How Jim And Pam's Wedding On The Office Narrowly Escaped A Disaster
Together, Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) from the popular NBC sitcom, "The Office," make up one of the most iconic TV couples of all time. Over the course of the series, viewers got to watch the couple go through all kinds of ups and downs — beginning with Jim having a crush on the already engaged Pam and ending with the two happily married with kids.
One of the most memorable moments of their relationship is definitely their wedding, which was depicted in "Niagara" in "The Office" Season 6. As its title suggests, the two-part episode saw the show's whole central crew travel to Niagara Falls to attend Jim and Pam's wedding. In "Niagara," the couple even sneak off to get married on their own on the sightseeing boat tour called "Maid of the Mist." Afterward, they return to the chapel for the planned ceremony in front of all their guests, and, in a surprise turn, the Dunder Mifflin employees all dance down the aisle to Chris Brown's "Forever."
It turns out, however, that the "Office" writers originally had a different situation planned for Jim and Pam's wedding. The original idea, which may shock some "Office" fans, is laid out in detail in a new oral history tell-all book titled "Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office."
The original idea for Jim and Pam's wedding on The Office was 'insane'
As reported by People, the interviews in "Welcome to Dunder Mifflin" reveal that series creator Greg Daniels' original idea for Jim and Pam's wedding was a bit over-the-top and involved the surprise return of Pam's ex-fiancé, Roy (David Denman). Notably, producer-director Paul Feig called the initial version of the scene "insane."
Explaining his original idea for the sequence, Daniels said, "Dwight is at the hotel, and he's looking at all these photos of animals going over the falls, and Roy shows up on a horse to try and win Pam back. He abandons the horse, and Dwight puts it together and he gets on the horse and he starts going over the falls, riding a horse, and then he realizes it's a terrible idea. He jumps out at the last minute. And while Pam and Jim are getting married, a horse goes over in the background." Daniels went on to reveal what his collaborators' reactions were to the idea, saying, "Everyone's just screaming at me. They were like, 'You can't have a horse die at the moment of maximum romance!'"
Despite its outrageousness, the idea came really close to making it into the episode — until the show's cast intervened. "It was part of a Dwight story and I meant for it to balance the unabashed romance of the A-plot, but after the table reading, the cast sat me down and told me I was wrong and I listened to them," Daniels revealed. "It was like an intervention of normal people in the life of a comedy addict."
In order to still balance out the episode's romance, the show's creative team came up at the last minute with the Dunder Mifflin squad's "Forever" dance sequence.