Finale, Pt 1

Summary

Office Ladies Podcast Summary: Finale, Pt 1

Release Date: October 23, 2024
Hosted by: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

---

1. Celebrating Five Years of Office Ladies

In this heartfelt episode, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey commemorate five years of hosting the "Office Ladies" podcast. Reflecting on their journey, the hosts express deep gratitude towards each other, their crew, and the dedicated fanbase that has supported them throughout their rewatch of "The Office."

• Jenna Fischer emphasizes the personal growth and enduring friendship that have fueled the podcast:
  "We were on the office together and we're best friends and now we're doing the ultimate Office Rewatch podcast just for you."
  (02:35)

• Angela Kinsey adds emotional weight to the celebration:
  "Five years we've been doing this."
  (03:01)

2. Behind the Scenes: The Finale Episode Production

Jenna and Angela delve into the intricate process behind filming the finale of "The Office," sharing anecdotes and challenges they faced during production.

• Script and Filming Challenges:
  Jenna shares that the finale script was initially 75 pages with a 40-page candy bag, expecting to film in nine days but ultimately extending to ten days. The unexpected wrap party added to their schedule woes.

  "We were only supposed to spend nine days filming this episode but we ran over and we actually filmed 10 days."
  (05:24)

• Emotional Experiences:
  Reflecting on the emotional impact of the finale, both hosts recount how the cast and crew were visibly moved during pivotal scenes, highlighting the deep connections forged over nine seasons.

  "I love listening to that again."
  (13:10)

3. Personal Stories and Surprises

The hosts share personal stories that intertwine with the making of the finale, offering fans exclusive insights.

• Unexpected Visitors and Gifts:
  Angela describes a touching surprise from their friends Sam and Cassie, who gifted them a personalized sketch featuring the hosts with Keanu Reeves. This gesture underscores the tight-knit community around the podcast.

  "It's like, how did you have this made?"
  (04:27)

• Emotional Correspondence with Steve Carell:
  Angela reads an emotional email she sent to Steve Carell, unaware that he would later surprise them on set, demonstrating the camaraderie and mutual respect among the cast.

  "I miss you and Nancy. I went through so many pictures of you guys in my scrapbook and I smiled a lot at some point."
  (14:50)

4. Critical Reception and Fan Feedback

Jenna and Angela discuss how the finale ranked among critics and fans, sharing their thoughts on the reception.

• Critics' Rankings:
  Entertainment Weekly did not include "The Office" finale in its list of the 25 best TV series finales, while IMDb ranked it at number 34 out of 124, and TV Line placed it at number 21 out of 30. Despite mixed critical reviews, the hosts express unwavering love for the finale.

  "I thought our finale was just wonderful."
  (33:16)

5. Detailed Breakdown of Key Scenes

The hosts provide an in-depth analysis of significant moments from the finale, highlighting behind-the-scenes details and their personal experiences.

• Dwight's New Car and Office Dynamics:
  Angela discusses Dwight’s trade from a 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am to a 2012 Dodge Challenger, symbolizing his character’s evolution.

  "He was expecting Mose isn't going to come."
  (48:05)

• Phyllis and Andy's Interaction:
  They recount the emotional interaction between Phyllis and Andy, including unscripted moments that added authenticity to the scene.

  "We have scenes of the three of them talking in deleted scenes. I'm going to bring it up for Finale Part two."
  (87:54)

• Angela's Bachelorette Party and Mose's Role:
  Detailed narration of Angela’s bachelorette party, including Mose's unexpected kidnapping of her, showcases the blend of humor and sentimentality typical of "The Office."

  "It's a ceremonial bridal kidnapping. Dwight says he's going to take the bride and hide her at a local pub."
  (79:46)

6. Easter Eggs and Callbacks

Jenna and Angela delight fans by pointing out numerous Easter eggs and callbacks to earlier seasons, enriching the viewing experience.

• Return of Devin Cross:
  They highlight the return of Devin Cross, originally fired in the first Halloween episode, fulfilling a fan-favorite request from Creed.

  "Creed was like, I want to see Devin come back."
  (44:27)

• Phyllis's New Coworker Malcolm:
  Introduction of Malcolm Barrett as Phyllis’s new coworker, adding continuity and depth to the office dynamics post-major character exits.

  "Malcolm was played by Malcolm Barrett. I have known Malcolm for a long time because after the Office aired."
  (46:08)

7. Emotional Farewells and Final Moments

The hosts describe the emotionally charged conclusion of the panel scene, where characters reflect on their time at Dunder Mifflin, culminating in heartfelt goodbyes.

• Joan Cusack's Powerful Performance:
  Jenna and Angela express admiration for Joan Cusack’s moving portrayal, which left a lasting impression on both hosts.

  "Joan's performance, it took our breath away."
  (102:48)

• Standing Ovation:
  The finale ends with an emotional standing ovation from an auditorium full of characters and guests, symbolizing the end of an era.

  "There was a standing ovation for three minutes. It was really moving."
  (105:31)

8. Looking Forward: Office Ladies 6.0

As they conclude the episode, Jenna and Angela hint at future content and express continued enthusiasm for the podcast community.

• Future Plans:
  They announce that even after the rewatch series ends, the podcast will continue to engage with fans, promising more content and discussions.

  "When our rewatch is done, we'll still be here plugging away at Office Ladies 6.0."
  (24:14)

• Gratitude to Fans:
  A final heartfelt thank you to listeners emphasizes the importance of the fanbase in sustaining the podcast’s success.

  "Thank you so much. Office Ladies family, we love you."
  (25:18)

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jenna Fischer:
  "It’s a lot to hold."
  (00:19)

• Angela Kinsey:
  "This is what I wanted to say. We don't have to say goodbye."
  (24:12)

• Jenna Fischer:
  "We did it."
  (63:06)

• Angela Kinsey:
  "It was such a beautiful, beautiful thing."
  (29:24)

---

Conclusion

In "Finale, Pt 1," Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey offer fans an intimate and comprehensive exploration of "The Office" finale, enriched with personal stories, behind-the-scenes insights, and emotional reflections. Their deep connection to the show and appreciation for the fanbase shine through, making this episode a memorable installment in the "Office Ladies" podcast series.

Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

[Jenna Fischer]

This month is all about gratitude. And you know, sometimes there's one person that we just don't thank enough, and that's ourselves. Because sometimes it's hard to remind ourselves that we are trying our best to make sense of everything in this crazy world. And it just. It's not easy.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's not. It's a lot to hold.

[Jenna Fischer]

Listen, I think accessing gratitude is so good for your mental health.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And therapy is a great place to do that. And if you are thinking of starting therapy, you can give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge.

[Jenna Fischer]

I am grateful for therapy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Let the gratitude flow with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.comofficeladies today to get 10% off your first month.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's better. Help. H E L p.com officeladies I don't.

[Jenna Fischer]

Know if you're getting your wardrobe ready for the cold of winter and you're stocking up on some new cozy sweaters or maybe you're looking for something just a little sparkly for a party. Coming up, you can check out Quince.

[Angela Kinsey]

Quince has such good deals. We've talked about this before. We have shopped on Quint's. You can get a cashmere sweater for $50.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep. I got this really cool weighted blanket from Quince in this kind of rust tone. I love it. It's so cozy and really good quality.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, and a weighted blanket just makes you feel so snuggly.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Get cozy in Quince's high quality wardrobe essentials. Go to quince.comofficeladies for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's Q U I N C E.com officeladies to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comofficeladies I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

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

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office ladies. Hello, everyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's the finale. Part one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Five years.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm already emotional.

[Angela Kinsey]

Five years we've been doing this.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And here we are, the second to last episode of the rewatch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Season 9, episode 26. Written by Greg Daniels, directed by Ken Kwapis. Before I give a summary and get into these fast facts, we have to share what we walked into today, courtesy of our party planning committee. Sam and Cassie.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sam and Cassie. I love you guys so much. We got here. There is a streamer entrance as you come into the studio that we had to walk through. There are balloons that spell out congrats. There's beautiful roses in a package. Something's wrapped up here.

[Jenna Fischer]

There is a sign on the table that says it is your milestone. And there's some scotch and Splenda. Well played.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love you guys. That's so great.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is this package? Sam, this is from you.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is from me. Cassie, you have one, too. Aw. Wait, should we open at the same time?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Wait. Ready? I love you guys. Oh, Sam, I haven't even opened it yet. Already just making me teary. What is it? Wait, wait, wait. What?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is amazing. It's us with Keanu. How? The four of us. It's a sketch, though.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's like, how did you have this made?

[Angela Kinsey]

It was drawn by a guy who does some of my tattoos. Oh, my gosh. It's so cool. It is so cool. This might make me cool with my kids. Sam, what is the name of your friend who drew this? Christopher is his name. Well, we will be sharing because this is amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is epic.

[Angela Kinsey]

Epic. Congrats on five years, guys. Thank you, Sam.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you, guys.

[Angela Kinsey]

And thank you for the flowers and for everything and just who you are to us and. Oh, man.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah. Get the tissue box out, lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

Get the tissue box. Is it. Where is. It needs to be on the table.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's not even in here.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, wait, here it is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Good.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did bring a little something, but it has to be refrigerated.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'll bring it out during our break and then we can share about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay. I love it. Well, listen, I brought a summary. Do you want to hear it?

[Angela Kinsey]

I love your summaries. Five years and I love your summaries. Never stop giving me a Summary lady, here it is.

[Jenna Fischer]

A year has passed since the documentary aired and Dwight is catching us up on the many changes that have occurred. Dwight and Angela will have their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties in anticipation of their upcoming wedding. And some old friends return for a documentary reunion panel. Pam takes a lot of heat from the public and Erin is reunited with someone she's been waiting a long time to meet. All right, fast fact number one. This episode aired on May 16, 2013. I looked it up. The pilot episode aired on March 24, 2005. So nine seasons of the Office aired over an eight year time period. The script for the finale was 75 pages long with a 40 page candy bag. We were only supposed to spend nine days filming this episode but we ran over and we actually filmed 10 days. We were supposed to finish filming on a Friday but we had to add a day and film on a Saturday. There was this huge wrap party. I'm sure you remember this. Angela planned for Saturday night at this fancy location and we were like, it'll be fine. We'll shoot till about 3 o'clock, then we'll go get ready for this wrap party.

[Angela Kinsey]

There was a red carpet. It was like going to a big fancy movie premiere. But it was a wrap party for our show.

[Jenna Fischer]

We ended up shooting until 10pm yeah, the wrap party was on the other side of town.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was like 45 minutes away.

