EP. 210 — Moving On, Pt 1

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. Hi there! 

Angela Hey! 

Jenna We are about to start down a very exciting road. We are Moving On, Part One and then Part Two. 

Angela It’s a big episode. 

Jenna It really is. And we’ll tell you why. Should we get into it? 

Angela We better. We have a lot to cover. 

Jenna It is season nine, episode 16, written by Graham Wagner and directed by Jon Favreau! 

Angela Yeah. 

Jenna Here’s your summary. An already grieving Andy flips out when he learns about Erin and Pete’s new relationship. Pam has a job interview in Philly, and the boss’ personality is eerily familiar. Meanwhile, Dwight enlists Angela for help bathing his elderly, ailing aunt. 

Angela You know, I know, Dwight says that Aunt Shirley is ailing, but she looks pretty sturdy. 

Jenna Very hardy. 

Angela Very hardy to me. 

Jenna Certainly her personality. Yes. All right. Fast fact number one, Jon Favreau as our director. You guys know Jon Favreau. He is a prolific actor, writer, and director. He wrote and starred in the movie Swingers, which is where I was introduced to him. 

Angela Same. 

Jenna Oh my gosh. 

Angela I think our whole generation was. You just wanted to be in that movie. You were like, oh, I’ve been there and I’ve done that. But it didn’t look half as cool. 

Jenna I know they go to this swing club called the Derby, which was a real place in Los Angeles. And, you know, I started going to the Derby after I saw that movie. I’d never been. 

Angela So many people did. 

Jenna I know. And I would swing dance and it was so fun. Oh my gosh, I think it closed down. The Derby. Anyway, Jon Favreau has also directed Iron Man, Iron Man two, The Jungle Book, and he directed and starred in one of my personal favorite movies that I’ve watched multiple times, Chef. Have you seen this movie Chef? 

Angela No. 

Jenna Oh my God. He plays a chef and he’s at a fancy restaurant and he has a big meltdown. And so his only option is to then buy a food truck and sell food out of the food truck. 

Angela This kind of sounds like that show The Bear. Chef at a fancy place. Oh no, like it has to go to a smaller place to cook. I’m doing a horrible summary of it. 

Jenna Yeah, I don’t watch The Bear, so I don’t know. But I watched Chef multiple times. 

Angela Okay. Okay. 

Jenna And I did not know this fact. Did you know that he directed the Will Ferrell Christmas movie Elf? 

Angela Really? 

Jenna Jon Favreau directed Elf! 

Angela God I love Elf. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela I’ve seen that movie many times. 

Jenna Well, I know another thing you’ve seen that he is like the executive producer creator of which is The Mandalorian. 

Angela You betcha. Oh my gosh, The Mandalorian. You know, one of the coolest things for y’all that watch it, don’t you just love, like, the drawings of the scenes are so beautiful how they do that in the credits. 

Jenna I wouldn’t know. 

Angela Oh, Jenna. Okay. 

Jenna And we’ve got a couple of really fun crossover connections. He was in the movie The Replacements with David Denman and Keanu Reeves. Office ladies favorite. And he has appeared on Monk. 

Angela I have a crossover with Jon Favreau! 

Jenna You do. You have an acting crossover. You know, we talked a lot about what it was like to work with Jon during our interview with Jake Lacy, because this was very memorable for all of us. 

Angela It really was. You know, we were all so excited to work with him because we were all fans of his work, and he’s a real like, actor’s actor. He’s a director that like, he gets in the scene with you and helps you figure it out, and we love that. But he’s also just really easy to talk to. I have such fond memories of hanging out with him when we were filming at Aunt Shirley’s house. We had to wait for it to get dark. We had a little bit of downtime between scenes because we did all of those scenes on one day. And it has to end with that scene on the front porch with Dwight and Angela, right? 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela So we’re sitting on the back porch of this house and he and I just ended up talking about improv and our love of it and of being in the moment. And then different improv shows we did. We did that geeky thing that improv actors do where they talk about bits they did, but no one else can really get them cuz it happened in the moment. 

Jenna Yeah. You know, Angela, I loved hearing you talk about him because that was exactly my same experience of him. And I find that a lot of times you have a director that’s either, like, really good with actors or maybe that’s really good on the technical side. And John is one of those people who shines in both spaces. I asked Steve Burgess, how did we get him? How did we get Jon Favreau? 

Angela Yeah. 

Jenna And Steve said, you know, we went out to a lot of what he called journeyman directors, who we also knew to be fans of The Office. And Jon Favreau was a fan and the dates worked out. Steve said he’s pretty much the busiest guy in showbiz, and still is. But Steve Burgess had worked with him before and just knew that he is always great to work with and that this was no exception. I know that our crew loved Jon because I was trading emails with Dave Rogers, who said that while Claire edited this episode, everyone in post-production loved Jon. They were so thrilled that he came to work on the show. Dave said he got Jon Favreau to sign his Swingers script that he had. 

Angela I love that. Dave is such a fan of movie and film and that is so cute, I love that. 

Jenna I know. Dave said that all of post-production had gone to see the first Avengers together in the theater. So this was very exciting to have Jon in their area. 

Angela I bet they were also tickled. We were also tickled. 

Jenna Also tickled. And you know, Angela, we’ve shared this before, but this episode of Moving On was originally supposed to be just one episode. It was not going to be a two parter, but Greg loved everything that Jon turned in so much that he went back to the network and asked them to make it two episodes so he could use all the footage. All right. Are you ready for fast fact number two? 

Angela Yes I am. 

Jenna Well, we have two amazing guest stars in this episode. Fast fact number two is all about Bob Odenkirk as Mark. 

Angela I enjoyed this scene so much. 

Jenna Me too. 

Angela I actually rewatched them this morning before we came in because I wanted to learn the song he sings. 

Jenna You did? That he sings to Pam? 

Angela Yes. Okay. Go on.

Jenna So, you know, in season nine, when we were sort of discussing this storyline of Pam eventually trying to get a job in Philly, Greg thought it would be really funny if the office that she interviews that in Philly is like an alternate Dunder Mifflin universe. So, like, while Jim’s life and career in Philly is like taking him to all new places. 

Angela Yeah, it’s like sleek and shiny. And there’s a foosball table and fancy conference room. This looks like a step back, right? 

Jenna Yes. 

Angela Right. Back to the beginning of her time at Dunder Mifflin. 

Jenna That is exactly what he was hoping for. And then Greg said, wouldn’t it be amazing if the boss was exactly like Michael Scott? So the job is the same. And then, like, the people are even sort of a step back. And that’s when he was like, we should have Bob Odenkirk play that role. And I know I’ve told this story earlier on the podcast, but, you know, Bob Odenkirk was one of the finalists for Michael Scott. He tested for the role of Michael Scott. And because his wife, Naomi Odenkirk, is my longtime manager, she suggested that Bob and I prepare for our tests together, mostly because a lot of the audition was going to be improvization, and I don’t have that background, but Bob does, and he very generously got together with me and did some sort of Michael Scott Pam improv together to prepare. Oh my God, I was so starstruck. But that’s where the idea of Bob playing alternate Michael Scott came from in Greg’s mind. 

Angela Well, that’s the brilliant thing about Greg too, is that nothing is ever wasted. Like the minute he sees something or thinks about it, he will just file that away in his brain and years later, bring it back. 

Jenna That’s right. 

Angela Well, you know, we were pretty excited because Bob came in the studio to talk with us about his time on The Office. 

Jenna Yes he did. It was such a fun interview. We’re going to wait to air it until after we break down Moving On Part One and Part Two. But everybody, just know that is coming up. 

