Second Drink: Two Weeks

Summary

Office Ladies Podcast: "Second Drink: Two Weeks"

Podcast: Office Ladies
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
Episode Date: August 3, 2026
Episode Focus: A deep dive into “Two Weeks,” Season 5, Episode 21 of The Office, with extended breakdowns of Superfan content, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and a live review of the infamous “scotch and Splenda” drink.

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Episode Overview

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey go behind the scenes of “Two Weeks,” discussing Michael Scott’s dramatic departure from Dunder Mifflin and Pam Beesly’s life-changing decision to join the Michael Scott Paper Company. This episode is infused with laughter, real-life tangents, and plenty of exclusive details about unaired or deleted scenes found in the Superfan cut. For extra fun—and true to the episode’s spirit—the hosts actually attempt the drink “scotch and Splenda” live on-air.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Superfan Episodes and Extra Content

• Over 25 hours of unaired The Office footage have been re-edited into extended episodes, now available to fans (00:00–00:49).
• The Superfan cut of “Two Weeks” includes new and extended scenes, especially between Michael and other characters, adding richness to the original broadcast.

2. The Infamous “Scotch and Splenda”

• Michael Scott’s signature drink is brought to life by the hosts, who taste it for the first time at 9:57 am (17:46–20:05).
  • Quote: “Oh my God, you guys. It’s not bad.” — Jenna (19:12)
  • Quote: “I don’t hate it. I would totally drink this if you served it to me at a bar.” — Angela (19:21)
• Discussion of the origins of the drink’s catchphrase "Tastes like Splenda, gets you drunk like scotch," including scrapped writer room jokes.
  • Quote: “That line was created in a pre-table draft pitch session…” — Jenna (25:17)

3. Pam’s Copier Saga: From Comedy to Realism

• Pam struggles all day setting up a new copier, paralleling her journey toward change and self-worth (37:01–41:02).
• Inspiration from real temp work: Writer Aaron Shure based Pam’s copier knowledge on his own office experiences (61:09).

4. Michael Scott’s Spiraling & Recruiting

• Michael flounders post-resignation, panics at the job market (34:19), and tries—awkwardly—to recruit coworkers for his “paper company.”
• Notable failed recruitments (Oscar, Stanley, Andy), explored through extended and deleted scenes.
  • Quote: “Don’t worry, it’s sterile.”—Michael (59:16)
  • Quote: “Just saying sterile doesn’t mean it’s sterile.” — Angela (59:18)
• Michael’s rejection of Dwight, and vice versa, under discussion (58:03–59:02).

5. Superfan-Only & Deleted Scene Highlights

• Michael’s plea for career advice from Toby (“This is our moment. This is our time. This next part should be sung, if possible.”—Michael, 06:43 & 34:43).
• Michael’s heartfelt but absurd resume monologue (“Two cups of spirit, a half a thing of inspiration…wait, what am I describing?” — Michael, 36:17).
• Michael’s attempt at a Jerry Maguire-style exit with only Pam joining him—paralleled directly with audio from “Jerry Maguire” (67:41–68:55).
• Extended talking heads: Oscar, Angela Martin (with her sharp prediction that Michael will “be outside my church with a misspelled sign"), Creed (putting a marble in the box for each boss “outlived”), and Toby’s "movie-on-a-plane" metaphor (63:49–63:55).

6. Behind-the-Scenes Stories & Production Details

• Jenna & Angela’s real-life “two weeks’ notice” stories (12:33–14:33).
• Vegas club stories: The hosts’ milestone birthdays, all-expense-paid nightclub trips, and missed Mindy/Jenna/Angela Vegas adventures (14:33–16:43).
• Animal acting: The “Bandit chews the copier cord” segment, with a cat performer trained over days on sardine oil (40:01–41:02; cost: $3,710!).
  • Quote: “Once again, a simple little three second joke... took somebody a week. — Jenna (41:17)
• Set and prop trivia: Pam’s blooming plant at reception symbolizes her growth (30:42), the infamous upside-down electrical outlet is now oriented correctly (44:51), and Michael’s carved desk required a laminate top for continuity (29:38).
• The Oscar “monster sounds” were actually by post-supervisor Jake Oust (41:40–42:09).

7. Live Episode Banter & Running Jokes

• Angela and Jenna lightly buzzed after morning scotch and Splenda: “I’m buzzed.” — Angela (38:33).
• Angela meticulously notes the “Purple Cold Open”—everyone in the kitchen wears purple, minus Michael (23:46–24:21).
• Recurring jokes and meta-commentary: Outlet tracking, reception plant, making fun of their own pod habits, referencing “chunking it,” and planning a “Scotch & Splenda” spin-off show.

8. The Final Scene and the Graduate Reference

• The ending of “Two Weeks” mirrors both The Graduate and Jerry Maguire—from the victorious walk-out to the slow realization of uncertainty (71:33).
  • Quote: “We stay on their faces as they transition from fantasy to reality.” — Jenna reading the script direction (71:32).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This collection [the Superfan episodes] will leave you satisfied now.” — Jenna (00:36)
• “It tastes like something Applebee’s would have.” — Jenna (19:31)
• “When you put your telemarketing career on the line, you haven’t put much on the line.” — Aaron Shure, recapping Vikram’s talking head, drawing parallels to Pam’s decision (70:02)
• “Michael is like a movie on a plane. Not great, but something to watch. And then when it’s over, you’re like…now what?” — Toby’s talking head (63:49)
• “Pam was replaced by invisible Scotch tape.” — Angela (70:07)
• “Charles’s big power move after Michael leaves is putting Kevin in charge of the phones.” — Jenna (73:56)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–00:49: Superfan episode announcement; extra content excitement
• 17:46–20:05: The live “scotch and Splenda” tasting
• 23:46–24:21: “Purple Cold Open” fashion detective work
• 29:38–30:13: Production secret: Michael’s carved desk
• 30:42–31:14: The blooming plant at reception—symbolism and prop tracking
• 34:43–36:29: Deleted scenes—Michael’s resume advice with Toby
• 37:01–41:02: Pam’s battles with the copier; cat training for Bandit
• 41:40–42:09: Monster.com sounds—post-pro Jake Oust reveal
• 58:03–59:02: Michael and Dwight’s non-recruitment, fan theories discussed
• 62:59–63:44: Scripted Michael exit monologue
• 67:41–68:55: Jerry Maguire scene played alongside Michael’s exit
• 71:32: Direct reference to The Graduate and The Heartbreak Kid endings

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Tone & Style

The episode is trademark Office Ladies: friendly, animated, nostalgic, full of sisterly banter, and accessible to all fans—in-depth for die-hards, but approachable for casual listeners. Jenna’s detailed memory and Angela’s wide-eyed enthusiasm shine throughout, especially as the scotch and Splenda effects kick in. Listeners feel like they’re eavesdropping on best friends reliving the best (and oddest) days of their working lives.

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Wrap-Up

The episode concludes with love for Pam’s character growth, insight into how shows like “The Office” are crafted (and sometimes improvised), and a toast to never being a receptionist again. If you want to understand why fans love both the show and the podcast, “Second Drink: Two Weeks” is a perfect example—full of heart, humor, and plenty of exclusive, candor-filled nostalgia.

Transcript

[Jenna Fischer]

The Office Super Fan Extended episodes are now available on digital and Blu Ray.

[Angela Kinsey]

Office fans, you do not want to miss out on these. Jenna and I have been rewatching these Superfan episodes. They are fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, There are over 25 hours of unaired footage that was not shown in the initial TV broadcast. All of the episodes of the Office have been re edited and extended.

[Angela Kinsey]

They are bigger, they are longer. That's what she said. And you can watch them ad free with no subscription revenue required. Let me tell you guys, this collection was worth the wait.

[Jenna Fischer]

This collection will leave you satisfied now.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what she said.

[Jenna Fischer]

Get all 194 episodes of the Office Super Fan Extended episodes digitally on Amazon, Apple, Fandango at home or your favorite

[Angela Kinsey]

digital retailer and own the entire collection forever on Blu Ray. Available on Amazon, Walmart or wherever you buy your movies and TV shows. This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. We are going on seven years now, lady, of using Squarespace.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, we set up Officeladies.com using Squarespace and it's been so easy to use and so easy to navigate. That's how we keep our website up and going.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Squarespace offers a complete library of professionally designed and award winning website templates, which is a great way to get started. And they have options for every use and every category. No matter where you start, your website is going to be flexible to what you need.

[Angela Kinsey]

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. Welcome to your second drink of two weeks. This is a fun episode, you guys. We tried scotch and Splenda in this episode. I know, Jenna, you brought it all in.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. I don't wanna ruin it for anyone who might be listening for the first time, but I reflect very fondly on that also. It was so early in the morning.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was really early.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was a little crazy.

[Angela Kinsey]

We also talk about how much we wanted to interview Idris El before the podcast.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, and we still do. This reminded me that we need to still try and make that happen. I want us to put it on our manifest board.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, the last time we checked in with him, his people said he was on a set somewhere for five months.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I can't remember what that movie was. He's very busy.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's very busy. But, you know, maybe when the five month project ends. Idris, you would like to come into Office Lady Studio?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. All right, well, listen, I have a quick bit of extra trivia for this episode. It was originally titled Two Weeks Notice and then it got changed to Two Weeks. Do you think that's because of the movie Two Weeks Notice? You know, the one with Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock, Two Weeks Notice? Do you remember that rom com?

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I remember hearing of it. I did not see it. Oh, have you seen it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I went through a Hugh Grant thing. I was like, he is the funniest person I've seen in a long time in movies. And what's crazy is I was just flying and I watched Notting Hill again.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love Notting Hill.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, stop it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I've seen that movie so many times. The Bench, the Bench, the Bench.

[Jenna Fischer]

All of it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, anyway, that dinner party is one of the best scenes. I would love to be in that dinner party scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

So good. And yes, it's Hugh Grant. It's Two Weeks Notice. It's like Hugh Grant is doing it. It's just, you know, now.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, you know what? I feel like it was a decision here. I am completely spitballing here, guys. There could be zero truth to. Okay, I feel like this is like something a network suit would say. They'd be like, you can't name the episode Two Weeks Notice. Cause there's already a movie named that.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know what? I actually had a whole other thing in my brain.

[Angela Kinsey]

What was that?

[Jenna Fischer]

Here's what I imagined. I imagined a bunch of dudes in the writer's room calling it Two Weeks Notice. And then Mindy Kaling walking in. Mindy Kaling, like, loves a rom com. Loves a rom com. And she's like, what are you doing? That's already a thing. And I feel like she had to school everybody.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, this was my imagination. I like both of these theories.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right. Well, we also got this letter about a favorite moment from the episode. It's from Danny H. In Duluth, Minnesota. Danny says, hi, office ladies. My favorite scene from this episode is actually a scene added back into the Superfan episode. It's when Michael and Toby are in the break room. Michael is asking Toby for advice on what to do with his life and what his resume should look like. I did not expect to be so tickled by this scene. But towards the end, when Michael is speaking directly to the film crew as if he's saying some inspirational model in a movie, and it just makes Me Wheeze. Please, please, please touch on this scene as it is a gem. Well, we love this scene selection, Danny. And you know what? I think we should share it. I'm going to set it up for everyone. Michael is coming to terms with the fact that he has put in his two weeks notice and he's kind of freaking out about that fact and he doesn't have a plan for the future. And he goes back to the annex and he's going to get advice from Toby, like you said. Let's hear it.

[Steve Carell]

Hey, Toby, I have a real quick question for you. Sure. What should your resume be and what should you do with your life? Okay, two questions, I guess. Fine. No, no, no. I'm sticking to what I said. One question with two parts. Okay, well, look, the second part, you know, that's really personal. I mean, only you can answer that. So you're trying to get out of it. God. Thanks for your help. Moron. Okay, well, look, the resumes. I can really help you there. I must read 20 today. Okay, good. Write this down. Okay. Born in a medium sized town. Michael Gary Scott always knew he was different. Okay, so we might start with, say, your most recent thing. Summary of achievements. What have you done here at Dunder Mifflin? Changed things. Ushered in a new era of love and comedy in the workplace. Hired many, fired few. Made money. Lost money. Learned to stop counting. This is our moment. This is our time. This next part should be sung, if possible.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's Michael's resume.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's brilliant. It is brilliant. I don't know how Paul Lieberstein made it through that without laughing. Because for me, the thing that always got me with Steve is how as Michael, he would take these pauses and then say something ridiculous.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. He takes his time. You don't know what's coming.

[Steve Carell]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I really have to thank Danny for suggesting that we go back and watch that scene because it's really awesome. And because of Danny's letter, I ended up watching the whole superfan version. And I'd like to offer another scene that was added back. It's between Michael and Darryl. So after Michael realizes he's not gonna get a job someplace else, he gets his idea to start his own paper company. And he goes down to Darrell's office for advice on starting his own company when Michael needs something from Darryl. It's maybe one of my favorite dynamics. It's like this superfan episode has a Michael Tobey and it has a Michael Darrel. So we need to hear Michael and Daryl. Hey, Double D. What's up, Mike?

[Steve Carell]

Michael. Hey. Hey. You'll just excuse us for a sec. You know what? You could stay. Why don't we? This is good. I just had a question. You guys work in a warehouse. How much warehouse space do you think a paper company would need if it had, like, 25 clients, hoping someday to expand, maybe like a garage?

[Jenna Fischer]

Would you start your own company?

[Steve Carell]

No. Can I invest? Yes. Can I invest? Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

My money's tied up.

[Steve Carell]

All tapped out. Shoot. Darn it.

[Jenna Fischer]

It sound like a sure thing.

[Steve Carell]

Oh, doesn't it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Mike, I'll answer all your questions, but I need you to know something. I'm messing with you. This doesn't sound like a good idea.

[Steve Carell]

Understood. Okay. He wants to start his own company,

[Jenna Fischer]

and I was just trying to dissuade him.

[Steve Carell]

I tried. I honestly tried.

[Jenna Fischer]

So there you go. Michael trying to get some advice on starting his paper company. How much space does he need for all the paper?

[Angela Kinsey]

I like that Darryl really earnestly tried to talk him out of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, man. Well, this superfan also has a great runner of talking heads of people giving their opinion on Michael leaving. They come after Hank, leads Michael out of the office, and they watch him drive away. The broadcast version has a single Oscar talking head, but in the superfan version, a lot more of us weigh in, and it was fun. Let's listen.

[Steve Carell]

And just like that, as mysteriously as he arrived, he was gone.

[Angela Kinsey]

I would like to say that I will miss him. I would like to say that I'll

[Jenna Fischer]

miss him when he dies. I'm not gonna spend energy missing him every step of the way.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'll miss Michael. But have you seen this new guy? When God closes a door, he opens a window, if you know what I mean.

[Steve Carell]

Ol Creedy outlives yet another boss. Time to put a marble in the box.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I guess Creed has a box on his desk and it's filled with marbles for every boss he outlives or lasts.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's so great.

[Jenna Fischer]

There were like five marbles in there.

[Angela Kinsey]

There were five? Oh, my gosh. That's really funny to me. Well, Angela Martin also had a candy bag alt which we shot, and it went like this. I don't know what lies in Michael's future. He's an able bodied man with a formal education, so I'm sure he'll survive. Truthfully though, I wouldn't be surprised to find him begging outside of my church in a few years. I can see him now with this little misspelled sign.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love that his sign is misspelled. In Angela's fantasy.

[Angela Kinsey]

She's just such a bitch.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, listen, bottom line, the superfan version of this one is really great. You get like whole extra scenes. There's also this great added Michael talking head, but where he reveals he has a pet gecko. I highly recommend it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I saw people write in about the gecko. A few people wanted to know if Michael had a gecko, what would he have named it? And I was like, I don't know. All right, everyone, we hope you enjoy your second drink of two weeks.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Good. I always want to say good morning.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know you do because it's 9:30am for us. I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm having a cup of tea.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm having a cup of coffee.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hi, guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Today we are talking about two weeks, which is season five, episode 21, written by Aaron Shore and directed by Paul Lieberstein. As we were warming up today here in the studio, literally warming up because it was very cold.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, it's freezing in here.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we were waiting for it to warm up. We were talking about how much we love writer Aaron Scher.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, Aaron, you are delightful. We are enjoying all your emails and just reconnecting with you. And you have the best stories.

[Jenna Fischer]

The best stories. It's no wonder they use so many stories from his real life in episodes. Here's a summary. At the end of the last episode, Michael told David Wallace he was quitting. And guess what? It's true.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He has given his official two weeks notice and he has also given up on doing any work.

[Angela Kinsey]

Have you ever given a two weeks notice?

[Jenna Fischer]

I have.

[Angela Kinsey]

So have I.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's the most awkward two weeks when you're at your job, but everyone knows you're quitting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And it's true. You kind of coast. I mean, I didn't walk around with, you know, scotch and splin, but you kind of phone it in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I gave two weeks notice at a job and in that two weeks, it was my job to hire my replacement and train them. So I had to conduct interviews and put out a job posting and then create a handbook for my job for the next person.

