EP. 94 — Blood Drive

OFFICE 094 – Blood Drive

[00:00:03] Jenna I’m Jenna Fischer.

[00:00:04] Angela And I’m Angela Kinsey.

[00:00:06] Jenna We were on The Office together.

[00:00:07] Angela And we’re best friends.

[00:00:08] Jenna And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you.

[00:00:12] Angela 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.

[00:00:19] Jenna We’re the Office Ladies. Hello, Angela.

[00:00:24] Angela Hi, Jenna.

[00:00:26] Jenna I feel like we’re both full of beans today.

[00:00:28] Angela Full of beans. Does that mean…

[00:00:30] Jenna Full of energy?

[00:00:31] Angela Oh, gassy beans.

[00:00:33] Jenna I guess. I mean, we’re not gassy. I’m not gassy.

[00:00:37] Angela Well.

[00:00:39] Jenna I do have hot feet today, though. My feet are very warm.

[00:00:42] Angela I don’t get hot feet. My feet are always cold.

[00:00:46] Jenna I bought a new pair of shoes. I love them. Look at them. Look how cute they are.

[00:00:50] Angela Oh, they’re so cute.

[00:00:51] Jenna Right? But they have like a sherpa lining in them.

[00:00:54] Angela Why, if you have a tendency for hot feet, would you get shoes with Sherpa?

[00:00:59] Jenna I don’t have a tendency for hot feet. I have a tendency for cold feet. But it’s a 90 degree day today, but I wanted to wear them because they’re so cute. Here’s the other thing: they’re are half size too big because they only come in full sizes, so I have to wear a thick sock with a sherpa lining on a 90 degree day. I’ve got hot feet.

[00:01:17] Angela All for fashion, y’all, all for fashion.

[00:01:19] Jenna Well, you know me.

[00:01:21] Angela I know you- listen, when you look up fashion, athletic fashion, fashion and athletic…

[00:01:28] Jenna It’s me.

[00:01:29] Angela It’s you.

[00:01:29] Jenna And this shoe is a fashion athletic shoe.

[00:01:32] Angela You know what? I’m going to take a picture of it. It’s high fashion. All right.

[00:01:35] Jenna Today, we’re talking about Blood Drive Season five, episode 18, written by Brent Forester and directed by Randall Einhorn.

[00:01:44] Angela It’s Valentine’s Day.

[00:01:46] Jenna Yeah, this was our Valentine’s Day episode. It was also the 90th episode of The Office. Wow, that’s not even a fast fact. I haven’t even gotten to fast facts yet.

[00:01:59] Angela Do you have a lot of fast facts? I feel like this means you have a lot of fast facts.

[00:02:03] Jenna I have a fun, fast fact.

[00:02:04] Angela What is it?

[00:02:05] Jenna Well, let’s do a summary first. You know, I have to go in order, lady.

[00:02:07] Angela Oh, OK.

[00:02:09] Jenna OK. It is Valentine’s Day. And there is a blood drive taking place in the parking lot of the Scranton business park. Michael meets a young woman while giving blood, but he passes out before he can get her name and phone number. So he decides to throw a lonely hearts party for the office.

[00:02:28] Angela Well, he’s grumpy because he’s single and you know, he doesn’t want to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

[00:02:34] Jenna He doesn’t, and he certainly doesn’t need Jim and Pam and Phyllis and Bob rubbing their couples lunch in his face.

[00:02:40] Angela Their couples love his face. I don’t need love in my face today. That’s what Michael was saying. Not me. I want love in my face. what?

[00:02:50] Jenna I don’t know. OK. Fast fact number one.

[00:02:57] Angela What? You look so excited, are you still laughing about love in my face?

[00:03:02] Jenna I am.

[00:03:03] Angela OK, what’s fast fact number one?

[00:03:06] Jenna Fast fact number one are some facts about our blood mobile that was in our parking lot.

[00:03:09] Angela It reminded me a little bit of like the work bus bus.

[00:03:15] Jenna Yeah.

[00:03:15] Angela Do they have one bus they just trick out for everything?

[00:03:18] Jenna No, ma’am.

[00:03:19] Angela Oh.

[00:03:19] Jenna Randy Cordray told me we used a real blood mobile from the Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank. We had it for three days. So on Monday, the set dressers went in and they turned it into kind of a more generic looking blood mobile for our purposes. On Tuesday, we did all of our scenes inside the blood mobile, and on Wednesday it was staffed with actual nurses and anyone in the cast and crew could actually donate blood.

[00:03:50] Angela I remember that because everyone was walking around with a little sticker that said I gave blood and I didn’t have one, I felt a little shame.

[00:03:58] Jenna I was on location that day. That’s the day we shot the restaurant stuff, so I didn’t get to give blood that day either.

[00:04:05] Angela Well, I went to give blood and they turned me away.

[00:04:07] Jenna Because of your tininess and your-

[00:04:09] Angela Because you have to weigh at least 110 pounds to give blood. It’s true. So they turned me away. What? It’s. That’s a fact.

[00:04:17] Jenna I know.

[00:04:18] Angela OK.

[00:04:18] Jenna It’s true. No, that is true.

[00:04:19] Angela It is true.

[00:04:20] Jenna I’ve never been turned away from giving blood. I’m a hearty lady.

[00:04:24] Angela You’re not hearty.

[00:04:27] Jenna Yes, I am.

[00:04:28] Angela You’re what the kids call thicc, T-H-I-C-C. By the way, I’m only saying that because someone wrote in one of my comments on Instagram, oh, Angela is thicc and I had to Google it. I think it’s a good thing, lady. I think it means we got a little junk in our trunk. But in all the right places.

[00:04:50] Jenna OK, well, then I’ll take it as a compliment.

[00:04:52] Angela Well, according to Urban Dictionary, it’s a good thing.

[00:04:55] Jenna Good.

[00:04:55] Angela Yeah.

[00:04:56] Jenna All right now, it’s fast fact number two and I’m just so excited, lady, because I looked up the history of blood drives and blood mobiles.

[00:05:07] Angela You guys, I want you to know, a few days ago, Jenna texted me and was like, I’m really excited about my fast fact number two. And I was like, OK.

[00:05:16] Jenna Here’s the thing. I’m a little bit of kind of a science nerd.

[00:05:21] Angela You are.

[00:05:22] Jenna Like my favorite book that I read in the last two years is this book called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Do you know what it’s about?

[00:05:31] Angela I have no idea.

[00:05:32] Jenna OK. This woman in 1951, she had a cancer surgery, and they took some of her cells. This was like a thing where, like, you donate, I’m putting that in quotes, your cells for medical research, but it’s without your consent. Well, anyway, this woman’s cells were so hearty they are like the basis of all of the most important medical research to this day. Like her cells are why we have a polio vaccine. It’s amazing.

[00:06:02] Angela She’s like superhuman.

[00:06:03] Jenna It’s just like her contribution to science is overwhelming, and yet her descendants and her family have never been compensated. And so the book is fascinating and my research into blood drives and blood mobiles, it touches on that same part of me that is just fascinated by, like medical discoveries. So are you ready?

[00:06:27] Angela I wish you could see Jenna right now, you guys. She is so animated. Her hands are moving like she’s bending her fingers and she’s pointing, and then she’s reaching to the sky. Go.

[00:06:37] Jenna So in order to talk about blood banking and blood mobiles, we kind of have to start with people’s fascination with the idea that blood carries disease. Now this goes back to the Egyptians. They would do that thing where you would cut yourself and let yourself bleed out your sickness. OK. So it’s like there on the right track. Like, yes, your blood can have things in it that are making you sick, but this is not the solution, right?

[00:07:06] Angela Right. Right.

[00:07:07] Jenna So right idea, wrong solution.

[00:07:08] Angela Wrong solution. I feel like there was like a little house on the prairie where they put a bunch of what are those things in the swamp?

[00:07:13] Jenna Leeches?

[00:07:13] Angela Leeches all over someone to bleed them out.

[00:07:16] Jenna Same idea.

[00:07:17] Angela OK.

[00:07:18] Jenna OK. So then someone got the idea that what you need is you need like to give the person with the sick blood, healthy blood. A blood transfusion. The first attempted blood transfusion that I could find dates back to 1492. Warning. It’s a bit morbid.

[00:07:39] Angela OK.

[00:07:40] Jenna Pope Innocent the 8th was going into a coma. So they took the blood of three 10 year old boys and they put it in the pope’s mouth as a transfusion. But all of them died. The pope and the boys.

[00:08:02] Angela Yeah.

[00:08:03] Jenna Yeah.

[00:08:04] Angela Oh, man. Well, that is gruesome.

[00:08:06] Jenna Very gruesome.

[00:08:07] Angela Barbaric.

[00:08:08] Jenna Yes.

[00:08:08] Angela Slightly scary. Might haunt me. Continue.

[00:08:10] Jenna I’m very sorry. OK. The first sort of successful blood transfusion was in France in 1667. King Louis the 14th’s doctor took the blood out of a sheep. And he put it into a 15 year old boy who survived.

[00:08:28] Angela Now, why? Was the boy sick or was this just an experiment?

