# The Office??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758 "2012-05-03T14:22:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/22 "2012-05-04T10:27:21Z")
That’s why the heads-up to the mods. It still might be visible to search engines. [Just found this.](http://forum.nuevasync.com/forum/user/profile/32394.page) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/23 "2012-05-04T13:39:26Z")
In general if someone registers with a spam link in their sig/profile, we treat them as a spammer. If they protested, we might take another look, but no one ever protests. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/24 "2012-05-04T23:09:26Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > The show has been going for eight (?) seasons now and I guess I expected more. I really expected it to grab me and pull me into it but it didn’t. Heck, it didn’t even describe who they were talking to when they look at the camera? Was it a news crew? Upper management? This has never been explained, and I doubt it ever will be – not unless they decide to include it in the series finale. If you want to watch _The Office_ you just have to accept that it’s shot in a documentary style and not think too much about it beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/25 "2012-05-05T00:18:28Z")
I like the American version but it takes 5 or 6 episodes to get a good idea about the personalities of the characters. The humor is a lot better after you get to that point. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/26 "2012-05-05T00:23:24Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > This has never been explained, and I doubt it ever will be – not unless they decide to include it in the series finale. If you want to watch _The Office_ you just have to accept that it’s shot in a documentary style and not think too much about it beyond that. In the UK version it is more or less explained that it’s a TV documentary along the lines of…oh, what was that show that followed around people working in an airport, or John and Kate plus Eight. They even talk about, in the last episode, how some people are getting recognised on the streets now that the show has aired. I always assumed it was the same in the US version and they are just waiting until they are done with their (very long) filming period to air the footage. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/27 "2012-05-05T01:12:45Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > In the UK version it is more or less explained that it’s a TV documentary along the lines of…oh, what was that show that followed around people working in an airport, or John and Kate plus Eight. They even talk about, in the last episode, how some people are getting recognised on the streets now that the show has aired. > > I always assumed it was the same in the US version and they are just waiting until they are done with their (very long) filming period to air the footage. In the last episode with Michael Scott (late season 7), he says something like “Hey, let me know when this finally airs” to the cameraman before going off to catch his plane. So Michael at least has some expectation that this documentary will eventually be on US television, but it’s not clear whether this is a \*realistic \*expectation. While other characters have occasionally acknowledged the presence of the film crew, this scene with Michael was the only hint as to why the crew was there in the first place. If \*\*vislor \*\*is hoping for any real backstory on this, I think s/he is going to be disappointed. The two most popular fanwanks seem to be that in-universe _The Office_ is either a documentary about American office life that’s being produced for an overseas audience, or it’s not a professional production at all – maybe there’s an “Intro to Documentary Filmmaking” course at the local community college or something. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/28 "2012-05-05T01:25:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > While other characters have occasionally acknowledged the presence of the film crew, this scene with Michael was the only hint as to why the crew was there in the first place. Occasionally? Jim mugs it up for the camera at least once per episode. At any rate, I always thought it would be a neat twist if a show was filmed documentary style, like The Office, but that the show also actually aired on TV in-universe. Meaning anything said in candid to the cameras would become office fodder within the next few weeks after it airs. It would also be fun to have the characters deal with increasing fame as they go about their decreasingly normal lives. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/29 "2012-05-05T01:32:45Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Occasionally? Jim mugs it up for the camera at least once per episode. Not only that, Karen even said “What do I think about Jim, I don’t know, he looks at the camera and makes that stupid face all the time” or something like that. Other then the interviews, the camera crew is acknowledged all the time. More often in the beginning then in the later seasons. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkYGtuVQgyI) the clip where she says it. Someone slowed it down to make it seem like she’s drunk..it’s kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/30 "2012-05-05T01:58:35Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > The two most popular fanwanks seem to be that in-universe _The Office_ is either a documentary about American office life that’s being produced for an overseas audience, or it’s not a professional production at all – maybe there’s an “Intro to Documentary Filmmaking” course at the local community college or something. [‘The Office’ Ends As Documentary Crew Gets All The Footage It Needs](http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-office-ends-as-documentary-crew-gets-all-the-f,6988/) ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/31 "2012-05-05T04:26:11Z")
I watched the first two seasons. It’s pretty meh. I can’t stand the characters of Michael Scott and Dwight. I realize they are supposed to be annoying. But I deal with enough annoying people in real life. Why would I spend my leisure time watching them? Of course, my argument is completely negated by the fact that I love 30 Rock. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758/32 "2012-05-05T17:07:40Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Occasionally? Jim mugs it up for the camera at least once per episode. I said “occasionally” because a while back we had a thread where someone claimed that _The Office_ was not being shot by an in-world documentary crew at all, and that the glances at the camera and interview segments were just breaking the fourth wall. This does seem to be the case on _Modern Family_, but on _The Office_ there have been a few scenes where there can be no doubt that the documentary format isn’t just a stylistic thing and a film crew is present in-world, such as Jim telling the cameraman to get down when they went to spy on the Utica branch and he was trying to hide in the car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office/620758.md?page=1)