‘The Office’ turns 15: Why we’re still obsessed
Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey remember “the good old days” at Dunder Mifflin
One of the most high-stakes, adrenaline pumping scenes of television was shot in an incredibly uncommon place: a quiet office building parking lot. On May 11, 2006, after years of sharing inside jokes, exchanging layered glances, and subtly flirting with each other at work, Jim Halpert was finally going to confess his love to Pam Beesly. Millions of people watched “Casino Night,” the Season 2 finale of The Office, and they held their breath as Jim stood on that pavement and poured his heart out. Pam rejected him in the moment, and for a single gut-wrenching minute all hope seemed lost. But with seconds of the episode to spare the two reconciled and shared an unexpected, ridiculously impassioned kiss at Jim’s desk. At the time, I remember thinking it was one of the greatest television episode endings I’d ever seen in my life. And to this day, it still is.
I was in sixth grade when the employees of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton, Pennsylvania branch first came into my life, and at the time I had no idea how transformative their presence would become. As the years passed I sat in front of television screens, laptops, smart phones, and even an iPod classic to watch, and rewatch, this quirky group of adults simply show up to work every day. I grew to love Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Angela Martin, and the rest of the characters in The Office like they were my own friends and family members. And I’ve never stopped marveling at the way they made life’s most ordinary moments seem monumentally important.
On March 24, 2005, the U.S. adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s British mockumentary-style comedy premiered on NBC. This week marks the show’s 15th anniversary, and to celebrate, Fischer and Kinsey spoke with Mashable about everything from The Office’s present-day popularity to their new podcast, Office Ladies. In addition to sharing their all-time favorite cold opens, the former co-stars talked about current reunion/reboot plans, dished on the one episode that never got made, and gushed over what is so obviously their favorite thing to have come from this whole life-changing experience: The friendships.
Fischer played the loveable (albeit sassy) secretary, Pam Beesly, whose friendship and slow-burn romance with salesman Jim Halpert both captivated viewers and helped propel the series forward. Kinsey played Angela Martin, an uptight, cat-loving accountant who led the Party Planning Committee and fell for offbeat Assistant to the Regional Manager, Dwight Schrute. Though Pam and Angela had a complex relationship on the show, in real life the two actors are best friends and newfound business partners.
Anyone who’s listened to their Office Ladies podcast, which launched Oct. 16, 2019, knows just how uncertain the fate of the show was in the early days of filming. Fans of the UK version were convinced the adaptation couldn’t possibly live up to the original, renewals were being hesitantly ordered in episodic chunks, and no one on the team really felt like they had job security until halfway through Season 2. An initial shadow of doubt was cast over the series, but somewhere along the way that doubt turned to delight and The Office went on to film nine seasons. The show’s first season, which only consisted of six episodes, averaged 5.4 million viewers. But by Season 5 the NBC series had reached a peak average of 9.04 million viewers. The Season 5 episode “Stress Relief,” which aired on Feb. 1, 2009, got the honor of airing directly after Super Bowl XLIII, netting 22.9 million viewers, and securing its pop culture domination.
The final two episodes of The Office aired on May 16, 2013, which means it’s been nearly seven years since the finale. But the hype has yet to die down, and the show’s fan base continues to grow daily. People sport Office-inspired Halloween costumes every October, make Jim and Pam references in their dating app bios, and gift teal teapots to their significant others. In 2020, an off-broadway musical inspired by The Office is touring North America, and a children’s book based on the show is even set to be published in the fall. Sure, it’s been 15 years since the pilot aired, but it’s safe to say the show’s popularity is, somehow, only growing.
WHY NO ONE CAN QUIT “THE OFFICE”
Fischer and Kinsey have several theories about why The Office remains so beloved, but in rewatching episodes for Office Ladies research they’ve come to realize one obvious reason which fans have known for years: The show is really freaking good.
“Jenna and I are rewatching [the show] now, and I really get it, because it’s so good and it holds up. I mean, I don’t want to sound braggy about our own show, but it really is good,” Kinsey said.
“No, it is,” Fischer agreed. “People ask us all the time, ‘Why do you think it’s still popular today?’ And I think the answer is because it’s so good. In rewatching it I’m discovering a whole new appreciation for it.”
This is the first time Fischer is seeing most of these episodes since they aired, and now that years have passed they hit differently for her. Because the show is over she’s no longer watching through the eyes of an actor who’s thinking about performance notes or cut scenes. “I feel like I’m able to watch it now as an audience member without any of that other junk in my head. It’s really been quite a special experience. I would recommend it to all of the cast members,” she said.
In rewatching the show Kinsey has also found that the old episodes can act as soothing companions. “It’s odd to say that, but it is comforting,” she explained. “I think that Office fans that watch [the show] and put it on when they come home or have it in the background while they’re making dinner or doing laundry — whatever — there’s something comforting about it. You know where Michael’s going to be, and where Jim sits, and where Pam’s at, and everyone is always there. I don’t even know how to put it into words, but it’s somehow comforting.”
While reruns of the show can usually be found marathoning on Comedy Central and some dedicated fans like myself still own the series on DVD, Netflix has been one of the most accessible ways for people to watch over the last several years. The streaming platform recently added a Top 10 feature that highlights the most popular movies and TV shows on site, and The Office consistently ranks on that viewership board. Knowing that Netflix subscribers are choosing to watch this 15-year-old show when a giant streaming library of new and original content is at their fingertips is mind-blowing to the cast.
“It feels great,” Kinsey said in response to the show’s streaming acclaim.
“It’s crazy,” Fischer said. “You know, as an artist all you really want is for your work to resonate with an audience. That’s your wish. That’s why I became an actor and so all these years later for my work to still resonate? That means everything. It’s such a gift to be a part of something that has that kind of staying power.”
“I don’t even know how to put it into words, but it’s somehow comforting.”
A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF FANS
Since streaming has given The Office a sort of second life, a whole new generation of younger fans have fallen in love with the show. On paper, you might not think a show about a bunch of adults working for a paper company would appeal to kids, but thanks to Netflix, teenagers (as well as children 12 and under) are binge-watching the workplace comedy, too.
“The dynamics that are playing out are found in all kinds of places, not just in offices,” Fischer said when discussing the draw for younger fans. “When you’re in school you get assigned a deskmate that could totally be a Dwight, you know? And you’ve got like the uptight maybe Type A person in your class as well. So all of these characters, we encounter them in many different situations and in many different jobs or gatherings. It doesn’t have to be in an office.”
“I mean my kids are in fifth grade now and their friends all are watching The Office,” Kinsey said. “They hadn’t seen it yet because I just wanted to be mom, you know, but they were [recently] like, ‘Can we please watch it now?’ [because] there are kids at their school — fifth, sixth, and seventh graders — wearing Dunder Mifflin T-shirts. So [my kids] started watching it and they love it. It’s relatable no matter where you work or, like Jenna said, where you gather. And so I do think it kind of goes across this age range that you wouldn’t normally have thought.”
Kinsey said that despite the show’s “adult subject matter,” which didn’t always age well, she and Fischer still have parents come up to them and say, “[Watching the show] is the one thing my kids and I do together.” Fischer added that so many parents reach out to say that they listen to the Office Ladies podcast with their kids on the way to and from school, and it’s become an amazing way to connect with them.
“We love that it’s given [fans and people who watch together] another level to watching the show,” Fischer said.
“It’s bonding families across generations, and that makes me so happy,” Kinsey added.
THE IDEAL REBOOT
The question on every fan’s mind since the day the show ended is, “Will The Office ever return?” Recent years have given the world television reboots galore and fan-favorite shows from Gilmore Girls to Queer Eye have been brought back for new episodes. For years fans have been begging to see The Office return in some capacity, and now that a Friends reunion special is coming to HBO Max everyone’s wondering if and when we’ll see the Dunder Mifflin family back together again.
“No one has contacted us, but I can tell you there is no cast member that is holding things up,” Fischer assured Mashable.
“And I can tell you this,” Kinsey continued. “Jenna and I, because of the Office Ladies podcast, are constantly in contact with everyone. We talk to everyone — the cast, directors, and writers. No one has been contacted. No one.”
While there are currently no reunion or reboot plans in the works, that doesn’t mean the cast members, writers, and network executives haven’t thought about a future revival. John Krasinski once pitched a potential holiday special like the UK series did, though showrunner Greg Daniels is hesitant to “open it up” again for fear of disappointing the fans. In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, however, former NBC Entertainment chairman, Bob Greenblatt, said, “I was talking to Greg Daniels four years ago about rebooting The Office… He wants to do it and actually has an idea for it.”
Though Steve Carell, who left the series after Season 7, has spoken out against a reboot for fears that the inappropriate behavior much of the show’s comedy was based on would no longer be accepted in today’s society, most of his former cast members seem to be open to the idea. Fischer, Ellie Kemper, Ed Helms, and Carell’s wife Nancy even crashed his opening SNL monologue in 2018 to jokingly beg for a revival.
If it happens, Fischer and Kinsey have some intriguing reboot suggestions of their own. “I have an idea for one,” Fischer revealed, prompting Kinsey to scream, “WHAT, WHAT? Wait, do I know it? What the heck?”
