Michael Who?

"That's what she said." Ughh. Never in my life have I longed to hear that quote more than I have since April 28, 2011.

Now, try to hold back your tears (unless they are tears of laughter) because NBC's hit comedy, The Office, returned last fall and, surprisingly, it couldn't be any more funny.

If you are an avid watcher like myself, you know that the seventh season ended with the departure of Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) from Dunder Mifflin. As I was watching Michael say his last goodbyes to his co-workers, tears were flooding my eyes and streaming down my face; I was the definition of an emotional wreck.

However, the show must go on. I was devastated to see the end of Michael Scott and all his glory, but I was more curious as to how the show's writers were planning on moving the storyline along and keeping up the amount of laughter. I can honestly say that although I had my doubts and worries before the eighth season of The Office premiered, I currently enjoy this season and have an equal amount of laughing moments as I did while watching prior seasons.

"This new season found all cast members stepping up to the plate to prove that the show wasn’t really just 'The Michael Scott Show,'" said Chrissy Wilson of Uinterview. The show is trying to remind us "of the family feel of this group of misfits, even without Carell."

While almost everything in the paper company is changing, life in Scranton has continued on even though Michael is in Colorado with his just-as-comedic fiancé, Holly (played by Amy Ryan). The show just needed to make a few adjustments to its script, considering most of the episodes' dialogue would revolve around Michael and his awkward tendencies.

WARNING: For this post, I will be doing something different. (Don't panic! Not too much is changing.) Since there has not been a new episode of The Office in the past couple of weeks, I will do an overall review/summary of the comedy's newest season.

This season kicked off with the addition of a few new characters, such as the new CEO of Dunder Mifflin/Sabre, Robert California (played by James Spader), and the announcement of two pregnancies: Pam (played by Jenna Fischer) had baby no. 2 with her husband (and co-worker) Jim Halpert (played by John Krasinski) and Angela Martin-Lipton (played by Angela Kinsey) gave birth to her son with her "state senator" husband, who viewers have only seen once or twice.

The fact that I question their relationship forces me to conclude that Angela probably faked the wedding and married one of her million cats. Anyway, there is slight speculation that Dwight Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson) is possibly the father of Angela's child anyway. The final "shocker" of the season (thus far) is that Andy Bernard (play by Ed Helms) became Regional Manager of the Scranton office, the position formally held by Michael Scott.

In my opinion, Andy is the closest in "social ineptitude" to Michael, causing the writers' choice to be the most logical. He even brings the office together in the board room for Toby (played by Paul Lieberstein) to give a presentation about bullying - even though Andy's recent encounter is the center of the meeting's reasoning. I definitely see the "Michael Scott" tendencies ingrained in Andy.

The office jokes about how to handle a confrontation with teenage girls. (Video: NBC)

Just imagining Andy Bernard being assaulted by a group of middle-school girls makes me giggle. Despite the fact that he attempted to be Pam's "hero," his gesture backfired and caused him to be the laughing-stock of the day.

REVIEW TIME!

I will rate The Office on a scale based on the series' characters. I'm almost positive there would be a unanimous agreement that Toby is the lowest rating parameter since he is the boring wet blanket in most episodes; Michael is the highest rating boundary because, hands down, he is the reason behind the show's success and comedy (before his depressing departure).

In relation to the scale I created, The Office will earn a "Jim-rating" because true fans have stayed by his side through thick and thin and he always knows exactly what to say or do in any situation. Plus, he's not too hard on the eyes.

Those who have tuned into the show for the past seven years will not be the first to change the channel now that Prison Mike, Michael Scarn, Michael Klump, Date Mike, Classy Santa (or whatever you refer to him as) has left the building. Michael Scott will forever be remembered in our hearts and will always leave us satisfied and grinning even though it is really hard...that's what she said!...sorry, I became too distracted to finish my sentence.

So, if you are entertained by office confessionals, childish pranks and consistent ridicule, The Office can be watched Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.

*The first picture was found on Amazon.