That was a woman
I was talking to. So. She had a very low voice. Probably a smoker. So. [CLEARS THROAT] This guy and this guy
are two dramatically different characters. For about six seasons of Steve
Carell's tenure on The Office, Michael Scott is a near
completely static character. He evolves but very slowly. He grows in the very little
ways Michael Scott does. But for one single
season, Michael Scott was someone very different. US version of The
Office was developed by Greg Daniels as an
extension of the 12 episode British miniseries starring
Ricky Gervais as David Brent. Hilariously mean spirited,
depressed, nearly functionless human being, whose world
was built around dark humor with a splash of the early
makings of cringe humor. The first season of the US
Office's six episode run attempted to recreate that
edge, that very same angle. And the show was almost
immediately canceled. Paul Feig would say
later in an interview that it was a miracle the
show wasn't removed from air, and that the support of
NBC exec Kevin Reilly is the only thing that saved it. Why? Because they [QUACK]
Michael Scott. That's what she said. That's my joke. I touched on this briefly
in an earlier piece I did about The
Office, but I think it's worth diving into deeper. Michael Scott in season
one had to be changed in four visible important ways
to ensure the show's survival, and some of these changes
are more obvious than others. If you had a hard time
getting into The Office, well, these may very
well be the reasons why. Michael was originally
a totally unlikable, unoriginal caricature. And it was only once
this was acknowledged by the show's writers
and creator that it began to change. Maybe unsurprisingly, it starts
with the superficialities of Michael Scott. You might have noticed that this
Michael doesn't look exactly like this one. And that's because, well,
first impressions in television are everything for a
character, and Michael look like a skeevy
cartoon car salesman. It wasn't working. They slick Carell's
hair back in season one to give him a balding look. They dressed him in
oversized clothing and left the blazer at home,
tightened his collar up to give him the appearance
of being slightly overweight and having a double chin,
and gelled his scalp until the shine
could be seen off the top of his head
three shots away. This was all in attempt to make
him look like a more nefarious, more mean spirited character. Almost like a villain. The show's producers
acknowledged this was not going to
work for the character long term if they wanted
audiences to care about him. So season two introduced the
new and improved apparently Rogaine using Michael Scott. More presentable, better
dressed, less offensive in appearance. But this was just the surface. Where the real changes were made
were in how moments like these are handled. Try my cookie cookie. Try my cookie cookie. Try my cookie cookie. Try my-- This is the end of the season
one episode Diversity Day, maybe the show's
most famous episode. There is no redemption
here for Michael Scott. The moral of the episode
by the time it ends is that he's awful,
and that's that. The only moment of
audience redemption comes here between Jim and Pam. It was a mean spirited way to
end an episode of a television show, and this approach
apparently left a sour taste in the mouths of audiences. And their view of both the
show and Michael's character was that of bleakness. The dark British
humor not translating well to American audiences
wasn't necessarily the issue. It was that the
producers wanted the show to be on air for far
longer than 12 episodes, and were too closely trying
to replicate Brent and pursue that reality. Here's the end of
the final episode of that first season, Hot Girl. I uh, I probably
should have told you I don't need a ride now cause
Jim can take me home after, so you're off the hook. OK, great. Off the hook. Excellent. OK, cool. I got this. All right. Have fun. Don't drink and drive. A conscious decision
was made from here on out, this very moment, to
give the show's episodes more optimistic endings than this. To provide the audience
with happier moments and give Michael an aura
of humanity, whereas the UK office ends with Brent's literal
firing and his lowest point. From here on, Michael would
end each episode happier. The aforementioned Paul Feig,
former writer on the show, points to this moment in
the season two episode Office Olympics with being the
aha moment of that optimism. Stating that these
were the moments that would make Michael Scott human,
and the good feelings that would keep audiences around
for more than 12 episodes. They leave their
couches with a smile. So from season two on, more
optimistic endings were in. But there was a
bigger glaring issue that producers
believed had to be causing the show's
poor reception throughout that initial season. Michael was not the
world's best boss. In fact, it was entirely
unbelievable to audiences that he even continued
to have and keep his job. In the context of
a mockumentary, the entire purpose of the
format becomes believability in the gimmick. Therefore, if audiences don't
believe in Michael's ability to run the office, they'll
check out of the concept, and in turn, the
show, all together. And I think this moment
in the season two episode The Client is a direct
response to that criticism. Well, corporate is
