‘The Office’: The Stripper In ‘Ben Franklin’ and Pam Beesly Have An Odd Connection
One of the most awkward moments of The Office was when a stripper came to work. Many fans probably didn’t notice that she had a weird connection to Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer.)
Pam Beesley’s costume on ‘The Office’ always had an issue
Pam almost always wore a shirt and skirt to the office. The fact that she wore pantyhose too caused a big problem.
The actor explained on Office Ladies that she would have her microphone wrapped around her leg. “I would get a run in my pantyhose and I would have to change my pantyhose four to five times a day,” Fischer revealed. “The wardrobe people, they would put four or five packs of pantyhose in my trailer because they knew inevitably that I would get a run from this velcro, which was also itchy and uncomfortable.”
The funny thing is Angela Kinsey was also given pantyhose to wear, but she never wore it so she avoided this problem. Pam wasn’t making much as a receptionist so this would also affect her wardrobe.
She would sometimes repeat outfits. Sometimes things she wore also reflected her love life.
A stripper is hired in ‘Ben Franklin’
The episode “Ben Franklin” shows Phyllis Lapin (Phyllis Smith) and Bob Vance (Robert R. Shafer) getting separate parties before their wedding. Michael Scott (Steve Carell) hires a stripper for the bachelor party and Jim Halper (John Krasinski) gets a Ben Franklin impersonator for the bachelorette party.
It all makes for an awkward situation. Michael ends up regretting his decision very quickly and the stripper is given other work to finish the day.
They are wearing the same clothes
Elizabeth (Jackie Debatin) starts out wearing a striped button down shirt, black blazer, and a black skirt. She eventually strips down and we see her shirt easily rips away.
Some eagle-eyed fans noticed that shirt was previously worn by Pam in “The Dundies.” Fischer addressed this on Office Ladies.
“Yes, yes! Elizabeth is wearing one of my old shirts. So I actually first wore it for ‘Basketball.’ And then I wore it again in ‘[The] Dundies’,” Fischer recalled. The actor also got feedback from the show’s wardrobe supervisor.
“She said that this was not in the script. This was not like any kind of direction she was given because a lot of people did write in and ask ‘Was this on purpose? Did you want us to notice this was the identical shirt Pam has worn? Was that a joke that was written in the script?’ It wasn’t,” revealed Fischer.
Guest actors are usually given retired wardrobe. The used shirt was then made into a rip-away shirt for the scene. Perhaps in the universe in the show, Elizabeth shops at the same store as Pam.
