I started rewatching last week and I cant believe how bad some of it is. I cant really expand on what youâve said so weâll here anyway but Iâm pleased it hasnât been totally glossed over in the thread.
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Iâm also doing a re-watch. To add to the list of issues: Itâs hard to ignore the âlove will save the dayâ thing, and there are too many Black characters who are aggressive, intimidating or angry.
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[up to late S8 now] I found Andy amusing at points but heâs not a good choice to fill Michaelâs role and I donât even like Michael - Andy is just a dull vessel. I quite enjoyed the Florida episodes, because of the change of scenery as much as anything, but Catherine Tate is too annoying to last beyond those episodes I suspect (weâll see). I donât find Kevin funny either - heâs such an unoriginal, fatphobic trope 
Meredith sometimes does crack me up but overall her characterisation is pretty 
Half the characters with double the screen time would have been a much funnier show. Ryan, Creed, Kelly and Jan are such enjoyable characters, Angela and Dwightâs early season Macbeth/Lady Macbeth deal is excellent, and Iâm genuinely invested in Darryl. Erin is also one of the funniest characters by late S8 and Robert California is great. I really loved Stanley too but I donât feel like his affair was in character for him - it seemed like way too much effort/chaos for him! - so Iâve not been invested since then.
Overall I think the least funny characters are Michael (just a level of shouty/obnoxious I canât deal with) and honestly Jim by this point, the OTT mugging at camera is absolutely killing me at this point and I want to slap his face.
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WUPH DOT COM
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This is a really good summary imo. I watched The Office for the first time having seen everything its creators/writers have done since and I think - particularly with Parks & Recreation, Superstore and Brooklyn 99 (which Iâm not even that big a fan of) - theyâve perfected something of which the Office now looks very much like a failed blueprint.
So many dislikable characters that youâre suddenly expected to root for; Michaelâs incompetence/competence level being whatever the story demands at that exact moment and, as you said, not so much a supporting ensemble cast as a collection of tropes.
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Some of the talk here about the supporting characters in The Office US makes me think it could have done with fewer characters as itâs hard to effectively write so many who appear in every episode (shows like Seinfeld and Frasier work better for sticking to a core group maybe). But then it wouldnât be much of an office I guess with fewer people there!
thatâs why PnR is better for me, they trimmed the fat, not an ounce of bloat on that show - they even let one of the actors go because their character was so bland
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Yeah I thought this, Jim explains it by saying itâs because theyâre both dorks but thatâs a massive generalisation, there are lots of different subtypes of dorks
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See I was always impressed that they managed to pair Michael with someone who wasnât just a MPDG, I think Amy Ryan does a great job and it works.
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So close to the endâŠ
I prefer S9 to S8 I think, some chunky things happening. it feels like since Pam rejected Toby heâs gone through a midlife incel crisis and that makes his behaviour around Nellie totally believable to me (and Iâm quite liking how that whole character journey is panning out). Meredithâs wigs are a good recurring joke, Oscarâs affair with the senator and how that panned out was exhilarating!! And a good Jan cameo too.
But my interest dies every time Jim is on screen. ballbag. (Yeah I just got to the dance recital episode, fuck riiight off) Andy too, fuck off mate. also I donât believe Dwight would milkshake someone, and Iâm not sure about the meta camera stuff. I miss Kelly and Ryan a lot 
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Finished.
really weird having that whole q and a thing after the documentary airs, with no Michael, Kelly or Ryan. yet they come back for the wedding.
Why does Andy turn into such a cunt in the final season? Was it because he went on that retreat?
Thought the Brian/Pam/Jim thing was absolutely hilarious, and cringe. Especially when Brian jumps out to protect Pam like an action hero.
But in hindsight, it was good to have some jeopardy in that relationship.
Overall though the last 2 seasons were not nearly as bad as I expected them to be based on reputation.
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Andy - Ed Helms had to leave for a while to do The Hangover Part III which meant they had to come up with some bullshit reasons for him to not be in the show but still be in it as it were which just derailed the character (that or they did it on purpose because they were annoyed he left to do the film.
Sometimes watching Jim be the sucker is really satisfying
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Listened to an interview with Paul Lieberstein the other day where he said that when they knew Steve Carell was leaving they talked about getting another big name in to permanently replace him and had meetings with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini! Imagine that!
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