Everybody has their own favorite show. That show that they always tivo and they never miss an episode. For the longest time, that show for me was The Office. Unfortunately, that has changed. I now want it to be cancelled. Now before everybody flips out, I want to make it clear that I don't hate the show or anything. In fact, it was my favorite show for the longest time. Ask anybody that knew me in high school, they'll tell you. But I still thing it's time is up. And I say that in the best way possible. It's essentially the same principle as putting down a sick dog because you don't want to see it suffer any longer. You loved that dog for the longest time, and now is the time for you to let it go. That is how I feel about The Office. Rule of thumb with these kinds of shows is that their number is up when they jump the shark. Well, I think this show has set a record for number of sharks jumped. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, jumping the shark is the point where the writers for a show realize that they are running out of ideas, so they pull whatever crap out of their ass that they can think of in order to keep viewership up. This can be anything from weddings to essential characters leaving, to babies, you name it. Oh wait, the writers for The Office jumped all of those sharks, the first of which was done years ago. Ever since Jim and Pam got married, it has gone down hill from there. Though to be fair, Jim and Pam tying the knot is something that we fans have wanted to see, and we all knew from season 1 that it was going to happen eventually. Honestly, for me, the end was in sight when Steve Carrell left. Now I love Steve Carrell, he's a funny guy, and I actually didn't blame him for wanting to call it quits. He left for the same reason that everybody leaves a show "I have other things I want to do in my career, and this show has just kept me away from my family for too long" that's not a bad reason, and I actually like it when a star chooses to leave for a good reason rather than being fired for going on a cocaine binge and ranting about all of his bosses and costars on the internet, all the while claiming that he is "winning".
Also, not to sound like a conspiracy guy, but I think deep down, Steve knew the show had run its course, and thought that by leaving, the network would be more encouraged to end it. Unfortunately for him (and the rest of us), they didn't end it, and it has down-spiraled ever since. Sure, we have a cool character like Robert California, but he doesn't make up for the lack of Steve. For God sakes, Steve Carrell is the one standing front and center on every DVD cover. I know that they tried to make it more of an ensemble show, rather than just make it about some normal people surviving with a quirky boss, but it just doesn't work out anymore. It has some funny moments, but I honestly think that my life would still be the same if I hadn't seen them. Now I will admit that I have still been watching this season for the sake of hoping that something will come up that will give me enough reason to give a rat's ass... But as of late, it has not come. And I know that I am not alone on this. I know of a few fellow fans that have said the same thing, and even one of the cast members, Rainn Wilson said that they should end it soon. And I believe he actually said that a few years ago. I wonder how he feels now.