Angela Yes. Bob in the studio!

Jenna Okay, moving on to fast fact three. Another big guest star, Mary Gillis as Aunt Shirley. This woman is such a brilliant character actress. 

Angela She was just fantastic. 

Jenna Fantastic. 

Angela Talk about someone who could command a room. 

Jenna Oh, yeah. I mean, I remember her from her role in Midnight Run, because even in, like, just small roles, she’s one of those people who pop. You guys might remember her. She had a recurring role on Glee as Mrs. Hagberg. She’s done a ton of television. Another one of my favorites is that she is on the Everybody Loves Raymond episode called Marie’s Sculpture. Do you know that one?  

Angela No. But now I’m curious. 

Jenna Marie takes a sculpture class, and at the end of this big class… 

Angela I do kind of remember it now. 

Jenna They, like, unveil her sculpture. And it is just it very much looks like a giant vagina. And nobody knows how to compliment it. It’s very funny. We got a fan question from Alison J in West Haven, Connecticut, who asked, Mary Gillis has always been one of my favorite guest stars on The Office. How did she get her role? Well, I’ve got some hot trivia on this. Did you know that Mary Gillis was not the first Aunt Shirley? 

Angela No. 

Jenna She wasn’t. 

Angela Who was the first Aunt Shirley? 

Jenna Okay, the story has a lot of twists and turns. So here we go. 

Angela Okay. 

Jenna So during this season nine, NBC was exploring the idea of an Office spinoff starring Rainn Wilson. 

Angela This I know.  

Jenna Called The Farm. Paul Lieberson was the showrunner, and they shot an episode. And the plot of that episode is that Dwight’s Aunt Shirley has passed away and has left him, I guess, the farm?

Angela Yeah. 

Jenna Yeah. Well, they shot it long before we shot this episode. They shot it earlier in the year, and they cast a woman as Aunt Shirley. After it was finished, and they found out that the show wasn’t going to go forward, they decided to make The Farm an Office episode. So they wrote Moving On after they wrote The Farm as a way to precede The Farm. 

Angela To explain who Aunt Shirley is. 

Jenna Exactly. This character of Aunt Shirley was now like a big character. So they went out and they cast Mary Ellis, and then they had to go back and reshoot the scenes in The Farm with Mary Gillis as Aunt Shirley. Did I explain that okay?

Angela You really did. And I think it also explains something. If you rewatch the show in order, like we’re doing now, and we have watched The Farm. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela I remember watching it and thinking, why wasn’t Angela invited to the funeral? 

Jenna I know! 

Angela She bathed this woman and made her dinner and spent a whole day with her. Surely she would want to attend the funeral. 

Jenna Of Aunt Shirley.  

Angela Of Aunt Shirley. But we had filmed The Farm months before this. 

Jenna Yes. Yeah. I think when they were doing their reshoots of the new Aunt Shirley, they should have added Angela there. 

Angela To the funeral. 

Jenna Yes. Well, Angela, we have so many fan questions for you about your scenes with Aunt Shirley. I will save them until we get to them. That’s all I got for fast facts. 

Angela Well, I thought those were just fantastic. I have just two call sheet tidbits for you and more that I’ll sprinkle in later. 

Jenna I love a sprinkle. 

Angela And you love sprinkle. Here’s some top of show call sheet tidbits for you. Day one of filming this episode was on January 14th, 2013. I know you guys love a weather report. It was sunny with a high of 58 degrees and the low was 37. That’s kinda chilly. 

Jenna Ooh. Especially out at Aunt Shirley’s. 

Angela Yeah, and it was a busy week for us as a cast. We had multiple visitors, including on Wednesday of this week, the Television Critics Association. 

Jenna Yes. And I have a big story about that for later. 

Angela Ooh. We also had a table read. And on the Friday of this week, an NBC EPK crew was on set doing B-roll and cast and director interviews. 

Jenna And I looked everywhere for their interviews with Jon Favreau, and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I really wanted to be able to play some of those audio clips today. 

Angela Well, someone at NBC listening to this that has archive footage, hit us up. We have a lot that we want. 

Jenna We do. All right. Why don’t we take a break? And when we come back, we will start breaking down this episode with a cold open that I really enjoyed. It tickled me. I watched it several times. 

Angela I just love Ed in this episode. 

Jenna I really did too. 

Angela He really goes for it. 

Jenna All right. We’ll be back in just a second. 

Angela Well the episode starts with Andy getting yelled at by David Wallace in the conference room. We kind of have that spy shot, you know, where we’re looking from the bullpen in. David is furious with Andy. He says to him, you lied to me. You pretended to be in this office for three months, but you were off on your boat. And Andy’s like, wait, I never lied. And he goes, oh, really? And then he starts, like, pulling up receipts, right? As the kids say. He reads an email. Hey, David, all is good in Scranton, PA. And then he says, Oscar says hi. And then David’s like, come on. Andy’s like, what? Oscar says hi every day. He always says hi. And Andy goes, you know what? You’re a liar, David. And he reads an email that says, hey, Andy, all’s well. Been meaning to make it down there, but my wife’s sick. And he goes, well, what is it? Is all well, or is your wife sick? Busted. And David’s like, my wife? And then you’re like, okay. Andy’s like retreat, retreat. And he said, look, things have just been really tough for me. You know, Erin dumped me and I can’t remember any of the aha moments I had on the boat. And I really miss my beard. And Andy’s like, you know what? I’m not going to fire you. Just because of you, I own the company. But we’re even now. 

Jenna Yeah, well, during this whole exchange, you kind of keep cutting back to the bullpen to get everybody’s reactions. And I want people to know that that was not scripted. That was all Jon Favreau. I just remember him so clearly caring about each of us reacting to this as our characters. I just thought it was great. At the end of the scene, Andy recites a poem by JB Jovi. 

Angela I love that he’s like, that’s for you. Like it’s his gift to give. 

Jenna I know. We had a fan question from Jessica N in Rochester, New York, who wanted to know, does reciting just the words of a song still cost money? Steve Burgess said that as long as Ed just spoke the words without any nod at all to the melody, we could do that and not have to pay for it. 

Angela Really? So the minute you make it a tune, you got to pay it. 

Jenna That’s right. 

Angela Oh, wow. 

Jenna I have one other thing to say about this scene. I absolutely loved Andy’s jacket and tie. I really did. The jacket is like this blue color, and it has, like, this very light, large sort of checkerboard pinstripe. And then the tie is brown with white polka dots, and I thought it was real sharp. I really liked this combo. 

Angela Noted. Well, you know that moment where Andy says he can’t recall any of his aha moments from the boat? 

Jenna I loved that. 

Angela Me too. It got me so tickled and I looked up aha moment. I was just sort of curious about the phrase, you know, where does that come from. And oh my goodness I found the most random thing. 

Jenna What? 

Angela Google did not disappoint, lady. 

Jenna You googled aha moment?

Angela Yes I did. 

Jenna Okay, I’m dying to know the results. 

Angela Okay. There is a video of Oprah Winfrey that was posted by the Merriam-Webster dictionary describing an aha moment. 

Jenna So their description includes a visual reference… 

Angela From Oprah. 

Jenna Okay. 

Angela You need to hear it. And then I’m going to share with you the article about it. 

Oprah Winfrey Aha moment. A moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition or comprehension. I always love those moments when I sit down to talk to somebody and they say something that makes me look at life or a situation in a completely different way. And I say, aha, I get it. Light bulb. Bing bing bing bing moment. And the little hairs on your arm stand up. That is an aha moment. 

Jenna I mean, that is so perfectly described. 

Angela I know. 

Jenna Thank you, Oprah. 

Angela I know. Okay, here’s what the article said- but I also like I think it’s the fanciest way I’ve ever heard a word described. Aha! 

Jenna I love it. 

Angela So then I found this article. Apparently, in August of 2012, Merriam-Webster released their annual list of new dictionary words, terms, and popular slang that have earned their way into the lexicon through common use. At the very top of 2012’s list was bucket list, game changer, sexting, and aha moment that was popularized by Oprah on her talk show, because she would reference these aha moments quite a bit. 

Jenna Oh my gosh, could you imagine coining a phrase that then became recognized by the dictionary? 

Angela I know. 

Jenna That’s like, Oprah did that. 

Angela Oprah really made it popular. She went on in an interview in 2017 on the Harry Connick Junior talk show, saying this, and I quote, You think you’ve never thought of it that way before, but you can’t have an aha unless you already knew it. So the aha is the remembering of what you already knew articulated it in a way to resonate with your own truth. So the aha isn’t somebody teaching you something; the aha is somebody helping you to remember. 

Jenna Oh so it’s the it’s the bringing it up out of you. 

Angela According to Oprah. 

Jenna That makes sense to me, because if you’re just teaching me a fact that isn’t, like, sort of relevant inside of me, it’s not an aha moment. Right?

Angela Yeah. So here’s something that I found very interesting. Andy says he forgets all of his aha moments at the very top of the scene. But then later in the kitchen, he has an aha moment. When he sees the brown paper bag with the word Pete on it. 

Jenna He does. 

Angela It’s something he knew. 

Jenna Yes. 

Angela That then was reminded of. 

Jenna Do you know what this is making me wonder? And I don’t know why. This is what has popped in my head. Have we officially cemented shacket? You know, the shirt, jacket. The shacket. It’s all the rage in the fashion world these last couple of years. 

Angela I have never heard of a shacket. 

Jenna Yes, it’s like it’s the weight of a jacket, but it looks like a shirt. It’s a shacket. 

Angela The weight of a jacket. 

Jenna Yeah, like it’s heavier than a shirt. This way you can put on a shirt that’s like you’re wearing a jacket because it’s hearty, it’s heavy, but it looks like a shirt. It doesn’t look like a jacket. It’s a shacket. 

Angela I’ve never heard of this. I’ve never seen one. 

Jenna What? 

Angela What is that? What? What’s? 

Jenna Jordan, Cassi, have you all heard of jackets? 

Jordan I definitely have. 

Jenna Thank you, Jordan. Cassi? 

Cassi I have not. 

Angela Thank you, Cassi. Divided. 

Jenna Jordan, you and I are just on the cusp of just the fashion world. We’re up with all the trends. 

Angela Who needs a t shirt that’s as heavy as a jacket? That’s ridiculous.

Jenna It’s not a t-shirt. It’s like the shirt you’re wearing now. It’s a button down shirt, but it is as heavy as a jacket. It’s a shacket. 

Angela Oh, okay. 

Jenna So you don’t have to layer, but you do layer jackets, don’t you, Jordan? People do layer them anyway. 

Jordan Oh, yeah. I have some pictures of you guys want to see. 

Jenna Would you like to see a picture of a shacket? 

Angela Yes. 

Jenna We’ll include them in social media for anyone else who isn’t up on the shacket. 

Angela Oh, Lord. All right, come on in with your laptop, Jordan. I’m putting on my glasses. 

Jenna It’s basically just this, like, outer jacket. 

Angela It just looks like a puffy flannel t shirt. 

Jenna Long sleeve. 

Angela Well, the way you described it, I thought it was a t shirt. 

Jenna Oh, no. 

Angela A really thick, thick t-shirt. I thought, why does anyone want to wear a thick, thick t shirt? A short sleeved, thick, padded t-shirt. You sounded crazy. 

Jenna It’s not a thing yet, but who knows? That would be a shirt shat-it. That would be a shat it.

Angela Can we do the Merriam-Webster meaning of it? And can we do Oprah voice like, And that is my shat it moment! 

Jenna I think so. 

Angela Okay. Where are we? Holy moly. 

Jenna We are at the opening credits. 

Angela Oh my lord. Okay, well, let’s talk about these credits because I bet there was a fan mail flurry. 

Jenna There was, because they are extended. 

Angela Yep. 

Jenna We’ve got Work Bus in there. We’ve got fire drill, we’ve got chore wheel. We’ve got that amazing scene of you guys at the copier. Oh my goodness. I reached out to Dave Rogers about this. I was like, Dave why now? We’re almost done with the show. Why are the credits so long?

Angela Maybe that’s why. Let’s get it all in there. 

Jenna Dave said up to this point, we would use either a 21 second main title sequence or a six second. You know, we’d either use a long-y or a quickie. We made an extra long one. This one is 32 seconds long. We needed it because when Greg decided to turn this one episode into an hour long episode, we didn’t have quite enough footage for an hourlong. 

Angela We had to pad it. 

Jenna So, yeah, we padded even the credit sequence with a little extra so that we could hit our time. 

Angela The episode is now going to start. Andy’s arriving to work and he tries to greet Erin, but he just starts to cry and he runs into his office. And I know I haven’t commented on the plants at front reception in quite a while, but there is a very healthy, thriving what looks like to be an Ivy at two minutes and 23 seconds. 

Jenna Oh that’s nice. I like that. Well next Andy is going to start wailing from his office. And we cut to the bullpen and Stanley says, I think David Wallace should have fired him and put him out of his misery. And Phyllis says she can’t stand to be around sad people because they make her sad. Stanley says, well, I’m the same way around horny people. 

Angela Great, thanks. Thanks for that tidbit, Stanley. 

Jenna Kelsey A from Canada, had a Phyllis question. Kelsey noted that Phyllis played the character Sadness in the Pixar movie Inside Out, and wanted to know if the way she acted sad in this scene when she says, I can’t be around sad people, they make me sad- is that why she got picked for the role in the Pixar movie? Because she thought she sounded just like sadness when she said it? Kelsey I did too. It was the first thing I thought of when I heard her say it. 

Angela Me too. 

Jenna Well guess what, everybody. We found out how Phyllis got picked to be sadness in the Pixar movie Inside Out during our interview with her that just ran last week. So if you missed it, definitely go back and check it out. 

Angela If you just want just to listen to someone and just feel like happiness in your heart, listen to this interview. Because Phyllis is such a wonderful, loving person and it just shines through. 

Jenna We’ve been talking to a lot of people lately. 

Angela We have. We’ve been super chatty. 

Jenna Well everybody became available at the same time all of a sudden. 

Angela I know. 

Jenna Jake, Phyllis, Bob. 

Angela Bob. 

Jenna I know. 

Angela Pete now arrives to work and he and Erin kind of share a little smile. And then Erin has a talking head that said that she and Pete have been seeing one another, but they’re keeping it a secret out of consideration for Andy. Plus, it’s also kind of hot to have that little secret romance happening. And she says she saw Pete’s butt and it’s sick. 

Jenna We got a question from Liam in Salem, Oregon, who said, my question is when Erin says, I mean, I saw Pete’s, but it’s sick, I guess Allie and her husband, Paul, have been disagreeing about the meaning of this line for years. 

Angela What? 

Jenna Allie is really hoping that we can help clear it up, either using the script or giving our opinions. Allie’s husband thinks Erin is saying that seeing Pete’s butt was gross, based on her character being kind of childlike at times, but Allie thinks that Erin was happy about seeing Pete’s butt. What are our thoughts? 

Angela She’s clearly happy about seeing his butt. 

Jenna Very clearly happy. 

