The Best Episode Of The Office Is Even More Awkward In Peacock's Extended Cut
The American version of "The Office" is one of the most beloved TV comedies of all time. After originally airing from 2005 to 2013, the NBC series garnered 42 Emmy nominations and five wins, including Outstanding Comedy Series for the show's second season. Years later, the game-changing mockumentary series found renewed life in streaming as one of the most consistently watched shows on Netflix before becoming an exclusive on NBC Universal's streaming service Peacock.
In recent years, Peacock has given "The Office" a bit of a makeover with the so-called "Superfan Episodes," offering extended cuts of episodes with longer versions of scenes that never aired on TV and re-inserted deleted scenes, some of which never even made it to the special features of physical media releases. While the extended cuts don't necessarily result in better episodes, they do offer some amusing new bits and extended variations on scenes you already love. In fact, in the case of one of the best episodes of "The Office," the cringeworthy "Dinner Party" from the show's fourth season, the Superfan cut actually makes Michael (Steve Carell) and Jan's awful social gathering even more awkward.
An extended opening with poor Toby
"Dinner Party" is one of those episodes so famous that even people who aren't fans of "The Office" are aware of it. The set-up finds Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) suddenly forced to attend a dinner party at Michael's condo, where Jan (Melora Hardin) has just moved in following her dramatic firing from Dunder-Mifflin after a fumbled deposition. In one of Michael's more brilliant moments, he pretended there was an assignment from corporate that required the employees of Dunder-Mifflin's Scranton branch to stay late on a Friday night, ensuring that nobody had any plans for the evening. When Michael pretends to tell off corporate's faux demand, he makes it possible for Jim and Pam to attend dinner without any excuses.
This is how the episode begins, and the Superfan cut adds a few more details, with the best one being another unfortunate situation for Toby. The human resources punching bag had tickets to see Tom Petty, but because of this assignment, he was forced to skip the concert and give the tickets to his ex-wife. Of course, Michael makes the (non-existent) assignment disappear, meaning Toby could have actually gone to the concert. When Toby gripes about it, Michael can't help but make a joke about Tom Petty's band "The Heartbreakers" being heartbroken that he couldn't make it to the concert. Poor Toby.
Dwight's dinner arrival isn't quite as surprising
Dwight isn't invited to the dinner party, but only because it's supposed to be for couples, and the assistant to the regional manager finds himself single after a tragic break-up with Angela (because Dwight negligently killed her cat Sprinkles). The other excuse that Michael gives Dwight is that he only has six wine glasses, and they're taken by Michael, Jan, Jim, Pam, Andy (Ed Helms), and Angela (Angela Kinsey). That makes Dwight's sudden arrival at the door of Michael's condo — with two extra wine glasses, a cooler full of food, and a mature date — quite the turn. However, the extended cut basically spoils the surprise.
While the invited guests are playing a frustrating combination of password/charades where no one cares about the rules, the camera crew spots Dwight lurking around one of the windows outside. Then, we're treated to a stealthy interview with Dwight as he waits for his date to arrive. It's here that Dwight reveals that he's entered into a "serious, monogamous relationship," though he'll later note that it's "purely carnal" while in front of Angela. Dwight's arrival plays much better in the original cut of the episode.
Jim throws Pam under the bus (again)
Over the years, there have been many criticisms levied at Jim Halpert, whether it's because of his borderline creepy pursuit of Pam, his bullying of Dwight, or because of questionable relationship decisions made — such as buying his parents house without talking to Pam about it first. However, if there's one thing that Jim absolutely deserves to be dragged over the coals for, it's trying to abandon Pam at the dinner party.
Jim comes up with an excuse to leave, faking a phone call where he learns that his apartment has been flooded. Though he initially tries to bring Pam with him, Michael notes that they don't both need to leave. Jim takes an ever-so-brief moment to assess the situation and decides that it's too dire to not take this opportunity to escape, and he gets ready to head out the door. But Pam's not having it, and she cleverly points out that he can buy new things, but he can't buy a new party, forcing Jim to stay. But in the Superfan cut of the episode, he throws Pam under the bus before that.
After learning that they still have hours until the meal is ready to eat, Pam and Jim are starving. A restored scene shows Jim and Pam munching on some kind of snack bar in the hallway upstairs, until they're suddenly interrupted by Jan, who is upset that they're eating something else before dinner. Since Pam is holding the food in question, Jim doesn't hesitate to say, "I didn't eat anything, Jan," revealing another opportunity where Jim opted to save himself while throwing Pam to the wolves.
Jan is even more unhinged
But perhaps the biggest changes in "Dinner Party" come in a handful of scenes where Jan is made out to be even more unstable than she already seems.
First of all, while Jim and Pam are checking out the candle workspace that is full of wonderful fragrances, Michael shares a story where he reveals that Jan got in trouble by their neighbors because she fell asleep during her shift for neighborhood watch. Jan had a little too much wine, she fell asleep, and the neighbor's dog ended up getting spray-painted by some kids. Whoops!
Next, in the original cut of "Dinner Party," after Michael's famous rant about having to get multiple vasectomies ("Snip snap, snip snap, snip snap!"), the gathering quickly gets back on track. But in the Superfan cut, before dinner is served, Jan is having a tearful breakdown at the dinner table while Dwight and his elderly babysitter date feast. Pam silently encourages Michael to make Jan feel better, but this is Michael we're talking about. While he starts off strong by telling Jan that she's smart and beautiful, especially her newly enhanced bosom, the conversation quickly takes a turn when he starts lamenting that the frequent calls to Jan's therapist are eating up his phone plan minutes.
Getting back on track, Michael tries to compliment Jan ,saying that despite the fact that no one in their condo complex likes her, she has successfully made their place feel like a museum, where you can't touch anything. She's effectively turned their home into a house. Oh, Michael.
Woof
However, the most concerning reveal in the Superfan cut of "Dinner Party" comes after the possibly poisoned food has been served. Out of nowhere, Jan cheerily says, "It was me!" When asked to clarify, Jan has a maniacal smile on her face as she says, "I spray-painted that dog." With a crazy look in her eye, Jan talks about how sleek and shiny the dog looked, "parading around like it was God's gift to this godforsaken town," so she held the dog down with her knee and spray-painted it. The dog even bit her on the arm, but she didn't even feel lit.
No matter how wild and worrisome Jan seemed to get as "The Office" went on, there was still a tinge of humanity within her, as a woman desperate to prove herself while reeling from unresolved issues in her life. There are even fans who think Jan got kind of a bad rep for the trauma she endured, and the character was maybe taken a little too far off the deep-end after being the rational center of Dunder-Mifflin for a few seasons. But if this sequence was left in the final cut of "The Office," she probably would have been irredeemable in a whole new way. It's genuinely insane that Jan would forcibly hold down a dog and spray-paint it. Like, that's just bonkers. If forcing Michael to dress up like a schoolgirl wasn't already enough of a red flag, that's a whole bag of red flags right here.
Even though it's fun to see these Superfan cuts of almost every season of "The Office" (the eighth and ninth seasons have yet to receive the treatment), it's clear why a lot of these extended and deleted scenes didn't make it to air. When it comes to "Dinner Party," I think this might be the most earth-shattering deleted scene of the entire series, and it's a good thing it ended up on the cutting room floor.