EP. 70 — Chair Model

OFFICE-070-20210226-ChairModel-SKv03.mp3

Jenna [00:00:04] I’m Jenna Fischer.

Angela [00:00:05] And I’m Angela Kinsey.

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

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

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

Angela [00:00:12] 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 [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Hi, everybody.

Angela [00:00:26] Hello from our closets.

Jenna [00:00:29] Still here.

Angela [00:00:31] Still in our closets.

Jenna [00:00:34] Still surrounded by Josh’s, many, many hats.

Angela [00:00:37] So many baseball hats.

Jenna [00:00:38] So many. Does he have a favorite? Can we get him on the pod to ask him to give us a breakdown of these hats? Are they significant emotionally in some way? Do they represent a team he loves?

Angela [00:00:50] I mean, no, I think Josh is all about the fit, and it looks like he loves the Patagonia kind of trucker looking hat.

Jenna [00:00:58] It does with the adjustable band thing. The little plastic snappy’s. Josh, I hope you are excited that we shared.

Angela [00:01:07] Listen, there’s other things in the closet. Right over my shoulder I notice all the time that there’s the what’s the stuff they spray in their shoes, jenna?

Jenna [00:01:15] Febreeze?

Angela [00:01:16] No, all dudes do this. They spray that stuff in their shoes.

Jenna [00:01:20] Odor eaters?

Angela [00:01:21] Yes. Yes. Anyway. Oh, now, Josh, you’re really happy. I’ve shared with everyone that you spray your shoes.

Jenna [00:01:27] Well, because we need to talk about this longer, I am really curious about the very bright red pair of shoes over your shoulder in the shoe cubby. Whose are those?

Angela [00:01:40] Oh, those are my red converse. OK, so here’s the thing. Yes, this is Josh’s closet, but I occupy most of the shoe space. I have lots of shoes.

Jenna [00:01:50] You have overflow that goes into his closet.

Angela [00:01:52] Yeah, he’s real happy about it.

Jenna [00:01:54] Well, guys, that’s what you’re here for. A breakdown of Angela’s closet. Next week we’ll do my closet. But this week we are talking about chair model.

Angela [00:02:04] It’s so good.

Jenna [00:02:05] Season four, episode 14, written by B.J. Novak, directed by Jeffrey Blitz. With a duo like that, you know it’s going to be good.

Angela [00:02:14] I love the simple idea that Michael has a thing for the model in a chair catalog. I just love how simple and perfect that is.

Jenna [00:02:23] Yes. Let me give you a summary.

Angela [00:02:26] Do it.

Jenna [00:02:26] Michael is unable to pick a new chair for his office after he becomes infatuated with a woman modeling office chairs in a catalog. He decides he’s ready to rejoin the dating pool. He’s inspired by his love of the chair model. Meanwhile, the Dunder Mifflin parking spaces are being used by a construction crew doing work for WB Jones, and the staff of Dunder Mifflin has to park in a satellite lot. Kevin and Andy join forces to confront the other bosses of the Scranton Business Park to reclaim their places in the main lot.

Angela [00:03:04] Simple storylines, absolute perfection.

Jenna [00:03:07] Also absolutely true.

Angela [00:03:09] Yeah.

Jenna [00:03:10] You know, I had to park in a satellite lot when I had my admin job. If you were an executive, you could park in the parking lot of the building. This high rise in downtown Los Angeles.

Angela [00:03:22] Yeah.

Jenna [00:03:23] I did not get a parking space. I had to park in a satellite lot that was about a half a mile away. And it wasn’t a big deal except for on days that it rained.

Angela [00:03:33] Well, here’s the thing. You know where you rank in a company by where you park.

Jenna [00:03:37] Oh, yeah.

Angela [00:03:38] Well, Michael has a spot right up front. He’s not concerned.

Jenna [00:03:41] Well, later, he’s going to try to imagine what it would be like if he didn’t have that spot. But it takes two employees angrily confronting him for him to get there.

Angela [00:03:52] What are our fast facts, Jenna?

Jenna [00:03:54] Fast fact number one, the original title of this episode was Michael Dating.

Angela [00:04:02] Hmm.

Jenna [00:04:03] But they realized that they would have to release the name of the episode before Dinner Party had aired.

Angela [00:04:10] Oh, and they didn’t want that. They didn’t want to ruin the surprise about Jan and Michael’s breakup, right?

Jenna [00:04:15] Yes. So they changed the name of the episode to Parking. But then they felt, well, while it’s a big part of the episode, it’s not the main storyline of the episode. So they eventually settled on  Chair Model, which I personally love. I mean, when you see that, aren’t you intrigued?

Angela [00:04:34] I’m so intrigued.

Jenna [00:04:35] What is this episode going to be about? Chair Model. I’m intrigued than parking. I’ll say that. They picked the right one. All right. Fast fact number two. I think we need to do a little breakdown of the Scranton Business Park five families.

Angela [00:04:49] I mean, it’s like Goodfellas.

Jenna [00:04:51] It is. All right. Here are the bosses of the five families, Michael Scott, of course, Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. Then there is WB Jones from WB Jones Heating and Air. He was played by Barry Sigismondi, Bill Kress of Kress Tool and Dye, who is played by Terrence Beeser. And finally, Paul Foust of Disaster Kits Limited, who was played by Paul Faust. This is an amazing story. And it all starts when an actual man named Paul Faust came to visit the set of The Office.

Angela [00:05:30] Yes. So I have known Paul Faust for years. We used to be related by marriage and I reached out to him and he is just such a hoot. And he sent in all of these fantastic audio clips about his day on set.

Jenna [00:05:43] They are amazing. And in this first one, he explains exactly how he got the role on the show. Sam, you got to play this clip.

Paul Faust [00:05:55] Hey, Office Ladies and Office fans, this is Paul Faust, a.k.a. Cool Guy Paul, want to tell you how I got a part of the show. So I was out in L.A. on business and decided to visit the set because my cousins are part of The Office. And when I was out there, I met the writers and I kind of told them one of my companies and what I did, which was a company that sells disaster kits. And Greg said, this is my cousin. He’s a little nuts. Tell him what you do. I told them about the company. And when I walked out of the room, unbeknownst to me, B.J. Novak said, that guy’s got to be a character on the show. So he wrote a part based on me. And the day before they shot the scene, they hadn’t found an actor to play the part. So I got a call asking me if I wanted to audition to play the part. And long story short, I got the part. Got to fly out and be part of the awesome show and played myself. So that’s how I got to be on the on the show is really a story only can happen in Hollywood.

Jenna [00:06:52] I mean, that’s bonkers.

Angela [00:06:53] I know.

Jenna [00:06:54] He’s literally playing himself, but what’s bonkers to me about it was that they did hold auditions. They held auditions for this role. And the night before, they just had not found someone who could play Paul Faust. So they’re like, how about Paul Faust?

Angela [00:07:10] Paul really sells disaster kits. That’s real. That is his company.

Jenna [00:07:14] Oh, yeah. And Angela, he talked about that in this next clip.

Paul Faust [00:07:20] I think one of the most unique things about me being in The Office was that I actually played myself. When I went out to L.A. and I was listening and I went to the set, I talked about one of the businesses I run, which is a company called 1- 800- Prepare, uh 1800prepare.com where we actually sell disaster kits and preparedness kits. So I talked about it and that’s what BJ had picked up on. And so he wrote a part called about Cool Guy Paul, the owner of Disaster Kits Limited. And yes, I still own that company. We still sell disaster kits. So I think I’m one of the few people who played himself on TV with his real name in a real business that he runs, which was kind of cool.

