EP. 137 — The Sting with Craig Robinson

OFFICE 137 – The Sting with Craig Robinson

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. Hello, everyone.

Angela [00:00:25] Hello, Jenna. Hello, everybody.

Jenna [00:00:27] Today we’re breaking down The Sting. It is season seven, episode five, written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Randall Einhorn.

Angela [00:00:36] I’m excited for this one.

Jenna [00:00:38] I’m excited for so many reasons.

Angela [00:00:39] I know. Me, too.

Jenna [00:00:41] Well, let me start with a summary. A handsome salesman from a rival paper company has been stealing Dunder Mifflin’s clients. So Michael stages an elaborate sting operation to learn his secrets. Meanwhile, Andy starts a band with Darryl and Kevin after learning his less talented former classmate, Broccoli Rob, has had a taste of musical success.

Angela [00:01:03] Calci-yum. Broccoli Rob has a commercial called calci-yum.

Jenna [00:01:10] For the milk companies.

Angela [00:01:11] Yeah. Which cracked me up because Phyllis was like, you know what? That’s a really good reminder. I need to drink milk.

Jenna [00:01:16] You know, I was the voice of, like, cheese, Wisconsin cheese for a year.

Angela [00:01:21] What was your catchphrase?

Jenna [00:01:23] I can’t remember if we had a catchphrase, but for a year I recorded commercials for Wisconsin cheese and talked about grilled cheese sandwiches.

Angela [00:01:32] That’s awesome.

Jenna [00:01:33] I wonder if they exist anywhere.

Angela [00:01:35] That makes me so happy.

Jenna [00:01:37] Well, listen, today our fast facts are once again, for the third week in a row, an interview.

Angela [00:01:44] You guys. We are so excited. Guess who’s here? We’ve been wanting this for a long time. It’s Craig Robinson!

Jenna [00:01:51] Oh, my gosh. We have been wanting this for a long time.

Angela [00:01:54] He is busy, but he is here today and I am so excited.

Jenna [00:01:57] And we are going to ask him everything.

Angela [00:02:03] Ahhhhh! Oh my god, oh my god!

Jenna [00:02:06] Who is this? Who’s on my screen right now?

Craig Robinson [00:02:09] Hello, Office Ladies!

Jenna [00:02:12] Hi, Craig!

Angela [00:02:12] Stop it! What’s up, Craig?

Craig Robinson [00:02:15] How’s it going?

Jenna [00:02:16] It’s going good.

Angela [00:02:17] Oh, my God. It’s so good to see your face.

Craig Robinson [00:02:19] Likewise. Let’s go. What’s up over there? What is this I’m looking at?

Jenna [00:02:23] You’re looking at our Office Ladies studio here at Earwolf.

Angela [00:02:26] With lots of lamps because we can’t see anymore.

Jenna [00:02:29] Yeah, we each get our own lamp at Office Ladies.

Angela [00:02:32] Yeah. Only the best. Only the best!

Craig Robinson [00:02:35] Very nice. Very nice.

Jenna [00:02:38] Well, Craig, we’re going to jump right in. We always ask our guests, how did they get their job on The Office?

Craig Robinson [00:02:45] I auditioned. It was Greg Daniels, and then it must have been 12 other people in the room. And I. And I read one of the confessionals.

Angela [00:02:54] Yeah, the talking heads to camera?

Craig Robinson [00:02:56] I read one of the talking heads. The beauty of my audition- the beauty and also terror was when I walked in, at the time, I had a video out with Jerry Minor. It was a song called, Somebody’s eff’ing My Lady.

Jenna [00:03:11] Yes, very familiar.

Angela [00:03:13] We know it.

Craig Robinson [00:03:13] You know, it was making the rounds and stuff. And, you know, this is obviously people look at your work before you come in to see what they’re dealing with kind of thing. But at the time I didn’t realize people were like, looking at your work, I just thought you just went in. And Greg Daniels was like, I saw the song. It doesn’t get any funnier than that. And so that could either you could take the two ways, hey, you know, you’re here, you know, and just just go have a good time. Or wow, you’re going to really mess this up now.

Angela [00:03:41] Yeah. Because you had peaked already.

Craig Robinson [00:03:44] Yeah, exactly. So I was like, okay. But thankfully, you know, they laughed and it came out as Darryl.

Jenna [00:03:54] Now, when you got the role as Darryl, did you know that it was going to be recurring? Had they already decided that?

Craig Robinson [00:04:00] No, I don’t I don’t I don’t think all of that was was out there yet. I do not know, to be perfectly honest. But, you know, I didn’t pop up- it was only six episodes. I popped up in episode four just to establish character. And then episode five was Basketball. We didn’t know what the show was going to do yet, you know?

Angela [00:04:18] Yeah. Yeah. Those are the early, early days.

Craig Robinson [00:04:20] Yeah, yeah.

Jenna [00:04:21] I remember the buzz on set when you did that introductory scene with Steve down in the warehouse, where Michael comes up to you and he introduces you. And I just remember everybody being like, What has just happened?

Angela [00:04:38] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:04:38] What did we just get.

Angela [00:04:41] Because Darryl, the way Darryl looks at Michael, like just all of that chemistry between those two characters, we hadn’t had yet on the show. And people flipped out.

Craig Robinson [00:04:49] Wow. I had no idea. I was just there, you know, trying to do a good job. I didn’t know there was buzz.

Angela [00:04:56] There was buzz, Craig! There was tons of buzz. Well, you know, we’re rewatching the show now for the first time. We’re seeing these episodes we haven’t seen in a long time. And Craig, my I lost my mind in episode Employee Transfer when Darryl is helping Michael and Holly move to Nashua. I could not stop laughing. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. It’s hands down one of my favorite episodes. And Amy Ryan was on and she said doing those scenes with you and Steve was quote, I’m quoting Amy Ryan, One of the highlights of her time on The Office.

Craig Robinson [00:05:31] I call her my soup- We were super friends.

Angela [00:05:34] Yeah.

Craig Robinson [00:05:35] Shout out to Amy. Yeah, that was. That was hysterical writing down there. I don’t know if you noticed, my voice at that time was a little uh I needed surgery on my voice. I had a polyp. It was. It was crazy, riding with those two. You know, anytime you’re in a scene with Michael, it was like, Oh, here we go. So they had a three of us running down there, and it was just ridic- what was what did he say? He woke up and she was crying. He was like, Did Darryl touch you?

Angela [00:06:06] Yeah. Well, do you have a favorite episode from your time on The Office? I know that’s such a big question. And people ask us that and we have so many. But is there a moment that really stands out as one of your favorites?

Craig Robinson [00:06:20] You know, the lady clothes episode I thought was uh when he- Negotiation, I think it was called. I had to talk Mike into going to ask for a raise so I can get a raise and it turned out he got on lady clothes.

Jenna [00:06:35] Yes.

Craig Robinson [00:06:36] That was that’s a standout for me. And also, you know, a scene stands out a lot that I really love was um when Dwight lied and said he went to the dentist. And Michael’s like, What’s what’s the name of the dentist? He was like, Crentist. With the way it was shot and it felt like a Western. And you really felt the tension. That’s one of the standouts for me.

Jenna [00:07:04] Well, the cast used to love it when you would play music in an episode. We would all end up singing together. We know your mom was a music teacher and she plays organ and was first chair cello player.

Craig Robinson [00:07:17] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:07:18] Was she your first music teacher?

Craig Robinson [00:07:20] Yes! Absolutely. Matter of fact, you know, I like to say we learned in the womb. You know, she was always playing and singing to us. And then, yeah, then she started to teach us. But it was kind of funny. Her teaching, I don’t know. So we kind of gone to like several different teachers growing up, but she definitely was the first.

Jenna [00:07:42] What was the first instrument you learned?

Craig Robinson [00:07:44] Piano.

Jenna [00:07:45] And how many instruments do you play?

Craig Robinson [00:07:47] I dabble in other instruments. I could figure out things on, you know, the bass or the drums, or guitar or saxophone, trumpet, I dabble. But I wouldn’t dare say I play. You know, and that would insult actual players. But the piano, that’s my thing.

Angela [00:08:05] Okay. So in this week’s episode, The Sting, Darryl, Andy and Kevin all join together to play Andy’s original song, Please, Mr. President. And this sets off a really fun arc for you guys playing together. We did some research, Craig and you guys play in Pam’s Replacement, The Last Day in Florida. You also play in Local Ad. You sing everyone’s favorite, People’s Person’s Paper People, and then your band, The Nasty Delicious, with your brother Chris Rob, played in Goodbye Toby, Part Two. I mean, you got to do so many cool like performances within the show. Was there one of the songs you guys performed together that was your favorite or a standout memory?

Craig Robinson [00:08:49] Now, the Goodbye Toby episode was was wonderful. First, you know, I got to put my band in there and my brother and I. And then, you know, we would just just to be featured up there like that. If you watch that episode, though, I’m… I’m a give away something-

Angela [00:09:07] What?

Craig Robinson [00:09:08] Nobody else would notice. But there is one part with the editing with my- the guitar player’s just jamming, but you don’t hear any guitar. He’s just like jamming out. And then so you know of course I’m an old (UNCLEAR), but that Goodbye Toby was was pretty special. I had to learn the song on the spot. I had to learn that song. And then I was like, Oh, that’s all right. (SINGS) Goodbye, Toby. So luckily I was familiar with it, but yeah, it was, that was cool.

Jenna [00:09:40] That would happen to you and Ed a lot. We talked to Ed on the podcast and he said you guys rarely got very much time or notice.

Angela [00:09:48] To rehearse.

Jenna [00:09:49] Yeah, it would just be oh, you’d find out about it in a table read. Or maybe maybe somebody would come to your trailer and be like, Hey, tomorrow I’m going to need you to play this. Or maybe the moment, like you’re saying, like for Goodbye, Toby.

