It’s been 11 years since we said goodbye to the Dunder Mifflin gang, but the popularity of “The Office” is still going strong. In 2020, it was the most streamed show in America and held the record of total minutes watched in a single year, until “Suits” dethroned it in 2023.
So, it’s no surprise that meme pages and groups inspired by the cult TV show still exist today. One of them is “The Office Memes” group on Facebook, where fans of the show can get lost in funny content featuring their beloved characters.
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Since its original run from 2005 to 2013, “The Office” has become more than just a cult classic. You probably won’t meet a Gen Zer or a Millennial who doesn’t quote the show on a regular basis and isn’t familiar with the show’s characters. In an age of an endless stream of new TV shows and series being made, “The Office” is still a comfort watch for its fans and something to be discovered for younger audiences.
The show’s star Steve Carell has his own theory on why the show is still so popular even 11 years after its original run. “I think part of it is that each of the characters is an archetype that can be translated to, like, people that they know in school, you know?,” Carell told NBC Insider.
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“There’s sort of the jock, there’s kind of the cheerleader, the pretty one, there’s the kind of the weirdo in the corner,” Carell told NBC. “But they’re all people that you can identify with — whether you’ve ever worked in an office or whether you’ve just associated with these people in school.”
NBC streaming service Peacock announced this year that there will be a reboot/revival of the original “The Office.” While some fans met the news with dismay and criticism, others are quite ready to give it a shot. Some call it a spin-off or an anthology series in “The Office” universe.
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The show’s creator Greg Daniels, who was behind the original TV hit series, describes the new iteration as a mockumentary about a “dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”
So far, the five announced cast members include Domhnall Gleeson (“Star Wars”), Sabrina Impacciatore (“The White Lotus”), Melvin Gregg (“American Vandal,” “Snowfall”), Chelsea Frei (“Poker Face,” “The Cleaning Lady”) and Ramona Young (“Never Have I Ever,” “Santa Clarita Diet”).
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Many fans of the show probably know that it originated from the 2001 British sitcom of the same name, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. But did you know that Australia also has its own version? Well, don’t be alarmed if you don’t, as it’s quite recent. The series is streaming on Amazon Prime with eight episodes in total.
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However, the reception for the Australian version of “The Office” was lukewarm at best. The Telegraph gave it two stars, calling it “wholly unnecessary. The Guardian’s Luke Buckmuster gave it only one star, calling it “an edgeless reboot doomed for the shredder.” Critics noted that the actors give their best, but the show is too much of the “Same old, same old”; it just doesn’t bring anything new and exciting to the table.
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Even if the American “Office” was a remake, too, some say it is superior to the British version. The single fact that it ran much longer than its predecessor proves that it was at least more successful in terms of longevity and ratings. In fact, as Richard Craig writes for Screen Rant, the American version hit it off once they stopped imitating “The Office” UK.
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“When ‘The Office’ started writing specifically for the US stars, rather than reproducing the British characters, the humor complimented their performance style much more and ‘The Office’ quickly became a huge success,” Craig claims. Indeed, the show was at its most popular in its middle seasons, with most of the highest-rated episodes spanning from seasons three to seven.
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The show’s popularity soared during the pandemic. Ironically, when we didn’t have to rot away in an office ourselves, we found comfort in a show that depicted it. But this fantasy of being in the workplace isn’t why people come back to it until this day. As Emily St. James writes for Vox, it’s the age-old TV truism: relationships between the characters and between the show and its fans.
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“The Office” also might be a very popular comfort watch among anxious people. Dara Greenwood, an associate professor of psychological science at Vassar, says that watching the show might become a coping tool. “Familiar shows are comfortingly predictable — they are the opposite of a threatening or novel experience. We know what’s coming and we know we like it, not unlike favorite comfort foods perhaps.”
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So, Pandas, why do you love “The Office” and what do you think is the secret behind its persistent popularity? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to upvote your favorite memes on this list! Once you’re done, be sure to check out “The Office Memes” Facebook group for more Dunder Mifflin humor!
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