EP. 165 — The Incentive

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer. 

Angela [00:00:04] And I’m Angela Kinsey. 

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

Angela [00:00:08] And we’re best friends. 

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

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

Jenna [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Hello!

Angela [00:00:24] Hello, hello. 

Jenna [00:00:29] I have an incentive for you. For our listeners.

Angela [00:00:32] Oh, do you? 

Jenna [00:00:34] If this becomes our most listened to Office Ladies of all time, would you be willing to get an Office Ladies tattoo on your rear end? 

Angela [00:00:46] Me? 

Jenna [00:00:47] Both of us. Matching Office Ladies tattoos on our tushes. 

Angela [00:00:52] On the old SS Bernard? 

Jenna [00:00:58] It’s a no for me. I hope everyone will listen to this, but I’m not going to get a tattoo. 

Angela [00:01:03] Well, I’ve never gotten a tattoo, so I feel like the very first one maybe shouldn’t be like where you work. I don’t know.

Jenna [00:01:10] I agree. Right?

Angela [00:01:12] Right? It’s like, you know, if you work at Walmart, are you going to put Walmart on your butt? Like we work for Office Ladies. 

Jenna [00:01:18] I know. I know. It would be a really intense form of advertising. That no one would foresee. 

Angela [00:01:24] For who? For who?

Jenna [00:01:25] Just for Lee and Josh. 

Angela [00:01:29] For when we start wearing those thong bathing suits that we’ve always wanted to wear, Jenna. We’ve always wanted to wear, you know, the bathing suits where your ass is falling out. 

Jenna [00:01:38] You know I love a thong in any form. 

Angela [00:01:41] Oh, you love that. You love a little string there. Like, what are we doing? Okay. 

Jenna [00:01:45] I don’t know. Guys, today we’re going to talk about The Incentive. It is season eight, episode two. It was written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Charles McDougall. Here is your summary. Robert California tells Andy he wants the Scranton branch to double their sales. So Andy introduces a points for prizes reward program to incentivize these doubling of sales, but it kind of soon blows up in his face. Meanwhile, Pam and Angela become pregnant walking buddies. 

Angela [00:02:20] So short lived. Like the shortest walking buddies ever. 

Jenna [00:02:26] Fast fact number one is all about the making of the Sabre Pyramid. Dwight is going to introduce this new electronic tablet in the shape of a pyramid. 

Angela [00:02:38] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:02:39] That Sabre wants them to sell. It is very large, and it doesn’t do much. 

Angela [00:02:44] Well, you know, Jenna, without the battery or optional memory booster, it’s barely 3 pounds. 

Jenna [00:02:50] Yeah. 

Angela [00:02:51] But if you need a battery for optional memory, what is it, like 10 pounds? How heavy is the thing? Also, it’s got 50 L of memory. 50 L. 

Jenna [00:03:01] Yeah. You’re going to want the booster. We had a fan question from Cameron C in California who wanted to know, How functional was the Sabre Pyramid? It looks like it might be a nonfunctional computer screen that you just turn on and off, since nobody seems to really use it during the show. Also, how did they make them? It seems like a pretty specialized job to cut a screen into a triangle shape. Well, guess who I talked to this morning? 

Angela [00:03:30] Please say Phil Shea. Please. 

Jenna [00:03:32] Phil Shea. 

Angela [00:03:34] Woo hoo! 

Jenna [00:03:34] Just the loveliest man of all time. He just finished doing a pilot for Justin Spitzer, and he mentioned that he ran into you in Bed Bath and Beyond with the blankets. 

Angela [00:03:43] Yes. He had every shade of gray you could buy. Apparently, someone in this pilot has a gray themed bedroom. 

Jenna [00:03:52] Well, Phil told me that the Sabre Pyramid was Paul Lieberstein’s idea. It was going to be a parody of those new tablet computers that were just coming out onto the market at the time of this episode, specifically the Apple iPad. And in the script, all it said was this, quote, Dwight holds up the tablet. It is triangle shaped. 

Angela [00:04:16] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:04:16] Those were the only details. So Phil said that they started by making a bunch of drawings, which they got Paul’s approval on. And then once they had that, they went to this place called Studio Art and Technology. And these guys did, like, a real kind of engineering design of it. And if you can believe it, they printed the case using a 3-D printer. 

Angela [00:04:42] That’s so cool. 

Jenna [00:04:43] Isn’t that amazing? And he said they covered it in plexiglass and they did have one that was functional that actually turned on and lit up. They even had the capability of different graphics to kind of switch from different screens. But any of that that you see, that was CGI. That was done in post. It was not like fully functional. It could turn on and show the Sabre logo and then anything else basically was CGI movement on that screen. Phil said they made two of these light up pyramids because there is a famous saying in the props world, which is, When you have one, you have none. Because one means something’s going to happen to it and then you have nothing. 

Angela [00:05:30] Right. When you have one, you have none. I kind of like that. 

Jenna [00:05:34] Right? 

Angela [00:05:35] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:05:36] So anyway, he said later when we get to some later episodes, you’re going to see more of these. And he gave me the detail about those too. But I’ll save it. Of course. Why tell you now? 

Angela [00:05:46] Save it. Because I have a few tech websites that had their own review of the Sabre Pyramid. 

Jenna [00:05:51] Oh, really? 

Angela [00:05:54] Yes. Not everyone wanted to unleash the power of the pyramid. 

Jenna [00:06:00] You know, Angela, when I was talking to Phil, he told me a really cool story about James Spader. 

Angela [00:06:06] Oh, yeah? 

Jenna [00:06:07] First of all, he loved working with James. Adored him. He said he was, like, such a serious actor and so kind and appreciative with everyone. And he said, you know, for the episode, The List when Robert California says, I never use a pen, that he only writes in pencil. 

Angela [00:06:27] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:06:28] He said that James Spader came up to him and said, Phil, could I please get an assortment of different mechanical pencils so that I can choose the exact right one? Because he believed his character had an attachment to like a particular mechanical pencil, but he didn’t know- he was like, I’ll know it when I see it. And so Phil was so excited to go out and buy like 12 mechanical pencils. 

Angela [00:06:53] He made Phil’s day. 

Jenna [00:06:55] I know. All right. Are you ready for fast fact number two? 

Angela [00:06:59] I am. 

Jenna [00:07:01] Fast fact number two is the email that we got from Myles McNutt, Angela. 

Angela [00:07:06] I loved this email. I have been waiting for us to share it. Jenna, you have to tell everyone. 

Jenna [00:07:12] All right. Our Associate Producer, Aynsley, was going through the Office Ladies mailbox, and she found this letter from Myles McNutt. And I’m going to read it. Ready? 

Angela [00:07:23] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:07:24] He says, Greetings! My friends and followers were kind enough to alert me that My A.V. Club reviews have made it onto the podcast as the seventh season reaches its conclusion. And I want to thank you for bringing back fond memories of my time covering the show. I’ve become a media professor in the intervening period and Rate My Professors has tagged me as a, quote, tough grader. So let the record show that I am nothing if not consistent. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing how Jenna felt about my take on the rest of the season and highly recommend she stop reading my reviews in season eight for all of our sakes. 

Angela [00:08:07] Well, now I can’t wait. Now I can’t wait for you to read them. 

Jenna [00:08:10] Oh, well, believe me, I’m not stopping. But he said that we should reach out if we ever want to hear how he feels about the show. He said, you know, he has different feelings about the show in hindsight, having watched it still many years later, rather than in real time. And I thought that would be kind of fascinating. We have to reach out to him. 

Angela [00:08:30] Oh, for sure. We have to have a whole opening of the show with Myles McNutt. He’s fast fact one, two and three. 

Jenna [00:08:36] I agree. Well, for the premiere of season eight, last week’s episode, The List, he gave that episode a B. Not so bad. 

Angela [00:08:44] Not bad for Myles. 

