It’s hard to remember it now, but seasons two through four of “The Office” can rival the current and the last of seasons “Parks and Recreation” in sheer gloriousness. So much has happened since the marriage of Jim and Pam that it’s easy to lose sight of just how amazing the show once was, how it excellently combined the comedy of discomfort with the effervescent sweetness, and how Jim and Pam were once a sublime combination of Ben/Leslie and Andy/April.

Based on Ricky Gervais’ brilliant UK series, many argued during the heyday of the US version that it was actually better than the original: It was a sweeter, less misanthropic version of Gervais’ series, and if anything, it was more palatable. As originally formulated, the series revolved around the branch manager, Michael Scott and his uncanny ability to stick his foot in his mouth, the will they/won’t they relationship of Jim and Pam, and a menagerie of eclectic and amusing oddballs that made up the rest of the Dunder Mifflin staff.

What’s happened in recent years, however, is that Jim and Pam did, and then Michael Scott left, and suddenly, those eccentric and oddball side characters — originally designed to be scene stealers with little screen time — have had to take on a heavier load. The oddballs and boobs became the main characters — one of them, Andy Bernard, became the new branch manager –and “The Office” lost its core, its voices of reason. In the beginning, when Michael Scott or Dwight Schrute would do something dumb, we knew we at least had Jim or Pam as our inside voice: They provided the sane perspective. But somewhere along the way, before Pam’s second pregnancy, and during the never-ending series of prank wars with Dwight, even Jim and Pam lost sight of reality, succumbing to one-dimensionality.

Now “The Office” is a mess of supporting characters, of oddballs and eccentrics, that bounce around each other with no real rhyme or reason; there’s not a lot of consistency in their characterizations; now, it seems, the more they’re onscreen, the less we really know about them. At one point, the characters drove the storylines; now, the increasingly inane storylines drive the characters. And it’s driving “The Office” into the ground.

After the first few episodes of this, the eighth season, I had some small hope that the showrunners would turn it around, that Andy would infuse “The Office” with new energy. I felt the direction they were heading in was to turn Andy Bernard into a version of Leslie Knope: A boss whose earnestness the cast would rally around, instead of mock. He would be determined and hard-working, and would take the business of selling paper way too seriously, and his staff would grow to respect it. Alas, Andy is just another version of a Michael Scott character that had already grown stale. And James Spaders’ Robert California, who I thought might resurrect the show’s moral center, is just another boob in the show’s collection of them. He’s like a smarter, wealthier version of Creed, if Creed were allowed to run the company.

Look: Situation comedies rarely survive creatively after 100 episodes: There’s only so many iterations of the same situation you can play with. We’re seeing the same thing on “Modern Family” in only its third season, but like “Modern Family,” “The Office” is still watchable, amusing at times, and often entertaining. But “The Office” has not only outstayed its welcome, it’s slowly destroying the brilliant characters it created over the first three seasons. Jim’s only purpose these days, it seems, is to continue his prank war with Dwight, a prank war that Dwight often gets the better of, which occasionally allows Dwight to be the show’s voice of reason. And you know there are problems when Dwight is a voice of reason. Pam has been reduced to a waddling pregnancy joke; nobody knows if Ryan and Kelly are together, week to week, and even fewer people care; Daryl got promoted into a job where he doesn’t seem to do anything; Stanley now employs a catchphrase (it’s a funny catchphrase, mind you, but “The Office” was supposed to be the anti-catchphrase comedy); Meredith is a series of drunk jokes; Angela’s obsession with cats ran its course four seasons ago, and now she’s getting the pregnancy jokes’ sloppy seconds; Oscar, who was once a cool gay character, is now a gay stereotype; and Kevin has somehow gotten dumber over the course of the series, which is saying a lot since there was once an episode where Holly confused him for a mentally retarded man. Indeed, the only character the show hasn’t completely destroyed is Creed, whose mind was destroyed in Vietnam.

Worse still: There’s no apparent end in sight. In its eighth season, “The Office” is the most popular sitcom on NBC. They’re bringing in Catherine Tate in the second half of the season (she was originally thought to be Michael Scott’s replacement, but she had stage commitments in the UK) and, who knows? She could replace Andy. There could be a never-ending succession of Micheal Scott replacements. “The Office” could run another four or five years, recycling plot lines, magnifying the caricatures, and hauling in a series of guest stars to take our attention away from the stale regular cast. But the longer “The Office” continues, the more we forget. Now this scene, back when Jim and Pam managed to stay ahead of the curve instead of bending with it, and back when “The Office” still had a keen sense of playful self-awareness and an unwavering sweetness, is little but a memory, a ghost of how great “The Office” once was and may never be again.

the office jim and pam wedding dance from Isthshowulikeit on Vimeo.

