Second Drink: Moroccan Christmas

Summary

Office Ladies – Second Drink: Moroccan Christmas

Podcast Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Date: May 25, 2026
Episode Focus: Behind-the-scenes stories, set details, and insider reflections on The Office’s “Moroccan Christmas” (Season 5, Episode 11)

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Episode Overview

This "Second Drink" revisits “Moroccan Christmas” with Jenna and Angela refreshing old breakdowns, answering fan questions, and sharing a trove of new behind-the-scenes details, deleted stories, cast and crew contributions, and notable set secrets. The episode is a celebration of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Christmas party where Phyllis throws a Moroccan-themed bash, Dwight masterminds a black market doll trade, Meredith sets her hair ablaze, and one of the show’s notable scandalous affairs gets dramatically outed.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Festive Scene

• Moroccan Christmas Theme: The party spearheaded by Phyllis stands out as a colorful, over-the-top holiday in the bullpen—one meant in part to antagonize the ever-rigid Angela.
  • “Get out your Christmas plaid, but put away that Nativity scene—Phyllis is going to throw you the party of a lifetime.” – Jenna (08:27)
• Reason for Only Three Christmas Episodes by Season Five: Season 1 was too short, and Season 4’s writers' strike axed their holiday party. (09:38)
• Group Camaraderie: Both hosts fondly recall that Christmas episodes meant big ensemble scenes and “loopy” energy on set.

2. Pranks, Props, and Set Design

The Gift-Wrapped Desk Prank

• Origin: Writer Justin Spitzer got the idea from real-world office prank stories—wrapping a coworker’s desk was often cited.

• Execution Saga:

  • Four prototype desks (chicken wire, Styrofoam, balsa wood, cardboard) painstakingly wrapped to find the one that would successfully collapse under weight.
  • Stand-in Steven Socks did real "crash" tests; the Styrofoam version delivered the comedic collapse. ("It was pretty memorable." – Steven, 24:37)
  • “Rain[n] nailed it on the first take, so we didn’t even need any backups. It was a one taker.” – Jenna, 26:54

• Phil Shea, Prop Master: Worked overtime on this episode: gift desks, Princess Unicorn dolls, “power glasses” for Phyllis, and even “fakey” props like a rubber pen and TV trash.

Princess Unicorn – Black Market Dolls

• Backstory:
  • Storyline pitched by new writer Halsted Sullivan, spurred by Aaron Scher (“kids love princesses... and unicorns!”). The catchphrase – “my horn can pierce the sky” – is Halsted’s.
• Toy Design:
  • Required original design to avoid existing IP; NBC legal had to approve.
  • A commercial was filmed, later unearthed by fans.
• Fan Engagement:
  • Princess Unicorn’s jingle became an on-set earworm.
  • “My horn can pierce the sky!” – Michael, various moments, and the hosts, 35:02

Other Fun Set Details

• Whiteboard Easter Eggs:
  • Fan Izzy T. decoded the entire fake December Dunder Mifflin calendar (04:16), filled with company minutiae.
• Phyllis’ Power Glasses:
  • Chosen as part of a new, boss-lady look, even with prescription lenses. (28:07)

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3. Deleted Scenes, Fan Letters, and Background Gags

• Angela’s Christmas Tree Removal:

  • The extended tree-dragging scene—a physical comedy sequence—sadly relegated to deleted scenes. “The tree fell on my head!” – Angela, 31:15
  • Notable deleted talking-heads: Angela compares herself to Ronald Reagan, Phyllis channels sassy queen-anthem energy. (32:29)

• Jim and Pam’s ‘Office Gift’ Plotline:

  • Entire background gag cut: they agree to only give each other gifts pilfered from the office due to money troubles.
  • “Pam says, ‘my credit’s so bad, I’m hoping someone steals my identity’…” – Angela, quoting the script, 38:03
  • Cut props included homemade paperclip sunglasses and a long-held gift watch.

• Responsibilitini:

  • Hilarious Michael Scott deleted talking head about “serving Meredith a responsibilitini—shaken, with lemon, twist of lime.” The hosts call its loss “the biggest tragedy.” (55:25)

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4. Stunts and Safety: Meredith’s Flaming Hair

• Meticulously Planned:
  • Stunt double Marie Fink wore a Nomex fire suit; extensive prep by the stunt coordinator, special effects, LA fire department, and prop/wig teams.
  • Kate Flannery (Meredith) spent the rest of the week wearing a “smelly, burnt wig” (48:38).
• Seamless Transition:
  • Stunt double performed the fire, then Kate stepped in for reaction shots while Rainn (Dwight) used a real extinguisher.

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5. Musical Moments and Sitar Slip-Ups

• Andy’s Sitar:
  • Ed Helms learned to play specifically for this episode—he picked it up by ear in just days, switching last-minute from “Silent Night” to “Deck the Halls.” (75:11)
  • Easter egg: Ed calls Angela “Ange” (as in real life) instead of “Angela” at 46:01; “Just warmed my heart...” – Angela

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6. Script Insights & Group Dynamics

• Talking Head Logistics:
  • Unusual camera angles used to allow flexibility in editing; no spoiler-y backgrounds, a lesson after “Weight Loss” tie-gate. (12:14)
• Intervention Scene:
  • Eight-minute takes shot all the way through; difficult for actors to stay in character and not laugh, especially as Paul Feig wanted genuine, grounded energy (57:01–57:48).
• Deleted Monologues:
  • Extended Meredith defense, Stanley’s confessional about drinking and eating, etc.

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7. Notable Moments and Quotes

• Angela’s Christmas Rage:

  • “She has levels of anger... and then Christmas is a whole different b*tch.” – Angela, 11:18
  • Fan request: put “Christmas” on an Office Ladies sweater!

• Intervention Wisdom:

  • “An intervention is like a surprise party for people who have addictions... you make them feel badly about themselves so they stop.” – Michael, 55:11

• Toby as Actor:

  • Jen Salata reveals Paul Lieberstein (Toby) purposely “chose not to act” sad in his failed toy-buying scene. “It didn’t seem worth it.” (71:00)

• Heartbreak and Human Moments:

  • Angela’s humiliation: “I felt the heat of my skin... I was as the character. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.” (73:59)
  • Andy’s unknowing serenade, followed by Angela’s tears—a genuine, actor-fueled moment.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

| Quote | Speaker | Timestamp | |-------|---------|-----------| | “My horn can pierce the sky!” | Michael (and hosts) | 03:44, 35:02 | | “The Christmas party I organized this year is going to be our best one yet... I’d call it A Touch of Phyllis.” | (deleted Phyllis talking head, read by Angela) | 06:27 | | “Christmas is a whole different b*tch.” | Angela Kinsey | 11:18 | | “I swear I remember us filming a tag of Dwight working up on the roof.” | Jenna Fischer | 19:54 | | “I vividly remember this test... [the desk] looked like a saggy rope bridge.” | Steven Socks | 22:37 | | “I really have to sing Deck the Halls? I just learned Silent Night!” | Ed Helms (as Andy, relayed by Jenna/Angela) | 75:11 | | “A responsibilitini—shaken, with lemon, twist of lime.” | Michael (Steve Carell, deleted scene) | 55:41 | | “He called me ‘Ange’... And Angela Martin would never let Andy call her Ange.” | Angela Kinsey | 46:04 | | “I think the entire party was thrown to piss off Angela.” | Jenna Fischer | 30:17 | | “Paul [Feig] told us: No comments or funny looks—just stand there, be in it. It’s truly a human moment.” | Jenna Fischer | 76:28 |

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Rich Background & Fan Interaction

• Listener Contributions: Episodes feature discoveries and deep-dive catches by fans, like Char T. unearthing the Princess Unicorn commercial (03:12), or Izzy T.’s dry-erase board breakdown.
• Banter and BFF Chemistry:
  • Jenna and Angela’s friendship and irreverent humor are woven through, including bits about eating granola off shirts and Angela’s longing for a “Christmas” merch sweater.
• Mailbag & Community Involvement:
  • Hosts embrace the ongoing dialogue with Office die-hards, making the pod both nostalgic and participatory.

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Essential Episode Timestamps

• Princess Unicorn song/jingle: 03:44
• Desk-wrapping backstory & tests: 18:10–26:54
• Deleted 'Responsibilitini' talking head: 55:25
• Angela’s public shaming / Andy’s heartbreak: 73:05–76:04
• Meredith’s hair fire stunt breakdown: 46:56–50:01
• Andy slips “Ange” instead of Angela: 46:01
• Jen Salata’s Paul Lieberstein (Toby) story: 70:08–72:15

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Memorable Moments

• Scene-stealing Physical Comedy: Angela’s deleted Christmas tree debacle and Kate Flannery’s wild dance moves.
• Authenticity in Character: Actors brought true emotions to pivotal moments—Angela’s humiliation tears, Ed Helms’ naive joy, genuine group tension in the intervention.
• Delightful Listener Catches: The whiteboard schedule, Princess Unicorn commercial, and subtle gags keep Dunder Mifflin’s fictional world feeling extra real.

