This Joke From The Office Cost TV Network $60,000

The Office (the US version) ended up forking out a whopping $60,000 (£44,800) for a two-line joke told by Steve Carell.

In the episode, Michael Scott (Carell) has bought two tickets to take Carol on a couple's trip to a Sandals resort.

As he details his plan he sings some lines from Eddie Money's 1977 rock hit 'Two Tickets To Paradise' and the dollars quickly racked up.

NBC

Speaking on the Office Ladies podcast in an episode released earlier this month, former The Office co-stars and current co-hosts of the podcast, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, spoke to Jen Celotta who wrote Season 3, Episode 10 which was titled: 'A Benihana Christmas'.

Celotta revealed: "I wrote a joke where Michael says, 'I got two tickets to paradise.' And he says, 'Pack your bags we leave day after tomorrow.' At the sound mix, I found out from Kent [producer Kent Zbornak] that was a $60,000 joke.

"I was like, 'It's a fine joke, but none of my jokes I've ever written have been $60,000 jokes.' But I remember not so long after that we had some of our music budget pulled away from us, and I can't help but think.

"I mean, I was sitting at the mix and had no idea that because we sang that song the song had to be cleared, and that joke was $60,000."

Earlier this month, Michael Scott was named by fans as Steve Carell's best ever character. I mean, the $60k was worth it for that - right, guys?

We started a poll, and in the first heat Brick Tamland from Anchorman managed to beat Barry from Dinner For Schmucks and Despicable Me protagonist Gru, winning with 63.2 percent of the vote.

Round two put Michael Scott up against Andy from The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Evan from both Bruce Almighty and its spin-off film Evan Almighty, with Michael coming out on top with 64.5 percent.

NBC/The Office

For the grand finale, we got rid of the lowest-scoring characters and put the four highest-ranked into a third poll to battle it out once and for all.

Eventually, Scott was crowned champion with 52 percent of 8,705 votes, while Brick Tamland came in a very respectable second place with 25.2 percent, Andy got 13.7 percent and Gru 9.1 percent.

Before the poll wrapped up, one Carell fan commented: "If Michael Scott doesn't take the crown, this will be the biggest travesty to ever grace Twitter."

Another added: "Michael Scott the [goat emoji]."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, The Office

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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