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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
Oh, no.
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Angela Kinsey
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Mindy Kaling
Yeah.
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
Welcome to our second drink of new boss.
Jenna Fischer
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
A lot of you wrote in about this episode. We got lots of mail. We loved it. Let's dig in.
Jenna Fischer
Let's do it.
Angela Kinsey
I'll start with Caitlin R. From Houston, Texas. She wrote in to say hi. Angela. Jenna, I love Yalls podcast so much and had a question about this episode. This is one of my most favorite cold opens of all time and I wanted to know if any of the banter was improvised. It makes me laugh so hard every time I watch Every time I hear the word classy, I hear this whole conversation in my head. And I love listening to y'. All. Thank you so much. Well, Caitlin, I love this cold open too. And to answer your question, it was completely scripted. You guys, I'm going to remind you what the cold open is. It starts and it's a party planning committee meeting. And it is Jim, Dwight, and Pam and Michael. And Dwight says, you know, Michael, since it's your 15th anniversary at the company, I thought it might be appropriate to begin the festivities with a 15 minute round of applause and then a 15 minute round of silence. And you know, Jem's in his tuxedo. Cause of course he's pranking Dwight and he's like, I don't know if this is classy enough. Then it really goes off the rails, this party planning committee meeting. So, Caitlin, we actually discussed this scene, plus we have some extra dialogue that was in the shooting draft and we talk all about it in our breakdown. You're gonna love it. But I was curious if there were any extra bits that we might have missed. And I saw in the table draft that this scene was even longer. And Michael was really listing off all the types of things that he wanted for his, quote, 15th anniversary of working at Dunder Mifflin party. And guess what, lady?
Mindy Kaling
What?
Angela Kinsey
There's this extra little tidbit that I thought you'd want to hear. We have always been curious. What's the budget? What is the party planning committee budget for these parties?
Mindy Kaling
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
To throw a party, right?
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Well, Jim had an extra couplet of dialogue. It made me laugh. Ready? Jim would have said this. I'm looking at your budget, Michael, and I think we're about $13,000 over the $200 corporate allotted. So do they get $200 for their parties?
Jenna Fischer
I don't know. $200 for every birthday?
Angela Kinsey
That seems a lot.
Jenna Fischer
It kind of does. But I don't know. You gotta get cake and pizza.
Angela Kinsey
But also, how many of those parties are actually sanctioned by corporate?
Jenna Fischer
This is true. Oh, my gosh. Speaking of pizza, when I was in New York recently, I went to go see the new production of the Putnam County Spelling Bee. It's such a funny show. It's a musical. Oh, my gosh. We laughed so hard, my sister got picked to go up on stage. It was like a whole fun thing. And guess who was in it? Who? Kevin McHale. Oh, and he's so good in it. But yes, Kevin McHale, who is the pizza guy that Michael takes hostage in
Angela Kinsey
Launch Party Part two.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. And it was so cool to reunite with him. And I told him, we have to have you back on the podcast. I know he sent in audio clips before, but I'm like, I wanna talk to you more.
Angela Kinsey
This is office lady 6.0 people. Come in the studio now, guys.
Jenna Fischer
That's right.
Angela Kinsey
We've got a fancy, fancy recording studio.
Jenna Fischer
We were gonna show it off.
Angela Kinsey
All right, well, we also got this letter from Chantel P. In Houston, Texas. Chantel said, first of all, I'm too excited. I had the wherewithal to enter this question ahead of the episode. Exclamation point.
Jenna Fischer
Chantel, way to go.
Angela Kinsey
I know you're on top of it. She goes on to say she loves the show. Quote, I've been down since day one. Okay, I wanted to know, Jen and Angela, in your perspective, what were the precipitating events that led David Wallace to hiring Charles Miner? Was it the fire drill and subsequent defacing of cpr? Annie. The dumpster fire? That was the lecture circuit, the golden ticket idea Or. Or a combo of them all? I have to know what pushed David Wallace over the edge.
Jenna Fischer
Well, this has merely made me laugh.
Angela Kinsey
I know. Me too.
Jenna Fischer
I mean, I think what precipitated it was that the job was open because this is the job that Ryan had. That Jan had.
Angela Kinsey
Right. That Jim didn't want.
Jenna Fischer
Exactly. And, you know, we had a whole hiring process, and David Wallace picked Ryan, and that blew up in his face. So I think that David Wallace is just finally filling this position. I think he took his time. It's very funny to me, all of the things that happened when there was no one overseeing things. And I also just love imagining Charles Minor getting kind of, like, caught up to speed on the Dunder Mifflin branch. Let me tell you a few things. Just because of all the things that Chantel listed.
Angela Kinsey
I know.
Jenna Fischer
Like, what was that meeting like?
Angela Kinsey
I know. That would have been a great scene, wouldn't it? Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
We're gonna tell you a little bit about this branch before you head on over.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I loved revisiting that. And I wanna share with you one of my favorite letters from this second drink. It's from Susan F. From Kansas City, Missouri. Said, hey, ladies. Just something I love about the podcast is when you point out a good Phyllis snark. One of my favorites is in this episode when she clearly is trying to take down the ppc. Okay, Susan, So same here. I love Phyllis so much in our rewatch of the show, and we talked about the deleted talking head that she had, but we didn't play the moment that made it into the actual broadcast. And, Susan, I feel like we both need to hear it. First of all, I pulled a clip, but I wanted to start with how absurd the PPC meeting is going on in progress. We have already talked about it a little bit at the top with Caitlin's question. Now we're gonna hear it. And then Phyllis is setting them up. Ready?
Jenna Fischer
And then out of that cake pops another stripper holding a smaller cake. And then an even smaller stripper pops out of that one.
Mindy Kaling
What is that smaller stripper holding?
Jenna Fischer
A cupcake. It's cupcakes and strippers all the way down.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, what exactly is the ppc? Oh, that's the Party Planning committee. They spend hours planning parties. Excuse me, guys, what's going on in here?
Mindy Kaling
Party Planning committee, Not your concern, Charles.
Angela Kinsey
This doesn't seem like a good way to spend company time.
Mindy Kaling
Really? Well, then how would we come up with great ideas like Jim's? Go ahead.
Jenna Fischer
No, I'd like to get back to work, actually.
Angela Kinsey
What you got, Jim? What is a two way petting zoo?
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh. Okay,
Angela Kinsey
so I just have to ask you, lady, I mean, was it so hard not to laugh? Cause Idris Elba is playing it so straight.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
And he's like, what's a two way petting suit? It must have been so hard not to break.
Jenna Fischer
It was really also very hard for me to say that line. It's just strippers and cakes all the way down. That is such a beautifully written line. It's, oh, chef's kiss to the writer who wrote that. And then. Yes. What is a two way petting zoo? Yes. It was very hard not to laugh. It was.
Angela Kinsey
And Phyllis, man, talk about just in the corner. Plotting man. Yes.
Jenna Fischer
All right, well, listen, everyone. We hope you enjoy your second drink of New Boss. 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 your.
Angela Kinsey
Each week, we will break down an episode of the Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two who were there can tell you.
Jenna Fischer
We're the Office ladies. Hi, everybody.
Angela Kinsey
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Jenna Fischer
You did it. You covered it all.
Angela Kinsey
Did I get everybody?
Jenna Fischer
You did. This week we're talking about New Boss.
Angela Kinsey
I was delighted by this episode.
Jenna Fischer
Me too.
Angela Kinsey
I read the script. I read the script and I was cackling. Josh was like, what are you reading? I'm like, it's the shooting draft for New boss. It was so good.
Jenna Fischer
This was season five, episode 20. It was written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and directed by Paul Feig.
Angela Kinsey
Hit me with a summary.
Jenna Fischer
I will. There is a new boss at corporate. They filled the position that used to be held by Jan and then Ryan with new regional supervisor Charles Minor, and he's coming to Scranton for a visit. He's going to hobnob with us all day.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
He is also going to announce some new policies involving our budget, in particular, our party budget.
Angela Kinsey
Well, to be fair to the new boss, Michael was supposed to let us know. He was. But once again, he did not.
Jenna Fischer
And instead, he started planning his own 15th anniversary party. He's been working at Dunder Mifflin for 15 years, and he wants to have a big party.
