Andy Bernard

For the economist, see Andrew Bernard.

Andy Bernard
Ed Helms as Andy Bernard
First appearance	"Gay Witch Hunt"
Created by	Greg Daniels
Portrayed by	Ed Helms
Information
Nickname(s)	"The 'Nard-Dog" "The 'Nard-Puppy" (as a child) "Drew" "The Penguin" "Hubble" "El Guapo" "Boner Champ" "Puke" "Buzz" "Ace" "Baskin Robbins" "St. Bernard" "Pat the mechanic"
Gender	Male
Occupation	Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin/Sabre, Scranton branch Regional Director in Charge of Sales, Dunder Mifflin, Scranton

Andrew "Andy" Baines Bernard (born 1973) is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. He is played by Ed Helms. Andy Bernard is highly insecure yet egotistical and constantly references his education at Cornell University. Andy replaced Michael Scott as Manager of the Scranton, PA division of Dunder Mifflin beginning with the eighth season.

He is an original character and has no counterpart on the original British series, The Office.

Overview

When the character was introduced at the beginning of the third season of The Office, Andy Bernard was a salesman at the Stamford, Connecticut, branch of Dunder Mifflin. After the merger of the Scranton branch absorbing the Stamford branch he is the only character from the Stamford branch to remain with the Scranton branch. He is an overconfident and self-oblivious sycophant with anger problems. Like Jim Halpert, the character is named after a childhood friend of executive producer Greg Daniels. Andy's character has evolved since his first appearance on the show. Prior to entering anger management therapy, he was very clingy, especially with Michael, and easily annoyed to which point he often became belligerent and violent. Following his anger management, he became a bit more amiable and even-tempered, though Jim expressed doubts about Andy's ability to control himself in the episode "The Duel."

Biography

In a deleted scene from "Chair Model" he claims to have been "born and bred in Simsbury, Connecticut." His birth name was Walter Bernard Jr., but his parents later decided that his new brother better embodied that name and should have it instead. Thus, he was renamed Andrew, a name taken from a book of baby names (although, contrary to this, Andy's father is referred to as 'Andrew Bernard' in the episode "Goodbye, Toby").

Andy Bernard was the Regional Director in Charge of Sales at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company at the Stamford branch. Andy worked with Jim Halpert and Karen Filippelli under the direction of Josh Porter, at Dunder Mifflin Stamford. Upon the branch's closure, Andy transferred to Dunder Mifflin Scranton. Andy fancies himself a ladies' man, enjoying, for example, a "roller coaster friendship" with coworker Karen.

He is a 1995 alumnus of Cornell University, which he brags about. He minored in History. In one aside, he brags that he graduated in four years, never studied once, was drunk the whole time, and sang in the a cappella group "Here Comes Treble." In a deleted scene from "Launch Party," Andy states that he was initially wait-listed and then literally "sang his way into Cornell." A deleted scene from "Branch Wars" reveals that Andy's father donated a building to Cornell. In "The Inner Circle", he says he took women's study courses while there and even wrote a companion piece to The Vagina Monologues entitled The Penis Apologies. Andy was a member of the a cappella group "Here Comes Treble" to which he pays homage with his screen name in Call of Duty and to (all-female) a cappella groups named "Nothing But Treble" at both the real-life Cornell University and at Oberlin College, the actor's alma mater. The Cornell University ensemble's premiere album was named Here Comes Treble. Andy comes from a well-heeled line of WASPs that he claims "goes all the way back to Moses." He also implies in Season 6, Episode 1, that he has some relation to the Chi Psi Fraternity, which also exists at Cornell. He also often refers to himself as "The 'Nard Dog." In "Weight Loss," it is revealed that Andy's nickname within his college a cappella group (Here Comes Treble) is "Boner Champ."

In "Scott's Tots" he states that he has worked at Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG, and Enron. It is also revealed in this episode that Andy suffers from Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In "Secretary's Day" he tells Erin that his parents still pay his monthly credit card bills.

Andy likes to make up nicknames for his colleagues. He named Jim "Big Tuna" because he ate a tuna sandwich on his first day at Stamford ("Gay Witch Hunt"). He once called Ryan "Big Turkey," presumably for a similar reason ("The Return"). After Jim gets a haircut, Andy announces that Jim's new nickname is "Big Haircut," and not "Big Tuna" ("The Job"), but continues to call Jim "Big Tuna" in later episodes, as well as "Tuna Boss" and "Tuna."

A frolf nut, he organized the first Frisbee Golf group at his college, and retains his love for "throwing the disc." He likes to sing in a high falsetto voice, occasionally to the tune of his banjo. He also experimented with the sitar during the Moroccan Christmas episode, eventually learning to play "Deck the Halls". It is also revealed in Season 7 that he plays piano and guitar. He is a fan of music from the 1990s, preferably alt-rock as he has sung both the song "Zombie" by The Cranberries,"Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band, "Lovefool" by The Cardigans, and "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls. He also enjoys the television shows Lost ("The Return") and How I Met Your Mother ("Happy Hour"). Although he is annoying, he is smart and has also proven that he is a master of Pig Latin and French.

