Did You Know These Beloved Workplace Comedies Were Meant To Be in the Same Universe?

There are striking similarities between The Office and Parks and Recreation. Both have the same mockumentary format, each are set in a workplace, the characters all have their ‘quirks’, and even their counterparts (the elevator doesn’t go to the top floor for Kevin (Brain Baumgartner) or Andy (Chris Pratt)). It’s not happenstance: Parks and Recreation was originally conceived as a spin-off of The Office before creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur decided against it, choosing instead to let it stand on its own. After a mediocre first season, Parks and Recreation turned things around in Season 2, much like… you guessed it… The Office. Daniels and Schur clearly made the right decision by separating the two series, but was it a clean separation, or is there still a connection that was borne out of those original spin-off plans?

Originally conceived as being in the same universe, there is evidence to suggest that the two series still are. There is nothing in either series that explicitly states that the two are in the same world. By the same token, there is nothing that explicitly states that the two are not in the same world. As a result, fan theories abound with connections between the two series. Some of the evidence, as it were, is highly speculative and circumstantial, and some theories are based on nothing more than fleeting glimpses of Easter eggs. The remaining few, though, have decent supportive arguments that make the theory just plausible enough that it leaves the door of possibility open a crack.

‘The Office’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’ Are Connected In Creative Ways

Some connections are the result of keen observation. Eagle-eyed fans noticed that in one episode of The Office, Jerry Gergich (Jim O’Heir) can be seen in the background of a scene where Michael (Steve Carell) and Jim (John Krasinski) are at a table talking. In the “Meet ‘N’ Greet” episode of Parks and Recreation, Ben (Adam Scott) can be seen using a Sabre printer. That would be the same Sabre that bought Dunder Mifflin in the eighth season of The Office. A musical group called The Decemberists played at Pawnee’s Unity Concert… and then played at Schrute Farms. Apart from the character names, one final “concrete” connection sees actress April Eden in two roles. One as the chair model in a picture that Michael falls in love with in “Chair Model”, while on Parks and Recreation Eden plays the winner of the Miss Pawnee pageant. Yes, the chair model died in a car accident, but what if she didn’t?

‘The Office’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’ Aren’t Alone In the Universe

The Office and Parks and Recreation, if further theories ring true, aren’t alone in their shared universe, with no less than four other series potentially aboard. For two of those series, The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it isn’t surprising, given Michael Schur’s association with all four. The Good Place referenced the Swanson Safe Company twice during its run, a nod to the security-conscious Ron Swanson. A clearer connection between The Good Place and Parks and Recreation exists with the presence of Pawnee’s own Lil’ Sebastian, happily settled in the afterlife. The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine share the same brand of coffee vending machine, which is enough for fans to make that connection. Brooklyn Nine-Nine confirmed it existed in the same universe as a non-Schur property – New Girl – when the two Fox shows (Brooklyn Nine-Nine was on Fox at the time) had crossover episodes.

The fourth series is completely out of left field, and it’s a killer. Literally. In the Dexter Season 6 episode “The Angel of Death”, Dexter (Michael C. Hall), is looking over evidence of the most recent Doomsday Killers murder. He goes back to his office to print off the results of a chemical breakdown of a glue found on angel wings that were left behind. What kind of printer does Dexter use to print those results, you may ask? A Sabre printer, one that hasn’t gone up in flames. Sabre, of course, is the parent company of The Office’s Dunder Mifflin. Its presence is most likely a fun Easter egg thrown in by the show runners as opposed to a full-on confirmation of existing in the same universe, especially given the radical difference between the comedies and the popular serial-killer drama. But because it’s there, there is always a remote possibility, no matter how preposterous the notion may be. Who knows? Maybe Dexter is the Scranton Strangler, or maybe he’s the one whose cousin is Dwight Schrute.

With the Brooklyn Nine-Nine/New Girl crossover the only true connection between these series, the rest is purely speculation and a fun exercise, much like the argument that the Pixar films are all connected. Yet there’s an odd comfort in knowing that sometime in the future, Michael Scott, Captain Holt (Andre Braugher), and Leslie Knope could be sharing a table at Hot Dog On A Stick On A Stick, chatting about their lives in the (real) Good Place. It goes without saying that Dexter is highly unlikely to pull up a seat and join in.