More Casual Friday

Summary

Office Ladies Podcast: "More Casual Friday" (August 5, 2026)

Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Episode Focus: A deep-dive revisit of "Casual Friday" (Season 5, The Office), with behind-the-scenes stories, mailbag insights, costume breakdowns, and new content from the Superfan episode.

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Episode Overview

In this lively, warm, and nostalgic episode, Jenna and Angela revisit "Casual Friday," going well beyond their initial breakdown with fresh discoveries, behind-the-scenes details, fan mail, extended scene commentary, and playful personal banter. The hosts share digital clutter from the original airing, explore costume choices, examine deleted and Superfan scenes, and reflect on the culture and lasting impact of “Casual Friday” in real-life office environments. The episode also features listener questions—including the hosts’ “perfect food day”—and closes with community mail and a discussion of The Office LEGO set.

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Key Discussion Points & Behind-the-Scenes Revelations

1. Rewatch Inspiration & “Second Drink” Mail (04:00)

• Why revisit? Fan correspondence drew their attention back to "Casual Friday," leading to a “6.0” level exploration.
• Guests recalled from the original breakdown: Brian Baumgartner (Kevin), producer Randy Cordray, costume designer Alicia Raycraft, Kate Flannery (Meredith), Creed Bratton, John Krasinski, and director Brent Forrester.

2. Mailbag & Listener Question: The Perfect Food Day (05:10)

• Listener Freya asks: If you could go anywhere and eat anything for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, what would it be?
• Jenna’s picks:
  • Snack: Cheddar crackers (obsessed with Simple Mills Almond Flour Cheddar Crackers) (06:42)
  • Breakfast: France—French press coffee, muesli, yogurt, pastries (07:30)
  • Lunch: Tokyo’s Shibuya Food Show—ramen or bento box (08:13)
  • Dinner: “Open” (Indian, Italian, or a smash burger) (10:06)
  • Dessert: Strawberry rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream (10:30)
• Angela’s picks:
  • Snack: Cheese stick and pretzels—“I chomp, I don’t pull the string” (07:07)
  • Breakfast: Husband Josh’s homemade granola with banana, peanut butter, honey (07:58)
  • Lunch: Classic Californian Mexican combo from Tony’s Mexican Grill—cheese enchilada, taco, tamale (08:31)
  • Dinner: Singapore hawker center—satay street, nasi goreng, chicken satay (09:17)
  • Dessert: Chocolate meringue pie, fiercely protected tradition (10:42)
• Memorable Exchange:
  • Angela: “If you come for my chocolate meringue pie, I'll be like, ‘Hey...not a big piece.’” (11:06)
  • Jenna: “Strawberry rhubarb pie is the one thing I will not bake myself because rhubarb is such a high maintenance thing.” (11:08)

3. Digital Clutter: Inbox Time Capsules & Set Memories (13:47)

• Angela shares a classic email thread:
  • Subject: “Toilet” (14:55)
  • Jenna, sick during Company Picnic, emails Angela from the bathroom—“I figured this was easier than texting...” and recounts aftermath from the 100th episode party (15:04).
  • Angela’s reply: “I’m glad my sitter bailed. I was so happy to be with my little gal...Right now, Isabel and I are eating Cheerios and watching dolphins jump.” (16:14)
• Original casual Friday title: “Office Reunited” (17:52)

4. Iconic Scenes & Props: Kevin’s Chili (19:20)

• Props Insider: Listener Michael B. acquired Dunder Mifflin “accounting actuals” from Pam’s desk, showing that “aged chili pots” were props purchased specifically for the iconic scene: Three pots for $163.88. (18:25)
• Background detail: “Creed” has his eyes closed in the conference room opening—confirmed by Creed as likely an improvisational “method” acting choice, “Method all the way, pumpkin.” (19:43)

5. Costume Breakdown: How Staff Dressed for Casual Friday (21:16)

• Notables:
  • Andy: Original script—shirt reads “Ben Dover U. / apply within,” but in the episode: “Ask me about my butt” with ‘ASS’ highlighted in red. (21:52)
  • Toby: “Costa Rica” sweatshirt.
  • Oscar: Windbreaker inside all day.
  • Kelly: Jumpsuit and, per cut dialogue, condom earrings and a fancy bra. (23:13)
    • Scripted banter:
      • Kelly (Min.): “Do I look okay? Toby said I’m dressed inappropriately.”
      • Erin: “Are those condom earrings?” Kelly: “Yeah, I designed them myself.”
  • Meredith: Tube dress, “riding a little too high.” (27:26)
• Hosts’ playful fashion chat:
  • Are they too old for blazer-and-bra look? “Just own your style,” Angela encourages. (24:05)
  • Jenna: “I found this great suit...I just put the jacket on, and I was like, maybe this is what it is. I’m done. No shirt. Just f**k it.” (26:16)

6. Real-World Casual Friday Traditions (28:08)

• IT wins “most casual” department (28:32)
• Evolution of business dress:
  • 2000s: “Casual Friday” often meant “no tie” or “khakis,” not jeans.
  • Pandemic pivot: Casual wear normalized; some places now have “Formal Friday” or themed days (Aloha Friday, Western Wednesday, etc).
  • Angela: “Friday is a work-from-home day and most of their colleagues aren’t even in the office. I thought, man, Michael would have hated that.” (32:31-32:35)
  • Crew shoutout: The Office’s crew wearing Hawaiian shirts on set Fridays. (30:23)

7. Superfan/Deleted Scenes & Props Deep-Dive

a) Pam’s Welcome Back Gift (33:05)

• Scene summary: Jim gifts Pam a homemade “island” with dolls of herself, Jim, and Dwight. Dwight complains about “island proportions.”
• Prop cost trivia: The island and figurines cost $2,840.50 to produce. Jenna: “In no way does it look like it cost $2,800. I feel like I could make that in an afternoon…” (34:51)

b) Creed Steals Burritos

• Restored superfan moment: Creed takes Erin’s microwaved burrito while Pam makes tea (38:10)
• Jenna: “These superfan episodes...fill out the world with mundane office life like this, like getting your burrito stolen out of the microwave.” (38:00)

8. Dwight’s “Failure is Not an Option” Warehouse Meeting (39:08)

• Alt lines:
  • Andy: “To be clear, it is an option.” Dwight: “Not in my book. My book: The Cover is Failure Is Not an Option.” Andy: “It is an option.” (39:08)
• Deep-dive on the phrase: It originated with the Apollo 13 movie, not with NASA/Mission Control in real life (40:00).

