Reflection on The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene

              I loved this book! It is the coolest oral history of The Office I’ve ever read though it is also the only one I’ve ever read. I think that is because it is the only thing of its kind in existence. I would also recommend (the much much shorter) Conference Room, Five Minutes by Shea Serrano, but that’s just essays inspired by The Office. If you really want to know all the best trivia and info about how the show was made, Andy Greene is your guy. I think he interviewed 86 people among the cast, crew, and writers who made it all happen. The biggest strength of the book is in how Greene lets the people involved do the talking. The oral history format works really, really well.

              One of the most interesting things I learned (among many interesting things) was that Steve Carrell ended up leaving the show feeling disrespected by the producers and NBC. Apparently he let slip in an interview that he was thinking about leaving and then got no response from anyone. No one ever checked in with him about that and it rubbed him the wrong way. NBC apparently was very bad at talent management in those years and it’s still kind of unclear who’s responsibility it was. The only sure thing is that it really hurt the show. It’s worth noting though that showrunner Greg Daniels had already left after season five to focus on Parks and Recreation and didn’t return until season nine. The thought I had when I read this was that David Wallace should have become the replacement for Michael. They struggled a lot with who to bring in but also didn’t want to change the dynamic of the show by promoting someone from within. I think David Wallace would have been a good compromise.



Miscellaneous Facts:

• Rainn Wilson auditioned for both Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute
• They wanted to cast Peter Dinklage as “a dwarf or midget” named Anton, which I think would not have been tastefully done in 2003.
• Jenna Fischer was married to James Gunn, who went on to direct the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
• Phyllis Smith (who played Phyllis) was a casting assistant to Allison Jones, the director of casting, who put her in the show.
• Originally, Chili’s was upset about the script for the Season 2 opener, in which Pam was gonna vomit all over the bar. Instead, they had her fall off her stool and get kicked out for sneaking drinks from other tables. That change was Steve Carrell’s idea and stopped Chili’s from pulling out of the episode.
• Jim was originally the only talking head with a window behind him while the others faced the bullpen. That symbolized that he had a future. Pam eventually joined him on that side.
• Michael Scott’s condo is at 7303 Bonnie Place in Reseda, California.
• Jen Celotta, a major showrunner thought about having an episode with Phyllis going through menopause. I think that would’ve been a good idea and it’s a shame they didn’t do it. The fact that they didn’t reminds me of the book Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez that I just read.
• The very famous scene when Dwight simulates a fire in the office was made for premiere after the Super Bowl, to draw in viewers. What a good idea.
• Jenna Fisher said that when she got to say goodbye as Pam to Michael and the mics cut out, she “told him all the ways I was going to miss him when he left our show. Those were real tears and a real goodbye.”
• An idea was pitched to replace Michael that Queen Latifah be brought in as the boss and that she would slowly fire and replace everyone with black comedians and it would become the black office. I think that idea is super funny but it was not favored in the writers’ room.
• Originally it was thought that they were going to use the new cast from later seasons to reboot the show but that idea was abandoned in season nine when Greg Daniels and NBC decided to end it. The end of the show was announced when Bryan Cranston was on set directing the “Work Bus” episode.