Second Drink: Diwali with Mindy Kaling

Summary

Office Ladies Podcast Summary
Episode: Second Drink: Diwali with Mindy Kaling
Release Date: June 23, 2025

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Overview

In the "Second Drink: Diwali with Mindy Kaling" episode of Office Ladies, hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey dive deep into Season 3, Episode 6 of The Office, which celebrates the Hindu festival of Diwali. This episode is particularly significant as it marks the first time an American television comedy series portrays Diwali, offering a rich cultural tapestry intertwined with the show's signature humor and character dynamics. The episode also features special insights from Mindy Kaling, the writer and actress who portrayed Kelly Kapoor.

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Episode Breakdown

Cold Open and Main Plot

The episode kicks off with the office preparing for Diwali, celebrating Kelly Kapoor’s heritage. Ryan meets Kelly's parents, who are skeptical of his commitment, while Michael Scott ambitiously proposes to his girlfriend, Carol, in front of the entire office—a move that results in classic Michael awkwardness.

• Notable Moment:
  Angela Kinsey (00:10): "But they are the big B."
  Jenna Fischer (00:11): "Breathable."
  • Timestamp: 00:10-00:19

Stanford Branch Shenanigans

Simultaneously, at the Stanford branch, Jim, Andy, and Karen work late, leading to a night of drinks and camaraderie. This subplot explores the dynamics between Jim and Karen, providing a glimpse into their developing relationship.

• Key Scene:
  Jim and Karen’s Interaction
  • Timestamp: 03:22-05:47

Behind the Scenes Insights

Jenna and Angela share exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes, including the challenges of shooting the Diwali scenes at Grant High School and the involvement of Mindy Kaling in the writing process. They discuss the meticulous planning required to authentically portray the festival and the coordination with Central Casting to hire background actors.

• Quote on Authenticity:
  Jenna Fischer (10:13): "Yes, Angela, that was sent in by Tyler Beckwith and we love it."
  • Timestamp: 10:13

Deleted Scenes and Alternate Storylines

The hosts reveal previously unseen footage and alternate dialogue that didn’t make it into the final cut. Notably, a scene where Jim and Karen share a drunken makeout encounter was filmed but ultimately cut to preserve the narrative integrity of Jim's relationship with Pam.

• Insight on Deleted Scenes:
  Mindy Kaling (32:27): "Yeah. And she said she was so excited and I asked her what it was like to be on set..."
  • Timestamp: 32:27-35:00

Guest Interview: Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling joins the podcast to discuss her experience writing and acting in the Diwali episode. She shares stories about pitching the episode, working with director Miguel Arteta, and the cultural significance of depicting Diwali on network television. Mindy also touches on the evolution of diversity in TV shows since her time on The Office.

• Mindy’s Origin Story:
  Mindy Kaling (18:35): "Well, it was 2004 and I had... we did that. It won the Fringe Festival..."
  • Timestamp: 18:35-22:11

Fan Questions and Trivia

Jenna and Angela address questions from listeners regarding specific details of the Diwali episode, such as the authenticity of the buffet food, costume choices, and behind-the-scenes logistics. They also share trivia about cameo appearances and the influence of the episode on future portrayals of cultural festivals in media.

• Fan Q&A Highlight:
  Jenna Fischer (60:29): "Great question, Sarah Beth. I mean, there are so many people in this scene..."
  • Timestamp: 60:29-62:21

Memorable Quotes and Moments

Throughout the episode, the hosts highlight memorable lines and comedic moments from the Diwali episode, enriching the discussion with personal anecdotes and reflections on character development.

• Memorable Line:
  Angela Kinsey (53:19): "She's like, you are single, right, Dwight?"
  • Timestamp: 53:19-53:44

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Key Insights and Conclusions

1. Cultural Representation:
   The Diwali episode broke new ground by showcasing a significant Hindu festival, fostering greater cultural awareness and diversity on mainstream television.

2. Character Development:
   The introduction of Diwali allowed for deeper exploration of characters' personal lives and cultural backgrounds, particularly highlighting Kelly Kapoor's heritage.

3. Behind-the-Scenes Dynamics:
   The collaboration between writers, directors, and actors was pivotal in authentically portraying Diwali, with Mindy Kaling's dual role as writer and actress being a focal point.

4. Impact of Deleted Scenes:
   The decision to cut certain scenes, such as the Jim and Karen makeout, underscored the show's commitment to maintaining coherent character arcs and relationships.

5. Legacy and Influence:
   The episode set a precedent for future shows to incorporate diverse cultural celebrations, reflecting evolving societal norms and increasing demand for representation.

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Notable Quotes

• Jenna Fischer on Buffy Bedding:
  "Buffy is committed to always being chemical free, which I like as well."

  • Timestamp: 00:37

• Angela on Smile Generation Ad:
  "Smile Generation reimagines oral health as the gateway to long term confidence."

  • Timestamp: 01:16

• Mindy Kaling on Writing the Episode:
  "I had to kind of confront the fact that I'm Indian American. I don't know very much about the holiday..."

  • Timestamp: 27:48

• Angela on Disliking Diwali Preparations:
  "I'm just guarding our shoes so they don't get stolen."

  • Timestamp: 54:17

• Jenna on Improvised Lines:
  "No, that's Mindy breaking because you said words, which is what Mindy used to like to do."

  • Timestamp: 65:57

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Conclusion

The "Second Drink: Diwali with Mindy Kaling" episode of Office Ladies offers an in-depth exploration of one of The Office's most culturally significant episodes. Through engaging discussions, behind-the-scenes stories, and guest insights from Mindy Kaling, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the episode's creation, impact, and lasting legacy. Whether you're a die-hard fan or new to the show, this episode delivers rich content that highlights the importance of diversity and thoughtful storytelling in television.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

But they are the big B.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's the big B?

[Angela Kinsey]

Breathable.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh. That's not even what I was gonna say.

[Angela Kinsey]

What were you gonna say?

[Jenna Fischer]

I was gonna say the color.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I do love the color.

[Jenna Fischer]

I got this, like, beautiful, kind of muted rust color. I wasn't sure, like, what exactly it was gonna be like. The colors are beautiful. And then I got blue sheets.

[Angela Kinsey]

I got the blue. I got the bl. And blue sheets, but they're this really pretty, kind of pale blue.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Buffy is committed to always being chemical free, which I like as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And it's also the most awarded bedding brand out there. They have hundreds of awards. I did not know they gave awards for sheets, but I'm not surprised.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm not surprised. And Buffy just won House Beautiful's Editor's Choice Award for luxury sheets.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

Welcome back to the second drink of Diwali Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mindy Kaling joined us to talk about her time on the Office and writing this episode. It was a historic episode and it was just. That was such a great interview. Hearing about her time on the show and how this episode came about. I'm excited for people to get to re listen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, me too. Well, I was going through some of our mail for this episode, and one thing we did not ask Mindy and the Office fans were very curious about was if we knew what Pam actually texted Jim that night of Diwali. If you remember, Jim stayed late at the Stanford branch with Karen and Andy to do some quote order form consolidating. Yep, whatever that means. And then they all end up doing shots. Well, Karen pours hers out, but the boys get a little drunky. And while Jim is zonked out at his desk, Pam tries to text him and he doesn't hear his phone buzzing.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I went to the shooting draft and it did not say what Pam texted. I'm sorry, everyone.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I did find some extra flirty flirt scenes that we never spoke about. One Rashida Jones does refer to when we ultimately talked to her about her time on the show. But there was more flirty flirt with Jim and Karen.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, really? That got cut out.

[Angela Kinsey]

Listen to how their day started at Stanford. Karen is teasing Jim because Jim has started biking to work. You know, like their boss. He's kind of sucking up. She thinks this is how it read. Interior, Stanford office. Jim is photocopying something. Karen comes up behind him in line. Karen says, josh wants to talk to you. He said it was urgent. Jim says. About what? Karen says he wanted to know if you want to build a tree house together. Jim looks at his papers and takes a beat. Karen. What? Jim looks at Karen with confidence. I just think it's funny. Karen says. What's funny? Jim says, how obvious it is that you have a huge crush on me. Jim smiles, takes his papers and leaves. Karen glances at the camera, looking surprised and embarrassed. We follow Jim, who has an amazed look on his face, like, did I actually say that?

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Gasp. Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. Well, when we discussed this episode for the first time, Rasheeda shared with us that there was a scene they filmed where Jim and Karen go out for drinks and get tipsy and make out.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. We cover that in great detail in this episode, but there was a couplet of dialogue that was in the shooting draft that we didn't read in our first breakdown.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is it more flirty flirt?

[Angela Kinsey]

It's their makeout Scene. And it does mention that moment where Jim gets the text from Pam. And that's what fans were curious about. So I thought we should share it with them.

[Jenna Fischer]

My inner Pam is having a lot of turmoil over these discoveries.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here is how it read. Interior, Stamford bar. We see Jim and Karen having drinks, sitting on the same side of a small romantic table. Jim says, at my old office, I was the one who pulled pranks. Karen says, really? We all think you're so timid. Jim says, wow. Jim's phone buzzes on the table. Karen says, who texted you? Jim glances at it, turns off his phone. Jim says, not important. Karen smiles. Jim kisses her. He looked at his phone, saw it was Pam, turned it off.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. So these scenes would really have changed these characters journeys.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I have to ask, did any of them make it into the Superfan version?

[Angela Kinsey]

The superfan version does have an extra six minutes of footage, but no, these extra Jim and Karen scenes are not included. Probably because Dave Rogers, you know, is steadfast at protecting the original storylines of the show, thankfully.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I thank you, Dave Rogers, because my Pam heart could barely take Angela reading them. My goodness.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, Jim swagger. Yeah, like, I can't believe you're so into me.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, listen, Pam makes a connection at the Diwally party herself.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, so it's not like she's some wilting wallflower on this evening, but. Well, thank you everyone for writing in. And now here is your second drink of Diwali. I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

We were on the Office together and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Rewatch podcast. Just for your.

