SPECIAL COMMENTARY: An Appreciation of "The Office"

The Office, a little sitcom that could, is closing up shop tonight after nine seasons and 201 episodes. The mockumentary about a midsize paper company in Scranton, PA was based on the short-lived British series of the same name starring Ricky Gervais. It premiered to little fanfare as a midseason NBC replacement in the spring of 2005 with Steve Carell in the lead role, best known at the time from The Daily Show and Anchorman. Eight seasons later, it helped make Carell a household name, led to the single-cam comedy explosion in recent years, won an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy Award, made "that's what she said" popular again, created a great TV romance, and gained legions of die-hard fans. Even though the show faltered towards the end and especially after Carell left the show in 2011, it leaves behind a great legacy as a truly excellent comedy series of this generation.

When The Office premiered, Friends had just left NBC the previous season. There were very few single camera sitcoms at the time but The Office helped to change all that. It ushered in an era of sharply written single-camera sitcoms that has mostly been good for TV as some extremely well crafted comedies like Parks and Recreation and Modern Family owe a lot to The Office. The only downside is it seems like multi-camera sitcoms have lost their wit as a result. The Office occasionally had broad moments but at its best, it was a very nuanced sitcom focused on character development and slow-burn stories. The two best examples of that are the evolution of Michael Scott and the romance between Jim and Pam. Partly due to Carell and partly due to the writers, Michael Scott was one of the most layered characters ever. On the surface, he seemed like an irresponsible and immature jerk. But underneath, he just truly wanted people to like him and to be the "world's best boss." With Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer), The Office never took things too fast. It took over a year for Jim to tell Pam his feelings, then another year before they got together. Then over time they were engaged, married, and now the parents of two kids. While the relationship has never been as good as those early years before they got together, it's a great TV love story. And the writers were masterful at developing their relationship as a friendship first so by the time they were married in Niagara Falls as their office mates danced down the aisle, every fan of The Office felt like their own friends were getting married.

The Office also had so many hilarious moments. From Jim's pranks on Dwight to "Prison Mike" to Andy punching the wall to the Dundie Awards to the best episode of the entire series - "Casino Night," it was comedy gold. And those are just naming a few of many. Fans of the show have inside jokes and references that will live far beyond the series. For me personally, this show will always remind me of college. It premiered when I was a senior in high school and hit its stride and had its best episodes during my college years. I will always remember gathering with many friends Thursday nights to watch The Office. Like many long-running sitcoms, it stayed a little too long. Even the last couple years with Carell paled in comparison to its best years and now the show is a shell of what it once was. But tonight I will be making one more Thursday night appointment with the gang from Dunder Mifflin in appreciation of a great TV comedy and a reminder of my wonderful years of college.