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Andy Sullivan: Against The Grain

The television show The Office closes its doors Thursday night after nine seasons. Most fans (me included) think the show should’ve ended after the seventh season (the final for star Steve Carrell). He was not the only loss.  The show lost a lot of their writing talent (as has been evident to viewers the last few years).  Executive producer Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby on the show, left to focus on the once-planned Office spinoff The Farm.  From what I hear, that idea barely got off the ground, and was soon eliminated.  Mindy Kaling, who played Kelly Kapoor on the show, had the vision to jump off the sinking ship to focus on her own show; the FOX hit The Mindy Project.
Why is there a consensus that the show should’ve ended a couple of years ago? While I do understand the desire to continue after your star leaves as sort of a “We can still do a good show” sentiment, the immediate James Spader as new boss Robert California venture was just dreadful. After those episodes, the few that I could watch, I was left shaking my head at how bad it had become. 
After that train wreck of a season, the finale and ensuing next season premiere centered around the identity of the new boss.  I was a fan of their choice of making Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard character the new boss.  Here was one guy as hapless as Michael Scott. I was not really a fan of the short time that Rainn Wilson’s character Dwight K. Schrute was boss.  As funny and absurd as the character was as a worker, he seemed to be written as a more sinister boss.
Over these nine seasons, there are several scenes that stand out to me.  I’ll include a couple at the end of this piece so you can enjoy.  The Jim and Pam saga: how can you not be reeled in by their love story over these past nine years-from awkward flirt, to dating, marriage and parenthood?  Where is that kid, anyway? That was a slippery slope, adding a baby. Remember when Nicky and Alex were born on Full House? How about the baby on Mad About You? Those shows didn’t last much longer after those additions.
Other favorite episodes of mine include anytime Andy Bernard sang, be it solo or with his a cappella group Here Comes Treble.  My all-time favorite, though, is the season three episode The Return.  The scene is: the office is very quiet with everyone working.  All of the sudden, Andy starts singing the Cranberries’ 1994 hit “Zombie”.  My second favorite episode was when Andy couldn’t find his phone and his ringtone, “Rockin’ Robin”, kept going off.  Andy (who always called Jim “Big Tuna”) said “Um, Large Tuna, have you seen my cell phone device? Someone is calling right now”.  And I cannot forget Michael Scott’s iconic “That’s What She Said” line.
This Thursday May 16, there is a one hour retrospect (7 pm) followed by the one hour finale.  I’m surprised that the only cast member on any talk show to promote the finale has been John Krasinski, who was on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last week.  Most of the cast has been getting movie roles the past few years, which speaks to what the show has done to elevate careers.  There is always speculation as to how a cast will do once their show ends.  I bet this ensemble will do just fine.
As promised, the links to two of my favorite Office clips of the past 9 seasons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hry1SZTFjts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYtiowolctQ

Hello, my name is Andy Sullivan. I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in May 2009. I began writing for Beech Tree News in July 2009.  I enjoy playing guitar, the occasional Wii game, writing, and listening to music. I write a sports blog that can be found at http://andyuk79.tumblr.com
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