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The Office Trivia Quiz
The Office is a mockumentary about the staff of the Scranton branch of paper company Dunder Mifflin, led by well-meaning but excruciating regional manager Michael Scott. Across nine seasons it follows office pranks, the slow-burn romance between Jim and Pam, and oddball employees like the beet-farming, rule-obsessed Dwight Schrute.
Q1. Where does Jim finally propose to Pam?
Answer: At a gas station halfway between Scranton and New York. Pam is away on a three-month graphic design course in New York, so the two meet halfway for a visit at the start of season five. When Pam comes back to Scranton, Jim has quietly bought his parents' house for the two of them.
Q2. Which company buys out Dunder Mifflin in season six?
Answer: Sabre. With bankruptcy rumours spreading, David Wallace announces at Christmas that the printer company Sabre is buying Dunder Mifflin. Wallace and other executives lose their jobs, but the Scranton branch survives because it is one of the company's few successful offices.
Q3. Why does Michael Scott leave Scranton in season seven?
Answer: He moves to Colorado with Holly. Holly returns to cover for Toby, who is on jury duty for the Scranton Strangler trial, and she and Michael get engaged. They move to Colorado to support her elderly parents. Off-screen it was Steve Carell's final season, after NBC did not renew his contract.
Q4. What does Michael call the rival business he starts after resigning in season five?
Answer: Michael Scott Paper Company. Michael quits in protest at new vice president Charles Miner's rigid style and opens his company in the same office building, taking Pam and Ryan with him. The business model cannot last, but it threatens Dunder Mifflin enough that it buys him out and rehires all three.
Q5. Who is the best man at Dwight and Angela's wedding in the finale?
Answer: Michael. The finale is set a year after the documentary aired, and Michael returns for the wedding as Dwight's best man. Dwight had actually asked Jim first, and Jim helped make Michael's return happen, so the old rivals end the series on the same side.
Q6. Most of the cast voted for which song as the theme, before it had to be ruled out?
Answer: "Mr. Blue Sky". Greg Daniels let the cast vote between four options. The Electric Light Orchestra song won, but it was already being used by the drama LAX, so the final theme became an original track written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.
Q7. Rainn Wilson was cast as Dwight, but which role did he audition for first?
Answer: Michael Scott. Wilson described his Michael audition as a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation", but the casting directors loved his Dwight. He had watched every episode of the British series beforehand. Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt and Judah Friedlander also auditioned for Dwight.
Q8. Which branch does Jim transfer to after kissing Pam at Casino Night?
Answer: Stamford. Pam stays committed to Roy, so Jim moves to the Stamford, Connecticut branch. Corporate later merges Stamford into Scranton, which brings Karen Filippelli and Andy Bernard into the office and sets up the Jim, Pam and Karen tension of season three.
Q9. Where does Pam take her three-month graphic design course?
Answer: Pratt Institute. Pam decides to follow her artistic interests at the end of season four and is accepted at the Pratt Institute in New York City. Her time away is why Jim's proposal happens at a gas station halfway between the two cities.
Q10. Where do Jim and Pam move at the end of the series?
Answer: Austin, Texas. At Pam's urging they move to Austin with Darryl to open a new branch of Athleap, the sports marketing company formerly called Athlead. Dwight "fires" them first so they both get severance packages, a last friendly gesture between the old rivals.
Q11. Which actor did NBC first suggest for Michael Scott, only for him to decline?
Answer: Paul Giamatti. NBC programmer Kevin Reilly suggested Giamatti, who turned it down. Martin Short, Hank Azaria and Bob Odenkirk were reportedly interested, and Ricky Gervais himself declined. Steve Carell only became available when his other NBC sitcom, Come to Papa, was quickly cancelled.
Q12. After Michael announced his move to Colorado, what did the real governor of Colorado appoint him to?
Answer: Director of paper distribution. After "Garage Sale" aired, Governor John Hickenlooper issued a press release naming Michael Scott director of paper distribution in the Department of Natural Resources. In a similar joke, John McCain told Jon Stewart he might pick Dwight Schrute as his running mate.
Q13. Who shot the footage of Scranton used in the opening credits?
Answer: John Krasinski. When Krasinski learned he had been cast as Jim, he visited Scranton for research, interviewed employees at real paper companies and filmed the city himself. The show was never shot there: season one used a real office in Culver City and later seasons a studio in the San Fernando Valley.
Q14. Will Ferrell guest-starred as which short-lived manager after Michael leaves?
Answer: Deangelo. Deangelo is meant to replace Michael but is seriously injured on the job, so Sabre CEO Jo Bennett sets up a search committee to pick a new manager while Dwight and then Creed act as manager. Robert California, played by James Spader, arrives the following season as CEO.
Q15. Whose real tower appears in the opening credits?