[00:08:35] Jenna I think he needed it. I think it was a medical emergency and they were like, Let’s try this. I’m not 100 percent sure. I probably should have given the disclaimer that this is another segment of a lady who googles.

[00:08:48] Angela OK.

[00:08:49] Jenna OK.

[00:08:49] Angela OK.

[00:08:50] Jenna Four to five articles. So then we had a lot of general blood science discovery that happened in the early 1900s. Like, we discovered that there are four main blood types, right? They figured out how to match people together, a donor and a recipient of blood.

[00:09:08] Angela Do you know your blood type?

[00:09:10] Jenna I don’t. I should know because they told me when I had my kids.

[00:09:13] Angela So when I had Isabelle, I found out I was A positive, and so is she and so is my mom.

[00:09:20] Jenna Hey!

[00:09:21] Angela We’re all A positive.

[00:09:23] Jenna I always think to myself, Oh, remember to look that up so you know your blood type.

[00:09:27] Angela Oh yeah, it’s so fascinating. OK, go.

[00:09:29] Jenna I think we should put that on our driver’s licenses.

[00:09:32] Angela Our blood type.

[00:09:33] Jenna Yeah.

[00:09:33] Angela I think that would be smart.

[00:09:35] Jenna I think that’s a good idea. So anyway, I’m so sorry. I hope you’re interested in this history. I find it fascinating. Stay with me. So now we’re going to go to Russia. OK. And this doctor in Russia realizes what I need to do is take blood from one person to another person. And so they would do these person-to-person transfusions. The problem is that it was really hard to get a giver to a recipient in time, like the convenience, right? So that was working person to person blood transfusions were working. It was great. But there was a time factor and there was like a convenience factor. That is when a doctor in Chicago named Bernard Fantis had the idea of getting donors and storing their blood. And this was possible because they learned there was something you could add to blood to keep it from clotting. So now blood storage was possible, and they believe that Bernard Fantis is credited with creating the first blood bank.

[00:10:42] Angela OK, go Bernard.

[00:10:44] Jenna But perhaps the most important contributor to live donor blood drives was Dr. Charles Drew. Remember this name.

[00:10:54] Angela OK, Dr. Charles Drew.

[00:10:56] Jenna He was an American surgeon and medical researcher. He dedicated his life to researching and improving the techniques for blood storage and blood transfusions. His research is what has contributed to the creation of large scale blood banks. They are the reason why the American Red Cross was able to collect more than 13 million pints of blood during World War Two. And it also appears that the Blood Mobile was the brainchild of Dr. Charles Drew.

[00:11:27] Angela Dr. Charles Drew.

[00:11:29] Jenna Yes. Yes. Because now you know the thing could come to you and get your blood. By the way, January is National Blood Donor Month. It’s always a good New Year’s resolution, and you can find ways to give blood at the Red Cross website.

[00:11:42] Angela There you go. I loved all of it, except for the beginning part.

[00:11:45] Jenna I know I’m sorry for the beginning part, but that is the first blood transfusion on record, according to the four to five websites that I read. Anyway. Read the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s really good.

[00:11:58] Angela OK. Also, Dr. Charles Drew.

[00:12:01] Jenna Dr. Charles Drew.

[00:12:03] Angela We’re having a blood drive episode because you created the blood mobile.

[00:12:07] Jenna We couldn’t have had one in our parking lot without him. All right. Fast fact number three, we got a lot of mail. People want to know who played the woman giving blood in the truck with Michael? Chelsea D said, I thought the way Michael met that woman at the blood drive is one of the best meet cutes I’ve ever seen on a TV show. Well, everyone. She was played by Katie Aselton.

[00:12:31] Angela She is a delight. I adore her. She’s so sweet.

[00:12:35] Jenna We know her.

[00:12:36] Angela Yes.

[00:12:37] Jenna We’re friends with her. You guys, you probably recognize her from The League or Togetherness or Legion.

[00:12:43] Angela She’s so good in Legion.

[00:12:45] Jenna So good.

[00:12:45] Angela Oh man.

[00:12:46] Jenna Well, we reached out to her.

[00:12:48] Angela We did.

[00:12:48] Jenna And she told us how she got her role in The Office.

[00:12:52] Katie Aselton Hi, guys. I hope you guys are great. I miss seeing your faces, but I’m thrilled that you reached out. Getting to work on The Office has and will ever be just a real career highlight for me. What a thrill. It was my first big job. So yeah. What a way to start, right? So let me just jump right in to answer. Alison Jones, who is a champion of so many of us, was a champion of mine. She is from Maine and I am from Maine, and we just have always had that really beautiful connection. But she called me in for this and, you know when an audition just clicks. And this one felt that way. And it was like one of those things where I was like, Oh man, this like might actually happen. And it did. They bought it. And that it really like started everything for me. I got just instant cred getting to be a part of that show. And I’m just like, what a fun, fun first role it was.

[00:14:03] Jenna So cool.

[00:14:04] Angela You know, I hadn’t watched this episode in a long time, and when it got to that scene, I was like, Oh my God, there’s Katie. And she is so incredibly charming. Like, I want her and Michael to date, you know, they’re so cute.

[00:14:18] Jenna I know. Same, Angela. When I saw it, I was like, Oh my gosh, it’s Katie. And she’s an amazing actress. She’s also a director. She’s directed three films. Her latest film is starring Diane Keaton, Elizabeth Lail and Nicole Byer. It’s called Mack and Rita. She’s in post-production on it now, and I told her that when it comes out, we’ll put a shout out in the pod so that people can find it.

[00:14:38] Angela Yeah, that’s a great cast.

[00:14:41] Jenna Well, lady, that is all of my fast facts.

[00:14:45] Angela Well I think we should go to break. Because when we come back, I might need to throw Jim a little shade.

[00:14:50] Jenna Really?

[00:14:51] Angela Yeah.

[00:14:52] Jenna I can’t wait to find out why.

[00:14:54] Angela I might have something tacky to say.

[00:14:57] Jenna Oh, those are always my favorite messages.

[00:15:00] Angela What do you mean?

[00:15:01] Jenna You’ll like text me and be like, Hey, can you call me? I have something tacky to say. And I’m like, Oh, I can’t wait. I drop everything. I have to call Angela.

[00:15:11] Angela All right, we’ll be back.

[00:15:16] Jenna Angela, while you were getting tea during your break, Sam told me something beyond fascinating that I didn’t know. It’s more news about blood.

[00:15:24] Angela What?

[00:15:25] Jenna Sam will you please share?

[00:15:26] Sam Yeah, they have blood donors and banks, just like for humans, but for dogs.

[00:15:32] Angela Aww.

[00:15:32] Sam And they do the same thing. They donate little, little pouches of blood.

[00:15:36] Jenna And Sam got to meet a dog that donates his blood once a month at your vet.

[00:15:39] Katie Aselton His name is Ben, and he’s a golden retriever, and he has a little vest with a heart on it.

[00:15:45] Angela Awww.

[00:15:45] Sam And he’s a very good boy.

[00:15:47] Angela Oh, that is so sweet.

[00:15:48] Jenna Very good boy.

[00:15:49] Angela That is like stuff I don’t even think about. But of course.

[00:15:52] Jenna I know. Of course. All right. Should we get started?

[00:15:54] Angela Let’s get started. Guess what?

[00:15:57] Jenna What?

[00:15:58] Angela There is a rep from tech star who says there’s a whole new operating system for the phones and he could like meet with Michael Scott. But Michael Scott’s never around. I wonder why?

[00:16:09] Jenna Well, Pam says if they get this new phone system that allows the caller to contact the salespeople directly, that’s basically 95 percent of her job. So she is clearly never letting this guy meet Michael because she doesn’t want to lose her job.

[00:16:24] Angela I don’t think Michael would ever let her go. I just want to say, Pam, you don’t have to worry because Michael thinks you’re his personal secretary.

[00:16:30] Jenna Yes.

[00:16:31] Angela So even if you got that phone system, you know what it would mean? She’d probably have to spend more time with Michael. You wouldn’t be as busy, so he’d be like, Pam, come in my office.

[00:16:39] Jenna It’s true. I have to say I appreciate when a person answers the phone when I call a business.

[00:16:45] Angela Me too.

[00:16:46] Jenna I wouldn’t like that new phone system.

[00:16:48] Angela I like to get a human.

[00:16:49] Jenna I do, too.

[00:16:50] Angela I’m chatty. Well, I want you to know at forty nine seconds there are a few messages taped to Pam’s desk.

[00:16:58] Jenna I saw the same thing.

[00:16:59] Angela You did? Ok I want to know who Nick is.

[00:17:03] Jenna Oh yeah, there’s like a message.

[00:17:04] Angela On a Penn Star post-it note, which, by the way, Penn Star was a bank branch in Pennsylvania. Love those details. Nick in office all day. That’s what the note said. I mean, who is Nick?

[00:17:17] Jenna Well, I know who Nick will be. Nick will be our I.T. Guy.

[00:17:22] Angela Nick Willby?

[00:17:24] Jenna No, Nick will be our I.T. guy.

