The Office writer Mike Schur says the Japanese SNL spoof of the show "didn't feel right" to him

Writer-producer Mike Schur, known for his Emmy-winning work on Saturday Night Live and The Office, recently shared his discomfort with a parody of the workplace sitcom featured on SNL. The sketch, titled The Japanese Office, aired on May 17, 2008, when Steve Carell hosted the show. Despite being a nod to the iconic series, Schur admitted that the short left him feeling "a bit rankled."

He revealed his disappointment during the December 16, 2024, episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast.

"I loved the first time when Rainn [Wilson] hosted and you did the parody of The Office with his monologue. I was like, 'They're nailing this. Everyone's nailing it.' This, I was a little bit like, oh, okay. Like, it didn't feel right to me in some way," Schur said.

Reflecting on the earlier parody, he contrasted it with the digital short The Japanese Office, which he felt didn't resonate.

"It didn't scratch the itch of reflecting [The Office] in the way that I was hoping the show would be reflected somehow," he added.

The digital short depicted a fictional Japanese TV show that was supposedly the inspiration for the British version of The Office, which in turn influenced the American adaptation.

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Mike Schur questions SNL's controversial sketch referencing The Office

The pre-recorded SNL sketch, introduced by The Office creator Ricky Gervais, features a clip from a fictional Japanese show starring characters resembling Michael (Steve Carell), Dwight (Bill Hader), Jim (Jason Sudeikis), and Pam (Kristen Wiig).

The characters exhibit familiar traits, such as glancing at the camera. However, the sketch leans heavily into stereotypes, showcasing the characters bowing, eating ramen noodles, performing calisthenics, and singing karaoke. Gervais concludes the bit with the line:

"It's funny 'cause it's racist."

Mike Schur further expressed confusion over the sketch's premise, noting:

"It's like, 'They stole the show from me, but I stole it from the Japanese version,' but then all the actors in the Japanese version are white people. It sort of didn't track to me somehow."

While Mike Schur acknowledged SNL's cultural influence, he felt the sketch didn't align with his vision for how The Office should be represented.

In episode 38 of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, Akiva Schaffer, a Lonely Island member and director of the short, admitted to concerns about the predominantly white cast portraying Japanese characters. However, he emphasized that the sketch's co-writer, Marika Sawyer, who is Japanese American, drove the creative vision.

"I would just keep looking to her and go, okay, I'm here to bring your dreams to life. I think everyone was looking to Marika being like, 'This is your baby. Let's go. We're gonna support it,'" he said.

In the same episode, John Lutz, another co-writer, noted that Sawyer ensured the dialogue was authentic Japanese rather than gibberish. Interestingly, the sketch's credits featured Easter eggs, including a nod to Schur himself.

"All the credits too were in Japanese, and they were all like Marika’s cousins’ names and sister. Also, she said that Jason's credit in the episode was 'Mike Schur.' So Jason's character was played by Mike Schur in Japanese," Lutz explained.

This was not the first time The Office intersected with SNL. Two years prior, the sitcom spoofed the Lonely Island's iconic "Lazy Sunday" with Michael and Dwight rapping "Lazy Scranton." Andy Samberg, who starred in the original sketch and later collaborated with Schur on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, recalled mixed feelings about the parody in The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast in September 2024.

Eventually realizing Schur's admiration for the Lonely Island's work, Samberg said:

"I remember having to go through the feelings of, like, 'Are they making fun of it? Or are they making fun of people doing their version of it?'"

Since his tenure at SNL and The Office, Mike Schur has become a prominent figure in television, creating or co-creating hits like Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place. His work has earned him over 20 Emmy nominations and three wins. Currently, he serves as an executive producer on Hacks and other projects.

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To hear more from Mike Schur and revisit the debate over "The Japanese Office," check out the full episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast on all streaming platforms, including YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify.