Ed Helms becomes Office regular
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 | 132 comments
From Yahoo News:
Ed Helms is becoming a permanent fixture around “The Office.”
The actor, who has had a recurring role on the NBC comedy series, has been upped to a regular.
Link: Helms gets promotion at “Office”
Tipster: TWOP
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I like this quote – I think it sums it up nicely. I took this off of the EW boards someone linked to below…
“I hate Andy. He is the opposite of everything that makes the show good. I agree with everyone below who said the majority of what was entertaining about him was knowing he’d be gone soon and we’d get to watch it. I don’t care if he comes back as a mellow new-age hippie or even as the same personality he was before, Ed Helms can’t do subtle! Subtle is what makes this show. No matter what form Andy comes back as, as long as Ed Helms plays him, he’ll be front and center in the spotlight. I actually like Ed Helms, but I think he works better where obvious humor is needed. On a show like this, he sticks out like a sore thumb against the nuanced subtlety that the show is good for or, even worse, he’ll drive the humor in the direction of stupid, loud, over-the-top comedy. Either way, nothing good can come of this, and I hope the writers reconsider.”
I’m not so sure about this. I stopped liking Andy when the two branches merged. To me, he was Stanford’s Dwight for Jim to mess with while Dwight wasn’t available. Moving him to Scranton added a second Dwight to the office that was by no means necessary.
Not only does Andy take away from Dwight and the minor characters, he also takes away from Michael. It seems that every time Andy is around, Michael acts normal… and who likes that?
It’s hard to see how Andy could be used as a minor character seeing as how his character is way too prominent and demanding. He’s never been a minor character. At the beginning of Season 3 it was as if the Stanford branch had their own show and Scranton had theirs. Andy was a main character for the Stanford branch… not minor.
I don’t really think Andy being a full time character could be too good for the future of the show. To be honest, I didn’t even notice that he was gone during the ‘Ben Franklin’ episode and I really wasn’t bothered by it when I did eventually notice.
Karen will be gone eventually. It’s a given (at least it should be). Her personality is virtualy non-existent and to add any quirky traits to her character would be way too unnatural for us fans to cope with. Keeping her as she is and making her a regular would just be boring and pointless seeing as her only role is to interfere with Jim and Pam.
Bottom line. Ed Helms’ character is annoying and completely unnecessary. It adds a sense of unrest to the show that it really doesn’t need and brings the show down a level from intelligent humor to everyday humor. Getting rid of him two weeks ago was a relief… finding out that he’s been signed on as a regular is a bit of let down, but I’m all for seeing what they do with his character in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an overly forgiving Andy in the future… that might work.
I think it was in “The Carpet”. Michael took Jim’s desk, so Jim went to the back. The open desk was next to Kelly, and she told Jim that Toby used to sit there, until he got allergic. Jim said, “to the desk?”, and Kelly responded, “weird.”. At least that’s how I remember it.
I would like to believe that the creators of this show and the writers would resist changing the feel of the show. Aren’t Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are still in the picture, and acting as consultants, so I would *assume* that they have input and would maintain the original feel of the show.
I’ve always loved Ed Helms, so Andy is awesome for me. With more characters comes the opportunity to explore more plot development. We can learn more about some of the characters if need be. Wouldn’t it be fun to see the “home” life of Creed or Angela or Karen?
I think Pam’s going to get into another serious relationship at some point – with Roy or someone else. What about Angela and Roy? That could be fun!! Dwight would LOSE HIS MIND.
I think Andy’s gone for a while for his anger management, so those folks who hate him can be happy during that time.
All of the characters on the show are certainly possible in real life. Thank GOD I’ve not worked with all of them.
Thanks m3k1 for the confirmation of Creed’s duties. I got that from the interview I watched on that hollywoodtv thingy. As for Kelly, didn’t she say that someone used to sit back there with her but they had to move because they were allergic to her perfume or something? THAT is probably the reason that no one sits back there. Poor Toby!!
There’s just no telling what Meredith does. I think it’s been unclear, but GOOD MEMORY for whoever remembered the deal about her birthday card! WOW.
Okay. I need to stop now.