[00:17:27] Angela I  know, I’m sorry. It just made me laugh. OK, so we don’t know who Nick is, but someday in the future, we’re going to have an I.T. guy named Nick.

[00:17:35] Jenna Yes.

[00:17:35] Angela Also, Jenna, was that your grocery list?

[00:17:38] Jenna It was my grocery list.

[00:17:39] Angela I know you’re getting green tea.

[00:17:42] Jenna And pomegranate seeds and pine nuts.

[00:17:44] Angela What were you? What’s happening?

[00:17:46] Jenna OK, there was this salad I really liked at the time, and it had pomegranate seeds and pine nuts in it. When I saw that sticky note, I was like, Oh my gosh, I should make that salad again. I loved it.

[00:17:56] Angela I thought I recognized your handwriting. I was like, That’s Jenna’s grocery list.

[00:18:01] Jenna It was. Did you also notice there is a photo of me and John on my desk? We’re standing up. This was our engagement photo. We did this special photo shoot. It was the day that we shot at Jim’s parents house when he’s showing me around. We brought this extra set of clothes and we posed in the backyard.

[00:18:23] Angela Jim has one on his desk, too.

[00:18:25] Jenna He does, but on his desk, I’m sitting on his lap.

[00:18:28] Angela Right.And on yours, you’re standing.

[00:18:30] Jenna Yes. So this was, I think they went out for this Valentine’s Day episode, our engagement photos.

[00:18:37] Angela Oh, Jim’s going to come to Pam’s rescue. He’s like Michael Scott here. And then this next bit was so funny. And Jenna you were so excited to be part of it. I remember you were like, so excited because, you know, Michael walks out and it’s like, Hey, and Jim is like, Jimbo. And instead of Michael being like, What are you talking about? He’s instantly like, Ooh, what are we doing?

[00:18:59] Jenna We’re doing a bit.

[00:19:00] Angela We’re doing a bit. I’m so excited. And then all of a sudden, everyone’s Fonzie.

[00:19:05] Jenna I know it was really fun. We were laughing on the day when we shot that. It was so fun to do those. I feel like I should let you know that the phone tech rep was played by Rob Brownstein.

[00:19:19] Angela He looked familiar to me.

[00:19:20] Jenna Well he’s been on Monk.

[00:19:22] Angela Huh?

[00:19:22] Jenna Mm hmm.

[00:19:23] Angela Ahh.

[00:19:24] Jenna He was also on the short lived Law & Order Los Angeles. He’s been on Breaking Bad and on Mad Men, but lady, his latest movie which has not come out yet.

[00:19:38] Angela Oh no, no wait. Is it John Wick?

[00:19:41] Jenna No. It’s called Hummingbird.

[00:19:45] Angela Oh, I’ll go see it.

[00:19:48] Jenna It’s a sci fi movie. Listen to the tagline.

[00:19:51] Angela I’m in.

[00:19:51] Jenna When beloved telepathic superhero Hummingbird, also known as Lola Laxman, is left for dead after a major battle, she makes a deal with the devil to save her life.

[00:20:02] Angela Sign me up.

[00:20:03] Jenna Sign us both up.

[00:20:04] Angela Yeah.

[00:20:04] Jenna We’re going to go see Hummingbird.

[00:20:07] Angela I might be in a sci fi with you. Listen, you know what? You can be the science lab tech lady that comes in and gives the science behind the thing.

[00:20:17] Jenna OK. You know what I would love to be in is a movie like what’s it called?

[00:20:22] Angela Outbreak?

[00:20:23] Jenna No, no. Not that movie. With Kurt Russell? The Thing.

[00:20:30] Angela Ew.

[00:20:31] Jenna The Thing.

[00:20:31] Angela Ew.

[00:20:31] Jenna Yeah.

[00:20:32] Angela Gross.

[00:20:33] Jenna Have you seen it?

[00:20:34] Angela I feel like I saw part of it and I had to bail.

[00:20:36] Jenna It’s so good. The practical effects in that movie are outstanding. All right. Should we get into this episode?

[00:20:41] Angela We should. There is a Valentine’s Day blood drive happening, as you guys know. And I want to point out that the Scranton Business Park went all out with decorations.

[00:20:54] Jenna They really did.

[00:20:55] Angela I mean, there is a Happy Valentine’s Day banner. There’s three red cupid shooting heart arrows, big hearts with love messages, all on the walls. There’s like a vase with like little plastic hearty things on the counter. There’s a giant heart on the elevator doors that opens when they get in. Who is decorating the Scranton Business Park? I have a theory.

[00:21:17] Jenna What’s your theory?

[00:21:18] Angela I think it’s Phyllis. She’s married to Bob Vance. He’s one of the five families.

[00:21:23] Jenna You might be right. Since she can’t be the Dunder Mifflin party planner anymore.

[00:21:27] Angela Yeah, she’s like, Bob, I’ve got a bin of hearts and cupid’s. I can put ’em around the lobby.

[00:21:32] Jenna I love Phyllis’ voice when she’s talking to Bob. Well, we also find out that it is Jim and Pam’s first and only Valentine’s Day as fiance’s. Did you see at two minutes, 41 seconds that Pam’s got some real cute dangle pink earrings and a sassy ponytail?

[00:21:52] Angela I love the sassy ponytail.

[00:21:54] Jenna Me too. I do love a sassy ponytail.

[00:21:57] Angela Kelly has received a valentine from a secret admirer. She opens it up. It says Roses are red. Violets are blue. It’s time for your dental cleaning and maybe a checkup too.

[00:22:09] Jenna I want to say that this resonated with me. I have been Kelly, where I’ve gotten what looks like a personal holiday card. And then it’s from like my dry cleaner. You know what I mean? Or a Valentine’s Day card that I think, Oh, oh. Or birthday. Do you ever get the birthday greetings from, like

[00:22:34] Angela from like you get it like a birthday greeting from your gynecologist?

[00:22:37] Jenna Right, exactly.

[00:22:39] Angela At Christmas, you know, a lot of businesses will send out like a company Christmas card. I tape them right up with all my family and friends Christmas cards. It just tickles me to be like, Oh, there’s like my friends’ family, they’re so cute. And there’s my aunt and uncle and there’s my air conditioning company.

[00:22:56] Jenna Yep.

[00:22:56] Angela Right there with the little wreath over a giant air conditioning unit. It goes up on the wall, guys, if you send it to me.

[00:23:04] Jenna This is true about you. Should we talk about Pam’s beautiful Valentine’s Day floral arrangement?

[00:23:12] Angela Oh, we shall. And I’m putting on my glasses for this conversation.

[00:23:16] Jenna Wow.

[00:23:18] Angela At three minutes and three seconds we get a real nice shot of this flower arrangement that Jim gave Pam. And now I’m about to be tacky.

[00:23:26] Jenna Oh, OK.

[00:23:28] Angela Here it is. I had a friend growing up who worked at our local flower shop. She told me that carnations are the cheapest flower and they use them to fill out arrangements. And another cheap flower they use are daisies. So if you want to go cheap, you get carnations and daisies. Jim’s Valentine flowers are all carnations and daisies. I’m just saying.

[00:23:50] Jenna I noticed it as well. So I looked in the script. I wanted to see if there was a script note about Jim’s flower arrangement to Pam.

[00:24:00] Angela I want to hear it because I have a theory that I will prove. I think I can prove it.

[00:24:07] Jenna OK. Here is what the script said. There was a note. There is a small bouquet of non rose flowers on Pam’s desk.

[00:24:17] Angela OK. Well, I think Phil Shea from props ran with this because later in the episode, when they go to the fancy restaurant with Bob and Phyllis, the same arrangement is on all the tables.

[00:24:30] Jenna Really?

[00:24:31] Angela Yes. And if you look up cheap flowers for big events, carnations and daisies, if you have an event like a wedding or whatever, they help fill out the arrangements. So I think Phil was like, OK, great. I can get the small bouquet of the same arrangement that I’m doing for the dinner at the restaurant.

[00:24:50] Jenna Yeah.

[00:24:51] Angela So in Jim’s defense… I don’t know. Maybe it helped out our props department.

[00:24:56] Jenna Well, also have, you know, in the same scene at three minutes and 17 seconds, my grocery list is gone. So we obviously shot this on a different day. I’ve been shopping now. So in case you were worried, I got all my stuff.

[00:25:09] Angela Michael does not like the flowers.

[00:25:11] Jenna No.

[00:25:11] Angela He’s not a fan. He puts them on the floor. He doesn’t want to see them. I was like, You know what? I get that he doesn’t want to see them. The floor? Couldn’t he just like put them on like on one of those tables behind her?

[00:25:21] Jenna I don’t know.

[00:25:22] Angela He wouldn’t be able to see them.

[00:25:23] Jenna Well, he goes up to Jim and he says, I need to have a word with you. And he says that today is a very difficult day for many people in the office and that Pam and Jim’s sexy vibes are creating a hostile work environment.

[00:25:37] Angela This whole conversation made me laugh so hard. First of all, it’s kind of in hushed tones, you know, and they’re saying ridiculous things in hushed tones. That was always really hard for me.

