20+ Things About The Office That Made No Sense

The Office (US) is still as funny as ever, but some things about it really make no sense at all.

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The Office is probably one of the best workplace comedies to have ever been on television. It first aired in 2005 and went on for a total of nine seasons. It was nominated for several awards throughout the years and won a good amount as well. Steve Carrell, who played Michael Scott in the hit comedy, took home a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the kooky boss that you hate to love, in fact.

This show was actually based off of a British television series by the same name starring Ricky Gervais, who ended up creating the American version. Even though at first it seemed a lot of the plotlines and dialogue was similar to the original, it really came into its own by the second season, and from there on out it was everyone’s favorite comedy for years to come.

And while the show itself was looked at as being very original, it still had its mistakes here and there. It also had plotlines that flat out made no sense at all, which is what brings us here.

Between sudden switches in actresses, to Andy and Dwight’s friendship, to the lack of updates regarding Michael once he left, there were plenty of scenarios that were hard to wrap our heads around both when it first aired and also upon our 3rd rewatch of the series (or was it our 10th?).

So here are the 40 Things About The Office That Made No Sense.

40 Michael Scott Paper Company

One of the funniest storylines is in season five when Charles Miner and Michael start feuding. It happens pretty quickly and long story short, after feeling under appreciated by the company, Michael quits Dunder Mifflin…and starts his own paper company.

This is where it starts to be pretty unbelievable.

First, how in the world would he think starting a company in a market that is slowly deteriorating is a good idea?

I know Michael Scott is a bit of a gullible idiot (that we love) at times, but this seemed to be a stretch.

Not to mention, he would need money to start a business, which he clearly did by not only hiring Pam and Ryan to help him but by getting a van for deliveries, etc. So how did he do all of that, pay Pam and Ryan, and pay for his regular living expenses? It’s beyond confusing, but still an extremely funny arc.

39 Dwight Miraculously Not Getting Fired

Is there anyone who has watched The Office and seen the episode with Dwight’s fire drill able to say that wasn’t one of the funniest moments in Office history? Probably not, because it was a stroke of genius and beyond hilarious.

Let me back up, though. Back in season five, Dwight felt that the office was severely underprepared for an emergency such as a fire, even though he had just given a presentation on it. So he creates a scenario trying to test them to see if they’d follow his safety procedures. Of course, his plan blows up in his face when the office workers all break into chaos, screaming, trying to get out via ceiling, even breaking a window and copier. Then, Stanley has an attack.

But somehow, Michael manages to keep Dwight without much punishment at all? Alrighty then.

38 Kevin As An Accountant

There are so many instances throughout the series where it is really hard to figure out how certain people in the Scranton branch even got hired in the first place. And that is especially true when it comes to Kevin Malone.

Kevin Malone is seen as not the sharpest tool in the shed kind of guy if you catch my drift.

He frequently makes mistakes and is given tasks that are menial seeing as he’s a part of a three-person accounting department. So how is it possible that it took all the way to season nine for them to finally fire him for his mistakes? We already know he originally applied for a job in the warehouse, but Michael had him come on as an accountant instead because he ‘saw something in him’.

But his ability to keep his job for this long seems far-fetched, at best.

37 Serious HR Issues

All throughout the series, we see multiple problematic cases of many different types levied against different people in the office. And mind you, these are brought on by several different workers at the office. So it’s hard to believe that after so many years of people being acosted, no one’s complaint made it to the higher-ups and inevitably got them fired.

Toby Flenderson, who is the HR rep for the Scranton branch, has always seemed apathetic about his job. That probably has a lot to do with how he’s treated there, especially by Michael, but still. He should definitely be more on top of things that are that serious in the corporate world.

Plus, someone like Todd Packer, who is a traveling salesman for the branch, should have been fired ages ago. He is notoriously the worst of the worst when it comes to any type of harassment, even if Michael is also a huge instigator.

36 Kelly’s Transformation

When we first meet Kelly Kapoor in season one of The Office, she comes across as a smart, albeit subdued woman who has a very poor fashion sense. This version of Kelly carries on into season two, up until she suddenly takes on a totally different persona.

She ends up being an outgoing, fashionable, at times ditzy and always boy crazy version of Kelly.

That in itself made her immediately more fun to watch even if she annoyed most of her other coworkers.

But it still doesn’t make any sense how her character did a complete 180 and became something totally different in a short period of time. Some argue it all has to do with Ryan and her intense infatuation with him that caused the change in her demeanor and looks, but it’s still quite a big transformation just for a guy.

35 Creed’s Lack Of Stability

Creed Bratton started out as a background character that no one really noticed until the season two Halloween episode when Michael chose to fire him due to downsizing. Creed ends up talking him out of it and tells him to fire Devon instead.

From there on out, we see Creed’s rapid decline into chaos, from all of the times he either forgot his co-worker’s names or thought Andy was actually Jim or the time when he didn’t know what his actual job title was and thought it was “Quabbity Assuance”. He even ran out of the office when Michael told him he was a suspect in an attack…when they were only playing a murder mystery game.

