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5 things we learned from 'The Office' oral

history: The making of Michael, Jim and Pam's
near breakup
Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
USA TODAY Entertainment ● March 24, 2020, 3:00 AM PDT

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5 things we learned from 'The Office' oral history: The making of Michael, Jim and Pam's near breakup

NBC's "The Office" taught fans that there's beauty in ordinary things. It turns out, even
ordinary things take a lot of effort to create.

Andy Greene's "The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s" Watch Our Live Bob Odenkirk Interview
Following Tonight’s ‘Better Call Saul’ at 7 P.M.
(Dutton, 464 pp.) explores the making of the cult-favorite sitcom that exploded into a
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major phenomenon on Netflix years after it ended. The oral history features interviews
with nearly 90 cast and crew members plus executives and critics, and includes
information from scripts, call sheets and casting documents.

Here are 5 of the most interesting things we learned:

1. Some other famous faces almost played your favorite characters

Review: 'Untold Story' dives backstage at 'The

Office'
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and his fellow masters of comedic discomfort
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The show went through an extensive casting process to find the (mostly) relatively
unknown actors who would go on to become known for their memorable roles in the
sitcom. But "The Office" could have looked very different.

Paul Rudd, Steve Zahn, Michael Showalter, Josh Radnor and Colin Hanks also
auditioned for the role of Michael Scott, which would eventually go to Steve Carell.

Even more stars were considered before audition rounds: Eugene Levy, Cedric the
Entertainer, Dan Aykroyd, Matthew Broderick, Stephen Colbert, Hank Azaria and John
C. Reilly.

Bob Odenkirk was a close runner-up in auditions: Carell was working on another show
for NBC at the time and the network wouldn't let him turn to "The Office" before they
could confirm the other show would be cancelled.

"But Bob has an edge to him," casting director Allison Jones noted. "His take on
Michael was just as funny as Steve's, but it was darker."

Rainn Wilson also auditioned for Michael a day before his audition for Dwight Schrute.
And John Krasinski was originally supposed to read for Dwight before landing Jim
Halpert.

'The Office' is leaving Netflix in 2021, heading to NBC streaming service

From left to right: John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Steve Carell in a 2004 promo for "The Office."

2. Some actors still had their day jobs while working on the first few
seasons

Andy Buckley, who played Dunder Mifflin CEO David Wallace, remained a financial
adviser for Merrill Lynch while making appearances on the show. Buckley recalled a
day while shooting an episode for season 5 (which aired in 2008 and 2009) when "the
stock market was down 750 points" and he had to go from shooting a scene to trying
to calm clients' nerves over the market crash.

"Of course I can't sit there and say to them, 'I'm sitting here all day doing scenes with
Steve Carell and Idris Elba. I wish you guys were here,' when people's (worlds
were) collapsing," he said.

Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer) worked as a waitress through the first season.
Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) drew on her previous experiences working at a temp
agency.

"Kate Flannery and I quit our jobs around the same time," said Oscar Nunez (Oscar
Martinez), who worked as a caterer and babysitter. "The manager at her restaurant
said, 'You'll be back.' She hasn't been back."

Kate Flannery as Merdith Palmer and Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez smile, surrounded by fellow cast
members in the show's penultimate episode.

3. Jim and Pam's first (real) kiss was planned but not rehearsed

Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly) recalled going over the blocking with Krasinski, but said
they didn't actually practice that famous casino night kiss from season 2 before the
cameras began rolling, in order to make it feel as authentic as possible.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the crew focused on making sure that from a
"documentary" standpoint, none of the scene's surprises seemed premeditated.

As director Ken Kwapis described: "The camera operator, and the documentarian,
me, we essentially follow her back up to the bullpen... We don't know what she's
about to do. But we are just interested in her because we know she's going through
some emotional duress. What we're unprepared for is for Jim to enter. And so when
Jim enters, the camera operator is sort of like, 'Oh (expletive),' and sort of stands up
straight and quickly... (to signal) to the viewer that we were not ready for this."

4. Roy almost crashed Jim and Pam's wedding; plus more plots left on
the writers' room floor

Pet Day: Everyone brings their pets into the office. Michael brings his parrot
named Jim Carrey.

Lunch break: A nearly real-time look at what each character did during their time
away from their desks for lunch.

Michael Scott gets crucified: Writer Aaron Schure pitched an idea where
Michael's shirt got caught in a garage door while playing basketball. He gets left
hanging there overnight and "comes into work feeling Christlike because he spent
the night kid of, somewhat cruicified."

Jim and Pam's wedding: Writers originally planned for Pam's ex-fiance Roy
(David Denman) to crash the wedding dressed like a knight and riding a horse to
win her back.

Series finale: Through the lens of the documentary crew, fans learn that Jim and
Pam have broken up but later reconcile when they bring everyone back together for
a documentary reunion special.

Pam (Fischer) and Jim (Krasinski) prepare to welcome their first child in a scene from season 6.

5. Michael Scott is why the American version succeeded past the British
one, creators thought

When TV execs first began developing an American-ized version of the British cult
favorite, fans got worried – wouldn't they ruin it?

In a controversial effort to bridge the gap between the two shows, the American pilot
was copied almost exactly from the original. Reviewers hated it, deeming the show
dead on arrival, with Carell's cringe-y, callous performance made largely to blame.

The solution: Fans had to be rooting for Michael. Subsequent seasons put a greater
emphasis on Michael's motivation. Unlike British show creator and star Ricky Gervais'
David Brent, who was "driven by a desire to be famous," as critic Alan Sepinwall
described him, Michael Scott's end-all, be-all goal was to be loved.

Writers made sure it was clear that even when he was bumbling or tone-deaf or
straight-up annoying, he cared about his co-workers and love interests and wanted
them to show he mattered to them, too.

Michael Scott (Carell) sits at his desk which is covered in Dundie trophies and his famous "World's Best Boss"
mug.

Director Paul Feig cited season 2 episode "Office Olympics" as a major turning point
for Michael. In the final act, Michael returns to the office and is awarded a gold medal
from his employees, who had been participating in fake Olympics events in his
absence.

"Steve made this decision that as they're playing the national anthem (he would) tear
up," Feig said. "Suddenly it was like, 'Oh my God, this poor guy.' He was so
vulnerable and you see how desperate (he is) for anything good to happen to him and
any kind of approval or validation... I was like, 'Oh, we can actually make Michael a
nut, and overbearing, and ridiculous, and all these things, but we can find moments
when he's vulnerable and human.'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Office': New info about Michael,
Jim, Pam in oral history book

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