Andy enjoys a drink at Benihana he calls "Noggasake" (a combination of 1 part eggnog and 3 parts sake, and a pun on the city of Nagasaki), but has trouble getting it because "eggnog is seasonal." ("A Benihana Christmas").

He has mentioned shooting an 80-pound shark with a rifle near his father's home in Montauk, New York, and that he once worked for Abercrombie & Fitch ("Traveling Salesmen").

Prior to his anger management training, Andy had severe anger problems. He screams and kicks a trash can across the office upon finding his calculator embedded in Jell-O, a trademark prank of Jim Halpert ("Gay Witch Hunt"). He threatens to kill Jim over a video game ("The Coup") and throws a tantrum when, after bragging to Jim about Cornell's extensive alumni network, the former asks "Where did you go to college?" and seems unimpressed after Andy answers with Cornell ("Branch Closing"). After punching a hole in the wall in frustration over a hidden phone ("The Return"), Andy is sent to anger management training, which he claims is still "Management Training."

Andy previously drove a Nissan Xterra, which he once described as "luxurious yet rugged" (Andy is mocked by Dwight because he drives "an X-Earth"). Following his return to Dunder Mifflin Scranton from anger management class, he now drives a Toyota Prius, a purchase he explains in a deleted scene on the Season 3 DVD.

Andy dresses in a distinctive, over-the-top preppy style, usually consisting of bright colored pants (some embroidered with animals and tennis racquets), d-ring belts, tattersall shirts, sweater vests, striped ties, or sometimes even a bowtie. In various episodes, Andy wears clothes of the style found at the stores Brooks Brothers and J. Crew. In the commentary for "The Return," Ed Helms remarks that Andy has good color sense, if not "color taste."

In various episodes Andy is seen wearing a blue thick woven bracelet on his right wrist despite clashing at times with his overall appearance. This is a throw back to summer holidays many people in the North East spend by the ocean. As a preppy sport, the sailor's bracelet is a common accessory and fashion item, and people, often children and teenagers, are seen sporting them for the entire summer vacation, particularly in areas like The Hamptons, Rhode Island, Nantucket and Cape Cod.

Despite sometimes being seen as annoying to some co-workers, Andy means well and typically shows a rapport with his colleagues, wanting to make sure everyone has a good time. He provides hard liquor and shot glasses for himself with Jim and Karen in "Diwali" when they have to stay late to do sales figures. He also makes an attempt to get Oscar laid in "Business Trip."

As of season eight, Andy is the new regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin.

Relationships

Erin

In season six, Andy takes an interest in receptionist Erin, who has mutual affections, but due to miscommunication, there was a long period of both of them waiting for the other to make a move. However, in the episode "The Delivery" Andy finally asked Erin out and she graciously accepts. In the episode "New Leads" Andy and Erin share their first kiss in the middle of a landfill. In the episode "Secretary's Day" Erin discovered his relationship with Angela, and she throws cake in his face and decides they need to take a break. However, their break seems to indicate that they've broken up, as Erin begins dating Gabe Lewis. In the season 7 finale Erin (who recently broke up with Gabe) asks Andy out, but he dismisses Erin's advances because of Gabe. Despite this he still seems conflicted over his decision, possibly leaving the potential for a relationship in the future.

Angela

In season four, Andy begins a relationship with accountant Angela, who half-heartedly began dating him on the rebound after she had dumped her secret boyfriend Dwight. Andy proposes to Angela in "Goodbye, Toby," and she accepts, but during their engagement she resumes her affair with Dwight. Andy works very hard to prepare Angela's dream wedding while she continues her affair with Dwight. Upon learning about the affair in "The Duel," he dumps her (as does Dwight) and is initially crushed.

Dwight

Andy thought of Dwight as competition from his arrival, with he and Dwight arguing over which title (Assistant Regional Manager or Regional Director in Charge of Sales) was higher in command. Eventually the two are competition in for Angela in "The Duel". After a short fight the two both break up with Angela, leaving her heartbroken and alone. The two soon begin competing for the attention of Erin (Michael Scott Paper Company), but Dwight ultimately backs down. Since then the two have been good friends. After Andy is named manager over Dwight, Andy makes Dwight his "enforcer" to stay on good terms, but Dwight later interviews that he'll simply sit back and "wait for Andy's inevitable demise".

Jim and Pam

Andy has been the subject of many pranks by Jim and Pam, some of which have caused for his anger issues to unfold ("Gay Witch Hunt", "The Return"). Andy also had a romantic interest in Pam, but due to misleading advice from Jim it didn't work out. Although sometimes acting cruel to Andy, Jim and Pam often are nice to him and give him advice. As of season 7, Jim seems to be one of Andy's closer friends in the office. While Jim still occasionally pokes fun at Andy's antics, it has taken the tone of a gentle mocking. Jim is also supportive of both Andy's and Darryl's bid for the position of Regional Manager in the Season 7 finale. Later in season 8, Jim seems to be something of an advocate to Andy when he's promoted to Regional Manager. Andy also stands up for Pam to Robert California when she's considered a "loser" on Robert's list.

