The Office (U.S. TV series)

The Office
Genre	Sitcom Mockumentary
Created by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Developed by	Greg Daniels
Starring	Steve Carell Rainn Wilson John Krasinski Jenna Fischer B. J. Novak Ed Helms Melora Hardin David Denman Leslie David Baker Brian Baumgartner Creed Bratton Kate Flannery Mindy Kaling Ellie Kemper Angela Kinsey Paul Lieberstein Oscar Nunez Craig Robinson Phyllis Smith Zach Woods Amy Ryan James Spader
Theme music composer	Jay Ferguson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	160 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Greg Daniels Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant Howard Klein Ben Silverman Paul Lieberstein Jennifer Celotta B. J. Novak Mindy Kaling
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	22 minutes (normal episodes) 28 minutes ("super-sized" episodes) 42 minutes (hour-long episodes) (details)
Production company(s)	Deedle-Dee Productions Reveille Productions Universal Television
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original run	March 24, 2005 (2005-03-24) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Office (UK)
External links
Website

The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it 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 Office was adapted for American audiences by executive producer Greg Daniels, a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons. The creators of the original BBC series, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, are executive producers and also co-wrote the pilot episode with Daniels and wrote the season three episode, "The Convict".^[1] It is co-produced by Daniels' Deedle-Dee Productions, and Reveille Productions, in association with Universal Television. The show debuted on NBC as a midseason replacement on March 24, 2005.^[2]

Off-network syndication of The Office began in late 2007, notably on TBS and Fox-owned stations in the United States.^[3] Lead actor Steve Carell, who portrays Michael Scott, left the series near the end of the seventh season.^[4] The eighth season premiered on September 22, 2011, with James Spader joining the cast, and Ed Helms, who portrays Andy Bernard, assuming the new role of Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin.

Production

Writing

Greg Daniels served as the 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 switches off his time between the two shows.^[5] Paul Lieberstein was named the series showrunner for the fifth season and the following seasons while Daniel Chun serves as the series head writer.^[6][7] Other executive producers include cast members B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling.^[8][9] Kaling, Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and former Office writer Michael Schur made up the original team of writers.^[10] Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British series, are credited as executive producers, and co-wrote the pilot as well as writing the third season episode, "The Convict".^[11] Merchant later directed the episode "Customer Survey" while Gervais appeared in the episodes "The Seminar" and "Search Committee".^[12][13]

Before the series aired its second episode, the writers spent time researching in offices.^[14] This process was used for Daniels' other series King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation.^[14] The pilot is a direct adaptation of the first episode of the British version.^[15] Daniels had decided to go through this route because "completely starting from scratch would be a very risky thing to do" due to the show being an adaptation.^[15] He had briefly considered using the idea for "The Dundies" as the pilot episode.^[16] 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".^[15]

The British version had been set in Slough, a commuter town on the outskirts of London. Looking for a suitable U.S. equivalent, executive producer Greg Daniels considered Nashua, New Hampshire and Utica, New York before settling on Scranton, Pennsylvania. "It just seemed like a real place," he said later. "By definition the town we picked wouldn't have a lot of glitzy stuff going on."^[17] It was just far enough away from New York to be credible as a location for a regional branch office. Daniels also recalled that the Paper Magic line of greeting cards was made in the city.^[18] "We went toward embracing the whole Scranton-ness of the setting," said Daniels.^[17] Nashua, New Hampshire; Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; Akron, Ohio; Yonkers, New York; Rochester, New York; Albany, New York; Stamford, Connecticut; Camden, New Jersey and Utica, New York were later adopted as the locations of other Dunder Mifflin branches. Also, the address for the Scranton Branch was revealed to be 1725 Slough Avenue, in homage to the British version of the show. The kiss Michael planted on Oscar in the third season episode, "Gay Witch Hunt", was completely improvised and unplanned. "Steve just went into that bit on the fly," Fischer wrote. "Those looks of shock/giddiness/confusion on our faces are real. We were all on the edge of our seats wondering what would happen next. I can't believe we held it together for as long as we did. I'm not sure we've ever laughed so hard on set."^[19]

Casting

NBC programmer Kevin Reilly originally suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined. Martin Short, Hank Azaria and Bob Odenkirk were also reported to be interested.^[20] In January 2004, Variety reported Steve Carell, of the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was in talks to play the role. At the time, he was already committed to another NBC mid-season replacement comedy, Come to Papa,^[21] 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.^[22]

Rainn Wilson, who was cast as the power-hungry sycophant Dwight Schrute, watched every episode of the series before he auditioned.^[23] 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.

