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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
So it's wedding season, kind of, right? I. I don't know about you, but we have a few family members like cousins getting married and we're all traveling, all five of us, for a wedding coming up in a few weeks. And we got an Airbnb because we're like, you know what? We want a kitchen.
Jenna Fischer
We want snacks. Yes. Well, it's also great for the host family because they're getting to make some extra money on the side. This is also summertime, time of summer travel. So yeah, while you're away, your home could be an Airbnb.
Angela Kinsey
It's a great opportunity you might not even be aware of.
Jenna Fischer
I would be happy to have more people become host families because that just gives me more options. I might come stay in your house.
Angela Kinsey
Especially if you're someone who travels frequently so your home is available more.
Jenna Fischer
It's true.
Angela Kinsey
And it's a little extra money. Some side money.
Jenna Fischer
Who doesn't like side money?
Angela Kinsey
You know what Oscar calls it? He calls it side scratch. Little side scratch.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host hello and welcome to your second drink of back from Vacation. This is the episode that sees Michael returning from his vacation with Jan in Jamaica.
Angela Kinsey
Tan everywhere.
Jenna Fischer
Jan everywhere.
Angela Kinsey
Well, when we first broke down this episode, we mentioned that there were a number of deleted scenes. And you know, some of them are added back into those superfan versions. For example, there's a whole runner of Michael at the airport getting his bags, losing a bag, driving into work. And we got a letter about them. Courtney Ann wrote in and said you forgot to mention in the driving scene with Michael talking about the chill pill, he drives past a sign that says Dayton Rogers of California. It's a sign that they were clearly filming in California. And not Pennsylvania.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, Courtney. Ann. I watched the Peacock superfan of this one, and these scenes are very funny. Angela, you describe them in our breakdown. And I saw the sign that Courtney is talking about.
Angela Kinsey
Um, we tried so hard not to show those kinds of things.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. And I'm sure that this sequence got cut for time, but I also have to wonder if this sign is one of the reasons, because otherwise they probably would have had to pay to remove that in post. They would paint out the palm trees. They would paint out California references on our driving shots.
Angela Kinsey
I kind of wish it said Dave Rogers of California and it was an Easter egg. Well, I can't believe they shot in an airport baggage claim. Yes. And they did a whole driving sequence. That's a lot of budget. That's a lot of money right there. I know.
Jenna Fischer
And then it all got cut.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
I need to mention another nugget from the Peacock superfan episode. I just loved it. Okay, so you know the scene where Michael is in his office and he's playing hot, hot, hot for Pam over and over again? Well, right before that, he has a talking head. That would have led into that scene that they added back to the superfan episode. You have to hear it. I did a little scuba diving at Sandals, Jamaica, and I learned about a thing called decompression, which means if you're underwater and you rise too quickly, you can die. It didn't apply to me because I was in the shallow end of the pool, but coming back here, it does apply. I can't just start my job up immediately. I need time to decompress or I will die. Feeling hot, hot, hot. Feeling hot, hot, hot. Feeling hot, hot, hot. So that's what he's doing. He's decompressing.
Angela Kinsey
He's easing himself back into the workday.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Well, next up, we got a letter from Christine W. She says at 12 minutes, 11 seconds, is Michael still sitting in his office holding a bottle of chocolate sauce?
Jenna Fischer
Okay, Christine, first of all, I need to say you have the vision of a hawk. I mean, this is like blink and you miss it. Yes. He is sitting in his office holding what looks like a bottle of chocolate sauce. And then Dwight bursts through the shades to tell him he needs to come to the warehouse.
Angela Kinsey
I did not clock the chocolate sauce.
Jenna Fischer
You wouldn't see it. It's like eagle eye. I watched it several times after we got this letter. It's so quick. But also, it's not chocolate sauce.
Angela Kinsey
What is it?
Jenna Fischer
It is a bottle of tanning lotion. So here's what's going on? Michael is really stressed out because, you know, this photo of Jan on the beach has gone all over the place.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Well, in the Superfan episode, there is a scene of Michael sitting in his office sniffing this bottle of tanning lotion. He's taking, like, deep breaths, and then he has a talking head where he explains that his sense of smell is most important to him and that he's sniffing the tanning lotion because the smell is taking him back to the relaxed feeling of his vacation. But in the episode that aired, you just see him sitting there holding it, and then Dwight bursts through the window.
Angela Kinsey
And you don't see that. You don't knew the backstory, none of it. Well, you know, in this episode, the party planning committee is tasked with throwing a luau in the warehouse, and they're serving spam.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
So in our breakdown, we got into this whole discussion about spam, and we got some mail. Kristen O. Said, FYI, you guys are cutting up spam because it is a popular thing to eat in Hawaii, and you're preparing a luau. As Ma said, spam is short for spiced ham.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
I didn't know it was short for spiced ham.
Jenna Fischer
I didn't either. We got so much mail about spam after this episode aired. And in our episode 64 revisited with Randall Einhorn, I shared a letter that we received from two sisters, Laura and Amanda, with a whole bunch of fast facts about spam.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, it was so great.
Jenna Fischer
We learned about spam's connection to Hawaii. We learned there is a spam museum in Minnesota.
Angela Kinsey
Mm. Laura and Amanda sent us some spam merch.
Jenna Fischer
I have a spam hat.
Angela Kinsey
I have spam socks. Thank you, ladies.
Jenna Fischer
Well, speaking of, I had some spam fried rice in Hawaii earlier this year, and it was so good. Like, so good.
Angela Kinsey
That sounds wonderful.
Jenna Fischer
It was One of our favorite things that we ate during our Hawaii vacation was on the very first night we ordered this spam fried rice.
Angela Kinsey
Do you know how to make it?
Jenna Fischer
No, but I kind of want to figure it out because it was like a crowd pleaser. The crowd being my family.
Angela Kinsey
Well, you'll have one more at the table if you make it.
Jenna Fischer
Okay, well, listen, that's all we got. Please enjoy this breakdown of back from vacation.
Angela Kinsey
Feeling hot, hot, hot.
Jenna Fischer
I'm Jenna Fisher.
Angela Kinsey
And I'm Angela Kinsey.
Jenna Fischer
We were on the Office together, and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Rewatch podcast.
Angela Kinsey
Just 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.
Angela Kinsey
Hi, everybody. So if you see a photo of us podcasting, I am now in my husband's closet. Those are not my baseball hats. That is his baseball hat collection.
Jenna Fischer
I like to wear baseball hats.
Angela Kinsey
You do? You are sort of like a baseball hat family. I feel like all of your. All of your family loves baseball hats.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, lady. One Christmas, we were trying to find a family photo that we could put on our Christmas card, and I couldn't find one where one of us wasn't wearing a hat. And so we decided to make it a bit and we did a collage of just a baseball hat Christmas card. My mother in law was mortified. Mortified.
Angela Kinsey
She was like, why are you all in hats?
Jenna Fischer
Yes, baseball hats for your formal Christmas card. But yeah, it was like an inside joke. We're a hat family. We would fit in very well in Josh's closet, I guess, is what I'm saying.
Angela Kinsey
I think you would. By the way, side note, your Christmas cards are always awesome. My favorite, and I have it hanging up in the kitchen still, is the one where you guys are all holding Sunny, your cat.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, yes. That was another fun collage. We had a good time with that. Lee has Sunny on his head. I'm holding Sunny upside down. It was a good one. Thanks, lady.
Angela Kinsey
You guys have a floppy cat, and floppy cats are so great in photos. My cats would have, like, shredded our heads, like, if we tried that. Okay. Okay, so here we go. What are we doing today, Jenna?
Jenna Fischer
Today we are Talking about season three, episode 12, Traveling Salesman. Oh, it's so good.
Angela Kinsey
It's so good. I rewatched this one and the return with my kids. We all snuggled up in bed and watched them. They were laughing hysterically. Hysterically.
Jenna Fischer
Well, Angela, it's a good thing you watched those together. I did too, because they were actually created to be kind of one big episode to be watched together. And that is why they were written by three writers. Mike Scher, Lee Eisenberg, and Gene Stupnitsky. And both of those episodes were directed by Greg Daniels.
Angela Kinsey
All right, Jenna, well, why don't you hit us with a summary?
Jenna Fischer
All right, so in Traveling Salesman. Cause that's the episode we're covering today. Dwight covers for Angela. After she misses an important deadline, the sales team all pair up for sales calls. But at the same time, Angela uncharacteristically invites Pam to coffee and then discusses her love life in code. But she discusses her love Life. And then upon the return of the sales team, Michael learns that Dwight went to corporate behind his back. He doesn't know why Dwight quits Dunder Mifflin. Yes. And then Karen finds out that Jim once had a thing for Pam. That's a lot of stuff.
Angela Kinsey
That's a lot of stuff. Phyllis, man, she spilled the beans.
Jenna Fischer
I know. Phyllis. Phyllis.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, we'll get to that.
Jenna Fischer
We'll get to that.
Angela Kinsey
I bet you have some really good fast facts.
Jenna Fischer
Well, you know, I do. Because you know that we got something.
Angela Kinsey
We did.
Jenna Fischer
All right, so here's what we got. All right, fast fact number one. Like I said, both this and the next episode, the Return, were written and treated like one big episode. They were both directed by Greg Daniels. What did we do Ang tell everybody what we did?
Angela Kinsey
We reached out to Greg and he sent in audio clips and they are fantastic. And now Jen and I want him to send in audio clips every single week.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. His audio clips are so good, you guys. We're giddy about them. So the first thing we asked him was what was the inspiration for this episode? And here is what he had to say.
