50 Fun Facts About Office Space

Who wrote and directed Office Space?

It was his first live-action film, following Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

The Milton shorts that spawned Office Space first aired on Liquid Television and which sketch show?

The three Milton cartoons aired on Liquid Television and Saturday Night Live.

What is the name of the software company where Peter Gibbons works?

After the fire, Samir and Michael move on to rival firm Initrode.

Who plays Peter Gibbons?

His agent asked for an audition just as Judge was being pushed to meet Matt Damon about the part.

Which two Good Will Hunting stars was Judge advised to cast?

Fox had first told him bankable stars were out of budget, then changed its mind.

What happens to the hypnotherapist during Peter's session?

Dr. Swanson never snaps his fingers, so Peter stays blissfully relaxed for the rest of the film.

Which actor plays Bill Lumbergh?

Judge said that once Cole read for it there was no doubt; he made the character ten times funnier.

What is Lumbergh's job title at the company?

He is a micromanager who humiliates Milton and demands Peter come in on weekends.

Which of these actors auditioned for Lumbergh but ended up playing consultant Bob Slydell?

Paul Willson plays the other Bob, Bob Porter.

Who plays Milton Waddams?

His glasses were so thick he needed contact lenses to see through them and had to practise grabbing the stapler.

What brand is Milton's red stapler?

The filmmakers could not get permission to use Boston or Bostitch; a standard model was spray-painted red.

When did a real red version of Milton's stapler finally go on sale?

The company gave in to years of fan requests; Root says film crews now leave boxes of them waiting for him.

How long ago had Milton actually been laid off when the consultants discover the payroll glitch?

Nobody told him, so he kept collecting a salary; they quietly stop the cheques without saying a word.

Where does Lumbergh eventually move Milton's desk?

He also confiscates the red stapler along the way.

Which of Peter's co-workers hates sharing his name with a famous singer?

David Herman was the only actor Judge had in mind for a specific role, and it was this one.

Samir was originally written as Iranian, but was rewritten as what nationality after Ajay Naidu was cast?

Naidu worked with a dialect coach and improvised the break-dancing with local friends.

How does the trio's computer virus skim money from the company?

A bug in Michael's code makes it grab over $300,000 in a single weekend instead.

Roughly how much money does the buggy virus grab across the weekend?

Peter writes a confession and slips it under Lumbergh's door with traveler's checks for the full amount.

What inspired the scene where the office equipment is beaten to pieces in a field?

He told his co-writer he planned to take it out to a field and destroy it on videotape.

According to Ajay Naidu, how did the actors approach the printer beating?

Livingston circled like the 'don' while the others swung the bat; real mafiosi later told Naidu it was 'authentic'.

Which printer error message from the film became shorthand for any baffling computer message?

'TPS report' likewise became slang for pointless paperwork.

Who plays Joanna, the waitress Peter falls for?

Fox wanted a recognisable star; her flair subplot was added because the part was so small.

What are the 'pieces of flair' Joanna is nagged about at work?

Judge later heard that a real TGI Fridays had quietly dropped the buttons from its uniforms.

Who plays Stan, the flair-obsessed manager at Chotchkie's?

A Texas casting search found nobody for the role, so the director took it himself.

How does Joanna quit her job?

It comes in response to yet another lecture about her lack of flair.

Which man did Joanna actually sleep with, causing the mix-up?

Peter only finds out after the two have already broken up over it.

How does the company's building end up destroyed at the end?

He then finds the traveler's checks and flees to Mexico, where he is still denied respect.

What job does Peter take at the end of the film?

He joins his neighbour Lawrence, a character based on an auto mechanic who lived next to Judge in Silicon Valley.

How did Tom Smykowski come into a large sum of money?

He had changed his mind about a suicide attempt only to be hit by a car, and sued.

In which state was Office Space filmed?

Shooting in Dallas and Austin began in May 1998, in 100-degree heat under skies whitened by smoke from fires in Mexico.

What was the film's production budget?

It made just $12.2 million in theatres before finding its audience on video and cable.

Which studio released Office Space in February 1999?

Fox president Tom Rothman wanted lighter fare to balance event movies like Titanic.

What kind of music on the soundtrack did Fox executives dislike and ask Judge to remove?

Judge said he would only cut it if the next focus group also disliked it; it stayed.

Which cable channel's airings from 2001 turned the film into a cult favourite?

Livingston said it felt like the film went viral before that concept existed.

What did the film's theatrical poster show, to Judge's dismay?

He was further annoyed when the home release reused the image with Milton peeking over the man's shoulder.

As a publicity stunt, Fox had a man live for five days in a Plexiglas cube where?

He answered calls and emails from disgruntled workers, and reporters preferred talking to him over Livingston.

Which 2009 film by the same director was intended as a companion piece to Office Space?

He started writing it right after Office Space flopped, but the studio had him make Idiocracy first.

Which 2016 presidential candidate ran an ad parodying the printer scene?

It showed a Hillary Clinton impersonator smashing her email server with a bat in a field.

Which Apple TV+ series about a sinister workplace cites Office Space as an influence?

The film's characters also cameo in the comic book series Chew.

In 2015, which website spliced the real singer into the scenes of the character who shares his name?

Bolton played the scenes straight except for swapping in 'extremely talented' before the famous insult.

After finding the traveler's checks, where does Milton escape to at the end of the film?

Even on a beach with the money he is still ignored and short-changed, with the same mumbled threats he made in the office.

Which rival company do Peter's two laid-off friends join after Initech burns down?

Peter, meanwhile, joins his neighbour Lawrence on a construction crew, sifting through the rubble of his old office.

Which girlfriend talks Peter into the hypnotherapy session that changes everything?

She dumps him by phone the next day while admitting she had been cheating, confirming what Peter had long suspected.

Which group's track 'Still' plays under the slow-motion printer demolition?

Amateur parodies copy the blocking, camera moves and slow motion to that song; Family Guy had to use a clean edit of it for television.

Which restaurant chain reportedly dropped its uniform buttons after the film came out?

Judge heard the story from one of his assistant directors four years after release and joked that maybe he had made the world a better place.

In Family Guy's parody of the printer scene, Brian and Stewie destroy a 45 of which song?

The 2008 episode 'I Dream of Jesus' has Peter Griffin playing the Trashmen record nonstop until the dog and the baby snap.

David Herman got himself fired from which sketch show by screaming all his lines?

He was the only actor Judge had in mind for a specific part, and the show would not release him from a seven-year contract.

According to Mike Judge, what did 'TPS' in the dreaded TPS reports stand for?

The term has since become shorthand for pointless paperwork, and the production went to some lengths to make the on-screen reports look realistic.

Peter's laid-back neighbour Lawrence was inspired by a real neighbour of Judge's who had what job?

The man earned more than Judge did as a Silicon Valley engineer, kept flexible hours and seemed far happier with his life.

Which actress, besides Jennifer Aniston, read for the part of Joanna?

Aniston got the part partly because Fox wanted a recognisable name; her flair subplot was added because the studio worried the role was too small.