All I have to say is, if Andy is staying on, they better have damn good writing.
It was funny, for a while, but to have a continuing really annoying character, it usually needs to be someone you love to hate. Like…Dwight or Michael. Someone you can see the “softer” side of on occassion.
So, yeah, the writing on this better be good. But I trust the writers.
Wasn’t tonight’s episode — “Ben Franklin” — Andy-free? That’s why it was so good….
Elaine,
If you didn’t like Andy from the beginning, then there’s nothing any of us can do to help. That said…
I personally thought Andy was hi-larious when they were in Stamford. He clearly is capable of functioning in an office environment, and he wasn’t THAT suckuppy with Josh. Yes, he got a bit over the top, but those were Andy-centric episodes. Who wouldn’t call Dwight in a police officer’s uniform over the top? Besides, It’s not like Andy’s going to come back from 15 weeks of anger management and keep acting like that. I’m expecting more of the Andy that argued with Dwight in the elevator scene than the Andy that recorded a 4-part harmony for his ringtone.
As for the controversial ukulele scene, what do you call Dwight and Pam’s song at the bird funeral? It’s the same idea.
Let’s face it, if they didn’t keep bringing in new plot devices and characters, the only continuously running character storyline would be Pam and Jim gazing longingly at each other. After Phyllis’s wedding, and the whole Karen thing dies down (maybe the 4-ep arc that Brian Baumgartner referred to) I’m guessing the next storyline will be Andy’s grand return. And frankly, I can’t wait to see how the writers have him acting then.
This is awesome news! Congrats, Ed!
In case you want to expand the debate to another internet venue, a similar discussion is going on over at the EW.com PopWatch page. They only have a paltry 7 comments on the issue; we should flood the message boards in numbers to show the true gravity of this addition. Haha
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/index.html
Congratulations, Ed Helms…you win.
;)
I’m sure, in time, that we will get to see the “softer side” of Andy Bernard as well. And if he rubs people the wrong way, great! The character is all too real…and I’m sure things will evolve, both his personality and the other Officemates’ attitudes/actions towards him.
This is gonna be awesome. Dwight and Andy are gonna fight ALL the time! Nice call by NBC or whoever is in charge of that stuff. Andy adds a great, new dynamic to the show… even if he is a jerk.
I don’t like Andy. I hope he has a personality change or something. I think his character is a caricature and is too over the top.
Great addition to an already great cast.
Yea, I don’t want The Office going beyond its fresh date. I just also believe it has a few good years in it left.
YAY! Ed Helms is staying! So what if Andy’s a douschbag, Ed Helms fits well with the crew. I’m so excited!
I think it depends on how you view the show and art in general. Some like to feel the comfort of “their show” coming on for several years. Some like the show to be at it’s creative peak when it goes out. The “sell out” phrase makes me think of how sensitive a subject artistic validity is in the music community. There are mix radio stations for those that like to feel comfortable. And there are college stations for those who are always looking for the new exciting thing. I think I fall somewhere in between for television. Part of me wants it to go on for 7 or 8 seasons, knowing that classic episodes will be less frequent, opposed to 4 seasons of mostly classic episodes. Not sure why I feel that way about TV, I am usually a little more picky about other forms of entertainment. I like the excitement of a new episode and watching it with friends every week. Perhaps that is what I will miss the most when the show is over.
Ok, now I am just talking to myself.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but…
The Office is a TV show. It’s entertainment that everyone should just try to enjoy. :)
Thats fine too, Lynda, except that The Office has always had some over the top humor. It’s just how they balance it. I guess where we differ is in what we believe the balance should be.
And I also want to say that while I don’t think The Office is without flaws, I do believe that these flaws were not the result of pressure from above. I just think that the show isn’t infallible, and has made some mistakes.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I found Andy of the merger too much. Even Andy back in Stamford was too much. It just seems like Ed Helms was doing a bit part or a caricature and it rubbed me the wrong way. It was all very one-note.
Also, I hope I’m not giving anyone the impression that if they find Andy funny they’re dumb. I don’t think that at all. There’s a lot of room for that type of humor and I find it funny, too; I just don’t think it has a place in the show because The Office is a different kind of funny than that.