Office Ladies - Dinner Party Horror Stories

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, the ladies talk more about the fan favorite episode “Dinner Party” and share some dinner party horror stories of their own and from Office Ladies listeners. Jenna��s story involves uncommunicative late guests and Angela’s revolves around a game of Taboo. The ladies also share a recent dinner party gone great. This is a fun episode and there’s no need to fire up that $200 Plasma TV or wait on Jan’s osso bucco.  Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spring is here and you can now get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? You can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parmesan delivered. Sunshine? No. Some wine? Yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. See after details. Why do fintechs like Float choose Visa?

As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale expertise and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. 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 lovers podcast just for you. Each week we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details,

and lots of VFF stories. We're the Office Ladies 6.0. Hello. Hello. Welcome to Office Ladies 6.0. Today's show is so fun. It is all about dinner parties gone wrong, inspired by one of our favorite The Office episodes,

The Dinner Party. I mean, so many of you love this classic episode. We love this episode. It's maybe my favorite. I know. I love it. It's definitely top five for me. And, you know, we thought it would be fun to hear from you guys

about your dinner party stories. And boy, did you deliver. Oh, yes. You all wrote in with some unbelievably cringy dinner party stories. I can't wait to share them. But first, I want us to share about an amazing dinner party that we were just at recently that I'm still delighted by.

It was one of those dinner parties where it was a humongous, huge table, like a giant, long rectangle of just such fun people. There were probably what? Like, it was 26 of us at a restaurant. We got a little private room. And it was to celebrate the wrap of Lee's movie New Year's Rev. Yeah. The cast was there. A bunch of the producers were there. the wrap of Lee's movie, New Year's Rev.

Yeah, the cast was there, a bunch of the producers were there, some of the crew. Yeah, so we had just finished shooting at the Palladium with Green Day and we all go out to dinner and Angela, you came up for it and Bobby Lee was there and the two of you took over this dinner party. It was amazing. Here's the thing.

Here's the thing. We sat right in the middle of this long table, and you and Lee were right across from us, and Bobby and I kind of split the table. To his right were all the actors, and to the left were a lot of the crew and producers. Yeah. And him and I were chatting and chatting and chatting and we would sort of engage with the

actors. And then I said to him, I kind of feel bad that we're not talking to anyone on the left side of the table. And he sort of threw down this gauntlet. He was like, oh, no, no, no. He goes, you can't get in there. Look, they're all talking to each other. They don't want to talk to you. You can't get in there. Good luck getting in that conversation. And I said, oh, yeah. And he was like, yeah, I dare you try to get in that conversation. And so I immediately stood up and I took like my fork to my wine glass and went clink, clink, clink, clink.

You guys, she stood up and did the thing where you're gonna do a toast. Like at a wedding. It was so funny, the whole room goes silent. Silent. And I'm thinking, what is she doing? And you, it was so funny, Angela. Angela goes, everyone, I worked three days on this film. And so it seems only fitting that I should speak,

that I should give a toast. And it was so funny. And you gave a very funny toast, a very sweet toast as well. I did. I basically was like, this was such a wonderful project to be a part of. Lee, you did such an amazing job, like just setting the tone for this creative experience. And so when I sat down, the group to the left looks at me and goes, oh, and one of the producers was like, thank you so much for saying that. And look, I am in now with the left side of the table. And I look over at Bobby like, uh-huh. And he goes, damn it.

And he pops up and he does a clink, clink, clink. And then he goes, I have a toast and I'm gonna say it in Korean. Yes. And then we were all like, oh. And he does his toast and he sits down. And then Angela. I immediately popped back up and I go, click, click, click.

And I said, I lived in Indonesia for 12 years from ages two to 14, and I am now gonna give a toast in Indonesian. Everyone was like, wah! It was so great. And then Ignacio, one of the actors stands up, he gives a speech in Spanish. And then the production designer, Adam stands up.

He gives a speech in Italian. Guys, all I can say was this dueling speeches was one of the highlights of the dinner. Angela kicked it all off. It was just such a fun night. It was really fun. Well, that is an example of an amazing dinner party. That was fun.

And there's nothing more fun than an amazing dinner party, which I think is why when a dinner party goes wrong, there's nothing worse. Because you're just all stuck in it. You're in it. So stuck. So let me now set the tone for today, which is dinner party horror stories, with a little refresher. The last time we talked to you all about the dinner party episode on Office Ladies, it

was in March of 2021. And it really is a fantastic breakdown. We have audio clips from Paul Fiegg and John Krasinski. We got behind the scenes details from writers Jean Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg and Steve Carell even read us the summary. I know. I wanna hear it.

Yeah, me too. You are cordially invited to Michael and Jan's condo for a last minute couples only dinner party. Attendance is limited. We only have six wine glasses. Join Jim and Pam, Angela and Andy, and eventually Dwight and his former babysitter for an evening of drinks, games, music, candles,

hosobuko, and a home tour like no other. and his former babysitter for an evening of drinks, games, music, candles, osso buco, and a home tour like no other. Snip, snap, snip, snap. Let's get to it. I just love it. I know. You know, I went back and we both rewatched this episode. And you know, the dinner party,

it's just really a perfect combination of cringe plus comedy. And when it was originally released in 2008, I wanted to read you guys what the AV Club had to say about it. Ready? Quote, Oh, the agony! The sweet, sweet comic agony!

