the office when michael left, it felt like a spinoff.

I think they shouldve ended the show with Michael's wedding at the end of season 7. Introduce Holly at the start of season 7 rather than midway through and. It felt weird that Michael said the office was his family but they never went to his wedding with Holly

The reason Dwight became such a player was because toby showed him where the clitoris is

The fact they literally copied Michaels quirks and put them on Andy is just.... awful. Such bad writing.

The fact that Dwight gets colder on Michael has to do with Angela's bad break-up. He trully loves her and never got over it, that made him less patient and more realistic about life. It actually makes sense.

The way Jim guides Michael through conversations will always be hilarious.

The beginning of the end for THE OFFICE was when the networks refused to renew Steve Carell's contract. He was THE anchor for the show. The characters were versatile enough and had enough depth that they could adapt to pretty much anything, EXCEPT the loss of Michael Scott. Michael Scott was the biggest PC incorrect character ever, and yet, he had the biggest heart of anyone you could ever know and so, everything came out fine in the end. Losing Michael Scott was a blow the show simply couldn't overcome. However, the office has enough going for it that they managed to keep it alive in UCU on permanent CPR just long enough to drag out a few more story lines. If Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) had stayed, The Office could EASILY have run for 15+ seasons.

The fact that steve carell wanted to renew his contract and they REFUSED, is still bugging me. and they tried so hard to replace Michael's naturally bubbly and quirky and somewhat likeable personality with Andy, it felt really repetitive and unrealistic. However, i still think that the office can't be compared to any other sitcom, it has this charm and it's so effortlessly hilarious. it is HANDS DOWN one of the best sitcoms ever.

"I wish there was a way to know your in the good old days before you've actually left them"

i think that the dwight development made a lot more sense then you make out, he realises how attached he is to angela when he looses her and that is when he learns how he should treat people and humanises them

As a not native english speaker, in the most cases I have never realized, that Michael often invented or mixed up words just to sound smarter. I thought those were real words I just did not know lol

It"s like they could never figure out what they wanted the Andy character to be.

So what you’re saying is that Michael and Jim are both the main character. Or maybe even “co-main characters”

You forgot to mention Ryan's failed/lost character arc. He's introduced in the very first episode as the innocent/slightly confused temp who just wants to graduate from business school. He contrasts with Michael because he's hardworking, dedicated, and knowledgeable about business yet he can't make a sale (like Michael). His disdain for Michael and his ambition lead him to become the arrogant, drug-fueled, selfish corporate VP, but after his arrest and rehiring at Scranton he has to start from the ground up. But nothing ever happens. He becomes this weird, insecure, sassy, hipster, and just fails at all of his ideas. The main thing that defined him, his intelligence, and his desire to succeed in the business world (though he was VP, he never made a sale) are never really fulfilled. And he just becomes this leech whose only role in later seasons is about show how he's a bad boyfriend/ex to kelly and they have to get together again just to break up. He gets so much less screen time after new people join the office. Such a waste.

There's an episode in Season 4 where Michael stubbornly follows the directions of his GPS straight into a lake, despite Dwight sitting next to him, warning him that this road was a dead end and the GPS was wrong. Even when directly faced with the lake and Dwight screaming in his ear that 'This is the lake! This is the lake!', Michael still kept driving forward until he submerged the car, because of his own stubbornness and idiocy. I used to point to this scene as the first time this show went from mockumentary to straight up cartoony and where it lost most of its credibility for me, because I didn't believe people could actually do something like that. And then I looked up incidents about GPS mishaps (and a massive amount of Pokemon Go related incidents too) and the sort of accidents people got into and found out stuff like this actually happened to real people. While there's still no denying that US version of the Office is far more over the top and in your face, I started giving it a lot more slack after learning that. You never stop being amazed at just how stupid people can actually be and I used to believe this show was a massive exaggeration of that, but it was actually pretty damn spot on. People CAN actually be this stupid/ignorant. It's like this show shines a bright spotlight on our worst qualities and refuses to let them hide in the dark, where most people would prefer to keep them. I'm not sure whether that makes it funnier or just more sad, but it did give me a newfound appreciation for it.

I find it hilarious that Deangelo was so inconsistently and badly written that they had to literally kill him off to get him off the show

Everything is accurate except for Dwight’s critique. He evolved as a character. You don’t stay the same person for 8 years, he needed change

One of the worst part about the show for me was in the last season they artificially trying to drive a wedge between Pam and Jim with the sound guy. That hurt my heart so so much because I knew it was artificial and their relationship is one of the best one ever made in the history of sitcoms. It was perfect and magical. Just to get content they were ruining one of the best things about the show.