[Jenna Fischer]

It started without us.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

The wrap party started without the cast and crew in the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kind of. It's kind of perfect. I remember when I arrived they were packing up the red carpet.

[Jenna Fischer]

Me, John and Rainn were the last people to walk the red carpet. And I wore a blouse that Pam had worn in the episode on the red carpet. Because I didn't have clothes, I thought I was going home first to change. So I borrowed clothes from the costume trailer. The few things they hadn't packed up yet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I think I got there right before you. Cause the photographers had packed up and so me and Ellie and Brian, I remember we took selfies on the red carpet. Yeah. So we could have a picture.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just so you know, we're going to be breaking down the episode that originally aired. There's kind of two versions out there now.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. The one that aired originally in 2013 is on the DVD. It also plays on Netflix. But there is an itunes versions that's a two parter that is different. It's a more trimmed version. In fact, it's missing about 7 minutes and 76 seconds of footage.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's also in a slightly different order. Yes, some of the scenes. So if you are watching with us, know that we are going to be breaking down today and next week the episode as it originally aired.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, that was important to us because it's the finale.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, are we ready for fast fact number two?

[Angela Kinsey]

We are.

[Jenna Fischer]

We kind of talked about this Last Week in AARM Part 2. We talked about how we did our table read for the finale all together and they filmed it. And before we read the episode, Greg Daniels gave a speech to the cast and crew and I rewatched that and I thought it would be really fun to listen to that speech.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, it is so good. We mentioned it in our book even because it's just really special.

[Jenna Fischer]

So here you go.

[C]

All right, guys, I think everybody's here, so we'll get started. I want to make some last remarks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is what this says. Tell you.

[C]

Just little personal remarks on my part. Ten years ago, my agent gave me a tape to watch. VHS tape of the British Office. I showed it to my wife. I said, do you think I should adapt this for the us? She said, absolutely not. But lucky for me, I didn't listen. I've done not much else for 10 years. The show has been my passion and my family, literally in many cases. And it's been a privilege to be a part of it. Sad to see it end. The best part of it all was that it brought me together with the most passionate, talented, funny, dedicated, wonderful group of people. People in this room from Ben and Howard and Terry at the beginning, and Allison and Phyllis and Ken and the pilot and the cast assembling and the writers assembling and the crew assembling and everything just assembled into this fantastic community of like minded artists who loved combining comedy and poignancy and realism into what became the show. And you guys are the best. Thank you all. I'll say I love you all without falling apart. So let's start our last table reading right now. The script is called Finale because we ran out of creativity when we got to the last word. It was written by me with the enormous contributions of your writing staff this season. And I'm going to read them. Paul Lieberstein, Brent Forrester, Dan Sterling, Allison Silverman. Should I slow down? Warren Lieberstein, Halstead Sullivan, Gabe Miller, Jonathan Green, Dan Graney, Graham Wagner, Carrie Kemper, Nikki Schwartzright, Charlie Grandy, Steve Healy, Robert Padnick, Owen Elixon, Justin Spitzer. That's it right ahead, everyone. Ably assisted by Jay Falk, Jared Ashton, Chris Wood and Jeff Remsberg. This show, like this Season will be produced to the highest level of quality by Steve Burgess, and it will be put together by the geniuses in post. Dave Rogers, Claire Scanlon, Rob Burnett, and Eric Colgan, among others. I want to name all of our outstanding crew, but for now, let's get one big round of applause and thanks as one championship team. I'm happy to welcome our NBC guests, Bob Greenblatt, Jen Salke, and everybody from the network. Thank you for coming. And finally, I'm very happy and proud to have Ken Kwapis back to direct our finale. Ken was the country vet who birthed this puppy, and now he's going to put it down. Really looking forward to spending the next eight or nine days on the set with you all. No one I'd rather have there than Ken. Okay, brace yourselves. It's going to get very sentimental in here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I love listening to that again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Me, too. Actually, I watched the whole table read.

[Jenna Fischer]

You did?

[Angela Kinsey]

I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my goodness.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I'm glad I did. It was really special. We were a mess.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, one of the things I love in listening to that is hearing Greg acknowledge everybody. That was always very important to him, to give everybody their moment of acknowledgement. And he went on after that to then name every single cast member.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

And people applauded. He's a special person.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Steve Burgess told me that after this table read, we did not have a locked script until the fourth day of shooting. He said for the first three or four days, Greg would turn in pages late at night. The night before. We used both of our first ads on this one. Kelly would figure out how to schedule the next day, and Rusty would run the set. It wasn't until about that fourth day that Greg finally turned over a whole script. I think he was. And he said he was having a hard time calling it finished.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know. All right, so now, Angela, you have our Fast Fact 3.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do. Y'all, I've got some good digital clutter for this time while we were filming. I have a few things I want to share in this fast fact and some more for next week.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my goodness. Angela has a little smile on her face because I think I don't know what's coming.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, one thing, but not the other. Okay, I'm going to start with the thing you don't know. I found an email that I wrote to Steve Carell during this time, and I want to read it to you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey, Steve. How the heck are you? You have been on my mind a lot lately. We had our table read yesterday for our second to last episode ever. We are really feeling it. Kate started to cry the other day when a group of us were talking about our crew rap gift. Then Jenna teared up at the table read. And then I was filming this emotional scene where I confide to Oscar that I love Dwight. I cried a little each take, and then Jeff Blitz walks up to me and whispers in my ear, pretend to say goodbye to the whole show in this take. Holy crap. Bring on the waterworks. Exclamation point. I cried and cried throughout the take. I could barely say my lines. We're just all feeling so raw right now. Oh, also, switch gears very quickly.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, also, I've been working on a scrapbook for everyone and going through all of these old photos from the last nine years and getting so nostalgic. Today on set, John talked about his last scene with you. When Jim walks into Michael's office, he said he just broke down. I mean, we've all been so incredibly fortunate to be together and truly care about each other all these years. I think about you and how difficult those last few weeks must have been from your perspective. I comprehend it on a whole different level now. And of course, I cannot email you without including some family updates. So here are some pictures. The first one is of Isabel and Jenna's little boy. We ran into each other at Target. Go figure. I love that our kids are growing up together. I told Jenna maybe they'll get married and then we'll be related. Ha ha. Oh, and Jenna booked a play in New York City, so she'll be there this spring and summer. I am so excited for her. The second picture is of Isabel and our dog, Biscuit. Isabel is such a big girl now. I can't believe she'll be five in May. She is my favorite person to be with always. Her latest craze is hip hop class. She didn't like ballet, but she loves hip hop. And the last picture is of Oscar and Ursula's sweet little girl. She is five months old and came to visit on set. Being a dad really suits Oscar. He is exhausted but happy. Oh, and Rainn's son came to our table read this week. He is such an amazing combination of rain and holly and oh, my God, so tall he is. Oh, my. Almost my height. I know that's not saying much, but he's only nine. Okay, that's it for now. I miss you and Nancy. I went through so many pictures of you guys in my scrapbook and I smiled a lot at some Point. We need to all get together for a dinner or get the kids together for a hangout. Love ya, Ang.

[Jenna Fischer]

So here's what I'm thinking as you're reading that you are writing him this email, and you have no idea that he is going to come surprise you on set.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

So you're like, I better bring him in. Like, this is so your personality. You're like, well, I don't want Steve to feel left out of this finale moment. I'm gonna write him this great email. It's such a beautiful email. And he's reading that and he's thinking, ang, I'm gonna see you in a few days.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And of course, he didn't give it away. He wrote me back a lovely response, you know, and said, oh, I bet it's really tough right now. I remember that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

But he was gonna see me in a few days. That's so funn. You guys were so good at keeping that secret.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I'll tell more stories about that when we get to it in the breakdown.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was a whole thing, I bet.

[Angela Kinsey]

That I didn't know about. It's okay. It's all right. I'm kidding. Well, lady, my second share. You know, about this is something that was really important to us. We want to say thank you to our fans because without the awesome fans of the Office, there would be no the Office. We wouldn't be on the air. You guys were our biggest champions from the very beginning, and Jenna and I are so very thankful for you all. So we could not start this finale breakdown without saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts and preserved in real time on the Office. A look back is all of us talking about how grateful we are.

[Jenna Fischer]

One of the most special things about.

[Angela Kinsey]

This show was when you would meet fans of the show and they would.

[Jenna Fischer]

Tell you about a time of hardship.

[Angela Kinsey]

And how the show lifted their spirits and the fact that people allowed you.

[Jenna Fischer]

In their homes and allowed you to.

[Angela Kinsey]

Be with them through all these moments.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, our fans are the greatest people because they had to fight for us. Our fans are incredible. They are so loyal and so loving of the show, and they so understand.

[Angela Kinsey]

These characters and get behind them. I just. I love you guys. That's crazy. I was like. I expected all the rest of them to get emotional. That was, like, obvious choices. Not me.

[C]

I've been gone for years.

[D]

But when you think about it in.

[Angela Kinsey]

Those big terms, it has affected my life forever. You know, I feel like everybody has had the idea that the show is more important than they are individually. I really think that that is very, very rare. We journeyed through it together. Wow.

[D]

Nine and a half years. It's a long time. It's just an overwhelming feeling that I think is tied to just how much this has changed my life. And I'm so tremendously proud of it and that that will be ending.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's say it never even aired on tv. We'd still have this epic, epic experience.

[Jenna Fischer]

That we shared and that shaped our lives. The Office is family, an incredible place to go to work to every day. I can't even think about saying goodbye to this show. There's no way to begin to say goodbye or to say thank you, which is really what I think we all want to say is thank you to the fans.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was very meaningful to all of us that people watched the show and engaged with it and wrote stuff on.

[Jenna Fischer]

The Internet about it that was very.

[Angela Kinsey]

Meaningful to all the writers early on. So thank you. Thanks for letting me come in here for the last year. This is the best thing I've been a part of. To the Office. I would like to say thank you for all the years as a viewer and the one year as a cast member.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you to the fans for loving the show as. As I do, because I think we all understand what a special show it is. So thank you for watching it for nine years. And I want to thank Greg and.

[Angela Kinsey]

All the writers and everyone, all my cast members for being so gracious. I know how lucky I have been. Thank you all so much. I love each and every one of you. Bye. Thank you for a fantastic experience. I won't forget it and I won't forget you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you, fans, and thank you, co workers and crew and writers and everyone. It's just been such a great ride.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wonderful nine years.

[Jenna Fischer]

Not enough words to describe how wonderful the crew is.

