Remember This Subtle Minnesota Moment From ‘The Office’?

Over the weekend, as we started the march towards Thanksgiving, one television channel was amid a mini-marathon of The Office. With the show on more for the background noise, as we worked on our weekend chores, I had to stop what I was doing for a subtle, unrecognized Minnesota moment of the show. It happens in Season 8; you'd miss it if you don't know the Minnesota connection.

The Office was such a popular show, that it spanned 9 seasons and won LOTS of awards for those who worked on the show as well as parent company NBC. Towards the end of the show series, the format seemed to change from a more linear storytelling model to more sketches being sewn together.

In Season 8, Episode 6 the episode is named 'Doomsday' and the plot of the episode is that the office has been making too many mistakes, so a 'system' was created by Dwight to prevent mistakes from happening. The system Dwight created resembled a Doomsday device, it's a funny idea, and this episode has some still funny moments because of the 'device'.

But lurking towards the end of the episode is the moment that gave me pause while folding laundry, it started with Andy, the new manager of the office, flicking on and off the lights in the office. Then as the CD player turns on, you hear it, a song from a band that hails from Minnesota, and it might just be the only song of theirs that you've ever heard before.

Semisonic's Closing Time

The song's appearance on the show in 2011, actually put the song back on the charts in some countries, after it was originally released on March 10, 1998.

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The group, which really saw more international success than US success, formed in Minneapolis in 1995, and has put out several albums. You can read more about the band here.

Now the next time you binge The Office and you get to Season 8, Episode 6, you can smugly smile, and know that tidbit of Minnesota-based trivia from The Office.