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''The Office'' is an Television Comedy that debuted on NBC as a Midseason Replacement on March 24 , 2005 . The show is about the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company. Although fictional and scripted, the show Takes The Form of a Documentary , with the presence of the camera often acknowledged. Based on the , 2006. It is co-produced by Greg Daniels' Deedle-Dee Productions and Reveille Productions , in association with NBC Universal Television Studio . The show is currently broadcast by . TBS will broadcast episodes once a week starting in Fall 2007 before broadcasting the series five days a week in Fall 2009. The Fox Television Stations group have also obtained syndication rights starting in Fall 2009. The Office Will Be Repurposed on TBS This Fall, Daily Airings Coming in Fall 2009 on TBS and Locals; Fox Renews American Dad Through 2009 CREATION After the original British series won two , B.J. Novak , Paul Lieberstein and Mindy Kaling . In addition, he hired two consulting producers, Lester Lewis and Larry Wilmore . Ken Kwapis , who established his ability with the genre in '' The Larry Sanders Show '' and '' Malcolm In The Middle '', directed the pilot and has produced/directed several episodes. The second season brought three new members to the writing crew: Jennifer Celotta , and the screen writing team of Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg . Paul Feig , of '' Freaks And Geeks '', directed some of the episodes. Filming moved to a Sound Stage that was built to replicate the first season's environment, including plaques and certificates hanging on walls using the names of crew members.Fischer, Jenna. Hailing The Office's Unsung Heroes! ''TVGuide.com'' February 23, 2006. Casting All original series characters were renamed and re-cast for the American version. When producer . Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael (which he referred to as a terrible Gervais impersonation); however, the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much more and hired him for the role. Fischer prepared for her audition by looking as boring as possible, creating the current Pam hairstyle at her first audition for the show.Fischer, Jenna ( February 9 2006 ). "''The Office'' Presents: "Valentine's Day"" ''TVGuide.com'' The shots of Scranton in the opening credits were filmed by star John Krasinski and two of his friends before production began on the series. They shot the footage from their , 2005. Jay Ferguson composed the theme song. The supporting cast includes actors known for their '' February 24 , 2006: 24–25. Three of the show's writers were also cast as regular performers: B.J. Novak , Mindy Kaling , and Paul Lieberstein . Daniels saw Novak doing Stand-up Comedy and he was cast as reluctant temp Ryan Howard and Lieberstein was cast as HR Director Toby Flenderson by Novak's suggestion after his cold readings of scripts. Greg Daniels originally was not sure where to use Kaling, who is an Indian-American, on screen in the series until the point 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 the chatty Kelly Kapoor ), Kaling stated in a February 2006 interview. Steve Carell has also written one episode (the season 2 finale). '' Retrieved February 1 , 2007. A few of the actors who are both part of the main cast or made guest appearances have connections to '' The Daily Show '' as Carell and Helms were former correspondents on the show, along with recurring actors Larry Wilmore (who is the Senior Black Correspondent on the show) and Nancy Walls (a former correspondent, married to Carell in real life) have appeared. In addition, Rob Riggle also appeared in " Booze Cruise " as a ship captain who antagonizes Michael. Riggle is one of the correspondents on The Daily Show. A large number of cast members coincidentally hailed from played Mr. Brown in "Diversity Day" and in "Gay Witch Hunt." Greg Daniels made an appearance as Michael's new neighbor in "Office Olympics," and writing team Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky play Bob Vance's delivery men in "Valentines Day" and are in a deleted scene from the "Drug Testing" episode. There were plans for 2006 . British cast to appear on American version of The Office , TVSquad.com but those plans were scrapped due to scheduling conflicts.The Water Cooler: "We're Talking Code: Spoilers." Retrieved March 16, 2007.Daniels, Greg. '' The Office: Live Blog, November 2006 '' Dunder-Mifflin may allude to the relationship between the Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company's