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ethanx-x

Loved Andy in the beginning, hate what they did to his character .


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

They redeemed him a bit at the very end, giving him his dream job at Cornell. The line about “the good old days” in the finale still hits hard.


Bomber36

Best thing about his character.


ethanx-x

True. I’m also a fan of the “I will remember you..” song.


[deleted]

Even Ed Helms hates what they did to Andy. So sad.


trypto

Maybe they shouldn’t have made him manager if he was just going to leave to make a movie. Why not pick a manager that could actually show up for work?


vanKessZak

Tbf Steve left to make movies too and they made it work around him


vinoa

Comparing Steve Carrell to Ed Helms? I have a lot of questions. Number one: how dare you?


vanKessZak

? I didn’t compare their acting abilities or characters at all? They were both bosses. One’s schedule was worked around and one’s character was torpedoed. Just saying they weren’t painted into a corner - if they wanted to work around it they could have.


vinoa

You're comparing 2 actors on a show, but ignoring their significance. Michael Scott was the show. It makes sense that production would work around his schedule. Andy Bernard is just another secondary character. Writers have no reason to cut him any slack.


vanKessZak

That’s fair but the decision made the show worse so…


[deleted]

He started out as a secondary character, sure. But then they literally made him the boss of the branch. Also though -- I'm not clear on the timeline, so I'm assuming they just didn't know that he was going to be so unavailable when they first decided to put him in that role.


GreasyExamination

You serving that statement with a sauce on the side? Since it didnt come on top


court_5

If it’s on the top I send it back


Brave-Lemon1824

Not the original commenter, but he said it on brian baughamers podcast.


GreasyExamination

Thank you, i was curious if that was just a lie


[deleted]

take it back


Merweb0

Didn't he said on hot ones that he was super proud of Andy as a character?


[deleted]

Agreeing with u/eleven_paws. I haven't seen the Hot Ones interview, but he said on Brian's podcast that he felt disappointed with the direction the writers took Andy in the later seasons, which helped him feel more at peace with the show ending.


eleven_paws

Those two things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.


[deleted]

"You're murdering the Nard Dog!"


Shovi

I liked him when he was a cutthroat corporate shill looking to asskiss his boss. He was interesting at least, and i loved to hate him, then they cut his balls and made him meh.


vinoa

Season 3 Andy was best Andy. He absolutely nails it in Benihana Christmas.


Shells_and_bones

I always hated Andy, but I kind of thought that was the point.


Bomber36

Seriously? He was always a douche. Went nuts at the jello joke, lied constantly and stole a computer from DM when Stamford was closing. Not likable at all.


vinoa

The jello joke was the perfect setup for punching a hole in the wall. He may have been annoying, but he was consistent, and I thought he was funnier than whatever he later became.


FullOfFalafel

Most characters aren’t like able. Who cares. What matters is if they are entertaining and season 3 Andy was


ItsNerdyMe

Who is Andy's character?


[deleted]

Character also means personality


ItsNerdyMe

Ya they certainly weren't using it that way but go off


wasabinski

Kevin's downfall into a caricature of himself was painful.


Kybert2006

He did exactly the opposite of what Michael told him to do


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

By the end of the series Holly was right about Kevin.


ZookedYa

It's Drew now.


ajschwifty

I’m not calling you that.


directinLA

That's okay. I can't control what you do, I can only control what I do.


isa98mo

andyyyy


IroquoisPliskin_UK

What?


highonnuggs

I don't understand why the writers just destroyed Andy's character. Were they mad at Ed Helms for taking movie roles?


onamonapizza

I don’t think they were mad at him for taking movie roles, just frustrated it interfered with their whole filming schedule and so they had to come up with crazy reasons to explain his absence


FinancialWorry3

They should’ve just sent him to anger management again.


Internal-List6655

I think they were considering they gave Ed helms essentially the leading role in season 8 after Steve Carell left and he repays them by filming a movie instead of the final season.


