EP. 121 — The Manager and the Salesman

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Angela [00:00:24] Hi there.

Jenna [00:00:25] Today we’re going to talk about Manager and Salesman.

Angela [00:00:29] We have a huge episode.

Jenna [00:00:31] It really is. It is season six, Episode 16, written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Mark Webb.

Angela [00:00:39] Hit us with a summary, lady.

Jenna [00:00:41] Here it is. Sabre CEO Jo Bennett visits Dunder Mifflin, Scranton. She brings her two Great Danes, her autobiography, and a lot of new policies. When she discovers that Michael and Jim are co-managers, she tells them there can only be one manager and they have until the end of the day to decide who will be a salesperson and who will stay on as manager. Meanwhile, Andy is handing out Valentine’s cards to everyone in the office, which sparks confusion as to where his affections truly lie.

Angela [00:01:17] I am telling you, watching Andy and Erin is making me crazy. I just want one of them to just say I like you.

Jenna [00:01:23] I know. But they have the thing where the neither one of them will ask the other one out.

Angela [00:01:27] It’s making me crazy.

Jenna [00:01:28] It’s very sweet.

Angela [00:01:29] It is sweet, but it’s making me crazy.

Jenna [00:01:32] Fast fact number one. Kathy Bates is Jo Bennett.

Angela [00:01:37] Kathy flippin Bates.

Jenna [00:01:39] Now, I know she was on last week’s episode, but it was via a computer screen. Here she is, live in person.

Angela [00:01:49] Walking right next to us, talking to us.

Jenna [00:01:52] You know, Kathy Bates is one of just a few actors who have been nominated for the Triple Crown of acting. That means that she has been nominated for a Tony for her work on the stage, an Academy Award for film, an Emmy for television. By the way, she has won an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, two SAG Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Her nominations for awards were so many that I actually got confused. I couldn’t even track them all. It’s so many.

Angela [00:02:23] Yeah. So you guys, we were a little nervous.

Jenna [00:02:28] I mean, this acting legend came in to our job. We got a lot of mail, Angela asking, what was our reaction to having Kathy Bates?

Angela [00:02:38] I mean, I think you just heard it. We were so excited. But I was really nervous.

Jenna [00:02:42] I was intimidated.

Angela [00:02:44] Yeah, but not by anything other than just her presence, because she’s very lovely, you know? She was so nice to everyone.

Jenna [00:02:50] Oh, my gosh. Yes. She’s super down to earth and kind.

Angela [00:02:53] Yeah.

Jenna [00:02:53] But her legacy that followed her into the room was massive.

Angela [00:02:57] Yes. She had this quiet power as she walked in the room. I was so, like nervous to say anything to her.

Jenna [00:03:04] You know, my hair colorist of over 20 years, Robert Hickland, I love this man, he told me once that he also colored Kathy Bates’ hair once.

Angela [00:03:15] What?

Jenna [00:03:16] This was before Kathy was on our show. He said, Oh, I don’t know how she came up, but he was like, I colored her hair once. And when he told me that, I was floored. And now here she was. She had come in. And I remember that I was sitting at the reception desk and it was like, I wanted to be like, my hairdresser did your hair once!

Angela [00:03:37] No. Suppress! Suppress!

Jenna [00:03:40] Yes. But I was like, moment of connection. I have something in common with you. The same man has colored her hair. That is what- I was so nervous, and I had to, like, make sure I didn’t do that. I do think that, like, eventually by day three, I did tell her that tidbit. And it was, you know, the response you would expect, which was, “Ohhhh.” Anyway, Kathy Bates was on Anderson when Anderson Cooper had his own talk show and she talked about being on The Office. And I thought we could give it a listen.

Anderson Cooper [00:04:13] How is it like working with the comedy ensemble versus the cast on Harry’s Law?

Kathy Bates [00:04:19] Well, I was so in awe of Steve Carell, you know, and actually I had worked with Rainn Wilson. I actually cast him when I was directing an episode of Six Feet Under.

Anderson Cooper [00:04:27] Oh, really?

Kathy Bates [00:04:27] Yeah. Way, way back.

Anderson Cooper [00:04:29] Of course, he was great on- he was great on Six Feet Under.

Kathy Bates [00:04:30] Oh, yeah. He was terrific. And and so it’s been wonderful to watch him on The Office just knock it out of the ballpark all the time. But it was great to work with Steve Carell, and I loved working with the two Great Danes. That was a lot of fun.

Jenna [00:04:45] So I didn’t know this until I saw this clip. She has actually directed a ton of television, including five episodes of Six Feet Under. And like she said, she directed Rainn Wilson. So I reached out to Rainn.

Angela [00:05:01] Oh, you did?

Jenna [00:05:01] Yeah. And he described the experience as a “double whammy”. He said, I got a major role on one of the deepest, most respected TV shows going on. It was on HBO, no less. And at the same time, I was being directed by an Oscar winner. He said it was a dream come true that she was an excellent director. He said they rehearsed a lot and she gave great notes, which of course wasn’t surprising. But he said he was definitely quite intimidated, which made him act very formal and somewhat awkward around her.

Angela [00:05:35] Wait, more awkward than usual for Rainn?

Jenna [00:05:38] Exactly. But he said this was actually perfect for the character he was playing.

Angela [00:05:43] Oh, right.

Jenna [00:05:44] But the very first episode that he did of Six Feet Under was directed by Kathy Bates. So she was a big part of picking him for that role that became a major recurring role for him.

Angela [00:05:54] Wow. So she was a pivotal person in his life.

Jenna [00:05:57] Yeah.

Angela [00:05:58] In his career.

Jenna [00:05:59] Yes.

Angela [00:05:59] That is so cool.

Jenna [00:06:01] Well, fast fact number two, Kathy mentioned on Anderson, the Great Danes. I remember the Great Danes.

Angela [00:06:08] How could we forget the Great Danes? Too small, like, ponies were on set with us.

Jenna [00:06:14] Yes. And on set with us a lot. Randy Cordray said that we once again went to Bob Dunne’s Animal Services and their head trainer, Denise Sanders, came through for us. The dog’s names were Gabby and Guinness. He said they were truly majestic, gorgeous and very well disciplined. I remember that. They were really amazing. Incidentally, David Denman had a Great Dane who I spent quite a bit of time with, and I remember this thing where David Denman told me that Great Danes are great apartment dogs.

Angela [00:06:51] How so?

Jenna [00:06:52] He said they’re just really, really chill and they actually don’t need a lot of exercise, that a lot of smaller dogs are far more active. They need to go out. They need walking. But Great Danes are kind of like just big loungers.

Angela [00:07:05] That makes sense. You know, my little Chihuahua mixes, they get what we call the zoomies.

Jenna [00:07:10] Yes.

Angela [00:07:11] Where they zoom around and run and run and run in a circle.

Jenna [00:07:14] Maggie is a large dog. She is a shepherd mix.

Angela [00:07:18] That’s Jenna’s dog. It’s like eight times the size of my dog.

Jenna [00:07:22] And Maggie also gets the zoomies.

Angela [00:07:25] She does. I’ve seen her. And it’s like, get out of the way.

Jenna [00:07:28] Oh, yeah, she’ll take you down. I wanted to know a little bit more about this to make sure that this, you know, anecdote from David Denman that I remembered all these years was true. And yes, according to City Dog’s life, Great Danes make great apartment dogs. But they had a list of three things that you might want to consider if you are going to put a Great Dane in a small apartment. And they are: number one, just simply the great amount of space that the dog will take up. Even standing in a hallway.

Angela [00:08:02] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:08:03] I mean, good point.

Angela [00:08:04] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:08:05] Number two, the potential for a Great Dane to accidentally knock over pictures, vases, and other furnishings with their long, powerful tails. Yes.

Angela [00:08:15] Yes.

Jenna [00:08:16] And three, the loudness of their bark might bother your neighbors. But in terms of being chill, they’re great in an apartment.

Angela [00:08:24] So when we watched this episode to prepare for today’s podcast, I had actually also just watched a show with our youngest son about the world’s biggest dogs. And of course, Great Danes make that list.

Jenna [00:08:37] Are they number one?

Angela [00:08:37] They are not number one, because the world’s biggest dogs are measured on weight and height.

Jenna [00:08:43] Oh.

Angela [00:08:43] But they are among the tallest, standing at around 30 to 34 inches tall. And I guess Great Danes were a result of a crossbreed between an English mastiff, which is the biggest dog…

Jenna [00:08:56] Oh.

Angela [00:08:56] And the Irish Wolfhound, which is the second biggest dog.

Jenna [00:09:01] Oh.

Angela [00:09:01] So, you know, these are big, big animals. But I quote I read online about Great Danes says, They are known for their kind and playful natures and make excellent family dogs.

