Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: the ultimate oral history of The office

Preface. How did we get here? / by Brian Baumgartner

"Okay, here's the pitch": the Office travels across the Atlantic

"Scranton hot": casting the lovable misfits of Dunder Mifflin

"Everything that makes it harder makes it better": filming the pilot

"Let me tell you why this isn't going to work": making season one

"The office needed a billion things to go right": the emotional roller coaster of season two

"John and I are not a couple": the office love stories

"Inheritors of the history of comedy": the comedy tropes that inspired and shaped the Office: season three

"I don't care, fire me!": inside the Office writers' room . . . and the writers strike that nearly ended the show: season four

"The moment that my life changed": a wedding, new hires (and losses), and other shake-ups: seasons five and six

"Losing the captain of our ship": the long goodbye for Michael Scott (and Steve Carell): season seven

"Who should be the boss?": The search for a new Dunder Mifflin regional manager: seasons eight and nine

"It's a wrap": the series finale

"Beauty in ordinary things": the legacy of the Office.