Office Ladies - Livin' the Dream, Pt 1, with Michael Imperioli

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

This week we’re breaking down “Livin’ the Dream, Pt 1” and the ladies chat with Michael Imperioli who played Sensei Billy! Jim comes back to Scranton to spend more time with Pam. Meanwhile Dwight gets his black belt in karate and Andy decides to quit his job to pursue acting leaving the manager role open. Michael shares with the ladies about a google search that led him to being cast on The Office, and then later Angela shares a promo video Jenna and Angela made for this episode back in 2013. The gals hear from Ed Helms about Andy’s headshot photoshoot which leads Jenna and Angela to get deep with beginning actor headshots. And, there’s some more Herr's potato chips tasting. This is a jammed pack ep, karate chop your boards quick so you can enjoy it! Check out the trailer for “Oh Canada” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAJVxCNcqH0 Check out Ed Helms’ podcast, SNAFU: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-snafu-with-ed-helms-102539700/ Check out Office Ladies Merch at Podswag: https://www.podswag.com/collections/office-ladies    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

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That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash ladies. What's it like to trade crypto on Kraken? Let's say I'm in a state-of-the-art gym surrounded by powerful-looking machines. Do I head straight for the squat rack? I could, but this gym has options, like trainers, fitness pros, fodders to back me up. That's crypto on Kraken, powerful crypto tools backed by 24-7 support and multi-layered security. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss.

See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. 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. Hello. Hi there. Should we tell everyone how we walked in today? It was ridiculous.

It's that thing. I think when you're friends with someone, you start to like dress alike. Because we both showed up with our hair and braids. Carrying giant boxes. And then we realized they're the same exact box of items. Which we'll get to later. Yes.

But you said we should title this episode, Braids and Boxes. Braids and Boxes. Here we go. The actual title of the episode that we're breaking down today is Live in the Dream Part One. It is Season Nine, Episode 22, written by Nikki Schwartz Wright and directed by Jeffrey Blitz.

Would you like a summary? So much. All right, in this episode, Jim is taking time off from Athlead to focus on his marriage. Wow. Big deal, finally. Andy quits Dunder Mifflin to pursue his dreams.

He's gonna be something. He might host a food show, he might dance, he might act. There's so many options for Andy. Anything goes. Anything could happen. Angela is mourning the confiscation of her cats. All her cats get taken away in this episode. To Saxworth.

I don't know. I remember that. That made me laugh. I know. And finally, Dwight is going to receive his black belt, finally. In the place he loves most. Yes.

All right, to kick things off, we got a fan question from Emma L. in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, who said, "'I wanna know everything about what it was like "'to work with Michael Imperioli as Sensei Billy. "'I think his storyline and chemistry with Rainn Wilson "'is pure genius. "'How did he come to be cast in this role?

Well, Emma, we are very excited to let you know that we got to interview Michael Imperiali. We did! All about his time on the show, and his interview is our Fast Facts, one, two, and three today. So here you go. ["Fast Facts"] We're so thrilled to have you.

Thank you. I'm glad to be you. Thank you. I'm glad to be here. It was so crazy when I was watching this episode and then all of a sudden you popped up on my screen and it was just the week before I ran into you on the street in New York. It was right after that. Yeah. It was such crazy timing.

So thanks for being with us today. We'll just hop right in. So we always ask our guests, how did you get your job on the office? Rain told me that they Googled actors who were black belts. Your name came up. And my name was on a list. So I don't know how many other actors they went through before they got to me who had black,

maybe Chuck Norris and I don't know who else. And that was really it. And then I got the script and I thought it was really funny. And I mean, the show's great and really funny. And that was it. That was how I got it. Had you watched the show before? Yeah, like everybody on the planet pretty much.

Yeah, I thought it was really funny and it was really a fun sequence, a fun part of the episode. It's just so ridiculous. It was really fun to watch it again because I hadn't seen it in quite a long time and I was like, it's even funnier than it was when I first saw it and when I did it.

It stands up pretty well to be ridiculous and funny. It really does. I loved since Billy, like how calm he was. And just matter of fact, when Dwight's doing all this crazy crap. Well, listen, there are three scenes that you're in, you know, one of them is the very first montage where Dwight's trying to kick the board, which is hilarious. Did you give Rain any tips or did he just like go for it? No, he just went for it. You know, I've done Korean martial arts, mostly taekwondo for

like 22 years. And sometimes you do break boards, you know, that's that's part of like usually on a test, when you're going up a level or something, you do that as a, you know, you're testing your kind of accuracy and speed and things like that. And I've never gotten kicked in the balls doing that, but I've held boards for other people testing, especially for kids. Kids aren't as accurate as adults sometimes, and they'll kick your hands, and holding boards for people. I've gotten my hands pretty banged up. So that's kind of accurate.

That really happens. But he just went for it. I don't remember if he told me that he trained or not. I'm pretty sure he had not trained. He had not trained, yeah. It didn't seem like he did. But he just went for it and I mean it's just so silly and fun. It's so silly. And then the next one is the belt ceremony in the office, the place he loves the most, right? And then you couldn't

get the belt off him and he's kind of awkwardly thrusting at you and you're so, since I built, he's just like, this isn't gonna work, okay. He's trying his best to keep composure because that's what a martial artist does, right? He doesn't let his anger get the best of him. But in martial arts, a lot of the movements, most of them really come from the hips, from the center of the body.

You know, that's really where you get your power if you're throwing a punch. You know, if you watch like athletes like golfers or baseball players or tennis players, you can see it. Those, yeah, those motions with the arms. Yeah. I have a really good forehand. I don't want to brag, but I have a really, well, now I'm bragging, but I have a really good forehand at tennis and I'm short and people don't expect it because it's all in that twist,

that torque from your hips. Yeah. A lot of the movements in martial arts come from the hips, like punches and blocks and kicks even, right? So I think that's what he was, he was figuring, I have to use my hips here, you know, even getting the belt, like everything we do comes from the hips and it wasn't necessary. I love that. That's my theory at least. Do you remember like breaking it all in that scene? Cause I remember watching it and I, I think there's no shots of me in this sequence

because they had to avoid me cause I couldn't keep it together. No, I lost it a few times. It was just so, you know, he's just so committed, you know. Fans wrote in and pointed out every time someone broke and it's, we're all, they clocked everybody. Except you, my memory, Michael, is that you were very good at keeping it together.

Are you an actor that breaks a lot? Because I was so impressed. If it's really funny, yeah, sometimes. You know, on The Sopranos, the time everybody broke was when it was the mother, Livia's, post-funeral gathering at the Soprano house. And everybody's there, the whole family and all the gangsters and all the friends of the family. They're talking about this woman that everybody hated really and who hated everybody, trying to find nice things to say.

And then they play her favorite song, which was this really schmaltzy love song from Carousel sung in this very high pitched voice. And when they put that song on, everybody just lost it. And they tried to do it again and every time that song came on, everybody just lost it. And then they realized, well, we can't play the song, so let's just pretend we're listening to it. And that still didn't work to the point where the director started yelling at people.

Was totally out of character for him because he had directed a lot of our episodes and he was a sweetheart. But he just couldn't do the scene because we were just, it just became this thing that was just too ridiculous. It's hard to come back from that too. When you're gone, you know, when you're in that kind of laughter fit, it's so hard to come back.

You have to stop. You have to, you need some time. Well, they, you know, the Brits call that corpsing. You know that, right? I do not know that. That's what they call it. That's a great term. Yeah, yeah know that, right? I do not know that. No, I didn't know that. That's what they call it. That's a great term.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you're just dead. They call it corpsing, when you just can't stop laughing, which is a weird expression, right? It is, but I love it. That happened to Jenna and I when I had to tell her that Dwight put sprinkles in my freezer and I had to ask her if Roy had ever mercy killed

one of her pets. We couldn't. Every time I said like the cat had clawed the peas, like the bag of peas, cause the cat was trying to get out of the freezer. They broke us for lunch. They were like, you're gone. You're coercing.

