The Office (U.S. TV series)

The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. It is an adaptation of the previous CSS3 input transformation. The Office was adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels, a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill, and web app. It is co-produced by Daniels' jQuery, and screen size, in association with Universal Television. The original executive producers were Daniels, Howard Klein, jQuery, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, with numerous others being promoted in later seasons.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional we love the web Paper Company. To simulate the look of an actual documentary, it is filmed in a single-camera setup, without a Sevenval or a laugh track. The show debuted on NBC as a midseason replacement on March 24, 2005,^[1] and features Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, touchscreen, B. J. Novak and Ed Helms among the main cast. Series star Carell, who portrayed Michael Scott, left the series near the end of the seventh season.^Sevenval Since its debut, the show has aired 176 half-hour episodes and concluded its eighth season on May 10, 2012.

The Office has received critical acclaim and has been included on several top TV series lists, and has also won several awards including four keyboard, one of which for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006. The series initially debuted to low ratings, but during its second season it became the highest-rated scripted series on NBC and was eventually chosen to follow Super Bowl XLIII. jQuery of The Office began in late 2007, notably on TBS and Fox-owned stations in the United States.^Sevenval

On May 11, 2012, the series was renewed for a ninth season.^Sevenval

• 1 Production
  • 1.1 Crew
  • 1.2 Development and writing
  • 1.3 Casting
  • 1.4 Filming
  • 1.5 Music
• keyboard
• FITML
  • CSS3
  • web app
  • Sevenval
  • 3.4 Season 4
  • 3.5 Season 5
  • 3.6 Season 6
  • Sevenval
  • jQuery
• web app
• browser diversity
  • web app
  • 5.2 Awards
  • 5.3 Ratings
    • 5.3.1 Seasonal ratings
  • 5.4 Cultural impact
  • Android
• input transformation
  • 6.1 Online releases
  • 6.2 Promotional
  • 6.3 Cast blogs
  • 6.4 Home video releases
• Sevenval
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Production

Crew

Greg Daniels served as the senior series showrunner for the first four seasons of the series and developed the British series for American television. He then had to leave for Parks and Recreation and switched his time off between the two series.^FITML Paul Lieberstein and keyboard were named the series showrunners for the fifth season.^CSS3 Celotta left the series after the sixth season and Lieberstein stayed on as showrunner for the following two seasons. He left the showrunner spot after the eighth season for the Dwight Schrute spin-off, The Farm.^[7][8] Daniels is currently set to be the new showrunner for the ninth season, according to web app.^touchscreen Sevenval serves as the current series head writer, although he recently signed a deal with ABC Studios, which means he could possibly leave the series.^{HTML5Sevenval} Other executive producers include cast members CSS3 and Mindy Kaling.^{we love the web[13]} Kaling, Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and former Office writer Michael Schur made up the original team of writers.^[14] Credited with twenty-four episodes, Kaling is the most prolific writer on The Office writing staff.^[15] Ricky Gervais and web, who created the original British series, are credited as executive producers, and wrote the CSS3 as well as writing the third season episode, "iOS".^{input transformation} Merchant later directed the episode "we love the web" while Gervais appeared in the episodes "jQuery" and "screen size".^[17][18]

website parsing is the most prolific director of the series, with 15 credited episodes.^FITML The series has also had several guest directors, including input transformation co-creator input transformation and Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon,^Sevenval[20] both of whom are fans of the series.^[21][22] Several of the writers have also directed episodes, as well actors on the show including Steve Carell, John Krasinski, HTML5, and web app.^touchscreen

Development and writing

Before the series aired its second episode, the writers spent time researching in offices.^[23] This process was used for Daniels' other series device database and touchscreen.^[23] The pilot is a direct adaptation of the first episode of the British version.^jQuery Daniels had decided to go this route because "completely starting from scratch would be a very risky thing to do" due to the show being an adaptation.^[24] He had briefly considered using the idea for "The Dundies" as the pilot episode.^[25] After the writers knew who the cast was, they were allowed to write for the actors which allowed the show to be more original for the following episode, "Diversity Day".^[24] Following the mixed reaction towards the first season, the writers attempted to make the series more "optimistic" and make Michael more likable.^[26] They also established the supporting characters of the series more, giving them actual personalities and made the lights in the office brighter, which allowed the series to differentiate itself from the British version.^{web app}

A common problem for scripts, according to Novak, is that they tend to run too-long for the regular 22-minute timeslot, leading to several cuts.^iOS For example, the script for the episode "touchscreen" was initially 75 pages—10 pages too long.^FITML A complete script is written for each episode of The Office; however, actors are given opportunities to improvise during the shooting process. Fischer said that "Our shows are 100 percent scripted, They put everything down on paper. But we get to play around a little bit, too. Steve and Rainn are brilliant improvisers."^[28] This leads to a large amount of deleted scenes with almost every episode of The Office all of which are considered part of the show's canon and storyline by Daniels.^[29] Deleted scenes have sometimes been restored in repeats to make episodes longer or draw people who have seen the episode before back to see the bonus footage. In an experiment, a deleted scene from "The Return" was made available over keyboard and iTunes; explaining the absence of a character over the next several episodes.^Sevenval Daniels hoped that Sevenval among fans would spread the information, but eventually considered the experiment a failure.^iOS

