The Office's Steve Carell Made Up One Of Michael Scott's Most Iconic Lines

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Ahh, The Office, everyone's favorite 2000's sitcom famed just as much for its writing as it is for its recent streaming snafus. But did you know that despite racking up several Writers Guild and Emmy awards for its witty script over the course of its eight-year run,  it seems some of the show's most famous jokes were actually the product of good 'ol improv?

Yep, in a recent episode of the Office Ladies podcast hosted by the sitcom's former on-screen and off-screen co-stars, Jenna Fischer (a.k.a. Pam Beesly ) and Angela Kinsey (a.k.a. Angela Martin),  the stars revealed that one of Michael Scott's most hilarious one-liners was entirely made up on the fly – his iconic season five proclamation of “I have egg in my Crocs"

Now, those of you who haven't gotten around to buying an old-school DVD player (yes, DVD players are old-school now) in order to rewatch The Office over and over and over again to your heart's content without forking over $50 to $100 per year to access NBC's streaming service, Peacock, (depending on your patience for mandatory advertisements) the quote in question comes from the 2009 episode, “Dream Team," in which Scott and Beesly team up to launch Dunder Mifflin's newest competitor – The Michael Scott Paper Company. 

Yet instead of gasps doing actual work, Scott makes a metric f--k ton of french toast to Beesly's annoyance, a syrupy choice that ultimately leads him to realize he made a mistake in leaving his role. “I am such an idiot,” he tells Beesly. “I gave up the only job I ever love to do this?” he continues, taking a moment to note the egg-y status of his plastic-y footwear. 

Yet according to Fischer, this quip wasn't in the original script, the line apparently coming straight from the wonderful mind of Carrell himself. 

"I will say that Steve did improvise the line, 'I have egg in my Crocs.' It was very hard not to laugh, but it's true," Fischer explained of the iconic scene. “We couldn't get the egg to splash in the same way every time, so I could not laugh because this was a one-er. We would have to use a whole take,” she continued, noting that that  "we couldn't cut between different takes, because the egg would be different."

Although she managed to somewhat keep it together, upon rewatching the scene, she can tell she's on the brink of breaking. 

"Do you look constipated or something?" co-host Kinsey asked. 

“Yeah, I do,” Fischer replied. “I look like — you can tell I'm like tensely holding in."

So folks, if you're ever nervous about cracking that joke, especially while sporting crocs and a robe, improv, take it from Steve Carell's iconic character: “'You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretzky'– Michael Scott”

For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ on TikTok as @HuntressThompson_, and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.