Andy Bernard

Andrew "Andy" Baines Bernard is a fictional character played by Ed Helms in the television series, The Office. He was a Salesman at Dunder Mifflin/Sabre until being promoted to Regional Manger, starting with Season 8.

Characteristics

When first introduced, it was revealed that Andy had issues with anger management.

In Gay Witch Hunt, he shouts and angrily kicks a wastepaper basket when he discovers that his calculator has been placed in Jell-O.
In The Coup, he is angry at Jim's incompetence at Call of Duty and shouts, "I'm going to kill you for real. The game is over. I'm really going to shoot you."
In Branch Closing, he angrily throws a stack of napkins and stifles screams of frustration when he learns that the Stamford branch is closing.
In The Return, he punches a hole in a wall out of frustration when Jim and Pam hide his cell phone. This results in Andy being sent to anger management training.
In Sex Ed Andy discovers that Erin and Gabe are sexually active, Andy is mocked by his coworkers and throws a box of pizza at a wall and storms off.

Andy grew up in a life of privilege and often fails to comprehend how less wealthy people live.

He frequently mentions that he went to Cornell University (see Andy Bernard's academic career).
His father took him fishing on a 42-foot Bayliner yacht (Traveling Salesmen).
"Like everybody," he hated golf lessons as a child and hung out with the sailing club instead (Job Fair).

Season 3

Andy is introduced in the Season 3 premiere, "Gay Witch Hunt", as a co-worker of Jim's at the Stamford branch. In, the same episode he calls Jim "Big Tuna," in reference to Jim bringing a smelly tuna sandwich on his first day at Stamford. He also reacts violently to Jim's Jell-O practical joke.

He is heavily obsessed with Call of Duty, and once remarked to Jim that he "will kill [Jim] for real" for using sniper rifles("The Coup", Season 3 Episode 3) on a close range shooting map.

When Andy transferred to the Scranton Branch, he told Jim that he found Pam attractive, which caused Jim to play a practical joke on Pam and tell Andy many things that were the opposite of what Pam finds to be attractive in a man ("The Convict", Season 3 Episode 9).

He sucks up to Michael Scott quite often, which begins to annoy Michael.

When Jim and Pam play a practical joke and hide Andy's cell phone in the ceiling tiles, he becomes extremely aggravated and punches a hole in the wall between Michael's office and the conference room, for which he is sent to anger management counseling ("The Return", Season 3 Episode 13).

Season 4

After Karen leaves, Andy is the only member of the Stamford branch (excluding Jim) that remains in Scranton.

In the Season 4 premiere, "Fun Run", it is revealed that Andy has extremely sensitive nipples that are prone to chafing ("I'm petrified of nipple chafing. Once it starts it is a vicious circle. If you have sensitive nipples, they chafe, so they become more sensitive, so they chafe more.").

Andy, who is interested in Angela, decides to ask her out on a date, and while she continues to turn him down, he remains determined. At one point, he gives her a cat that he found outside, which prompts her to finally say yes ("Money" Season 4 Episode 4).

Prior to "Did I Stutter?", Andy drove a Nissan X-Terra, but then sold it to Dwight. Dwight then sold the car on e-Bay for a profit.

In Goodbye, Toby he proposes with to Angela, who replies with an unpleasant, "Okay."

Season 5

Andy is constantly making wedding plans at work, completely unaware that Angela is having an affair with Dwight. When Michael tells him this in "The Duel", Andy challenges Dwight to a duel, which he wins by pinning Dwight to a hedge with his car. However, both figure out that Angela has been sleeping with both men and are mortified. After that, they both break up with Angela for cheating on them.

Season 6

He has spent almost every episode so far trying to impress Erin, the new receptionist. He succeded in "The Delivery", though in the episode "Secretary's Day", Erin finds out from Michal that Andy was engaged to Angela when Andy had never told her, so they ended up breaking up. In Gossip after Michael spread the rumor that Andy was gay, he started to believe he actually was and went to Oscar for help. Andy becomes the first Sabre/Dunder Mifflin employee to learn the printers they sell can catch on fire (The Chump). He is also the first to be suspected of leaking the story to the press, which he vehemently denies (The Whistleblower). However, it is revealed he is one of least four others who leaked the story, though he remains the only one blamed.

Recurring jokes

Andy went to Cornell and is smug about it. For more details, see Andy Bernard's academic career.
Andy has a wide range of musical talent, which showcases Ed Helms' real life musical talent. Dwight often makes fun of him because of this.
- Andy frequently breaks into a cappella.
- In "The Convict", Andy plays "The Rainbow Connection" on the banjo in a "sexy, high falsetto voice" in an attempt to woo Pam.
- In "Back From Vacation", Andy plays Michael's steel drum.
- In "Launch Party", Andy, with his Cornell buddies singing harmonies via speakerphone, serenades Angela with a rendition of ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me"
- In "Moroccan Christmas", Andy teaches himself to play a sitar.
- In "Michael Scott Paper Company", Andy, playing a banjo, breaks into a musical duel rendition of "Country Roads" with Dwight to compete for Erin's interest.
- In "Cafe Disco", Andy engages in a talented dance-off with Kelly.
- In "Crime Aid", Dwight calls Andy a "singing buffoon". Also, for the Roast of Michael Scott, Andy sings "What I Hate About You".
- In "The Duel", Dwight imitates Andy's singing by yelling "lalalalala" in his face.
- In "Niagara", Andy has another dance off with Kelly, but unfortunately rips his scrotum on his car keys while attempting a split.
Angela defaces Andy's car.
- In a deleted scene from "Safety Training", Angela calmly walks around Andy's new car and scratches it with her key.
- In "Dinner Party", Angela smashes her ice cream cone against the side of Andy's car in disgust.
Andy consistently dresses in a "preppy" style, with khaki pants, matching striped or patterned neckties and shirts in bold colors. In Women's Appreciation, Dwight calls Andy a "preppy freak." Notable fashion choices include:
- In "Traveling Salesmen", Andy wears a navy blue Nantucket rope bracelet.
- In "Beach Games", Andy wears J.Crew Madras shorts.
- In "Chair Model", Andy wears green socks to match his green necktie.
- In "New Leads", Andy wears red pants.