Angela It’s sick, meaning like sick, like sick is awesome. 

Jenna Yeah, like rad. 

Angela Like rad. Also in the table draft- because I still had it in my digital clutter- it had her say, I’ve seen his butt, it’s nuts. And I don’t know why it ended up being it’s sick, but this was clearly a compliment, Paul. Allie, I hope we helped settle that. 

Jenna I know. You guys don’t have to argue about it anymore. Allie, you are right. 

Angela You are right. Erin liked what she saw. Pam is now over at the copier. She quickly takes a piece of paper before Kevin can see it, and we find out she has a job interview in Philly. It’s for a real estate company. Jim set it up for her, and, you know, she’s kind of nervous. She feels like this is all moving a little faster than she expected. Plus, she holds up her resume and she says, My resume could fit on a post-it note. 

Jenna Oh, lady, this was a fan mail flurry. 

Angela I saw. People have lots of thoughts about Pam’s resume. 

Jenna They really do. So I looked it up on Dunderpedia, they had the actual resume, sort of, you know, laid out, and all she lists for her work experience is being a receptionist at Dunder Mifflin and being an office manager at Dunder Mifflin. For her education she lists high school and Pratt. And then she says her interests are my children, art, and painting. 

Angela Children, art and painting. 

Jenna Let’s break this down. Taryn G from Camarillo, California, said We need to talk about Pam’s resume being only two lines, because she has actually been a receptionist, a sales person at two different companies, and an office manager. She was an RA at Pratt. She could absolutely be filling an entire page with a description of duties of each of these jobs, her mural work. And then David H. From Preston, Lancashire, England, also would like to know why this resume does not include any of her sales experience. And Leanne J, from Burberry, British Columbia, Canada, says In season eight, episode five, Pam mentions that she worked at the Banshee pub where she saw The Man in Black. That’s another job that could have helped bulk up her resume a bit. 

Angela Yes. I mean, I remember that when I was watching this, I thought, wait, remember Jim and Pam had this whole debate about ghosts because she worked at a restaurant and she saw a ghost? 

Jenna Yeah. She also went to college, and that’s not listed. 

Angela You know what? I had a theory from this post-it resume is that does Pam even want this job? 

Jenna Right.

Angela It doesn’t look like she put a lot of effort in this resume. 

Jenna Like from the beginning. She’s kind of tanking it. 

Angela I mean, maybe she’s not aware that she’s doing that, and it’s like a subconscious thing. 

Jenna Well, some people said maybe she doesn’t want to talk about her time at Michael Scott Paper Company, because it kind of wasn’t really real. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about sales because she wasn’t good at it, and she doesn’t want that kind of job again. I don’t know. 

Angela But you put all the things on a resume, you put all the things. 

Jenna Listen, as an aspiring actor, we know how to pad a resume. Going back, believe me, I’d had like two roles in some college shows, but it looked like I toured the world performing. But you have to list, like, all of your skills in association with these jobs, and Pam doesn’t do any of that. Like, she doesn’t say, like, skills managing people. Takes initiative. Any of the buzz words. 

Angela She didn’t put a lot of thought into it. 

Jenna Well, listen, that wasn’t the only controversy about Pam’s resume. Gigi F from San Antonio, Texas, said I notice that Pam does not use the Oxford comma in her resume. What do you ladies have to say about this? And what are your opinions of the Oxford comma? 

Angela Oh, no. I feel so bad. I don’t know what it is. 

Jenna I had no idea what it was. 

Angela I have to Google it. 

Jenna I Googled it for us. 

Angela Okay. 

Jenna When I googled it, here are some of the things that came up. You know how it gives you, like suggested questions? 

Angela Sure. 

Jenna It says, is it necessary to use the Oxford comma? Why is the Oxford comma controversial? 

Angela Why is it controversial? 

Jenna Why don’t people like the Oxford comma? 

Angela Wow. 

Jenna Okay. I started with what is an Oxford comma? I think that we should know. 

Angela Gigi, I mean, I feel like we’re about to have a real education here, thanks to your question. 

Jenna All right. I had no idea what a hot button topic this was in the world of grammar experts. But according to an article that I found on Oxford royal.com, they list the pros and cons of the Oxford comma. The article starts with a quote by Lynne Truss, who is the author of a book called Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which is considered the punctuation Bible. And here’s what she said about the Oxford comma, quote, There are people who embrace the Oxford comma and people who don’t. And I’ll just say this: never get between these people when a drink has been taken. 

Angela Oh my gosh. Wait, is the Oxford comma- does it look like a semicolon? 

Jenna No no no, it’s a comma. So here’s how it works. If you’re listing multiple things in a sentence, do you put a comma after every single one even before and? Or do you leave the comma out when you get to the and? So, for example, this sentence: her favorite foods were chocolate, comma, marshmallows, comma, cake and chicken. Or do you say with an Oxford comma, her favorite foods were chocolate, comma, marshmallows, comma, cake, comma, and chicken. 

Angela I was taught to put a comma before and, so there’s a comma after each word listed, even before the word and. 

Jenna It’s very American of you. 

Angela Okay. 

Jenna I was as well. I didn’t realize that, you know, that would be considered controversial. But I guess some people feel like if you put the comma before and that it’s sort of like overly pedantic and you can sound pompous and hyper correct because it is possible for people to know what you mean without using the comma. So you don’t need to be all snooty about it. 

Angela And is it more common in America than in other countries? 

Jenna It is. However, this article went through and even looked back at like historical texts. And here’s what they found, that it is generally more common among American style guides than British ones. The Times and The Economist, for instance, are both against its use. But many well-known American guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, advocate it. However, the Associated Press Stylebook does not use the Oxford comma. 

Angela So the comma that comes before the and is known as the Oxford comma. 

Jenna Correct. 

Angela I see now. And so the controversy is whether to use it or not. 

Jenna That’s right. But French, German and Italian do not use the Oxford comma. And there’s no controversy about not using it. 

Angela The Italians don’t use it? 

Jenna Did I say Italians? That’s right. The Italians, the Italians don’t use it either either. What is happening? I want to just real quickly give an argument for the Oxford comma. If I may. If it won’t just tick people off. So I gave you my sample sentence, which is like her favorite foods were chocolate, marshmallows, cake and chicken. What if her favorite foods were chocolate, marshmallows, chicken and waffles? Without the comma, it sounds like her favorite foods were chocolate marshmallows, chicken and waffles. Or her favorite foods were chocolate, marshmallows, chicken, and waffles. Not chicken and waffles. You really need the comma so that we know what her favorite foods were. 

Angela I support this argument. 

Jenna You know what I’m saying? 

Angela I do. Sort of. 

Jenna To sum this up, I did look up should you use the Oxford comma on a resume? And it said while it’s not mandatory, using it on a resume can enhance clarity, especially when listing multiple skills or job responsibilities. So maybe Pam should have used it. 

Angela Well, Pam maybe should have just put more effort into this resume. 

Jenna There’s that too. All right. I hope you all enjoyed learning about the Oxford comma. 

Angela I very much did. I now know it and I’ll never forget it. Thank you, Gigi. Well, let’s take a break, because when we come back, I had the table draft for this episode in my email, and there was a phone call between Pam and Brian, and I think I need to share it with you. 

Jenna What? Oh, boy. I don’t remember this. All right, we’ll be right back. 

Angela We’ll be right back. And I’m going to have a cheese stick, comma, some crackers, comma, and my iced tea. 

Jenna Oh. Sounds good. All right, we’re back and Ange, what would Pam have done after looking at her resume? 