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Final Thoughts

• Jenna and Angela’s infectious chemistry and deep affection for The Office shine bright as they recount the chaos, craft, and camaraderie behind Moroccan Christmas.
• The episode is a treasure trove for superfans, with playful banter, rare deleted content, and direct cast-and-crew memories bringing fresh life to a classic holiday episode.
• As the hosts say: “We had a deep bench, y’all,” and this inside look proves it—on set and in the Office Ladies podcast universe.

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Next Week: Animated podcast moments debut via Comedy Central/Cartoona Radio.
“Your horn can pierce the sky!”

Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

Okay lady, I did it. I did it. And you were right. I now also own a pair of Archies Art Support flip flops.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have been wearing them like so faithfully for years. I have the flip flops, I have the slides because, you know, I have high arches and my feet hurt until I started wearing these.

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, I am now wearing them constantly.

[Angela Kinsey]

They really make a big difference. And you know, summer's coming, you want to run errands, you want a cute pair of flip flops, you're not going to lose that arch support with Archies, y'. All.

[Jenna Fisher]

I also found out that they were designed by a physical therapist and the goal was to find something that felt great but still looked good. And they have achieved their goal.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

welcome to your second drink of Moroccan Christmas. This episode has a little bit of everything. It has an intervention, a scandalous affair and Princess Unicorn dolls. And we have a lot of fun details. We reached out to folks from the cast and crew for behind the scenes trivia. Listen to this list. Justin Spitzer, Aaron Scher, Halstead Sullivan, Jen Salata, Randy Cordray, James Carey, Stephen Socks and Kate Flannery all shared am amazing stuff with us for this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, we left no rock unturned for this one.

[Jenna Fisher]

This is true.

[Angela Kinsey]

So let's Dig into the second drink. A lot of you wrote in about the Princess Unicorn storyline, and like Jenna said, we have great details about how it all came together. And Jenna, when we broke down the episode, originally you mentioned there was a commercial for the doll, but we never played it on the podcast. Well, shout out to office ladies listener Char T. Who said, omg, I found the Princess Unicorn commercial and she shared the link with us. So I guess Peacock put it on their official YouTube a few years ago. You gotta hear it. It's Princess Unicorn. Wow.

[Jenna Fisher]

She's Princess Unicorn royalty with a horn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wearing the prettiest gowns ever worn. She's so elegant, so regal. I love her horn.

[Jenna Fisher]

Whenever you need a friend, she'll be

[Angela Kinsey]

there till the end.

[Jenna Fisher]

Princess Unicorn, I love you on Princess Unicorn. You can depend my horn can pierce the sky.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow. It's amazing. Royalty with a horn.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, Angela, when we first broke down this episode, you mentioned two things that you could make out on the dry erase board over in accounting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm.

[Jenna Fisher]

But we had a listener that was able to decipher almost the entire board. It is an amazing list of stuff. Izzy T. From Illinois wrote in with this list. And I thought you would enjoy this lady. Cause you love a background catch.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do. I really do.

[Jenna Fisher]

Izzy said, I looked very intensely at the whiteboard calendar that comes up around 1 minute, 47 seconds. And I think I have found out most of the month's schedule for December. On the 10th, there is copier machine maintenance at 10am and an Oxford rep due at 9am on the 15th, there is a Christmas party planning committee meeting at 4pm in the conference room. On the 17th, there is the Scranton CFC annual holiday luncheon at Cooper's at 12am and Izzy wrote, yes, it really says a.m. on the 18th, there's an accounting staff meeting at 9am on 23rd December, the warehouse is closed, and it says no shipping until 1226. Also on the 24th, it says Christmas Eve office closed at noon. Office Christmas party 1pm on the 25th, it says Merry Christmas. On December 30th, it says, Warehouse closed. No shipping until January 2nd. And then on December 31st, it says Office closed. And then for the 31st and the first, it says, Happy New Year.

[Angela Kinsey]

So much detail. That is amazing background catch work, because I remember I tried to zoom in and I pretty much. The thing that stood out to me was that the Christmas party was on Christmas Eve, which I thought was hilarious. Also, a lot of people wrote in about the Angela and Phyllis party planning committee power struggle. Elise M. From Pennsylvania says, I absolutely love the scenes between Angela and Phyllis. They are hilarious. They make me laugh every time I watch this episode. How did you all stop from completely cracking up? Well, Elise, it was really difficult not to laugh and we did laugh a ton. But just for fun, I wanted to see if there were any extra bits between me and Phyllis. And I found in the candy bag alts. All of these Phyllis talking head alts. They are so hilarious. And I wanted to read you one. Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's an alt about how she's kind of flexing that she's planning this Christmas party herself. Okay, ready?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis, the Christmas party I organized this year is going to be our best one yet. I'm really good at this. I'm considering starting a party planning business on the side. I'd call it A Touch of Phyllis because everything's a little sweeter with A Touch of Phyllis. And then she takes out a notepad and says, ooh, that's good. I can see that on a bench somewhere.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love it. A Touch of Phyllis. Well, lastly, we got a fan mail flurry. Samantha H, Debbie R. Nathan S. Michaela N. Allison D. Mackenzie P. And Tamara L. All wrote in because of a little bit of banter you and I had. Angela, I asked you why the character of Angela Martin was always so angry at Christmas. And ang, you said that there are levels to Angela Martin's anger, but that the quote, Christmas is a whole other level of b. Tch. Well, we got several messages. Like I said, a fan mail flurry of people saying, please make Christmas into a sweater. Another one said, quote, I really feel like Christmas needs to be on. Some seasonal merchant just really cracked me up.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Christmas is really fun. I totally forgot about that. Now you guys all have my wheels turning. All right, well, that was really fun. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. And Please go to officeladies.com to submit your favorite second drink moments and we'll share them on the podcast.

[Jenna Fisher]

And now, here's our second drink of Moroccan Christmas. I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fisher]

We were on the Office together and we're best friends. Right now we're doing the ultimate Office Rewatch podcast just for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Each week we will break down an episode of the Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

[Jenna Fisher]

We're the Office Ladies. I hope you're in a festive mood today because we're talking about Moroccan Christmas.

[Angela Kinsey]

So get out your Christmas plaid, but put away that Nativity scene. Because Phyllis is going to throw you the party of a lifetime.

[Jenna Fisher]

She sure is. It's season five, episode 11, written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Paul Feig. Here is your summary. As you said, Phyllis throws a Moroccan themed Christmas party, which receives compliments from the majority of the group, but some serious contempt from Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, she is not happy.

[Jenna Fisher]

Dwight runs a black market doll trade out of the office, and Meredith gets wasted and sets herself on fire. That's a doozy of a sentence.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's quite a work party.

[Jenna Fisher]

Michael decides to hold an intervention, demanding Meredith get help for her alcoholism. And then talk about a doozy of a work party. Phyllis spills the beans about Angela and Dwight in front of everyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Everyone. She announces it to the whole bullpen.

[Jenna Fisher]

Except Andy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Andy. Yeah, Andy and his sitar.

[Jenna Fisher]

His goodbye as he's leaving broke my heart.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're getting ahead.

[Jenna Fisher]

We're getting ahead. All right, fast fact number one. This was the third Christmas themed episode of the Office. Yes, it was season five, but only three Christmas episodes. Why? Well, the first season, we didn't have one, and then in season four, it was the writers strike.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. We missed a Christmas party.

[Jenna Fisher]

It has been two years since we had a Christmas party on the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

They were always some of my favorite episodes, so I was excited.

[Jenna Fisher]

Me too. I liked them because they were majority group scenes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

We were all together all the time. It was like a whole episode of conference room. So lots of bits, lots of laughing.

[Angela Kinsey]

We would just have the best time. We would get loopy.

[Jenna Fisher]

We would.

[Angela Kinsey]

But in the best way.

[Jenna Fisher]

Fast. Fact number two, the inspiration for this episode, I was able to get in touch with writer Justin Spitzer.

[Angela Kinsey]

What'd Justin have to say?

[Jenna Fisher]

He told me that they had had these two ideas rolling around for a really long time. The first one was the idea of a Moroccan Christmas. They just loved the idea that Phyllis had thrown that amazing goodbye party for Toby and. And that maybe the success had gone to her head a little bit.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she's gonna go big. Big theme.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. They loved that. This would piss Angela off. Mm. So this was like one card, right? Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know what the card probably said? Fill us happy Angela pissed Christmas. Question mark.

[Jenna Fisher]

Why is your character always so angry on Christmas?

[Angela Kinsey]

She's angry all the time, but it

[Jenna Fisher]

really comes out at the holidays.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love you. She has levels of anger sometimes. Sometimes she's like suspicious bitch, Sometimes she's happy, sometimes she's sad bitch. And then Christmas is a whole different bitch. Oh, boy.

