The Office - Signs of a Declining Sitcom
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Published 2019-08-03
In this video essay, I explore what made The Office so great in the earlier seasons and what makes it so 'blah' in the later seasons. It still remains pretty good, just not as good as it used to be. And I think you can apply these points to any sitcom.
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MUSIC USED:
Bittersweet Waltz—Sir Cubworth
Fireside—Homage
Man—Rondo Brothers
Sounds Like Death—Surentelly
Ukulele Beach—Doug Maxwell
Gymnopedie No. 1—Erik Satie
Akai—Homage
Jazz Con Cajon—Jimmy Fontanez/Doug Maxwell
Mysteries—Dan Lebowitz
Fresh Fallen Snow—Chris Haugen
The Roaring Twenties—Dimaa
Ace—Homage
Bleeker Street Blues—Chris Haugen
Alley—Homage
Gangsterlove—Alice Francis (Alle Farben Remix)
Resolution—Wayne Jones
This Is A Jazz Space—Midnight North
Homage makes great copyright free music, and this channel wouldn't be the same without him!
"Fireside"
Instrumental by Homage
youtube.com/user/homage253
"Akai"
Instrumental by Homage
• Free 90s Boom Bap Type Beat / Chill O...
"Ace"
Instrumental by Homage
• [FREE] Chill Lofi Old School Beat / B...
"Alley"
Instrumental by Homage
• Free Dark Boom Bap Old School Hip Hop...
All Comments (21)
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"When I grow up i want to have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends and no one can say no to being my friend"
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Creed is the one character I never minded being completely bizarre because no matter where you are you’re gonna have that complete fucknut
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It’s true that Jim is the normal one for the audience to relate to, but Michael is still absolutely the main character for the first 7 seasons. The plot revolves around him.
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I was always perfectly fine with Dwight’s “transformation”. Season 8&9 Dwight is still a weirdo, yes, but he’s more driven rather than all over the place, less gullible, more compassionate, better at reading social situations and interacting with other characters we like. These are things we the audience like to see because it shows character growth while still honoring his core traits.
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Don’t trash Creed Bratton. The last person to do that. Creed Bratton.
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One thing they did do well was build the Jim and Dwight friendship
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"How could Dwight settle for a woman who's so unpleasant?" While Dwight went through some weird characterization in the later seasons, I always felt Angela was a good fit for Dwight with them both being The Office hardasses.
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I think The Office definitely ended later than it should have, but I also think they didn't let it get completely bad before killing it. It never got Simpsons depressing.
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“Can we do this forever, and the answer is... that’s what she said...”
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the scene with kevin shooting hoops was actually just the actor doing it between takes and the camera crew filmed it
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I can't get past how wrong they did Andy and you described it perfectly. Why build him up only to tear him down? In the end he lost Erin and his job. Seems to be the only one without a happy ending.
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I think you're right. They should've installed Dwight as manager after Michael left. The show was based on the office workers reaction to their manager. With Dwight in charge, they could have spun the show 180 degrees for new stories instead of trying to repeat Michael Scott with Andy. The character Robert California never really clicked either. A shame they couldn't hold on to Kathy Bates.
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Michael has a crush on Pam but gets rejected by her so dates her mom for awhile Improvise Adapt Overcome
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That line of Andy: "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good ol'days, before you've actually left them". Hit me so hard.
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To me the decline of a sitcom generally happens when ancillary characters start becoming featured characters and the main characters start becoming ancillary. In the British office the minor characters stayed minor cos it was sposed to be a documentary but the American office gets too far away from documentary and into just straight up sitcom with every office character becoming a cartoon.
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When Dwight was picking up girls easily, it was meant to show that dwight can do it because he's not obsessed with how others perceive him, and he's just unapologetically being himself. Unlike Michael.
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I always took Dwight's success with women being due to his confident in who he is.
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Things that killed The Office: -Andy's botched character development -Nelly -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving -Michael leaving
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as much as i love Erin I genuinely never knew what to make of her the way they wrote her was kind all over the place i never really knew what to make of her
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Ask yourself this question. If there had never been a Michael Scott or the first 7 seasons and the series began with Will Ferrell, would the show be anything worth watching? It only survived the two seasons because of the equity and loyalty it built up with the fans.
