The season stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak, with supporting performances from Ed Helms, Melora Hardin, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Paul Lieberstein, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, and Phyllis Smith.

[3] The show is based upon the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom are executive producers on both the US and UK versions.

Returning writers from the previous season include Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky, Lester Lewis, Brent Forrester, Justin Spitzer, and Jennifer Celotta.

This season saw many new additions to the writing staff, including Ryan Koh, Aaron Shure, Charlie Grandy, Anthony Q. Farrell, Warren Lieberstein, and Halsted Sullivan.

Feig, Jeffrey Blitz, Ken Kwapis, and Randall Einhorn each directed several episodes during the season, while Greg Daniels, David Rogers, Stephen Merchant, Jason Reitman, Dean Holland, Asaad Kelada, Ken Whittingham, and Paul Lieberstein directed an episode each.

Writers Jennifer Celotta, Gene Stupnitsky and Brent Forrester each made their directorial debut, and series star Steve Carell directed his first episode.

Notable ongoing plots that affect the fifth season and beyond include: Many characters portrayed by The Office cast are based on the British version of the show.

The fifth-season premiere "Weight Loss" received a 4.9/11 in the Nielsen ratings meaning that it was seen by 4.9% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 13% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.

The show's effortless balance of drama, intrigue and pitch-perfect comedy remains remarkably consistent, thanks to strong performances, clever writing and a devoted creative team.

[47] The 5 DVD box set includes, aside from the episodes, multiple deleted scenes, episode commentaries by various members of the production team, a "Gag Reel", a presentation of the show made by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, show ads that ran during the Super Bowl and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as several webisodes.