The Office: The Decline of Kevin Malone

The first 500 people to use this link will get a 2 month free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/thetake74 | The Office's Kevin Malone started out as reserved, if not a little slow -- but then he turned into one of the most cartoonish characters of the show. Why did the writers choose to do this? Is Kevin a victim of Flanderization; i.e. reverse character development? In this video we dive into the story of Kevin's mental decline. If you like this video, subscribe to our channel or support us on Patreon: / thetake
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[@trinaq]

Please do a video on "The Sassy Black Girl" or "The Gay Sidekick"! 📹🖤

[@natalieshannon7659]

Could you do a video on characters from KZbins "Cobra Kai" Especially do one on Sensei John Kreese. Is he purely evil? Or does he truly care about Johnny and his Cobra Kai students? Is he insane or just a sad broken man who got messed up during the Vietnam war? I think John Kreese is one of the most fascinating characters in Cobra Kai and even in all of TV/Movie.

[@ginam.6787]

Jerry Larry Lenny Terry Barry Larry Gergich

[@razkable]

kevin got some jokes in on angela and a few others sometimes...he was a sexist glutton idiot so...i never cared about him..i kinda wish he just got fired and that was it..did not need him with the bar or him being with the others in the office at the end

[@jeremiasmiguel8143]

instablaster...

[@thedrunkenelf]

There’s the theory that he pretended to be dumb while he was actually embezzling money which is how he bought the bar at the end of the show.

[@Momo-po5tn]

Its in the video

[@jamesocampo6815]

ULGROTHA L

[@m_winewood]

@ULGROTHA you've crossed the line bro lets stick to there, they're, their/ you're, your.

[@briguy677]

@@m_winewood "Yore"

[@b.t.266]

@ULGROTHA "wh'a't'"

[@zombiecarnivore]

Ever sense that man lost his chili, he was on a declining path. He lost a part of himself with that chili.

[@Zoggyblog]

*since

[@giannawild9904]

@@Zoggyblog stole my thunder

[@SeymourDisapproves]

Chris, I get you. You two, though, you're just obnoxious.

[@giannawild9904]

@@SeymourDisapproves o aight simp

[@Zoggyblog]

Small detail differentiate meaning. Also sorry if it offended you.

[@annegil3499]

Kevin good character, me laugh lot when me sees him

[@fam6883]

Why waste say lot word when a few do trick

[@thecoffeeshopat2am173]

The grammar police are gonna have a field run with this one.

[@SARYM911]

@@thecoffeeshopat2am173 No her fault when she save time

[@thecoffeeshopat2am173]

@@SARYM911 Good point you make.

[@sir1179]

Hugo Bustillo we agree this is best way talking

[@cslack813]

They should have embraced the “Kevin is a genius” conspiracy. It would have given the writers credit for something they didn’t deserve.

[@Ben10man2]

Yep

[@CuddleCuttlefish]

I still watch the show like the theory is true, even if the actor denied it

[@princessbubblegum27]

Yep

[@mr.monocle5982]

Or he absolutely destroys Ron

[@cherylhulting1301]

Actually it would have been much funnier than what they ultimately did with Kevin. It would have been rich for Brian Baumgartner to play.

[@suryapanditi3161]

I liked him better in the earlier seasons when his voice was more monotone and “dull” unlike the childlike voice it turns into as the show progresses.

[@afroturtle989]

Surya Panditi true he used to be just lazy then he evolves into acting retired If you catch my drift

[@ma2443]

i feel the opposite

[@kimp7160]

I love the child-like Kevin. Monotone Kevin is more realistic but not nearly as entertaining or endearing

[@suryapanditi3161]

Kim P Agreed. I know I’m in the minority here and even though the childlike Kevin has more memorable moments I think he’s a little too cartoonish for me. I like the subtlety in the earlier Kevin’s jokes.

[@iagas9]

Same. I don't really understand why people like later seasons Kevin. He's just a cartoon. Not every Office character has to be ridiculous, we need some normal people

[@Moobeus]

Erins character also got “flanderized” she went from being just a little bit innocent to being a complete imbecile by the end

[@CamJames]

man she got stupid as hell. Gullible too.

[@GigaChadMob]

Nah, she was always a complete imbecile.

[@poindexterflex3528]

I think she was the most hurt by the departure of Michael. They had real potential together as a pseudo father/daughter combination. I loved the 'I got a big box' song and 'Scissor me!'

[@Moobeus]

L. Ron Hoyabembe she was fine in her first few episodes it was after Gabe showed up they turned her into a complete and utter idiot to the point where it wasn’t even believable, she was worse than Kevin imo

[@poindexterflex3528]

@@Moobeus As an aside, the Gabe character was just awful.

[@laikonicole1983]

I feel like after Steve left, they realized they were going to have to make up for what they would be lacking in his absence. Every character with the exception of Darryl became an over exaggerated version of their character.

