EP. 186 — Fundraiser

Jenna I’m Jenna Fischer.

 

Angela And I’m Angela Kinsey.

 

Jenna We were on The Office together.

 

Angela And we’re best friends.

 

Jenna And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you.

 

Angela Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

 

Jenna We’re the Office Ladies. Hello!

 

Angela Hi there!

 

Jenna Are you excited to go to a super crunchy Fundraiser today?

 

Angela I am. I’m going to get my best little hairdo going.

 

Jenna Oh, I have fan questions about your hairdo, Angela. Save it.

 

Angela Okay.

 

Jenna We have a lot to discuss. Today is season eight, episode 22. It was written by Owen Ellickson and directed by Dave Rogers. Here’s your summary: The Dunder Mifflin group is concerned when newly unemployed Andy displays some questionable behavior, both in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot and later at an animal welfare fundraiser hosted by the senator.

 

Angela Mm hmm.

 

Jenna Also at the fundraiser, Oscar becomes convinced that the senator is hitting on him. Dwight misunderstands the rules of a silent auction. And Andy adopts 12 senior dogs.

 

Angela Andy, Andy, Andy.

 

Jenna As someone who has worked in Animal Rescue, I can tell you that one needy animal, one animal that needs medications and ointments and salves is enough. You don’t need 12. That’s a hard job.

 

Angela I mean, Erin says, This is my life now.

 

Jenna I know. All right, fast fact number one. Angela, you know how much I love when you do fast fact number three, and today you are doing fast, fact number one.

 

Angela I am! Okay. For those of you guys that have the DVD box set, we are now on disc five. And let me tell you, there are some special features. First of all, Fundraiser has an extended producer’s cut, but there is also, under the bonus section, a 19 minute blooper reel. I watch the whole 19 minutes. It was a joy. I mean, if you need a laugh, watch a 19 minute blooper reel.

 

Jenna I love our blooper reels.

 

Angela I do too.

 

Jenna They’re my favorite thing.

 

Angela Me too. They just take me back right away. We talk about this all the time, that we went to work and tried not to laugh all day. What a blessing.

 

Jenna Yes.

 

Angela Okay. It also has the webisode series, The Girl Next Door. And apparently, NBC was hosting Super Bowl 46.

 

Jenna Oh, yeah.

 

Angela And we did a bunch of promos, like, a lot. And they’re all on there. To remind you guys, Super Bowl 46 was the New York Jets versus New England Patriots. The Jets won 21 to 17. Kelly Clarkson sang the national anthem and Madonna was the big halftime show.

 

Jenna Well, I remember these promos. We did one promo with all of the NBC shows, and it was based on a musical number from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And it kicked off with 30 Rock, and then our cast sang part of it. It was doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. What’s this song? Doo doo doo doo doo. Of men.

 

Angela Yes, yes.

 

Jenna And da ba ba.

 

Angela Da da da.

 

Jenna Da da da da da da.

 

Angela You know I’m horrible at this, right? Like. Like if I had to go on a game show and really lose badly, it would be like, guess the tune.

 

Jenna Oh, yeah.

 

Angela I’m just like, I don’t know.

 

Jenna I can’t. In the company of men.

 

Angela Yes.

 

Jenna Maybe?

 

Angela I’m going to say yes to everything.

 

Jenna Okay. But it was huge. It was choreographed and we’re lip synching and it’s so charming. And it was big. The full promo with all of the NBC people doing it was like, oh, my gosh, 6 minutes? It was long.

 

Angela It was very long.

 

Jenna It’s so fun to watch.

 

Angela It is not on this DVD.

 

Jenna Oh, never mind, everyone. Google it.

 

Angela It is out there. Here are the Super Bowl promos on this DVD. First, there’s a commercial where Kevin is really excited about the Super Bowl commercials. And then Robert California pitches his idea for the perfect Super Bowl commercial.

 

Jenna Mm hmm. I’m scared.

 

Angela Yeah, you should be. It would feature a woman in her late sixties, and everywhere she goes, men fall to their knees, crippled with lust. She sees the camera while grocery shopping and drops her basket and looks right at the camera and says, This was all part of your plan, wasn’t it, Robert? And then Kevin says, Wait, how can you do that? How can you make the commercial different for every single person? And Robert goes, I don’t know. I don’t watch television.

 

Jenna That’s weird.

 

Angela I know!

 

Jenna And this really was made?

 

Angela Yes!

 

Jenna It’s on the DVD.

 

Angela It’s on the DVD.

 

Jenna Okay.

 

Angela The next promo was called Fans and it’s Andy and Erin just saying right to camera, You guys are going to the Super Bowl! That must be so exciting! And they’re very cute and charming. Then there’s one called Museums and it’s John and Rainn as themselves. But they’re dressed in character and they’re on set. And Rainn is telling everyone what museums they should go to instead of going to the game, like in hopes to get their tickets.

 

Jenna Got it.

 

Angela It was very cute. There’s one called Post-Game where Ed is dressed as Andy, and he’s sitting in the manager’s office and he’s encouraging everyone to stick around after the Super Bowl to watch the postgame celebration.

 

Jenna Okay.

 

Angela NBC really wanted people to stick around.

 

Jenna Oh, that’s why they always fight over who gets to air the Super Bowl. I mean, first of all, obviously the ad revenue.

 

Angela Right. Right.

 

Jenna But afterwards, they would use the Super Bowl to like launch new shows or highlight shows that they really were excited about.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna Stick around after the Super Bowl.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna They say it all the time.

 

Angela And then my favorite one was called Dip. And Kevin is going to share his perfect Super Bowl dip recipe. You need to hear it.

 

Jenna Brotherhood of Man.

 

Angela Yes.

 

Jenna That’s the name of the song.

 

Angela That’s it. There you go.

 

Kevin In honor of the Super Bowl, I have made 46 layered dip: refried beans, ground beef, super salsa, bacon, graham cracker, bacon, seven layer dip but all in one layer, garden burger, turkey burger, beef burger, grilled cheese sandwiches.

 

Andy Kevin, I need that report by five.

 

Angela Ughh. Now I have to start over, Andy. Gosh! Refried beans, ground beef, super salsa…

 

Jenna Everything was working for me, but the graham cracker was…

 

Angela That really threw ya.

 

Jenna Yeah, that threw me off.

 

Angela There is an actual giant tub of this stuff, and he’s pointing to each layer.

 

Jenna Oh, my gosh.

 

Angela I want to put a picture of it in stories.

 

Jenna Okay, please.

 

Angela It looks disgusting.

 

Angela And those are the bonus features on the last disc of season eight!

 

Jenna That was a very good report, Angela. I enjoyed it very much.

 

Angela Okay, Well, thank you.

 

Jenna Let’s move on to fast fact number two. One of the storylines in this week’s episode was inspired by a true story.

 

Angela Yes.

 

Jenna So, you know, at the charity event, they have a silent auction. But Dwight thinks this is a guess the price game and that you win the prize if you guessed the correct price.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna Well, this happened to our writer, Halstead Sullivan’s sister in real life.

 

Angela I cannot believe that. It’s so crazy. Tell the story.

 

Jenna So he was working at The Office at the time, and his sister called him on the phone and was like Halstead! I won this expensive Italian sofa at this event last night. It’s worth $17,000. And I guessed the price exactly and I won!

 

Angela Oh, my gosh.

