The Office (US) [2005-2013]
It's been a little while since I've updated you on my binge-watching, so yesterday when I finished my most recent show, I decided to write a little bit about it. I didn't think I'd have a whole lot of good to say about this show, especially because of what my opinion of it was early on in its run. I don't think I've ever had a show where I've hated the central character so much.
Well, what's the show and main character I'm talking about here?
The American version of The Office starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott. (And if it weren't for me having to put a title on each post, this would have been a great reveal. Oh well.)
I went through an intense love/hate relationship with Michael for the first four seasons of The Office, mostly because he is a character that has no boundaries, or even an awareness that he should have any in the first place. He is offensive, idiotic, and downright stupid. Yes, I do understand that that's the entire point of his character, but why make a central character like this? It's hard to watch his antics for any extended period of time (especially for someone like me who wants intelligent comedy), which made this an incredibly long binge for me. Michael is an example of either lazy character writing or something I just don't get at all because it's too low-brow.
Then along came a character named Holly Flax, and all that changed.
Holly made Michael an incredibly tolerable character because for once he had someone to play off besides the occasional brown-nosing Dwight. Plus, he also had a romantic relationship that I was actually rooting for, which is something he didn't have with Jan or anyone else prior. I wasn't constantly yelling at my screen telling him to do something right for once; I actually was cheering for him to something right.
As for the rest of The Office's characters, I love Jim and Pam and their character arcs throughout the show. They truly transform, both individually and together, and I loved how their respective characters deal with the many challenges that come their way. Dwight was nearly intolerable for the first couple seasons, but I grew to appreciate his incredibly strange antics and by the end of the show really appreciated his presence, especially with his interactions with Angela. Andy Bernard is alright for a while, but I grew tired of him during the final couple of seasons because of his absence and constant mention around the office. My favorite character by far, however, is Kevin. Kevin was just the perfect comedic presence that I felt the show needed to become watchable in the first several seasons. One of my favorite episodes in the show is actually where Holly thinks he is mentally challenged because it showed both of their respective characters' traits so flawlessly: Holly is a very helpful, accommodating person, while Kevin is a little more on the exploitative side. I loved how the show revealed its characters' traits like this, as it allowed for some nice situational comedy but also made the audience gradually get to know them better throughout the run of the show.
One thing I do love about The Office is its style. There's no laugh track, no score, and very documentary-style filmmaking. It's incredibly similar to shows such as Parks and Recreation, Community, and Arrested Development, and it compares quite favorably to them in quality. The entire setup of the show is around a crew filming the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch for a PBS documentary mini-series. This premise is mostly an undercurrent throughout the entire show and doesn't come to the forefront in the first eight seasons beyond an occasional reference or question to the hypothetical cameraman or interviewer.
However, in The Office's final season, the fourth wall is broken. In fact, it's more accurately completely shattered. The show ends as the documentary is about to air, and (among other things between the office's employees and the crew) the employees at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton get a chance to react to their lives being filmed for the past nine years. It's a really cool conclusion to the show that gets a lot of loose ends tied up and also makes for a very sentimental experience, even for those like me that just liked, not loved, the show. The final season and finale of The Office dramatically improved its opinion in my mind because it made me realize how much I actually liked all these characters and made me like the show after the mixed bag of season 8.
That is what I'll remember The Office for the most. Watching it has been unlike any other show I've watched because it's taken work. It was brutal at times, easy at others. It was fatiguing, and mostly because of the show's bizarre sense of humor. Ultimately, though, it was incredibly rewarding. It's very far from the best show I've ever seen; in fact, it's one of my least favorite shows I've binged (don't worry; there's not that many, and it's in very good company). However, the payoff for sticking with it was incredible and completely unforeseen. Those final episodes balanced out a lot of problems I had with the show throughout its run and actually made me go from wanting to be done with it to needing to savor those few precious moments I had left with its characters.
My recommendation: Try to stick with it until the end. It's worth it.
My grade: 59
Where to find it: Netflix
Well, what's the show and main character I'm talking about here?
The American version of The Office starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott. (And if it weren't for me having to put a title on each post, this would have been a great reveal. Oh well.)
I went through an intense love/hate relationship with Michael for the first four seasons of The Office, mostly because he is a character that has no boundaries, or even an awareness that he should have any in the first place. He is offensive, idiotic, and downright stupid. Yes, I do understand that that's the entire point of his character, but why make a central character like this? It's hard to watch his antics for any extended period of time (especially for someone like me who wants intelligent comedy), which made this an incredibly long binge for me. Michael is an example of either lazy character writing or something I just don't get at all because it's too low-brow.Then along came a character named Holly Flax, and all that changed.
Holly made Michael an incredibly tolerable character because for once he had someone to play off besides the occasional brown-nosing Dwight. Plus, he also had a romantic relationship that I was actually rooting for, which is something he didn't have with Jan or anyone else prior. I wasn't constantly yelling at my screen telling him to do something right for once; I actually was cheering for him to something right.
As for the rest of The Office's characters, I love Jim and Pam and their character arcs throughout the show. They truly transform, both individually and together, and I loved how their respective characters deal with the many challenges that come their way. Dwight was nearly intolerable for the first couple seasons, but I grew to appreciate his incredibly strange antics and by the end of the show really appreciated his presence, especially with his interactions with Angela. Andy Bernard is alright for a while, but I grew tired of him during the final couple of seasons because of his absence and constant mention around the office. My favorite character by far, however, is Kevin. Kevin was just the perfect comedic presence that I felt the show needed to become watchable in the first several seasons. One of my favorite episodes in the show is actually where Holly thinks he is mentally challenged because it showed both of their respective characters' traits so flawlessly: Holly is a very helpful, accommodating person, while Kevin is a little more on the exploitative side. I loved how the show revealed its characters' traits like this, as it allowed for some nice situational comedy but also made the audience gradually get to know them better throughout the run of the show.
One thing I do love about The Office is its style. There's no laugh track, no score, and very documentary-style filmmaking. It's incredibly similar to shows such as Parks and Recreation, Community, and Arrested Development, and it compares quite favorably to them in quality. The entire setup of the show is around a crew filming the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch for a PBS documentary mini-series. This premise is mostly an undercurrent throughout the entire show and doesn't come to the forefront in the first eight seasons beyond an occasional reference or question to the hypothetical cameraman or interviewer.
However, in The Office's final season, the fourth wall is broken. In fact, it's more accurately completely shattered. The show ends as the documentary is about to air, and (among other things between the office's employees and the crew) the employees at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton get a chance to react to their lives being filmed for the past nine years. It's a really cool conclusion to the show that gets a lot of loose ends tied up and also makes for a very sentimental experience, even for those like me that just liked, not loved, the show. The final season and finale of The Office dramatically improved its opinion in my mind because it made me realize how much I actually liked all these characters and made me like the show after the mixed bag of season 8.
That is what I'll remember The Office for the most. Watching it has been unlike any other show I've watched because it's taken work. It was brutal at times, easy at others. It was fatiguing, and mostly because of the show's bizarre sense of humor. Ultimately, though, it was incredibly rewarding. It's very far from the best show I've ever seen; in fact, it's one of my least favorite shows I've binged (don't worry; there's not that many, and it's in very good company). However, the payoff for sticking with it was incredible and completely unforeseen. Those final episodes balanced out a lot of problems I had with the show throughout its run and actually made me go from wanting to be done with it to needing to savor those few precious moments I had left with its characters.
My recommendation: Try to stick with it until the end. It's worth it.
My grade: 59
Where to find it: Netflix
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