You need time. Forget it. Yeah, because at that point, everything's gonna be funny, no matter how you approach it. And it's infectious and it's uncontrollable. It's an interesting phenomenon. And you can't really explain it to anyone

unless you're really, because you're acting, you're not supposed to laugh, right? Which makes it worse, I think. Makes it worse, yeah. It's like don't think of the word elephant or something. It's kind of like that. Well, speaking of laughing,

after the belt thrusting, we get to Dwight's demonstration, which is so incredible. I have to ask, with all of your experiences, anything he's doing in this scene accurate in any way, is he doing any actual moves here? You know, some of the basic techniques he's executing but he doesn't really know how to do them properly. Okay. Mm-hmm. Is Sensei Billy giving him a black belt like sort of patronizingly? Has he earned his black belt in your opinion? I think he's earned it. Well he said he's one of the most tenacious people

he's ever seen. So I think that tenaciousness. You know, a black belt in martial arts, you have to remember is you're not competing or comparing your level of skill and your development to anyone else. It's about your progression. So you can have a black belt,

two black belts that have trained the same amount of time and one's a super great athlete, and one's not. And they're going to be very different martial artists, you know, because natural athleticism and stuff, you know, I mean, I'm 58, I still train, but you know, you see some of these kids at 25 doing stuff that's just incredible that I'm not going to do. I mean, I have basic techniques that I've worked on for many years that I'm comfortable with. I like the fitness of it, but even the belt levels and that kind of thing is about your own progress and what you've done. So I guess Sensibility, I love that we're talking about this. Like, Sensibility said he's very tenacious and he trained with someone for 20 years who ripped him off, right? Yeah. And I think Sensibility feels like that gives

martial arts a bad name because Sensibility really believes in it and thinks this is, this is horrible because martial arts is, you know, is a great legitimate form of art or fitness and training and all those things. You know, and I've seen people who were black belts who and all those things. You know, and I've seen people who were black belts who had zero athleticism, but they worked really hard and they did have their basic techniques and they were able to kind of fulfill the requirements that the different levels offer, you know. So it's really about your own progress. I think that's really beautiful.

And it's also making me feel like maybe I could be a black belt if it really is about me. Like if I really took this seriously. And you put the time in. Yes, like truly inspired by this idea of this journey, of this physical, mental, spiritual journey committing to this thing. That is like so beautiful that this is open to this thing. Yeah. That is like so beautiful that this is open to all people. Yeah.

I did not know that and I absolutely love it. Yeah, you know, my main teacher, Grandmaster Tae Sun Kang has been teaching for, I think it's over 40 years, and he's dedicated his life to this, right? He just got inducted into the Taeekwondo Hall of Fame, right? This lifetime achievement. But he has a lot of students that have been with him for many, many, many years.

And this last test, they have a black belt test twice a year. And he has a couple of schools in the New York area. The last test, three women all over 50 got fourth degree black belts. That's amazing. That's awesome. The highest testers of that batch, that was last November, December,

were three women over 50, close to 60. Wow. Well, as a woman who just turned 50 this year, I just think that's so beautiful. Yeah, it was really cool to see that last winner, those three women get, you know, as the highest testers and get all getting fourth degree black belts, which means they've all been training, you know,

20 years, maybe 20 plus years. Wow. That's so cool. That inspires me. My sister-in-law who's around our age, Jenna, got her black belt this week. And I was so proud of her. She's in Colorado, but she's been studying a long time. And so it was just sort of really cool that we were talking to you today and Sensei Billy and

all of that. So I told her, I was like, way to go, girl. Yeah, it's a really great way to stay fit. You know, for me, when I started, I was really out of shape. I was smoking cigarettes, I was drinking, and I wasn't exercising at all. My kids started going. I would go pick them up and watch and stuff. This is 22 years ago. Slowly, I started and I eventually realized I can either... I had to choose one, smoking cigarettes or doing Taekwondo because they didn't Go together and you know, it started me on a path of health. There's a humility to it and the thing of respect and

Think about meeting goals and exceeding goals and challenging yourself and what I liked I always had problems Committing to a gym program because I would get bored doing weight machines and things like that. This is about learning a skill, and for that hour that you're doing a class, you can't think about anything else. It's not like you're on a treadmill watching CNN or checking emails.

You can't really think of anything else except what you're doing in the moment because it takes all that concentration. That was really helpful for me. I love that. I feel the same way on a tennis court. You can't think, you don't have your phone, you can't think of anything.

I take my watch off because I don't want it buzzing or anything. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Well, Michael, do you have any memories? I know you were only on set that one time, but do you have any memories from being on the set with us or any behind the scenes thing about your time

on the office? I was kind of surprised where it was. It was this really out of the way, it was nowhere, wasn't it? It was, we loved it. It was across from train tracks. There was like a backyard dog on a chain. I thought I was going to like, you know,

the Sony lot or some kind of, you know, Hollywood kind of legendary. I like those big legendary old lots. It's kind of fun, right? Yeah, they're pretty. But it wasn't anything like that. No, no, no. One time we went to the Universal Studios lot

for, I don't know, like a photo gallery shoot or something. And we were like, guys, there's a cafeteria. There's a gym. Like, we're like. It's a gym, yeah. Some of them have everything. You know, we shot a lot in the surrounding area and they kind of tried to find a part of LA

that didn't have all the palm trees so that we could just walk out onto the street and do exterior stuff. So I think that was kind of part of it. Kind of industrial and not at all West coasty, yeah. Exactly. To have that feel a little bit. Well, I have to ask, do you ever get recognized

as Sensei Billy? Does it come up? Oh, a lot. Really? A lot, yeah. That's so crazy to me. A lot because it's such, you know, I mean, it's such a popular show. I mean, it's gotta be Christopher first, right? Christopher first,

cause that's, you know, what I'm known for. But yeah, people remember me from that. I mean, sometimes I have some, you know, when they go to openings or events or stuff like that, people have, you know, they have waiting for you with photographs. Sometimes they're sensibility photos. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I kind of love that. It was very memorable.

Yeah, we were so delighted. Yeah, it was a really, really cool thing that you came and did that. It was really neat and really cool that you came and talked to us about it today. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it was a really good time. He's a very good actor. I mean, it was really fun to work with with Rain. He's very, very committed. Very much like his character, isn't he?

Yes. Very committed and just so, so funny. Thanks so much, Michael. This was wonderful. Thank you. Thanks for having me. We'll see you soon. Take care.

Bye bye. All right. How great was that? So fun. I just love that he is a black belt in real life. I love that the majority of that conversation was about martial arts. Me too. Well listen, Michael, thank you so much for stopping by Office Ladies.

You know, he has a movie coming out in December. It is called Oh Canada and it's directed by Paul Schrader. It is starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Jacob Elordi, and Michael Imperioli, and he said it's great. He said it's one of Richard Gere's best performances ever. I can't wait to see it. Well, listen, why don't we take a break? And when we come back, we will dive into Live in the Dream Part 1,

and you'll find out what's in our giant boxes. Yes, you will. -♪ Yes, you will. Uber Cashback on rides. Just to be clear, I'm there for savings, not whatever you think university is for. Get Uber One for Students, a membership to save on Uber and Uber Eats. With deals this good, everyone wants to be a student. Join for just $4.99 a month. Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply. Looking for a path to accelerate your career? Clear direction for next-level success? In a place that is innovative and practical, a path to stay current and connected to industry, a place where you

can be yourself, you will find it at York University School of Continuing Studies where we offer career programs purpose-built for you. Visit continue.yorku.ca We are back it's living the dream part one and before we start breaking down the episode we have a special guest here today we want to give a shout out we've never had this done before but Kate Arthur the, the editor at large at Variety is joining us. Hi Kate. Hi Kate.

I didn't know I was getting a shout out. That's incredible. Of course you are. You're here, you're our guest. Our guests get shout outs. That's right. I'm so happy to be here. Well, we heard that you and your son

listen to office ladies in the car sometimes. We sure do, yes. Sorry for all my bulls**t cards. That's okay, he likes it. But we put together a little bag of nifty gifties for your son. That is so lovely, thank you. He's going to love it.

