"Pilot" (alternatively titled "The Office: An American Workplace") is the first episode of the first season of the American comedy television series The Office. The episode premiered in the United States on NBC on March 24, 2005. The episode's teleplay was adapted by Greg Daniels from the original script of the first episode of the British version written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. "Pilot" was directed by Ken Kwapis.
In this episode, a documentary crew arrives at the Scranton, Pennsylvania offices of Dunder Mifflin to observe the employees and learn about modern management. Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) tries to paint a happy picture in the face of potential downsizing from corporate. The office also gets new employee Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) as a temporary worker, while Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) pranks antagonist Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
"Pilot" debuted The Office as a mid-season replacement for the 2004–05 season. The episode was primarily adapted from the first episode of the British series, although it was partially re-scripted in an attempt to "Americanize" the new show. Although the episode was a ratings success, receiving a 5.0/13 in the Nielsen ratings among people aged 18–49, and garnering 11.2 million viewers overall, the episode received mixed reviews, with many critics criticizing it as a complete copy of the original.
Plot
The episode introduces Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the regional manager at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, a distribution company dealing in paper products that is currently under threat of facing downsizing. The news is delivered to him by the Vice President of Northeast Sales, Jan Levinson-Gould (Melora Hardin), who, along with the other employees, can barely tolerate Michael's foolish antics.
Also introduced are a few of the other workers in the office, including Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), a socially awkward salesman and part-time, volunteer sheriff's deputy; Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), another salesman who enjoys playing pranks on Dwight; Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), the receptionist on whom Jim harbors an obvious crush; and Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), a temporary worker.
Production
The episode debuted the series as a mid-season replacement for the 2004–05 season. The pilot is a direct adaptation of the first episode of the British version. Daniels had decided to go through this route because "completely starting from scratch would be a very risky thing to do" due to the show being an adaptation. Although the episode was primarily adapted from the first episode of the British series, it was partially re-scripted in an attempt to "Americanize" it. Jokes such as Dwight's stapler being put in Jell-O by Jim were transferred verbatim from the original series, while others were only slightly changed. Although later reshot, a scene in which Jim tapes pencils to his desk was originally filmed as a parallel to a scene in the British version, in which Tim Canterbury stacks up cardboard boxes in front of Gareth Keenan to restrict Keenan's view of Canterbury. "Pilot" was filmed almost six months prior to beginning of filming on the second episode of the season, "Diversity Day". The Office used no laugh tracks in the "Pilot", wanting its "deadpan" and "absurd" humor to fully come across. Production for this episode took place on February 18, 2004.
Casting
NBC programmer Kevin Reilly originally suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined. Martin Short, Hank Azaria and Bob Odenkirk were also reported to be interested. In January 2004, Variety reported Steve Carell, of the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was in talks to play the role. At the time, he was already committed to another NBC mid-season replacement comedy, Come to Papa, but the series was quickly canceled, leaving him fully committed to The Office. Carell later stated he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned. He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais' characterizations. Rainn Wilson, who was cast as the power-hungry sycophant Dwight Schrute, watched every episode of the series before he auditioned. Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael, a performance he described as a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation"; however, the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much more and hired him for the role.
