Country of origin United States Original network NBC | No. of episodes 26 | |
Original release September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17) – May 20, 2010 (2010-05-20) | ||
The sixth season of the American television comedy The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on September 17, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2010. The season consisted of 22 half-hour episodes, and 2 hour-long episodes to comprise the 26 total episodes of material created. The Office is an American adaptation of the British TV series of the same name, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Contents
The season has been cited by several critics as the beginning of the series' decline in quality, despite still receiving generally favorable reviews. The season ranked fifty-second in the season ratings with an average of 7.80 million viewers per episode, marking a steep drop in the ratings from the previous season which had an average of nine million viewers.
The sixth season of The Office aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) in the United States. The season was released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in a four-disc box set in the Region 1 area on September 7, 2010. The DVD set contains all 26 episodes, as well as commentaries from creators, writers, actors, and directors on some of the episodes. It also contains deleted scenes from all of the episodes, as well as bloopers.
Production
The sixth season of the show was produced by Reveille Productions and Deedle-Dee Productions, both in association with Universal Media Studios. The show is based upon the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom are executive producers on both the US and UK versions. The Office is produced by Greg Daniels, who is also an executive producer. Daniels would have a limited role in this season, only co-writing an episode and directing another, as he was busy writing his new show, Parks and Recreation which he co-created with Office writer/producer Michael Schur, who left the writing staff of The Office after season four to focus on the new show. Returning writers from the previous season include Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky, Brent Forrester, Justin Spitzer, Jennifer Celotta, Aaron Shure, Charlie Grandy, Warren Lieberstein, and Halsted Sullivan. New writers in the sixth season include Daniel Chun, Jason Kessler (who served as script coordinator) and Jonathan Hughes (who previously wrote several of the Office webisodes). Lieberstein served as executive producer and showrunner. Kaling, Novak, Eisenberg, Stupnitsky and Shure were co-executive producers; Celotta and Forrester were consulting producers; Chun was a supervising producer; and Spitzer, Grandy, Warren Lieberstein and Halsted Sullivan were producers.
This season featured 26 episodes directed by 20 directors. Paul Lieberstein, Randall Einhorn and Seth Gordon each directed several episodes during the season. Writers Jennifer Celotta, Lee Eisenberg and Brent Forrester each directed episodes. Cast members B. J. Novak, John Krasinski, Steve Carell, Mindy Kaling and Rainn Wilson all directed episodes as well.
Cast
Many characters portrayed by The Office cast are based on the British version of the show. While these characters normally have the same attitude and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show is known for its generally large cast size, with many of its actors and actresses known particularly for their improvisational work. Steve Carell stars as Michael Scott, Regional Manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Loosely based on David Brent, Gervais' character in the British version, Scott is a dim-witted and lonely man, who attempts to win friends as the office comedian, usually making himself look bad in the process. Rainn Wilson portrays Dwight Schrute, who, based upon Gareth Keenan, was the Assistant to the Regional Manager, although the character frequently failed to include "to the" in his title. John Krasinski portrays Jim Halpert, a sales representative, assistant manager, and prankster and for a while co-manager, who is based upon Tim Canterbury, and is in love his wife Pam Beesly, the former receptionist for Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch and is now a sales representative. Jenna Fischer portrays Pam, who is based on Dawn Tinsley. She is shy, but in many cases a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight. B. J. Novak portrays Ryan Howard who had previously left Dunder Mifflin to travel to Thailand, only to be subsequently re-hired in the fifth season "Michael Scott Paper Company" story arc. After making enemies with the recently promoted Jim, Ryan is subsequently moved to a closet office.
The show includes many supporting characters playing roles of office workers. Angela Martin, Oscar Martinez, and Kevin Malone, based on Keith Bishop, are the office's accountants, and are portrayed by Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, and Brian Baumgartner, respectively. Schrute, Halpert, Phyllis Lapin-Vance (portrayed by Phyllis Smith), Stanley Hudson (portrayed by Leslie David Baker), and Andy Bernard (portrayed by Ed Helms) compose the sales division of Dunder Mifflin Scranton. Although not one of the original cast members, Andy is considered by many people one of the lead roles and in the season 6 episode "Sabre" he was added to the opening credits. Kate Flannery portrays Meredith Palmer, the promiscuous Supplier Relations Representative, writer-actress Mindy Kaling portrays Kelly Kapoor, the pop-culture obsessed Customer Service Representative, writer-actor Paul Lieberstein portrays Toby Flenderson, the sad-eyed Human Resources Representative, Ellie Kemper portrays Erin Hannon, the receptionist and new love interest of Andy.
The season also introduces recurring characters Jo Bennet (Kathy Bates), CEO of Sabre Industries; Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods), director of Sabre sales; and Donna (Amy Pietz) who is cheating on her husband with Michael. Although Pam's mother previously appeared in the season two episode "Sexual Harassment", the role was recast, with Linda Purl who first appeared in "Niagara", and made two more appearances.
Reception
The sixth season premiere "Gossip" received a 4.0 share in the Nielsen ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, meaning that 4.0% of viewers aged 18 to 49 watched the episode. The episode was seen by 8.21 million viewers. The show ranked 17th in the seasonal 18–49 demographic ratings with an average of a 4.0 rating in the demographic. The viewership was an 18 percent drop compared to the fifth season premiere, "Weight Loss". The season finale, "Whistleblower" was viewed by 6.60 million viewers with a 3.4 rating/10% share in the 18–49, marking a 3% drop from the fifth season finale, "Company Picnic." The season also ranked 52nd in the seasonal total viewership with an average of 7.80 million viewers.
Critical reception
The sixth season received generally favorable reviews, with an overall score of 78/100 on Metacritic. However, many critics have also cited it as the beginning of the series' decline in quality. The season mainly faced criticism for a lack of stakes for the characters. Some critics have also criticized the conclusion to the Jim and Pam romance while others were critical of the lack of growth for Michael. Cindy White of IGN gave the season a 7.5 saying it was "Good" and "We did get some funny moments and some good episodes in Season 6, but as a whole it just doesn't compare to the strength of seasons past." She also went on to criticize the storylines including Jim's stint as co-manager. Will Leitch of New York said "The Office's season six was usually funny and always big-hearted, but there was never much at stake". Entertainment Weekly writer Darren Franich called the season the "least cohesive" season of the series.
Honors
The show received numerous nominations. The show was nominated for Favorite TV Comedy at the 36th People's Choice Awards, but lost to The Big Bang Theory. The show was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for the fourth time at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards, but lost to Glee. It was also nominated for two awards at Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 for Comedy Series and Episodic Comedy for the episode "Gossip" written by Paul Lieberstein. This season received four Emmy nominations at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards—Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Steve Carell), Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling for "Niagara") and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation.
Episodes
In the following table, "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the night of broadcast. Episodes are listed by the order in which they aired, and may not necessarily correspond to their production codes. ‡ denotes an hour-long episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 42 minutes).