For me, the best episode of The Office, in both its British and American incarnation, are also the most excruciatingly uncomfortable. On that level, tonight's episode ranks alongside the deposition for sheer squirm-inducing awkwardness. It helps that the show chose a can't-miss premise for its triumphant return to the airwaves. After weeks and weeks of politely and not-so-politely turning down Michael's dinner party invitations, Jim reluctantly acquiesces to spending a sure-to-be painful evening with Michael, Jan, Andy, Angela, and Pam. Tonight's episode honed in on that excruciating evening in the deepest depths of relationship

hell with surgical focus. There were no subplots, no random bits of extraneous business to detract from the central gusher of mundane misery. Just pure comic despair from start to finish." I love the phrase, comic despair. I know. Ah, that is great. Well, you know, the idea of making art out of disastrous dinner parties is nothing new.

We got a fan letter from Kristen R. in Buffalo, New York, who said, there's an episode of Cheers called Dinner at Aedish where Frazier and Lilith have Sam and Diane over for dinner and their awkward couple fights ensue. Okay, I was a huge Cheers fan growing up. Oh yeah. I did not remember this episode, so I had to go back and watch. Oh, it's so fun. Oh, I want to see it. So, Frazier and Lilith are a couple now, but you know Frazier and Diane used to be a couple.

Oh yeah. Okay, they bring Sam and Diane over to their place to host them for this dinner party, and they start bragging that they have total honesty in their relationship. They've told one another about every single person they've ever dated. And of course, Sam is like, that doesn't seem like a good idea.

And Diane is like, oh yeah, that's interesting. But then she's like, oh, but I think it's just wonderful. I think it's wonderful that the four of us could be here, even though I was once engaged to Frasier. And this is now news to Lilith. Uh-oh. And so it just sets off, as you can imagine, Lilith just keeps storming into the bathroom.

It's so great. But it made me think of some other dinner parties with amazing, what did the article say? Comic despair from start to finish. And I'm gonna name three of my faves. The opening dinner party for Fleabag season two. Oh my gosh. I don't think a dinner party could go worse than that one.

Amazing. I mean, next to this one. Exactly. You know that movie The Breakup with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston? Remember, he doesn't buy all the lemons for the bowl. Right. For the dinner party. Yes. And then the dinner party is not great. and Jennifer Aniston. Remember, he doesn't buy all the lemons for the bowl for the dinner party. And then the dinner party is not great

and this is what leads to their breakup. Oh yeah. And finally meet the parents. Is that the one where he says he milked the cat? Oh my gosh. When he has lied and said he grew up on the farm. Yes, uh-huh, yeah. And of course there is probably the prize

for the ultimate worst dinner party, the Edward Albee play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We got a letter about it from JoLynn Y. in Cleveland, who said, I don't have a dinner party story, but if you're revisiting this episode, can you please discuss the similarities between this and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This is my favorite episode, and when it discuss the similarities between this and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid

of Virginia Woolf? This is my favorite episode, and when it aired, I immediately thought it must have been inspired by that play. Was it? Well, JoLynn, when we broke down the dinner party episode originally, writer Gene Stupnitsky said that the play was a big inspiration, and writer Lee Eisenberg shared that in fact the original title for the episode was Who's Afraid of Jan Levinson Gould. I mean, that's a great title.

I would have watched it. I mean, I did watch it. Well, let's take a break, and when we come back, we have fan favorite moments from Dinner Party, plus we share our personal dinner party horror stories and yours. I can't wait. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. I just had a visit with my mom and I was kind of thinking about all the ways that she has

really informed my life as an adult. And one of the things that I really admire about her is that she was always willing to ask for help when she needed it. For advocating for herself. Yeah. Well, you know, mental health awareness is growing now, but there's still progress to be made. Twenty-six percent of Americans who participated in a recent survey say they have avoided

seeking mental health support due to fear of judgment. Well this Mental Health Awareness Month, let's encourage everyone to take care of their well-being and break the stigma. BetterHelp is fully online. It's making therapy affordable and convenient, serving over 5 million people worldwide. And you can easily switch therapists anytime at no cost. We're all better with help. Visit betterhelp.com slash office ladies today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash office ladies. We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight. Rockies vacation here we come. Whoa is this economy? Free beer, wine, and snacks.

Sweet! Fast free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land. And with live TV, I'm not missing the game. It's kind of like I'm already on vacation. Nice! On behalf of Air Canada, nice travels. Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equip flight. Sponsored by Bell Conditions Supply, sieracanada.com.

All right, we are back. And Jenna, I watched the super fan version of Dinner Party. Me too. It's so good. So I didn't feel like there were any new scenes, but there were expanded scenes. That's exactly right. So if there was like a moment that was a little bit longer

that they didn't have time for, they let it play out. Oh, there's one, my favorite, because I remember shooting it, is the expanded tour of Jam's candle room. Yes. There's so much more about her candles that we had to listen to, and it's so funny. And also, just it meant that Jim was in agony of the smells longer and trying to hold his breath.

