History YMMV / TheOfficeUS

* IdiotPlot: As should be expected in a show loaded with clueless characters, this occurs ''many'' times.

** Nellie was already disliked ever since she appeared in "Search Committee", but the hatred of her began to really pick up after [[spoiler:she stole Andy's job]]. Main criticisms include her being such a KarmaHoudini it shreds any WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief to pieces, and the strong suspicion of her being a CreatorsPet. Tthe praise given to Creator/CatherineTate by Paul Lieberstein in his interviews did not help matters.

** Andy fell into this in Season 9. While he had been divisive during the previous season by becoming the replacement manager, just about everyone hated him through this point as he lost all of his likable characteristics due to an entirely offscreen development. Detractors disliked him far more than before while his fans absolutely hated seeing the character they loved get derailed into a jerkass. As noted above though, the end of the series saw him return to his prior characterization, bringing him back into the audience's good graces.

** "It's called {{hentai}}, and it's art."[[labelnote:Explanation]]A quote from a DeletedScene where Michael accidentally uncovers Stanley's PornStash, which Stanley responds to in an interview by saying that ItsNotPornItsArt. The frankness of the quote and the unexpected acknowledgement of ''hentai'' from a mainstream American show led to the line instantly catching on among fans, being parroted in reference to NSFW or otherwise suggestive artwork online.[[/note]]

** "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious."[[note]]One of Michael's many [[Main/Malaproper Malapropers.]][[/note]]

** That's what she said!

** (looks into the camera like [they're] on ''The Office'')

** "It's called {{hentai}}, and it's art."[[labelnote:Explanation]]A quote from a DeletedScene where Michael accidentally uncovers Stanley's PornStash, which Stanley responds to in an interview by saying that ItsNotPornItsArt. The frankness of the quote and the unexpected acknowledgement of ''hentai'' from a mainstream American show led to the line instantly catching on among fans, being parroted in reference to NSFW or otherwise suggestive artwork online.[[/labelnote]]

** Creator/DavidDenman, Roy's actor, played [[Film/BigFish another role]] ''just like'' Roy: a BastardBoyfriend engaged to a girl who was the apple of a much nicer man's eye and eventually lost to him.
%% BastardBoyfriend has been rehauled into FetishizedAbuser (for then the narrative portrays an abuser as sexually desirable). Otherwise, it's an example of DomesticAbuser. If both people display toxic behaviors, it's RomanticizedAbuse. If the romantic partner is an unpleasant person but not outright abusive, then they are just a JerkAss. Please sort accordingly.

** Pam: a [[NiceGirl nice]], [[TheWoobie sympathetic]] ShrinkingViolet who then, unfortunately [[TookALevelInJerkass takes a level in Jerkass]] and stops being nearly as sympathetic, or a [[StepfordSmiler depressed]], shy [[ExtremeDoormat doormat]] cursed with a BastardBoyfriend who [[TookALevelInBadass learns to trust her own judgment, speak her mind and actually go after what she wants]]?

** Erin is this with some circles. Her fans adore her bubbly personality and enjoy her increased role in the later seasons while her detractors find her naivete annoying to the point of TastesLikeDiabetes and believe she's undeserving of the attention she gets. And then there's a much smaller third faction that generally likes her but felt she was better as a background character who was used more sparingly. A particular sore spot for many in the second camp and some in the third camp is her treatment of Andy during certain arcs.

* CreatorsPet: Nellie in season 8. While she had definite signs of TheScrappy initially (hated by fans), the writers have been publicly praising Creator/CatherineTate (adored by creators), brought back and put in as the boss and attempted to be given a sympathetic backstory (put into large scenes), and [[CharacterShilling finally talked up by other characters]] (with Jim and Pam taking to defend her at one point). It got even ''worse'' in Season 9, considering how there were CharacterShilling moments for Nellie in seemingly every other episode. They even attempted to retcon her JerkAss behavior in the previous season by having her offhandedly mention that it was her merely playing the part of a "villain" as a ploy for more screentime.

* TheScrappy: Overlaps a lot with HateSink, since many characters are ''supposed'' to be obnoxious.
** Ryan, following Season 3. As he rises in the company ranks, it becomes increasingly obvious that he has [[KnowNothingKnowItAll little to none of the skills or expertise]] he believes himself to have, and even after tanking the company, [[SmallNameBigEgo he still believes he's better than everyone else]]. Moreover, the show's increasingly convoluted attempts to keep him around despite serving little purpose to the office and not even having ''a real job'' in general became more grating as time went on. It even gets [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] in universe at one point.
--->'''Jim''': I liked you better when you were just the temp.
--->'''Ryan''': Yeah, so did I.
** Deangelo Vickers, a brief successor for Michael's job, generally left audiences cold, seeing him as unfunny when the show intended for him to get laughs, charmless and rude to the other characters, and overall without consistent writing or direction, with his personality seemingly changing from episode to episode. His appearance only lasted for four episodes, but opinions seem largely grateful for that brevity.

