(Sound) Corporate accounts payable, Nina speaking.
>> Peter Gibbons.
>> Office Space turns 20 years old this year and
is just about to enter the soul sucking world of the nine to five.
So we're going to need you to sit right there as we talk about these
seven things you didn't know about Office Space, probably.
Okay, thanks.
>> That would be great.
>> Okay. (Music)
>> Then I'm quitting.
I'm going to quit.
>> Mike Judge adapted office space from his animated short film Milton that
played on SNL and MTV in the 90s.
Before he broke into animation, however,
Judge worked as a engineer in a similar office environment.
Where he not only got the idea for Milton, but also the prototype for
Bill Lumbergh himself.
While his real life boss wasn't as oppressive as Lumbergh,
Judge remembers meeting his Milton muse co-workers.
And one guy launched on a huge rant
about how he'd quit if they moved his desk just one more time.
>> Well, okay, but I'm going to set the building on fire.
>> And one more bonus boring fact based on Judge's office life.
Judge revealed that TPS stands for test program set,
since he was an engineer and stuff.
(Sound) Moving on.
You could also thank the film for red staplers.
Judge went to Swingline with a sponsorship opportunity.
But they declined the offer to produce red staplers for
a practical business reason that red staplers won't sell in bulk
compared to safe boring colors like black or platinum.
So because they still needed a prop for
Milton that stood out against the drab gray office,
production simply painted an existing Swingline stapler red for the movie.
>> It's my stapler.
It's Swingline.
>> Swingline still cashed in on the opportunity literally and figuratively.
Because so many people called the company looking to order it,
they actually started producing the bright red stapler.
(Sound) Speaking of business imitating art.
Servers just like Joanna across the country can thank the film for
getting rid of the ridiculous flair as part of their work place uniform.
>> I don't really like talking about my flair.
Okay.
>> In 2005, all TGI Friday restaurants gutted the decor and
uniforms with a purge.
Officially, the upper management types recognized that servers didn't want to
wear the pieces of flair and phased them out with the redesign.
But, according to Judge, it was a little more personal than that.
One of his assistant directors actually went to a TGI Friday and
asked a waiter why they had changed everything.
The waiter told them that it was quote, because of that movie Office Space.
So on top of reflecting our every work woe, it actually influenced and
maybe helped these work woes in the real world.
>> Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.
>> Work woes.
(Sound) >> Looks better.
Looks like a Peter Gibbins.
>> Uh-huh.
>> It's hard to imagine this film about the average Joe starring Matt Damon, but
that was almost the case.
The studio wanted Judge to pursue a post-Goodwill-Hunting Matt Damon for
Peter, but
Ron Livingston knocked it out of the business park and nabbed the role instead.
And we're pretty grateful for that.
>> This is the best day of my life.
>> Another hugely specific role that went to another actor, Lawrence,
Peter's neighbor.
Both Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn auditioned, but we're not sure either of
them could've pulled off the mullet-mustache combo like Diedrich Bader.
(Sound) >> No man.
>> Judge filled out the rest of the cast with lesser known actors and
his usual players such as David Herman and Stephen Root.
But only on the condition from the studio that Judge cast someone big for Joanne,
and that's where this segue comes in.
(Sound) Jennifer Aniston at the peak of her
Friends fame was cast as the flair-hating, Lumbergh boning love interest, Joanne.
>> Right, Lumbergh.
>> A big point of contention in Peter and
Joanne's relationship is that she slept with Lumbergh.
But luckily, not Peter's boss Lumbergh.
>> Yeah, who'd you think I meant, Bill?
>> In the original script, however, Joanna did sleep with that Lumbergh.
But the studio insisted that it be a different Lumbergh,
probably because she's such a big star.
Or maybe just because they're a bunch of prudes.
(Sound) >> Yeah,
well at least your name isn't Michael Bolton.
Michael Bolton, that no talent ass-clown doesn't actually hate the film.
When the movie first came out, Bolton wasn't such a big fan of it.
But now that he hangs with the lonely island and is in the post modern period of
his career, poking fun of his big hair, 80s life, he's pretty chill with it.
In fact, he even parodied the role by recreating scenes from the film
as Michael Bolton for Funny Or Die.
According to a Reddit AMA,
he says that he actually will sign copies of the DVD for fans.
>> I love his music, I do.
I'm a Michael Bolton fan.
>> There is someone who prefers this Michael Bolton though.
According to Judge, the one and only Madonna invited him to dinner and
confessed that she thought the angry programmer was very sexy.
So take that Michael Bolton.
No, other Michael Bolton.
Nope, that's Usain Bolt.
There, that's the right one.
Moving on, even though Office Space was initially a financial failure,
it found a second life as a cult favorite through reruns and home video.
The comedy world embraced it, and led to an offer from NBC for
Judge to adapt the office here in the states.
They sent him a copy of the original British version with some reviews that
praised the show for succeeding in capturing the everyday work
environment where the movie failed to do so.
So of course, Judge passed on the project because it's kind of a dick move.
But Greg Daniels, who produced Office Space, went on to develop the show.
And now you've got Jim and Pam, so I hope you're happy.
That's all we have for this episode of Things You Didn't Know, but
let us know in the comments if you've got the memo and subscribe to CineFix.
For more true-ish things about movies and
sometimes work woes, right here on Things You Didn't Know.