There's also a moment between Dwight and Angela that's extended as they say goodbye. So good. So if you love dinner party and you always wanted a little bit extra, I would check it out. I just want to say once again, we are not sponsored by Peacock or the Superfan episodes. No.

But if you want to sponsor us. We are available because we are enthusiastic about these episodes. Exactly, exactly. Give us a call. Yeah, ringy dingy. All right, well, let's go into this mailbag. I have, oh my gosh,

this one really cracked me up, lady. I want to read it. Okay. Okay. This is from Shannon B in Virginia. Shannon says, quote, my husband and I were invited to another couple's house for dinner. They served chicken legs with no sides, then proceeded to get drunk while the husband accused the wife of having a crush on her co-worker. As if things weren't awkward enough, they decided to call the co-worker in question and talk to him on speaker in front of all of us. To the surprise of no one, they are no longer together. OMG! They called the co-worker at the dinner party on speakerphone.

I mean, that's insane, but my favorite part of this letter is the dinner. The chicken legs. With no sides. No sides. What is this meal? I don't know. Oh, Shannon, that made me laugh. Well, lack of food was a common theme in your dinner party horror stories. Liz K. from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania said, We were invited over for a cookout and they had no ketchup.

Hmm. And thought nothing wrong with this. And they only served three hot dogs and two burgers and one steak for five adults. What? How do you divide up that food? I know. How do you divide up? Like, what if everyone wanted a hot dog? I guess you could cut them in half. Everyone could get half a hot dog. With no ketchup. And some steak and two burgers. Again, no sides.

No sides. We also got a fan story from Emily R. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who said, When I was a kid, my parents hauled my sister and I to a neighbor's dinner party. We arrived around five, thinking we'd be eating at six. We learned we'd be having ribs for dinner, but they were behind schedule and we didn't eat until almost 9 p.m. Oh my gosh. What does that remind you of? Jan's Osabuco. When dinner was served, they had enough for two ribs per person. My sister

and I quickly ate our portion and then sat in hangry moods. No sides! No sides again. The brother of the host then stood up, walked around the table, collecting everyone's rib bones off their plates and proceeded to suck the already eaten off of rib bones to get every last morsel. We had never met this man in our life. I can't eat ribs anymore. I'm so disgusted by this memory." He got everyone's ribs? What? I don't know.

And sat there and sucked on them? You know, Angela, one of my big fears when I'm throwing a dinner party is that I'm not going to have enough food. And I cannot tell you how many times I have planned the food and then like in the last hour before the party is supposed to start, I send Lee to the store to buy more food. And I panic and then I end up with way too much food at the end. Have you ever done this? I mean, I think we always do this.

I think we're always worried. You know where I go overboard is like the munchies before the dinner. Like Josh is always like, babe, stop. Cause I'm like, okay, I have mixed nuts. I have hummus. I have a cheese plate. I have some salami.

I have a dip. I have three more dips. Oh, maybe we should have something sweet. He's like, stop with the munchies. Well, something I know about going to a party at your house is that I am going to arrive to food. So you are very good at having out that pre-dinner moment. Oh, no, yeah, no.

I want food the minute I walk in your house. So if you invite me over, if you don't have food out right away, I'm going to have a granola bar in my bag. Are you Pam? I'm Pam. I don't care what they out right away, I'm going to have a granola bar in my bag. Are you Pam? I'm Pam. I don't care what they think about me. I just want to eat. All right. We've got this other letter from Hannah in Oregon. Hannah wrote in and said, A few years ago, I went to a Hanukkah party where I met my partner's coworker, who was the host for the first time. The host was cooking glazed carrots before the meal started. I was

standing in the kitchen chatting with them when out of nowhere they pulled a carrot out of the cooking pot with their bare fingers and bit it in half. But instead of eating the second half of the carrot, I watched in horror as they put the half-eaten carrot back in the pot. No. And Hannah's like, were they trying to check for doneness? I mean, what the heck? Then, then Hannah says, after they put the half-eaten carrot back in the pot, they licked their fingers.

No. I stood there frozen trying to process what just happened, but before I could form a complete thought, the host did it again. Oh my gosh. With a new carrot. what just happened. But before I could form a complete thought, the host did it again. Oh my gosh. With a new carrot. They stuck their pre-licked fingers back in the pot, grabbed a new carrot, bit it in half,

and then dropped the remaining half of the carrot back in the pot and stirred it all together. Hannah says, I immediately made an excuse to step out. I found my partner and frantically whispered, don't eat the carrots. I want to know that car ride home. I found my partner and frantically whispered, don't eat the carrots. I want to know that car ride home. I need to know. I know. Hannah says, needless to say, we did not eat the carrots. We left before nine and we did not go back the next year for many other

reasons. And lady, this made me think of the moment in Dinner Party when Michael comes back from the bathroom and Jan asks if he washed his hands. Yes. And he says yes, but then he whispers to Jim and Pam no. Then he like touches everything on the appetizer plate. I mean, I know I just described it, but it's a little longer than the super fan episode. Let's hear it. Did you wash your hands, babe?

Yes, I did for you, princess, even though I only went number one. Yeah. I didn't really wash my hands. Oh, whatever we hear. This looks delicious. Your hands. They need to be presented royally.

