Bloopers That Make Us Love The Cast Of The Office Even More
The Office is about as hilarious a show as ever aired on television. From witty remarks to slapstick humor, it's provided a stream of endlessly amusing comedy that's delighted audiences for over a decade. It's popular enough that when news broke that it was leaving Netflix for a new home on NBC's streaming platform, it immediately drew the panic-stricken attention of worried viewers who were concerned about losing access to their favorite show. Regardless of where fans end up binging it, there's no doubt that The Office remains a classic.
While it's easy to simply shift into autopilot the next time you sit down to rewatch the show for the millionth time, you may want to consider an alternative: bloopers. Outtakes and mistakes while filming bring a new sense of relatability to the characters and scenes that we all know and love so well — and then crank up the humor to eleven. The effect is particularly pleasing with a show as rewatched and familiar to fans as The Office.
Needless to say, it's definitely worth taking the time to sit down and watch the hours of blooper reels that are out there at this point. However, if you don't have that kind of time on your hands, we've gone ahead and rounded up some of the absolute best bloopers from The Office right here.
The Office theme song
Ah, The Office theme song. In any other context, a brash piano riff accompanied by electric guitar and drums might turn listeners off, but not here. The intro has become beloved. And not just by the fans, it goes for the cast and crew, as well.
The blooper reel for season 4 opens with the cast taking up the show's refrain with enthusiasm. It begins with none other than Michael Scott actor Steve Carell as he belts the song out in front of the office, looking like a rock star, serenading the crowd. In a few seconds the entire group, crew and all, join in the refrain, clapping and shouting it along with him. The scene is light and fun, showing a group of people that are as in love with their work as their fans are with the final product.
A stinky confession while out of the office
The season 2 episode of The Office, called "Office Olympics," follows Dwight and Michael as they head to the Dunder Mifflin Regional Manager's condo-to-be one more time before he finalizes the purchase. Naturally, Dwight makes his boss uncomfortable as they go along, pointing out a string of concerns about the place that puts Michael on edge.
In one blooper for the episode, though, the tables are turned on Mr. Schrute himself. As actor Rainn Wilson looks through a doorway into an empty room where Steve Carell is chattering about his future, he begins laughing. Suddenly he mutters, "I love you. I love you, Michael," before confessing that he farted.
Carell attempts to play it off as part of the scene and starts getting upset that his employee would have let one rip in his new place. After a second of muffled laughter, though, he gives up on the attempt entirely, stating "let's go back to one." While it's tempting to look at A-list actors as superhuman, it's comforting to know that when it comes to passing gas, they go through the same struggles as the rest of us.
Smooth moves
Sometimes the best bloopers come in rapid-fire mini-montages. This is the case for a particular string of sequences included in the reel for season 5 of The Office. The clips showcase three of the actors on the show dealing with caboose-related issues in various situations. First, we see Phyllis Smith slipping out of her desk chair and falling straight onto her butt as Michael desperately tries to wheel her across the room.
The second shows Kevin actor Brian Baumgartner going to sit in his chair and totally missing the mark. As he crashes to the floor, the actor starts belly laughing before he exclaims, "Don't you even f******* keep that in there!" Clearly, even Kevin Malone has to save face once in a while.
The third and final scene in the trio shows Steve Carell tightly parked between two cars and trying to exit his convertible through the roof and out the back. The scene takes place in the episode "Michael Scott Paper Company," as savvy fans will undoubtedly know. The twist is, during this take, Carell manages to get caught while exiting the vehicle. He sits on top of the roof for a few seconds, struggling with something as if he's caught, gets down a moment later, and announces "I think I'm going to need some, uh, new pants.
That's my joke
It appears that John Krasinski developed a rather odd infatuation with pretending to have his finger caught in the clapperboard during takes while filming The Office. Another quick montage in the season 2 reel shows several takes where Krasinski howls in pretend pain as the crew member snaps to start the scene. In one of them, they're literally on the ice at a skating rink and he skates by just in time to fake the injury. Pretty impressive.
However, the clips don't stop there. Kevin Malone actor Brian Baumgartner is also shown pretending to be caught in the clapperboard's unforgiving jaws. As he cries out in fake agony, Krasinski walks up to him, gets in his face, and says "That's my joke. That's my joke." Clearly, the man's staked a claim.