[Angela Kinsey]

You had to do more work.

[Jenna Fischer]

I did. I did more work in my two weeks than ever before.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember giving two weeks notice, and then when I was finally done with the two weeks, I got in my car and guess what came on the radio.

[Steve Carell]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm free. Free falling. And I was like, it's a sign.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is that how you felt?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Like in a good way. Not a bad free fall. Like a good free fall.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. You were done with that job. Sounds like you didn't like it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did not like it. And you know what? I was a little bit of Michael Scott during my two weeks.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael is going to take a turn when he learns how bad the current job market is. He suddenly starts to panic. And in the end, he is going to start his own paper company. And he's going to start by trying to recruit Dunder Mifflin employees to work with him. But pretty much everyone says no.

[Angela Kinsey]

Except Pam. Pam.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pam is the only employee who is going to join Michael in his new

[Angela Kinsey]

adventure, the Michael Scott Paper Company.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love this runner. I do too fast fact number one, when I was looking at the script for this episode, it aired on March 26, 2009. That was my sister's 30th birthday. That same year, I turned 35. We're five years apart. And I remembered what we did for our birthdays to mark these milestone birthdays.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, this is a story where my family back home is like, I cannot believe this is your life. And I always say, this is not my life. This is a moment. This is like a crazy thing that happened. A club in Vegas.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember this.

[Jenna Fischer]

This club in Vegas. And I am so sorry, I cannot remember your name. Club in Vegas. I'm so sorry. Because I know so very little about clubbing in Vegas. But this one time in my life, this club in Vegas reached out and they said that they would fly out my friends, family, whoever, give us an all expense paid trip to Vegas. A dinner.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember this, Jenna. Cause I had a little baby.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I couldn't go.

[Jenna Fischer]

You couldn't go.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then you're texting me from Vegas.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I flew out my sister and her husband and then I flew out Lee's brothers and sister. So it was like all of the brothers and sisters in law met in Vegas and we partied hard and it all kind of culminated in this club experience which I'd never had before with bottle service, sparklers. Sparklers and cupcakes with my picture on them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Crazy. Crazy, I have to tell you. So I wasn't able to go. And then the next year, the Same club. Oh, my gosh. Club in Vegas. We don't remember your name.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm so sorry.

[Angela Kinsey]

The same. The next year.

[Jenna Fischer]

It was really fun. We'll figure it out. And we'll definitely tag you in a photo in our stories.

[Angela Kinsey]

We'll figure it out the next year, same club.

[Jenna Fischer]

Prive.

[Angela Kinsey]

With, like, an accent on the e. Yes. Yes. Okay. So the next year, the same club reached out to me and mindy because Mindy's June 24th and I'm June 25th, and they said, we will throw you a joint birthday party in Vegas, fly you out the whole shebang. And Mindy and I were like, oh, my gosh. Remember Jenna talking about it? We should do it. Mindy, do you remember this? I remember this. And then, whatever. We couldn't do it because we just had too many moving parts. But there was a split second where Mindy and I were in hair and makeup, and we're like, should we go to Vegas for our birthday?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. Prive. Prive.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think it's Privet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Privet.

[Jenna Fischer]

A delicious dinner, I have to say.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, in there. Dang it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Casino club area. It was pretty dang cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's a great flashback.

[Jenna Fischer]

Moving along to fast, fact number two. You mentioned scotch and Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Tastes like Splenda. Gets you drunk like scotch. Michael first mentioned this drink in season three Cocktails when he was having drinks at David Wallace's house. That episode was written by Paul Lieberstein. This episode is directed by Paul Lieberstein. So Paul clearly loves his scotch and Splenda. I found a recipe for scotch and Splenda, and I thought we should have it today.

[Angela Kinsey]

Shut up. You're not. Wait, I haven't had.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't have much of a breakfast scotch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my God.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jenna.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait. Sam, did you know about this? Cassie?

[Jenna Fischer]

Cassie's getting the ice. Here's Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

You guys know I didn't. Okay. And then I thought, I've had one pancake for breakfast. Only one?

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought we could drink it out of our own office. Ladies, glasses.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love these.

[Jenna Fischer]

Look.

[Steve Carell]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Everybody, you can have sprinkles. I'll have the teapot.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sam and Cassie can have some dundees. This is me opening the Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. All right, you guys, it is 9:57 in the morning.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, so here's what you need. You need one packet of Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Two ounces of scotch and some ice. I mean, I don't know. What this is gonna taste like?

[Angela Kinsey]

We're gonna be here for a bit.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, here, I'm gonna open the scotch.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's really happening, guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought this would be fun.

[Steve Carell]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Only Cassie knew because she had to get the ice. I was like, do they have ice here? Here we go.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's ice going in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Stirry.

[Angela Kinsey]

Stirry. Okay, just so you guys know, this

[Jenna Fischer]

is what my parents think my job is.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, don't say that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Here we go. I'm certain this is disgusting. We're gonna let you know. Is everyone ready?

[Angela Kinsey]

Wait one second. Drink responsibly. Okay, ready?

[Jenna Fischer]

Here we go. Everybody try it. Cheers. Cheers, everyone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Cheers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God, you guys. It's not bad.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't hate it. I don't hate it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it's blended. I don't have anything snarky to say. It's fine.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's really nice. I don't hate it. I would totally drink this if you served it to me at a bar.

[Jenna Fischer]

I am maybe gonna ask for this the next time I go out. It tastes like something Applebee's would have.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, wait, Jenna, if you ask for scotch and Splenda at a bar, I hope it shuts down. Go to. Oh, we need to go to Chili's and ask for scotch and Splenda.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my Lord. All right, guys. Cheers.

[Steve Carell]

Cheers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Cheers, everyone.

[Steve Carell]

All right.

[Jenna Fischer]

To chunking it. To chunking it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sam, bringing back the chunk.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. It's really kinda good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael Scott was onto something.

[Jenna Fischer]

I truly believed it was going to be awful. And I like it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I like it too. Sam thinks we should do a spin off podcast called Scotch and Splenda.

[Jenna Fischer]

I can't wait to see what we talk about on that podcast. All right, fast fact number three. Shortly after this episode aired, the NBC office website sent out a mass email to all subscribers from Michael Scott about the fact that he was quitting Dunder Mifflin.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

And this is what it said. It said, as the manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton, I learned two things. Everything about the paper business and that Dunder Mifflin is a sucky company. I am taking that expertise and creating the Michael Scott Paper Company. I cannot promise success, but I will promise you the best effing time of your life. So anyone who has subscribed to the website got that email.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is so in the vein. I know it's going to come later, but when Jim's like, you know, this is an industry on decline, and Michael's like, I practically invented the decline. Like, this is the kind of energy he's going into his new business with.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, well, listen, that's all I've got for fast facts. A story about Vegas, a little scotch and Splenda, and a surly email from Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's one of my favorite fast facts we've ever done. The scotch and Splenda might have had something to do with it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, why don't we take a break and we'll come back and get into this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's do it. Back to school starts now. Get long lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core. So you can work from anywhere now

[Jenna Fischer]

starting at $699 with exclusive student pricing starting at $599.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it's lightweight, portable and packed with enough processing power to make multitasking a breeze.

[Jenna Fischer]

So say goodbye to distractions and hello to more free time because you finished your work faster.

[Angela Kinsey]

Complete your setup with savings on select monitors and more. Must have electronics and accessories, limited time

[Jenna Fischer]

deals and free shipping on PCs and more await [e-mail] deals.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's Dell.com deals. Here's the thing. It feels like everything is costing more right now. So when we find something that actually works and it feels like it's worth the money, we get really excited.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, that thing is Catalyst Pet. It is a cat litter. Yes. But it lasts a lot longer than I expected. Like, one bag lasts a very long

[Angela Kinsey]

time, which means fewer refills, fewer emergency runs to the store because you're out of cat litter. Fewer moments of also looking at your bank account, like, what am I spending here?

[Jenna Fischer]

It also absorbs really well. You're not dumping out the whole box constantly. You really do. Just scoop and then add a little sprinkle from time to time.

[Angela Kinsey]

Also, my cat loves it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And lady, our houses don't smell. That's what we call value.