[Jenna Fisher]

Buckle in for Christmas. Okay, so the other card that they had on the wall for a really long time said Meredith intervention.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

So they decided to marry these two ideas. Remember when they did, like, Michael has to fire someone on Halloween while we're all dressed up.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. It's the same thing.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes, exactly. Justin said that a holiday party also seemed like a really good place for Meredith to drink too much and set her hair on fire. Like, there could be this sort of rock bottomy moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. And it's an event. It's like a big event, and everyone's there to witness it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. Fast fact number three. I have a talking head observation for this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I'm so curious.

[Jenna Fisher]

So as you rewatch this episode, take a note of the talking heads. Almost all of them are filmed from different angles than we normally would. I believe there's only one where someone's seated in the traditional chair with the kind of party through the blind. Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're all over the office.

[Jenna Fisher]

All over the office. So this was not just because there was a party happening behind us. Justin said this was because they wanted to wait until they were in the editing room to place the talking heads throughout the episode. And they didn't want anything in the background to, like, in some way mess up their ability to move these talking heads around.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, they had probably learned their lesson from that episode. Weight loss.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Where they had to digitally. It's a hard word to say. They had to digitally change Ed's tie and shirt because they kept moving the talking heads, and what was happening behind them didn't match.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. So you'll notice even Michael's talking heads, he is not seated at his desk. He's standing in front of his desk. And they purposely framed out the window behind him because timing wise, they didn't know if it would be, like, still daytime or if it would be evening. So they really tried to make all the talking heads as totally neutral as possible.

[Angela Kinsey]

Smart.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. And it was kind of fun. After Justin told me that, I went back and rewatched the episode, and it was totally true.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I read the shooting draft, and definitely things are moved all around.

[Jenna Fisher]

So it's good they did it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

That's all I got.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, before we get into this episode, I went digging in my digital clutter.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I found an email from Paul feig that on December 11, 2008, he emailed the group Jenna and invited us all to a Christmas taco party to watch the Moroccan Christmas episode at his house. Oh. And he said. I know, I know. Morocco and tacos make no Sense. Except they do kind of rhyme. And we have a really great taco cart that we want to use. And we all went over to his house December 11, 2008 and watched Moroccan Christmas together. Aw.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love that you brought that up. Because Paul and Lori Feig used to host so many viewing parties at their house, and they were just the most wonderful hosts. And I'll never forget he had that screen that come down from the ceiling. So he had like a very normal looking living room.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Cozy. Like a place you'd read books. I believe there was like a green leather chair.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, there was like cozy chairs with, like a blanket draped over it.

[Jenna Fisher]

So cozy. And then all of a sudden, when it was time to watch the show, the screen would come down out of the ceiling and. And it would turn into this amazing viewing experience. I thought, these guys are doing it right.

[Angela Kinsey]

They know what they're doing.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they have a great taco cart.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, that's so cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, there you go. Just a little something from my digital clutter. And now we should break down this episode.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, I think we should take a break first.

[Angela Kinsey]

And now we should take a break.

[Jenna Fisher]

Let's do it. And we'll be back to talk all things Moroccan Christmas.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jen Salata]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

I am looking@our officeladies.com website. It looks so great. We have a new banner now where people can submit questions. We have all these different folders with different topic ideas. We have our shop dropdown menu. I'm just loving our website.

[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

And they have all of these cutting edge design tools so you can really make your website fit your brand or business. They have a blueprint AI that's an enhanced website builder to get a fully custom website in just a few steps, using basic information about whatever your industry or goals are. We love Squarespace. We think you will too. Go to squarespace.com officeladies for a free trial. And when you're ready to Launch, use code OfficeLadies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we are back and wow, is Dwight's desk festive or what?

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my. This is an epic prank by Jim.

[Angela Kinsey]

Every single thing on Dwight's desk is

[Jenna Fisher]

wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper, including his chair.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. When did Jim do this? How long did it take? What the heck?

[Jenna Fisher]

I have so much to share about this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, go.

[Jenna Fisher]

All right, first of all, Justin Spitzer told me this was his idea. This was his pitch. He said that he was always talking to his friends who worked in the corporate world, and he would ask them what sort of pranks go on in your office. Because I think at a certain point, it started to stress out the writers that they had to come up with these Jim Dwight pranks. So they were always fishing, tell me a prank. I need an office prank. He said that the single most mentioned prank was this idea of wrapping someone's desk in paper or aluminum foil. So Justin pitched this idea. We got so much mail from people asking, how did we pull this off? I reached out to Randy Cordray.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Randy.

[Jenna Fisher]

He shared all the details.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of course he did. And then he probably did a deep dive for you on something random.

[Jenna Fisher]

He did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

So first of all, he said there was a note in the script that did not make it into the episode, and it was a Jim talking head. And here's how it went. Jim says, actually it took me about a week to recreate the desk and chair in chicken wire. I had to come in about four hours early and set it all up. And I think I pulled something in my back dragging Dwight's real desk all the way up to the roof, all for a 3 second payoff. Totally worth it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I read that too, and I was like, why? Why do you have to take the desk up to the roof? Why couldn't he just stash it in the warehouse?

[Jenna Fisher]

I swear I remember us filming a tag of Dwight working up on the roof.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

I swear we did. I can't confirm it, but I feel like I remember. What? You know, you're walking from your trailer to hair and makeup and you're like, why are they putting a desk on the roof? I have a hazy memory of this.

[Angela Kinsey]

What else did Randy say?

[Jenna Fisher]

All right, so Randy also said that Greg Daniels was pretty insistent that the gag desk be made out of chicken wire because that's what it said in the script.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh. And he wanted it exactly like that.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. Because we'd sort of. Jim has this whole speech. He's like, it needs to reflect what Jim said.

[Angela Kinsey]

But chicken wire is stronger than you think.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yes, it is.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right? It wouldn't have collapsed.

[Jenna Fisher]

Nope, it wouldn't have.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ange, did they make one with chicken wire and it didn't work?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

So Randy said that he and Paul Feig and our set designer, Michael Gallenberg, and our first ad, Kelly Cantley, all tried to talk Greg out of this. They were very skeptical it would work, but Greg really needed to see it for himself. Okay, so here's what they did. They built four different desks out of four different materials. Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

What were the materials?

[Jenna Fisher]

One of them was chicken wire.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

One was styrofoam, one was balsa wood, and one was corrugated cardboard. And then they meticulously gift wrapped all of them. Ooh, Ooh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Can I guess? Can I guess which one worked the best?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

What do you guys think? I wish we could hear what you think out there. I think the cardboard.

[Jenna Fisher]

The corrugated cardboard.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what I would bet on.

[Jenna Fisher]

All right. At the end, I'll tell you which one it was.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay. So they set up one of the desks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

And then they asked our stand in Stephen socks to come in and do Dwight's motion of walking in, setting the briefcase down and sitting down to see what would happen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Now there's four different types of desks and four different types of chairs.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow.

[Jenna Fisher]

And Steven is going to try each one while all these people watch him.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. What'd you do at work today, hun? Well, I sat on a fakie desk made out of Christmas wrapping.

[Jenna Fisher]

I have to say I was fascinated by the backstory of this because as actors we just showed up. There was a wrapped desk. We did the scene.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow. Yeah. This was like, look at all the prep that went into this one little bit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

Also, I was so fascinated by this idea of being a tester that I reached out to Steven Sox to ask him, what was this day like for you and lady? He sent in an audio clip.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God. Amazing. We have to hear it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, play it.

[Steven Socks]

I vividly remember this test. I didn't do a lot of tests like this, so it really stands out. I think we were all excited to see this cold open come to be because it read so funny in the script. But I think we have to remember the pressure that you have trying to make something like this a reality. The whole idea probably seemed kind of easy on paper, but it was really up to the set designer, Michael Gallenberg, and his team to make it a reality. Like I said, I would do. I would do tests, but they were mainly hair and makeup tests or, you know, a lot of camera tests. But I don't remember one quite like this. So I walk into the bullpen, and there's a lot of people there. Greg Daniels was there, the director, Paul Feig, Randy Cordray, our first assistant director, Kelly Cantley, of course Michael Gallenberg, and then Phil Shea in the prop department as well. And what I saw was just like what you see in the episode. It just looked like a desk wrapped in wrapping paper. But as soon as I walked in, it was made clear to me that I should not touch the desk. Like, don't really go near the desk until we're going to do the test. I mean, specific instructions. And it was told to everybody that to just keep clear of the desk. Don't touch this thing. It was their. Like, their only prototype. And so I kind of imagined underneath the wrapping paper, like it was some kind of house of cards or something. Just read a ready to fall. So I didn't even want to, like, breathe on it because I just was thinking in my mind, what if I knock this thing over in front of everybody before we even do the test? I mean, that would be like a total nightmare. But then they were ready to do it, and props department gave me the briefcase, which had something inside of it to give it some weight. And so they said, go. So I threw the briefcase on the desk, sat in the chair, and I totally expected that I would fall right to the ground. But to be honest, the chair felt kind of like a regular office chair. Maybe like an old office chair that kind of semi reclined and collapsed a little, but it still was fully supporting me. And the desk just kind of bent a little bit. It looked like a saggy, like, rope bridge or something with the briefcase on top of it. But obviously there was major disappointment in the room. I mean, just everyone looked at it with just such disappointment. And the air just kind of, like, left the room. And being the only one there that didn't really know it was everything that was going on, I kind of felt like I had messed up or something. So it was very awkward moment. So I got up off the chair, and I remember standing next to Michael Gallenberg and kind of putting my hand to my chin and looking at the props that didn't work. And just kind of. Oh, that didn't work. Oh, that's too bad. You know, like, can I try to fit in? And so it was very memorable moment. But then they brought another desk out, like, a few minutes later. They had everyone leave so they could reset. And this one is the one that worked. It's the prototype that ended up making it as the final one. And it just collapsed. I mean, I hit the ground pretty hard, and it kind of surprised me because of the first one and how it was made, but it was pretty memorable.

