The Office was full of hilarious characters. While some of the characters were just all-around funny, there were some that were really annoying, too. Certain characters on the show just left you feeling frustrated and wishing they would go away. Even their humorous moments didn’t make them very popular.
These characters had us rolling our eyes and feeling all the cringe. Whether they were a mainstay of the cast or a guest for a season, these characters were often the worst.
Updated on April 21st, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: The Office has been off the air for almost a decade but continues to be one of the most popular sitcoms that fans can watch and rewatch. The Office has a particular type of humor and if viewers can't stand second-hand embarrassment they might not enjoy the show. Each character has their annoying moments including main original characters like Michael and Dwight, but some of the characters introduced later in the series were consistently annoying to most fans of the show and make for some more difficult viewing in the later seasons.
Clark Green
Clark and Pete weren't introduced until the 9th season of The Office and apparently meant to be a new version of Dwight and Jim, but they ended up not having enough time to develop their characters and were sidelined from the start.
The show tried to make the audience care about these characters late in the last season of The Office, but neither of the characters were very likable and annoyed audiences when the show focused on them.
Charles Miner
Idris Elba was another recognizable actor who appeared in multiple episodes of The Office but wasn't introduced until Season 5 of the show. He was hired by Dunder Mifflin to replace Ryan as Vice President of Sales.
Charles was a more serious character but wasn't as funny of a foil to the more outrageous characters, similarly to a character like David Wallace, than he could have been. Charles only stayed for a few episodes but he was a bit boring when he was in the office.
Jo Bennett
Kathy Bates was another big star who appeared on the show for multiple episodes and was introduced as Jo Bennett in Season 6 as the CEO of Sabre. Sabre acquired Dunder Mifflin and Bennett became the head of the company.
She would visit the Scranton branch throughout the show traveling from her home in Florida to check in on her employees. She, again, was meant to be a more serious character and foil to Michael Scott, but missed the mark and just came off as a bit annoying.
Roy Anderson
Roy was a character that was in The Office from the beginning and was never meant to be a likable character. He and Pam were engaged for the first few seasons of the show and Roy was always a pretty annoying character.
He treated Pam pretty terribly during their relationship and most fans wanted to see Pam and Jim become a couple. Roy was one of the only true antagonists in The Office and most fans were annoyed by his rudeness and violence.
Ryan Howard
Ryan had a roller coaster of a character arc throughout the series as he started out as a pretty responsible business school student who was working as an intern at Dunder Mifflin. He was promoted within the company and his ego grew until he was fired after a scandal.
Being fired didn't hurt his ego at all and he ended up coming back because Michael wanted him to return, and his off-and-on relationship and flirtation with Kelly was another annoying part about the character.
Luke Cooper
While he only appeared a couple of times in the series' seventh season, Evan Peters' Luke Cooper was hired on as Dunder Mifflin in a case of obvious nepotism due to his relationship with manager and uncle, Michael Scott.
Unfortunately, Luke's disruptive and mean-spirited attitude soon made him the most hated member of the office and quickly became annoying to both fans and his uncle, resulting in an inappropriate but deserved spanking session that ultimately led to his resignation.
Cathy Simms
When Pam went on Maternity leave during the eighth season, she was replaced by Cathy Simms (played by Lindsey Broad) and seated next to Jim, who she almost immediately began flirting with despite his refusal to participate.
After fans spent so many years pulling for Jim and Pam to get together, Cathy's advances quickly became annoying to both viewers and Jim. When things escalated while some of the staff were on a business trip to Florida, Jim was forced to take drastic measures (bunking with Dwight) to avoid Cathy and she was thankfully removed from the office.
Brian
While the film crew was referenced throughout the entirety of the series, it wasn't until the ninth season that boom operator Brian (played by Chris Diamantopoulos) appeared on camera and became a part of the story he had spent years documenting.
When Jim and Pam's marriage experienced some long-distance difficulties, Brian stepped up to comfort and protect Pam in Jim's absence, revealing he had developed feelings for Pam. Much like Cathy, fans were annoyed by Brian's more subtle attempts to interject in their marriage, which ultimately cost him his job with the documentary crew.
Date Mike
One of the most annoying and cringe-worthy characters on The Office was actually an alter ego of Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) known as "Date Mike" that only appeared when he was attempting to woo a member of the opposite sex.
Date Mike can be easily spotted by his Kangol hat and unbuttoned shirt and communicates almost exclusively with cheesy pick-up lines. While his over-the-top antics and behavior can be humourous, Date Mike is without a doubt one of the most annoying men in the club.
