Second Drink: Women’s Appreciation

Summary

Office Ladies – Second Drink: Women's Appreciation

Episode Date: October 6, 2025
Hosts: Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey

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Episode Overview

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, co-stars of “The Office,” take a “second drink” deep-dive into the Season 3 episode “Women’s Appreciation.” They reminisce about filming, share behind-the-scenes stories, and include commentary from fan bloggers who visited the set during the 50th episode celebration. Both comedic and candid, the conversation explores women’s experiences, boundaries, and some of the show’s raunchiest content.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Episode Introduction and Context

• Writers: Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg
• Director: Tucker Gates
• “Women’s Appreciation” originally aired May 2007 as a super-sized 50th episode.
• Plot Summary: After Phyllis is flashed in the parking lot, Michael takes the female employees to the mall. Meanwhile, Andy and Dwight try to catch the flasher, and the male employees lounge in the women’s restroom.

“Everyone start right now. Think of a woman you appreciate.”
— Jenna Fischer [10:22]

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2. Standards and Practices: How Did This Get on the Air?

• Discussion about how some of the episode's risqué content, especially Michael’s antics involving sexual innuendo, made it past network censors.
• Standards & Practices required that when Michael mimes a penis with his finger, the camera clearly shows his hand entering his pants to make it obvious it’s not real [32:32].
• Surprised at the amount of language and sexual references allowed compared to earlier episodes, e.g., “boner” in Season 2 required a warning, but not this.

“You know, we do say penis a lot.”
— Angela Kinsey [03:32]

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3. Iconic Quotes, Blooper Moments, and Merchandise Ideas

• The infamous coffee mug suggestion:

“I don’t have time for your old man penis.”
— Angela Kinsey, joking about merchandise [04:05, 49:02]

• Michael’s alternative gift list for Angela at Victoria’s Secret (from the shooting script) included classics like “skort nightie,” “farthingale,” “merry widow,” leading to a sidebar on historical undergarments [05:21–06:50].
• Steve Carell’s (Michael) improv aimed at breaking Angela during the Victoria’s Secret scene, especially his gross 'Santa' line (“Santa would like to buy you a pair of panties, little girl”) [07:39–08:12].

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4. Personal Stories and Real-Life Inspiration

• Angela shares that she really experienced an office flasher during her 1-800-DENTIST days; this story partially inspired the episode [12:44–14:53].
• Jenna and Angela both recount times they saw or were flashed, discussing the lasting impact and humor as a coping mechanism.

“Women out there listening, they're just creepers. ... I have been flashed.”
— Angela Kinsey [47:21]

“The unsolicited dick pic text is the modern day flashing. If a woman doesn't ask to see your dick, don't send a pic.”
— Jenna Fischer [49:39]

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5. Filming at the Mall – Studio City Fashion Square

• The episode was filmed at their local mall, which the cast actually frequented [19:16].
• Food court scenes filmed very early in the day; public sections of the mall open to real shoppers during filming.
• Victoria’s Secret was closed for the shoot.
• The cast snuck in some real shopping during breaks; Angela admits she still owns items from that day [22:46].

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6. Behind-the-Scenes Fast Facts

• The 50th episode celebration: Super-fan bloggers Jenny Tan (OfficeTally) and Cath (Give Me My Remote) visited the set and shared exclusive blog insights [16:00–18:37].
• Call times for cast were brutally early, especially for Angela and Kate Flannery (4:30 AM) due to limited hair and makeup resources.
• Jenna sometimes wore sweatpants and Uggs below the waist when only being shot from the waist up [18:07].
• Many background actors in early scenes, but by midday they were filming among real mall patrons.

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7. Favorite Guest and Fan Moments

• The background of Meredith’s van: Purposefully filled with trash, air fresheners (which made Jenna and Kate ill), half-eaten food, and junk to create a “lived-in” look [61:45–63:34].
• In the commentary, Jenna admits breaking character repeatedly during Meredith’s chip-eating/littering scene [64:10].
• The women’s bathroom set was not a working bathroom, but visitors didn’t always know:

“A visitor used our fake toilet... Can you imagine if you’re a big fan of The Office and... you’re the visitor that took a dump in the fake toilet?”
— Angela Kinsey [67:08]

• Potpourri and plush furnishings in the women’s lounge: “This is our only sanctuary away from Michael.”
  — Jenna Fischer [66:12]

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8. Breakdowns of Key Scenes & Gags

• Dwight’s Anti-Flasher Plan:
  From sensible (floodlights, cameras) to absurd (banning bananas, dress codes).

“Won’t that just shed more light on the penises?”
— Dwight (Rainn Wilson), [37:42]

• Dwight Eating Bananas During Takes:
  Rainn made himself sick by committing to eating a new banana for every take [43:57–44:22].
• Banana/Bathroom Humor:
  The series often uses food for comedic effect—e.g., Dwight’s commitment to eating a banana mirrors his pancake-eating scene in another episode [44:33].

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9. The Mall Sequence

• Michael tries to connect with the women but keeps making inappropriate comments.
• Angela leaves for the “doll store” to avoid Michael's oversharing about Jan [72:04].
• Michael eventually decides to break up with Jan, supported by the women.

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10. Jim & Dwight's "Flasher" Sketch

• Pam’s sketch of the flasher is obviously Dwight, which Andy gleefully exploits.
• The show's prop department created real “Pervert” flyers with Dwight’s face; the phone number rung to a hilarious Dwight voicemail [54:25–55:22].

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11. Fan Blogger Set Visit Highlights

• Greg Daniels’ attention to detail: e.g., Melora Hardin’s inappropriate nail polish in a scene as Jan was replaced before filming [85:34].
• Writers sought feedback from fan bloggers on alternate endings for Jan’s meltdown, using their insights for the final cut [86:16].

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12. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I watched it right up until they started talking about penises. And then I turned it off.”
  — Angela’s grandmother Lena Mae, on the episode [30:12]
• “I’m the candyman. Santa’s come early. Santa would like to buy you a pair of panties, little girl…”
  — Steve Carell (Michael), cracking Angela up [07:39–08:12]
• “You just have one secret, and the secret is the bras kind of suck.”
  — Jenna Fischer on Victoria’s Secret [07:15]
• “If a woman doesn't ask to see your dick, don't send a pic. It's not difficult.”
  — Jenna Fischer [49:39]
• “I don't have time for your old man penis.”
  — Angela Kinsey, (merchandise suggestion & running joke) [49:02]
• “Dunder Mifflin slash sex predator hotline. This is Dwight Schrute.”
  — Rainn Wilson (via Jim's prank phone call) [87:42]
• “I think we hang out an appropriate amount of time.”
  — Paul Lieberstein (Toby) in the women’s restroom [76:37]

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13. Tag Scene: The Flasher Revealed

• Inspired by camera operator Randall Einhorn, Jim calls the “sex predator hotline” to prank Dwight, leading to a perfectly executed mustache-on-mirror gag [87:46–88:48].

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14. Fun Extras & Running Gags

• Tracking Pam’s plant containers at reception, and a running “penis count” for the episode (six utterances) [89:28].
• Extensive improvisation and alternate lines, with Steve Carell going off-script to break his castmates.
• In-character fan interaction: real phone numbers would lead to Dwight’s voicemails.

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15. Episode Reflections

The hosts discuss how revisiting the episode deepened their appreciation for the blend of outrageous humor and realistic, sometimes awkward, explorations of workplace dynamics and women’s experiences.

“Most guys want their women in high heels with cleavage... but I think a woman looks best absolutely naked.”
— Michael (Steve Carell), writer Lee Eisenberg’s favorite line [75:36]

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Conclusion

“Women’s Appreciation” remains one of The Office's boldest and funniest episodes. Angela and Jenna’s podcast delivers exclusive behind-the-scenes details, confessional laughs, and the distinct camaraderie fans cherish. The episode ends with an enthusiastic teaser for the next’s rewatch of "Beach Games."

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Segment Timestamps (Select Key Moments)

• [03:34] — Merchandise joke: "I don’t have time for your old man penis"
• [05:23] — Michael's Victoria's Secret shopping list
• [12:44] — Angela’s real-life flasher story
• [19:16] — Mall location reveal
• [29:04] — Angela’s grandmother’s reaction
• [32:32] — Office Standards & Practices details
• [38:07] — “Won’t that just shed more light on the penises?” (Dwight’s line)
• [49:39] — Jenna on modern-day “flashing” (dick pics)
• [61:45] — Meredith’s van: prop details
• [66:12] — The women’s bathroom set
• [69:10] — Meredith’s parking lot stunt
• [72:04] — Angela heads to the doll store, real vs. scripted scene notes
• [87:46] — Jim & Dwight’s sex predator hotline prank/tag

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Final Takeaway

With stories about set antics, commentary on sensitive subjects, and comedic chemistry, Jenna and Angela provide fans with both heartfelt nostalgia and unfiltered, witty perspective on an episode that pushed comedic boundaries and sparked strong reactions from viewers and even the cast’s own families.

Next Week: “Beach Games”

(With special audio from writer Jen Salata!)

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For more exclusive content and merchandise (sans old man penises), visit: officeladies.com

Transcript

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Hi there.

[Angela Kinsey]

Welcome back to a second drink of women's appreciation. This is so fun. It's from writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who we love our interview we did with them for office. Ladies 6.0 is one of my faves from the year.