9. Michael’s Talking Head: “Not to be truffled with” & ALT Reads (42:16)

• Alts include:
  • “When you owe me an apology and instead give me a mutiny, you are asking for a smackdown. Beep beep beep...Smackdown truck backing up!” (43:18)
  • Mutiny lines: “Not on my ship. Not while I’m captain. The only way they could get away with mutiny is if they took over or something.” (44:06)

10. Cut Ending: Pam as Office Manager? (45:55)

• Original script had Michael give Ryan the sales job and Pam the office manager role, her first act being to enforce the dress code—essentially pre-saging her later self-made “administrator” position. (46:07)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On aging and style:
  • Angela: “I probably shouldn’t be wearing short jean cutoffs...I came downstairs in them and Josh immediately was like, ‘Hey.’...So I guess I still can rock them.” (27:14)
• Creed’s method-acting:
  • Creed via text: “Method all the way, pumpkin.” (20:33)
• On “perfect food day”:
  • Angela: “If you come for my chocolate meringue pie, I'll be like, ‘Hey...not a big piece.’” (11:06)
  • Jenna: “Strawberry rhubarb pie...if I see rhubarb on a menu, I’m ordering it.” (11:29)
• Fashion chat:
  • Jenna: “No shirt, just f**k it.” (26:34)
• Office culture:
  • Angela: “Friday is a work from home day...Michael would have hated that.” (32:28)
• “Failure is Not an Option” origin story:
  • Jenna (on the phrase’s history): “I was like this is Winston Churchill. No, it came from Apollo 13.” (39:35)
• Michael’s talking head ALT:
  • “Beep beep beep...What’s that? Smackdown truck backing up!” (43:18)
• Prop sticker shock:
  • Jenna: “In no way does it look like it cost $2,800...” (34:51)

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Community Segment: Around the Town (48:34)

• Fan mail highlights:

  • Listener Danny G: Aunt is Nancy Thurston, stuntwoman on The Office.
  • Samantha S.: Tribute to Evelyn Clark, “I-70 Fence Lady” from St. Charles, MO, who spread joy via fence messages to travelers.
  • Pagie R. & Bethany Z.: Richmond Flying Squirrels bring back the “big dill dog” to their menu after fans (and Office Ladies shoutout) clamor for its return.

• Hosts reminisce on community quirks:

  • Jenna: The “purple house” in Manchester, MO—everyone knew directions by it.
  • Angela: The “bunny house” at Easter, a beloved local tradition.

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Office Ladies LEGO Set Q&A (53:31)

• Fan Micha W. (Poland): Do the hosts own The Office LEGO set, and what’s it like to be a LEGO minifigure?
  • Jenna: Asked for it as a Christmas gift, loved putting it together with her kids—“How many LEGOs have I stepped on? So many.”
  • Angela: Got hers from fan-designer J.J. Lewis at a convention and left it unopened, cherishing the signed box.

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Episode Tone & Style

True to form, Jenna and Angela maintain a warm, funny, and occasionally tangential conversation. Their easy chemistry, willingness to poke fun at themselves (and each other), and genuine fondness for their time on The Office shine throughout. They center fan questions, lift up crew and unsung contributors, and model the same “zero Fs” attitude celebrated by characters like Meredith.

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a casual deep-dive into both The Office’s “Casual Friday” episode and the culture that surrounded it—on set, among the cast, and in real-world offices. Memorable moments include digital clutter shares, vivid (and funny) costume and fashion talk, prop budgeting surprises, and a revealing investigation into office fashion both in Scranton and beyond.

For diehard fans and newcomers alike, this episode is rich with character, community, and inside stories—Equal parts celebration, nostalgia, and relatable coworker banter.

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Key Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 05:10 | Listener question: “Perfect Food Day” | | 13:47 | Angela’s “digital clutter” email time capsule | | 19:20 | Kevin’s Chili—prop trivia | | 21:16 | Costume breakdown: Andy’s/others’ outfits | | 28:08 | The history of Casual Friday in offices | | 33:05 | Jim’s “welcome back” island gift to Pam | | 39:08 | Dwight’s “failure is not an option”—phrase origin | | 42:16 | Michael’s talking head “candy bag alts” | | 45:55 | Cut ending: Pam as office manager | | 48:34 | Around the Town—community fan mail & shout outs | | 53:31 | The Office LEGO set—host reactions |

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Selected Quotes

• “If you come for my chocolate meringue pie, I’ll be like, ‘Hey…not a big piece.’” — Angela (11:06)
• “[My shirt?] No shirt, just f**k it.” — Jenna (26:34)
• “Failure is not an option…Not in my book. My book, the cover is Failure is Not an Option.” — Dwight quoting the script (39:11)
• “Beep beep beep…Smackdown truck backing up! We’ve got a shipment of smackdown. Where would you like it?” — Michael, alternate talking head (43:18)
• “Friday is a work-from-home day and most of their colleagues aren’t even in the office. I thought, oh man, Michael would have hated that.” — Angela (32:28)

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Miss Office? Listen to this recap, and you’ll feel like you’re back at your favorite Scranton branch—albeit in even comfier clothes than on “Casual Friday.”

Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let me just talk about it for a second. First of all, the bottom is like a real sole. It's like the bottom is like a sneaker, but it's a slipper. And then the top is like this cozy fleece. I got these for my daughter and now I want them for myself. She's worn them every day and it says they feel like a massage with every step. And I can agree.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love Topo. I ordered their Terraventure sneakers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, you did?

[Jenna Fisher]

In blue and peach.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

Head to topoathletic.com to buy online or use the store locator to find an authorized retailer near you.

[Kate Flannery]

Foreign.

[Jenna Fisher]

I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fisher]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.

[Jenna Fisher]

We're the Office Lady 6.0.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hello, hello, hello, everybody.

[Matt Beagle]

Lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're sort of dressed the same.

[Jenna Fisher]

We're dressed the same. And we're both recording from our home

[Angela Kinsey]

offices today in black T shirts and black glasses.

[Jenna Fisher]

Did you put any makeup on today?

[Angela Kinsey]

Do I look like it?

[Jenna Fisher]

Did you do your hair?

[Angela Kinsey]

This is day Two hair. Because I had, like, kind of a fun job yesterday. Yeah. So it's like, your hair looks good. Thank you. Thank you. So, yeah, I didn't make any other effort, and then I have day two hair.

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, for me, I've always felt like if my hair looks good, that's more important than putting on makeup for me.

[Angela Kinsey]

For sure. For sure.

[Jenna Fisher]

Which is why I'm so very excited to have hair again. I have a full bob now.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do. And it's so cute and sassy. I love it.

[Jenna Fisher]

I think I'm going to grow it two or three more inches just where it just brushes the shoulder, you know,

[Angela Kinsey]

I cut three inches off my hair. Sorry, guys. This is a lot of talk about haircuts and whatnot, but, I mean, I like a summer trim.

[Jenna Fisher]

Same.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know we're talking a lot about air right now, but it is 98 degrees out today.

[Jenna Fisher]

It is.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is so hot.

[Jenna Fisher]

And yet we are casual. We are casual today.

[Angela Kinsey]

Look at you go. You're working in our episode. Did you like that?

[Jenna Fisher]

Did you like that?

[Angela Kinsey]

I did like it. So why don't we share with everyone what we're doing today?

