Second Drink: Stress Relief Pt 1

Summary

Office Ladies: Second Drink – "Stress Relief, Part 1"

Release Date: June 15, 2026
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Episode Focus: Behind-the-scenes dive into The Office's most famous cold open: the fire drill in "Stress Relief, Pt 1" (Season 5, Episode 14), exploring production secrets, on-set memories, cultural impact, and fan questions.

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Episode Overview

Jenna and Angela revisit (over a second drink!) one of their favorite podcast moments: the breakdown of The Office’s "Stress Relief, Part 1." This episode is best remembered for the legendary fire drill cold open, followed by the equally iconic CPR training sequence—scenes that not only defined the series but left a genuine imprint on pop culture. As always, the discussion is packed with behind-the-scenes stories, crew and cast recollections, and the hosts' trademark friendship banter.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why "Stress Relief" Matters

• This was the most-watched Office episode—airing right after the Super Bowl in 2009 with 22.9 million viewers ([11:41]).
• The episode needed to hook new viewers while delighting existing fans, leading showrunner Greg Daniels to focus on a universally funny and wild scenario: Dwight’s fire drill gone wrong ([15:05], [16:26]).
• The cold open is now not only a fan favorite, but is used globally as an introductory snapshot to both American humor and language ([03:54]).

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2. The Legendary Cold Open: "Everyone Stay Effing Calm!"

Breakdown ([23:06] – [56:41])

• Planning & Filming: Months of meetings, a full day of shooting (Dec 11, 2008), heavy safety protocols, and out-of-order filming to control chaos ([21:16], [22:33]).
• Cinematography: Randall Einhorn and director Jeff Blitz used whip-pans and careful coordination to simulate documentary chaos while only using two cameras ([25:34]).
• Real Stunts and Effects:
  • Blowtorch: Rainn Wilson (Dwight) used a real blowtorch under strict supervision ([27:05]).
  • Fake Fire: Special effects teams created smoke using a water vapor/glycol mix, ensuring both realism and safety ([29:21]).
  • Breaking Glass: "Candy glass" (breakaway glass), both for Michael's conference window and the vending machines ([32:11], [33:16]).
  • Save Bandit (The Cat Stunt): Used a combination of a real, massive stunt cat, a $12,000 fake "fakey" cat, trainers, and safety tech. The process was so complex that at one point, two cats dropped from the ceiling due to a catch miss, but only one made the edit ([37:09]–[49:14]).
  • Oscar’s Ceiling Climb and Fall: Built special rigging; Oscar & a Cirque du Soleil stunt double (Aladdin Namu) both suspended for the scene ([49:48]–[54:25]).

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3. Fan Questions & Memorable Cast Stories

• Cultural Usage: International fans use the cold open in English classes; CPR instructors reference the episode’s "Stayin’ Alive" bit in real-life trainings, sometimes leading to lives saved ([03:54], [05:32], [68:39]).
• Improv Moments:
  • Steve Carell’s "Stay effing calm!" was a slight improv from script ([31:25]).
  • Michael’s "shove it down, please" after scooching Kendall in the boardroom was pure Steve ([59:10], [60:12]).
• Behind-the-Scenes Mishaps:
  • Cameraman Randall was knocked down by Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) during chaos, lifted up mid-take by grip Chris Workman, and that "accidental" shot made the final cut ([34:03]–[36:40]).
  • Kate Flannery (Meredith) grabbed her own ugg boots (not wardrobe–issued) during the fire ([55:21]).

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4. CPR Scene: Immortalized in Real Life

• CPR Trainer Rose: Actor Robin Lynch was so convincing, the hosts and many fans believed she was a real Red Cross instructor ([63:24]).
• Staying Alive Beat: The show's CPR lesson, setting compressions to the tempo of Bee Gees’ "Stayin’ Alive," is now part of standard CPR training. Multiple stories confirmed that this tip saved real lives—including a man rescuing a woman from a car and a dad reviving his daughter ([68:39]–[70:53]).
  • Notable Quote (Jenna Fischer): "People have used this CPR technique to save lives." ([68:39])
  • Notable Quote (Angela Kinsey, reading from an article): "When I was trying to think about what to do about CPR, my mind literally went to that episode of The Office..." ([70:37])

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5. Production Trivia & Super Bowl Insights

• Super Bowl Impact: Despite the record-single episode viewership, the Super Bowl lead-in did not boost ratings in weeks that followed ([12:41]–[12:52]).
• Guest Stars:
  • NBC pressured showrunners to feature big names, leading to the Jack Black, Cloris Leachman, and Jessica Alba "movie within a show." This allowed The Office to include celebrities without breaking the documentary format ([73:53]–[76:06]).
  • The movie’s working title was almost "Hang Glider Cop," but became "Mrs. Albert Hannity" ([77:02]).
  • None of the Office regulars met the film’s stars, as their scenes were shot separately ([77:33]).

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6. Character Moments & Deleted Scenes

• Stanley’s Heart Attack: Used as an onramp for new viewers, with a rare montage of past Stanley outbursts ([61:00]).
• Deleted Scenes:
  • Andy’s Enya CD and Kevin being Stanley’s "bathroom buddy" ([61:36]).
  • Michael tries to defibrillate everyone; Kevin zaps Meredith’s chair, making her hair rise ([62:14]).
  • Yoga: Michael’s awkward remarks and deleted lines, like Dwight blackmailing Angela for apology signatures ([80:46], [81:11]).
• Pam’s Parents: Early hints of a subplot about Pam’s parents’ troubled marriage, setting up part 2 ([10:31], [78:38]).

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Jenna Fischer on the episode’s impact:
  "This is one of my favorite podcast moments that we did because we really dug into it. We got so much good stuff." ([02:35])

• Rainn Wilson on use of real fire & props:
  "Yes, it was a real live blowtorch... That was all completely real." ([27:05])

• Angela Kinsey (on Bandit the cat):
  "Tossing cat up, blows out cat. Can't throw a cat; dropping cat onto its feet—just fine." ([43:13])

• Brian Baumgartner (on camera crash):
  "It's the first time anyone ever told me that I’ve outrun anyone... I had to put you down." ([35:33])

• On the CPR scene’s real-world effect:
  "When I was trying to think about what to do about cpr, my mind literally went to that episode of The Office..." ([70:37], Angela quoting article)

• Oscar Nuñez (on ceiling stunt):
  "I had a stuntman... from Cirque du Soleil... I did half of it, he did the really hard part." ([51:46])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening context & fan stories: [02:35] – [06:52]
• Episode summary & super bowl trivia: [09:45] – [15:07]
• Production deep dive (cold open): [21:16] – [56:41]
  • Real fire & blowtorch: [27:05]
  • Save Bandit (cat stunt): [37:09] – [49:14]
  • Oscar ceiling stunt: [49:48] – [54:25]
  • Camera operator gets mowed down: [34:03] – [36:40]
• CPR scene & pop culture impact: [62:56] – [71:10]
• "Mrs. Albert Hannity" subplot (Jack Black, etc.): [73:53] – [78:38]
• Pam’s parent subplot setup: [78:38] – [80:23]
• Closing yoga/Michael as “the killer”: [80:31] – [81:36]

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Memorable Moments & Recurring Themes

• Physical Comedy: The realism of the chaos in the cold open—props, stunts, and carefully orchestrated “accidents.”
• Safety vs. Chaos: Juxtaposing stringent safety protocols (for the cat, the ceiling, stunts) with giving Rainn Wilson actual fire implements.
• Documentary Integrity: Reluctance by showrunners to break the fourth wall for fame’s sake; innovative workarounds (fake movie instead of major guest appearances).
• Best Friend Banter: The hosts' analysis of strange props (Kate's boots), real vs. fake moments, and Angela’s snack and beverage stash ([07:38]).
• Real-Life Impact: The CPR scene’s literal lifesaving utility, highlighted by genuine news stories sent in by fans.

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Conclusion

Office Ladies’ deep-dive into "Stress Relief, Part 1" reveals not just how the series created one of TV comedy’s best-remembered set pieces, but how that work continues to ripple outwards—with viewers still laughing, learning, and sometimes even saving lives thanks to the series’ blend of chaos, care, and community. The friendly, detailed banter between Jenna and Angela, combined with behind-the-scenes voices from crew and cast, makes this episode a can't-miss for any Office fan or comedy nerd.

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Next Time

The conversation continues in "Stress Relief, Part 2: Boom, Roasted" (next week), where they’ll unravel the rest of the story, more production secrets, and more BFF laughs.

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Special thanks to Rainn Wilson, Randall Einhorn, Brian Baumgartner, Oscar Nuñez, Greg Daniels, Paul Lieberstein, Randy Cordray, and all who contributed their on- and off-air stories!

Transcript

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Lady, have you heard of Fremento?