Angela Kinsey
Big, big party.
Jenna Fischer
Things do not go well with Michael and Charles. Or with Jim and Charles.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, that was so fun.
Jenna Fischer
It's maybe one of my favorite runners ever.
Angela Kinsey
Watching Jim be sort of like on the outs with someone and feeling like embarrassed was so good.
Jenna Fischer
So, so fun. Michael is spinning out. He tries to get David Wallace on the phone. He can't. So he drives to New York, where things are going to take a dramatic turn. Bum, bum, bum, fast. Fact number one. I mentioned there's a new boss in town.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, please. Give me the character breakdown.
Jenna Fischer
That person is Idris Elba.
Angela Kinsey
Yep.
Jenna Fischer
All right.
Angela Kinsey
Yes, it is.
Jenna Fischer
Let's get this out of the way.
Angela Kinsey
Let's just roll up our sleeves and talk about Idris for a second.
Jenna Fischer
Idris is the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes on. He is. And I want to say I've laid my eyes on some gentlemen, famous gentlemen.
Angela Kinsey
He's not just beautiful. There is just. I don't know how to explain it, you guys. When you know those people that walk in a room and you just go, damn.
Jenna Fischer
It's a whole aura.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. It's a presence.
Jenna Fischer
We got a fan question from Anna B. And Ally C. How did Idris Elba end up on the show? Randy told me that the role of Charles Minor was written for Idris. He is the only person they ever approached for the role. He said that Idris's name was in the story outline for this episode, which comes out, like, two months before you even shoot it. And he even sent it to me. It says, interior, reception, Charles Minor, comma, Idris enters. Like, they were like, we want Idris Elba for this role.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, my gosh. They were planning this pretty far out.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, well, the writing staff was a really huge fan of the TV show the Wire.
Angela Kinsey
That's what I was gonna say. We had a lot of the Wire fans. You remember that show? Everybody was so obsessed with it. It's such a great show.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
And to get Stringer Bell. Come on.
Jenna Fischer
I know. Well, he's the second cast member we've had from the Wire because Amy Ryan was also on the Wire.
Angela Kinsey
Yep.
Jenna Fischer
We got another fan question from Derek H. Who said, I've always wondered how it works with actors who have one accent in real life but have to speak in a different accent for the role. Did Idris Elba speak in his normal British accent between takes, or did he stay in character with his American accent the whole time? Yeah, I guess we should mention Idris
Angela Kinsey
has a British accent, which pretty much wrecked us all.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
I mean, if you look like Idris and then you sound like Idris, come. What were we supposed to do? We were also charmed by him.
Jenna Fischer
So charmed. And yes, he did speak in his British accent between takes.
Mindy Kaling
Right.
Jenna Fischer
Fast fact number two, more Idris Elba. Okay, I'm sorry. He's too great. We're gonna keep talking about him. As you know, since being on the Wire and the Office, he has gone on to do a gazillion things. Movies, TV shows. He was most recently in the Suicide Squad. But did you know this? Because I didn't know this before he was an actor, he was a dj.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, I did know that. I did know that. Probably because I was so excited he was coming. I, like, looked up everything about him. Just in case a topic came up, I would know something.
Jenna Fischer
Wait, before he was on the show, you, like, googled him and you're like, I need topics of conversation.
Angela Kinsey
I just want to know everything about him.
Jenna Fischer
Okay. I did not Google him until we had to prep for this podcast, during which I found out that he is a big time DJ. Yeah, growing up, he DJed, parties. And when he was a struggling actor and he first came to the US it was really hard for him to get work because he had a special visa, but he was able to get gigs as a dj. He also worked as a bouncer, which I found very interesting. He goes by the name of DJ Big Dris. And now he's done, like, tons of shows. He did a party for Michael Jordan.
Mindy Kaling
He.
Jenna Fischer
He djed the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Angela Kinsey
That I did not know. How did I miss that?
Jenna Fischer
You need to do more Googling.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I guess I need to re Google.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. He also played Coachello in 2019. He got rave reviews, and he just released a new house track through his label, Seven Wallace called Fudge with vocalist Eliza Legzina, and I thought we should listen to it.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, I'd love that.
Jenna Fischer
This man can do no wrong.
Angela Kinsey
He. I mean, stop it. Can we get invited to a party where he DJs? It'll never happen. Can we? I don't think it'll happen. I don't think we'll make the list, but I would love it. You know what? Let's go hide in some bushes. We'll sneak in Bush Hiders, too. Bush Hiders goes to the club lady.
Jenna Fischer
This is, like, kind of one of my new life goals, which is to go to a party that Idris DJs. I want to do it and dance it up.
Angela Kinsey
Why don't we wear. What do you wear to something like that?
Jenna Fischer
Can I wear one of my fake flowers?
Angela Kinsey
I'm gonna say no. Not on this.
Jenna Fischer
I agree. I agree.
Angela Kinsey
You know what show that Idris was in that my husband loved was Luther.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Luther was so good.
Jenna Fischer
It's so good. He also did a show that he created himself where he plays a DJ called Turn Up Charlie. He's done it all.
Angela Kinsey
He's done it all.
Jenna Fischer
All right, I will move us on fast. Fact number three is not about Idris, even though it could be fast. Fact number three is, why is it raining in this episode?
Angela Kinsey
All throughout the episode, the whole episode, Pouring rain. Not just raining. Pouring rain. So much so you can hear it in the Talking Heads.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
I started by looking in the script. I thought, was there a deleted something that tells us why it's raining? I only found one random side comment by Michael.
Angela Kinsey
Same.
Jenna Fischer
It's in the scene where he's making small talk with Charles.
Angela Kinsey
Yep.
Jenna Fischer
And he says, so, great weather we're having, huh? Kind of rainy, you know, but still humid. But that was it.
Angela Kinsey
That is it.
Jenna Fischer
So I asked Randy about it, and here's what he said. He said, if I recall correctly, we entered this week expecting rain all across la. In fact, the top of our call sheets for the first two days of shooting say, be prepared for rain. Because they would do that, and then they would have extra umbrellas and, like, all kinds of things for us if we were shooting outside. Randy said, the very first day of shooting, we had to shoot these driving scenes with Steve. They were supposed to be Michael driving to and from his meeting with David Wallace.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, I have some I'm gonna play later for when he leaves.
Jenna Fischer
It's amazing because they got deleted right that's right. Well, I guess while they were shooting this, it was raining all over the car. The wipers are going and all that. That afternoon, they moved back to our parking lot where they had to shoot the scenes of Angela and Kelly trying to find Charles. That's one Angela. Where you're, like, gripping his scarf.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, yeah. In the rain.
Mindy Kaling
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
He said it was steadily raining the whole afternoon.
Angela Kinsey
It was perfect. It became a whole bit, which I know we can get to later, but it made the scene that much more fun.
Jenna Fischer
It's funny because when I first saw it, I asked Randy, did you guys see spray down the parking lot with water? And he said, no, that was our rainy day.
Angela Kinsey
Yes, it was actually raining. And it was one of the only times I filmed on the Office where they didn't care about my hair and makeup. They were just like, let her get wet.
Jenna Fischer
Well, I guess after we finished shooting that one day, it was necessary to match that to the rest of the episode. So Michael Gallenberg and our construction coordinator, Tim James and the special effects crew, led by Ron Neri, added plexiglass sheets over all of the office windows, and they made it rain out every window for the rest of the episode.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I think that's so great because I think it would have been weird to have some scenes where it was raining and some not. I like the consistency.
Jenna Fischer
I also kind of loved it that we never talked about it. Yeah, well, remember what you said about how you could hear it? I guess that was kind of an issue because our sound mixer, Ben Patrick, could really hear it through the microphones, especially in the back of the talking heads. So they tried putting down these big fuzzy mats called horse hairs inside of the metal troughs that the water would drip into, and then it would get sucked back up and that would sort of cycle through the window pane to try to quiet the water, but it didn't work 100%. So you can hear the rain in the back of some of these scenes. Randi also wanted me to tell people that the fuzzy mats are not actually made out of horse hair.
Angela Kinsey
That was my next question. I said, oh, no. Oh, no. Why are they called that?
Jenna Fischer
Ah, Brandi said that it's, quote, just another old timey holdover from early Hollywood.
