How 'The Office' Came Up With Its Office Olympics Episode, According to Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey
By Rachel Reed
On Office Ladies, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey continue to spill lots o' tea, revealing countless behind-the-scenes happenings from the beloved series The Office. Recently, we learned where the idea for the "Office Olympics" episode in Season 2 came from.
According to Uproxx, the games were inspired by real life events in another office, connected to a show creator Greg Daniels previously worked on, King of the Hill. On their very popular podcast, Kinsey gave the scoop:
"Tim [Croston] was the mastermind, the self-appointed commissioner… the Jim. They marched through the hallways, they had like a banner that each team carried. They had like a full opening ceremony, and you know the doves that you see at the end for our closing ceremonies? They had that. They had doves that went across."
The memorable ceremonies originally kicked off with the staff from King of the Hill. Among the many fun facts they shared about how those beloved games began, we learned that Paul Lieberstein (who played Toby Flenderson) was a silver medal winner back then. Kinsey shared tales of his hilarious prowess, saying, "They also had a Twinkie eating contest and Paul Lieberstein came in second, because Paul was working on King of the Hill at the time as well."
It all might've started with King of the Hill, but "Office Olympics" wins the gold medal in the hearts of fans and bored coworkers everywhere.