Jenna [00:09:13] I believe it. You know, Maggie has that working shepherd in her and she needs to be busy with a job all the time. But I think Great Danes are like, You know what? It’s fine.

Angela [00:09:24] Let’s just hang out.

Jenna [00:09:25] Let’s just watch TV.

Angela [00:09:26] Let’s just hang out. Yeah.

Jenna [00:09:27] Scooby Doo was a Great Dane, right?

Angela [00:09:29] Yeah.

Jenna [00:09:30] Yeah. I mean, he solved mysteries. All right. Fast fact number three is all about our director, Mark Webb. Big timey director alert, everybody. Now, Mark started as an editor and then as a music video director. He directed videos for Good Charlotte, Snow Patrol, Maroon Five, and Green Day.

Angela [00:09:55] I saw that and I went and watched the video.

Jenna [00:09:58] You did?

Angela [00:09:59] Yeah!

Jenna [00:09:59] Mark’s feature film debut was the movie 500 Days of Summer, starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. If you haven’t watched, it is like just the most charming movie ever.

Angela [00:10:10] It’s a beautiful movie. And you know what? All of his background with music videos, any wonder he was so perfect for that movie.

Jenna [00:10:17] Yeah, because there’s, like, singing and dancing numbers in it. He also directed The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, and the sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man two. But I believe The Office was his first time directing for television. Since then, he’s directed a lot of television. He’s done episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Limitless. But we started his TV career in directing. Where would he have gone without us?

Angela [00:10:45] He’s he is such a nice person too. I had just one of those moments where I put my foot in my mouth.

Jenna [00:10:50] Oh, no.

Angela [00:10:51] In front of him. So we’re at one of those fancy parties, Jenna, during the awards shows, you know? I was standing there talking to Mindy and B.J. and Mark walked up, and we’re all like, Hey! I was like, How’s it going? What have you been up to? And everybody just looked at me like a record scratch. And he was like, Oh I was directing a movie, and I was like, Oh, good for you. That’s so great.

Jenna [00:11:15] What movie?

Angela [00:11:15] What movie? And he goes, Spider-Man. I go, No way! Way to go! And everyone in the circle clearly knew he had been directing that movie.

Jenna [00:11:27] Yes, right. Like it was like the biggest get of the year.

Angela [00:11:30] And I was like, Hey, look at you. That’s so great.

Jenna [00:11:34] That’s me with musicians. Truly, I am not very savvy with music stuff. I remember I had a whole conversation at a party with Jack White from The White Stripes.

Angela [00:11:46] Yeah. Yes.

Jenna [00:11:49] Just chitty chatting. Just like, oh, yeah. What do you do?

Angela [00:11:54] Oh my god.

Jenna [00:11:55] Oh, I’m a musician.

Angela [00:11:56] (SINGS) Bom bom bom bom bom.

Jenna [00:11:57] Yeah. I’m like, no way. That’s so cool. And then I, like, walked away, and I was like, that guy was so nice. And Lee was like, Jack White was so nice? I’m like, he really was.

Angela [00:12:10] I will say this. I had a newborn at that time, and I just I think I missed out, like, on two years of television or something. Like, if it wasn’t Sesame Street, you know, it was like, I didn’t see it.

Jenna [00:12:24] Well, in my defense, I listen to music, but maybe I don’t watch a lot of music videos or concerts or things. So I don’t I can’t always put a face to the song.

Angela [00:12:33] I think that’s fair.

Jenna [00:12:35] Yeah. All right. That’s all I got. This is a great episode. I think we’re going to have fun breaking this one down.

Angela [00:12:42] Yeah. We have a lot of fun stuff to share from this one. Let’s take a break, you guys, because when we come back, Michael might be going to the Winter Olympics?

Jenna [00:12:50] He might be.

Angela [00:12:51] He might be.

Jenna [00:12:52] He needs to confirm that room. For different reasons.

Angela [00:12:59] We are back. You guys, Michael is on the phone. He is trying to confirm his hotel reservation in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. He’s had it for years.

Jenna [00:13:08] Yeah, but the concierge can’t find it.

Angela [00:13:11] Dwight’s trying to help him. He found a lot of affirmations, but no confirmation code.

Jenna [00:13:15] But then he finds it!

Angela [00:13:16] Yes.

Jenna [00:13:17] There it is. She finds the room.

Angela [00:13:20] She apologizes. She’s like, I’m so sorry.

Jenna [00:13:22] Yeah. And she says, How can I help you, sir? And he’s like, I need to cancel.

Angela [00:13:27] After all of that. And then she says, Well, there’ll be a fee.

Jenna [00:13:30] I know. If he would have just let them not find it, he probably would have gotten off without the fee. So this cold open was because the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver started the day after this episode aired and NBC Universal had the broadcast rights to the Olympics. And we were asked very politely to incorporate a little plug for the Olympic Games into the show. Randy Cordray said this was a very polite ask. It was not a mandate. But I said to Randy, I remember us shooting promos for the Olympics, and he said, Oh, yes, we did. He even sent me the scripts for them. I couldn’t find them anywhere online, Angela. I looked everywhere.

Angela [00:14:15] We did promos for the Winter Olympics. We used to also do announcements for American Airlines in-flight television. Do you remember that?

Jenna [00:14:24] That’s right. Yes!

Angela [00:14:24] We would come on the little TVs in-flight and say, Sit back, relax and enjoy an episode of The Office.

Jenna [00:14:31] I totally forgot that. I remember we would do promos for the Super Bowl. We did little things for award shows. I remember all that.

Angela [00:14:40] They’re somewhere out there.

Jenna [00:14:41] I know. I wished I could have found them.

Angela [00:14:44] Well, Jenna, this cold open actually was going to have a Michael talking head where he talked about his favorite Olympic sport. It’s really funny. I want us to hear it.

Michael Scott [00:14:56] I love the Winter Olympics. My favorite sport is one involving men with brooms. And they broom the ice in front of these cylindrical discs that float gently across the ice and they smack into one another. And no one really explains the rules. But it’s mesmerizing. And there are no winners and losers… Only poetry. And it is called curdling.

Jenna [00:15:27] Oh, my god.

Angela [00:15:28] No one explains the rules. That is how I feel when I watch curling. Or curdling, as Michael says. I always am mesmerized by it. I am.

Jenna [00:15:36] Same. This is the most wonderful description of this sport. It’s so true. I love to watch curling. I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t understand who’s winning and losing, but I love it.

Angela [00:15:47] I just thought that was a great talking head. It’s in the DVDs if you have them. And there was also an alt. Okay. Here was the alt talking head that we shot. I got it from the shooting draft. Michael says, The Winter Olympics kicks the butts out of all the other seasons of the Olympics. Pole vaulting? Try doing it on ice. Gymnastics? Yeah, try doing that in snow. Swimming? Try doing that in an igloo with a seal. Weightlifting? You get it. Try doing that with penguins behind you the whole time. (Makes penguin noise) Hey, I’m lifting here.

Jenna [00:16:21] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:16:25] Anyway, I just was delighted by those and wanted to share.

Jenna [00:16:29] Those are great. I love that. Totally makes up for the fact that I couldn’t find those promos. Thank you.

Angela [00:16:35] Before we get into the episode, we want to take a minute and wish Sam and Cassi a happy birthday! Woo hoo!

Jenna [00:16:41] Our two April birthdays. Within a week of each other.

Sam [00:16:45] Thank you very, very much. It’s very sweet. And thank you for the plant. I’ll be 38 next week. This is my first plant.

Angela [00:16:52] Everybody got a succulent this year, guys. It’s the year of the succulent.

Jenna [00:16:56] I like it. You got a succulent pillow.

Angela [00:16:59] I did. You started the succulent trend.

Jenna [00:17:02] Next year, you guys get a succulent pillow.

Cassi and Sam [00:17:04] Heyyyy!

Angela [00:17:07] Well, we just appreciate you guys so much.

Sam [00:17:09] Oh, thank you.

Jenna [00:17:09] Thanks, guys.

Sam [00:17:11] My pleasure.

Jenna [00:17:12] Well, as this episode begins, Jo Bennett, CEO of Sabre, who bought Dunder Mifflin sight unseen, is coming in. And it’s Kathy Bates folks.

Angela [00:17:23] And everyone is prepping. They’re cleaning, they’re tidying up.

Jenna [00:17:26] Yeah, Erin puts out some Lifesaver candies. Jim puts his Sabre water bottle front and center on his desk. Angela, you’re cleaning that glass partition. I want to say I love the detail when Kathy Bates walks in. She has her purse slung over her shoulder.

Angela [00:17:46] Yeah.

Jenna [00:17:47] It’s not on her arm. She’s not carrying it like a handbag. It is the greatest detail. I noticed it right away and I was like, Oh, she’s amazing.

