Michael Scott (The Office)
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Michael Scott | |
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The Office character | |
First appearance | "Pilot" (2005) |
Last appearance | "Finale" (2013) |
Created by | Greg Daniels
Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant |
Based on | David Brent (British counterpart) |
Portrayed by | Steve Carell |
In-universe information | |
Nicknames | Ping Michael the Magic Michael Scarn Michael Klump Date Mike Mike Blind Guy McSqueezy Caleb Crawdad Michael Wonka Reginald Poofta Spiros Orville Tootenbacher Jesus Christ Michael J Fox Mr. Fox The Incredible Mr. Fox Hot Tie Guy |
Occupation | Scranton regional manager at Dunder Mifflin |
Family | Barbara Kevis (grandmother)[a] Luke Cooper (nephew)[b] Jeff (stepfather) |
Spouse | Holly Flax |
Significant others | Jan Levinson Carol Stills Helene Beesly Donna Newton |
Children | 4 (with Holly Flax) |
Origin | Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character in the NBC sitcom The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell. Michael is the regional manager of the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of Dunder Mifflin, a paper company, for the majority of the series. Like his counterpart in the original British version of the show, David Brent, he is characterized as a largely incompetent, unproductive, unprofessional boss, though he is depicted as kinder and occasionally shown to be effective at his job in key moments.
Towards the end of the seventh season, he marries human resources representative Holly Flax and moves to Colorado with her in "Goodbye, Michael", an extended episode. He is then absent from the series until the finale.
Carell received significant critical acclaim for his performance. He was nominated six consecutive times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series (Musical or Comedy) in 2006.[1]
Casting
All original series characters were adapted for the U.S. version. NBC programmer Tracy McLaughlin suggested
With Carell unavailable, Odenkirk was selected as Michael Scott and was part of the cast presented to NBC executives.[4] Paul Rudd advised Carell that the American version of The Office would never be as good as the British version.[5] However, Come to Papa was quickly cancelled, allowing Carell to commit to The Office. Odenkirk went on to appear in the series in a brief role as an office manager reminiscent of Scott. Carell later said that he had seen only about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned, and that he did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Ricky Gervais's characterizations. On the audio commentary of the pilot episode, director Ken Kwapis says that Carell's unfamiliarity with the British version of The Office and their experience working together on Watching Ellie influenced his being cast as Scott.[6]
Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bruno Kirby, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Colbert, David Herman, Mike White, Greg Kinnear, David Cross, Rob Schneider and Noah Emmerich, among others, turned down the role.[7]
Two of Carell's supporting film roles helped get audiences' attention: in
Although The 40-Year-Old Virgin was a surprise success, Carell said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he had no plans to leave The Office. However, on the BBC Radio 5 Live Film Review show, he said that his time on the show would probably end when his contract ran out after Season 7.[12] This was later confirmed on June 28, 2010, when he announced that the seventh season would be his last.[13]
Character details, arc, backstory
Biography
Michael Gary Scott was born on March 15, 1965,[14][15] in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He came from a relatively difficult childhood of loneliness. In the pilot, he mentions having a brother. Michael had some trouble with his early education (shown in "Dunder Mifflin Infinity") as Michael tells the camera crew he was held back in second grade. In "Diversity Day", be claims to be of English, Irish, German and Scottish descent, and also claims to be "two-fifteenths" Native American. He has mentioned a stepfather, Jeff, whom he despises. In "Nepotism", it is revealed that he had a half-sister, from whom he'd been estranged for 15 years. After their reunion, Michael hires her son (and his nephew) Luke as an office intern, but eventually confronts the incompetent, rude young man and spanks him in front of the office staff, causing him to burst into tears and quit.
In the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day", Michael claims that he was a child star on a kids' show called Fundle Bundle; however, it becomes clear that he simply appeared on the show as one of many guest children. As the office staff watch an old recording of his episode, the young Michael speaks touchingly about what he wants when he grows up: to get married, and to have "100 kids" so none of them could say no to being his friend. Michael did not attend college, having lost all his tuition money in a pyramid scheme.[episode needed]
Michael started at Dunder Mifflin as a salesman in the early 1990s. In "
During a candid conversation in "The Fire", Michael tells Ryan that he became a salesman because he loved making friends. After being promoted to regional manager at a young age, he continued to treat work-related relationships as personal friendships, which he acknowledged was complicated because his colleagues were lower than him in the workplace's hierarchy. He seems to have few relationships outside the office.
