The Office: Season 8

[WazzuRC]

Re: The Office: Season 8

This season has been awful, outside of maybe 1 or 2 episodes. Andy Bernard isn't Andy Bernard, he's a poor man's Michael Scott...which is just not funny.

[VDusen04]

Re: The Office: Season 8

This season has been awful, outside of maybe 1 or 2 episodes. Andy Bernard isn't Andy Bernard, he's a poor man's Michael Scott...which is just not funny.

Yup, that's exactly the issue. This isn't Andy Bernard as boss. It's essentially a new character altogether.

[SmashMan]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I don't think it's a new thing that Andy is pretty much a poor man's Michael Scott. They've had him emulating him for years now - going back to when the branches merged and he was mimicking him to gain acceptance. He's just been trending that way more and more since he came back from anger management.

You could say he witnessed how, with other branches in trouble, Michael Scott somehow continued to lead his branch to some form of success (original Stamford merger fail notwithstanding), so Andy is trying to capture that.

...but that is literally me trying to come up with SOME kind of spin to make sense out of it.

[VDusen04]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I don't think it's a new thing that Andy is pretty much a poor man's Michael Scott. They've had him emulating him for years now - going back to when the branches merged and he was mimicking him to gain acceptance. He's just been trending that way more and more since he came back from anger management.

You could say he witnessed how, with other branches in trouble, Michael Scott somehow continued to lead his branch to some form of success (original Stamford merger fail notwithstanding), so Andy is trying to capture that.

...but that is literally me trying to come up with SOME kind of spin to make sense out of it.

Yep, those are valid points, and I'm definitely open to characters growing over time, even if I don't like who they inevitably become. So I guess, maybe I just don't like who Andy has become.

With that said, perhaps my issue isn't that Andy has grown, but that Andy isn't Andy. It almost feels like the new boss of the Office this year is being played by the guy who plays Andy, but it's not actually Andy. In the past, even post-anger management, he was still terribly prone to ridiculous moments where he'd approach the verge of a large scale meltdown. He took things too seriously, he had a habit of being overwhelming and annoying, and he had a lot of bravado in regards to everything from where he went to school to how he was able to woo any lady he wanted.

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I'm just not sure I see the same person anymore and I'm not sure the change we've seen from how ridiculous he was before is believable. For comparison, Jim and Pam have both surely evolved over time, but the base of their characters remain. They're both more outgoing, mature and confident, but all their original intricacies remain. Andy seems to have strayed from all that can be recognized.

[DJ]

Re: The Office: Season 8

This season has been awful, outside of maybe 1 or 2 episodes. Andy Bernard isn't Andy Bernard, he's a poor man's Michael Scott...which is just not funny.

Yep. My wife and I were saying that if the show keeps going this route, they need to just pull the plug and end it now before it gets worse.

I don't think I've laughed more than a couple of times at the last 5 episodes. I stopped watching How I Met Your Mother this season because the show wasn't connecting with me anymore, and I fear The Office is headed the same direction.

[SmashMan]

Re: The Office: Season 8

With that said, perhaps my issue isn't that Andy has grown, but that Andy isn't Andy. It almost feels like the new boss of the Office this year is being played by the guy who plays Andy, but it's not actually Andy. In the past, even post-anger management, he was still terribly prone to ridiculous moments where he'd approach the verge of a large scale meltdown. He took things too seriously, he had a habit of being overwhelming and annoying, and he had a lot of bravado in regards to everything from where he went to school to how he was able to woo any lady he wanted.

I'll agree with that. Maybe his bravado was trying to seem like a "big fish" (but not tuna ) to his new co-workers, but that has lessened since he's now gotten to know them.

...that, or the relationship with Angela totally ****ed him up.

(I definitely agree that his character isn't as consistent as someone like Jim or Pam.)

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I found tonight's episode to be very bad.

[VDusen04]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I found tonight's episode to be very bad.

