Why Michael Loathes Toby

It is a question every fan of the beloved show has asked since its airing in March of 2005; which is, "Why Does Michael Hate Toby So Much?". It dawned on me after quite some time of pondering the existence of this strange, one-sided and overall unexplained relationship between the "one- and-only" Dundie's Award Host, and World's Best Boss (mug owner), Michael Gary Scott, and Dunder Mifflin's head of Human Resources, Toby Flenderson. It has baffled every sensible fan as to why this was left unexplained in the series, but remained a comedy setup throughout so many scenes. I scoured the web far, and wide for answers, but most of the articles are fan's theories such as my own, or even thoughts about the subject from the actors and writers themselves. Even they (the writers), do not know the entire truth behind the intense loathing Michael has towards such a patient, quiet and shall I say, most bland character on the show. During an interview with The Daily Beast, the actor who portrayed Toby in the show, Paul Lieberstein, stated that Michael's hatred was born during a specific scene in the episode called "The Alliance". It revolves around the staff planning Meredith's birthday party, and at one point (in an extended version) Toby comes into Michael's office to sign the birthday card. He apparently writes something that Michael already had in mind to write, but personally I think that while lingering over Toby's shoulder, he thought it was clever, and wanted to credit himself for whatever Toby jotted down. Michael makes him scratch it off, and demands him to write something else instead. This makes Toby's attempt look childish with the card ruined with pen marks, and all because of Michael's jealousy of Toby's wit. Unless you had access to deleted scenes from a Season 1 DVD set, or worked on the show, this was unknown to the public until the release of The Office Super-Fans Episodes on the tv/movie app Peacock in January of 2022. Even though this theory is stated by the guy who literally played "Toby", I am going to go a different route in why Michael despises DM's head of HR.

In the show, the audience learns throughout Michael's endeavors that he needs to be loved. He needs love from the people surrounding him so much that he's willing to scare them into loving him (paraphrasing I know). Michael also feels the need to entertain his employees who work at this boring paper establishment in a place called Scranton, PA; which I never knew existed until watching the show. I can't really talk much, I am from Talladega, AL and we all know what every person in the world relates that location to...does the name "Ricky Bobby" ring a bell? Anyways, Michael spends more time managing his multiple magician sets he ordered with the company's credit card than he does on managing the branch he's in charge of. It is all in good faith, but some of his ideas are beyond the reasonable limits of an industrial park office building, or the financial budget of a regional manager, at least in his case. Whenever he announces these "great ideas" to corporate and the office, more times than none, Toby has to step in to put up the corporate "red tape", and shut down whatever unimaginable plans Michael has brewing in his adolescent-esque brain. It becomes immediately obvious that Toby's authority over Michael infuriates him to the extent that he throws tantrums, and becomes erratic and spontaneous about the matter. This is a process that you will notice at least twice, or more in every season leading up to Michael's departure in the season 7 finale. Now, Lieberstein's explanation for the neutral/hate relationship between the two characters does seem valid, but watching the scene closely, you realize that Michael's expression was that of one which showed irritation, and impatience towards Toby before he even began writing on Meredith's birthday card. This can only mean that these feelings were preexisting of that particular scene. Lieberstein also stated that working with Steve Carrel, the actor who portrayed Michael Scott, was not easy, and that he felt almost intimidated by Carrel at times. So, maybe there were true emotions between the two actors that, in time, formed real character traits in the show itself. If that were to be true, I would be devastated, because I always feel enlightened knowing that two actors who play the role of arch nemesis' in a performance, are actually great pals in real life. For my mental health's sake I am going to remain in denial pertaining to that subject, and continue on with my hypothesis.

Later in the show, Michael reveals in many scenes that he comes from a family of divorce. One specifically where he was forced to grow up with a single mother who latched on to a handful of different men during his childhood. He even mentions his stepfather to Toby directly while ongoing mandatory corporate counseling for physically assaulting an employee at work who turned out to be his nephew; which was portrayed by American Horror Story's actor, Evan Peters (note: Just imagine your acting career beginning with a spanking from Michael Scott himself... He'd better appreciate it, because us super-fans would pay for that experience, maybe... I 'm still on the fence about it). It is obvious that Michael spent a lot of his childhood as a "mama's boy", and did not exactly match social standards growing up in his hometown. It is said in the show that he wore a suit, and tie to school, rumors of him being a homosexual were spread throughout the classrooms and he even admitted, on a broadcasting of a children's show to a (rat-puppet) host, and I quote, " I want be married and have a hundred kids so I can have a hundred friends, and no one can say no to being my friend". Along with being the saddest thing ever, it is also relevant to my theory; which is that Michael has a huge chip on his shoulder when it comes to male figures showing authority over him. Although we've seen him stand down to other male characters in the show such as Roy (David Denman), or Darryl (Craig Robinson); which were bigger physically and expressed more masculinity, Michael never seemed to show any cowardliness in Toby's presence, almost defensive and threatening at times. It is as if Michael treats Toby like he would have his stepfather, or one of his mother's boyfriends growing up when they tried to discipline him, or play the role of his father. You see, with Michael's past, it has been proven time and time again, that he hasn't had a person to cheer him on through life; a role model per say to guide him through social do's and don'ts. He also hadn't accomplished much growing up, or succeeded in the social part of the human curriculum either. This arrives us to the origin of the awkward personality, and failed attempts at comedy. He clearly did not get the wisdom he needed during adolescence to know when, or where not to say, or do things in certain settings. Michael carries in this burden quietly, and tries his best to fit in with the "it crowd" from what he'd apparently learned from the world's number one babysitter, the television, but doesn't really know his place. Unfortunately for Toby, he has to do his duties in preventing Michael's "social batting practice" from getting the company sued, or shut down from a swing and a miss at getting a laugh. When Toby does this, Michael hates it, because it reminds him of all the blockades in his life. All of his mom's lovers telling him "don't do that", and "Who wears a suit to grade-school everyday?" resurfaces every time Toby corrects his actions. I will put it in a different instance to get my point across. Imagine that you have trained your entire life to becoming an Olympics athlete. You were always coming in last, no one believed in you, and you were told all of the time that you just did not have the abilities to become successful. Well, now imagine that after years of ridicule, failure and nonstop disappointment, you finally are given the chance to prove yourself. You are now an Olympic athlete, and you have all these grand ideas for when you are rewarded the gold metal, but here comes your assigned Olympic judges that put down everything that you do. They're constantly reminding you of how poor your performance is, or telling you, "No, that's not professional". These judges basically destroy all the glory you were looking forwards to, and that would seemingly piss off anyone in the same situation if you ask me. Through Michael's eyes, Toby is an annoying essence of marginalization in the only place where he thought he had total control, and it bothers the "H-E-L-L Double Hockey Sticks" out of him.

Although this is a bitter part of one of my most prized obsessions, it is still a necessary evil that makes a show such as The Of ice a masterpiece of television, and a stepping stone in the evolution of comedy that none of us deserved, but definitely needed. So to all of the "Tobys" out there, keep your chin up, and know it's okay to bend the rules from time to time, but we realize we need you guys to keep the "Michaels" of the world from burning it down, and for that we thank you.

-Zach