[Angela Kinsey]

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

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office ladies. Hello, everyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Welcome to Diwali.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm so excited for this episode, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

Me too. It's a great episode and we have a great special guest.

[Angela Kinsey]

I just want to get to it.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, this is season three, episode six. It was directed by Miguel Arteta and written by our special guest, Mindy Kaling. Woohoo. Very, very exciting. Well, let's get to it. We are gon. That wastes no time. I'm starting with a summary.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

In this episode, everyone from Dunder Mifflin attends a traditional Indian celebration of Diwali in honor of Kelly. Now Ryan is going to meet Kelly's parents, who are really less than impressed with his commitment to their daughter.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, to be fair, he says with extra money, he wants to travel and get like an Xbox or something. So, you know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I think I would also be less than impressed. Meanwhile, Michael proposes to his girlfriend, Carol.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Michael.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Michael.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael takes a big step in front.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of a lot of strangers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, so it's a bit of a crash and burn.

[Angela Kinsey]

So awkward.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pam enjoys herself for the first time as a single person. And Angela guards the shoes while eating some dry naan. Very dry non. And over at the Stanford office, Jim, Andy, and Karen work late into the night and booze it up.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, Jagermeister. I mean, what the heck? Andy is a maniac.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm gonna give you fast fact number one. This is a really special episode because the Office was the first American television comedy series to depict the Hindu festival of Diwali.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Way to go. The Office. It aired November 2, 2006, and it was seen by 8.8 million people on the night that it first aired. And now it's been seen by how many people? I don't even know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you know what Diwali was, Jenna? When we got the script, Shelby B.

[Jenna Fischer]

Asked the same question and I did not know about Diwali. Did you know about Diwali?

[Angela Kinsey]

I did, but I grew up overseas. You know, I grew up in Indonesia. Diwali has a very big Hindu population. So I had heard of Diwali and I thought it was awesome that we were going to do an episode about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Had you ever celebrated Diwali?

[Angela Kinsey]

I had never celebrated it, but myself, I went to an international school and they did recognize, you know, many holidays and there was like a Diwali day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, well, they do that at my kids school. Now they have a day where they celebrate Diwali, which I think is really cool, especially since I grew up not knowing about it.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is so beautiful and it was so fun. I remember we were all really giddy. Of course, this meant we got to leave the office.

[Jenna Fischer]

That brings me to fast fact number two. Angela, fan question from Juliet G and Phoebe Tomac. Where did you shoot the scenes when you were celebrating Diwali? Well, guess who I went to for the answer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Does it rhyme with schmentish media?

[Jenna Fischer]

It does. And we have a sting for it.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, Angela, that was sent in by Tyler Beckwith and we love it. Tyler, thank you for our Kentopedia stamp.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is really great. It sounds like something out of like a 1980s action kind of movie.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. Well, Kentopedia told us that Diwali was shot at Grant High School. We shot most of the scenes in their gym, which is called Grant Hall. And we shot there at the end of August, and school was in session. They had just started up the school year. He said that we shot there for three full days, and we had to work around the school schedule because, like, school was happening in the hallways.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have such a fond memory of our time shooting there, because they parked our trailers facing sort of like a little field with some trees. And normally they were just in a asphalt parking lot. And so I would open my door, and there'd be trees and grass, and Brian brought a football, and we, like, tossed the football out in the grass. And I have such fond memories of this whole week.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember it, too, for those exact same reasons. Well, this school is host to a lot of filmmaking, including Freaks and Geeks, Blackish, Malcolm in the Middle, and True Blood. And I've got a little bit of trivia for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Melora Hardin went to Grant High School.

[Angela Kinsey]

Get out of town.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. We shot at her alma mater.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow, I love that. She's, like, a true sort of, like, Hollywood kid, you know, like, there's she things from her life, like, right here. To me, it's still all sort of like, I still feel like a transplant in some ways in Los Angeles. Like, still to this day, if I'm ever out and about and I see the Hollywood sign, I'm like, there's a Hollywood sign. Oh, my God, it's a Hollywood sign.

[Jenna Fischer]

But if I drive by and I see, like, a film crew filming something on the street, I get as excited as if they pulled up in my neighborhood in St. Louis as a kid. I'm like, ooh, what are they filming? Oh, look, I wonder what it is. I wonder if we can find out who's the star. Yeah, I look like I get that same reaction still.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, me too. I drive by and I try to see is like, is there someone figuring is out there?

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly.

[Angela Kinsey]

So true.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I'm gonna move us along, Angela, because I know we want to get to our interview with Mindy fast. Fact number three, I said earlier, this was directed by Miguel Arteta. Angela, I was such a huge fan of Miguel When I found out he was going to direct this episode. This is the only episode he directed, I completely geeked out. Okay. She directed this little.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you go up to him? Were you dorky? What'd you do?

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, Angela, I followed him around the entire week. We bonded at the end of this week. I thought we were best Friends and would work together forever on every future project. And I'm not gonna lie, every time there was, like, a script that I was sent or when I was trying to produce a movie myself, he was the first person I would go to because I was like, I'm literally like, this guy is a genius. I love him.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that. I didn't know you were, like, following him around everywhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah. I wanted everything about him to rub off on me. So he had directed this little indie movie called Chuck and Buck, written by and starring Mike White, who, by the.

[Angela Kinsey]

Way, you're also obsessed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Also have stalked.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I know. I know that you stalked him.

[Jenna Fischer]

I got to work with him, and then that made me feel one step closer to Mike White, who I eventually managed to stalk and become. I became friends with Mike White, and then I eventually got to be in a Mike White movie starring Ben Stiller. And then after that happened, I was like, well, I can now retire because I have worked with my. My idol.

[Angela Kinsey]

I wrote in my journal about this week. Do you want to hear what I wrote, lady?

[Jenna Fischer]

Of course. I always want to hear about your journal. Your journal delights me. It does.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's gonna be your autobiography. A Journal Delights Me by Jenna Fisher. I wrote that, and I wrote this. Me and the adorable Mindy Kaling are gonna be doing really early morning interviews together on all the local NBC stations. We are gonna talk to 16 cities, and we have to get up at 5am oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

You guys did a little press junket.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think this is my very first one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, what's crazy about that, Angela, is you probably then after you were done, had to come to work. Oh, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because I remember we had to be on stage. We actually did them on the set with the set as the background. And we got there, and we met this satellite media tour is what they called it, and we met their crew, and we had to be there at 4am to go through hair and makeup. And then we started doing interviews at 5:00am and we talked to a new city every 15 minutes for three hours. Wow. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And that you did it with Mindy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mindy was my first press junket.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this is a wonderful segue into our upcoming segment. We'll take a break, but when we come back, we're gonna play our interview with Mindy Kaling. She came and talked to us. It was amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was such a joy to have her here. And I'm so excited for you guys to listen to this. And then afterwards, we're gonna fully break down the episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

We'll get to that right after the break.

[Angela Kinsey]

We'll see you with Mindy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Guess what? We are so excited to be part of SHRM25. What is SHRM25? You're asking yourself? Don't worry, I'm going to tell you. It is the world's largest HR conference for HR professionals. It's an annual conference that HR pros look forward to attending to each year to learn about the latest HR trends, networking with peers, and enjoying some entertaining conversations. And guess what? The office ladies are going to be there this year.

[Angela Kinsey]

So, you know, I have been to a SHRM conference. I went in 2023 when it was in Florida. I had the best time.

[Jenna Fischer]

SHRM25 is happening in San Diego June 29th through July 2nd. Head to shrm.orgofficeladies to register. Lady, you know that I love horror movies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

And there's a very popular part of the horror movie where, like, the person is home alone and they're just, like, locking up their house. They're turning off the lights, they're heading to bed, and you know something's gonna go down.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you know what would throw a huge monkey wrench into this horror movie that I'm describing?

[Angela Kinsey]

If the character in the movie is smart, they would have gotten simply safe like I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. The movie would be over. That's right. Nothing would happen to them.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Mindy Kaling.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi.

[Mindy Kaling]

Hi, guys.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi.

[Mindy Kaling]

I'm so happy to be here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Welcome to Office Ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm giving you a hug through the zoomy zoom.

[Mindy Kaling]

Thank you. Congrats, you guys, on this. The massive success of this. This is like. This is awesome. This is. Everyone in my life is obviously such a fan, and I'm like, I'm so proud of you guys. This is so great.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thanks, Mindy.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah, of course.

[Jenna Fischer]

We love it. We're having a good time.

[Mindy Kaling]

It's fun to hear the way that the show was through your guys Eyes. Because it's so loving and fun and super accurate and I like, I'm really enjoying it. So this is great. Thanks for having me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was so nice.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like this is all just pure joy. I'm just so delighted to see you and to talk to you and this is such a fun episode. So we just get to reminisce a little bit.

[Mindy Kaling]

Love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, before we get into Diwali, we always like to ask all of our guests their office origin story. So how did you come to be on the show?

[Mindy Kaling]

Well, it was 2004 and I had. I was off doing a play off off Broadway in New York called Matt and Ben, which was a play that I wrote with my writing partner and friend at the time, Brenda Withers, where it's like an hour long short play where I play Ben Affleck and she plays Matt Damon. It's so hard to tell this story without being like, just being like, okay, so just ignore that kind of interest and move on. But so we did that. It won the Fringe Festival, got some attention and sort of was our entree to la. And when we were in la, I had like an Arrested Development spec and then that play. And I had very few meetings. The climate for hiring writers, if you were like an untested Indian American woman, it was very different 16 years ago than it is now. And the only place that I got an interview at, I got two interviews. One was at Nevermind Nirvana, which was a pilot about an Indian family. And I was like, yes, I could. Yes, I could write on that show. And the other one was the Office. And I remember Joey was like, do you guys remember how huge Joey was when we started shooting?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

The Friends spinoff.

[Mindy Kaling]

It was like the NBC think they put all their money in that. And then Father of the Pride. Do you guys remember that one?

