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Jenna Fischer
I can't be the only person who feels like I'm constantly running out to an event like a dinner or a school function in the same four outfits, because I basically just have fallen into this pattern of re wearing the same few pieces that I've owned for years. But thanks to Daily look, it's easier than ever to refresh your wardrobe and get event ready. It is the number one highest rated premium personal styling service for women. Dailylook provides you with a dedicated personal stylist. Hello. Thank you. Who curates a box of clothes just for you. Each box is tailored to your body shape, to your preferences, to your lifestyle.
Dave Rogers
Hello.
Jenna Fischer
Drawstring pants. And it's delivered right to your door so you can enjoy the ease of trying everything on at home. Thank you. And you save time and effort. Whatever you don't like, you just send it back. There's free shipping included. Plus, you get real personal stylists, not just algorithms, so you get a personalized experience each time. Elevate your style by signing up@dailylook.com today. Take your style quiz@dailylook.com and get 50% off your first styling fee when you use code. Office ladies at checkout. I am 50 years old, and do you know what I don't want to do on my vacations anymore?
Angela Kinsey
Oh, probably a few things.
Jenna Fischer
I don't want to cram my family into the same one bedroom, room and bathroom. I don't want to.
Angela Kinsey
No.
Jenna Fischer
I don't want us all on top of each other. I want my own bedroom, separate from the children, which is why I prefer Airbnb, because we can all have our space and then it's like, makes the whole vacation more relaxing. We can go to bed at different times. You know, I can stay up and read. Or more likely, these days I go to bed before everybody else.
Angela Kinsey
You know what I love about Airbnb?
Jenna Fischer
What?
Angela Kinsey
Snacks. You have a fridge, you have a kitchen. So I'm not calling up room service constantly and having to pay that fee. I'm just like, hey, we packed snacks. They're in the fridge. Go get them.
Jenna Fischer
Well, everyone, consider Airbnb for your next adventure. You won't regret making the switch from a traditional hotel. 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 lovers podcast just for you.
Angela Kinsey
Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of the Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.
Jenna Fischer
We're the Office Lady 6.0.
Angela Kinsey
Hi there.
Jenna Fischer
Hello.
Angela Kinsey
Hey. So today on Office Ladies, we have a very special interview with the person I call the architect of the office. It is our editor and director, Dave Rogers.
Jenna Fischer
I like how you just jumped right in with it today, Ange. What is happening in the new year? Are you becoming me?
Angela Kinsey
I think so.
Jenna Fischer
Because, look, I'm taking us on a tangent. Should I read my diary of my journal?
Angela Kinsey
And I'm just like, let's.
Jenna Fischer
I feel like I want. I want to. I want to. What's happened this year?
Angela Kinsey
I don't know. I feel like my 2025 mantra is let's get to it.
Jenna Fischer
Okay, well, let's get to it then. Dave Rogers worked on the office from 2005 to 2013. He started as our editor, but then, as you all know, he started directing in season five.
Angela Kinsey
In total, Dave edited 95 of the original broadcast episodes, and he directed eight of them. He knows the show better than anyone.
Jenna Fischer
Well, Angela, I guess you are gonna share some digital clutter with us now. So you are staying in your wheelhouse in a way.
Angela Kinsey
I'm a combo. Oh, gear. It's combo gear. Yeah, I'm a combo platter. 2025 is. Let's get to it. But also, let's chat a little bit.
Jenna Fischer
I'm really liking this.
Angela Kinsey
So I did share with Jenna that I found something pretty fun in my digital clutter, and I'm excited to share it with you all. So I have talked about this before on the podcast. Years ago, when the show was on the air, I teamed up with the NBC digital folks with Joya and Scott and Carol. All those folks, they're awesome. And we did a little series for the website called Adventures with Angela.
Jenna Fischer
They were so cute. They are all these videos of you kind of showing different aspects of the show. You would introduce different actors or different crew members. And you sent me this one, Angela. It's cute. Patoot galore.
Angela Kinsey
I had so much fun doing these. They're just little behind the scenes of life on the set of the Office. Well, the one I sent Jenna was the week I went into Dave's editing bay. We found the footage. I thought it would be so fun to hear it. I'm going to share it in stories as well. And it just took us right back. Hello, NBC.com. we have a behind the scenes exclusive with Dave Rogers, one of our fabulous editors on the show. That's Dave. It's also donut cart day. Mini donuts. It's ridiculous. Did you get any?
Dave Rogers
I did not. Yeah, they're so good.
Angela Kinsey
Dave Rogers worked on the single guy, Seinfeld. Wow. News, radio, Entourage, Entourage, stories like any.
Jenna Fischer
Come on.
Angela Kinsey
Those guys, they're wild. They're crazy, right?
Dave Rogers
I was in an edit bay far away from all the locations that they shoot on line.
Angela Kinsey
Editors know everything.
Dave Rogers
Absolutely.
Angela Kinsey
You hear everything. They hear everyone's conversations. Okay, You've been with the office since the pilot.
Dave Rogers
I came on right after the pilot. I tweaked a little bit in the pilot.
Angela Kinsey
This isn't right.
Dave Rogers
You gave me the wrong one before we broadcast.
Angela Kinsey
Dave was a first time director this season. You guys, it was really awesome. You showed so well. I have to say I'm pretty blown away by.
Jenna Fischer
I mean.
Angela Kinsey
Cause he sort of sits here and watches take after take after take. I do one thing I'm learning right here and now is that the editor's room. A little toasty. Yeah, a little toasty. Can we talk about your desk for a second?
Dave Rogers
Yeah, yeah, let's talk about my desk. That's Bryce.
Angela Kinsey
Bryce.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
You do Q.
Dave Rogers
Sometimes he comes in. I almost brought him in today because I knew you were coming in. And as a tribute to you in the super bowl episode, having your little cat bandit, you were gonna have Bryce in the closet. Well, Bryce here, if you can swing this way. This is where Bryce. He does hang out in the closet. He's got a little bed. And I've got stuff, food and toys.
Angela Kinsey
I wonder if you were the inspiration for that high tech stuff here. I want to touch all the knobs so bad.
Dave Rogers
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
No product price. But what are we talking about here? Do we have dry skin?
Dave Rogers
Well, yes. You can feel how warm and dry.
Angela Kinsey
This room is very warm in here.
Dave Rogers
So I. I try to keep moisture. Yes. I never used to. But then the ladies are always like. Your hand feels like an alligator. So it's too much information.
Angela Kinsey
I don't want to know what the ladies say. What does this mean right here?
Dave Rogers
What's this? Those are technical things.
Angela Kinsey
Can I tell you, this looks like something that would be in Lost and that they would show for like a whole season and then say it means not nothing. That picture of Dean, that's our other editor, Dean Holland.
Dave Rogers
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
And Dave. And they won an Emmy for our show, which was amazing. It was the episode, the job Jenna and I presented at the Eddie Awards.
Dave Rogers
When you guys won for the Academy of Cinema Editors.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
And we got a big laugh because Jenna talked about like an editor's room being dark and sweaty. And I said that it's the place where this noise Comes from. Thank you. Big laughs. The editors were going crazy here.
Dave Rogers
That's. I'll show you what that sounds a cat.
Angela Kinsey
I should be on Saturday Night Live. I can do my rewind, girl. Angela, we can't write a skit for that. Really? Because it's gold.
Jenna Fischer
Angela, these are amazing. You are an amazing interviewer. You discussed mini donuts, moisturizing his hands, the knobs in the room.
Angela Kinsey
I just went through his office and pointed out everything on his desk. Poor Dave. He's such a good sport. He did show me the closet where his dog Bryce would hang out.
Jenna Fischer
I loved Bryce.
Angela Kinsey
Bryce had a bed, a blanket, a toy. He had a water bowl, food. He was very cozy in Dave's office. And then I didn't realize that while talking to Dave, I threw shade at Entourage and Lost.