John Krasinski 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. 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.^[24] Fischer prepared for her audition by looking as boring as possible, creating the original Pam hairstyle.^[25] In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, 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.^[26]

The supporting cast includes actors known for their improv work: Angela Kinsey, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Melora Hardin, and David Denman.^[27] 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.^[28] Flannery first auditioned for the part of Jan Levenson-Gould, before landing the role of Meredith Palmer.^[29] Baumgartner originally auditioned for Stanley, but was eventually cast as Kevin.^[30] Ken Kwapis liked the way Phyllis Smith, a casting associate, read with other actors auditioning so much that he cast her as Phyllis.^[31] At the beginning of the third season, Ed Helms and Rashida Jones joined the cast as members of Dunder Mifflin Stamford. While Jones would later leave the cast for a recurring role, in February 2007, NBC announced that Helms was being promoted to a series regular.^[32]

Four of the show's writers have also stepped in front of the camera. B. J. Novak was cast as reluctant temp Ryan Howard after Daniels saw his stand-up act. Paul Lieberstein was cast as human resources director Toby Flenderson on Novak's suggestion after his cold readings of scripts.^[27] Greg Daniels was originally unsure where to use the Indian American Mindy Kaling on-screen in the series until the opportunity came in the second episode's script, where Michael needed to be slapped by a minority. "Since [that slap], I've been on the show" (as Kelly Kapoor), says Kaling.^[31] 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, Martin Freeman, and Lucy Davis from the British version of The Office to appear in the third season,^[33][34] but those plans were scrapped due to scheduling conflicts.^[35]

Format

Dunder Mifflin company logo

The Office is a mockumentary. The primary vehicle for the show is that a camera crew has decided to film Dunder Mifflin and its employees, seemingly around the clock. The presence of the camera is acknowledged by the characters, especially Michael Scott, who enthusiastically participates in the filming. Others, for example Jan Levenson, are frequently annoyed or uncomfortable with its presence.

The main action of the show is supplemented with talking-head interviews or "confessionals," with the characters speaking one on one with the camera crew about the day's events. Sometimes two characters share an interview, speaking with each other and the camera at the same time. This occurs most notably with Jim and Pam, or, occasionally, Oscar and Kevin, Kelly and Ryan, Jim and Dwight, and once, Michael and Toby. Dwight frequently interrupts Michael's interviews, as he is often standing off-screen next to Michael as the interview begins.

Some characters use the camera's presence to their advantage. For example, in "Christmas Party", Phyllis' boyfriend, Bob Vance, introduces himself repeatedly as "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" to garner publicity for his business. In other instances, the camera seemingly has affected plot lines. In "The Dundies", a drunken Pam nearly confesses something to Jim, but shies away when she realizes the camera is still there. In "E-mail Surveillance", Pam asks the crew to help her look for evidence of Dwight and Angela's secret relationship, which they later provide.

In early episodes, the camera crews seemed confined primarily to the office setting, but as the show has expanded to include more about the characters' personal lives, the cameras have taken on an often-omnipresent, even intrusive persona. Characters are often followed out of the office and sometimes even to their homes. The cameras were present at Jim's barbecue and Michael's dinner party, and even when Jim and Pam left for an overnight getaway to Dwight's beet farm—all arguably personal, not work-related, events.

Behind-doors conversations are often filmed through a window or crack in the door. It is shown in "The Injury" that Michael is wearing a wireless lavalier microphone, which could explain why the cameras are often able to hear closed-door conversations. The cameras have caught Jan kissing Michael on "Valentine's Day", much to Jan's chagrin, and, as mentioned above, revealed both Dwight and Angela's, and Jim and Pam's personal relationships. Non-primary characters or extras who encounter the camera crew are usually unsurprised or unaffected by it, and the cameras were even allowed into Michael, Jim, and Karen's job interviews for a corporate position. One scene also shows Michael and Holly sneaking back into the office to have sex, and although they had previously tricked the cameras into being stuck outside, their conversation and interactions with each other are still audible due to Michael accidentally increasing the volume on a microphone that he is wearing, instead of turning it off.

In the character's final episode in season seven, Michael Scott asks the cameraman filming his departure to let him know if the show ever airs. This would seem to imply that the series has yet to reach television within its fictional universe, at least as of the point in time that season seven was being "filmed." Michael may also not have been aware of an airing.^[36]

Music and title sequence

The theme song for The Office was written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.^[37] 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. Originally the theme song began each episode. However, starting with the episode "Office Olympics", most episodes have begun with a cold open followed by the theme. The exteriors of buildings in the title sequence are actual buildings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and were shot by cast member John Krasinski.^[17]