[Jenna Fischer]

No.

[Mindy Kaling]

Father of the Pride was a cartoon, a Jeffrey Katzenberg produced cartoon about from the point of view of two tigers that worked with Siegfried and Roy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, it's coming back to me.

[Mindy Kaling]

And it was an animated show.

[Angela Kinsey]

This sounds like a bit on Saturday Night Live. This doesn't sound like a TV show.

[Mindy Kaling]

Not only was it a real show, it was like the hottest show. Like, you could not get an interview. So I didn't get an interview in Will and Grace, I didn't get an interview at Joey and I didn't get an interview at Father of the Pride. And you can imagine, like, just to show how things have become so different from then, like, can you Imagine, like, now, like, a minor woman who won the Fringe Festival, coming out to la, not getting a meeting on all the two shows. So these have changed a lot. So that's great. But the two people who I got interviews with, Nevermind, Nirvana and I went into their offices in Burbank. This had never happened to me before, but I sat in the office and as I was there waiting to meet the showrunner, they got the call that the pilot hadn't been picked up to series. So I sat there and then the assistant came out and was like, you should go home. Like, there's no job. So I just, like, got up and left. And then the second one was at the Office with Greg Daniels. And so I met with him, and just so you know, my agent at the time, who I won't mention, was really like, yeah, this show doesn't have a lot of heat. Like, I don't think it's really gonna do anything. Everyone likes the British one better. So it's just like, you know, it's good to meet Greg Daniels. He's, like, done a lot of good stuff, but, like, it's just good. It's just good to have a general. So I went in there and there was not a lot of stakes, and I had a very. A really fun interview with Greg that lasted two hours. But you guys know Greg, So it was actually probably only 15 minutes of talking in two hours. And then he hired me, or he didn't hire me in the meeting. Like, they still had to do upfronts and everything, but we had a great meeting and I heard it went well. And then like a month and a half later, I was told I was coming back for six episodes. Such a small first season, but I was. And I think you guys were, you know, new enough, too, that it was just like, oh, my gosh, any episodes. That's fantastic. Not knowing that that was kind of an unusually small number of episodes, but that was how I got on the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

And how did you end up then playing a role on the show?

[Mindy Kaling]

You know, he had put. Greg had put into the contract these acting, these writing contract, these acting clauses for, I think, a number of the writers. At least it was in mine and I think Paul Lieberstein's. So I guess in the back of his mind, he was thinking in those terms. But the first season, classic episode, Diversity Day, written by the great BJ Novak, I remember in the room, he loved this idea. Greg loved this idea of Michael Scott offending all these people. But it's like, it's Kind of the funniest version of it when there's some minority people there, too, who can get extra offended. So at that time, I think it just made sense to have another minority person. And I was like, I'll do it. I actually. I didn't volunteer. He's like, I had two lines in that episode. He said, do you want to be in it? And I was like, of course. And so diversity day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Mindy Kaling]

Thank heavens that was the second episode. Cause then I guest starred then. And I think maybe once or twice that first season, I wasn't in it very much. And then second season was like, I sort of saw I got more lines, and, yeah, that's how it happened.

[Angela Kinsey]

What blew me away, Mindy, is when I think back on that, and I was sort of reading back on Wikipedia about all of us and where we were at in our lives at that time, and you were 24, and that blows my mind. You had your act together. To me, for someone at 24, you were amazing. Because at 24, I think I was doing takeout at Chin Chins. I wasn't a waiter. I was just doing a hostess job.

[Mindy Kaling]

You know what it is? Well, thank you for saying that. I mean, I love to feel like I was a wunderkind, but, you know what it is is that it's just the life of a writer, a comedy writer and the life of an actor, they're just. They're so different. Right. Like, it's. So it's very hard to break into comedy writing. But I do think that is easier than breaking into acting, because if you can write, you can write your own opportunities and write a spec script that, you know, then you can use and send out. Whereas, like, when you're a young actor, you're like, I just hope someone calls me in to see something. So thank you for saying that. But, you know, it also, it felt less special because BJ's there and he was the same age and he'd already written on a show at 24. Oh, my gosh. So it's just when I was like, oh, I guess I'm like, young and cool. He was like, oh, yeah, I've already worked on. He was on a Bob Saget sitcom. And Mike schur was, like, 28 and had already had, like, an Emmy and been at SNL for nine years or something crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

So, oh, my gosh, you guys.

[Mindy Kaling]

There was no sense of, like, you could ever think you were special or, like, ahead of the curve or anything like that with that group of people.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I always thought you Were special.

[Mindy Kaling]

Thank you. Thanks, Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, should we get into this episode, Jenna?

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Mindy Kaling]

Let's do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you get a chance to rewatch it?

[Mindy Kaling]

Yes, I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

What was it like for you to rewatch it?

[Mindy Kaling]

I have to say, I feel really lucky that Greg wanted to do this episode, because it feels like now. You know, Angela was on my most recent show, and we did an episode about Ganesh Pooja, and there's so much more. You know, there's so many more shows on the air with, like, diverse casts and everything, but the fact that on primetime television. And I don't know. What year did it come out? 2007, maybe?

[Jenna Fischer]

It aired November 2, 2006. It was seen by 8.8 million people, and it was the first American television comedy series to depict the Hindu festival of Diwali. It was the very first one.

[Mindy Kaling]

That's cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's amazing.

[Mindy Kaling]

Go us for doing that.

[Angela Kinsey]

And, you know, the show Mindy's referring to is Never have I Ever. Mindy. I do want to give it a little plug here because it's so great, and the cast is great, and you're with them from the beginning. The young actors you got. I felt 100 years old on that set.

[Mindy Kaling]

So did I.

[Angela Kinsey]

So did everyone.

[Mindy Kaling]

So did everyone who wasn't 17.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God. And they were so cute, and they loved the Office so much.

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh, my gosh. They were so starstruck by you, Angela. It was so special that you got to be there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mindy, what is the name of the lead actress on that show?

[Mindy Kaling]

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

[Jenna Fischer]

I adore her.

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Cause when you watch the show, you are so immediately in with her journey. Immediately. She is so, like, effervescent and open and just, wow. What a find. What a find.

[Mindy Kaling]

Thank you. She's going to flip out. Jenna. Office is her number one favorite show. If you go on her social media for more than two days, there's, like, an Office meme or there's, like. Yeah, I bet you've been on her Instagram, like, with the, like, please don't throw trash at me. Like, just like some. Some, like, famous Pam line.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, so. So here we go. So now we have Diwali, the festival of Lights. It's on network tv. Mindy, you have been so amazing at just really, I feel like representing all different sides of culture and on television. It's just. You should know what it's meant to people. We had a lot of people write in about having their community seen in this mainstream way. What it meant to them. It's really moving.

[Mindy Kaling]

That's so nice. I mean, you know, one of the harder things about when you write the Diwali episode is like, we couldn't believe that Greg said yes, because normally we would do, like, a Halloween episode at that time of year because it's the end of October. But then when he said yes, I had to kind of confront the fact that I'm Indian American. I don't know very much about the holiday. And that that experience of being Indian American and talking about how you don't know very much about the holiday kind of became a big part of the episode, which I loved. I liked that Greg thought that was just as interesting, if not more interesting, than me going and pretending that my family and I were these experts at Hindu holidays and everything. So I really like that Kelly has this defiant attitude about it, that it's really important, while also not knowing anything about it at all.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Except that she gets to wear an outfit that has some sparkles on it. Yes, exactly. And the music part, she's really excited about that.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Michael in the Cold Open. I mean, Mindy, I love whenever Steve would do an impression of us as our characters.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And so Michael's like, well, if you ask Kelly, it's like, blah, blah, super fun.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yes, that. That. I know. And he didn't get to do that that much. Right. Like, I felt like that he didn't do impressions of us too. Too much.

[Angela Kinsey]

I. When he did, I just. It just got me so tickled.

[Mindy Kaling]

I know. It was so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have a gazillion things I want to say, Jenna, but. Go, go.

[Jenna Fischer]

You go.

[Angela Kinsey]

One of my favorite lines in this whole episode is this. How long have you been married to the cheerleader? And that was your dad.

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh, my gosh. To this day, my dad gets checks from. He gets residual checks. It's like the thing he's the most proud of.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, from the Office. From the office, right. Yeah.

[Mindy Kaling]

And one time he was with my stepmom at Erewhon, and they got stopped, and someone was like, you are in the office, weren't you? And that was, like, early when they were dating, before they got married, and my dad was, like. Felt so cool about it, so.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah, that was like, some good, like, street cred right there. I'm being recognized.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah, completely. I just remember that that was, like, those episodes, you know, at the beginning of the season, it felt like one thing we did a lot was somehow we pulled out someone from the main cast, and there was Somebody somewhere else. And that was Stanford for that season.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Mindy Kaling]

And it was one of those ones where I really liked the Stanford episodes. I think sometimes when we did that, it worked really well. Sometimes when we pulled them out, we were like, ah, just come back. We just, like, want you back in the main gas. But that was a time where I felt like it. It worked pretty well. And I remember thinking. Cause I was like, at the beginning, I was like, what were, like, what was like, Ed and John doing? And I was like, oh, they weren't there. So it was fun to just. I forgot about that whole thing. And I remember what I really liked about Stanford was like, that was a really funny group of people there. Even the people that didn't have big parts, like, in the Stanford branch.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Mindy Kaling]

I just thought we nailed those prototypes or whatever. Like, I was never bored when I had to go over there.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, it was so well done.

[Jenna Fischer]

We talked a little bit about having over on the Scranton set, like, Angela and I having a little bit of, like, FOMO and jealousy of how much fun they were having over on Stanford because everybody was so funny. And also, they would only have to work, like, one and a half days a week. That's right. Super relaxed and just, like, having the best time. And then they got four days off, and we were. We were just like, hey, I forgot about that.