Late last month, word leaked out that James Spader — easily the best guest star during “The Office’s” late-season parade of applicants to fill Steve Carell’s shoes — was in negotiations to join the NBC show full-time next season. And now EW has confirmed through sources that a deal has been reached:

NBC is set to announce the hire, adding a new well-known actor to the ensemble series that saw the departure of its biggest star, Steve Carell, this season, and will also say goodbye to recurring performer Kathy Bates as well. Bates played the company’s CEO last season, though Spader’s character is expected to have a greater presence on the show.

As great as Steve Carell was throughout much of “The Office’s” run, Spader’s arrival changes the show from “Eh, I’ll watch it if I’m not busy” to “must watch” for me. Hell, I watched “Boston Legal” just for Spader, and that show BLEW. I’d happily watch James Spader read the Yellow Pages — by the time he got to “Anderson” he’d have a naked woman he didn’t know turning the pages for him.

Once a fixture of “Saturday Night Live,” we haven’t seen much of The Ambiguously Gay Duo — Robert Smigel’s innuendo-heavy cartoon — since Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert (who voice the skits) attained comedic superstardom. But Ace and Gary returned in a big way during this weekend’s “SNL,” an otherwise unremarkable episode hosted by Ed Helms. Thanks to a “flesh ray,” Ace and Gary become live-action heroes played by Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon, while Carell, Colbert, and Helms play the bad guys trying to out them (for what it’s worth, Fred Armisen plays the lizard guy).

You can watch the Hulu video below — unless you live outside of the United States, of course. Consider it your punishment for daring to live outside our borders, you commie scum. (Just kidding, foreigners: you can watch the live-action part of the sketch here.)

In shocking news that will shock you like an electric shock, “The Office” has added another big name celebrity to the mix for Steve Carell’s final episode. According to Entertainment Weekly, Jim Carrey will make an appearance as someone interviewing for the job Michael Scott is leaving behind. For those of you keeping score at home, this brings the celebrity cameo total for the finale to six: Carrey, Ricky Gervais, Will Arnett, James Spader, Ray Romano, and Catherine Tate (Will Ferrell’s run will be over by that point). That’s a lot of extra moving pieces for a show that already has a large ensemble cast.

I can understand why they’d want to bring in these big names to drum up interest and make a ratings splash in sweeps, but it seems a little out of place on a show where every episode is about what a family the characters are. Even if each of these guests are given only 90 seconds of screen time, that’s, like (*tries to do math in head*)… twelve? Five? Banana? Banana minutes of total screen time? I’m getting close, right? All I’m saying is that I hope they’re able to weave all these cameos in throughout the hour without skimping on providing closure to the interpersonal relationships the show claims to be about. Unless Jim Carrey’s character delivers all of his lines out of his butthole like in Ace Ventura. I can not get enough of that.

Steve Carell’s farewell from “The Office” airs at the end of this month, and NBC has given its Thursday stalwart a plus-sized 50 minutes to say goodbye.

NBC announced today that it will offer extended versions of Steve Carell’s final episode of “The Office” as well as for “Parks and Recreation” on Thursday, April 28. “The Office” will see Carell off in an episode that night from 9:00 -9:50 p.m. (ET) and will continue with “Parks and Recreation” from 9:50 -10:30 p.m. (ET). [NBC Universal]

Vulture adds:

Producers finished production on this episode [of "Parks and Recreation] months ago, but the Parks crew often has extra footage that needs to be cut, so perhaps it wasn’t too hard to pack in some more Pawnee. 30 Rock will shift to 10:30 p.m. for the night, meaning — and this may be the best news of all — no Outsourced!

Of course, there’s still no official word on who’s replacing Michael Scott in Scranton. Will Ferrell is stepping in for four episodes, but it seems unlikely that he’ll stay as Carell’s replacement. Will Arnett and Ricky Gervais are scheduled to appear in the May 19th season finale, but for my money I think the new “Office” boss will be David Cross. I’m making this prediction now so that I can link back to how smart I am if I happen to be right. And if I’m wrong, well, how the hell was I supposed to know? I’m just a blogger sitting on a couch. Win-win, baby.

Following Ricky Gervais’s cameo on “The Office” earlier this season, the star of the original British series will return for another guest stint on the American version’s Season 7 finale, joining Will Arnett for what promises to be a star-laden send-off for Steve Carell.

What will [Gervais and Arnett] be doing? Can’t say. The episode is still being written. We can tell you the one-hour episode will air May 19, have Gervais appearing on the show for the second time, and has Arnett appearing for the first time. Also, that there will be other notable guest stars as well.

Sources did warn that one shouldn’t assume that just because Gervais and Arnett are  in the finale, that either is going to replace Carell next season as the Office boss (but one can dream of it, right?). [EW]

Personally, I’d like to see more of the Will Arnett character from “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.” I’d also like to see the characters of Jim and Pam die in a car wreck, and my dog ride a bicycle, and Kate Upton nude in my bed, but that doesn’t mean any of those things are going to happen. At least not until I get my dog some training wheels.

Last night was a great night for television, and if you didn’t watch at least one show from the combination of “Community,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Archer,” and “Jersey Shore,” then you’re probably visiting the wrong TV blog. Here’s a quick rundown of what I found most buzzworthy:

Parks and Recreation — A flu sweeps Pawnee, sending even the sharpest characters into fever-induced dementia. Rob Lowe’s “Stop. Pooping.” was probably the highlight of the episode.

