August 8, 2023

EP. 174.5 — A Look Back on The Carpet

This week we take a look back on “The Carpet”. Michael discovers a repulsive substance on his office carpet that pushes him to work in the bullpen with the rest of the Dunder Mifflin employees. Angela gets a little edgy talking about the TV Show “Fear Factor,” Jenna does a deep dive on Rock 107 and you know we got plenty of sass. Enjoy!

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Transcript

JENNA [00:00:00] Hey, gang, you know, we like to keep our podcast PG. ANGELA [00:00:03] Well, I blew it on this one, guys. I’m sorry. JENNA [00:00:07] So we wanted to warn you before you listen in case you’re listening with your kids around the 20-minute mark. Angela goes off the rails. ANGELA [00:00:13] Well, hey, wait a second. I just tell a story about an episode of “Fear Factor”. It’s got some adult-. JENNA [00:00:19] There’s no other way to tell it. ANGELA [00:00:20] There’s some adult subject matter. JENNA [00:00:22] You told it how you needed to. ANGELA [00:00:23] And you might want to, you know, put earmuffs on the kids at the 20-minute mark. JENNA [00:00:27] Turn it down, skip five minutes ahead, whatever you need to do. And for the rest of you, enjoy. ANGELA [00:00:33] And sorry. JENNA [00:00:38] I’m Jenna Fischer. ANGELA [00:00:39] I’m Angela Kinsey. JENNA [00:00:40] We were on “T

Transcript

174.5 — A Look Back on The Carpet

JENNA [00:00:00] Hey, gang, you know, we like to keep our podcast PG.

ANGELA [00:00:03] Well, I blew it on this one, guys. I’m sorry.

JENNA [00:00:07] So we wanted to warn you before you listen in case you’re listening with your kids around the 20-minute mark. Angela goes off the rails.

ANGELA [00:00:13] Well, hey, wait a second. I just tell a story about an episode of “Fear Factor”. It’s got some adult-.

JENNA [00:00:19] There’s no other way to tell it.

ANGELA [00:00:20] There’s some adult subject matter.

JENNA [00:00:22] You told it how you needed to.

ANGELA [00:00:23] And you might want to, you know, put earmuffs on the kids at the 20-minute mark.

JENNA [00:00:27] Turn it down, skip five minutes ahead, whatever you need to do. And for the rest of you, enjoy.

ANGELA [00:00:33] And sorry.

JENNA [00:00:38] I’m Jenna Fischer.

ANGELA [00:00:39] I’m Angela Kinsey.

JENNA [00:00:40] We were on “The Office” together.

ANGELA [00:00:42] And we’re best friends.

JENNA [00:00:43] And now we’re doing the Ultimate Office re-watch podcast just for you.

ANGELA [00:00:47] 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 [00:00:54] We’re the “Office Ladies”. … Hi Ang.

ANGELA [00:00:58] Hey Jenna, why are you looking at me like that?

JENNA [00:01:02] Because I have some sciatica pain in my hip.

ANGELA [00:01:04] Oh, Lord, is this how we’re starting today?

JENNA [00:01:06] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:01:07] All right. What else you got?

JENNA [00:01:08] Well, I was trying to stretch it. You told me I had to sit down.

ANGELA [00:01:12] You guys. She was kicking her leg in the air.

JENNA [00:01:15] It was comfortable, but you felt good.

ANGELA [00:01:17] You think you can do that for 45 minutes?

JENNA [00:01:19] I think I can. Yeah.

ANGELA [00:01:21] Okay. Go. You go, girl.

JENNA [00:01:24] I thought I could kick my leg and do this podcast at the same time. But Angela told me to sit down.

ANGELA [00:01:29] I did because-.

JENNA [00:01:30] She said, “Sit down”!

ANGELA [00:01:30] I didn’t say it like that. I was like, “A, you’re going to hurt yourself. B. I don’t think I can concentrate watching you kick your foot up like that”.

JENNA [00:01:37] All right. Well, I might need to do it midway, but let’s get started.

ANGELA [00:01:41] OK, Jenna. When you do it midway, I’m going to film you and I’m gonna put on “Office Ladies”.

JENNA [00:01:47] All right.

ANGELA [00:01:48] Dot com.

JENNA [00:01:49] All right. Today we are talking about “The Carpet”. It is Season 2, Episode 14, written by Paul Lieberstein, a.k.a. Toby and directed by Victor Nelli Jr.

ANGELA [00:02:01] Yeah.

JENNA [00:02:02] I’m going to give you a summary.

ANGELA [00:02:03] Do it.

JENNA [00:02:04] In this episode. Someone leaves a gift on Michael’s carpet.

ANGELA [00:02:11] You could call it that.

JENNA [00:02:12] In his office. It is soft. It is smelly.

ANGELA [00:02:16] You’re going to describe it?

JENNA [00:02:17] It is brown.

ANGELA [00:02:18] Gross.

JENNA [00:02:19] But the question is, who done it? Michael is determined to find out. Everyone’s a suspect. He suspects everyone in the office. To keep a close eye on the office, he takes over Jim’s desk, which forces Jim to go work at an empty desk right next to Kelly. And Jim quickly learns why Kelly works in the back by herself. But the biggest surprise of this episode might be that you finally see Pam and Roy getting along. They’ve come back from a vacation and they’re all giggly.

ANGELA [00:02:50] They’re giggly. They’ve been in the Poconos.

JENNA [00:02:52] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:02:53] Which I Googled. It’s only about 51 minutes from Scranton.

JENNA [00:02:57] And is it snowy?

ANGELA [00:02:58] It’s snowy because this was January. And here are the best activities because I went down the rabbit hole of the Poconos. Now I want to go to the Poconos. It’s beautiful. In the winter, here are the best activities to do in the Poconos. Ready?

JENNA [00:03:10] All right.

ANGELA [00:03:10] One hour away from Scranton. Snow tubing. Skiing. Snowboarding. A casino. Snowmobile. Ice skating. Snowshoeing. There’s a brewery and a spa.

JENNA [00:03:21] I bet Roy went to the brewery.

ANGELA [00:03:23] Yeah.

JENNA [00:03:23] I mean.

ANGELA [00:03:24] I mean. Yeah.

JENNA [00:03:25] That’s for sure.

ANGELA [00:03:26] They pretty much did that and the casino.

JENNA [00:03:29] Jim asked Pam if she did a lot of skiing. And she says, not really.

ANGELA [00:03:33] Yeah. She says, a little.

JENNA [00:03:34] Or a little.

ANGELA [00:03:34] A little.

JENNA [00:03:36] A little. All right. Are you ready for some Fast Facts?

ANGELA [00:03:37] I am. And then at some point, Jenna, you’ll have to let me know with your sciatica and all of that business.

JENNA [00:03:42] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:03:43] I do have a gift for you.

JENNA [00:03:44] You do?

ANGELA [00:03:45] Yes. And I want to share it with you right here with all of our “Office Ladies” listeners, because y’all been listenin. Oh, my gosh. Who am I? I should tell you guys, my sister, Janet, from Texas, has been here for a week. So I just said y’all been listenin.

JENNA [00:04:00] Yeah. When you two get together, you get all southern.

ANGELA [00:04:03] I get very southern. So anyway, you guys will get it. You’ll be in on the joke. And that’s why I want to give it to you. Like during a podcast.

JENNA [00:04:10] Do you want to give it to me right now before we start with fast facts?

ANGELA [00:04:13] I guess we should after I’ve said all that.

JENNA [00:04:14] That’s a big buildup. Let’s do it.

ANGELA [00:04:16] You’re probably really curious?

JENNA [00:04:17] Oh, it’s wrapped in bubble wrap. Just like Michael’s foot from the injury.

ANGELA [00:04:20] Look at you with your little Office callback.

JENNA [00:04:22] That’s right.

ANGELA [00:04:23] You guys that have been listening know that Jenna hasn’t really seen Star Wars. And it’s OK. I’ve come to terms with this, you guys. I don’t like scary movies.

JENNA [00:04:32] Right.

ANGELA [00:04:32] This is an impasse in our friendship. What are we gonna do? So anyway. But you did say you love Star Wars sort of memorabilia and things.

