Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: nbc, paul feig, steve carell, the office

The Office: Paul Feig on Steve Carell's Defining Michael Scott Moment

Paul Feig (Jackpot) reflects on Steve Carell's moment during NBC's The Office Season 2 that defined Carell's Michael Scott moving forward.

When it comes to adapting successful TV shows from overseas, like from the UK, it's not always a slam dunk. The short list of examples includes The IT Crowd, Skins, and even Doctor Who (with the too-brief tenure of Paul McGann, which was an attempt to adapt the UK franchise as a backdoor pilot for American television). NBC's The Office, which was adapted for American TV following its successful BBC counterpart from Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, wasn't the juggernaut we all see today, and that's thanks in part to director Paul Feig and star Steve Carell tweaking his character, Michael Scott.

The Office: Director Paul Feig on How Humanizing Steve Carell's Michael Scott Helped Save the Show

The Jackpot! director appeared on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's podcast, Dinner's on Me, to discuss his tenure on the Greg Daniels series, directing 15 episodes during its nine-season run on NBC. Feig contrasted the differences between British and American humor, saying Brits "love tearing down a bore" while Americans typically want to sympathize with an unlikable lead character. If they don't like the character, "they'll tune it out. They just won't watch it." Feig's tenure on the show was on seasons two, four, five, six, and seven – with his first episode being "Office Olympics." At that point in the mockumentary, he called Michael Scott "such a bore and so mean," but Carell found success in the 2005 comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Feig recalled the conscious decision Carell made that would forever change Michael in The Office, "It was the scene we were shooting when everybody was supposed to be working, and they're screwing off doing this thing. And in order to not get in trouble with Michael, they're going to give him a gold medal," he started. "But we're shooting it, and Steve gets emotional. Steve as the character, 'cause he's had this terrible day, and so he starts like kind of crying like a tear goes down his eye, and we're like, 'Oh my God.' And I'm going like, 'Oh, do that again. Do that again. This is great. And I think that was this moment of like, that's him. He's got a humanity about him, and everybody figured out, 'No, he's not an asshole. He's a misguided idiot who is an asshole because he's trying to be funny.' Right. So you go like, 'Okay, he means well.'"

That change between making Michael an "asshole" with redeeming qualities contrasts with Gervais' David Brent, who is a disaster lacking any basic redeeming qualities. For more, including Feig talking about the success of Freaks and Geeks and Bridesmaids, you can check out the episode below – with new episodes of Dinner's on Me stream on Tuesdays.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!