Kate, we really are so excited that you're here today. We've been excited and we're just so grateful that you're gonna shine a light on office ladies. Thank you. Thank you for here today. We've been excited and we're just so grateful that you're gonna shine a light on Office Ladies. Thank you. Thank you for your service. It's provided us many hours of joy, well beyond the joy that our family experienced watching the whole show together, all nine seasons,

which we finished last year sometime, I think. So then we started listening to the podcast to relive it. I love that. Well, that's been our goal. That's right. This whole time. Well, when the article comes out, we'll be sure and share. And why don't we get down to breaking this episode down?

All right, Jim and Pam are gonna arrive to work and they are, dare I say, blissfully in love. This trot through the parking lot, we haven't seen this in a while. They have a super cute joint talking head together. I'm pointing out all the talking heads as these final episodes play out. And this one is facing out.

Jim and Pam are facing out to the future of their life. Although, maybe they should be facing in since Jim is coming back to Dunder Mifflin. Hmm. Maybe the talking head knows more than they do at this moment. Maybe the writer of the talking head knows more. Mm-hmm. Jim is going to share that he's taking time off from athlete and the guys in Philly have been calling non-stop but all that matters is the two of them being together and they've had some great days together and Pam says and a

nice morning too. And then Jim's like Beasley. Mm-hmm. Well we had a fan question from Anto P in Brooklyn that so intrigued me. Anto said are you aware of the quote Pam lucky sweater theory? No, I was not. Thankfully, Anto linked to this theory. The theory is that Pam has a sex sweater. No! Yes, it is a pink cardigan, and apparently if she wears it,

it means that Jim and Pam have recently had sex. Get out. Yes. Did you like go back and look at episodes? Yes. So in the carpet, she's just returned from the Poconos with Roy, and she hesitates to answer

when Michael asks if she got lucky. Is she wearing the pink sweater? She is. Stop. And later she has to tell Jim like, oh, well we didn't ski much. Like she's all like shy to be like, no,, we didn't ski much. Like, she's all shy to be like, no, we actually didn't ski much.

So, OK. Then I guess she wears it again in PDA. That's the episode where her and Jim hook up in the closet. Right. And then she wears it in this episode, too. Now, she wore it one other time. She wore it in customer loyalty, and that's the one where Cece has her recital

and she breaks down crying. So. Maybe that one throws the theory off a little. It does, but don't they always say, oh, that's the exception that proves the rule? Isn't that that saying? In order to prove a rule, there's always one exception. Is that what that sentence means?

I'm gonna be honest with you. We don't know, why are we asking each other this? We don't know what it means. But anyway, fans wondered if maybe that was a nod to the private moment that she's gonna share with Brian in the end, that there was still intimacy, even though it wasn't sexual intimacy. This is how the fans justified it.

I mean, there are a lot of theories out there about different parts of the show. the fans justified it. I mean, there are a lot of theories out there about different parts of the show. This one is the most surprising to me. That she's got a, I got lucky sweater? Oh my gosh. This is a way too personal question. Do you have an item of clothing that might tip someone off

to the fact that you just got lucky? Look at me. What? Look how I rolled in here today. Well, I'm thinking maybe you didn't get lucky this morning. But if you had gotten lucky, what might you be wearing? Who can't get lucky with three kids at school drop off? Who has the time?

That's not what I'm asking. I'm just asking. Let me tell you. I'll tell you, if you see me in pajama bottoms at 2.30 in the afternoon, it's because maybe I had some afternoon delight. That's all I'm saying. If I've put my pajama bottoms on by 2.30, it's because we had some hanky panky,

I took a shower, and I was like, well, I'm not gonna get dressed at this point. I'll just put my pajama bottoms on and I'll roll through the afternoon into bedtime. That's your tell. If you stop by my house at 2.30 and I have pajama bottoms on, that might be a good one. We all know now. I guess for me, it'd be like if I show up with wet hair.

Oh. Oh. I feel like I've seen that a lot! Okay. Because I have run out of time. Oh! I have just gained an insight. Also, I just had this moment of like, our kids cannot listen to this episode. No, they cannot. No, they cannot.

Yeah. All right. All right. Well, hmm the phrase proving the existence of the rule Yeah, okay So are you gonna tell us what it means? The argument states that if an exception exists or has to be stated then this exception proves that there must be some rule In which case is the exception so the phrase Special leave is given for men to be out of the barracks tonight until 11 p.m phrase, special leave is given for men to be out of the barracks tonight until 11 p.m. The exception proves the rule means that this special leave implies a ruling requiring men

except when the exception is made to be an earlier. The value of this interpreting statutes is plain. Okay, you had me, you lost me. But I'm going to go back to when you had me and I think I get it. I think the fact that we have to say there's an exception to this rule proves that a rule exists in the first place. Exactly. So if there's a sign in a shop that said, pre-paid delivery required for refrigerators, would be that pre-paid delivery is not required for other objects.

Right. That's the exception to the rule. You know what is happening in my brain right now? It's like if you take the A train from Boston and you leave at 2 o'clock, it's that problem, it's that math problem. When do you meet? When do you meet up if you meet in Ohio? I don't know, I don't know. You don't know. I don't want to figure it out. Alright well listen, where are we? Oh well Andy is about to approach Jim in the break room to ask his opinion on ties.

He says, which tie makes me look like a guy who likes sofas? His agent is putting him up for a furniture commercial. Well Jim says definitely the blue tie. And then we learn that Jim might have a new nickname. No longer Big Tuna, Carpaccio. Because he's been spreading himself too thin. Thinly sliced tuna. Mm-hmm. I have a few things here that I'd like to point out.

All right. I have a background catch from a fan. Where do you want to start? First of all, I love that we find out that Andy has work makeup, and there were a few candy bag alts for this. Really? Uh-huh, and I'm gonna share the one I love.

Okay. Andy says, tell me about it, Big T. Between this job and my acting, it's like I've been living a double life. Like who even am I right now? Sofa buyer number two or Andy Bernard? I couldn't tell ya. I like that line.

And then I have a background catch. Well, I think it's why we both brought these big boxes today. Oh, well, yes. My background catch came from Haley S. in Knoxville, Tennessee, who noticed that in the vending machine in the break room behind Jim, there is a package of chips and they are flavored baby back rib chips. They are. That was my catch.

If you go to one minute, 33 seconds in the A1 slot. Are these chips that say baby back ribs? I had to know, is this a real chip? Same. And then we both bought boxes of them. Here's the thing. They only come, at least they're regional, they're hers chips. They're a real chip.

And the only way we could get them here to the West Coast at least the only way I could find was by ordering a giant variety box of hers chips same so guess what you guys today everybody gets hers chip But we have to try Where is it? Where is it Jenna? We have to try the baby back ribs chips All right y'all in the sound booth you can have your own bag or share there are so many. Okay guys are you ready? Alright. Opening bag. Will these taste different than just barbecue chips is my big question. Here we go. Here we go. Oh my gosh they taste

like ribs. They really do. Oh near the oh I kind of liked it and then I didn't. Oh my god I love them. What is they make me want to have ribs. What does everyone else think? I'm gonna eat another one. They're fine. Fine. It tastes like barbecue. I was worried they were gonna have meat in them. Oh no. But they don't. It says artificially flavored. Yeah. They're not bad but yeah there's like a lingering vinegar taste to it I think. Kate, did you try one? I like them quite a bit. I do too. I mean, I'm still eating them.

I was gonna say, Jennifer, someone who was like, I don't know how I feel about it, you just ate five. You just sit there quietly chomping on your chips. So sorry. Okay. All right. Well, was that worth us both purchasing and carrying these giant boxes to work today? I don't know.

Well, we're gonna have hers chips for a while here. We are. I'm excited because there's some sour cream and onion in the box, and I actually love hers sour cream and onion. You do. There's also, I just wanna say, something called jalapeno popper cheese curls, and Lee had a bag and said they're delicious.

Oh, I'll be trying that after this. Okay. All right. Not sponsored by hers, I'll be trying that after this. Okay, all right. Not sponsored by hers, but maybe we should be. Someone write an email. Maybe we should let them know. I have to tell you that I found some amazing gems in my digital clutter.

Really? Yes, and I went old school, back to the days of when I used to do note cards, and I made two note cards, and Jenna, you get to pick which one I'll share first. I will share both of these digital clutter items in this episode, but these are your choices. Read them out loud.