Angela So in the table draft, right at the end of this Pam talking head about her resume, she gets a phone call. It read like this. Pam’s cell phone rings. Pam checks it. She shows it to the camera. It reads Brian. Pam sighs and says to the documentarian, sorry, I’ve got to take this. She gets up and walks out. The camera stays on the empty chair, but we can hear Pam’s audio through her mic pack. Pam says, hey, Brian, how are you guys holding up? Oh, good. And Alissa agreed to go with you? Well, that’s a- and that’s all you hear. 

Jenna Oh. 

Angela So Brian is calling her with updates. 

Jenna On his relationship. Which is interesting to me because in this couple’s friendship, it’s not Pam and Alissa talking about Brian and Alissa’s marriage. It’s Pam and Brian talking about it, which is… Not liking it. I don’t like that. 

Angela Well, Pam is Brian’s confidant. 

Jenna Which is not appropriate in my opinion. 

Angela Well, it was in the table draft. 

Jenna It didn’t even make it to the shooting draft, and we never shot it. 

Angela That’s right. But I was curious. Like, when I saw it, I was like, oh, I guess they did have a moment where they were going to just give us a little tidbit about what was happening there. 

Jenna Well, instead we have a scene with Dwight talking on the phone to Mose. And you think he’s describing how Mose should feed one of the animals on the farm, but he’s actually referring to their Aunt Shirley. Then Dwight is going to surprise Angela in the break room. He says you really need to take breaks more often, because he’s been waiting behind the vending machine for, like, 45 minutes now. 

Angela Yeah. 

Jenna And this is when he’s going to say, I need your help with my Aunt Shirley. They need someone to clean her. The last nurse was maybe poisoned. Angela does not want to do this, but Dwight reminds her that, you know, she kind of owes him. We had a lot of fan questions about this scene, Angela. It’s very funny. Deeran T from Poland said, was the description of Aunt Shirley’s body parts scripted? When Dwight talks about the prehensile wing, you can see that Angela’s trying to hide her smile. We also got a fan question from Brittany M in Daytona Beach, Florida, who said, when Dwight asked Angela to help bathe his aunt and describes the wing, it looks like you’re both about to break. Everybody would like to know how much of this was scripted. Angela, talk to us about this scene. 

Angela I loved the scene. I mean, you know, first of all, when Dwight says, you owe me, he’s talking about the whole thing where his friend and the pipe and the kneecapping of Oscar. Right? So he’s going to play that card now. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela And this is why Angela agrees to do it. We had so much fun shooting these scenes. I wanted to share with you guys how it was described in the shooting draft. It said interior break room. Angela goes to the snack machine. Dwight is waiting behind the door. Well, when we got to the scene and we started rehearsing it, it didn’t work that Dwight was behind the door. I guess the camera could see him. I remember it just didn’t work. So we had this idea in the moment that Dwight would hide behind the other vending machine in the corner, and when Rainn as Dwight popped around the corner when we were rehearsing, it did sort of startled me. And so we just went with that. That reaction was not scripted, where I was like, Ah, Dwight, none of that was scripted. And then Rainn started going off script when it got to the part where he was describing the flap. Oh my gosh. So in the shooting draft, it was written simply like this. Dwight says, this is an old woman, Angela. It’s all hanging out. I don’t even recognize some of the parts anymore. There’s one hanging out in particular, some sort of flap. And then Angela just says, okay, fine. And Dwight says, I think I know what it was, but why is there only one? And Angela goes, Dwight! And leaves. Everything else, you see was improvised. Rainn started really having some fun with this flap. I could barely hold it together, but I would have to improvise my reactions to what he was improvising. And Jon just let us play around and it was so much fun. And you guys are absolutely right. I had to look away. I kind of bend over because I just started laughing. 

Jenna I think it’s so clear that the two of you were having fun in this scene, and we all love Dwight and Angela together, you know? And we haven’t gotten to see as much of it as I would have liked over these last couple seasons. So this whole episode, but this scene that kicks it off, is just so, so fun. 

Angela Thanks. Well, we really, really had a good time, and I know somewhere there was a blooper of me because I could not keep it together. Back in the main bullpen, Pam was going to get her coat and she’s going to leave. And I’m calling this sass exit number one. 

Jenna Yep. 

Angela At six minutes and two seconds, when Andy says, where are you going? She replies, not on a three month boat trip. Sass exit! 

Jenna Oh my gosh, she doesn’t even break her stride. 

Angela No. Then Dwight and Angela leave as well. And Andy’s like, what? So everybody can just leave whenever they want now? I love my snarky smile. Six minutes, 15 seconds. Sass exit number two. My snarky smile was not scripted. I just wanted to do it.  

Jenna Well, at the end of the scene, at six minutes and 23 seconds, right after, Andy says I’m still the boss, it cuts over to Erin at reception and I noticed this thing over her shoulder. I don’t know how long it’s been there. It was the first time I noticed it. It’s like a stuffed animal peanut or a basketball. It has, like this red hat and red shoes. What is it? How long has it been there? 

Angela I saw it. I couldn’t tell what it was. I was like, is it an M&M? Is it a peanut M&M? Is it a peanut? It has a hat. 

Jenna Yeah. And shoes. 

Angela And shoes. 

Jenna And I think arms. But I’m going to keep looking for it. 

Angela I’m going to try to track it. 

Jenna Track the peanut. 

Angela The peanut hat person. 

Jenna I will. 

Angela Well Erin is going to bring Andy some messages from his clients and he says, you know what? He doesn’t want anything to do with work. And she’s like, well, all I want to do is work. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela And he says, you can keep my blue sweater. I know you loved it so much. And she says, I donated it. 

Jenna Yeah. How do we feel about that? Do we think it’s like, okay, that she donated it? Why wouldn’t she just give it back to him? 

Angela I think she should have just packed up his things that she didn’t want and given it to him. Yeah. 

Jenna At seven minutes and eight seconds, I have a new desk item catch. Again, everybody, maybe it’s been there for a while, but I just noticed it. There is a bell on Andy’s desk. 

Angela With an anchor attached to the top of it. I saw it too. 

Jenna Are these items new, or are we just seeing them for the first time? 

Angela I have not seen the bell. I feel like Peanut Man has been there before. I don’t know. 

Jenna All right. 

Angela Andy now goes to the annex. He wants to vent, you know, with the guys. He tells them we’re in the bro zone layer. Okay. Nard dog, Plop and Clarker Posey, aka Clockwork Orange. Here’s the sitch. Erin dumped me, natch, but she got rid of my blue sweater, which is her favorite. Is she moving on a little fast or am I being a total psycho? Plop. You go first. I loved everything about this dialogue. 

Jenna Same. 

Angela I can only imagine how much fun it was to write for Andy Bernard. She dumped me, natch. I mean who who talks like that? Also there were alts for Clarker Posey and Clark-work orange. 

Jenna What were they? 

Angela There was zero Clark 30. Clark wing. Clarkinsons disease. 

Jenna Okay. 

Angela During this bro zone layer meeting, you know, Clark is going to say, hey, why don’t you just enjoy this freedom? And Andy says, last night I ordered a pizza and I ate it over the sink like a rat. 

Jenna Yeah, well, we had a fan question about the scene from Jen S in Morgan Hill, California. She said, my absolute favorite line of this episode is after Andy leaves and Clark turns to Pete and says, I’ll give you $100 to wear that sweater to work tomorrow. Jen wanted to know if that was scripted. It was not. 

Angela Well, Clark Duke improvised that. He’s hilarious. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela I also loved Jake’s reaction because he had to improvise his reaction. Which is he just closes his eyes. 

Jenna I know. I know. I am loving the Pete Clark energy in the office. I really like them. 