[@nikitanair6337]

Laiko Nicole which is really interesting because when micheal left, he specifically told Kevin “don’t be a caricature”. I wonder what the writers were trying to say since that’s exactly what they did to his character.

[@mikerivera373]

Eh, Kevin’s exaggeration started at the end of season 5. And honestly, I don’t think most of the main characters got flanderized. Like Jim and Pam stayed pretty normal, and Dwight kept growing into a more sympathetic character. I think Stanley and Ryan were the only other main characters to get flanderized.

[@Bluestomiv]

Yes especially Dwight. Just watch the season 8 premier. It’s jarring.

[@nikitanair6337]

Mike’s Music Reviews Yeah the main characters got more and more sympathetic and likable but that’s bc they didn’t provide the same type of humor that Micheal did. Andy and Kevin became increasingly more caricature like bc they were the characters who showed similar types of humor to Micheal. Kevin was micheal’s crudeness and unintelligence while Andy was his enthusiasm and romanizing side. But then the writers made Andy unlikeable again which is why the 9th season seemed so empty until the last couple of episodes.

[@BurnBird1]

@@mikerivera373 Pam stayed normal in the sense that she was mostly a believable person, but she shifted to be a completely different person from how she was in earlier seasons, in a way that character development wouldn't be able to account for.

[@absolutnadia]

“10” “Really 10? That’s your guess? You’re a professional accountant.” LMFAOOOOO

[@endlessfreedomful]

he's not going for Kleven, give him some credits!

[@userseveneleven]

LMAO FUNNY HILARIOUS 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@mikitz]

He couldn't have been a complete idiot, since professional accountants' starting IQ is at around 100.

[@baarrbarella]

The scene with the Chili is SO heartbreaking 😭

[@availanila]

I felt so much second hand embarrassment I had to stop watching for a while and just sit in silence crying-laughing. 😭😂

[@riripari2042]

It was too funny for me. 😂

[@johnschaffler1507]

Kevin's issue was that he was a relatively smart guy in the wrong job, something that happens all the time in the real world. He didn't have the mindset or personality to be an accountant but Micheal wasn't going to fire him and it's made clear that two people - Oscar and Angela - could handle the accounting duties with him contributing nothing to the effort. It also explains his sexual 'depravity' - he was completely unfullfilled in both his personal and professional life. So that's why him becoming a bartender/owner at the end makes sense - he had people skills and a little bit of an imagination that were being unused as an accountant and had a toe dipped into the seedier side of life; owning a bar was a real possibility, even his accounting experience would have helped him. The writers missed on a real chance to make him a more interesting character.

[@a.m.861]

John Schaffler damn you look dumb

[@j.elizabeth4621]

Busta But that further explains the first commenters point - Kevin is a hands on and social guy. He’s good with numbers and Michael likes people who make him laugh so naturally he would want Kevin upstairs. Angela and Oscar are content with their jobs because their personalities align and it’s where they excel with their skills. But Kevin has a job that makes him feel constrained and trapped. You can see it come out whenever he’s in public; he’s in bands and plays poker, and he can call out office romances quick because he is attentive to people and his surroundings. It’s hard to be trapped if you aren’t in your element and I think he felt very stifled after the years.

[@Missrere1984]

I don't remember what episode/season it was but Michael said Kevin originally applied for a job in the warehouse....

[@C94577]

“They call me Kevin!” Yeah “and thats my name” yeah “ they call me Kevin” yeah “cuz that’s my name” - Kevin Malone

[@youtubeyt5694]

It just... works

[@jishnujetwani538]

ROLE CALL

[@K.Adler1120]

I loved that part

[@McChicken-yg4zb]

Bars 🔥

[@chenaywong5188]

@@jishnujetwani538 SHABOOYA YA YA TA

[@fam6883]

Remember that scene when Michael did not want Kevin to leave Cafe Disco and hes like 'Kevin, Cookie', and Kevin literally stopped like a dog. It was so stupid.

[@batgurrl]

They made him seem mentally handicapped just like when Holly was ‘punked’ into thinking Kevin was ‘special’. They went with that after it seems.

[@yxw6528]

That was one of the funniest bits but they shouldn't have gone that way

[@bluebutterfly5062]

@@yxw6528 i agree that was hilarious!

[@riripari2042]

That episode was too funny for me. Everybody looked at her in shock when they found out she believed Kevin was special.

[@listrahtes]

At that point I think it was a clever plot point as Dwight tricked Holly into that. Sadly they went with it in later seasons.

[@mikerivera373]

Okay I really do hate that they just cut off Kevin’s second love story. I wish that would have gone somewhere, even though I understand that with the exaggeration of his character, it had to be done.

[@irwinisidro]

I really didn't know why they had to end the relationship Kevin started during the Valentines Day episode. It could have given a chance for Kevin to mature similar to Michael with Holly. They could have used that as an opportunity for him to change certain aspects like him not overeating, stopped being immature to his female coworkers, and take his work seriously if he wants a future with his girlfriend. Especially since his former fiancee left him for not changing who he is. And him and the actress seemed to have good chemistry on screen.