Jenna Fischer
I loved it. I thought it was a great interview.
Angela Kinsey
It's a horrible interview, but it was really fun hanging out with Dave in his editing bay. I miss those days.
Jenna Fischer
Well, you definitely have to post that video on our stories. Cause it's really fun to see as well. I feel like I was there because he was editing Pam during this interview. So I'm up on the screen. It was really cool.
Angela Kinsey
I mean, I do have a really good rewind voice. I really do. You do. The first time you hear it, that's me, not the computer.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. And the second time is the computer.
Angela Kinsey
I know.
Jenna Fischer
It's like, which one's which?
Angela Kinsey
You don't know. Should I do it right now?
Jenna Fischer
Please. Of course. It's so good. That was Angela. That wasn't Sam.
Angela Kinsey
No, that was me.
Jenna Fischer
Okay, well, one thing is for sure. Dave is the Office encyclopedia. And he is here with us today in studio to talk about how he has taken on the very big task of assembling all of the Office super fan episodes on Peacock.
Angela Kinsey
I loved our conversation with him because you can really hear how much he cares about the legacy of the Office.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Dave, along with his team of editors are being so thoughtful about these Superfan episodes.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. I mean, he shares how they decide what footage to add. And he also, I mean, my gosh, he told us so many treasures that he found while putting these together. It's such a great conversation.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Dave has been working on these Superfan episodes for years. He is now all the way up to season eight. And you can find them on Peacock.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, and one last thing. We also talked with Dave just a little bit about the new spinoff show, the Paper. He is working on that as well. So that was fun.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, I know. I can't wait till he can share more about it.
Jenna Fischer
I know, and we can share more.
Angela Kinsey
About it our visit. All right, well, we hope you enjoyed this as much as we did. We're going to take a quick break and be back with our interview with Dave Rogers.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
So I like to walk in my neighborhood, I like to walk in the fresh air and then I like to do one of the Peloton meditations and total body stretches. That is an example of like one fitness thing I'll do in a week.
Angela Kinsey
And here's the thing. A lot of times you think, oh, do I have time to exercise? Will they have 10, 20 or 45 minute time increments of classes?
Jenna Fischer
I usually do the 20. I hit it right in the middle. Find your push, Find your power with peloton@1peloton.com if you are hiring, you need Indeed.
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Jenna Fischer
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Jenna Fischer
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Jenna Fischer
Hi, Dave Rogers.
Dave Rogers
Hello. How are you guys doing?
Jenna Fischer
It is so fun to have you in our studio.
Angela Kinsey
I'm just doing like this air hug across the table because I'm so happy to see your face.
Jenna Fischer
You have contributed so much to Office Ladies, but now here you are in person. It's such a treat.
Dave Rogers
Thank you. It's great to be here. It's great to see both of you. Yeah. Listen, I love the Office. I love the Office Ladies.
Angela Kinsey
Yay. Dave listens to the podcast and he will email us the most lovely email saying, hey, you guys really crushed that one. Or great details. It really means a lot to us, Dave, because no one knows the show better than you. That's the truth.
Dave Rogers
Thanks. That's high praise, A lot of pressure, but I do feel like I'm still living the show and these Superfan episodes have brought it all back where I'm back into my original projects, editing projects and watching all the old cuts and putting some deleted scenes in and some new material that no one's ever seen before.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, I mean, how did this come to be? Like, when did they first approach you about creating these Superfan episodes? Do you remember that conversation?
Dave Rogers
Yeah. I was on a phone call with Greg Daniels and I think Howard Klein was on the call and some of the NBC Peacock executives. And I think I'm not sure if it tied in exactly when Peacock, the streaming site was starting or if it was, you know, just something that they had bought the Office and then that was going to launch. And so we were discussing, you know, all the goodies that we could Give them. And I mean, just like, you know, we used to pack our DVDs with so many things. We had behind the scenes videos. We had, like, Jenna's booze cruise video. We had, you know, we had bloopers, webisodes, the accountants, you know, I mean, like, just, you know, we had all this great material. A lot of times, you know, people, like, they, they're just discovering it now. Like, they never. They didn't watch the DVDs or they were, you know, kind of got onto the show after the DVDs were a thing and only watched it on streaming on Netflix or on, you know, cable. And so, you know, I said, oh, this would be great to have a place to put all of this stuff, like, to, you know, just. We've shot promos that were, like, full scenes we would do for the Olympics.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
You know, we would do stuff for, you know, just various, like, you know, the super bowl and even the, the more, you know, parodies that we did that were, you know, that these were great and these, these aired on NBC during the day, you know, when the show was on. But it's nice for people just to be able to, you know, have this kind of collection and be able to just access it. That. That was kind of my dream was to have like a whole office portal that people could just, you know, access.
Angela Kinsey
This stuff and not have to go to Best Buy and buy a DVD player like I did. Which, by the way, I have played my DVDs so much in the last five years. Jenna, I haven't even shared this with you. My DVD player is malfunctioning. It's starting to make it, like, noise. And then sometimes I have to hit stop and eject and then like, kind of reboot it to get it to work. Anyway, sorry, didn't mean to go off the DVD channel.
Dave Rogers
I love the DVDs because we spent a lot of time even just doing the artwork and the, you know, the menus and things like that. And, and we did. We, you know, again, our show. We'll get into it. But as you know, the style of our show, because we were handheld in a360 environment, we didn't have so much downtime with lighting and things like that. It was like, hey, we're. We're pretty much lit. You know, small adjustments.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
So we could. And because of the handheld nature of the show, we could shoot faster. So then they would write longer scripts.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, that's right.
Dave Rogers
So we did have a lot of things that were left on the cutting room Floo. I mean, just, you know, just a lot of stuff. And some of it was a level material, but because the episodes on TV were, you know, the time was 21 minutes and 35 seconds to fit a half hour slot, including the main title. So much stuff got cut out.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like at first you were just like, hey, let's just make a compilation of like, bonus material that people can find on Peacock.
Angela Kinsey
So they don't have to go to the DVDs. And it will be this amazing office portal.
Dave Rogers
Right? Yeah, we did that. We gave them all of this great extra material, behind the scenes stuff. Bloopers. Yeah, all of that. And then Greg said, hey, we have all of this material, all of these deleted scenes. Is there a way we can re edit the shows and make.
Jenna Fischer
So this is Greg Daniels.
Dave Rogers
This is Greg Daniel's idea.
Jenna Fischer
Okay.
Dave Rogers
And he said, you know, and make kind of a. He's like, I don't want to call it like a quintessential, you know, cut, because it's. The broadcast episodes we originally put on the air were pretty good.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
But still, he said, like, you know, maybe we could do something. And really, this is for the fans. And that's kind of how the super fan title came about, you know, superfan episodes. And he also. This is very sweet. Part of it was with the pandemic going on, there was not a lot of work. This was like, you know, he's like, oh, this will keep Dave busy. So that was, you know, part of the thing because we had worked, you know, right before that, I had done Upload season one and we went right into Space Force, you know, so I was working on these two shows. It was great. You know, we had great cast on Upload. Space Force was amazing to be with Steve Carell again. And then, you know, and then that was it. It was winding down in March. We were. We were at home at that point, you know, editing remotely, doing visual effects as the pandemic hit. So it was a few months later, I think it was June of. Of 2020, when Greg first talked about it. And Peacock was like, yep, go ahead, let's go do what. Whatever you need. And so we got together with, you know, I got Rob Burnett, who was my. He was one of my assistant editors on the Office, and he's become an editor unto himself now. I mean, he's great. He, you know, he did the Mindy project, AP Bio, upload Space Force. And so he works with me on these episodes and he preps the stuff. But also Cuts. And we send stuff back and forth just as editors. Like, I say, hey, what do you think of this? And he'll say, yeah, this, this. And then he'll send stuff to me. And I like, yeah, this is good. I would tweak this a little, things like that. But we've got all the old projects, so we're back into the. I don't know, I'm just excited.