The mockumentary format of the show contains no laugh track, and most of the music is diegetic, with songs either sung or played by the characters or heard on radios, computers, or other devices. However, songs have been played during montages or the closing credits, such as "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John ("The Dundies") and "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton ("E-mail Surveillance"). Featured music tends to be well known, and often songs reflect the character, such as Michael's attempt to seem hip by using "Mambo No. 5" and later "My Humps" as his cell phone ringtone. The song "Sing" by Travis is used twice on the series, first in "The Client" which Jim and Pam jointly listen to through a single pair of earbuds prior to their relationship; and later in a montage of their relationship in the clip episode. Dwight will often play loud music when driving or to get himself psyched up before making a sale, such as listening to "Wild Side" and "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe.^[38] In the episode "Michael Scott Paper Company", Dwight and Andy play John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Notably, Dwight sings a portion in German.^[39]

Originally, only Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B. J. Novak were credited in the title sequence. The sequence was first updated in the season 2 episode, "Office Olympics", with an updated clip for Steve Carell's character. The title sequence for the season 5 episode "Stress Relief", which aired after Super Bowl XLIII, included new footage and added the rest of the starring cast. However, the sequence only appeared in the aforementioned episode. The season 5 episode "Michael Scott Paper Company" featured an altered title sequence that focused on the titular company.

Starting with the season 6 episode "Sabre", Ed Helms is added to the opening sequence and is credited after B. J. Novak. In the seventh season premiere episode, "Nepotism", the title sequence was updated with new scenes. Beginning with "The Inner Circle", the first episode after Steve Carell's departure, Rainn Wilson now receives first billing, and all clips that feature Steve Carell are replaced with new ones of the other cast members. Also, for the rest of the seventh season the image of Carell moving his Dundie would be replaced by that certain manager moving a different object. Then, with the eighth season premiere, James Spader was added to the credits at the end while new manager Andy Bernard is seen at his desk adjusting a figurine that falls off the desk.

Characters

Main article: List of The Office (U.S. TV series) characters

See also: List of The Office (U.S. TV series) cast members

Further information: The Office#Counterparts

The Office cast in the third season

The Office employs an ensemble cast. A significant number of the main and minor characters are based on characters from the British version of The Office. Michael Scott, regional manager of the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, feels he is everyone's best friend in the office; his employees feel otherwise. His former co-manager, sales representative Jim Halpert, is newly married to the former receptionist turned sales representative turned office administrator, Pam Halpert née Beesly. Their relationship comes after three seasons of friendship laced with romantic tension. Dwight Schrute, the assistant to the regional manager, is an award-winning salesman and former Lackawanna County volunteer reserve deputy sheriff known for his authoritarian personality and his adoration of science fiction fandom. Ryan Howard, who started out as a temporary worker in the Scranton office, was later promoted to Dunder Mifflin's Vice President for Regional Sales, which would make him Michael's boss, until his treachery was exposed for corporate fraud and he was fired, ending up again as the temporary worker at the Scranton branch. Andy Bernard, a Cornell alumnus, anger-management grad and Angela's former fiancé, formerly of the Stamford, Connecticut branch office, now the new Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

The accounting department features Angela Martin, an admitted uptight Christian who wishes to keep things orderly and make sure situations remain as serious as possible; Kevin Malone, 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 Hispanic heritage make him a favorite target for Michael's off-color comments. Rounding out the office are the stern salesman Stanley Hudson, who barely stands for Michael's constant references to his Black-American heritage (he also doesn't like to take part in Michael's time wasting meetings and sometimes sleeps in them or works on one of his crossword puzzles); 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; the bubbly and talkative customer service representative Kelly Kapoor; the promiscuous alcoholic single mother supply relations representative Meredith Palmer; and frequent target of Michael's abuse, human resources representative Toby Flenderson.

Dunder Mifflin Scranton warehouse supervisor Darryl Philbin is a key secondary character who has gained increased prominence throughout the run of the show. At the end of season five, new receptionist Erin Hannon is introduced as Pam's replacement at the reception desk. Gabe Lewis, 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 the 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. However, Holly is transferred away after corporate discovers that Michael and Holly are involved, resulting in their breakup. Much to Michael's dismay, Toby is rehired shortly after Holly's transfer. Holly returns to Scranton in season seven, where she and Michael rekindle their relationship, get engaged, and move to Colorado. When Michael Scott left the series in the seventh season, he was replaced by a series of short-lived successors. After a search for a new manager, Robert California is hired as office manager. California is promptly promoted to CEO, and his first order of business is to promote Andy to the Scranton managerial post.

In addition to Scott, former main characters no longer regularly part of the show include Pam's ex-fiancé, Roy Anderson, who left the show in the third season after nearly assaulting Jim in the workplace; and Michael's former love interest—and former Vice President for Regional Sales for Dunder Mifflin—Jan Levenson, with whom Michael broke up in season four, and who subsequently became pregnant via sperm donation. Both characters returned for one episode each in season five, but neither was seen in the sixth season; Jan returned in season seven as a successful employee and happy single mother to daughter Astrid. Both appear in season seven in Michael's film Threat Level Midnight.