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, this episode was inspired by some mail we got in our second drink folder specifically about the episode Casual Friday from season. And it kind of got us investigating this episode again. And there was so much we wanted to discuss. It was too much for a second drink. So today we're bringing it to 6.0 and we're gonna dive in.

[Angela Kinsey]

We are, you guys. We went into the scripts, the candy bag alts, and we're also gonna discuss the new scenes that were added to the super fan. Here's the beautiful thing about the Office, you guys. Each time I rewatch it, and I know you guys listening out there do this too, I feel like I discover something new. And let me tell you, I loved our original breakdown of this episode. It's a really good one. If you want to listen to something on a road trip or a slow day at work. I mean, Brian Baumgartner comes on, he talks about that famous chilly, cold open. We also talked with Randy Cordray, our producer, our costume designer Alicia Raycraft, Kate Flannery. I mean, we really dug in.

[Jenna Fisher]

But also we got info from Creed Bratton, from John Krasinski, and from director Brent Forrester. I mean, it is a stacked episode. And yet, if you can believe it, we have even more to discuss today. But first, I think we should do our chit chat question. It was sent in by Freya N In Phoenixville. Pennsylvania.

[Listener/Caller]

Hey, office ladies. My name is Freya, and I was wondering because you guys talk a lot about food and snacking on the podcast. So I'm interested to know what is your perfect food day? Like, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert. You can eat anything. You can fly anywhere in the world. Unlimited amount of money, Calories don't count. No allergies. Yeah. So anything goes. But, yeah, I'm just curious to know what would be your perfect food day? Like, what would you be eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert? Again, I love your podcast, and I hope you continue to do this for many, many years to come. Thank you. Bye.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, Freya, I would need to start by saying I feel so seen by you, particularly because you mentioned our love of snacks as well as all food. And lady, I have a new snack.

[Kate Flannery]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

You're coming in hot.

[Jenna Fisher]

I'm sorry. Okay. You know, I love, like, cheddar cracker sort of things. You know?

[Angela Kinsey]

You know this. Oh, I know this.

[Jenna Fisher]

You know, I ate those Trader Joe's cheddar crackers by, like, the boxload.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm. I've seen you eat, like, half a box.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. And then after that, I got super obsessed with Annie's cheddar bunnies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fisher]

I have a new one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay. I discovered them when I was in Chicago, and I can't stop. They are simple mills, almond flour, farmhouse cheddar crackers. And it's the texture. It's the way, like, when you eat it, it's so good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, I'm sold. I'll try it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, Freya, my first answer to your question is my snack would be cheddar crackers.

[Angela Kinsey]

My snack is still, and has been for decades, a cheese stick and some pretzels. And we all know I chomp. I don't pull the string. Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Let's get over it. Okay, well, what is our perfect food day? Where are we having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert? No limitations. Lee and I play this game sometimes. It's really fun. What are we doing?

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's go back and forth. Let's go back and forth. You say breakfast, I say breakfast. Let's go back and forth.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay. I wanna go to France for breakfast.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ooh la la. Oh. Cause that's right. Freya said we could go wherever.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. So I wanna go to France, and I wanna have, like, a single, awesome, like, French press coffee. I wanna have some muesli with some, like, fresh, fresh yogurt, and I wanna have some delicious pastries.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. You know, I'm not a huge breakfast eater. You know this, but I love Josh's homemade granola. I do.

[Listener/Caller]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And my favorite thing is to eat his granola. And I take some bananas and I chop em up and I have peanut butter and honey and Josh's granola and I kind of mix it all together, and that's one of my favorite breakfasts.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, I like that answer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Lunch.

[Jenna Fisher]

Lunch. I've shared about this before on the podcast. I want to go back to Tokyo and go to the Shibuya food show and maybe just have some chicken ramen or a bento box. But I'm going to Japan for lunch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Okay. I love lunch. It's like one of my favorite things. If you get to splurge and go out for lunch, you know, because I feel like I'm always just having a sandwich at home. So if I get to go out. Oh, you know what I love? What? I love just like a little mom and pop Mexican food place. Like, there's one in the valley here in Los Angeles called Tony's Mexican Grill, and I love their lunch combos. Like a cheese enchilada, a crispy shell taco, a tamale. That is like, one of the best lunches.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dinner.

[Jenna Fisher]

Dinner.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm going far for dinner.

[Jenna Fisher]

Lady, where are you going?

[Angela Kinsey]

Where are you going? I want to take you guys to Singapore. You guys know I grew up in Indonesia. We'd go to Singapore a lot. Listen, you need to go to a hawker center. I've been to Lau Passat. There's a bunch. But it is a culinary experience. Jenna, it is amazing. Like, there's just about every type of food that you would want to try. I mean, there's a street called Satay street, and you can get different types of saute.

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Lady. Lady. It is truly such a cool experience. And the food is so good. And by the way, it's open all day, so if you wanted to do breakfast and lunch there, you could. But I would take you there for dinner. We'd get some nasi goreng, some really good fried rice, some chicken saute. There's. Oh, my goodness. Like, you could be there for hours.

[Jenna Fisher]

That sounds amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

I like that. Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

What about you?

[Jenna Fisher]

What about you for dinner? I don't know. I love Indian food.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, you really do.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love Italian food. I love a smash burger.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love a smash burger.

[Jenna Fisher]

Can I leave dinner open for, like, what am I feeling? Those would be my three things. I'm having one of those three things for dinner.

[Angela Kinsey]

Freya, we are clearly very passionate about this question. It's like our brains are breaking over

[Jenna Fisher]

it a little bit. But I know my dessert hardcore. I want a delicious strawberry and rhubarb pie with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, one of my favorite all time desserts is a chocolate meringue pie. My mom made them for me growing up. Now Josh makes it for me. I get one every year on my birthday. And I will fight you for if you come for my chocolate meringue pie, I'll be like, hey, like I think I've told you this, lady. Josh's friend Devin was over and Josh was like, hey, Devin wants a piece of pie. And I'm like, not a big piece. Like, pulled him aside, I was like, just give him a little slice.

[Jenna Fisher]

That's very funny. Yeah. And you know, for me, strawberry rhubarb pie is the one thing I will not bake myself because rhubarb is such a high maintenance thing. It's time consuming and I've never cooked it, I've never made it, but if I'm anywhere and I see like rhubarb on a menu, I'm ordering it.

[Angela Kinsey]

You're all about it.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love it. I get so excited.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, there you go. Freya, thank you so much for sending in that question. Yeah, I'm hungry now. I'm hungry.

[Jenna Fisher]

I'm realizing I don't have any of those crackers and I'm gonna have to put them on the shopping list for later today.

[Angela Kinsey]

Send me a link, I wanna get some.

[Jenna Fisher]

All right. Oh, I'll bring em into the studio next time we're in studio.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

All right, well, why don't we take a break and then when we come back, we're gonna dive into Casual Friday.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have some fun digital clutter shares. And I also found something hilarious online I wanna talk about.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yay. I can't wait.

