The Office (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Das Büro The Office (alternative title) |
| Original title | The Office |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 2005-2013 |
| Production company |
Universal Television , Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille Productions |
| length | 20-22 minutes |
| Episodes | 201 in 9 seasons ( List ) |
| genre |
Comedy , mockumentary , satire |
| idea |
Ricky Gervais , Stephen Merchant |
| First broadcast | March 24, 2005 (USA) on NBC |
| German-language first broadcast |
January 5, 2008 on Super RTL |
| occupation | |
| |
The office (original title: The Office ) is an American comedy series . It is based on the British series The Office by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant . The American version was developed by Greg Daniels and co-produced by his company, Gervais and Merchant were only marginally involved in the production. In Germany, Super RTL showed the first two seasons from January 2008 to April 2009, in Austria they were shown on ORF 1 from March 2008 to July 2009 . The third season was shown for the first time on German-language television since January 12, 2014 on Comedy Central . The last three seasons have not yet been dubbed in German.
In contrast to the British original, which was discontinued after two seasons in 2003, the US version was only ended after nine seasons on May 16, 2013 with a one-hour series finale. With the 25 episodes of the last season, the series comes to a total of 201 episodes.
In 2018, the original version of The Office was the most streamed program on the US streaming platform Netflix , well ahead of the second place Friends .
action
The series is designed in the mockumentary style, allegedly to document life in an open-plan office of the paper wholesaling company Dunder Mifflin Inc. in Scranton , Pennsylvania . Scenes from everyday office life alternate with “individual interviews” of the people involved, who comment on what has been shown and thus often give it new meaning.
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Characters
main characters
Michael Scott
The head of the office, who grossly overestimates his qualities as a leader and entertainer (played by Steve Carell ). Compared to the German offshoot Stromberg , Michael Scott's character is much more personable. He tries to keep his employees amused and entertained - be it through quotes from films, imitations of US comedians, videos they have shot themselves or office parties. The sense of humor for the viewer arises from the fact that these attempts are mostly viewed as not funny by the staff due to Scott's lack of tact, because they are inappropriate in almost all situations. Scott sees his family in his workforce and always wants to be a good boss and, above all, a good friend to everyone.
Despite his lack of leadership, it is occasionally evident that Michael is a talented salesman. His sales are above average and his superiors therefore stick with him in case of doubt (Dunder Mifflin easily provides him with legal counsel when the allegation of sexual harassment is in the room).
Scott is 42 years old and a bachelor at the beginning of the series. After mostly unsuccessful flirtations on various occasions, he initially has a more or less platonic relationship with his broker from the middle of the second season. However, she left him on the day of the Christmas party, because after only a short time he made her a marriage proposal. As a result, he was in a relationship with his boss Jan for a while. Then he is still with a colleague, Holly, who is then transferred after the relationship becomes known. Until then, the two have the greatest similarities. The relationship with Pam's mother in season 6 ends abruptly after Michael learns that she is 58 years old. In the meantime he is still with a bar owner. During Season 7, Holly returns to Scranton and reunites with Michael. After their romantic engagement at the end of the season, Michael announces that he and Holly are leaving the company to take care of Holly's parents. Michael made a guest appearance as Dwight's best man in the season finale. It is known that he took so many photos of his children that he had to buy a second phone.
Dwight Kurt Schrute III
Dwight Schrute ( Rainn Wilson ) is first assistant to the regional manager (Assistant to the Regional Manager) until his ascent to the Assistant Regional Manager manages (Assistant Regional Manager). The "promotion" turns out to be a pure motivational measure and an invention by Michael. Dwight is a sales representative for the Scranton subsidiary of Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Dwight is a fan of various fantasy and science fiction films and series, such as The Lord of the Rings , Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica . His character is extremely bizarre and weird, roughly equivalent to the prototype of a quirky nerd. At the same time, however, he also sees himself as a survival expert who has been washed with water and has to ensure law and order in the office. His archenemy is his colleague Jim Halpert, who repeatedly plays inventive tricks that Schrute falls for every time. He had a secret relationship with his colleague Angela from the middle of the second season to the middle of the fifth season. Otherwise it is surprisingly popular with women. He has several one-night stands over the course of the series , including one with Pam's girlfriend, who even falls in love with him. Out of envy of Halpert’s happiness, he finally decides to have a child with Angela. After some back and forth, they confess their love at the end of season 9 and get married in the season finale.
