Second Drink: Fun Run Part 1 with Kate Flannery

Summary

Office Ladies - "Second Drink: Fun Run Part 1 with Kate Flannery"

Podcast: Office Ladies
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Guest: Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer)
Episode Date: November 3, 2025
Original Episode Recap: "Fun Run, Part 1" (The Office, S4E1)

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Episode Overview

On this “Second Drink” episode, Jenna and Angela take a deep dive into "Fun Run Part 1," the iconic season four opener of The Office, joined by fan-favorite guest Kate Flannery (Meredith). The discussion revolves around behind-the-scenes stories of the famous scene where Michael hits Meredith with his car, exclusive deleted content, cast bonding on set, and personal anecdotes—including Angela's emotional arc and Jenna's ill-timed margaritas. The episode is loaded with laughter, heartfelt memories, and classic Office trivia, making it a treasure trove for fans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kate Flannery’s Origin Story as Meredith (12:02–15:00)

• Kate originally auditioned for the role of Jan, but was recast as Meredith after a second audition (no makeup allowed).
• “Allison Jones said, ‘I think you're really right for this show, but I don't know if this is your part.’” — Kate Flannery (12:04)
• Kate and Angela bonded before the show doing improv in “Bitch Planet,” which set the stage for their on-set friendship.

2. Working as a Real Office

• Cast was encouraged to bring paperwork and do "real work" at their desks for authenticity.
• “I actually brought my taxes the first season.” — Kate Flannery (15:50)
• Background actors even created office systems; Oscar would circle oddities in fake medical records to pass around for laughs.

3. Stunt of the Century: Meredith Gets Hit by a Car (22:12–27:23)

• Kate details the stunt: They shot multiple versions, including rolling up onto the hood and glass, sometimes with a PA in place of Steve Carell for inserts.
• “I started in the center of the hood. I had to roll up to the glass and then roll off the car onto a giant mat.” — Kate Flannery (25:10)
• She was bruised for the Emmys due to the unpadded costume. Kate's willingness to do anything stemmed from her improv background.
• “I am a good guy who runs over women with his car. Why am I having such a hard time getting my message across?” — Michael/Steve Carell, deleted scene (74:00)

4. On-Set Hilarity & Outtakes

• Steve’s improvisation in the conference room scene with animal-sacrifice descriptions had the cast cracking up.
• “He just started improvising different animal combinations and we all started dropping like flies.” — Angela Kinsey (87:23)
• The hospital scenes were particularly difficult to film straight, especially when Steve improvised crawling into bed with Kate.

5. Emotional Depth: Angela’s Sprinkles Storyline (78:23–83:16)

• Angela discusses preparing for scenes where her character discovers Sprinkles has died—portrayed with real heartbreak.
• “You’re in shock. You’re sad. Your mind is trying to make it right, but you can’t. You don’t understand why it happened.” — Angela Kinsey (78:58)
• Michael’s genuine empathy at the news is highlighted as a rare, sweet character moment.

6. Deleted and Alternate Scenes

• Stanley’s cut reaction: “They cut back the Christmas gift, then no personal calls from work. Now we get run over. What’s next?” (03:13)
• Creed’s cut lines: “Meredith died 20 years ago.” & “Who the f--- is Meredith Palmer?” (03:27)
• Michael’s deleted talking head: “Maybe she hit me. You ever think of that? She hit me.” (03:38)

7. Iconic Lines, Known Origins

• “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.” (83:43)
  • Written by Gene Stupnitsky as a last-minute talking head button.

8. Behind-the-Scenes Setting Details

• Phil Shea (props master) got real Wegmans cereal and milk for Michael’s breakfast scene.
• Set etiquette: Actors “owned” their own desks, and sitting at another’s was considered off-limits.
• Fake paperwork often included antiquated, redacted medical records and timecards.

9. Jim & Pam: Early Clues and Fan Observations

• Pam’s wardrobe and necklace (a butterfly) reflect subtle transformations as her relationship with Jim evolves.
• Fake alibi: Jim says he’s going mountain biking at Montage Mountain, but it doesn’t actually permit it—demonstrates Kevin’s sleuthing and the writers’ inside jokes (54:30).

10. Rabies Research & Real-World Impact

• Jenna’s rabies “deep dive,” including warnings from medical professionals and advice: if you wake up with a bat in the room, assume you’ve been bitten (93:25).
• Fan mail confirmed people sought medical care in real-life based on podcast info.
• The episode aired the day before the first annual “World Rabies Day.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the famous Meredith vs. car stunt:
  “They played it almost like Meredith was a speed bump that [Michael] just, like, went over.” — Kate Flannery (23:05)

• Jenna’s rough day:
  “Lady, I was really, really hungover when we shot this scene… I am gray. I’m kind of green.” — Jenna Fischer (60:32)

• Angela on Sprinkles’ death:
  “You’re in shock… You can’t make it right. You can’t figure it out. You don’t understand why it happened.” — Angela Kinsey (78:58)

• Classic Office wit:
  “I am not a bad guy. I am a good guy who runs over women with his car.” — Steve Carell (74:00, deleted talking head)

• Jim & Pam’s covert relationship:
  “They say they’re just friends—but Kevin is not convinced… Kevin really has a bee in his bonnet about it.” — Jenna Fischer (09:35, 09:39)

• Kate’s wardrobe souvenir:
  “I have Meredith's purse, which… I left everything in it that was still in there. So this is why I still had the marriage union of Pamela Morgan Beasley and James Duncan Halpert.” — Kate Flannery (30:49)

• Michael’s pseudo-religious logic:
  “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.” — Steve Carell as Michael Scott (83:43)

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Key Timestamps

| Segment/Topic | Time (MM:SS) | |----------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Kate Flannery joins + her casting story | 12:02–15:00 | | Details of Meredith’s stunt & stunts in general | 22:12–27:23 | | Deep background set stories | 15:50–21:59 | | Cast’s real “office job” habits | 13:54–16:09 | | Conference room “animal sacrifice” hilarity | 86:39–88:31 | | Angela’s emotional “Sprinkles” prep & breakdown | 78:23–83:16 | | Steve Carell’s iconic deleted “good guy” line | 74:00 | | Discovering Michael might have killed Meredith | 45:57–47:43 | | Deleted scenes: Stanley, Creed, Michael (accident) | 03:00–03:55 | | Jim and Pam’s subtle romance clues | 53:52–54:58 | | Jenna’s “margarita hangover” confession | 60:32-62:42 | | Real-life rabies advice | 93:25–94:47 | | PB&J joke & fan nod | 95:34 | | Michael’s Conference Room “I have flaws” | 73:40 | | Popcorn in the breakroom (John Krasinski/Jim) | 72:29 |

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Additional Fun Facts & Behind-The-Scenes

• Meredith Car Photo-Ops: At conventions, fans can pose with a red car and Kate Flannery, reenacting the famous scene.
• Deleted “hospital compliments” scene: Kevin remembers Meredith’s back: “That’s all I can see from my desk. All that red hair over a nice, strong back. Sometimes I pretend it’s Carrot Top.” (06:40–07:04)
• Wegmans product placement: Phil Shea sourced real regional groceries to keep the Scranton setting authentic (41:29–42:22).
• Greg Daniels considered killing Meredith (but it was vetoed for being "too dark") (45:57–47:43).
• Pam’s quick-change to a butterfly necklace symbolized her character’s evolution.

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Closing Thoughts

This “Second Drink” delivers a generous helping of nostalgia, hilarity, and warmth from The Office’s inner circle. Kate Flannery’s stories bring fresh perspective to one of TV’s most famous cold opens, and the camaraderie and candor between Jenna, Angela, and Kate offer new layers for fans to savor. From wardrobe quirks to physical comedy, from heartbreaking pet deaths to explosive laughter on set—the episode is a thorough, heartwarming tribute to what made “Fun Run” and The Office itself so memorable.

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Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

We want to talk to you guys a little bit about new Eggo protein waffles. It's really good, tastes great. Plus it's going to give you 20% of your daily protein.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Eggo Protein Plus Waffles provide the same great taste of Eggo that you know and love, plus 10 grams of protein per serving. I made the new Eggo protein waffles for my kids the other day. They didn't even know that they were protein waffles. They're just the Eggo waffles that you know and love. I know they have protein.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're just yummy waffles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, listen, I know we're talking about breakfast, but I have shared this before. I like them as an afternoon treat. And when your teenagers come home hungry, guess what's real easy to give them? A little protein waffle.

[Jenna Fischer]

They say you can fuel your morning, but you can also fuel your afternoon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can you head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with Eggo protein waffles and pancakes available at retailers nationwide? The holidays are coming up. That means a lot of people travel over the holidays, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

A lot. I mean, Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday in the United States. I believe. I believe.

[Jenna Fischer]

I believe that is true, yes. Okay, well, how about this idea? While you're away, why don't you host your place on Airbnb and make some.

[Angela Kinsey]

Moolah, and then also you're going to have some money for holiday shopping. How about that?

[Jenna Fischer]

I like how you transitioned that into shopping, Lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, here is who this is a perfect fit for. If you're someone who travels frequently, if you have extra space, maybe you're someone that has a seasonal home, or maybe you always go away at the same time of year for, like, a family tradition or work event. This is a practical way to earn money. While you're doing all those things, your.

[Jenna Fischer]

Home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host welcome back to our second drink of fun run part one. We have some really fun stories from Kate Flannery. In this episode, she shares her story of how she came to be on the Office and also her memories about the scene where Michael hits Meredith with his car.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is one of the most famous stunts we did on the Office. And Lady. I was talking to Kate about this scene, and she told me that this Meredith Carr moment is so popular with office fans that when she goes to fan conventions, the convention organizers will get a red car. And then you can get a photo op with Kate. On the hood of the car. And then you get to, like, drive the car like Michael.

[Kate Flannery]

Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is that crazy? Yeah, there's all these pictures of Kate on the hood of the car. All right, so I went back and rewatched this episode. Lady. It's so good. And when we first broke down the episode, I talked a lot about how many great deleted talking heads there are. Well, I really wanted to share Stanley's with you. It would have come right at the beginning, after Michael tells the bullpen that he just hit Meredith with his car. And Leslie David Baker nails it. Let's hear it. You ran over Meredith this morning in.

[Kate Flannery]

The parking lot and saved her life.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, by taking her to the hospital. They cut back the Christmas gift. Then no personal calls from work. Now we get run over.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's like, what's next? And there are also a lot of candy bag alts for all of these talking heads. Everyone's, of course, you know, reacting to the news about Meredith. I love these two from Creed. Are you ready?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed says Meredith. Meredith died 20 years ago. The next one. Who the is Meredith Palmer?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, there's also a deleted Michael talking head that cracked me up because it's one of those where he's trying very hard not to take responsibility for the accident. You have to hear it. Maybe she hit me. You ever think of that? She hit me.

