American version of The Office filmed its pilot episode in an actual active office building in Culver City rather than a soundstage, using real fluorescent lighting to make it look as depressing as physically possible.

A closer look

American version of The Office filmed its pilot episode in an actual active office building in Culver City rather than a soundstage, using real fluorescent lighting to make it look as depressing as physically possible. They succeeded so wildly at capturing the bleak, soul-crushing reality of corporate middle-management that millions of people now watch it constantly as a comfort show to unwind from their own bleak, soul-crushing corporate middle-management jobs, creating a horrific ouroboros of capitalist despair masquerading as lighthearted television comedy