tower, shown during the opening theme, and its location in downtown Scranton near the northeast end of Mifflin Avenue. To coincide with the Season 3 premiere, an ''Office'' edition of Scranton's entertainment paper contained an interview with the real paper company's president, who said "They're {Link without Title} more of a printing-paper company while we're a personal-service paper company — paper towels, packaging, toilet tissue. ... We have very little resemblance to the Dunder-Mifflin paper company." CHARACTERS See Also: Characters from The Office (US) ''The Office'' employs an ensemble cast. Below are the regular characters of the series, and their job positions as of when they are introduced. All of the main characters, and some minor ones, are based on characters from the original British version of ''. Main characters
Accounting
Sales
Other office employees
Corporate and Warehouse
Job status changes The following are major position changes the above characters have undergone during the run of the show. SEASON SYNOPSES See Also: List of The Office (US) episodes ''The Office'' typically airs in a half-hour time slot, for which producers deliver an episode with a 0:20:30 running time.Novak, B.J. (Actor/Writer). 2005. "The Alliance" track , ''The Office'' Season One (U.S./NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal . The final episode of the second season introduced the first of what would be several "super-sized" episodes (approximately 29 minute running time for a 40 minute time slot). The third season introduced the first of occasional hour-long episodes (approximately 41 minute running time). Season 1 The first season featured six episodes that began airing on March 24 , 2005 and finished on April 26 , 2005 . The series begins by introducing the office and its main characters via Michael's tour for both the camera crew and Ryan, who is hired as a temp and working his first day. News soon spreads that Dunder-Mifflin's corporate headquarters plan to downsize, and the Scranton branch faces a possible closure. Anxiety over downsizing grows, but Michael chooses to deny or downplay such a possibility in the interest of employee morale. In the final episode of the season, Jim begins dating Katy , a purse saleswoman who visited and set up shop briefly in the office, to Pam's subtle concern. Season 2 This was the first full season for the show that included 22 episodes originally airing from September 20 , 2005 to May 11 , 2006 . First season plots continued and new plots emerged, as well as development in most secondary characters who were left to the background in season one. While Jim continues to see Katy on and off, his friendship with Pam remains largely unchanged; they continue in their pranks, and days of spontaneous activities such as Office Olympics . Jim draws Pam for the office Secret Santa Christmas gift exchange and fills a teapot with mementos of inside jokes and a card implied to contain his true feelings. When Michael Mixes Up The Gift Recipients , however, Jim sneaks the card back, even though Pam winds up with the gift in the end. During a late-night office trip on a " Booze Cruise ," Roy announces a wedding date of June 10 , and Jim reacts by breaking up with Katy. He then reveals his feelings for Pam to Michael, who in turn spills the secret to the other employees upon return to the office. Jim acknowledges the rumor to Pam, playing it as a past crush, though she then hears differently from a guilty Michael. Meanwhile, Jan discovers that Pam has a talent for art and encourages her to attend a Graphic Arts internship with the company in New York City . Jim supports the idea, but Roy rejects it as pointless. ".]] Celebrating Michael's success at landing a major new client, he and a newly-divorced Jan share a kiss and spend the night together. Despite Jan's attempt to end the relationship almost immediately, Michael's interest is ignited, and he reveals the incident during a company meeting in New York. At Jan's behest, he is able to play it off as a joke; she kisses him again as he leaves. Later, Michael runs into his real estate agent, Carol Stills, and entertains her children. A series of events finds Michael with two dates for Casino Night : Carol and Jan. Carol enjoys their date; Jan leaves, disappointed. Three more office relationships begin, and a fourth is revealed. Dwight and Angela's relationship is secret to all but Pam and the camera crew. Kelly develops a crush on Ryan, leading them to hook up the day before Valentine's Day , to Ryan's intense regret. Kelly soon pursues a serious relationship despite