The Office | Teen Ink

The Office

June 5, 2014
By e_foy BRONZE, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
e_foy BRONZE, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Fact: NBC’s “The Office” is the greatest television show of all time. From its hilarious characters to its informal setting, it truly is one of the most unique shows to ever be broadcasted on TV. The show follows the lives of various office workers in a fictional paper company called “Dunder Mifflin,” set in Scranton, Pennsylvania. “The Office” takes on a mockumentary style in which the characters continuously break the fourth wall, or look into the camera, by talking with cameramen and those shooting their documentary. Running for nine seasons over eight years, the show has garnered much attention and many awards, as well as a dedicated fan base.

The show centers around the workers of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, who are being filmed for a documentary. For the first seven seasons, Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the Scranton branch’s regional manager, was the focus of the show. Scott incessantly berates his workers with his dry humor and “that’s what she said jokes,” thoroughly exasperating those who worked for him. Other storylines include the “bromance” between office workers Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Jim (John Krasinski), as well as the latter’s office romance with receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer).

The show has accumulated a vast fan base, including both casual fans and a large cult following. Despite its praise from fans, it has been written off as a carbon copy of the original U.K. series of which this show was a spin-off of. Admittedly, the American version contains the same premise and an almost mirror-image first season, but the similarities stop there. The United States’ version completely takes a different turn for the rest of its running, and definitely deserves the praise and recognition it has gotten. Although the show is meant to be a comedy, it manages to include heartwarming moments and storylines to draw in a diverse following. Furthermore, many shows are not able to keep the attention of so many people for such a long time and are cancelled within a few seasons. Because of its short, 20 minute long episodes and riveting storylines, “The Office” was able to keep the attention of its fans when premiering an episode while guaranteeing that they will return next week for more, as shown by its jumping numbers of viewers each week. By the end of the show’s running, it averaged around 5 million viewers per episode.

Overall, NBC’s unique television show is definitely one of the best in the world. It all started with one prank - Jim hiding Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O (“Michael, Jim put my stuff in Jell-O again!”) and ended with Dwight’s marriage to fellow officer worker, Angela, Jim by his side as second-best man. The show made the audience feel as if they truly knew these people, and as a result, viewers were all heartbroken to turn on their televisions on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. and no longer see “The Office” on that night’s schedule.



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