[Angela Kinsey]

So if you're cutting costs but still want something that actually works, Catalyst Pet is the upgrade you didn't know you needed. Give Catalyst a try. You can pick up a bag at walmart [e-mail]. All right, you guys, we are back. Michael is holding court. Finally in the kitchen, he has everyone's attention. He's telling them the story of how he quit. How he went to New York and quit and told David Wallace. I want you to know this is called the Purple Cold Open in the Kinsey Chronicles of the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

Why is it called the Purple Cold Open?

[Angela Kinsey]

I will tell you, Jenna. Angela Martin is wearing a purple turtleneck and a purple cardigan. Pam is Wearing a purple top under her cardigan. Kelly is wearing a purple striped button down shirt. Oscar has purple squares on his tie and sort of faint purple stripes on his shirt. Stanley has purple stripes on his shirt and purple flowers on his tie. And Kevin also has purple stripes.

[Jenna Fischer]

I will have you know, when I saw this cold open, I noted the numerous jewel tones, but I did not break it down like that. And I applaud you.

[Angela Kinsey]

I just was like, what happened? What was Alicia like? Where was her? She was in sort of like a, I don't know, a spring awakening mode of her life. Everyone had purple on in this whole kitchen scene, minus Michael. Everyone else had purple on. Just saying. I found it fascinating. Now the episode is going to start. Michael is walking around with one of those gooey, stretchy hands. You know, your kids get them at a county fair and then they smack them on the window and that leaves the gooey residue. Michael's walking around smacking pieces of paper, yanking them back. He messes with Phyllis's hair. I remember Phyllis broke on that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do, too.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's why you see her from the back, because she was laughing. And I love how he tucked it back in his suit pocket and just the hand, like, hung down sadly for the rest of the scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is also when Michael is drinking his scotch and Splenda.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We reached out to writer Aaron Shore, the writer of this episode, because we were very curious who wrote Tastes like Splenda gets you drunk like scotch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we gotta know.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, it's just too good. And he said that that line was created in a pre table draft pitch session. So what that means is the writers, they would kind of typically work together to make an outline of each episode. And then a specific writer, in this case Aaron Schur, would go off and write the whole episode based on that outline. And they usually got like about a week. Well, they would turn in their draft, they would get notes, and then they would also have these pitch sessions.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. They'll get notes. Sometimes a few of the writers will be put in a pod to pitch on a certain element of the script.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And that is exactly what happened with Scotch and Splenda. A few writers got together and they said, we want a really funny joke for this moment when Michael is walking around with a drink in his hand and Aaron had saved all of the pitches.

[Steve Carell]

Stop it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh. All of the. Oh, my gosh. What? What? What were they?

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, so Kevin says, is that scotch?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And here are the various pitches that Michael would reply. Yup. From A fire truck shaped bottle in my office. Or better Southern Comfort or. Nope, Diet Pepsi and water and ice and scotch. Or it's non alcoholic scotch. And finally, the one they went with scotch and Splenda tastes like Splenda, gets you drunk, like scotch. And then that is the joke that they ultimately picked for our table read draft, which is the draft that all the actors got and that we would read out loud.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it. My number two would have been a bottle shaped like a fire truck.

[Jenna Fischer]

I liked bottle shaped like a fire

[Angela Kinsey]

truck as well because I remember like my dad had like a novelty liqueur. I think it came in a stick stagecoach. I don't know, but like it just sat on the shelf.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the cool thing about those extra lines was then at the table draft, if a. Oh, Angela is having a

[Angela Kinsey]

sip of scotch and Splenda.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's the I see here because I

[Angela Kinsey]

was like, well, we are talking about scotch and Splenda.

[Jenna Fischer]

It wasn't a joke, folks. We're really drinking it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sipping, Sipping it.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're really sipping it. That's true. You are sipping. But what I was gonna say is the interesting thing is that those extra jokes, the ones they didn't put in the table draft, they would save in that candy bag document. And then if a joke didn't land at the table read, they might go over there and replace it when it came time for the shooting draft. Or they would have us do it on set. Multiple different alternates.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right, right. Sometimes I think the writers just wanted to hear them just for fun. Even though they knew we weren't going to like, use any of them. They would hand you a page. And if we had time that day in our shooting schedule, we would just do a whole bunch of alts.

[Jenna Fischer]

And it was always so fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

So fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

Stanley thinks Michael should start looking for another job. Michael says he has a job, to which Andy points out for four more days. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Andy's like, you kind of got to get your act together here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael has a talking head where he is not worried. I mean, what's he gonna do? He's gonna do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and he's gonna stop worrying about calories.

[Angela Kinsey]

So during this whole montage of, like, people giving Michael advice, there was a scene in the shooting draft that didn' and Kelly walks into his office and she's like, michael, what are you gonna do? You know what I would do? I'd move to Mexico. I'd live on the beach. I'd be naked. I'd make jewelry, have amazing sex, drink lots of margaritas. She just kind of goes off on this whole thing. And while Kelly is rambling on and on about what she would do, he is carving into his desk. Michael was here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

And he really carved into the top of the desk. I was like, did we trash a desk for this, like, scene that never even made it in? And I wasn't the only one that noticed. Olivia C. Wrote in and said, in the deleted scenes, they're on the DVD box set. Guys, we see that Michael has carved. Michael was here on the desk. Did Steve really carve that into the desk? Olivia? I had the same question, but guess what? Randy Cordray had the answer. He said, our production designer, Michael Gallenberg, created a matching desktop out of the exact same similar wood.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. That was laminated over the actual desktop because we were shooting scenes out of order. And they couldn't have different stages of Michael carving into his desk in the episode because then it wouldn't match.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So they just had this laminate top they would put on top, and then they would take it away.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now, let me ask you this question.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay?

[Jenna Fischer]

That means that Veda, our script supervisor, would have had a chart. And on that chart, for each scene it would say carved desk. No carved desk. She would have tracked when we should see the carving. Yes, but they didn't know they were gonna cut this scene until later.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

So is it possible that we can see this carving on his desk throughout the episode?

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe. You'd have to be close. Right? Like, over his shoulder. Yeah, but, I mean, probably. What a headache for Veda keeping track of all that. And then it didn't even make it in.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll have you know, Angela, at 2 minutes, 48 seconds, we had a fan catch from Flora K. There is a blooming plant at reception. Flora.

[Angela Kinsey]

Good catch.

[Jenna Fischer]

I knew it would make your heart happy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I saw it, too. Flora.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, the last time we had a blooming plant at reception was beach games.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you think this is connected to Pam? Pam is going to have her moment here.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's going to have another moment. She's going to bloom again today, like in beach games. Now, I know we talked to Steve Ducherer, who told us that it was a coincidence that it was a blooming plant for beach games. But Steve Ducherer, again with the blooming plant. Pam is blooming. I think it was subconscious. This is that group mind.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what I was going to say. This is creative group mind.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael is now going to Move into the kitchen. I guess he's hungry, so he's looking for some food.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's a little tipsy and he's gonna go like, raid the refrigerator. Who hasn't been there? Come on. In the script it just said that Michael takes out a container clearly labeled Phyllis. But you know how he's eating it and he's like, blech. Phyllis. None of that was in the script.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, really?

[Angela Kinsey]

Nope. Steve just improvised that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, that's so good. Andy comes in and he wants to give Michael some wine as a farewell gift. It's actually a really nice gesture.

[Steve Carell]

It is.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Michael just doesn't give a crap.

[Jenna Fischer]

Michael would love it if Jim came in and gave him a bottle of wine. I know, but you know, it's Andy, so he's like, ugh, I already have wine.

[Angela Kinsey]

This next scene I loved because Michael's sitting on the couch by front reception and a man walks in. He's interviewing for Michael's job.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, Michael is kind of on the couch reading a novel. I zoomed in on it. I tried to see what it was. It's like a woman in a martini glass. It's clearly like a.

[Angela Kinsey]

A romance novel.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, it seems like one of those, like books for women about, you know, claim your space sort of book.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah. Like a motivational.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, that's what it looked like to me. I want you to know a couple of things. At 4 minutes, 16 seconds, the blooming plant is on the move. It's been moved to the other side of the reception desk so you can

[Angela Kinsey]

see the couch better.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep. The man who's interviewing for the job is named Mr. Isaac Silvi. And Aaron sure told us that he was named after Aaron's kids, Isaac and Sylvie.