[Kate Flannery]

I don't know whose fault it was.

[Jenna Fischer]

I wasn't exactly looking at the road.

[Angela Kinsey]

He wasn't looking at the road. It could have been anyone's fault.

[Jenna Fischer]

She could have thrown herself on his car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

For all we know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Jenna, you also did a great deep dive on rabies for this episode, and I wanted to add another nugget to your share. It comes from Adrienne E. She says, quote, rabies can be acquired even if not bitten, and you come in contact with saliva.

[Jenna Fischer]

Whoa.

[Angela Kinsey]

She gives an example. Two fishermen were trying to keep a rabid beaver out of their boat, and both died from rabies from not so apparent cuts in the skin that we all have. Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

So if the saliva gets into an open wound or a cut or something, you can acquire rabies that way.

[Angela Kinsey]

Isn't that crazy?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, what the. With the rabid beaver. I mean, that sounds so scary. Truly, I feel like that might have been what she said. Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's happening today?

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry, sorry. Second drinks, listeners.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my goodness. I am very proud of my rabies deep dive in this episode. Ange. I've gotten a lot of letters from people saying, thank you that they've woken up with a bat in their room and they've known to go to the hospital.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I was shocked about how many people wrote in sharing similar stories or what they learned from your share and how that's helped them prevent things. I mean, lady, look at you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Look at me. Well, speaking of fan mail flurries, we also got one from people noting that I did not do Fast facts for. For this episode or for the Job Part one. And I guess in the episodes I don't even address it. That's because we had the Paul Lieberstein interview at the top of show for job one. And we had the Kate Flannery interview for the top of show for Fun Run Part 1.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, I saw those comments too, lady. And what cracked me up is because I think we normally explain or tell people what's up.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you read the summary, and then we just go right into the interview. And so we were like, wait, wait, did I miss something? And it just cracked me up. And I also love lady, how much people clearly connect with your fast facts and notice when they're not any. So maybe it's time to bring them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Back to OfficeLady 6.0. That would be a no.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, lastly, I have one final moment to share from deleted scenes. It's at the hospital. Michael asks everyone to go around and say something nice about Meredith. And what Kevin says cracked me up. But I think you can also see John Krasinski trying not to break. It's just classic Kevin. Let's hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Why don't we go around the room.

[Kate Flannery]

And save one memory of Meredith?

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll start. I liked her jumpers. They reminded me of kindergarten. Jim.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'll always remember Meredith's back.

[Kate Flannery]

That's all I can see from my desk.

[Jenna Fischer]

All that red hair over a nice, strong back.

[Kate Flannery]

Sometimes I pretend it's Carrot Top and.

[Jenna Fischer]

He'S gonna turn around and tell a joke. Lady. It made me laugh out loud when I heard it. And I remember filming those scenes. Yeah, there's so much more that didn't make it in the original episode. But we were laughing so hard.

[Angela Kinsey]

We got so tickled. I remember I did that laugh where I was crying and poor Kate had to lay there with her eyes closed while we were breaking and having to start over. And oh, my gosh, it was the type of laughing where it actually is painful. Cause you're laughing so hard and trying not to laugh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mm. I remember it well. That was fun. And I think that's all we got. So here is our second drink of Fun Run Part 1 with Cate Flannery. 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 you.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office ladies. It is season four.

[Angela Kinsey]

Season four. Holy gwac a moly.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's Fun Run.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's Fun Run Part 1.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. Because Fun Run was an hour long episode. So once again, we're gonna break it down into two parts. Today is Fun Run Part 1, written by Greg Daniels. Directed by Greg Daniels.

[Angela Kinsey]

So much happens in Fun Run. It needs to be two episodes. It really does.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, for sure, for sure. Here is a summary of just part one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You ready?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Let's hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay. Michael accidentally hits Meredith with his car and breaks her pelvis. There's so much there already. Already. He gets the whole gang to visit her in the hospital and later discovers she may also have rabies. Angela asked Dwight to give medicine to her cat, Sprinkles while she visits Meredith in the hospital. But when Dwight returns, he announces that Sprinkles is dead. And he put Sprinkles in the freezer.

[Angela Kinsey]

In the freezer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Also, your television was on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, my television was on. And Sprinkles is in the freezer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Meanwhile, everyone wants to know if Jim and Pam are dating. They insist they're not. They say they're just friends. But Kevin is not convinced.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kevin really has a bee in his bonnet about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Why does Kevin care so much?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know. He's obsessed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because this episode begins so dramatically, we felt like we needed to speak with the woman at the center of this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Absolutely. We need to talk to Kate Flannery about getting hit by that car. Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

So, guys, Kate chatted with us. Sam, will you play the interview?

[Angela Kinsey]

Kate Flannery is here today, you guys, with her tiny teacup.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hi, Kate.

[Angela Kinsey]

How are you? Great.

[Kate Flannery]

How are you guys doing? It's so nice to see you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait, we have to get a picture of you with that teacup. Cody, will you take a picture?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's not tiny. It's a regular sized teacup. What's tiny about that?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't believe you. It looks tiny.

[Kate Flannery]

It's regular.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. And you have a little cup and saucer. Here's the guys. Kate Flannery is one of the classiest gals. Her home is spectacular. It is decorated like it's out of Architectural Digest. It is. Every little thing is amazing. And I am not surprised at all that you look so put together and you're having your tea in a proper cup and saucer.

[Kate Flannery]

Oh, my gosh. Wait.

[Angela Kinsey]

A phone call.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sorry. Take it on air. Take it on air. Who is it? Let's talk to them.

[Kate Flannery]

I think it was a potential spam, so I hung up on them. I'm sorry. Oh, I can't get locked in a timeshare just for you, for the bit. I'm sorry, you guys, I can't. It's so good to see you. You don't understand. We spent every day together for nine years.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Oh, my God. I know.

[Kate Flannery]

It was so much like a real office job in that respect.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just like hours at our desks and the fluorescent light.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, that has a real effect on you.

[Kate Flannery]

And the snacks. Come on.

[Angela Kinsey]

That was the best spread. Oh, God.

[Kate Flannery]

We had the best, best, best food ever.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's all my dad ever talked about. All the years that he visited. And I would pepper him with questions about. So Steve Carell ate lunch with us today. Wasn't that great? And he was like, did you see the steak they had? It was always about the food. Bill Kinsey. Oh, Kate, it's so good to see you.

[Kate Flannery]

And Jenna. You guys, you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Kate. We always like to start by asking people how they came to be on the Office.

[Kate Flannery]

I actually auditioned for the pilot for the part of Jan. Allison Jones said, I think you're really right for this show, but I don't know if this is your part. So clearly they went a different way with Laura Harden. And lo and behold, you guys shot the pilot. I remember that summer I was doing a sketch show once a week that was timed. It was a two minute sketch show. So literally at two minutes, the lights would go out. It was this live show in Hollywood at this theater on Melrose with one of the Sklar brothers. Randy was doing a sketch right before me. He's like, have you been watching that British show the Office? I'm so obsessed with it. He was like the first person to really tell me about it. I was like, yeah, I've seen a little bit. He goes, you gotta watch the whole thing. So I kind of got obsessed. And then come September, late August, early September, I had an audition. I couldn't make the first one because I was in Chicago with my aunt. And then I just came. I figured the part was gonna get taken. And they had another session a few days later. And I went in and I read. And I remember Allison Jo said, no makeup. And, like, usually in la, you know, that means light, you know, mascara, some foundation.

[Angela Kinsey]

It means. It means something. It never really means no makeup, Right?

[Kate Flannery]

And they're like, literally. She literally had a box of tissues. She's like, no makeup.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wipe it off.

[Kate Flannery]

Get off. Right. Anyway, and then I just remember there were a few actresses that I knew from Chicago that were there, and I felt like they booked everything. I'm like, I'm never gonna get this, but I just remember that room with Ken Kwapas and Greg and Allison Jones and I'm sure Paul Liebers. I'm sure there were, you know, Mike Schur. I'm sure all the producers were there, the writer producers. It was like the most unique experience I think I'd ever had in an audition. And then when I came out, I got home, and then Allison told me to go to Gower and do it again. Do it one more time and do less. Less, less, do less. And then by the time I got home from there, I found out that I got the part.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

You booked it on the drive home, girl. Wait a minute.

[Kate Flannery]

I didn't have a cell phone, so I didn't know till I got home.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's every actor's dream.

[Angela Kinsey]

You didn't have a cell phone, so you didn't know. Those were the days, man. Like, you know what? They couldn't get ahold of you. You found out at home.

[Kate Flannery]

I was playing hard to get on the drive home.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate, I was so excited because when you walked on the set that day, Kate and I had been doing an improv show called Bitch Planet.

[Kate Flannery]

All chick improv.

[Angela Kinsey]

All chick improv. And we been doing that for years. And then all of a sudden, my good friend was gonna be sitting, like, right behind me for years. That was just amazing.

[Kate Flannery]

Who knew when four people were in our audience on a Sunday night for.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our show at 10:00'?

[Angela Kinsey]

Clock?

[Jenna Fischer]

Kate, do you remember what your audition scene was?

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, it was from the Alliance. It was the whole reaction to the surprise party and Michael reading the birthday card and insulting Meredith like crazy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Amazing.

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, it was so awesome.

[Jenna Fischer]

So awesome.

[Kate Flannery]

So awkward. So awful.

[Angela Kinsey]

So awful. Happy Bird Day.

[Kate Flannery]

Happy Bird day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate, we have talked a lot on this show about how once we were filming in that bullpen, we were all in the scene, and so we were all each other's background. And that's very unique. It's not like that on a lot of shows. Right. So we've sort of talked about the things we did in the background. We talked about how Phyllis looked at Gates. Remember she looked at Gates for her for years.

[Kate Flannery]

I remember they told us. They told me when I booked the job that I was supposed to bring paperwork because they really wanted us to be looking like we were working. And I loved that suggestion. I thought it was so, like, it's so method because then no one is suddenly acting like they're working. They're actually working. And the camera catches them, which makes so much more sense. So I actually brought my taxes the first season.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was going to say, Kate, I have a memory of you opening your mail and like, having. I did.

[Kate Flannery]

I did. I brought a bag of stuff. And I think I also, like, snuck reading a book, which is kind of like a thing that people do it in an office anyway sometimes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, especially Meredith. Well, I don't know. Does Meredith read a lot?

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe not.

[Kate Flannery]

I got into solitaire. Clearly that was like my main background choice for so much of it. But that was so much because the back of my head was in so much of it that I. My. My screen was caught all the time on my computer. So I would just. Rather than like, go to some file at the last minute, I would just dump into solitaire because I knew I could just get right back into it. And I thought it was a funny thing for Meredith to be multitasking all the time with a game.

