EP. 7 — The Dundies

JENNA [00:00:02] I’m Jenna Fischer. 

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

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

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

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

ANGELA [00:00:12] Each week we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. 

JENNA [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Hello, everyone. 

ANGELA [00:00:25] Hi there, guys. 

JENNA [00:00:28] Thank you so much for your support of our podcast and watching with us and listening with us. 

ANGELA [00:00:31] It means so much and we are loving all of your comments too. 

JENNA [00:00:35] It has been so fun. I have loved going through the comments and going through the questions in the mailbox. By the way, if you want to send us a question, you can send it to OfficeLadies@Earwolf.com. All right. Today we are moving into season 2. Season 2, Episode 1 The Dundies. Written by Mindy Kaling. Directed by Greg Daniels. 

ANGELA [00:00:58] And you guys out there listening. We really wanted to do a live podcast of this at a Chili’s. But yes, as it turns out, a lot of stuff is involved in doing that. And we just didn’t get it together in time. 

JENNA [00:01:10] But we do plan on doing some live podcasts. 

ANGELA [00:01:13] Yes. And maybe we’ll go to a Chili’s. 

JENNA [00:01:15] We have to make that happen for sure. 

ANGELA [00:01:17] You’re allowed back in. 

JENNA [00:01:18] No, I am. They lifted the ban officially. Like a year and a half ago. So I can now go to a Chili’s. So we have to make that happen. There is so much to talk about with this episode. I have so many notes and I’m looking at my notes and I realize the one thing I don’t have is a summary written down. I was so excited to get into the episode that I failed to write a summary. So here we go. I’m going to wing it. In this episode, manager Michael Scott gives out awards to his employees called The Dundies during a very awkward show at a Chili’s where he… How’d I do? 

ANGELA [00:01:52] You did pretty great. He thinks he’s like, you know, an amazing stand up comedian performer. I did see that a Dundies, I saw a description online of what a Dundies is. OK, so if you look up Dundies, it says a Dundie is an award bestowed annually by Dunder Mifflin Scranton regional manager Michael Scott. In order to maintain morale, everybody gets a Dundie. 

JENNA [00:02:12] Where did you read that? 

ANGELA [00:02:14] There’s a thing called Dunderpedia. 

JENNA [00:02:17] Oh, well, let’s start with this fast fact. It’s also a fan question. Aaron asked, Where did the idea for the Dundies come from? 

ANGELA [00:02:26] I don’t know. 

JENNA [00:02:26] The Dundies were based on an awards presentation that Greg Daniels did for his real life employees on King of the Hill. 

ANGELA [00:02:35] Oh, my God. 

JENNA [00:02:35] He was the Michael Scott of King of the Hill. He gave them out in a ceremony and they were called the Swampees. 

ANGELA [00:02:43] Oh my lord. 

JENNA [00:02:44] And he gave out the same business man statues that Michael gives out. He went into a trophy shop and he saw those statues. And it inspired him to do an award show for his employees. And then now it graduated into an idea for The Office. 

ANGELA [00:03:01] I actually can really see Greg doing that. I can see him going and buying them and thinking like it would boost everyone’s spirit. 

JENNA [00:03:08] Yes, it was a morale booster for Greg. This leads me into fast fact number two. The Dundies was the story that Greg wanted to use as the Season 1 Episode 1 pilot instead of the pilot. Yes. This was his idea for how to kick off the American version of The Office. But the networks said they preferred we do an adaptation of the British pilot. 

ANGELA [00:03:32] Wow. 

JENNA [00:03:34] And Greg was very, very disappointed. But if you notice and Angela, maybe you did notice, there has been a Dundie on Michael’s desk from the very beginning. It’s in our opening credits. And Michael Scott all through season one had a Dundie. 

ANGELA [00:03:48] It’s in the opening credits. But is it on his desk in the episode? 

JENNA [00:03:50] That I don’t know. 

ANGELA [00:03:51] See because I don’t think it’s on his actual desk, but it gets in the credits. 

JENNA [00:03:56] It’s in the credits. Yes. But I do think that even that little bit is that way where Greg had something in his head. He had this idea of these Dundies awards looming for all this time. And finally, when we got picked up, he was able to do it. 

ANGELA [00:04:10] Thank goodness we got a second season. 

JENNA [00:04:13] That would really have been a bummer. Or else that little shot in the opening credits would have remained a mystery. What is the little man with a briefcase? What is it? Are we ready for fast fact number three. We’re moving more quickly than I thought. 

ANGELA [00:04:24] Well, let me just tell you, I’m just letting you go, lady. All right. Jenna. I wish you guys could see her. She came in what looks like a mechanic’s outfit. 

JENNA [00:04:31] Yeah. It’s my green jumpsuit. I also have a hat on. 

ANGELA [00:04:35] A hat on. It’s like she came to play. Either that or a pilot in an airplane. But you are ready. 

JENNA [00:04:40] Do you need anything assembled? Cause I think I look like I got assemble something. 

ANGELA [00:04:43] Maybe. OK. Go, go, go. 

JENNA [00:04:45] All right. Fast fact. Number three, the second season of The Office was originally only six episodes long. We only got picked up for six episodes. 

ANGELA [00:04:52] I know. We were so excited to get six, but after that, we’re like, well I guess that’s it. 

JENNA [00:04:56] That might be all. But they started airing and then they ordered three more. Then they ordered four more. Then I think they ordered the rest of the whole season and we ended up with a usual amount of time. 

ANGELA [00:05:08] Yeah. But in the beginning we’re like, well we got six. Well that’s that. Oh no we got three more. It kind of gave you that sense of like well we might as well go for it because we don’t know if we’re gonna have this job. 

JENNA [00:05:19] Yeah. And this episode of The Dundies was actually the third episode that we shot when we came back and it was the first episode that we ever shot away from our office set. Yeah, this is the first time we went on a completely different location. It was really, really cool. And we shot this the week after Steve Carrell’s movie. The 40 Year Old Virgin hit theaters. It was the number one movie at the box office. 

ANGELA [00:05:44] We were so excited for him and Steve being the sweetheart that he was invited the whole entire cast to the premiere. 

JENNA [00:05:51] Yeah. 

ANGELA [00:05:51] And we all went and we got dressed up and that was like one of the first fancy movie anything parties I’ve ever been to. 

JENNA [00:05:59] I have a crazy story about that. Well, we had been shooting all day and then the premiere was that night. And we got dressed on set and the hair and makeup people did our hair and makeup and we carpooled and we went to this premiere. And when we got there, I was wearing this dress. It’s very hard to explain. Maybe we can find a photo of it and put it on our web site. It was sort of like a lacy mermaid thing. It was like green and blue. I don’t even remember where I got it or how I got it. It was my first big movie premiere. I didn’t know what you were supposed to wear or how you were supposed to dress. It was a silky dress. And then over it was a lace. 

ANGELA [00:06:45] So the silk part was like the slip. And then the lace part went over. 

JENNA [00:06:50] Yes. Thank you. OK. And it was blue and green sort of mermaid color as well. And it had this really big ribbon around the hips. 

ANGELA [00:07:02] What is happening? 

JENNA [00:07:02] But I’ll tell you. And then it had the ribbon tassels were hanging down in the front. OK. So when we got to the premiere, I had to pee so badly. So before we walked the red carpet, I ran into the bathroom and I peed very quickly. 

ANGELA [00:07:17] Did you pee on the ribbon? 

JENNA [00:07:18] I did not pee on the ribbonNo, that would have been awful. 

ANGELA [00:07:23] That’s where I thought the story was going. 

JENNA [00:07:23] The ribbon did not dip in the toilet. OK. But you know that happens. 

