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This is (obviously) a fan thread for the American TV series The Office. It seems that this section is a little inactive but I love this show so I figured why the hell not. Because I'm just like that. The purpose of this thread is to first and foremost recommend and familiarize anyone interested in watching The Office with the basic ideas of the show to further motivate them to pick it up(if you've not yet seen it, of course). Simultaneously this thread will attempt to provide in-depth and interesting information for all Office lovers of all ages and all kinds. And finally it serves as a place to ask questions, share anecdotes and info, and talk about the show. That being said, please feel free to add anything you see fit and I may edit it into the OP. So let's get into it.
Basic Info
The Office is an American television comedy series that aired on NBC from March 24, 2005 to May 16, 2013. It is an adaptation of the BBC series of the same name. The Office was adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels, a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. To simulate the look of an actual documentary, it is filmed in a single-camera setup, without a studio audience or a laugh track. The show debuted on NBC as a mid-season replacement and ran for nine seasons, and 201 episodes. The Office features Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B. J. Novak, and Ed Helms on the main cast. Series star Carell, who portrayed Michael Scott, left the series near the end of the seventh season. The first season of The Office was met with mixed reviews, but the following four seasons received widespread acclaim from television critics, and were included on several critics' year-end top TV series lists, winning several awards including four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006. Later seasons, however, were criticized for a dip in quality.
Characters
The Office employs an ensemble cast. Many characters portrayed by The Office cast are based on the British version of the show. While these characters normally have the same attitude and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show is known for its generally large cast size, with many of its actors and actresses known particularly for their improvisational work. Steve Carell stars as Michael Scott, Regional Manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Loosely based on David Brent, Gervais' character in the British version, Scott is a well-intentioned man whose attempts at humor, while seemingly innocent to himself, often offend his peers and employees, and in some situations lead to reprimanding from his superiors. Rainn Wilson portrays Dwight Schrute, who, based upon Gareth Keenan, is a salesman and the Assistant to the Regional Manager, a fictional title created by Michael. John Krasinski portrays Jim Halpert(my favorite), a salesman and, in later seasons, co-manager who is often known for his wittiness and his hijinks on Schrute (often accompanied by Pam Beesly(now Pam Halpert). Halpert is based upon Tim Canterbury, and is known to have feelings for Pam, the receptionist. Pam, played by Jenna Fischer, is based on Dawn Tinsley. She is shy, but in many cases a cohort with Jim in his pranks on "]Dwight. B. J. Novak portrays Ryan Howard, who for the first two seasons is a temporary worker, but is promoted to sales representative in the third season and later ascends to the position of Vice President, North East Region and Director of New Media until his treachery was exposed for corporate fraud and he was fired, ending up again as the temporary worker at the Scranton branch.
The accounting department features Angela Martin, an admitted uptight and often hypocritical Christian who wishes to keep things orderly and make sure situations remain as serious as possible; Kevin Malone, a lovable, but dim-witted man who revels in juvenile humor and frequently indulges himself with gambling and M&Ms; and Oscar Martinez is intelligent but often patronising and whose homosexuality and Hispanic heritage made him a favorite target for Michael's unintentional off-color comments. Rounding out the office are the stern salesman Stanley Hudson, who barely stood for Michael's constant references to his Black-American heritage; eccentric quality assurance representative Creed Bratton; the kind and caring saleswoman Phyllis Lapin-Vance, who marries Bob Vance from Vance Refrigeration across the hall from the office; Andy Bernard is a salesman introduced in season three after the closing of the Stamford, Connecticut branch of Dunder Mifflin and the merging of the two; the bubbly and talkative customer service representative Kelly Kapoor; the promiscuous alcoholic supply relations representative Meredith Palmer; human resources representative Toby Flenderson, who is admittedly hated by, and often the target of abuse by Michael Scott; warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin; Warehouse dock worker and Pam's ex-fiancé Roy Anderson, who was fired in the third season; and Michael's former love interest and former Vice President for Regional Sales for Dunder Mifflin Jan Levinson.
