Last night, The Office featured what was apparently edited from the pilot for the abandoned spin-off series Shrute Farms. The episode “The Farm” featured Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) returning home after his aunt had died.
In the episode, we also met Dwight’s brother Jeb (Thomas Middleditch) and his sister Fanny (Majandra Delfino). The three siblings discovered that their aunt left her large farm to the three of them if they would return to take care of the farm.
The enjoyable episode did seem like a pilot with the introduction of characters that you expect to be developed. Also, there were some oddball touches, touching on the strangeness we are used to seeing when Dwight has returned home in previous episodes.
The Office has long been one of my favorite shows in both the American and the U.K. versions. And even though I have missed Steve Carrell, I so hate to end my relationship with the characters that I would have given any spinoff a chance. It would have been interesting to see how Dwight’s life developed. But, alas, it is not to be.
“Sons and Daughters”
One of the interesting aspects of the episode was the appearance of a Decemberists song I really like, “Sons and Daughters.” In one scene, Dwight and his family sit around playing instruments and singing the song.
While it seems odd that the Schrutes would be playing a recent song by the Decemberists instead of an old German folk tune, it was great to hear the Decemberists and “Sons and Daughters” getting some wider exposure. (Update: The original video of the scene is no longer on YouTube, but the video below includes some images from the episode.)
The Decemberists
“Sons and Daughters” appeared as the final song on the Decemberists album The Crane Wife (2006), the band’s major label debut. The album is partly based on a Japanese folk tale about a man who discovers the woman he married is actually a crane he had once helped.
As part of the song cycle on the album, “Sons and Daughters” is a hopeful ending, looking forward to a better future.
When we arrive sons and daughters;
We’ll make our homes on the water;
We’ll build our walls with aluminum;
We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon, now.
Although it looks like there is no happy ending for Schrute Farms for now, we are hopeful that The Office will pull it together to give us a finale that lives up to this song and the great series. In this video, the Decemberists, who have previously appeared on The Simpsons, play “Sons and Daughters” at Metro Theatre in Sydney in 2010:
What do you think of the final season of “The Office”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
I recognized the song and figured it had been planned as the failed show’s theme; shame it won’t get heard for seven weeks and then replaced by reruns of ‘Go On’.
Ha. Yeah, it would have been interesting it that would have been the theme song for the show. And you’re probably right that networks probably haven’t stuck with a rural show like this one would have been maybe since “Green Acres.” Thanks for the comment.
It’d be perfect for a theme, being comprised mostly of a catchy hook; mayhap NBC was hoping for another ‘I’ll Be There for You’ success. Thanks for the blog entry, it was a first result when I searched for the lyric, which I couldn’t place but knew it couldn’t be Okkervil River (my gut wouldn’t believe me).
While I pity the Schrute Farms never known to us, I have no doubt Mose will land on his feet after a bit of a run, naturally.
Good point about the comparison to the hit “Friends” song (and you’re right that there wasn’t much to link to about the song’s appearance on the show). And I hope your are right about Mose. My one disappointment about the episode was that there was not more of Mose, who always cracked me up when he appeared in past episodes. But maybe it is partly because he usually appears and disappears that makes his character so funny. Thanks for the comment.
I think the Office version is the best version of the song, the tuba gives a really warm underpinning to it.
I am not sure if it would suit an opening song to each episode of the Office, it’s too sentimental and does not capture the seemingly mundane character of everyday worklife and yet the small wee dramas we all experience in our work place worlds of which this show tries to portray.