UPDATE: It’s here! It’s here! (Available until Jan. 23)
From press release:
NBC’s Emmy-winning comedy “The Office” will offer fans an exclusive “producer’s cut” of the November 20th episode. On Tuesday, November 25th, users can log onto NBC.com to stream the expanded episode, which will include additional scenes and extra footage not shown in the broadcast version.
I hope this is an idea we’ll see for more episodes. I can’t wait!
And it’s The Office for the win! Super cool stuff and will make the wait for The Surplus all the easier.
I wasn’t sure at first if I would like this, but the idea is growing on me. We can get to see all the deleted scenes incorporated into the episode where they should be, not guessing where or how they would fit. I’m interested to see where this may lead…
This may be a silly question, but when they say “users can log in,” do they mean you have to register on the site (create an account) or just simply go to the NBC.com and follow the link?
Whoo hoo! How exciting! I, too, hope we will be seeing this with other episodes as well.
I like this idea, this is basically what they did with “Traveling Salesman/The Return” from Season 3 to keep people interested during like a 3-4 week break. I thought it flowed well there and it should work out again.
Are they expecting to make this an hour long episode or just a “super-sized” 40 minute episode?
Oh yeah! In my opinion this episode seemed unfinished, so now we get to see the whole thing!
This is such a great idea. The producer’s cut of “The Return” is one of my favorite things on my iPod. I always forget that all of it isn’t in the actual episode. Can’t wait to see all of this one.
Awesomesauce!
Any chances it will be better than the first cut…?
Do we know about what time? We’re planning on heading out of town on Tuesday.
I LOVE this idea!!! You know, this has often been done for movies/DVD’s and such, but it’s really an untapped market for television. Leave it to The Office to be the trailblazers- I’m predicting that this will really take off- not just for The Office, but that other shows will be following suit in the coming years. Especially if you have to go to NBC.com- it’s just more money for them from advertisers. I really hope they offer it on iTunes as well.
The artistic vision of the producers is preserved, NBC gets their beloved money, and we the fans get to see it!!! Smells like a “win-win-win” to me…
BRILLIANT IDEA! Kind of makes up for NBC not giving us as many supersized Office episodes this year.
Now if only they let us here in Canada watch online content :(
This sounds like such a great idea, but would be even greater if us Canadians could watch it too!
Does this mean international viewers can not view it?!
Since NBC has blocked most of their videos.
I love when they do this. Maybe there will be an actual story with the whole microwave thing, instead of just mere mention! I understand it was the B story. But seriously, most underdeveloped plot line ever.
wow WOW WOW!!!!
Thanks, NBC. Seriously!
What an awesome birthday present!
oh great…l’m gonna have to hack my laptop with some program to avoid the restrictions, l hate that. It’s always a mess with nbc.com, hope it’s on Hulu too.
[Tanster: l thought you already had some kind of promotion deal with nbc, l can’t believe the ads post, you’re so professional, OT is their best marketing tool imo.]
I really like this idea. As Stefanie (#3) suggested, it would be nice to watch all the episodes, not just this one, with the deleted/extra scenes in their proper place, rather than — as on the DVDs — having to watch the episode as it aired then watch a chunk of out-of-context (albeit very funny) deleted scenes. I’ve often had this thought while watching DVDs.
I’m sure that technologically it could be done. I envision a DVD menu where you could click “watch aired version” or “watch producer’s cut” (or something).
Hmm, how could we get word to the producers and NBC that this is something fans would like to see for the Season 5 DVD? Tanster? :-)
[from tanster: i’ll email greg daniels. ;) ]
tanster, do you know if producer’s cut is going to be available on iTunes like the ones from season three were? In season three, if you had the iTunes season pass for The Office, you automatically got all of the producer’s cuts.
[from tanster: that would be great, wouldn’t it? i’ll check with my sources on monday.]
Eric #20 I agree with you I usually only watch deleted scenes once because it gets too complicated to go back and forth also I don’t want to watch 2 versions back to back. I know they can put it back together for the dvd’s they did it with every episode of Friends. Every episode on the dvd’s contain extra footage never shown on tv. If they can’t have 2 versions at least give us 1 full version.
Do we know, by chance, how long it will be posted on NBC.com?
