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"The Office, which airs its final episode tonight, is hailed for revolutionizing a great many things in the land of TV innovation: subtlety, documentary-style comedy, experimental fourth-wall stuff. But none of that really does credit to the place it has held in our hearts over the years. These are just a few of the ways the straight-up show changed our lives. We have The Office to thank for: Awkwardness, as a presence in our lives. You know, there was a time when we didn&amp;#x27;t use the word &amp;quot;awkward&amp;quot; 20 times a day, often in association with something funny that happened to us. Call me crazy, but I will always believe awkward&amp;#x27;s rise to power coincided with that of The Office, the first true awkward comedy. So, so many gut-bustingly original jokes that have since been copied. I swear the whole &amp;quot;subbing in a movie plot for real life&amp;quot; thing has been ripped off half a dozen times since this amazing scene. The Office - Grief Counseling from 112233 223344 on Vimeo. Perfect musical moments. You wouldn&amp;#x27;t think a show set at a paper company would yield singing and dancing scenes that, in terms of charm, rank right up there with some Glee highlights. But it did. Characters we loved so much, it literally pained us to see them go. And new characters that, despite their late entry, felt so fully realized and endearing, we enjoyed them as much as the original cast. No easy feat. The long life cycle of &amp;quot;That&amp;#x27;s what she said.&amp;quot; From funniest thing ever, to most overused thing ever, to seriously, Mike from accounting, you have to stop inserting it everywhere. (That&amp;#x27;s what she said.) Mindy Kaling. I can still recall dragging myself to IMDb to look up who had written &amp;quot;The Injury,&amp;quot; which was my favorite episode to date. (Michael cooks his foot on the George Foreman grill.) Hmm, someone named Mindy Kaling. Who, wait, also plays Kelly Kapoor on the show? And that was the beginning of a beautiful TV friendship. A new-found appreciation for the guy next door&amp;amp;#8212;meaning the guy in the cubicle next door. Jim Halpert was such a straightforward, decent, typical dude, I&amp;#x27;m surprised he made it onto TV at all. But John Krasinski and his classic grimaces turned what could have been a dull straight man into the guy we all suddenly realized we&amp;#x27;d been looking for all along. And a long-overdue skewering of the guy next door in the Meatpacking District. Phyllis. Did you know Phyllis wasn&amp;#x27;t supposed to be on the show? She was assistant casting director, and the producers loved her reads opposite auditioning actors so much, they decided to put her in. We are SO happy they did. Not one, not two, but THREE of the most romantic proposals ever televised. Parks and Recreation. Lest you forget: When Parks and Rec was greenlit, it was intended to be a spin-off of The Office. Further development refined the idea into what it is today, but we&amp;#x27;ve still got NBC&amp;#x27;s confidence in the people behind Dunder Mifflin to thank. How did The Office change your TV life? Photo: NBC"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2013/05/13-things-the-office-gave-us>