One of the reasons that make me so fond of The Office, even almost a decade after its ending, is seeing how the cast, crew and producers still care for each other. Michael was disrespectful, Angela was judgemental, Dwight was insane, yes. But Steve Carell, Angela Kinsey and Rainn Wilson, along with the others, have, to this day, much affection towards each other.

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned Office Ladies podcast, by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. It is a rewatch podcast; every Wednesday, they discuss a new episode of the series, starting from Pilot. As of today, their most recent episode discussed S03E08 The Merger.

But this week I discovered another podcast by another cast member: An Oral History of The Office, by Brian Baumgartner, who portrayed Kevin Malone in the TV show.

Yet another podcast?

As one would expect, Brian’s new podcast has a different concept from Office Ladies (what would even be the point in repeating the same idea, right?). Instead of discussing episodes, plot and character development, An Oral History of The Office focuses in different aspects: production, casting, ratings, among others.

(Did you know that Bob Odenkirk had been selected for the role of Michael Scott? Can you imagine Saul Goodman being boss to Dwight Schrute?)

Brian interviews other cast members, crew and producers, and they talk about the idea of creating an American adaptation of British series The Office, how did the first talks with Ricky Gervais and BBC go, how did the actors first find out about this new adaptation and how did the auditions go.

The big break

Few of the actors seemed to believe that the show would be the big hit it became a few years later. Not because they didn’t believe the show was great, but because success relied on many factors beyond anyone’s control.

Television was different 15 years ago. People would actually sit in front of TV an wait for their favorite show to start at a scheduled time, there was no such thing as binge watching and Netflix was a DVD rental company.

Michael Scott, redeemable?

The show’s reception, at the first screen tests, wasn’t great. The pilot was picked, but NBC ordered only five more episodes for the first season. Producers, led by Greg Daniels, decided something had to be done.

One of the modifications they made was to make Michael Scott just a little bit more likeable. He would still be an idiot, he would still be shown in a negative light, but they would add a different tone.

Michael had to be different from his British counterpart, David Brent, who was simply a jerk, unlikeable person. Instead, he was constructed as someone who, deep down, has no intention of causing harm, but his lack of social skills still leads him to do it. You feel sorry for him, but then the next minute he does it again, and you’re mad at him again.

Also, despite being an incompetent manager, he demonstrates being a great salesman, making his promotion to manager more believable.

This is one of the many interesting discussions Brian Baumgartner and producer Ben Silverman bring to the podcast.

The most popular show

So far, The Office has survived the test of time. It’s been renewing its audience over the years, attracting young viewers and causing a bid war among streaming companies.

An Oral History of The Office is a portrait of the show’s time. Four episodes (out of a total twelve) have been released so far, and I fully recommend it to anyone who is a fan of The Office.