‘The Office’ basketball game got a detailed (and fun) scouting analysis by The Ringer
“The Office” debuted 15 years ago Tuesday, and while the first season had just six episodes, there were a number of memorable moments.
According to IMDB, the best-rated of that first season was episode five, “Basketball.” As the title indicates, it’s a sports-related episode in which Michael and the sales staff takes on the warehouse workers.
Basketball was a favorite pastime of the actors.
Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beasley, said on the “Office Ladies” podcast there was a basketball hoop near the actors’ trailers and they would play horse during a break in shooting.
Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone, was a particularly good shooter, and fans of the show may remember from the end of this episode that he sinks a bunch of shots without missing. Fischer said Baumgartner actually made 13 or 14 straight.
Fischer and Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) also revealed the scene in which Roy (David Denman) elbows Jim (John Krasinski) in the face wasn’t scripted and was inadvertent. Still, the cameras rolled and caught the moment despite blood being shed.
“The dude’s got a little testosteroney,” Kinsey said in the podcast.
They also said Steve Carell made a shot from way outside that couldn’t get used because his character, Michael, doesn’t make a shot in the episode.
This background on the episode is a (long) lead-in to a great video by The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann, who made an entertaining scouting report of all the players in the game. It’s a great recap for fans of the show:
