TV SERIES · 2005–2013 · USA
The Office
- Created by
- Greg Daniels
- Network
- NBC
- Seasons
- 9
- Episodes
- 186
- Studio
- Universal Television, Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille Productions
213 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
The everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
213 Interesting Facts About The Office
Interesting Facts (17)
- #001
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Multiple cast members have expressed their surprise at how young people, even preteens, connect with the subject matter of The Office, considering they have never been part of a workplace. Rainn Wilson has mentioned that the first generation of iPod Videos came preloaded with the first Christmas episode of The Office. "And who got those? Rich kids. So all of a sudden, all these young people got to see The Office."
- #003
- #004
The show had to stop production in November 2007 because of a writer's strike. Steve Carell (himself a WGA member) supported the writers, and refused to cross the picket lines, even for non-writing duties. Carell went so far as to call in sick to the network on the first day of the strike, citing a case of "enlarged balls" as the reason he couldn't come in to set.
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The series served as Paul Lieberstein's acting debut. His role as Toby Flenderson was meant to be a one-time appearance, as he had never acted before and was reluctant to do so. However, NBC President Kevin Reilly saw the episode where Toby appeared and reportedly said "That red-haired guy is terrific, we should see more of him." Toby then became a recurring character, with the cast and crew repeatedly praising Lieberstein's performance, and he allowed the role to expand somewhat while remaining shy about the attention it's brought to him. The character's appearance was notably minimal in any episode Lieberstein wrote or directed. However, he would go on to make occasional acting appearances in other shows after the series ended.
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Production Story (60)
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- #020
On the day of his audition, Leslie David Baker had another audition lined up and opted to go to that one first. But on his way back to audition for this show, he ran into traffic. Combined with being sweaty, his clothes being rumpled and in a cranky mood, Baker's audition for Stanley had gone the way the character was written that day, which was in a bad mood. Baker was cast two weeks later, based on being cranky in that audition.
- #021
- #022
While season one was a modest success, the release of the hit comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) between seasons one and two made Steve Carell a huge star, and helped to increase The Office's profile. The show's average viewership increased from 5.4 million per episode in season one to 8 million per episode in season two.
- #023
The show had to stop production in November 2007 because of a writers' strike. Steve Carell (himself a WGA member) supported the writers and refused to cross the picket lines, even for non-writing duties. Carell went so far as to call in sick to the network on the first day of the strike, citing a case of "enlarged balls" as the reason he couldn't come in to set.
- #024
James Gandolfini was offered the role of replacing Michael Scott following Steve Carell's departure from the NBC show in 2011. He turned it down after receiving 3 million dollars from HBO. Michael Imperioli speculated that HBO did not want Gandolfini to appear on the sitcom either to maintain the legacy of "The Sopranos" or because Gandolfini was working on the HBO limited series "The Night Of" at the time.
- #025
- #026
The series served as Paul Lieberstein's acting debut. His role as Toby Flenderson was meant to be a one-time appearance, as he had never acted before and was reluctant to do so. However, NBC President Kevin Reilly saw the episode where Toby appeared and reportedly said, "That red-haired guy is terrific, we should see more of him." Toby then became a recurring character, with the cast and crew repeatedly praising Lieberstein's performance, and he allowed the role to expand somewhat while remaining shy about the attention it's brought to him. The character's appearance was notably minimal in any episode Lieberstein wrote or directed. However, he would go on to make occasional acting appearances in other shows after the series ended.
- #027
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In 2020, Leslie David Baker launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a spin-off centered on his character Stanley Hudson titled "Uncle Stan." The campaign raised over $110,000, but the project never got off the ground due to COVID-19 and ongoing Hollywood strikes. Baker returned the money to the backers in 2023.
- #035
- #036
Phyllis Smith (who plays Phyllis Lapin-Vance) came onto the show as a casting director, and often read lines with actors during auditions. She was found to be so perfect for the role of the matronly Phyllis that she was cast. She is the voice of the character Sadness from the Disney movie Inside Out.
- #037
The exterior shot of the building the office is "in" in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is across the street from a bar which is coincidentally named "The Office". Greg Daniels has said that he hopes this is a sign of good karma for the show. The Office (the bar) was condemned by the city in 2011.