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode is sponsored by Vinted.

[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fisher]

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[Jenna Fisher]

Well, welcome back.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's dive into some Casual Friday and why don't we start with Wait for it. It's been a while, guys, but I'm gonna go into my digital clutter.

[Jenna Fisher]

I'm very excited for this. I don't know what this is.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know you don't. I was looking through my old emails to see if you and I had exchanged any while we were filming this episode and I found something that really cracked me up. Okay, so here's what we were doing during this time in our lives.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

This email happened right after we filmed Casual Friday. I guess we were just starting Company Picnic, right? And there were lots of festivities going on for that hundredth episode of the Office. Right?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Including a party. And we talked a little bit about this before, you know, when the hundredth episode of the Office came around and Company Picnic. But I did not share this email that I found and I'm going to read it to you.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is April 19, 2009, 2:31am What? From Jenna Fisher to Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fisher]

I can't believe I was awake at that time. Any time in my life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Subject title Semicolon Toilet.

[Listener/Caller]

What?

[Jenna Fisher]

What is this?

[Angela Kinsey]

And then this is what the body of the email says. Yep, I'm on the toilet. I figured this was easier than texting and it is keeping me occupied as I deal with whatever is wrong with me. Oh my God. Ugh. I'm just praying it isn't the flu. But if it is, I am profoundly grateful that it didn't hit three days ago or something because I think that's while we were filming. Okay, you go on to say, I wish I Had good gossip from the party. My favorite conversation was with Jeff Blitz and Jen Salata. I told them the story of how you wrote, quote, water on your water bottle instead of your name when you were sleep deprived after having the baby. Jen said one time when they passed the Starbucks order sheet, she wrote that she wanted an Andy talking head because she was so wiped. They also made a 100 moments montage. I really wish you could have been there. Okay, I'm heading to bed now. I'm not feeling so hot now. I want to throw up. Talk tomorrow. Hope this passes. Jenna.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, lady, my response. 7:44am Same day. Ugh, Lady. So sorry. Definitely just take care of yourself. I am bummed that I wasn't there to celebrate our 100 EPPs, but honestly, my night here was great. I'm glad my sitter bailed. I was so happy to be with my little gal. Right now, Isabel and I are eating Cheerios and watching dolphins. Jump. I get why people live by the beach. I hope you feel better. Sent via BlackBerry by @&t.

[Matt Beagle]

And that

[Angela Kinsey]

is because I had rented a little place near where we were filming Company Picnic because I didn't want Isabel to be in a car seat for an hour and I wanted her to be with me because I didn't work every day. I'm not in that episode a ton, you know, So I made it like a little mini vacay. And yeah, I guess I had a babysitter that bailed so I didn't get to go. You did have a follow up email, lady, that said, thank God I'm feeling better. Oh, and one other thing from the party, I watched a certain someone hit on a bunch of women and one other person dirty dance up on their boyfriend. I'm not gonna mention names. I've got good digital clutter. Lady.

[Jenna Fisher]

Lady, you know, it's like, I want you to have less emails in your inbox, but I love your digital clutter share so much. Please never clean out your inbox. Please.

[Angela Kinsey]

When I found this for everyone listening, I left Jenna a message and I was like, you will not believe what I'm reading in my email right now. It's bringing me such joy.

[Jenna Fisher]

All right, well, that was a great kickoff. I have some trivia that I found in my digital clutter. It's not nearly as good as that, but I did find out that the original title for Casual Friday was Office Reunited.

[Ad Voice]

Huh.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I think Casual Friday is such a more zippy title, don't you?

[Jenna Fisher]

It is, but I mean, you know, this episode is where Michael, Pam, and Ryan come back from working at Michael Scott Paper Company. So it is like, you know, that

[Angela Kinsey]

would describe what was happening.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, yeah. But Casual Friday, far superior title. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, well, this episode opens with that famous Kevin Chile scene. Right? We talked about it a lot on the podcast. Like we said in our original breakdown, Brian actually talks all about it, and we also discuss it with Aaron Schur, who wrote it. But I have some new trivia for you. Oh, yeah, it's about that scene, and it's thanks to a letter from Michael B. In Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Michael says, I just acquired some of Pam's items that NBC auctioned off from her desk. Some of the papers were, quote, dunder Mifflin Accounting Actuals, which I believe are actually just lists of some of Phil Shea's prop purchases. But printed on Dunder Mifflin letterhead for this episode, it lists that three quote aged chili pots were purchased from a company named Studio Art and technology for $163.88.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Isn't that wild?

[Jenna Fisher]

Wow, that is a really cool keepsake.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And you know Phil would do that, right? He would take just, like, I mean, office papers, even from our own production office, and use them as props on the set. Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, that's neat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I thought so too. Thanks for writing in, Michael.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, I've got a little background. Catch a new one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

It's at 2 minutes and 16 seconds. It's in that conference room scene that opens the episode. I did not notice this before, but Creed has his eyes closed. And I wondered, was this a forgotten storyline? Like, why are his eyes closed?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I saw that too. And some folks had commented on that, and I couldn't find anything in the scripts about that, but I took a screen grab of that moment and I texted it to Creed and I said, creed, are you pretending to meditate in this moment? I mean, it is casual Friday. He looks like he's dressed in some type of yoga slash spa retreat outfit. Creed wrote back, well, I don't know, but that sounds as good a reason as any. I think meditation sounds right. And then I wrote back, ha. Well, I'm convinced that was your acting choice. And he wrote back and said, method all the way, pumpkin.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, it wasn't in the script. I checked the script to see if there was something that says, like, Creed is gonna spend the day meditating or something. I think that was his added little layer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, Creed thinks so too. Well, we also got this letter from a listener in Santa Clarita, California. Evelyn R. Said. Hey, ladies, I'm a longtime listener, and now I have my husband hooked on your podcast. I loved this episode and was curious what the script said about everyone's Casual Friday outfits. How were they described? And you know what, Jenna? I realized I didn't do a costume breakdown for Casual Friday. What?

[Kate Flannery]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

You're right. I always do those.

[Jenna Fisher]

You always do them.

[Matt Beagle]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Evelyn, I went to our shooting draft, and I found some amazing tidbits. In answer to your question, here's what it said in the script about what people were wearing in that first conference room scene. It said, interior, conference room. Everyone is there. People are dressed in casual attire. Stanley in a T shirt. Oscar in a windbreaker and jeans. Kelly in a jumpsuit. Dwight wears the same outfit as usual, but with no tie. Andy is wearing a shirt that says Ben Dover you. And on the back, apply within with an arrow pointing to his butt.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, so it's very interesting that the script said that about Andy's shirt, because I noticed Andy's shirt on this rewatch, and I got curious about it because what he's actually wearing is a blue T shirt that says ask me about my butt, written in white letters. But the word ask is spelled A S, S, K. The ass part is in red. It's in, like, big letters. So it's like capital A, S, S and then little K. And it's such an odd shirt, and I have to imagine it was made for this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

What do you think Ed thought when he, like, showed up to his, like, costume fitting, and they're like, you're wearing a shirt that just says, like, ass on it. Like, I'd be like, what the hell? And I just can't believe we didn't talk about it in our original breakdown. I did take a screen grab of it, and you can plainly see at 18 minutes and six seconds, his shirt. I also want to point out that in that same scene, you can see that Toby is wearing a sweatshirt that says Costa Rica.