JENNA [00:04:43] I do. Yeah.

ANGELA [00:04:44] You were Princess Leia for Halloween as a kid.

JENNA [00:04:46] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:04:47] Right. All right. So remember my little baby Yoda.

JENNA [00:04:51] No.

ANGELA [00:04:51] My crochet baby Yoda.

JENNA [00:04:53] Stop it.

ANGELA [00:04:54] Okay. So I have to give a huge shout out to Shay. He crochet this. He is one of my insta pal friends. His name on Instagram is O’Shay what is it? It’s “4onFleek”. Am I saying that right? I hope so. But he heard how much you loved mine and Jenna.

JENNA [00:05:12] Oh.

ANGELA [00:05:12] He made you one. Look at him, baby Yoda.

JENNA [00:05:15] Oh my gosh.

ANGELA [00:05:16] In his little crib. And it’s crocheted by hand.

JENNA [00:05:19] And look, it’s a Christmas ornament.

ANGELA [00:05:22] It’s a Christmas ornament.

JENNA [00:05:22] Well, you know, two of my favorite things are Christmas decor.

ANGELA [00:05:26] And handmade Christmas stuff. You love that.

JENNA [00:05:28] Yes. And also baby things like things up made into babies.

ANGELA [00:05:33] I know.

JENNA [00:05:33] Right? Baby elephant. I was just watching this movie “Journey 2” with my son. And they have little bitty tiny elephants on the island. Elephants are shrunk down and their little, and they’re so cute when they’re tiny.

ANGELA [00:05:46] Well, now you have a tiny baby Yoda crotcheted.

JENNA [00:05:48] And now I have a baby Yoda.

ANGELA [00:05:49] And that’s from Shay, Jenna.

JENNA [00:05:51] Oh, Shay, thank you so much. Angela, thank you so much. Well, Angela-.

ANGELA [00:05:56] You had to have one.

JENNA [00:05:57] I have a surprise for you, but I’m going to save it.

ANGELA [00:06:00] Is it a scary movie you’re gonna make me see?

JENNA [00:06:02] I cut you a severed head.

ANGELA [00:06:06] No!

JENNA [00:06:06] From a famous, famous scary movie.

ANGELA [00:06:06] From a Halloween store?

JENNA [00:06:10] No. I got you Freddy’s glove. No, I didn’t. This is not a tangible item that I’m gonna hand you, but it is a thing I’m gonna tell you.

ANGELA [00:06:20] Okay. I can’t wait. Okay.

JENNA [00:06:21] Let’s start with Fast Fact Number One: I declare with full authority-.

ANGELA [00:06:28] Bankruptcy! No.

JENNA [00:06:30] We have reached full Mindy.

ANGELA [00:06:34] Boop a doop ba do!

JENNA [00:06:34] “The Carpet” is when we reach full Mindy!

ANGELA [00:06:36] This is full Mindy, you guys, you’re going to hear it, you know it. It’s happening.

JENNA [00:06:42] I asked Sam to make a compilation of all of the things that the character of Kelly says to Jim back in the annex to prove that we have hit full Mindy. So first of all, the hair is transformed.

ANGELA [00:06:54] The hair is pretty much down. Just a tiny clip, but it’s fashionable.

JENNA [00:06:57] The outfit, super pink, fluffy skirt, all of it.

ANGELA [00:07:01] Pink lipstick. She sits on her desk. She puts her feet up. She’s like. I mean, come on. She also talks about Beyonce. This is a big thing. She talks about the color pink. She crushes on Ryan. And at the end, she breaks. Here it is, in its glory, the full Mindy.

ANGELA [00:07:20] Do it.

MINDY [00:07:21] I’m serious. My closet doors will not shut. Beyonce. Pink, the color. Pink, the person. Hot dogs. Basically, anything that is awesome. Oh, my God. He is so cute. Would you talk to him for me? And see if he likes me. Oh, please, Jim, please, please, Jim, please, please, please. He’s so cute. I like him so much. And I would do it, but I’m too shy. Please, Jim, please, please, please, please, Jim, please, please, please.

JENNA [00:07:50] There you go.

ANGELA [00:07:50] Oh man. And poor Jim. This episode. We’ll get to that. But come on. Beyonce. There’s a lot of Mindy here.

JENNA [00:07:58] Yes, I think this is it. Now we’re going to track and see if she stays full Mindy. Don’t worry we’re not done tracking this. In case you were worried. Oh, yeah. I mean, if, you know, next episode she has a bun. We’re gonna let you know. I’m pretty sure in “Casino Night” she gets extensions like suddenly that we never speak of or her character never speak of, but she’s got this gorgeous long hair in “Casino Night”. So we’ll, we’ll track that as well. All right Fast Fact Number Two: we have a big guest star. Ken Howard shows up as Ed Truck. Now, this is the only episode where we see this character, but we refer to him a lot. He was the boss of the office before Michael and Michael worked under him when he was a salesman. Ken Howard is a famous character actor in Hollywood. First of all, he’s six feet, six inches tall. Is that insane? He’s so tall. You notice in the scene that he does with Steve that he’s like kind of towering over Steve. He’s a very large person. So Ken played basketball in school and he was offered a number of scholarships, but he turned them all down in favor of pursuing an acting career. And he started his career in the theater. Angela, a theater actor.

ANGELA [00:09:09] Why would you? I study theater classes too, Jenna. You’re like, “Angela. It’s this thing called theater”.

JENNA [00:09:15] Theater actor.

ANGELA [00:09:16] I mean, you know, I’m kind of a fancy theater person.

JENNA [00:09:20] Well, you know, I didn’t meet Ken or share a scene with him but our theatre bond was felt.

ANGELA [00:09:26] Did you study like dialects in your acting theater school?

JENNA [00:09:32] I see what you’re doing there. That was a dig.

ANGELA [00:09:34] Do you? You know what? I see what you’re doing.

JENNA [00:09:36] That was a dig.

ANGELA [00:09:36] You’re digging.

JENNA [00:09:37] All right. Well, he won a Tony Award. He appeared in over 100 movies and television series during his 47 year career. Unfortunately, Ken passed away in 2016, but he left behind this huge legacy. You know, he was even the president of the Screen Actors Guild Union for four years.

ANGELA [00:09:56] Yes.

JENNA [00:09:57] So he is, guys, just a, an icon of the entertainment industry. And we were so lucky to have him for just this one scene.

ANGELA [00:10:05] Oh, it was huge. We were thrilled. Thrilled.

JENNA [00:10:07] So, Angela, Fast Fact Number Three. Is my surprise to you.

ANGELA [00:10:13] Oh, OK.

JENNA [00:10:14] Are you ready for it?

ANGELA [00:10:15] I don’t know.

JENNA [00:10:17] I watched “Game of Thrones”.

ANGELA [00:10:19] What? What?

JENNA [00:10:20] That’s right.

ANGELA [00:10:21] What episode?

JENNA [00:10:22] The first two and a half episodes.

ANGELA [00:10:23] Did you really?

JENNA [00:10:24] Yeah. I couldn’t turn it off.

ANGELA [00:10:28] Do you like it?

JENNA [00:10:28] I have a lot of thoughts.

ANGELA [00:10:29] Oh, no.

JENNA [00:10:30] Do you want my thoughts?

ANGELA [00:10:31] Yes.

JENNA [00:10:31] OK. So first of all, episode 1 of “Game of Thrones”.

ANGELA [00:10:36] OK.

JENNA [00:10:37] Very horror movie, Angela. The white walkers and like dismembered bodies. Love that.

ANGELA [00:10:43] Oh, I know.

JENNA [00:10:43] I was like, why didn’t she tell me about this part that? I’m in.

ANGELA [00:10:48] I thought you knew about the white walkers. Jenna, we called my cat Otter, the white walker.

JENNA [00:10:52] I didn’t know what that meant. I don’t know what that means.

ANGELA [00:10:56] It’s because he was so old. He was like 22 years old and he barely had any fur left and he’d be like “meeem”. And we call him the white walker.

JENNA [00:11:02] Well, I liked the opening. Then we cut to the credit sequence, which is going over this map of land and names of lands.

ANGELA [00:11:14] Ok, that is long.

