"The Office": A Pre-7th Season Catch-Up

The quirkiness and dysfunction of the Dunder Mifflin Company's Scranton branch continues in the seventh season of NBC's award winning comedy series "The Office." In case you weren't paying attention, much has happened over the past six seasons. Here is brief summary of some of the goings-on that have brought the characters to where they are today.

Michael Scott, "That's what she said."

He can be described as awkward, emotional, and inappropriate; yet, he is still loved and holds the reigns in Scranton, even after a brief stint at his own "Michael Scott Paper Company." His romance with his boss Jan Levinson ended as abruptly as her employment and as their romance started. Holly Flax, a "major dork" (in the words of Jim), and HR replacement for Toby Flenderson is his latest interest. Even after being moved miles away to the Nashua branch by David Wallace, Michael continues his affection for Holly. No matter the situation, he still does things the Michael Scott way, even under the control of Dunder Mifflin's new owners Sabre.

Jim dated Karen. Pam was engaged to Roy. Jim is now married to Pam.

Jim Halpert eventually confessed his feelings to Pam Beesly to no avail. As her long standing engagement to now ex-warehouse worker Roy Anderson disintegrated, Jim moved to Stamford and dated salesperson Karen Filippelli. The closing of that branch moved them to Scranton where their relationship proved to be awkward. Pam ultimately announced her feelings for Jim at a company retreat and Karen left and became Regional Manager at Utica. Jim and Pam are now married with a baby girl.

Dwight K Shrute, Andrew Bernard, and Angela Martin.

Andy Bernard is the only remaining employee in Scranton from a Stamford closing. He is a "Cornell Man" recovering from a stint in anger management class. He held a brief engagement with the relationship controlling Angela Martin, but plans ended when it was learned than Dwight, who has been secretly courting her, continued to do so. With the engagement off, and some over-the-top wooing, Andy then lost Erin Hannon (a new employee) to Gabe Lewis from Sabre.

Ryan Howard, climbing up and then down the ladder.

Michael's "man crush," Ryan, earned Jan Levinson's old job, but he misled the shareholders by altering sales through his brainchild, the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website. After his arrest, he returned to the Scranton branch via working at a bowling alley and eventual recruitment by The Michael Scott Paper Company. Upon his return, he continued his love-hate relationship with Kelly Kapoor who quickly Dumped Darryl Philbin at Ryan's request.

The rest of the gang.

• Toby Flenderson left briefly for Costa Rica, but returned much to Michael's surprise and disappointment. As HR is a breeding ground for monsters, Michael says he still does not belong in the company's family, and as he is divorced, he doesn't even belong to his own family.

• Stanley Hudson is still the office's "sassy" black man. He remains the company's most disgruntled employee (except on free pretzel day), and is almost never seen without his crossword puzzle book. Stanley has a serious disliking towards Michael Scott, particularly after he revealed to everyone that he was having an extra-marital affair.

• Phyllis Lapin-Vance married Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration. Michael treated the wedding day as if it were his own, and Pam was quick to note that every aspect of the wedding was a copycat of her past wedding plans with Roy.

• Oscar Martinez and Kevin Malone still crunch numbers in Accounting. Michael inadvertently "out-ed" Oscar as a homosexual which earned Oscar some perks for the inconvenience. Kevin is no longer with Stacy or his band Scrantonicity. He sure to remind everyone he is now with Scrantonicity II.

• Creed Bratton and Meredith Palmer continue their bizarre behavior. He has mistaken the smell of human excrement as someone cooking soup, has no idea what his job title and duties are, and refers to familiar coworkers as "that guy" or "that broad." She, on the other hand, even after surviving a rabies scare and being hit by Michael with his car, is fond of the bottle, and often exposes herself to her peers without warning.