[Jenna Fischer]

Is that the Voice Journal?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. So I saw it on Shark Tank and it got me thinking a lot about my dad because what I wouldn't give to have a book of his stories and his voice here, you know. And Father's Day is coming up and I love my father in law and he reminds me so much of my dad in a lot of ways and I thought what a great gift it would be for him. So I am sending that to him for Father's Day.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's cool about it is that there's no writing every week you get a prompt and then you just talk.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's no app that you have to download or there's none of the tech headaches.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a really, really cool gift. So this Father's Day, give your dad something that becomes more meaningful every Single go to www.remento.co and use code OFFICE to save $20 through Father's Day.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's Remento Co, like Remember and Memento and use code office for $20 off the life Storybook with Dad's voice inside. Hello and welcome to your second drink of stress relief, Part one. This episode has the famous fire drill cold open. We got so many wonderful tidbits from our crew on how that all went down. And you know what? I'm really proud of how we broke down this episode, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's one of my favorite podcast moments that we did because we really dug into it. We Got so much good stuff. We got a message from Arina S in Russia who wrote us about the fire drill scene. Irina said, this is one of my favorite episodes ever, naturally, because of the funniest ever Cold Open. When I watched it the first time, I couldn't stop laughing. I think I even teared up. That's how funny I found it. Now here is the amazing thing arena went on to say. I work as an English tutor, and whenever I feel like my students need cheering up or we need to lighten the mood, I ask them, have you seen the Office? And most of them say they haven't. And so I say, I'm going to show you a little clip. Just watch. And I turn on this Cold open and they just lose it. It's my favorite thing ever. I see how they light up watching something with authentic language, and it's just hilarious. I keep count of how many people began watching the show after my lessons, and so far it's about 5. So my point is, besides being one of the most iconic series ever, your show opens the window into the American culture and fantastic English language for many students who are learning it. Thank you so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that is so fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's very funny to me thinking that this Cold Open is like an introduction to American culture.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no, actually, any. Any like clip of the Office. Exactly. Well, this episode also has the Super Cringe CPR training session, which we've also heard is used as a teaching tool. Mike R. From Portland, Oregon said it was my birthday and a small group of friends got together to celebrate at a local restaurant. Everyone had recently experienced some setback or bad luck, myself included. One guest had just lost her job. Another guest found out her first round of IVF treatment didn't take. A couple of people shared that one of their kids was having some serious issues and I was having my own medical issue at the time. As we sat sulking at my sad birthday, a man at another table unrelated to our group was showing signs of choking. Luckily for him, one of my friends is a doctor. My friend sprang into action and performed the Heimlich maneuver. After what seemed like an eternity, a piece of steak was dislodged from the man's throat. My friend was exhausted mentally and physically after his heroic deed. The incident was scary and I felt helpless. Realizing that no one else was trained to help that man, I organized a CPR day at my office where many office references were made. Our trainer commented that the office is referenced in nearly every workshop she facilitates. Score one for the guy who lived and score one for the Office for making the world a safer place.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, in our breakdown lady, we talked a lot about how people who have seen this episode have gone on to, like, save lives because of the Stay in alive tip that the instructor gives the song.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ah, ah, ah, ah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Staying alive, staying alive, Staying alive. Exactly. And speaking of the CPR instructor, we got a letter from Robin lynch, who plays Rose in our breakdown. We said, hey, Robin, we're trying to get a hold of you. Hit us up. And she did. Here's what her letter said.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi.

[Jenna Fischer]

I just listened to your podcast about stress relief. Thank you so much for your kind words. I'd love to answer any questions and talk about our day on set. It was such an amazing experience. And lady, I was digging around and there are like four minutes of extra footage from those CPR scenes in the Superfan episodes. So it got us thinking. Actually, Ange, it got you thinking?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I said we should do an Office Lady 6.0 Where We Talk with Robin and. And we can unpack some of the extra scenes and just hear all about her time on set.

[Jenna Fischer]

I said, I love it. So that's what we're going to do. We've reached out to Robin and we can't wait to share more in an upcoming office lady 6.0.

[Angela Kinsey]

And now here's your second drink of stress relief, part one.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

We were on the Office together and we're best friends. And 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 Fischer]

We're the Office ladies. Hi, everyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Good morning, you guys. It's early here today for us.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's early here and we have a lot to cover.

[Angela Kinsey]

So much. We came in early.

[Jenna Fischer]

We have so much to say today. But I have to point out an observation before we get started.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is it all my snacks and beverages on my side, you actually do have

[Jenna Fischer]

a ton of snacks and beverages. You have a hot tea, a cold tea, a water, a granola bar, a banana, and some Naughty Oats cereal.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a lot. You knew this was gonna be a big episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

I came ready.

[Jenna Fischer]

Clearly, I came ready for an entire picnic.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will always show up with iced tea and snacks. Just know that that's me rolling in to any.

[Jenna Fischer]

Any event, my observation was actually going to be about your document. Oh, it's so charming. It is printed words it's not note cards. It is a pile of paper. But what you have done is you have taken like regular lined. What's that paper called?

[Angela Kinsey]

It's called notebook paper. Out of a spiral binder. Cause clearly I ran out of printer paper.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is that what happened?

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what happened.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's why your pages are on lined notebook. It's printed, though. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you think that I just wanted to print on notebook paper?

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady, I didn't know what you were doing.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I have a post it note.

[Jenna Fischer]

I just found it interesting when we sat down.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, this is me. You know, last night as I print my document out, you might have heard a few expletives because we're out of printer paper. So then I was like, damn it, it's nine o' clock at night.

[Jenna Fischer]

A good hack.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go. Hack. Go into your kid's room, get their notebook, rip out the pages your printer will print on it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I feel like we might have helped some people today.

[Angela Kinsey]

We might have.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, let's talk about why we're here today. It is stress relief. Part 1, Season 5, Episode 14 written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Jeff Blitz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Exactly. You might be thinking, ladies, it's stress relief that isn't that big. Except it had the cold open to end all cold opens.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We'll be breaking that down.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, we will.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's going to take a while. This episode originally aired as an hour long episode. We're going to have to break it down in two parts. So today we're covering the first half of stress relief. Would you like a summary?

[Angela Kinsey]

I really would.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right. It starts with that cold open you were talking about, Angela. Dwight takes matters into his own hands when his coworkers fail to pay attention to his fire safety seminar.

[Angela Kinsey]

He used PowerPoint. Big mistake.

[Jenna Fischer]

Big mistake. He's going to give us a practical fire drill.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hands on.

[Jenna Fischer]

How will we react on our feet?

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Stanley has a heart attack. It doesn't end well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Doesn't?

[Jenna Fischer]

And that lands Dwight in hot water with corporate.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, he almost burned the building. Stanley had a heart attack. Dwight, how do you have a job?

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael hires a CPR expert to teach the office what we should do if Stanley has another heart attack. But Dwight has his own ideas of how to use the CPR dummy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hello, Clarice.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, dear. Finally we learned that Pam's mom and dad are having a rough patch in their marriage. And that Pam's dad has actually been bunking with Jim and Pam sans robe. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was he walking around in his tighty whities?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know, but she needs to get him a robe. Aw. Fast fact number one. This episode aired after the Super bowl on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, if I had a air horn thing, I'd fire it off because this was huge for us.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sophia C. Wrote in to say. Jenna, I have a fast fact for you. Sophia, this was the most watched episode of the entire Office series.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, and she's right. I looked it up. Angela, do you wanna know how many people.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. I'm horrible at guessing. Like, you know, guess the jelly bean and the jelly. I'm so off.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. Yeah, I can't do that either.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, I'm gonna guess 10 million people. That seems like a big number.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is a big number. But it was 22.9. No way. Million people.

[Angela Kinsey]

Holy smokes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. So it is definitely the most watched episode of the Office. And it's also the only episode of the Office to ever reach over 20 million viewers. Wow. But now I have another question for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no. Is it more guessing number stuff?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's more guessing. It's not numbers, though.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, good. Well, I have a shot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can you guess what our second most watched episode was?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no. Of the whole series.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of the whole series. This was number one. What do you think number two was?

[Angela Kinsey]

The finale.

[Jenna Fischer]

The pilot.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

The pilot? Really? It had 11.2 million viewers.

[Angela Kinsey]

The pilot that I wore my own clothes in? Yeah, from target. Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. 11.2 million people saw your outfit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you're welcome, America.

[Jenna Fischer]

Interestingly enough, airing after the super bowl did not seem to get us a bump in viewership going forward.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, it was like a one and done kind of.

[Jenna Fischer]

So the episode that aired before the super bowl was Prince Family Paper, and we had 8.7 million viewers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was kind of our average range right after the super bowl is lecture circuit, and we actually had a drop in the ratings to 8.4. Oh, so some regular viewers. I don't know. They were like, not after that super bowl stunt. Fast fact number two. Randy told me that there were rumors that we were going to get that 2009 Super bowl slot from as early as the end of season four.

[Angela Kinsey]

Geez. Yeah. Did they plan that that far out?

[Jenna Fischer]

I guess so. There had been some talk that maybe it would go to the Apprentice. The Apprentice was going to get the slot, but our executive producers really fought for the Office to get it, and we did. Randy said it was part of our Internal shooting records as of May 2008, which was well before we had ever started shooting season five. So we'd known for a while this was coming. I also reached out to Greg Daniels.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah? What'd he have to say?

