As a long-running series, The Office occasionally features an element that appeared in an earlier scene that can also be seen in a later scene of the series. Be it a character, plot point, or a person, it is these parallels that give the series a sense of connectivity, besides the show's primary plot.
Similar to the way fans have spotted easter eggs and other minute hidden details in the background of the series, aficionados have also found several parallels that are laid throughout the series. While someone with a good memory may have identified a few on their first watch, only a true fan would have noticed everything mentioned below.
Bob Hope
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is such a big fan of comedy that in one instance he even says that his job is to make the office a fun place to work. Therefore it comes as no surprise that he picked Bob Hope as his role model along with Abraham Lincoln, Bono, and "probably god."
In a later season, when Michael is trying to pick a new manager to replace him, one of his criteria is that the person should have a good sense of humor – which he calls the "Bob Hope Factor."
Dwight Schrute and Downsizing
The very first episode of the series started on a tense note with everyone at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch worried about the downsizing that could result in them losing their jobs. However, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) felt differently on the matter. He was strongly in favor of the layoffs.
He even says that he suggested downsizing when he was being interviewed for his current sales position. Keeping up with this belief of his, Dwight ends up firing Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) and Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) after he becomes the regional manager of the branch.
Green or Orange Streamers
When planning Meredith Palmer's (Kate Flannery) birthday, Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith) says that they could get streamers and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) suggests green ones for which Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) comments that green is 'whorish.' Phyllis is wearing a green top in this very scene.
In a later episode, when they are planning for a Christmas party, Phyllis opts for orange streamers but this time Angela points out that orange is 'whorish' and Phyllis is sporting orange this time. Appalled by Angela's mock at her, Phyllis reminds Angela of her previous comment.
Yogurt Lid Medals
When Michael and Dwight went out of the office to close on Michael's new condo, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) finds that some people in the office have their own games to beat their boredom at work. For instance, Kevin's is to see who can fit the most M&Ms in their mouth.
Jim then organizes an office Olympics using all those games for which Pam makes medals out of yogurt lids. In the very last episode when everyone is reminiscing their time at Dunder Mifflin, they are reminded of the office Olympics and Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton) tells them that he still has his medals.
The Teapot Letter
When Jim decides to stay in Scranton for Pam, Pam feels that she might not be good enough for him in the future. This is when Jim makes his big romantic gesture and shows Pam how important she is to him through a video montage and also hands her a letter.
This is the same letter that Jim took out of the teapot that he gifted Pam when he got her name for Secret Santa. While his exact words on the letter will remain a mystery, it surely reveals Jim's feelings for Pam as he held the letter and told, "Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel."
The Babies Dressed As Grownups Poster
The main storyline of the season tw0 episode titled "Conflict Resolution" starts when Michael hears Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) screaming as he complains to Toby about the babies dressed up as grownups poster that Angela has hung at her place. Sitting right next to Angela, Oscar has to see the poster constantly.
He hates it and describes it as tasteless and worse than porn. Ironically, it is Toby – to whom Oscar is complaining to – who gifted the poster to Angela when he got her name for Secret Santa in an earlier episode titled "Christmas Party."
Mr. Brown's H.E.R.O Acronym
Dunder Mifflin's corporate branch sent Mr. Brown (Larry Wilmore) to Scranton to give everyone their diversity training, especially for Michael about whom many staff complained regarding his impersonation of the Chris Rock routine that they considered being racist.
During the training session, Mr. Brown uses the acronym H.E.R.O. Later, when Jim is at the Stamford branch and the show gives viewers a glance at him and Pam missing each other as they work in different branches, Mr. Brown is seen giving diversity training to the Stamford branch and he uses the H.E.R.O acronym there too.
Stripper and Nurse
Prior to Bob Vance (Bobby Ray Shafer) and Phyllis' wedding, Michael arranges for two parties. A stripper named Elizabeth (Jackie Debatin) comes to the party at the warehouse for the men. However, with Bob not being interested, Michael gets the lap dance but stops her halfway and the party also ends shortly.
Having already paid Elizabeth, Dwight makes her work in the office, and Michael gets to know her more. Later, when planning the fun run, Jim says that they can hire a nurse to come and collect the cheque. It is Elizabeth who comes dressed as a nurse but Michael assumes that she really became a nurse.
Dwight and Mose Seesaw
When Dwight and Ryan Howard (B.J Novak) team up to get Jim fired, the two have a secret meeting near a dumpster. There, Ryan asks Dwight, "Did you see Saw?" While Ryan is actually referring to the movie, Dwight assumes that Ryan is asking him about the seesaw that one plays on, so Dwight tells Ryan that he seesaws with his cousin Mose (Michael Schur).
During a later episode when Jim is checking for the route to Dwight's farm on google maps for the garden party, the map has a picture of Dwight and Mose seesawing on the farm.
David Brent's Appearances
David Brent (Ricky Gervais) from the original version of the series – The Office UK – appears on the US version of The Office twice. The first time he meets Michael and the two click with each other in their common interest for comedy and impersonations.
At this point, it is also made clear that David is searching for a job because he asks Michael if his company is hiring. However, Dunder Mifflin was not hiring then but later when they did look for a regional manager, David sent in his video resume for the position indicating his continuing job hunt.