Yeah, they softened Steve Carrell's character considerably in s2 and beyond.
In s1, they tried to make him like Ricky Jervais's character, a mean, small, vindictive asshole who had his own fiefdom that was The Office and everyone just had to put up with it. Which was unpalatable for American audiences because fuck, our work places are already like that. My conjecture is in the UK that a character like Ricky Gervais's wouldn't be tolerated because of the infamous British politeness, so seeing it on TV is fucking hilarious to think of. From s2, Michael Scott is a loveable idiot who truly has the best intentions but is so goddamn stupid it always blows up in his face, and his workers are more like the disappointed parents always cleaning up after him. Dwight became the character with the sinister undertones, but even that was cut with more character than Ricky Gervais's boss character ever had.