"The Dundies" was the second episode of the series directed by Greg Daniels. Daniels had previously directed the first season episode "Basketball". "The Dundies" was written by Mindy Kaling, who also acts for the show as customer service representative Kelly Kapoor. According to Daniels, while he worked on the Fox animated series "King of the Hill", the show would have an annual Dundies-type event called the "Swampy Awards". He previously considered using the plot from this episode for the pilot, but decided it was a "very risky thing to do" and decided to make the pilot a direct adaption of the first episode of the British version. Following the mixed reaction towards the first season, the writers attempted to make the series more "optimistic" and make Michael more likable. They also began fleshing out the supporting characters of the series more by giving them actual personalities. Finally, to further differentiate the series from its British inspiration, the producers made the lights in the office brighter.