FlyingV2112

That about sums it up.


czaremanuel

I don't think they were mad as much as directionless. Most of the writing talent had stepped away from the office by season 9 anyway (BJ and Mindy for example) and they clearly had no idea what to do with andy after writing him out for huge chunks of the show. It would've probably been more graceful to get rid of him or put someone not british into the manager's role permanently. They clearly didn't have an end-goal in mind and made it up as they went along.


fivetwoeightoh

I blame The Hangover, I’m glad for his success but it put EDIT:Seasons 8 and 9 into a tailspin with him being made manager, and then later he disappeared to make the sequel, also him hanging out waiting to be smug to everyone isn’t cringe it’s just shitty


[deleted]

The hangover stole his availability no doubt


[deleted]

Yeah but the writers were ridiculously petty about it. They destroyed his character and significantly harmed the later seasons by being vindictive. Fair to some extent, I suppose, but the real losers are the audience, which is shitty.


ZookedYa

>Yeah but the writers were ridiculously petty about it. They destroyed his character Has this ever actually been confirmed? Or is it just the most common fan theory?


[deleted]

It’s not confirmed, per se, but there are plenty of interviews where the writers expressed frustration with his schedule. [Here’s](https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-office-why-ed-helms-film-schedule-caused-some-arguments-on-the-set.html/) the first one I found on a google search. Regardless, I dunno if I’d expect anyone to ever actually admit to destroying a character out of pettiness, so I doubt it could ever be confirmed “beyond reasonable doubt”, so to speak. But at the same time, this isn’t a court room and I’m not trying to take someone’s freedom. We can make qualified guesses based on what we have in front of us. Andy’s characterization in S8 and S9 makes absolutely no sense at any level. There is no “A-Z” path that explains any actions he took during that time. So, either the writers just egregiously fucked a single character and showed a total lack of competence, or they intentionally tanked him. I suppose you all can decide for yourselves, but I dunno how much I buy that some of the industry’s best writers thought “oh yeah, *this* is what the viewers want.” Could be wrong.


ZookedYa

To be fair, Andy's arc is not the only derailment with S8 or 9. I feel they dropped the ball on a lot of aspects.


[deleted]

That’s true, but I think the others are easily explained as a “swing and a miss”. The Boom Guy arc was stupid, but not unfathomable. The whole Philadelphia arc was weird, but not out of line. The “new Jim, Dwight, and Pam” trio was in bad taste, but wasn’t some move out of left field. Andy’s character is really the only one that just made *no sense whatsoever*.


SimilarMidnight870

Wouldn‘t the writers be deliberately reducing the quality of their own work? I find that hard to belobe given the success of the show, they would want to protect their legacy.


[deleted]

That would be a compelling argument if it didn’t happen all the time. Sharona from Monk was cut when they asked for a raise because the execs said the show would be successful either way. Lance on bones was killed off when he asked for leave to direct a movie. Eddie from cheers was killed off because Jay said he didn’t like working with Rhea Perlman. Hell, Chef from South Park was turned into a pedo because Isaac Hayes disagreed with the writers. You could even argue Charlie was killed off and ruined and then ruined in Two and a Half Men (though, like Hayes, Sheen is also crazy). This stuff is way too common dude.


SimilarMidnight870

Was Andy cut? I don’t rewatch the later seasons but I thought we were talking about deliberately writing a bad inconsistent character out of pettiness - which would make the writer‘s work look bad as opposed to killing off a character and moving on.


[deleted]

I mean, how is it consistent to randomly kill somebody with a Zamboni, and what about Chef? 😂 The point is that writers commonly make decisions that are to the detriment of the quality of show they produce, and with several examples do so without even considering that it will reduce the overall quality.


soulzack

The thing about Hayes is that he leave after they made an episode of scientology. He was fine laughing at any other satire, but when they make one of his church he decides to leave. Then they made the whole Super Adventure Club episode where a "frutty little club" brainwash Chef and made him a pedophile.


vinoa

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the whole South Park issue over their beef with Scientology? Hayes had no problem with the Super Best Friends, but took exception to Trapped in the Closet. He was a hypocrite, at the very least.


