Why One The Office Star Refused To Say Some Of Their Character's Jokes

Summary Angela Kinsey took issue with certain jokes in The Office that painted Angela's Christianity in an overly stereotypical or negative light.

Kinsey reveals that she went to creator Greg Daniels about one comment Angela made about Oscar, and he agreed to remove it.

Some jokes in The Office haven't aged well and likely wouldn't be included if the show was made today.

The Office stars Angela Kinsey explains why she took issue with certain jokes that were written for her character. Created by Greg Daniels and serving as an American take on the British sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office first aired on NBC in 2005. The show, which follows a group of employees at a branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, features Kinsey starring as Angela, an uptight and religious woman working in the accounting department.

During a recent interview with fellow The Office cast member Rain Wilson on Wilson's Soul Boom podcast (via Deadline), Kinsey reveals that she refused to say certain lines on the show that painted Christianity in a disparaging light.

The actor, who says she was raised to have a “very warm, meaningful relationship” with her faith, took issue with one joke that featured her character being overly judgmental towards Oscar (Oscar Nuñez), a gay character. Check Kinsey's full comment below:

“Yeah, actually, there were one or two times in which there would be a joke written for her that I thought was just really stereotypical, maybe one note. I like to think of her as a full, well-rounded person. I do remember I remember there was a particular storyline between Angela and Oscar, where Angela was being super judge-y. I never went up to Greg about any joke, but there was a joke at Oscar’s expense, and I went up to Greg [Daniels] and I was like, ‘I can’t.' “I just was like, ‘I don’t feel good about it. I don’t feel good about that. I don’t feel like that’s what Jesus represented to me. And he was like, ‘OK.’ And he heard me, and he took the joke out. And the episode, it was ‘Gay Witch Hunt,’ had so many already. But that’s the one pivotal moment I remember being like, OK, this is feeling like a stereotype and very one note. I feel like she has more depth than that."

Related The Office: 10 Things About the Relationships That Haven’t Aged Well The Office when taken seriously has aged poorly in a lot of ways. Relationships are apart of this as many romances are a bit backwards.

Did The Office's Humor Ever Go Too Far?

Some Moments From The NBC Sitcom Wouldn't Be In The Show Today

While The Office's season 9 finale is now just over 10 years old, the first season of The Office came out nearly 20 years ago, meaning there will undoubtedly be aspects of the show that haven't aged well. The same can also be said for shows like Friends and Seinfeld, but it doesn't mean those shows are or should be any less beloved. Any show is a product of the time in which it was released, and what's seen as acceptable in one decade may not be seen the same way in the next.

Greg Daniels is currently developing a reboot of The Office, though the project hasn't yet been given the green light.

Generally speaking, The Office has aged well and most of the jokes are in good taste. There are several moments, however, that might not be in the show if it released today, or, at the very least, would be handled differently. A lot of the antics in the "Diversity Day" episode, for example, which sees the characters having to pretend to be other races, would likely have been altered, in addition to parts of "Benihana Christmas," which sees Michael unable to tell the difference between several Asian characters.

That being said, jokes like these tend to highlight the show's character's flaws. For every offensive comment or joke that Michael makes, the series has other characters reacting negatively and pointing out just how unacceptable it is. In the case of Angela, the character's religion and conservative attitudes aren't meant to serve as a reflection of all religious people in the same way they aren't meant to serve as a reflection of all accountants – they're just a reflection of Angela. Clearly, though, for Kinsey, some jokes in The Office took things a tad too far.

Source: Soul Boom (via Deadline)