[Angela Kinsey]

So stupid. Well, you became really, really good at it, actually.

[Kate Flannery]

Creed and I would have many, many a competition, and I whooped his ass.

[Angela Kinsey]

You did. I am still sort of hung up on the fact that they told you to come to set and bring paperwork. Jenna, didn't they tell you that?

[Kate Flannery]

They didn't tell you that?

[Jenna Fischer]

No. You know, I don't remember that specifically, but I did bring some. I used to write down my grocery list a lot. I was constantly or just general to do lists. I would do. I would journal.

[Kate Flannery]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, but with a paper and pen.

[Kate Flannery]

So funny. Now, Jenna, you and I had a little system that we created. Do you remember? You remember this? You have to.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's one of my fondest memories.

[Angela Kinsey]

What? What? What? What? Okay.

[Kate Flannery]

We had specific boxes of other people's real paperwork.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Kate Flannery]

Phil Shay bought, like, medical records.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was bizarre.

[Kate Flannery]

And these receipts. And I had this whole system where I was stapling and I had a whole, like, certain things that would match, and then I would bring them to you, and then you would approve or disapprove sign. I just remember this whole thing. Oh, my God. It was fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was amazing. And it was very specific. My favorite thing about it, Kate, was that we would do this in the deep, deep, deep background when no one would appreciate it. It was really just for us. And we would never break character. And we would argue, not with each other, but sort of like with the system.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were all mad at how they had these.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. These alphanumeric characters that don't match any of the forms and are impossible to input into the computer. We had this whole, like, thing we were mad at. At corporate that we would do. We did.

[Kate Flannery]

Oh, my gosh. This was the greatest job in the world.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is the cutest thing that I. How is it that I was on set with you guys all these years? I didn't know. I didn't know you guys were doing this. Do you know what Oscar Nunez would do with these health records? Oscar would find one that had something really peculiar and he'd circle it and highlight it and make it very important. And he would hand it to me in the middle of a scene with great authority. And it would say something like, bulbous mass on eyelid, probably sty recommended to drain of the pus. And I'd be like, oh, my God, I'm reading this in the background of a scene.

[Kate Flannery]

We were so respectful, though. Obviously, we never gave away anybody's name or medical condition on the show.

[Jenna Fischer]

I wanna say I have a memory that those forms were redacted like that. The real personal info was blacked out. Did I do that to the forms or.

[Kate Flannery]

I think we did it to the forms. I literally think we did, because I remember sometimes there were a little bit. But not everything. Not every.

[Jenna Fischer]

Not every.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I do remember addresses being blacked out. But anyway, guys, it was sort of creepy to know that you could buy old medical records in those days. I'm sure now they're all computerized. And also, the dates were from, like, three decades ago. It was like.

[Kate Flannery]

There's a lot of stuff from the.

[Angela Kinsey]

80S, you know, 1960s.

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, the 80s was a big. Yeah, yeah. It's so big.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love. I love how we're trying to reassure people when the truth is we clearly had things we shouldn't have had. Oh, my God. But you know what? Let's keep. Let's keep trying to justify why it was. Okay. Well, it's fine. It's fine.

[Kate Flannery]

What happened at Dunder Mifflin stayed at Dunder Mifflin. We did not share any sensitive material. But I will Say what I loved about that and the realness of the paperwork, it kept. It just kept everything. It was like a little focus for the lens.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

One of my favorite things was they had stacks and stacks of some type of time code documentation from these offices. And they were on really thin, like, almost like the pages of a Bible thin, you know? And then they had all the little carbon slides in them. And I would sometimes smell the carbon slides because I like the smell. It's like the smell of, like, a Sharpie. I like the smell.

[Kate Flannery]

True Hollywood Story. Right now, Angela's.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is happening right now?

[Angela Kinsey]

Angela was sniffing the carbon in the background. Sometimes this is how you got into character.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Kate Flannery]

Well, you know, it's funny because Ken Kwapas would do that thing, you know, like, the general tone at the beginning, like, when he would come. And this was all part of it. Just, like, actually, you know, filming us working, just working and being like, you know, who are you working? It's funny. People have asked me, like, how did you stay in character? Whatever. I feel like those were our desks, so the crew really wasn't allowed to sit at our desks. So it really did feel like an office job in that respect. Like, you would literally walk in to set and just go right to your desk. It was kind of, like, focusing and specific and really wonderful, and it kept all of us in the game.

[Jenna Fischer]

And likewise, you know what? I wouldn't sit at anybody else's desk. Like, I would never just go sit down in Phyllis's chair. No, right. That was, like, her space.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sometimes Rain would sit at my desk to talk fantasy football with Brian.

[Kate Flannery]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I would have to come kick him out of my seat.

[Kate Flannery]

But I just. I always. I just had such respect for the process. Like, I just feel like the focus was always in the right place for our show.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Kate Flannery]

And I feel like I didn't always have a lot of lines, obviously, but I feel like there was something that. I felt like I was kind of holding the space for the reality that we were in, and that was very important to me. I was always very conscious of that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we are super excited to talk to you about this amazing stunt that you did in this episode. I mean, holy cow, Kate.

[Jenna Fischer]

You get hit by a car.

[Angela Kinsey]

You get hit by a car.

[Jenna Fischer]

What was your first thought when you read this episode?

[Kate Flannery]

Okay. I literally said, does she live? I literally said, does Meredith live? I said it right away. And then, like, I've been reading later that, like, there's been articles saying that One of the writers decided that, you know, they wanted a pitch that Meredith didn't live. And then they thought that was too dark. Greg thought it was too dark for Michael to have killed one of the employees of Dundee.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God. Yeah. How do you come back from that?

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. But I was like. But I remember, like, I was so conscious of it because I was like, I know this isn't a soap opera. Like, this could be it. But the first time we shot it, literally, they played it almost like Meredith was a speed bump that he just, like went over.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like you were laying on the ground and he rolled over you.

[Kate Flannery]

I was underneath the wheel, literally. We finished shooting the episode, and then I think two weeks later, Dave Rogers, our Emmy winning editor, had an idea for an insert shot that he thought was so much more interesting than what we had shot, which was Meredith hitting the glass. And he asked our upm, Kent Zybornak, to try it out and show it to me. Like, Kent did it. Do you think he'd do it? I mean, he obviously did not know me. Cause I would have said yes anyway. I totally would have said yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was gonna say. You would say yes.

[Kate Flannery]

I would have, but Season one, I remember Greg. There was a shot of Dwight and Michael dressed like Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice from the Halloween party. Do you remember that?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, yes.

[Kate Flannery]

And they had me dress up like Madonna. And I remember it was like. It was like maybe my second week there, and I was like, oh, okay, I'll be Madonna. Whatever. And like, they really went for it. I mean, I was. I was like 1987 Madonna. I was wearing, like a bustier. It was nuts. I was just in the background, and I thought there was something about that. It was like my responsibility to do whatever as full out as possible. I don't know. I was, like, kind of up for anything. Because I remember Greg saying, is it okay if you do this? And I was like, sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, of course. So that started the whole Meredith saga being full. Madonna started it. All right.

[Kate Flannery]

But I actually felt like it was so much fun to do the physical comedy. Cause I have such a good time. I mean, I've always had a good time doing that my whole career. But this was so up another level, for sure. So literally, when we went to shoot it, we had to shoot it again. And Steve wasn't available. So Dan Beals, who was our pa, who was so young at the time, he had Steve's jacket on and shirt. So it Was his hand that they would cut from. And it's such a quick swipe, like.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, so wait, Dan was driving?

[Kate Flannery]

Well, he was just in the car.

[Angela Kinsey]

In the car.

[Kate Flannery]

The car was stationary. I started in the center of the hood. I had to roll up to the glass and then roll off the car onto a giant mat.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you sort of had to, like, with force, roll into that windshield on your own. You sort of slammed your body into the windshield and then slowly rolled off of it onto a mat in the parking lot. Yes.

[Kate Flannery]

And I remember after, like, the fourth take or fifth take, Greg took me aside, and we went to the back where the warehouse entrance is, in that alley where we shot, like, where the bird. You know, where they had the bird funeral. You know, the alley.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Kate Flannery]

He's like, okay, come with me and do some jumping jacks. He was, like, doing jumping jacks with me just to get me really loose. I love Greg so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, that's so Greg, by the way.

[Kate Flannery]

He's the greatest. It's funny. I just recently saw Dave Rogers sent me an outtake, another take that they didn't use. And I actually did an extra spin in there, which I actually thought was a little funnier. But I'm just so used to watching the one thing. I think it just caught me by surprise.

[Angela Kinsey]

So wait, there is a take of you out in the universe where you roll. You flip forward twice into the windshield?

[Kate Flannery]

No, once in the windshield, but then I flip twice off the car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Kate Flannery]

So it's like. Like it's insane. It's insane.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, guys, at 53 seconds, you can see Kate's face up against the windshield.

[Kate Flannery]

And I'm telling you, after we shot that, I remember they were using it in the promos for the episode. Cause it was the first episode of season four, Fun run. I remember Joaquin Phoenix canceled at the last minute for the tonight show, so they asked me, basically because of the promo. It was so much fun. Like, they actually wanted me on the Tonight show. So that was the first time I did that. That was so awesome.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate. Kate, you're just like a rock star. I mean, I have to ask you, though, if you're rolling with force into a windshield over and over and rolling off. Were you sore? Did you?

[Kate Flannery]

Like, we had to match what we shot before because they weren't sure about the before, if they were gonna see us before. So I had to match the clothes. And I was wearing short sleeves and, like, a denim jumper.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Kate Flannery]

Like a kindergarten teacher. And I remember the Emmys were like the next week, and I was so bruised, I had to use, like, body makeup.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Because I think if they knew they were gonna do the stunt that way, they probably would have padded you up and dressed you accordingly, right?

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. That's crazy. Well, Kate, you did so many stunts on the show. Was this your favorite? Do you think that?

[Kate Flannery]

I think so.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was my favorite.

[Kate Flannery]

I also loved being. This is so weird. I was on top of the men's room stall when Dwight comes, where I was planking. Meredith is planking. Dwight comes in with a fire extinguisher and just blows her off into the stall. We used the real men's room, where Video Village, where the guests were. Those two bathrooms.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Kate Flannery]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they put, like, this weird flim flam mattress on top. And I was like, fingers crossed I don't go the other way. Cause there was nothing on the other side because I had to balance. That was so crazy. But, yeah. And it was really the men's room. I'm like, okay. And this is. Hopefully I don't land too hard, because then I'm going to hit the toilet. It's so bizarre, but it's really fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

I want to give some props to your athleticism. I know that Angela has often.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

For my athleticism.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here we go.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, no, it's okay. I'm not going back to that any more than I just did. But, Kate, Too late. You are amazingly athletic. I mean, in doing all these stunts, it doesn't surprise me. I mean, we know that you were on Dancing with the Stars, and you were amazing. But you also did your lounge show, the Lampshades for years and years and years. And I remember coming to see you in that, and you do this deep squat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Repeatedly.

