Where to watch The Office (2005–2013)

Trivia & production notes

• The pilot episode was a direct adaptation of the British series' first episode because creator Greg Daniels felt starting from scratch would be too risky for an adaptation.
• Scripts for The Office frequently ran too long for the 22-minute time slot, forcing cuts; the episode 'Search Committee' had an initial 75-page script that was 10 pages over.
• Steve Carell only watched about half of the original British pilot before auditioning, deliberately stopping to avoid copying Ricky Gervais' performance.
• Ricky Gervais was offered the role of Michael Scott but declined, believing it wouldn't make sense and unwilling to relocate to the United States.
• John Krasinski considered quitting acting before landing the Jim Halpert role, having given himself two to three years to succeed; he booked the part just three weeks after his mother encouraged him to wait until year's end.
• Rainn Wilson originally auditioned for Michael Scott with what he described as a 'terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation,' but casting directors preferred his audition for Dwight Schrute instead.
• Jenna Fischer prepared for her Pam audition by styling herself to look as boring as possible, creating what became the character's signature hairstyle.
• Phyllis Smith was cast as Phyllis simply because pilot director Ken Kwapis liked the way she read lines with other auditioning actors; she was originally a casting associate.
• Mindy Kaling got her on-screen role as Kelly Kapoor because a script for 'Diversity Day' called for Michael to be slapped by a minority character.
• Four of the show's writers—B.J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein, Mindy Kaling, and Michael Schur—also appeared as characters, with Novak cast after Greg Daniels saw his stand-up comedy.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article The Office (American TV series), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.