The Office

[Youth N Asia]

I was initially alright with Michael leaving because I was tired of him. But then it was clear they had no idea what to do without him. Eventually it seemed like they just had a bunch of unused Michael material and it became Andy’s character.

 

[BorneAgain]

Season 8 with Andy as more likable yet still wacky boss wasn't ideal, but the turning him into an unfunny asshole in the next season was infinitely worse.

Honestly I think if you jumped from the end of season 7 to the finale in rewatches, while not a perfection transition, I don't think you're missing terribly much.

 

[Gert]

I actually started watching the show back in June (maybe one of 5 people who hadn't seen the show in 2019), and my coworker who recommended it to me was a big proponent of so much not being able to be on TV in 2019. I'm not totally sure about that because a lot can fall under the guise of comedy.

I think that the last two seasons weren't great, but I really disliked how they made story lines around people doing other pilots or making movies. I didn't like the Andy-Erin-Intern arc from Season 9 because I thought it was such a contrast from how Andy was as a character, especially how he went to go chase Erin in Season 8.

What are some of your favorite episodes or cringe worthy moments that you have a hard time watching? For me as far as cringe; it's Double Date when Michael breaks up with Pam's mom on her birthday!

 

[Youth N Asia]

The biggest cringe for me was the deal where Michael had promised the entire classroom a free ride to college and had to back track it.

 

[Fall of Epic]

The show stared losing me in season 6. The stuff with Michael and Pam's mom showed me that they were running out of ideas and there were too many side characters I just didn't care about. I actually stopped watching and didn't finish the series until after it ended. It's weird because season 5 had the Michael Scott Paper Company, one of the best story arcs in sitcom history.

I gave the post-Michael seasons a rewatch not too long ago and found them more watchable than I remembered (Catherine Tate being a highlight) so I'm meaning to watch the series again starting at 6.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I felt the opposite about Catherine Tate.

 

[Brocklock]

I thought Catherine Tate was awful in Season 8, but I liked her in Season 9 when they made her a background character and dialed her way down.

 

[Lord of The Curry]

The biggest cringe for me was the deal where Michael had promised the entire classroom a free ride to college and had to back track it.

Scott's Tots had the best cringe-worthy moment but The Dinner Party was an entire episode of cringe.

Worth a read- https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/that-one-night-the-oral-history-of-the-greatest-office-episode-ever-629472/

 

[Brocklock]

The one episode during the peak years I always find a bit much is when Michael tries to take over the wedding of Phyllis and Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration.

 

[HSJ]

I liked Plop and Clark.

 

[Youth N Asia]

The one episode during the peak years I always find a bit much is when Michael tries to take over the wedding of Phyllis and Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration.

Yeah. You have to really shut your brain off for a lot of the Michael and Dwight stuff. But this didn’t resemble anything remotely realistic. An annoying episode.

 

[geniusMoment]

Will be interesting to see if they agree with the decline in quality of the later seasons:

https://people.com/tv/jenna-fischer-angela-kinsey-podcast-the-office-breaking-down-every-episode/

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://www.earwolf.com/show/office-ladies/?_branch_match_id=696291210661411777

It's up!

 

[KingPK]

I listened to the first two episodes of Office Ladies. I liked it well enough, but their overly cheery NPR host voices don't really sound natural. I know they are probably happy to be doing this, but maybe dial it back just a notch? I also hope they get some of the writers or other actors on with them at some point because those would be fun conversations.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I listened to the first two episodes of Office Ladies. I liked it well enough, but their overly cheery NPR host voices don't really sound natural. I know they are probably happy to be doing this, but maybe dial it back just a notch? I also hope they get some of the writers or other actors on with them at some point because those would be fun conversations.

They said Rainn is on the next episode. So I’m assuming they’ll get various people involved with the series on

 

[BruiserBrody]

I was a big fan of the Pilot pod. I was cleaning the house and ended up listening to it twice in a row, which I never do with pods.

 

[Brocklock]

I'm listening to it now and I quite like the pleasant NPR vibe. It's an easy and breezy listen and both Angela and Jenna have pleasant voices and great enthusiasm.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I just found out about this book scheduled for release tomorrow

https://www.amazon.com/Office-Untold-Greatest-Sitcom-History/dp/1524744972

Has my attention, despite the fact I’ve been really lazy with my reading pile.

 

[SFH]

Been rebinge watching this over the last week. I've stopped with the Pam/Jim wedding to catch up on WWE from last week.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Actress Kat Ahn recalls taking 'racist role' on 'The Office's 'Benihana Christmas' episode

Kat Ahn, a guest star on the "Benihana Christmas" episode of "The Office" in 2006, spoke out about playing a "problematic" role on the NBC sitcom.

www.usatoday.com

#cancelled

 

[909]

That isn't a racist role and reflects more poorly on the characters who acted like that, but it's time to hack that show up now too I guess. The point of the episode is that white people are delusionally racist.

