EP. 138 — Costume Contest

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer.

Angela [00:00:04] 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. Hello, Angela. Hello, everybody.

Angela [00:00:25] Hello and hello.

Jenna [00:00:28] Today we’re going to talk about Costume Contest.

Angela [00:00:31] Oh, there’s lots to discuss.

Jenna [00:00:33] It’s Season seven, episode six, written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Dean Holland. I loved seeing us in our costumes the whole time.

Angela [00:00:42] I have lots to share about that penguin.

Jenna [00:00:45] I loved the penguin so much, particularly in your talking head.

Angela [00:00:50] Oh.

Jenna [00:00:51] The penguin talking head.

Angela [00:00:52] I have a story but I’ll wait.

Jenna [00:00:54] Okay. Here is your summary, everybody. It is Halloween at Dunder Mifflin, and there is going to be a costume parade. The competition is stiff because the coworkers are vying for a valuable Halloween costume contest prize. And everyone’s real excited about it.

Angela [00:01:13] I mean, there is a buzz about this coupon book.

Jenna [00:01:16] Mm hmm. Meanwhile, Michael comes to resent Darryl for going over his head with a good idea. And Pam and Jim wonder, why did Danny ghost Pam four years ago? They’re going to get to the bottom of it.

Angela [00:01:30] I have lots of thoughts on that storyline.

Jenna [00:01:34] I cannot wait.

Angela [00:01:35] I want to hold on till we get there.

Jenna [00:01:38] Well, listen everyone, today we’re going to mix things up a little bit with our fast facts. Angela, do you want to share with everyone where we got this week’s fast fact inspiration?

Angela [00:01:48] I do. Okay. This is very exciting, you guys. We record at Earwolf. They have a P.O. Box for us that’s for fan mail. Jenna and I don’t check it. Earwolf checks it. But because of the pandemic, everyone hasn’t been back in the office, and mail has been piling up for a long time. And finally, the offices are back open. People are back in. And guess what? They checked our P.O. Box. There was so much mail, it, like, took up a whole little room.

Jenna [00:02:18] It was kind of crazy.

Angela [00:02:20] And you guys know, I go through the physical mail, the snail mail, because I love tangible things, Jenna. I like to touch things in my hands.

Jenna [00:02:27] This is true.

Angela [00:02:28] You like email. You’re much better at it than I am. And you do all the email mail.

Jenna [00:02:32] Because it’s divided into grids and folders.

Angela [00:02:36] Yeah.

Jenna [00:02:36] And it all comes on my computer on a spreadsheet.

Angela [00:02:38] And mine was just piled up in a room.

Jenna [00:02:41] They put all of our mail in a supply room. And you could barely see Angela behind this mail.

Angela [00:02:49] Yeah.

Jenna [00:02:49] The stacks of mail were so high. And I looked at her and I just said, I’m going to stay.

Angela [00:02:55] Yeah.

Jenna [00:02:56] I’m going to stay. We’re going to go through this together. This is this is like a seven person job, but we’ll do it, the two of us.

Angela [00:03:01] That’s right. I was going to stay after and go through it then Jenna, you were like, let’s order food. We’re going to make a day of this. It actually turned into two days.

Jenna [00:03:08] Yeah.

Angela [00:03:09] We’re not even done. There’s still one bin left. But you guys, we were so moved by all the amazing letters and things that you sent us. Today’s fast facts are going to be fan mail shout outs!

Jenna [00:03:22] Woo hoo!

Angela [00:03:22] Woo hoo!

Jenna [00:03:22] Bew Bew! I did your bit.

Angela [00:03:23] You did my bit. Hey, don’t take my bew-bew-bew! That’s, that’s a classic.

Jenna [00:03:28] So where should we start?

Angela [00:03:30] Well, I think we start with how many letters we received. So many lovely letters. Cards, graduation announcements, wedding invitations. I think I opened easily, I don’t know, Jenna, maybe 200 wedding invitations? Maybe 300. There’s so many. I haven’t even gotten to all of them.

Jenna [00:03:49] I sat next to Angela while she was opening the wedding invitations, and I want you to know she was genuinely delighted by each and every one. She pointed out details.

Angela [00:03:59] I know.

Jenna [00:03:59] She took every little card out of every little folder thing.

Angela [00:04:04] I was very impressed because you guys are real fancy. Some of them, when you open them, had like a little built in folder for all the important pieces of paper you’re going to need. Oh, and then there’s this new thing that people put the little scan square thing, you scan it with your phone, and then it tells you all the wedding information.

Jenna [00:04:22] That made me feel old.

Angela [00:04:23] It made me feel old, too.

Jenna [00:04:24] It’s not a website. It’s like a scannable thing.

Angela [00:04:27] Like when you go to a restaurant, it’s on the menu, but it’s on your wedding invitation now. Also, people are really creative. One had, like, charred edges. Like, it looked like someone had lit a flame to it, but it was intentional. Very cool.

Jenna [00:04:40] The other thing that you kept showing me, Angela, were all the people who did the little wax stamp.

Angela [00:04:45] Yes!

Jenna [00:04:46] You loved a wax stamp. Any invitation with the wax stamp, Angela showed it to me.

Angela [00:04:52] I did.

Jenna [00:04:52] So if you sent us a wedding invitation with a wax stamp, we both saw it.

Angela [00:04:56] Yes. I don’t know why, guys. I just want to live in ye olden times. I get very excited about that. I myself did not do a wax stamp for my wedding, and I have regrets about it. But the other thing I want to share with you guys is a lot of you had Office themed weddings. And I wanted to share one of them.

Jenna [00:05:16] Oh, okay.

Angela [00:05:18] Mary Meyer and her fiance, Justin, from St Mary’s, Pennsylvania. They met in second grade. They remained friends for years. When they were older, they started hanging out more and a lot of their dates included watching The Office. Jenna, you should know they named their dog Beasley after everyone’s favorite receptionist, they said. They got engaged at Niagara Falls and Mary had a “It is your bridal shower” themed bridal shower. The invitation was so cute. I think Jim and Dwight would have been very proud, Mary. If I blur all the personal information, can I put it in Office Ladies stories? Cuz it’s so cute!

Jenna [00:05:54] I think so, yeah. Yeah. If you take out, yeah-.

Angela [00:05:56] All the. All the stuff. Right. Mary and Justin, we wish you all the best. Mary, thanks for sharing your bridal shower invitation with us. And you know, Jenna, as much as I love the fancy invites, I also got a real chuckle from a very simple one that we got from Caitlin and Jeremy in Asal, Texas. Caitlin and Jeremy sent us an invitation that just said in big all caps, FREE DRINKS and in parentheses, and we’re getting married. The first thing you saw was free drinks. And one other thing I want to share is a lot of you wrote in and told us that The Office was how you met your significant other. These stories were so sweet and fun. I wanted to share one of them.

Jenna [00:06:40] Okay.

Angela [00:06:42] Matty I wrote us a letter and said, To Angela, Thank you. Back in 2019, you visited my school, Northern Michigan University. I had been talking to someone for a few months on a dating app, but we had yet to meet. We were both on the shy side. Your Q&A popped up and we both loved The Office, so we decided that this would be our first date.

Jenna [00:07:04] (GASPS)

Angela [00:07:04] I know! Matty goes on to say, Let me tell you, it was perfect. There was no pressure because you did all the talking. And we got to laugh at your stories about The Office, but also how you accidentally forgot to pack your underwear for the trip.

Jenna [00:07:19] Wait, what?

Angela [00:07:20] This is a true story, Jenna. I showed up at Northern Michigan University with no underwear.

Jenna [00:07:25] Except for what you had on.

Angela [00:07:26] Well, yeah.

Jenna [00:07:27] Okay, well, I’m just saying!

Angela [00:07:28] Well, I was going to be there three days.

Jenna [00:07:30] Oh, wow.

Angela [00:07:31] Yeah. And Matty writes, I hope you found some, by the way. After that day, we were inseparable. And now her and I are engaged.

Jenna [00:07:40] Yay! Congratulations!

Angela [00:07:40] I know. Office meetup. Office meet cute.

Jenna [00:07:44] That’s an Angela meet cute. I think you created that meet cute. I love it.

Angela [00:07:49] Yay.

Jenna [00:07:50] Well, I want to talk about all the homemade items that we received. Like overwhelmed with just the generosity and the hand craftsmanship. Just the most thoughtful, most beautiful things. You guys sent us homemade napkins, hand-stitched. We had candles and bath soaps.

Angela [00:08:12] Pot holders.

Jenna [00:08:13] Office themed pot holders that you all made. T shirts.

Angela [00:08:17] Mm hmm. We got homemade jewelry, knit hats. I got a giant cat floatie for my swimming pool. My kids are very excited about that. Lots of really beautiful wood crafts, cookies, buttons, pens, stickers. And a lot of you really wanted Jenna to have a mug with her face on it. Like the one from Kelly’s party?

Jenna [00:08:39] Yes.

Angela [00:08:39] So you got a few of those. And then a lot of you also wanted me to have a coffee mug that said, “It’s basically bread that looks like a donut.”.