her claims of something more casual. Phyllis introduces her boyfriend Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration to the staff at the Christmas party. When Dwight investigates Oscar's suspicious sick day, it is revealed Oscar is a Closeted Gay Man , though Dwight remains oblivious. Jim plans a vacation to Australia , deliberately timed to overlap with Pam's wedding date, much to her disappointment. He also begins to lament his numerous pranks at the office as wastes of time, and unknown to his Scranton co-workers, applies for a vacant sales position at Dunder-Mifflin Stamford . Before he leaves, he reveals his love to Pam on Casino Night , and though she at first turns him down, he kisses her minutes later. Season 3 The third season has a total of 23 episodes, consisting of 21 half-hour or 40 minute "super-sized" episodes, and 2 one-hour episodes. They originally aired from September 21 , 2006 to May 17 , 2007 . After the events of Casino Night , Jim accepted Pam's intentions to marry Roy and transferred to the Stamford branch. There, he begins dating co-worker Karen and also finds himself at odds with temperamental co-worker Andy . During the summer, Pam called off the wedding, ending her relationship with Roy. Downsizing arrives when the Scranton branch is tagged for closure, but the plans are thrown into disarray when the manager of the Stamford branch leaves for a rival company. Instead, a merger of the dissolved Stamford branch with the Scranton branch brings Jim back to Scranton. One by one, most of the Stamford transplants quit over Michael's management style, leaving only Jim, Karen, and Andy. After Carol breaks up with Michael, he begins dating Jan but finds himself increasingly uncomfortable with her aggressive and unemotional approach to their sex life, and he breaks up with her. Jim returns to inconsistent friendship with Pam, not as close as they used to be. Karen becomes more anxious when she learns of Jim's previous crush on Pam and his admission that he still harbors feelings for the receptionist. At Phyllis' Wedding , Pam returns to Roy, but that relationship proves short-lived when Roy reacts violently upon learning of the Casino Night kiss. Roy attempts to assault Jim at the office, resulting in his dismissal. Throughout, Pam and Karen maintain a tense friendship. A position opens at Dunder-Mifflin headquarters, and Michael, Jim and Karen all apply. Jan wins back Michael's affections with the assistance of her new Breast Implants , but this is only a precursor to her self-destruction at Dunder-Mifflin headquarters when she learns that the open position is her own. After being told that he did not win the position, Michael returns to Scranton with Jan in tow. During Jim's interview, he finds an encouraging note and memento from Pam slipped in with his other papers. When asked whether he is prepared to stay in New York for the long haul, Jim doesn't answer but thinks back to the events of the previous week, wherein Pam, emboldened by A Successful Walk Across Hot Coals , confronts Jim publicly about their dissolved friendship, confessing that she canceled her wedding because of him. Jim drives back to Scranton and asks Pam on a date. She accepts. As a final twist, the job goes to Ryan. Season 4 NBC has ordered a full fourth season of ''The Office''. For more information, see The Office Season 4 . OTHER MEDIA See Also: List of The Office media In addition to the television episodes and webisodes, ''The Office'' characters have appeared in a variety of promotional materials for NBC, and a Licensed Video Game set for release in Fall 2007. IMPROVISATION Unlike many other Mockumentaries , much of ''The Office'' is scripted. In a March 2006 interview, B.J. Novak stated, Jenna Fischer has stated, A specific example of improvisation on the show occurred during taping of Season 3's first episode, " Gay Witch Hunt ". As Jenna Fischer puts it, DELETED SCENES Unlike most other producers, Daniels considers deleted scenes to be part of the show's story line. In an experiment, a deleted scene from " The Return " was made available over nbc.com and ITunes that explained 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. When the episode was re-run, it was re-cut to restore the missing scene. PRODUCT PLACEMENT RESPONSE Before the show aired, Gervais acknowledged that there were feelings of hesitation from certain viewers. "I think people are always gonna be wary of a remake — it's a tradition," he stated in a March 2005 interview, "But this remake is aimed at the 249 million Americans who didn't see the original TV show. There's