Steve Carell sagt, Paul Rudd habe ihn gewarnt, nicht für „The Office“ vorzusprechen, und „Unser Pilot war der Pilot mit den niedrigsten Tests in der Geschichte von NBC.“

> “Anchorman” was in production at the time of NBC’s remake announcement, which left Carell mulling over whether or not to audition while in close proximity to his comedy co-stars. Carell remembered Paul Rudd pulling him aside during production and warning him against auditioning for “The Office.”

> “Rudd pulled me aside and was like, ‘Don’t do it, man. Don’t audition,’” Carell told Poehler. “It was like, ‘There is no way.’”

> Carell said many people in the industry advised him not to touch NBC’s “The Offfice” remake with a “10-foot pole.” He didn’t listen and booked the job anyway. Poehler said that it was only when Carell’s casting as Michael Scott became public that she changed her tune and started thinking maybe an “Office” remake could work, but the rest of the industry did not follow suit.

> “Our pilot was the lowest testing pilot in the history of NBC,” Carell said. “People really hated it. They actively hated it. And I don’t quite know how it got legs after that.”

I think people were right that the British office wouldn’t work as an American sitcom, but they changed it enough to make it its own thing.

The NBC remake of COUPLING is to blame. It was such an awful remake of a show that was viewed as something that could only work in the UK. Meanwhile the UK OFFICE was the most beloved show in recently history over there, so it was viewed as sacrilege to remake it.

It was actually iTunes selling the show on there that helped make it popular, and showed that there was an audience that would watch shows on something other than regular tv.

Parks and Rec pilot sucked too. Entirety of s1 sucks compared to the rest of the show. They used to let comedies breathe enough to get their footing. Parks remains comedy gold and constantly quoted, just like this one.

I mean, as soon as he changed his hair for season 2 it was on.