[Jenna Fisher]

Isn't that such a fascinating look into behind the scenes of making a show?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I mean, we obviously weren't there that day. Right, right. So we had no idea all of these desks being made and all of these, like, test runs. And Steven. Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

So Randy said that the desk that worked was made out of Styrofoam.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, dang it.

[Jenna Fisher]

But here's the thing. It sounds like they only did two tests. They did chicken wire. Didn't work. They did Styrofoam. It worked.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they stopped.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. So, lady, maybe the corrugated cardboard would have worked. We don't know. Okay, okay. You could be right. I could be right.

[Angela Kinsey]

But boy, Styrofoam, man, it went down.

[Jenna Fisher]

And then finally Randy told me when it was time to shoot, they made three desks out of the styrofoam that they had ready to go. But that rain nailed it on the first take, so we didn't even need any of the other backups. It was a one taker.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's amazing. Well, Phil Shay was really busy this episode. He had to make so many props. The desk, obviously, was the biggest one.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

But we have more to share.

[Jenna Fisher]

Princess Unicorn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Princess Unicorn. But there's more.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, what else? Oh, you've got a whole thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I've got Some stuff.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, good stuff. All right, let's get into the episode. All that was just the cold open.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Well, the episode starts with, you really are getting a view of the bullpen and how it's decorated. Phyllis is going around and sort of doing last touches, right?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Where did the budget for this come from? I say she dug into some Bob Vance cash because this is an over the top party.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, that is such a good point, Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, she has a talking head that she says the theme for her Christmas party is called Nights in Morocco. I love a party with a theme.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

I get really excited. I mean, my 50th birthday, my theme was hummingbirds. And we all painted hummingbirds, and I had little pink hummingbirds, like garland hanging in the bushes.

[Jenna Fisher]

It was amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love a theme. Well, Phyllis does too. And did you notice that Phyllis has on brand new glasses for this episode?

[Jenna Fisher]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And we talked about it in the DVD commentary, and Kate said, ang, do you remember they were called her power glasses. What? I know. And because Phyllis is like the head of the ppc, she's like a boss lady, they wanted her look to reflect that.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, I love this detail.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And Phil Shea brought a bunch of glasses to Phyllis. They picked out this particular pair and they even put her prescription in them. So Phyllis and her power glasses are going to take Angela to task.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, her standoff with Angela starts right away. She marches over to Angela's desk and she just zeroes right in on that nativity scene.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

And she, like, just sweeps half of it into the drawer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Baby Jesus went into the drawer.

[Jenna Fisher]

Sure did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela's not happy. I have a background catch at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Did you see what was on the dry erase board?

[Jenna Fisher]

It was fuzzy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, well, I zoomed in on it, and this was so fascinating to me. On the calendar, it says December 10th, copier maintenance, which just made me laugh so hard because the office got new chairs. But that same old copier still there. And then it said, On December 23rd, the warehouse is closed. And at noon on December 24th, Dunder Mifflin closes and the party starts at one.

[Jenna Fisher]

So we're having a party on Christmas Eve at one o'. Clock.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what it said on the dry erase board. So I was like, what the heck? Everyone's there on Christmas Eve.

[Jenna Fisher]

So later in the episode, when Michael is dragging Meredith into a rehab center, it's Christmas Eve according to the dry erase board. I don't.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know if that's what the writers intended But. But that really got me tickled. And I have a bone to pick with Phyllis.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because Phyllis says that Angela's nativity scene is not on theme. It's not Nights of Morocco.

[Jenna Fisher]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, what about the fact that Michael has on his Christmas tie that he has worn every single Christmas? Right. Pam has on a pin on her sweater of Santa.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis has a little wreath on her jacket. So I feel like Phyllis is singling Angela out.

[Jenna Fisher]

I think all that evidence is really good. I also think it's really obvious that she's singling Angela out. I think the entire party was thrown to piss off Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know.

[Jenna Fisher]

And then these little details, I guess, are just little jabs, little digs. I mean, she makes Angela get rid of the Christmas tree.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, lady. All right, I have to share about this because in the episode it's like three seconds, right?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was a huge scene. This was like multiple location scenes, you guys. It took like a half of a day.

[Jenna Fisher]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, in the script. And we actually did film this and it's in deleted scenes. Angela Martin goes over to the tree. It's double her size. And she has to drag it through the bullpen. Lady, I tripped over those pillows on the floor.

[Jenna Fisher]

Uh huh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the tree fell on my head.

[Jenna Fisher]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

I fell to the ground. The tree fell on top of me. Then I had to drag it down the stairwell, this Christmas tree out the building, through the parking lot, all the way to the street. We filmed all of that. It legitimately was a physical workout. I actually, like, messed up my hair. I had like scratches on my hands from the tree trying to grip it. None of it's in the episode. It's in the deleted scenes. And what was great is, over all of this action were two talking heads. One Angela and one Phyllis. Can you play those? I do not mind doing hard labor. Ronald Reagan got his start as a stock boy lugging heavy boxes 10 hours a day. Don't mess the pillows up. And he went on to become the president of a party planning committee I like to call the United States of America. Most people call it that. What? Did you know that an ant can carry five times its own weight? All it needs is a strong queen to tell it what to do. And there's nothing that little creature can't accomplish.

[Jenna Fisher]

Phyllis. I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis in her power glasses and some serious sassy. Yes. That muffled sound in between was me, like, falling down the staircase with the Christmas tree.

[Jenna Fisher]

Were you so bummed when you watched the episode and it was cut out?

[Angela Kinsey]

I was so Bummed because I thought it was hilarious. And that talking head I do about Ronald Reagan. My hair is all messed up. All right, so Phil Shay has tackled a styrofoam desk chair, all objects wrapped in Christmas wrapping. He's also found Phyllis a pair of power glasses. Phil Shea's next project would have been Princess Unicorn.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. Dwight enters with a stack of boxes, and he explains that each year he researches the most popular toy of the holiday season. He buys as much of it as he can, and then as parents become more desperate, he sells them at a profit. It's a little bit genius. We got a lot of mail asking about this Princess Unicorn storyline. Okay, where to begin? First of all, this was a collaboration of several writers. Justin said that they had originally written a different story for Dwight, and at the last minute, they wanted to change it. And they had a new writer who had just started on the show that week, named Halstead Sullivan. This was his pitch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Halstead, Amazing.

[Jenna Fisher]

Crushing it. In his first week on the job, we were able to get in touch with Halstead. He confirmed. Yes. That he pitched this idea of Dwight having a side hustle of buying up these holiday toys and selling them at a profit. Halstead said that he and writer Aaron Scher were sent into a room to figure out what this toy should be. Aaron said, well, kids love princesses and unicorns. How about a princess unicorn doll?

[Angela Kinsey]

I love this kind of collaboration. So you have Halstead saying, we need the story of the toy, and he sells the toys. And then Aaron is like, what about if a unicorn and a doll collide?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. Then Halstead came up with the catchphrase, my horn can pierce the sky.

[Angela Kinsey]

Halstead, are you kidding me?

[Jenna Fisher]

Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

That was you that stuck in our heads forever.

[Jenna Fisher]

Forever.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you remember that, Jenna? Like, we sang it all week. We have to hear Michael sing it. My horn can pierce the sky. And then Jenna, when I listened to the DVD commentary, immediately Kate and I sang it.

[Jenna Fisher]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Pierce the horn can pierce the sky. Thank you, Halstead.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, you know, they made a whole commercial for this doll, I know. With a little girl and a jingle at the end. It was crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

What else did they say about it?

[Jenna Fisher]

They said, actually, before settling on this idea, there was an alternate idea called Hank Grenade. And this was a doll that when you threw it, his arms blew off. That was Hank Grenade. But they settled on Princess Unicorn. So once that was settled, there was a lot of discussion over what she should look like. Was she a human princess with unicorn features? Was she more of a horse with a human Face. I guess they went around and around, and in the end, Phil Shay had to make this princess unicorn doll. Randy told me that Phil actually used a team of designers and toy makers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

And they had to come up with a design that would not infringe on anyone else's design because I guess toys in general and dolls specifically, are very tightly controlled by the manufacturers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fisher]

Their intellectual property rights.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. It can't look like anything else.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. And they actually had to go through the NBC Universal legal team to make sure that they had met all the requirements of a specifically unique doll toy. That is how we came to have a princess unicorn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Amazing. Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phil Shea was so busy this episode.