Craig Robinson [00:10:03] Yeah, but the the Dunder-Mifflin song, you know, B.J.’s brother wrote the original, the (SINGS) Dunder Mifflin, the people person paper people. And then they gave it to me to kind of flip it, you know, for the story. And and I got I think I did that, like, the night before, so that was cool. Had a little time for that. But yeah, sometimes they’d just be…

Angela [00:10:25] That is amazing. You know, you and I were at Creed Bratton’s show and you started playing that on the piano and the place went berserk. I mean, the minute you sat down to the keyboard and just started, they all started singing. They knew immediately. It was so cool. I mean, Craig, I never get to be on stage in a band. And that was- I had the tambourine. I think someone handed me a tambourine. That was the closest like moment to feeling like a rock star. I thought it was so fun.

Craig Robinson [00:10:52] Well, just being on The Office, and you got to you got to be a rock star at least two times in your life from going to Scranton. Those two times. You already know. Because they lost their minds. But yeah, sometimes I’ll play it at the show, my comedy shows, “Out of paper?” they’re like, so whether it’s a group or just one person knowing it, it’s it’s always satisfying because I mean, how many times you have to have watched the series to know that song and know the words, you know, specifically?

Angela [00:11:22] Yeah.

Jenna [00:11:23] Well, we know you also have an improv background. You studied at Second City in Chicago. Is there an improvised moment that you can remember from the show that you particularly love? Angela always says, If an improviser gets a moment in to a TV show or a movie, you never forget it.

Angela [00:11:43] You never forget it. So we were curious if you had one.

Craig Robinson [00:11:46] Oh, I mean, I have several. Um in The Negotiation, I was telling Mike, I was like, Yeah, come on, go get that raise and make it happen, Cap’n. And I said that, Make it happen, Cap’n. Right. And then Steve turned around and I didn’t realize this until I watched it. He said, I will make- he kept following, so he was like, I will make it happen… Sergeant.

Craig Robinson [00:12:11] And I was like, Oh, wow, I didn’t even see that happen on set.

Angela [00:12:16] That’s awesome.

Jenna [00:12:17] Well, I have a favorite Darryl moment from this rewatch. It’s season three, Back from Vacation. That’s the one where Michael realizes that he accidentally e-mailed the topless photo of Jan to everybody in the whole office. And he runs down to the warehouse because he wants you to delete it from your computer. And when he gets in there, you’re sitting there, you have your feet up on the desk and you’re eating a plate of food. And you say, I don’t know, I’m really busy, Michael. And I went- when I saw that moment, I went and I checked the script, and there is no mention that Darryl is eating a plate of food. And so I asked writer Justin Spitzer about it and he said that that was your idea. That you went over to crafty and you grabbed a plate of food before the scene started.

Craig Robinson [00:13:07] Yeah, I wanted to look as not busy, but to say I was busy, as possible. So yeah.

Jenna [00:13:15] Well, the reason I was suspicious was because I looked at the food on the plate.

Angela [00:13:19] And you recognized the food.

Jenna [00:13:19] And I was like, that looks a lot like our hot snack. I mean, that looks like.

Angela [00:13:25] Right after 1030, that was hot snack.

Jenna [00:13:28] That was not Phil Shea. That was, you know.

Angela [00:13:29] A grab and go.

Jenna [00:13:31] Yeah, that’s right. Did you- oh, speaking of hot snack, do you have a favorite hot snack?

Craig Robinson [00:13:37] I would kill the pastrami sandwich.

Angela [00:13:40] Oh, yeah.

Craig Robinson [00:13:41] That was- For those who don’t know, the way they fed us on that show, we had breakfast in the morning, 3 hours later, a hot snack, 3 hours later, lunch, 3 hours later, hot snack. And then a lot of times there was second meal. It was torturous. And wonderful.

Angela [00:13:58] And wonderful. I found an email thread in my digital clutter where we were all going back and forth as a cast about the albondigas soup that Vartan would put out. There was a whole email thread about it, because I guess one week we didn’t get it and everyone was like, Where’s the soup?

Jenna [00:14:16] I remember the first time they put out turkey chili and then we wanted it every day.

Angela [00:14:19] Oh yeah.

Jenna [00:14:20] That was uh that was John’s favorite, I think. And Ed.

Angela [00:14:23] Well, we talk a lot about behind the scenes moments. You know, obviously, Jenna and I, we are watching this and remembering all kinds of stuff. But do you have a favorite behind the scenes moment where we would mess with each other or just do anything?

Craig Robinson [00:14:37] Man, oh, my God. You know, I was thoroughly entertained coming to work every day, watching, just sitting back, watching y’all for the most part. Do you remember when uh what was the one where Ryan was on, was on the tightrope?

Both [00:14:54] Yes!

Craig Robinson [00:14:56] Oh, my God. That still haunts me to this day. Him trying to balance.

Angela [00:15:01] Yeah.

Craig Robinson [00:15:02] And we were all just laughing and trying to hold our laugh in. But I just remember the laughter on his face. Oh, man.

Angela [00:15:10] I have found some old videos from my, I mean, old phone. Remember the phones we had, like the you could kind of video off a flip phone?

Jenna [00:15:17] Yeah.

Angela [00:15:18] And I have a real grainy video of you and Ed and Kate singing your hearts out. And Ellie. It was like in between scenes for a Halloween episode. And Craig, I mean, I texted it to you. Did you get to see it, like ages ago?

Craig Robinson [00:15:34] No, I don’t remember that.

Angela [00:15:36] What?! Oh m gosh. Oh, I’m sending it because you guys are having so much fun. Oh, no. Who did I text it to? I might not have your correct number anymore. Oh, crap. E-mail me your phone number.

Craig Robinson [00:15:51] Yeah, you might be my old number. Somebody has my old number and they’re, I guess, very polite, telling people, hey, he doesn’t- this isn’t his number anymore. I should probably coordinate with them and say, hey, could you send them this way?

Angela [00:16:04] Yeah.

Jenna [00:16:05] All right. I’ve got a question for you, Craig. Is there a Darryl quote that fans say to you when they see you out? Like, for example, people always shout, Save Bandit! At Angela.

Angela [00:16:17] Oh, my gosh, Craig. So many people want me to save Bandit.

Craig Robinson [00:16:21] Dink and flicka all day long.

Jenna [00:16:23] Dink and flicka?

Craig Robinson [00:16:23] Bippity boppity gimme the zoppity all day long. Yes. For sure.

Angela [00:16:30] Well, did you keep anything from the set when we wrapped? Because we all took a little something.

Craig Robinson [00:16:35] You know, I think I took that little monkey. Remember that? There was a little monkey over there.

Angela [00:16:40] You know who was obsessed with that little monkey was my daughter, Isabel. She would go and find it and squeeze it, and then it would, you know, it made so much noise.

Craig Robinson [00:16:49] How is Isabel? Oh, my goodness. How old is she now?

Angela [00:16:52] She’s 14.

Craig Robinson [00:16:55] WHAT?!

Angela [00:16:55] Oh, my gosh. It freaks people out that worked with us back then when they see her now.

Craig Robinson [00:17:00] Jeez, yeah, no kidding.

Angela [00:17:01] She was a little kid on set. I have to bring this up. Craig, I loved you so much as Doug Judy on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. That is such a phenomenal character. If you guys haven’t watched Craig on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you’ve got to go see it. I, I mean, I lived for him.

Craig Robinson [00:17:19] Thank you. Thank you. That was so much fun. You know, I was doing that and The Office. So because every year they’d have me do an episode whatever. But yeah, Andy Samberg, I don’t know if y’all know Andy but like working with him, it was like two, two kids coming together. You ever see two kids just come together and just start playing? It was that for real.

Jenna [00:17:39] It has that energy, actually.

Angela [00:17:41] It really does. I mean, I just rewatched you guys in the convertible singing about the shoes. It’s like, that is so great.

Craig Robinson [00:17:49] I guarantee it was an improvised song.

Angela [00:17:52] I’m putting that in our Office Ladies Insta stories because it’s so good.

Jenna [00:17:56] Is there anything you’re working on now that we can share?

Craig Robinson [00:17:58] Yes! Yes. I’m on a roll right now. I have a show September 22nd in Brooklyn at Brooklyn Bowl, if anybody’s interested in that. And then coming up, let me see, the 23rd Governor’s Long Island. And then the 25th, Toronto, JFL, Just For Laughs. But other than that, we gonna start shooting season two of my show on streaming service Peacock TV, Killing It.

Angela [00:18:26] Killing it is so good.

Jenna [00:18:28] Woo hoo!

Craig Robinson [00:18:28] Thank you.

Angela [00:18:28] Jenna and I got to watch the pilot just the other day and it is so funny and I did not see that second part coming. I don’t want to give anything away.

Craig Robinson [00:18:36] Oh there are some things coming in that’s going to- are going going to make your mouth drop a little bit, but it’s very funny.

Jenna [00:18:43] Craig, who is the Australian actress who stars in that?

Craig Robinson [00:18:47] Claudia O’Doherty.

Jenna [00:18:48] Oh, I love you two together.

Angela [00:18:50] She’s so good.

Craig Robinson [00:18:51] She’s brilliant. Her, her sense of self and sense of timing and comedy. She is she’s so great to work with.

Jenna [00:18:58] Do you guys improv a lot on that show?

Craig Robinson [00:19:01] We we get some chances for sure to improv. And yeah, but yeah, we have some fun making stuff up.

Jenna [00:19:08] You guys are an amazing duo. Like your chemistry. I just want you two to be stuck in a car all the time, basically. That’s a very- it was actually very similar to, like, the Michael Scott/ Darryl stuck in a car energy.

Craig Robinson [00:19:24] Just awkward. Just awkward.

Jenna [00:19:27] So good. But in the in the show, in Killing It, it’s so great because you get the opportunity to be the funny man and the straight man.

Angela [00:19:37] And the straight man!

Jenna [00:19:38] We saw so much of the straight man side of you on The Office, and Killing It, I feel like we get the full Craig Robinson.

Craig Robinson [00:19:46] Yeah, it’s definitely opened me up a little bit to showcase some, some different sides. So I’m appreciative and I love, love the show. I love doing it. I love, I love going to work. We were shooting in New Orleans and now we’re going to shoot in L.A., so that’s gonna be fun and interesting.

Angela [00:20:05] Well, if you need two middle aged ladies to just, you know, do a pop-in on Killing It.