[Jenna Fischer]

He said this. Oh, yeah. This was a big deal.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Quote, we threw our biggest guns at it, which is why Paul Lieberstein wrote it. That makes sense.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a fantastic script. I texted Paul yesterday, just a few couplets of dialogue. I was like, this is perfection. I'll tell you what I texted him later.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Paul had been with us since the very beginning. He is one of our best. It made total sense that he should make this episode. I got curious.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I started doing a little digging. Angela, the script for this episode was 95 pages long.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I looked through it, and I was like, what is this phone book I'm reading? Oh, my God. It's stress relief.

[Jenna Fischer]

The candy bag.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. The candy bag.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our alts.

[Angela Kinsey]

All of our alt dialogue.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. All the extra jokes that they didn't put in the script but that they want us to maybe shoot.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God. How long was it, lady?

[Jenna Fischer]

It was 207 pages long.

[Angela Kinsey]

They had 207 pages of extra jokes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

On the.

[Jenna Fischer]

Ready to go. Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I thought we should tell everyone that this episode took us nine days to shoot. It was a very, very big deal. Greg also said that because we were running after the super bowl, it created a scrutiny from the network that was not normally present on our show.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Lots of notes, lots of opinions.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure. This is a big piece of real estate.

[Jenna Fischer]

This will come up again later. Should I move us to fast fact number three?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right. Fast fact number three. Greg told us that because there would be so many new eyes on this episode, new viewers, that they had to figure out a storyline that would appeal to both current office viewers and new ones. And they also had to find a way to kind of reintroduce everyone's characters so that new viewers could follow along. They really tried to stay away from existing storylines. So, for example, there's no movement or mention of the Angela, Andy, Dwight love triangle. Right. There's nothing about the company is struggling and there might be layoffs?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, there's nothing very complicated. This is a very simple idea that can hook everybody.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. But they especially had to figure out, how do we start this episode? How do we hook these new viewers and make them stay for the whole hour?

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

So Greg had this idea. What if an office weirdo who wanted people to listen to his safety ideas, actually caused a fire emergency. He was like, you don't have to know who's who. It has a lot of energy and a lot of physical comedy.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go. I mean, that is brilliant. Greg is brilliant. Because instantly, you're hooked. Everyone has an office, like, idiot that is gonna, like, take matters in their own hands or something. I thought it was amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we will break down this epic cold open after the break, But I have one more thing to say.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is a bonus fast fact.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you notice the main titles?

[Angela Kinsey]

Of course I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

Everybody's in them.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is the first time that our main titles featured the entire cast. It was so cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were so excited. We all cheered when we watched it. Oh, my gosh. I remember my family, too, because, like, everyone in my family who had never seen the show saw it because it was after the super bowl and. And we were in the main titles. It was really exciting.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was special.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was special.

[Jenna Fischer]

The whole thing was special. I mean, there are all these little milestones along the way as we're doing this rewatch and as we're looking back at our journey. I'm realizing all of these firsts, and I would have never imagined I'd be on a TV show that would run after the Super Bowl.

[Angela Kinsey]

The super bowl is such a big deal. I remember commercial auditioning, and everyone wanted, like, a Super bowl commercial spot. If we could just. I still. I still am like, oh, come on. Yeah, let me throw a Dorito at your head. And you catch it in your mouth, and it ricochets off the ceiling. Super bowl ad.

[Jenna Fischer]

You heard it here. Doritos office. Ladies throw Doritos and catch them. We'll do it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna will do a cartwheel. Wait, she's very athletic.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Better start working on my cartwheels.

[Angela Kinsey]

I guess so.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, ladies, should we take a break? And then when we come back, everyone

[Angela Kinsey]

get ready, Buckle in, because we have an epic cold open. With an epic cold open breakdown.

[Jenna Fischer]

We do. It's gonna be good,

[Angela Kinsey]

Lady. Have you ever invested in something that seemed really amazing at first but then did not live up to the hype?

[Jenna Fischer]

I once got this kind of fancy jacket that look amazing in the store, but then I wore it out once, and I realized it was not comfortable. And now it just lives in my closet collecting dust.

[Angela Kinsey]

LinkedIn has a word for that. Bull spend.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Terms and conditions apply. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because we love Squarespace, we have been

[Jenna Fischer]

tooling around with OfficeLadies.com. if you haven't been to our website in a little while, will you please go and see the new stuff we have? We have organization.

[Angela Kinsey]

Some of you guys were like, we want the episodes in folders. Season one, season two, season three. Not just chronologically.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know we did that thanks to Squarespace.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

They have cutting edge design tools anyone can use.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

And you know, to get started, you need a domain. Squarespace Domains makes it easy to find the best name for your business at one fair, all inclusive price. No hidden fees or add ons required.

[Angela Kinsey]

So go to squarespace.com officeladies for a free trial and when you're ready to launch, use offer code Office ladies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. All right, you guys, let's get right to it. First of all, you should know we reached out to a ton of people to share with us how they made this cold open happen.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was fascinating actually finding out we knew our part, right? But we're like, well, how did camera do it? How did they like. So many things.

[Angela Kinsey]

So many things to capture. So, Randy Cordray, you guys know we love Randy. He told us they had several planning sessions, right? With all the department heads. We had our director, Jeff Blitz, cinematographer Randall Einhorn. They had to walk through this whole dance that we did with the camera stunts, animal trainers, script supervisor Veda like tracking the continuity. And then our rock star, first ad, Kelly Cantley. She then broke it down into smaller moments.

[Jenna Fischer]

Dean Holland, our editor who edited this sequence, he told me he was also brought in on those planning sessions. He said he got so much footage, but that it was actually really, really well organized and pretty easy to edit because they planned so well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, way to go, guys. Randy told us that we spent an entire day shooting this one whole day, to be exact. It was Thursday, December 11th.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we had tons of safety meetings. All this safety stuff.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember. We did not shoot this in order. Right. We shot it out of order. And some of that was for safety reasons.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Let's describe it, and then we'll go back and we will break it down piece by piece. All right, here's your overview, everybody.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here's your overview of the cold open. The first shot is Dwight opening his desk. And he sort of motions to the camera all sneaky, and he's got lighter fluid and what looks like to be a blowtorch.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you know something's up.

[Jenna Fischer]

Something Dwightish.

[Angela Kinsey]

He goes in the hallway and he's kind of hiding out, and he's whispering the camera, and he starts, like, jamming the doors. He puts a key in. He hammers it shut. He puts his little wood wedges under and.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Blowtorches the door handle and starts his speech.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. He says that nobody paid attention to his fire safety seminar. He blames himself for using PowerPoint. Right. And that experience is the best teacher. So he will teach his co workers proper fire emergency procedure the hard way.

[Angela Kinsey]

And, you guys, today, cigarettes are going to save lives.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

As he smokes a cigarette and then tosses it into a trash can. And immediately a fire starts.

[Jenna Fischer]

But no one notices at first. No one notices smoke piling in under the door.

[Angela Kinsey]

And everybody's just quietly working. And it's really frustrating. Dwight. So he's like, do you guys smell something? And Angela's so snarky, is like, did you bring your jerky in today? I know. And then Pam notices it. But Jenna, Pam notices it. The way I react in moments like this. You notice she didn't say fire. She was like, there's a. Oh, my.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a. She freezes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael starts yelling for everyone to stay effing calm. Dwight is kind of shouting, proper safety procedures, but people are panicking. It's suddenly total chaos.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is what it sounded like.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God. Okay, it's happening. Everybody stay calm. What's the procedure, everyone? What's the procedure? Say calm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Everybody calm down.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, no, Michael. No. Exactly. Well, amid all the chaos, Angela gets a cat out of a file cabinet. Oscar escapes up into the ceiling. I know you're gonna have a lot to tell us about that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then Michael smashes a window in the conference room.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kevin is gonna make sure he's getting snacks during the fire. He's, like, busting up the vending machines. And then Dwight Lights a bunch of firecrackers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

To which Ed Helms, as Andy, says my favorite line in this cold open, which is the fire is shooting at us.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jim is like ramming the copy machine into a door. Finally, Dwight pulls the fire alarm. Why?

[Angela Kinsey]

Because Stanley's having a heart attack.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. Yes. It's insane.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

The whole thing is insane. How did we do it?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we had amazing people, is how we did it. We spoke to our cinematographer, Randall Einhorn, about how exactly they captured all these moments. We reached out to him. Here's what he had to say.

[Randall Einhorn]

Yeah. I worked really closely with Jeff Blitz and our ad, Kelly Cantley, to, you know, coordinate how exactly we're going to shoot that. Because there was a lot of moving parts, a lot of moving pieces. It didn't want to feel like it needed 50 cameras filming it. It always wants to feel like there's just two cameras filming it and they're struggling to film it. So it was a lot to work out because there was so much going on. But because we're able to cut on some of the camera swishes, we're able to piece it together. So it looked like it was one piece. Because as the camera's panning from one thing to another, if you're doing it right, you can make it look like you can create an edit point where you're panning from the end of one piece and you're panning into another. The beginning of another piece is really kind of how it's done. That's how we all pulled it all together and made it look like it was a one frantic take.