ANGELA [00:07:26] I said that because I feel like it’s happened to me. 

JENNA [00:07:28] OK, I did not pee on the ribbon, but I was rushing and I came back out and I went to the red carpet. I took my pictures and I posed. Hoped I did it right. When I got inside, I realized that I had tucked the slip into my underwear. 

ANGELA [00:07:50] No! Was your butt showing? And the lace in the photos? 

JENNA [00:07:53] No, my butt was not showing. Thankfully, that ribbon was strategically poised to cover my lady bits. Because it was just lace on the bottom because I had tucked the slip in my underwear. But it gets worse. 

ANGELA [00:08:11] Can it get worse thanr? Also, didn’t you fill some air in places you should have been filling? 

JENNA [00:08:17] I was so nervous. 

ANGELA [00:08:19] You were rushing. 

JENNA [00:08:22] I wanted to get into my friend Steve’s big movie premiere. 

ANGELA [00:08:25] How does it get worse? 

JENNA [00:08:27] You know when you go and you buy like the three pack of cotton underwear at Target and there’s a white pair, a black pair, a nude pair, and then a crazy colored pair? I was wearing the crazy pair of from my Target underwear pack. And I think, like from the back, you must have been able to see it. Thankfully, I didn’t turn around on the red carpet, but I’m sure many people saw that as I was walking. 

ANGELA [00:08:53] Jenna, I do not remember if I did the red carpet or not. I don’t know if I did. I think I just went in the theater. I mean, I would have to go back and look, but I feel like I didn’t even notice that we had to do that. 

JENNA [00:09:04] Someone made me do it. Like I got out of the car and, you know, someone grabbed me and said, you need to take pictures. 

ANGELA [00:09:11]  I’m pretty sure I drove myself and I just parked in the garage and I walked in. But I just remember being so excited for Steve. And he was so happy we were there. He had us all sitting together. And he came over and he gave us all a big hug and I kind of remember that he wore a white suit. Am I remembering that right? 

JENNA [00:09:29] Don’t know. 

ANGELA [00:09:29] Don’t know. Should’ve looked it up.We were doing the Dundies today. I don’t think I bought anything new. I don’t remember what I wore. 

JENNA [00:09:36] I sat between John and Rainn at the premiere. When the movie was over, I turned to John and I said, Steve is gonna be the biggest movie star when this movie comes out. Yeah, he’s going to stop being Steve. He’s going to start being Steve Carell. And it’s gonna be weird because we know Steve, right? And the rest of the world is gonna know Steve Carell in about one week. 

ANGELA [00:10:02] I remember thinking like, holy moly, this is gonna be a big hit. 

JENNA [00:10:04] So now we’re shooting The Dundies. The 40 Year Old Virgin has come out. And as predicted, Steve is a huge movie star. And since we’re on location, they had to economize space. And we were each given these teeny, teeny, tiny trailers to change clothes. It’s about the size of a closet. Even Steve, biggest movie star in the country, did not get a larger closet to change in and his was infested with ants. 

ANGELA [00:10:35] Ew. 

JENNA [00:10:35] And I will just never forget how humble he was and how he did not complain at all. And I thought, you know what? That is how you behave with class. 

ANGELA [00:10:45] Yes. And Steve is not a complainer and he is professional and he is on time and he gets his shitake done. 

JENNA [00:10:51] And he even joked about it. He was like, well, that’s how they keep you humble in this business. It was so great. I have a fourth fast fact, Angela. 

ANGELA [00:11:02] But Jenna you only do three fast facts. 

JENNA [00:11:05] But this is The Dundies. The Dundies deserves the fourth fast fact. So fast fact number four, and this was based on a lot of questions from fans about the Chili’s location. It was not a real Chili’s. 

ANGELA [00:11:19] In fact, it was an out of business restaurant. 

JENNA [00:11:22] We got permission from Chili’s to make it a Chili’s. 

ANGELA [00:11:24] And they sent all their gear, all their signs and their chalkboard stuff to make it look like a Chili’s. 

JENNA [00:11:29] Yes. They spent weeks. Michael Gallenberg, our set designer, spent weeks conferring with Chili’s, reconstructing with painstaking detail, this Chili’s restaurant, which was in an abandoned former restaurant. 

ANGELA [00:11:43] It was in an abandoned restaurant in an empty parking lot. And it, I mean, it didn’t even have any signs or anything on it when they started. It was just an out of business restaurant. 

JENNA [00:11:51] Yeah. So there you go, guys. And what’s crazy about that is you can’t go eat at that Chili’s. 

ANGELA [00:11:58] It is near a mall. And on my lunch break, I wanted a mask and snorkel and I went. 

JENNA [00:12:04] What? 

ANGELA [00:12:04] So this is a story that’s not interesting. But listen, we filmed in this random neighborhood, this out of business restaurant. And I just happened to see that it was near like a mall. And I was able on my lunch break to get a snorkel and a mask. 

JENNA [00:12:17] For what reason? 

ANGELA [00:12:18] I wanted to go snorkeling. I was going to go. But this is what I remember about this restaurant is like, oh, that’s the restaurant. 

JENNA [00:12:26] Snorkeling where? 

ANGELA [00:12:27] The ocean, Jenna. I was going to go to Catalina Island. Listen, the details aren’t important. What is important is when I think about that out of business restaurant that we filmed in as a Chili’s is that that’s near where I bought my mask and snorkel. 

JENNA [00:12:40] Do you still have your mask and snorkel. 

ANGELA [00:12:41] It broke. 

JENNA [00:12:41] Here’s the thing, guys. If you want to not eat at that Chili’s and also buy a broken mask. 

ANGELA [00:12:47] A kind of crappy mask. 

JENNA [00:12:49] You can work that out to wherever that was. 

ANGELA [00:12:52] I think it was in Panorama City. 

JENNA [00:12:53] Deep in the valley, the valley of Los Angeles. Wanna take a break and then we’ll get into this episode?

ANGELA [00:12:59] Okay. We have so much to say. And I have all my note cards. Some of them are really great. Some of them I don’t know, guys. 

JENNA [00:13:07] Some of them are just a mask and snorkel. That means dud. 

ANGELA [00:13:12] Oh, OK. Well, do you want to talk more about the ants in the trailer? 

JENNA [00:13:16] The ants in the trailer were interesting. 

ANGELA [00:13:18] Do you want to tell another riveting insect story? 

JENNA [00:13:22] We’ll be right back. 

ANGELA [00:13:22] So, you guys, we were going to a break. And while we went to break, I Googled Jenna’s dress at The 40 Year Old Virgin. And I see what you mean. 

JENNA [00:13:32] You see how it’s kind of mermaidy. You see why I described it that way. 

ANGELA [00:13:36] It also looks like this is like someone told you when you pose, stick your arms on your hips and stick your chest out a little. 

JENNA [00:13:42] Yeah. 

ANGELA [00:13:43] You’re like kaboom. 

JENNA [00:13:45] Well, I want to say that in addition to attending the premiere, Angela, do you remember that you and I went and saw it a second time together, just the two of us as BFF and we took a picture with Steve’s poster in the lobby. 

ANGELA [00:13:58] We went on our own because we were just so excited for Steve. I still have it. I have a photo of you and I standing next to his face in the movie theater. I’m sure people were like what are all of those two up to? Should we get into this episode? As Angela continues to scroll through pictures of me at the premiere looking for my crazy Target underwear? 

ANGELA [00:14:19] Oh! Steve did wear a white suit. He wore a white suit. I remembered that correctly. There are no photos for me. All right. 