Jenna [00:08:47] Yeah.

Angela [00:08:48] So we both have a lot of those coffee mugs.

Jenna [00:08:51] Yeah. Well, we both agreed that we needed to talk about one homemade item in particular. We each got a spectacular quilt from Nancy Schmidt in Minneapolis. She sent these to us back in September of 2021. We just received them, Nancy. They are amazing.

Angela [00:09:10] Nancy. They are so beautiful. For those of you guys that follow me on Instagram, you know that my mom, Birdee, is an amazing quilter. My grandmother, Lena, was a quilter as well. And Nancy, I have watched both of them spend hours quilting a quilt for someone as a gift. And I know how much time and heart goes into that. It was so moving to me. I love it so much.

Jenna [00:09:34] Well, Nancy sent us a letter where she explained in detail why she chose each fabric that she chose. I mean, so much thought and care goes into these quilts. And she said that one of the fabrics that she added reminded her of the palm trees that we said sometimes sneak into the background of The Office. I loved that. And then Nancy also said this in her letter to us. I’ll never forget the Safety Training episode where the two of you dove in and talked about suicide. You saw the necessity of saying something about it, and what you did was both loving and brave. Well, Nancy, thank you for that. And thank you so much for the quilts.

Angela [00:10:15] Yes, Nancy, I will be using mine all the time. One of the other things I want to talk about, Jenna, is the amazing artists that listen to Office Ladies Pod. We got several paintings of Jenna and myself, either as our characters or of ourselves in real life. And I wanted to shout out Ellen, who is 13 years old. She painted a big picture of Jenna and I, plus little ones of our characters. She shared in a letter to us that she loves art and Jane Austen novels and mugs. And, Ellen, I want you to know I love all of those things. In fact, I have a coffee mug with all of the quotes from Pride and Prejudice. Don’t even get me started on Mr. Darcy.

Jenna [00:10:59] Well, a lot of you also shared with us how the podcast got you through long commutes or hardships in your life, the pandemic, or how it just kind of kept you company in one form or another. And one of the letters I wanted to highlight was from Dustin M. Dustin said, I am a second shift custodian for a school, and for about 4 hours a night I am alone in the building, cleaning. You two keep me company and laughing while at work. He went on to say, I wanted to share a little of my story and my family’s story. And he sent us a photo of him and his wife and their two kids. They’re they’re gorgeous. It was their Christmas card from last year. Here’s what Dustin said. When you had Ellie Kemper on the show a few weeks ago, it reminded me of how much I loved her storyline with the foster care system and trying to find her parents. My wife and I were foster parents ourselves for a few years and have been lucky enough to adopt both of our beautiful children from the system. Vivi was one when we adopted her, after taking her straight from the hospital. She is now four and a bundle of joy and energy. Not to be outdone is my son Hank, who was also one when we adopted him after getting him from another foster family when he was four months old. He is currently three and will pick on his sister any chance he gets. He went on to say that he loved the episode where Andy talks about Frolfing. Dustin actually has a company that sells disc golf equipment. Dustin said, We call it disc golf, but we love Frolfing.

Angela [00:12:38] Okay.

Jenna [00:12:39] And Dustin even named his company V & H Disc Golf after his kids. And then he ended his letter by saying, Thank you for spending time with me each week and sharing all the behind the scenes stories. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Angela [00:12:54] Thank you, Dustin.

Jenna [00:12:55] Isn’t that the sweetest letter?

Angela [00:12:56] Yes, I love it.

Jenna [00:12:58] Thank you so much for sharing that with us. And he sent us one of his disc golf frisbees.

Angela [00:13:02] Disc Frisbees. Yeah. The other thing Jenna and I couldn’t get over was just how many different places, letters and things come from. Now I know know, Jenna, with email you really get people from all over. But you know mail, that takes effort to put something in an envelope, pay for the postage to go out of the country. And there were lots of letters that were moving to us. I want to say thank you to Andy J. from the U.K., who wrote in and said, I’ve been an Office fan for years and now enjoy listening to Office Ladies whilst driving around for work. He went on to share with us that he makes a wooden name plaques and he sent one to Jenna and myself. Andy, we love them. They’re so cute. And guess what? Here’s the other thing we want to share with you guys. We now have desks.

Jenna [00:13:47] We have desks!

Angela [00:13:48] At Earwolf! We each have a desk.

Jenna [00:13:50] We kind of Pam’d it.

Angela [00:13:52] We did Pam it. Who Pam’d it?

Jenna [00:13:54] You did!

Angela [00:13:55] I Pam’d it.

Jenna [00:13:55] You said, who’s sitting at these two empty desks?

Angela [00:13:59] Can we take them?

Jenna [00:14:00] And they said, sure.

Angela [00:14:02] And then you guys, all of the beautiful things you sent in we used to decorate our office space here at Office Ladies. We’ll put it in stories. But all of your pictures and paintings and things you sent, we have the cutest nook at Earwolf now.

Jenna [00:14:16] And it has already paid off because we can sit side by side, undisturbed by the distractions of home life and chores and all that. We have like a real office space. It’s so exciting.

Angela [00:14:28] It’s so exciting. You know what cracks me up, Jenna, is we spent nine years being in fake work booths, sort of side by side through a partition. And now we’re we’re so excited to be in a real work pod desk area.

Jenna [00:14:42] I didn’t even think of that. But it’s great because we want to tell you, we are currently using our desks to sign copies of The Office BFFs for the holidays. So look out for that.

Angela [00:14:52] Yeah, it’s going to be on Office Ladies dot com. We’re going to do a really fun holiday bundle with our book.

Jenna [00:14:57] Well, finally, before we go to break, Taylor E in Alberta, Canada, sent us something I’m very excited about. I’m also not excited about it. I don’t know my feelings about it.

Angela [00:15:08] Taylor, I’m super excited because one of them I have had and the other I have not.

Jenna [00:15:15] Here’s what Taylor sent us. Some Old Dutch chips! Remember, these were featured in the episode Business Trip. Old Dutch chips were founded in Winnipeg in 1954. And Old Dutch has the crazy flavors.

Angela [00:15:29] Yes.

Jenna [00:15:30] So here’s what we’ve got here. We’ve got the dill pickle flavor.

Angela [00:15:35] It’s dill pickle and onion.

Jenna [00:15:36] Oh, boy.

Angela [00:15:37] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:15:38] And then ketchup flavored chips.

Angela [00:15:41] I’ve had the ketchup ones. I’m really excited.

Jenna [00:15:43] And you liked them?

Angela [00:15:44] I did like it.

Jenna [00:15:45] Okay. And then the last thing, she sent us something from Ruffles. They’re called the all dressed chip. And Taylor thinks that that is that Canada specific flavor.

Angela [00:15:57] Okay, I have not have that. Let’s open them up.

Jenna [00:15:59] All right. All right. While we’re getting ready. I want to say Taylor, ooh that’s loud.

Angela [00:16:03] That is very loud.

Jenna [00:16:04] Sorry. Okay. Let me say before we taste the chips that Taylor also said, quote, Living in a fairly rural area in Alberta, I don’t ever get to see or meet celebrities or be part of Hollywood, though it once made it into our newspaper that Helena Bonham Carter visited a coffee shop in our city. So it’s special to listen to your podcast every week and get a bit of a glimpse into the magic of Hollywood. Taylor, thank you for your letter and thank you for the chips. And I’m going to try what I guess is dill pickle and onion.

Angela [00:16:34] Okay, Sam, Cassi, do you want to try any?

Jenna [00:16:36] You want to try these?

Angela [00:16:38] There’s a little bit of a reluctant look from Cassi. Okay. How’s the dill?

Jenna [00:16:42] (MAKES YUCK NOISE).

Angela [00:16:43] Okay, I’m now – Give me that pickle one.

Jenna [00:16:45] Oh, my God. I don’t like it.

Angela [00:16:47] Okay, drink some water.

Jenna [00:16:48] I don’t care for it.

Angela [00:16:50] Okay, I’m trying dill pickle and onion. I like it.

Jenna [00:16:55] What?

Angela [00:16:55] I like it.

Jenna [00:16:56] Who- what is your? What is. I don’t get. Oh, look at that. Look at this. Look at that. Would you.

Angela [00:17:03] Tell them what you’re eating.

Jenna [00:17:04] This is ketchup.

Angela [00:17:06] Uh huh? Oh, my gosh. I wish you could see Jenna’s face. I have to take a picture of your face. Pass them over to me!

Jenna [00:17:17] Oh, who would eat this willingly? Oh my god.

Angela [00:17:21] Again, I like it.

Jenna [00:17:22] Oh, boy. Ok, I need Sam and Cassi to try these. Sam? Oh wait, who’s, who’s in the booth with Sam and Cassi?

Angela [00:17:28] That’s Phil!

Jenna [00:17:29] Hi, Phil!

Angela [00:17:29] That’s Phil Rosenthal! Oh, my gosh!

Jenna [00:17:33] Hello! Phil-.

Angela [00:17:33] Phil.

Jenna [00:17:34] Would you- you’re a food guy? You have a whole podcast about food.