Jenna [00:08:47] And he said this. He said he thought that at the end of the day, the idea of Andy as boss and Robert California as CEO, had the potential to increase the longevity of the show beyond Steve Carell’s exit. I mean, that’s promising. 

Angela [00:09:00] That’s a good endorsement. 

Jenna [00:09:01] He said he looked forward to continuing to cover the show and seeing how the season would unfold. As for the incentive, he gave it a C. So maybe maybe this is where we start to go downhill. 

Angela [00:09:16] I really wonder what our lowest grade is going to be. 

Jenna [00:09:20] Oh, no. I’m scared. 

Angela [00:09:21] Like, I wonder if we get an F. 

Jenna [00:09:23] Oh, my God. I can’t. We never had an F episode. Never. That I am certain of. 

Angela [00:09:28] We don’t think so. But Myles is a tough grader. I mean, or maybe a D? We have to keep checking in. 

Jenna [00:09:35] You know we will. He did say that this episode of The Incentive was similar to some of the early years of The Office. And he said that, like in a good way. But he also said that it was suggestive of a very aimless season that threatened to wear out his patience with the series. 

Angela [00:09:54] Tell us what you really think, Myles. 

Jenna [00:09:58] He also did not care for our dual pregnancy storyline. 

Angela [00:10:01] Oh!

Jenna [00:10:03] But his complaint was that they weren’t doing enough with it to make it interesting. He thought they could have done more. 

Angela [00:10:09] I agree. 

Jenna [00:10:10] There you go. 

Angela [00:10:12] Yeah, I agree, Myles. It was such a fun idea. And then it didn’t pay off the way I had hoped it would with more storyline. 

Jenna [00:10:19] It kind of petered out. 

Angela [00:10:20] A little bit. 

Jenna [00:10:22] Yeah. All right. Well, moving on to fast fact number three. Fast fact number three is a little bit of Office Ladies news. It’s a little bit about what happened over spring break. 

Angela [00:10:32] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:10:33] Specifically, what happened to me over spring break. 

Angela [00:10:36] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:10:38] Which is that I broke my right shoulder in a sort of skiing accident. 

Angela [00:10:43] I got a text from Jenna that simply said, I broke my shoulder. 

Jenna [00:10:48] I was in the emergency room, and I couldn’t really use my arm yet, but I felt compelled to tell my BFF what had happened. 

Angela [00:10:55] Of course! Of course. And I’m with Josh. We were running errands and I said, Jenna said she broke her shoulder. And he goes, Ange, it’s April 1st. She’s pranking you. This is maybe like a April Fool’s joke. And I said, No, no, no, Josh, we don’t prank each other. We don’t like being pranked and we don’t prank each other. I am telling you, this is real. And then I texted you, Oh, my gosh, Are you okay? And then we didn’t hear from you. And then finally, I was like, I texted Lee, and I was like, Please tell me, is she okay? What’s going on? And when we hadn’t heard from you in a bit, Josh was like, I think she’s pranking. I was like, No! Drop it! I know she’s not. 

Jenna [00:11:33] I would never. I would never. 

Angela [00:11:35] I know! 

Jenna [00:11:35] When you told me that story, I thought, you know me better. I would never prank you.

Angela [00:11:39] I knew you better! I never doubted it for a second. 

Jenna [00:11:43] So here’s what happened, everyone. We were in Aspen, Colorado, for spring break. We were skiing. We skied for six days. Great skiing. Wonderful time. It’s 4 p.m. on our last day of skiing. 

Angela [00:11:58] Last day. You were flying out the next morning. 

Jenna [00:12:01] Yes. And in order to get back to our friend’s house, there was this option; at the end of the ski run, you can either take off your boots, walk down like a tiny embankment and then carry your skis back to their house along this snowy sidewalk, or you can sort of scootchy yourself down the embankment on your skis and then sort of pull yourself along the snowy sidewalk back to their house. 

Angela [00:12:29] You’re not even on the mountain anymore. You’re not even on a run. 

Jenna [00:12:34] Nope. I’m not. And I, I knew better. I knew better. This is not what I’m good at. Kind of like these little moves. I don’t do tree trails. I don’t do anything that requires sort of precision with the skis. 

Angela [00:12:52] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:12:53] And it was really slushy. And I decided that I didn’t want to carry my skis, so I was going to try to skootchy, and I didn’t skootchy. My legs got all twisted, and I fell onto a slushy, very hard sidewalk on my shoulder, and it broke. So, many F-bombs later, we get me to the hospital and, yes, broken shoulder. I’m going to be in a sling for they said six weeks, followed by physical therapy. But here was the thing. I can now no longer leave the next day. I couldn’t leave.  

Angela [00:13:31] Right. You couldn’t fly.  

Jenna [00:13:32] I couldn’t get on a plane less than 24 hours after this fall. So we cancel our flight. We’re just getting our bearings. And finally, in order to leave, we had to get a flight out of Denver, which is like a four hour drive. 

Angela [00:13:46] Yeah. You were saying there were no more flights out of Aspen. 

Jenna [00:13:48] Nothing out of Aspen. Nothing. We get on a JSX flight out of Denver. JSX is an airline. They don’t fly out of the big airport. They fly out of the small, little like little airport. 

Angela [00:14:01] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:14:01] You just kind of walk into a hangar and then you get on the plane. But we managed to get seats on this flight. What was great was that we weren’t going to have to go through like a whole security at the airport where people might bump me and I- this was the big fear, that I would get jostled, that I would fall again or something. So we’re like, this is a good plan, even though it means we have to drive to Denver for 4 hours. Except on the way to Denver, we rented a car. We’re one hour outside of Denver, and they closed down the highway. 

Angela [00:14:33] Snowstorm? 

Jenna [00:14:34] Yup. And they reroute us the only other way to get from Aspen to Denver, which is through the mountains, which is an additional three and a half hours. 

Angela [00:14:43] Crazy. I was getting updated texts from Jenna, and I was like, This is like Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 

Jenna [00:14:48] Yes! 

Angela [00:14:48] First of all, we didn’t even mention that the day you broke your shoulder, the next day you had to check out of your condo you were renting. They couldn’t let you stay. They had someone else coming in. And Lee had to pack up all of you guys, and you guys had to find another place to stay. Then you had to find a way out of Aspen. Then you had to rent a car. Then the road was closed to a snowstorm. Now you’re driving on a curvy, crazy road in the snowstorm 3 hours out of the way. 

Jenna [00:15:14] We did not think we were going to make our flight. We didn’t. We had all these plans to get to Denver, to have dinner, to return our car, to then get to this little airport. We’re like, we’re not going to make it. We’re in now a blizzard in the mountains. I thought we were going to get stuck in the mountains. 

Angela [00:15:31] I started praying. I was just like, Lord, let them get off that mountain. 

Jenna [00:15:34] She did. 

Angela [00:15:34] Just let them get off the mountain. 

Jenna [00:15:36] It was so sweet. You were just like, I’m in prayer right now for you and for your safe passage. But here’s the other thing that Angela did. Angela and Josh called Josh’s mom and Josh’s sister and brother in law who live in Denver to help us out. And they are the reason that we got on this flight, because they met us at the entrance to the airport with a takeaway dinner of Jersey Mike’s, and they took our car back to the rental place for us because if not for that, we would not have made it on the plane. 

Angela [00:16:09] You had 10 minutes. 

Jenna [00:16:11] We got to the airport 10 minutes before our flight. 

Angela [00:16:13] When she texted me, We don’t think we’re going to make the flight. Maybe we’ll get there 10 minutes before, if we’re lucky. If we can get off this mountain, we’ll maybe make it there with 10 minutes to spare. So then I reached out to Josh’s family. Josh and I both did. We were like, all hands on deck, you guys. We’ve got to get my BFF home. She has a broken shoulder. She needs to get home. And they were amazing. Lynn, Nirvan, I mean Josie. They all stepped up. Josh’s other sister, Jori, in case you got stranded, was like setting up her guest room for you. 

