Comedic actor Steve Carell has been nominated for dozens of Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards for his role as Michael Scott in The Office, but after seven successful seasons, has brought home only one of these trophies (Golden Globes, 2006). With the presentation of the SAG Awards last week as the final notable award show for television actors of the season, that trophy from 2006 is now officially Carell's only award for his role in The Office. Not only was Carell the glue that held together The Office, which has arguably gone downhill since he left last season, he has also created one of the most iconic television characters in the past decade. Carell as Michael perfectly represents to me, the possibility for a performer to be both a comedian and a skilled actor in the same role (See also: Little Miss Sunshine).
In seven seasons, Michael made the gradual and realistic transformation from the obnoxious boss that everyone loved to hate, to the naive but lovable romantic that brought the office together. With the help of the written word (although improv is common in the show), Carell was able to find the complex humanity that was missing in Michael's character at the start of Season 1 and in the original UK version of the show. Compare this evolution to Alec Baldwin, Carell's most common something, whose Jack Donaghy of 30 Rock, shows little evolution throughout the show's something run. While Baldwin has successfully created a humorous characterization, he falls short in bringing the character to the level of realism and subtlety that Carell achieved with Michael. With Michael Scott, Carell has pushed through the 2-demensional caraciture to create a full fledged human being. His role as Michael allowed him to show off an incredible range in talent. He was able to pull off outrageous comedic stunts, (example). He created painfully tense and awkward moments, (example). And express earnestly heartfelt acts of kindness for his peers (example).
In honor of Carell's role on The Office, I've put together a video compilation (below) of my 10 favorite Michael Scott moments from all 7 seasons, from the ridiculous, to the cringe-worthy, to the warm and sweet. As for the title's question, it seems that I haven't found an answer after all. Maybe you have some ideas yourself! Feel free to offer your thoughts, critiques or opinions in the comments below.