JENNA [00:14:25] Let’s get into this episode. In the very opening shot of Pam at her desk. I don’t know if you noticed this, Angela, as our background expert, but I am holding my work shoes in my hand. I have just arrived at work and I’m holding my work shoes. And this was something that we did but did not mention it was to establish that she wears her white Keds to work and then changes into her work shoes. 

ANGELA [00:14:48] Which a lot of people do. 

JENNA [00:14:50] Yeah, a lot of people do. A lot of people who live in New York City and walk or use the subway. I’m not sure why Pam, who is driven to work by her fiance, needs to wear Keds in the car. So it is. 

ANGELA [00:15:02] Well, maybe… Maybe Pam only has, you know, the one pair of shoes that are her nice shoes and she doesn’t want to muck them up. 

JENNA [00:15:07] Well, this is how she keeps her Keds so white is because she just wears them in a car. In case you were wondering. All right. So moving on to Michael’s talking head, describing The Dundies. Everyone wrote in about this. Why does Steve look so different in the first shot of him in this episode? 

ANGELA [00:15:29] Oh, I know why. Because the summer that he was going to film 40 Year Old Virgin, he got in crazy, amazing shape. And then he’s maintained that. He’s just like very fit now. He sort of made that part of his life. They just gave him a whole new look. They zhuzhed him up. 

JENNA [00:15:45] Well, originally, his character was based on the British show and the boss there. So they really mirrored his look after David Brent. And when Steve came back, so much thinner and just looking amazing, they just used it as an excuse. 

ANGELA [00:16:00] Yeah. I mean, he just looked healthy. He looked healthy. He was great. Also the first season, I know they put this gel in his hair. They like slicked it back to look like David Brent. And then after that, they’re like, OK, let’s style his hair different. And then Jenna and I, actually you guys, we were talking about this because this would crack us up. The guys had all their own, like hair accessories and hair and makeup trailer. And one of them was like the tiniest little rolling brush. That they would get their hair blown out like a little buffant. 

JENNA [00:16:28] But it was really tiny. And Brian and Rainn had remember that teeny tiny little flat iron. It could fit in your pocket. It was like a joke. 

ANGELA [00:16:38] It was it looked like an envelope opener, but it was a flat iron and they would flat iron their tiny bangs. 

JENNA [00:16:45] Why did the men have these like miniature, except like almost something you would use on a doll. 

ANGELA [00:16:49] That’s what it looks like. 

JENNA [00:16:51] So weird . 

ANGELA [00:16:51] But yeah. So it totally changed the way Steve looked. And Steve himself had just gotten an amazing shape. 

JENNA [00:16:56] Well, we also a little bit adjusted the character of Michael Scott as well. Finally, I think they felt like when they got the pickup for Season 2, they could really make this for Steve. They could really base it more on what Steve was going to bring to the character. And for example, in this episode later, we’ll talk about it. Michael gets hazed and you see him really wounded. And that was a choice. That was a choice to make Michael a little bit more. I don’t know, sympathetic. 

ANGELA [00:17:29] Well, I feel like in season two, they started doing a thing with Michael’s character. And I’m sure you guys watching noticed this as well… is that as awkward and cringey as he could be and really not aware of the things he said and how they affected people. They would give him one moment that was redeeming, one moment in the episode where you rooted for him or felt bad for him so that it wasn’t just all like, oh, that guy is such a jerk. 

JENNA [00:17:52] Instead of the onslaught of insults that season one had been. 

ANGELA [00:17:56] Right. They just made him have one moment where you were just sympathetic towards him. So I hope that solves the mystery for all of you about why did Steve suddenly look different. So next, we have Pam’s talking head about The Dundies. She’s sitting in the conference room and Pam has so much residual anger. Do you see how deeply angry she is? 

ANGELA [00:18:16] Yes. And also, though, The Dundies just keep poking that wound about her engagement. 

JENNA [00:18:20] Yes. Oh, yeah. And then we move on to the scene where Pam, Meredith and Kelly are laughing about how someone wrote something on the bathroom wall in the ladies room about Michael. 

ANGELA [00:18:32] Yes. 

JENNA [00:18:33] And this is funny. Mindy said people always talk about how The Dundies is about an awards show, but she thinks it’s also a mystery about who wrote on the bathroom wall. 

ANGELA [00:18:45] You guys were like, it was just something funny. And then Dwight’s like, what was it? Dave Barry? He is like a humorist. He had a column in the Miami Herald that became a TV show called Dave’s World. 

JENNA [00:18:54] Oh, yeah. 

ANGELA [00:18:55] So that is who Rainn would consider. 

JENNA [00:18:58] That was his go to funny person. You notice in that scene that Kelly is still not fully transformed. 

ANGELA [00:19:05] She’s getting there, though. 

JENNA [00:19:06] Her hair is half up half down. 

ANGELA [00:19:08] Yes, she’s getting there. And she had some brighter lipstick on. 

JENNA [00:19:11] But she still has that high neck paisley blouse. And also, did you notice that Mindy is basically laughing through the entire scene? 

ANGELA [00:19:18] Yes, I know. I thought, you know what? When I watched it, I was like, how happy was Mindy that she was allowed to laugh because she was gonna be laughing anyway? 

JENNA [00:19:27] Yes. Mindy laughed through all of her acting takes. 

ANGELA [00:19:30] A lot of them. Yeah. So I thought she must have been just so tickled that she got to be laughing. 

JENNA [00:19:36] So the next scene is Michaels on his phone call with Jan where he throws the camera out of his office. I loved that. I love that he throws the camera. 

ANGELA [00:19:44] He’s like get out, get out. Get out. 

JENNA [00:19:45] Yes. And she is giving him trouble because, you know, she says we’re not going to pay for the Dundies this year. 

ANGELA [00:19:52] She also lists what she considers some of his failed parties. She was like, you just threw a party on May 5th. And he goes, it was 0 5 0 5 0 5 . 

JENNA [00:20:01] It happens once every billion years. 

ANGELA [00:20:02] And then she goes, and a luau,? You threw a luau? And then she was like, and you had a tsunami relief fund raiser that lost money. 

JENNA [00:20:11] Oh, by the way, by the way, he goes, no, it wasn’t a fundraiser. It was a fun raiser.  And then Michael has the talking head where he puts the envelope to his head, which is a riff on a bit the Johnny Carson used to do on The Tonight Show. Greg told us that the joke that Michael does in the scene with the envelope was the first joke that Greg ever wrote. 

ANGELA [00:20:31] Really? 

JENNA [00:20:32] He wrote it as a kid. He wrote it for his dad. Who used to do a presentation at work when Greg was younger. His dad did a riff for his own take on Johnny Carson. And so Greg put it in this episode. 

ANGELA [00:20:46] That is adorable. 

JENNA [00:20:48] Yeah, it’s adorable. So then we have the scene where Dwight is sneaking into the women’s restroom and he goes in, but he doesn’t realize Phyllis is still there and she throws him out. Can you see Rainn? 

ANGELA [00:21:00] Yes, look at my note card. 

JENNA [00:21:01] He is almost breaking. 

ANGELA [00:21:03] I have one. Phyllis chases Dwight out of the bathroom. Look at that. Rainn is about to laugh. 

JENNA [00:21:07] For sure. 

ANGELA [00:21:09] I love that though. Phyllis just owned him and that moment it was so great. So I have a note card because this cracked me up at seven minutes, nineine seconds. Dwight gets everyone’s attention. He’s very mad at the ladies of the office. Right? And he makes this announcement. And when he comes out to make this announcement, the camera shot starts over Stanley’s shoulder. And Stanley is playing with a toy car. 

