What is it, exactly, that makes The Office, premiering its sixth season this month, so inherently St. Louis? After all, Ricky Gervais’ BBC comedy originated across the pond, and Greg Daniels’ American adaptation is based in Scranton, Pa., a town of 72,000 two hours from New York.
Yet three of the show’s regulars—Jenna Fischer, Phyllis Smith, and Ellie Kemper—hail from St. Louis. The only other city to boast that many Office stars? Much larger Boston, tied for the same number.
Granted, all three St. Louisans took radically different paths to star in the Emmy-winning NBC show. Fischer attended Nerinx Hall and worked as a receptionist before playing one on TV. Smith went to UMSL and was a casting associate before being cast into a role created for her. Kemper studied at Burroughs and starred in online comedy sketches before taking Fischer’s place as Dunder Mifflin’s receptionist this spring.
Three careers. Same set.
So is there a common thread? Besides being women, all of them play sensible employees, not exactly the rule for a mockumentary portraying business as anything but usual.
In general, they’re reserved, down-to-earth. Once in a while, though, you’ll see a spark of audacity: Phyllis standing up to Angela, Pam attending design school, Erin busting a move at Café Disco. Whether it’s coincidental or scripted, in their own ways, all three mesh Midwest manners with the patience of cube dwellers in a midsize city aspiring to more.
It might just be us, but…sound like anyone you know?