Jenna Fischer
But is this really just like a. It's like a two man operation. Is it mostly just you and Rob?
Dave Rogers
It's me and Rob. And then we have a couple of assistant editors, Dan Russ and Josh Toomey. And then on the post side, like we have Brit Erwin, who was one of our post supervisors on the Office. And Eric Colgin's involved, so he's kind of nebulous. He started with us and then he kind of floats around. Every now and then I see like a bill that he paid for or something like that, but it's just us. And then Greg checks in and Howard Klein checks in. But they just trust us at this point. It's like to go through the material and I could tell you more about that process, but it is, it's a skeleton crew putting the stuff together. And then. And we can talk about the finishing though, because we, we have, you know, we online, these shows. So they look, we want them to look seamless from the original ones. And we have sound mixes and vfx and it's our same sound mix team, John Cook at Blue Wave. It's who, who did the Office. It's, you know, the same guys. Bobby Maxton from the Office, you know, same guys working on the show.
Angela Kinsey
So, Dave, this is fascinating to me. And as Jen and I have started watching the Superfan episodes, we're picking them here and there, sort of seeing which ones are the fan favorites. And I watched the original airing. I had it on my TV with my DVD player. And then I had the super fan on Peacock and I watched them at the same time. I synced up the beginning and then I had a notepad. And when one would diverge, right, I would make a note, I'd get the timecode and then I'd go to the shooting draft. I'd see what was new, what was a deleted. I would go to the DVDs to the deleted scenes and see like, oh, that's not in deleted scenes, but it's in the shooting draft. I guess we shot it. Maybe that's new. So anyway, Jen and I have been trading crazy convoluted messages to one another. Kind of sounds like what you and Rob are doing a little bit. And I'm so curious to know what your process is about. How do you pick what goes in? Like, you must have all this extra footage that isn't in the deleted scenes.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, the first thing I do is watch the show. I take the episode and I watch the broadcast version.
Angela Kinsey
Right.
Dave Rogers
And then I watch the deleted scenes and I watch. And again, even that we had, we had deleted scenes that were on the DVDs, and even we had deleted scenes that were on NBC. So even just searching.
Jenna Fischer
That's right.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
Most of the time they overlapped. But NBC always had. The website always had less than the dvd. That's where we would, you know, put more stuff. So I'll watch the DVDs, but then I'll go into the assembly and I'll watch the first cut of the assembly and the director's cut. And what I'll do is I have a dupe detector so I can throw the assembly in in the timeline. Let me know if I'm getting too technical.
Angela Kinsey
But no, but I want this. I want the dupe detector. That's amazing. Okay, go on.
Dave Rogers
So I throw the cut in, and we have the, you know, we have the online master, which is the, you know, the picture. And then I have all of the tracks underneath all the original dailies and the audio tracks that we did that we, you know, and some of this, the audio is like, temp. It's not, this isn't the mix track. We have that also. And the dailies, there's so much, there's, there's so many. But we had them all backed up. So, I mean, that's the thing. We're, we're back in our old projects. I, I, I was cursing. I was like, damn it. Dean Holland didn't label this episode, like, the scenes. You know, it's like, you can see mine are all clean. And, you know, we started having some uniformity early on. I was like, look, we gotta. Because if we're jumping into each other's projects, I gotta be able to see what scene is this, and you gotta know what scene. And we would laugh.
Angela Kinsey
You have to have the same system so you have the dupe.
Dave Rogers
So I'll lay in the cut, the master, and then I'll lay in the assembly and I can see what shots are the same. The dupe detector will show me what shots are the same. And then what's new. So I can go to areas and see. Oh, look, here's a couplet as we call it. It's like a joke back and forth that was cut out. And I'll watch. Oh, this is actually pretty good. So I'll weave it back into the show.
Jenna Fischer
Well, that's what's interesting to me because sometimes when I'm watching the super Fan episodes, I'll notice, well, this scene is all new, or this talking head is all new. But then I'll be watching a scene like how we watched Hot Girl. And there's the scene where Michael is in the conference room with Katie and he's just watching her unpack. And I notice, wait, this scene is in the original. But I think this has like 4 seconds of extra creeper stare from Michael. And so, yeah, this would just be like an example of a couplet that gets added back, not a whole scene.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, and that's the thing. Cause there's a lot of stuff that never could make it into the deleted scenes. Cause it's like a joke.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Like a one off little thing.
Dave Rogers
Just a comment or something.
Angela Kinsey
I noticed one that I thought was so interesting and. And I wondered how you did it, Dave. But now that I know about the dupe detector. So Michael has a talking head about how charming he is.
Dave Rogers
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
But then he's yelling at Ryan, what'd you do to my desktop? Where's my maps? Where are my maps? But then he goes back to the talking head, but it's overlaid over each other. And I was like, how did they do that?
Dave Rogers
But this is how well this is. But some of that. I mean, the dupe detector just helps us to see. Hey, is there stuff that was, you know, from the assembly that was cut out? That's the first thing that we do. But stuff like that. Then it's editing again. It's like, oh, we have other footage that stuff may have been in the assembly, like him yelling at Ryan. It may not be. That just might be in dailies. I mean, it's a.
Angela Kinsey
You have so many to look through.
Dave Rogers
But we'll go through the assembly and then I'll see also if scenes. I mean, that's the thing. Even I like to say, if there's a scene that's in the assembly, a lot of times a scene that was deleted is the same as the deleted scene on the DVDs. But that means it wasn't really polished. Like it was taken out in the assembly stage. Like we lost it when we were doing the director's cut. So we've thrown it on the DVD and maybe we've polished it a Little bit for the, you know, to go with the DVDs, but now I have the freedom to kind of go in and clean stuff up. We'll add music if we need to, like, where we didn't have the budget for it on the DVDs. I mean, sometimes I've watched some of the deleted scenes and, like, I can hear the director, you know, things like that. Like, so things can get cleaned up.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
You know, which is nice. I have a couple of rules.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, let's hear them.
Dave Rogers
So I never change a take of the show. Like, I feel that this is. The documentary crew have come in and they've gotten more time to make these episodes longer, so they're just adding in more stuff that they've shot. So I'll never change a performance or Very, very rarely. There might be something where I'm like, oh, I need. You know, I'll change a camera angle occasionally, but I'll never. You won't see a different take. If Michael says something this way, I'm not going to go to a different take of him saying the same line. I will only add. And this is for all of you. I don't want any kind of parallel universes or anything out there.
Angela Kinsey
I appreciate that. That's the integrity of the show. So as you're making these superfan episodes, you are doing it as if you are the documentary filmmaker.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
And what has already aired is. Is sacred.
Dave Rogers
Yes. I mean, every once in a while, like, a reaction shot might come out because we've added more dialogue or something like that, and that was used to cover a gap, let's say. But generally, like, no performance changes. The other thing is that there's no alternate things. Like, for example, season three, the Job finale, we have footage of Karen sitting at a fountain outside the building crying, and she gets a phone call and she accepts the job. So this was like. We shot that because we didn't. We. I guess we weren't sure which way we were going to go. Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
You didn't know.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. You know, so we shot. You know, that's not going back into a show because it doesn't. You know, it doesn't track with everything we've seen. But I do see, you know, there are things like that that pop up, and I'm like, no, we can't use that. That's a different path. You know, we really do our best not to contradict and, you know, not to have continuity errors, things like that.
Angela Kinsey
Right. Keep the purity of the story arc as it was intended.
Jenna Fischer
I remember doing Every once in a while, those alternate versions of scenes. And I think there's an alternate version of Jim and Pam walking out of the elevator at the end of the job or something. Or Jim walking out, or me walking out. I remember we were trying to figure out that moment.
