Office Ladies - Peacock Superfan Basketball with Karly Rothenberg

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, Jenna and Angela break down the Peacock Superfan episode of “Basketball” and then they are joined by Karly Rothenberg who played Madge in the warehouse! Karly shares how she got her job on “The Office”, what it was like to play basketball against the Dunder Mifflin employees including squaring up against Dwight and the ladies point out a few Madge scenes that got added back into other superfan episodes. Jenna also shares a memory from the glue scene between Jim and Pam, and Angela has a great Oscar catch. So if you don’t want to work on Saturday, challenge Michael to a pickup game of basketball and enjoy this episode! Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow Us on YouTube Follow Us on TikTok 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

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 BFF stories. We're the Office Lady 6.0. Hello, hello. Hi there.

This is a fun episode. It really is. It's a fun episode. I'm excited to do it. It's also a little rainy outside, and we're inside all cozy. I'm just happy to be here. Why don't you tell everybody what we're doing today, Ang? I sure will. Today, it's the superfan basketball episode. We're going to be talking a little bit about some of the new scenes added in. And we have a special guest that's going to join us later. It's Carly Rothenberg, who played Madge from the warehouse. That is right. I mean, Madge is like legend. And Carly, by the way, his... has been acting professionally since 1986. She has a very long-standing career as a guest star actor. I mean, she's been in everything.

I can't wait to hear her talk about her time on the office. But first, we're going to kick things off with a chit-chat suggestion. Angela, I am loving these chit-chat suggestions that our office ladies' community have been sending in. They are so fun. And here is a really fun one that mentions the basketball episode from Savannah in Fort Worth. Hi, office ladies. After listening to Second Drink Basketball, I realized it's one of my comfort episodes along with the Dundees,

email surveillance, casino night, and the convention. I was wondering, what are your comfort episodes from your favorite TV shows that y'all like? I love y'all's podcast and the tidbits y'all give. Thanks for letting me ask my question. Oh, Savannah, I just love that you love the tidbits. Okay, so let's answer her question, Jenna's. What are your sort of comfort things to watch? Yeah, I like to watch movies on repeat.

So I have a few movies. I think you all know one of my comfort movies is The Edge. Yeah. We broke it down here on Office Ladies. In a two-parter, by the way. Yeah, by the way. I think my three main go-to comfort movies are The Edge, Moonstruck, and Phantom Thread. Do you know Phantom Thread with Daniel Day-Lewis?

and he plays the old-timey fashion designer. I watched it three nights ago. What? Yes. I love this movie. We've never discussed it. How am I just learning this now? I love this movie.

And so I watched it a long time ago. And then I re-watched it a month ago. And then my son, Jack, was like, I really want to watch that movie. And I said, I'll re-watch it with you again. So I've just watched it twice now in the last five weeks. I love it so much. I love how irritated he gets at the smallest things. I just, when she's like buttering her toast, that's what I could rewatch that scene.

I could live in that scene. It's so delicious. I want to eat the breakfast that he eats in that movie all the time with all the little, like, you know, the butter has its own little dome cover and all the china and all the like accoutrement that comes with his breakfast. Google, one of his breakfast orders, is a rabbit's... Yeah. Oh, crap. What does he call it?

I can't remember. Well, it's not actually rabbit. It's just how it's prepared. So we had to Google that. But yeah. Well, Angela, what about you? Do you have a comfort TV show or what? I do.

I mean, all through the pandemic, we watch the Great British Bake Off. I absolutely love it. I will rewatch an episode of that. If I just need to, like, wind down. It doesn't matter what seasons. I have some favorite seasons. but I will just pop it on. And this goes actually for my whole family, for Josh and the kids.

If we just want something where we don't have time to invest in a whole new episode of something, it's like it's a school night, but we want to watch a little something. We'll watch a Great British Bake Off. I mean, that tracks with Josh as a baker as well. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, my favorite movie is Pride and Prejudice, and I rewatch it all the time, all the time. I mean, multiple times a year. I'll just put it on and watch it.

Yeah. And I've never seen it. I know. It's just crazy to me. You know, I would say I need you to watch it and us break it down, but I don't think we need to break it down. What I would rather do is have a BFF date and I would make a pot of tea and maybe make some patisserie, maybe like a little like tea party and you and I watch Pride and Prejudice in real life on a couch next to each other. I mean, done. Let's please do this. Okay, great. I'm excited. I'm saying we're looking for a BFF hang. I know. You were looking at like crafting classes. I was looking at like, I wanted to go see the Bisa Butler exhibit, but it closed. And so I think this is our thing. This is going to be our BFF date. Okay.

