Happy Anniversary to THE OFFICE!!
March 24, 2008 by Kath Skerry
If IMDB is correct (and really, when are they not), then a Happy Anniversary goes out to my very favorite show, THE OFFICE, which premiered three years ago tonight.
I remember March 24, 2005 very clearly. I was flipping through the channels and I saw the opening credits to THE OFFICE. I scoffed out loud at the idea that someone was ballsy enough (i.e., stupid enough) to remake the brilliant UK version of the show. I had zero interest in watching it, but I was such a fan of Steve Carell from his DAILY SHOW days that I thought I should at least check it out. Besides, those two guys from Newton were in it, and we Boston peeps always standby our hometown boys.
I watched. I hardly laughed. I thought “I was right…a complete mess of a show” and I think I vowed not to watch it again. But I did. The very next week I was again flipping through the channels when THE OFFICE came on. Busy doing something else, I kept it on in the background, and about two minutes into it I found myself laughing. By the end I was laughing so hard I had to keep rewinding to see the parts that were drowned out by my laughter. The next morning I went into work and told everyone I could about the brilliance of this show. To this day, “Diversity Day” the second episode of THE OFFICE remains my all time favorite.
I’ve been watching ever since and haven’t missed an episode yet. In honor of the anniversary I dug up my very first GMMR post about THE OFFICE. GMMR was only 5 days old when I first started extolling my love for the show, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
So thanks to Greg Daniels and Co for making THE OFFICE so brilliant. I actually owe the show a lot as it has directly and indirectly led to some of the most amazing experiences of my life. So thanks!! We owe ya!!
(Here’s a clip from “Women’s Appreciation” – a very special episode to me as I was lucky enough to be on the set while they filmed it…oh and it’s damn funny!)
What was the very first episode of THE OFFICE you watched? When did you become hooked?
Thanks to Joy for letting me know about this very special anniversary
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I have to admit I saw the pilot exactly three years ago and while I thought John Krasinski was attractive and Pam and Jim had potential from the very start, Michael and Dwight turned me off. Who knows why. I watched a couple more episodes that season but when I went off to college and stopped watching tv altogether (gasp) I didn’t think I was missing anything other than Alias without Vaughn, which would be pointless. Then in the summer between freshman and sophomore year my mom and I watched some of the season two marathon. After seeing The Injury and Casino Night how could I not love this show? So my mom got me the Best Buy box set and I have been a superfan ever since.
Northern Attack, Office Tally, GMMR, I will go anywhere to get my Office-y goodness. I can convert anyone with my dvds and my enthusiasm. And I have become one of *those people* who go to conventions and scream for my tv idols like those Beetles fans did back in the day. And I love it! Happy bird-day, The Office! Skip around the room!
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I started watching it from the pilot too. I think it was Basketball that got me totally hooked. It hasn’t been too easy since, because my husband hates the show and it has caused a few fights over the tv!! I’m thinking that is grounds for divorce right there!!
Happy anniversary to The Office! I am only a relatively new fan to the Office, I hadn’t seen the UK version either. I went home to visit my family for Christmas last year and my sister basically held me hostage and made me watch the show with her (she had it on DVD) and after the 2nd episode I was bugging her to watch more episodes! Thanks GMMR for this great website, I love catching up on the latest Office news!
Health care was the first episode I saw. Hooked ever since.
Is it April 10th yet?
I was like you flipping through the channels when I saw it. CBC was showing a couple and I saw Diversity Day and for some reason right after they had Take Your Daughter to Work Day. After seeing those two eps I fell in love. Bought both seasons and I have never looked back.
The Dundies was the first episode I ever saw, and I haven’t stopped watching since. I agree with GMMR, Diversity Day is still my favorite episode. You just can’t go wrong with a bunch of people walking around with index cards on their foreheads.
When Office premiered, it followed Scrubs, which was my fav show at the time (still one of my favorites). For some reason I missed the pilot of The Office (probably a good thing) but I loved Diversity Day. And like you, that still is one of my favorite episodes. So many great moments in that episode.
I caught up the summer after the second season. I kept hearing about Jim/Pam and this amazing kiss, and I’ve never been able to resist a great love story.
After I got hooked, I made my best friend watch, too–we watched all of the episodes in one night! 🙂
The Office is my favorite show. I was also completely skeptical at first and positive they’d botch up a great show (I was a fan of the UK version). But, like you Kath, I was a fan of Steve Carell from his Daily Show days, so I gave it a chance. My husband and I were hooked and still are. I post on message boards and blogs about The Office, buy bobble heads for hubby, almost went to the convention, dream frequently of Jim Halpert…well, you get the idea.
It’s refreshingly smart television. I lie awake at night longing for April 10 to arrive. Thanks, GMMR, for sharing The Office with us!
Happy Anniversary to The Office!
I was a semi-late bloomer to this show. I think my first episode I watched was Dwight’s Speech. I thought it was funny and kind of different and came back to see Casino Night and was hooked every since. I love this show! Best cast, writers, directors, producers and crew around!
The first episode I saw was “Diversity Day.” I knew nothing about the show except that the guy from “Bruce Almighty” and “The Anchorman” was starring in it. Every time I tuned in to NBC, I would see an advertisement for the show, so it prompted me to watch it. Sadly, I missed the pilot but I caught the next episode the next week. I laughed until I cried, it was amazing! The scene where the cast had to wear index cards on their foreheads made me laugh so hard (twss) especially at what was written on Stanley’s card. HAHA! That scene kept me laughing for days.