[Angela Kinsey]

So love you. Goodbye. It has been 100% the best thing in my life working with you guys every day. Thank you to everybody out there.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was part of this ride with us.

[Jenna Fischer]

But also a thank you to each other for being everything we were to.

[Angela Kinsey]

Each other, which was friends. I hope that all of you will, you know, keep a place in your heart for all of us. Bye. Goodbye, Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

Goodbye, cast. I bid thee farewell.

[Angela Kinsey]

And a final riddit. Da, da da.

[Jenna Fischer]

One of our directors, Dave Rogers, said it best. Thank you for this. Thank you. I thought that summed it up. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. I know you can hear the emotion in all our voices, but it's just because it's true. The Office did change all of our lives. It created a community. And I think I want to say thank you to our Office Ladies fans, because this podcast has afforded me the opportunity to live in this space again of the Office and of the joy that it brings to people and the joy that it brings to me. Once again, we're all talking about how. How do we say goodbye? This podcast has meant that I didn't really have to, because we got to relive it again with all the great fans of the show.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here's what I'm gonna say.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay?

[Angela Kinsey]

I just can't thank everyone enough who have rewatched the show with us and shared their lives with us, not just about the Office, but about all kinds of other things. They've been with us for five years. And to you all out there listening right now, this has just been such a gift for Jenna and I to get to know you all and talk to you every week and hear from you. We just love you. We love this Office Ladies community. So here's what I'm gonna say. We don't have to say goodbye.

[Jenna Fischer]

We don't.

[Angela Kinsey]

We don't. And we're not going to.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are not leaving.

[Angela Kinsey]

We like it here. We love you guys, and we want to stay here.

[Jenna Fischer]

So when our rewatch is done, we'll still be here plugging away at Office Ladies 6.0.

[Angela Kinsey]

6.0.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, the way that the Office changed our lives, Angela, and changed our careers, so has Office Ladies, in the sense that the Office, the show, took us so many places in the world. Office Ladies brought us home. It literally brought us home. Back to our homes. We work from our homes. We are with our families and our children. It has been such a beautiful season of my life, and I'm so grateful.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you know what Office Ladies is?

[Jenna Fischer]

What? A podcast. What is it?

[Angela Kinsey]

It's hope in a frame. It's the hope, it's joy. It's the promise of new things, but also familiar things.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, thank you to our fans so much. Thank you so much. Office Ladies family, we love you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, maybe we should take a break.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

And when we come back, we'll break down finale part one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh. Before we go to break, the fans have a gift for you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

It's an original arrangement of the fans from all over singing Creed's all of the Faces. Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

What? Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the fans, they're singing.

[Jenna Fischer]

They're playing instruments, holding up signs, and.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can see it in this video. The music, too.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're doing the music and everything with a video.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. What do we have to watch that? We have a fancy studio. There's a television behind your head, Ang.

[Angela Kinsey]

You've got one behind your head too.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let's turn them on.

[Angela Kinsey]

We've never turned them on. Oh, this is so cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

You have to see it.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's amazing. Oh, I can't wait. I saw a friend today? It happened a while and we forgot each other's names? But it didn't matter? Cause deep inside the feelings still remain the same? You just have no one before you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now in a hell you feel more than you seem? And other worlds that lie in spaces in between? And angels you can see? And all of these things I know as a single. I think I must have known that somewhere was before.

[Angela Kinsey]

When I get home.

[Jenna Fischer]

By.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sa.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was very visual and just wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm really overwhelmed by how many people participated and took the time to make that for us. It's very humbling to just watch it. It's just a beautiful, beautiful thing. Thank you so much.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Thank you so much. We will post that so that everyone can see what we just saw. But what a community. I wish I could meet every single one of you and give every single one of you a hug and thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Gosh, I can't wait to watch it again. I can't wait to show it to my family.

[Jenna Fischer]

Same.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you so much.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, we're gonna take a break and pull ourselves together. We'll be back to break down the finale.

[Angela Kinsey]

Part one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Part one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's go. Peloton.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, sweet Peloton. I love my peloton. Peloton has workouts for every mood. My general mood is I don't feel like doing this, but Cody Rigsby, he gets me there.

[Angela Kinsey]

You love Cody. Here's what I like about Peloton. I love the variety of training programs because I'm not going to want the same workout that Josh wants. We're super different, and peloton has something for both of us.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, there's so many ways to challenge yourself if you're training for a 5K, a 10K, a marathon. They have programs for strength training. They've got boot camps. Oh, my gosh. They have pilates. They have just great stretching.

[Angela Kinsey]

And their coaches are really motivating. They keep you going.

[Jenna Fischer]

Find your push, find your power with [e-mail] this podcast is brought to you by squarespace.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have talked to you guys a lot about Squarespace. It is an all in one Website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your terms. You guys know we use Squarespace? We have for years. We love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, we've been using Squarespace for over five years. And in that time, Squarespace has added so many cool new features. For example, Squarespace can help you set up seamless checkout for your customers with simple but powerful payment tools accepting all credit cards. PayPal, Apple Pay. Squarespace also has the tools you need to create and sell your own online course. You can charge a one time fee or sell subscriptions.

[Angela Kinsey]

Squarespace can also help you with email campaigns. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, go to squarespace.com officeladies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Now we are going to get into this episode, the finale. I thought you guys would like to know how our series finale ranked amongst critics and fans.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Entertainment Weekly listed the 25 best TV series finales ever. They said, quote, the gold standard in TV farewells from Friends to Mary Tyler Moore by the Entertainment Weekly staff. It was actually published May 3, 2024.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of this year.

[Jenna Fischer]

Very recent.

[Angela Kinsey]

Guess where we ranked?

[Jenna Fischer]

Are we in the top 10?

[Angela Kinsey]

We did not make the list. What? Yeah, we're not even on it. We're not even on the damn list. Okay, Next up, best TV finales ranked by IMDb from best to worst. Okay. The Office is number 34.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that's okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Out of 124. Not too shabby. Okay. I also looked at the 30 best TV finales ranked by TV Line.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, how'd we do there?

[Angela Kinsey]

We're number 21.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

I stopped looking there because we didn't really make the top of any lists.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love our finale.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do too.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought it was just wonderful.

[Angela Kinsey]

Guess who's not a fan? Entertainment Weekly.

[Jenna Fischer]

I guess not. Well, let's get into it. We open on Dwight driving in his car. He's speaking to a documentary crew member and he's explaining that the documentary series finished airing about a year ago. And he's kind of like, why are you sending another crew? Why are you filming us again?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, why are you here? This is done.

[Jenna Fischer]

And the documentary person says, we're getting bonus footage for the DVD.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then Dwight says, oh, nobody buys DVDs anymore. And of Course, I'm like, this lady's watched it on a dvd.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. The voice you hear is our longtime camera operator and sometimes director Matt Sohn. He just did these lines temporarily because he was the person sitting in the car with rain. And the plan was always that we were going to replace his voice with Dave Rogers, who has been the documentary person. But Greg really liked having Matt's voice on the show, so they kept it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Love it. Well, let's just talk a second about the new car Dwight has. He has traded in his 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am to a 2012 header orange Dodge Challenger SRT8 rare.

[Jenna Fischer]

I guess this is his manager car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Spicy. As he's driving, we notice a couple signs along the way. They're election signs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And one of them says, oscar Martinez is running for state senator.

[Jenna Fischer]

Dwight explains that they have regained a number of lost clients, including the White Pages. He says he's getting married tomorrow afternoon. They're doing a little mini reunion in the morning. And this is when we find out that he's fired Kevin.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He hasn't seen Kevin since he let him go. This flashes back to the conference room, and Dwight wheels in a trolley of three big cakes and some blue icing. And I guess the way you get fired now is you get your name on a cake. Or if you're Toby, you just get a squiggle.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, exactly.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh. Or also retired, you get a cake.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. We find out that Stanley is leaving as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's been looking forward to this day since he was 18 years old. Is that how long he's been at Dunder Mifflin? No, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think he's just saying that he's been a working man since he was 18 years old.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I would like to point out something for my background catch, folks. When Dwight starts to fire Kevin. If you watch my face, I played it as if I knew this was coming, that maybe Dwight had told me this was happening today. And there's a little bit of pleasure. There's a little bit of happiness on my face.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it makes sense. I mean, I think you've been redoing Kevin's work for a long time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Years. Before we leave the conference room, I did want to just revisit this painting that's behind Dwight. I was wondering if anyone out there knows how many paintings of Dwight there are in the series. I know there's one in Dwight K. Schrute, acting manager. It's a different one.

[Jenna Fischer]

A portrait.

[Angela Kinsey]

A portrait by reception. Then there's the one of him and Mose that hangs in his office. Then there's this one. And I think we should all note that Angela and Dwight both love giant portraits of themselves because she had one in her house with the senator. So I like to believe now in their home together. Lady. That they have a massive painting of the two of them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. As you walk in with baby Philip, I'm sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Will be in it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Maybe some angels flying over.

[Jenna Fischer]

Have you ever gone to the mall and seen where they'll do sort of like a portrait of your family? I think they do it as a picture, but then they make it look like a painting.

[Angela Kinsey]

They make it look like a painting? Yes. I mean, I have a very good friend of my mom's that if you go in her house, she's got a big one of her family, but they all look a little. It's like a Monet. Like, the further away you are, the more they look like themselves. And then the closer you get, it's a bunch of dots.

[Jenna Fischer]

I wonder if there would ever be a time in my life when I would feel comfortable having a giant portrait of myself hanging in my home. Is it something I should work toward or is it something to be avoided? Cassie is shaking her head. She's like, do not work toward this goal.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we are going to have a portrait of ourselves as John Wick. Thanks to Sam.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is true. These are the portraits we want.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is what we want. We did it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now we're going to cut to present day and Jim is biking into work and he's going to join the rest of us who are following Dwight in some form of tai chi. We got a fan mail flurry about this. Where do I begin? Connor H. From Fishers, Indiana, and many others.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, Angela Kaysen in a bull card.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

So include that in your list.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Connor said in the finale, Jim says he now rides his bike to work. First of all, did he get over his sweatiness from when he biked to work in Stanford? Second, he says that it saves on gas, but it appears that Pam drove to work before him. So does it really save on gas? And then Rebecca E. From Sugarland says, I guess Pam is entirely in charge of dropping their kids off at school or daycare. It really makes me question what Jim means by saving on gas.

[Angela Kinsey]

I had so many questions about this. I would have loved to see them riding together on a tandem bike. Would we bike to work?