Jenna [00:16:42] Angela, it was amazing because when we got there, it was basically like we jumped out of the car and threw them our car keys and grabbed a bag of food. And we’re like, Thank you! I mean, we later gave a proper thank you, but it was that crazy. Also, big shoutout to JSX Airlines and Kevin, who I was on the phone with several times while in the mountains in a blizzard, who assured me that if I could get there, that they would let me on the plane. And I want you to know, they did not know I was Jenna Fischer from The Office. He was just absolutely wonderful. I’ve never flown this airline before. Incredible. Just absolutely amazing. And sure enough, we got there and we went up to the guy who was letting people on the plane and he said, Oh, yes, Kevin called. He said to expect you. We’re like, we’re the people with the broken shoulder who were in a blizzard. So thank you to Josh’s family. Thank you to Kevin at JSX. And now I’m going to have a broken shoulder for a while. I cannot move my right arm at all. I cannot move it. 

Angela [00:17:41] I mean, I went over the other day and I flat ironed your hair for you. 

Jenna [00:17:45] She did. Yes. Grooming has been my biggest challenge. Grooming and sleeping. I have to sleep sitting up. 

Angela [00:17:51] Yeah. Jenna left me the sweetest message. She was like, Ange, thank you so much for coming over and flat ironing my hair for me. I just needed to feel like a real person. And it just made me think of when we’re old ladies and we’re going to help each other do things. 

Jenna [00:18:06] I did. I did. Aw, you were there for me with my broken back, and now you were here for me for my broken shoulder. 

Angela [00:18:12] Lady, I will always be there for you. In fact, right now I think we need to take an ice break. Jenna is icing her shoulder as we do the podcast. And when we come back, we’re going to tell you what’s really going to incentivize the Dunder Mifflin gang. 

Jenna [00:18:26] I like it. 

Angela [00:18:29] We are back and I have a little thing to share with you guys from the shooting draft. There was a little note on the shooting draft when I went back and looked at it. It said The Incentive is episode hashtag 08001. And that meant it was the first episode of season eight. And there was a little note that said, We have decided to air this episode after The List, which was episode number hashtag 08002. Those numbers will not change, but this order does. 

Jenna [00:18:58] Yes. I was watching this episode and when it opens, I thought, Why does my belly seem smaller than last week? And it’s because we shot this episode first, but it aired second. 

Angela [00:19:10] Mm hmm. And rewatching this episode, Jenna, I forgot what a big storyline Kevin has. In this episode he has- first of all, he’s the whole cold open, and I’m pretty sure this is one of the most quoted things Brian gets said to him. Like of of the Kevin lines, top five. It all starts with Jim becoming concerned because Kevin is answering everything in really short like sentences, like Me got it. Thank. You know, stuff like that. He’s like, Hmm. What’s going on? He brings Pam over. And the more Kevin talks, or actually, the less he talks, they’re like, okay, you know what? We need to get you to a hospital. And Angela and Oscar are like, No, no, no, he’s fine. He’s always been like this. And Jim and Pam were like, No, no, no. He hasn’t always been like this. And we’re like, Yes, he has. Oscar thinks he’s making some, you know, statement. And Angela just thinks this is who he is. And Jim and Pam are like, No, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this. They bring him into Andy’s office, and this is where we find out that Kevin has decided he can save a lot of time by speaking with less words. 

Jenna [00:20:18] That’s right. And with all of his saved time, he’s going to see world.  

Angela [00:20:24] Mmhmm. SeaWorld. With the fish. Not see the world. 

Jenna [00:20:27] Oh, but he says China. 

Angela [00:20:29] He does. 

Jenna [00:20:30] So Jim is really not sure if he means he’s going to see the world or go to SeaWorld with all his extra time. 

Angela [00:20:37] I think this is the line that Brian gets quoted a lot. “Why waste time say lot words when few word do trick?”. 

Jenna [00:20:44] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:20:45] Andy’s going to say, here’s the deal, Kevin. I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I really do. But here we have a word code, kind of like, you know how you have a dress code? So Andy goes on to say, Kevin, sometime words you no need use, but need need for talk talk. 

Jenna [00:21:02] Yeah. 

Angela [00:21:03] Kevin’s like, fine, I’ll talk normally. 

Jenna [00:21:06] I have two catches early on. 

Angela [00:21:09] I do too. Is yours at one minute 9 seconds? 

Jenna [00:21:13] Mine’s at 22 seconds. 

Angela [00:21:14] What? 

Jenna [00:21:16] Outie belly button. 

Angela [00:21:17] You have in an outie? 

Jenna [00:21:19] You can see my my belly button from my big old pregnant belly. And then at 38 seconds, I want to talk for a moment about your very thin black headband that you’re wearing, Angela, with your ponytail. 

Angela [00:21:34] Okay. 

Jenna [00:21:36] It’s such an interesting look to put this very thin headband on with your ponytail. 

Angela [00:21:40] Oh, it’s decorative. It has no job. 

Jenna [00:21:42] Right. 

Angela [00:21:43] It’s just decorative. 

Jenna [00:21:44] Okay. That’s all. 

Angela [00:21:45] I can tell you it’s double headache because you have ponytail and headband. 

Jenna [00:21:49] This is why I thought it was odd. 

Angela [00:21:51] Mm hmm. By the end of the day, you’re like, Get this off of me. 

Jenna [00:21:55] What are your catches? 

Angela [00:21:57] Well, mine is at one minute, 9 seconds. There is the poster of the “friendship is the music of life”, you know, poster?

Jenna [00:22:03] The one that Ellie Kemper stole at the end of the series? 

Angela [00:22:07] Yes. And I was thinking about it because, you know, my character is not on the poster, but it makes sense because would Andy really put Angela on this poster? I mean, they don’t have any fond shared memories. 

Jenna [00:22:18] I don’t know. I mean, you’re his ex fiancee. 

Angela [00:22:21] Exactly. And then the other thing is, I caught two framed pictures of his a cappella group. 

Jenna [00:22:29] Oh, me same. 

Angela [00:22:31] Yeah, me same? Okay, Kevin. And then I also saw on a frame the whole group of Dunder Mifflin. 

Jenna [00:22:39] Yeah. 

Angela [00:22:40] Did you recognize which picture it was? 

Jenna [00:22:42] No. 

Angela [00:22:43] I’m pretty sure. Jenna, I zoomed in. It’s the one that Greg gave us all as a gift where Michael has photoshopped our heads. I think it’s that one. 

Jenna [00:22:52] Really? 

Angela [00:22:53] I thought so. 

Jenna [00:22:54] And Andy has framed it and put it in his office?

Angela [00:22:57] I think we were all given that as a gift from Michael. 

Jenna [00:23:01] Oh, yeah, you’re right. And then we were given it personally as a gift from Greg. 

Angela [00:23:06] From Greg. 

Jenna [00:23:07] Yeah. Well, this episode is going to open in the conference room with Dwight presenting the new Sabre Pyramid tablet. Phil said if you notice the way Rainn is holding the tablet so gingerly and carefully, he said they gave Rainn a very, very, very big speech about being very careful with this tablet and that is why he is holding it the way he is. 

Angela [00:23:29] Because they only had two. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:23:32] Yes. But I think they told Rainn they only had one. 

Angela [00:23:35] That was smart. 

Jenna [00:23:36] Andy’s going to walk in. He needs to pick a tie because his whole day is about making a good impression on Robert, who’s coming in to the office later. 

Angela [00:23:46] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:23:47] But Dwight is annoyed. He’s trying to do business. He’s trying to show off this amazing pyramid. 

Angela [00:23:53] And Andy’s kind of being Michael Scott. 

Jenna [00:23:55] He is.

Angela [00:23:56] Well, I was really curious about the Sabre Pyramid and what people thought of it out there in the tech world during this time. And it was actually pretty funny. I found an article by Todd Wasserman that said, Dunder Mifflin also releases a tablet and it’s a triangle. Amazon shook up the tablet market this week with its Kindle Fire, but the big news in fictional tablet introductions occurred on The Office Thursday night. In this episode, Dwight Schrute presents the triangle shaped tablet called The Pyramid to a roomful of skeptical employees. What was funny to me about this is that Amazon had this big tablet announcement, but what everyone was writing about was the Sabre Pyramid.  