Jim Halpert
Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski ) works as a sales representative like Dwight Schrute. In contrast to Dwight, however, at the beginning of the series he has no ambition or even interest in his job. He's disinterested and bored, which is why he's also admired by Michael Scott, who thinks he's cool. He spends most of his work days playing pranks on Dwight and flirting with receptionist Pam Beesley. He is also unhappily in love with Pam, who is engaged to the warehouse clerk Roy. Jim moves to Stamford , Connecticut for Pam after the second season , but returns to Scranton midway through the third season as the two branches are merged. From then on he is also the new assistant regional manager. After a relationship with his work colleague Karen, whom he met in Stamford, he finally gets together with Pam and the two marry in the sixth season. The two have a daughter, Cecelia Marie Halpert in the 6th season and a son, Philip Halpert in the 8th season. During the 9th season, Jim tries to realize his dream and start a marketing company for sports (Athlead) with a friend. This is also very successful, but since his marriage gets into a crisis, he returns full-time to Dunder Mifflin for Pam's sake. Despite all the rivalry, he organizes Dwight a great bachelorette party and should actually also be his best man. He leaves the job to Michael Scott to please Dwight. When Jim and Pam quit at the end of the series to get back to Athlead, it can be seen that they have developed a friendship with Dwight.
Pam Halpert (formerly Beesly)
Pam Halpert ( Jenna Fischer ) worked as a receptionist at Dunder Mifflin and was therefore exposed to the constant pranks and tasteless jokes of Michael Scott, such as a fake dismissal. Pam is artistically very gifted and interested, which is why she was never entirely satisfied with the position at reception. At first she is engaged to the warehouse clerk Roy, but the relationship falls apart. She eventually gets together with Jim Halpert, whom she also marries after falling in love with her for years. Pam now goes to an art school in New York, but leaves it in favor of Jim. After Michael quit and started his own company, she went with him as a sales representative - and after the company was bought out, she returned to Dunder Mifflin as a sales representative. However, it has the worst sales figures, even behind Andy Bernard. In the first episodes of the sixth season she becomes pregnant by Jim Halpert and has a daughter, Cecelia Marie Halpert. In the eighth season she has a son, Philip. When Jim goes to Philadelphia to pursue his dream, Pam has ever greater doubts and a marital crisis arises because she does not want to move to Philadelphia. Jim quits the job for her sake and returns to Scranton. Pam blames herself for this and after talking to her former colleague, Darryl, who works for the now very successful Athlead company, she sells the house Jim bought for her and moves with her family to Texas, where Athlead is Has its headquarters.
Supporting characters
Darryl Philbin ( Craig Robinson ) is the warehouse foreman. Responsibly, he often plays the weirdly dry opposite pole to the boss, Michael Scott. To his displeasure, Michael Scott doesn't care about safety precautions, behaves childishly and causes shipping delays. Due to his dark skin color and the behavior that Michael Scott therefore expects, amusing puns are often created. They also joke with racist thought patterns that the boss personalizes, for example that all black men must be criminals. In the end, however, it is clear that Darryl Philbin is much more reliable than his boss.
He has a little daughter named Jada who is very important to him. However, he lives separately from her mother. In the first few seasons he had a rather one-sided relationship with Kelly Kapoor from customer service and is therefore not sad when the two split up.
From the episodes Christmas Party and Local Ad it is known that Darryl Philbin also plays keyboard very well.
In the sixth season, Dunder Mifflin Saber CEO Jo Bennett moves him to his own office on the main floor because he was able to impress her with his good ideas. Since then he has appeared more frequently in episodes. After Michael Scott resigned, he was one of the top favorites in the race for executive position, but he hadn't properly prepared for the interview. Some episodes are entirely dedicated to him, such as B. Lotto , the third episode of the eighth season.