[Jenna Fischer]

Same. Well, I've shared a lot about the standards and practices guidelines for the Office. I mean, the emails from them to our producers are one of my favorite things. And in rewatching this episode, I loved this observation about this episode from the website. Give me my remote. Remember them?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, of course.

[Jenna Fischer]

They said. Here's what I don't understand, though. Season 2 sexual harassment had a warning before the episode because of the word boner, but this episode was acceptable. I don't think the Office has ever pushed the envelope in terms of sexual discussion as much as it did tonight. Michael with his hands down his pants. Oh, my God. Seriously? Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, where was Standards and Practices?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

You know, we do say penis a lot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And, you know, ladies, so many people wrote in about this episode breakdown. Many people loved our commentary on getting flashed in real life. They think we should put, and I'm quoting, I don't have time for your old man penis on some merchandise. What are we putting that on? A coffee mug? What's that going on?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I think it needs to be on a to go coffee mug.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay. Right, Like a travel tumbler.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Especially if you're in a city with, like, a lot of public transit.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. So you're riding on, like, the train with, like, the. I don't have time for your old man penis on your coffee mug.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think it could be helpful. Well, there were also so many candy bag alts for this episode. There are two pages of alts for Angela's talking head about shopping at the mall.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think the writers had some fun with that one.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my goodness. Your character is clearly not happy about Michael's idea to take us out of the office, so they wrote a bunch of extra talking heads for you. But this one was my favorite field trips at work. What's next? Recess. I shouldn't say that so loud. He might get ideas.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael would love to have a daily recess.

[Jenna Fischer]

That would have been a fun, like, episode story in an episode called Daily Recess.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Speaking of those scenes of Victoria's Secrets, Marley H. And others wanted to know where they can watch the blooper. We talk about Jenna. It's the one where Steve as Michael keeps messing with Angela Martin, but he's messing with me in real life, trying to get me to laugh. We were Filming in Victoria's secrets. It's on YouTube. But Marley, there was so much more in the shooting draft for this scene. It was just this long, crazy list of suggestions from Michael of things he.

[Jenna Fischer]

Could buy for Angela.

[Angela Kinsey]

I want to read it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

This was in the shooting draft. Michael sits on a bench watching the women shop. Angela sits next to Michael on the bench, checking her watch. For each suggestion she demures Michael to Angela. Nothing. Not even a skort nightie, Thong boy shorts, lacies, frillies bra, push up bra, Merry widow control top, garters, corset girdle, edible panties, G string briefs, string bikini, strapless bra, C cup hip hugger, bustier, pantalette, farthingale. You must use some sort of barrier between your clothes and your situation.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my gosh, I have so many things to say.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. What is a farthingale?

[Jenna Fischer]

What is a merry widow?

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm looking it up. A merry widow is a type of strapless waist cinching corset.

[Angela Kinsey]

How does Michael know about this? Must be Jan.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's also a historical term for a sexually experienced woman, but oh, my goodness. Apparently there's even a cocktail called the merry widow. The merry widow. Who knew?

[Angela Kinsey]

Did not know. Okay, now look up farthingale.

[Jenna Fischer]

It looks like it's another kind of corset, but okay, you know the really famous pictures of, like, oh, my gosh, Queen Elizabeth, and she has the little teeny waist and then like, just the giant hips that come out.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay, so a farthingale is a corset that has, like.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, like Queen Elizabeth I. Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

It has, like, a big round thing that comes off of it so that your skirt, like, poofs out real far. The things we're learning.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I have to say, finding out that Michael calls Angela's below the waistline. The situation. I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lady, in that whole speech, you called the store Victoria's Secret.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

And it made me think about our conversation in this episode where we talked about how she just has one secret, and the secret is the bras kind of suck. And I'm not sure that it's a coincidence that this podcast has ever been sponsored by Victoria's Secret or secrets. It's no secret.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's no secret.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Angela, I remember how you could not keep a straight face during this scene. And I pulled the blooper so that we could hear it. All right, I'm the candyman. Santa's come early. Sure, Santa. Santa would like to. Santa would like to buy you a pair of panties little girl Santa would like.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's so gross.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, you didn't even get to the list.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, what you have to know is the list came before he sat there and just rapid fired stuff at me, and I had to keep a straight face. And then he throws in Santa, and I was like, that's it. I'm out. I can't make it. But yes, Marley, you can find that on YouTube. Just type in the bloopers for season three.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, lastly, since I was digging in the candy bag alts, I have to share this one for Michael. We find out something he does after he and Jan get it on that really annoys her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Lord.

[Jenna Fischer]

He says it starts amazing. He says, you want proof I understand women? Here you go. Jan tells me she doesn't want me to sing to her after we make love anymore. Now, I know it's not the singing she minds because, hey, who doesn't like singing? It's the volume that gets to her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

So what do I do? I hum very softly, but very melodically. And I'll tell you one thing, she hasn't complained since there's so much information.

[Angela Kinsey]

So much information. What song is he singing? How loud does he sing it? And also, is this why he sleep at the Bench?

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, there are a lot of things that I've learned since the dinner party episode that make me not judge Jan so much for the bench. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm a little bit. I judge her for not leaving a guest room for him to go to. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Like, she put all of her candles in the one room he could sleep in.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then the other one is her office, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, she took up all the rooms. That's right, all the bedrooms. Well, I feel like we learned a lot in this tapas show for the second drink.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mm, we sure did.

[Angela Kinsey]

And now here's our breakdown of women's appreciation.

[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.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hello. Hi there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Today is women's Appreciation. Everyone start right now. Think of a woman you appreciate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Appreciate that lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

Appreciate her. Maybe pause, give her a text message, but appreciate a woman. Because Michael is going to appreciate women today.

[Angela Kinsey]

He knows the crap out of women, and he he's gonna appreciate them, and I'm excited. I loved this episode. I loved filming this episode. I wrote about it in my journal.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, lady, I can't wait. This is season three, episode 21, written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. Directed by Tucker Gates.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's get right to it.

[Jenna Fischer]

After Phyllis is flashed in the parking lot, Michael decides to take the women to the mall to bond and unwind.

[Angela Kinsey]

The workplace was too masculine, so he wanted to take them somewhere where they could really relax. And that's the mall.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Michael.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, while at the mall, Michael reveals how distressing his relationship with Jan is.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, distressing is a word. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I had to come up with a word for the summary. I picked distressing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And with the support of the women, he decides to break up with her. Meanwhile, Andy and Dwight try to hang up sketches of the flasher. They're trying to find this guy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right? The pervert. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep. The. The sketch was drawn by Pam, and it heavily resembles Dwight.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's exactly Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's Dwight with a mustache and no glasses.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Finally, Kevin and the rest of the men in the office enjoy hanging out in the ladies bathroom.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is a crazy episode description.

[Angela Kinsey]

And that really is just. Just barely touching the surface.

[Jenna Fischer]

It really is. It really is.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, Meredith's van isn't in that summary, and that's a whole. That Meredith's van could be a whole episode itself.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I wish we'd done an episode called Meredith's Van. Wouldn't you like to see that?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jenna Fischer]

Or that's a spin off right there. Meredith's van.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just Meredith living out of her van.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

What are your fast facts, lady?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Ang, my first fast fact is about you.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is it?

[Jenna Fischer]

Is it true that you once had a flasher at one of your jobs?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, this is true. And I told this story in the writer's room. So I was talking to Greg on set one day about just different things that happened when I worked at 1-800-DENTIST as an operator. And he was like, oh, you got to go up to the writer's room. You got to tell everybody these stories. So I did. And I'm not sure that this episode is 100% from the story, but I like to think it was a little bit inspired. So I was working at 1-800-Dentist in my early 20s. Which was just yesterday, Jenna. Really? Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it really was.

[Angela Kinsey]

It was just yesterday. And we had a man. He went into the women's restroom and kind of hid out in the women's restroom. And then when women would go in there, he would flash them.

[Jenna Fischer]

And. Who was he?

[Angela Kinsey]

We don't know. He was like some guy from the street. He was like.

[Jenna Fischer]

Went in the women's bathroom. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Angela Kinsey]

How did he.

[Jenna Fischer]

Where were your. Did 1-800-dentists not have their own dedicated bathroom? Was it like a whole building?

[Angela Kinsey]

It was a whole building. Yes, it was a whole building and several businesses. You know, the bathrooms are in the hallway. You know what I mean?

[Jenna Fischer]

Share bathroom.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like when I go to a doctor's office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Exactly, exactly. Okay. Yeah. This guy, he came in off the street and he flashed one of the ladies when she went into the bathroom. And she came running out and came in the office and was like, I just got flashed. And. Oh, my gosh. 1800 dentists obviously took this very seriously, and they implemented a whole new security system for our office. Okay, we are talking to people about their teeth. That's all we are doing. We're talking to people about their teeth. But guess what our security system was. Guess what the upgrade was.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

They scanned all of our fingerprints. And when we got to work, there was a scanner that you put your hand on that opened up to our hallway. Oh, I put my hand there. And it would go blink, blink. Angela Kinsey admitted.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

All because of the flasher.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. But anyway, I told the writers that we had a flasher at work and it caused all this big hullabaloo. And, you know, I just like to think that went on a note card on the wall somewhere.

[Jenna Fischer]

I want to give you credit for that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, well, thanks.

[Jenna Fischer]

I like it. All right, well, are you ready for fast fact number two?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Fast fact number two. This episode originally aired in May of 2007, and it is a super sized episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

However, when it reran in August, they cut it down.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. They trimmed out a bunch of stuff. Why was that?

[Jenna Fischer]

The reason this was originally a super sized episode is because this was our 50th episode of the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, wow. So it was like a little celebration.

[Jenna Fischer]

But, you know, then when shows rerun, they have to be regular size.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I see.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, to celebrate our 50th anniversary, we invited two super fan office bloggers to the set for a full day of filming so they could have a sneak peek. And do you remember who they were?

[Angela Kinsey]

Was it definitely Jenny Tan from Office Tally?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And Cath Scary from Give Me My Remote.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, nice. Oh, they were so supportive of the show. I Feel like they really were some of the first people organizing an online fan site where fans could go and share.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And the writers would read their sites and gather feedback like they were a big part of formulating the show.

[Angela Kinsey]

I still go to officetally.com, jenna, like, when I'm looking up quotes when we're doing our podcast document, and I'm like, oh, I want to get that exactly right. I will go to Office Tally because they usually have quotes up there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Well, I went and looked at both of their blogs that they did after visiting the set, and I'm going to sprinkle in some of their observations as we go along in this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, that's so fun. This is like a little time capsule.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. It was so cool. And by the way, okay, wait, here's one of the things that Jenny Tan wrote about her visit. This was just sort of an overview.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

She wrote, everybody works together really well. The actors are just incredible. And they are so well prepared. Knew their lines and I didn't hear any of them once ask for a line.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's true, though. That's true. We were. We were pros. We came up ready to play. But you know what? So Steve set the bar for that. We've said that many times.

[Jenna Fischer]

She also probably couldn't see that we had our scripts hidden in our desks. And we would sometimes have to sneak a look. We have to sneak a look between takes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We did do that. We did sort of like just look over em really quickly. But that's all right.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's all right. We didn't. We were never like, line, Can I get my line? What's my line?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So, yeah. And then Angela, another thing I thought was really interesting, she noted that you had a 4:30am call time that day.

[Angela Kinsey]

Those first few seasons, I was almost always at 4:30 because we didn't have, you know, the budget that we. We then ultimately gained. And we hired more hair and makeup people so they would stack us super early in the morning. Kate Flannery and I always were there at 4:30.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember that. And then this also, I thought was kind of funny. She wrote this. Jenna mentioned more than once on her MySpace blog that she sometimes wears sweatpants and her Uggs when she knows she's only being shot from the waist up. And it's true. She wanted. She confirmed.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

I only got half dressed.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our set was so cold.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know, I know. So anyway, I am really excited because I'm going to sprinkle some of their observations in throughout the episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, so what's fast fact number three?

[Jenna Fischer]

Fast fact number three is a location breakdown based on this fan question from Deva Crane, Sophia Behenna, Cassandra Irichetta, Mary Ruff, and Jocelyn Isaguire. They all asked, did you film in a real mall? Where was it? Did you have to close it down, or did you film with real patrons? Now, Ange, I usually go to Kentopedia.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you didn't need to this time, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

You didn't.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure did not, because this was our mall.

[Jenna Fischer]

This was our mall, you guys. Literally, this is the mall in our neighborhood where we lived. Angela and I have been to this mall in real life 90 gazillion times.

[Angela Kinsey]

Many, many times. Together separately. Sometimes we'd have a BFF date.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. This was Fashion Square Mall in Studio City. It was like three miles from my house.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah, we went all the time.

[Jenna Fischer]

We knew.

[Angela Kinsey]

We knew the layout. We knew when they said, okay, ladies, we're gonna start the morning in the food court. You and I were like, I wonder where they're gonna seat us. Maybe over by Panda Express. Or are they gonna put us over in the corner? I bet they put us in the corner. Yeah, we knew the layout.

[Jenna Fischer]

We knew the layout, of course. And, guys, we did not close down the whole mall for filming.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, no people were there.

[Jenna Fischer]

We started crazy early, though, in the food court. And we started upstairs. There was, like, an upper level of the food court, and we had that whole upper level to ourself. And it didn't open until, like, 11:00am but we had to be done so they could open the food court on time. I remember that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I wrote that. We were seated in the food court filming at 7am yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And all the people in that food court were hired background performers. But later, when we went into the mall, all the people sort of passing behind us, like, behind your talking head. Behind Steve's talking head. Those were just people in the mall.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. They couldn't close that main part of the mall. Right. So we were just navigating around them and we were filming. And that. This is a thing I wrote in my journal, Jenna, is that we really realized what a big star Steve was like.

[Jenna Fischer]

We knew.

[Angela Kinsey]

We knew he had become a big star. You know, he had these movies coming out, and they were big hits. But being at that shopping mall, to him, we really got a window into what his life was like now, because no one yelled our names. No one, Jenna. No. People are walking right past us. But they would see Steve and they would start to Yell at him.

[Jenna Fischer]

Steve.

[Angela Kinsey]

Steve. I wrote that. Someone yelled, I love lamp.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah, that line from Anchorman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And we were like, oh, my God, Steve, that guy's yelling at you about the lamp. And he goes, I know. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, that was crazy. I do remember, though, that they shut down the Victoria's Secret for us. We had the whole store.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we. We felt very fancy about that. That was very exciting to have a whole store to yourself. That was so cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then we also had one level of the parking garage, and they put all our trailers there. We ate lunch there. They set up the catering. And then we also were able to bring in our own cars to do that scene with Meredith parking.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, but we really. We really just spent the whole day at the mall. We really did.

[Jenna Fischer]

We really did. And lady, by the way, I'm gonna point it out, but there oftentimes you can see you and I walking in the background together.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of different shots. And our characters should not be walking together in the background shopping.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, we were just kind of. We were just hanging out. We were probably saying this, listen, we should come back tomorrow because did you see the sale?

[Jenna Fischer]

We were 100 doing that.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were.

[Jenna Fischer]

Kelly. At the mall.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. If we have a break, maybe we can sneak in there.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like we.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did some shopping that day.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was gonna say, I swear I came home with something from Macy's.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. I'm pretty sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, ladies, should we take a break? And then we come back. We will really, really break down this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

I might have tracked something. We might need to discuss it.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is the best news I've heard all day. I can't wait to track something.

[Angela Kinsey]

You might change your mind.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no. All right, we'll be back.

[Angela Kinsey]

Macy's Fall Fashion Guide is your one stop shop for fall's latest trends and must haves curated by their experts. You know, we're firmly in fall now, and it might be my favorite season. When it comes to fashion, there are so many cute trends and Macy's makes it so easy to figure out your whole fall vibe. I am not great at putting together an outfit, but Macy's Fall Fashion Guide curates everything for you, which makes it so easy to find the perfect look. Here are some fashion trends, you guys. I don't know if you know, 2025 fashion trends weekend in the country, the new boho statement, Luxury. I mean, I don't know how to do any of that, but thanks to Macy's, if I want that look, I can go to their fashion guide. I kind of want to try a weekend in the country. They have all the must haves for this fall. Romantic sheer tops and dresses with brands by Inc. Rachael, Roy and Cece. Shop now@macy's.com or in store. All right, everyone falls here. The kids are back in school. Vacations are over. It's officially the start of cozy season, which means one of my favorite times to buy socks. You heard me? And my favorite socks are bombas. I love them so much. First of all, I love their ankle socks. You know, I play a lot of tennis, and those are great socks for tennis. But when it gets a little cooler out, I love their merino wool socks. Okay. My favorite one is the merino wool blend quarter socks. I like the quarter socks, you know. Now my daughter likes the calf socks. She likes them a little bit longer. But one of my favorite things to do, you guys, is to build your own pack. On the website, they have a mix and match four different styles and you save 10% off. So love that. You guys go get your bomba socks. You're going to love them. Maybe some slippers. You're going to be so ready for the cozy fall. Trust me on this one. You're going to love bombas. Head over to bombas.com officeladies and use code officeladies for 20% off your first order. That's B O M B A S.com officeladies code officeladies at checkout. We love Instacart. We use it all the time. You know, it's more than a grocery technology platform. It's a care company. Yeah. Because it's designed to make life easier, it connects you to thousands of stores across the United States. With just a few taps, you can shop from your favorite stores and have fresh groceries and household essentials ready for pickup or delivered to your door in as fast as 30 minutes. We love it when we go out of town, we take a trip. And Josh always sort of plans our groceries so they last us right up until when we leave. So we don't leave anything going bad in the fridge. And then when we get home, we're going to need groceries. So we land he instacarts our order. We get home, we've got groceries waiting for us. Instacart brings convenience, quality, and ease right to your door so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app and use code officeladies20 to get $20 off your first order of $80 or more. That's code officeladies. 20 to get $20 off your first Order of $80 or more. Offer valid for a limited time. Excludes restaurants. Additional terms apply. And we are back. We start with a cold open. And, Jenna, that was originally written for the business school episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, the cold open, where Jim comes in and he's tardy and Dwight is going to write him up. That was originally for the business school episode. And the Dwight and Jim dressing like each other was supposed to be for this episode, but they switched them for time. Wow. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, you know, they would do these cold opens, and they were meant to be standalone. They were meant to be their own encapsulated joke that really didn't interfere with the main plot of an episode. So I guess they were kind of interchangeable in a way. Now, sometimes the cold open did affect the plot, but, you know, two standalone cold opens, I guess you can put them wherever you want.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I feel like the tag in this episode is plot related, so I think it was for the best.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I agree.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, so, Jenna, here's the thing. Do you know that if you are tardy, you will get three demerits?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then you'll receive a citation. Yeah, yeah. And then five citations. And you're gonna get a violation, which.

