Office Ladies - A Look Back on Baby Shower

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

This week we’re re-running our episode breaking down Baby Shower but first, the ladies uncover a new tidbit that may have used as an inspiration for this episode.  Michael has the Party Planning Committee throw a baby shower for Jan, while Jan has already had her baby and just didn’t tell Michael about it. Jenna does a deep dive on the history of baby showers, the ladies explore the song Son of A Preacher Man, and Angela shares what Phil Shea gifted her after shooting this episode. So you can put this episode to the test, just like Dwight did with Jan’s stroller, but we guarantee it’s a very good, indestructible episode. Check out Office Ladies Merch at Podswag: https://www.podswag.com/collections/office-ladies Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestionFollow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod

Hello everybody! This is your last week of reruns before we get back to breaking down episodes from season 9. Yes! We're so excited! This week we are rerunning Baby Shower. Yeah, and I recently came across an awesome quote from Melora Harden about this episode that I wanted to read. Are you ready for this? Angela, I sent you this message and we were both like, this is so Melora. This is so badass Melora. Okay, here it is. She said, quote, Greg and his wife Suzanne had me and my husband over for brunch along with Steve and Nancy Carell and their two kids. My daughter Piper was just a few months old

at the time. We all sat down at the table and she was hungry, so I just pulled my shirt down and breastfed her because I was very committed to this idea that I don't really like putting a thing over my baby's head when they're breastfeeding. I also feel like we live in a country where people can have a gun rack in the back of their car but you can't breastfeed your baby in public when that's what your boobs are for." She went on to say that this might have inspired a scene in the baby shower episode. And I was like, oh yes, I remember shooting something where she's nursing, but I don't think it ended up in the episode.

No, it did not. But it is in the deleted scene section on the DVDs. And basically Jan just is like, it's time to breastfeed. And she starts breastfeeding her baby in the office. And of course, Kevin is totally preoccupied by it. I would play it, but it's more of a visual joke. But you know, I'm so glad you found that quote, because Jenna, I remember that about Melora. I remember we were going to rehearse a scene in the parking lot. And she was walking up towards us and she had one of those baby slings on and her baby was in it.

And as she approached us, she was just talking, you know, like we're gonna map out the scene. And her baby was nursing the whole time. And she just was like, zero Fs. I am living my life, my baby's nursing, and I'm also working. I am multitasking, cause I am a freaking amazing woman.

Well, she was so inspiring to me because I just have those same memories of her. I was so far from having kids when I first met her and I saw that and it was just really great modeling for me. I remember sitting and having lunch with her and she was nursing her baby. I remember reading through scenes with her and she was nursing her baby. She was very committed to it and

unapologetic. Yeah. I loved it. It was like a way that she was such a trailblazer for me. Yeah and Jan has the same feelings. She sure did. She sure did. Okay everyone next week August 14th we are back breaking down the farm. It is a great episode. I mean, dare I say it is one of our best breakdowns. We produced this one with our new partner Odyssey and I think you're going to feel a really fun new energy. And just remember you don't have to do anything different to your feed. If you are subscribed to Office Ladies, you'll just keep getting episodes just like before

and we will still be on all of the podcast platforms, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. Here's our rerun of Baby Shower, and then we'll see you next week. I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends.

And now we're doing the ultimate office rewatch podcast just for you. 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. We're The Office ladies. Are you ready for a baby shower? I sure am. It's Jan's baby shower today.

At a company she no longer works at, with a man she no longer dates and is not the father of her baby, it's going to be a huge success. Oh yeah. All the elements are there. Right? Yes. People she doesn't really like are throwing her a baby shower. And they don't like her. It's going to be great. It's season five, episode four. This episode was written by Erin Shure and directed by Greg Daniels. I have a summary. Let's do it. Michael and the party planning committee, still headed

by Phyllis, throw a baby shower for Jan, but they are unaware that she has already given birth to her daughter Astrid. Jan's presence in the office causes Michael to be rude to Holly, and Dwight spends the day putting Jan's luxury stroller to the test. Meanwhile, Jim and Pam feel the effects of their long-distance relationship. Oh, that was hard to watch. They were out of sync. They were. You don't like to see that.

No, I don't. Fast fact number one, new writer alert. Erin Sher joined the writing staff this year in season five. Erin had been a writer on Everybody Loves Raymond, which is one of my favorite sitcoms of all time. It is such a great ensemble sitcom. Do you know that one where Marie goes to art class and she makes the sculpture?

And then, guys, look it up. She makes a sculpture and she's so proud and she unveils it and it looks like a vagina. But she doesn't know, but everybody else is like, Marie, what inspired you to make this piece? Oh my gosh. It's so good. Her character was so good. So anyway, I was very excited to have Aaron join the writing staff because then I could ask him tons of questions about Everybody Loves Raymond. And you did. I did. You chatted him up

a lot about it. Well, we have some news. Angela, do you want to share? I do. So I reached out to Aaron. We had been trying to get ahold of him. You slid into his DMs. I did. He was like, I don't even know. Do I have DMs? I'm like, yes. But I found an old email and we got in touch and it was so fun to talk to him. He's a huge fan of the podcast. Jenna, he told me that he listens to the podcast in the evenings and then sometimes when he drifts off to sleep, he dreams like that he's in the podcast with us. Oh my goodness. Is that a good dream or a nightmare? I don't know. I hope it's a good thing. I hope so.

Aaron had lots of great stuff to share. We're going to hit him up quite a bit. We have Aaron now, we have James, and also Randy Cordray. Yes. When Angela told me that she got a hold of Aaron, I know you were going to ask him about the office, but I had an everybody loves Raymond question. Still, this poor man, I cornered him on set and now you're calling him on the phone and my question is still about everybody loves Raymond. But here's the thing. I remember that there was this episode

that was based on a story from his real life, but I couldn't remember all the details. It's the episode, it's called 10th anniversary. And Ray and Deborah are celebrating their 10th anniversary and they want to watch their wedding tape and they get it out and they put it in the VCR, they press play and Ray has recorded a football game over their wedding tape. And I remember that there is some story where I think Aaron recorded over his wedding tape with his wife. That is true. I knew it. That is true. So this is what happened. Okay,

so Aaron was a fan of Everybody Loves Raymond. It was a show he wanted to meet on. So he thought, oh, I'll record a few episodes, watch them, really study the show. So when I go in and meet, you know, I have all this information. So he popped in VHS, guys, this dates us all a little bit. And he hit record and it was his wedding video. Yeah. And back then, you guys, it's not like you have multiple copies. Like you get your wedding videotape and that's it.