[Jenna Fischer]

Repeatedly. And you kick your leg up. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I feel like they got so lucky with you as Meredith because you were qualified for these stunts.

[Kate Flannery]

That's so sweet. I feel like, for me, too, it was empowering. Like, I did not do the stunt with my hair on fire. All the stuff in the parking lot of Moroccan Christmas. I just didn't do the hair on fire.

[Angela Kinsey]

You did the bat. That was crazy. And you really sold it.

[Kate Flannery]

So crazy. And then I didn't actually shave my head. I had a bald cap for that. So I feel like those are the two. Like, I'm like, okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I think. I think it's okay that you let your hair be. You know what I'm saying?

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Kate Flannery]

I think Greg Was disappointed, though. It was like, the first time I was like, nope, not doing that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well. Can we talk a little bit about the moment in this episode where we're all in the hospital, We've all come to see you. My memory of this was. It was so hard to get through those scenes without laughing. In fact, you see us break totally. I fully break in the episode.

[Kate Flannery]

That was during Fun Run. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

What are your memories of shooting in the hospital?

[Kate Flannery]

I remember there was one scene where Dwight talks about the fact that if they pulled the plug, you know, basically the energy, like, they were wasting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, wasting money keeping you going. I loved it when you were like, do not pull the plug. Don't pull any plugs. Oh, my God, it's so good.

[Kate Flannery]

And I remember the take when Steve, just as an apology, he's trying to get an apology out of me, and I won't apologize. I won't apologize. And so he just decides to climb into the bed with me. And I feel like I had a slight delayed reaction, but I'm like. I just started screaming because I'm like, like.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we were also surprised because he improvised that. And you even see all of us, we sort of, like, freeze, and then. And then we're like, Michaels.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

It really took us by surprise.

[Kate Flannery]

Totally. Totally.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Kate, another question we like to ask our guests is if they took anything with them when the show wrapped.

[Kate Flannery]

How dare you? I am.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Kate Flannery]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you have it? What? Do you have it?

[Kate Flannery]

I have Meredith's purse, which I don't know if I always wore it. Like a.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, like a Clyde saddle. Yeah, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You satchelled it.

[Kate Flannery]

And I left everything in it that was still in there. So this is why I still had the marriage union of Pamela Morgan Beasley and James Duncan Halpert.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is that our wedding?

[Kate Flannery]

Yes, it's the program. So this is what I did.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's our wedding.

[Kate Flannery]

The wedding party and the wedding party. Yes. This is what I showed on Some Good News with John Krasinski when we did our wedding dance.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. Isn't that crazy? That is so. That you had just tucked it in your purse and you still have it. I did. We would do that, though. We would get prop purses and, like, if we had props, we would just put them in our purse. Totally.

[Kate Flannery]

And I have. Oh, my gosh. What else do I have in here? I think I have.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you have some old sides?

[Kate Flannery]

I would always do all sides, but I also have. I have Sweeney Todd from when Andy was performing in that theater. Wow. And I have Church of Angels, Cecilia Marie Halpert, when she got christened Cece's Christening.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh, Kate, these are amazing. I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate, fans love Meredith. And you know, we're gonna be hitting you up. We've got a few more episodes to cover before we're done here. Before we say goodbye, is there anything we can share with everyone, like where to find you, what you're up to?

[Kate Flannery]

Yes, I. Well, on Instagram, Herealcate, Flannery. On Twitter, aitflannery. I go to a little ramen place once a week in Ktown.

[Angela Kinsey]

Say that.

[Kate Flannery]

But I'm actually doing some charity work for Phil Abundance, which is the biggest food bank in Philadelphia. That's my hometown. I'm working with wmmr, which is the big radio station. They always have the big morning show with Preston and Steve. And I've been doing their show for years. And it's literally like five minutes from my dad's house. Like, I will roll out of bed. And if I'm in town, I. And I occasionally sometimes let a four letter word slip. So they literally have a button on their panel that says the Flannery button. Because there's a four second, you know, five second rule. Like they had whatever those fcc. Gosh, it's crazy. But anyway, I love these guys so much and they're making such a difference. Philabundance is. They're doing a huge push. They always do it right before Thanksgiving. But in the meantime, you know, you guys can go to philabundance.org and I'm going to be doing some. A little bit of press for them and I'll be.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kate, that is so great. And we should have mentioned that you are from Pennsylvania.

[Kate Flannery]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And that your family, your dad had a bar in Philly. What was the name of the bar?

[Kate Flannery]

Flannery's Tavern. He was up all night trying to figure out a name. No, I'm just kidding. My grandfather came up with a name too.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Kate, we love that you are giving back to Philly like that. And we'll definitely, you know, we'll put in our socials where people can find.

[Kate Flannery]

That would be awesome. Thank you so much, you guys. I love you. So good to see you too.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you so much.

[Jenna Fischer]

This was amazing. You have to come back.

[Kate Flannery]

I would love to.

[Angela Kinsey]

This show is sponsored by Better Help.

[Jenna Fischer]

As the seasons change and days grow darker sooner, it can be a tough time for people. There's an episode of the Office where Toby talks about this. It's called Seasonal Depression. And it's a real thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is. It is. One of my friends has this every year and struggles with it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. This November, Better Help is encouraging people to reach out to check in on your friends, reconnect with loved ones, remind the people in your life that you're there.

[Angela Kinsey]

And, you know, sometimes it's hard to reach out and send that message or try to grab coffee with someone who you haven't seen in a while. You're not really sure how to approach that moment. And I know reaching out for therapy can feel difficult, too, but it's so worth it.

[Jenna Fischer]

So worth it. This month, don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com officeladies that's better. H-E-L-P.com officeladies what's up, guys?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's Candice Dillard Bassett, former Real Housewife of Potomac. And I'm Michael Arseneault, author of the New York Times bestseller I Can't Date Jesus. And this is Undomesticated, the podcast where we aren't just saying the quiet parts out loud. We're putting it all on the kitchen table and inviting you to the function. If you're ready for some bold takes and a little bit of chaos, welcome to Undomesticated. Follow and listen to Undomesticated, available wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Angela, I believe you have a mattress endorsement to tell us about.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do. You guys, we got a Leesa mattress, L E E S A. And we got the legend chill hybrid mattress. Jenna, listen to this.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay?

[Angela Kinsey]

Not only is it cushiony, but it is cool. C O O L Lady. It has this billowy quilt top. It's infused with with phase change fibers that quickly pull the heat away from your body.

[Jenna Fischer]

Cooling you off, lady. As you're saying that I'm getting the feeling in my body like you get when you, like you have a crush on someone. I'm like, oh, tell me more about this cooling sleep. Everyone go to Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra 50 off with promo code Office Ladies exclusive for our listeners.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's L E-E-S a.com promo code officeladies for 25 off mattresses, plus an extra $50 off.

[Jenna Fischer]

Be sure to enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you Lisa.com promo code office ladies lady I'm at this place with my makeup routine, if you can call it that, where I actually, I do want to wear something, but I don't want something too heavy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

That's the look I'm going for.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, they have this bestseller, it's called the Miracle Balm. And it can be like a tint, a blush, a bronzer, a highlight. It can go on your lips, it can go on your face. It's like one of those things and it just gives you kind of a glow up.

[Angela Kinsey]

I like the Jones Road. Just enough tinted moisturizer.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

For a limited time, our listeners are getting a free cool gloss on their first purchase when they use code OfficeLadies at checkout. Just head to JonesRoadBeauty.com and use code OfficeLadies at checkout.

[Jenna Fischer]

After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you. We are back. Angela, that was so great talking with Kate. She looks beautiful. Stunning. We have been talking to a lot of people through Zoom for our podcast and most people show up like a hot mess.

[Angela Kinsey]

Not Kate Flannery? No, she looked amazing. And Kate, that was so fun and we can't thank you enough. And we have a lot to cover. We better get into it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Let's break down this episode, lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

First of all, Jenna, I would like to share with you what you were doing this week that we filmed this. Are you ready?

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Someone went digging into old emails.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I'm kind of scared.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don't be scared. Although I could burn it to the ground, but so could you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, dear.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. On July 31, 2007, the whole cast got an email from Kent Zabornak that said, hey, all for this Friday, August 3rd. Here's our schedule for the day. 8:45am Check in with the NBCUniversal Studios harassment seminar. This will be located on stage three. 9am harassment seminar, mandatory attendance. 10am costume fittings, wardrobe trailer. 11am table read episode fun run in the writer's trailer. Noon cast physicals.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is that the end of the email?

[Angela Kinsey]

Please call if you have any questions.

[Kate Flannery]

Kent.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, that's it.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's it. I thought it was. First of all, I thought this was an interesting perspective that you Saw what a day would be like as we prep an episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

It is your. Your build up to, like. Would you like to know what you were doing? I guess I just wasn't expecting the answer to be you attended a harassment seminar and got a physical. I mean, I just thought, like, what was I doing? I can't wait to find out. I mean, I have to say, I wouldn't pick this day to redo if a genie in a bottle ever gave me a wish.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Okay. Well, I just thought this was a very interesting perspective. A, it shows what we had to do to start a new season. And also B, we filmed Fun Run part one and part two in August. Okay. This part of the episode, we're inside, but folks, we're gonna be running outside. It's August. I just think. I just think that's interesting perspective, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love it. It's great. I just thought you were gonna let me in on something more exciting, that's all, than my cast physical. I don't know. And my wardrobe fitting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I was very excited. Clearly. I was very excited to find this email from Kent.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I'm glad you saved it, because that's a keeper.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, shut it.

[Jenna Fischer]

You're gonna wanna. You should scrapbook that.

[Angela Kinsey]

You shut it. What would Dwight say? Zip your lid.

[Jenna Fischer]

I probably deleted that email because I like to keep a tidy inbox. I love that you saved it, I think. I don't know what to say. I don't know how to segue to the episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

How about we get into this episode?

[Kate Flannery]

All right?

[Angela Kinsey]

We start off with Michael eating some cereal.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And at nine seconds, my background, folks. You can see that red pot basket thing that fell out of Jan's box as she was leaving corporate.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, you're kidding me.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's sitting right there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. I love that so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. She's put her things around the condo.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we had a big fan catch at this moment from Hannah A, Robert F, Christine J. Adrian Gibbs, Chelsea Warren, and many others who wrote in to say that Michael is eating cereal from Wegmans. And Wegmans is a local east coast grocery store. They wanted to know whose idea was it to feature these Wegmans products. That would be Phil Shea.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I was gonna say had to be Phil Shea. He was so great about doing that kind of research.