Jenna [00:20:11] We’re available.

Craig Robinson [00:20:13] Go, come on down. I’m sure we can find something for you.

Angela [00:20:17] And also, Craig, I saw on your website Mr. Craig Robinson dot com, all of your show dates and everything up to date. So whoever’s doing your website is doing a real good job. So if you guys want to catch Craig, go to his website. My God, it’s so good to see you.

Craig Robinson [00:20:31] Y’all too. Thank you so much.

Angela [00:20:34] Yass.

Jenna [00:20:34] Craig, is there anything that we missed? Anything else you’d like to share about your time on The Office or what it’s meant to you?

Craig Robinson [00:20:41] I mean, you know, it’s like, being on The Office, it’s like you’re everybody’s friend. Like, everywhere I go, somebody is ready to buy you a drink or share a story. Some stories I get, like, It’s the only time my family comes together. Or My mother was sick and this was the only thing that made her laugh. You know, there’s all these incredible stories about people bonding with The Office. And now people have seen it, you know, nine, ten, 14 times through. And it’s somebody’s like, it’s on a constant loop in my house. It’s just such a blessing to be a part of that. And, you know, it’s a blessing to to share with you ladies. You know, we had some good times over there.

Jenna [00:21:21] Yeah.

Angela [00:21:21] We did.

Jenna [00:21:22] Well, Craig, we love you. It was so good to see you.

Craig Robinson [00:21:26] Thank you so much for having me, ladies. Everybody around the world is like, Do Office Ladies! Do Office Ladies! I’m like, fine, I’m trying! Lemme get there.

Angela [00:21:36] Well, we love you. Big hugs.

Jenna [00:21:38] Big hugs, Craig.

Jenna [00:21:41] I want to see you in person soon.

Angela [00:21:43] Yeah.

Craig Robinson [00:21:43] Yes. Just let me know.

Jenna [00:21:44] All right.

Craig Robinson [00:21:45] All right.

Angela [00:21:45] All right.

Craig Robinson [00:21:46] Y’all be good. Take care, everybody.

Jenna [00:21:47] Thank you.

Angela [00:21:51] We are back. It was so awesome talking to Craig.

Jenna [00:21:54] My gosh. Oh, I love him.

Angela [00:21:56] I love him. To start this episode, Sam, Cassi, Jenna, I have a question for you.

Jenna [00:22:02] What?

Angela [00:22:03] Yeah. I have a question for you. Do you want more freedom, less freedom, or to stay the same?

Jenna [00:22:10] I think I always want more freedom.

Angela [00:22:12] You are a Danny.

Sam [00:22:14] I’m also going to go with more.

Angela [00:22:15] You are a Danny!

Cassi [00:22:17] I’m a Danny.

Angela [00:22:18] Danny’s all around!

Jenna [00:22:19] What about you, Ange?

Angela [00:22:21] I think I’m a Danny.

Jenna [00:22:22] Okay.

Angela [00:22:23] Don’t mess with my stuff. I want my freedom.

Jenna [00:22:25] Well, let me ask you this. Do you guys want a better life, a worse life, or do you want your life to stay the same?

Sam [00:22:32] I’m going to say better.

Jenna [00:22:34] You’re going with better?

Sam [00:22:35] I’m gonna have to get cocky. Cassi left the room. I’m going to assume she is going to go for better.

Jenna [00:22:39] Okay.

Angela [00:22:40] I like my life.

Jenna [00:22:42] You want it to stay the same?

Angela [00:22:43] Yeah, I’m happy in my life.

Jenna [00:22:45] But, I mean, wouldn’t better just be even better than the life you already like?

Angela [00:22:49] I’m happy.

Jenna [00:22:50] I am, too. I mean, listen, if my life stayed the same, I wouldn’t be upset.

Angela [00:22:55] Yeah. I don’t know. That’s a tricky one. Because it’s like, I’m so thankful for what I have. I don’t want to be too greedy. I’m so happy.

Jenna [00:23:03] Okay, so we’ll keep the life we have, but with more freedom.

Angela [00:23:07] Yeah.

Jenna [00:23:07] We’re half Danny.

Angela [00:23:08] We’re half Danny.

Jenna [00:23:09] This episode opens with Oscar in the parking lot. He has the new bike. He’s a cyclist. Who knew?

Angela [00:23:19] Who knew? Did you catch the Pam sass?

Jenna [00:23:22] I did.

Angela [00:23:22] It was so delicious to me. I really felt like we had to hear it. Sam, can you please play it?

Oscar [00:23:27] I love cycling. Andy, I feel like a tourist in my own city. I literally can’t wait to wake up every morning.

Pam [00:23:32] Okay.

Michael [00:23:33] She is a beaut.

Dwight [00:23:34] Can’t beat a horse.

Angela [00:23:38] Okay.

Jenna [00:23:39] But then I love Dwight’s line where he says it can’t beat a horse. It’s a bike that pedals itself. I mean, it’s kind of true.

Angela [00:23:47] That okay, though, that you did? To me it was just you.

Jenna [00:23:51] Okay.

Angela [00:23:51] Okay. All right, buddy. Give it a rest.

Jenna [00:23:57] Well, at 18 seconds, Kevin refers to Oscar’s bike as Lance Armstrong’s bike. Turns out Phil Shea and Randy Cordray reached out to Trek Bikes, they’re in Wisconsin, and they were the product sponsors for Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France victories.

Angela [00:24:15] Wow.

Jenna [00:24:16] Yeah. They connected with Trek Bikes’ head of public relations, who turns out was a huge fan of The Office, and they gave us two bikes. Two of the Madone models. They were the exact same bike that Lance Armstrong used. Randy said that they were full carbon fiber frames with top of the line wheels, drive trains. At the time, these bikes retailed for around $6,000.

Angela [00:24:43] Come on.

Jenna [00:24:44] He said a similar bike today would probably be near double that.

Angela [00:24:48] I got my bike at Target.

Jenna [00:24:50] I don’t even have a bike. So you’re doing better than I am.

Angela [00:24:55] That is a nice bicycle.

Jenna [00:24:58] Well, Michael is going to decide that he needs to ride it.

Angela [00:25:00] Yeah, Michael really wants to ride the bicycle. Puts the helmet on, he gets on. He does need Jim and Pam’s help. He cannot steer it. He explains to them he used to have the little wheels on the back.

Jenna [00:25:11] We had a fan question from Lana W in Atlanta, Georgia, During the cold open, Jim and Pam are helping Michael on the bike. And at 49 seconds, what is happening on Pam’s face?

Angela [00:25:22] What?

Jenna [00:25:22] Jenna, are you about to break or sneeze in this moment? Lana, I saw it.

Angela [00:25:29] I missed it. What are you doing?

Jenna [00:25:30] I can’t believe you missed it. It is the most ridiculous moment of mugging that I do on the show so far, in my opinion. That was me acting like Michael was heavy.

Angela [00:25:43] Oh, no.

Jenna [00:25:46] That was some face acting to indicate that Michael is very heavy.

Angela [00:25:51] I can’t wait. I want to go back and see it.

Jenna [00:25:53] Either that or maybe like the pedal was actually digging into my shin and I was-.

Angela [00:25:59] In pain?

Jenna [00:26:00] It looks like I’m screaming without making a noise. It’s really over the top.

Angela [00:26:03] Well, shortly after Pam has that expression on her face, Michael is going to be able to ride a little bit and then he crashes.

Jenna [00:26:11] He does. Randy told us we did two takes of this crash, and we used Steve stunt double, Eric Solky. That is who actually crashed. And then we did some creative editing to have Steve pop up. He said on the first take, we kind of scratched up the bike, but it was still functional and we did a second take.

Angela [00:26:32] Well, after the scene was over, Phil and Randy called the Wisconsin Trek office to see what they wanted us to do with the bikes. They asked that we return the scratched bike. They picked up the shipping cost. But they gave us permission to gift the other bike to Steve Carell, because Steve had been racing bicycles in high school. He was an avid cyclist. He was absolutely so thrilled at the generosity of Trek. And Randy sent us a picture of Phil and Randy and Steve when Steve was given the bike.

Jenna [00:27:00] I did not know that Steve was a cyclist.

Angela [00:27:03] I mean, the man is an onion. He’s very sporty. The layers just keep coming off. He can play hockey. He’s a cyclist.

Jenna [00:27:12] Well, we got a fan mail flurry about Michael’s cycling ability. Casey H from Coral Springs, Florida, plus many others mentioned, In Double Date at Helene’s birthday lunch, Michael says he would do a triathlon. He has the running and biking down, he just needs to learn how to swim. But then in Benihana Christmas, he can barely ride his bike into the office. And here he crashes into a car. Which one is it? Can he ride a bike or not? Thank you, Casey, for pointing out these continuity mysteries. Here’s what I want to say. I didn’t realize that Steve was an avid cycler, and I’m very impressed with his fake bad bike riding now, knowing that.

Angela [00:27:53] He really sold it.

Jenna [00:27:55] I mean.

Angela [00:27:55] And he didn’t make a big face.

Jenna [00:27:58] Oh! Oh! Oh, my gosh. Could you imagine my face if I had to do bad cycling?

Angela [00:28:04] Please. Mine would be horrible too. I would just be like, ehhhh.

Jenna [00:28:07] Oh my goodness.

Angela [00:28:09] This episode is going to start with Jim and Dwight. They’ve got a big meeting with the chief buyer for Frame Select, Steve Nash. Not the Steve Nash, you know, the amazing point guard, played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Lakers. He’s now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Not that Steve Nash.

Jenna [00:28:27] Angela, we don’t need this description. Stop being a condescending jock hipster. Okay?

Angela [00:28:32] Steve Nash is so cool.

Jenna [00:28:36] I have a location alert. Both the exterior and interior of Frame Select was a building on Alameda Boulevard in Burbank. The office was an empty suite that our set decorating crew, led by Steve Rothstein, had filled up. That big Frames Select logo, I mean, it’s very large.

Angela [00:28:55] It’s huge.

Jenna [00:28:55] Over reception. I noticed it. It was designed by Michael Gallenberg and Henry Saine and then built by our construction crew headed by Tim James. I felt like there was a story there. I’ve never seen us make such a large sign for a company. What does this tell us?