Angela [00:17:39] Yes you do.

Phil Rosenthal [00:17:40] It’s my life.

Jenna [00:17:41] Okay. Come here. Have you ever had Old Dutch chips? They are Canadian and they have these crazy flavors.

Angela [00:17:48] Have a seat. Phil Rosenthal.

Phil Rosenthal [00:17:50] What am I eating?

Jenna [00:17:51] You’re eating dill pickle and onion.

Phil Rosenthal [00:17:54] Cornichons and and ranch. It sounds very fancy.

Angela [00:17:59] Thoughts?

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:02] Not terrible.

Jenna [00:18:03] Okay.

Angela [00:18:03] She hated it. I love it.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:05] You hated that one?

Jenna [00:18:06] Yep.

Angela [00:18:06] I loved it.

Jenna [00:18:07] I did.

Angela [00:18:08] I would eat that whole bag.

Jenna [00:18:09] But I hated this more.

Angela [00:18:10] Okay.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:11] This is just called ketchup?

Angela [00:18:12] Yeah.

Jenna [00:18:14] I feel like we’re getting a real food connoisseur’s opinion now.

Angela [00:18:17] I know. Yeah. What do you think? Why are you laughing?

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:23] That’s not so good.

Jenna [00:18:25] Oh! Thank you.

Angela [00:18:26] I like it.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:28] How many others do you have?

Jenna [00:18:29] We have one more.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:30] Oh, I’ve had these. All dressed.

Jenna [00:18:32] Yeah.

Angela [00:18:33] You have?

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:33] Spell- say that in French. You’re you’re fancy.

Jenna [00:18:35] Assosienne?

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:36] Oh, nice.

Angela [00:18:37] (PRETENDS TO SPEAK FRENCH) I’m just doing. I’m just doing my my French schtick.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:44] Sid Caesar?

Angela [00:18:45] Yeah. Okay, let’s try it.

Phil Rosenthal [00:18:50] Those are good. You would eat those. No? You don’t like it? Look at her face. I wish you could see your face.

Angela [00:18:55] You know what? I know. I took a picture of her face.

Jenna [00:18:59] I clearly should not be Canadian.

Angela [00:18:59] Okay, look at her face trying the kethcup one. I might make your new contact photo for my phone.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:06] Oh, that’s adorable. You really hate it.

Jenna [00:19:10] Here’s the thing. I do not like vinegar, so I don’t like the- what is that chip we do here?

Angela [00:19:17] Salt and vinegar.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:17] Salt and vinegar.

Jenna [00:19:17] I don’t care for it.

Angela [00:19:18] Okay.

Jenna [00:19:18] And so.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:19] Do you like chips and dip? Do you put like onion dip?

Jenna [00:19:21] I love. I love- yep, I love a French onion dip. I love a French onion chip. Just don’t need to add a dill pickle to it. And then whatever’s happening there with the ketchup is a no for me as well.

Angela [00:19:33] I would eat all of these.

Jenna [00:19:33] You can. they’re now yours.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:37] But that ketchup is a fake ketchup taste. It’s not like a real ketchup.

Angela [00:19:38] I know, Phil. Don’t judge.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:43] I judge a little.

Angela [00:19:43] Give me all give me all the fakey.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:45] Judge a little.

Angela [00:19:45] Give me all the fakey salty stuff.

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:47] You know why I am thrilled to see you both is because I want to invite you onto our podcast, Naked Lunch.

Jenna [00:19:53] Now, we get to eat on your podcast, right?

Phil Rosenthal [00:19:56] You get a real lunch. Not just chips like you’re giving me. This is we get a full lunch.

Angela [00:20:01] To be fair, we didn’t know you were stopping by.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:03] No excuse. You should always have lunch ready for anyone who might stop by.

Angela [00:20:09] So true, Phil. Phil, thank you so much for stopping into to eat chips. We’re going to go to break, but let’s tell everyone about your podcast.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:16] Naked Lunch. It’s on the Stitcher network. It’s where we’re all together. Look, we have the same mugs.

Jenna [00:20:20] We do.

Angela [00:20:22] We have the same mugs. Check out Phil’s podcast, Naked Lunch.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:25] With David Wild. Yes.

Jenna [00:20:26] Where people eat full meals.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:28] Will you come?

Jenna [00:20:28] Delicious meals. Yes.

Angela [00:20:30] Yes. We will come.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:30] We’ll cross-promote.

Jenna [00:20:30] If you promise not to serve me anything in this area.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:34] In the chip. In the fake flavor chip area.

Angela [00:20:35] No ketchup.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:37] No. We get lunch from- it can be a surprise for you or you get to pick where you want lunch from. I get it for you.

Angela [00:20:45] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:20:46] You know we love a free meal.

Angela [00:20:46] This is a good gig. We will be there.

Phil Rosenthal [00:20:49] There is such a thing as a free lunch. Ladies, I love you.

Angela [00:20:53] Love you!

Jenna [00:20:54] Thanks, Phil.

Angela [00:20:54] Thanks, Phil. Bye. Those of you that are huge Everybody Loves Raymond fans know Phil because he created that with Ray Romano.

Jenna [00:21:02] That’s right.

Angela [00:21:03] He also had a show on Netflix called Somebody Feed Phil, and now he has the podcast, Naked Lunch. Which I guess Jenna, we’re going to go on and eat.

Jenna [00:21:12] I love free food, lady. I’m there. You never know who you’re going to run into here at Earwolf. Ran into Matt Besser the other day, comedian Matt Besser. I did the movie Walk Hard with him. It’s fun having a desk here.

Angela [00:21:24] It really is!

Jenna [00:21:25] And people are back in the office.

Angela [00:21:27] Uh huh.

Jenna [00:21:28] Well, listen, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the things you’ve sent. We’re going to stay on top of our mail now, I think a little better.

Angela [00:21:36] Yes.

Jenna [00:21:36] And really, what a wonderful two days that was opening up all of the mail. Angela, it put me in such a good mood, and I loved feeling so connected to all of you all.

Angela [00:21:47] Oh, same Jenna. Same. We love you guys. Thank you so much for taking the time out to reach out to us.

Jenna [00:21:53] And we’ll be back after this break with Costume Contest.

Angela [00:22:00] This episode is going to start with a cold open where everyone is, well, they’re kind of pranking Stanley because he’s oblivious.

Jenna [00:22:07] Yeah, he goes to take a sip of his coffee, but he drinks some orange juice from Jim’s coffee mug instead, and he doesn’t seem to notice the difference.

Angela [00:22:15] This sets off a whole bunch of everyone in the office just acting strange around him to see if he will notice. I do have a question.

Jenna [00:22:24] What is it?

Angela [00:22:24] Why is Jim drinking orange juice out of a coffee mug?

Jenna [00:22:27] This was my question. I was like, of all the ridiculous things in this cold open, to me, that is the most strange.

Angela [00:22:33] I know. I mean, sure, Andy has no shirt on, and. And Kevin is dressed like Phyllis. But orange juice in a coffee mug, Jim?

Jenna [00:22:41] I do like the taste of orange juice in a coffee mug. There are certain things I like drinking from a mug. I like the taste of milk from a mug. Instead of a glass. Don’t you find that the different container gives something to the liquid?

Angela [00:22:54] I do. And I think orange juice in a coffee mug is disgusting. But I-

Jenna [00:22:59] Such strong feelings!

Angela [00:22:59] But I also like fake ketchup potato chips. So what do I know?

Jenna [00:23:04] I have a little tidbit from Randy Cordray at the very end of this cold open as Stanley’s walking out.

Angela [00:23:09] Is it about the pony?

Jenna [00:23:10] It’s about the pony. You know, that was from Bob Dunn’s animals. Our go to animal folks. And the pony’s name was Bonsai.

Angela [00:23:18] Bonsai. I had a Shetland pony.

Jenna [00:23:21] Are they big?

Angela [00:23:23] No, they’re tiny.

Jenna [00:23:24] Are they as tiny as the tiny pony in the cold open?

Angela [00:23:27] Yes.

Jenna [00:23:28] Oh!

Angela [00:23:28] Some people let them in their house. I think Rainn Wilson has a Shetland pony that walks about his house.

Jenna [00:23:34] I think you’re right.

Angela [00:23:35] This show opens with everyone in very festive Halloween attire. They’ve really gone all out this time.

Jenna [00:23:42] Like, truly, the costumes have gone all out. The decor. The prize for the contest, we’ll get there.

Angela [00:23:49] Yeah. And Jenna?

Jenna [00:23:50] Yes.

Angela [00:23:51] Are you ready for a costume breakdown?

Jenna [00:23:55] Oh, oh, and with music. Sam, I’m liking this.

Angela [00:23:59] Thank you, Sam. I looked at the shooting draft. Here’s how they describe everyone. Oscar is a disco guy. Angela is a penguin. Stanley is a samurai. Phyllis is Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Creed is a mummy. Kevin is the filmmaker, Michael Moore. Erin is wearing a, quote, grotesque horror costume with a full latex mask. Michael is dressed as the SNL character MacGruber. Andy is Bill Compton from True Blood. Pam is Olive Oyl. Dwight is the Scranton Strangler. Gabe is Lady Gaga. Darryl is a vampire. Toby is a hobo clown. And in parentheses, it says, a basic costume.

