Analysis of a TV show: "The Office"

We've crashed 'The Office' party just in time. As the new season begins, the hit show is exploring awkward courtships, clandestine relationships, and a love like no other… Trust us. (Pastorek, 2-3) There is no way you will find The Office's set unless someone tells you where to look, and even then, it ain't easy. Buried deep in a swath of Van Nuys warehouses, the soundstage sits at the rear of a dead-end street where 18-wheelers turn around and the hot sun bakes the concrete blister gray. The first thing that catches your eye is a sign for Vance Refrigeration, and then another for a paper company by the name of Dunder Mifflin. Soon you're idling past that familiar parking lot, the very spot that's been home to both a tear-jerking confession of unrequited love and a ridiculous bouncy castle intended to catch the faux-suicide attempt of an unhinged boss desperate to prove a point. (Pastorek, 2-3)

On this mid-September day, though, the anonymous lot, clogged with trailers and craft services, is almost unrecognizable. Inside, you're ushered into a small room just off the stage, and things become more familiar. Two monitors transmit shaky, nausea-inducing images from the mockumentary cameras: boxes of paper, drab carpeting, venetian blinds, a poster of some very scary babies. You watch an ordinary day in the life of The Office unspool as cast members wander in one by one to talk about how blessed they feel to be a part of this show. But that's where the conversation starts and ends: They're reluctant to spill any details about the series' fourth season, which started Sept. 27. If they do, it seems, executive producer Greg Daniels--described by one actor as "the most quiet badass you'll ever know"--will kill them. So here we ...