** Nellie was already disliked ever since she appeared in "Search Committee", but the hatred of her began to really pick up after [[spoiler:she stole Andy's job]]. Main criticisms include her being such a KarmaHoudini it shreds any WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief to pieces, and the strong suspicion of her being a CreatorsPet (the praise given to Creator/CatherineTate by Paul Lieberstein in his interviews did not help matters).

** Pam: a [[NiceGirl nice]], [[TheWoobie sympathetic]] ShrinkingViolet who then unfortunately [[TookALevelInJerkass takes a level in Jerkass]] and stops being nearly as sympathetic, or a [[StepfordSmiler depressed]], shy [[ExtremeDoormat doormat]] cursed with a BastardBoyfriend who [[TookALevelInBadass learns to trust her own judgment, speak her mind and actually go after what she wants]]?

** A certain segment of Dwight's fanbase can be a bit too quick to overlook his personality flaws, over-emphasise everyone else's in regards to their conflicts with him, and use his anti-social nature (usually on the supposition -- never confirmed or seriously suggested in show -- that he is [[AmbiguousDisorder somewhere on a spectrum]]) as an overly sweeping excuse to absolve him of all fault. While Dwight has his positive qualities and does genuinely undergo CharacterDevelopment, he's still clearly presented as rather officious, obnoxious, scheming, ruthless, authoritarian, hypocritical, insensitive. stubborn, intransigent, domineering and callous, and the show makes it clear that he often brings a lot of the problems and poor treatment he receives from others on himself while usually refusing to [[NeverMyFault accept any blame or responsibility]]. It's hard not to suspect that many of those who hold Dwight in such high regard mainly do so because they don't actually have to interact with him.

** In the episode "The Merger", Michael stabs the tires of the other employees to get them to unite against Vance Refrigeration. When they get annoyed and leave, he says:
--> '''Michael:''' This is JustForFun/{{egregious}}! This is [[DrinkingGame/TVTropes egregious]]!

** And speaking of Andy, Andy/Erin were also generally ''far'' preferred over Erin/Pete. Apart from Michael's absence, this was one of the main criticisms many had for the final season, as many critics and viewers hated how Pete's inclusion ruined three seasons' worth of relationship building between Andy and Erin (on top of putting Andy through an especially blatant DerailingLoveInterests treatment in order to facilitate Erin getting together with Pete, who himself was TheScrappy for being an obvious Jim clone). Not even Creator/EllieKemper herself being a Peter/Erin shipper has put in a dent in it (although Kemper also said that she did not approve Andy, feeling he was too childish to properly help Erin).

* EpilepticTrees: There is a huge following of fans who truly believe that Toby is the Scranton Strangler, with many articles reinteroreting scenes as evidence that he's unstable or hiding a huge secret about himself. It's also believed that George Howard Skubb was just a scapegoat that Toby managed to pin the charges on and that Skubb's attempt to kill Toby was due to him revealing the truth during his prison visit. Even the Official [=YouTube=] channel go in on this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4timuAnUnG4 their video compilation of Strangler scenes]].

** [[Film/ManOfSteel Lois Lane]] once dated [[Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness Mr Fantastic]].

* FoeYay:
** Dwight and Jim. In "Traveling Salesmen" Dwight quits (he was re-hired in the next episode). He doesn't say goodbye to anyone, but does stop to give Jim a big hug. Also, in the episode where Jim (with Karen and Pam's help) tricks Dwight into thinking that he's turning into a vampire, Dwight has tears in his eyes when he "realizes" that he must be the one to put Jim out of his "suffering".
*** Dwight continually tries to grab Jim's crotch in "Pam's Replacement" [[ItMakesSenseInContext in order to see if Jim has an erection]].
** Dwight and Andy occasionally. In "Michael Scott Paper Company", they are competing to impress Erin as they play a song together. However, they eventually forget about her as they are singing and she leaves the room while they continue their duet.

** Just as Dwight tends to be susceptible to DracoInLeatherPants treatment by a certain segment of viewers, so too does his rival and foil Jim tend to receive this trope in turn. While Jim definitely has his flaws, and his pranks towards Dwight do occasionally border on excessive (which, to be completely fair, the show and even Jim himself have acknowledged on occasion), he is not quite the cruel, unfeeling bully that his more fervent detractors tend to depict him as being. Outside of his pranks, he is often shown to show far more genuine concern for Dwight and others when it's needed than his coworkers can tend to. And unlike Dwight, he is clearly shown to have standards about how far he'll go with his pranks (he never tries to ruin anyone's job or career, unlike Dwight) and is willing to draw a line he won't cross.

