3 Episodes Of The Office That You Shouldn't Rewatch, According To IMDb
"The Office" is one of NBC's biggest successes and has been hailed as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time by multiple outlets, including Rolling Stone. The series ran for nine seasons but could be divided into two separate entities: "The Office" with Michael Scott and "The Office" without him. There was a clear shift in the show once Steve Carell walked away from the iconic character in the middle of Season 7.
This was the point when the show arguably became less funny, as the hole left by Carell was unfillable. Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute for all nine seasons, even noted to USA Today that the series wasn't the same after their lead left. The actor also admitted a group of "The Office" stars begged the producers to end the show because it "felt wonky." With the show taking a significant turn in the middle of Season 7, subsequent episodes took a dive in terms of reception. According to rankings on IMDb, two of the three worst episodes took place after Carell left and are regarded as unwatchable. The other is one of the throwback episodes, which contains primarily old footage. Check out the three most unwatchable "Office" episodes below and see if they coincide with your personal rankings.
Gettysburg (Season 8, Episode 8)
It's tough to find an "Office" fan that enjoys "Gettysburg." It's an all-around abysmal episode that sees half the Dunder Mifflin gang travel to the famous historic site as new boss Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) tries to inspire them. The other half stay back at the office with Robert California (James Spader), where they try to come up with big ideas for Dunder Mifflin/Sabre. Gabe (Zach Woods) also takes center stage in the episode as he portrays Abraham Lincoln in an impromptu lecture to several other Gettysburg visitors. As a misunderstood character who never had much of a fan following, Gabe is one of the few employees who should be at the forefront of an episode.
"The Office" episodes are at their best when the whole group is together in the bullpen, and separating them often results in messy incohesive storylines. "Gettysburg" is also rated by Reddit users as one of the worst "Office" episodes ever, via Screen Rant, as they collectively felt that there were so few funny moments that would make an otherwise "meh" episode salvageable.
The Banker (Season 6, Episode 14)
The second-to-worst "Office" episode does involve Steve Carell, but it's the theme of "The Banker" that turned fans away. Clip shows are so often disliked in the world of sitcoms because they, more often than not, serve as filler episodes to allow writers time to regroup. That's precisely what "The Banker" was, but it had a mild amount of new content as Michael Scott and the Dunder Mifflin crew try to impress a Sabre investment banker (David Costabile) doing a due diligence check.
As the banker asks Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) a routine round of questions, each one prompts a trip down memory lane, looking back at some of the show's funniest moments. It seems like a fun idea that fans would eat up, but it had the opposite effect. Vulture noted in 2010 when the episode aired that "The Banker" was "jarring," especially given that with the prevalence of websites like YouTube, fans could already see old "Office" moments whenever they wanted — they don't need a clip show to do it. This type of episode was better back in the day for sitcoms like "Seinfeld" when this tech wasn't around, but fans now have more convenient ways to enjoy a blast from the past.
Get the Girl (Season 8, Episode 19)
The worst-rated episode of "The Office" on IMDb is "Get the Girl," and for good reason. Revolving primarily around Andy taking a road trip to Florida to win back Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper), the episode focused too much on a couple that fans had gotten tired of. In an ultra-cringey moment, Andy sings to Erin in an effort to woo her, which also features the latter standing in front of a very obvious and distracting green screen.
Back in Scranton, Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) makes her way to the Dunder Mifflin branch and becomes acting manager in Andy's absence. There's no surprise that Nellie is in the worst-rated "Office" episode as she's one of the most disliked characters across all nine seasons. Despite not knowing most of them, Nellie gives the employees their performance reviews and starts to rearrange the office to her liking. Fans have not been shy about posting their issues with Nellie in this episode to Reddit, where they slam her performance at the manager's desk. On your next "Office" rewatch, we definitely recommended skipping over this bad boy — as well as "Gettysburg" and "The Banker."