People love distractions – I know I do! After years of never understanding the cult following The Office has had over the past decade, I decided to finally jump on the bandwagon. Suffice to say, I was impressed. In summary, the show follows the daily hijinks of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company’s branch manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) as well as an ensemble of eccentric employees – the stoic Dwight Schrute (Raiin Wilson), the loveable Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer), mischievous Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and bubbly Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) – that bring an element of mirth to an otherwise boring office space. The show ran from 2009-2013, with an estimated 22 million viewers on the most viewed episode.
One of the co-producers of The Office, Michael Schur, then went on to produce Brooklyn Nine-Nine (B99) in 2013. The show consisted of a lively (and very diverse) cast of wisecracking police detectives, such as Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and everyone’s favourite human form of the 100 emoji, Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti). Since both shows are produced by Michael Schur, they contained similar elements of making the familiar bizarre, an ensemble cast in which everyone was a fully fledged and interesting character and a boss at the head of both organisations that was truly unlike anyone else. However, it’s clear to see that between 2005 and 2013, many things changed: clothing, hair choices, what was okay to say and what wasn’t. In fact, some of the jokes in The Office made by Michael may not be considered politically correct today. So, how did Michael Schur’s comedic touch change over the years?
To do this, let’s look at the bosses in question – Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin and police chief Raymond Holt. Michael immediately comes off as a “man’s” man in 2005 standards. At least, he tries to be. He stereotypes the people of colour in the office, is horrendously homophobic and misogynistic without even trying. Even worse was the character of Todd Packer – I would say look it up, but you’d be better off not knowing. Being a first-time watcher in 2021 and avid fan of the fairly progressive show that was B99, I was shocked that this is what constituted humour at the time. Nonetheless, Michael and his cohorts slowly become more tolerable and more importantly, tolerant, over time. I suppose this was due to the advent of the internet and pushback from fans who weren’t that pleased. One can see the shift away from “edgy humour” in more recent shows such as B99.
Raymond Holt (or Holt, as he is referred to on the show) is an openly gay, black man in charge of an entire police precinct. Of course, at first glance this seems to be a desperate attempt at pandering to minorities as a kind of “apology” for the misrepresentation in The Office. However, it is far more than that. The way in which Holt is portrayed is unlike the stereotypes surrounding gay culture. He is stoic but still kind, bland but still eccentric, artistic but not flamboyant. He is a leader through and through, who cares for his community. Additionally, the show defies gender roles, breaks the love triangle cliche by showing wholesome friendships between male and female co-workers and has open and honest conversations about important things such as homophobia, sexism and police brutality. I, for one, am pleased to know that there is a show actively trying to do this in comparison to shows of yesteryear. Still, I encourage everyone to watch the shows yourself and figure out where you stand on the state of comedy right now.