The Office (2005)
The Office is a 2005 comedy series created by Greg Daniels and Ricky Gervais. It stars Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer.
A paper company in Scranton, filmed like a documentary nobody asked for. The Office follows the staff of Dunder Mifflin as a silent camera crew catches every awkward pause, from regional manager Michael Scott's desperate need to be loved to the slow-burn romance between salesman Jim and receptionist Pam, with beet-farming stickler Dwight escalating every conflict. Adapted from Ricky Gervais's BBC series, the American version ran nine seasons and grew warmer as it went, turning cringe into affection. The talking-head asides and long-held glances became a comic language of their own.
Quick answers
What is The Office about?
A paper company in Scranton, filmed like a documentary nobody asked for. The Office follows the staff of Dunder Mifflin as a silent camera crew catches every awkward pause, from regional manager Michael Scott's desperate need to be loved to the slow-burn romance between salesman Jim and receptionist Pam, with beet-farming stickler Dwight escalating every conflict. Adapted from Ricky Gervais's BBC series, the American version ran nine seasons and grew warmer as it went, turning cringe into affection. The talking-head asides and long-held glances became a comic language of their own.
When was The Office released?
The Office was released on 24 March 2005.
How many episodes does The Office have?
The Office has 186 episodes across 9 seasons.
Who made The Office?
The Office was created by Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Where can I watch The Office?
The Office is available on DirecTV On Demand, Peacock, Peacock Premium, TBS, YouTube TV and Google Play.
Where to watch The Office
Stream: DirecTV On Demand, Peacock, Peacock Premium, TBS, YouTube TV
Rent: Google Play
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Official site
Cast
- Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
- John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
- Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly
- Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
- Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
- Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
- Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
- Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Lapin
- Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton
- Oscar Nuñez as Oscar Martinez
- B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
- Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
Similar series
Explore The Office guides
The Office in our writing
- Companion guide: Mockumentary: The Complete Guide to the Fake Documentary
A few thoughts on The Office
Tina Fey's Bossypants shares the single-camera comedy world and the workplace absurdity, told from the writers' room instead of the sales floor. For the same nine-to-five satire on film, Office Space skewers cubicle life with cult-classic glee and the same eye for petty office tyranny.
Mockumentary comedies filmed like a real documentary crew is watching
The Office borrowed its shaky camera and talking-head asides straight from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's original UK version, which plays much darker and more excruciating. Parks and Recreation shares Greg Daniels's DNA and warmth, while W1A and Twenty Twelve apply the same fake-documentary trick to a broadcaster and an Olympics committee instead of a paper company.
Old-school sitcoms where the job is the entire found family
Dunder Mifflin turns a dull paper company into a found family, and these do the same trick in other unglamorous jobs. Barney Miller's police precinct, Sanford and Son's junkyard, WKRP's failing radio station, Just Shoot Me's magazine office and Superstore's big-box aisles all run on the same bickering, loyal coworkers, while Office Space skewers the cubicle grind from the movie side.
British sitcoms where a scrappy little workplace is the whole world
The Office's cringe comedy has British cousins that trap their casts in one cramped workplace all day. Drop the Dead Donkey does it in a chaotic TV newsroom, Green Wing in a surreal hospital, and Ink in a small-town newspaper office, while Only Fools and Horses turns two brothers' failing market-trading business into its own dysfunctional office.