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After the Christmas cheer, it’s time to sing ‘Happy New Year’ as 2025 is almost here. But before we step into the new year, how can we not talk about such an iconic episode from the American sitcomThe Office, in which Jim Halpert was absent? It broke many hearts as they couldn’t see Jim and Pam together in the New Year episode,‘Ultimatum’.
It is always special if a TV show incorporates festive seasons like Christmas or New Year’s in its storyline. It gives us a chance to witness our favorite characters enjoying these seasonal cheers.
The Officeseason 7 episode 13 featured a New Year-themed plot, but it was quite noticeable that Jim was absent. Let’s find out why he was not there in the episode.
Did Jim Halpert miss out on appearing in any other episodes thanUltimatum?
Popular Hollywood actorJohn Krasinskiplayed Jim Halpert in the sitcomThe Office. Among all of the characters from the TV show, Jim is still one of the fan favorites. So, the fans noticed whenever he was missing from the episodes. He almost appeared in every single one of them during the tenure of 9 seasons.
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However, in the episodeMafia, his voice was only heard, and inBanker, his clips from previous episodes were shown and appeared momentarily in new footage but without any dialogue. In addition to this, Krasinski was absent altogether in season 7, episode 13,Ultimatum,without any explanation except for appearing in the cold open (a teaser sequence). That sequence was shot in the previous season and recycled in this one.
Why was Jim Halpert absent from the New Year episode ofThe Office?
As per reports, John Krasinski, who is known for playing Jim Halpert inThe Office, was busy with a movie shoot. This is the reason why he couldn’t appear in the New Year episode of the sitcomUltimatum. Later, Jenna Fischer, who portrayed Pam Beesly in the TV show, revealed why Krasinski was absent in that particular episode of season 7.
In a conversation with Fischer’s fellow co-actor Angela Kinsey (who played Angela Martin) on theOffice Ladiespodcast, the actress shared,
Here’s what everyone said. ‘We noticed that Jim is gone from this episode. Where is Jim? Love from Denmark.’ Yes, it’s true. Jim appears in the cold open of this episode, but he’s not in the rest of the episode. Here’s why: John Krasinski was in Alaska filming the movie Big Miracle.
Jenna Fischer further recalled that in their biz if you missed a week of work for personal reasons, it meant you would miss out on a paycheck. But if the screenwriters plot it in a way to support your absence, then they would have to pay you. So, the producers arranged the cold open for Krasinski to shoot before he left for his movie.
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In a way, Jim appeared inUltimatum, and also within the story there was a point where it showed he had to be away on a sales call.
Was there a deleted scene inUltimatumfeaturing Jim’s voice?
There was supposedly a scene where Jim Halpert’s voice could be heard in the episode. Recalling a fun fact from Ultimatum,Jenna Fischershared via Office Ladies podcast,“I remember shooting a scene where he called Pam on the phone.”She further continued,
I totally shot my side of that scene and they were going to add his voice later, but it ended up getting deleted. So.
Well, it may have gotten deleted from the main episode, but the writer Carrie Kemper found a way to include him in that iconic New Year episode. On the other hand, John Krasinski also got to do his movie. So, it was a win-win situation.
Ankita Mukherjee
Articles Published :61
Ankita Mukherjee is a movie buff and a K-drama lover. After being in the entertainment genre for more than 3 years, her knack for digging up breaking news and writing featurish articles about her favorite celebs have become her most preferred job and now she is working as an author in FandomWire. But, when it comes to MCU, you might find her go a little nuts.