[@watsyourdestiny2086]

Y’all should also cover why they completely changed Kelly’s character as well if you haven’t already. She was so different in the beginning compared to the ending

[@i_dontlikemilk]

Destiny Jennings her storyline was so intrinsically tied to Ryan, who became majorly ridiculous as time went on, that they dialled her up too to match his madness. Which bothered me because I really didn’t like that storyline 💀

[@kristengastauer8785]

In the Office Ladies podcast, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey say that Mindy Kaling was a writer on the show and they used her as a minor role when they needed someone. Once Kaling realized Kelly would be coming back, she incorporated more of her own personality and style as she didn’t like the quiet, reserved Kelly. The character of Toby Flenderson was played by another writer who didn’t realize they would be taking on a recurring, long term role.

[@Vasilia4]

I liked Kelly's later character. They just hadn't figured out how to use her yet in the first season. Same goes for Michael

[@RambofromWarzone]

She did some writing on the show as well which is crazy

[@Vasilia4]

@@RatFacedJasper acrually, Kelly's character was ground breaking, because it smashed stereotypes on Asian women. They don't always have to be intelligent and conservative. Sometimes, they're named Kelly and are outgoing "dumb blondes".

[@Scarlett59319]

I find it’s even worse with Joey on friends! Like in the end how did he even get women he got so stupid

[@Jaclynn9]

Sapphire Paige I think the same thing about Barney from How I Met Your Mother. Like there’s no way he got as many women in the later seasons as he did when his schemes got stupider and/or slimier.

[@marissa1373]

When they were talking about flanderization I immediately thought of Joey!! I couldn’t stand him by the last season. They made him into such an idiot.

[@trinaq]

I second this! In the first few seasons, Joey was hardly the brains of the gang, but he had SOME smart moments. Come Season 10, and he's unable to speak a word of French, which ironic because Matt LeBlanc speaks fluent French in real life! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@tinaloye2014]

Trina Q maybe he was on the joke especially with French

[@CalliopexMaria]

do you think that this could also aply to monica? i always felt like after s5 the writers took her competiveness/obsession with cleaning side way too far compared to the earlier seasons

[@mdolinski4926]

The Office lost a lot of its empathy and became much more mean-spirited towards its characters as the show went on. Even Jim and Pam were more smug and less likable.

[@thesilvershining]

This. Exactly. It was very jarring :/

[@squashfei8907]

@Genevieve Giles I didn't mind her becoming more assertive, it was only when she became cruel to others (the Kevin cookie monster episode) that I didn't think she was being true to her character.

[@mikitz]

I would call this de-Flanderization, i.e., some of the characters overdeveloping (or broadening) in an instant. The same happened with shows like Frasier and Big Bang Theory, where too many of the characters' flaws (their original selling points) were removed once the writers painted themselves in the corner, hoping to bring more room for future plots.

[@MrTCHOSS]

@@squashfei8907 She fucked over her own husband, made up a position and committed fraud against her company. Assertive Feminist Pam was one of the worst characters in TV history. In fact, she was the worst character in the last few seasons

[@ellap73]

@@MrTCHOSS she didn’t fuck over her husband. She just expected him to be around to help raise his two kids. Instead he just went off and left her alone working a full time job and doing all the childcare without his support. She had every right to be upset with that.

[@rachaelrobin7094]

I’m not sure if it’s just me but does anyone remember that Erin’s name actually isn’t Erin, It’s Kelly

[@fam6883]

Girl i was literally watching that episode when theres two kellys

[@commandercorner5575]

Yeah. It's not the only throw away joke that they literally threw away and completely forgot about.

[@trinaq]

Erin mentioned in the same episode she's introduced that everyone calls her by her middle name anyway, so there's not that much of a difference. 😊

[@averygriffith4199]

Imagine the joke if Andy and Erin gotten married and Andy is surprised to remember that her real name is Kelly during the vows.

[@riripari2042]

Omg I forgot about that. 😂

[@samdiego1965]

Flanderization happens when writers get lazy

[@ziksy6460]

I agree. This video makes an argument towards the end as to why Flanderization isn't always a bad thing. But I don't think it applies to the Office. As a fan of both The Office and Parks n Rec, I noticed how The Office struggles to juggle side characters in comparison to PnR. In PnR, characters are good foils to each other so even the side characters naturally get developed in tandem with the more main characters. In The Office, half of the characters are just side gags as the seasons progress.

[@W0LV1E45]

or ruining character and relationship (Andy/Erin).

[@CamJames]

@@ziksy6460 Without The Office P&R wouldn't be what it is.

[@natethegr8tt]

Just like what happened to SpongeBob 😔

@@CamJames Parks & Rec was originally going to be a spinoff of The Office, centered around Rashida Jones' character, who was originally intended to be the same character she played in The Office.

