Even more than ten years after its finale, The Office (streaming with a Peacock subscription) keeps producing behind-the-scenes gems that highlight just how much of the show’s brilliance came from its cast—especially Steve Carell’s chaotic comedic instincts. In a recent interview, longtime writer, producer, and showrunner Paul Lieberstein (aka Toby) reflected on some of his favorite scenes from the series. One of which was Michael’s wildly inappropriate message to Jan in season 3, and yes, the cringiest moment wasn’t in the script.
In a recent episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Angela Kinsey asked if any particular scene stood out to Paul Lieberstein. The writer/EP quickly pointed to one of Michael Scott’s deeply inappropriate interactions from the Season 3 episode “The Job,” in which Michael asks Jan’s assistant, Hunter, to deliver a truly deranged message. Lieberstein recalls:
I laughed out loud when he tells Hunter, ‘Tell her I really want to squeeze them… she’ll know what that means.’ ‘And tell her [motorboat sound].
Podcast co-host Jenna Fischer later confirmed that the second part, the sound effect, wasn’t in the script at all. While no one could say definitively that Carell ad-libbed it, it’s a safe bet given his reputation for going off-book in the most hilariously uncomfortable ways. The Toby actor added:
Oh, good, I figured. I figured he improvised it.
This little improv adds another layer to an already cringeworthy scene that fans can’t forget, even if they’ve tried. Michael’s absurd lack of self-awareness was always a balancing act, and it’s in moments like this one where Carell’s performance walked the tightrope between gut-busting and grotesque. It’s also a great example of the show’s willingness to let its cast push scenes further—sometimes way further—than what was written.
Interestingly, the scene is a rare moment of unfiltered lewdness in a show that usually thrived on subtler, slow-burning awkwardness. It’s a Michael Scott quote that is his most unhinged, and that single “brrrb” noise somehow makes it ten times worse… and funnier, of course. Also, the “motorboating” moment is far from the only example of improv behind the series’ most iconic moments. The actors were frequently trusted to follow their instincts.
During that same episode, “The Job,” Ken Kwapis instructed the accounting department, played by Brian Baumgartner, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nuñez and Kate Flannery, to keep going off-script after Michael announced he sold his condo. What followed was an improvised exchange that gave the scene a sense of real, awkward group dynamics. Meanwhile, Angela’s brutally curt “Goodbye, Kelly Kapoor” line (a quizzable piece of series trivia) was another unscripted zinger that became instantly iconic.
Even moments that looked carefully planned were full of improv. According to the DVD commentary, when Jan drops the box of office supplies outside corporate, the chaos that follows, including Melora Hardin breaking into laughter and hiding it behind her hair, was completely real and unplanned. Everything after the drop was improvised.
The Office thrived by trusting its cast and crew to take creative risks, and they paid off. At present, the show remains one of the most rewatchable sitcoms in TV history, not because everything was meticulously planned, but because sometimes the best moments weren’t.