Do we like Michael Scott?
A character from The Office (US) (2005–2013)
Our score: 8 out of 10. Yes, we'd back him. He's cringey, clueless and often a terrible boss, but his loyalty and big heart are real, and they win out when it counts.
Michael Scott is the Regional Manager of the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of Dunder Mifflin, a paper distribution company. The show is a mockumentary about the daily lives of its office workers. NBC notes he is almost always the Scranton Regional Manager. His great ambition is to be the world's best boss and everyone's best friend, and he works hard at both.
He's also a mess. He's an insecure, attention-hungry man who tells inappropriate jokes, stages ill-judged meetings and does impressions that go on too long. He often can't see how his behaviour lands on the people around him. He leaves a trail of awkward moments and secondhand embarrassment, and that is why he can't score higher.
Still, we back him because of what's underneath. He's loyal and generous, and he'd stand up for any of his employees against outsiders and corporate bosses. He is also surprisingly good at sales when it counts. Over the seasons he grows from a pure cringe-comedy figure into someone with real warmth and a hunger for a family of his own.
When corporate pushes him out, he founds his own rival company, the Michael Scott Paper Company, and the plan works better than anyone expected. Later he leaves the office for love, and his departure is the show's emotional high point. It confirms that the man who looked like the office's biggest problem was its heart.