Second Drink: Launch Party Part 2

Summary

Office Ladies: "Second Drink: Launch Party Part 2"

Podcast Date: December 8, 2025
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Episode Focus: "Launch Party, Part 2" (The Office S4E6)

---

Episode Overview

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey—the Office's Pam and Angela—continue their beloved rewatch podcast with a deep dive into "Launch Party, Part 2." This episode covers hilarious moments, behind-the-scenes stories, and exclusive interviews about the Dunder Mifflin Infinity launch party, including the infamous pizza hostage storyline and Andy's memorable serenade to Angela.

Special guests include Kevin McHale (the pizza delivery guy, pre-Glee) and co-writer Jen Salata, providing insight into casting, set secrets, and episode inspirations. The hosts also answer fan questions and share personal stories, blending affection and banter in classic Office Ladies style.

---

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Behind the Scenes: Guest Appearances

• Kevin McHale’s Audition Story (10:51)

  • Kevin recalls his callback experience, including auditioning with Steve Carell unexpectedly. His nervousness turned to pride upon making Carell and casting director Allison Jones laugh.
    • Quote: “At some point, Steve Carell chuckled, looked at the casting director, and they chuckled, and I was like, oh my God, I made him laugh.” (11:25, Kevin McHale)
  • Credits Allison Jones for supporting him early in his career and Steve Carell for his graciousness.

• Life on Set (51:35 | 73:39)

  • Kevin, only 17 at the time, discusses holding back laughter during scenes with Steve and Rainn, and the warmth of the Office cast.
    • Quote: “I did not understand how they could keep a straight face. … My only way to stop from breaking [was to frown].” (52:34, Kevin McHale)
    • “Everybody went out of their way to accept me … and that’s something I will never, ever forget.” (74:00, Kevin McHale)

• Fan Recognition (77:30)

  • Despite many Glee episodes, Kevin says fans still recognize him primarily for his role in The Office.

2. The Infamous Pizza Plot & Trivia

• The Great Pizza Debacle

  • Michael orders from Pizza by Alfredo (the “hot circle of garbage”), not Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe—much to the staff’s dismay.
  • Angela does a nationwide deep dive on pizzerias called Alfredo’s, listing locations state-by-state. (36:12–39:21)
    • Quote: “There’s Alfredo’s everywhere!” (39:19, Angela)

• Real vs. Fictional Pizzerias (36:12)

  • Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe is real (in Scranton!), while Pizza by Alfredo is fictional.
  • Their actual slogan is: “We’re not fine dining or just fine food.”
  • Hosts joke the slogan should be: “We’re not a hot circle of garbage.” (39:46, Jenna)

• Michael’s Demands for the Launch Party (31:40)

  • Angela reads Michael’s wild party wish list: beer, light beer, orchids, better lighting, “something made of ice,” “someone famous,” go-go dancers, possibly Al Roker (!), etc.—all to be procured in one hour.
    • Quote: “But actually, if there is someone who could do it better, could you let them know?” (32:21, Jenna as Michael)

3. Pam’s Desk Plant Mystery (Fan-Favorite Deep Dive)

• Jenna reveals she tracked down the history of Pam’s revolving desk plants:
  • Set dresser Steve Ducherer randomly rotated about three plants and different ceramic pots at reception.
  • Mythbusting: Pam’s “flowering” plant in “Beach Games” wasn’t symbolically chosen for her “bloom” moment—pure coincidence!
    • “It was his own small act of rebellion.” (22:16, Jenna)
  • Plants were cared for in a mini “grow station”—taken off set, watered under grow lights during hiatus.
  • Steve also created the office’s plaques, whiteboard jokes, and secret messages.

4. Deleted & Extended Scenes

• Balloon Scene with Stanly’s Cameo as an Extra in "Philadelphia" (04:21)
  • Angela made Jenna (as Pam) blow up 50 balloons for the party; Jim reveals Stanley was an extra in "Philadelphia."
• Angela’s Table Draft Monologue (06:05)
  • An unused talking head: “I constantly have to one up myself. I’m my biggest critic, my own worst enemy, and the only shoulder I have around here to cry on. Let’s party.” (06:28, table read version)

5. Andy’s Epic Serenade—Take a Chance on Me

• Backstory on the a cappella scene:

  • Writer Jen Salata recounts awkwardly singing “Take a Chance on Me” to Ed Helms to explain the idea. (79:44)
  • Acapella backup provided live during filming (John Michael Higgins among backup singers).
  • Quote: “If you change your mind, I’ll be first in line, honey, I’m still free—take a chance on me…” (83:18, Ed Helms & company live on set)

• Angela’s Reaction

  • Angela had to struggle not to smile fully during the take, calling the serenade “so, so charming.” Despite her “prime elbow poof” blouse (87:23), Andy’s gesture almost works.

6. Character Relationships & Emotional Touchstones

• Jim & Pam’s Rooftop Date (63:00)

  • Callback to "The Client"—now as a real couple, reminisce about their first impressions.
    • Pam’s mixed berry yogurt story—Jim’s attention to detail is “intimacy.”
  • Discussion of little acts of love (breaking down boxes, making playlists, taking out trash) as lasting romance.
    • Quote: “Break down a box and make a playlist—you’re in.” (67:51, Angela)

• Triangle Drama: Andy, Angela, Dwight

  • Dwight’s pain over Andy pursuing Angela; Angela using “busy work” to avoid Andy’s advances; flirty shade-of-beige blouse makes a comeback.

7. Emmy Awards & Red Carpet Memories (13:15–17:44)

• Jenna reflects on her 2007 Emmy nomination (for playing Pam), her MySpace blog, and attending with Angela as her date.
• They recount being put in the worst seats (“We just saw real fancy people’s asses” - 15:55, Angela), Jenna’s back issues, and her iconic bejeweled flip-flops.
• The pain of coming so close to winning—and the camera missing Angela’s memeworthy reactions as Steve and Jenna lost.

8. LOLcat Memes & Office Fandom (06:50)

• Listeners point out the viral “hot circle of garbage” Office meme, which began as an LOLcat but featured a Chihuahua.
  • Angela marvels: “So, we were an LOLcat this week.” (07:59)

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “She’s the middle child of 14!” (03:08, Angela, on Creed’s deleted talking head)
• “This is like eating a hot circle of garbage.” (07:20, Kevin)
• “I wore bejeweled flip flops to the 2007 Emmy Awards and you got to look at people’s butts.” (17:22, Jenna)
• “You have to know there was probably a meeting … with a flip book of all the different ice sculptures he could order. And this is the one they settled on.” (61:26, Angela)
• “How is anyone in this branch still employed?” (70:29, Angela, after the pizza hostage storyline)
• “If you want to land a lady like me or Angela, take out the trash without being asked.” (68:19, Jenna)
• “Shut up. Shut up. I know everything about Pam’s plants!” (18:20, Jenna, excited about her research)
• “There’s Alfredo’s everywhere!” (39:19, Angela)

---

Notable Fan Questions & Continuity Catches

• Alfredo’s Pizzeria: Real or Not? (36:12)
• Rooftop Date Retcon: Who started working at Dunder Mifflin first—Pam or Jim? Fans note conflicting statements; Angela and Jenna deem it a continuity error (64:14).
• Angela’s Planning Timeline: Did she plan the party for two or three weeks? The script varies—fan catch! (43:23)
• Angela Improvises: “And Kevin had Greek food for lunch—again.” (44:06) was not scripted but improvised.

---

Noteworthy Segments with Timestamps

• Kevin McHale interview segments: (10:51, 51:35, 73:39, 77:30)
• Jen Salata’s Ice Sculpture Theory: (61:36)
• Andy’s Serenade Live: (79:44–84:57)
• Pam’s Plants Deep Dive: (18:05–25:01)
• Angela’s Alfredo’s Pizza Deep Dive: (36:00–39:21)
• Emmy/Red Carpet Stories: (13:15–17:44)
• Deleted/Alt Scenes: (02:42–04:13, 06:05–06:30)

---

Tone & Banter

The episode features the classic, upbeat chemistry of Jenna and Angela—mixing genuine affection, detailed fan service, and cheeky self-deprecation. Their detailed tangents (plants, pizza, blouses) make the rewatch uniquely personal, while the inclusion of stories from guest stars and writers provides a rich look behind the sitcom’s curtain.

---

Conclusion

"Launch Party Part 2" on Office Ladies offers fans a comprehensive, entertaining, and heartwarming breakdown of one of The Office’s most ridiculous and beloved episodes. The show successfully intertwines nostalgic stories, deep fandom, and meaningful reflections on kindness, friendship, and the small things that matter—in Scranton and beyond.

---

Next Week: More episode deep dives and, as always, behind-the-scenes treats straight from Scranton.

Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

Support for office ladies comes from Sixpenny Home is many things. It can be chaotic at times, it can be joyful at times, it can be serene at times. Choosing beautiful pieces to live with is a thoughtful way to turn home into a space you love.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sixpenny is reimagining luxury at home with extraordinarily comfortable slip covered furniture for living, dining and sleeping spaces, plus distinctive tables and accent pieces. Their furniture is completely customizable and made by hand at their own factory using all natural linens and cottons, lofty cushions overstuffed with ethically sourced feathers or recycled fibers, all without the use of harmful chemical coatings.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bottom line Sixpenny furniture is both high quality and high value and and since launching in 2017, Sixpenny has been featured in Architectural Digest, the New York Times, Wirecutter, Time and More. And Starting on Wednesday, November 26, you can visit sixpenny.com officeladies to enjoy 20% off site wide for their year end sale.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's s I X P-E-N-N-Y.com OfficeLadies I used to have the hardest time shopping for my dad at the holidays. He doesn't have hobbies. Lady, I love you dad but you don't have hobbies. Like he doesn't golf. I can't buy him golf gear.