Angela I love Clark knowing a secret about Pete and that dynamic. 

Jenna All right, so next up, Dwight and Angela are going to arrive to Aunt Shirley’s house. Angela, do you have a location breakdown for me? 

Angela I do, Jenna. So Aunt Shirley’s house was actually called Allen House. It’s on the Warner Brothers ranch. And you guys, when you drive in to the Warner Brothers ranch, there is the big fountain in the middle that’s the beginning of the Friends episode. 

Jenna Yes! 

Angela So I was very excited to see that. And then this house, this big yellow house, it really is a house. Of course, the inside they’ve made, like, a set. But from the exterior, it’s just a beautiful big yellow house. In the back, there was a a grassy area with a big tree, and there was a bench underneath the tree. And that’s the day my daughter came to set. And she got to play in that grassy field. And I have a photo of her and I under the big tree. So I have special memories whenever I watch this episode. And it had a front porch that we filmed on, and then it had a back porch where they sort of kept all the camera gear and Video Village, and that’s where I hung out with Jon Favreau. 

Jenna Now, did you shoot the outside of the house and the inside of the house in the same location? 

Angela Yes. We filmed all the Warner Brothers ranch in one day. So on the call shoot that day was just me and Rainn and Mary. You had the day off. It was Thursday. 

Jenna I tried to go to my digital clutter and see what I did that day. And I just don’t have digital clutter. 

Angela You get rid of (BLEEP). 

Jenna It I do, I delete emails after I read them. 

Angela I know. You’re good like that. I also quickly have a fakey bad catch at eight minutes and 30s. 

Jenna As you’re walking in?

Angela Dwight and Angela are each carrying two big brown paper bags. Those were the special bags that don’t make a lot of sound. So the sound department likes them. And they have bought Shirley new clothes and they’re going to clean her up. 

Jenna They are. But as soon as Aunt Shirley sees them enter, she calls Dwight big city Dwight, and she inquires what is up with this little kitchen witch? She’s just a little kitchen witch. We got a fan question from Becca in Edmonton, Alberta, who said, I’ve been waiting for this episode because there is a restaurant in Bellingham, Washington called The Little Kitchen Witch. 

Angela Oh no way. 

Jenna Yeah, Becca said, my husband and I have visited the town often and it always makes me think of this episode. Becca wondered, is this a common phrase? Were there any candy bag alts for Aunt Shirley to call Angela anything else? 

Angela Well, Becca, now that restaurant’s on my list of places I need to go to. 

Jenna It’s closed. 

Angela No. 

Jenna I looked it up. It was only open for eight months. But it was known for its falafel, schnitzel and other traditional Mediterranean dishes. And it had five stars on Yelp. 

Angela Well, dang it. 

Jenna I know. I wanted to go there with you and take a picture of you outside of it. 

Angela Yes. 

Jenna I know. 

Angela Well, farts. I guess we’re just going to have to open like a little pub called The Little Kitchen Witch, Jenna. 

Jenna We really should. 

Angela Just put it on our list of things to do. 

Jenna Okay. 

Angela Well, Becca, I went digging into the candy bag alts and there weren’t any. It was scripted as little kitchen witch in the shooting draft. And that’s what she said. 

Jenna I had not ever heard the phrase before. And when I googled it is not part of the Merriam-Webster dictionary list of common phrases. 

Angela Oprah doesn’t break it down for us? 

Jenna She has not.  

Angela Little kitchen witch!

Jenna No, no. Oh hey. Just since we’re off topic for a second. During our break, I thought of another fashion thing that I wanted to discuss. Besides the Shacket. 

Angela Is it shorts? 

Jenna No. It’s about. My gosh, that just got a cackle from Jordan. It’s not, it is about socks. 

Angela Shocks. You want shocks? 

Jenna No, I did not know this. 

Angela A jock in a sock?

Jenna This is a thing. What’s a jocks? Like when you put your…

Angela I just was making it up. It’s like a. 

Jenna No. I was thinking, you know what, jocks is if you put your fella, your little fella in a sock. 

Angela Yes. That’s what I was saying. 

Jenna Oh, gosh. Now I have two fashion things to talk about. They have this underwear for men, and I got, like, served it by, like, an Instagram ad. I don’t know how I got in this algorithm. They put their balls in a pocket. 

Angela Isn’t that just tighty whiteys? 

Jenna No. Tighty whiteys don’t have a- so when you put on this underwear. 

Angela Your balls go  in a pocket? 

Jenna Go in a special pocket and it’s meant to sort of keep them off your thighs. 

Angela It’s called a shock? 

Jenna No, it’s just called underwear. 

Angela They missed an opportunity. 

Jenna They really did. But you put it in… 

Angela A Shocket. 

Jenna What’s a shocket? 

Angela It’s a sock pocket for your balls. 

Jenna Oh well I don’t know. Talk to them about it. But that’s a thing. You put them in their own little pocket. 

Angela Carrier. 

Jenna I got Lee a pair for Father’s Day. 

Angela Oh. So you haven’t given it to him yet. 

Jenna I haven’t. Not at the time when we recorded this. I’m not sure when this episode comes out. 

Angela You’ll have to let us know. 

Jenna Will I? 

Angela I don’t know. Actually I don’t know if I want to know that information. 

Jenna But I got so, listen, I’ll buy anything. I’m so bad. I bought that dumb thing that’s supposed to, like, clean earwax out of your ear. That didn’t work. I’ve bought so many dumb things. I’m so suggestible. Now I’ve bought my husband a pair of underwear so he can put his balls in a pocket. What am I doing? But listen, this isn’t even what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about socks. I wanted to talk about. 

Angela Okay, it’s okay. 

Jenna That there are all these videos now where they can tell if you are a millennial or a Gen Z or a Gen X, by the socks you wear. 

Angela Are you on TikTok? 

Jenna No, no. 

Angela Sounds like a TikTok video. 

Jenna I know, but this is- okay. So you see the socks I’m wearing right now, right? I’m wearing- 

Angela The no shows. No one wears those anymore. The kids don’t wear them. 

Jenna They don’t wear them. You have to. It’s ankle again. 

Angela Again. I know I have teenagers, I know the socks that are hip. 

Jenna I can’t wrap my head around it. By the way, it took me so long to accept these dumb no show socks that always slip down my heel. 

Angela I hate them, I refuse to wear them. Look at me. 

Jenna Oh, you have no socks, lady. What does no socks mean? 

Angela I don’t know any of it anymore. 

Jenna Times are changing. We can’t keep up. 

Angela Well, my last Instagram suggested ad was special underwear for thigh chafing. 

Jenna You know what? All of this is making me realize what we clearly need like a fashion blogger podcast together. 

Angela Oh, yeah. 

Jenna Where we break it down for you guys, okay?

Angela But just practical undergarments. 

Jenna And shackets. All right. Andy has a talking head. He wants to know why isn’t Erin sad? Has she found someone new? Is that why she’s not that upset about this breakup? 

Angela Oh. He says, you know, during a breakup, your mind goes to some dark places. Boy, does it for Andy because he becomes a snoop. 

Jenna He does. 

Angela Erin leaves front reception and leaves her phone. Andy grabs it and starts scrolling on it. Phyllis says, Andy, no good can come from snooping. Andy says, I’m not snooping. Oscar’s like, you’re clearly snooping. Everyone is very upset by this except for Meredith. Creed’s like, that’s uncool. Meredith is like, tell us what it’s on there. Like, Meredith wants to know all the dish.