[Jenna Fischer]

Ridiculous.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, because if they're gonna commit to bike riding, they need to do it together. If they really wanna, like, help save money on gas. Also, my bull card is that Pam has to do all these, like, tai chi yoga moves in high heels.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I see.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's not cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your bull card was not about the bike riding. It was about the exercise.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, it's a combo.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, it's a combo.

[Angela Kinsey]

Combo. Bullshit card.

[Jenna Fischer]

I see.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a new bull card. It, like, folds out. It's a combo.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Jim has a talking head now. He says he and Pam are great and she just recently finished her mural for the Irish Cultural Center.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And then we flash to that moment. There's a bunch of people gathered around her. Children are there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Let me tell you where we shot that. The far side of the Dunder Mifflin parking lot against the bushes. They put a big mural up. They put me on a scaffold. They put some background actors down in the parking lot looking up.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like on the side where the warehouse door was?

[Jenna Fischer]

No, the other side. Like, as if you're walking to our set. From one building to another.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that was true. Parking lot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Total parking lot. I'll never forget it because I was slightly terrified standing up there. I don't know why. It was very wobbly.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would say the two characters that spent the most time up in the air are you and Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you know what? I don't care for it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I just makes me squeamish. Yeah, I prefer being on the ground.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, same. Now, there's a scene between Pam and Angela. They're doing their movements together, and Pam is like, angela, are you ready for the wedding? And you think for a minute that Angela has really turned a corner with her snarkiness. She says, oh, my heart is so open. I'm so at peace. And then she goes, ugh, look at Meredith. She's disgusting. Like, just instant snark.

[Jenna Fischer]

But then we cut to Meredith and she looks completely different. Her hair is different. It's, like, longer. It's brown. She is not wearing her usual kind of crazy jumper.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And there's a talking head that explains why.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right. It's in deleted scenes. Let's hear it. I was at a dog fight this summer, and I thought, we should not be eating these things. Animals. So I went vegan. One thing led to another. Now I'm in these yoga pants. If you watch it when she says, now I'm in these yoga pants, Kate, like, kicks her leg up. Way out. Like, she's so bendy. But I love that Meredith is now a vegan. She's doing yoga.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

She looks like she might go to a tanning bed.

[Jenna Fischer]

That sort of goes against her new healthy lifestyle.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe so. Yeah, maybe so.

[Jenna Fischer]

Maybe she's just spending more time outdoors.

[Angela Kinsey]

Vitamin D. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Fitness.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fitness.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now there's a very sweet moment between Dwight and Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Angela's going to run up and give him a kiss. And she's just so excited about their wedding. And he feels a little sad because some of the old gang aren't there. And she's like, you know what? It's going to be perfect. Just me and you. That's all we need. And then he brings up this man that's been, I guess, growing cheese for him since the day of his birth and that he's going to feed them cheese.

[Jenna Fischer]

Growing cheese.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fermenting cheese.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

What. What shrewd custom is this? Okay. I do have one little story, though, about this scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

For my background, catch people when we're doing the morning stretches.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela's wearing jeans. This is like, what, two times in the whole series she wore jeans?

[Jenna Fischer]

Shocking.

[Angela Kinsey]

Shocking. And you can't really see, but I have on three and a half inch platform shoes. You do sandals? Yes. Because Angela has to run up and kiss Dwight. But Dwight is 6 foot 3 and Angela is 5 1. And I barely make it. Wow. I needed all the lift I could get. So that was our sneaky way to give me some height.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now Dwight is gonna have a talking head. And he is taking us into the bullpen now, finally. And he explains he's hired some new faces and one old one. And the person he's talking about is Devin.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we see Devin Cross in the background.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that we brought Devin back for this moment. You guys remember, Devin is the person that Michael fired in the first Halloween episode. Both Creed and Devin were our stand ins, starting with the pilot. And the plot of the Halloween episode required that someone be fired. And it was between Creed or Devin, these two people, neither of whom had ever had lines. And because Devin was leaving to do a play, Greg decided to fire Devin. But get this. When they called Devin to ask him if he would come back for the finale, he was in New York doing another play. It was like so full circle.

[Angela Kinsey]

But he was able to come back for it.

[Jenna Fischer]

He was.

[Angela Kinsey]

And here's something you guys should know. This was Creed's request. We've talked about this before, that Greg brought us all in to say what is something you would want for your character as the show wraps up? And Creed said that he would love to see Devin, come back.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought that was so sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

So sweet. And you know what? This is just one of the many little Easter eggs that's throughout the finale that are callbacks to the beginning of the show. I'm going to point out a few, and if you see any, let us know because I love finding them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this is also when Creed is going to become himself.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's going to be revealed that Creed is Creed Bratton from the band the grassroots in the 60s. Which is true.

[Angela Kinsey]

Which is true. Although the rest of it is not true.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed is not trafficking endangered species. Meet. Or has weapon grade lsd.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct. But he's on the run now. The police are looking for him. And so that's why he left Dunder Mifflin. We learn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Big exodus from Dunder Mifflin. Kevin's gone now Toby, now Stanley, Creed, Daryl. Yeah, Nelly. Some big, big changes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, we're going to see that Phyllis has a new coworker.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's Malcolm, and he loves her homemade fudge.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. She has a great talking head where she says, After 16 years, it's strange sitting across from somebody who isn't Stanley, but he'll get there one piece of fudge at a time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Malcolm was played by Malcolm Barrett. I have known Malcolm for a long time because after the Office aired, I did a pilot with him called the 46 percenters, and we played husband and wife.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

He went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He's so talented. He's a playwright, he's an actor. He does it all.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, he's very well known for playing Rufus Carlin in Timeless, and he was also on Monk.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Monk crossover.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I just love that you see him sitting in the background of Phyllis's talking head, and then you see him again in Jim's Talking Head, sitting there just like Leslie David Baker did for nine years. Yep, he's taken over. We also reveal another new face in the bullpen during Dwight's Talking Head. Guest star alert. Dakota Johnson, who plays Dakota. We're going to find out her name a little later on. You might know Dakota from the 50 Shades of Grey movies. She's also the star of Madame Web. Now, she originally had some scenes with the character of Clark, but they ended up being cut for time, so we don't see quite as much of her as was intended.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, they do live on the deleted scenes on the dvd. And they're cute. Clark and Dakota have this little flirty thing going. You can kind of See that They're like, maybe the new next relationship. If the show had kept going.

[Jenna Fischer]

I see. Well, now we're gonna move to the conference room and we are gonna find out some very big news. Jim is sitting at the conference room table with a bunch of the other guys from the office and Dwight's cousin Zeke, played by Matt Jones. Jim's gonna tell us he has been made bestest mensch best man.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Well, I guess his party planning committee skills are gonna come in handy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he doesn't have the best skills.

[Angela Kinsey]

He'll do better this time.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's planned a night full of pranks, but all gutenpronks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. He says, After 12 years of tricking and pranking Dwight, tonight, it's only going to be good surprises.

[Jenna Fischer]

Very sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

The one person missing from this bachelor crew is Mose. Jim says to Dwight, are you sure Mose isn't going to come? And Dwight's like, no. He got weird. Ever since Angela moved in, he had to stop sleeping at the foot of my bed. And I don't know how he's feeling about this whole wedding thing. Is this a call back to dinner.

[Jenna Fischer]

Party, sleeping at the end of the bed?

[Angela Kinsey]

Is it a little Easter egg, I wonder? Yeah, could be.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, now we're going to go to the airport. That was not really an airport.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was it something else?

[Jenna Fischer]

It was a bus terminal.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you have a location, Brakda?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. We dressed a bus terminal to look like the Wilkes Barre International Airport. When you see Darrell walking out and then you see Andy standing next to a taxi sign. We made all that signage. We used the real logo from the Wilkes International Airport. It's a little like green and white airplane. Oh, I thought we did a really nice job.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do, too. Andy has a talking head here where he's like, you know what? Sure, I'll talk about it. Why not? His audition for America's next acapella sensation went viral and they made it into one of those Auto Tune songs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, and he has a nickname now. It's Baby Wawa.

[Angela Kinsey]

Baby Wawa. Even the late night comedy guys had a field day with it.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then we see a clip from Weekend Update at Saturday Night Live.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bill Hader is playing Baby Wawa.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a fan question from Karen T. In Winston Salem, North Carolina, who said, I'm dying to know, did Seth Meyers write this bit? I know he usually wrote the bits when he was still there. No, Karen, Greg wrote this. It was in the script. And you know, Greg had worked at snl. He Knew all those guys. Steve Burgess thinks he probably reached out to Lorne Michaels. And then Seth Meyers and Bill Hader recorded it from the set, and they sent it on over to us.

[Angela Kinsey]

So cool. So cool that Greg can just, like, pick up the phone and be like, hey, Lauren, can you just do me a quick little favor? Okay, thanks. Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, it's funny. One time when I was on the Tonight show with Jay Leno, after we finish doing our interviews, this is the thing they do. After the show is wrapped, you walk out with Jay and the other guests, and you make promos for, like, that episode, and you, like, wave and stuff like that. It's like, part of the experience. But one time before we did the promos, Jay did a little bit, and I can't remember what it was for, but it was like one of these. They were like, jay, you have to do that funny fake thing, and we're gonna put it in a movie, and, like, you're making a joke about some character, and it's like, it went viral. So I, like, watched one of these happen.

[Angela Kinsey]

I bet those guys do stuff like that all the time. You know what? I do have a lot of late night talk show stories that I want to share on Office Lady 6.0.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know some of them. Some of them might belong on Burn it to the Ground.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Well, save it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Save it.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're back in the bullpen now, and we're going to see Dakota. She's walking from accounting over to Oscar's new office, which appears to be Darrell's old office. And you can overhear this funny bit of dialogue. Oscar's on the phone and he's saying, years ago, the senator promised a left turn lane by the Arby's. So I want to know, where in the name of Horsey sauce is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Mm. I think he's doing some state senator election business.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it's his campaign headquarters.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, there's tons of campaign signs in this office.

[Angela Kinsey]

There are. Here's a little breakdown of what you'll see inside. There is a nameplate that says, Oscar Martinez, head accountant.

[Jenna Fischer]

So he's gotten this little office, and.

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela is no longer head accountant. He also has a Yankees coffee mug with pins in it and some plants and some artwork.

[Jenna Fischer]

This makes you wonder who took over Darrell's job as, like, head of the warehouse. Are they back down in the warehouse? We don't need them up in the bullpen anymore.

[Angela Kinsey]

We don't know. We also know that there's now Pro2 empty seats over in accounting 2.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah. Hmm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hmm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this is the scene that reveals why Kevin was fired. It's because he invented a number called Kelevin, and it was a magic number that would sort of magically balance all accounts.

