NBC’s The Office will be bidding viewers adieu this year. The upcoming ninth season of the show will be its final one. It will most likely continue to enjoy a steady run on syndication, along with possibly a spin-off show ‘The Farm’ starring Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Shrute, but new episodes about the employees at Dundler Mifflin will be no more.
The Office was – well, kind of still is – one of the few shows I’ve been a loyal viewer to. Right from the start I began watching. I was pretty skeptical about this Americanized version of Ricky Gervais’ The Office (which I love), but I gave Steve Carrell and company a chance and the show was actually pretty good.
Naturally a show that’s been on for so long the quality can fluctuate from season to season and episode to episode. I thought it maintained a pretty steady streak going, until Carrell left the show. With his absence the show hasn’t found a steady footing since.
I’m not alone with this assessment. The problems of a Carrell-less Office has been the topic of countless articles and criticisms ever since. It seemed that was the only thing people talked about regarding the show. I kept watching out of some bizarre loyalty, even though the show rarely even gave me a chuckle.
Now looking back The Office probably should of ended when Carrell left. That probably would have been the best way to leave the air instead of just drifting aimlessly, trying to get a comedy foothold with the characters and dynamics that the show was left with. That’s something that really hasn’t happened.
So I’m not at all surprised this will be The Office’s final year. I’ll watch this final season just because…well I stuck with it this long so I might as well see this through to the end.
I hope it will at least give me some last laughs….
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