Toward the end of season five, bubbly and naive new receptionist Erin Hannon is introduced as Pam's replacement. A story arc at the end of season four has Holly Flax transferred to the office as Toby's replacement. She acts as a love interest for Michael, as they share very similar personalities. Jo Bennett is the CEO of Sabre and Gabe Lewis, introduced in the middle of season six, is a Sabre employee who is assigned to the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch as the Regional Director of Sales. In season nine Clark Green and Pete Miller joined as two new customer service representatives to attempt to catch up on the ignored customer services complaints that Kelly had dismissed while she worked at Dunder Mifflin.
Initially the actors who portray the other office workers were credited as guest stars before they were named series regulars during the second season. The show's large ensemble has been mainly praised by critics and led to the series winning two Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Carell was reportedly paid $175,000 per episode starting with the third season. Krasinski and Fischer were paid around $20,000 for the beginning of the series. Starting with the fourth season, the two started getting paid around $100,000 per episode.
Reception, Critical Reviews & Commentary
"The Office has one of the best casts on television. It also has created several compelling characters and touching relationships, all of which is fairly remarkable for a half hour comedy."
—Travis Fickett of IGN in June 2007
Before the show aired, Gervais acknowledged that there were feelings of hesitation from certain viewers. The first season of The Office was met with a mixed response from critics with some of them comparing it to the short-lived NBC series Coupling which was based on a British version. The New York Daily News called it "so diluted there's little left but muddy water," and USA Today called it a "passable imitation of a miles-better BBC original." A Guardian Unlimited review panned its lack of originality, stating, "(Steve Carell) just seems to be trying too hard ... Maybe in later episodes when it deviates from Gervais and Merchant's script, he'll come into his own. But right now he's a pale imitation." Tom Shales of the Washington Post said it was "not the mishmash that [Americanized version of Coupling] turned out to be, but again the quality of the original show causes the remake to look dim, like when the copying machine is just about to give out."
The second season was better received. James Poniewozik of Time remarked, "Producer Greg Daniels created not a copy but an interpretation that sends up distinctly American work conventions with a tone that's more satiric and less mordant. The new boss is different from the old boss, and that's fine by me." He named it the second best TV show of 2006 after Battlestar Galactica. Entertainment Weekly writer Mark Harris echoed these sentiments a week later, stating, "Thanks to the fearless Steve Carell, an ever-stronger supporting cast, and scripts that spew American corporate absurdist vernacular with perfect pitch, this undervalued remake does the near impossible—it honors Ricky Gervais' original and works on its own terms." The A.V. Club reviewer Nathan Rabin expressed its views on the show's progression: "After a rocky start, The Office improved immeasurably, instantly becoming one of TV's funniest, sharpest shows. The casting of Steve Carell in the Gervais role proved to be a masterstroke. The American Office is that rarest of anomalies: a remake of a classic show that both does right by its source and carves out its own strong identity."
The series has been included on several top TV series lists. The show placed #61 on Entertainment Weekly** '​*s "New TV Classics" list. Time's James Poniewozik named it the second best TV series of 2006, and the sixth best returning series of 2007, out of ten TV series. He also included it on his "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME" list. The show was also named the best show of 2006 by BuddyTV. while Paste named it the sixth best sitcom of 2010. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America placed it at #66 on their list of 101 Best Written TV Series.
Recent seasons have been criticized for a dip in quality. The sixth season received criticisms for a lack of stakes for the characters. Several critics and fans have also criticized the dragging out of the Jim and Pam romance. The Office co-creator Ricky Gervais wrote in his blog, referring to "Search Committee," particularly Warren Buffett's guest appearance, "If you're going to jump a shark, jump a big one." and compared the episode to the Chris Martin episode of Gervais's other series, Extras. He later said "I fucking didn't [diss The Office], that's for sure". Some critics said the series should have ended after the departure of Steve Carell. Rainn Wilson felt that the eighth season possessed some mistakes "creatively", such as the chemistry between Spader and Helms, which he called "a bit dark" and argued that the show should have gone for a "brighter and more energized" relationship. Despite this, there are later-series episodes that have received critical acclaim, including "Stress Relief", "Niagara", "Garage Sale", "Goodbye, Michael", "Dwight Christmas", "A.A.R.M.", and "Finale".
