The Office fans waited with baited breath Thursday night, anxious to watch perhaps the most important milestone to occur in Dunder Mifflin history—who’s the boss? What master of comedy has replaced Steve Carrel in his five-time Emmy nominated role as Michael Scott?
Before the spoiler, let’s backtrack to over a year ago when it was announced by Office executives and Steve Carell himself that he would not be returning to reprise his iconic role. Michael Scott has been a vital and sustaining figure in The Office; how would it be possible for the show to lose one of its keystone characters and continue to churn out comedic material of the same caliber?
Fans and critics alike were skeptical. Michael Scott is the boss that America loved to hate; he helped revolutionize what it means to be a lovable idiot. So, how could anyone—even Carell’s longtime friend and comedic colleague Will Ferrell—attempt to compete with a character that Carell had honed and perfected over the past seven seasons?
Fans’ skeptical reactions may have been less due to Carell’s departure and more due to the fact that Michael leaving is the latest in a series of cast changes and plot conclusions that make fans nervous about the future of The Office. The focus of many episodes in the past two seasons has shifted from main characters like Pam and Jim, to secondary characters like Andy and Erin. This raises the idea that the characters so essential to the first few seasons of the show could be phased out—replaced by a new generation of cast members, similar to shows like Saturday Night Live or Skins.
Fan theories and critic speculation ran like wildfire— would Office executives pick from within the Dunder Mifflin family, or go with a potentially controversial outside hire? The season seven finale was severely lacking in clues, particularly considering the outrageous number of cameos by big-wig comedic actors including Ray Romano and Jim Carrey, and the large number of existing cast members vying for the promotion like Dwight, Andy and Darryl. The limited amount of time each new and old character was allotted for their interview left much to the imagination. How would the search committee decide on a new boss from the extensive pool of candidates?
The season premiere began with Jim’s taunting news that James Spader’s new character, the mysterious and eerily honest Robert California, had been made the new manager. However, fans did not have much time to celebrate the announcement before Jim’s confused monologue about how Robert had driven down to Florida and talked former Sabre CEO Jo Bennett (played by Kathy Bates) out of her own job. And the suspense continued until the camera slowly panned up Michael’s old desk to reveal none other than everybody’s favorite fictional Cornell grad, Andy Bernard, played by Ed Helms as the new manager.
Helms’ comedic credentials run long, from his initiation into the world of comedy as a correspondent on The Daily Show, to his five season run on The Office, to his movie success as Stu in both Hangover installments. Yet despite his history of comedic success both on and off The Office, how would his character, Andy, fare with the added attention and demands of being Dunder Mifflin’s number one?
One episode in, Helms puts his full comedic force into making Andy a hilarious and loved boss. Even though Robert California might label Andy a “loser,” Andy’s promotion comes off as a success. Robert and Andy’s good cop/bad cop battle sets Andy up to be the new beloved boss of The Office. Andy fights for his colleagues respect in a way that’s nostalgically similar to Michael’s blind and often misunderstood love, but with an extra dose of Nard-dog humor. So, maybe for the first time, Andy Bernard will be the best at something — the best boss for Dunder Mifflin, and the best boss for America’s heart.
