Guy Fieri — one of the most popular celebrity chefs— has spent nearly 15 years starring in and hosting entertaining culinary shows. But one of Fieri’s favorite things to watch on television isn’t food-focused. It’s the workplace comedy, The Office.
That’s right, the Mayor of Flavortown is obsessed with the employees of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch. And much to his delight, he recently got to team up with one of the show’s former stars, John Krasinski, to help lift spirits and raise money for restaurant workers in need.
Fieri guest starred on the potluck episode of Some Good News, in which Krasinski invited famous chefs to cook viewer-submitted recipes on video chat. Fieri made a “Dynamite,” which has Big Sloppy Joe Energy. And then Krasnski surprised him by announcing a $3 million PepsiCo donation to his Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, which provides financial assistance to restaurant workers impacted coronavirus.
In a recent interview with Mashable, Fieri talked about his deep admiration for Krasinski and his Some Good News quarantine efforts, and also gushed over The Office’s brilliance.
“So listen, I met John, and the dude has a memory like a vault,” Fieri said. “He calls and he says, ‘Hey, what’s up, Guy? What’s going on?’ Or he texted me first. And he goes, ‘Man it’s been so long. I think the last time I saw you was on the backset of The View getting ready to go to…’ and I go, ‘You have got to be kidding me that you remember that.'”
While Fieri may not remember every detail of his last in-person run-in with Krasinski, he’s a huge fan of the actor and his work.
“We kind of shot the shit for a little bit about doing [Some Good News] and I said, ‘Let’s go!'” Fieri recalled. “[Krasinski] goes, ‘You don’t want to hear anymore?’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, I get the whole concept. I love what you’re doing. I went on and saw it. You’re doing what the world needs.'”
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“John is witty, god. Having a chance to collaborate with him and work on that project — I always say that when you play with people who play really strong, you only play better. Whether it’s musicians, or athletes, or whatever,” Fieri continued. “If you get to play with somebody of John’s level, and caliber, and enthusiasm, and style, you just play better. And what we did and what it manifested into was just awesome.”
“A fan is an understatement. I thought everybody was genius on it.”
Fieri adores the positive energy Krasinski’s putting in the world with his show every Sunday night, and thinks we should all try to focus more on the beautiful things happening around us. “I don’t know if you saw the graduation episode, but oh my gosh. It gives you goosebumps,” he said. “I mean, looking at Samuel L. Jackson on the side of the road yelling compliments to people? Ugh, it was just gorgeous.”
When asked if Fieri is as big a fan of The Office as he is of Krasinski, the chef replied, “A fan is an understatement.”
“I have not watched many TV shows. I’m not a real big TV guy,” Fieri revealed before noting one recent exception: Yellowstone. “But I did watch The Office. I just thought everybody was genius on it. I thought it was so well done and I never saw the British version, but oh. So funny.”
“I love smart ass. I love smart aleck. I like puns. I like double entendres, you know? I love all the wittiness of it,” he explained.
If you follow Fieri on social media, you may have already guessed that the chef had a soft spot for the show.
Fieri’s team has created several brilliant Office-inspired Guy memes over the years — including one of Guy’s head Photoshopped onto Michael Scott’s body with the caption, “I like waking up to the smell of bacon, sue me,” and another of the Dunder Mifflin employees watching Triple D in the conference room (instead of that DVD logo bouncing around).
We’d suspected the chef might be a fan of the show, but now that we have confirmation Fieri’s appearance on Some Good News is even more exciting than before.