How One Writer Cost The Office $60,000

The price that comes from not double-checking your work

Death is easy, comedy is hard. This sentiment hangs over the head of any comedy writer. They’re trying to get the maximum amount of funny out of every precious line of dialogue they write.

For Jen Celotta — a writer on The Office — her focus on getting the best joke possible ended up costing the production $60,000.

This was revealed on The Office Ladies Podcast hosted by Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer. They were talking about the classic “Benihana” Christmas episode where Michael is trying to take his girlfriend Carol (played by Steve Carell’s real-life wife, Nancy) on an all-inclusive trip to Sandals, Jamaica.

The premise is already funny. Not only has Michael (poorly) photoshopped his face onto her ex-husband in a family photo, he’s sprung this vacation on her out of nowhere.

Celotta relays how Michael needed to announce to the camera the trip he had planned — and to do it in song. So, as a writer, and with a decent understanding of classic rock, she went with “Two Tickets to Paradise” by Eddie Money — because that’s exactly what Michael had.

If you were trying to narrow down paradise-related songs, you only have a few good options. There is “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses, “Paradise by the…