[Jenna Fisher]

I loved that detail.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did, too. And Oscar does have on a windbreaker all day long, even though he's inside. And then I also found this gem about Kelly's outfit in the candy bag. Alts and Jenna, I think we should both read it. Okay. I want you to read Kelly's lines, and I'm going to read errands. Okay?

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay. Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. And I'll do the stage direction. Ready?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kelly, costume, interior annex. Kelly wearing hip overalls and a fancy bra. Erin is walking through Kelly Says, do I look okay? Toby said I'm dressed inappropriately.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, no, I think you look great. Very cool. Are those condom earrings?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I designed them myself.

[Jenna Fisher]

People really went all out. I feel a little underdressed.

[Angela Kinsey]

You could use a little work. What kind of bra do you have going on under there?

[Ad Voice]

Hmm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Condom earrings she made herself.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, man.

[Jenna Fisher]

Lady, I have a question.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Are we too old to do the trend where you wear a suit but you're not wearing a shirt? You just have a bra underneath?

[Angela Kinsey]

So you're wearing a blazer with just a bra.

[Listener/Caller]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you see any of the bra, or is it just, like, the hint that does it? Like, what's the. What's going on here? Do I see the bra or do you?

[Jenna Fisher]

It's obvious I don't have a shirt on. It's very obvious.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Now, I do a thing all the time. It's my favorite look where I wear a bustier underneath my suit. It looks like a strapless bustier right under my suit, but it's like it goes into my pants and everything. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about, like, a lace bra. So what I've seen is skin to the pant.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you're not seeing the bra. It just looks like you have on no clothes and a jacket. Am I understanding?

[Jenna Fisher]

You see the bra. Oh, you see the lace bra peeking out underneath the jacket?

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I. You know what? Why not? Why not just let me live? You know? If you want to do it, do it. If that's your look, go for it. I don't know. I just think, just own your style. If that's your style. I think I would be just. I don't know. I think I'd be futzing with all of it all night because I'd be like, I'm not sure where the fabric's supposed to be, but, you know, recently a friend of mine who's 60 did the black bra under a white kind of crocheted top, and she was like, this is like a trend now, and I like it. And I was like, do it. And. Yeah, and I thought she looked great.

[Jenna Fisher]

So, yeah, I think now in my 50s, since I've moved into the 0F's portion of my life, Yeah, I sorta feel like it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think you should do it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Like, do it even about sexiness or whatever. It's just, like, I didn't feel like finding a shirt. It was too much effort.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's funnier. That's funny to me. Wait, let's Just peel back the onion. Is that. This isn't about fashion. This is just. You don't feel like finding a shirt. So you have a jacket, you have a bra. Call it a day.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, I found this great suit, and I love the pants, and I love the jacket. And I tried on probably, I don't know, eight shirts. None of them looked good. And at a certain point, I just put the jacket on, and I was like, you know what? Maybe this is what it is. I'm done.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

No shirt. Just f. K it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, all your bits and bobs are covered. Who cares?

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, they're more than covered.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, lady. I have a pair of shorts that are just old, and they're my favorite, and they're getting a little ratty. They're like cutoffs, you know? And I put them on the other day, and they're short. And I thought, oh, gosh, I'm 55. I probably shouldn't be wearing short jean cutoffs.

[Matt Beagle]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I came downstairs in them, and Josh, like, immediately was like, hey. And so I was like, well, you know what? I guess I still can rock them.

[Jenna Fisher]

I say wear them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. You know who would wear them? How's this transition?

[Listener/Caller]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Meredith. Meredith is the queen of zero Fs.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, wait a second. Wait a second now.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know.

[Jenna Fisher]

I don't know if I want to be, like, using Meredith as my style inspiration. Incidentally, I was curious how the shooting draft described Meredith's Casual Friday look. And here's what it said. You know, after Toby reprimands her, it says, Meredith becomes defensive and stands up. She's wearing a tube dress. That's riding a little too high. But you know what happened?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

She was a woman in her 50s. She was standing in her closet, and she was like, I'm tired. I'm not gonna put anything else with this.

[Listener/Caller]

This is it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. That's all Meredith had for that day. She was done.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Okay, well, I was curious if, quote, casual Friday was still a thing in offices, right? So I went online, I did my googling, and. Lady, first of all, can you guess which department. Matt, feel free to weigh in on this as well. Guess which department in corporate offices has been labeled as the most casually dressed by folks online.

[Jenna Fisher]

It. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. It. You got it right away. Matt, you didn't even get a chance to chime in.

[Matt]

I didn't get a chance. It was too high. I, like, I had to familiarize myself with the various different departments.

[Angela Kinsey]

You were going through your head like, human resources yeah, it is notoriously the most casual of any corporate office. And then I found a Reddit thread that had some fun shares about this whole Casual Friday office tradition. So basically, you guys, it really has become a thing of the past. Not to be a womp womp, but a lot of people in the 2000s said they would have to dress up Monday through Thursday, you know, suit and tie, but on Friday they were allowed to wear khakis with no tie. That was sort of like the standard, like, corporate office thing.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. What's interesting about that is that Casual Friday was not even like, fully casual. It didn't even mean jeans. It just meant, like, less corporate. But you were still sort of business casual, I think.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Casual Friday was basically Dwight in this episode.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes, exactly. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then another person wrote in and said, my office has actually got every other Friday off. And we used to call our working Friday Aloha Friday. And many people wore Hawaiian shirts. That was early 2000s, and over time, many of the Hawaiian shirt wearers retired. I recently brought back a few aloha shirts and started wearing them on Fridays. And one of the old timers said, damn, I forgot all about Aloha Friday. A much younger co worker asked what that was. So we explained that in the old days, many people would wear Hawaiian slash aloha shirts on Fridays. She asked if we could do that again, and we both said, of course, just wear an aloha shirt. And lady, this made me think of our crew. Remember, our crew on Fridays would often wear a Hawaiian shirt.

[Jenna Fisher]

They would.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. But now we're the old timers.

[Jenna Fisher]

We are. That's like an old fashioned tradition.

