From NBC:
NBC TO AIR HOUR-LONG RETROSPECTIVE CELEBRATING ‘THE OFFICE’
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — April 26, 2013 — NBC has announced an hour-long primetime special dedicated to the seminal comedy “The Office.” It will air Thursday, May 16 (8-9 p.m. ET) as a prelude to the one-hour series finale of “The Office,” which will immediately follow.
Produced by NBC News, this special offers an emotional farewell to the characters of “The Office,” and includes exclusive and original interviews with writers, producers and actors from the award-winning series. Among those who talk about their experience of being involved with “The Office” for all or part of its nine seasons on the air include executive producers Greg Daniels, Paul Lieberstein and Ben Silverman, as well as actors John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, Angela Kinsey, Craig Robinson, Oscar Nunez and BJ Novak.
Novak, Kaling and Lieberstein take viewers inside the writers’ room and reveal the creative process of “The Office,” which aired for nine seasons on NBC.
In addition to interviews, other features include a look at actor auditions back when the show was first being cast, favorite moments and a behind-the-scenes sneak peak of the finale. There will also be a segment on the May 4th fan event being held in the city of Scranton, Penn., which served as the home for “The Office” for its entire run.
Since its premiere on NBC in March 2005, “The Office” has established itself as a genuine hit, earning prestigious television honors such as the 2006 Emmy Award for comedy series, 2006 Peabody Award, 2006 and 2008 AFI Honors, Producers Guild Award, Writers Guild Award, SAG Award for performance by an ensemble in a comedy, Ace Eddie Award for editing and a Television Critics Award for achievement in comedy.
“The Office” presents a hilarious documentary-style look at the humorous, and sometimes poignant, foolishness that plagues the 9-to-5 world. Based on the award-winning BBC hit, “The Office” is a fly-on-the-wall “docu-reality” parody of modern American office life that delves into the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper supply company.
“The Office” is executive-produced by Silverman and Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, as well Lieberstein, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, Brent Forrester and Dan Sterling.
I said this months ago I was hoping they would do this just like Friends did! Now they are! SO happy!!!!
Well unless they would be okay with extending the finale from 10 PM to 11… this is disappointing.
I literally got goosebumps when I read this!! So awesome.
I can’t wait, but, at the same time I am dreading it. It’s a weird mix.
I’d much rather prefer a longer finale than a retrospective.
A retrospective is what DVD special features are for
I think it is great that this show is getting a retrospective special, it is like The Office is in the same league as shows like Friends, Cheers & Seinfeld. The league being ‘Greatest sitcoms of all time.” But, on the other hand, I would have preferred an extended finale.
I refuse to give up on the idea of a supersized finale. :)
I’m hoping for 9-10:30!
This sounds awesome and I can’t wait to watch it. Unfortunately I think this squashes any chance of NBC extending the finale to two hours. The reality is The Office doesn’t get the ratings it used to, and NBC giving them three total hours on their most popular night seems unlikely. I hope I’m wrong.
I’m still betting that the Finale is Supersized and longer than an hour. A retrospective can be cut to accommodate any length. If The Office “owns” 8-10 that night, they could start the actual finale at any time. 8:30, 8:45 etc. The Seinfeld Finale ran from 8:45 to 10 following their 45 minute clip show.
[ from tanster: raybans, your comment made my day. gotta believe! :) ]
Didn’t we basically already get this with “The Banker”?? I’m greatly disappointed with this news.. I want a 2 hour finale! Not a retrospective.
The Banker was just a clip show. This will have behind the scenes stuff, interviews, etc. and they can be really cool to watch.
Cheer up people, it’s more office.
@6 tanster…..i’m with you!! and if that extra half hour is just a talking head of jim (swoon) or jim/pam (hopeless romantic), i’d be a happy camper….. while at the same time bawling my eyes out because it’s the last episode.
In the press release it says “aired for 9 seasons” – past tense – that just made me really sad.