 

Jenna And he was like, That’s amazing. Congratulations. But then cut to a few days later, she called him to say that the charity sent her a really weird letter asking her to pay for the sofa. And he said, Fax me the letter. When Halstead was retelling the story, he’s that old tech alert. Yes. She faxed me the letter from the charity. And he looked it over, and he had to explain to her that it was not a guess the price. It was a silent auction and that her bid for the sofa was $17,000, and they were wanting to collect.

 

Angela Oh, my gosh.

 

Jenna He said she panicked.

 

Angela Well, yeah.

 

Jenna He also said in her defense, there was an Italian man with an accent who had explained the rules to her and perhaps something got lost in translation. But she called the charity. She explained the mistake and they did not make her pay $17,000. Halstead said he recognized the sofa she bid on. It was a Desede sofa? Desed? D E S E D E. It is an Italian sofa, which is basically the Birkin bag of sofas. $17,000 is actually a bargain.

 

Angela I can’t even wrap my head around that number. That’s a car.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela That’s like you’re sitting on a car.

 

Jenna Well, Halstead said he only recognized it because before they wrote on The Office, he and Warren had written for a show produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. And they had one of these sofas.

 

Angela Ooh!

 

Jenna It was written up in like, you know, one of those profiles they do of celebrity homes.

 

Angela Yeah. Yeah.

 

Jenna And I looked at the website. Most of these sofas go for around $40,000.

 

Angela Wow.

 

Jenna And I’m very sorry, Desede, or Desede sofa company, but they are ugly. I’m just going to say it. They are….

 

Angela Will you send me a picture of one?

 

Jenna Yes.

 

Angela I mean.

 

Jenna Do you want to see it?

 

Angela Yeah. Are they comfortable? They can’t be $40,000 comfortable.

 

Jenna They don’t. Nothing is $40,000 comfortable.

 

Angela Nothing.

 

Jenna Like if you take the most comfortable $1500 dollars couch, it is not… This special sofa is not 40 times more comfortable than it.

 

Angela You know what? We have a couch from IKEA that Josh put together himself. And when he said I’m going to put it together, I thought maybe it comes in four pieces. You screw on the legs. You know what I mean?

 

Jenna Uh huh.

 

Angela No, Jenna, there’s a there’s a box that’s just the stuffing. Then. Then you got to, like, stuff it and you got to, like, you literally build a couch. And I thought, Wow, this we’re getting such a deal on this sectional. It’s because you build the whole damn thing.

 

Jenna Yes, there’s no- well, they don’t charge you for any labor because you are the labor.

 

Angela It it took a whole day.

 

Jenna But is it comfortable?

 

Angela Yes!

 

Jenna Right! Now I just. Here’s the website.

 

Angela Oh, no.

 

Jenna Right?

 

Angela This is ridiculous.

 

Jenna One of their things is that they make like a snake sofa. It doesn’t look like a snake, but you can, I guess, make it into an S shape or it’s a giant C. Like, it’s very curvy.

 

Angela  It looks like a curved spine, for those of you listening.

 

Jenna Yes. Spiney. It looks very spiney.

 

Angela It looks like a spine. And yeah, so it looks like, like if you took an X-ray of your back, but-

 

Jenna And turned it into a leather sofa.

 

Angela A leather sofa. But then the way the cushions look, it looks like if you chopped a recliner in three pieces and then you just put them all in a row, tons of mini like spine recliners.

 

Jenna Today’s podcast is sponsored by de Sede sofas.

 

Angela It is definitely not. Sorry. Sorry, de Sede.

 

Jenna Or de Sede. We don’t know what-

 

Angela We’re saying it wrong.

 

Jenna We don’t know.

 

Angela We don’t know.

 

Jenna What we know is that we won’t be purchasing one of your sofas for so many reasons. Sorry.

 

Angela I love that this Dwight storyline was inspired by a true life event in halstead’s life.

 

Jenna It was really funny, too.

 

Angela Yeah, he was so happy. He was getting everything right.

 

Jenna I really liked it. Should we move on to fast fact number three?

 

Angela Yes, because it’s so special.

 

Jenna We love this letter that we got from Alicia H. in Mynong, Wisconsin. She wrote to us because this is the Fundraiser episode.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna And she is having a fundraiser for her local library. Alicia said the building that the library is housed in was put up for sale last summer, and the community is working really hard to save the library. She said most of the families that the library serves are below the poverty line and the library has so many wonderful programs. Her own four kids beg her to go all the time. It’s like their second home. And she said that she would really like us to help support the library. She will even buy us tacos. Well, Alicia, we loved your letter. We loved learning about your local library, which is 100% run by volunteers.

 

Angela Yes. If you go to their website, you can learn so much about what this library does for its community. It’s a small community. And for those of you that live in small towns, you know that the library can be such a wonderful place to go with your kids, and you have access to things you might not be able to have at home or afford.

 

Jenna Very well said, Angela. Well, Alicia, each year Office ladies does some annual giving and we are adding your library to our list this year. We’re going to make a donation.

 

Angela Yep.

 

Jenna We’re also going to send you a signed copy of The Office BFFs and The Actor’s Life for the Library.

 

Angela Love it.

 

Jenna And speaking of our annual giving, this year, we are also giving to Black Girls Code, AMSCI and Lide Haiti. Lide Haiti is the organization that Rainn Wilson and his wife Holiday Reinhorn started. And you recently went to a fundraiser with Steve Carell for Lide Haiti that was hosted by Rainn, right?

 

Angela We did. It was really fun. Rainn put together sort of this quote unquote dinner party.

 

Jenna How amazing.

 

Angela Right. And Steve and I went along with a lot of people that made donations to Lide and the people that work at Lide. And we got to hear about everything they’re doing in Haiti. It’s really an amazing organization. Rainn has such a big heart for service. He and his wife, Holly, do so much. And I’m going to put a link to their website in our stories. But Lide is a nonprofit, and what they’re trying to do is empower adolescent Haitian girls through programs in the arts, education and health.

 

Jenna I think we should post links to all the organizations we spoke about today so that people can see the amazing things that these groups are doing.

 

Angela I love that.

 

Jenna Well, that’s all I got, lady. Should we take a break?

 

Angela I think we should, because when we come back, I have a little something from my digital clutter.

 

Jenna I love digital clutter.

 

Angela Someday I’m going to clean out my inbox. I am.

 

Jenna Please don’t. We’ll be right back.

 

Angela We are back and I have an email for you all that came on Saturday, March 31st, 2012 at 3:13 p.m..

 

Jenna Who’d it come from?

 

Angela Dave Rogers. To the entire cast of The Office. The subject was, Wow, exclamation point. Here’s what it said: I just finished my editor’s assembly of Fundraiser and I am thrilled with how it turned out. So many great laugh out loud moments from everybody. We have made some truly great episodes this season and have seriously kicked ass with our Florida arc. What an incredible run with Tallahassee, After Hours, Test the Store, Last Day in Florida, and Get the Girl, soon to be joined by the hysterical Welcome Party, Angry Andy, and Turf War. Got to go. Free Family Portrait Studio isn’t going to edit itself, David.

 

Jenna I have to tell you, in all my years of working on things since The Office, this doesn’t happen. You don’t get letters like this.

 

Angela From your editor.

 

Jenna Or your director even! Like I don’t get letters just saying, Guess what? It’s great! You’re great! This is so fun!

 

Angela You’re doing a good thing!

 

Jenna Way to go, team!

 

Angela Yeah!

 

Jenna We got this kind of stuff on the show. It was so sweet.