Angela Kinsey
Well, thank goodness, because I was worried for a second.
Jenna Fischer
It's fakey. Fakey hair.
Angela Kinsey
Fakey hair.
Jenna Fischer
Well, that's all I got, lady.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I loved all of that. We should probably take a break and then get into this episode, I think.
Jenna Fischer
So I've invented a new Phrase for today.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Huh? You want to hear it?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
It's called the fan mail flurry.
Angela Kinsey
Oh.
Jenna Fischer
And that's when we get tons of mail about a certain one subject in an episode. And this week there were two fan mail flurries.
Angela Kinsey
Jenna coined a phrase. Well, I want you to know I had my husband make a sting episode and I will surprise you with it. Let's take a break and we'll be back with new boss. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
Almost seven years. Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
I have to say, Squarespace has really grown with us. It has and it has helped us grow in ways that I wouldn't have imagined. We just went through and Ileana did a whole reorganizing of how to find our back catalog and Squarespace made that really easy.
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
We're going to kick off this episode with a little meeting in the conference room about Michael's 15th anniversary celebration.
Angela Kinsey
And who is in the party planning committee now? Jim, Dwight, and Pam.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, I'm just there to take notes. I don't think I'm really in it. Although later, I guess I am throwing out ideas.
Angela Kinsey
You are? Hmm.
Jenna Fischer
How'd I make my way back in?
Angela Kinsey
I think Jim wrangled you in. And I'm gonna say traitor.
Jenna Fischer
Dwight is gonna pitch the idea of a 15 minute round of applause followed by a 15 minute moment of silence. What would that 30 minutes be like if you're an audience member? It's 30 minutes total.
Angela Kinsey
It's so hilarious to me. Like, I know we could never have done this, but I would have loved to film that. And I would have loved for all of us to have had to clap for 15 minutes.
Jenna Fischer
So difficult.
Angela Kinsey
I know. And then try watching it.
Jenna Fischer
Well, the camera pans over and Jim is wearing a tuxedo. And wow, this is really gonna haunt him later.
Angela Kinsey
He's wearing a tuxedo. He slicked his hair. He went all out to rub it in Dwight's face about his dress code memo. Dwight is gonna continue to list off activities that Jim is sort of shooting down. Jim is clearly influencing Michael. Right. So Dwight says, a string quar quartet performing classy cal music. An ice sculpture surrounded by chocolate covered strawberries.
Jenna Fischer
An ice sculpture of Michael.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. This scene would have continued. Part of it was edited out in the script. Jim says, you can't buy classy. You can't teach classy. You're born with it. Michael has it, Pam has it. Dwight goes, really? Pam has it? And Michael says, pam has class coming out of her ass.
Jenna Fischer
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
Pam says, thank you, Michael. That was very classy of you to say. And then Dwight's like, well, I'm sorry, I don't know what classy is.
Jenna Fischer
That is amazing. I love that. You know, in this meeting, one of the things they're going to decide is classy is Mr. Peanut.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Mr. Peanut is the logo for the Planters Peanut Company, which, listen to this.
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
Was founded by in 1906 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, that's awesome. How about that?
Jenna Fischer
And I have more to say about Mr. Peanut. What this Peanut is like one of the best known, most iconic images in advertising history.
Mindy Kaling
Oh, yeah.
Angela Kinsey
I have it in my mind instantly when you say Mr. Peanut. I picture him with his hat and they have a cane and a little monocle. Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
You know, it you know, Mr. Peanut,
Angela Kinsey
he kind of kicks one leg over the other when he stands.
Jenna Fischer
He does?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
So here's where he came from. They did a contest to have someone design a logo for the company. And a young schoolboy by the name of Antonio Gentile submitted a drawing of an anthropomorphic peanut, and he won the contest and he got $5.
Angela Kinsey
$5?
Jenna Fischer
$5. But I'll have you know that the founder of the company, his name was Amedio Obici, if I'm saying that correctly, he was so taken with this little boy that he ended up paying his way through college and all of his siblings. Way through college.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, I like hearing that.
Jenna Fischer
So I guess he got $5 and a college education for himself and his siblings. There was a commercial artist named Andrew Wallach who added the monocle, the top hat, and the cane. So it was a bit of a two hander. A two hander. However, the plot thickens.
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
There is a disputed claim that a d different artist actually added the monocle, top hat and cane. The family of Frank P. Creasy claims that he did it. He was a Wilkes Barre artist and also the head of the Suffolk Planter plant. They think he did it.
Angela Kinsey
So, Mom Detective, what happened?
Jenna Fischer
Thank you, Angela. There are no sources still in circulation that can positively identify the artist. We know the little boy started it all, but who added the monocle, top
Angela Kinsey
hat, and cane, we'll never know.
Jenna Fischer
We'll never really know.
Angela Kinsey
There you go. On this episode of Mom Detective, is
Jenna Fischer
that going to be unsatisfying if the episodes of Mom Detectives end with we'll never know?
Angela Kinsey
I think many of them will in that way. Well, I have a little thing to share about the script. Tell me, because, you know, I loved the shooting draft of this script, and Jenna and I have talked to you guys about how we would have a scene and then sometimes in the moment, we'd play around with it and it would change right there in the moment. So I think this is a great example, and I don't think our show could have been like this without Steve Carell. I'll tell you why. In the shooting draft, Michael is the one that has the whole speech about Mr. Peanut, not Jim. Michael says, this needs to be classy, like the grand opening of a car dealership or Mr. Peanut. And then Dwight says, Mr. Peanut's not classy. He's just a regular Peanut dressed in a top hat and cane. And Michael says that's what makes him classy. But when you watch the episode, it's a Two hander. Michael says we need it to be classy, like a car dealership, Jim says. Or Mr. Peanut. And it's a two hander. And it makes the scene so much better because then Michael and Jim are kind of in cahoots about this.
Jenna Fischer
Right.
Angela Kinsey
And Dwight's the odd man out.
Jenna Fischer
I bet that happened on the day.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
That's so great.
Angela Kinsey
Isn't that cool? I know these are sort of tiny moments, but I just think it speaks to our creative collaboration on the show.
Jenna Fischer
Absolutely. Angela. This cold open also created fan mail flurry number one.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
I feel like I need a sting. You mentioned sting. And now I want a fan mail flurry. Like stuff going into an inbox. People have a lot to say about whether or not this is Michael's 15th year at Dunder Mifflin or not. Ooh, let me get you started with Maddie L. Fan mail, Fan mail.
Angela Kinsey
Fan mail flurry.
Jenna Fischer
Hey, I love it. Maddie says, per this episode's air date, Michael would have started work at dunder Mifflin on March 19, 1994. But during Michael's last dundees, the cast sings the song 9,986,000 minutes in tribute to how long he's worked at the company. And if you do the math from that air date, that would mean that Michael actually worked at dunder Mifflin for 19 years.
Angela Kinsey
So much maths.
Jenna Fischer
If you back it up to this episode, that would be 17 years at this point.
Angela Kinsey
Huh.
Jenna Fischer
Kelly S. Got in on this and said in the negotiation from season three, Darryl says that Michael has been working at dunder Mifflin for 14 years. This is two years later. So that would make this his 16th year.
Angela Kinsey
Mm.
Jenna Fischer
Mm. How long has Michael been working at Dunder Mifflin? It's shifting. 15, 16, 17 years.
Angela Kinsey
This feels like one of those math word problems on a test. Like about the train that goes to Pennsylvania but then stops off in New York and blah, blah, blah.
Jenna Fischer
Guys, I've seen teachers do that where they'll do a math word problem using office characters and stuff. I think that's really fun.
Angela Kinsey
I do, too. I still wouldn't be good at it, though.
Jenna Fischer
No, because it's still math.
Angela Kinsey
Bingo.
Jenna Fischer
Were you good in math in school? Because I was very good at math in school. And now, I mean, everyone knows my calculator story where I tried to add without a calculator for a year, and I don't know. It's left me like, I can barely help my 10 year old with his math homework now. Well, what happened to me? I Mean, I was really good. I was like, you know, 98th percentile in the math tests and stuff.
