The Office: How's Season 8 doing without Michael Scott?

Episode 2, "The Incentive," suggested that the show might be trying to operate the same way as ever, with Andy standing in for Michael. Even Dwight being Andy's second in command recalls early seasons. Episode 3, "Lotto," avoid this trap by casting Andy as a supporting players and depending on his preexisting relationship with Darryl. Again, the AV Club comments, "The further the show gets away from the novelty of Andy being the manager, the more the show can start to explore how the situation at the heart of the show has been altered by recent story events. "

And that's what this season needs to do. It will fall flat going back to retell season 2 and 3 stories with Andy standing in for Michael. It needs to stand on its own, 8th-season The Office, the Andy Bernard era, something totally different from what it used to be. The fourth episode, "The Garden Party," cobbled together a few different plots, including one that had Andy seeking his family's praise, and Jim writing a book to mislead Dwight in his capacity as host (some people objected to this gag because when did Jim find time to execute this prank with a pregnant wife and a baby?) It wasn't a strong episode, but we could consider these first four shows the birthing pains of a new kind of The Office, if the writers are willing to take us there.