[Angela Kinsey]

Isn't that so cute?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. He had originally named the character Mr. Angbritzen, but Paul Lieberstein told him, no name him after your kids. So that's how he got the name Mr. Isaac Silvi. He was played by David Grant Wright, who has appeared in several episodes of Better Call Saul, Crazy ex girlfriend at Brooklyn Nine9, and pretty much every soap opera you can imagine. David is an incredible actor and I read his bio. He is a 27 year cancer survivor. Oh, wow. He wrote a one man show called With Flying Colors about his cancer experience, which he has performed for the last 25 years, raising thousands of dollars for cancer patients. Good human alert. Yes, good human alert.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's fantastic. Well, in this scene, Michael finds out that Isaac has driven all the way from Philly and Michael's like, gosh, that's a heck of a drive. And Isaac said, yeah, well, this is one of the few places hiring. It's rough out there. And you sort of see the realization coming over Michael's face. Jenna, there was more to the scene. It was so good. I read it in the shooting draft. He has his resume out. Isaac and Michael's like, can I see that? Michael is so blown away. He finds out that Isaac was the president of the company he used to work at.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And now he's driving all the way from Philly for a regional manager position. Michael is so blown away by his resume. He says, can I keep this? And then he really starts to spiral. And he goes to see Toby and asks Toby for resume advice, like how to beef up his resume. This made it into the deleted scenes. It's so good. Can we hear it?

[Steve Carell]

Hey, Toby, I have a real quick question for you. It's about a resume. Sure. So we might start with, say, your most recent thing. You know, summary of achievements. What have you done here at Dunder Mifflin? Regional manager Dick Watt. Okay. What's your title? You know, how. How would you, I think, describe what you did? Changed things. Ushered in a new era of love and comedy in the workplace. Hired many, fired none. Made money. Lost money. Learned to stop counting. This is our moment. This is our time. This next part should be sung, if possible.

[Angela Kinsey]

That made me laugh so hard. The scene continued. Toby said, how would you describe what you did? And Michael has this speech, and it didn't make it in. This is Michael talking about himself. Michael Scott always had a strange recipe for success. Two cups of spirit. A half a thing of inspiration. Two spoonfuls of love. A water bottle of danger. A pinch of praise, A dash of hopes. A sprinkle of cinnamon. Two pats of butter. A box of cake mix and a little bit of cooking oil. Preheat oven. Wait, what am I describing? It made me laugh so hard. That's his description of what he did.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, that talking head is very funny. But I have to say what I think the scotch and Splenda make the

[Angela Kinsey]

scotch because it's so funny to me. Is it not that funny?

[Jenna Fischer]

No. But I've shared a drink with you before, Angela, and you're getting into that. I'm tickled. You're getting into that. Yes. That territory where you giggle.

[Angela Kinsey]

I haven't even had a full scotch and split.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, no, you haven't. And I just have to say one more time, it's so good. It's really Good.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. All right, all right, let's move on.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, let's. We need to talk about this new copier. I guess, you know, we had this whole runner about copier or chairs. We never saw them get their chairs, but they have gotten a new copier now.

[Angela Kinsey]

I did love that for the whole beginning of the episode. It was wrapped in like the blue sort of packaging and no one said anything about it. I just love how things are in the backdrop like that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do, too. Pam has a talking head where she says that they delivered this new copier, but they didn't set it up. So Pam's job today is setting up this copier.

[Angela Kinsey]

This would do me in. I wouldn't be able to do it. I don't like reading instructions. I don't like manuals. When I get any kind of appliance and it comes with a manual, I just stash the manual in a corner.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is reminding me of the document that we got when it was time to do the layout edit of our book.

[Angela Kinsey]

You guys, it was like building a small Cessna.

[Jenna Fischer]

Are we allowed to take a picture of that and put it on the pod? Because to me, it looked like some sort of scientific formula. It was all of these instructions for how to make a comment on the PDF. And when I looked at it, my brain exploded. And you got on the phone with me and said, I can't do it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can't do it, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

I can't do it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I will mess it up.

[Jenna Fischer]

So we got on the phone together and every time you had a note, I read the document and I carefully made the Note on the PDF. So if you buy our book, Office

[Angela Kinsey]

BFFs, just know that we now know how to. Well, we. Jenna knows how to do a note on an elaborate layout craziness document and I learned how to build a Cessna airplane.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, but we cared. And we put that love and care into our book.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm buzzed.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. While Pam is going to be putting this copier together, Kevin is constantly bugging her. And there's a lot of Pam sass here. Yeah, I loved shooting this scene with Brian. We shot it first thing in the morning. They would do this when there were scenes at reception in particular that didn't feature the rest of the office. That meant nobody had to be in the background and you guys didn't have to come in so early. So Brian and I came in first thing. It was probably 6:37 in the morning when we shot this scene. But I loved it. We had so much fun and I got to sass him.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think that we learn that in the accounting department. Kevin is tasked with all the menial tasks, like go make photocopies. Go do this.

[Jenna Fischer]

You're so right. That's why he cares so much about the copier.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's his one job. When Pam talks about how a copier goes through a lot, I loved the runner of things that happened to this copier.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yes. We didn't talk about that.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so great. First of all, Creed puts coins into it. So right there, Creed is like, probably messed with all the mechanisms. And Oscar's like, I think it's 75 cents. So he keeps feeding coins into it. And then, of course, Bandit chews on the wires. And then Kevin dumps a whole cup of coffee over the entire copier.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's no wonder this thing doesn't work.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I had a question for Randy Cordray. At 5 minutes, 12 seconds, when we see Bandit chewing on the copier cord, I was like, randy, do we know who the cat actor was? Because you have this whole list of the cat actors.

[Jenna Fischer]

It looked like Bandit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Bandit was played in this scene by the ever reliable milkman.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, milkman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, milkman. Randy said it took several days of training to get milkman to actually chew on the cord, which was painted with sardine oil.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

The training of the cat, the labor, the transportation costs. The cat rental for this episode for this very simple three second insert shot cost us. Any guesses? Anyone? Three seconds. A cat licking a cord. Any guesses?

[Jenna Fischer]

Cassie, she guessed $2,000.

[Steve Carell]

Sam, I'm gonna go big and say $10,000.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll hit it in the middle at 7.

[Angela Kinsey]

$3,710. Cassie gets it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Cassie wins closest without going over.

[Angela Kinsey]

And once again, we use Bob Dunn's animal rentals from Sylmar, California, with Denise Sanders, our lead cat trainer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Once again, a simple little three second joke.

[Angela Kinsey]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

Took somebody a week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

To make happen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are gonna go to Jim's desk and over his shoulder, we can hear monster sounds coming from Michael's office. And I love this line when Jim says it's monster.com, singular.

[Angela Kinsey]

He knew. He knew.

[Jenna Fischer]

We actually got a lot of mail about this bit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

People wondered, where did we get the monster sounds? Well, as it turns out, it was none other than our post production supervisor's voice, Jake Oust, making monster sounds.

[Angela Kinsey]

Get out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, Jake. I guess he just recorded monster sounds into a microphone. And then our sound supervisor, Bobby Maxton, took the recording, added some reverb and some scary special effects. And that is how we got our fakie monsters.com website.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jake, really good job with the monsters.

[Jenna Fischer]

I agree. This leads us into a Michael talking head where he says, if you work in paper long enough, you get to know the players. And he's gonna start calling some paper companies to maybe, you know, get a job.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we find out there's only one on his list. Are you ready for the saddest outgoing message ever?

[Steve Carell]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Here it is. Hi, you've reached Prince Paper. We are sad to inform you that after 40 years of serving the community, we are no longer in business. Thank you for your support and may God bless you.

[Steve Carell]

Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that was harsh.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was Prince family Paper, the small family owned paper business that Michael and Dwight have clearly put out of business.

[Angela Kinsey]

The little girl at the end. Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll have you know they were, uncredited, but we brought back the original cast members of the Prince family to do the voices. That is Dan Desmond as Roger Prince and Emily Ray Argenti as his granddaughter, Rebecca Prince.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, when I heard that again, I mean, I knew it was coming, right? I knew it was coming, but still, I was like in. His voice wavers. I was like, ooh, I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Michael needs to now figure something out. So at 16 minutes, 49 seconds, he's going to start throwing stuff at Jim to get his attention so that Jim will come in his office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he could have just called Jim, but instead he's going to throw a koosh ball at him.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Jim goes in his office and Michael's like, close your eyes because I'm going to tell you something. And Jim will not close his eyes. And this is when Michael reveals he's going to start his own paper company. Leading to your favorite couplet that we talked about earlier.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Do you know how the industry is in decline? Do I? I practically invented decline. He goes on to tell Jim he has a name for the company and he wants Jim maybe to be a part of it. He's very excited.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a big no from Jim. I'll have you know. At 6 minutes, 44 seconds, I spotted something.

[Steve Carell]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

The desk?