The final clip in the series shows Pam actress Jenna Fischer demonstrating her dexterity as she slips her finger out of the way of the clapperboard just in time, shouting "Teamwork! He didn't get me." Odd behavior like that isn't surprising coming from actors that spend their days filming a show in a boring office space.
Wanna carpool?
While scenes like The Office theme song being sung in unison can be a fun way to see the crew's solidarity, sometimes the best bloopers are the ones that show the actors straight up picking on each other. At least that's the case with this one from the season 3 episode "Cocktails." The final cut shows Michael Scott as he tries to convince Jim and Karen to carpool with Dwight and himself. While his suggestion that they could play "I spy" on the way is funny, the outtake is even better.
It opens up with John Krasinski already trying not to laugh. As they attempt take after take, Steve Carell keeps delivering one awkward line after another in what is clearly a deliberate attempt to provoke his costar to ruin the scene by laughing. He asks if they want to do "a little carpool together," makes fun of Jim's stammered responses, and generally keeps staring him down until Krasinski breaks over and over and over again.
Pizza on mic
In the season 7 episode "Viewing Party," the office gathers at Gabe's apartment after hours to watch Glee and make homemade pizzas together. Early in the episode, Michael is seen throwing a pizza crust in the air — even though he doesn't need to — until he accidentally throws it right into the ceiling fan, sending it flying over Gabe's head and into the sink.
In one unused take, though, the scene went a little bit differently. In it, Steve Carell chucks the dough into the fan, but instead of flying over Gabe's head, it heads in a different direction, over the cameraman, before finally coming to rest neatly hung on a boom mic. The full shot of the film crew as the camera pans after the crust makes it unusable, but there's no doubt that the scene is more entertaining than the final cut. That's probably what the crew thought, at least, as they laughed at the randomness of the whole event.
Not in character yet
While the audience typically sees actors in their finest form when a show officially airs, that doesn't mean they're always ready for the action while filming. And we're not just talking about losing it over a funny joke on set, either. Acting is a serious business and keeping in character can take a lot of work. Case in point: Rainn Wilson in the classic season 4 episode of The Office called "Dinner Party."
At one point in the episode, Dwight unexpectedly arrives at Michael's condo with two wine glasses and a creepy date in tow. In a blooper for the scene, though, Rainn Wilson is caught quite unprepared for his line. As Jan actress Melora Hardin whips open the door, Wilson stands there for a second, deadpan, before admitting, "Uh, hi, how are yah? ...I'm not in character yet." As Hardin shuts the door to reset the scene, the entire crew bursts out laughing. Hey, at least the guy's honest, right?
Commitment to the line
While Rainn Wilson may have been caught off guard and out of character in the "Dinner Party" episode, it would appear that the guy is usually pretty committed to getting through his lines. Take, for instance, a scene from the season 3 episode of The Office, "Women's Appreciation." In it, Dwight announces that he's been authorized to form an emergency anti-flashing task force in response to Phyllis being flashed earlier on in the episode.
In one take, though — or more accurately, several — Wilson had a bit of a harder time getting through the genitalia-focused line without breaking down in laughter. As he fails to get through the script without cracking, Steve Carell, who's standing next to him, can be heard muttering "We're never going to get through this." As if in response, Wilson continues to deliver the long dialogue through his laughter, trying to quiet others who are laughing and pushing on with each line even though the take is clearly ruined. Finally, after several seconds, Carell asks him point blank, "Why do you keep going?" at which point everyone breaks out in hysterics.
A failed brainstorming session in the office
One of the focal points of season 6 was the birth of Jim and Pam's first child, Cece. However, the blessed event kicks off not at the hospital but at the office, where a terrified Pam does everything in her power to hold off labor as she wrestles with the fear of giving birth. In one scene, Michael gathers the staff into the meeting room in order to brainstorm ways to help slow things down for his pregnant employee. As Erin reads off a list of things to stimulate labor, the group shouts out ways to do the opposite. When the option to "eat spicy foods" comes up, Kevin shouts "stick spicy food up her butt." The line is perfectly placed for a great laugh. However, the bloopers reveal that it took a little bit of work to nail it.