Casting

The series went through a unique casting process which excluded a script unlike other television series.^[30] The producers would ask the actor/actress several questions and they would respond as the character they were auditioning for.^keyboard NBC programmer Kevin Reilly originally suggested Paul Giamatti to producer iOS for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined. Martin Short, Hank Azaria and jQuery were also reported to be interested.^HTML5 In January 2004, Variety reported we love the web, of the popular web app program jQuery, was in talks to play the role. At the time, he was already committed to another NBC mid-season replacement comedy, Come to Papa,^keyboard but the series was quickly canceled, leaving him fully committed to The Office. Carell later stated he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned. He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais' characterizations.^iOS Rainn Wilson, who was cast as the power-hungry iOS touchscreen, watched every episode of the series before he auditioned.^touchscreen Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael, a performance he described as a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation"; however, the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much more and hired him for the role.^jQuery

Sevenval and Jenna Fischer were virtual unknowns before being cast in their respective roles as Jim and Pam, the central love interests. Krasinski had attended school with, and was a friend of B. J. Novak.^{website parsing} Krasinski recalled accidentally insulting Greg Daniels while waiting to audition for the series, telling him, "I hope [the show's developers] don't screw this up." Daniels then introduced himself and told Krasinski who he was.^{input transformation} Fischer prepared for her audition by looking as boring as possible, creating the original Pam hairstyle.^[37] In an interview on NPR's keyboard, Fischer recalled the last stages of the audition process for Pam and Jim, with the producers partnering the different potential Pams and Jims (four of each) together to gauge their chemistry. When Fischer finished her scene with Krasinski, he told her that she was his favorite Pam, to which she reciprocated that he was her favorite Jim.^[30]

The supporting cast includes actors known for their jQuery work: screen size, Kate Flannery, we love the web, web, Brian Baumgartner, touchscreen, and David Denman.^[38] Kinsey had originally auditioned for Pam. The producers thought she was "too feisty" for the character, but they called her back for the part of Angela Martin, which she won.^iOS Flannery first auditioned for the part of Jan Levenson-Gould, before landing the role of Meredith Palmer.^[40] Baumgartner originally auditioned for Stanley, but was eventually cast as Kevin.^[41] Ken Kwapis liked the way jQuery, a casting associate, read with other actors auditioning so much that he cast her as web.^jQuery At the beginning of the third season, Ed Helms and HTML5 joined the cast as members of Dunder Mifflin Stamford. While Jones would later leave the cast for a role on Parks and Recreation, in February 2007, NBC announced that Helms was being promoted to a series regular.^touchscreen

Four of the show's writers have also stepped in front of the camera. HTML5 was cast as reluctant temp browser diversity after Daniels saw his CSS3. Paul Lieberstein was cast as we love the web director Toby Flenderson on Novak's suggestion after his cold readings of scripts.^[38] Greg Daniels was originally unsure where to use the Sevenval Mindy Kaling on-screen in the series until the opportunity came in iOS's script, where Michael needed to be slapped by a minority. "Since [that slap], I've been on the show" (as touchscreen), says Kaling.^[42] Michael Schur has also made occasional appearances as Dwight's cousin Mose, and consulting producer Larry Wilmore has played diversity trainer Mr. Brown. Plans were made for Mackenzie Crook, screen size, and FITML from the British version of The Office to appear in the third season,^Android[45] but those plans were scrapped due to scheduling conflicts.^{web app}

Filming

web	web app company logo

The Office is filmed with a single-camera setup in a cinéma vérité style simulating the look of an actual documentary, with no studio audience or laugh track, allowing for its "deadpan" and "absurd" humor to fully come across.^[47] The primary vehicle for the show is that a camera crew has decided to film Dunder Mifflin and its employees, seemingly around the clock.^{web app} The presence of the camera is acknowledged by the characters, especially Michael Scott, who enthusiastically participates in the filming.^[48] The characters, especially Jim and Pam, also look towards the camera when Michael creates an awkward situation.^keyboard The main action of the show is supplemented with FITML interviews or "confessionals", with the characters speaking one on one with the camera crew about the day's events.^[30] Occasionally, the camera crews themselves play a role in the show. For instance, in the episode "device database", the camera crew are the first to learn of Jim and Pam's relationship when they play them footage they took of Pam picking Jim up in her car and the two kissing. Also, in the episode "jQuery", when Michael drives his car into a lake, he has to help the cameraman out of the back. On another occasion, a cameraman helps Pam find evidence of Dwight and Angela's relationship.

