EXCLUSIVE: Brian Baumgartner & Kate Flannery Reveal When They Knew The Office Would Be a Hit
Find out how the premiere of The 40-Year-Old Virgin marked a special moment for The Office cast members — and not just Steve Carell.
It’s time to get the party planning committee together! The hit NBC sitcom The Office celebrates 20 years since its premiere on March 24, 2005, so NBC Insider caught up with original stars Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone) and Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer) to mark the special occasion.
The iconic comedy ran from 2005-2013 for nine seasons and 201 episodes, and has remained a cultural touchstone ever since, thanks to fans continuing to stream the beloved show on Peacock (which has the entire series streaming exclusively, plus extended cut SuperFan episodes available).
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When Brian Baumgartner and Kate Flannery realized The Office was “special”
As for the show's stars, they have just as many fond memories as the fans who have been binging the show for two decades now. Whether it’s Meredith getting hit by a car driven by Michael or Kevin dropping his famous chili all over the office carpet, both stars have their fair share of iconic scenes that pierced through pop culture.
Flannery “really felt” the show was connecting with audiences after the second season.
“I think it was our second season, we all got invited to the premiere of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and I remember that feeling,” Flannery told NBC Insider. “It was such an amazing movie and I thought, we have that guy! He’s the guy.”
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Of course, The Office's boss, Michael Scott, was played by Steve Carell, who also starred in the raunchy 2005 comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin alongside Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen.
“I remember that night Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, and Jim Carrey came to the premiere cause they were literally checking out the new guy,” Flannery added. “I actually asked Ben Stiller about this last year. He actually admitted that was true. They were checking out the new comedy guy. [NBC's previous hit sitcom] Friends was over ... and here we were.”
Funny enough, Ferrell and Carrey would eventually come to cameo on the series during The Office's later seasons, as Dunder Mifflin searched for a new manager to replace Carell's Michael Scott after he left the series during Season 7.
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For Baumgartner, he knew from early on the series could be special for audiences.
“A vivid, vivid memory” for the actor is from the first episode they shot after the pilot... "Diversity Day."
“I was like, what we’re doing is something different, like this is something special,” Baumgartner said, recalling a moment on set sitting with some fellow cast members while the crew adjusted the conference room. “The way we were talking about real world issues that hadn’t been done in a long time, the way the show was shot, the sort of organic nature of that, like I remember saying out loud, 'If people give this a chance, this could be really special.'”
Brian Baumgartner and Kate Flannery's Favorite Scenes on The Office
“I feel like the episode where Michael Scott proposes to Holly Flax and he lights so many candles that the sprinkler system goes off and we’re in the kitchen like smashed against the window,” Flannery recalled. “We all got wet. Something about that to me was really… fantastic for a million reasons.”
Baumgartner thought of the iconic lip dub intro to the song "Nobody, but Me" where he wore Flannery on his back, which came in the Season 7 premiere.
“One of my favorite sort of moments because it was all shot in one take, the camera running through the office and doing the timing and you know me turning around to reveal Meredith on my back,” Baumgartner said.
Flannery remembers the text saying “Nobody” on her stomach was hidden in the first take because her skin had absorbed the makeup so they had to do another.
“They had to darken it,” Flannery said. “I had the word 'nobody' and then I couldn’t get it off for like three weeks. I was like scrubbing my stomach. It was worth it.”
Every season of The Office is now streaming on Peacock, along with the extended cut SuperFan episodes.
