History YMMV / TheOfficeUS

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Karen was initially utterly despised for [[DieForOurShip coming between Jim/Pam]]. However, since the show concluded, more fans have grown increasingly sympathetic to her due to her being a designated RomanticFalseLead and for how Jim treated her. It has gotten to the point that Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer (Pam's actress, no less) took her side while discussing that plot arc in their ''Office Ladies'' podcast.

%% ** '''False'''.

** Michael's "superstitious[=/=]stitious" bit is a pretty old {{Ditz}} joke. [[Radio/TheBurnsAndAllenShow Gracie Allen once told George Burns]] she wasn't superstitious or "regular old stitious".

* HypeBacklash: ''The Office'''s massive popularity on multiple internet fandom circles (particularly Website/{{Reddit}} and Website/{{Tumblr}}) has inevitably led to this for newcomers who are of the opinion that the series is funny but way overblown by its fans who gloss over its many flaws, or simply don't care for the show's extremely dry yet [[CringeComedy cringey]] style of humor.

* {{Fanon}}: Even though it's relegated to a single deleted scene and doesn't fit with how his character's been established (he's often shown working on actual crossword puzzles, not just faking it), a number of fans enjoy the idea of Stanley liking hentai [[HumorMode purely for humor's sake]]. Most of it comes from how sincerely Leslie David Baker delivers the line "it's called hentai, ''and it's art"''.

%% ** '''''[[https://youtu.be/gO8N3L_aERg?t=93 OH MY GOD, OKAY IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYBODY STAY CALM! STAY F*CKING CALM!]]'''''

** The Sabre company debuts a triangle-shaped tablet called the Pyramid, and Ryan's presentation (given by Jim) at the opening of Sabre's first retail store puts a lot of emphasis on real-life pyramids built throughout history. In ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'', electronics/robotics manufacturer Faro Automated Solutions has a pyramid logo and its CEO holed himself up in a pyramid-shaped bunker to [[spoiler:ride out a RobotWar apocalypse that he himself was indirectly responsible for]].

*** The Athlead arc and the problems it brings to Jim and Pam's marriage. Leaving aside the fact that [[spoiler:Jim did deposit a large amount of money behind Pam's back to invest in the business]], fans are split as to whether Jim was right to try broadening his horizons (as he'd made it clear before that he didn't want to stay at Dunder-Mifflin selling paper until he was 50) and Pam was being unreasonable, or if Pam had every right to be paranoid that the idea could fail and hurt them badly (as starting a new business ''is'' a risky venture, no matter how you spin it).

* CommonKnowledge: A common belief among the fanbase is that the song sung by the cast in "Michael's Last Dundies" was a complete surprise to Steve Carell, some also believe that Ryan's glare at Deangelo after he sang his line was producer BJ Novak being unhappy with actor Will Ferrell for butting in and ruining the moment. Both theories were debunked by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey on their podcast, but they did mention that while Steve knew about the song from reading the script, he was excluded from rehearsals and did indeed hear it for the first time during the shooting of the episode.

** A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' skit claims that ''The Office'' is actually a ripoff of a Japanese sitcom. We see the supposed original where Steve Carell runs a Japanese office and has everyone participate in morning calisthenics (which actually is a thing in Japanese workplaces). In the series finale, Dwight implements this program in the workplace because he is an OccidentalOtaku.

** The use of "ThatsWhatSheSaid" as a joke response to anything that could be interpreted as even vaguely sexual is definitely OlderThanTheyThink. Though popularized by ''The Office'', that phrase had been used in that exact same way for at least a ''decade'' before the show existed (thanks to the popularity of ''Film/WaynesWorld''), if not longer.

* PeripheryDemographic: Although it's a WorkCom, with most episodes rated TV-14, and with quite a few overt sexual references, it's always been popular with kids and teens, who can still appreciate the quotable dialogue, relatable situations, goofy storylines and colorful characters. The voice acting of Creator/SteveCarell in ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' and Creator/MindyKaling and Phyllis Smith in ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' has also been a factor in attracting younger audiences to the show.

** How the turntables… [[note]]Another Michael {{Malaproper}} of the phrase “how the tables have turned”, which became so popular that it is frequently used in place of the actual phrase.