Dave Rogers
Right. We did that. We did shoot that alternate version of you guys in the elevator. I don't know if you were in it. And he comes in.
Jenna Fischer
That's what I couldn't remember either.
Dave Rogers
I feel like I sent it to you at the time.
Jenna Fischer
I think you did. You were like, do you remember how we did these alternates?
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
You were probably doing your super fan episode.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. But that was the best, you know, I mean, what we got with the job. That moment is just great. When he comes in, when you're like, yeah. And then he's like, hey, are you free for dinner? And you're like, yeah, yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Your look is so, so beautiful.
Dave Rogers
What was I saying? You know? And it's just there's so many little gems like that. Although I did find the rehearsal for the Proposal that, you know, that we shot on the back lot very far away. But we have, you know, on our backlot by the trailers, the post trailer in the back, I guess. Paul Feig. It's Weight Loss. It was Paul Feig who directed Weight.
Angela Kinsey
Loss and it was his idea to do this big rehearsal.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, but we shot like, you know, Jim proposing to Pam. We wanted to see how it would look just being so far away.
Jenna Fischer
I remember that now that you say it.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
It was so trippy. And I remember now that I was a little bit like, can't you do this with stand ins? Because when Jim goes down on one knee for Pam, like, that's such a big moment for our characters. And I don't want to, like, do it here in the parking lot as a screen test or a camera test.
Angela Kinsey
You want to live it the first time.
Jenna Fischer
I want to save it.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
And I want there to be cars whizzing by and I want there to be rain.
Dave Rogers
We got all that.
Jenna Fischer
But somehow you guys convinced me. And I do remember going out in the parking lot that day.
Dave Rogers
Well, I didn't. I didn't even know this existed, though, until I found it.
Jenna Fischer
Well, I guess I'm. Those convinced me.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, I never. Because, Dean, I didn't know that there are things like that that I've never seen before, you know, because I didn't edit all the episodes. So when I'm working on an episode that I didn't originally cut, there are things that I find where I'm like, oh, my gosh, like, this is amazing.
Angela Kinsey
I can't imagine how much amazing sort of like, reliving a chapter of our lives that you get to do, because I know just for us, when I find a deleted scene or a blooper I haven't seen, it just warms my heart and just immediately makes me happy, just remembering that time. Is that part of this job for you, Dave, as you open up all these old folders of our lives? Like, do you have moments of nostalgia?
Dave Rogers
Oh, always.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
But I've just been so involved with the show for so long. It's not like it really went away. And especially since people, you know, are always, I guess my algorithm, my social media, everything.
Angela Kinsey
The Office.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, sp. But like, even just, you know, my nephews, like, they reached a certain age, then they became huge fans, and I'm constantly, you know, just meeting people who are, you know, they just love the show and they're discovering it, and it's easy to see why. It's really funny and enjoyable and just, there's so many things that happen throughout the course of the series.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
You know, so, I mean, like, I could pontificate about that for, you know, hours, but it's, you know, I'll sit there and stop and watch and laugh. And, you know, I. I still enjoy it.
Angela Kinsey
You know, I mean, I. That says a lot, because you've had to watch so much of the Office that you still enjoy it, I think is pretty great.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Are there any things that you found that are, like, your favorite finds?
Dave Rogers
All right, well, so the thing that's really amazing is the. And you guys are partially responsible for this. So I'm editing season. I think it was season six.
Angela Kinsey
Okay. Do you hear the papers rustling? Everyone listening is because Dave has this document of all the episodes, and it is like, a worn document with, like, writing and check marks. Like, it's got a lot of love on it. What is this, Dave? Is this your list?
Dave Rogers
It's just my episode title list. Like, this was it. And I had this on the show. We made this on the show. Because a lot of times all I need to do is just see the episode name, and then it'll jog whatever information I need.
Angela Kinsey
I'm going to take a picture of you with it because it. This is a. A loved one document.
Jenna Fischer
It is. It definitely is.
Angela Kinsey
You printed that when the show was on the air?
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, my God.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. And it's got food stains on, and I could print a new one. And like, you can see, like, even the hole punches are on the other side and stuff like that. Like, whatever, you know? But I don't know, I just. I just like it, you know? And it's got marks all over. It's got notes. I love things like that.
Angela Kinsey
I love it.
Dave Rogers
So job fair. Season four, we had a ton of deleted scenes and new material that were not used, that were just cut out from this episode. And one of the things was a cold open. And I'm looking at. And it's a complete cold open. And it's Michael Scott with his toilet buddy. Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Dave Rogers
So it's his invention. Yes. Toilet buddy. Toilet guard, where he comes out of the bathroom and he's angry and he's. You know, Dwight goes to help him and it turns out all of his stuff fell into the toilet. And then a couple things he threw in anger.
Jenna Fischer
That's my favorite part.
Dave Rogers
So I'm like, oh, okay. I mean, I remember this cold open, but I'm looking. Did we put it on another episode? It's like, no. I'm like, okay, it's not on the DVDs. Deleted scenes. So we must have saved it. But what happened was, is that by the time we started season five, everything had changed. I'm turning the pages again. Yeah. Because Toby was gone and Holly came in. So it was like a whole new thing going on. So it just was lost.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. You couldn't plug it in an episode now. Cause there would be the wrong people in the background.
Dave Rogers
Right. So that was the thing. So I'm looking like, wait, did we not put this anywhere? So I go to search on Google for this. An article comes up from you guys from Office Ladies. Yeah. And it says, office Ladies. Talk about a scene that was never aired. And it was this. And in reading that, you had a comment, though, about something where it was, oh, I love this thing where he throws his keys in anger or something like that. Literally, that was the. There was an extra thing and that wasn't in the assembly version. And I put that in.
Angela Kinsey
That was my favorite part.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. I mean, when I went through to do a polish and it turns out we had so much stuff.
Jenna Fischer
We found that in the script.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And we reached out to Jean and.
Dave Rogers
Lee about it Again, I was looking to see, you know, is this anywhere? I'm checking all these episodes towards the end of season four. And then I'm looking at the beginning of season five. And then I was like, this is weird. And then I googled. And then your thing came up that said that, you know, there was some news story about you guys talking about this scene. And I think I reached out to you guys and said, hey, we have it. I found it. You know, and it was never a deleted scene or anything. So that's great. When you have a full. A fully fledged scene like that, that's just so funny. And again, I get to tweak stuff. So I love the shot with the tennis racket and Pam's face is behind it, you know, like the way that's framed. And there was just other things where, you know, there were other versions even of the scene. And it was like, really carving. What's the best version. Michael's asking everyone who wants to try, you want to try, Kevin. And then, you know, coming back to, like, creed of him saying, that'll make a great tennis racket. And then there was an extra piece, I think that's in the show in the tag. It's like, later, Toby goes to his desk and he pulls out his tennis racket and he swings it and it's all bent and broken. That's what Michael did. He used Toby's tennis racket. He threw it and he just taped it up. And Toby goes like. And he's like, hey. You know, he reacts to his broken tennis racket. So that was a great.
Jenna Fischer
That's a pretty good treasure.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. I can't wait now to go watch it. I want to see it. In the Superfan episode.
Dave Rogers
We found another complete cold open for the Christmas wishes episode.
Angela Kinsey
What is it?
Dave Rogers
Andy leads everybody singing Christmas carols outside. Do you guys remember that?
Jenna Fischer
I think we discussed that this was deleted.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, it was not a deleted scene.
Angela Kinsey
No, it was in the shooting draft.