I've always seen Andy as a weak and pathetic man... in the whole series he goes through three phases: 1. Overcompensating his insecurities and weakness with overly aggressive, angry and tough behaviour, unless it's with superiors... then it's all about kissing that ass. 2. After anti-aggression training he becomes a doormat, cause he's still a weak man... but without his defensemechanism 3. What happens when you give a weak and pathetic man any form of power? He absuses it and becomes insufferable. Exactly what happens to Andy when he got promoted to manager.

the whole Erin love story thing was sooooo bad. The back and fourth between her and Andy was such a mess.

I love how it's just canon that Michael has a crush on Ryan

"Don't Become a Caricature Kevin." Michael knew how shitty the last two seasons we're going to be (save the finale) 🤣

Signs of a declining sitcom: The main character left.

The way they finnaly got Jim and Dwight to be friends in season 9 was the best thing in the season

Kevin was almost ruined more than Andy. He was realistically this slightly awkward guy who was actually pretty smart and sometimes genius if not just misunderstood, hence him being a poker expert and a musician. But then became this complete dunce who wanted to eat Angela's cat...

I want a show where, the script is just all improv, just one place, cast, and see where it goes from there. The worlds most relatable sitcom.

I’ve just finished the office for the first time. The main takeaway I have is the whole show is dwights everything is to move obstacles in his way and block him from getting a job that he always wanted, it takes him through the emotional wringer, he loves the pranks with jim even if he doesn’t show it and he always wanted to be Jim’s friend without admitting it. Youre supposed to think that Micheal is the main character and yes he is a big part of the show but the show belongs to Dwight. Jim and Pam have their cute moments and it’s a nice arc but I found myself not really caring whenever they were on screen. Some of the other characters I wish had more screen time or they done some experimental episodes like in it’d always sunny in Philadelphia when they had the episode where it was a pov from frank (Danny devitos character) or “Charlie work” something like that but with creed or Kevin it would have made amazing stand alone episodes. The show itself I don’t see any decline I thought that season 9 was some of the best tv I have ever watched, I did however hate what they did to Andy but it was always inevitable since the main objective of the show was to show Dwights progression and problems along the way, and it had the best series finale of any sitcom and it’s how to do it the right way.

If Dwight left the show, I wouldn't have continued watching tbh. He literally carried the show after Michael left.

I actually really like Dwight's character arc. It's much more realistic to have him grow, mature, and become his own person instead of following Michael around for the entire show. If he did that, people would complain that they didn't do anything with his character.

I actually enjoyed every episode. i dont get why people say the show declined. it changed a bit in the last two seasons, but it was refreshing and realistic that a small paper company could go out of buisness or change.

I must say i agree with Dwight's characterization in the later season's After michael fires him, he realises how little his friendship with Michael mattered and how self centered Michael was and rightfully starts to dial back the ass kissing and becomes his own man It wasn't perfect but it makes sense to me

“I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious” - Michael Scott

The office was killed by Andy’s weird character development, Nellie, rob california, and maicheal leaving, micheal leaving, did I mention micheal leaving? Dwight carries the show after season 7

Most of the reasons for decline is premised on the departure of Michael Scott, but that’s wrong. The Office was in its prime when it centered around actual white collar tropes, and the people you work with every day & kind of know, but not really… which leads to odd interactions 9-5. Where The Office _fell flat_ was when coworkers started getting involved in their personal lives. SOMETIMES that worked exceptionally well like the dinner party, but usually… it fell flat. I’m sorry, but the entire office taking a weekend trip out of state to their coworkers’ wedding 100% jumped the shark. No matter how funny it may or may not have been, story lines like that was a bridge way too far. That one example was almost two full seasons ahead of Scott’s exit.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour a 23cm x 23cm cake pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together the Chelsea White Sugar and Tararua Butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla essence. Combine Edmonds Standard Grade Flour and Edmonds Baking Powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the Meadow Fresh Original Milk until mixture is smooth. Pour or spoon into the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch. Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting In a mixer whip Tararua Butter for 8 minutes on medium speed. Butter will become very pale & creamy. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy. You can swap the vanilla bean and use a total of 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.