Angela Kinsey
I was a solid, like, B student in math. Totally fine all the way up to algebra 2. And then I had the option to take language over trig. And I love language. I love speaking other languages. And so I actually went all the way up to Spanish 4, but I was able to opt out of trig to do language.
Jenna Fischer
I loved trigonometry.
Angela Kinsey
I didn't take it.
Jenna Fischer
I didn't care for geometry, but I loved trigonometry, algebra, all of that.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
But it has left me. Let's get back to the episode because a gentleman named Charles has arrived, and he would like to speak with Michael.
Angela Kinsey
Hold up. But first, I have a very tall plant alert.
Jenna Fischer
What's happening?
Angela Kinsey
We haven't had a plant at reception alert in a long time. 2 minutes, 23 seconds. This might be Pam's tallest potted plant. I just want to go on record.
Jenna Fischer
You know, it's interesting. I was just looking at the watercolor that Morgan did of Pam's plants. Yes, there is a plant on there that's very, very tall. It's down in the corner. It's so tall, it actually encroaches on one of the other plants. Could this be that plant?
Angela Kinsey
Maybe it is. The watercolor painting of Pam's plants that we're talking about is done by this fantastic artist. Her name is Morgan. You can find her on Instagram. Morgan, Giselle. Art Morgan. G E S E L L A R T. You guys, she's painted all of Pam's plants. She calls it Beasley's botanicals.
Jenna Fischer
You can get it as a mug. And she was kind enough to gift me with the original watercolor, which I treasure.
Angela Kinsey
I know. And you know what she did? She did all of Angela Martin's outfits in a watercolor painting. I have it hanging in my bedroom. So, yes, there is a very tall plant at reception.
Jenna Fischer
I didn't notice the plant, Angela, because my eyes were on Idris Elba. Entering the room.
Angela Kinsey
Yes, sir. Charles Minor has arrived. And at 2 minutes, 50 seconds, Angela Martin looks him up and down.
Jenna Fischer
Michael welcomes him in and says that everybody needs to go into the break room because he has a surprise that he is setting up.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. He whispers to Dwight, I have to
Jenna Fischer
get the fish ready. Yep.
Angela Kinsey
Gross.
Mindy Kaling
What?
Angela Kinsey
And now for a segment I'd like to call History in the Break Room. What History in the break room? I made my husband do that, like, last night in his car. You can tell I'm like, do it in the car, in the minivan. It'll sound better. History in the break room. So Michael needs Dwight to distract Charles and the group. They go in the break room. He bores them with the history of Scranton. We only hear one sentence of this. And I also remember Rain had a hard time not laughing. And you can kind of see him starting that twinkle when he starts to break. Do you know there was a whole entire speech in the script?
Jenna Fischer
I do, because I remember that Rain had to memorize a huge monologue about the history of Scranton, in particular, the
Angela Kinsey
anthracite coal mining communities. You guys, when we saw the episode in, only one line made it. I just know Rain was like, son of a. This is what he had to learn. Originally founded in 1866, Scranton quickly became one of Pennsylvania's largest anthracite coal mining communities. The nation's thirst for energy during World War II was slacked by the extensive strip mining operations in the area. But in 1959, the Knox Mine disaster all but erased the local mining industry. The area was then scarred by abandoned coal mining structures, strip mines, and slag heaps, which give mute testimony to the city's industrial past. So anyway, what's up with you? Can you believe he learned that whole thing? And one line made it. The first line and the ending line made it. Oh, my gosh.
Jenna Fischer
Well, then Michael is going to come in and he says, all right, everybody come to the conference room. And you know, he does that big gesture where his hand hits the door frame.
Angela Kinsey
He does this windmill, like, motion.
Jenna Fischer
And then he does the thing that Steve does so well where he's like, oh, right. Where he, like, grunts. It was the same thing that cracked me up when he would get out of Pam's chair after it had sunk
Angela Kinsey
down or when Kevin sat on him as Santa. It's the same noise.
Jenna Fischer
It's like, yeah. He does these suppressed groans so well. Well, that whole thing was scripted. I looked it up, and this is what the script said about that. It says, michael windmill motions for people to follow, but nails his hand on top of the entrance. He winces. So that little moment was scripted for Steve. And he was amazing.
Angela Kinsey
He was amazing because you're not sure. You're not sure if that was just him mucking around or if it really happened.
Jenna Fischer
Well, once in the conference room, Michael is going to present an array of bagels that have been cut into the shape of a C for Charles.
Angela Kinsey
Took em all night.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. I have to say, when I saw this, I thought this was a very ted Lasso move. Couldn't you see Ted Lasso and beard
Angela Kinsey
doing something like this?
Jenna Fischer
Like making all the bagels into like a certain letter. Am I crazy?
Angela Kinsey
No, it's a Ted Lasso. I can see it.
Jenna Fischer
And this just got my brain sort of thinking about how there are actually a lot of things that Michael does that Ted Lasso also kind of does,
Angela Kinsey
but he does it better and more appropriate. You guys were talking about the show Ted Lasso with Jason Sudeikis. Bill Lawrence executive produced the show. He's amazing.
Jenna Fischer
It just won a gazillion Emmys.
Angela Kinsey
The cast is phenomenal.
Jenna Fischer
But I was just watching an episode the other day where Ted Lasso is like riding lawnmower with the guy.
Angela Kinsey
Uh huh.
Jenna Fischer
Couldn't you see Michael Scott doing that?
Angela Kinsey
Michael and Dwight?
Mindy Kaling
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
I don't know. I was seeing some parallels and it was kind of charming me. And I think also because I thought it was kind of cute that he made the bagels into a C. I did too. It's just that his presentation of it was so sad. It was just on a bunch of paper towels.
Angela Kinsey
Well, and also like just his build up. His buildup was so huge. Yeah. Aw.
Jenna Fischer
Ted would have had them on a tray and that would have made the difference.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And he's also Ted and not Michael. Anyway, we both love Ted Lasso.
Jenna Fischer
If you can't tell clearly, we just like it.
Angela Kinsey
Michael has a talking head. He's super excited about what his relationship's gonna be like with Charles. They hung out at corporate. They got along. He said it's gonna be mental. He's so excited. You guys, did you notice that this scene starts off with Creed walking out of the conference room just eating salmon out of his hand? No, he's just throwing salmon in his mouth. You can only see him from the back. It's such a small detail. I was cracking up. You know, for a technical reason, they needed Creed or someone to leave the conference room because then the camera follows that person to Angela and Kelly and Creed. I know, I know. He just was eating that fish. That was not in the script.
Jenna Fischer
This is when Charles is going to notice Jim's tucks.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, they get off to a bumpy start.
Jenna Fischer
They really, really do. Pam has to like, gently pull Jim away. That was really hard for me. I would laugh every time I had to do that because it was funny to me.
Angela Kinsey
It was so funny. And you guys, right after this awkward meeting between Jim and Charles and Pam pulling him away, there was a Charles minor talking head.
Jenna Fischer
What was it?
Angela Kinsey
Okay. Oh, I Wish it would have made it. This is what they would have cut to. In business school. They taught us how to assess operations and identify waste. It's rare the waste so readily identifies itself. So it's very clear if that had stayed in how Charles sees Jim.
Jenna Fischer
Well, Pam and Jim have a talking head together. And in this talking head, Pam says he just had to wear his tux today. Took him 40 minutes to get ready. She's so amused. We got a fan question from lola C. And A.K. sangra. Why didn't Jim just take off his blazer and tie? Because then it would have just been like kind of a white button down shirt and pants.
Angela Kinsey
I don't think it would have mattered. It's a weird white shirt, right?
Jenna Fischer
It does have the tuxedo collar. Yeah, but it would have helped. It would have maybe helped a little, I'm gonna say. Good point, guys. This whole dynamic of Jim and Charles getting off on the wrong foot, this is going to extend, you know, because Idris is going to be on for five more episodes and this is going to extend through this whole storyline with him. And this was a dynamic. Gene and Lee told me that the writers really wanted to examine. They loved this idea that someone was going to put Jim back on his heels, that there was a character that was immune to Jim's charm and wit. And they thought it would be very, very funny to see Jim be so disarmed.
Angela Kinsey
It was. I couldn't get enough of it. I loved it.
Jenna Fischer
I love John. Everything about John having to play this piece of his character.