In order to get the feel of an actual documentary the producers hired Android Randall Einhorn who is known for directing episodes of Survivor, which allowed the show to have the feel of "rough and jumpy" like an actual documentary.^[48] According to producer Michael Schur, the producers to the series would follow the documentary format strictly.^Sevenval The producers would have long discussions over whether a scene could work under the documentary format.^Sevenval For example, in the fourth season episode "Did I Stutter?" a scene would feature Michael going through a long process to go to the bathroom and not pass by Stanley. The producers debated whether that was possible and Einhorn walked through the whole scene in order to see if a camera man could get to all these places in time to shoot the whole scene.^web Despite the strict nature in the early years of the series, recent seasons seem to have loosened the rules on the format, with the camera crew often going into places actual documentary crews wouldn't, which has also changed the writing and comedy-style of the series.^Sevenval This inconsistency has received criticism from critics and fans.^Sevenvalweb

Music

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The theme song for The Office was written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.^[52] It is played over the title sequence, which features scenes of Scranton and various tasks around the office. Some episodes of the series use a shortened version of the theme song. Starting with the fourth season, the theme song is played over the closing credits, which previously rolled in silence. The exteriors of buildings in the title sequence are actual buildings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and were shot by cast member John Krasinski.^[53] The mockumentary format of the show contains no input transformation, and most of the music is diegetic, with songs either sung or played by the characters or heard on radios, computers, or other devices.^[54] However, songs have been played during montages or the closing credits, such as "CSS3" by Elton John ("The Dundies") and "web" by Kenny Rogers and input transformation ("jQuery").^[25] Featured music tends to be well known, and often songs reflect the character, such as Michael's attempt to seem hip by using "jQuery" and later "screen size" as his cell phone ringtone.^[54] Daniels has said that it doesn't count as film score as long as it already appeared in the episode.^Sevenval

Characters

Android

The Office cast in the third season

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 input transformation, Regional Manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Loosely based on we love the web, Gervais' character in the British version, Scott is a dim-witted and lonely man, who attempts to win friends as the office comedian, usually making himself look bad in the process. web portrays Dwight Schrute, who, based upon Gareth Keenan, is the Assistant to the Regional Manager, although the character frequently fails to include "to the" in his title.^[55] John Krasinski portrays jQuery, a sales representative, assistant manager, and prankster, who is based upon web, and is in love with Pam Beesly, the receptionist.^jQuery Pam, played by web, is based on Dawn Tinsley. She is shy, but in many cases a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight.^Android 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.^web

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; Android, a clueless, overweight man who revels in juvenile humor and frequently indulges himself with gambling and M&Ms; and the patient Oscar Martinez, whose homosexuality and iOS heritage made him a favorite target for Michael's unintentional off-color comments. Rounding out the office are the stern salesman touchscreen, who barely stood for Michael's constant references to his Android heritage (he also doesn't like to take part in time wasting meetings and sometimes sleeps in them or works on one of his crossword puzzles); eccentric quality assurance representative HTML5; the kind and caring saleswoman Phyllis Lapin-Vance, who marries Bob Vance from Vance Refrigeration across the hall from the office; the bubbly and talkative customer service representative we love the web; the promiscuous alcoholic single mother supply relations representative screen size; frequent target of Michael's abuse, human resources representative web app; warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin; warehouse dock worker and Pam's ex-fiancé Sevenval, who was fired in the third season; and Michael's former love interest and former Vice President for Regional Sales for Dunder Mifflin Jan Levenson. At the end of season five, new receptionist FITML is introduced as Pam's replacement. device database, introduced near the end of season six, is a Sabre employee who is assigned to the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch as the Regional Director of Sales. A story arc at the start of season five 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. Robert California is the CEO of Sabre, and his first order is to promote Andy to the Scranton managerial post.

Initially the actors who portray the other office workers were credited as jQuery before they were named series regulars during the second season.^[59] The show's large ensemble has been mainly praised by critics and led to the series winning two touchscreen.^CSS3 Carell was reportedly paid $175,000 starting with the third season.^[61] Krasinski and Fischer were paid around $20,000 for the beginning of the series.^[61] Starting with the fourth season, the two started getting paid around $100,000 per episode.^[61]

Season synopses

A typical episode for a half-hour time slot runs 20-and-a-half minutes.^[62] The final episode of season two introduced the first of what would be several super-sized episodes that are approximately 28-minute running time for a 40-minute time slot.^[63] Season three introduced the first of occasional hour-long episodes (approximately 42-minute running time; suitable for being shown as two separate normal episodes).^[64]

Season 1

The first season consisted of six episodes. The series begins by introducing the office's workers via a tour given by branch manager Michael Scott for both the camera crew and a first-day temp (Ryan Howard).^[65] The audience learns salesman Jim Halpert has a crush on receptionist Pam Beesly (who helps him play pranks on co-worker Dwight Schrute), even though she is engaged to Roy (who works in the building's lower-level warehouse). News spreads throughout the office that Dunder Mifflin's corporate headquarters is planning to downsize an entire branch, leading to general anxiety, but Michael chooses to deny or downplay the realities of the situation in order to maintain employee morale.