[Jenna Fisher]

So busy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. When we would see him running through the parking lot.

[Jenna Fisher]

This is why I don't know how he did it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Well, the party's underway now. It's getting going. There's cocktails. Jim and Pam have this flirty moment with, like, he's rubbing the lamp for wishes.

[Jenna Fisher]

Mm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, this scene made me curious. And I had also been watching the bloopers, and there's this moment between Ed and John in the bloopers that never made it into the episode. That's kind of weird where Jim is looking at this coffee mug that Andy made.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was like, what is the thing? What are Jim and Pam doing? So I was very curious about these scenes, and I went to the script, and in the shooting draft, there is a Jim and Pam side by side talking head where they share that they are in a real financial bind.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they have agreed not to buy each other anything for Christmas, but instead will be taking items from the Dunder Mifflin office to give to each other.

[Jenna Fisher]

Whoa.

[Angela Kinsey]

So, yeah, there were all these little scenes of you guys, like, showing each other different items around the office. And then there was a whole scene where you ultimately decided on something and gave each other gifts.

[Jenna Fisher]

What did I get? I don't remember any of this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait, before I tell you what you got, can I just tell you some of the moments in the side by side talking head that I couldn't believe? All right. Jim shares that money's tight because of the closing fees on the house that he bought.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Pam shares. Get ready. Pam says my credit's so bad, I'm hoping someone steals my identity. They couldn't handle my finances worse than me.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, no. Okay. Oops.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And Jim says it's okay. We've decided not to spend any money on presents this year. The rule is the Gift has to be something from inside the office.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Pam says, so in addition to the party, we're going to spend the day shopping. And if anyone's interested, my Social Security number is 793-476-8882. Isn't that hilarious?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. What is Pam running up her credit on? I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. What is Pam buying? Maybe she charged all of art school. Just put it all on her card.

[Jenna Fisher]

Maybe she did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, do you want to hear what they gave each other?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, what did I get?

[Angela Kinsey]

After a whole party of them looking at items in the office.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

To, I guess, steal? I don't know. What is their life of crime together? All right, at the end of the day, Pam hands Jim a gift wrapped in copier paper, and he opens it up, and it's a pair of sunglasses that she has made out of paper clips and brown plastic from a folder.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow. So wait, Phil Shea had to make that, too?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. He had to make sunglasses made out of paper clips and. And brown plastic. And Jim's, like, sunglasses. And they even have little pads for my nose. They had little erasers where the nose would go.

[Jenna Fisher]

I have to stop you. Is this in the deleted scenes? Can you screen grab these sunglasses and put them on the pod?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, it's not.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, no, that's a tragedy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. Because, you know, they exist somewhere. Pam says, it took me hours to make them.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

But don't use them outside because there's no UV protection.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then Jim hands her a box, and she opens it to reveal a beautiful, dainty watch. And she's like, wait, you didn't make this. You bought it. No fair. And Jim says, okay, here's the thing. Technically, I had this in the office. I bought it for you three years ago, but it was way too big, and I chickened out. And Pam says, yeah, it kind of screams, I love you. And Jim's like, do you like it? And she says, I love it. Wait, was that the year you gave me rocks? And Jim says, wishing rocks. Also romantic.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my gosh, I love this.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you and John had this whole storyline that was playing out in the background that ended in this scene, and it didn't make it in.

[Jenna Fisher]

Do you want to hear something crazy? While I was prepping Moroccan Christmas, I was cleaning out my desk at home. At home. And I found the teapot note.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, good lord. Are you kidding?

[Jenna Fisher]

I found it.

[Angela Kinsey]

The actual note.

[Jenna Fisher]

The note that John gave me at the end.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jenna Fisher]

And the envelope says Pam, and it's a little Christmas card. It was in with, like, all of my, like, stationery and stuff, right? I'm, like, going through my stationery, and I'm like, what's this? What's this card that says Pam? I open it up and I was like, it's the teapot note.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that. That's what you found.

[Jenna Fisher]

Is that crazy?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, it is crazy. But you know what's so perfect is when I cleaned out my desk, if you remember Jenna, I found. This was, like, years ago. I found Dwight and Angela's, like, sex contract punch card. Oh, boy.

[Jenna Fisher]

Our characters had different story.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, all right. So I had to share that because I thought that was a wonderful Jim Pam thing that didn't get to be in the episode. But now we really need to talk about these drinks that Michael is making for Meredith. The first drink Michael makes Meredith, he calls it a one of everything. It's equal parts scotch, absinthe, rum, gin, vermouth, triple sec, and two packs of Splenda.

[Jenna Fisher]

Now, isn't it some of this drink A Long island iced tea minus the Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know.

[Jenna Fisher]

Am I wrong? I don't know what's in Long Island Iced Tea. I just know it's like, seven liquors.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, well. Yeah, well, Meredith thinks this is the best thing she's ever had in her life.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Then Michael makes Jim a drink with vodka and orange juice. Not a screwdriver, guys. It's called a orange vod juiceka.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, it rolls off the tongue.

[Angela Kinsey]

It does. There was an alt in the script. Okay, in the script, Michael makes Jim a drink with Jack Daniels and just regular Coca Cola. And he calls it a Coke Daniels. And Kate shared that in one scene with Steve. They were improvising. Okay? Steve was making up all these drinks, and Steve improvised Sangria with peppermint schnapps. And Kate improvised Let's call it Sex on the Couch. And Steve, as Michael was like, ew. But that didn't make it in. And then Kate also shared. Are you ready for this? He hands her a drink in one take. She takes a big swig and goes, oh, my God, you guys. There's real booze in that. They had forgotten to empty out one of the bottles because they would empty out the liquor bottles and put just water or iced tea.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they had missed one. And they gave Kate a drink with actual booze in it. And she was like, guys, that's booze. Oh, no. I mean, she only took one swig. You know what I mean?

[Jenna Fisher]

But still, but still, what a shocker.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fisher]

Also, during this setup of the party, I want to point out this episode had a lot of shots that were just like, little moments. Right. It really reminded me of some of our early episodes where we had these. What did we used to call those?

[Angela Kinsey]

Just these little vignettes in the background.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

These little moments that they. The B camera would get that really filled in the whole picture. It really reminds me of the first two seasons.

[Jenna Fisher]

Same. Well, during this kind of montage of filling out the party and what's going on, you know, Ed, as Andy, is playing the sitar.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

We got a lot of mail about it. Izzy T. Liam D. And Grant S. All wrote in to ask, does Ed Helms really play the sitar? No, not before this episode, he didn't.

[Angela Kinsey]

But he's such a badass that he just picked it right up.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. So you guys probably know that Ed plays guitar. He plays banjo. Randy told me that previously in his career, he had produced a different show where they needed an actor to play a song on the sitar. And this actor was also a guitar player, but he was told that the sitar is a very difficult instrument to play. It's very difficult to tune properly, and that in that instance on that other show, he had to hire a tutor and allow about four weeks of practice so that this actor could credibly pull off the bit. So because the script had Ed playing all these different songs with only a couple weeks notice, he asked Phil Shea to rent a sitar. He went to Ed, he said, I'll get you a tutor.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, but.

[Jenna Fisher]

But Ed said, I'll figure it out. And Randy was like, okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ed's like, I play the banjo. I'm gonna flex a little bit. A little bit. I got this.

[Jenna Fisher]

And Ed totally, totally did it.

[Angela Kinsey]

He just picked it up and played it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have a little catch where Ed slipped up.

[Jenna Fisher]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

So you guys listening? My family and my close friends, they call me Ange. It's my nickname in my family. And it's like what my husband calls me and my mom. You know, everyone calls me Ang. Well, Ed called me Ang, right? In real life.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

He never called me Angela. And right when he starts playing the sitar at 4 minutes, 21 seconds, tell me what you hear.

[Jenna Fisher]

Hey, hey, Ang. Check it out.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's a place in France where the making ladies dancing. Oh, wow. He called me Ang, not Angela. And Angela Martin would have never let Andy call her Ange.

[Jenna Fisher]

Anyone call her Ange? No, she's using the formal version of her name only. Only for sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Only Dwight can call her Monkey. Everyone else calls her Angela. In that moment, to me, Ed just sort of slipped and just was like, hey, Ange.

[Jenna Fisher]

He was probably, like, concentrating on his. Yeah, right. He was in musician mode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. That just warmed my heart when I heard it. I just had to share.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, next up is quite a scene. Meredith is dancing up a storm in the conference room, and she sets her hair on fire.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

Dwight has to rush in and put it out with a fire extinguisher. Oh, lady, talk about mail. People need to know, how did they pull off this stunt where her hair catches on fire? Was it Kate? Was it a stunt double?

[Angela Kinsey]

We have a lot to share with you, because this is one of the biggest stunts I think we ever did in the bullpen. For sure. For sure.