Tea and Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice. Yay. Oh, Savannah. Thank you so much for sending in your chit-chat suggestion. Everyone, the folder is on OfficeLadies.com. Head over there. Send us your suggestions.

But now let's dive into today. Today's episode, we're talking about the superfan episode of basketball, which was written and directed by Greg Daniels. You know, the superfan episode is almost twice as long as the original broadcast version. The broadcast version is 22 minutes and 13 seconds, and the superfan is 39 minutes and 50 seconds. I know. Well, speaking of how much longer this episode is, I reached out to our amazing editor, director of the office, Dave Rogers, And if you guys remember, Dave was on talking about how he put together these superfan episodes, and he made us a list of his top 10 favorites that he's done so far, and basketball made the list.

So I asked him to share about it, and here's what he had to say about the additional footage. And I quote, there are 13 minutes of deleted scenes restored. These are scenes that were either on the DVDs or the NBC website, and then there's about six minutes of new material added that no one's. ever seen. Okay. Okay. This episode is a great example of what the superfan episodes are all about.

To have these great deleted scenes and new material restored within the context of the show as opposed to just seeing them loose are tied together with other deleted scenes. And then he sent me his itemized list of each scene he added back in. It's just so impressive the amount of work him and his team are doing. It was like two pages of a list. And it tells you if it's a deleted. scene are new material, newfound stuff, right? Wow. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this superfan episode. Me too. The basketball superfan episode kicks off the same way that the broadcast

version does with Michael entering and asking Jim if he's ready. And then they show one another their gym bags. And then Michael points to Ryan and Ryan holds up his bag. Well, we got a question from Kelly C. in Pittsburgh, who said this. My question is from the basketball episode. When Michael is going around the bullpen asking if everyone brought their clothes, Ryan holds up a plastic bag that seems sealed up like it was an online clothing order. It made me think that Ryan had to order something to wear to play basketball in the office that day. Because otherwise, it might have been a duffel or a bag from home. I notice that every time I see that episode and imagine that Ryan had to place an Amazon order for athletic wear because Michael wanted him to play.

Well, Kelly, I think you're on to something. I went to the shooting draft of basketball, and in the script, the writers wrote in very specific descriptions of everyone's bag. What did it say? It says, quote, Jim holds up an athletic bag. Michael holds up a Nike bag. Dwight holds up an Adidas bag. And Ryan holds up a shirt.

shopping bag. See, it was completely intentional. Yes, Kelly, I think Ryan had to quickly buy clothes to play basketball in. I always noticed that bag, too, by the way, so I love that question. Sidebar. Yeah. Growing up, my friends called Adidas, because they were from Australia. Oh, that's how they talk about it on that British show, Glow Up. Do you know Glow Up? I don't. Okay, it's great British baking show except makeup. Oh. So it's a bunch of makeup artists. and they're vying to be the winner of doing makeup. And they had a campaign one season for Adidas. Yeah.

I know. And so now my daughter and I call it Adidas. Yeah. I always almost call it Adidas because that's what I heard growing up. Anyway, sorry. Okay. I want to bring up this. There's a new bit that's added to the superfan episode.

When Michael goes to get his messages from Pam at front reception, we learn we're Michael shops for his pants, y'all, and I thought you had to hear it. Pam, Pam, thank you, ma'am. Messages, please. Thank you all. New pants? Yes. Thank you for noticing.

I really like those pleats, Michael. Oh, they're, you know. Abercrombie and Fitch? They look that good. Wow. Oh, Pam. Please behave. Mike Myers, genius.

No, actually, I got them at a fancier place. Targe. Oh, I'm sorry. Targey. Michael shops for pants at Target, everybody. I know. I love that, but I also love the Targeet because, you know, that's what the ladies in my family say. Targeet or Jacques Pinet.

What's Jacques Panet? J.C. Pennies. I don't know that one. I love that. Well, another fun thing about the Superfan episode is that we are going to finally find out exactly what went wrong at this pickup basketball game with Todd Packer. Oh, that was one of my favorite scenes in the original broadcast. Todd Packer? Like, Michael is so embarrassed. I want to know why. Yes, in the broadcast version, there's this scene

in Michael's office, and Dwight is begging to be in the basketball game in the warehouse, and Michael is saying no, not after what happened at that game, that pickup game I invited you to. You know, he's like, I vouched for you in front of Todd Packer. Todd Packer! Yes. Well, in the superfan version, we cut away to a Dwight talking head, and here's what happened. Oh. The pickup game incident.