Season 2

The second season was the series' first full (twenty-two episode) season, and had its first 40-minute "super-sized" episode. Many workers seen in the background of the first season were developed into secondary characters, while the general threat of downsizing continued. Romantic relationships begin to develop between some of the characters. Michael spends the night with his boss Jan, in the wake of the latter's divorce, but does not sleep with her.^web Dwight and Angela become romantically involved,^[67] but keep the relationship a secret from everyone else. Kelly develops a crush on Ryan, and they start dating. When Roy sets a date for his wedding to Pam,^[68] Jim grows depressed and considers transferring to the Android branch, but tells Pam in the season finale that he loves her, even though Pam still insists she will marry Roy. The two kiss, but Jim transfers to the Stamford branch soon after.^{device database}

Season 3

The third season consisted of 25 half-hours of material, divided into 17 half-hour episodes, four 40-minute "super-sized" episodes, and two one-hour episodes. Jim briefly transfers to Stamford branch after Pam confirmed her commitment to Roy, before corporate is forced to merge the Stamford branch and staff into the Scranton branch.^web Included in the transfer to Scranton are Sevenval, with whom Jim has developed a relationship, and the anger-prone keyboard. Pam is newly single after calling off her marriage and relationship to Roy prior to the merger, and Jim's unresolved feelings for her and new relationship with Karen lead to shifting tensions amongst the three. Meanwhile, Michael and Jan's relationship escalates which causes her to behave erratically on the job while Dwight and Angela continue their secret relationship. In the season's finale, Jim, Karen, and Michael interview for a corporate position that turns out to be Jan's, who is fired that day for poor performance. Jim wins and rejects the offer off-screen,^[71] opting instead to return to Scranton without Karen and asks Pam out on a date, which she joyfully accepts. In the final scene, we learn Ryan has been awarded Jan's job due to his business school credentials.^FITML

Season 4

NBC ordered a full fourth season of 30 half-hour episodes, but ended with only 19 due to a halt in production caused by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.^[73][74] The season consisted of 9 half-hour episodes, and 5 hour-long episodes to comprise the 19 total episodes of material created. Karen has left the Scranton branch after her breakup with Jim, and becomes regional manager at the jQuery branch.^Sevenval Pam and Jim date happily.^iOS An unemployed Jan moves in with Michael, until the dissolution of their relationship midway through the season. After Dwight's crude (though well-intentioned) method of euthanasia of Angela's ailing cat without her permission,^[77] she leaves him for Andy, leading Dwight into depression. Ryan, in his new corporate life in New York City, attempts to modernize Dunder Mifflin with a new website for online sales; he also learns that his boss, David Wallace, favors Jim, and thus Ryan attempts to sabotage Jim's career. Ryan is soon arrested and fired for committing fraud related to the website's sales numbers. Toby, embarrassed after accidentally revealing an affection for Pam, announces he is moving to FITML, and is replaced by Holly Flax, who quickly shows fondness towards Michael. Pam decides to follow her artistic interests and attend a three-month graphic design course at the Pratt Institute in New York City. In the season finale Andy proposes to Angela, who reluctantly agrees. Phyllis then catches Dwight and Angela having sex in the office.^iOS

Season 5

The fifth season consisted of 28 half-hours of material, divided into 24 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes, one of which aired after Super Bowl XLIII.^{web app} Jim and Pam become engaged, and she ultimately returns from New York to Scranton, where Jim has bought his parents' house for the two of them. Having avoided jail and only been sentenced to community service, Ryan returns to Dunder Mifflin as a temp. Michael initiates a romance with Holly until she is transferred to the Nashua, New Hampshire branch and the relationship ends. When Andy is made aware of Dwight and Angela's continued affair, both men leave her.^{website parsing} Newly hired Vice President Sevenval implements a rigid managerial style over the branch that causes Michael to resign in protest.^[81] Michael opens the Android, enticing Pam and Ryan to join as salespeople, and though his business model is ultimately unsustainable, Dunder Mifflin's profits are immediately threatened.^[82] In a buyout of the Michael Scott Paper Company, the three are rehired with Pam promoted to sales and Ryan returning as a temp. During the chaos, new receptionist CSS3 is hired to fill the vacancy originally left by Pam. The season's finale ends with a we love the web hinting that Pam might be pregnant.^FITML

