Anyone who’s listened to the “Office Ladies” podcast will know that numerous directors throughout the show’s run wound up with much longer cuts than what actually aired, and were forced to edit things down to the required 22-minute length for broadcast. And as the interviews on that show prove, a lot of the extra footage is actually quality stuff that just had to go due to time constraints. That’s meant the “Superfan” episodes have thus far been a worthy watch for any fan of the show, adding further context and in some cases changing storylines completely.
With Peacock still struggling to get ahead in the streaming wars, this is yet another way for the company to capitalize on what might be their biggest show. Even though “The Office” ended a full 10 years ago, it continues to enjoy massive popularity and NBCUniversal has leveraged that popularity every chance they can get. But they’ll need to do more if they’re going to get Peacock to where it needs to be. The streaming service lost an unfathomable $2.5 billion in 2022 and had 20 million paid subscribers by the end of the fourth quarter 2022 — compared to Netflix’s 230 million subs. And while “Superfan” edits are an enticing prospect for anyone who’s yet to sign up to Peacock, the company will surely need more than footage from the cutting room floor to get ahead.