[Jenna Fischer]

But how in the world did Phil Shea get Wegman's Raisin Bran and Wegman's soy milk? I have no idea. I'm impressed.

[Angela Kinsey]

Listen, Phil Shea is the guy that knows a guy. He's got a guy. Phil Shea's got a guy.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's got a guy on the ground in Scranton. Going to the Wegmans in Scranton, which, by the way I looked it up, is open seven days a week from 6am to midnight and is located at 1315 Cold Spring Road.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go, folks.

[Jenna Fischer]

If you want to eat the Raisin Bran that Michael is eating, that's where you can get it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Add it to your Dunder Mifflin Scranton tour.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. Well, then Michael enters the bedroom to reveal that Jan is still sleeping. She's probably going to sleep for another few hours. He says.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can really see what she's doing to the condo in this. I mean, she has set up a vanity. There's a giant mirror. There's a clothes rack. I see two tall, enormous, like, candle things. There's a pink chair. But guess what? There's not.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael's little bed that he sleeps on during dinner party. At the end of the bed, the.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bench at the foot of the bed that he says he sleeps on is not there yet.

[Jenna Fischer]

I noticed that as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, maybe I'll email you about it someday.

[Jenna Fischer]

Maybe. Kent sent us an email.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can delete it because you like a tidy box.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh, you're so mad at me about this email thing. But I want. When you listen back. When you listen back, Angela, I want you to hear, like, the anticipation that you built. This is. I'm gonna do it for you. I have an email that I found that is gonna tell you what you were doing this week. I have it. I'm gonna tell you. And then you were like, I could burn you to the ground with some of my emails. And I'm like, what is she gonna say?

[Angela Kinsey]

I said. You were like.

[Jenna Fischer]

You said, 8:45am Check in for sexual harassment seminar. And I was like, wait, what? Hold up. That's where this is going.

[Kate Flannery]

Hold up.

[Angela Kinsey]

You said, ooh, should I be scared? And I said, no. I mean, I have the ones that can burn it down. So do you. But not this one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Clearly not this one. Clearly not this one. This week, you complied with your job and its requirements.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, your new nickname is Tidy Box, so enjoy.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, that is another word for vagina.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Hence the double entendre. Is that how you say that? Oh, good Lord. Tidy box. Okay, we.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's happened to us? Whoa.

[Angela Kinsey]

We've been friends a long time. That's what's happened.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it. Well, Michael's in his car now. He's excited, you guys. He is a talking head. He thinks it's going to be a good year. Jan is home. Jim is back. Ryan is at corporate. Andy and Dwight are rocking the sales team. He feels blessed.

[Jenna Fischer]

He does. He also is not paying attention.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then bam.

[Jenna Fischer]

When he hits Meredith with his car. And we talked about this with Kate. What an amazing and exciting way to start the season.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have to say, I was surprised. Even when I rewatched it, I was like, oh, God.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, remember in her interview when Kate said that her first thought was, oh my gosh, does Meredith live? And she heard that maybe there were some writers who had pitched that they kill Meredith.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you know who they were?

[Jenna Fischer]

I got to the bottom of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, now this is probably a better email.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was emailing with Greg Daniels and Justin Spitzer and they told me that, yes, they spent one evening pitching on this idea that maybe Meredith died. But it's more than that. It's not just that Meredith died.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Greg told me that first of all, the idea was that they would shoot this as a spy shot so they would not have a camera inside the car with Michael. It would just be a spy shot of him arriving at work for the day with the talking head as a voiceover.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

He said that the pitch was that Michael would accidentally hit Meredith with his car. And then thinking that no one could see him, he didn't want to leave any witnesses. And so in one pitch, he backed over her to make sure she was dead.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, good Lord.

[Jenna Fischer]

Justin told me that there was a pitch that Michael would go into his trunk and get one of those these anti theft devices called the club and then club her to death and then hide her body.

[Angela Kinsey]

Were they on drugs? Were they on drugs? I mean, seriously, that is the end of the show. You. There's no coming back. What were they thinking?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's what Greg said. Greg said, of course we could never do this. But it was a pitch that was discussed for some time and he said there were a few writers who were fighting for it. They were fighting for Michael to accidentally and then purposely do Meredith in.

[Angela Kinsey]

I need names.

[Jenna Fischer]

He wouldn't give me the names.

[Angela Kinsey]

I need names because I need to do a mental check on them. Holy cow.

[Jenna Fischer]

So, yeah, that's what I found out. There was a moment where they were pitching that maybe Meredith doesn't make it.

[Kate Flannery]

Wow.

[Jenna Fischer]

Craziness.

[Angela Kinsey]

Craziness. Also, I definitely don't want to know any of their late night pitches on Angela. Okay, thanks. Okay. All right, well, let's get into this episode. There's a lot to discuss. We start out with Jim and Pam talking to the IT Guy because Pam crashed the computers looking for some celebrity sex tape.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we got a lot of mail about this.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did a little bit of a mini deep dive.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let's see. Lydia Lind, Megan Harrison, Mary Newberry, and Chris Roa all wrote in to say it seems out of character for Pam to purchase a celebrity sex tape. Did your script say whose celebrity sex t Pam clicked on, or did you ever come up with your own idea of who it might be?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, Jenna, I think I know what the writers were hinting at here, because I Googled, by the way, be careful Googling this. I googled celebrity sex tape 2007.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the first thing that comes up is Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend were vacationing and made a video, and that got leaked, and it was released March of 2007, and there was a ton of, like, chatter, you know, just everyone was talking about it. Right. And I think when the writers thought of this story idea, that's what they were thinking of. I don't have. I don't have proof of that, but this was written in around June of 2007, and that had happened in March.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. So it was in the zeitgeist, But I don't think Pam would click on that. Like, is she. I don't think Pam would be kidding here. I. Maybe she's just trying to be coy or I don't know, or something. It definitely shocked me when she said it.

[Angela Kinsey]

And also, she's at work. She's at front reception. She's gonna watch this and shut down the whole computer grid. I don't know. It was a little bit of a stretch for me when I watched it too.

[Jenna Fischer]

I agree.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, well, now Jim has a talking head. He talks about how he broke up with Karen, and it was really awkward because she came back and she said she wasn't going anywhere. And you can see Karen is letting him have it. They're in the kitchen, and as they're going at it, Phyllis and Angela shoot Pam a very judgy Look.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Two minutes, 10 seconds. Judgy. Phyllis and Angela. Oh, my gosh. Phyllis, Angela. Combo. Sassy. Combo. Sass.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's a lot of sass.

[Angela Kinsey]

And. But he said, you know, Karen said she wasn't going anywhere, but then the next day, her desk was cleared off, and he's single and looking. Yeah, he wrapped that up quickly.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, this was a highly anticipated episode because we had this big cliffhanger from the last season. Of Jim asking Pam on a date. And here now Jim's saying he's single. Pam has a talking head where she says, oh, yeah, we went to dinner a few times. We, we talked through his breakup, but we're just good friends and it's really nice to be friends again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I'm with Kevin. I'm with Kevin. Are you kidding me?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, Kevin's not having it.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was also a fun talking head for Kevin and Oscar because it starts with Kevin and then reveals Oscar when Kevin's like, right? And he's like, well, there's no evidence of intimacy. And, you know, but they are both in very good moods.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had a couple of fan questions about this plot point.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Julia Johnson and Madeline Nelson noticed Pam has a big change to her hair and wardrobe. Is it because she's dating Jim now and was there a lot of discussion about these changes? Oh, yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, her hair is very different.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. No more clipped back hair, crunchy hair. Yes. This change was a huge discussion. Pam is also not wearing her traditional button down shirt and her little cardigan. She's wearing this cutesy little sweater with a little kind of bow that ties on the side.

[Angela Kinsey]

A very, very flirtatious shade of beige.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I noticed that too. I was like, well, we didn't, we didn't go too far.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, get me the cutest beige sweater you can find.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it was a big discussion. We couldn't have this giant transformation. Greg did not want that moment from those movies where the sort of nerdy girl with the glasses falls in love. And then after she falls in love, she's got a gorgeous blowout and doesn't need her glasses anymore. You know, that whole story that we saw a million times growing up, it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was called Kelly Kapoor.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was called Kelly Kapoor.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can only do that with one character. So we, we met our limit.

[Jenna Fischer]

But we did imagine that this new relationship would possibly affect Pam and how she looked and her desire to make an effort that maybe she didn't have a desire to make. Before I get this, I mean, don't you remember, Angela, in your young love phases with someone new that you're dating, you give a little extra judge. Right?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, of course.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had a big fan catch regarding Pam's wardrobe. This came from Megan Robinson, Steph Baldwin, Laura Rolden, Haley McMurdy and Kellyanne Mim. They all noticed that Pam's necklace changes in this episode. You know what it is now? What? She's a butterfly.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fly, butterfly. You're not that worm anymore. Fly.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I think you Mean caterpillar.

[Angela Kinsey]

Caterpillar. Squishy thing. You're not that squishy. You're a beautiful flying in the wind.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. She has metamorphosized. Yeah. Into a beautiful butterfly.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right. No longer the unicorn, now the butterfly. Jim and Pam at 3 minutes are discussing their separate weekend plans in front of Kevin. It's making him crazy, right? Because he's not buying it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Pam says, you know, maybe she'll go to the flea market at the drive in. Guys, I looked this up. There is a flea market at an old drive in, and it was actually the reader's choice award for best flea market. It's located at the famous Circle Drive in in the Circle Flea Fair. It's the largest flea market and farmer's market in northeastern Pennsylvania. So that is 100% believable that Pam would be going.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Jim says he's going to go mountain biking at Montage Mountain. Well, I looked that up. Correct me if I'm wrong, folks in Pennsylvania, but Montage Mountain has, you know, ski runs, but you can't mountain bike on it unless there's some trails I don't know about. I actually found an online petition From April of 2019 of folks wanting to mountain bike on Montage Mountain, but you can't. And there's an online petition because people want to.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. Sorry.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry. Had to do a local deep dive.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you know what? Perhaps that's the evidence that Jim and Pam are not actually having separate plans that weekend, because he would know. If Kevin knew that there was no mountain biking on Montage Mountain, he would know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Kevin doesn't know that because he's not athletic, but Jim knows that.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jim got it wrong.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now Michael arrives, and he breaks the news that Meredith has been hit by a car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, luckily he was there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And he drove her to the hospital. He said the doctors did the best they could. They did everything they could to save her life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

And she's gonna be okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And Stanley's like, why the hell would you say it like that? Who talks like that?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so good. I love that line from Stanley so much. Leslie is so good in that delivery.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's so good. And I loved it when Andy's like, well, who hit her? And then Michael's like, kind of a good news, bad news there. I was able to be on the scene so quickly because I was in the car that hit her. And Jim's like, oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Jim's like, who was Driving the car. And that's when Pam is like, oh, Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Michael. At four minutes, four seconds, there's a reaction shot of everyone and the accountants are all sort of standing together. Guys, the return of the floofy blouse.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, is it a floofy blouse in an accountant stack?