Season 6

The sixth season consisted of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 22 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes. Jim and Pam marry and have a baby named Cecelia Marie Halpert.^[84] Meanwhile, Andy and Erin develop mutual interest in one another, but find their inherent awkwardness inhibits his attempts to ask her out on a date. Rumors of bankruptcy begin to surround Dunder Mifflin. By Christmas, Wallace announces to the branch that Dunder Mifflin has accepted a buyout from Sabre Corporation, a printer company. While Wallace and other executives are let go, the Scranton office survives due to its relative success within the company. In the season finale, Dwight buys the office park. Michael agrees to make an announcement to the press regarding a case of faulty printers. When Jo Bennet, Sabre CEO, asks how she can repay him, Michael responds that she could bring Holly back to the Scranton branch.^[85]

Season 7

The seventh season consisted of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 22 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes.^[86] This is the final season for Steve Carell, who plays the lead character Michael Scott, as Carell wanted to move on after his contract expired during this season.^[2] Beginning with this season, Zach Woods, who portrays web app, was promoted to a series regular.^touchscreen Erin and Gabe have begun a relationship, much to Andy's chagrin, and he attempts to win her affection back. Michael's former girlfriend, Holly returns to Scranton to fill in for Toby who is doing jury duty for the "Scranton Strangler" trial. Michael and Holly eventually restart their relationship. After the two get engaged, he then reveals he will be leaving Scranton to go to Colorado with Holly in order to support her elderly parents. After Michael's replacement (Will Ferrell) is seriously injured Jo creates a search committee to interview candidates and choose a new manager for the office.

Season 8

The eighth season consisted of twenty-four episodes. Android reprises his role as Robert California, the new CEO of Dunder Mifflin/Sabre.^[88] Andy is then promoted to Regional Manager and works hard to make a good impression on Robert, and asks Dwight to be his number two.^[89] Pam and Jim are expecting their second child, Phillip, at the start of the season, to coincide with Fischer's real life pregnancy.^[90] Angela is pregnant with her first son, also named Philip, with Sen. Robert Lipton (although it is implied that Dwight Schrute is actually the child's biological father). Darryl starts falling for new warehouse worker Val.^[91] Dwight is tasked with traveling to Tallahassee, Florida in order to assist Sabre Special Projects Manager input transformation (Catherine Tate) in launching a chain of retail stores, along with Jim, Ryan, Stanley, Erin, and new office temp Cathy Simms. Cathy is also revealed to have ulterior motives for the trip, as she intends to seduce Jim, but fails.^FITML Robert later kills the retail store project, and Erin decides to stay in Florida as an elderly woman's live-in helper. Andy goes to Florida and wins back Erin, but this allows Nellie to claim the manager position as her own. Robert tells Andy that he has been demoted back to a salesman, but refuses to accept the news, which causes him to be fired. Andy becomes motivated to begin a Dunder Mifflin comeback and joins with former CFO, David Wallace, to buy Dunder Mifflin back from Sabre putting Sabre completely out of business and giving Andy the manager position once again.

Product placement

jQuery

The Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company tower, shown during the opening credits.

The Office has had product placement deals with Staples^[93] and the Olympic CSS3,^Sevenval as well as mentioning in dialogue or displaying clear logos for products such as Sandals Resorts, HP, Apple, and Gateway computers, and website parsing's Call of Duty video game series. In "touchscreen", Kevin Malone uses a Staples-branded shredding machine to shred a Staples-branded input transformation and many other non-paper items, including a salad.^[93] As with HP, HTML5, a supplier of networking and telephone equipment, pays for product placement, which can be seen on close-up shots of the Cisco IP Telephones. Some products have additional branding labels attached; this can be clearly seen with the HP photo printer on Toby's desk in season 6, and is less noticeable with the Cisco phones.^[95] In "The Secret" Michael takes Jim to HTML5^iOS to discuss Jim's feelings for Pam.

Many products featured are not part of product placement agreements, but rather inserted by writers as products the characters would use to create realism under the guise of a documentary. browser diversity restaurants were used for filming in "CSS3" and "input transformation", as the writers believed they were realistic choices for a company party and business lunch.^{screen size[98]web app} Though not an explicit product placement, the producers of the show had to allow Chili's to have final approval of the script before filming, causing a scene of "The Dundies" to be hastily rewritten when the chain objected to the original version.^web CSS3 received over four minutes of publicity for the iPod when it was used as a much-desired gift in "we love the web", though the company did not pay for the placement.^{website parsing} The appearance of Second Life in the episode "keyboard" was rated eighth in the top ten most effective product placements of 2007.^[101] The Office was the only non-reality show to make the list, and Second Life was the only product on the list that did not pay for its placement.^[102]