Well, what happened is I missed a couple passes that Michael threw me. I should have dove for them. I think about it all the time. Why didn't I die for them? That's it. That's it? That's it. He should have dove for a couple of passes.

I mean, he's, Michael has been holding this grudge. It just sounds like Dwight didn't even really do anything that bad. He didn't. Also, I'm willing to bet those passes were just wild and crazy and out of his reach. I mean, in the basketball game, we see Michael trying to throw a pass and it goes like into the warehouse truck. Like, yes. Yeah. Yes.

Mm-hmm. Oh, Dwight. I know. All right. the next new scene we want to talk about is back at front reception. I love this moment. I'm going to describe it for you guys. Pam has taken it on herself to glue a piece of the desk panel that wraps around the front reception desk, right? It's just like that laminate peeling, you know, on a desk, and it's cheapy, and it's just popping off. So she's got a little bit of glue,

like Elmer's glue, and she's trying to stick it back together. I just love this little moment because how many times have you, like, worked somewhere, and this desk has, like, got a flap hanging off of it or something? Yes. It's happened to me. Me too. Anyway, Jim walks up, and they start to be kind of flirty flirt. He grabs the glue and starts to glue all his hand.

You know, he lays his palm out and does glue all over the palm of his hands. And he's like, did you do this growing up? You know, how you'd put glue on your hand, then you'd let it dry, and then you'd peel it off, like you had a little second piece of skin. and they giggle, and he does this. And then, so he's got two hands full of glue, and then they both are blowing on his hands. It's very flirty.

Pam is gently blowing on his hand. Let me just say, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Then the phone rings at front reception, and she's got to answer it, and it's Roy's mom, Vicky. And she ends up being on the phone with Vicki for a while, and it just gets awkward. And Jim is now just standing there with glue on his hands.

He eventually just walks away, and goes into the kitchen and washes the glue off his hands. It's a real womp, womp. So this is one of those scenes when I saw it in the Superfan episode. I had forgotten that we did this and all these memories came pouring back. So the first thing that I remember is talking with Greg Daniels about glue, about doing silly things with glue and with John. And we talked about how did you do that thing with glue where I would glue like in the shape of a fingernail and let it dry and then I would peel the glue off and I would put it on my fingernail once it had hardened and then I would color it with marker.

I never did that. And I told them this story. And John was like, oh, I used to put it on my hands and you rub your hands together until it gets sticky. and then it becomes sort of like a putty, and you can play with it after you peel it off your hands. Well, I did the exact thing that he's doing, which is I glued my whole hand and I let it dry.

You have to wait a while. And then I slowly peeled it off. And then it was like you were seeing my hand, but a thin glue version of my hand. Yes. Why we got into this conversation, I don't know. But then Greg made it a scene. He turned it into this romantic, intimate, blowing on his hands sort of scene.

It was incredible. And then I remember when it was time for the phone call, I only had one scripted line. I was just supposed to be like, oh, hey, Vicky, yeah, I think I can run by and grab that. And then Greg just kept the camera rolling, and I just was improvving this conversation with Vicky. And then John is standing there as Jim with his hands covered in glue. It was so wonderful. But it took a lot of time, you know, and that's the sort of stuff we didn't have time for in the broadcast versions. But I loved it.

I loved the scene was back in. It was romantic and then cringy all at the same time. It also made me nostalgic of a childhood without devices because I think what you did was you put glue on your hands. Yes. Right? You didn't have an iPad to keep you company. So I love you. it. So there's a few other storylines that were beefed up for the superfan version. And one was about

Dwight doing the schedule, right, if he would have to work on Saturdays. So there's more of that. Like, people are going to him and presenting their cases of, like, why they shouldn't have to work. There's also, like, a full 30 seconds of him trying to put his giant dry erase board under his desk. Yeah. And it's just, it's straight up wrestling. Yeah. With this giant whiteboard, it was hilarious. I know. Rain is so good. at that kind of physical humor. And then the other thing that's been beefed up is everything down in the warehouse.

There's just so much more trash talk. But one of my favorite things that made its way into this extended version was a Pam talking head. So it would have come right after we learned that she's been engaged for three years, has no wedding date set, right? Yep.

