{"id":221955,"date":"2026-06-18T04:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/221955\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T04:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:29:09","slug":"the-nepa-30-no-15-the-office-had-the-nation-laughing-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/221955\/","title":{"rendered":"The NEPA 30 No. 15: ‘The Office’ had the nation laughing with us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg Daniels\u2019 \u201cThe Office\u201d thrust Scranton onto the national stage under a bright spotlight. Pop culture references to our region have not always been kind. So NBC\u2019s announcement of a sitcom set in Scranton and based on a famously acerbic comedian\u2019s British hit caused trepidation. But the audience didn\u2019t jeer. The network ordered a second season. Ratings picked up. The show started winning awards. And amid it all, the national perception of Scranton as a city past its prime began to shift. The city was still making people laugh, but it was no longer the butt of the joke.<\/p>\n

National ripple<\/p>\n

The Americanized version of the award-winning British sitcom premiered March 24, 2005. Daniels had never set foot in Scranton, but chose it as the show\u2019s backdrop in part because of his reverence for John O\u2019Hara, a writer who set short stories in Gibbsville, a fictional town modeled after Pottsville. Daniels saw a natural correlation between Scranton and the backdrop of the British \u201cOffice,\u201d the English industrial town of Slough.<\/p>\n

Scranton\u2019s role in the show seemed limited at first to a handful of harmless mentions and product placements. As the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce sent the show Scranton-specific props, writers faithfully incorporated them into scripts, along with references to restaurants, sports teams, colleges and the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour.<\/p>\n

Fans and members of the show\u2019s cast began to develop a relationship with the city. While some had been to Scranton before, no prior visit compared to \u201cThe Office\u201d Convention, a three-day event that took the city by storm in October 2007 (good thing Al Roker was there). The events only got bigger. Organizers estimated more than 20,000 people lined the parade route during \u201cThe Office\u201d Wrap Party, a farewell celebration ahead of the show\u2019s May 16, 2013, series finale.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Carell answers a fan question at \u201cThe Office\u201d Wrap Party at PNC Field. (FILE)\n<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThe<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Office\u201d cast member Phyllis Smith poses for a photo with University of Scranton sophmore, Bridget Marrine from Poughkeepsie, New York, after she appeared on the \u201cToday\u201d show at the University of Scranton on Friday, Oct. 26, 2007. (FILE)\n<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThe<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Office\u201d cast member Angela Kinsey poses for a photo with fans after appearing on the \u201cToday\u201d show at the University of Scranton on Friday, Oct. 26, 2007. (FILE)\n<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThe<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Story of Us,\u201d a mural dedicated to \u201cThe Office\u201d in Scranton. (FILE)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Steve Carell answers a fan question at \u201cThe Office\u201d Wrap Party at PNC Field. (FILE)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nLiving legacy<\/p>\n

Fans from around the world make pilgrimages to the city that has come to represent their favorite show, said Tim Holmes, CEO of the Everhart Museum. \u201cScranton became a character on \u2018The Office,\u2019 and much like the show\u2019s leading man Michael Scott, the more you got to know its funny quirks, the more endearing the character became,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dozens of TV shows have mimicked the show\u2019s mockumentary format and cringe-comedy style, said former Times-Tribune Staff Writer Josh McAuliffe, who covered \u201cThe Office\u201d from the initial news of the pilot episode being shot in early 2004. The show inspired books, documentaries, memes and podcasts. It also found a new audience with a younger generation of viewers through streaming. \u201c\u2019The Office\u2019 is essentially the 21st century\u2019s \u2018Seinfeld,\u2019 which in my view only makes its Scranton connection that much more special,\u201d McAuliffe said.<\/p>\n

Sidelight<\/p>\n

Local establishments the show name-dropped have felt a tangible economic impact from the show. Since the Everhart Museum opened \u201cThe Office Exhibition\u201d eight months ago, its attendance numbers and revenue have more than doubled each month, Holmes said. \u201cThe show\u2019s impact is now helping to stabilize the financial footing of a 119-year-old Scranton institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the series<\/p>\n

No. 15: As the nation approaches America250, we are counting down ways NEPA has powered American history. Missed a day? Read the full countdown as it unfolds at thetimes-tribune.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greg Daniels\u2019 \u201cThe Office\u201d thrust Scranton onto the national stage under a bright spotlight. Pop culture references to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[91500,1681,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,289,802,7266],"class_list":["post-221955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-america250-nepa","tag-entertainment","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-cvc","tag-tv-and-streaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}