[Jenna Fischer]

Is bad because tell us what happens after that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Four violations, and you're gonna get a verbal warning.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, keep it up. You're gonna get a written warning.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Two written warnings. And you're gonna be in a world of hurt in the form of a disciplinary review.

[Jenna Fischer]

And that disciplinary review is gonna be written by Dwight and placed on the desk of his immediate superior, who, by the way, is Jim, who is tardy. Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's going to take a week worth of, like, paperwork. I mean, this just made me laugh so hard. I just feel like I know these people. I feel like I know Adwaite. I feel like I worked with Dwight, like someone who has such a small amount of control and takes it so seriously. It's just so ridiculously perfect.

[Jenna Fischer]

I love it. This episode opens with Phyllis arriving to work, and she is clearly upset. And by the way, I really like how all of us are genuinely kind to Phyllis and concerned for her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, yeah. She's shooken up, and we're worried about her And Jenna, before we get into the scene, I have to share something with you that has become part of our family. It's like a family story. You know those stories in your family that you retell over and over, you know? Well, this Episode inspired one of those family stories for me that we get together and retell at family reunions, and everyone just cracks up.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is it?

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, Jenna, you know my grandmother, Lena Mae Kinsey, she was a very, very proper, classy southern lady. And, you know, she was not a fan of the Office. She thought that Michael Scott was vulgar. And she would say to me, angela, we are so proud of you. But I don't care for it, and I do not watch it, but we are so proud of you.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember.

[Angela Kinsey]

So my parents were really getting into the show, and they were like, lena Mae, you gotta give it another shot. We gave it another shot, and now we like it. You gotta watch this week's episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

I call home. I'm like, hey, mom, are you gonna watch this week? We are, and we told your grandmother to watch. We got it on right now. I said, oh, no, mom, not this week. Not this week for grandmother.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

She was like, why not? And I said, because Phyllis gets flashed, and it's all we talk about.

[Jenna Fischer]

What did your grandma say when she watched this? Well, she never watched another episode, did she?

[Angela Kinsey]

I. I called home the next day, and I said, hey, mom, did you talk to grandmother? Did she watch it? She said, I did, and this is what she said. And I wrote it down, and I had it. I have it in my journal. This is what my grandmother said. I watched it right up until they started talking about penises. And then I turned it off.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was probably good. She turned it off because, I mean, we didn't want her to be subjected to that scene in the mall when Michael describes his sex life with Jam.

[Angela Kinsey]

My God. When he's like, what is a pap smear? Glad my grandmother didn't make it that far. Do you want to know when she turned it off?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Four minutes, 25 seconds is the first time we say the word penis. Click. Bye. Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

She checked out. She was done.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I mean, up until that point, you know, we're talking about how Phyllis has been flashed and where he put it on the map. Oh, my God. Jenna, do you remember that? Phyllis could not get through that. Do you remember that?

[Jenna Fischer]

No. Which part?

[Angela Kinsey]

She broke every time. She said he had it out on the map. She could not get through it. She was laughing so hard.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I remember it was very difficult to get through Creed saying, what's the big deal? He's hanging brain. That, like, that phrase, hanging brain was really tough.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so gross.

[Jenna Fischer]

But then Michael comes in and he finds out what happens, and he Is like completely not sympathetic at all. And Phyllis isn't even there anymore. Phyllis has gone off with Bob Vance. He's taking her for a walk to calm her down. But Michael comes in and he is just making a joke of it. And he puts his finger in his pants through the zipper of his pants and to look like a penis. And I remember we all thought, there's no way this is making this on tv.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, Jenna, I was super curious about how we were able to get this on the air. So I went to the DVD commentary to see if they said anything. And they did say there was one specific thing we had to do by Standards and Practices rules.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, really? This went all the way to Standards and Practices?

[Angela Kinsey]

Should we tell them what Standards and Practices is?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, well, there's like, there's certain rules about what you can and cannot broadcast on network television.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, according to the DVD commentary, this was the one thing we had to do by Standards and Practices before Michael turns around with his finger in his. The fly of his pants.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Camera has to see him fully extend his hand outside of his pants and then watch his hand go in his pants through his fly. So, you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that is Michael's hand. You'll see Michael turns around and you have a close up of his hand. And what? And he's kind of fidgeting so that we all know it's his hand. And that was because Standards and Practices said that's the only way we'll let the scene play.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. I still can't believe that we got away with it. And then what I really can't believe is that when Toby walks in, the finger goes down.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Well, fan catch from Brianne, Katherine, Julie, Elizabeth and Christina. Everyone noticed that in the background of this exchange between Michael and Toby, it's sort of near the end after Toby's walked away and Michael is apologizing. John Krasinski is visibly red in the face and laughing into his hand.

[Angela Kinsey]

He is flat out breaking. And not only that, I love this fan catch because I wrote a timecode down between 4 minutes and 36 seconds and 4 minutes 40 seconds. I see John, not Jim, look right to Randall, our camera operator.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, I thought the same thing. I thought, that is not Jim glancing to camera. That is John glancing at Randall.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, because it's just above camera. You know, it's not right down the barrel, which is where he would normally glance. He's looking at Randall trying not to break. And Randall was probably breaking too. But they're Having a moment. And the line that really made him go is when Michael says, as that was coming out of my mouth, I knew that it was wrong.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now Michael has a talking head where he explains that in all of the excitement, he forgot that his primary concern is keeping the people in his office safe and that women just can't have fun if they don't feel safe. And he knows this because, you know, he and Jan have a safe word, which is foliage.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is happening in that bedroom?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is happening? That he has a safe word. That she doesn't pay attention to what is happening?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, Lord. Oh. And then Jan's phone call. She, like, wants his body. She's Gonna leave him $200, $300. She'll get more vodka. Hunter, are you on the call? Like, everything about this is horrifying, lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

I have to say that that thing of like, hunter, are you on the call? That has happened to me in business calls where I'll be talking to my agent or to my manager, and I'm having what I think is like, a private, candid conversation. And all of a sudden, like, 20 minutes in, they'll ask their assistant, did you get that? Can you go ahead and set that meeting? And the assistant's like, no problem. I'll put it in the calendar. And I'm like, wait, what?

[Angela Kinsey]

How long have you been a thing?

[Jenna Fischer]

You just. Your assistant just listens to our phone calls? That's a thing?

[Angela Kinsey]

Man, oh, man. I couldn't be an assistant. I couldn't handle that information. It would. It would be so hard for me not to interject. Like, if I had to listen in and my boss was having a conversation with someone, and it got, like, sort of personal or heated. It'd be so hard for me, you know, to not be like, you know, you might try just taking a minute, take a breath before you. You know, don't say something you're gonna regret. They'd be like, who is that? Well, we have a nice callback at 5 minutes, 47 seconds.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, we had some fans catch this as well. Angela. Dwight is down in the parking lot, and he is so stabbing the shrubbery with that pointed, carved out broom handle that he made for business school when he was worried that Jim was becoming a vampire.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he kept it. Of course he kept it. He probably duct taped it under his desk.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that was caught also by Renee Brown, Ann Stevens, Bethany A. Phoebe Tomac, and Jacob Hirsch, among others.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, so, Jenna, now at 6 minutes, 29 seconds. Michael and Dwight have decided they are going to form a new anti flashing task force. They come out and announce this. And I want you to know Rainn Wilson broke so hard throughout this scene. Jenna, I think we. I think we did like 15 or 16 takes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you remember what line he could not get through? Because I will never forget it.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'll never forget it. And it's on the bloopers. Oh, it's so good. Say it, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

So he says that we should install floodlights in the parking lot.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then he says, I know, I know what you're thinking. Won't that just shed more light on the penises? We could not get through that line. When I was re watching and I heard him say it again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was like, we could. That line is so genius and absurd. I know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry. It just cracks me up. And all of it, all of it was so perfect. And then him having to say, pam, you can try get with phallus. You're like, phallus, Phyllis. Sorry, I just have penises on the brain. And then Jim's looked a camera. This whole moment is just so beautifully written and performed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And the other thing that led to the absurdity of it is that you're expecting Dwight to have horrible ideas. But his ideas start off really good.

[Angela Kinsey]

Smart.

[Jenna Fischer]

This idea of floodlights, this idea of extra security cameras. And I remember being directed to give a look to Phyllis, like reassuring, like, hey, they're not going to totally mess this up. And then it just gets weird and so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He starts out so well.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, so Pam is going to meet up with Phyllis and she's going to make a sketch. Except that Phyllis can't really remember any details. And Pam's like, it's fine. I just don't feel like answering the phone.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

But then Karen enters and now we get Dwight's weird list of ideas. So, like, what he was announcing originally is what the business park was planning to do to help the situation. And now we're getting Dwight's mandate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Dwight's mandate is basically lock up the.