Darryl

Initially, Darryl and Andy start off as foes when Andy uses Darryl as a scapegoat, nearly getting him fired for a mistake Andy made and when Andy tried bossing him around. However, the two later share a good friendship at the office. While at times Darryl will play pranks on Andy (such as when Darryl convinced Andy there was a conspiracy involving Sabre Printers) they also care for each other and work to keep their spirits up. When Darryl confided in Andy that he wished he had stayed in the warehouse, Andy convinced him to make the most of his position and continue rising in the company. Darryl also helps Andy get over his relationship with Erin, telling him that if he were a woman, Darryl would pick Andy over Gabe ("Viewing Party"). When the other salesmen abandon Andy then try and take away potential sales from him, Darryl convinces Andy to stand up for himself ("The Seminar"). When Darryl is in a funk over not winning a lottery that the warehouse crew shared and demands Andy either fire him or give him the Manager job, Andy is blunt but kind as he tells Darryl the truth about his shortcomings, and Darryl subsequently re-dedicates himself to his job. When Darryl later overhears Andy's father browbeat him over his status in life, he understands Andy's need to please others and helps cheer Andy up with the group.

Phyllis

Phyllis cares for Andy and shows that she wants the best for him. When Andy is upset that Gabe and Erin may be sleeping with each other, she agrees to ask Erin leading questions to learn the truth ("Viewing Party"). Phyllis is also upset when Andy insinuates that he doesn't like anyone in the office, which causes Andy to admit that they are his best friends. However, Phyllis does show little faith in Andy. She is one of the salesmen that backs out of his seminar ("The Seminar"). When Andy goes for the Regional Manager's Position, he asks Phyllis to give him words of encouragement, and Phyllis suggests he give up, as she doesn't like seeing him hurt (insinuating that she believes he will not get the job) ("Search Committee"). Phyllis also encourages Erin to pursue Andy romantically, knowing how she feels about him.

Character history

Season 3

Andy, as portrayed by Ed Helms

Andy first appears in the season 3 premiere, "Gay Witch Hunt," occupying the desk at Stamford directly in front of Jim. He plays Call of Duty with his office-mates, a game at which he is ferociously competitive to the extent that he threatens to "kill [Jim] for real" during a planning session for the game. (Jim had been using the Sniper rifle in the Carentan level, and according to their boss Josh Porter, "You don't snipe in Carentan.") The first time we experience Andy's hair-trigger temper is his eruption when he finds his calculator encased in Jell-O as a prank. Andy shows a liking toward Jim, offering to share his "roomy twin" air mattress in the episode "Diwali." However, both men are drunk at the time, having spent the evening taking shots of Jägermeister.

After the closure of the Stamford branch, Andy transfers to the Scranton branch, where he attempts to gain Michael Scott's favor by the use of his trademark tactics: "Name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake." Andy (Regional Director in Charge of Sales) and Dwight (Assistant [to the] Regional Manager) immediately engage in a struggle for power within the office, and Andy quickly replaces Dwight as Michael's favorite.

In "Traveling Salesmen," Andy's scheming against Dwight goes into overdrive. His antics begin to annoy Michael, but Andy is able to capitalize on Michael's insecurity by framing Dwight for being disloyal by "finding a toll booth receipt on Dwight's desk from New York" (Andy actually stole Dwight's keys and found the receipt in Dwight's car). Though Dwight was only turning in late tax forms for his secret girlfriend Angela, Andy successfully convinces Michael that Dwight was making an attempt to have Michael demoted, forcing Dwight's resignation; this also prompts Andy's rendition of the "Oompa Loompa" song from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, with his own lyrics: "Oompa Loompa Doopity Dawesome / Dwight is gone, which is totally awesome." Andy's success is short-lived, however, when his blatant obnoxiousness starts to get on the staff's nerves (which prompts Jim to state about his nemesis, "I miss Dwight... Congratulations, universe. You win." and later pull the aforementioned hidden phone prank on Andy). With Pam's help, he steals Andy's mobile phone (on which the ringtone is Andy alone singing 4-part harmony of "Rockin' Robin") and hides it above one of the ceiling tiles. He and Pam then proceed to dial Andy's number, aggravating him to the point of insanity. Soon, Michael becomes disturbed by Andy's behavior, calling him "a crazy person" and a "big weirdo creep," and re-hires Dwight when he discovers the truth behind the events that led to Dwight's resignation. Michael is also made aware of Andy's shortcomings as a salesman when Andy undermines Michael's attempt to find common ground with a potential client by boasting, losing the sale. Eventually Andy, overcome with rage, punches a hole in the office wall. It is revealed in the producers cut of the episode that Andy was subsequently sent to a 10 week long anger management camp. Andy plans to be done with this in just five weeks by using "name repetition, personality mirroring and positive reinforcement through nods and smiles," the same skills he implemented to rise to success in the Scranton office.

True to his word, Andy returns five weeks later in "Safety Training," announces he's turned over a new leaf and briefly tries to get people to call him "Drew." Meanwhile, Dwight begins a three year shun of Andy, which he overrides at times and eventually drops entirely.

In "Product Recall," Andy accompanies Jim to a local high school which received a shipment of obscenely vandalized stationery from Dunder Mifflin. Andy sees his girlfriend at a locker, "the one with the green hoodie." While he holds out the hope that she may be a teacher or tutor, Jim forces him to face the fact that she's a student, which invariably sends Andy into a depressive tailspin during their talk with one of their clients. Jim later manages to cheer Andy up in the car by singing a rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," to which Andy joins in.

