These Scathing Critiques Prove Not Everyone Loves The Office
"The Office," a beloved and widely known mockumentary-style sitcom, was developed by Greg Daniels and is based on the British sitcom of the same name, which starred Ricky Gervais. The American version follows the employees of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, in Scranton, Pennsylvania as they deal with the mundane everyday tasks of the job, navigate relationships (often with each other), and interact with Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the mostly well-meaning regional manager who nonetheless often behaves in an extremely ignorant manner. The ensemble cast also includes John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Oscar Nuñez, Leslie David Baker, and Phyllis Smith.
"The Office" has remained beloved and, thanks to streaming services, immensely popular since it came to an end in 2013 after nine seasons — Looper, for one, named it one of the most rewatchable sitcoms of all time. It is also frequently cited as one of the best sitcoms of all time, as its many Emmy nominations (42 nods to be exact) also reflect.
Despite the accolades and fan popularity, "The Office" still isn't everyone's cup of tea. In fact, there are plenty of TV watchers out there who have some harsh words to say about everyone's favorite cringeworthy mockumentary series. Here are a few issues non-fans have with "The Office."
Viewers have a slew of problems with the show — including its fanbase
One detractor of "The Office," u/everykissbeginswK, took to the r/UnpopularOpinion subreddit to lay out a lengthy post explaining why they don't think "The Office" is a very good show. This user's diatribe included complaints about an apparent lack of humor, Michael Scott's overt offensiveness, boring character relationships, and a fanbase that they find a bit too dedicated. On the note of the fanbase, they wrote, "These are the people who make 'The Office' part of their identity and cannot tolerate any different views on the show. Any fan with a shred of honesty can't deny that 'The Office has a really annoying fanbase."
The idea of the fanbase being too overbearing for an average viewer to enjoy the show proved to be a popular opinion amongst TV watchers who don't count themselves as fans of "The Office." Another user, u/msrobot14, noted that fans of the series once aggressively bombarded them with questions about why they don't like "The Office." Also in agreement with the fanbase point, u/Tigga-tigga-tigga wrote, "The constant reference and complete obsession some people have with it has put me off..." Another user, u/BearWar, chimed in to express that they find the fan base unhealthy because of the obsessive nature, especially on Reddit.
Even one of the show's stars, Rainn Wilson, has admitted to having interactions with fans that go a little too far. Wilson told NPR, "What's interesting if you've been on a TV show, is people think they get to touch you. They just come up and touch me. They'll grab my hand or my arm or they'll put their arms around me."
Annoyances with characters also contribute to some viewers' dislike of the show
Alongside the annoyance of the fan base, the original poster also wrote that they take issue with Michael Scott and relationships on the series. U/msrobot14 also was not a fan of a certain regional manager. This user wrote, "Michael Scott is the reason I couldn't get past a single episode of that show. My God. Five minutes and I was like nope." While the user didn't elaborate, it's easy to see why Michael Scott isn't for everyone — he is ignorant, easily distracted from his job, and often offensive. For example, more than a few fans have noted that Michael's racially insensitive remarks on "Diversity Day" didn't age well.
As for relationships that may turn off some viewers, Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) also have quite a few vocal detractors, despite the fact that their relationship represents one of the most popular aspects of the series (via Medium). One Reddit user, u/Curlyyogagirl1, even called their relationship unhealthy, arguing that Jim is too obsessed with Pam before they start dating and that Pam becomes too controlling of Jim after they get together.
In a scathing response, u/nelsonwehaveaproblem agreed, writing, "You'll get no argument from me. I think they're both pretty terrible people. Especially Jim. But in the end, they deserve each other. I hope they'll be perfectly miserable together." Notably, this post also had plenty of fans enthusiastically advocating in favor of the couple, proving how divisive the characters of the show can be (which may ironically lead non-fans back around to the fan-base-is-too-intense argument).