Yeah. Yeah, his wife was really upset. Oh no. And he went in to meet on Everybody Loves Raymond and he told that story. He was like, I taped over my wedding video to watch Everybody Loves Raymond. So my wife is really mad.

You got to give me this job. And he got the job. And then that story made it into an episode. Yes. Oh, I love it. A lot of Aaron's life ends up in scripts, you guys. There's a few episodes coming up that his actual life inspired things that Michael does. And I can't wait to share those with you.

I'm so glad we're in touch with him. I know. Fast fact number two, Angela, we shot this episode in August of 2008. And since we brought it up before, I thought it was worth mentioning that this same month, Steve Carell won his second surfboard at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards for TV Comedy Actor.

Steve, where did you put your surfboards? Back to back surfboards. Wow. When we have them on the podcast, is it going to be weird if we ask him where his surfboards are? It depends where you put them. It's going to be such a weird question. Well, also this same year, the movie Juno won best comedy movie and Rain Wilson was in that. Also this same year, we won a SAG award. Yes. So this was like the awards and the surfboards were coming in now. Yeah. Right. It was really cool. And I remember at the 2008 SAG awards, we were sitting at the table and everybody was

like, who's going to give the speech if we win? And we all assumed it would be Steve, like Steve will give the speech. And Steve said, guys, this is an ensemble. I don't want to always speak for the cast. That doesn't feel right to me. This is an ensemble award. I think someone else should speak. And I mean, first of all, amazing, right?

Like, Steve's awesome. And so then Rain said, I think Jenna should do it. And I feel like none of us really thought we were going to win, because we'd won the year before. And I said, oh, OK, yeah, sure, I'll do it. And then we won. And I had to give a speech at an award show.

And you did such a great job. You were so articulate and well-spoken. I was in awe because we didn't think we were going to win. It was a total surprise. And then we won and I'm like walking to the stage and I'm like, oh my God. Well I know you guys are tired of me talking about being pregnant, but I was pregnant at that award show. And it's a very odd thing to be super huge and pregnant at an award show. But you did such a great job. Thank you.

I ended up kind of going down a rabbit hole of all the like cool things that happened for our show in 2008. It was a good year. It was a good year. James Carey sent me the call sheet for this episode. Jamesapedia. Jamesapedia. And on the call sheet, it said, there is a screening of Rainn Wilson's new movie,

The Rocker at Universal City Walk for the cast and crew. All are welcome. So that was also happening. So what happening? All right. Fast fact number three. This episode is a baby shower. So I'm going to tell you some stuff about baby showers. You did a deep dive on baby showers? I did. What is there to know? It's a baby coming. Get some presents. Get everyone ready. What else is there to know? Well, baby showers are believed to date all the way back to the Egyptian and Greek civilizations. Whoa! But baby showers, as we know them today, began during the baby boom era of World War II.

So traditionally, the baby shower was thrown by a close family member or a friend and the mother-to-be opened gifts in a decorated chair. Well, Jan has a very decorated chair. I noticed. Yeah, thank you party planning committee. Thank you, Phyllis. Well, I think Angela did it

because Phyllis is making her do everything. So thank you, Angela. Okay. I don't know. Well, listen, Angela did it because Phyllis is making her do everything. So thank you, Angela. Okay. I don't know. Well, listen, nowadays we have all kinds of ways that we can celebrate a new baby. And here are some new updated baby showers. A diaper shower. That's where all you bring are diapers in different sizes.

It's like if you go to your baby shower, it's like you went to Costco and bought out all the diapers. You just go home with every diaper because diapers are expensive. What's the next one? Grandparents shower. This is a shower that you throw for the grandparents and you give them stuff to keep at their house for when the baby comes over. keep at their house for when the baby comes over. Mm, boo. I'm saying, I love you grandparents, but come on. Grandparents, they love to go get that stuff. Yeah, I don't know.

Here's another one. I've heard of these, a sprinkle. What? You don't have a baby shower, you have a sprinkle. Sounds like you're going pee. It does. This is a shower that you throw for your second or third or fourth babies to collect maybe some of the things

if you are having a baby of a different gender. Right, right. Or if you need to refresh. Oh my god, I just got it. A shower and a sprinkle. Yeah. It's not a full shower. It's just a sprinkle.

Every time you say it, I just think of tinkling. I do too. All right, the final one is a sip and see. Does this involve wine? It does. It is a celebration planned by the new parents after the baby has arrived. Oh, you sip and you get to see the baby.

Yes, so I have to say what we are going to see in this episode is technically a Sip and See. You know what? I have been to a Sip and See, but I didn't even know it. I love the name Sip and See. Sip and See. Can I have a Sip and See for my new puppy? Can I do that?

Yes. Okay, good. That's all I got, Ann. Anything you want to add? Do you have a Kinsey tidbit today? Well, here's a little Kinsey tidbit. One of the things Erin said, which we have talked about before, is how long these scripts came in. You know, they were pretty big episodes,

and then we would have to just chisel away, and there was so much that didn't make it to the screen. For example, this episode came in at 49 pages, right? Wait, what? The script for this was 49 pages? Yeah, 49 pages. That's craziness. And you know how we've talked about how they would sort of rebuild the episodes in editing? Well, Aaron had this quote that I absolutely loved. He said that Greg liked to rebuild the ship at sea.

Oh, yeah. Isn't that such a great phrase? I love that. I just love that. They would get in the editor's room, man, yeah. Isn't that such a great phrase? I love that. I just love that. They would get in the editor's room, man, and they would just carve it up. And I told him, I said, it's always interesting for me now that we have all these scripts. Thank you, James, to see what makes it on the screen and what doesn't and how they move everything around.

