I know a lot of you gave up a long time ago but I still think it's consistently, albeit predictably, funny. It'll go down as better than the British version in my book, just with seasons 3 and 4 alone. The UK Office was only two six-episode seasons and a Christmas special. That's seven hours of TV that Ricky Gervais has been coasting on for his entire career. There's no way that they've could've made 20+ episode seasons like the American version and still be funny after nine years.


http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/08/21/13397657-the-office-to-end-after-season-nine?lite

'The Office' to end after season nine

By Philiana Ng, The Hollywood Reporter

NBC's "The Office" will end after the upcoming ninth season, it was announced on a conference call to reporters on Tuesday.
Executive producer Greg Daniels will return as showrunner for the final year -- taking over from Paul Lieberstein, who is prepping a potential spinoff. Daniels ran the show, still NBC's highest-rated scripted series, for the first five seasons.
"As we head into the home stretch, we have a lot of exciting things I've been wanting to do since season two," Daniel told reporters. "The end should be pretty cool."
Daniels, who was on-set during the call, called it the "last chance" for the crew "to go out" the way he had envisioned, noting that "familiar faces coming back" as well as welcoming new cast members like Jake Lacy and Clark Duke for what may be an "emotional" ending for some.
Photos from THR: Broadcast TV's returning shows 2012-2013
"At some point you have a choice: to always tell the beginnings of stories and the middles or to allow a story to end and I think endings can be very powerful and meaningful pieces of the story," said Daniels, who shared that NBC entertainment president Bob Greenblatt was supportive of the season nine plan. "If we didn't let it end this year, I don't know if we would have been able to tell the endings for so many character that I really want to know the endings for."
The end of "The Office" means a big turning point for NBC as it looks to revamp its scripted lineup. The network is betting big on freshman comedies, picking up seven to series and giving condensed orders for returning half-hours like "Community" and "30 Rock." ("The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" were the only shows to receive 22-episode pickups.) "They may also be crying over lost advertising," Daniels joked. "Hopefully they'll have other things that are working by the end of the year."
The final season will be different from recent seasons, Daniels said, in that it will focus on arcs.

"The real heart of the show are these arcs that allow these characters to have ongoing stories. It's all going to be set up in the premiere," he said. "There's so much to pay off from nine seasons, so many great characters that my biggest concern is just tacking in these great ideas that the writing staff has on the walls and making sure we hit all of them or at least squeeze as many into the ending."
Daniels expressed hope that he would be able to keep big moments top-secret, for the most part. In the era of the Internet, that may well be impossible, something he brought up: "I would like to try to get back to the world where the world is surprised" by the story instead of reading about it three weeks before, he said.
Though most of the main cast of characters will remain on the show, though some (B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling) in diminished capacities, "there are so many story lines to follow now, so many endings to write for different characters, risky things we wouldn't normally do if we knew we were going for a long time," Daniels said. "Now that we have an end date, we can blow up things and take some chances. It's very freeing and creatively ecxiting for the audience."
Photos from THR: Behind the scenes of 'The Office'
Some of those chances include upcoming story lines like Nellie (Catherine Tate) holding a charity drive at the office and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) donating to the Taliban in retaliation and that the identities of the documentary crew will be a big part of season nine. "All questions will be answered this year. We'll see who's behind the documentary and we'll meet some of them," said Daniels.
To bring it full circle, Daniels hopes that Ken Kwapis, who directed the pilot, will helm the final episode.
Does this mean that Steve Carell would return for a swan song as Michael Scott? "We'll see," Daniels said. "We have ideas for the ending and obviously if he would participate, we would have a lot of good times. The idea will fly without him if he can't make it. He is pretty busy."
The news comes after Universal Television, one of the studios behind "The Office," locked up former EP/current "Parks & Rec" showrunner Michael Schur in a new overall deal.

This is good, though. I'm really looking forward to how they wrap things up.

I'll give the last season a shot, just out of loyalty.

It was really just me waiting for the next NBC show to come on.
To be fair I didn't care for 30 rock this season either. I just now finished the season.

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The quality has been really inconsistent the last few years. Hopefully they can get Carell back for a few eps.

but I think its time to wrap it up. So no, I'm not sad.

