As most fans know, The Office is a mockumentary television show that depicts the daily lives of workers at a paper company called Dunder Mifflin.
The original version of the show aired on the BBC for two years. The Office was created by Ricky Gervais, who also stars in the show as David Brent-the equivalent of Michael Scott.
Martin Freeman, who had started his acting career only three years prior to the show's premiere, also stars as the British version of Jim named Tim Canterbury.
The show eventually got a remake with actors from the US, starring Steve Carell, John Krasinski, and several other talented and hilarious actors. The US version of The Office ran much longer than the original series for a total of nine seasons.
While the beginning of the series closely followed the UK version, the later seasons delved into unique storylines that hadn’t been previously explored.
However, since the show became longer, this opened the door for more continuity errors and other mistakes that most people are willing to ignore because of how small they are.
In many ways, the US version grew bigger than the British Office had ever hoped to have gotten. While many people enjoy Gervais’ show, others prefer the US version.
The Office has been off the air for five years now, but the show is none the less loved by fans.
Despite the show having a wide fan base, there are some mistakes that the casual viewer would never catch, especially since some are nit-picky details.
With that said, here are the 25 Mistakes In The Office Only True Fans Noticed.
25 Michael Has A Brother?
In the pilot for The Office, Michael makes an iconic joke when he explains that he has a special file designated for Jan’s memos - the trash.
Michael elaborates that he learned the joke from his brother, who had the same system for filing his taxes.
Michael’s brother is never again talked about and it’s later revealed that he only had a half-sister named Marnie Cooper.
The episode was taking the scene directly from the U.K. version of The Office and Michael’s character hadn’t yet been completely developed.
That being said, as obnoxious as Michael and his best friend Todd Packer can be, it’s probably for the best that they never developed a brother for his character.
24 Angela’s Relationship With Her Sister
The story behind Angela’s siblings is one aspect of the show that changes constantly during the series.
Initially, Angela explains that she only has one sister whom she hasn’t spoken to in years because of a fight that she doesn’t remember.
Later, at Schrute Farms, Andy mentions that Angela has more than one sister, however. Then, at her wedding with Dwight, she goes back to only having one sister.
To make things even stranger, Angela is shown to be very close with her sister, which contradicts her previous statement about her sibling.
23 John Krasinski Signs Meredith’s Cast
Usually, if someone breaks a bone and they have to wear a cast, and their friends and coworkers will jump at the opportunity to sign their name on it.
After Michael accidentally hits Meredith with his car, she has to get a cast for her fractured pelvis.
Jim is one of the people who signs it for her, but he doesn’t sign his name as Jim Halpert.
Instead, he signs his real name - John Krasinski. Only eagle eye viewers will catch the mistake, but the name is clearly his real name since he dots two eyes and a big “K” can be seen in his last name.
22 Michael Can’t Ride A Bike
It’s often said that once someone learns how to ride a bike, they never forget the skill. Apparently, this doesn’t apply to Michael Scott.
In the fifth episode of season seven titled “The Sting”, Michael apparently doesn’t know to ride a bike.
While people just never learn how to ride a bicycle, Michael had already demonstrated that he could do this in the episode titled “A Benihana Christmas” from season 3.
Though it’s not a huge mistake that derails part of the surrounding story, the writers definitely forgot that they had already written a scene with Michael riding a bicycle into the show.
21 David Wallace’s Daughter
In the episode “Secret Santa” in season 6, Michael attempts to call David Wallace at his corporate office.
In order to get transferred to his office, Michael says that he often uses his little girl voice in order to trick David into accepting the call.
The only problem is that David doesn’t have a daughter.
Some may argue that the receptionist transferring the call wouldn’t know this, but in the episode, David even answers the phone and says “Hey sweetie, what is it?”
It looks like the writers forgot the gender of David’s child.
20 Pam’s Volleyball Skills
Pam is often seen as a quiet and shy person, so many people wouldn’t expect her to be athletic.
Pam surprised both her co-workers and her fans when she showed some impressive volleyball skills in the episode “Company Picnic".
She explains, “Maybe I played a little in junior high. And in high school. Maybe a little in college. And went to volleyball camp most summers!”
That being said, in the episode “Job Fair”, Pam contradicts herself when she says that she used to fake having PMS so that she could get out of playing the sport.
19 Palm Trees In Pennsylvania
Even though The Office is supposed to be based in the town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, it was actually filmed in Los Angeles.
There are many things that LA has that Pennsylvania does not, including palm trees.