In "Women's Appreciation," Andy attempts to get on Dwight's good side by assisting him in catching Phyllis' flasher. Dwight however mocks Andy's attempts, calling him a "preppy freak" and "the office pariah," and that no one in the office likes him. Upon seeing the sketch of the flasher, which is really a drawing of Dwight by Pam without glasses and with a mustache, Andy plays along with the prank and happily hangs the posters all around the office and offers to post them around his neighborhood. Dwight eventually comes to accept Andy and thaws a little bit towards him, saying that he is not a "total ass."

In "Beach Games" where Dwight and Andy are captains of opposing teams, Angela agrees to sabotage the game by intentionally screwing up as she's on Andy's team. However, this is short lived when Andy falls into the lake in a sumo wrestler costume and floats away, pleading for Angela, the only witness, to get help, which she ignores.

Andy somehow gets out of the lake and manages to return (explained in a deleted scene) in "The Job." When Michael leaves to interview for a position in corporate, Dwight takes over and makes Andy his number two (because Andy was the only one who signed up to interview for the position). Michael doesn't get the job and when he discovers that Dwight painted his office black, Dwight tries to blame it on Andy. Michael states that Dwight taking his advice is an example of bad management.

Season 4

In a preview for Season 4, he states that during the summer, he inner-tubed "starting in Scranton, down the Lackawanna River, to the Susquehanna, all the way to the Chesapeake Bay (and back)."

With the departure of Karen, Andy is now the only member from Stamford, besides Jim, who is left at the Scranton branch.

Andy has not entirely lost his competitive side, as seen in "Fun Run," where Andy strategically runs close behind Kevin to gain the advantage of drafting the larger man. Despite taking the precaution of bandaging his sensitive nipples, Andy suffers "nipple chafing" during the race, and his discomfort is exacerbated when he runs into Kevin, who has stopped suddenly.

As the season progresses, it seems that Andy and Dwight, although they have a history of disputing, have become closer friends. In the episode Launch Party, Andy helps in counting the sales of Dunder Mifflin Infinity and Dwight, using a bear horn to commemorate each of Dwight's sales. However, much to Dwight's displeasure, Andy also develops an attraction to Angela, unaware of her previous relationship and breakup with Dwight. He assists a beleaguered Angela with her party planning, procuring by theft "something made of ice" (an elaborate ice sculpture for the party). Later, accompanied by two backup singers on speaker phones, he serenades Angela with "Take a Chance on Me," receiving a rare smile (quickly suppressed) in return.

In the episode "Money," Angela decides to go out with Andy, tersely issuing him her permission to ask her out and her dietary preferences. Earlier in the episode, he complains that she doesn't notice him, despite his having moon-walked past her desk ten times. He finally wins her over with a gift of a cat, which he says he found near the building, because it particularly wanted to be adopted by her. This is most likely Garbage, the cat which Dwight gave Angela in a previous Season 4 episode. Andy and Angela's relationship seems to have progressed from the first date, as he reveals to Dwight in the episode Local Ad that he and Angela are now "necking: just rubbing our necks together" on a fairly regular basis (but nothing more). However, it would appear that Angela is not as over Dwight as she would like him to believe, as she says "Oh D!" while in intimate situations with Andy, "D" being a nickname she used for Dwight, but Andy thinks it stands for "Andy."

In the episode "Chair Model," Andy and Kevin team up to get the parking lot back for the staff when the building's renovation has the construction workers taking up its space. They pull this off with much success after meeting the other tenants in the park, which they refer to as "The Five Families." In the episode Night Out Michael, intent on getting back into the dating scene, takes a spontaneous road trip with Dwight to New York City to go clubbing with Ryan and offers anybody else the chance to go. Andy jumps at the chance and refers to Angela as "the ole ball and chain" with her standing right there. Andy's attempts to join are rebuffed by Dwight when he says it's for singles only and that three is an unlucky number, and they leave. Dwight's rekindled dislike for Andy is center stage during "Did I Stutter?," when Dwight finds out Andy is selling his old Nissan Xterra. Dwight points out all of the car's problems and uses high-pressure sales techniques to get Andy to sell it to him at a bargain price, after which he cleans the car up and is able to flip it for a nice profit on eBay. Andy protests but Dwight ignores him and later says Andy is "stupid."

In the episode Job Fair, Andy is invited to join Jim on a major sales call. However, in a deleted scene Jim reveals that he invited Andy because he expected Andy to make a fool of himself by talking endlessly about Cornell, which would benefit Jim because the client hates Cornell. When the client invites Kevin to come golfing again with him in the future, he shoots down Andy's request to also play later on.

In the episode "Goodbye, Toby," Andy proposes to Angela (at the same moment Jim had been preparing to propose to Pam) with a ring he has carried in his wallet for six years, because "you never know when you'll meet the right girl." Angela responds with a somewhat annoyed "OK"; shortly thereafter, though, she rekindled her intimate relationship with former lover, Dwight, when Phyllis and the camera crew walk in on them making love on the desk.