Angela [00:08:01] So we asked Paul, how did he prepare, you know, to have these scenes? He’s not an actor. He’s not used to learning lines or where to sit, you know, how to navigate a set and all that kind of stuff. And here’s what he had to say.

Paul Faust [00:08:16] So I got this part, let’s say, on a Thursday, and I had- we were shooting Friday morning- so I had about a good 10 hours to learn my five or six lines. So I’m studying, studying on the plane. I’m reading them. I didn’t sleep. I study them. So we go there and this whole experience happens. And you’re nervous and there’s a lot of people around. And I had ten hours to learn a bunch of lines. So I was able to do it. And we knocked it out and and I got it done. And I was like, great, I finished. And then all of a sudden somebody came in and they threw these new scripts down. They said, OK, here’s the alternate ending. Let’s take a five minute break, learn our lines and come back to it. I’m like, wait, wait, wait a minute. Five minutes. What? I had ten hours to learn my lines. Five minutes, I’m not learning new lines. So I raced down the hallway, had to study, learn all the lines, learn when I came in and whatever. I wound up doing it, knocking it out, getting it done right. And again, life experience with amazing people who were just so supportive that I was glad that I was able to be a tiny part of this amazing family.

Jenna [00:09:18] Well, Angela, I found an interview with Paul and he said that he landed in L.A. at one thirty in the morning. The airline lost his luggage, so he had no luggage. He got to his hotel and went to sleep about three fifteen in the morning and he had to be up at five a.m. for work. So after all of that, I’m kind of amazed.

Angela [00:09:40] I would have been loopy. I wouldn’t have been able to learn new lines.

Jenna [00:09:43] No, and I think of Paul just like he’s had no sleep. He’s probably in the same underwear because they lost his bag and he you know, and now he’s like he thought he reached the finish line and then they hand him this whole new task.

Angela [00:09:59] Well, Paul sent a few more clips about his experience just being on set. They’re so delightful. We’re going to sprinkle those in throughout the episode.

Jenna [00:10:06] All right. Fast fact number three, Angela, I’m titling this, am I the inspiration for this episode?

Angela [00:10:15] I’m sorry, what? Were you a chair model?

Jenna [00:10:18] No, but in season one of the show, I wanted a new chair at reception and I had to lobby for it, so I’m sure I’m not the inspiration for this episode. But in season one, they gave me a chair at reception without arms. It was an armless chair and I really, really wanted a chair with arms. And so I attempted to try to sort of move the chairs or find a chair maybe that hadn’t been claimed or used. It wasn’t working. And big shout out to our set dresser, Steve Rothstein, because he is one of the guys who headed up the team that picked out all our furniture on The Office, and he got me a chair with arms.

Angela [00:11:02] Oh lady.

Jenna [00:11:02] And I was so excited.

Angela [00:11:03] Well, I have a chair story for you. I’ve been holding on to this. I’m going to go ahead and tell you now. The chair I’m sitting in right now, ready? I’m going to pan down. Do you see this chair?

Jenna [00:11:15] I do. It’s a blue chair with mesh.

Angela [00:11:18] Do you recognize it?

Jenna [00:11:20] I don’t recognize it, but it has no arms.

Angela [00:11:23] Phil Shea gave me this chair. It was a leftover chair from Work Bus!

Jenna [00:11:28] Oh my gosh, you’ve been sitting in a Work Bus chair this whole time?

Angela [00:11:34] For a year in my closet. I have been sitting in my Work Bus chair. And I was going to save it for Work Bus but we’re having all this chair talk, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Jenna [00:11:47] Well, I just have to say, this is why our show is so great, because getting a chair is a very relatable big deal moment. When you are in an office job or any job, your chair, you sit in it all day and they created this amazing, wonderful storyline out of it.

Angela [00:12:04] Yes. And thank you, Phil Shea, because I had gotten a desk, you know, I had in the corner of my guest room, a little desk where I would sit and do work. And I didn’t have a proper desk chair. I was using one of the kitchen chairs and I was sort of talking about it on set. And Phil Shea was like, Ange, I have some extra chairs from Work Bus, do you want one?

Jenna [00:12:23] This is making me happy.

Angela [00:12:25] I know.

Jenna [00:12:26] We all have a chair story.

Angela [00:12:27] And I have been sitting in it for a year with you and haven’t told you because I was going to try to work it into Work Bus. But there you go.

Jenna [00:12:34] Let’s take a break. And when we get back, we’ll get into it.

Angela [00:12:38] All right.

Jenna [00:12:42] We are back. We open on a Jim and Pam talking head, they are standing outside of the Dunder Mifflin office and they are explaining that due to some renovations in the building, all of their parking spots are being taken up and they have to park in a satellite lot and walk to work. They’re being really positive about it, though.

Angela [00:13:02] Yeah, they saw a junkyard dog eating some of a chicken.

Jenna [00:13:06] Yeah. Eating the bones of a rotisserie chicken, Angela, which was based on a real story.

Angela [00:13:13] Yeah it was.

Jenna [00:13:15] There was a junkyard next to our real office building and there was a junkyard dog who they would throw like old rotisserie chicken bones to.

Angela [00:13:25] We’ve talked about this junkyard and the dog. We got very invested in this dog’s life that lived over there.

Jenna [00:13:31] We did.

Angela [00:13:32] And it made it into an episode.

Jenna [00:13:34] So then we have Oscar and Andy who are less positive. And then there’s Kevin, who is just downright angry.

Angela [00:13:43] Kevin is going to have a breakdown over the satellite parking lot.

Jenna [00:13:47] He is.

Angela [00:13:48] Well, Andy says he’s so bummed because he lost a penny out of his penny loafers.

Jenna [00:13:53] Yeah.

Angela [00:13:54] Jenna. I don’t understand penny loafers. So I looked them up.

Jenna [00:13:57] Oh, you could have asked me. I wore penny loafers all through high school as part of my school uniform.

Angela [00:14:03] OK, well, why did you put a penny in your penny loafer?

Jenna [00:14:05] I don’t know, because there was a slot there for it.

Angela [00:14:08] OK, well, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you why.

Jenna [00:14:12] Oh my gosh, well, you have put me in my place. I clearly don’t know about penny loafers.

Angela [00:14:16] You told me I – You told me I could have asked you. Well, you’re not answering my question. Why a penny in your loafers? So according to the Internets, back in the 1930s, the pay phone in the phone booth cost two cents. The new low for design allowed just enough space for a penny in each shoe equaling the cost of an emergency phone call. Thus the penny and the loafer were united.

Jenna [00:14:44] But only men could make emergency phone calls.

Angela [00:14:48] Oh!

Jenna [00:14:49] If you were a woman, so sorry, you don’t even get a pocket to put your pennies in.

Angela [00:14:56] Good luck, lady.

Jenna [00:14:57] You’re just going to die on the street. But for the men, we have pockets, you can hide money in your shoes, where else can we make life easy for you gentlemen?

Angela [00:15:08] That took a turn, but point taken. So now the episode starts, and Jenna it would have started with a deleted scene with Michael checking out of Schrute Farms.

Jenna [00:15:21] Oh, what?

Angela [00:15:23] Yeah.

Jenna [00:15:23] Oh, because he’s been staying with Dwight?