going to go ballistic, but uh, you think we could, Jan? See season one
Michael, throughout all of his meanspirited, fake
firings and offensive attacks on nearly everyone
in his office, also fails to accomplish,
well, essentially anything. In the client, on
the other hand, Michael continues to be Michael. He interrupts the meeting to
call Pam to feed him a joke. He brings up Jan's split
from her husband repeatedly, and he derails conversation
for what seems to be hours-- Chili's babyback ribs. --and then, he closes. He accomplishes something. A trend we'd see carried forth
throughout the years post season one, as Michael
flails around in sheer chaos while somehow still
getting the job done. This postseason
one approach is why you see characters
like David Wallace bring Michael in for tips on
how to run the other branches. It's why you see Michael
semi successfully lead a competing paper company. Michael's momentary
competence gives the show's writers the
leverage and the space to encourage Michael's
more ridiculous behavior. [SHOUTING] Parkour! If he was doing this in the
office and failing at his job, he'd become near
instantly unlikable. Because we, the audience,
like Pam and Jim and Stanley. And we know branches are
closing and we, as the viewer, want that branch to
succeed for their sake. If Michael was consistently
playing with their livelihoods, we, the viewer, would
grow tired of him. We'd resent him. He'd become a villain. So Greg Daniels told his
writers that from season two on, Michael had to be
a more competent boss. Welcome back Stanley. Thank you, Michael. And it worked out. But I think the most important
changes to Michael Scott made between season 1 and
2 are the changes that gave him a true character
arc and stimulated his development as the most
likable idiot in television history. This was the result
of two decisions, and the first was more
of a logistical choice. Michael Schur, former
writer on the show, has spoken about
it time and again. 10% was the idea. The show's cast would be 10%
nicer to him after season one, because this all the time
wasn't going to work. And this was a sort
of intangible change that happened slowly
over time, but it was integral in
shifting the audience's disposition towards Michael. If the characters we are
attached to, the Jims and Pams, absolutely resent him, we are
far less likely as viewers to change our opinion of him. So the 10% rule
was put in place. But what really humanized
him with the show's approach to relationships. In the first season, we
only see Michael the boss. The second season makes
a concerted effort to give Michael relationships
that he can grow around. Now Jan and Michael's
relationship is obviously just sad. It's one sided, it
victimizes Michael in a way that makes
us feel for him, but it gives him
little to no reason to develop as a character. Jan is surprisingly an even
worse influence on Michael than he is on himself. Instead, it's Holly
Flax who doesn't arrive until season four,
that sparks the most character growth in Michael, and best
represents that 10% motto. [BEATBOXING] I'm MC Mike
Scott, and I am hot. She's DJ Jazzy Flax
and she is the best. Ironically and obviously,
with her replacing Michael's foil in Toby. Holly shows us, the audience,
that Michael can be loved and should be loved. Holly gave Michael
a reason to mature. A reason to not read
her unsent email to him. A reason to remove the
toxicity from his life. A reason for him to be
more comfortable and secure with himself. When we see an unassuming,
likeable character like Holly fall for someone like
Michael, we subconsciously view him as a more
likeable presence. And this is maybe the
most dramatic change from season one. In that season, Michael
develops very little. He has very little to
live for, and the attitude of those around him
represents that. But there's a reason
season one Michael, from his looks to
the way his day ends to how he's treated
and treats others, never makes it past those
initial six episodes. OK, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He's ruined-- he's
butchering it. I think part of the reason I
find this also interesting, interesting enough at least
to expound upon something I've already touched
on, is because there's a widely held belief that
the original 12 episode run of the UK Office is
dramatically better than what the Steve Carell
version offered. But I think if you look at
both series in their totality, they are two very different
versions of what it means to be the world's best boss. What Michael Scott accomplished
was a transformation from something that everyone
thought he should be, a David Brent, into
something that was uniquely, well, Michael Scott. And I think that's the
most important takeaway from the first couple
of seasons of the show. Sometimes it's
better to be unique. It's better to be
something different than it is to try
and fit into a mold you'll never quite be able to
squeeze into as well as someone else. So maybe stop trying to be them. It took Michael
Scott a few episodes, but he just might be proof that
the best way to be a success, to be the world's best boss, is
to get a little bit of Rogaine and be yourself. And, yeah. You're probably going to
need a little bit of luck. I'm not superstitious, but I-- I am a little stitious. That's a wrap on today's
episode of Nerdstalgic. If you enjoyed it and want to
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