And I'm always so happy with the final product, you know? But it's a cool thing to see. But I thought that Greg likes to rebuild the ship at sea was like a great phrase. Well, I think those were really good fast facts and we've got some more Aaron tidbits. We should take a break and get into this episode. I like it.

All right, we are back. All right, we are back and you guys at 12 seconds, everything you need to know about this episode is laid out by Jim. Jim has a dry erase board and he's going to tell you everything you need to know about this episode. Sam, can you play that clip? Jan is about to have a baby with a sperm donor. And Michael is preparing for the birth of a watermelon with Dwight. Now, this baby will be related to Michael through

delusion. There you go. That pretty much sums it up. That could have been the summary. I know, right? When I saw that, I was like, well, that's everything you need to know. Did you catch the? When I saw that, I was like, well, that's everything you need to know. Did you catch the Dwight?

I know. I was about to say, Anne, you got a real good Dwight in there. Well, it's true. Dwight is walking around. He's got a watermelon in his smock that he's wearing. Yeah. An apron? They've fastened like a smock to hold the baby.

Yeah, the watermelon baby. Do you have some Phil Shea trivia about this? I do. Yay! I talked to Phil Shea for about an hour yesterday. Prop master extraordinaire. I know. And we are going to have him on for an extended interview because he has got just some great info and stories. I can't wait. We need to have Aaron Schur on too. We really do. Let's load it up. All right. We had a fan question from Lisa W. How many watermelons were needed to do the practice birth scene with Michael and Dwight?

Phil said in total, we used about 30 watermelons for this whole episode. Oh, because he straps it into the stroller later. So for these scenes and for later. And Phil said, you know, it's great living in Southern California because you can get watermelons all year. So it wasn't a problem. Okay. Yeah. Fan catch from Evelyn V said at one minute 41 seconds, I think I can see other

stains from when the watermelon crashed into the ground on previous takes. I looked at it. Evelyn, I think that's a stain from something else. I don't think it's a watermelon. I feel like as Pam, I have walked up to the front of Michael's desk and I've looked down at my feet enough in scenes. I recognize that stain. I don't know what that's from.

I don't think it was watermelons. I don't know what to make of that other than maybe we should have splurged for new carpet. I think Michael needs new carpet. We had this letter from Ben M in Chicago. I am an ER doctor and whenever I'm teaching medical students how to deliver a baby, I like to show them the cold open from this episode. Get out.

Yes. This reinforces to them that newborns are very slippery. Oh, come on. It helps teach them that you must always support the baby's head and neck and also hold an arm or a leg immediately after delivery. It is a very funny cold open, but also extremely accurate. Wow.

Yeah. Well, Erin told me that this whole cold open was Greg's idea. The watermelon, the whole thing. Wow. Yeah. Well, Aaron told me that this whole cold open was Greg's idea, the watermelon, the whole thing. Okay. He had this whole idea and Aaron just ran with it. It's funny you say that because when I spoke with Phil, he said, I think Greg had an affinity for Gallagher. That's why you see so many watermelon gags on our show. That is very funny. Yeah. The comedian Gallagher, he used to smash watermelons and if you were on the front row, you just get splattered. Yeah.

I think that was it. Aaron told me, because after he spoke with you, he came to the DM. Oh, he found you. We DM'd. Oh, good. He said this cold open was the first thing they shot and it was his first time on set for the office and he kept laughing out loud and Greg had to say to him, Aaron, this is not Everybody Loves Raymond. It's not a live show. You can't laugh out loud. And he was like, oh no. Yes. He told me that it became

a thing he became very self-conscious about because he'd only ever worked in four camera where they encourage you to laugh and laugh and laugh. And then he had to start suppressing the laugh and suppressing the laugh. And he said, to start suppressing the laugh and suppressing the laugh. And he said, after a long day of work and suppressing the laugh, he would go home and just burp constantly. He told me that too. He had given himself like some type of indigestion

from holding in laughter all day. Well, you guys, this was very hard to watch without laughing for all of us. And if you go to one minute, 11 seconds, Phyll very hard to watch without laughing for all of us. And if you go to 1 minute, 11 seconds, Phyllis had to put her head down because she was laughing so hard. The shot of the bullpen reacting. Yeah, was so funny to me. Well, there is a lot in this episode that we could not get through. Oh man, the conference room, we'll get there. I think we should get to the party planning committee now because they have been very

busy decorating the conference room for the shower. They have two bowls of M&Ms. So I talked to Aaron about this and I said, who came up with Astrid and Chevy? And he said Astrid was definitely Greg. He thought it'd be funny to see that name on an M&M. And then Chevy, he couldn't remember who came up with that. He said he thinks the room kind of pitched names. It's funny when I saw the bowls of M&Ms with the names, that was like a really popular thing. It might still be popular where you can get these personalized M&Ms. Oh, I went to the website.

It's still a whole thing. High school graduation, anniversaries, and I did this for my parents. My parents' anniversary. I got M&Ms with their names on it. Well, when we did the Jim and Pam wedding episode, Greg threw the cast a viewing party that was kind of like a little mini reception, and he had bowls of M&Ms that said Jim and Pam.

He clearly was a big fan. He loved that you could personalize an M&M. I know. Well, they've gotten the name wrong though. The party planning committee has Ass Turd. Phyllis is like, that can't be right. Angela's like, Michael wrote down Ass Turd. Michael said, yeah, it's like the name of a Viking princess.

So of course I had to research Astrid. I didn't research Asturd. And he is right. Michael is right. According to the internet, Astrid has Norse, Danish, and Swedish roots. It can mean godly strength or divine beauty. And the name Astrid has been used by Norway's royal family for hundreds of years. You know, Michael is annoyed by their effort.

He says, Phyllis, we gave you a whole golden shower. I want my golden shower. He does. And then he has this talking head where he says he's going to love this baby even if it isn't his, like that dog that nursed the tiger cub. Right? Bizarre, but also beautiful.