JENNA [00:21:32] He is? 

ANGELA [00:21:32] He is holding a bright blue toy car. It’s a convertible. The doors are open on it, like he’s been opening the doors and he holds this blue convertible toy car throughout the scene. And you see it a few times. And I was like, what is that? I don’t know. But it cracks me up. And I remember that he had some cars on his desk. Do you remember that? 

JENNA [00:21:53] I don’t. 

ANGELA [00:21:54] I don’t know why I forgot that Dwight had bobbleheads, but I know that Stanley like cars. 

JENNA [00:22:00] Something that never becomes a plot is seared in your brain. 

ANGELA [00:22:03] And not a plot point to my character specifically. I know. 

JENNA [00:22:07] Well, did you notice, Angela, that in the background of that same scene, if you look at Meredith’s computer, you can see she’s in the middle of a free cell game? 

ANGELA [00:22:15] Oh, no, I did not. 

JENNA [00:22:17] Yes. So in later seasons after we got Internet and we stopped playing free cell, we would get in trouble if we had unapproved things on our screen. 

ANGELA [00:22:25] Oh, yeah. The camera guys would say, Angela, we can totally see your e-mail account. 

JENNA [00:22:32] Or you were looking at a Web site. There were certain things that we were allowed to show on computer screens like fake documents, the Dunder Mifflin logo free cell games. I guess we got that cleared, but we couldn’t have other stuff and we would get yelled at. And then Rainn said, you never have to tell me again about the screens. All right? Stop hounding me about the screens. In fact, if you ever find something on my screen while we’re shooting, that’s not allowed to be there, I will donate one hundred dollars to charity every time. 

ANGELA [00:23:01] Why was he so annoyed? He has such a bee in his bonnet. 

JENNA [00:23:05] He had to pay out so much because he would forget. 

ANGELA [00:23:08] Oh, and the camera guys would hold him to it? 

JENNA [00:23:10] Yes. Because he made this big declaration. You never need to tell me again. And water bottles. We used to get in trouble for having soda cans or whatever on our desk. 

ANGELA [00:23:21] I mean, you don’t watch Game of Thrones, but there was a Starbucks coffee cup. 

JENNA [00:23:24] I really don’t watch Game of Thrones. And yet I did get into the coffeegate situation. Yeah. I thought how in the how did they miss that? 

ANGELA [00:23:32] I mean, there’s a Starbucks coffee thing next to like a dragon on the ground. 

JENNA [00:23:35] I mean, that’s a whole other world. There are not even Starbucks in that world. At least if we left a Starbucks on our desk. You could be like, well, I guess they went to Starbucks. 

ANGELA [00:23:44] Yeah. I just have to say something that in watching this again made me laugh out loud. Is that Michael is trying to make everyone feel good about The Dundiess. He’s so wounded that people aren’t excited. This clearly means so much to him. And he can’t believe that no one else shares his enthusiasm for The Dundies and sees how important they are. So as a way to try to, like, get them back into it, he said, listen, friends and family are invited to The Dundies for the first time. For the first time. I mean, like all these years that he’s been doing The Dundies, he’s never let them bring plus ones. I couldn’t believe that. I was like, what? And everyone was like, oh, great. Everyone is like, generally happy about it. 

JENNA [00:24:25] Yes. I was like, oh, my gosh. It was like employees only. Oh, and then later you realize that no one is paid for. That everyone now their bill is gonna be double because they brought a plus one. 

ANGELA [00:24:38] And they wouldn’t have probably even brought anyone. 

JENNA [00:24:39] So now, guys, we are gonna move to the Chili’s. And if we look like we’re sweating, it’s because it was over 100 degrees when we shot this episode and there was very little air conditioning inside this abandoned restaurant. 

ANGELA [00:24:53] I am absolutely fine because when I’m completely comfortable, everyone is miserable. 

JENNA [00:24:58] So I was doing OK as well. But the gentleman, the men wearing suits were… 

ANGELA [00:25:06] Well, poor Steve! 

JENNA [00:25:07] Full tuxedo. 

ANGELA [00:25:07] And then he would put things on top of the tuxedo. 

JENNA [00:25:09] We spent three full days filming there and we also had to sometimes wear coats and because we were pretending like it was fall. If you see Rainn, he’s got that big trench coat on. 

ANGELA [00:25:20] It always worked out that way. We would film all these episodes that we’ll talk about where we were in coats and suits and stuff outside and it was August. 

JENNA [00:25:28] Or we would have to pretend like it was spring, but we were shooting it during the winter and we would be freezing. 

ANGELA [00:25:35] Yes. 

JENNA [00:25:35] We never shot the episodes during the time of year it was supposed to be. I love Oscar’s talking head. His description of The Dundies, comparing them to a children’s party. 

ANGELA [00:25:46] He did that so well. It was so spot on. 

JENNA [00:25:50] Oscar always has some of my favorite talking heads. 

ANGELA [00:25:53] He’s brilliant. He’s an amazing actor. He really is. 

JENNA [00:25:56] Oscar describes the Dundies as a child’s birthday party and Pam compares it to an accident that you’re forced to look at. 

ANGELA [00:26:02] I have a question for you, Jenna. 

JENNA [00:26:06] Yeah. 

ANGELA [00:26:06] All right. I read when I was looking back over The Dundies, I read an article that said that B.J. Novak took Jenna out to get drunk in real life and then let her know what her responses were like. Because you don’t really drink that much in real life. So he took you out drinking. Is that true? 

JENNA [00:26:24] Yes. 

ANGELA [00:26:24] What? 

JENNA [00:26:25] Yes. I was nervous about this episode because Pam had to be drunk. 

ANGELA [00:26:29] And that’s hard to play and not be goofy. 

JENNA [00:26:32] It is. And I confided in the writers and I said, I’m nervous. I don’t know how to do it. And Mindy had a great stage direction later where she was saying, you know, Pam is nodding along. That was not that was in the script that Pam is nodding. 

ANGELA [00:26:52] Right. And you’re trying so hard to pay attention. 

JENNA [00:26:54] Yes. Exactly. 

ANGELA [00:26:56] I’m a normal person paying attention. 

JENNA [00:26:57] Look how I’m nodding. Yeah. So that was Mindy’s stage direction. But the rest of it, like how do you gradually become drunk? And I was really afraid that I was going to do just some horrible fake drunk performance. 

ANGELA [00:27:09] You did fantastic. 

JENNA [00:27:11] Thank you. So B.J. and I get to talking and we decide how about we go out? I’ll have some drinks. And B.J. will ask me questions and help me observe what it feels like to slowly get drunk. 

ANGELA [00:27:24] So he was sort of going to document you having drinks. 

JENNA [00:27:27] Yes. 

ANGELA [00:27:28] This is really method. 

JENNA [00:27:28] Or nerdy. 

ANGELA [00:27:29] I like it, though, and I know why I didn’t take you out, because I would have been the one also being like, oh, I’ll have drinks, too. Yeah. No, this denotes the purpose of this scientific experiment. 

JENNA [00:27:39] So, yes. So I went out with B.J. and it was really interesting because after the first two drinks, I was like, oh, I just feel buzzed and a little dizzy. I was laughing a lot. So that’s why I had Pam do all of those ridiculous laughs in the episode. But by drink number four, I was drinking cosmopolitans. 

ANGELA [00:28:02] Oh my gosh. Jenna. Did you get sick? 

JENNA [00:28:05] I didn’t get sick. 

ANGELA [00:28:05] Oh, good lord. OK. 