It’s November 25th. Does anyone know when this is going to start streaming today? I received the NBC press release on this too, but I can’t find anything on the site or on the DNR that tells us when we can find it. Oh..woe.
how long is this gonna be available? i’m at home til thursday and the computer here is….well let’s just say it’s from 1995 and it’s been through 4 kids, and 2 computer-illiterate adults…
anyone know if I will be able to view it outside the US?
Any time frame for when this is expected to be posted? I’m so looking forward to this.
That’s what she said. (Coming soon, coming soon) ha ha
It says on nbc that the producers cut will be online next week…..
it’s out now!
It’s up!
I just checked the NBC website and the director’s cut has been posted. (:
It’s up! It’s up! (That’s what…oh, never mind!)
I liked seeing the other notes above the microwave. That was kind of funny. The episode wasn’t that much different, though.
Is there another link? I’m in Canada, so I can’t watch it :(
I’m not sure what it was about this episode but it just didn’t click with me and the producers cut didn’t help. Dwight’s talking head and Michael’s scream reference are the only funny things in the episode, and possibly Michael trying to tempt Toby to punch him, which weirdly didn’t make me laugh as much as the idea of it does. Hopefully SURPLUS is better. This season has been better than last but dodgy.
Eh, not that much different. I liked the extra Phyllis line though in the break room scene though.
Ok, that was a disappointment. The only added stuff was about the microwave. I liked the addition to that story line, but I feel it was hyped for nothing. Those scenes easily could have been a deleted scene like usual.
It was interesting seeing the microwave storyline play out a bit more. I’d still love to know who actually made the mess, though.
It’s funny…this producer’s cut felt more like a “classic” Office episode than the original on-air version. Not sure why.
Cool! Wish they would do that with all episodes!
I thought the storyline with the microwave was much better in the producer’s cut. In the TV version that story never really came to a climax and so we didn’t really get a resolution, but in the producer’s cut we at least got the joke about anonymity and a resolution that who made the mess didn’t really matter. It was funny, because I saw that deleted scene of it, but I didn’t get it without the context of the episode.
I thought the producer’s cut flowed better as well, especially the Toby story line. The editing in general has seemed really choppy this season, but the producer’s cut felt like a very classic episode, editing-wise.
I can’t get NBC to work, as usual. Will it be posted on HULU?
Much worse than the original episode IMO. The pacing was much better in the original episode. Should’ve just left well enough alone. There was no need to post this episode up as a producer’s cut… so many other episodes have deserved it much more than this one.
I really liked the original aired version and the producer’s cut. I liked seeing more of the microwave story, plus the extra lines from David Wallace and Phyllis that helped fill out the story a little bit. One thing I noticed in this viewing was Michael’s body language in his TH with Toby. He is leaning as far away from Toby as he can, with his arm closest to Toby kind of pulled across his body. It cracked me up! A subtle thing, but once I noticed it I thought it made the scene even funnier.
There wasn’t much more footage. Only about 4 minutes? It was kinda cool to see how well they edited out those scenes that were just a few seconds long. I really liked seeing the extra note that was put up.
The only thing besides deleted scenes that was added was probably THE BEST LINE in the whole thing. “I was Miss Tiny Mid-Atlantic Bride when I was 10. You’ve probably heard of it.”
I. Love. Angela. (and the writers that write her lines)
In total, there were about 4 extra minutes. The largest chunk of that was the “undeleted” scene of Pam addressing the office about the microwave note. There were a few minor additions here and there, plus some brief additional scenes involving the microwave.
I definitely enjoyed the pacing, it seemed like it had more room to “breathe” this way. Just a subtle difference. I wish they could all be 25-30 minutes long, because that seems like the best length for them.
I wish all the episodes were this long! Angela’s wish to fit into a dress from her age 10 beauty pageant was absolutely awesome. The extra microwave-gate note upon note stuff was so true to life in the office. WAy to go Mindy Kaling!
I understand the need for ads in online episodes, but the viagra ads that would keep on playing even when the show resumed were totally irritating!
[from tanster: omg that happened to me, too. the viagra guy kept talking, even after the episode started. i had to totally close the window and start over.]
I loved this. It was so good! I wish they didn’t have to cut so much out of it. That would be awesome if they made a producer’s cut for every episode, but sadly they can’t.
