When The Office debuted on NBC in the spring of 2005, it didn’t look like anything else on the air. I’m not talking about the use of a single-camera format, which exploded on network TV in the early 2000s and was already well on its way to supplanting the traditional multicam. And I’m not talking about its use of observational documentary style, which was then more unusual but would become such an ingrained part of American comedy that shows could adopt it without even bothering to establish the presence of a camera crew. What really made The Office stand out was its cast. Their faces were unfamiliar—apart from Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell, the actors were virtually unknown, unless you happened to remember who played “Messenger No. 3” in the Jimmy Fallon vehicle Taxi —bu

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