Angela [00:15:26] Yes. So there was an alternate beginning where Michael is leaving the farm and he’s like, it’s moving day. You know, I’ve been here about a month. I let Jan have the condo and I’m, I’m moving out of Schrute Farms. And as he’s leaving, Dwight goes, hold up, and hands him a bill. And Michael is like, wait, you were charging me this whole time? And Dwight was like, yeah. And then they have this funny back and forth about it.

Jenna [00:15:53] Oh, my gosh. My mind is blown by the back story that Michael lived with Dwight for a month.

Angela [00:15:59] And it does sort of show why maybe now he’s looking at the chair model like he is because he’s a month past his breakup. And I don’t know, maybe he’s ready for something new.

Jenna [00:16:13] Yeah. Oh, can we see the deleted scene somewhere?

Angela [00:16:17] Yes, it’s on the DVDs.

Jenna [00:16:19] Amazing.

Angela [00:16:21] So the scene they went with is this one in his office. He’s looking through the catalog and really just gazing at this lady in this chair.

Jenna [00:16:31] Well, we had some fan mail about it. Carly D., Jenna A., Mariah K., and Charlotte S. all wrote in to ask who played the chair model in the picture. The chair model was played by April Eden. She would go on to play Trish, a.k.a. Miss Pawnee, in two episodes of Parks and Recreation.

Angela [00:16:53] Well, I have a little background catch at a minute, nine seconds. There’s a wonderful shot of the chair model, but the magazine is sitting on top of some message slips.

Jenna [00:17:04] Oh.

Angela [00:17:06] And I zoomed in on the message slip. The message that was written down said, Andrea Ufer or Uter, guys, I don’t know, I couldn’t make it out, from Dunder Lewisville called and asked Michael to please call as soon as he returns. And the number was 307-555-4438. So I called it.

Jenna [00:17:27] Well, that’s a fake number.

Angela [00:17:29] Well, yeah, it rang fast busy, but I wasn’t sure, so I called it.

Jenna [00:17:33] No. You know that thing where in movies they always start phone numbers with 555, because nobody has that as a prefix.

Angela [00:17:42] Jenna. I know that. But we’ve had a phone number and it ended up being a sex hotline. So I decided to do my due diligence. It is a phony baloney number, but the area code 307 is a Wyoming area code. But there is no Lewisville in Wyoming. There you have it. kaboom. Everything you needed to know about this message slip next to the catalog.

Jenna [00:18:07] Angela, I admire you. I do. I really love that detail. Pam just needs Michael to pick a chair so that she can get his chair.

Angela [00:18:19] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:18:20] But he is now obsessed with the chair model. And Pam is very sad. But then Michael has a talking head where he says he really liked being single because he can start off each day with a sense of possibility. And this was my favorite part. When this talking head takes the turn, he says, and each day becomes more desperate. And desperate, situations yield the quickest results. Which is kind of true.

Angela [00:18:49] It is true. There was an alt talking head here that was pretty amazing. Jenna, you know, the nursery rhyme where it’s like, Pam and Jim sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. You know that one?

Jenna [00:19:04] Yes.

Angela [00:19:05] So he sort of used this nursery rhyme as a template for how to find your perfect match. And Sam, can you play it?

Jenna [00:19:15] Love, marriage, baby carriage. Those have been my goals ever since I heard that song. Jan and I had love, we did not have marriage. We did have a baby carriage, which I got her for bringing groceries home after she got a DUI.

Angela [00:19:37] Oh my god.

Jenna [00:19:37] It’s just it’s just so messed up. And I have to say, Jenna, in this scene with you when he says, remember after my dinner party when I said that I was swearing off women? The way you said, I definitely remember your dinner party, was so good. You just crushed it.

Angela [00:20:01] I loved doing that scene with Steve. I remembered when I was watching it how much we were laughing. It was just so fun. That was a good memory. It’s a very subtle like reminder, too, to the audience, what just came before this.

Jenna [00:20:17] Yeah.

Angela [00:20:18] OK. Well, now, Jenna, we have a Creed talking head that is phenomenal.

Jenna [00:20:24] It is phenomenal. He says, when Pam gets Michael’s old chair, he gets Pam’s old chair, which will bring him to two chairs. Only one more to go.

Angela [00:20:36] Why does he need so many chairs?

Jenna [00:20:38] You’re not the only person who’s wondering. We got a lot of mail about it. So I texted Creed.

Angela [00:20:45] Oh no.

Jenna [00:20:45] And he had a lot of answers for why he needed three chairs and I’m going to share them all.

Angela [00:20:49] Wait, wait. Is this sort of like Creed the actor giving Creed the character backstory?

Jenna [00:20:54] Yes.

Angela [00:20:54] Oh, I love it.

Jenna [00:20:55] All right. Option number one, he was growing weed in the ceiling. It was the same place where Angela threw her cat. Now he had access through a crawl space outside but he needed to get in there at night by his desk. So after finally getting his three chairs and climbing into the ceiling, they collapsed one night and he was stranded in the ceiling. He wants you to know that’s a whole thing that could have happened.

Angela [00:21:21] Creed, what the hell are you talking about? You’re going to stack three office chairs? I think all three of them had wheels.

Jenna [00:21:30] Yeah. Well, here’s option number two. He said Creed stole many things from the office and he needed the extra chairs for a set because he was selling it to a competitive paper company.

Angela [00:21:41] That I believe.

Jenna [00:21:42] Yes.

Angela [00:21:42] I believe Creed had many side hustles.

Jenna [00:21:45] Well, here’s his final answer: after perfecting his cartwheel, he wanted to use the three chairs as part of an obstacle course to really challenge himself.

Angela [00:21:55] Well, that could have been very true. Aw Creed you’re so fun. Thank you for humoring us time and time again.

Jenna [00:22:04] Well, Michael tells everyone in the bullpen, get out your catalogs, open them to page eighty five and take a look at the woman in the catalog.

Angela [00:22:14] Yeah, use that as a template for who you’re going to set me up with. Jenna, this was an announcement. He came out of his office to address his employees. Could you imagine working with a boss that made a huge announcement about how you should go about setting him up?

Jenna [00:22:32] No. Later, he says if you don’t provide him a name by the end of the hour, you’re going to be fired. We’ll get there. But it’s crazy. So now here’s what I noticed. We all do get out these catalogs and we start opening up to page eighty five. And I remember these catalogs. Angela, do you remember them?

Angela [00:22:52] Yes.

Jenna [00:22:53] So we got mail about this too. Mariah, Charlotte and Christina all wanted to know, did the props department have to make an entire magazine just for these scenes with the catalog? No. So what they did was they had like an actual- I don’t remember what it was, Angela, do you? I think it was Staples or Office Depot or something. And they glued a new cover on it.

Angela [00:23:17] Yes.

Jenna [00:23:18] So it was like a Dunder Mifflin cover.

Angela [00:23:20] Yeah.

Jenna [00:23:20] And then on the inside, on page eighty five, they glued this two pages so that when we opened it up we could show those two pages. But the rest of it was an actual office catalog.

Angela [00:23:33] That’s right. And they just had to print basically the cover and then the two insert pages that we would all turn to.

Jenna [00:23:40] Right.