[Jenna Fischer]

No. Oh. Do you remember in season three, the Job, part one, I noticed that the outlet in Michael's office, the one under the big photo on his sidewall, was upside down. Correct. And in that podcast, we learned that you can install outlets any way you want and they still work. You can put them sideways, you can put them up and down.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I also said in that episode that I would be tracking outlets I'll have you know.

[Angela Kinsey]

You didn't forget.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't forget. And if you look at that outlet, it is now facing up. It is facing the correct way.

[Angela Kinsey]

Ta da.

[Jenna Fischer]

I kept my word.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, you did.

[Jenna Fischer]

And the outlet is now up and down.

[Angela Kinsey]

There you go. Outlet tracker Jenna Fisher.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mission accomplished.

[Angela Kinsey]

Charles is going to interrupt. Jenna's taking a drip of her drink of her scotch and Splenda. I've been drinking water. Busted.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I just saw you drink. Charles is going to come in and once again, Jim is in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he breaks up their meeting.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, because he says Michael has given his two weeks notice. Jim, did you also give your two weeks notice? And Jim's like, nope, nope, nope. I'm going to go have a seat. We just need to find a way.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. So I literally just said I just

[Jenna Fischer]

want to say something. We need to. I was gonna say we need to find a way to get to break.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you said to get to drink.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's what I said. We need to find a way to get to drink.

[Angela Kinsey]

You guys, I want you to know it is 10:48am Maybe we should go

[Jenna Fischer]

to break and drink some water.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think we should go to break and drink some water.

[Jenna Fischer]

We'll be right back. Imagine you're sitting down to a great lunch when your phone buzzes with an alert that a window has been broken into in the back of your home.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Kind of a jarring wake up call, right? ADT security systems are built for those exact moments. They keep home safer with 24. 7 monitoring because nobody wants to feel vulnerable when they're out. And with adt, that worry disappears.

[Angela Kinsey]

ADT also has trained technicians professionally that come and install everything. So they're ensuring that the system works perfectly from day one. And ADT also operates the most monitoring centers in the industry and has a handy ADT plus app.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Makes it easy to check in on your property from anywhere. With cell service, the system delivers the

[Angela Kinsey]

safety alerts that actually matter, allowing homeowners to stop worrying and enjoy their time away. Don't wait for an emergency to protect the home. When every second Counts, count on ADT.

[Jenna Fischer]

Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT ASAP. If you love that effortless, healthy, no makeup makeup look, you absolutely need to know about the latest launches from Primally Pure.

[Angela Kinsey]

They are a wonderful female founded company deeply rooted in a philosophy of clean, intentional living. They just introduced their brand new sun serum and lip and cheek tints and they have completely simplified, amplified my life and elevated my daily beauty ritual.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, their Sun Serum Tinted SPF. It provides essential daily mineral SPF 30 protection, but it wears like a luxurious hydrating serum.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, and you can follow that up with their new multipurpose lip and cheek tint in hazelnut. Use code Office ladies to get 15% off your primally pure purchase.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's www.P-R-I-M-A-L-L-Y-P-U-R-E.com and use code officeladies at checkout for 15% off your order.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sometimes things just kind of pop up in your newsfeed about, like how people are living or what they're spending money on. But I think most of us are living in reality. We're being smart with our money. We're not making crazy splurges. And, and that's one of the things that's great about Klarna. It is your smarter, everyday money partner. And it's built on a really simple idea. Money should work with people, not against them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Klarna is basically the anti chaotic way to handle your finances because it puts everything in one place. You get flexible ways to pay cash back that builds up completely automatically and support that actually shows up for you

[Angela Kinsey]

using it makes you realize you're actually great with money. You just needed tools that are good to you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Download the Klarna app or head to klarna.com that's K-L-A-R-N-A.com Klarna California resident loans

[Angela Kinsey]

made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance Law License, NMLS Number 1353190. Klarna Balance Account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms and conditions apply.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, we are back. We have hydrated ourselves. Angela's eating some cheese.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna drank some water.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're gonna be very serious podcasters now.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're serious.

[Jenna Fischer]

Don't worry. By the way, I wanted to start before we jump back into the episode, I just want to give a big plug to BJ Novak's new show on Hulu called the Premise. It is so good. I've seen every episode. Bj, you are killing it. Every episode is standalone. It's like an anthology show with a different cast. He's directed many of them, he's written them.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know what I didn't expect? So I just saw the first one. BJ starts it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. He has an introduction moment. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I was like, oh my God, bj, I didn't expect to see you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, they're great. BJ is one of the smartest people I know. Him and Mindy are just two of

[Angela Kinsey]

the smartest people in the room.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, always. And he has this way of articulating complex thoughts in a really relatable way and brilliantly funny way.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's the guy who wrote Diversity Day. That's all you need to know.

[Angela Kinsey]

He's also the guy that wrote the book with no pictures. It's one of our kids favorite books and we've read it to them over and over over the years. The sort of scope of BJ's brilliance is really amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. BJ, we love you. We love you. Love your show. Check it out. The premise on Hulu and if you

[Angela Kinsey]

have a youngin the book with no pictures, you will love it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Back to the episode. Pam is on the ground with this copier manual and Dwight comes over. This is a really cool shot. This was directed by Paul Lieberstein. This was his idea to put the camera on the floor with Pam. I thought it was a really great idea. You know, at a certain point, there's only so many ways to shoot this documentary. And he found a new one.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think Paul liked to have some of the artsy shots because do you remember when Jan goes to comfort Michael and he's sitting in the train and you just saw this far away shot of his feet.

[Steve Carell]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I think Paul likes those interesting shots. In the next scene, Michael goes up to Pam. Kind of sneaky. He wants her to help him make a order form for his new company,

[Jenna Fischer]

which is basically Dunder Mifflin's order form, but with Michael Scott Paper Company in the corner in place of Dunder Mifflin.

[Steve Carell]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's like, okay, all right, let me think about this. And she comes up with this way that they could kind of do this.

[Angela Kinsey]

They scan it.

[Steve Carell]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And he says, I was thinking maybe we would just tape it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Put a little piece of paper over it. Tape it.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's like, okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

I feel like this is the moment that starts Pam's storyline of feeling very easily replaceable because she's been studying and studying this manual and thinks she's kind of had this great idea about how to use this new information. And it's just like that replaced with

[Jenna Fischer]

some tape at 8 minutes and 41 seconds. I want you to know, on Pam's desk, Nick is still in the office all day. The post it is still there. Nick has been in the office for three episodes now. All day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Nick in office.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, now we're going to get into this really wonderful scene in the conference room.

[Angela Kinsey]

The Angela Kelly rivalry is going strong.

[Jenna Fischer]

Kelly is talking to Charles about how she has to leave early on Tuesdays to pick up her little sisters from school because, you know, they're kind of like the Kardashians. Angela's gonna come in because she wants to show Charles that brochure for the accounting seminar she was telling him about.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, well, you remember he has a degree in accounting.

[Jenna Fischer]

Charles is like, did Michael just allow anyone in his office at any time?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, so this was in the script. I looked it up to see how much was ad lib and wasn't. And there was a prompt for Angela and Kelly to talk at the same time. And we did add a little bit more, but basically we both just were gonna gush like, oh, yeah. He was like, come on in. I felt like this was super animated.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela, well, you know, she is turning on the charm for Mr. Charles Minor.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know she said there was a Sunday bar at the accounting seminar, but she. She didn't eat any. You know, just a trim. And then Kelly shoes her out and turns to Charles and says, yeah, she's really special. You know, she's turning 50 this year. I was actually 37 when we filmed this. I am 50 now.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, when we were trading messages with Aaron Shore, he wrote us about a prank that Idris Elba played on the writers before he came to set.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now he actually said, I don't know if this was a prank that Mindy played on us, pretending that it was from Idris or if it was actually from Idris. But I guess they got this email that was like, listen, Idris gets really upset if you mispronounce his name, and his name is pronounced Idris Ilba.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's so ridiculous.

[Jenna Fischer]

And they wrote it out. Idris Ilba.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, they sounded it out, but then

[Jenna Fischer]

a bunch of them were like, I swear that's not right. And so for the first week that Idris was on the show, all of the writers were afraid to call him by his name. And then they found out that this was not true at all. Number one, that his name is Idris, and number two, that he doesn't get mad if you mispronounce his name. But I thought that was really funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Idris, was that you or was it Mindy? By the way, Idris, we have tried to reach out to you. We don't know how to get a hold of you. We'd love for you to be on the show. We did find some of your peeps but they said you're. You're busy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Very busy. I guess you're making two movies and you're promoting another movie.