[@andreadelikat2220]

No, its not Austin coucher! This is Kevin mALonE Sir, this is a Wendy's

[@AxxLAfriku]

WARNING I am the unprettiest human YTer worldwide, but somehow I have TWO HOT KZbinR girlfriends. Thanks for being a future subscriber, dear ansrea

[@fus5363]

AxxL I remember you doing this like a year ago and now ur back fuck why

[@freakyowl955]

*Ashton Kutcher

[@pistolen87]

I like his hair piece! No shame in having one if you're balding.

[@karlmarx2451]

@@AxxLAfriku Tell me more Rico Suave!

[@mbanerjee5889]

The biggest victim of Flanderization: Eric Matthews in Boy Meets World Eric was a very complex character and had good character development in the highschool years. Mr. Feeny often commented on his intelligence. It always upsets me how much they ruined his character.

[@taramaria5936]

I always felt that Eric changed after he had to let Tommy (his little "brother") go after saying he couldn't adopt him. I felt he had so much grief and trauma after that he became a caricature of himself as he couldn't handle the sadness of how he was feeling.

[@RambofromWarzone]

Man so many facts

[@Diegos1707]

Mallika Banerjee yes!!!! He just became a cartoon of the Eric people saw. BMW literally my favorite show of all time so I feel you

[@GenericSupervillain3]

Eric made sense, though. If you think of the show being from Cory's perspective, when he was young he worshiped his big brother, he was the coolest guy around. Smart, charming, cool. So that's how we saw him. As Cory grew older, his opinion of his brother changed, and so did ours.

[@jeffhilton2670]

It was strange because at one point shawn and Eric traded character traits.

[@DeadCanuck]

Can’t believe this episode wasn’t called “We Need To Talk About Kevin.”

[@ReddyCat1976]

lol,good one

[@W0LV1E45]

Kevin's Caricature. Andy's character being ruined in S9 and ruining Andy/Erin relationship they've been setting up since S5 to force Plop aka Toby Jr aka the most forgettable and dull character in The Office. If NBC made a deal with Carell, Andy/Erin relationship and character wouldn't be ruined, no stupid interns (plop aka toby jr. and clark), no nellie, but unfortunately no robert california.

[@Ewan_Tyler]

Robert California was probably the best addition out of the last seasons

[@wiictvchannel1112]

@Ms. Tal I think Nellie was one of the worst choices to add to the show.

[@robbiegarnz7732]

I agree. Hated all the new characters. Plop and Clark were absolutely forgettable. Didn’t care for Robert California or Nellie either. It was criminal what they did with Andy and Erin.

[@DaFro3713]

Robbie Garnz Plop And Clarke are essentially the great value versions of Jim and Dwight, with Erin being shoehorned into a great value version of Pam. This would be fine, if Jim, Pam, and Dwight weren’t there and the writers weren’t trying to beat us over the head with it from the start of that season.

[@W0LV1E45]

@@DaFro3713 I was gonna argue with you until I realize that you used Great Value as a term for generic (like the walmart version great value or equate). I agree with everything you said.

[@JustSomebody5]

In the Show Community, Britta was one of my favorite characters and I was very disappointed to watch as she became a shell of the powerful assertive personality she once was and became the "annoying" PC punching bag member of the group. I didn't know there was a word for the devolving process she went through until now. Thank you for the video.

[@ILikedGooglePlus]

Yes

[@happychaosofthenorth]

Yeah, the writer's Britta'd Britta.

[@trinaq]

I agree, in the beginning, Britta seemed to be the voice of reason, and one of the more "down to earth" characters. Then, almost overnight, she was reduced to the butt of every joke, and a walking disaster, with nothing ever going right for her! 😪

[@funkystyle7249]

Somehow seemed very realistic to how some people are,like some pc activists- has good intentions but she lacks the knowledge to make her arguments work and sometimes hypocritical. I don't think she was flandered to the point of complete dumbness like other tv characters but yeah there should have been some growth, but I feel she had some good moments tho few in the later seasons.

[@user-qv2qf1jk5o]

They started to save it with her starting to actually become a therapist (like when she gains emotional awareness and mediates conflict) but they abandoned that after a few episodes. Also, that whole “she only cares about honesty” thing was totally forgotten about - I’m not saying they should’ve kept it, but they could’ve resolved or explained it

[@tlawson5787]

Nothing was more cartoonish than the episode when dwight shoots stanley with a tranquilizer to get him to go on a sales call.

[@Phoenix-pm2qr]

Yea that was the worst. They ruined Dwight too.

[@clwireg]

Another thing with that is that the reason he does it is that the elevator is out of order and Stanley refuses to use the stairs. Just four seasons earlier, Stanley *willingly* uses the stairs even if the elevator is working, in order to lose weight, and seems to have no problem with it

[@garrettcooper58]

That episode was kind of hilarious

[@visassess8607]

That was so stupid but I laughed lmao

[@carson11100]

RIP to the occasionally dumb but secretly intelligent, skilled sportsman and poker star Kevin Malone of early seasons of The Office :(

[@happychaosofthenorth]

When Kevin dropped the chilli, I FELT that.