Angela [00:29:13] Also Frames Select is very busy. Did you see all the people coming and going?

Jenna [00:29:17] I did. That’s what I’m saying. They’re a big deal with lots of activity.

Angela [00:29:22] Mm hmm. Well, we have a little bit of Dwight sass. When they go into the lobby, Dwight tells Jim he should check in with the receptionist because he’s good with receptionists.

Jenna [00:29:31] Mm hmm.

Angela [00:29:31] Dwight sass.

Jenna [00:29:33] But they, they run out of Frames Select.

Angela [00:29:37] They duck back out of the lobby because Danny Cordray is sitting there. The frickin Danny Cordray. He is the worst, meaning the best, salesman ever. He works at Osprey Paper and he keeps taking all of their clients.

Jenna [00:29:54] Well, you know what this means.

Angela [00:29:56] Oh, I do.

Jenna [00:29:56] It’s a guest star alert and it’s a big one!

Angela [00:29:59] It is!

Jenna [00:30:00] Timothy Olyphant, star of Deadwood, star of Justified.

Angela [00:30:05] Also in The Mandalorian! Woot woot!

Jenna [00:30:08] Plays Danny Cordray. We had a fan question from Natalie F in San Antonio, Texas. Please tell us everything about working with Timothy Olyphant and how did he come to be on the show? Well, my memory is that Mindy Kaling specifically pitched him for this role, and that’s how he got the job. And it makes sense to me. She wrote this episode. And then later he had a role in The Mindy Project too. So she was a fan.

Angela [00:30:33] Yeah.

Jenna [00:30:34] I loved working with him. He was so fun.

Angela [00:30:36] He was so fun. I also was on Conan O’Brien the same night he was a guest, and he brought some kind of fancy whiskey we all got to drink. He’s a lot of fun.

Jenna [00:30:45] He’s great. Speaking of Conan, have you heard Conan’s podcast interview with him?

Angela [00:30:50] It’s so good, you guys.

Jenna [00:30:52] He is so funny.

Angela [00:30:52] They’re hilarious. When he takes over doing the ads, I was cracking up. That’s a good listen, you guys.

Jenna [00:30:58] We reached out to him. He’s currently filming Justified in Chicago, the reboot of Justified. But I found an old interview with him where he talked about his time on The Office!

Angela [00:31:09] Oh, yes. They had a whole EPK set up over in the warehouse. I remember this.

Jenna [00:31:14] Well, here is Timothy Olyphant talking about how he was excited to be on the show.

Timothy Olyphant [00:31:19] I wanted to be on it. So I was just like, it was a- I’ve been a fan of the show for forever. And so when I got that call, it was fantastic. You know, they asked that, you know, they, that they wanted me to be on the show. I said, sure, what do I what do I play? You know? I play a character named Danny Cordray, and he is, when we meet him, he is a rival salesman who has done quite well. He’s a bit of a problem for the guys in the office, the enemy, quote unquote. And and to further kind of complicate things, once dated Pam. And there seems to be, as the story goes, some some discrepancy over whether that didn’t work out because of her or that didn’t work out because of me. And it’s it’s quite a subject of conversation.

Jenna [00:32:21] I’m not going to lie. I loved the implication that perhaps someone of Timothy Olyphant’s- what do I say?

Angela [00:32:33] Hotness?

Jenna [00:32:34] Yes. Would date me. I was like, I’ll take it.

Angela [00:32:37] Yeah.

Jenna [00:32:39] Even if he wasn’t interested in a second or third date.

Angela [00:32:43] It makes for such a funny dynamic between Jim and Pam. It was so good.

Jenna [00:32:47] Oh, my gosh. Costume Contest next week.

Angela [00:32:49] Oh, yeah.

Jenna [00:32:50] Ohh, I mean. I’ll wait. Timothy really fit in right from the beginning. He was just great to work with. And this last clip really shows you how he had become part of our family.

Timothy Olyphant [00:33:05] Really, I was just so genuinely flattered that they’d have me and give me an opportunity to do something that’s really so different than just about anything I’ve done. And I just, I really feel quite blessed and it’s just been a kick. So um uh Rainn kind of bugs me. But, you know, everyone else, fantastic. You know, it’s been great.

Jenna [00:33:30] I mean he got it that we dog on Rainn. You know what I mean?

Angela [00:33:34] Yeah. That’s when you know you’re in, is when you can take a shot at Rainn.

Jenna [00:33:38] I loved it.

Angela [00:33:38] That was very funny. And also I wasn’t expecting it because he was being so sincere.

Jenna [00:33:42] I know. That’s why he’s so great. We got a fan mail flurry also, Angela, about Danny Cordray’s name. People wanted to know if it was inspired by Randy Cordray.

Angela [00:33:53] It was, absolutely. We actually reached out to Randy about this and he said, You might remember that my office was next door to Mindy Kaling. One day in the weeks prior to the script coming out, Mindy came by and said, Randy, you have a cool last name. Can I use it for a character I’m writing? And I said, Sure. And that’s how Danny Cordray got his name. Randy said he was really flattered to have someone as cool as Timothy Olyphant having his own last name on the show. And he says people still come up to him and say, you know, there’s a character on The Office that has your last name.

Jenna [00:34:28] Oh, that’s amazing.

Angela [00:34:30] Back at the office, Andy is starting to spiral. We mentioned this earlier. He’s gotten his Cornell alumni magazine and has learned that Broccoli Rob has this milk commercial that he’s singing in. And Andy can’t take it. Andy was the musical one. He had more solos than Broccoli Rob. And now Broccoli Rob has a commercial.

Jenna [00:34:50] Listen, not only that, he’s collaborating with Trey Anastasio, the guitarist from Phish!

Angela [00:34:56] Oh, yeah.

Jenna [00:34:58] And there’s a quote about how great that collaboration was. I mean, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. We had a fan question from Ann S in Zurich, Switzerland.

Angela [00:35:08] Hello, Ann from Zurich.

Jenna [00:35:10] This question traveled a long way. When Andy is reading the Cornell alumni magazine, Cornell is written in purple. It seems very odd for a school magazine to not be in the school colors. Did you have to do this for copyright reasons?

Angela [00:35:25] Oh, what a smart catch.

Jenna [00:35:28] I asked Randy. He said that was a real Cornell alumni magazine, that Phil Shea got a real one. And I looked it up. And sometimes they print the name in purple. Don’t know why.

Angela [00:35:39] Don’t know why.

Jenna [00:35:39] But it was real.

Angela [00:35:41] It’s a Cornell mystery.

Jenna [00:35:43] I know.

Angela [00:35:43] Someone from Cornell, if you know, let us know.

Jenna [00:35:46] Why sometimes purple? Is it a secondary color?

Angela [00:35:51] I don’t know what that means.

Jenna [00:35:52] Well, like, sometimes in sports, you have like the team jersey. They’ll have their home version, they’ll have their away version, and then they’ll have a specialty one. Guess who son got really into all of the home and away and specialty jerseys of every major sports team for a period of time?

Angela [00:36:10] Your son?

Jenna [00:36:10] Yes. This was after his, you know, hidden logo.

Angela [00:36:14] I love that he learns all of that. Our son just got really into Legolas from Lord of the Rings and just wanted all of the elf wigs we could purchase. We had a bin of wigs by the front door. I would come home. He’d be Legolas in the front yard.

Jenna [00:36:30] Why did he need multiple wigs?

Angela [00:36:32] Sometimes Legolas had braids.

Jenna [00:36:34] Oh, I didn’t know that.

Angela [00:36:35] Sometimes I was just down. Yeah.

Jenna [00:36:37] I didn’t realize.

Angela [00:36:38] Yeah, we had a few options for Legolas.

Sam [00:36:41] It depends if it’s, like, a formal event.

Angela [00:36:42] Thank you. Thank you, Sam. Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:36:46] Oh. See, I can tell you all about the jerseys, and you can tell me about this guy’s hair.

Angela [00:36:51] It doesn’t seem quite the same.

Jenna [00:36:53] I mean, I don’t know. This is knowledge we have.

Angela [00:36:56] This is knowledge we have.

Jenna [00:36:57] Speaking of fan mail, we got this really interesting letter from Sarah L in Ontario, Canada. Here’s what Sarah said. In this episode, Andy hears of the success of his old buddy Robert “Broccoli” Rob. Sarah points out, There are a lot of Roberts on The Office. We use this name a lot. We have Bob Vance, who, by the way, was played by Bobby Ray Schaefer. We also have Robert Dunder, Robert Mifflin. Upcoming we have Robert California and Senator Robert Lipton.

Angela [00:37:30] That is a lot.

Jenna [00:37:32] We really liked that name. Sarah went on to say that according to BabyCenter dot com, the name Robert means “bright fame”. And it peaked in popularity in the United States in the 1930s and forties, which totally makes sense for Robert Dunder and Robert Mifflin. But, you know, I guess our writers, it peaked in popularity with our writers.

Angela [00:37:53] I had not even realized.

Jenna [00:37:55] Me either. Sarah, thank you. You did a sort of like a little mini Thibideau.

Angela [00:38:01] A mini Dr. Thibideau.

Jenna [00:38:02] Yeah. Lady, we haven’t mentioned Jim and Pam’s talking head about Danny Cordray. They’re very- did you find it, like, a little tense?

Angela [00:38:12] I mean, I thought it was so fun. I love that Pam goes, You know I have a baby with you.

Jenna [00:38:17] Yeah.

Angela [00:38:19] But here’s this dynamic we don’t see often where Jim is a little rattled by someone.

Jenna [00:38:24] Yeah.

Angela [00:38:25] Yeah, it’s like the Charles Miner thing.

Jenna [00:38:27] Well, I guess there’s some controversy over who dumped who or who fizzled who?

Angela [00:38:33] Yeah. Pam seems to think he wasn’t interested.s But Danny says it was the other way around.

Jenna [00:38:40] We’re going to find out next week.