It happens. Jenna, I looked it up and there are so many stories of dogs nursing tigers, but the one that caught my eye was on the Today Show in August of 2008. That's when we shot this episode. I know. And there was a safari park in Kansas with a white tiger named Sassy who had cubs, but she was too sassy to nurse them.

OK. So a golden retriever stepped in, Isabella. Well, I would expect that from a golden retriever. I really would. What a good dog. Anyway, it just cracked me up that on the Today Show, there was a whole thing about Sassy and Isabella, and I think it ended up in our episode.

Clearly it did. Michael is gonna bark orders at Phyllis. She's doing a talking head. I was supposed to be glaring at her in the background. And if you go to four minutes, 11 seconds, you can see me talking to Andy, and I'm so delighted that Phyllis is messing up. And then Michael walks in and kind of yells at her and says, make the party, make the party.

And then he leaves and Phyllis starts pumping the balloon. Well, Steve improvised walking back in and saying, pump it, pump it. He did. He did. That was all improv. We just started cracking up. I thought I could see you starting to break in the background of that. And Phyllis is starting to break too. So now Jim is at his desk and Pam is trying to tell him this story. I loved this. It was so funny. When she's like, Sarah Kaya comes in and he goes, oh wait, Sarah Kaya comes in? And she's like, no, Sarah Kaya comes in. And then at the very end of the scene when Dwight's like, who's Sarah Kaya comes in? That was improvised.

Rain improvised that, that's not in the script. Oh my gosh. I watched this and I feel like I have had these conversations. Yes. A hundred percent. And I love the line when she's like, why can't you just be in art school with me?

Cause she's trying so hard to tell him the story. And you know, this is the beginning of this storyline with Jim and Pam, where we're going to show that this distance has gone on for a while, and maybe they're not connecting as easily as they used to. You know, long distance relationships are hard. And particularly when the people involved in your new life, the other person doesn't know. And it's kind of hard to keep track. Oh, yes. I mean, we experience this all the time when we go on locations.

Or I remember Lee went on location to shoot a movie and he was directing a film. And he's trying to tell me this hilarious story about some prop mishap that happened and everyone was laughing about these prop glasses. And I'm just like, I don't know who any of these people are. And what's really hard about it is that I like to be able to imagine the people or where they are. And we've talked about this when we get to a new place, we're like, send me a video of where you are so that when I'm talking to you, I know what your little apartment looks like, or I know what your room looks like.

Yeah, I have to have that. Otherwise, I'm a little unsettled because I can't picture where you are. Yes. So I feel like that's what Pam and Jim are up against right now. Yeah, he doesn't know her world. And it's some of that location situation kind of stuff. I love the next scene. I love it so much.

Angela is preparing this poster board full of baby photos because they're going to play a game where you have to guess which baby photo belongs to which employee and Andy comes in and he mistakes Phyllis's baby photo for Angela. Will you please tell me about shooting this scene, Angela? Well, one of the reasons I storm off is because I started to laugh. I could tell. That was me trying to get out of there before you saw me laughing on camera. So here's the thing, Greg directed this episode, right?

And he said, you guys, can you bring in your actual baby photos? And he said, if you don't have a baby photo, it could be like when you're a toddler, just can I get photos of you guys when you were little? And we did, right? We got a lot of fan mail about that. Were these actual photos of the cast? They were. Yeah.

There's three people who aren't on the poster. Me, John and Steve. Everyone else is an actual baby photo from their childhood. Including Amy Ryan, she's up there. Yes. And so was Mindy. I mean, we're all on the board. Yeah.

We're all on the board. Jenna, what did I bring in today? Do you want to share with them? You brought in your baby photo, the one that was on the board with your little hand up on your little chubby cheek. I know. I know. You guys, it's really me.

I get asked this all the time. And my mom, I called my mom and I said, Mom, we're doing the baby shower episode and it's my baby photo and I want to know everything about it. She said, Oh, I have several more of that same day where we put you in different poses. Oh, so there's more. But here's what my mom said. She took me to JCPenney's at the Acadiana shopping mall in Lafayette, Louisiana. I was around six months old. And apparently I was born with just a ton of hair and it was sort of an auburn brown. She said I had so much hair, just right out of the gate.

I had tons of hair. And so she tried to style it for the photo. I was like, mom, you gave me like a Mohawk with bangs. So yeah, she said she had tried to put a little ribbon at the top. That would have made more sense. Right. But I don't know, it fell out or something. And then they propped me up on my hand like that.

It's so funny because I remember those photo studio photo shoots. That was a thing of my childhood as well. And they would have these carpeted blocks. Yes. And you would like be pro And they would have these carpeted blocks. Yes. And you would be propped up on a little carpeted block. I'm propped up because I can't sit yet, really. Yes. Anyway, there you go.

That's my actual baby photo, you guys. Well, since mine wasn't on the board, I tell you what. I'll post mine on the Office Ladies pod so you can see me as a baby too. Yes. And I'll ask my mom if she can find any other photos from that particular photo shoot. Please. As Michael is preparing for Jan's arrival, he needs to tell Holly that he's

going to be kind of cold to her today because he needs to protect Jan's feelings. Jan's bloated feelings. Yeah, because Jan is going to come in, she's going to Jan's bloated feelings. Yeah, because Jan is gonna come in, she's gonna be so unattractive. And Holly is very attractive. And yeah, he just wants to be sensitive. So he warns her. But then Jan arrives.

She's not pregnant. She has a baby. And she looks amazing. Yeah. But she's had the baby. We had a fan question from Brittany Y, Sarah M, and many more. Who is the baby that played Astrid? I will tell you, thanks to Jamesopedia.