 

Angela And everyone responded back. Mindy was the first one that responded back. She wrote, I love you, Dave. Everybody was like, Thanks, Dave! Thanks, Dave! Yay! Can’t wait to see! You know?

 

Jenna That’s so sweet.

 

Angela Yeah. And this is why I don’t delete any of my emails. Are you ready for this cold open?

 

Jenna I think so.

 

Angela Well, Ryan is pacing back and forth. He is going, No, no, no, no, no, no. By the way, he’s not saying this in his office, his closet office. He’s not pacing in the kitchen. He’s come into the bullpen to pace back and forth until someone notices.

 

Jenna Yes. Pam finally gives in and asks him, What is bothering you, Ryan? Something seems to be bothering you. And it turns out that he is very, very upset that Smokey Robinson has died and he didn’t get a chance to see him in concert before he died.

 

Angela People are sad. You know, Jim’s like, Oh, I liked him. And Ryan’s like, You liked him?! Because apparently Smokey’s biggest fan is Ryan.

 

Jenna That’s right.

 

Angela No one else can even compare to, like, how much he loved Smokey.

 

Jenna Well, Pam is a little suspicious, right? She always has Ryan’s number. And she’s kind of like. We’ve never heard you talk about this before. Ever. Like, this is a first. And suddenly, Oscar from over in accounting says, Guys, it’s a hoax.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna He’s not dead. He’s alive. And he’s got a concert coming up. Ryan, you should go! Everyone says.

 

Angela Well, it’s really Pam.

 

Jenna It’s really Pam.

 

Angela She’s like, Pam is like, You have to go. Jim’s like, tickets are 250 bucks. Pam’s like, $250 is nothing to the world’s biggest Smokey Robinson fan!

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela And Ryan’s like, Well, who’s opening? Jim says, Paul Anka. And Ryan’s like, Oh, What? No, I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I mean, this is my favorite version of Pam, I think.

 

Jenna When she takes on Ryan?

 

Angela Yes. Now that we have been rewatching now for years, my favorite version of Pam is when she just looks at him and just calls him out. I loved how she was like, Name another song. Name one other song of his. And it’s like, he can’t.

 

Jenna Well, I looked up Smokey Robinson. He has been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He’s been inducted. And he’s written more than 4000 songs.

 

Angela Wow.

 

Jenna So the fact that Ryan can’t name a second song is pretty bad. Smokey Robinson is 83 years old and he is still performing live. And you can find his tour dates at Smokey Robinson dot com. And he’s got shows coming up in Atlantic City, Providence, Rhode Island and Nashville, Tennessee. Go, Smokey Robinson. Ryan can still go.

 

Angela Yes, Ryan, go! You’re his biggest fan. The episode starts with Robert California arriving in a dark brown suit and tie. He looks like really put together.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela The suit looks great, but he says he really hates wearing ties. He feels like he’s in one of those erotic what’s it called?

 

Jenna Asphyxiation clubs.

 

Angela Thank you. Yeah. And he mentions a few off of Interstate 84.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela I looked them up. They’re not real.

 

Jenna I looked them up, too.

 

Angela I couldn’t find them.

 

Jenna I was glad I didn’t.

 

Angela I don’t know how I ended up here, but I did find out that there’s quite a few swingers clubs.

 

Jenna In Scranton?

 

Angela Yeah, I guess.

 

Jenna How does that work?

 

Angela I don’t know. It says most clubs offered by Pennsylvania Swingers are for members only. However, couples and singles can get this membership as well.

 

Jenna How does a single join a swingers club?

 

Angela I don’t know. The closest club I found to Scranton is in Bloomsburg.

 

Jenna A erotic exfasi-

 

Angela No, no, it’s a swingers club.

 

Jenna Oh.

 

Angela I went to look for these clubs and I ended up on a Scranton swingers website.

 

Jenna Oh. And now, if you want to swing, you have to go where?

 

Angela Bloomsburg.

 

Jenna Bloomsburg.

 

Angela So there you go.

 

Jenna Well, that was an interesting Google journey for you.

 

Angela Oh, yes. It was also BYOB.

 

Jenna No it’s not. It’s so it’s a room, basically.

 

Angela I don’t know. I don’t. I didn’t look any further.

 

Jenna It’s a basement.

 

Angela Okay.

 

Jenna Okay. Angela is going to have a talking head where she says, Here’s what’s going on. The senator is hosting a fundraiser for local dog shelters tonight. And Robert California bought two tables.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna And invited the whole office staff.

 

Angela And you know what? They were lucky to get seats because it’s going to be a who’s who of the northern 22nd District.

 

Jenna Yeah. And Angela is going to do her hair.

 

Angela Oh, she’s going to get her hair did. Dwight bursts into the bullpen. He doesn’t want to alarm everyone, but there’s good chance that someone’s going to get hurt today.

 

Jenna Yeah, because there’s a disgruntled former employee sitting in their car in the parking lot. Guess who it is?

 

Angela It’s Andy.

 

Jenna It’s Andy.

 

Angela You guys. Andy cannot let go of Dunder Mifflin. He’s become the lurker.

 

Jenna Mhmm. You know, during this scene, I noticed the little candy dispenser on my desk?

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna It’s the one that used to be at reception. And we decided that for whatever reason, Pam would move it to her desk. This is why Erin has to put out candy in a glass bowl. So this little candy dispenser, I saw what was in it.

 

Angela What?

 

Jenna Red Hots.

 

Angela Ohh.

 

Jenna And I know why there were red hots in it. Because I would eat all the other candies.

 

Angela But you wouldn’t eat the Red Hots?

 

Jenna I wouldn’t eat the Red Hots. So I said, Phil, I need you to put something in this container that I don’t eat all day. Because I was getting tummy aches. It was too much sugar. So he said, What won’t you eat? And I said, I won’t eat Mike and Ikes and I won’t eat Red Hots. So he put Red Hots in there. So if you ever see Mike and Ike’s or Red Hots in my candy dispenser, it was per my request because I was needing to stop my candy eating.

 

Angela Well, I noticed that your finger nail polish is the exact same color as your coffee mug.

 

Jenna It’s kind of a pinky purple in this episode. I don’t know why I was allowed to do that, but it matches my dress for the fundraiser very well.

 

Angela Mm hmm. Erin and Angela, Pam, Kevin and Jim are all now going to go to the parking lot. They’re going to check in on Andy. Like, what’s he doing? He’s sitting in his car. What’s happening? Erin is filming him. She said, Hey, can we just film you saying that you’re fine and everything’s normal? Because they’re worried he might hurt Robert. He says, Guys, I am fine. I’m just picking up Erin for the fundraiser tonight. Kevin is the one that’s like, That’s going to be weird. Like, Kevin’s the one that clocks in on this? I was like what?

 

Jenna Kevin is the voice of reason through this entire episode. It’s a wonderful turn.

 

Angela I know! Well, Brian could not get through the scene. He kept getting tickled. It’s in the bloopers that I watched all 19 minutes of. And I want you to hear it.

 

Andy I’m picking up Erin. We’re going to the fundraiser.

 

Pam Oh, great. That sounds good.

 

Kevin Wait, what? You’re going to the fundraiser tonight? That’s going to be weird.

 

Andy Why would that be weird?

 

Pam Yeah. Kevin, come on. It’s going to be fine.

 

Jim It’s not weird at all.

 

Kevin Am I the only-am I? Uh.. (LAUGHS) Ready?

 

Pam Mm hmm.

