What THE OFFICE Can Teach Us About Family

Now that Thanksgiving's here, I thought you might need this.

In the Before Times (before Covid, before I moved to Italy, before I was an empty nester), I used to work seven days a week as a fitness instructor and personal trainer as well as a writer. I was also a single mom with two teenagers.

I miss those last years of fulltime momming more than I would have ever thought. Teens can be pretty trying. It’s Nature’s way of making it easier for you to let them go.

For so long, it was just me, my son, my daughter, two cats and a goldfish in a tiny two-bedroom apartment that always looked as though a goat exploded. I once found socks in the refrigerator. But that’s the role of family, isn’t it? They drive you nuts, they plunge you into chaos, and they break your heart. And yet, you’d step in front of a runaway train for any of them. The bonds of love are that strong.

My son, who always has a nose for good entertainment, was our resident Office fan. I’d make popcorn, and he’d binge at least two episodes a night before bed. Cringe comedy is the lifeblood of that series, which at the time, made it harder for me to watch. Empaths like Yours Truly have a hard time with cringe comedy because we feel such acute embarrassment for any character making an ass of himself.

This meant it was a good fifteen years after the series’ release date that I finally watched all nine seasons. Then I started from the beginning and watched them over again. I’ve done this five times. As a consumer of entertainment, I was transfixed, but as a storyteller, I found myself taking an unexpected master class in how to write great scenes with unforgettable characters.

We’d never before seen characters like these on network television. Not one of them was a trope. And yet, in the hands of writers like Mindy Kaling (who also played the character Kelly Kapoor), B.J. Novak (who played Ryan Howard), Michael Schur (who played Dwight’s cousin, Mose Schrute), Paul Lieberstein (who played Toby Flenderson), his real-life brother Warren (who had a brief cameo as Toby Flenderson’s brother Rory), and more than a dozen other writers, these characters came to life in extraordinary ways.

Hard to believe, I know, but you may not have seen The Office. I hope you will remedy the oversight, especially after reading this Cappuccino. But for those who need to be brought up to speed, The Office (March 24, 2005-May 16, 2013) began as a British sitcom by the same name starring Ricky Gervais, which was then repurposed for an American audience, only this time starring Steve Carell. It’s a mockumentary chronicling the lives of office employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of a fictional mid-sized paper company called Dunder Mifflin.

The characters are as follows:

Michael Scott (Steve Carell), Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, is a narcissistic, emotionally needy, attention-sucking idiot who provides much of the “cringe” in this cringe comedy. Nearly everything he says is inappropriate at best, stupid at worst, but what makes him ultimately lovable is his devotion to his “work” family and the fact that he evolves over the course of the series.

Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), Assistant to the Regional Manager, a sycophantic, power hungry, authoritarian lunatic with aspirations to one day lead the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. In a stroke of writers’ room brilliance, Dwight is also a beet farmer, a paintball enthusiast, and a longtime karate student who is the butt of fellow salesman Jim Halpert’s jokes. But what makes him the protagonist of the series is the fact that of all characters on The Office, he changes the most dramatically. His character arc is both funny and endearing. By the time he gets his heart’s desire, which is control of the branch, he’s ready for the position. He’s earned it.

Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), salesman at Dunder Mifflin, a goofily handsome, dryly ironic foil to Dwight Shrute. He loves sports, pranks, and the office receptionist, Pam Beesly, who for the first few seasons is engaged to Dunder Mifflin warehouse worker Roy Anderson. The Pam/Jim romance is a throughline that provides impetus to much of the show. We may tune in to see what appalling thing Michael says next, but we keep watching to see where Jim and Pam are in their relationship.

Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), the Dunder Mifflin receptionist, is a warm, funny, artistic woman who struggles to admit the truth to herself or to others. She’s not much of a risk taker, which is a terrific, mineable trait to give to a TV character. Seeing Fischer’s Pam Beesly break out of her shell over the span of nine seasons is emotionally rewarding and reminds us not to be timid in our own lives.

Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), salesman at Dunder Mifflin, is bad at his job, ineffective with women, a trust fund casualty, an unloved son, scheming, sycophantic, and angry, but man, does he have a mean set of pipes. Andy can sing. We all know at least one person like Andy, a talented ne’er-do-well who works a corporate job when what he should have done was go to Broadway.

Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), Head of Accounting at Dunder Mifflin, is one of the most brilliantly crafted characters in television history. She’s despicable—mean, petty, judgmental, religious in a prissy way—but she loves cats. Angela is having a secret affair with Dwight, which provides us with comedy gold, like when Dwight euthanizes Sprinkles, her ailing cat, by putting it in the freezer. Here then is another character arc that evolves over the course of the story. Angela is never kind, but in the end, much like Dwight, she becomes less odious.

Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin), Michael’s boss at Dunder Mifflin, has a penchant for men in their late teens. Melora’s Jan is a cold, beautiful narcissist who videos sex with Michael and then shows it to her therapist. After getting fired from her job, she starts a candle-making business, ruins Michael financially, and browbeats him into sleeping on a bench at the foot of the bed. She’s a nightmare—even Michael can’t stand her—but she embodies all the surfacey things he thinks he wants in a girlfriend.

Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper), the replacement receptionist at Dunder Mifflin after Pam promotes herself to Office Manager, is a lovable dimwit who grew up in an orphanage. She’s the sometime girlfriend of Andy Bernard, who we know isn’t right for her, and Gabe Lewis, who we also know isn’t right for her, which makes for fine entertainment. Erin has a weird encyclopedic knowledge of horse races, but is bad at almost everything else, including answering the phone.

Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner), an accountant at Dunder Mifflin, loves food and porn in equal measure. He’s Dopey from Snow White, but without the bashful charm, a big slow-witted turducken of a man whose inability to do his job leaves boss Angela sniping at him all day long.

Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez), an accountant at Dunder Mifflin, is a cultured, erudite gay man whom Michael outs against his will. Oscar loves books, movies, and art, but has mixed feelings about his partner, Gil. When he takes up with Angela’s husband, “the Senator,” it still doesn’t make us like him any less.

Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak), a temporary office worker at Dunder Mifflin who later becomes Vice President, blows it, gets arrested, and then gets re-hired at Dunder Mifflin as a temporary office worker, is the on-again-off-again boyfriend of Kelly Kapoor, the flame to her moth. He’s lazy, insubordinate, scheming, unreliable, a shyster, emotionally manipulative, and the type to always want what he can’t have—which is usually Kelly, but only when she’s involved with somebody else.

Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling), a customer service representative at Dunder Mifflin, loves clothes, celebrity gossip, and Ryan. She’s vapid, shallow, chatty, and constantly dieting. Kaling’s Kelly is someone we have all met before—the woman who keeps throwing it away over the wrong guy.

Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), a salesman at Dunder Mifflin, loves Florida, crossword puzzles, and cheating on his wife. What he doesn’t love is Michael. His eternal grumpiness doesn’t make him the most lovable character on the show, but we like it when he calls Michael on his nonsense.

Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein), Human Resource Manager at Dunder Mifflin, is the thorn in Michael’s side, a depressive, mild-mannered Eeyore. He also has a secret crush on Pam. Toby started out as a Catholic priest, left the calling for a woman who later divorced him, writes bad mystery novels, has the kind of face you want to punch, and periodically moves to Costa Rica.

Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson), Warehouse Manager at Dunder Mifflin, is a gifted musician, which brings him into an unlikely alliance with Andy Bernard and Kevin Malone who combine their talents to form a band they call “Kevin and the Zits.” He has a daughter, Jada, wants nothing more than to never again set foot inside Dunder Mifflin, and gets so drunk at a company Christmas party, he falls face-first into the snack table. Darryl is a “normal,” like Jim and Pam, which makes him a very necessary member of the cast.

Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith), a saleswoman at Dunder Mifflin, is another great character who, at first glance, seems to be little more than dumpy, mild-mannered, and middle-aged. You couldn’t be more wrong. Phyllis is a sexual virago who has relations with husband “Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration” in a restaurant broom closet. She likes to knit, engage in Party Planning Committee power games with Angela, and occasionally emits room-clearing farts.

Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery), an aptly titled Supplier Relations representative at Dunder Mifflin, likes to booze it up and sleep around. She’s rude, crude, and sometimes nude, but Meredith takes guff from no one. Here’s an employee willing to go the extra mile by having sex with the company’s paper supplier in exchange for discounts and a handful of Outback Steakhouse coupons.

Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), a Quality Assurance representative at Dunder Mifflin, is quite possibly an ax-murderer masquerading as an office worker. He eats mung beans that he grows on a damp paper towel inside his desk (“They smell like death”) and gets a woman fired from her job after failing to properly do his. Creed is creepiness personified, a dark jester, and I don’t think we’re wrong to fear him.

Todd Packer (David Koechner), an outside sales rep for Dunder Mifflin, is that guy we all know who does nothing but chase tail—his own and everyone else’s. “I’m a huge boob nerd” Packer gleefully crows, all while stuffing the zipper of his pants with mistletoe and drinking himself blind.

Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate), first a manager at Dunder Mifflin and then a self-appointed “Manager of Special Projects”, embodies the spirit of single women everywhere. She’s British, had a love-gone-wrong relationship with a “bloody stage magician,” spends too freely, cons her way into jobs for which she is ill-qualified, and yearns for a child. Nellie is a survivor, which makes her admirable.

Gabriel Susan Lewis (Zach Woods), Coordinating Director of Emerging Regions for the Sabre Corporate headquarters (formerly Dunder Mifflin), is a geeky, pedantic beta male who briefly dates Erin. Turned off by his complete lack of sex appeal, Erin breaks up with him, which sends him into a tailspin. Gabe loves Asian culture and Korean porn, composes “soundscapes” on a synthesizer, and manages to annoy just about everyone he comes into contact with.

Robert California (James Spader), CEO of Sabre Corporation, is wonderfully depraved, a man with a genius IQ whose sexual hunger is never satisfied. In a million years, I couldn’t come up with a character like Robert. You don’t love him, but you can’t look away.

Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), HR rep at Dunder Mifflin/Sabre, is the love of Michael’s love, equally dorky as he is and just as incapable of being alone, which is why she tends to slide from one relationship into another all the time.

David Wallace (Andy Buckley), embattled CFO and later CEO of Dunder Mifflin, appears in 37 episodes of The Office. At the time of his initial appearance, Buckley had been working as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, which is why he plays corporate wonk David Wallace so well. Wallace also has an aptitude for inventing weird gadgets that end up netting him millions.

Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones), sales rep at Dunder Mifflin, is Jim’s rebound girlfriend after Pam rebuffs him. She likes Hers potato chips, playing Call of Duty, and wondering why Jim won’t fully commit to their relationship. Unfortunately, Jim has unresolved feelings for Pam, which makes things difficult for Karen—and for those of us who know what she doesn’t know, which is that he’s still in love with Pam.

Roy Anderson (David Denman), warehouse worker at Dunder Mifflin, is Pam’s fiancé, a big dumb galoot of a guy who left her at a hockey game once because he forget she was there. We know Roy has a lot of growing up to do, just as we know Pam would be better off for someone who actually loves her for the right reasons.

There are a handful of other characters I haven’t covered here, most notably Erin’s last boyfriend, Pete, Jan’s boytoy, Clark, and Michael’s realtor girlfriend, Carol, but I don’t need them to make my point, which is this: The Office tells us a few important truths about ourselves. It tells us that families are sometimes what we create rather than what we’re born into, and at the end of the day, no matter how dysfunctional, irritating, maddening, or messed up our families may be, they are still our families. That means your drunk Uncle Jimmy that you can’t stand, your Aunt Carol who makes acid comments about your marital status, and your know-it-all cousin Bob who hogs the remote control and keeps trying to sell you bogus investment opportunities.

This Thanksgiving, as you stand around smiling till your face cracks, remember that no matter how stupid, cringey, screwy or crazy your family is, it was probably worse for the characters on The Office. After all, they had to deal with Michael, which is why I’m telling you right now …

You’ve got this.

Copyright © 2022 Stacey Eskelin

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