Dorks in a trailer? Wedding bells. Aw. I'm going to choose dorks in a trailer, but I just, I got a little bit sentimental seeing you bring in these note cards that we, you know, we're getting near the end here of our re-watch, and I haven't seen a note card in a while, and it just made me sentimental.

I know, I used to bring in like 45. You did. All right, tell me about Dorks in a Trailer. I will. One second while I find it. So I have been going back, you know, looking at each week we film an episode, I go into my email.

As you know, I never delete emails, so I have a ton of old emails. And in one of my emails, I found a video that I made in your trailer at lunch about this episode. Oh my gosh, a video. A video. your trailer at lunch about this episode. Oh my gosh, a video. A video. So the week we did this episode, I guess I made a video maybe for NBC.com on my phone

and I still had it and wait till you see us lady, we are such dorks, but it made me so happy to see this. I'm so glad I still had this in my email. I'm gonna play it for you, but everyone out there can hear the audio, but you'll get to see the video and I'll also share it in our stories. Hi everybody, it's Angela Kinsey

from the set of The Office with Jenna Fisher. Hi! We just wanna let you guys know that there are two episodes of The Office airing tonight, brand new, one full hour. The first half hour is a lot of Dwight fun, wacky comedy. And the second one is one of my favorites of the year. Some big stuff for jam.

So check it out. Check it out people, check it out. Woo! This is, we are still the same. I know. Do you know when you see like videos of kids and then they're the same as an adult? We are still the same.

I am just, I'm going to give you the information that NBC.com put in the memo that they asked us to relay and then you're like, whoop whoop. And I'm like, check it out. Yep. Aw, we're still going strong. We're still dorking it up. Okay. And then I will play wedding bell card later.

I love it. Well, Angela is I will play wedding bell card later. I love it. Well, Angela is gonna arrive to the office now. She is disheveled. She looks miserable. I looked up in the shooting draft how it was described. Yes, I was gonna ask you. Here's what it says. Angela enters the office looking like a wreck.

She's in jeans, an inside out sweater with the shoulder pads exposed and she sips from a big gulp cup. She looks like shit. That's what it said. I mean, Oscar is concerned. He asks if she's okay. This is when she tells him that the county took her cats.

Yes, I do wanna point out, the moment I walk into the office, like sipping on that big gulp, that is one of my memes that I see in the world. I bet. And people usually post it and they write something like, heading into Monday, like dot, dot, dot. And then it's me sipping on a big gulp.

We did get a question about your hair. Oh, yeah. Martha B from Malta, we've heard from Martha before, on a big gulp. We did get a question about your hair. Oh yeah? Martha B from Malta, we've heard from Martha before, would like to know, did you have your hair back combed every day? That must have been hard to deal with. Martha, what Kim did is she had me turn my head upside down and then we just kind of shook it and teased it

and then she sprayed it and had me flip back over, and then we crunched it and sprayed it again. You know, I was looking through old photos, and it's really not much different than how I used to do my hair in the 80s in Texas. It's kind of the same. I'm just missing the wall bangs. Right.

I really felt for Angela when she told Oscar that they took her cats when she was out, because I really felt for Angela when she told Oscar that they took her cats when she was out. Because I really felt the violation of someone coming into your home and taking something precious to you, like your cats. Oscar kind of expresses some sympathy, but Angela is, she's not ready for sympathy, right? And then the scene ends with her kind of trying to brush all this cat hair off her sweater and then she sniffs it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was all scripted. It says Angela pulls out a slicker brush and combs lumps of cat hair off her sweater, forms it into a ball, and sniffs it

wistfully. And here's the thing. I had a whole wardrobe fitting for this episode, right? And the sweater they gave me, it wasn't real cat hair. My memory is it was like this mohair kind of fluff, you know that mohair kind of stuff? But it did float up in the air around me, it's like got stuck in my lip gloss, like I was, there were a few times where I was like,

blah, blah, blah. And I just loved it. I loved everything about this look. You know, Alicia, our costume designer, was really thoughtful about it. I loved that my sweater actually didn't end up having shoulder pads, but we made sure it was inside out and it had those little ribbons

that you attached to the hanger. That was my favorite detail. Yeah, I love that. Was that those ribbons. Now, when I hanger. That was my favorite detail. I love that. Those ribbons. Now when I get something, I snip those out immediately. Those things drive me absolutely nuts. Does anyone actually use those? You know what?

I have one dress that's like the one shoulder. Do you know what I mean? Where it's useful. Where it's useful. Otherwise I cut them out. Or they just flop around and they poke out from your armpit whole thing. No.

They drive me crazy. They drive me crazy. They drive me crazy. But I loved them as this detail on Angela's sweater. I do have a background catch at two minutes and 52 seconds. I'm calling it a full circle, full circle moment here. If you look at the glass partition between Angela and Kevin, you can see the back of the yellow Post-It note.

It's the one that I made in the pilot episode inviting everyone to Sprinkles birthday. As you guys know, I've shared when I gave it to Brian as Kevin, he taped it to the partition. It stayed there all nine years and you can see it in this shot. I love that. And then you got to take that when the show ended and it ended up in our book.

It is. Brian saved it all that time. Well, now Dwight is going to arrive to work and he is going to call for everyone's attention because there are four new weapons in this office. It's his arms and his legs. My favorite line in this. It's a total throwaway line. it's my favorite line when he says, this morning after hours of combat with some of the city's best teenagers, I earned my black belt. That's right. He then has a talking head where he talks about how he had to part ways with

Sensei Ira and he found a new dojo and a new sensei, Sensei Billy, who felt he had more than enough training to take the test. Yes. Because as it turns out, most students don't spend 20 years and $150,000 to get a black belt. I have two things. I got so tickled in this. Okay.

At three minutes and 39 seconds, this might be the poofiest hair Dwight has ever had. It's still the zipper part, but it's so poofy. I took a screen grab. I was laughing so hard. And Rainn, I wanna apologize in advance for how this screen grab looks. It's just where your face stopped when I hit pause. Look at his hair.

It's very, very poopy. This is my favorite thing. I'm gonna set it as his picture in my contacts now. I will share that in stories. And then I was really curious about what it costs to get a black belt. Were you curious about this? I was really curious about what it costs to get a black belt. Were you curious about this? I was fascinated.

So I guess Dwight has spent $7,500 a year to get his black belt. Okay. Well, I texted my sister-in-law in Colorado because she's been taking martial arts for a very long time. And I said, is this anywhere in the ballpark of what you spend? And this is what she had to say. It varies widely based on discipline, but for Taekwondo, it's been about four years for me. For first degree, then each degree up

is at least that number of years spent at the prior belt rank. So two years minimum to second degree, three before third, et cetera. You're constantly working towards it. And then there's the cost of the gear and tournaments and all that other stuff. So you're looking at about 4K for two years of training.

But would two years of training at 4K get you to black belt? Because there's a lot of belts. I don't know. So we have you mom detective. I'm mom detective. I missed one last question, which would be, do you have your black belt? Well, we may never know.

We may never know. I mean, I could text her and ask her. But it's better this way. But maybe we leave it. We leave it like this. I just looked it up. According to the Karate grading system, the average time takes around five years.

So it takes five years. And if we use your sister-in-law's logic of about 4,000 per year, he should have been able to do this for 20 grand. Four thousand for two years. Oh, so 2,000 a year. Yeah. Also, I love the premise, this is how mom detectives end. You know, maybe we'll never know. Yeah, we'll never know.

We'll never know, and it's okay. And we stopped investigating. Yeah, exactly. We've moved on. We lost interest, maybe we'll never know. Yeah, we'll never know. We'll never know and it's okay. And we stopped investigating. Yeah, exactly. We've moved on. We lost interest and we've moved on. Well, Dwight is gonna invite everyone to his black belt ceremony here in the office at lunch, lunch not provided.

I love that that's when Phyllis turned away. She's like, I'm out. By the way, I'm gonna point out early that when we do get to the scene where Dwight is doing his black belt ritual, Leslie, as Stanley, is eating at his desk. It is lunchtime. It is perfect. He did eat his lunch.