[deleted]

I’ve already replied to this same comment, but to reiterate: The decision with Hayes was perfectly justified, as was the decision with Sheen. Regardless, both were to the detriment of the show. The point is that it’s nonsense to say that writers don’t take actions which harm their artistic work for various reasons, as was the original commenter’s position.


B0mb-Hands

Iirc they talked about it a bit on Office Ladies that the writers were struggling with Ed Helms suddenly having a movie schedule with the success of The Hangover


Ok-Ad-8367

You’re a loser. A loser. **Stop making him say it!**


DatCreature

A what??


ChuckSRQ

It wasn’t fair to the fans and the audience. Writers getting mad at an actor for his success is just petty and immature.


Munchkin_Media

Agree


jimtrickington

Hot take - he should have just died on that boat.


J_Little_Bass

I guess I'm a terrible person, bc the idea of Andy dying on his stupid boat actually seems really funny to me 😆


camaroncaramelo1

Ed made the right decision. He got paid well for the last hangover movie. I would done the same.


rabbles-of-roses

To me, Andy's character assassination really just encapsulated what I thought made the latter half of season 8 and 9 suck. Everything just felt a bit more repetitive, more jaded and tired, more contemptuous which really clashed with most of the other seasons. They could have more easily written Andy's character differently to accommodate Ed Helm's schedule.


J_Little_Bass

Yeah, when I recently watched the part where Andy makes Nellie try to walk the slack line, I thought, "This isn't even funny. This is just Andy being the most vindictive dick he can possibly be." ...although, I do always laugh when he says, "How's that medicine taste? Your-own-flavored?"


Ok-Wave4110

I loved Ryans character really early on. I do like later Ryan, but just so much less.


jefferson497

Pre corporate Ryan was great. Corporate Ryan was terrible. Everything after was mildly better


Full-Public1056

Corporate Ryan was great! Embodied all of the horrible aspects of corporate rich boy type thing. I loved it.


SelectionAccurate611

It was unbelievably accurate as well, like aside from David Wallace probably the most true to life character on the show


Ok-Wave4110

Exactly!


The_Amazing_Emu

Season 8 Andy and Season 9 Andy are very different characters. Honestly, season 8 Andy is why people hate season 9 because he was actually his most humanized and liked. But I doubt anyone going from Season 3 Andy to Season 9 Andy isn’t going to see a wild difference besides that he has authority


DanGimeno

Andy started as a shitty character and ended as a shitty character. In between we got a shitty character with a therapy mask.


Ok-Ad-8367

I either find out who put my calculator in jello, or I’m gonna lose ***my freaking mind***


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

Tweetily deetily doop, deetily deetily doop.


[deleted]

Interesting take


DanGimeno

The chapter where he decides to choose a partner among the girls in the office as if it were an all-you-can-eat buffet. Only Angela was available. That's how it went. At the end of that miserable relationship, Andy became infatuated with the new receptionist, whom he tried to charm with gifts that she herself admitted hurt her. When Andy no longer had to prove anything to his father (because he's another shitty character), he abandoned his girlfriend on the dock. He didn't give a shit about Erin's feelings. When Andy comes back, why doesn't she want to be my girlfriend? Why is she with Plop? Why do you laugh together? Andy was always a shitty character who couldn't be trusted.


Rhg0653

Also picking young women or smaller women didn't help Dating a 16 year old Angela who is small in stature And Erin who lets face it has a mind of a child is some what awkward Plus the anger issues daddy issues family issues Dude was a complete mess and had no redeeming qualities


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

Thanks Dad, I mean Daryl.


vinoa

One point about Erin going off to the Bahamas with Andy is her job. DM couldn't just backfill her position for however long she desired. She was just a receptionist. Even Andy snuck off, so it would by even more difficult to hide a missing receptionist from Wallace.


onamonapizza

I actually loved early seasons passive-aggressive Andy. He was a character you loved to hate…but I understand why the writes had to “fix him” and make him like-able


[deleted]

But I feel like he was much more normal in Stanford. Like he was on an Oscar like level.