[Mindy Kaling]

Well, well, Jenna, the best example of that was the Michael Scott Paper Company, which was like, oh, yeah. Which was, like, to me, one of my favorite arcs we've ever done. And I don't think I wrote any of the episodes for you guys there, but, like, it has. I think that pairing of people, that group of people on their mission was, like, one of the times where I was like, wow, this is just, like, equally, if not more funny than, like, anything that's going, wait. And that's when Idris Elba was. Was that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess if you cut back to Idris Elba, you're doing fine.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I loved being in Michael Scott Paper Company.

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

I kind of didn't want that arc to end.

[Mindy Kaling]

And Vikram, the four of you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Amazing.

[Mindy Kaling]

It was so. It was like it could have been its own movie. Like, I know we're not talking about the Michael Scott Paper Company right now. We're talking about Diwali. But it felt like it was his own Bad news Bears type movie.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you're right, Mindy. There were these pairings that would happen that were just as pure and beautiful as what was happening in Scranton. And, you know, I got the DVD box set, and I watched the deleted scenes, and there's so many scenes at Stanford that never made it in. And, like, there's the character that's, like, was always breastfeeding.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah, Hannah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Hannah would make Jim really uncomfortable. And then as far as this episode, I do have a question for you, because I was texting with Rasheeda, and she was like, this is the episode. I was so worried everyone was gonna hate me because Jim and Karen have this sloppy makeout out in the parking lot.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like a tipsy makeout. It's not in the deleted scenes. It didn't even make that cut.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was in the shooting draft.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did Rashida. Did you guys end up shooting that? Cause I was gonna ask about that too, when I was going, I have the shooting draft from this episode. And I went back and I read it, and I was like, wait, wait. Jim and Karen kiss?

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah, I know they're kiss.

[Jenna Fischer]

Why are they making out? But then it's nowhere in the episode, and it's not in the deleted scenes.

[Mindy Kaling]

Well, I have a. My memory, even though I was the writer on set, obviously for the episode, I have, like, zero memory of that. But I will say that one thing that we used to do, I felt a lot, was to write scripts that advance story. And then what we noticed when we only had 21 and a half minutes to air an episode, that a little went such a long way. If there is an attractive woman who is working in the new environment and she seems to have some kind of rapport with Jim, or together, they're making fun of Andy, you're like, oh, that's interesting. That might be something. And so it felt like we were always pulling back that stuff. Jenna, don't you feel like you shot a lot of stuff with John that was not like. Cause you guys weren't super flirty in those early seasons, like, overtly flirty, but that you watch it and you're like, oh, this was like. They used less than I thought they would. In terms of showing your guys budding romance.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And I would also add that there were some scenes where we would get in. I don't know if I would call it fight, but there were some, like, disagreements in certain episodes, and they would pull back on those two and they would make them smaller.

[Mindy Kaling]

I wonder if it's interesting. It's just like for so much of the show, in terms of romance, it was always like, less is more. Whereas for comedy, it was like, let's hoist up Tony Gardner. Onto the table. But for all that stuff, it was. Yeah, just a little goes a long way.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. The relationships were so finessed. I thought they were so smartly done.

[Mindy Kaling]

One of the things I remember really well about this episode was again, like, it's such a time capsule of, like 2006 or whatever, because the love interest, he wasn't really a love interest, but there was an Indian character who my parents preferred to Ryan. That was like a very small part of it. And it was played by this writer, Vali Chandrasekaran, who was kind of a friend of the writers on the show, but not an actor, just a guy. Like a guy we knew.

[Angela Kinsey]

There was a real sort of casualness to our show of like, we're just kind of putting it together.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Mindy Kaling]

We probably shot this. This is season three, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Mindy Kaling]

For Diwali, it was. We knew that season two had done well. I don't. We'd been nominated. Probably at this point, we should. We'd been nominated, but we didn't know. So I felt like now I felt like at the beginning of season three, when we started shooting, we started feeling like a little bit more, okay, we're not gonna just get canceled or something. Because I remember so much stress earlier on thinking, like, it's hard to enjoy a show as much when you're like, is this even gonna last? And I do remember being able to enjoy things a little bit more starting at the beginning of season three. Sorry, I just keep going off of. Cause I don't get to talk about the Office that much. I just. I'm talking really like. Like, holistically about the show instead of just about this episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

But don't worry, we're gonna break down this whole episode and, like, get into the nitty gritty of it. So this can be your Office memories. There's no prescription for what we talk about.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah, okay, cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Greg was on to talk about Booze Cruise, and we just. We went everywhere, you know, but that's. It's such a special chapter in all of our lives. I think it's hard to compartmentalize it to one episode. It's such a big part of us, you know?

[Mindy Kaling]

One of the things I remember a lot about doing the Office was we didn't realize as writers how rare it was for Greg to just say, okay, well, I'm just gonna give one person from the writer's world on set, and that's just gonna be the writer of the episode. Some people do that now, but it's usually like an upper level writer. So it's your job to make sure that the intention of the lines is being corrected, give alts, answer questions from the actors. And I was a story editor when I did this. And I remember, like, that was pretty stressful, I think. Like, I remember being on the set. Cause Miguel Arteta was not one of our directors that we had all the time. And so I remember feeling like, is this, like, am I being too, like, on set? Cause we were on location a lot for this episode. I was like, am I too much in his hair? Is he gonna yell at me? Cause I think season one, I was never alone for Hot Girl. Like, I think Howard and Greg were there for almost all the shooting because it was, I think, one of the last ones we shot. But for this one, it was just like, go manage set, answer all Indian questions, and make sure it's hilarious, and do all alts.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so funny you say that, Mindy, because my impression of you as the writer on set was just always that you were one of my favorites.

[Mindy Kaling]

Really? That's so nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Mostly because you were so up to laugh, like, you found. I always felt like you found everyone hilarious.

[Mindy Kaling]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

You seem to like everything. You had the best alts. So you would sort of throw out ideas maybe based on something you watched us do. You'd be like, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

[Mindy Kaling]

Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Jenna Fischer]

You have to do that again. Do that again. And then what do you think about saying this? And it was like, oh, my gosh. It was just like, this uplifting, exciting.

[Mindy Kaling]

So nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I loved it. I loved it. We've talked a lot about that. And Jen Salata was very similar as well. Like, well, Jen, you couldn't get. She just would laugh the whole time. Like, we'd actually have to throw her.

[Mindy Kaling]

Off because she was laughing too much.

[Jenna Fischer]

She would ruin takes.

[Mindy Kaling]

But, yeah, yeah, I thought, you know, there's this thing that we would do on the show where when a cut would come out, the director's cut, and I've never seen it on any other show, we would all gather and watch it together in the writer's room. And director's cuts, famously, in other shows, make you want to kill yourself. They're usually so bad, but the quality was so good because the cast was so good. And so I remember it was like my favorite time. We could interrupt all of our work and just go into the little living room area of our writers room and watch. I mean, I was such a fan of the show. I watched almost every Cut of every episode. And then I would watch it live, too. And I didn't realize how unusual that is for somebody who works on a show. Most people and then they. A lot of actors don't even watch it when it airs. But I really was such a huge fan of the show. And a lot of times in those conference room scenes, I'd have no lines or one line or something in these four page scenes. And to me, it was like going to Second City and just watching everyone just be so funny. And it'd just be for free. And you'd be in this freezing cold room and there'd be snacks every two hours. And I was like, how could this be better?

[Angela Kinsey]

It felt like such a. An abundance of riches. I just loved sitting and watching everyone in character just reacting.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mindy, I remember one time you were on stage and BJ and you guys were at reception by Jenna, and you guys were talking, and I walked up and you were having a conversation about some type of, like, economics. It was like some kind of like you had. You had expanded economics. And I walked up and I was like, I'm gonna go over here. I was just like, they are two of the smartest people I ever met, and I'm gonna hard pivot and back away.

[Mindy Kaling]

Wait, B.J. and I were talking about economics. We weren't fighting. I'm so surprised.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no, you were. It was a heated discussion. We were on opposite sides.

[Mindy Kaling]

That is 100. That is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I just. I remember you and Paul and BJ as a little trio, probably because you were the writers who were with the actors. So between takes, you guys would always kind of huddle up and talk, like story ideas and like, what's happening in the writer's room. And so you were having to kind of manage two jobs at once. And I used to, like, hover around you guys and eavesdrop and just like, hope you would invite me in to your hilarious conversation. Yes. Some of my favorite memories are listening to you guys discuss story and character and pitch jokes to each other in between scenes.

[Mindy Kaling]

Well, that's so funny. Cause I felt like when we were in the annex, we, you know, we were. The writers were in the annex. I'm sure you're sure you guys have talked about this many times. But we were in the annex, obviously, because then we could go be the writers room and we wouldn't have to be in some of the big group scenes. But I remember also thinking, like, but I want to be in the big group scenes. Like, those were the funnest Scenes to watch when, like, you know, Dwight would run in and be like, everyone to the roof. We just were left out of those scenes about Diwali. So here was a couple things that I felt were maybe interesting to say, which was that we only cast my parents in it, which seems just like a complete act of nepotism and favoritism because we had auditioned the parts and Greg had felt that the actors we had found of that age group, like the late 50s, early 60s, were a little bit too. Either theatrical for the style of acting on our show or too stilted because they had no acting experience. Now, I'm the first to say that my parents acting was also very stilted. But he was like, at least they bear some familial resemblance to you. So we'll just like. We'll just like, put them in there. And I don't know if you guys remember this, but I remember going into it, my mom was like, had this energy of like, I'm just like, gonna be so much better than your father. Like, I just know, like, neither of them had done any acting. She was a doctor, he was an architect. But she had this sense, like, coming over that she's like, I just hope that you give me the most lines because I'm just naturally better on camera and it's gonna be good. But then Miguel fell in love with my dad. He was like, we have to give him more lines. He's killing it. And you guys remember, this is the show where if anyone ever fell for anyone, Troy L. Underbridge, who was just kind of like, if anyone was interesting to a director in the wrong reasons, just cause, oh, my God, I just love that guy. Look, they could rec show for a long time. And I remember being like, I cannot have my dad and my mom come back here, like, ever again to do this kind of thing. So I remember Miguel Arteta was like, hey, do you think we can add your dad to the background of, like, another scene? And I was like, no, we can't.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was gonna ask you what it was like for you to have them on set.