%% ** How the turntables...
** [[https://youtu.be/gW2LtX1217s?t=126 Corporate needs you to find the differences between this picture and this picture]]. [[note]] They're the same picture. Often used to compare similar objects or ideas to one another.[[/note]]

** [[https://i.imgflip.com/3ksxaa.png?a466224 The photograph of Ed Truck shaking Michael's hand.]] Gets used for people being praised for [[AchievementsInIgnorance accidental achievements]], receiving recognition from someone with more skill in the relevant task than oneself, and more broadly, being celebrated for things one has very minimal understanding of.

** '''NO''', GOD. NO, God, please, no, NO! NO! '''NOOOOOOOOOOO!''' Michael's BigNo when he sees Toby had come back from Costa Rica. Naturally used anytime someone hears some distressing news. An alternet use for the same result is the scene where Pam realizes Michael is dating her mother.

** [[https://youtu.be/gW2LtX1217s?t=126 Corporate needs you to find the differences between this picture and this picture]]. They're the same picture. Often used to compare similar objects or ideas to one another.

** "Sir, this is a Wendy's", used as cheeky retort on Website/{{Twitter}} to any sort of overly-emphatic or rambling statement, seems to have been inspired by the bit in "Chair Model" where Kevin tricks Michael into calling a Wendy's under the misimpression that he's calling a "hot and juicy redhead" named Wendy (though the actual line is "Dude, this is a Wendy's restaurant").

** "'''''BOY HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, CAUSE I'LL HELP YOU FIND IT!'''''", this also became a meme on [=TikTok=] in 2021 with the first part of Stanley's quote ("That little girl is a child, I don't want to see you sniffing around her...") included. Users created videos featuring fictional and real life {{Age Gap Romance}}s using the sound.

** Michael as the well-meaning boss who's [[InnocentlyInsensitive too oblivious to realize when he's being insensitive]]. From the start, he was intended as a LighterAndSofter version of the much more odious David Brent from the UK version, with the affable Creator/SteveCarell in the role. But his [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish behavior]], horrible treatment of his employees and co-workers, [[TooDumbToLive aggravating acts of utter stupidity]], and general inability (if not outright refusal) to learn or get better can make it hard to really ''like'' him as a person, and the attempts to give him CharacterDevelopment can sometimes seem forced.

* CommonKnowledge: A common belief among the fanbase is that the song sung by the cast in ''Michael's Last Dundies'' was a complete surprise to Steve Carell, some also believe that Ryan's glare at Deangelo after he sung his line was producer BJ Novak being unhappy with actor Will Ferrell for butting in and ruining the moment. Both theories were debunked by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey on their podcast, but they did mention that while Steve knew about the song from reading the script, he was excluded from rehearsals and did indeed hear it for the first time during the shooting of the episode.

** Dwight is also often viewed as possibly being on some kind of spectrum, due to his very stiff, humorless and LiteralMinded personality. He is also easily distracted on random topics and turns minor issues into SeriousBusiness. However, the show plays with this a lot more, as many of the hints we receive about Dwight's background would seem to suggest that his issues are more the result of a very eccentric upbringing rather than any kind of personality disorder. Like Michael, he also has [[IdiotSavant exceptional skills despite these behavioral traits]].
** In an InUniverse example of this trope, Holly was lead by Dwight to think that Kevin was actually mentally disabled. She believed so for months since there was little in Kevin's behavior (he talks in very simple tones and has a somewhat childlike demeanor). to contradict that.
** Pam, Jim, Toby and Stanley could all be suffering from varying levels of depression.
** Kelly is very hyperactive and immature,
** Ryan seems to have had a complete breakdown following his sudden promotion, drug abusing lifestyle and subsequent fall.

