‘The Office’: ‘Work Bus’ Episode ‘Almost Killed’ the Entire Cast Twice, Cause Ellie Kemper to Pee Herself
In season 9 of The Office, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) tries to secure a few days off for the entire office in the episode “Work Bus.” However, with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) as the owner of the building, productivity wouldn’t stop on his watch.
Dunder Mifflin’s employees — and the cast of the NBC comedy series — piled onto a bus to work and film the episode. Find out why the stars of The Office fondly refer to this episode from the final season as “Death Bus” and what made Ellie Kemper pee her pants filming it.
‘The Office’ cast singing ‘Shabooya Roll Call’ made Ellie Kemper pee herself
Most of the episode takes place on what Jenna Fischer describes in The Office BFFs book as “a small airport shuttle filled with desks, chairs, lamps, printers, a water cooler, microwave, giant-screen TV, coffeemaker, 14 actors, and four crew members.” In the narrative, Jim tries to rectify the situation by convincing manager Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) to take the work bus to get pie at the best place in town — Laverne’s Pies Tires Fixed Also. Andy agrees and Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch starts their journey, singing “Shabooya Roll Call” along the way.
“My name is Kevin; that is my name.
They call me Kevin, ’cause that’s my name.”
According to Angela Kinsey, there’s even more footage of the cast singing the “Shabooya Roll Call” in deleted scenes from the episode — versions of the song that had the entire cast laughing. “It was during one of these laughing fits that Ellie [Kemper] peed her pants,” Kinsey writes.
“… she laughed so hard, she peed her pants. Then, only like Ellie Kemper can, she adorably screamed, ‘Oh my God! You guys!! I just peed my pants!!!'”
The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office From Two Best Friends Who Were There
Fischer describes Kemper’s mishap as a “large tinkle.” As funny as Kemper peeing herself was, things were about to take a turn for The Office cast.
Jenna Fischer got ‘pinned’ under props filming ‘Work Bus’
The most challenging aspect of filming “Work Bus” was capturing footage on a moving vehicle. Initially, the bus was attached to a rig. Wilson was directed to swerve as the rest of the cast pretended to flail about in the back. That didn’t give showrunners the shot they wanted, so they took a different route.
“A stunt driver climbed on board,” Fischer recalls. “There were no stunt actors, however.”
As the stunt driver swerved the bus, all of the furniture and props went flying. “When the bus came to a stop I was pinned against the side of the bus,” Fischer said. “Leslie [David Baker] was on top of me. Creed [Bratton], John, lamps, laptops, chairs were all on top of Phyllis [Smith].”
Smith needed some ice for her ankle, but ultimately everyone was alright. Slightly frustrated, the cast took a break and returned to film after lunch. That’s when their second near-death experience took place.
‘Work Bus’ became ‘Death Bus’ when exhaust fumes filled the vehicle
Since the bus was hot to film in, production arranged for a portable air conditioner to get strapped to the back and pipe air through the sunroof. The problem with this was the unit’s intake hose was directly next to the exhaust pipe. Fischer was the first to notice.
“We were all being slowly poisoned,” she writes. After that, she told producers she was “not EVER getting on that bus EVER again.”
Medics came to assess everyone, and production moved the unit to a safer location. Oh, and the cast finished filming the episode!
Bryan Cranston directed the episode ‘The Office’ cast affectionately calls ‘Death Bus’
Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston was on a break from filming the AMC series, so he was there that day to direct “Work Bus.” The irony of Cranston — Walter White/Heisenberg — directing this near-death experience wasn’t lost on the cast.
Fischer and Kinsey conclude the entire chapter they dedicated to this episode: “We love you, Bryan Cranston. Thanks for getting us through such an insane day!”
Watch “Work Bus” and other episodes of The Office on Peacock.
