Written by I just watched the last 3 episodes of the American TV Show, The Office. And this may be a little odd, but I find myself in a bit of a funk. I feel like a good friend just went away, one that I won’t see again. But, this time, I know I won’t see them again.
Admittedly, I don’t see things the same way a lot of people see things. Nor do I always see those things at the same time everyone else is seeing them. For instance, I never watched Seinfeld while it was running, but loved it later on. Many music bands were not favorites of mine until long after their most successful and popular albums had long since been made. There are great movies I still have not seen, and dozens more that everyone raved about for years before I ever saw them. I didn’t like or appreciate Gretzky for the player he was until late in his career. There’s a lot of things that I have missed, dismissed, or just was not paying attention to.
I often write to empty my mind, or at least allow a train of thought to complete its circuit through my mind. Maybe that’s what this moment is. I have watched The Office since the beginning. I have recorded it for years. Many episodes I have watched numerous times, although my memory isn’t focused enough to remember as much about them as other people do. This also makes for a better time watching things again because they’re enjoyable again and again, to me. My brother pointed this show out to me from the beginning, and I even watched many episodes of the original version of the show on the BBC.
Now it’s gone. The humor. The looks to the camera. The relationships. The dysfunction. The tears and the laughter alike. The absurdity in the working space they shared. The love story within. It’s all gone.
The show was a place I could go from week to week to be among friends. Friends who made me laugh. Friends who made me wish they had decided differently. Friends who made me cry. I am not afraid to admit that I teared up watching episodes over the years, especially while watching the last few.
I am not a critic, I am just an average guy who followed a show year after year. I forget more than I remember, which, I guess, allows me to get close to the emotional pulls of themes throughout one season to the next. Nobody asks me for input, or feedback, or whether I like shows or not. I am just writing to share. Maybe it’s pointless or even odd. Maybe it’s just a dumb thing that I spent some time with. I don’t know enough to judge a show, or to critique any of its detail. I’m just a dad with a DVR. People who know a whole lot more about this kind of stuff would rate the show as this or as that. I just really liked it. The show was a destination for me on Thursday nights. Today I feel just a little bit like I lost a friend. But, like reality, friends are friends no matter how long the time and distance has kept them away, and this too, will be that way. When I watch episodes in the future as re-runs, or on DVD, or even my own DVR, it will be good to see them all together again.