Jenna Fischer Reveals The Office Cut A Hilarious Incest Joke

Jenna Fischer and Steve Carell on NBC's The Office

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Few shows in recent memory have made as big of an impact on popular culture as NBC’s The Office. The reruns have crushed on Netflix, the cast of characters is amazing, NBC is paying a huge chunk of change to move the show to its new streaming service, and some fans love it so much that Netflix was literally concerned for their health and well-being. And even though the show is over, it continues to be a gift that keeps on giving.

Recently, Jenna Fischer and fellow show-alum Angela Kinsey responded to a fan question on their new podcast, Office Ladies. They were asked about the second episode of Season 1, "Diversity Day," and whether there were any scenes they had filmed that didn’t make it into the episode. Fischer's response details a great Michael Scott moment that I am legitimately sad we missed. Check out her summary of the scene below.

So you remember earlier in the episode when Mr. Brown starts his training, he explains what a HERO is? And it’s an acronym. And then Dwight explains what he thinks a HERO is? Well, after all of that happened, there was a scene where Michael stands up and creates his own acronym for SENSITIVITY and his words are: Inclusion, New attitude, Colorblind, Expectations, Sharing, and Tolerance. And while he’s saying these words, Dwight is writing them on a whiteboard and I look at the whiteboard and I say ‘Michael, that spells INCEST.’

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve missed out on a hilarious bit from the show. These things often happen due to time constraints -- and that hasn’t stopped The Office from delivering some amazing episodes and giving us tons of great jokes -- but it does make me wonder what other gems landed on the cutting room floor. Jenna Fischer went on to talk about how the scene initially wrapped up, stating:

And then Steve tap dances and says ‘But it still works because incest is bad and discrimination is bad, but also incest is something that happens in your family and the world is our family…’ It’s just this crazy ramble. But he won’t let it go. And then Pam has a talking head that says ‘If he just rearranged the words, he could have spelled INSECT.’

It sounds like a typical Michael Scott moment, quitting while he’s behind. While I do miss the show terribly, I’m not hoping for a revival of the show and it seems that Mr. Scott would agree with me, but I am excited about the notion of this new podcast continuing to reveal unknown details about the hit show.

For the time being, you can still binge watch the show on Netflix, but that ride will end in January of 2021 once NBC pulls the show and many others to its own streaming platform, Peacock, which will launch in April of 2020. In the meantime, check out our full guide to see what’s coming to television and streaming before the end of 2019.

Cody Beck
Director of Product

Morbidly curious pizza enthusiast with a heart of gold. Has no time to hear why you think The Office is overrated and is pretty sure the meaning of the Universe can be found in the movie Cats. Co-host of American Hauntings Podcast. Inaugural class of Enstitute, an entrepreneurial alternative education program written about by Forbes, The New York Times, and PBS.