The series has had a large variety of characters including love interests, co-workers and friends. Initially the actors who portray the other office workers were credited as guest stars before they were named series regulars during the second season.^[40] 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.^[41]

Season synopses

Main article: List of The Office episodes

A typical episode for a half-hour time slot runs 20-and-a-half minutes.^[42] 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 (shortened in repeats and syndication). Season three introduced the first of occasional hour-long episodes (approximately 42-minute running time; suitable for being shown as two separate normal episodes).

Season one

Main article: The Office 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).^[43] 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 two

Main article: The Office 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.^[44] Dwight and Angela become romantically involved,^[45] 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,^[46] Jim grows depressed and considers transferring to the Stamford, Connecticut 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.^[47]

Season three

Main article: The Office 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 the Stamford branch after Pam confirmed her commitment to Roy, before corporate is forced to merge the Stamford branch and staff into the Scranton branch.^[48] Included in the transfer to Scranton are Karen Filippelli, with whom Jim has developed a relationship, and the anger-prone Andy Bernard; all other former Stamford employees quit in frustration with Michael's managerial style. 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 four. This culminates when Roy, in a brief reunion with Pam, attempts to assault Jim after learning of his and Pam's kiss.

Roy is summarily dismissed from Dunder Mifflin, and Pam leaves him once again. Feeling confident in her life, and put-upon or ignored by her various co-workers, Pam builds the courage to make a speech which reveals her true feelings towards each of them, and confesses to Jim he was the reason she called off her wedding.

Meanwhile, the Scranton branch inherits all of Stamford's clients,^[49] eventually becoming the most successful branch,^[50][51] and eliminating the fear of further downsizing. Ryan has been hired as a full-time sales representative but fails to make a single sale. Michael and Jan begin a relationship, which causes her to behave erratically on the job. Oscar is inadvertently outed as gay by Michael, but accepts an offer, from Jan, for a three-month paid vacation and use of a company car in exchange for not suing. Dwight and Angela continue their secret relationship.

Andy is missing for much of the season as he is sent to anger management training, due to an outburst where he punched a hole in the wall,^[52] but he later returns as a much calmer and approachable co-worker. Phyllis becomes engaged to and marries Bob Vance, owner of neighboring business Vance Refrigeration.^[53]

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,^[54] opting instead to return to Scranton without Karen and asks Pam to 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.^[49]

Season four

Main article: The Office 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.^[55][56] 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 Utica branch.^[57] Pam and Jim date happily.^[58] 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,^[59] 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. Meanwhile, Kelly moves on from her relationship with Ryan and briefly starts dating Darryl. Toby, embarrassed after accidentally revealing an affection for Pam, announces he is moving to Costa Rica, 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, while Jim plans to propose.

In the season finale Andy proposes to Angela, who reluctantly agrees, ruining Jim's proposal plans and leaving Pam disappointed. Phyllis then catches Dwight and Angela having sex in the office.^[60]

Season five

Main article: The Office 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.^[61]

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, but then leaves for Thailand. He is eventually revealed to be working at a bowling alley.

Michael initiates a romance with Holly, in part because of Jan's choice to exclude Michael from the birth of her daughter. When David Wallace learns of their relationship, Holly is transferred to the Nashua, New Hampshire branch, where she gains a long-term boyfriend, to Michael's sadness. Toby returns from Costa Rica and resumes his duties as Scranton's HR representative. When Andy is made aware of Dwight and Angela's continued affair, both men leave her—Andy because of her infidelity; Dwight once he learns that she has been sleeping with both of them, despite her claims not to be sleeping with Andy.^[50]

Newly hired Vice President Charles Miner implements a rigid managerial style over the branch that causes Michael to resign in protest; additionally, Jim's job is jeopardized when Miner catches him playing a prank and his reputation suffers from there. Michael opens the Michael Scott Paper Company, enticing Pam and Ryan to join as salespeople, and though his business model is ultimately unsustainable, Dunder Mifflin's profits are immediately threatened. In a buyout of the Michael Scott Paper Company, the three are rehired (with Pam promoted to sales and Ryan returning as a temp), while Miner is banished from overseeing the branch. During the chaos, new receptionist Erin is hired to fill the vacancy originally left by Pam. The season's finale ends with a cliffhanger ending hinting that Pam might be pregnant.

Season six

Main article: The Office 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; Jim, looking to ensure security for his future family, tries to convince David Wallace to promote him to Regional Manager, and Michael to Jan's old job. After Michael refuses, Jim is promoted to co-regional manager alongside Michael. Jim struggles to assert his authority; among his problems is a furious Dwight, who allies with Ryan in attempts to sabotage the new boss. Andy and Erin develop mutual interest in one another, but find their inherent awkwardness inhibits his attempts to ask her out on a date. For a short time after the wedding, Michael dates Pam's mom, Helene (Linda Purl), but dumps her on her birthday after realizing she's too old for him; to get even, Michael allows Pam to hit him in the face.