Jenna [00:24:41] Oh?

Angela [00:24:43] Ryan is Justin Bieber and Kelly is Snooki from the reality TV show Jersey Shore. And Meredith is a waitress. I think maybe Sooki from True Blood? I’m not sure. Bob Vance is Dirty Harry. Remember Clint Eastwood? Dirty Harry? Todd Pecker is a pregnant nun, although that isn’t in the script.

Jenna [00:25:03] Oh.

Angela [00:25:03] I don’t know if they added that. And Jim does not have a costume.

Jenna [00:25:07] Danny Cordray does not have a costume.

Angela [00:25:10] And in the course of this episode, five office workers will change costumes.

Jenna [00:25:14] Five?

Angela [00:25:15] Yes.

Jenna [00:25:17] Oh.

Angela [00:25:17] Kelly, Angela, Oscar, Michael. And, well, Jim.

Jenna [00:25:21] Oh, yes, of course. Oh.

Angela [00:25:24] Okay. So, Jenna, I have to ask you, have you ever gone all out for Halloween? Because I kind of know your usual look. I’ve seen it.

Jenna [00:25:32] Yeah, I usually just do Halloween themed clothing. So I have got a skeleton shirt. I’ve got my earrings that I wear, they’re a little mummy and a little Frankenstein. But I did go all out one year. I really went all out. And I even got Lee to dress up with me. And he is like even less of a dresser upper. In fact, this storyline with Jim and Pam of Pam wanting Jim to dress up reminded me of this.

Angela [00:26:00] What was it?

Jenna [00:26:02] A few years ago? Lee and I were Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood from.

Both [00:26:06] The Great British Baking Show.

Angela [00:26:10] I remember that.

Jenna [00:26:11] It was so fun. We had the best time.

Angela [00:26:16] I need pictures.

Jenna [00:26:17] We can definitely post a picture. But that, I would say, especially in recent memory, is the most all out I’ve ever gone. I feel like you’re more of a costume person. You guys will do a whole thing. You’ve got several costumes from Target. You’ve got your donut that I’ve seen you wear a lot.

Angela [00:26:32] I will say I’m not someone that creates a whole cool costume and sews stuff and does elaborate stuff. I will just throw a donut over my own clothes. And I’m usually a donut. And Josh is a coffee. So that’s how we. One year we were eggs and bacon. I don’t know why we have all these breakfast themes. But I have to ask you, when you were Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, did people know who you guys were?

Jenna [00:26:56] When we posted the picture on Instagram, people knew. But in real life, I’m not sure.

Angela [00:27:01] Okay. Because one year when I was a kid, probably I don’t know if I was around eight or nine, I went all out on a Halloween costume and no one knew who I was. I’m still tickled that my mom was so supportive of this because I’m sure my mom was like, What? Do you remember this SNL character Gilda Radner would do called Roseanne Roseannadanna?

Jenna [00:27:20] Yeah!

Jenna [00:27:23] It was like a big triangle.

Angela [00:27:25] Yeah, a black triangle wig. She wore bright red lipstick and, like, a little suit. And she’d be like, I’m Roseanne Roseannadanna! And that’s who I wanted to be for Halloween. So my mom got me a little suit and the triangle wig and bright red lipstick. And I think three people knew who I was.

Jenna [00:27:40] How old were you?

Angela [00:27:41] I was like nine.

Jenna [00:27:43] You were a nine year old Roseanne.

Angela [00:27:45] Roseannadanna.

Jenna [00:27:46] Roseannadannadanna.

Angela [00:27:47] Roseanne Roseannadanna. I know, I know. I mean, it kind of says everything you need to know about me.

Jenna [00:27:54] It really does. Well, speaking of another SNL character, Michael is dressed as MacGruber and he is disarming a bomb.

Angela [00:28:03] Yeah.

Jenna [00:28:04] It’s a really cute talking head.

Angela [00:28:05] He’s doing a whole bit. I had to look up MacGyver because, you know, MacGruber is based on MacGyver. MacGyver was a TV show.

Jenna [00:28:14] Oh, I watched MacGyver. He can do amazing things with, like, a paperclip and some chewed gum and, like, a stick.

Angela [00:28:23] I had to look up MacGyver just to refresh my memory. Jenna. And this tickled me. On MacGyver’s Wikipedia page, they list his most used items in each show. Are you ready?

Jenna [00:28:35] The things he uses to, like, disarm a bomb or get into a car?

Angela [00:28:39] Yes.

Jenna [00:28:39] Oh, please.

Angela [00:28:40] MacGyver’s most used. Items are: Swiss Army knife, and he usually carries a roll of duct tape in his back pocket. But he’s flattened it out to make it fit.

Jenna [00:28:50] Okay.

Angela [00:28:50] I mean, I need to see a picture of that. Other items he always has on hand: an ID card, a Timex camper watch, strike anywhere matches a few paperclips, chewing gum, flashlight, and a toolbox in his jeep.

Jenna [00:29:06] Okay. That was why I said paperclip and chewing gum.

Angela [00:29:09] I know. That’s what we all remember.

Jenna [00:29:12] But when you listed those things, it actually doesn’t sound as amazing. Everything he could do. I mean, he had a full Swiss army knife and a tool box and some duct tape? I mean, who can’t do amazing things with those three things?

Angela [00:29:25] Now hold up. The toolbox is in his car.

Jenna [00:29:27] Oh, so he has to get all the way back there.

Angela [00:29:29] Right. But you know what he always has?

Jenna [00:29:30] What?

Angela [00:29:31] Gum, Swiss army knife, and a smushed duct tape in his pocket.

Jenna [00:29:36] Well, okay, I’ll be impressed. Well, now Pam has her talking head. She’s dressed as Olive Oyl. She’s telling us that there is an excitement in the office because she has a prize for the best costume. And everyone’s excited about it. The prize is the 2011 Scranton Wilkes-Barre coupon book worth over $15,000 in savings.

Angela [00:30:02] Pam is really animated in this episode.

Jenna [00:30:06] I want you to know that Pam had an alternate talking head. And it was really fun to me.

Angela [00:30:12] Was it the candy bag? Was it in the candy bag?

Jenna [00:30:14] Yes. And I remember doing it, and that’s why I wanted to bring it up. Here it is. Pam could have said. Everyone is bringing their A-game to the costume contest in order to win the super awesome prize, this coupon book. Okay, wait. Is it coupon or coupon? I say coupon. Anyway, people will go nuts for these and I got my hands on one. It’s worth $15,000 in savings. Page after page of cue- wait. Do I say it like that? Have I ever said that word out loud before? But that was her talking head was trying to figure out if she says coupon or coupon. So I was going to ask you. How do you say it?

Angela [00:31:00] I say coupon.

Jenna [00:31:02] You say coupon.

Angela [00:31:03] Yes. My husband loves a coupon. So, you know. There’s always a coupon for something.

Jenna [00:31:09] Well, I can confirm in this episode there are three people who say this word. You are one of them. And you do say coupon.

Angela [00:31:15] Woo hoo!

Jenna [00:31:17] Oscar says this word twice. He says coupon. And interestingly enough, Pam says this word three times. And she also says coupon. However, in 2011, Coupons.com did a poll to see how English speaking people pronounce this word, and 57% of people say coupon.

Angela [00:31:39] Where do they live?

Jenna [00:31:41] Okay. Primarily in the south and on the coasts.

Angela [00:31:45] Coupon.

Jenna [00:31:46] Yeah.

Angela [00:31:47] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:31:47] But then Cambridge University did a study on how English people pronounce it, and that data showed that 61% of people say coupon. So I think we need our own poll.

Angela [00:31:57] Coupon or coupon? All right. Where are we?

Jenna [00:32:01] Well, Dwight is the Scranton Strangler, and he’s going to sneak up behind Jim.

Angela [00:32:05] Oh, I have a question about this.

Jenna [00:32:07] What is it?

Angela [00:32:08] Dwight sees Pam and thinks she’s mocking his mother.

Jenna [00:32:11] Right.

Angela [00:32:12] Right? He says that Pam is only a third as beautiful as his mom and half her height. How tall is Dwight’s mom?

Jenna [00:32:20] Very tall.

Angela [00:32:20] How tall are you, Jenna?

Jenna [00:32:22] I’m five six.

Angela [00:32:23] Oh, my gosh. That is hilarious.

Jenna [00:32:29] I loved this Olive Oyl costume. I’d like to say, I had the best time. Alysia Raycraft, our costume designer, did all the costumes with her team for this episode. I thought they did a great job.

Angela [00:32:40] Fantastic job, Alysia.

Jenna [00:32:42] She built my Olive Oyl costume from scratch, and she even sent me my fitting photo of me with it with all the pins in it. So we’ll have to post that.

Angela [00:32:51] That’s awesome.

Jenna [00:32:51] I know. And I loved the whole wig and all the everything. It was great.

Angela [00:32:57] The wig would kind of bounce a little, like the Olive Oyl ponytail would kind of flee fla flee.

