The Office Season 6: A Bust

Thursday is my favorite day. I had never had a "favorite day" until the last few years. Quite honestly, I used to hate people that said things like "I love Mondays" or "I hate Wednesdays," but I now have my reasons. Thursdays are when I get to watch my favorite Show: The Office . This offshoot of the original English version is the most clever comedy I have ever seen. It doesn't hurt that it embodies my humor perfectly. But sadly enough, the most recent episodes and to a greater extent the new season have proven to illustrate something I hoped would never happen: the downfall of this once genius program.

The Office was once a show of exciting plots, weird (yet hilarious) sexual tension, and subtle genius humor. I have basically found this past season to be a huge bust. Besides the Wedding episode, everything else has been a complete miss. Back in seasons 1-3, we had the great tension and comedy based on Jim and Pam's "no-mance." This served as one of the backbones of this show, while Michael Scott's (portrayed by Steve Carell) character would make one cringe at the television while watching. It was hilarious. I found myself watching these episodes 3 or 4 times in the week they came out. While I might be a "loser," I know plenty of folks that did the same.

Recently, however, The Office seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Besides the one exception ("Niagara" Episode), this season has been quite honestly horrendous. The extreme low has to be "Mafia," where the entire show was based on Michael thinking that an insurance dealer was tied to the mafia somehow. There seem to be a few causes to this downturn. First, Pam and Jim's relationship has caused some problems. When the show was based on their uncertainty and flirtation (despite Pam's engagement to Roy), the storylines were very clever and cute while still being extremely funny). Now, with their marriage and sometimes "uber-love," the show seems to be lacking that extra kick it once had.

It seems that the writers have also hit a wall. Whether it be that a show based on an office can only have a limited number of storylines, or whether some changes behind the scenes altering the show, these changes have not been for the best. Even Angela, who was hilariously the "tight-ass" (as Michael gives her the Dundee for), has now changed. I can not put my hand on exactly what has happened, but her character now does not seem to positively impact the show in any way.

While most things have been negative this year, there are still two bright spots. First...Two Words and one initial: Dwight K. Schrute. Wow this guy is funny! No matter the line or the scene, his delivery (Rainn Wilson) allows the viewer to tie it to the Dwight we have learned to love since the very first episode 5 season ago. Need I say more? In addition, the Niagara episode was the other bright spot. This marked Jim and Pam's wedding, highlighted by the wedding dance that copied the hit youtube amateur original wedding dance footage. Who could resist smiling while seeing creed grab himself while dancing, Dwight kicking a girl in the face, or seeing Oscar dance with Kevin (who is wearing tissue boxes on his feet)? To top it all off, we get to see Jim and Pam's notorious facial expressions after each character does his/her thing.

While this season of The Office has yet to impress, this beloved show has had its moments. Even though these moments seem to be coming less and less each year, the average fan of this show will keep hoping that we'll always have something to look forward to on Thursdays.