Dave Rogers
It's in the shooting draft. I don't want to say too much, but it's pretty funny. And he has a couple talking heads, and you guys are singing and he's trying to. He's like, you guys start doing the echoes. Like you're singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, like, you know, had a very shiny. You know, it was like a light bulb. And he's like, guys, no, no, no. And he's trying to convince you that it's really a poignant song. And, you know, it's. It's very. I think it's a very funny call to open.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. One of the things we've loved is having the shooting drafts because we read them and I'm like, okay, the scene isn't deleted scenes. We both remember shooting it. It lives somewhere. It's out there somewhere. But it's with you, Dave.
Dave Rogers
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Jenna Fischer
And, you know, with their lifetime membership, you get all 25 languages.
Angela Kinsey
And one of the features I really like helps you with your pronunciation and your accent. It's called Truaxent and it gives you feedback on your pronunciation so you can make sure you're saying things properly.
Jenna Fischer
In French, for example, you want to say er, you have to get that little yeah in your throat, right?
Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Dave Rogers
I mean, I don't know if there's an entire storyline. It's more just scenes like a runner.
Angela Kinsey
I guess that's a better word for it because I know sometimes I'll look in the shooting draft and there'll be like a runner with Ryan, you know, there was a runner where he did like a treasure hunt in performance review. But it's not.
Dave Rogers
It's all in the superfan film.
Angela Kinsey
That's right.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. And at the end even you discover that it.
Angela Kinsey
It was Ryan.
Dave Rogers
It was Ryan himself who gave himself the thing to do. Yeah. There's a bunch of runners. I couldn't tell you specifically which ones, but even Meredith in Weight Loss is another great example. Just cause we had stuff going on every week. You know, Meredith gets sunburned and she's got the blisters on her face. And in the final episode you kind of see it, but there's no explanation.
Angela Kinsey
And people wrote in, they're like, what is up with Meredith's face?
Dave Rogers
Yeah. So that stuff gets restored. Those moments that are really kind of funny that we just didn't have time for it.
Jenna Fischer
Well, and something that's really nice about that example is that, you know, because the Meredith storyline of her getting sunburned had to be cut out for time. That also meant, like, you couldn't even go to her for reactions because she would have had this sunburn on her face that made no sense. So then she kind of ends up not existing in those episodes as much as she would have if she didn't have this sunburn. So now it's like this whole character gets to come back.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, I mean, they happen. It's not too often, but sometimes there is something that it's such a key thing that you're like, we can't even explain this. We don't have the time. So we just have to kind of, you know, cut around it.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, yeah.
Dave Rogers
There's some stuff, like I said, where we've added like even Parkour, we've added a bunch of shots into Parkour to Parkour. You know, we did a bunch of things like, you know, they're outside, they're spinning this giant wheel and one of them jumps on it, then like, hurts their crotch and things like that. You know, there's just lots of little things that pepper in. Another great example is business school. Michael is, you know, he's talking to the students at the school. And I didn't. Again, I didn't edit the episode originally, but there's two takes of Michael where he's ad libbing. And not a lot of this made it in because the written stuff was great. But, like, he's got two takes. Steve Carell is ad libbing with the students, and it was just, you know. And so that stuff made it into the show. I'll give you another example of something. In Michael's last Dundees, everybody's coming in and they're. Again, I didn't. I didn't edit this episode. I didn't see this footage. Everybody's coming in at the beginning and Dwight is kind of judging everyone. He's like, you know, in a strangely appropriate, like, adequate.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, everyone's outfits.
Dave Rogers
Everyone's outfits. So I'm watching and then there's a, you know, and Ryan comes in. He's like, the last one. But there's a take where someone comes in after Ryan and it's Stephen Merchant.
Jenna Fischer
What?
Dave Rogers
Stephen Merchant walks in and Dwight's like, oh, God. And I'm like, this is great. And he starts laughing and I'm like, this is great. We're putting this in the show. Like, this can live in the show.
Jenna Fischer
So I guess Steven was probably just like hanging out.
Dave Rogers
He was visiting.
Angela Kinsey
I remember that he was there that week.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh.
Angela Kinsey
And they just threw him in that lineup.
Dave Rogers
So he came in and nobody was expecting, like, Rain was not expecting it. It just was this thing and you could see them laughing. But like, we clip it right before it becomes a blooper, right? So it's just like. Just one other person comes in and it's like, this is like a real super fan thing. Because if they recognize him, it's a deep. They're like, oh, look at Stephen, you know, co creator of the original Office, you know, coming in so well.
Jenna Fischer
And of course, we have Ricky Gervais in a cameo on the show. And now I love that in the Superfan episode, Steven is represented too. Yeah, that's cool.
Dave Rogers
So that was. Whenever I find stuff like that, I get very excited and I'm like, oh, my God. You know, And I was messaging Claire because Claire Scanlon cut the episode originally, I'm Like, Claire, there's a shot of Stephen Merchant, and maybe, like, I don't even know if it was in the bloopers. Do you know what I mean? Like, I didn't even. I had no recollection of it. And so that's. I was like. So I was just very excited. And I was like, oh, this is great. We're going to work this into the show. And, you know, so.
Jenna Fischer
But what happens when you get to an episode and I'm thinking of, like, moving on. There's no deleted scenes for that. That was an episode. That was Jon Favreau's episode. That was one episode that got turned into two episodes. We even had to shoot an extra storyline to fill it out, and that.
Angela Kinsey
Had to be added in.
Jenna Fischer
So, like, is there anything extra for that? What do you do?
Dave Rogers
I'm not there yet, so we'll see.
Jenna Fischer
Have you had any episodes yet where there's just, like, I got nothing.
Dave Rogers
So we started. I didn't know how it was gonna work, if we were gonna do for every episode or just certain ones. And then Peacock was like, can you do for all of them? I was like, yeah. So we started doing that. There were a few episodes. Sometimes it was even just. There just wasn't a ton of stuff. We may have shot an episode in four days. Sometimes we would do that. So one of them was the Negotiation, which is a favorite of mine. Mike Schur wrote this one.
Jenna Fischer
It's so good.
Dave Rogers
That's the one. Michael wears a ladies. Ladies suit.
Angela Kinsey
Ladies suit. Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Dave Rogers
And. And I. Honestly, I.
Jenna Fischer
Mysterious.
Angela Kinsey
Mysterious.
Jenna Fischer
Which.
Angela Kinsey
And it has shoulder pads and no pockets. And no pockets.
Dave Rogers
So don't get us started in that episode. I also. I tell people, like, if you want a great writing, just an exercise, it's just. Just watching that and seeing what a great script it is and how the turns come and how, like, the act one is one thing and act two, it goes to another place in act three. I mean, it's just so good and such a good use of the ensemble. Like, just a. Like a perfect episode.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
And there were not deleted scenes. There were not deleted scenes for that. I don't think there were any. But I found one thing that was like a Michael talking head. And so that made it in. And that made it a super fan episode. And it was him talking about shopping. And, like, it was just enough that it wouldn't, you know, ruin the episode in any sense. And. But it was still just something new. So that made it a super fan episode. We have other episodes that Are. You know, we did Producers cuts on the DVDs, so I know, like in maybe starting in season six or seven or eight, we started doing, like, longer cuts.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
And it's still. It's like, oh, it's tough then to find it. You know, I still want to give the fans even something more. So it is tricky sometimes just finding. Is there anything else? Can we get anything else that's great, that's worth putting in? And even though fans, a lot of them haven't seen these Producers cuts, again, they're on the DVDs, but they haven't been on streaming or anything. But still, I do we look hard and we do. Every episode has at least something new that hasn't been seen before.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, well, this brings me to this question, and I know you haven't done season nine yet, but do you have your favorite Superfan episodes? If we're going to go and watch some of these, do you have your top five that you think are a must watch?
Dave Rogers
You know, I love them all.
Jenna Fischer
I mean, it sounds like business school, maybe.
Dave Rogers
Business school has some great stuff.
Angela Kinsey
I mean, I think I'm writing that down.