JENNA [00:11:14] And I was just like, oh, this is the part I don’t want to learn.

ANGELA [00:11:17] Ok. That part is long and you just get past it. And also, as seasons change and the topography changes, those images change. But anyway, just skip over it.

JENNA [00:11:25] Then I want to say there’s a lot of brother-sister, love.

ANGELA [00:11:30] Listen, in the beginning.

JENNA [00:11:31] Just a lot.

ANGELA [00:11:33] In the beginning. And then I think that kind of tapers off a little bit.

JENNA [00:11:36] Okay.

ANGELA [00:11:37] I know. Jenna. Listen. There’s some messed up stuff.

JENNA [00:11:40] OK, well, I’m liking the-. Is that the Stark family?

ANGELA [00:11:44] Yes.

JENNA [00:11:44] Lord Stark.

ANGELA [00:11:45] Yes.

JENNA [00:11:46] And his family. I’m digging on them.

ANGELA [00:11:48] Oh, OK.

JENNA [00:11:49] I’m hating the queen and her brother.

ANGELA [00:11:51] Oh, yeah. I know.

JENNA [00:11:53] Oh.

ANGELA [00:11:53] The Lannisters.

JENNA [00:11:54] Oh, the Lannisters is that their name? OK, but here’s my big observation.

ANGELA [00:11:58] OK.

JENNA [00:11:59] And I want you to help me out here. This is fantasy, right? This is not based on anything.

ANGELA [00:12:03] No.

JENNA [00:12:03] “Game of Thrones” is just fantasy.

ANGELA [00:12:05] Yeah.

JENNA [00:12:06] OK, here’s my beef.

ANGELA [00:12:07] OK. You’re only two episodes in. Go on.

JENNA [00:12:09] Two and a half. Here’s my beef. That’s why I want you to speak to this for me.

ANGELA [00:12:13] OK.

JENNA [00:12:13] Why can’t the women do more than sow and marry?

ANGELA [00:12:17] Oh, they do. They’re going to do a lot more.

JENNA [00:12:19] OK. I’m just saying that, like you take the “Wonder Woman” thing. Right? And it’s fantasy. And so it’s about like a bad ass island of women warriors because we can make up anything we want. It’s not based in any real time period.

ANGELA [00:12:34] Right.

JENNA [00:12:35] So why does fantasy, as a genre in general, seem to put men and women in such traditional roles?

ANGELA [00:12:44] Basically, especially for “Game of Thrones”, I mean, you guys out there that have watched it know this was kind of all a bit of a subtle hint, but she’s not gonna get it. So, you know, just ignore. Ignore. The women pretty much end up burning it all the ground. They are literally like, “I am woman”! They serve it up, lady. Don’t you worry.

JENNA [00:13:02] All right.

ANGELA [00:13:02] They’re going to dish it out.

JENNA [00:13:04] I really hope that that girl, the girl who loves the sword play. And that’s an-.

ANGELA [00:13:09] Aria. Oh, yeah. Trust me.

JENNA [00:13:11] OK.

ANGELA [00:13:11] Aria is gonna do. Aria is gonna be okay. Aria has a list. I’m not even gonna get into it.

JENNA [00:13:16] Oh, wait, whoah, wait, wait. She has a list?

ANGELA [00:13:18] You don’t want to be on her list.

JENNA [00:13:20] You know I love a list.

ANGELA [00:13:21] Oh honey, you don’t want to be on this list.

JENNA [00:13:23] Oh.

ANGELA [00:13:24] OK.

JENNA [00:13:24] I can’t wait for Aria’s list.

ANGELA [00:13:25] Oh, it’s good. OK.

JENNA [00:13:27] I want to say one last thing and we can cut this out if this goes on too long. I want to just say one last thing. Winter is coming?

ANGELA [00:13:35] Winter.

JENNA [00:13:35] We get it. It’s coming, guys. We’ve been talk-, I mean, how many times per episode do they need to say winter’s coming? And also this winter. It’s like I feel like they have the wrong name for it. It doesn’t sound like a winter’s coming. It sounds like an avalanche is coming to bury you for seven years in cold.

ANGELA [00:13:54] It’s an avalanche of dead walking people. OK. They’re coming.

JENNA [00:13:58] I mean. That’s what’s coming?

ANGELA [00:13:59] The white walkers.

JENNA [00:14:00] So the white walkers come with winter, but the white walkers aren’t affected by winter.

ANGELA [00:14:05] Jenna, I’m not going to get into it. I’m not going to get into a thing.

JENNA [00:14:09] I mean, it’s not what I’m saying.

ANGELA [00:14:10] All I’m saying is “winter is coming” is a layered metaphor. OK. It’s not just the cold.

JENNA [00:14:16] Oh, ok.

ANGELA [00:14:17] OK.

JENNA [00:14:18] All right. Well, good. And the Dothrakis? Is that, am I saying it right?

ANGELA [00:14:22] The Dothrakis. Yeah.

JENNA [00:14:23] And Carl Drogo.

ANGELA [00:14:24] Yeah.

JENNA [00:14:26] Is his name Carl?

ANGELA [00:14:27] No, it’s Khal.

JENNA [00:14:28] Oh, Khal.

ANGELA [00:14:30] I love that you thought that the guy that speaks no English and is shirtless on a horse was named Carl.

JENNA [00:14:38] I did.

ANGELA [00:14:39] Khaleesi and Carl, they’re going to make a happy pair. Look at them ridin’ off in the sunset.

JENNA [00:14:44] Carl, I was like-.

ANGELA [00:14:45] Carl.

JENNA [00:14:46] The only refer to him by his first and last name all the time. I have noticed that in two and a half episodes he has only said the word “no” three times.

ANGELA [00:14:54] It’s because he can’t, Khal can’t speak English. Jenna. OK.

JENNA [00:14:58] Well that was it.

ANGELA [00:14:59] Thank you for watching.

JENNA [00:14:59] That was it. I gave in. I did it. I watched it. I’m a little bit hooked.

ANGELA [00:15:05] OK. Good. You’ll love all the white walker stuff. OK, I now, I guess, have to watch what’s it? “The Edge” with you.

JENNA [00:15:13] “The Edge”.

ANGELA [00:15:14] “The Edge”.

JENNA [00:15:14] Have you never seen “The Edge”?

ANGELA [00:15:16] We already, you already know this.

JENNA [00:15:17] But you’ve never seen it?

ANGELA [00:15:20] How many different ways do you want me to tell you I haven’t seen it?

JENNA [00:15:22] You know about the bear. How do you know about the bear?

ANGELA [00:15:25] I’ve seen trailers. I’ve seen. You know what? All I needed to see was a man like getting attacked by a bear. And I’m like, I’m out. Also-.

JENNA [00:15:32] So “The Revenant” was not for you either?

ANGELA [00:15:34] Oh, hell no. I had-.

JENNA [00:15:35] The Academy Award winning film “The Revenant”.

ANGELA [00:15:37] Oh, hell no.

JENNA [00:15:37] Another great survivalist film for all you survivalists out there.

ANGELA [00:15:40] No. I saw a trailer and what’s his name? Leo DiCaprio is getting mauled by a bear and I was like pass. Hard pass.

JENNA [00:15:48] All right. Well. You know, I like quotes from things, and I really appreciated this quote from “Game of Thrones”.

ANGELA [00:15:55] I love that we’re still talking about it. Go.

JENNA [00:15:58] “The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword”.

ANGELA [00:16:01] Oh, yeah.

JENNA [00:16:02] I liked that.

ANGELA [00:16:03] And he made his son cut off that guy’s head.

JENNA [00:16:05] No, he made him watch as he cut off the head.

ANGELA [00:16:08] Well, eventually he makes him cut off someone’s head.

JENNA [00:16:11] Wow. Spoiler alert.

ANGELA [00:16:13] A bunch of people are going to lose their heads just, it’s a part of life back then. OK. Back then in fantasy land.

JENNA [00:16:20] There you go, guys. That was my Fast Fact Number Three. I promise after this break, we will begin talking about “The Office” again. Specifically “The Carpet”. We’ll break down that episode for you.

ANGELA [00:16:31] I think Dwight would have loved “Game of Thrones”.