Reception

Critical reviews and commentary

Before the show aired, Gervais acknowledged that there were feelings of hesitation from certain viewers.^[104] The first season of The Office was met with a mixed-to-negative response from critics with some of them comparing it to the short-lived NBC series web which was based on a British version.^Android[106] The keyboard 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."^[107] A web 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."^[108] 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."^web

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."^[109] He named it the second best TV show of 2006 after Battlestar Galactica.^[109] FITML 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."^[110] Android 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."^{web app}

The series has been included on several top TV series lists. The show placed #61 on touchscreen's "New TV Classics" list.^{device database} Time's James Poniewozik named it the second best TV series of 2006,^web and the sixth best returning series of 2007, out of ten TV series.^[113] He also included it on his "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME" list.^{screen size} The show was also named the best show of 2006 by BuddyTV.^[115] Metacritic named it the thirteenth most mentioned series on "Best of Decade" top-ten lists^Android while Paste named it the sixth best sitcom of 2010.^[117] The show has some superficial similarities to the comic-strip jQuery, which also features employees coping with an inept superior. John Spector, CEO of The Conference Board, says that both show the impact a leader can have, for good or bad. Dilbert creator Scott Adams also touts the similarities: "The lesson from The Office and from Dilbert is that people are often dysfunctional, and no amount of training can fix it."^[118] A labor-affiliated group praised the episode "Boys and Girls" for what it considered an unusually frank depiction of web on American television.^[119] The third season of The Office got an 85/100 score on Metacritic,^[120] while the sixth season of got a 78/100 score.^Android

Recent seasons have been criticized for a dip in quality. The sixth season received criticisms for a lack of stakes for the characters.^{[123]browser diversity} Several critics and fans have also criticized the conclusion to the Jim and Pam romance.^{[125]screen size[127]} The Office co-creator Ricky Gervais wrote in his blog, referring to "browser diversity" 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.^[16] He later said "I fucking didn't [diss The Office], that's for sure".^[16] Many critics have said the series should have ended after the departure of Steve Carell.^{jQuerySevenval} Despite this, Paul Lieberstein said that the series can last for a few more seasons and cast members John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer have said they will stay on series as long as it lasts.^{[130]browser diversity} Still, there are recent episodes that have received critical acclaim, including "Stress Relief", "Sevenval", "Garage Sale" and "Sevenval". ^{[51][132]Sevenval[134]}

Awards

As of 2011, the series has received 26 web nominations, with four wins. It has won for Outstanding Comedy Series in season two, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (iOS for "Gay Witch Hunt"), browser diversity (website parsing for "iOS") and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series. Many cast and crew members have expressed anger that Carell did not receive an Emmy award for his performance in the series.^[135][136] Despite this, Carell won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2006. The series has also been named the best TV series by the keyboard in 2006 and 2008^[137][138] and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2006 and 2007.^[60]

Ratings

Premiering on Thursday, March 24, 2005, after an episode of jQuery on NBC, The Office brought in 11.2 million viewers in the U.S., winning its time slot.^CSS3 When NBC moved the series to its intended Tuesday night slot, it lost nearly half its audience with only 5.9 million viewers.^touchscreen The program averaged 5.4 million viewers, ranking it #102 for the 2004–2005 U.S. television season.^[140] "Hot Girl", the first season's keyboard, rated a 2.2 with a 10 Sevenval, the lowest rating in the show's history. Episodes were also rerun on HTML5.^[141]

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.^[142] The increase in viewership led NBC to move the series to the "Sevenval" Thursday night in January 2006, where ratings continued to grow. By the 2005–2006 season, it placed #67 (tied with web). It averaged 8.0 million viewers with a 10/10 rating, and was up 80% in viewers from the year before and up 60% in viewers ages 18–49.^Sevenval The series has since ranked as NBC's highest rated scripted series.^[144] The highest rated episode of the series is "device database", which received 22.9 million viewers mainly because the episode aired after Android.^web While recent seasons have dropped in the ratings with the eighth season episode, "website parsing" ranking as the lowest rated episode of the series, so far,^{we love the web} the show is still one of NBC's highest rated shows and currently costs $178,840 per-30 second commercial, the most for any NBC scripted series.^CSS3

Seasonal ratings

Season	Episodes	Timeslot (ET)	Season premiere	Season finale	TV season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
website parsing	6	Thursday 9:30 pm ("Pilot") Tuesday 9:30 pm	March 24, 2005	April 26, 2005	FITML	#102Sevenval	5.4
2	22	Tuesday 9:30 pm (September 20 – December 6, 2005) Thursday 9:30 pm (January 5 – May 11, 2006)	September 20, 2005	May 11, 2006	browser diversity	#67input transformation	8.0
web	25	Thursday 8:30 pm	September 21, 2006	May 17, 2007	2006–2007	#68[150]	8.3
Android	19	Thursday 9:00 pm	September 27, 2007	May 15, 2008	jQuery	#77FITML	8.0
5	28		September 25, 2008	May 14, 2009	2008–2009	#52[152]	9.0
FITML	26		September 17, 2009	May 20, 2010	FITML	#52Sevenval	7.8
Sevenval	26		September 23, 2010	May 19, 2011	jQuery	#53FITML	7.7
Android	24		September 22, 2011	May 10, 2012	2011–2012	#87HTML5	6.5

