REACTION: Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute at the front of the line to resign from Dunder Mifflin with Michael Scott

L.A. Times writer Jon Caramanica sort of got what he wanted last night during the 18th, season five episode of "The Office."

NBC did not fire Steve Carell or dump his character Michael Scott from the sitcom, but the regional manager of the Scranton, Pa. branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company quit his job in "New Boss," and online buzz indicates that someone "major" from the office might be coming with him "Jerry Maguire" style.

Anyone caught up with more recent episodes would bet their money on Jim Halpert (John Krasinki), whose teasing of Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) landed him in trouble with the company's new vice president, Charles Miner (Idris Elba). He might just preempt his possible termination by quitting as well.

If someone is going to leave with Michael Scott, investing time in setting up Jim Halpert's demise might just be a clever way to deviate attention from the more obvious suspect, the primarily loyal Dwight Schrute. It was only one episode prior that Michael Scott's No. 3 was willing to be terminated to cover up his boss' golden ticket idea that could have lost Dunder Mifflin a lot of money.

Someone else "major' on the Scranton office's payroll that might leave with Michael Scott is Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) because she has developed a painstakingly sympathetic brother-sister dynamic with her boss, not to mention that Jerry Maguire was joined in his own professional meltdown by a similar low-level office employee.

A fair assumption to make is that Michael Scott has seen the 1996 film and might very well try to act out the famous "Who's coming with me?" scene before saying goodbye.

No one else from the usual cast of characters has developed as close of a relationship with Michael Scott to risk losing a steady job during a shaky economic time that has been acknowledged as also occurring in this fictional world.

Something else to consider other than who might join the ranks of the unemployed with Michael Scott, if this comes to pass, is why the TV sitcom would bother to have him walk away from coworkers he values as a surrogate family. It might not simply be to spice things up during what might very well be the midpoint of the run of "The Office."

An important point to remember is that Charles Miner was initially set up as liking Michael Scott. Dunder Mifflin's new vice president genuinely seems to want to maintain a level of professionalism commensurate with performing the duties required of his job.

Easily forgotten is that David Wallace (Andy Buckley) is the bad guy in this situation because now that he no longer undervalues Michael Scott as a manager, he is trying to control someone whose effective leadership he cannot understand. Having Michael Scott gather information about the Prince Family Paper company alone speaks volumes about the chief financial officer's priorities.

Maybe Michael Scott quits until Elba's Charles Miner, who is set to appear in only six episodes, exposes the skeletons in David Wallace's corporate closet.

Whatever happens next week, "Two Weeks" is sure to make for entertainment riveting enough to include in the lineup for "Movie Mondays" in the Scranton, Pa. branch's conference room.

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REACTION: L.A. Times writer nitpicks the comedic existence of Steve Carell's Michael Scott on NBC's 'The Office'

Imagine trying to enjoy "Seinfeld" without Jerry Seinfeld, "Frasier" without Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Krane, or even "I Love Lucy" without Lucille Ball.

This is what Los Angeles Times writer Jon Caramanica argues would breathe life into NBC's "The Office."

Caramanica not only suggests that Michael Scott should be fired from the sitcom, but that NBC should also hand Steve Carell, the actor who portrays the character, his walking papers maybe because it was a slow day in entertainment news.

One can only remember how such a creative shift worked wonders for "Spin City," "Stargate SG-1" and "Sliders" when these series' title characters were recast or replaced.

Driving this argument is the assertion that Michael Scott has become boring just because the sitcom's writers did something that increasingly fewer TV writers do nowadays, that is, they provided their tweaked creation with a sense of character development.

Maybe Caramanica is one of the fans of the British version of "The Office," which was unable to have its viewers love David Brent (Ricky Gervais), the character that inspired Michael Scott, because of its limited 14-episode run.

Carell's take on the character has evolved beyond the inappropriate managerial actions of his predecessor, and it only stands to reason that British viewers would have tired of David Brent if he somehow was able to appear on the BBC for 76 more episodes without learning that there is rhyme to his seemingly absurd reason.

Though it could be argued that some comedy depends on offending social norms, Michael Scott is not exactly the one-dimensional title character of "When The Whistle Blows." Naive arrogance demonstrated by Michael Scott and David Brent comes from some place deeper than a need to get TV viewers to have a laugh, after all.

Just because Michael Scott no longer overtly subverts his own bad behavior does not necessarily mean that he can no longer be wacky. It simply means that the manager of the Scranton, Pa. branch of Dunder Mifflin has cemented his role as the sitcom's protagonist, not its villain.

Do not forget that a lot of offensive things still come out of Michael Scott's mouth that serve to offset how sad the character can be at times. Not to mention his inability to accept the oftentimes loyal Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) as anything more than sycophantic coworker, that racism still exists, that fat people are not gross, or keep a girlfriend.

Remember that Michael Scott has a penchant for inappropriateness when it comes to dating. He used to pine for his then boss Jan Levinson-Gould (Melora Hardin) the same way he now pines for Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), who was the human resources representative for the Scranton office when they dated.

Yes, Michael Scott's shoulder's are more squared and his hair is fuller, but Steve Carell should not be fired because he now has more of an income with which to take better care of himself.

Less questionable about what Caramanica suggested is that Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Dwight be fired from their jobs for a few episodes because it would allow viewers to miss them and other supporting characters such as Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), Creed Bratton, or Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) to evolve.

But at the same time Jim Halpert is no longer simply a hapless bystander because he has necessarily become more integrated into the office's unprofessional dynamic. He and his coworkers have all naturally become more of a family after what will soon be five complete seasons.

Because without Jim Halpert's involvement in what are primarily Michael Scott's exploits, he would come off as someone who enjoys seeing or helping his sympathetic boss get what he deserves. That would not be the quintessential Jim Halpert, who more than makes up for his collusion with his boss by teasing Dwight Schrute as an older brother would do.

And Dwight Schrute is simply Dwight Schrute, a character whose strange sense of reality is only strengthened by confidently believing such things as the possibility of bear attacks in Pennsylvania or that superheroes walk the Earth.

What seems off is how "The Office" no longer utilizes the proven TV dynamic of following an on-again, off-again relationship between Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) the way "Cheers" did with Sam and Diane. Still, one cannot fault writers for trying something new. 

Perhaps it is too early to judge the creative direction of a TV sitcom that might simply be suffering from being at a traditionally lackluster midpoint, especially if this is done just to have something about which to write. That is just unprofessional.

READ CARAMANICA'S STORY!

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