Angela [00:23:40] Jenna, you might notice there’s not a lot of reaction shots of me in this because my belly was so big. I’m peak preggers here. That is why I’m not anyone that walked in, you know, like from the satellite parking lot. So Jenna, I don’t know if you remember, but this week on our set, Chris Hastings, our NBC set photographer, was there and he took a picture of me at my desk. I’m completely out of character and I’m pointing out my belly. Look, Jenna. Here it is.

Jenna [00:24:06] Oh, my God, you’re huge.

Angela [00:24:07] I know. Anyway, I’ll put that in stories. But, yeah, it was getting really hard to hide my belly.

Jenna [00:24:13] Well, there were enough shots of you, Angela, and I noticed that they were all very close up. They’re like shoulders and up, but it’s enough for me to notice that you were wearing a blouse with tiny keys on it, little like skeleton keys. What was it?

Angela [00:24:30] Lady, look at this picture. It’s not a blouse. It’s a frickin dress.

Jenna [00:24:33] It was a whole dress of it.

Angela [00:24:35] It was a turtleneck dress. I mean, it looked like a muumuu. It was very comfortable. But we were starting to struggle with what could fit me over my belly and look like business attire of someone who was not pregnant.

Jenna [00:24:49] Yeah.

Angela [00:24:50] I have a question for you.

Jenna [00:24:52] What is it?

Angela [00:24:53] At three minutes, thirty five seconds, you’ll notice that Kevin and Michael are sitting on the sofa by front reception. Michael’s wanting Kevin to set him up. He’s asking him about Stacy. Do you know why they’re sitting on the sofa and why Michael isn’t in accounting talking to Kevin?

Jenna [00:25:09] Well, I know that Kevin’s feet are in a foot bath. Is that why, though?

Angela [00:25:17] Yes Jenna, there’s a whole deleted scene where you’re trying to answer the phone but Kevin’s footbath, it’s so loud, it sounds like a ginormous hot tub, but it’s a little footbath. So for the majority of this episode, Kevin is sitting there next to front reception.

Jenna [00:25:31] Yes, he is soaking his feet in his foot bath that he bought himself for the Christmas party episode, that very first episode. And it’s such a wonderful callback. But since they cut that scene at reception, you can’t even really see it. I tried to even find a time code where you could see the footbath. And you can’t.

Angela [00:25:50] You can’t. You can see just like Kevin’s pants are hiked up, but you’re like, why are they hiked up?

Jenna [00:25:56] Yeah.

Angela [00:25:56] Why am I seeing Kevin’s bare ankles? But it’s because they’re resting in a footbath and that’s in the deleted scenes.

Jenna [00:26:03] Well, now Michael’s going to walk around the office. He’s going to try to make pleas to various people in the office to see if they have any single friends that they can set him up with, which leads to a very funny runner with Phyllis about her friend Sandy.

Angela [00:26:18] Phyllis is so good in this scene.

Jenna [00:26:21] So good. And the way Steve fires off his questions about Sandy.

Angela [00:26:25] I mean, Phyllis says, look, she’s gorgeous with a feisty personality. And Michael’s like, so wait, jolly or sassy?

Jenna [00:26:33] Right. And Phyllis is like, no. And he’s like, well, what does she do for a living? And Phyllis is like, she’s a professional softball player. Michael’s like, mmm, catcher or in field? And she’s like, I don’t know. Oh and then he asks her if she could fit in a rowboat- in a standard sized rowboat.

Angela [00:26:55] And Phyllis gets so angry with him, she’s like, fine, no, Michael.

Jenna [00:26:59] No, she can’t fit in a rowboat. It’s really amazing writing. Michael really loses it now, Angela. And he gives this impassioned speech where he says he wants to play ball with his kids before he’s too old. But first he needs to get laid and that means he needs to be in love. Aw that kind of made me love Michael for saying that.

Angela [00:27:22] He just wants the picket fence and the kids and the two car garage. And he he just- Michael is one of these people- and I and anyone out there that’s had children, you know how you have one of your kids who just wants a family?

Jenna [00:27:36] Yes.

Angela [00:27:37] And Michael was that kid since he was a little boy, all he wanted was a family.

Jenna [00:27:42] I mean, if you- and not to be a downer, but I don’t think Michael had a great family experience as a child and he’s still longing for it as an adult.

Angela [00:27:52] Of course, that’s part of his whole driving force.

Jenna [00:27:55] Yeah.

Angela [00:27:56] Is to find family, whether it be at work or with a partner. He wants family.

Jenna [00:28:01] Yes. Well, this is now Angela where Michael says, everybody, I want you to give me the name of someone that he can go on a date with within the hour or they’re fired. And Dwight is going to hand out index cards.

Angela [00:28:17] That he’s already written prompts for. Did you see that?

Jenna [00:28:20] Yeah, he’s ready.

Angela [00:28:22] He’s ready.

Jenna [00:28:23] Well, listen, let’s take a break. And when we come back, we will find out how this goes. Guess what? Not well.

Angela [00:28:31] Should maybe. But shorn’t.

Jenna [00:28:33] That’s right.

Angela [00:28:38] W.

[00:28:38] Ell, we’re back. We’re in Michael’s office, Andy and Kevin are really making a passionate plea to Michael to please do something about these parking spots that the construction guys are blocking. Michael says, you know what? He’s got an assigned parking spot, so not really affecting him. And there is a couplet of dialog, Jenna, that just cracked me up. Seven minutes, four seconds. Michael says, I wish I could, but I can’t. Well, can but won’t. Should maybe shorn’t. And Kevin’s like Michael, please. And then Michael says, what part of shorn’t don’t you understand, Kevin? What part of shorn’t don’t you understand? They’re on their own. He’s not going to help them.

Jenna [00:29:19] No. But he does give them permission to fix the problem themselves.

Angela [00:29:24] Yeah.

Jenna [00:29:24] Right? He thinks this will be a good thing for them to figure this out.

Angela [00:29:29] Right. An exercise.

Jenna [00:29:31] Meanwhile, in the break room, I don’t even know what title to give this, everyone is sitting trying to come up with a name to put on their card for Michael. We had a fan question from Stephanie, Emily, Laura and Anne: when giving Michael names of single women he should ask out, Jim writes down Pam’s mom.

Angela [00:29:52] I know.

Jenna [00:29:53] Right? Was this an intentional foreshadowing or just a coincidence? Well, guys, spoiler alert. In future seasons, Michael is going to date Pam’s mom. It was a very controversial storyline. We’ll get to it. I think this was the first time the writers had ever even thought of this idea. And it was just a funny joke in the moment. But I have to believe that it stayed in their brains.

Angela [00:30:25] It planted a seed. Well, there’s a deleted scene between Michael and Kelly where Michael’s like, Kelly, who are you going to set me up with? And she’s like, well, I have a friend who’s 23 and he’s like, yeah. And she’s like, oh, you know, I actually have the perfect group to set you up with. My friends, parents who’ve gotten divorced. And Michael’s like ugh and he walks off disgusted. So there is sort of this running joke in this episode that didn’t fully make it in that like Kelly is going to set Michael up with this whole older group of people.

Jenna [00:30:58] Right.

Angela [00:30:59] The divorcee.

Jenna [00:31:00] I guess I’ll say the writers at this time didn’t know yet that they were going to write that storyline. But I think this was the beginning of something.

Angela [00:31:10] It’s the group mind lady.

Jenna [00:31:11] There it is in action.

Angela [00:31:13] I love that Michael calls Wendy. It’s so funny. Do you know who the voice of Wendy was?