Jenna [00:24:34] I saw a bunch of articles about this as well. People thought this was like the greatest burn ever on the tech world was this parody of all the tablets that now all the different companies were starting to introduce. 

Angela [00:24:48] Mhmm. On a website called AllThingsD.com- D stands for Digital, Jenna. 

Jenna [00:24:54] Good. Because it could have stood for something else. 

Angela [00:24:57] I know. I had to double check. Ina Fried wrote this: Finally the tablet to make HP and R.I.M. feel better about themselves. There have been some pretty bad attempts to take on the iPad over the past year, but things reached a new low last night. On NBC’s The Office, the fictional Dunder Mifflin team was forced to sell a triangle shaped tablet dubbed The Pyramid. It’s heavy, has poor battery life and, well, it’s shaped like a triangle. It has enough flaws to make the Touchpad and Playbook seem like home runs. 

Jenna [00:25:27] Ooh, burn! Oh, my goodness. 

Angela [00:25:33] And then as I’m looking up the Sabre Pyramid, I stumbled across a company called Sabre.com.

Jenna [00:25:40] Really? What do they sell? 

Angela [00:25:42] This is what it says: We are the technology that powers travel. Sabre is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry. 

Jenna [00:25:51] I don’t even know what that means. What does that mean? 

Angela [00:25:53] With decades of revolutionary firsts, our team of experts drive innovation and ingenuity across the travel ecosystem. Again, I still am not sure what. 

Jenna [00:26:01] More words that mean nothing. 

Angela [00:26:03] Sabre partners with airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other travel partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel. 

Jenna [00:26:10] Okay, now I’m getting closer to understanding. 

Angela [00:26:13] We’re getting closer. But anyway, there is an actual company called Sabre. 

Jenna [00:26:16] Wow. And they do something with travel. And technology. And apps. 

Angela [00:26:21] Uh huh. 

Jenna [00:26:22] Okay. Well, no one is interested in selling this pyramid. 

Angela [00:26:26] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:26:27] Phyllis says it looks stupid. And the real news of this conference room scene is going to be Darryl announcing that his ex, Justine, might be coming in to the office later. This is the real dish of the conference room scene. 

Angela [00:26:43] Yeah. And then Kevin kind of has, like, a whole expletive rant. I’m sure there was a bunch of lip flap. 

Jenna [00:26:49] Blur lip flap, Blur that lip flap. 

Angela [00:26:52] I was curious what Kevin’s actually saying. So I went to the shooting draft to see if they wrote lines for him or if Brian was just as Kevin improvising here. 

Jenna [00:27:00] You were curious what he was saying? It’s so clear what he’s saying. 

Angela [00:27:04] What do you think he’s saying? 

Jenna [00:27:06] You want me to say it? 

Angela [00:27:07] Yes. 

Jenna [00:27:08] He drops the C word, right? 

Angela [00:27:12] No, I mean, it wasn’t scripted to be the C word. 

Jenna [00:27:15] That’s what it looks like. What does he say? 

Angela [00:27:18] In the script it says that Kevin says this: I thought you (BLEEP) hated that psycho bitches (BLEEP) guts. 

Jenna [00:27:24] I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. 

Angela [00:27:26] Well that’s, that’s what it was scripted to say. And everyone’s like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. And Kevin’s like, Hey, I am just quoting Darryl. And then Darryl’s like, No, no, no, we’re good now. We’re good. 

Jenna [00:27:37] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:27:37] Also, the other thing in the scene that’s happening is that Andy has clearly tried to make everyone at Dunder Mifflin like, part of his a cappella group. Now that he’s in charge, everyone’s going to have a nickname. Everybody. Oscar is C-SPAN. Dwight is D Dub Dog, Pam is P-dog, Darryl is D-dog. Erin is E-dog. In the script, there is a little bit more. It’s also in deleted scenes. Andy says, Thanks for the help T-dog. And Ryan goes, T-dog? Who’s T-dog? Toby goes, I thought I was T-dog. Jim goes, No, no, no. It stands for Tuna Dog. Jim is Tuna Dog. I kind of wish this had kept going. I wish that every week you would hear someone else’s new nickname. 

Jenna [00:28:21] All dog related. 

Angela [00:28:23] Apparently. 

Jenna [00:28:24] Let’s see. Robert California is going to arrive to the office. He startles Erin, but he likes Andy’s tie. So good job. 

Angela [00:28:32] Andy says, Hi, Dad. I mean, oh, boy. 

Jenna [00:28:37] Erin asks Robert if he would like a cold beverage, and he says, I’ll take a coffee. This is going to be troublesome because later she’s going to deliver a very, very full cup of coffee that is spilling all over her hands and all over Andy’s desk. And when Robert takes a sip of it, it is ice cold. And she says, Yeah, it’s very, very old. Very old. 

Angela [00:29:00] This is one of those Erin moments where I’m like, Erin, what are you doing? What are you doing? 

Jenna [00:29:05] We had a fan question from Naomi W in Michigan who said, This may sound weird, but was the coffee that Robert California drank and then Andy drank actually cold or was it warm coffee? Naomi, I am going to assume- I don’t know the answer to this question, but I’m going to assume that it was a room temp coffee. They would be very nervous about giving us like a hot beverage in a scene, for so many reasons. But they would not have served a cold beverage. They would not have served like old ice cold coffee. So I’m guessing, but that would be my guess. 

Angela [00:29:43] Well, somewhere in this cold old coffee drinking, Robert’s going to realize that Andy likes Erin, and Erin likes Andy. And Andy’s like, Yeah, you know what? We just, the timing has never quite been right. I mean, I liked her, and Robert’s like, I’ve lost interest. 

Jenna [00:29:59] Yeah. 

Angela [00:30:00] That’s it. He’s done. 

Jenna [00:30:02] Well, Robert is all business. He goes out into the bullpen and he is going to give what is a kind of inspirational speech about why do people choose a small paper company over a big superstore? And it’s because of the service. It’s the personal service. And he says, Now I’m going to give you a challenge. I want you to double your sales. This quarter. You have one quarter. Double your sales. 

Angela [00:30:27] Everybody is completely captivated by him. We look like we’re in awe. We look like we would have just followed him right off a cliff. 

Jenna [00:30:36] So this scene was the very first scene that we shot with James Spader for season eight. And I will never forget it. We were captivated by him. We were in awe of him. All of our reactions of standing there and just being mesmerized by him were because we actually were in real life. 

Angela [00:30:55] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:30:56] I mean, he was completely captivating as a human being. 

Angela [00:31:00] Yeah. Whenever he had a big speech to the bullpen and we all had to be there, all I could think of was like, Whatever you do, don’t break or laugh. Not that I would, because I was like, you know, slightly in awe slash terrified. But then also, like, I’d be like, Oh, please don’t let me have a weird gurgle or a weird belly noise. I don’t know. I was wearing that fake belly. It was pushing up on me. I was gurgly during this time. 

Jenna [00:31:24] I just know that, like, when I’m acting with someone, I’m pretty good at staying in the moment. I’m pretty good at staying in my character and seeing them as their character and kind of staying in the story. But every once in a while there are actors that I’ve worked with that I can’t help but sort of like leave my body and watch us from the outside. 

Angela [00:31:42] Oh, yeah. 

Jenna [00:31:42] This would happen to me a lot with John C Reilly. Just it would be my turn to talk and I would just be like, Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I was watching us. I forgot that this wasn’t like a solo performance for me, that I’m actually in this scene. And that would happen to me a lot with James Spader. A lot of the time, I would just, like, get caught up in his performance. 

Angela [00:32:04] Yeah, me too. That happened a lot too for me with Will Ferrell, because I was just I would just watch him be so funny and I’d be like, Oh, God, I’m supposed to say something here. Ahh. 

