Severance Trivia | 35 facts about the series

Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller streaming television series directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.

Let’s find out more about the series!

1. Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller streaming television series.
2. It was created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.
3. It stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette.
4. The plot follows Mark (Scott), an employee of Lumon Industries who agrees to a “severance” program in which his non-work memories are separated from his work memories.
5. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022.
6. It received acclaim from critics and audiences, who praised its cinematography, production design, musical score, story, and performances.
7. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.
8. Ben Stiller first read the screenplay to the pilot episode at least five years before the show premiered, calling it “the longest thing I’ve ever worked on.”
9. The script was submitted by Dan Erickson as a writing sample to Stiller’s production company Red Hour Productions, and passed to Stiller by development executive Jackie Cohn.
10. Ben Stiller said he enjoyed the story’s contributions to the workplace comedy.
11. In January 2017, Stiller invited Adam Scott to star.
12. In November 2019, Apple TV+ gave Severance a series order, with Stiller directing and Scott cast in the leading role.
13. Ben Stiller was only attached to direct the pilot but he decided to direct several more episodes as the series entered development.
14. In January 2020, Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower,Jen Tullock, and Zach Cherry were added to the cast.
15. Tramell Tillman joined in February 2020, and John Turturro and Christopher Walken were added in November 2020.
16. Dichen Lachman was cast in December 2020.
17. Turturro said he recommended Walken for the role of Burt because he had known him for “a long time and I don’t have to really act like we’re friends.”
18. Media that influenced Severance included The Backrooms creepypasta, The Stanley Parable, and The Truman Show.
19. The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the initial production start of March 2020.
20. Principal photography for the first season started in New York City under the working title Tumwater in November 2020, the day after the U.S. presidential election.
21. The opening scene of the show was shot on January 6, 2021.
22. The series filmed for a few days in Nyack in February and in Kingston and Beacon in March.
23. In April, filming moved to central New Jersey, mainly in the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex which stood in for Lumon HQ.
24. Filming was scheduled to conclude on June 23, 2021.
25. Production designer Jeremy Hindle blended corporate looks from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s for the show’s distinctive look, and cited modernist architect Eero Saarinen as influential for the building design.
26. Ben Stiller said the prop master reconstructed old computers so the actors could actually do the work presented on the show in order to get adjusted to the office setting
27. The computer terminals used by the Macro Data Refinement team have no “escape” key.
28. Filmed at the old Bell Labs building in Holmdel, New Jersey. The water tower out front was supposedly shaped like a transistor.
29. Look up the address on google maps, 101 Crawfords Corner Rd Holmdel NJ, and from the aerial view you’ll also see the roadways look like a transistor (as does the water tower). The transistor was invented there and the design pays tribute to it.
30. Severance’s creator, Dan Erickson is originally from Olympia WA, which has had a string of drive thru fast food restaurants owned by the Eagan family since 1948. The owners of Lumon are the Eagan family.
31. The colors red and blue are a heavily and persistently appearing theme in every episode in contrast to one another, possibly as a visual allusion to the duality of the character’s severed memories, or as a metaphorical allegory to perceptions of heaven and hell, a loose theme of the series. Notable occurrences: During office prize parties, the lights flicker red and blue, Helly’s red hair against her consistently blue outfits and even Mark’s car in episode one parked between a red and blue vehicle, to name only a few.
32. Show creator Dan Erickson is from Olympia Washington, the road that Burt lives on “Gull Harbor Road” is a road in Olympia.
33. The address on the back of the card reads ‘499 Half Loop’. The address of Apple old Headquarters is 1 Infinite Loop.
34. In episode 2, it’s revealed to us that Mr. Milchick isn’t severed. He records a video of Helly’s “outie” and then shows it to Hellys “innie” and explains it to her.
35. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 83 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.