Anyone? There you go. Good stuff. Yeah, Pam goes, not the hands. Lady, he didn't wash his hands after going number one. Did it make you think of anyone? I'm sorry, men touch their Mr. Parts. You don't touch your ladybiz. No. Listen, men like handle their penis when they pee, right?

Don't they have to touch it and get it out? I'm assuming they have to flop it out. I don't know how... Yes. Thank you. I mean, I don't know exactly how it works. I don't know the mechanics. But I think if your hand has touched your bits, you should wash them.

Right, because then basically he just touched the appetizers with penis hand. Yes. Yes, yes. Right. Okay. Also, also I can't believe I still have to defend this. I have said that sometimes after going number one in my own house, I do not wash my hands. I know, you know what? If I'm at someone else's house, if I am in public,

if I'm at the airport, if I'm hosting a dinner party, I wash my hands everybody. Do you know? Okay. Do you know, I saw a thing that was like, I don't know if it was on, I forget where, Buzzfeed, one of those kinds of things that said like, 10 celebrities with gross hygiene happens.

Oh my God. And you were on the list. Am I on the list? Because of the pee story. Oh my God, oh my God. I don't know, it makes me wanna get genuinely list? Because of the pee story. Oh my God. Oh my God. I don't know. It makes me want to get genuinely in love back in the news cycle.

I don't know what's worse. Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. I'm just thankful that Ellie Kemper wrote in her book that she also does not always wash her hands after number one. In her own home when she's not hosting. Is it a St. Louis thing? Oh Lord.

Don't bring St. Louis into it. St. Louis is like, don't you dare. You're gonna get mail. All right, well, I have a fan story from Stephanie M. in Saskatchewan, Canada. And this letter, Stephanie, reminded me of my own dinner party horror story that I will share in a moment.

But here is Stephanie's story. reminded me of my own dinner party horror story that I will share in a moment, but here is Stephanie's story. Stephanie says, This happened more than 10 years ago and I'm still baffled by the whole thing. My boyfriend's best friend was getting married, and rather than having a giant event, the couple opted for a close friends and family event only, with dinner to be hosted at their house. Because my boyfriend was in the bridal party,

I was not invited to the ceremony, but I was invited to the dinner. So I guess the ceremony was just literally family and bridal party, and then the dinner was a bigger thing. I asked my boyfriend what time should I arrive at the house for dinner, and I was told 530. Great. Stephanie said, no problem. I can do that. I like how Stephanie is not even bumped by not being invited to the wedding. Yeah, she's like, listen, this is his close friends. I don't really know them. It's okay. You do you. Just tell me when to be there

and where. At the bigger celebration. Yes. Stephanie says I arrived to the house at 520 with a bottle of champagne and the wedding gift to discover that everyone was already seated at the table waiting for me. Uh oh. I was mortified. The bride told me it was nice of me to show up

and showed me where to sit. Snark. I figured it was my mistake and I apologized for being late until my boyfriend confirmed that he had been told 5.30 and the bride changed her mind to 5 o'clock at 5 o'clock." Is she being like a little sabotagey? Does she not like Stephanie?

I don't know. Stephanie says, So we're moving on with dinner and everything's going fine. And then at eight o'clock, the bride decides she's done and going to bed. At eight o'clock? At eight o'clock. At eight o'clock. The guests were surprised and started cleaning up and getting ready to leave.

The bride went around the table hugging everyone and saying good night. And since she had always hugged me every time we saw each other, I offered her a congratulations and a hug. She rolled her eyes and said, I mean, I guess if you want a hug. What?

Stephanie said we left shortly after. It was by far the most bizarre dinner and wedding dinner I've ever experienced. Stephanie, I have questions about this bride. I feel like she has a vendetta or something. She's got her bullseye on you. Was this bride pregnant? Or? Because I just feel like if you're doing a small wedding...

You're going to bed at eight. Going to bed at eight, you're a small wedding, you're going to bed at eight. Going to bed at eight, you're a little cranky. You wanna eat at five. You're annoyed. Or is it possible that the bride maybe had at one time had a thing for Stephanie's bow? Wow. Just saying.

Don't know. We don't know. We don't know. If we had been invited, we could have mom detected at the moment. We would have asked questions. I really do want to go to a wedding, you guys. I know, you guys, Angela.

I love a wedding. I want you to know Angela loves all of the wedding invites that you guys send in. I do, I do. And it is her goal that we are one day going to show up at one of these weddings that we've been invited to. And I don't know how we're gonna pull it off, but I would love it.

I know. It would make me so happy. I'll do it. I want to do like... Eventually. I want to dance. I want to eat some of the cake. I want to meet the aunts and uncles.

Yeah. That's a wedding. You're describing a wedding. I know. Sounds great. Describing a wedding. Well, now I'm so curious. Like, you said Stephanie's story reminds you of your story.

What is your dinner party horror story? All right. So here is my dinner party horror story. OK. I was the host. OK. This was many years ago. In fact, I was not with Lee.

I was married to my ex, James. OK. And I had done a project. And I'd become really close with one of the other actors on the project. We had like, pelled around. Sure. We were buddies. Sure. And he was so funny and I just adored him. And we said, when this comes out, why don't we watch it together? And I said, oh, I'll host. Bring your wife over and we'll watch it. Couples night? Yes. Watch the project?