Jenna [00:33:04] The only problem was that at lunch, I couldn’t lay down because they didn’t want to take the wig on and off. Once it was on, it was on. And so I couldn’t put my head back even on like the couch or anything.

Angela [00:33:16] Yeah, that was my problem when I had to be the nurse. Cuz they bobby pinned that thing into my head. The lil hat.

Jenna [00:33:23] Pam really wants Jim to wear a Popeye costume.

Angela [00:33:27] Yeah. She wants the whole family to be dressed up.

Jenna [00:33:29] He’s not doing it. You know, he’s not much of a costume guy.

Angela [00:33:33] No.

Jenna [00:33:34] You know who is a costume guy?

Angela [00:33:37] Apparently, Gabe.

Jenna [00:33:39] Gabe goes all out as Lady Gaga.

Angela [00:33:40] Yeah.

Jenna [00:33:42] We had a fan catch from Kayla M in Washington, DC. Hi, ladies. I was watching Community season two episode 26, and Dean Pelton was dressed up as Lady Gaga. This reminded me of the time that Gabe dressed as Lady Gaga in Costume Contest. So I decided to look up the air dates for both episodes, and they premiered on the same night and they are dressed almost identically.

Angela [00:34:08] That’s hilarious.

Jenna [00:34:08] I looked up the pictures. Kayla is not the first person to notice this because all over Reddit there are these screenshots side by side of these two characters from the same night.

Angela [00:34:19] Well, you send me that?

Jenna [00:34:21] I sure will.

Angela [00:34:22] Well, Gabe is holding a meeting with all of the sales team, and he announces that the warehouse workers are now going to be able to make sales during their deliveries, and that they will split the commissions with the sales team. That’s actually really good news.

Jenna [00:34:35] You know, the sales team doesn’t seem to like this, but I thought it sounded pretty good because you’d almost have this surrogate salesperson out selling on your route, maybe being able to tap into a need that you wouldn’t know about.

Angela [00:34:51] Well, there’s a really funny deleted scenes that’s on the DVD where Michael is annoyed by this, you know? He feels like somehow they’re. It’s like they feel like somehow something’s going to be taken away from them. So Michael makes this big speech, and he says, Would you rather have 50% of something or 100% of nothing?

Jenna [00:35:12] Exactly!

Angela [00:35:13] And everyone’s like, well, when you put it that way, like Stanley’s like like, oh, yeah, that’s this is like passive income for me. Yeah. And Dwight’s like, that’s not helping, Michael.

Jenna [00:35:25] Well, next, Michael is going to enter Darryl’s office, and he’s going to say to Darryl, Hey, this idea is a lot like one you came to me with a while ago that I kind of squashed.

Angela [00:35:37] And he’s like, I blew it. I’m sorry.

Jenna [00:35:39] Yeah. But Darryl is like, It’s all right. We’re cool. It’s fine. I’m glad they’re doing it. But, you know, that’s not where this story is going to end.

Angela [00:35:47] No, it’s not. In the kitchen, everyone is really excited about this coupon book, and Oscar is the only person all day long that is like, you guys, you realize this coupon book isn’t actually worth $15,000. You know?

Jenna [00:36:03] Yes. He’s the only person who seems to understand how a coupon book works, which is that first you have to purchase something to get the savings. It’s only worth what Pam paid for it. These coupon books cost money. Do you did you have these when you were growing up? We had these for fundraisers.

Angela [00:36:20] Oh, yeah.

Jenna [00:36:21] And I loved looking through them because you’d be like, Oh, I can get free fries at McDonalds’. Or you can get like buy one get one free ticket to Six Flags.

Angela [00:36:30] Yeah. Well, Danny is going to invite everyone to his bar. Super cute Danny Cordray co-owns a bar.

Jenna [00:36:37] I’m not attracted to it. I’m not. I’m not attracted to Danny Cordray, bar owner, with the super ironic name Public School. You know, Oscar doesn’t seem impressed either.

Angela [00:36:48] Oscar loves it. He goes, Public School. That’s hilarious. A-plus.

Jenna [00:36:54] I felt like he was being snarky.

Angela [00:36:55] No, no.

Jenna [00:36:56] You think that’s genuine?

Angela [00:36:57] I went to the script, and the stage direction is that Oscar is, like, clearly, like, trying to flirt.

Jenna [00:37:05] Oh, like he’s enamored.

Angela [00:37:07] Yes, he’s enamored. And then, as he says, it’s hilarious, then he’s, like, embarrassed. And then he’s like, A-plus, and he kind of backs away.

Jenna [00:37:14] Well, let me say, that makes sense to me. But I think he’s faking his admiration of the bar to flirt. I think down deep, Oscar and I feel the same way.

Angela [00:37:24] Okay. Well, I wanted to know if there really is a Public School bar. I went online and Jenna, there is a Public School restaurant and bar in Sherman Oaks, not too far from where we filmed.

Jenna [00:37:36] Oh, my gosh. I wonder if that’s where they got the name, because there is not one in Scranton, right?

Angela [00:37:41] There’s not. I looked.

Jenna [00:37:42] What kind of stuff do they serve?

Angela [00:37:44] Looks like bar food.

Jenna [00:37:46] American fare.

Angela [00:37:47] Yeah.

Jenna [00:37:48] All right.

Angela [00:37:48] There you go. There is a Public School bar. Next up there, some gossip in the break room.

Jenna [00:37:55] There really is.

Angela [00:37:56] I mean, just people just chit chatting about Jim and Pam and Danny Cordray. They clearly needed a little drama. They needed something.

Jenna [00:38:06] Everyone is still stuck on the fact that Pam dated Danny.

Angela [00:38:09] Yeah.

Jenna [00:38:10] They’re like discussing is Pam going to choose Jim or Danny? She’s married and has a child with Jim.

Angela [00:38:19] They went to the wedding! They’re happy! Like, what is going on?

Jenna [00:38:24] Dwight interrupts everyone and says, Listen, Pam will choose whichever guy’s scent most matches that of her father.

Angela [00:38:31] And then he’s like, Does anyone know what her dad smells like?

Jenna [00:38:34] And Phyllis seems like she’s going to start to remember what Pam’s dad smelled like.

Angela [00:38:39] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:38:40] Angela.

Angela [00:38:42] Did you look up something about pheromones and dating? Did you?

Jenna [00:38:46] Well, I recalled a study that I read about years ago about women and the scent of a man they are most attracted to. And so I looked up the details to make sure I remembered it correctly. And I did. Do you want to hear it?

Angela [00:39:03] I mean, I really do.

Jenna [00:39:05] Okay.

Angela [00:39:06] Give me all the men’s scent info.

Jenna [00:39:08] Okay. So in general, women really do seem to pick their mate based on smell, as do other animals. This is a thing.

Angela [00:39:20] Okay?

Jenna [00:39:21] You have these genes called the major histocompatibility complex or MHC. And those genes, I guess, play a role in your immune system and fighting disease. And this is what we’re smelling for. We’re smelling men for their MHC gene.

Angela [00:39:43] Okay.

Jenna [00:39:44] So they did a study at the University of Liverpool.

Angela [00:39:48] Okay.

Jenna [00:39:48] They recruited 110 women between the ages of 18 and 35, and they gave these women t shirts that men had worn overnight. And it had different men’s scents on them. The women never saw what the men looked like. They just smelled the shirts. And then they had to rate them on their pleasantness. Like, which ones were you most attracted to? And they asked the women, based on the smell, who would you most pick as a long term partner?

Angela [00:40:19] Right. Okay. Which T-shirt are you picking?

Jenna [00:40:23] They found that the women tended to be attracted to people with an MHC that was dissimilar to their own. And they concluded that’s because it would be beneficial to mate with someone who is most genetically different from you because you’re less likely to share genetic defects that you would pass along to your children.

Angela [00:40:42] Oh, my God. The body is so cool!

Jenna [00:40:43] Isn’t that crazy?

Angela [00:40:45] That’s cool.

Jenna [00:40:46] But here’s what they were really studying during this test.

Angela [00:40:49] What? There’s a twist?

Jenna [00:40:51] There’s a twist.

Angela [00:40:52] What are you talking about? These ladies just signed up to smell T-shirts.

Jenna [00:40:56] Well. They wanted to test the effect of birth control pills on our ability to smell out a good mate. So at first, none of the women were taking birth control.

Angela [00:41:07] And they could smell better?

Jenna [00:41:08] They could smell out a mate that was dissimilar from them.

Angela [00:41:12] And then when they got on birth control, it changed? It dulled their senses or something?

Jenna [00:41:16] It changed who they were attracted to.

Angela [00:41:19] Oh.

Jenna [00:41:20] Suddenly women were attracted to the smells of men who were more genetically similar. In general, the effects of the study said if you meet someone while taking birth control and then you stop it, or if you meet someone not taking birth control and you start it, it might affect your attraction to them because you smell different. You’re attracted to a different thing.

Angela [00:41:50] That’s fascinating.