Angela Kinsey
And, you know, John had so much fun. That was just always really cool when you got to examine another side of your character.
Jenna Fischer
I loved that too. I always loved when there would be little shifts, like when Pam and Dwight were friends.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. You know, I love Suspicious Bitch, you know, so.
Jenna Fischer
But now one of my favorite elements of our show is when Michael has to introduce a new person to anyone in the office, he gets so personal.
Angela Kinsey
He has done this time and time again. He brings over the accounting department and then tells all of our dating history. He tells about Oscar's breakup with Gil and how Angela has had sexual relations with Andy. And then Idris just interrupts him and is like, you know, Michael, I don't need to know everyone's sexual history. And he's like, good, because we're getting to Kevin and he's got nada.
Jenna Fischer
I just love it every time, every time. I look forward to it. Like, the writers must have loved having to come up with new ways for Michael to introduce the same people.
Angela Kinsey
It really reminds me of how children, like, sometimes introduce people.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Like, my mom has this story of me. I was probably, like, 8 years old, and we were at the grocery store checkout, and it was me and my mom and my friend. And the woman thought my friend was my mom's daughter. And she was like, oh, she looks just like you. And I said, that's not her daughter. I'm her daughter. My mom dyes her hair. And my mom was like, thank you. But that's how Michael introduces people.
Jenna Fischer
No, it's true.
Angela Kinsey
He's like, how could I introduce this person? You know what? They only have eight toes. What?
Jenna Fischer
Here's something interesting. Charles clearly realizes he needs to take over here for a second.
Angela Kinsey
He's all business.
Jenna Fischer
He is. And he wants everybody to know that Dunder Mifflin is cutting 3% across the board. They will no longer be matching 401k contributions. All overtime has to go through corporate. And here's the big one. They're putting a freeze on discretionary spending,
Angela Kinsey
including parties, petty cash, supplies and parties.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, boy.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, boy. And immediately, Michael starts to spiral.
Jenna Fischer
He's like, okay, Charles, thanks for coming in. Thank you. Thank you so much. And Charles is like, no, I'm. I am actually going to stay today. And we got some mail about that. People were like, why is David Wallace having Charles Minor babysit Michael all day? When just a couple episodes ago, he was so impressed with Michael that he was sending him out to speak to other branches? I never saw this as Charles babysitting Michael in particular. I just saw this as this guy who's new to the company. He's an executive. He's just going to go around to every branch and spend a day at the branch. He's going to get to know the people. He's clearly going to bring them lunch. You know, this wasn't a babysitting thing where Michael was singled out. This is just what he's doing to kind of get to know people.
Angela Kinsey
Exactly. This is standard practice. He's the VP of the northeast region. He's got to get to know his region well.
Jenna Fischer
While Charles is setting up in the conference room, Michael's going to get David Wallace on the phone because it was his understanding that he would not be managed.
Angela Kinsey
This is one of my favorite lines that Michael says in the whole episode. Yeah, he's telling David. He says. He says to David, he doesn't understand why they can't just leave the position vacant. And then here's my favorite line. Truth be told, I think I thrive under a lack of accountability.
Jenna Fischer
I know. Michael asked David if he will be attending his anniversary party and if hiring Cirque du Soleil performers as salaried employees would help with the year end tax stuff.
Angela Kinsey
No response.
Jenna Fischer
I counted. It's a seven second silence.
Angela Kinsey
It's so perfect. And then Dwight, who by the way they revealed was there the whole time. It's classic Michael Dwight scene. Dwight's like, maybe, maybe he hung up. And then he's like, no. Michael comes out of this phone call. He's decided, all right, he's going to try to get to know Charles. He's going to make an effort. He's going to ask him some personal questions. Right away he's like, tell me something you've never told anyone before. Charles is like, no. And before we get any further into this crazy meeting, because there is a scene that was deleted that I want to read to you. Let's take a break.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, let's take a break. And we'll be right back.
Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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superfan extended episodes are now available on digital and Blu ray.
Angela Kinsey
Office fans, you do not want to miss out on these. Jenna and I have been rewatching these super fan episodes. They are fantastic.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, There are over 25 hours of unaired footage that was not shown in the initial TV broadcast. All of the episodes of the Office have been re edited and extended.
Angela Kinsey
They are bigger, they are longer. That's what she said. And you can watch them ad free with no subscription required. Let me tell you guys, this collection was worth the wait.
Jenna Fischer
This collection will leave you satisfied.
Angela Kinsey
Now. That's what she said.
Jenna Fischer
Get all 194 episodes of the Office Super Fan Extended Episodes digitally on Amazon, Apple fandango at home or your favorite
Angela Kinsey
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
All right, so we're back. We're in the conference room. Michael is desperately trying to get to know Charles Minor. Charles minor is having none of it. I know somewhere in an NBC vault, there's got to be tons of extra footage, because in the script, there were all these bits and, you know, Steve went off script. So the scene would have started like this. Hi, Charles. Hi, Michael. And then Michael would go, charles, Charles, Charles. Bo barles Banana fanna fanna fo farles. And then he stops, and the script says, long beat. And then he goes, mimo mo marles. Very long beat. And then at the same time, Charles goes, michael. And Michael goes, charles. That's how it would have started. Wow, I'm sad that's not there.
Jenna Fischer
Well, instead, Michael asks Charles two questions in a row. What is your wife's name? And where did you work before this? And Charles says, saddoquoia steel. And Michael says, oh, what a cool name for your wife.
Angela Kinsey
And he's like, no, I worked at Saddoquoia Steel. And the performance by Steve as Michael when he realizes that Charles isn't even a paper man.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
He's like, does David Wallace know this? You don't even come from paper.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, we got a lot of fan mail about the Saddoquoi Steel people noticed that we film on Saddoquois street, and they wanted to know, is this a real company or just a nod to where we filmed? It is not a real company. It was just named after our street. And I love it.
Angela Kinsey
I did, too.
Jenna Fischer
However, I did Find this. When I was looking up Sadoquoi Steel.
Angela Kinsey
What'd you find, Mom?
Jenna Fischer
Detective, I found out that there is a PO Profile for Charles Minor, regional manager of Sadoi Steel, on LinkedIn.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, great.
Jenna Fischer
As well as profiles for all the office characters, there's, like, a ton of Dwight K. Schrute profiles, but you can find all of us on LinkedIn.
Angela Kinsey
I love that.
Jenna Fischer
You are very right, Angela, when you say that Michael is very furious to find out.
Angela Kinsey
Oh.
Jenna Fischer
That Charles has not worked in paper. And he calls David Wallace immediately.
Angela Kinsey
He does this thing, as my dad would say. He went in there wide open.
Jenna Fischer
Oh.
Angela Kinsey
That was an expression my dad would say, which meant, here comes hell.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, yeah.
Angela Kinsey
So Michael is in a frenzy now. There was a scene that led up to his phone call to David between him and Dwight. And they are pacing and they're speaking in hushed tones while Michael's dialing Dwight, saying, nothing. Not even paper plates. Michael's like, nothing. The man is a still worker. He probably has no idea how paper's made. Hello? And then the phone picks up. That's the energy that would have started the scene that was in the script. And Michael cannot get David Wallace on the phone. Dwight says, you cannot give up so easily.
Jenna Fischer
All right?
Angela Kinsey
You've got to charm them. Rain could not get through this scene. It's in the bloopers. We have to hear it. David Wallace is off this.
Jenna Fischer
Hey there, gorgeous.
Angela Kinsey
How you doing today? I'm good, thank you. How's it hanging?
Jenna Fischer
All right, listen, my name.
Angela Kinsey
He doesn't even sound like Dwight. That's the other thing that I think
Jenna Fischer
he sounds like Rain.
Angela Kinsey
He does sound like Rain. I think that kind of cracked Rain up.
Jenna Fischer
David Wallace's assistant was played by Suzanne Watson. I'm not exactly sure how she got the role in the show. She mostly works as a producer, but she is gonna appear in three more episodes of the Office in season six. And she would have had a scene in this episode as well, when Michael eventually goes to corporate. So she wasn't just cast for her voice. She actually, you know, was gonna have this recurring role as David Wallace's assistant. And she got Stephanie.
Angela Kinsey
Stephanie.
