High in the lore of The Office is the movie that Michael Scott wrote and starred in, Threat Level Midnight. What started as a passing reference to an absurd thing Scott was working on morphed into its own episode and something the show’s writers had to actually create out of whole cloth.
On Monday, Peacock released a never-before-seen clip from the episode the script first appeared in, Season 2’s seventh episode, “The Client.” In it, Michael is out of the office on business and the rest of the crew discover his script for the movie. In the deleted scene, they decide to make copies, all take a part, and read it aloud like real movies and TV shows do while in preproduction.
The word “dangerous” is said again and again, Stanley bails and the president asks Michael Scarn, “How’s it hanging?” If you’ve seen the show, it’s really fun to see that the kernels of what became a beloved in-show joke had a lot more to it all the way back in Season 2. The release was part of Peacock’s “Superfan” episode series, which gives subscribers unseen clips and details from the show’s binge-worthy run.
In later seasons, the entire “movie” was shot in the show’s canon and featured a number of fun in-jokes and references, such as several of Scott’s significant others making appearances as production of the passion project dragged. You can watch the full episode from Season 7 below.