Season 5

Over the summer, Andy plans his and Angela's wedding. Angela shoots down every idea and continues her affair with Dwight, and they often have sex in the warehouse. At one point, Andy makes a sincere speech to Angela and she ignores Dwight's overtures; but when Andy later annoys her by suggesting all the members of his college vocal group "Here Comes Treble" be his best men, she resumes the affair.

He finally convinces Angela to agree to a tented wedding; she agrees on the grounds that it be located on a spot very similar to Schrute Farms. Andy picks up on the hint and is pleased to book with Dwight as he can "get a great discount because he knows the owner." Dwight further agrees to plan every detail of the wedding, including being available to Angela day or night—a term she gleefully smiles at but which Andy misses. It's revealed earlier that Andy has put down several non-refundable deposits to multiple vacation locales and wedding destinations, having lost them numerous times because of Angela's indecisiveness.

The NBC/Office website contains a feature where Andy reveals all the details of his and Angela's wedding.

When Andy travels to Winnipeg on a business trip, he makes an attempt to get Oscar laid at the hotel bar, which becomes an embarrassing failure. Later, Andy and Oscar get drunk in the hotel bar when Oscar asks Andy why he wants to marry Angela and he responds "she is making me a better man." He also reveals they have never slept together, which shocks Oscar. They drunk dial Angela (who has Dwight in her bed) and Andy demands sex. In the morning, he realizes his mistake and Angela demotes him back to "first base," which for Angela, is a kiss to the forehead. Although Oscar resumes his wall of reserve, the two have become friendlier because of the trip and Andy notes that it took a trip to Canada to get to know and like the guy who was less than 20 feet away from his desk.

In the episode "The Surplus," Andy gives Angela a tour of Schrute Farms. Dwight shows them around the farm, and Andy constantly gets stuck in manure, even in the kitchen. Dwight claims that the manure covers the smell of the slaughterhouse, which disgusts Angela. Andy promptly convinces Dwight to slaughter the animals the night before the wedding. Dwight then gives Andy and Angela a tour of the wedding chapel, with a minister who speaks only German. They then rehearse the wedding sermons, with Andy as Angela's dad, and Dwight as Andy. Andy then signs a piece of paper, which he mistakenly believes is a receipt, but is actually the marriage license of Dwight and Angela. Once the tour is finished, Angela tells Dwight that she likes him better than Andy, when Dwight then reveals the trick. This upsets Angela, who makes out with Andy in front of Dwight when they return to the office.

In "Moroccan Christmas," Andy takes up playing the sitar and brings it to the office. While he is in the other room, Phyllis reveals that Dwight is sleeping with Angela. He comes back, unaware of what the rest of the office knows (and decides not to reveal) and goes home with Angela.

In "The Duel," Andy finds out about Angela and Dwight when Michael spills the beans in the parking lot to Andy. He confronts Dwight and challenges him to a duel. They meet out in the parking lot, where Dwight realizes that Angela had been sleeping with Andy as well. Andy cancels his wedding cake and Dwight throws out his bobble head, implying that it is over between Angela and both Andy and Dwight. He refers to Angela on his registry as "the maid of DIS-honor."

In "Stress Relief," every employee is trapped in the office while under the impression that it is on fire. Everyone panics and Andy attempts to get out one of the doors, but burns his hand because Dwight had heated it with a propane torch. When Dwight sets off firecrackers, Andy believes the fire is shooting at them. He then teams up with Jim, and they attempt to use the copier as a battering ram against one of the locked doors. Later, at Michael's Roast, Andy writes a song about how stupid Michael is, aptly called "What I Hate About You".

In a deleted scene from "Lecture Circuit," Andy is shown to have a McCain-Palin bumper sticker on his car, which he scrapes off because he's romantically interested in an African-American potential client and presumably assumes she voted for Barack Obama (although it is also possible that he only had the sticker to appease the conservative Angela). He attempts to kiss her and she politely but firmly rebuffs him, and he later notes miserably that Dunder-Mifflin also lost the account.

In "Blood Drive" when Michael holds a meeting for the Lonely Hearts Club party, he inquires as to Andy's whereabouts since he's nowhere to be seen. Oscar informs everybody that Andy is on one of his honeymoons which puzzles Michael. Oscar explains that when Andy was making plans for the wedding, he put down non-refundable deposits at multiple destinations and ended up going to them all to fulfill the deposit. He is later referred to as "that new ***" by Bob Vance when he and Phyllis are having lunch with Jim and Pam.

In "Golden Ticket," Andy gives Kevin advice that seems to reflect his own experiences with Angela: he tells Kevin to never give her compliments, push for physical contact and be assertive to the point of rudeness. In a deleted scene, Andy refers to Angela as "Satan."

In "New Boss," he is one of the observers of Michael's immature antics when he starts repeating everything the new boss says. With the rest of the staff, Andy insists that Michael stop before he makes things worse for himself and for everyone else.

In "Two Weeks," Andy gives Michael a bottle of wine as a going away gift which Michael indirectly insults Andy. Later in the break room when Michael decides to start up his own paper company, he offers Andy a job to which a visibly uncomfortable Andy is about to tell Michael no when he sees Dwight in the breakroom and refers Michael to Dwight before escaping.