In his interactions with other characters, Michael is oblivious to most social norms. He tends to overestimate his own importance in the eyes of his coworkers, and can't understand why they don't share his enthusiasm for his unconventional ideas and interests. He believes an office should be the "place where dreams come true."
He is loyal to the company and tries to help his employees when he thinks they are having problems. Michael has been at Dunder Mifflin (as of "Michael's Last Dundies") 9,986,000 minutes, which means that he has worked there since April 1992.
Michael's constant desire to be the center of attention often manifests itself in selfish behavior. When he burns his foot in "The Injury", he expects Pam and Ryan to tend to his needs, despite Dwight's much more serious concussion. When invited to "Phyllis' Wedding", he assumes his participation will be the high point of the ceremony. He pouts when he is upstaged by Phyllis' elderly father, eventually giving an insulting, overly familiar toast that gets him banned from the reception. His desire to be liked often leads him to make unwise decisions and unfeasible promises without considering the consequences, only to back out when they result in an undesirable comeuppance. He appears to emphasize moments of sympathy or civility directed at him by his coworkers (mostly Jim) and inflates their importance to compensate for his loneliness.
Michael is irresponsible with his finances, and at one point is so heavily in debt he must take a second job as a
Due to his lack of common sense, Michael is often the butt of jokes. He is quick to take offense when wronged and his response is often disproportionate to the harm he suffers. Similarly, when he unintentionally offends people, he is remorseful and apologizes; the most notable example is in "
In "The Meeting", it is shown that Michael does not always consider his employees' success, or even his own, when he sabotages Jim with a bad recommendation, mistakenly believing Jim's promotion would lead to Michael's firing. He does, however, concede to a co-managerial position with Jim to avoid losing him.
A hopeless romantic, Michael has had several romantic relationships, most notably with executive Jan, who becomes so domineering over that he ends their relationship. He eventually settles down with Holly, who shares his sense of humor and "gets him". He eventually quits Dunder Mifflin and moves to Boulder, Colorado to help Holly care for her ailing parents. In unseen events, they marry and have four children.
Interests
Michael's catchphrase is "
Michael has diverse interests in media. Song parody writing is often referred to: In "
In "Dream Team", he comes up with "Achey Breaky Fart (an "Achy Breaky Heart" parody) and "My Stumps" (a "My Humps" parody) during a brainstorming exercise. He aspires to finish filming his original movie, "Threat Level: Midnight", whose script the staff finds and gives a table reading. After ten years of production, often using areas of the office as sets, Michael screens the completed movie for the staff in the seventh-season episode of the same name.
Michael adores the theatrical stylings of
He appears to have a history of playing ice hockey and demonstrates his skating talent in "Michael's Birthday". He says that in high school, after his math teacher told him he was going to flunk out, he went out the next day and "scored more goals than anyone in the history of the hockey team." He also invites potential clients to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins games. He expresses interest in basketball, even though he is terrible at it (seem in "The Fire", "Basketball" and "Goodbye, Michael"). He is a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, and does not like the New York Mets.
His other interests include a pair of Levi's he refers to as "fun jeans", which he has professionally dry cleaned and the reason he started casual Fridays; his self-bought "World's Best Boss" mug from
Personality and management style
Apart from his masterful salesmanship, Michael is lacking in almost any other skills, management or otherwise. Jim Halpert once made a color graph of how Michael spends his time: 80% distracting others; 19% procrastination; and 1% critical thinking. Jim added that he inflated the "critical thinking" percentage so people could actually see it on the graph. His laid-back approach more often results in lower than expected workplace productivity, particularly when Michael places personal interests as a priority over work (such as his birthday, someone else's birthday, or his various seminars). To avoid being disciplined for his foolish actions, Michael often resorts to scapegoating employees to cover himself. Although his actions often lead to more problems for his employees, Michael believes that Scranton is "the cool, fun branch... like Animal House". He is genuinely upset when the top salesman from the Utica office criticizes the Scranton in a phone call and declares it "worse than Camden".