Jenna [00:31:22] We got a lot of mail about it. And I wrote to Kent Zbornak and he did not remember who we cast. But one of the finalists for the role was Lindsay Broad, who ends up playing an arc on the show.

Angela [00:31:38] Yeah.

Jenna [00:31:39] Now, I don’t think she got the role. I really listened to the voice and I think it was someone else, so I don’t have the answer. But I thought it was very interesting that Lindsay had auditioned for just this voice role.

Angela [00:31:52] Right. Well, you know who’s on the case, who’s always on the case?

Jenna [00:31:57] Dwight.

Angela [00:31:58] Dwight, he’s on the case. He’s going to find Michael the chair model.

Jenna [00:32:03] Yeah.

Angela [00:32:03] And he says, I will find her and I will bring her to you. And as God is my witness, she shall bear your fruit.

Jenna [00:32:11] This is such good writing, in my opinion, that we set up that Dwight is going to go on this quest and the quest literally lasts one scene. Like I think the expectation in writing is that we’re now going to watch Dwight go on a search for the chair model, but then he sums it all up in one talking head.

Angela [00:32:32] Yeah, he basically only had to make two phone calls. So the furniture company put him in touch with the advertising agency who put him in touch with the photographer, who put him in touch with the modeling agency, and the modeling agency told him that she died in a car accident. Case closed.

Jenna [00:32:50] Case closed. Investigation over. And by the way, he’s super proud of his investigation and it’s not really landing on him that this is horrible news. Michael takes the news really hard. He has to sit down in Dwight’s chair.

Angela [00:33:04] Yeah. And Jim says, Michael, you didn’t even know her. Gasp.

Jenna [00:33:10] Even Pam shakes her head like, Jim. Not now.

Angela [00:33:14] Michael’s like, try not to be so hurtful, Jim. Dwight’s like, how dare you? And one of my favorite lines of this whole episode is coming up.

Jenna [00:33:23] What is it?

Angela [00:33:24] Pam says, OK, Michael, you know what? I might have someone for you. And Michael says, Oh, really? What’s her name? Burger King?

Jenna [00:33:32] Oh, yeah. That made me laugh out loud too.

Angela [00:33:36] It made me laugh so hard.

Jenna [00:33:39] Pam, for whatever reason, decides to give Michael the phone number of her landlady.

Angela [00:33:46] Margaret.

Jenna [00:33:48] Mm hmm. She says she’s really nice and I think you might get along.

Angela [00:33:53] Ugh, I mean, Michael is jazzed. He’s excited. He starts brushing his teeth in the kitchen sink. Why can’t he do that in the men’s room?

Jenna [00:34:01] Well, don’t worry, Angela. He’s not going to spit it out. He swallows it. Did you notice that?

Angela [00:34:07] Yes. So disgusting.

Jenna [00:34:08] Also electric toothbrush. Also, remember when we were wondering in Local Ad, does he have a toothbrush in the office? He does.

Angela [00:34:18] So now the five families are going to be assembled. Andy and Kevin are doing it. Kevin has a talking head where he breaks down the five families, how they rarely ever meet.

Jenna [00:34:27] Yeah. And they have this great footage of each member of the five families. It’s pretty amazing. I have two little fun facts from this.

Angela [00:34:37] OK.

Jenna [00:34:37] So now when they show WB Jones.

Angela [00:34:41] Yeah.

Jenna [00:34:41] They kind of show a clip of what looks like a commercial that he’s in where he’s selling his air conditioners. Right?

Angela [00:34:48] Right.

Jenna [00:34:49] There’s a one eight hundred number in that commercial on the screen.

Angela [00:34:53] Did you call it?

Jenna [00:34:54] I didn’t need to call it because it’s the exact same number that was on the flier in Women’s Appreciation, which we know is a sex hotline.

Angela [00:35:03] Why do we keep recycling this number?

Jenna [00:35:06] I think we must have bought this number because after this episode came out, they put an outgoing message for WB Jones. So if you called it, you got that message.

Angela [00:35:16] Yeah, we must have owned it for a bit. And we clearly don’t own it anymore.

Jenna [00:35:20] We really don’t. Well, the other fun fact I have about this little montage is that at ten minutes fifty five seconds, we see a photo of cool guy Paul sitting on a motorcycle. And there’s a very interesting story here. Sam, will you play this clip from Paul?

Paul Faust [00:35:40] Hey, so quick story about that motorcycle picture, because a lot of people ask me, is that your motorcycle? And no, it’s actually we were shooting the scenes and we were supposed to shoot somewhere on some guy’s house in the back deck overlooking the ocean, but it got late in the day and they didn’t want to move the whole crew and the cameras and the lighting and all that stuff. So right behind the lot where they shoot all the scenes where the office is, is a residential neighborhood. So we went through the fence and it was some guy’s house and we just set up on the front lawn. I believe it was the motorcycle of one of the camera guys. He happens to ride motorcycles. So he brought his motorcycle around. I sat on it. We took a bunch of pictures and that just became the shot associated with Cool Guy Paul. And it saves having to move everybody to another location and spend hours doing it. So it’s- people always ask me, is that your motorcycle or how did you get the motorcycle? But nope, it was just a quick shot of one of the crew member’s motorcycles.

Angela [00:36:37] Well, Jenna, I reached out to Kenneth Paul, who did my makeup on the show because he rode a Harley, right? To set.

Jenna [00:36:44] Every day to work.

Angela [00:36:45] And I sent him the picture and I said, Kenneth Paul, is this your motorcycle? And he said, No, Angela, that’s not a Harley. It’s not mine. So we don’t know whose motorcycle it was. But I think that was Tom Melby’s yard.

Jenna [00:37:01] Oh, for sure. When I heard Paul’s clip and he said we went to some guy’s yard through a fence, Tom Melby was our, I guess, general maintenance guy on the show. He was always fixing things. When we went on vacations he was the person who watered the plants. And he lived right behind the set in a house. I loved the idea that cool guy Paul was originally going to be filmed like in a big mansion with the ocean behind him.

Angela [00:37:31] It definitely tracks, right?

Jenna [00:37:33] Yeah. But then they had to scramble and they’re like, what else is cool? A motorcycle. And I kind of love the motorcycle better actually.

Angela [00:37:43] I do too. So Jenna, at eleven minutes, 30 seconds, it is time for Michael to go on his date.

Jenna [00:37:51] He’s at the coffee shop. He’s a little early so he’s going to go ahead and get a cup of coffee.

Angela [00:37:56] Oh, here’s his order. Large hot chocolate with caramel and a shot of peppermint.

Jenna [00:38:01] He’s going to pay for it with his, did you notice, bejeweled wallet?

Angela [00:38:06] No.

Jenna [00:38:07] Yeah.

Angela [00:38:08] What?

Jenna [00:38:09] It’s really subtle. But if you freeze at eleven minutes twenty six seconds, Michael is paying for his coffee.

Angela [00:38:17] Yeah.

Jenna [00:38:17] And his wallet has an outline of little bedazzled fuchsia gems.

Angela [00:38:24] I am so curious why. Did Jan get bored and bedazzle everything in their whole condo one day?

Jenna [00:38:30] Perhaps. I looked at it so closely. There’s no name on it. It’s just an outline.

Angela [00:38:35] I need to see that.

Jenna [00:38:37] Fascinating. Well, he’s looking around and he’s trying to figure out where is his date. He’s wearing a rose on his lapel. Right, because that’s how you’ll know it’s him.

