‘Shocking’ Office joke that was banned from Netflix goes viral

| Deputy TV editor Published October 22, 2026 11:37am Updated October 22, 2026 11:37am The Office wasn’t always wholesome (Picture Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) The US Office wasn’t exactly known as a controversial comedy back in the day. The critically acclaimed series could be toe-curlingly awkward (as anyone who’s seen Scott’s Tots would agree), but it was never deliberately cruel or dark. Yet that doesn’t mean it didn’t occasionally dip its toes into the murky waters of gallows humour, as people on X are learning today. In fact, the show once opened with a joke so dark it prompted a backlash and forced NBC to cut it from reruns, streams, and DVDs. The gag in question was the cold opening for the 2009 episode, Koi Pond, and saw hapless boss Michael (Steve Carell) open a haunted house in the Dunder Mifflin warehouse for Halloween. The haunted house, as you can probably guess, was tremendously underwhelming right until the end, when we got to the punchline where Michael faked a hanging in front of a group of toddlers. The cold open was cut from future broadcasts (Picture: peacock/ @DunderMifflinAS) Yes, really… oh, and Michael was dressed as the SNL ‘Dick in a Box’ character the whole time. As Michael jerks and spasms in front of the kids, he tells them: ‘Just remember suicide is never the answer, alright?’ According to AV Club, an anonymous producer explained that the scene caused public outcry, but that wasn’t the only reason it was cut from all future broadcasts. Caryn Zucker, who was married at the time to then-president and CEO of NBCUniversal Jeff Zucker, worked in suicide prevention and urged her husband to have the scene cut. Big fan of Book Face (Picture: Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images) They say ‘the episode was re-cut and re-delivered, with the original HD-SR delivery masters collected back from NBC and thrown into deep storage.’ Interestingly, multiple outlets claim the clip wasn’t taken off the official Office YouTube account until 2019, which means it lives on online. Which brings us to today, where the ‘infamous’ clip was shared by an Office fan account and has been viewed more than six million times. And fans of the show have been loving it. It stayed on the YouTube channel (Picture: peacock/ @DunderMifflinAS) ‘This is one of the top five funniest moments on the show, so of course it’s banned,’ wrote @wrighthouseprod. ‘This is quite literally the first time an Office clip has made me laugh,’ added @TylerFromOnline. Michael went too far (Picture: NBC via Hulu) ‘I remember watching this when it aired, and laughed so hard,’ said @MidWestMet. ‘Didn’t realise it was cut out later.’ A few fans, however, admitted they can see why this was banned from future broadcasts. @BazBombadil joked: ‘I was like “this isn’t that bad, why would this be ba—oh….”’ While @@yellowsclub wrote: ‘I was very confused by why it was banned, and then I wasn’t. lol’. Deals of the Day See London's Christmas lights from an open-top double-decker bus this winter My skin always suffers when the heating goes on but this serum changed that The skincare formula that finally took the guesswork out of my routine Families can save up to 20% on summer 2027 holidays in Club Med's four-day sale Cold mornings are coming and this is the dressing gown I want to live in The Office is available to stream on Netflix, Disney Plus, and NOW. Arrow MORE: Halloween decor doesn’t have to be tacky, and these stylish buys prove it Arrow MORE: Suffolk’s ‘most depressing pumpkin patch’ event compared to Willy Wonka disaster Arrow MORE: Here’s why you shouldn’t be spooked if your pumpkins are smaller this Halloween TV Newsletter Sign up and tell us which TV shows you love to watch to get personalised updates every morning.