You know when Jim shouts fireball and Dwight throws his briefcase? Yes. They purposely put me to the edge of Oscar's death so I wouldn't get hit with it. Very smart. You do not want to be anywhere near Rainn Wilson when he is throwing a prop. You do not? No. I have a background catch during this scene. I noticed there are two-frame certificates by front reception that I had never seen before. Maybe you guys caught them. Really? I zoomed in and they are for the speed dialing and memo sorting competition. It's been there a long time.

You saw it? Oh yeah. When? Oh, I mean a while ago. Okay, well. Seasons ago, I think. Erin came in fourth one year and then one year she won and got her picture.

My question is who's in this competition? Who's she beating to win this? Yeah. Who's running it? Who's running it? Who's she competing against? Who's also speed dialing and doing memo sorting? This is a great question. Is it for the building? Is it a regional thing? Yeah. Anyway, does it come with a giant check? Probably not. Well, then it's not worth much, is it? I just want to know who's in it.

I would have loved to seen a scene of it. Well, we may never know. I don't know what to tell you. David Wallace is going to arrive and he's going to ask Erin if Andy is in. Erin completely panics because she's been juggling Andy's audition arrive and he's gonna ask Erin if Andy is in. Erin completely panics because she's been juggling Andy's audition schedule and it's really hectic and she's having trouble managing his calendar.

She's super relieved to see that Andy is actually in the office that day. And Andy greets David, he said, David Walrus in his natural habitat. David Wallace has a talking head where he explains the reason that he's here is to fire Andy. Yeah. It's just been too much. Too much? He wanted cheek implants and he wanted the company to pay for it.

Yeah, and apparently he also found out that he used company funds to buy a color printer to make headshots. Fan question from Jenna F in Los Angeles. Oh, Jenna F wrote in? She did. She noticed that in this very quick little moment, this little B-roll under David Wallace's talking head that we see a shot of Andy at this color printer. And he is holding his headshot composite. Yes.

Jenna F said, this is my favorite comedic prop from the whole show. I literally spit out my coffee when I saw it. Please tell me everything about this prop. So, it's just brilliant. I mean, I truly did spit out my coffee when I saw it. I was taking a sip of coffee and I choked on it. It is so perfect to me. I reached out to Ed because I had to ask him about this. He clearly had to take all these pictures of all these different characters. Here's what Ed had to say. Hey Jenna, I saw your text. So I don't remember a lot of details about that composite

headshot, but I agree it is really damn funny. And I just remember we wanted to kind of, I don't know, nod to what it's like to be starting out as an actor and especially a comedy actor. And I don't know about you, but I definitely had a composite headshot like that with a bunch of different characters. When you're starting out, it's sort of what you think the casting business wants from you, which is like a lot of options and a lot of variety. And sometimes we try a little too hard when we put those headshots together.

I don't even know if young actors today even do headshots, that everything's so online these days, but it was definitely a fun nod. And I remember brainstorming like, well, okay, if we're doing a composite headshot, like, what are the different characters? And so we just tried to come up with a good variety. And of course, there's always like a nerd character, a jock. And, and then what else did we do in

that a judge? And then there's just like the cool guy right in the middle. So yeah, it's just a nod to classic, you know, actors starting out trying to get that headshot to get those parts. I guess that's what it is. I just love that. It is so true. We all did it. In honor of Andy's composite headshots, I went through my drawer and I have brought in my first headshots.

And then Jenna told me to do the same. So we're gonna have a show and tell. We are. So my very first headshot was, Cassie has stood up to see this. People are standing up. Okay. Okay.

I mean, I have a stack. I only brought two. Did you bring them all? are standing up, okay. Okay. I mean, I have a stack. I only brought two. Did you bring them all? No, I brought three. Okay. My very first headshot, which I did not bring, was actually taken by my tech theater teacher in college. His name is Ron Rybkowski.

I love this man. And something he did for any actor who needed it is he brought his camera in and he set up, you know, a backdrop and he took a picture for each of us when we graduated for free so that we would have something when we went out to become actors. It was a great picture. It got me in the door a lot of places. But of course, I get to LA and I get in my head about it and I think I need to hire one

of these LA headshot photographers to take my picture. The big thing you ask yourself is, what do I wear in this headshot? What do I wear? The advice I got was just wear something you're comfortable in, something that you're gonna be able to be yourself in. So I wore my favorite outfit,

which was at the time, pair of brown corduroy overalls and Doc Martens and here is my first Los Angeles headshot. How cute are you? You're so cute. Okay this headshot is super cute but it didn't help me get many auditions. Okay. I got some notes from agents saying you're kind of sitting in kind of a closed off way you're kind of hugging your knees. Let's try to be maybe more open. Why don't you try again?

So my hair had grown out a little bit, it was a little longer. So I hired a new photographer and I thought let's do this again. Okay. You might ask yourself. Did you change your outfit? Did not.

Did not sit in a less closed off way. You're doing the same pose basically. Same pose, same outfit, slightly longer hair. That's all that's happened. Yeah. That's it. I was like I'm gonna get this right. I cut my hair again and I was like I'm not gonna make this mistake again. Yeah. Third session didn't end up using this one but did have it blown up into an 8 by 10. Why? Why am I sitting on a stool like this? It's so weird. It's so awkward. Why is my zip down sweater tucked into my jeans? I don't know.

What's happening? With a belt. She took a hoodie, a zipper sweater, she tucked it in jeans with a belt, and then straddled a stool. It's so awkward. It's awful. I have so many awkward ones too.

There are many more before I got it right. And I actually have a whole chapter about it in my book, The Actor's Life, and you can see them all. But I'll share these online. Okay. Well, because... But it got worse before it got better. Same here.

Because you told me you were bringing yours in, I was like, okay. I was in New York in my early 20s. This is when I was interning on the Conan O'Brien show and I was taking acting classes and I was going to move to LA and one of the gals was like you have to have a headshot if you're moving to Los Angeles. That's right. I was like okay. So I was like what do I wear and she said I would wear something denim. Oh no. What is wrong with us? What did you wear? She was like do you have a denim vest? No, she didn't. And I was like, I do.

I do actually. She goes, well, denim vest or a denim jacket. I didn't have a denim jacket. This is peak 90s guys. Then the photographer, I think just zoomed in, it's like neck up. This is my first headshot. Oh, you look cute.

And it doesn't look like a vest. It looks like a denim shirt. OK. Then, this is in New York. Then I move to Los Angeles. And I'm like, they're all like, well, you've got to get a real more body headshot, right? Not just your head.

You need like 3 quarter, right? Yeah, that was the thing. That was the big thing. You were supposed to have like a headshot and a three quarter shot. Right, so I was like, okay, let's do this again. Did I try a new outfit? Did you? No.

What is wrong with us? I wore the denim vest again. Oh, I cut my hair. This is funny. Lady, I did not know this about you. Two photo shoots in the same denim vest. What is happening? This is the most, look how uncomfortable I look.

I'm like. Your thumbs are in your pocket. What is happening? And we wonder why it took us so long. To make it. Okay, we will share those in stories because they're special. All right. All right. Corduroy overall didn't invest.

Let's go! We were meant to be besties. We were. That is clear. Well, Andy is in his meeting with David Wallace, and David is about to launch into his sort of why I have to fire you speech, but Andy stops him. He's like, I need to stop you. Yeah, let me interrupt you right there.

Every minute that I spend here is time not spent making audition videos for reality dating, cooking, or singing shows. I got a real shot here. David is like, wait, are you you you're saying that this job is like taking your focus away? You feel like you're you're too focused on this job. And Andy's like, yeah, he was so distracted at his last headshot session because he was wondering what he was missing at work. Turns out Andy is going to quit Dunder Mifflin because, quote, I am pursuing fame of any kind.

