One of The Office's Funniest Michael vs. Toby Scenes Was Entirely Unscripted - Which Scene Was It?
Some of the best jokes on The Office were off the cuff.
When the U.S. adaptation of The Office premiered back in 2005, the first episode was an almost shot-for-shot recreation of its British source material. As the show continued, however, the story expanded, running for 9 seasons and more than 200 episodes. There was plenty of room on the page and screen for writers to dream up new work-based adventures — but some of the show’s best moments weren’t even scripted.
The Office has a long history of adlibbed and unscripted scenes which have become fan favorites. If you want insight into The Office, there are few better sources than Paul Lieberstein, better known to fans as Toby Flenderson. In addition to playing Michael’s (Steve Carell) least favorite Dunder Mifflin employee, behind the scenes Lieberstein was also a producer, director, and writer. He penned fan-favorite episodes like “Company Picnic,” “Search Committee,” and “The Farm,” among others. Lieberstein was also the showrunner for four seasons, taking over from Greg Daniels.
"I'll never be so immersed in a show and have such a knowledge of it again. It was the job of a lifetime. To be so deep in every aspect of the show, I don't know if I'll ever experience something like that again. I just loved it,” Lieberstein said during a segment with Today. "As Toby, I had a lot of scenes with Steve Carell. And that was just a master class in acting, I couldn't imagine a better teacher. He just kept me on my toes, you never knew what he was going to do."
Steve Carell improvised one of Paul Lieberstein’s favorite moments on The Office
After being fired from Dunder Mifflin, Jan (Melora Hardin) has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, and Michael is on his way to New York to testify at the deposition in the Season 4 episode “The Deposition.” Ryan (B.J. Novak) is there, during his brief stint at corporate, and Toby (Lieberstein) arrives to represent Human Resources.
Michael and Jan have it all planned out. Michael has been told exactly what to say and how to say it, but as is so often the case, things don’t go according to plan. Before long, Jan’s case (and a $4 million payout) is circling the drain. In a fit of desperation, her lawyer submits a page of Michael’s journal which helps their case but hurts his feelings. Michael is feeling betrayed and beaten down, then they break for lunch.
In the cafeteria, everyone is scouring photocopied printouts of Michael’s journal, searching for evidence that could tip the case in their favor. Every private moment he ever documented was on full display. It wasn’t a very inviting environment, not the sort of place you’d want to sit down for a meal, so Michael does something he wouldn’t ordinarily do. He sits down next to Toby.
"You know, I know a little bit about what you're going through, in a way. Um, when I was a kid, my parents got divorced. They both wanted custody and they both asked me to testify against the other one in court,” Toby tells Michael. “So, I don 't know, I didn't want them to get divorced in the first place. I loved them both so much. I just wanted..."
It’s a vulnerable personal story relevant to Michael’s ongoing experience. It’s an opportunity for connection and to repair their ailing relationship, but Michael responds in his own signature way: by quietly pushing Toby’s lunch tray off the table. It subverts our expectations in the way all great jokes do, and it was a moment Carell cooked up in the moment.
"There was a scene where I was trying to make him feel better, we were sitting in a cafeteria, and I was opening up about a story about my divorce that I thought would make him feel better and he slowly just slides my tray right off the table," Lieberstein explained. "That was unscripted.”
For fans, it remains one of the funniest scenes between Michael and Toby — and it turns out, it was all cooked up by Carell in the moment.
See all 9 seasons of scripted and unscripted hilarity on The Office, streaming now on Peacock.