[Jenna Fischer]

I have learned doing this rewatch how often we used that whip cut.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was our friend.

[Jenna Fischer]

Clearly, it's why this cold open happened, lady. We got a ton of fan questions about this cold open, so why don't I go through them?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

We said at the top of the episode, Rain's doing all his mischief with the locking of the doors and setting the fire. We had a fan question from Jaden C. Was Dwight using a real blowtorch on those handles?

[Angela Kinsey]

It certainly looked like it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Why don't we let Rainn Wilson tell

[Angela Kinsey]

us, Rain, what you got to say.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yes, it was a real live blowtorch. It was not a CGI flame. They had a lot of safety officers there. You know, a fire marshal is there and a special effects coordinator. And the handles actually did get very hot. You know, nowadays they'd probably do CGI and maybe even make the door handle a little red with the cgi, but that Was all completely real.

[Jenna Fischer]

I can't believe they gave him a real blowtorch.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, if you look back over the things they gave Rain that were real in episodes, they should have known,

[Jenna Fischer]

going back to the Dundees, when they gave him that operating keyboard, like, just

[Angela Kinsey]

what he did with the fart key.

[Jenna Fischer]

Don't give that guy real things.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don't give that guy real things. Well, yeah. So real blowtorch. What else?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we had another fan question. People wanted to know if Rain was really smoking, and Rohitr wanted to know if it was real smoke in the trash can. Here's what Rain had to say.

[Rainn Wilson]

It was an actual cigarette that I smoked and lit, and I threw it in the garbage can with the paper. But I think they, like, ran in the second the camera panned away and tossed in some water and put it out. And the fire that you see in the trash can is expertly created due to the magic of special effects. There are so many amazing details throughout the episode that Paul Lieberstein, I remember guiding me through. I think he wrote it. But Paul was very instrumental in a lot of the details about how I smoked and how I casually tossed the cigarette. And he had it kind of visualized in his mind how the wedges get hammered under the door and all the details, the hammer in my pocket and stuff like that. So the great Paul Lieberstein, AKA Toby, really played a great creative part throughout the entirety of the Office, and especially in this episode in this cold open.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow. I didn't know that. I didn't know Paul was behind all those beats, all the, like, staging of the fire moments.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, me either.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, Jenna, just on a side note, I've never had to smoke a cigarette in a movie or TV show, and it would be a disaster because I don't know how to smoke a cigarette. And it would be so clear. I wouldn't know how to be, like, fakey smokey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, for all of our, like, kind of techie nerds out there, Randy broke down for me exactly how they did make that fire in the trash can, that smoke. So Rain was right. Right. They extinguished the fire that you saw. But then to create that smoke billowing in, that was created by a special effects team led by Ron Nary. And for the smoke, he used a water vapor generator with a minute concentration of glycol. And I guess the glycol is what keeps the water vapor hanging in the air a bit longer. Randy said it had no odor, and it was approved safe by both SAG and NBC Universal Safety department.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is glycol?

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

Google it.

[Jenna Fischer]

You can Google it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Google it.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is it? Is it glycol? Okay, there's two glycols. Oh, there's propylene glycol.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then there's ethylene glycol.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was one a good guy and one's not great?

[Jenna Fischer]

I guess, kind of. I think the ethylene glycol is the stuff that's in, like, antifreeze, and it has, like, a sweet taste. That's what, it's poisonous. Right. You don't want your dog to lick it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

They're always saying, don't lick your antifreeze.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're always saying that to dogs.

[Jenna Fischer]

The dogs are like, we don't understand you.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, cats love it too. You gotta be careful.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now, propylene glycol is a substance that's commonly used as a food additive. It's in a lot of cosmetic and hygiene products, including, I think, some toothpastes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, so that's the one we used.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, I guess so.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I think one of the glycols is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can also be used as some sort of a fiber. I don't think we have time to, in the moment, deep dive glycol. But we were curious, so I'm assuming that since SAG and NBCUniversal said it was safe, then we used the safe one.

[Angela Kinsey]

We used the safe one. Look at us. We're fine.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're here. Next fan question is from Mikey S. Did Steve improvise when he said stay effing calm? No. A little bit, though.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, that's Steve, right? I mean, he got everything scripted, but sometimes he would zhuzh in the moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

Here's what it said in the script. Oh, God, it's happening. Let me through. Let me through. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay effing calm. And then Michael violently pushes his way through to the front. I think we did it. I mean, very accurately. We have more fan questions. Angela, Jaden C. Wants to know how many times did Michael throw the projector into the window?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, he starts with the chair, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. It does not break. And Randy said that for that, we used a plane of Plexiglas because they

[Angela Kinsey]

didn't want it to break. They wanted his first attempt not to go well.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Then they replaced the Plexiglas with breakaway glass. And it shatters very realistically, but it never shatters in a sharp or dangerous way. I have a little fun fact for you. In the olden days of Hollywood, this was known as candy glass.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know that Jenna, Because I got a tour of an old western set with my dad, and they were like all those windows that guys get thrown out the bars in in the saloon. That was candy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Candy. You could eat it. I guess nowadays they don't make it out of candy, But Randy said old schoolers still call it candy glass, even though now it's called breakaway glass.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Randy also told us, Jayden, in answer to your question, they got it in one take. One throw of the projector broke the breakaway glass.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jayden would also like to know how many times did Kevin break the vending machine? I reached out to Brian Baumgartner. He said he thought it took about two to three takes. They used that same breakaway glass. He said it broke every time, but they had to do it a few extra times just to get a certain camera movement right. You know, they were doing the whip

[Angela Kinsey]

cuts, right, to make it look frantic.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right. Now, next up, lady. I thought we should discuss this moment that no one wrote in about, but that was so epic.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can't believe no one wrote in about it. I know exactly the moment you're talking about because it was such a big deal to all of us on set. And maybe people don't realize that because of what a badass Chris Workman is.

[Jenna Fischer]

So what we're talking about is the moment when, led by Kevin, the Dunder Mifflin employees are running through the kitchen and take down our camera operator, Randall Einhorn. Guys, this was a total mistake.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we were like, oh, my God, Randall's down. But only for a few seconds.

[Jenna Fischer]

We reached out to Randall because we had to hear this story from his

[Angela Kinsey]

perspective when Brian mowed him down.

[Randall Einhorn]

I remember when I was running backwards through the break room and Brian Baumgartner, who plays Kevin, was running at me because he's frantically trying to get out of there. And he just kept running on me, running and gaining on me and gaining on me. And I'm running backwards with the camera, and he just got so close that I think he hit me, and I hit the ground. I went down. But my camera says Chris Workman, who's really strong guy, just caught me with one arm, caught me and the camera with one arm and put me back on my feet. And I'm like a 200 pound guy. The camera's nearly 40 pounds. And Chris just lifted me up. I didn't even know if I hit the ground. But that shot of me going down and getting back up actually made the show. So thank you, Chris Workman, for Picking me up. And thank you, Brian Baumgartner, for running into me and making such a cool shot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Angela, I felt like we also needed to hear from Brian Baumgartner about this moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

The mower and the mode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. We needed a point counterpoint.

[Brian Baumgartner]

Well, thank you, Randall. You know, I wanted to make fun of you for getting the story wrong, but you complimented me and got the story 100% right. I mean, look, I had people running behind me, okay? So I, I, I, I had to run over whatever was in front of me or I would have gotten run over myself. But actually, come to think of it, it's the first time that anyone has ever told me that I've outrun anyone. I mean, you, you were running backwards carrying a camera. But, yeah, I, I had to. To put you down. And look, the thing I remember is, yes, you, you went all the way to your back, as I recall. And for me, out of the corner of my eye, it looked like Chris Workman, one hand picked you up, put you back on the feet. And like the pro that you are, well, you, you just kept filming. I'm so happy that it made it into the cut. And it's, it's one of my favorite episodes. It, it aired after the super bowl, obviously, and, and that was a big deal for me. And, and, yeah, one of our funniest cold opens, for sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, I just remember that moment so vividly, because I do remember Randall is down. What do we do? And then Randall is up, I guess we continue. But it was amazing to me. And that's the only time it happened. And that's the take we used.

[Angela Kinsey]

Chris Workman, man, he is a machine.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, now I think we need to discuss the thing that we got the most mail about. Oh, yeah. Save Bandit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Save Bandit.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now, Save Bandit was the last thing on our call sheet for the day. All the rest of us had gone home. I know they did this because it was so complicated. They wanted you to have the set to yourself. I was not there. Angela, please tell us, how did you pull this off?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, so here's the thing, guys. We had to have a lot of rehearsals. You should know, on the day when there was a lot of the chaos and we were all running around, I was there. But the cat didn't work those moments. Okay, yeah, the cat did have to work one moment, Jenna, with all of us, where I open the drawer and you reveal. Yeah, you guys are all in the background for that moment. And I had to actually pick the cat up and walk over to where I would have tossed it. And that was it. That's all I had to do with the cat with the group there. Jenna, this cat was massive.