JENNA [00:16:33] Oh, yeah.

ANGELA [00:16:34] Oh, yeah. I think him and Angela would have watched it.

JENNA [00:16:36] You guys would have spoken to one another in Dothraki.

ANGELA [00:16:39] Oh, for sure. We’re, it would be like our code language.

JENNA [00:16:42] You have a somewhat Dothraki-in relationship, a bit of a Khal-Khaleesi thing.

ANGELA [00:16:47] You mean Carl? All right. Let’s go to break. OK. We’re back from break.

JENNA [00:16:58] We start this episode with a cold open, Pam is on vacation.

ANGELA [00:17:03] Yes.

JENNA [00:17:03] Ryan is at the reception desk and Jim keeps glancing up-.

ANGELA [00:17:07] At Ryan and he’s like.

JENNA [00:17:09] Yes.

ANGELA [00:17:09] And he’s like, “What are you looking at”?

JENNA [00:17:10] And Ryan has that great talking head. Where he’s like “Jim keeps looking over at reception”.

ANGELA [00:17:15] But it’s not as creepy as the way Michael’s looking at him.

JENNA [00:17:18] Yes, exactly.

ANGELA [00:17:19] OK, so the episode starts and Pam is back from vacation. She’s happy. She’s up front reception. Michael walks in and calls her Spamster.

JENNA [00:17:27] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:17:28] He hasn’t done this bit in a while where he takes her name and smooshes it with other things. And she’s like, “Let me guess how you got that. Pam, spam and hampster. Spamster”. And then as he walks off, he goes, “I am Pam Spicoli”. You guys, for you young people. He’s pretending to be Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”.

JENNA [00:17:48] Yeah. That’s a dated reference.

ANGELA [00:17:49] That is a dated reference. Michael goes in his office. What happens, Jenna?

JENNA [00:17:53] There’s something very smelly on the carpet in his office. What I love about this is we don’t ever show you too much of it.

ANGELA [00:18:01] You see a little bit on the carpet, though, and what you see is foul.

JENNA [00:18:05] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:18:05] It is so gross.

JENNA [00:18:06] It’s, it’s pretty awful. And he makes a bunch of people come into the office to see what it is. We had a fan question from David Griffiths and Hayley Crook and many others. They wanted to know, “Was there anything in the office that made it actually smell so that we were having authentic reactions”? No.

ANGELA [00:18:28] That is just some good acting right there.

JENNA [00:18:30] Real good acting. As I watched this, I was so impressed.

ANGELA [00:18:33] I was so impressed. I actually texted Brian and I was like, “I want you to go back and rewatch ‘The Carpet’ when you get a whiff of whatever it is. It made me laugh so hard”. I was like, he did such a great job. And Michael has a line. You guys, I feel like it’s sort of my vernacular, like the way I would talk. He says, “There is a stink in there”.

JENNA [00:18:51] That is how you would describe it.

ANGELA [00:18:53] I know. There is a stink, y’all.

JENNA [00:18:55] And I love Creed’s line. A lot of fans point this out. “Someone making soup”.

ANGELA [00:19:00] “Somebody making soup”. So my sister Janet was visiting and watched this episode with me. She made me screengrab Phyllis’ face reaction to when Creed says “Somebody making soup”. Seriously, it is hilarious. It’s at three minutes, 10 seconds. “Somebody making soup”. Look at Phyllis’ face.

JENNA [00:19:19] Next, we have Michael’s talking head where he’s talking about “Fear Factor” and he has to leave. And then for the rest of the episode, we’re clearing out his office.

ANGELA [00:19:31] I did a deep dive on “Fear Factor”. Why? Jenna. Why did I do a deep dive?

JENNA [00:19:35] I don’t know. This started to happen to us. Where something’s mentioned in an episode and then we spend hours watching clips or researching things on websites.

ANGELA [00:19:44] Oh my gosh. It was like you watching all the videos of the Hooter’s birthdays.

JENNA [00:19:47] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:19:47] I watched these “Fear Factor” clips. You guys, it was like, OK, eat this dried horse rectum. I’m not kidding.

JENNA [00:19:55] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:19:55] I’m not kidding our intestine or something. And then I looked up why it got canceled.

JENNA [00:20:01] OK.

ANGELA [00:20:02] It’s so gross.

JENNA [00:20:03] What happened?

ANGELA [00:20:03] I don’t even think we can say it here.

JENNA [00:20:05] What happened? They got canceled because of an incident?

ANGELA [00:20:09] Yes. And they didn’t air it. But it’s why it got canceled. And Joe Rogan has talked about. It’s so gross.

JENNA [00:20:14] What?

ANGELA [00:20:15] OK. You had two choices. This episode was called the “Hee-Haw” episode. You could drink donkey pee or donkey semen. That is horrible, Jenna. That is horrible.

JENNA [00:20:28] Did they do it?

ANGELA [00:20:30] They did it.

JENNA [00:20:31] Oh.

ANGELA [00:20:32] They did it. And one guy said as he started drinking, he vomited back in his own cup.

JENNA [00:20:36] Oh, God.

ANGELA [00:20:37] It’s horrible.

JENNA [00:20:39] Oh, my God.

ANGELA [00:20:40] It’s horrible. This was, and how, how did this get? I mean, who was like, “Yeah, that’s a great idea. Let’s-” Also how did they get the donkey jizz?

JENNA [00:20:48] Oh, oh, Angela.

ANGELA [00:20:49] I’m sorry. It’s my first thought. Whose job was that?

JENNA [00:20:56] Wow.

ANGELA [00:20:57] Mm hmm.

JENNA [00:20:58] No.

ANGELA [00:20:58] No.

JENNA [00:20:59] No.

ANGELA [00:20:59] No.

JENNA [00:21:00] I don’t think so.

ANGELA [00:21:00] No. Not happening.

JENNA [00:21:04] Next up in the episode. Wow.

ANGELA [00:21:07] Sorry.

JENNA [00:21:08] Did everyone do it? Just like what happens if you don’t do it? You’re out.

ANGELA [00:21:13] I don’t know. Like I know there. You know, there’s the contest. And if you do it, ultimately, whatever all the challenges are. I don’t know how people get picked, but whoever does the challenge, if they don’t do it, they’re out. It was a crazy show. Crazy. All right. I am looking in the booth where Sam and Codi are sitting. And everyone-

JENNA [00:21:32] They seem sad. They seem-

ANGELA [00:21:36] I ruined their day. Hey, you guys, I just feel like this was such a big deal for Michael to like be like this is my “Fear Factor” audition tape. I was like, “Oh, yeah. What was that show again”? I just started looking it up. That was like one of the first things that came up. Anyway, you’re welcome. Where are we?

JENNA [00:21:49] So next up, Jim enters. He asks about Pam’s vacation. He is so excited that she’s back at the reception desk. But then we reveal that Roy and Darryl are also upstairs and that Roy is, they’re cleaning out Michael’s office. They’re gonna replace the carpet, basically. And Pam and Roy are clearly on good terms. They’re like giggly.

ANGELA [00:22:10] They’re giggly and Roy’s like engaging with her. You know what I mean?

JENNA [00:22:14] Yes.

ANGELA [00:22:14] He like looks over and mouths the word “Help”, you know, because he’s got to go do this gross job and she laughs. And so they’re being kind of flirty and sweet. And Jim clocks it right away.

JENNA [00:22:24] We had a fan question from Jamie Boggs. “Why on earth are the warehouse guys changing the carpet? How is that in their job description”? I kind of agree, but it makes sense to me. I feel like Michael makes people do things outside of their job description all the time. And so we kind of had to do this, too, just as a writing convention. We needed a reason for Roy to be upstairs for this whole episode.

ANGELA [00:22:46] Right.

JENNA [00:22:47] So we kind of need him to change the carpet. But a lot of people asked, “Did they really rip up and replace the carpet”? Well, they did really rip it up.

ANGELA [00:22:56] Mmhmm.

JENNA [00:22:56] But I don’t think they really replaced it. I think they just put it back down again in the end.

ANGELA [00:23:01] Yeah, I think there was like a top carpet they pulled up.

JENNA [00:23:03] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:23:03] But then they-. Yeah. Yeah exactly.