[00:25:46] Jenna Yeah.

[00:25:47] Angela And when you are like Michael, you do not get to be in our relationship.

[00:25:52] Jenna Lady, I wrote that down because I remember making a choice to say that as if it’s not the first time I’ve had to explain that to Michael.

[00:26:00] Angela It was really good.

[00:26:01] Jenna I wanted it to have history.

[00:26:03] Angela It did. It really paid off.

[00:26:05] Jenna Well, we had a fan question from Matty L, who says, when Michael asks Jim to have a word with him, he starts to stand up as if he’s going to head to Michael’s office, but then awkwardly sits back down when Michael chooses to sit on Jim’s desk instead. Was this improvised? I think it was. I looked in the script to see if there was any.

[00:26:24] Angela Stage direction.

[00:26:25] Jenna Yeah, there wasn’t, except that it clearly says they don’t move into Michael’s office. They stay at Jim’s desk. So I think that feels like something that John and Steve probably found in the moment. It’s very funny.

[00:26:36] Angela One hundred percent. And I feel like those guys, you know, we’ve talked about this a lot, by this time everyone knew their characters so well, so those tops and bottoms of a scene, you could kind of play around a little bit and it looked like them just having fun.

[00:26:50] Jenna It’s time to talk about Dwight.

[00:26:54] Angela Oh, I feel like Dwight, how do I say this, I feel like this episode really shows so much of who Dwight is. There’s deleted scenes where he talks about the blood mobile being a vampire magnet after dark. He’s ready for anything and everything, you know?

[00:27:13] Jenna Yes.

[00:27:13] Angela And he has a lot of stuff to share about how his body can do things.

[00:27:17] Jenna Yes, the nurse is trying to take blood, but she can’t find a vein. Well, you know why? He’s hidden it from her. And when he’s ready, he’s going to pop it on out for her. Then he has a talking head where he tells us he can also retract his penis up into himself.

[00:27:36] Angela Yeah, he says, I trained my major blood vessels to retract into my body on command. Also, I can retract my penis up into itself.

[00:27:44] Jenna We had a fan question from Robin T.

[00:27:46] Angela Robin. Go.

[00:27:48] Jenna Dwight’s lines about retracting his blood vessels and penis is one of my favorite quotes from the entire show. It is so absolutely absurd and hilarious and so very Dwight. I want to know everything about this line. Was it scripted? How hard was it to get through? I’ll tell you it was scripted, but this was an alternate talking head. This is not the one that appeared in our shooting draft, so I wasn’t there when they shot it, but I have to imagine it was very difficult to get through.

[00:28:19] Angela Well, it’s Michael’s turn to give blood, guys.

[00:28:22] Jenna Wow, that’s a big needle, he says.

[00:28:24] Angela Are you squeamish around needles?

[00:28:26] Jenna I can give blood. I don’t get faint or anything, but I don’t like to watch it. I don’t like to see the needle go in my arm. I don’t like to see the bag fill up, but I don’t like get faint or weird around blood.

[00:28:38] Angela Yeah, yeah.

[00:28:39] Jenna If someone’s bleeding, it doesn’t make me faint.

[00:28:41] Angela Yeah, same. Same.

[00:28:42] Jenna OK. Michael, on the other hand, is very nervous. But luckily there’s a lovely young woman also giving blood and they start joking around.

[00:28:51] Angela Yes.

[00:28:53] Jenna We asked Katie about this scene. I wanted to know, did she do any research into the process of giving blood and all of that? And here’s what she had to say.

[00:29:06] Katie Aselton I didn’t do any research for this role, but I didn’t need to because my character was just nervous and pleasant, and I didn’t have to dig super deep to access those emotions. But the funny- I do have a very funny anecdote about being nervous or my character being nervous is that my first line was me just laughing nervously and saying, I’m so sorry, I’m so nervous. And Steve Steve kept cutting, and he would be like, Oh no, it’s OK. We’ll go again. We’ll go again. And finally, I was just like, I think it’s my line. I think that’s what I’m supposed to say. But that has always made me laugh. And of course, yes, I was thrilled to work with Steve. To get that, to get the show was its own triumph, but then to have my scene be with him was just like I was over the Moon.

[00:30:14] Jenna I love that story about Steve because he was such a caretaker like that. He would want our guest actors to feel really comfortable and, you know, he’d be like, Oh no, it’s OK, we’ll start again. We’ll wait till you’re comfortable. She’s like, No, it’s actually my line.

[00:30:29] Angela I would also be relieved if the first time I ever had to be in the scene with Steve, I got to just laugh nervously and say I was nervous.

[00:30:35] Jenna Yes.

[00:30:35] Angela Because it would be so truthful.

[00:30:37] Jenna Such an honest moment.

[00:30:39] Angela Yeah.

[00:30:40] Jenna There’s a third person in the scene. It’s the nurse.

[00:30:43] Angela She was great.

[00:30:44] Jenna I wondered if she was a real blood mobile nurse, since that was a real blood mobile.

[00:30:48] Angela Yeah, and she seemed kind of no nonsense, like, very comfortable there.

[00:30:52] Jenna Well, she was, in fact, an actress. Her name is Julie Ramallah. She has not been on Monk or Law & Order, but she was on several episodes of The Young and the Restless, as well as many movies and TV shows.

[00:31:05] Angela Well, Michael is going to make the mistake of looking at his blood bag. He freaks out a little, and he says to her, Tell me stories, say something, distract me. And she says, he’s cute. And he’s I think so happy. And then he shares that he didn’t eat for three days because he was so nervous about giving blood. And he passes out.

[00:31:24] Jenna Yes, we had a fan question. Many, many people wanted to know, how do we do these scenes of people giving blood? Some people wanted to know, did they actually give blood? No. Oh my goodness. No.

[00:31:37] Angela No, not in the episode.

[00:31:39] Jenna Well, yes, the next day, but not while we were filming.

[00:31:43] Angela The next day with trained professionals and not actors pretending to take blood.

[00:31:47] Jenna Correct. I found out how they make fakey blood. Thanks to Randy Cordray.

[00:31:54] Angela How do they do it?

[00:31:56] Jenna All right. It’s a combination of water, food coloring, and- you’re not going to believe it. One more thing.

[00:32:05] Angela Wait. Wait, wait. Um.

[00:32:09] Jenna You’ll never guess.

[00:32:10] Angela Wait, wait, wait, I want to try to guess.

[00:32:12] Jenna You can eat it.

[00:32:13] Angela I thought you could eat it. I was going to say like Jello.

[00:32:16] Jenna Nestlé’s Quik.

[00:32:18] Angela Oh.

[00:32:19] Jenna Yeah, that thickens that a little like, guess? Yeah. So our blood was all made by our special effects team led by Ron Nary. Had to make fakey blood that day.

[00:32:28] Angela Fakey blood. Well, I thought the reveal of Hank when Michael comes to was arena, the best moments. I laughed so hard. It was so perfect. And then he calls the nurse a waitress. He is like so out of it, and he finds her glove.

[00:32:44] Jenna He does.

[00:32:45] Angela And this starts his whole mission to find her.

[00:32:49] Jenna To return the glove. Like Cinderella’s slipper.

[00:32:51] Angela I know, it’s really cute.

[00:32:54] Jenna We have one more clip from Katie where she just shares her memories of her time on the show. I asked her, anything stick out to you? And Angela, wait until you hear what she says.

[00:33:05] Angela Oh, I can’t wait.

[00:33:08] Katie Aselton I don’t remember a ton of details about my time on set, except for that you guys were on your last day of like a very, very, very long cycle of shooting and everyone was just dead tired and just ready for a hiatus. So that is what I remember, but they were lovely. Everyone was great. But just like the talk was all about how…. this hiatus was just so needed. So that’s what I remember. That and that you guys move so quickly, it was like the fastest, I don’t even know if I got lunch that day, like I showed up, I did my scene and I’m pretty sure you guys banged me out and I didn’t even get a free lunch.

[00:34:04] Jenna All right. This was remember early on we had to do 18 episodes in a row so that we could create that hiatus for Steve to go to a movie?

[00:34:13] Angela Yeah.

[00:34:14] Jenna This was that 18th episode.

[00:34:16] Angela We were so wiped.

[00:34:18] Jenna Yep.

[00:34:19] Angela 18 weeks of 12 to 14 hour days. And you guys, you know when you have that stretch of work where you leave work and it’s dark out and then you come back to work and it’s still dark out, you know what I mean? Because you’re there so early?

[00:34:33] Jenna Yeah.

[00:34:33] Angela And you’re just like, and you sort of all look at each other and joke and be like, See you in a few hours.

[00:34:38] Jenna There’s a whole thing now. It’s called clopening.

[00:34:40] Angela Clopening?

[00:34:40] Jenna Clopening. And it’s a lot of people who work in the service industry or in the food industry where you have to close the restaurant and then like a few hours later, you have to open it.

[00:34:51] Angela Yeah.

[00:34:53] Jenna Clopening.

[00:34:53] Angela Clopening. Well, we were in the clopening phase.

[00:34:55] Jenna We were.