Although his position as regional manager gives him broad decision-making authority on branch operations, he often places those responsibilities secondary to his desire to be friends with his employees. On the other hand, he also oversteps his authority by hosting events that corporate disapproves of, such as The Dundies and several office parties a year, inducing birthday parties for each employee despite only being allowed the budget for one a year.
It is revealed in the episode "The Duel" the Scranton branch is the best-performing company branch, well ahead of Utica and Nashua. Michael is called to corporate headquarters to answer the question, "What are you doing right?" After several minutes of Michael's inarticulate babble, his superiors concede that while Michael is definitely doing something right, they will probably never know exactly what. They send him on a lecture tour to spread his wisdom; instead, he wastes time and annoys the workers who have to listen to his drivel.
Despite his ineptitude, Michael is prone to brief bouts of surprising insight and is shown to have a kind heart as he shows deep, family-like affection towards the people working in the Scranton branch. The staff initially finds Michael annoying but he grows on many of them and is given many emotional goodbyes during his final days in Scranton. In the episode "Broke", Michael displays self-awareness of his inability to keep secrets when he, Pam and Ryan all agree not to let Dunder Mifflin know the Michael Scott Paper Company is broke. Moments later he is seen bent over and in a panic when he admits that he's afraid he won't be able to keep himself from letting the truth slip. In the same episode, he displays a remarkable ability to negotiate with Dunder Mifflin and convince the company to hire himself as well as Pam and Ryan back with full benefits.
In the episode "Murder", Jim attempts to confront Michael for wasting time when he has the staff participate in a murder-mystery role playing game. However, he is confronted by an unusually serious and stern Michael, who demands to, "just let them [the staff] have this game". Jim then realized Michael actually was trying to distract the staff from the possibility of losing their jobs after a news article hinted at Dunder Mifflin going bankrupt.
In the episode "
Michael's habits of joking around and treating professional colleagues as personal friends are often inappropriate for management. However, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of the paper industry, it is remarkably effective when utilized to sign clients, as seen in "The Client" and "Heavy Competition." In "Initiation", Pam balks at Michael's sugar-fueled phone calls to a local business, but later realizes that his silly conversation (including a Bill Cosby imitation) helped to secure a major sale for Dunder Mifflin. He remembers people through word association starting with nicknames such as "baldy" and "fatso" which, while offensive to the individuals in question, works to his advantage. Although he is unsuccessful using his sales methods as a telemarketer in "Money", his social interactions with coworkers suggest that he would be a more popular presence in an office of peers as opposed to subordinates.
It is clear Michael loves Dunder Mifflin very much. He has also shown signs of feeling underappreciated, given his long history with the company. In the episode "
In the episode "New Boss", Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace ducks Michael's calls throughout the day. When Michael's 15-year anniversary party is cancelled by his new superior, Charles Miner, he drives to New York to confront Wallace. Citing his long history of service and many sacrifices, Michael asks that he be treated more respectfully. Wallace, seeing his heartfelt openness, promises Michael his party and pledges to attend. Michael surprisingly recognizes that the CFO is just humoring him, and stuns Wallace by quitting his job.
Relationships
Michael tends to overestimate his importance to his employees, but despite constantly offending some of them, he has a close bond with them. Most of the employees have been the focus of Michael's jokes at one point or another, usually in reference to their race, sex, size, attractiveness, or sexual orientation. Examples of Michael's difficult relationship with his staff include getting slapped by Kelly for being racist, hitting Meredith with his car, getting kicked out of Phyllis and Bob's wedding, and outing Oscar to the entire office without his permission. They are, however, generally sympathetic to his shortcomings and, while regularly losing patience when he interrupts their workflow, often try to assist him with his personal problems.
