‘The Office’: Mindy Kaling Thinks This Iconic Jim and Pam Scene Was a Mistake
One of the best aspects of The Office is Jim and Pam‘s slow-burn romance. According to the showrunners, the series is a love story disguised as a workplace comedy. And, of course, one of the essential romances on the show is that between John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer’s characters.
But there was one scene between Jim and Pam that Mindy Kaling thought was a mistake to put into the show. Which scene is Kaling referring to?
Jim and Pam’s love story on ‘The Office’ sparked big debate in the writer’s room
According to the New York Times Bestseller, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, Jim and Pam’s romance was one of the most debated aspects of the entire series. In the writer’s room, there was a constant discussion over how much to unravel when it came to their love story.
The writers didn’t want to their relationship to escalate too quickly and preferred their characters to pine after each other for as long as possible.
“At the beginning, it was kind of like a Victorian-era love story where Jim sees Pam’s ankle, and that’s enough to sustain him for, you know, like half the season,” the book reports.
“I remember overall an enormous amount of discussion about how quickly to progress them,” says Jen Celotta, a writer for the series. “We wanted to have obstacles in their way that felt real. There was something very beautiful about them pining for each other. Even when you didn’t focus on it in a given episode, it was always there in the background.”
Mindy Kaling thinks this essential Jim and Pam scene was a problem for ‘The Office’
According to Mindy Kaling, she believes Jim and Pam’s kiss in season 1 was a mistake. In the episode titled “The Dundies,” Pam gets incredibly drunk at Chili’s. In an intoxicated state, she leans in and kisses Jim on the lips.
“Everyone is always asking me about the kiss in the finale, but I thought this was the big kiss,” says Krasinski. “We’d never made physical contact before.”
“That was something my wife was really big on,” says Greg Daniels. “The writers weren’t really big on it. She kept saying, ‘You gotta put that in. It’s good.'”
But Kailing strongly disagreed. “I thought the kiss this early was a mistake,” she said.
John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were rooting for each other to play Jim and Pam
According to Fischer, she and Krasinski had major chemistry before they even landed their roles.
“John and I were walking out of an audition scene, and he suddenly turned to me and whispered, ‘You’re my favorite Pam. I hope you get this job,'” she said, according to People magazine. “It was exactly as sweet and cute and supportive as anything Jim would say to Pam. I smiled really big and said, ‘I’m so glad you said that because you’re my favorite Jim, and I don’t think anyone could do it except for you.'”
