Fear. Anger. Sadness. Joy. Disgust. Trust. Anticipation. Surprise. Those are not only the eight basic emotions, according to Robert Plutchik’s theory, but a decent description of our reaction to NBC’s The Office during its nine-season run, which ends tonight. For a solid five or six season stretch, it was one of the best sitcoms on TV (and all-time), before, as happens with too many shows with better ratings than ideas, it became a shell of itself.
“Finale” is going to be an emotional hour for anyone who’s spent the last eight years caring about Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, and the rest of the Dunder-Mifflin gang, so I thought we’d go through each of the eight emotions above, to come to terms with no more The Office. It’s good that it’s going, but it’s sad that it’ll be gone.
Fear…that we won’t see Jenna Fischer, The Office‘s secret MVP, as much as we should. Steve Carell, John Krasinski, and Rainn Wilson get most of the attention, not undeservedly so, but I’d argue that The Office is as much about Pam’s journey from sheepish secretary to confident salesperson as it is anything else. Plus, her speech “Beach Games” is maybe my favorite moment of the entire show.
Anger…that The Office didn’t end with “Goodbye, Michael” (which wasn’t even the season finale).
Sadness…that one of the greatest comedies of all-time is leaving for good.
Joy…thy name is Erin.
Disgust…at what’s happened to Andy Bernard (choosing to remember the good). He never groomed into the second coming of Michael Scott that the writers wanted to be, and by the time they realized, when they attempted to turn him into an all-out monster, it was too late.
Trust…that Creed Bratton will outlive us all.
Anticipation…that Michael Scott’s return will live up to the hype.
Surprise…that no matter how many plot devices named Brian The Office threw at us, I still care about Pam and Jim.
Tonight.
