re: Looking back Jim Halpert was a bit of a dick

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And we see Dwight's character evolve over time as well from the absolutely try-hard to a dude that's genuinely not a bad guy at his core. He's just different/quirky.

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while i really do tend to avoid/skip later seasons, michaels and schur did a good job of tying it up. Jim genuinely supporting him as assistant manager while still being a goofball but not mean spirited all while Dwight was still the caricature but a good manager and friend was a nice character arc for both of them.

they finished it up really well considering what most of the post-michael era was.

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Andy has massive anger problems

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While this was shown a bit early on (Andy getting upset about the Jello in Stamford). Jim prank sent Andy over the edge. Jim should have known from the Stamford jello trash can kick that Andy could snap. Jim being a dick again.

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I never felt they acknowledged how awful Pam could be, though.

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Karen did call her kind of a bitch during a confessional.

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I think people are hyper focused on Jim’s problems because he’s the most normal of everyone.

Michael is an idiot who would have been fired long ago for many actions he took
Dwight consistently harassed people for various reasons and damn near shot someone
Angela is super judgmental and started a fight between Andy and Dwight
Ryan and Kelly are always fighting or fricking also Ryan had a coke problem and probably the biggest dick in the show at times
Creed is well Creed
Meredith is a drunk and kind of slutty
Andy has massive anger problems
Kevin is just slow
Oscar is kind of pretentious

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Keep going. You missed Phyllis, Pam, Toby, and Stan.

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Do you consider mark brandowitz a main character?

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Not really. He’s a bit of a douche but still a pretty nice guy. Handled Anne poorly.

If you had to work closely with someone like Jim and someone like Dwight, 90% of people would dislike “Dwight” much more. Without a doubt

My take on Jim is that he was a medium effort guy his whole life. Smart but not driven or motivated so he just coasted through school. Somehow he ended up at DM, probably just the first table at the career fair that took his application.

He finds himself in the real world of middle class, nowhere, boring, hum drum, invisibility. He's part of the herd that makes up society. He's smart enough to see this, and to think that he's superior to everyone else in the Office. He's "better than them", yet sharing the same exact fate.

The reality that he squandered his potential is hitting him. As a way to feel "better than" is to prank Dwight and look smugly at the camera. It's a defense mechanism for his own feelings of failure.

I might have a little bit of Jim in me. Especially in a past job. I worked for a small company (70 ppl) that I called the island of misfit employees. I swear the owner sought to hire and surround himself with losers that knew they were lucky to even have a job, to they would do ANYTHING for him. Basically worshipped him. I stuck it out there until I could climb out of that pit, never looked back.

My favorite episodes are the ones where Jim gets his come uppins. He's a piece of shite

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I liked that the series acknowledged it from time to time,

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Amazing, right? It's almost as if they presented the characters as flawed like real people instead of platonic ideals of black/white good/evil.

And the best part is - now we get to start the 50th thread hating Jim because he's flawed!