It’s been over six years since The Office ended its nine season run, and yet, people can’t stop talking about it. Case in point, the official Twitter account for the beloved NBC series inadvertently triggered a firestorm this week by innocently tweeting out a “fun fact” that star John Krasinski’s first on-screen kiss was with Jenna Fischer in the season two finale, “Casino Night,” in 2006.
Fans that will recall that “Casino Night” is the episode in which Jim finally confesses his feelings to Pam, who in turn tells him that they can’t be together because she was still engaged to Roy at the time. However later, as Pam is discussing the evening’s turn of events with her mother over the phone, Jim returns and dramatically kisses her, and she kisses him back.
Except, as it was quickly pointed out, Jim and Pam’s first first kiss was in the episode “The Dundies” earlier that season,” when Pam felt God in that Chili’s that night and gave her friend a quick smooch.
uh… hello? the dundies? pic.twitter.com/8sQxkA03VB
— letty ★ (@bforesunst) November 13, 2019
But was it? Being that it was a supposedly “friendly” kiss, and that Jim technically didn’t kiss her back, people are going all revisionist history and claiming that one didn’t even count.
Whoever runs The Office Twitter account brought receipts, however, citing a 2016 Sundance interview when Krasinski claimed that his first onscreen kiss was in “Casino Night.”
It seems like @johnkrasinski might remember it differently… https://t.co/NKYNzKF8Di
— The Office on Peacock (@theofficetv) November 13, 2019
And then, as they say, all hell broke loose.
But Pam kisses Jim pic.twitter.com/WjxlpzCVkg
— Campbell♦️ (@CampbellMUFC) November 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/anajumn/status/1194668645944832012
Everyone trying to decide right now pic.twitter.com/bnE0MEA2N3
— Josh (@VenomisedVision) November 13, 2019
uh… hello? the dundies? pic.twitter.com/8sQxkA03VB
— letty ★ (@bforesunst) November 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/OlivarryGrephen/status/1194693078231195649
https://twitter.com/aleechaye/status/1194664734701821952
https://twitter.com/planetmillerr/status/1194664644754976768
It started out with a kiss 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) November 13, 2019
Fischer and her costar Kate Flannery also jumped in to further tease fans:
Or was it Dundies?? Discuss! https://t.co/7wee0cF4nO
— Jenna Fischer (@jennafischer) November 13, 2019
— Kate Flannery (@KateFlannery) November 13, 2019
The account that started the whole thing continued to fan the flames throughout the day:
When was Jim and Pam's first 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 on-screen kiss?
According to IMDb and @johnkrasinski, it was “Casino Night.” But if you ask #TheOffice fans…. It’s “The Dundies.” So what is the truth? 🤔 https://t.co/kVhwP89RP0
— The Office on Peacock (@theofficetv) November 13, 2019
— The Office on Peacock (@theofficetv) November 13, 2019
One of these is a real kiss. pic.twitter.com/Hx93wl3wm9
— The Office on Peacock (@theofficetv) November 14, 2019
Can both sides be right? Clearly, from an actor’s perspective, it’s easy to see why Krasinski would consider “Casino Night” as his first onscreen kiss — as he didn’t even do the kissing the first time around. But if you want to be technical about it, that was actually Jim’s first kiss with Pam … we think?
Maybe some Parks and Recreation fans would like to weigh in.