In the ninth season he joins the newly founded sports marketing company "Athlead" with Jim, after realizing that he, like Jim, cannot make a career at Dunder Mifflin. At his farewell party in the office, he realizes that he has friends there and is missing.
Stanley Hudson ( Leslie David Baker ) is also a sales representative for Dunder Mifflin. As the only African American in the office, he is always hired by Michael when he wants to prove that he is not racist. The resulting situations show, however, that Michael does indeed have racist thought patterns in some cases. For example, Michael insists that Stanley has to play on the office basketball team against the warehouse team. However, it turns out that unlike Kevin, Stanley doesn't play basketball well. Stanley is divorced and has a teenage daughter. In the course of the series it becomes known that he is remarried, but also has a number of affairs. He's a successful salesman, despite the fact that he spends his afternoons napping and doing crossword puzzles during meetings. He tries to distance himself from his employees, but also shows in some episodes that they are important to him. He has a special friendship with saleswoman Phyllis Lapin. The finale shows that after his retirement he bought an island in the Everglades and from now on spends his time carving wooden figures.
Phyllis Lapin ( Phyllis Smith ) completes the sales team. She went to high school with Michael. Phyllis is a quiet, rather amiable woman, but she also has a nasty side. Occasionally, she will openly tell someone that she doesn't like them. She is also regularly responsible for planning celebrations on the party planning committee. She is engaged to an entrepreneur, Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration , whom she later marries. A separate episode, episode 16 of the third season, is dedicated to the marriage.
Angela Martin ( Angela Kinsey ) works in the accounting department at the Scranton office. She is very conservative in her views and regularly clashes with Phyllis when planning celebrations, and she doesn't think much of Pam Halpert. She had a relationship with Dwight, but for a long time she forces him to keep it a secret. She later even contracted Dwight to sleep with her to have a child. However, she separates from him when she meets the Senator, Robert Lipton. It turns out, however, that he is gay and has a relationship with her colleague Oscar. In the 8th season she has a son Philip. At the end of the 9th season, however, it turns out that Dwight's child is what Dwight had already suspected. The two finally get married at the series finale and Angela loosens up a little. She also has a great love for cats and owns some of them. It can be seen several times that she attends church regularly and is Christian.
Kevin Malone ( Brian Baumgartner ) is an accountant, although he cannot do math, which has been proven several times. He has a very simple mind. Kevin is very overweight and has other physical ailments, such as: B. an anal fissure , problems with foot odor, and suspected skin cancer. Kevin was engaged for a while. When Dwight becomes the manager of Dunder Mifflin towards the end of last season, he throws him out for being unsuitable as an accountant. He eventually buys a bar. As he rolls up his accounts, it becomes clear that he has often used a made-up number called “Keleven” to cover up his mistakes.
Oscar Martinez ( Oscar Núñez ) is the third accountant in Scranton. His homosexuality is outed by Michael, whereupon Oscar initially wants to quit. However, he stays after Dunder Mifflin offers him a generous out-of-court settlement in order not to get into the headlines through a lawsuit. Oscar is from Mexico. His friendship with accountant Angela Martin only becomes noticeable in the last season when Angela is abandoned by her gay husband and fired from her apartment. So she lives temporarily in Oscar's apartment. Oscar is portrayed as a neat, structured person who, together with Jim and Pam, “balances out the madness in the office”, but he still likes to blaspheme with Angela and the other women in the office.
Meredith Palmer ( Kate Flannery ) works in purchasing. She is addicted to alcohol and doesn't talk much to the others. Under the influence of alcohol she develops exhibitionistic traits. Meredith has been divorced twice and has a poorly brought up son who creates additional problems for her. She is very open with her body, so she had to be censored most of all by all employees, for example when her dress slipped and her chest could be seen. She doesn't care about other people's opinions and drives an old minivan. In addition, she always keeps a supply of alcohol in the bottom drawer of her workplace, which becomes visible in the finale.