Jenna Well, guess what? He sees something. He sees that she has been texting with someone named Pete. He charges into the annex where Darryl, Clark, Kevin and Toby are for some reason that we don’t know, all gathered around Pete’s desk and computer. Pete is the only one who’s seated. Andy announces, my fears have been confirmed. Erin is texting someone named Pete. Do any of you know someone by that name? 

Angela Go to ten minutes and 47 seconds because the way Clark looks to camera when Andy says Pete is perfection. 

Jenna So good. 

Angela And then Brian, as Kevin says, Pete what? 

Jenna I know. 

Angela That was improvised. 

Jenna It was? 

Angela Yes. 

Jenna That was so good. Pete has the talking head where he says, oh my gosh, and he’s been calling me plot for so long, he forgot my real name is Pete. 

Angela This talking head was a bit extended in the shooting draft. Pete would have had another line where he said, I have probably about six minutes til he figures it out. 

Jenna Well he’s right. Andy goes to the fridge and has his aha moment. He sees that lunch bag labeled Pete and he puts it all together. 

Angela Yep. Pam is now going to arrive at Jim’s office in Philly. She looks so cute. She’s all dressed for her interview. Jim is wearing his Bluetooth device and they sort of have this little joke about it. He’s like, I know I’m a douche, but look, I can do this with my hands. And he tells her she’s going to crush it. It’s a sweet little moment. 

Jenna It really is. 

Angela He’s very excited for her. 

Jenna At 11 minutes and 30s, I have a water bottle catch on Jim’s desk. Someone left their water bottle. 

Angela Oh. For real? Oh, that’s so good. 

Jenna Yeah. 

Angela It’s like the Starbucks coffee on Game of Thrones. 

Jenna Exactly. We had a fan question from Jen H in New York. Jen says, I have a justice for Pam comment. 

Angela Justice for Pam?

Jenna Jen says, I’ve been waiting so long to ask this. Jim offers Darryl a job at his new company. Why on earth did he not ask Pam to join? Why couldn’t she be the graphic designer at Athlead. It’s wild because both Ryan and Michael believed in her art talents more than her own husband. Ryan asked her to make a logo in season four, episode two, and then in season four, episode five, Michael asked her to make a logo for the local ad. I bet Pam would have been much more receptive to moving to Philly if her dream job was also waiting for her. Well, Jen, I hear you, but I do have some thoughts. 

Angela I have some thoughts as well. 

Jenna First of all, Jim’s business is not really making any money for this family, and I had read another fan comment that said they were really ticked off at Pam because she’s not supporting Jim’s like dream job. Like, why didn’t she just get a job in Philly? Her husband’s making so much money at this great job. But Jim is not making any money. Remember, it’s like this company has not had a profit. So if they’re both working there, then no one’s really bringing home a significant paycheck. Also, I don’t think graphic design is Pam’s dream job. I don’t think she- she didn’t love it. She dropped out because she didn’t love it. 

Angela Yeah, she dropped out because it wasn’t what she thought it was going to be. I would also say this. If Jim and Pam are really hoping this business takes off. They can’t move to a whole new city with their children and invest in property or a big enough rental for all of them without knowing it’s going to be a success. Right now you would assume they don’t really have a house payment. And their kids are in school there. They have Pam’s family, Jim’s family nearby to help. So moving the whole family there, you’re not going to do that til you know that this is really going to take off. 

Jenna Yeah. And I think there needs to be someone in this family who has like a stable income. But Jen, I appreciate you sticking up for Pam. 

Angela Yes, Jen. I appreciate justice for Pam. I do see like down the road there might be a job opportunity there for sure. 

Jenna Aunt Shirley has had plenty of schnapps and has fallen asleep on the couch. 

Angela Yeah. She hit the homemade schnapps really hard. Dwight says okay, let’s get her out in the yard and spray her down in a very tasteful, rustic, private shower. 

Jenna This is setting us up for the beginning of Moving On Part Two, for which we got a lot of fan questions. We’ll get to it next week. Meanwhile, Andy has called Pete into his office, and he tells Pete that he has contracted shlamydia from Erin.

Angela He’s trying to get Pete’s reaction. And we talked about this with Jake Lacy. 

Jenna We did. He said that shlamydia was an improv by Ed. 

Angela It was. Because in the script, it said Erin gave me incurable syphilis. Pretty lame, huh? But then Ed improvised shlamydia. 

Jenna He did, and it made Jake laugh. I found the blooper. 

Angela Let’s hear it. 

Andy I just got off from my doctor and it turns out that I contracted shlamydia. 

Jake Lacy Come on. Oh. Come on. Shlamydia! 

Jenna Oh, man. Well, I guess they loved it so much they kept it in, and then they had to do it again and again so that Jake didn’t laugh. 

Angela Yes. And Jake told us that his proudest performance moment on the whole show was in this scene, because there’s that long pause and Pete says… You were gone. And Jake improvised that. And then in the moment as Andy reacted and improvised, I knew it! And Jake just said it was the coolest thing. 

Jenna Yeah. And then what’s really cool is after that little moment of improv from both of them, they get back on script. 

Angela Yes. 

Jenna And finish the scene, which is, oh, just delicious. 

Angela The line that got them back on script was Pete saying, and just so you know, there was no overlap. And then they were back as scripted. 

Jenna However, this does end with another improv when Andy starts to sing the song Bad Day with different lyrics. 

Angela We had a bad day. Rit dit dit doo. 

Jenna Yes. From Steve Burgess, he said we had to get permission to change the lyrics. They were okay with using different lyrics and it cost $20,000. And he said, by the way, this wasn’t scripted. So after Ed did it in the scene, they had to make sure they could get it cleared. 

Angela Oh my  gosh. After the scene, we see Andy and Toby and Toby’s like, hey, you cannot fire Pete. You can’t fire someone just because you have a grudge. The same thing happened with Nellie. And Andy’s like, no, no, no, that was a professional grudge. This is a personal grudge. 

Jenna Yes. 

Angela And then Toby shows Andy that Erin and Pete have disclosed their relationship. You know, they fill out that form in human resources. Andy is furious and crumples it up. Toby’s like, that’s not the original. So you know it’s not a big deal. I just love that one detail. And then Andy walks away, Toby un-crumples it and is like, it is the original. 

Jenna Well, I looked this up in the script. As scripted, Andy was supposed to fold up the document and put it in his pocket, and then kick Toby’s chair and walk out. And Toby’s last line was, it’s not the original. But instead Ed crumpled it up and threw it at him, and he was like, it’s not the original, and kicked the trash can. And so Paul improvised. 

Angela Un-crumpling it?

Jenna Un-crumpling it and saying it was the original. 

Angela That is great. I love that. 

Jenna So fun. All right. Are you ready for Pam to get to her interview? 

Angela I am. Per the call sheets. This was the very first scene of this entire episode that was filmed. 

Jenna Yep. Monday morning. 

Angela Monday morning. Scene 24. First up on Monday, it was described like this interior real estate company. Pam meets the Michael Scott of real estate, Mark. And I saw on the call sheet that you and Bob had 6 a.m. call times, but the rest of us got to come in at one. 

Jenna Yep, this was a location. We did not build these offices and I remember that very clearly. We got ready on set and then we drove to this location in a series of vans. So Bob and I got to share a van ride over to the set. Listen, anytime I got to share with Bob, I was just so tickled. So I remember that car ride. We got a lot of fan questions about what it was like for me to get to work with Bob, one from Natalie L in Baltimore, Maryland, who just said, what was it like working with Bob Odenkirk? I laughed all morning. I only had him from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., but oh my goodness. And one of my favorite moments that I couldn’t get over and that I still can’t get over when I watch it, it made me break every time- I don’t know how we got a usable take- was that dance that he does when he goes, the funky bunch! Like and he like is like awkwardly is raising the roof. I loved that moment so much. 