Angela [00:38:47] Could you imagine if Michael was in The Bachelor, that reality show?

Jenna [00:38:51] So crazy.

Angela [00:38:52] That would be so good.

Jenna [00:38:54] I was thinking the other day, what would I be like on The Bachelor?

Angela [00:38:58] Oh, God, you wouldn’t do it. You’d say, oh, right. All these women have to kiss the same guy. Eff you, patriarchy. You wouldn’t do it.

Jenna [00:39:08] But then I was sort of like daydreaming about me getting out of the limo in my joggers and a hoodie and just keeping it super real. I was like, dude, I’m getting out of the limo how you’re going to see me most of the time after we have two kids. And if you love me now, you’re going to love me then. And I think we should start this way. That’d be my pitch.

Angela [00:39:33] You literally said that was like a snarl in your lip. You’re like this.

Jenna [00:39:38] I did. It’s bad ass. It’s a bad ass way to start a date.

Angela [00:39:42] If you’re getting out of a limo on my first date, you’ve already lost me.

Jenna [00:39:49] It’s so true.

Angela [00:39:50] If you want to dial up the douchery, show up in your limo.

Jenna [00:39:53] Well, Michael sees a woman. It’s such a funny line. He says, I’m looking for a woman in blue jeans and a black top with brown hair. And he goes, there she is. And the camera swings to a blond.

Angela [00:40:08] A tall blond.

Jenna [00:40:10] Wearing a skirt.

Angela [00:40:13] Like a floral skirt with a top. Clearly not the description he was given.

Jenna [00:40:19] But he says, there she is. I’ll give her a ten for looks and a three for describing herself. Oh, he’s so charmed. OK, obviously the woman in the dress is not his date since she’s dressed nothing as described. But then Pam’s landlady walks in, Margaret, wearing jeans and a black top, and Michael gets one look at her, he’s clearly disappointed and he tries to get out of it. Oh, it’s so cringey.

Angela [00:40:49] And she’s really cute and, like, nice. Like, what is wrong with Michael? Michael has such a bad picker.

Jenna [00:40:56] Yes. Well, Pam’s landlady was played by Brooke Dillman. She is an improv comedy actress. She starred in this sketch comedy show called Blue Collar TV. And by the way, she has voiced several characters on Bob’s Burger. She’s amazing. She’s just got the chops.

Angela [00:41:15] Brooke is hilarious. I have just known her through improv circles over the years and she’s so funny. And, you know, I know her role as Margaret was supposed to be understated. And I just wish you guys could see the comedy chops she has. I know you see it in her timing of the scene and all of that, but she is really, really funny.

Jenna [00:41:36] You know, a lot of times it takes a great comedic performer to play restraint.

Angela [00:41:43] Yeah. To have the patience to play the restraint.

Jenna [00:41:46] Yes. And to not try to overload the scene with their own bits.

Angela [00:41:52] Yeah.

Jenna [00:41:52] And she does it perfectly. Incidentally, she graduated from the University of Missouri’s theater program, Good Ole Mizzou. That was about 90 minutes away from the school that I went to in Kirksville, Missouri. I had to drive through Mizzou, Columbia, Missouri, to get to Kirksville.

Angela [00:42:09] You and Brook criss crossing.

Jenna [00:42:11] Exactly. I know we’re both two gals from theater schools in Missouri who landed on The Office. GO MO.

Angela [00:42:18] The scene between Margaret and Michael is so cringey. Michael literally is like rubbing his forehead like he’s in pain. He’s like, so you get the rent checks every month. And she’s like, yeah. I mean, it’s like-.

Jenna [00:42:33] I know he’s like and then what do you what do you do with them? And she goes, are you really asking me what I do with the checks that people give me? And he’s like, I’m just I’m trying to make conversation, OK? Oh Michael.

Angela [00:42:43] And he just talks about like he goes, well, this is who I was dating before you. And he shows the photo of Jan and then he calls her by accident. It’s just like layer of layer cringey. And then he kind of starts opening up to Margaret about like how it’s so hard to find someone. And he tells her, you know, thanks this has been nice. It’s like talking to the old lady on the bus.

Jenna [00:43:05] Mm hmm.

Angela [00:43:06] And Margaret’s had it. She’s like, you’re rude. That was rude.

Jenna [00:43:10] Well, and then Michael says, well, now you’ve ruined it.

Angela [00:43:12] Michael was such a jerk in this scene.

Jenna [00:43:14] Listen, if you had any sympathy for him after Dinner Party, it’s evaporated after this scene.

Angela [00:43:21] Yeah.

Jenna [00:43:21] We were very good at taking you on quite the roller coaster as your feelings for Michael are concerned on this show.

Angela [00:43:29] But at this scene, I was like, you deserve Jan. You deserve to sleep on the bench at the foot of the bed. You’re being such a turd.

Jenna [00:43:35] Exactly. It’s very complicated. Well, now we go into this wonderful scene where Andy and Kevin are going to meet with the heads of the five families.

Angela [00:43:45] Yeah.

Jenna [00:43:46] Make their plea.

Angela [00:43:47] They’re in what looks like to be some kind of conference room at the Scranton Business Park. I wanted to point out at fourteen minutes, twelve seconds how nice the frickin TV is in this conference room.

Jenna [00:43:59] Yeah.

Angela [00:43:59] It is a true big flat screen TV, not like Michael’s tiny one, nothing like our crazy old tube TV that we roll in on a cart for our conference room scenes.

Jenna [00:44:13] Yeah.

Angela [00:44:13] It’s like a fancy big flat screen TV.

Jenna [00:44:16] Yeah.

Angela [00:44:17] Imagine if Michael had seen it, he would have passed out.

Jenna [00:44:20] Well, we asked Paul about shooting this scene and I loved what he had to say. Here it is.

Paul Faust [00:44:29] So being on set, it sort of be careful what you wish for, because I’m a huge fan of the show, I think they’re super funny. And I remember the first time we’re about to shoot, they say, OK, quiet on the set, cameras rolling and I will never forget it but Brian says, OK, nobody eff up, Paul. And he looks at me and, you know, he was messing around, but it was so funny. And then the entire time we shot the scene, I had my lines to say, but we shot it about 20, 30 times. And every single time, Brian and Ed said different things. And I happen to think they’re super funny. And it was very hard to keep a straight face. I never knew what was going to come out of their mouths. They were making faces at me, trying to get me to laugh, and I had to sit there and be dead serious. I didn’t want to be the guy to mess up the scene. So working with people who were literally comic geniuses in their delivery and their timing and having to sit there and being the new guy on set and trying to keep a straight face and not to mess up was a challenge. But such a life, a life experience and just so funny to do. And I’m so honored to be a part- a small little part of The Office.   

Angela [00:45:36] I love that Brian and Ed were trying to mess with him. We would do this. We would know when someone was going to break and we would have a little fun.

Jenna [00:45:42] We would. It’s true.

Angela [00:45:44] Well, Paul mentioned to us, you know, what it was like to get lines at the last minute. But he also talks to us about what it was like just being on the set and the lingo that they used.