[Jenna Fischer]

It looks big.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm like, did you cast the biggest cat they had? Did you see the big one in the corner and say, we want that, dude? Just taking it out of the drawer with the chaos, not even doing anything with it. Just picking it up and taking it to my spot. The cat was like, I'm out of here. So I was really glad when we actually filmed the stunt part that you guys were all gone.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Less activity for the cat to deal with.

[Angela Kinsey]

The cat was already like, where am I? What's going on? All right, so a lot of things went in to make this happen, and I'm going to share with you some stuff that Randy Cordray and Jeff Blitz shared with me. But then I'm going to tell you my personal memories. So I guess in the script there were a few alts about how the cat got in the ceiling. Jeff Blitz fought really hard to have the moment where the cat goes up in the ceiling and then out a different part of the ceiling.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

That was the thing he fought for. He said to do this, though, it would involve a pair of matching cats and two trainers in the ceiling. One to catch Bandit one and one to drop Bandit two through a different ceiling panel.

[Jenna Fischer]

So the idea originally was that you would go on a search for twin cats. Identical looking cats, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Randi said that we worked with an excellent animal training company out of Sylmar, California. Their name is Bob Dunn's Animal Services. And our specific cat trainer for this stunt and many more episodes was Denise Sanders. She was fantastic. I love Denise. And Randy would want you guys to know that we took the safety of not only the humans on set, but also the animals. Took it very seriously.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that was Randy. Randy is a real animal lover and he advocated for all of us fur

[Angela Kinsey]

babies and real people. Okay, so, Jenna, my memory is we had two rehearsal days for this stunt.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. One was just like a preliminary blocking, but then the second one was like, okay, we have to practice this as if we're doing it. And our biggest rehearsal, it was me, Jeff Blitz, Randy Cordray, Greg Daniels. I think some of the writers were there. I think Dean might have been there, our editor, everyone that was going to be involved in this moment. Oscar, the trainer up in the ceiling. There was a lot of people actually for this rehearsal. And if I missed some of you guys, there was more people than you would imagine I had a stunt woman named Katina Waters because they actually didn't want me tossing the cat up in the ceiling. Right. They wanted a professional animal wrangler, stunt person.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Because what, that makes sense, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

What if I got it wrong?

[Jenna Fischer]

Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm not a professional animal wrangler.

[Jenna Fischer]

You're not a professional animal thrower.

[Angela Kinsey]

I am not. But as we started blocking the moments of the scene, the cat wrangler, Denise was like, you guys, we can't toss a cat up in the ceiling. You know, we can't toss it up, we can't toss it out. There is no tossing of cats, guys, because not that it will harm the cat. This isn't a very high distance or anything like that.

[Jenna Fischer]

It won't physically harm them.

[Angela Kinsey]

It won't physically harm the cat. And then she, she used this phrase, Jenna, that was like a scratch on the record player. She said, because it will blow out the cat. And this is clearly a cat wrangler term. It will blow out the cat. We all, all of us went, huh? Blow out the cat. And then Greg goes, because Greg's such an inquisitive minded person, he's like, I'm sorry, what does that mean? To blow out the cat?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she said, it will ruin its career.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now is that because just the stress of performing that stunt would make it so that the cat wouldn't be able to maybe go to work again. Like, the cat would be okay physically, but it would be stressful and they couldn't be sure that it would be a trainable cat in the future.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's what I'm hearing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, that's exactly what we all heard. Which is the cat will physically be fine, but you might make it so it's afraid and we won't be able to train it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Got it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

So it could live out its life as someone's pet, but it's not gonna be a working cat anymore, not a stunt cat anymore. Okay. But this is her job, right? Like this cat working, this is her livelihood.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. And so Greg, like, as a problem solver, he was like, well, what would it cost to retire the cat? Could we pay you and retire the cat and that way you don't lose your income in this cat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Uh huh.

[Angela Kinsey]

She didn't want to retire the cat. This is a very high earning cat. This is a very good cat.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's the largest cat they have.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's the largest stunt cat, clearly the

[Jenna Fischer]

large physically and the largest monetary stunt cat.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they came up with this idea they made it work. This is what the animal trainer said that they could do. We would toss up into the ceiling a fake cat. Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, a fake cat. And then up in the rafters of the ceiling would be a trainer that would then gently be holding a real cat and release it onto my desk, which was just a few feet below.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, I think I got it. Tossing cat up, blows out cat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Tossing cat up, blows out cat. Can't throw a cat dropping cat onto its feet. Just feeding.

[Jenna Fischer]

Totally fine.

[Angela Kinsey]

Totally fine.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know what I have to say, Sunny? Cat actually enjoys a good toss sometimes. I'm doing laundry on the bed, and he'll come up, and he likes it when I give him a big hoist onto the pile of laundry, and then he'll jump down and I'll do it again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sunny, you could have been banded.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sunny could have been banded. He's like, I'll do it. I'll do the toss.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Sunny should have been banned. It. Well, here's the deal. Randy even went to extra measures to make sure the cat would be fine when they were going to drop it on my desk. He and the animal trainers and our stunt guy, Eric Sulke, they came up with this huge inflatable safety airbag that would decelerate and gently catch the falling cat. It was described as, like, falling into feathers.

[Jenna Fischer]

And.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we did some practice runs, and the trainers signed off on it. It was fine. The cat wasn't traumatized at all. They hid this airbag in the corner of my accounting desk with, like, papers and stuff. But there was a cat airbag on my desk. Okay. And the ceiling panel had breakaway foam rubber. All right. So it was all very cushy. Cushy.

[Jenna Fischer]

But now I just want to say they did all of this and then gave Rain a real blowtorch.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know they had an inflatable airbag cushion for this enormous cat. But now, Jenna, enter in the people that make fake animals.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm scared.

[Angela Kinsey]

I found them fascinating. So, like, you know, if you have a show like CSI and there's a dead body, these are your people. They make fake humans. They make fake animals, Jenna. They had to meticulously match the exact cat that we were tossing in the ceiling. And it was a rush job. Randy said this fake cat cost $12,000.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And I want you to know that thing was one of the scariest things I've ever seen held or touched. First of all, it had these yellow eyes that would just look at you, and then the fur felt real. But when you picked it up, it was gelatinous, so it, like, flop, like, as you held it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, imagine, like, flopping a towel over your arm. A big, thick towel. It was, like, smushy. It was frightening. I. We started kind of pranking with it. Like, I said it on Oscar's desk, and he walked up, and he was like, oh, God. I had to, like, start covering its face with a piece of paper because the thing was so creepy to look at.

[Jenna Fischer]

Where is it now?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know. NBC owns it somewhere. Right? They paid for it, by the way. This is just the cat stuff. We haven't even gotten to the fact that Oscar has a whole bit he has to do. Oh, yeah, right. So when we actually got to the day to shoot the stunt, I go over to the drawer, I pull out the cat. Now, they said my dialogue and everything. I still had to be yelling. Okay. So I open the drawer, and you'll hear in the take, I say to the cat, it's okay. Like, I'm trying to, like, be like, I'm not a bad person. I lift up this enormous cat, and then I have to go to my spot where Oscar's going in the roof. And they wanted. So they could do that swishy cut. Yeah, they wanted me to take the cat. I'm holding it to my chest. They wanted me to swing the cat back behind me and then swing it up over my head and stop.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is the real cat.

[Angela Kinsey]

The real cat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

The real cat gets the swinging motion.

[Jenna Fischer]

Swinging. Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Swinging. Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Swinging approved.

[Angela Kinsey]

Swinging approved. While I'm yelling, I only weigh 82 pounds. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm sure the cat loved that. You know what cats love?

[Angela Kinsey]

Screaming and swinging.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

This cat probably weighed 20 pounds. I'm not exaggerating at all. It was enormous. Just the swinging and getting it to my stopping point. It was like I was like, oh, God. And then I stop, and I hold it in the air. Freeze. Then they yell, cut. And in comes my stuntwoman in the same outfit. She takes real cat. She holds it in the air. I step away. Because what she's gonna do with the cat, Jenna, is kind of do the second motion where it appears like she's tossing, but she doesn't toss the cat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

But she kind of gives it a little air, but not a lot of air.

[Jenna Fischer]

And this was like, they don't want you to get all scratched up. She knows how to give, like, a little thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

They had to give the idea of the motion. Yeah, right. More than my swing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Got it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. And then, of course, we had to get a take where I had to take fakey cat and do the same motion as the stuntwoman. I had to watch her and toss fakie cat in the ceiling. Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

They pieced all of that together. So, Jenna, I had talked to Jeff Blitz about this moment a while back, because I distinctly remember when we filmed it, two cats coming out of the ceiling instead of one.

[Jenna Fischer]

How. How. How. How did two cats come out?

