The Only Episodes Of The Office That Meredith Wasn't In

Technically, the character Meredith appears in every episode of The Office except for "Dunder Mifflin Infinity," which is technically a two-part episode airing over one night. However, Kate Flannery is glaringly absent from the very first episode of the series. That's right — another actress plays Meredith in "Pilot," which aired on March 24, 2005 and was filmed six months before the season's second episode. 

According to Screen Rant, there was still a lot in flux during the filming of the pilot episode, and the character of Meredith hadn't been fully developed. The woman sitting in Meredith's seat in this episode is played by Henriette Mantel, whom you may recognize as the actor who played Alice in The Brady Bunch movies. By the time they filmed the second episode, "Diversity Day," Mantel had been replaced by Flannery.

It's hard to imagine any other actress playing Meredith, or to picture the show without her hilariously inappropriate office antics. As it happens, her character was nearly eliminated altogether after season four premiere "Fun Run," where Michael accidentally hits Meredith with his car. While she ends up being sent to the hospital with a broken pelvis, she almost met a far worse end when several writers lobbied for her to get killed off, according to the Office Ladies podcast. Ultimately the writers went against the idea, deeming it a bit too dark a turn for the generally lighthearted comedy.

Luckily, Meredith made the cut in the writers room, going on to appear in every future episode but "Dunder Mifflin Infinity," giving fans an ample serving of Flannery's impressive gags and stunts, and contributing to the show's incredible ensemble cast. We're awfully glad she survived.