So fun. Yes. And we had been kind of like, we want to be couple friends. Nice. So this was our plan. So I said, great. And when it was time for the show to come out, I sent him a message and I said, why don't you and your wife come over around six, and then we'll have dinner at seven, and we'll

watch the show at eight. So fun. So fun. So fun. So at six o'clock on the night of, James and I are sitting in our living room. I've put out a charcuterie spread. Look at you go. Yes, I put a lot of time into it.

I had the table set. I had a chicken dinner all ready to go in the oven. It was a one sheet dinner so that I could still visit while the dinner was going and baking and roasting. I'd really thought it out. I was so excited. Yeah, you planned the perfect like hangout. And then six o'clock rolls around and they aren't there. They don't show up. Call, text, anything? No, nothing. Six thirty. Oh. Nothing.

What, later than six thirty? It's almost seven o'clock. Oh no. And they haven't shown up. And James and I are like, what do we do? Like's almost 7 o'clock. Oh, no. And they haven't shown up. And James and I are like, what do we do? Like your charcuterie board's looking a little sad at this point. I mean, it should probably be back in the fridge. We're also starving, so we've been like picking at it, but trying not to leave any holes in it.

So it looks still nice. And also, I was like, what do I do? Like do I put the chicken in the oven? Do I make the chicken? Yeah. So finally, we get a text and it says, on way. On way. That's it. Just, that's it. No reason. Nothing. On way.

Right. Finally, they show up. It's almost 8 o'clock, lady. No. Yes. And they don't apologize when they arrive. They say nothing? Nothing. No excuse, not sorry, no acknowledgement that this evening started two hours ago. Oh my gosh.

And we are completely... You're like, what is happening? What is happening? They acted like everything was totally normal. And then my memory is that one of us said something like, well, do you want to still eat dinner? Yeah, cause now it's eight o'clock. Yeah.

And they're like, no, we're good. No, they said no, we're good. They said no, we're good. They don't want to eat dinner? They don't want to eat dinner. This was a dinner party. I know. And so I made a plate of chicken for me and James,

and we sat and awkwardly ate chicken while we watched the show. Like on the sofa, not at the table you said. No. No. And I really wrestled with like, did I get this wrong? But I went back and I looked. At the text.

It was very clear. Six o'clock soon. See you then. Yeah. No acknowledgement. Oh Lord. Oh my God. James was furious. He was so furious that when they finally arrived, he said, tell them to go home. I was like, I can't tell them to go home. Get out of my driveway. So, I mean, have you run into this

person since? I haven't. But here's something crazy. I called James and I said, James, I want to tell this story on the pod. I won't say who it is, because this guy is famous and he's really famous now. Like he's super famous. Like we would all know who this was. Yes, very much so. And I have weirdly never run into this person again. And I said, James, I'm going to tell this story.

First of all, James has no memory of it. He's like, oh my God, that's a hilarious story. I have no memory of that story. Oh my gosh. And he's like, and by the way, I just ran into him a few years ago at some, I don't know, industry event. And he's like, and we hit it off.

We're great friends. I really like him. No. And I was like, it didn't come up? The weird dinner party? The awkward, weird night? Oh my gosh. He's like, no, he didn't mention it. He had no memory of it.

No memory. I mean, I feel like sometimes men can't just kind of forget those things and move on, whereas we hold onto it. Like we're holding a grudge. Like this person, I don't know who it is. You're going to have to tell me, cause now they're going to be on my list too.

Cause you know, we do that. Like your list is my list. I know this is true. I mean, if I ever ran into this person, it would be the first thing I would think of. Yeah, I mean, I know you can't bring it up. You can't at this point. I guess we've decided to collectively forget about it, which is fine. Maybe there'd be like some kind of snark you could do like just

for like gratification. Maybe you could be like, you know, what I love is like a chicken dinner on my lap. And my I eat my lap. While I watch myself on television. Yeah, I always watch myself on TV, but I wait two hours. And then I eat chicken in my lap. See if anything comes across his face. It was very, very strange. That is strange. And I have a weird recollection of them saying something like, like a very brief afterthought apology that was like, oh, sorry, we had a babysitter issue. But like as if you don't want to call,

and then you arrive two hours later, and I've clearly made dinner. It was very strange. Very strange. And you know for sure they have kids? I don clearly made dinner. It was very strange. Very strange. And you know for sure they have kids? I don't even know. I think they do. But maybe they don't.

Oh my God, Angela, let me tell you who it is. OK. Hold on, everybody. I need to know who it is. I'm going to write it down. Write it down. Here. OK.

Hold it up. Lady. What? Lady, I know that this person does not have any children. No, that's not true. No, no children. Are you kidding? I promise you, I promise you, we can Google that person. I have worked with this person.

What? On a different project. Were they nice to you? Super nice. They only worked one day. Like I was on the project and they did like a day project. Were they nice to you? Super nice. They only worked one day. Like I was on the project and they did like a day play. Right? Okay. This person has no children.

I am telling you, because I talked about my kids and he was like, yeah, that wasn't in the cards for me. I am telling you, I promise. That was a bullsh** excuse. These people clearly did not want to be our friends. Why did they even come? I don't know. Why would you come, lie about having kids, not eat our dinner?