Ryan Howard ( BJ Novak ) joins sales as a temp. He is ambitious and wants to get into management as quickly as possible. Michael really wants to make him a friend, but also uses him as a personal servant. Ryan is employed in various positions in the company and finally taken over permanently. He developed into a high-flyer and quickly rose to the management of Dunder Miflin. Later he got caught up in a corruption and infidelity case, was released and sentenced to probation. Michael brings him back to the Scranton branch. He has an on-again / off-again relationship with Kelly Kapoor from Customer Service and is really just taking advantage of it. When he returns to the finale last season, he is already a single father while Kelly is dating a doctor. The two fall on each other and run together into the sunset, while he leaves his child, who from now on will be taken care of by Nellie Bertram.
Toby Flenderson ( Paul Lieberstein ) represents the HR department in Scranton and is therefore not directly subordinate to Michael. With his almost stoic composure, he often acts as a corrective to Michael's actionist nature. Toby is divorced and has a daughter of preschool age. He is very proud to have been a member of the jury for The Scranton Strangler and continues to speak of it years later as it was one of the few interesting moments in his life. He is unhappily in love with Pam and therefore leaves Dunder Mifflin in the 5th season to go to Costa Rica, but returns to his old job a little later because he sustained an injury in Costa Rica. Toby is writing his book "Chad Flenderson" and mentions his novel ideas several times, which gets on his colleagues' nerves.
Kelly Kapoor ( Mindy Kaling ) works in customer service. She often behaves as if she were mentally still a teenager. She starts a relationship with Ryan and believes that she has found the man for life, which he sees differently. Later she took part in a management trainee program at the new parent company Saber. Kelly is of Indian descent and Hindu, but knows next to nothing about their culture and beliefs. She leaves Dunder Mifflin at the beginning of season 9 to follow her boyfriend, but leaves him after Dwight's wedding and runs into the sunset with Ryan.
Andrew "Andy" Bernard ( Ed Helms ) comes to Scranton through the merger with the Stamford branch and is the only one who manages to integrate. With the beginning of the eighth season, he takes over the post of regional manager that became vacant after Michael's departure. He was briefly engaged to Angela and then with the receptionist Erin. In the ninth season he takes up Michael's former post and becomes head of the Scranton branch. After his father ran away, he had to sort out family affairs and sailed with his brother to Jamaica for a few months without telling the office or his manager. The relationship with Erin therefore fell apart and he quit Dunder Mifflin to become a star because he is a very good singer and plays the banjo. In the end, he returns to his old Cornell University, which he kept mentioning.
Janet "Jan" Levinson ( Melora Hardin ) is Michael's manager in New York. She is usually only connected by phone, but drives to Scranton every now and then to see if everything is going well. Jan is a conscientious businesswoman and is constantly reprimanding Michael for his misconduct. After their divorce, she spends one night with Michael, but tries to keep the relationship with him on a purely professional level. In fact, she seems to like him a lot and is jealous of Michael's short-term friend Carol. Eventually, the two start a relationship, but split up again shortly afterwards. While still in relationship with Michael, she is released, whereupon she sues Dunder Mifflin and puts Michael between both fronts. However, the latter decides to testify against his girlfriend and not stab his employer in the back. She used his diary as evidence without permission. In the 18th episode of the fourth season it is revealed that she is pregnant from a sperm donor. Her daughter Astrid can be seen several times. In season nine she is the managing director of the Scranton White Pages, Dunder Mifflin's largest paper buyer, and is awarded to Clark for several days.
Erin Hannon ( Ellie Kemper ) is hired to replace Pam at reception when she starts her own paper distribution company with Michael and Ryan towards the end of season five and shortly afterwards joins Dwight, Jim, Stanley, Andy and Phyllis in the sales team. In the course of the series she is portrayed as naive several times. Michael develops into a fatherly friend for her because she grew up in an orphanage and never met her parents. At first she has a happy relationship with Andy, but at the beginning of the seventh season she is with Gabe Lewis, although she never liked him. After the new relationship with Andy failed because he is on a sailing trip for several months and hardly makes contact with her, although he would have had the opportunity, she meets with Pete ("Plop"), who was newly hired in the ninth season. In the finale, she finally gets to know her birth parents, who followed the documentary and with it Erin's search for her parents.