Dave Rogers
Job Fair has a ton of stuff. I mean, there was a whole storyline, and again, sometimes it's. I have to check my notes to see what's. We send a list of the new stuff so it'll say what was deleted scenes and what's new material. We'll send it to Peacock, like, just as we go through, and they can even time how much is new material and how much has been seen before in some way. But there's a whole. I mean, there's so much stuff with, like, Job Fair has like, 20 minutes of extra footage.
Angela Kinsey
Wow.
Dave Rogers
I mean, that's. That's really a. A big one. There's a lot of stuff. Basketball has a lot of stuff, and Boys and Girls has a lot of stuff. There's a lot of stuff with Lonnie. It's great seeing Lonnie and Madge. You know, Madge has this whole thing where she's wanted in, like, three states and stuff. Like, you know, she doesn't want the camera on her. And there's just more stuff, like with Michael, like, he goes down there and right away he's fiddling with the boombox and he breaks the antenna and then he tries to, like, stick it back on. I mean, there's. There's a. I love that episode. There's a lot of extra comedy in there. Yeah. And I mean, so many of these have great stuff I could do A little more research and message. You, like, what really are my top.
Angela Kinsey
Five or what I think are worthwhile.
Dave Rogers
I can do that.
Jenna Fischer
We will break down Dave's super fan list.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, okay.
Angela Kinsey
Dave's top five.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Dave Rogers
I'll do that for you. I'll do that.
Angela Kinsey
And if it's more than top five, let us know. But you can start with top five.
Dave Rogers
I'll start with top five.
Jenna Fischer
Well, we often debate on the podcast, does a deleted scene count toward the universe of the Office or a character? And we sort of came to the conclusion that, no, that, like, if it's set in a deleted scene, it didn't count. So, for example, in the episode Baby Shower, there is this deleted scene about where it implies that Kevin might be the father of Jan's baby.
Angela Kinsey
Right. And then also in the shooting draft, it says maybe it was Andy Roddick.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, she got her sperm from Andy Roddick.
Angela Kinsey
So what is the true canon of the show? Is it now the Superfan episodes, or is it the original airing?
Dave Rogers
You know, this is a. This is a deep question.
Jenna Fischer
We talked to Greg about it too.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. This is my take on it. Like, I don't look at deleted scenes as canon.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Dave Rogers
Okay. Because they've been, you know, that's not to say that they. Some of them aren't. But as they're just deleted scenes, I don't look at them as canon.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Dave Rogers
As I've gone through and restored stuff to the show, I do look at it as canon because now I see it as, like, a fully finished episode. I think fans can go back and forth. I think it's really up to the individual. But I look at them as, like, now that these things have been put into a show that's a finished product, so to speak, I can look at them as canon.
Angela Kinsey
Well, you've put so much thought into it, and you've been really, you know, careful to protect the integrity of the show. So I could see that your locked Superfan episode for you is now canon.
Dave Rogers
So here's something. This was a deleted scene originally.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Dave Rogers
So this was an episode I directed. I believe it was Mafia.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
Okay. This is one of my favorites. We love Mafia in our rewatch.
Dave Rogers
Did you rewatch the Superfan?
Jenna Fischer
Not yet.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, should we put that on our list?
Dave Rogers
We're writing it down in Mafia. You know what the deleted scenes are in that episode? Very controversial. Erin is cleaning and she destroys.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, she destroys Pam's watercolor.
Dave Rogers
Not in the Superfan episode. So in the Superfan episode, she doesn't clean, but we still have her storyline. We've restored enough of her storyline where she's just kind of.
Jenna Fischer
She's trying to impress Pam.
Dave Rogers
She's trying to impress. She's trying to impress. Everybody's kind of giving her, you know, crap. And they're like, you'll never be Pam and all this. So I feel like the best elements of that story. And even where she calls, we still have her calling. And Pam's like, please don't call me again. Cause that was the runner with Pam and Jim is. Everyone's calling them. But even at the end of the episode where originally you saw the painting was gone on the wall, we digitally put the painting back in the last two shots. Now, in a few other episodes after that, it'll be.
Jenna Fischer
It's not there.
Dave Rogers
It's not there. Whatever. They were cleaning the frame or whatever, the glass or whatever.
Jenna Fischer
Did they put it in digitally now in those later episodes?
Dave Rogers
No, it's gone. But I'm saying the end of this episode, there's shots with her and the painting is there. There's never any destruction to the painting. Yeah, still. Still. So I will just buy that they. Whatever. They had to clean the frames or whatever they. I don't know, they had to re. Flatten the paint. I don't know. Whatever it was. That's why it's missing for a few episodes and it's back. But it was never destroyed. It's just one of those things. Just like Karen getting the job offer. It never happened.
Jenna Fischer
There are some things that we cannot bring back or reinsert.
Angela Kinsey
It's like the Voldemort. These things are not spoken. They did not happen.
Jenna Fischer
That's right.
Dave Rogers
But I liked. I appreciated Aaron's, you know, it was a shame. But I was like, you know, if we get rid of this beat and we get rid of, like, the. You know, there's a scene with her and Kelly that we. With Kelly working on the. I was like, you get rid of that. The rest of the stuff is actually very funny. And that she's trying so hard. And she even has a moment where she's on the phone with you. She's like, you know, where she's, you know, she's kind of passive aggressive towards you, like, I'll never be as good as you. And it's just. I thought all that stuff was really funny and worth keeping. The painting's still there at the end.
Jenna Fischer
So, Dave, how lucky are fans to have you making these? I know, because the thoughtfulness with which and the care that you put into each One of these episodes, just talking about how much time it must have taken you to be like, okay, I wanna preserve this very funny Aaron storyline, but I know I can't have her destroy the painting and then. But you figured it out. And I know you have taken that same love and care with every single episode. And it's just what you put into your work. It's just such a beautiful thing to see, and we're so lucky.
Dave Rogers
Well, thank you. I mean, I appreciate that. I. But I just. I don't know. I just love the show. I mean, it's given me so much, but I just. I do. I just love and I care about the show so much.
Angela Kinsey
That shows through, though, Dave. It really does. Even, you know, we're just entering the world of the superfan episodes and just watching them, I can see how thoughtful and what better hands for them to be in. I want to watch them all now. I really do.
Jenna Fischer
I mean, and thank God it's you.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Really. Thank God this wasn't just footage that you just turned over to Peacock. And then somebody who was never part of the show started tinkering with it.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
When I heard that they were gonna do these super fan episodes, I panicked a little bit.
Angela Kinsey
I was a little worried because I didn't know if it was gonna be someone who didn't know the world the way, you know it.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. And then when I heard it was you and it was Rob Burnett and that it was Greg and was, you know, overseeing it, I was like, okay, good.
Dave Rogers
And that's the thing. Yeah. I didn't want anybody else to. I mean, unless it was Dean or Claire.
Angela Kinsey
Sure, Sure.
Dave Rogers
I have sent cuts to Claire where I've sent stuff for her to weigh in on. Like, hey, what do you think of this? And stuff?
Angela Kinsey
These are the original editors of the show.
Dave Rogers
And Dean, I trust, you know, with things, but. But I was like, yeah. I couldn't handle anybody else, you know, like, doing that. And that's why. I mean, like, it's. It's a small group. It's just us. I mean, you know, Rob is amazing, and he knows the show so well, too. The other thing that I get to do when I'm looking at all the dailies is that I get to revisit the Talking Heads. And a lot of times we have, you know, different texts for Talking Heads.
Angela Kinsey
The candy bag alts.