JENNA [00:28:07] Oh, so by drink number four, apparently I said to B.J., I don’t feel drunk at all. I feel normal. And BJ said, really? Because you’re talking really loud and really close and you almost just fell over. And I was like, I did. So I stopped after drink number four. But I thought that it was really interesting how after so many drinks, I doubted that I was even drunk. And so all that information, I kind of weaved into my performance. 

ANGELA [00:28:38] Well, it worked, lady. 

JENNA [00:28:40] Thank you. 

ANGELA [00:28:42] And I’m glad you didn’t have a hangover. So folks drink responsibly. Don’t drink four Cosmos. Yeah. Don’t drink four Cosmos. 

JENNA [00:28:50] We do not recommend. Rainn got really into the sound effects on that keyboard. 

ANGELA [00:28:56] He did. So they had a keyboard for him and they told him the different sounds the keyboard made. This is like handing a child like a keyboard or even when you give Rainn a microphone. Get ready because he’s gonna have a lot of bits. 

JENNA [00:29:11] They told him he could play it whenever he wanted during Michael’s speeches. 

ANGELA [00:29:15] And did he ever. I mean, right out of the gate when when Michael’s like, well, Stanley, I can’t wait to meet your wife. And she’s like, I’m holding her hand right now. Like, that was Rainn improvising like burrrrr. That was just Rainn having fun on the keyboard. 

JENNA [00:29:32] There was also an “oh yeah” that he used to play. 

ANGELA [00:29:36] Oh my gosh. And Rainn kept doing it at the most inappropriate moments. 

JENNA [00:29:40] That was the thing that would make Steve break more than anything else. It wasn’t the fart noise or the trumpet sounds. It was that “Oh yeah.” And there was one time where Steve broke down laughing. It felt like ten minutes and he could not get it back. 

ANGELA [00:29:55] He doubled over. We had to stop filming because he got so tickled because Rainn kept hitting that “Oh yeah” button. 

JENNA [00:30:00] And Steve never breaks. He is a rock. He and Oscar are the two it’s very hard to make either of them break. 

ANGELA [00:30:08] Oh, I would say they were statues for a long time. I was like Oscar, are you a robot? 

JENNA [00:30:11] Let’s get into the awards. 

ANGELA [00:30:13] There were seven Dundies given out at this awards. I’m sure there were more given out, but what we witnessed were seven. There was the busiest beaver, which was the Bushiest Beaver, Phyllis. There was hottest in the office to Ryan, the temp. Awkward. There was the tight ass award given to my character because not only is she is everybody’s favorite stickler, she also has a great caboose. The spicy curry award given to Kelly. And it was actually a bowling award because they had run out of the little men holding briefcases. So she got a bowler hat. And then number five went to Kevin for the Don’t Go In There After Me award. Here’s the interesting thing about that. If you look at that Dundie, it’s actually a little guy squatting, but it was actually a weightlifting award and they took the dumbbell out of the guy’s hand. 

JENNA [00:31:01] Oh, that’s so smart. 

ANGELA [00:31:03] So that’s what Kevin gets. And the number six is the Fine Work Award given to Stanley. And number seven, of course, is the whitest sneakers award given to Pam. Which brings the house down. 

JENNA [00:31:13] So a lot of fans ask this specifically. Courtney asked, what Dundie did Jim get? This is the first Dundies ceremony. We never see him get his award. Jim gets the Jim Halpert award. Yeah, it got cut out, but Jim got the Jim Halpert award. 

ANGELA [00:31:29] That’s awesome. 

JENNA [00:31:31] So strange. 

ANGELA [00:31:32] I think Michael just thinks Jim is cool. So you just got an award for being you. 

JENNA [00:31:36] Correct. 

ANGELA [00:31:36] Please be my friend. 

JENNA [00:31:37] So you talked about Ryan the temp gets the hottest in the office award. He has that great talking head then where he’s being asked what he’s going to do with his award and he’s like, I don’t. That is the least of my my worries right now. Well, when Greg would direct, he would often pull us aside and interview us on the fly. And that talking head was an improvisation. B.J. improvised that. 

ANGELA [00:32:00] That is awesome. I have some really random cards when you’re ready for random, Jenna. I don’t want to mess up your list over there. All right. But when you’re ready for random, I have some random cards. 

JENNA [00:32:11] I’m ready. You know what? Why don’t we take a break and then we’ll come back to your random cards. 

ANGELA [00:32:14] OK. Really sell it. My fancy random cards. 

JENNA [00:32:19] Yeah. Guys, stay with us so you can hear a bunch of random stuff. Hey, guys. We’re back. Are you ready for some random facts, Angela? 

ANGELA [00:32:28] All right. Here’s some random… Creed, I love you. But at 9 minutes, 53 seconds. You pick your teeth. And I think you did it on purpose, I think Creed, you just let your freak fly and you’re like, you know what? I’m picking my teeth. It’s on camera. It’s all good. I love me some Creed. At nine minutes, 58 seconds, I do an enormous Angela eye roll because Michael tells this very lame drunk driving joke. Right? About spilling his drink. And I do a massive eye roll. And I have been sent that eye roll. Like people text it to me. 

JENNA [00:33:04] Are you a meme? 

ANGELA [00:33:04] I might be, I guess. I mean, I’m an eye roll meme, so. 

JENNA [00:33:08] But exciting. 

ANGELA [00:33:08] That’s exciting. Guys hang with me. This could be horrible, but I became obsessed. You know what happens? I get obsessed. So everyone is sitting at tables that kind of makes sense, right? You can sort of see how there’s the work friendships. For example, Kelly and Toby are at a table at the Chili’s. Roy, Pam and Darryl sit together. Ryan and Jim. When Ryan isn’t holding up Michael’s cue cards, he goes and sits with Jim. This is before Pam comes back, right? 

JENNA [00:33:37] Sure. 

ANGELA [00:33:37] The beginning. Creed and Meredith sit together. Stanley is with his wife, Terry. Kevin, I think, is with his fiancee Stacy. And Angela’s in the corner with Phyllis. But where’s Oscar? “Who is Oscar sitting with?” I ask myself. Well, at eleven minutes, three seconds, you see that Oscar sitting between a woman and a man. The woman has long, dark hair. Then at 15 minutes, nine seconds, I’m sitting next to Oscar in the booth and Oscar sitting behind me. And then at 15 minutes, 40 seconds, there’s a new man and woman in the booth with Oscar and myself. 

JENNA [00:34:16] What is happening? 

ANGELA [00:34:16] I don’t know. And then at 15 minutes and fifty two seconds. Oscar is back between the original woman and man. Then at 17 minutes and thirty eight seconds. There’s a new woman with dark hair in an up do sitting next to Oscar. And I don’t know. I know. It’s like he’s like between this woman and man. Then it’s like this random woman, this random man. Then Oscar, then me. Then it’s Oscar back between this woman and man. But it happens within seconds. So like, what kind of magic is Oscar doing? And we’re like hopping all over these booths. 

JENNA [00:34:47] Do you have a recollection from when we taped the episode that they were moving you around? 

ANGELA [00:34:51] Well, I do. I do. So in one shot, they needed to establish a reaction of everyone. And in order to do that, in one sweeping pan shot, they had to stack some of us. So they moved me from my corner booth and they stuck me in front of Oscar in his booth. And they pulled these other two people out. But in watching it, it’s so funny to me because it’s like Oscar keeps entertaining all these different people at his booth in a matter of seconds. Like we couldn’t physically all be up and down and back and forth like that. And then at the very end, Oscar leaves the Chili’s with the original couple. 

JENNA [00:35:27] Wow. And who are those people? 