Jenna [00:41:52] There was a study in psychological science of 365 couples that found that women who went on the pill during a relationship were now suddenly less sexually satisfied than women who had been consistently on the pill or never on the pill. All right. But here is the other thing. Of course, I had to Google this thing that Dwight says about Pam picking the person who smells most like her father.

Angela [00:42:18] That’s where I thought you were going.

Jenna [00:42:20] Well, if you can believe it, there was another study, another T-shirt smelling study. New ladies came in and smelled some new T-shirts. This was published in the medical journal Nature Genetics. This study found out something new.

Angela [00:42:37] What? New T-shirt smelling info.

Jenna [00:42:41] Yes. Women were attracted to men who were genetically different. However, it found that they were attracted to men who were genetically similar in one way. Otherwise different. Do you know that that one way was?

Angela [00:42:59] I have no idea.

Jenna [00:43:01] They smelled like their fathers. That’s right. That t shirts they loved most were worn by men who also had the same MHC genetic code, smell, disease fighting genetics as their dads.

Angela [00:43:19] Well, Dwight, you got it right.

Jenna [00:43:22] He got it right. I guess Jim smells like Pam’s dad.

Angela [00:43:26] Yeah. And thank you to all the ladies who smelled shirts.

Jenna [00:43:30] And to the men who wore them, who were not allowed to smoke, use cologne, deodorant, have sex, or eat certain foods during the experiment.

Angela [00:43:38] We thank you.

Jenna [00:43:40] Everyone go home and smell your mate.

Angela [00:43:43] Well, this is going to lead to a Jim and Pam talking head where we learn that four years ago, while Jim was in Stamford dating Karen, Pam went on two dates with Danny Cordray. And you know what? It wasn’t a big deal. They had two dates. No big deal, right?

Jenna [00:44:01] Yeah. He didn’t call her back.

Angela [00:44:04] Whatever.

Jenna [00:44:05] Yeah.

Angela [00:44:06] Well, this isn’t sitting well with Andy and Kevin.

Jenna [00:44:09] No, for some reason, they think that they can’t go to Danny’s party at Public School because they need to show support for Jim and Pam.

Angela [00:44:20] Yeah. And they’re really bummed because they don’t get invited to a lot of parties, you guys.

Jenna [00:44:24] They don’t. This Kevin and Andy talking head has a lot of tooth play. Did you see the tooth play?

Angela [00:44:32] The fake teeth in and out?

Jenna [00:44:34] The in and out. Andy as this vampire character.

Angela [00:44:37] Bill Compton.

Jenna [00:44:38] That’s right. From True Blood.

Angela [00:44:40] Yeah.

Jenna [00:44:40] He is going to use those plastic Dracula teeth like nobody’s business. In every scene. They’re in. They’re out. They’re in. They’re out. I wanted to find out who invented the plastic Dracula teeth. I went down a rabbit hole and I never found out. We’ll never know. I don’t know who invented them. You can get them everywhere, though, that I did find out. We already knew that.

Angela [00:45:04] Well, I think we should go to break because when we come back, Madge from the warehouse is going to make a sale. And Michael really wants everyone to congratulate Darryl.

Jenna [00:45:14] He really does.

Angela [00:45:16] And we’re going to find out some information.

Jenna [00:45:18] Oh! Well, we are back. And like Angela said before the break, Jim has announced that Madge from the warehouse just made her first sale. Well, Michael feels bad because he feels like Darryl has never gotten credit for this idea, and clearly the idea is going well. So he asks Erin to call Daryl on speakerphone. Oh, boy.

Angela [00:45:42] Why was that so hard for Erin?

Jenna [00:45:44] Well, it’s like Pam said, like she was able to call him.

Angela [00:45:46] She hit the button.

Jenna [00:45:48] She just can’t hang up. She’s like, it’s like same button you pressed before. Erin ends up sitting on the phone to try to hang it up.

Angela [00:45:56] Well, Darryl reluctantly comes out, and Michael really blames corporate that they stole this idea from Darryl. And Gabe is like, no, no. Corporate didn’t steal anything. Darryl told me the idea. I took it to corporate, giving Darryl full credit. And they liked his idea.

Jenna [00:46:14] In fact, let’s give Darryl that round of applause.

Angela [00:46:17] Yeah.

Jenna [00:46:18] Now, Michael is mad that Darryl went over his head.

Angela [00:46:20] He’s peeved.

Jenna [00:46:22] That’s right. Dwight tells Michael that this kind of behavior is going to make his job obsolete. Like if people can just go around Michael, straight to corporate, then what is Michael’s job, really?

Angela [00:46:33] This is going to make Michael spiral out.

Jenna [00:46:37] Meanwhile, Kevin is going to walk up to Danny Cordray at the water cooler and he’s going to smack him on the butt. Did you catch that?

Angela [00:46:44] I did.

Jenna [00:46:45] That’s how it gets its attention.

Angela [00:46:47] Yeah, I did. And I also caught Timothy Olyphant as Danny looking back at him like, what? What’s happening? What? What are you doing?

Jenna [00:46:56] They need his attention because Andy and Kevin are going to explain that as much as they would like to come to Public School for this party, they’re going to bow out. Because Jim and Pam asked them not to go, is what they say.

Angela [00:47:09] Danny’s going to talk to Jim and Pam, but Kevin’s like, Don’t say me and Andy, talked to you.

Jenna [00:47:15] Or we’ll kill you.

Angela [00:47:16] Or you’ll be dead.

Jenna [00:47:17] Yeah. I mean what is going on?

Angela [00:47:21] Kelly is going to arrive back to work and a new costume. It’s very elaborate. I looked in the shooting draft and here’s what it said. Kelly walks in with some shopping bags. She is an elaborate, sexy clown.

Jenna [00:47:35] That’s what it is. I wondered. I thought maybe she was being a pop star from a music video or something.

Angela [00:47:43] She’s an elaborate, sexy clown.

Jenna [00:47:44] Okay.

Angela [00:47:45] She also shares about how much she spent on this costume. It’s in deleted scenes. Let’s hear it.

Kelly [00:47:51] My costume cost $600. If I had the coupon book, it would have cost 20% less than that. Which is why I need that coupon book.

Jenna [00:48:00] By the way, we have another coupon. No one has said coupon.

Angela [00:48:05] Well, now Angela is peeved. She says, Kelly, you cannot change costumes in the middle of the day. Pam, she’s out. This leads to a back and forth where Oscar jumps in. I want you guys to know I improvised the line, Yeah. Shut it, Oscar. Pam?

Jenna [00:48:19] Nice.

Angela [00:48:20] And I also want to share with you guys, we could not get through my talking head in this penguin costume.

Jenna [00:48:27] I can see why. It’s so funny. You’re such an angry penguin. You’re so mad.

Angela [00:48:33] The penguin costume was so incredibly comfortable. But the way the beak went up and over my forehead kind of limited my side vision. So even when I turn to you, when I say, Shut it, Oscar. Pam? If you look at how I turn, it looks like I have a crick in my neck. But it’s just the way the penguin head set on my forehead. Anyway, Dean and I were cracking up so much in this talking head, I kind of felt like we had to hear it.

Jenna [00:48:58] Yay!

Angela Martin [00:49:00] This is an amazing prize. I mean, I don’t even want to give Pam a compliment because she’s so blech. But she did a good job. I really want that coupon book.

Jenna [00:49:10] I love when you’re like, blech.

Angela [00:49:11] She’s so blech. That was so much fun to do. I loved that penguin costume. It was like wearing pajamas all day, minus the way the head fit. Everything else was awesome.

Jenna [00:49:26] Well, next up, Dwight is, what is he doing? He’s throwing magnets away.

Angela [00:49:32] In the trash. He doesn’t like magnets that are too busy, that have too much going on.

Jenna [00:49:36] Yeah, they’re interesting enough. You don’t have to tart them up with some design. At 10 minutes, 33 seconds, I’d like to point out a personal Halloween decoration.

Angela [00:49:46] What?

Jenna [00:49:47] I have the same spooky spider that’s hanging over the table in the kitchen. I decorate with it every Halloween. The spooky spider.

Angela [00:49:54] Michael is watching a conversation between Kevin and Gabe. It’s pretty animated. And Michael is just freaking out. He thinks everyone is going over his head. Around his head. What’d he also say? What do you call when someone takes you from the back? And Dwight’s like, no, no, no.

Jenna [00:50:12] Oh, yeah. What is it? What’s take take them from behind?

Angela [00:50:15] Yeah, yeah. Michael thinks everyone’s going to Gabe behind his back.

Jenna [00:50:20] So he storms in to this conversation and really lays into Kevin. Kevin is so upset and apologetic.

Angela [00:50:28] Shout out to Brian Baumgartner who crushed this moment.

Jenna [00:50:31] I agree.

Angela [00:50:32] Such a good performance.

Jenna [00:50:33] So good. It turns out that he was just suggesting some Lady Gaga moves, but in the future, he’ll tell Michael first.

Angela [00:50:42] There’s a really great robot move he was going to show him.

Jenna [00:50:45] Yeah.

Angela [00:50:46] And Michael’s like, just don’t let it happen again. And Kevin is like, No way, Jose!

