In 2005, a bunch of Americans tasked themselves with adapting Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s beloved British series The Office for U.S. audiences.They exceeded everyone’s expectations and managed to make a super-successful comedy that debuted on March 24, 2005, ran for nine seasons, and still remains one of the most loved shows of all time.
From How John Krasinski almost sabotaged his own audition to Why the temperature on set had to be kept at a cold 64 degrees Fahrenheit, Here are the 22 Heartwarming facts about your favorite show The Office:
1. THE CPR SESSION WAS ABLE TO SAVE A LIFE
In the The Office season 5 episode “Stress Relief,” Michael arranges a CPR training session for his staff .
Even though this activity ended up very Scrantonly and none of the employees learned anything from it.
But, Someone at actually home did learn CPR from it.
In the “Stress Relief” episode , it’s said that the chest compressions should be done to the beat of the famous Bee Gees song, “Stayin’ Alive,”.
This tip helped an Office fan from Arizona perform successful CPR on a woman he found slumped over in her car.
And thankfully he was able to bring her consciousness after about a minute of CPR .
After that, He took her to the hospital, where she was later discharged.
2. STEVE CARELL IMPROVISED HIS KISS WITH OSCAR
In The Office season three episode, “Gay Witch Hunt,” the script only called for a hug. Oscar Nuñez himself revealed that the on-screen kiss between himself and Steve Carell was actually improvised.
Steve Carrell was the one who who improvised the scene and shocked the entire crew.
That is to say, that the entire cast reaction to this scene was real, not scripted.
3. CASTING AGENT GOT CASTED
Phyliss was a casting agent for The Office before she got the role of Phyllis.
While, She was reading the script with auditioning actors when the director Ken Kwapis decided that she was the one who should play Phyliss.
4. PESIMISSM
It was hard for the show’s cast and crew to have faith early on.
During the first season, NBC executives would bring a lot of bad vibes to the set.
According to John Krasinski, they would say negative things like, “This episode is so good. Unfortunately, it’s the last one we are going to do.”
5. THE CAST CHOSE THE THEME SONG
When it came to the show’s opening theme music, series creator Greg Daniels gave the cast four versions of the song and allow them to vote on the winner.
The now-iconic song came from a demo by composer Jay Ferguson,and performed by The Scrantones.
Bonus Fact: Bob Thiele Jr., the guitarist of The Scrantones also made an appearance on the episode “The Booze Cruise.”
6. INTERNS
Obviously cutting your teeth with a comedy legend like Conan O’Brien helps when you’re starring in your own show.
In fact, Mindy Kaling (1999), John Krasinski (2000), and Ellie Kemper (2005) were all interns for the NBC late night host before getting there big break.
7. MORE OFFICE PLEASE
According to Oscar Nunez, the cast and crew always shot “tons” of footage.
A lot of these shots ended up as DVD extras, but the actor claimed that each episode could have been much longer.
Nunnez stated that “Even the awkward scenes, where nothing is happening, where everyone is just uncomfortable, could go on longer and become even funnier, because the level of discomfort just rises,”.
8. JIM’S RAIN-FILLED PROPOSAL WAS EXPENSIVE
The show’s writers had a clear vision for how Jim’s proposal to Pam would look like.
They wanted to shoot it at an actual rest stop on the Merritt Parkway, but it would have cost $100,000. Further, they wouldn’t be allowed to use fake rain, which was crucial to the scene.
So, the crew built a replica of the Merritt Parkway and a rest stop. This shot alone ended up costing $250,000.
The series creator, Greg Daniels described the scene as “the most expensive and elaborate shot we’ve ever done, but it’s also sort of the highlight of five years of storytelling.”
9. HOMAGE OF THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE OFFICE
In the American version of The Office, The Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin is located at 1725 Slough Avenue.
That’s not a real street in the actual Scranton, Pennsylvania.
But, It’s a reference to the original version of the The Office, which takes place in Slough, England.
Well, Consider this as an Homage to the real show.
10. JOHN DONE HIS HOMEWORK
John Krasinski met with several employees at various paper companies to research his role, and he filmed a visit he took through Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The actual footage of his trip through the city was initially used in the show’s opening credits sequence.
And according to Rainn Wilson’s memoir, He would go on to play a role in helping production with set decoration and design details.
