If you're having a bad day and need a little sliver of joy, watch this video. If you're a fan of The Office, you've undoubtedly seen it before, but even so, it's worth another watch. The clip is from The Office's "Goodbye, Michael" farewell episode, at the end of Season 7, where the Dunder Mifflin employees gather to say goodbye to their often-infuriating-but-always-lovable boss, Michael Scott. In the clip, the cast sings an homage to the song "Seasons of Love" from the 1996 Broadway musical Rent. That original song features the lyrics, "Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes," which refers to the number of minutes in a year. In "Goodbye, Michael," cast members sing "9,986,000 minutes," which they explain is the number of minutes Michael has worked at Dunder Mifflin. When the song starts, Steve Carell, as Michael Scott, looks to the camera, eyes filling with tears, and says "Oh my God, something's happening." His expression of wistful delight continues throughout the song, which features lyrical gems like, "That's like watching Die Hard 80,000 times," as well as musical delights such as Will Ferrell's solo near the end.
Mashable explains that Carelll's reaction was genuine, because he hadn't known about the song prior to filming:
In Carell's big farewell episode, "Goodbye, Michael," the Dunder Mifflin employees sang a memorable, moving parody of Rent's "Seasons of Love" to celebrate their time with Michael in Scranton. Turns out, Carell had no idea that emotional song was coming.
In their new book, The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey shared a number of delightful stories about Carell, and explained that though he knew "something was up" when filming his final episode, he wasn't expecting the song. That's likely why Michael's reaction looks so incredibly authentic.
I just love everything about this clip, from the lyrics that recall various hilarious moments in Michael Scott's history, to the wonderful and not so wonderful (but still endearing) singing, to the genuine affection cast members seem to have for each other, to how truly touched Steve Carrell seems to be at this gift of song. Enjoy!
