Trivia / The Office USS 2 E 8 Performance Review

• Throw It In!: As scripted, the Cold Open was supposed to end with Jim jabbing Dwight's exercise ball with the scissors and Dwight slowly falls to the floor as it deflates. They shot 13 takes that went perfectly and were ready to move on when the propmaster said they had one ball left and director Paul Feig decided to shoot one more take just to use it up. However, when the take commenced John Krasinski jabbed the ball and it immediately popped. Larry Wilmore, who wrote the episode, fought for this take to be used in the final cut, and not only can you see the rest of the workers turn back around and smirking, John can be spotted quickly backing away from the shot as he breaks down laughing.
• Word of God: The writers later expanded on the story of Tom the suicidal accountant, as they only realized after the fact that having Phyllis declare it was "a year ago" meant it would've happened just prior to the start of the series. So not only was Ryan most likely brought in as a temporary replacement for Tom, but Greg Daniels later stated his belief that Tom's suicide was actually the impetus for a camera crew being sent to Dunder Mifflin, looking to film their reactions to the tragic death. Instead, they realized the branch was ripe for a more introspective documentary.