Published: August 31, 2009 08:49 am      

NIAGARA FALLS: Jim and Pam wed here — for “The Office”

Emmy-winning TV comedy crew shoots wedding scenes in Niagara Falls

Like thousands of other couples throughout the ages, Jim and Pam were married in Niagara Falls on Thursday.

There was debate over where to tie the knot. It was a toss up between the Maid of the Mist or Terrapin Point. Ultimately the boat won and viewers of the Emmy-winning TV comedy, “The Office,” will be able to watch the whole thing unfold during a two-part show that airs on Oct. 8.

Tourist and locals who happened upon the shooting that took place at two sites in the city were able to get a close-up look at the couple as they wed on the boat and then booked into their hotel, a fictional location called the “Statler Falls Hotel,” at the Red Coach Inn on Buffalo Avenue. The inn was also decorated with a kitschy new sign that read: “Prepare to Falls in Love.”

While there have been murmurs the show was set to shoot in the Falls, events that unfolded Thursday had been in the works for several weeks, according to state parks spokesperson Angela Berti.

“I was sworn to the utmost secrecy,” said Berti who hosted a team from the show a few weeks ago, touring the city’s best spots and serving up chicken wings and beef on weck, which were requested again when the crew and cast arrived on Wednesday.

The team never once considered the Canadian side of the Falls, Berti said. “It never even crossed their minds.”

Producer Randy Cordray said the show, which is set in an office in Scranton, Pa., was looking for a place infused with the philosophy of executive producer Paul Lieberstein, where the unexpected can occur in the everyday world.

“Jim proposed to Pam at a highway reststop in the rain in front of the gas pumps,” he explained. He said that Lieberstein, also a head writer, bases the show’s content around the idea that “some very, very significant events happen in our lives in the most unexpected and sometimes mundane places.”

Even though Niagara Falls may appear mundane and rundown in some parts, he said, “It’s still one of the most iconic and romantic spots on the planet.”

Thursday morning the actors John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were “married” during filming that occurred during two rides on the Maid of the Mist, with actual tourists relegated to the top deck while filming went on with extras on the lower deck. The tourists were asked to refrain from taking photos or video until the filming was completed and then they were given a photo opportunity, according to Tim Ruddy, a spokesperson for the Maid of the Mist. “We kept things running as usual,” he said, noting “The tourists were great.”

Locally, the impact of the production was felt in the money spent on hotels and meals for the cast and crew and well as the employment of several locals hired to assist in the filming. Shelley Hirsch of Amherst, an independent production assistant who has worked on a variety of Hollywood movies including “Pirates of the Carribean III,” was grateful for the work.

“It’s nice,” Hirsch said of the effort producers made to hire people from the community. “It gives local crews a chance to work and build up credentials.”

As for the show’s producer’s, they feel like they got their money’s worth. “There’s nothing you guys deserve more than to be recognized for the beautiful things you have here,” Cordray said to a reporter as he watched filming of the actors unpacking their car in front of the Red Coach.

Certainly the area will receive its own benefits from having a high-rated show set an episode in the Falls.

“We will get millions and millions of viewers watching NBC and seeing Niagara Falls,” said the state park’s Berti, “And that’s priceless.”

The only downside was the show’s representatives continued to remain silent about how the plot develops as the wedding progresses.

“You’re just going to have to watch,” Cordray smiled. “We liken it to a wonderful, sparkling magic act and we just don’t like to peel back the curtain.”