Greg Daniels: Part of the amazing experience of doing this show is that back and forth, and the serialized nature of it. The show has these arcs and the characters were very real and so well acted, and they really mattered to people. And the fact that it mattered so much to so many people and they would debate what’s going to happen next and what happened, and is that the right way to behave, and how could she do that, and why isn’t he seeing this? And you could go and read about it and you could lurk, you know? I mean, I’ll tell you I lurk all the time on the site, and listen to what people are saying. And I don’t know that many other writing experiences where you have that kind of relationship with the audience, and it’s just very special.
Jennie Tan: Yeah. I agree. Thanks you guys. I’m really looking forward to all the remaining episodes.
John Krasinski: Thank you, Jennie. You totally changed everything for us, and we really owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you for being so wonderful to us.
Jennie Tan: Oh, you’re so sweet. Thank you. Thank you both!
Question: There’s been such a Boston area influence on the show, both writing and acting, I didn’t know if you maybe could talk about that? And also, how we’ll see all of you guys end up or reunite in the finale?
John Krasinski: I love having a huge Boston contingent. I thought it was totally random, but Greg can speak more to that.
Greg Daniels: Yeah. The craziness of it is the B.J./John connections that go back to high school…
John Krasinski: Yeah.
Greg Daniels: B.J. will be back for the finale, so you have that to look forward to. But I don’t know, it does have a Northeast flavor. It was very specifically set in Scranton and it was a remake of an English show, and so New England maybe had some cultural affinity. I don’t know.
Greg Daniels: When trying to think of where to set it, was thinking about different regions of the country, and I’m most familiar with the Northeast. My dad’s from Massachusetts and I spent a lot of time in New England and for some reason I thought it would have a different feel if it was in Florida or Arizona or some of the other places that we thought about. It just didn’t have the same kind of feel to me. It’s a compliment. I think the people of New England are very articulate and have a great sense of humor, and were used to gray skies out the window and carrying on through it all.
Question: I was wondering about the last few days of filming. Were there any emotional moments, were there tears? I know you joked about it earlier, John, that you were saving your tears for Barbara Walters, but how were the last few days of filming the show?
John Krasinski: I don’t think there were any tears, right? There was just celebration that this thing was finally over, right Greg?
No, again, I think for so many people this wasn’t just a job, and there’s no way it could be just a job. This was a huge incredibly emotional family and connection that we all had. To say it was emotional would be a complete understatement. Knowing that we’ll see these people still in our lives, and it was still that emotional, it says a lot about how much we are all defined by this show and how much we honor how defined we are by the show.
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.