 

Jim Oh, boy.

 

Kevin (LAUGHS)

 

Jenna Oh. Oh, my gosh. It’s John. It’s John and Brian.

 

Angela Yeah, John is messing with him. Brian was trying so hard, if you watch it, to say the line. So he’s trying to kind of laugh through it like ummm uhhh. But he couldn’t do it.

 

Jenna Now we go upstairs to Nellie’s office. Darryl is going to enter and ask her to sign off on a shipment that’s going to go out soon.

 

Angela Nellie’s going to ask Darryl how everything’s going in the warehouse. And he says, Well, you know what? You can go downstairs and check it out for yourself. And she’s like, Oh, it’s downstairs? She doesn’t know where it is.

 

Jenna Did you notice Nellie’s desk chair, by any chance?

 

Angela No.

 

Jenna It’s like this taupey cream color. It’s like a faux leather. It’s very nice. It is not the chair that Steve sat in or Ed sat in or…

 

Angela Creed.

 

Jenna Anyone. It’s this new chair. I became sort of obsessed with it. I wanted to know, how did this happen? Where did this chair come from? When did it come from? And I fully Mom Detective’d it. I don’t have a great answer, but I spent a great deal of time on it.

 

Angela That is Mom Detectives.

 

Jenna That is. We rarely solve our crimes. Or our mysteries, I should say.

 

Angela Well, isn’t our slogan Solving crimes no one cares about?

 

Jenna Or not solving crimes that no one cares about. So not necessarily a crime, but a mystery. Where did this chair come from? So I went back and I looked to see when did it appear? In Get the Girl, it’s the old chair. We don’t see her chair in Welcome Party. But then the new chair is there, starting with Angry Andy. So I think we can safely say that this new chair came during Welcome Party when Dwight and Jim went to her house to unpack her things that have been delivered. I think that there is something that happened off camera where they brought this new office chair into the office.

 

Angela So you think she had the fancy office chair in her apartment?

 

Jenna Yes. I think it was delivered with her other furniture and then she moved it in, because starting with Angry Andy, she’s really taken over his office and I think she brought in her new chair.

 

Angela Okay. Is it a de Sede?

 

Jenna Chair?

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna It could be. It doesn’t look ugly enough, in my opinion.

 

Angela Oh gosh, you’re really- You’re really laying it out there.

 

Jenna Why am I so mean to this luxury Italian couch? Something about it. It just-

 

Angela It really bugged.

 

Jenna It bothers me. I don’t know. It should be the most beautiful couch I’ve ever seen in my opinion.

 

Angela It should be able to drive.

 

Jenna Yes, exactly. What does the couch do?

 

Angela Hit a button and the wheels come out. You take it down the road. Nellie is now going to have a talking head where she says tonight could be the night she and Darryl become good friends. The only thing in their way is the contempt he feels for her.

 

Jenna So I was wondering, why is it important for Nellie to become friends with Darryl? And I realize that this is setting up a storyline that’s going to pay off in a few episodes where you realize that Nellie really doesn’t have any friends since she moved to Scranton.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna And this is kind of important to her. I liked this. I liked that we’re planting the seed with this storyline here.

 

Angela Yeah. She wants a friend in the office.

 

Jenna Yes.

 

Angela The fundraiser is now underway. We’re going to see Angela in her outfit. She’s very much wanting to play the part of the senator’s wife here. Robert California walks up and is interrupted by Andy. And lady, I just wanted you to know, this little introduction when Robert walks up and Angela greets him and is like, the senator and I just wanted to say hello… You know, she’s doing that like- That was all improvised.

 

Jenna Oh!

 

Angela All it said in the script is that everyone says, Hi. Good to see you.

 

Jenna Oh! Well, well done. I liked it.

 

Angela I was so delighted by this episode. I just love it when Angela Martin thinks she’s fancy and is trying to be fancy and every single moment, I just wanted to find some little nugget of something to do to show how high the stakes were for her to be the senator’s wife at this event.

 

Jenna Well, speaking of fancy, fan question from Katie Jo B in Indiana.

 

Angela Hi, Katie Jo.

 

Jenna Angela, how did you feel about your zhoozhed hairdo at the fundraiser? Did you have an extensive hair meeting like Jenna would have? Did you love getting to smile so much in this episode?

 

Angela You know, it was nice to smile. There is one scene, I will tell you, Katie, where I didn’t get to smile. It got deleted, but we did shoot it, where I completely lose it because Andy is ruining my event.

 

Jenna Oh.

 

Angela Yes. I go to the senator and I’m like, He’s ruining it. And I’m just like, upset. But for the most part, I got to smile this whole week. Which was lovely. And we did have a very extensive hair meeting. I remember the vision they wanted is that Angela Martin wants to be like Jackie Kennedy.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela Right?

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela She wants that sort of bouffant hair that flipped out at the end, you know? So, yeah, that was our whole look.

 

Jenna I love that you guys had a story behind the hairdo.

 

Angela Yes. And this is the second time that Angela Martin has tried to look like Jackie Kennedy. You remember she wore the pillbox hat?

 

Jenna Yes.

 

Angela And the blue suit to Phyllis’s wedding.

 

Jenna Something that’s interesting to me is, would Angela support the Kennedy politics or It’s just the fashion?

 

Angela That I’m not sure about.

 

Jenna Is it’s an interesting choice of role model. I’m surprised that she doesn’t fashion herself after Nancy Reagan.

 

Angela Well, you know, she was Nancy Reagan for Halloween.

 

Jenna This is true.

 

Angela I think she just wants to be a politician’s wife.

 

Jenna Yes. She doesn’t care the political affiliation.

 

Angela She doesn’t care. That’s right. She just if you have a good suit or a nice hat, she’s going to try it out.

 

Jenna I’ve got a location breakdown for this banquet hall. We got a fan question from Haley in Austin, Texas, asking where were the fundraiser scenes shot? At 5 minutes and 30 seconds, there’s a shot of the outside of the building. Is that also the actual building that the scenes were shot in?

 

Angela These are very savvy questions.

 

Jenna This is a long time listener. Haley knows that it could be different places.

 

Angela That’s right.

 

Jenna I asked Steve Burgess about this. He said we shot the ballroom fundraiser scenes at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. We were there for two days. Steve said that he remembers sending a camera crew outside one night to get an establishing shot, but he couldn’t find it anywhere on his schedule. So it is very possible that we used like a stock footage shot of a hotel. So it’s not totally sure. But we did go on location to shoot the fundraiser banquet scenes. But either way, Steve Burgess said that the banner on the outside of the building, that was added in post, we did not actually hang a banner on a building.

 

Angela Andy is now going to have a talking head. He says, You know what? Where do I look? You know, it’s been so long since I’ve done one of these interviews.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela Yeah. How am I doing? I’m doing great. Red flag. I mean, there’s so many red flags.

 

Jenna Yeah. Well, just wait. There’s going to be a flag flurry coming up.

 

Angela A flag flurry.

 

Jenna Kevin and Creed are going to check out the auction table, and that’s when Dwight is going to come up and tell them that they’re doing it all wrong, that they’re idiots.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna They haven’t guessed the correct price of anything. And Kevin tries to correct Dwight, but Dwight is just taking over. He’s just writing down a bunch of amounts, and Kevin’s like, Okay, fine.

 

Angela Kevin has a talking head where he says, Dwight doesn’t understand what a silent auction is, which means he’s the stupid guy in the office. Up till now, they didn’t have one. Can I tell you? That was not the scripted talking head.

