Ask a person what they know about Scranton, and they’ll probably mention “The Office” before they say that it’s the president’s birthplace or home of the first electric streetcar.
The show remains an overwhelming success and younger generations continue to love it.
The people of Scranton credit hometown pride, humor and the producers’ commitment to accuracy for creating a relationship between a city and a piece of pop culture that is like no other.
It was 20 years ago when the city learned that NBC chose Scranton as the setting for the show, described by NBC as “a hilarious documentary-style look into the humorous and sometimes poignant foolishness that plagues the world of 9-to-5.”
Josh McAuliffe broke the news as a reporter at the Times Tribune.
“A fax had come into our newsroom. That's how long ago this was, when people were still sending faxes. The production office for the show was looking to shoot exteriors of Scranton landmarks,” he said.
Douglas Fink was the owner of Pennsylvania Paper and Supply Company when he got a call from Greg Daniels, a producer from Los Angeles. Daniels wanted to pick his brain for a show he was writing about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“I was hoping it was gonna be a big success, but I wasn’t very optimistic about a show about a paper company in Scranton,” Fink said.
The mockumentary followed employees of a fictional company called Dunder Mifflin. Producers say they chose Scranton because it’s close enough to the company’s corporate headquarters in New York City, and it’s a fun word to say.
Fink wasn’t the only one hesitant to learn that an adaptation of “The Office (UK)” would be set in the Electric City. Michele Dempsey did not want Scranton to be the butt of the joke, like Slough was in the UK version.
“I was horrified. I was really nervous because Slough was so denigrated,” she said. “I just thought it was gonna paint this bad picture of Scranton, and I was very concerned. However, Greg Daniels did the complete opposite.”
John Krasinski and a videographer visited Scranton in February 2004 and met with employees for research. They got shaky, drive-by footage of the Penn Paper tower and other spots in the city, which made it into the show’s title sequence.
“That made it out to Hollywood, and they spliced it in, and that made it into the opening shot,” Fink said. “Our tower became one of the most famous buildings in America.”
The mockumentary was filmed in California with a few exceptions. Producers went the extra mile to create a show that represented the local people and culture of a small city on the other side of the country. Throughout the show’s nine-season run, the creators made real Scranton connections.
Local References
At the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, a University of Scranton flag and a Froggy 101 sticker are on display. The characters eat Pennsylvania-made Utz and Herr’s potato chips and drink Crystal Soda Water Co. from the vending machine in the break room.
Mari Potis, Director of Membership at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, received a call from Philip Shea, the show’s prop master.
“They were starting to create this set, and he wanted to know if I could help them,” she said. “They were looking for a chamber of commerce plaque, you know, as every good business in Scranton should have in their office.”
Potis says Shea wanted authentic Scranton props for the office, but he was struggling to get other businesses to respond. She became his liaison for the city.
“They would call me when they'd be writing scripts, like through the entire nine seasons,” she said. They'd read me this like, ‘here's what this is, who would be the company with that would fit?’ if they're getting pizza, you know, different things like that. And then it really was after Season Two and the Benihana incident.”
Potis said the ‘Benihana incident’ was a turning point for the writers. Fans of the show were fact checking and blogging about the show as it aired. When a few characters from the show went for lunch at a Benihana restaurant in Season 3, bloggers called them out - there is no Benihana in Scranton.
Potis created a prop drop at the Mall at Steamtown, now known as the Marketplace at Steamtown, in 2007 and it became an annual event. Local business owners were invited to bring items with their company’s logo for an opportunity for a shoutout in the show. That was the start of a true commitment to accuracy.
Potis said it was demanding at times. She was once asked to provide props for 30 booths in the “Job Fair” episode with one week's notice. For her effort, she was given a “Dundie” award from the show’s creators. They also honored a few of the most involved businesses, including Cooper’s Seafood House, Gerrity’s Supermarket and Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe.
The documentary they make in the show airs on their local PBS station - WVIA.
Most viewers wouldn’t know that a Scranton-area news reporter was mentioned in Season 9, Episode 20. In the show, the documentary was beginning to air and a sub-par review was written in the paper.
“What does Josh McAuliffe know about the paper business?” Dwight said.
McAuliffe was invited to spend time on the set in 2007 and write a story about it.
“I would definitely put that up there as one of the top career highlights that I had in my 17 years at the paper,” he said.
Phil Shea, the prop master, passed away in 2023. Many locals credit him for the show’s commitment to local references and the way Scranton benefited.
“Let’s keep Dunder Mifflin relevant for the next 30 years,” he said during an episode of the Office Ladies podcast from November 2019.
Scranton: Home of “The Office”
Michele Dempsey teamed up with Tim Holmes, an event planner, to plan “The Office” Reunion in 2007.
“The show got richer because the writers came in, they got to experience this place first-hand. Tell me another show that's had this intimate relationship with its place. You can say “Cheers,” but this didn't happen with “Cheers,” she said. “Anybody involved with it, prop masters, the guy who wrote the theme song all came to Scranton.”
The 2007 event seemed far-fetched at first, Dempsey said.
“We had to get the names of every individual actor, manager and agent. And we had to call as if we knew what we were doing and try to negotiate contracts,” she said.
The homegrown effort turned into a massive success that elevated Scranton’s excitement for the show.
Dempsey and Holmes also co-chaired “The Office” Wrap Party in 2013.
“We start taking them out to places and people lose their minds,” said Holmes, who was the Director of Marketing at Times-Shamrock Communications at the time. “But we're also seeing that this is the first time they're experiencing it. Because when they're out in LA having lunch at a restaurant where George Clooney is on the other side of the room, nobody's paying attention to them. Now it has changed.”
“The people who came, 75% of them from out of town, from all over the world,” Dempsey said. “They got to see how beautiful our city is.”
Holmes is now CEO of the Everhart Museum in Scranton. He said plans are in the works for a special exhibit next year to honor the 20th anniversary of the show's debut on television — March 24, 2005.
Superfans still travel to Scranton to see the home of their favorite fictional paper company. The Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau created “The Office” self-guided tour that includes stops at Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe, Poor Richard’s Pub and more.
Cooper’s Seafood House is a common attraction and described by Michael Scott as “business romantic.”
“We don’t even ask the question anymore,” owner Jack Cooper said about what brings tourists to his restaurant.
“We already know they’re here because of “The Office,” his son Ryan Cooper added.
Cooper’s is like a museum - it’s a 76-year-old establishment with history of all kinds on display. The gift shop inside once had a nautical theme, but now it’s all about “The Office.”
Two murals in the city depict characters from the show, and an extra large “Dundie” award for “Best Hometown of The Office” stands at Scranton City Hall, since Peacock awarded it to the city in 2021.
Valley in Motion will host the third annual The Office 5K on Saturday, May 4. Gus Fahey, President of the nonprofit, said more than 1,000 people are registered for the 2024 event.
“We have people registered from Germany, two people registered from Australia. So people are coming to Scranton just because of this event,” he said. “What’s been really exciting and fun is the effort that people put into making it such a thrilling event. The costumes that people come up with, just the atmosphere that’s there… It’s about this Hollywood production, but it really has this nice small town feel as well.”
The event benefits the nonprofit, Valley In Motion, which aims to build community pride.