Angela [00:17:57] She’s amazing.

Jenna [00:17:59] We had a fan catch from Alyssa s in Portland, Maine. In Booze Cruise, Michael stood on the bow and said, I am the king of the world! Indicating that he has seen the movie Titanic, which Kathy Bates was in. Is this a continuity error since, I mean, wouldn’t Michael recognize that Jo Bennett is Kathy Bates? Well, I thought about this.

Angela [00:18:24] That question just made my mind hurt. It’s just bent the reality of the show.

Jenna [00:18:31] What about this one, though? Dave Koechner was Todd Packer who literally starred in Anchorman with Steve Carell. So Michael Scott would have watched himself and Todd Packer in a movie.

Angela [00:18:44] We can’t apply this logic to the show.

Jenna [00:18:46] It doesn’t work.

Angela [00:18:47] What about when Timothy Olyphant comes on or Idris Elba? There goes the world.

Jenna [00:18:52] Here’s the thing. It was so important to Greg Daniels in the beginning that we not cast these recognizable big name actors in roles on the show for this exact reason, that it like creates a logic problem. But then Steve Carell himself became a giant movie star, starring in movies that Michael Scott would surely watch.

Angela [00:19:12] 100%.

Jenna [00:19:13] So we had to give that up at a certain point, and I’m glad we did, because then we got to work with Kathy Bates. And then, of course, we’re going to have all these other people coming in as well. I mean, Amy Ryan, Idris Elba, they kind of, you know, we slowly made our way to superstar Kathy Bates.

Angela [00:19:33] Yeah. One of my favorite shots- I don’t know why this made me laugh so hard- was the Great Danes jumping on Gabe. Because you and I know in real life, Zach is so tall. And when that dog jumped on him, you really get, like, an understanding of how big these dogs were. So the character Gabe brings them in. They immediately go right to Andy’s crotch. Like, immediately.

Jenna [00:19:56] Well, Jo says they love a good crotch. You should take that as a compliment.

Angela [00:20:01] Poor Ed. Ed had those Great Danes in his crotch for days.

Jenna [00:20:05] He really did. We had a fan question from Josephine E in New York, New York. How did they get Jo’s dogs to sniff Andy’s crotch so incessantly? Did they put peanut butter in his pants?

Angela [00:20:18] What did they do? Did you ask Randy?

Jenna [00:20:21] I did ask Randy.

Angela [00:20:22] Oh, Lord. What’s the answer?

Jenna [00:20:24] Well, it was a very long process.

Angela [00:20:26] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:20:28] So first they had to budget two full days of meet and greet for both Kathy Bates and Ed Helms to bond with the dogs, because these were the two people that the dogs would be having their, like, primary interactions with. And it’s funny because remember when Ed had to skip out of lunch to go spend time with the swans?

Angela [00:20:50] I do.

Jenna [00:20:50] Now he had to go spend time with these dogs. Well, Randy said we needed four more days of prep where the trainers brought the dogs on to set with Kathy, Ed, and also Zach Woods. So by the time we were ready to shoot with them, these dogs were comfortable with the set. They were comfortable with the people. Here’s how they got them into Ed’s crotch.

Angela [00:21:15] Okay.

Jenna [00:21:16] They applied a colorless dog pheromone to Ed’s wardrobe to get them to sniff. Randy said, quote, It did what it was supposed to. The Great Danes were in love with Ed’s crotch. The total cost for this week of the dogs, including the training, the prep, the shoot days, the trainer labor, and transportation of the dogs was $14,370. Kathy Bates and Ed Helms were on the Late Late Show with James Corden, and they talked about this very thing. Here’s what they had to say.

James Corden [00:21:55] I really appreciate you joining us.

Kathy Bates [00:21:57] Thank you.

James Corden [00:21:57] And now, you two, you know each other. Your paths have crossed because Kathy-.

Ed Helms [00:22:00] We’re old friends.

James Corden [00:22:01] Yeah, you did a few episodes on The Office?

Kathy Bates [00:22:03] Yes.

James Corden [00:22:07] What do you what do you remember from that time?

Ed Helms [00:22:10] I was brilliant.

Kathy Bates [00:22:13] Yeah. Well, I have a hard time actually remembering you. I was uh what I remember are the Great Danes. I had a pair of Great Danes.

James Corden [00:22:22] That’s right. Because in the show you had two and they were huge.

Kathy Bates [00:22:25] Huge. Yeah, they’re huge.

Ed Helms [00:22:27] They’re great.

James Corden [00:22:28] Great Danes. Right, they were. But didn’t they have to try and inspect your crotch or something?Is this true?

Kathy Bates [00:22:33] Yes, that’s why I forgot.

Ed Helms [00:22:35] The yeah, there was some bit where the, the Great Danes were obsessed with my crotch. And which was in the script. And then I really had to do it when it happened. And the only way to do that is to actually put dog treats in your, like, zipper, right-

Kathy Bates [00:22:54] I didn’t know that, I thought it was just you. I thought it was your unique charisma.

Ed Helms [00:23:04] Yeah, well, yeah, I am something of a dog whisperer, a Great Dane whisperer. But I mean, that’s a big animal to have in your right there.

James Corden [00:23:13] Without question.

Ed Helms [00:23:14] And it’s I mean, it is it’s all fun and games until someone loses a ball. I mean it’s like…

Jenna [00:23:24] So I have to say, I do remember that for some of the scenes I remember Ed having to put those like treats in his pants.

Angela [00:23:33] I do too. It almost looked like a little, you know, that dog treat like pepperoni, you know, those little. So they would take those and he would have to kind of moosh them into the zipper to really get them to go at it. To like gnaw there. Oh, Lord. Oh, my gosh. Well, I counted how many scenes that Ed had a dog in his crotch. It’s the crotch sniffer tracker, I guess.

Jenna [00:23:57] I love the things we track.

Angela [00:23:58] So watch along with us and you’ll see if you get the same number at the end. Andy is going to share with us, you guys, that Valentines is right around the corner. He and Erin haven’t gone on any dates and he wants to give her a valentine, but he doesn’t want her to know that he likes her. This is my problem. I just want him to tell her he likes her.

Jenna [00:24:17] I know.

Angela [00:24:18] So as a result, he gets everyone a valentines and he’s handing them out to everybody.

Jenna [00:24:24] Except he flings Meredith at her. It cuts her throat. She has a talking head. Did you notice, she’s wearing the vest again?

Angela [00:24:34] I did.

Jenna [00:24:35] Is this the most worn vest ever? This is like Meredith’s favorite vest.

Angela [00:24:41] It’s her go to vest.

Jenna [00:24:42] It really is.

Angela [00:24:43] The crazy thing is, when we were filming the show, I don’t remember this vest, like always being around.

Jenna [00:24:49] Right?

Angela [00:24:50] But now watching it, it’s like every other episode, there’s the vest.

Jenna [00:24:53] I know!

Angela [00:24:54] Our next scene is Michael and Jim in the conference room, and they’re trying to explain to Jo Bennett why there needs to be two positions for this job, right? It’s not going great. Michael starts off comparing Florida to a lawless swamp.

Jenna [00:25:09] Yeah.

Angela [00:25:10] Jenna, it made me think of that thing that went viral on the Internet where you would take your birthday and you would Google your birthday and then the words Florida man. Did you do it?

Jenna [00:25:21] No.

Angela [00:25:22] Oh, I did it. Ready? Here’s what mine had. And then we should do yours. Okay. I typed in June 25th, Florida man. This is what I got.

Jenna [00:25:29] Okay.

Angela [00:25:30] Florida man arrested for running naked through Wal-Mart Parking Lot June 25th, 2019 1:05 p.m..

Jenna [00:25:37] Oh, we should maybe in honor of Sam and Cassi’s birthday.

Sam [00:25:41] One step ahead of you.

Jenna [00:25:42] Oh.

Sam [00:25:43] Florida man accused of firing a urine filled squirt gun at woman.

Angela [00:25:47] Oh, my gosh.

Sam [00:25:48] April 16, 2019. Cassi?

Cassi [00:25:50] I got Florida man slapped with Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish after argument.

Jenna [00:25:55] Amazing. Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:25:58] Was it singing when the slap occurred?

Jenna [00:26:01] Mine is Florida man attempts to board plane with rocket propelled grenade launcher.

Angela [00:26:07] Oh, my gosh. Anyway, it’s sort of a fun cocktail party game. Type in your birthday and Florida man and see what you get. Sam, I think yours wins.

Sam [00:26:19] It’s actually one of two. Also, Florida man arrested for pulling over undercover cop while pretending to be a cop.

Jenna [00:26:26] Oh, no! Oh, my goodness.

Angela [00:26:31] We love you, Florida!

Jenna [00:26:32] Well, Jo is not suffering any fools in this conference room scene. She has an amazing quote. She says, You can’t give me gravy and tell me it’s jelly because gravy ain’t sweet. And this then inspires Michael to try to speak in these same sort of like Southern phrases.

Angela [00:26:52] This is what he says. I felt like we had to read it. He said, Well, Jim, where I’m from, two types of folk, those who ain’t, and those who are knee high on a grasshopper. Which type ain’t you ain’t? Y’all come back now.

Jenna [00:27:05] Yes. Michael says knee high on a grasshopper. The phrase is knee high to a grasshopper. This got me thinking about Southern phrases because I loved her little jelly gravy thing. I actually literally love everything Jo Bennett says, because at the end of this conversation, when they’re disagreeing with her, she says, we’ll let it marinate.

Angela [00:27:24] Yeah.

Jenna [00:27:25] Which basically means I’m going to give you till the end of the day to agree with me.

Angela [00:27:29] Yeah. Just go sit in it.

Jenna [00:27:30] Really like it. All of this led me to an article in Wide Open Country called Ten Southern Sayings Most People Have to Look Up.

Angela [00:27:40] Okay.

Jenna [00:27:41] So knee high to a grasshopper was on there. It just means that, you know, you’re-.

Angela [00:27:46] You’re short! I have been told that I’m knee high to a grasshopper.

Jenna [00:27:50] Yes.

Angela [00:27:51] Because I’m a short stack.

Jenna [00:27:53] It can also be used to say, like you’ve grown like, oh, last time I saw you, you were just knee high to a grasshopper. Look at you now. Was that a good- did I do a good southern lady?

Angela [00:28:04] Pretty good. Pretty good.

Jenna [00:28:05] Pretty good. All right. So here are some more phrases in the article, Angela, as our Southern lady expert.

Angela [00:28:11] I don’t know if I’m an expert. I’m ready, though.

Jenna [00:28:14] Are you ready? Number one, don’t get your knickers in a knot.

Angela [00:28:17] Got it. Don’t get upset about little things. Watch your britches. Stuff like that.

Jenna [00:28:21] You’re slower than molasses in the winter.

Angela [00:28:23] That’s pretty slow because molasses gets hard in the winter. Keep going.

Jenna [00:28:28] Oh, bless your heart.

Angela [00:28:29] Oh, well…

Jenna [00:28:31] That’s a complicated one.

Angela [00:28:32] Yeah. There are several ways to use that one. I mean, my favorite way to use it is, you know, basically right after you say something tacky. You know, you’re like, Oh, look at her blouse. Bless her heart. That means they didn’t like your top.

Jenna [00:28:46] That’s what it said. It said, before, you think your mom’s friend is giving you a sweet compliment, you might want to double check for sarcasm because typically Southern women’s gossip begins or ends with bless their heart.

Angela [00:28:59] Ding, ding, ding. Got it.

Jenna [00:29:01] And finally, honey, that dog won’t hunt.

Angela [00:29:04] Oh, yes, I’ve heard this, too. I mean, basically, that dog won’t hunt. It’s like you’re not going to have any success with that. That’s not going to happen.

Jenna [00:29:12] Yes.

Angela [00:29:12] Yeah.

Jenna [00:29:13] It’s like a bad idea.

Angela [00:29:14] Right, like, imagine you have a dog who thinks a hunting dog and it doesn’t go after the duck. And you’re just like, Oh, yeah, that dog’s not going to hunt.

Jenna [00:29:21] I really like that one. I was like, I want Jo Bennett to use it. That was my favorite of all of them was Honey, that dog won’t hunt.

Angela [00:29:30] You know one that my dad used to say that’s not on that list? I don’t know if other people from the South say this, but my dad used to say, Oh, he went in there wide open.

Jenna [00:29:37] What does that mean?

Angela [00:29:38] I don’t know. It’s just something my dad would say. But that meant, like, if you’re, like, hot to trot, guys, if you’re fired up about something, you, like, go into a room wide open. Oh, man. He went in there wide open.

Jenna [00:29:51] Oh, okay, alright.

Angela [00:29:53] That was a Bill Kinsey for you. Well, Jo Bennett is going to have a talking head. I found this interesting because this is her moment, one on one with the camera crew. So she has bought this company. She has agreed to let the camera crew keep filming because she could have just kicked them out. Right?

Jenna [00:30:09] Very true.

Angela [00:30:10] She’s the new owner.

Jenna [00:30:10] Yes.

Angela [00:30:11] And she sits down and she tells them sort of like all of her stats, right?

Jenna [00:30:15] Yeah. Well, during this talking head, we see a photo montage of Jo Bennett in various places with different celebrities, different politicians. Randy Cordray said the way we did this, we set up a greenscreen on the warehouse stage and Michael Gallenberg shot Kathy Bates in different outfits and different poses.

Angela [00:30:34] Like flying the plane?

Jenna [00:30:35] Yes, in a plane outfit. And our graphic designer, Henry Saine, then Photoshopped her into licensed stock photo images. So, yeah, it was just like an amazing Photoshop job. But there are photos out there. There’s like another woman in that plane in the real picture, but we put Kathy Bates in it.

Angela [00:30:55] Well, we learned in this talking head that her name is actually Jolene Bennett. I mean, Jolene is my favorite Dolly Parton song.

Jenna [00:31:02] Of course.

Angela [00:31:02] We have to hear a tiny bit of it.

Jenna [00:31:04] All right. In honor of Jolene Bennett.

Angela [00:31:06] Yes.

Dolly Parton [00:31:08] Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. I’m begging of you please don’t take my man. Jolene. Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. Please don’t take him just because you can.

Jenna [00:31:32] Dolly Parton is a national treasure.

Angela [00:31:34] I love her.

Jenna [00:31:36] Love her.

Angela [00:31:36] I love that song.

Jenna [00:31:38] Incidentally, in this talking head, Gabby was the Great Dane.

Angela [00:31:43] Oh, that was our dog actor?

Jenna [00:31:46] That was our dog actor. Very good job, Gabby.

Angela [00:31:48] Well, Andy is going to give Erin her Valentine. It’s Snoopy and Woodstock.

Jenna [00:31:54] Yes, he gives it to her because, you know, of all the birds. From Christmas.

Angela [00:32:00] I laughed when he said, it’s Snoopy and Woodstock. And she goes, Oh, you name them? He’s like, No.

Jenna [00:32:07] Well, I went on a little tangent about Snoopy and Woodstock. You know, they’re the dog and bird in the peanut comic strip by Charles Schulz. They’re great friends. Do you know the origin story of Snoopy and Woodstock? Because it’s freaking adorable.

Angela [00:32:23] I don’t. And I want to hear it because I had a Snoopy growing up I carried everywhere.

Jenna [00:32:28] So Woodstock first appeared when a mama bird built her nest on Snoopy’s stomach while he was taking a nap. And the mama bird never came back. So there were two baby birds and Snoopy had to kind of reluctantly raise them. But one day, Snoopy got so upset that he just threw the two birds out into the world to fend for themselves. But one of the birds came back. And Snoopy was, like, very annoyed. This is part of the story. But then he decided he would go ahead and raise the bird himself, and he became quite attached to it. And that bird was Woodstock. Now, the little bird did not even have a name until June of 1970. He was named after the Woodstock Musical Festival of 1969. Snoopy is the only non bird who understands Woodstock’s language. When you read the comic strip, it’s just a series of exclamation points and question marks. But Woodstock still likes to sleep on Snoopy’s stomach, and he always turns to Snoopy for help when he has a problem. Is that so sweet?

Angela [00:33:41] That’s so sweet. I love Snoopy and Woodstock.

Jenna [00:33:44] So this is actually a very romantic card, especially if you know the back story. It’s just about two creatures that need to be together.

Angela [00:33:51] But Erin didn’t even know who they were, their names. So for Eri, it’s a dog and a bird. And she’s like, Oh, they’re friends.

Jenna [00:34:00] Yeah.

Angela [00:34:01] Not the right message. Even though he did spray it with Roger Federer cologne.

Jenna [00:34:06] It has pheromones in it.

Angela [00:34:07] The tennis player.

Jenna [00:34:09] All right, listen, now it’s time for our conference room meeting.

Angela [00:34:12] I have a fan girl moment at 5 minutes, 52 seconds.

Jenna [00:34:15] What is it?

Angela [00:34:16] Kathy Bates put her hand on my back.

Jenna [00:34:18] Chop chop, little onion.

Angela [00:34:21] Do you see my reaction? I was supposed to, like, act, like, sort of like thrown off by it, but it wasn’t that hard to play because I was all like, oh, okay. Kathy Bates talking to me.

Jenna [00:34:31] I was jealous. You got an actual, like, direct moment with Jo Bennett. It’s so great.