[Angela Kinsey]

Back at the airport, Nelly is arriving. She says she lives in Poland now, and they flew her out for the weekend to do the reunion panel.

[Jenna Fischer]

Interestingly enough, though, she is not on the panel.

[Angela Kinsey]

She is not. Although I did find in the shooting draft that she answers a question on the panel.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, she's not there. I looked for her. Something happened.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Maybe this was part of Greg's writing of the finale as we went along.

[Angela Kinsey]

And maybe she was unavailable the day they actually did the panel.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's very likely. Well, she's not on that stage.

[Angela Kinsey]

Nope.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now Toby is going to see her at the airport, and he runs up, he's so excited. He says hello. She is not thrilled.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

They have a very awkward exchange.

[Angela Kinsey]

He asks her if she's still dating Piotr.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

She says no. And I thought I unfriended you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Toby then asks her if she would like to share a cab. She says no. I would like to point out that Toby, Nelly, and Andy all had to take a cab. Daryl had a limo. And in the shooting draft, it said that Daryl also had on a Rolex. So they really wanted to highlight the fact that he has made this big career successful move.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Toby has a talking head here where we're going to find out what he's been up to. He has moved to New York to write the great American novel. He has six roommates, which he says are better than friends because they have to give you one month's notice before they leave.

[Angela Kinsey]

Womp, womp. Still sad, Toby.

[Jenna Fischer]

This next scene was really fun because we got Ed Helms and Craig Robinson back into the bullpen. Andy arrives to the office and is greeted with, I guess, a lot of pity.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, Phyllis gives him the bear hug of all bear hugs. I want you guys to know, in the shooting draft, it said that Phyllis gives Andy a big hug and he is supposed to, and I quote, delicately work his way out of it. But Phyllis doesn't stop hugging him.

[Jenna Fischer]

Aw.

[Angela Kinsey]

This moment is in the bloopers. It is so funny. Ed really lost it. You gotta hear it. How are you? I'm good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Very good.

[C]

A little warm, actually.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Aw, thanks. Thank you. Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis Kim, tell you not to, like. Sorry.

[D]

It just dawned on me, like, I'm not getting out of this.

[Angela Kinsey]

He could not get out of her hug. He was trying to delicately, like, weasel his way out of it. And she had him in that hu. He was like, I'm not going anywhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so funny. Now, Darryl arrives, and Dwight comes out of his office, and he's so surprised to see these guys. He thought they couldn't come to the wedding.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, they clearly haven't factored them into their guest list.

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady, we got so much mail about this, about wedding etiquette.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was like people were saying, I do not understand this wedding guest list. I do not understand how this wedding is going to absorb these surprise guests. Angela must not be thrilled about this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I thought about it too. I thought, okay, well, we know the wedding. Everyone just sits on a hay bale, so maybe they're not worried about the actual ceremony. But what about the dinner at the reception?

[Jenna Fischer]

The food? Do we have enough food for all these surprise people?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Dwight is thrilled, and it is revealed that they're really there for the panel that the documentary crew paid to fly them in. And it was just sort of kismet that it was the same weekend as the wedding. So now they can go to both.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jem is like, kismet, my ass. I came up with excuses to make sure that these two things happened on the same weekend so that they could be here for the wedding. Gutenpronk number one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. So now Pam enters, and she is so excited to see Darrell. She wants to hear all about Austin and the Athlead merger. Darrell says it's athleep now.

[Angela Kinsey]

Still lame. Still lame.

[Jenna Fischer]

It didn't get better.

[Angela Kinsey]

Didn't get better. Athleep. I think athleep is harder to say.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think it's worse.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it's worse. It's the p. Athleep.

[Jenna Fischer]

Athleep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Athleed is better.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Anyway, I need to point something out here. At 5 minutes and 37 seconds, when Pam is entering this scene, she's kind of entering from that mystery hallway. The one behind the conference room.

[Angela Kinsey]

The one where Dwight, like, put firecrackers in the trash can.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is this place?

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, well, it was scripted that I'm entering from the kitchen, but for whatever reason, I don't. It was probably a camera angle thing. And I'm watching this, and here we are. It's the finale episode, and I'm like, where does that hallway go?

[Angela Kinsey]

What is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

We're at the finale, and I was on the show, and I still don't know what that is for.

[Angela Kinsey]

Not for purposes of the show. Now, in real life, we knew it was how you got to the stage from the hair and makeup tables.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

But it had no purpose in the world of the show.

[Jenna Fischer]

I sent Dave Rogers an email about it. I was like, dave Rogers will tell me where this hallway goes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, he will.

[Jenna Fischer]

He sent me a massive email. I mean, it was like, I don't even know how many pages long with charts and blueprints. It was all about all of the hallways of Dunder Mifflin. Honestly, it could be its own episode. Here's what he said. There is a deleted scene from Hot Girl that really explains a lot about these hallways. I'm going to save it for Office Lady 6.0.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

But let me just say this. Even with Dave's dissertation on hallways, we may never know where this one went. But I do want to do a full hallway breakdown on 6.0 because it's really amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm all in. I'm all in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Great.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, why don't we take a break and when we come back, I have a little treat for all of us.

[Jenna Fischer]

Ooh, I've been waiting for this treatment.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, when you're traveling during the holiday season, it can be stressful, especially if you're traveling and you lose an item of luggage or a person. Oh, my gosh. Well, there's that.

[Jenna Fischer]

If you get separated.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Like at an airport. Well, you can stress less this holiday by stocking up on Life360's tile trackers.

[Jenna Fischer]

You can easily find your family's lost or stolen stuff by just wringing your tile when something goes missing and then track down its location on the map. And LifeTracker 360 is the first and only tracker with an SOS button. So if you triple press the button in the center of the tile, it will discreetly send an SOS alert to everyone in your life 360 circle.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is family friendly. You can add your tile Tracker to your Life360 and see your family and all your family stuff in one spot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Family Proof your family with Life 360's Tile tracker. Visit tile.com today and use code officeladies to get 15% off.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's tile.com code officeladies.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, what a year it has been.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, this is a really good time to kind of step back and look at your life and think about, is there something about this past year that I should commemorate with something beautiful? Do you see where I'm going with this?

[Angela Kinsey]

I do.

[Jenna Fischer]

I am talking about buying yourself some Jewelry.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're big fans of buying yourself a little something because you made a finish line, you made a goal, something in your life you've been working towards that you want to celebrate by gifting yourself something beautiful.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we celebrated our first 100 episodes of Office Ladies with Jewelry from Blue Nile.com we each got a set of very beautiful diamond stud earrings. And I treasure those.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do too.

[Jenna Fischer]

And when I look at them, I think of our accomplishment.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here's the thing. Their website is amazing. And if you have any questions, Blue Nile's jewelry experts are on hand 247 via phone or chat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Whether you're looking for a bit of special sparkle for yourself or to give the best holiday gift of all time, Blue Nile offers some of the highest quality standards in the industry at prices significantly below retail.

[Angela Kinsey]

Go to bluenile.com to shop Blue Nile, the original online jeweler since 1999. That's blue nile.com bluenile.com Are you struggling.

[Jenna Fischer]

For a gift idea? I'm going to help you out.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

With Masterclass, your loved one can finally become a better cook, writer, entrepreneur or artist, just like they've always wanted. That is the gift of Masterclass.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's say you have a family member that loves to tell a joke and maybe they want to craft their own stand up. Guess what? You can take a class with Judd Apatow.

[Jenna Fischer]

And classes really make a difference. 88% of Masterclass members say that they feel like Masterclass made a positive impact on their lives. And there's no risk because every new membership comes with a 30 day money back guaranteed.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you can give your loved ones a year of learning with Masterclass.

[Jenna Fischer]

Masterclass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to masterclass.com officeladies for the current offer.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's up to 50% off at masterclass.com.

[Jenna Fischer]

Officeladies masterclass.com officeladies well, we're back from break and we still haven't had our treat. Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. You know how you have a hard time with the cereal bag?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

This thing is in a box and I can't get it open so I've kind of direct the box. Here it is. I wanted it to look prettier. Isn't it the cutest thing ever?

[Jenna Fischer]

I love it so much. And it's very on theme of the office. The ice cream cake.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is. It's an ice cream cake. It's a picture of Sam and Cassie and me and Jenna and it simply says we did it.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's one of our inside jokes here at office ladies is that if we.

[Angela Kinsey]

Make it through a big work week, there was one time we were super tired, and at the end of the day, Jenna just sort of like, kind of just in that super exhausted state goes, we did it. Her shoes completely deflated. That became something we said to each other all the time when we would hit a big milestone. You don't say it, like joyously. You don't say, we did it. You go, we did it. So happy. Five years, you guys. I love you so much. And we had to have a sweet treat to celebrate.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of course. It's perfect.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's perfect. We're going to let it thaw for about five, 10 minutes, and then let's have a slice for sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

I would like to point out something that I'm very charmed by is that we have also all four of us worn shades of plum today without talking.

[Angela Kinsey]

About it, without planning. We're dressing alike.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, where were we in this breakdown? I think the limo is arriving.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, it's party time. Oscar has a super funny talking head. It's a great callback, and I think we need to hear it. And then I'm going to play the callback clip.

[Jenna Fischer]

Love it. They wanted me to go to the bachelorette party with the girls. Really? Such a cliche. I'm a man, so I'm going to the bachelor party with the boys. I just have to remember how I acted before I came out. What's that?

[Angela Kinsey]

It cuts to the limo and Oscar does the what's that? And everyone just looks at him like, what are you doing, lady? What a perfect callback to the pilot episode. I know to this moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

Waza, waza.

[Angela Kinsey]

I still love that after seven years.

[Jenna Fischer]

Waza. Waza, waza.

[Angela Kinsey]

What's up? We gotta was up in the finale.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love it. Well, listen, this limo is going to stop in the middle of nowhere. And Jim pushes Dwight out the door where he is greeted by a man in fatigues who then hands him a bazooka.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dwight is so moved, he looks at Jim. They're smoking cigars, by the way. And he says, you remembered. And Jim goes, of course I did. And then Dwight says to the man in fatigues, get out of my way.

[Jenna Fischer]

He takes the bazooka. He blows up some oil drums. We had a question from Lena H. And many others who said, I know Rainn got to work with a lot of real props, but surely he did not actually shoot off a real bazooka, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, no, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, he did not. That was a real bazooka. He held it, but he did not fire it.

