The Office

Silly, but sincere
the people behind the cringe
lovingly awkward.

Everything you wanted to know - and some stuff you probably don't care about - regarding The Office (American version). Very quick and easy read, like most oral histories, which I found a welcome respite during the COVID pandemic anxiety. You won't find many catty comments or much juicy gossip; for example, while everyone LOVED Steve Carrell, there were a few cast members who exhibited diva-like behavior in terms of not showing up on time, etc., but they are never named. Lots of love shown for Greg Daniels, who created the U.S. version of the show, a little less so for the two people who succeeded him, but again the book tries to be as even-handed as possible. Possibly the only named person who comes off as a total jerk (besides the NBC suits) is James Spader, but who would be surprised by that?

I skipped over some of the technical parts - how they created the sets for the show, how it was directed to look so much like a documentary, etc., but there was still plenty of fun stuff, especially the list of actors who were considered for and/or auditioned for the main parts.

I wouldn't necessarily agree that The Office was “the greatest sitcom of the 2000s,” but I got a lot of laughs out of it, and am happy to celebrate its humor and humanity.

Very cool behind the scenes account of such a cozy show.