Angela [00:34:37] So everyone’s taking their seats and Kevin goes, Jo, there’s books in my chair. Like, he’s disturbed. Like, why is there a book in my chair?

Jenna [00:34:44] Yeah, he can’t sit in it. Yes, she says. One is the Sabre handbook and the other is my autobiography. At 6 minutes, 4 seconds, we see a really good shot of her book. Her book is called Take a Good Look. And this was another creation by Henry Saine, our graphic designer. Michael Gallenberg had taken a picture of Kathy Bates the week prior when they were on the set of the Sabre exterior for the crazy Sabre video, and they made this book. Take a Good Look.

Angela [00:35:16] Well, you know, this scene was extended. A lot of it got trimmed. Pam actually asked Jo Bennett, why is it called Take a Good Look? And I thought we should hear her answer.

Jenna [00:35:27] Ooh.

Jo Bennett [00:35:28] I was 26 years old working at Kodak. My first job after Vanderbilt. It was very exciting. I took it very seriously. But I wasn’t afforded the same amount of respect that the rest of the board enjoyed. One day I’d had it up to here, and I strode into the boardroom wearing nothing but a pair of spike heels, a lace push up bra, and matching lace panties. And I took my seat and I looked around at all of them, and I said, Gentlemen, if this is all you see, then take a good look.

Jenna [00:36:03] Ooh, I love Jo Bennett.

Angela [00:36:07] It says in the script, people are blown away by this well-rehearsed anecdote.

Jenna [00:36:16] Well, she’s got a whole very sort of charming speech where she’s like, Who is Sabre? Where is Tallahassee?

Angela [00:36:26] In Texas.

Jenna [00:36:26] Right. Michael knows. This is when she’s going to reveal you all are going to be selling printers. Printers. Michael starts saying, Oh, I can manage that.

Angela [00:36:39] He says manage as many times as possible because he’s trying to put subliminal messages into Jo’s brain. He’s the manager.

Jenna [00:36:48] Which is the same thing that Kelly did in Michael Scott Paper Company with Charles Miner when she kept saying, You wanted me? You want me?

Angela [00:36:57] That’s my favorite one. Jo wraps up this meeting but doesn’t take any questions. People’s hands go up. She’s like, out the door. She’s like, Sell my printers. I’m gone.

Jenna [00:37:08] So bad ass.

Angela [00:37:10] She’s a badass lady.

Jenna [00:37:10] I love this lady. I think Jo and I would be friends.

Angela [00:37:14] Oh, for sure. In real life?

Jenna [00:37:16] I think we would. We might be the same woman. All right, why don’t we take a break because we’re about halfway through. And when we come back, Kelly is going to get a valentine from Andy.

Angela [00:37:29] With the most flowery message.

Jenna [00:37:31] Yeah.

Angela [00:37:32] Not a dog and a bird.

Jenna [00:37:34] No.

Angela [00:37:34] Words of love. We’ll be back.

Jenna [00:37:40] We are back. Kelly is reading her valentine from Andy. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We don’t know what’s in it yet, but it has clearly touched her heart.

Angela [00:37:51] You guys, Kelly has never thought of Andy that way.

Jenna [00:37:54] But that’s what romantic comedies are based on. It’s always the person that you didn’t even notice or that maybe you even hated.

Angela [00:38:01] Right. He’s been there all along, you guys. Kelly is living in a pretend rom com, and she has found her leading man.

Jenna [00:38:10] She has. Can we talk about how adorable, by the way, Mindy looks in this episode?

Angela [00:38:15] She is so cute head to toe. Her outfit, her hair, her makeup, all of it. She looks so cute.

Jenna [00:38:20] I know.

Angela [00:38:21] Well, Pam is going to stumble on something for Jim. She ran the numbers, looked at the manual. He could make way more money as a salesman than a manager.

Jenna [00:38:29] Yeah, because Sabre has all these incentive programs which are outlined in the manual that Pam read. I just want to point out who read the manual.

Angela [00:38:38] I know. I know.

Jenna [00:38:38] It was Pam, not Jim. And this is going to touch on something that I speak to a lot of women about, which is the invisible labor that women do in our lives, in our partnerships, in our jobs. Guys, if you believe women should have larger pockets, I encourage you to Google the phrase “invisible labor” and read up on it because it’s very, very satisfying. It’s basically just about how women read and track details.

Angela [00:39:06] Like emails.

Jenna [00:39:07] An example of invisible labor would be reading the email from the school, making note of when picture day is, making sure that your kids have their favorite outfits and that their hair is brushed before they walk out the door for picture day. That’s just an example of invisible labor. But another example of invisible labor are the number of ways that women are asked to work for free, to volunteer for things at their job, for committees, for making sure that someone gets their birthday cake or whatever at the office. All of these things are like additional invisible labor type jobs that tend to fall on women’s shoulders. And there are a number of like sociological articles about it. I mean, room parent.

Angela [00:39:52] Yeah.

Jenna [00:39:53] You know, at school, who’s bringing in all the like little crafts for the craft thing that the school needs. Things like that. Invisible labor. Everybody check it out. Also pockets.

Angela [00:40:08] Well, with this information that Pam gives Jim, he tells Michael, you know what? Go for it. You be the manager. Michael is so happy. Jim came to his senses. He goes in the break room.

Jenna [00:40:21] Because he has to brag to someone. He’s wandering around, finding someone he can brag to, basically.

Angela [00:40:28] Exactly. Someone’s got to know this information. Oscar is quietly reading a magazine. It’s The Atlantic.

Jenna [00:40:35] Michael’s favorite ocean.

Angela [00:40:36] Yes. And there was a deleted talking head where Michael discusses why The Atlantic is his favorite ocean.

Jenna [00:40:44] Ohh. I just love the idea that Michael thinks there is this ongoing periodical about the Atlantic Ocean. That Oscar reads.

Angela [00:40:55] Just about the Atlantic Ocean.

Jenna [00:40:57] Yes. What’s happening in the Atlantic?

Angela [00:40:59] Well, you know, we’ve already learned his favorite Winter Olympic sport. So now let’s find out all about his favorite ocean.

Michael Scott [00:41:06] Why is the Atlantic Ocean the best ocean? That is simple. According to Oprah, the Pacific Ocean is pretty much just garbage. The Indian Ocean is full of pirates. The Arctic Ocean is too cold, thank you very much. And the Southern Ocean is just the bottom of all the other oceans. Atlantic Ocean has all the history. That is where… The amoebas crawled from the murky depths and became man. So. Pretty cool.

Jenna [00:41:41] Wow.

Angela [00:41:41] That’s what he thinks- makes me laugh so hard- about the Atlantic Ocean. He also does this thing in this talking head that, I mean, we all know people that do this, but it never quite makes sense. He’s like the Arctic Ocean’s too cold, thank you very much. What’s the thank you very much? Like, what? Anyway, that’s in the DVDs. I just thought it was hilarious.

Jenna [00:42:06] I love it that this scene cut away to a talking head of Michael explaining this fact.

Angela [00:42:12] And then cuts back.

Jenna [00:42:14] To the scene.

Angela [00:42:15] Where Oscar finds out why Michael is so happy. He’s like, Well, maybe I should be a salesperson, too.

Jenna [00:42:21] Yeah. Michael’s like, What are you talking about? And he’s like, They make way more money. It’s in the manual. Sabre has no cap on commissions. He read it all in the manual. Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:42:31] Oh, my gosh. Michael has his talking head. He’s like, well, according to the manual, there is no cap on commissions. I have been hustled.

Jenna [00:42:40] Yeah. So Michael is going to walk in on Jo in the conference room having a meeting with Jim, where Jim is saying he’ll be a salesperson.

Angela [00:42:50] He does my favorite thing too. He whispers, Son of a bitch.

Jenna [00:42:55] I want to point out that this conference room went from being a place where we were having a presentation with rows of chairs to now having a table in the middle of it. It’s gone back and forth between like sort of office style for Jo with the conference table to presentation style. And we never see this transformation happen on the show. Never. No one’s ever moving a table in and out. Where does the table go when we’re not using it?

Angela [00:43:21] Who’s moving it all?

Jenna [00:43:22] Who is it?

Angela [00:43:23] All I want is B-roll of like Kevin and whoever, Creed, just moving chairs and tables all day.

Jenna [00:43:30] I feel like there’s a missed opportunity here. I would love it if, like, Michael designated this to the warehouse guys. And can you imagine, just like, how annoyed they are every time? What if there’s just an episode where they’re moving it back and forth all day and Darryl is like, Michael, we have deliveries to make.

Angela [00:43:52] Or Michael pays like petty cash to Leo and Gino.

Jenna [00:43:57] Yes.

Angela [00:43:57] And they come and move everything from Vance Refrigeration.

