The Office is an American mockumentary sitcom television series. It is based on the BBC series The Office created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and adapted for NBC by Greg Daniels. The show depicts the everyday work lives of office employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It aired from March 24, 2005, to May 16, 2013, for a total of nine seasons consisting of 201 episodes. The show was co-produced by Daniels' Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille Productions (later Shine America), and 3 Arts Entertainment (although uncredited) in association with Universal Television. The original executive producers were Daniels, Gervais, Merchant, Howard Klein, and Ben Silverman, with numerous others being promoted in later seasons. Like the British original, which aired from 2001 to 2003, the series was filmed in a single-camera setup without a studio audience or a laugh track, to mirror the look of an actual documentary. It debuted on NBC as a mid-season replacement and ended its nine-season run on May 16, 2013, with a two-part series finale. Its original main cast was Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak. It experienced numerous changes to its ensemble cast during its run. Stars outside the original main cast include Ed Helms, Rashida Jones, Amy Ryan, Mindy Kaling, Craig Robinson, James Spader, Ellie Kemper, and Catherine Tate. The Office received moderately positive reviews from critics (except for the pilot episode, which received mixed reviews) during its relatively short first season of 6 episodes, a British television standard, but the following seasons, particularly Carell's performance, received significant acclaim from television critics as the show's characters, content, structure, and tone diverged considerably from the original British series. These seasons were included on several critics' year-end top TV series lists, winning several awards including a Peabody Award in 2006, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award for Carell's performance, and five Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Comedy Series, in 2006. The eighth season was criticized for declining quality, with Carell's departure in season seven seen as a contributing factor. However, the ninth and final season ended the series with a generally positive response. The series finale, which originally aired on May 16, 2013, was viewed by an estimated 5.7 million viewers and garnered critical acclaim. In 2016, Rolling Stone named The Office one of the 100 greatest television shows of all time.
Production
Crew Greg Daniels adapted the British The Office series for American television and served as the showrunner for the first four seasons. He then left the position when he co-created the comedy series Parks and Recreation with fellow The Office writer Michael Schur and divided his time between both series. Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta were named the showrunners for the fifth season. Celotta left the series after the sixth season and Lieberstein stayed on as showrunner for the following two seasons. He left the showrunner spot after the eighth season for the potential Dwight Schrute spin-off, The Farm, which was eventually passed on by NBC. Daniels returned to the showrunner position for the ninth and final season. Other executive producers include cast members B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling. Kaling, Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein, and Schur made up the original team of writers. Kaling, Novak, and Lieberstein also served multiple roles on the series, as they played regular characters on the show, as well as wrote, directed, and produced numerous episodes. Credited with twenty-four episodes, Kaling is the most prolific writer among the staff. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British series, are credited as executive producers and wrote both pilot and the third-season episode "The Convict". Merchant later directed the episode "Customer Survey", while Gervais appeared briefly in the episodes "The Seminar" and "Search Committee", reprising his role as David Brent from the British series. Randall Einhorn is the most frequent director of the series, with 15 credited episodes. The series also had many guest directors, including Lost co-creator J. J. Abrams, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, both of whom are fans of the series, and filmmakers Jon Favreau, Harold Ramis, Jason Reitman, and Marc Webb. Episodes have been directed by several of the actors on the show including Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, B. J. Novak, Ed Helms, Brian Baumgartner, Mindy Kaling, and Paul Lieberstein.
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