While many Netflix users were bummed out when The Office exited the service at the end of 2020, there has already been much to enjoy about its arrival on NBC's streaming platform Peacock. There's a fun interactive faux computer desktop to mess around with, but the biggest draw for audiences is definitely the introduction of Superfan extended cuts, in which episodes feature a handful (or more) of hilarious deleted scenes that didn't make it to TV airings. Only Season 3's Superfan episodes are currently available, but CinemaBlend spoke with stars Kate Flannery and Andy Buckley about the deleted scenes from later seasons that they're hopeful fans will see.
The Office debuted on Peacock starting at midnight on New Year's Day, as many fans out there were likely getting their drink on. And you know if Kate Flannery's character Meredith Palmer was a real person, she would have been drinking everyone under the table, the couch and possibly the entire house. When I spoke with Kate Flannery about deleted scenes she was most excited to see incorporated into the streaming episodes, she didn't talk about any boozy moments, but rather a weirdo Meredith detail that was never properly explained during the episode. Check out what she said below, or give the video above a watch.
Well, the first one that comes to mind that I'm excited about it being answered is, during the 'Weight Loss' episode, Meredith has a terrible skin condition, and it was never explained. So I'm excited to finally put that to bed.
Kate Flannery is specifically referring to the first half of the Season 5 premiere, "Weight Loss," in which Meredith can be seen suffering from some kind of a wild skin condition on her face, and possibly elsewhere. It's not a very prominent visual, and the lack of a proper explanation has perplexed fans for many years.
To be sure, The Office fans have technically had access to that answer for a while now. A previously unveiled talking-head deleted scene features Meredith providing something of a icky explanation, and it's assumed that this is the moment Kate Flannery is talking about. (Even her wording is a sly reference.) I'm not going to spoil it here, though, since it'll be that much more enjoyable for fans to see within the context of the episode. Plus, Peacock might add even more to that moment than what's already out there.
Meanwhile, I also had the pleasure of talking to Andy Buckley, who memorably portrayed Dunder-Mifflin's beleaguered CFO-turned-CEO David Wallace, one of the few characters who found genuine value in Steve Carell's Michael Scott. When I asked about the deleted scenes that he was interested to see, Buckley also mentioned a moment cut from the episode "Weight Loss," and then talked about an alternate take from a Season 9 episode that I can only hope makes the cut.
You know, it's funny. I have to start watching it. I haven't a chance to really look at all the deleted stuff. There's so much, but there will be many. Like, I had forgotten about this one somebody reminded me the other day, and I think it's on YouTube: a deleted scene where I make Ryan cry. Like, I'm on the phone and I'm berating him, and he's crying on the phone. But there's one crazy scene... This will never make it, I'm sure, but it was a scene – an alternate version – where I'm yelling it at Ed Helms after he's been on the boat for three months and lying to me. Jon Favreau directed that episode, and we did it, we did like three or four takes, and they said, 'Okay, all right. Anybody want to do anything?' And I said, 'Hey, can we try it where Wallace swears. Like, just he's so mad that he actually [swears]. And they cut it out?' And so we did it, and Favreau really got a kick out of it, and so we did three or four more takes of that. He just kept saying, 'Swear more, swear more.' By the end of it – and there's an edited version of it floating around somewhere – I mean, it's like Tony Soprano. Like Wallace has, like, become Tony. He's just swearing. I mean, every other word is just, you know, M-F this. It's crazy, and it's so out of character that it's like insane and will never be seen, probably, unless somebody you know, finds it somewhere. It would be funny if that one showed up, but I'm sure it won't. But just anything. I mean, because all the stuff that didn't make it was probably equally as funny as the stuff that did. Just storyline-wise, you couldn't have that much.
Amusingly enough, Andy Buckley isn't even shown during the scene in which B.J. Novak's Ryan is crying after being berated on the phone by David for being back in the office after his arrest. But the other episode Buckley was referring to is the final season's 16th episode, titled "Moving On," which aired just before the backdoor pilot for the proposed Dwight spinoff.
It's perhaps no coincidence that both scenes Andy Buckley mentioned feature David Wallace yelling at a Dunder-Mifflin employee for committing extremely fireable offenses, only to have Michael double-back and assure both Ryan and then Ed Helms' Andy that they weren't really losing their jobs. Maybe if the whole Ryan situation had gone his way years before, David wouldn't have felt the need to drop F-bombs aplenty when railing on Andy for bullshitting everybody about his three-month absence that kicked off at the end of Season 8. It's fun to know that Jon Favreau wanted Buckley to keep the expletives flying, and we can only hope that there are similar deleted scenes to be found with comedian Bill Burr on Favreau's The Mandalorian.
The Office is now available to stream on Peacock, though availability differs by subscription tier, with more episodes and features available for those who opt for the Premium Plus option. Stay tuned for more from our interviews with Kate Flannery and Andy Buckley, and while waiting to get more seasons of Superfan episodes, celebrate some of the show's best inside jokes and then head to our Winter and Spring TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are hitting the small screen soon.