Gabriel "Gabe" Lewis ( Zach Woods ) comes to Scranton with the takeover by Saber to promote integration. He loves horror films and has a brief relationship with Erin. His colleagues have a strong dislike for him. Gabe gets involved in an argument with Michael, because he has the feeling that Gabe is now perceived by the employees as the boss and not himself.
Creed Bratton ( Creed Bratton ) is the branch's oldest employee and is responsible for quality assurance, which he doesn't seem to care about. It is always clear that he is not doing his job and not even knowing what industry Dunder Mifflin is in. He also reveals kleptomaniac traits on various occasions and mentions that he lived as a homeless person for a while. As a child, he spent several years in an iron lung .
Nellie Bertram ( Catherine Tate ) applies unsuccessfully for Michael's successor, but then takes on the newly created position of "Special Project Manager". She has a distinct British accent and is characterized by social and professional incompetence and completely irrational behavior. So she simply takes Andrew's job as "Acting Manager" when he is in Tallahassee to bring Erin back. She tries to adopt a child and ends up taking in Ryan's child he left behind.
David Wallace ( Andy Buckley ) is the chief financial officer of the company's New York headquarters. Despite Michael's unusual leadership style, he often has his back. When Dunder Mifflin was on the verge of bankruptcy, he was fired. After that, he first fell into a hole, but invented a vacuum cleaner with his son that could lift things and whose patent was bought by the US military for several million. With this money he buys Dunder Mifflin back at Andy's request, which means that only one branch is open in the last season.
Holly Flax ( Amy Ryan ) temporarily takes over the Human Resources department from Toby. She has a similar sense of humor to Michael and gets on well with him. When the two get closer, she is transferred to Nashua. There she has a fiancé AJ. She is reassigned to Scranton for a short time as Toby's representative and Michael confesses to her that he still has feelings for himself. She gives AJ an ultimatum to propose to her and when he does not, she separated from him. She gets back together with Michael. Eventually Michael proposed marriage to her and because her father is not doing well, she and Michael leave Dunder Mifflin to take care of their parents. In the final it is revealed that they have several children.
Roy Anderson ( David Denman ) is engaged to Pam at the beginning of the series and is employed in the department store. After Jim confesses his love to her, she separates from Roy. He tries to get Pam back during the 3rd season, but is released because of an attack on Jim. In season 9, Pam and Jim are invited to his wedding and they find out that he is now very successful.
Karen Filippelli ( Rashida Jones ) initially works at the Stamford office, to which Jim is transferring after Pam announces that he is marrying Roy, but is transferred to Scranton due to the merger. There she begins a relationship with Jim. After the separation, she changes location again, this time to Utica. In a later episode it is revealed that she has now married and is pregnant.
Robert California ( James Spader ) joins Scranton following the takeover of Dunder Mifflin by Saber and is CEO of Dunder Mifflin-Saber for a period. Although the company's headquarters are in New York, he spends most of the time in the conference room of the Scanton branch because he likes the atmosphere there better. He is particularly noticeable for excessive drinking and irrational decisions, and he also likes to involve his employees in in-depth conversations. During his time as CEO, he separates from his wife, whereupon he has to sell their house. After David Wallace bought the company back, he disappeared for the rest of the series.
Clark ( Clark Duke ) and Pete ( Jake Lacy ) take over customer service after Kelly and Ryan leave. Pete meets secretary Erin during the ninth season, while Clark is referred to as a kind of "second Dwight" by colleagues.
Episode list
Awards
- In 2006 Steve Carell was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Series (Comedy / Musical), and from 2007 to 2009 he was nominated for the same award.
- In 2006, the series has been selected as Best Comedy Series with the Emmy Award. Carell received nominations for Best Actor in a Series (Comedy / Musical) .
Individual evidence
- ↑ ORF: tv.orf.at ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . As of March 23, 2008.
- ↑ Michael Ausiello: The Office Series Finale Set For May 16. In: TVLine.com. February 7, 2013, accessed February 11, 2013 .
- ↑ Rani Molla: Here are some of the most popular shows on Netflix - which may be leaving Netflix soon. December 21, 2018, accessed December 26, 2019 .
Web links
- The office in the Internet Movie Database (English)