 

Jenna It wasn’t?

 

Angela It wasn’t. That was the candy bag alt. The scripted talking head was this: Huh. I know more than Dwight. You know what they say, even a clock is right once a day.

 

Jenna Oh.

 

Angela And they went with the candy bag alt.

 

Jenna Which is very funny, because the saying is that a clock is right twice a day. A broken clock is right twice a day.

 

Angela He got it all wrong.

 

Jenna Right? Isn’t that the saying?

 

Angela I don’t know. But, yeah, I thought this was a great example of when they actually went with one of the alts and didn’t use the one that was in the shooting draft.

 

Jenna Well, I really like the detail of seeing Dwight guessing prices in the background of Kevin’s talking head. And I went to the script and I noticed that that was not scripted. That was a directing choice by Dave Rogers, and I absolutely loved it. It really added to the realism of the moment for me.

 

Angela Yeah. You know, my husband is very, very good at guessing prices of things.

 

Jenna Like he would kill it on The Price is Right?

 

Angela He would kill it.

 

Jenna I went on The Price is Right. I didn’t make it up on the stage, but when I first moved to L.A…

 

Angela You were in the audience?

 

Jenna Yeah. I waited in line for hours with two of my friends. I got the little price tag with my name on it. It said, Regina, because that’s my legal name. They have to put your legal name on your price tag. And so I sat in the audience and I did my best to, like, wave and try to get up on stage. I really wanted to be on. I wanted to win money to, like, pay for my apartment.

 

Angela Well, yeah.

 

Jenna Because I had just moved here.

 

Angela But you probably just would have won like a jet ski. And then you’re like, What do I do with two jet skis?

 

Jenna Well, poor Pam knows the fate of having two jet skis in her life that she doesn’t want. But you know those things, I heard that if you win, like an actual prize, like a washer dryer or jet ski or something, before you can get your prize, you have to pay the taxes. So if you win two jet skis that are worth like $7,000, first, you have to pay the taxes before you get your jet skis. So you get like a bill.

 

Angela Oh no!

 

Jenna Yeah, but I think you can also, I believe-

 

Angela Can you just say, can I just have the cash value?

 

Jenna I think you can. And then they deduct the taxes out of the cash value.

 

Angela I wonder how many people do that. And then now my brain is going to like, is there a giant warehouse of, like rejected jet skis and washers and dryers?

 

Jenna That’s a good question. Like, what do they do with the floor models of the things. But also they don’t send you the thing that was in the actual episode, right? Don’t they just send you something like direct- how do they get it to you?

 

Angela Oh, my God. I have so many questions!

 

Jenna So many questions about how game shows work. This is why you just want to go on Press Your Luck and win the big bucks. Right? There’s no item you have to deal with.

 

Angela I wonder if you have to pay for shipment. So I won two jetskis. Now I got to pay for them to be delivered to my house where I have no place to store them?

 

Jenna What do you do if you win one of the goats?

 

Angela Goats?

 

Jenna Yeah. Remember on-

 

Angela As in an animal?

 

Jenna Let’s Make a Deal. Remember Let’s Make a Deal? Sometimes behind door number two it would just be like a goat.

 

Angela Ohhh. That doesn’t seem fair to the animal.

 

Jenna Yeah. I mean, does anyone take the goat? What’s the cash value of a goat?

 

Angela I don’t think I’ve ever seen that show.

 

Jenna Let’s Make a Deal?

 

Angela Yeah, I’ve never seen it.

 

Jenna Yeah. You win something, and then you can trade it for whatever is behind door number one, two or three. But it’s like a blind pick.

 

Angela Can you not trade if you don’t want to trade?

 

Jenna Yeah, you don’t have to trade. You can just keep the thing you want. But usually something better is behind one of the doors. Like door number one will have, you know, like a new washing machine or like new kitchen appliances. Door number two will be like an all expense paid vacation to the Bahamas. And then door number three is goat, you know? And you can pick it. You can say, I’m going to pick door number one. And then they say, Are you sure you want door number one or do you want to trade- like it’s a psychological torture.

 

Angela Yeah, it sounds horrible.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela And then you got a poor goat in a door. You don’t hear it? You don’t hear the goat?

 

Jenna That’s a good question. I never thought about it. If you can hear the goat.

 

Angela Or smell it. Okay, Well.

 

Jenna We clearly do not produce game shows.

 

Angela Maybe for good reason.

 

Jenna Because if we did, they’d be very mismanaged. .

 

Angela We’d get very hung up on the smallest details.

 

Jenna I hope someone’s hung up on the details. Where are we?

 

Angela I don’t know.

 

Jenna Oh, Andy is holding court with Erin, Pam, Jim and Ryan. And he’s started- oh dear- talking about his-

 

Angela Rock opera?

 

Jenna Yes, that he’s been writing. I’m sorry- that he’s been receiving.

 

Angela Yes.

 

Jenna He’s been receiving the rock opera.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela This cuts to Ryan and it really made me laugh because he immediately goes, Andy’s having a breakdown.

 

Jenna Oh, yeah.

 

Angela Oscar now has a storyline that is so funny. I just was so tickled by Oscar Nunez’s performance of this. Like, his joy. He’s just giddy because he’s chatting with the senator, telling him that he loves animals. His dog, Gerald, is his whole life. And the senator gives him his cell phone number, tells him, you know what, the best time to call me is after 9 p.m.. You know Angela goes to bed at like 8:30. You know she does.

 

Jenna We got a letter about that, Angela from Justine R in Naples, Italy, who said, In season five episode one, Angela tells us, quote, I have a nice comforter, a few cozy pillows. I usually read a chapter of a book and it’s lights out by 8:30.

 

Angela Yes!

 

Jenna And that’s how I sleep at night.

 

Angela That’s right.

 

Jenna So it’s true. By 9 p.m. she is asleep and the senator is free to chat with Oscar.

 

Angela Mmhmm. Oscar as a talking head where he says, Three things are now confirmed: he’s right about the senator, he’s still got it, and oh, poor Angela.

 

Jenna Yeah. Now Andy is going to pitch his rock opera to Robert California.

 

Angela You mean Bobby? Bob-o! Oh, no.

 

Jenna The rock opera is very convoluted. There’s an evil figure named Thomas Oregon who wants to destroy all the guitars in the world. The hero of the story- we don’t find out his name- is based on Andy. And Andy’s going to sing us a few lines of the heroes, I guess, ballad.

 

Angela Yeah, it goes something like this: We’re flying so high/ we’re cracking the sky/ going to fly out of this dome/ my girlfriend and I… Meredith is like, Hey, jabroni, show some class.

 

Jenna Yeah. Stanley also agrees he’s a jabroni.

 

Angela What is a jabroni?

 

Jenna I had to know! I’d never heard this term. Did you Google?

 

Angela Of course I Googled it.

 

Jenna I Googled too.

 

Angela I mean, well, let’s both share about it.

 

Jenna All right. What’d you find?

 

Angela I found on ESPN.com in 2020 that jabroni is officially in the dictionary. They added 650 new words in 2020, and jabroni was one, which of course led me to what is the origin and meaning of jabroni?

 

Jenna Yeah, I guess jabroni means a foolish or contemptible person, and it has its origins in the Italian language. Well, I had never heard this term before, Angela, but I guess The Rock made it famous in the wrestling world. That’s how it ended up in the dictionary was because he brought it into the popular vernacular. I have an audio clip if you’d like to hear The Rock throwing out some jabronis.