[Angela Kinsey]

There was nothing in it. It was an empty bazooka.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct. Special effects triggered a very small explosion when he pointed at the oil drums. But most of that was added in post. It was special effects. I think if you look closely at the fire, you can tell that it wasn't really there. But I texted with Rainn about it and Rainn was very funny. He said, I have a notably horrible memory, but I think I would remember firing a real bazooka. He was like, it was all acting.

[Angela Kinsey]

He did not.

[Jenna Fischer]

He did not.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Jim looks at camera and says, gutenpronk number two.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

If you did notice the landscape behind them and how beautiful it is, this is where the wedding takes place as well. And we'll get to that location break down, but it's truly a beautiful, beautiful place. Now it looks like the guys have arrived to a good old fashioned steakhouse. They have a private room. I want to point out that Oscar, still trying to fit in, says, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Broseph, we got a question from Whitney T. In Atlanta, Georgia, who said, could you please discuss the location of this dinner? It is the Tam O Shanter restaurant on Los Feliz Boulevard. It was a favorite of a lot of celebrities, but especially Walt Disney. Whitney said, I am a Disney history nerd. And when my husband and I were in LA in early 2023, we had to stop by and they got to eat at Walt's table, where there are actually etchings in the table from some lunches that he would have with his animators. Whitney said, it's an adorable place with so much history and charm.

[Angela Kinsey]

I've driven past it so many times.

[Jenna Fischer]

Same.

[Angela Kinsey]

It looks so cute, but I've never been inside.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it's a Scottish steakhouse. It's been there over 100 years and has been owned by the same family ever since it opened. It was opened by Lawrence Frank and Walter Van de Camp, who incidentally are the founders of Van de Camp's Holland Dutch Bakeries. Then they went on to found Lowry's restaurant chain and seasoning company.

[Angela Kinsey]

No way.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love Lowry's. Remember, they sent us our own seasoning with our faces on it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And if you look at the tables in the restaurant, they have a little Lowry seasoning spices on the table.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, this place sounds too cute. I want to finally go.

[Jenna Fischer]

We should.

[Angela Kinsey]

As the guys are walking into their private room, Andy is made fun of once again. And you can tell Darrell is starting to really sympathize with how much Andy has had to put up with this. But Andy has such a great life outlook. He says, you know what? Things are actually going really well. I spoke at the Cornell commencement, and I guess the seniors invited me as a joke, but it was a huge success, and now I've been hired there. I work in admissions.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is definitely Andy's dream job to work at Cornell.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's perfect.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it seems like Oscar and Darryl still feel bad for him. And I'm like, stop feeling bad for him. He's happy.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's happy. Well, now the ladies are gonna arrive for Angela's bachelorette. They're doing something at Schrute Farms. And we are going to meet Angela's sister, Rachel.

[Angela Kinsey]

We sure are. There is a trend here that everyone just kept their same names. Malcolm, Dakota, and Rachel.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Greg was too tired to name people at this point.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Well, Rachel was played by Rachel Harris. I have known her for a really long time. Warren and I knew her from our days at the Groundlings. She is hilarious, incredibly talented. I mean, she's been in everything. You name it. She was in Suits, and right now it's having a whole resurgence on Netflix. She was also in Lucifer in just a ton. A ton of movies and television shows. She's a really funny gal.

[Jenna Fischer]

And, you know, she was in the Hangover movie with Ed Helms.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mm. Well, we got a fan mail flurry about this Angela. And several bull cards.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, here's what they said in a previous episode. Angela said she hasn't spoken to her sister in 16 years, but in this episode, she mentions how close they are. Is this the same sister or a different one?

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it's a different sister.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, so there's a sister who was not invited to the wedding, and then there's this sister.

[Angela Kinsey]

Absolutely.

[Jenna Fischer]

That you have a special language with.

[Angela Kinsey]

Exactly.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, well, I'd like to say that this was one of my pitches to Greg as we were discussing wrapping up the show. I didn't pitch the idea for a bachelorette party or anything like that. All I said was, before the show is over, I would like a scene of all the women together, just like we had in Boys and Girls or when we went to the mall with Michael. I just wanted one more moment of Gals before the show ended. And so I absolutely loved this night of shooting. It was maybe one of my favorite of the finale. I'll get to the other one. But it felt like a slumber party.

[Angela Kinsey]

It Was so fun. When you watch this and you see us laughing, we're just laughing. In real life, we were cracking up the whole night.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember the snack table. There were these Trader Joe's rosemary crackers.

[Angela Kinsey]

You and Ellie were obsessed with them.

[Jenna Fischer]

We ate like three boxes of those crackers. And then later, for my birthday, she surprised me with a giant jar of them. I also had a sweater in this scene. You never see me wearing it, but it was part of my wardrobe. And it was a little chilly at this location. And I would put it on. I don't know why I didn't end up wearing it in the scene, but I had it. And I would put it on in between takes. And I kept it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Aw.

[Jenna Fischer]

I still have it. It's the sweater that I keep on the back of my office chair at home.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I kept those Uggs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, Angela, we got a question about your Uggs. People wanted to know if those were the Uggs that you would wear at your desk when your feet were cold.

[Angela Kinsey]

Absolutely. This was my happiest scene because I was wearing my cozy, warm Uggs.

[Jenna Fischer]

I kept my Uggs as well. And I don't know about you, but on the sole of my Ugg, in the very back, written in teeny tiny black marker, it says Pam.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Mine says by name, I guess.

[Jenna Fischer]

There you go.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would like to point out a fantastic look to camera by phyllis. It's at 12 minutes and 42 seconds. It is so funny. So Rachel and Angela are speaking their made up language, and in the shooting draft, it said this. Rachel glances at Phyllis. Angela starts cracking up. Phyllis looks to camera pissed.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a pretty great look.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a great look. One other thing I want to point out is Phyllis is seriously maybe who you want to invite to a party because she shows up with a blender under her arm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Back at the bachelor party, guess who walks in the door? It's Elizabeth. The stripper.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Not the waitress, which Dwight is hoping for. He really wants to get his food. I have another Easter egg here. Another callback. Per the shooting draft. It says, a stripper in a trashy waitress outfit that looks like the Saint Pauly Girl comes in with a boombox.

[Jenna Fischer]

Saint Pauly Girl.

[Angela Kinsey]

Saint Pauly Girl from Dinner Party.

[Jenna Fischer]

Guys, this is the return of the very funny Jackie Debotten. She was in Ben Franklin. She was in Fun Run. Here she is in Finale. I just love the idea that there's just one stripper in Scranton and it's Elizabeth.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right. She's cornered the Market. You know, I ran into Jackie at the office convention in Miami.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she would love to talk to us about her time on the show. And I feel like she's gotta come on for Office Lady 6.0.

[Jenna Fischer]

I would love it. Well, Elizabeth is not the only stripper in Scranton. There is a male stripper as well. And he's gonna show up to Angela's bachelorette party.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he does. And right away, Meredith goes, jakey. And he's like, mom. And Pam's like, wait, wait, wait, wait. What? And then Meredith's like, no, no, no. Just do your work. Pretend Mom's not here. This is craziness, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember when we read this in the table read and it was revealed that Meredith's son was going to strip at Angela's bachelor party. It was so funny. It was the funniest thing to me.

[Angela Kinsey]

People were cracking up. I remember in particular at your line when you go, woo hoo. Go, Meredith's stripper's son. It's, like, so ridiculous, so awkward.

[Jenna Fischer]

Meredith's son Jake was played by Spencer Daniels, the same person who played him in Take youe Daughter to Work Day, which is when we met Meredith's son for the first time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. He is much older now and, as Meredith says, is a little entrepreneur.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's going to do a striptease to the song Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy by Big and Rich. It cost us $48,000 for this song.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's pricey.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so perfect, though. This dance that he does is so perfectly funny. And when Meredith pushes him out of the way and then is like, trying to show him a better way to kind of thrust his pelvis at you, it just. Lady, how did you get through it?

[Angela Kinsey]

I covered my face.

[Jenna Fischer]

I saw.

[Angela Kinsey]

I covered my face for many reasons. One, it was so uncomfortable.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

So uncomfortable. I was like, legitimately just like, oh, no. I feel so, like, ah, this is crazy. So I covered my face, but I also covered my face because I was laughing and also you guys were laughing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ellie was laughing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was so absurd. You can see it in a few.

[Jenna Fischer]

Shots, you know, to never get me a stripper for a party. Right. You know, I don't want that.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would never. Why would I do that? I don't know.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm just. I mean, we know this, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

I can't do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is not for me.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can't do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I would never do it for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have too much backstory. I want to know, like, okay, why did you pick this Outfit. Why did you pick this song?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's why you can't have a striper, is because.

[Angela Kinsey]

Where have you studied? Dance class.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is what keeps your process. Okay. This is very different.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, what is your thing?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't want people dancing up on me who are a stranger.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I just don't want that. That doesn't bother me as much.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh. I mean, it's why I never went, like, clubbing, because I don't want anyone to dance up on me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

I just want to dance with people I already know.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would say I don't mind dancing, you know, having fun on the dance floor, but I don't want crotch in my face. No one needs that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, that's sort of what I'm saying. I don't want foreign crotch in my face.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's it. I'm all about, let's have fun on the dance floor. But I don't need random shmingling in my face.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct. Mm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, where does that take us? I think it's time for cake. It's sweating.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, Angela, while you're slicing up this cake, I'll keep the podcast going here. Angela's going to hear a noise outside.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

She assumes that it's just the wind.

[Angela Kinsey]

She asks Phyllis specifically, will you lock the door? Phyllis doesn't. She just opens it wide open and says, it's just the wind. See? So Angela gets up to lock the door. 15 minutes, 26 seconds. Did anyone catch the enormous ring of keys? It's like a huge metal ring of probably, like, 50 keys. I thought that was such an interesting background catch. But as Angela approaches the door, Mose grabs her and runs off with her. Yeah, this was a very choreographed moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

I bet. Okay, Angela, let me take over the slicing here.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm getting too distracted. I can't slice cake and talk about this.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this is a big moment, and I was there, and I want you to tell everybody about it, because a lot went into getting this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Here's the thing. They wanted to make sure that Angela and the bachelorette party did not see Mose, but that camera saw Mose for a few reasons. One, so you weren't really worried about Angela.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they established Mose in the window in the background of the stripping scene. Then when the door is open, they still don't want Angela to see Mose because she wouldn't willingly go with him.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I had to do this thing where I go to the door, and then I turn around and put my back to the door, and then he Swoops his arm around me and slings me out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. I remember this whole discussion. And if I remember correctly, I feel like I remember Ken telling you that the reason you would put your back to the door was because you so needed to shame Phyllis for being so stupid for opening the door. That's so funny that you would be distracted in your, like, having to lay into her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela's very put out about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, the other thing I remember is that they told Mike Schur that he had to be really quick about it. It had to be a really fast moment. So he really runs in and, like, grabs me. And my reaction is real because it always sort of takes you off guard.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will point out that once again, Ellie is breaking.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't think Ellie ever kept a straight face in this whole scene.