In "Heavy Competition," Andy offers bargain deals on wedding plans to Pam and Jim. But he mistakes Pam's rejection of Jim's ideas as Pam controlling him. Andy assumes a role as Jim's emotional rock, which Jim goes along with as a prank. When Andy makes an announcement to the office for them to respect Jim's emotional needs, Phyllis claims it's a joke. When he goes to confront Jim over the matter, Jim tells Andy that he is very happy with Pam and assures Andy, that despite his breakup with Angela as "a bummer," that he will find someone else.

In the episode "Cafe Disco," Andy and Kelly do a dance-off, and he proves himself to be as enthusiastic about dancing as he is about music. In the last scene of the episode, Kelly is about to give Andy an ear piercing in the office bathroom, and he was both afraid of the pain as well as the piercing being on the "gay ear."

Season 6

Andy continues to develop a potential relationship with receptionist Erin, which began late in the fifth season. However, the pair are both too shy to reveal their feelings for one another. In "Murder" Andy asks Erin out while playing a game called Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets, but is unclear whether she was just playing along with the game. When she implies that she said yes as Naughty Nellie, he says that he also asked her out in character, leaving both disappointed. It is also revealed in "Koi Pond," that Andy is currently the second-worst salesman in the branch, along with Pam, and they are forced to make fruitless efforts at "cold call" selling.

In "Gossip," Michael spreads the rumour that Andy is gay, which causes Andy to question his sexuality throughout the episode.

In "Secret Santa," Andy requests to be Erin's secret Santa. He then proceeds to give Erin the Twelve Days of Christmas. Subsequently, Erin becomes injured by the geese, terrorized by the other bird-gifts, and angered at whomever is her secret Santa. Michael, disgruntled by the fact that Phyllis was made office Santa that year instead of him, reveals to the entire office that Andy is Erin's secret Santa. Unfazed, Andy hires 12 professional drummers to perform for Erin and the rest of the office at the end of the episode, which Erin enjoys.

In "Niagara," the wedding episode for Jim and Pam, Andy rips his scrotum on his car keys while in the midst of a dance-off competition with his co-workers. Andy admits that he had never done the splits before, but he is motivated to perform this dance move to impress Erin. Pam takes Andy to the hospital the night before her wedding as everyone else is too drunk to drive.

In "Sabre," he believes that after hiring professional drummers for Erin, she should ask him out. However, she believes that he will ask her out and she can't wait to see how he "tops [the drummers]."

In "The Delivery," after Michael arranges a date between Erin and Kevin, this incites Andy to finally and successfully ask Erin out, although initially his ploy to ask her out backfires.

In "New Leads," after Michael distributes the sales leads to rest of the staff, Erin hides Andy's leads. The Hot & Cold game she plays with him in the reception area turns into an uncomfortable situation where Andy almost fondles Erin's chest. At the end of episode, a "hot-blooded" Erin offers a cold Andy her jacket in a landfill where they share their first kiss. Earlier in the episode, Andy lets the new sales leads get to his head and greatly offends Darryl. He, along with the rest of the sales staff, is convinced by Jim that their poor attitudes have alienated everyone else, and agrees to Jim's proposal to smooth things over with the staff.

During "Happy Hour," Andy and Erin's attempts to keep their relationship under wraps, backfires constantly when they're too overzealous about hiding it. Finally sick of hiding the truth, Andy declares their relationship during the company's happy hour gathering.

In "Secretary's Day", Andy pulls out all stops in making sure that Erin has a memorable Secretary's Day, even asking Michael to treat Erin out to lunch, which the boss reluctantly agrees to do. However, when Michael reveals that Andy was engaged to Angela, Erin reacts badly. She even throws cake in Andy's face when he tries to serenade her with one of his songs, and wants to take a break from their relationship. Michael does smooth things over a bit with Erin, but Erin does not change her mind about breaking up with him, and Andy remains distraught.

During "The Cover-Up", one of his clients informs him that their Sabre printer catches fire, which worries Andy. When he decides to investigate the matter, he enlists Darryl to assist him. However, Darryl wants to get revenge on Andy for almost getting him fired a while back over mistaken shipments, and goes along with the ploy by playing up his fears. But when Andy video tapes the printer that catches on fire, it confirms his suspicions. This prompts Darryl to call off his prank, when he realizes it could get himself in trouble.

When Michael is revealed to be dating a married woman in "The Chump", Andy is furious because of his own cuckolding at Angela's hands, and is driven to make Michael realize the error of his ways. Andy drives Michael to a high school baseball game that the woman's husband is coaching and makes the two meet, making it uncomfortable for Michael and eventually leading to him ending the affair.

In "Whistleblower", the press gets word of Sabre's printers catching fire, the company's CEO Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates) goes out of her way to find the culprit. Andy initially denies it, even though he is accused of this. But he eventually comes clean with the truth by admitting to submitting a letter to a news editor and the video he recorded of a printer catching fire. Andy admits this as he doesn't want to see the printer fire cause a catastrophe to a school or hospital, but finds himself harassed throughout the day by the sales staff when they all suspect he did it. However as he leaves at the end of the day, Andy is commended by Erin for his bravery, and he leaves smiling.

