The Officewas an incredible sitcom, but upon rewatching, it was hard to deny the harsh realities of season 1. Airing in 2005,The Officewas the first international adaptation of the British series of the same name, which was created by Ricky Gervais. The American iteration quickly became one ofthe best sitcoms of all timeand succeeded its British counterpart.The Officecastintroduced Michael Scott as the equivalent of David Brent, as well as many other iconic characters like Dwight Schrute, Pam Beesly, and Jim Halpert.
However,The Officeseason 1 was a notable low point for the sitcom. It wasn’t exactly renowned for containing some ofThe Office’s best episodes, and even though the show got better over time, audiences still remembered season 1’s failings. WhileThe Officeseason 1 will always be worth rewatching, it’ll also be impossible to ignore the harsh realities of it.
7The Treatment Of Katy Was Problematic
It Was Unnecessary For Her Storyline With Jim
The Officehas many cringey episodes, but one that went over the line was season 1’s “Hot Girl”. The episode introduces Katy,Amy Adams’ character inThe Office, who is a travelling handbag saleswoman. After Michael took a liking to her, she quickly set herself up in the conference room and garnered the attention of several of the employees, resulting in agross discussion amongst the male characters over who is more attractive between her and Pam.If that’s not bad enough, most of the men hit on her in an attempt to score a date.
The frustrating part is thatall this problematic behavior is completely unnecessary to the purpose of Katy’s character, which is to cause friction between Jim and Pam. Jim is one of the only people who doesn’t participate in the “let’s see who gets her on a date” game, only for him to find a legitimate connection with Katy, and for them to be a couple. Why the show felt the need to subject her to harassment when she’s just trying to do her job makes “Hot Girl” an uncomfortable watch.
6Dwight Stealing Jim’s Client Was Fair
Sales Is A Competitive Game
InThe Office’s “Diversity Day,”Jim prepared to renew a lucrative contract with an existing client, but Dwight stole it from under his nose because of Michael’s wild training session. Of course,this moment was written to demonstrate how annoying a co-worker Dwight was,and while it established his character brilliantly, it wasn’t fair that he was judged for doing his job. Unfortunately, working in Dunder Mifflin’s sales team wasn’t for the weak, and Jim knew full well that Dwight was the best salesman in the company.
Regardless of Dwight, as a salesman, Jim was aware it was a competition. Whilethere were plenty of things to be frustrated about in “Diversity Day,”the negative light Dwight was seen in because he processed the sale instead of Jim was still irritating. Jim needed to stand up for himself, leave Michael’s seminar, and do his job. The employees knew what Michael was like and managed to find time to do their work, just like Dwight, so why didn’t Jim? Audiences felt bad for Jim, which was more than fine, but it was a shame how Dwight was depicted.
5Michael Should’ve Been Fired For The Basketball Game
Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s Regional Manager Was Incredibly Disrespectful
WhileMichael Scott proved he was a bad boss rather quickly inThe Officeseason 1,one episode that audiences never discussed enough was “Basketball.” It was wild that Michael believed it was okay to make his employees compete against each other to avoid working over the weekend. It was even more ludicrous that he boxed all of them into stereotypes in various ways. For example, he assumed Stanley was great at basketball because he’s Black, initially told Phyllis she couldn’t play, and made weird comments about Pam being a cheerleader because he found her conventionally attractive.
Although there were manyreasons Michael should’ve been fired inThe Office, this was one occasion that has been overlooked by viewers.It was astounding, even by Michael’s standards, to use the working on the weekend excusejust to force the warehouse crew to bring his daydream of impressing them with his basketball skills to life. He tried to make out that the other team was malicious, simply to try and hide his embarrassment, which went against his idea that they were all one big family.