[Angela Kinsey]

The guys are now in the limo. They're going to their next destination when Jim gets a call from Pam that Angela has been kidnapped. Phyllis left the door open and some freak came and grabbed her. Dwight starts to laugh. He's like, oh, good old Mose.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, he's not concerned at all. Apparently, this is a special tradition.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, it's a ceremonial bridal kidnapping. Dwight says he's going to take the bride and hide her at a local pub. And then when he finds the place, he has to buy everyone drinks. And Dwight's happy. He's like, mose is finally getting into the spirit of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

So they're going to drive to a pub in search for Mose.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Jim says to Dwight, what's the last pub you would ever set foot in in this town? That's where we'll go. Dwight says, you're right. Pick that one. And Jim says, driver, take us to 3030 Adams. I looked it up. There's nothing there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Fakie address.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fakie address.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, when they go inside, they spot a table. Sure enough, there is Mose, Rolf, Gabor and Nate. Everyone starts chanting, if you want your bride, buy us a drink. If you want your bride, buy us a drink.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that. We see some other familiar faces from our writing staff in this scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, there is Jen Salata, who told Greg, I mean, for years, years, that it was her dream to somehow play a shrewd.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then there was also Graham Wagner.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right. They're sitting in the bar in the.

[Jenna Fischer]

Booth Now, Greg actually wrote a scene for Jen and she told this story. She worked on her lines. She was so nervous. And then they came to her and said, jen, I'm so sorry. We don't have time to shoot it. We have to move on. We have to go get this shot. I think it was of Jim and Pam. And she was like, oh, good. Okay. And then they came back and said, jen, we do have time. And she was like, oh, my gosh. And then they said, jen, we don't have time. Oh, no. She just kept going back and forth.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. But ultimately, she was just happy that her dream finally came true. She is now officially a Schrute.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she does have lines.

[Jenna Fischer]

She does. That's right. She gets to chant with everybody else.

[Angela Kinsey]

And after they're done chanting, if you want your bride, buy us a drink. Dwight says, very well. Drinks on me, bartender. And he turns and it's Kevin.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. It's Kevin's bar.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's Kevin's bar.

[Jenna Fischer]

This bar.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dwight's like, jim, why did you pick this place? You're pranking me again.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Jim intentionally picked this bar so that Dwight and Kevin would finally make amends.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll have you know the location of this bar was the Black Boar Bar on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle. And we got a fan mail flurry about this. First of all, I loved this note from Sarah F. In Portland, Oregon, who said, one of my absolute favorite moments of the office is when Kevin is at the bar, Dwight comes in, and Kevin says, well, well, well, well, well. That's six wells. Did I get that number right, Dwight? Sarah said, it took me several rewatches to realize that it's only five wells.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Sarah, I want you to know that when Jenna and I read that, we were actually having lunch together, rewatching the finale together, and when we got to the scene, we counted on our hands. Well, well, well, well, well. And you are correct. It's only five.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then our fan mail flurry was lots of people wanting to know, how was Kevin able to afford a bar? Was it embezzlement? Was it insider trading? Was it gambling? Is he a genius?

[Angela Kinsey]

Exactly. What is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

We actually talked about this with Brian Baumgartner when he came in for his interview with us all the way back when we broke down the Casual Friday.

[Angela Kinsey]

Episode long time ago.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we decided to save this clip until now because Brian tells us exactly how Kevin got this bar. Yeah, let's listen. So fans have conspiracy theories that Kevin is putting on a show at work, that he is actually a genius and he is doing some, like, massive insider trading and is very wealthy outside of Dunder Mifflin. That this is. This is why these two things are true.

[Angela Kinsey]

That Kevin is so patient that he's doing the long con.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

At Dunder Mifflin.

[D]

I have heard this. Well, so the payoff on this, and I don't know if you guys remember this, I know that it'll. It'll be a while before you're to this episode in your. In, in. In your story. But. So there was a storyline that was cut.

[Jenna Fischer]

So.

[D]

Right. So the reference, the payoff to that theory, as it's always explained to me as well I've heard it a number of times, is that he ends up with a bar. Right. Like, how did he buy this bar? He has no money as an accountant. How does suddenly he have this bar? Well, there was a storyline that we shot and we shot a lot of scenes of this storyline in or around the finale. Right. Which was. Here is my best recollection, but I have T shirts from this is that if you remember Greg Daniels and the writers, they wanted to talk to us about how the characters were going to unfold and they wanted, you know, they heard some ideas from us or whatever.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[D]

At some point we started talking and Greg was aware that. And Angela has been with me a number of times, so she knows all too well. Like, I can't walk into a bar. There's something about Kevin and the personality shuts down. I can't walk into a bar and not be bought. A number of drugs.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're literally like.

[D]

It's non stop crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's like everyone wants to have a beer with Kevin Malone. It's Kevin Malone.

[Jenna Fischer]

It makes sense to me.

[D]

Yes. So the idea for the finale we shot this story was that when the documentary aired, Kevin became the fan favorite. And there were T shirts, I have some T shirts here like that they printed for the show that had like my face like Kevin. It was like Kevin. We shot all these B roll shots of me in bars and people buying Kevin Malone drinks. And so the story goes that there was a local bar that Kevin would go to and he had been bought so many drinks and not cash them in that he used that as leverage to get the bar. Like basically they owed me too much money that they had to give me the bar. And that's how Kevin Malone got the bar.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, wow.

[D]

But the finale was what, like two and a half hours or whatever it was as it was. So a lot of some of those stories happened so that I got the bar that was fired, all that stuff. But a lot of those details about how that happened were cut.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, there you have it. That's how Kevin got his bar.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you know what? It's so true. In real life, if you travel with Brian, especially in Scranton, everyone's buying you a beer. I told him. I was like, brian, you need to go to Scranton and you need to open a bar called Malone's.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, that's brilliant, right? Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, and one other thing. For you guys that have the DVDs in deleted scenes, some of the ones Brian talked about are there. There's the talking head, where Kevin explains a lot of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. Well, Dwight is going to explain to Kevin that firing him was not personal.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was truly the result of his ineptitude. His lack of personal hygiene, his filthy Internet searches. Kevin's like, do you mean it? Really?

[Angela Kinsey]

And he's like, ah, buddy. They hug. All is forgiven.

[Jenna Fischer]

Gutenpronk number three.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Dwight wants to see his bride.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's like, yeah, where is she?

[Jenna Fischer]

Mose leads him to the parking lot. To the trunk of his car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He opens it up. Angela, you burst out cursing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Cursing like a sailor. So this was not scripted.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't think it was.

[Angela Kinsey]

In the shooting draft, it only said this. Mose leads Dwight to a car in the parking lot and unlocks the trunk. Angela very stiffly puts her head out, blinking in the light. So we did a few takes of that, and it just wasn't popping. So I asked Ken Kwapis if I could do one where I'm super ticked off and I have that same kind of energy as when Dwight ran Angela off the road. And Ken said, just go for it. We'll just roll on this one and just go for it. So John, playing Jim in the moment, actually didn't know what I was going to say, how many things I was going to say, and I think it's really funny. The camera pushes to Jim, and his reaction is like, oh, dear Lord.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's very funny. What was it like to be in that trunk?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, if you zoom in, when they open it, they made a little bed for me.

[Jenna Fischer]

Aw. It was nice and soft.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, it's a good thing I'm tiny, but I was laying on, like, a comforter with a pillow. They just kind of made it look like clothes and junk that Moe's had in there. But they did make a little cushy area for me. I wasn't in it very long, but it is dark.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. It's a small space.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now we are going to go to this panel.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. There is a sign that sort of sets up what we're seeing. It says, Scranton Cultural Center. What happened to Andy Bernard? Still curious about the office and American workplace? Meet the real local subjects of last year's documentary produced by the Scranton Cultural Center.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the location of this was not the Scranton Cultural Center. It was the AT&T building on Olive street in Burbank, and we were there a whole day. Now, Dwight says Angela is not attending the panel because it was her wedding day and her legs are still numb from the trunk.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he said we can't see each other on our wedding day.

[Jenna Fischer]

No. But who is going to arrive finally is Stanley. He's come in from Florida.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's Florida Stanley.

[Jenna Fischer]

He is.

[Angela Kinsey]

He shares that he's living full time in Florida now in a little town called Florida City. He loves it. He sits on his porch all day carving birds. And he even brought one.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so cute.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's really cute. So a few of the old group are on stage, but there's no one in the audience. No one's come. And Andy says, I'm sorry. It's probably on me. I got a lot of hate when that auto tune went viral. He says, you know what? I'll go talk to the manager. Maybe we should just all go home, just bail on this.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, he walks out and there is a huge crowd of people waiting to load into the auditorium.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they are so excited to see him. They all start chanting nard dog and then clapping and saying, riddit dit da doo.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was so sweet, the moment when.

[Angela Kinsey]

Andy feels that love from them and he just can't wait. And he says back, ed played it so well.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. I loved it.

[Angela Kinsey]

The next scene is now a full auditorium. Every seat is taken, and all of the Dunder Mifflin employees are on stage. And there's a moderator taking questions from the crowd.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'd like to start with a list of the people who were on the panel.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Clark, Aaron, Toby, Oscar, Meredith, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Darrell, Kevin, Andy, Phyllis, Pete, Stanley, and David Wallace. Now I want to talk about who was not there. Creed.

[Angela Kinsey]

He was not on the panel, but he was there.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's in the audience. He shown at the very end. Here's who else was not there. Michael. The documentary crew did not fly in. Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

Surprising.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Greg and Steve did talk about this, because as we all know, Michael Scott is going to surprise everyone at the wedding. And it was discussed. Why would Michael come to the wedding and not come back, you know, and be the center of attention? Wouldn't you think this is in Michael Scott's personality to want to be on this panel 100%.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we've established that it's happening the same weekend. So he is there in Scranton.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Well, it was really important to Steve that we see growth from Michael Scott. And he really believed in his heart that when Michael left and he married Holly and he started his new life, that he really lost this need for this kind of, like, public adoration.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, I can follow that. Because Michael, all he ever wanted was a family.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's all he wanted. And he got his family. So he doesn't need this other thing anymore.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And this is a departure from the British office. In the Christmas special for the British office, their documentary has aired, and David Brent has become kind of a celebrity. And so in that episode, he is just sort of reveling in his new fame. And I think there was also a desire to not repeat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And I also think that spot was already filled in our story with and.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. All right, here's who else was not on the panel? Kelly and Ryan. They do show up at the wedding.

