The Office Had a Shoestring Budget, but Spent $250K on This 52 Second Scene

Summary:

• To this day, The Office remains one of the most popular sitcoms of the 00s.
• Despite a tight production budget, the show's brilliant writing and acting made it an international success.
• However, one scene between Jim and Pam was so important that The Office spent $250,000 on less than a full minute of content.

During its wonderful 9-season run on NBC, The Office has seen its share of couples, some much healthier than others. Jim and Pam, however, remained the first choice of the majority of viewers from the beginning. Young and adorable, they represented the sweet feeling of a crush that many long for in real life.

Of course, their story evolved over the years, and their marriage eventually ended in divorce, but that doesn't mean they weren't meant to be together. Everyone, from the show's creators to the fans in the audience, understood that.

Being one of the most beloved couples on television comes with its perks. And Jim and Pam definitely got the special treatment during production, even if viewers may not notice it in the final cut.

How Did Jim Propose to Pam?

At one point in the show, there was no doubt that Pam and Jom would end up together, so the proposal was one of the most anticipated scenes of the entire series. The stakes were high, and the production team knew it. Though they never had too much money, every penny spent on this moment was automatically worth it.

And they spent a lot. Jenna Fischer, who portrayed Pam on the show, recalled the complicated setup and how the moment was brought to life in an episode of the Office Ladies podcast with co-host Angela Kinsey.

"They built this in the parking lot of a Best Buy that I have been to many times, actually. They set up cameras on the other side of this raceway, and they had cars drive around it at 55 miles an hour. Then they added rain pouring down on us [with] these giant rain machines," she shared.

Not only was the episode the most expensive in all nine seasons of The Office, it also required the most attention to detail. To perfectly recreate the setting, the show's team used Google Maps to copy the design of a real gas station that exists somewhere along the Merritt Parkway.

The only flaw that the scene has, it’s that it has been cut to 52 seconds, so the viewers barely have any time to enjoy it.

If you are feeling nostalgic and miss The Office's most popular couple, you can re-watch this scene or the entire show to follow the love story of Jim and Pam from beginning to end. The iconic sitcom is available for streaming on Peacock.

Source: Office Ladies