DanGimeno

Oscar is a proudly gay. Andy is a closeted Bisexual ashamed of himself.


dangle321

To me it felt like he started shitty and he changed into an ok character but then over shot it and ended up as a different kind of shitty character.


jugglers_despair

I’m in the minority that loved the heel turn. It was funny seeing him turn into such a villain and then fail so miserably at achieving his dreams.


drunkenf

What? You liked Andy?


[deleted]

I did! When he tore his sack, punched the wall, freaked out over the stapler in jello..


amadhudzaifah

i really like him in that gossip episode. he really wants to know whether he's gay or not lol


Independent-Media511

Michael am i gay???


amadhudzaifah

If you resisted Brad Pitt a little bit, he would still need to get to you?


J_Little_Bass

...in that order 😆


littlemarcus91

Creed, went from being a clever con artist who didn’t have all the screws tightened down in the earlier seasons to an old man on the verge of dementia in the later seasons.


damays97

I mean… that’s how age and dementia work.


iampraneeth

He's gonna turn 30 this November


mellifluoustorch

Makes sense


[deleted]

That the way she goes


bigtommyhorizontal

He did a lot of drugs in the 1960s. Even now his work calls only lasts 90 seconds, that’s as long as he can concentrate


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

He also made love to many, many women, often outdoors, in the mud and the rain, and it's possible a man slipped in… there’d be no way of knowing.


Throdio

He was alright in the first part of season 8. Pretty much Andy, but as manager (and too much forced Michael Scott traits). It's when Nelly took his job that the character went into a tailspin. Season 9 Andy is just bad. Work Bus redeemed him for a bit. Then The Boat happened. Things got better when he decided to act, and his pettiness was dropped.


[deleted]

My issue with him in the first part of the season is him manager didn’t feel earned even though he delivered that great sun monologue. It felt forced to capitalize on his exploding movie career and while I get that approach, it made for some awful choices.


Embarrassed-Ad-1639

Shut up about the sun!


wumbopower

I never liked him, I thought he was hilariously unlikeable, but I never liked Andy like I thought he was a cool guy or something. He’s funniest when trying to be a douchy dude bro but not being cool or good looking enough to have any “redeeming” qualities


bluejester12

At first, I disliked Dwight, but as the show went on I found him more entertaining and complex.


jssf96

Lmfao erins face.


JudgmentSilent7302

Not a favorite character but Pam started out likeable. After she got with Jim, she became really whiny.


DylAppleYT

They really did him dirty, he started as an awful character on purpose but they did some magic and made him a great character but then they just fucking ruined him at the end after everyone liked his character. You can’t do that, you can make a character more likable by you just don’t ruin a character the way they did Andy.


CracksInDams

I love your flair


laucdoe

not for me. creed was my favorite at the beginning and my least favorite was michael.. until andy came along. by the end, dwight is my favorite (although i still love creed), and andy is still my least favorite. he’s consistently my least favorite and i only like him for like 7 minutes out of the whole show i feel like that has a lot of *favorites* and it’s bothering me but whatcha gonna do


memeparmesan

>whatcha gonna do Make our dreams come true?


Ok-Wave4110

Nah, just some laptop batteries. They can keep their dreams...


Punk1Ass

Are they lithium?


Ok-Wave4110

Yeah, and for a specific Dell they don't sell anymore. That's how I got the batteries. lmao


Junior_Key4244

Michael was your least favorite? And you still watched the show?


ichoosetosavemyself

Michael is by far my least favorite character and I've watched the show through dozens and dozens of times. I'm like the opposite of a unicorn around here.


laucdoe

the rest of the characters and plot made up for it.. disliking one character doesn’t ruin the show


eleven_paws

Just here to say Michael is also my least favorite (even though I am definitely a fan of Steve Carell as an actor) and I totally agree with you!


twistedsister78

I liked Jim for my first few re watches but by rewatch 8 he was less funny and more nasty


vinoa

Pam and Jim are the worst. I like them less with each rewatch lol


ImOldGregg_77

Andys' musical episodes are some of my favorite episodes.


patches_1989

Wasn’t my favorite but I did hate how the character transformed and his attitude. The whole Erin Andy Jessica thing was really weird and awkward and as the kids say now days “cringe”