Fischer had never told her, but it involves the mysterious “lost episode” of the show. “I’ve been going through all of my memorabilia in my office, and I came across our one unproduced episode. Do you remember what it is, Ange?” she asked.
“Was it the Take Your Pet to Work Day one?” Kinsey asked.
“‘Pet Day,’” Fischer confirmed. “It’s called ‘Pet Day,’ and I thought, ‘Why don’t we all get together and do a staged reading of this unproduced episode of The Office? We won’t film it, but we would just do like a staged reading. They do that in theater all the time.”
Turns out the “Pet Day” episode never made it to our television screens because the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike temporarily shut down the show. “It was a rough draft script that was distributed, but that we never filmed, so it never even became a final draft,” Fischer explained.
“That would be sort of the most odd way to reintroduce everyone, Jenna,” Kinsey laughed. “Isn’t it also weird if the storyline takes you back in time and you and Jim and Pam are flirting?”
“Why don’t we all get together and do a staged reading of this unproduced episode of “The Office”? We won’t film it, but we would just do like a staged reading. They do that in theater all the time.”
Bringing back the series as a reboot or standalone special would undoubtedly be a risk, but it’s one Kinsey’s also willing to take. “I miss everyone. I miss my friends, and we do a good job of all staying in touch but it’s different than all getting to be in one room together making each other laugh,” she said.
“I would love to see where these people are…there is that very nostalgic part of me that would love to see where Dwight and Angela are and Jim and Pam are in their lives,” Kinsey explained, though she’s aware of the pressure and high expectations that would come with the return of these cherished characters. “As I watch the show now the idea of a spinoff is incredibly daunting, because the show is just so good that it would just have to be done really well. I don’t doubt that Greg Daniels would do a masterful job at it, but I could see how daunting it would be, because the show itself is perfect. It’s perfect.”
LIFE AFTER “THE OFFICE”
Ever since Fischer and Kinsey stopped working together on The Office they’ve been trying to make their professional paths cross again. “This is really like a four or five year dream realized for us,” Fischer said of their podcast endeavor.
Each week on Office Ladies, the former co-stars rewatch and discuss an old episode of the show. They share behind-the-scenes stories with fans, and occasionally chat with special guests like Greg Daniels, Rainn Wilson, Creed Bratton, Melora Hardin, Ken Jeong, and more. The two moms are extremely grateful that co-hosting the podcast means flexible hours and no family time sacrificed, and they love that it gives them a chance to reconnect with their old co-workers.
“When I see a particularly brilliant performance by John Krasinski, or Brian Baumgartner, or Craig Robinson, or whoever it is, I’ll text them and say, ‘you were amazing,’” Fischer said. “I texted Craig Robinson the other day because we just watched the ‘Boys and Girls’ episode, and I said, ‘Craig, you have a speech about unionizing in this episode that is so good, my gosh it just blew me away.’ People are now just getting these random texts from me.”
“Oh from both of us,” Kinsey said. “I texted Mindy last week and I said, ‘Mindy, you need to watch the scene with you and John in the kitchen in the Valentine’s episode of Season 2, because you are so good in it.’” The two also reach out to cast and crew members, or writers and directors to help answer fan questions. “I’m sure our castmates are like, ‘Oh my god, Angela and Jenna,’” Kinsey laughed.
During an early episode of the podcast, Fischer and Kinsey recalled the pivotal days when they became best friends on set. They really hit it off while sitting on a bench in the warehouse filming the “Basketball” episode from Season 1. “For two days of filming [we spent] 24 solid hours on that bench. The reason we’re best friends is because Angela would not stop speaking to me. We told each other our life stories on that bench, it was like the bench of truth. Everything you could possibly want to share,” Fischer told listeners.
“Steve Carell looked at us and said, ‘You guys, no matter what happens with this show this is what you will have from it.’ He pointed at the two of us and said, ‘This friendship,’” Kinsey explained. And Carell was absolutely right.
“I just feel like some people raise your game, you know? Some people make you a better person and Jenna makes me a better person. She makes me better at everything, and she builds me up,” Kinsey said, getting choked up over the phone.
“Ange, that is so nice. I feel the same way,” Fischer said. “People have asked us, ‘Are you worried about working together? Are you worried for your friendship?’ And I mean, no. So far it has only deepened my respect for Angela and strengthened our friendship.”
As lovers of The Office reflect on just how much the series has meant to them for the past 15 years, Fischer and Kinsey will be doing the same. Everything they have — all the memories, the lasting relationships, the die-hard fans, the nostalgic podcast, and perhaps most importantly, each other — they owe to this show. This stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing show.
Originally published at https://mashable.com.
