It's been 20 years since the debut of NBC's hit mockumentary sitcom The Office. To celebrate the anniversary, we're listening back to Terry Gross' archival interviews with some of the key players: Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Mindy Kaling and executive producer Greg Daniels. We'll also hear from Ricky Gervais, who co-created and starred the original British version.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bianculli. He relocated the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and renamed and recast all the roles of the office employees. Steve Carell, then a correspondent for The Daily Show, got the lead role as office manager Michael Scott.
The rest of the office was populated by actors and writers who have become much more famous since the NBC version premiered in March 2005. That's partly because The Office, which retained the documentary format and no-laugh-track approach of the original, quickly matured into its own funny, popular version, and kept maturing much longer than its British counterpart.
NBC's The Office ran for nine seasons and broadcast 201 episodes, and it's still popular on streaming sites. Today, in our Fresh Air Anniversary show about the American version of The Office, we'll hear from cast members and from Greg Daniels and Ricky Gervais. Let's start with a taste from one of the earliest episodes of the NBC version of The Office.
It's from 20 years ago, but couldn't be more topical. Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, offended some of his employees by reenacting part of a Chris Rock comedy routine. They complained to HR, which ordered that a diversity sensitivity training session be held. Larry Wilmore played the person brought in to run the session.
But Michael, instead of sitting with the rest of the staff, decides to stand and deliver.
At Diversity Today, our philosophy is about honesty and positive expectations. We believe that 99% of the problems in the workplace arise simply out of ignorance. You know what? This is a color-free zone here. Stanley, I don't look at you as another race. See, this is what I'm talking about. We don't have to pretend that we're colorblind. Exactly. That's fighting ignorance with more ignorance.
We're not colorblind. No, with more ignorance. Right, exactly. Instead, we need to celebrate our diversity. Let's celebrate. Right. Okay. Celebrate good times.
Come on! Let's celebrate diversity, right?
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