[00:34:56] Angela That is hilarious to me because I do remember like when we would wrap after a big stretch like that, I would get like a cold. I would get sick.

[00:35:03] Jenna We talked about that. Right now we were about to all get sick. Basically. And Katie clocked it and has remembered it all these years later about how tired we were.

[00:35:13] Angela We were so tired.

[00:35:15] Jenna Next up is a scene I’m dying to talk about. It’s in the conference room. Kelly and Meredith are decorating for the Lonely Hearts party. Is this a good time to talk about how Meredith is wearing the vest again?

[00:35:26] Angela Yes!

[00:35:27] Jenna The sweater vest.

[00:35:28] Angela It is making its second appearance in the series pretty quickly because it was just in The Duel.

[00:35:34] Jenna Yes, this is the vest that I wore to a press event with John Krasinski, and by the way, it was not Betsey Johnson. It was Nanette Lepore.

[00:35:43] Angela Fancy. And Meredith loves it clearly and is wearing it again.

[00:35:48] Jenna They were really, I think, rubbing it in my face. I take it personally. I’m kidding.

[00:35:54] Angela Well, there’s something happening now that I as an actor am super jealous of because Jim and Pam are going to go to frickin lunch with Bob and Phyllis. Jenna. I would have loved to been there. That looked like so much fun. And I love it. It’s like the thing we talk about when random characters get thrown together, what’s going to happen? What’s the chemistry? I lived for every scene. And there was so much more in the script and there’s more in the deleted scenes.

[00:36:22] Jenna Phyllis and I were so excited for this storyline. We’re the two St. Louis gals, and we got to have this whole day of shooting together.

[00:36:30] Angela Got talk about bowling.

[00:36:32] Jenna Yes! We had a fan question from Joe S. Where were the restaurant scenes for the double date filmed? I will tell you. They were filmed at a real restaurant called Barsach Brazier. It was on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood. We filled the restaurant with background performers who were pretending to be servers and diners. We had the restaurant for half a day. It is no longer in business, but that’s where we were. And we ate their real food.

[00:37:03] Angela Well, if you look at the tables there, you’re going to see Jim’s bouquet of flowers to Pam on every table. I’ll do a side by side in our stories. And I want to ask you Jenna about the scene with the bowling. All right. So Bob says everyone here who’s bowled a 280, please raise your hand. And you guys are like, super impressed.

[00:37:21] Jenna Yeah.

[00:37:22] Angela What’s the highest bowling number?

[00:37:24] Jenna Three hundred.

[00:37:24] Angela Oh my gosh.

[00:37:26] Jenna Yeah.

[00:37:26] Angela So that’s a big deal. I don’t know a lot about bowling. I don’t know much about bowling.

[00:37:29] Jenna Yes, three hundred is if you get a strike in every frame.

[00:37:32] Angela Wowsers. OK, well, there was a whole other storyline where clearly the writers wanted Jim and Pam to be impressed by how cool Bob and Phyllis were. There was a whole other scene where you guys talk about how you went to Dave Matthews Band.

[00:37:48] Jenna Yes. I remember shooting it.

[00:37:51] Angela And they had great seats and that Phyllis like went backstage and all this stuff.

[00:37:55] Jenna Yeah. We’re like, Oh my gosh, Bob and Phyllis are kind of cool.

[00:37:59] Angela And then they excused themselves to the restroom.

[00:38:03] Jenna We got some mail from Emily Y, who really appreciated the call back from Phyllis’ wedding about Phyllis being a good bowler.

[00:38:10] Angela Oh yeah.

[00:38:11] Jenna I also enjoyed that. If you guys remember, Bob has a speech at their reception where he refers to Phyllis as quote, a hell of a bowler.

[00:38:19] Angela That’s right.

[00:38:20] Jenna I think we should take a break before we go to Michael’s Lonely Hearts party.

[00:38:25] Angela I do, too.

[00:38:25] Jenna Is that OK?

[00:38:26] Angela I think we should, too. Before we go to break, I just want to say one thing.

[00:38:31] Jenna What is it?

[00:38:31] Angela That I love that Bob says, I don’t know how you work with that one jackass. And then that new jackass and the other jackass.

[00:38:39] Jenna Yeah, and Phyllis is like he means Michael, Dwight and Andy and Jim’s like, Oh, I knew who he was talking about.

[00:38:43] Angela I knew. I knew. All right, let’s go to break.

[00:38:50] Jenna We are back, and since I shared about my hot feet today, I thought I would also share about another wardrobe malfunction that I discovered during my bathroom break, which is that I put my underwear on inside out today.

[00:39:06] Angela Ohh.

[00:39:07] Jenna I’m having that day, everybody. I think I look really put together today, do I? Or is it? No.

[00:39:16] Angela You know.

[00:39:17] Jenna You didn’t say yes. In fact, you got to look on your face like, how do I say this?

[00:39:22] Angela You know what? You know why? I don’t want you to move. Don’t move.

[00:39:25] Jenna Oh, no.

[00:39:26] Angela Don’t move. I just want to take a picture of your hair, and then I’m going to answer.

[00:39:32] Jenna OK.

[00:39:33] Angela Now you said I feel pretty, pretty put together today. Now I want you to look at this.

[00:39:40] Jenna OK. OK,.

[00:39:42] Angela Now your outfit, lady. It’s all happening, you have your little shirt and pants and your fancy sneakers. I like your look today.

[00:39:52] Jenna Good. OK.

[00:39:53] Angela OK. All right. Let’s go to the Lonely Hearts party.

[00:39:57] Jenna Let’s do, because Michael wants to go around and have everyone tell their worst relationship story.

[00:40:04] Angela Michael has this way of like, Oh, you don’t feel good? I want you to feel worse.

[00:40:08] Jenna Yeah, I think he thinks this is going to be, I don’t know, bonding. Cathartic. Hmm.

[00:40:14] Angela Well, you guys, we had to sit in a circle facing each other. We could not get through these scenes. We each went around and said the most ridiculous things. There was way more than what you’re seeing here. There was more on the page. And we just were laughing all day. Also for the supporting cast, we got to have Steve all to ourselves and interact with him and as Michael Scott and our characters, and it just was a frickin hilariously fun afternoon.

[00:40:43] Jenna I love how Oscar doesn’t want to share. And then he clearly has been going on and on.

[00:40:49] Angela Yeah, it actually in the script starts with Meredith, and she talks about the woman her husband left her for. I think we need to hear some of it.

[00:40:59] Meredith So my husband ran off with some broad.

[00:41:02] Kelly Who was she?

[00:41:03] Meredith She was our garbage woman.

[00:41:05] Creed Nice.

[00:41:06] Meredith I totally get it. I mean, she was strong. She had a career. She could heave a bag of garbage as high as a two story house.

[00:41:14] Kelly So sorry, Meredith.

[00:41:15] Meredith My kids call her mom now. I guess it’s for the best.

[00:41:18] Michael Scott Oh my God. Oh my God. OK. All right. Well, let’s let’s see who else?

[00:41:26] Jenna Kids! She said my kids, plural.

[00:41:29] Angela I know, I know.

[00:41:31] Jenna More evidence that there is more than one.

[00:41:33] Angela More evidence. And then I don’t know if you heard at the end, Steve as Michael goes, oh god, OK. Like every time he did that after everyone’s story, it was so hard to keep it together.

[00:41:44] Jenna Michael tries to get Kelly to share, but she insists that I guess her heart wasn’t broken, that Ryan’s OK, that his heart was in the right place. Michael reminds her that his heart and body are now in Thailand having random sex.

[00:42:02] Angela Awesome. Again, great pep talk, Michael. Angela had a talking head here. It’s in the deleted scenes. I want to play it Jenna because I then want to read you what was my alt talking head. Because we talk a lot about how our alternate talking heads sometimes would just be all over the map and I want you to hear the difference. OK, play what would have actually ended up in the episode if we had had more time.

[00:42:27] Angela Martin I do not have a Valentine this year. I recently got out of two long term relationships. So I want to wait before I do that again.

[00:42:36] Angela OK, so that’s what we shot. OK.

[00:42:38] Jenna Amazing.

[00:42:39] Angela Amazing. Here was my alt. One of my alts, guys. The major holidays are Christmas, Easter, and the Fourth of July. Valentine’s Day is bull(BLEEP). And then they said we could try it this way. Valentine’s Day is bull puckey. But that was my alt.

[00:43:00] Jenna Well, Angela does share her, I guess, heartbreak story, which is that there was a time when she was in a relationship with two men, both of whom she loved, and they ended up dueling over her.

[00:43:13] Angela And Oscar is like, We know. We were there. Dwight and Andy. And she was like, No, this was years ago when I was living in Ohio. John Mark and John David.

[00:43:21] Jenna Ohio.

[00:43:22] Angela I know.

[00:43:23] Jenna John Mark and John David.

[00:43:24] Angela What was her other life? And then Oscar was like, wait a second, you had two sets of different men actually duel over you? And I had so much fun saying, I guess I have. Huh.

[00:43:35] Jenna And then your deleted talking head implies that you might do this a third time, but you need a moment.

