Is Pam the worst character on The Office US?

Is the Dunder Mifflin receptionist, budding artist and mother-of-two Pam Beesly the worst character on The Office? Let’s review.

Fans of The Office – and in particular the nine-season long America variant of the popular sitcom – love going deep into trivia and discussion. One common discussion thread is the moral virtues of the show’s main cast.

A contributor to an Office-centric Facebook group recently made a thorough and well-referenced case against Pam. Namely, it argued that Pam – the character played by Jenna Fischer – is the show’s worst character. So let’s take a closer look.

Check out Best of Pam; The Office US:

Some background about Pam:

Pam Beesly is best known as the Dunder Mifflin receptionist. She later becomes office admin and also briefly worked in sales at the Michael Scott Paper Company.

One of the show’s core plot-lines is her romance with co-worker Jim Halpert. It’s one of TV’s great love stories. Like their predecessors in the UK version of the show – Dawn and Tim – for the first few seasons Pam and Jim’s romance is largely implicit. But they officially get together in season four and eventually go on to marry and have a couple of kids.

Pam is widely loved for her dry honesty, sarcastic sense of humour and retributive streak (remember when she slapped Michael in front of the whole team after he dumped her mum on her birthday?)

What’s the beef then?

The Facebook user’s case for anointing Pam the show’s worst character is long and ruthless. Pam cheated on Roy, her partner before Jim. When Jim was dating Karen, Pam consistently disrespected their relationship. She told Karen she had feelings for Jim and tried to undermine their relationship at any available opportunity.

Check out Jim, Pam, and Karen; The Office US:

Pam doesn’t have much time for the rest of the Dunder Mifflin staff. She looks down on them, if anything. She was also never very good at her job. Pam had the worst sales record of the whole staff and as receptionist she frequently kept things from Michael (like the availability of a new phone system, for example).

But is this really enough to make Pam the show’s worst character? Sure it’s morally questionable to chase a man already in a relationship, but it’s exactly what viewers wanted to see. And as for being a reluctant member of the Dunder Mifflin gang, I think we can all sympathise with Pam on that front.

So what do you reckon? Who’s the real dud of the bunch?

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