The Reason Why Ed Helms Took a Break From The Office During Its Final Season

Although few people would argue with the statement that The Office is one of the most beloved sitcoms ever made, the show was not without a couple of tiny flaws (especially after Michael Scott left). One of the show's most famous downturns was when Andy Bernard abandoned his job in the final season to take his family's boat to the Caribbean, leaving Dunder Mifflin—and his girlfriend Erin—in shambles.

The plot point annoyed many viewers, especially once Andy returned—a whole three months later—and expected nothing to have changed in his absence. It turns out that the reason for Andy's aquatic adventure could have been avoided altogether—if only Ed Helms, the actor behind Andy Bernard, hadn't been so busy.

Helms ended up missing from several episodes in season 9 because of the actor's hectic shooting schedule in real life. Helms had to take a break from The Office to go film the third movie in The Hangover series, which debuted in theaters in May 2013, just days after the NBC series aired its finale. Unfortunately, the final movie in the comedic trilogy did not do well with critics, earning a measly 20 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also made the least amount of money at the box office compared to the two Hangover films that came before it.

The final season of The Office fared much better with critics than the final installment in The Hangover series, scoring a 79 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Although some people swore that the show wouldn't be able to recover from the departure of Steve Carell, the finale garnered more than 5.69 million viewers, which was the highest-rated episode the series had in over a year.

[h/t CarterMatt]