Make an Argument

Why Greg Daniels should stick a fork in The Office

By Eric Hughes

March 31, 2010

I love that he leaves his suit and tie on during this bit of Afternoon Delight.

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Over a weekend in early March, I visited some friends who live just outside the great city of New York. On Friday night, we met up with other people for dinner and drinks, and on Saturday the friends I was crashing with threw a house party. There was homemade pizza, homemade dip, even homemade wings. I'd eat it every day if there were no consequences.

Anyway, during said house party my friends eventually broke out their Office DVD Game, which I remember being advertised when it was released (2008) but had up until that point not played. It not only encapsulates the first three seasons of The Office, but is a deadly reminder of how good the show used to be as well. Frankly, playing the game now -- The Office will have its sixth season finale in May – is like taking a journey through time. It's downright depressing.

At nearly every turn, clips from the show's earlier episodes were displayed on my friends' big screen, and I couldn't help but want the show I used to love with all my heart to revert back to its glory years: when Jim and Pam were still residing in the "friend zone," when Jan was trying desperately to keep her relationship with Michael a secret and when names like Karen Filippelli and Roy Anderson still meant something.

Fortunately for Greg Daniels, who adapted Ricky Gervais' Office for American audiences, he has a freedom that many showrunners do not have. He, not the network, can "decide" when The Office should kick the bucket. Why? The Office is NBC's highest rated scripted show in adults 18-49 and other important demographics – a miraculous achievement given the show arguably staved off an early exit from broadcast TV through phenomenal home media sales.

If the show performs well, which it is, NBC will keep it. (As evidenced about a month ago when the network picked up The Office for a seventh season). It's that simple.

I have a ton of respect for The Office's talented cast and strong stable of writers. Though I will probably look forward to what most of them get involved with next, I have several bones to pick with the show they've been working on for six seasons now. If I had it my way, The Office would have aired its series finale by now. Here's why:




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Jim and Pam are married. Now what?

Like the original British show that preceded it, The Office has always been about Jim and Pam's relationship. At the start, Jim was in love with a woman engaged to be married and then let slip his true feelings for her. Then Pam canceled her wedding after a surprise kiss from Jim. Then Jim transferred to Dunder Mifflin's Stamford branch and thought he fell for Karen. Then Pam grew jealous of Karen's blossoming romance with Jim. Then Jim applied for a DM corporate job, only to botch the interview after an Office Olympics medal from Pam slipped out from his paperwork. Then Pam and Jim started dating. And so on.


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