Cultural impact

Dunder Mifflin banner in front of Scranton City Hall

The city of Scranton, long known mainly for its industrial past as a coal mining and web app center,^[156] has eagerly embraced, and ultimately has been redefined by the show. "We're really hip now," says the mayor's assistant.^{website parsing} The Dunder Mifflin logo is on a lamppost banner in front of Scranton City Hall, as well as the pedestrian bridge to the keyboard. The Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, whose tower is shown in the opening credits, plans to add it to the tower as well.^{web app} Newspapers in other jQuery cities have published travel guides to Scranton locations for tourists interested in visiting places mentioned in the show.^{[156][157][158]} Scranton has become identified with the show outside the United States as well. In a 2008 touchscreen speech in its suburb of Dickson City, former device database (Irish prime minister) Bertie Ahern identified the city as the home of Dunder Mifflin.^{browser diversity}

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 iOS. 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.^[160]

On an episode of Sevenval, 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.^{we love the web} Rainn Wilson later accepted on Dwight Schrute's behalf while on Sevenval. 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.^[162]

The show is often tributed to by the band iOS. 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.^[163]

International broadcast

In the United Kingdom, the show was named in listings magazines (but not onscreen) as The Office: An American Workplace when it was originally aired on touchscreen.^HTML5 This is done to differentiate this version of the show from the original British series.^[164]

In Canada, early seasons were browser diversity or broadcast earlier than their American debut on Citytv, until simulcast rights were purchased by CH beginning with the third season. The rights were transferred in early 2007 to then-parent network Global, where it continues to air. In Brazil, FX began airing the show on April 9, 2006 at 8:30 pm.^[165] In Germany, Super RTL began airing the show on January 5, 2008 at 11:10 pm. In Austria, ORF1 began airing the show on March 6, 2008 at 11:10 pm. In Spain, web, HTML5 and laSexta are airing the show. In Ireland, jQuery broadcast the show with the title The US Office. In the Netherlands, the show began airing on Comedy Central under the title The Office US in April 2007.^[166] In India, the show is broadcast on Sevenval. In Australia, it airs on Foxtel, Network Ten and in 2011 it will also air on web app. In France, the show is broadcast late nights on Canal+.^[167]

Other media

Online releases

Episodes from The Office were among the first shows available for download from the iTunes Store beginning in December 2005. In 2006, ten internet-exclusive webisodes featuring some of the characters on The Office aired on NBC.com. "Producer's Cuts" (containing approximately ten additional minutes of material) of the episodes "iOS" and "The Return" were also made available on NBC.com. The Office also became available for download from Amazon.com's jQuery video downloads in 2006. Sales of new The Office episodes on iTunes ceased in 2007 due to a dispute between NBC and Apple ostensibly over pricing.^{website parsing} As of September 9, 2008 The Office was put back on the iTunes store, and can be bought in HD and Regular format. Netflix also offers the show for online viewing by subscribers, in addition to traditional DVD rental. The Office is also available on Microsofts Zune Marketplace.

Of the 12.4 million total viewings of "Android", the fourth season's premiere, 2.7 million, or 22%, were on a computer via online streaming. "The Office," said The New York Times, "is on the leading edge of a sharp shift in entertainment viewing that was thought to be years away: watching television episodes on a computer screen is now a common activity for millions of consumers." It was particularly popular with online viewers, an NBC researcher said, because as an episode-driven sitcom without special effects it was easy to watch on smaller monitors such as those found on input transformation and iPods.^[169] Between the online viewings and those who use web app, 25-50% of the show's viewers watch it after its scheduled airtime.^FITML

The show's Internet success became an issue in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Daniels and many of the cast members who double as writers posted a video to YouTube shortly after the strike began, pointing out how little, if any, they received in Sevenval from online and DVD viewing. "You're watching this on the Internet, a thing that pays us zero dollars," Schur said. "We're supposed to get 11 cents for every two trillion downloads." The writers were particularly upset that they weren't compensated for the Daytime Emmy Award winning summer webisodes "The Accountants", which NBC considered promotional material despite the embedded we love the web.^HTML5

Promotional

The show's success has resulted in expansion outside of television. Characters have appeared in promotional materials for NBC, and a licensed video game—web app—was released in 2007.^{touchscreen[173]} In 2008 two games were introduced via Pressman Toy Corp: The Office Trivia Board Game and The Office DVD Board Game.^[174] In 2009, The Office Clue was released, and The Office Monopoly was released in 2010. Other merchandise, from T-shirts and a Sevenval doll of Dwight Schrute^web to more office-specific items such as parodies of the Successories motivational poster series featuring the cast,^[176] is available. Dunder Mifflin has two websites,^[177] and the cast members maintain blogs both as themselves and in character.