And lady, it's the thing you pitch to Greg about Roy and the Wave Runners. This is like this extended moment. We have to hear it. Well, I thought we were saving money for the wedding, but apparently Roy thought it was more important to buy two wave runners. I don't really ever even get to use the other wave runner that's supposed to be mine because his brother uses it and they race. I'm not going to lie. I actually laughed out loud at myself when I watched this talking at it. It took me by surprise. And it's very funny to me. And they race is the line that got me.

Yeah. But this is this. This is the thing. You pitched to Greg that he, he, like, wasted, like, the money to plan the wedding to buy these stupid wave runners. Yeah, Greg asked me one day, why do you think Pam and Roy aren't married yet? And I said, oh, I have a whole story for that. And then he put it in. It's so great.

It's so perfect, too. Okay, so the Superfan episode also includes a big plot twist that is not in the broadcast version. So Michael is in the bullpen, and he's trying to pick his team. He says it's going to be him, Ryan, Stanley, Jim, and wait for it, Todd Packer. Todd Packer was going to play in the basketball game. We find out this, I couldn't believe. Guess what his position is?

Point guard. Yes, Phyllis, who wants to play in the game and is denied, is like, Todd Packer doesn't even really work here. And Jim is like, I thought this game was just for fun, like sort of being like, why can't Phyllis play? And Michael's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but Packer's really good. And I just have to call him. I have to confirm he's in.

So Michael goes into his office, he puts him on speakerphone. And Packer is completely Packer, totally inappropriate. And then he just bales on the game. But what's crazy is that it's not Dave Kekner on the phone because Dave Kekner had not been cast yet. Yep. I'm assuming that it was Toby Huss who originated the voice of Todd Packer before Dave was cast. You reached out to Dave Raj.

right, Anj? I did. I asked him about it, and I said, was that Toby? And also, did it bump you to add this back in because ultimately the role became Dave Kekner's role, right? And here's what Dave said. He said, you ladies are correct. That is not Dave Kekner. But I had no issue adding back this beat because Packer is played by the only other person who had ever played him on the show, and that is Toby Huss. Toby originally voiced Todd Packer in the pilot episode when Michael is sitting with Pam and Jan in his office and he takes a call from Packer on speakerphone. And if you remember, he's almost immediately inappropriate and saying things about Jan. Well, that was Toby Huss. And then Dave went on to say, and for the scene in

basketball, I not only love Packers and appropriateness, but it also illuminates the stress Michael has put on himself with this game when you get to see moments like this because his star player has just bailed on him. Yeah, I thought this was actually pretty cool. You know, a lot of the extra footage in the basketball super fan happens before the basketball game. I noticed there's a little bit added to the actual game, but most of it is this tension. You get more of the romantic tension between Jim and Pam, and then you get this tension of what is the team going to be. So I liked it too, and I like because it's all adding to the stakes. It's all adding to Michael's stress. One of the other things that's added back in that I loved are so many non-speaking moments. Like you said, up in the

bullpen, all these people are shooting like baskets of like trash into their trash bins. And they're all really good at making the shot. The only person that misses is Stanley. And Dwight. And Dwight. Right. But you just get to see the full bullpen do it. And then the other thing I loved was all the stretching. Michael does so much stretching. Yes. So much stretching. And the camera angles. Oh, my God. It's a real low angle. He does this one stretch. He's on the ground.

I don't know what kind of stretch it is, but the camera is just crotch up. It's ridiculous. So I know I said that a lot of the extra material comes before the basketball game, but there are a lot of extra shots in the basketball game. And in particular, there are a lot of shots of Michael throwing the ball out of the warehouse doors as he's trying to shoot a basket. Like, there's so many more of those. I was going to count how many, but after I got to eight, I stopped counting. He also calls like a million fouls on nothing.

So many. So that's some of the humor that's added back to the basketball game. Okay, well, speaking of Michael and his antics on the court, I wanted to share this. So before I even watched the superfan episode, I was reading Dave Rogers' list of added basketball moments. they're almost all about Michael. And Jenna, just reading Dave's list, just reading it, made me laugh out loud. This is just part of it. Listen to how hilarious these are.

Ready? Mm-hmm. Michael throws basketball over the backboard. I told you. Mm-hmm. About four feet away, Michael yells three shoots and hits the front of the rim. That one is hilarious. Mm-hmm.

Michael throws basketball into rafters and complains his ACL is bothering him. Michael calls foul on Daryl for double dribble. Michael calls foul because someone got his hand. Michael calls foul on Roy, illegal use of hands and arms. Michael calls foul on Lonnie, who doesn't touch him. Michael is exhausted and subs out and Phyllis goes in. Michael sits on the bench next to Angela and Pam about to throw up and Phyllis scores. That throw-up scene is so great.

