Today The Office’s Executive Producer Greg Daniels and John Krasinski got on the phone with the press to talk about the end of the show.
Here are my rough notes. The full transcript starts here. It’s funny, poignant, phenomenal. Greg and John killed!
- Someone asked about John’s work pre-Office, including commercials, so I had to mention to him one of my favorite commercials, starring him and his faux-hawk!
- Greg mentioned that he reads fan feedback. He’s very interested in what fans think about storylines, characters, etc.
- This season’s Jim/Pam arc came from John’s pitch based on his brother’s real-life experience traveling for his job and how that put a strain on the family.
- Greg is working with NBC to supersize the finale, currently scheduled for an hour. Sign the petition here to support him!
- In last week’s episode, Paper Airplane, Greg/John wanted to give the audience “a light at the end of the tunnel.” It doesn’t answer the question of how Jim and Pam solve their issues, though. More brass tacks to come.
- Greg hopes fans treat the last 3-4 episodes as the finale, and he doesn’t want people terrified with Jim/Pam anxiety.
- The original plan was to air the documentary in episode 17.
- As part of the retrospective airing prior to finale, Greg was asked for footage of cast auditions. Greg recalled asking John to improv about his favorite fruit. He talked about the pomegranate, and tagged it with an amazing look into camera. Greg also mentioned that in the pairs auditions, John was the only Jim who could “stand up” to Rainn improv-wise.
- When asked about a possible Steve Carell return, Greg said that Steve felt the Goodbye Michael episode was his goodbye and that he didn’t want to overshadow the other characters’ goodbyes.
- When asked, “what is The Office’s legacy?” Greg said that viewers who appreciate The Office’s comedic sensibilities “got a good long drink of comedy juice.”
- Greg confirmed that The Office set is gone. :(
- John described the final scene that was shot: it was of various people exiting the office (not the last scene in the actual episode), and they were laughing and crying as they did a take, then walking back into the office for another take, and then all of a sudden Greg appears and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the end of The Office.” John said that was a gut punch. (I started to tear up at this point.)
- When someone asked John if leaving The Office felt like graduating from high school, Greg joked, “we turned your trailer into a gym.”
- When asked if there were storylines they didn’t get to do, Greg mentioned that the Belsnickel story had been written seasons ago and that they finally got to do it this year. Greg then joked he would be writing fan fiction on all the other stories they didn’t do.
- When asked about their favorite episodes, John pointed to Diversity Day, Casino Night (no one had ever done a scene like the final Jim/Pam scene), and Booze Cruise with its 27 seconds of silence. Greg mentioned Booze Cruise, Business School, The Job, and The Injury.
- When asked about upcoming projects, John joked that he was auditioning for the lead role in Mr. Robinson (Craig Robinson’s show).
Fun call. But sad, too.
This was great. Thank you! Going home to watch some old eps after work now!
Awesome! Thanks!
Ah, that 27 seconds of silence felt ground-breaking to me. Too much good stuff from this show.
Great great stuff! I feel however that I should curl into the fetal position on the floor imagining the empty office! :(
[from tanster: yeah. that was heartbreaking to hear.]
Great stuff! I always love cast/writer/director interviews! I’ve blocked out my entire day on May 16th! ;) haha!
Seeing their favorite episodes mentioned you can tell how magical Season 2 was. To this day I go back and watch chunks of it at a time.
The show had such a great knack for laugh-out-loud silliness grounded with legitimate drama – which it sorely misses these days.
One of the greatest seasons of scripted comedy tv ever.
Any hope for audio?
What a bummer to think the office is now empty :(
They should totally auction off some of the set props like they did after Seinfeld ended!!
I don’t know how to describe this feeling. Many shows of GREAT quality, greater quality, have come and gone with sadness at the departure.
This however, is truly a hollow feeling. I feel like the beat of my heart is echoing inside me because truly the one thing that my wife and I have shared from our first date till now, is over.
I feel the loss so potently. I’m your average white collar corporate type. 28yrs old. Would never know me as some kind of TV guy. Not like Stanley and his “mystery stories” or Kelly and her “Glee”
The office wasn’t my Seinfeld or sopranos, it was my date night. My dinner infront of the TV night. My cuddle with my wife and laugh night. The office is my funny bone and much like a funny bone, when it hurts, it’s not funny. I’m pained by the loss but appreciative. I only wish NBC would have given the office the lifespan of Law and Order SVU. Alas, I guess America likes Rape and pedophiles more than Oscar and the Senator or Angela and her Cats.
Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend, you have been the one, you have been the one for me..
Oh gosh. Yeah, that last part was heartbreaking.
I realize this is an entirely unrelated thing to post, but now that I know Greg is so fond of lurking and reading the comments, I’m going for it:
Mr. Daniels, I was going through a box of old college paperwork a couple weeks ago and found one of my annual financial aid statements from a certain women’s college in the Pioneer Valley. I noticed a line item I’d never seen before and did some research on the name. And long story short, tell your parents thanks from a random fangirl for helping to make me the first out of seven kids to go to college. I’ll try to keep repaying the debt by buying DVD sets or something. :)
Now, the relevant stuff:
I really want to know where the Homer doll and Pam’s drawing of the building went! When I watch re-runs now, I keep finding myself wondering where certain things ended up. Like, there’s this sad little part of me that really wants Brian Baumgartner to have that blown-up photo of Michael and Jan at Sandals in a basement rec room.
See you all in Scranton this weekend. :)
I think a small piece of me died when I read that the set is already torn down. :(
The Office and its fantastic characters will live forever in my heart (and on my dvd shelf).
Nicely said gentleman.