The Real Reason Ed Helms Took a Break as Andy on 'The Office' During the Final Season

Although it's no exaggeration to say that The Office is one of the greatest shows ever made, I think we can all agree that there are some parts that aren't exactly amazing (especially after Michael Scott leaves). One of my least favorite plot points has to be when Andy Bernard abandons his job in the final season and goes off on a boat trip to the Caribbean, leaving Dunder Mifflin—his girlfriend Erin included—in shambles. The whole thing is annoying to me, especially when he returns three months later expecting nothing to have changed. Well, it looks like the reason for Andy's adventure to find himself could've been avoided, if only the actor behind the character, Ed Helms, wasn't so busy.

Helms ended up missing out on multiple episodes in Season 9 when Andy is gone, which was actually because of the actor's schedule in real life. The truth is that he had to take a break from The Office to go film the third movie in The Hangover series, which debuted in theaters in May 2013, just days after the finale of the NBC series premiered. Talk about a big month for Helms! Unfortunately, the final movie in the comedic trilogy did not do well with critics, landing a measly 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also made the least amount of money at the box office compared to its predecessors.

But of course, fans will know that the final season of The Office did way better with critics than the Hangover installment, scoring a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Although it was widely considered that the show was going downhill after the departure of Steve Carell, the finale garnered over 5.69 million viewers, which was the highest-rated episode the series had in over a year.

You gotta do what you gotta do when you're an actor, but I think I speak for many fans when I say the final season of The Office would've probably been better if Andy was there the whole time.