He sits next to us and just proceeds to gag. It was so hard not to laugh. I think the basketball episode is a really good example of its very, very documentary style because there are so many little bitty moments that we did not have time for in the original version. I totally see why Dave loves this super fan version so much. Yeah. Well, I have one last thing I want to share. It's a background catch by Angela Kay in Los Angeles.

Okay. What does she have to say? If you go to 27 minutes and 21 seconds, you will see Oscar doing something in the background of the basketball game. Do you remember what he was doing? Yeah, he was like doing work. No. Is that what you mean? No.

What's he doing? He's reading the paper. The newspaper. Oscar is reading the local newspaper. And I thought. You're doing a paper tie-in. I was like, what foreshadowing? Like, Oscar is reading the local Scranton newspaper.

That's pretty perfect. I mean, right? He does love a local paper, I guess. I don't know. It got me tickled, so I just thought I'd bring it up. Well, listen, this feels like a good time to take a break. And when we come back, we will have Carly Rothenberg in studio with us. But since you mentioned it, Angela, this also seems like a good time to remind people that starting in the new year, we are going to be breaking down every episode of the paper.

because it's now showing on NBC on Monday nights at 830. So watch it. Head over to OfficeLadies.com. Send us your questions and join us in the new year for those breakdowns. And you know we're going to do it right because we still chat with everybody who's working on the paper. So we're going to get all the inside scoop for you. I mean, we already have emails out to Kelly Cantley, Ken Quappas, Dave Rogers, Michael Komen, Greg Daniels, Chelsea Fry. We're already chatting with people.

That's right, guys. But that's for the new year. After the break, is our interview with Carly Rothenberg, aka Madge from the Warehouse. Make your home smell as good as it looks with Pura 4, the smart fragrance diffuser that lets you control your scent from anywhere. Choose from hundreds of premium fragrances, schedule your favorites, and set the perfect mood for every moment. And right now, get yours free when you subscribe to two cents for 12 months. Don't wait, this limited time offer won't last. Try it risk-free for 30 days now at pura.com.

Hello. Hello. Carly, how are you? It's so nice to have you in the studio with us. Thank you for having. Welcome to all this, ladies. It's very exciting to be here. Hello.

You brought stuff. I did. I mean, you brought us roses. You brought us jingle jangle. Jingle jingle. The best holiday snack ever for anyone that has a but you also have a folder. What is this? I dug through. I actually started by looking for my original basketball script. Oh, wow. Which I know everybody autographed. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it is

somewhere in my file cabinet encased in something sealed because, and I couldn't find it. But I did find my original audition. Oh, oh, Carly, that's so good. And your visitors pass. And my visitors pass for my audition for the, for match, which I didn't audition for match. I auditioned with Jerry's lines. They used to do that, though.

They would have just one scene that everybody read and then like Jerry, warehouse worker. Right. And then they would kind of get to know you or your personality, and they'd be like, I have an idea. So I wonder if that's what happened with Match. Well, I think what happened was they were auditioning me for Madge, the warehouse gal, but they didn't have any lines for me. Yeah, not yet. Because she didn't have any lines.

So they had me read Jerry's part, and it was on October 11, 2004. Wow. At 10.20 in the morning to see Allison Jones at Cincinnati. at Gower Studios, and I was reading the role of Jerry, and I auditioned with Marla, not with Allison. I remember Marla put me on camera. Okay. I remember Marla? Well, Marla interviewed me after that, and she says, do you play basketball? And I said, sort of, I'm a nanny to a little boy, and at the time I was taking care of a little boy whose name is Joshua. He's the best human being ever. And I think at the time he was like six or seven, we played horse in his front yard.

Like every day after school, he would like, come on, we got to play horse. So you were shooting hoops? That was the extent of it. And I was terrible at it. I was absolutely terrible at it. But my dad and my brother had taught me how to play basketball when I was a kid. But all I ever did was play horse. And I think my dad, at the most, would pick me up and help me shoot the basket. I was horrible at basketball. I couldn't dribble. So what did you say to Marla when she asked you? I said I can play horse.

I have a little boy that I take care of that I play horse with. But that's about the extent of my basketball experience. And she goes, okay, okay, great. I am shocked learning this information because we just rewatched the basketball episode. And I think you play very well. I would never know. You said you don't dribble? I'm like, I have no memory of you being a bad dribble.

If you look close, I never dribbled the ball down the court. Is that right? Nope, never, never. But you're really good at guarding Dwight. You held your own. I knew how to guard. I knew how to guard. And I knew that much I knew.