Paul Faust [00:45:56] So we’re shooting the scene over and over again, you know, we want to get it right and sometimes the lines don’t work but the facial expressions are great. So one of the guys comes in and says, when this happens, I forget the word used, I want you to do this. And then he walks out and I’m looking around like I have no idea what that means. So the camera guy behind me, he’s like, you don’t know what that means? I’m like, no, I’ve never done this before. He goes, OK, I’ll tap you on the shoulder when you should say your line. So I was literally sitting there and something was going on and I felt the camera guy who was shooting over my shoulder, tap me on the shoulder when to say my line. And it was just sort of indicative of the whole experience because everybody was so friendly and helpful and just wanted to get it done right. Except I think Brian and Ed who were just trying to make me laugh the whole time.

Jenna [00:46:41] Can I say, Angela, that when we got these audio clips from Paul, the thing that was so fun for me was his observations as a non actor being on a set, because it really took me back to all of those moments in my career as an actor where you just are learning on the fly. I didn’t learn any of this stuff in theater school, and I don’t even know if there is any other way to learn it. You just kind of absorb it in the moment. But he sent in an audio clip that is my favorite.

Angela [00:47:11] Me, too.

Jenna [00:47:12] Because I struggled with this too.

Angela [00:47:16] You and I have talked about this, but I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it on the pod. So this is great. I love that he had the same the same observation.

Jenna [00:47:23] OK, we’ll play it and then we’ll talk about it.

Paul Faust [00:47:28] So this was a new experience for me, I kind of I was my first time being really on the set and I’m sitting in my trailer going well, what do I do now? So I decided to get something to eat. I walk out and I’m like, uh, where can I get some food? And they point in the direction of where the breakfast was. And as I started walking I heard someone on the headset go, Cool Guy Paul’s going to breakfast. And then I come back and I hear the little, Cool Guy Paul’s back in his trailer. Everywhere I went, someone’s like Cool Guy Paul’s in the bathroom. Cool Guy Paul’s in the- like someone had to know where I was at all times. I thought it was really funny. They had to track me to make sure they knew where I was in case they needed me. So that was one super funny story from being on the set.

Jenna [00:48:03] You guys, on film and television sets there is a whole network of production assistants that wear these walkie talkies and they have little earpieces, kind of like the Secret Service, you know?

Angela [00:48:17] But not as fancy.

Jenna [00:48:18] But not as fancy.

Angela [00:48:19] Like when they talk into them, you hear it echo.

Jenna [00:48:24] Well, their job is literally to keep track of all the actors at all times. And you can hear them tracking you all day as you walk by.

Angela [00:48:34] As you walk by. And sometimes you hear it from the person directly behind you who’s actually speaking about you, and then you hear it in stereo from the other person they’re talking to as you walk past them. And I guess the theory behind it, Jenna, is that production needs to know where we are, because if the scene is lit and ready, they need us on that sound stage ready to go. And they can’t have an actor unaccounted for because then that holds everyone up and it costs money, right?

Jenna [00:48:58] Yeah. So when they’re lighting a scene, they let you go back to your trailer. You might use the restroom, you might get a snack. In our case, maybe we pop over to the writers building and we’re hanging out. But once the scene is ready, they have no time to lose because a production day is very regimented. And if you run out of time, that means you probably have to cut something and you don’t want that, right? You don’t want to have to cut content.

Angela [00:49:23] Right.

Jenna [00:49:24] So, yeah, all day long. But my favorite thing, Angela, is that they came up with a code for the bathroom. I guess maybe it’s to be, I don’t know, more discreet. But everyone knows what the code is. The code is ten one. Jenna is ten one.

Angela [00:49:41] Everyone knows when you go to the bathroom on a set, every single person, it goes through every walkie talkie. Angela ten one. Jenna ten one.

Jenna [00:49:52] And I just want you to know, what if you need to ten two and you’re going to be in there for a minute? Every time they would announce Jenna is ten one, I would get a lot of anxiety because I would think I better make it fast or they’re going to think I’m doing a poop.

Angela [00:50:07] Right. What about when we both started pumping and then you would hear in the walkie Angelas pumping. Angela’s going to pump.

Jenna [00:50:15] Yeah. All your business.

Angela [00:50:17] All your business through a walkie talkie.

Jenna [00:50:20] It’s crazy.

Angela [00:50:22] And I get why they have to do it but it is very surreal. And so that clip from Paul really- Jenna and I immediately called each other were like oh my gosh.

Jenna [00:50:31] He talked about the thingy with the tracking!

Angela [00:50:35] The tracking.

Jenna [00:50:37] They should warn you in film school.

Angela [00:50:40] That you’re going to be tracked all day.

Jenna [00:50:42] They should warn you because it’s very jarring at first.

Angela [00:50:44] Yeah.

Jenna [00:50:45] Well, let’s just say that this meeting of the five families goes very well. It also goes very quickly. In about three sentences, WB Jones agrees. Fine, you can have your parking spaces back. It’s a triumph.

Angela [00:50:59] Listen, it looks like Kevin’s about to cry and Bill Kress is not here for that. He can’t handle a grown man crying about a parking spot. And so Paul Foust calls it, he’s like, just give them their spots back and it just wraps up so quickly.

Jenna [00:51:12] It does. And then Paul has a great line where he says this could have been an email.

Angela [00:51:16] Which is like a meme.

Jenna [00: 51:17] It also speaks to me.

Angela [00:51:19] Yeah.

Jenna [00:51:21] I mean, Paul needs to get out and ride his motorcycle.

Angela [00:51:25] He’s done. Kevin’s talking head after this scene broke my heart. Brian did such a good job with it. He just says that after Stacy broke up with him, it was really a tough time and, well, it’s just nice to win one. And he tears up. It was so sweet.

Jenna [00:51:44] Yeah. Guys, we didn’t go to the character of Kevin very often for a heartfelt moment on the show. And it’s a shame because Brian Baumgartner is a fantastic actor and you can see that in this talking head. Yeah, I was excited to get to see this performance from him.

Angela [00:52:05] Great job, B.

Jenna [00:52:06] Oh, no. Michael has come back from his date and he’s very angry.

Angela [00:52:11] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:52:12] He gives a big speech. Angela, here are the things that he’s a man of: intensity, cool, youth and passionately. He’s a man of passionately.

Angela [00:52:24] He’s a man of youth and passionately. Ugh.

Jenna [00:52:28] Well, at 15 minutes, 10 seconds, you might notice I’m writing the top of my desk. I have several papers on this very little thin lip of the top of my desk. I had to do that for camera because when I was staging my writing on the actual desk, they couldn’t see my face when Michael entered.

Angela [00:52:48] I have to imagine that was a tough reach and very awkward because you’re leaning over your desk to write on a tiny ledge.

Jenna [00:52:56] Well, I’ll tell you something. Pam’s desk was very narrow in general. I couldn’t fit more than a keyboard on it in order to write on Pam’s actual desk, which was made very thin, I think for production. It was always awkward. Always, yeah. So I’ve perched up on that little ledge, which was also awkward.

Angela [00:53:18] In this scene, Jenna, it seems like Jim and Pam are just kind of teasing each other like he’s like, what were you thinking setting Michael up with your landlord? Now you have to move out. That went horribly. And they’re kind of joking. And she’s like, maybe I should move in with my boyfriend. And then Pam has a moment of vulnerability and you see it in your face, Jenna, where you’re going to be an advocate for yourself. This is something you’ve been working on. And she says, you know what, I’m only going to move in with my boyfriend if I’m engaged.

Jenna [00:53:48] Yeah.