JENNA [00:23:05] So but they did. I mean they really did dismantle the office in the middle of this shooting.

ANGELA [00:23:10] Yes. And all of Michael’s talking heads take place in the conference room. All of the stuff is piled behind him.

JENNA [00:23:15] Yes.

ANGELA [00:23:15] So that’s sort of a new spot where we see Michael.

JENNA [00:23:18] That was a fan question, too, from Alexandra. “What is the room? Michael has his talking heads in while his carpet is being cleaned”.

ANGELA [00:23:24] It’s a conference room. I was curious, too. And so I zoomed in on the scene where Michael is talking and I realized it was the conference room because the painting is hanging on the wall behind him.

JENNA [00:23:34] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:23:34] It was a painting that was always in the conference room. I felt like that was a nice little touch to let the audience know where he was. At one point it actually falls down.

JENNA [00:23:41] I noticed that.

ANGELA [00:23:42] Banging around.

JENNA [00:23:43] That was a blooper.

ANGELA [00:23:44] That was a blooper.

JENNA [00:23:45] That was not intended.

ANGELA [00:23:46] But it was a great just like kind of reminder like where he was.

JENNA [00:23:50] So next step, Michael takes over Jim’s desk, forcing Jim into the annex. He’s gonna sit next to Kelly. She explains that Toby used to sit there, but he had to move due to an allergy.

ANGELA [00:24:02] To the desk.

JENNA [00:24:03] To the desk.

ANGELA [00:24:03] His allergy was to the desk. I’m pretty sure all those desks are the same desk, but Toby just had a specific allergy to that one.

JENNA [00:24:10] So then we have Michael in the bullpen and he’s chatting with Dwight. They’re kind of talking about the old days. They start talking about Ed Truck and you see that great flashback photo.

ANGELA [00:24:20] And the mullet haircut.

JENNA [00:24:21] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:24:22] Also at five minutes, 12 seconds. Dwight is so happy that Michael is gonna be sitting next to him. He is just so thrilled. And I watched the deleted scenes for this episode and there’s a really cute talking head where Dwight is like, “This is just a gift. The woman I’m dating might say it’s a gift from God, but I don’t know about that”. And it flash, cuts to me. But there are some great deleted scenes for this episode. If you have the DVD and I have a talking head. Kevin has a really funny one. There is a deleted scene, you guys, where Jim is looking up the hotel where Pam and Roy stayed in the Poconos.

JENNA [00:24:56] Oh, that’s a little depressing.

ANGELA [00:24:58] I know. And Kelly’s like, “What are you looking at”? There’s also a deleted scene where he’s eating alone in his car.

JENNA [00:25:03] Oh, yeah. Because he can’t find anywhere to eat.

ANGELA [00:25:05] Exactly. Exactly. But there is some like really sweet sort of Dwight-Angela little nods to that relationship in the deleted scenes and also during this whole sort of Dwight-Michael moment. We learn that Dwight is sitting where Todd Packer used to sit. And Michael is sitting in his old desk.

JENNA [00:25:22] Yes.

ANGELA [00:25:23] Because Ed Truck would have been in his office. So Michael is having a little bit of like reliving the glory days of when he was out on the floor as salesman.

JENNA [00:25:30] Yes.

ANGELA [00:25:31] I think we have some real Stanley sass in this episode.

JENNA [00:25:35] Oh. Stanley Sass.

ANGELA [00:25:37] Yes, at seven minutes, one second. Michael bugs Stanley and Stanley is on the phone. And this is what Stanley said to him. I just loved it. Leslie David Baker did such an amazing job. “What is it that you need right now that can’t wait until I’m off the phone with a customer”? I was like there’s some Stanley sass. So Michael is now walking around the bullpen and he’s just really misbehaving.

JENNA [00:26:04] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:26:04] He’s like acting out in some way. He thinks maybe they were all in on it. But yet also I think he’s trying to live his glory days. He just punches the heck out of Creed.

JENNA [00:26:14] Oh, I loved Creed’s reaction to that though.

ANGELA [00:26:15] It was so earnest.

JENNA [00:26:17] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:26:17] It’s like one of the few times he’s truly earnest. He’s like “Ow, why’d you hit me Michael”? like it actually really hurt him. And Michael as he punched him, yelled “Charley horse”.

JENNA [00:26:26] He’s like a kid on a playground. Basically.

ANGELA [00:26:29] He’s like a bad kid on a playground. But that’s not a Charley horse. Punching someone isn’t a Charley horse. You know what a Charley horse is.

JENNA [00:26:35] That’s just when your muscle seizes up.

ANGELA [00:26:37] Well, yeah, but I think what he’s trying to say is like, “How does a horse bite an apple”?

JENNA [00:26:44] Wait, what? Stop. You don’t the podcast. What?

ANGELA [00:26:47] You know. How does a horse bite an apple? Is that, sort of like, a Charley horse just hitting someone. Or is he hitting someone to give him a Charley horse?

JENNA [00:26:53] What is “how’s the horse bite an apple”?

ANGELA [00:26:55] Come over here. I’ll show you.

JENNA [00:26:56] No, no, no, no, no. Explain.

ANGELA [00:26:58] No.

JENNA [00:26:58] What is this? This a thing-.

ANGELA [00:26:59] I’m not able.

JENNA [00:26:59] You do to a person on a playground is called “how’s a horse bite an apple”?

ANGELA [00:27:02] Yeah. How’s a horse bite an apple. I’m gonna show you.

JENNA [00:27:04] I’m scared. And what are you reaching for right now? You’re reaching for what? My arm, my hand. What are you reaching for?

ANGELA [00:27:09] I’m not that strong. It’s not gonna hurt that bad. If Josh did it to, his strong hand.

JENNA [00:27:13] Okay. What am I doing? What am I handing you?

ANGELA [00:27:15] You got to slide over here.

JENNA [00:27:16] Slide over to what?

ANGELA [00:27:17] My chair.

JENNA [00:27:19] Why? What are you touching?

ANGELA [00:27:20] Okay. Backup.

JENNA [00:27:20] What? Don’t do. What are you doing?

ANGELA [00:27:23] It’s not gonna hurt that bad. How does a horse bite an apple?

JENNA [00:27:29] What? Oh, that thing where you’re just like where you squeeze someone’s knee.

ANGELA [00:27:32] The top of their knee and that two little spots that really hurt. That’s-.

JENNA [00:27:36] I don’t think that hurts. I think that’s tickly.

ANGELA [00:27:38] That’s how a horse bites an apple. Am I right, Sam?

JENNA [00:27:40] I’ve never heard “how’s a horse bite an apple”.

ANGELA [00:27:43] What is going on, St. Louis.

JENNA [00:27:48] St. Louis.

ANGELA [00:27:48] St. Louis.

JENNA [00:27:50] Back me up. Where I was raised. Do we have horses that bite the apple?

ANGELA [00:27:54] Come on. I don’t know how to react to it.

JENNA [00:27:57] Sam seems to have heard this.

SAM [00:27:59] Yeah, that made its way to Wisconsin.

ANGELA [00:28:00] Wisconsin has “how’s a horse bite an apple”.

JENNA [00:28:03] Codi, where are you from? Have you heard it?

CODI [00:28:05] I’m from here. But my grandma was from Kansas, my grandpa from Tennessee, and I’ve never heard that.

JENNA [00:28:09] Thank you. OK, so Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee, we don’t know this horse bites an apple business.

ANGELA [00:28:15] Well, Texas and Wisconsin do.

JENNA [00:28:15] This is based on a poll of four people, by the way. We’ve declared things about major regions of the United States based on a four person poll. That seems that I think that’s kind of how polling is done though.

ANGELA [00:28:29] Oh, let’s not go there. OK. Well-.

JENNA [00:28:31] Charlie horse is just when your muscle seizes up.

ANGELA [00:28:34] I know that. But I kind of felt like it was like one of those things where Michael gets it a little wrong, like he’s like Charlie Horse. But I was like, oh, did he mean how’s a horse bite an apple? But probably not, because that’s too many words. And he had to cross that whole room really quickly.