Jenna [00:44:01] Oh, my God. I know. This is. How does it happen? Who is the muscle here?

Angela [00:44:04] Who does that- how does it happen?

Jenna [00:44:06] Yes. We also had a continuity catch in this scene.

Angela [00:44:10] I did too!

Jenna [00:44:11] The hair?

Angela [00:44:12] Yes!

Jenna [00:44:12] Yes! You and Jess B from Batesville, Indiana. When Michael and Jim were talking with Jo, Michael messes up Jim’s hair and it stays disheveled until the very end when Michael gets up to leave, and then it is perfectly combed again.

Angela [00:44:27] Yes. At 9 minutes, 13 seconds. Messy hair. That’s when it starts. It stays messy until 9:55. And then at 9:58, it’s perfectly back to normal.

Jenna [00:44:39] Right?

Angela [00:44:40] Nice catch.

Jenna [00:44:41] So in addition to messing up Jim’s hair, Michael also messes up Jim’s plans. Did you like that segue? I just thought of it in the moment. I’m really kind of proud of it.

Angela [00:44:50] You’re like a professional.

Jenna [00:44:51] I feel like I am. I mean. After, like, 100 and something episodes.

Angela [00:44:55] You’re like a wordsmith.

Jenna [00:44:57] Thank you. Basically, Michael says, you know, I think I want to be the salesperson. And Jo says, You know what, Michael? You have more experience across the board. You’ve been in sales. You’ve been a manager. I’m going to defer to your judgment on this.

Angela [00:45:12] And he takes the sales position and now he’s got to move in all his stuff to Jim’s little desk. And Jim is now moving into Michael’s office.

Jenna [00:45:22] Yes. You see Jim and Pam. Jim is the manager now. At 10 minutes, 6 seconds, you’re going to get a real good shot of belly bump e. This was the very large belly bump that I had to wear. Pam has gone up a bump.

Angela [00:45:37] Well, she’s getting into her last trimester.

Jenna [00:45:39] Yeah. Next week she’s giving birth, everybody.

Angela [00:45:42] Yeah.

Jenna [00:45:43] Well, Dwight is not pleased at all. He makes a phone call to Bobcat.

Angela [00:45:47] Yeah, Bobcat, this is Dragon. Meet me by the dumpster in 90 seconds. And he hangs up and goes 89, 88…

Jenna [00:45:57] 20 minutes later, Ryan meets him outside by the dumpsters.

Angela [00:46:02] Do you mean scarfy Ryan? Because I’m calling him scarfy Ryan.

Jenna [00:46:07] Such a scarf.

Angela [00:46:07] A turquoise scarf. You know, in the shooting draft, because I reread it, Jo Bennett says, nice scarf.

Jenna [00:46:14] Oh!

Angela [00:46:15] She comments on his scarf earlier in the episode. But, yeah, if you want to see scarfy, go to 10 minutes, 32 seconds. They have this hilarious dialogue, too, when Ryan says, Did you see Saw? And Dwight goes, of course I seesaw. Mose and I seesaw all the time.

Jenna [00:46:32] Yeah. He’s like, no, the movie Saw. Because they still have their diabolical plan to take down Jim. And Ryan’s idea is that, what, they’re going to kidnap Jim and, like, do psychological torture on him?

Angela [00:46:46] Dwight rejects the idea.

Jenna [00:46:48] He does.

Angela [00:46:49] He’s like, this is not a good idea.

Jenna [00:46:50] I do want to say in this scene, a nice touch at ten minutes, 30 seconds, that’s some nice fakey snow on the dumpster, kind of around. Was provided by Ron Nary’s team from A&A Special Effects. Again they had to bring in a small truckload of ice. It was delivered from Union Ice of North Hollywood, California. They put it through the industrial woodchipper device and it sprayed out as snow. I appreciate this. I mean, we filmed this in Southern California, but we knew that this would be airing in a Pennsylvania winter time frame. And so we put these little details in. Well done.

Angela [00:47:30] I love it too. Paints the picture, guys. Well, ultimately, Dwight and Ryan decide they’re going to reach out to Nick, the I.T. guy, make him their pawn, help him bring down Jim.

Jenna [00:47:44] Yeah. Back in the office, Erin is helping Michael try and get all his toys onto the desk. But she’s having trouble. There’s not as many surfaces. I want to point out two things in this scene. At 11 minutes, 57 seconds, there’s a really good shot of the giraffe pen in my cupholder on my desk.

Angela [00:48:07] The wonky one.

Jenna [00:48:08] The wonky giraffe.

Angela [00:48:09] That never worked.

Jenna [00:48:10] That never worked.

Angela [00:48:11] That you still have.

Jenna [00:48:12] That I still have.

Angela [00:48:14] Aww.

Jenna [00:48:14] So if you want a good shot of it, it was a lot harder to see when it was at reception, but it’s really good to see in this scene.

Angela [00:48:20] Wonky giraffe.

Jenna [00:48:21] I also want to say how much I loved having Steve Carell at this desk clump. It took us about a half a day to shoot all the scenes with Steve out in the bullpen. It was a delight. I absolutely loved it. He loved it. We got to be together. It was so fun.

Angela [00:48:40] I would be so tickled if he ever had to sit over in accounting. We would be so tickled.

Jenna [00:48:45] Exactly.

Angela [00:48:47] Erin is going to enter Jim’s office with ants on a log.

Jenna [00:48:51] You really get some insight into the things that Michael has convinced Erin to do for him, none of which Pam would have ever done.

Angela [00:49:00] No. They have a whole different relationship.

Jenna [00:49:02] And she so earnestly, like believes in Michael’s just- I don’t know what- in his… she looks up to him.

Angela [00:49:11] Right. I think she believes that he really does have this handbook on how to be a boss. And this is what you do. You bring ants on a log every day at 2:00.

Jenna [00:49:18] You also have to get spun in your chair because a spinning brain is a working brain.

Angela [00:49:23] Yeah. Ants on a log, guys. Celery stalk, some peanut butter and a few raisins.

Jenna [00:49:28] Mm hmm. It’s a great snack.

Angela [00:49:31] It’s a great snack.

Jenna [00:49:32] Have you ever done it where, instead of raisins, you put chocolate chips?

Angela [00:49:36] Oh, I would probably like that better because I love chocolate with peanut butter.

Jenna [00:49:40] Right. It’s real good.

Angela [00:49:42] Does the celery throw you off, though?

Jenna [00:49:44] No. It still has that crisp, refreshing crunch.

Angela [00:49:48] Okay, well, Michael is going to blow his train horn.

Jenna [00:49:52] Mm hmm.

Angela [00:49:53] And say that he got a new client. And he instantly gets shade for this. People are like, we don’t really announce when we get sales anymore.

Jenna [00:49:59] We haven’t done that since 1992.

Angela [00:50:02] I mean, come on. So this scene continued, Jenna. It’s in the shooting draft. It didn’t make it in the final episode, but I thought it was really cute. Michael is annoyed, so he goes, Well, I guess I’ll just celebrate with a snack then. And he walks into the kitchen and then you see sort of like this argument between Oscar and Michael, like through the kitchen door. And then Michael storms out. And they’re having this heated conversation and Michael’s like, you know how long it took for those to freeze? And we see that Oscar has a little orange cube on like a toothpick, like a homemade popsicle.

Jenna [00:50:40] Oh, like in the ice tray where you put orange juice in your ice tray?

Angela [00:50:44] Yes.

Jenna [00:50:44] Yeah.

Angela [00:50:45] So Michael’s furious. And Oscar’s like, that’s because you kept opening the freezer door to check on them. And Michael goes, Yeah, but then I didn’t check on them. And now they’re all gone. And the camera widens, and we see Creed and Meredith each eating one. Everyone is eating Michael’s homemade orange juice popsicles, and he is furious about it. It was just this little runner that got cut. And then he goes and sits down and he smells the smell.

Jenna [00:51:10] Oh, the smell. Yes.

Angela [00:51:13] So he’s not having a very good day in the bullpen.

Jenna [00:51:16] Yeah. We find out that there is a kind of sulfur like smell. It is a side effect of Phyllis’ new allergy medication.

Angela [00:51:25] She sent an email about it.

Jenna [00:51:26] She did, and everyone seems fine with it. Even though Andy has tissues up his nose, he’s just anticipating a nose bleed.

Angela [00:51:33] This is it for Michael. He cannot believe he’s out in the bullpen where you don’t celebrate a sale. People are taking your homemade orange juice ice cube popsicles. And there’s a sulfur smell.

Jenna [00:51:45] And it’s stinky.

Angela [00:51:47] And he can’t fit his things on his desk.