....it was a great show, and more focused and funnier than this one....and ANYONE who thinks Gervais has been "coasting" off the OG Office, hasn't seen any of his other shows....or has no sense of humor....

the US version is a whole diffent animal and a fantastic show in it's own right....

>....it was a great show, and more focused and funnier than
>this one....and ANYONE who thinks Gervais has been "coasting"
>off the OG Office, hasn't seen any of his other shows....or
>has no sense of humor....
>
>the US version is a whole diffent animal and a fantastic show
>in it's own right....

I wasn't shitting on it, I loved it. I just think the American version is superior. I agree it was more focused because as I mentioned, it only ran for 12 episodes as opposed to 176! If you think the UK version would've lasted that long you're kidding yourself. I've seen nearly everything Gervais has done and I don't think it surpasses The Office. The Invention of Lying. That's the shit I don't like. Extras. That's the shit I don't like. The Ricky Gervais Show. That's the shit I don't like. An Idiot Abroad. That's the shit I don't like. The only thing he's done since The Office that made me laugh my ass off is when he plays Louie's doctor.

...i agree that the OG Office never would have gone the way the US version did or lasted as long....and i haven't seen any of Gervais' movies, but all his shows are funny to me

that's the whole freaking point. british shows don't outstay their welcome.

the us office has been limping along for seasons now.

>that's the whole freaking point. british shows don't outstay
>their welcome.

What about EastEnders?

do better.

>do better.

CAUTION: GOAL POST MOVING IN PROGRESS

For the record, I agree that the US Office shouldnt have lasted this long, but it has, and its actually still pretty good. I dont think the UK Office should be overvalued just because it was on the air for a second and then vanished.

eastenders, dickhead.

jim and Pam getting married, long over due it finally getting cancelled and its sad to say because I've been down for this version since its started.
__________________________________________________________
http://agoonieneversaysdie.wordpress.com <--(film)

are probably hoping a US version of "Luther" comes to NBC starring David Alan Grier

>are probably hoping a US version of "Luther" comes to NBC
>starring David Alan Grier

Only if Alfonso Ribeiro is unavailable

>are probably hoping a US version of "Luther" comes to NBC
>starring David Alan Grier

I still remember the arguments in here. Got me almost as heated as arguments over astrology in GD.

Dude was OK at best on that show. He was in no way prepared to take on the weight of Carrell and the terrible storylines didn't help. I loved this show but when Michael Scott left I could sense the end. Everything that happened involving Andy and Erin last year made me re-think it. There was no direction for basically the whole season. James Spader saved most of it since the supporting actors became worn out. I'll watch season 9 and I'm sure I'll laugh, but the best days are behind us. I mean, that Dundies ep where they were in the Applebees or whatever was hysterical. There were so many great things about this show, but they are nowhere to be found in recent seasons. I'm sad to see it end, but only because of the way they wasted such a good product.



BTW, Erin asking the "bar" for Kirkland soda last season was still one of the funniest things I'd seen on TV all last year.

Don't see how they do the show without him.


**********
"naive as the dry leaves on the ground looking past the trees to the blue sky asking 'why me?'" -Blu

That show will digress majorly w/o him

The Office, Parks & Rec, Community, and 30 Rock are all done after this year, right?
__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

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like someone said, seasons 2-3 are amongst the strongest i've ever seen

4-6 were still pretty damn good. 7 was not, and i didn't watch 8.

they never successfully developed a character after season 4 or so (whenever some of the people left to do parks and rec). andy was ok as a supporting character but was/is a horrible main character. i guess i like erin ok, although only as a receptionist and not as part of a love story.

Just watched the one where Angela wanted to have Oscar whacked (!), it may have been the best episode since season 3, it really did feel like The Office of old. No Andy = good eps.

characters have weird excuses for not being there and new, useless characters appear to fill up time.

I caught a re-run of season 9 of Roseanne lately and the only people in the episode were Rosanne, Dan (who was barely there that season), DJ, and his girlfriend. It had a preposterous plot involving Dan's mother trying to kill him.

That is what the office feels like right now.