* CreatorsPet: Nellie in season 8. While she had definite signs of TheScrappy initially (hated by fans), the writers have been publicly praising Creator/CatherineTate (adored by creators), brought back and put in as the boss and attempted to be given a sympathetic backstory (put into large scenes), and [[CharacterShilling finally talked up by other characters]] (with Jim and Pam taking to defend her at one point). It's gotten ''worse'' in Season 9, considering they're giving us a few new CharacterShilling moments for Nellie in seemingly every other episode. They even attempted to retcon her JerkAss behavior in the previous season by having her offhandedly mention that it was her merely playing the part of a "villain" as a ploy for more screentime.

%% ** While never becoming a truly hated character (though, a bit )

** Angela, who's often a self-absorbed, uptight, and manipulative jerk and hypocrite.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Many of Michael's attempts at being a cool and friendly boss were played for CringeComedy, but can be especially uncomfortable after the [=#MeToo=] and Time's Up movements have shined a light and a harsher eye upon such behavior. His comedy alter-ego Blind Guy [=McSqueezy=] being the most glaring example, as he hints at deliberately using the character to sexually harass the women at his improv class.
** One single scene features an upset Michael Scott doing a Bill Cosby impersonation while listening to a Gary Glitter song with a Donald Trump book visible on his book shelf.
** A quote from Dwight where he's jealous of Michael's newfound friendship with Ryan: "I hope [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the war]] goes on forever and Ryan gets drafted." When the episode aired in 2005, the War on Terror was still a relatively new conflict and no one at that time expected the Afghanistan War would only end in 2021, a full twenty years after it had begun.
** Dwight's [[CrossesTheLineTwice infamous]] quote "There's too many people on this Earth. We need a new plague." gets a lot darker after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in pollution due to quarantine measures, which in turn has led to the increasingly vocal [[https://www.cjr.org/special_report/ecofascists.php "ecofascist" movement]], which essentially espouses the same quote without any irony.
** A double whammy in "Michael's Last Dundies": Michael says that Piers Morgan took over Larry King's show after he "died"; at the time, King was still alive, but he passed away in 2021. And Piers's show that was in King's old timeslot was cancelled in 2014.

** Bob Vance (Vance Refrigeration)'s frequent use of VerbalBusinessCard. Is it a weird quirk, just plain egotism, or is he being a savvy businessman and repeatedly plugging his business into a documentary that will air on national TV so he can benefit from the publicity? There's also the fact that it's occasionally hinted that Bob is involved in criminal affairs, adding the possibility that his verbal quirk is his attempt at maintaining his cover.

** And speaking of Andy, Andy/Erin were also generally ''far'' preferred over Erin/Pete. Apart from Michael's absence, this was one of the main criticisms many had for the final season, as many critics and viewers hated how Pete's inclusion ruined three seasons' worth of relationship building between Andy and Erin (on top of putting Andy through an especially blatant DerailingLoveInterests treatment in order to facilitate Erin getting together with Pete, who himself was TheScrappy for being an obvious Jim clone). Not even Creator/EllieKemper herself being a Peter/Erin shipper has put in a dent in it.

* DorkAge: Most fans and critics agree that the show saw a notable downturn in quality following Creator/SteveCarell's departure toward the end of Season 7. Without Michael Scott as the show's focus character, the creators tried bringing in several new characters and story arcs to fill the void, all of which were met with a lukewarm reception, so Seasons 8 and 9 generally have a lesser reputation (though the series GrandFinale is well-regarded).

* SeasonalRot: Season 4 definitely marked a turning point for the show, with the [[WillTheyOrWontThey primary ongoing plot]] resolved at last, the season getting interrupted by the Writers Guild strike, and Greg Daniels and other members of the creative team leaving to start up ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' at season's end. Seasons 5, 6, and 7, with Paul Lieberstein taking over as showrunner, saw some fan complaints about a drop in quality. Creator/SteveCarell's departure toward the end of Season 7 led those complaints to increase tenfold. Even at the time they first aired, the final two seasons, which saw the show jump through a whole bunch of story arcs (a few of which [[AbortedArc ended up being dropped]]) got a mixed reaction from fans.

* HypeBacklash: ''The Office'''s massive popularity on multiple internet fandom circles (particularly Website/{{Reddit}} and Website/{{Tumblr}}) has inevitably led to this for newcomers who are of the opinion that the series is funny but way overblown by its fans who gloss over its many flaws, or simply don't care for the show's extremely dry, yet still [[CringeComedy cringey]] style of humor.