Answer: Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company. Scranton embraced the show: the Dunder Mifflin logo went up on a banner outside City Hall and on the bridge to the Mall at Steamtown, and in 2007 the paper company planned to add it to its tower too. The first Office convention was held in Scranton that October.
Q16. Which writer on the staff is credited with the most episodes?
Answer: Mindy Kaling. Kaling is credited with 24 episodes. She was part of the original writing team with Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and Schur, and like Novak and Lieberstein she also played a regular character while writing, directing and producing episodes.
Q17. Which travel website set up a real review page for Schrute Farms?
Answer: TripAdvisor. In season four Jim and Pam post an online review after staying at Dwight's "agritourism" bed and breakfast. The producers approached TripAdvisor about using its name, and the site created a page for the fictional B&B, which went on to collect hundreds of reviews from fans.
Q18. Which restaurant chain had final script approval, forcing a scene in "The Dundies" to be rewritten?
Answer: Chili's. The writers chose Chili's as a realistic spot for a company party and a business lunch. It was not a paid placement, but filming there meant Chili's could approve the script, and it objected to the original version of a Dundies scene, which was hastily rewritten.
Q19. Where was the first season filmed?
Answer: A real office space in Culver City. After the six-episode first season, production moved to Chandler Valley Center Studios in the San Fernando Valley. The set was built with immovable walls to feel airless and to trap the documentary crew with the characters, part of the cinéma vérité look created by cinematographer Randall Einhorn.
Q20. Which band's frontman regularly performs "The Ballad of Dunder Mifflin" at concerts?
Answer: Relient K. Matt Thiessen, a fan of the show, performs his self-described love song to the series and then the band plays the opening theme. The Scrantones are a tempting guess, but they are the group that performed Jay Ferguson's theme song for the show itself.
The Office quiz answers and explanations
Every question from the quiz above with its correct answer, the story behind it, and where the fact comes from.
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Where does Jim finally propose to Pam?
Answer: At a gas station halfway between Scranton and New York. Pam is away on a three-month graphic design course in New York, so the two meet halfway for a visit at the start of season five. When Pam comes back to Scranton, Jim has quietly bought his parents' house for the two of them.
-
Which company buys out Dunder Mifflin in season six?
Answer: Sabre. With bankruptcy rumours spreading, David Wallace announces at Christmas that the printer company Sabre is buying Dunder Mifflin. Wallace and other executives lose their jobs, but the Scranton branch survives because it is one of the company's few successful offices.
-
Why does Michael Scott leave Scranton in season seven?
Answer: He moves to Colorado with Holly. Holly returns to cover for Toby, who is on jury duty for the Scranton Strangler trial, and she and Michael get engaged. They move to Colorado to support her elderly parents. Off-screen it was Steve Carell's final season, after NBC did not renew his contract.
-
What does Michael call the rival business he starts after resigning in season five?
Answer: Michael Scott Paper Company. Michael quits in protest at new vice president Charles Miner's rigid style and opens his company in the same office building, taking Pam and Ryan with him. The business model cannot last, but it threatens Dunder Mifflin enough that it buys him out and rehires all three.
-
Who is the best man at Dwight and Angela's wedding in the finale?
Answer: Michael. The finale is set a year after the documentary aired, and Michael returns for the wedding as Dwight's best man. Dwight had actually asked Jim first, and Jim helped make Michael's return happen, so the old rivals end the series on the same side.
-
Most of the cast voted for which song as the theme, before it had to be ruled out?
Answer: "Mr. Blue Sky". Greg Daniels let the cast vote between four options. The Electric Light Orchestra song won, but it was already being used by the drama LAX, so the final theme became an original track written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.
-
Rainn Wilson was cast as Dwight, but which role did he audition for first?
Answer: Michael Scott. Wilson described his Michael audition as a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation", but the casting directors loved his Dwight. He had watched every episode of the British series beforehand. Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt and Judah Friedlander also auditioned for Dwight.
-
Which branch does Jim transfer to after kissing Pam at Casino Night?
Answer: Stamford. Pam stays committed to Roy, so Jim moves to the Stamford, Connecticut branch. Corporate later merges Stamford into Scranton, which brings Karen Filippelli and Andy Bernard into the office and sets up the Jim, Pam and Karen tension of season three.
-
Where does Pam take her three-month graphic design course?
Answer: Pratt Institute. Pam decides to follow her artistic interests at the end of season four and is accepted at the Pratt Institute in New York City. Her time away is why Jim's proposal happens at a gas station halfway between the two cities.
-
Where do Jim and Pam move at the end of the series?
Answer: Austin, Texas. At Pam's urging they move to Austin with Darryl to open a new branch of Athleap, the sports marketing company formerly called Athlead. Dwight "fires" them first so they both get severance packages, a last friendly gesture between the old rivals.
-
Which actor did NBC first suggest for Michael Scott, only for him to decline?
