The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

Michael started at Dunder Mifflin as a successful salesman before being unwisely promoted to a management role for which he seems completely ill-suited.

Dwight lives on his family's 60-acre beet farm.

Andy enjoys inventing nicknames for his colleagues. He nicknamed Jim "Big Tuna" because he ate a tuna sandwich on his first day at the Stamford branch, and once called Ryan Howard "Big Turkey," presumably for a similar reason.

When Angela gives Dwight a bobblehead doll of himself, he is so overjoyed that he gives her a key to his home.

Andy was originally named Walter Jr. but was renamed Andrew at the age of 6 because his parents believed that his younger brother better exemplified the Walter Jr. name.

Over the course of several months, Pam leads Dwight to believe that he is being recruited by the CIA, and her gift to Jim is that he can choose Dwight's first assignment. Jim declines, claiming that as the new office "Number Two" he should not engage in such activities, but later relents and tells Pam that a helicopter will be arriving to take Dwight to a welcoming party at CIA headquarters. As Dwight waits on the roof, he receives the text message: "You have been compromised. Abort mission. Destroy phone."

In "The Convention", Angela assumes the name "Jane Doe" and gets a hotel room which Jim accidentally enters, though he does not appear to recognize her. Exiting quickly, he exclaims "Dwight got a hooker!"

In "Fun Run", Angela asks Dwight to care of her ailing cat. Upon returning, he unceremoniously announces that Sprinkles is dead. Dwight later admits that he killed the cat because it was suffering, and that this is normal on the farm. Angela is furious, because being euthanized prevents Sprinkles from going to "cat heaven".

In "Women's Appreciation", Michael reveals that he and Jan have a safety word in case things go too far: "foliage". He also reveals that Jan sometimes pretends not to hear.