As long as the arcs are focused on the employees and not on the bosses and Andy/Erin, I'm cool with it. I don't mind the new characters, at least they aren't annoying like Gabe. I'm so glad that dude is gone.

They'll reveal more on the documentary crew as the season goes on. Hope it finishes on a good note.

>characters have weird excuses for not being there and new,
>useless characters appear to fill up time.

smh

It was at least pretty watchable when he was gone, ugh.

So I guess last night's episode was supposed to be the jumping off point for the Dwight spin-off NBC didn't pick up. Thank God. Dwight's brother, sister, and nephew seemed like really one dimensional characters

just the shotgun

Cut down and repurposed, but that was the pilot they had shot. NBC wisely said NOPE. but that's why the episode felt like 2 totally different shows.

but it really did feel like they were introducing all these new characters out of nowhere. now i get it. glad it didn't happen but not a bad use of the episode.

it was good while it lasted. got a little better. but hey, how much can you do?

I think the show should've ended when Michael left.

The Office is one of my favorite shows of all time. I feel like it's been ruined. Ugh.

It's like the current writers are offering viewers a show that they HEARD about called "The Office" that they're trying to imitate and interpret.

The Oscar-Angela-Senator storyline was ridiculous to me because the Oscar I know and love would never DATE Angela's husband. I thought that was an out of character move.

Andy is annoying. So is Kevin. The new kids on the block are boring. Jan's appearance was only mildly amusing.

I could go on and on.

It's a totally different show. It's hard for me to accept that I hate watching the show now.

The Jim/Pam/boom guy storyline is the WORST thing ever.

The show should've ended when Michael left. Nothing makes sense without Michael Gary Scott.

I don't think Shoah took that long to make

I just started watching The Office about 3 years ago, and slowly got caught up with it in the middle of season 9. Personally I think they view much better in chunks of 2 or 3 episodes, otherwise they seem to be lacking a lot, and a week (or two!) is way long to have to wait for one of these things.

This show definitely hasn't been as good as it was, but I'm still interested in how the whole documentary angle will wrap up. I'm also looking forward to Michael Scott back for the finale.

It does look they're just going through the motions a bit and wrapping up the romantic story lines of everybody that they can. After last week's episode it looks like Angela and Dwight will end up together, and obviously Jim and Pam will stay together.

The show seems to have run out of steam and it's good that they're ending it now, although I agree that it would have made more sense to end after season 8 (or even earlier). Although, I do like that it didn't just end with Jim and Pam's wedding, since obviously getting married doesn't mean that everything will be fine automatically.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/300qfpi.jpg

*suspending belief* ...this is the last season, so they're willing to forgive past digressions.

**********
"naive as the dry leaves on the ground looking past the trees to the blue sky asking 'why me?'" -Blu

Why I still fuzz with the Lesson
http://open.spotify.com/user/brothersport86/playlist/3DhEhilho77Z0UCPbJlEJf

Jim and Dwight's hijinks were some of the funniest ever. I got a little misty-eyed watching the Jim and Pam montage

Nice throwbacks...gives me hope for the finale.

these last few episodes have been pretty touching, especially Jim finally showing Dwight how much he respects him, and his pranks are more about amusing himself than being mean to Dwight



<================================
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd494/raysnill1/2012falcons.jpg

Aight.

______________________________________________________________________________
Voila, Magic.

dont act brand new

dwight "driving" the party boat
"Jim told me you can buy gaydar online"

and it's a really stark difference coming from the current eps........but they turned Kevin into Forest Gump. i mean he was never swift, if you will.....but he wasn't fucking retarded in the beginning either.

my main problem with Kevin from S3 on is they literally turned him into a disabled person. Gervais and Merchant had that character down pat (monotone, seemingly slow but actually very comfortable with himself and confident).

and they rebooted Andy about three times, from delusional asshole (the best version), to bitch, to Michael Scott 2.0.