- #038
Adam Scott said his daughter Frankie Scott's acting teacher showed both Scott's and John Krasinski's audition tapes for Jim Halpert. Scott explained, "He put it to the class like, 'Okay. Let's discuss why he got the job, and he didn't.' But I'm just happy to know that in a prestigious acting class, I'm the subject of what not to do. [Frankie] was mortified. And when she was walking out, the teacher stopped her, he's like, 'Hey, um, do you know one of them? Like, what...' and then he kind of put two and two together with her last name and he felt terrible."
- #039
Originally, after the show was first picked up, NBC planned on retitling the series "The American Workplace" in order to differentiate it from the original British version. The idea was later scrapped. But when the documentary aired in season nine, it was called "The Office: An American Workplace". Outside America it is called "The U.S. Office".
- #040
Unlike modern shows like House (2004), The Office features only classic horizontal blinds in an effort to make them popular again. The creators were adamantly against verticals, which are detrimental to people with vertigo, dizziness and other motor and balance problems, and painfully distract from a scene, as they start to swing with the littlest motion.
- #041
On the day of his audition, Leslie David Baker had another audition lined up and opted to go to that one first. But on his way back to auditioning for this show, he ran into traffic. Combined with being sweaty, his clothes being rumpled and in a cranky mood, Baker's audition for Stanley had gone the way the character was written that day, which was in a bad mood. Baker was cast two weeks later, based on being cranky in that audition.
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- #043
Contains a major spoiler — show
John Krasinski revealed that the writers had strongly considered having Jim and Pam get a divorce in the ninth season. Although the two were portrayed as having marital problems during that season, the possibility of divorce was never brought up on the show and the two remained married.
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- #051
According to Rainn Wilson's memoir, Steve Carell has overactive sweat glands, which created some interesting production challenges. The set temperature had to be kept at 64 degrees to prevent Carell's clothes from getting soaked and stained. Heaters were eventually brought in so the other actors wouldn't get cold.
- #052
Bloopers from nearly every season are available on YouTube. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) has particular trouble keeping in character in scenes with Steve Carell (Michael Scott) and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert). Krasinski also finds Carell quite funny (as does most of the cast - 99 percent of bloopers involving laughter feature him inadvertently making someone laugh). On the other hand, Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) almost never breaks character. The rare moments when he does are pointed out by the other actors in the blooper scenes.
- #053
The first season was filmed in an office space above a sound stage at Chandler Valley Center Studios. The sound stage was generally used to represent the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, especially in the fifth episode of the first season, 'Basketball.' For the second season, an exact replica of the original office was built on a sound stage right next to the warehouse set in the same building.
- #054
- #055
There are some changes to the set between the first season and later seasons. The building's exterior is completely different in the first season from the later ones. Also, the wall between Michael's office and the conference room (the wall Andy punched a hole in) is much thinner in the first season. Additionally, in the first season there is a door to the left of the break room door. Now there is only one door, between Creed's desk and the island of Oscar, Kevin and Angela.
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The photocopier shown in the opening credits is equipped with an exit guide that would normally be used with a finisher, but the machine is fitted only with a receiving tray. As a result, the paper does not come out properly and pushes other sheets onto the floor. In a normal office environment, a photocopier would not be configured this way, because office staff do not like picking paper up off the floor.
- #059
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- #061
On the day of his audition, Leslie David Baker had another audition and chose to go there first. But on his way back for this series' audition, he got stuck in traffic. Sweaty, with wrinkled clothes and in a grumpy mood, his audition for Stanley was in a bad mood, matching how the character was written that day. Two weeks later, Baker got the role thanks to that grumpy audition.
- #062
The series was Paul Lieberstein's acting debut. The role of Toby Flenderson was planned as a one-off appearance, because he had never acted before and was reluctant to do so. But NBC President Kevin Reilly watched the episode in which Toby appears and said, "That red-haired guy is great, we should see more of him." Toby thus became a recurring character; the cast and crew constantly praised Lieberstein's performance and allowed his role to expand somewhat, though he remained shy about the attention it brought. In episodes Lieberstein wrote or directed, the character's appearances were noticeably minimal. After the series ended, however, he continued to act occasionally in other productions.
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- #067
The series had to halt production in November 2007 because of the writers' strike. Steve Carell (himself a WGA member) supported the writers and refused to cross the picket line even for non-scripted duties. On the first day of the strike, Carell told the network he was sick with 'enlarged testicles' and did not come to set.