Angela’s “Miss Tiny Mid-Atlantic Bride” dress was posted on Andy’s wedding website last week, with a picture! Awesome.
LOVED the producer’s cut. Got to see a lot more Pam, which was heaven for me… I hope the DVDs have producer’s cuts from now on, perhaps even go back to previous seasons and put deleted scenes into their episodes! If that’s possible.
Aww, I wish I knew it was gonna be on Hulu, instead of being punished with low quality for watching it on NBC’s official site.
After seeing the producer’s cut I felt better about when Pam tells Jim that the note thing “is for real.” I don’t think she’s shushing him, she just knows by that point that he doesn’t care about it as much as she does or think it’s that important, so it’s more of a “You don’t care about this like I do, and right now I have to defend my actions to a bunch of people so don’t get involved unless you do care the way I do.” So it’s not a comment on his ineffectiveness in dealing with the office. Ah. Now I can sleep tonight.
I know this is a tall order, but with the internet being such an important source for television, I would love to see a Producer’s Cut for each episode that airs on the network. The fact they have to cut out scenes that provide exposition on plot lines, and even scenes with subtext, shows how much The Office is not allowed to breath in twenty one minutes. Give us the twenty one minutes on air – then – instead of deleted scenes the next day, give us the full version incorporating those said deleted scenes. Leave deleted scenes as you would an outtake…something that really doesn’t work with the story. Put this all on the DVD, and more bang for your buck!
That’s a lot of work for the editors and the crew, but it would be so much better. A girl can dream.
I wish they had posted the producer’s cut before releasing the deleted scenes. It would have felt more fresh that way.
Loved it!
The producer’s cut illustrated (even more) one of the most true-to-life office scenes I’ve seen in a while.
In my office, we’ve had similar microwave wars over the years. Last year, someone actually bought a new microwave on my floor rather than clean the disgustingly filthy one that was up there. My boss’s boss actually asked me to stick a Dymo label on it asking people to wipe it down after each use. Still didn’t work.
OMG Dwight at the end…too funny.
I don’t know if I liked the extra microwave scenes. It was Pam’s first episode back in the office and just about everybody attacked her about writing the note. And then she gave the whole speech about how great New York was and Jim’s face got a little scared. I think Pam’s gonna not like working there as much after she experienced New York.
That was awesome. It flowed so much better than the aired version. I loved the microwave storyline from the beginning because it is so real, very office related. In this cut it had more time to shine and be better resolved. The Toby conflict seemed less heavy, and the house thing didn’t seem so important either (which annoyed me in the original version because Pam liked the house anyway, so what was the point of telling the story?). The pace seemed so much better.
I wish that would be the way they would incorporate the deleted scenes in the dvd, like other people pointed out. That’s what they did with Friends, the deleted scenes are incorporated in the episode.
I agree that this version made more sense and it was less choppy. I can’t believe some of the best lines of the episode were cut originally (i.e. Angela’s wedding dress information).
#60-“That’s what they did with Friends, the deleted scenes are incorporated in the episode.”
I know what you mean…they also did that with Will & Grace and Frasier…
The Producer’s cut was so well-edited and it flowed beautifully. I loved all the subtle pauses. It reminded me of a Season 2 episode.
Thanks, Tanster, for posting this on Hulu. I can never get the episodes to work on the NBC website. Will you be posting the other extended episodes on Hulu, as well? It would be like an early Christmas present!
I loved this episode!
I liked the original version way better! The directors cut had little to no difference to the show. It had the microwave story which to me just didn’t feel like an office storyline. (in real life maybe but just the way they acted, it just didn’t seem right and I didn’t find it that funny. I think Michael and Toby was the funnier side of that episode, I’m so glad he is back because some of my all time favorite michael scenes are with Toby or involving Toby somehow. Great episode!!!
haha this is so much better than the original! I wonder who wrote the “asswipes” note…creed? Actually, I have no idea.
I also found it amusing that the penis drawing was blackened out on the internet, but not on tv.
I have one issue with this episode. I don’t think Pam’s freak out with the microwave was in line with her character. Remember when her and Jim were talking about her getting kicked out of her apartment (after she set her landlord up with Michael), and Jim said that she was messy? If she is messy by nature, I don’t think she would have made the microwave thing such a big deal. Well, maybe this was supposed to show how New York has rubbed off on her.