** A certain segment of Dwight's fanbase can be a bit too quick to overlook his personality flaws, over-emphasise everyone else's in regards to their conflicts with him, and use his anti-social nature (usually on the supposition -- never confirmed or seriously suggested in show -- that he is [[DiagnosedByTheAudience somewhere on a spectrum]]) as an overly sweeping excuse to absolve him of all fault. While Dwight has his positive qualities and does genuinely undergo CharacterDevelopment, he's still clearly presented as rather officious, obnoxious, scheming, ruthless, authoritarian, hypocritical, insensitive. stubborn, intransigent, domineering and callous, and the show makes it clear that he often brings a lot of the problems and poor treatment he receives from others on himself while usually refusing to [[NeverMyFault accept any blame or responsibility]]. It's hard not to suspect that many of those who hold Dwight in such high regard mainly do so because they don't actually have to interact with him (or because they may be closer to him personality-wise than might be entirely comfortable).
** The fact that Michael is gradually shown to be a more vulnerable, sympathetic and likeable person the more viewers spend time with him can make it a bit easy for some viewers to forget his genuinely irritating and unlikeable qualities as well. There are some corners of the internet where people have unironically expressed the belief that they would love to have Michael as a boss, perhaps as with Dwight forgetting that they only have to spend half an hour at a time with him, and not a whole working day putting up with his neediness, childishness, selfishness and irritating demands for constant attention.

** A listener to the ''Office Ladies'' podcast pointed out an almost-certainly unintentional but intriguing case of MeaningfulName for Jan Levinson-Gould. She's the epitome of the HollywoodMidLifeCrisis, and two of the psychologists responsible for much of the important developmental psychology theory on mid-life crises were Daniel Levinson and Roger Gould.

* MisaimedFandom: Jim's elaborate pranks on Dwight are hilarious but what most viewers tend to overlook is that Jim eventually realizes that the entire reason that he was pranking Dwight in such elaborate methods was because he wasn't being fulfilled at his job. In the scene where Dwight brings his list of grievances of Jim to Michael, Jim even comes to the realization ''himself'' that the jokes are less funny when he realizes they're indicative of how sad and bored he is at Dunder Mifflin.

* ToughActToFollow: Michael Scott is one of the most beloved sitcom characters of all time, so this was bound to happen with whoever took over as manager. Noticeably Andy was one of the series' most popular characters but suddenly became far more divisive once he was picked to fill Michael's shoes.

** Toby's crush on Pam and subsequent resentment of her relationship with Jim in season 4 would be a lot easier to sympathize with if he'd ever said anything to her about it, ever. His awkward interactions with her often come off as creepy, especially when he lays his hand on her leg, and in "Did I Stutter", he and Ryan conspire to get Jim in trouble with corporate (Jim had earned Ryan's ire by going over his head and complaining about website to David Wallace) because Toby wants Jim out of the way. His behavior can be seen as crossing lines, and it makes the character harder to root for after he moves on.

%%** One single scene features an upset Michael Scott doing a Bill Cosby impersonation while listening to a Gary Glitter song with a Donald Trump book visible on his bookshelf.

* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Conflict Resolution," Toby reveals that every week he has a meeting set up with Dwight to complain about Jim's pranks, and he tells Dwight they go to a special file in New York. That "special file" is a box under Toby's desk. While Dwight is annoying and Jim's pranks are funny, Dwight has every right to be angry when he finds out the truth. He has been complaining about an ongoing problem with a coworker to HR, only to discover that HR has done nothing to resolve it.

* RomanticPlotTumor: The Dwight/Angela/Andy love triangle in Season 5 just sort of dragged on and made Dwight and Angela into bastards.

* StrangledByTheRedString:
** Erin hooked up with Pete in the final season just because the writers wanted to try and imitate the early Jim/Pam romance dynamic, all the while putting Andy through an especially bad case of DerailingLoveInterests to make Pete look more appealing.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Jim considers Josh Porter leveraging his position at the Stamford branch to get a better job at Staples and jeopardizing the Stamford workers' livelihoods reprehensible. However, given that Dunder-Mifflin is a textbook IncompetenceInc that makes cuts and loses money every year and whose upper management shows no signs of turning the company around, can you really blame him for deciding to take a job at a company that has a more stable future? This said, Jim's disdain is clearly framed as being aimed at the callous, underhanded and hypocritical way Josh went about securing the job rather his desire for more stable employment in and of itself (not to mention the fact that ''Jim himself'' is one of the people whose livelihoods have been threatened thanks to Josh, making it entirely reasonable that he would fail to appreciate Josh's point at that particular moment).