ANGELA [00:35:30] We never find out. Never find out. We don’t know. But anyway, it just cracks me up because I would look back there and I’d be like, oh, who’s Oscar sitting with? But it was like a matter of seconds. Well, now here’s the thing. If you’re watching just Oscar’s booth, you’re missing a whole lot of action that you probably should be paying attention to. But I watched this episode three times prepping for this, so I watched it once just as me. 

JENNA [00:35:54] You clearly watched it once just to see what Oscar was doing. 

ANGELA [00:35:56] I clearly watched it once, just to see what was happening in the background. 

JENNA [00:36:01] I think something we should talk about is Pam and Roy fighting in the parking lot. 

ANGELA [00:36:03] Yes. Let’s talk about that. 

JENNA [00:36:07] They originally said that they were not gonna use the audio from this because there was no dialogue. In the script, it just said Spy Shot. Pam and Roy are having a heated argument in the parking lot. Roy tugs her arm. Pam pulls away and heads back into the restaurant. Roy slams the truck door, then gets on the other side. And that was that. So David and I improvised a fight that we were having and then they used it. 

ANGELA [00:36:34] Yeah. 

JENNA [00:36:35] So that was so crazy. 

ANGELA [00:36:35] That is crazy. And I love what Pam said when she was like, you know, if you had listened, you would have known that. Of course, we don’t know what you’re talking about, right? But I was like when Roy grabbed your arm, I was like, hey, hey! 

JENNA [00:36:45] I know he gets a little physical with her sometimes with the grabbing of the arm. Someone mentioned that. 

ANGELA [00:36:52] And he’s a big guy. 

JENNA [00:36:53] He is. 

ANGELA [00:36:54] So you sort of really see in that moment that Pam is just fed up and she wants to stay and she wants to be with her friends. 

JENNA [00:37:00] And I think she wants to be with another person. 

ANGELA [00:37:03] I don’t know what you’re talking about. 

JENNA [00:37:05] I think she wants to be with Jim who she sits down at a table with. 

ANGELA [00:37:10] I know. And the look on his face when you come back. 

JENNA [00:37:13] He is so delighted she starts drinking his beer immediately, you know? Then she orders her own drinks and it leads us into a famous line. Who knew it would be this famous? Written by Mindy Kaling. 

ANGELA [00:37:24] Look what I have on my note card. 

JENNA [00:37:26] It’s like second drink. 

ANGELA [00:37:28] Second drink. 

JENNA [00:37:29] Yes. And Andrew Nelson asked, did you ad lib second drink or was it scripted? It was scripted. And a lot of people asked about what are we really drinking? Is it really alcohol? 

ANGELA [00:37:40] No. No. 

JENNA [00:37:42] It would be so wasteful. 

ANGELA [00:37:43] Also it looks like something from like a Nickelodeon slime…. like award show, because if you look at Meredith’s drink, it’s like a neon green. 

JENNA [00:37:54] Yeah. What was she drinking? 

ANGELA [00:37:56] I don’t know. But I think they really wanted the drinks to pop so you could see them. And so they added a lot of like food dye and things. 

JENNA [00:38:02] Well, the beer is usually just nonalcoholic beer. So the beer actually tastes like beer. 

ANGELA [00:38:07] And you feel bloated. 

JENNA [00:38:08] Yeah. And I don’t like beer and I don’t like the taste of beer. So I hate it whenever I have to drink it on camera because blah. And then other drinks like wine, it’s usually watered down juice, cranberry juice. Apple juice. Yes. And then the other drinks are anything. Sometimes it’s just water with a little food coloring in it. 

ANGELA [00:38:27] Or like if it is supposed to look like a bourbon or something. It could just be tea. 

JENNA [00:38:32] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sometimes they’ll brew you some tea and pour it over ice and then make you happy when you have that. 

ANGELA [00:38:37] Like if you have a Long Island iced tea and you’re just drinking an ice tea. Yeah. Sam just pulled up for you guys listening a whole page on the internet of just me rolling my eyes and looking snarky. So as Angela Martin, I guess there’s a lot of snarky eye roll options out. Or just snarky looks. 

JENNA [00:38:53] They’re not limited to the Dundies. 

ANGELA [00:38:55] OK Sam, take it down. I can’t look at myself rolling my eyes at myself. 

JENNA [00:38:59] So now we get into the tender moment where Michael is desperately trying to keep The Dundies going and the guys at the bar start to heckle him. And he’s so wounded and Pam won’t have it. 

ANGELA [00:39:14] Well, I think it’s that moment even. There’s a look that comes across Jim’s face of like, oh, like that’s mean, you know. And it’s sort of that thing of like, you know, your creepy cousin that creeps everyone out. But you have to take up for them because they’re your cousin. It’s like that moment of like, OK. He’s like family. And we get to make fun of them, but no one else can. 

JENNA [00:39:35] That’s right. And Pam starts chanting Dundies and getting people to rally around him. And I love that. And this is a little bit the relationship between Pam and Michael. This is the way that she shows up for him, the way he shows up for her at her art show later. Like in their lowest moments, they are there for one another. 

ANGELA [00:39:56] When Pam gives him a hug, when she gets her Dundies, his face is so precious. He’s just like it’s like the whole night was made in that moment. 

JENNA [00:40:04] Well, Pam, accepting her Dundies is another famous line. I feel God in this Chili’s tonight. 

ANGELA [00:40:11] Oh, I love it. So when I rewatch this, there was this moment I wrote on my note card, because when you say I’d like to thank God for this Dundie, it cuts to Jim. And Jim’s reaction to you thanking God for your Dundies is one of the best moments for me of the whole episode. It is just so sweet. He’s just looking at you like, oh, oh my sweet little drunk friend, I love you. 

JENNA [00:40:35] Well, I talked to Mindy about this on the day, and she had told me that Greg did not have total confidence in Pam thanking God for her Dundie. But we were gonna do it anyway. He was a little bit like, I don’t totally get it. And she’s like, no, you know, like whenever people win awards or they have like big sports moments. Yeah. A lot of times they thank God. And I asked her, I said, but how do I do it? And she said, you do it totally sincerely. She’s like, you really are like sincerely thankful and grateful for your Dundie tonight. 

ANGELA [00:41:05] It totally made sense to me because I felt like drunk Pam thinks this is what you do when you win an award. You take a moment. You think God, then you scream. 

JENNA [00:41:13] Oh, yeah. And I loved it so much. And then after this, after she gets her Dundie, Pam kisses Jim on the lips. 

ANGELA [00:41:23] I know. I know. Was that weird? 

JENNA [00:41:26] Well, this was a big fan question Caitlin asked. Do you consider this episode as Pam and Jim’s first kiss or do you think it’s Casino Night? I did not consider this their first kiss. 

ANGELA [00:41:38] I did. I disagree. You planted one on him. 

JENNA [00:41:45] The intention there was that it was accidental. The intention was that Pam was going for his cheek. And it was one of those moments where you… He moved his head in a way that I wasn’t expecting. And I’m drunk and I just followed through. That was what was in my head as Pam. So I wasn’t thinking that I was intending to kiss his lips. And so Pam kind of doesn’t register it. That was me. John said that Jim, who is not drunk, was very aware that they just kissed on the lips. And this was a whole conversation that we had off camera. 

ANGELA [00:42:20] I agree with him, though, and I see both sides. I see as a drunk person. You just kind of hug and you’re a little sloppy. Yeah, but I see for him as a sober person, this person he’s in love with just kissed him. 