C
Traveling Salesman and the Return is a little two episode arc that we did as part of the working out of the merger of the two branches stories. Andy was always conceived in Gay Witch Hunt to be the Stanford version of Dwight, so it was natural that they butt heads when the branches merged. And we liked the idea that Dwight, as the hometown favorite, gets to have a really strong and romantic arc. Here you see a very noble side of him protecting the woman that he loves. And I think one of the reasons we made it two episodes was it didn't feel real to me or earned to have him leave and come back in only one episode. So it just felt a lot better to spread it out over 2. And another part about that storyline was that it was pairings. And, you know, a writing exercise that I often did with the writers was I'd have them try and come up with pairings of characters that we hadn't had scenes together before. And so this entire episode was fun pairings like Ryan and Stanley or Phyllis and Karen, and of course Angela and Pam, who have a great emotional storyline where they really are kind of growing as friends. And it was really cool to see Jim and Dwight too, and see their backstory. And then the other thing about Traveling Salesman was we used in the Client, we used being good at sales to make Michael more likable and.
Jenna Fischer
Right.
C
You know, in Traveling Salesman, you see a whole bunch of different characters and how they are as salespeople. And you see how, how great Jim and Dwight work together. And Michael being like a straight man for Andy, who's just terrible. And so it kind of helps distinguish the more likable original Dwight versus the more sinister scheme, y', know, New Dwight, keep talking.
Jenna Fischer
Talk forever.
Angela Kinsey
Greg, Greg, talk forever. It's so fascinating. I love that not only were there these new pairings of characters, but also of writers. It's just so interesting.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, yes, Ange. And so much comes out in this episode when you put these different people together for the first time. Really? Yeah. So you guys, I don't know if we need to start some sort of a petition, but we really want to create a new feature of the show called Inspiration with Greg. And he will send us an audio clip of the inspiration behind every episode.
Angela Kinsey
And there's like piano music.
Jenna Fischer
Greg will tell us the inspiration and then Kent tells us the nuts and bolts of how he made that inspiration happen.
Angela Kinsey
Greg is listening right now and is like, ladies, what are you signing me up for exactly? What is fast fact number two?
Jenna Fischer
Well, Angela, speaking of Kentopedia, fast fact number two is called locations. Locations. Locations. So for this episode, because we actually shot it in conjunction with the return, we did something called crossboarding. It's a little lingo that they use in the biz.
Angela Kinsey
Lingo alert, Showbiz lingo alert.
Jenna Fischer
So crossboarding is when you shoot two episodes at once. We normally shot one episode each week, but we shot these episodes over a 10 day period from October 16, 2006 to October 27, 2006. And the main reason for this was because of locations. We just had a lot of places to go in these two episodes. And having the flexibility to shoot it over a two week period was really helpful.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And they would also do a thing, you guys, they call it shooting out a location. So for example, every scene that happened in that coffee shop, they would film in one day and then they could close out that location. They don't have to pay for that location for multiple days. So sometimes when you crossboard, it's a great way to save money because you can shoot out a location. Yes. Have we bored you to tears with a little behind the scenes lingo?
Jenna Fischer
Lingo alert. Shoot out a location. So since you brought up the coffee shop, Angela, we had a fan question from Briana Kernan, Harshita Verma and Molly Ottawa. Did Pam and Angela go to the same coffee shop that Jim and Karen end up going to later? And is the coffee shop location the same one used in later episodes. Yes, yes, and yes, yes, and yes.
Angela Kinsey
And here's a little tidbit, Jenna. I don't know if you remember, that coffee shop was next door to the place we filmed the tattoo parlor scene.
Jenna Fischer
What?
Angela Kinsey
Yes, an upcoming episode with Andy. That tattoo parlor was next to the coffee shop. It must be some little strip mall that Ken just had good favor with. So he was like, okay, we'll take that. We'll take that.
Jenna Fischer
Well, here's what Kent told me. He said the coffee shop was a real location. We filmed at a place called Java Groove Coffee. It was on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
However, it has been closed and replaced by a printing company. So I'm sorry, if you come to la, you cannot get a cup of coffee anymore at Java Groove Coffee.
Angela Kinsey
Well, we'll have to find out if they can get a tattoo next door still.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, perhaps. What a fun office set tour that would be. You could go see the outside of Dunder Mifflin, grab a cup of coffee and get a tattoo. I mean, if you're a Die Hard fan, right?
Angela Kinsey
Yep.
Jenna Fischer
But now you can just get something printed and then get a tattoo. All right, well, I am not done talking about fast fact number two, Angela.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, I'm sorry.
Jenna Fischer
There's more locations. We have so many more locations. This is a question from Kylan Hadley and Jordan Simpson. Were all the sets that the salesman traveled to local office buildings, or were they built in the warehouse set like the fancy Stamford branch was? All right, are you ready?
Angela Kinsey
Mm.
Jenna Fischer
They were not a set. They were a location, but they were all the same location. Here's what they did. The building where Jim and Dwight are in the parking lot, and Dwight's, like, pumping himself up. That was in Van Nuys. It was at the Panorama medical Plaza.
Angela Kinsey
Plaza St. Louis. Was it at the Plaza?
Jenna Fischer
It was at the Plaza. Oh, my gosh. That's so St. Louis.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, my gosh. I have a St. Louis catch later in the episode, but that's the first one. Plaza.
Jenna Fischer
Plaza. So at the Panorama Medical Plaza, they found a completely vacant floor, and they dressed five different spaces to be the various offices that everyone visits. Isn't that amazing? They took one location and made it five different places. But there's more.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, more.
Jenna Fischer
So you know how we said we shot these two episodes together? In the next episode, the Return, at the beginning, you see Dwight going around with his resume. Two of those offices were also part of the Panorama Medical building.
Angela Kinsey
That plaza covered a lot of ground, lady.
Jenna Fischer
So much plaza. So one thing. The church scenes With Stanley and Ryan. Those were filmed at the Panorama Presbyterian Church on Roscoe. So that was another separate location. And then there's even Staples. But we'll talk about that next week. So, so many locations.
Angela Kinsey
So many.
Jenna Fischer
All right, I think we've covered all the locations. Let's move on to fast fact number three, another fan question. Okay, guys, we love your questions. They are so helpful in structuring the podcast. Thank you. All right, fan question. Rachel Labish and Rebecca Kelly said, I noticed a weird discrepancy between the Netflix episodes and the DVD episodes. In the DVD episodes, there is a whole subplot about Pam winning an art contest. In the Netflix version of the episode, the whole thing is cut out. I haven't been able to find anything online about it. Do you know why this is, ladies?
Angela Kinsey
That is a fantastic question. Because this whole podcast almost went haywire. Because Jenna was watching the Netflix episode and I was watching the DVD episode, and they're totally different.
Jenna Fischer
Angela and I were so confused because we were trying to outline this episode, and there were all these scenes that Angela was talking about that I remembered shooting Angela, but that weren't in the version I was watching.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
So I started digging around, and here is what I found out. On March 15, 2007, NBC aired a repeat of this episode, but they didn't want to air an exact repeat. They wanted to get more viewers. So they called it a New Pete.
Angela Kinsey
A New Pete?
Jenna Fischer
You know, when they would run repeats, they wouldn't get as many viewers, which meant fewer ad dollars for commercials. Right. Cause that's how networks make money. So they thought if we add a new Pete, where it's mostly the old episode, but then some stuff you've never seen before, maybe it would up the viewership. And that's why there are now, like, these two different versions of this episode living out in the world because of somebody in marketing at NBC came up with this new Pete idea.
Angela Kinsey
I don't think we ever did that again. I think this is our one and only new Pete. Am I right?
Jenna Fischer
Well, I guess it happens again in season four.
Angela Kinsey
Oh.
Jenna Fischer
When Phyllis tells Jim about her house that Bob bought her. It's on the dvd, but it's cut out of the Netflix version.
Angela Kinsey
So here's what's on the dvd. First of all, Traveling Salesman and the Return are one episode on the dvd. They're not two episodes. They're one, like, super sized, huge episode. Crazy, right?
Jenna Fischer
Crazy.
Angela Kinsey
But in the Traveling Salesman, these are the scenes you missed if you watched it on Netflix. Pam gets a Phone call that a watercolor she made won a sixth grade elementary school art contest.
Jenna Fischer
I remember shooting it.
Angela Kinsey
These sixth graders picked your art. You were really excited. You won $100. You were really excited to tell Kevin about it. Kevin's like, yeah, Well, I won $400 betting on a Celtics game. And you were like, okay, thanks for that, Kevin. And then she tells Angela. Pam is just desperate to tell someone that her art won. And no one's in the office. They're all out on a sales call. So she pops up over the partition. Jenna. We have one of those classic over the partition and Angela and Pam scenes. And she tells Angela. And Angela has all this good favor in her heart towards Pam right now. You know, they've gone and got coffee. They've bonded. And so Angela goes, congratulations. And then she says, I really like having these little moments with you. And then she offers Pam one of her kittens. Sprinkles has had kittens. And she offers Pam the dominant male name, Ash. And Pam clearly does not want this cat. She makes up excuses. She's like, oh, you know, my landlord. It's just, I. It's a thing. And, you know, it'd be, I don't know. And Angela is like, f you. She instantly goes back to being just this cold, snarky person to Pam. That's it. Their friendship's over. It was so fleeting. And then lastly, when Jim finally comes back from his sales call, Pam is so excited to tell him, and he's on his way out to have coffee with Karen. And Pam's like, Jim. And he starts talking to her about it, and Karen's like, we're going to get coffee. So it was this awkward moment.