Dave Rogers
There was candy bag Alts and things like that. And sometimes they're different enough that it'd be great to get this other talking head in. And the original show was like, you picked one for this moment, you know. But now let's say if I have Pam commenting on something and then Angela comments on something, I can go back to Pam again.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
And put another Pam talking head or a Phyllis talking head. So that's been great that I can add these things back in these. These talking heads that were, you know, that are awesome and just, you know, there was no place for them. And you wouldn't put them on a. On a DVD necessarily either because it's like it's tied to a scene or it's just, you know, I call them like orphans, you know, I think I.
Jenna Fischer
Noticed something like that in this Hot Girl Super Fan episode. There are so many talking heads of Michael talking about why he's so attractive to women or why he's handsome or why he's a catch. And they're kind of sprinkled throughout the episode. And I didn't notice them in the script either. I feel like these were some Steve improvs.
Angela Kinsey
They're candy bag alts. Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
There's like three. And you even have one that's like, as the tag. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I bet you must have just unlocked all of these amazing bits of Steve explaining why Michael is such a ladies man.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. And what's really great is like, even with the tags and stuff like that, we can jump cut now. You know what I mean? For a tag especially, you can jump. We never would do that in the show, but now I feel like it might even be possible in the show. I've jump cut some stuff, but in the tag I can just get you his best bits. And he goes off on a lot of things like basketball. He talks about. He compares basketball to sharks and he's saying how sharks are such, you know, they just want to play. And he goes off on this whole tangent and there's all this B roll that we plugged in. And actually Steve Carell actually directed Secretary's Day. And at the end when he was doing talking heads with the cast, he would have them do impressions of other cast members of other characters.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
So like, Pam does an impression of Jim. Dwight does an impression of Jim. Jim does an impression of Angela. Brian does an impression of Chandler, which I thought was funny. And then he's like, oh, that's Chandler.
Angela Kinsey
And are these in the Super Fan?
Dave Rogers
These are in the Super Fan.
Jenna Fischer
And is this like, as a jump cut tag?
Dave Rogers
It's not even. I mean, it's just one after another. They're all just yeah. But it's like a montage of people doing impressions.
Angela Kinsey
I wanted to ask you about this because I always felt like when we did talking heads and we were handed sheets of these candy bag alts, that was where you could really play around. The writers got to play around, the actors got to play around, and it didn't affect the story that much. So when I thought about you assembling these superfan episodes, I was like, oh, I bet there's a treasure trove of talking heads. Even in the deleted scenes. Some episodes are just a list of talking heads that didn't make it in. So I love hearing that, because that is just so fun to me. I'm gonna look for those.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, there's a lot of great talking heads from you guys. Yeah. Some existed as deleted scenes, but maybe only one.
Angela Kinsey
So if there would have been one deleted talking head of, let's say, Creed, you probably have 15 that he did that day.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. Even early on, Pam talks about her house, and she talks about, I think, her dream house, but also about Roy and the family. The family really likes Roy.
Jenna Fischer
That was basically on my document that I wrote about Pam.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
That I was like, why is she still with him? Because there's such a mismatch. And I was like, you know what I think it is? I think it's that her family loves this guy, you know, and when your family likes your boyfriend and the families like each other and she likes his family, it's sort of like you're so enmeshed. And I remember, like, somebody. Ken Kwapis or someone asking me questions, and I weaved that into a talking.
Dave Rogers
The whole thing is. Yeah, it's.
Jenna Fischer
Did that make it in somewhere?
Dave Rogers
Yeah, that's in the superfan episode. I think it's season one or season two.
Jenna Fischer
But you.
Dave Rogers
But you talk about, like, the Jet skis, that he spent the money on the Jet Skis, like, all the stuff that you came up with, like, that was recorded, and then. So it's, you know, it's in the episode. Oh, my God.
Jenna Fischer
So much to me.
Dave Rogers
So it is a treasure trove of things like that. So I did want to say, like, with the talking heads, that's, you know, it's almost its own animal that these can, like, now live and we can have more than one where it doesn't feel like, you know, we had the time constraints before and we could only pick one.
Angela Kinsey
I love that, especially as supporting cast. I feel like a lot of times our talking heads were cut for time. So I'm going to look for all of them. I just. I'm delighted by that.
Jenna Fischer
Well, I wonder how many subscriptions to Peacock we just sold in this podcast today.
Angela Kinsey
I would think a lot. And I would think, Dave, it's all because of you. And we wanted to have you on today because you are doing a beautiful thing for the show. And we're so appreciative as fans of the Office. We're both fans, and we.
Jenna Fischer
This is not a sponsored episode. We don't get anything for this. I mean, we don't get money for Peacock episodes that air on Peacock. But what you have done here is a gift. It is a gift to fans. It is a beautiful thing. And it's just. We're so excited that we get to talk about it and highlight it for that reason.
Dave Rogers
Thank you. And I'm excited for you guys to watch them. Like I am. Like, just to see, you know, to discover.
Angela Kinsey
To Dave and Rob and everyone editing the super fans and putting them together, and Claire and Dean. But, Dave, before we say goodbye to you, we need to talk about something which we can't talk about. So I don't know how we're gonna talk about it, except that we got to go to the set of the Paper.
Jenna Fischer
You were directing.
Angela Kinsey
You were directing. We can't say anything else, really, but how fun to see you directing. And we can't wait to have you on to talk about the Paper for reels.
Dave Rogers
Yes, I'm excited to talk about it. Can't say too much now. It was great seeing you guys. We have a lot of crew that carried over from. From the Office, and Greg was so.
Angela Kinsey
Gracious to have us on set.
Jenna Fischer
And that was crazy, though. Just pulling up, and then the first person we see is Sergio. And then we walk a few steps, then we walk a few steps, and then there's Kasha.
Angela Kinsey
Then we see Kelly Cantley in the hallway.
Jenna Fischer
And then there you are. I mean, it just was. It was so special.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. It is really nice to see familiar faces. I mean, Veda.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Dave Rogers
Is there Rusty.
Angela Kinsey
Rusty Mahmoud.
Dave Rogers
Mahmoud is there. So there are. There are a lot of, you know, familiar faces. And that's, you know, it's always nice. We had such a great, great group of people on the show.
Angela Kinsey
Such a great crew.
Dave Rogers
So it's. It's nice. And there's a lot of great new people that I've been working with, too.
Angela Kinsey
So it's that you will tell us about at some point.
Jenna Fischer
That's right. So we can bug them when the paper comes out for all the details. Details on how they designed that set and did those props.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. I will say it was really nice seeing you guys come in on the set and just like, oh, and everybody. I mean, you guys got a huge round of applause and everything. Everybody was just very, you know, just. They know what you guys have done and what you guys have brought to, you know, television and this universe, this office universe. And, you know, it means a lot. You guys are royalty. Really. Yeah. So nice. I was afraid, honestly, I knew you guys were coming. I was like, oh, the cast is going to be intimidated. Like, are they going to be. You know, I hope they're not, like, all super nervous, you know, but they're pros, everybody.
Angela Kinsey
They're lovely.
Jenna Fischer
I feel like I can reveal this one thing because I found it really charming, which is that we also got to tour the writer's space.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Which was really neat. When I went into the writer's room and they had all the cards on the board, just like we had cards on the board. But then I looked over at the episode that you were shooting, and there were three photographs from the office, and they were shots of us in cars driving. And I asked about it, and Kelly said, oh, yeah, that's because we have some driving shots coming up. And we were just looking at. For research. How do you shoot in a car?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And Greg was saying that was the cameras. And you.
Dave Rogers
Yeah, I'm the one who provided the pictures, of course. And I was.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, I took a picture of them. I took two of us on the wall.
Jenna Fischer
I was in one of them.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Dave Rogers
Well, yeah, because we should. I think yours was probably Andy's ancestry.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, it was me and Nelly.
Dave Rogers
You and Nelly. And I had directed that one. So I had that one.
Angela Kinsey
And there was one of Michael and Darrell.
