The Office And Breaking Bad Crossover You Forgot Happened
TV crossovers can sometimes get a bad rap, and it's not hard to see why. They can break the reality of the shows involved, are usually tonally jarring, and often only happen in a cynical ploy to boost certain shows' ratings. The concept has proven to be divisive amongst TV creators as well, as was proven when "The Simpsons" crossed over with "The Critic" and Matt Groening got so mad about it that he vented to the press (via LA Times) and had his name removed from the episode's credits. But TV crossovers can be fun. In fact, networks used to do night-wide crossovers all the time, with some notable examples including NBC's "Blackout Thursday" (via Esquire) and that time Matthew Perry's Chandler was on "Caroline in the City."
Nowadays, there are not nearly as many TV crossovers as there used to be. Indeed, as TV continues to accrue prestige, the forces behind current hit shows are proving to be more careful with their IP. This isn't the case, however, in sketch comedy. Everything can crossover in the wild west of comedy, and it was actually through the sketch comedy medium that "Breaking Bad" once met "The Office."
Jesse Pinkman sold meth to Creed at the 2011 Emmys
The 2011 Primetime Emmys featured a sketch where different TV icons crossed over with "The Office." The sketch saw, among other things, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) of "Parks and Recreation" join the "Office" sales team, Ashton Kutcher briefly think he was Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) replacement instead of Charlie Sheen's, and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) sell meth to Creed Bratton.
Creed was always the shadiest member of Dunder Mifflin, so it makes total sense that he'd buy meth from Paul's Jesse. In the "Office" finale, Creed ends up being hauled off by law enforcement, and there's even a suggestion that he murdered and stole the identity of the real Creed Bratton. Meanwhile, Aaron Paul, to his credit, totally nails his brief appearance in the sketch, giving John Krasinski a run for his money with his awkward looks to the camera. The NBC comedy, notably, later went on to make another nod to Paul's "Breaking Bad" character, with Ryan (B.J. Novak) dressing as Jesse in that year's "Office" Halloween episode, "Spooked."
This isn't the only time the "Breaking Bad" cast crossed paths with "The Office" either. Walter White himself, Bryan Cranston, directed the show's Season 9 episode "Work Bus." "Breaking Bad" star Bob Odenkirk also had a brief role in "The Office" Season 9 as a potential new boss for Pam (Jenna Fischer), while actor Matt Jones played a relative of Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) in three episodes of the series.