Michael's relationship with the company warehouse employees is tense. He has a tendency to disrupt their daily work flow, and in a talking head interview, warehouse supervisor
Although many Dunder Mifflin employees are initially barely able to tolerate Michael, they gradually grow to appreciate his sincere intentions, even at times coming to find amusement in his sophomoric humor and behavior; this transition is most apparent in Pam Halpert, with whom he eventually develops a genuine friendship. His co-workers are overjoyed when Michael finds his soulmate in Holly Flax; they participate in his romantic proposal to her and are shown to be emotional at his leaving Scranton to be with her. Jim Halpert even teared up while calling Michael "the best boss [he] ever had."
Dwight Schrute
Dwight has the most respect for Michael, viewing him as a model for success, and is thrilled when asked to handle any task given to him, however ill-conceived it may be. Although on the surface, Michael usually appears dismissive of Dwight and generally views him as a suck-up, he is genuinely hurt and angry at the few times when Dwight has deceived him, such as when Dwight went over Michael's head to vie for the manager's job or when Dwight refused to reveal office secrets to Michael's new company, the "Michael Scott Paper Company". In the episode "Heavy Competition" of Season 5, Dwight takes Michael's Rolodex and finds his own business card, on the back of which, Michael had written (before leaving Dunder Mifflin): "Dwight Schrute, tall, beets".
Michael also cares how Dwight feels about him. After Michael beats Dwight at his own dojo, Michael finds out that Dwight no longer wanted Michael as his primary contact in case of an emergency which causes Michael to promote him from "Assistant to the Regional Manager" to "Assistant Regional Manager", with a three-month probational period. Dwight told Michael in Season 6 that Michael's pathetic career path hurt Dwight and he regretted working for him instead of taking a fast-track job at
Ryan Howard
Michael has one-sided affection for Ryan, which often makes Ryan uncomfortable. Examples of this are when Michael gives Ryan the "Hottest in the Office" award in The Dundies, when Michael declares he would definitely want to have sex with Ryan in The Fire, and when Michael gives Ryan a $400 iPod for the Secret Santa gift exchange, despite the 20-dollar limit. In "The Deposition", a page from Michael's diary reveals he describes Ryan as "just as hot as Jan, but in a different way." On multiple occasions, Michael behaves inappropriately around Ryan, including slapping Ryan's buttocks, pinching Ryan's nipples, staring constantly at Ryan from behind his window blind, pinning Ryan to sit on his lap and making kissing gestures toward Ryan while calling him the belle of the ball.
Michael is devastated when he finds out about Ryan's arrest for fraud, and much to the dismay of David Wallace, he later re-hires Ryan. In "Prince Family Paper", Michael acknowledges that his heart has led him astray before, naming Jan and Ryan as examples of this. In "Dream Team", Michael convinces Ryan to leave his job at the bowling alley and join his newly formed paper company. When working together, Ryan comes to respect Michael's skills as a salesman. In Season 7, Michael heavily invests in Ryan's WUPHF.com and won't agree to sell his majority shares when it is clear Ryan is exploiting Michael's goodwill and is incapable of saving the venture from bankruptcy.
Michael's obsession with Ryan is further shown in a number of deleted scenes. In one from "Diwali", Carol says that Michael constantly talks about Ryan's attractiveness and has begun stalking Ryan. In another from "Safety Training", Michael confesses that he will miss Ryan the most after dying, which angers Ryan. In a deleted scene of "Beach Games", Michael says he especially wants to see Ryan put a hot dog in his mouth. In "Night Out", Michael is in bed with Ryan asking "Do you miss us?," to which Ryan declines to answer.
Jim and Pam Halpert
Michael doesn't hesitate to compliment or criticize Pam for her looks and he frequently mentions her breasts. In the episode "Diwali" Michael mistakenly thinks that he and Pam have a connection, and is rejected when he tries to kiss her. Throughout their relationship, Pam has served as something of a shoulder angel for Michael by encouraging him to be more productive and discouraging his bad ideas, with varying degrees of success. She grows closer to Michael as he supports her goals in pursuing sales and art. Pam is visibly touched when, after many art show attendees (including Oscar and his boyfriend Gil) dismiss her artwork, Michael is so impressed that he asks to buy her painting of their office building. Their relationship comes to a rocky point when he begins dating her mother Helene. This is only repaired after he breaks up with Helene and allows Pam to slap him in the face in the parking lot. He trusts and respects Jim, although when they were co-managers they clashed due to their polar-opposite management styles. In "Secret Santa", Michael mentions that in a future vision he sees himself and his future wife living next door to Jim and Pam and that their children will play together. He often also refers to Jim as his best friend in the office, although, based on his impersonation of Jim using surfer slang in "Michael's Last Dundies", does not have a very good understanding of his personality.
