In the article below we've created a comprehensive guide that covers everything you would ever want to know about the immensely popular hit television show, The Office. If you haven't heard of The Office before then you're missing out on top-tier entertainment. Please continue reading the article below to find out exactly what you've been missing.
Is The Office a Sitcom
The Office is a US-based televised sitcom that was originally an American adaptation of a similar sitcom that aired as part of a BBC original series. While the original BBC sponsored sitcom was created for a UK based audience, the American version was adapted for a US audience and sponsored by Shine America and Deedle-Dee Productions, in partnership with the greater parent company, Universal Television.
When Did The Office Start
The Office aired its first episode on the 3rd of March, 2005, with its last episode airing nearly 8 years later on the 16th of May, 2013. The Office originally aired on the world-renowned television network known as NBC. Outside of NBC's network, The Office was also syndicated throughout the US on the television networks known as TBS and Comedy Central, with Comedy Central's airing coming several years after The Office had aired its final episode.
Who Wrote The Office
The original UK adapted version of The Office was co-created and co-written by the extraordinarily popular British actors and comedians, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The Office version adapted for American audiences, however, was written by Greg Daniels, the highly acclaimed writer and producer whose previous works include King of the Hill, The Simpsons, and Saturday Night Live.
While the original US adaptation of the sitcom featured a pilot that was a direct spin-off of its UK based counterpart, from the second episode onward the writing and production were Greg Daniels' work in their entirety. Daniels has spoken openly about this original process, stating that pilot episodes of any sitcom carry so much risk, that he decided to play it safe and not create the sitcom from scratch for the initial pilot airing.
While Daniels was the sole creative powerhouse behind the writing for The Office's second episode, his production company, Deedle-Dee Productions, hired writers to help Daniels with the creation of additional episodes, with Daniels taking the helm as a creative director. An interesting technique that Daniels' production company used in order to stimulate creative ideas for the writing, is that they hired writers and then sent them off to spend time researching within actual American offices. Daniels is well known for using this brilliant creative technique, having used it prior to help him create scripts for the television shows, Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill.
Where Was The Office Filmed
While The Office storyline takes place within a fictional office branch called Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the sitcom wasn't actually filmed in that location, rather, The Office was filmed almost entirely within Van Nuys district studios located in the greater Los Angeles area.
Although The Office was filmed exclusively in Los Angeles, California, actual places that exist within Scranton, Pennsylvania were edited into the show to tie the storyline to the fictional location where the plot actually occurs. Many real-life Scranton landmarks were used in the show editing to increase the plot's realism, these landmarks include the Pennsylvania Paper and Supply Company Tower, Downtown Scranton, the Scranton Welcome Sign, as well as Scranton Business Park.
How Many Seasons of The Office Were There
Between the initial pilot airing and the final episode, there were a total of nine seasons of The Office. Eight out of the nine seasons typically averaged around 20 episodes that consumed a half an hour timeslot each, however, the first trial season only aired six half-hour episodes.
The lead actor cast in The Office was Steve Carell, whose onscreen charisma and comedic wit were largely responsible for making the sitcom so popular. Carell played the main character, Michael Scott, and even dabbled in some of the production and writing tasks behind the scenes. After seven consecutive seasons, however, Carell decided not to renew his contract and left the sitcom to pursue other projects. While there was huge initial concern from The Office's fanbase that the sitcom wouldn't be the same without Carell, it still continued for two additional seasons after his departure and the ratings remained very strong.
How Many Episodes of The Office Were There
Over the course of all nine seasons, The Office aired a total of 201 episodes. The season with the fewest episodes was Season 1, which only aired 6 episodes, while Season 4 featured the most episodes per season, airing 30 half-hour shows.
Aside from the fact that Season 1 was a trial season intended to be used to gauge audience interest, another reason so few episodes were aired was due to the fact that The Office debuted on NBC as a midseason replacement. Due to its midseason debut, NBC was not particularly confident that the sitcom would gain traction with viewers who were already locked into their yearly sitcom picks, however, from the pilot episode onward the show was extremely popular.
While a large percentage of The Office episodes featured the cast of Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, BJ Novak, and Rainn Wilson, there were frequent cast changes throughout the nine seasons. The biggest change to the cast was Steve Carell's departure at the end of Season 7, however, there were many other changes and departures within the ranks of the supporting cast.