While the cinematographers on the show did their best to avoid areas with palm trees, viewers can often see them appear in the show.
People who keep an eye out can often see the trees in the background while characters are driving or when Michael Scott is riding around in his shiny red Sebring.
Even though they can often be spotted, the cinematographers did do a decent job of hiding them, since palm trees are seemingly everywhere in California.
18 Pam’s Mom
TV shows and movies can choose to recast a role even after one actor has already played the part.
Usually, this doesn’t go over well with fans, unless the actor was misrepresenting a character.
When it came to Helene Beasley, Shannon Cochran didn’t really do anything wrong in the role. However, she was still replaced by Linda Purl in season six.
Granted, Cochran didn’t have a huge role at the beginning of the series, but it was still odd when Purl replaced her, especially since they look nothing alike.
17 The Jim And Pam Debate
Jim and Pam are two of the most beloved characters on The Office, especially when they are together.
They both work at Dunder Mifflin, but there is a long debate between them about who actually started at the company first.
Throughout the series, Jim and Pam both say lines that would lead fans to believe that one started at the company sooner than the other.
That being said, the truth behind mystery was never really revealed and the show continued to make contradicting statements.
So which is it, NBC? Who started first?
16 Nick Works In Graphic Design And IT
While The Office has a memorable main group of cast members, the show also has a long list of minor characters.
One of these characters is Nick, who works as a graphic designer... or an IT guy... or both.
Nick, who is played by Nelson Franklin, first appeared in the episode titled “Job Fair” as a professional graphic designer.
Later on in the series, he becomes the IT guy at Dunder Mifflin. Graphic design and Information Technology are two completely different professions, however, though Nick seems to have mastered them both.
Either that, or the writers didn’t care that their new IT person had previously been on the show.
15 David Wallace’s Front Door Makes No Sense
In the episode “Branch Closing”, Michael and Dwight both go to David Wallace’s house in order to confront him about their branch closing.
When they approach his house, viewers will notice that Wallace has a doormat with the letter “H” on it.
The problem here is that nobody in the Wallace household has a first name starting with “H.”
David Wallace’s wife is named Rachel and his son is named Teddy.
It is a very small detail in an otherwise hilarious episode, but the mistake was indeed fixed for future episodes involving David’s home.
14 Blake Garrett Rosenthal Plays Two Different Characters
Blake Garrett Rosenthal is one of many people who has portrayed not one, but two characters on The Office.
The actor had a small role as an extra in the episode “WUPHF.COM” in season 7, and then a slightly bigger role in season 9.
In the episode “The Farm”, Rosenthal plays Dwight’s nephew. Actors and actresses are often given bigger roles if their performance as an extra are beyond expectations.
Rosenthal seemed to impress the filmmakers behind The Office enough for him to be related to Dwight.
13 Kevin Purposely Ruins His Ice Cream
Kevin has many memorable traits, but he is often seen as a food-lover of the group and as someone who can’t keep a secret.
In the episode “The Boat” in season 9, Oscar is officially telling the camera crew that he is having an affair with the Senator.
After asking for the camera crew’s sensitivity, maturity, and discretion in the matter, Kevin comes out from behind a stack of wooden crates and drops his ice cream off of his cone in shock.
While it is no doubt a funny scene, actor Brian Baumgartner can clearly be seen pushing the ice cream off with his thumb.
12 Disappearing Phyllis
While there are many minor mistakes throughout the series, one happened in the very first episode of the show.
The mistake in question happens when Michael is talking with Jim and Dwight, and Dwight discovers that Jim has put his stapler in a mound of jello.
During the scene, the desk behind Dwight where Phyllis sits is empty. That being said, in one take, Phyllis can be seen turning around, and in the next scene, she is gone.
The mistake is definitely just a continuity error, but the show made many more mistakes like this as the series went on.
11 The Magical Computer
Michael is often amused by the littlest of things. On one such occasion, Michael calls Jim and Pam into his office to introduce them to his computer named Harvey who says whatever he types.
Even though Harvey is supposed to say whatever Michael types, several of the previous lines can be seen on the computer screen even though Harvey doesn’t say them out loud.
If Harvey really does say whatever Michael has typed, he technically should have reread the previous lines since they were already typed out and on his computer screen.
10 Meredith Changes Jobs
Most of the characters in The Office have been developed in one way or another on the show. Many of them get promotions, but Meredith Palmer seems to always stay in her current position.
