Where was The Office filmed?
2005
City Locations
Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Panorama City, CA
Location Types
Building/Offices
Location Styles
Cubicles, Office Building Style
About The Office
Very few shows can boast a viewership as big as The Office. Even though this show had its finale on Television on May 16, 2013, it is still very much relevant through its mini clips and videos all over the internet. These snippets have garnered hundreds of millions of views over the past years.
The Office is a sitcom and is based on the British version of The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It stars Steve Carell as Manager Michael Scott, the powerhouse behind The Office, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Jenna Fisher as Pam Beesly (Jim’s love interest), and Rainn Wilson as one and only Dwight Schrute.
The show, written by Greg Daniels, follows the everyday lives of the people working at The Office including their manager-worker relationship, ego clashes, office affairs, and tedium. Even though the show is scripted, it is shot in a documentary format to give it a realistic air, where the characters often acknowledge the camera lens. This type of shooting is also known as a mockumentary.
The Office starts when a documentary crew arrives to experience the day at the seemingly ordinary paper company, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. The manager Michael Scott thinks of himself as the friend-first and the manager-second kind of boss. But to his co-workers, his offensive jokes seem rather insensitive. He fights hard to keep the spirits up at The Office despite there being a threat/rumor of the paper company downsizing.
Then we have Jim Halpert who stays in the background to cause mischief and flirts with Pam Beesly, who is the receptionist engaged to the co-worker Roy. Pam and Jim are the will-they-won’t-they couple in The Office and fans are left in the loop, hoping that they someday will end up together which they eventually do! They have the complete destination wedding in Niagara Falls and a kid on the way too!
Another important character that we can’t forget is Dwight Schrute, who is the top salesman. Later on, more characters are added in the following seasons, and the plot thickens as the drama unfolds.
The Office Locations
Most of the filming of The Office took place in Scranton Business Park. It is a grey-looking, drab, your average office building, which is in real life, an actual office. The shooting of the first season was done in this building and later moved to the Chandler Valley Center Studios situated in Panorama City, California, where each cubicle was staged exactly as it was in the old building.
The bad news is that the studio keeps its door closed to keep the crazy The Office fans from entering and disrupting the environment. The good news is that the building is still as it was in The Office, so fans and viewers can take selfies/photos outside the building whenever they want!
Some of the episodes of The Office were shot in other locations as well. These included episodes where the workers performed outside The Office building. Some of these terrific locations have been mentioned in our article where some of the best scenes took place. These outdoor location shots were mostly filmed in The Valley, Los Angeles.
Continue reading if you want to get more information on where some of the famous scenes in The Office were filmed because we have compiled all the best ones. Be warned of the spoilers ahead though!
Fun Fact:
Rainn Wilson, also known as Dwight Schrute in The Office also auditioned for the role of Michael. Later on in an interview, he described his audition performance as a “terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation”. Luckily for us, the casting director liked his performance as Dwight, and he was given that role! Imagine Rainn as Michael! We can’t because nobody can do Michael like Steve and Dwight like Rainn!
Fire drill scene in The Office
Scranton Office room at Chandler Valley Center Studios
Numerous scenes from The Office are extremely hilarious, and some of them never get old! We can’t help but watch them over and over again. One such is the fire drill scene. It was and is epic to this very day!
This scene takes place in the main area where the Dundies work during the office hours of the Scranton office.
Dwight commences his fire drill. He starts an actual fire for the experience. Who would call it a drill if there was no actual fire? (It was controlled, though!) That’s Dwight Schrute for you. Nonetheless, the scene was amazing and spectacularly performed by the team.
It is pure mayhem! Dwight asking his team, “What’s the procedure” clearly was not working. Everyone was in a frenzy and Michael was screaming, “Stay calm!” although he himself was panicking and aggressively running to each door. He then announces, “Everyone for himself!” Which did it for us. After that, it was utter chaos in The Office.
Angela throws Bandit up to the ceiling for Oscar to catch, only for the poor cat to fall 5 seconds later. Everyone was running for their lives, and Kevin was literally raiding the vending machine! Food over life, we guess.
Oscar’s legs then bursting through the ceiling was even more hilarious! He was crawling up there all this time to get help. Then Stanley suffers a heart attack which brings an end to all the hullabaloos. The Office itself isn’t open to the audience but you can easily visit the exteriors. Get on your local bus or a private car and simply put Chandler Valley Center Studios, Panorama City in the GPS, and voila! You’ll be looking for Saticoy Street.
Search Burbank Filming Locations
Jim buys and gifts his parent’s home to Pam scene in The Office
13831 Calvert Street, Van Nuys
This whole scene is emotional and heart-touching as we finally get to see Jim and Pam finally get the ending they deserved! The scene starts with Jim making an excuse to Pam by saying, “Hey, do you mind if we make a stop at my home?” to which Pam replies, “Sure”.
They both drive to his parents and Jim says, “Tada” to which Pam says, “I don’t get it”. Jim then explains that he had bought the house. Pam is still shell-shocked and does not say anything until the very end when Jim shows her the garage that he has converted into an art studio for her.
Taking her silence as unhappiness, Jim goes upfront and tells her that he knows that he bought it without her say and that it does not look very good but if she hates it, he understands. Pam cuts him right in the middle of his tirade and says, “I love it”.
Even though the clown painting still is pretty haunting and a turn-off, we guess Pam can overlook that! This whole scene takes place in the classic setting complete with wide roads, and tons of street parking. However, whoever lives there now has changed the place a bit, as there are a lot fewer trees, and the white fence has been removed.
The actual address of Jim and Pam’s home is 13831 Calvert Street, Van Nuys, California.
Jim and Pam get married scene in The Office
Congregational Church of the Chimes, 14115 W Magnolia Boulevard, Sherman Oaks
Jim and Pam’s wedding was something the fans had been waiting for since season one premiered in 2005. Their wedding finally took place in the sixth season and spans over two episodes, titled Niagara. The whole two episodes were so heartwarming that we could not help but get teary-eyed, as the whole office team surprises Jim and Pam with a dance number!
Everyone looked so happy, and it even looked like Dwight was smiling a little! At the end of the episode, Jim says “The boat was actually plan C, the church was plan B, and plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her”. How romantic! Both Jim and Pam finally get what they deserved, and we cried like a baby after it.
They both do end up going to Niagara Falls, with the whole The Office team of course. There they get married again on a boat.
The address of the church where they get married is Congregational Church of the Chimes, 14115 W Magnolia Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, California. If you want a The-Office-themed wedding, just visit the church. Believe us, it will be memorable!
Conclusion
The Office was a part of the lives of millions of Americans and international fans for almost a whole decade. This sitcom was and still is a favorite among many and people still watch it! Compared to its British counterpart, The Office American is more satirical and mordant. The first season received generally mixed reviews, but ratings picked up after the second season aired because it starred Steve Carell and an ensemble cast that did wonders for the show.
Overall, The Office is a fabulous show for people who love comedy and satire paired with a good story, directional skills, and a great supporting cast that delivers their best! What are you waiting for? Start watching The Office already, if you haven’t yet! And for those die-hard fans, visit The Office locations mentioned above!