Jenna [00:50:53] Yeah.

Angela [00:50:55] I did look in the shooting draft. The (BLEEP) you, Gabe was not in the script.

Jenna [00:50:58] I suspected it was not. And the reason why is because they cut out of that so fast.

Angela [00:51:04] Yeah.

Jenna [00:51:05] Because I’m sure everyone cracked up after he did it.

Angela [00:51:07] Yeah.

Jenna [00:51:08] Next up, we’re in the conference room with Danny, Jim and Pam, and they’re just having a big laugh over this crazy notion that Jim and Pam wouldn’t want people to go to his party.

Angela [00:51:19] Jenna, you are so great in this scene. You are so good in it. I rewatched it a few times. I even recorded it when you- when you say, No, actually it was two dates. We had a plan for a third. We have to hear it. It’s too good.

Pam [00:51:36] It was two.

Danny Cordray [00:51:36] Was it two? I thought it was three.

Pam [00:51:38] No, we um we had plans for a third, but then, I don’t know. You never call me back.

Danny Cordray [00:51:43] Well, that does not sound like me.

Pam [00:51:48] Yeah, it was, though. That’s what happened.

Angela [00:51:53] So awkward. But you do that thing- you and I do this in real life sometimes when things are awkward, we go, (FUNNY VOICE) well, somebody didn’t bring their homework today.

Jenna [00:52:02] Yes, exactly.

Angela [00:52:03] It’s like, uh oh, I feel uncomfortable. I guess I shouldn’t have backed into your car. It was not in the shooting draft stage direction for you to be sing songy or do any of that. That was all your choice. And I thought it was fantastic.

Jenna [00:52:22] Oh, thank you, lady.

Angela [00:52:24] Yeah, well, there’s one other time I love. I’ll bring it up later. You’re so good. You’re so good in this episode.

Jenna [00:52:30] I really loved it. I have to say, I found Pam absolutely adorable in this episode and I’m very, very proud of my performance. If I could toot my own horn for a moment. And I will use a voice to do it.

Angela [00:52:39] Toot it! Well, Michael is going to confront Darryl. He says the chain of command is crumbling. He just made Kevin cry.

Jenna [00:52:50] Yeah. And Darryl says, I’m sorry you’re upset. And then Michael is like, Well, thank you for your apology. I’d like this apology in front of everyone. And Darryl says, I’m not apologizing to you.

Angela [00:53:02] Yeah. He’s like, You made a bad call. And I fixed it.

Jenna [00:53:07] There is a line in this scene that I thought could go on a Halloween mug. You tell me if you like it, Angela.

Angela [00:53:14] Okay.

Jenna [00:53:14] It’s a Michael Scott quote, Halloween should be a day in which we honor monsters and not be mad at each other.

Angela [00:53:21] Yeah, that’s a good one.

Jenna [00:53:22] Right? And then it has, like, little monster people on it.

Angela [00:53:25] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:53:26] Little Frankenstein and a mummy and everything. It’s cute, right?

Angela [00:53:30] I like it.

Jenna [00:53:31] Thank you.

Angela [00:53:32] Well, one of my favorite lines from the whole entire episode is coming up.

Jenna [00:53:36] What’s that?

Angela [00:53:37] Made me laugh so hard.

Jenna [00:53:39] Is it Ryan?

Angela [00:53:40] No.

Jenna [00:53:41] Oh.

Angela [00:53:42] Andy says, Sookie, which is a character name on True Blood. And then he takes out his teeth and says, Bill Compton from True Blood. He says that to Stanley. Stanley looks at him and says, How many frickin vampires am I supposed to care about these days?

Jenna [00:53:58] I loved that line.

Angela [00:53:59] It was so good.

Jenna [00:54:01] This is very similar to the person who doesn’t want to give a standing ovation.

Angela [00:54:04] Yeah. How many vampires? Seriously? Well, we have our second costume change. Oscar has taken off his disco guy ensemble, and he is now just a rational consumer. He’s so proud of this.

Jenna [00:54:20] He does. And that’s when Ryan has his snarky line.

Angela [00:54:25] So much Ryan snark.

Jenna [00:54:26] Yeah.

Angela [00:54:27] He’s like, Yeah, I heard you say it to Phyllis.

Jenna [00:54:29] Great line.

Angela [00:54:29] It’s a good one. Yeah.

Jenna [00:54:30] Yeah. Pam is going to start passing out the ballots for the costume contest, and she explains that you cannot vote for yourself.

Angela [00:54:39] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:54:40] That’s how this is going to work.

Angela [00:54:42] We’re going to have our third costume change. Michael is going to show up dressed as a warehouse worker.

Jenna [00:54:47] He has Darryl’s shirt on. He’s Darryl. And he’s a jerk.

Angela [00:54:50] Yeah.

Jenna [00:54:52] Pam says this is a bad idea. When has this ever worked for you? That’s a line I appreciated.

Angela [00:54:58] Michael says, Never! He’s so bummed out that Darryl went behind his back to Gabe, and he’s just acting like an ass(BLEEP).

Jenna [00:55:07] He really is.

Angela [00:55:09] The costume parade contest begins. I want you guys to know, if you go to the DVD, on deleted scenes, there’s an extended cut of this, and you see pretty much every single person do the catwalk.

Jenna [00:55:21] I think that this was based on our real life costume contest that we did every Halloween with our crew.

Angela [00:55:27] Yeah.

Jenna [00:55:28] And I recently got a picture of me and Vartan judging the Halloween costume contest. One year I got to be the guest judge. He would always judge, and he would have a guest judge. And I got to do it. And I’ll give that to you, Angela, so you can post it. It’s really cool.

Angela [00:55:43] I love it. Well, we’re going to have our fourth costume change, which is Angela has gone from the penguin to the sexy nurse. She has a talking head where she says, I don’t like your tone. Look, they were sold out of all the other costumes, okay? I think we all live in the real world here. Let’s not pretend to be unaware of what sells in this office.

Jenna [00:56:06] Let me say, as your best friend, being on set with you while you were that costume, it was very skimpy. I kind of can’t believe it made it on the air. It was- you were wearing like nothing. Truly.

Angela [00:56:21] I could not bend over.

Jenna [00:56:22] No.

Angela [00:56:22] I had little mesh biker shorts on because I didn’t want to, you know, ruin the mystery. I had little high heels on and these, like, stockings, a tiny little dress. And then Alysia brought me a box of the chicken cutlet boobs, you know?

Jenna [00:56:41] Yep.

Angela [00:56:41] And we played with a few different sizes. I want you to know the first size that they had for me, I would have looked like Dolly Parton. I love you, Dolly. I wasn’t ready to be full Dolly Parton. I said, can we scale back on the cutlet size?

Jenna [00:56:58] Well, the very odd thing was that they recycled the nurse costume. The same costume that Jackie DeBatin wore when she held up the big check for science.

Angela [00:57:07] Yeah, it was the exact same one. I think they just had to trim the length a little for me.

Jenna [00:57:13] Well, they trimmed it too much.

Angela [00:57:15] They might have.

Jenna [00:57:15] They really did. It was so short.

Angela [00:57:17] I will tell you that Kim Ferry, who did my hair on the show, we had so much fun because I got to have, like, fun, sassy hair.

Jenna [00:57:25] Yeah.

Angela [00:57:25] And just so you know, I would take the penguin costume over that any day because the penguin costume was like wearing a sleeping bag. There were so many different costumes at Dunder Mifflin, Jenna. It made me curious, what was the most popular Halloween costume last year? So I went and looked it up. I was a lady who Googled.

Jenna [00:57:43] We did a lot of Googling in this episode.

Angela [00:57:45] We really did. Here was the top ten, according to Google Trends Fright Geist Halloween Costumes of 2021.

Jenna [00:57:53] Okay.

Angela [00:57:54] Number one, which. Number two, rabbit. Number three, dinosaur. Number four, Spiderman. Number five, Cruella de Vil. Number six, Fairy. Number seven, Harley Quinn. Number eight, cowboy. Number nine, clown. Number ten, Chucky.

Jenna [00:58:11] Wow.

Angela [00:58:12] Yeah.

Jenna [00:58:13] What was number two?

Angela [00:58:14] Rabbit.

Jenna [00:58:15] Rabbit?

Angela [00:58:17] Uh huh.

Jenna [00:58:18] That one came out of left field for me.

Angela [00:58:20] I know. More Halloween festivities are happening now. A few folks are playing with the Ouija board by front reception, and Michael’s determined to make a ghost call Darryl an ass. And then in the conference room, folks are bobbing for apples.

Jenna [00:58:35] We have a fan catch from Emily H in Tennessee that is so amazing. It’s about this apple bobbing scene.

Angela [00:58:44] Okay.

Jenna [00:58:45] Emily said, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I’m not making this up, in all caps. All throughout this episode, Meredith is wearing a blonde wig. But in the opening credits, starting with Goodbye, Michael, I believe, the scene in which Erin is bobbing for apples is used, and it shows Meredith in a red wig.

Angela [00:59:06] Oh.