[@Legendary_Detective-Wobbuffet]

That was terrible! I wanted to go into my tv and save him!

[@jennifermcgoldrick6323]

Yeah, I'm one of the people who cringe and want to fast forward through that scene - it's heart wrenching 😂

[@Missrere1984]

@@jennifermcgoldrick6323 Same!

[@marcespinoza6068]

I shed a little tear every time I watch the episode wear he drops that pot of chili. You hear him talking about staying up all night making it and he truly seems very proud of it and cant want to share it with his co-workers and when he drops it I get super bummed out.

[@electron2601]

Yeah that was painful to watch.

[@emiratesawesome]

I think a lot of Kevin’s character development issues would have been solved if the writers just let him find love with Lynn. That would demonstrate a lot of growth for Kevin, and the audience needed it.

[@cherylhulting1301]

Yes, I was disappointed that they didn't take that relationship further.

[@ay-leck1369]

Some of the ‘Flanderized’ characters were purposely changed after the first season because the writers felt that their personalities weren’t really working well with the show. Kelly and Michael are two examples that were drastically and suddenly improved at the start of Season 2 to more fit how the creators felt they should act. Later on Andy was also changed and came back as a better character after he had anger management training.

[@emfraridades7261]

Yes. It happens with EVERY single show at first season. Its just a test basically. Most change for better. Sitcoms need characters with specific remarkable traits. Its not a soap opera. The same with Friends. The First season is basically a totally different show. People complain thinking they know better than the writers It's just ridicoulous.

[@00_00.1]

I think in the first season the main characters were heavily influenced by their UK office counterparts

[@GodisGudd]

Kelly didnt improve.

[@DMshell17]

This reminds me of Eric from Boy Meets World. Could you do one of his character? He changed so much and became barely functioning even though at the beginning of the series he was a girl-obsessed teenager.

[@miraarsinkathar9315]

Yes thank you!!!

[@JacobyIsMyName]

This. I want this video so badly. What the hell happened to Eric? He's a normal teenage guy the moment the series begins, all the way through the first three seasons. Cory admires him dearly, loves him and is always disappointed when Eric chooses a girl over spending time with him. But as Cory gets older, and Eric starts to struggle with the direction in his life, Cory's perception of Eric starts to shift dramatically, and it's like the writers just decided to let him dissolve. Maybe they wanted audience to look at Eric the way Cory looked at Eric? Either way, it's a shift that has always bothered me. Especially since Eric was one of my favorite characters on the show. Making him the comedic relief was nice sometimes, since Will is so funny in the first place. But why couldn't he be funny AND intelligent?

[@tybooskie]

joey from friends.

[@Hakajin]

That was actually really interesting! He started out as like a typical cool older brother, but over the course of the show, he got really weird. I actually thought his character was more interesting that way.

[@itsmemelissa94]

BMW got an entirely new set of writers between seasons and largely is the catalyst for the change in Eric.

[@jlrob85]

I honestly think the shows writing got lazier as the seasons got on. Other characters went through the same thing

[@borninsalt125]

almost a sure sign a series is going to end. I kinda feel like the same thing is happening to Brooklyn 99

[@kim1233karis]

Andy actually becomes normal.

[@amp4105]

because merchant and gervais stopped working on it

[@emfraridades7261]

You think you know more about writing than professional writers

[@JennaLeigh]

@@emfraridades7261 right? Welcome to the internet, where people think watching KZbin videos makes them experts on subjects they know next to nothing about

[@gabbidurham]

I think Jan becoming more characterized is her slowly going insane

[@dylankrejci9965]

I just realized: tv idiots have the best sense of romances going on. joey caught on to mondler faster than the others, and kevin not only called PB & J, but noticed Angela saying "romanceS"

[@ellie4328]

It’s kind of like what they did to joey on friends

[@gefen314]

I don't think so He actually became an adult and much more mature than what he was. Definitely became less stereotypical stupid also.

[@askmewhosjoe6682]

Joey was a little more dumb but they gave him redeeming qualities too

[@TheRewinderCC]

i think kevin overeats partly because hes depressed as hell.

[@jacintairons5970]

I feel like this is almost exactly what they did with the character of Cat on Victorious...

[@socialistbatman1211]

The behaviour of Kevin and Andy in later seasons made me so angry.

[@ilovecody7514]

It's kinda one of my few gripes with the office. It's a good show but a few characters end up like this and end up being an over exaggerated shell of what they once were.

[@bisexualichigo4227]

Kevin, the best Office example of Flanderization

[@borninsalt125]

“Ever since Stacey left...It was hard to see where.....Its just nice to win one” That seen after Kevin won back the parking spaces was the closest I got to see Kevin cry. Go to hell Stacey.