The problem didn't begin with Kevin actor Brian Baumgartner, though. It started with John Krasinski. In the blooper reel, several takes are shown with Baumgartner answering "make spicy foods come out of her." Each time, Krasinski tries to object but can't do so without cracking up. On the third take, the Jim actor manages to keep his cool, only for Baumgartner to finally lose it himself. To be fair, though, the line, not to mention the context of the entire scene, was absolutely ridiculous.
Stubborn potato chips
While actors laughing, provoking, and distracting each other are common ways to get bloopers, sometimes it's the props themselves that cause the issue. Such was the case in the season 3 episode of The Office "Grief Counseling." In it, Jim helps Karen as she hunts for a bag of Herr's potato chips. As the episode ends, Jim surprises his coworker with a bag of chips that he found in a vending machine in the neighboring building. As Karen happily sits down with her snack, she pulls the bag open without breaking a sweat and digs right in.
Except, that wasn't how the take initially went. One blooper shows Karen actress Rashida Jones sitting down only to find that the bag is nearly impossible to open. She struggles with it for several seconds, while John Krasinski tries his best to look busy at his desk in front of her. Finally, he turns around to see what's going on. When the scene cuts, she still hasn't managed to open the bag.
Cottage cheese
The bag of Herr's chips wasn't the only time a prop got the better of a Dunder Mifflin employee. Usually, when an actor is shown eating or drinking something, it's assumed that the contents of the container are something that they chose or at least something they can stomach. But that clearly wasn't always the case on the set for The Office.
At one point in season 4, Michael Scott is being mock-interviewed as he discusses the need to deal with issues right away rather than letting them fester. In the blooper, Carell casually holds up a plastic spoon with something on the end of it as he's talking. After finishing a sentence, he quickly pops the spoon in his mouth, clearly intending to swallow the food and then continue talking. He pauses for a second, though, before making a face of disgust and declaring "That is disgusting. I haven't eaten cottage cheese in a long time." Apparently, no one checked with the actor before choosing his on-set meal. It's an error that probably wouldn't matter much most of the time, but in this case, it straight up ruined the take.
Over the gums and through the lips
In another great scene from The Office episode "Cocktails," Michael Scott sits down with David Wallace and a group of others to partake in a 20-year-old single malt Scotch that Lee Iacocca gave to the Dunder Mifflin exec as a gift. In the final take, Michael raises his glass and utters the line, "Here is to Mr. Iacocca and his failed experiment, the Delorean," at which point he proceeds to choke on the stuff and ask for some ice and Splenda.
But, that wasn't the only line that Steve Carell tried for the scene. In one particularly laughable outtake, he's shown holding his drink aloft as he declares, "Over the gums and through the lips. Look out stomach... here we go," at which point, everyone loses it. While Carell's comedic nonsense often produces lines that are pure gold, he clearly doesn't hit a home run every time he lets those creative juices flow.
Creepy Mose
Dwight's cousin, Mose, can be pretty creepy at times. Everyone knows that. But there's a point in season 5 where his odd behavior is carried way farther in the outtakes than it ever reaches in the show itself. In The Office episode "The Surplus," Andy and Angela tour Schrute Farms to see if it'll work for their upcoming wedding. In one of the scenes, Mose is shown in the background tossing an odd shaped ball back and forth with Andy. When the Cornell grad turns to leave, Mose unemotionally chucks the ball into the back of his head. It's random, it's strange, but it's funny.
It turns out, though, that wasn't the only time Mose actor Michael Schur tried to heckle Andy actor Ed Helms throughout the episode. In one blooper, Helms is in the foreground cleaning dung off of his shoes. Behind him, clear as day, Schur can be seen standing stock-still with a burlap bag over his head. He stands there until Helms notices and starts laughing as Schur turns and runs.
Another shot takes place in the farmhouse itself. Helms is seen debating with Rainn Wilson over wedding details until Schur walks in with an oversized old portrait of a random guy and tries to hand it to Helms several times before walking out, to the laughter of the entire film crew. Both scenes were weird enough to never make the final cut, but they sure gave the actors something to laugh about in the moment.