And then when I think I found out I had booked it and I went running to Target. And I ran and I bought a basketball. And I came home. I told my husband, you need to teach me how to dribble a basketball now. And he was like, what? And I said, you don't understand. I just booked a show and I need to learn how to play basketball. And he was like, honey, I can't teach you how to play basketball in like one weekend.

And I said, try, please. So was that your weekend? You and your husband like trying to play basketball? It was like cramming to try and play basketball. And I sucked at it so badly. And my husband is 6'5. So it was like he really was like blocking and doing all this stuff. And he was like, try and go around me.

And I was like, I can't, you're too tall. And so I did my best. I did my best. And I practiced all weekend long. And then when I got to set, it was funny because the first day on set that I had to go through these massive wardrobe changes because Greg, Greg was like, no, that's too frilly. That's too frilly. We need to find something else. And they finally gave me the cutoff T-shirt with whatever number it was, a number 38 on it.

Wait, what is that? Is that a picture of you from set? I made a postcard for, because I was so excited about the show. So I made a postcard to mail out because back in those days, you actually mailed out postcards as an announcement. Yeah. I did this with when I did theater in L.A. Yeah. You would put like a picture of yourself and there was like we had a quote.

We were like L.A. weekly pick of the week. Right. And then you would make a postcard and you would mail that to all the casting directors in town. When they had offices, right? I did the same thing. Backstage West. Right. And it was, so I, it was funny because they couldn't find the right outfit for me.

And eventually they did. And so we did that. And then this postcard is amazing. That was the best shot. I don't even remember who took that. What's so great about this picture, and I'll put it in our Insta stories. You guys, it's Carly as Madge. You're dripping with sweat.

And you look like you've just played a lot of basketball. You have a really miserable expression. It's the date and time of the episode. This is fantastic. It was so much fun. I remember because I went into hair and makeup and I think, I know you were there and Katie was there. One of you was there and Katie was there.

And somebody looked up at me and said, don't expect much. And I was like, what? Oh, no. Phyllis and Katie were in there. And they were like, don't expect much. It's not that kind of show. And I was like, what do you mean? And it was like, there's no, there's no makeup.

There's, there's like nada. And I was like, I'm okay, fine. I don't, this is me. I don't wear much. I mean, Carly, you and I have the same hairstyle in this episode. I know, I know. They put it in a braid. A French braid and called it a day.

Yeah, that was it. And I had the bangs back then. And they just kept getting sweatier and sweatier. And there was like that nobody cared about anything. The only mistake I made was, I think in the wear. has seen. I made the mistake of climbing the rolling stairs. Oh, yeah. In the first scene. And I think I had to do that 50 times. Oh, because they liked it and it had to match. It was like taking, it was like doing a stairmaster. So was that on your first day of shooting and then you had to come back

and play basketball. And let's see the trailer. You know how we all had those honeywagon the very first episode. And you decorated them for Halloween. It was so cute. Kate and I, yes. We just talked about that. We went to the 99-cent store and- It was the cutest thing.

Everybody had little booze and ghosts and everything. But Leslie's trailer was here and then Brian and then me or whatever. And I remember Leslie was sitting on his stairs and Brian was sitting on his and I tried to get up into my trailer. And I was like, ow. And Leslie looked at me and he goes, Arnica, Arnica. And I was like, what?

And he goes, go get yourself some arnica gel. It's the only thing. That and a hot bath. And I was like, okay. That is so Leslie, isn't it? A hot bath. Yeah. So many times he told us to take a hot bath.

He would. Because my legs hurt so bad after the third day, and we were filming. And all I kept doing was running up and down the court, up and down, and we were on a concrete floor. Yeah. And my legs hurt so bad. It was like the third day. And I was like, I couldn't walk anymore.

Well, you know, we had the opposite problem. You were sitting. I know. Metal bench with no cushion for three days. And my butt and legs kept falling asleep. Or that thing that happens where, like, I also couldn't walk because I was, like, stiff from, like, sitting in the same position for hours and hours. That's, wow. Also, we, I mean, whatever, overshare, but that bench had these long grooved lines in it.

Yes. And I. When you went, when I went home and I changed clothes, I had like waffled books. Oh, no. But this is a really great tip for any aspiring actor out there. Whatever you do in the background on the first take, you will be doing over and over and over again. One of my friends had told me, like, a long time ago, never, ever, ever pick a tough job to do. Like, because on one, I think of one commercial shoot, he made the mistake of choosing a jackhammer.

