The Office had plans for a special "Pet Day" episode, but the idea never came to fruition despite its hilarious potential. The NBC sitcom developed by Greg Daniels was based on a U.K. series of the same name created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. After airing nine seasons between 2005 and 2013, the show emerged as a pop culture phenomenon thanks in part to its longterm availability on Netflix. The Office will officially leave the streaming giant in 2021 as the rights move to Peacock who is set to stream extended episodes.
Even with loads of deleted scenes that greatly enhance certain episodes, there are also plenty of unused script ideas that never made it into The Office. For example, the lead character, Michael Scott (Steve Carell), almost encountered his own crucifixion on a garage door. In addition, Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) nearly had his own 24-like episode. For various reasons, writers abandoned these ideas to go in other directions.
As shared in The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, an oral history written by Andy Greene, Daniels wanted to do a pet-themed episode in the show's debut season. The Office struggled in season 1 as the series tried to find its footing outside of the original version's shadow. Daniels and the writers developed many ideas, and one of which featured Michael and his employees brought their beloved pets into the workplace. According to writer Justin Spitzer, the "Pet Day" script gave Michael a pet parrot named Jim Carrey. Though it now sounds like the makings of a memorable episode, it never came to be.
Pet Day Was Always A Back-Up Plan For The Office Writers
The Office season 1 only consisted of six episodes and "Pet Day" didn't make the cut for filming. As the show continued, the writers kept the pet idea on the backburner. The idea was often brought up when the team struggled with new storylines, but eventually, they realized that it wouldn't fit the arcs of the characters. Spitzer added that "the characters and their situations have changed so much," forcing them to scrap the idea. Other than the cats owned by Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), the rest of the employees weren't presented as pet people. It would have been odd to have a day honoring pets when the animals were never previously mentioned.
Even though the "Pet Day" script was discarded, The Office made mention of the initial idea during season 6. In the episode titled "New Leads," Michael held a meeting in which he gave workplace updates. After mentioning the "Lost & Found" was missing, Michael referenced a pet day before he was cut off by his co-workers questioning the company's new sales leads. Daniels' pet idea then went meta the following season after Carell left the series, resulting in the need for a managerial replacement. Among the interviewees for Michael's job was "The Finger Lakes Guy," played by Jim Carrey, who also served as the inspiration behind the name of Michael's parrot.