[@DrJ-hx7wv]

We all know a Kevin

[@thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051]

You should do a video on the horrible character changes of Peter Griffin

[@trinaq]

I agree, they've taken Peter's "Bumbling Dad" traits, and ampted them up to 11, so that he's a more mean spirited Homer Simpson! 😒

[@icecreamhero2375]

To be fair they were always trying to make Peter as stupid as humanly possible. He was stupid as he is now since day one.

[@Zeverinsen]

>changes 😂

[@brianjames2000]

Gov'ment came and took my baby!

[@rymon8460]

@@icecreamhero2375 he was always stupid but they turned him into a sociopathic asshole

[@scottismissing]

Monica in friends was one of the most flanderized characters. I think she was a pretty likable character in the beginning but in my opinion she increasingly became more annoying throughout the seasons. The whole character became a controlling neat freak who wanted to have kids and get married.

[@emfraridades7261]

They decided to maker her cleaning and bossy style a think after the First thanksgiving episode. She wanted badly to settle down and have kids since season 2. But yes she did got cartoonish later on

[@youtubesubtitles9741]

Michael: We're moving to Colorado. Kevin: all of us?

[@LarryLeeMoniz]

I am so glad someone finally made a video exclusively about the ridiculous decline of Kevin Malone. He was one of my favorite characters in the first 3 seasons. He actually had more dimensions. There were shades of competency in the beginning. Only to become a caricature. Fantastic, crazy thorough analysis! A great look at TV sitcoms as a whole, and what happens when they are on the air too long. Thank you! Also, that clip from StocktonCon... I was there! Got a photo with Kevin, Oscar and Stanley!

[@Deemememe]

They did the same to Creed. He was like this intelligent criminal then they turned him to into an idiot. BOBODDY!

[@21LeonidasZ]

I think it was implied that this was due to his age.

[@AE1OU]

Why waste time, say lot word when few word do trick?

[@WolfJulia2001]

Best quote 2 date

[@robbiegarnz7732]

When Holy first met him and assumed he had special needs was both highly offensive and hilarious! “You drive too? Good for you!” Lol! Meanwhile Kevin thinks she’s hitting on him! Lol!

[@freyjacooper9082]

Dwight told her he had special needs

[@janwouter5215]

The decline of Kevin is the decline of the office.

[@emfraridades7261]

Nah

[@rachelle_banks]

This video feels like a collection essay introductions. I'm now past 8 minutes in and they're showing another title card restating what has been stated so many times already. I don't know if I can commit to 21 minutes right now.

[@rachelle_banks]

Goah Way Well, they have the freedom to do it and I reckon I have the freedom to not watch their vids.

[@thareelhelloagain]

I have to agree, it's not a very well written video. They spend 21 minutes saying the same couple of thoughts in different ways.

[@madz2013]

I always hated how they handled Kevin. I grew up with severe binge eating disorder/yo-yo diet and seeing Kevin made me feel like a complete loser.

[@ljsneets7037]

Yeah, I liked Kevin way more when he was a bit of a hustler, and had some skills. Making him out to be a moron was a weakness of the show IMO

[@GoyoTheKid12]

This episode of The Take could have been entitled "We Need To Talk About Kevin"

[@DaFro3713]

Honestly, I hate those videos. They’re usually made by clickbait sites who look way to deep beyond simple jokes and use their own head cannon to rail on a character and just make shit up.

[@GoyoTheKid12]

@@DaFro3713 Yeah but I more meant as a reference to the Tilda Swinton/Ezra Miller/John C. Reilly movie. I recommend it always as either the saddest horror movie or the scariest drama I've ever seen.

[@spookyspikes6576]

I wished someone loved me like how skillshare loves this channel.

[@g-love2401]

You should do the ugly trope and how its tell girls and guys that the only way to be happy is to be beautiful and how the beautiful people around them are keeping him away from that happiness

[@Jambit2550]

the whole decline of the office started when they tried giving the secondary characters more personality. you had stanley and meredith doin crazy shit they otherwise wouldn’t have them do in the first couple seasons

[@naitsirk32]

He is simply the Jerry in the Office

[@CookieMonster70119]

Kristian I would think Toby is the Jerry for The Office

[@ryangaskin4938]

you mean Larry

[@EmandEms]

Ryan Gaskin no it’s Gary

[@ryangaskin4938]

@@EmandEms wait, wasn't it Terry?

[@lindamukarakate7511]

no Jerry was very clearly Toby

[@kathrynvincent1563]

All I know about Kevin is his Famous Chili...

[@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia]

This video didn’t have to be 21min long..

[@deacon1429]

I love your videos, they’re some of my favorite content on the platform! Thank you, and I hope you’re all doing well in these trying times!