Oh, no. I was like, really sorry he ever did that. And I'll never forget that because afterwards I was like, why did I choose to go up and down the stairs? Because my business was to go up the stairs and get a box and bring it down or go up the stairs and put a box up on a shell. I was like, what was I thinking? I couldn't move after. We've all done it. Oh, my God.

We have. It was like the fourth day, I think it was, or the last day. Was it the last day of shooting when I fell? I think it was. It was, thankfully. it was the last day of shooting because you didn't have to come back. You fell and hurt your knee. I did.

Really badly. Oh, and I didn't want anybody to know. I thought I was going to try and hide it. I was chasing Steve down court. He went tearing after, and I went running after him, and my legs were just like not working. They just stopped working, and I just went flying, and I landed on my left knee. On the concrete. caught right on the concrete.

And I got up and I kept running and I kept playing and then they said cut and I immediately went back to the back where I think there was a cooler filled with ice and drinks or something like that. And I just very quickly grabbed a Ziploc baggie and filled it with ice and didn't say anything. I just kind of sat there and sat down for a minute and it was really hurting. And so I just kind of quietly came out and I sat down on the bench next to you and I had the ice back on my knee and I moved it. for a second and you looked down at my knee and you went, oh my God! And I was like, shh, yeah. I was going to say, my memory is that that thing swelled up fast. It was huge.

Yeah. And I kind of remember being like, you got to, we got to get the medic. We got to tell somebody. Like, don't. It didn't match. It didn't, my memory was it didn't match your other knee at all. Not close. Oh, my gosh.

And then, Jen, I think you got the medic, didn't you? Did I? Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. That was my memory. Well, you know, you guys, I have that part of me. Yeah. I'm like, I smell gas in the work box. I know.

This entry needs attending to. She was super sweet, and she took one look, and she said, no, we're going to do an accident report. And I was sitting back in the back, and I was like, I am so mortified. I didn't want to deal it with this. It's fine. I'll be fine. And she said, no, we're going to have you have that checked out. And they filled out the forms and did the whole thing.

And I was mortified because I was like, oh, my God, we're not done filming. And I'm, this is terrible and blah. And I never hurt myself on a set before. And this was my first three-day job ever, three days of filming. That was like the first, I had done two other jobs. It's a big deal. It was huge. I remember you being worried like, will they ever bring me back?

Right. Because I got hurt. And that's such a thing when you're, and. actor starting out, like an accident happens, but you're afraid you'll get branded as difficult or, like, whatever. Yeah. But that wasn't, that's, I mean, thankfully, I feel like, especially on the office, that wasn't the tone of our set.

Yeah. And you needed medical attention. And we did bring you back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was all fine. It was, I was so grateful.

Well, you know, I want you to know that in the superfan version on Peacock, all of your stuff with Dwight. Imagine Dwight, like going down the court against each other is all in there. In your face. And clearly that happened before you hurt your knee. Right. And you know what? I'm so glad now people will see how hard you were busting your ass on that

court. I was trying. I was, I was, uh, the who was the guy who choreographed the basketball game? There was somebody there. Oh, we had a stunt coordinator. Yeah. That choreographed the game. But then there was parts of it that, you know, you guys were just running back and forth and kind of.

of just freestyling, but if you watch the superfan version, Madge and Dwight really square off a lot, what was that like? Because we know Rain. Rain goes all out. Yeah. There was a stunt coordinator who actually showed me how it was going to work, and it was like a choreographed thing. Mm-hmm. And then when he grabs it from me, we're supposed to fight, and there were a couple times where I think we even ended up on the ground. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You did. Yeah. And then I was like, I'm not letting go of the ball. I'm not letting go to the ball. And he got into it and I got into it.

We started fighting. It was so much fun because he was like, I just got mad at him. I was like, back off, man. Just back off. And he goes, no, I'm not going to back off. And I'm going, get out of my face. I was like, in your face. It was really good and feels very honest.

But that whole storyline between Dwight and Madge reminded me of like that, you know, eight-year-old boy on like the school yard that you're playing kickball with who goes so super hard. Yeah. And you're like, buddy, relax, except it's a grown man. And if I hadn't, if I hadn't hurt myself, we almost had this little secret thing that we were going to do behind the boxes when he takes a sip of water and he spills it all over his face. Right before that, we were going to have this little secret thing behind the boxes

and that never came to fruition. What secret thing? Like Dwight match hookup? Like a little row? Oh, like this was all foreplay on the court. Oh my gosh. He met his physical match and he was turned on. We were going to, we were going to come up with something and then it never happened unfortunately because, but as it turned out, obviously it never needed to happen. But, Well, I think it would have worked, and you know what have been great is if Angela found out and then really, like, then Angela hated Matt. Oh, my God. Well, speaking of scenes in the warehouse where things were added, I want to jump to the Boys and Girls episode because Dave Rogers wants you to know that he put an extra talking head of yours into boys and girls. This is when the documentary crew is filming down in the warehouse and they find Madge pushing a cart of supplies.

