‘The Office’: A ‘Joyous And Fun’ Viral Video Inspired Jim And Pam’s Wedding Episode
It’s hard not to talk about The Office every time the moment warrants it. Right now, there’s a special anniversary to celebrate: The wedding of fan-favorite couple, Jim and Pam. Let’s take a look inside one moment of the episode that aired ten years ago today.
It’s the 10th anniversary of ‘Niagara’
Season 6 of The Office, which began airing in Fall 2009, marks a very special episode in the show’s canon. Episodes 4 and 5 are actually combined into one two-part, hour-long even titled “Niagara,” in which the whole office gets together to celebrate Jim and Pam‘s wedding.
Naturally, there are plenty of remarkable moments that occur. Michael somehow ends up with Pam’s mom, Jim’s wardrobe has seen better days, and Kevin’s shoes are — unique, to say the least. In classic The Office style, many things go wrong.
The wedding was stolen by one scene in particular
But there’s one moment that stands out. That’s because it’s both funny, kind of cringeworthy, but ultimately, very heartwarming, which essentially sums up the show entirely. That moment comes when Dwight turns on the song “Forever,” by Chris Brown.
We then see the members of the wedding party, along with the misguided but well-meaning Dunder Mifflin staff, dance down the aisle to the song. You’d think that Pam and Jim would be angry about this, but we then see that they actually already got married on a boat by themselves prior to this.
Paul Feig and Mindy Kaling were responsible for the moment
The episode was written by Mindy Kaling (who also portrays Kelly Kapoor) and showrunner Greg Daniels, and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids). Feig says that after a viral video of a wedding party doing something similar came out, they decided to re-create it for the episode, saying it was “a real last-minute addition.”
“That video was so joyous and fun,” Kaling told Entertainment Weekly. “That was obviously that couples’ friends and family, and we thought it would be pretty funny and misguided for Michael to equate the co-workers of the office as Jim and Pam’s beloved close family and friends and do the same thing.”
She continued, saying, “But then when we were pitching it, it’s so fun to see our cast walk down the aisle that it actually just became where Jim and Pam really liked it too. If they hadn’t done the secret wedding, them coming down and dancing would have been horrible and ruined the moment.”
Jenna Fischer’s reaction to the dance
Jenna Fischer (Pam) said that she was reacting to the dance as it happened, as she wasn’t allowed into rehearsals so that her emotion was genuine when she saw it for the first time. She said that she cried, adding, “It’s so sweet and joyous. I think it was a stroke of genius.”
Fischer continued, saying, “One of the cool things about the show is that in some of the character’s lowest moments the people in the office come together to prop them up, and then in our most joyous moments are there to celebrate with them.”
Greg Daniels talked about the reality of the scene
Feig said that the scene, which he called “one of the most magical things we ever shot on the show” and “one of my absolute favorite things I’ve ever directed,” was tough to shoot. However, Daniels simply recalls the “great feeling on the set,” adding that it was “almost like it was a wedding for the cast.”
He continued, saying, “We had all been through a lot shooting by that point, a bunch of seasons and lots of late nights, and this was a chance for them to all get dressed up. There was a very beautiful sense of merging fiction and reality.”