[Jenna Fisher]

A person was on fire. Yeah. All right, well, I got some of

[Angela Kinsey]

the info from Randi, and I got info from Kate. So let's break it down.

[Jenna Fisher]

First of all, we did use a stunt double for Kate. Her name was Marie Fink. Our stunt coordinator that day was Scott Oliva. And he had to, like, do a bunch of prep for this. He had to, like, send a whole plan into NBC Universal safety department explaining how exactly we would do this safely. We had safety officers on set, we had a special effects crew on set, and we had the LA Fire department on set.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kate said there were so many people from the fire department there, they, like, took up a whole wall.

[Jenna Fisher]

I believe it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

What a crazy day of work for them.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fisher]

Now, Paul Feig specifically staged this scene so that Meredith was dancing alone in the conference room. And this was done to make it safer. Yes. And they dressed the stunt double, Marie, in this full fireproof bodysuit. It's called, like, a Nomex. And she wore, like, a head stocking that was flame proof. And then she put on Kate's wardrobe. I guess these Nomex suits are what race car drivers wear when they're racing, you know, in case their car bursts into flames.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Then Kim Ferry had to create a bunch of wigs.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And Kate shared about these wigs, you guys. Kate said, ang they were natural hair, and then they actually burned the wigs with fire. And she said I had to wear the stinkiest wig the whole rest of the week because, you know, when you burn hair, you know the smell.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, I know it well. I mean, it's. Once you've smelled that, it's, like, burned into your brain.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. So Kate had to wear the stinky wig, the Rest of the week. Ugh.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, I guess to pull off this stunt, they put this flammable gel all over Marie's body and her hair, and then she used one of the actual real candles in the conference room to set her hair on fire. I guess they did have a stunt double dressed as Dwight. His name was Sean Crowder. But in the end, it was actually Rain. Rain ran in and put out the stunt double with an actual fire extinguisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. No pressure.

[Jenna Fisher]

Rain.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. But Kate said he did it. And then Kate said for continuity, they had to take Marie out. And Kate stepped back in with the burnt wig, right?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, the smelly burnt wig.

[Angela Kinsey]

The smelly burnt wig kind of assumed the same position Marie was in. And then Rain had to spray Kate with the real fire extinguisher, so Kate got hosed as well.

[Jenna Fisher]

Justin told me that we did it all in one take.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm so glad. For everyone's sake. Yeah, I'm so glad. Also. Look at Kate's dancing. This is like lunging forward and back and forward and back. And I'm like, kate, were you sore? My gosh. That's like a physical day.

[Jenna Fisher]

Randi told me that Kate and Marie got together and planned out the dance

[Angela Kinsey]

moves so that Marie could look exactly like Kate in her movements. Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

Which is amazing to me because it looks like completely spontaneous dancing. But they really planned it so that it would coordinate. So they were doing the same thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And if you watch the episode, it's very rare that only one person is in the conference room at a party. But that was for everyone's safety, like you said. So Kate said it was kind of, you know, odd to be in there alone for all those takes. Like a fishbowl. But I really related because there's a whole scene coming up where you guys are all together on the floor and I'm in the kitchen.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

For the whole episode.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know, lady. I think we should take a little break, and then we'll come back and make you go to the kitchen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Make me go to the kitchen. And Michael is going to share with us about a responsibilitini.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, I can't wait.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a deleted scene. I can't wait to share. Oh, hey, friends.

[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Oscar, you have a little bit of granola on your boob.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, thanks for telling me.

[Angela Kinsey]

We ate a granola bar during the break. You're eating it off your shirt.

[Jenna Fisher]

What else would I do? If I pick it off, I have to what, throw it on the floor?

[Angela Kinsey]

No. Put it in the trash?

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, you would still hungry.

[Angela Kinsey]

You'd fit in very well with my boys.

[Jenna Fisher]

Listen, we're friends here.

[Angela Kinsey]

I've seen them eat things off their clothing too.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my God. Listen, every once in a while, you're

[Angela Kinsey]

gonna lick a piece of granola bar

[Jenna Fisher]

off your T shirt. You know what else I'm gonna do? Sometimes. Sometimes the salad dressing is so good, I lick the plate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, I'm here for licking the plate. But you just ate a piece of granola off your T shirt. You lifted your shirt up towards you so you could eat that tiny piece of granola.

[Jenna Fisher]

Because I'm a classy lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

You are classy. And you know what? You do not waste. And that I respect.

[Jenna Fisher]

Thank you. Okay, as I was saying, Oscar, Jim, Michael, and Stanley try to set a date for something. We don't know what they're talking about. They're trying to agree on a time to do something. Nothing's working.

[Angela Kinsey]

We do learn that Michael goes to the dentist every month.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, because of his soft teeth. Every month we establish that in dinner party.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like he talks their ear off. I feel like there's like a dental hygienist that he just talks their ear off.

[Jenna Fisher]

What do you do for soft teeth? You know what? I'm going to ask my dentist the next time I'm there. He's a fan of the show. He's also a bread maker and he gave me his sourdough discard, and it is fantastic. Sourdough discard.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow.

[Jenna Fisher]

Great dentist. Okay, Great baker. I'm going to ask him about soft teeth.

[Angela Kinsey]

Stay tuned, Baker and a dentist.

[Jenna Fisher]

Listen, they also can't do it on Groundhog Day because Michael, he celebrates privately. Some fans asked Justin in an interview once, what is it that Michael's doing? And he said, I imagine he just watches Groundhog day all day. The movie.

[Angela Kinsey]

He watches the movie. And I also think he watches to see if punk satony. Is it punk Satoni Phil? Yeah, I think he watches to see if Phil sees his shadow. I think he watches the whole broadcast.

[Jenna Fisher]

It's a big event. Maybe he goes, he's busy. That's what we know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

In the end, they decide today is the day. And what they're planning is an intervention.

[Angela Kinsey]

Christmas Eve office party. Intervention.

[Jenna Fisher]

Listen, if I had to explain what an intervention is, it's like a surprise party for people who have addictions. And what you do is you make them feel badly about themselves so they

[Angela Kinsey]

stop Michael Scott right there. Guys, per Michael Scott, that was the talking head that made it into the show. Here is an alt that got deleted, and it cracked me up. We're gonna call this responsibilitini.

[Jen Salata]

Guys.

[Angela Kinsey]

It takes a lot of courage to admit you are right. And talking about my strengths has always

[Jenna Fisher]

been one of my strengths, and I am right. Meredith needs help.

[Angela Kinsey]

She needs help like an alcoholic needs a drink.

[Jenna Fisher]

And she's about to get a big

[Angela Kinsey]

shot of Michael Scott straight up on the rocks with ice, no chaser. I call it a responsibilitini shaken with lemon, twist of lime.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay. Okay. We've played a lot of talking heads that didn't make it. Uh huh. A lot of scenes that didn't make it in the show.

[Angela Kinsey]

Uh huh.

[Jenna Fisher]

This is the biggest tragedy.

[Angela Kinsey]

A responsibility.

[Jenna Fisher]

Everything about that was gold. I could listen to it five times.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I was like, I have to play it. This is gold.

[Jenna Fisher]

That was like, on the level of Dwight's whole speech about stealing the ball from Tiffany's and going to all the countries and all that. Oh, my God, it was so good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Gonna get a big shot of Michael Scott.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Shaken, not stirred. Responsibilitini.

[Jenna Fisher]

That's incredible. Well, we're all gonna circle up on the floor now. Not Angela, though. Phyllis has other plans for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

It involves a hairnet.

[Jenna Fisher]

Mm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Lots of fanning. Gotta fan some pitas. Gotta toast them on both sides. Gotta fan napkins.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And off to the kitchen I go.

[Jenna Fisher]

Meanwhile, the rest of us sit on the floor and engage in a real uncomfortable intervention of Meredith.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know how you guys got through the scene. Without laughing. I remember two things happening during this week. One, I was bummed because I was in the kitchen by myself and I had to enter in during the scene. So it's not like I had to be there.

[Jenna Fisher]

Do you remember this? Because Justin reminded me of this and I had forgotten it, which was that Paul Feig insisted on shooting the entire intervention scene from top to bottom, without cutting. And every take was about eight minutes long.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. So I would be in the kitchen, like, with a magazine. I actually, on the DVD commentary, I said I brought a magazine back there eventually because I was back there so long. And then they would cue me and then I would walk in. Then I'd have to go back.

[Jenna Fisher]

So crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

So crazy.

[Jenna Fisher]

I remember my legs fell asleep. It's very hard to sit on the floor in a pencil skirt and pantyhose.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you had to do an odd cross. You had to do that. One foot under the other. And at 9 minutes, 46 seconds, there's a real good Pam. Pan. Pantyhose catch. Oh, yeah, I can see your pantyhose.

[Jenna Fisher]

I don't doubt it.

[Angela Kinsey]

You have pantyhose toes.

[Jenna Fisher]

I remember trying to figure out. Because, you know, once you pick the way you're sitting, you have to sit like that. You can't shift and move or change your position.

