Following a nine-year run on NBC, it’s safe to say The Office has been cemented in the history of pop culture as one of the funniest, most creative shows of its time thanks to its talented cast and witty writing. Highlighting a hilarious hodgepodge of moments that have left indelible imprints with obsessed fans and eager audiences, there has been no plot more intriguing from the award-winning mockumentary workplace comedy than the identity of the Scranton Strangler. Quickly becoming food for fan theories with audiences questioning whether one of the Dunder Mifflin employees could be behind the bizarre crimes, speculation online has often pointed to Human Resources director Toby Flenderson — played by actor and writer Paul Lieberstein — as the suspect.
With online discussions filled with theories of Toby’s whereabouts during specific moments ahead of the Scranton Strangler incidents, many have come to believe the mild-mannered, soft-spoken HR rep was behind the wild encounters. After all, many of the biggest incidents involving the Scranton Strangler coincided with moments at Dunder Mifflin that could have instigated stress for Toby, like when Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) welcome their first child Cece into the world and Andy (Ed Helms) gifts them a copy of the newspaper as a keepsake for the big day. However, the headline states, “Scranton Strangler strikes again,” possibly alluding to Toby’s frustration of Pam being happy with Jim. Or there are the instances of Toby’s absence during the Scranton Strangler car chase and the car shown on TV looking identical to one often parked at Dunder Mifflin.
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Well aware of all the instances and more evidence that has piled up since with fans theorizing over Easter eggs and hints, Lieberstein told PopCulture.com when asked if Toby could be capable of something so heinous, the multitalented actor, director, writer and producer laughed. “Oh yeah,” he said, believing Toby could have done something that heinous. “There’s a lot we didn’t get to do with this Scranton Strangler. We had a lot of designs, and it was never quite mentioned that he wasn’t a murderer. He would strangle you until he passed out.”
Positing over the possibility of a spin-off about the Scranton Strangler or even a show about Toby Flenderson after he got fired by Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Lieberstein says the possibility “could be really fun” if ever given the opportunity. Admitting how Toby would not have “gotten very far,” the Connecticut native speculates life after Dunder Mifflin for the soft-spoken HR rep would have been a simple one. “He found himself another little HR gig where probably nothing that lasted quite as long, maybe bouncing from job to job.”
While Lieberstein is humbled by the fan reception and his time playing Toby Flenderson for nine seasons on the sitcom, he is currently excited about his new “anti-sci-fi” Audible Original project, MIDDLESPACE: The Rebels Attack, And Then The Other Side Attacks As Well…, streaming exclusively on Audible on Thursday, Nov. 18. The Audible Original and Above Average Production finds Starship Captain George Cottonhammer (Will Forte) bored out of his job, annoyed by his staff and hopeful over a dream to one day open his own intergalactic burger franchise. But his life soon changes forever when he refuses to answer an intergalactic distress call, which turns out to be a trap, offering him the chance to make himself a hero. With origins in a short play that the creative Lieberstein put on in the past, which featured Captain Cottonhammer, Lieberstein admits he really liked the role he imagined and just kept writing until he developed MIDDLESPACE.
“It’s basically like a sci-fi, but I’m kind of calling it anti-sci-fi. I’ve always felt that these captains of spaceships care so much about their jobs and put themselves, put their lives on the line every week it shows and it just seems so false to me,” he told PopCulture. “I just feel there’d be a union and people would want to put themselves in the line zero times. And so this was taking that position, and trying to put a more realistic, or at least, comic character.”