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a floofy blouse and an accountant clump. This is more of a clump than a stack.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right.

[Angela Kinsey]

But, Jenna, you can also see that over the summer, I got bangs. Oh, yes. And. And Kim Fairy had to try to style my hair, but I. I think I have sort of stylish bangs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah. Well, there you go.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now we are moving into Michael's office. Dwight is trying to make Michael feel better by explaining, it's gonna be fine. I mean, it's only Meredith. But Michael is upset because he thinks. Everyone thinks he might be a murderer. Or they were looking at him like he was a murderer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Can you imagine if some of the writers had had their way?

[Kate Flannery]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

No kidding.

[Angela Kinsey]

Gosh. Well, now Pam is going to go around the office. She thinks everyone should visit Meredith, and she's collecting money so they can buy her flowers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. But Angela says she can't go because Sprinkles is sick. And Angela needs to go home at lunch to give Sprinkles some medicine and eat lunch with her cat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And you guys, there are wonderful deleted talking heads from this episode. So many characters have great talking heads, but this is a talking head that would have happened right before Pam walked over to Angela. And I have to read it to you because it's so fun to me. Angela has a talking head that says, I've had sprinkles for 16 years. I adopted her when I graduated from accounting school. I knew the kind of life I wanted. One with the companionship and unpredictable good times. Only a cat offers the unpredictable good times a cat offers.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, cats really do offer unpredictable good times.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed Bratton has texted me this sentence, an unpredictable good time only a cat offers. Creed texted me that the other day.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that.

[Angela Kinsey]

So, yes. So Angela has that talking head and that you didn't get to see. And it really sort of builds up like, this is, like, more than a cat to her. I mean, we already know that. But when Pam suggests that Angela, like, should go and that she's, like, ditching on her party planning committee duties, Angela's ticked.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sam, can I get a Pam sass?

[Kate Flannery]

Pam sass.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we had some people write in Paige banker Lauren Corwin. They just wrote in all caps, Major Pam, Sass at five minutes. That's 35 seconds.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I agree, you guys. Pam, Pam says, can't your other cats keep her company? And Angela's like, there's bad blood. Jealousies. Clicks. What's happening at this woman's house?

[Jenna Fischer]

I have to tell you something about this scene. This was what I thought you were going to tell me when you said that I had written you an email about this episode. Episode? Why? And about what I was doing this week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Why?

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady, I was really, really hungover when we shot this scene. Like, super hungover. And if you look at me in this scene, compared to every other scene, you can see it on my face. I am like. I am gray. I'm kind of green.

[Angela Kinsey]

Why?

[Jenna Fischer]

My eyes are puffy. I will never forget it. So the night before this shoot, I went to a Mexican restaurant, and I was with a friend who ordered a margarita.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

I had never really had a margarita before.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no way.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Yes. It's true. I. We've talked about this. I did not have a lot of experience with drinking. I just, you know, I had a Cosmopolitan. I had to research drinking in order to play drunk Pam. So I took a sip of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I was like, this is delicious. I love this drink. And then I had three. Three. Three. Over the course of this dinner, Jenna. I then, you know, lady, this scene was the first scene of the next day. We had a super early call time, and I was really feeling it. Like, I didn't. I had not had enough time to recover from my three margaritas.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. My call times were routinely, like 5am 5:30. So you were. You were sweating tequila.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was. And so I thought when you said earlier that you had an email from me about what I was doing this week, I was like, oh, my gosh, did I write Andre Angela, about those margaritas?

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry to disappoint. You had a mandatory physical table read and a sexual harassment seminar.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. Anyway, that's my little. That's my little tidbit. Every time I see this scene, I'm reminded of the night that I first drank three margaritas.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, now I'll always remember it. So now Michael has to call Ryan because Ryan is his boss and tell him he hit Meredith on company property.

[Jenna Fischer]

And with his company car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And Ryan is such a badass boss in this. He's clearly. He's liking being the boss and talking to Michael this way.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, and then we go to the Ryan talking head, and Ryan has a new look. Oh, he's got his. Like, his what? Do you call that. It's not a beard. It's like a. The permanent style. Stubble.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, it's like a five o' clock shadow. But it's a choice. It's a choice. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And his hair's all slicked back. He's got, like, kind of a Gordon Gekko thing going on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He looks like he should be in the show succession. That's what he looks like.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. And he has the same kind of like, cheesy attitude. He's like. Some people keep calling me, you know, wonderkid, you know, not really sure what that means. Well, I guess I do know what it means. He's. Oh, it's so cringey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it's great. This is. We're gonna get a glimpse now of what this new dynamic is going to be like. Well, then we have a scene that I love, Angela. Because it's a Dwight and Angela secret scene. Remember the people in the office? We don't know you're dating. Right. So you guys are still kind of like a secret couple. Whenever you want to talk to each other, you have to go be, like, weirdly secretive about it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I mean, I guess only Jim knows, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

And Pam and Pam have. Jim and Pam hopefully talked about it at this point. We still don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

You would think so, lady. I had a long speech where I talk about all of sprinkles, medications, and I did that thing like you did on beach games. I learned it backwards and forwards so that I could say it just effortlessly, you know? But here it is. Sam, can you play that clip?

[Kate Flannery]

So what do you need me to do?

[Angela Kinsey]

I wrote it out. There's a diabetes shot. Roll the insulin in your hands. Don't shake it. She gets an ACE inhibitor with her meal. You have to put her right in front of the dish or she won't see it because of the cataracts. Mix one capsule of omega fatty acid in with her kidney medicine, and you want to give that to her 15 minutes after she's eaten. And, oh, there's a fungal cream because she has this infection under her tail. So you're going to have to lift her tail and put the cream right at the base of her tail.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that you memorized it, Angela. Because when I watched that, I wondered. I thought the answer was yes. Because you delivered it like you knew. And if you had a cat that was sick, you would know. Right. You wouldn't be searching for that information. You would know it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. And they had. The props department had given me this blue notepad with all of the different steps written out, but not in the same order. Not exactly. So like, actually if I looked at the notepad, it would have messed me up. But I saved the notepad with all of Sprinkles medications and it's the one I hand Dwight in the scene. He's holding it. I saved it. I never tore off that first page and I still have it. And the whole notepad is unused. And that first page just has all of Sprinkles like medicine and how to care for her.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. Oh, look.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, wait. Oh, I took a picture of it. Do you want to see?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Here. That is amazing. But that's not your handwriting.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, no, no, it's not my handwriting. Someone in the props department wrote that out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. We have to post that on the pod. We'll post it on the pod.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sprinkles, medication going on the pod. Well, we got a fan question from Tracy Preston Prescott, who said this. I am a cat focused veterinarian in Atlanta, and I was wondering if an actual doctor of veterinary medicine was consulted about Sprinkles medical needs because Angela's list of medications and treatments she gave to Dwight were very realistic.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Greg told me that he had the writer's assistants, Nate Fetterman and Jonathan Hughes, do research into the accurate cat medicines. And that is why that list of medicines is so realistic.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, good job, writer's assistants.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. Well, listen, before we go on, maybe we should take a break because coming up, Michael is going to try to, I don't know, right this wrong.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's gonna try. It's not gonna go well.

[Jenna Fischer]

It never does.

[Angela Kinsey]

No. All right. We'll be back.

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady. I think there's something weirdly therapeutic about getting fresh socks. Brand new socks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Nice, good socks.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's such a treat. It's a nice thing to do for yourself. And I think the best socks are Bombas socks. I asked for Bombas socks for Christmas. My. My father in law said, what do you want for Christmas? I said, I want Bombas socks. Like every year just get me fresh Bombas socks. And he does now. Every year that's what I get. And I absolutely love it.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're my daughter and I's favorite. I just ordered a two pack. I got her one and me one of the women's modern ribbed ankle sock. You can get it in an eight pack. I love them. I wear them all the time and so does she. But I have to share One other thing that I put, I put it on my Christmas list.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Did you know that Bombas is making slippers now?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, lady, did you see them? They're so cute.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I did. Well, I just love this company because for every pair of Bombas that you purchase, Bombas donates one to someone facing homelessness on your behalf.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love Bombas. You guys head over to bombas.com officeladies and use code officeladies for 20% off your first purchase.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's B O M B A S.com officeladies use code officeladies at checkout.

[Angela Kinsey]

Support for office ladies comes from Sixpenny. You know, your home can be many things. It can be chaotic, it can be joyful. It can be serene as well. But choosing beautiful pieces to live with in your home is a great way to make your home into a space you love.

[Jenna Fischer]

We want to tell you about Sixpenny. Sixpenny is reimagining luxury at home with extraordinarily comfortable slip covered furniture for living room, dining room, sleeping spaces. It is completely customizable. It is made by hand at their own factory. And oh my gosh, you have to go to the website sixpenny. Com. It's beautiful.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sixpenny furniture is also both high quality and high value. And since launching in 2017, Sixpenny has been featured in Architectural Digest, the New York Times, Wirecutter Time, and many more.

[Jenna Fischer]

Visit sixpenny.com officeladies for a leisurely browse through their impeccably designed pieces and perhaps even order yourself some free swatches.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know about you guys, but I get so busy around lunch and I just want a great meal right there, ready to go. And that's why I love Blue Apron. Did you know Blue Apron has shipped more than 530 million meal kits? Wow, that's a lot. They know what they're doing, and now it's more convenient than ever. Delivering delicious and easy meals without the subscription. You know, here's the thing. Sometimes you get a subscription and you get subscription anxiety. It's like, oh, no, I'm gonna get these meals. Am I gonna eat them all? And you know what? Who needs another subscription? There's so many. But now meet the new Blue Apron with no subscription. So here's my list. It's dish by Blue Apron, delicious, nutritious, ready real fast. Four cheese ravioli and red pepper sauce with Romano, beans, pesto and parmesan. Five minutes. Five minutes and it's ready. I also got harissa, turkey with brown rice and kale. And I got big cheesy panko chicken. So whether you're looking for quick weeknight dinners or a great lunch, family friendly favorites Blue Apron gives you the tools to cook meals you love on your schedule. Try the new Blue Apron today and get 40% off your first two [e-mail] with code OFFICE40. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com terms for more. If you love finding the best deal or finding savings, which I love, you're going to love Rakuten. Here's what it is. Rakuten is a great way to save money when you shop because you earn cash back at all of your favorite stores. It's especially good over the holidays because you can stack cash back on top of the holiday sales to maximize your savings. That's savings on savings. For example, if your favorite store is having a sale for 20% off and Rakuten has 15% cash back, you can stack the two deals together to maximize your savings. And they partner with all of your favorite stores across categories like fashion, beauty and wellness, electronics, home essentials, travel, dining, and so much more. And keep an eye out for Rakuten's weekly Big Deal reveals where one great store offers epically high cash back for one day only. And did I mention membership is free and it's super easy to sign up. You can go to rakuten.com, download the app, or install the browser extension. Join today for a new member. Welcome bonus after minimum qualifying purchases. Terms and conditions apply.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, we are back. And Angela, Michael has gone into the break break room in an attempt to rally everyone to plant a tree in honor of Meredith. But do you know what I titled this scene? You are always titling scenes. And I have titled a scene what John eats Popcorn.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you notice he is eating popcorn through this whole scene. Not carrots, not baby carrots, but popcorn. And the way he's eating it, it's so. It's so delicate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Was he trying not to crunch too loudly?

