The Office: 6 Reasons Michael Scott Was The Best Boss (& 4 Reasons It Was Robert California)

Throughout The Office, Michael Scott pretty much consistently proved why he was one of the greatest comedy characters in TV history. He was horrifically incompetent and made you cringe every time he was on screen, but you couldn’t help but laugh at everything he did. When he left during season seven, the show was never the same again and it couldn’t survive without him.

However, James Spader’s Robert California was about the closest thing to a successful replacement we ever had thanks to his truly bizarre, but incredibly contrasting to Michael, personality. We’ve come up with six reasons why Michael is still the show’s best boss, and four that give Robert California a fighting chance.

10 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Was So Committed To Everything

No matter how questionable Michael Scott’s methods were, you can’t bash his commitment. He might have set up Scott’s Tots with the intention of funding the education of children and failed, but his heart was in the right place.

He created awards ceremonies, office Olympics and a variety of competitions during his time at the office.

9 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Matured So Much

When Michael left in season seven, it was the beginning of the end for a show that simply couldn’t maintain the same level of humour without its driving force. However, we got to see him one last time in the final episode.

It was a little disappointing to see most of his trademark humour gone, but at the same time, quite charming to see how much he had developed.

8 ROBERT WAS THE BEST: He Was Permanently Mysterious

Robert California was first introduced as a job candidate alongside the likes of Ricky Gervais and Will Arnett just as the show was trying to distract us from Michael’s departure with a ridiculous list of celebrity cameos.

He was a very interesting man then, and became even more interesting when he returned for season eight. It was almost impossible to work out what he actually meant by things and what his true intentions were.

7 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Had So Many Characters

If there was one thing Michael Scott was known for, it was the creation of so many characters who weren’t Michael Scott.

We were introduced to the likes of Prison Mike (a highly stereotypical prisoner) and, of course, Michael’s secret agent alter ego, Michael Scarn.

6 ROBERT WAS THE BEST: He Was Strangely Intelligent

No matter how creepy and mysterious Robert California was, he was also quite an intelligent man.

He has a penchant for Sesame Street, some incredibly strong opinions on where The Black Eyed Peas fit into pop culture, and frequently ended up providing some inspiring advice to many of his employees.

5 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Was Somehow Still Quite Good At His Job

Despite going on some of the biggest tangents of all time and distracting every single person in the office every single day, there were many times when Michael proved himself to be strangely good at his job.

He never got fired, consistently had the best sales record of any Dunder Mifflin branch and often succeeded when he went on his own sales calls.

4 ROBERT WAS THE BEST: He Talked Jo Out Of Her Own Job

The biggest display of power Robert California ever gave didn’t even happen on screen. We loved Kathy Bates’ character of Jo Bennet, the powerful CEO of Sabre, so it was a little disappointing to see her character disappear without a final word.

However, the idea that Robert California was able to go to Florida and convince Jo Bennet to make him CEO instead of Branch Manager and yes just added to his mystery.

3 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Cared About Everyone

We know he hated Toby and had questionable views on Dwight, but deep down, Michael was a caring man. Pam was probably the person Michael saw as his best friend in the office.

Remember when she was putting on an art exhibition and nobody came except Michael, who thought her painting of the office was so brilliant that he had to buy it and hang it up?

2 ROBERT WAS THE BEST: He Made People Want To Impress Him

Where Michael Scott seemed to be very divisive amongst his employees, Robert California came to the office and basically had everyone begging for his affections straight away.

His system of Winners and Losers was a complex and rather unfair way to treat his staff, but it did also drive them to put more effort into their work in order to be seen as being on his good side.

1 MICHAEL WAS THE BEST: He Was One Of The Funniest People Of All Time

You also simply cannot deny the humour of Michael Scott. As unpredictable and downright strange he was as a man, it must have been a job to go into work every day and wonder what crazy thing Michael was going to do next.

He was one of the funniest TV characters of all time.