Angela [00:53:48] And Jim doesn’t miss a beat. He’s like, oh, it’s coming, of course. And then Pam just kind of keeps joking along. And Jenna I was like, does Pam- I mean, in the moment I was positive that Jim was serious. Does Pam know? Does Pam know he’s doing a bit? Does it hit her that he’s not?

Jenna [00:54:09] I think this maybe in my back story was kind of one of the first times that this idea of them getting engaged or married has really come up. And that was a reason why I chose to kind of hesitate as well when Pam says, oh, I’m I’m not going to move in with anyone until I’m engaged, is because this idea of being engaged, it’s not something that I thought they had talked about a lot yet.

Angela [00:54:38] No, and that’s how that’s how it reads as an audience. I loved it because this is how real life stuff comes up. Sometimes it just seeps in to like a mundane conversation. And then you’re like, oh, crap, we’re here now. OK.

Jenna [00:54:51] Yes. And so I think Pam isn’t totally sure what to do with this conversation. Was it a bit? Is he being serious? Now he has a talking head for the audience where he says, oh, I’m not kidding. I got this a week after we started dating. And he shows an engagement ring.

Angela [00:55:11] And I’m sorry, does he carry it to work with him every day?

Jenna [00:55:15] I don’t know.

Angela [00:55:16] Does it live in his pocket? Is he too worried to leave it at his apartment? Like he has it ready to go.

Jenna [00:55:24] We had a fan question from Abigail B. who said, Is the ring Jim shows the camera the ring he proposes with later and the one that Pam wears for the rest of the show? I think it is. I think that it is. I remember Phil Shea coming up to me and presenting me with a tray of rings and he and I had a very long conversation about what kind of ring would Jim buy Pam? Like, Jim’s going to hit it out of the park for Pam. Remember, Pam was always a little disappointed in her ring from Roy. That was my back story.

Angela [00:55:59] The cluster.

Jenna [00:56:00] Yes. And so Phil was like, what would make Pam’s heart sing? And I remember picking that ring. So, yeah, I think it is that ring.

Angela [00:56:12] Pretty bold move, Jim, to buy it the first week you guys started dating.

Jenna [00:56:16] Yeah.

Angela [00:56:17] But I guess he knew he loved her for a long time.

Jenna [00:56:19] Yeah. Well, guys, here’s a scene that’s in Michael’s office that I love. It’s shot a little differently. This was Jeff Blitz. You know, there’s always so many of the same scenes in the same places because we only had one set. And every once in a while, a director would find a fun way to shoot. And Jeff Blitz had this idea for this scene between Michael and Dwight that he would just lower the camera a little and shoot at an angle and slowly push in as Dwight convinces Michael that what he needs is closure.

Angela [00:56:52] And when I watch the scene, there was a brief moment that I thought he meant with Jan.

Jenna [00:56:59] Same.

Angela [00:56:59] He needs closure with Jan. But no.

Jenna [00:57:03] No.

Angela [00:57:03] It’s with the chair model.

Jenna [00:57:05] So they head to the cemetery.

Angela [00:57:07] Of a woman he’s never met.

Jenna [00:57:09] Mm hmm. That’s right. And they are going to launch into a tribute to her by singing a version of American Pie.

Angela [00:57:21] Bye bye, Miss Chair model lady.

Jenna [00:57:27] Oh, my gosh. So, you know, the writers actually had a hard time getting a song cleared for this. Shocker. The first song they were going to parody was Elton John’s Candle in the Wind. But they could not get the rights because here’s an interesting bit of trivia. He had given permission for the song to be parodied on 30 Rock and he did not care for the results. So he said no more parodies of Candle in the Wind. No.

Angela [00:57:56] OK.

Jenna [00:57:56] They also wrote Parodies of Legs by ZZ Top.

Angela [00:58:01 She’s got legs. How is that a song you sing at a gravesite?

Jenna [00:58:05] She was a chair model and you really see her legs in the picture.

Angela [00:58:09] Oh, my gosh. OK.

Jenna [00:58:11 And then also Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones.

Angela [00:58:15] Oh, I love Ruby Tuesday.

Jenna [00:58:17] But the song that got cleared was American Pie and I’m so glad it did because I really love them in the dark. Singing.

Angela [00:58:26] Well, we can’t wrap up this episode without this adorable scene. Jenna, I literally wrote Adorable and highlighted it between Jim and Pam as they’re walking to the satellite parking lot and the sun is setting. You guys both look like angels. You both look so flippin adorable.

Jenna [00:58:46] Well, I remember we had to wait in our trailer for that light. That’s called the Magic Hour.

Angela [00:58:51] Yeah.

Jenna [00:58:52] In the biz. And there’s this little forty five minutes when the sun is truly magical.

Angela [00:58:57] Everybody take your photos at magic hour. It’s when you look the best.

Jenna [00:59:01] That’s right.

Angela [00:59:02] If you’re planning a wedding plan for some like magic hour photos.

Jenna [00:59:06] Yeah. So we waited for that moment and we could only do a few takes because then we were going to lose the light.

Angela [00:59:13] He drops to one knee.

Jenna [00:59:15] Mm hmm. Well, I’ll tell you, this moment was promo’d like crazy. Like crazy.

Angela [00:59:22] I bet they blasted it out.

Jenna [00:59:25] Yeah, well, you know, we talked about how season four was interrupted by the writers strike. The writers originally had this very, very big storyline for Jim and Pam that I think involved them moving in together, if I’m correct. And instead, because we lost a bunch of episodes, they were like, you know what, we should skip that and they should just get engaged. Or we should just skip to the part where we’re thinking they might get engaged any minute. And so that was where this part of the story came from.

Angela [00:59:58] I like it. I like that Pam still had her own place. I like all of that storyline for her because you sort of feel like Pam lived with Roy for a long time and then she finally carved out her own space in the world. And I really liked that choice. Well, your reaction when you realized that Jim is faking is so great. It’s so cute. You’re like, I hate you. And he’s like, what? It’s really cute.

Jenna [01:00:23] Yeah, I have some bad news.

Angela [01:00:26] What?

Jenna [01:00:27] I mean, spoiler alert. Pam’s going to need to go to art school. We’re going to frustrate you.

Angela [01:00:32] I know.

Jenna [01:00:33] This proposal is going to take a little while, but we’re planting the seeds.

Angela [01:00:37] They have to pull you guys apart to put you back together. It makes me crazy.

Jenna [01:00:42] I know. Well, guys, that is Chair Model. Next up is Night Out. I’m really enjoying season four, Angela. I have to say.

Angela [01:00:53] Me too. So fun. And for all of you chair models out there, just know your work is not in vain. You might be inspiring others to find true love. And Paul, thank you so much for sending in these audio clips and being so quick to respond when I texted you. You are just such a delight and I adore you, and these made our day, Jenna. And you guys, 1- 800- prepare.com. Get your preparedness, safety and survival information there and all the kits you might ever need.

Jenna [01:01:26] You know, I’m on that.

Angela [01:01:27] Oh, I know. I was like, oh, Paul, there’s some good stuff on here.

Jenna [01:01:31] Christmas gift for me. Earmark that.

Angela [01:01:34] Survival and emergency kits and products. Jenna.

Jenna [01:01:38] We’ll see you next week, everyone.

Angela [01:01:40] See you next week.

Jenna [01:01:46] 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.

Angela [01:02:02] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

Jenna [01:02:05] For Ad free versions of Office Ladies go to Stitcher premium dotcom. For a free one month trial of Stitcher premium use code “office”.