‘The Office’ star Jenna Fischer was surprised that latter seasons were good when she rewatched show

Jenna Fischer is sticking up for the final seasons of The Office. 

The Blades of Glory star reflected on revisiting all 201 episodes of the NBC sitcom on her podcast Office Ladies, which finished its 9-season rewatch in October.

“My biggest takeaway from having rewatched it was that it’s really good the whole time,” Fischer, who played receptionist Pam Beesley on every season of the show, said in an interview with Dana Carvey and David Spade on Fly on the Wall.

Fischer explained that she’s heard a narrative that the show declined in quality about halfway through its run, which lasted from 2005 until 2013, and that the sitcom struggled once series lead Steve Carell exited during season 7. 

“I think there was this lore, especially among the cast and the creatives, that maybe we hit our peak in season 3 or season 4,” she said. “And also this belief that the two seasons after Steve left, we were just treading water and maybe they weren’t as good. But when I watched everything, some of my favorite episodes were in seasons 8 and 9 after Steve had left. There were still these amazing storylines.”

Fischer went on to name some of her favorite moments and arcs from the show.

“I have to say now, when I look back, some of my favorite episodes were also in seasons 4 through 6,” she noted, shouting out the season 4 episode “Dinner Party,” which featured a painfully uncomfortable gathering at Michael’s house, as well as the season 5 storyline in which Michael starts his rival business, the Michael Scott Paper company 

“That’s just great TV,” Fischer opined. “But yeah, I think some of the award nominations stopped after season 3. So I think maybe we got in our heads and thought, ‘Oh, I guess we’re not creating as great.'”

Fischer also said that she has mixed feelings about her work on The Office when evaluating the quality of her performance.

“Sometimes I watch it and I’m like, ‘I’ll never do work that good again. S—, that was great,” she explained. “But then there’s other scenes where I just cringe, where I’m like, ‘Oh, God, I remember how I struggled with that and I couldn’t do it, and now here it is for everyone to see, and I guess I just have to move on.’ So I’ve had both reactions.”

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Listen to the full conversation between Fischer, Carvey, and Spade above.