Yeah, he said he owes it to himself and his future fans. Yeah, with this documentary about to air, this is the time, basically. So David is relieved. He's like, yeah, that worked out. And then Creed says, you know what, pretty much anyone can be a star, the Postman, the Night Janitor at the office,

but Andy, no, charisma black hole. Yeah. Well, Jim is going to approach Clark now, and he's gonna ask for his desk back, please. But Clark feels like maybe he's earned it, and maybe Jim should sit in the annex. I did love when Jim's like, well, the whole reason I'm back is to be with my wife, and Clark goes,

I'm here to sell paper, and he taps his desk. I loved that. That's what I'm back is to, you know, be with my wife. And Clark goes, I'm here to sell paper. And he like taps his desk. That's what I'm here for. That was such a great line. You know, Natalie C. from Fort Smith, Arkansas loved that line because of Clark's very hard, very Arkansan R in the line, I'm here to sell paper. Natalie went on to say, I love being able to catch all of your accents and to hear one that is so clearly from my own home just makes me love the scene so much more. Well, you know Clark was born and raised in Arkansas

and I have an audio clip. Natalie, here you go. Clark, I'm actually here today. Surprise, so I was wondering maybe I could have my desk back. Right. Yeah, but you know I've actually been working pretty hard here on a daily basis so I kind of feel like I've earned this.

I mean, you know? Totally have. You have earned it. But maybe I could be with my wife. That's kind of the whole reason why I'm here. Right. Well, I'm here to sell paper. There it is. Paper. Paper. I'm here to sell paper. I love Clark. We were just emailing. He's got to come on. He's very excited. Oh yeah. Yeah. You know

Ainsley knows Clark. I know. So small world. I know. He's coming on. Well why don't we take a break and when we come back I will share my wedding bells note card. And Andy's going to have a big announcement to the bullpen. I like it. Miller Lite, the light beer brewed for people who love the taste of beer and the perfect pairing for your game time. When Miller Light set out to brew a Light beer, they had to choose great taste or 90

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You can totally save, just not exactly like Dave. Save like only you can at tdinsurance.com slash ways to save. TD, ready for you. We are back and I have a note card for you titled Wedding Bells. It is because while we were filming this episode we threw a surprise bridal shower. This was the email I found and then Steve Burgess also sent me pictures from the bridal shower. It said, Hello Office Friends, as many of you know,

our first AD, Kelly Cantley, has met her mate and is getting married. We will be throwing her a surprise bridal shower at the catering tables during lunch. Please help us keep this a secret. We invite everyone to come for cake and sparkling cider, and anyone who wishes to bring a gift may drop it off at the production office.

And here are her registries. Please email Angela or Steph with any questions and we'll see you there. Sweetest thing. So sweet. Mm-hmm. I just love that we were a family. That's why we're all still in touch and I love finding little emails like this. I hope you guys like hearing it because it really was a special, special group of people. It really was. Well next up, Andy is going to make a very big announcement to the bullpen. He is taking a lifetime leave of absence from Dunder Mifflin. Yeah. Everyone assumes he's been fired. He's like, no, no, no, no, no. I've chosen this. I'm leaving because he is going to pursue his dreams. Yeah, he said, see you on the red carpet.

And everybody is like, oh, Andy. Yeah. Phyllis has a talking head. She says, Andy sings beautifully. And you know, he's good at dancing and speaking, but there's something there you just don't wanna look at. Yeah. Her talking head is facing out.

Oh. Now we're headed to the annex. Jim and Pete are working and they're kind of like trying to be buddies. They're trying to like dude bro bond. Yeah, Jim's like, I bet you kind of miss Clark, huh? And Pete's like, yeah. I mean, Pete.

Is so honest. He is. And then Jim's like, go Phillies. And Pete's like, no. I mean, Pete is so honest. He is. And then Jim's like, go Phillies. And Pete's like, no. It's not happening. He doesn't watch baseball. The two Jims are not going to bond. And then I love, clearly, but I love

that Toby, once again, has to live through this moment. He does. He's always in the background of all these people's conversations. Next up, Darrell is going to go into Andy's office and really try to talk some sense into him, but Andy misinterprets this. Yeah, Darryl has one of my favorite lines of the episode. He said, listen, let's say you get a job which you probably won't. They're not gonna cut you any slack and you're meant for a job with lots and lots of slack. Yeah. Isn't that

that principle that we read about that one time the Peter principle? Yeah. That feels like people who need a job with a lot of slack. That's right. Andy of course thinks this is Daryl's way of saying goodbye, right? He says the male is a funny species. We don't just tell each other how we feel, that's chick stuff. So instead of saying, hey Andy, I love you man, I don't want you to leave, you say something like, hey Andy, you're making the worst mistake of your life.

You're not talented. Well, right back at you, Darryl. He's like, right back at you, Darryl. Yeah, buddy. Yeah. So Andy gives Darryl a big hug and says, I'm going to miss you too. Now we're going to hear from some other folks in the office.

They're going to tell us how they feel about Andy's big dreams, starting with Stanley. He says, what happened to the generation of shut up and do your work and die quietly from a heart attack? He's over Andy's generation, who thinks they all should be famous. What would Stanley think of TikTok? Oh, no.

He would not be having it. That would be a no. Especially because you know it's all Michael would be doing. Oh yeah. Do you know how many TikTok dances we've all learned under Michael? Oh my gosh.

So many. So many. Michael Scott would have the whole bullpen doing some TikTok dance. You know, I learned TikTok dances in my free time and I just never post myself doing them. I know this about you and you're really good. Well, I can't dance.

I certainly can't do a TikTok dance. They move so quick. I'm not great. I'm not. You're fantastic. You're being kind. You're being a good BFF. I'm actually not. You're really good.'re being kind, you're being a good BFF. I'm actually not, you're really good. That last one you sent me was so good.

I wish you would share one. It all started with me learning the tap dance routine to Footloose. That kind of kicked it off. It's great exercise. It really is just learning these TikTok dances. And the latest one I learned was the one from the show, Chicago. Yeah, everyone's doing that one.

Yeah, I figured it out, I did it. I'm proud of it. I think you're really good at it. I don't think I'll ever post it. I love the part where you did. I don't think it's gonna end up on Office Ladies this week, but I don't know. I like the part where you did your hands that way

and then you did your hands this way. It was like really fast. You know what, it was really hard for me to figure that out. Ta ta ta ta ta. I thought. You know what it was really hard for me to figure that out. I thought it was so good. It was hard for me to figure out. I could not do it. And it got my heart rate up.

Well there you go. And I enjoyed myself. There you go. That was a tangent I wasn't expecting to go on. Well now people are going to want to see it so. It'll never see the light of day. It's for me. It's my joy and for you because I send them to you.

You're my audience of one. Well, I think you're phenomenal. Thank you. Sensei Billy and Dwight are about to begin the belt ceremony. Dwight kind of is like thrusting his hips towards Sensei Billy, which is making this very difficult to take the belt off.

They're just going to have to cut it off. I know we talked about how much fun it was to shoot this with Michael, but I wanted to point out this fan catch from Courtney C. in Torrance, California, because she noticed we did get a giant break on camera. Courtney said, David Wallace is definitely laughing and breaking when Dwight presents the scissors to Sensei Billy. Andy lost it. Oh my gosh, Angela, it's full Mindy. It's like, he's just literally, he's just laughing. Laughing on camera. Yeah, and he was really usually pretty good about it.

Oh, he was. Yeah. Oh wait, Kate is waving from the sound booth. Kate, do you have something to add about this scene? Fan catch from Kate. As Dwight begins his karate black belt routine, you, I believe as Angela Kinsey, not Angela Martin are fully laughing in the background.

And so is everyone. Everyone, no one is looking at all serious as he begins this very serious proceeding. I do remember that. I saw you like smirk, Jenna. Oh yeah. Yeah. Here's the thing.

I mean, we talked about this. This was very hard to get through. We have bloopers of it. You know what I mean? And I'm not surprised. I mean, we made our best effort, but. Yeah. Well, good fan catch from Kate.