Jenna Fischer
Oh. To be Stefanie taking Michael's calls.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, man.
Jenna Fischer
So meanwhile, Jim is working at his desk in his tux, and he keeps looking over his shoulder. And Charles is there.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Looking at him through the blinds of the conference room.
Angela Kinsey
And then it hands to Jim, and Jim, like, shakes off the camera like,
Jenna Fischer
mm, mm, mm, mm.
Angela Kinsey
And then it whips over to Dwight, and Dwight is so smug. And happy. Well, in the script, Dwight had a talking head. Here, it got deleted, but you gotta hear it. Oh, look at me and my pretty tuxedo. I'm so pretty and carefree and I don't need glasses.
Mindy Kaling
And.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, what's that? An objective outside observer doesn't find me amusing.
Jenna Fischer
Hysterical. That's pretty great.
Angela Kinsey
This is making Dwight's year.
Jenna Fischer
Hey, guess what? What? Lunch is here and it's on me. Charles got lunch for everybody. People are thrilled.
Angela Kinsey
Michael's like, I wish you would have told us sooner. I was going to go to the vending machine and get an egg salad.
Jenna Fischer
I'm sorry, is there egg salad in our vending machine?
Angela Kinsey
Gross.
Jenna Fischer
What vending machine is this? We did not have a refrigerated vending machine machine.
Angela Kinsey
No. Charles, though, is like, you still have that option. There's some serious Charles sass in this scene. And my favorite is this one. I do this for every branch I go to. If you do not like it, then I think there are some bagels left over from this morning. Sass.
Jenna Fischer
That's major sass.
Angela Kinsey
Well, you know, in the conference room, Kelly's going to say to Angela, should I seduce Charles? And Angela goes, no, no one wants to see that. But then she sneaks a smile at Charles.
Jenna Fischer
I like this rivalry.
Angela Kinsey
Mindy and I had so much fun doing this. We had such a blast.
Jenna Fischer
Michael is trying to call David Wallace again. And then we're going to have the scene that is the tipping point for Michael.
Angela Kinsey
It's so cringy.
Jenna Fischer
Kevin approaches Michael and says he used the wrong calendar for his spreadsheet. The wrong calendar from 2008, and he has to redo his spreadsheet. Can he come in over the week? And that would mean overtime. Michael says, yes. Charles says, no, no, we talked about this.
Angela Kinsey
And Michael's like, I'm sorry, this is my branch. And I like your initiative, Kevin. And yes. And Charles just shuts him down. He's like, that's not how we're going to do this. And how does Michael respond?
Jenna Fischer
Michael starts doing that, like, six year old thing, that echo thing where you just repeat what the other person is saying.
Angela Kinsey
I know you are. I know you are.
Jenna Fischer
And then it's like going on and on. And everyone in the bullpen is saying,
Angela Kinsey
michael, Michael, stop it, please.
Jenna Fischer
Pam has a talking head where she says she can tell how upset Michael is by which comedy routine he uses and how infantile and immature he gets. He has skipped over the Ace Ventura butt routine, which never happens. She knows this is bad. He skipped over Ace Ventura butt routine. That's the talking, but.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, I know the talking, but I know it. He's gonna take all that energy and he's gonna say, all right, fine. Party planning committee in the conference room. And there was a thing in the script where he was like, you guys just pitch me ideas. Cause maybe planning my party will make me feel better.
Jenna Fischer
I remember shooting this scene. We had a hard time getting through it.
Angela Kinsey
I bet, I bet. Well, while you guys start pitching party ideas, Charles is going to go over to Phyllis and say, you know, what is the ppc? And Phyllis says, it's the party planning committee. And they spend hours planning parties. And then Phyllis would have had a talking head. And I so wish it had made it in. Are you ready for some Phyllis sass? Here's her talking head. I built that house. I can burn it down. That was in the script.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, Phyllis. I know.
Angela Kinsey
I love this side of Phyllis, especially when it's not directed at Angela.
Jenna Fischer
Well, in that moment when Charles is talking to Phyllis at 14 minutes, 48 seconds, you get a real good shot of this silver insulated coffee mug that he's been carrying around all day. Do you know what it said on it?
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
Saddoquoia steel.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, nice detail.
Jenna Fischer
Way to go, Phil Shea. Yeah, because when Charles enters the conference room, he is holding that saddle steel coffee mug eye level to Michael Scott. And I don't know, I just felt like it was subliminally pissing Michael off.
Angela Kinsey
Just poking the bear.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, just rubbing it in his face.
Angela Kinsey
Well, Charles wants to know what the heck they're doing in there. He now has been tipped off by Phyllis that this is a big waste of time. And he starts to look over Jim's shoulder and he's like, what is a two way petting zoo? And Jim is really embarrassed and he says, you pet the animals, they pet you back.
Jenna Fischer
We could not get through that. Two way petting zoo did us in. Every time I got a little bit curious.
Angela Kinsey
You did not look up Two Way petting Zoo.
Jenna Fischer
I did.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, no. Is that Burning Man? Because I have a friend who was in a petting zoo at Burning Man.
Mindy Kaling
What?
Angela Kinsey
What is that?
Jenna Fischer
What is that?
Angela Kinsey
Okay,
Mindy Kaling
this is.
Angela Kinsey
This is someone I did improv with. And I'll never forget, you know, she's kind of like a free spirit. And I was at the airport, this is years ago. And I see her running through the airport and it looked like she had like. I don't know if she had like a carry on, but you could see sort of like a onesie poking out of it. She was running through the airport. I'm like, hi. And she's like, hi. And she's like, so good to see you. And I was like, you too. She's like, where are you going? I was like, I'm going to see my folks. I said, what about you? And she said, oh, I'm going to Burning Man. I'm in the petting zoo this year. And so I had to say, what, What? What's the petting zoo? And she was like, well, you know, you dress up as animals and let people pet you.
Jenna Fischer
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Yeah, that's what I thought of when I. When you said that.
Jenna Fischer
I. I did not know that. I mean, I found out that there's no such thing as a two way petting zoo where actual animals pet the humans. But I did not know about this human petting zoo at Burning Man.
Angela Kinsey
Did you think animals would pet humans?
Jenna Fischer
You know what, lady? I didn't know. I admit it was a weird Google, but I did find this.
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
Two way petting zoo is apparently like a euphemism for describing like a really intense, passionate sexual encounter. Like you would be like, oh, me and my boyfriend had a real two way petting zoo last night.
Angela Kinsey
No, come on. Who talks like that? But you are giving me flashbacks of like 6th grade sex ed where like we had a coach teach us sixth grade sex ed. And he was like, sometimes there's heavy petting. Sometimes you're like, ah, heavy petting. Fluffy petting.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, I don't know.
Angela Kinsey
Well, we don't know what Jim meant, but we know he's super embarrassed. Well, Charles has had enough. He wants to dissolve the ppc, effective immediately. This is where Michael completely flips out. And there was a deleted scene where he made a defensive argument to keep the ppc. Oh, we need to hear it.
Mindy Kaling
The party planning committee is an institution in this institution. It is something that I incorporated in the mid-90s to celebrate the laserdisc release of A League of Their Own. It has become a tradition here. It is something that is important to all of us. What did we do for League of Their Own party?
Jenna Fischer
A pizza of your own party. Make your own pizza. I didn't even work here then. I just heard the stories. Okay, thank you, Dwight.
Angela Kinsey
That should take five minutes of one person's day.
Mindy Kaling
Really.
Angela Kinsey
Five minutes. And then that's where the scene picks up and he just goes off and he's like, you don't even know how paper is made. It's not like steel you know, put it in a furnace. And he starts like to cry and
Jenna Fischer
he shoves over a chair on his way out. That was not in the script.
Angela Kinsey
He has a whole tantrum.
Jenna Fischer
Ah, I remember. After Michael leaves, Jim is going to attempt to start over with Charles.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
And this created fan mail. Fan mail Flurry number two. Oh, a lot of people wrote in. This is a quote. I am so excited to finally get to discuss my biggest pet peeve in the whole series.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, my goodness. What?