 

Angela Let’s hear it.

 

The Rock And then one of you jabronis pulls the handles. And there it is. One Brahma bull. Two Brahma bulls. Three Brahma bulls. You jabronis hit the jackpot. And then all of a sudden you’re jumping around like a bunch of idiots. Undertaker with his Mickey Mouse tattoos and his 33 pound head!

 

Jenna So this word caught fire in the wrestling community. And I guess it caused a little bit of a stir, though, Angela, because apparently the Iron Sheik was the first person to use this word. And he would say this a bunch backstage. But when The Rock came out with it, it became super popular. So The Rock did actually give credit to the Iron Sheik for being the person who put it in his ear.

 

Angela Yes, I read that The Rock said, talking about the Iron Sheik, His impact on my career has been really profound. And the word jabroni is connected to me, but when a lot of people think, Oh, jabroni, yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s The Rock’s word. No, no, no, it’s not my word. It’s the Iron Sheikh’s word.

 

Jenna Classy.

 

Angela Classy.

 

Jenna Credit where credit is due.

 

Angela That’s right. You know what? I mean, just from that clip, I feel like wrestling is so much yelling.

 

Jenna It is a lot of yelling.

 

Angela Lot of yelling. Like, you got to be your own hype man.

 

Jenna Oh, yeah. That’s a big part of it.

 

Angela Wow. Okay. Well, Meredith knew what a jabroni was. So did Stanley. And they tell Andy to stop being one.

 

Jenna Mm hmm. And then Andy accuses Stanley of being a Thomas Oregon.

 

Angela And Robert says, Andrew, I think this might have been a bad idea.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela Why don’t you let me pay for you and Erin to go out to a great romantic dinner tonight? Andy’s like, You don’t need to pay for me. I’m doing just fine. Why don’t you quit harshin’ our mellow. Oh, Andy.

 

Jenna Yeah. Robert asks him to leave. But instead, Andy is going to call over a waiter, and he says, I’d like to purchase another seat at this fundraiser. The waiter’s like, I’m sorry, we only sell seats by the table. So Andy says, I’ll purchase a table.

 

Angela A whole table.

 

Jenna That’s expensive.

 

Angela Expensive. But then as the episode continues, not only did he buy a whole table, but like, he wants to have all the salad served. Like Andy, come on.

 

Jenna He’s sitting there all by himself. I’ve got some deets on our waiter guest star. He was played by Christian S. Andersen. He’s also appeared on Key and Peele, Castle and Will and Grace.

 

Angela Nice. You know, when you see Andy sitting at the table and he’s getting the pepper, you know, on his salad, you really get a great shot of those beautiful yellow flower arrangements in the center.

 

Jenna The daffodils.

 

Angela The daffodils.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela Lady, in my digital clutter, I emailed you that I got to take one of the arrangements home.

 

Jenna You did?

 

Angela Yes!

 

Jenna Well, you know, there’s a whole deleted storyline about Pam and Phyllis fighting over who gets to take a centerpiece home. It was a whole runner that got cut out of the episode.

 

Angela That’s so great.

 

Jenna That’s hilarious to me.

 

Angela Yeah. So I guess when we wrapped out, Phil had all these extra flowers and he gave them to anyone who wanted them, and I took them home.

 

Jenna Well, you know, I got curious about those daffodils because I thought they were so beautiful. And I remembered that storyline with Phyllis. I wanted to know, how much money did they spend on those daffodil centerpieces? Because they are by far the most elaborate flowers I’ve ever seen on an episode of the show.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna According to the Internet, a hundred daffodils costs about $150. I freeze framed on one of the arrangements.

 

Angela Did you count the daffodils?

 

Jenna At least 40 in each one.

 

Angela Can your autobiography be called Counting the Daffodils?

 

Jenna Yes. Yes, it can. Yeah, that sums me up. It really does. So I’m thinking that with at least 40 daffodils plus the basket, plus the labor, plus the markup on flowers, I think each one of these cost at least 100 bucks. And there were so many. We spent so much on flowers. I should have asked Steve Burgess what our flower budget was. But I’m telling you, you got a nice arrangement, Angela.

 

Angela I did. And I’m telling you, you would have kicked ass on The Price is Right.

 

Jenna Thank you. Thank you. If only they’d called on me.

 

Angela I know. Oscar is now going to return to his seat. He is so delighted. He cannot wait to tell them the senator is hitting on him. Jim’s like, You know what, Oscar? Okay. You know, I think you’re misinterpreting this Oscars. Like, No, no, no. He gave me the look. And then he does the look. And Pam’s like, Whoa. Oh, my gosh. And Jim’s like, Come on. And Pam’s like, twice? He did that twice? And then Jim goes, Okay, guys, not every glance means something, all right? Life isn’t Downton Abbey. And Pam goes, Life is Downton Abbey. It did make me look up some of the best quotes of the Dowager Countess, a.k.a. Lady Violet Crawley.

 

Jenna Okay.

 

Angela I found a website that said you can take Lady Violet Crawley’s quotes and use them in business.

 

Jenna Ooh, I’m intrigued.

 

Angela Okay, here’s one. There’s nothing simpler than avoiding people you don’t like. Avoiding one’s friends, that’s the real test. Every woman goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.

 

Jenna Oh.

 

Angela Hmm. It’s the job of grandmothers to interfere.

 

Jenna Hmm.

 

Angela You are a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining and find something to do.

 

Jenna Hmm.

 

Angela Business mantras from the Dowager Countess.

 

Jenna I don’t see them necessarily as business mantras, but they do seem like a nice guide for introverts. I had a little catch in this episode, and you can really see it in this scene with Oscar and Jim and Pam, which is that I’m wearing the tennis bracelet that Jim gave Pam for Christmas. And I loved this detail. Phil Shea got it out for this episode. He kept all of my jewelry in a little box, and whenever there was a fancy event, Pam would wear her tennis bracelet.

 

Angela I love it. Phil Shea, man. Painting the picture.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela Well, we should take a break, because when we come back, Jim is now going to go up to the senator to see if he gets his cell phone number, too.

 

Jenna That’s right. All right. We are back. And Dwight is hard at work. He’s guessing the price of all the auction items. He says this is like taking candy from a baby. I have a really fun catch in this scene.

 

Angela I love a fun catch. What do you got?

 

Jenna Did you notice the family photo?

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna On the auction table. Like, I think probably it’s for, like, a family photo session with photographers.

 

Angela Yeah. I saw that. That’s what I thought. I thought it’s like, Oh, you get, like, a Sears photo package.

 

Jenna Yes. I am pretty certain that the person in the photo is our on set dresser, Sean Farrell. And I think that’s his family. Isn’t that fun?

 

Angela Oh cute! Yes.

 

Jenna So cute.

 

Angela Well, now Andy is going to bump into David Wallace and he’s going to share with him that he got fired.

 

Jenna Mm hmm. And David’s like, that’s the best thing that happened to me is getting fired. He poured himself into his suck it vacuum. And guess what? The military bought it.

 

Both For $20 million!

 

Angela And then David Wallace is like, You know what, Andy? You got to move on. You got to forget about Dunder Mifflin. And that’s where the scene ended. But there was more.

 

Jenna Oh, good. Because we got a fan mail flurry about this scene.

 

Angela Oh, okay.

