Saturday, May 18, 2013

Saturday TV Special: Farewell to The Office

By s. Saturday, May 18, 2013 ,
On Thursday, after 9 years, The Office reached its finale. The show that was originally inspired by British comedy series with Ricky Gervais was one of the most well known and popular series in the world. I watched every single episode of it, often times more than once. The first 7 seasons, the ones that still had Steve Carrel in it, had some of the funniest moments I've seen on TV.

In season 8 the show took a steep drop in quality. Carrel left and new cast members joined in. Unfortunately among them was Katherine Tate, who was quite simply the most annoying addition to any series I watched. I haven't seen her other work but she was so painfully unfunny here and her character was so irritating every time she was on screen I wanted someone to punch her in the face.

Fortunately there was still hilarious James Spader around. His character was very amusing and I loved his lines. Even when the humour wasn't sophisticated I laughed like an idiot, especially this one time when he walked in and puked in the trash can.
A lot of people were doing their top 10 lists honoring the show this week, choosing their 10 favorite episodes. I don't think I could do that. There are just too many amazing episodes with incredible moments. For me what was really amazing in the show is that sometimes there could have been a very short scene that was so funny it was enough to make the episode memorable.

The series also had amazing supporting characters, they were all so colorful and fun, like Creed who was always very mysterious and clearly has done a lot of awful things no one knows about. He would come in when they were playing murder game in the office and upon hearing that they are looking for the suspect he would run to his car. Also the running joke of him always confusing people always made me laugh.

Then there was Kevin who was always a joy to watch. That moment he brought chili to work and it got spilled all over the carpet and he was desperately tying to clean it? Classic.
And of course Stanley. He was always so serious and bored about everything around which only made the moments he laughed - like when Andy tried to put condom on a pencil or Scott's Tots situation - even funnier. I also loved him throwing the looks to camera like when Jan sang "Son of the preacher man" during the baby shower.

Then there was of course Jan, who was completely batshit. The Dinner Party episode where we got a look on how she and Michael lived was completely insane and hilarious. One of the best episodes really, Michael ranting about three vasectomies never fails to make me laugh.

The show also had the best proposal scenes. Jim proposing to Pam in the rain and Michael proposing to Holly were incredibly beautiful scenes. The show has did such a good build up for the audience to root for the characters to be together and those culminating moments were just precious. In the second to last episode of the show Dwight finally proposed to Angela which also made for a nice moment.
Pam and Jim are actually up there with the most famous TV couples next to Ross and Rachel. I never liked Pam that much but John Krasinski's acting as Jim really sold the romance story to me. There was just so much conviction and honesty in his portrayal of Jim's feelings for Pam.

Over the course of the show we had two lovely montages highlighting charming moments of Jim and Pam's relationship. One was back in season 6, to Travis's Sing and another was in the second to last episode to Snow Patrol's Open your Eyes. They were both absolutely lovely.

Another couple I always shipped was Dwight and Angela and I was so happy It was their wedding that was featured in the finale.

I also adored all the random acts of friendship and kindness between the characters. Dwight hugging Pam and Michael always caring so much about his employees made for such sweet moments. It was always Carrel's ability to be both the clown and the genuinely good person that made his Michael Scott such a great character.

He actually placed 4th on my all time favorite characters list. Michael always getting the words wrong, thinking he is better at things than he was and his terrible taste in women brought all of us watching so much laughter. My favorite moments were often those where nobody would stop Michael's train of thought and he just kept talking - like when he was convinced the office was cursed and was wondering what animal they could possibly sacrifice.

But the most hilarious thing in the show was by far Michael's hatred for HR Toby. Michael remarks to him were just hysterical - You are the silent killer, go back to the annex. / You are a waste of life and you should just give up. / Of all the idiots, in all the villages, you stand alone, my friend.

The episodes focusing on the hatred Michael had for Toby were often the best -like classic season 4 finale Goodbye, Toby when Toby was leaving for Costa Rica which incidentally meant it will be one of the happiest days in Michael's life, or Frame Toby when Toby came back and Michael was determined to get rid of him.

Another thing that made the show even more amusing was the mockumentary format where the characters often looked at the camera and we got those interview snippets of them commenting on things happening in the office. My favorite were always Dwight's interviews - I caught Jim talking to himself several times today. What a loser! Get a friend, loser! / I've given up hoping for Michael to do the right thing, the decent thing or even the comprehensible thing.

