Doo DOO do do do do do, do do dodododo…
The Office has one of the most beloved, catchy, unique theme songs in TV history. But did you know that the opening credits were almost set to a popular ’70s hit?
Two of the show’s stars, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, briefly shared the story behind the show’s theme song in 2020. But on a recent episode of the Office Ladies podcast, the former co-stars and current BFFs dove deep into the theme song selection process.
They reviewed the top three song choices, revealed showrunner Greg Daniels’ final theme song selection, and explained how composer James Ferguson wound up creating the final masterpiece we all know and love at the last minute.
What a ride.
The final three theme song options
Fischer kicked things off by explaining that the very famous Office theme song was created by Ferguson, who’s done music for shows including NCIS Los Angeles, Women’s Murder Club, Melrose Place, and films such as The Terminator, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, and This Is 40.
“He’s the real deal,” Kinsey said. “We got him for our theme song.”
“But we almost didn’t got him,” Fischer said.
Initially, Fischer explained, Daniels wanted to use an actual song instead of an original composition.
“He narrowed it down to three choices, and he created title sequences to all three songs and he gave DVDs out to the whole cast. And we got to vote on the songs,” she said.
The songs? Well, imagine The Office opening sequence to these three hits.
1. “Better Things” by The Kinks
“All right, I’m feeling it a little bit. I mean, it’s hard now to imagine anything but what we chose, but OK, I see it,” Kinsey said.
2. “Float On” by Modest Mouse
“I know a few people suggested this: John [Krasinsnki] and Angela,” Fischer said.
“Yes, I was a big fan of that one,” Kinsey replied.
3. “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
“I mean, I love that song,” Fischer said.
“I love that one, too,” Kinsey added.
And folks, you know what? The popular 1977 single “Mr. Blue Sky” won the vote and was all set to be the official Office theme song. Until…
The Office theme song that almost was but ultimately wasn’t
As we said, “Mr. Blue Sky” was IT. Well, almost.
“When we did a viewing party at my house of the pilot, Greg brought over a DVD and our credit sequence was ELO’s ‘Mr. Blue Sky.; I still have the DVD,” Fischer said.
“We were waiting for our show to come out. We had to wait a while. While we were waiting, another show came out. It was called LAX. It starred Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood. It was also on NBC,” she explained. “They used ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ as their theme song… We couldn’t use it. So Greg had to change it. And that is when Greg hired James Ferguson or as his friends call him, Jay, to write our theme song.”
In the end, “Mr. Blue Sky” never made it into the show’s intro, but you can experience an alternate reality in which it did thanks to this fan edit.
Fischer explained that because of the mix up they didn’t end up recording the actual Office theme song until a week before the first episode aired.
“Oh my gosh. They must have been sweating it,” Kinsey said.
“They were scrambling,” Fischer confirmed. “So Greg kind of talked about this on ‘Booze Cruise.’ He had a musician friend, Bob Thiele, who went in with his friends and they recorded James’s composition. And after they recorded it, they formed a band. They called themselves The Scrantones. And then that is the band that appears in ‘Booze Cruise.'”
It sounds like the theme song search was a process and a half, but it was all worth it in the end, because Office fans got this absolutely perfect jam.
Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories and theme song tidbits. (Including how John Krasinski shot the opening Scranton footage.)
You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.