[Angela Kinsey]

So what do you do?

[Jenna Fischer]

I solved this problem a few years ago and I'm gonna share it with everybody. I go to Macy's. I use their gift guide, I use their personal stylists. I have gotten my dad birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, Father's Day gifts, always at Macy's. And because we all love a good deal this time of year you'll get 20% off your purchase from your first stylist session. Plus Macy's friends and family event is happening now with 30 to 50% off fine jewelry and an extra 15% off beauty and fragrance.

[Angela Kinsey]

A very convenient time to check someone off your list and treat yourself.

[Jenna Fischer]

So if your gift list is starting to feel like a puzzle book, a free styling session online or in store. Tell them who you're shopping for and let Macy's do the heavy lifting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Future you will be very pleased. Shop now@macy's.com or in store.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hello everybody and welcome to our second drink of launch party part two. This is a very fun episode and we have some really great behind the scenes stories from the pizza delivery guy who was played by Kevin McHale and writer Jen Salata gave us her theory on where Andy got that ice sculpture. Plus a lot of other Fun tidbits. I just loved hearing from both of them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, me too. Well, I want to share about this fun runner where everyone is reacting to not being invited to New York's fancy corporate launch party. I wanted to read two candy bag alts because they are hilarious. And we learn a little something new about Creed and Phyllis. Here's Creed's. I don't care about the party. Really. I just don't like being left out. Middle child syndrome.

[Jenna Fischer]

I guess.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm number seven of 14.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my goodness. That's such a big share.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. He's the middle child of 14. All right, here were two that Phyllis said. Quote, it's a good thing I wasn't invited. Tonight is intimate massage night with Bob Vance. Oh, okay, Phyllis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, guess who else went into the candy bag alts for this one. It's me. And I found another michaeled mangled phrase moment. This is when he's talking about not being invited to the fancy New York party. And here is what he says. The thing that I admire most about this branch is its resiliences. Resilability to bounce back. Being uninvited from Ryan's New York party hurt us all a bit initially, but I know this group. We're not going to let us get this down because they have resilability. They have resilability.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Someone. If that had made it into an episode, someone would have heard it and thought it was a word.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, resilability. Resilability.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, well, there's also a deleted scene I need to discuss with you in particular.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you, as Pam, remember blowing up balloons for this episode?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because there is a whole scene where Angela has put Pam to work. You know, she's in charge of the party planning committee, and she's making Pam blow up balloons. And then Jim comes up and starts talking to her. And we learn a little something new about Stanley. Let's hear this clip.

[Kevin McHale]

What is going on here?

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela needs me to blow up 50 balloons and find a famous person.

[Kevin McHale]

Stanley was an extra in Philadelphia, so just ask him.

[Jen Salata]

Really?

[Kevin McHale]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

That would be fun for everyone. I think so. Stanley. What?

[Kevin McHale]

Oh, yeah, See, you're gonna want to go through.

[Jen Salata]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

I get very dusty about that stuff. Right, Lady, I want to thank you for unearthing this scene. I got so lightheaded blowing up those balloons because as you can hear, it begins with me blowing up balloons. And this reminds me of when I was on splitting up together and I stayed for, like, five hours while they put, like, A bald cap on my head. And we filmed a whole dream sequence, and then they cut it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. Well, that sound you hear of the balloon being blown up is you. They don't cut away. So you had to blow up a balloon at the top of the scene every time you guys did it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Correct. Well, Angela, I also found my table draft of this episode. This is what we read at the table. Read. And do you remember how you have that great talking head? Oh, my gosh. It's one of my favorite talking heads. It speaks to me so deeply when you say, plan a party, Angela. Oh, and the entire world will see it. Oh, and here's $65 for your budget. Oh, and here's four idiots who will do nothing but weigh you down. Oh, and your cat stuff.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, that was one of my favorites.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's one of my favorites. Well, you also had a few others, and I want to read you one that cracked me up. You had extra in the table draft. Here was one you were going to say. I constantly have to one up myself. I'm my biggest critic, my own worst enemy, and the only shoulder I have around here to cry on. Let's party.

I tried to channel my inner Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's really fun. Oh, I love it. Okay, lastly, we have a few cat lovers here on Office Ladies, and we all love a good cat meme, and so does fellow cat lover Patrice R. From Delaware, who wrote in to say, ladies, did you see the LOL cat for this episode?

[Jenna Fischer]

What's an LOL cat?

[Angela Kinsey]

I had no idea what a LOL cat was. Or is it a LOL cat? I don't know if I'm even saying it right, but I looked it up on the Internet. Well, I guess an LOL cat, according to the Internet, is an image of one or more cats, intentionally and grammatically speaking incorrectly. It's known as, like, LOL speak. Okay, a fan made one for this episode. You remember when Kevin says this about the pizza? Oh, no, it's bad.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's real bad.

[Kevin McHale]

It's like eating a hot circle of garbage.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I guess someone made an LOL cat meme from that phrase. It even ended up on the Office Tally website. Here's the thing. I looked at the picture closely. It's a little Chihuahua. Wait, I guess dogs can be in these memes.

[Jenna Fischer]

So it doesn't even have to be a cat.

[Angela Kinsey]

I guess not. But here I have a picture of it. I'll share it in one of our Friday shout outs. So here's the Chihuahua. He's Got a big piece of pizza in his mouth and it says eyes like eatin hot circle of garbage.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean this is. This is so crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Uh huh.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm learning so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

So we were an LOL cat this week. I looked online. There's tons and tons of these animals saying little office clips.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that is delightful. I'm going to go look these up. I'd like to see little memes of cats and chihuahuas.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're really cute.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, everybody, thanks so much. And now Here is our second drink of Launch Party Part 2.

I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

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

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office ladies.

Hey gang.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey everybody.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are here this week to finish talking about launch party. It's Launch Party part two and it is a launch party of the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website. It's a big deal.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jinx.

[Jenna Fischer]

Buy me a Coke.

It's season four, episode six, written by Jen Salata and directed by Ken Whittingham. Here is a summary.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

This week, Michael returns to Scranton after realizing he was not invited to the big New York launch party for Dunder Mifflin Infinity. But instead he has to celebrate via webcam. So he decides to ramp up the launch party in Scranton and he gives Angela a very long list of demands. Then he orders pizza. But when the pizza delivery guy refuses to honor Michael's half off coupon, he holds him hostage in the conference room. Meanwhile, Andy tries to woo Angela to the dismay of Dwight.

[Angela Kinsey]

Does he? He's relentless.

[Jenna Fischer]

And a little charming.

[Angela Kinsey]

And a little charming. And a little douchey. We'll get there.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right. Fast. Fact number one. We have a big guest star alert. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're so excited, you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

The pizza delivery guy was played by Kevin McHale. Now, you guys probably know Kevin because he would go on to be a regular on the TV show Glee. But this was about two years before that happened. This appearance on the Office was one of his first television acting jobs. So we reached out to him to hear how it all went down.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, Kevin, thanks for letting me slide into your DMs.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela really slid into his DMs.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey, I always feel so weird, but he's a very nice person. I was like, hi, Angela and Jenna here. Hello, and he was wonderful. He sent us in audio clips. And here is what he had to say, you guys, about coming in to audition for the role. And it's so charming. Sam, can you play that clip?

[Kevin McHale]

So what I remember about the audition is actually the callback, because the initial audition, no memory, but the callback. I was waiting in the stairwell. It was me and Dave Franco and a couple other guys. And then one of the casting assistants comes out and says, oh, we're going to start in a few minutes, but we just have to wait for Steve. And I'm someone who has terrible, terrible nerves. And I don't know if my manager didn't know and didn't tell me, but I was very unaware that Steve Carell was going to read with us for the callback. And I went in, I sat there and tried with all my might just to get the words out. And at some point, Steve Carell, like, chuckled, looked at the casting director, and they chuckled, and I was like, oh, my God, I made him laugh. And that was it. Like, I. If I didn't get the job, I was happy enough just with that, that I made he and Allison Jones laugh. Who, by the way? Allison Jones, the casting director. She was the first casting director to just continuously give me a chance when I hadn't worked or booked anything. And she kept getting me further and further along in these jobs like this or super bad. And she just kept putting me in the room. And I have her to thank for giving me any confidence to even continue to pursue acting at all.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's Allison Jones.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And then also Steve, just so gracious coming there for those callbacks and being there in the scene with him like that. I mean, I just loved that story.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I see why they asked Steve to pop in on this audition. Because the pizza delivery guy, it's all him and Steve and Rain. And Steve was a big star. And the last thing you want to do is hire someone and bring them to set, and then they freeze up because they're now performing not with a casting associate, but with this big star. So he did it. He made it through, and he got the job.

[Jen Salata]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I like when he said I was just concentrating on getting the words out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he does a great, great job in this part. And, guys, he sent in a few other audio clips that we'll sprinkle in throughout the episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. All right, so what's your fast fact number two?

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, my fast fact number two, Ange, When I was researching this episode, I was going through my archives, and all this Stuff started popping up from the 2007 Emmy Awards.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Oh, that was a fun one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. We shot this episode right around the same time as the Emmys, and this was the year that I was nominated.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know it was a big deal. We were so excited.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was so cool. And I found a blog that I wrote on MySpace about getting the nomination, and it's so cute.