[Mindy Kaling]

Uh, I was. I don't know if you guys feel this way. Well, you don't really, Ange. Cause, like, your family, you guys are so tight, so I don't think you have this. But. But I did not feel so established on the show as a writer or as an actor that I felt so comfortable having them there. Like, I was really worried about it seeming unprofessional or just like, that they would tell boring stories to people and Like, Jenna would be like, hey, can you get this guy away from me? Tell, like, an ad. I can't hear the story anymore. Like, can you please? So I think I was worried, and I think I told them, like, don't, like, talk to people at craft services for too long. Just say hi and answer questions, but don't launch into other stuff. But that was one thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought they were delightful. We were so excited to have them.

[Jenna Fischer]

And they were so cute. Mindy, they were so cute.

[Mindy Kaling]

Well, they're both, like, 5 foot 4. They're just both, like, little. They're both my people.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, they're my people. I remember your mom complimented my black house, and I remember it.

[Mindy Kaling]

That's nice.

[Angela Kinsey]

She liked the color on me. And I was like, oh, thanks so much. I don't know. I thought they were delightful.

[Jenna Fischer]

And by the way, I thought their acting was amazing. I was watching them in that scene with Steve, and I was like, they are killing it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God, your mom ate him up. Like, that was amazing.

[Mindy Kaling]

They were. I mean, I cannot believe. Because that was at the time where I was like, I'd like to have a scene with Steve. You know, like, it felt so special. And here they are. They were like, he's at a crossroads with Carol, and my dad is like, you should be with her. I forget exactly what he said, but I remember being like, this is kind of a juicy scene, but, you know, there's a nice little story. Cause, like, I feel like Pam's stories had such an emotional impact, but they often didn't have, like, lots and lots of, like, lines to them. But they always were so impactful as, like, I thought your little story in this one was pretty sweet, Jenna. Like, it was like, you know, you didn't really want to go, and then you end up having, like. I don't know, I thought it was, like, a nice. I like those kinds of Pam stories.

[Jenna Fischer]

I liked it, too. I also. I was really struck by how incredibly good looking David Denman was in this episode. I was like, pam, Pam, stop for a second. Open your eyes, See what's in front of you, and just maybe, I mean, maybe just revisit that for one night. Pam. It's one night. That's what I was thinking the whole time.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

David Denman, he was also really tan. He was really like. I don't know what David was doing in his real life, but he's super tan and shape.

[Mindy Kaling]

It was good to show that Roy had good qualities and was good looking, too, so that you weren't Just like, what the hell? Like, why. Why is it not. It's good that he was. Yeah. David Denman is a legitimate smoke show. He doesn't get enough credit. Yeah, guys, this was so much fun. Now that I've done it, and you guys made me feel so welcome, I would love to come back and do another one sometime.

[Jenna Fischer]

We will have you back anytime. Mindy, I really.

[Mindy Kaling]

I'm sure you already did this and talked about it with somebody else on the show, but if we ever do Branch Wars, Jenna, I have so many funny memories of it. Like, one thing I remember really well was normally you'd sit in a conference room type scene, and Michael would be the person that would just be so funny that you felt like, I'm going to break and die. And I remember I was not. I was on set with you because I'd written the episode, but I was not, obviously, at the branch as a character. I wasn't there. And I remember when you had to take over for Michael because he had a breakdown. That was some of the funniest moments of any episode I'd ever seen you in front of. Just eating it and having to be this valiant assistant and friend to Michael. I remember that. And I also remember Michael cutting a piece of her sweater off. Those were my two favorite moments of that episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you, Mindy.

[Mindy Kaling]

I had a great time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mindy, thank you so much. It was such a joy to see you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you so much.

[Mindy Kaling]

It was really fun. Great to see you. And yeah, guys, good. I mean, I was gonna say good luck, but you don't need good luck. You're already. This is the number one podcast ever, but stop it.

[Angela Kinsey]

By the way, speaking of. I can't believe legally wrong 3. I'm so excited.

[Mindy Kaling]

Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love you so much, Mindy. Okay, bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

Bye, Mindy.

[Mindy Kaling]

Bye.

[Angela Kinsey]

This show is sponsored by Better Help Lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[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]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

And we are back. Mindy Kaling so fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

Please come back. That was so great.

[Jenna Fischer]

We have to have her back.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. All right, ladies, should we break down this episode?

[Jenna Fischer]

We talked a little bit about this cold open with Mindy. We open in the office. Kelly is helping Ryan with his kurta, and Michael enters and he starts laughing at it. He calls it a dress. Right. But then Pam and Kelly gush about how handsome Ryan looks, and Michael suddenly wishes that he had one, too. He's such a child.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's like, how come you didn't get me one? I think you can see Mindy starting to break when he says that. And I wondered if that was an improvised line, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, it's in the script.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because I. I feel like you can see Mindy starting to do that. That break that she does.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like she was taken by surprise.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, that's just Mindy breaking because you said words, which is what Mindy used to like to do.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, now we have a party planning committee scene. You guys, we lived for these. We got so tickled whenever there was one in a script. I find it fascinating that in this party planning committee scene, it is Ryan, Meredith, Pam, Angela, and Phyllis. And they are discussing who's going to carpool with who.

[Jenna Fischer]

There's a chart.

[Angela Kinsey]

Clearly, they couldn't plan this party. They were invited guests, so they had to have something to plan. So they're planning carpools. This is what Phyllis wrote on the dry erase board. And Bob's Yukon, and she was very proud to say that he had a Yukon. In Bob's Yukon would be Phyllis, Stanley, Angela, Kevin, and Pam. And Meredith's minivan would be Meredith, Daryl, Lonnie, Creed, Ryan, and Kelly. Now, who is missing from the carpool? Oscar. He's on leave. Michael and Dwight. Who's riding with Michael and Dwight? They're on their own, I guess.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, good question. Well, I guess Michael and Carol are going to go together. But how did Dwight get there?

[Angela Kinsey]

He's solo. He's solo. But I want you guys to know there is a fantastic deleted scene. There's an extension of this party planning committee scene. And it's so funny because Angela doesn't want anyone to go. And I actually have a talking head where it sort of sets up why I'm so against Diwali. And it's not really about Diwali. It's because I think Dwight might still have a thing for Kelly or maybe there'll be someone else there he might be interested in. So I really have this attitude that. Listen, I actually have this line where I say certain people in this office are a little too Obsessed with things from India.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

So she's jealous, and that's really her filter through all of this. That's why she's so salty all the way through. And then Jenna, what I love is she's trying to talk people out of going. And Ryan was like, well, Kelly's kind of into it. I thought we could go. And then he's like, I don't care, actually, we can bail. I don't care. Ryan was like, you guys want me to bail? Fine.

[Jenna Fischer]

We actually got a lot of mail wondering why Angela was so salty about this festival. And so I'm really glad you shared that deleted scene. Cause there was this whole extra storyline element that it's you. And I think you kind of see it a little bit in the scene where Pam is telling Kelly she might not go. And this and that. And your head has popped up.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Behind that partition. And you are a little jealous when Dwight, with such authority, says he's single, he's not seeing anyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because Kelly suggests maybe Pam go with Dwight if she doesn't wanna go alone. And she's like, you're single, right, Dwight? And Dwight's like, oh, yeah, I'm totally single. And I think that's. You see that little jealousy right there from Angela? Like, ooh, don't like it.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's deleted scenes that really sort of play out this Dwight Angela storyline and her jealousy and how it resolves itself. But that's what was going on for Angela Martin.

[Jenna Fischer]

So Michael gets aware of the fact that people might not be as enthusiastic about the Stewally festival as he would like. He says he thinks it's because, you know, people are just ignorant about other cultures. And he really does not want to be embarrassed by everyone's ignorance in front of his girlfriend, Carol.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. So he's got to educate everyone. So this means we're all going in the conference room.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Once again, where does Michael get these posters? It feels last minute, but yet he has all these posters. Does he send Dwight on, like, a mad dash? There's all kinds of posters once we get in the conference room.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so true. And when he starts showing us this slideshow, you notice how there's a photo of Michael and Carol kissing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Awkward.

[Jenna Fischer]

That accidentally makes its way into this presentation.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, then he passes out the Kama Sutra to the employees. And remember, Angela, that was. Those were, like, little booklets that Phil Shea had to put together in print of all these Kama Sutra positions. And they were blurred out for television, but they were not blurred out in real life, we're all, like. We're all sitting in the room as actors, and we get these little booklets, and I remember being totally like, oh. Oh, wow. Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of course. Kevin says this is the best meeting they've ever had.

[Jenna Fischer]

The best one.

[Angela Kinsey]

If you guys get a chance and rewatch this scene at the end, Toby takes away the Kama Sutra. And I want you to look at Phyllis's face because she makes an expression like she's really bummed out to lose the book.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh, I missed that. Oh, I can't wait to go back and see that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Angela, should we talk a little bit about what's going on in Stanford?

[Angela Kinsey]

You mean with Josh Porter's, like, biker shorts and his fancy bike and Jim and his clunky bike with a big basket? What's happening, Jim? What's going on?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Jim has started biking to work, just like Josh. He says, I'm gonna save gas money. It keeps me in shape. He did not anticipate how sweaty he would be. That talking head is so funny how much sweat they put on him. Angela, do you remember how they used to make us sweaty? When you have to be sweaty, they spray you. Yeah, they would either spray you with, like, a bottle that you would mist your plants with, or they would spray you with, like, those Evian mist sprays, and they have to, like, spritz you under the arm. But then they'd have to come and do it, like, between every take because it would dry. But then sometimes they would put, like, baby oil around, like, your hairline and then spray you so it would look especially sweaty. Yeah, I've just given everybody a little inside info on how you make an actor sweaty. You can try it at home.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, I'm just laughing at how many times you just said sweaty.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sweaty.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, so now at 4 minutes, 23 seconds. Sam, will you play Mustang? Flirty Karen.