Angela [00:38:42] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:38:43] Well, back at Frames Select, Dwight and Jim are going to have to walk into the lobby where Danny is sitting. And Dwight thinks that the best way to intimidate Danny is to talk about having gotten tickets with his date to a penis museum.

Angela [00:38:59] $1,000. That’s how much it cost. Those were the tickets.

Jenna [00:39:04] Well, we got a fan question from Colleen M in Louisville, Kentucky, who said, Dwight tries to impress Danny by having a fake conversation about a large penis he saw at the Penis Museum where tickets are $1,000. Well, this line stuck out to me because I’ve been to this museum.

Angela [00:39:21] Oh, my gosh!

Jenna [00:39:22] It’s called the Icelandic Phalological Museum.

Angela [00:39:26] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:39:27] And it is an entire museum dedicated to penises. Tickets are really less than $20, so I just wanted to say Dwight really overpaid.

Angela [00:39:37] Well, Colleen, I looked up this museum.

Jenna [00:39:40] No.

Angela [00:39:40] I can’t believe you’ve been there.

Jenna [00:39:41] No.

Angela [00:39:42] It is in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Jenna [00:39:45] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:39:46] And you guys, she is right. It contains a collection of phallic specimens of more than 200 penises and penile parts.

Jenna [00:39:57] Wait, wait, wait, wait. Are they real?

Angela [00:39:59] Yes. Belonging to land and sea mammals of Iceland. There’s also 55 specimens belonging to 16 different kinds of whale. One specimen from a rogue polar bear. 36 specimens belonging to seven different kinds of seal and walrus. There’s some images I can’t get out of my mind. I want you to know because I looked at the gallery. Also, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing that kind of cracked me up. According to their website, and it’s true if you look at the gallery, in addition to the biological section of the museum, which is a bunch of penises in jars, visitors can also view a collection of about 350 artistic oddments and practical utensils related to the museum’s chosen theme. When they say practical utensils related to the museum’s chosen theme, I saw what looked like to be a wooden cheese board with a giant penis coming off of it, that held containers. And Colleen is right. It is 2500 Icelandic krona, which equals roughly $18.41 in the United States. And children under the age of 13 get in for free.

Jenna [00:41:18] I mean.

Angela [00:41:19] You can go to their website. If you Google Penis Museum, the first thing that comes up is the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Am I saying that right? Phallological?

Jenna [00:41:31] I don’t follow.

Angela [00:41:34] Phallological.

Jenna [00:41:32] I mean phallic. Phallological. Phallological.

Angela [00:41:36] There’s a lot of penises there, you guys, that you can see.

Jenna [00:41:40] But mostly of, like, marine life.

Angela [00:41:44] Mm hmm. There’s some kind of land mammals as well. There’s 20 different kinds of land mammals.

Jenna [00:41:49] No human, are there preserved human penises?

Angela [00:41:53] There’s a few homo sapiens. Mm hmm. There’s some folklore specimens. Overall, it contains 282 specimens from 93 different species of animals. And you can get a cheese board with a giant dick coming off of it.

Jenna [00:42:10] Who conceived of this museum? Who pitched it? Who funded it?

Angela [00:42:16] The founder is a historian with a B.A. degree from the University of Iceland and an M Lit degree in Latin American history from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His name is- I’m going to spell it for you.

Jenna [00:42:30] Okay.

Angela [00:42:31] It’s S-I-G-U-R-O-U-R. I think if I’m reading this correctly, his last name is H-J-A-R-T-A-R-S-O-N.

Jenna [00:42:40] Okay.

Angela [00:42:40] Okay. I was not sure how to say that.

Jenna [00:42:43] That’s fine.

Angela [00:42:44] On the website, if you go to the website, he writes about how this all came to be. In the founder’s own words, it says, The foundation was laid in 1974 when I got a pizzle, or a bull’s penis.

Jenna [00:42:58] Just got it.

Angela [00:43:00] Uh huh.

Jenna [00:43:00] Received that.

Angela [00:43:01] Received that. As a child, I was sent to the countryside during summer vacations, and there I was given a pizzle as a whip for the animals. So he could whip the other animals with a bull’s penis.

Jenna [00:43:14] Could be standard. I don’t know.

Angela [00:43:16] Some of my teachers used to work in summer in a nearby whaling station, and after the first specimen, they started bringing me whale penises.

Jenna [00:43:25] Oh, my gosh, it’s like this was thrust upon him. He didn’t even seek it out. The penises found him.

Angela [00:43:31] Penises found him. Then he says the idea came gradually that it might be interesting collecting specimens from more mammalian species. By 1980, I had 13 specimens; four from whales and nine from land animals. It goes on and on and on. You guys, as he collected, the museum was formed. And they even have honorary members of the museum.

Jenna [00:43:57] All I’m thinking right now is how grateful I am that my son collects flags from different countries.

Angela [00:44:03] Well, there’s that. Yes. And you know what? I’m sure from a biological standpoint, they have learned a lot by all of the penis in the jars. And if you want to go see them and get a cheeseboard with a penis that also holds glasses, Sam has already put it on his Christmas list.

Jenna [00:44:26] I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland.

Angela [00:44:28] Me too.

Jenna [00:44:29] It’s on my list.

Angela [00:44:29] I’ve heard Reykjavik is amazing.

Jenna [00:44:32] I will probably now go to this museum.

Angela [00:44:34] I know you will.

Jenna [00:44:36] Angela. Thank you.

Angela [00:44:37] You’re welcome.

Jenna [00:44:37] From the bottom of my heart.

Angela [00:44:39] Thank you, Colleen!

Jenna [00:44:41] Well, I think we should take a break, because when we come back, Michael is going to get a phone call in the middle of his conference room meeting.

Angela [00:44:49] Yeah.

Jenna [00:44:50] Jim and Dwight are freaked out.

Angela [00:44:52] Yeah, they’re calling in Michael for backup. And I have a deleted scene that really shows why they got so in their head.

Jenna [00:45:03] Well, we’re back. Danny is not impressed by Dwight’s penis museum tickets. They ask him what he’s doing there, and he’s like, I’m just here for the coffee. He’s so smooth.

Angela [00:45:14] I know. Dwight’s like, No, you’re not! Dwight gets like, so pissed off. And Jim is like, you can just tell Jim wants to hide under the table. The scene would have continued, and I’m going to play the deleted scene because it really shows you how in Dwight and Jim’s head Danny was getting, because everything just falls in this guy’s lap. Everything. Listen to this.

Jim [00:45:37] Hey, by the way, did you open that restaurant? Last time I saw you, you were talking about that.

Danny Cordray [00:45:41] Yeah, and I did. It was embarrassing.

Jim [00:45:44] Really?

Dwight [00:45:45] It went under?

Danny Cordray [00:45:45] My dad and I are about to open, and we get this insane high ball offer from this developer. He wants to build these huge lofts. And I think it’s great, you know, because my dad can finally just retire and take it easy. And then, of course, what does he do? Travels the world. But I guess that’s just the cowboy in him.

Jim [00:46:05] Sorry. What was embarrassing.

Danny Cordray [00:46:07] Excuse me?

Jim [00:46:08] You said the story was embarrassing, but that just sounds wonderful.

Danny Cordray [00:46:12] I guess I was just kind of embarrassed that, you know, I got so much out of it for such little effort.

Receptionist [00:46:18] Mr. Cordray, he’s ready for you.

Danny Cordray [00:46:19] Allrighty. Well, guys. Wish me luck.

Dwight [00:46:24] Good luck.

Jenna [00:46:29] Oh, my gosh. I’m just embarrassed I got so much out of it for so little effort.

Angela [00:46:33] Yeah. Uh huh. Just made a ton of money not doing anything. All right, guys. Wish me luck. And Dwight’s, like, the minute Danny, like, turns the corner, Dwight makes that noise.

Jenna [00:46:43] Well, apparently the only choice they have is to call Michael.

Angela [00:46:46] Yeah, he’s in the middle of a quarterly’s crisis mode meeting, and he is eager to leave. People are like, What are you doing? He’s so thrilled they called him. He’s so excited.

Jenna [00:46:57] Well, this phone call between Michael and Jim was shot on completely different days. When we shot the conference room part, John stood off camera and set his lines. And when we did the part at Frames Select, Steve was off camera saying his lines. They were never actually talking on the phone together. Little fun fact.

Angela [00:47:14] Little TV magic. Up next, we have Andy stopping by Darryl’s office. Darryl has glasses.

Jenna [00:47:22] I saw.

Angela [00:47:23] I thought it was so cute. In the script, the stage direction for Darryl’s glasses was this: Andy knocks on Darryl’s door and enters. Darryl has his reading glasses on. The kind you get from Barnes and Noble. Oh, the little readers at the kiosk?

Jenna [00:47:39] Yeah, I love that detail.

Angela [00:47:42] That’s adorable.

Jenna [00:47:42] Well, I guess Darryl is so busy because he’s entering his points on his Weight Watchers website.

Angela [00:47:47] Yeah.

Jenna [00:47:48] Randy said this was a big deal to clear Weight Watchers.

Angela [00:47:52] Oh.

Jenna [00:47:53] Yeah, he said NBC sales originally said no because they were in the process of negotiating a, quote, integration deal with another NBC series. An integration deal is where a company like Weight Watchers or Staples will actually pay the network an amount of money to mention their product on the air. Where it’s not a coincidence.

Angela [00:48:15] Hmm.

Jenna [00:48:16] I guess our sales department didn’t want us to give away a mention for free because they thought it might undercut their ability to negotiate for the other show. Randy said there was a, quote, flurry of emails between us and sales and eventually they said, fine, you can mention it, but only this one time.

Angela [00:48:35] And now you’re on our list.

Jenna [00:48:36] I guess so. Oh, my goodness.

Angela [00:48:40] Well, Andy is stopping by to talk to Darryl because he wants to start a band, and he needs Darryl on the keys.

Jenna [00:48:47] He offers thim $60 a session.

Angela [00:48:49] And Darryl is like, That’s crazy. I’ll do it for 40.

Jenna [00:48:51] I loved that.

Angela [00:48:52] I know. Back at Frames Select, Michael has joined Jim and Dwight. Danny is going to note: three salesmen for one sale, huh?

