22M tune in for 'The Office' special

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- About 22 million people tuned in for Sunday's special one-hour episode of the U.S. comedy series "The Office," NBC said.

The super-sized installment -- which saw Dwight (Rainn Wilson) set the office on fire to emphasize his safety lesson, causing Stanley (Leslie David Baker) to suffer a heart attack and prompting all the Dunder Mifflin Scranton employees to blow off steam by roasting their stress-inducing boss Michael (Steve Carell) -- aired after the Super Bowl.

NBC said an average of 22 million people watched the episode, with an estimated 37.7 million tuning in for all or part of it.

This marks a new series record for "The Office" and the biggest overall viewership for any NBC entertainment telecast since the May 13, 2004, telecast of "ER," the network said.