I got into The Office after Christmas of ’06. I got an iPod for Christmas and downloaded the whole first season since it was only six episodes and therefor cheap. I planned to watch the show on my iPod while I ran on the treadmill at the gym. Let me just tell you that watching Diversity Day while on the treadmill is not very safe. I almost fell off the treadmill as I was laughing at Michael’s Chris Rock routine. I got off the treadmill and couldn’t continue running because I was laughing so much. I drove home, plugged in the iPod to the tv and made my hubby watch. I pulled a marathon on the first season and had to download all of the season 2 episodes after that so I could catch up. I haven’t looked back since then.
Diversity Day has a very special place in my heart for this reason and remains tied as my favorite Office episode ever.
Happy Anniversary Office!
I was almost hooked before the show even started! I saw commercials advertising it and loved the part they showed from ‘Hot Girl’ where Michael calls Katy, Pam 6.0. I wanted to really see the ep. with that line, and since it was the last one, I ended up watching all of season 1. Diversity Day is what got me really hooked though because I loved the note cards on the heads and thought it was hilarious that Stanley’s said black. And I also loved it when Dwight moved the watercooler by his desk.
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Happy 3rd anniversary to The Office and in part to you too, GMMR. I like others was a tad skeptical as I had seen some of the BBC show and was disturbed by it, frankly. I now can really appreciate the BBC original but initially it was so uncomfortable. I believe I watched most of S1 but they really had me with The Dundies, still my unofficial favorite.
The Dundies was my first episode, and I immediately loved the show. We went right out and bought the first season (I don’t think I even breathed during Diversity Day or Health Care – oh the hot dog fingers!) and I have been devoted verging on obsessed ever since. Yay for the Office! Is it April 10th yet???
The first episode I watched was “Health Care”…which I enjoyed a lot – but didn’t really “get”. But the following week was “The Alliance”…which I thought was hilarious. I was hooked.
And then it kept getting better and better!! 16 more sleeps!!!
I was a bit of a late bloomer but am now obsessed. At a friend’s urging, the first ep my husband and I watched was Office Olympics. Honestly, it didn’t leave too much of an impression. Then my co-workers would talk about it week after week, and I gave it another shot. I think I became fanatical with Casino Night. It is now, hands down, my favorite show on TV–absolutely love it. Such brilliant writing and acting. BTW, I can’t hear “hot dog fingers” without losing it : ) Also, GiveMeMyRemote and OfficeTally are among my fave websites that I check daily. Thanks!
Happy Anniversary to The Office! I was officially hooked with The Alliance. The moment I saw Jim taping Dwight in a box, there was no turning back. Ever since, I have been a huge fan that can’t get enough of Michael’s antics, Jim’s pranks (and adorable faces), Dwight’s insanity, and everything else that goes on at Dunder Mifflin.
I didn’t watch The Office when it premiered, but I had heard about it since I really liked Steve Carell even back then. I think I may have tuned into an episode briefly the first season and for some inexplicable reason didn’t like it. But I gave it a chance the second season, and I think my first full episode was The Dundies. Then I started watching more regularly after that and got more into the show through BJ’s blog on TVGuide.com. My love for the show was in full force by the time I finished watching Christmas Party and I went back and watched Season 1 and loved it – Diversity Day is also my all time favorite episode. I think it was after Booze Cruise that I then stumbled upon GMMR! And now I can’t remember life before The Office and GMMR! 🙂 Happy Anniversary to The Office! April 10 can’t get here soon enough.
My first exposure was when I was doing laundry at a friend’s house…they were watching Diversity Day. I heard bits and pieces of it. I was shocked and amused. I couldn’t believe they got away with what they were saying but it was nice to finally find real humor on TV again. But I didn’t watch it until another friend loaned me the first disc. By The Alliance, I was a dunderhead.
the first episode that i saw was Casino Night! i bought it on a late night itunes store binge in august, and by september 21st (season 3 premiere) i had memorized all of season 2 and season 1 and found myself totally obsessed. My obsession hasn’t stopped since then. I love this show so much! Thank God its coming back! I missed it so. 🙂 JAM FOREVER!!
The first episode I saw was The Dundies. I only saw a part of it though- I was flipping through the channels during a commercial break for The Amazing Race (this is when The Office was on Tuesdays) I liked the clip I saw of the show but (gasp!) I kind of forgot about it until a few episodes later (I think around the time of The Injury) I then bought the season 1 DVD and I’ve been hooked ever since 🙂
well, it all started when I turned on my tv && it happened to be on NBC.
that episode was the pilot, && I fell in love with it.
I was, at the time, a huge fan of the british version, because I had been raised on british tv (my father is british).
so from then on, I never missed one single show.
:]
The first episode I watched was ‘Booze Cruise’ in season 2.
I was hooked after the opening scene, when Jim and Pam put all of Dwight’s stuff in the vending machine!
And I’ve loved it ever since!
Diversity Day was the first full episode I watched. I thought it was really funny but always forgot to watch it. When TBS started running it in sindication I got really hooked. A couple months later here I am a die hard fan with all 3 seasons on dvd. The acting and writing on the show is amazing. Every person in the cast has an undeniable chemistry with one another. It’s the kind of show that reminds you what good tv is, and the writers remind me of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place. Everyone involved in the production of the show is amazing.
Diversity had me hooked immediately. I knew nothing about the show (in the Uk/the US) and hadn’t seen any promos. We saw it by accident and laughed until we cried. 🙂
I have to admit I did not watch the pilot. It was about 6 months ago when a rerun was on TBS on a Tuesday night and I was cleaning my house and had it on in the background. I found myself chuckling at the comments as I did my business…vowing to really sit down and watch it the next week. From that point on…when I watched it the next week, I was completely hooked! I have seen every single episode now and I am counting the days until we get our show back on April 10th!
And, like you…I am crushin’ on John Krasinski (funny I call him my #1 too) ! What a honor it must have been to meet him and the entire cast! Wow!!!