[Angela Kinsey]

You're busy.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're here for you. Idris.

[Angela Kinsey]

Idris.

[Jenna Fischer]

Anytime, anytime.

[Angela Kinsey]

If you would like a scotch and Splenda.

[Jenna Fischer]

Where are your gals?

[Angela Kinsey]

With two gals who love to Google,

[Jenna Fischer]

we're here for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Charles has a talking head where he just kind of owns it. He's like, look, I know the effect I have on women.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's a meme.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Aaron Schur shared with us, you guys, that that talking head was inspired from a real interaction he had. He said there was an actor he was working with. No names. He won't. He wouldn't divulge the name. Big star who they were pitching a joke to. And the actor was like, this joke would never work because, I mean, I. I know the effect I have on women. And Aaron saved that. It went in his brain, and Charles had it in a talking head. I really wish we knew the actor. But Aaron, gentleman that he is, did not say.

[Jenna Fischer]

Maybe if we took him out for a scotch and Splenda, he would tell us.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe he would tell us immediately after the scene. Kelly is not going to give up, guys. And in the deleted scenes, there's a little bit of what I want to call a flirty in the break room.

[Jenna Fischer]

Ooh, Excuse me. Hello.

[Steve Carell]

Hey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Having a nice stay here.

[Steve Carell]

Great.

[Jenna Fischer]

You must be from Jamba Juice.

[Angela Kinsey]

What's that?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a juice company. Cause you're a smoothie.

[Steve Carell]

Okay, I'm sorry. Sorry about that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Why do I ever talk? Just shut up, shut up, shut up.

[Angela Kinsey]

So she has this really lame pickup line and then immediately just hates herself and goes in the corner and is like, ah. Why did I do that?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this leads us into a scene that I will call awkward in the kitchen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

So awkward. Michael is still trying to recruit people for his business.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Andy does that thing, you know, that people do when they're uncomfortable. They either sing their answer or they do an accent. I think I'm the accent person.

[Jenna Fischer]

I sing stuff.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, when you don't want to, like, really tip your hand.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So Andy's like, oh, oh, interesting idea. Like, he does some ridiculous accent, but you would be like, that's a very interesting offer.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I mean, the other day, I did it while we were working together when we were working on that document.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was like, this PDF editing is difficult.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then I was like, are you okay? Cause it sounds like you're about to spiral.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was like, yeah, well, it gets

[Angela Kinsey]

only more cringy because now Dwight comes

[Jenna Fischer]

in, but Michael does not ask Dwight to join his company. But it is also clear that Dwight wouldn't say yes anyway. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So he's like, I've got the farm and a thing and let's put a pin in it. Yeah, let's definitely put a pin in that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, we got a lot of mail about this kitchen scene. A lot of people felt like it was out of character for Dwight to not want to join Michael's paper company. And also people wondered why didn't Michael want him to join? And I just didn't know if we wanted to discuss.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have my thoughts.

[Jenna Fischer]

Let me hear them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dwight is a survivalist, and he doesn't think Michael's company is going to survive. So ultimately, even though he loves Michael, he's not going to go somewhere where he won't survive. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

So I think he's very practical. So he's not going to go with Michael. But I'm not sure why Michael doesn't want Dwight. Do you have any thoughts?

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, that is a really good question. I definitely see why Dwight would say no, but why Michael doesn't ask. I'm not quite sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Do you guys have theories?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, send us your theories. We'll add them to or revisited. But Michael is going to ask Oscar, and the way he's going to do that is by putting a note in

[Angela Kinsey]

his sandwich, a piece of paper that he bites into.

[Jenna Fischer]

Don't worry, it's sterile.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just saying sterile doesn't mean it's sterile.

[Jenna Fischer]

I loved that line.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's like just saying bankrupt doesn't mean he declared bankruptcy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Exactly. Michael gets Oscar to meet him outside, and Oscar immediately starts offering very practical advice about how most new businesses don't turn a profit for the first two years. And, you know, can he afford that? Can he afford to make no money for two years? Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Michael's like, hey, hey, stop convincing me. You got the job with all your number lingo.

[Jenna Fischer]

But ultimately, Oscar's a no. And that means that he has to move on to Stanley, who he's gonna stalk outside the bathroom.

[Angela Kinsey]

Outside?

[Jenna Fischer]

He's inside, I guess, outside the stall.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know how urinals work, but I imagine he walked up while he was just peeing. Cause Stanley's like, I'm urinating. Michael keeps talking to him. Stanley's like, no. Michael has then a very sad talking head where he's like, you know what? No one said yes to prom, but I still had a good time.

[Jenna Fischer]

Guess what.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

Pam fixed the copier after four hours. She did it.

[Angela Kinsey]

She didn't let it beat her.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, she did not. She knows everything about this machine. Phyllis is going to copy a piece of paper, and Pam is like, did it work? How is it? And Phyllis is like, fine. Fine. So this whole copier storyline felt very familiar to me, having worked many temp jobs, having fixed many copiers in my real life, and it just felt to me like it was written by someone who also had this personal knowledge.

[Steve Carell]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I had to ask Aaron, have you had experience with copiers? You know, because so many of his real life stories have wound up in our scripts, like running past the speed meter.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And this whole copier story has so many details.

[Jenna Fischer]

So as it turns out, yes. Yes. He told us that he temped in a ton of offices when he was a struggling stand up in New York. And he quickly learned that if you could unjam the copier, you held the power.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He actually said you were like an office magician, a David Copperfield opening the Cabinet of Mysteries. And only a person who has done the copier thing, I feel like totally gets it. So I totally get it. He said that he would actually copy the user manuals and take them home and read them over the weekend.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's the part that really got me. He would, like, learn everything from the manual.

[Jenna Fischer]

Aaron, I feel you. Thank you for writing this runner for Pam, because I was able to draw on a lot of my real life experience when it came to performing this copier story.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I don't know. Did Michael leave the fakie order form in the copier? Charles finds it. How does he find it? We don't know, but he's gonna get Hank and they're gonna escort him out the building.

[Jenna Fischer]

I am sorry. I am not sure that there is a recurring character that I love more than Hugh Dayne as Hank.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. When Michael's like, hank, come on. Escort Charles out. And Hank's like, come on, man.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just come on. He's so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

So good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael really wanted to make a farewell speech. Charles is not gonna have that. And everyone watches him as he leaves. And he's, like, yelling things from his car. Right. He's yelling from the parking lot, and everyone's looking down, and they're like, what's he saying? We can't hear what he's saying. This is what it said in the script.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael walks toward his car Everybody watches from the conference room above. Michael stops at his car and looks up at the Dunder Mifflin windows. And then he yells, this. This is it. This is goodbye forever. It's such a nice day out here. Freedom. I'm already so happy. I can do anything I want right now. I'm going to go for coffee. Ha ha. That is what was in the script. And then it says, he screeches his tires and drives off. The camera follows his car. Michael parks just a short distance around the corner, gets out of his car, sneaks back into the parking lot and into the building.

[Jenna Fischer]

We get to hear a lot of people's opinions on Michael leaving. My favorite is probably Toby.

[Steve Carell]

Mm.

[Jenna Fischer]

He says, michael is like a movie on a plane. Not great, but something to watch.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then when the movie's over, you're like, now what?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. BJ wrote that. Talking head. Very funny. And we got a piece of mail about it. What? Someone wrote in. And I'm so sorry, I did not write down your name to say that. A missed opportunity in this episode was Toby conducting Michael's exit interview. Oh, wouldn't you have loved to see that? And I mentioned it to Aaron, and Aaron said, ugh. But he was escorted out. They like to believe that if Michael hadn't been escorted out, he would have had his exit interview with Toby before he left.

[Angela Kinsey]

Plus, they had written a pretty great Michael Toby scene where Toby helps him with his resume. That didn't make it in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, as everyone is having these really funny talking heads. Creed had one that was in the shooting draft, and it didn't make it in. And I have to read it to you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Creed says, old Creedy outlives yet another boss. Time to put a marble in the box. And then Creed pulls out a cigar box out from his desk and puts a marble in it. There are four marbles in that box.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is that? What is that?

[Angela Kinsey]

Isn't that amazing?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, like you said, Angela, Michael is not leaving. He actually army crawls through the front door, through the office. He goes over to accounting.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was a really fun scene for us to shoot. It was really hard not to laugh. We played around with how I shut the drawer, and I ultimately shut it with my foot. And it was just, like, so fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

Steve really tore up his elbows and his knees, though, doing that.