Jenna [00:51:49] I also want to point out something else in this scene, actually. It’s at 16 minutes and 7 seconds. There is a really good shot of the three hamster dolls on Michael’s desk. And the reason I point this out, I think we shared this a long time ago, but back when we shot the pilot, John Krasinski toured a paper company in Scranton. The manager there was a woman and she had a little stuffed hamster on her desk. And so Michael’s little hamster toys are a nod to that little bit of research that John Krasinski did. And I just love that we have kept this detail going.

Angela [00:52:28] All these years.

Jenna [00:52:29] Yes.

Angela [00:52:29] I remember it was so important to Greg. He was like, no, we need the hamsters dressed up.

Jenna [00:52:33] Yeah, we need a little dressed up ham- everyone’s like, What is this detail? He’s like, I need it. It was like part of that authenticity. He loved spotting that in that video that John showed him. Oh, my gosh, Angela, I just saw one more thing I didn’t mention. There’s a lot to unpack in these scenes where Michael is sitting out in the bullpen. There was a fan catch from Paige M in Utica, New York. When Michael announces his sale, Jim’s door is closed in the background. But then it’s open at the end of the scene. It’s another thing like the hair messed up.

Angela [00:53:04] Mm hmm. I love all the background catches, you guys.

Jenna [00:53:08] Good catch, Paige.

Angela [00:53:08] Kelly is now going to read Andy’s card. It’s one of those cards, you guys, that you buy, and it has a whole message written in it, you know? Here’s what it says. “You brighten my day with the sound of your voice. You bring so much laughter and love. You’re everything to me. And I was so blessed when God sent you here to me.” To which Erin says, Geez, Louise.

Jenna [00:53:33] Yeah. Then she has the talking head where she says she just can’t compete with Kelly. Kelly can sing, she can dance. She gets all of her clothes at the mall. I mean, it makes total sense to her that Andy would pick Kelly.

Angela [00:53:48] I mean, if you’re looking at the two cards and you don’t know anything about Snoopy or Woodstock, Kelly’s card is beautiful.

Jenna [00:53:55] It is.

Angela [00:53:56] Andy said he had no idea what was on the card.

Jenna [00:53:58] No. He clearly picked out Erin’s card and then just like quickly grabbed a bunch of others and handed them out randomly.

Angela [00:54:06] For all we know, Kevin got a similar card.

Jenna [00:54:08] True.

Angela [00:54:09] With no candy.

Jenna [00:54:11] I don’t know if you noticed the location of Erin’s talking head. She couldn’t be in the conference room because that’s where Jo and her Great Danes are. So we would set up an alternate talking head spot outside of the breakroom.

Angela [00:54:24] Yes.

Jenna [00:54:25] There’s the little hallway, and many talking heads would happen there. But that’s why there’s a plant. If you see a plant in a talking head, we’re probably in that breakroom hallway.

Angela [00:54:37] Speaking of the breakroom, Dwight and Ryan are going to find Nick in there. Nick, the IT guy, and they’re kind of going to, like, do a shakedown. Is that what it’s called?

Jenna [00:54:47] Yeah, I think it is, a shakedown.

Angela [00:54:49] I don’t know if that’s the right term, but basically they’re like-

Jenna [00:54:51] It is the right term, because I just watched an episode of Abbott Elementary and they have a whole plotline about shakedowns.

Angela [00:54:55] Okay, so there’s a shakedown.

Jenna [00:54:57] I learned something.

Angela [00:54:58] There you have it. They’re basically like, Nick, you’re going to help us get Jim’s password to his computer. And if you don’t, we’re going to do these kind of things. And then Ryan has to struggle to crush a can.

Jenna [00:55:08] Yes.

Angela [00:55:09] But then Dwight completely crushes an apple.

Jenna [00:55:12] Yeah. We got a fan question from Laura S in Australia. How did Rainn crush the apple? Was that a fakey apple or is he just super strong? Per Randy Cordray, Dwight’s crushing of the apple was just real. They used a real apple. He said they did a bunch of practice runs.

Angela [00:55:32] They didn’t drill any holes in it or like help him a little?

Jenna [00:55:35] Okay. So they did kind of score the backside of the apple so that it could break away more easily, but they didn’t do anything to the front. It’s a real apple. He said Rainn’s fingertips were just strong enough to dig in to the front of the apple, and then it broke away because of some of the scoring on the back. But I mean, just that part, the part where they go in to the front is really impressive.

Angela [00:56:01] Good job, Rainn. Who knew?

Jenna [00:56:04] You know, that’s the thing, like as an actor, especially being a television actor, because they generate scripts on an ongoing basis and they’ll just write something and suddenly you’re like, Oh, I guess this week I’m skateboarding. I’ve never been on a skateboard before. And then you have like one week to figure out how to be a good enough skateboarder to pull off whatever they’ve written. And in this case, like, how lucky are they that Rainn could crush an apple with his fingertips? No one asked. And then if he couldn’t have done it, what would they have done? Would they have rewritten it? Would they have found a fakey apple? I don’t know.

Angela [00:56:45] A romantic comedy is about to begin.

Jenna [00:56:48] Hmm.

Angela [00:56:49] Kelly’s at the copier. Andy walks up behind her and she turns around and goes, Oh, you scared me. I didn’t see you there. I mean, she is laying it on so thick. She touches his arm, gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Jenna [00:57:05] He’s so confused.

Angela [00:57:06] He’s so confused. And that’s when Meredith comes up and goes, We saw the card you gave her. You gave that to me, we’d be doing it. She says something like that. And he’s like, What?

Jenna [00:57:17] Now Andy’s freaked out. He realizes what has happened, and Erin has seen the whole thing. Meanwhile, Michael is going to walk into what is now Jim’s office and say he wants his old job back because he cannot handle the farty dirt patch that is the sales floor.

Angela [00:57:35] Well Jim says the grass is always greener, and he’s like, There’s no grass out there. It’s just a farty dirt patch.

Jenna [00:57:42] It’s amazing. Jim says, What do you want to do? They have a very funny exchange here. The difference between Michael’s plan and Jim’s plan is pretty amazing.

Angela [00:57:53] Michael’s number one idea is, let’s make a sign that says it’s opposite day.

Jenna [00:57:57] I know.

Angela [00:57:57] Done. Solved.

Jenna [00:57:59] I know. And what I love is that Jim’s idea is they just walk in and tell Jo that they want to switch jobs, but he has to put it in language Michael will understand by saying, Why don’t we do it the Lethal Weapon way? What happens in Lethal Weapon? They just walk in and tell their boss what they want, right?

Angela [00:58:16] Yes.

Jenna [00:58:17] The Lethal Weapon way!

Angela [00:58:19] Let’s do that.

Jenna [00:58:20] So they do. They find Jo walking her dogs outside. She really can’t believe that two grown men haven’t been able to figure this out.

Angela [00:58:27] Two grown ass men is what she says.

Jenna [00:58:28] Yeah. She gets a phone call in the middle of this exchange. She’s like, Fine, my God. Just. I don’t care. Just stop meeting with me to talk about it.

Angela [00:58:39] And here, walk my dogs and don’t ride them.

Jenna [00:58:42] Yeah, a lot of people try to ride them.

Angela [00:58:44] I bet they do.

Jenna [00:58:46] We had a fan question from Katherine H in Denver, Colorado, who wanted to know, Were the lines, And don’t ride them. A lot of people try to ride them scripted or improvised? Guys, that was scripted. The way she delivered that was so amazing. I agree. Just perfection.

Angela [00:59:02] When I reread this shooting draft, like everything is scripted. Like there are moments where I was like, Oh, was that someone going off script? No. This was like all scripted, every little moment you see. When Michael messes up Jim’s hair earlier? I went to the script, I was like, maybe that was Steve just playing around? Nope. In the script.

Jenna [00:59:21] Really?

Angela [00:59:21] Yep. It says Michael messes up Jim’s hair. Well, Andy’s going to quickly make an announcement to the bullpen that he has sent an email saying, look, if you think I like you because of this Valentine’s card- I’m paraphrasing- but basically I don’t like you. Okay?

Jenna [00:59:36] Yeah, it meant nothing to me.

Angela [00:59:38] It meant nothing. Well, Kelly comes in wide open.

Jenna [00:59:42] Eyyy. Very nice.

Angela [00:59:43] Kelly’s mad because she’s like, Do you not like me? I would have liked you so hard. And Andy tells Kelly there’s someone else, but he won’t say who.

Jenna [00:59:52] HmmMmm.

Angela [00:59:53] There was a deleted Andy talking head.

Jenna [00:59:55] Ooh. What did it say?

Angela [00:59:57] He said, I gave Kelly $50, and she promised to stop loving me.

Jenna [01:00:02] Okay, that’s pretty great.

Angela [01:00:05] But Erin’s happy now because it turned out Andy didn’t like Kelly.