[Kate Flannery]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then this fellow from Germany wrote in with this curveball. He said in the thread, does your office have a non casual Fridays? This really got people chatting. Okay. He said he works in it. And since his department usually just wears jeans and T shirts, a group of them thought it would be fun to introduce a non casual Friday as a bit of a joke where people actually dress up and often kind of formally. And folks love this lady. People shared that they do fancy Fridays or, quote, formal Fridays or they'll have like, Thai Thursdays. Isn't that so funny?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, it's so crazy because the pandemic really changed office fashion when everybody was working from home, and then it was time to go back into a shared workspace. I think people were like, I'll come back to the office, but I'm not wearing that anymore. Like, I want my comfy clothes all the time. I've Noticed.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. So now it's like flipped. It's like you're casual all week. And then if you want, for fun, some people dress up on Fridays.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, I wonder how long that's going to last. I feel like as newer generations who didn't experience the pandemic start going into the workplace, I wonder if it will become the way it was, if it will become like, you'll have like this like fancier business attire again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I don't know. Okay. And then two. Two more things that I thought were interesting is one person said they worked at an engineering firm in Texas and they did a completely optional, but it was really fun Western Wednesday. And you could wear cowboy shirts, boots, cowboy hats. And I thought that was kind of fun. Like, I wonder if there are regional dress up days at different offices, you know? And lastly, a bunch of folks shared that Friday is a work from home day and most of their colleagues aren't even in the office. And I thought, oh, man, Michael would have hated that.

[Jenna Fisher]

That's the most casual version of a Friday.

[Kate Flannery]

It is.

[Angela Kinsey]

So there you go. Those are some casual Friday trends happening now.

[Jenna Fisher]

Thank you, Angela. Well, I want to share a new scene that was added back to the superfan version. It happens at the Jim Pam, Dwight desk clump. And Jim has a gift for Pam. He's welcoming her back. And she opens it and it looks homemade. It's this little island and there are little dolls. There's a doll representing her, one representing Jim, one representing Dwight. Why don't we listen?

[Kate Flannery]

All right, you ready, Dwight? Ready for what?

[Jenna Fisher]

What's this?

[Ad Voice]

Just a.

[Jenna Fisher]

On behalf of desk area clump number one, we welcome you to our little island. Love, Jim and Dwight. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Kate Flannery]

I had nothing to do with that. Okay. I miss the storage containers that used to occupy that spot.

[Jenna Fisher]

Thank you, Dwight.

[Kate Flannery]

And you obscure my view of the shredder.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, let's get back to the ceremony.

[Kate Flannery]

Here we go.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I love it. That is so cute.

[Jenna Fisher]

It's us and Dwight.

[Kate Flannery]

I'm supposed to be fishing. Barbaric.

[Jenna Fisher]

You're a train conductor?

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, it's my job on the island.

[Jenna Fisher]

And I'm a giant Amazon woman.

[Kate Flannery]

We need an attraction to raise money

[Angela Kinsey]

to get the train to the island.

[Matt]

It's a lot.

[Kate Flannery]

That island is completely implausible.

[Jenna Fisher]

I love it. So there you have it. I guess Jim made her. When did he make it? How did he make it without her seeing it?

[Angela Kinsey]

Where does Jim do any of it? Like, where do his pranks happen?

[Matt Beagle]

All of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do Love, though, that Dwight finds the size of the island disproportionate. Like, this is a guy that loves bobbleheads. You know what I mean?

[Kate Flannery]

Y.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, don't you wish you still had that prop?

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, I would love to have that on my desk right now.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Well, thanks to Michael B. Again from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, we have this little piece of information about that gift from Jim. Michael says, according to the Dunder Mifflin accounting actuals that he has from the Phil Shea prop papers, that island and figurines cost $2,840.50 and was made by movie art.

[Jenna Fisher]

What? Did you see it?

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait, are you saying you don't think the little island looks like it cost $2,800?

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, in no way does it look like it cost $2,800. I feel like I could make that in an afternoon with stuff I found in my house. I mean, that's the point of it. It's supposed to look like that, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

It is, it is. But yeah, that was an expensive prop

[Jenna Fisher]

and then it got cut out.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Dang it. I wonder who has it.

[Jenna Fisher]

I don't know. Well, next up is the scene in the kitchen where Pam and Phyllis are going to discover that they are wearing the same outfit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Before we dive into that scene, I needed to address something. Okay, so in our original breakdown of this episode, I did a mini deep dive on the local department store that Pam says she went to in the Steamtown mall to get her outfit. I pronounced it Boss Coves. And guess what, lady, that is not how you say it. Oh, we got a little fan mail flurry about it. And by the way, everyone that wrote in, you guys were really kind with me, so thank you. But I did feel the need to say it properly for you all, so I'm just going to let the CEO of the company do it so I don't mess it up. Here's a little snippet of him talking about his store.

[Matt]

So what the heck is a Bosco's anyway? Well, we're the largest family owned department store with 50 stores in this part of the country. In Monroe county, you're going to be number 51. I can't wait to meet you. Come on in. Let me show you what a Boskovs is all about.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Boscovs. That was Jim Boskov. Jim, I'm really sorry. I got your store name wrong. And the store looks awesome. I mean, that video, I was like, wow, this store has everything.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, lady, you know what I found out? It Almost wasn't Boscov's. In the table draft of this episode, Pam says they got their outfits at, quote, Express for Women at the Steamtown Mall.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, well, I'm glad they went with the local store, aren't you?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah, that was a good rewrite.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, so now Phyllis has her famous line, close your mouth, sweetie. You look like a trout.

[Jenna Fisher]

Mm.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember Phyllis told us that that is one of the lines people quote to her most often from the show.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes, and I've said that it was very hard not to laugh in this moment because just any time that sweet, sweet Phyllis has to say something like really biting, it is so funny. I also wanted to point out that in the superfan episode, there is a new top and bottom to this scene that has an extra little joke. At the top of the scene, Pam is alone in the kitchen. She's making her tea. And Creed walks in the door just as the microwave is beeping, and he opens it. He takes out a burrito, and then he walks into the annex. And then there's the scene with Pam and Phyllis noticing that they have the same outfit on. After the scene is over and Phyllis has said her famous line, Erin walks into the kitchen, checks the microwave, and she's really confused. And she turns to Pam and she says, did you see me put a burrito in there? Because her burrito is missing. And I just think it's such a great ex of the kind of things that we had to lose in order to make the broadcast version of these episodes fit for time. These super fan episodes, like, you're able to fill out the world with, like, mundane office life like this, like, getting your burrito stolen out of the microwave. And for the most part, the extra stuff in the Superfan of Casual Friday are just those little scene extensions, and they're really fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

I just love it. I love that burrito moment. Made it back in. And Dave Rogers, thank you.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, listen, next up, Dwight is gonna gather everyone down in the warehouse to make his case. Remember, he's written a memo to the sales staff in invisible ink that is actually urine, and they are mad because Michael has come back and he has made Pam and Ryan salespeople, and they're not giving back the clients that they stole when they left to make Michael Scott Paper company. So everyone's really mad. So Dwight calls this meeting, and he is down there with Phyllis, Stanley, and Andy. And this is extended. In the Superfan version, Dwight is explaining that failure is not an option. Have a listen.

[Kate Flannery]

If we do nothing, we fail. And failure is not an option.