 

Jenna Ready? Jason T from Houston, Texas, says, It seems odd that David Wallace appears without others noticing him. It’s not like the banquet room is packed. Did some other things happen off camera? I mean, you’d assume Jim would spend some time catching up with David Wallace. And Theresa B from New Jersey said, Are there deleted scenes that help explain David Wallace’s presence? Hoping Angela can come through.

 

Angela Well, Theresa, Jason, I have a little something here that might explain it. So the scene was scripted that Andy is actually exiting the restroom when he bumps into David Wallace. And the whole top of the scene is the same. But then David at the end says, Point is, forget those guys, move on. And then Andy would have said, Move on? I’m partying with them tonight. David says, Really? Wow. Okay, that sounds very awkward to me. I don’t think I would have come if I knew Dunder Mifflin was coming.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela Then there’s a beat and he goes, Hey, but you know what? Make sure you tell everyone I sold Suck It for a ton of money. Okay? See ya. And then he walks away. So it sounds like to me he doesn’t want to see the Dunder Mifflin crew. He wouldn’t have even come if he knew they were going to be there.

 

Jenna How does he not know they’re going to be there? Isn’t it like common knowledge that Angela is the senator’s wife? And also, I have to agree with Jason from Houston. This is not a large room. I mean, I can see everybody clearly. Where is David sitting? What about all of the hobnobbing that happened maybe pre-dinner or at the auction tables?

 

Angela There’s so much hobnobbing at these things.

 

Jenna Yes, there is.

 

Angela I know. Well I think of the Dunder Mifflin crew he would have said hi to Jim.

 

Jenna Yes. And while it might have been scripted that this scene takes place outside of a restroom, that was definitely not clear to me. It looks like he’s just right in the ballroom.

 

Angela Yeah, well, I found it interesting in the script that David wouldn’t have come if he knew the Dunder Mifflin crew was there.

 

Jenna What’s his beef with the Dunder Mifflin crew?

 

Angela He’s moved on. He’s moved on. Well, now Nellie is going to try to bond with Darryl. She’s complaining about the food. Said she’d give anything for just a burger or pizza pie or whatever else they like. Darryl suggests tacos, and it is so clear that Nellie has no idea what a taco is.

 

Jenna Yeah, she has a talking head where she says she’s never had a taco. She’s hoping that they’re not slimy and don’t have eyes. I would like to say that Nellie pining away for different food really tracks if you look at everybody’s plate. I only saw myself eating at the table, and I think I had requested a plate of vegetables. But you’ll notice that Jim’s fish goes untouched the entire episode. So. Yeah.

 

Angela Blech. Yeah.

 

Jenna I could see how maybe Nellie wanted something else.

 

Angela I will tell you what’s pretty gross is if you do, like, a 12 hour scene and you have, like, a meat loaf or something on a plate in front of you that you have to push around for 12 hours and pretend to eat.

 

Jenna I couldn’t believe that I don’t have memories of the fish that was on John’s plate for all those scenes with me and John and Oscar, because it’s just sitting there the whole time. It never changes. Speaking of our table, Jim is going to return to the table. And guess what? He got the senator’s cell phone number too.

 

Angela Yeah, he did.

 

Jenna How about that, Oscar?

 

Angela Well, Oscar and Pam say Jim hasn’t proven anything.

 

Jenna All he’s proven is that maybe the senator thinks Jim is gay.

 

Angela Then they make fun of Jim’s shoes. They say no gay man would wear those shoes.

 

Jenna Yeah. And Jim’s like, You bought me these shoes. Like, why are you-

 

Angela Why are you making fun of my shoes?

 

Jenna Why are you insulting my shoes that you bought me? It’s very funny.

 

Angela Robert California is now going to take to the podium. He’s going to speak about saving elderly dogs who he calls heroes.

 

Jenna Fan catch from Timothy B in Germany. Background catch: When the senator is introducing Robert California, you can see Angela mouth along the words.

 

Angela Yes, that was a choice I made. I improvised that. I just figured she would know his whole introduction. There’s actually more in deleted scenes where he gets up and speaks, and every time he does, the camera would find me and I would be saying all of his lines with him.

 

Jenna I like that choice. That tracks.

 

Angela Thank you.

 

Jenna We had a fan question from Megan W in Massachusetts who wanted to know, Angela, were there any deleted scenes are talking head alts during which Angela comments about this fundraiser being for dogs and not cats? I was surprised Angela’s talking head about the fundraiser didn’t include any snide remark. All we see is the side look that she gives to the dog during Robert California’s speech.

 

Angela Megan that’s such a good question. You know, I think she was so pleased to be part of a fundraiser event with her politician husband. And even though maybe it wasn’t for anything she truly cares about, she still gets to be up front and center, right? So that’s why I think there’s no snarky comment in the talking head. But there’s only one mention of Angela Martin’s attitude towards the event in the shooting draft, and it happens when the senator is introduced. In the script, it said Robert California says, Why do we love dogs? And then there’s the stage direction: Angle on Angela not buying the premise. And I remember, like when I read that, I was like, How do I convey that? And then I just there is a dog right next to me so I thought, Oh, I’ll look at it. I’ll roll my eyes, I’ll be grossed out.

 

Jenna The true Angela does bleed through in that moment.

 

Angela Just for a little moment.

 

Jenna Mm hmm. Andy is going to interrupt Robert California speech, and he is going to volunteer to take all of the elderly dogs home with him and, I guess adopt them.

 

Angela All of them.

 

Jenna Yes. It’s so many dogs.

 

Angela Well, now we’re going to see Andy. He’s with the animal welfare volunteer who’s walking him through the different various needs of these dogs. They all have special needs.

 

Jenna Mm hmm.

 

Angela One of the dogs, Kenny, is a therapy dog, and he’s really bonding with Andy. And the animal welfare volunteer says, You know what? He must think you’re in the midst of an emotional crisis.

 

Jenna Yes. Our animal welfare volunteer was played by Andrew Segunda. He was a writer on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Goldbergs. He also played Dr. Ewing in The League, and he co-hosts a Star Trek The Next Generation rewatch podcast called Star Trek The Next Conversation. I’ll also have you know, we did not shoot these scenes at the Hotel. Haley, who asked us about locations, this room was a set that we built on the warehouse stages. And we also got a fan question from Katie Jo B in Indiana and Nicole L from Canada, who said, Please tell us everything about the senior dogs. Are they from the normal animal training rental company? Were all the dogs actors or were any of them actual rescues at the time? Well, guys, all the dogs came through Bob Dunn. Not really a surprise there. They were not rescues. They were working dogs. We had three trainers to take care of the six dogs, they worked for two days; one day on this little set that we built and one day at the Marriott. And the total cost for the dogs and trainers was about $6,000.

 

Angela I also asked Steve Burgess if he had the doggie headshots for each of our dog actors. And he did. Bella was played by Scout, and the other dog actors were Lucy, Monkey, Langley, Bullet and Duke. I will put their headshots in stories. Steve said when they talk to the animal trainers about what each dog would have to do, these were the dogs that they recommended for those roles.

 

Jenna I see. I love that. They were cast based on their abilities.

 

Angela Yes. They had their specialties.

 

Jenna Oh, dear. Guess what’s going to happen now? The senator is going to give Meredith his cell phone number.

 

Angela Well, that blows Oscar’s theory.

 

Jenna That’s right. Jim still hasn’t eaten his fish. I tracked it.

 

Angela Oscar is now going to have a talking head where he says he’s not disappointed that Angela’s husband wasn’t hitting on him. He’d have to be a monster to root for that. A lonely, aging monster.