[Jenna Fischer]

Flirty Karen.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's my mom, Birdie Kenzie. Flirty Karen. Karen says, hey, nice basket.

[Jenna Fischer]

Ever since the whole chips incident, she's smitten.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

So then Josh comes over and gives Karen the company credit card because they have to work late and they're allowed to buy dinner. But he says, you know, no more than $20 a person this time. This time. $20 a person. We shot this in 2006. Is there a meal out there that you order that's more than $20 a person?

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey, maybe there's a reason Stanford doesn't make it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, my gosh, I don't Know, maybe I just don't eat at very fancy places for my takeout, but I would be. It would. I would be challenged to order a meal for more than $20 a person in 2006. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Especially, like, late at night in Scranton. What are they getting?

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, like, Thai food.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. This is not difficult. Andy, though, busts out some Jagermeister. He's got other plans. He's ready to party at Helms.

[Angela Kinsey]

His face when he holds up that Jagermeister bottle and the shot glasses is hilarious. You get a window into who Andy was in college, and you're like, oh, buddy. Well, back in Scranton, things are getting exciting because everyone is showing up to Diwali. They're arriving, they're walking in. It's really, really, like, bright and colorful, and there's music playing. And Phyllis is like, isn't it fun to take our shoes off? And Angela's like, I wish not everyone took their shoes off. And Kevin's like, stop it. I told you it was a condition. So you guys remember in grief counseling, we talked about a deleted scene that would have been in the episode where Angela and Kevin go off again about his sweaty feet?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. This is a callback to a deleted scene. So it. It's gonna go unappreciated by most viewers. But those diehard viewers who watch those deleted scenes will know what this means.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like someone in the writer's room was really determined to make sure we had scenes about Kevin's feet. I feel like it was a note card on the. On the wall that said kevin's sweaty feet. And someone loved it and kept wanting to get it in the episodes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this is Angela's worst nightmare. People taking off all their shoes, even minus Kevin's sweaty feet. I mean, this is just not how she wants to be at a party. No.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

So, Angela, we got a fan question about these Diwali scenes. It comes from Sarah Beth Miller. She asked, was this a real Diwali celebration happening in the filming of this episode? How did you get all of those people in those beautiful costumes?

[Angela Kinsey]

Great question, Sarah Beth. I mean, there are so many people in this scene. So here's the thing. It was not a real Diwali festival. That was all put together by our amazing crew just specifically for this episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Our set designer, Michael Gallenberg, and his team, they decorated that whole gym. Michael had to do a lot of research in order to transform the gymnasium to feel like a real Diwali festival. So I think he would be very proud to know that you wondered if this was real, like maybe we just stepped into an existing festival. No, they made the whole thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

They did a fantastic job as far as costumes go. My character did not get to dress up Jenna. I was so bummed. Yeah, you know, I mean, she actually is just wearing what she wore to work. She didn't even change out of her work clothes. I know, but some of the cast did get to dress up. Bj, Rain, Mindy. And I'm sure our wardrobe stylist was thrilled to do something other than just drab office attire.

[Jenna Fischer]

They used to get so excited every time we got to wear anything other than our office attire. And Pam didn't really dress up, but she is not in her office attire, which was fun. I had a whole separate fitting for that.

[Angela Kinsey]

We got to see casual Pam.

[Jenna Fischer]

And did you notice I got to wear my hair differently as well? But we did find out some interesting trivia about all the other background actors who were dressed up for this festival.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, we. We went to Kentipedia, and he said our casting office worked with Central Casting. Now Central Casting is a casting agency in Los Angeles. They specialize in sort of the background actors and filling out the picture, Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Central Casting reached out to a lot of the Indian community here in Los Angeles to hire those background players. All in all, Kent said, We had 100 extras working this episode, and every single one of them brought their own very beautiful costuming for us to use.

[Jenna Fischer]

And to kind of fill out the world. Kent also hired a professional dance company to come and lead us in some of the dances. He found a company called NDM Dance Productions, and he hired their director, choreographer, Dev Mahajan. And Dev hired eight dancers. He choreographed, rehearsed their dance in the morning of that day four of shooting is when we shot all the dancing, and then we filmed it later in the afternoon. And all the dancers wear their own costumes as well. I actually went to the website.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of course you did, lady. You went to the dancer's website. What'd you find out?

[Jenna Fischer]

They have appeared on tons of shows. So youo Think youk Can Dance. E. Live, Oscar Coverage, Good Morning America, Superstars of Dance, and MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. If you wanna look them up, you can find [e-mail]. it was super cool. And it really did end up feeling like a real party, like a real celebration.

[Angela Kinsey]

It really did. I wish my character wanted to participate more, because me, Angela, that is me, would have been right out there, like, just having a great time. So it was always hard in these moments, to not get to be in costume and not participate and be kind of the grump on the wall, you know, I do.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we'll talk a little bit about my dancing later. But I did get to dance a little bit, and I was thrilled. Very fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right. So, yeah, so there are people that got to dress up, people that didn't. Michael and Carol walk in with a whole different idea of what this party is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael has clearly told Carol that this is a costume party. So she arrives dressed as a cheerleader.

[Angela Kinsey]

With pom poms.

[Jenna Fischer]

With pom poms. And Michael has his old Halloween costume on. He has his papier mache head. We had a fan question from Melinda o' Brien. Was Michael's costume the same one from the Halloween episode, or did they have to make another one? Oh, no, Melinda. We save everything. Everything that anyone wore or held or used or interacted with on the Office goes into a giant warehouse. It's tagged. It's almost like an evidence room. So when they wrote that into this episode, they just went to that warehouse and they picked up that paper mache head and put it right on his shoulder again.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right. It's like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's like rows and rows of boxes with dates, tags, episode names. So they went right to that box. And of course, Michael, you know, he can take the head off, and then he just looks like he's in a suit. But Carol is stuck now as a cheerleader because Michael thought this was Indian Halloween.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I know. Poor Carol. She is such a sport in this episode. She has to endure so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Nancy Carrill just knocked it out of the park. She plays it so perfect of just sort of like, quietly enduring this awkward.

[Jenna Fischer]

Evening while dressed like a cheerleader.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let's move over to the buffet. Angela's at the buffet. She asks if they have any vegetarian options. She doesn't even seem satisfied when she learns that everything is vegetarian. It's all vegetarian.

[Angela Kinsey]

She's just in full grump mode.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's like, just gimme some bread. And then the guy hands her the bread with his hands. And, Angela, you have a line here that I am fairly certain you improvised.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. I say you used your hands as I walk away. And I did improvise that because the guy literally did hand it to me with his hands. And I thought, that's not good.

[Jenna Fischer]

He should have used some tongs.

[Angela Kinsey]

Some tongs he just handed to me with his hands. And so I improvised that line. And it stayed in and it makes me laugh. Of course she goes ahead and eats it. So I guess she, she's not too concerned. But it's clearly she's just like, not having a good time. And she's a little, like grossed out because she's seeing a lot of feet. And now a guy just handed her bread with his hands. A stranger.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, in the script it says that you take a bite and say, ugh, garlic. We had some fan questions about the foods. Stacy and Rutvy both wrote in to say, was any of that delicious looking buffet food real? Did you get to sample some of the cuisine while filming this episode? Guys, it was all real food. It was all real. It was all delicious. Kent told me we hired a specialty food stylist to create the food, that it was authentically prepared. And we had it all three days of filming and we got to eat it. And I remember that it was delicious.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was delicious. I only got to eat the naan, but it was very good naan.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I ate between takes. I just ate it. You don't even see Pam eating it on screen. I was like, I will eat this. Well, now we come to one of the moments in this episode that is one of my favorites. Angela. This is when Ryan meets Kelly's giggly sisters. Yeah, it's so, so cute. We got some fan questions from Lindsay, Bridget and Dan, who all want to know, do you know what Kelly's sister is, is saying when they're talking to Ryan? They're saying something about Zach Braff.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, here's what the three little girls say. They say Kelly likes Zach Braff. That's what they're saying in Hindi. And they're sort of like teasing him. They were so cute. And they were played by Tanvir Atwal, Ananya Kepper, and Jaisha Patel.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the little girl who plays Kelly's sister that says the Zach Braff line, that's Jaisha. I found her on Instagram and I reached out to her to ask her about what it was like to be on the show. And she wrote back, I can't wait to share.

[Angela Kinsey]

She must be like a grown lady now.

[Jenna Fischer]

She is a grown woman now. She told me she was 13 years old when she shot this episode. She said she had not really heard about the show. She was still watching Disney Channel, she said. But she said her dad took her to the audition and she remembers walking into the casting office and she just seeing tons of other kids who were all there for the same role. And she said the audition was just her saying that one line in Hindi and she said she didn't speak any Hindi. So her dad told her how to say it about five seconds before she went into the audition room and then she got the part. So she said she was so excited and I asked her what it was like to be on set, if she had any memories and she sent back the sweetest message. So we're going to play it for you now. Now I remember Rainn Wilson walking up to me and shoving a lightsaber in my hand and yelling, lightsaber war. I also remember getting to know Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak who were so sweet to me. Meeting Mindy Kaling really meant a lot to me growing up because I didn't really see many Indian actresses in the entertainment industry at that time. And I love what Mindy has done with her platform and she is still a huge inspiration for me till this day. I also remember all of the delicious Indian food on set and getting to dance all day and I remember being so happy that I had the chance to wear my Indian clothes. Isn't that so sweet?