4Toby Was A Terrible HR Rep
Toby Was Pretty Useless Throughout The Show, But Especially In Season 1
InThe Officeseason 1, Toby was a relatively quiet character and generally stuck to the background of scenes. Of course,actor Paul Lieberstein was also one of the show’s writers and executive producers,so paired with the fact that Toby wasn’t originally supposed to be a recurring character (viaOffice Ladies), it made sense he wasn’t around so much. However, it didn’t justify Toby’s poor job performance as Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s HR rep. In later seasons, Toby was quick to try and shut down any of Michael’s ridiculous schemes, but not so much in “Diversity Day.”
Toby was only supposed to appear in “Diversity Day” initially. However, due to the great rapport between Paul Lieberstein’s Toby and Steve Carrel’s Michael, NBC President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly said he wanted to see more of the pair.
It was apparent that Toby had mentally checked out a long time ago, even before this fact was acknowledged later on in the show, but of all the times he should’ve intervened, it was definitely “Diversity Day.” Even thoughMichael hated Toby inThe Office, this never stopped him from doing his job in later seasons.He was kicked out of the room just moments before Michael’s offensive impression directed at Kelly,and considering the two sat together in the annex, it made no sense that Toby didn’t immediately return to the conference room and shut it all down.
3Roy Getting Upset About Pam & Jim Was Totally Valid
Roy’s Reaction To The Pair Being Touchy Was Completely Warranted
Some of Roy’s actions towards Jim inThe Officewere completely unfair. For example, afterJim and Pam kissed in “Casino Night,”and Roy later learned about this in season 3, he tried to attack his love rival. However, his response to the pair at the end of “The Alliance” was warranted. AlthoughJim wasn’t lying when he explained he and Pam were playing a prank on Dwight,there was no reason for him to wrap his arm around her, pull her close, and hold her hand.
While Roy’s reaction may have been a little intense,many people would be confused to walk in the door and find their partner being touchy-feely with someone who wasn’t them. Plus, Roy appeared to be the only person who could properly see Jim’s feelings for Pam at this point, yet he chose to keep his cool most of the time because he knew what a good friend Jim was to his fiancée.
2The Office Didn’t Just Replicate The UK’s Pilot
There Were A Lot Of Parallels Between The Office Season 1 & The First Installment Of The UK Original
The Office’s pilotwas an adaptation of the UK version’s first episode, with a few changes. It was also a common misconception that the rest of season 1 was a copy of the UK’s, and this was untrue, but only to a certain extent. In fact,there was quite a lot ofThe Officeseason 1 that was borrowed from the first installment of the British original.For example, the threat of downsizing was an important subplot throughout the UK’s season 1. There were a lot of similarities between the UK episode “Training” and “Diversity Day,” too.
Even the UK episode “New Girl” has parallels with “Hot Girl,” but rather than a handbag saleswoman,David Brent decided to hire new secretary Karen because he was attracted to her, just like Michael did with Katy.Todd Packer didn’t appear on-screen inThe Officeseason 1; his British counterpart, Chris Finch, made the same sort of comments as Packer in “The Quiz.” Although the US remake stood on its own, and season 1 had plenty of unique moments, audiences don’t always realize how similar the first installments ofThe Office’s US and UK versionsactually were.
Even though it had its faults,you shouldn’t skipThe Officeseason 1.Season 1 has generally always been considered the worst installment of the show,but there were several brilliant moments that set upThe Office’s popularity going forward. “Diversity Day” established just how ridiculous a boss Michael Scott was, arguably more than David Brent, for example. “The Alliance” introduced the child-like rivalry between Dwight and Jim, something that was a part of the UK version but simply wasn’t expanded upon as much.
IMDb Rating (June 2025)
7.3/10
8.1/10
7.6/10
7.8/10
8.2/10
“Hot Girl”
7.5/10
The supporting characters weren’t as prominent in season 1, but they still had some great moments, like Meredith’s awkward reaction to her surprise party. “Health Care” was a stellar episode ofThe Officethat was unique to its UK counterpart, too. Considering there were only6 episodes ofThe Officeseason 1, it still did a fantastic job of drawing viewers in and creating enough buzz that it was renewed for season 2.The Officelater became one of the biggest TV shows in the world, but without season 1’s teething problems, it probably wouldn’t have been such a hit.
