I was wondering what you ...
Question: I was wondering what you thought about
Ed Helms being made a series regular on
The Office. For me,
The Office seems to be a show with split personalities. On one hand, there's the show I really like with Jim, Pam and the assorted cast members. On the other hand there's the show that is way over-the-top with Michael and Dwight, which I don't really enjoy. Helms' Andy character definitely falls into the latter category for me, and I have to admit to being a little disappointed to find that he'll be back at all. True, the back-and-forth between Andy and Dwight was fun for a moment, but in the end he's just a meaner version of Dwight, which makes the existence of both characters redundant. Worse, it shifts the focus of the show further toward the world of Michael and Dwight, and I can certainly do without that.
Answer: An interesting observation.
The Office truly does feel like two different shows with clashing tones, from sly, realistically played comedy that feels uncomfortably but wonderfully real to the manic, rather surreal high jinks of the more broadly played characters. I have gone on record frequently about how Dwight and (to a lesser degree) Michael are my least favorite elements of the show, especially when they're encouraged to go full-tilt crazy. It takes me out of the reality of this office, which I otherwise believe in and in which I'm happily absorbed. Ed Helms obviously belongs to that other, broader
Office, but I mind him less than Rainn Wilson's Dwight (about whom I've softened lately; see my recent
Dispatch) because I find Andy to be a more extreme version of a relatable character: the unctuous suck-up you might find in any office. I love the fact that he overplays his hand so badly that even Michael (who wants to be
everyone's friend) cringes and wishes he would go away. Having Andy be part of the full-time
Office dynamic adds a new layer of comic tension that I'm OK with, although I agree that he's more effective in small doses.