Andy tries, but invariably fails, to impress Erin:
- In "Niagara", Andy has a dance-off with Erin, only to to tear his scrotum while doing a split.
- In "Murder", during a murder-mystery-type game, Andy asks out Erin while seemingly in character. This leads to confusion, so Andy backs off.
- In "Secret Santa", Andy requests Erin for secret Santa and gives her the Twelve Days of Christmas. This backfires when Erin shows up with a scratch on her face and tales of a bird massacre by her cat. However, he appears to succeed at the end when he brings in the twelve drummers drumming.

Trivia

According to the flyer in "Did I Stutter?", Andy's office extension is 1022.
Andy prefers Drew when he returns from anger management.
The writers created the Web site AngelaAndy.com in the character of Andy Bernard as he prepared for his impending wedding to Angela. The site was periodically updated during the course of Season 5.
It was revealed in "Shareholder Meeting" that he received a 1220 on the SAT.
In a deleted scene from "Branch Wars", Andy reveals that he was originally wait-listed at Cornell and that his father donated a building to get him in.
Andy was originally named Walter Jr. by his parents, but was then renamed Andrew at the age of 6, his parents believing that his younger brother better exemplified the Walter Jr. name.
- Another bit of trivia, the writers made a continuity error about Andy's father; in "Goodbye, Toby", Andy introduces his father as Andrew Bernard. Presumably they forgot about this when they later named him Walter for the purposes of the joke.
Andy has a sister. He mentions that his kilt in "St. Patrick's Day" was originally his sister's field hockey skirt.
In the same episode, "St. Patrick's Day", In an talking-head interview about his upcoming first date with Erin, it is hinted that he enjoys the show "How I Met Your Mother", when he says his first date with her has to be perfect, because that is the date that his supposedly future children will want to hear.
Andy has a tattoo of a dog with the word "Nard" on it on his bottom. (The Incentive)
After Michael left, Andy took over as the regional manager of the Scranton branch.

Quotes

"Big Tuna is a super ambitious guy, you know? Cut your throat to get ahead kind of guy, but I mean I'm not threatened by him. I went to Cornell, you ever heard of it? (laughs) I graduated in four years. I never studied once. I was drunk the whole time, and I sang in the acappella group, 'Here Comes Treble.'" ("Gay Witch Hunt" Season 3 Episode 1)
"OK. Who put my calculator in Jello? Good one. But uh, seriously, guys who did this? Seriously guys, who did this? I need to know who put my calculator in Jello, or I'm gonna lose my frickin' mind!" ("Gay Witch Hunt" Season 3 Episode 1)
"And I'm also sorry that a lot of people here for some reason think it's funny to steal someone's personal property and hide it from them. Here's a little newsflash! It's not funny! In fact, it's pretty freakin' unfunny! Oh, my God!" <punches wall> ("The Return" Season 3 Episode 13)
"Not only is Erin really sweet and cute... she smells like my mom." ("Niagara" Season 6 Episode 4)
"Oh, it is on like the prawn who yawns at dawn." ("Cafe Disco")
"We're on the New-York Stock Exchange ever heard of it? It's in New-York"
"Name repition, personality miroring, and positive reinforcement"

Appearances

Andy has appeared and had lines in every episode since the character's introduction in Gay Witch Hunt with the following exceptions:

The Convention - did not appear
Ben Franklin through Cocktails - did not appear (character was in anger management training)
The Deposition - speaks only in a deleted scene
"Blood Drive"- mentioned only

Relationship with other Employees

Dwight- Since the closure of the Stamford Branch, Andy and Dwight have had strained relations for some time, stemming from attempts to appease Michael and date Angela. Some time later, both have somewhat became closer and cooperative with each other, but still consider each other rivals.
Angela- Before Erin arrives, Andy is attracted to Angela, which angers Dwight and at the same shocking some employees (who cannot understand how he is attracted to her). He also originally proposes to her, but after realizing that Angela has been sleeping with both Dwight and him, he becomes furious and cancels the planned wedding. Since then, Angela and Andy have stayed away from each other.
Erin- Andy is greatly attracted to Erin and often attempts to surprise her and go all out, only to sometimes backfire. Andy shows his love with his presents in Secret Santa.
Jim- Jim is the first employee to meet Andy and at times is unaware of the pranks pulled on him. He always referred Jim to "Big Tuna" and keeps a close relationship with Jim. At times, however, both get annoyed with each others' antics.
Michael- Like Dwight, Andy is very close to him, only Michael does not cherish the relationship as much. Previously, Michael was severely annoyed with Andy's attempts to please him, resulting in Andy to punch a hole in the wall and going off to anger management. Eventually, Michael becomes somewhat friendly with Andy, but still sees Dwight closer.

Mentioned In

Cocktails, though not by name. Karen says, "There is one [employee] in anger management."
Blood Drive, by Oscar.