[Angela Kinsey]

I gotta hear the ol ye olde MySpace blog. Let's hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Here's what I wrote. Man, I am so excited. I just can't tell you what this means to me. Not because it is an award or something like that, but because it feels like it's for our gal, Pam. She's a shy girl who doesn't get recognized very often. You know, it's like that shot from the episode with the art show where Pam is standing in front of her display waiting for the first visitor to come by. That just sums it all up for me. So I guess I feel it in that part of me that is Pam. The part that still gets excited to show my art. And no, people are responding to it. It's like, hey, people showed up to my art show.

[Angela Kinsey]

Aw, that is so sweet, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you know what I remember? I did not win the Emmy. And I remember thinking like, damn it, I wanted Pam to go up there and get her trophy. It was like her Dundee's moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

I really wanted to say, I feel God in this Emmys tonight.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know you were so excited. You had your opening line. It was gonna crush. You would have crushed it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I would have crushed it. But, lady, you were my plus one.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I was about to say, I remember this year because you had a really hot date.

It was me. We got to go together, and it was a blast.

[Jenna Fischer]

But it was also, if you remember, Angela, it was in the round.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will never forget it. It was so bizarre. So, you know, normally the Emmys is like in a traditional type theater where you sit in theater style seating. Right. One row in front of the other. Well, this year, it's like the television academy decided to mix it up and they put the seats in a circle and the stage in the middle, a big circle. So it was like theater in the round. And Jenna, I remember where we were seated.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I knew the minute we took our seats I wasn't going to win.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, honey. We were in the back of the circle. So we faced everyone's butt all night.

[Jenna Fischer]

All night.

[Angela Kinsey]

We just saw real fancy people's asses. That's what we saw.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we kept Thinking, at some point, are they gonna turn around and face our section? No, never once. The entire thing was performed as if there were not people sitting behind the speaker.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was so bizarre. And, you know, sometimes someone who would win would, like, sort of glance over their shoulder, like, hey, guys, how are you back there? And we would get so excited. We were like, we're good. We're good. Hi. But, yeah, it just was an evening of fancy TV butts. That's what.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it was very funny. But something else I noticed when I was seeing all these photos pop up from this time, Angela, was that my back was still not healed at the time, and there were a lot of restrictions on what I was allowed to wear and not wear. I couldn't wear anything that was too tight on my rib cage, too tight on my waist, and I could not wear high heels. So I have all these pictures of us on different red carpets going to the various, you know, pre Emmys events and things where I'm wearing these baggy dresses and, like, bejeweled flip flops. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And, I mean, I just felt like in that moment, you were like family for me, because my sisters love a bejeweled flip flop. They love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I wore bejeweled flip flops to the 2007 Emmy Awards, and you got to.

[Angela Kinsey]

Look at people's butts. There you go.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was a special time.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was really bummed you didn't win, though. And I. I have no poker face. It's like when Steve didn't win year after year. You know, it's a good thing the camera's not on me or whips away fast because it's all across my face. It's what the.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, they really missed an opportunity for some good television by not having the camera on you every time one of us lost.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, that's the. Before the day of, like, the memes, my face would have been a meme.

[Jenna Fischer]

For sure. For sure. All right, lady. Well, I'm going to move us on to fast fact number three, because I've got a great big surprise for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know you've been a little braggy about this in text to me leading up, she's like, just wait for fast fact number three. I'm like, okay, what is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

I got the deep dive on Pam's plants.

[Angela Kinsey]

Shut up. Shut up.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know everything about Pam's plants and who's responsible for them. Oh, my gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have to tell you, I was texting with Jen Salata last night, and Jen texted Me. She said, ang, I didn't even know that Pam had a plant at front reception until I started listening to your podcast. I need to know all of this. What? What? What? What? Tell me.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right. I reached out to our set designer, Michael Gallenberg.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Who told me it was Steve Ducherer. Steve, the lead set dresser. Yes. Who was in charge of Pam's plants.

[Angela Kinsey]

I had a feeling it would be him because he sort of, like, set that whole area every day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Well, I called Steve. You did, Angela. Yes. We had the best conversation.

[Jen Salata]

Aw.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I remembered Steve mainly as the guy who was always having to deal with our computers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. He would come and also, like, if our lamps went out or just sort of, like, all the things on our desk that needed attention.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, I told Steve that because he said, jenna, do you remember me? And I said, yes, Steve, my memory of you is that you were always crouching under my desk dealing with my computer. And he laughed so hard. He said, well, that was probably 80% of my job was just dealing with all of the computers at your desks. He said he was the one that was in charge of finally setting up the speaker on Oscar's desk. Remember?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. All of that. So we really went down memory lane. But he also told me that he was in charge of all of the items on our desk, including all of the plants in the office. So here is what he told me about Pam's plants at reception.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait, did you tell him that I'm obsessed with him?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, because I had to explain why I was suddenly calling him to ask him multiple questions about the plants on the reception desk. I had to give some context.

[Angela Kinsey]

So he didn't think you were crazy?

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I mean, he might still think we're crazy, but, I mean, he's, like, retired and living in Oregon now, so. All right, here is what he told me, Ang. So you might remember he had a little office on our stages that was behind Michael Scott's office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, I remember it. It was like a wooden. Like, they built him, like, a wooden kind of shed right there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And lining his walls were all kinds of tchotchkes and things that he would place all around the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

So right outside of his office, he had a tiny, like, grow station and a plant care station for all of the plants in the office. He said for Pam's desk, he had only about three different plants, and they were in plastic pots, and he would rotate them randomly, but he had an assortment, as we've noticed, of ceramic pots. So that was how he kind of tried to make them look different. He said that it was absolutely, totally random what plant he put on the desk. Because I asked him about the flowering plant for beach games and if it was symbolic that Pam bloomed in that episode. And he laughed and he said, no, that's just a wonderful coincidence.

He told me that Greg was very, very strict about the set decoration and that they were not allowed to change anything or without Greg's permission. Tiny details. They would get in trouble. He said Greg never noticed the changing plants and he never consulted Greg about the plants. It was his own little thing that he did each week.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was his own small act of rebellion that he was, I think so different plants.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Steve, I noticed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela noticed Steve. He said that he thinks he did a Christmas cactus once and that over the holiday episodes he would always try to do something maybe a little different. But mostly it was just these little ferns.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will be looking for that Christmas cactus.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, me too. I got so excited. I was like, oh, I don't think we've seen that yet. We haven't seen Christmas cactus. Everybody look out for Christmas cactus.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm gonna have to go back to the Christmas episodes, but I do not remember a cactus.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, here's the other thing he told me, Angela. He would have to water all those plants. And if we ever went on a week long hiatus, he would take all the plants off the set and he would put them under grow lights and Tom Melby would come and water them on our brains.

[Angela Kinsey]

I believe that Tom Melby. I believe that. That's so sweet. I remember Steve. He would walk over to accounting and water the plant that was on the file cabinets between accounting and reception, and we would chit chat.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, here's the other thing he told me.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Not plant related. Steve Ducherer was also in charge of all of the plaques around the office. He made all of them, including that one that trolled Kelly Cantley.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep. He was also in charge of the whiteboard by accounting, and he said he was the one who wrote that stuff. Steve was robbed after the Emmys that one year.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I love it. Steve, look at you. You're like over there mixing up plants. You're writing secret messages on the message board. Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

He told me that this job was just his favorite and it was wonderful. And we just talked about what a special thing we had. And he retired when the show ended. He was like, I don't think it's gonna get better. And he retired.

[Angela Kinsey]

Steve, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. We've worked on other shows and we've had good experiences and things, but I have to say, it'd be pretty amazing to be able to just ride off in the sunset after a show like the Office. Cause it was that special.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, you know you got me that Morgan Gesell watercolor of the Beasleys botanicals for Christmas. Everybody, Angela got me this. I mean, I could not be more excited.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is Jenna's Christmas present from me. I got her. Morgan, you're so talented. You painted all of Pam's plants. And Morgan gave me the original. She also gave me a painting of all of Angela Martin's weird blouses.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I've seen that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And Jenna. And a coffee mug of Pam's botanicals. Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

Amazing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I sent a print of Beasley's botanicals to Steve as a thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that is so sweet.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought the man in charge should have a print as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Oh, I love that.

[Jenna Fischer]

He also sent me a photo of himself in his office on stage. And now that I've told you, I can send it to you. And guys, he said we can put it up on Office Lady's pod as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, we will. And we'll put up some of Morgan's stuff so you can see in our stories. And this was wonderful. I loved it.

[Jenna Fischer]

And guys, if you want to get one, go over to Society Six. It's the number six. And search for Beasley's Botanicals, and it'll pop up and you can get one yourself. Well, let's take a break, and then when we come back, we will really get into this episode. Michael is not going to react well to the pizza delivery.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no, it's not going to be good.

[Jenna Fischer]

I used to have the hardest time shopping for my dad at the holidays. He doesn't have hobbies. Lady. I love you, dad, but you don't have hobbies. Like, he doesn't golf. I can't buy him golf gear.

[Angela Kinsey]

So what do you do?

[Jenna Fischer]

I solved this problem a few years ago, and I'm going to share it with everybody. I go to Macy's. I use their gift guide. I use their personal stylists. I have gotten my dad birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, Father's Day gifts, always at Macy's. And because we all love a good deal this time of year, you'll get 20% off your purchase from your first stylist session. Plus, Macy's friends and family event is happening now with 30 to 50% off fine jewelry and an extra 15% off beauty and fragrance.

[Angela Kinsey]

A very convenient time to check someone off your list and treat yourself.