Jenna [00:32:14] Robert is going to leave after he gives this mandate, and Andy is going to very awkwardly sit on Jim’s desk. When I saw this, I had to know, was that scripted? Was it improv? I couldn’t remember. I went to the script. It’s scripted. 

Angela [00:32:32] I did, too, because I thought, I mean, is Ed just deciding to saddle up on Jim’s desk like awkwardly and shove things aside? Was this written? Was that Ed? And Jenna, I did the same thing. The script says, Andy leans up against Jim’s desk and then very awkwardly begins to sit on Jim’s desk, knocking over a few things and shoving some stuff onto Dwight’s desk. Phyllis rolls her eyes. 

Jenna [00:32:56] Yeah. You know, also, during this, I noticed that Dwight is holding the bamboo plant in his lap. And again, I was like, What’s happening with that? And I was not the only one. We got a fan question from Chloe F in Maryland who said, What’s up with Dwight’s bamboo when Andy is sitting on Jim’s desk? Why does he hold it in front of his face? I can’t stop laughing. 

Angela [00:33:24] Okay, so at first I thought he picked up the plant to protect it, because Andy’s knocking everything off. 

Jenna [00:33:29] Right. 

Angela [00:33:31] It’s not the case. 

Jenna [00:33:32] Not the case. Went to the script and there was a note about it. 

Angela [00:33:36] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:33:37] Did you see it as well? 

Angela [00:33:38] I did. You read it. 

Jenna [00:33:40] All right. It just said, Andy watches Dwight, who is sniffing a flowerless plant. 

Angela [00:33:46] Lady, I have to say, in rereading the shooting draft, Dwight has some real odd behavior in this episode. And I know part of it is because he’s just decided to check out, but there are some really random scenes with Dwight. There’s one later that I’m going to play for you because I was like, What is happening with Dwight? It’s in deleted scenes. About this time, Justine is going to arrive. Kevin doesn’t know what to do. I guess he’s alone at front reception. He has a meltdown. He just starts yelling, Darryl! Girl! 

Jenna [00:34:19] Yes, Justine was played by Erica Vettina Phillips. You probably remember her from Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Veep. Her scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin, I will never forget it. It is so funny. It is so, so funny. Google it. Like just give yourself a laugh break. You won’t be sorry. That’s all I’m going to say. I don’t want to ruin it. 

Angela [00:34:42] Okay. Well, Darryl is so giddy that she’s there. He like winks to the camera. They go in his office, shuts the door. He’s very excited. 

Jenna [00:34:52] But then we never see her again. 

Angela [00:34:53] Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. 

Jenna [00:34:55] Or mention her at all!

Angela [00:34:56] Where? Where is she? Is she just in his office for the whole episode? What’s happening? 

Jenna [00:35:00] We weren’t the only ones, Angela. Fan question from Soh-yun J, who is from South Korea but currently living in Germany, who wrote in to say, The storyline with Justine ended so abruptly in this episode. Did she appear just as build up for the next episode? What happened? 

Angela [00:35:17] Well, we both went to the shooting draft. There is a whole scene. It’s actually in deleted scenes and I thought we could hear it. It explains everything. 

Jenna [00:35:25] Let’s hear it. 

Justine [00:35:26] Jada called me. During recess. She asked me when you’re moving back in. What did you say to our daughter? That we’re getting back together? 

Darryl [00:35:35] Let’s just calm down. 

Justine [00:35:37] One night together and you think it’s on? You’re an idiot. I told you it’s a one time thing. 

Darryl [00:35:43] Last night was good, right? 

Justine [00:35:44] I said touch and go, Darryl. You get a little touch, and then you go. Stay the hell away from me! 

Jenna [00:35:52] Touch and go. 

Angela [00:35:53] Touch and go. You get a little touch, then you gots to go. 

Jenna [00:35:58] I love this expression! 

Angela [00:35:59] I know. 

Jenna [00:36:00] I’m looking for a touch and go relationship. 

Angela [00:36:03] I’m hot to trot and I need some touch and go. 

Jenna [00:36:05] Oh! There it is. 

Angela [00:36:09] So, yeah, in the shooting draft, it said the minute the door shuts, you start to hear her scream at him because he’s told their daughter they’re getting back together. She’s furious. And the whole entire bullpen hears their argument. And so there’s a lot of reaction shots of people like, awkward. 

Jenna [00:36:26] And then she storms out. So we know that she’s left. Instead of me wondering this whole episode, where has this woman gone? Is she still at Darryl’s office? 

Angela [00:36:34] Yeah. Up next, there’s another Dwight moment that’s super random. He’s in the kitchen making brownies, and Andy’s going to walk in, and it’s clear that he’s just trying to figure out how do we double sales? 

Jenna [00:36:45] Yeah. He wants Dwight to do the work for him, basically. 

Angela [00:36:48] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:36:49] I have a lot of questions. 

Angela [00:36:51] About this scene? 

Jenna [00:36:52] Yes. 

Angela [00:36:53] Can I just say one thing? What if you were like, No, Angela. Not about this scene. About like… 

Jenna [00:36:59] Just about life. 

Angela [00:36:59] I know. 

Jenna [00:37:00] I have questions about life. 

Angela [00:37:02] I know.

Jenna [00:37:03] Here’s my question… Where is he baking these brownies? We do not have an oven. Is this a microwave brownie recipe? 

Angela [00:37:10] It’s got to be. I also have known Greg Daniels to make brownies in a microwave. Just saying.

Jenna [00:37:15] Just saying in like a mug? Or in a pan? 

Angela [00:37:19] I don’t know how he did it. I just remember one time him trying to figure that out. 

Jenna [00:37:23] All right. Well, I got very curious about brownies in general, because, you know, at the end of the scene, Dwight is going to dump a bunch of nuts into the brownies. 

Angela [00:37:33] Walnuts! 

Jenna [00:37:33] And Kevin has a big reaction. 

Angela [00:37:36] Yeah, big old walnuts. Kevin’s like, No! I’m with you, Kevin. I don’t want a big walnut in my brownie. 

Jenna [00:37:42] Okay, same. I don’t like nuts in brownies. And I wanted to know, how did the nut get in the brownie? Was it part of the original recipe, or was this an addition that somebody made? So I deep dived the origin story of the brownie. 

Angela [00:38:02] Please, please share with me what you found. This is nowhere where I thought we would go today, and I’m getting my cup of tea and settling in. 

Jenna [00:38:10] Well, here’s what I’ll tell you. The brownie is believed to have been invented in the United States. In Boston. 

Angela [00:38:19] Hm! 

Jenna [00:38:19] The first brownie recipe is believed to belong to Fannie Farmer. Let me go on a tangent about this badass boss lady named Fannie Farmer. I’m not sure I’ve been so excited about someone since we learned about Clementine Paddleford. 

Angela [00:38:34] Mm hmm. I have a painting of her. Clementine. I stare at her every day. 

Jenna [00:38:38] Well, I might get a painting of Fannie Farmer for my office because Fannie grew up in, like, the 1800s, the late 1800s. But she came from a family that really valued education for both the boys and the girls in the family. So this was rather progressive. 

Angela [00:38:57] Nice. 

Jenna [00:38:57] However, when she was 16 years old, she suffered a stroke and it left her unable to walk for several years and she was not able to go to college as her family had hoped. So she lived with her family and she started cooking and baking. Her parents ran a boarding house and she actually became very, very well known for her recipes at this boarding house. So much so that when she turned 30 years old and she was able to move again, she enrolled at the Boston Cooking School and she was one of their best students. And this cooking school was also very progressive. They really believed in the idea of like food and nutrition and how that contributed to your overall health. And she was so good that she ended up becoming a teacher and then she became the principal of the school. And when she was the principal of the school, she released a cookbook called the Boston Cooking School Cookbook. The book’s publisher was a company called Little Brown and Company, and they didn’t think that the cookbook would do any sales. So they only published 3000 copies of the cookbook and they charged Fanny for them. They made her pay for the cookbooks! It was basically like a self-publishing thing. 

