Dwight Schrute for President! The Office Sidekick is the Man for the Job!

How could we NOT love Dwight Schrute, the 'anti-Jim' on that wonderful British import comedy "The Office"? Ricky Gervais brought another comedic winner across the pond with this show, which just now finished its second season in its American form, after the original British "The Office" was a resounding success in England. (You may know Gervais from his HBO semi-hit - at least I love it - "Extras", about a group of misfit English actors accepting of their lot as movie and television extras only. Gervais is the 'star' of a show about people who are not stars and most likely never will be. Short, pudgy, with dark hair and a hangdog face: now you remember him!)

For those of you who may not have had the pleasure of watching Dwight Schrute every Thursday night, he is the scene-stealing ensemble cast member of this situation comedy, which takes place in - yes! - a 'typical' office. I love this show; this, plus Fox's "House", constitute my two television 'guilty pleasures'. Steve Carrell, whose "Bruce Almighty" film is set to be released this summer and the star of "The Forty Year Old Virgin", has found the character he was born to play: Michael, the district manager of the Dunder Mifflin paper company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Michael oversees a group of brilliantly cast 'office workers'. There is at least one, if not more, of these characters who ring true to home, someone very much like a person we've worked with, whether in an actual office setting or not. We have the star-crossed lovers, Pam and Jim; we have the 'creepy old guy', Creed, about whom very little is really known (other than the fact that he really is creepy) by both his co-workers and the audience.

There's Karen, the (former) flame of Jim who is apparently set to take on a management position in New York next season and who was (again apparently, in the season finale) dumped by Jim. There's Carlos, the handsome, gay man who is constantly awestruck by just how incredibly stupid and insensitive his fellow workers can be to a gay person; there's Andy, fresh off his company-mandated anger management course but may be soon falling off the wagon. (Could it be because he was left to float along a Scranton river while dressed in a Sumo wrestler suit?

Could it be because that bitchy Angela refused to let anyone know that he was, in fact, haplessly 'rolling down the river' while no one else missed him?) God help the poor, long-suffering H.R. guy - Michael hates him and doesn't even try to cover his feelings.

When the entire office group went on their annual 'beach day' outing, he was told by Michael that he needed to stay behind to keep an eye on the office. There's the 'fat guy' in Accounting who is probably just inches away from being more creepy than Creed. There's Kelly, the Indian-American 'princess' who is madly smitten with the now-permanent 'temp guy' and just can't seem to keep her emotions from pouring out, no matter what the time or place.

Poor 'Temp Guy': in an earlier episode, he did say that he would rather shoot himself than be a full-time employee of Dunder-Mifflin - and here he is! Not only does he have to deal with the idiocy that is Michael, he also is involved in a love/hate/hate relationship with the pushy, aggressive Kelly. There's the pleasantly overweight lady who just married the man of her dreams this season - a good-natured, equally weight-challenged plumbing contractor. (Were you there for their wedding? Was Michael's meltdown just a bit too much outrageous?

Who DOES that sort of thing, anyway? At least we found out a little bit about Michael's boyhood: tartish mother who let her son be mentally and emotionally abused by her husband(s). The picture of a young Michael, having wet his pants as he was about to walk the rings down the aisle, was one that I'd rather soon forget.) There's the way-past-middle-aged redheaded woman whose sex drive is apparently in overdrive. (She flashed Michael at last season's Christmas party, and apparently has a really, really hard time remembering to wear underwear.) Have I left anyone out?

Yes, that SECOND set of 'star crossed' lovers, Dwight Schrute and his Angela! Angela is the perfect foil - and the perfect match - for Dwight. (News flash: His campaign slogan will now be "I like Dwight!" - or has that been used before?). Angela, the Ice Princess, with the platinum hair and steely heart to match, is in awe of her man. While she is prim and proper enough to never display her affection - or frankly, any emotions at all - within the work place, occasionally the two of them will exchange long, lusty glances across the crowded room. Sometimes, they'll deliberately bump into the other, or meet up in the coffee/lunch room. That's where they were discovered in a heated embrace and long, really long, kiss by Jim one day, when they thought the rest of "The Office" had left for the day. So far, Jim hasn't mentioned the little secret that he knows with any one else - at least, so far. Aha - Jim's trump card for future use!

There's a Dwight Schrute in every office, in every meeting, in pretty much every one of life's situations. He's the guy who at first glance appears to be physically really unattractive, until you take a second, longer look: Hey, if he didn't part his hair down the middle, if he got different eye glass frames, if he would smile once in a while, if he got his teeth fixed and whitened, if he had a new wardrobe stylist, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't look like the walking, talking Webster's dictionary definition of "Nerd". We could say that Dwight is a closet narcissist.

He really has the utmost respect for his own self, his thoughts, opinions - all are absolutely, unswervingly correct in his mind. (Of course, they are still subject to Michael's approval, tacit or otherwise. When Michael does bring the DwightMan down to earth with a look or caustic remark - and he does this on a fairly regular basis - Dwight is crushed, literally and figuratively. His shoulders sag, his face droops just a little bit more, his brows give way to a furrow.) Dwight is one of those people who will tell you, usually without any prompting, that he is always right because he has done his homework. Stupid, he ain't. He is a wellspring of minute, often meaningless information which, like cream in a cup of coffee, rises to the top. While he does beg for Michael's approval - after all, for some unknown reason, Dwight does worship at the altar of Michael - he has no fear whatsoever about taking anyone else on.

But there's a softer side to Dwight that we rarely see. In one touching episode's end, Pam is shown seated in a small hallway, crying over what seems to be the loss of her Jim. Dwight happens upon her by accident. He sits down besides her, and takes off his sweater to drape around her shoulders. He holds her hand in an awkward attempt to comfort her (she's still crying here, folks). Not knowing exactly what to do next, he blurts out the first thought that comes to his mind: is Pam suffering from PMS? Is it that time of the month? But Dwight's intentions are truly good-hearted; he has had his differences in the past with Pam (mostly over her willingness to partner with Jim in an ongoing series of pranks on Dwight) - but when he sees her in need, suffering, he reaches out to her wholeheartedly, as best as he can.

Dwight and Angela would be the perfect President and First Lady in a world created by chaos. Dwight fancies himself to be a leader, a commander of the troops at the office (which often involves numerous silly meetings - remember his lengthy discourse on where trees come from?). He is desperate to be Michael's right hand man, even though that honor has gone to Jim. (Jim is, in this Chaos world, a Democrat to Dwight's fervent Republican state of mind.) He's just waiting, waiting patiently, for just the right opportunity to come along. It nearly did, in this season's series finale, when Michael was up for a promotion at corporate and named Dwight as his successor. (Unfortunately, the heir apparent to Michael's throne had another setback when Michael withdrew his name for the job - he would be replacing Jan, his feisty, seemingly crazed by hormonal issues girlfriend.)

So Dwight will have to wait at least another season to be elected President of the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Angela has another year of waiting covertly in the wings - averting all contact with her office lover because of 'how it would look'. (Apparently, from past episodes, when the two lovers do manage to get their time in alone, it is quite satisfying - ha! - for them both.)

I say it's time that we recognize Dwight Schrute for the person that he is (or at least thinks he is): a man of honor, a man of integrity, a brilliant strategist whose only downfall could be at the hands of - Jim! Dwight Schrute for President, anyone? He's already got my vote!