[Jenna Fischer]

So if your gift list is starting to feel like a puzzle book, a free styling session online or in store, tell them who you're shopping for and let Macy's do the heavy lifting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Future. You will be very pleased. Shop now@macy's.com or in store. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

[Jenna Fischer]

So here we are. It's the holidays. Holidays are a time of traditions. I think when you think of holiday tradition, you're usually thinking about, oh, how do we decorate, how do we exchange gifts? But I wonder if we should add something, a new tradition to the holidays, which is the tradition of self care.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I like that. Right? Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because it can be a hectic and chaotic time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Absolutely. And also it can be a lonely time, you know?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And prioritizing the tradition of self care at the holidays, I feel like we need to add that to the list.

[Angela Kinsey]

I really like that. Well, you know, you're probably having to deal with a lot of folks around the holidays. And therapy can be a way for you to learn positive coping skills, how to reset your boundaries or just set your boundaries and empower yourself to be the best version of yourself.

[Jenna Fischer]

So consider trying BetterHelp online therapy in December as a way to close the year with clarity rather than chaos.

[Angela Kinsey]

This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10% [e-mail] OfficeLadies. That's better. H E L P.com OfficeLadies I have found that hiring isn't just about finding someone who's willing to take the job. You might get lots of folks that are like, sure, I'll do that job. But it's finding the right person for the job. You know, the right person with the right background who can actually take your business and move it to the next level. You know what we need?

[Jenna Fischer]

I know what you're going to say, lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

We need Indeed.

[Jenna Fischer]

With indeed sponsored jobs, we would only be paying for results. No monthly subscription, no long term contract. We could join the 1.6 million companies that sponsor their jobs with Indeed. Lady, spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Now with indeed sponsored jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at.

[Angela Kinsey]

Indeed.Com officeladies just go to indeed.com officeladies right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podc Indeed.com OfficeLadies Terms and Conditions apply. Hiring. Do it the right way with Indeed. This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace.

[Jenna Fischer]

We probably don't need to tell you that our officeladies.com website is active and wonderful. Thanks to Squarespace.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we've talked about Squarespace a lot because we love it and we use it every single week.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, Ileana manages our website and she does it through Squarespace. And the reason that she does it through Squarespace is because it is so user friendly.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so user friendly that only a handful of times when Ileana has taken a vacation or been out of town, she passes this torch along to Josh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Who then manages our website for the.

[Angela Kinsey]

Day and a half that he needs to. But it's that user friendly.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's amazing. It has cutting edge design, it will help you find a domain, it can help you fundraise, you can post videos. Head to squarespace.com officeladies for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code officeladies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

All right, we are back, everyone, and we are going to open this episode with Michael and Jim returning from their very short road trip where they got, I don't even think outside of Scranton before realizing that they're not invited to the big New York party.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they come back and Michael makes a big announcement. Like, he actually wanted to be at the Scranton branch party. He actually didn't want to go to New York, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And Stanley's like, wait, so we're not going home early?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael's like, no, no. In fact, Michael calls Angela into his office and he says to Angela, I want this party to be sexier, cooler, and more important than the one in New York. And he gives her a list of demands.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, let's just talk about this list for a minute. Okay, now remember, the party starts in one hour.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is the list. Ready? Beer, light beer, streamers, orchids, better lighting, something made of ice. Pizza, pizza with mushrooms, pizza without mushrooms, white pizza, steak, chocolates, someone famous, cool music, confetti, Go Go dancers. Maybe Al Roker.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Guess what? Michael says he'll get the pizza since Angela's going to do all those other things in one hour.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I mean, he wants the people in New York to be jealous that they got Al Roker to attend in Scranton. How is that so hard to understand, Angela?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know. Just go get some Go Go dancers and some steak. Possibly change the whole lighting scheme of the office. That'd be great. Thanks.

[Jenna Fischer]

But he tells Angela, if anyone can do it, it's you. But actually, if there is someone who could do it better, could you let them know?

What was it like for you to do that scene with Steve? Were you improvising any of the things on that list as you were reading them off, or was that pretty much scripted?

[Angela Kinsey]

No, that was pretty much scripted. And it was really fun because Steve has to interrupt me. And I just loved, loved doing scenes with him. It felt like I got to be, like, in this comedic dance, you know, and. Except I'm dancing with, like, the best comedian in town. It just was so fun. I was like, you know how you have, like, a body buzz, you know?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, I had that kind of feeling going in there to get to do scenes with him. And I loved every single second. And he would, like. He would be so generous. We've talked about this. But he'd let me have a moment. Like, when I say steak and I look at him, you like, he just let all of that breathe.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know exactly that body buzz you're talking about. Because I would get that feeling every time I'd get a script and be like, there's a Pam Michael scene. I get Steve all to myself.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And he's just so good. And I feel like every person in a scene with Steve, Steve makes that person better.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah. Well, I love that scene. I watched it. I rewound it and watched it a second time just because it was so, so delightful. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I had to memorize that list. Guys, I'm not reading off.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. That wasn't written on the piece of paper for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

No. I mean, you know, like, I. Maybe the prop department had a list, but I had to learn that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, and it's important because some of those elements are going to come up later. Right. So you had to make sure you said certain things.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, next up, Andy is trying to talk to Dwight to see what does he think about Angela. Does he think that Andy should go after Angela? And Dwight is like. No.

[Angela Kinsey]

The first thing he says, which if you speak Dwight, you know, is one of the highest compliments he could give anyone. He says she's efficient.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that's just like. That's like stabbing Dwight in the heart right there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

That he's lost such an efficient woman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And, you know, Dwight does not obviously want Andy to make a play for Angela, so he tells her it's inappropriate to date someone at work. And he could actually date Kelly because she's in the annex. Like, he can date Kelly or Toby.

[Jenna Fischer]

But not anyone in their immediate bullpen. Yeah. Well, now Michael triumphantly announces that he has ordered pizza from everybody's favorite place. Everyone gets kind of excited until they learn that Michael ordered pizza from the wrong place.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you know, clearly the favorite of Dunder Mifflin is Alfredo's Pizza Cafe. And Michael has ordered from pizza by Alfredo's, which Kevin describes as like eating a hot circle of garbage.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael asks, what's better, a medium amount of good pizza or all you can eat of pretty good pizza? And everyone is like, a medium amount of good pizza.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, Jenna, this sent me on one of the craziest deep dives I have done in the year that we've been podcasting together.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I hope that you're gonna tell me some stuff about Alfredo's Pizza Cafe, because we got a fan question about this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yes.

And more. More information than you'll ever want to know.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, Catalina Rizzi and Paisley Zeladon would like to know, are Pizza by Alfredo and Alfredo's Pizza Cafe actual pizza places in Scranton?

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Alfredo's Pizza Cafe is, in fact, a real pizza place. It's opened every day. It's still open in Scranton. And Pizza by Alfredo is a made up place that the writers made up. But Alfredo's Pizza Cafe is in Scranton, and you can still get pizzas from there today.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Angela, I'll have you know, Angela, the character could have ordered steak because Alfredo's Pizza Cafe also serves steak, burgers, and pasta.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, It's a cafe. It's like a restaurant.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I was very curious. I just wrote in Alfredo's Pizza into my Google search.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because I was like, I wonder if this is just in Scranton or do we have Alfredo's Pizza other places? Right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

So here we go. In Homewood, Alabama, there's Alfredo's Pizza Cafe In California, there's Alfredo's Pizza in Los Angeles. In Colorado, there's an Alfredo's Pizza in Denver. In Connecticut, there's an Alfredo's Restaurant and Pizza in Gaylordsville. In Delaware, there's an Alfredo's Pizza Gallery in Seaford. In Florida, there's an Alfredo's Pizza and Restaurant in Cooper City. In Illinois, there's an Alfredo's Pizza and Pasta in Lake in the Hills. In Iowa, there's an Alfredo Pizza. We'll let it slide. Iowa, that's in Sioux City. In Maine, there's Alfredo's Italian Pizzeria in Wells. In Maryland, there's Osteria Alfredo in Easton. In Massachusetts, there's Alfredo's Italian Kitchen in Boston, Somerville and Medford. In New Jersey, there's an Alfredo's in Carteret. There's an Alfredo's Restaurant and Pizzeria in Point Pleasant. There's a Cafe Alfredo's in Somerset In New York, there's an Alfredo's Pizza Cafe in New Rochelle. In North Carolina, there's an Alfredo's Pizza Villa in Chapel Hill. Alfredo's Ristorante Italiano and Clinton. Wait for it. In Ohio, there's Alfredo's Pizzeria in Salem. In Pennsylvania, there's Alfredo's Pizza and Restaurant in Scranton. And Alfredo's Pizza and Grill in Swiftwater.

In South Dakota, there's an Alfredo Pizza in Vermilion. We'll let it slide. South Dakota in Texas, there's Alfredo's Pizza and Pasta in Dallas, Alfredo's in Plano and Alfredo's in Louisville. Utah has chef Alfredo's in St. George and Cedar City, Virginia has Alfredo's in Bristol. Now, are you ready for this? Who has the most that comes up in a Google search? West Virginia. West Virginia has Alfredo's in Somerville, Alfredo's Italian Pizzeria in Petersburg, Alfredo's Pizza of Rainville, Lewisburg, White Silver Springs, Buck Hannon. Alfredo's Italian in Greek because. Okay. In Marlinton. And Alfredo's in the Crossroads Mall in Mount Hope.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love you.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's Alfredo's everywhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love you.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's Alfredos everywhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

Guys, I watched Angela as she listed all of the Alfredos and it was three pages long.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, if I didn't say your state, it's because there was no Alfredo's that came up in the Google search. But I looked up every single state.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you know, the one in Scranton is not actually called Alfredo's Pizza Cafe. It's just called Alfredo's Cafe. That's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it says their slogan.