[Angela Kinsey]

He got, like, a rug burn.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And Randy told us that they offered him elbow and knee pads. And Steve was like, it's fine. I'll do it. And he did two takes without the elbow and knee Pads. And he totally tore up his elbows and knees. He was so committed. Also, Randy told us, you know, when he throws that highlighter at Jim. Yeah, yeah. That was not a real highlighter. That was a fakey highlighter.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, so it wouldn't, like, hurt someone.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Remember when Michael throws the pen at Toby's forehead and it was like, Phil had to make a rubber pen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Phil had to make a rubber highlighter. And it cost $850. Whoa.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep. Michael wants everyone to go with him. And he starts to pull at Phyllis's chair. And you see it from the point of view of Charles. Right. You see Phyllis kind of, like lurching, right?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

To the side. If you watch the bloopers, you guys. And I remember this happening the first time we did this scene. Steve yanks on Phyllis's chair, and she fell right out of it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah, I remember.

[Angela Kinsey]

And they didn't stop rolling. You know, Michael just goes, oh, my God, Phyllis, are you okay? Are you okay? And Phyllis kind of snorts, laughs. And she says, yes, yes. But it's in the bloopers, and it's great.

[Jenna Fischer]

Now Charles is going to find Michael.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He comes out of his office and they have this really awkward exchange.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Like where it's gonna get physical and. All right. In the deleted scenes, Jenna, Charles finds Michael stealing office supplies in a box and chases him through the kitchen. Michael drops the box of supplies to, like, throw them off. You know, maybe Charles will trip over it. And then he, like, last ditch effort, just grabs a big container of cheese balls and makes a run for it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh. That's why we're gonna have cheese balls later.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

In Michael's paper company, because in the

[Angela Kinsey]

delta, that's what he leaves with is the cheese balls.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I wish it had made it in. So for me, when Michael's like, who's with me? Who's coming with me? This is his Jerry Maguire moment. Instead of a goldfish, it's a bunch of cheese balls.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is perfect.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought we had to hear Jerry's moment and then Michael's moment.

[Steve Carell]

This moment will be the moment of something real and fun and inspiring in

[Jenna Fischer]

this God forsaken business.

[Steve Carell]

And we will do it together. Who's coming with me? Who's coming with me? Who's coming with me? Who's coming with me besides Flipper here?

[Jenna Fischer]

I. I will go with you.

[Angela Kinsey]

And now for Michael and Pam's moment.

[Steve Carell]

This is your future. Hello. I am your future. You are older, and you are very Happy now because you went with Michael Scott. Right. So everybody come on down, and let's

[Angela Kinsey]

just crawl out of here together.

[Steve Carell]

All right? Come on. Are you. Are you doing your best here? Are you being the best that you can be? All right, everybody who's gonna go with me, I want you to stomp your foot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no. What? I'm going with him.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, come on.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, it was so Jerry Maguire, by the way. I forgot about the goldfish in Jerry Maguire. And I'll have you know that when we get to Michael Scott Paper company, not only do we have those cheese puffs, but Michael has a goldfish on his desk.

[Angela Kinsey]

Come on.

[Steve Carell]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, fans were very split on this episode. A lot of people loved this turn of events of Michael starting his paper company and Pam going with him. But other people really thought that it was selfish of Pam to quit without talking to Jim first. Well, we talked to Aaron Schur about this, and he said two things. First of all, he said, in a future episode, spoiler alert, Vikram from the telemarketing firm is going to join Michael Scott Paper Company. Yes. He wrote this talking head for Vikram that got cut, but it explained why Vikram decided to join Michael Scott Paper Company. And it went like this. When you put your telemarketing career on the line, you haven't put much on the line. And Aaron said he felt like that kind of summed up Pam as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

That Pam wasn't quitting much of a job at all.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, if she could be replaced by some invisible scotch tape.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. There was also a line that Aaron wrote to explain this business of Pam not talking to Jim before making this decision. A little couplet of dialogue that got cut where Jim said to Pam, shouldn't we have talked about this first? And Pam said, you blindsided me with a house.

[Steve Carell]

Ooh.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Jim said, you're right. I'll bring your stuff home. So he did address it, but it ended up getting cut.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think it was the right move to cut it. Cause it seems like, I don't know, a real thing. Pam is holding onto that. I don't think she is.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I don't think so. As soon as Jim showed her the house, she loved it.

[Angela Kinsey]

She felt cared for and loved.

[Jenna Fischer]

She took it on, and. And I think she's been very happy ever since. So I'm glad that they didn't pin that as some sort of lingering resentment for Pam.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pam catches up to Michael in the parking lot. She says she's coming along, but she wants to be a Salesman, not a receptionist.

[Angela Kinsey]

And Jim's kind of surprised by that. He's like, oh, okay, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And everyone is gathered again up in the conference room. And they're looking down as Pam and Michael walk away. And as they're walking away, you can see the doubt. You see this change of them being from triumphant to kind of doubt.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, a lot of people liken this ending to the ending of the Graduate. And spoiler alert to anyone who's never seen the Graduate. But at the end of the movie, the character of Benjamin, who's played by Dustin Hoffman, crashes the wedding of his love, Elaine. And the two of them are running away from the church. They're laughing together, and then they jump onto this city bus, and, oh, it's just so exciting. And they take their seat, and while they're sitting there, their expressions kind of slowly change. It's a really famous scene. It's so good. Well, in the script, our stage direction for this scene was this. Jim waves as Michael and Pam walk out together. We stay on their faces as they transition from fantasy to reality. So I was not thinking of the Graduate when we shot this. I was thinking of a different scene from the movie, the Heartbreak Kid with Charles Grodin. Have you seen it?

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, a long time ago.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, again, I guess spoiler alert at the end of this movie, he's finally married the woman of his dreams, Cybill Shepherd. He's been chasing her through the whole movie. He sits down at a couch at their reception, and then you just see this sort of, like, malaise wash over his face. And he's like, what now? Because for him, it's all about the joy of the pursuit. But now he did it right, and you can tell he's already restless. I thought of that moment because I always think that's such a perfect moment of acting. I mean, he's so good in that movie. But anyway.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I will tell you that Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger in the elevator holding a goldfish also have a moment like that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hey.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because I rewatched the the movie last night. Well, this episode ends with something I absolutely love. There's a conference room scene. Charles is telling everyone we've lost some employees. We're going to have to do some shifting around. And this is so great. Everyone's reactions are so good. He's like, you know what, Kevin? You're going to be answering phones at reception.

[Jenna Fischer]

Everyone in the room is like, what?

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I know. I am very much in the foreground of this shot. That was on purpose because they wanted me to react, obviously. And then he says he's going to put Stanley, who's doing his crossword barely awake, in charge of productivity. Dwight is like, are you kidding me?

[Jenna Fischer]

Aaron said he pitched that idea of having Charles put Kevin in charge of the phones, which is going to pay off beautifully in the cold open of next week's episode. But he said it just makes him giggle to think that, like, Charles's big power move after Michael leaves is putting Kevin in charge of the phones. Like, he's like, I got this. Yeah, yeah, I know what to do. Speaking of the next episode, ironically, it did not air for two weeks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no way.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, there was a break. I just thought that was really funny. People had to really wait two weeks. Yeah, this was a big cliffhanger. Also, this is the last episode that Pam was a receptionist ever, ever in the office. She never returns to the receptionist's desk.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's finish our scotch and Splenda. To Pam. Rip Receptionist.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Next up, salesman. To Pam.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't know that either when we filmed this episode. I didn't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

I didn't know that. You didn't know at the time. Yeah, well, we didn't know what was gonna happen.

[Jenna Fischer]

We didn't.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow. I should have worn my T shirt today that says I would save the receptionist. Yeah, well, listen, there were a lot of other receptionists that come along, but Pam is always going to be our favorite.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, thank you, lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

At least here on Office Ladies.

[Jenna Fischer]

Come on. Thank you so much. That was two weeks. Next week is Dream Team. I can't wait to talk about it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Please don't bring any scotch and Splenda. We can't do it. We can't have a scotch and Splenda and do that podcast.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know what I'll bring next week? A giant pile of French toast.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, gosh. Don't bring that either.

[Jenna Fischer]

Listen, thank you so much to Erin Shore and Randy Cordray for giving us all the inside details on this episode. We'll see you next week.

[Angela Kinsey]

Bye, you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Second drink.

[Angela Kinsey]

This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our second drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our audio engineer is Sam Piefer.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratt.

[Jenna Fischer]

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