How Apple’s first video iPod helped ‘The Office’ gain popularity with young people

Two of the top writers and producers of the American version of The Office, Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, talked about the moment they realized their workplace comedy was actually quite popular with younger audiences on Sunday’s episode of the CNN special series, History of the Sitcom. And it’s all thanks to one of the top tech items of the 2005 holiday season.

“I wrote a Christmas episode where Michael had bought Ryan a video iPod, which had just come out,” Schur said. “About four days later, Apple announces that it has made content deals with NBC. The first episode back was the highest rated episode because everyone had spent weeks doing nothing but watching The Office on their video iPods.”

It was Apple’s iPod Classic 5th Generation, the first model that featured video playback on the internal display, and it appeared in the tenth episode of the second season. And as actor Rain Wilson pointed out, they noticed a major difference in who was watching the show after that.

“This was astounding to the people at NBC,” Wilson said. “These are high school and college kids watching the show in droves. And they've never set foot in an office.”

Video Transcript

- I wrote a Christmas episode where Michael had bought Ryan a video iPod, which had just come out.

- Oh, wow, jeez.

KYLIE MAR: On the CNN special, "History of the Sitcom", Sunday, two writers of the American version of "The Office", Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, talked about the moment they realized their workplace comedy was actually quite popular with younger people, and it's all thanks to the big ticket holiday item of 2005.

- About four days later, Apple announces that it has made content deals with NBC.

- I'd like to just show you the TV show here. This is an episode from "The Office".

- No! You'll thank me later.

KYLIE MAR: Appearing in season two, episode 10, for all you trivia nerds, it was Apple's iPod Classic fifth-generation, the first one that could play video, and apparently it was a pretty big deal with the young adults of 2005.

- The first episode back was the highest rated episode, because everyone had spent weeks doing nothing but watching "The Office" on their video iPods.

- This was astounding to the people at NBC. These are high school and college kids watching this show in droves, and they've never set foot in an office.

KYLIE MAR: The trend of young adults enjoying the office is now continuing thanks to the streaming age, but whether it's on an iPod or on Peacock, at the end of the day, it's really just about some good old relatable humor.

- And eventually, I realized, OK, well, this is because this is their experience in school. You know, they're put at a desk next to another kid who they may or may not like. That must be what they're identifying with.