[Jenna Fischer]

Please tell me their slogan is we're not a hot circle of garbage. Because if that's not their slogan, it should be.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here is Alfredo's Cafe's slogan. We're not fine dining or just fine food.

[Jenna Fischer]

I like it. I still think not a hot circle of garbage might be something they should consider.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Alfredo's. You heard it from Jenna. Get your marketing team on it. Yeah, she's not wrong.

[Jenna Fischer]

I want to talk about something from this scene that has nothing to do with the pizza. Okay, can we please talk about your weird ass blouse in this episode? Oh, Jenna, I'm sorry to curse, but, guys, it is weird.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is so weird. And actually, now, listen, later in the episode, I'm going to give you a time code that really zooms in on the sweater. In particular, the part I want to talk about, but just know, it's called the elbow poof.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, I'll. I'll wait till we get to the appropriate time code. I can wait.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, but it's a bizarro sweater. It's got a poofy part at your elbow.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, moving us along then, Angela. In this next scene, Phyllis comes into the conference room to confront Angela again. She maybe is using some of her techniques from the last episode on how to deal with difficult people. And she has placed items on post it notes and then put a post it note on each finger. And she says to Angela, you can pick one of these, one of these. I'll do one, but I can't do all of these. This is her visual way of showing you how you've overwhelmed her with too many tasks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, let me tell you, this is some serious Phyllis sass. She wads them up, she throws them in my face. And I want you to know, it did kind of hurt. That owl was kind of honest, because when you crumple up paper, it's, like, pointy. And also, I think that was the only usable take. I'm not kidding. Phyllis laughed every time she threw him in my face. She would laugh every time. And so that, to me, when I was watching it, I just was remembering us cracking up, and it just made me so happy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, anytime Phyllis has to do something like that, she can't do it because it is so against her nature. It is so against her sweet, kind, loving nature that she just giggles. She gets the giggles. Yes.

Well, next up, Angela, we have this scene, and I have some things to ask you about. Andy is attempting to ask Angela out, but she is searching through this box of party supplies. What do you think you're going to find in there? What are you looking for in this box? A stake? An ice sculpture? You think any of the things on Michael's list. Better lighting? It's a small box.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's a busy work box, Jenna. It's a box. So I could look busy and I could ignore Andy. And what I gave to myself was like, clearly, I'm looking for more of those weird blue spiral thingies that I'm going to hang in the conference room later. She had a vision of blue spiral thingies, and she needed more of them. And so she's digging and digging. But who uses this as a pickup line? Who thinks that A woman is going to, like, stop everything she's doing in your and just be like, you're right. There's not dinner in a movie in this box.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, we also have a fan catch here from Abby Tilford.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

She says in launch party around 16 minutes, 25 seconds. So this was a moment from last week's breakdown. Angela says she's been working on the party for two weeks, but now at 25 minutes, 21 seconds, she says she's been planning it for three weeks. Is this just Angela being dramatic? What is this? This is a bit of a continuity catch. And I looked. She's right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no, she's right. It's a continuity error. And maybe we can justify it by saying that Angela feels very put upon all of a sudden. So maybe she's exaggerating. And I have an improv catch. I improvised the last line as I walked away and I said, and Kevin had Greek food for lunch.

[Jenna Fischer]

Again, I love that. That was an improv.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, that was an improv. And what you don't see is that Matt Sohn cut over to Brian as Kevin and he was like, hey.

I love that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your character's go to is always to find some subtle way to insult Kevin.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because he's a constant annoyance for her. Constant all day long.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm telling you. I think she requested the glass partition. He drives her crazy. She needed a barrier. Well, now we have a little bit of Pam sass coming up. The pizza guy has arrived. And Pam calls Michael and says, hey, the pizza by Alfredo guy is here. Michael says, you don't have to say it like that. And Pam says, I said it normal.

[Jenna Fischer]

I did say it normal.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, but I just love that Pam. This is this new I'm in love pam. I give zero Fs. I say what I think. And I loved it. But yes, the pizza guy is here. And oh, man, this starts a whole Michael spiral. Everything he is feeling about Ryan and feeling left out and not treated fairly, he is going to pile on this poor teenager who's just a pizza delivery guy. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He is mad because the pizza kid will not accept his half off coupon for all of the pizzas. He explains, you can have half off two pizzas, but not all of the pizzas. And Michael is like, it doesn't say that anywhere on the coupon. And the pizza kid is like, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, he's basically like, if I give you half off all these pizzas and I go back, I'm Going to get in trouble. This is not. I mean, it's not my decision to make. I can't authorize your new use of this coupon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, and listen, the pizza guy does have a little bit of that teenage sass, though, because he's like, not my problem.

[Jenna Fischer]

A little bit full teenager sass.

[Angela Kinsey]

Listen, this truly isn't his problem and Michael needs to lighten up. But the kid is also kind of an ass for sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael's response to this is to have Dwight lock him in the conference room until he decides to honor the coupon. It's so irrational.

[Angela Kinsey]

He says that he needs to learn about respect and accountability and follow through. He's saying all this crazy stuff. And then of course, he really loses it and is like. The guy is like, this is stupid. And he's like, you don't even know what stupid is. It's about to get all stupid up in here.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is such an outrageous storyline. As I was watching this episode, I just kept thinking, I can't believe we are doing this storyline. It is so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

It is really broad. It's really broad. But yet at the same time, you kind of believe that Michael would do it. That Michael would be like, no, you're going to stay here and you're going to learn a lesson. And everyone around him is like, you have just kidnapped someone. You are currently holding someone hostage. And he's like, no, no, no, I'm teaching him a lesson.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, yeah, Kevin, Oscar, Stanley, they have all started researching kidnapping and accomplices to see if they can be charged.

As it's, you know, accessories to Michael's crime. But this is what Michael does. You know, it's like in the episode when he drives his car in the lake, he takes it out on the guy who ate the turtles from the gift basket. He always, like, shifts the blame and responsibility. If Michael is embarrassed or if Michael is upset about something, he takes it out on a very ordinary moment. And it's so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we've all sort of been there, right? We've all had that displaced anger. Like, I'll never forget one time my dad had. He had ordered this new barbecue grill. And Jenna, this guy in my hometown, makes them, you know, like a smoker. And he's a welder. And he made my dad this smoker. And it took him a while because he makes it, you know, by hand. He's out there welding. And my dad went to get it and he got a flatbed trailer to put it on and pull it behind our truck. He was so excited. We'd waited so long, and he's driving down the driveway with it, and he didn't, like, factor in, like, the overhang of the carport and dented in the new smoker.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And for whatever reason, he got up. We were all like, don't say anything. Don't say anything. He got out of the car and he was like, if that tree hadn't been there, then he was, like, gonna cut down the tree. And my mom was like, it's not the tree's fault. Leave the tree out of it. You know? But we've all had these moments where we're so, like, upset and irrationally, we're like, that's it. It's the tree.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. Well, speaking of tree, we were all set to get our Christmas tree.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

On this one day, we were going to set up the Christmas tree, and I can't remember what happened. It was like, something. And it was the night before. And I said to Lee, I said, so we're getting up early in the morning. We're going to go get our tree. We're going to decorate the tree tomorrow. And he said very casually, well, I don't know. I mean, tomorrow or another day. And I was like, what? It's going to be tomorrow at 9am and I, like. I was like, a mess. I was, like, screaming and yelling. And he sat there and then he looked at me and he said, babe, is it really about the tree or is something else going on?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then I was like, oh, yeah, it was that. The tree was the one Christmas tradition that I knew we could do in a pandemic. I could still put a tree in my house, and I could decorate it and we could drink hot chocolate. I couldn't do any of the other gatherings or parties or seeing of people or seeing my family. All of my gift exchanges turned into zoom exchanges. And I had been holding on to this tradition of putting on Christmas music and decorating our tree and the idea that we might not not do it on that Saturday, but maybe we'd do it Sunday. I was like, I had a real, real big reaction.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So guess what? We got our tree that next day at 9am well, we went ahead and got it because Lee was like, we clearly need to get this woman a tree.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, my dad cut down a few limbs off that tree.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

To clear the driveway, he said, even though we all know it's because he didn't measure. And he pulled into the carport and he dented in the Top of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

So we've all been Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

We've all been Michael, you guys. And, and yeah, and it's, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, yeah. Dwight and Michael go into the conference room and they confront this pizza guy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, kid.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a kid. He's a teenager.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they're sort of like interrogating him. He doesn't own the company, he doesn't set the prices. And he, that he. Listen, the pizza guy is just like, you guys can kiss my ass. Like he's not having it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we had to ask Kevin what it was like to do these scenes with Steven Rain interrogating him because they are being so ridiculous. And guys, here's what Kevin had to say.

