You know whenever someone says, “I will not watch this show because such-and-such actor left,” and you think pshhhh, they’ll be missing out? Usually I find that to be true, but in the case of The Office, many of us still watching are now wondering why we bothered post-Steve Carrell. Get ready for some tough love.

I got into The Office late; I only began watching it last year. But it was one of those glorious instances where I was hooked almost from the start and had seven seasons to enjoy! And I did, I watched that show all the time, and after catching up to the seventh season, I started all over again. The Jim/Pam relationship really resonated with me and I really liked watching it develop, and even after they got together it didn’t get stale. The other characters were great to watch as well, and when Andy joined the show I really liked his character. Both him and Darryl were great additions. Most of all though, I loved Steve Carrell; cringing at everything he did yet, usually ending the episode with a smile.

But when he left at the end of the seventh season, I wasn’t worried. I was sad to see him go of course, but figured that The Office was still such a great concept, and there was a lot of story left to tell with the characters. But um… halfway through the eight season and they seem to have forgotten to tell it.

In theory, Andy was a great choice for the new boss, being just goofy enough to be awkward but different enough from Michael to make it new. But the writers are basically still writing Michael, only calling him Andy, and it’s such a waste of potential. Then there’s Robert California, who’s just not funny. I don’t know why. James Spader is great in theory, it just doesn’t work. Especially seeing as he’s not there all the time, and his character seems so undeveloped.

And what’s happened to the Andy/Erin pairing? It’s like half the writers’ room has given up on them, while the other half is still trying to make them the new Jam. Which is only resulting in making Erin extremely unsympathetic (and that’s coming from someone who used to like the character), and making Andy seem just weak and indecisive. Not the stuff an epic love story is made of.

Pam has been my favourite character for most of the series, so my feelings about this season probably has something to do with the fact that she’s not there. But even when she was, she wasn’t really doing much, and she wasn’t funny at all. Neither is Jim, and all his rivalries with Dwight are falling flat. Darryl is completely pointless, and most of the other characters just seem to be in the background, reacting (in very uninteresting ways) to what Andy and Jim are doing. And usually, the storylines don’t lead anywhere, and don’t really build up to any comedic moment; each episode a storyline just plays out, then fizzles away into the end credits.

It’s like the show just deflated after Steve Carrell left. And it really is such a shame, because I honestly believed The Office could have been fine without him. The writers seem to have lost the interest in developing stories and characters, and are relying on one-liners that fall completely flat. I don’t remember laughing even once this season, and that’s a major problem for a comedy series.

What’s my solution? End the show now. It feels like the actors don’t care anymore (though they’re carrying on like troopers), and there just comes a point in any series when it’s time. I’m not saying that they couldn’t get new writers, get the focus back to the characters and come back for an amazing season 9 – I’m just not sure there’d be anybody left to watch it. Let’s move on, and remember The Office for the amazing show it was.