The Office Series Guide: Seasons, Where to Start, Cast and Where to Watch

This is our guide to The Office series — the American mockumentary sitcom The Office, which aired on NBC from March 24, 2005, to May 16, 2013. Over eight years it produced 9 seasons and 201 episodes. Below: how many episodes each season has, where to start, who plays whom, how the American Office differs from the British original, what the spin-off The Paper is and where to watch the series in Ukraine.

In short

The Office has 9 seasons and 201 episodes. Start with season 1: it has only six episodes. If they don’t hook you, give season 2 a chance: critics received it much better. In Ukraine, all 9 seasons are on Netflix with Ukrainian subtitles.

What The Office is about

Greg Daniels adapted the British series by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for NBC. A documentary crew follows the everyday work lives of the employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. Like the original, the show was filmed with a single camera, without a studio audience or a laugh track, to look like an actual documentary.

The lead is regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell), a well-intentioned man whose clumsy attempts at humor constantly offend and annoy his colleagues and employees. Salesman Jim Halpert has feelings for receptionist Pam, even though she is engaged to warehouse worker Roy; together they prank their co-worker Dwight Schrute. The Office won five Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006, a Golden Globe for Carell and a Peabody Award.

How many seasons and episodes The Office has

Season	Years	Episodes	What to know
1	2005	6	The shortest season, still very close to the British original
2	2005–2006	22	The first full season; Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series
3	2006–2007	25	The merger with the Stamford branch brings in Andy Bernard and Karen
4	2007–2008	19	Cut short by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild strike
5	2008–2009	28	One of its hour-long episodes aired after Super Bowl XLIII
6	2009–2010	26	Dunder Mifflin is bought by Sabre
7	2010–2011	26	Steve Carell’s final season
8	2011–2012	24	New boss Robert California (James Spader); criticized for declining quality
9	2012–2013	25	The final season; about 5.7 million viewers watched the finale

Wikipedia counts hour-long episodes as two, so streaming services may show fewer episodes per season than the table. A regular episode runs about 20 minutes.

Where to start watching The Office

Our advice is to watch in order, from season 1. It is short, and the pilot is the only episode directly adapted from the British Office, so after it you will know whether this awkward humor is for you. Critics greeted season 1 with mixed reviews and compared it unfavorably with the original. From season 2, according to reviews of the time, the show stopped being a copy: background characters got their own stories, and Carell’s casting was praised as a masterstroke.

If you are short on time, you can start with season 2: the first season’s story is easy to catch up on within a couple of episodes. Season 8, the first without Carell, was judged weaker by critics; according to Wikipedia, his departure was seen as a contributing factor. Season 9 and the finale got a generally positive response, so it is worth watching to the end.

The Office cast

Character	Played by	Who they are
Michael Scott	Steve Carell	Regional manager of the branch (seasons 1–7)
Dwight Schrute	Rainn Wilson	Salesman and “Assistant to the Regional Manager”, a title Michael made up
Jim Halpert	John Krasinski	Salesman and the office’s chief prankster
Pam Beesly	Jenna Fischer	Receptionist
Ryan Howard	B. J. Novak	Temp worker, later a salesman
Andy Bernard	Ed Helms	Salesman from Stamford (from season 3)
Angela Martin	Angela Kinsey	Accountant who likes things orderly
Kevin Malone	Brian Baumgartner	Accountant who revels in juvenile humor
Oscar Martinez	Oscar Nuñez	Intelligent and cultured accountant
Kelly Kapoor	Mindy Kaling	Customer service representative
Darryl Philbin	Craig Robinson	Warehouse foreman
Erin Hannon	Ellie Kemper	The new receptionist (from season 5)

Over the years the cast also included Rashida Jones, Amy Ryan, James Spader and Catherine Tate, and Will Ferrell appeared in season 7 as Deangelo. Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak and Paul Lieberstein not only acted but also wrote and produced episodes; credited with 24 episodes, Kaling is the show’s most prolific writer.

The British Office: the original

The British Office premiered on BBC Two on July 9, 2001. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created, wrote and directed it, and Gervais played the lead, manager David Brent of the Slough branch of the Wernham Hogg paper company. It is very short: two series of six episodes and a two-part Christmas special, 14 episodes in all (2001–2003). The cast also includes Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook. In 2016 Brent returned in the film David Brent: Life on the Road. The original’s success led to adaptations in other countries, including the Emmy-winning American version.

The spin-off The Paper

The Paper is a follow-up set in the world of The Office from Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. The same documentary crew that filmed Dunder Mifflin twenty years earlier now comes to Toledo, Ohio, where the historic but declining newspaper Toledo Truth Teller is trying to revive itself with volunteer reporters. It stars Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore, with Oscar Nuñez returning as Oscar Martinez. The ten-episode first season premiered on Peacock on September 4, 2025, and the second on September 9, 2026. As of November 9, 2026, The Paper is not in MEGOGO’s Ukrainian catalog.

Where to watch The Office in Ukraine

As of November 9, 2026, the American The Office is on Netflix in Ukraine: all 9 seasons, rated 13+. Audio is in English (original), Polish and Turkish; subtitles include Ukrainian. We did not find the British original on Netflix in Ukraine. If you like comedies about people who see each other every day, also see our list of shows like Friends — The Office is on it too.

FAQ

How many seasons does The Office have?

Nine. The show aired on NBC from 2005 to 2013.

How many episodes are in The Office?

201 by Wikipedia’s count, which treats hour-long episodes as two. The shortest is season 1 with 6 episodes, the longest season 5 with 28.

Which season should I start The Office with?

With season 1: it is short. If it doesn’t hook you, move on to season 2, which critics received much better.

Is The Office available in Ukrainian?

On Netflix in Ukraine the show has Ukrainian subtitles; as of 09.11.2026 there is no Ukrainian audio.

Will there be more of The Office?

Greg Daniels did not want to remake the same show with a new cast; instead, the spin-off The Paper, set in the same world, launched on Peacock in 2025. As of November 2026 it has two seasons.