As much as I disliked Season 6 of The Office, in retrospect it was better than Season 8. Before the season began, we were told that because Michael Scott was no longer around the show was going to focus on the ensemble more. Instead we were fed a steady diet of Andy as the manager and his conflicts with Robert California (James Spadar) as CEO. This dull note was hit repeatedly leading to a series of repetitive episodes where Andy feels inadequate and the staff reassures him. The problem was that Andy has always been a buffoonish character and trying to shoehorn him into the central role didn't work. Couple that with the tiresome Andy/Erin relationship which had been stumbling around for three seasons without any real direction or coherence and we got a giant dose of Andy that no one wanted to see.

While Michael Scott may have been the comedic driver of the show through Season 7, it was the reactions of the rest of the cast, and especially Jim and Pam, which gave the show its emotional resonance. Now, Jim and Pam are given virtually nothing to do and the rest of the characters have been reduced to single note punch lines. John Krasinski should sue over the lack of forward motion for Jim. Jenna Fischer was also neglected this year, but some of that can be ascribed to her real life pregnancy. The treatment of the rest of the cast has been just as thoughtless. Kevin and Erin appear to be competing for some sort of stupidity award in which they barely seem like functional adults. This was especially problematic for Erin given that we were supposed to care about her romantic chances with Andy, but it mostly felt like a teenager mooning over her teacher. Stanley, Oscar and Meredith once again got little to no screen time.

About the only story of any value this year was the trip to Florida to set up the retail outlet for the Sabre tablet. This allowed for some interesting arcs using Jim and Dwight, but unfortunately also introduced us to Nellie (Catherine Tate). It seems obvious that Tate was supposed to take the manager's position, but a scheduling conflict prevented her from joining the show until mid-season. If they had given some thought into her integration into the show it might have worked, but once again no real long-term planning appears to have been done because their solution was to have her walk in one day and take Andy's job just by sitting down in his chair. Ridiculous.

This season failed on many levels and we can only hope that with a new showrunner they might come back stronger next year, but that seems like wishful thinking. As for Season 8, wait until the price drops if you have to have it to complete your collection. Otherwise skip it completely.

I'm still a big fan of the show. From Season 1 on it's been witty and original. But this past season really hurt the program. Someone else said it damaged the legacy and that could be true. Perhaps losing Steve Carell was a big blow? Perhaps the story lines are just played out? Either way, the show just seems to have lost its steam. I heartily recommend anyone who loves intelligent, timely TV programming to pick up any of the prior seasons. Seasons 3-5 are as good as it gets. Season 8....just didn't do it for me. It was OK by most TV standards, but it doesn't live up to The Office as I know it.

I have enjoyed this show for 7 seasons; it was one of my favorites. This season was a rude shock as the quality of the writing has declined so dramatically. Obviously little care has been given to plot or character development. What was once clever humor has given way to predictable slapstick with the "jokes" descending into the gross. It was never funny; sometimes it was sick. Sad what has happened to this once great show. I watched episode after episode in disbelief. I was hoping that the season would really "kick in" eventually with some glimmer of past glory. It never happened. I finally began fast-forwarding and then skipping episodes entirely. Sad.