[Jenna Fischer]

I think he was trying not to be a problem for sound, but he was clearly hungry because he eats it through the whole scene.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God. Was this the year we got that little popcorn maker by craft services?

[Jenna Fischer]

It must have been. This must have been the first week with the popcorn maker.

[Angela Kinsey]

We went a little crazy for popcorn. And then the sound department, I think.

[Jenna Fischer]

Said, okay, guys, I remember it went away.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, but we were excited about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he's eating popcorn in this whole scene. And it's also in the scene that Pam explains to Michael, you know, we're just gonna go visit Meredith. We're gonna go in shift so we don't overwhelm her. But Michael is like, no, we're all going together at the same time. I'll drive.

[Angela Kinsey]

So Jim and Pam are like, well, we can each take people in our separate cars. And Oscar's like, separate cars. And Kevin's like, I don't believe it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, then Michael has a talking head, and he says, you know, I have flaws. You know what? So sue me. And he's like, no, no, no, don't sue me. But, Jenna, there was an alt to this talking head, and it's in the deleted scenes, and it made me laugh so hard. And it's also in the bloopers. And Steve couldn't get through it. He kept laughing.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is it?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, this is. This is it. There's one take. Clearly, he got through it because it's in the deleted scenes. He says, I am not a bad guy. I am a good guy who runs over women with his car. Why am I having such a hard time getting my message across? Oh, my gosh, that is funny. And the way Steve does it is so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's good. I have to go watch that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, you have to.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we don't find out exactly how they get there, but the entire gang does arrive at the hospital. Michael has a whole bunch of balloons.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the entire gang, minus Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right, because Dwight has gone to take care of Sprinkles. Everyone gathers around Meredith's bed. And we talked about this scene with Kate, about how Steve improvised crawling on top of her in that one moment, he's, like, trying to give her a hug. It's pretty amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's pretty great. There is a deleted scene from this moment where Creed, as they're exiting, just grabs all her meds out of the little plastic cups they're sitting on her tray. Oh, and Creed just pockets all her meds.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of course he does. Well, I had a favorite moment from the scene, and I wanted to ask you about it because I think maybe you improvised it. When Michael is trying to get Meredith to forgive him, he says that she should think about the Bible because it says that forgiveness is next to godliness. And you mutter, that's cleanliness.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did improvise that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh. I also wanted to mention in this scene, the nurse who is an improv person from IO. Her name is Sylvia McClure. Well, I looked at her IMDb and I found this very interesting. In addition to playing a nurse on the Office. She has also played a doctor on Young and the Restless, Dexter and Intelligence, a nurse in Night of the Dead, and a receptionist nurse on the Unit. So she's played a lot of nurses and doctors. And incidentally, she's also twice been cast as a nun.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is very interesting. Like, sort of a. It's like a weird typecasting.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, exactly. Well, I used to get a lot of auditions for school teachers and nurses.

[Angela Kinsey]

Have you ever played a nurse or doctor?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, actually, I played a pediatric nurse in this movie called the Promotion.

[Angela Kinsey]

I played a doctor on an episode of Monk, and I played a sexy nurse briefly in one of our Halloween episodes of the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

What were you most often? Typecast. As for auditions.

[Angela Kinsey]

Before the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

Before the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Quirky, quirky gal.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's up, my quirky, quirky, fun neighbor.

[Angela Kinsey]

Quirky neighbor. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I was. I got a lot of Just the school teachers, waitresses and nurses.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I will tell you, we talked about how hard we laughed in this scene, but 11 minutes, 22 seconds is when you can see us breaking. If you're looking for it, that's when Michael crawls on top of Meredith.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now we can go back to the office, and we are going to find Dwight telling Angela some bad news.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she's anxious to see him. She wants to know how it went. You can just tell. And then he's like, hey, monkey. And she's like, any problems? Well, you left the TV on and your cat is dead. And my character's like, what? And he's like, sparkles, the white one is dead.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, he gets the name wrong. It's bad.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is bad. This will not end well, Angela.

[Jenna Fischer]

You get so very immediately emotional and not in a funny way. Like, this is one of the ways that our show allowed characters to be real people because Angela, the character, really loved her cat, and she is heartbroken. And you see that real pain here from your character. How did you gear up for this scene?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Greg told me. He said, you know, angela Martin, hearing this news, will be devastated. And I need you to play out the beats of hearing news that kind of destroys you in the moment, you know? And I feel like we've all had moments in our lives where we've gotten that phone call with some bad news, you know, unfortunately. And I just sort of thought about a few of those moments where, you know, at first you're just in total shock, where you're not really sure what you heard.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then it's like someone slaps you in the face with the information. And then you're trying to make sense of it, but you can't make sense of it. It's the unthinkable, and it doesn't make sense. And your body is doing all of that. You're in shock. You're sad. Your mind is trying to make it right, but you can't make it right. You can't figure it out. You don't understand why it happened. And I was just trying to process through all of that, and, yeah, that's what I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you have to do a lot of takes of that scene? Do you remember?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, I didn't. I was thankful for that.

[Jenna Fischer]

In the next scene, your character is still crying. She's standing at reception with Pam, and you look like you've been crying for a long time. What did you do to get there, to start the scene in a place like that?

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, I'm chatty, so my instinct would be, I'm standing by reception with you would be to be hanging out, you know, being part of the bullpen. So one of the things I did was I went around the corner by the elevators by myself in between takes, and I did not hang out. And I just tried to stay in sort of that sad space. And. And also, the. The makeup department, they wanted my eyes to really look like I had bawled.

[Jenna Fischer]

My eyes out, and they did.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I had to get myself back in that emotional place and get sad again. And also the makeup department, Kenneth Paul, who did my makeup, did, like, this type of eyeliner that really made the inside. It was, like, on the. In the inside of your eye, reddish pink. So my eyes. My eyes looked the part. And then emotionally, I got there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your eyes looked like you had three margaritas yesterday. Maybe that's what you look like.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe that's what I. That should have been my prep instead of eyeliner and sad thoughts.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, no, what happened was Laverne just showed Kenneth Paul a picture of me from the previous day and was like, make her look like that. No, but in all seriousness, Angela, when I was watching these series of scenes where your character is really, really devastated over the death of Sprinkles, I was just so beyond impressed with your performance and your range and your believability. It was just. This is just great, great work.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, thanks. I appreciate that. I really appreciated Greg writing the storyline for me. And I got to do all these things, you know, and, you know, his take as a director was always to try to keep it as honest as possible.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, well, there's another really great moment in this scene. And we actually had a fan write in. Katie Harwick said, I think we need to give a shout out to Michael when Angela's cat dies. Not only did he know her name, but he was overcome with grief. He cares so much for his employees, and it was just such a sweet moment to me. But I do have to ask, do you think he was truly sad, or did he just see this as a distraction from hitting Meredith that everyone could talk about in this instead? I personally think he was very distraught about Sprinkles.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I agree. This happens at 12 minutes, 41 seconds. And it is one of my favorite endearing moments of Michael. Now, maybe because it's personal for me, because, you know, I played Angela Martin. I knew how much she loved her cats. But Michael, it's like that moment when the trick or treaters come to his house and you see his joy. It's like that moment when he shows up to Pam's art show. Michael really saw these people as his family. So Michael knew Angela's love of Sprinkles. Of course he did. And he was gutted to hear that Sprinkles died. The way he puts his hand up to his face, and he kind of collapses into the wall, and he's like, oh, shoot, I'm sorry, Angela. I mean, could it get any worse? He's feeling all of that. He really feels bad. And now he gets Sprinkles name right the first time. And then he makes a big speech and calls her Prinkles. So, you know he does.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. He says, so many bad things have happened today. The computer crashes from porn, Meredith's accident, and now Prinkles. We're cursed.

[Angela Kinsey]

This seals the deal to him. That's it. The office is cursed. And now he's got to figure out how to break this curse.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. But he does say, I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's like he thinks they're two separate words.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we had a fan question about that line from Jessica Williard and Lauren Corwin. They said, that line makes me laugh every time. Who wrote the joke?

[Angela Kinsey]

I was curious, too. Did you find out?

[Jenna Fischer]

I did. It was Jean Stupnitsky.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jean. Hilarious.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I asked Greg, and he said, I'm pretty sure it was Gene or Lee. I reached out to those guys. Gene said, yes, it was me. He remembers, they were in a group, and this talking head leads to a commercial break. And they needed a button. They needed a little button. At the end of this talking head so that they could go to commercial. And he said they were just trying to come up with something. And all of a sudden he said, he shouted out, I've got it. This might be stupid, but how about this? And he pitched that line and it is so genius. It is such a good line. And I hear that line quoted all the time.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is a Michael Scott classic line.

[Jenna Fischer]

It is. It's true. Well, speaking of classic Michael Scott, we're now going to move into one of the Michael's conference room meetings.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is an epic conference room meeting. We were in this conference room all frickin day. We got loopy, we got punchy. I'm gonna tell you where we flat out lost it. It's so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I also remember that they very specifically did not seat Jim and Pam next to one another. This was part of Jim and Pam's supposed, like, way of deflecting that we're dating.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I remember that you have to just be sad and kind of cry through this scene and that I didn't want to chat you up too much because I knew you had to stay in that space.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I did, I did. I really stayed sad until the end when Steve made me break into laughter. So Michael in the scene is questioning his employees. He feels like someone must have done something to get this curse right. Like, have they violated an ancient Indian burial ground? And then, you know, he wants to know what everyone's religious beliefs are, which.

