You won’t see her name in the credits. (Then again, you might. More on that later.) But Jennie Tan is nearly as much a part of the quirky cast of NBC’s “The Office” as Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly Halpert.
By day, Tan is a principle information designer at Intuit, working on QuickBooks Online. On Thursday nights – and in a lot of time in between – she becomes “Tanster,” running OfficeTally.com, the largest fan site for the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper company. The site has been viewed more than 76 million times, currently averaging 30,000 page views a day.
She’s been at it since 2006, and her efforts captured the attention of the show’s cast and crew, gaining their friendship, earning trips to the set and appearing in a cameo role in one episode. She joined the Dunder Mifflin gang in a recent farewell party in Scranton, Pa., and just may have a speaking role in the show’s finale, which airs May 16. You’ll have to watch to find out.
With the comedy ending and Dunder Mifflin closing its doors after nine seasons and some 200 episodes, we asked Tanster to reflect on her unexpected rise to the top, the future of OfficeTally and the wrap party in Scranton, which she called “an all-day affair.” (That’s what she said!) Here’s more of what Tanster said.
How did OfficeTally get started?
I started in 2006, during Season 2. Back then, MySpace was a big social media presence, and several of “The Office” cast, including B.J. Novak, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, and Kate Flannery, had accounts there. I started writing them, asking them questions, telling them about my site, and it grew from there.
I work on it around three hours a day, every day. By the time the series finale airs, I estimate I will have spent over 10,000 hours working on the site!
What’s been some of the highlights?
I have visited “The Office” set six times, made a cameo appearance in Season 5′s “Company Picnic” episode and moderated a writers’ panel at Paley Center in Los Angeles. I’ve rallied the fanbase with a petition to supersize “The Office” finale, collecting over 20,000 signatures, which hopefully led NBC to give the show an extra 15 minutes.
What was it like at the filming of the finale?
I watched the filming of the series finale, and actually shot a scene myself! I memorized a whopping seven lines, and halfway through the filming, the lines were rewritten; I had to memorize the new lines on the spot. It was a little nerve wracking but very exciting! I can’t say too much about my scene, except to say that after every take, my eyes would well up. There’s no guarantee that my scene will make it into the final version of the episode, but hopefully it will be on the Season 9 DVD. And if I make it on the air, I get in the credits!
Any spoilers you can share with us?
There are quite a few guest stars that longtime fans will appreciate seeing (and no, I’m not talking about Steve Carell.) And there’s a wedding!
What was it like being at the wrap party in Scranton?
Exciting and emotional. It was an all-day affair. Twelve cast members attended, as well as producers, writers and staff. I was embedded with them for the weekend, which meant I was basically part of their entourage and tagged along wherever they went. It was absolutely fantastic. The fan response to the cast being there was insane. Kind of like the second coming of the Beatles! I felt like a rock star as well. Only in Scranton do people ask me for my autograph and photo!
What were the highlights for you?
Two moments stood out. Producer Steve Burgess presented me with a Dundie for “Best Office Fan Site.” And Jenna Fischer, aka Pam Beesly Halpert, introduced me to the crowd at the main farewell celebration! I didn’t know that either of those things would happen, so I was completely vaklempt! Just an amazing experience.
Do you plan to watch the finale? Will you host a big viewing party?
While many of my friends here at Intuit insist I throw a party, that’s going to be one of the biggest work nights for OfficeTally. I’ll probably do what I always do every Thursday night – sit excitedly in front of my home computer starting at around 6 p.m. Pacific time, waiting for East Coast comments to come in for moderation. Then once the show airs on the West coast, I’ll manually transcribe quotes from the episode.
What will happen to OfficeTally when the show is over? Do you plan to continue following The Office?
OfficeTally will live on. I won’t work on it with the same intensity as I have been for the past seven years, but there is still content that I’d like to post, stuff that I hope longtime fans will appreciate. And the fans love following the cast members, so I’ll still report on what they’re up to.
Will you find another show to blog about?
I think after “The Office” ends, I will cry every day for two weeks, and then take a long vacation far away from my computer. Then I’ll figure out my next online project. Got any ideas? It’s possible that I will blog about another show. But I would have to love it as much as I love “The Office.” So it’s possible, but not likely.
What has OfficeTally and “The Office” meant to you?
I started OfficeTally to simply learn about how to blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would turn into such a fan resource. And the more traffic it got, the more determined I was to make it the best fansite I could. It’s been a joy and an honor. “The Office” is a show that comes around once in a lifetime. I first fell in love with the show, and then I fell in love with the people who make the show. I have such admiration and respect for the cast, the producers, the writers and the crew, all of whom have made me feel so welcome and part of “The Office” family. I completely lucked out and words will never be able to express how grateful I am for this experience.
Photos: Jennie Tan, Intuit employee and blogger for OfficeTally.com (top right); Jennie Tan gets a hug from Jenna Fischer of “The Office.”