[Matt]

Well, to be clear, it is an option.

[Kate Flannery]

Not in my book. My book. The COVID is Failure is not an option.

[Ad Voice]

It is an option.

[Kate Flannery]

Not in my book.

[Ad Voice]

Literally, what's written in my book. What are you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you write it?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yeah. Failure is not an option.

[Angela Kinsey]

Very serious.

[Jenna Fisher]

I got curious about the phrase failure is not an option. I was like, where did that come from?

[Angela Kinsey]

What did you find?

[Jenna Fisher]

I was completely surprised by the answer. Where do you guys think it came from? Matt, Angela, if you had to guess the phrase failure is not an option, unless, you know, maybe, you know, it

[Angela Kinsey]

sounds like a military term.

[Matt]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

[Matt Beagle]

Right?

[Jenna Fisher]

I was like, oh, this is Winston Churchill. No, it came from the movie Apollo

[Angela Kinsey]

13, not the actual mission by the astronauts. Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

Correct. So sort of. I mean, influenced by. So according to Wikipedia, in preparation for the movie, the script writers, Al Reinert and Bill Broyles, they interviewed flight controller Jerry Bostic. They wanted to get some intel on, like, what is Mission Control really like? And one of the questions they asked him was, weren't there times when everybody, or even just a few people were completely panicked? And Jerry said, no. When bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them. That was what he said to them. And then this guy Jerry said, months later, he learned that when the writers got in their car to leave, the writers said, that's it. That's the tagline for this whole movie. Failure is not an option. And then they gave that line to Ed Harris, who played Mission Control officer Gene Krantz. And then later, Gene Krantz wrote a memoir titled Failure is Not an Option.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is life imitating art. Art imitating Life.

[Matt]

So before 1995, were people not really saying, failure is not an option?

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, I really deep dived it.

[Matt]

I don't recall saying it before.

[Jenna Fisher]

Right. Isn't that crazy? That's what surprised me. Cause I felt like that's as old as it is. That's as far back in history as that phrase goes. But what was also crazy is that Gene Krantz never said it. He never actually said that phrase, but his character in the movie said it. But that was like the overall vibe of Mission Control.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, it's good, it's concise. You get it. Failure's not an option, period.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's very direct. What a star studded cast, by the way.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, if you haven't watched Apollo 13 in a while, I'd like to say that the movie holds up I watched it recently.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's been a while.

[Jenna Fisher]

It's great.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, well, listen, back to this scene. I do want to bring up one other thing. Jim is going to tell Pam, Michael, and Ryan that quote may or may not be, but definitely is a mutiny forming in the warehouse right now. And I have some candy bag alts for you, lady.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael is ticked off and he has this talking head. I want to play what made it in the episode, and then I'm going to read some alts.

[Jenna Fisher]

Okay, great. The old Michael Scott might have taken

[Kate Flannery]

this, but not the new Michael Scott. They are in for a bitter surprise. I am sorry not to be truffled with.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's not to be truffled with. Okay.

[Jenna Fisher]

No, don't truffle with him.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don't truffle with him. Don't even go near his trials and tribiones. Okay?

[Jenna Fisher]

That's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

But here were some candy bag alts for that particular talking head. Michael would have said, in my house, in my house, in my house, in my house. He just would have said that over and over. Here's another one. When you owe me an apology and instead give me a mutiny, you are asking for a smackdown. Beep, beep, beep. What's that? Smackdown truck backing up. We've got a shipment of smackdown. Where would you like it? Right here. You need to sign for it. Gladly.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, those are some of my favorite Michael talking heads, and they're my favorite ones that Steve does because he nails that timing so, so great. Also, this is bringing up an aspect of this episode that I really, really liked, which is the whole thing for Michael in this episode is he's waiting all day for people to apologize to him. Like his come from is that he is owed an apology. And I love it so much. It's one of my favorite mini storylines within this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

I really wish we could have heard Steve say, we've got a shipment of smackdown.

[Jenna Fisher]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, here's another one. Michael would have said mutiny. Not on my ship. Not while I'm captain. The only way they could get away with mutiny is if they took over or something. And that's not going to happen.

[Jenna Fisher]

So good.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, Michael eventually brings Dwight, Andy, Phyllis, and Stanley down to the warehouse and he's going to apologize. He is going to say that he has realized that he was the problem. He has this talking head where he says that he has looked at the situation 100 different ways, and in every one of them, he is in the wrong. It's so funny. There was a different talking head in the table draft. He is still going to realize that he needs to apologize, but instead, it would have gone like this. He was going to say, when I was four, a girl in my nursery school was crying and crying, and I was irritated because she had the best block, the block with wheels. So that's all I could focus on. And then later, when we were eating cookies, I realized she was crying because I bit her today. I realized that I bit Stanley and I bit Phyllis and I bit Andy and I spit on Dwight.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so ridiculous.

[Jenna Fisher]

So ridiculous. But listen, finally, in our revisiting of Casual Friday, there is another storyline in this episode, and it is that Michael has to decide between Ryan and Pam for a single sales job. He's going to have to make one of them a salesperson, and then one of them. I don't know what they're going to be. Right. And the episode ends with one of Michael's famous fake firing scenes. I love these scenes. And he ultimately gives the sales job to Pam. Well, there was an alternate ending to this episode that was in the table draft, and it hints at something. This got cut out. But they clearly liked this idea and they saved it. Because in the table draft, he gives the sales job to Ryan.

[Listener/Caller]

Ooh.

[Jenna Fisher]

So in the actual episode, he gives it to Pam. Right. But in the alternate ending, he gave the sales job to Ryan, and he makes Pam the office manager.

[Matt Beagle]

Oh.

[Jenna Fisher]

Which, by the way, when you get into, like, what this job is, it's basically office administrator, which is the job that Pam is later gonna make up for herself when she leaves sales. But he makes her, quote, unquote, office manager and tells her that her first responsibility is to enforce the dress code. So basically, her job is gonna be every job Michael doesn't wanna do.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh, that's perfect.

[Jenna Fisher]

And she has to start with Meredith. And there's this whole scene that was a tag at the end of the episode of Pam trying to explain to Meredith why her outfit is inappropriate.

[Angela Kinsey]

And is Meredith just, like, go f yourself?

[Jenna Fisher]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's kind of evil genius of Michael, though, is to make Pam always the fall guy. Like, always taking the heat. I just loved this lady. I loved revisiting this episode. I loved rewatching it. I've been rewatching episodes now more and more, and they make me happy.

[Jenna Fisher]

Mm, me too.

[Angela Kinsey]

So thank you so much for writing in with your suggestions and questions about specific episodes and superfan versions. They're making us dig back in and it's really fun.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, listen, why don't we take a break and then we'll be back with our around the town and our office question of the week.

[Kate Flannery]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Go easy.

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[Kate Flannery]

I hit 200 on a scratcher.