Jenna Fischer
I remember shooting all of that.
Angela Kinsey
Here's the other thing I found really interesting. So in the opening scene of the Netflix version, it's Harvey the computer, right?
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Talking to Jim. That's in the deleted scenes on the dvd. That's not even in the episode. Oh.
Jenna Fischer
So I. Cause I was wondering, well, what did they cut out of the episode in order to make room for Pam's art contest? So there must be things. When they aired this on NBC, there must be things missing in the deleted.
Angela Kinsey
Scenes on the dvd. There's a lot of extra scenes in the cars driving. Lots of extra driving scenes. And then there's this Harvey, the talking computer. That's a deleted scene.
Jenna Fischer
Wow.
Angela Kinsey
So there you go. We are going to be following along the Netflix airing because that way our time codes will match up, but that's what you will get if you go.
Jenna Fischer
To the DVDs, I love it. I love it. I feel like I'm really happy with all of that. I think we should take a break and then come back and break down the episode.
Angela Kinsey
Sounds great. All right. If you're like me, you want to look put together, but you don't have a lot of time to put into your routine. To trying to look put together.
Jenna Fischer
I'll give it 15 minutes. I want to look polished in 15 minutes. And I'm talking. That's everything that is skin care and makeup.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Well, Merit helps you simplify what it takes to get ready.
Jenna Fischer
Merit is designed for people who want to look put together without spending a ton of time on their routine. AKA me and Angela.
Angela Kinsey
That's right. Merit is a minimalist beauty brand that has curated sets to create easy to use routines for you.
Jenna Fischer
All of their products are clean, vegan, and cruelty free. And they're made with skincare ingredients that leave your skin looking better long after you take your makeup off. In fact, Merit's products are so easy to use, they claim you don't even need a mirror when you're doing your routine. Okay, okay.
Angela Kinsey
I'm listening, Merit. I am listening.
Jenna Fischer
It's time to simplify your morning. Head to meritbeauty.com to get their signature makeup bag free with your first order. This show is sponsored by Liquid iv.
Angela Kinsey
So, you know, I have been playing tennis three to four times a week and it is summer and it gets really hot. So. So guess what I've started to do so I don't get dehydrated?
Jenna Fischer
What?
Angela Kinsey
I am taking my big water bottle and I am putting one of my packets of Liquid IV in there and that is what I drink throughout my tennis morning.
Jenna Fischer
Smart. Do you have a favorite flavor?
Angela Kinsey
I like raspberry lemonade. I like lemon lime, and I like raspberry melon.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, yes, I like the raspberry melon.
Angela Kinsey
Mm.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
Go to LiquidIV.com and get 20% off your first order with code OfficeLadies at checkout.
Jenna Fischer
That's 20% off your first order with Code OfficeLadies@liquidiv.com.
Angela Kinsey
All right, we're back. Let's dive Right. In this episode, Michael is really excited to show Jim and Pam his new computer. It's his buddy, his talking friend, Harvey.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh. And basically he types into the keyboard and then Harvey says stuff.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And he's made the back of the computer like a face. Like he used some post it notes. Like he's. Anyway, Harvey is this talking computer.
Jenna Fischer
Well, we got a fan question from Bailey Aspenson, Becky Gemmel, Megan Keel, Chelsea Lane, and Alyssa Sorensen. Everyone wants to know who is the voice of Harvey?
Angela Kinsey
Oh, well, that's a great question. Who is it?
Jenna Fischer
I recognized it immediately. And did you recognize it, Angela?
Angela Kinsey
Oh, no, I didn't. Oh, no.
Jenna Fischer
As soon as I heard the voice, I was like, oh, it's Mike Scher.
Angela Kinsey
Oh my gosh, that's such a great cat.
Jenna Fischer
So I emailed him and he was like, yes, it's me. I was Harvey.
Angela Kinsey
So he's the one that said, me so horny. Me love you Long Tim.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, exactly. And Pam's like, oh, I'd love to meet long Tim.
Angela Kinsey
The way you and John played off Steve in that scene made me laugh so hard. Because Michael just gets so frustrated that you guys aren't thinking. His talking computer is amazing.
Jenna Fischer
Well, some people notice that when we cut away to Michael's screen, what he's been typing doesn't quite match with what you've been hearing. That's just because the scene was longer. And we actually did have Harvey say all those lines. And we had lines, but then in the editing room, they cut some of them out. So the screen was indicative of the scene as written. And it got a little trimmed down in the editing room. So that's why his screen doesn't quite match.
Angela Kinsey
Some really good fan catches right away.
Jenna Fischer
I know. All right, so now Angela. We move over to accounting and Kevin tells Angela that corporate did not receive their tax forms. But Angela says, no, no, they arrived this morning. And he wants you to know how very important this is. Angela. Here's what I wrote down when I watched this scene. What WTF is up with your hair? Why do you have a flower of hair on the back of your head? Guys, I took a picture and I'm going to post it because it's insanity. What is happening?
Angela Kinsey
When we got the script, Kim Ferry and I started talking. Kim is who did our hair. And we were like, you know, Angela is happy in this episode. Now she starts out in the morning a little worried, right? Did Dwight make it? Is everything going to be okay? But she's a lady in love, and her man has done this amazingly gallant thing for her, and I feel like she's sort of dressing the part of, like, this lady in love. She's wearing her Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation mini short sleeve jacket that's made a callback. And she did a little something extra fancy with her hair, Kim. And I just thought maybe she's just. She's taking it up a notch. Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
She turned her hair into a pinwheel flower.
Angela Kinsey
And clearly she has eight arms and multiple mirrors because how do you do that to the back of your head?
Jenna Fischer
Well, when I saw that hair, all I could think about was, oh, my gosh. She couldn't lay down during her breaks. Because sometimes at lunch I would want to, you know, lay back after I eat, maybe snooze it out because we would get up real early. Sometimes I need a little snooze at lunch. But you couldn't do that that week, I guess. Couldn't lay on that. That would be so uncomfortable.
Angela Kinsey
I couldn't even lean back on a chair, lady. I couldn't even recline in any way.
Jenna Fischer
Guys, check it out. You don't have to look hard. It's insane. It's also amazing. We had a lot of people write in Julia Lee, Bethany Devesh, Kaylee Waiting, Anita Prasad. They all said, Angela's hair looks incredible in this episode.
Angela Kinsey
Thank you. Thank you very much. And now we're going to come up onto this talking head that Rashida actually mentioned when she was a guest on Benihana, where Andy talks about him and Karen being the last two left standing. Right? And Andy says he's not going to be one of the kids touring Willy Wonka's factory. He will not fall into the chocolate river.
Jenna Fischer
I loved that reference.
Angela Kinsey
I loved it, too. But all I could think about, Jenna, is that he does fall into the lake.
Jenna Fischer
When?
Angela Kinsey
At beach games. Totally forgot that he falls into the lake. He's in a giant sumo suit and he floats on by. And I couldn't help but think, what an amazing, like, callback to the Willy Wonka river thing. I don't know. I thought that was kind of fun.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my God. Yeah, I totally. Yes. I'm so sorry. It's all coming back to me. We'll get to it when we talk about beach games. But yes, Ed slowly floating away. I remember it now so clearly. So, Angela, now you're standing at reception, you're getting yourself some jelly beans, and Dwight comes in. It's so sweet. He lets you know the tax forms have been delivered. You guys are kind of talking in code. But of course, Pam is clocking it all. And then as you walk away, you say, I don't want these, and you leave the jelly beans. We had a fan question.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
Allie Jo Higginbotham says, did Angela improv that line? I don't want these to Pam after she took the jelly beans?
Angela Kinsey
Yes. Yes, I did. The note that Greg had given me in that scene is that, you know, I'm so anxious to talk to Dwight to find out that everything went okay, but I had to make some business for myself. Like, why would I be at reception? So I decided to kind of dig in the jelly beans. I just sort of was like, oh, this is what I'll do. So I was digging in the jelly beans, and I put a few in my hand throughout the scene. And then as Dwight walked away, I just had them in my hand. So I just placed them on the countertop like your kid would. I don't want this.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Just walked away, and it just tickled us so much. And they left it in. But the part I love even more, Jenna, is your look. Your look of, like, it said so much to me in the moment. It said, people leave their water bottles and their trash on my desk all the time.
Jenna Fischer
After you would leave the jelly beans, I added a little bit that got cut out, and probably it should have been cut out because it just would have gone on forever. But I would find all these various ways to get rid of the jelly beans. So I remember one time I picked up the trash can, and I scooched them into the trash can using a piece of paper. And another time, I, like, took a tissue, and I picked them up with a tissue. And another time, I think I picked them up and put them back in the jelly bean container. But I had. I know I had all these ways that I got rid of these jelly beans, and I had a good time with that. None of them made it in, of course, but it was just kind of like a fun little bit we were doing. So should we move into the conference room now, Angela?
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah. Because somebody needs to pass the tardy sauce.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. The entire sales team is assembled in the conference room, and Dwight comes in late.
Angela Kinsey
So Andy is such a tool. Oh, my gosh.
Jenna Fischer
So at the beginning of this scene, Michael explains that this is his dream team. This is my dream sales team. And we're going to pair up and go on some sales calls. And we had a fan question from Holly Enerson. Holly Enerson says, phyllis blows her nose right after Michael says, this is my Dream Team. Was that scripted?
Angela Kinsey
I wondered the same thing because it's brilliant. The timing is so perfect.
Jenna Fischer
It's so perfect. Yes, it was scripted.
Angela Kinsey
Amazing.