JENNA [00:28:50] Well, Michael also gets Dwight to go over to accounting and dump their stuff all over the ground. We had a fan question from Alan3. “How many times did Steve and Rainn mess up the accounting area? Did they do it randomly or was it choreographed”? Angela, can you give us some insight?

ANGELA [00:29:06] We did it a few times. And, you know, so every time Michael would say, “OK, let’s end up accounting old-fashion raid sales on accounting”. They would come over. They dump all of our stuff on the floor. I did love that Angela glares at Dwight like “Don’t even”. And so he sort of giggles and picks up one pencil and throws it on the floor of mine. But yeah, we did that a few times and they were just really, truly just look like Steve and Rainn were having fun because they got to come over and mess with us.

JENNA [00:29:32] And then, so after you’d shoot a scene like that and they mess up the area, they say “Cut”. Did this set decorators come over and reset everything?

ANGELA [00:29:40] They do because they want the continuity to match.

JENNA [00:29:43] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:29:44] And you know, obviously we would pick up stuff as well.

JENNA [00:29:46] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:29:46] Sometimes we, we would get in the way like we would start to pick it up. They’d be like, here, let me set that because that is their job to make sure it looks exactly like it did before. And I might not get it right.

JENNA [00:29:57] So I remember sometimes for scenes like this, our script supervisor, Veda. She is the person who was in charge of continuity on the show. She would come over and take a picture of the desk area as a reference point.

ANGELA [00:30:10] So they could match it each time.

JENNA [00:30:11] Yes. And then after it got all messed up, then Veda would come over with her computer and she’d be like, okay, so this is exactly where the cup was and this is where this was and everything. And they would reset the whole thing to Veda’s picture and mess it up again.

ANGELA [00:30:23] Yes. Veda. Amazing. And she was so sweet and kind and soft-spoken and sometimes she would just walk up to and be like, “Angela. And on the second line in this scene, you switched your coffee mug from your left hand to your right hand”. I’m like, “Oh, my God. Did I? I didn’t even realize”. “Yes. So you have to do that every time now”.

JENNA [00:30:42] Yes. I remember that. At eight minutes, 55 seconds. I’m calling this the fan catch of the day.

ANGELA [00:30:50] What is it?

JENNA [00:30:51] It is by Bureau. If you freeze and zoom in on Angela’s computer. You can see a Post-it note that says, quote, “Angela, can I have five dollars petty cash to buy some more jelly beans? I’ll give you back any change. Thanks, Pam”. Catch of the day!

ANGELA [00:31:12] That is fantastic.

JENNA [00:31:13] I loved that.

ANGELA [00:31:14] Applause.

JENNA [00:31:15] I think I really wrote that Post-it note.

ANGELA [00:31:17] You probably did. You probably passed it to me in the background because we were bored and I stuck it there.

JENNA [00:31:22] So then Michael has a talking head about former manager Ed Truck, and this has one of my favorite Michael quotes. “I told myself if I was ever manager, people would laugh when they saw me coming and applaud when I walked away. Mission accomplished”.

ANGELA [00:31:39] No, way to go. I just want to call out one scene, you guys. It’s, I know we’re jumping around a little, but it’s one I absolutely love at nine minutes, 55 seconds. It made me laugh so hard when Dwight is trying to be the 107th caller.

JENNA [00:31:51] Yes. To win a DVD box set.

ANGELA [00:31:54] Of Jethro Tull.

JENNA [00:31:56] Yes.

ANGELA [00:31:56] From Rock 107. And he just keeps calling. And Michael’s pained expression. And then Dwight trying to sneak the call. Just all of it just cracked me up.

JENNA [00:32:05] One of the fun dynamics about the Michael and Dwight relationship is that it gives Steve an opportunity to play the straight man.

ANGELA [00:32:12] Yeah.

JENNA [00:32:13] And he’s a very funny, straight man. And so a lot of times he’s the funny guy. And the rest of us are the straight man to Steve. But I love this dynamic shift that happens with Michael and Dwight scenes.

ANGELA [00:32:24] I do, too.

JENNA [00:32:25] I want you to know I did a little bit of a deep dive for rock 107.

ANGELA [00:32:28] I knew you would. I almost did. But you know what I did instead?

JENNA [00:32:32] What?

ANGELA [00:32:32] I listened to Jethro Tull.

JENNA [00:32:34] Oh, there you go.

ANGELA [00:32:36] I downloaded the greatest hits and listened to it. And my daughter Isabel was like, “What is that”?

JENNA [00:32:42] Well, they currently run contests via their Freeloaders club. And you can sign up with your email at Rock107.com and they give away, quote, dozens of prizes each month. Here is a list of things you can win.

ANGELA [00:32:55] OK.

JENNA [00:32:56] Ipads, waterpark tickets, concert tickets, gas and grocery gifts and snowtube passes maybe for the Poconos.

ANGELA [00:33:04] Maybe. Those are great gifts, though.

JENNA [00:33:06] I know. So-.

ANGELA [00:33:07] Way to go, Rock 107.

JENNA [00:33:08] It seems like instead of doing these live contests on the air, we have to call in like Dwight did. You can just sign up with your e-mail and you’re automatically entered. So just giving a plug for that giveaway. Rock 107.

ANGELA [00:33:19] Way to go.

JENNA [00:33:20] I have 10 minutes, 44 seconds.

ANGELA [00:33:23] OK.

JENNA [00:33:23] Pam and Roy are flirting at reception and Jim is watching her in the kitchen. He tries to go to the annex, but he sees Kelly. Then he goes to the bathroom.

ANGELA [00:33:32] With his coffee mug.

JENNA [00:33:33] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:33:34] This is how trapped he is. One way, it’s Pam and Roy. The other way, it’s Kelly. Chatty, chatty, chatty. So he just walks in the bathroom with his coffee mug.

JENNA [00:33:41] Yeah. And later, he can’t eat in the lunchroom because Pam sitting in there with Roy. This leads to the deleted scene you were talking about him.

ANGELA [00:33:50] With him eating alone in his car.

JENNA [00:33:51] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:33:51] Poor Jim, guys, poor Jim.

JENNA [00:33:54] Poor Jim.

ANGELA [00:33:55] So then at 11 minutes, seven seconds, Michael goes back to accounting and he’s like, “hey, guys”. And I’m really snarky. This is like very Angela Martin snarky moment. I’m like, “we haven’t finished getting things in order from your last visit”. And he’s like, I’m just walking around and I go, “Were you”? Like I’m so ticked off.

JENNA [00:34:15] You’re so mad. Well, this is when Michael gets this big idea to host a sales contest.

ANGELA [00:34:20] Well, listen, because he says we’re all there working for the weekend. But you know what? He’s working for the week. That’s what?

JENNA [00:34:27] Working for the week.

ANGELA [00:34:28] He’s working for the week. And he wants the sales contests now.

JENNA [00:34:31] And the prize is a one hundred dollar bill. Not until he opens his wallet and realizes he only has $83.

ANGELA [00:34:38] Wait. Jenna. Before we get into the sales competition, I do have some journal entries from this. When do you want them? Do you want them now or laters?

JENNA [00:34:44] Now I say now.

ANGELA [00:34:45] Now not laters. Ok. Here’s my journal entry for “The Carpet”. I was really excited. I was like, I wrote this on January 26, 2006. “We got great news. We’re coming back for season three”.

JENNA [00:34:58] Is this the episode where we found out?

ANGELA [00:35:01] Yes.

JENNA [00:35:01] Oh, my gosh.

ANGELA [00:35:03] So we were so excited, all of us. I don’t know if you can tell in watching the episode, but we just found out we got another job for another year.

JENNA [00:35:11] That is such-. That’s a Fast Fact, Angela, right there.

ANGELA [00:35:14] Oh, well, I liked your “Games of Thrones” Fast Fact, but there that I guess is a Fast Fact. Also, I said that we’re just so excited. We’re really proud of the show. We’re so excited to get a third year. I said, “This week also we had a photographer from NBC taking official photos for the website for Valentine’s Day”.

JENNA [00:35:32] I remember those photos.

ANGELA [00:35:34] These are sort of some iconic photos that are out there on the Internet of like Steve Holding up a heart. And Kate Flannery and you and me and Phyllis all surrounding him.