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. However, they find their own challenges in adapting to new corporate rules and the spirited style of Sabre's CEO, Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates). When she discovers that there are two co-regional managers, she orders one of them to return to sales; Jim volunteers, as Sabre policy means he can earn more money as a salesman, anyway.

Jim and Pam have a girl named Cecelia Marie Halpert. Andy and Erin finally date, but Erin decides they need a break when Michael tells her about Andy's previous relationship with Angela. When the local news discovers that Sabre printers have been catching fire, Jo again visits the Scranton branch demanding to know the source of the leak. Darryl, Pam, and Kelly confess to Michael, but Andy is ultimately blamed after Nick (Nelson Franklin) reveals he was the first to contact the press. After Jo suggests he invest in property, Dwight buys the office park. Michael agrees to make an announcement to the press regarding the faulty printers. When Jo asks how she can repay him, Michael responds that she could bring Holly back to the Scranton branch.

Season seven

Main article: The Office season 7

The seventh season consisted of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 22 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes.^[62] 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. Beginning with this season, Zach Woods, who portrays Gabe Lewis, was promoted to a series regular. Guest appearances in the season include the return of Melora Hardin as Jan Levenson, Amy Ryan as Holly Flax, David Koechner as Todd Packer, Kathy Bates as Jo Bennett, Rashida Jones as Karen Filippelli, David Denman as Roy Anderson, and Andy Buckley as David Wallace. Ricky Gervais reprised his role as David Brent from the original British series in cameo appearances in the episodes "The Seminar" and "Search Committee".^[63] Will Ferrell appears in four episodes as Michael Scott's temporary replacement.^[64]

Pam tricks Gabe into promoting her to a phony new salaried position as "office administrator." Erin and Gabe have begun a relationship, much to Andy's chagrin, and he attempts to win her affection back. Angela begins a relationship with a charming man named Robert Lipton, who is a State Senator (Jack Coleman), and then cancels her procreation contract with Dwight. At the office's Christmas party, Holly returns to Scranton to fill in for Toby who is doing jury duty for the "Scranton Strangler" trial. Michael becomes depressed upon learning that Holly and A.J. are still together and have moved in with each other. Pam gives Michael hope when she tells him Holly is going to give A.J. an ultimatum regarding their relationship, indicating that they will not last long. Michael is excited to find out that Holly and A.J. are no longer together, and they begin dating soon afterward.

After the office garage sale, Michael proposes to Holly, which she accepts. He then reveals he will be leaving Scranton to go to Colorado with Holly in order to support her elderly parents. Michael begins to train his office replacement, Deangelo Vickers (Will Ferrell), including hosting the Dundie Awards. Michael walks to the front desk of the office and sees his former employees working as diligently as ever, none except for Jim knowing his departure is that day. Michael is seen in an airport terminal, where he removes his microphone. As he walks away to board his flight, Pam is seen running up to Michael. They say their goodbyes, and Michael continues walking. Pam watches through a window as Michael's plane takes off. Deangelo is soon badly injured and taken to the hospital after a failed attempt at a basketball stunt, leaving the office without a manager. Jim is offered the position as interim manager but turns it down. The job is then given to Dwight, who loses it after only a week. Jo Bennett then moves Creed Bratton to acting manager, based solely on his seniority. Jo creates a search committee, led by Jim and including Toby and Gabe (who is later replaced by Kelly), to interview candidates and choose a new manager for the office.

Season eight

Main article: The Office season 8

The eighth season premiered on September 22, 2011.^[65] James Spader reprises his role as Robert California, the new CEO of Sabre-Dunder Mifflin.^[66] Pam and Jim are expecting their second child at the start of the season, to coincide with Jenna Fischer's real life pregnancy.^[67]

Robert is hired as the regional branch manager of Scranton but within a day, becomes CEO of Sabre by talking Jo Bennett out of her job. Andy is then promoted to regional manager and works hard to make a good impression on Robert, and tasks Dwight to be his number two. Pam is pregnant with a second child while Angela is also pregnant with her husband's child. Darryl also briefly dates Justine, his ex-wife.

Webisodes

Main article: List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes#Webisodes

"The Accountants"

Between the second and third seasons, the summer webisode series "The Accountants" was released, the first premiering on July 13, 2006. The webisodes follow the accountants Angela, Oscar, and Kevin as they try to find out who stole $3,000 from the books.

"Kevin's Loan"

Between the fourth and fifth seasons, the summer webisode series "Kevin's Loan" was released in four weekly episodes, the first premiering on July 10, 2008.^[68] The webisodes follow Kevin, Oscar, and Darryl. In the story, Kevin attempts to repay his gambling debts by taking out a loan, which he intends to say is for starting an ice cream business. Although Oscar attempts to dissuade him, Kevin goes through with his plan which inevitably fails, even with Darryl's help.