[Angela Kinsey]

They do now.

[Jenna Fischer]

I 100% think that Kelly would want to be the center of attention on a panel. Unfortunately, Mindy Kaling was not available this day, and neither was BJ Novak. So that's why they weren't on the panel.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

We talked about Nelly, who shows up at the wedding. We don't know why she wasn't there. Something happened. We have not gotten to the bottom of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like it was a scheduling thing as well.

[Jenna Fischer]

But here are some other people who I thought if I'm tracking this as, like, the documentary, bringing people back for fans to talk to. Here's who I thought should have been there. Jan, for sure. Roy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Todd Packer.

[Angela Kinsey]

He would have loved it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Gabe. Robert California.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that would have been delicious.

[Jenna Fischer]

Karen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And there's one more person who's not there. Oh, yeah, it's you, Angela. I know. Do you want to share with everyone why you weren't there? I know Dwight says it's because you guys shouldn't see each other before the wedding, but there's a real reason why you weren't there.

[Angela Kinsey]

There is. So here's the deal. As we started filming the finale, I was up for a really big role on a new sitcom. It was a big deal for me because it was a lead. The show was called the Gabriels, and it would have been me and Rob Riggle playing husband and wife. Tim Meadows was in it. It was really great. The cast was phenomenal. And, you know, it's just one of those things that happens in life when everything you want to do all happens at the same time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they were both going to overlap the finale in this new pilot. I didn't know what to do, and I went to Greg and I said, greg, what should I do? And, you know, Jenna, he was so kind, and he said, listen, I want this opportunity to happen for you, but I honestly don't know how to make it work. He said if Steve Burgess could work his scheduling magic and figure it out, I had his blessing. And creatively, he said he could take me out of this panel, that he could make it make sense for him for the show why Angela wouldn't be there. Sure, it's the morning of her wedding. He could make that creatively make sense, and that would give me an extra day. But then Steve Byrd just rolled up his sleeve, and, you know, he's always been such a champion for us. And he knew, Jenna, that me playing the lead in something would mean I would get considered for bigger roles after the Office wrapped. And I just love this man so much. He got on the phone with the producers at Fox. They worked it all out. It included some crazy scheduling. I had to film part of the Fox pilot on a Saturday. On one day, I worked on both shows, Steve Burgess sent a van to pick me up on the Fox lot with the office hair and makeup team, and they transformed me into Angela Martin driving down the freeway.

[Jenna Fischer]

Amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I asked Steve what he remembered about all of this, and this is what he had to say. One of my favorite things was talking with Kim Ferry about how she had to redo your hair on the drive to the set. Kim and I still laugh and talk about that, but that was just part of it. I spoke with the pilot people all the time. We worked out a schedule that we thought would work, but unfortunately might actually kill you. But you survived. Both schedules had to change a lot during the shooting. We ran long. They had to reschedule stuff, but it all worked out. You were amazing shooting two shows, both demanding, and you came through looking great.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I remember that day that you arrived to set and you had gotten ready in the van. It was so crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, when I watch these scenes, I do get a little emotional because. Oh, obviously for so many reasons, but also because Greg and Steve did that for me because they knew it would help my career after the Office, and that was such a gift. And I did find something really special to me in my digital clutter about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

I sent two people an email about my New look on the Gabriels. My fancy hair. I emailed you and my dad. I sent you both a picture, and I said, this is my new look for the Gabriels. You wrote back, lady, you look amazing. Two exclamation points. And my dad wrote, angel. Like it. Lol. Which he thought meant lots of love.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bill Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that. Well, it was a little bittersweet for me, Angela, that you weren't there. This was my second favorite scene that we shot for the finale.

[Angela Kinsey]

You said it was really moving.

[Jenna Fischer]

It really was. It was special because Greg filled this scene with so much of our crew and our office family. You know, Greg created a type of yearbook for us. And when I was rewatching the finale, and in particular this scene, I saw all those familiar faces, and I was so grateful to him.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

That we have these people on camera. So he made our writers and other crew members. He gave them roles, asking the questions, and he said it really worked because if someone was a little stiff or maybe not the best actor, it's like, well, that's what a real person in the audience would be like.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you know, I think we should do a breakdown as well of the special guests that are in this scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Let's talk about it.

[Angela Kinsey]

The moderator is played by Suzanne Daniels, Greg's wife. I thought she did a fantastic job. The first question was asked by Brent Forrester. Amelie Gillette asked about Jim giving up Athlead. Writer Allison Silverman said, Jim could do anything, and I mean anything.

[Jenna Fischer]

She was so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

So funny. But also, I really love just Pam saying, I'm sorry. Was there a question there? Also, writer Dan Sterling asked what was in the Teapot letter. Steve Healy asked if our lives felt pointless. And Jenny Tan from Office Tally, this fan site that supported us from the very beginning, asked the question about Jim and Pam.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, I think that one was my favorite. Jenny had originally asked Greg if she could just come and watch us film the finale. And she wanted to do, like, a really nice farewell to the show. And we'd given her kind of inside access before. Guys, she truly was just a fan who started a fan site. But it was so good that she became a member of our office family.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And you know, her site, Office Tally, it really was the place to go for all the inside tidbits that was happening on the show.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

She did such a good job.

[Jenna Fischer]

Writers and directors would do, like, exclusive interviews with her after episodes aired. It's all still there. Officetelly.com I refer to it sometimes for the pod.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Greg said, yes, come out while we're filming the finale. And she said, greg, could I just be in the background of something? I would just love to be in.

[Angela Kinsey]

The background in the world somehow.

[Jenna Fischer]

He said, no, you can't be in the background. I'm going to give you seven lines. She about pooped her pants. She said she was so nervous. She did so great.

[Angela Kinsey]

She did fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

But there is one other person who asked us a question. But it got cut. And it is our very own Steve Burgess.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And you know what, Steve? It might have been cut, but it's in deleted scenes on the dvd. And I think we need to hear Steve's voice on our podcast. Let's hear it.

[D]

How did being in the documentary change your behavior?

[Angela Kinsey]

There you have it. That was our sweet Steve Burgess. Steve, you're on the pod. Although we want to have Steve on for a sit down for sure. There's so many people we still want to talk to.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, this panel is not over.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

It is going to end in a very emotional way that gets me every time. The final person to ask a question is a woman who stands up and asks Erin if she hates her mom. She says, you must really hate her.

[Angela Kinsey]

You must be so angry at her.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Aaron says, well, I don't know if I would hate her. I mean, she has this sweet thing. She says, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

She says, maybe sometimes, but not like hate, hate. More just like, mom, I hate you. And then she would say, go to your room, young lady. And then I'd stomp my foot and I'd run upstairs and I'd have a room, which is really cool. And then we'd just have dinner, but I don't know, I'd have to meet her. Thanks.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then there's this long pause and Joan Cusack. I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

As Erin is saying her lines, the emotion that comes over Joan's face is so moving. Yeah, I was tearing up watching it. I can't imagine what it was like being there. I saw Phyllis in the background sobbing in real life. Those were real tears.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela, Joan's performance, it took our breath away.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, we were just all on this panel. And from the second she stepped up to the microphone, I got a lump in my throat. I was like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I knew what was going to happen. It was truly emotional. Erin realizes this is her mom. And then, oh, my gosh. You thought you couldn't cry anymore. Ed Begley Jr. Stands up and says, same question, but about your dad. Erin has found her Parents.

[Angela Kinsey]

Her parents.

[Jenna Fischer]

We did get a fan mail. Flurry. Are Pete and Erin still together in the finale? They sat apart during the panel, and they don't appear together at the wedding. Please discuss. Well, we asked Jake Lacey this question when we interviewed him, and he said he doesn't think they are.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I looked through the script. There is no real evidence in the script. However, it was scripted for them to be sitting next to each other on the panel. But they're not. Same for the wedding.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're not at the same table at the wedding. And there are no scenes with the two of them in deleted scenes.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's correct. I think it was decided on the Day with Ken Kwapis. And I vaguely remember this as they were telling us where to sit on the panel. Erin's happy ending is finding her parents, not finding a man. And so Ken sat them apart from.

[Angela Kinsey]

One another so that the focus could be on her reuniting with her mom and dad.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

And there are scenes of the three of them talking in deleted scenes. I'm going to bring it up for Finale Part two. This part ends with the camera panning the audience. Creed is in the way back. He's got a full beard. He is watching all of it and tearing up.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Angela, like I said, I was really happy for you because you were off this day. You were getting to pursue this opportunity that was so special. But at the end of this scene, when we finished our last shot, I'm getting choked up thinking about it, and I wish you could have been there, but the whole auditorium of people stood up and gave us a standing ovation for, like, three minutes. It was really moving. Like, the cameras were off.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

The acting was over, and it took us by surprise. We have pictures of it. It was just. It was special. Yeah, it was really special.

[Angela Kinsey]

Man, it's been great to rewatch these scenes, the ones I wasn't in. I got to sort of experience them, and I've really loved it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Me, too. Well, listen, that is Finale Part one. Oh, my goodness. This is a long episode, y'all. That week, 50 pages.

[Angela Kinsey]

My document was 50 pages.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we're only halfway through next week. It's all about the wedding and all about a very special surprise guest.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And I am bringing in some stuff. There's gonna be some show and tell. I know it's a podcast, but I have found some real nuggets from way back when. I'll be bringing them in. I'll share them in stories as well. What a wonderful, amazing fantastic ride this rewatch has been and there'll be more to come of Office Ladies, but I mean I am just sitting in some gratitude. I just love y'all so much and I love this team of these faces. I'm looking at Sam and Cassie and Jenna. I just want to say thanks.

[Jenna Fischer]

We'll see you all next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

See you next week.

[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 Cast Jerkins, our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainslie Bubaco.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producers are Genoeis Berman and Leah Reese Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. Klarna is your Smarter Everyday spending Partner for the holiday season, shoppers can use Klarna's pay In for product to split their purchase into four interest free payments.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Arranged pursuant to a California Finance Law License NMLS number 1353190 Klarna balance account required. Klarna may get a commission. Limitations, terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in youn Podcast Queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too. With the name your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds.

[D]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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