Jenna [01:00:10] And Michael is happy as well because he’s back in his office, and Erin has set up all of his gadgets and they’re going to have a little dance party. At 20 minutes, one second, Erin activates Michael’s little Casio keyboard, and we hear two pieces of music. Randy Cordray said they were loop tracks that were found by our sound supervisor, Bobby Maxton. We licensed those song loops in perpetuity, and it costs $3,000.

Angela [01:00:37] Well, Dwight is just delighted that Jim is no longer manager. He rubs it in that his time as manager lasted 4 hours.

Jenna [01:00:44] Yeah, it’s the shortest of any manager. He’s holding a Sheetz coffee mug, by the way.

Angela [01:00:50] Nice.

Jenna [01:00:51] Yeah. Jim is going to take Dwight’s tie and dip it in his coffee.

Angela [01:00:55] Oh, Jim. In the shooting draft the scene continued, and you see Jim back in the annex, and Toby is writing him up.

Jenna [01:01:04] What?

Angela [01:01:05] Yes. And there’s this B roll and Jim has taken Dwight’s phone and has put it in Jell-O and put it in the fridge. And Toby says, Please don’t make this a habit. And Jim is just smiling. The pranks are coming back, guys.

Jenna [01:01:20] Well, everybody was very excited for this storyline. The writers spoke about how for a while they really liked this storyline where Jim was having to be more ambitious. He was having to be in charge, be a little serious. But they really missed that dynamic between Jim and Dwight. This was something that was sacrificed because of this storyline. Now they were going to get to have it back.

Angela [01:01:46] Yeah.

Jenna [01:01:48] Well, Dwight and Ryan congratulate themselves for dethroning Jim, even though they’re not quite sure what it was that they did that contributed to this. You know, you’re going to see them get into the elevator and they’re happy, and then they get out of the elevator and they’re arguing. You know, they had to film those on two different days because, you know, the elevator doesn’t really go anywhere.

Angela [01:02:07] Right. Right.

Jenna [01:02:08] So they got into an elevator and then it was like a total other day where they did the leaving of the elevator.

Angela [01:02:14] Well, I loved it. I loved the misdirect, right? That these two are going to go for a drink and then the doors open and they’re arguing.

Jenna [01:02:20] Just one elevator ride later.

Angela [01:02:22] It’s only like a two story building. It’s a short ride to get in a fight. The thing they’re arguing about is what drink they’re going to get to celebrate. Dwight says martini bars are pretentious. And then Ryan says, I’m not interested in anything I have to make myself. And Dwight’s like, It’s beet vodka and it’s delicious. I will show you. I got curious if beet vodka was a real thing.

Jenna [01:02:45] Is it?

Angela [01:02:46] Okay? I looked it up online. This is what I found. There might be others, but I did find a vodka from Minnesota called BET and there’s a line over the E. BET, beat vodka. It’s Minnesota’s first vodka distilled from 100% sugar beets.

Jenna [01:03:05] Sugar beets?

Angela [01:03:06] Yes. I was not able to get that vodka in time. But I also read that you can make your own beet infused vodka. And I looked up the recipe and I made it.

Jenna [01:03:20] You did not?

Angela [01:03:21] I did.

Jenna [01:03:21] You made beet infused vodka? Explain.

Angela [01:03:27] Okay. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com. This one is by Jonah Luck. Giving you a shout out, Jonah. Here’s the quote about this recipe. This is a full flavored and earthy vodka that will keep you coming back. The ingredients for 2lbs of beets, peeled and cubed. I went to the store. I bought a lot of beets. I peeled them. My hands were red. I was trying to hide them from you the other day on our edit because my hands were so stained from peeling these beets. And I cubed them and cut them in little squares on Monday.

Jenna [01:04:00] I have to stop you.

Angela [01:04:01] Mm hmm.

Jenna [01:04:02] What was the reaction to the people in the store when Angela came in and bought 2lbs of beets?

Angela [01:04:10] At the checkout line? The guy checking me out, you could see everything in him. It was like you could see the vein in his forehead. He had to weigh the beets and he was like, You’re buying beets? And I was like, uh huh. And he goes, uh huh. Like, he so wanted to say something. Okay. So I on Monday I had to peel and cube the beets, took a actual long time, and then I had to get one liter of vodka and I had to put the beets in a sealable container and pour vodka over the beets and shake it vigorously. Then I had to place the container in a cool dark place and store it for three days. But twice a day I had to go and shake it.

Jenna [01:04:50] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [01:04:51] This is what I’ve been doing all week. And I’ve wanted to tell you. I brought them. I got individual little containers so we can all try my beet infused vodka. I’m going to tell you, I tried it this morning. It is earthy. It is earthy. I documented making it all. I’ll put it in stories.

Jenna [01:05:09] Now, this is just you don’t do anything to the beets except cube them. Like you didn’t have to boil them or make them soft. It’s raw beets.

Angela [01:05:17] Yes, it’s raw beets. That’s why I couldn’t cheat and buy already, you know, because they had packages of steamed cubed beets, but it’s raw beets. Let’s try it.

Jenna [01:05:26] This is also another nice way to say happy birthday to Sam and Cassi.

Angela [01:05:32] Oh, oh, guys, I have individual containers for you to take home, so.

Sam [01:05:36] Great.

Angela [01:05:36] You’re taking this home. Let’s try some beet infused vodka. All right, guys.

Jenna [01:05:42] It looks like a container of blood.

Angela [01:05:45] Things I never thought I would do. All right, here we go.

Sam [01:05:48] The beet really comes through.

Angela [01:05:50] Okay. Do you smell the beat?

Jenna [01:05:52] I smell the beet.

Sam [01:05:53] It’s as earthy as promised.

Angela [01:05:54] Okay. Ready? Here we go.

Jenna [01:05:55] Yep. We’re going to sip it.

Angela [01:06:00] Woo!

Jenna [01:06:00] Um.

Sam [01:06:03] It’s exactly how I pictured it.

Angela [01:06:05] Yeah.

Sam [01:06:06] That’s a tub of beets been soaking…

Cassi [01:06:08] Now I’m getting the vodka after taste.

Jenna [01:06:09] Yeah, it’s uh medicine-y. It reminds me of a medicine.

Angela [01:06:14] Here is the thing. All you taste are beets. So the vodka could sneak up on you. But it’s there. There you go, guys. Dwight, this is like us having a drink at Schrute Farms.

Cassi [01:06:25] Yay.

Jenna [01:06:27] What if we threw a Splenda in here? I feel like that’s what it means.

Sam [01:06:32] I’m going to make a Bloody Mary with this and report back.

Angela [01:06:34] Oh, there was a recipe that. To make Bloody Marys with beet infuse vodka. Oh, Sam, I have a much bigger container you can take home.

Sam [01:06:43] Great. Thank you.

Angela [01:06:45] Yay!

Jenna [01:06:45] Angela, this was delightful.

Sam [01:06:46] This really was. Thank you for making this.

Angela [01:06:50] You guys, drink responsibly. This was a really fun thing to do. Actually, I enjoyed it, and I feel like Dwight would be proud, guys.

Jenna [01:06:58] This is like, what is the name of those people who, like mixologist level.

Angela [01:07:03] Yes.

Jenna [01:07:03] Kind of business here Ange.

Sam [01:07:06] I’m excited for on the way home when I get on the train beet drunk holding a plant.

Angela [01:07:11] You’re drinking your beet vodka with your succulent.

Sam [01:07:13] Yeah.

Angela [01:07:14] Well, you guys, that was Manager and Salesman. If you were keeping track of how many times the dogs went to Andy’s crotch, he had those dogs, I mean, up in there for five full scenes.

Jenna [01:07:26] Wow.

Angela [01:07:26] That’s quite a bit of time if you look at the whole episode.

Jenna [01:07:29] Well, on that note, I guess we want to say thank you to Rainn Wilson, who I reached out to for this episode, and Randy Cordray. And Angela Kinsey for making us fresh beet vodka. Thank you, Angela.

Angela [01:07:44] You’re welcome. You’re welcome, guys. Have a great week. We love doing this podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us.

Jenna [01:07:51] Next week, we are going to be in New York City for our book launch.

Angela [01:07:55] I can’t believe it.

Jenna [01:07:56] I know. Are you ready?

Angela [01:07:58] I don’t think so.

Jenna [01:07:59] I don’t feel ready.

Angela [01:08:00] I don’t feel ready. But I am so excited. This took three and a half years of our lives and I’m just so happy we finally get to share it. And as my mom says, we can bless it and move it on.

Jenna [01:08:14] A couple of fun things to be on the lookout for. We are going to release a sneak peek of our audio book later this week. And then next week in honor of our book, The Office BFFs coming out, we are doing a special episode where we answer all of your questions. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer, and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

Angela [01:08:50] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcherpremium.com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code: Office.