Jenna Fischer
Here is the script direction. The camera pans to bored faces of the sales team. Phyllis blows her nose. And, you know, I got. Guys, this is a little moment because I watched it several times. It's so great. Phyllis gets out her little tissue. She sniffles a little bit, and then she blows her nose. Like, she times it perfectly. But she starts the bit a little early, and I think that's what sells, making it look so organic. It's really wonderful work. Little details.
Angela Kinsey
Phyllis, man with the tissue work.
Jenna Fischer
So everyone gets paired up.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. We get Karen and Phyllis and Ryan and Stanley, Dwight and Jim and Michael and Andy. Now they're gonna go out and be in cars together all day. I couldn't wait. I remember when we got the script, Jenna at the table read, when I said, like, the groupings, I was like, oh, this is going to be so fun.
Jenna Fischer
Well, there's a Ryan talking head in here. That makes me laugh so hard because.
Angela Kinsey
You are now Ryan in real life.
Jenna Fischer
I am now Ryan. I love it that he said he's flattered to be Stanley's second choice. After pass, after pass, Stanley got to pick his partner, and his first response was pass. And his second response was, I guess I'll take the kid.
Angela Kinsey
Well, I wanted to talk really quickly about Jim's talking head. He holds up that photo of Dwight and Jim, like the old photo, because they clearly. They clearly have been on a ton of sales calls together. Right. And it shows their history a little bit, which I love. But in the DVD commentary, Rain said that his hair in that photo was from 1991. He was on tour with an acting company doing Romeo and Juliet, and they all had long Elizabethan hair. And they sort of. They sort of like, Photoshopped it onto current Dwight, but they left that big hair. I just thought it was hilarious.
Jenna Fischer
I love that detail.
Angela Kinsey
I know. So now they're all in the parking lot. They're paired up into their teams. They're about to get in their cars and go. Michael tosses Dwight his dirty laundry, which is a callback to the couple. I love it when our show does this and we have a few in this episode, but this is a callback to the coup. And now he tells them all to circle up and he's going to give them their marching orders.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. So then Michael says, guys, let's go out on our sales calls.
Angela Kinsey
This is.
Jenna Fischer
It's like we're the Amazing Race. And everyone's like, how are we the Amazing Race? Is there a prize? He's like, no, there's no prize, but we're the Amazing Race. And he gives everybody these team names and everyone's very confused. And then Michael just gets frustrated. He's like, just go on your sales call. But I love that he brought up the Amazing Race. This was a really, really popular reality show at the time, and I was a huge fan.
Angela Kinsey
Jenna, we were so into it. I remember you and I watching the Amazing Race and then, Jenna, do you remember how you and I were like, we should go on. We should be a team on Amazing Race together.
Jenna Fischer
I stand by that. I think we should. I think we would have been amazing.
Angela Kinsey
I think we would have been a total mess. Why? Why?
Jenna Fischer
Because.
Angela Kinsey
Because I think you would be like, let's go, let's go. And I'd be like, can we just take a break? Maybe we'll have a glass of wine. You'd be like, also, I can't eat any of that gross stuff, lady. I can't eat the gross stuff.
Jenna Fischer
Well, this is the problem. I think we would both have some of the same weaknesses. I think we couldn't eat the gross stuff. And maybe neither one of us would have great upper body strength for some of the, like, things where you have to, like, like toss bales of hay down a maze or something.
Angela Kinsey
Like, how about, you know, zero upper body strength. Yeah, like zero.
Jenna Fischer
So maybe we wouldn't have been such a great team, but we would have had fun.
Angela Kinsey
I think we would have had fun. I think we would have had one colossal meltdown and then a fight, and then we would have cried and then we'd laugh hysterically. We'd look like crazy people. But we would have had fun.
Jenna Fischer
I tell you what, we would have been good tv.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, my God. We would have been great tv. Okay. Okay. Well, we actually asked Greg about this Amazing Race moment, and here's what he had to say.
C
The comparison to Amazing Race was fun because it's a reality. We were a reality based comedy show. It was a lot easier for the visual look of the show to be able to try and do references to other reality shows rather than movies. For instance, so there's like a Titanic reference in Booze Cruise, but I don't think it works as visually well as Amazing Race reference for here.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, it totally makes sense to me, though. I think Michael is such a fan of pop culture and television and film, he wants any opportunity for his documentary of this paper company. Whatever this is, this camera crew that follows him around. He thinks he's on par with the entertainment of the day.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, yes. Well, so now everyone gets in their cars and we kind of start driving around. And, Angela, speaking of driving, we had a lot of questions about how we pulled off these driving shots. Amy Jackson, D' Andre Tassone, Holly E. TJ McMillan, William Burke, and many more people all asked, how did filming work for the driving scenes? Are you guys actually driving, or is there a green screen? What cameras were used in the car scenes, and are the actors really driving around? Well, first of all, the actors really are driving around. That is not a green screen. And then we went to Greg and we asked him to talk a little bit about what it was like to shoot people in the cars. And here's what he had to say.
C
And one of the things I had noticed in production was how easy it was to shoot in a car for our show. You just basically put the two characters in the car and set up lipstick cameras and drove around and improvised a lot. And so the idea for traveling salesmen was was we could get a lot of production value out of getting out of the office, and it wouldn't be too hard for us to do. We just tricked out these cars, and they would go off.
Jenna Fischer
So we have a little lingo alert there. When Greg talks about lipstick cameras. Those are itty bitty tiny cameras that they would put up in our visors in the car at an angle, and one would shoot one passenger, and one would shoot the other passenger. And we would just literally do what Greg said. We would just drive around, and we would have a little walkie talkie in the car, and there would be a car either in front of us or behind us that had the crew, the director, a sound person. They could hear us. They could see us on a little, like, mobile video screen. And they would talk to us over the walkie talkie, and they would say, oh, that was great. We're going to do that again. And then we would just drive around. They would have police cars. Remember the police cars, Ange?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. We had, like, the motorcycle police guys, too, who would sort of be in the front. And we'd have this path that was cleared for us so that, you know, we wouldn't have to drive or around people who didn't know we were filming.
Jenna Fischer
Right.
Angela Kinsey
So it was safe. And we would just basically make a loop. Usually in one neighborhood, we'd just make the same loop over and over.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, that was a whole thing that Kent Zbornak AKA Kentopedia. He would have to clear that. He'd have to call the highway patrol or the police, and they would give us a zone that we were allowed to use for a certain period of time on that day. And we would just loop around.
Angela Kinsey
And it was always difficult in Los Angeles to find a loop that didn't have any palm trees. So we tend to film in the same neighborhoods over and over because clearly they found trees that looked possibly east coast ish, you know?
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
We got to know these loops very well. One of the things Dave Rogers said in the DVD commentary is that this was the first time that we used the lipstick cameras in the cars. Previously, when we had done driving scenes, one of our camera operators, Randall or Matt, would be scrunched in the backseat with a camera.
Jenna Fischer
And, you know, I noticed the video quality was a little different on the lipstick cameras when I was watching it. It's not quite as crisp as a matte camera or a Randall camera.
Angela Kinsey
Look at you, Ms. Techie. You got a tech alert there. Look at you.
Jenna Fischer
I noticed it. Oh, I did. So let's talk about all of these cars and all they're driving around.
Angela Kinsey
Well, the first scene we really see is Andy and Michael. And Andy is determined to use this one on one time with Michael to chip away at Dwight. Right. He's gonna undermine him. He asks about the laundry. Michael tells him that Dwight went to corporate to try to get his job. And oh, my gosh, Andy is, like, so happy to get this information.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. He's gonna spend this whole episode slowly chipping away at Dwight's reputation.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
Well, then we see Phyllis. She pulls into a beauty salon. Her and Karen are gonna get some super glam makeovers. We don't know why.
Angela Kinsey
It looks like when you used to go to the mall to glamour shots. Did you ever do that?
Jenna Fischer
I never did glamour shots, but my sister Emily did.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. I never did it either, but my sister Tina did. And they gave her this enormous hairdo, like this bouffant hairdo and all this makeup, and I think, like a feather boa.
Jenna Fischer
That was common. That was common. And they would shoot you on a green screen and then sort of insert different backgrounds, if I remember correctly, like the Eiffel Tower.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, so that is what this makeover looks like.
Jenna Fischer
That might be like an old tech alert. Does glamour shots still exist?
Angela Kinsey
I don't think so, lady. I don't think so. I think the era of the selfie and the iPhone, there aren't glamour.
Jenna Fischer
And the filters.
Angela Kinsey
And the filters. Glamour shots. Are no more.
Jenna Fischer
Well, then we also have Ryan and Stanley. And Ryan asked Stanley if he could take the lead on this sales call. And Stanley is like, nothing would delight me more.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, Stanley knows something, and he's tickled. He can't wait.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, can't wait. We will find out why in a little bit. So now, back at the office, while all this driving around is happening, Angela invites Pam to coffee.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And Pam was like, what? But okay, now, on a personal note, I was thrilled to do this scene. You and I never got to do scenes together, let alone go on a location together. We were giddy, Jenna. We couldn't wait. So some of that smiling and happiness you see in Angela Martin is just me being happy that I get to do a scene with my BFF and I get to be normal. I get to smile and not be snarky.
Jenna Fischer
It was so. We were so excited, Angela, when we got this script, all of my scenes are basically with you.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, we had the same work day, and then we had a few days off. It was like. We were like, woohoo.