Archer — I would have liked to have seen Krieger and Cheryl/Carol in the premiere, but there was still plenty to love, including: the farrier/furrier confusion, a pikemen joke, and “the Alabama of Europe.” (Also, for anyone who liked yesterday’s explanation of obscure “Archer” references, you’ll enjoy this discussion on Reddit. Judge Crater and “lampshade hanging” definitely should have made our list, and I liked the clarification on Chekhov’s gun. Bonus: for anyone who thought Quadroon got snubbed, you may enjoy its Wikipedia page.)

The Office — I’ve got video and a GIF of Ricky Gervais’s appearance on the show below. Nothing ground-breaking or all that special, but it’s cute in its own way. By the way, there’s been a lot of talk about how “The Office” went downhill after Michael Schur left to work on “Parks and Rec,” but it’s worth stating that it’s bounced back this season.

[GIFs via the always-great bohemea]

With Steve Carell leaving “The Office,” NBC is turning to Will Ferrell for a multi-episode arc that will take place as Carell’s character, Michael Scott, leaves the Scranton branch.

Ferrell has committed to a four-episode arc on NBC’s comedy The Office. He will play a branch manager who comes from the home office and is just as inappropriate as Steve Carell’s Michael Scott character. NBC is still figuring out exactly when the episodes will air, but Ferrell has committed to one episode beyond Carell’s finale, to help create a bridge.

Ferrell called the producers, offering his services because he’s a fan and wanted to commemorate Carell’s swan song by taking part in The Office star’s seventh and final season on the show. Ferrell and Carell are close friends who co-starred in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. [Deadline]

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that Carell and Ferrell have such similar surnames that don’t rhyme? Maybe it has something to do with this debilitating hangover, but I keep spelling Carell with two R’s and Ferrell with one R. Nevertheless, I’d appreciate it if these two would respect my alcoholism and stay out of each other’s news stories.

I rarely watch “The Office” any more, and I’m an antagonistic son of a bitch when it comes revealing spoilers that I don’t consider to be REAL spoilers, but I have to admit: I was a little bummed when Vulture spilled the news that Ricky Gervais would appear on the American version of “The Office.” Of course, your viewing experience won’t be truly spoiled unless you read how and when Gervais will appear on the show, so by all means feel free to stop reading now. I’ll put the details after the jump.

David Brent will meet up with Michael Scott before Steve Carell leaves The Office. Vulture has learned that Ricky Gervais shot a top-secret cameo that will appear in the cold open of the January 27 episode of the NBC series. “It’s a little more than if you blink, you’ll miss it, but if you don’t set your TiVo right, you’ll miss it,” says Office show-runner Paul Lieberstein.

In a testament to just how secret this whole idea was, Lieberstein says Gervais and Carell shot their scene all the way back in September, when Gervais was in town for the Emmys. “Ricky had wanted to do something [with the U.S. Office] and it felt like we shouldn’t go the whole series without them connecting,” Lieberstein says. “But we had some issues to work out, like how does David Brent live in the world of Michael Scott.” Producers knew it might be odd to link the universes of two office managers who both had documentary crews following them. In the end, the decision was made to shoot the scene away from Dunder-Mifflin. “It’s outside of the office, and it’s just the two of them interacting,” he says. “It’s just a little nod to Steve and his final year.”

To help maintain the cone of silence, Lieberstein adds, “We didn’t even tell NBC at first. So [Ricky] worked for free. But don’t print that — it might get him in trouble with the INS.” In a perfect world, Lieberstein had hoped the cameo could air unannounced, much the way George Clooney popped up in one of the final episodes of ER. Alas, the age of the Internet might have made that impossible, and Lieberstein gave Vulture the thumbs-up to reveal the cameo Wednesday afternoon.

“In a perfect world, you could have enjoyed this without us ruining it for you. But it’s not a perfect world, so we decided to ruin it for you.” Ah well. Best we just move on. Do you know what Ricky Gervais would tell us if we complained about the scene being spoiled by this news?

Monday marked the first time that “The Daily Show” taped since Rick Sanchez called Jon Stewart a bigot and issued the standard “Jews control the media” comment, and Stewart dedicated the first portion of the show to the subject.

While I enjoyed the entire segment, I would sooner recommend Moby-Dick than ask you to watch a nine-minute video. So skip ahead to the 4-minute mark, when Stewart runs a mash-up of clips from “The Office” and “Rick’s List” that reveals a striking similarity in the personalities of Sanchez and Michael Scott… who is played by Steve Carell… who used to be on “Daily Show”… hosted by JON STEWART! Woo-hoo! I just won Six Degrees of Sanchez! Tell your mom there’s a new champion.

UPDATE: No need to bother with jumping to the 4-minute mark; below is a YouTube video with the pertinent Sanchez-Scott mash-up.