“I have a lot of questions.  Number one, how dare you?” — Kelly Kapoor

These were the first words that popped into my head when I found out that Netflix canceled my favorite show. Well, actually, they were the second, the first being a long string of curses, but I don’t think those would be appropriate to share.  Netflix watchers were shocked to receive the gut-wrenching news that their beloved paper company will be leaving on January 1, 2021. Although its ninth and final season finished airing in 2013, The Office is the most watched TV show on the streaming platform.  

The first question that comes to mind is simple: Why?  We know that as shows and movies become less  popular they leave Netflix, but The Office is anything but unpopular.  Even without the numerical statistics, everyone knows how huge its fanbase is.  I see people with Dunder Mifflin sweatshirts and hear Michael Scott quotes everywhere.  

While some of us may have been hoping that our favorite show was leaving Netflix because the cast was getting back together to make a 10th season (which they aren’t, but hey, a girl can dream), the real reason is that NBC is going to be launching its own streaming service in 2020, so they want The Office off of Netflix. That way, they can have it solely on their network, which will grant them more subscribers.  It will be free to people with a paid TV subscription, but for the rest of us, we’ll have to pay about $12 a month to watch Dwight fail to become manager for nine seasons.

If your single purpose for having a Netflix subscription is to watch The Office anywhere and everywhere, cancelling it may be your best option.  But if you’re a fan of constant access to over 4,000 movies and over 1,000 TV shows, you’ll probably want to keep it.  While it may seem like your only option will be to pay for subscriptions to both Netflix and NBC, there may be another solution.  Buying a DVD box set of The Office or purchasing the whole show on iTunes actually only costs about half as much as paying for the NBC streaming service for a year.  I know what you’re thinking. What the hell is a DVD box set and what do I do with it?  While the method is outdated, it’s the cheaper choice, and as your parents are probably the ones who pay for Netflix and may not want to also pay for NBC, if you save, you’ll be able to scream at Pam for not realizing Jim is in love with her perpetually.

Whether you’re planning on paying for NBC, buying the entire show, or settling for catching episodes on Comedy Central, we’ll all have to say goodbye to the luxury of having The Office on Netflix on December 31, 2020.  It’s a dismal predicament, but one we’ll have to live with.  After all, there could conceivably be worse things than having to binge TV shows a bit less.  Maybe.