I mean... Just say, I don't... It's not gonna work out. Unless they're one of these people where their pets are like, they got a babysitter for their pet, I don't know. I don't know. All right, anyway, okay, that's craziness, lady. That's my dinner party horror story.

That is craziness. It was That's my dinner party horror story. That is craziness. It was so cringy and awkward. Once they arrived, it was so cringy and awkward. It was so uncomfortable. Oh, man. It was fun to reconnect with James about it, though. We laughed really hard.

I bet. Well, let's take a break, and when we come back, I have my dinner party horror story. I gave it a name. What is it? Taboo Gone Wrong. Oh, that have my dinner party horror story. I gave it a name. What is it? Taboo Gone Wrong. Oh, that sounds good. Mm-hmm. It was really craptastic.

["Street Eaters Theme"] ["Street Eaters Theme"] Craving an escape? Bring the vibrant flavors of Mexican street-eat energy to life in your kitchen with Tia Rosa Tortillas. Born in Mexico, Tia Rosa knows how to turn your next taco night at home into the real deal. Find Tia Rosa Tortillas at select grocery stores

and get the good vibes going. Tia Rosa, Tia Rosa. There are two kinds of people in the world, backward thinkers and forward thinkers. Forward thinkers have plans 15 minutes from now and 15 years from now. They're not just one step ahead, they're 1,000 steps ahead. And when you're a forward thinker, you need a platform that thinks like you do. Workday's AI illuminates decision making and reimagines how you manage your people

and money for long-term success. Workday, moving business forever forward. Well, we're back and I Googled it. He doesn't have kids. I know. I can't believe he doesn't have kids. I don't know what that was about. I am now haunted, re-haunted by this dinner party.

But anyway, Angela, I also need to hear your dinner party horror story. Taboo gone wrong. All right. So long, long, long time ago, I'm in acting class. When I first get to LA, I meet this gal, we become friends. She's dating this guy, they have a house together. We go over there for dinner.

And after dinner, they want to play a board game of some kind. So they say, hey, we just got taboo. Do you want to play taboo? And we're like, yes. And so this is a long time ago. And I just want you guys to know that recently there's been an SNL sketch that is so similar to what happened that Warren and I wonder if you guys to know that recently there's been an SNL sketch that is so similar to what happened that Warren and I wonder if we have told this story in different

crowds and it made its way to the writers room because when we both saw it we immediately texted each other like oh my god did you see that? So here's what happens. It's me and Warren against this gal and her boyfriend at taboo. We are killing them. We've won like five rounds. We're like, you guys, we can stop. They're like, no, another round.

We want to play another round. They're starting to get really agitated that they've lost over and over again to us. Okay. But they are at telling each other clues. And it's like, they can't remember anything about each other. Right? So like, let's say the clue is the Grand Canyon. And she's like, we went there and we hiked

down and we camped. And then we're like, can't say camp. So then she finds other words. By now, Warren and I both know it's Grand Canyon. Anyone in the world would know it's Grand Canyon. And he's like, I don't know what you're talking about. Tell me something. And they're getting so mad at each other. And she's like saying stuff to him like, like the word was like Empire State Building. And all he kept saying over and over was building, building. And she's like, stop saying building. Like they're getting in such a big fight.

We're like, you guys, we can be done. We can be done. And now it's his turn. Fifth round. He's got this word, he looks at her. He looks at her like he just won the Super Bowl, the happiness in his face. He looks at her and he goes,

oh babe, babe, we can get this one, we can get this one. And she's like, okay, okay. And he goes, all right, this is what I call you all the time. And she goes, stupid. And they go, yeah. And they go, yeah. And they jump up and down and start hugging each other. And we're like, you could have heard a pin drop. Warren and I are like, I call you this all the time.

Stupid. Oh my God. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. We're like, well, that was a fun night of games. I mean, that was so long ago. And now there's sort of an SNL sketch a little bit like it. And I'm just like, oh my God, I'm sure many couples have had a complete fight

over a game like Taboo. Wow. So there you go. You know, it's kind of interesting to me, Angela, that our dinner party horror stories are like from so long ago, because I think that is your period in your life where you're kind of like trying to figure out

who your people are. Yeah, you have to experiment a little, right? Like, who am I going to be friends with? Like, I thought we hit it off on set, but then in real life, it's not really turning into a real friendship or whatever it is. I feel like I don't have any recent dinner party horror stories that I can think of.

I don't think so either because at this point, like you're just more settled in your life. Yeah. Right? And so are your friends. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we got a letter from Grace in Springville, Utah, who I think could probably relate to my taboo night. Here's what she said about her dinner party horror story.

"'It was a first date with people I had just met in college, but they were good friends with each other. I didn't really want to go in the first place. I was still getting over an ex, but they did not take no for an answer. All I knew was that we were going to someone's place to have dinner. And after dinner, which took three hours

because they wanted to make it together, they said, "'Time for the talent show! I had no idea this was going to happen, and this is something out of my comfort zone. I wanted nothing more than to leave, but they had picked me up for the date and I wasn't near my home, so I was stuck. One couple performed the Cup song from It's Perfect. One boy did an earnest and uncomfortable rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight. I pulled a gym and I sent an SOS text to my family and they called with a quote emergency

that got me home before it was my turn. I never spoke to these people again. I mean, surprise talent show is a lot to ask of a new friend. Time for the talent show. This really made me think of the dinner party scene when Jan and Michael make everyone play their game of celebrity. Oh, I love it so much. Let's hear the clip Sam actually pulled two different parts of the game for us to hear.