JENNA [00:42:32] Yeah, but it was unintentional on Pam’s part in her mind.  But a lot of people wrote in and said, oh my gosh, why didn’t everyone in the office… Why wasn’t this a big gossipy moment? They know Pam’s engaged and they all witnessed her kiss, Jim. And in my mind, it was because it wasn’t really a kiss. It wasn’t a… 

ANGELA [00:42:54] Oh, well, in my mind, everyone was talking about it at work. Because I tell you what, Angela Martin was sitting with Phyllis in a booth when that happened. And I’m pretty sure she was like did you see the office mattress smooch someone else? 

JENNA [00:43:12] Well, I have another fan question for you then. This one is from Amy. She said at the end, when you drive Pam home, in my mind, Angela would be so disgusted by Pam’s behavior, it seems odd that she would give her a ride. 

ANGELA [00:43:26] Well, let me tell you, Amy, if you watched the deleted scenes, because I did, you will see that Angela Martin has a talking head where she is the companies designated driver. And you would know that Angela Martin would take this very serious as the safety officer for Dunder Mifflin. And I have this talking head where Angela goes on to say, you know what? No one gives me any gas money and everyone lives all over. It’s very expensive. 

JENNA [00:43:53] Wow. That is gold. 

ANGELA [00:43:55] So she’s always the martyr. She’s doing her job, but no one gives her gas money and she has to drive these drunks around. But she’s the designated driver. And so she has to do it. 

JENNA [00:44:04] So not only did Pam probably not give her any gas money. Yeah, she was very disappointed in her behavior. 

ANGELA [00:44:12] Angela quietly judged her the whole drive and probably told her, you need to make some new life choices. 

JENNA [00:44:17] Amy also wanted to know, was that really you driving? 

ANGELA [00:44:20] Yes, it was at 20 minutes, two seconds in the car, you see my shoulder. Now, here’s the thing. They wanted me every time in the car, you got in with me every time I pulled away. And then I would backup. And we do the scene over a few times. And I had a front row seat watching Pam and Jim have that sort of very tender but awkward moment where Pam has a question for him, but then notices the camera. I watched that whole thing over and over as you guys did it. And it was so great. You guys did such a fantastic job. And when I when I re watched it, part of me was like, well, why do they have me in the car? They don’t see me anyway. But they didn’t know. As you know, with our show, we always had an A camera and a B camera and they would be sort of carving up the scene and there might be this moment where they whipped around and could have seen me. So they wanted to make sure I was there just in case. And I was happy to be there. 

JENNA [00:45:09] But also, a lot of times they would use a double for that. Other shows. But on our show, we we were our own doubles. 

ANGELA [00:45:16] That’s right. Because as a documentary, you really never knew where that second camera would end up landing and you could end up on camera. I was asked, is that a cat air freshener hanging from your rearview mirror in your car? 

JENNA [00:45:29] Is it? 

ANGELA [00:45:31] It looks like it could be a cat or a tree. Guys, I don’t know. I tried to zoom in on it, but. 

JENNA [00:45:35] Oh, I hope it’s a cat. Let’s call it a cat. 

ANGELA [00:45:38] I hope it’s a green cat. 

JENNA [00:45:40] Green cat doesn’t sound right now, Angela. 

ANGELA [00:45:41] I know. But maybe it was maybe it was a Christmas cat that I held on to. Not sure. 

JENNA [00:45:47] Something we haven’t talked about is the scene where Pam falls off the stool because she is so drunk. And this leads me into a fan question. OK, Matt Sheldon asks, How did you get Chili’s to cooperate with this idea? 

ANGELA [00:45:59] Well, they were on the fence and we almost… We almost weren’t allowed to film there, remember? 

JENNA [00:46:05] Well, here’s what happened originally in the script, Pam vomits all over the bar. She does not fall off the stool. She is listening to Jim. She is nodding and then she vomits. And we had been filming for two days. Right. And I guess suddenly they had had Chili’s permission. Chili’s helped build the Chili’s. And someone at Chili’s read the script finally. And freaked out. 

ANGELA [00:46:30] I read that the script wasn’t fully complete. You know, they hadn’t done their second pass. And so Chili’s had not gotten all of the scenes. And so they didn’t have the scene where Pam omited and all of this happen? Well, once they read that, they shut down the production. They said no way. 

JENNA [00:46:49] They were very nervous about the drinking and the drunkenness and the sort of way that that might reflect on Chili’s. So Greg and Mindy started scrambling and they came up with this idea that instead of vomiting, Pam would fall off a stool. 

ANGELA [00:47:05] Right. And then also, I think it was Rainn’s idea to say, well, maybe Dwight could say, oh, she’s had a seizure and not the vomiting. 

JENNA [00:47:12] And then the other part of it was that we had to write in a new element, which is that Pam was going to get banned from Chili’s. And the person who gives the speech in the episode was an actual Chili’s manager and franchise owner named John Bosert. He was not an actor. And they felt like by having an actual Chili’s representative state very clearly the Chili’s policy against overserving and banning Pam for life, then they allowed us to film the rest of the episode. 

ANGELA [00:47:45] Yes. And also they had Pam, they had you as Pam, a waiter never brought you more drinks. You were reaching on other people’s tables. So you were doing it, not Chili’s. And you know what? I think that’s great. I think that it was really important to Chili’s that people know that they are responsible. 

JENNA [00:48:02] And a family establishment. 

ANGELA [00:48:04] And a family establishment. And I love that John Bossert, an actual Chili’s like owner, got to do that talking head. I thought he did a fantastic job. 

JENNA [00:48:13] He did great. 

ANGELA [00:48:14] His look to camera when he’s like so she is banned. Like his little look to camera was fantastic. 

JENNA [00:48:18] And also that aspect of Pam being banned for life was a wonderful thing that just grew into many more jokes. 

ANGELA [00:48:26] And I loved it. I love Pam is like such not a troublemaker. And she’s been banned from like a nationwide chain. 

JENNA [00:48:36] As if there is such a system to control that. 

ANGELA [00:48:39] I have one card that’s sort of around that area. So can I talk about it right now? 

JENNA [00:48:44] Sure. 

ANGELA [00:48:44] Once again, Rainn Wilson finds a way to take off his shirt. 

JENNA [00:48:47] Always taking off his shirt. 

ANGELA [00:48:48] We get to see his beautiful white fleshy belly. Because somehow that’s going to help save Pam as if it was going to be a pillow for your head. 

JENNA [00:48:55] I guess so. A lot of people asked about the falling off the stool moment. Was it scripted? Did I actually do it? It was scripted. I did actually do it. But I get being drunk. I was very nervous about falling off the stool and making it look good. So Greg Daniels, he got on the stool and he showed me how he wanted me to fall. He said he wanted me to just keep looking at John and nodding and then slowly slip off the stool. And he’s very large. 

ANGELA [00:49:23] He’s very talll. 

JENNA [00:49:23] He’s like 6 two or something. And so he fell down. They had padding on the floor. So he and I were both falling on padding. But John Krasinski and I, we kept pretending like we didn’t understand how I should fall off the stool on purpose to mess with Greg. So that Greg had tokeep showing us. 

ANGELA [00:49:42] Oh, my gosh. You were like, that’s a moment where you were like real Jim and Pam because you were pranking Greg the way you would prank Dwight. 

JENNA [00:49:50] 100 hundred percent. 

ANGELA [00:49:51] Does Greg know that? 

JENNA [00:49:54] He does. Greg told me later, I guess, John and I told that story in an interview and he confronted us. He was like, guys, you know, I really hurt my back. 

ANGELA [00:50:02] No, he did not. 

JENNA [00:50:03] So we felt so bad. 

ANGELA [00:50:13] Jenna! Oh my God, you guys. That was a real life Jim Pam moment. 

JENNA [00:50:17] It was. But I loved doing that. I loved doing that stunt. I thought I’d end up looking really good, too. I was proud of it. 