Jenna Fischer
At 16 minutes, 40 seconds, Jim says he's a great number two for the office. And Charles responds by saying he didn't know that position existed. And then Jim kind of like tap dances and he's like, well, at first it was made up for Dwight, but then, you know, Michael gave it to me. And kind of all ends with Charles being like, is this made up position important to you?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Well, people are PO'd at who? Here's the thing. I mean, people sent in lists of evidence to say that this number two position that Jim holds is real, it is not a made up position and that Charles should know that. Here's the evidence. In branch closing, Jan is talking to Jim about going back to Scranton and she says, we'd like to offer you the number two position at that branch in the merger. Michael is on the phone with Jan after firing Tony. He tries to blame Dwight by saying, bad advice from my number two. And Jan says, jim is your number two. I sent you a memo about this. In the merger, Jim confirms to Dwight that the job comes with a pay raise.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah.
Jenna Fischer
In Benihana Christmas, when Pam gives her Christmas gift to Jim, he turns it down using, quote, his promotion as an excuse. Also, in A Benihana Christmas, Dwight refers to himself as the ranking number three. And he finally concedes to Jim's authority as ranking number two. This is when you know they're trying to validate the committee to plan parties. Right. They get in this whole argument. In the return, Andy tells Jim, I'm thrilled to be working directly beneath you. And in women's appreciation, Dwight tells Jim, you may be second in command, but that does not put you above the law. This is a real position. I agree with everybody that, yes, I think Jim doesn't present it well. And then he gets flustered.
Angela Kinsey
I think so too. By the way, great research, everyone. Yeah, I'm very impressed.
Jenna Fischer
Let me give a shout out to Laura K, Alexandra ksy, Elle, Dan C, Emily M. And others.
Angela Kinsey
Well done. I like it.
Jenna Fischer
People were fired up.
Angela Kinsey
I like it.
Jenna Fischer
It was a Fan mail Blizzard.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, Jim just can't win with Charles. There were more scenes where he just got busted throughout the day. One of them happened at front reception.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, I remember shooting this.
Angela Kinsey
Can we hear that?
Jenna Fischer
He really doesn't like me. But you look so dapper.
Angela Kinsey
Thank you. I'm working so hard. I was hitting the phones. I closed the sale. I updated my copy. Busy day, Jim.
Jenna Fischer
What?
Mindy Kaling
I.
Jenna Fischer
Hey, go tell him you updated your contact list. I would tell him. You're mocking me.
Angela Kinsey
Really?
Jenna Fischer
Today? Like I don't have enough going on. I'm sorry. Have a candy.
Angela Kinsey
Thank you,
Jenna Fischer
Sweetie. Do you mind eating that at your desk? I don't want him to keep seeing us together.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
When I had to say that line, could you eat that at your desk? We could not get through that. That made John and I laugh so hard that Pam was like, could you. Could you just do that somewhere else?
Angela Kinsey
He also. Which. You guys can't see it, right? It's in the deleted scenes, if you have the DVDs. When Pam says that John, as Jim looks at the camera, like, super deadpan, like, are you kidding me?
Jenna Fischer
I remember all of that. I remember it so clearly.
Angela Kinsey
Well, Michael's gonna drive to corporate. He's gonna confront David Wallace as he's leaving the men's room. This is a classic Michael move.
Jenna Fischer
I'm sorry, you guys, but Angela did that too. Me today. I did.
Angela Kinsey
I did.
Jenna Fischer
I went to the restroom.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, first of all, there's only one
Jenna Fischer
bathroom here and one hallway. Yeah, but you were right there and you had this email you wanted to show me.
Angela Kinsey
So as soon as she came out of the bathroom, I was like, look at this.
Jenna Fischer
And I said, you just Michael Scotted me.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Anyway, David Wallace hears Michael out and he's like, you know what? Look, you can have your 15th anniversary party. You can have the figs. Michael keeps talking about these figs.
Jenna Fischer
I know.
Angela Kinsey
There was a whole fig runner.
Jenna Fischer
What?
Angela Kinsey
Yes. In the script.
Jenna Fischer
I thought this was like, just like a random thing. And I was so tickled by it. I was like, what is his commitment to having figs?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. So this would have been a callback to an earlier scene when they're doing all the party planning. One of the things Michael wanted was, like, bacon wrapped figs. Okay. And then remember when he started to spiral out to Charles Miner about canceling the party? He had this whole speech where he was like, there will be horse drawn carriages, There will be pancetta wrapped figs. There will be break dancers.
Jenna Fischer
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Those are the figs.
Angela Kinsey
The figs They've already arrived.
Jenna Fischer
They're arriving. What's he gonna do with them?
Angela Kinsey
Exactly.
Jenna Fischer
So David Wallace says, I will come to your party. You can have your figs. I will move some money around and make it happen.
Angela Kinsey
But Michael says he smiles and you think he's happy. And then he says, I quit.
Jenna Fischer
Mm.
Angela Kinsey
He quits. I was so surprised.
Jenna Fischer
It's amazing.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
I have a real tangent to throw in here.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
I don't know if you noticed, but at the very beginning of the scene, David Wallace is drinking water out of a fish Fiji water bottle. It was really random to me because he's turned the bottle in such a way that you can't see the name facing you, but it's clearly Fiji Water. And I was so confused because I thought they never let us do that.
Angela Kinsey
No.
Jenna Fischer
And I just wondered was that he had been drinking some Fiji water and it ended up in the scene and he turned because, you know, was he. I don't know. I just. It stood out to me. But it also stood out to me because earlier in the week, by coincidence, my family became fascinated with the origins of bottled water. So we're in this phase right now where our 10 year old, if we're talking at dinner and we bring up something, he wants to look it up and find out everything about it.
Angela Kinsey
Wonder where he gets that.
Jenna Fischer
Well, we were discussing getting new water bottles for school, you know, the reusable ones. And this got us on bottled water. And my son ended up doing a whole deep dive for our family on the origins of bottled water. And I thought I would share a little bit about it since what the coincidence that David Wallace is holding a water bottle.
Mindy Kaling
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
This is my son's deep dive, and I find it fascinating, and I think you will too, even though you're not his mother. The first commercially distributed bottled water company in America was called Jackson's Spa, and it was founded in 1767 in Boston. This was the question that launched everything was who made the first bottled water? It was Jackson Spa. And the people who drank the water thought that it held therapeutic properties because it came from, like, one of those mineral springs, a natural spring. One of the biggies. Arrowhead was established in 1917.
Angela Kinsey
That's so early.
Jenna Fischer
I know. Arrowhead water is sourced from the mountain springs in California, Colorado and Canada. It's bottled in California even today. Then we get up to Evian. That was not established until 1978, almost 70 years after Arrowhead. Their water comes from a spring in the French Alps, Fiji water, as held by David Wallace comes from Fiji. But the big shift in bottled water came when Pepsi and Coca Cola got into the game by selling purified water. Purified water is basically municipal tap water, which is then filtered using a process called reverse osmosis. Spring water is also filtered, but the reverse osmosis is what purifies it. I guess that's the purified part. Then we all wondered as a family, what's the best water? Purified spring. Tap. You know what it is? Guess.
Angela Kinsey
Tap.
Jenna Fischer
Nope.
Angela Kinsey
Spring.
Jenna Fischer
Nope.
Angela Kinsey
Purified.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Purified water. The reverse osmosis makes it the most pure above filtered spring or tap.
Angela Kinsey
How about that?
Jenna Fischer
Pepsi and Coke were already using purified water as the basis of their sodas. So they would get water, they would purify it, and then they would add all the bubbles, and then they would add all the other stuff that you put in a soda.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
And so it was really easy for them to just start bottling it, you know, before they did all the rest of it, to make it a soda.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I think that's a fascinating deep dive.
Jenna Fischer
Well done.
Angela Kinsey
We are trying as a family to cut down on plastic super hard. You know, there's so much.
Jenna Fischer
There's so much single use plastic.
Angela Kinsey
That's right.
Jenna Fischer
And that's what we're trying to avoid.
Angela Kinsey
Exactly. And my husband just worked with this company that I find fascinating called Tetra Pak.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh. I watched his video that he made for them and it was great.
Angela Kinsey
It was amazing. They're putting water and everything. You can imagine soup. And it just. If you start to notice what Tetra Pak looks like, it's like paper packaging. And the only thing that's plastic and it's like recycled plastic, is the lid.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. It's the thing that, like, broth comes in.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Coconut waters. I see.
