The Office: Why Kelly, Ryan & Toby Really Had To Sit In The Annex
Employees in The Office were generally located in the bullpen, but certain characters such as Kelly Kapoor, Ryan Howard, and Toby Flenderson worked in the adjoining annex for undisclosed reasons. The Office ran for nine seasons with over 30 employees shuffling through the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. Most scenes over the show's course focused on the manager, Michael Scott, and his shenanigans with the ensemble cast in the main open workspace or the conference room.
Only a few characters over the show’s course had full-time desks in the annex, with The Office’s plot indicating the placement due to position or necessity for overflow space. The human resources department was permanently located in the annex, with the implied reason being the department was employed by corporate, not by the branch. The Office also implies that Toby may have been placed in the annex because of Michael’s intense hatred for him. It is unclear why customer service was located in the annex, but it can be assumed that Kelly’s placement was due to her incessant talking as a distraction or annoyance to the other employees. In The Office season 9, new characters Pete and Clark are placed in the annex as Junior Salesmen, presumably because there were no more open desks in the bullpen.
The annex was at times used as a punishment or second-resort for employees who were removed from the sales floor. In the season 2 episode “The Carpet,” Jim Halpert spent the day in the annex when Michael took his sales desk while his office was being cleaned. Dwight Schrute even had a stint in the annex when Michael gave his desk to Todd Packer for an episode. When Ryan insults Dunder Mifflin in the season 4 episode “Business School,” Michael punishes him by permanently moving him next to his off/on girlfriend Kelly in the annex. Scenes in the annex were limited compared to the main work area, but season 5 saw many more annex storylines as Michael courted the new HR representative Holly Flax.
The Office suggested many reasons for their placement in the annex, but the real reason is that Ryan, Kelly, and Toby’s actors were also head writers for the show and needed to be on-call for writing. Played by BJ Novak, Mindy Kaling, and Paul Lieberstein, respectively, their characters were excluded from many episodes and general office plot points in order for them to be available for off-screen tasks. By placing them in the annex, there would be a valid reason for their characters’ absences.
Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey (Angela) confirmed in their podcast “Office Ladies” that Kelly and Toby’s limited presence was due to their necessity in the writing room. Fischer revealed the showrunner didn't want Kaling to "waste her writing time" just to be in the background of scenes. Some may wonder why The Office employed so many writers as actors when they couldn't be in many scenes, but Fischer says the showrunner believed it would allow writers to appreciate and understand acting.
As new characters such as Gabe, Pete, and Clark joined The Office in its later seasons, the characters were presumably placed in the annex to keep their contributions limited while focusing on the storylines of the established characters. Looking back, it seems that many stretched absences such as Kelly and Ryan quitting in season 9, Ryan being fired from corporate, and Toby’s stints in Costa Rica and jury duty can be attributed to their writing positions. The revelation also explains why The Office rarely included cousin Mose in storylines, considering he was played by executive producer and writer Michael Schur.
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