First of all, you know, babies are played by many babies. Sometimes there are a set of twins, like in the case of Cece. Cece was this set of twins and it in the case of Cece, Cece was this set of twins and it was the same twin girls all through the show. They were absolute sweethearts and I loved them. But sometimes, especially with a baby this little, it's like three babies, five babies, lots of babies. Oh, Phillip was several different babies and then a different toddler. Yes. So this is because there are rules

about babies working on a set. They can only work for like 20 minutes. And I think that's a good thing. Yes. Also, if you have a baby and one of them's fussy, you can swap them out for a different baby. They're all dressed the same. You go backstage and there's like six babies

in the same outfit. So Astrid was played first by a set of twins and another baby. Here's the crazy thing. The twins' names were Matthew and Joey Levinson. Crazy. Right? And they were playing Jan Levinson's baby. Yes. The other baby was Harvey Green. So her babies were the Levinson Green babies. Okay. So her babies were the Levinson Green babies. Okay.

All right. And then that was on one day. The other day we had a set of triplets playing Astrid. They were Chase, Chloe, and Juliet Purcell. So those are all the babies. We also had a fake baby. We did have a fake baby, yeah. And it's really funny because if you look at the call sheet, scene by scene, it'll say, real baby or fake baby.

Like what we're using in the scene. And they would stagger them, right? Cause the babies could only work for 20 minutes. So you'd have a scene with a real baby and then a scene with fake baby. Well, Michael walks out of the kitchen and he sees Jan with the baby. I can't imagine how he felt.

He'd been to all of his birthing classes with her and then he was sort of left out of this big moment and he confronts Jan about it. This is one of my favorite couplets of dialogue from the whole episode. Okay. It's so rich. Michael says, why didn't you call me? I could have helped. Jan said, well the birth instructor thought it wasn't a good idea for you to be there, so Michael says, oh man, him, that guy, he had no sense of humor and I proved him wrong in so many ways. And it just made me think about these classes. I wish we could have seen Michael trying to do comedy bits with like a birthing instructor. I would have loved to see that scene.

I think what Jan has done to Michael is so cruel. I know. That she didn't call him. And also in that scene, Jan is like, Michael, you don't know what I've been through. And he said, no, no, I don't. And I love Steve's delivery on that. I know.

I guess she feels bad and she lets him hold the baby, but it says the baby has to stay in the car seat. And then Michael has this very sweet talking head where he says he loves babies and he tries to pick them up and hold one every day. It just nourishes him. And then we see this really sweet montage of Michael and babies and the babies love him. They really do. Well, that's because it's Steve Carell is holding the babies. I know. I mean, not to say that they wouldn't have loved Michael, but Steve is a natural with kids. I know.

We had a fan question from Evan L and Stacey M. In the scenes where Michael is holding all the babies, were those hired actors or did the crew just go out and let people line up to have their baby held by Steve Carell. All of those babies were the children of our writers and our crew. So here is a list of the babies. At nine minutes, you have Baby on the Street. This is Emma Holland, daughter of our editor Dean Holland, and that is also Dean's wife, Tasha. At nine minutes, nine seconds, I'm calling this one Baby at the Bathroom. That baby is Theodore Grandy. The woman is Sage Grandy.

And this is the son of our writer, Charlie Grandy. At 9 minutes 15 seconds, we have Double Baby. And that is our writer, Mike Schur's wife, J.J. Philbin and their baby, William, along with our camera operator, Mike Schur's wife, J.J. Philbin and their baby William, along with our camera operator, Matt Sohn's wife, Melissa, and their baby Devin. And the final baby at 9 minutes 17 seconds, that is Avery Farrell, the daughter of our writer, Anthony Farrell. The woman was a background performer, but that's Anthony loading the stroller into the car. So we had had kind of

like a little mini baby boom on our set. All of these kids were around the same age. I texted with Dean. He said his daughter Emma is now 13 years old and she tells everybody that she's one of the babies on the office. And Angela, I know you get asked a lot about Isabel because she was right around the same age too. Yes, Isabel just had her 13th birthday. There was this baby boom and it was really fun for us to have our babies on set. And I get asked if she was in this episode and she wasn't.

And you know why? The day they filmed the scene with all the babies was my day off. Oh. And I wanted to be home with my baby, not bringing my baby to work. So I wasn't in it. And they said, don't worry, Angela.

We're going to get Isabelle in there. And they did. She ended up having a very fun day on set years later at Cece's dance recital. I can't wait. I know. Well, Michael's going to try to make the best of it, OK? He is going to present Astrid to the office.

And they're going to go into the conference room. Jenna, he does the Lion King and holds the car seat over his head. I know. I hope that was all fake baby day. That was fake baby and that was all scripted. Oh boy. Well, when we move into the conference room, Kevin is like, you know, the fact that the babies here kind of ruins the games. And Michael is like, no, it doesn't.

No, it doesn't. It kind of did. Well, you know, the theme is a baby shower and all the games are for an expecting mother. So it was really awkward. But there are a lot of scenes in this conference room baby shower that didn't make it. I'm going to share a few. The first one is Jenna, of the funniest things I have had to witness and we could not get through it. Kevin thinks he might be the sperm donor and the look on Jan's face is amazing. Sam, can you play that from the deleted scenes? Hey Jan, you went to a sperm bank? Yes, I did. I donated sperm.

Jan, you went to a sperm bank? Uh, yes. I did. I donated sperm. Oh. Ooh. Maybe I'm the father. Well, this is a highly exclusive establishment. Next to the IHOP? Well, I paid for an ideal specimen.

Are you saying Kevin is not an ideal specimen? This is a wonderful shower, everyone. Thank you. I might have done it with Jan. It's not Kevin. We could not get through it. Whenever Brian said, you mean the one by IHOP? I just, every single time, because Melora's reaction as Jan was so good. And then, you

know, she says she paid for premium sperm, which we learned might've been Andierodic's. I love there are so many deleted scenes about who the father of Jan's baby is. We've got Andierodic, maybe Kevin. There's a lot of speculation that it's Hunter. Yes. And none of these scenes actually made it into the episodes. So what do you think about that? Do you think like if something didn't make it in,

it counts or does it not count if it doesn't make it in the episode? So yeah, what is the canon, right? Yes, exactly. What is the canon of, exactly. Well, I guess it would have to be what aired, right? So then that would mean it's just a mystery. It's a mystery. She paid top dollar for it though. That's what we know. Yeah, that's all we know and all we'll ever truly know. And I think the one thing we also know is that it's not Michael's because he had to wear two condoms. We know that. Yeah, we know whose baby it's not. That's right. I got this cool letter from Kristen B.

