“The Office” could almost be described as “lightning in a bottle,” if it wasn’t for the fact that there are literally two, very successful versions of the show, the original, UK version and the generally better-known US version. A sitcom without a laugh track, filmed like a documentary with character interviews interspersed throughout each episode, it’s surprising that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant ever convinced the BBC to produce it in the first place.

Greg Daniels had the unenviable task of adapting the smash UK to American television, but by season two, it was clear that he, the writers, and the cast had succeeded, as the show went on to win multiple awards and become one of NBC’s highest-rated scripted series while it was on the air. 

For those who aren’t aware, first, I’m surprised you scrolled this far, but secondly, the show takes place in the Pennsylvania mining town of Scranton, with its iconic intro being filmed by John Krasinski on a research trip. However, principal photography was mostly done in North Hollywood on a variety of sets. Nevertheless, Scranton has embraced its newfound fame as the home of one of Dunder Mifflin’s branches and would display the fake companies ads and banners around the city. 

One ingredient in “The Office’s” recipe for success was the decision to focus the show on something painfully and abundantly relatable, the titular reality of an office job. Credit here must be given to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for understanding the potential appeal of this kind of content, in contrast with the “tried and true” sitcom formulas of the time, whether it was a family sitcom, like “Married... with Children” or ones based on a group of friends like “Seinfeld” or “Friends.” 

Of course, it’s impossible to understate just how important and iconic Steve Carell’s performance as Michael Scott was in cementing the show as one of the all-time greats. Beyond just an impossible lack of self-awareness, the showrunners made an interesting decision to veer away from the more morose and mean boss from the UK version, instead making Michael Scott likable at some moments, as well as surprisingly competent as a salesperson. 

Understandably, Steve Carell was also one of the best-paid actors on the show, reportedly making $175,000 per episode, while some of his co-stars had starting salaries of around $20’000 an episode, although pay rose from season to season, as the show became more and more popular. Both Steve and Rainn Wilson were also known for the amount of improvisation they did during scenes. 

The combination of heavy improvisation and overly long scripts meant that many episodes were significantly longer than they should have been, writer and actor B. J. Novak revealed. Often this would require the editors to cut significantly in an attempt to keep the run time around twenty-two minutes an episode. The producers still chose to treat deleted scenes as cannon when writing subsequent episodes. 

While the “documentary” nature of the show might seem jarring at first viewing, most of the audience got used to it quickly and wouldn’t pay any attention to the cinematography. However, the producers made a conscious effort to have the “documentary crew” make sense within the office itself. They walk through the set to see if a character would be able to notice the “camera crew” from where they were sitting, for example. 

True fans, particularly ones who would pay attention to the credits will also know that much of the cast was actively involved in running the show. The aforementioned B. J. Novak was a writer and producer, while Paul Lieberstein, of Toby Flenderson fame, was the showrunner for a few seasons. Phyllis Smith, who played Phyllis, was a casting associate and simply had such good chemistry with the actors that she ended up with a role on the show.