[Jenna Fischer]

Women and get rid of all the bananas.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

What is happening?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

He starts saying that, like, the women have to dress a certain way. They have to wear sleeves down to their wrists, muted colors. And Pam is like, no one dresses like that. And then the camera swings over to Angela, which is a very funny moment that was in the script.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember this was one of those moments, Jenna, that it looks simple, but it was very choreographed because the B camera had to find me and zoom in. Right. And it's a quick. It's a very quick whip over. And it had to, you know, be in focus. So that's a really tiny moment. But it was very thought out. Exactly where I would stand. And it was all timed off of your line. And I want you to know, since we're talking about what I have that at 8 minutes, 28 seconds is when you see my outfit that our wardrobe designer, Carrie Bennett, and I had seen so much fun. We were giddy when she got the script. And it said I would be wearing this, like, cat sweater. And this outfit, we. We just couldn't wait. And I tried on all these different sweaters. This is the one we picked. And you can't really tell, but each of the cat is very different and distinct. And one of the cats on the sweater had a beaded purse that it was carrying. Wow. One of the other cats had, like, ear muffs. But the. The earmuffs were, like, poofy, you know?

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. I wish I still had that sweater.

[Jenna Fischer]

I talked to Carrie about, where did she shop for you? Where did she find this stuff? And you know what she told me?

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

She said that a lot of your sweaters and your floofy blouses were vintage.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's true. That is true.

[Jenna Fischer]

And there was no double for them. There was just one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And it would make her a little nervous because if you spilled coffee on it or something, she was going to be in trouble. But that was how she found these weird little items. And also, she said vintage clothing usually runs smaller, and so it was fewer alterations for her, actually.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, that is true. And she would let me know when whatever sweater or blouse I had didn't have a double. And I always made sure Jenna to change at lunch. I never ate in my clothes because we often didn't have a match for it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember that. I also remember you sometimes, Angela, if we were rushing, you would do this really elaborate, like, napkin bib thing on.

[Angela Kinsey]

The front of you. I would. I would take. I would take. Sometimes we were rushing for whatever reason, and I didn't have time to run to my trailer and change. I would get, like, eight napkins and tuck them around my collar all the way to my armpit. Yeah, I looked insane. So now the women in the office, they're really upset with Dwight. Right? These rules are ridiculous. And Michael comes out, he's upset with Dwight. He's like, you know what? Women's Appreciating meeting in the conference room. He's Qualified to appreciate women because he.

[Jenna Fischer]

Came from a woman.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He has slept with more than one woman, less than 3. Well, that's not accurate information.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

He says. Yeah, but also he just knows the crap out of women. Angela. I know what women need is R E S pct. That's what they need.

[Angela Kinsey]

Phyllis's face when he says that is so amazing. She gets this little look that washes over her face like, huh.

[Jenna Fischer]

Fan question from Taylor Seagraves and Jenna Aldridge. When Michael spells out respect. Was that improv or scripted? It was scripted that he spelled it out correctly. And then every take he would do it differently. We couldn't get through it. This was another moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's what Steve would do, though. You know, he was like the comedy assassin. He would, like, take it as it was written and then he would play around with it and you could never know what he was going to do. And it made it so hard to keep a straight face.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Also during this scene, Angela, Dwight is eating a banana.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And this is one of the ones he's taken from the kitchen. Kath from givememyremote.com noted in her blog that Rain had to eat a new banana every time we started over a new take. And we did a lot of takes of this scene. She asked Rain on set that day how it was to eat all the bananas, and he said it was making him sick and he may never eat another banana again.

[Angela Kinsey]

It turned on him. That would happen.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And he made a big choice early on, which was to devour the banana, which was a very, very funny choice. And he had to repeat it then.

[Angela Kinsey]

But that is how he made Dwight eat. Rain, you did this to yourself. Let's not forget the pancakes. And then we have a candy bar coming up. Dwight does nothing half assed. If he's gonna eat something, he eats it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, that's true.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry I'm yelling at you.

[Jenna Fischer]

I like it. Bring it on.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm getting very worked up by how Dwight eats.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now the meeting is underway in the conference room. Michael is perched on his chair like a bird.

[Angela Kinsey]

9 minutes, 36 seconds. How does Steve sit like this?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

How does he do it? He just finds the most awkward ways to sit and stand. And it's so funny.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he apologizes for all of the men who didn't take this seriously. Creed still doesn't understand what the big deal is, but Michael explains. No one likes being flashed. It's not just women. When Meredith flashed him during the Christmas party, he. He was sick he hated it. Yeah, but listen, he also wants us to know that a penis in the right context is the most wonderful sight for a woman. But in the wrong context, it's like a monster movie.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have a question for you. When Dwight goes alien, blah. And Michael's like, shut it. Shut up. Was that improvised?

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God. I don't know. Do you want me to look it up?

[Angela Kinsey]

I do, because I remember rain as Dwight messing around, and I just didn't know if that was him being an idiot. And it got to stay in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let me see. How should I find this in this document? I'm thinking I should put in the word penis.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, God.

[Jenna Fischer]

And see. Oh, there's so many. So many. Oh, boy.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm picking up some snacks.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your grandma would not have liked this. Word search right now.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, all right. Okay. I found it. So after Michael said that, Dwight was supposed to say Freddy Krueger.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, I remember this. I remember that Rain kept doing these alts that he was kind of making up in the moment. And that alien one was not one that was scripted, I was pretty sure. But I wanted to see.

[Jenna Fischer]

You were right.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is a random tangent.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Have you ever been flashed?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I've spent a lot of time in New York City, and I've seen a lot of penises on the street and on the subway, but I've never been directly flashed. What about you?

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I. I mean, listen. Women out there listening, they're just creepers. And it. I mean, I have been flashed. 1. I was waiting for the tube in London. I was in college and doing a semester abroad, and my friend and I were standing there, and this old man, I'm talking in his 70s, it was like, if you saw it in a movie, you'd be like, oh, it's too on the nose. He literally had on a khaki trench coat. He was 70.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And he opened up his trench coat and was totally naked and wiggled around his old man penis. And we were like, oh, my God. It was so crazy to me because it looked like something out of a cartoon. I was like, this can't be real old dude. Khaki coat, flasher in a subway. Come on.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, flashing is considered a sexual assault. And statistically, many young and underage women, that is their sort of first experience with a sexual assault, is flashing. Is men flashing their penises. And it's horrible. It's freaking horrible.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was young, so I just went, ah. And then years later, I was flashed, and I literally yelled, knock it off.

[Jenna Fischer]

But why do we have to deal with that? I don't know. Why do women have to deal with. With that? Like, I don't have enough to do in my day. I also have to tell you not to flash me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I have to tell you. Penis out of my face.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm busy. I don't have time for that.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't have time for your old man penis.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I don't. For reals. You know what I mean?

[Angela Kinsey]

My grandmother would have turned us off.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jenna, this podcast, I feel like your grandma would be on my side on this one.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, for sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'd like your grandma and I to go around and talk to some flashers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, she would let them have it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, let's see.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry, I got us off on a tangent, but I was just like, hey, I've been flashed. I wonder if Jenna has. Most women. Most women have flash.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, that's the problem.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you know what? By the way, I just want to say the unsolicited dick pick text is the modern day flashing. Oh. If a woman doesn't ask to see your dick, don't send a pic. Yeah, it's not difficult.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, truly, truly.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's like, why does it need to be said? Oh, my God, you got me all amped up.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm sorry. I just am realizing I've never gotten a dick pic. What?

[Jenna Fischer]

I honestly, I've never gotten a dick pick.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're old. We're. We're old. But we've been flashed. We've been flash. But young ladies get dick pics. Okay, where were we?

[Jenna Fischer]

Where we are is that Michael's angry at society. He says that the problem is that the media portrays women as being skinny, tall goddesses, which, if you look around the office, they clearly are not in real life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, even the prettiest ones are. What does he say?

[Angela Kinsey]

Not that thin or something. Yeah. Jenna, were you just like, hey, what the heck? No.

[Jenna Fischer]

People ask us that all the time if we were personally offended by jokes at our expense. And no, I don't know. Is it just because in comedy you're so often asked to be self deprecating or you just have a good sense of humor? I don't know. I thought it was funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I. I mean, same with me. I'm. I'm always like some size joke, you know?

[Jenna Fischer]

And it also just never really felt personal. I don't know.

[Angela Kinsey]

It didn't.

[Jenna Fischer]

The joke is that he's saying something he shouldn't say. Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Karen tells Michael he's being Misogynistic. And Michael is like, thank you. Thank you. Yes. And she's like, no, I'm saying you're being sexist. He's like, no, I'm not. I'm being misogynistic.

[Angela Kinsey]

And she's like, oh, my God. And then. And then the women just start to really call him out. Phyllis is like, michael, when I got my hair cut short, you said I look like a lesbian. And Angela's like, yeah. And you always think we're on our periods if we get upset, but that's.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because he needs to know if he should take you seriously or not.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know there's a lot of issues. There's a lot of issues.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Karen and Angela want to get back to work, but Michael says he knows what the problem is. The problem is they're in too masculine of an environment to really bond and heal. He needs to take them to the mall.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. He needs to take the women to a place where they can heal. And that's a shopping mall.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

We see a series of talking heads. Karen, she still thinks all of this idea of going to the mall is insulting, but she had some items to return. I have a talking head that I say that malls are just awful and humiliating. They're just store after store of these horrible salespeople making a big fuss out of an adult shopping in a junior section. And I improvised the last line of this talking head.