Angela Kinsey
Box milk. Yep. Fascinating. Another factory that I want to go to.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, let's go to the factory. I know. Okay.
Angela Kinsey
Well, back in our episode, Charles is going to leave for the day. He says goodbye. Angela runs over to say goodbye. And I loved the scene between Kelly and Phyllis in the kitchen. Kelly's putting on lipstick. She's like, I'm going to make him buy me a steak tonight. And Phyllis is like, first of all, I'm the only person here.
Jenna Fischer
Because she starts with you guys.
Angela Kinsey
I know, I know. And then she's like, I think he already left. And Mindy, as Kelly goes barreling out, kind of knocks into camera. Do you see her start to break?
Mindy Kaling
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
I wrote it down.
Angela Kinsey
She started to laugh as she pushed through the door.
Jenna Fischer
I also want to say, Phyllis is drinking coffee at the very end of the day.
Angela Kinsey
Needs.
Jenna Fischer
Pick me up. Just a little thing to note.
Angela Kinsey
Afternoon. Pick me up.
Jenna Fischer
Kelly bolts out to the parking lot, and Angela is out there holding Charles's scarf in the rain. She swiped it. 100%. She swiped that scarf. Scarf.
Angela Kinsey
She quietly plots. Okay. Kelly is very out there with what her plans are, but Angela was secretly plotting. Shooting the scene was so much fun. It was actually raining. We had to time it out so that, you know, Mindy would come running out, and I would come around the corner and we would see each other and then start yelling our scene at each other. And then they were like, we want you to chase after her and you run. So we, like, took off. And I loved every second of doing these scenes with Mindy.
Jenna Fischer
You guys had to run in your heels.
Angela Kinsey
In our heels.
Jenna Fischer
On the wet pavement.
Angela Kinsey
I also remember talking to Paul Feig about, wait, how would Angela Martin run in this moment?
Jenna Fischer
You know, oh, how does your character run?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And I had done fun run, but she was angry running right about sprinkles. But this was like, I had heels. And how would Angela Martin run? And these are small details, but they're so fun to, like, figure out.
Jenna Fischer
But this is what you do as an actor. You make these choices for how your character would do something that's different from how you would do it.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And then after this, I have this talking head. And then I have a talking head, but we did not film my talking head that day, so they had to try to match how wet my hair would have looked. They spritzed my hair with water. They put water on my face, let my mascara run down my cheeks. And then I had to deliver this monologue as if I had just run away from Kelly. So I was, like, winded.
Jenna Fischer
Now, let me ask you. Before you started shooting, did you stand up and, like, do, like, a fake run? Because I've done that before. When I have to enter out of breath, I'll do, like, a little jogging place.
Angela Kinsey
I did not. Oh, that's all faking.
Jenna Fischer
You didn't need it.
Angela Kinsey
I didn't need it. I just did this. Kelly and Charles. Absolutely not. He is a sophisticated man. He doesn't need to go dumpster diving for companionship. Okay. Wow, thank you.
Jenna Fischer
That's really good.
Angela Kinsey
Thank you.
Jenna Fischer
That's really good. Well, listen, that is new boss. But Angela, there would have been something here.
Angela Kinsey
Those driving scenes.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Michael driving away from his meeting with David Wallace.
Angela Kinsey
They're so funny. I read in the shooting draft. There were so many. They just let Michael go on and on and on. Well, here's a few I want you to hear that. Made deleted scenes.
Mindy Kaling
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, boy.
Mindy Kaling
Like Thelma and Louise driving off the cliff. I'm really not even sure what just happened. I went inside and that was real, right? No, Mom, I don't know if I did the right thing. It just. It's just what I did. Okay, don't put Jeff on the phone. I don't. Please, I don't wanna. Hello, sir. How are your trains?
Angela Kinsey
What is that? I know. There were a series, like, where he started talking to himself like, I can't believe this happened. Then he calls, right? Then he's laughing hysterically, then he's eating pizza, then he's crying. They just went on and on. But I loved that his mom put Jeff on the phone. What's up with Jeff and trains?
Jenna Fischer
Is there something where he talks about Jeff collecting trains at some point in an earlier episode?
Angela Kinsey
I feel like maybe, maybe. But that would have been the tag. It would have been Michael in the car leaving New York and all these series of emotions and little snippets in his car.
Jenna Fischer
Well, this whole thing is going to lead to one of my personal favorite storylines of the entire series for my character Pam. And that is when Michael starts his own paper company and Pam goes with him. I can't wait to wait. Watch these episodes. I can't wait.
Angela Kinsey
All right, you guys, that was new boss. We hope you're having a great week and we'll be here next week.
Jenna Fischer
See you then.
Mindy Kaling
Bye.
Jenna Fischer
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. 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. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle.
Angela Kinsey
Our second drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.
Jenna Fischer
Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer.
Angela Kinsey
Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese.
Jenna Fischer
Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Angela Kinsey
Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratt. You know what I am excited about?
Jenna Fischer
What?
Angela Kinsey
A little T.N. dickinson's lady.
Jenna Fischer
I love it. Let me tell you, they have their wound cleansing spray, and it is amazing. Okay? So, you know, I already loved the witch hazel for sunburns, right? That's my, like, go to sunburn thing right now. But this cleansing spray, okay, we went to Disneyland and I got a blanket blister on my toe and I put it on the blister on my toe, and it was so soothing.
Angela Kinsey
You've just got to have this in like your home. You've got to have it. It's there for you. You guys, we love it. You can find Tia Dickinson's Wound Cleansing Spray at target.com and select Target Stores. It helps cleanse minor cuts and scrapes, helps kill germs, and provides maximum strength pain relief all in one easy to use spray.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, because when life's little accidents happen, there's T.N. dickinson's for that. Lately I have been thinking a lot about choices, but especially about how good it feels when you make a decision that really works for you. Maybe you're committing to a long term goal like saving money for a new car, a future home, a vacation.
Angela Kinsey
It's being intentional about your choices and you're just giving yourself the biggest gift because you are planning for your future self. And you know that idea of making the right choices for you is something that State Farm really leans into. Prioritizing what matters most and having support along the way. While you're working towards these goals of things that are important to you, the
Jenna Fischer
State Farm Personal Price Plan can help you create an affordable price. When you choose to bundle home and auto insurance, you have options to choose from to help best fit your needs.
Angela Kinsey
Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with their personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Jenna Fischer
Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
In this lively "Second Drink" bonus episode, Jenna and Angela give a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at "New Boss," Season 5, Episode 20 of The Office. They respond to a flurry of fan mail, revisit favorite moments, share rare outtakes, and offer unique insights from their time on set—including everything from on-set improvisation to hair-raising rain effects. The episode’s star: the arrival of Charles Miner, played by the “too-great” Idris Elba.
Quote:
"You can't buy classy. You can't teach classy. You're born with it. Michael has it, Pam has it."
– Jim, quoted by Jenna ([25:12])
Quote:
"Idris is the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes on."
– Jenna Fischer ([12:00])
"I built that house. I can burn it down." ([56:26])
Angela on Idris Elba's Presence:
“He's not just beautiful...you just go, damn. It’s a whole aura.” ([12:10])
Jenna on Fumbling Through ‘Mom Detective’:
"Thank you, Angela. There are no sources still in circulation that can positively identify the artist. ...we’ll never really know." ([27:53])
Michael’s Self-Awareness:
“Truth be told, I think I thrive under a lack of accountability.”
– Michael Scott, quoted by Angela ([44:20])
Classic Michael:
"You don’t even come from paper!"
– Reaction to Charles’ steel industry background ([50:01])
Deleted Scene - Phyllis’ Sass:
"I built that house. I can burn it down.” ([56:26])
Pam’s Talking Head on Michael’s Meltdown:
“He has skipped over the Ace Ventura butt routine, which never happens. She knows this is bad.” ([55:32])
Angela on Angela Martin’s Motivation:
“She quietly plots. Kelly is very out there...but Angela was secretly plotting.” ([71:45])
For more in-depth Office nostalgia, outtakes, and behind-the-scenes storytelling with the authentic warmth and wit only Jenna and Angela bring, tune in next week!