Well it looks like The Office played a part in developing John’s interest in film direction.
11. THE OFFICE CAST COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT DIFFERENT
The Office cast could have been way different than there are now.
For instance, Adam Scott was almost cast as Jim Halpert. Seth Rogen was within the running to play Dwight Schrute. Eric Stonestreet auditioned for Kevin. Before getting cast as Angela, Angela Kinsey auditioned for Pam Beasley. Bob Odenkirk was originally cast as Michael Scott but was replaced by Steve Carell when the show he’d been performing on , Come to Papa, was canceled.
Thank God! Come to Papa was canceled.
12. 64 DEGRESS FAHRENHEIT
The reason for this, according to Rainn Wilson who plays Dwight, The temperature on set had to be kept at a cold 64 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because Steve Carell had active sweat glands that could ruin a shot. The entire cast had to suffer until the crew sprung for space heaters.
Still, Some how our Kevin managed to put the temperature to 69.
13. AAAWWWWW
Even though Jim and Pam were not real life partners off the screen.
In real life, Jenna Fischer kept Pam’s engagement ring that Jim gave her.
14. JOHN KRASINKI ALMOST SABOTAGED HIS OWN AUDITION
Here’s a little story about John Kransnski’s audition that you will be make your day.
15. HE KNEW IT ALL ALONG
Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and Rain Wilson all went for lunch after they were initially cast and discussed their prediction that this show had the possibility to go on for eight years.
At this early lunch Steve Carell predicted, “Of all the roles I’ll end up doing and all the films I may shoot, I believe that Michael Scott may be the role I’ll always be most known for.”
In addition to being a great acting, it looks like Steve Carell is a great predictor too.
16. THE ONLY EPISODE THAT WAS NOT RE-WRITTEN
“The Office” is known for its episode “The Dinner Party,” It is widely considered by viewers and critics (and even the cast) to be the funniest on the show. Perhaps it’s not that surprising to know, then, that it’s the only script that was never rewritten in the show.
According to co-writer Gene Stupnitsky, The only thing that was changed in the first draft was Jan hitting the neighbor’s dog and killing it it on purpose.
17. CARELL WIFE IS CAROL
The actress who was cast as Carol, Nancy Carell, is the real life partner of Steve Carell. The Couple were married in 1995, they even have two kids named Elisabeth Anne Carell, John Carell.
18. THEY WERE JUST CHILL’N
Never feel too bad for the actors staring blankly at computers in the background during Michael Scott monologues — chances are, they were browsing the net to entertain themselves.
Sources according to the Hollywood Reporter suggests that, The set computers are all Internet-enabled to give the cast an added boost of office-life realism.
19. STEVE CARELL HAD HIS NUMBER RETIRED
When Steve Carell left the show after seven seasons, he was still adored by the whole cast and crew. Up to that point, Steve had always been number one on the call sheet.
So, when he left from the show, they “retired” the number one. This was the reason why it didn’t appear on the call sheet again.
20. SHOWRUNNERS KEPT CARELL’S FINALE APPEARANCE SECRET FROM EVERYONE
The showrunners were so tight lipped about Carell’s appearance in the the show’s finale that they didn’t even tell network executives that he was gonna appear in the finale.
According to Greg Daniels, They shot the Steve Carell stuff and kept it out of the dailies and didn’t tell them about it. And at the table reading, they gave the Steve Carell lines to Creed.
21. WAIT WHAAT
According to Screenrant, In The Office season 3, Jim is wearing fake hair. It turns out Krasinski was shooting the movie “Leatherheads” at the same time, and he had to shave his head in order to play a 1920s football player.
However, Thankfully, viewers never noticed the difference.
22. WELL WELL LOOK HOW THE TABLES TURNED
When the Stamford branch and Scranton branch merged, the idea was to eventually alienate, fire, or cause all of the Stamford character’s to quit.
But, Ed Helms was so funny that they couldn’t remove him. Instead of getting removed he got added as regular cast member in the series.
BONUS FACTS:
- Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) and Ed Helms (Andy) attended the same high school.
- Spinoffs were planned for both Andy and Dwight to get their own shows but eventually fell through.
- Bilie Eilish is a huge fan of The Office.
If you liked reading this post. Then, Please consider reading our post on Top 15 Breath-taking Keanu Reeves facts that will make your day
And as always Thanks for reading.