[Kevin McHale]

It was definitely one of my first jobs. It was absolutely without question the biggest job I had ever done. Even though it was just one episode, it was on one of the biggest TV shows in the world. And I just remember more than anything, obviously I was very nervous and scared to work with Steve. But it was just as I was just as nervous to work with everybody else because there's something about one. I think I was 17 years old. I was the only kid. Everyone else was, you know, a fully realized person. And I feel like I had tricked everybody into letting me get on the show. And everybody was just so good. And I did not understand how they could keep a straight face. And Rainn Wilson and Steve would ad lib the craziest, craziest stuff. And I, you know, locked in a room and Rain would just be yelling at me and watching it back. I'm frowning almost every scene I'm in because that was my only way to stop from breaking. And that was the only thing I really remember in terms of working with them specifically, because I was just trying not to break because they're obviously comedic geniuses.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's very funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

And he's 17 in this scene, you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would not have that kind of composure at 17. I'm so impressed by that.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I mean, I was 30 years old when I got my job as Pam on the Office. I couldn't imagine if I had been 17 years old and paired with someone like Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson in those scenes. I couldn't have done it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. Same. Well, now, you know, Angela interrupts sort of Dwight's interrogation. She comes in very matter of factly and says, I have to hang these.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, because if she didn't hang those two blue spirals.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah. What would Happen. She literally walks in holding two spirals. Little blue, spirally decorative things. That's it. But she has to come in. She has to hang them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah. And it's gonna take her all of 45 seconds.

[Angela Kinsey]

But Dwight looks at her longingly, and the pizza guy's like, why are you looking at her like that? He's like, he's such a punk. I love this kid.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now, there's a scene coming up, Angela, that I love, because Kevin is gonna have a moment where he takes charge.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's hangry.

[Jenna Fischer]

He is.

He walks into Michael's office and he says, listen, everyone is hungry, and we would like to make a request that we order the good pizza so that we can eat it while we're waiting for the hostage negotiation over the bad pizza to end. I mean, this is the most sort of. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Have we ever seen Kevin take a stand before?

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like the time we really see who Kevin is outside of the office is when he plays poker with his hat and drums. And clearly, when it comes to pizza.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Strong feelings.

[Angela Kinsey]

Strong feelings. Well, let's take a break, because when we come back, the party is in full swing. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Who's that woman from the other office who's gonna judge Angela's purse?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Denise Stims in Buffalo.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Damn you. Damn you, Denise.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, we'll be back.

So, lady, you know that during the pandemic, I converted my guest bedroom into an office. Well, now I'm going to convert it back into a guest bedroom. And I'm going to need a great mattress. And you just got one, so tell everybody about it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Guys, we got a Leesa mattress. L E E S A. I am delighted to tell you about this mattress because I look forward to laying on it.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is messages you've left me.

[Angela Kinsey]

I got the legend chill hybrid mattress, lady. It pulls heat away from your body.

[Jenna Fischer]

I want something that pulls the heat away from my body.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's got this cushiony and cool billowy quilt top that is infused with phase change fibers that quickly pull heat away from your body.

[Jenna Fischer]

Go to Leesa.com for 30% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code officeladies exclusive for our listeners.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's L E-E-S a.com promo code officeladies for 30% off mattresses, plus an extra $50 off.

[Jenna Fischer]

Support our show and let them know we sent you after checkout Lisa.com promo code OfficeLadies.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, some people in your family can be hard to shop for. And what I love, lady, is I love to go to Shutterfly and I love to take a picture from a special moment in our life.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

An adventure. We went on a trip, we went on a family member we got to spend time with and turn that moment into a gift for the holidays.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. My sister and I do this for my dad. We bring together pictures of our kids and we put all the photos in a collage on a coffee tumbler. We call it Pawpaw's Coffee Tumbler. And we update it so that, you know, because the kids are growing, but he has all of them. It's so sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

I just love that. You know what I do? I take our Christmas card that I make for the year also on Shutterfly, by the way, I take the Christmas card and I put it on an ornament, and I send each set of grandparents that same ornament. It's such a big hit. Grandma Snyder loves them. Make something that means something. This holiday shop, shutterfly.com officeladies for gifts like custom mugs, photo books, calendars, blankets, and tabletop prints. And right now, get free shipping on your order with promo code officeladies. This promo can be stacked with any other offer. Details are on site. You know, Jenna, how some people, they have a whole like 12 step beauty routine. I can't. I can't do it. I need like five steps. Give me like five steps.

[Jenna Fischer]

Five steps at most.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can manage that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I like a minimalist beauty routine. And you know what I also like is when my makeup is also just good for my skin. I'm getting my skincare and my makeup in one. Guess what I'm headed to here.

[Angela Kinsey]

Merit.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Correct. The holidays are right around the corner.

[Angela Kinsey]

You don't have time for lots of steps. You need to look good in a few steps.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. You want to focus on enjoying the season, not stressing over a makeup routine. Head over to Merit Beauty. Grab the minimalist, and it works double duty as both a foundation and a concealer. And it gives you great quick coverage. Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag with your.

[Angela Kinsey]

First [e-mail] that's merit beauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Merit beauty dot com. You know how much our hair goes through. Blow dryers, curling irons, color, all of it. We love looking our best, but it can be a lot of stress on our hair. That's why finding virtue hair care is a total game changer. It's not just another shampoo brand. It's luxury hair care powered by science and born from regenerative medicine. Their technology, the Alpha Keratin 60 KU is a patented protein identical to the keratin in our own hair and skin. So instead of just coating the damage, it actually heals hair from the inside out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Starting with the shampoo and conditioner. After the first wash, your hair will feel stronger, smoother, shinier, like you just left hair and makeup but at home. And their award winning damage reverse serum. It's like a reset button. Instantly repairing split ends, smoothing frizz and making your hair feel brand new. Try it for yourself and take Virtue's quick hair [e-mail] to find your perfect match and save 20% with code VIRTUE20.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we're back in the conference room. The party is underway. Angela really wishes she had just had one more hour. One more hour to hang more blue thingies.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And possibly get, you know, some dancers or something.

[Jenna Fischer]

Meredith says she thinks it looks good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Meredith is so nice to Angela in this moment.

[Jen Salata]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's trying to build her up. She's like, I think it looks great.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Angela just was like, well, that described a lot.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know what she says. Angela says, well, that's why you're never in charge of these things.

[Angela Kinsey]

So snarky.

[Jenna Fischer]

So sassy and snarky. So uncalled for. This is why no one is nice to Angela. By the way, you have given me grief. Why doesn't Pam help Angela? Why isn't Pam nicer to Angela? Because anytime anyone tries to be nice to Angela, Angela assassins them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, isn't Angela just having her moment here? Her moment of cutting down the tree branches. She is upset and she's going to take it out on Meredith.

[Jenna Fischer]

But then Andy's got a surprise.

[Angela Kinsey]

Andy walks in, rolls in, I should say, this humongous ice sculpture. And you guys, it was huge. In real life. In real life, it was enormous. I don't know if it really does it justice. Like on tv watching it. It was so big. It was two swans kissing in the.

[Jenna Fischer]

Shape of a heart. Yeah, yeah. I remember they had a bunch of them and they had them in this big walk in freezer on these carts. And they would have to wheel them in because they would sit there then in the background for a while and they'd have to change them out. Yes. So Phil Shea had to place an order for multiple swan heart giant ice sculptures.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you have to know that there was probably a meeting between Phil and Greg where there was a flip book of all the different ice sculptures he could order. And this is the one they settled.

[Jenna Fischer]

On a hundred percent.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I texted Jen Salata and I was like, jen, what was the backstory of this ice sculpture like? Andy says he stole it. Was there any backstory that we didn't get to see? And Jen said her idea was that Andy went into a wedding reception and stole this.

That he stole it from a wedding reception. Isn't that hilarious?

[Jenna Fischer]

That explains the heart shaped swans kissing for sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, but I thought that was a really funny little detail.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, listen, the virtual part of this party is about to begin. I have to say, it was so crazy in this new world of zooms and, you know, virtual meetings that we're in right now to see this webcam, multiple webcam party. Because back then this would have been just very cutting edge.

[Angela Kinsey]

Very cutting edge. And now it's all we do.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's the only way I see you.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're doing this right now, closet to closet.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right.

Well, Pam tells Michael that Ryan is going to introduce him in a few minutes and when that happens, they're going to cut to our conference room and all Michael has to do is smile and wave.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Michael's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, you know, it's not going to go well. In the meantime, Jim very charmingly invites Pam up on the roof. He said he's going to grab pizzas, tells her to grab some napkins and plates and stuff, and they go up on the roof and they have a rooftop dinner date.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, this is a callback to the Client episode when Pam and Jim sneak up to the roof after they've read Threat Level Midnight and they share some grilled cheese sandwiches. Now they're going to go up and they're going to share some pizza and.

[Angela Kinsey]

They'Re also going to talk about when they knew that they liked the other person. Right. Because now they're dating. Now they're not these star crossed lovers. Now they're actually a couple. And I thought that was kind of interesting to find out for sure. Pam was there first. We find that out in this scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. But then there's other episodes where Jim talks about Pam's first day. What? It's in complete conflict. Ah, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, here in this scene, Jim says, do you remember what you said to me on my first day of work just before you walked me over to my desk? So clearly it's like Pam is showing him around.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know, but I'm telling you, there's another episode Where Jim says, I remember when Pam first came into the office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, continuity error. That's a big one. That's a big story point. I like the idea personally that Pam worked there first. It makes sense to me. And I love this moment when Pam goes, yeah, I said to you, enjoy this moment because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your destiny. Twight.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then Pam says that she knew that she liked Jim when he warned her that her mixed berry yogurt that she was about to eat was expired.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you know what? I get it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Me too.

[Angela Kinsey]

I get it. Because he had so just observed her, seen her, knew her.

It just such a, like, window into how much attention he paid to her.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, listen, when Lee and I first started dating, there was this moment where I had moved into a new place and I wanted a grill. Speaking of grills, you were talking about your dad getting his big grill.