[Angela Kinsey]

That's my memory. And I was like, wait, am I crazy? And I talked to Dean how. Who edited. And I was like, dean, did you have to CGI out one cat? Because I know two cats came down. I remember seeing two cats. He was like, no. And so I talked to Jeff Blitz, and he goes, yes, Angela, two cats came down. I was like, what? He said on the take, we used the trainer that was supposed to catch the fakie cat. Missed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And so then on action, fakie cat came out the other side, and real cat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Two cats hit the desk. And Jeff said, luckily, the way the camera was positioned, it only caught one cat. And I think it's the real cat when you watch, because it looks like

[Jenna Fischer]

a real cat comes in. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because it hits and it kind of runs off. Whereas fakie cat just would have gone plop. Yes. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

So there you go. One cat went up, two cats came down. But we got the shot. It took all those people and all that maneuvering, but it made it in the episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela, that is amazing. I did not know all the details of that story. I was on the edge of my seat. I absolutely loved that, you guys.

[Angela Kinsey]

The crazy thing is, it took me that long to tell that story, but it happened in five seconds.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

When we actually filmed it, it was so quick. So it was like, me, drawer cat, swing, step out, step mom. Thank you, cat. Oh, my God. Two cats react to one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you mentioned that there was something else going on during all this, which was Oscar going in and out of the ceiling.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was a whole other ordeal. Randy told us that that part of the stunt of getting Oscar up into the ceiling was the other most challenging part of the stunt, because there was nothing to climb into in the way that our set was built. Like the actual lightweight drop ceiling. It was suspended from cables. Yeah. Very thin rigging wires.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was fakie ceiling, guys. Because our set was inside a humongous soundstage.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So actually, above the Dunder Mifflin offices was just air.

[Jenna Fischer]

If you walked outside, you could look up and just see These wires holding fakie ceiling.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So he said in the weeks prior to filming this, our production designer, Michael Gallenberg and construction coordinator Tim James had to completely re engineer the ceiling.

[Angela Kinsey]

They had to, like, build rafters, basically, that we didn't have. Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And it had to be enough to support not just Oscar, but all of the stunt personnel. He said on the day, there were two stunt coordinators, the animal people, Oscar, Oscar, stunt double, and an NBC Universal safety coordinator all up in the ceiling. Can you imagine that guy's day at work?

[Angela Kinsey]

I can't.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like, he's not normally with us. He's just up in our ceiling now.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can tell you that I had to look up into the ceiling and it looked crowded. I get why someone might have missed a cat as it flew up there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we got a fan question from Alex M. Did Oscar really fall through the ceiling? Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, yes and no. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

We pulled it off using both Oscar and a stunt double. Right, Ange?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. So I reached out to Oscar and I was like, oscar, you gotta tell us everything about the ceiling. I guess he gets asked this a lot. And he sent in this audio clip.

[Oscar Nunez]

I had a stuntman. I had a Moroccan. He was. He was. I think he was from Morocco. It was. He was. He was from Cirque Soleil. He was a little shorter than me, and he was a stuntman. And I think he was jumping out from the hole and doing wonderful tumbles when he hit the ground. I did half of it. He did the really hard part. It was a very funny scene, very complicated. I remember in one of the shots, I made Steve laugh because one of the ways that I was coming down from the roof on one of them, they had a big. A bar up there. And it lowered me slowly through the hole. And that was a funny way to come down. And when I made eye contact with Steve, just hanging there with a straight face, of course he laughed. And then they figured out another way to bring me down, which was the leap down. But first I would just like. One of the things we tried was just like being lowered down from the thing, which didn't make sense, but was very funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you remember that?

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do too.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was very weirdly Matrixy. It was.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Oscar Wilde.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oscar was slowly, very slowly.

[Angela Kinsey]

What was that Tom Cruise movie where he slowly lowered himself down? It was like that. Oscar was like slowly coming out of the ceiling. It looked crazy.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Oscar, of course, did not break, because he never broke, but we did. And all the rest of us were like, we can't possibly continue as if that's physically possible.

[Angela Kinsey]

And if Steve broke, you know, it looked ridiculous.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let me break it down for you for anyone who wants to follow along. At 2 minutes, 38 seconds, the real Oscar is standing on his desk and he pushes up the ceiling tile. At 2 minutes, 43 seconds for that beat of Oscar actually jumping up and pulling himself into the ceiling. That's his stunt double. You'll notice you don't see his face. His double's name was Aladdin Namu. And to pull this off, I guess Aladdin had to wear a safety harness underneath his Oscar wardrobe. And it had this cable that went up through his harness to a pulley that was manned by two guys in the ceiling. And after he would jump, these guys would like hoist him up using this pulley.

[Angela Kinsey]

You gotta trust the guys in the ceiling, don't ya?

[Jenna Fischer]

Then at 2 minutes, 48 seconds, we see the real Oscar again. He's up there in the scaffold looking down. He was also secured by a harness and a cable, just to make sure. Finally, at 3 minutes, 33 seconds, Oscar appears to break through another ceiling panel over by the kitchen near Creed's desk. That's his stunt doubles legs kicking.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed's reaction was so hilarious to me. Sorry, go on.

[Jenna Fischer]

But at 4 minutes, 6 seconds, that is when the stunt team dropped real Oscar onto the floor.

[Angela Kinsey]

So many beats of this scene. So many.

[Jenna Fischer]

We haven't even talked about. Stanley's heart attack.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

At the end of all of this, he's on the ground and Michael is like telling him he can't die. He can't die. He's shoving a wallet in his mouth. Yeah, Michael's yelling, barack Obama's president, you can't die. Stanley, we got a fan question from Megan gave Leslie. David Baker spoke at my college and said that the scene where Michael puts the wallet in his mouth was improvised. Is this true, lady? I looked it up in the script. It is not there. It ended with him saying, you can't die. Barack Obama is president. That wallet bit was on the day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh my gosh. Well, I have a fan question that made me chuckle. Jenna, Emma N wrote in and said Meredith has these kind of dirty question mark brown boots she's carrying. At around 1 minute 49 seconds and throughout some of the cold open. Was there any deleted scene or explanation about this? Oh, well, Emma, you got me curious. I went to your time code. You are not wrong. I took a photo. Look, Jenna, I'll put it in stories.

[Jenna Fischer]

What Is that.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I looked at this photo, and I was like, emma, I recognize these boots. I would bet money that those are Kate's ugg boots that wardrobe gave us to keep under our desks when we were so cold. They're not Meredith's boots. So I texted Kate. I said, kate, in stress relief, when Dwight almost burns down the building, did you grab your actual ugg boots from under your desk? Fans are asking. And I sent her the picture, and she wrote back, ha ha ha. I did. So the direction we were given was clearly, everyone's panicking, and they're grabbing their things. They want to get out of the building. And she said, I grabbed my ugg boots. They are actually not dirty. They're a dusty pink. Oh. So there you go, Emma. Nice catch, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think we should take a break.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's the cold open.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's just the cold open. We still have this whole episode to break down, and there is so much more to talk about.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, well be back.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, lady, Father's Day is coming up, and we've been talking about how Macy's can really help you level up your gift giving this Father's Day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I mean, Father's Day is almost here, you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

I finally decided what I'm getting my dad.

[Angela Kinsey]

What's that?

[Jenna Fischer]

I am going to get my dad the Tommy Hilfiger modern fit linen blend sport coat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like a summer sport coat. I am positive he doesn't have anything like this. It is currently 63% off. I was able to grab one for $119. I'm so excited. This is a really, really nice blazer. And, you know, my mom and dad, they go out in the summertime, and I think this is such a nice way to have, like, a polished look. You know, I told you, I like to glow up my dad on Father's Day. That's very sweet. My new tradition.

[Angela Kinsey]

So cute. Well, you guys check out Macy's online gift guide for even more ideas. Shop now@macy's.com giftguide to find the perfect gift this Father's Day. All right, we are back. Dwight and Michael are at a meeting in corporate because. Hi. Dwight almost burned the building down, and Stanley had a heart attack. So they're having to meet with David Wallace and Kendall from hr.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, Kendall. Guest star alert. Kendall was played by John Hartman. Now, we've heard of Kendall before. He was mentioned in previous episodes, and we heard his voice, Remember when he yelled at Holly?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So John Hartman did the voice, and now here he is. He's at the table.

[Angela Kinsey]

He was so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know that bit where they do the little runner where, like, take heed. He did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you look it up to see if it was scripted?

[Jenna Fischer]

I did, because Sonya. Y wanted to know Sonya.

