Every year there is talk of a reunion but the only thing still continuing from The Office is the merchandising. Last year I bought my daughter a Funko Pop advent calendar with the characters reduced to minis in various guises including the notorious "Prison Mike."
At her insistence, Daina and I had watched the show from beginning to end a few years ago. What began as a fun romp became ever more annoying with the arrival of Andy. I never could figure out what his function was other than to make Michael look good. What had been easy-going humor with the occasional cringe moment now became very cringy all the time. Neither of us could figure how anyone could tolerate a guy like this on or off the screen. You figure this was pretty much Ed Helms' character as he plays the same role in everything he does. When we started watching it again recently, we quit after the third season. It just isn't worth it to endure his particular brand of humor even if there remained a lot of great moments in the show.
What made The Office appealing was that it felt like a 70s sitcom. WKRP in Cincinnati instantly came to mind as Michael reminded me of Herb Tarlek. The writers enjoyed this anachronism, constantly poking fun of a paper company in the digital age. We were also presented with a distinctly new character in Dwight and a cast that felt "authentic." Steve Carell's career soon skyrocketed with the 40-Year-Old Virgin but otherwise these were nobodies. John Krasinski was literally waiting tables, regretting that he ever made the decision to become an actor after only managing to pick up bit roles in television series. He became the perfect straight man to Dwight's and Michael's wild antics. His office romance with Pam was also pitch perfect, at least for the first two seasons.
I'm not sure what happened in Season 3. I suppose the writers were afraid of repeating themselves so they shipped Jim off to another branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Unfortunately, all we got was an East Coast version of Scranton with Andy serving as a poor substitute for Dwight and Karen as the new love interest in Jim's life as he recovers from his heartbreak with Pam. The writers now had so many characters that they often seemed lost playing one branch off the other with Jan caught in the middle. I could have seen a romance between Jim and Jan emerge since she seemed to hold him in such high regard. Instead, she became more entangled in her relationship with Michael. The writers brought the two branches together in a very clumsy way, leaving us with Andy as the only holdover by the end of the season. Sadly, no room for Rashida Jones (Karen), who added a bit of sparkle to this droll show.
Ed Helms' caustic brand of humor never blended with The Office gang. As the story goes, NBC insisted on keeping Helms after the immense success of The Hangover. Not all the writers were happy about this. Those in charge of Andy's storyline decided to make him an ever more contemptuous character. Granted, this wasn't new. We had the rare appearances of David Koechner, another Daily Show alumnus, as Packer. Even when he wasn't there he left his ugly calling card. But, Andy took this nasty schtick to the extreme, and worse Ed Helms seemed to relish the role.
There was no getting away from Andy, and you got the feeling the other character actors couldn't stand him either. "Too much treble" indeed. Of course it was hard to imagine anyone gutting it out in such a dysfunctional office. Even Steve Carell couldn't take it anymore, clocking out after seven seasons.
The show really struggled from that point onward. It was clear no one was going to replace Michael. God knows Greg Daniels tried, auditioning the likes of Will Ferrell, James Spader, Ray Romano and Will Arnett, but they were all short lived. Andy got the role seemingly by default, further dividing the writing crew which made his character ever more despicable. John Krasinski convinced Greg Daniels to put the show out of its misery after two more turbulent seasons. It had greatly exceeded expectations and launched the careers of its lead actors and writers. What more could you ask for?
The nice part about it is that you can go back and watch what you want to watch, imagining what the show might have been had it not taken such a drastic turn in season three. For me, Dwight just gets better with repeated viewings. His was an indelible character impossible to erase from memory, much like Rev. Jim of Taxi or Kramer from Seinfeld.
If they ever were to do a reunion I hope they make it a prequel, as there were many references to the earlier days of of Dunder-Mifflin that would be fun to explore. Of course that would be hard to do as the actors are now almost 20 years older than they were at the start of the show. But, if Bob Odenkirk managed to pull it off in Better Call Saul, I imagine these guys and gals could do it too. If all else fails then a Funko Pop movie.
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