10 Ways The Office Went From Great To Terrible

Ultimately all these problems could have been avoided if the show had known when to wrap up, perhaps two or three seasons earlier than it actually did.

Season 2 to season 5 was undeniably the golden period of the show with memorable storylines, strong character moments and infectiously quotable lines. Season 6 and 7 were a more mixed affair but ended strongly with Michael Scott's emotional farewell which should have been a natural end to the whole Dunder Mifflin saga.

Partially due to network greed and probably ridiculous paychecks for the rest of the cast the decision was made to continue the show for another few seasons which were still decent compared to your average sitcom but felt poor by the show's own high standard. A mixture of Carell's looming shadow, poorly written stories and a change in writing staff led to the fall in the show's quality. Ultimately it just didn't know when to quit.