Dave Rogers
And that was another one I did that was Employee Transfer. These are. Those were ones I directed because I had. I remember, just struggling. Like, how are we going to do the camera angles? Like, what? You know, because you have to choose. You. You don't. You know, when you're shooting an interior car scene and you have the. What we call the lipstick cams.
Angela Kinsey
Right.
Dave Rogers
You can only get so many cameras in there.
Jenna Fischer
Yep.
Angela Kinsey
Right.
Dave Rogers
So it's like, do you want the, you know, a raking shot? Do you want a single? What? You know, so this. We were just looking at these kinds of frames and to say, like, hey, this is, you know, what we're going for. And I had a conversation with the DP afterwards because she wanted to show, like, the camera. She's like, well, we should see the cameras. You know, when we're outside the car, I'm like, nope. I'm like, whenever we did this on the show, we would not. That's the precedent. Whatever. We, you know, we would have these lipstick cams, but sometimes we would have, you know, we would go film the actual car, and you wouldn't see them. We didn't want to obscure the actors faces. We just buy that these are very, very tiny cameras that are in there. And then we.
Jenna Fischer
Such a good point.
Angela Kinsey
So this is so interesting then, because you are now on the paper preserving the look of the Office because it's the documentary crew.
Jenna Fischer
It's the same documentary crew.
Angela Kinsey
So they will have shot it the same way.
Dave Rogers
There's still some new things that they can do. But, yes, there are certain things that, you know, like, this is. The point is that it exists in this universe. We're not doing, like. I mean, there are so many mockumentary shows out there right now. And, you know, that's one thing I'll say. Greg, you know, he kind of wanted to get back to basics with, you know, the style of the Office. And, like. Like, I don't want to have feel like there's 15 cameras around, you know.
Angela Kinsey
Right.
Dave Rogers
And so, you know, and there have been a lot of, I think, important creative decisions on just, you know, everything from the casting to the set to the, you know, style of the show and what we're doing. So.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, well, we're excited. We're excited to see it.
Dave Rogers
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Last question for you, Dave, before you leave. You had mentioned that you still have a bottle of champagne in your fridge from Aaron Sorkin.
Dave Rogers
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Will you tell that story?
Dave Rogers
Oh, my gosh. Well, one day we got. Greg shared an email with us. I guess Aaron Sorkin had written Aaron Sorkin, you know, the great writer who's done, I mean, Just A Few Good Men, the West Wing, one of my favorite shows. He did the Newsroom, another amazing show. He had written Greg a letter, and he just said how much he loved the Office. The writing, the cast, the editing, printed.
Jenna Fischer
It out and put it up at craft services.
Angela Kinsey
That wall that we had to walk past to get on the soundstage had, you know, people's wedding announcements, a baby photo of the. Whoever had just had a baby, and then this big. This letter from Aaron Sorkin in the middle.
Dave Rogers
Yeah. So. And he had given Greg, like, a case of Dom Perignon. So I got a bottle, and it's still in my fridge.
Angela Kinsey
How many years have you had that?
Dave Rogers
I mean, how many years. 15 years. When did we get it? When did it get. I don't know. A long time ago.
Angela Kinsey
When are you going to open it?
Dave Rogers
I don't know. There are times where I wanted to and then other people like, oh, no, no, no. You want to save that? It's so good. Like, you don't want to just drink it on New Year's or do you? You know? And I'm like, all right, just live it in the. In the fridge. Maybe. Maybe this year or next year, I'll make sure I. All right, I drink it. Well, we. Does anybody want to share?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, come over.
Dave Rogers
Let's.
Angela Kinsey
We'll come over for some Aaron Sorkin champions.
Dave Rogers
Let's have some. We'll watch a super fan episode. How's that? Okay. Yes.
Jenna Fischer
I love that.
Angela Kinsey
All right, well, Dave, we love you so much. Thank you.
Dave Rogers
I love you guys.
Jenna Fischer
Love you, Dave.
Dave Rogers
Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's really. It's. I love your show. We're going to talk more about the Star wars holiday special, but I love you guys. I love what you're doing. And, yeah, I'm a fan. I'm a fan.
Angela Kinsey
Aw, thanks, Dave.
Jenna Fischer
Thank you. Dave Rogers is the best.
Angela Kinsey
The best.
Jenna Fischer
Dave, thank you so much for being in studio with us today. We just love you and we want.
Angela Kinsey
To say thank you to Dave and his whole team for. For treating our show with such love and care. You can check out all of the superfan episodes on Peacock, and we can't wait to get Dave's must watch list.
Jenna Fischer
I know. Thanks, everyone. We'll see you next week. Have a great one.
Angela Kinsey
Have a good one.
Jenna Fischer
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.
Angela Kinsey
Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.
Jenna Fischer
Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins, our audio engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Ainslie Bubico.
Angela Kinsey
Odyssey's executive producers are Jenna Weiss Berman and Leah Reese.
Jenna Fischer
Dennis Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basel.
Angela Kinsey
Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.
Podcast Summary: Office Ladies – An Interview with Dave Rogers
Podcast Information:
In this special episode of Office Ladies, hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey welcome Dave Rogers, affectionately known as "the architect of the office." Dave, the former editor and director of The Office, shares his extensive experience and pivotal role in shaping the beloved series.
Notable Quote:
Dave Rogers began his journey with The Office in 2005, shortly after the pilot episode. Initially serving as an editor, he transitioned to directing in season five, contributing to eight episodes. Over his tenure, Dave edited 95 episodes, making him an indispensable part of the show's creation and legacy.
Notable Quote:
A significant portion of the episode delves into Dave's latest project: assembling The Office Superfan episodes for Peacock. These episodes offer fans exclusive content, including deleted scenes, bloopers, and previously unseen footage, meticulously curated to preserve the show's integrity while providing fresh material.
Notable Quote:
Dave elaborates on the intricate process of revisiting old footage. He and his team, including Rob Burnett, comb through original broadcasts, DVDs, and archived digital materials to identify and integrate new content. Utilizing tools like a "dupe detector," Dave ensures that added scenes seamlessly blend with existing episodes without altering canonical storylines.
Notable Quote:
Throughout the interview, Dave highlights several standout discoveries. From unused cold opens featuring iconic characters to humorous improvisations by Steve Carell, these finds enrich the viewing experience for long-time fans. One notable addition is the previously unaired "Toilet Buddy" cold open from the "Job Fair" episode, which Dave fondly integrates into the Superfan collection.
Notable Quote:
A key discussion point revolves around the canon status of Superfan content. Dave clarifies that while deleted scenes from original broadcasts aren't considered canon, the curated Superfan episodes, as fully polished additions, are treated as part of the show's official narrative. This distinction ensures that the integrity and continuity of The Office remain intact.
Notable Quote:
When prompted about his favorite Superfan episodes, Dave enthusiastically lists several, including "Job Fair," "Business School," and "Basketball." Each of these episodes contains a wealth of additional content that enhances storylines and character development, offering fans deeper insights into their favorite moments.
Notable Quote:
Towards the end of the interview, Dave hints at his involvement in The Paper, a new spinoff series. While details remain under wraps, he expresses excitement about maintaining the documentary-style filming that The Office fans cherish, ensuring a seamless transition into this new chapter.
Notable Quote:
Jenna and Angela express their heartfelt gratitude to Dave for his dedication and passion in preserving The Office legacy. They commend his thoughtful approach to curating Superfan episodes, emphasizing how his work serves as a treasured gift to the fanbase.
Notable Quote:
Dave reciprocates the appreciation, highlighting his deep love for the show and his commitment to delivering quality content that resonates with both old and new fans.
Notable Quote:
Conclusion: This episode of Office Ladies offers a profound look into Dave Rogers' pivotal role in both the original The Office series and its ongoing legacy through the Superfan episodes. His meticulous attention to detail and unwavering dedication ensure that the beloved show continues to delight fans with fresh, authentic content.