Fans of The Office will likely remember the moment when Ryan (played by BJ Novak) was forced into a tiny, cupboard-like back office by Jim Halpert (John Krasinski).
Even before then, Toby (Paul Lieberstein), Ryan, and Kelly (Mindy Kaling) had spent most of their on-screen time in the annex, tucked away from the rest of the staff.
In a recent interview, Brian Baumgartner (who played Kevin Malone) revealed that this wasn’t an accident ― there is actually a very sensible reason why the trio were placed in their own little corner.
Which was?
Well, Paul Lieberstein, Mindy Kaling, and BJ Novak were all writers on the show.
The mockumentary often took office-wide shots which showed all the characters working together.
Brian called this the “main bullpen” in a recent interview with Joe Lupis on a Lightweight Podcasts episode, saying it comprised the accounting and sales desks, reception, Creed’s and Meredith’s desks, and Michael’s office.
Then, there was another part of the set that was closed off from the rest. This was the annex.
A “fun little Easter egg” about the show was that “if your desk was in the annex, you were a writer,” Brian explained on the podcast.
“They did this because the camera was always moving around ― we were there all the time. And so Greg [Daniels, who adapted the show for US TV] needed the writers in the writers’ room sometimes.”
This set-up was ideal for the writer-performers, Brian disclosed, as they could “go up and write and then come back and shoot some group conference room scenes”.
In the same podcast episode, Brian shared that he and John Krasinski played Madden Football “every day” on set for “years” in John’s trailer.
He also revealed that the new Office reboot is “not set in Dunder-Mifflin” and doesn’t have the same characters ― when asked if he was approached to appear in the spinoff, Brian said: “Not really.”
Only time will tell if the rebooted show will have its own version of the annex.