[Jenna Fischer]

You did?

[Angela Kinsey]

I did. I did. I said, there are petite adults who are sort of smaller who need to wear maybe a kid size 10.

[Jenna Fischer]

Lady, I've been to Target with you and gone shopping.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you shop in the junior section.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do. I shop in the kids section.

[Jenna Fischer]

And.

[Angela Kinsey]

And for a long time, I was a kid size 10.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember you couldn't find a pair of jeans that didn't have, like, a rainbow applique on the pocket.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

All your clothes.

[Angela Kinsey]

All my clothes had a butterfly or something on it. I am no longer a kid size 10, so. Well, there you go. Okay, so Pam has now finished her sketch of the flasher and hands it over to Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And he is thrilled. She's like, listen, Phyllis got a good look. This is accurate. Dwight starts making copies of this flyer, which reads, this man is a pervert. And the picture is very clearly Dwight with no glasses and a mustache.

[Angela Kinsey]

Lady, I saved one of these flyers from that week, and I have it. I have the original. One of the original ones that Rain is holding up as Dwight. And I love it. It makes me laugh. I have it in my scrapbook bin. Speaking of, I've started scrapbooking.

[Jenna Fischer]

I saw on your Instagram stories you put your kids to work on that.

[Angela Kinsey]

They were very excited. They loved. Made me happy.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think it's a great idea. Well, listen, if you look on this poster, there is a phone number, a 1, 800 number for the anti Flashing Task Force. This was a real phone number?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

And after the episode you could call it and you would get a message from Dwight and I have what the message said.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love this. Read it, Jenna.

[Jenna Fischer]

You have reached Dwight K. Schrute, Commander of the Lackawanna County Anti Flashing Task Force and regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. If you have information leading to the capture and or castration of this pervert, press 1. If this is the flasher, let's talk. You need a friend right now and I can help you. Just tell me where you want to meet and I promise to help you with whatever it is you need. Thank you and have a nice day. Oh, and if you are inquiring about any of our paper products and would like a catalog, please press 2. Finally, if anyone not the flasher is interested in a kick ass 1985 maroon fire burning, I could be persuaded to sell mine. Please press one for that too.

[Angela Kinsey]

And people called it. A lot of people called that number. Here's an interesting trivia tidbit. That is the same phone number as Vance Refrigeration.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh yes, yes. When we've seen the Vance Refrigeration phone number.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, listen lady, before we head out to the mall, maybe we should take a break.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's take a break because then we're getting into Meredith's van and we're going to need to. We're going to need to talk about it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. So we are really lucky here on Office Ladies. We have great people that we work with and all our positions are filled. It's great. Thank goodness I don't have to hire someone right now because I wouldn't even know where to start. Actually, I would know where to start. I would probably start with Indeed because Indeed is a great place to find amazing candidates for a job really fast and it's really easy. So when it comes to hiring, Indeed is really all you need. You can stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites because Indeed sponsor jobs help you stand out and hire fast. It really makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com officeladies just go to indeed.com officeladies right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com officeladies Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. You know we use squarespace for our officeladies.com website. It's the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out or maybe you're managing a growing brand. Squarespace makes it easy to create a truly beautiful website, to engage with your audience and to sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place. All on your terms. We absolutely love it. We also love their cutting edge design. I think our page looks real pretty guys. And since every dream needs a domain, Squarespace domains made it very easy for us to grab the name Office ladies. Head to squarespace.com officeladies for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, use code OfficeLadies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

[Angela Kinsey]

This show is sponsored by better help. October 10th is World Mental Health Day and this year we're saying thank you therapists. Better Help therapists have helped over 5 million people worldwide on their mental health journeys. This World mental health day, BetterHelp is honoring those connections and the therapists who make them possible. BetterHelp has 12 plus years experience in matching people to the right therapist. Here's how it works. BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate mean they typically get it right the first time. But if you aren't happy with your match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time. This World Mental Health Day we're celebrating the therapists who've helped millions of people take a step forward. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.comofficeladies that's BetterHelp H E L P.com officeladies we want to talk to you guys a little bit about new Eggo protein waffles. It's really good, tastes great, plus it's going to give you 20% of your daily protein.

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

They're just yummy waffles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

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

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can you head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with Eggo protein waffles and pancakes available at retailers nationwide.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, we are back, and all the ladies are off to the mall with Michael in Meredith's really fantastic van.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, she's driving, but also eating potato chips and littering.

[Angela Kinsey]

I do want you all to know that we had a van following behind us, and their job was to pick up the bag. It would go out the car, and they had to pick up the bag. So we, in fact, did not litter.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is incredible.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We had a fan question about the van from Nikki Lawrence. How did they decide the order in which you all sat in Meredith's van? Was it planned out or did you just sit wherever? Well, I know that I sat in the front seat because I get car sick, and I know that they planned it that way, but I went to the script, and here is what it said about the van.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay?

[Jenna Fischer]

It said the van is strewn with takeout containers and the dashboard is lit with every warning light imaginable. Michael sits in the middle seat of the middle row between Kelly and Phyllis. Karen and Angela are in the back row. Michael watches the girls talk as if he's Jane Goodall observing apes. That is. That was the script direction for our van placement. So it was planned, but, lady, when I read this, you can't see it in the episode, but do you remember how filthy the inside of that van was, Jenna?

[Angela Kinsey]

It was so crazy. The props department went all out. You could not see the floorboard. That's how much stuff they threw into that van. It literally looked like someone had lived in there for years. There were takeout containers. There were, like, food items that had been half eaten are made to look half eaten. Sitting next to me in the seat was a Half eaten chocolate chip cookie on. On the seat next to me. And when we would get in, we would step and, like, kind of turn our ankles on all these weird things. Pieces of clothing, like a. Like a. A broken, like, old phone. Like, just everything you could imagine. It looked like someone dumped a trash can in the floorboard.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, another thing they did, and I don't know if you remember this, Ange, but as a joke, they thought it would be really funny if they put all of these air fresheners in the front of her car. So, like, Meredith wouldn't clean out her car. She would just add another air freshener. And they were dangling from the rear view mirror. They were all over the dashboard?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, they were all over the front of the car.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just the front where Kate and I were sitting. And the fumes from these air fresheners were making us sick.

[Angela Kinsey]

You were getting a headache and you kept being like, gosh, guys, I keep getting a headache. You know, while we were filming in the van, I was in the way back with half eaten food. I couldn't smell the air fresheners. I remember there was all of a sudden this moment where you and Kate were like, oh, my God, it's these air fresheners. There's like 15 of them.

[Jenna Fischer]

And here's the thing. You couldn't even see them. So they were like, oh, we don't even see those in the shot. We can just take those out. So they took them out and then we were fine.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's too bad you couldn't see the hard work that the crew did to make that van look so junky inside. Inside.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, it was. It was a work of art.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, there's one thing in the DVD commentary about the scene where Meredith is eating the potato chips. Like, just. She just dumps them on her face from the bag and throws the bag out. In the DVD commentary, you said you kept laughing and laughing and laughing. You couldn't keep a straight face. And they actually used a different reaction shot of you from a different moment in the van because they never got a clean one of you.

[Jenna Fischer]

I was probably jealous too, because I really like those sour cream and onion chips.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do love sour cream and onion. You and my daughter Isabel loves them.

[Jenna Fischer]

I do, too. I can't keep them in the house. It'll just be cheddar bunnies all over again.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

So now we're back at Dunder Mifflin, and this is such a quirky little storyline where Kevin comes up to Jim and says, would you like to join me in the women's bathroom.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought this was so funny because I just so believe this curiosity of, like, what's it like on the other side over there? You know, I mean, I've been in a men's room and, like, it's disgusting.

[Jenna Fischer]

Disgusting.

[Angela Kinsey]

So gross. Like, I. I've been like, somewhere, like a Starbucks like, a year ago or so, and there's a line for the women's room. And like, I. My daughter really, really had to go, and there was no one in the men's room. So I was like, listen, we'll just go quickly. And you go in the men's room and it's like, ugh, what is going on in there?

[Jenna Fischer]

Another thing I'd like to say is that, you know, there are a lot of fathers with daughters and they are actively parenting their children and they go places and their kids need to use the bathroom. And by the way, their little boys need to sit down too. Can we keep our bathrooms clean, guys? Can we keep them a little cleaner so that dads can take their kids to the bathroom? And it's not totally disgusting.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna is just asking two things, guys. No dick pics.

[Jenna Fischer]

Unless if a lady asks for your.

[Angela Kinsey]

Dick pic, send her away.

[Jenna Fischer]

Go for it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fire away. I don't know why that's making me laugh, but yeah, and keep your toilets tidy. So, yes, Kevin is curious. He wants to go in the women's room and he goes in, he's like, oh, my God, you gotta see this. There's like a sofa, there's potpourri, there's candles, there's like a nice lamp. You know, magazines.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you blame us? This is our only sanctuary away from Michael. We've had to do this in this office. It's the one place he cannot come speak to us. So we've created, I believe, a sanctuary.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I have to tell you, this bathroom, the woman's bathroom set, this is a non working bathroom. None of the sinks and toilets actually worked when we weren't using them.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was always bummed about that, by.