She has a background catch and she said, The first time I watched this episode after having my son, I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw the pink donut pillow on Jan's chair at the baby shower. I had never noticed it prior to giving birth, but after I got one at the hospital myself, I just have to say this is amazing and 10-10 for attention to detail. That is a great background catch. I noticed it as well. I loved that detail. I did too. I don't know if you guys also noticed behind Jan's chair, there's a little table and on the table is a big bird stuffed animal. There is a deleted scene where Michael tells

Phyllis he wants storks. She said she couldn't get storks and he's like, look, I barely got Jan to even come today. This needs to be a big party. If you can't get a stork, I at least want big bird. And the best Phyllis could do is she got a big bird stuffed animal. least want Big Bird and the best Phyllis could do is she got a Big Bird stuffed animal. Wow. Yeah. Oh, that is so great. Well, the group gives Jan her gift. It's a stroller. I think this is a very nice gift. It's a very nice gift because it's a big ticket item, but she's already got a stroller. She has an orbit. That Oscar tells us costs $1,200. Yeah.

Hmm. Dwight is curious. He's like, I need to see how good this stroller really is. Yeah, he said his whole bomb shelter bunker thing that he built didn't even cost that much. And he needs to see what the stroller is made of, if it's going to cost that much. So yeah, he wheels the stroller out,

and then Jan is going to sing to the baby. Oh, Jenna. How did you get through this? How did you get through it? It was like bite the inside of your cheek, don't make eye contact with anyone, and also at the same time, in total awe of Melora. Yes, who has an amazing singing voice and performs as a singer,

guys. Yes, she has albums. Yes, she's an amazing singer. She just owned this moment so wholeheartedly. There is a scene, Jenna, that was in the script that we shot. I remember shooting it because the timing and everything in it was amazing. So Jan is singing, Son of a Preacher Man. She's belting it out. And Ryan comes in urgently to tell her something. She won't stop singing. And I printed out the script. Here, Jenna, just read right here.

Okay, so I'm gonna be Ryan. Yeah. Okay. And you guys forgive my singing. I'm not a singer, okay? Okay. Was the son of a preacher man? Yes, he was.

Hey, Jan. He was. Jan. Yes, he was. You parked in the handicap spot. Keys are in my purse. I'll just, I'll take them. Did I do good? You did great. Sorry to make you guys suffer through my singing. Melora was amazing. She never missed a beat. She sang where her keys were. It was amazing. I did a mini deep dive on Son of a Preacher Man. Did you really? Yes. I think we should take a break and when we come back, I'll tell you what I found. Okay.

All right. We are back and I'm going to start us off with a fan question from Yvette M and Alexandra S. Why was the song, Son of a Preacher Man, chosen for Jan to sing to her baby? I asked Aaron who picked the song and Aaron said he isn't sure if Mindy picked it per se, but she was pushing it. He said, I don't remember how exactly it came up in the writer's room, but the minute it was out there, Mindy was like, that's got to be it. That has got to be it. So I think we have Mindy to thank

for that. I got curious about the song, so I did a little deep dive on it. Son of a Preacher Man was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. It was recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1968 and her version is most popular. It's been covered many times by many artists. Here's what I found interesting. Apparently the rights to record the song were originally offered to Aretha Franklin. She was the daughter of a preacher, and the rumor

is that she turned it down because she worried that maybe it might be a little disrespectful. But she changed her mind. Oh! And she recorded a cover version of the song just one year later in 1969 for her album Soul Sister. I had to hear it. Sam, will isn't it? She always gives me chills. Dolly Parton also did a cover in 1996 for her album Treasures, and it is also a gem. Do you want to hear that one? Yes! I mean, I can listen to these women sing anything. They're legends, legends in our podcast today.

Do we need to hear Dusty's? I think we need to hear Dusty's. I mean, we have to hear Dusty's. It's Son of a Preacher Man Day today. I mean, I just want to hear all of them. I feel so embarrassed that I even attempted to sing it at all to recreate the scene with Ryan. I am so sorry. Ah!

Billy Ray was a preacher's son. And when his daddy would visit, he'd come along. When they gathered round and started talking, That's when Billy would take me a-walkin'. Here's what I have to say. Kudos to John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, because when you write a song that can be sung by all of these different people with their different spins on it and their different arrangements... And it still knocks your socks off every time. You have written a good song. Yep. One last thing I want to say about Son of a Preacher Man is that when Melora sang it, she improvised the snapping.

And you know what? It about got me on the floor. We were so trying to suppress laughter that one more thing was like the tipping point, you know? Yes. And so as she's swaying and singing, when she just starts doing that snap, I was like, oh Lord, I'm not going to make it. I am not going to make it.

There are really great scripted talking heads of people reacting to it. And Stanley had a great one where he was like, I used to like that song. Well, Jim is going to try to describe it to Pam. She's at the laundromat and she can't hear anything he's saying. Why couldn't she just walk away from the machines, Jenna? You know what? Megan P would like to know the answer to that question as well.

Megan, it's the first thing I thought. She hasn't talked to him all day. She finally has free time. Walk away from the machine. I'll tell you two things. Number one, right before this phone call, there was a bit of the scene that got clipped. Pam is with her friend at the laundromat, and they are together and they're talking about a class assignment, and she says, oh, just one second, I'm going to take this call. So maybe she felt like she couldn't walk away. But also in the script, there is a version where she does walk away from the machines. And the problem is not that the machines are loud. The problem is simply that Pam is not

understanding what's so bad about Jan singing to her baby. So it's another kind of like... Miscommunication. Like you had to be there kind of things. But they kept the loud laundry machine version in. I'll have you know location alert, the laundromat was Launderland on Sherman Way in North Hollywood, California. I like to throw these out there because there are these office tours where people go around and look at our locations. And so I thought, I don't know if you want to see where Pam did her laundry. That's where. Okay.

