Paul Lieberstein’s Directing Gave One of ‘The Office’s Cold Opens a ‘Weird Energy’

Many episodes of The Office started with a cold open. This tactic jumped right into the middle of a story that had nothing to do with the episode’s narrative but stood alone as a mini arc. Many of the cold opens from The Office are fan favorites, including the one from the season 6 premiere “Gossip” where Michael (Steve Carell), Andy (Ed Helms), and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) do parkour. Behind the scenes, Toby Flenderson actor Paul Lieberstein is the reason that scene became as funny as it did — find out why.

Paul Lieberstein’s directing changed ‘The Office’ parkour scene 

According to Lieberstein, who wrote and directed the episode, the parkour scene wasn’t choreographed. He did tell the actors that the goal was to “just mess up the room as much as possible.”

However, after an underwhelming first take, Lieberstein made a change. He asked Carell, Wilson, and Helms to shout “parkour” after every move they made. The result of that direction gave the scene what Jenna Fischer described as a “weird energy” that made it incredibly hilarious. 

As recalled on the Office Ladies podcast: “Something [Lieberstein] said ended up being the thing that gave it this really kind of weird energy that was very funny. I thought that was great, actually, because I thought a lot of the comedy came from that the dichotomy between their very confident parkour and their horrible skills.”

Shouting ‘parkour’ became a thing on the set of ‘The Office’ after that cold open

After Lieberstein’s suggestion to shout “parkour!” that day on set, doing so became a regular activity for the cast of The Office. “Paul reminded me that after we shot this cold open; do you remember this?” Fischer added. “Our camera assistants, Chris and Ed and some of the other crew guys would walk around the stage and shout ‘parkour’ from time to time.” 

Her co-host Angela Kinsey remembers everyone shouting “parkour!” too. “We would open the fridge and go, ‘parkour!'”

‘The Office’ parkour episode required stunt doubles 

When The Office fans hear the word “parkour” they don’t just think of the viral internet sensation that inspired people around the world to, in the words of Jim Halpert, “get from point A to point B as creatively as possible.” They think of the Season 6 cold open in which Michael, Dwight, and Andy put their parkour skills to the test and tear up the workplace.

After tumbling around the Dunder Mifflin office building, Michael, Dwight, and Andy take their parkour attempts outside. That’s when stunt coordinator Wally Crowder and his son, Shawn Crowder, came in. “Shawn was Ed’s stunt double,” Fischer described on the podcast. “Erik Solky was Michael’s stunt double and Scott Leva was Dwight’s double.”

Despite the need for stunt doubles, Carell, Wilson, and Helms did some of their stunts. Only when the trio was on top of the refrigerator truck did the stunt doubles step in. “Even that scene when they’re running across the cars in the parking lot, those were our real guys,” Fischer said.

“In fact, I guess they dented some of the hoods of those cars. They had to be repaired. But it was Shawn Crowder who jumps off that truck into the cardboard box.” The box was full of foam rubber to keep Crowder safe during the shoot. 

Watch episodes of The Office on Peacock.