While Jim and Pam are both shown to care about Michael, his clingy nature makes them reluctant to socialize with him outside of the office; such as when, after numerous unsuccessful invitations, Michael is forced to trick them in order to have them over for a disastrous dinner in the episode "Dinner Party." In a Season 5 episode, Michael also shows his admiration for Jim, when Jim wears a tuxedo to work and goes on and on about having a 'classy party' for the party planning committee, and frequently suggests all of the ideas Dwight had offered that Michael had then rejected, only to bother Dwight by having Michael accept the same ideas from him. During Cecilia Halpert's baptism, Michael approaches Pam referring to himself as "the godfather" while imitating Don Corleone, after which she sympathetically but emphatically asks him to acknowledge that he won't be Cece's godfather, he is disappointed but does so and is hurt to learn that the godparents are a couple they'd only recently met. Pam is shown to have a soft spot for Michael, such as when she consoles him after he finds Holly to be in a relationship with AJ, and when she advises him on how to propose to Holly. In "Goodbye, Michael" it is revealed that Michael is secretly planning to leave for Colorado at the end of his penultimate work day, thereby avoiding having to say goodbye to everyone. Jim figures this out and goes along with it, telling Michael that he will tell him what a great boss he was the following day at lunch, which they both know Michael will not be around for; Michael and Jim both get sentimental during this final conversation between them. The strength of his relationship with Pam is revealed as he continuously asks about her whereabouts, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye.
Pam, who spent the better part of the day away from the office, finds Michael at the airport and says goodbye in a touching scene just as he's about to board his plane for Colorado. She watches from the window as his plane flies off. In a deleted scene of "The Inner Circle", Pam is flattered that Michael named his new dog "Pamela Beagsley." Pam later teases Jim that their second child will be named "little Michael Scott" displaying the friendship she had developed with her former boss. In the series finale, Jim convinces Michael to replace him as the "bestest mensch" at Dwight's wedding. Pam is so thrilled to see photos of Michael's children that she does not judge him for paying for two phones to hold all the pictures.
Toby Flenderson
Despite liking the majority of the staff, Michael fiercely hates
Michael's long-time goal is to get rid of Toby and any attempts at reconciliation between the two usually backfire. In the episode "
Erin Hannon
Once Pam is promoted to salesperson following Dunder Mifflin's buyout of The Michael Scott Paper Company, Michael keeps Erin Hannon as her replacement. Michael is initially unkind to her as he misses having Pam as his receptionist, but she is able to earn his respect by cheering him up after his disastrous school visit in "Scott's Tots." Unlike her predecessor, Erin loves working as a receptionist, admires Michael and cheerfully accommodates many of his unusual requests (such as serving him a plate of ants on a log every day at 2:30 and spinning him in his chair until he's dizzy). Although he generally enjoys Erin's thoughtful treatment, his dismissive feelings towards Erin continue until "Secretary's Day" when he reluctantly agrees to take her out to lunch. Erin relishes the opportunity to spend time with her boss, while Michael finds their conversation awkward and mentions that her then-boyfriend Andy Bernard was previously engaged to Angela Martin. Erin was previously unaware of this, and after learning of it she ends her relationship with Andy. Later that day, Michael apologizes to Erin; the two are finally able to relate to each other over their mutual fondness for silly humor, stemming from their similar immature tendencies with Michael's ignorance and Erin's naïveté.