[00:43:40] Angela I need a moment.

[00:43:42] Jenna Before you do that again.

[00:43:43] Angela Again. And then you guys, Oscar’s whole story was so great. There was so much more to it. I wish it hadn’t been cut. He talks about like the whole entire way he met this guy and how it all played out, and it really builds and we’re hanging on his every word. And a lot of that had to be cut for time, but it was really fun to shoot.

[00:44:04] Jenna We also find out where Andy is because guys, he has not been in this episode at all. Where is he? He is on his honeymoons.

[00:44:14] Angela Yeah. Oscar said, you know, he had to put full deposits down that he couldn’t get back, nonrefundables on these honeymoons. So he’s just going and doing them all. He’s got a hot air balloon thing, a massage. Lady, this got me thinking, how many times does this happen? Do people share about this where they had an engagement that got broken off and they’ve already paid for the honeymoon? And who goes on it? I guess it happens quite a bit.

[00:44:38] Jenna Mm hmm. I know someone it happened to.

[00:44:40] Angela You do? What was the honeymoon destination?

[00:44:44] Jenna I think the honeymoon destination was Hawaii. And what they did was they each like, canceled their plane ticket and they got the credit. And my friend came and visited me on what would have been her honeymoon week.

[00:45:01] Angela Wow.

[00:45:02] Jenna So instead of flying to Hawaii, she rerouted it to L.A. and then I took her to Laguna Beach and we just hung out the week that it would have been her honeymoon.

[00:45:10] Angela Oh my gosh, you have such a personal story about this. Well, in my search online about these stories, guess what I found?

[00:45:16] Jenna What?

[00:45:17] Angela In March of 2019, the New York Times ran an article saying that traveling alone for your honeymoon is actually on trend.

[00:45:29] Jenna What?

[00:45:29] Angela Yeah. I know.

[00:45:30] Jenna I’m sorry. Wait, but the marriage happened.

[00:45:32] Angela The marriage happened.

[00:45:34] Jenna And then you go by yourself on a honeymoon trip?

[00:45:36] Angela You both go separately by yourself. They said it’s been given two nicknames. Solo moons or uni moons. And according to Jessica Carbino, who is an online dating expert and a sociologist for the dating app Bumble, she says frankly, the idea of separate honeymoons may signal the continued evolution of marriage, given the recognition that for most couples today, marriage and partnership is considered all consuming, with the partner needing to fulfill every role, physical, spiritual, emotional and sexual. Perhaps separate vacations is a recognition among some couples that all expectations cannot be met by a single person. This caused a stir on Twitter.

[00:46:20] Jenna Well look at my face.

[00:46:21] Angela I know. This whole article. So Helen Fischer from the Kinsey Institute, guys. Mm-Hmm. I’m not related, but you know. Same last name. Helen Fischer, who works at the Kinsey Institute said, Perhaps I’m old fashioned, but I think it should be marked. You are at a new stage in your life when you marry and you are missing out on triggering the three most valuable brain systems for a lasting relationship.

[00:46:44] Jenna I’m with this.

[00:46:45] Angela Same like, Oh my gosh, you just got married. This is a celebration of your union. Isn’t the whole idea to go take a trip together?

[00:46:52] Jenna Yeah, I just think it’s a milestone that is best celebrated together. I mean, I do see the value in once you are married and especially if you have kids, there is a great restorative, wonderful indulgence if you can take a trip solo, right? I mean, my dream vacation is me going and sleeping somewhere for three days. You know, so yes, sign me up. But when you first get married.

[00:47:23] Angela But you’ve also been married a long time and you have young children and the idea of getting to sleep in.

[00:47:29] Jenna No, I’ve been married over 11 years. And yes, I’m thinking, what solo vacation? I mean, even now, if there’s a chance that we could have someone watch our kids, I’d want to go somewhere with Lee for three days. We could just sleep. I think he’d like it too.

[00:47:45] Angela I get excited when Josh and I can both run errands at the same time together.

[00:47:50] Jenna Yes. That’s sometimes a date night for us.

[00:47:53] Angela It is. Like if I turn to him and say I got to go to Target and he’s like, Oh, I can go too, I’m like, Oh, no way! I’m so excited.

[00:48:01] Jenna I hear all of that. Here’s the thing. I’ll just say it. I like to be around my husband all the time. We don’t even have to be talking to each other. I like to text him all day. I like to get his texts. I mean, I don’t know. I like him. I want to go on honeymoon with him.

[00:48:20] Angela I know I want to go on a honeymoon with my person. Anyway, so Andy is on sort of a sad uni moon.

[00:48:28] Jenna Well, I’ll tell you where he really was.

[00:48:30] Angela Oh, where Ed Helms was.

[00:48:31] Jenna Yes, Ed was filming The Hangover in Las Vegas.

[00:48:35] Angela Oh, that’s right. This is when we had the crazy schedule for him. He was so tired, Jenna. Do you remember he would get off the plane from Vegas and come straight to our set.

[00:48:44] Jenna Yeah. Here’s what we did. It was this big negotiation between the studios. He would be on set with us Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. We only got him three days. Then he would fly after work and start work on The Hangover Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. He was working seven days, but there were two weeks when he had to work on The Hangover all week. And this was one of those weeks. Remember, B.J. was also gone right now filming Inglourious Basterds, so two of our fellows were off making movies. So they created these storylines for these guys so that they could do their movies. They got very creative with this idea of Andy being on his honeymoons, because after this episode aired, NBC uploaded photos of Ed pretending to be on vacation. They put him in the Angela Martin Andy Bernard wedding website. They had him pose in all these different outfits in front of a green screen. They had him scuba diving, standing in front of a hot air balloon in Napa Valley and visiting Epcot Center.

[00:49:51] Angela I think I might still have those.

[00:49:52] Jenna I found the one of him in front of the balloon. And I also found the message that they wrote from Andy to everyone on the wedding website. It said this, quote, Wanted all my bro’s and bras and cyberspace to know that the old nard dog is doing just fine.

[00:50:13] Angela Back to our group of sadness, Kevin is going to share about his breakup from Stacy. Michael decides to become a problem solver. He says there’s got to be a way to get all the lonely people together. A mixer!

[00:50:26] Jenna First, Dwight says a giant net?

[00:50:28] Angela Jenna. I thought that that was an improv, and I went and looked in the script and it was completely 100 percent written.

[00:50:35] Jenna It’s so funny.

[00:50:36] Angela It’s so funny.

[00:50:37] Jenna But no, you’re right, Michael is saying a mixer a.k.a. an old fashioned meat market. They’re going to put up fliers. They’re going to invite people. And on the flier, Michael is going to make sure that he is, you know, sending out a beacon to the lost glove lady.

[00:50:56] Angela Yeah. And he says, You know what? Cupid is going to shoot his sparrow at unsuspecting victims. His sparrow. A funny little bird, but he gets the job done.

[00:51:07] Jenna That’s right.

[00:51:08] Angela That tickled me because I feel like I get phrases one or two words off.

[00:51:13] Jenna You feel like it? You do. You do. All the time.

[00:51:19] Angela Why is Sam applauding.  Oh my gosh.

[00:51:20] Jenna Because we thought the same thing when you said it.

[00:51:22] Sam Like there’s a debate to it.

[00:51:25] Jenna I feel like it might be possible.

[00:51:28] Angela That in this moment, I really relate to Michael.

[00:51:33] Jenna When the mixer gets underway, two women enter.

[00:51:37] Angela Yes, Lynn and Rhea.

[00:51:39] Jenna Rhea was played by Tate Hanyoch. She’s done a ton of comedy television work, everything from Scrubs, Community, Superstore. She has been on Monk and I can’t believe I’m going to say this.

[00:51:53] Angela What?

[00:51:53] Jenna I was so excited.

[00:51:54] Angela What?

[00:51:55] Jenna She has been-.

[00:51:56] Angela John Wick.

[00:51:57] Jenna No.

[00:51:58] Angela I’ve seen John Wick. What with Keanu Reeves? How does she know him? What?

[00:52:02] Jenna No. Oh gosh, you are so on Keanu today. No. She was in a television pilot called Hummingbird.

[00:52:11] Angela Oh my lord, I should just know today. All of your anecdotes are hummingbird related.

[00:52:15] Jenna I mean, I couldn’t believe it. When I was looking her up, she played Sienna. The series was a thriller about a young girl who vanishes. The other lady who has entered is Lynn. She was played by Lisa K. Wyatt. This is her first of four episodes. She’s going to become a love interest for Kevin. In addition to her numerous film, television and commercial credits such as Donnie Darko, Legally Blond and Days of Our Lives, Lisa Wyatt also does stand up, and along with her husband, she coaches other actors in an acting technique- acting technique- called the Mechanics of Believability at the acting garage in Los Angeles.

[00:52:58] Angela I thought she was very believable.

[00:52:59] Jenna There you go.

[00:53:00] Angela Spot on. Did you guys all notice that Rhea is dressed like Angela Martin?

[00:53:04] Jenna Yes, we got mail about it. People wanted to know if that was on purpose.

