Continuity Errors

This page discusses inconsistencies in the timeline, character's behavior, character's relationships, actors, etc. mainly geared toward expository points. This is as opposed to scene to scene inconsistencies in things such as set or character appearance (like if a character changed outfits or looks different cut to cut). Each point is labeled with its specific episode or the episode the deleted scene (which still counts as canon) is linked to so as to lend credence to the accuracy of this page.

Timeline changes/inaccuracies[]

Jim or Pam have conflicting timelines on when they started working at Dunder Mifflin. At one point Jim says that he had a crush on Pam when she first started meaning he started before her. Later Jim asks Pam if she remembers what she told him on his first day meaning she started first. In season 2 (2006) Ryan says Jim has worked at Dunder Mifflin for five years (since 2001). In season 9 (2013) Mark says to Pam she's worked at Dunder Mifflin for 8 years (since 2005). In season 1 (2005) Michael says Pam has worked at Dunder Mifflin for a couple years (since 2002–03). Jim says when he found out that Pam was engaged to Roy he backed off, and Pam and Roy were engaged for three years by season 1 (since 2002) and one can assume that they had worked together since at least being engaged and likely before (since 2001–02). In Pam's resume it says her start date was August 2003.
In "The Convention" Michael lands Hammermill Paper as a supplier after they were previously exclusive with Staples, but in "Business Ethics" Meredith has been sleeping with Bruce Meyers, the Hammermill rep, once a month for six years even though Dunder Mifflin and Hammermill Paper haven't had a relationship for that long.
In "The Alliance" when Michael wants to throw a surprise birthday party, Meredith's is the next up and a month away, but in "Survivor Man" Meredith's birthday is in birthday month, coming after Creed's and Oscar's birthdays in the same month, weeks away.
In "Diwali" Michael proposes to Carol and she says it's their ninth date, but in "Sex Ed" Carol says Michael proposed on their fourth date.
In "The Alliance" Dwight dyes his hair after the reveal that Jim and his alliance was all a prank, when Jim said he should do this to mess with him.
Michael may or may not have gone to college having said he saved money for college, lost that money in a pyramid scheme, missed going to parties in college, and reminisces on campus memories that he says he doesn't have.
In "Angry Andy" Phyllis says she had an orgasm from age 42 to 44, but in "Sexual Harassment" she states that her and Michael are the same age. We know that Michael was roughly 42 or likely 43 at the beginning of the series meaning Phyllis was in the process of having a consistent orgasm for over a year throughout some of seasons 1 and 2, possibly even season 3. It's also possible that she was speaking hyperbolically and didn't literally have a constant orgasm, but had them very often.
In "WUPHF.com", Erin Hannon says all of her peers were getting their driver's licenses eight years ago which would give her a birth year of approximately 1986. Later, though, she discusses with Phyllis Vance how she (and Phyllis' orphaned child) were born in the wake of the release of the movie Porky's, which came out in November 1981, five years before her previously stated birth year.

Setting changes/inaccuracies[]

The conference room has several configurations throughout the series and the furniture including the large table and chairs tend to disappear and reappear depending on what the situation calls for even though the spare chairs and table are never seen elsewhere in the office when not present.
The condo Michael purchases in "Office Olympics" and the condo in "Dinner Party" are different condos.
The house Jim bought in "Frame Toby" is different than Jim and Pam's house in "Michael's Last Dundies".
When viewed from the inside like in "Pilot" or "The Duel" the blinds are horizontal but when viewed from the outside like in "Safety Training" they are vertical.
In "Office Olympics" Dwight says he has a bathroom at his farm under his porch, but in "Money" the outhouse is clearly outside with Mose seen using it at the time.
In "Did I Stutter?" Michael leaves a face hole in the cement but it is never seen again in episodes such as "Finale".

Actors playing multiple characters[]

In "Job Fair" the graphic designer recruit is played by the same actor who shows up again as Nick, Sabre's IT guy in "Sabre", "Manager and Salesman", "The Delivery", and "Whistleblower".
In "Sexual Harassment" Pam's mom is played by a different actor than the one that appeared in seasons 6, 7, and 9.
In "WUPHF.com" the small child with glasses in the back of the hay truck at Hay Place is the same child as the one later introduced as Cameron Whitman, Dwight's nephew, in "The Farm".
In "Goodbye Toby" Andy's parents are named Andrew and Ellen Bernard, but in "The Delivery" Andy says his father's name is Walter and in "Garden Party" they are named Walter and Ellen Bernard and played by different actors.

Celebrities referenced that play characters[]

In "Back From Vacation" Phyllis mentions Jim Carrey, but he later plays the Finger Lakes Guy in "Search Committee".
In "The Merger" Dwight and Andy are doing the A Night at the Roxbury, starring Will Ferrell, and dance on Tony Gardner but Ferrell later plays DeAngelo Vickers in "Training Day", "Michael's Last Dundies", "Goodbye, Michael", and "The Inner Circle".

Character relationships[]

In "Pilot" and "Nepotism" Michael says he has unnamed brothers and an estranged half-sister respectively, but references and speaks about his childhood as an only child on several occasions.
In "Diversity Day" Dwight makes Michael swear on his mother's grave, but his mother is alive on the phone in "The Injury", "Night Out", and "Customer Survey" as well as his grandma in "Dream Team".
In "Launch Party" Meredith forces Jim to sign her pelvic cast, but in "Spooked" Meredith says that Jim gives her the creeps.
In "Did I Stutter?" Kevin says all of his girlfriends have had glasses but Stacy, his ex-fiancé, did not in "The Dundies".
In "A Benihana Christmas" Angela says her and her sister used to be best friends but they haven't talked in 16 years, but in "Finale" they are very close.
In "Frame Toby" Dwight has to introduce himself to the local police and explain that he's a former volunteer sheriff's deputy, but in "Dinner Party" and "The Delivery" the police immediately recognize him and his car respectively indicating that all Scranton police are at least somewhat aware of and have likely met Dwight, knowing him as a nuisance.