Angela [00:40:15] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:40:16] Listen to this. The book was so popular that it is still in print over 100 years later. It has been through multiple reprints, and now it’s called the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. 

Angela [00:40:29] You know what I say? Good for you. Good for you, Fanny Farmer. Good for (BLEEP) you. You made a wicked (BLEEP) cookbook. Good for you. 

Jenna [00:40:37] That’s right! I am so proud of her. 

Angela [00:40:40] Sorry for my Boston accent, you guys. I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t. 

Jenna [00:40:44] So back to the brownie. It is believed that Fanny invented the brownie. In 1905 she adapted a chocolate cookie recipe into a bar cookie, which is believed to be the first brownie. The second brownie recipe appeared in a cookbook in 1907, and it was made by Maria Willett Howard. Maria was a protege of Fanny Farmer, and she adapted the recipe by adding an extra egg and an extra square of chocolate. And it is really the second recipe that is most like the brownie we eat today. And the reason that I have told you all of this information about Fanny and about Maria is because neither of these two original brownie recipes contained any nuts, which means that you and I are right, Angela. Nuts do not belong in brownies. The end. 

Angela [00:41:37] Thank you Fanny and Maria. Thank you. 

Jenna [00:41:41] Yes, thank you. 

Angela [00:41:43] Well, guess what we have next? We have a little big pregs little pregs storyline. Angela is going to hand Pam the current issue of Parent Magazine and wants to know if she read the article about the importance of regular walks. 

Jenna [00:41:57] Yeah. And then she invites Pam to go on twice daily walks with her. 

Angela [00:42:02] Jim’s like, Hey, look who got a walking buddy. 

Jenna [00:42:05] Mm hmm. I’ll have you know, this episode aired five days after my son was born. 

Angela [00:42:11] Oh, my gosh. 

Jenna [00:42:12] How crazy is that? 

Angela [00:42:13] That is crazy. 

Jenna [00:42:14] Yeah, that’s how close to shooting versus when they air. It was very quick. 

Angela [00:42:21] Andy has figured out a way to double the sales. He is going to have an incentive table. He brings everyone in the conference room and he shows them all these things that they can get, you know, as they earn points with their sales. There’s a polar bear stuffed animal, a raccoon stuffed animal. Sam, I thought of you. There was a frog stuffed animal, the collective works of John Irving, a Brookstone looks like many binoculars, a zippy, small personal desk fan, maternity shirt, tablecloth, a curling iron. I went to the script. I was like, Did it list off what all was on this table? No. All it said was, Andy removes the blanket, revealing a bunch of stuffed animals and Sharper Image type crap. 

Jenna [00:43:09] That’s very funny. Well, the face that Ryan makes in response to the John Irving collection was not scripted. And, you know, one of the items that was scripted was the vibrator for 20 points. Meredith wants to know, how do you get a point? I loved that delivery. Phil Shea made that vibrator. 

Angela [00:43:31] What? 

Jenna [00:43:32] Yeah, he made it-. 

Angela [00:43:34] Was it, like, a back massager or something? 

Jenna [00:43:36] I’m not sure. So I did get to talk to Steve Burgess about this episode. I had a lot of standards and practices questions. And, like Randy Cordray, he saved all his emails, so he delivered. The big thing with this scene was that we could not show any logos for any real products. So everything that is on that table had to be created by Phil Shea. So Phil had to create the vibrator and the packaging. Standards and practices said, quote, We trust any visuals of the vibrator will be staged off camera. Well, standards and practices, I have news for you. It’s very clearly on the table. It’s on the far left. 

Angela [00:44:19] Yeah. No one is really excited about any of these prizes, so Andy is trying to get them more excited. What else can you offer them? How about for 500 points I wear a dress to work? This gets a little chuckle. Andy is encouraged. He really leans into this now. Jim’s going to egg him on. He’s going to say, What about a thousand points? Andy said, I will run through the parking lot naked with a donut on my ding dong. 

Jenna [00:44:44] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:44:44] Now everyone’s really chuckling, and Andy’s like, Oh, yeah, you like that? For 5000 points you can tattoo anything you want on the stern of the old S.S. Bernard. People go crazy. There’s hooting, there’s clapping. 

Jenna [00:44:59] Yes. 

Angela [00:45:00] And Jim is like, Oh, hold up- and we can pool our points? And Andy’s like, Yeah. Andy, Andy, Andy! 

Jenna [00:45:09] Yeah. 

Angela [00:45:10] Well, they get there really quickly to the 5000 points. I think we should take a break because when we get back, the office is a buzz. 

Jenna [00:45:18] Abuzz for sure. 

Angela [00:45:22] We are back. Everybody is just on their game right now. People are answering calls, shouting out stuff. Papers are being passed around. 

Jenna [00:45:33] So much activity, especially for Dunder Mifflin, when people are mostly at their desks playing solitaire. 

Angela [00:45:38] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:45:39] We got a fan question from Leah K in Arkansas, who said, Were there specific directions in the script about what each character should be doing when the bullpen is suddenly working hard to reach those 5000 points? It feels like some of the characters are just pretending to do work that they wouldn’t actually do. Specifically, Kevin, who is frantically punching numbers into a calculator. Kevin, what are you doing? I love the chaos. Was it scripted? Well, Leah, the Kevin portion of this activity was scripted, that he was frantically just typing random numbers into a calculator. 

Angela [00:46:13] I have it if you want to hear what it said in the shooting draft for Kevin. 

Jenna [00:46:16] Really? Oh please do. 

Angela [00:46:17] Yes, because I was actually really curious, too. This is what it says: Andy strolls through the office towards accounting and says Kevin is adding like a mad man. Two adding machines at once. Andy says, What are you doing? Kevin says, Don’t talk to me. Andy walks back towards his office. Oscar says- and this didn’t make it into the episode, but it’s in the shooting draft. Oscar says, What are you doing? And Kevin says, Making numbers!

Jenna [00:46:48] Yes, that part was all scripted. But Leah, the rest of the hustle and bustle was not scripted. It was planned and choreographed by Charles McDougall on the day. And you know something about Charles that was so great was he was a big fan of movement in episodes. If you watch any of his episodes, you’re going to see more crosses. You’re going to see more kind of like background hubbub. He was not a fan of us just sitting at our desks playing solitaire. 

Angela [00:47:14] Not at all. You know, he was action! 

Jenna [00:47:17] That’s right!

Angela [00:47:18] I noticed something. As I was passing so many papers, Angela Martin, the accountant, so many papers passing back and forth. Pam is like, Angela! I am waddling around the office. There’s no other way to describe it except a waddle. And it is because I probably had a front and back wedgie. I didn’t even walk like that when I was actually pregnant. But this is the fake pregger belly. This is the wedgie that you told me about. And with each step I took, it went more up my butt. 

Jenna [00:47:48] You are describing it accurately. That is the experience of wearing a fake pregger belly. 

Angela [00:47:54] Yeah. Put on a leotard and then put a giant pillow in it and see if you don’t get a wedgie. Andy is starting to panic. He is seeing them getting closer and closer to the goal. There’s a whole drawing of like the backside of a man and they’re coloring it in red, like heading towards the butt as they get more and more points. He calls his business professor in a panic. He wants to know, How do you de-incentivize your employees? And he does not get any of the answers he wants. Then we would have cut to this random Dwight scene. Remember how I said this episode was full of some random Dwight moments? 

Jenna [00:48:30] Yes. 

Angela [00:48:31] In the shooting draft, it’s in the scene. It’s also in deleted scenes. Dwight is sitting alone in the corner of the break room as Darryl comes into the vending machines. And Dwight just for no reason, decides to narrate the whole moment. Darryl doesn’t say a word. I thought you should hear it. 