So Pam has this talking head at the laundromat where she says that she's not frustrated. You know, they have these kind of days where they don't connect even when they're together and scranton. And then she discovers that she washed her lipstick and it got all over her green towel. You know, I recently washed Lee's wallet and car key. I remember this. You called me and you're like, I washed the keys to the car, his whole entire wallet. Whole wallet. Whole wallet. And now he couldn't find his wallet for days. He was like, where's my wallet? I can't find

my wallet. It was in the laundry basket. It was in his pocket in the laundry basket. And I didn't check the pockets. I threw in the laundry. I found it in the dryer. It went through a full wash cycle, a full dryer cycle. I said, babe, I found your wallet. Wait, did the credit cards, did it all get melted?

Did he have to get everything new? Lady, his vaccination card was in his wallet. Oh no. All of his credit cards. He was like, oh my God, the vaccination card made it. It was a little frayed at the top. He went out, he bought some gas and the credit cards worked. Well, how about that?

So I don't know. I guess you didn't have it on high heat. No, I did dry on low. And the car key still works because it's one of those little like, quirk quirk, quirk quirk. No, I did dry on low. And the car key still works, because it's one of those little like, brr-brr, brr-brr. Yeah, it still works. While all of the singing is going on,

Dwight decides he's gonna put the stroller to the ultimate test. Yes, we had a fan question from Beth E, Rachel R, Amy F, and Julie G. How many of those strollers did you use for the scenes where Dwight tests its durability? This is why I was on the phone with Phil Shea for an hour yesterday. Well how many did they use? I'll tell you, it started with Phil Shea

doing a ton of research to find the perfect stroller for this episode. He said he and Greg had a long talk about how Jan was the kind of person who would have to have the fanciest stroller. In the script, it's written that the stroller is indestructible and he wanted to find something that would even look out of place in Scranton. So he went on a search for an indestructible luxury stroller and he found out about the Orbit baby stroller, which was kind of a startup stroller at the time. It launched in September of 2006, so just two years before this episode. It was invented by two dads, Brian White and Joseph High. I think it's High. Joseph, I'm sorry if I got that

wrong. And they made it because Brian had just become a dad. And he said that his back really hurt whenever he was trying to get the baby in and out of the car seat in the car. So in his garage, they made a wooden prototype. They studied all kinds of things, but they also sought to use green materials. I like these fellas. Yeah, and this car seat was cool because Phil said it looked kind of weird, but it also rotates 360 degrees. So Phil was like, it was so cool. Like if you want to get your baby out of the car and not remove the car seat, you can swivel it and then you can get your baby out of the car really easy. Well, Jenna, you know Phil Shea had a few extra orbits left over and I was a new mom on set and he always was looking out for us and he said,

Ange, do you want one of these orbit strollers? They're pretty amazing. And I said, yeah. And that was my favorite thing about it too, what you just said. You could pivot and it would lock into place. So if you swiveled it, it could face left, right, front, back, and it would lock into place. Not only was it great when you got your baby out of the car seat, what I loved is you could attach it to the stroller. And let's say you're on a walk and the sun is kind of beating down and you don't want

to put the little flap over your baby because your baby wants to be able to see where you're going, you could just pivot so then the baby could look at everything on the right side of the street or everything on the left side or look at you. It was so great. I love that Phil gave you a stroller and that he gave you a chair from Workbus. I know. Do you have any more things? I'm sure I do. Maybe your memory will be jogged as we go along. As we go through the episodes. Do you have any more things? I'm sure I do.

Maybe your memory will be jogged as we go along. As we go through the episodes. Well, Phil said that he called Brian on the phone, and he was like, listen, I've researched your stroller, and I want to put it on the television show, The Office. And he told him the storyline, and Brian agreed to send us 10 strollers. And then Brian flew out and watched the taping.

Phil also said the stroller really was indestructible. He's not kidding. There are so many deleted scenes of Rain as Dwight doing things to that stroller. Oh yeah. And the stroller just keeps on trekking. There's way more. Phil told me that one of his favorite things to do was to reach out to these smaller companies that

didn't normally do national advertising and feature their products on the show or collaborate with them. And he said, another one of the reasons that you saw all of the local foods or the local sodas on The Office was because one of our characters is eating like Lay's potato chips. That could be a conflict with maybe another big national potato chip brand that would

have a national commercial running during our show, so we weren't allowed. So his choice was he could tape over Lay's or create a fakey bag. Fakey chip bag. Right. He said, but what he liked to do was feature products, local products like a Hearst chip. A smaller company. That is not going to be in competition for these national spots. And that's another way that he focused in on the orbit. He would try to find these companies that could be approved.

Well, I love that because you you know we love supporting small business. Yeah, well the Orbit stroller is still available and it is now a big business. I saw online you can get one at Nordstrom. Well, Gianna's done singing, she's pooped out. I mean, all that singing is gonna tire you out. Yeah, she wants to take a nap. She gives the baby to Michael.

And she says, when I wake up, I wanna talk to you about Astrid And she says, when I wake up, I want to talk to you about Astrid's 529, which I looked up. It's like a savings plan for college. Yeah. So what Michael has to go to all the birthing classes, but he doesn't get to be there for the birth of the baby. And now he's going to contribute to the college fund. That's what it sounds like. Jan needs to go bye bye. I agree. Well, Michael only holds the baby for a short time. He's not feeling

that connection and he gives the baby to Phyllis. Yeah. First, Michael has to go to the warehouse. He needs some advice from Darryl. We had a fan question from Ethan B. Did Steve improvise the moment when he asks if he can hold Darryl. They get on this runner where Daryl's like, do you want to hold this? Do you want to hold that and see if you have a connection? Do you want to hold me? No, you guys, that was in the script. That whole scene was scripted just like that. Well, Jan is still sleeping in the deleted scenes. She's like snoring and everyone's looking at her. She's covered herself with the plastic tablecloth from the shower and she wakes up and has a pretty amazing exchange with Holly.

