‘The Office’ Cast Sang the ‘Friends’ Theme Song Getting Ready to Film This Scene
The cast of The Office rarely got to film outside of their office location. But when they did, they sometimes had fun between filming scenes.
One of those times was celebrating Friends by singing the show’s theme song. Find out when they sang the song and more about the episode.
‘The Office’ cast got to film by a lake for ‘Beach Games’
Everyone in the office got to go by a lake in the episode, “Beach Games.” Michael (Steve Carrell) holds a series of competitions for the employees in order to find the new regional manager.
We see them go through an egg and spoon race, a hot dog eating contest, and sumo wrestling. They are then asked to walk across hot coals.
This is all after the employees hope to have a relaxing day by the water. But the promise of a promotion gets Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), and more very competitive.
They sang ‘Friends’ while on the bus
Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesly, said the bus was what the cast really used to get to the lake that day. They had extra time after filming so they sang together.
Harold Ramis directed the episode. Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin, said the DVD commentary revealed Ramis said he’s never been a bus and didn’t sing.
“We sang ‘Tiny Dancer’ and then we also sang Friends and we did the hand claps,” Kinsey said on the Office Ladies podcast. “I didn’t know all the words to that so I just clapped,” she admitted.
“I remember that vibe of us just singing our way to the beach that very first day,” Fischer said. “And then frankly as we walked off the bus and got hit in the face with that 98-degree weather I feel like you see that play out on our faces.”
Kinsey talked about watching the scene of the characters having to drag things off the bus and struggling. She said it felt very real given their situation.
Michael Scott made a ‘Friends’ reference in another episode
The cast isn’t the only ones who love Friends. Michael Scott also made a reference to the show in the episode, “Sexual Harassment.”
The episode starts off with Michael forwarding a silly email to Jim (John Krasinski). Michael then goes on about how everyone in the office can joke around with each other.
“We’re like Friends. I am Chandler, and Joey, and uh, Pam is Rachel, and Dwight (Rainn Willson) is… Kramer,” he said. Obviously Michael isn’t that familiar with the sitcom show, or aware by how his jokes come across to Pam.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much more crossover between Friends and The Office. But it sounds like most of the cast is fond of the show and decided to celebrate it while filming.
