Quit while you're ahead. That sound advice is rarely heeded by the television world. In the case of NBC's "The Office," such words of wisdom were thoroughly ignored after the show's star, Steve Carell, left last season. Instead, the series has plodded onward without its iconic lead. The result has been the steep, steady decline of a once brilliant comedy series into a sad, painful half hour of television.
This year, "The Office" entered its eighth season, and despite lacking Carrell's character, Michael Scott, it has managed to maintain decent ratings with an average of roughly six million viewers per episode, down from 7.7 million last year. Sadly, these numbers have nothing to do with the quality of the current season: "The Office" has now become one of the most pathetic shows on television. If anything, the ratings only display how devoted fans are to a show that was once great but is now struggling through some crippling creativity issues.
It is understandable, perhaps even expected, for a show to decline in quality after seven seasons on the air. Throw in the loss of a show's lead, and it becomes all the more likely. Examples such as "That '70s Show" (1998−2006) and "Scrubs" (2001−2010) demonstrate the challenges to a sitcom's success after the lead character departs — both shows came to an end one season after their leads departed.
"The Office" is no exception. After Carell left, the quality of the show plummeted. Episodes became riddled with poor plot lines, lame humor and failed characterizations. Now, "The Office" does not even vaguely resemble the show fans had come to love.
So, what specifically went wrong this season? To start, the characters have all become predictable. While this is the case for most of the cast, Dwight Schrute, (Rainn Wilson) leads this charge, having transformed into an overt caricature of the character he played in the show's initial seasons. The ensemble's actions are no longer surprising, outrageous, or odd; they are formulaic.
For many sitcoms, this might be a manageable change, but "The Office" has always depended on absurd, seemingly unscripted actions to generate humor. For those who don't know, "The Office" is a mockumentary — a sitcom filmed in a documentary fashion, in which the actors don't seem to be acting, but instead are simply being "documented." Now though, Dwight and the rest of the cast clearly act for the camera and perform very rigidly as their characters most likely would, taking away all of the shock humor the mockumentary format relies upon.
Much of this shock humor came from Michael Scott, whose awkward comments or inappropriate jokes always seemed to take the audience by surprise. After Carell's departure, producers set out to fill the void of his antics, bringing in James Spader to play the office's CEO and promoting Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) to the position of manager. With Spader's brilliant performance in season seven's finale as the sharp, intimidating and brash Robert California, the choice initially seemed like a solid one.
Unfortunately, the decision turned out to be a major flop. After a half season of development, Spader's character transformed into an overly annoying and creepy addition to the cast, spoiling his clever, daunting guest appearance last season.
As for Andy, his promotion turned him into a pathetic and far too serious character, doing away with the goofy a cappella singer that once amused fans.
When it comes to the fan−favorite couple, Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer), the pair's capers still turn a smile here and there. Unfortunately, with Fischer's real−life pregnancy forcing her to go on leave this season and Jim growing into his role as a father and out of his role as a prankster, the couple does not command the audience attention it used to.
The result of these cast changes and character underdevelopments is a show void of true direction. Most episodes seem unconcerned with plot arcs, failing to elicit a single chuckle. The deadpan humor from which "The Office" was born is long gone, replaced by cheap comedy worthy of some failed midseason replacement sitcom.
Lamentably, watching "The Office" has become more of a chore than anything else. Many fans continue to tune in because they have done so for seven years and giving up on a show once loved so dearly is not all that easy. Yet it is a sacrifice that needs to be made to save the good memories fans have before they are replaced by dreadful moments from the current season.
The sad part, of course, is that NBC will most likely bring "The Office" back next year, as it still ranks among the network's highest rated shows. If only NBC could part with its ratings to salvage "The Office's" reputation before things get any worse. Then again, looking at the show's quality, there really isn't much left to salvage.
