Grief Counseling (The Office) - Production

Production

"Grief Counseling" was written by co-executive producer Jennifer Celotta, and was directed by Roger Nygard, his only episode of The Office to date. In a later interview with Den of Geek, Nygard found that "television episodes are the domain of the writer-producers. You are there to service their vision. The Office is fully scripted, but there's always a little room to play when it's warranted. The first cuts are around 45 minutes, so you often have to cut the episodes in half for air." Though "Grief Counseling" broadcast before the fifth episode, "Initiation", its filming took place after that episode due to the availability of shooting on Dwight's fictional beet farm.

The episode's plot involved the death of former boss Ed Truck, a character who had been played by Ken Howard in the second season episode "The Carpet". As part of the episode took place outdoors, the cast had to wear coats despite the hot summer weather. Actress Kate Flannery commented in a weekly blog she wrote for TV Guide that "we suffered while shooting the outdoor scenes... We had to act like it was cold when it was warm. For hours and hours. You would never know it by looking at us. Isn't that crazy?" Flannery also wrote, "I love this episode because it's dark, for a comedy. This time The Office tackles gutsy subject matter."

Deleted scenes of the episode were released in the third season DVD. Such scenes included a coworker showing Jim photographs of her baby, Dwight telling everyone to delete their records of Ed Truck, Michael talking about a need for a grief counselor, Toby holding a grief counseling session for the office, and Roy telling Pam of the birth of a cousin's twins.