Before they were stars...

Okay, I have a confession to make. I've only recently begun to watch The Office on NBC. Before March, I only knew that it came on either before or after Scrubs on Thursdays (I can never remember which, and thanks to the magic that is the DVR, I never really have to worry about it).

It is, in fact, thanks to the magic of the DVR that I even began watching The Office at all. Desperately in need of something both new and interesting to keep my attention during late night feedings so I wouldn't nod off, one day I just started going through the channel guide on the DVR. When I got to the listing for The Office, I remembered that a couple of people had told me I'd really enjoy it...and a few others whose taste I respect really enjoyed it themselves.

And as a former resident in a "cubicle hell" environment, I figured I'd probably get a lot of the jokes.

Boy, was I right on all counts.

I love love LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. The writing is smart and hilarious, the cast of characters both quirky and recognizable (yes, most office environments have someone resembling even Dwight Schrute!). And the best part is that I have 3 1/2 seasons worth of episodes that for right now are brand new to me.

For me, even the reruns aren't reruns. Yet.

So anyway, there I was, watching my very first episode of The Office sometime in March while feeding Pumpkin at about 2 in the morning. I noticed the receptionist character, Pam Beesly (yeah, that's her in the picture above), and couldn't stop thinking that she looked awfully familiar. After the feeding was done and Pumpkin was tucked into bed, I came back downstairs and did a quick internet search. I found out the actress's name is Jenna Fischer, and went to wikipedia to see what else she might have been in that I'd recognize.

When the page came up, I was about to scroll down to find her filmography, but before I could, two things caught my eye. The first was her date of birth--March of 1974. "Hm," I thought. "She's a month older than me."

The second was this sentence: "She received a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Truman State University."

Um, that's where I went to college.

Now, I'm not trying to insinuate that Jenna Fischer and I were BFFs in college (best friends forever, for any dear readers who might be wondering), but I do know this much. I thought she looked familiar. I didn't recognize any of her work other than The Office. Truman State isn't tiny, but isn't exactly a gigantic school either (about 6,000 total undergrads). Based on our age, we would have been there at about the same time. AND, I did have some friends in the theatre department and went to a bunch of their shows to support them.

Somewhere along the line, I bet we crossed paths.

Nothing earth-shattering there, I guess...but still interesting to think about.

In mildly related news, I noticed in the closing credits that the Executive Producer of The Office is a guy named Michael Schur.

Um, that's my last name. And there sure (haha) aren't a lot of us around who share that name.

A quick search reveals that Michael is originally from Connecticut.

My folks are from Massachusetts. Their hometown is pretty much right on the border with Connecticut.

Anyone have a family tree handy???

LH