- #068
Steve Carell said that about 10 years after the series went off the air, people had truly embraced him. Over its nine seasons, the series never rose above 41st place in total viewership rankings. Carell said, 'I'm telling you, nobody cared while it was on. It had a loyal audience of a few hundred people.'
- #069
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- #071
James Gandolfini was offered the chance to replace Michael Scott after Steve Carell left in 2011. He turned down the offer after receiving 3 million dollars from HBO. Michael Imperioli suggested that HBO did not want Gandolfini to appear in the series, either to protect 'The Sopranos' legacy or because Gandolfini was working on the HBO miniseries 'The Night Of' at the time.
- #072
While the first season was a modest success, the hit comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), released between the first and second seasons, turned Steve Carell into a major star and raised The Office's profile. The show's average viewership rose from 5.4 million per episode in the first season to 8 million in the second.
- #073
In 2020, Leslie David Baker launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a spin-off titled 'Uncle Stan' centered on his character Stanley Hudson. The campaign raised over $110,000, but the project never came to fruition due to COVID-19 and the ongoing Hollywood strikes. In 2023, Baker refunded the money to the donors.
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Behind the Scenes (29)
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The copier machine shown in the opening credits is fitted with a delivery guide that would normally be used with a finisher, but the copier is instead equipped only with a receiving tray. That is why the paper doesn't exit properly and pushes other papers to the floor. In a normal office setting the copier wouldn't be configured like this because office personnel don't like picking paper up off the floor.
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The "Welcome to Scranton" sign featured in the opening credits, formerly located on the Joe Biden Expressway, is now on display in the food court of the Mall at Steamtown. It is displayed with a backdrop so that people can get their picture taken with it. It was moved there when the city replaced the old signs with new signs.
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There are some changes in the set between the first season and the subsequent ones. The exterior of the building is completely different in the first season than what's used afterward. Also, the wall between Michael's office and the conference room (the one in which Andy punches a hole) is much thinner in the first season. Also, in the first season there is a door to the left of the break room door. Now there is just a door between Creed's desk and Oscar, Kevin, and Angela's island.
- #089
Bloopers are available on YouTube for almost every season. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) finds it especially difficult to maintain character in scenes with Steve Carell (Michael Scott) and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert). Krasinski also seems to find Carell highly amusing, as do most of the rest of the cast; 99 percent of the laughter-related bloopers involve Carell unintentionally cracking someone up. On the other hand, Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) hardly ever breaks character. The few times he does are brought to attention by other cast members in the blooper scenes.
- #090
According to Rainn Wilson's memoir The Bassoon King, Steve Carell has overactive sweat glands, which created some interesting production challenges. The on-set temperature had to be kept at 64 degrees in order to keep Carell from soaking and staining his clothes. Space heaters were eventually brought in to keep the rest of the cast from freezing.
- #091
The first season was filmed in office space located just above a soundstage at the Chandler Valley Center Studios. The soundstage was often used to replicate the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, most notably in season one, episode five, "Basketball". For the second season, an exact replica of the original office was built on a soundstage right next to the warehouse set in the same building.
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The 'Welcome to Scranton' sign featured in the opening credits used to be on the Joe Biden Expressway; it is now displayed in the food court of the Mall at Steamtown. It is exhibited with a backdrop so people can take photos. It was moved there when the city replaced the old signs with new ones.
- #098
- #099
The first season was filmed in an office space above a soundstage at Chandler Valley Center Studios. The soundstage was generally used to represent the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, especially in the fifth episode of the first season, 'Basketball.' For the second season, an exact replica of the original office was built on a soundstage right next to the warehouse set in the same building.
- #100
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- #102
There are some changes to the set between the first season and later seasons. The building's exterior is completely different in the first season from the later ones. Also, the wall between Michael's office and the conference room (the wall Andy punches a hole through) is much thinner in the first season. Additionally, in the first season there is a door to the left of the break room door. Now there is only one door, between Creed's desk and the island of Oscar, Kevin and Angela.
- #103
The Penn Paper building featured in the opening credits is located at 215 Vine Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania, about a block away from Mifflin Avenue. The fictional company name 'Dunder Mifflin' most likely comes from here. The 'Penn Paper' sign on the building has now been replaced by 'PA Paper' in blue letters.
- #104
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- #106
The photocopier shown in the opening credits is fitted with an exit guide that would normally be used with a finisher, but the machine is equipped with only a receiving tray. As a result, the paper does not come out properly and pushes the other sheets onto the floor. In a normal office setting, a photocopier would not be configured this way, because office staff do not like picking paper up off the floor.