[Jenna Fischer]

Toby says, michael, we can't. You can't do that. You can't discuss that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael calls Toby Satan repeatedly in the scene one because he won a week of free pizzas. So he's like, I don't think there's a curse. And Michael's like, okay, Satan. So he goes around the room. Pam and Daryl are both Presbyterians. They high five. Phyllis has this great line where she says, I'm a Lutheran and Bob is a Unitarian. Keeps things spicy. Creed said he's been a follower in a cult and a leader in a cult. The followers have more fun, but the leaders make more money. But Michael has decided. He thinks maybe we should do an animal sacrifice.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. You know, that's. That's going to do it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe that would help.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And then he starts naming animals, but they don't exist. I wrote them down. He suggests that we sacrifice an animal that has the body of a walrus and the head of a sea lion or the body of an egret with the head of a meerkat or maybe One that has the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer and the body of a porcupine.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, Jenna, when Steve started this runner, they just let him go. Do you remember this?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

He just started improvising different animal combinations. We didn't know what was going to come out of the guy's mouth. We all started dropping like flies, cracking up. And the other thing is, he would say it with such seriousness. And this was the comedy killer. The long pauses. He takes such a long pause before he says, body of a porcupine.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were on the floor. We were on the floor. I am not in any background shots while he's doing these animal combinations, because I couldn't keep it together. And at 18 minutes, 11 seconds, you can see Craig Robinson covering his face.

[Jenna Fischer]

I saw it. I remember that. We were losing was so funny. And they let him go for a long time.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, you are not seeing all of it. He went for so long. And I. I remember were we were cracking up, and we were just like, get it. Like, as a group, we're like, no, get it together. These are too good. We can't ruin these.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, while all this is happening at the office, Dwight has gone to visit Meredith, and he has this talking head where he's saying as he's sitting next to her, that sometimes the best thing to do is to put an animal out of its misery.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's a farmer. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You could power a small fan for two days with the amount of electricity Meredith is hooked up to. I have to say, please, if you go back to rewatch this episode, during this speech by Dwight next to Meredith's bedside, please look at the woman in the bed on the other side. Okay. Over Dwight's shoulder. That's all I'm gonna say. Just enjoy that performance the next time you watch this scene. It's wonderful.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God, Jenna. When we were all crammed around Kate's bed, that woman was there.

[Jenna Fischer]

I swear, that woman. It was like she was a real patient.

[Angela Kinsey]

She let out some kind of noise, and I thought we were all going to shit our pants.

[Jenna Fischer]

She was a background actor, but she was so real.

[Angela Kinsey]

She literally, while we were standing there one time, went like. I think they told her to maybe make a moaning sound and her interpretation of that, we went loopy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, watch her in the background of the scene because she's excellent.

[Angela Kinsey]

So now the doctor comes in, and Dwight has some questions for him. And you and I both know that this is our writer, Justin Spitzer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Creator of some of your Favorite dwitisms, Justin Spitzer and the creator of the show, Superstore. Well, I reached out to Justin and he told me that he got this role after reading the part in the table read that he made Greg laugh.

[Angela Kinsey]

Which Paul Lieberstein has shared, that this would happen. They wouldn't have some of the. The roles cast, and they would have writers read them. And if a writer read a part, get ready, because Greg, there was a good chance Greg was going to put you in the show.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he also told me that the look he gives to camera was actually him misunderstanding a piece of direction from Greg, that Greg did not intend him to, like, perform that line to the camera as, like, a little joke. Like, oh, so that's where it went. He's talking about Meredith's uterus. Yeah, but Greg left it in.

[Angela Kinsey]

I liked it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I liked it, too. But he said that was not the intention. That was a mistake.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we learn in this scene that Meredith has been bitten by a bat, which we knew, but not only by a bat, but recently by a raccoon and a rat. What the hell, Meredith?

[Jenna Fischer]

What is she doing?

[Angela Kinsey]

Honestly, a few of those animals could just live in her van.

[Jenna Fischer]

Meredith's van. Well, when Dwight comes back from the hospital, he fills Michael in on all of this. He says, you know, it turns out Meredith had been exposed to rabies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael's like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Jenna Fischer]

And that going to the hospital might have saved her life because she got a rabies vaccine.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is all Michael needed to hear. He hit her with a car and saved her life.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Now, he also says in this scene, Dwight says the only way to treat rabies is to start treatment before the symptoms start. Well, I looked it up. This is true. Did you know, Angela, that nearly 100% of people who develop symptoms die from rabies. Die. It cannot be cured once you get it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did not know that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. So this is why you have to seek treatment immediately if you are ever, ever bitten by an animal. And a lot of animals can carry rabies. But since I looked it up, I'll let you know that in the United States, the most likely way to transmit rabies is through bats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and skunks. In Africa and Southeast Asia, it is stray dogs.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, what about monkeys? There's. There's parts of, like, Indonesia, like, if you go up to ubud, like, there's monkeys, like, all over the place.

[Jenna Fischer]

If you get bitten by any animal, just go. Go get a rabies vaccine. It also.

[Angela Kinsey]

What about squirrels?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Any animal. If any animal bites you, I'm just telling you the animals that are most likely to carry rabies in these locations, but any animal can do. Can give it to you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is a mongoose on the list?

[Jenna Fischer]

Is a mongoose. Any animal.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm just messing with you, but it's been really fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, listen, here is the thing that I found most interesting. This is from the Mayo Clinic website. Here's what it says, okay? If you wake up in the morning, okay, and there's a bat in your room, okay, you should assume you've been bitten because a bat can bite you without waking you up. It also said if you find a bat by a person who can't tell you that they've been bitten, like a child or an impaired adult, assume they have also been bitten and go get a rabies vaccine. Because once you show symptoms, there is no cure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I was watching an episode of Our Planet, and they were talking about these baby seals, and there are vampire bats that go and try to just suck their blood. And they can hop. They hop around.

[Jenna Fischer]

The seals or the bats?

[Angela Kinsey]

The bats. They jump. I'm gonna send you a video. They hop. And they are blood suckers.

[Jenna Fischer]

They hop and bite.

[Angela Kinsey]

They hop and bite. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well. Well, there you go, guys.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's your rabies cheat sheet. That's everything you ever wanted to know about rabies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Basically, if you get bit by an animal, that's what I learned. Get that rabies shot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Good. Oh, yes. That was the takeaway I was hoping for.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, there you go.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael is thrilled to find out that he has saved Meredith's life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He walks into the bullpen, he declares that the curse has been broken. Turns out there is a God. Everything is great.

[Angela Kinsey]

But who is Jesus's dad?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, he's not sure, I guess.

[Angela Kinsey]

And meanwhile, Kevin, you know, has been on the case this whole episode trying to figure out if Jim and Pam are dating. He's positive that they are, but it's the end of the day, and he's like, you know what? I guess they're not together. And now they probably never will be. And it's too bad, because they're like PB and J. Pam Beasley and Jim.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, and that was an inside joke because at this point, fans of the show had started calling Jim and Pam Jam. Yes, they had mashed our names as Jam. And so it was this funny thing that Kevin would call us PB&J and not Jam.

[Angela Kinsey]

A little nod to the fans.

[Jenna Fischer]

A little nod. Well, you know what we see Pam Lee for the day. She gets in her car, she drives away. She's by herself. Clearly the documentary crew is as suspicious as Kevin because they follow her as she drives off. It made me wonder, my gosh, how long do they follow us after we leave work?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I don't think you should be that worried because Pam doesn't drive very far. I was like, pam, do better. You drove, like, four car lengths and then you pulled over and then what, are you gonna just leave your car there? Does your. Your car is not that far from work and you're just gonna leave it?

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I'm not gonna leave it. I'm gonna pick up Jim.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think they could have done better.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you know what this is? This is the street we could get a permit for. Ang. We couldn't block off the whole street. This is as far as I was allowed to drive. Well, but it's true. I pull over, and then Greg wanted to kind of further the misdirect, so he directed me to put my head down on the steering wheel. Like, maybe Pam pulled off the side of the road because she was just having kind of an emotional moment, and maybe you'd find out what that was or why that was, that she was sad or something like that. But of course, what happens is Jim comes over, he gets in the car, they share a kiss, and then they drive away.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I loved this little moment that we got to see. I will say this. The way you slumped on the steering wheel, I did not think you were overcome with emotion. I thought you were awkwardly trying to hide.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm gonna say, when I watched that back, it's one of my worst acting moments on the show.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought you were trying to hide.

[Jenna Fischer]

I. The idea was that I was sort of like, ugh, what a day. I needed to pull over because, oh, what a day this has been. I need a moment to collect myself. I mean, it didn't work. I don't think it worked. You thought I was trying to hide steering wheel.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought it worked because I thought Pam was trying to possibly cover her face from any one of her co workers who might be leaving, since she didn't pull very far away from the building. Well, that's what I thought.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was strange. It was strange. But there you go.

[Angela Kinsey]

And on the DVDs, guys, there is a very interesting extra feature. There is a rabies psa. It is Steve looking like Steve. Cute jeans, button down. He has normal Steve hair, but he's sort of delivering it more like Michael. But He's Steve. I don't know. It's like it was written for Michael, but it's delivered by Steve. It's a rabies psa. Remember those things on NBC?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, the more, you know, bing, bing, bong, bing, or whatever.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And he's giving a few, like, tips about rabies, and then he says rabies kills nearly 4,000Americans every 1,000 years.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, here's an interesting fact that I found, Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Which is that the day after this episode aired. This episode aired on September 27, 2007. The next day was the first annual World Rabies Day. It was a global health day to raise awareness of rabies.

[Angela Kinsey]

So do you think NBC had Steve do a psa?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know. I don't know. But what a weird, crazy thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And, guys, if you get bit, get that rabies shot.

[Jenna Fischer]

I hope I made that clear in today's episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

I got it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I hope you also learned maybe don't drink three margaritas before you have a real early call time. Aspiring actors. Maybe you can learn that from me today as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, you're giving all kinds of gems today. So many gems.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

You're welcome. Here's the takeaway from me today. Save the boring emails and then no one will hack you.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. Oh, there we go, guys. That was Fun Run Part 1. We'll be back next week with Fun Run Part 2, where we actually run.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, man, do we. All right, guys, have a great week.

[Jenna Fischer]

Bye.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hi.

[Angela Kinsey]

Are you still here? Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you for listening to Office Lady's second drink.

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our executive producer is Cassie Jurkins, and our audio engineer and associate producer is Molly Nugent. Odyssey executive producer is Leah Rees Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. There is nothing worse than not having the tools to make impactful work. For me, that is usually due to my lack of technical know how. I don't know how to do all the snazzy stuff, but Canva can make that a lot easier. You can put all your workflow in one place, starting with the presentation. Then you could, like, add in a whiteboard. You could drop in a video. You don't have to jump between programs and tabs. You can also invite your team to collaborate on any design. So rather than having to chase people down with multiple email threads, you can have real time collaboration. You can share ideas and visualize projects. You can get their input right away. Whether you work in a team of two like me and Angela or a team of 2000, Canva lets you bring your big ideas to life as fast as you can think of them. Put imagination to work at canva. Com.