[Angela Kinsey]

That is wonderful that as I listened to it I was just smiling so big because that is everything about that message is lovely. I love all of her memories. She's absolutely right about Mindy and what Mindy has done and she's such an inspiration to so many people.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. She told me after the episode aired she had classmates and family members reaching out that they had recorded it and taking pictures of her name in the credits. So that was when she was 13. She really wanted to be an actress. She said when she was 15 she decided she wanted to go into journalism. And now Jaysha is the morning News reporter at NBC15 in Mobile, Alabama. She told me she has to go to bed at four o' clock in the afternoon because she has to be in the studio at 3:30 in the morning.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have always heard that about these morning anchors on the east coast that they have to get up so early. That's amazing though, Jaysha. That is so cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

Isn't that so cool? She said all her co workers know about her appearance on the Office and that fans will mention to her because she's Indian. They'll mention the Diwali episode and then she always like blows their mind when she says, oh no, I was in it. So I thought that was so sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was in it. I say a line that offends Ryan the temp.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, exactly. Except he doesn't quite know he's being the butt Of a joke.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

But she said being on the office was one of her most memorable moments of her childhood.

[Angela Kinsey]

I also love that. You know, I'm sure Rain improvised going up to her with that lightsaber. There's a bunch of deleted scenes where he's fighting with kids with lightsabers, papers. And it didn't make it in, but he.

[Mindy Kaling]

He.

[Angela Kinsey]

Rain looked very much in his element. Like, that's how he bonds with children.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Angela, should we check in on those folks at Stanford, see how they're doing?

[Angela Kinsey]

You mean the folks drinking Jagermeister? Yeah. How are they?

[Jenna Fischer]

And, Angela, did you see what they ordered for dinner?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Jenna, you and I know firsthand you do not drink a lot of alcohol and only eat sushi.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now, Angela, why do we know that firsthand?

[Angela Kinsey]

We know that because at the Golden Globes. Was it the Golden Globes, Jenna?

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, lady, I was thinking of my bachelorette party that you planned for.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, well, there was the Golden Globes, but the Bachelorette.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wait, have we repeated this mistake multiple times?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, except the second time, I did better. The first time. It did not work out well for me. The second time, if memory serves. Sorry to say this on here, but it hit your sister pretty hard.

[Mindy Kaling]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Guys, guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela planned a bachelorette party for me when I was getting married to Lee. And she took us all out for a sushi dinner. It was a fancy, schmancy sushi place in Beverly Hills that I'd never eaten at, I'd only dreamed of. And I was like, can we go there for my bachelorette?

[Angela Kinsey]

They were thrilled to have us.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was so cute. All of the ladies from the office were there. All of my other friends were there. And afterwards, you took us. Us to a dance club.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hold up, lady. If we're gonna get this right, first of all, the sushi place was your idea. And then after the sushi place, you guys, I got cupcakes with, like, her face on it. It was so cute. We had lots of free drinks sent over. The restaurant was very kind, and lots of great sushi. And then after the dinner, I was like, well, thank you, guys. And Jenna was like, what's next? And I was like, what?

[Jenna Fischer]

Wait, what?

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you not.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is this true? I do not remember this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you know this? No, lady. All I had planned was the dinner. I didn't plan anything after. Is this the first time you're ever hearing of this?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. This is putting the dance club into perspective now. Cause I thought at the time it was an odd choice. Cause we've never in A million years gone clubbing. And now we were suddenly clubbing for my bachelorette. But I was like, this is great.

[Angela Kinsey]

What a fun idea. Yeah, I should say, you guys. We had a car. I got one of the big limos, you know, that we could all pile in. And I called a friend of mine who is, like, always kind of like, got. You know, you have that one friend that's like, I gotta hook up. I gotta hook up.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I'm in the middle.

[Angela Kinsey]

I called my friend Tess and I was like, tess, I. I. Jenna wants to go dancing. I were in Beverly Hills. What do I do? What do I do? And she was like, I'm on it. Give me like, five, ten minutes. I said, okay. So we kind of hung out a little bit. And I was like, I'm sorting out some stuff, guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do remember hanging out on the sidewalk outside the.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. It's because I didn't have a plan. The restaurant, all I had planned for was fancy sushi. And our evening would have been over at, like, ten o' clock.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Anyway, I get a call from Tess and she goes, all right. Angela's pretty last minute. It's like, you know, a Thursday night in Beverly Hills. So I did get you in this one club. I know this guy. He's got a booth for you, and they're gonna give you drink service. It's kind of a random club, but it'll be fun. You guys can dance.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela. It's the only time I've ever experienced bottle service. Bottle service is where you, like. They bring you just bottles of alcohol and then mixers and, like, little cut lines to your table and you make your drinks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, when they walk it over, everyone starts doing. At least for us, I think this was the norm because I would see different people get bottle service, and it was like they shut off, like, confetti in the air. It was so weird.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was so bizarre. They had. It was crazy dancing. I remember we got in trouble because we were dancing on top of the couches and we got reprimanded for that. But guys on our stomachs of sushi mixed with bottle service. Long story short, at the end of the night, as the limo is dropping everyone off, my sister puked in Ellie Kemper's bushes. I puked. When I got home, it was in my hair. I slept in. Was an epic night. But that's what you get when you mix sushi and a lot of booze. And that is what is in store for these guys in Stamp.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. As Jenna and I rewatched this episode. I texted her, and I was like, oh, lady alcohol and sushi.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so true. It is so true. Should we go back to Diwali? Because Roy has arrived and he is watching Pam dance and have fun. And I have a full Mindy catch for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do?

[Jenna Fischer]

And we've got a sting for it and everything. There you go. It's a full Mindy catch. Mira, during wrote in to say at the Diwali party, when Roy walks in, Beyonce's Crazy in Love is playing in the background. And, Angela, this was a note in the script Mindy wrote in what song would be playing when Roy walks in and that it would be a Beyonce song. So I think this is a full. Full Mindy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it. It's a very subtle full Mindy. It's like. Like fool Mindy when you don't even see Mindy, but her presence is still there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. And you know, my dance partner, we talked about this in the interview with Mindy. My dance partner, Valli. Okay. He was well known by the writers because he was a writer on My Name is Earl at the time, and he went on to write on 30 Rock and was one of the executive producers of Modern Family.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, that Mindy did say, guys, he wasn't an actor. He was, like, a friend of ours. That's so wild. Well, can I ask you a little bit about your dance moves there, Ms. Fisher?

[Jenna Fischer]

You can. What are you gonna say?

[Angela Kinsey]

I've danced with you, and I can tell you right now, folks, that was not a choreographed dance routine. That was just Jenna being Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we had a fan question from Zaria Collins, who asked that same question. Were those dance moves choreographed?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's all, Ms. Fisher.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's me fully dancing with my heart and soul.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's. Hello, St. Louis. St. Louis prom.

[Jenna Fischer]

That sounds a Scranton right there. That's the same girl who made a Sounds of Scranton playlist, everyone. There I am. You could almost rewind me and put me in my high school gym right there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, something is gonna happen that is super awkward, because that is Michael's way. Michael's way is to take a wonderful moment and make everyone cringe. And the Diwali was going to be no exception. He, you know, has this amazing scene with Mindy's parents that play Kelly's parents, which we already talked about. And he's so inspired by their love. He's gonna do it. Yeah, he's gonna do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Their commitment it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he's going to propose to Carol in front of a whole room of strangers on their ninth date?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. She's like, carol, will you do me the honor of making me your husband? Of making me your husband? And she's like, can we talk about this in private? And this is one of my favorite moments in movies and tv, where he's like, what? Into a microphone. She's like, like, can we talk about it in private?

[Angela Kinsey]

And then he's like, oh, man. Oh, crap. Yes. Well, I. They have this scene out in the parking lot, Jenna. And it made me laugh so hard that, you know, Carol is like, I can't do this, Michael. I can't do it. In his last ditch effort, his last few moments, what is he going to say that might change her mind? He's going to go for it. What could he say to change this woman's mind? Do you know what he says? Let me come with you. I have this book, the Kama Sutra. She says, exactly. Good night, Michael.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, at this point, Pam is. She's talking to Vali, and she's realizing something. She wants to reach out to Jim, so she's gonna. She's gonna text him.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, that thing happened. That thing happened, which, you know, this. This crazy moment just happened. And who does she want to share it with? Right? This is how, you know, you really care about someone. Your person out there, folks, is the person you want to tell everything to right after it happens. It's who you bounce everything off of. And Pam wants to tell her person.

[Jenna Fischer]

What just happened, but she runs into Angelo. She needs to get her shoes. And there is Angela guarding the shoes. She says. Well, and eating her dry naan. By the way, Angela, fan question from Rainey. Greg, was the naan dry?

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Was it actually dry?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, it wasn't. It was perfectly fine.

[Jenna Fischer]

I would say that too. I ate some of that naan. It was wonderful.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was glad to have it. I was probably hungry. Well, Jen and I used to always get so tickled to have scenes together because it rarely happens. So we were really excited about this. I loved shooting this scene with you, and I love it so much. I just want us to play it. Sam, can you play it?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's hot in there. How's the naan?

[Angela Kinsey]

Dry. You looked like you were having fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

I am. You should come dance with us.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have to watch our shoes so they don't get stolen. Who were you texting?

[Jenna Fischer]

No one. Aww.

[Angela Kinsey]

But also, lady, my character is so nosy.

[Jenna Fischer]

So, no. Who are you texting?

[Angela Kinsey]

Looked like you were having fun. Who are you texting? I mean, who am I to ask you who you're texting?

[Jenna Fischer]

You're the party police.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, you're single. Dwight made this big announcement that he's single. I don't know. Maybe you're texting Dwight. What's happening?

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela's spinning out in this episode, and a lot of those scenes ended up getting deleted. But it would be a fun watch to go back and watch them, because that is why you are so intense in this episode. So now Pam is gonna make it outside. She hasn't received a text back from Jim, and she sits with Michael. Michael tries to relate to her. He's like, wow, they're both victims of broken engagements. And Pam's like, well, I mean, except that you were never actually engaged, but whatever. She tries to bond with Michael. And of course, he does that thing that you were just talking about where he just takes it one step too far and he starts to lean in like he's gonna kiss her.