Characters & Cast (43)
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Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) and Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) had known each other for years before being cast as their characters. They had no idea that each other had been cast until the first table read. On the Office Ladies podcast, Kinsey said she was immensely relieved to see her friend, which made the experience more comfortable.
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Creed Bratton revealed on Brian Baumgartner's (Kevin) podcast "The Office Deep Dive" that he based the twitchy nervous movements and general behavior of his character on the style of French silent film actor and director Jacques Tati. Bratton spent significant time in Europe during his youth, and would be inspired by Tati's films. He describes Creed as being "half Jacques Tati, half Charles Chaplin."
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Rainn Wilson was cast as Dwight Schrute on The Office after watching every episode of the British series before his audition. Wilson had first tried out for Michael, a performance he called a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation," but the casting directors preferred his Dwight audition and hired him for that role.
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On the day of his audition, Leslie David Baker had another audition and chose to go there first. But on his way back to the audition for this series, he got stuck in traffic. Sweaty, with wrinkled clothes and in a grumpy mood, his audition for Stanley was in a bad mood, matching how the character was written that day. Two weeks later, Baker got the role thanks to that grumpy audition.
- #135
The series was Paul Lieberstein's acting debut. The role of Toby Flenderson was planned as a one-off appearance, since he had never acted before and was reluctant to do so. But NBC President Kevin Reilly watched the episode in which Toby appeared and said, "That red-haired guy is great, we should see more of him." Toby thus became a recurring character; the cast and crew constantly praised Lieberstein's performance and allowed his role to expand somewhat, though he remained shy about the attention it brought. In episodes Lieberstein wrote or directed, the character's appearances were noticeably minimal. However, after the series ended, he continued to act occasionally in other productions.
- #136
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Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) and Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) had known each other for years before being cast as their characters. They did not know until the first table read that the other had been cast. On the Office Ladies podcast, Kinsey said she was very relieved to see her friend and that it made the experience more comfortable.
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The series had to halt production in November 2007 due to the writers' strike. Steve Carell (himself a WGA member) supported the writers and refused to cross the picket line even for non-writing duties. On the first day of the strike, Carell told the network he was sick with 'swollen testicles' and did not come to set.
- #145
- #146
Steve Carell said that about 10 years after the series ended, people had truly embraced him. Over its nine seasons, the show never rose above 41st place in total viewership rankings. Carell said, 'I'm telling you, while it was on, nobody cared. It had a loyal audience of a few hundred people.'
- #147
Many main and supporting cast members wrote episodes for the series. B.J. Novak (Ryan), Paul Lieberstein (Toby) and Mindy Kaling (Kelly) wrote 12 of the 28 episodes in the first two seasons (separately). Steve Carell (Michael Scott) wrote two episodes: the second season finale 'Casino Night' and the fourth season's eleventh episode 'Survivor Man'. The second season's eighth episode 'Performance Review' was written by Larry Wilmore, who played the diversity trainer Mr. Brown. Veteran writer Michael Schur played Dwight's cousin Mose Schrute. Writing partners Gene Stupinsky and Lee Eisenberg played delivery men in the second season's sixteenth episode 'Valentine's Day'. The series' developer and showrunner Greg Daniels played Michael's neighbor in the second season's third episode 'Office Olympics', but his scene was cut.
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In 2020, Leslie David Baker launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a spin-off series called 'Uncle Stan' centered on his character Stanley Hudson. The campaign raised over $110,000, but the project never came to fruition due to COVID-19 and the ongoing Hollywood strikes. In 2023, Baker refunded the money to the donors.
Easter Eggs & References (32)
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At the end of the sixth season, in the episode "Whistleblower," the address of the Scranton Business Park (where Dunder Mifflin is located) is given as "1725 Slough Avenue." Although the show is renowned for using actual locations and businesses throughout the Scranton area, there is no Slough Avenue in Scranton. The American version of The Office was based heavily on the original series, which was set in the United Kingdom. In the original, Wernham Hogg was located in the town of Slough in southern England. Scranton and Slough were both chosen because they represented the most boring post-industrial wastelands in their respective countries of origin. The tiny Union Jack flag Michael keeps on his desk is also a nod to the original British series.