Jenna Fischer
It was kind of like BFF week for us. Well, some people pointed out that at the end of the scene, Pam grabs a notebook. And people were wondering, why is Pam bringing a notebook to coffee? Is she going to take notes on Angela? No, no, you guys, there was a line that got cut out. Pam says to Angela, you know what? I'll go around and take some coffee orders. I'll see. I'll see if anybody wants anything.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. This is in the deleted scenes. She goes around, Meredith gets really angry at you. She's like, why would I pay $4 for milk and a cup? And she's like, it's all.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, her and Creed get real cranky, right?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, they get real cranky about the fancy coffee orders. And there is a scene, Jenna, that just will break your heart. Because when we come back with the coffee, it's clear that Toby only ordered coffee so he could have some interaction with Pam. But when she comes back with all the coffees and she's passing them around, she just hands it to Kelly, who then takes it to Toby. And Toby just looks at Pam through the glass partition from the annex, and he just puts the coffee in the trash. He didn't even get to talk to her. Aw, Toby.
Jenna Fischer
Poor Toby. Toby, so sad. Well, Ange, in the script, there is a scene where Pam is taking Toby's coffee order.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah, that's not in the deleted scenes.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. And he orders a chai latte. And Pam says, oh, My gosh, that's my coffee order. And he's like, oh, really? It is. Oh, we have the same coffee order. Yeah. So not only does he not get his coffee delivered by Pam, he ordered a coffee he didn't even really drink just to have something in common with her.
Angela Kinsey
Toby stalking Pam and in love with her. So now, you guys, we're in the parking lot and Dwight wants to amp himself up. He's got to get pumped for this sales call. Jim knows they have been on countless sales calls. He's like, you still do the thing. And Dwight's like, just give me the keys. And then he plays like, I don't know. What is it, like Motley Crue or something? And once again, we see. We see Dwight, like, rocking out, doing air guitar at heavy metal. Like, punching the seat to get ready.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Yeah. This is their. This is his routine, I guess.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And Jim knows it. They're like old roommates. He's like, here we go. I stand out here. He does air guitar.
Jenna Fischer
So he is amped up because then when they're walking into the building, Dwight has to be Dwight. And he's like, you go in first. Because he doesn't want to get attacked from behind.
Angela Kinsey
Seven out of 10 attacks are from the rear, right?
Jenna Fischer
And Jim is like, well, what about the other 30%? And Dwight's like, I'd block it. I'd block it. You can't get me. And then in like mid sentence, Jim just hauls off and smacks Dwight. And he is shocked. He can't believe he's been attacked from the front.
Angela Kinsey
He can't believe it. Also, he's about to break. Rainn is about to laugh. You can totally see it at 8 minutes, 50 seconds, rain is about to laugh.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, 100%. 100%. Well, we had a fan question from Rachel Fortune. Was Jim supposed to slap Dwight as they walk in the building? Because Rain looked truly shocked. Well, guys, this was a scripted moment, but there's a reason why Rainn was surprised. Even though it was scripted and we asked Greg about it, here's what he had to say.
C
So some people asked about the Jim slapping Dwight moment. So, you know, it's fun to think of the two of them as being teamed up earlier in their career. And we. We gave it kind of an Abbott and Costello comedy team feel. You know, where Jim is, like, stopping short so Dwight hits his head. And usually these little moments involve some comeuppance for Dwight. And I remember John came up to me right before we were going to shoot the part where he hits Dwight in the face, and he said that he wanted to hit Rain for real, little bit harder than they had worked out just to get a good startle out of him. And I can't recall whether Rain was in on this, but just didn't want to know which take. But we kind of worked out which take he was going to do, and. And I. I'm pretty sure we used the one where Rain was really startled that John had hit him.
Angela Kinsey
So here's the deal. On the DVD commentary, Rain and John talk in depth about this moment, and Rain asked John to hit him harder. He was like, I want you to hit me hard. And here's the thing about Rain. He's very method. You guys. When I slapped him, remember in Casino Night?
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
He said to me, ang, you got to slap me harder. Really slap me. So in the DVD commentary, John was like, remember, Rain? You were like, slap me harder. And I was like, okay. And of course, that's the take they use because Rain was legitimately like, oh. And then he almost started laughing.
Jenna Fischer
Well, you can totally tell that he was taken aback.
Angela Kinsey
You can.
Jenna Fischer
And it ends up making a scripted moment look unscripted, but it was definitely scripted.
Angela Kinsey
I remember it said something like, dwight gets smacked in the head by Jim.
Jenna Fischer
And, you know, we would always have stunt coordinators come in anytime we had to put our hands on another actor, even if it was something that might be considered small, like a slap. And they actually teach you how to hit someone with your palm in this certain sort of cupped way so it makes a louder noise or it looks more violent than it really is. And so, you know, we always had that training in us as well. So I guess I should say Rain was not hurt in the execution of this, but he was certainly shocked.
Angela Kinsey
Well, it worked. And it cracked Rain up and everyone else. And that's the take they picked. So, lady, where are we? Are we going into some sales calls?
Jenna Fischer
We are. We're about to go into all these sales meetings, but why don't we take a break and then we'll pick up right there in just a moment.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
It sure does.
Jenna Fischer
I always get my kids a new pair of sneakers to start the new school year.
Angela Kinsey
Same.
Jenna Fischer
And a great place to get some great brands is famous footwear. They have Nike, Adidas, Crocs, Converse, New Balance. Well you can order shoes online or you can go into a famous footwear store and they will measure your kids feet for you so you don't have to like guess at their size.
Angela Kinsey
Here's something though I didn't know about famous footwear. What you can actually have same day delivery options powered by doordash.
Jenna Fischer
You can.
Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
I do. I have a little coffee shop by me that's owned by a mother and son. It's not a chain, it's just their little spot. I go there every week.
Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
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Angela Kinsey
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Jenna Fischer
All right, we are back. Back. Let's talk about all of these sales meetings.
Angela Kinsey
Yes, I think the first one is Michael and Andy and Jenna. Once again, we see that Michael is a good salesman. He knows how to connect with people.
Jenna Fischer
He really does. He really does. He doesn't know how to be someone's boss. That is his failing. He thinks that he's supposed to entertain you as a boss, but he does know how to connect with people one on one. And he really connects with this guy over fishing. He compliments the fish that he caught.
Angela Kinsey
And it's a callback to Lake Wall and Paw Pack.
Jenna Fischer
Love a callback.
Angela Kinsey
Love a callback. And then Andy's like, yeah, my dad has a bayliner. Whatever. He says, I shot a shark. I mean, if you were a true fisherman. The idea of shooting a fish in any way is so off putting. There's sort of an art to fishing and a lot of people even do like the throwback, you know, if they're fishing on a lake. So you could just tell this really was off putting to this man.
Jenna Fischer
Angela, do you know all of that because of your ex boyfriend that made you watch Bassmasters?
Angela Kinsey
Oh, God, you had to bring up.
Jenna Fischer
I want to tell you, Angela, after we talked about Bassmasters on the podcast, they sent us each a little goodie bag of stuff. And one of the things that they sent us, it was so sweet. They just said, hey, thanks for talking about us. It was totally organic and random. But they sent me this journal, a leather bound journal.
Angela Kinsey
It's so nice.
Jenna Fischer
A leather bound journal that says Bassmasters on it and I love it. It is my new favorite journal. So now because of your ex boyfriend making you watch Bassmasters and you bringing it up on this podcast, I now journal in a Bassmaster's journal. That is what has happened.
Angela Kinsey
Well, you're welcome. And Kyle says, you're welcome. That was his name.
Jenna Fischer
Well, thank you, Kyle.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, no, it's out there.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, boy.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Well, Bassmaster sent me a hoodie that I love and I walk around with my bassmaster's hoodie. Yeah. So here's the thing. There's a great little moment in the DVD commentary about this scene where Ed says that he and Steve did go off script in this scene. And the actor that plays the man, they're, you know, the business owner they're talking to was not really ready for them to go off script. He wasn't.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, dear.
Angela Kinsey
And he just gave them this sort of odd, quizzical look, like, what are you talking about? And Dave Rogers is in this commentary, and he goes, but it was perfect. So that look, you see this man giving Michael and Andy, like, what is really earnest.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh. I love that. I love that tidbit. Well, guys, the actor who plays the client that Michael and Andy are talking to is named Warren Sweeney. So, Warren, while you were surprised, your look worked.
Angela Kinsey
It totally worked.
Jenna Fischer
Well, then we cut to the car, and you can tell Michael is not pleased with Andy. But Andy turns it around, and he's like, I'm so sorry for screwing up our sales call. I really shrewded it. Yeah, that's what we say around the office when someone really screws up. We say, they shrewded it.
Angela Kinsey
And he's like, I wonder. Wonder how that name came up. I wonder if it's because of Dwight. And Michael gives him nothing. Michael's like, well, who knows how we're. Words are formed? Like, he's not getting it. And Andy's getting so frustrated. Andy is planting all these seeds that Dwight is an idiot, and Michael is not getting it. It's awesome.
Jenna Fischer
So let's now talk about Phyllis and Karen's meeting. They get a very large order from this gentleman.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, this is my St. Louis catch. All right, this is around 11. Okay, this is around 11 minutes, 33 seconds. And Phyllis goes, well, thanks. That's a big order. She doesn't say order. That's a big order. It says, like, ardor.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, that's right in line with Fark. Oh, St. Louis catch.
Angela Kinsey
And then. And then she asked how his wife is doing. And he shows a photo of himself and his wife on vacation. And they look just like her. The same hair, the same makeup. And Karen's like, ah, I see what you were doing. Phyllis very smart. Okay, we've got to talk about Dwight and Jim in their sales call. Because, Jenna, they clearly have a whole shtick.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. I loved it. It's so seamless.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. I want you to know, my kids laugh so hard when Dwight, when he's making the call and he's going, seven, three. They Were cracking up.
