One US Office Joke Cost $60,000 To Make

The American version of The Office is known for firing out jokes left, right and centre, but there was one joke in particular that set the show back a lot more than you'd expect.

From Jim jamming Dwight's drawer so it only opens two inches, to Michael driving into a lake because his GPS system told him to, there are plenty of both big and small budget jokes that take place throughout the run of The Office.

Some are more obvious than others, so it would be natural to expect one of those involving a stunt, like Dwight cycling across a phone line, or a big set to be the most expensive for producers to create. As it turns out, though, one of the priciest jokes in the show was actually one that even the biggest of fans might have overlooked.

Check it out below:

Cast your mind back to season three, the episode titled A Benihana Christmas. The episode sees the office workers split between their various Christmas celebrations, with Pam and Karen teaming up against Angela to create an alternative party while Michael heads to Benihana to drown his sorrows after being dumped by Carol.

Prior to said dumping, Michael can be seen revealing his original Christmas plans to the camera; two tickets to Jamaica – or, as the boss puts it, 'two tickets to paradise'.

Those few words were enough to rocket the price of the joke up to $60,000, as his script was based on the lyrics from Eddie Money's song Two Tickets to Paradise.

Episode writer Jen Celotta explained the situation during an episode of Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey's podcast, Office Ladies, explaining: 'I wrote a joke in which Michael says, ‘I have two tickets to paradise.’ And he says, ‘Pack your bags that we’ll leave the day after tomorrow’. In the sound mix I got from [producer] Kent [Zbornak], that was a $60,000 joke.'

NBC

Celotta stressed the joke is a 'good' one, but noted, 'none of my jokes I’ve ever written was a $60,000 joke'.

According to Looper, the lyrics of the song might have been seen as fair use as they were more spoken than actually sung by Michael, but it wasn't until it was written that the creators found out otherwise and ended up licensing the song.

Though I've no doubt it would have been possible for writers to come up with a cheaper joke, it's interesting to know the story behind Michael's holiday excitement.

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Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.