- #154
Dwight has a "Froggy 101" bumper sticker on the filing cabinet next to his desk. Froggy 101 is the number one rated Country and Western station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the setting for the show. This bumper sticker can also be seen as an easter egg in the office of Michael's boss, at his short-lived night job at the telemarketing company, in the warehouse on the elevator, at the tattoo parlor where Andy gets a tattoo, and in the bar during a scene of Michael's movie.
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The Penn Paper building featured in the opening credits is located at 215 Vine Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is about one block from Mifflin Avenue. Most likely from where the fictional company name "Dunder Mifflin" came. The "Penn Paper" sign on the building has now been replaced by "PA Paper" in blue lettering.
- #160
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The running joke of the series is that Ryan Howard (BJ Novak) shares his name with a baseball player of the same name. In "Night Out," when he is trying to gain access to a nightclub, he says "Ryan Howard the baseball player check again." However, in "Promos," the real Ryan Howard appears as himself.
- #163
Michael Scott's home address is shown as either 42 Kellum Court (per NBC's Dunder Mifflin website) or 126 Kellum Court (seen on the show). Kellum Court is a real street in Scranton, but house numbers start at 300, because of the city block numbering system. If it existed, the physical location of 42 Kellum Court would be in the rock quarry depicted behind the "Scranton Welcomes You" sign in the opening credits. The quarry is frequently mentioned by Creed throughout the series.
- #164
In the season 5 episode 10, "The Surplus", Hank, the security guard, when asked to help make the decision for the staff regarding buying a new copier or new chairs for the office, reaches for some Skittles on Pam's desk. This is an in-joke because the actor who plays Hank, Hugh Dane, at the time the episode aired, starred in a famous Skittles commercial which ran in America and the UK.
- #165
- #166
Many of the famous insert shots from the original series, such as the water cooler and copier machine, were not used on this show. Instead, they pay homage to those particular shots by placing them in the opening credits. However, some clips were used, such as the paper shredder, but in later seasons.
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Dwight had four bobbleheads on his desk. The most well known is the "Dwight Schrute" bobblehead, a present from Angela in season two. Two others seen throughout the series are of Mike Lieberthal and John Kruk. Lieberthal played catcher for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons before being promoted to the Philadelphia Phillies, and John Kruk was a Philadelphia Phillie before retirement. The fourth bobblehead, added in the fourth season, was of former Syracuse University guard and Scranton native son Gerry McNamara.
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During the meeting between David Wallace, Jim, Dwight, and Charles regarding the Michael Scott Paper Company, not only are the men seated next to their chosen assistants (Wallace/Jim, Charles/Dwight) but their colors are coordinated as well: Wallace and Jim are wearing shades of blue while Charles and Dwight are dressed in shades of yellow.
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Season 5 episode 10 "The Surplus" Hank, the security guard, when asked to help make the decision for the staff regarding buying a new copier or new chairs for the office, reaches for some Skittles on Pam's desk. This is an in-joke because the actor who plays Hank (Hugh Dane), at the time the episode aired, starred in a famous Skittles commercial which ran in America and the UK.
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Deeper Meaning (25)
- #182
Contains a major spoiler — show
The only characters to not have their talking heads with their backs to the bullpen are Michael and Jim (and Pam once she and Jim get married). The exception to this is 'Branch Closing' where once the workers are told they are being shut down, their interviews are all at the outside window; when the news is corrected by Jan later on, their interviews are back to normal with the bullpen behind them.
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Career & Awards (6)
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Steve Carell has said that "It took like 10 years after it went off the air for people to fully embrace" the show, which never ranked higher than 41st in overall viewers for any of its 9 seasons. "I'm telling you, nobody cared about it when it was on the air," Carell said. "It had a core following of several hundred people."
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Four of the regularly appearing secondary characters have the same first name as the actress or actor who plays her or him: Angela (Angela Kinsey), Oscar (Oscar Nuñez), Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), and Creed (Creed Bratton). Interestingly, Creed shares his entire name (and a large chunk of his history) with his character. They are both called "Creed Bratton."
- #212
Bloopers are available on YouTube for almost every season. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) finds it especially difficult to maintain character in scenes with Steve Carell (Michael Scott) and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert). Krasinski also seems to find Carell highly amusing (as do most of the rest of the cast- 99 percent of the laughter related bloopers involve him unintentionally cracking someone up). On the other hand, Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) hardly ever breaks character. The few times he does are brought to attention by other cast members in the blooper scenes.
Life & Family (1)
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia The Office (American TV series) — Wikipedia
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