Jenna [00:49:02] Well, Michael likes to call it overkill.

Angela [00:49:05] Yeah.

Jenna [00:49:05] But he doesn’t want to give away our secrets.

Angela [00:49:07] He doesn’t.

Jenna [00:49:07] I loved that line. I thought that was really clever! I found that charming of Michael.

Angela [00:49:14] Well, Michael can’t get past this one little thing that’s gnawing at him. He thinks he knows Danny as a model.

Jenna [00:49:21] Yeah. He’s like, that guy’s a male model. And you’re sort of thinking like, oh, he’s just saying that because he’s so handsome.

Angela [00:49:27] Exactly. Well, there was a deleted scene where Michael finally remembers where he knows him. You’ll never guess what Danny modeled. He was, in fact, a model.

Michael [00:49:39] Oh, my God. Jansport backpacks. Ten or 15 years ago, you were a model for Jansport backpacks, were you not?

Danny Cordray [00:49:47] Yes. What’s going on here?

Michael [00:49:49] I knew it. I remember the one you were like, Hey.

Jenna [00:49:54] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:49:55] Uh huh. And the storyline continues. Michael later finding the backpack ad online. He went on his computer. He pulled it up. There is a photo of Danny with the backpack. It’s so great. It’s in deleted scenes. But guess what? Randy shared with us that Michael Gallenberg shot this photo on green screen. Henry Saine Photoshopped the image into purchased stock backgrounds from Getty Images. Henry also built the fakey web page for it, and Randy gave us the full resolution image of the backpack photo shoot. They are amazing. I’m going to put them in Office Ladies pod stories. But imagine with me Timothy Olyphant as Danny giving a very moody, kind of sassy glance over his shoulder as he has a backpack on. The photos are amazing.

Jenna [00:50:46] I feel like Danny Cordray is everything Michael wishes he could be.

Angela [00:50:50] I mean.

Jenna [00:50:51] Male model.

Angela [00:50:52] Jansport male model.

Jenna [00:50:54] Yeah. Top sales person. Well, when Michael and Jim and Dwight go in to meet with Steve Nash, they really pitch him hard. They say, we will deliver on the weekends.

Angela [00:51:07] We’ll give you all of our paper at cost.

Jenna [00:51:09] He’s like, Shake my hand, shake my hand now. And even still, Steve Nash is going to go with Danny Cordray.

Angela [00:51:17] Michael can’t believe it.

Jenna [00:51:18] Guest star alert. Steve Nash was played by Pete Pastore. He has appeared on Seinfeld, Chicago Hope, and Passions. Not interested in Michael’s deal.

Angela [00:51:29] Well, the guys are really frustrated now. They’re going to leave Frames Select. Dwight blames Jim. Michael says they just simply got bested. They’re going to get in the elevators, kind of dejected, and go home.

Jenna [00:51:40] We had a fan question from Anu U in Estonia and Keris D from West Wales, UK and others. Was it scripted or improv at 7 minutes and 45 seconds when Michael says, Why is there a door close button if it doesn’t even close the door? That was scripted. And I did a deep dive on door close buttons.

Angela [00:52:02] What?

Jenna [00:52:04] Have you ever wondered about the door close button? Like, does it really close the door on elevators? Does it really work?

Angela [00:52:12] I have never wondered about this.

Jenna [00:52:15] Well, I have this faint memory of this story coming out years ago that said door close buttons don’t work.

Angela [00:52:22] Oh.

Jenna [00:52:23] So I looked into it.

Angela [00:52:24] Did the door open button work?

Jenna [00:52:26] Door open buttons work.

Angela [00:52:28] Door close ones are just to fake us out so we feel like we’re getting somewhere because we’re in a hurry?

Jenna [00:52:33] That’s exactly right, Angela.

Angela [00:52:34] Come on.

Jenna [00:52:35] The New York Times did a piece on door close buttons. Here’s the scoop.

Angela [00:52:41] This is a Mom Detective moment.

Jenna [00:52:43] I’m so proud of myself. All I did was look up an article. I mean, someone else figured it out. Most elevator door buttons do not work. In 1990, we passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Part of that legislation required that elevator doors remain open long enough for anyone who might be using crutches, a cane or a wheelchair to enter and exit. And as a result, door close buttons were phased out. They used to work. But after this legislation was passed, they did away with them.

Angela [00:53:18] But they left the button?

Jenna [00:53:19] Yes. Because that way they could be operated by firefighters or maintenance workers in the case of an emergency. But they only work if you have a proper key or a code.

Angela [00:53:31] Huh?

Jenna [00:53:32] Yeah.

Angela [00:53:33] So none of the door close buttons work in any elevators unless you have a proper key or a code. Am I understanding this correctly?

Jenna [00:53:40] Yes. That’s right.

Angela [00:53:41] So I can tell my kids to quit hitting it over and over?

Jenna [00:53:43] That’s right.

Angela [00:53:44] Okay.

Jenna [00:53:45] But that’s not all.

Angela [00:53:45] Okay.

Jenna [00:53:47] The article also covered crosswalk signals. You know the button that you press to cross the street?

Angela [00:53:53] Yeah. You’re kind of obsessed with them. We were on a walk the other day, and you’re like, Hm? You were like, suspect of one of them.

Jenna [00:53:59] Well, it had a sign that said, Don’t press.

Angela [00:54:01] I know.

Jenna [00:54:01] I was like, What’s this about?

Angela [00:54:02] Yeah.

Jenna [00:54:03] In 2004, New York City deactivated most of the pedestrian buttons. So of the over 3000 walk buttons in New York City, more than 2500 of them were replaced with placebos. They’re just there to give the illusion of control. Today there are only 120 working walk systems controlled by the pedestrian in New York City.

Angela [00:54:27] Why not just get rid of them? I don’t need your fake button. Just get rid of it.

Jenna [00:54:32] I don’t know. But in 2010, ABC News did a study of pedestrian crosswalks in Austin, Texas, Gainesville, Florida and Syracuse, and only one of the signals was actually pedestrian controlled. So, I mean, it’s not just New York City.

Angela [00:54:46] Yeah.

Jenna [00:54:47] But then I found an article that was written by an engineer who said that pushing the crosswalk button does have an effect, but it’s not the effect you might think. He said most crosswalks are computer controlled and it’s all about traffic, you know, traffic, maintenance and control. And he said pressing the crosswalk button will not make the light change faster. But what it will do is extend the amount of time that you can cross the street. So when it’s automatic, there’s a certain amount of time allotted for that crosswalk. But if the button is activated, it will stay on longer.

Angela [00:55:25] So you can get across the street without running.

Jenna [00:55:27] Exactly.

Angela [00:55:28] What about that intersection by my house where the light rarely turns and so I pull forward and pull back and pull forward and pull back over the crosswalk. Does that do anything?

Jenna [00:55:38] Yeah. Right? There’s that rumor that there’s some sort of I mean, when you say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous, right? That there’s some sort of, like, pressure sensor underneath the ground that makes lights change.

Angela [00:55:50] Yeah.

Jenna [00:55:51] I mean, what do you think? Just when we say it. Based on all we know now about the buttons, do we think that’s real?

Angela [00:55:57] When you say it out loud, it sounds like it doesn’t work.

Jenna [00:55:59] I mean, what I’ve done before when I’ve gotten to one of those places where it like never changes because-

Angela [00:56:06] And by the way, this is an intersection that has like, no one there.

Jenna [00:56:09] I know. That’s why it doesn’t change. What I’ve done before is I’ve gotten out of the car and pressed the crosswalk button.

Angela [00:56:16] I’ve done that, too.

Jenna [00:56:16] And now I realize that doing nothing.

Angela [00:56:19] I know I’ve done that too.

Jenna [00:56:21] Well, there you go.

Angela [00:56:23] Well, that was fascinating.

Jenna [00:56:25] The article went on to say that we need these fake buttons.

Angela [00:56:29] Why?

Jenna [00:56:30] We need the illusion of control. It’s good for us.

Angela [00:56:33] Oh, my gosh. What is this, an episode of Westworld?

Jenna [00:56:36] Listen, the article had a third category, and I didn’t know if I should bring it up. But it’s about office thermostats.

Angela [00:56:43] None of them work. They’re controlled by some master thing.

Jenna [00:56:47] Most buildings’ master thermostats are controlled by a master grid thing.

Angela [00:56:52] Grid somewhere not accessible.

Jenna [00:56:55] And then the office you rent, they’ll put like a fakey box in your office. Like, they found that like 85% of them were fake, and they gave workers the illusion that they could control if they were hot and cold and they found people complained less.

Angela [00:57:10] What the hell?

Jenna [00:57:11] And so buildings had, like the fake controls in the offices, because then they just didn’t want to deal with people complaining.

Angela [00:57:19] Nothing is real. Nothing is real.

Jenna [00:57:23] I don’t know.

Angela [00:57:24] Nothing is real. Oh, my gosh. I’m gonna go live in a cabin in the woods.

Jenna [00:57:28] I know our thermostat here at Earwolf works.

Angela [00:57:32] Because we mess with it all the time.

Jenna [00:57:34] We do. We come in and it’s freezing.

Angela [00:57:36] Crank it down.

Jenna [00:57:36] And we make it hot. And then other people come in and make it freezing again. So that is happening. I guess Earwolf bought a building with real thermostat controls.

Angela [00:57:46] No fake box. Michael is feeling pretty crappy about losing the sale. He’s gathered the sales team in the conference room to go over everything. I want to point out, at 7 minutes, 52 seconds on the whiteboard it says, Danny Cordray semicolon, a real threat, exclamation point.

Jenna [00:58:04] Yeah. It’s during this meeting that Dwight suggests they lure Danny to the office, pretend it’s a different office, and then they spy on him. They watch his sales technique.

Angela [00:58:16] Like the stinger?

Jenna [00:58:17] Yes. You know that movie with Robert Redford and Paul Newman? The Stinger. Where they ride horses?

Angela [00:58:24] Yeah. I went back and rewatched The Sting.

Jenna [00:58:28] The whole movie?

Angela [00:58:29] I didn’t get through all of it because it was a little bit late, but almost all of it. It’s so good.