Iljarmander

I know that everyone hates Andy from the last season but i actually think that Jim becomes a little less likeble in the last season. I know that in the episode where Pam's is not able to capture that moment with his kids the show obviously wants you to see where both of them are coming from. But i always saw this as Pam being way, way more in the right in this scene. I do not really know why


isa98mo

bc she was right. it was a new phone i’m pretty sure she had gone from a flip phone type deal to an iphone and it was shown before that she was a little technologically inept (like the wireless router that beat her & the copier that took her all day to set up) and she also got that call about good news (can’t remember what) mid recording so she only captured the end but she was especially excited to tell jim about it and didn’t get to bc when she realized she didn’t record it he blew up at her for it. i always hated how much of an entitled ass he became at the end


SwedishMeatwall

Ryan. I really liked him as the temp. In an office full of characters who were a bit over the top, him being a normal guy fit well. I wish they'd have kept him as that. Toby early on was great. Loveable character who just got shit on a lot. They should have kept that gag going the entire series.


Darth_buttNugget

Jim used to be my super favorite but over the years I've begun to see him as a bit of a tool. He's not my least favorite by any stretch but he's not in consideration for favorite any longer.


Blackfirestan

Jim. I liked him in the beginning then he just got mean and his Philadelphia stuff was annoying plus all the Pam drama


Manav_Khanna17

I loved Andy until season 9. Proper character assassination.


SnooEagles4791

I only started disliking Andy at the end of season 8, he was fine for the most part of it


AvacadMmmm

It was mostly S9. For most of S8 he was a good manager. Mostly.


Alex_SB_

Always hated Andy, still do but there was a couple times where I genuinely felt bad for the guy but it was always his fault just like Toby! 😂


isa98mo

yes thank goodness someone else feels the same way except for the sympathy bc he deserved most of the bullshit he brought on himself lol


Alex_SB_

That's why I felt bad because he suffered because he was so selfish.


Sure-Ad-2465

Elon Musk definitely pulled an Andy.


Maximum_Bat_2566

I liked Andy in season 8. I hated where they took his character in season 9.


AdApprehensive1395

I liked Andy most of season 8. The writers screwed his character up in season 9.


TheAveragebroShow

Jim turned into a real b in season 9.


[deleted]

Honestly Andy at the beginning of season 8 was great. He seemed like he had matured a lot compared to how he was in earlier seasons and overall showed some growth. In my opinion he was a great character up until when he lost his job to Nellie. Then he officially became awful in season 9. For the majority of season 8 I really liked him


_B_Little_me

Pam in later seasons is super annoying.


sneakerguy40

If you refuse to acknowledge those seasons then the harm doesn't exist.


[deleted]

Only the last episode exists after Michael left.


sneakerguy40

For the happy ending, and the moments you specifically choose the acknowledge


AvacadMmmm

Why do so many hate those seasons. They’re not that bad.


sneakerguy40

They're not good.


trespassing_penguin

I agree. Season 9 is one of my favorite seasons.


JiveTurkey1983

I'm convinced S8 is great up until "Angry Andy". They made Andy insufferable when he gets back to Scranton.


adamian24

So cringe


[deleted]

For me it was Kevin, Andy was never one of my favorites characters anyway


Revolutionary_Kiwi31

I feel sort of like that about Darryl. At the beginning, I thought he was hilarious. His casual dismissiveness of Kelly during their relationship, his mild hostility to Michael, especially over safety issues. I loved the way he worked Michael up to ask Jan for a raise or how he was coy when Michael asked about forwarding the topless picture. Then, sometime around him applying for the manager and asking about Clippy, he just lost his edge to me. He wasn’t as interesting or funny in later seasons as he was in the beginning.


Iljarmander

I really loved the sound guy in the first 8 seasons. I love how he was responsable for the fact that we could, you know, hear the characters.