[Angela Kinsey]

So did I.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was scripted.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was scripted until the very last. Michael heated again.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. They kind of added to the bit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Steve added to the bit at the very end, but everything else is scripted. I actually texted that couplet of dialogue to Paul Lieberstein, and I said, this is perfection. You are so funny. And then Steve, at the very end, added one more, and I can see Rain trying not to break. He actually has to look down at the table.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's two things I have to point out also in this scene. First of all, in this dialogue, Dwight's like, imagine my frustration. A safety officer that they're not listening. Excuse me. Angela Martin was the safety officer in basketball. She couldn't find the first aid kit because Dwight had moved it. And she said, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm the safety officer. It was like their first little, like, spat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I don't know what's happened. Dwight clearly has not let this go. And he thinks he's the safety officer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he's not the safety officer anymore.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, he's not, because Michael's gonna be the safety man. That's what he calls it. He calls it the safety man. I have one other thing I have to point out, because it made me laugh so hard. Jenna. I rewound this and watched this beat three times when Michael gets up and walks out and looks out at the city, you know, and then he comes and sits down next to Kendall. He, like, scooches Kendall over, and he says, can you shove it down, please? Shove it down, please.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't catch that.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so funny. That is not in the script. Shove it down, please. It's not in the script. And the way that John and Andy Buckley just rolled with all of those little moments. Oh, they're so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, when they get back to Dunder Mifflin, Stanley is coming back into the office. Michael's like, shh, shh. Quiet. Quite quiet. No loud noises. Yeah. No surprises.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Stanley has a talking head where he explains that in the past, he has been very abrupt with people, but the doctor said he needs to find a more positive way to relate to people or he will die.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you notice in that talking head, there was a montage. A montage of moments of Stanley being abrupt with people.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, of him losing his cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

A montage like this was very unusual for our show. It was added to help give more context to the character of Stanley. For all of those post super bowl viewers.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was gonna say, because a documentary doesn't do a montage.

[Jenna Fischer]

Not normally.

[Angela Kinsey]

Not normally. But when you're after the super bowl, you do. You do another beat of the scene that didn't make it in. It's in the deleted scenes that really made me laugh. Jenna is that Michael, you know, wants everyone to help Stanley. He's urging them. So here is how that manifests. Andy makes Stanley a mixed CD of Enya songs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Stanley's like, thanks. Michael assigns Kevin to be his bathroom buddy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

As Kevin says, in case you have a heart attack on the crapper.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Stanley's like, I can go to the bathroom by myself, thank you. Phyllis just looks at him and can't stop smiling. And she has a really sweet talking head where she says she's known Stanley Hudson a long time. And the way he breathes, his sort of loud breathing is soothing to her. It's really cute. So you have that Phyllis moment. And then Michael says, don't worry, Stanley. I got you a portable defibrillator.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then tries to go put it on him. And everyone's like, no, no, no, no, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. I remember shooting that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And then Michael, like, thinks it's funny and wants to, like, hook everyone up to it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Defibrillate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

How do you say that? Defibrillate, everybody.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then Kevin gets the defibrillator, and, as a joke, puts it on Meredith's seat. Meredith sits on it and doesn't even notice it, but all of her hair goes up in the air. And that's another stunt we had to do. They had to make Kate Flannery's hair rise up with static.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Didn't make it in, but it was pretty funny.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael is determined to make sure that we all know what to do should Stanley ever have another heart attack. He's asked us all to come into the conference room for a CPR class.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

A class he wishes he was running. But apparently you have to have an actual CPR trainer or else you don't get the dummy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. The Red Cross won't give you the dummy doll unless you have an actually trained CPR instructor.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a fan question, okay. From Stephanie H. I loved this question. Who played Rose, the CPR instructor? And why is she so perfect?

[Angela Kinsey]

She is absolutely amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Her name is Robin Lynch. She is an actress. I Believed she was a CPR trainer. I reached out to Allison Jones and she said she found Robin through just a general casting call and that Robin was by far the best person that they saw for the role.

[Angela Kinsey]

She just plays it so perfectly straight. She's there to teach cpr. This office goes off the rails, and she just tries to stay the course. I did slide into her DMs on Insta.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Robin, we tried to get ahold of you.

[Angela Kinsey]

We wanted to chat with you. Robin, if you ever see our message, let us know. We'll chat you up in a revisited.

[Jenna Fischer]

Should we talk about all the things that go wrong in this CPR class? There are many.

[Angela Kinsey]

There are many. First of all, it starts with Kevin. Kevin gives out at 20 seconds. He's like, I'm calling it. Yeah. And then Rose is like, does anyone else want to turn? And Dwight says, absolutely, he would not. And as the camera is pulling back away from Dwight to reveal the room. Jenna, at 9 minutes, 50 seconds, I am whispering to someone off camera.

[Jenna Fischer]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

What are you talking about?

[Jenna Fischer]

What are you saying?

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm not looking at Rose. I'm looking at someone off camera. I don't know who I'm talking to.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wait, let me ask you this question. This question.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Could you be saying no to the other camera?

[Angela Kinsey]

I think so, maybe. But it looks really weird. And I filmed it, and I'm going to show it to you, and I'll put this in Stories. But first, I'm going to show my BFF guys. Okay, Ready? Hit play. Do you see that lady? What are you doing? I don't, but I'm very pointedly saying no.

[Jenna Fischer]

And look.

[Angela Kinsey]

Look at my face.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I think. I don't know if that's an improv you're doing. If you're doing it to camera.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it's an improv that I'm doing to Matt Sohn. B camera. Yeah. Angela in deleted scenes had a talking head where she's like, I am not putting my mouth on that thing. Who knows whose mouth has been on it? So I think I was sort of improvising off the. That talking head. But it looks really random if you catch it.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a very, very good catch, lady. Well, Stanley's gonna give it a go because for some reason, Michael thinks Stanley should learn how to resuscitate himself.

[Angela Kinsey]

We might not always be there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

And then, of course, in true Michael fashion, he takes over the meeting. Right? He's gonna tell them how to do CPR now.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

And they're doing it all Wrong. Rose says, listen, guys, you need 100 beats per minute. And she suggests they pump to the tune of Staying Alive by the Bee Gees.

[Jenna Fischer]

At first, Michael confuses this with I will Survive. But then Rose starts singing Staying Alive. You know, Staying alive, staying alive. Then Andy starts singing Staying Alive. Kelly starts dancing. It turns into a dance party.

[Angela Kinsey]

I actually have the clip if you want to hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Let's hear it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ah, ah, ah, ah. Staying alive, staying alive,

[Oscar Nunez]

staying alive, staying alive.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can't tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man no time to talk words and loud women want Been kicked around since I was born. It's all right, it's okay. You can't look the other other way. I mean, poor Rose.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had a fan question from Megan D. In Scotland. Was any of the scene with the Red Cross lady improvised, such as Kelly's dancing or Andy's singing? No, guys, this whole thing, all the singing and the dancing, it was all scripted. And we followed this scene pretty much as written.

[Angela Kinsey]

Brilliantly written.

[Jenna Fischer]

I found out who pitched this idea.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Tell them it is Jen Salata.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

This whole Staying Alive CPR idea came from her. She said that she had heard it was true, she looked it up and cross checked it. She said she cross checked it again because she didn't want to put it on TV unless it was true. And then she shared with me that before the Office, she had been a writer's assistant on Home Improvement and that the writers had done an episode where the Jonathan Taylor Thomas character found a lump on his throat and it turned out that it was a thyroid issue in the episode. Right. And Jen said that she was later in charge of opening the mail. And they got letters from all of these families that said after watching that episode, it helped save their children's lives because their children had had a thyroid lump. And because of the episode, they got it checked out. And guys, since this stress relief episode aired, people have used this CPR technique to save lives.

[Angela Kinsey]

They have. Jen shared with us that she heard about a guy pulling a woman out of a car and doing CPR to the tune of Staying Alive. Because of this episode. I looked it up. It's true. There's many articles. I'm going to start with this one. Okay. In January of 2019, Rolling Stones ran this story. A scene from the Office that dealt with first aid technique is credited to helping save a life after an Arizona man, despite having no CPR training, managed to resuscitate a woman in medical distress. His name, interestingly enough, is Cross Scott. Whoa.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

His last name was Scott. So he found an unconscious woman behind the wheel of her car that was rolling down a dirt road.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

He smashed the window, got her out. And then he's quoted as saying, I've never prepared myself for CPR in my life. I had no idea what I was doing. Thankfully, Scott had seen the episode of the Office that dealt with CPR training and knew to do chest compressions to the cadence of Staying Alive. They reached out to Courtney Slanacker, executive director of the Red Cross Southern Arizona chapter, and she told the Daily Star that if you don't do cpr, the victim will die. Don't be afraid to act. Whatever you do will help that victim and hopefully prevent a death. And Courtney confirmed that staying alive is, in fact, the correct rhythm for chest compressions.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jen Salata, you got it right. Wow. There's so many guys. But just recently, in January of this year, the Today show shared a story about a four year old girl who collapsed while playing tag. And her dad, Matt Uber, found her and started chest compressions again to the tune of Staying Alive. And he's quoted as saying, when I was trying to think about what to do about cpr, my mind literally went to that episode of the Office where they are doing CPR training and doing the compressions to the beat of Staying Alive.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, that just got me choked up to imagine that father in that moment. I know. And then he had something, anything he could do.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. And there's more. I know there's more stories, but those two were two that stood out to me.

[Jenna Fischer]

Amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

And one of the things that after reading some of these stories, Jenna, that people share, is that how important knowing CPR is and that we should all learn cpr. Yes, we have the Staying Alive, so you know the beats. But that we should all learn our CPR safety because it really can save a life.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know that when we had our son, our first child, Lee and I both did an infant CPR training.

[Angela Kinsey]

Same, same.