not gonna be many Texas farmhands going, 'Eccch, not another version. I can't believe it.'"Wolk, Josh. "''The Office'' bosses on bringing the Brit hit to NBC" , ''Entertainment Weekly'' March 14 , 2005. Writer/performer B.J. Novak recalled almost a year after the show premiered, "There was this very rough period at the beginning, where not only did mainstream viewers have no interest in us, but the type of people that should have and ultimately did come to our defense hated us even more, because we were remaking the British ''Office''."Chun, Wing. March 2 2006 . "The B.J. Novak Interview" , Page 3. ''Televisionwithoutpity.com'' Critical reviews Before its first airing, the '' 2005. Reviews became more positive as the second season progressed. Come December, ''Time'' magazine 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."Poniewozik, James. "Best of 2005: Television" ''Time Magazine'', 2005 Months later, ''The Onion'''s A.V. Club'', March 29 2006 Ratings Premiering on Thursday, , 2005 The program averaged 5.4 million viewers, ranking it #102 for the 2004–2005 U.S. television season.5 The first season finale received the lowest rating in the show's history, earning just a 2.2 rating with a 10 share.''Media Life Magazine''. April 27 2005 . Lower the lights for NBC's 'The Office' , ''medialifemagazine.com'' As the second season started, the show slowly started gaining a cult following after the success of Carell's August 2005 movie '' The 40-Year-Old Virgin '' and the fortune of airing after the surprise rookie hit comedy, '' My Name Is Earl ''. Growing viewership seemed promising enough to NBC that they moved the series in January 2006 to the " Must See TV " Thursday night where the ratings continued to grow. Some of this growth may be attributed to the iTunes Store beginning to sell the show on its then-new sales of TV Shows, where ''The Office'' is regularly among the top shows. By the 2005–2006 season, it placed #67 (tied with '' 20/20 ''). It averaged 8.0 million viewers with a 4.0/10 rating. It also was up 40% in viewers from the year before and up 60% in viewers ages 18–49.The Hollywood Reporter, 2005–06 primetime wrap , ''hollywoodreporter.com'' The third-season premiere received a 5.7/9 and actually made a small increase in total viewers and viewers 18–49 over its lead-in program, ''My Name Is Earl''.''). It averaged 8.3 million viewers with a 4.1/11 rating, a slight improvement from the previous season.The Hollywood Reporter, 2006–07 primetime wrap , ''hollywoodreporter.com'' International broadcast In addition to NBC in the United States, ''The Office'' is broadcast on in the Asia Pacific region, Channel Ten in Australia , M-Net in South Africa and on Canal+ in France . In Saudi Arabia and Arab World the show is broadcast by Showtime Arabia Paramount Comedy Channel and Paramount Comedy Channel +2. In Latin America, the show is broadcast on FX Latin America . In Singapore, ''The Office'' airs on Arts Central & STAR World . In April 2007, the show began airing in the Netherlands under the title ''The Office US'' on Comedy Central Netherlands . The series was canceled in , 2005 , ''Sydney Morning Herald'' CAST BLOGS Many cast members maintain blogs on TVGuide .com and MySpace , posting updates on behind-the-scenes happenings or on-set photographs. Since actors must sit at their desks even when not actively participating in a scene, they have ample opportunities to use the functional, internet-connected computers to browse the internet, play games, and blog. Interviews & Features Cast members with blogs include Jenna Fischer , Angela Kinsey , B.J. Novak , Mindy Kaling Paul Lieberstein , David Denman , Craig Robinson , Brian Baumgartner , Kate Flannery , Karly Rothenberg , Creed Bratton , Robert R. Shafer , and Melora Hardin . Some cast members blog in character, but most blog as themselves. wrote for the site until December 2005.[http://www.tvguide.com/News/Insider/default.htm?cmsRedir=true&rmDate=11152005&cmsGuid=%7BA24F8FAD-CC1A-4622-B8C9-8D71FC7FE6B2%7D Interviews & Features] Jenna Fischer assumed the duties during the second half of the show's 2005–06 season, posting every Thursday. Jenna's Blog Brian Baumgartner wrote during most of the summer of 2006, Brian's Office Blog and Kate Flannery wrote during the 2006–2007 season. Kate's Blog - The Season 3 Premiere . AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
ONLINE AND DVD RELEASES Online Episodes from ''The Office'' were among the first television shows available for download from the , 2007. DVD Season Releases
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