[@Дмитро-х2г]

Unfortunately, this fate was awaiting almost every person from The Office, not just Kevin. Look at Andy, who transformed from some dumb anger-prone character to the complex and multi-talented star of the office and then back to the dumb revenge-driven nobody. With the exception of Michael, Jim and Pam, every other character was simplified to the most extreme until they became a caricature of themselves.

[@giooo6302]

Can you make one about euphoria? How it really showcased the inner and outer problems of gen z’s while also using its unique visuals and cinematography to convey confusion and are hyper senses of sex

[@toby7442]

This was on my mind lately, it’s crazy. Love your content Take crew!

[@TakashiAmanoOriginal]

michaels flanderization is the most perfect thing ever

[@sawyerharris3721]

I'm afraid this is happening with certain characters in Brooklyn Nine Nine too.

[@saotomemary2545]

Which characters?

[@ekay8968]

@@saotomemary2545 Scully and Hitchcock

[@BGro87]

Can you please do some other beloved TV shows of people of color. For example Living Single, A Different Word, or Girlfriends. I love The Office like most people, but the shows above were just as good and deserves how well you deep dive into the characters and depth.

[@jasper2469]

the reason why kevin declining is because he dropped the chili. he wanted everyone to get to know each other in the pot. it seems that he failed accomplishing that task that haunted him forever

[@hamob1800]

5:35 you can hear someone break and laugh in the background

[@kaushikikar1013]

Because Kevin was the only one who called a spade a spade... I love it when he said...Andy won't make it..can't you see it guys..then Andy actually went on and adopted dogs.. 🤣🤣🤣 also when he told the senator..you are a horrible person 🤣🤣 He was the most mature character beneath this get up of being a big fat butt of jokes..he is All Heart 💜😘 He sees things which even the office consciousness Jim missed 💌

[@lipeeefl]

Kevin getting revenge on ryan is still one of my favorite deleted scenes

[@asmrcity3147]

It’s called lazy writing. His character was supposed to be boring, not brain dead. The destruction of characters in later seasons made this show tough to watch.

[@amaluna-sol1956]

This. Writing really has gone down in this world. It's terrible that people think "flanderization" is an acceptable writing technique to use liberally. It's just lazy, horrible, bad writing that is done to cater to the most meaningless humor, and it mars any book, game, show, etc that it's a part of.

[@bassssaasuuuup]

can you imagine being a professional serious actor from theatre to “ me no words say less ”👀 imagine the humiliation

[@ivankaramasov]

I've never found stupidity funny in itself. Kevin was too intellectually limited to be funny from the beginning. At the end, he was only sad and annoying. I have laughed more from watching the Office than any other sitcom, but I don't think Kevin made me laugh even once.

[@theengine]

Eric Matthews from Boy Meets World is the biggest example of this I've ever seen. In the early episodes, he's an attractive popular older brother who is a foil to his more awkward younger brother Corey. By the time they're in college, he's legitimately mentally handicapped.

[@thedavidjscott_]

I hated it when they made Kevin worse. He was progressing, then suddenly Michael left and he just went off the rails. He and Andy are the two characters the show was progressing for a long time and just dropped the ball on. Andy becoming a manager was a really good chance to redeem the character, and they just totally went the opposite direction. I feel like Kevin was a lot smarter than they have written him to become.

[@des0163]

Kevin has suffered more from Flanderization then any other character in TV history.

[@JThomasS]

I’m a simple man, I see a video about Kevin and I click

[@trinaq]

Likewise, once The Take and The Office are involved, I'm so there! 😁

[@viennaux3967]

its been 7 years since this show has been off the air but its so great that even to this day its relevant and still has us hooked to it 💕

[@W0LV1E45]

Andy and Erin are basically younger Michael and Holly as character personalities and relationship.

[@orangejuice8339]

Ok but”my name is Kevin” song will always be a banger

[@abbashaidari8313]

I totally buy into the theory that Kevin was a secret Genius who was pretending to be dumb to get away with embezzling company money.. And he repeatedly loves to show off his smarts, but in a wink wink way just to show us how easily he can fool all his co-workers. The Pie calculation was one of such examples.

[@squidcaps4308]

I'm from Finland and one shop that sells craft stuff and home appliances keeps part of their inventory stored outside the store in a mall. Even when they are closed, you have stuff outside the shop.. and no one steals them. They just sit there, pillows, yard furniture, sometimes even small trinkets you could easily just stuff in your backbag... It is just a regular mall so you even have teens gathering there, literally 10 meters from a pile of stuff. It is quite amazing, really.

[@davidriddle6677]

This video is fundamentally wrong about Michael lmao they actually toned his utter rudeness and inability to read social cues down after the first season

[@emfraridades7261]

People are dumb. Its a trend now to complain about flandelization. People dont know How to watch sitcoms anymore.

[@hollywoodshopaholic]

So many "dumb" characters lose any hint of edge or personality in TV shows. London Tipton from Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Chelsea from That's So Raven immediately come to mind.