"The Outburst"

During the fifth season, the winter webisode series "The Outburst" was released in weekly episodes, the first premiering on November 20, 2008.^[69] Oscar is overheard angrily yelling at someone on the phone; Kevin, Angela, Andy, Phyllis, Kelly, Creed, Meredith, and Toby all investigate the mysterious call.

"Blackmail"

At the conclusion of the fifth season, the summer webisode series "Blackmail" was released similarly to the previous two, in weekly episodes. The first episode was released on May 7, 2009. The webisodes look at a plot by Creed to get money from his fellow employees by trying to blackmail them with secrets. Creed enlists the help of some office workers but the office fights back.

"Subtle Sexuality"

During the sixth season, the fall webisode series "Subtle Sexuality" aired in its entirety on October 29, 2009. The series focuses on Kelly and Erin forming their own girl group called Subtle Sexuality. The first two webisodes document the behind-the-scenes aspects and troubles of shooting the music video for their first single "Male Prima Donna", while the third and final webisode is the music video itself, which features Ryan as a guest rapper and Andy singing the bridge.^[70] The webisodes earned The Office a 2010 Streamy Award for "Best Companion Web Series."^[71]

"The Mentor"

During the sixth season, the winter webisode series "The Mentor" aired in its entirety on March 4, 2010. Erin wants to be an accountant so Angela decides to train her. But, Erin's relationship with Kelly turns bad when she spends too much time with Angela. Kelly and Ryan then interfere in Angela and Erin's relationship.

"The 3rd Floor"

During the seventh season, the fall webisode series "The 3rd Floor" aired in its entirety on October 28, 2010. Ryan attempts to make a horror film titled The 3rd Floor using Dunder Mifflin as a location, and workers such as Kelly, Erin, Gabe, Kevin and Meredith as actors.

"The Podcast"

During the seventh season, the winter webisode series "The Podcast" aired in its entirety on January 20, 2011. The websisodes were previously available on the season 6 DVD. Gabe attempts to record a podcast in the office about the Sabre website, hoping to impress corporate.

"The Girl Next Door"

During the seventh season, the webisode series "The Girl Next Door" aired in its entirety on May 4, 2011. The series focuses on Kelly and Erin's girl group called Subtle Sexuality. The first webisode document the behind-the-scenes aspects of their second single "The Girl Next Door", while the second and final webisode is the music video itself, which features Ryan.

Deleted scenes

On The Office, deleted scenes are considered part of the show's canon and storyline. Almost every episode of The Office includes deleted scenes on DVD and Blu-ray. 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 NBC.com and iTunes; explaining the absence of a character over the next several episodes. Daniels hoped that word of mouth among fans would spread the information, but eventually considered the experiment a failure.^[72]

Product placement

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

The Office has had product placement deals with Staples^[73] and the Olympic baler,^[74] as well as mentioning in dialogue or displaying clear logos for products such as Sandals Resorts, HP, Apple, and Gateway computers, and Activision's Call of Duty video game series. In "The Merger", Kevin Malone uses a Staples-branded shredding machine to shred a Staples-branded CD-R and many other non-paper items, including a salad.^[73] As with HP, Cisco Systems, 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.^[75] In "The Secret" Michael takes Jim to Hooters^[76] to discuss Jim's feelings for Pam. In "The Merger," Angela refers to Hooters as a strip club, causing Michael to defend Hooters as a family place, and inform the camera of how many chains there are worldwide. Hooters is also identified as the company's caterer in "Casino Night".

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. Chili's^[77] restaurants were used for filming in "The Dundies" and "The Client", as the writers believed they were realistic choices for a company party and business lunch.^[78][79] 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.^[78] Apple Inc. received over four minutes of publicity for the iPod when it was used as a much-desired gift in "Christmas Party", though the company did not pay for the placement.^[80] Several Apple products have been featured on the series including iPod Classic, iPhone, iBook, MacBook Pro, eMac, and iMac. Adobe products such as Flash, Photoshop and Premiere have also been mentioned or shown. Web sites such as Craigslist, TripAdvisor, Monster, YouTube and Wikipedia are often mentioned. The appearance of Second Life in the episode "Local Ad" was rated eighth in the top ten most effective product placements of 2007.^[81] 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.^[82]

Proposed spin-off series and feature film

A spin-off to the series was proposed in 2008,^[83] with a pilot episode expected to debut as the Super Bowl lead-out program in 2009.^[84] However, The Office's creative team instead decided to develop Parks and Recreation as a separate series.^[85] In 2009, Greg Daniels revealed that a spin-off series was still a possibility.^[86] Paul Lieberstein mentioned that a feature film adaptation of the series is also possible after the series ends its run.^[87]