 

[geniusMoment]

Yeah, the entire point was how big of a dbag Michael was being, not a reflection on the waitresses from the restaurant.

 

[Hoff]

To play devil's advocate, there probably are people who don't get that and laughed with Michael and not at him. I'm with you guys; we need to be able to use media to call out and lampoon these kinds of prejudices. But Michael is also a character who had a lot of endearing traits, and he never really got any comeuppance for his behavior in this episode, and no one called him out on it. That also makes a statement about white privilege and societal racism, but I'm not convinced that was the point of the episode. And if it wasn't, then that makes a statement about the people producing the show.

I think television and film should reflect real-world prejudices and it's okay to exaggerate those in the name of satire, and I don't think every such depiction needs a town hall dialogue following it. But as we, as a people, are trying to take a more active role in combating bias, it's important to think of how these depictions will be viewed from every angle and try to make sure there's a strong message behind it.

 

[geniusMoment]

The Office turning Michael from racist, bigoted DBag boss into lovable goof is problematic to me (both because it somewhat normalizes his early season behavior, and because it started the downfall of the show). But, in this particular episode I think it was made very clear that Michael was who you should be laughing at. His behavior all the way through is pretty terrible.

 

[geniusMoment]

Also, the entire comedic style of The Office was to say stuff without actually saying it. They would let you know how "normal" people feel by just a glance from Pam or a smirk from Jim. I get that some people might not pick up stuff like that, but not sure how that is corrected without ruining the show.

If after every time Michael made a joke about Pam's boobs, or Phyliss' looks, or Kevin's weight or how gross Meredith was or a stereotype about Stanley you had to explain how it was wrong and show how Michael got "what was coming to him" you wouldn't have a show. The point was Michael was this ignorant, boorish guy. That was the entire point of the show.

Now, Steve Carrell has said it isn't a show that could be done today. Probably because of what I just mentioned above.

 

[Hoff]

I'll have to rewatch the episode. I think we had a couple glances from Jim at Michael's antics, but not much. Mostly, I remember him consoling Michael about his breakup with Carol. I don't disagree about the show's style of storytelling, but they could be on the nose when they wanted to - the characters were very fallible, had tempers, and did confront each other on occasion. Doing so here could have run the risk of being preachy, but there were options on the table.

I could definitely be wrong about how this particular episode handled Michael's more insensitive antics. Maybe there was a more of that subtle storytelling than I remember. But if it's just a couple camera glances from Jim, and then he explains what a "rebound" is to Michael with no mention of it, that could be taken a certain way, although it probably is in line for Jim's character, who was more go with the flow, especially early.

 

[geniusMoment]

There definitely wasn't more to it than a glance from Jim. But, that was the point. The point was Michael was this ignorant guy, and that in offices all around the country people like Michael and even Todd Packer existed, and got away with stuff because they were rarely confronted or had power.

But, I would argue the heart of the show was that people like Michael (at least how he was portrayed in the early seasons) and Todd were wrong. That the system is broken, and that sometimes there isn't any justice. But, it was all just done with a comedic tone. With a show like The Office you can't just pick out one singular act done by Michael and say, "he wasn't called out for it". You have to look at the overall character.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

The storyline with myself and the other Asian American actress is that we were the uglier versions of the actresses at the Benihana.

I think this is the worst part of the story and lends credence to what she’s saying. This was made to show that “Michael didn’t get with the hot girl and brought home the ugly one”. It felt like the joke was related to assigning value to their looks. That’s pretty sexist.

usually when Michael is superficial with a non-starring white woman on the show, we’re supposed to laugh at him. In the case with these Asian women, their looks were what the writers wanted you to laugh at. It’s hard to not notice it.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

And for those of you who think I’m reading too much into it:

The actresses who played the women that Andy and Michael bring back to the office were different from the actresses who played the waitresses in the Benihana restaurant. According to the show's prop master, this was because Andy and Michael failed to pick up the original waitresses, and settled for "less attractive ones".[6] However, at Paley Fest 2007, Greg Daniels admitted that the women they cast were "too good-looking", which led to the joke failing since the original script specifically called for Andy and Michael's dates to be unattractive.[6]

These guys pretty much admitted it.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Also you could say the point of the guest star was to point out the racism of the characters, but it is frustrating for Asian people to see one of the few times someone like them appears on the show to be used for a racist punchline.

and I’m not one to want to cancel shows over stuff like this, or the writers. I’m not out for blood. But I think it’s a good thing people are talking about it. I can understand peoples hesitance in wanting to acknowledge and grow over this stuff though with the social media mob around the corner.