[@princessmarlena1359]

I feel that Lois Wilkerson from Malcolm in the Middle became “Flanderized” in a bad way, as did Malcolm and Francis....sadly with Francis it was after they improved his character then threw all of that away.

[@spyguyvishal]

As the series went on Kevin went from a character in the office to a character from parks and rec in the office

[@philmstud2k]

Wasted opportunity to not make a “We Need to Talk About Kevin” joke

[@josefk7437]

The decline of Kevin is parallel to the decline of the show as a whole. The show peaked at Season 4, but in Season 5, the show got absurd and stopped making any sense at all. That is where Kevin gets Flanderized, just like Ryan.

[@jadenpina3989]

Season 5 started to change and wasn’t as good as 2-4 but there are still many great episodes. I think the true decline is season 6

[@i_dontlikemilk]

Andy.. what did they do to Andy :(

[@thesilvershining]

@idontlikemilk Have you finished the show by now? Andy became my 2nd fave character in season 5, he was a genuinely funny sweet musical dork after anger management and by season 9 they tried to regress him back into the angry dumbass of season 3. It infuriated me because I really enjoyed his character development and the writers purposely made Andy a failure to make Dwight seem “better”... you don’t do that. If you’re a good writer you don’t have to shit on one of your characters to improve another 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@YourNickIsTaken]

Story of my life: I was good at sports, i was teaching, playing music, driving table game club, i went to the gym 4 times a week, and ride my bike 200 miles a week, yammie veggies grew in my garden, i loved to cook, i trained parrots, a was holding wine tasting with lectures... Now: I woke up. I hate myself. I work. I hate myself. I go to bed. He is my soulmate.

[@mikchik00]

So...cat valentine from Victorious? Can we talk about what that show did to her character?

[@mikerivera373]

...it was a Nickelodeon show. I don’t think it was meant to be deeply analyzed.

[@giooo6302]

Actually that’s not a bad one.. can you explain exactly what you mean by her character being analyzed

[@bruna8778]

that is the first character i think of when i think of this trope.

[@ruin7307]

Oh my god yes they destroyed her

[@icecreamhero2375]

She was the same all the way through she was never all that smart. I think she actually got a bit smarter and more responsible in Sam and Cat and was often the voice of reason.

[@melanieamv]

even till the end Kevin has bright great moments, when he goes with Angela and Oscar to Philip's birthday, he is the one who says to the senator he is being a jerk, and I love that part of the character

[@cansofworms]

I like how this video goes out of it's way entirely to avoid dissecting the trope of the fat character always being fat, gross, and stupid just because they're fat (or just being plain shit on for no reason other than that they're fat), when it clearly had every opportunity to lol Like y'all completely wanted to avoid Homer, and Peter from family guy, and Hitchcock and Scully from Brooklyn Nine Nine all falling into the same trope, and it's just funny because y'all have an entire series of videos (which are great and wonderful and intellectually stimulating) about common media tropes about women, how they have evolved or how they have been transformed or appropriated for both negative and positive reasons and how those representations affect the collective consciousness and discourse, but y'all didn't want to go ANYWHERE near the fat people being a big fat stupid baby trope just because they're fat trope. And like the video you made here was of great quality and the writing was *mwuah* awesome, but it just makes me go Hmmmm...? I wonder why? Contractual obligations perhaps? lol Speaking of the fat person being shit on and being gross and awful because they're fat trope, y'all should really do a video on Gary/Jerry from Parks & Rec about how they portrayed the fat man trope as a secret through line of awfulness underlying all the characters and society as a whole, and how even great people like Leslie fall prey to common stereotypes and harmful bias because even great people like Leslie cannot pass up the opportunity to shit on big ugly stupid fat people like Gary (who is not stupid and pathetic and whose real name is Jerry) if it means having fun as a part of the in crowd at the expense of outcasts like Gary, Jerry, Larry. And that how Jerry would probably be a lot more charismatic and outgoing and be able to live up to his true potential if people just weren't so shitty to him just because he happens to be fat. And how the show goes out of its way to make the point of Jerry being deserving of prestige and success when he is made mayor of Pawnee affirming that the talent and creativity and insider knowledge of the town we as the audience see in Jerry really does make him deserving of such a high position of community and authority. Something which could have benefited everyone if only maybe people weren't so shitty to him just because he is fat. So y'all should do a video on that, redeem yourselves by making that video because I want to see y'all do that because it would be great (and because I don't really want to), and thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[@soulrecords857]

You know who *really* suffered from flanderization?? Max Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place!! I will never get over how he went from a normal teenage boy to a character with zero working brain cells...

[@denoctiluca]

That chili scene.. perfect actor for the perfect role

[@hughausten7636]

The webisode series of "The Accountants" Kevins got a better character arc than the whole series

[@alejandromunozpaz4036]

Kevin was laundrying money for himself

[@borgCube100]

I hate it when this happens. Idk why Brooklyn-99 wasn't included, this happened to ALL the characters. I loved the earlier seasons.