Michael Scott loves a good music moment, and his taste isn’t cheap.
On the latest episode of Stitcher’s Office Ladies podcast, former co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted all about the Season 6 episode “Murder.” In case you need an episode refresher, Michael has the Scranton branch play a murder-mystery game to distract them from rumors that Dunder Mifflin is filing for bankruptcy.
During the podcast episode, Fischer and Kinsey chatted about everything from that famous Office finger guns meme to yet another memorable music moment in Michael’s office.
Five minutes into “Murder,” Michael is spiraling alone in his office. He’s blasting music to drown out his bankruptcy fears, and once it’s clear his behavior is stressing out his colleagues, Jim walks in and turns off the tune.
The song Michael’s blasting is the 1998 banger “Lullaby” by Shawn Mullins. And apparently it cost a pretty penny to have Michael wallow to (and eventually sing) the catchy lyrics, “Everything is gonna be all right. Rockabye. Rockabye.”
The Office‘s line producer Randy Cordray told Fischer that the show paid $45,000 just to use that song in the episode.
Honestly? Worth it. The song absolutely made the scene.
The Office Ladies podcast has been a delightful source of financial filming tidbits. In past episodes, Fischer and Kinsey revealed that a song from the “Café Disco” episode of The Office cost $40,000, one of Michael’s jokes from “A Benihana Christmas” cost $60,000, and Jim’s gas station proposal to Pam (the most expensive scene in Office history) cost a whopping $250,000 to pull off. Dang.
Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode to hear more behind-the-scenes stories about filming the episode, “Murder.”
You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.