He’s our favorite office lunatic, but still, shouldn’t someone from Dunder Mifflin have been concerned? If not for him, for his other co-workers? He was definitely not stable, yet no one seemed o notice…or care.

34 Pam’s A Star Volleyball Player

Pam Halpert, formerly Beesly, won us over time and time again just by being Pam. Her character was a talented artist, who evolved into a strong person that is unafraid to go after what she wants.

She also is apparently a great athlete. At least, we think.

In the season five finale “Company Picnic,” they end up using Pam’s volleyball skills to beat the other branches in a tournament. Everyone seems surprised by her hidden talent, including the camera crew. When she’s asked about her surprising volleyball skills, she says, “Maybe I played a little in junior high. And in high school. Maybe a little in college. And went to volleyball camp most summers!”

Yet when she’s at the job fair at her former high school, she remarks while in the gym, “So many memories in this old gym: Pretending to have PMS so I didn’t have to play volleyball.” A little confusing there, Pam.

33 Michael’s Original Colloquialisms

Michael Scott is known as the office’s most lovable idiot. And even though he was, quite honestly, what made the show as great as it was, there were too many instances where he was utterly clueless.

Michael would go to say something he thought would be clever…and they came out completely wrong.

There was the time he said he’s “not to be truffled with” instead of trifled. Or the other time when he said “Well, well, well, how the turntables…” and trailed off when he realized he completely messed up the “how the tables have turned” phrase.

And let’s not forget when he thought business was a “doggy dog world” instead of dog eat dog.

While all of his little quirks were hilarious to watch, it’s hard to wrap our heads around how he was just that clueless.

32 Reusing An Actor

It’s not unheard of for an actor to appear on a show in two different roles when their part is a smaller one. But it is odd when the second role they end up playing is somewhat recurring. It then becomes more noticeable, especially with a show like The Office that people rewatch over and over again.

But that’s what happened when the actor who played Nick the IT guy was seen in an earlier season as a graphic design guy that Pam spoke to. He was at a job fair at Pam’s old high school that Dunder Mifflin was also attending. She showed interest and after a brief conversation, Pam started to consider going to school for graphic design.

It was such a small part, you probably wouldn’t have noticed when he appeared later on as Nick that it was the same actor, but thanks to Netflix, we definitely know now.

31 Holding Onto Heartbreak?

During the season four episode titled “Dinner Party”, Michael and his then-girlfriend and former boss, Jan, invite Pam and Jim over for dinner, as well as Andy and Angela. It then turned into quite the dramatic affair, with more guests turning up unexpectedly, a lover’s quarrel breaking out, and a plasma tv getting broken.

See, Jan threw a Dundie at Michael’s plasma television in retaliation for embarrassing her at dinner, and it obviously cracked the screen.

The odd thing is, in a later episode in season five, Michael has a new television, that is placed directly under the still broken plasma. It doesn’t make any sense why he would keep the broken tv, unless he’s holding onto his connection with Jan, that is. Or it’s just Michael being his ridiculous self. We may never know.

30 A Lost Sibling

I think it’s safe to say that everyone who is a fan of The Office remembers the most important event of the series: Jim and Pam’s wedding. It took place over the course of two episodes and gave us some of the most romantic moments between Jim and Pam, as well as some of the show’s funniest moments.

We also got to see a lot of their family members that we had briefly seen before, as well as meet some new ones.

For instance, we meet Pam’s sister, Penny, who is also her maid of honor. But just as soon as we met her, she is never to be seen ever again. We see many of their family members in at least one more episode after this, if not more, but yet we never see Penny after their wedding. Not even at their daughter’s, christening.

Extremely odd, if you ask me.

29 No One Attending Michael And Holly’s Wedding

Michael Scott had plenty of flaws throughout the series, but one of his biggest strengths was his unwavering support of the couples in the office. He was known by everyone as someone who just loves love.

So when Michael found his true love in none other than Holly Flax, you’d think everyone within the Scranton branch would support them 100%. He had the entire office take a trip to Niagra Falls just to attend Jim and Pam’s wedding, after all.

But we not only never saw them attend his wedding to Holly, but we never even heard anyone speak of it.

Granted, Steve Carrell had just left the show and it was probably too soon to have him guest-star just for this, but to not even have anyone discuss going to Colorado for the wedding? A little strange.

28 A Misunderstanding About Nelly

In the season six episode, “Murder”, Michael devises a plan to have a mystery party that day in the office since there are rumors that Dunder Mifflin is going bankrupt and they could all be out of jobs.

So they end up playing “Belles, Bourbon and Bullets” – a mystery game that takes place in Savannah. This means everyone in the office will have an assigned character. Erin gets “Naughty” Nelly Nutmeg, while Andy gets Nathaniel Nutmeg…her brother.