Is it wrong that it made me sadder when Michael left than the finale?

the real main character : stanley.

Every tv show kinda has it's own life cycle. They are born with an curious audience that gives it the initial boost towards popularity. As it continues to air, it grows from the constant introduction of ideas along with the enthusiasm of the audience. Eventually, the show either dies from the lack of ideas from creators & the loss of an audience or brings forth descendants in the form of spinoffs to continue its legacy.

For me the fact that we can see dwight growing into a more real character was satisfying and I dont think it ruined anything although it might've also not added much

D'angelo was such a pointless character. Not to mention how annoying he was

I won’t forgive the show for taking away all of Andy’s character development

Things I liked about the later seasons: -Dwight’s transformation -Angela’s development with Dwight and Oscar -The (State) Senator storyline -(Hot take) I loved Deangelo, I love Will Ferrell and I never got the sense he was going to stick around anyway -New Jim and new Dwight, they had their moments that fit in well -Loved Kathy Bates -loved that Dwight and Jim eventually became friends, they still had witty banter but it felt like over time the changes were subtle enough it was a nice touch Things I didn’t like: -Andy’s development is the most frustrating aspect of the later seasons -Robert California wasn’t that great -Nellie (at first) I couldn’t stand when she first came to the Office and stole Andy’s job, we were taught to hate her and had to sympathize with her because of Andy which is something SHE CAUSED -The issues between Jim and Pam, I know in real life relationships have hard times, but it felt like something that was uncharacteristic of the both of them -The sound guy who tried to get with Pam -Kelly and Ryan: by the end I couldn’t stand them, Kelly had a happy ending and blew it, which I guess is in line with her character but she actually gave her baby up and that was Nellie’s way of having a kid…by stealing Kelly’s Overall, I liked A lot of the later seasons, it’s not the same without Michael, but they pivoted to other stories that showcased people like Angela and Oscar. If they didn’t do Andy so bad I think people would have liked it more

it slowly died after Michael left, also i cant belive we never got to see Michael's wedding

I actively tried to keep track if they mentioned Michael when he left, and it was so annoying how the whole cast acted as if Michael was never a big part of them.

The Oscar/Angela friendship was out of nowhere, but it was one of my favourite things in the show

I agree with almost all you've said, except the part about Dwight. To me he is one of the few characters who had a realistic growth. As seasons go on, he is faced with many situations that inevitably change a person's life, beliefs and ways. It' like he had no social life before getting to work at Dunder Mifflin, and so he is figuring out himself and the relationships with others as an adult because he had no chance when he was younger, spending most of his life in a farm. To me, he may even be the real protagonist in the end, as he is the one character who learns the most lessons, and really changes things to the best.

I think one thing that is usually missed is that Dwight and Andy are on similar paths. They both start as naive grunts looking for career success by strictly following rules and kissing the ass of whoever is in charge. They even both spend considerable time being pranked by Jim. The difference is how they learn from their time in the office. Dwight starts to get a firm understanding of how office politics actually work instead of just kissing the boot of the boss. Andy doesn't learn this and, other than the clear mistakes in writing decisions you mentioned here, it is the fact that he didn't learn that leads to his demise within the company. I think you are misrepresenting some of Dwight's growth here. He tried and failed to mock Jim by dressing as him and acting cool, but over the seasons of watching Jim pull insane pranks on him that are sometimes elaborate he learned how to become the prankster Jim taught him to be. Then he uses it to mock Andy pretty successfully. He also learned from Michael and when he ends up becoming manager, partly due to Michael, he seems to be able to steer the ship well. I think he's ambiguous during a large portion of the show because it seems he is learning slowly and we are watching him win and lose, but learn the entire time. Andy didn't learn a thing over his entire time and it was sad to watch him demise, but it honestly makes sense because he refused to improve and then just fell off.

Dwight and michael’s falling out made me way sadder than any of my own failed relationships because it was just too real, you can see how much Michael misses him

You know it's the beginning of the end when you start bringing in a lot of new characters

The show really tapered off dramatically when Steve Carrell left, but there are still some genius moments of hilarity to be had, such as Kevin's adopted dog. I tried to think of other moments for a while there but couldn't, so yeah, it dried up quite a bit. Though it wasn't as funny in season 9, I liked seeing the character arcs coming to a close.

Andy did a lotta stupid stuff in the last couple seasons but I think the way he handled that new guy dating Erin was pretty hilarious