There were some characters I didn't like - Andy, played by incredibly irritating Ed Helms or Ryan, who was such a douchebag. But mostly the people in the office were likable even Karen, played by Rashida Jones, who just can't escape playing the boring character in ensemble filled with interesting ones.
For me the show took too much of a drop in quality to be considered one of the greatest. The recent episodes were good but it's just not enough to make up for some of the truly embarrassing decisions made over the years - Will Ferrel's painfully unfunny appearance, the turtle being glued together, pretty much every time Helms would sing. None of those, combined, being worse than Katherine Tate.

The finale was quite good, but it's far from being one of the best. I was very glad to see Michael Scott, though. A lot of people seem mad that he didn't really do much, just talked with the people there and behaved ordinary. Michael has a wife who loves him and kids now. He doesn't need to be clown anymore. Now he is just a good person.

One last thing I have to mention are the guest stars - Amy Adams in season 1 and 2, Kathy Bates who was just hilarious in season 6 and 7, Amy Ryan who was charming and perfect choice for her character and obviously - Idris Elba.

Everything is better with Idris Elba.

14 comments:

  1. This was a nice look back on this series that'll surely be missed. Even with the dip in quality near the end, I still found it overall enjoyable to watch, and it's one of the most re-watchable shows I've seen, with so many classic moments throughout. Sad to see it go, but it was about time.

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    1. Yeah, it's a very rewatchable show, many episodes are hilarious no matter how many times I see them.

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  2. It's only been two days and I miss The Office so much! Like you said it wasn't a perfect show but up to season 5 and the series finale were the best for me. (And Michael's season was okay!)
    I think what made the dramatic turn for the show's worst is the writing. Willl Ferrel for me was the worst decision. I don't know why he's funny to so many people, but he was so forgettable and cringe-worthy on the show. I've watched Catherine in other shows - mostly British - and she was terribly misused. And, then Andy. I loved him in the beginning but when he was put in charge, they tried to make him Michael and it failed horribly.
    Anyways, I loved the finale. Really nice write-up of the show!

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    1. I don't find Ferrel to be funny at all. His character was just annoying and I don't understand what was the purpose of him being in the show in the first place.

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  3. I agree, Sati, Katherine Tate was a Jar Jar Binks level annoyance. Terrible addition to the show, I dont know what they were thinking. Last season WAS awful, but thankfully they pulled up out ot the nosedive and this season was much better. They ended on a much better note than they would have at the end of season 8. I wasnt a big fan of the "Nard Dog" either LOL

    It was a pretty classic show though. Love all the pranks over the years. And of course, Dwight. :D

    Nice post to celebrate the end of it!

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    1. Nard Dog and Tate are some of the worst things I've ever seen. When they had that fight over who is going to be the manager I was hoping they will kill each other and we will be forever free of that awfulness :P

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  4. Well, I've never seen The Office, but I feel like I should. Maybe this is the time? I love Steve Carell, too bad he left the cast. Why did he do that? Nice post, Sati.

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    1. I think he was just tired, especially how he was on the show for 7 years and he wanted to do more acting in films :) The show is very amusing, definitely worth watching!

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  5. This was a very cool post. I've actually been thinking about it for days after I read it.

    I wasn't the most ardent fan of the show, but probably watched three-quarters of it. Steve Carell was flawless as Michael Scott. I actually got slightly choked up when he showed up at the end. Must be my allergies.

    My God, Creed was funny during the finale. Do you even have a matress?

    Oh, well. I'm rambling.
    Great post!

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    1. Thank you! Michael Scott is definitely one of the most legendary TV characters.

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  6. Very nice tribute, Sati. I made an effort to watch last week's finale as it aired -- the first time I think I ever saw it live. It wasn't the best finale, but it was a good one, and it left the show on a high note. Nice to see a lot of loose ends wrapped up, and I was glad that they managed to get Michael back one more time. Even with its subpar quality in the last couple seasons, I'm sad to see it go.

    But hey, at least we still have Parks & Rec to look forward to!

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    1. Thank you! Yeah, Parks and Rec is definitely something to look forward to, with Ron becoming a daddy it's going to be a hilarious season.

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  7. I'm about to sound like a doofus but I've never (and I doran never) have seen an episode. But I've heard so much about it!

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