The Office changed the way comedy was looked at. Back in 2005 when slapstick humour, cue laughter and sitcoms were very much a rage, The Office stood out in so many ways. Adapted from a British show starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman, the NBC version ran over 200 episodes for a course of nine years and still being binge-watched.
Anyone who has watched The Office cannot help but fall in love with the characters. Fans will remember the famous “Absolutely I do” to “That’s what she said” even years after the show has ended. The workplace sitcom is memorable for so many things, winning prestigious awards to setting a standard for the next gen to follow. Though we fans might be familiar with every episode and dialogues, there are behind the scene facts that not many of us do.
Here are 11 facts only true The Office fans will know.
Opening credit was shot by John Krasinski
The opening credit is a video where you can see many office buildings, most of them real. One of the scenes from Scranton, Pennsylvania was actually shot by John Krasinski when he visited the city with his friends.
The initial success was owed to iTunes
The Christmas Party episode that had revolved around Michael gifting a 400$ iPod to Ryan kicked off the success of the show. Though it was not a sponsored Apple episode, the next day the episode aired, Apple had made 11 NBC shows available for download including the Office. The show became such a success on video ipod 2005.
The computers on set actually worked
The on-set computers even had internet connection to make it feel more like an office for the cast. The office space in first season was an actual office in Culver City but they transitioned to a sound stage and replicated everything from the office to stage. Even the working computers.
Jim and Pam engagement scene was quite expensive
The fake rain scene that is a short scene costed 250,000 dollars. Initially the scene was supposed to be shot at a stop on Merritt Parkway but later the fake rain could not be allowed which was crucial for the scene. So a replica was built which ended up being the most expensive shot of the series.
Michael’s appearance in series finale was kept a secret
The retirement of Steve Carell from the show was emotional. In the series finale when Michael comes to Dwight’s wedding, it was a surprise we all loved. But apparently, no one knew about Carell’s cameo and the showrunners kept it a secret even from the network executives.