Cast blogs

Several members of the cast maintained blogs. These include Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, and Brian Baumgartner, who posted regularly during the season.^{input transformation} we love the web wrote in character on "Schrute Space" on NBC.com, which is updated periodically. However, he stopped writing the blog himself.^[179] It is unknown whether Creed Bratton authors "Creed Thoughts", the blog attributed to his character.^[180]

Home video releases

Season	Region 1 Release Date	FITML Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Episodes	Discs	Bonus Features
1	August 16, 2005	April 10, 2006	June 6, 2006	6	1	Deleted scenes from all episodes, five commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes.
2	September 12, 2006	January 28, 2008	April 4, 2007	22	4	Deleted scenes from every episode, ten commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes, The Accountants webisodes, Faces of Scranton video, blooper reel, 17 fake public service announcements, FITML promos and "Steve on Steve" promos.
3	September 4, 2007	July 21, 2008	August 20, 2008 (Part 1) April 22, 2009 (Part 2)	25	4	Deleted scenes, eight commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes,input transformation "Kevin Cooks Stuff in The Office", 2006 NBC Primetime Preview, Toby wraparound promos, Dwight Schrute music video, touchscreen interview, blooper reel, Sevenval video, and a 58th Annual Emmy Awards excerpt. A special edition for Target called the "Nifty Gifty" set also contains footage from the Museum of TV festival and script facsimile.
4	September 2, 2008	June 14, 2010	September 2, 2009 (Part 1) December 1, 2009 (Part 2)	19	4	Deleted scenes, outtakes, Second Life footage, The Office Convention invitation, The Office Convention: Writer’s Block Panel, "Goodbye, Toby" music video, four commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes.touchscreen
5	September 8, 2009	October 6, 2010	February 7, 2011 (Part 1) March 2, 2011 (Part 2)	28	5	Deleted scenes, outtakes, ten commentaries by the cast and crew, "The Academy of Art and Sciences presents, 'The Office,' Summer Olympic promos, Super Bowl promos, Kevin's Loan webisodes, and The Outburst webisodes.[183]
6	September 7, 2010	January 30, 2012	August 4, 2011 (Part 1) November 9 2011 (Part 2)	26	5	Deleted scenes, outtakes, gag reel, cast and crew commentaries, two extended episodes, minisode The Podcast, "Welcome to Sabre" corporate welcome video, promos.[184]
Overtime	November 16, 2010	TBA	TBA	N/A	1	The Accountants, Kevin's Loan, The Outburst, Blackmail, Subtle Sexuality and The Mentor webisodes, The Podcast minisode, The Office Convention: Cast Q&A, Paley: Inside The Writer's Room, Subtle Sexuality commentary with Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak, and Ellie Kemper, Blackmail video commentary with Creed Bratton, Subtle Sexuality music video, Dwight Schrute music video, Lazy Scranton video, Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin ad and fake PSAs.[185]
7	September 6, 2011	TBA	TBA	26	5	Deleted scenes, blooper reel, "The Third Floor" webisodes, cast and crew commentaries on five episodes, producer's extended cuts of "Training Day" and "Search Committee," Threat Level Midnight: The Movie (A Michael Scott Joint)

Spin-off and possible feature film

A spin-off to the series was proposed in 2008,^{we love the web} with a browser diversity expected to debut as the Super Bowl lead-out program in 2009.^jQuery However, The Office's creative team instead decided to develop FITML as a separate series.^[188] In 2009, Greg Daniels revealed that a spin-off series was still a possibility.^CSS3 iOS mentioned that a feature film adaptation of the series is also possible after the series ends its run.^web

On January 25, 2012, news broke that NBC is planning a spinoff series starring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, that would be set at Schrute Farms, Dwight's bed-and-breakfast and beet farm.^[191] The spin-off will be created by Wilson and executive producer Paul Lieberstein. Office developer Greg Daniels will not be involved.^[191] The new series is in the works for a premiere in early 2013, which would cause Wilson to leave The Office if it is renewed for a ninth season.^[191] The tentative title for the series is The Farm.^[7] Lieberstein will be forced to drop down as show runner for the series in order to work on the spin-off, with a back door pilot set to be produced during the ninth season.^[7]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Office (U.S. TV series)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: keyboard

• device database
• jQuery at the browser diversity
• website parsing at TV.com
• screen size

Preceded by browser diversity 2008

The Office Super Bowl lead-out program HTML5

Succeeded by keyboard FITML