The Office is one of my favorite shows. Seasons 2 and 3 are incredible. I have recently re-watched all of those episodes thanks to Netflix's instant watch feature (although I learned that if you don't have an unlimited out package you can be limited to only a few episodes/movies a month). Season 4 and Season 5, though have been significantly less interesting and have some pretty horrific episodes (The Dinner Party, Chair Model, Did I Stutter?, and Job Fair from Season 4; Employee Transfer in Season 5) that are hard to watch. There are funny parts during some of those episodes, but in general the show has been less interesting.
I think I know why the recent seasons have been less interesting: the Jim and Pam story line is resolved, Jim is no longer apathetic, and the Michael story lines are played out.
1) The Jim-Pam romance story line was a huge part of why people watched the show during the first two seasons. Since they've started dating, there is no "will they-won't they" aspect, a major part of the buzz and interest in seasons 2 and 3.
2) Since Jim moved to Stamford he has been increasingly less apathetic and less resistant to the office. When he got the promotion for moving back to Scranton he did some pranks, but since Season 4, he has not pulled any pranks or done any shenanigans like the Office Olympics. Plus, he has assumed more responsibility in the office: leading the office while Michael was out (Survivor Man S4:E7), organizing an after-hours work session to avoid coming in on the weekend (Night Out S4:E11), and co-chairing the Party Planning Committee with Dwight (Lecture Circuit S5:E14 & 15). The funniest prank-y type thing to happen was this exchange during Customer Survey (Season 5, Episode 6).
3) The Michael story lines are played out: Michael struggling to find love (Lecture Circuit parts 1 and 2) and happiness (Stress Relief S5:E13), Michael as a terrible boss (Stress Relief and all of the episodes, really), Michael as a racist/sexist/idiot (Moroccan Christmas S5:E10)/terrible person (Prince Family Paper S5:E12), etc.
So, where do I think the office is going? I think Michael is going to be fired or demoted to salesman (or fired, then re-hired, as a salesman). Getting him out of the boss role would allow him to do new things and possibly grow. It would allow for the introduction of new characters or the development of new aspects of old characters. We've already seen Jim gain more responsibility in the office as mentioned above and in the Survivor Man episode his travail as leader was an important story line. So maybe he is the favorite for that to happen. Also, it would shake up the office and bring a buzz back to the show. We would get some episodes of: Who will be boss? How will that person act as boss (if they promote from within)? There could be conflicts with the new boss (e.g. by bringing back Karen) or old conflicts that re-surface because of the change in power. If Jim were the boss maybe Jim would have to deal with Dwight sucking up to him.
That is my prediction. What do you think?
(Spoiler Alert! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED)
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SUPER SPOILER:
I was looking on IMDB.com to see if there was a new episode tonight (3/12) and the episode next week is called "New Boss". Maybe we'll find out if I'm right very soon?!
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