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For five (arguably six) seasons, "The Office" combined humor with emotion to produce some of the greatest television ever seen over the airwaves. Then, a transition season (seeing the departure of Steve Carrell) left the show with a very unstable future. Sadly, the "circle down the drain" only continues with this eighth season, producing no redeeming moments whatsoever.

This season was lost right from the get-go and never improved one iota. The additions of James Spader & Catherine Tate to the cast proved to add nothing to the "Michael Scott void", while all the other characters begin to really get stale for the first time in the show's now-lengthy run. Some of the "lowlights" of this season (minor spoilers ahead) include...

-The complete ruination of the Andy Bernard character and his relationship with Erin. This was supposed to be the next "Jim & Pam" kind of relationship, but it has failed miserably. The "Nard Dog" was once the funniest character on the show. Now, he is just a shell of his former self. His character just isn't the "leading man" type.

-The new additions to the cast also failed to impress and even further muddy the waters of the show's identity. But, what should have been expected after the failed experiment of the Will Ferrell character in the previous season?

-The auxiliary characters are now old and stale. Whereas their eclectic comments once seemed to never get old, now they are almost cringe-worthy most of the time.

The sad fact of the matter is that Michael Scott was the glue that held "The Office" together. With his departure, everything has completely melted down. I can honestly say that not a single episode of the entire season stood out as "funny". Only Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute remains even remotely entertaining (with Jim/Pam now completely played out).

I fully expect the show to continue as it is such a big hit for NBC and the network will milk it dry and then some, but I made have to make the tough decision to jump ship before the resolution. I do not take this decision lightly, as I have invested so much in the Dunder Mifflin-ites, but it has now become a chore to watch each week. I saw the same thing happen with "Smallville" over on the WB/CW network, and it saddens me to realize "The Office", which was once so great, will go out with such a whimper.

If you are a casual fan of this show and don't necessarily need to "see the payoff" in the end, I would actually encourage you to stop watching after the Michael Scott departure episode towards the end of season seven, which could have (and should have, in hindsight) served as the show finale. All that has come since has been pure dreck.

Since Michael Scott gone Office changed forever. Andy became new manager and now he is the captain of this show. But wait... All the time he wasn't because Robert C. Had to be "the boss". Throughout the season Andy was treated poorly and he still smiled like a champ. His character development is spectacular. Dwight after 8 seasons is the same jerk as in the 1st one. Writers did a poor job developing Dwights character, it's boring to watch. But Andy, on the other hand, is complete opposite. And what do we get? Andy is fired, Andy humiliates himself multiple times in front of all ex colleages. The new boss Nellie makes this show not the same show we used to watch when Michael Scott was in charge. All the time I have a feeling that this series is not Office anymore and nostalgia for 1-4 seasons just enfolds me.

In the finale Andy gets a "happy ending" for him, but the way that he didn't get the satisfaction after all humiliation, the fact that Robert walked out without any shame, the fact that all employees as always do not get a payback for backstabbing is just not funny and not pleasing to watch. All the time Robert was talking about winners and losers but in the end HE WAS a loser who led the company to bankruptcy. And yet the writers didn't note this result (they either didn't care or didn't even realised it).

I liked Erina's and Andy's relationships, I liked intro scenes, but majority of the remaining time of this season is lame and not pleasing to watch.

Probably the worst cold open. Andy just getting so annoying. The season was much longer than necessary. Season 9 is better. Dwight does get better over time. Jim and Pam storyline a wee boring. The Senator and Angela not the worst. Robert California funny. Kelly and Ryan relationship worn out.

The worse character to ever show up on The Office is Nellie. She makes me ill and I never even chuckled in her lame attempts at jokes. They totally ruined Andy in this season, he's a slobbering pathetic blob now. Robert California is just disgusting, what a waste of good talent with James Spader. Terrible season overall... is this a prelude into season 9? I hope not.

Once The Office US got its own voice it quickly became really enjoyable indeed; the first season was a mistaken attempt to simply repeat the UK original but the second season saw it hit its mark and become its own beast. Later seasons saw it become more of a regular sitcom but it retained enough of its comedic strengths to stay funny. The eighth season manages to keep some of the comedy and the overall approach of asides and smart dialogue but unfortunately it mostly does it within the frame of plots that don't live up to the standard we have come to expect.

Ironically the problem with the majority of them is that the plots are often trying so hard to be classic Office that they end up repeating old plots and character arches whether they work or not. It doesn't start out this way though and indeed Robert California adds a wonderfully enjoyable new element to the show that maybe could have been used as a fresh core to the show. Unfortunately, although he is kept and remains good value, he is moved to one side to install Andy as the manager and essentially make him into a Michael Scott character. Once this is done we get a whirlwind tour through the previous seasons in regards repeating Scott's story through Andy; the winning over of staff, the being a jerk but yet also a decent guy, the dealing with corporate threats to the office, the challenges of a competing manager, branching out on his own, acting impulsively in the name of love, and so on. Not all of it is bad but for sure it is hard to escape that fact that the writers are not dealing well with the exit of Michael and have instead just decided to recreate him and try and keep going the way things were.

It isn't just this core character though, there are lots of retreads – but sadly a lot of them are clumsy or exaggerated to try and generate energy to add freshness. There are many examples of this; Dwight and Angela again, Ryan and Kelly again are two straight repeats, but more telling is the attempts to repeat plot structures with new characters. So, I liked the "wouldn't they be good together" flirting of Darryl and the unavailable Val, but it still felt like a plot thread written because the show knows that office romances have been good material before – so they try to force this one rather than letting it happen. The nature of the supporting characters means there are plenty of options for asides and comedy and often the show is still very funny, but the side-characters are perhaps a bit too pushed to be bigger and noisier than before and not all of the material is as good for them as it was in the past.

In terms of additions, Robert California works but Nellie Bertram simply does not. OK she is the exaggerated randomness that the show often loves, but with it she is unlikable, grating and tends to be annoying random rather than fun random. Tate is an acquired taste and I must confess it is not one I often seem to have – I have liked her in some things but here she simply doesn't work as a character or in terms of material, so her performance may be dedicated to delivery, but it is still a delivery of a weak product. The other cast members are better but often struggle with the material as well because, although they are doing good work, there is an air of them doing it with weaker material and when they have in the cast. There is also a sense that they are being asked to do more than their characters are suited to considering that this is a show that was best when the support cast were sparingly and well used.

The eighth season of this show is still quite funny and it has enough energy to it to carry it through its problems – but there are problems. The loss of the central character offered the chance for freshness but instead everyone is moved to fill his gap whether they fit or not The material mostly feels recycled with new characters or repeated versions of what has gone before. The dialogue and the performances continue to be good but the overall writing and plotting is weaker and if the ninth season continues the direction of this season then it probably doesn't have too much life left in it.