Guide Note

NBC's award winning mockumentary sitcom, The Office follows the employees of Scranton, Pennsylvania, paper supply company Dunder Mifflin as they struggle through their repetitive daily work routines. Starring Steve Carell as the unwittingly tyrannical boss, Michael Scott, the series parodies stereotypical American office life.

Based on the BBC series of the same name that was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the show was adapted for American television by executive producer Greg Daniels. Besides the pilot episode, the script for the U.S. version is original, although certain characters and premises are influenced by the British version.

Many of the cast members are involved in creating and writing the episodes, and are encouraged to improvise during shooting.

In April of 2008, NBC announced that a spinoff of The Office would be placed in development, and would premiere on February 1, 2009, following NBC's Super Bowl coverage.

Fast Facts

1. U.S. Series premiere: March 24, 2005
2. Theme song: "The Office Theme" by Jay Ferguson
3. Tag line: "A comedy for anyone whose boss is an idiot."
4. Producer Greg Daniels previously for The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and King of the Hill
5. Emmy Awards:
   1. Outstanding Comedy Series, 2006
   2. Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, 2007

• "Because right now, this is a job. If I advance any higher, this would be my career. And if this were my career, I'd have to throw myself in front of a train."—Jim Halpert

• "Would I rather be feared or loved? Um... Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."—Michael Scott

• "Security in this office park is a joke. Last year, I came to work with my spud gun in a duffel bag. I sat at my desk all day, with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?"—Dwight Schrute

• The success of the UK and U.S. series has resulted in the creation of French, German, French-Canadian and Chilean versions of The Office.

• The Union Jack flag on Michael's desk is featured in many shots as an homage to the original British series.

• The computers on the set are wired for the Internet, and cast members have admitted that they're often surfing the Web or checking their email in background shots.