Reception

Before the show aired, Gervais acknowledged that there were feelings of hesitation from certain viewers.^[88]

Critical reviews and commentary

Before its first airing, 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."^[89] 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."^[90] Tom Shales of the Washington Post said it was "not the mishmash that [the 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."^[91]

Reviews became more positive in the second season. 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."^[92] Entertainment Weekly 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."^[93] The A.V. Club 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."^[94]

The series has been included on several top TV series lists. Time's James Poniewozik named it one of the top 10 returning series of 2007, ranking it at #6.^[95] He also included it on his "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME" list.^[96] The show was also named the best show of 2006 by BuddyTV.^[97] Metacritic named it the thirteenth most mentioned series on "Best of Decade" top-ten lists.^[98] The show has some superficial similarities to the comic-strip Dilbert, 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."^[99] A labor-affiliated group praised the episode "Boys and Girls" for what it considered an unusually frank depiction of union busting on American television.^[100] The third season of The Office got a 85/100 score on Metacritic,^[101] while the sixth season of got a 78/100 score.^[102]

Recent seasons have been criticized for a dip in quality. The sixth season received criticisms for a lack of stakes for the characters.^[103][104] Several critics and fans have also criticized the Jim and Pam romance.^{[105][106][107]} 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.^[11] He later said "I fucking didn't [diss The Office], that's for sure".^[11] Many critics have said the series should have ended after the departure of Steve Carell.^[108][109] Despite this, some recent episodes have received critical acclaim including: "Stress Relief", "Niagara", "Garage Sale" and "Goodbye, Michael".^{[110][111][112][113]}

Ratings

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.^[89] When NBC moved the series to its intended Tuesday night slot, it lost nearly half its audience with only 5.9 million viewers.^[114] The program averaged 5.4 million viewers, ranking it #102 for the 2004–2005 U.S. television season.^[115] "Hot Girl", the first season's finale, rated a 2.2 with a 10 audience measurement share, the lowest rating in the show's history. Episodes were also rerun on CNBC.^[116]

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.^[117] 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 2005–2006 season, it placed #67 (tied with 20/20). 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.^[118] The third-season premiere received a 9.9 and made a large increase in total viewers and viewers 18–49 over My Name Is Earl.^[119] By the end of the 2006–2007 season, it placed #68 (tied with The Biggest Loser 3). It averaged 8.3 million viewers with a 11/11 rating, a large improvement from the previous season.^[120]

The season five premiere received was on par with the previous season's premiere, placing third for viewership during its timeslot and second in 18-49 demo.^[121] Season 5 ranked #14 for Adults 18-49, averaging 5.3 million viewers in that age group. Nielsen Media Research released figures for delayed viewing, and The Office increased 48 percent from its fourth season debut, adding 2.5 million viewers in playback.^[122] Recent seasons have dropped in the ratings with the eight season episode, "Spooked" ranking as the lowest rated episode of the series to air on Thursday.^[123] Despite this, 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.^[124]

Seasonal ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Season premiere	Season finale	TV season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Thursday 9:30 pm ("Pilot") Tuesday 9:30 pm	March 24, 2005	April 26, 2005	2005	#102[125]	5.4
2	Tuesday 9:30 pm (September 20 – December 6, 2005) Thursday 9:30 pm (January 5 – May 11, 2006)	September 20, 2005	May 11, 2006	2005–2006	#67[126]	8.0
3	Thursday 8:30 pm	September 21, 2006	May 17, 2007	2006–2007	#68[120]	8.3
4	Thursday 9:00 pm	September 27, 2007	May 15, 2008	2007–2008	#77[127]	8.0
5		September 25, 2008	May 14, 2009	2008–2009	#53[128]	9.2
6		September 17, 2009	May 20, 2010	2009–2010	#52[129]	7.8
7		September 23, 2010	May 19, 2011	2010–2011	#53[130]	7.7
8		September 22, 2011		2011–2012

Cultural effects

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 rail center,^[18] has eagerly embraced, and ultimately has been redefined by the show. "We're really hip now," says the mayor's assistant.^[17] 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.^[131] Newspapers in other Northeastern cities have published travel guides to Scranton locations for tourists interested in visiting places mentioned in the show.^{[18][131][132]}

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.^[133]

Atrium of the Mall at Steamtown during convention

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.^[134]

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.^[135] Rainn Wilson later accepted on Dwight'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.^[136]

In multiple episodes, characters can be seen wearing undershirts and sweatshirts from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, an Arena Football team in the Arena Football League.

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 ITV2. This is done to differentiate this version of the show from the original British series. The show is now being broadcast on ITV4 and Comedy Central.