Jenna Fischer
Well, I don't know about you, Angela, but I hate those, like, robocall customer service lines so much that I just, like, immediately when they come up, I'm like, agent. Speak to pharmacist agent. I won't even say any numbers. I'm like, I can't. I can't.
Angela Kinsey
Jenna. I have such a fond memory of my dad. It's weird, you know, when you. When someone you love so much passes away. And I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer here in this moment, because this is a happy memory for me. But it's interesting the things your brain latches onto and holds dear. Things you would never, ever expect. But I have such a vivid memory of my dad on the phone with clearly, like, some kind of, like, robot. And he's. He's this, you know, he was just this sweet cowboy, you know, southern guy, and he was going, five. No. Yes. Talk to person. Person. Is it like, whatever the password was. Tractor. Tractor.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, I love that, Ang. I love that you shared that.
Angela Kinsey
It made me think of him. It's weird. It's weird the way your brain works like that. Your brain and your heart. Okay, so, yes. So Dwight is doing this call. We don't know who he's calling. And Jim presses on with his sales pitch. Right.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. Through all of this. And the guy is like, listen, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I just maybe feel more comfortable with a bigger company, with one of the big guys. And they're like, well, is customer service important to you? And he's like, it's very important. And he's like, well, we've been on hold with the customer service department of a big company.
Angela Kinsey
Oh. And there's the switch. Aha. There was a whole purpose. And then he calls Dunder Mifflin customer service, and Kelly answers. I was like, hey. Oh, my God. What are you guys doing?
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Yes. So amazing. And then the guy is like, sold. Sold. I'll give you my business.
Angela Kinsey
Sold. And Dwight hands him his business card. And Jenna, I love what's on Dwight's business card. His cell number, his pager number, his home number, and his other pager number.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. And then he says, I take no days off. I've never been sick, and I don't celebrate any major holidays.
Angela Kinsey
And he's like, okay, okay, I got it. Interesting. Tech alert. His email was not on his business card. Jenna.
Jenna Fischer
Huh?
Angela Kinsey
Nowadays, I think your email would be on there for sure. For sure. But we shot this in the stone age, so Now Ryan and Stanley go into the church for their sales call and these four older, very sort of like dignified black men in their suits walk out to him. They're clearly an older generation. They're Stanley's generation. And there's this young white kid who. Jenna, I don't think. I don't think Ryan's been in a church in a while.
Jenna Fischer
No. And we've established that the way all these sales calls are successful is by people connecting with their client in some personal way. And we quickly see that Ryan is going to have a hard time connecting with these gentlemen. And he just sort of starts stammering and he just keeps introducing himself over and over again. Hi, Hi, hi, hi, hi.
Angela Kinsey
And I, I love that Stanley's like, I'm not helping you. In fact, I'm just gonna ignore you. I'm gonna turn away and do my crossword and let you just. What's the expression? Dinner or just you flap in the wind?
Jenna Fischer
Blow in the wind?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, something like that. He's just gonna hang him out to dry there. It's so good.
Jenna Fischer
I was able to find out the names of two of the clients, but I couldn't find names for the other guys. But landon H. Lewis Jr. And Leon Simmons Jr. Are two. Two of the clients in that scene.
Angela Kinsey
I also loved how all of the men in the scene were so much taller than bj.
Jenna Fischer
Yes.
Angela Kinsey
Because it really also made him just look so young, you know?
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
Next to them. Just the size difference.
Jenna Fischer
Yes. And then later when they're in the car, Angela. Stanley cannot stop laughing. There are all these shots that go back to them driving back to Dunder Mifflin. And Stanley is just like, can't believe he's so delighted by how that went.
Angela Kinsey
She's so tickled. It clearly made his day. I don't know that Stanley gets much joy out of working at Dunder Mifflin, but this was a real highlight for him. And there's this moment that Leslie talks about in the dvd. He said in the script it was just that Stanley is driving and laughing and they just kind of let him go. And he improvised the whole thing about, hi. Hi. You sounded like my six month old niece. And like all of that, Leslie was just riffing.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, that was so good. I know.
Angela Kinsey
And he said, in fact, whenever Stanley would go off on Ryan, as he has throughout the show, they would just let Leslie just go. And I think there's some amazing moments.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, yes, yes. Well, you know. And this is Ryan's second sales call now that has not gone. Well, remember, he went on the initiation sales call with Dwight. They did not make the sale. And now he's gone out on this call with Stanley. Now I believe Stanley's gonna save this sale.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, Stanley for sure saved it.
Jenna Fischer
Okay, so while all of these sales meetings are happening, Pam and Angela are at the coffee shop.
Angela Kinsey
Angela is in such a great mood, and she's telling Pam a story about how she had this friend who was in need in this. This gallant man came to her rescue.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, she's like, he must really care for her a lot, because he did this wonderful thing for my friend.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, she's talking in code.
Jenna Fischer
She's speaking in code. She's like, my friend. Let's call her Noel. And this gallant gentleman, we'll call him Kurt. Well, we all know that Kurt is Dwight's middle name, right?
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
And we got a lot of fan questions about this. Angela Kenzie B. Elizabeth R. Julia Lee, Nicole Fink, and Katie Krull all want to know when Angela refers to her friend Noel. Is that because Noel is Angela's middle name? It definitely sounds like a very Angela Martin middle name.
Angela Kinsey
Well, yes, it is Angela's middle name. Angela thinks she's being really savvy, but Pam totally knows who she's talking about. But, yes, that is her middle name. But, Jenna, I have a question for you.
Jenna Fischer
Okay.
Angela Kinsey
Is Noelle in the script? Because I have a little story about that middle name, and I'm curious. I think what was in the script was Colette.
Jenna Fischer
Okay. I looked this up, and in the script, Angela actually says this. She says, well, a friend of mine, let's just call her. Oh, let's just call her me.
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
And then you giggle.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, so my memory of this is when we were shooting it that day, that the writers were pitching me different middle names, like, different things to say. I know in one of them, it was Colette. I have such a memory of saying that. And then we said Noel. And I like Noel the best because it sounds very sort of Angela Martin, doesn't it? Her love of Christmas, her love of the story of Christmas, that Noel would be her middle name. And that's the one we went with. And Dave Rogers talks about it in the DVD commentary, and he goes, I remember it being Colette. And he thought, maybe I improvised Noelle, but I didn't. That was a writer's pitch. I mean, I think I was part of the dialogue. I think we were pitching names, but that all sort of happened in the moment.
Jenna Fischer
I love it. It's perfect. It is such An Angela Noel Martin. And I believe that will appear on your wedding invitation.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah. It's now part of my character's show bible.
Jenna Fischer
We had another fan catch in this scene, Angela. Sarah Rouse wrote in to say Pam is holding a piece of paper at the coffee shop. What is that supposed to be? And what does it say? Well, Sarah, that was the list of coffee orders from those deleted scenes. I had all the coffee orders written down on that piece of paper, and I was gonna use it to make my order. Well, Angela, also in this scene, just because we were talking about it earlier, your flower hairdo is on full display. Just if you really want some great shots of it, guys, here it is. Her WTF hairdo right here.
Angela Kinsey
Wtf? Well, wait, wait. I have something to share. So while we were on a break, I had been texting Kim Ferry about this hair, and she texted back. And so this is what she had to say about it. I said, oh, my gosh.
Jenna Fischer
It's a real time tidbit.
Angela Kinsey
It's a real time tidbit. It just came in a few minutes ago. I said, kim, what was the inspiration for this bun? I mean, I know that we thought my character was gonna, like, be in a great mood, and so we wanted to try something new. She said, yes, here is the inspiration. She said, my first job in the business was working on a sci Fi show called Babylon 5. I worked on this show for five years, and I couldn't use any. Any contemporary hairstyles because they wanted the hairstyles to look futuristic. So I started coming up with all these different kind of braids and buns with wires and fancy updos and Zulu knots, basically anything different that I could think of. And your bun with those fun swirls was a good one for me because I had done it on Babylon 5. It's fast and easy, but technically, this is a sci Fi hairstyle.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, my gosh.
Angela Kinsey
Isn't that great? Don't you feel like Dwight would have loved it because he was Mr. Sci Fi?
Jenna Fischer
Yes. Yes. No wonder she did her hair in this Babylon 5 hairstyle to thank Dwight for his, like, favor.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. So, yes, this hairstyle Inspired by Babylon 5. It's the sci Fi bun.
Jenna Fischer
I don't think I could love that more. Kim Ferry, thank you for the real time tidbit.
Angela Kinsey
Thank you, Kim Ferry.
Jenna Fischer
Sam just wrote, beats, bears. Babylon 5 beats.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, wait, here we go. Bears beats, Babylon 5 buns.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, okay. So now everybody is coming back from their sales calls. Everyone's done, and we have this amazing scene in the Car with Karen and Phyllis.
Angela Kinsey
Phyllis is so good in this scene because, you guys, she is going to reveal such a big plot point and she just throws it away. Right. It's not like belabored in any way. It's so perfect.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. She's like, Karen, I. I had a lot of fun with you today. I really enjoy spending time with you. They're bonding. They feel good. And then she just very offhandedly says, and I'm really glad you're with Jim. It makes me really happy because, you know, he was really hung up on Pam for such a long time.
Angela Kinsey
And she's not even looking at Karen. She's looking in a rearview mirror. She's turning. She's just driving. She just sort of saying something off the cuff and it's that much more powerful. And then Rasheeda, oh, my gosh. Her reaction is so perfect. It's a fantastic scene. Fantastic scene.