 

Jenna Poor Oscar.

 

Angela Darryl returns with tacos and Nellie doesn’t know how to eat one. It’s like she’s, I don’t know, scooping the ingredients into her mouth from the shell. She’s not biting into the shell.

 

Jenna We got a fan question from Jen G in Kentucky who said, I’m a theater professor and I specialize in women in comedy and improv. And this episode has one of my favorite bits of physical clowning in the entire series. And it is when Nellie tries to eat a taco. I desperately need to know how she came to this bit, to what degree it was scripted, and to what degree it emerged from the magical mists of Catherine Tate’s fabulous mind. Well, Jen, this taco eating was scripted. Here’s what it said. Quote, Nellie picks up the taco, unsure how to eat it, then puts it to her mouth sideways. With her finger, pushes the filling down her throat. And then this little bit got cut. It said, Nellie holds the empty shell and looks around and says, Savory. Is there a plate for the shells? So this was a combo platter of scripting and also, though, of course, Catherine Tate’s interpretation of what was scripted.

 

Angela Yeah. Well, her attempt at trying to eat a taco, it it tugs on Darryl’s heartstrings. He’s starting to soften. He has a talking head, and he says, She’s trying.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela It’s time now to announce the auction winners. Guess what, guys? Dwight wins the first item! And the second and the third. Well, you know what? Guess what? He’s won them all.

 

Jenna Yes. The M.C. Says, I’m going to save us some time. And just announce that Dwight Schrute won everything. And they are so grateful for his donation of over $34,000. It’s the largest they’ve ever received. Thus begins a standing ovation started by Jim.

 

Angela Oh, yeah.

 

Jenna It was scripted that Jim would start the ovation and yell speech. But I personally love John’s choice of also being the last person standing and clapping. Oh, I feel like I should let you know. Our M.C. guest star was played by Elizabeth Payne, who was our writer, Halstead Sullivan’s high school prom date.

 

Angela Aww.

 

Jenna Halstead said he had nothing to do with her casting. She’s a working actor. He didn’t even know that she got cast on the show and was in this episode until they screened this episode for the writers.

 

Angela Come on.

 

Jenna Yeah, he said, you know, if you weren’t the writer of the episode, you stayed in the writers room most of the time.

 

Angela That’s true. Yeah.

 

Jenna So, yeah, he said Elizabeth is also a successful voice actress. She voiced the pre-crime voice in the Minority Report. Yeah.

 

Angela Oh, yeah.

 

Jenna And if you watched the first season of Ugly Betty, she played the mysterious masked woman on the show. I guess there was a woman on the show who had plastic surgery to change her identity, and no one knew who she was. And when she was finally unmasked, she was played by Rebecca Romaine. But before that, it was Elizabeth Payne.

 

Angela Hmm. Well, now Dwight’s going to go up and make his speech. Everyone’s chanting, speech, speech. He says he’s really proud to support whatever this is, and that money is no concern to him. But when did it all become about money? He’s trying to get out of it. He says, What did we spend on the flower arrangements of white wine spritzers? How many courses did they have tonight? Three, if they chose pudding. And they should be ashamed of themselves. What a waste. They’re here for the dog society, and that’s what’s important. That is his donation. Good night. And he runs out of the room.

 

Jenna Do you think he ever paid the money?

 

Angela No.

 

Jenna You don’t think?

 

Angela I don’t think. I think the whole event was like a debacle. As the evening starts to wrap up, Oscar is going to say goodnight to the senator. And the senator says, Don’t forget to call. And then he lets his hand linger down Oscar’s arm.

 

Jenna He brings his hand from the shoulder to the wrist with a series of little squeezes, suggestive squeezes.

 

Angela That was all scripted, that he would run his hand down Oscar’s arm.

 

Jenna Well Oscar has a talking head where he’s like, I still got it, basically. And, Oh my God, I feel so bad for Angela!

 

Angela Why does this always happen to me!? Andy is now learning to put a diaper on one of the new dogs. And that’s when Jim and Pam and Kevin and Erin come in to check on him. And he’s like, I’m doing great. Doing great.

 

Jenna We got a fan mail flurry about this scene. Aynsley said it was maybe our biggest fan mail flurry yet.

 

Angela You’re kidding. Of the whole time?

 

Jenna The biggest. Of the whole series that we’ve been rewatching.

 

Angela Please tell me what it was.

 

Jenna At the end of the fundraiser, when we see all the dogs that Andy has adopted, you can see Andy and April’s three legged dog Champion from Parks and Rec.

 

Angela Oh, wow!

 

Jenna Yeah. So people noticed that we used the same dog as Champion in Parks and Rec. Famous dog spotting, basically. Fan mail flurry. Kevin is going to try to be the voice of reason again in this scene.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna And no one’s really listening.

 

Angela Kevin has a talking head where he says sometimes he thinks the people he works with are idiots. Sometimes meaning all times. All the times, every of the time.

 

Jenna Mmmhmm. In our tag for this episode, we’re going to learn that the dogs have been, I guess, divided up between different folks at Dunder Mifflin. Darryl has Pepper. Kevin has Ruby. So Erin and Andy didn’t end up with all 12 dogs.

 

Angela But they probably have a couple.

 

Jenna They have more than one. For sure.

 

Angela You know, Angela didn’t take one.

 

Jenna Well Pam and Jim didn’t clearly take one.

 

Angela We learned the most about Kevin’s dog, Ruby. He says she’s a good girl. She doesn’t eat or poop. She just lays there. It’s very clear that everyone thinks maybe she’s dead.

 

Jenna Yeah.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna I mean, he says she smells really bad, but he’s afraid that if he puts her in a bath, she’ll drown. Because, you know, even to watch TV, he has to prop her eyes open.

 

Angela And then there’s a very cute scene with Kevin and Ruby. They’re laying on the floor together. He tells her that everyone is so interested in her and they must be jealous. And she just starts licking him. And it’s so cute.

 

Jenna And she’s not dead.

 

Angela She’s not dead. She just likes to nap and doesn’t like to bathe.

 

Jenna Or eat or poop.

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna We had a fan question from Brendon W in Indianapolis, Indiana, who said, Regarding the ending scene about Kevin’s dog, Ruby, we’re led to believe that his dog is dead, but he just doesn’t realize it. Was it originally intended to end that way where Ruby is truly dead? Or was it always the writer’s intent for the dog to actually be alive? Well, Brendan, it was always the intent that she was actually alive.

 

Angela Yes.

 

Jenna I did wonder myself in that final scene with Kevin if maybe the dog started licking his face like and we kept it, but it was supposed to end with him just talking to this comatose dog. But no, that was a whole little trick that they taught the dog to kiss his face on that certain word. Isn’t that amazing?

 

Angela Yeah.

 

Jenna I know. So, yeah, scripted and achieved.

 

Angela Dog actors.

 

Jenna They’re very important to a scene.

 

Angela They’re crushin it.

 

Jenna Mm hmm. Well, there you have it, folks. That’s Fundraiser.

 

Angela Thank you so much for listening and sending in your questions and comments. Thank you to Steve Burgess and Halstead Sullivan for sharing with us such fun behind the scenes details.

 

Jenna And thank you for all your questions. Some great fan catches in this episode.

 

Angela Really good ones.

 

Jenna We’ll see you next week.

 

Angela Bye.

 

Jenna Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

 

Angela Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.

 

Jenna Our senior producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our in-studio engineer is Sam Kieffer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

 

Angela Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.