That’s What She Said: Behind-The-Scenes Facts About “The Office” That Even The Biggest Fan Wouldn’t Know
Fact: a bunch of actors and actresses were tasked with adapting the beloved British comedy, The Office. Fact: the American version was met with high expectations and managed to create comedy gold for nearly a decade. Fact: it became one of the greatest shows of all-time.
Every fan of the show should know that Jim and Pam were meant to be together, no questions asked. However, most fans might not know the big-name directors who took the time to film some classic episodes or which star put together the opening credits.
The Show Was Saved Thanks To A Teenager
What saved The Office from total extinction? The chairman of NBC's owner, General Electric, had a teenage son who found the show to be hilarious. Sometimes one kid is all it takes!
Other teenagers followed suit and thanks to the fitting irony of the show, it became a success by making comedy out of constant human failure. Not only did teens love the show, adults eventually found it, too, and began cracking up at every joke.
Everyone On The Show Made A Contribution
Not only did Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein and Michael Schurr write, but many other cast members produced and directed for the series. You'd be surprised just how involved all the actors were.
Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, and Brian Baumgartner either wrote, produced, or directed episodes of their own. When you consider stand up and sketch comedy backgrounds many of them came from, it all starts to make sense.
Rainn Wilson's Experience Was Perfect For Dwight
Many years before Dwight Schrute, Rainn Wilson had an acting teacher who had isolated the actor's infinity for "alienated outsiders." That explains a lot!
With The Office, he applied that talent into the national nerd fans of the show grew to enjoy. Wilson even has three Emmy nominations to prove how perfect he was for the part. Since the show ended, Wilson has continued to find success in both movies and on television.
Jenna Fischer's Goodbye To Steve Carrell Was Real
During Micahel Scott's emotional farewell at the airport, it was Jenna Fischer talking to Steve Carrell and not her character. When you've been together on a show for so long, sometimes real emotions get in the way of acting.
Fischer told Carell all the ways she was going to miss him when he left the show. The tears of saying goodbye were real and contributed to one of the most touching scenes.
John Krasinski Filmed The Opening Credits
As soon as Krasinski won the role of Jim Halpert, he and some buddies drove around Scranton, PA, to film some video of the sights around the city. Even more so, he interviewed the residents of Scranton so he could be a more believable resident.
The videos he took ultimately became the opening credits sequence that fans grew to love. They grew to love Krasinski more, who has gone on to become a major star in his own right.
The Show Nearly Had A Different Theme Song
Rainn Wilson explained in his memoir, Basson King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy; there were other options. So what other songs were considered before producers landed on the ear catchingly pleasant opening song?
Songs such as "Float On" by Modest Mouse and "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electic Light Orchestra were strongly considered before former seventies rock star Jay Ferguson composed the theme song. Wow, things could have sounded a lot different!
The Show Would Have Been Weird With Other Castings
Seth Rogen auditioned for Dwight and Adam Scott auditioned for Jim. Rogen provided a rather dull Dwight for his audition and Scott was still in character from Party Down.
Steve Carrell nearly missed out on the whole thing due to scheduling conflicts and Bob Odenkirk was almost cast as Michael Scott. Who knows how long the show would have lasted if these funnymen were cast. Probably not as funny, if we had to guess.
The Writers Went On Strike For Support Of The 2007 Writers Strike
The Office stopped shooting while the cast and crew participated in the writer's strike of 2007. The walkout shook the television industry, causing a huge disruption in original programming until it was settled.
Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak, and Paul Lieberstein joined with their colleagues to protest the network's ability to screw them out of compensation. Steve Carrell didn't cross the picket line as he called in sick due to "enlarged balls."
The Birth Of Writer-Performers Started With BJ, Mindy, And Paul
B.J. Novak was the first person to be cast. Greg Daniels, the show's producer, was inspired by Novak's comedy and wanted to hire a writer-performer.
Daniels would soon add Mindy Kaling and Paul Lieberstein to the writing team. Michael Schur, who played Dwight's cousin Mose, would also be included as a writer-performer as well. Schur would eventually go on to create Parks and Rec and Brooklyn 99. We wonder what he'll come up with next!
