Top 10 Awesome Details in The Office You Never Noticed

Saying Creed Bratton is an enigma is a bit of an understatement. This can be said about both the character and actor! In-show and real life, Bratton was a member of The Grass Roots, a popular band many baby boomers will know and love! Even after he left the band, he continued honoring his musical background! One of his albums contains a song called “Spinnin’ N’ Reelin’”. If you listen carefully in the episode, you’ll hear him sing his own catchy tune! This is a fun easter egg everybody knows we’re crazy about!

If you’re quick, you may catch a quick glimpse of a newsletter from time to time. Its first appearance is in season 1’s “The Alliance”. As this is clearly meant to be a bit of stage dressing, of course we don’t expect it to be full of genuine text. However, what we do find is even better than standard filler. When you zoom in and read the article, it’s basically a hilarious letter to Designtown, the company that printed the prop. It has several fake words, a couple jokes, and is essentially just there to, as the newsletter says, “sort of look like a newsletter without really being much of a newsletter at all”.

Some restaurants have a certificate for best food. Some supermarkets celebrate their number of sales. Dunder Mifflin is on a whole different level. If you look close in the office, there's a little certificate from the Rain Forest Harvester's Association awarding them for the achievement of 1 million cut trees. It makes all environmentally-conscious viewers cringe a bit just looking at it. Hey, what else can you expect from the people person’s paper people? It’s a funny little detail that is easily missed unless you know what to look for! Look around for the other funny certificates in the office!

Gift time! Jim got Pam a teapot full of secrets, and we waited with bated breath as it was traded from employee to employee? Luckily it ended up in Pam’s hands by the end, and not Dwight, who wanted it for… other reasons. By the looks of it, she never let it out of her sight again. Two seasons later, you can see the teapot being used as a fancy addition to the Finer Things Club meeting! It’s so sweet that a thing like that was remembered! Now if we only knew what that letter said…

Most people have a diploma hanging in their office. Then again, Michael Scott is far from most people. In the Regional Manager’s office, he has a certificate of authenticity mounted on his wall. Well, at least we know he’s got an…authentic Seyko timepiece. Even better? It doesn’t even seem to be genuine! Seiko is misspelled. Also, notice he gives the watch to Toby as a farewell gift. This further reinforces our view of Scott as a bit of a lovable fool. Hey, at least it looks official!

Stolen identities, weed, pirate code? This quality assurance employee has done so much we don’t know about, and that’s probably for the better. Look at Creed’s cubicle. If you squint,you’ll catch a glimpse of what looks like a mugshot! Honestly, we’re not really surprised that he’d be proud of the escapade that got him that picture. You can also catch a hint of Creed’s criminal history previously in the series. When he poses for a photo ID, he immediately turns to the side afterward, just like for a standard mugshot. Just following his odd statements from throughout the series makes for a fun rewatch of the show!

This one isn’t on purpose, but that somehow makes it even better! When Meredith comes back from her leave after being hit by Michael’s car, she has a huge cast covering her pelvis. She pertly asks Jim to sign her cast; but actor John Krasinski accidentally signs his own name on Meredith's cast instead of his character's name! It’s easy to miss, as the J is the same in both, but if you know when to look, you won’t miss it! Wonder how this managed to slip past the editors? Maybe they were swept up in how perfect Jim is! Do you blame them?

Looking on this board [picture of the resolution board, you’ll find normal, character- consistent goals such as Jim wanting to bike to work and Erin wanting to learn a new word every day. However, if you look a bit closer, you’ll see a couple of funny additions. True to her personality, Kelly's resolution is to get “more attention by any means necessary”. Stanley's is to be a better husband AND boyfriend. Remember, this is a whole season after Stanley promises to break off his affair with Cynthia! In fact, they don’t officially break it off until the garden party in season 8! Poor Teri!

Right around when “The Office” premiered, we were graced with the weird, wonderful comedy, “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin”. There doesn’t seem to be too much in common between Judd Apatow’s film and the show, aside from the lead actor of course. Yet there are far more similarities than you may think! Not only is there a similar, absurdist sense of humor, but there’s an iconic dinner scene with a familiar backdrop. That’s right! It’s the same restaurant that Michael, Andy, Dwight, and Jim visit for their Christmas party! Here’s a bonus for you; Jenna Fischer and Mindy Kaling both make cameos in the movie!

Our top pick is a clever and complex prop. Though it only appears in one episode, it’s unforgettable! Dwight makes a chart of the chain of command in the workplace and it's chock full of information he’s collected over the years. Icons indicate defining traits (according to him) such as Oscar’s homosexuality and Andy’s education. Moons under the women’s names are a double joke, as not only do they indicate each woman’s time of the month, but those who went through menopause have a large X over their icon. Finally, you can see that Dwight has astutely put the name Creed Bratton in quotation marks. Good eye, Schrute, good eye.