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[Kate Flannery]

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[Ad Voice]

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[Kate Flannery]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we are back and it's time for around the Town. I'm going to start us off with some snail mail from Danny G. We got a lovely card from Danny and she shared that the front of it was painted by her grandma. Look at that, Jenna. Isn't that gorgeous?

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, it's a turkey. Yeah, it's really detailed.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's very detailed. Beautiful painting of a turkey. I'm going to put that in our stories. Danny and Danny went on to say many wonderful things about her love of the podcast, but I had to share this fun the Office crossover. Danny said, my aunt is a prolific stuntwoman, a regular double on Charmed, tons of hit movies, etc. So you can imagine my utter shock when I was nonchalantly listening to episode 189, free family portrait and heard you throw out her name, Nancy Thurston. She is very humble about her work, so I didn't know and I called her immediately.

[Kate Flannery]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Isn't that so great?

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

So Danny's aunt was on our show as a stuntwoman, and I just thought that was so fun that she learned that tidbit from listening to Office Ladies. Dani went on to say that if we want to go to a train museum, we shouldn't miss the one in San Diego. That does the Polar Express in the winter. She also added, P.S. i've started saying chunk it and PPS Toby is totally the Scranton Strangler. Thank you, Dani.

[Jenna Fisher]

Amazing. Well, we also got a letter from Samantha S. In St. Charles, Missouri. Hello, St. Charles, Missouri. I've been there many times, Samantha said. Evelyn Clark, known as the i70 fence lady, has delighted highway drivers for years with the messages she would put on her fence using colorful cups. From Happy birthdays to Congrats, grads and happy Holidays, Evelyn has shouted out to so many people over the years. And although Evelyn has now moved from that home, every St. Charles resident knows exactly which patch of fence would be wishing them well on their travels.

[Angela Kinsey]

Aw.

[Jenna Fisher]

I freaking love people who bring joy to their communities like this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Me too.

[Jenna Fisher]

It is a treasure. You are a treasure.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you just don't even realize how many people's lives you impact. All those people, it becomes part of, like, their travel lore. You know, they drive by, they want to see what the sign is. It's just special. It is.

[Jenna Fisher]

There was this house that was, like, in the section of Manchester, Missouri, where I lived, which is a suburb of St. Louis. And these folks painted their house bright purple. And I swear, I think I've even talked about this on the podcast before, but it was the purple house. And we loved their purple house. Everyone knew the purple house. You could give directions. You could be like, oh, you know the Dairy Queen by the purple house. Yes, of course. I know exactly where I am right now.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

And I like it when people get a little quirky in their communities.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do, too. There was this house that went all out for Easter. They decorated their yard with all of these giant bunnies. I don't even know where they got them because they were, like, made out of wood and hand painted. It looked like they made them. And then they had some kind of oversized Easter eggs. And we as kids would get so excited to drive by the bunny house at Easter and see the big bunnies.

[Jenna Fisher]

We've got a guy in our neighborhood now who does blow ups at the holidays. Oh, I know it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know the house.

[Jenna Fisher]

You know it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Every year they add a new one. Every year you're like, what have we added this year? They have some that are taller than their house, but I don't even know where they're gonna put more. They are out of room.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is stacked. But it's so fun to drive by.

[Jenna Fisher]

It's so fun to drive by. And you know, my kids will always remember that. Yeah, that's gonna be a Core memory for them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Absolutely.

[Jenna Fisher]

And when they have kids, they're gonna be excited to bring them over here for Christmas. Cause they're gonna get to drive by the house with all the blowups.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, listen, folks, we've got one last around the town for you. It's from Paige R. And Bethany Z. They both wrote in with this important update from Richmond, Virginia. Quote, there's an update on the Big deal dog. Remember we talked about that Big deal dog lady?

[Jenna Fisher]

I remember.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, the Richmond Flying Squirrels were so psyched about the shout out on the podcast that they put out a poll to the community asking if they should bring back the big dill dog. Richmond voted, and the squirrels just announced the return of the big dill dog to their menu. Thank you both for helping us bring back one of Richmond's iconic ballpark snacks. Hey, how about that?

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, now I feel like we have to go.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have to go.

[Jenna Fisher]

And we have to eat this big dill dog.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And we might tell Freya it's one of our new favorite lunches.

[Jenna Fisher]

We might.

[Matt Beagle]

All right.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, finally, our office question of the week is from Micha W. In Poland, who said there is an official LEGO set depicting the office. Do you own one? And what is it like to be a minifigure? I have one.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have one as well. Jenna, you got it first, so you should share.

[Jenna Fisher]

I asked for it for Christmas. Like, I got it for Christmas from Lee because I was so excited. What is it like to be a minifigure? I mean, my gosh, we've gone to Legoland multiple times. We love Lego, so this was thrilling. I mean, how many LEGO have I put together? How many organizational systems have I created in my home for stray lego? How many legos have I stepped on? So many.

[Angela Kinsey]

So many.

[Jenna Fisher]

I mean, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

You have kids, you have legos, period. I mean, how many ships have we put together? Oh, my goodness, so many. Like, boats and planes. And you know what Kate and Josh did? The lego, that's the whole entire globe, you know?

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is like, tons of pieces. And we have little, tiny organized drawers of different parts. And anyway, Legos are a huge part of our lives. We were all thrilled as castmates from the office. We all talked about it. I think it was on our little text thread. I mean, this was a super cool moment.

[Jenna Fisher]

I loved putting it together. The detail is really great. And it just took me back. I mean, there's a Michael's office and then there's the whole bullpen. And it was so fun because you don't like, put all the minifigures together. They're in different bags. So you'll open a new bag and there's two new little people in there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Which is very fun. I loved it. It was great.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I didn't have one lady, but I was at the office fan convention and I got to meet JJ Lewis and you guys at the convention. And our Office fans, you will know that he was a fan creator who originally pitched and designed this office LEGO set.

[Jenna Fisher]

Yes. This is a thing. They have a thing called, like Lego Ideas and you can submit. This is how the Friends LEGO set came about as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. There's an interview on the actual LEGO website. I will put a link to it and it talks about where he's from and there's a picture of him and he sort of talks about his journey designing this. And I got to meet him and he gave me a box and he signed it. So I didn't open it because I was so thrilled to have this from him. And it says that the official set was brought to life by LEGO designers Chris Perrin and Laura Perrin and senior graphic designer Diego Sancho. So I want to give them a shout out as well. But what a wonderful collaboration that started with J.J. lewis's vision.

[Jenna Fisher]

Oh, that's super cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fisher]

Well, listen, everyone. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you for joining us. We love this community. It means so much that you show up each week to listen to us chit chat and share our office memories.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Thank you guys so much. We love chatting with you. Please write us. I'll put links in our stories to everything and we hope you have a great day.

[Matt Beagle]

Bye.

[Jenna Fisher]

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 Fisher]

Our senior producer is Matt Beagle and our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese.

[Jenna Fisher]

Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratt. Sam.