[00:53:08] Angela I think so. Yes.

[00:53:09] Jenna Yes, I think so. Yes. Well, Michael’s going to bring Lynn right on over to Kevin. He wants to make a love connection.

[00:53:16] Angela I mean, Michael’s playing cupid.

[00:53:18] Jenna He is. Kevin tries to chat her up, but he kind of keeps putting his foot in his mouth. He does mention the circle drive in. That’s a real place. I looked it up. It’s in Scranton and it’s still in operation.

[00:53:30] Angela One of my favorites, though, is when Michael tries to set up Meredith. He says, So Eric, you mentioned that you’re in tool and die repair.

[00:53:39] Jenna I loved that. You think he works at Kress Tool and Die?

[00:53:43] Angela Probably.

[00:53:43] Jenna It’s on the sign down in the lobby.

[00:53:45] Angela Yes. This is like a business park, right?

[00:53:48] Jenna Yes, exactly.

[00:53:49] Angela Eric says, I am. And then Michael says, Well, Meredith recently had a total hysterectomy, so that’s sort of a repair. All right. I’ll let you two talk.

[00:53:58] Jenna Would you like a guest star break down on Eric?

[00:54:02] Angela I would.

[00:54:03] Jenna He was played by Jason Rogel, and I found a very interesting crossover connection.

[00:54:10] Angela I know it.

[00:54:11] Jenna Tell us, Angela.

[00:54:12] Angela Jason and I, when he played Eric, we didn’t know each other. But years later, we would both be in the Netflix movie Tall Girl together.

[00:54:21] Jenna Yes. So crazy.

[00:54:24] Angela I know, a little mini Office reunion. He played the doctor, the pediatrician, when Steve Zahn, who plays my husband and I, we go to meet with the pediatrician because our daughter is so incredibly tall at such a young age. And he played the pediatrician.

[00:54:37] Jenna Should we go to the restaurant?

[00:54:39] Angela We should, because Bob and Phyllis have not come back from the bathroom.

[00:54:43] Jenna No. And Jim and Pam are very hungry.

[00:54:46] Angela Their food is there. This is getting so awkward.

[00:54:48] Jenna They’re discussing when are you allowed to eat? And Jim says, did you get hot food? And Pam says no. She got cold food. And he said then I think you need to wait.

[00:54:59] Angela Right. You have to wait for the other people.

[00:55:02] Jenna And Pam says, Bob got hot food, and I think his fries are getting cold. And then they start eating his fries. And then they eat his steak.

[00:55:10] Angela I know.

[00:55:11] Jenna Did you see how I was really eating the steak? Lady, I was starving. I was like, so excited to eat the fries and the steak. That was real. That’s my real hunger.

[00:55:20] Angela I thought it rang pretty true, just knowing you the way I know you when you get hungry, that you would not hesitate to take food off someone else’s plate, especially because they hadn’t been on that plate yet.

[00:55:31] Jenna When I was a caterer,

[00:55:34] Angela would you take things and nibble?

[00:55:35] Jenna You know, when I was clearing the tables and there was like a roll or like part of a chicken breast that had clearly not been touched, I would eat it. I mean, I was hungry and I, you know, was a struggling actor. It was a free meal. I sort of piece it together from everybody’s plate. Let me tell you something, Angela, because you brought up food and eating for me. You know it’s important to me, and it’s so important to me this idea of like being at a large dinner party and people are getting served food and when do you get to eat your food, that I actually looked it up once.

[00:56:11] Angela Like the etiquette of it?

[00:56:12] Jenna Yes. And I read that in a large dinner party, if they’re serving something cold, you have to wait for everybody to get their cold dish like a salad or a cold soup before you start eating. But if something hot is being served, after two or more people have been served that hot dish, you can begin eating while you wait for the rest of the party to get their dish. And I’ve stuck with that in my life when I’ve been at it like, let’s say, a table of 10. If I get my hot dish, I’m the fourth person to get it, I start eating it because that’s what the book said and because I want to. But I digged a little deeper, since we’re on the topic of dining etiquette. Here are some other dining etiquette rules for you. Apparently, if you get a dinner roll, etiquette says you should only butter one bite at a time. You shouldn’t butter your whole piece of bread.

[00:57:10] Angela Get out.

[00:57:11] Jenna Isn’t that crazy?

[00:57:12] Angela I’m going to put butter all over it.

[00:57:14] Jenna I butter the whole thing.

[00:57:15] Angela I want more butter.

[00:57:17] Jenna But if you butter it one bite at a time, you might get-.

[00:57:20] Angela You’re double dipping.

[00:57:21] Jenna But no, because you’re using a special knife

[00:57:25] Angela and you’re putting it on your bread and you’re taking a bite and then you’re doing that knife on that shared communal butter again. Etiquette, I don’t think you’re right.

[00:57:33] Jenna Well, that’s what it said. Also, out of respect for the chef, you should always try several bites of your food before adding any salt or pepper.

[00:57:44] Angela Well, we always say that to our kids. Like, try it before you salt it, guys.

[00:57:49] Jenna If someone asks you to pass the salt, do you know you’re supposed to pass the salt and pepper together?

[00:57:54] Angela I do.

[00:57:55] Jenna They’re are a pair. They like to travel together.

[00:57:57] Angela They travel together.

[00:57:58] Jenna If you’re enjoying a family style meal, you’re supposed to pass the dishes clockwise around the table.

[00:58:04] Angela Oh gosh, at our family, it’s like a free for all.

[00:58:09] Jenna Same. Also, this one I found very interesting. If you leave the table and you’re in the middle of a meal, do you know where you’re supposed to put your napkin?

[00:58:17] Angela To the left of your plate?

[00:58:19] Jenna That’s what I thought, to the side of your plate.

[00:58:21] Angela Yeah.

[00:58:22] Jenna Your chair.

[00:58:23] Angela What?

[00:58:24] Jenna You’re supposed to set it on your chair.

[00:58:25] Angela Gross.

[00:58:27] Jenna My butt was just there. Why do I want to put that? What?

[00:58:31] Angela No. Maybe your hot feet were tucked up under your butt.

[00:58:35] Jenna I know. I could have a hot foot inside out underwear chair. That’s gross. Why are we talking about my chair?

[00:58:44] Angela You brought up all of these things. The hot feet, your underwear, the chair. This is all your stuff.

[00:58:53] Jenna Why are you making me talk about this? Pam and Jim can’t take it anymore. It’s been so long. They’re like, Did they ditch us? Where are they?

[00:59:06] Angela Maybe they just left.

[00:59:08] Jenna Well, they go to look for them. Over by the restrooms?

[00:59:11] Angela Yeah. And what do they hear? Moaning behind a door.

[00:59:15] Jenna It is on. They are clearly getting it on.

[00:59:18] Angela Jim and Pam are horrified.

[00:59:20] Jenna But then, but then when they come back to the table. Can we talk about Phyllis chugging the water?

[00:59:30] Angela She’s so flustered. She is like sweaty, chugging her water. Phyllis should get an Emmy for that moment. She’s so brilliant.

[00:59:41] Jenna It’s so good. And then at 17 minutes, thirty five seconds, can we please talk about the way the Bob Vance holds his fork when he starts cutting his steak? He’s like, got his fork in like a fist and he stabbed it into the steak. And he’s cutting it. He feeds it to Phyllis.

[01:00:02] Angela I had a question about this moment, okay? He says, Do you want any steak? And she’s like, Sure, and he passes it over to her and she says, no mushrooms. He says, Sorry, I forgot. And then she eats the steak. I was like, This is so nuanced. This feels so personal and intimate. Was this written? And I went to the script, and this is not in the script.

[01:00:22] Jenna The whole steak thing isn’t?

[01:00:23] Angela Him feeding her and the mushroom.

[01:00:26] Jenna Wow, that’s crazy, because I just remember shooting it several times, so it must have been an on the day thing because it wasn’t a one time improv, because they had to set up that camera specifically to get that look from me and John. And I remember that we had a hard time holding it, because it was very funny.

[01:00:43] Angela But my question is, was the mushroom thing an accident?

[01:00:46] Jenna I don’t remember.

[01:00:48] Angela When he stabs the steak and maybe in real life, Phyllis doesn’t like mushrooms so maybe she just improved no mushrooms.

[01:00:53] Jenna I don’t know.

[01:00:55] Angela It’s so specific.

[01:00:56] Jenna It’s so good.

[01:00:57] Angela I loved it.

[01:00:58] Jenna Back at the mixer, Michael keeps looking at the door. He’s really hoping Glove Girl will show up.

[01:01:04] Angela And Dwight is like, Why do you keep looking at the front door? Someone after you?

[01:01:08] Jenna OK, wait, we got a fan question about that from Amy P. She says, when Dwight asks Michael if someone’s after him and Oscar says, Why do you always go to that? Has anyone ever been after anyone in this office? Amy says, um Yes, Oscar.

[01:01:23] Angela Roy!

[01:01:24] Jenna Yes! Remember Roy? He was definitely after Jim and Dwight saved the day.

[01:01:31] Angela Listen, Dwight is ready with weaponry all the time.

