The Office originally had a different theme song: Here’s why it was changed before the premiere

It is hard to express what The Office theme song means to its fans, but it surely has its unique place. The wacky tunes, synced with overarching shots of Scranton and the people of its small paper company, perfectly encapsulate the show's weird humor.

But many would not know that the theme song was not showrunner Greg Daniels' first choice and he initially wanted to choose from a list of existing songs.

In fact, Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was finalised as the show's theme song, but it was featured in another NBC show, LAX, and Daniels had to change the theme song at the last moment.

However, things changed for the better as Jay Ferguson was brought in to create an original song, which is now beloved by many. Ferguson also appeared in The Office Season 2 Episode 11 as the guitarist for Kevin's band.

More on The Office theme song in our story.

What were some other options for The Office theme song before its premiere?

While the wacky intro and theme song to The Office is permanently etched in every fan's mind, to think that we almost did not get this masterpiece is wild.

As co-stars Fischer and Kinsey revealed during one of the episodes of their Office Ladies Podcast, showrunner Greg Daniels did not initially plan on having an original theme song for his latest NBC comedy series.

Instead, he had three songs in mind and sent DVDs of each to the cast members to choose from by vote, as Fischer revealed in the podcast:

"He narrowed it down to three choices, and he created title sequences to all three songs and he gave DVDs out to the whole cast. And we got to vote on the songs,"

The three top choices were Better Things by The Kinks, Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and Float On by Modest Mouse. While Krasinsnki and Kinsey were also down with Float On, Mr. Blue Sky eventually received the most votes and was chosen as The Office theme song.

But fate had other plans, as while the cast was waiting for their show to air its Pilot with Mr. Blue Sky, another NBC show debuted with the same theme song, as revealed by Fischer:

''It was called LAX. It starred Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood. It was also on NBC. They used 'Mr. Blue Sky' as their theme song... We couldn't use it. So Greg had to change it.''

Finally, then, Daniels hired Jay Ferguson to create an original theme song for the sitcom, and the rest is history. Fans are still jamming to the catchy beats and dreaming about working in an ordinary paper company.

When John Krasinsnki once revealed the 'secret lyrics' to The Office theme song in SNL

It is certainly difficult to escape the legacy of a sitcom like The Office, and John Krasinsnki's character was beloved on the show. This is why his 2021 appearance on Saturday Night Live had its fair share of sitcom references.

But the humorous part was when Krasinsnki sang his secret lyrics to The Office theme song in a sketch where stars sang the 'unheard lyrics' of popular shows like Stranger Things, Succession, The Crown, and many more.

Krasinsnki appeared at the end of the sketch and gave his iconic performance and sang lyrics to the theme song, starting with 'Scranton, Scranton, Scranton, Scranton...'

The lyrics were meaningless and lacked sync, but that was the fun and the point of that humorous sketch. It became another fun story, and now nobody can say that the sitcom's theme song does not have lyrics.

Also Read: 20 Years of 'The Office': Where is the show's central cast now?