[Jenna Fischer]

The way, because they were so conveniently located to our set. But they weren't real.

[Angela Kinsey]

The actual bathrooms were much further away. And I always wished our fake toilets and sinks worked.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, they used to put signs on the toilets warning visitors that they were fake and not hooked up to any plumbing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, and I feel like those signs were made because someone didn't know they had to deal with that moment.

[Jenna Fischer]

They did.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yuck.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's true. A visitor used our fake toilet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Can you imagine if You're a big fan of the office and you get to come to set and get a tour and you're just giddy. You're so happy to see all these characters that you love. And you're the visitor that took a dump in the fake toilet on set. Who was that person? That person knows who they are. And that's why we had to make signs and tape up the toilets.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, my God.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, sorry.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, also, I want to say that the bathroom didn't look like this before this episode. They had to build this little set.

[Angela Kinsey]

They did. I mean, pretty much. These fake bathrooms were really small. And when they weren't being used, they were storage. They were like closets.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. The crew would keep like their stands and lights and things behind those bathroom doors.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, this scene that they have in the bathroom, they're kind of just chit chatting. And Jim says that he's going out to dinner for his six month anniversary with Karen. And I have a question. Do we celebrate our six month anniversary of dating?

[Angela Kinsey]

Are we doing that? I think you do if things aren't going well.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's what I was gonna say.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You mark the occasion of your six month dating anniversary when you need something to celebrate. Cause it's been difficult.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. Cause you're like, we made it six months and this will mean a lot to her. So let's celebrate it.

[Jenna Fischer]

I have that same thought.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was cracking up in the scene because Ryan clearly doesn't know what potpourri is. Is he gonna eat it? He's playing with it. He's f fidgeting. And it's also awkward. He sent Karen this email and Jim's like, yes. She read it to me. It was so cringy and just so well done. But I couldn't help but watch BJ playing with that potpourri.

[Jenna Fischer]

I agree. Well, back at the mall, Meredith is parking the van and she is just. Just crashing into a car next to her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Jenna, in the DVD commentary, they said, we really did that. We really, really scraped up an actual car.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, not a. Not one that we didn't own.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, we owned it. But still, they were gonna see if they could cheat it where it looked really tight, but you can't. Oh, right.

[Jenna Fischer]

And just put in like a sound effect or something.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, they were gonna put in a sound effect and see if maybe we could just cheat. But you couldn't. You could see it too clearly. So they just let Kate actually do that. Kate Flannery. There was no stunt driver wedged that van and scraped up that car.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then we had to pay for the damages.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

But it was our car. It was. It was like a picture car.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. As our sort of prop car.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, when we get into the mall, we're up in the food court. And you remember, lady, it was like 7am yeah. And I. It was so early. And I just watched this scene. You talk about Ryan playing with the potpourri. And I was just watching this, being so impressed that Rashida committed to eating those chips at 7am I was like, you go.

[Angela Kinsey]

I remember really wishing we had soda. Like, I was like, oh, I'd give anything for a Coca Cola or something because it was so early, but those cups just had water in them. And I was like, oh, dang it, I could use some caffeine.

[Jenna Fischer]

I remember being very jealous of Mindy. Cinnabon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And I'm just reading the Electric City the whole time, which is an actual Scranton newspaper.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Well, I also want to note that in this scene, Michael says, ladies, let's dish about anything on your mind. And then I counted. There is a 15 second moment of silence.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that. I love when our show does that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I know. And he breaks the silence by asking what a pap smear is. And then also, is it schmear? Growing up as a young woman, it was a little unclear to me if it was smear or schmear.

[Angela Kinsey]

I had no idea.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's smear.

[Angela Kinsey]

Pap smear.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pap smear.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just if. And if this has been haunting anyone else, it is not schmear. Like the cream cheese on a bagel.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

They smear it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

After they pap it.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Pam changes the subject to Kelly and Ryan, but that doesn't really go anywhere. And then Michael starts asking them about role play. And this is when he. I guess it becomes clear that he and Jan do role play where he is the school girl. But.

[Angela Kinsey]

But also, apparently, so does Phyllis. Phyllis, like, yeah, it can be fun.

[Jenna Fischer]

Phyllis is very. She is. She's certainly not disapproving of the idea.

[Angela Kinsey]

No. She said.

[Jenna Fischer]

Angela, however, is like, I'm out of here. I'm going to the doll store.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. She's like, I don't need to sit here and listen to Michael talk about his sex life with Jan. I'm out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Now, Angela, there is a big scene coming up now, and then you're not in it. What were you doing? Were you just back in your trailer?

[Angela Kinsey]

I kind of remember sitting by the. The pretzel place. The Auntie Ann's Print. Like Pretzel Place.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought it was a Wetzel's Pretzel.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, it's one of those.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, in this scene, we ask Michael to make a list of pros and cons for why he is with Jan. And one of his cons is, I'm not happy when I'm with her. And we. We all kind of, like, help him. Hear that, Right? Or, like, michael, I think you should break up with Jan. And he's not sure. And Phyllis is like, no thinking, what do you want to do? And Michael says, I want to break up with Jan. I want to break up with Jan. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, I feel like this is, like, a great little moment that Phyllis has, and I've done stuff like this. Jenna, haven't you. Haven't you, like, had a moment where you're like. You have a lot of feelings about something, and you're trying to make sense of them, and you just are like, okay, quiet my mind. How does this make me feel if.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm having a hard time making a decision? It could be a big thing or a small thing. I'll get out a coin, and let's make it a small thing. Let's be like, I want to buy this new couch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I can't decide.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

So heads is by the couch, and tails is don't buy the couch. I don't let the coin decide, but what I do is I flip it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then I note my reaction to the answer, because usually you kind of do care. Yes or no. So if I flip it and it says, no, don't buy the couch, and I feel relieved, then I have my answer. But if it says, no, don't buy the couch, and I'm disappointed, and I'm like, oh, two out of three. That means I want to buy the couch.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did that make sense?

[Angela Kinsey]

It does make sense. I feel like I always know. I always know pretty much how I feel about something in the moment. I don't have to, like, break down how I feel about it. It's very clear to me.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's easy for you to make decisions.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Even with breakups and relationships.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, here's the thing about relationships. Sometimes you know, but it takes you a while before you can say it out loud because of the ramifications.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I think you always know.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I think the women really help Michael know, and he is very excited. And to thank them for helping him, he's gonna buy each one of them an item from Victoria's Secret. It's what we all Wanted.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then there is a talking head that Lee Eisenberg, the writer of this episode, said is one of his favorite things he got to write for Steve because Steve's delivery is so great. It's the one where he says most guys want their women in high heels with cleavage and wearing skimpy little outfits. I'm paraphrasing, obviously, but that he thinks a woman looks best absolutely naked. He just said. When he heard Steve delivered the end of that talking head, he so nailed it. It was like. It was like a gymnast sticking the landing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, totally. Well, Jenna, here's one quick thing. There are deleted scenes for this episode, and there's some really great ones, but one that I found sort of curious and fun is that all the women go into the Victoria Secrets, except for Pam and Angela. They hang back outside in the mall, and there's a beat where you and I look at each other, and we don't really say anything, and we're like, I guess. And then we both walk in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that's very interesting, because we had a fan catch from Sophia Lee. And this is one of those moments. Ange, at 20 minutes, 10 seconds, you and I are way back in the background of Steve's talking head, and we're just walking together through Victoria's Secret. I feel like we didn't know we were on camera, and we're just shopping.

[Angela Kinsey]

We were just sort of being chatty in the background.

[Jenna Fischer]

Totally.

[Angela Kinsey]

That tracks.

[Jenna Fischer]

Should we go back to the ladies lounge at Dunder Mifflin?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And I have one of my favorite lines from this episode, and it's Toby and Paul Lieberstein totally crushes it. Yes. Kevin's like, we should do this more often, guys. This is great. And Toby goes, I think we hang out an appropriate amount of time. Yeah. It's so good. It's so good.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then at 20 minutes, 35 seconds, we have a major old tech alert when Creed enters the bathroom with a.

[Angela Kinsey]

Walkman with a yellow waterproof Walkman. Do you remember those?

[Jenna Fischer]

I owned one. I own one.

[Angela Kinsey]

I own one.

[Jenna Fischer]

They were the best.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you remember the little gray buttons, though, would pop off? Yep, yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you'd have to wedge them back in.

[Jenna Fischer]

But it was fun.

[Angela Kinsey]

And why did we need a waterproof Walkman?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the idea was that you were gonna get so sweaty while you were working out. But I mean, really?

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I guess. Also, Brian Baumgartner told me that when Creed would enter the bathroom with that Walkman and be completely stunned and horrified that other people were in there. It would make everyone crack up. And they had a really, really hard time just getting that. Just getting Creed in the room. They could not get Creed in.

[Angela Kinsey]

I loved Creed's talking head, too, because he's listening to music while he's doing the talking head. So he's sort of, like, yelling over the music he's listening to.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I think it's pretty on brand that Creed would go poo in the women's restroom. You know those people, Jenna, you know those people? We've had roommates. The roommate that goes and takes a dump in your bathroom instead of theirs, that's Creed.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, now, Ang, we go back to the mall. Angela and Michael are sitting, and I love the scene so much. Michael is dying for Angela to pick something out that he can buy her. He has a line where he says, can I please buy you some underwear?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. So. So, you guys, Steve wanted me to break. He was 100% messing with me. And I'd been given a very strict note from Tucker Gates and Lee and Jean that they really did not want Angela to entertain him at all. So I had to sit there, very stoic as Steve, as Michael just got to throw these lines at me. And there's. There's a few in the bloopers because it was really hard to keep it together. And Steve was just having a great time.

