Editing Office Space (section)

===Development===
''Office Space'' originated in the series of three animated ''[[Milton (cartoon)|Milton]]'' [[short film]]s that Judge created about an office worker by that name. They first aired on ''[[Liquid Television]]'' and on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref name="fierman">{{cite magazine | last = Fierman | first = Daniel | title = Judge's Dread | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = February 26, 1999 | url = https://ew.com/article/1999/02/19/mike-judge-takes-live-action/ | access-date = 2007-08-16 }}</ref> The inspiration came from a temp job which he had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders<ref name="beale">{{cite news | last = Beale | first = Lewis | title = Mr. Beavis Goes to Work | work = [[New York Daily News]] | date = February 21, 1999 | url =http://www.nydailynews.com/mr-beavis-work-irreverent-animator-s-newest-target-corporate-america-live-action-film-office-space-article-1.839280 | access-date =2013-05-03 }}</ref> and another job as an engineer for [[Parallax Graphics]] for three months in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] during the 1980s,<ref name=Leckart2014>{{cite magazine | last=Leckart | first=Steven | date=April 2, 2014 | url=http://www.wired.com/2014/04/mike-judge-silicon-valley/ | title=Mike Judge Skewers Silicon Valley With the Satire of Our Dreams | magazine=Wired | publisher=Condé Nast | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402203558/http://www.wired.com/2014/04/mike-judge-silicon-valley/ | archivedate=April 2, 2014}}</ref> "just in the heart of [[Silicon Valley]] and in the middle of that overachiever [[yuppie]] thing, it was just awful."<ref name="sherman">{{cite news | last = Sherman | first = Paul | title = Humorist is a good Judge of office angst | work = [[Boston Herald]] | date = February 21, 1999 }}</ref>

[[Peter Chernin]], head of [[20th Century Fox]], where Judge had a deal, wanted to make a film out of the Milton character,<ref name="EW oral history">{{cite news|last=Hunt|first=Stacey Wilson|title=The oral history of 'Office Space': Behind the scenes of the cult classic|url=https://ew.com/movies/2019/01/11/office-space-oral-history/|newspaper=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=January 11, 2019|access-date=February 3, 2019}}</ref> inspired by a former coworker of Judge's in Silicon Valley who had threatened to quit if the company moved his desk again.<ref name="NYTmag Judge article">{{cite news|last=Staley|first=Willy|title=The Bard of Suck|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/magazine/mike-judge-the-bard-of-suck.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=April 13, 2017|access-date=February 21, 2019}}</ref> "You don't want to know what he does at home after work", Judge replied. Instead he suggested an [[ensemble cast]]–based film; someone at the studio responded with ''[[Car Wash (film)|Car Wash]]'' but "just set in an office."<ref name="sherman"/>

Milton was not the only character inspired by someone from Judge's past. During his jobs in Silicon Valley, where he barely made enough to afford his rent, he had a neighbor who was an auto mechanic. Not only did the man make more money, he had flexible work hours and seemed to Judge to be much more content with his life and work than he himself was. The neighbor inspired Lawrence, Peter's neighbor in the film.<ref name="NYTmag Judge article" />

The setting of the film reflects a prevailing trend that Judge observed in the United States. "It seems like every city now has these identical office parks with identical adjoining chain restaurants", he said in an interview.<ref name="fierman"/> "There were a lot of people who wanted me to set this movie in [[Wall Street]], or like the movie ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]'', but I wanted it very unglamorous, the kind of bleak work situation like I was in".<ref name="beale"/>

Judge wrote a [[Film treatment|treatment]] in 1996, and the script after [[King of the Hill (season 1)|the first season]] of ''[[King of the Hill]]''. Fox president [[Tom Rothman]] was happy with the draft as he was looking for lighter material to balance the [[event movie]]s like ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' that dominated the studio's output at the time. He considered it "the most brilliant workplace satire I'd ever read".<ref name="EW oral history" /> Despite that, Judge hated the ending and wished he could have completely rewritten the third act.<ref name="Valby" />