I remain not a fan of the new characters, but I admit I enjoyed the group meeting a lot. I suppose I'm a sucker for impotency humor. Further, I found the cold open to be solid. Also, nice to see old Andy still exists somewhere in there (regarding anger issues). I didn't even mind the callback to Kelly-Ryan and Pam's outright behavior in that regard. I actually prefer Ryan-Kelly to Erin-Andy.

I feel Nellie and Robert poison every episode.

Elsewise, I thought Creed was pretty funny. As was Gabe's line about Erin likening sex with him to being tackled by a skeleton.

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Office: Season 8

Erin and Andy throwing & smashing things, and not losing their jobs (until Andy said "no" after being warned to stop saying it) didn't make sense to me, I was expecting someone to wake up from a dream sequence. The scene with Andy and Nellie where she refused to give him his office back, and docked his pay... idunno I just didn't like this one.

[VDusen04]

Re: The Office: Season 8

Erin and Andy throwing & smashing things, and not losing their jobs (until Andy said "no" after being warned to stop saying it) didn't make sense to me, I was expecting someone to wake up from a dream sequence. The scene with Andy and Nellie where she refused to give him his office back, and docked his pay... idunno I just didn't like this one.

Nah I respect that. My first thought when Andy's pay began being docked was how I'd likely take her to court in that regard, or something like that. I reasoned the initial retention of Andy after his outburst being that technically, they likely had to pacify him a little to ensure things stayed status quo in regards to Nellie taking over.

To be honest, my expectations this season have likely dropped low enough to the point where I get pumped anytime I actually see something that makes me laugh. This episode had a fair share of legit laughable moments for me.

[Burns11]

Re: The Office: Season 8

Nah I respect that. My first thought when Andy's pay began being docked was how I'd likely take her to court in that regard, or something like that. I reasoned the initial retention of Andy after his outburst being that technically, they likely had to pacify him a little to ensure things stayed status quo in regards to Nellie taking over.

To be honest, my expectations this season have likely dropped low enough to the point where I get pumped anytime I actually see something that makes me laugh. This episode had a fair share of legit laughable moments for me.

It's just too bad they have to keep shoving Spader and Tate on screen, the show can be funny but not with those two. Tate especially, with her being in the office all the time I'm really thinking about not watching it again until she's gone for the first time since it premiered.

[Cabke]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I'm so over this show from a story stand point, so I watched it with those blinders off and actually laughed really hard a few parts. It's time to put this one to bed though.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: The Office: Season 8

It's just too bad they have to keep shoving Spader and Tate on screen, the show can be funny but not with those two. Tate especially, with her being in the office all the time I'm really thinking about not watching it again until she's gone for the first time since it premiered.

I agree. Spader was okay for the first couple of episodes, but Tate is too much. She's not funny. At all. I thought the show was pretty funny when it focused on Dwight and Jim. They're the funniest guys on the show, to me.

[bichettehappens]

Breaks my heart to see how far this show has fallen off. There were a few laugh-worthy moments in last night's episode that make me think they could still reconcile the show next season if they eliminated Spader and Tate but that's just me being overly optimistic I'm afraid. I think they've run out of compelling storyline ideas and have just been relying on shock value and quick laughs to make up for the fact they never found a good way to move on from the Michael Scott era. Speaking of which, I hope he makes a cameo before the season ends. It would be nice to see even a brief check in of how Holly and him are doing.

The warehouse guy who chimed in about "Bryan" in the break room is hilarious though. I don't even know his name but he reminds me of what Creed brings to the show, just those random laughs that are made even funnier by his demeanor. I hope he keeps making these periodic appearances.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: The Office: Season 8

I havent watched since the beginning since I just forgot and then lost my cable. I was never a big fan of Andy before and as a main character meh, Jim/Dwight/Pam are the main characters they should have focused on imo instead of trying to replace Michael. I actually enjoy watching those 3 as they are usually funny and all have somewhat of a story that has been developing for so long.