Summary
- The Office became a massive hit and instant classic due to its unique single-camera setup and absence of a laugh track, capturing the chaotic lives of Scranton paper company workers in a believable way.
- The departure of Steve Carell's character Michael Scott was a blow to the show's ratings, but The Office managed to recover and create two more successful seasons.
- The cast of The Office engaged in method acting by pretending to be office workers for 30 minutes each day before filming, giving them the appearance of authentic characters and making the show feel like everyone had been working there for decades.
The general audience always feels the need to justify the success of popular TV shows. It's no different with the renowned mockumentary The Office. The famous sitcom had made everyone laugh for over eight years before three cast members suggested The Office should come to an end during season nine.
The show documents the chaotic lives of paper supply company workers in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Its main quirk is to mock the corporate environment, and various social issues the world at large faces.
The characters of The Office have become such a significant part of many people's lives, that some find it hard to conceptualize the fact that The Office's actors have their own lives with partners outside the show. Some fans were even weirded out upon hearing Kevin Malone's (Brian Baumgartner) actual voice in real life. All of this can be probably owed to the believability of the series, and there's one trick that made it all work.
Fans Were Not Surprised By 'Secrets' In An Unaired The Office Episode
An unaired episode with an interesting plot for Kevin Malone surprised no one when Brian Baumgartner revealed the details.
The Office Was A Massive Hit (And An Instant Classic)
Many may not be aware that The Office was actually based on a British BBC series of the same name, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Gervais was even able to bank a fortune from the US Office thanks to the US syndication rights of the show.
The big reason why the show's so special, and different from anything we've ever seen, is its use of a single-camera setup without a laugh track in a cinéma vérité style. The Office was even filmed in a real building, unlike other shows that use sound stages.
Paul Rudd's prediction about Steve Carell's involvement with the show couldn't be more far from reality. Despite the rocky start of the first season, the series managed the impossible by creating its own style, while at the same time paying tribute to the original.
The Office quickly rose to the top positions of the 'best TV series' lists across numerous media outlets, who praised the show for its character developments, as well as its sour-sweet humor filled with warmth.
The Office couldn't do without certain struggles as well. While some actors such as Melora Hardin didn't really get along with other co-stars, others couldn't come to terms with Ed Helms becoming a regular on the show.
But, the true struggle came in the form of Carell saying farewell to the show; even his co-star Rainn Wilson thought that his departure in season seven was "a tremendous blow" to the series.
The "blow" was visible in The Office's ratings after its protagonist Michael Scott left. Many thought the show should have ended with Carell's departure, but the series managed to pull itself back on its feet with the last two seasons.
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Brian Baumgartner Revealed A Behind-The-Scenes Secret About Filming
Brian Baumgartner, who portrayed the character of Kevin Malone on the show, has revealed a secret about The Office's filming method on the PardonMyTake podcast. It was disclosed that the cast had to method act as office workers thirty minutes a day.
Although some of the actors, such as Steve Carell, were left with a bad acting habit of staring into the camera during his career, this unconventional method acting move might have come in handy.
We would all show up to work earlier than it would ever be used on camera. Everybody would get ready, and then at 7 a.m. generally, we would go into the office, and the cameras would just walk around for thirty minutes, and film us.
Although media outlets, such as The Atlantic, claim that Hollywood has ruined method acting, it definitely worked for early 2000s sitcoms, in the likes of The Office.
Baumgartner continued to explain how the cast would do fake work and fake phone calls, and how some of the footage would be used in the credit scenes. The director of the first episode Ken Kwapis, didn't want the TV show to feel awkward and new. They wanted to make it feel like "everyone has been working here for decades."
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Fans Called The "Method Acting" Brilliant
There's a long list of actors who have spoken out against method acting, but it's most likely those who imagine actors undergoing extreme scenarios. Pretending to be an office worker thirty minutes a day off camera doesn't sound really harmful.
In fact, upon revelation, fans called this idea brilliant. Many fans have expressed their desire to watch each and every thirty-minute-long clip of the cast just existing.
The audience found the idea brilliant mainly because it gave the actors the appearance of real office workers, stating that Stanley's facial expression can only be done by those who know the experience of waking up early for office work.
This tremendous production cause has even managed to cause some confusion in the audience; upon first watching the series, many thought it to be a reality show of how authentic the acting was. This inventive move may have been the reason why the atmosphere of the office was captured so perfectly.