Thank you. Well, Angela's now gonna have a talking head. This is a talking head. This is a talking head I get quoted to me. I've had to sign it like someone wanted me to write it out one time. Basically we learned that Dwight has been practicing karate for years and that Angela used to help him with his strength training when they dated. He would strap her to his chest in a baby bjorn made for fat babies and do lunges across the

farm. She felt like she was flying. Here's what I remember about this. There was a serious moment of conversation where they wondered if we could do this. Like a b-roll? Like a b-roll. No. And that they would cut to it and I would be strapped to Rain's chest and you'd be

doing lunges. There is no way. It never happened, but I was tickled that they were trying to figure it out. This does bring me to some mail we got. Remember when I played my bulls**t cards for the farm? I do. And we told everyone if they had a bulls**t card to play

that they could write in and we set up a folder on our website. I do remember. Well, we got one for this episode and here it is. It's from Karen C in Texas and in the subject for what episode she wrote this. I'm not sure the episode number but it's the one where Angela lost everything and has to move in with Oscar. Okay. Okay and here's her bullsh** card and I thought she brought up a good point. I call bullsh** on Angela's downfall because before the senator she was making enough money

to have a house, she still should have enough money to at least afford an apartment. And I know other people wrote this in, but here's the part where I thought she made a good point. In Pennsylvania, it is practiced, it is not a mandate, but it is practiced that in a divorce, everything is 50-50 division of marital law. So Angela would have gotten some sort of settlement. So bullsh-t on her downward spiral. All right, so I know we've discussed this.

We got so much mail about this and whether or not people believe that Angela is so destitute. We did get an interesting comment on our Office Ladies pod Instagram that I saw. Cassie, can you look it up? She kind of talks about her theory. It's a nice rebuttal to this.

Yeah, this is from Suzy. And she said, I used to work for a divorce attorney. And let me tell you, that divorce is expensive. I imagine that Angela was probably spending a lot more money on her wardrobe and other things as she viewed herself as the first lady of Scranton. Also, any divorce attorney worth his salt would have told the senator to get a paternity test

before they settled child support. Angela had a job before and during the marriage, so she might not have qualified for spousal support. Even if they didn't use a divorce attorney, she may not have had a lot of savings and childcare cost a lot. All right, I like that. Yeah, I like both of these contributions to this storyline and why Angela might be struggling. Yeah, I could see how her money and assets or any potential money she might get from the divorce might be tied up as well.

Like maybe she's not getting these payments yet. This is very fresh. Yeah. Mm-hmm. There's a lot going on. And the senator might have been sneaky and like... Oh, the senator was 100% sneaky. For sure.

Oh my God, Creed Bratton is trying to call me. Answer. Well, I missed it. Do you want me to call him back? Well sure because I love when he calls us when we're in the middle of podcasting. Hey Puckett. Creed-o you called we're podcasting you're on with me and Jenna again. That cat video you sent I mean seriously that's gonna haunt me. That's what it did. I'll have to share it. Creed what are you up to?

I'm running my sets here, trying to figure out the comedy bits for Europe and Ireland and England and stuff. And I got a call, can we talk? I got a call LA Times is doing an article on the album. Awesome. And they're asking office mates of mine to make some comments about what it was like when I was playing music. So Rain and Brian are going to do a quick set up. I'm calling you to see if you would talk to them. A hundred percent Creed. A hundred percent. Okay.

You can give them my phone number. Okay, can I give you your phone number to my publicist and she can coordinate it with them? Yes. When does your tour start? I think October 3rd, third or fifth in Nottingham. Okay. And then second show is in England, so in London rather.

You heard that, office ladies listeners. Creed is coming to Europe. You have to go see his show. He's fantastic. And free fish and chips. Free fish and chips? Really? No. No.

I got really excited. All right, Creed, well well we're gonna do the podcast but we love you and we miss you oh go do that podcast hi Jan hi Creed I told you my cat's reaction when I played that video well I wanted to see I wanted to see was too late now it wouldn't react the same way but if I could have had a video oh my daughter on, she's walking out to the car to go to the chiropractor and the phone's in her purse. And all of a sudden she gets in the car, it's back in the back seat. She hears that noise there. It went off, she hit it

somehow, it starts playing the cat. She's looking out the windows for that sound. Where it was coming from. Creed I'm gonna try I'll play it again and I'll see if my cat reacts the same way since it's been a few days and I'll send it to you I'll send you a video of his reaction. Oh please do please do I mean my god I don't think that's lightning in a bottle that thing. Alright Creed we love you I'll talk to you soon. Love you girls. Okay, hun. All right, bye.

Bye. Aw, it's my favorite neighbor, Creed Braden. He's going to Europe. Yeah. 80, touring. Amazing. Amazing. All right everyone, it is official.

Dwight is a black belt. Yes, he has an elaborate, what would you call it, routine he does throughout the office. Yes, we talked about this with Michael. It is a truly never ending display, and Steve Burgess told us that we did bring in a stunt coordinator. It was John Medlin, who was a specialist in karate

and hand-to-hand combat. He worked with Rain before the shoot but it's also true that Rain kind of made up this whole sequence for himself on the day. I feel like the choice to headbutt the plant was all Rain. Yeah that little stare down between Pam and Jim at the end was not scripted. I loved that. I loved it when he was doing his like hand motion and Pam is like, no, not today Dwight. Exactly.

In fact, the only scripted scene description was this, quote, Dwight kicks around the office a little too close to Clark and Phyllis. That's it. That's it. That's what it said. It also said that Esther proudly jumps and wraps her legs around him.

Yeah, scripted. They just did a hug, and then we find out that she calls Dwight Shrewberry Blue, cringe. Super cringe, I'm so glad you said that. I didn't like it. I'm sorry, it's super cringe. No, and you know what? Dwight is not, he doesn't want to be called

those baby names. No, and also you know what? What? If you call your partner a baby name, save it for out of the office. I don't need to be called those baby names. No, and also you know what? What? If you call your partner a baby name, save it for out of the office. I don't need to know it. No? No.

Would you have preferred that she call him lover? No, no! Please, don't loop me in. You know, I'm really so glad that we got to talk to Michael about these scenes. He is seriously the nicest guy. And you know, Angela, this story of how me and Lee ran into him on our summer vacation on the streets of New York City.

Yeah, you guys were like at a red light. You and Lee standing next to him and his wife. It was a New York moment, truly. We had both come out of the same like art house movie theater. We hadn't seen the same movie, but we were coming out at the same time. We get to chatting. They are so lovely. We're talking about the movies we saw.

We're talking about how, oh, Michael and I both did rewatch podcasts. You know, his wife Victoria and he, they just opened up a bar in New York. She did all the interior design for it. It has like live jazz music on Mondays. We're like, oh my gosh, we're going to have to check this out. All of this happens. Right? Yeah. We never

mentioned the fact that he was on the office. This doesn't come up. Then I get home from our summer vacations and I'm like, oh, what's our first episode back? I pop it on and there he is, it's him. He's Sensei Billy. Yes, I was like, oh my gosh. This is so weird.

I just ran into him. And then you reached out and he was so gracious. Yes, he was like, sure, I'd love to chat about it. I really wanna go to his club. Oh lady, for sure. Jazz music on a Monday night in New York City, are you kidding me? I'm in. Yeah. Angela Martin. Are you kidding me? I'm in

Yeah, Angela Martin would not be in but I am in we are in you know what? I'm gonna tell you the name of it everybody in New York or traveling to New York. You should check it out It is called Scarlet. It is in Manhattan at the corner of 83rd and Amsterdam Okay, and they have a special drink, that is a nod to the White Lotus. Oh. Because he was on season two. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, Jim and David Wallace are now going to have a chat in the conference room. David is impressed that Jim would set his personal goals aside to focus on his marriage. Yeah. Isn't this when he says he knows some people like wouldn't change their golf schedule for their marriage? Yeah. How are those marriages? Yeah how's that working out for you? My question. Clark is watching

this he's very suspicious of Jim he's like you know what I bet he came back here to like take over the job like not to be here with Pam and Dwight defends Jim and says, no, Pam is actually really cool. I loved that. I did too. It was so sweet. And this is where Dwight shares that, you know,

he used to want to be the branch manager, but he's made too many mistakes and he thinks Jim would be a fine manager. So we're seeing this really just full circle for Dwight of like his journey and wanting this position. But then back in the conference room, David shares that he's for Dwight of like his journey and wanting this position. But then back in the conference room, David shares that he's considering Dwight as Andy's replacement and Jim says

it should absolutely be Dwight. Yeah, David had had a sidebar conversation with Sensei Billy during Dwight's whole routine and Sensei Billy said he was one of the most loyal, dedicated, odd guys that he'd ever met. But I think David's really seeing how much Dwight loves and cares for this company. Now we're going to have a scene that I found very curious simply because of the pairing of people that enter Andy's office. Yeah, this is an odd grouping that we've never seen before.