Season 7

In "Andy's Play", he plays the part of Anthony in Scranton's production of Sweeney Todd. He invites the entire office to come and is particularly hopeful to impress Erin with his performance -- but when Erin agrees to babysit for Pam and Jim's daughter Cece so that they can attend, Andy nearly blows the performance checking his phone for word from her on stage. Erin ultimately is revealed to have been watching from the back, Cece in tow, to Andy's delight and to Jim and Pam's chagrin. Andy is sad once again when Erin leaves quickly to attend to a cold-suffering Gabe, but he then sings for the delighted office crew and finishes his evening on a happy note.

In "Sex Ed", he holds a sex education seminar for the office because people are insulting Meredith, but is really only doing so to find out if Erin and Gabe are sleeping together (the answer is "Yes"). When the employees make fun of him, he gets angry and throws a pizza box at the wall. Later Gabe bluntly tells Andy to never behave like that again, especially after Andy gave Gabe permission to ask Erin out over the previous summer, but Darryl cheers him up.

In "The Sting", Andy gets jealous over hearing of a former Here Comes Treble member's musical success, and forms an underwhelming but enjoyable office band with Darryl and Kevin.

In "Christening ", Andy joins Michael Scott's plan to travel with the church group to Mexico, as both men are deeply unhappy with their personal lives in Scranton, but they quickly realize their mistake and return to their regular lives.

In "Viewing Party", Andy isn't happy to be attending a "Glee" viewing party at Gabe's apartment, and takes so much of the obscure Asian potency items Gabe had collected that he becomes visibly ill.

In "Ultimatum ", Andy reveals that his New Year's resolution is to "learn how to cook for one", since his regular cooking leaves him with twice as much food as he needs. He flatly tells Pam that he's not going to meet anyone, and that "some people are destined to be alone". He later goes with Darryl and Dwight on a trip to a bookstore, and they later have fun at a local roller skating rink.

In "The Seminar", Andy holds a small business seminar in the office with some special guests because he needs to overcome his pathetic sales figures. At the end of the seminar, Andy is able to sell three packages, thanks to the advice of Michael.

In "PDA", Erin asks Andy to tag along on a romantic treasure hunt Gabe has made for her, despite the fact that Andy is now dating a friend of Darryl's named Rachel. Andy is at first reluctant but relents at Erin's friendly urging. The hunt starts with a puzzle picture, which leads to Gabe's stereo in Darryl's office, which leads to glow in the dark stars in Ryan's closet, leading to sparkling cider with Hank the security guard, and finally to a Valentine's cookie in the break room. When the cookie tells her to enjoy her Valentine's kiss, Erin thinks she's supposed to kiss Andy. Andy points out Gabe blowing a kiss through the window and leaves awkwardly.

When the staff gathers in the Conference Room to see the screening of Michael's movie "Threat Level Midnight" in the episode of the same name, Andy is shown playing a character with a New Jersey accent named Billy the Bartender. Jim starts laughing uncontrollably at a particular scene, causing everyone else to laugh with him. Michael angrily stops the movie and takes it away, to which everyone protests, including Andy, who says that some people are doing a superb job in the movie.

In "Todd Packer", when office administrator Pam gets a new computer for the receptionist's desk to replace the current, ancient one, Andy wants a new computer too. Pam states that if she were to get a new computer for one sales rep (Andy), she would have to get one for every sales rep, which leads the entire office into believing that new computers are being freely handed out. Since Pam refuses to give him a new computer, Andy switches his computer with Erin, a trade Erin seems to be fine with. Pam is angry with him, saying that the computer was not meant for Erin personally but for the receptionist's desk in general, and therefore it was not hers to switch. Pam tells Andy that the only way he can get a new computer is if his breaks, which leads to him accepting all cookies, intentionally opening pop-up ads, and placing food in the disc drive. Pam then buys Andy a new computer, which they scratch up so it figures into Pam's fake cover story (finding a spare model in the warehouse), and Pam later doles out some vacation days to Darryl to keep the whole lie nicely bottled up.

In "Garage Sale", Andy, Darryl, and Kevin play and bet on the Dallas board game. As the instruction booklet is not with the game, Andy and Darryl make up the rules as they go along, much to Kevin's objection. Eventually, Kevin notices the money they had bet on the game with is missing, and storms out. As Darryl and Andy look at each other in confusion, Kevin reveals to the cameras that he has the money, stating, "And that... is Dallas", mocking Andy and Darryl's previous statement.

In "Training Day", new branch manager Deangelo Vickers designates Andy as the office "funny guy". Deangelo loves the antics of Andy, who has resorted to physical comedy when his jokes fall flat, getting to the point where he pours hot coffee on his pants and, at Deangelo's urging, eats soap; Andy tells the camera with dazed sadness that "this is my life now".

In "Michael's Last Dundies", after winning the "Doobie Doobie Pothead Stoner of the Year" Dundie Award (since he tried Marijuana in College), Andy leads the employees in serenading the soon-to-depart Michael with an a capella version of "Seasons of Love" with altered lyrics.