Their working relationship then develops smoothly while they bond by making each other laugh with childish jokes, such as Erin pointing out that the phrase "it's not" sounds like "snot." In "
Erin sees that Holly is able to sense where Michael is, and when she sees them reconcile, she finally understands their love for each other and smiles. Later in "Goodbye, Michael", Erin talks to Michael about her love life and wishes that she knew her birth mother so she could tell Erin what to do. Michael advises Erin that she shouldn't rush things and that she'll know what to do when the right guy comes along. Michael then tells her that she won't need her mother for advice, because she will always have his personal phone number when she needs advice and kisses her on the head.
Holly Flax
Shortly after the dissolution of his troubled relationship with Jan, Michael found love with Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), Toby's replacement as HR Representative, who appears for a while to be Michael's best chance at love, with the two sharing a similar sense of humor and social awkwardness. However, after David Wallace witnesses them kissing, Holly is transferred to the Nashua branch and she and Michael break up after choosing not to pursue a long-distance relationship. Despite the breakup and Holly's new relationship with another man, their affection for each other persists, as it is shown that Holly had been writing a note for Michael on her work computer, as well as their subtle romantic glances at one another during the summer company picnic. Throughout her absence in Season 5, excluding "Company Picnic" and carrying on into Season 7, Michael hooks up with a few other women, but ultimately he finds that none of them compare to Holly.
Around Christmas in Season 7, Toby is forced to leave the office due to being selected as part of the jury duty for a local murder case, resulting in Holly returning as the temporary HR replacement. There is initial tension between the two of them and hesitation on her side (mostly after her sudden break-up with A.J.), but Holly finally reunites with Michael after realizing the two are soulmates. The two continue dating for a few weeks, and on Valentine's Day, they tell each other they love each other, decide to move in together, and resolve that they will not allow Dunder Mifflin to interfere with their future together.
With her time at the Scranton branch almost up and the recent knowledge that her aging parents need to be taken care of, they ultimately become engaged. Holly later moves back to Colorado and Michael follows her soon after. In the finale it is revealed that they have children together. It was revealed in a photo album on NBC that they have three children and are expecting their fourth child.[19]
Other romantic relationships
Michael's longest relationship before his marriage was with
On a business trip to Winnipeg, Michael and "Concierge Marie" become close, and Michael does not wish to leave her after they are caught necking in her suite. After Jim and Pam's wedding, Michael begins dating Pam's mother Helene (much to Pam's horror), but he breaks up with her on her birthday after discovering she is turning 58. Near the end of season six, Michael begins dating Donna (Amy Pietz), the manager of a local bar, but later finds out that she's married and he is, as he puts it, "the mistress". He continues seeing her until the disgust of his employees drives him to listen to his conscience and break things off with her. In Season 7's "Sex Ed", Michael reunites in person or by telephone with all of his past girlfriends when he believes that he has contracted herpes. In doing so, he realizes that Holly was the only one he truly loved.
Legacy of "That's What She Said"
The show often uses the joke "
The phrase has become so associated with the character that the television show 30 Rock, in the episode "TGS Hates Women", there is a scene where Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) becomes infuriated at another character's use of the phrase, exclaiming, "Steve Carell owns 'That's What She Said,' okay? He owns it!" In the episode "Goodbye, Michael", "That's what she said" is Steve Carell's final line as a series regular; it is also his first line on returning as a guest star in "Finale".
Comparison with David Brent
Although originally based on
Despite his failings, Scott has been oddly successful as regional manager. This is attributed, in part, to his weakness of procrastination wherein he typically forfeits a bad choice by seeking the advice of his more competent subordinates (such as Jim, Oscar, or Darryl) and uses their recommendations. Scott's success is also partly attributed to his main strength: genuinely caring about the well-being of the office and treating his employees like family. When he took over the Scranton Branch he decreased costs by 17%, without firing any personnel. After the merger of the two branches Scott does not lose a single client despite a great deal of employee turnover (much of which he was directly responsible for). He received a $3,000 bonus for firing Devon, most likely because his doing so saved the company around $50,000. Although it is suggested that Brent has had similar success, such claims only ever come from Brent himself, thus making them unreliable.
