‘Office’ Works Overtime Online
Can’t get enough of “The Office”? NBC sure hopes so.
After Thursday’s episode of the Emmy-winning comedy airs on television, fans will be able to go online to see a different version of the episode: a “producer’s cut” that will include additional scenes that had to be cut to fit the show’s half-hour running time.
Streaming video of the show will go live on NBC.com at 9 p.m. Pacific time (midnight ET) Thursday, right after West Coast viewers see the episode. NBC already offers deleted scenes from the show online, but the network has never streamed a full episode with extra scenes before.
“This is a first-of-its-kind and a real bonus for fans of ‘The Office,'” says Vivi Zigler, who oversees new media for NBC. “It’s also a natural for this show which has continually pushed the envelope in the digital landscape. We’re seeing an incredible audience reaction to the evolving digital extensions of our programming and anticipate this being one of their favorites.”
Thursday’s episode of “The Office” could be worthy of the extra material, at least in terms of plot development. It’s called “Branch Closing,” and true to its title, Jan (Melora Hardin) tells Michael (Steve Carell) that the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin will be shutting down, and he desperately tries to keep his employees from getting depressed. Meanwhile, the staff starts thinking about their lives outside the office.
The webcast will remain online for a week.
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