So. I finished the Office recently, and I figured I might as well go ahead and review it.
For those who don't know what the Office is, well, neither did I -- until last August, when I started watching it. And I finished it in, like, January, or something. I'm not one of those people who binge-watches television shows for days at a time. No. I have other things I have to do, mostly wasting time doing things that would be even less productive.
Anyway...
the Office is a show that stars Steve Carell as lovable yet idiotic boss Michael Scott, who along with his employees at Dunder Mifflin, a paper company, get involved in several hijinks, office romances, and corporate takeovers.
The Office, I would say, is one of the greatest, funniest shows I've ever seen. At least for seasons 1-7, because seasons 8 and 9... well, let's get to that later. But the Office. Yes. The Office.
The Office is a revolutionary show in it's mockumentary format - the slow close ups, the zooms of the camera, and the talking head bits. This style would later be adapted by other popular shows such as Parks and Rec. And a lot of the Office's humor comes from the simple way it's filmed; it seems real. It's relatable (Until season 8 and 9, which again, I'll get to later).
So, the camerawork is fascinating in it's complex simplicity. But the Office also boasts an impressive cast of lovable main characters and side characters; you have the ever-pranking Jim (John Krasinski), shy receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer), loving boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell), and office weirdo Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson). For other players you have memorable side characters such as Kevin, Angela, Oscar, Kelly, Ryan, and Darryl.
But it's not just the characters and camerawork that make the Office so good, it's also the sheer number of jokes. The series is consistently hilarious, honestly being one of the funniest shows I've seen. Until seasons 8 and 9, which, say it with me, I'll get to later. Also, they did cringe really well. This show practically invented cringe comedy.
So, let's just go over some main points, cause nine seasons worth of review just takes too many brain cells to type, and I just don't have those right now:
For those who don't know what the Office is, well, neither did I -- until last August, when I started watching it. And I finished it in, like, January, or something. I'm not one of those people who binge-watches television shows for days at a time. No. I have other things I have to do, mostly wasting time doing things that would be even less productive.
Anyway...
the Office is a show that stars Steve Carell as lovable yet idiotic boss Michael Scott, who along with his employees at Dunder Mifflin, a paper company, get involved in several hijinks, office romances, and corporate takeovers.
The Office, I would say, is one of the greatest, funniest shows I've ever seen. At least for seasons 1-7, because seasons 8 and 9... well, let's get to that later. But the Office. Yes. The Office.
The Office is a revolutionary show in it's mockumentary format - the slow close ups, the zooms of the camera, and the talking head bits. This style would later be adapted by other popular shows such as Parks and Rec. And a lot of the Office's humor comes from the simple way it's filmed; it seems real. It's relatable (Until season 8 and 9, which again, I'll get to later).
So, the camerawork is fascinating in it's complex simplicity. But the Office also boasts an impressive cast of lovable main characters and side characters; you have the ever-pranking Jim (John Krasinski), shy receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer), loving boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell), and office weirdo Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson). For other players you have memorable side characters such as Kevin, Angela, Oscar, Kelly, Ryan, and Darryl.
But it's not just the characters and camerawork that make the Office so good, it's also the sheer number of jokes. The series is consistently hilarious, honestly being one of the funniest shows I've seen. Until seasons 8 and 9, which, say it with me, I'll get to later. Also, they did cringe really well. This show practically invented cringe comedy.
So, let's just go over some main points, cause nine seasons worth of review just takes too many brain cells to type, and I just don't have those right now:
- The show, like the Simpsons, tried to find itself in season one, eventually getting the groove in season 2
- The show peaks in seasons 2-7
- It really annoys me that BJ Novak is credited as a main character for basically every season, despite having minor appearances in most episodes. This title of main character should've been given to Darryl
- Andy is a good, likable character until seasons 8 and 9
- Everything involving Oscar being gay was really well done and kudos to them for having one of the few openly gay characters in television (When it aired)
- Jim and Pam's relationship is one of my favorite to ever graze the airwaves
- David Wallace, while mostly having minor appearances, is one of the funniest characters in the show
- R.I.P. Kevin's chili
- I really like Erin
- Jan is a terrible person
- I get why Steve Carell is so popular now
- John Krasinski should definitely be Mr. Fantastic in the MCU
- Communism only works on paper
So, with those minor points out of the way, let's talk negatives, because you can only say so many good things without sounding like a broken record.
The first, obvious, glaring issue is season one. It was trying very hard to be Americanized British Office when it aired, and that didn't go well. But, it's not that bad considering it's only six episodes.
No, the biggest issue is season 8 and 9, which is mostly thanks to a couple of reasons, just take your pic. It's all been discussed to death anyway:
- Steve Carell left after season 7, and he was the glue of the show
- Robert California didn't need to be a main character
- Most of the new characters (Nellie, Clark, Pete, Gabe) are forgettable wastes of time, albeit likable wastes of time (Except Gabe)
- They massacred my boy Andy
- That whole thing with Pam having a relation with a mic guy was weird
- The plots become more outlandish and unrelated
- Dwight became Spock in season 3 of Star Trek - just a convenient way to end an episode
And this was a weird spin-off episode |
Now, there are a lot of good things about season 8 and 9 - Andy becoming manager, pitting him against Dwight was good, that whole trip to Florida or whatever was done well, I liked the way they were able to get Jim and Pam off the show, and a lot of season 9 was respectable.
I don't really need to go into a whole lot of detail because it's fairly apparent what's wrong, and if you don't know, wiser people than me have made whole sorts of essays on that..
Personally, this is what I would have done; end on season 7, while incorporating things from later plot arcs into season 7, like Andy and Erin breaking up, the new interns, and Jim starting his own company. Then, I would end it on season 7, with a one-off taking place years later, like the actual finale of the show.
They needed to keep it tighter, basically. They had too much filler in later episodes. But overall, the series was great.
Overall, I would give the series an 9/10: "The Office hits the highest of highs and the middliest of middles, all while packing hilarious banter, suprisingly heartfelt moments, and deep character development into twenty two minutes episodes."
Comments
Post a Comment