Jenna Fischer
I feel like her pulse stops for a second. Like, I feel like I can see the wind go out of her. Right?
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
She's just like.
Angela Kinsey
You just. You see it hit her like a freight train, but she can't react the way it's really hitting her. It's so well done. These ladies did such a great job.
Jenna Fischer
I agree.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
Well, Andy is the first person to actually get back to the office. And he starts. He starts sneaking around Dwight's desk. He goes through his car.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, Andy is a total sneak.
Jenna Fischer
I mean, what the heck? I know. And he finds this tollbooth receipt that proves that Dwight was in New York this morning. He didn't oversleep like he claimed. And he marches into Michael's office and he's like, I found this tollbooth receipt. I wonder what he was doing. Was he. Maybe he was talking to Jan. And.
Angela Kinsey
Then he says, like, I seem to kind of remember, I don't know who told me this, even though, Jenna, this was like, like an hour ago. He's like, I don't know who told me this. It was something. And then he has maybe one of my favorite quotes of this episode. He was like, it was a story. I don't know. It was about laundry and betrayal. In my mind, this is now a Lifetime movie called Laundry and Betrayal. I want to see it.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, yes. Laundry and Betrayal. I want to see this film.
Angela Kinsey
I do too.
Jenna Fischer
Well, so Michael calls Jan and Jan is like, well, I didn't speak to Dwight, but he did not give a reason for why he was here.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. This is my kid's favorite part. My kids favorite part is Jan. Goes, he did sign into the security sign in sheet, but under state your business, he wrote, beeswax, not yours Incorporated.
Jenna Fischer
I love that too.
Angela Kinsey
My kids loved that.
Jenna Fischer
Well, when Dwight gets back to the office, Michael confronts him. He's like, where were you? Tell me where you were. And Dwight will not say. He won't say where he was.
Angela Kinsey
He overslept. The damn rooster didn't crow.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, but he will not. He will not fess up. And this becomes a problem.
Angela Kinsey
And Pam knows why. Pam and Angela are exchanging looks. Angela is sweating it. She's horrified that Dwight's going through this, but she doesn't want people to know about them. It's very layered emotionally for Angela.
Jenna Fischer
Well, it leads to a break room scene with Dwight and Angela where you are again, not facing one another. One of your famous, famous break room scenes.
Angela Kinsey
There's a little bit of heartbreak in the break room in this scene.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, lady, I noticed it too. Here's what we had. My mama knit me a sexy sweater, Thought my life would get so much better. But all I got that afternoon was heartbreak in the break room.
Angela Kinsey
That was by Michelle Ferguson. Michelle, you know how much we love that song. We love it.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, Michelle, I literally listen to it all the time. It's super catchy.
Angela Kinsey
It's very catchy.
Jenna Fischer
I really love it. Someone give this woman a music contract. We'll buy it. Okay.
Angela Kinsey
We love it. Yeah. So Dwight is like, listen, why don't we just come clean and, you know, let people know our love for one another? So this scene actually went on. It's not in the deleted scenes, but we did shoot a little bit longer of a version where as I cry behind me, Dwight's like, don't cry, monkey. Monkeys don't cry.
Jenna Fischer
Aw, I kind of wish that was still in there.
Angela Kinsey
I know, I know.
Jenna Fischer
Well, Angela, a few people wrote in about this scene because they noted that when you start dating Andy, you have no problem with everyone in the office knowing it.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, well, Angela revenge dates Andy. You guys, Andy's not her true love that she wants to protect and keep all to herself because it's so special. She's starting to date Andy because she's mad as hell at Dwight.
Jenna Fischer
Right.
Angela Kinsey
Very different motivation.
Jenna Fischer
Right.
Angela Kinsey
In the meantime, Karen and Jim have gone to coffee, and Karen is going to ask Jim if he had feelings for Pam. And lady, I have a clip. Sam, play the clip. Because everything you need to know is right here. Karen, why couldn't you hear it? Let me ask you a question.
Jenna Fischer
Okay.
Angela Kinsey
Do you ever have a thing for Pam?
C
Pam, did I ever have a thing for her?
Jenna Fischer
No. Why?
C
Did she say something?
Angela Kinsey
It's so clear. That's all you need to know. Karen. He clearly has a thing for her, but, oh, poor Karen. You know, he convinces her that he doesn't. Maybe he's not ready to admit it. Right. And she is not ready to really see truth. But, you know, down deep, she knows.
Jenna Fischer
Well, lady, she says, I moved here. Yeah, I moved here. And I think that's the part of Karen that doesn't want to see the truth because it's a little humiliating to deal with the fact that you moved somewhere for the wrong person.
Angela Kinsey
Exactly. We all have a friend who has moved somewhere for someone, and then it didn't work out. It's devastating.
Jenna Fischer
But then they hang onto it because they moved.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah.
Jenna Fischer
And it's like you want. You're willing it to be right, even though you know it's wrong. So this is the moment where I know we've been coming down kind of hard on Wishy Washy Jim, but this is the moment where Karen is now not reading the signals.
Angela Kinsey
No. No.
Jenna Fischer
So, Ange, should we go back to Dunder Mifflin to this grand announcement from Dwight? Yes.
Angela Kinsey
I mean, he makes this huge, like, speech, and basically he's like, I'm quitting, so I quit.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah, he quits. Rather than reveal his secret about his relationship with Angela and where he was this morning, he quits.
Angela Kinsey
Dwight leaves. He gives Michael his box of things. He does keep his Dwight bobblehead. I'll let you know. Of course, there is a deleted scene where he goes around and gives us all items from the box. Jenna. It's very funny.
Jenna Fischer
I remember shooting that.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. And then he walks out and he does his salute. It's the same salute from the initiation. Nice little callback there. And Dwight is gone.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah. And Angela, he has a line that. Oh, my gosh. He says in a talking head as he's leaving, there's this line where he said, I really believed I was going to die in that chair. That he was so committed to Dunder Mifflin, he thought he would die in his sales chair. I mean.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, I have no doubt that's ultimately how it ends for Dwight someday if.
Jenna Fischer
The series would have won.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. In fan fiction, if you write the end, I see Dwight's funeral, like, you know, have you ever heard of these. These funeral homes that would stage family members doing their favorite activity?
Jenna Fischer
No, I have never. I have never heard of a funeral where a person is staged doing their favorite activity. So, like, for example, if you love fishing, since we've been talking about fishing.
Angela Kinsey
Yes.
Jenna Fischer
The person would be staged, like, in a boat with a fishing rod.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. I saw a show. I saw a show all about it. Don't ask me. I think I was, like, just channel surfing, looking for something. But, like, like a thing you can get. And they have devices that prop people up and things. But, like, let's say you love surfing. You'd be posed on your surfboard. It's a real thing. And then instead of like, a wake where they come and view the body and you're in the casket, like, and you say your goodbye, you're on your surfboard.
Jenna Fischer
Well, if it were me, I guess I would be propped up, maybe watching tv, eating a bowl of frozen yogurt or making bread, and you can come say goodbye to me.
Angela Kinsey
I'd be, you know, hanging my hummingbird feeder and holding a glass of wine, I guess. Oh, Angela, I.
Jenna Fischer
Now I want this for your funeral. If I outlive you. If I outlive you, I am gonna pose you with a hummingbird feeder in one hand and a glass of in the other, and I'm gonna come say goodbye to you. I will talk to you for hours.
Angela Kinsey
Please have it be a real hummingbird feeder with real hummingbird food, and maybe they'll come take a drink while I'm standing there.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, please.
Angela Kinsey
Okay, okay.
Jenna Fischer
Done and done.
Angela Kinsey
So.
Jenna Fischer
But yes, I guess your point was that perhaps Dwight's funeral, he would have.
Angela Kinsey
Been staged at his Dunder Mifflin desk.
Jenna Fischer
Okay.
Angela Kinsey
Taking a sales call at the funeral home. There's even a lookbook that you can flip through. Oh, yeah, I'll take exhibit A at the desk. Typing on the keyboard pose.
Jenna Fischer
Wow. I feel like you could do some real passive aggressive stuff with this. Like, whoever is in charge of your funeral, you could be like, oh, you want to know Larry's favorite activity? I'll tell you what it was. It was Marjorie.
Angela Kinsey
I was gonna say it was. So I posed him, holding his.
Jenna Fischer
God, why is that cracking me up so much? Be like, when people come for the funeral, they're like, what is going on? And be like, larry's favorite activity being a. To Marjorie online.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. So there it is. That's Marjorie's. That's Marjorie's picture on the computer. That's him holding a schmingy. I paid $5,000 for this. You, Larry. Oh, my God. Okay. Oh, my goodness. Okay, listen.
Jenna Fischer
And Marjorie, meanwhile, Marjorie's like, I didn't know anyone knew.
Angela Kinsey
I, I. Oh, my God, My God.
Jenna Fischer
Marjorie's husband Joe is, like, super shocked. He's like, marge, what's up?
Angela Kinsey
Hey. It's all in Laundry and Betrayal on Lifetime. We just wrote our script, lady the big reveal at the funeral. Okay, okay, okay. So now. Now we have this. We have to get it together. Okay. Oh, my God. Okay, now we have this amazing Andy talking head. It's a Willy Wonka callback. It's awesome. It goes a little something like, Oompa Loompa, Dippity Dawson, Dwight is now gone. Which is totally awesome.
Jenna Fischer
Yeah.
Angela Kinsey
I was like, who wrote this talking head? Who wrote it's so good? And in the DVD commentary, they said it was Mike Schur.