No, it's a hump. There's a hump. Joe Kamel! Joe Kamel! different parts of the game for us to hear. You just say 49ers quarterback. All right, Mike. Mike. Mike. My turn. Mike. Mike. Mike. My turn. Mike. Mike. My turn. Babe, can you just like... What?

Really? Whoa. We're so... What? What? Can you just zoom in now? No, I was making people laugh. No.

Yes. I was watching Jim's face. I was watching Jim. And he was laughing. Look. He's smiling. Look at him. He's laughing. Michael, you're up. Let's go. All right, here we go. This is going to be fun. Ready at him. He's laughing.

Alright, here we go. This is gonna be fun. Ready? Go! First name is Tom. No, no, no! No names, no rhyming, no sound alike. Okay, okay, you're getting it in my head! First name is Blake. And he goes on a cruise. He goes on a Caribbean cruise. I don't know.

Katie Holmes. No! But he's married to her! Oh, Dawson's Creek. No! No, it has to be a real person, Jim! Come on! Okay, no, no, I'm gonna pass. I'm gonna pass.

Uh, okay! Rhymes with Arnold Schwarzenegger. No rhyming! That's not really a rhyme. Okay. Another clue, another clue. Okay, he's the governor of California, he is the Terminator. Those aren't helpful.

Tom Cruise! No! Tag! Gah! Does anybody read the paper? He is the governor of California. He is the Terminator. Those aren't helpful. Junkers! No! Tag! Does anybody read the paper? Oh my god, I remember.

My turn, he is so amped. And then Jan is just pissing him off. I loved shooting that scene so much. Same. It was so funny. And the way Jim is messing with him. I know. Jim is messing with him. I know Jim is messing with him. Angela legitimately doesn't know any like celebrities. All right. Well, I've

got a fan story from Jennifer Oh in Cleveland, Ohio. Jennifer Oh, your story. This is very unique. Jennifer says it was my first dinner with my new boyfriend, and now husband, and his parents. And I wanted to make a good impression because I was a senior and he was a junior in high school. I offered to help his mom set the table and she told me to pour drinks for everyone. So I took everyone's order, including hers. Her order was water. Jennifer said I poured all the drinks and then poured her a large glass of water from a pitcher in the refrigerator. We sat down to dinner. Everyone's chatting. It's going great. His mom takes a big swig of water and starts gagging and

falls out of her chair onto the floor, grabbing her throat. No! Yes. Jennifer said we thought she was choking. So I grabbed her glass of water and she smashed it out of my hand and said, vinegar. Because I guess someone should have mentioned that that wasn't a pitcher of water. Earlier in the day, the vinegar lid broke and she poured it into a pitcher and then I served it to her.

Jennifer said, luckily she survived, married her son four years later and we're still together after 30 years. She said her mother-in-law has since passed away. She said, and I will never live down the moment I tried to kill my mother-in-law. I guess this is their family lore of how Jennifer joined the family.

This is in no way that similar, except that I have a pitcher, you know, just it's like a tall pitcher. It's got like a floral theme on it. And I keep it to the right of the kitchen sink because our kids always like, they fix themselves a glass of water and they have like four or five sips

and then they're done. Or I'm just going around the house and I'm just collecting cups of water throughout the day. Mm-hmm. And so I've told them if you're not gonna finish your water put it in the pitcher And I'll give it to my plants. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so everyone in my family knows any unused water goes in the pitcher Oh, have you had guests? Drink from the water. I had a friend. Was it me? No Drink from the water? I had a friend. Was it me?

No! It wasn't you. It wasn't you. And I also didn't see them pour the glass. I came around the corner and they were sort of in close proximity to the pitcher and they had a glass of water. And I said to Josh, I was like, did you get them water? And he goes, no.

And I said, did they go to the fridge to get the water? He goes, no. And then we saw the pitcher had been moved. Did you say anything? But they had already drank the water. So you said nothing. I said nothing. Of course you said nothing.

I said nothing. But now I'm paranoid. So as soon as anyone comes in the kitchen, I say to them, do not drink from that pitcher. That is like everyone's backwash, old water for my plants. I pour our unused water into our dog's bowl. Oh yeah, I do that too sometimes, yeah. I think you need a special pitcher

that says for the plants. Or it needs like a little sign with a chain and a little blackboard or something that you write in on it. I'm sure you can find that at Michael's. Or I could just write it on a post-it note and tape it to it. You could, but now I have an idea of what to get you for your birthday.

A special picture that says, for the plants. For the plants, I would love that. Yeah, or a sign or something. Don't get me a sign. You don't want a sign? I want to deal with the sign that I then have to hang on the picture. I'm gonna lose a sign, it's gonna break.

One of the kids is gonna like- No, you're making a good point. Okay. All right. Well, no dinner party horror story episode would be complete, you guys, without an epic fight between a couple to make everyone cringe. And we got a good letter from Beth in Fredericksburg. She wrote and said, My husband and I went to dinner at a friend from high school's house. She and her husband... Sorry, I read this but then I forgot. Ready? Yes.

