You know, I'm not sure when it started. I've thought it was very uneven for a while - it'd be brilliant one week, and then painfully bad the next. I've been so over Michael for a really long time now (I am actually pretty glad Steve Carell is leaving), and I mostly watch for Jim/Pam and the minor characters (who hardly ever get to do anything anymore).
And that's pretty much how I felt about season 5 - uneven. The middle lagged a LOT, but Holly made Michael a lot more tolerable in the beginning, and I liked the Michael Scott Paper Company episodes at the end. (Basically, I like anything that gets Michael out of the rut he's in - most of the time it's like the writers just keep doing the same tired jokes over and over.) Season 6 I thought was just terrible - other than the Jim/Pam eps and Kathy Bates, I could've done without it entirely.
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And that's pretty much how I felt about season 5 - uneven. The middle lagged a LOT, but Holly made Michael a lot more tolerable in the beginning, and I liked the Michael Scott Paper Company episodes at the end. (Basically, I like anything that gets Michael out of the rut he's in - most of the time it's like the writers just keep doing the same tired jokes over and over.) Season 6 I thought was just terrible - other than the Jim/Pam eps and Kathy Bates, I could've done without it entirely.