Which Office Episodes Were The Best
Amongst the most loyal Office fans, the episode largely considered to be the best was called Casino Night, which was the 22nd episode and season finale that aired during Season 2. The script for this episode was written almost entirely by Steve Carell and contained hilarious comedy bits widely considered to be legendary. Without giving any spoilers away, the central theme of this episode focused on the characters Jim and Pam and a love confession. It also hilariously contains a short bit regarding the character Kevin and his band called Scrantonicity, which mostly plays Police tribute songs.
The second best episode of The Office is widely believed to be the episode entitled Goodbye Michael, which was episode 20 aired during Season 7. This episode was the last appearance by the character Michael Scott, brilliantly played by Steve Carell. Fans of the show were left speechless by how extraordinary Carell's performance was during his final episode on the show. If you followed the show religiously then you might even have been left a bit teary eyed by the character's emotional exit.
Arguably, the third best episode of The Office is likely to be considered the episode entitled The Injury, which aired during Season 2 as the 12th episode. This hilarious episode focuses on an injury that Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott, received while using his George Foreman cooking grill. While rushing to assist the character of Michael Scott, another character named Dwight ends up crashing his car and getting a bunch of injuries himself. If this fast-paced and quick-witted comedic style of The Office is what got you hooked on the show, then this is most certainly an episode that you should not miss.
The 4th best Office episode according to many different online polls, would largely be considered to be entitled Niagra, which aired as episode 5 during Season 6. During this episode, the characters Jim and Pam get married underneath Niagra Falls. The reason for this strange wedding location selection is because they are forced to outwit their co-workers who had planned to carry out a dance routine during the ceremony that both Jim and Pam weren't particularly fond of.
The 5th best episode according to fans, is considered to be episode 1 of Season 2, entitled The Dundies. During this hilarious show, the character Pam attends the annual Dunder Mifflin's award show, called the Dundies. During previous years she had constantly been given World's Longest Engagement award, however, this year Pam shows up at the award ceremony heavily intoxicated and receives a completely different award. With this episode being the first to air after the introductory first season had completed, the episode is largely credited for kickstarting The Office's hilarious reign at the top of the sitcom rating charts.
Which Season of The Office Was Considered The Best
Most Office fans will agree that the best season of the sitcom was Season 2. This season was also widely regarded as containing the most popular single episode, which as mentioned above was the season finale entitled Casino Night.
What makes Season 2 stand out above the rest, is it's the first time we get a chance to really see the characters fully develop into the rich ranging personas that fans grew to love during the remaining run of the show. Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott, is especially stand out in Season 2, offering viewers so many hilarious and brilliantly acted moments that they would be hard to count.
The romantic relationship between the characters Pam and Jim also helped to catapult Season 2 to be a fan favorite, as it's here in this season that we get to see their love for each other blossom into what many consider to be one of the best romantic relationships in a sitcom to date.
With Season 1 only containing 6 episodes, it is highly recommended that you watch those first before viewing any of the episodes within the highly acclaimed Season 2. It is almost a guarantee that after watching all of Season 1 and 2 of the sitcom, that you, like tens of millions of other viewers, will be absolutely hooked on the show.
What Network Was The Office on
The American adaptation of The Office ran from beginning to end on NBC, a gigantic US-based commercial broadcast television network. NBC is headquartered in New York City, New York, and is considered to be a flagship enterprise under the NBCUniversal umbrella and is owned exclusively by Comcast, a global telecommunications conglomerate.
While The Office's main airing took place on NBC's network, it was also aired on a smaller basic cable network known as TBS, or Turner Broadcasting System. While the sitcom's airing on TBS had a much smaller reach than NBC's main network, TBS nonetheless helped the show receive a much broader audience reach across its paid cable network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnk4seEHmgw
Several years after The Office's sitcom series ended, it was picked up and aired from start to finish on Comedy Central's paid television network. Comedy Central plans to continue airing the show throughout 2018 and possibly onwards.
Outside of the major cable and non-cable based networks above, The Office has been broadcast across hundreds of local networks across the United States, as well as hundreds of foreign broadcast networks around the world. With the popularity of The Office being so high historically, the show will likely be in high broadcast demand for many years or decades to come.
What Channel Was The Office on
The channel that The Office aired on originally was NBC, with the actual numeric television channel varying widely depending on the viewer's specific location. The featured channels on TBS that aired The Office include channels 112 and 113 for AT&T and CenturyLink Prism. On Verizon FiOS the sitcom aired on channel 552, whereas on Google Fiber its designated channel was 284. With regard to The Office's airing on Comedy Central's network, the numeric channel is 249 and 1249 for DirecTV and channel 107 for Dish Network.