JENNA [00:35:42] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:35:42] So there’s some great Valentine shot. There’s one of like Dwight and I side by side.

JENNA [00:35:47] I did some photos with David Denman as Roy. So some Pam and Roy Valentine’s shots as well.

ANGELA [00:35:53] And I also wrote this was the first time the supporting cast were included in one of these big photoshoots. And we were all so excited.

JENNA [00:36:00] I remember that.

ANGELA [00:36:01] Because we weren’t series regular the last time we did it.

JENNA [00:36:03] That’s right.

ANGELA [00:36:04] But now we were and we had to be in the pictures. And I said, “Of course, I had the biggest zit since I’ve had since high school”.

JENNA [00:36:10] Yeah, that always happens. They probably photoshopped it out though.

ANGELA [00:36:13] I said, “I hope they’ll Photoshop it out”.

JENNA [00:36:15] You see looks at that. Like I said.

ANGELA [00:36:17] I know. Anyway, those are-. Oh. And then I wrote and this is before you know, obviously we ever knew we’d do this podcast. We ever knew that we’d be tracking the Mindy of it all. And this is what I wrote in 2006. “OK, if you’re a Kelly fan, you will love this episode. And Mindy, who plays Kelly, does a great job”.

JENNA [00:36:35] Hey, even you knew even something special is happening with the character of Kelly in “The Carpet”.

ANGELA [00:36:42] 2006 me knew that Kelly was maybe Kelly was maybe Mindy.

JENNA [00:36:48] All right. Let’s take a break. We’ll be back in a sec. All right, so back to the episode. I have a continuity catch.

ANGELA [00:37:01] OK.

JENNA [00:37:02] At 12 minutes, 43 seconds, Roy and Darryl are removing Michael’s carpet.

ANGELA [00:37:07] Yes.

JENNA [00:37:07] OK. They’ve got this rolled-up carpet on their shoulders and they make fun of his dancing. But then at 13 minutes, 12 seconds, there’s a shot of them through the blinds in Michael’s office. And they’re having beers and they’re kind of sleeping. They’re sleeping on the rolled-up carpet that they just remove.

ANGELA [00:37:24] They’re using it as a headrest.

JENNA [00:37:25] Yeah, continuity catch.

ANGELA [00:37:27] Well, I.

JENNA [00:37:27] Unless. Is that the new carpet they haven’t put down yet?

ANGELA [00:37:30] I don’t know. But there is a whole deleted scene of just Darryl and Roy just being idiots in that room. There’s a whole scene where they are drinking beers and they have two like rubber balls and they’re bouncing them against the wall like they’ve got a game going.

JENNA [00:37:44] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:37:45] So there, there were things cut out of this episode of them messing around in there.

JENNA [00:37:49] Well, I suppose it could be the carpet they haven’t installed yet. Maybe.

ANGELA [00:37:53] Maybe Jenna.

JENNA [00:37:54] At 13 minutes, 56 seconds. I declare Michael Sass.

ANGELA [00:37:59] Michael Sam. Let’s hear it.

JENNA [00:38:00] Well, Pam says stopping the sales contest isn’t fair. I guess we should say Michael gets upset and he stops his sales contest. No one can win $83 anymore.

ANGELA [00:38:09] He’s just being a brat.

JENNA [00:38:10] But Michael gives it right back to Pam.

ANGELA [00:38:13] Oh, yeah?

JENNA [00:38:14] Yeah. I didn’t write down what he said, but you can look it up at 13 minutes, 56 seconds if you want.

ANGELA [00:38:19] That’s sort of takes the wind off of your-.

JENNA [00:38:21] It does. I realize as I was looking at my sheet. I was like, wow, that was an incomplete. I did not complete that question of my homework.

ANGELA [00:38:28] Well, I will say this. My sister and I laughed, actually. She’s a school teacher. She teaches pre-K. And at 14 minutes, 26 seconds, Michael puts the whole office in time out.

JENNA [00:38:38] Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

ANGELA [00:38:41] Any way. OK.

JENNA [00:38:43] So then we have the scene in the kitchen with Jim and Ryan. And Jim asks Ryan what he thinks of Kelly. He’s trying to help Kelly out cause she’s begged him.

ANGELA [00:38:52] Well, this also just shows where he’s at in his day because at first he doesn’t want to help her. He’s like, I’m like in the middle of those two. And then by the end of the day, he’s like, fine, I’ll be your go between.

JENNA [00:39:02] Yes.

ANGELA [00:39:02] Because he doesn’t have his buddy. He doesn’t have Pam to, like, help the day pass.

JENNA [00:39:05] Well, we had a fan question. Matty W. and Adrien both asked, “Whose idea was it for Kelly to have a crush on Ryan”? What do you think, Ang?

ANGELA [00:39:15] I think it was Mindy’s. I don’t know. I was going to text her, but she had the Oscars and she was presenting. I didn’t want to bug her.

JENNA [00:39:22] Yeah, we were, we were prepping this episode the weekend of Oscar’s weekend. Mindy was a presenter. And can we talk for one second about how amazing she looked in her dress?

ANGELA [00:39:34] She looked amazing. I actually did text her and B.J. The next day. And I was like, “you guys look so beautiful together”.

JENNA [00:39:39] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:39:39] And she wrote back “Ang, I love this. Thank you”.

JENNA [00:39:42] Well, there you go. Kelly and Ryan went to the Oscars together.

ANGELA [00:39:45] Well, they’re very, very dear friends.

JENNA [00:39:47] They’re best friends.

ANGELA [00:39:48] They’re best friends.

JENNA [00:39:48] There were a lot of friendships that came out of our show. There was our best friendship. There was their best friendship.

ANGELA [00:39:54] Well, all of the guys still play fantasy football together.

JENNA [00:39:57] That’s true.

ANGELA [00:39:57] All the guys.

JENNA [00:39:58] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:39:58] Every year. All right. So where are we at, Jenna?

JENNA [00:40:02] So next, Michael talks to Creed about his fear of becoming Ed Truck.

ANGELA [00:40:09] This scene is so funny. Creed made me laugh so hard in this scene.

JENNA [00:40:13] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:40:14] He’s like, “Michael, you have a lot more to be worried about than that”. He’s like, “Oh, great, thanks, Creed, I guess being buried alive. Why am I even talking to you”?

JENNA [00:40:22] And then we go outside and we meet Ed Truck. And this scene. It broke my heart because in this scene, Ed says, Michael, “Why can’t your workers be your workers, your family be your family and your friends be your friends”? And you can see they hold on Michael’s face and you can see that the reason why is because he doesn’t have friends and family. He needs his workers to be all three things. He doesn’t have those compartments in his life.

ANGELA [00:40:53] No. He doesn’t.

JENNA [00:40:54] And it breaks your heart. It breaks your heart for him.

ANGELA [00:40:59] Well, speaking of heartbreak. 17 minutes, eight seconds. So this is like cut in between Michael’s talking head. Jim is in the kitchen, which is kind of looks like Jim hung out in the kitchen all day.

JENNA [00:41:09] I think he spent a lot of time in there.

ANGELA [00:41:11] Not only that, guys, but if you look at this episode, John didn’t have very many lines. This was not a tough like line count for him as far as like memory work. All of his stuff was reacting for the most part in this episode.

JENNA [00:41:22] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:41:23] So but anyway, during Michael’s talking head, we see Jim is in the kitchen and he tries to wave goodbye to Pam. Pam doesn’t see it and just leaves. And it’s like the last just like wind out of his sails for the day.

JENNA [00:41:34] She kind of leaves early. She’s that big puffy coat on and everyone else is still working. But she sneaks out. Yeah. And what does he do after that? He calls Brenda.

ANGELA [00:41:47] Oh, God, it’s so desperate.

JENNA [00:41:49] From “Booze Cruise”. The corporate liaison and asks her on a date.

ANGELA [00:41:54] And Kelly’s, Mindy’s reactions as Kelly to this phone call. We’re so fantastic.

JENNA [00:41:59] So great. He calls and asked her on a date and then he’s like, and you can just you know, I got your number from the company directory and I guess you could get my number from the company directory.

ANGELA [00:42:09] From said directory. Oh, what are you doing, Jim?

JENNA [00:42:10] Or check your email because I just e-mailed you.