Jenna [00:58:32] It’s so good. Oh, my gosh. The sting is why I learned to play the entertainer on the piano.

Both [00:58:39] Dana na na na na na na na na na na.

Jenna [00:58:43] Yeah. I told my mom I want to learn how to play The Entertainer on the piano. We got a piano teacher. I took piano lessons for, like, two years. I learned all the chords and the things. Finally, I learned The Entertainer, and I stopped.

Angela [00:58:59] Can you still play it?

Jenna [00:59:00] Yes. It’s the only thing I can play on the piano because I stopped my lessons as soon as I learned it. But I was obsessed with that movie. I love it.

Angela [00:59:08] For those of you who haven’t seen The Sting, it was a 1973 American caper film involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters to con a mob boss. And those two guys are Robert Redford and Paul Newman. And man, was it fun to rewatch them.

Jenna [00:59:26] Robert Redford is so charming.

Angela [00:59:28] I don’t understand Paul Newman’s eyes. I really don’t understand how you can have eyes that blue.

Jenna [00:59:34] He’s so handsome.

Angela [00:59:36] So handsome.

Jenna [00:59:36] And he made it all the salad dressings and he gave all the money to charity.

Angela [00:59:39] I know. I know.

Jenna [00:59:41] Amazing.

Angela [00:59:42] So they are going to set up this elaborate ruse. Let’s just talk about where did this budget come from? Where did the fake sign come from? It says Pennsylvania Solar Tech on the door.

Jenna [00:59:52] They get Meredith to play the head of Pennsylvania Solar Tech. But here’s my question. When they walk Danny in, they have Erin walk Danny in. Where did she greet him? At the door as he walked in? Did he not see that Dunder Mifflin is also here?

Angela [01:00:09] I don’t know. He’s there to meet Meredith Van Helsing. He’s focused. I reached out to Kate Flannery about doing these scenes with Timothy Olyphant because she’s so good in them. She crushes it. She said, Ange, I was so nervous because I had just watched Deadwood.

Jenna [01:00:25] Oh!

Angela [01:00:26] Sheriff Seth Bullock. That’s all Kate could see. She said she was also excited because she got to have a whole new look for Meredith. She got to wear a nice suit that actually fit her well. She got pretty hair and makeup. And she said shooting the scenes were a blast. She also shared with me she improvised the line, You smell like a Scorpio.

Jenna [01:00:47] Oh, that’s such a good line!

Angela [01:00:49] I know. Thanks, Kate.

Jenna [01:00:51] Well, we’ve got Jim, Dwight and Michael in Dwight’s, like, little security office, whereas Meredith is set up in Dwight’s building office. I have a location breakdown for you.

Angela [01:01:04] Okay.

Jenna [01:01:05] Dwight’s surveillance room and Dwight’s management office were both built on stage two in our warehouse. For the surveillance office, they actually had four pre placed lipstick cameras that were really broadcasting into that little surveillance room.

Angela [01:01:20] Oh, that’s so fun. So the guys got to actually watch Kate and Timothy play out these beats.

Jenna [01:01:25] Yes.

Angela [01:01:26] Oh, that’s so cool.

Jenna [01:01:27] Yes. And it cost about $6,000 to set that up. The little fakey surveillance room.

Angela [01:01:32] I think we should check in on the band.

Jenna [01:01:35] Yeah, they’re down in the warehouse and they’re singing their song, Dear Mr. President.

Angela [01:01:40] Darryl says he doesn’t think Andy should sing from the point of view of a little girl. That’s weird.

Jenna [01:01:47] The lyrics to the song were written by Mindy Kaling, and the music was written by Craig Robinson and Ed Helms. These were all original songs. Randy said they even had to create legal contracts between Mindy, Craig and Ed in order to record and release them.

Angela [01:02:02] I mean, after watching this episode, I found myself humming. I was like, Wait, because I watched it like three times. The line, Please, Mr. President, if you want to give hope a whirl, bring our troops home safe and sound says this little girl. Like, I can’t. I can’t. Like it’s stuck in my head.

Jenna [01:02:22] We had a fan question for Mags C and Yorkville, Illinois, who said, I am 11 years old and I’ve watched the show for years. My teacher asked us to write a paper on our favorite celebrity and I chose Jenna.

Angela [01:02:36] Aww.

Jenna [01:02:36] Mags. Thank you so much! Mags question is, Were the people who played the instruments professionals? Well, I’ll tell you, Mags, Craig, Ed and Brian were all really playing their instruments. I would classify Craig and Ed as being at the level of a professional musician. I’m not sure I would put Brian there. Brian, no offense.

Angela [01:02:58] To be fair, Brian would be the first person to tell you that whenever he had these scenes, he would be so nervous because he’s like, Guys, I am not a musician. You guys are.

Jenna [01:03:06] Randy said that when they recorded these scenes, they recorded the vocals and the instrumentals together live. And he said this was a problem later because when the international sales team went to sell the show internationally, they couldn’t dub the voices because they couldn’t separate it from the music. So Randy had to go back. He had to hire music composer Eve Nelson to create separate keyboard, drums and guitar and rerecord the music and then sync it with the dubbed foreign language vocals. It was a whole thing.

Angela [01:03:40] Wow. Well, Andy is going to play the song for the whole group, and he really wants honest feedback. Could the song be famous, like in a car commercial or something?

Jenna [01:03:52] I loved Ryan’s response.

Angela [01:03:53] Yeah, I know.

Jenna [01:03:54] The Ryan sass.

Angela [01:03:55] Ryan is so snarky.

Jenna [01:03:58] When he asks if maybe someone might skate to it at the Olympics, he’s like, I don’t think so, because they don’t usually skate to such bad songs.

Angela [01:04:09] And then what really seals the deal that it’s not going to be a hit is that Creed said he really liked it.

Jenna [01:04:15] Yeah. And then Andy’s like, Ugh.

Angela [01:04:18] That really bums me out.

Jenna [01:04:20] At 11 minutes, 43 seconds, I notice that I’m holding Pam’s pink mug.

Angela [01:04:25] I noticed that, too. And you’re all in pink kind of. It was like a whole pink thing happening.

Jenna [01:04:30] Well, forgive me if I’ve said this on the podcast before, but that mug broke. I had that mug for all nine seasons, and in the ninth season it broke. And they glued it back together for me. And I keep it on my bookshelf. But I have a late breaking development about Pam’s pink mug.

Angela [01:04:47] It didn’t break again, did it?

Jenna [01:04:48] No.

Angela [01:04:49] What happened?

Jenna [01:04:50] I found a woman who makes replicas.

Angela [01:04:53] Did you order yourself one?

Jenna [01:04:55] I did. And it’s a really great. It’s this woman named Linda Renee Pottery from Bluffton, Ohio. She has an Etsy shop. All of her pottery is beautiful. You know I love handmade things. She first made the mug as a special order item because someone requested it. And I guess I randomly saw this post on Twitter. I happened to see it. I’m so glad I did, because I went on and I ordered one. And I love it. It’s like a really good match. It’s like I have Pam’s pink mug again.

Angela [01:05:30] You have to give us a photo of it.

Jenna [01:05:32] I will.

Angela [01:05:32] Well, I know how much Pam’s mug meant to you, and I’m so happy you have another one.

Jenna [01:05:36] I know. Me, too.

Angela [01:05:38] Things are going to heat up a little bit at Solar Tech.

Jenna [01:05:41] Mm hmm.

Angela [01:05:42] Danny takes off his jacket. Meredith is thrilled. And pretty quickly, Michael has to call her and tell her to pull it together.

Jenna [01:05:49] Yeah, but she’s not going to listen.

Angela [01:05:51] No, she is not.

Jenna [01:05:53] She is going to unbutton her blouse.

Angela [01:05:55] Mm hmm.

Jenna [01:05:56] And she is going to walk around the desk to get closer to Danny.

Angela [01:06:00] Well, Danny says, We should think of this as a first date. And Meredith’s like, How about a third date? And then Michael calls her and she says, Shut up, let me do this! And hangs up on him.

Jenna [01:06:12] They’re going to need to call in some reinforcements.

Angela [01:06:15] Oscar.

Jenna [01:06:16] Mm hmm.

Angela [01:06:17] And Jim says, Listen. You’re an exec at Pennsylvania Solar Tech. And Dwight’s like, No! Stark Industries. He keeps pushing Stark Industries. Oscar walks in to take over the meeting. Meredith is like, Oh, Manuel, this is Manuel, my cleaning man. He doesn’t speak any English. Go clean the windows. She just silences him immediately.

Jenna [01:06:40] So now they need another person.

Angela [01:06:42] They’re panicking. They grab Ryan, they give him the same speech. Ryan wants to say that he worked at Google. They’re like, just get in there. And then Ryan walks in and right away she goes, Esteban, another cleaning man, doesn’t speak English.

Jenna [01:06:55] Clean the floor.

Angela [01:06:56] Yeah.

Jenna [01:06:57] Did you notice that 12 minutes and 25 seconds, we’re inside the little surveillance office, and the television that is the single on Danny’s face is labeled Alpha Cam. I don’t know, because he’s the alpha male is what it made me think of. I was like, Oh, I like that.

Angela [01:07:15] Meredith is really pouring it on now. She’s like, Danny, I feel a real connection to you. And Michael is like, No, no, no, no, no. They’re like, No, no, they run in.

Jenna [01:07:22] He busts in.

Angela [01:07:23] Yeah. He’s like, Stop, stop.

Jenna [01:07:26] And he confesses everything.

Angela [01:07:28] And rats out Dwight and Jim. They’re in on it, too.

Jenna [01:07:31] It’s amazing. So now Danny is leaving. He’s running down the hallway. Michael is following him, pleading with him. Okay, you know that that hallway was our real hallway that led to our little lobby. It was outside of our editors offices.

Angela [01:07:48] Yeah.

Jenna [01:07:48] That in no way connected to these actual rooms, which were over on the warehouse stage. So when they leave the little room, you’ll notice there’s a cut, and then they’re in the hallway. So they had to like bring that energy to two different locations. But all of it, when Oscar’s coming down the hallway, when Ryan’s coming down the hallway, none of that was actually connected to the rooms.