Heisenberg Directed An Episode
He wasn't a special guest star, but Bryan Cranston did direct the season nine episode "Work Bus." Cranston is one of many well-known directors who got behind the camera. Who knew he was so multi-talented!
J.J. Abrams directed the episode "Cocktails" and his rival Joss Whedon directed the episodes "Business School" and "Beach Wars." If you want to know other famous people who got behind the lens we have bad news; we don't know who they were!
Amy Adams Guest Appearance Throttled Her Into The Limelight
Amy Adams was an unknown actor when she played Katy in the first season episode "Hot Girl." Since then, well, she's become one of the most highly sought after actresses in Hollywood.
Adams blossomed into a big-name actress who's starred in Enchanted, Man of Steel, and Justice League. Adams also has two Golden Globes but no Oscars. She has been nominated for several Oscars, and will no doubt win one at some point in her career.
Paul Lieberstein Is One Shy Dude
Paul Lieberstein was a man of many things. Not only did he write for the show, but he played Toby too. Surprisingly, Toby might have more in common with Paul than you would think.
Lieberstein's scenes were limited due to him being camera shy. In the shows which he wrote or directed, Toby can be seen very briefly with very few lines given. His favorite episodes were probably these ones, too.
Phyllis Smith Was A Casting Agent Before She Was Phyllis Vance
Smith was working as a casting associate before she was offered the role of Phyllis Vance. Not only that, but she was also a cheerleader! She might have one of the most interesting career paths of everyone on the cast!
Smith would go on to win two Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006 and 2007 for her performance on the show. She also starred in Bad Teacher and the animated film Inside Out.
The Kiss Was Very Real Between Steve & Oscar
The season three premiere of "Gay Witch Hunt" saw Michael figure out which one of his employees is gay. The final moment where he discovers the truth has become a classic Office scene that we're laughing just thinking about right now!
Oscar was the one, and the pair engages in some improv kiss. The writers never planned for Oscar to be gay. However, they wanted Michael to be wildly inappropriate about the topic in the workplace.
Mindy And B.J. Were On-Off-On-Off-Again
The BFFs are close and they dated on and off in real life. The two dated while writing and acting on the show. Since the show ended, they have stayed close friends, although they are no longer dating.
Sometimes, they would mirror the on-again, off-again nature of the relationship between their characters Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor. Now that you know, you'll look at their relationship in a whole new light during reruns.
That's What She Said Was Said 48 Times
Michael Scott's "That's what she said" quote was one of those saying that the more ridiculous you make it, the more hysterical it sounds. Come on, you know you've said it more than once in your life. Maybe not as many times as Michael Scott, but more than once for sure.
In fact, Carrell's character said the iconic catchphrase 48 times. The first one came from the season two episode "Sexual harassment" and the last one in the series finale.
Six Degrees Of Toby Flenderson
Paul Lieberstein is the most connected actor on the show. His brother, Warren, was married to Angela Kinsey throughout the first four seasons of the show. Maybe we were wrong before when we said Paul and Toby are the same person!
Warren even makes an appearance in "Goodbye Michael" when Toby excitedly tells his brother, Rory, that he will hit it off with Michael. That's a pretty good bit of bar trivia right there!
Cousin Mose Created Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Schurr was also the co-creator of Parks and Recreation, which was a supposed spin-off of The Office. And as you can tell from our headline, there's another side-splitting show he created.
With Daniel Goor, they created the police comedy sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2013. The show has been a success thanks to the cast, especially Andy Samberg. Fun fact, he went on to create The Good Place, which has become know as one of the funniest shows on TV.
Improv Was Here, There, And Everywhere
The cast of the show had a wide range of acting backgrounds, from stand-up to improv. Because of this, they were able to act more naturally to accommodate the documentary filming style of the show.
It's no surprise that the show became so much fun to shoot as the actors engaged in improv during scenes. The improv would be so good that they would leave it in without removing it.
John Krasinski And B.J. Novak Went To High School Together
John Krasinski and B.J. Novak attended Newton South High School in Massachusetts, and they both graduated in 1997. It's not often you get to work one of your first major jobs with one of your best friends.
John and B.J. knew each other when they were on the same little league team as kids. To say that they went to school and starred on the same sitcom shows that it's a small world after all.
