Andy Bernard-A Character Study

Tonight marks the return of The Office, so I thought I would take a deeper look into one of the show's most underrated characters. This character is personally responsible for making me laugh more than anyone else on the show. I present to you, Andy Bernard....

Andy Bernard began life at Dunder Mifflin Stamford Branch, harassing Jim with his incessant singing, and dubbing him "Big Tuna".

After Stamford closed, he transferred with a couple of branch mates to Scranton, and the hilarity soon followed. Andy's juvenile antics make me both cringe and laugh at the same time. As his fellow transferees left one by one, Andy powered on. He is now, aside from Jim, the only Stamford holdout left. And he has added a great deal.

He graduated from Cornell, which he often uses to belittle and intimidate both friends and clients. His high falsetto singing voice can often be heard in both the office and his car. He enjoys frisbee golf (which he calls frolf), sucking up to the boss, dating high school students, and drinking at Benihana. His favorite drink is the Nog-a-sake, but as he says, "some places won't serve it because egg nog is seasonal".

However, he also has a hilarious dark side. After punching a wall in frustration over Jim and Pam's cell phone prank, he was forced to attend a 10 week anger management course. Thankfully, he "graduated" in 5 weeks due to his use of the "name repetition" and "personality mirroring" techniques he also used to gain Michael's favor.

He also coined the phrase "Schruted it" to describe any situation where someone messes up, to further belittle Dwight and move up the corporate ladder.

During the "Fun Run" episode, Andy Bernard really hit the mark. He placed bandages on his nipples to prevent chafing (didn't work), and ran directly behind Kevin to take advantage of drafting.

The hardest I've ever laughed, however, occurs twice in the episode where the construction crews take over the building's parking spaces. At the beginning of the meeting he called with Kevin, he addresses the building's other bosses by saying nervously "Andy Bernard....is the name of me". I found this hilarious for some reason. Also, later, while talking about his triumph in gaining the spaces back, his diatribe includes "I didn't do this for me. I did it for the little guy. Joe Six Pack. I did this for the guy who wakes up every morning wondering how he's going to pay his kid's orphanage bills". Great stuff.

Unaware of Angela's relationship with Dwight, Andy begins to woo her. He does this by first stealing "something made of ice" for a party planned by Angela, then finding a cat for her outside of the building. He also moonwalks past her desk several times to gain her attention. He tops this all off by proposing to her during Toby's farewell party. She says "OK", but is seen later hooking up with Dwight in the office.

Poor guy. Sounds like another bout of rage is on Andy's horizon.
Let's hope so, but I hope he doesn't get sent away again for it. The Scranton branch needs him. Dwight needs his comic foil. Big Tuna needs to be annoyed by him. We all need more Andy Bernard. I will leave you with another quote said by Andy to Michael. It sums him up perfectly:
"I forgot to tell you the plan for this Saturday. You, me, bar, beers, buzzed. Wings, shots, drunk! Waitresses - hot! Football, Cornell-Hofstra, slaughter! Then quick nap at my place, then we hit the tizzown".