New Behind-the-Scenes Book About 'The Office' Reveals Why Andy Became Manager After Michael and More Secrets

NBC's The Office is the gift that keeps on giving. The workplace comedy series, which ran for nine seasons between 2005 and 2013, continues to make audiences laugh and after its conclusion invites reflection on the impact that the show made. Author Andy Greene recently wrote an article for RollingStone, discussing his upcoming book about the iconic sitcom, which covers, "its origin as an under-the-radar BBC show helmed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to the beloved NBC incarnation."

The book is called The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, and is available for pre-order here.

The article describes that book will be an oral history that contains all-new interviews, including Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, Amy Ryan, James Spader, J.J. Abrams, Idris Elba, Paul Feig, and Jeff Zucker, as well as excerpts from previously unpublished interviews with John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper, Paul Lieberstein and Greg Daniels.

The Rolling Stone article teased one topic that Greene's book will cover in-depth: why Andy was promoted over Dwight after Steve Carell (Michael)'s departure. Just from a quick glance at all the different ideas the writers had for the show after Michael left, it seemed like it was a pretty tough decision to make. Apparently some writers felt that they couldn’t replace Michael with another member of the ensemble cast, while others felt a new actor would bring the show some fresh star power. Whether they were Team Dwight or Team Andy, those in the writers room felt they "were so fortunate to have talents like Rainn Wilson and Ed Helms" to work with.

Writer Brent Forrester put it bluntly with his take on why Andy was chosen:

"The writers and the cast, generally speaking, were really excited about Dwight becoming the boss. It just felt correct, and that was our creative thrust. Mostly it was pushback from the network saying, 'Well. Is there someone more famous that we can put in here?' Of course, the creators always bristle at that and just want to do the right thing creatively. That was a big thing. But Ed Helms had this giant advantage because of course he was in The Hangover. Not to completely read the minds of the network, but that was my understanding of how that decision got made."

While you wait for the book to come out, see if you can remember who said what in The Office here, or buy some Dunder Mifflin swag here!

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