Dwight [00:48:49] There he is. Snack man. Snack attack. Perfect day for a snack after a day like yours. Perfect cheat day, right? What will it be? Chips, candy, giant cookie, followed by a soda, who knows? The decision has been made. Ka-chunk. It falls. Just like the food falls into your stomach. Have you always worn a belt? Talk to you later. 

Angela [00:49:17] What is happening with Dwight? Is he so bored? 

Jenna [00:49:22] I’m going to say something. Well, yes, he’s checked out. Totally. Like he is determined to be unhelpful. 

Angela [00:49:29] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:49:30] But here’s what I’m going to say. I think they were right to cut that scene. 

Angela [00:49:34] I know. 

Jenna [00:49:35] I almost always am like, oh, man, why didn’t we have time for that? I’m going to say good call on that one. That was so weird. 

Angela [00:49:45] Yeah. It was really weird. And I was like, Do I share it? Do I not? But then I kind of felt like I had to because did you hear what Dwight said, Jenna? Did you hear?

Jenna [00:49:53] What did he say? 

Angela [00:49:54] He said, Ka-chunk. Did Dwight just chunk it? 

Jenna [00:50:00] Okay. 

Angela [00:50:00] Did he just use chunk as a verb? I think he did. 

Jenna [00:50:04] He was mimicking the sound of like a can falling from a vending machine, which is like ka-chunk. 

Angela [00:50:11] Ka-chunk. Uh huh. Uh huh. 

Jenna [00:50:15] No, but you use chunk to mean throw. 

Angela [00:50:17] I know, I know. It’s a stretch, but it made me laugh. Listen, this is what happens, you guys, when you watch an episode like four times, and then you watch the deleted scenes two times, and then you’re like, I hear chunk! I must play it! 

Jenna [00:50:32] You have a special, like, attunement to the word chunk now. 

Angela [00:50:35] I’m looking for it everywhere. 

Jenna [00:50:37] Did someone say chunk? 

Angela [00:50:38] I think they did. 

Jenna [00:50:39] Did someone say chunk it? 

Angela [00:50:40] It’s in the cannon of The Office now. 

Jenna [00:50:44] Next up, we’re going to have a conference room scene where Pam is presenting all of the tattoo ideas. You know, because they’ve won, They they hit their mark of 5000. So the group has to decide what are they going to tattoo on Andy’s butt? And each of these is just more humiliating than the next. 

Angela [00:51:01] Yeah. The first one is a clown throwing up with the caption, “I’m not as think as you drunk I am”. 

Jenna [00:51:07] I have a note from standards and practices about that clown. 

Angela [00:51:11] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:51:11] It said, quote, Please stage the visual of the clown drawing so that it is a side view of him puking into Andy’s butt crack. You should not see the butt crack. 

Angela [00:51:24] I didn’t realize the clown would be puking into his crack. I didn’t even get that. That is so disgusting. 

Jenna [00:51:31] Well, it should be a side view. A side view, please. 

Angela [00:51:35] Oh my god. The next one is like a stamp that says, Do not resuscitate, which, Jenna, made me think of your deep dive about when in ye olden times they thought they could resuscitate you through your butt hole. 

Jenna [00:51:48] You’re right! 

Angela [00:51:49] Yes! 

Jenna [00:51:50] Oh, my gosh. Yes. You would pull down the pants and blow the smoke up the arse.  

Angela [00:51:58] The third one is an idea from Phyllis, which the camera doesn’t even show. It’s too risque. 

Jenna [00:52:05] Well, we had several fan questions about this. Carolyn B from Philadelphia said, What the heck did Phyllis draw for Andy’s tattoo to get that reaction from the bullpen? And Taylor B from Texas wants to know were we reacting to a real drawing or was it just a blank piece of paper? 

Angela [00:52:21] I don’t think we were reacting to anything. It’s not even in the script what Phyllis drew. I think we’re pretending. 

Jenna [00:52:28] I remember that on the day, Paul came up with this idea that Phyllis submitted something and there wasn’t a drawing to be had. There wasn’t anything that props had made. So we staged it off camera. And I think it really works. I think it’s funny. 

Angela [00:52:43] Yeah, well, this made me curious, Jenna, about what the most popular tattoos are. And I found a list of the ten most popular tattoos of all time, according to TattooForAWeek.com. 

Jenna [00:52:58] Oh, I’m fascinated by this. Can I make some guesses? 

Angela [00:53:01] Yeah. I was going to put it out to Sam and Cassi and you. There- they put together a list of ten all time favorites. You know, they change year to year. But these are the ten they found all time favorites. Do you guys have any guesses what would be on one of these? 

Jenna [00:53:17] Is the infinity symbol one of the top ten most popular? 

Angela [00:53:23] No. 

Jenna [00:53:25] Yin yang? 

Angela [00:53:27] Well, no. 

Jenna [00:53:28] A peace symbol? 

Angela [00:53:30] Oh, that’s a good one. No. 

Jenna [00:53:32] A shamrock? 

Angela [00:53:34] No. Actually, maybe. So here. It says Celtic symbols. Would that- isn’t really a shamrock. Is it?

Jenna [00:53:40] Well, I don’t know. Maybe not Shamrock. I’m really striking out here, aren’t I? I first of all, a person with no tattoos is guessing the most popular tattoos. What about, like, you know, like, just like a band around your arm? You know, Pamela Anderson got that and it was like all the rage, like a little barbed wire band. 

Angela [00:54:02] Sure, Sure. Okay. 

Sam [00:54:04] I’m going to say a star. 

Angela [00:54:05] Yes! Sam. 

Jenna [00:54:08] Ugh! Sam! 

Angela [00:54:08] Okay. Here they are:. 

Jenna [00:54:10] A heart? 

Angela [00:54:11] Yes. A heart! 

Jenna [00:54:12] Ey! Okay, I’m getting there now. 

Angela [00:54:14] Okay, you got two. And then, Jenna, you weren’t far off with, like, a- They have Celtic symbols, tribal designs, flowers. 

Jenna [00:54:23] Okay. 

Angela [00:54:24] Wings, skulls, butterfly, dragons. And then here’s one I did not see coming… Dolphins. 

Sam [00:54:35] Okay. All right. 

Angela [00:54:38] Yeah. Dolphins. 

Jenna [00:54:38] Sam, how many of the top ten tattoos do you have? 

Sam [00:54:43] I have stars and a butterfly. 

Angela [00:54:46] Hey. 

Jenna [00:54:47] Wow. 

Angela [00:54:48] There you go. 

Jenna [00:54:49] Okay. 

Angela [00:54:50] No wings, no dragons. 

Sam [00:54:52] No, no, not yet. 

Angela [00:54:53] Not yet. Not yet. I saw a lot of tattoos in the research of this moment. There’s some really beautiful work out there. It made me wonder. You know, I don’t have any either, Jenna, but, like, I think I know what I would get. 

Jenna [00:55:06] Me, too. I just, a few years ago, realized, you know, my sister Emily, for her 40th birthday, she wanted to get a tattoo. She’d always wanted a tattoo her whole life. And finally, for her 40th birthday, she got one. I was little inspired by that. And I thought, I know what I would get. 

Angela [00:55:22] What would you get? 

Jenna [00:55:23] I would get a little cat that looks like my first cat, Andy. 

Angela [00:55:28] Andy. 

Jenna [00:55:30] I would get a little Andy. 

Angela [00:55:33] I would get a little hummingbird. But I want it really colorful. Does that hurt more, Sam? The more color you have? Or is that just something I’ve made up in my brain? 

Sam [00:55:45] That’s something you made up. 

Angela [00:55:46] Oh, it doesn’t matter. Like in my brain, I was like, maybe the different colors hurt. Okay, well, good to know, because I want a colorful hummingbird. 

Jenna [00:55:56] Andy’s about to get his tattoo. The gang arrives at the tattoo parlor. 

Angela [00:56:01] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:56:02] And they have settled on a design. 

Angela [00:56:05] Yeah. It’s not one we talked about in the conference room. It’s a baby coming out of his butt. 

Jenna [00:56:10] Yes. 