Angela The minute he’s on camera, I just started laughing. It starts with him in his office and he’s playing the guitar and he’s singing, talking Chester Avenue, talking triplex talking converting- hey, is that her? 

Jenna Yes. 

Angela And you just have to imagine this guy is making up these ridiculous songs all day. He must drive everyone crazy. 

Jenna Oh, yeah. Pam has a talking head where she says, oh my God, he’s Michael Scott. And then he gives her a tour of the office. He kind of walks her through the bullpen, making all of the inappropriate jokes that Michael Scott would. 

Angela And he says ridiculous things like Michael Scott would like this. This is not an office so much as it’s a rec room with a bunch of computers in it. Frankly, if I had my way, I’d toss the computers in the garbage, but unfortunately we use them for practically everything we do, so that ain’t going to happen. 

Jenna You might have noticed that only one person speaks back to him. Everybody in this bullpen were background performers, but they were very specifically chosen to try to paint the picture of an alternate Dunder Mifflin universe. For example, please note the snarling woman dressed in a turtleneck and pearls at 17 minutes and eight seconds, that is your doppelganger, Angela. There are people playing solitaire on their computers. 

Angela Like Meredith, I noticed that. 

Jenna I’m at 17 minutes and 24 seconds, Aunt Joan was their Phyllis. She’s wearing a purple shirt under her blazer. And then as Mark comes around the corner, he’s going to speak to someone and he’s going to say, he didn’t hear me. And that person says, I heard you. That was guest star Michael Weston. He was a very big shot actor at this time when he did this very short little cameo. He had been on House for two years and people noticed. We got a lot of fan mail asking, how did you get Michael Weston to do, like, this one little pop on your show, this little cameo? It’s because Michael Weston was one of the actors who tested for Jim. 

Angela Oh, that’s so cool that Greg did that. 

Jenna Yes. So he placed him as the man closest to reception because he would have been the Jim to their Pam. And Michael was so up for it. You know, Greg called and was like, hey, do you want to come be in our alternate universe? Very, very cool. Like you said, Greg, he files everything away. 

Angela He does. Back at the Dunder Mifflin bullpen, Andy has waited for Erin to leave. And then he just lets the room have it. He’s like, thanks a lot, you know, for letting plop still my girlfriend. And he’s really hurt and he’s getting upset and Darryl’s like, Andy you have a boog- you have a booger bubble forming. And Andy’s like, sorry. My whole life is a booger bubble. Y’all this was on the call sheet on Monday. They had a and I quote we will test the booger bubble at 10 a.m.. 

Jenna Okay. I saw that as well Angela. I love that they did a booger bubble test but I never saw a booger bubble. Do you think that the test like didn’t happen. And so they just were like he’ll just indicate booger bubble because- did you see one? I didn’t see one. 

Angela I didn’t see one. I have to imagine that camera didn’t really catch it. You know, when they did the camera test, they were like, oh, it doesn’t really read. I zoomed in, I took a picture of Ed’s nose. Ed, I’m sorry, I saw no big booger bubble. So I think they tested it and it didn’t work. 

Jenna I want to say that when they tested things like this, they would often grab our stand in Stephen Saux, and they would have put a booger bubble on him at 10:00, and then he would have walked into the bullpen and they would have put the camera up. 

Angela And then they would have said, no, it doesn’t work. 

Jenna Work. Yes, he did so many things like that. I really feel like at some point we need to get Stephen and his wife, Laurie. They were our two stand-ins, because I want to hear stories of these crazy things that they were always having to do. 

Angela I would love that. I would love to just say, will you guys list off ten of the most crazy things you had to do behind the scenes? 

Jenna Agree. Okay. Put that on the list. All right. Now, Pam’s interview has moved into Mark’s office. 

Angela Before we step into his office, there was a line that cracked me up. I thought our writers did a brilliant job of bringing Michael Scott into this moment, in the way that Michael Scott would do a comedy bit, but some part of it would be wrong. 

Jenna Okay. 

Angela So Mark says, step this way for the Spanish Inquisition! And then he goes, Kids in the Hall. 

Jenna Yes. 

Angela It’s not Kids in the Hall. 

Jenna It’s not. 

Angela It’s Monty Python. It’s the hilarious Monty Python sketch. But I just loved that little nod. It reminded me so much of Michael Scott. 

Jenna You know, Mark really likes her tiny resume. 

Angela Yeah. You know what it says to him? She sticks around. She gets in one place and doesn’t really go anywhere. 

Jenna Kind of stings when Pam hears it like that. 

Angela Well, yeah. 

Jenna Angela, do we need to talk about some of the things on Mark’s desk? 

Angela There’s so many good things. There’s the clack teeth. 

Jenna And clacking balls. 

Angela And clacking balls. Clacking teeth, of course, made me think of Michael Scott. He has one of those magic eight balls, but it’s the yellow one that looks like an emoji. 

Jenna Well, Michael had a green one that had like a dollar symbol on it. Remember? We looked it up? 

Angela Yep. And of course, he’s got a jumbo set of clacking balls. And he also has like, a, it looks like a version of some kind of bobblehead, but I can’t see who it is. Could you make out who it was? 

Jenna I couldn’t make out who it was. 

Angela If anyone knows who that is, will you let us know? 

Jenna There’s something that Mark is going to do that Michael never did. And that is play his guitar for her. Yeah, he’s going to make up a song about her while reading her resume. 

Angela I thought we should hear it. 

Jenna Oh, please. 

Mark Franks What if Bob Dylan was your boss? I’m going to do Dylan. Pam Halpert is my name. I’ve been at Dunder Mifflin for seven years? Eight years, eight years, man. Got the Dunder Mifflin Blues. Got the Pam Halpert blues. I got – I went to Pratt Institute. As- do you have children? 

Jenna Two children, yes. 

Mark Franks And you’re art and painting? Kind of the same thing. Kind of the same thing. Sometimes I repeat myself, but that’s just being Pam. Well, I’m kind of cute, and I’m… But I’m married, so… Leave that be. 

Jenna Angela, that whole thing was improvised. That was a nod to David Brent. When Bob and I met to practice our audition together, he did that. And then when we went in to do the test audition, he brought his guitar and we did that bit as part of the test process because David Brent. 

Angela In the origina BBC version.

Jenna The original. That’s right. He would play the guitar. And so Bob did that. And I remember when we were talking about bringing Bob on to play Mark, I said, Greg, he’s got to bring his guitar. That was like one of my favorite audition moments was getting to sit there and just react to Bob singing to me. 

Angela It’s so funny. And he finds so many hills and valleys in the moment. I loved when he was like, that’s just being Pam. 

Jenna Yeah!  

Angela But then he’s like, she’s pretty cute, but she’s married. And then to himself, he’s like, Leave it be. It’s so good. 

Jenna Yes! Everybody, we spoke to Bob Odenkirk all about these scenes. His interview is going to run after we finish breaking down Moving On Part Two. Please, please give it a listen. It’s so fun. 

Angela It’s so fun. And he’s so smart and interesting. We really hung on his every word. We had such a great interview. 

Jenna Well, this episode’s going to end with something we’ve never seen before. To be continued. Dot dot dot. 

Angela Once again, a huge thank you to Steve Burgess for those call sheets and behind the scenes details. And to you all for writing in your questions and comments. They always give us such inspiration. I really had a fun time rewatching this. 

Jenna I did too. Everyone join us next week for Moving On Part Two. 

Angela See you then! 

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 audio engineer is Jordan Duffy, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico. 

Angela Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.