Unexplained character replacements[]

In a "A Benihana Christmas" when Michael is at Benihana he is going to bring back Cindy to the office Christmas party but ends up bringing back a different waitress named Nikki. While many assumed this was simply part of the gag introduced later that Michael cannot tell Asian people apart, the showrunners have stated that it was simply meant to be a joke about Michael couldn't pick up the 'more attractive' waiter and had to settle for Cindy.
In "Night Out" the cleaning crew for the business park are Spanish speaking Latinos, but in "St. Patrick's Day" they are Eastern European music lovers.
In "Pilot" and season one episodes there are several characters that work in the office who are never mentioned or have speaking roles and disappear later on.

Character behavior/actions changes[]

Kelly is quiet and reserved in floral outfits in early seasons and around season 3 she has become loud, attention seeking, and overdramatic.
Oscar, early on, is quiet, respectful, and polite, but later on is a know it all.
Kevin is a typical character, but as the series progresses he becomes more socially incompetent from the early to the middle parts of the series, then socially and mentally incompetent to the point where he has the intelligence of a baby as evidenced by his best friendship with Dwight and Angela's baby by the end, leaving no justification for his job as an accountant.
In "Paper Airplane" Erin discusses how she would have to fight other kids to get things in her orphanage, but in "Todd Packer" she just gives her new computer to Andy because he wants it.
In "China" Gabe gets squeamish looking at a big advertisement with a cockroach on it, but in "Spooked" he is interested in a genre of psychologically disturbing movies hated by everyone.
In "Job Fair" Oscar is seen playing a miniature arcade basketball game with Darryl but in "Happy Hour", on the same type of arcade game, he shoots like he's never played that game before.
In "A Benihana Christmas" Michael rides his bike into work, but in "The Sting" he can't ride a bike and hits a car.
In "The Fight" Kevin doesn't wash his hands before leaving the bathroom, but in Kevin Cooks Stuff in the Office Kevin sharply asks Stanley if he washed his hands after leaving the bathroom.
In a video in "The Dundies" Roy can be seen accepting the Dundie for longest engagement and saying, "We'll see you next year" but during the Dundies awards in the episode he storms out due to it.
In "Company Picnic" Dwight has a doctor shoot his horse but in "The Farm" he can be seen shooting a dead family member in their grave at point blank range so having a doctor slaughter his horse is inconsistent with his character.
Troy Underbridge is a successful drug addicted finance type put off by Dwight in "Night Out" but when he reappears in "Junior Salesman" he is a creep washing his pants under a hand dryer and getting along with Dwight's other creep friends.
Angela is an organized and professional woman but after her and Robert Lipton end their relationship she is homeless and destitute in "Livin' the Dream" and "Paper Airplane".

Character contradictions[]

In "Job Fair" Pam says that she would pretend to have PMS to get out of several sports in gym class including volleyball, but in "Company Picnic" she says that she played volleyball in junior high, high school, college, and went to volleyball camp most summers, but also in the episode her serving form is awful.
In "Health Care" Dwight says he never gets sick, but in "Christmas Party" he says he gets sinus infections.
In "Office Olympics" Stanley says he's a hard worker but several times throughout the series he and others say and do things asserting the opposite including in "Did I Stutter?" and "The Incentive".
In "Christmas Party" it is said twice that they're not supposed to be serving alcohol by Pam and Toby, but in "Classy Christmas", "Spooked", and "Moroccan Christmas" several people are drinking in the office and no one seems to mind.
In "The Whale" Dwight says he never sits down during sales meetings, but in "Traveling Salesmen" he can be seen sitting down during a sales meeting.
In "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager" Dwight shoots the floor with his gun and Oscar finds hardwood flooring underneath it, but later in "Suit Warehouse" Oscar is surprised to find hardwood flooring underneath the carpeting.
In "The Alliance" Jim says Meredith is an accountant but in "Boys and Girls", and "The List" she is the supplier relations rep.
In "Stairmageddon" Pam is mad at Jim for taking the Athlead job in Philadelphia without consulting her even though she did that exact thing when joining the Michael Scott Paper Company in "Two Weeks" and when she claimed the office administrator job without consulting him in "Counseling".
In "The Sting" Stanley gets mad at being called a diabetic when he's not, but in "Lecture Circuit Part 1", "Michael's Last Dundies", and "Roy's Wedding" he is said to actually have diabetes.
In "Junior Salesman" Brian and Pam discuss how the crew is never supposed to interact with the people in the office but, they actually have on several occasions without making noise like in "Night Out", "Email Surveillance", and "Fun Run".
In "Paper Airplane" Andy is afraid to use the eye wash station and tells Darryl that "I can't squirt stuff in my eyeball; I've never even used an eyedropper." But in "Christening," Andy tells the youth ministry group that he wears contact lenses.

Unexplained details[]

In "Weight Loss" Meredith's face is red and swollen and it's explained only by watching the deleted scenes.
In "Email Surveillance" Michael calls his character Michael Scoon instead of Michael Scarn.
Early Michael is said to be losing his hair in a "Hot Girl" deleted scene but actually seems to have more hair later on.
In "Launch Party" Jim signs his name John Krasinski.
Near the start of "St. Patrick's Day" Michael walks into the conference room to talk to Jo Bennett. When we first see her here, she is holding a coffee mug with both hands and is wearing glasses, but then after a camera change to Michael she is seen without glasses and holding a pen instead of the coffee mug.