Darryl misses Clippy

Darryl Misses Clippy

I felt a tinge of geek nostalgia last week while watching The Office Season 7 finale, Search Committee.

When Darryl is told that he will need to supply a resume as part of his application for branch manager, he calls customer support: “Yes, there used to be a paper clip that would pop up and say, ‘Looks like you are writing a letter or resume. Would you like help?’ I believe his name was… Clippy.’

For those of you too young to remember, Clippy was a real (albeit annoying) onscreen assistant introduced in Microsoft products in the late 1990s. Dunder Mifflin needs to update its software!

14 comments

  1. I loved this reference! Very funny. But Clippy is gone because DM must have upgraded their software…. ;)

  2. I remember him. I used to switch though to that little red bouncy ball, or the yellow dog. Ha, such a dork.

    [from tanster: the dog! omigod yes, i used to switch to the dog, too. then 30 seconds later, i would turn the whole thing off. ;) ]

  3. OMG thanks for mentioning this Tanster. I so remember the paper clip. So annoying, but in this scene, so funny. More like Darryl needed some Microsoft help as it looked like he had the 2007 version on his computer. ;)

  4. My workplace uses old versions of Office products and Clippy is still very much alive and well in my cubicle every day (until I get annoyed and make him go away). Seeing it on The Office made me smile!

  5. I love Clippy!! He’s just so darn cute. My favorite is when he falls asleep if it’s been a few minutes since any activity. Apparently I work @ DM because I still get to visit with Clippy everyday :)

  6. I used to make Clippy do the animations when I’m bored. Right-click > Animate.

  7. When I heard Darryl say that, I actually yelled out “Ha!” I remember Clippy too. Never really used him for actual help, but I’d click through Clippy’s various “emotions” and facial expressions. Leave it to The Office writers to slip in such a fun little reference!

  8. This segment of the episode was where I laughed the very loudest, because I do remember Clippy. :-) I thought this was hilarious, with Darryl wanting help to set up a resume. Best part of the show for me.

  9. I always used the little computer guy, who if you hadn’t used him in a while, would turn his back to you.

    [from tanster: lol!]

  10. I remember Clippy and the Dog. Both were highly annoying and I used to shut them down immediately. I believe that the Dog even made noise. Yikes!

  11. My previous job was so boring I used to have the cat pop up and would right-click to animate it. The cat would do various things like turn around/meow/lick his paws. I thought Darryl was making up the name Clippy.

  12. I always used the wizard or the dog. I loved that they referenced Clippy!! I also love that so many other people remember him/it(?)

  13. It was hilarious. It’s funny because probably most people didn’t understand the reference. But I totally remember, that Clippy would suddenly come up saying something like, “I see you’re about to write a resume…”

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