Bryan Cranston recalls directing the dangerous "Work Bus" episode of The Office, during which the cast and crew were exposed to carbon monoxide. First airing in 2005, The Office ran until season 9 before coming to a close in 2013. The show was critically acclaimed and a major hit for NBC, continuing to maintain its popularity on streaming services like Netflix and now on its new home on Peacock. The Office follows the mundane lives of a group of employees at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company, and their childish boss, Michael Scott (Steve Carell).
While The Office is largely considered to have dipped in quality following the departure of Carell's character, season 9 still provided a number of now-iconic episodes. This includes episode 4, titled "Work Bus," guest-directed by Cranston. The episode sees the Scranton employees, including John Krasinski's Jim Halpert, Jenna Fischer's Pam Beesly, and Angela Kinsey's Angela Martin, board a travelling bus while the office is fumigated. While the episode appeared harmless to viewers, Fischer and Kinsey's book reflecting on the making of The Office later revealed that, due to the placement of the air conditioner intake near the bus' exhaust pipe, the cast and crew were exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide while filming.
In a new interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Cranston reflected on directing the infamous "Work Bus" episode of The Office, which Fischer and Kinsey hilariously dub "Death Bus." The Breaking Bad star recalls that it was actually Fischer who first spoke up about smelling the exhaust. Cranston joked that, if she hadn't, the entire cast and crew could have perished, and the episode would've acted as an impromptu The Office finale. See Cranston's full comments below:
"It's not fair that it's called 'Death Bus' because no one died. I'll admit it was my aim, but Jenna Fischer actually saved everyone's life. She said, 'I smell exhaust, it's coming inside the bus.' I'm saying, 'Jenna, I mean come on, how is that possible? It's not possible.' And she goes, 'No, it's coming in!' So, I got a chair and stood up on the thing and stuck my nose up in there and sure enough it was billowing down. It was carbon monoxide. I wasn't quite sure so I got a second whiff, I got some more. I got nice and dizzy and then realized, 'Oh my God, we could have all been dead.' It would've been one hell of an episode. It would've been the finale before they would've planned that."
Thankfully, nobody on The Office team was seriously injured from the carbon monoxide exposure, but Cranston's story paints Fischer very much as the hero of the day. Although it's clearly easy for The Office cast members to joke about the experience now, all these years later, the incident does speak to the danger of working on a film set and the small decisions or oversights that can ultimately lead to disaster if not caught soon enough. While "Work Bus" itself isn't necessarily one of the most acclaimed episodes The Office has ever produced, the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded has certainly made it much more memorable.
It's likely that, if Fischer hadn't spoken up, somebody else would have eventually, once the cast and crew started showing symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure. Fischer's quick thinking, however, ultimately prevented the situation from getting any worse and helped ensure the safety of her friends and colleagues. Even now, almost 10 years after The Office finale aired, the show remains incredibly popular, and talk of a revival series persists. While it's unclear if more of The Office will ever come to fruition, if any sort of revival does happen, it's likely that safety will be a top priority after the close call with "Work Bus."
Source: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert/ YouTube