Jenna Fischer
Oh, there you go.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah. Ed said that Mike was in the room with him when he was doing his talking head. And they were riffing around and they found this one, and it's so perfect.
Jenna Fischer
And then, of course, Angela, in the background of this talking head, the camera finds you hovering in the background, giving a death stare.
Angela Kinsey
Oh, yeah, death stare. I remember this so vividly. So Greg was like, angela, I really want you to glare. Like, really be angry. Just like, Andy is going down. You hate him. Glare at him. So I did. And he came up to me and he was like, can you give me more? I was like, what? He was like, even harder. I want you to. I just need the death stare of all death stares. I did it again. He's like, angela even more. I wrote about it in my journal. I said, greg kept saying, one more time, Angela, more mad, more. By the end, my eyeballs were shaking in my head.
Jenna Fischer
I wrote down, angela, did you get a headache?
Angela Kinsey
Yes, I had the sci fi bun. I was giving the super death stare. And truly by the end, I think you can ever so slightly see me shaking. That's how, like, angry my stare is.
Jenna Fischer
That I'm like, I was curious if you, like, popped a blood vessel in your eyeball or something. It is so intense.
Angela Kinsey
I was about to. I'm not kidding.
Jenna Fischer
It is a great way to end the episode. I do have a fan question, Angela.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
And I don't mean to unravel the entire plot of this show.
Angela Kinsey
What?
Jenna Fischer
But it's a good question.
Angela Kinsey
Okay.
Jenna Fischer
It comes from Grace D. And she says, why couldn't Angela just bring her own tax forms to corporate?
Angela Kinsey
She has too many cats, Grace.
Jenna Fischer
Well, and also, we know from the deleted scenes some One of her cats just had a litter of kittens that she's dealing with. That was my first thought, too, Angela. I was kind of stumped by that at First. And I was like, yeah, why didn't Angela just go to New York herself? But then I was like, no, she probably has. She probably gets up very early and has like a 90 minute cat routine she has to do every morning. Putting ointment on eyes and medicines and grooming, Right?
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And getting the litter boxes ready for the day and setting out food for all of them. I think she has a full morning before she gets to work and especially if she had a litter of kittens. And I think she was probably stressing out and going through this whole list with Dwight and he just said, I'll take them. Don't worry, I'll do it. I'll do it.
Jenna Fischer
Yes, that's right. The choices for Dwight were take the forms to New York or do the cat care list. And he was like, I choose forms to New York.
Angela Kinsey
Yeah, but.
Jenna Fischer
Good question, Grace, I thought. Valid question.
Angela Kinsey
Valid question.
Jenna Fischer
Valid question. Well, lady, that is traveling salesman. Next week we head into the Return.
Angela Kinsey
Yes. And the return is the return for several people. And it's such a fun episode. So we will see you next week.
Jenna Fischer
All right, bye, guys.
Angela Kinsey
Bye.
Jenna Fischer
Thank you for listening to Office Lady's second drink.
Angela Kinsey
This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.
Jenna Fischer
Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.
Angela Kinsey
Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins and our audio engineer and associate producer is Molly Nugent. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.
Jenna Fischer
Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.
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Episode: Second Drink: Back from Vacation
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Release Date: July 28, 2025
In this engaging episode of Office Ladies, hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey dive deep into the The Office episode titled "Back from Vacation." They provide a comprehensive breakdown of the episode's plot, share exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes, address fan questions, and offer insightful commentary on character developments and memorable moments.
"Back from Vacation" marks Michael Scott's return to Dunder Mifflin after his tumultuous vacation with Jan in Jamaica. The episode intertwines multiple storylines, including Dwight covering for Angela, Pam's burgeoning friendship with Angela, and the dynamics within the sales team.
Michael's Return: Michael is eager to reintegrate into the office, showcasing his new talking computer, Harvey. His attempts to connect with his team highlight his strengths and flaws as a manager.
Sales Team Dynamics: The sales team pairs up for sales calls, revealing new character interactions and tensions, especially between Dwight and Jim.
Angela and Pam's Coffee Meetup: An unexpected and heartwarming interaction between Angela and Pam shifts the usual office dynamics, hinting at underlying emotions and relationships.
Jenna and Angela delve into several behind-the-scenes elements that enriched this episode:
Deleted Scenes:
Airport and Driving Sequence ([02:04]-[03:23]): Originally included scenes of Michael at the airport and driving into work were cut for time and budget constraints. A notable detail was the sign indicating “Dayton Rogers of California,” hinting at the California filming location.
Jenna Fischer ([02:37]): “Yes, Courtney Ann. I watched the Peacock superfan of this one, and these scenes are very funny.”
Michael’s Decompression Scene ([03:09]-[05:06]): In the extended version, Michael explains his need to “decompress” post-vacation by sniffing tanning lotion, a detail omitted from the aired version.
Angela Kinsey ([04:25]): “He's easing himself back into the workday.”
Hair and Costuming:
Angela’s elaborate hairdo, inspired by her work on Babylon 5, served as a visual metaphor for her character's emotional state.
Angela Kinsey ([30:03]): “My first job in the business was working on a sci-fi show called Babylon 5... this is a sci-fi hairstyle.”
Filming Locations and Techniques:
The use of “lipstick cameras” for driving scenes allowed for dynamic in-car filming without extensive green screens.
Jenna Fischer ([41:48]): “They would put up lipstick cameras and drove around and improvised a lot.”
The hosts address a variety of fan-submitted questions, enhancing the communal experience:
Michael's Chocolate Sauce Misinterpretation ([04:38]):
Christine W. noted Michael holding what appeared to be chocolate sauce at [12:11].
Response:
It was actually tanning lotion, a subtle nod to Michael’s attempt to retain his vacation glow.
Jenna Fischer ([05:06]): “It is a bottle of tanning lotion.”
Discrepancies Between Netflix and DVD Versions ([16:29]):
Fans observed that the DVD includes a subplot about Pam winning an art contest, absent from the Netflix version.
Response:
This was due to NBC’s “New Pete” strategy for reruns, resulting in two distinct versions.
Angela Kinsey ([21:07]): “I don't think we ever did that again. This is our one and only new Pete.”
Voice of Harvey the Computer ([28:09]):
Who voices Harvey?
Response:
Mike Schur, one of the episode's writers, provides the voice.
Jenna Fischer ([28:24]): “So he's the one that said, me so horny. Me love you Long Tim.”
Angela’s Unique Hair ([30:03]):
What inspired Angela’s flower hairdo?
Response:
Inspired by futuristic hairstyles from Babylon 5, reflecting her character’s emotional complexity.
Angela Kinsey ([72:17]): “It's fast and easy, but technically, this is a sci-fi hairstyle.”
Jim Slapping Dwight ([50:55]):
Was the slapping scene scripted?
Response:
Yes, but the intensity caught Rainn Wilson by surprise, adding authenticity to the moment.
Jenna Fischer ([52:44]): “That's why Rain was really startled that John had hit him.”
Michael on Decompression ([03:09]):
“I need time to decompress or I will die. Feeling hot, hot, hot.”
Phyllis on Slack ([35:34]):
“That's a big order.”
Andy’s Oompa Loompa Line ([85:36]):
“Oompa Loompa, Dippity Dawson, Dwight is now gone.”
Dwight’s Farewell ([80:59]):
“I really believed I was going to die in that chair.”
Angela Martin:
Her unexpected friendship with Pam reveals a more vulnerable side, juxtaposed against her typically stoic demeanor.
Dwight Schrute:
Dwight's decision to quit amidst personal turmoil adds depth to his character, showcasing his struggles balancing professional dedication and personal relationships.
Pam Beesly:
Pam’s interactions with both Angela and Jim highlight her growth and the complexities of her relationships within the office.
Jenna and Angela wrap up the episode by reflecting on the emotional layers and character arcs presented in "Back from Vacation." They emphasize the show's ability to blend humor with heartfelt moments, enriching the viewer's connection to the characters.
Emotional Impact:
The hosts express how the episode balances comedic elements with poignant emotional beats, particularly through Angela and Pam's evolving relationship.
Behind-the-Scenes Creativity:
Insights into filming techniques and script alterations showcase the meticulous effort behind creating memorable television moments.
Fan Engagement:
Addressing fan questions fosters a sense of community and deepens the appreciation for the show's intricacies.
This episode of Office Ladies offers a thorough and entertaining exploration of The Office's "Back from Vacation." Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey successfully blend episode analysis with personal anecdotes and fan interactions, providing both nostalgia and fresh perspectives for longtime fans and newcomers alike.
Notable Quotes:
Jenna Fischer ([02:37]): “Yes, Courtney Ann. I watched the Peacock superfan of this one, and these scenes are very funny.”
Angela Kinsey ([04:25]): “He's easing himself back into the workday.”
Jenna Fischer ([05:06]): “It is a bottle of tanning lotion.”
Angela Kinsey ([21:07]): “I don't think we ever did that again. This is our one and only new Pete.”
Jenna Fischer ([28:24]): “So he's the one that said, me so horny. Me love you Long Tim.”
Angela Kinsey ([72:17]): “It's fast and easy, but technically, this is a sci-fi hairstyle.”
Angela Kinsey ([35:34]): “That's a big order.”
Jenna Fischer ([52:44]): “That's why Rain was really startled that John had hit him.”
Jenna Fischer ([57:34]): “He really does. He really does. He doesn't know how to be someone's boss.”
This detailed summary captures the essence of the Office Ladies podcast episode, highlighting key discussions, insights, and memorable moments that bring The Office to life through the unique perspectives of Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.