Maybe there will be a wacky surprise and we’ll find out that immigration arrested Lee.
Tanster, are you in the retrospective? Is OfficeTally mentioned?
@Holly: I’m sorry for my stupid question, but who is Lee?
@Zarion, I believe Lee was the Asian guy who worked in the warehouse and said he was a surgeon before going to work for Michael. I might be wrong, but I believe that’s what happened.
just make the finale 3 hours long for the dvd, lol
I talked to Greg Daniels about the retrospective this past weekend. He’s already seen it and says it’s really good! If you’re thinking clip show (like “The Banker”), I hear it won’t be like that at all. Really looking forward to seeing this!
@16 aka Charlie Gayheart: Thanks!
To those that fret, check the summary of the “Finale,” listed as 1 hr. 15 min. :-)
The local affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes Barre is showing a special from 10:15 to 11:00 after the finale. The channel is WBRE. I know many are from out of town so you may not be able to see it and I have no idea how to put it on youtube. However, it may be on their website the next day. Not sure. Just wanted to give everyone the heads up.
Lee was the Roy of the original UK series. He was engaged to Dawn (Pam) and in the series finale, they had moved to Florida and were living illegally in his sister’s house, IIRC.
This is going to seem like a silly question but- does anyone have any idea how this will show up on Hulu Plus? I’m not so concerned if it will be all one block of show or two, but more concerned that I don’t miss the retrospective.
I know Tanster’s comment above explains that this Retro won’t be just a clip show, but I definitely have the feeling they’ll open it up with the lip dub from S7 premiere. It would just be a fun and appropriate way to introduce the cast in a nutshell. All of their moves, actions and gestures reflect their characters so accurately !
Omg.
2 hours and 15 minutes to go.
Thanks for the info, 21/Mark! Hopefully they’ll have it on their site. Maybe the people from the Wrap Party would be able to use their influence to make that happen? Anyone have contact info for them?
Retro is downright awesome so far
Fantastic retrospective. I would pay good money for all that audition footage. Yes, we have hindsight and see the actors as their characters, but that footage shows that John, Jenna and Rainn had Jim, Pam and Dwight down from the very first moment.
Man, I am already crying. This is going to be intense.
Michael is the best man. Best scene ever in The Office history
I noticed the office tally blogger in the series finale mock question and answer part!!
It’s so wrong that my Facebook newsfeed is not filled with posts about The Office. I need cooler friends, clearly. It all starts in one hour for me. I’m not ready for this! lol
Great retrospective of the show, with classic scenes and interviews. Will rewatch multiple times (like all my DVD sets).
Wow. Only 20 minutes into the west coast airing and I am already getting teary eyed. This is gonna be a rough 2 hours!
I’m so glad they did this retrospective. The Office deserved this honor and this farewell. So glad NBC decided to devote the whole night to my favorite show.
Awesome retrospective, one of my favorite parts was the audition, with young Jim and young Dwight — well, I guess I should say, “younger John Krasinski and younger Rainn Wilson.”
Awesome retrospective. I wish it could have been longer!!
TWSS!
I loved the retrospective. It reflects everything The Office has become over the years.
It seemed to me that the retrospective alluded to certain events in the finale.
Tanster, any idea if the retrospective will be available to watch online?
Does anyone know the instrumental piano music at the beginning of the retrospective? I need it!
That was awesome.
This was absolutely amazing – to the guy below who is looking for the music of the Retrospective, I am looking for it too! I’m hoping to at least learn it by ear on the piano, hoping to post it on YouTube when I do.
I’d love to know why NBC hasn’t posted this video. It was such a great lead in to the finale!
Is there any way we can get more videos from the auditions? Those are so cool!
I just want to thank the producers, writers and cast of the show. I am a latecomer (that’s what she said), I viewed the whole series this summer. I found this show when I was going through a really rough time. It has give me many laughs, several tears, and a renewed sense of hope. Thank you <3