Angela [00:56:12] It’s a butt baby. 

Jenna [00:56:12] That’s right. 

Angela [00:56:13] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:56:14] Location alert from Amber G in Brooklyn, New York, who said, I recognize the tattoo parlor from another show. There was a show called Tattoo Nightmares on Spike TV from 2012 to 2014, and it was about people who got really bad tattoos and wanted them covered up with a hopefully good tattoo. I’m not sure about the interior, but the exterior of the building is the same. I always wondered whether it was a real tattoo parlor or not. Can you give us a location breakdown? Yes, Amber, this was a real tattoo parlor. We shot at Madison Tattoo Shop on Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, California. And the actor who played our tattoo parlor employee was Jaime Jorn. 

Angela [00:56:57] Well, Andy’s going to need a minute. He’s going to go outside. He’s going to have a talk with Jim. And he actually decides to go through with it. He’s going to do it. He says, Let’s ink my stink. 

Jenna [00:57:08] Yes. And he marches into the tattoo parlor and he throws off his pants down to his ankles, his underwear as well. He’s now nude from the waist down. 

Angela [00:57:18] He dives on top of the table. 

Jenna [00:57:21] Mm hmm. We got a lot of mail from people about this moment. Jake J from Minnesota said, When Andy throws down his pants and jumps on the table, did Ed actually do this? Jessica N from Rochester, New York, said, Does Ed have on some kind of fleshy colored undies or something to cover his man bits? And Anna T from Toronto, Ontario, says, Does standards and practices has a, quote, blur the lip flap for an ass? If so, we’d like to know. Well, Jake, yes. Ed did pull down his pants. And yes, Jessica, Ed was wearing some fleshy underwear. 

Angela [00:58:03] Mm hmm. Which, let me tell you, in itself is brave, because the flesh underwear are- no one wants to prance around in those. 

Jenna [00:58:12] No. His shirt came down in the front, so we didn’t see any bits. And standards and practices did have a lot to say after we turned in the episode. They said, quote, Please take another pass with the pixels to make them more opaque as to obscure Andy’s butt crack in that brief moment when he pulls down his pants and lays on the tattoo parlor table in front of the office staff. So more pixels, please. 

Angela [00:58:43] Please. More pixels. As previously stated. 

Jenna [00:58:47] I want to say I noticed a slight tonal shift in the notes from standards and practices when they were writing to Steve versus when they were writing to Randy. 

Angela [00:58:59] What? 

Jenna [00:59:00] Yes. First of all, in the email they say, Steve, we are so excited to be working with you again this season. There’s also a quote where they say, If you have any questions, I can discuss with you. Just… Yes. There was no “As previously mentioned” in this correspondence? 

Angela [00:59:22] What the heck? 

Jenna [00:59:22] I don’t know. 

Angela [00:59:23] They always seem very curt with Randy. 

Jenna [00:59:27] I know. Somehow Steve has charmed them in a way that they have a new tone. I noticed it. We’ll see if it continues. 

Angela [00:59:34] Huh. Well, right as they start Andy’s tattoo, Pam says, We’ve had a slight change, and hands them the new drawing. And Andy starts to yell out, you know, in laughter slash pain. Everyone is like, Oh, my gosh, this is happening. And cutting back and forth between Andy getting his tattoo is a talking head from Robert California. He says, Why did he choose Andy? Because he’s uncomplicated. What you see is what you get. And that mediocrity could also be why people fight for him. There’s something about an underdog that really inspires the unexceptional. 

Jenna [01:00:13] Such a funny line. 

Angela [01:00:14] It’s so well-written. 

Jenna [01:00:16] Andy is going to peel off his bandage. And guess what the group did? 

Angela [01:00:22] They got him a Nard dog. 

Jenna [01:00:23] And it’s so cute. 

Angela [01:00:25] It’s his nickity name. 

Jenna [01:00:27] It is. That was some amazing makeup work by Laverne and her team. Just really, really great. We got a really fun piece of fan mail about tattoos, Angela. It’s from Ali B in Canton, Michigan, who says, Hi, ladies. I just wanted to pop on and say that this episode inspired me to have my own tattoo incentive in my sorority. When I was the president of my sorority, there was this survey that our international headquarters required us to fill out every year. It was super long and ridiculous, but we had to have at least 85% of the chapter completed. This was something that my chapter had struggled with in the past. So I told them if we got 90% participation, because I’m an overachiever, I would let them pick a tattoo for me. Lo and behold, they did it. And they were thankfully very kind with my design. It’s one of my favorite tattoos I have, and it’s made even better because it was inspired by an episode of The Office. 

Angela [01:01:24] What was the tattoo? 

Jenna [01:01:25] She didn’t say! Just that the idea of creating a tattoo incentive was inspired by The Office. But I would love to know. 

Angela [01:01:35] I am amazed by the different ways episodes of The Office inspire people. 

Jenna [01:01:39] I know, right? 

Angela [01:01:41] The final scene of this episode is a tag between Angela and Pam. This is them going on their walk together since they’re walking buddies. 

Jenna [01:01:50] Yes, I remember filming this scene and I was quite happy to be out walking around. It was a little tough for me when I was that pregnant to just like, sit in an office chair all day. You know, your legs fall asleep, you get the sciatica and yada, yada, yada. So I was thrilled for the storyline. 

Angela [01:02:08] I noticed that they had us walk on the back side of the warehouse, which was always shady in the afternoon and had a nice breeze. And this was the hottest time of our summer. So I bet we were very appreciative to be in the shade with the breeze. 

Jenna [01:02:22] You know, in this scene, Angela says that she’s having an ethical dilemma. 

Angela [01:02:26] Yeah. 

Jenna [01:02:26] And she reveals that she has called social services on Pam because she has been having some herbal tea in mugs that had trace amounts of caffeine. 

Angela [01:02:36] My favorite moment is, I mean, this is so ridiculous, when Pam is like, You know what, Angela, why don’t you call? And she’s like, I already did. 

Jenna [01:02:45] Well, we had a letter from Anna B in Russia who had something very interesting to say about herbal tea and pregnancy. Anna said, I had my baby in Finland, and the official guidelines here say that it’s okay to have caffeine during pregnancy. You know, there’s a certain caffeine intake which you’re not recommended to go over during the day, but one cup of coffee is okay. However, Angela did have a reason to report Pam because herbal tea goes against the Finnish guidelines. You’re not supposed to drink it at all while pregnant. The reason is that herbal teas might contain unknown, harmful elements. According to the Finnish guidelines for pregnancy care. 

Angela [01:03:30] Maybe Angela was reading up on some Finnish guidelines. 

Jenna [01:03:34] Perhaps there was an article in that magazine that Pam never read that said something about it. We don’t know. 

Angela [01:03:40] Pam is going to suggest that maybe they just keep their pregnancies separate, not pretend to be in it together, and they spread apart a few paces and continue to walk side by side. But now they don’t talk. 

Jenna [01:03:51] And I think this is why Myles was disappointed, because this storyline started and stopped all in one episode. And I would have loved to have seen more of the two of them together in their pregnancies. 

Angela [01:04:01] Me too. I just would have loved to see in their dynamic some more. 

Jenna [01:04:05] I agree. Well, that’s it for this episode. I want to give a big thank you to Phil Shea for hopping on the phone with me to tell me all about that pyramid. And also Steve Burgess, who gave me all of those wonderful emails, those wonderfully polite emails between himself and standards and practices. 

Angela [01:04:21] And I think we have to thank Myles McNutt too, Jenna for writing us that awesome letter. And, Myles, we’re going to keep checking in. 

Jenna [01:04:29] We are. We’re going to track it. Gosh, I hope you’d never give us an F. 

Angela [01:04:34] All right. Next week is Lotto. We will see you then. 

Jenna [01:04:37] See you then. 

Angela [01:04:38] Bye. 

Jenna [01:04:41] Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer, and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

Angela [01:04:57] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to StitcherPremium.com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code “office”.