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The physical mementos Jenna Fischer kept from her years making the beloved comedy series “The Office,” which debuted on NBC 20 years ago today, have become invaluable artifacts from a cherished time now preserved onscreen for posterity.
In the American reimagining of the British show created by Ricky Gervais, Fischer played Pam Beasley, the kindhearted yet spunky receptionist with artistic aspirations.
While discussing these keepsakes during a recent Zoom interview, I asked Fischer about the teapot that the charmingly quick-witted salesman Jim Halpert (played by John Krasinski) thoughtfully gives Pam in the show’s first season as a loving secret Santa present.
“John got the teapot! How does that make sense? But I got my Dundies,” the actor says as she walks to a different corner of the room to grab the statuettes that Michael Scott (Steve Carell), regional manager of paper supplier Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch, awarded to Pam.
“I have both [Dundies], for Longest Engagement and Whitest Sneakers. I kept a bunch of stuff,” Fischer says. “I kept one of Pam’s sweaters and one of her shirts. I kept her watch, her purse, and I kept the necklace that she wore for Jim and Pam’s wedding.”
The list goes on, and every item among her “little treasures,” including a medal made out of a yogurt lid and paper clips from the “Office Olympics” episode, is a tangible reminder of how significant this period remains for Fischer.
“I kept this pen that was on her desk. It doesn’t even work, but I kept it.” She then points to yet another souvenir that survived an accident. “This cup was Pam’s cup on the show, and in the ninth season, it fell off the desk and broke. But the crew knew that I had wanted to take it, and so they glued it back together for me. I can’t use it, but I have it.”
Via email, Krasinski fesses up to how he obtained the teal-colored teapot that’s so symbolic to Pam and Jim’s enviable relationship.
“She ratted me out! Yes, I have the teapot, which I realize is quite the memento,” says Krasinski, writing while in production on an upcoming project. “It actually came to me by happenstance as our incredible prop master Phil Shea sent me a box of props some time after we had wrapped.”
But just like Fischer, that’s not the only “Office” keepsake in his possession.
“[Phil sent] things he thought I’d like to have, and it was a veritable treasure chest with my bag from the show, my name plate from my desk, even the copy of ‘The Adventures of Jimmy Halpert’ comic book,’” Krasinski added.
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These items also are symbolic of the tight-knit relationships that developed over the course of the show. When Shea died in 2023, Fischer said the cast and crew came together for his memorial. She says they communicate often: “We have an ‘Office’ text thread. We get emails from Greg Daniels, and it’s a really special community of people, and we will be bonded for life.”
At the onset, back in 2005, no one on the production could have anticipated the legs the show would grow, but Krasinski knows exactly when he realized “The Office” would be his breakthrough. “I remember the moment vividly,” says the actor, who hadn’t yet made the move to Los Angeles in between seasons because no one involved had any certainty of what would happen with the show.
“I was back in New York, and I was walking down the street and a guy looked up at me, pulled earphones out of his head and said, ‘Hey … you’re on my iPod!’ And held it up. In that moment, I’m pretty sure my brain melted,” Krasinski recalls. “For one I was trying to comprehend what the hell an iPod was, as they had only just come out. And secondly, on that 2-by-2 screen was … my face. I remember thinking a whole lot had just changed.”
Since the show’s ninth and final season aired in 2013, Krasinski has established himself as a prolific and successful film director with the “A Quiet Place” films while also expanding his acting horizons.
But even now in hindsight, he can’t fully understand why “The Office” embedded itself so strongly into pop culture. “I think we’re all blown away by its staying power,” Krasinski says.
Fischer believes one of the reasons the show has withstood the test of time is that the relationships were modeled to feel authentic to any setting and not just for those who’ve had desk jobs.
“We have a lot of younger fans who have never worked in an office and are still in school, and some of the office relationships can mimic some of your classroom relationships,” Fischer says. “Maybe in class you’re seated next to someone who’s driving you nuts, or you have a teacher who thinks they really are a comedian.”
As for why Pam and Jim’s love story still makes viewers swoon, Fischer attributes it partly to the show’s mockumentary format, which allowed them to show “stolen moments” where people have their guard down. “You’re watching a romance bloom. And it just gets you right in the gut,” she says. “That’s something that isn’t captured a lot in movies and television.”
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Above all, she thinks, audiences root for them to recognize how they feel about each other because that type of mutual adoration is what most people yearn for.
“You always hope that you will find and marry your best friend, the person who looks at you the way Jim looks at Pam, or the way Pam looks at Jim,” Fischer explains. “In those early seasons, we capture so much of their longing for one another. Everyone wants to be longed for in the way these two long for one another.”
Fischer hasn’t strayed too far from Dunder Mifflin. In 2019, she and co-star Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin on the show, launched the podcast “Office Ladies.” Over the last five years they’ve rewatched all 201 episodes of the show to share candid, behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
“There was a desire to give back to fans. Since we can’t give them any more new episodes of the show, we thought we could at least give new insights,” she says. “It was also a way to honor our crew who worked so hard and their contributions.”
For Fischer, this exercise in revisiting old memories presented a new opportunity to work with Kinsey. “One of the great gifts of my life was finding my best friend on the show, and getting to go to work every day with a person who I trust so much and hold so dear,” she says.
Although the show was mostly shot in Los Angeles, the two friends plan to visit the real Scranton, Pa., for a special episode of their podcast, where they’ll tour sites meaningful to the show (like the statue of a giant Dundie at City Hall) and Cooper’s Seafood House.
While some actors may feel burdened by their perpetual association with one successful project and want to leave it behind, Fischer has never felt such ambivalence. When she moved to L.A. from St. Louis in the late ’90s, Fischer recalls wishing that one day she’d be part of an ensemble comedy show that would endure. The actor has now more than satisfied that goal.
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Fischer is now also a bestselling author thanks to her book “The Office BFFs: Tales of ‘The Office’ From Two Best Friends Who Were There” (co-written with Kinsey). On top of that, their ongoing podcast has been a hit since its debut.
In the future, once her kids are older, Fischer wants to do more theater. But even if her role on this show that ended long ago was all she had, that would be enough.
“I wanted to play a role that touched people’s hearts, and I did it with Pam and ‘The Office.’ How many bites at the apple do I need?” Fischer says. “I don’t mind if I am just always remembered for being Pam Beasley. Nothing would make me prouder.”
That said, Fischer doesn’t think the show should come back, even if it were feasible to bring the cast back. The characters, she thinks, have been sent off to their lives beyond Dunder Mifflin and finding a way to reassemble them would be challenging.
“Before I rewatched the show I was one of the people who was all for us coming back and reviving the show,” she confesses. “But now that I’ve rewatched it, I think we should leave it just as it is. I don’t think we should open it back up.”
Fans, of course, will always be curious about the fates of the characters they’ve spent so much time with. Asked if he thinks that Jim and Pam are still together in “The Office” universe all these years later, Krasinski answers with endearing certainty.
“Oh, I know so. They’ve got a cool house just outside Austin where they’ve loved raising their kids,” he said. “Pam’s found a cool art crowd at UT. And they’ve probably snuck away for a date night as we speak, grabbing Whataburger takeout and sitting in the park by the bridge waiting for the bats to fly.”