[Angela Kinsey]

His big. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I got this grill and it needed to be assembled, and I was a little bit like, oh. But I guess I'd been talking to Lee all about how excited I was to barbecue because it would. It reminds me of home. My dad grilled a lot, you know, and he taught me how to grill. So he said, hey, how about I go over to your place while you're at work and I'll put together that grill for you and we could grill some food when you get home from work. And I was like, really? When I got home from work that day, there he was in my backyard. He had put together the grill. He had broken down the box. He had gotten rid of the. Oh, breaking down the box is everything.

[Angela Kinsey]

Come on. Getting rid of the mess. I mean, the giant box.

[Jenna Fischer]

The box was as big as me. And then he had marinated some chicken for us to grill. That is the moment I knew I am probably going to marry this man. This is amazing. And I'm sure that Lee, if he asked me and was like, what was the moment? You knew? And I was like, it was that day that you broke down the box for the grill. And he was like, that was the moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, listen, building a grill is no joke. I have done that. I've assisted. And it's like building a small Cessna. It's so many parts.

And then to break down all the mess.

[Jen Salata]

Come on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Of course you're like, I think this one's a keeper.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Listen, so I get where Pam is coming from. That is a sweet, wonderful detail of everyday life. That's intimacy. It really is that he tracks her yogurt. It's adorable.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I had a really long drive for work. I had a long commute coming up, and Josh dropped off a mix CD of music because I was saying I didn't have a lot in my music library. I'm really bad about that, you guys. Like, I'll hear a song and like it, but I don't ever put it in a playlist, and then music's all over the place. It probably actually, as I say it, you're probably like, Angela, this sounds very own brand. Like, yes, if I could write all the songs I like on 100 different post it notes. But Josh made me this driving playlist for my long commute, and I was like, that is so stinking thoughtful.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, guys, out there, it's the little things. Yeah, we like that stuff.

[Angela Kinsey]

Break down a box and make a. Make a playlist.

[Jenna Fischer]

You're in if you want to, like, really get your wife turned on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Lord, here we go.

[Jenna Fischer]

Take out the trash without being asked.

[Angela Kinsey]

Take it out before it's overflowing. Do you know what I mean? Take it out before you've, like, tried to cram it back in.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. And then pour her a glass of wine.

And, like, subtly walk her past the empty trash can and you're in. Telling you, if you want to land a lady like me or Angela, take out the trash without being asked and you got us.

Or notice the new bath mat that I bought and be like, oh, my gosh, babe, did you get a new bath mat?

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's fantastic. I'm like, bom, chicka bom bow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Or how about this? You know what? Those extra Christmas seasonal pillows that you had to have really made the place feel homey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh. Oh, my gosh. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

You notice my seasonal pillows.

[Jenna Fischer]

Guys, we're telling you, writing. You try one of these things, and then you write us about the night you had, because it's on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, give us the. The overview of the night you had.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just tell us. It works.

[Angela Kinsey]

You don't need all the details, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I don't want the details. Please, no unsolicited pics. Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

Who's asking for pictures now? You've put that in their brains.

Pictures of what?

[Jenna Fischer]

Their night.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's inappropriate.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's why I'm saying don't send them. I don't want photos. I don't want details. Just tell me. Oh, my God, you guys, it worked.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, so now the party is really underway, and we see a little bit of a callback to a character. At 32 minutes, 58 seconds, we see Dan Gore, the regional manager. He's back. And now we're coming up to the point where Scranton is going to get its shout out, Right? This is what Michael says. He says, hey, I just think you should know one of my salesmen beat your stupid computer. So take that, asshole.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And then Kelly takes her pizza and smashes it onto Ryan's face on the TV screen.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's Scranton's moment in this corporate event.

[Jenna Fischer]

But wait, then the pizza kid runs up to the webcam and says that he's a minor being held against his will.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. How does anyone in this branch still have a job?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know. I don't know. But meanwhile, just as all of this is going on, Andy tries to scratch Angela's back.

[Angela Kinsey]

Andy, what are your moves? Tell me, what are your moves to, like, get a lady interested in you? First, you have ridiculous pickup lines like the movie in the box, and then you go up to someone you don't really know and scratch their back. Are you crazy?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, she said she had an itch she couldn't reach.

[Angela Kinsey]

She did, but I don't think that was an invitation.

[Jenna Fischer]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, that wasn't an invitation. Andy, don't go scratching people's backs unless you're invited to scratch their back. And Angela definitely does not seem interested. And then there's a scene, Jenna, that I love. It's something our show does that I love. It's never explained. It's just Dwight and Andy standing outside the men's room. Dwight is clearly on guard by his whole physical posture, so we're just left to assume pizza guy's in there on his bathroom break. He's been led in there. And Andy and Dwight have this whole conversation outside the men's room.

[Jenna Fischer]

And at one point, Dwight kicks open the door and says, unless you're going number two, you've got about 15 seconds left or something to that effect. And I just have to say, I really loved Rain's choice here. Like, the way he kicked the door. He looked very official.

[Angela Kinsey]

He did. And Rain, I feel like his performance in the scene is so great. He. It's all these little moments. He's slightly, like, pleased, right. That Angela has rejected Andy. He's still crestfallen. He's still upset that Andy wants to continue to pursue her, but yet he has a job to do, and that is to make sure the pizza guy doesn't escape.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the Dwight character is such a great character because he is so invested and committed to Being Michael's number two, too. So much so that in a minute, he's going to be interrogating this pizza kid, and Michael is now going to suddenly realize what they've done, that they have kidnapped someone. And he starts freaking out. And it takes Dwight a second because he was so committed to the other choice, but then he becomes just as committed to the new choice, and he pays for all the pizza.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He's so loyal to Michael. And it is a little bit, like, creepy. It reminded me a little bit of, like, Lord of the Flies. Like, you know, it's like all of a sudden, you know, when people follow someone who they shouldn't be following, and then where does that lead them, and what are they capable of? What was Dwight going to continue to do to this pizza guy?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, it's such a crazy storyline. We talked about it, and I feel like so much of it really hinges on Kevin's great performance. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I absolutely agree. He was perfect all throughout the scenes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we just asked him if he had any memories from his time on the show, and here's what he had to say.

[Kevin McHale]

My biggest memory or takeaway from the entire experience period, was honestly the generosity and the kindness from everybody. Everybody went out of their way to accept me, to welcome me with open arms. I sat with, you know, a lot of the cast for lunch every day. I think they, you know, I was totally a fish out of water, and I think everybody could see that. And it's one of those things where you come on set, they welcome you to set in rehearsal, and everybody cheers. And that is something that I've taken with me. And I remember going into Glee, how it hit me at some point of like, oh, I'm now in their position as the person who's on this show every week. And when people come on, I need to treat them how the office people treated me. And whenever I would see people see Kate, I would see Mindy out at events or whatever it may be, and everyone was just still so nice to me, and they'd come up and be like, oh, I'm so happy. Like, the Glee is doing so well. And it was one of those things where me coming onto a show that was so big and all these people were so very famous and successful, that even though I was now on a show that was successful, I still felt very much like the fan. And the fact that they could come up to me, and they just always treated me with kindness and as an equal. And that's something I will never, ever forget. And I Say they. But I realize it's you. You guys. So thanks for being so nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, lady, it's so sweet for him to say that. And.

It really takes me back because when I was an aspiring actor and I would get those guest star roles on shows, it would be such a big deal to me. But I would go on the set and I would feel just so alone. And most of the time, people didn't invite me to eat lunch with them. And they were in their own world because they had that job every day, so it wasn't particularly special to them. And I would just feel, you know, like I was really on my own. We've talked about it like a kid in a new school on the first day of school.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. With all the pressure of, like, the new day and the new place and the new work and all of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And people did not generally go out of their way to try to make me feel better, and that was fine. But I think all of us on the Office had been knocking around for so long and had experienced that feeling so many times that whenever we did have a guest star, I would watch as everyone would go out of their way to introduce themselves, say hello, shake hands, invite that person to eat lunch with them, show them where the craft services was. I do have this memory of us just being so hospitable. It was like, welcome to our house. Let's show you around, give you a tour. Do you know where the bathrooms are? And I think it was because all of us had been around for so long experiencing it the other way, that we wanted our show to be different. And we just did it. We never talked about it. It was just this collective thing that we all did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And you definitely remember with each job, especially when you're starting out, if there was one person that showed you kindness, you just, like, remember it and you hold onto it. And I'm so glad that our show was like that for Kevin, you know, and that he took that same philosophy to Glee with him. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's really cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we also asked him if he, after all this time, still gets recognized as the pizza guy from the Office, even though he's gone on to all these other amazing projects. And here's what he had to say about that.

[Kevin McHale]

The amount of times get recognized for the Office is mind boggling. Truly. Like, even in the midst of Glee, even after Glee, I get recognized a solid quarter of the time from the Office from one single episode. I did 120something episodes of Glee, but the one episode I did of the office, I get recognized that much. And it's absolutely a different demographic and you can always tell, but it's still just surprising because I also. I think I look pretty different. That was almost 15 years ago. So I'm always baffled. And it's. It sort of makes me feel very proud every time. Yeah, that's right. I was on that show once, you know, four days.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it. I love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I'm glad he had such a great experience on the show and I like the. That the legacy has endured for him.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let us tell you where you can find Kevin. On Instagram, he is just his full name, Kevin McHale. That's Kevin M C H A L E. And on Twitter, he is druiddude D R U I D D U.

[Jenna Fischer]

D E well, now, Angela, we have my other favorite scene from this episode coming up with you in it. Again, I love that scene with you and Michael where he's giving you all of the instructions. And. And I love when Andy comes over to serenade Angela over speakerphone with his acapella pals.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was so. Did you say acapella? Pelles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Acapella pals. Acapella pals. His acapella pals.