[Jenna Fischer]

I watched the bloopers for this, and there is a great line that didn't make it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is it because I started laughing?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. But Steve went on to improvise something along the lines of, like, pretend it's Christmas and I'm Santa. Santa would like to buy you some panties.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And I started laughing so hard. Oh, that was very hard for me to get through. And I feel like Steve just started making up things. He's like, want a tea back? And I was like, I know. Don't. I don't even know what that is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Pam has a talking head where she explains that she's between boyfriends right now. She doesn't need anything sexy, so she's gonna buy a robe and just turn it into some hand towels. I thought that was really industrious of her.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought. I thought it was ridiculous. I'm like, pam, just get a pair of comfy sweatpants.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right. That's true.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. And just go buy some wash rag.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow. We have very different responses to this talking head.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was offended. I love a good bathrobe. Come on, Pam. Don't cut it up.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, well, now Meredith is driving everyone home from the Mall, and her tire blows out.

[Angela Kinsey]

Probably because she was going too fast. I mean, how many times is my character, like, slower, slower? Meredith. Yeah. Meredith doesn't take care of her car. That tire blows out. Michael has no idea what to do. He's like, pam, maybe we need a Crescent Allen. That's not a thing.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Pam is like, I'll do it. And she starts to change the tire. We had a fan question from Megan Keel, Ciara Begley, Bethany A. Victoria Nash, and Jamie Hahn. Does Jenna really know how to change a tire? Yes, I do.

[Angela Kinsey]

So do I. And I've changed one on the side of the road with a friend of mine.

[Jenna Fischer]

Same. Yes. My dad taught me how to change a tire. He would make me practice, and he would not let me get a car until I knew how to change a tire. Check the oil and replace the fluids.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love that our dads taught us how to handle our cars. I just think that's so sweet. Okay, so now we're back at the office, and you guys can. Jim goes to grab a yogurt, and he sees Pam's sketch of Dwight, and he knows it's Pam. And I just feel like this is just a little moment between the two of them, even though they're not together. Yeah, I just thought it was really sweet.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, they've purposely not had much Jim Pam interaction for the last three episodes because, you know, next week is Beach Games.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we're gonna have a big moment. Oh. And they really wanted that to be a surprise.

[Angela Kinsey]

Man. I rewatched Beach Games. I know we'll get there. But I was like, whoa, Pam.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. But even still, they did want some little moment where you were reminded of the affection of these two characters. And this was it. Just him seeing the poster. That's all you got this episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

And it inspired him for the tag. And we'll get to that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think so, too.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, something we haven't talked much about is the Andy Dwight storyline in this episode where they're going around and they're hanging up these posters, and Dwight is just being so condescending to Andy the whole time. But it's very clear to Andy that this is a drawing of Dwight. So he's going along with it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. And he takes extra flyers, says he's going to put them up all over the town. And there is a great deleted scene. Jenna. It's a quick moment, but as Michael and the ladies are driving back, they come to a red light, and Michael looks out the window and sees one of the flyers on A tree. And he looks at it and then looks to camera and goes, idiot.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's brilliant.

[Angela Kinsey]

So Andy's having some fun at Dwight's expense because he's going to just plaster these everywhere. And there is a great scene when at 23 minutes, 40 seconds, Andy shows Dwight a Three Musketeers and goes, havesies. And Dwight's like, no holzies. And he takes the whole thing in true Dwight fashion, just starts chomping down on it. Well, in one of the takes as Rain ate this candy bar this way, he choked and kind of. I remember that he choked and coughed and they loved it so much, they were like, will you do it in every take?

[Jenna Fischer]

That's amazing. Well, when Michael and the women get back to the office, Michael asks Phyllis, Karen and Pam to come into his office while he calls Jan to break up with her.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, he's like, I need my girls. I love you guys.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, he gets her voicemail and he leaves a breakup message.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, and Jenna, your performances. Pam is so great. You're like, don't leave a message. He's like, you don't want him to leave a message. But he does.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then before he can finish it, Jan walks in. She walks in.

[Angela Kinsey]

Can you imagine? I can't imagine. And then he's just like, all right, buddy, talk to you later.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, someone just walked in.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, and Phyllis and Karen and Pam, they clear the heck out of there. They're like, we're getting out of here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And Jan then apologizes. She says, I don't like how that phone call went earlier, so I drove all the way here to say I'm sorry. Can we get some dinner?

[Angela Kinsey]

They awkwardly hold hands.

[Jenna Fischer]

Such a weird moment.

[Angela Kinsey]

So weird. Steve's performance in this scene is so brilliant. When she starts listening to the message and he's kind of looking off. He has this expression on his face. His face. It's just brilliant. And he's just saying things like, maybe we could get Italian, Chinese.

[Jenna Fischer]

Jan hears the breakup message and she leaves without saying a word. Yeah, but I went to the blogs of Jenny Tan and Cath, what they have. Well, first of all, Kath said that when they started shooting the scene, Melora had on dark colored nail polish. And Greg stopped the scene because he didn't think that it fit her character. And he had them change it.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, wow.

[Jenna Fischer]

And she noted how impressed she was at his attention to detail, that everything mattered, the smallest details mattered. And I can imagine if that nail polish was distracting to Greg, it might be distracting to an audience member. And it would take you out of this scene. And being in this scene with these two characters was so important.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. That would have been weird to me to see Jan with dark nail polish. I would have been thrown by that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, Jenny Tan said that while they were shooting this scene, they gave Melora and Steve the option of doing alternate endings. And that in one, Melora threw something, and in another one, she growled at him. She just growled at the end.

[Angela Kinsey]

Growled, Growled.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then in another one, she broke down crying. And they were watching the taping with Jean and Leigh, the writers, and Jean and Leigh asked them their opinion and that she and Cath said that they both felt that Jan would be more mad than sad. And they were so excited when they saw the final cut because they felt like they had a little part in picking the ending of the scene.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, I thought it was the perfect ending. I also think that Jan is not going to spiral out in an office where she is everyone's superior.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. And in front of the cameras.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah. I feel like the part, like, once she got in her car, maybe it was a different story, but. But she wasn't going to let them see too much. So the episode is wrapping up. We have Michael's talking head. And Jean and Lee said this was actually a series of three talking heads that they meshed together. And then they had all this B roll when he's, like, he wished for Jan to get over him and Phyllis to get a plasma TV for Pam to get courage and Angela to get a heart and Kelly to get a brain.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

All of these moments, I just loved it. I thought it was, like, such a great way to wrap up the episode. And now, Jenna, let's discuss the tag.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is amazing. Lee Eisenberg told me that it was actually Randall Einhorn who pitched this tag.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. Who. Who pitched the idea of the Sharpie on the mirror. Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. So in this tag, Jim calls the sex predator hotline. He has information. Dwight answers the phone. And Kath noted in her blog that it took rain six takes to get out the line. Dunder Mifflin slash sex predator hotline. This is Dwight Schrute. He had a really hard time saying it, like, because it was making them laugh. And Jim tells Dwight that he saw the perp in the woman's bathroom above the sink.

[Angela Kinsey]

And this is Jim. This is Jim and Pam having a prank with each other without even knowing it. They're just missing each other because Dwight.

[Jenna Fischer]

Runs in the bathroom. He looks in the mirror. And this was Randall's pitch that There would be a little sharpie mustache and Dwight would take off his glasses and realize that he is the person on the flyer.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's so great. It's so great. You know, I think it would have been funny without the sharpie, but the sharpie nails it. The sharpie makes it so. That was a phenomenal idea by Randall Einhorn.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, that was women's appreciation. Do you guys feel like you appreciate women more?

[Angela Kinsey]

I hope so. I had two things. I was tracking Jenna, and I feel like I should share them with you now, please. First of all, Pam's plant at reception.

[Jenna Fischer]

There's not.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's not a new container. I'm sure the plant is new, but we have recycled a container.

[Jenna Fischer]

Which one is it?

[Angela Kinsey]

This week it is the indigo purple one with polka dots. Callback plant container. I know. Riveting, you guys, but I'm obsessed. The other thing I tracked. Sorry. To parents with children listening. Maybe earmuffs. Here is our penis count.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, great.

[Angela Kinsey]

So this is the actual times we say the word penis, not all of the other ways we talk about it. Because we talk about it in a lot of different ways in this episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Michael says penis twice and DWight says penis four times. We actually only say the word penis six times in the whole episode.

[Jenna Fischer]

See? So if your grandma hadn't turned this off, she would have only had to hear it five more times.

[Angela Kinsey]

Didn't matter. Didn't want to hear it one time. Click off. Finished.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, and now we're finished. But we'll be back next week with Beach Games.

[Angela Kinsey]

Beach Games is so great. And Jen Salata is going to send in some audio clips. She has some phenomenal stories. I can't wait.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can't wait. We'll see you then.

[Angela Kinsey]

See you guys. Have a great one.

[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.

[Angela Kinsey]

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

[Jenna Fischer]

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

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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