Beginning of the end of that certain level of quality.

is an all-time series moment. "some places won't make it for you...I guess because eggnog is seasonal."

after anger management, the writers had him date a high schooler. wtf.

pretty much the best series finale i've ever seen to any show. wrapped it up perfectly. creed mysteries solved, erin finds her parents, dwight and angela, ryan and kelly, the michael scott cameo (thought they were serious about him not coming back, but as soon as jim started talking about an older best man, i was like "YES!"), one last "that's what she said" (and a great one), and i definitely got a little something in my eye at the creed song/talking heads montage at the end. wish we would've gotten one last michael/toby scene, but i thought it was fitting/classy the way steve carrell played the back. it was the steve carrell show, and it struggled (predictably) without him, but in the end the office was bigger than him and the finale reflected that. man, that was great.

just off the top of my head.

pretty corny at parts.

granted, I haven't seen any complete season of the show past season 1 (I'm terrible at TV schedules, and haven't carved the time into my schedule since jumping to Netflix/Hulu) but the last episode felt more like a finale, with this as an epilogue.

The Erin moment was pretty good if schmaltzy, though.


~~~~~~~~~
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Nice series wrap-up. Most of it reminded me of the characters I once knew (although, again, for those of you who last week said I was "acting brand new" regarding Dwight: so you mean to tell me that he had no idea that woman at the restaurant was a stripper? Like, you mean to tell me that he actually went THAT long without realizing it? Ok), and sure, the Kelly/Ryan subplot was shoehorned in, but fine, they deserved to have their story wrap just as much as anyone else, I suppose.

As far as Michael goes, yeah, his cameo felt rushed, on some "You only got me for half a day" shit, but in the end his brief appearance was (somewhat) appropriate. The only missing element was Holly.

Did not know that 4 of the actors had producer credits. Hmm. Interesting.

And I'll repeat, I'm sorry, but dumb-ass Kevin makes me laugh.

So, yeah, super finale. Didn't make me regret skipping most of the last 2.5 seasons, but yeah, it was very sweet.

___________________________________________________________________________________
A No Rough Stuff Type Deal

I'm 99% sure"

Slapping coffee out of Stanley's hands because he got a fax from the future (from jim in stamford)

beleiving that the CIA was gonna helicopter him off the roof





and the two I mentioned above..


(yeah you acting brand new)

That shit is acceptable in season 2

That ain't "acting brand new," that's "this character hasn't really grown very much in 9 seasons, and he's supposed to be the leader now"

But okay, cool

_________________________________________________________________________________
A No Rough Stuff Type Deal

>That ain't "acting brand new," that's "this character hasn't
>really grown very much in 9 seasons, and he's supposed to be
>the leader now"
>
>But okay, cool

his last monologue about Meridith, Angela, Oscar, Jim & Pam says it all. 2 or 3 years ago would you ever think Dwight would have Jim as his best man? admit Pam was his best friend? admit that he actually liked Kevin? give Jim & Pam severance? sure he's stuck in his ways but that dude evolved and came a long way from the dude we saw in the beginning



<================================
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd494/raysnill1/2012falcons.jpg

I'm sorry that his behavior bumped me in the way it didn't bump you guys

But all of this arguing isn't going to change my stance on it

Sorry

EDIT: Although you actually made my point for me, so thanks for that

__________________________________________________________________________________
A No Rough Stuff Type Deal

smart and stupid throughout the whole show. stop it.

The previous two eps felt more like a fitting end (both great episodes too imo), and this actual finale felt more like a victory lap. It was a bit too cheesy and self-referential at times, and the open forum bit kind of dragged. And let's face it, after Parks & Rec, you can't watch any open forum scene of any show and not get disappointed.

The Carell cameo was cool. Loved that cake scene at the start. All in all it wrapped things up quite nicely I suppose, but I'm pretty indifferent about the episode. Them sitting at a bar and watching the first episode together would've made a better & more subtle ending imo.

...and obviously this finale doesn't touch the UK Christmas Specials in any way or form.

<================================
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd494/raysnill1/2012falcons.jpg

So was the retrospective too for that matter.

Great finale, awesome to see Michael Scott one last time, and awesome that the AthLeap thing worked out because I don't think anyone wanted to see Pam go out like a shrill person.

It was simple and they didn't over think it adding craziness or weird jumps.

It's not the best finale ever (30 rocks was better this year even)

but it was a nice way to simply wrap up a show that for the most part was always simple in nature.

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

http://imgur.com/NPcJsXT

question about whether he owned a mattress was priceless.