‘The Office’ writer ‘rankled’ by cringey Japanese parody on ‘SNL’
A former writer on the US version of “The Office” says a “Saturday Night Live” parody of the workplace sitcom left him “a bit rankled.”
Mike Schur, who wrote on “SNL” before he left the late night show to work on “The Office,” shared his thoughts about a sketch called “The Japanese Office” during an interview on a recent episode of “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast.”
The cringey spoof aired on the May 17, 2008 episode of “SNL,” which was hosted by “The Office” star Steve Carell.
“It didn’t scratch the itch of reflecting [‘The Office’] in the way that I was hoping the show would be reflected somehow,” Schur, 49, said.
“I remember being a little bit rankled,” write Mike Schur said. YouTube/Saturday Night Live
The writer was joined on the podcast by CNN host Jake Tapper, 55, who asked Schur whether his assessment was influenced by any “‘Office’ baggage” he might have.
“I worked at ‘SNL,’ but you still feel like ‘SNL’ at some point at some level is an arbiter of what matters in the culture,” Shcur replied. “And when [Carell] did ‘The Japanese Office,’ I remember being a little bit rankled,” Schur admitted,
“This, I was a little bit like, ‘Oh, okay.’ Like, it didn’t feel right to me in some way.”
Mike Schur CraSH / Shutterstock
Television writer/producer, Mike Schur during an interview with host Seth Meyers on January 25, 2022. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
The pre-recorded Lonely Island digital short opens with Ricky Gervais, the creator of the original version of “The Office” (set in the UK), revealing that he was actually inspired by a Japanese sitcom.
Gervais, 63, then plays a clip from the fictional show that stars Carrell as Michael, Bill Hader as Dwight, Jason Sudeikis as Jim and Kristen Wiig as Pam — all of whom speak only in Japanese.
The sketch shows the actors bowing, eating ramen noodles, enjoying calisthenic exercise and singing karaoke.
Kristen Wiig in “The Japanese Office” sketch. YouTube/Saturday Night Live
The sketch stars Carrell as Michael, Bill Hader as Dwight, Jason Sudeikis as Jim and Kristen Wiig as Pam — all of whom speak only in Japanese. YouTube/Saturday Night Live
Gervais closes the bit saying, “It’s funny ’cause it’s racist.”
Reflecting on the sketch, Schur said he “doesn’t quite understand the premise.”
“It’s like, ‘They stole the show from me, but I stole it from the Japanese version,’ but then all the actors in the Japanese version are white people. It sort of didn’t track to me somehow.”
Steve Carell during the monologue on May 17, 2008. NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Michael Schur speaks onstage during the “Damon Lindelof and Mike Schur Discuss TV (And the Meaning of Life)” panel, part of Vulture Festival LA on November 18, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images for Vulture Festival
The director of “The Japanese Office,” Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer, previously spoke about the digital short when he appeared on the same podcast.
Schaffer, 47, admitted he was “concerned at the time,” given that the sketch starred mostly white actors. However, he decided to work on the project to help the sketch’s co-writer Marika Sawyer, who is Japanese American, make her vision a reality.
(l-r) John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, and Steve Carell as Michael Scott on “The Office.” NBCUniversal via Getty Images
“I would just keep looking to her and go, ‘Ok, I’m here to bring your dreams to life.’”
“I think everyone was looking to Marika being like, ‘This is your baby. Let’s go. We’re gonna support it,’” he went on. “But it was her thing.”
