Why Was Andy Promoted Over Dwight on The Office? Let the Show's Writers Explain

NBC's The Office is the gift that keeps on giving. The workplace comedy, which ran for nine seasons between 2005 and 2013, continues to make audiences laugh—and even today, it still invites questions. Like why Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), not Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), was made manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch when longtime boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) departed the series. Fortunately, we're about to get some answers.

Author Andy Greene has penned a new book, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, which will serve as an oral history of the iconic sitcom's run from "an under-the-radar BBC show helmed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to the beloved NBC incarnation." It will feature dozens of all-new and never-before-published interviews with several of both series's key players, including Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Greg Daniels, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper, Paul Lieberstein, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, Amy Ryan, James Spader, J.J. Abrams, Idris Elba, Paul Feig, and Jeff Zucker.

In a recent excerpt for Rolling Stone, Greene teased the book's coverage of the great Andy vs. Dwight debate. Based on just a quick glance at all the different ideas the show's writers had for how to reassemble the office hierarchy following Michael Scott's departure, it seems like the decision to put Andy in charge didn't come easily. While some writers reportedly felt that bringing a new actor into the fold could bring some fresh star power to the show, others believed that having a member of the existing ensemble cast take Michael's job was the better way to go. Whether they were Team Dwight or Team Andy, those in the writers room felt they "were so fortunate to have talents like Rainn Wilson and Ed Helms" to work with.

Writer Brent Forrester put it bluntly with his take on why Andy was ultimately chosen to head up The Office:

"The writers and the cast, generally speaking, were really excited about Dwight becoming the boss. It just felt correct, and that was our creative thrust. Mostly it was pushback from the network saying, 'Well. Is there someone more famous that we can put in here?' Of course, the creators always bristle at that and just want to do the right thing creatively. That was a big thing. But Ed Helms had this giant advantage because of course he was in The Hangover. Not to completely read the minds of the network, but that was my understanding of how that decision got made."

You can read the full story for yourself when The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History is published on March 24, 2020 (you can pre-order it from Amazon here). In the meantime, there's plenty more Dunder Mifflin swag to browse and buy.

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