We have never seen Nellie and Kevin in cahoots in a way. Yes, they have teamed up to confront Andy and again try to convince him not to leave Dunder Mifflin. They sort of say, what if you stayed here and you really gave it a go? You could achieve the fame and immortality simply by being the best manager in the history of this branch. How about that? No.

Andy's not hearing it. And then Oscar's gonna have a talking head that I thought was so hilarious because Oscar Nunez's performance was perfect. Oscar says, no, I don't think he can make it as an actor, but also he can't make it as an employee in an office. So why not go nuts with it? That's very funny.

And he is also facing out. Did anyone face in? It doesn't sound like it. In Living the Dream Part II, someone is facing in. I will save it. Save it. All right, now we're gonna have a scene at Pam's desk. Jim is gonna come up.

He's kind of just, it's a flirty excuse to come talk to her. It's very cutesy. He's asking about some sticky notes, but I believe it's going to reveal a very big thing about Pam. What is that? Is Pam the sauce lady of the office? She has a salt packet in her desk.

I feel like she's one ketchup pack away. She's the sauce lady. She might be. I want you guys to know that there was a very big note that went to both John and I before we started this episode. And the note came from Greg. And it was that Jim should be 100% happy. Yeah. There is no hint of regret, no hint of strife between this couple,

that this whole episode, Jim and Pam, but particularly Jim, is very happy with this decision to be back at Dunder Mifflin. We wanted this to be very clear. You're not wondering. That's absolutely how it read to me. And I was happy, I was like relieved. I feel like as an audience member re-watching,

I was so stressed about Jim and Pam that in this episode I could relax. That was the idea. Dwight is now gonna go into the kitchen where he meets Andy, and they're both sort of congratulating each other, you know, like, hey, Dwight, this is a big day for you. Andy's like, it's a big day for you.

Yeah, they both enter the kitchen whistling. That's how excited they are about their lives, I guess. And I wondered if the whistling was scripted. It was. Oh, it says they both enter whistling. Dwight is also now going to try to talk Andy out of going. He says, listen, I have everything to gain by you leaving, but don't go, please.

I've seen you perform. Dear God, don't quit your day job. And then Andy has this response, which I just love Ed Helms so much. This made me laugh. In a very cockney accent, he says, nothing is impossible to him who will try. Alex is great if he were cockney. I cannot do a very good cockney accent but

Ed's is great and I just love that that's how he chose to say that quote. And then Andy has this talking head where he says, I'm gonna make it. Every person that has been on Conan has a crazy story about how they made it. Every person. Yeah, that's because every person who's on Conan made it. You know, I have to say though, when you try to do something like this, it does serve you to have a little delusion. I mean, nothing

makes you get in your car and drive across the country with your denim vest on, ready to take the world. That's right. I mean, there is, there's ambition, but there's a healthy amount of delusion. So Andy's not wrong. And you do have to be your own champion, even when other people don't see it in you. You have to see it in yourself. It's true. I thought a lot about my early days watching this episode.

I remember telling my manager at 1-800-DENTIST that I was going to quit 1-800-DENTIST to focus on my one-woman show. And I did. You were Andy. I was Andy. I wrote a one-woman show full of characters. I did a whole bunch of characters. Oh gosh.

I remember that I was at a job interview. And in the interview I wanted to be very honest and upfront about why I was really here, and it was not to be part of media sales. And so I said, I do feel like I need to tell you that I'm really here pursuing an acting career, so that is gonna be my main focus. I'm really here for that.

That is gonna be my main focus. I'm really here for that. Yeah. And the person literally said, I think that'll be fine. If it becomes a problem, we'll deal with it. Yeah. Like sort of like, okay, we'll see you tomorrow at nine. Don't think I'm gonna have to worry.

Well, my manager at 1-800-Dennis said, anytime you wanna come back. Well, my manager at 1-800-Dennis said, any time you wanna come back. No, you're welcome. I was like, okay. And I remember like driving in my car, leaving there being like, I'm never gonna go back. You'll see, my one-woman show is gonna be the talk of the town.

All my characters. Oh my goodness. Well, most people didn't maybe totally support our delusions. Aaron certainly does not support Andy's. Well Andy says I'm gonna ask you, you're honest Aaron right? Aaron cannot tell a lie. Yeah. And she says pretty bluntly that she's worried that he might become homeless or even starve. Yeah and this is gonna finally take the wind out of Andy's sails. Mm-hmm. Andy walks into the conference room and before he could even say anything, David says, you know

what, you can stay on as a salesman. Yeah. And I'm sad for Andy. He was so excited at the beginning of this episode. Well don't worry, I know. There's part two coming. Part two is coming. We're going to end on a big cliffhanger. David Wallace is going to call Dwight into the conference room. Dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun.

To be continued. Yes. We did get a fan catch for this very final moment of Dwight shutting the door behind him. It's from Xenia W. in British Columbia, and also Summer P. from St. Charles, Missouri. They have a mom detective's moment for us in this very final shot of this episode.

What is it? I'm gonna tell you, I'm also gonna tell you ahead of time, this one is gonna go unsolved as well. Oh, okay. So nothing new. Correct. At 20 minutes and 58 seconds, as Dwight closes the conference room door to talk to David Wallace There is a single trailing drip of something on the wall behind Dwight's head

Oh, they can't tell what it is and it's driving them crazy. They want to know is it coffee? Is it chocolate sauce? Is it part of a deleted scene? Is it head high? It's about, yeah, it is. Mm-hmm. Huh. Was it perhaps splattered there from a crew member and no one caught it? Jenna, Angela, can the mom detectives solve this? I will go back and re-watch it.

I'll zoom in on it. I looked at it, I have a picture of it. Oh, let's see it. See if it'll help you. Okay. I almost drew a circle around it. Oh, I Think it looks like Sharpie No, it looks like a drip. No, there's a drip at the bottom. Look at it There's a little bubble of drip. Where the ink like makes the bigger dot. Why would someone draw Sharpie on the wall? I don't think they meant to.

I don't think it's Sharpie. I wanna look at it again. It looks like black Sharpie to me. Oh, when you really zoom in on it. Mm-hmm. I see what you're doing there. Okay, well. My theory is it's Sharpie.

Xenia Summer, when you zoom in on it, I don't know, what if, when you zoom in on it, I don't know, what if when it's a video it's moving? I'm gonna have to re-watch it to be continued. To be continued just like this episode. Just like this episode. I do wanna give a shout out to the writer of this episode, Nikki Schwartz Wright.

She's fantastic, we traded text, and I told her how special this episode is to me because I loved, loved getting to see the range of emotion in Angela Martin. A lot happens for her in this episode and it had to build and grow and I thought Nikki wrote it so well. And she wrote me back and said that she has bronchitis or she would have left us a voice memo.

Aw. But in the text she praised our writers room and said they truly wrote these episodes as a group and she didn't want to take any of the credit. I know. So sweet. She was really happy that they brought me joy and she's just so talented in a class act and I just wanted to say Nikki I hope you feel better and thanks for giving Angela Martin such a great episode. And it's really just gonna get even better too

in the second half in terms of that Angela Martin emotion. Some big stuff is coming. I cried, we'll talk about it next week. Yeah. Well, I wanna give a big thank you again to Michael Imperioli and one more shout out for Michael and Victoria's Bar, Scarlett. And also I want to thank Ed Helms for chatting with us about those headshots.

You know, season two of Ed's podcast, Snafu, is out now. Snafu is a podcast about history's greatest screw ups. And this season they are deep diving on Medburg, which is the story of a daring heist that exposed a colossal FBI snafu. Ooh, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. And also a big thank you to Steve Burgess for answering our behind the scenes questions. And he gave us great photos from the set this week,

including one of Kelly's bridal shower and some of Sensei Billy and Dwight in their scenes. We'll share those all in stories. And thanks to all of you for writing in with your questions and comments. We'll see you next week for Live in the Dream, Part Two. Who knows, maybe Creed will call again. He might.

All right, have a good one. Have a good one. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a present-day office newsroom, and we're here to help you get to know the latest in office news. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fischer 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 Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil. Our theme song is Ruppertree by Creed Bratton.