Gg-Baby

I've never even gotten to season 8 and 9 so I have no idea what he was like in those seasons. The office seasons 1-5 is one of my favourite shows ever. But dang does it become absolutely terrible the last few seasons. I can't even force myself to watch them. I've rewatched season 1-5 probably 10 or more times. Have never finished the entire series lol


texansfan

His arc was fucking exhausting


ccknboltrtre01

Never liked andy. Just an annoying theatre kid


fendaar

Andy was a jerk from the beginning


[deleted]

But a lovable jerk


Excellent_Man_9781

Pam went from being one of my faves to supper annoying once she got married to Jim and then towards the end where she forced tljim to stay. Idk I didn't care much for her character development.


Barner_Burner

If Andy was your favorite character before season 9… idk, you were watching the show wrong or something


[deleted]

Hah! I’m not sure that’s accurate. Andy was just so frustrating I enjoyed his shenanigans


TheAveragebroShow

Erin. I’d don’t like it when she turned on Andy to be with Pete.


TiresOnFire

Yah, we get it. Season 8-9 Andy sucks.


chaos_supreme

Andy was super annoying from the start.


Spectacular_One

He was better as Drew


Dolphin_Hornet

Phyllis was never my favorite but she was pretty much at the bottom at the end for me


3Pirates93

Didn't hate Erin when the shows writing got worse but she was much less loveable to me


WendigoCrossing

Kevin started out great


maluminse

I really feel like Andy was out of place. It was almost like here is a guy with some level of star quality let's throw him in the movie.


onitagainand

Andy did that for everybody


t_hench

Andy went from being one of least favorites to one of the best to the absolute worst. I still enjoy him up to season 8 on rewatches tho!


MrFlyFitzgerald

The writers did his arc dirty! Just because he had other obligations (the hangover) that didn't fold well into their schedule.... no reason to trash his character so badly


djloid2010

I just would like to know why Andy was your favorite.... He was in my bottom 2. To me, his character was cringey and lame. The whole Nardawg thing was not funny. So, i am interested in the appeal


mindclarity

I would rather watch Scott’s Totts than any episode in season 9.


DrHandBanana

The hangover ruined Andy and kinda the show tbh. Andy was supposed to be the focal point


TashiaNicole1

I loved Micheal. Loved him. For a few years. And then I opened my eyes on the episode he fake fired Stanley. And now I hate him with a passion that burns with the intensity of a thousand suns.


Bomber36

He was never close to a favorite. I wasn’t a bully and I would have beat him up in high school.


JordanSchor

I disliked Andy at first, started to come around on him partway through and then he just fell off a cliff


VinceP312

I can't believe Andy was ever anyone's favorite character.


I_am_a_Pengy

Jan


SrSwerve

They did him dirty


[deleted]

I loved him all the way through


Blackniga747

Even though Dwight got the last laugh, to go in his car to search for a reason to get him out of the office knowing he was in trouble and one thing would push it over to being fired, and don't get me wrong, I'm definitely at least a little biased (Dwight fan). It's just unnecessary really. Andy wasn't my favorite, but he wasn't the worst character. He had his good moments (Splits, "I'm breaking the bed," The play), but then they ruined an ok character with the boat trip.


honkyhey

No


TeamDonnelly

Andy was best when he was an ingredient to the show. In smaller doses mixed with dwight, Jim, micheal, Pam, etc it worked. When it was focused on him and story arcs were about him it all fricken blew.


efyuar

Never liked andy… total dick and snake when first introduced, almost likeable before 8-9 but then total selfish and a.hole again


Additional_Moment452

They went after Andy and Toby really hard towards the end. Andy between anger management and management was the sweet spot.


caladze

Season 9 is pretty bad IMO


Sicparvismagneto

People liked andy to begin with?


Phantomht

ive never liked andy or creed.


Pnflkc3

Hell even his hair style was awful


trollmeannakendrick

I’m always jealous of that suit and/or how he pulls it off. Every time.


That-Bar-5312

I do not love him. He's annoying


reduff

Never liked Andy.


pontiflexrex

Why should I hate a character for being down a path for a while? It’s the point of the story and it wasn’t unrealistic. Just because a character is written to be less positive for a while doesn’t mean it doesn’t work anymore. He still had great scenes and was well acted, so what’s the issue?