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- NBC
- Sep 22, 2011
- NBC
- Sep 22, 2011
Summary Based on the popular British series of the same name, this faster-paced American version follows the daily interactions of a group of idiosyncratic office employees at paper company Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch via a documentary film crew's cameras. Regional manager Michael (Steve Carell) thinks he's the coolest, funniest, best bo...
- NBC
- Sep 22, 2011
- NBC
- Sep 22, 2011
The Office
Season 8
9 Seasons
Season Premiere: Sep 22, 2011
Metascore
Available after 4 critic reviews
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary Based on the popular British series of the same name, this faster-paced American version follows the daily interactions of a group of idiosyncratic office employees at paper company Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch via a documentary film crew's cameras. Regional manager Michael (Steve Carell) thinks he's the coolest, funniest, best bo...
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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9 Seasons
Top Cast
James Spader, as the cryptic new CEO, is better. Everything he says sounds like a parable intended for stupid children. That's how to manage Dunder Mifflin. [15 Nov 2011, p.43]
The show's been just barely treading water.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 176 User Ratings
6.6
55% Positive
97 Ratings
97 Ratings
35% Mixed
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
10% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 176 User Ratings
6.6
55% Positive
97 Ratings
97 Ratings
35% Mixed
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
10% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
The office has been a bit of a disappoint this season. Carrel certainly provided the glue to hold the show together but I am surprised that the cast of strong characters has not kept up the comic delights from other seasons. Has there been a change in the writer's stable? This seems to be an obvious answer. The show just is not funny this year, often resorting to the overly bawdy and slapstick for laughs. Looks like it may be the last season.
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SEASON 8
Writers always step it up. Cast is always stellar. And the new lead Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) works like a charm. The Office can still stand up to any comedy on TV and say " **** you"
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SEASON 8
Comparing to seasons 1-7, this just isnt The Office of old, alot of the comedy, almost most of it left with Steve Carrell, the absence of Michael Scott is very evident, as an overall series this season is good but being The Office this is a very sub-par season
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SEASON 8
I thought it couldn't get any worse but it did. Spader could have very well injected new life into the series with his smarmy presence, but instead most of the heavy lifting is left to Ed Helms who folds under the weight. We all knew he wasn't cut out to be manager so no surprise he utterly fails in the role. It might have been funny if he didn't present himself as just a dumbed-down version of Michael. Apparently, Spader as Robert California was fine with that, as the office pretty much ran on its own anyway, but what wasn't expected was the ugly degree of revenge Andy ultimately enacts on his office workmates after the tumultuous season has him thrown to the curb.
Ed Helms is simply not strong enough to play a lead role. He is best as a third wheel, as in The Hangover. For whatever reason, the showrunner for this season, Paul Lieberstein, aka Toby Flenderson, has decided to run with Ed, supposedly because of his great improv skills. Sure, Ed can play a pretty mean banjo and carry a tune, but his skills are generally relegated to the most awkward gestures and utterly strange facial expressions that make you wonder if he is actually going through some kind of nervous breakdown.
I suppose it is this edginess that Lieberstein found appealing, but we already have Dwight. Do we need someone else like that? Andy was never meant as anything other than a Dwight clone in the Stamford office, there to annoy Jim while he quietly built a relationship with Karen, having decided to leave Pam to Roy. You might remember Jim was actually being groomed at one point for a top job at Dunder-Mifflin, only to be unceremoniously sent back to Scranton when the merger took a weird turn. Andy and Karen came along too. Karen saw where Jim's true affinities lay, and moved on. Andy unfortunately stayed.
Thanks to an auspicious turn of fate, The Hangover was a huge cinematic hit and made Ed Helms a star, even if only third on the billing. That meant he had an audience that NBC hoped would follow him to The Office. His role was greatly beefed up. He essentially became Dwight's nemesis, each trying to curry Michael's favor and compete for Angela's attention. It became a nauseating game of who would grovel the lowest. Admittedly, there were some funny moments, but there clearly wasn't room for both of these clowns at Dunder Mifflin.
Rainn was never in danger, as he is a consummate actor, able to fully inhabit his role. He has so much range that as annoying as Dwight gets, he is a three-dimensional character, and you come to like him despite all his nasty turns. Ed is a one-dimensional actor, a marginal comic and a semi-talented musician. He never rose above cardboard cutout, and should have never been given so much air time. He's no match for Brian Baumgartner, let alone Rainn Wilson.
Yet, he became the new regional manager after Robert talked Jo out of her own job and took over operations of Sabre, although apparently running it out of the conference room at Scranton. Not that the show made a whole lot of sense before, now it made none. Everyone was left to try to figure out what went on in Robert's smarmy mind, while Andy stumbled, fell and ultimately failed as branch manager. It's like Lieberstein and the writers were exacting some kind of revenge against Helms, as they made him debase himself time and again, to the point you no longer had any feeling toward Andy whatsoever.
I suppose in that way, The Office was a little closer to the darkness of the original UK version, but with none of the wit. Andy Bernard was an utterly witless character that made Michael seem like a corporate giant by comparison. It was just painful to watch.
It got even worse when he tried to win back Erin's affection. It was an awkward relationship to begin with. So many embarrassing moments, but for whatever reason Erin still had feelings toward him so this should have been a relatively easy deal. No such luck, which further made me think that Lieberstein really had it out for Helms.
Maybe I'm just imagining this tension on the set, but you could feel it at every turn. Here was an accomplished set of actors having to deal with a wild man, who liked to take scenes and run with them, probably forcing the writers to constantly re-imagine his character. They finally said, okay Ed run with this. You just got yourself fired and you plot your return as an office janitor, only you have a big surprise. David Wallace just bought out Dunder Mifflin and made you regional manager again. What do you do? Well, make an ass of himself of course, which seemed to be the only thing Ed knew how to do.
If these terribly awkward scenes amuse you, then you must have a very low threshold of comedy. Season 9 doesn't get any better.
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SEASON 8
Carrying on without Michael Scott would seem to be impossible, and season 8 - even if a later season may show otherwise- proves this statement is true.
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SEASON 8