Jenna [00:59:07] I had to go back to this episode, and sure enough, her wig is blonde. Why did they do that? I am sure many people have written in about this, but I just never noticed it until now. So here’s what I did. These extended credits of Erin bobbing for apples, they’ve actually been playing since the beginning of this season. So the first thing I did was go back and look at the opening credits, and I even took a screenshot. The extended credits are in Andy’s Play, and Meredith is wearing the blonde wig.

Angela [00:59:41] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:59:42] Just like in this episode. And I thought, Oh, well, maybe Emily is just mistaken. So then I went forward to Goodbye, Michael. Same credit sequence. Her wig is red.

Angela [00:59:56] What?

Jenna [00:59:57] Yeah. I took screenshots of both. Look, here’s the shot from Andy’s play. That’s Good bye, Michael.

Angela [01:00:05] Oh, my gosh. That is bizarre.

Jenna [01:00:08] What is that about? Yeah, they clearly went in and re colored the wig for this credit sequence in Goodbye, Michael. But they been playing it with a blonde one the whole time. The rest of the season.

Angela [01:00:20] There’s got to be a reason.

Jenna [01:00:21] You know who we’re going to ask?

Angela [01:00:23] We’re going to ask Randy.

Jenna [01:00:24] So when we get to it, we’ll have an answer. Emily, thank you so much for pointing that out. That was bonkers.

Angela [01:00:31] I know. Fantastic catch, Emily. In the kitchen, Todd Packer is sitting with a bunch of well, they’re like little brown lunch bags. And they list all these different organs. And the last one is in his lap.

Jenna [01:00:44] And it says Trouser mouse.

Angela [01:00:46] Danny says, I don’t think that’s going to go the way you hope it will.

Jenna [01:00:52] Well, Jim’s going to come into the kitchen and he is going to confront Danny. He’s going to say, Hey, man, I’m just curious, how come you never called my wife back for that date? And Danny’s like, Really?

Angela [01:01:02] Mm hmm. Packer’s like, You looking for someone to bang your wife?

Jenna [01:01:06] I love that line so much. It made me laugh out loud.

Angela [01:01:10] Danny says, You know what? The truth is I didn’t call her back because all she talked about was you. She was clearly in love with you.

Jenna [01:01:19] Well, that’s not true.

Angela [01:01:20] No, it’s not. There is a deleted scene where you see Jim walk over to Pam, whisper something in her ear, and she looks at him and shakes her head like, Nope. And then the next scene is them confronting him outside of the men’s room.

Jenna [01:01:35] Yeah. And they demand to know the real reason why he never called her. Because if he doesn’t tell her, it’s just going to keep gnawing at her like (MAKES GNAWING NOISE).

Angela [01:01:43] I thought you were so fantastic in this scene again. I looked at the shooting draft to see if there was any stage direction. This was just all you. The only thing they spelled out for you was the, Excuuuse me?

Jenna [01:01:58] Yes, it was all scripted. One part that I added was that (ROLLS TONGUE).

Angela [01:02:03] Yes, that was so great. All it says and the shooting draft is that you awkwardly exit. And how you chose to do that was all you.

Jenna [01:02:11] I showed the scene to Lee because I said to him, this might be one of the most me performances I have ever given. I am a little dorky. And I feel like the writers were on to something about me, Jenna, because I do all of these things in my life.

Angela [01:02:30] And you also remember stuff. So you would be the one like, No, no, it was two. We had a third. You didn’t call. That’s how it went down.

Jenna [01:02:38] Yeah. They also really made all of this even more awkward by the fact that I am in a full elaborate, wigged costume and I’m talking to these two handsome men just dressed in normal clothes. It really even further highlights Pam’s dorkiness. And I love it.

Angela [01:02:56] Your little flat ponytail kept flopping around.

Jenna [01:03:00] I loved doing this scene and I really am so proud of it. We had a fan question from Ashley W in Suffolk, Virginia, who said, Why does Danny Cordray disappear after this episode? I loved the character, and Timothy Olyphant isn’t too shabby to look at either. I’ll tell you, he is mentioned again in Michael’s Last Dundie’s when Michael gives him the hottest in the office award. And there was a little bit where Michael tries to bring Danny up via satellite and it got cut out. It’s in the deleted scenes. You know, the story is that Danny’s on the road. It’s how we see Todd Packer so infrequently. But this storyline did kind of get unresolved. I agree, Ashley, because that scene was cut from Michael’s Last Dundies. We assume that after Michael leaves, Danny is let go. He was a hire we didn’t really need. We already had our traveling salesman.

Angela [01:03:56] Right.

Jenna [01:03:57] But anyway, that you would have had at least a little nugget of information on him.

Angela [01:04:02] Well, we’re about to have a sit down with Gabe, Darryl and Michael to resolve all of this issue of who brings what information to what department. Right?

Jenna [01:04:10] Yeah.

Angela [01:04:11] Gabe is going to tell Darryl that Darryl needs to get Michael’s approval before coming to him with anything. And Darryl says, Well, you know what? You’re going to miss out on some good ideas. And then Gabe goes, Well, then my door is always open. And this leads to a back and forth where Michael’s like, After everything I’ve done for you? And Darryl looks at Michael and says, Listen, Ed Truck hired me. Jo promoted me. Gabe listened to me. All you’ve ever done is say no to me. I have ambition. This is part of Darryl’s storyline of where his ambition is going to take him. And he’s really starting to feel it. Like he has good ideas and they’re changing the way the company works.

Jenna [01:04:46] And he’s going to have a scene with Andy where he initially says, Sometimes I think things were better down in the warehouse. And then Andy goes on this very sort of elaborate metaphor.

Angela [01:04:57] Using a cappella.

Jenna [01:04:58] Yes. And at the end of this scene, Darryl says he does have big plans.

Angela [01:05:05] Yeah.

Jenna [01:05:05] And big ambitions. And we’re going to see that storyline now play out through the rest of the series.

Angela [01:05:10] Yeah. And Michael and Darryl make up. They both decide if they ever disagree with Gabe, they’re going to go straight to Jo. And they shake hands on it. Michael says, You know what? Friends fight.

Jenna [01:05:22] Mm hmm. Well, I like the Darryl got to call Michael out in this episode. He deserved it.

Angela [01:05:28] Jim is going to have a very sweet talking head. He’s going to say, To be honest, I can’t believe he didn’t call her back. Who doesn’t call a dork like that back? And now Jim is going to arrive dressed in the Popeye costume with Cece as Sweet Pea. Her hero.

Jenna [01:05:44] How cute did they look all dressed up? I mean, I’m sorry. It was so freaking adorable. Did every woman’s heart leap out of her chest when he walked in the door as Popeye carrying Sweet Pea or what?

Angela [01:06:00] So cute.

Jenna [01:06:01] So cute.

Angela [01:06:02] The day we filmed that, I took a picture of John in the Popeye costume and holding the sweet little baby. I still have the picture. It’s so cute.

Jenna [01:06:12] Well, John is very much like Steve. They both just love kids so much. And John and I would just dote on those little babies all the time.

Angela [01:06:21] I know.

Jenna [01:06:21] I loved having those girls on set.

Angela [01:06:25] We are now going to reveal who won the coupon book. We get to see some people flash up their cards, kind of like survivor style, who they wrote down. Kelly voted for Oscar. Ryan voted for Oscar. Creed voted for Oscar.

Jenna [01:06:39] Oscar won!

Angela [01:06:40] Yeah. There was a scene that would have come after this. It’s in deleted scenes. Creed, Meredith, Ryan, Kelly, and Angela have gathered around Oscar as he reads from the coupon book.

Jenna [01:06:50] Oh, I love this.

Angela [01:06:52] I feel like they gave Oscar a lot of alts for this. Here are a few that were in the script as well as deleted scenes. Oscar says, Who wants $30 off any full fare ticket on a flight to Chicago? Blackout dates apply. Who wants a free powerboost at Body Shakes Boba Bar? Who wants a 100 megabyte MP3 player? Special bonus: does not play iTunes. Who wants a free estimate on carpet cleaning? Oh, look, 5% off your Dunder-Mifflin order. Ask for Stan the man. And then the camera reveals a smiling photo of Stanley from 20 years ago.

Jenna [01:07:31] I have a question. How are people reacting in the scene? Are they getting it? Are they like finally getting that maybe the coupon book wasn’t great? Or are they still wishing they had the coupon book?

Angela [01:07:41] No, with these one, they’re like, eh pass. And then Kelly’s like, Oscar, get to the good stuff! And then that’s when he gets to Stay the man.

Jenna [01:07:50] That’s great. Oh, well, guys, that was Costume Contest.

Angela [01:07:55] Yes. We hope you have a great week. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Randy Cordray.

Jenna [01:08:00] And thanks to Phil Rosenthal for coming in and eating some, in my opinion, disgusting chips. And thank you to all of you.

Angela [01:08:07] Yes.

Jenna [01:08:08] For sending in all your wonderful messages and gifts. We love you.

Angela [01:08:13] We love you so much.

Jenna [01:08:14] See you next week!

Angela [01:08:15] Bye!

Jenna [01:08:23] 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 [01:08:39] 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”.