"The Office" used to be one of those minor miracles. So rarely had it worked out - a U.S. version of a classic British show that developed its own voice and quickly became one of the funniest and most consistent shows on TV. In Steve Carrell, the show found a true star and with great supporting dynamics like the Jim/Dwight adversarial relationship, the show had a lot of wells to go to without having to mimic the Ricky Gervais classic (something they learned quickly after doing an exact replica of a script in the pilot). With a deep bench of supporting characters, the show was able to do a lot without going too far.
What really made the show though was the romance at the heart of the show. Jim and Pam were the couple that everyone rooted for and even after they found love, got engaged and even got married - they still remained fun and lovable.
HOWEVER....the time came and Steve Carrell had become a viable movie star and was ready to move on. At this point the show was entering its 7th Season, a completely understandable point for a great show to call it quits and go out on top. BUT, NBC and the producers both decided to put money ahead of the legacy of the show. The pure balls that the creative team had in believing they could replace Carrell is absolutely ludicrous. Even worse was the misguided notion that Ed Helms was a rising star because he was in "The Hangover" (as probably the 4th best thing behind Galifanakis, Bradley Cooper and Mike Tyson. I'm not sure Ken Jeong and the tiger shouldn't be higher.) Helms was a useful player from his entrance at the Stamford branch and his interactions with Jim, ie Big Tuna. However, as he became a bigger focal point, his character became more of a giant hemmorhoid on the show. More on him later.
The point being that the show has been an unmitigated disaster since Carrell left, one that even Will Ferrell couldn't help. The few funny moments have tended to be Jim/Dwight pranks and even those have been few and far between. And the producer's answer to losing Carrell was to give more screen time to characters and plot lines that no one liked - anytime James Spader was on the screen, the baffling affair that Oscar had with the closeted senator that Angela was married to, etc.
The worst thing about the two years after Steve Carrell left is that it has now tainted my enjoyment of the previous 7 seasons. There were always bad episodes and scenes that left you with a bad taste in your mouth - some examples of this were the Michael affair storyline with Donna in season 7, some of the uncomfortable petulant Michael scenes early on and pretty much everything to do with bringing Gabe into the office. It once again just proves how great Carrell was to make that material work.
There were some truly great episodes and storylines the first few years in what was a truly great show but the problem is they are few and far between now. In a following post, I'll recount my favorite episodes as we get closer to the series finale. I guess I really blame NBC and the creators for giving our favorite characters closure and then stringing them along for money. All I know is now I will have to look at the description before automatically watching an "Office" in reruns.
Next post will be about how the phrase "Jumping the Shark" has absolutely jumped the shark and how I've come up with a meaner and even more fun theory to play with for TV shows: TV Character Time Travel Assassin. And my first test of this theory - Ed Helms' Andy Bernard on "The Office".