That being said, in season 1, she was described as an accountant in Jim’s comment in her birthday card. However, her job then deals with purchasing and supplier relations in later seasons.
While it is possible that Meredith just changed jobs, it is more likely that her character had just not been fully developed in the first season.
9 Dwight Playing Taboo
Many games are played in The Office - after all, they have to keep themselves amused at work somehow.
In the fifteenth episode of season 8 titled “Tallahassee”, Dwight is playing Taboo with Erin.
During the scene, Dwight can be seen holding the buzzer so that the speaker is face down. In the next shot, after Jim slaps him, the speaker is now face up.
Either Jim has a slap so powerful that it can magically move an object, or the scene is just another continuity error.
8 Girl Scout Cookie Competition
When parents have children that go into Girl Scouts, they often take order forms to work so that their children can sell more cookies to a bigger market.
This was one aspect of real life that made it to the show. Toby and Darryl are seen in season 8 competing to sell the cookies, with Toby explaining that it is his daughter’s first year selling Girl Scout Cookies.
While Toby could have been lying to sell more cookies, it was more than likely a mistake since he had previously talked about his daughter selling Girl Scout cookies in a previous season.
7 Angela The Vegetarian?
In several episodes of The Office, Angela indicated that she was a vegetarian.
While this life choice does fit her overall character arc, there is evidence to prove that she wasn’t actually a vegetarian.
In the episode “Jury Duty” in the eighth season, Angela tells Oscar that when her son was conceived, there was too much wine in her chicken piccata.
While it’s possible that she began to eat meat after she started dating Dwight, it’s also just as likely that the writers forgot that she was at one point a vegetarian.
6 An Empty Office
Jan and Michael often have heated arguments, one of which happened in the very first episode of the show.
Jan comes to talk about downsizing the Scranton branch and she, Michael, and Pam gather in Michael’s office.
They are all sitting near the glass wall of Michael’s office, but the scene is intercut with a shot of Jim and Dwight and it is clear that nobody is in Michael’s office.
The scenes were clearly filmed at two different times, which became apparent with this mistake.
5 The Two Stanley’s
In the episode “Tallahassee”, Dwight takes some of the Office staff to Tallahassee in order to create a new chain of Sabre stores.
Only a handful of employees were chosen to go on the business trip, including Dwight, Jim, Stanley, Cathy, Ryan, and Erin.
The rest of the staff stayed at the office, but it seems like Stanley was in two places at once.
Around the five and a half minute mark, Stanley can be heard as one of the employees yelling at Andy to answer the phone, even though Andy is supposed to be out of town.
4 Michael’s Moving Scarf
When filming multiple shots for a scene, it's crucial that actors look the same in each shot and refrain from adjusting props or their clothing.
When something does get moved, it often results in a continuity error much like this one.
Around the six-minute and forty second mark in the episode titled “The Duel” in season 5, Michael is talking to Jim and Dwight in his office.
As he is about to leave, he can be seen with his scarf above his collar. However, in the next shot, his scarf is tucked underneath his collar.
3 Toby’s Stunt Double
Not all actors are able to do their own stunts. When it comes to comedies, usually there aren’t a lot of dangerous stunts unless the movie or TV show is relying on slapstick humor to get a few laughs.
When it comes to The Office, a stunt double had to be used in the eleventh episode in season 4 when Toby jumps the fence in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot.
While Toby climbs the fence with grace, when the actor turns to run away after climbing over the fence, his face clearly belongs to a stunt double.
Though it was a small mistake, it was picked up quickly by observant fans.
2 Dwight’s Shirt
The fourth episode of season 2 simply called “The Fire” is a memorable one. Near the beginning of the episode, everyone has to evacuate the office due to a small fire.
While everyone slowly exits the building, Dwight goes berserk and grabs a big jug of water and throws it into the smoke-filled room.
This causes his shirt to get wet while he is grabbing Kelly and trying to "rescue" her. However, in the next shot, his shirt is completely dry.
Either Dwight has a shirt that dries magically fast, or this is another continuity error.
1 Lightning Fast Stanley
During the basketball episode in the first season, Stanley can be seen moving between two places in a split second.
The scene in question involves Pam, who is chosen to throw the jump ball. Stanley is behind Pam before she throws the ball, but once it is in the air, Michael is able to tip it over to Stanley who is now on the other side of the court.
Since the scene takes place within only a few seconds, it would have been impossible for Stanley to move across the warehouse that fast.
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Are there any other mistakes in The Office that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
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