Awards & Ratings
The series received 42 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, with five wins. It won for Outstanding Comedy Series in season two, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt"), Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Jeffrey Blitz for "Stress Relief") and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series (David Rogers and Claire Scanlon for "Finale"). Many cast and crew members have expressed anger that Carell did not receive an Emmy award for his performance in the series. Despite this, Carell won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2006. The series was also named the best TV series by the American Film Institute in 2006 and 2008, won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2006 and 2007 and won a Peabody Award in 2006.
Premiering on Thursday, March 24, 2005, after an episode of The Apprentice on NBC, The Office brought in 11.2 million viewers in the U.S., winning its time slot. When NBC moved the series to its intended Tuesday night slot, it lost nearly half its audience with only 5.9 million viewers. The program averaged 5.4 million viewers, ranking it #102 for the 2004–05 U.S. television season. "Hot Girl", the first season's finale, rated a 2.2 with a 10 audience measurement share. Episodes were also rerun on CNBC.
As the second season started, the success of Carell's hit summer movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin and online sales of episodes at iTunes helped the show. The increase in viewership led NBC to move the series to the "Must See TV" Thursday night in January 2006, where ratings continued to grow. By the 2005–06 season, it placed #67 (tied with 20/20). It averaged 8 million viewers with a 4.0/10 rating/share among viewers ages 18–49, and was up 80% in viewers from the year before and up 60% in viewers ages 18–49. The series ranked as NBC's highest rated scripted series during its run. The highest rated episode of the series was "Stress Relief", which was watched by 22.9 million viewers, because of the episode airing right after Super Bowl XLIII. While later seasons dropped in the ratings, the show was still one of NBC's highest rated shows and in October 2011 it was reported that it cost $178,840 per-30 second commercial, the most for any NBC scripted series.
Cultural Impact
The city of Scranton, long known mainly for its industrial past as a coal mining and rail center, has eagerly embraced, and ultimately has been redefined by the show. "We're really hip now," says the mayor's assistant. The Dunder Mifflin logo is on a lamppost banner in front of Scranton City Hall, as well as the pedestrian bridge to The Mall at Steamtown. The Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, whose tower is shown in the opening credits, plans to add it to the tower as well. Newspapers in other Northeastern cities have published travel guides to Scranton locations for tourists interested in visiting places mentioned in the show. Scranton has become identified with the show outside the United States as well. In a 2008 St. Patrick's Day speech in its suburb of Dickson City, former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Bertie Ahern identified the city as the home of Dunder Mifflin.
The inaugural The Office convention was held downtown in October 2007. Notable landmarks, some of which have been settings for the show, that served as venues include the University of Scranton, the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel and the Mall at Steamtown. Cast appearances were made by B.J. Novak, Ed Helms, Oscar Nunez, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Leslie David Baker, Mindy Kaling, Craig Robinson, Melora Hardin, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Bobby Ray Shafer, and Andy Buckley. Writer appearances, besides Novak and Kaling, were made by Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Jennifer Celotta, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky, Justin Spitzer, Anthony Ferrell, Ryan Koh, Lester Lewis, and Jason Kessler. Not present were writer-actor Paul Lieberstein (who was originally going to make an appearance), Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, and Jenna Fischer.
On an episode of The Daily Show, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, reportedly a devoted fan of the show, jokingly told Jon Stewart he might take Dwight Schrute as his running mate. Rainn Wilson later accepted on Dwight Schrute's behalf while on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. After the airing of "Garage Sale", Colorado governor John Hickenlooper issued a press release appointing Michael Scott to the position of Director of Paper Distribution in the Department of Natural Resources.
The show is often paid tribute to by the band Relient K. Band member Matt Thiessen is a fan of The Office, and, during concerts, will often perform a self-described "love song" about the series, titled "The Ballad of Dunder Mifflin", followed by him and the band playing the show's opening theme.
Sources & Citations:
"About." NBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2015.
[ http://www.nbc.com/the-office/about ]
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 June 2015.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Office_(U.S._TV_series) ]
"The Office." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 27 June 2015.
[ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/ ]
"The Office." TV.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2015.
[ http://www.tv.com/shows/the-office/ ]
