Downward Spiral of The Office

The first five seasons of The Office were fantastic. Then the sixth season happened. And seventh. And eighth. The whole idea of The Office was having a documentary camera crew come in and film the lives of employees at a paper company, Dunder Mifflin. While the first episode of the first season was practically a shot-for-shot remake of the original British version of the same name, it was amazing. It felt like a documentary. This is what set The Office apart from shows like Friends, Seinfeld, and other classics.

There was no audience or completely set script,with the added feel of Survivor-esque filming. The actors were believable when they looked at the camera or had talking heads, there was no music, and it felt real. That first episode set the stage for what would become one of America’s favorite shows. Jim’s jello antics set the stage for the type of relationship he and Dwight would have, the talking heads about yogurt would give us an idea about Jim and Pam (and Roy, to an extent). Michael thinking the person on the phone was a man when it was in fact a woman was only a microscopic view of what would become of the That’s-What-She-Said Michael Scott.

Somewhere along the lines, however, The Office became less of a mockumentary and more of a sole comedy, which are two different things. This mockumentary type show allowed for awkward silences, but as the series progressed, the show tried too hard. Not a single time during the entire first season, which was only six episodes, did any of the characters venture off outside the building or parking lot while the camera crew was filming. The producers and writers obviously understood that there is only so much you can do within the office, which was evident in “The Dundies,” the season two premiere. By quick glance, I can recall eight different episodes in the second season where the majority of the action is outside the building, known as the “Business Park” within the show. If you jump to season six, there are at least fourteen separate episodes where most of the plot is outside of the Business park. The first couple of seasons showed us situations and plots that were real and stuff we could all relate to. By season six, you have co-managers, people falling into Koi ponds, the camera crew filming at a hospital and Niagara Falls, and the whole Twelve Days of Christmas charade.

Knowing that season seven was going to be Steve Carell’s last as Michael Scott, the writers had quite the dilemma: figure out a way for Scott to leave, make his last season the best, and his replacement, all while avoiding ignoring every other character. Season seven was incredibly rushed with the return of Holly Flax. Holly, through a matter of a couple episodes, was engaged to another man, broke off the engagement, and began dating Michael. As soon as the viewer finds out of Holly’s return during the Christmas episode (which features the best Jim/Dwight plot in the show’s run), you know how his time is going to end: he will get married to her. The added “twist” was Holly’s parents needed accompanying. Naturally, Holly and Michael need to go to Colorado where the parents are to take care of them.

Despite season seven being a lackluster season, “Goodbye, Michael” was easily one of my favorites during the show’s run. But of course it would have to be. Watching one of the best television characters of all time leave after seven years is quite emotional and writers of The Office did a marvelous job with that.

Now, The Office had to face an issue for the first time: life after Steve Carell and Michael Scott. The show had its moments in the past when Scott was out and about (“Office Olympics,” trying to win clients back with food baskets, and the Hilary Swank debate all come to mind). Of course you can’t have a running office without a manager, so finding a replacement takes prevalence. Will Ferrell stepped in for four-some-odd episodes and it was the worst four-episode stretch The Office ever had. Any viewer that reads about the show knew he would only be on for a few episodes, so he has to leave somehow. Trying to dunk a basketball from the free throw line and severely injuring himself does the trick. The finale of season seven is interviewing various candidates. Part of me wanted to call out a “Jumping the Shark” when they got Ray Romano, Warren Buffet, James Spader, Jim Carrey, Will Arnett, Ricky Gervais, Kathy Bates, and Catherine Tate…all in the same episode. When the show doesn’t announce the new manager at the end of the season, viewers can wait for news to come out during the summer about which actor/actress got the part, which destroys the suspense.

James Spader as Michael Scott’s replacement was the best choice. Making tertiary characters have bigger parts was not. Kevin, the idiotic accountant, had a much bigger part in season eight and that struck me the wrong way. I’d choose Creed over Kevin any day. The end of season eight, the show’s most current, sees David Wallace, easily one of my favorite characters, buying out Dunder Mifflin (now called Dunder Mifflin-Sabre) for somewhere in the realm of $20 million, which leads me to my final point.

How is Dunder Mifflin still a viable company? Dunder Mifflin branches in Pittsfield, Stamford, Camden, Yonkers, Buffalo, and Binghamton have all closed down, all within eight years of each other. This leaves four branches still operating, according to the weight loss board in “Weight Loss” of season five. All of these branches are closing and yet, the one branch with the most antics has some sort of immunity? When the branch was run by Michael Scott, nothing ever got done and that is not an understatement. When Robert California (James Spader) is running the show, branches accidently get closed because of drunkenness.

In the end, if a viewer was to go up to all the cast and crew of a 2005 Office and tell them about the show in 2012, they’d probably laugh at how wrong you would be. No way would the camera crew somehow be in the exact locations to film a car chase scene (“Free Family Portrait Studio”), Kevin, Meredith, and Erin (who was not even around in 2005, but whatever) winning a trivia contest, the entire company being worth $20 million, and Catherine Tate and her British-ness running the branch for a while.

They would laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

And yet, it is happening.