Answer: Paul Giamatti. NBC programmer Kevin Reilly suggested Giamatti, who turned it down. Martin Short, Hank Azaria and Bob Odenkirk were reportedly interested, and Ricky Gervais himself declined. Steve Carell only became available when his other NBC sitcom, Come to Papa, was quickly cancelled.
-
After Michael announced his move to Colorado, what did the real governor of Colorado appoint him to?
Answer: Director of paper distribution. After "Garage Sale" aired, Governor John Hickenlooper issued a press release naming Michael Scott director of paper distribution in the Department of Natural Resources. In a similar joke, John McCain told Jon Stewart he might pick Dwight Schrute as his running mate.
-
Who shot the footage of Scranton used in the opening credits?
Answer: John Krasinski. When Krasinski learned he had been cast as Jim, he visited Scranton for research, interviewed employees at real paper companies and filmed the city himself. The show was never shot there: season one used a real office in Culver City and later seasons a studio in the San Fernando Valley.
-
Will Ferrell guest-starred as which short-lived manager after Michael leaves?
Answer: Deangelo. Deangelo is meant to replace Michael but is seriously injured on the job, so Sabre CEO Jo Bennett sets up a search committee to pick a new manager while Dwight and then Creed act as manager. Robert California, played by James Spader, arrives the following season as CEO.
-
Whose real tower appears in the opening credits?
Answer: Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company. Scranton embraced the show: the Dunder Mifflin logo went up on a banner outside City Hall and on the bridge to the Mall at Steamtown, and in 2007 the paper company planned to add it to its tower too. The first Office convention was held in Scranton that October.
-
Which writer on the staff is credited with the most episodes?
Answer: Mindy Kaling. Kaling is credited with 24 episodes. She was part of the original writing team with Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and Schur, and like Novak and Lieberstein she also played a regular character while writing, directing and producing episodes.
-
Which travel website set up a real review page for Schrute Farms?
Answer: TripAdvisor. In season four Jim and Pam post an online review after staying at Dwight's "agritourism" bed and breakfast. The producers approached TripAdvisor about using its name, and the site created a page for the fictional B&B, which went on to collect hundreds of reviews from fans.
-
Which restaurant chain had final script approval, forcing a scene in "The Dundies" to be rewritten?
Answer: Chili's. The writers chose Chili's as a realistic spot for a company party and a business lunch. It was not a paid placement, but filming there meant Chili's could approve the script, and it objected to the original version of a Dundies scene, which was hastily rewritten.
-
Where was the first season filmed?
Answer: A real office space in Culver City. After the six-episode first season, production moved to Chandler Valley Center Studios in the San Fernando Valley. The set was built with immovable walls to feel airless and to trap the documentary crew with the characters, part of the cinéma vérité look created by cinematographer Randall Einhorn.
-
Which band's frontman regularly performs "The Ballad of Dunder Mifflin" at concerts?
Answer: Relient K. Matt Thiessen, a fan of the show, performs his self-described love song to the series and then the band plays the opening theme. The Scrantones are a tempting guess, but they are the group that performed Jay Ferguson's theme song for the show itself.
The Office by the numbers
- Seasons
- 9
- Episodes
- 201
- First aired
- 24 March 2005
- Last aired
- 16 May 2013
- Based on
- The Office (BBC, 2001–03)
- Emmy nominations
- 42 (5 wins)
- Season 1 length
- 6 episodes
- Finale viewers (US)
- about 5.7 million
About the The Office quiz
The Office looks simple, one paper company in Scranton, but its nine seasons are full of transfers, takeovers, rival businesses and departures, and the show reached into the real world more than most sitcoms. A governor gave Michael Scott an honorary post, a travel site reviewed Schrute Farms and a restaurant chain had a say over a script. That mix of plot turning points and odd real-life spillover is what this quiz tests.
Questions cover all nine seasons — Michael Scott's antics, the Jim and Pam romance, Dwight and Schrute Farms, the pranks, the parties, and the documentary-style moments that made the show.
What this The Office quiz covers
The quiz runs from the six-episode first season to Dwight and Angela's wedding, but it skips the questions every Office quiz asks. You get the turning points (Stamford, the Michael Scott Paper Company, Sabre, Colorado, Austin), plus a final round on how the show was made: who turned down Michael, the theme song vote, where it was really filmed, and how Scranton and the real world played along. Each answer below explains the story behind it and links to the source.
How to play
Tap an answer to see the right one straight away, with the story behind it, and check your score at the end. Play Again resets the quiz.
The Office quiz — frequently asked questions
Is this the US or the UK version?
The US version, with Steve Carell. The British original is mentioned only where it explains how the American show began.
Do I need to know the side characters?
A little. The main questions follow Michael, Jim, Pam and Dwight, but a few involve guest stars and the writers behind the show.
Is it mostly about the plot?
About half. The easy and medium rounds follow the story; the later rounds cover casting, the theme song, the opening credits and where the show was really filmed.