Where she realizes what we have realized, which is that Holly has a little bit of Michael Scott in her. Yeah. She's making some real Michael Scott jokes here. Yeah. And Jana's like, oh, I get it, funny. But Astrid is now with Angela and Andy. I love the scene so much. Angela, please tell me everything about putting all these vegetables on this baby. All right, they had the table completely laid out. They had it all staged. They had the mom with the baby in the wings

standing right there. And literally right before action, the mom put the baby down. And then I just put that big giant fake piece of lettuce on the baby. It was really hard for me because I was a new mom and I was just like, okay, I just want to do this so fast. I want to do the scene so quickly. And then it was so hard for me as a mom to not really connect with the baby at all. And just say like, I needed to look up here.

Make it look up here. Yes. But it's such a window into Angela. You know, she was a pageant baby. She dresses up her cats. Yes. I feel like her kids are going to be dressed up a lot for all kinds of photos. And Andy is on board.

I always imagined that Angela dressed Philip in like the little knee socks and shorts and suspenders with the little Peter Pan collar that you always see little Prince George wearing. That's how I imagined Philip dresses. Oh yeah. And I also imagined that Angela had like a little sailor suit for him. For sure. With a sailor hat. A hundred percent. All of that.

Yes. Jan comes in as Andy and Angela are having their Ann Getty's moment creating this baby salad photo and she is not happy. No, she's irritated and she wants to go. She's done. She's done. She finds Michael in the kitchen and she's ready to go and Michael insults Holly again. I guess we've failed to mention

that throughout this whole episode, every time Michael, Holly and Jan are together, Michael just keeps insulting her. When Holly was gonna go into the conference room, he's like, ugh, HR. Now he says she smells like rotten tomatoes. And dirt. And dirt.

She smells like tomatoes and dirt. Yeah. And you know what smells like tomatoes and dirt. Yeah. And you know what? Jan sees all of it. Jan knows what Michael's doing. And he walks her out to the car. And as she's putting the baby in the car seat, she turns around. She's like, there is one more thing you could do for me.

And he's like, what? And she says, don't date Holly. Yeah. And he's like, why would I hate her? Why would I? You know, and he clearly likes her. Yeah. And he's like, why would I hate her? Why would I, you know, and he clearly likes her. Yeah. Jan leaves.

She leaves the stroller that was gifted to her. I know. So tacky. So tacky. Tacky Jan. What was the point of the baby shower? That she could get a nap and maybe get some money out of Michael for a college fund.

That's what it was. Yeah. Well, Michael is going to go upstairs. And he finds Holly, and she says, are you going to still be mean to me? And he just gives her a hug. It's the warmest, most intimate hug. It's so intimate.

Amy Ryan is so great. Her eyes just fill with tears. And then Michael has this talking head where he says he didn't feel much when he held Astrid, but he got a good feeling when he held Holly. He asked her out on a date. A real official date. She says yes. She sure does. So we're ending with a little love connection there. But now Jim and Pam are both trying to call each other at the same time and they miss each other. They both go to voicemail at the same time. And I remember Greg talking to me about this scene. I just loved this idea that we're going to hear each side of their voicemail message and you're going to see they

really are connected. They both recall this same story about the time that, you know, some man came into the laundromat and Jim had to save Pam and then they bought a washer dryer. They're recalling this same event and at the end they both say, I guess this was just one of those days. I miss you. I wish you were home. Yeah. Aaron shared with me that he was just so curious how this scene would turn out because you guys filmed it in two different locations. You didn't have the other person there.

No, I couldn't hear John. It was like I was really leaving a message. Yeah. And so you guys were just in this vacuum separate. And then in editing, they were going in this vacuum separate and then in editing they were going to find the moment and create it and he just sort of marveled at how the whole thing came together and just so perfectly. Yes, well I had to really imagine in my head as an actor that I was just leaving a message so in the script I could see how our dialogue was gonna alternate and sync up. But I put that out of my mind and I just did my half

without thinking of John's lines in my head at all. And we filmed it like a monologue. Yeah, well, I loved it. I thought it was really sweet. And it also made me a little sad because you can tell the distance is starting to take a toll. Yeah.

Well, that ends the episode, but Angela, I just realized I skipped a fan question. Okay. And I don't want to leave Evan L hanging. Okay, Evan. Evan wrote in to say, at 17 minutes 30 seconds, was that really rain driving around with the stroller tied to the back of the car or was that a stunt driver? Well, we had a stunt driver. His name was Sean Crowder. We also had a stunt coordinator named Wally Crowder. And so Sean did the driving parts. Now you know, there were some shots of rain inside the car, but the other stuff that was a stunt driver.

Yes, we would often do the driving that was just sort of like where you pull up and stop. But then if there was like aggressive driving, that's when the stunt driver would take over. Well, I loved this episode. I thought it was so good and layered with so much heartfelt stuff. And before we say goodbye, I have a little bit of trivia for you.

Okay. According to babycenter.com, here are the top girl and boy names in 2008. Oh, from when we did this episode. That's right. Any guesses for the girl? Emma. Yes!

Ah! You got it! I was thinking maybe because of the friends baby. Yes, Rachel had Emma. Really put that name on the map. Guess what the boy name was. I guessed Emma for the girl, like you, but I did not. Guess what the boy name was. I guessed Emma for the girl like you, but I did not guess right for the boy name.

Liam. Aiden. Aiden. Aiden was the top boy name. Was that from Sex and the City? I don't know. I guessed Jack. Okay.

He was in the top five, but Aiden and Emma. Well, there it is. You've learned some new baby showers, Aiden and Emma. Well, there it is. You've learned some new baby showers, the Sip and See, M&Ms are still printing names. Yeah, and the Orbit Stroller's actually really good. And Emma and Aiden, 2008 babies, where are you now? I would love it if an Emma and Aiden got married. Oh, well that was Baby Shower.

We'll see you next week. Bye, you guys. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwool, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Cody Fischer. Our producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kiefer. And our associate producer is Ainsley Bubako.

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.