Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston Directed One Of The Office's Deadliest Episodes

"The Office" had an impressive array of guest directors over the course of its nine-season run. J.J. Abrams, Harold Ramis, and Jon Favreau — who coincidentally was on the original shortlist of actors to play Michael Scott in "The Office" — all helmed episodes of the series. Another big-name guest director who wasn't brought on until the ninth and final season was Bryan Cranston, who oversaw the fourth episode of season 9, entitled "Work Bus." While the season itself isn't anyone's favorite stretch of the series, Cranston's episode is memorable for a very dark reason — namely, for almost killing the entire cast of the show.

The series' 180th episode overall, "Work Bus" saw the staff of Dunder Mifflin leave the office after Jim (John Krasinkski) convinces Dwight (Rainn Wilson) that the office itself is unsafe. Dwight then brings in an airport shuttle bus as a temporary workspace and the staff cram themselves into the vehicle for what becomes a disastrous day of work as they predictably find the cramped quarters too much to handle.

"Work Bus" originally aired October 18, 2012, and was one of the better installments in season 9. As "The Office" seasons go, the ninth represents a point at which the show had very much lost its way, but Cranston's episode is a relatively decent effort. Had Pam actress Jenna Fischer not stepped in, however, it might well have gone down as one of the most infamous TV episodes of all time. In fact, it very nearly ended "The Office" prematurely due to a deadly oversight.

In 2022, Bryan Cranston stopped by the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was asked about his one directorial stint on "The Office." After being told that the former cast refer to his episode as "Death Bus," the "Breaking Bad" star recalled the experience of shooting and how it was very nearly a complete disaster. As it turns out, the bus itself was extremely hot — not surprising considering the show was shot in Los Angeles and the bus was packed with people. So, to get around these sweltering conditions, the crew rigged up an AC unit to the back of the bus which pumped in cold air through the sunroof. Unfortunately, they didn't notice that, as Cranston recalled, "the intake for the refrigeration system was exactly lined up to where the tailpipe of the bus was," which meant that exhaust fumes were being sucked up into the AC unit and sent directly into the bus.

"Jenna Fischer actually saved everyone's life," said Cranston. "She said, 'I smell exhaust, it's coming inside the bus.'" At first, Cranston — who has since got the wheels turning on a possible "Office" spin-off movie — didn't believe Fischer, but as he explained to Colbert, he eventually went to check the unit himself. "I got a chair and I stood up on the thing," he said. "I stuck my nose up in there and sure enough it was billowing down. It was carbon monoxide." The actor claimed to have gotten dizzy after going in for another sniff, before realizing, "Oh my God, we could've all been dead."

Speaking to Business Insider at the premiere of his Cranston-starring film "Jerry & Marge Go Large," Dwight actor Rainn Wilson remembered the shoot, saying, "They didn't think about the fact that the exhaust would recycle and potentially poison us and knock us out." He then joked that Fischer "threw up" on his shoes, and that Erin actress Ellie Kemper "went into a coma," adding, "We completely 100% blame Bryan Cranston."

In their book, "The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There" (via Mashable), Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin, recounted their experience on "Work Bus," with Kinsey writing:

"We want you to know that we see the irony that Bryan Cranston, aka Walter White Sr. or 'Heisenberg' as he was known in crystal methamphetamine circles, was an accessory to almost murdering the entire cast of 'The Office.' I assure you this is pure coincidence."

According to the book, the bus itself was crammed with not just 14 members of the cast, but four crew members and a whole array of furniture and props. As such, when the AC unit was installed, everybody was understandably relieved. "We were thrilled," wrote Kinsey, "and as we loaded back onto the cool, reorganized bus, everyone relaxed and decided to put the morning behind us."

Fischer then recalled noticing a "funny smell," before one of the camera operators actually started to feel unwell, before stumbling and putting down her camera. Thankfully, everybody was okay despite, as Fischer put it, the cast and crew being "slowly poisoned" for a brief period of filming.

It's genuinely a little disturbing to think that one of the most beloved comedies of all time — and the best sitcom of all time according to IMDb — could have ended under truly tragic circumstances in what would surely have been one of the most upsetting on-set accidents in history. In that sense, we can actually be glad that season nine just stands as one of the most upsetting seasons in TV history.