She and her husband were drunk when we got there. They had a huge Whir of the Roses fight while we sat there in horror, throwing things, screaming. She told him he had a little dick. And he said, well, you weren't complaining two hours ago when you were writing it. We left, and we never saw them again. They got a divorce.

Shocker. That is like literally Jan and Michael's fight. Uh-huh. I mean, for real. For real. Jan and Michael have many big fights in the dinner party, but I think my personal favorite is, um, when Michael goes out and gets the neon poly sign in the middle of dinner and he hangs it on the wall. And then everyone lights up blue.

It's so blue. It was so bright. It was so hard not to laugh when that happened. Sam pulled a clip. I think we should listen to it. Oh. OK. That's nice.

Everybody enjoying their meal? Hey, babe. Yeah? How about we take the beer sign down until our guests leave and then we can discuss it? No. No. I'm gonna leave it up. I think it ties the whole room together. Okay. Jay thinks Hunter's very talented. You know what? I don't think he's that good.

At least he's an artist. B.F.D. I'm a screenwriter. And I'm a camel maker, but you don't hear me bragging about it! No, all you do is you get me to try to work on my rich friends. For an investment opportunity! Man, I would love to burn your candles! You burn it, you buy it! Oh good! I'll be your first customer!

But you're hardly my first! That's not she said! That is a $200 plasma screen TV you just killed! Good luck! Pay me back on your zero dollars a year salary plus benefits, babe! Oh my gosh, lady. Lady, do you know what this just made me realize just now when we're talking about this neon sign?

What? Okay, you know when you shot the movie New Year's Rev for Lee? Yeah. You're in the bar? Yeah, Bucks. Bucks. So, the production designer Adam, he had a special neon sign made for this fictional bar.

Oh, I remember it. It hangs over the stage. It's huge. It's in the shape of Oklahoma and it says the word Bucks across it. I think it's orange? Orange neon? We were talking about this dinner we just had to close out the movie and Adam comes up to me and he says,

Jenna, the Bucks sign, it's gonna be there tomorrow. What do you mean tomorrow? I said, what do you mean the Bucks sign? He's like, Lee didn't tell you? He wanted the neon sign for your house. Lady, it's enormous. I was like, what are you talking about? And he's like, the one in the bar.

It's going to be there tomorrow. Lady, the box arrived. It's like a small fiat. I haven't. It's so big. I'm thinking, I'm like, where is it going? And I haven't even had a chance to ask Lee, what is your intention for this?

What I assume is a very bright neon sign. And then it's so funny that we just rewatched dinner party because I'm like, is this, where are we putting this? We're gonna be like Michael, fanning myself. I'm having a hot flash. I'm fanning myself. I'm gonna take a picture of you. I'm sorry, everybody.

The AC is broken today. And it's hot. It's so hot. I'm in a tank top. I didn't want anyone to see my arms, but here I am. There you are, lady. This is the fan Angela got me from Singapore. It's very pretty and you're using it.

I'm so happy. I'm using it. Well, I guess I'm soon to have a neon sign in my house. I don't know where it's going. I don't know where. Lady, I know your house. I can't even imagine the wall space that could accommodate it. Yeah.

It's really big. I know. Well, listen everybody, I'm burning up in here. We need some air. We need some air. I think that was super fun. Thank you all for writing in your dinner party horror stories. Oh my gosh. They were so fun to read. We were cracking up. Well, to end this episode, I thought I'd share something I saw online

when I was prepping. It's about an office-themed dinner at a restaurant in Minnesota. So I saw this post. A digital creator named Aubrey, AKA OnlyObs, shared this reel and it's titled, A Dinner Party with Michael Scott himself right here in the Twin Cities.

Yes, please. The latest themed dining experience at Travail Kitchen is truly one for the books. I went and watched her reel. I could not believe how all out this restaurant goes. If you're an Office fan, I think people would be really tickled by it. Here, I'm going to play a little bit of it, okay? Okay. This was our first time at Travail,

located in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and this is the office-themed dinner party. As soon as we were sat, we already had the first course waiting for us, and our first drink got handed to us immediately. And from that point on, the drinks and the food courses were flowing. The whole place was decked out

as if we were in the office. All of the staff was dressed up. Michael Scott was there. All of our bartenders were named Dwight. This was truly an experience. Okay, so I'm watching that and I saw a Scotch and Splenda. But the food looks like you get to eat actual really good food. I wondered, I'm like, oh, are we eating like steak dipped in wine? Like, what are we eating? Yeah, no, the food looks amazing. Although I did see what it looks like an appetizer that has beets. Yep. And I thought I saw some tiny jello something. Maybe so. But I just thought that was really fun. And I guess Michael Scott's there.

Every waiter is Dwight. I mean, come on. I mean, that seems kind of fun. Well everyone, thank you so much for listening to our dinner party horror stories. I have a request. Okay. I'm going to need another dinner party success story with you and Bobbi Lee. I need another dinner with you and Bobbi Lee sometime soon. Done. All right, you guys, we hope you have a great week and we'll see you next week.

See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbaco. Odyssey's executive producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman and Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil. Our theme song is Rubberreat by Creed Bratton.