10 Ways The Office Went From Great To Terrible

For the most part The Office used cliffhangers sparingly, usually ending some seasons on a compelling 'to be continued storyline' but without verging into an over the top soap opera cliffhanger. This, however, changed in the later seasons.

Pam and Jim's kiss at Casino Night may be the definitive example of this which managed to hook an audience in with a degree of subtlety. Comparing this to the cliffhanger of season 8 which leaves us wondering whether Dwight is really the father of Angela's baby it feels like a different show. This was one of many examples of the show embracing an Eastenders 'doof doof' moment as we zoom in on Dwight's face and have to wait until season 9 for the anticlimactic reveal.

Perhaps the most cringe-inducing examples were the final two season's attempts to convince us that Jim and Pam would both have affairs. Literally ending an episode with Pam's replacement Cathy openly telling her friend on the phone about how she will try and seduce Jim on the Florida trip was probably the lowest moment of the show. Alongside the introduction of boom operator Brian who is suddenly introduced as Pam's potential love interest (nine seasons in), both characters feel like poorly conceived last second ideas to introduce some dramatic stakes into the Jim/Pam relationship.