“The Office” is a timeless TV series with a massive fan base but one scene in particular required extra effort costing thousands of dollars for a single scene.
One of the most beloved TV series “The Office” started out as an American version of the original hit series starring Ricky Gervais in the U.K. version. Though the American version of “The Office” is a spinoff of an original, it only grew in popularity with each season.
“The Office” is mostly about interpersonal connections with co-workers in a wacky workplace with branch manager Michael Scott creating chaos but connecting co-workers in a unique way, especially with the love interest between Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. The love interest between Jim and Pam was one of the biggest storylines behind the series with one crucial scene that cost $250,000 to shoot.
The actress that played Pam, Jenna Fischer, revealed the story behind the most expensive scene shot for “The Office” on The Office Ladies podcast, starring the original cast members. “The Office” built up the relationship between Jim and Pam for the first five seasons leading up to the big moment fans were waiting for, the beloved couple’s engagement.
The engagement between Jim and Pam built up to a moment that would cost production a quarter of a million dollars in what seem like a simple scene that was actually very complex to pull off. Watching the scene, you wouldn’t think it cost too much to shoot but the production level was the highest point of the series.
The 52-second scene seems simple shooting the engagement at a casual gas station but was actually a set that took nine days to construct alone. The showrunner Greg Daniels recreated the scene based on the actual gas station he frequently visited, and they built the set in the parking lot of a Best Buy location using Google Street View to match the actual gas station.
In addition to building a gas station background, production built a four-lane circular racetrack around the gas station set to create the illusion of surrounding highway traffic. Production set up cameras on the other side of the raceway to get the realistic shot of Jim getting down on one knee proposing to Pam as 35 precision drivers drove by at 55 miles per hour.
If this wasn’t enough staging, they also used giant rain generating machines for a proposal in the pouring rain. Fischer also disclosed that a special effects team was hired to “paint out the background” post-filming replacing California mountains with trees of the east coast.
This scene might have been short but was one of the biggest moments in popular television series that will forever be remembered by fans. The irony of this scene is that it somewhat foreshadows Jim and Pam’s wedding where they officially get married drenched in Niagara Falls before they go through the actual ceremony featuring the entire cast.