Scott's social immaturity and inability to cope with responsibility is balanced with a personality that is much more caring than Brent's, even if both make unwise comments in the heat of the moment. Unlike Brent, who pretends to be friendly with many of his employees purely for the benefit of the cameras, Scott seems to genuinely like his colleagues, with the exception of Human Resources Director
The
The show's writers have said[not specific enough to verify] that the 2005 hit movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin provided very useful guidance as they refined the character along with Steve Carell between the first and second seasons. Michael Scott wore a large amount of hair gel and dressed sloppily in Season 1, but by Season 2 he had a more conventional haircut and dressed much more neatly. Also, while Michael is often rude and nasty in Season 1, he is generally nicer and less hard-edged in subsequent seasons.
In the seventh-season episode "The Seminar", Michael in fact briefly meets David Brent in an office lobby and they establish an immediate rapport, joking together and generally signalling that they would have been good friends.
Behind the scenes
- Series creator Greg Daniels envisioned Michael Scott behaving as if he "was hoping that the documentary about this would one day be seen by Jennifer Aniston, and I was just trying to impress her any way I possibly could."[23] On the audio commentary for "Valentine's Day", Daniels notes that he included a meeting between Michael and two other branch managers to contrast Michael's level of competence with theirs. While Michael is not as dynamic as Josh Porter, who is later hired in a senior management position at Staples, his management skills are superior to those of the hopelessly inept Craig. Daniels comments that Michael could be an adequate but unexceptional branch manager who, despite his antics, is just competent enough to avoid being fired.[24]
- Writer Sebring because it is the most ostentatious car he can afford, opting for a convertible despite the fact that the climate in Scranton is cool even in the summer.[25]
- After the airing of "Garage Sale", Colorado governor John Hickenlooper humorously issued a press release appointing Michael Scott as Director of Paper Distribution in their Department of Natural Resources.[26]
Notes
- ^ Seen in "Dream Team"
- ^ Seen in "Nepotism"
References
- ^ "Steve Carell". Television Academy. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ Carter, Bill (September 17, 2006). "The Whole World Is Watching, and Ben Silverman Is Watching Back". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
- ^ Susman, Gary (January 29, 2004). "Daily Show's Carell may star in Office remake". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 26, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
- ^ Carter, Bill (May 2013). "One Last Cringe for 'The Office' Finale". The New York Times.
- ^ "Steve Carell Nearly Didn't Play Michael Scott on 'The Office'". November 15, 2021.
- Universal.
- ^ @greeneandy (March 19, 2020). "Note that Paul Giamatti, David Cross, Greg Kinnear and Philip Seymour Hoffman all declined. They also thought about…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "'The Office': You'll Never Believe Which Actors Were Considered for the Role of Michael Scott". March 7, 2021.
- ^ "Why 'The Office' Almost Chose Bob Odenkirk Instead of Steve Carell". June 24, 2020.
- ^ "Philip Seymour Hoffman Turned Down 'The Office' when Offered Michael Scott Role". June 24, 2020.
- The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the originalon November 7, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Fowler, Matt. "Is Steve Carell leaving The Office?". IGN.com. IGN. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (July 27, 2010). "NBC Confirms That Carell Is Leaving 'The Office'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ In the episode Broke, which aired April 23, 2009, Michael states that he is 44 years old.
- ^ In the episode Michael's Birthday, which aired March 30, 2006, Michael states that he shares a birthday with Eva Longoria.
- ^ Paul Lieberstein Explains Why Michael Hates Toby, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved November 16, 2021
- ^ This is Why Michael Scott Hates Toby Flenderson I Cameo, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved November 16, 2021
- ^ Paul Lieberstein From 'The Office' On What Made Toby So Funny | TODAY, retrieved November 16, 2021
- ^ "Where are they now". NBC.Com. NBC. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ [1] Archived June 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Every "That's What She Said" Ever - The Office, retrieved May 26, 2023
- ^ "04x12 - The Deposition - Transcripts - Forever Dreaming". transcripts.foreverdreaming.org. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ "Writing 'The Office'". Fresh Air. WHYY-FM. November 2, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- Universal.
- ^ Novak, B.J. (October 4, 2005). "Michael and Co. Hit the Road". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ "Home - The Official Site of Governor Jared Polis". www.colorado.gov. Retrieved January 19, 2019.