“The Office” is a mockumentary television show that portrays the lives of workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper company. If you don’t know, the show’s original version was aired on the BBC for two years. The show eventually got a remake with a different cast starring Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, and more. Initially, the series closely followed the UK version. However, it explored unique storylines as the show developed. Unfortunately, this opened the door for more scripting and continuity errors.
“The Office” has been off the air for several years now, but its popularity among fans has not been affected at all. However, there are some mistakes that the casual viewer would never catch. So, here we have gathered some scripting errors that we have spotted in the “The Office” series.
1) Lightning Fast Stanley
Stanley can be seen moving between two places in a split second during the basketball episode in the first season. Since Pam is chosen to throw the jump ball, the scene in question involves her. When Pam throws the ball, you can see Stanley standing behind her. However, later, somehow Michael is able to tip it over to Stanley and was in his place. It would have been impossible for Stanley to move across the warehouse in split seconds.
2) Dwight’s Shirt
In the fourth episode of season 2 “The Fire”, everyone has to evacuate the office due to a small fire. Dwight grabs a big jug of water instead of exiting and throws it into the smoke-filled room. At that moment, his shirt gets wet as he was trying to rescue Kelly. However, his shirt magically dries up in the next shot.
3) Toby’s Stunt Double
Comedy is a genre that does not entertain much action unless the show is relying on slapstick humor. That is why in the eleventh episode in season 4, a stunt double had to be used when Toby jumps the fence in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot. If you look at it closely, when the actor turns to run away, his face clearly belongs to a stunt double.
4) Michael’s Moving Scarf
It’s crucial that actors look the same in each shot when filming multiple shots for a scene. It often results in a continuity error when something does get moved. In the episode titled “The Duel” in season 5, around the six-minute and forty-second mark, Michael is talking to Jim and Dwight in his office. If you have noticed, he can be seen with his scarf above his collar as he is about to leave. However, his scarf is tucked underneath his collar in the next shot.
5) The Two Stanley’s
In order to create a new chain of Sabre stores, Dwight takes some of the Office staff to Tallahassee in the episode “Tallahassee”. Only a handful of employees were chosen to go on the business trip and the rest of the staff stayed at the office. However, it seemed like Stanley was in two places at once. Even though Andy is supposed to be out of town, he can be heard yelling at Andy to answer the phone.
6) An Empty Office
In the very first episode of the show, Jan and Michael have a heated argument. Jan comes to talk about downsizing the Scranton branch with Michael and Pam was also with them. They are all sitting near the glass wall of Michael’s office. However, it is clear that nobody is in Michael’s office when the scene is intercut with a shot of Jim and Dwight.
7) Angela The Vegetarian?
Angela indicated that she was a vegetarian in several episodes of the show. On the other hand, Angela tells Oscar that there was too much wine in her chicken piccata when her son was conceived in the episode “Jury Duty” in the eighth season. Perhaps she began to eat meat after she started dating Dwight.
8) Girl Scout Cookie Competition
Parents often take their children’s order forms to work to sell more cookies when they have children that go into Girl Scouts. In season 8, Toby and Darryl are seen competing to sell the cookies. Toby tries to sell more cookies by saying that it is his daughter’s first year selling Girl Scout Cookies. However, in a previous season, he had talked about his daughter selling Girl Scout cookies.
9) Dwight Playing Taboo
Dwight is playing Taboo with Erin in the fifteenth episode of season 8 titled “Tallahassee”. Dwight can be seen holding the buzzer during the scene so that the speaker is face down. However, after Jim slaps him in the next shot, the speaker is now face up. Perhaps that was the result of Jim’s powerful slap.
10) Meredith Changes Jobs
Even though most of the characters have been developed on the show, Meredith Palmer seems to always stay in her current position. She was described as an accountant in season 1. However, in later seasons, her job deals with purchasing and supplier relations. Perhaps her character had just not been fully developed in the first season.
11) The Magical Computer
In an episode, Michael calls Jim and Pam into his office to show them his talking computer named Harvey. Harvey has the feature where he says whatever Michael types. If you have noticed, several of the previous lines can be seen on the computer screen that Harvey doesn’t say them out loud. If Harvey is supposed to say whatever Michael types, then he technically should have reread the previous lines written on his computer screen.
12) Disappearing Phyllis
In the very first episode of the show, Dwight discovers that Jim has put his stapler in a mound of jello when Michael is talking with Jim and Dwight. The desk behind Dwight where Phyllis sits is empty during that scene. However, Phyllis can be seen turning around earlier in that scene, and in the next scene, she is gone.
13) Kevin Purposely Ruins His Ice Cream
Kevin is often seen as a food-lover of the group. Oscar is officially telling that he is having an affair with the Senator in the episode “The Boat” in season 9. After asking for the camera crew’s sensitivity in the matter, Kevin comes out from behind a stack of wooden crates. At that time, he drops his ice cream off of his cone in shock. However, it can clearly be seen Kevin pushing the ice cream off with his thumb.
14) Blake Garrett Rosenthal Plays Two Different Characters
Blake Garrett Rosenthal portrayed not one, but two characters in “The Office”. The actor had a bigger role in season 9 and a slightly smaller role as an extra in the episode “WUPHF.COM” in season 7. Rosenthal plays Dwight’s nephew in the episode “The Farm”. Rosenthal seemed to impress the filmmakers to be related to Dwight.
15) David Wallace’s Front Door Makes No Sense
In order to confront David Wallace about their branch closing, Michael and Dwight both go to his house in the episode “Branch Closing”. Viewers will notice that Wallace has a doormat with the letter “H” on it in the scene of his house. Unfortunately, there is nobody in the Wallace house that has a first name starting with “H”. It is a very small detail in an otherwise hilarious episode.
16) Nick Works In Graphic Design And IT
“The Office” has a long list of minor characters along with a memorable main group of cast members. One of these characters is a graphic designer or an IT guy, Nick. Nelson Franklin’s Nick first appeared as a professional graphic designer in the episode titled “Job Fair”. However, he becomes the IT guy at Dunder Mifflin later on in the series. Even though graphic design and Information Technology are two completely different professions, Nick seems to have mastered them both.
17) The Jim And Pam Debate
Jim and Pam are two of the most beloved characters on the show. However, there is a long debate about who actually started at the company first. Jim and Pam both say lines throughout the series that would lead fans to believe that one started at the company sooner than the other. However, the truth behind mystery was never really revealed.
18) Pam’s Mom
Even though this doesn’t go over well with fans, shows can choose to recast a role even after one actor has already played the part. The same thing happened with Pam’s mother, Helene Beasley (Shannon Cochran). Without any reason, she was still replaced by Linda Purl in season six. Although Cochran didn’t have a huge role, it was still odd when Purl replaced her.
