How "The Office" saved my life

             After nine years, 187 episodes and thousands of hilarious moments, The Office is coming to a close tonight. I've read many articles recapping the last nearly-decade of sitcom television, but I thought I'd put my own thoughts on the subject.
       
          The Office is a great show not because of how funny it is, but by how real it is. We KNEW people like Dwight: someone who takes life just a little too seriously. We knew someone like Michael: Someone who means well, but just tries embarrassingly too hard. We were Jim (or Pam): eye-rolling at the ridiculousness around us. The situations felt like real-life; from crushing on someone we knew we couldn't have, to being stuck in moments that we couldn't get out of.

       To many people, the show was about Michael: The boss you rooted for but left you shaking your head after the 3 millionth time he screwed up. His relationship with Jan was hilariously destructive (as shown in Season 4's "Dinner Party) and his many missteps in his search for love (Carol, Donna, Pam's mom, the Benihana girl, etc) contained many great 'Office' moments. When he finally met his soul mate Holly at the end of Season 4, it sparked an awkward and beautiful romance that culminated in his departure (but not before a pitch-perfect proposal in the office annex).

       The reason I came to like the Office was Michael (and, to some extension, Dwight), but I didn't love 'The Office" until I became invested in Jim and Pam. Their relationship in seasons 2-4 was one of the best plot-lines in the history of sitcoms. (right behind Sam and Diane from "Cheers" and Ross and Rachel from "Friends) Their final scene in season 3 is a piece of perfect television (go ahead, click the link)  In a genre where writers consistently break relationships up for the sake of sweeps, their love story is one that actually stayed together. It was one of the few shows that explored relationships AFTER engagements, marriages and pregnancies. The Office celebrated what lesser shows find boring: normalcy.

        Now we can all agree that Season 8 was TERRIBLE (and this is coming from someone who loves "The Love Guru"). But there's a simple answer for that: the writers and show-runners forgot the focal point of the story. That's why Season 9 has been such a warm welcome to the few people left watching. The writers refocused the story back to the important things: relationships. The friendships between co-workers. Reigniting the passion in a marriage that had started to grow apart. The mystery that is Dwight and Angela.  This current season isn't as good as it was 5 years ago, but neither was Friends (stopped being great after Rachel had her baby), Seinfeld (that series finale: terrible) or any show that lasted over 6 seasons.

            A lot of people fell in love with the show in reruns over the course of a couple years on TBS, then switched allegiances based on whatever the channel showed next (Family Guy, Big Bang Theory, etc). Other people stopped watching when something new and funnier came along (Community, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory again, New Girl, etc). For the ones that stayed (or came back after an absence), tonight marks an ending to a milestone in our lives.

           I can safely and surely say that without The Office, I would not be the same person I am today. There are many reasons for why this is true. I've perfected my version of the Jim "face", and it's become one of my go-to's, without realizing it. I also contributed to the popularity of the "That's What She Said" joke, and am partially responsible for it's downfall as well. No, my reasoning stems much deeper than pop culture references.

          When I got to college, I was not a very social person. I didn't know anyone, save for the people I met at the Wesley Foundation. One Thursday night, I got invited to one of the guys apartment to hang out. He turned the TV to NBC, which was showing a marathon of episodes from season 2 of the Office. (If you're curious which episodes, I'm pretty sure it was Office Olympics, The Client, Email Surveillance, and The Injury.) Four episodes in, I had not only found my new favorite TV show, I had found a great set of friends. From then on Thursday night was "Guys Night": A time originally set aside for The Office, which then evolved into guys simply hanging out and becoming family.

       As seasons passed, we still had weekly viewings, but it wasn't the same. Some graduated, and others slowly lost interest. But for 5 years, it was a time where people came together and developed relationships that have lasted...all from a silly half-hour television show.

       The Office was once my favorite show. I'm not going to lie and say it still is, but it's certainly up there. A few comedies have eclipsed it (How I Met Your Mother and New Girl to name a few), but I can only name a few shows that are ingrained in me like the folks from Dunder Mifflin. On Christmas Eve, my tradition is popping in my well-worn Office DVDs and playing the "Christmas Party" and "Benihana Christmas" episodes. It's a comfort watching something you've seen a thousand times and laughing at the familiarity. Most importantly, I'll always remember "The Office" for two reasons: the memorable moments on the screen, and the lasting memories I associate with it.

      "The Office" has defined and influenced many other comedies still on the air. It lives on in its entirety on Netflix, a place people go to find shows and movies they might have missed. My hope is that people who click over to it will watch it and laugh, just like so many did over it's run.After nine seasons of ups and downs, "The Office" finally gets what it deserves: A place among other sitcom classics.