[01:01:35] Jenna There is a moment where a woman shows up who is not Michael’s lady. And he turns her away.

[01:01:43] Angela Everyone groans. I don’t know that he turns her away, but she walks in and everyone is so excited for Glove Girl that when Michael is like, Nope, they’re like meh.

[01:01:52] Jenna And she leaves.

[01:01:52] Angela Yeah.

[01:01:53] Jenna This unnamed woman, I looked her up. Do you know who she is?

[01:01:57] Angela Oh, I do.

[01:01:59] Jenna Dorian Frankel?

[01:02:00] Angela Uh huh.

[01:02:01] Jenna She was Alison Jones’ casting associate for The Office after Phyllis left.

[01:02:06] Angela Let me tell you a little bit about Dorian. I met her a lifetime ago. Dorian, if you’re hearing this, hi, it was so fun to see your face. We did improv together at Improv Olympic. Also known as IOWest. We were on a long form team called, ready for this? Fluffers. Dorian, do you remember this? If you hear this, we were on a team called Fluffers. We would rehearse in her apartment and she was lovely and I’m so happy for her. She recently won an Emmy for casting Veep.

[01:02:37] Jenna Yes.

[01:02:38] Angela So she’s amazing. Dorian, oh my gosh. Flash from the past. So that was my other crossover connection with a guest star in this episode.

[01:02:47] Jenna Amazing. Dwight has kind of zeroed in on Rhea, woman who is dressed like Angela, but not for the reasons we think.

[01:02:56] Angela Well, he finds out when they’re talking that she works at a place that does catalogs for community colleges and small businesses.

[01:03:04] Jenna They must use a lot of paper.

[01:03:06] Angela I mean, at first we’re like, Is he attracted to her? No, he’s just trying to make a huge paper sale.

[01:03:10] Jenna Yes.

[01:03:11] Angela Jenna. There was a lot and deleted scenes of like people just sort of chit chatting, trying to flirt, trying to meet people, make conversation. Well Creed talks to Lynn. He tries to strike up conversation with her. You got to hear it.

[01:03:28] Creed How old are you? Wait, let me guess, 30. No, no, no. Sixty.

[01:03:37] Rhea Thirty four.

[01:03:38] Creed Cool beans. Me too. What year were you born?

[01:03:46] Jenna Oh, wow.

[01:03:47] Angela I know, first of all, he leads off with like, how old are you? Let me guess. Like and then he goes from 30 to 60. This is Creed trying to make small talk, guys.

[01:03:58] Jenna I remember I was in a bar once and a guy tried to flirt with me by asking me how much I weighed. And then he said, I bet I can guess. And then he picked me up. Without my consent. And then set a number. Fellas. There’s so much wrong with this. I hope we don’t have to break it down for you, but like, don’t do that. All those things.

[01:04:25] Angela Yeah. Don’t say as your pick line, let me guess your age or your weight.

[01:04:29] Jenna Yeah. Don’t put your hands on a lady unless she invites you to. So many things.

[01:04:35] Angela So many things. But you know who did spark some interest in Lyn, ultimately, was Kevin.

[01:04:40] Jenna I know, and he’s very charming in his just nervousness and honesty. And doesn’t Brian kill it in the scene where he shows that she gave him her business card?

[01:04:57] Angela Yes.

[01:04:57] Jenna It reminds me of that episode when they won their parking lot back from the five families.

[01:05:06] Angela And he’s like, Sometimes you just need things to go your way.

[01:05:09] Jenna Yes, I mean, I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it when he does that. Such a good actor.

[01:05:14] Angela I know.

[01:05:16] Jenna Unfortunately, it looks like they’re going to have to close down the party and Glove Girl never shows up.

[01:05:24] Angela Michael doesn’t want to leave, he wants to keep waiting it out and people stick around for a while, it’s very sweet.

[01:05:30] Jenna Even Angela.

[01:05:31] Angela Even Stanley.

[01:05:33] Jenna Yeah.

[01:05:34] Angela Yeah. And Oscar’s ultimately like, now come on, Michael, it’s time. Let’s all walk out together.

[01:05:40] Jenna We got mail. Aiden M. wrote in to say, Why did Michael never get to find the lady who left her glove in the blood drive van? It has driven me crazy, even though he ends up with Holly. And Diana P went on to say, Why didn’t this storyline continue? I asked Katie about it because I was curious.

[01:06:06] Angela It  just shows you how good of a job they did together in that scene that people wanted to see more of the blood drive girl and Michael.

[01:06:15] Jenna Well, the message boards after this episode aired were all for Glove Girl. And here’s what Katie had to say.

[01:06:23] Katie Aselton Oh, man, you guys. So here is the thing about my experience is that when I auditioned, it was with the caveat that it was a possible recurring character. And so all I wanted was to perform well and to impress and to be asked back. And it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. Um and I’m sure they had their creative reasons. But oh boy, I wanted nothing more. But I’m happy with the time I got. That’s for sure.

[01:07:12] Jenna So I will tell you story wise, why glove girl did not come back. It was not because we were not completely charmed by Katie and her performance because.

[01:07:22] Angela No, she crushed it.

[01:07:23] Jenna Clearly, yes. Michael has a talking head and it’s really written in this talking head. He says that this is the first time since Holly that he’s even considered getting back into the dating marina.

[01:07:37] Angela Marina?

[01:07:37] Jenna The marina. Like cupid’s sparrow. And that was the story point of this episode, was not to introduce a new love interest for Michael they ultimately decided. They were toying with this idea. But really, it was just for Michael to feel like he could connect with someone again. But ultimately, they’re going to keep him on this trajectory toward Holly. But because of this storyline, he’s not going to be kind of as broken when he does finally reunite with her. Does that make sense?

[01:08:17] Angela Yeah, no. He’s hopeful. He’s getting a little bit of his confidence back and that’s important.

[01:08:23] Jenna Yeah.

[01:08:23] Angela Well, the whole gang is going to leave the building and Jenna, I just want you guys to know, when you watch us all exit, Mindy and I are just having a conversation.

[01:08:32] Jenna Yeah, I saw that.

[01:08:32] Angela I’m gesturing to my hair. I don’t know what we’re talking about.

[01:08:36] Jenna I don’t either. You’re very animated.

[01:08:36] Angela Very animated. And then I feel like they sort of let us know that we were on camera because then I go back to Angela Martin and I do these little awkward waves goodbye. But everyone is very pleasant and nice to one another.

[01:08:49] Jenna Michael’s lonely hearts party was kind of a success.

[01:08:52] Angela Yeah, I mean, they were all sort of lonely together.

[01:08:56] Jenna Yeah, this episode ends with a great tag.

[01:08:59] Angela So funny.

[01:09:00] Jenna I found it very funny. Stanley goes into the blood mobile and he’s got a little bandage on his arm, he’s got a cotton ball with a little bit of medical tape, and he says, I’m so sorry, I gave blood earlier and I’m still feeling a little woozy. Do you have a cookie?

[01:09:16] Angela Can I have one of those cookies.

[01:09:18] Jenna Right. And she says, you know what? You have a cotton ball and medical tape, but we’re using Band-Aids.

[01:09:26] Angela Yeah, she’s like, Huh?

[01:09:28] Jenna Weird. And behind him, Phyllis walks up. He’s making a quick exit and he just goes Band-Aid.

[01:09:34] Angela And she’s like, dammit.

[01:09:37] Jenna And then Creed leaves the truck with his blood in a bag. Or someone else’s. I’m not sure.

[01:09:44] Angela To go where? To do what?

[01:09:45] Jenna I don’t know, but this is what Dwight has been worried about the whole episode.

[01:09:49] Angela I know.

[01:09:49] Jenna Where is Dwight? I don’t know.

[01:09:53] Angela Well, that was Blood Drive, everybody.

[01:09:55] Jenna That is Blood Drive, everyone. I’m going to go home. I’m going to put on different shoes.

[01:09:59] Angela Cool off your feet. Don’t put on any shoes. Just take shoes off. It’s like ninety five degrees out. I encourage you to get a pair of flip flops.

[01:10:07] Jenna Yeah. And I guess I have to fix my hair.

[01:10:10] Angela Well, you do have one guy that’s going (NOISE). He’s like at attention. Just in your bangs.

[01:10:17] Jenna I’m growing my bangs out. And so.

[01:10:20] Angela It’s a transition.

[01:10:21] Jenna They’re are strange length. It was a summer thing. We’re moving into fall.

[01:10:27] Angela Yeah, you got to have your fall hairdo.

[01:10:28] Jenna That’s right. I’m moving into I don’t know what my fall hairdo is yet, but we’re transitioning out of bangs right now.

[01:10:35] Angela I can’t wait to see what your fall hairdo is.

[01:10:37] Jenna Well, I know I’m going to get the truth from you, that’s for sure.

[01:10:39] Angela That’s for sure.

[01:10:41] Jenna All right, everybody.

[01:10:43] Angela I love you lady. All right, guys. Have a great week.

[01:10:45] Jenna We’ll see you later. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

[01:11:08] Angela Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcher Premium dot com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code: Office.