Occasionally shows can recover from jumping the shark and extend beyond the grisly, awkward end to a series.
Most can't avoid jumping the shark in the first place -- even the greatest series in episodic television jumped on a whale shark with the gay Vito arc -- and even fewer can recover once astride the beast of the deep.
One of my favorite shows of recent years is firmly entrenched in shark filled waters and I fear there is no hope of return.
The Office is, to be quite honest, awful now. It's a terrible show.
Andy sucks balls, he was annoying as a supporting character and definitely can't carry the show.
Trying to wring Jim/Pam, Michael/Holly drama out of the asinine lack of chemistry between Andy and Erin is about as viable as pairing Phyllis and Oscar would be. Nobody buys or wants to see that nasty shit. Erin, yes. She's cute. But paired with annoying Andy?
The Robert California schtick is lame and brings little to the table.
The new chick with the british accent is abrasive and detracts from the show.
Kevin, Dwight, Oscar, Angela, Stanley and Darryl have basically become caricatures of the roles they once played with subtlety.
The stupid fat whore with the two stupid dogs was a fail of epic proportions.
Gabe had potential but failed to deliver.
Kelly, Ryan, Toby and Creed are wasted in throwaway roles.
There is no sense of fun. It's like a funeral. They're all just dragging through the motions.
I know NBC said after this season The Office would bow out gracefully with one last hurrah. Too late for graceful goodbyes. It's floundering like the Titanic after an iceberg bath or the Hindenburg in a thunderstorm. Part of me hopes they put it out of its misery before it befouls its legacy with another crapfest of a season. Part of me wishes they'd fire everybody and retool with an almost entirely new cast to see if it could be salvaged. All of me wishes they would fire Andy and Robert California to at least see if they could resurrect SOME of the fun. But it's over probably. It's laying there dying and nobody seems to know what to do.
Sad thing is that people like Jenna Fischer and John Krasinki who might have had some small chance outside that realm are going to be covered in the stink of the dying show and it's going to limit their future options. Not that they had that many, but still.
I hate to watch it now. It's like watching a good friend slowly wither away and you can't do anything to help.
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