[Angela Kinsey]

His acapella pals. Aca what? My acapella pals.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

This scene was so much fun to do and oh, my gosh, more went into it than you'll know. I mean, it was pretty like a tech heavy moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, for sure. Well, we actually asked Jen how did she come up with this idea for the serenade or how did she pitch this idea? Because this was brilliant and so charming. And here's what she had to say.

[Jen Salata]

I remember pitching to Greg that Andy could sing Take a Chance on Me to Angela with speakerphone backup singers. And Greg was like, cool, cool. Go tell Ed so we can start thinking about how he'd want to sing it. And I walked down to Ed's trailer and I'm just awkward in general. But then also, I had a bit of a fan girl thing because I loved Ed on the Daily show and.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was still so excited that he.

[Jen Salata]

Was on the office. So I just awkwardly knocked on his trailer door and told him, hey, we're.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thinking about having Andy sing Take a.

[Jen Salata]

Chance on Me to Angela, and we just wanted you to start thinking about the song. He's like, what song? And I said, take a chance on Me, Mamma Mia, Abba. And he didn't know the song. And I'm thinking, oh, God, how can you not know the song? Maybe slightly Predicting the horror that was about to come. And he's like, how does it go? And I am a terrible singer. I cannot sing at all. And so I was like, oh, you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Know, it's like, remember Mamma Mia?

[Jen Salata]

And do you know the song? And I just tried to figure out how to say it without singing it. And then we ended up walking around the parking lot. And I had to sing Take a Chance on Me to Edge. And it was so embarrassing, but so lovely. He was so wonderful about it, and I love that scene so much. I just thought he killed it and was so excited that he was able to do such a fantastic job with it. It was just exciting.

[Angela Kinsey]

That would be me. I'd be so nervous if all of a sudden I had to sing something to someone, because I hate singing in front of people. I love to belt it out at home in the shower or just in the kitchen with the kids. But if I had to, you know, oh, my God, like, have someone like Ed or like Steve or someone be like, okay, how does that go? I'd be so nervous and embarrassed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, we also got a lot of fan questions from Jen Reynolds, Sarah Thorup, Steven Jackson, Roxanne Hoffman, and Becca Harrington. They wanted to know who sang the backup on the telephone for Andy. How was that accomplished? Were they actually on the line or was it pre recorded?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Jenna, my memory is we did that in real time. And I'll tell you why. Because I had to be there reacting. And I thought, whatever you do, Angela, you cannot mess this up for these guys, you know, like, because they had it all timed out. And we actually asked Jen Salata about it, and this is what she had to say.

[Jen Salata]

One of the singers we were so lucky to get for the a cappella Take a Chance on Me was John Michael Higgins. You'll know him from Christopher Guest movies. He's just brilliant. And so we were super, super excited. I don't know who the other singer was. So I tried to track it down and I was unsuccessful.

I believe we recorded it on the day in that John and whoever else maybe besides John were in the little office that the writers used to hang out on set, and they called in and sang through the speakerphones. And then I'm sure we recorded a clean version too, of it.

Not through the speakerphones so that we could have it in the mix and then just make sure that we got the sound quality great. But it was a really fun day.

[Angela Kinsey]

I just thought that they killed it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I remember that, Angela, because I remember listening to Ed and those guys Practicing before they divided up and went into this sort of speakerphone situation.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right, right.

[Jenna Fischer]

But it was a big deal. And what a big get for just this voice on the phone that has gone completely uncredited.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. And I am such a fan of John's. Like, he is such a comedic genius.

And he and Ed and how they put this all together and did it was so fantastic. I loved every second of it. It was hard for me not to fully smile. Cause it was so charming and delightful. And, you know, Angela's trying not to tip her hand too much. She only has a very slight smile at, like, one or two parts, right? Yep. But I just. I have such fond memories of this, and I just felt like we had to hear it. If you change your mind I'll be first in line Honey, I'm still free.

[Kevin McHale]

Take a chance on me if you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Need me let me know Gonna be around if you got no place to go if you're feeling down if you're.

[Kevin McHale]

All alone when the pretty birds have.

[Angela Kinsey]

Flown Honey, I'm still free Take a.

[Kevin McHale]

Chance on me Gonna do my very best and that ain't no lie if.

[Angela Kinsey]

You put me to the test if.

[Kevin McHale]

You let me try Take a chance on me.

That'S all I ask of you Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean. I mean, come on. How they harmonized at the end like that.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right. I got goosebumps listening to that. I got a little choked up. I don't know if I just miss Ed a lot and he's so charming in this scene or if it's just the time we're in.

I don't know. I've also just fallen in love with Andy during this rewatch. You know, we've talked about how I have this new appreciation for Ryan, but I also just have been loving the character of Andy and his Journey.

But I don't know, Angela. I also have to say, I know I mentioned that the way to my heart is to put together a grill and break down the box, but I think that if there was a guy that I actually was not that interested in, if he did this, I would be like, okay, all right.

It is so sweet.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so, so charming. You know, my husband is a really good singer, and he doesn't really sing around people. But when we first started dating, we went out and there was karaoke, and I didn't really know the side of him. He's like an acapella guy. And he got up and sang Journey, and he brought down the bar, and I was like, oh, my God, that's my hack. But it was just so, so sweet in this moment, Andy, you know. And Andy will go on to sing to Angela again. But, you know, he must really like her if he's gonna bust out the a cappella group. Yeah, he's all in.

[Jenna Fischer]

I hope one of those guys was broccoli Rob.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, it had to have been.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Angela just looks at him and says she has to go clean up the party. And then we reveal that the whole bullpen has watched this.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Including Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And before we move on, Jenna, 38 minutes, 15 seconds. Prime elbow poof. Prime elbow poof. Of the sweater. I don't even understand this sweater, you guys. It was skinny at the top, then had a big, floofy poofy part right at the elbow, then skinny again down to the wrist. And it also had lace sewn into the V neck.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I mean.

I think that we have to acknowledge that Andy serenaded Angela while she was wearing this terrible blouse.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

No other man was going to hit on Angela today. Well, I'll tell you that. Because that blouse is a repellent. I think.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think we have a callback to a flirty shade of beige here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Very flirty shade of beige again. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, actually, it's like a Victorian shade of beige with the poofy sleeve, right? Yeah, the poofy elbow. Dwight ogles her in this flirty shade of beige, and Andy sings to her. So clearly something was working.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a shocker.

Well, now we go into Michael's office, and he and Dwight are just both miserable over this day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. They've had a day.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Michael says more than anything, he's bummed that he did not get to have authentic New York sushi. Not a thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

New York has very good sushi.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

But it is certainly, I don't think the sushi capital, but whatever. Michael is really, really bummed.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And he says to Dwight, I think we should go to New York and get that sushi you're driving.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dwight is so excited. He can't wait. He can't wait to drive all the way to New York to crash the tail end of this corporate party and get the leftover sushi that no one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Else wanted to eat that's been sitting out for a while.

[Angela Kinsey]

For a long while.

[Jenna Fischer]

I just want to say. So that's what they do. They get there, they go into the party, they get kicked out pretty much immediately. There's no one there. But they grab a plate of sushi, and then they go and they sit on the hood of Dwight's car. And guys, this. They did not go to New York to shoot this. Obviously. This is a little parking lot that they found in downtown la. I believe I recognized it because I think I've shot there. They are just eating the sushi and they are making fun of Ryan.

[Angela Kinsey]

And someone leaves the party and says to Michael, hey, that was pretty awesome. You know when you called Ryan out like that. And it is, it's like all he needed, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

He feels seen. And they're having sushi and they're in New York and now he can go home. And he sets the tray of sushi and soy sauce on someone else's car.

And they go home.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's pretty amazing. And then we have just a little tag at the end. We just see Ryan in full douche mode, winking at the camera from his New York party that's in full swing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. So pleased with himself. Well, I don't know if you thought about it, but this scene had basically three couples in it having intimate moments. We have Jim and Pam, dinner on the roof. We have Andy and Angela serenading and accounting. And we have Michael and Dwight having dinner in a parking lot. Yeah.

Very sweet, very sweet. And we had one hostage, but we let him go.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, guys, that was launch party part two.

[Angela Kinsey]

And a big thank you to Jensalata and Kevin McHale and Steve Ducherer for all the behind the scenes details.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, guys, thank you so much for always letting us reach out to get those details each week. We really appreciate it. And.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we're going to be doing it for like three more years, so don't get tired of us.

[Jenna Fischer]

Everyone check your DMs. If you've ever had anything to do with the Office, please check in. We'll be there.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's a good chance Jen and I are there saying, hey, what's up?

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, guys, we'll see you next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Take care.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode was initially created in collaboration. Collaboration with Earwolf.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins and our audio engineer and associate producer is Molly Nugent. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Rees Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

The United States Postal Service has been connecting families, friends and businesses near and far for over 250 years. And during the holidays, that promise is more important than ever because it's about more than just gifts and cards. It's the peace of mind knowing your love will arrive reliably and affordably. That's why they're building a better network to meet your needs this season, working.

[Angela Kinsey]

Around the clock to ensure timely deliveries, offering easy and affordable ways to ship, and providing everything you need to make your season full of holiday cheer. From stamps to packages, this holiday season, trust the United States Postal Service to carry your most precious deliveries. Visit USPS.comholidays to find tools and tips to help you ship with confidence. The United States Postal Service delivering since 1775.

Monster Energy everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra. That's the OG it kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing, but Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise and Vice Guava, and they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the White can branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe, and every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.