In "Goodbye, Michael", Andy is given Michael's client list as a going away present, and after losing one, requests the help of Deangelo to retain them. Deangelo nearly screws up a relationship with a client, but Andy gains enough confidence to salvage the sale. Meanwhile, Erin confides to Michael over dealing with breaking up with Gabe, that she might be in love with Andy again, while Gabe becomes venomously angry towards Andy because he (wrongly) believes Andy triggered Erin's brutal public breakup with him.

In "The Inner Circle", Andy is shown to want in on Deangelo's "inner circle" of office workers, but changes his mind about Deangelo when the women say he's sexist. However, when Jim brings the rumor of Deangelo being sexist to his boss's attention, he replaces Jim with Andy, who eagerly accepts. While Andy says he going to infiltrate and change from withing the circle, as soon as he steps into Deangelo's office, he calls the meeting place "man cave" and barks like a dog before closing the door.

In "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager" Gabe makes Andy promise not to date Erin (while crying) to which Andy agrees in order to get Gabe out of the room. When Dwight becomes the interim manager, Andy suffers temporary hearing loss when Dwight accidentally fires a gun near him. Erin runs to his side out of concern. Later, when Andy and Erin are talking, Gabe tells Erin what Andy said about them not dating, but Andy shuts Gabe up by pointing out Gabe's pathetic crying fit, and tells both of them that he's keeping his final view on whether he wants to date Erin or not "between me and my diary".

In "Search Committee" Andy interviews to replace Michael/Deangelo as the regional manager, which Gabe tries to sabotage. Also, Erin asks Andy out on a date and he eventually refuses, claiming that he has gotten over her. However, Andy later tells the camera that he does think Erin is great. Andy also remains a managerial candidate once Gabe's behavior gets him transferred out of Scranton, and tells the office he won't make any changes at all, but his status like everyone else's is left unclear as the episode ends.

Season 8

Andy becomes the new regional manager of the Scranton branch between the events of "Search Committee" and "The List". In the second episode "The Incentive", Andy tries to double sales growth after the urging of Robert California. He inserts an incentive program in which if the office reaches 5,000 points, he has to get a tattoo on his butt. They pool their points together and get to 5,000 in the same day and force Andy to get a tattoo. The tattoo was originally meant to be a baby climbing out of Andy's butt. Despite having cold feet, Andy eventually follows through. Just before he receives the tattoo, Pam makes a last second design change. Andy eventually receives a tattoo of a dog wearing a "Nard" sweater, which represents Andy's nickname, the "Nard Dog." Robert California later reveals that he chose Andy as regional manager because he's an unassuming underdog and even the most unexceptional of people will rally around the underdog. The tattoo is really Andy's second one (in the webisode "Blackmail: Andy", he had a Japanese symbol meaning "nard dog" tattooed on his butt, which he planned to have lasered off) but the first one referenced in a regular episode.

In "Lotto", after six warehouse workers win $950,000 in a lottery pool, and quit in a celebratory fashion of running through the office, Andy has a hard time finding any office workers who will step in for the day and make sure that the day's important orders shipped out. Darryl, depressed from the fact that he didn't win the lottery because he works in the office now, assembles a conference room meeting with several potential new hires, but utters several discouraging remarks about the job and exits, leaving Andy alone to take charge of the process. Andy doesn't know what he's doing and all of the workers simply leave. Darryl blames himself for the failure and asks Andy to fire him, but Andy refuses, thinking/hoping Darryl is speaking in code. Later, Andy finally manages to hire three warehouse workers. Andy steps up when Darryl tells him to give him the manager job, saying he deserves it and wants that or a pink slip, and bluntly tells Darryl he not only isn't going to do that, but Darryl was not the runner-up to Andy in the selection process; as he brings up Darryl's short temper, his hiring of the unqualified Glen, and his loss of interest in taking business education courses, Darryl finally snaps out of his funk and listens to him. Andy tells Darryl that Jo Bennett loved him and saw something in him, and he simply stopped striving after that. He convinces Darryl to stay on board.

During "Garden Party", Andy throws a garden party to impress Robert with his parents Walter (Stephen Collins), Ellen (Dee Wallace) and younger brother Walter, Jr. (Josh Groban) in attendance. However, it's evident that Andy is also trying to prove himself to his parents, who were under the impression that he was CEO of the company until later. He goes to great lengths to try and impress them, even with a toast that gets progressively worse when Andy resents his father and brother performing a duet that Andy tried performing with his father. This indicates that Walter, Jr., who was given his father's name when the Bernards decided that it was better suited to him than soon-to-be-Andy, remains the clear favorite son. When Walter, Sr. later goes to speak with Andy, he insults his job and says Andy needs to stop seeking his approval like a little kid would. This conversation is heard over Jim and Pam's baby monitor, prompting Jim, Pam, Darryl, Oscar and Erin to overhear the conversation and understand why Andy feels the need to get everyone to like him. After his family leaves, Andy is dejected and planning to head home, but Darryl and Oscar offer him a cheeseburger and beer from their impromptu barbecue, and Andy finishes his day smiling as he enjoys good food and company.

References

External links

• Entertainment Weekly- Ed Helms No Longer an 'Office' Temp