The American version of The Office has been off the air for five years, but people still can't get enough of it. Everyone is addicted to watching the nine seasons on Netflix (or at least, the seven seasons with Steve Carell.) There are been rumors of NBC bringing back the show for a 'revival,' but so far, nothing has been announced.
Until then, we just have the 201 U.S. episodes, the original British version and this impressive fan art. Since the series ended, the main cast members career have blown up. While on promotional interviews, they always get asked about their comedic alma matter. During the press run for A Quiet Place, John Krasinski revealed he'd like bring back The Office, with the original cast, for a one-off Christmas special. To me, that sounds like a better idea then rebooting the series with a combination of old and new cast members.
Well, now we've learned another interesting tidbit of Office trivia. Ed Helms, who played Andy Bernard, stopped by The Dan Patrick Show to discuss his new movie Tag. I know what you're thinking: What is that, a movie about the children's game Tag? And that's exactly right. It's about a group of middle-aged adults who play an intense version of tag, showing up at all kinds on inappropriate occasions, such as funerals, to tag someone 'it.'
During the interview, Patrick asked Helms what he hears the most from people in public. He said, "Ri di dit dit di doo," Nard Dog's catchphrase. Later on, he discusses how funny he found Steve Carell, as clueless boss Michael Scott. "He just slays me," says Helms. "There’s something in his eyes. There’s a lot of time when I was doing a scene with Steven and I had to look at his chin, otherwise, I would just lose it."
We all laugh pretty hard at Steve Carell watching The Office. But imagine being on set, and having to keep a straight face. Helms revealed during one episode, he actually had to jump off screen, because he cracked up laughing.
"There’s an episode where he’s playing Santa. Kevin is sitting in his lap, and he’s so awful about it, because it’s uncomfortable for him, and he’s just being really rude and weird and mean about it. I had to duck behind a plant — you can see in the actual episode. And by the way, that was like take 30, because I had been laughing in every single take. He’s a genius."
The scene's hilarious, so you can hardly blame him. At least he wasn't staged right by Steve, so they could cut around him breaking character. In case you didn't remember the scene, it's from one of the Christmas episodes. Jim asks Phyllis to play Santa, and Mike is upset, because he thought he was playing Santa, and came to work in the suit. But when he tries to the lure the staff to his lap, Kevin sits down, and he starts to regret it.
You know what? After rewatching this scene, I'm totally down for The Office to come back as a Christmas special.