[Angela Kinsey]

So awkward.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a lot of mail about it. Angela, Ruby, Alexandra, and Vanessa Ortiz all wrote in to ask if that was a scripted moment when Michael tries to kiss Pam. What was it like? It was scripted, you guys. That was in the script. And then the thing, that great line that Pam has where she says, I'm rejecting your kiss. He's like. She's like, what are you doing? He's like, what are you doing? She's like, I'm rejecting your kiss. That's what I'm doing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. What are you doing?

[Jenna Fischer]

That was all scripted. And Angela, I was so excited to do that scene because I remember staying late that evening and shooting outside. I talked about this before when I had that scene with John up on the roof where Pam and Jim eat the grilled cheese sandwiches. It was one of those warm summer evenings in Los Angeles. They're the best. This was another one of those. And it's one of my fondest memories from shooting the show because I got Steve all to myself and I got Miguel Artid all to myself. And Mindy was there, and it was just us doing the scene, getting it just perfect. It felt like we had all the time in the world. There was no rush, and, oh, I just absolutely loved it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Well, Mindy mentioned, you know, that she was kind of jealous of her parents that they got to have this great scene with Steve, because there are several characters, myself included, that rarely got to have one on one scenes with Steve. It just wouldn't make sense in the world of the show. And whenever I did it Felt so special. And I think you got to have some amazing scenes with him throughout the course of the show. And this is just one of those. That was just beautiful and so fun and funny and cringy and heartfelt. Just all of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's all true. Angela. We did have someone write in with an old tech alert that I thought you would appreciate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hit me up. How'd I miss it? What is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Kayla Whitehead said Pam's cell phone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is such old tech. But she's like. But also, when she walks outside, Michael sees her on the steps, and he notices that she's holding her phone. And he says, expecting a call. She was like, no one would say that to you today if you have your phone in your hand today. No one's, like, expecting a call because we always all have our phones in our hands.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is a brilliant catch. I am applauding that catch.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that observation.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is an amazing observation, because back then. Yeah. Your phone was in your purse. It was. We didn't walk around holding phones, like, flip phones like that because we did hardly anything with them other than talk to someone. So if you're holding it, you'd probably just spoke to someone or you were about to.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is a great observation.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pretty great.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I want to take us back to Stanford because I think there is a moment in this episode that is the happiest we have seen Andy since he has appeared on the show. It's Happy Andy. And I want to talk. I want to share Happy Andy with you. Happy Andy happens at around 15 minutes. They have had a lot of Jaeger Karen, though. She just tossing her Jaeger shots into the trash. No one knows it. She's not getting wasted. And Andy starts singing Acapella Karen's like, no Acapella Andy. But he's drunk, and he's singing the Indigo Girls closer to Fine. And as he drunkenly sings, all of a sudden Jim, who's super wasted, starts joining in and singing. And it's so adorable. Andy's like. Like tuna. Are you kidding me? Like, he's so happy. He's so happy. They're having, like, an acapella moment. And this is Happy Andy.

[Jenna Fischer]

He is thrilled. Well, Angela, we had a fan catch from Renata Torres. She says at 17 minutes, 58 seconds, you can see a pair of white flip flops under Karen's desk. And she wanted to know if that was on purpose, but we know why those are there.

[Angela Kinsey]

We do. Those were Rasheeda's flip flops.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. The wardrobe department would give us Uggs or flip flops to wear to and from our trailers and set so we didn't have to walk in our kind of, like, high heel office shoes. Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. You caught Rasheeda's flip flops.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, wardrobe actually told me one time, also, our trailer were not close to the soundstage. It was a little, you know, quite a walk. And they said that also they would take our shoes to protect our shoes, because if we walked across the parking lot back and forth, and sometimes, if there was weather of any kind, they preferred actually to leave our shoes on set by our desks rather than us walking around in them all the time. And we were delighted because that meant less time in heels.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had our travel shoes shoes. Those were Rashida's travel shoes. Well, as they're leaving for the night in Stamford, Jim is gonna ride that bike home. He's gonna ride his bike home, or is he? Well, yeah, he falls over.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you know, it's the end of the night at Stanford. They've had Jaeger. They've bonded over Indigo Girls. I mean, Andy's busting out his air mattress.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's like, oh, yeah, he's. He's staying in for the night.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jim is gonna try to ride his giant bicycle with the big basket home. And he, like, tips over into the bushes. And Karen's in her car. She's like, hold up. Get in my car, drunkie. And, Jenna, do you remember how freaked out people were about this moment?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, people thought Karen was shady, that she let them get so wasted and that was she waiting for jam.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like she had planned it all along.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Was she waiting out in the parking lot for Jim and was like, hey, Mr. Tipsy.

[Jenna Fischer]

And remember this? In this episode, it was written that they were gonna, like, kiss.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I talked to Rasheeda about it. I texted with her, and I want to read you guys what she said. She said in this episode, there, they had written a scene where Jim and Karen get sloppy drunk and make out. So maybe I guess she had been drinking too. In that different version, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

In that different version, because I have the scripted version of that.

[Angela Kinsey]

They.

[Jenna Fischer]

The three of them go to a bar, and they all get drunk together at a bar, and then they were supposed to make out on the street outside of this bar.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And Rasheeda said they actually filmed the scene in the parking lot. Oh, yeah. And she said she was really worried. She was like, everyone's gonna hate me. And then she told me Stephen Merchant actually suggested that they cut the Scene out.

[Mindy Kaling]

Huh?

[Jenna Fischer]

That he got to watch a ver. Cause Steven and Ricky would watch our episodes, and they would give the producers notes. Rarely, but sometimes. And their notes were always correct. They were always like, they knew, don't move that needle so far.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And Rasheeda said she felt like Stephen really understood the relationships and that this was going too far, too bold, too quickly, and it would sort of sabotage anything that Jim and Karen might. Could possibly be as a foil for Pam. It was just too much.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I think if you wanted to believe in their relationship, which you will like. Jim and Karen are gonna really have a great relationship. You don't want it to start off with, like, a sloppy drunk makeup in the parking lot on the side of the street.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kids, are you listening? Nothing good happens after midnight. Okay? Go home.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is what my aunt told me when I went off to college. She said, here's my advice to you, you about sleeping around. This is what she said. She said, you're gonna go to these parties, you're gonna do some drinking, and you might in. In the moment, want to make a decision that's impulsive. She said, my advice to you is go home. Because you can always wake up in the morning and say, oh, I wish I'd slept with that guy. And you can do something about it, but you can't undo. You can't undo.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I'm with your aunt. You can't undo. But I was kind of lame in college. When I turned 21, I had a big paper due for a class I was taking. And all my friends were like, you're gonna go out. It's your 21st birthday. And I said, oh, no, I need to work on my paper. So I worked on my paper, and my dad had a Texaco gas card, and he would pay my Texco gas card. Just like Reality bites. I would go to that gas station, and I would get gas bread, sandwich, meat, potato chips, soda, like, everything. And I went to Texaco, and I bought myself a Coronita. It's not even the big Corona. It's a Coronita. Because I was 21 and I went and I worked on my term paper, and I had my Coronita, and that was my 21st birthday.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is literally adorable. That is adorable.

[Angela Kinsey]

That was a big dork, lady. That's why we would have been friends. I would have hung out with you and your cat. We would have been besties.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is also why, as adults, we mixed sushi with a lot of hard liquor. Because we didn't learn in College. We didn't learn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Where are we at? I don't even know where we're at, except that Karen put Jim in his car. And now we go back to Diwali, and it's one of my favorite moments ever. Dwight and Michael are going to perform a cover of Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song dedicated to Indians everywhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. The crowd loves it. Angela, so many people wrote in asking about this song, was it improvised? A lot of people thought that because Steve was holding a piece of paper that maybe we wrote this on the fly. No, this was in the script. And in fact, Kent told me it had been in the script as far back as the pre table draft. This is kind of a writer's term, but they send out a draft of the script before they let anyone see it, and they have to give it to all of the main producers so that they can start planning wardrobe and locations. And Kent said that at that pre table draft, this was the tag for the episode and it remained there until we shot it. So they got permission and all that kind of stuff. And he said Steve asked for that piece of paper because he felt like his character wrote it at the party. And that would sell the idea that this was like a last minute idea by Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, Yeah, I thought the same thing. I thought Michael. Michael needed those notes. Steve did not.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, it's so good. And I have a really great catch. I'm gonna call it a BFF catch.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is it?

[Angela Kinsey]

At 20 minutes, 34 seconds after he's finished singing and it pans to the crowd and everyone cheers. You and I are sitting side by side on the floor together.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh, Angela, you know we did that ourselves.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. We sat together. We probably were. I mean, I remember them doing that song. We were all just elated and along for the ride. It was so fun. And I think we just sat next to each other because they probably weren't even sure if they were gonna use that big swing back to the crowd, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And so there we are. There we are on the ground next to each other. BFF catch.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is the perfect way to end this podcast episode of diwally. We did it with a BFF catch.

[Angela Kinsey]

We did it. And thank you so much to Mindy Kaling for stopping by. I just felt like we could kept talking and talking, and I can't wait for her to come back. And if you guys get a chance, go check out Mindy's new show that she co created with Lang Fisher. It's so cute. It's a coming of age kind of comedy drama called Never have I Ever. And the cast is wonderful and the writing is great.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you guys, if you watch it, you'll see Angela on it because Angela's in it in a couple of episodes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, I'm in two episodes. I play the mom. I play one of her nemesis mom. And it was really fun. I'll be the mom all day long. Just Jenna.

[Mindy Kaling]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Casting folks out there, if you need a mom with a little bit of sass, give me a call.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know where to go. Guys, thank you so much. This was a really fun one. And we will be back next week with Branch Wars.

[Angela Kinsey]

See you then.

[Jenna Fischer]

Bye. 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 Daniela Silva.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basel.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sat.