Angela [01:08:11] They had to stitch it.

Jenna [01:08:12] They did. They had a whole afternoon of hallway work.

Angela [01:08:15] Michael finally says, Look, Danny, I will give you a better job here. Look what you did at this other company that doesn’t have near the clients or reach that we have. Just imagine what you could do here. And Danny is intrigued. The wheels are turning.

Jenna [01:08:32] He’s going to accept Michael’s offer.

Angela [01:08:35] Yes. And there was a deleted Danny Cordray talking head about why he took the job.

Danny Cordray [01:08:40] Why would I agree to work here? Well, I feel like Pam and I have some unfinished business. And if Jim gets burned in the process, well, that’s just going to be too bad for him… (LAUGHS) I’m just kidding. They offered me a stupid amount of money.

Angela [01:08:58] It got you, didn’t it?

Jenna [01:09:01] It totally got me!

Angela [01:09:03] Isn’t that a good one?

Jenna [01:09:04] Yes! Yes. I was like, I don’t remember this.

Angela [01:09:07] Yeah.

Jenna [01:09:09] Oh, my goodness. Oh, I wish that had stayed in.

Angela [01:09:12] And then how much money did Michael offer him?

Jenna [01:09:15] Oh, my gosh. I don’t know. And later, Michael is going to remember I already have a traveling salesman. It’s Todd Packer.

Angela [01:09:23] Yeah.

Jenna [01:09:23] Oh, well, Michael’s going to announce it to the whole office. He’s going to bring him up. Kelly has a big reaction to meeting Danny, and it caused a standards and practices flurry of emails.

Angela [01:09:34] It was the F bomb.

Jenna [01:09:36] After the table reading, we got a note that said this. Page 32, please bleep Kelly’s (BLEEP) remark completely with no beginning or end consonant sounds, and blur the visible lip flap.

Angela [01:09:51] They don’t like the lip flap.

Jenna [01:09:53] Are all over the lip flaps lately.

Angela [01:09:55] You’re going to lose the audio and we will not be able to tell she’s saying (BLEEP).

Jenna [01:10:00] Well, I guess after they locked the editor’s cut, they had to send it back. And here’s the note they got. As previously noted, please blur Kelly’s lips when she says (BLEEP).

Angela [01:10:15] Please blur the frickin lip flap. How many times do I have to say it? These (BLEEP)holes on The Office never blur the lip flap.

Jenna [01:10:25] Oh, my gosh. Can we please meet this person? Ah. Well, Kelly is happy, but the sales team is not.

Angela [01:10:34] They are not. They are going to go into Michael’s office and tell them that Danny is going to steal their clients. Well, I want to point out two things. The first is from 17 minutes and 37 seconds until 18 minutes and 15 seconds. You can see Danny Cordray standing outside of Michael’s office in the background of this scene. Timothy Olyphant had to stand there the whole entire scene. That’s what you need to know. He was just stealing there. Also for my background catch folks, did anyone else notice that there are no toys? Not a single one. No toys on Michael’s desk.

Jenna [01:11:14] Did anyone notice, Angela? We got a fan mail flurry about it.

Angela [01:11:19] Yes!

Jenna [01:11:19] Brooke J from Montana, Maggie E from Tennessee, and many others said, Why is Michael’s office more empty than usual? And there aren’t any toys on his desk?

Angela [01:11:30] Not a one.

Jenna [01:11:31] Also, Christian H from Independence, Missouri. It seemed like the bookshelves were missing from Michael’s office toward the end of the episode. What happened to them? Is there a deleted scene or something we don’t know about?

Angela [01:11:43] Yeah. What happened? Was this that time there was that funky smell in Michael’s office in the carpet, and they had to pull it up? I have the memory of this.

Jenna [01:11:50] You mean, like in real life or fictionally?

Angela [01:11:53] In real life.

Jenna [01:11:54] No, I never remember that. There was a funky smell and they had to disassemble the Michael Scott office?

Angela [01:12:00] I have a memory of that. We should ask Randy. I just remember one time it got a little stinky.

Jenna [01:12:07] Okay, I don’t remember that. But, I mean, I’m just assuming that they used all of Michael’s stuff to create the Meredith Van Helsing office, and that’s where all his furniture went.

Angela [01:12:17] I’m sorry. They did not use any of his toys in Meredith Van Helsing’s office.

Jenna [01:12:20] Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh. They used his mug.

Angela [01:12:24] Well, the mug. And he points it out. To which Jim says, you know, this isn’t a real TV show. But were his clacking teeth there? Was this little squishy ball that goes in and out with the little clacky balls there?

Jenna [01:12:36] I don’t know. Maybe the clacky balls were there. We didn’t look close enough.

Angela [01:12:39] There were no clacky balls.

Jenna [01:12:40] Who wants those? Why do you need them?

Angela [01:12:43] Sam got us some and we love them.

Jenna [01:12:46] Why are you watching them? What does it bring your desk to have balls clacking back and forth? What is it? Who invented it?

Angela [01:12:52] Well.

Jenna [01:12:53] I never got to the bottom of it. I still don’t get it. Are they relaxing? What is it?

Angela [01:12:58] I like the clacky balls. Sam got us each a little pair of clacky balls. And, Sam, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for some time. They were sitting on a low shelf in my home office, and we had a friend whose toddler came over, and in maybe 5 seconds, put all the clock balls in one giant knot that no one has been able to undo. We now give it as a challenge to people who come over. Like, can you undo what a toddler did in 5 seconds? No one’s been able to do it.

Sam [01:13:28] That makes me actually very happy.

Angela [01:13:30] I’m gonna take a picture of it.

Sam [01:13:31] Please do.

Jenna [01:13:33] I understand that it’s like some sort of physics phenomenon. The clacky balls. But I just don’t understand how they became such a popular desk item. I just don’t get it. I’m gonna deep dive it. Maybe it’s a special episode of Office Ladies. Bonus episode. Clacky balls. Where did they come from? How did they rise in popularity?

Angela [01:13:56] Well, I will tune in for your clacky balls episode.

Jenna [01:13:59] You’re going to be there, lady.

Angela [01:14:01] Oh, I’ll be there. Okay.

Jenna [01:14:04] Look for it this winter.

Angela [01:14:06] Yeah.

Jenna [01:14:07] Special episode. Bonus episode.

Angela [01:14:09] Office Ladies Semicolon.

Both [01:14:10] Clacky Balls.

Angela [01:14:12] Well Michael is going to try to convince the sales team that things are going to get better. They are. That Danny being there will no longer be a threat. He’ll now be an asset. Right after this, Danny is going to tell Jim that he and Pam went on a few dates way back, but that Pam wasn’t into him. Didn’t call him back.

Jenna [01:14:31] Uh oh.

Angela [01:14:31] Jim’s like, she told me. I know. But then Dwight overhears this and has such a strong reaction. He’s like, Let me handle this, Jim. Drop the act, Cordray, okay? We all know that you probably thought that Pam was just too meh or thin without being toned, but I want to tell you something. She is one of the plain, hearty women of Scranton that make this city great. And so what if she doesn’t wear makeup?

Jenna [01:14:57] Lady, when we did the table read, and I heard the line “thin without being toned,” I laughed so hard. I was like, That is such an accurate description of my physique. I was like, They nailed it. And it was so funny to me.

Angela [01:15:15] I loved when Pam mouths to the camera, I wear makeup.

Jenna [01:15:20] Also I love that he describes her as “meh”.

Angela [01:15:20] Meh.

Jenna [01:15:23] That was very funny. Oh, my goodness.

Angela [01:15:25] Dwight is also going to accuse Danny of being a thief, but then finds out it’s 5:00 and shakes his hand.

Jenna [01:15:30] No, he’s not gonna take that home with.

Angela [01:15:32] He’s not gonna take that energy home.

Jenna [01:15:34] Well, even though Andy, Darryl and Kevin were all upstairs to meet Danny Cordray, they’re also simultaneously down in the warehouse. I don’t know if you noticed this editing. They managed to be in two places at once.

Angela [01:15:47] They’re magic.

Jenna [01:15:49] And they’re down there. And first, Andy tries to write a song from the heart.

Angela [01:15:54] Mm hmm.

Jenna [01:15:56] It’s okay. But they’ve run out of time. But guess what? Darryl is going to stay, and he’s going to jam for free.

Angela [01:16:05] Yeah. Andy’s so happy.

Jenna [01:16:08] And as a result, they are going to write a fabulous song.

Angela [01:16:12] It’s titled Croak, Croak, Croak, Bullfrog in Love.

Jenna [01:16:16] We had a fan question from Nicole S in Seattle, Washington, who wanted to know who wrote Bullfrog in Love because it’s really great. Well, this one was lyrics by Mindy Kaling and music by Eve Nelson. It is very good, very catchy.

Angela [01:16:32] Well, Nicole, we agree with you. It’s pretty awesome. And we all think you need to hear it.

Andy, Kevin, Darryl [01:16:38] Stars in her eyes. Tongue full of flies. Would you like to share my pad? Croak, croak, croak. Bullfrog in Love. Croak, croak, croak. Bullfrog in Love. And I gave her the croak that meant I love you. I’ll be your croque monsieur. I’ll be your croque madame. Your mama might have said that bullfrogs are dumb. But I’m here to tell you that I’m a frog. Come and sit on my log, you little polliwog. I find you absolutely ribbeting. Croak croak croak bullfrog in love. Croak croak croak bullfrog in love. Croak. Ribbit. Scoopity splash!

Jenna [01:17:20] Oh, everybody, that was The Sting. Thank you to Randy Cordray, Kate Flannery, and James Kerry, and of course, to Craig Robinson. Oh, Craig, it was so great to see you.

Angela [01:17:30] Craig, it was awesome! And you guys, if you want to check out Craig’s shows, go to Mr. Craig Robinson dot com. That’s his website. You can see where he’s touring around the country and you can check out Killing It on Peacock. We all find you ribbeting. And we hope you have a great week. We’ll see you next time.

Jenna [01:17:51] 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 [01:18:07] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcher Premium dot com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code: Office.