The Office - Signs of a Declining Sitcom

detective... - Guess what I found out about Oscar tonight? - ...but ignores the obvious. - I was lying about being sick! - It's not so funny when Dwight successfully plants a listening device using a decoy. Smart, maybe, but not funny. - I am not crazy. -He still says weird things, he dresses up, everything you'd expect old Dwight to do. - Does this make sense then? -But now he is able to measure behavior and evaluate his relationship with others. So Dwight is stuck in this ambiguous place for half the series. Is he a fool or is he an amazing brain? - Pick a lane, people! - For example, in season six, Dwight exhibits a classic personality by doting on Michael. - (Dwight recording): Hello.

My name is Dwight Schrute. If you're listening to this, you're one lucky woman that Michael has seduced. -Then, two minutes later, she is protecting her own self-interest. - I need to stay in your room. - No way! What if I meet someone? - I'll stay in your... come on! - No! - In the same episode, Dwight wears a wolf shirt to flirt with women. - For howling during sexual relations. - Well. -(HOWLING)-But he's actually sleeping with a beautiful woman. - Okay, get out of here. -Bye bye. - Well! - Mmm, I understand what you're doing.

The joke is that Dwight is dating a hot girl. But he is not attractive, he wears a wolf shirt and has a bad personality. - Are you worried about your horses? That's great. How many horses do you have? - (slurping) - I just don't think Dwight is a secret playboy. - Call me! -UH Huh. I'm not going to call her. -Or at least he's funnier when he's not. - Where is the clitoris? On one website, he said on the crest of his lips. What does that mean? -The impulse to change Dwight shows a lack of faith in the character.

I feel like the writers asked themselves too many questions. How can a grown man idolize someone so pathetic? -(Jim): Why does he do the things he does for Michael? I just don't understand. What does he get out of that relationship? -How can he fall into the same jokes without returning them? How can he settle for such an unpleasant woman? - (SCREAMING) - (CRUNKLING) - But there are people who never change. They live in the city where they were born, marry the first person who loves them, and redouble their idocincratic beliefs. So maturity is not necessarily realistic.

But it's a television show. People are guaranteed resolution and happiness. I just wish he earned it. That's what I love about Michael's final season. He has to learn lessons before he can move forward. He has to accept that he is not a great filmmaker. -He is good. -No, no, he is not. Which he is not. -He has to reconsider the people he idolizes. -I'm not blind, I know exactly who he is! He is selfish, lazy, image obsessed and a bad friend. -And ultimately, he has to let go of the idea that his co-workers are his family. - (Michael): Holly is my family now.

She is my family. And the babies I make with her will be my children. The people you work with are, at the end of the day, your best friends. - In the end, The Office strayed too far from its original premise. These are regular people making the most of a boring job. This is not blue vomit. - (VOMITING) - Oh, God! Oh Lord! - Or lice grenades. Or bike tricks. - (SCREAMS) - (SCREAMS) - This isn't about shooting tranquilizers at a co-worker and sliding them down the stairs. - Squat down. It's like you're taking medicine-- - Dude, the size of my haunches-- - ( CRASH ) - Okay! - A great joke may be funny in a moment, but subtlety lasts forever.

Because we connect with things we can identify with. There's a great scene in the first episode where Jim gets stuck in a conversation with Roy. And they run out of things to talk about. - Yes Yes Yes. - And we have all been in that situation; It is uncomfortable. You don't really want to talk to that person, but it's rude for him to walk away, so they force you to stay. But in season eight, Jim runs away from Robert California to avoid a conversation. - Where's Jim? - It just rolled and crawled away. - Can you call security?

Tell him to keep an eye on him? It's time to resolve this. -He tries to walk away, but they don't allow him. Then he goes up to the roof. And you know, it's funny, but it's not very relatable because I've never climbed onto a roof to avoid a conversation with my boss. That said, even the later seasons deal with

office

-related themes. Combining birthday parties, deciding whether to buy new chairs or a new photocopier, having people jump up and down to take a photo, or building a tower out of customer complaint cards. - (SCREAMS) - Hey, hey, hey, it's just a mistake.

It's just a mistake. That's what this tower is about: mistakes. Okay, if you're afraid of making mistakes, the tower is not for you. Let's get back to work, huh? Come on, are you in? Yes, there we go. Alright, let's do it. - The stakes are low, and that's how it's supposed to be. But in the same episode, Angela hires a guy to break Oscar's kneecaps, so (sigh) that's disappointing. - The analytical part wants to examine it. (LAUGHTER) But I know it has no content. - Everything ends, and at a certain point, you have already seen the best. - It's... it's okay.

Alright, let's quit while we're ahead.