[Angela Kinsey]

So because it has to match you guys. So however you sit, that's it. So Mindy laying on her stomach like that.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, I was so jealous.

[Angela Kinsey]

Which I took a picture of. I was jealous at first, but then, you know, her back started to ache. It had to, because that's like doing a. What is that, the cow? No, it's not a cow. It's the snake. It's a yoga thing.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yeah. What's that yoga pose called where you are? The Cobra.

[Angela Kinsey]

Cobra.

[Jenna Fisher]

Cobra.

[Angela Kinsey]

I knew it. Not the cobra.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know why that was so exciting, but I just recalling any information at my age just gets me real amped up.

[Angela Kinsey]

So she had to do a mini cobra all day. You had to sit with the one foot under your butt, one foot extended.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yep, I know. And I do remember that we went around and, you know, I was mostly reactions. I don't think I had any lines in this scene. It was very hard not to laugh. It was very hard not to laugh. When Creed says that he can get a fire permit in a couple hours. It was pretty amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

We talked on the DVD commentary about Creed's outfit and what he's wearing in this scene. He actually wore something similar to an award show. Do you remember he wore the long white.

[Jenna Fisher]

I don't remember this.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is very much sort of his outfit is something Creed would actually wear. And he looks fantastic. There is a delicious Andy talking head. I feel like we all knew this guy in college. The guy that would chug a fifth of SoCo.

[Jenna Fisher]

Uh huh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Boot rally. How many nicknames does he have, by the way? He's Puke, he's Ace, and he's Buzz.

[Jenna Fisher]

Did he get straight A's or straight B's? We're not sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

He got straight B's.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, but he aced everything.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, surprise, surprise. This intervention does not result in Meredith deciding to go to rehab.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael's clearly not qualified to do this. And Toby's gonna call it. He's like, you know what? We're gonna stop this.

[Jenna Fisher]

I do have to point out one of my favorite moments when Kevin offers his way that her drinking affected him.

[Angela Kinsey]

He got to go to the movies, by the way.

[Jenna Fisher]

Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

He says, yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Michael's like, you're not getting it, but you're right. Michael is not trained to do this. You know, a trained interventionist. This is a job in real life. People train for this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Kate had a whole speech that was in the script as Meredith where she just addresses the group and she's like, listen, I'm bored. You're boring. She said to Michael, and he goes, hey. And she was like, you know what? I drink because I'm bored. Try to be more interesting. And she's like, who else is bored here? And like, everyone raises their hands. She like, hijacks the meeting from Michael. Right. And then she's like, we all do things to cope. So I drink when I'm bored. And then she goes around the room, she goes, you all have coping mechanisms. You eat, you eat. You eat. You shop. You confuse Dwight. And then she's like, confused wife.

[Jen Salata]

Me.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, me.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then she like points at Stanley and she's like, you eat. And then Stanley has a talking head where he's like, I do eat when I'm bored, but I also drink. And I drink a lot more than Meredith. I just don't do it at work. And I keep my clothes on.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my goodness.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. This scene was way bigger.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael is going to take Meredith into his office where they're going to talk for 45 minutes.

[Jenna Fisher]

45 minutes. And in the meantime, Angela is going to plead with Phyllis, please can I stop cutting the pita? Do I really have to wear the hairnet?

[Angela Kinsey]

Have mercy. It's the season of mercy.

[Jenna Fisher]

Phyllis Is.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, no. I have a thing I want to point out. At 13 minutes, 35 seconds, Phyllis is telling Stanley about the Moroccan food they're eating. And Angela's eating this cookie. She spits it out. Yeah, we did a lot of takes of this. I'm not sure why.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

But the cookie started to turn on me because I took a big bite. Okay, mistake. Okay, take a small bite, guys.

[Jenna Fisher]

Always, always.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because by the eighth take, the thought of that cookie makes you want to barf, right?

[Jenna Fisher]

It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's your favorite dessert.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it started to turn on me. And so I took some peanuts and I stuck them in my hand. And when they would cut to me eating, I would, like, just put a bunch of the peanuts in my mouth and hold the cookie. I was trying to do a fakey eat.

[Jenna Fisher]

Mm, fakie eat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fakie eat. And then I would spit out peanuts instead of the cookie.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, so what we see on camera, that is chewed up peanuts.

[Angela Kinsey]

We don't know.

[Jenna Fisher]

We don't know which take they used.

[Angela Kinsey]

We don't know which take they used.

[Jenna Fisher]

Was it early? Was it late?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know. These are the things you try to do at work. How do I not eat that cookie?

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, when Michael leaves his office with Meredith, they're going somewhere. He says, I'll meet you in the parking lot. And then he asks Toby for the number of that rehabilitation center. And everyone's like, wow, he did it. And then, you know, he finishes writing the number down, and he throws the

[Angela Kinsey]

pen at Toby's head and hits him in the forehead.

[Jenna Fisher]

We got a fan question about that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we have stories about it too.

[Jenna Fisher]

Kelsey B. Would like to know, was the pen throwing scripted or improvised? It was scripted. And Justin said that Steve had a special rubber pen. And I remember it because it was in the pen cup on Pam's desk. There were real pens, and then one fakie pen. And I was sitting there, and I kept, like, positioning the pen so that Steve could pick up the fakie pen.

[Angela Kinsey]

This would have been another thing Phil Shea would have had to have gotten for the episode.

[Jenna Fisher]

Fakie rubber pen so that he could throw it at Toby's head. They inserted that little thump sound. Later, we did about four or five takes of it, I guess.

[Angela Kinsey]

You guys, if you rewatch this, you will notice behind Michael, there are no people. We're all standing way off to the right.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

You want to know why? Because we couldn't stop laughing. So when they would cut to Michael after Throwing it. We'd be behind him, giggling. So they pushed us all to the right and they had to get our reaction. Take, like, a whole beat. Later, when we had gotten our composure,

[Jenna Fisher]

Paul also couldn't stop laughing. I know. Every time that little rubber pen thumped him in the forehead, he would break.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And there is such a fun blooper where Paul decided to prank Steve during this scene. We have to listen to it. Could you write down the name of that rehabilitation clinic you mentioned? Wow. Yeah. Impressed? That's great. What does that even say?

[Jenna Fisher]

What did he do?

[Angela Kinsey]

Instead of writing down a fake phone number, he wrote you. And so Steve in the scene glances down and it says you. And he started laughing, and he couldn't even throw the pen because he was laughing too hard.

[Jenna Fisher]

That is so funny. Well, have. You know, fakie pen lived in the pen cup for weeks after we shot the scene. And people were always coming over trying to grab a pen to use. And they would get fakie rubber pen. And I never got rid of it because it just was funny to me. Yeah, it was funny to me that people would grab fakie pen.

[Angela Kinsey]

So now Meredith and Michael are in the car. This is gonna start such a fantastic sequence between Meredith and Michael. Both Steve and Kate just knock it out of the park. They're driving. Meredith thinks they're going to a bar. She's listing off all these bars. And Kate Flannery said in real life, she kept trying to slip her family's bar in there because, you know, her family owned a bar in Philadelphia called Flannery's. Yep. But it didn't make it in.

[Jenna Fisher]

But all the other bars, she says, are local Scranton bars. They're real places.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Well, that was part of the reasons why Flannerys wouldn't have checked out. Right. But she also wanted you guys to know that Steve did his own driving. They're not being pulled.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, you can kind of tell.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He's driving and doing all the dialogue. Because there were those little lipstick cameras.

[Jenna Fisher]

And then they had, I think, a truck in front of them with a camera rigged on the back to get them through the windshield. Well, when they finally arrive at their destination, it is revealed that they are at Sunrise Rehab. Meredith gets super pissed.

[Angela Kinsey]

So pissed. So pissed. Now, Kate told me they had stunt people there for her and Steve, should it get too physical that they could have this choreographed thing with the stunt people. And her and Steve were like, no, we're gonna go for it. Kate was like, steve, let's do it. And they did not use the stunt people. Everything you see is actually Kate and Steve just fricking going for it.

[Jenna Fisher]

I think I notice one moment we cut out of it really quickly when Meredith throws the trash can down and it looks like Michael trips and falls. I feel like I see Kate start to check on Steve.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Like, maybe like, oh, are you okay? Like, just the littlest moment. And we cut out of it. And then they, you know, they have a bigger chase around the parking lot.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate said that's fakey trash.

[Jenna Fisher]

Fakey trash.

[Angela Kinsey]

That was fakey trash. So whatever Steve fell on wasn't real trash.

[Jenna Fisher]

So Phil Shay also had to make fakie trash. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

This man's week was insane.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. This scene was scripted at the top where she doesn't want to get out of the car, but they immediately then just went off, you know, because Paul Feig just wanted them to really go for it, not worry about the lines. And that whole sequence where Meredith is saying, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love that.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's not in the script.

[Jenna Fisher]

I loved it. It was so real.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was so real. I thought Kate did such a great job.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, this whole thing ends with Michael dragging Meredith into the rehab center. And we should tell you, the intake nurse was played by our very own first assistant director, Kelly Cantley.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. She also helps escort them out.