In Canada, early seasons were simulcast 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.^[137] 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, TNT, Paramount Comedy (Spain) and laSexta are airing the show. In Ireland, 3e 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.^[138] In India, the show is broadcast on STAR World. In Australia, it airs on Foxtel, Network Ten and in 2011 it will also air on Eleven. In France, the show is broadcast late nights on Canal+.^[139] In Russia, Channel One began airing the show on July 14, 2008 at 12:20 am. In Hungary, the series is broadcast by Viasat 3. In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it began airing on TV6 since spring 2008. In Denmark, the show ran on DR2 for some months in 2008 before being discontinued. The show's first season ran on the Norwegian channel TV2 in 2007/2008. In the Philippines, it airs on Jack TV. In Greece, the show is broadcast on Universal Channel. In Turkey, the show is has been broadcasting on TNT since 2008. In South Korea, it began broadcasting on Fox Life since May 29, 2010. In Belgium, 2BE aired the first season in 2010. In Croatia, the series airs on HRT Channel 2. In Republic of Macedonia, the series started to air in May 2011 on Telma.

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 "Branch Closing" and "The Return" were also made available on NBC.com. The Office also became available for download from Amazon.com's Unbox 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.^[140] 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 "Fun Run", 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 laptops and iPods.^[141] Between the online viewings and those who use digital video recorders, 25-50% of the show's viewers watch it after its scheduled airtime.^[142]

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 residuals 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 commercials.^[143]

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—The Office—was released in 2007.^[144][145] In 2008 two games were introduced via Pressman Toy Corp: The Office Trivia Board Game and The Office DVD Board Game.^[146] In 2009, The Office Clue was released, and The Office Monopoly was released in 2010. Other merchandise, from T-shirts and a bobblehead doll of Dwight Schrute^[147] to more office-specific items such as parodies of the Successories motivational poster series featuring the cast,^[148] is available. Dunder Mifflin has two websites,^[149] 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.^[150] Rainn Wilson wrote in character on "Schrute Space" on NBC.com, which is updated periodically. However, he stopped writing the blog himself.^[151] It is unknown whether Creed Bratton authors "Creed Thoughts", the blog attributed to his character.^[152] Some cast members also have Twitter accounts, including Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms, Brian Baumgartner and Mindy Kaling. Some of the characters have Twitter accounts as well, including Kelly Kapoor, Erin Hannon, Ryan Howard, and Creed Bratton.

Home video releases

Season	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 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, Olympics 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,[153] "Kevin Cooks Stuff in The Office", 2006 NBC Primetime Preview, Toby wraparound promos, Dwight Schrute music video, Joss Whedon interview, blooper reel, Lazy Scranton 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.[154]
5	September 8, 2009	February 7, 2011	October 6, 2010 (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.[155]
6	September 7, 2010	TBA	TBA	26	5	Deleted scenes, outtakes, gag reel, cast and crew commentaries, two extended episodes, minisode The Podcast, "Welcome to Sabre" corporate welcome video, promos.[156]
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.[157]

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by The Office (U.S. TV series)

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient(s)
2006	Winner	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy	Steve Carell[158]
	Winner	Television Critics Association Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Comedy[159]
	Winner		Individual Achievement in Comedy	Steve Carell[159]
	Winner	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series[160]
	Winner	Women's Image Network Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series[161]
	Winner		Outstanding Female Actress	Jenna Fischer[161]
	Nominee	Rose d'Or Awards	Best Sitcom[162]
2007	Winner	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series[163]
	Winner	American Cinema Editors – Eddie Award	Best Edited Half Hour Series for Television	Dean Holland and David Rogers for "Casino Night"[164]
	Winner	Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Comedy Series[165]
	Winner	Comedy Writing	Steve Carell for "Casino Night"[165]
	Winner	Guild Awards	Episodic Television Comedy	Greg Daniels & Kent Zbornak[166]
	Winner	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Director in Comedy Series	Ken Whittingham for "Michael's Birthday"[167]
	Honored	Peabody Awards[168]
	Winner	Webby Awards	Webby Award, Comedy: Individual Short or Episode	The Accountants[169]
	Winner		People's Voice, Best Comedy: Individual Short or Episode
	Winner		People's Voice, Best Television Website[170]
	Winner	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy	producers Vivi Zigler, Jeff Ross, Jordon Schlansky, Mike Sweeney, and Robert Angelo and performers Paul Lieberstein, Michael Schur, Brian Baumgartner, Angela Kinsey, and Oscar Nunez for The Accountants[171]
	Winner	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series	Dean Holland and David Rogers for "The Job"[172]
	Winner		Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series	Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt"[173]
2008	Winner	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series[174]

References

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External links

• Official website
• The Office at the Internet Movie Database
• The Office at TV.com
• Dunder Mifflin Paper Company website