Since Andy is interested in Erin, he later asks her out in his character’s accent, and Erin says yes. At first, he’s ecstatic. Until he sees her later on ‘saying yes’ to other characters in the game as Nellie.

He gets confused about whether he asked out Nelly or Erin.

Which makes no sense seeing as in the game they are playing brother and sister. So why would she say yes to a date with her brother?

27 Jim Staying Out Of Trouble

Jim Halpert was a fan-favorite of the series – and for good reason. His utter love and devotion to Pam was evident even in the early days of the show when we weren’t sure what was going to happen between the star-crossed lovers. Plus, he’s absolutely hilarious, especially when he’s pranking Dwight.

From the very first time we see him put Dwight’s stapler in a jello mold, we knew them being each other’s nemesis was going to be good. Dwight always managed to annoy the daylights out of Jim, whether intentionally or not. And because of that, Jim would always get creative and pull outrageous pranks on him.

But at times, they could have been considered harmful or at least created a hostile work environment. But somehow, Jim was never reprimanded for his actions, let alone terminated from his job. In a normal corporate world, that would never happen.

26 Dwight And Andy’s Friendship

Dwight Schrute and Andy Bernard got off on the wrong foot immediately upon meeting. Andy was trying to suck up to the boss, which didn’t go over well with Dwight since he has always loyal to Michael and wanted to suck up to him all on his own.

But things only got worse when Dwight and Angela broke up at the beginning of season four, and Andy soon started dating her after that. Then, things got somehow even more out of hand between the two when it was found out that Dwight was having a relationship with Angela behind Andy’s back in season five.

So tell me, how in the world did these two become friends after all of that? In the real world, they wouldn’t even want to be working at the same place, let alone become close friends.

25 Ryan’s Second Chance

Ryan Howard started out the series as the office temp, who was reluctant to be there in the first place. But he was in business school and wanted to succeed, so he thought taking this office job could lead him to better things.

Then he ends up taking over Jan’s position at corporate and becoming everyone at the Scranton branch’s boss. That didn’t last long though since he ended up being arrested for defrauding the company.

So it already makes little to no sense why Michael would give him a second chance when he starts his own paper company, but at least you can rationalize that Michael is our favorite gullible idiot and it sort of makes sense for him.

But why would Dunder Mifflin hire him back after they buy out Michael’s company? Regardless of Michael’s stipulations, it’s unheard of that any company would risk something like that.

24 A Tale Of Two Moms

In a season two episode, we finally get to meet Pam’s mom. She actually played a role in showing us that Pam too has feelings for Jim, before they ever even became a couple. When she arrives, she asks “Which one is Jim?” Indicating Pam has talked about him a lot. That is solidified when Pam becomes noticeably embarrassed and changes the subject.

But when we meet Pam’s mom, Helene, again in season six, she looks significantly different.

And that is simply because they completely changed actresses on us. Helene went on to be a part of a storyline that season that had to do with her dating Michael, which makes Pam very angry.

It’s definitely still odd to notice the sudden change in moms, I must say.

23 Andy Not Finding Out About …

It was not long after Dwight and Angela broke up in season four that Andy began dating her. He was unaware that they had been an item, sure, but it still angered Dwight. By the season four finale, when Andy and Angela become engaged, we find out at the end of the episode that she’s still carrying on with Dwight behind his back.

Phyllis finds out about it, but uses it as blackmail against Angela instead of telling Andy. Eventually, she does spill the beans…at the office Christmas party. He isn’t in the room, but everyone else is.

That makes it really hard to believe that none of them would tell Andy about it, being that most of Andy’s co-workers aren’t known for their discretion. He doesn’t find out until well after Christmas when Michael tells him as he’s leaving for a meeting in New York. Yikes.

22 Where Is Danny Cordray?

Danny Cordray first appeared in season seven in an episode titled “The Sting.” He is known as a paper salesman who always gets the client, so when Dwight and Jim are up against him for a pitch at a company, they call in Michael for help.

Danny ends up getting the client anyways, and even though Jim and Dwight are against it, Michael decides to recruit him to be Dunder Mifflin’s traveling salesman at the Scranton branch.

He is only seen in a couple of episodes total, where we also find out he dated Pam in the past only to never call her back. But after that, we never see him again. He is briefly mentioned towards the end of the season, and then his character’s existence just seems to fade away.

21 Insufficient Technology

Towards the later seasons of The Office, a company by the name of Sabre ends up buying Dunder Mifflin. The printer company’s CEO, Jo Bennett, decides to create a tablet-like device called The Pyramid to get themselves in the small electronics market.

They wanted to eventually become like Apple stores and have them everywhere, but a lot about their devices just didn’t make sense. Jim comments when presenting the device at the store’s grand opening that you can watch everything from “Cars 2 to Chuck” which isn’t really feasible seeing as it wouldn’t support anything in a full-screen or wide-screen format.

Plus, he mentions it will have Wi-Fi the following year, in 2013, when all tablets at the time already had that ability built in.

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