ANGELA [00:42:12] OK. Hope to hear from you, OK? Yeah.

JENNA [00:42:15] And Kelly’s like, “Did you just ask a girl out over voicemail”?

ANGELA [00:42:19] He’s like, “Yep”. Michael’s talking head in this episode. He has a huge talking head that I love. And I wrote it all down. Here it is. “Last week, I would’ve given a kidney to anyone in the office. I would have reached right into my stomach and pulled it out for them. But now? No. I don’t have a relationship with these people that I thought I did. I hope they ask so they can hear me say, oh, no, I only give my organs to my real friends. Go get yourself a monkey kidney”.

JENNA [00:42:51] Oh my god.

ANGELA [00:42:51] He’s so mad.

JENNA [00:42:53] He’s so mad. He’s so hurt.

ANGELA [00:42:55] He feels so betrayed.

JENNA [00:42:57] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:42:57] He would have he really would have given them one of his organs. You know, he would have.

JENNA [00:43:01] Yeah, he would have.

ANGELA [00:43:04] Now, he’s only going to give you a monkey kidney.

JENNA [00:43:07] Poor Michael.

ANGELA [00:43:07] Poor Michael. And then at 18 minutes, 20 seconds, guess who calls?

JENNA [00:43:13] Todd Packer.

ANGELA [00:43:14] Todd Packer. Did you get that package I left for you?

JENNA [00:43:16] He’s like, “What package? Did I get a package? Anybody see a package”?

ANGELA [00:43:19] Roy’s like, “Do you mean the thing”?

JENNA [00:43:22] “The thing in your office.”

ANGELA [00:43:25] And Michaels’ delighted.

JENNA [00:43:26] Oh. What a funny prank.

ANGELA [00:43:27] Oh, someone loves me. They want to do jokes. They want to poop on my floor.

JENNA [00:43:30] So funny when Packer does it. It’s a hilarious, funny prank.

ANGELA [00:43:35] No. When Packer does it. He says at 19 minutes, 13 seconds. “It was done out of love like, just like I thought”. Which is not what he thought.

JENNA [00:43:43] But I do think he’s so relieved that it was no one in the office.

ANGELA [00:43:47] Well, everything is right again, right? His universe makes sense again. This is my family. They wouldn’t do that. It’s just crazy Todd Packer. Everything’s OK.

JENNA [00:43:57] Well, then, can we talk about the sweetest of sweet moments?

ANGELA [00:44:00] Yes, I, I did write in my journal. I said, “Guys, I don’t want to give anything away, but this has one of the sweetest endings of an episode yet”.

JENNA [00:44:08] So this whole episode, we’ve given you no indication that Pam is clocking Jim in any way.

ANGELA [00:44:14] In any way.

JENNA [00:44:15] But Jim walks to his desk. He sees the little message light flashing, and he plays his messages. And Pam has left him seven voicemails. All about her day.

ANGELA [00:44:27] And clearly she’s missing him and you’re, missing interacting with him.

JENNA [00:44:31] Yeah. And you see him kind of walk to his car as these messages play.

ANGELA [00:44:35] And his face. He’s so happy.

JENNA [00:44:38] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:44:39] And everything is right in his world again.

JENNA [00:44:42] And kind of everything is right in our world again, too, because I think as an audience member, it’s funny. I, I forgot about the voicemail messages. When I was watching this.

ANGELA [00:44:52] Yeah.

JENNA [00:44:53] And I was frustrated with Pam. I was like, what’s wrong with you? This is your friend. Why are you being so coy? I skeed a little. And then, like, say hi to the guy.

ANGELA [00:45:03] I wasn’t upset with Pam because I feel like she’s. This is so complicated for her. I mean, I’m sure there’s hills and valleys of her wanting to invest in Roy and what they’ve built together and see it through. And then there’s all these overwhelming feelings of like. But I don’t think he’s the right person. But we’ve been together so long. Like, it’s. And then when she sees Jim, she’s it’s like holding up a mirror to herself.

JENNA [00:45:25] But you’re telling me she didn’t miss him on the vacation?

ANGELA [00:45:28] Yes. But admitting to missing him is admitting to this emotional affair. And she’s not there yet.

JENNA [00:45:34] She’s not there yet. But these messages meant the world to me as a viewer when I was watching it.

ANGELA [00:45:39] Yes.

JENNA [00:45:40] I was like, yes. Thank you.

ANGELA [00:45:41] Thank you. And also, guys, once again, I feel like Michael and Jim had a parallel storyline.

JENNA [00:45:48] Mmhmm.

ANGELA [00:45:49] Where they sort of lose the thing they love, which is for Michael, the acceptance of the office, his friends. For Jim, it’s Pam. But then in the end, it’s all OK. It’s going to be OK.

JENNA [00:45:59] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:46:00] Aw.

JENNA [00:46:01] Aw, that’s “The Carpet”.

ANGELA [00:46:03] That’s “The Carpet”, everybody.

JENNA [00:46:04] I have a question. I want to throw it out there. Angela, do we need to start a second podcast where I rewatch “Game of Thrones” and we discuss it.

ANGELA [00:46:13] With me.

JENNA [00:46:14] Yeah, with you.

ANGELA [00:46:15] Yes!

JENNA [00:46:16] “Office Ladies do ‘Game of Thrones’”.

ANGELA [00:46:17] Oh, my gosh. I would love that so much. I mean-.

JENNA [00:46:19] Does anyone want to hear that? Does anyone want to hear me listen to “Game of Thrones”?

ANGELA [00:46:22] Sure. Although there might be some good some die-.

JENNA [00:46:24] Does anyone want to hear me watch “Game of Thrones”?

ANGELA [00:46:25] Diehard “Game of Thrones” fans will be like “No, you guys are going to you’re going to ruin it”. You guys, I love “Game of Thrones”. I would rewatch it with you in a second. While we’re rewatching “Game of Thrones” together, maybe we throw in “The Edge” or whatever survivalists **** show you want me to listen to or watch.

JENNA [00:46:43] There are so many good ones, Angela. “Survival Horror”.

ANGELA [00:46:47] No.

JENNA [00:46:49] Also, another “Paranoia Horror” is a good one.

ANGELA [00:46:52] No.

JENNA [00:46:53] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:46:53] What’s that?

JENNA [00:46:54] Okay. Paranoia.

ANGELA [00:46:55] Is that like “Outbreak”? Like a virus is gonna get us all?

JENNA [00:46:58] No. It’s more like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

ANGELA [00:47:01] Oh no no.

JENNA [00:47:01] Like the world seems normal, but I know it’s not that no one believes me.

ANGELA [00:47:06] Is that like? What’s the one with a-.

JENNA [00:47:08] “The Faculty” is a Robert Rodriguez film that is so good. Set in a high school where some people have been taken over by aliens and a small group of students they know, but no one believes them. So it’s like, Paranoia Horror” is whenever you know something, but no one believes you.

ANGELA [00:47:25] Oh, that sounds horrible.

JENNA [00:47:27] It’s great. It’s great.

ANGELA [00:47:29] Ok, well, guys. I don’t know. Maybe after we’re done with “Office Ladies”, we’ll watch “Game of Thrones” and then Jenna will make me watch scary movies and we’ll talk about it.

JENNA [00:47:37] This is what we’re gonna do. This is it

ANGELA [00:47:40] Oh, my God, you guys.

JENNA [00:47:40] We’ve figured it out.

ANGELA [00:47:41] You guys, if you still want to listen to us talk about anything.

JENNA [00:47:44] All right. Next week, we’re gonna do “Boys and Girls”, which is a very exciting episode for Angela and I will tell you all about how we had a hand in creating this episode.

ANGELA [00:47:53] Yes. See you next week.

JENNA [00:47:54] See you next week. … Thank you for listening to “Office Ladies”. “Office Ladies” is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our producer is Codi Fischer, our sound engineer Sam Kieffer.

ANGELA [00:48:06] And our theme song is “Rubber Tree” by Creed Bratton.

JENNA [00:48:10] For ad-free versions of the show and our bonus episodes “Candy Bag”, go to StitcherPremium.com.

ANGELA [00:48:16] For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium use code “Office”.

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