Although over a decade has passed since fans bid farewell to the Steve Carell-led The Office, Jenna Fischer didn’t mind recently revisiting the hit sitcom, and she has a few comments. After rewatching all 201 episodes of the NBC show, the actress’ biggest takeaway was that “it’s really good the whole time.” She also revealed in an interview with Dana Carvey and David Spade on the podcast Fly on the Wall, her favorite episodes, which, surprisingly, are in the concluding seasons of The Office.
The Mean Girls star recalled hearing talks about The Office’s decline in quality about halfway through its run, and that it struggled once series lead Carell exited during Season 7. She disagreed with the narrative, pointing out that later seasons still had great storylines, saying:
“I think there was this lore, especially among the cast and the creatives, that maybe we hit our peak in Season 3 or Season 4. And also this belief that the two seasons after Steve left, we were just treading water, and maybe they weren’t as good. But when I watched everything, some of my favorite episodes were in Seasons 8 and 9 after Steve had left. There were still these amazing storylines.”
The Office aired from March 24, 2005, to May 16, 2013, for a total of nine seasons. Throughout, Fischer brilliantly portrayed Pamela “Pam” Beesly, inspired by Dawn Tinsley from the original British version of the comedy. Pam began the U.S. mockumentary as the receptionist at Dunder Mifflin and later became a sales representative and office administrator. She was the love interest of John Krasinski’s Jim Halpert, whom she later married in Season 6.
Jenna Fischer Reveals Her Best Moments from ‘The Office’
Elsewhere in the discussion, Fischer didn’t hesitate to name more of her favorite moments and arcs from The Office, most of which are actually from before Carell departed. She confessed, “I have to say now, when I look back, some of my favorite episodes were also in Seasons 4 through 6.” The Employee of the Month star then praised the “Dinner Party” episode of Season 4, which featured a painfully uncomfortable gathering at Michael’s (Carell) house before shouting out the Season 5 storyline in which Michael starts his rival business, the Michael Scott Paper Company. She added:
“That’s just great TV. But yeah, I think some of the award nominations stopped after Season 3. So I think maybe we got in our heads and thought, ‘Oh, I guess we’re not creating as great.'”
The Office ended after nine seasons on May 16, 2013. A new follow-up, The Paper, is currently in development and will premiere this fall. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Source: Fly on the Wall