Kelly Kapoor
While Kelly Kapoor (played by Mindy Kaling) is without a doubt a fan-favorite character on The Office, there is no denying the fact that she is considered by her coworkers to be one of the most annoying staff members of Dunder Mifflin Scranton.
Whether she's gossiping about people outside of the office, neglecting her office duties to flirt with Ryan Howard, or complaining about Ryan to anyone who will listen, Kelly walks the fine line between adorably charming and irritatingly annoying.
Jan Levinson
While at first Jan Levinson wasn’t so bad, she got more annoying as the show went on. She went from the exasperated boss to completely over the top. By the time she was taken off the show, no one was really sad to see her go.
Her relationship with Michael definitely led to a lot of laughs, but, at the same time, it was only funny for so long. The show was smart to have that relationship end before it dragged out for too long. Jan’s descent made her too annoying to stick around for the long term.
Robert California
While Robert California might be a replacement boss that some people liked, it’s really hard to see why. After Michael Scott left in Season Seven, the show struggled to find a replacement for him.
Robert California ended up taking more than just the manager position. He made himself CEO of the entire company. None of the Dunder Mifflin-Sabre employees liked him. He was supposed to be some archetype of a rich, eccentric, out-of-touch CEO, but the execution of this character fell rather flat. In the end, he was just plain annoying.
Toby Flenderson
At first, it was easy to feel bad for Toby, as he was always picked on by Michael. While this could be funny at times, sometimes it was overdone and came off as really mean. However, as the seasons went on, it was hard to have sympathy for Toby.
He let himself be treated poorly and refused to take any responsibility for his life. Also, he really was a horrible HR representative who never really took the concerns of the employees that seriously. He clearly should have quit the job and moved on to something that would have made him a lot happier.
Erin Hannon
Erin was a character on the show that they never seemed to know quite what to do with. While she could sometimes be sweet and funny, she wasn’t the most standout character. The Office put her with different characters in romantic relationships, and never seemed to know quite the direction they wanted to take.
Erin was too naive, and, to be frank, not very smart at all. This made many of her scenes more annoying than funny. While the show needed to find a new receptionist after Pam, Erin might not have been the right choice.
Pete Miller
Some of the most annoying characters on the show showed up later in the series. While Pete might not have been the most annoying, he was definitely one of the most boring. The problem with the characters that joined the cast later is that the audience had already built connections with the regulars.
As a result, the new characters never really blended well, and it was hard to feel attached to them. Plus, the romantic relationship between Erin and Pete wasn’t that compelling or cute, mostly feeling forced.
Nellie Bertram
The show really struggled to have any compelling bosses or managers after Michael left. The character of Nellie was annoying and hard to understand. She was at times antagonistic and at times sensitive, and there was nothing that engaging about her.
Overall, she seemed completely expendable, and it's hard to see why they wrote her into the show at all. The adoption storyline given to her also didn’t seem to have much of a point, and it was hard for audiences to care about.
Todd Packer
Todd Packer’s whole schtick got old really, really fast. While having a character who represented the guy at your average office who has no boundaries and harasses people was a funny parody at first (especially because all the other employees hated him), it got old really fast.
Luckily, Todd Packer wasn’t on a ton of episodes. When he was eventually fired from Dunder Mifflin, it was a triumphant (and relieving) moment. Thankfully, Holly was able to finally show Michael just how awful Todd Packer really was.
Andy Bernard
Andy Bernard was added to the show early enough that he did become a staple of the cast. While there were times where he was funny or relatable, there were many more times where he was just annoying. The Office knew that Andy was an annoying character, so many of these moments were clearly done on purpose.
However, in later seasons, his whole character arc really went off the rails. He became more and more of a delusional jerk, and it was impossible to like him at all.
Gabe Lewis
Gabe Lewis was added to the show after the merger with Sabre. Pretty much all of the Dunder Mifflin employees couldn’t stand him, and it’s easy to see why. He was just annoying.
He was all about following the letter of the corporate law, and he was just kind of a weird guy on top of everything else. Plus, his relationship with Erin seemed forced and creepy, and it was just a useless storyline overall.
Deangelo Vickers
So many of the characters on this list were replacement options for Michael Scott, and this includes Deangelo. While Will Ferrell might be a big name star, this wasn’t one of his funniest roles.
Deangelo was a rude boss, and not likable in the strange way that Michael was. He was awkward and annoying, and there wasn’t really anything that stood out about him, except that everything he did made you cringe. Not in the good sitcom way, either.