You’ll Never Believe What Songs Were Almost Used for The Office Theme Song

Besides the many, many Michael Scott-isms, one of the most iconic features of The Office is it’s melodic theme song (apologies for getting it stuck in your head for the foreseeable future). The original jingle was written by Jay Ferguson and performed by the Scrantones (for real), but Rainn Wilson—a.k.a. Dwight Schrute—is now revealing that the series almost had three drastically different tracks for its opening credits.

Wilson writes in his new memoir, The Bassoon King, that “many songs were being considered seriously”—including “Better Things” by the Kinks and “Float On” by Modest Mouse. (Let’s all pause for a second and imagine “and we’ll all float on, OK” accompanying those dreary images of Scranton, Pennsylvania.) But this was the top contender: “The one we all wanted most of all was “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra,” Wilson writes. “It’s a sensational song and its jubilant, upbeat refrain would have fit perfectly over the drab video of the opening credits.”

*But “Mr. Blue Sky” had to be scratched as an option after it was taken by LAX, another NBC show at the time. Enter the Jay Ferguson creation, which, let’s face it, was clearly the best option. The Office without that jingle is like Dwight without beets, Michael Scott without “that’s what she said”, and Jim without Pam—in other words, a travesty of epic television proportions (and no, we’re not being dramatic). *