[Jenna Fischer]

But we should do a refresher.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Well, it's not over for Rose. She's not out of the woods yet. Things are about to get even crazier.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. She announces that we failed to save the life of our CPR dummy. Dwight suggests that the next course of action would be to harvest the organs for organ donation.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then he, of course, grabs the giant knife that is strapped to his calf.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And he hacks into the dummy's chest.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And we all freak Out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we freak out because then he cuts off the dummy's face and puts it on his face like Silence of the Lambs. Yeah, we had some fan mail about it. People would like to know how many CPR dummies were used in this episode. Well, I asked Randy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know for sure. Rain really did cut into it because we watched him do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Randy said we used three CPR mannequins in total. Now, in a minute, David Wallace is going to say that they cost $3,500 each, but Randy said that was a little exaggerated. He said there are some top end dummies that come with very sophisticated features like articulating heads and heartbeat simulators. Those cost at the time around $1,000 each, but we used one that cost about $750 each. Okay, but listen, Dwight is in trouble again. He has to go back to corporate and he has to discuss his mutilation of the CPR dummy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I really can't believe the guy is still employed.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Now he has this huge task where he has to go make this very public apology to his co workers and they have to sign that they received his apology.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, that's going to be now Dwight's task. Meanwhile, we've got this very interesting, somewhat odd, other storyline that's going to come up.

[Angela Kinsey]

It really seems like it comes out of nowhere. It's in the break room. Andy, I guess, is really good at pirating movies, so you can see them before they come out. And Jim and Pam are going to watch this movie with Andy on his laptop.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. We got a lot of fan mail about this pirated movie scene. Hannah E, Abby S. And BET S said, I am absolutely obsessed with the strange mini movie Andy watches with Jack Black and several other big names. How did this subplot come about?

[Angela Kinsey]

Does it rhyme with Schmooperbowl?

[Jenna Fischer]

It does. It does. Remember when I said there was that extra scrutiny? Well, one of the things that the network was very insistent about was that this episode have big name guest stars

[Angela Kinsey]

so they could flash it about. Yeah, Jack Black, Jessica Alba.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. There was a lot of comparison to when other shows had run after the super bowl, like Friends, who had featured big guest stars. But Greg and the rest of our writers were very against this. Especially against it was Allison Jones, our casting director. They all felt that to have like a big name guest star walk into the office pretending to play a character at a small paper company would just totally shatter the reality of the documentary premise of our show. We would get all these new eyes on the Episode. Maybe. But the conceit of our show is that it's a documentary.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

You can't have Jack Black come in and pretend to be a salesman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Exactly. But you can years later have James

[Jenna Fischer]

Spader play Robert California and have Idris Elba come in and all these other

[Angela Kinsey]

people and Timothy Olyphant and Kathy Bates. Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

But for now, for now, our integrity is intact. Okay. And Greg came up with this idea, this fix that would not infect the reality of the show. And that was where the idea for Pam, Jim and Andy to watch this pirated movie, and I guess Terry Weinberg, who was one of our original executive producers, was now working as the executive vice president of NBC Entertainment. And Greg said that she was really instrumental in fighting, like, the kind of top brass at NBC to agree to this fix they did. Jack Black was the first person to commit. He was all in. He loved our show. Cloris Leachman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Amazing, by the way. Amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

She heard a pitch on what the story would be, and she was like, yes, I am in. And then finally, we got Jessica Alba.

[Angela Kinsey]

So the movie is called Mrs. Albert Hannity, and Jack Black is playing Sam, Cloris Leachman is playing Lily, AKA Nana, and Jessica Alba plays Sophie. It's sort of a romantic love triangle story. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jack Black is dating or engaged to Jessica Alba's character, and she's introducing him to her grandmother. And there's an instant connection. I mean, they go to shake hands and music starts playing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, there's some electricity there. Well, I want you to know there were some alt ideas for this parody movie. Jenna and I went back to the table read draft, not the shooting draft, just to see what it said in the table read. In the table read draft, the movie was going to be called Hang Glider Cop. What? And Jack Black would be a cop named Tanner. That's kind of a rogue cop. And he gets, as punishment, sent over to the hang gliding division.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And now he's gonna be a hang gliding cop.

[Jenna Fischer]

A wacky comedy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like a cop comedy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

They didn't go with that one. Probably getting a hang glider was too much of a project.

[Jenna Fischer]

Gosh, I'd love to see that movie.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hang Glider Cop.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jack Black. Are you listening?

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm. HG Division.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got more fan questions about this. Livian G Norit F. And Maddie. L said, did we get to meet Jack Black, Cloris Leachman, or Jessica Alba?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, we did not work the same days they worked.

[Jenna Fischer]

They filmed all of their stuff in one day at a private residence in west la. The rest of Us all had the day off. They didn't even come to our base camp.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, they were at a house.

[Jenna Fischer]

I looked it up on the call sheet. They started really early that day. On the call sheet, it said breakfast would be ready for the crew at 4:42am in a nearby park. Oof.

[Angela Kinsey]

They had to get everything in one day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. The actors all arrived really early. They did their hair, makeup, and wardrobe fittings all in the morning. And then they were finally allowed to go into the neighborhood where the house was located at 7am so they had vans that took everyone from this park base camp over to the location, and that's where they filmed it. So we never met.

[Angela Kinsey]

So While they're watching Mrs. Albert Hannity, we start seeing Pam getting all these text messages, and we learn this storyline. That Pam's parents are in a rough patch.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And that Pam's dad is bunking with Jim and Pam.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is really funny, though, that Jim and Pam were having these little sidebar relationship conversations, and Andy thinks it's about the movie.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Andy thinks you guys are just like geniuses at relations, that you can just figure all this stuff out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, something else I should mention, Angela, is that we were actually watching.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's one of my questions for you. I was like, ask Jenna. Were they actually watching the movie on the laptop?

[Jenna Fischer]

So we were.

[Angela Kinsey]

How could you not react to Cloris coming out of the tub? You had to be distracted on your phone. I was like, holy crap.

[Jenna Fischer]

So they had shot this a long time ago. If you look at the call sheets for this episode, this bit of us in the conference room was not even on the schedule for these nine days. We shot this another week later so that they could put together this mini movie so that we could have some reactions. The first time they played them for us, we couldn't speak. We were riveted. We were like, what are we watching?

[Angela Kinsey]

That was what I thought. I was like, how can Jim and Pam, like, not just be falling out of their chairs right now? And Andy's like, guys, they're making out, like.

[Jenna Fischer]

So what they did was they showed it to us, and then we watched a blank screen. But we knew what we were supposed to be reacting to.

[Angela Kinsey]

You knew the beats of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then they inserted it into the screen. You know, if you notice, it's all over the shoulder.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was very curious about that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it was bonkers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, after all the texting with Pam's mom and dad, Pam says, jim, can you talk to my dad? You're so good at talking about.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, maybe he'll open up to you. Yeah, this is not gonna go the way Pam planned. Yeah, but that's for next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, before we close out this episode, Michael has decided to do yoga in

[Jenna Fischer]

the conference room for relaxation.

[Angela Kinsey]

It did really make me laugh when he was like, um, if you have your legs open, close them. No one needs to see that. Um, or whatever he said. That cracked me up.

[Jenna Fischer]

It also really made me laugh when Jim says to Pam, don't open your eyes. She says, why?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, God. I don't know if you noticed. Dwight and Angela are laying side by side. Oh, yeah, that's because there was a deleted scene where Dwight whispers to her, I will make love to you the way I used to if you will sign my apology letter. And she's like, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. Well, during all of this, Stanley has a little heart monitor on, and it beeps whenever he gets stressed. Turns out every time Michael gets close to him, it starts beeping. And then when Michael walks away, it stops. So Michael has this very funny talking head where he says, it turns out that Dwight wasn't the killer after all. The killer was Michael. And he says, quote, you never suspect you're the killer. It's a great twist.

[Angela Kinsey]

Great twist. Oh, my gosh, you guys, that was stress relief. Part one.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

We did it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Next week is part two. Boom. Roasted. That's next week. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this episode. Thank you, Oscar, Randall, Rain, and Brian, for sending in your audio clips. Guys, Rain and Brian both have podcasts. They are great. Rain is the host of Metaphysical Milkshake, and Brian is the host of the Office Steep Dive.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And also a huge thank you to Randy Cordray, Greg Daniels, Jeff Blitz, Jen Salata, Paul Lieberstein, Dean Holland, James Carey. Oh, my gosh, Kate Flannery. We reached out to so many people.

[Jenna Fischer]

We always say thank you, but it's because we mean it. Really?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you guys so much, and thank you for listening.

[Jenna Fischer]

We'll be back next week with part two.

[Angela Kinsey]

Have a good one.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Our second Drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our audio engineer is Sam Piefer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

[Brian Baumgartner]

You can't reason with the sun. Trust us, we've tried.

[Angela Kinsey]

This summer, it's time to put that

[Brian Baumgartner]

angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's Omnishade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that

[Angela Kinsey]

can burn and damage your skin.

[Brian Baumgartner]

The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your [e-mail] to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome, Columbia.

[Angela Kinsey]

Engineered for whatever

[Jenna Fischer]

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