[Jen Salata]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

At the end when Michael discovers that you can't force people to go to rehab.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep. And now, awkward car ride back.

[Jenna Fisher]

But you know what Michael's gonna do? Michael's had a realization. He realizes that, you know, in order to get help, a person has to hit their rock bottom. So he's gonna make it his mission to help Meredith reach her rock bottom.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fisher]

And he thinks he can do it because he did it with Jan. Oh, my gosh. Like, an amazing line.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's still going to be quite a bit of drama back at the office.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We start with Toby. Toby, man. He thinks he's going to get to be the hero to his little girl.

[Jenna Fisher]

He is going to score one of the Princess Unicorn dolls from Dwight for his daughter.

[Angela Kinsey]

But Dwight has sold them all out. He just sold his last one to Daryl.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. All right. I just unsolicited get this email from Jen Salata about this scene, about this scene and this episode. I guess the writers, like Justin and Halstead and Aaron, they were all texting each other about this storyline, and somehow Jen got involved. This email pops in my inbox yesterday. She's like, jenna, we've all been texting about the Princess Unicorn because you asked about it. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

And she was like, I have a story. And I asked Paul if I could share it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

And I was like, oh, I'm so intrigued. She made an audio clip. Here it is.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jen Salata]

There was a moment that happened behind the scenes of Moroccan Christmas where Paul and I were working on a script together. I'm not sure if it was the fifth season finale or what, but we were kind of under the gun. I remember when we were writing and he had to go down on set and shoot a scene as Toby, and then when he came back up, we needed to push forward on the script. And I remember that he was sitting on the couch and he was like, oh, I think I just screwed up that scene that I shot. And I was like, I probably didn't. I'm sure you didn't. You're being hard on yourself. He's like, no, no, I really think I screwed it up. And he was kind of stuck on it and was very typical of him. So I was like, tell me what happened. And he said, well, I was supposed to be upset and sad because I wanted this princess unicorn doll for my daughter and Daryl wanted the doll for his daughter, and I needed to be really sad. And so I thought of what Steve might do or what I thought Jenna might do, which is think of something sad that happened in real life to them and something that, like, triggered these sad feelings and sad emotions and kind of be in that place and use it for the scene. And I said, well, it sounds smart. Like, how'd it go? And he said, well, I didn't do that. And I asked him why, and he said, well, I thought about getting sad, but it didn't seem worth it. And I remember laughing at that, being like, I'm pretty sure you just made the decision not to act. I think that's what just happened in that moment. But I remember watching that scene later and thinking it was such a perfectly Toby choice. It was a great scene. And I feel like when you're Toby and you're going about the world and Michael's always making you feel put upon and all of this stuff, you can't constantly keep getting sad. So it ended up being a very, very wonderful choice that I think he made. But in the moment, I think he pretty much decided he wasn't going to act because he didn't want to be sad that day. And I'll never forget that. I loved it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Jen was so excited to tell me this story. She Was like, I. I have to give him grief. And I guess they talked together and they were laughing about it. And Paul was like, yeah, you can share. You can share that. It's true.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't want to be sad.

[Jenna Fisher]

I don't want to dig too deep and actually cry in this scene. Because then I'm going to be sad all day. I'm going to be thinking about my. Whatever precipitated it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that Jen just wanted to give Paul on our podcast. I know.

[Jenna Fisher]

She was just like, email hits my inbox. Oh, so funny. I agree, though. When I watched the scene, like, I didn't think anything of it. I was like, oh, that's perfect.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, so funny. And I guess she would, like, give him shitake about that for years to come. Gosh. Speaking of sad, should we talk about the saddest scene ever?

[Angela Kinsey]

Saddest scene ever. It all starts because Angela is dead. She is done with Phyllis.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, Phyllis tells her to go get the tree and bring it back.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Phyllis and I absolutely loved this episode. We got to do so much together. Even more than you even see in the actual episode. I can't tell you how amazing it felt as Angela Martin to turn to her and say, shut up. It felt so good. And I was really proud of this scene. I thought Phyllis and I really had this perfect chemistry in this moment. And then she tells everyone and she shames Angela Martin in front of the whole bullpen. And when she did, I was so in the moment with her, I felt the heat of my skin. Like my face started to flush.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, you can see it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Everyone is looking at you. Everyone. You know. And we've talked about whenever you had a scene where the whole bullpen focused on you, you were already heightened a little bit, like your nerves. And I really just. Oh, man. I was as the character. I felt like I couldn't get out of there fast enough. And then Andy walks in.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know. And the way Ed just, you know, Ed Helms the person, his inherent goodness and sweetheart just carries through the character of Andy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Well, here's the thing. Is Andy, like, completely annoying? Sure. But he's also got this boyish charm. Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

A boyish enthusiasm, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

For singing this song to you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And in the script, the song he sings is Silent Night.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yes. Randy said the morning of the shoot, they told Ed. He was so scared to say it. He said, they've changed their mind. Can you do Deck the Halls?

[Angela Kinsey]

Ed had to learn a whole new song to play on the sitar. He had just learned Silent Night.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. He'd had that thing for a couple weeks, and he'd been fiddling around on it, and then they were like, can you do Deck the Halls? Randy told me it took him about a minute and a half to figure it out because he's amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's a musical genius. They thought it would be funny. The juxtaposition of this sort of very cringy moment for Andy to be playing this upbeat song.

[Jenna Fisher]

And, you know, he improvised the riddadita do at the end.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fisher]

So good.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're all just staring at him. And Ed played the moment so perfectly. My heart completely broke for Andy. I felt so bad for him. And I started to cry.

[Jenna Fisher]

Like, actually crying?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I actually cry. If you look at this, it pushes in on my face, and I'm completely tearing up.

[Jenna Fisher]

Those are those moments as an actor where you have so inhabited your character's story and the story of the people around you where your body, like, you didn't even have to make yourself cry or think of something sad. You were just so in the moment that the emotions just flood.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, really, really. And everyone was playing it so real.

[Jenna Fisher]

Paul Feig told us to, like, he said when we come around with that B camera, and this was similar to his direction in Office Olympics. He said, I don't want you to comment on it with, you know, no kind of funny looks or anything. Like, this is, like, truly a human moment. And just stand there, just be in was great direction.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you felt it. Yeah. You felt it.

[Jenna Fisher]

It felt heavy.

[Angela Kinsey]

It felt really heavy. And I felt horrible, and I started to cry. You know, in re watching it all, I just thought this episode was written and directed and acted so, so well. I was really proud of us as a show.

[Jenna Fisher]

You know what, Angela? This was what Paul Feig could do for us. You know, like, he was really good at directing us to allow these moments to breathe. And you're so good in this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, thanks, Laney.

[Jenna Fisher]

You're so good in this whole episode. And this moment at the end, it is more powerful because it's real. Yeah, you really nailed it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thanks so much, lady. Thank you. And I thought Kate Flannery crushed this episode, too.

[Jenna Fisher]

Same.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you know, guys, the supporting cast, these moments were fewer and far between for us. And so when they happened, we just treasured it. And it was so fun to rewatch it.

[Jenna Fisher]

And you guys would get these scripts with no notice, and you'd have to just step up to the plate and suddenly carry an episode. And you always did it. Because we had a really great bench on our show.

[Angela Kinsey]

We had a deep bench, y'. All.

[Jenna Fisher]

We did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, that is Moroccan Christmas.

[Jenna Fisher]

We did it.

[Angela Kinsey]

We did it. We all hope you'll have a little responsibility in your life.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. And just want to give a few thank yous to Justin Spitzer, Aaron Shore, Halstead Sullivan, Jen Salata, Randy Cordray and Steven Socks. Remember, you can find Steven and his wife Lori on their podcast. If we knew then. And I know you traded a bunch of messages with Kate as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela. Yes. Kate Flannery and James Carey. Because the script having the shooting draft was just amaz for this one.

[Jenna Fisher]

And before we go, one little tidbit we're so excited to finally get to share with you. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're so excited to tell you guys that we have partnered with Comedy Central and Cartoon A Radio to bring you animated clips of our podcast. Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

You know, we're constantly getting mail from people saying they wish they could watch us on video. And for many reasons we won't get into now, we do not videotape our podcasts. But Cartoona Radio has taken some of the audio and they have animated it, which in my opinion is even better than watching a video.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is. You guys. They are so creative. Jenna and I are now a cartoon. I love it.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love it.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they have picked these funny moments to animate. It's going to debut on Comedy Central's YouTube. We'll put it in our socials so you can find it. We can't wait for you to see it.

[Jenna Fisher]

It starts tomorrow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Woohoo.

[Jenna Fisher]

Alright, guys, we will see you next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Your horn can pierce the sky.

[Jenna Fisher]

Thank you for listening to Office Lady's second drink.

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

[Jenna Fisher]

Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Bee.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our second drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.

[Jenna Fisher]

Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese. Dennis.

[Jenna Fisher]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner. Those sandals that can keep up with you. And hang some string lights to give

[Jenna Fisher]

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