ANGELA [00:50:23] I thought it looked fantastic. I thought that whole like part where you were nodding and then you were like, what? He was like, what? And then you start laughing. It was so perfect. . 

JENNA [00:50:33] This brings us to the scene with Jim in the parking lot that we were talking about a little bit earlier. A lot of people wanted to know what was Pam going to ask Jim? She wanted to bring up so many things. So I think that’s what stopped her because there were so many options going through her head in that moment. And I had written out in my script all of these things that I could possibly say so that I could in that moment rifle through them, but then not pick any of them. 

ANGELA [00:51:02] Right. I think… I think it’s that moment where you have so much to say and you’re like, can I ask you a question? And then it would just, the floodgates would have opened. But you saw the camera and it gave you sort of this check of like, I can’t do this. Not here. Not now. 

JENNA [00:51:18] And I’m so glad that she didn’t because those kind of drunken confessional conversations, that wasn’t going to lead to the right place. You know, I’m glad the camera was there for them in that moment, because I think what Pam was going to say, what I had written in my script was something along the lines of I love you. Well, I think the question was going to be, you know, do you think I should break up with Roy? What do you… Do you think I’m with the wrong person? Those kind of leading questions. 

ANGELA [00:51:48] Hoping that he’d say you are. Be with me. 

JENNA [00:51:50] Exactly. So here’s the crazy thing. We mentioned earlier that our second season only had six episodes picked up, that this was the third episode that we shot and we didn’t know this was gonna be the premiere of Season 2 when we shot it. In fact, one of the ideas was that if we got canceled, it would be the season finale. And so I said to Greg, I think just in case we get canceled and this is the season finale, I think we should film an alternate ending to the scene in the parking lot where Pam does tell Jim how she feels and they kiss for real. Not the Chili’s kiss. But the real kiss just so that we could air it and we don’t leave people hanging. And Greg said no. He said no. If they want to see what happens with Jim and Pam, they’re just going to have to order more episodes. I don’t want to give them a choice. 

ANGELA [00:52:52] There you go. He was very protective of Jim and Pam. And what went out in the world about that relationship. 

JENNA [00:52:57] But that shows you how much we thought we were going to be canceled. 

ANGELA [00:52:59] Yeah, all the time. 

JENNA [00:53:00] All the time that I was pitching ideas for how to wrap up the whole series. 

ANGELA [00:53:05] Well, if you think that a normal show gets it. Well, at that time, network TV, you would get 22 episodes and we got six. It doesn’t make you feel like anyone’s really confident about what you’re doing. Like we didn’t think NBC was like, oh, we got a winner here. I have some deleted scenes cards. 

JENNA [00:53:23] Oh, tell them. 

ANGELA [00:53:24] Well, one of the ones I really loved is that Toby does a talking head where he says he’s never won a Dundie. 

JENNA [00:53:30] Michael refuses to give Toby a Dundie. He just leaves him out every year. 

ANGELA [00:53:34] And now everyone in the office gets a Dundie. But Toby is like I’m OK with that. I thought that was really funny. And then there’s a great Dwight Angela scene at the copier where Dwight is really trying to force Angela to tell him what was written on the bathroom wall. And I’m like, I don’t repeat those kind of things. It’s inappropriate. I don’t say those words out loud. And then Dwight’s like, does that have anything to do with his butt or his wiener? And I just walk off in a huff.But it’s the very first time I feel like Dwight and I have some little clandestine conversation just between the two of us. 

JENNA [00:54:08] Oh, that’s a good one. Pam does confess that she wrote it on the wall. She does. About Michael, but we don’t find out what it was. 

ANGELA [00:54:16] Which I love, too. I love what she’s like… I feel bad about what I wrote. And he’s like, no, you don’t. 

JENNA [00:54:20] People wanted to know, did we all get to keep our Dundies? 

ANGELA [00:54:26] Yes, we did. 

JENNA [00:54:26] Yes, we did. We all have them. 

ANGELA [00:54:29] I have two. 

JENNA [00:54:29] I have two as well. I have longest engagement and whitest sneakers. They gave me the longest engagement that you see me win in earlier years. 

ANGELA [00:54:39] I have the Tight Ass award. And then from years later, which we’ll get to, I have the she’s kind of a bitch. 

JENNA [00:54:44] I think Pam doesn’t get a Dundie the second time around. 

ANGELA [00:54:49] I don’t think so. There weren’t as many that round. 

JENNA [00:54:52] I have a final fan question. This is something for us to discuss. Angela, this is from Samantha, OK. She says, The last two times I have watched this episode, which is one of my top five favorite episodes, we have immediately been hit by a tornado within 10 minutes of the line “I feel God in this Chili’s tonight.”

ANGELA [00:55:11] Samantha, first of all, where do you live? 

JENNA [00:55:13] Do you think I’m jinxed or is it just bad luck? Should Samantha ever watch this episode again? 

ANGELA [00:55:19] I would say, do you live in Tornado Alley? Do you live in, like Kansas, North Texas, Oklahoma? Like where? Where do you live? And perhaps the next time you watch it, watch it in the storm cellar. 

JENNA [00:55:30] Or maybe hit pause right before that line. 

ANGELA [00:55:33] Check the weather. 

JENNA [00:55:35] Skip it. Just skip ahead. And come back. 

ANGELA [00:55:38] That is a crazy coincidence. 

JENNA [00:55:39] That is crazy. That was the craziest fan question we got. I had to include it because I found it so charming and I was a little worried about Samantha. So, guys, before we go, we want to tell you about a new feature of the Office Ladies podcast called Office Ladies Candy Bag. 

ANGELA [00:55:53] Yes, it’s over at Stitcher Premium. 

JENNA [00:55:55] And this is where we are going to answer even more of your questions about the show, particularly the things that you think we missed the first time around. 

ANGELA [00:56:04] We’re going to miss a bunch of things. 

JENNA [00:56:05] Oh, we already have. 

ANGELA [00:56:06] We already have and we have heard from you. But also we get a lot of questions. We could do almost a whole episode with just fan questions. And so we are. We’re going to do it a little bit at a time and we’re going to answer your questions. 

JENNA [00:56:20] Look for us over on Stitcher premium Office Ladies candy bag. It’s named after the candy bag on the office, which is the place where we put all of our extra stuff. 

ANGELA [00:56:29] Our extra stuff, you guys, and you get a discount. If you use code Office Ladies for the first month, we’re going to get to your questions. 

JENNA [00:56:36] All the things we missed on the pilot and Diversity Day, guys. I heard you. I missed the shredder thing. We will discuss. 

ANGELA [00:56:46] Did Jenna hear you or did she hear you? 

JENNA [00:56:46] I heard you. That was it. 

ANGELA [00:56:48] That’s The Dundies. 

JENNA [00:56:51] Please email us at OfficeLadies@Earwolf.com. If you feel like we missed anything, we will get to it. 

ANGELA [00:56:57] Yes, sorry if we did, but we love this episode. We’re always happy to talk more about it. 

JENNA [00:57:02] And next week we will be talking about Sexual Harassment. The episode Sexual Harassment. 

ANGELA [00:57:06] Correct. 

JENNA [00:57:06] We’ll be talking about the episode. Sexual Harassment. 

ANGELA [00:57:10] All right, you guys. See you then. Thanks for tuning in. 

JENNA [00:57:12] Thank you. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, our producer is Codi Fischer, our sound engineer Sam Kieffer. 

ANGELA [00:57:24] And our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. Remember, you can listen to Ad free versions of Office Ladies on Stitcher premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium Use Code Office.