It's very funny. We're going to play it. Don't take me. I'm wanted in three states. Don't. Does I say don't videotape? Don't tape me. Yeah.

I'm wanted in three states. What is she wanted for? Oh, my God. That's hysterical. Do you even remember doing that? I feel like that must have been an improv moment. Totally. Right?

Or something they fed you on the day. They were capturing little moments in the warehouse because right before that is Lonnie and they're filming him. He's got that giant plastic like saran wrap and he's wrapping it around the boxes. And he's like, sometimes I pretend to be a car. And then it cuts to you and you're pushing the cart and you're surly from the get-go. You have to check out some of these super fans because there's more Madge. Mm-hmm. We also want to ask you about safety training.

Oh, my God. So this is the episode where Madge gets her nickname from Michael. Pudge. Yes. You are so funny in that scene. Do you know, I found the shooting script for that? That, when I saved on my computer. First of all, Harold Ramos, what?

I know. What? I know. When I saw that, I almost jumped out of my skin because Avery Shriver was my mentor from Second City, and Avery and Harold and Minacolb and Severn Darden, all the original O'Gs from Second City were all, I think Harold told me this, one of the fabulous lunches that we always had together. Yes, at the big, long tables.

Yes, that's one of the things I love about this cast, is that every time from the first, week when we shot basketball, we all sat down family style. I mean, the first week I had dinner with you guys. I sat down with John Krasinski and his parents. Do you remember that? He brought his parents to that episode. Yeah. And I was like, oh, my God. And Harold sat there telling Second City stories. Yeah. And it was Harold and DJ and me and Phyllis and you. I mean, it was like, I'm having lunch with Harold Ramos. What is happening? And he told Second City. stories that were just irreplaceable. So that was a gift to have that moment. And in the safety training episode, there were no, God bless B.J. Novak, he wrote me into the episodes I was in.

It was because he wrote me in. I didn't have any lines. And we were just all standing there. And then he said, her, her is qualified to ride the forklift. And Lonnie kind of nudged me. And I went, Madge. It's Madge. And Steve looked at me and he goes, I thought your name was Pudge. And I'm like, no, it's always been Madge. And I looked over it.

And you guys were all busting up. And I was like, it was so funny. So funny. Well, you know, in Boys and Girls, one of my favorite moments is the character reveal that you're there. Because it's just the men in a circle. Guy's scribe session. Yeah. Yeah.

And then you lean forward. And there you are. And it busts me up every time I watch it. Denny snuck that one. I love her. She was so much fun. We were all sitting on boxes, and she was like, hide behind David and John. And I was like, what?

Okay. And then I think somehow or another, David out of the corner of his eye looks back at me. Or he looks out of the corner of his eye to, like, indicate to Michael, there's somebody else here. Right. You're getting it wrong. And then I just kind of leave it. forward and I was like, hey, you want me to go? And then Steve got this look on his face, like, no, why would I, why would I want you to go? And I was like, because I don't belong here, you

moron. Why am I not upstairs with the women? What part of this? I so wish Madge had come upstairs. Wouldn't that have been so fun? I would have been really, really fun to have you come upstairs. And be part of the insane conversation we were having. You guys were having. Yeah. I know. That would have been wonderful. But it was funny. It was funny. And Danny choreographed that really well. She was just like. And when I walk by him, the expression on his face was just priceless. So wonderful. It was just priceless. That was fun. That was very, very fun. Can we also discuss some deleted scenes from Secret Santa? Yes. Do you remember these? Do you know what I'm going to say?

My Garfield Pusts. Yes. Yes. Well, it's been added back to the Peacock Superfan episode. Let me set it up and then we're going to listen to it. Okay. So this is the party that Jim and Dwight are planning, and Jim is nervous because the warehouse folks have now been invited to this party, and they're worried that they're not going to have enough food. So everybody's standing in line from the warehouse to get food, and he says, it's just finger foods.

kind of like, please don't take a lot, and one lasagna, and then here's what happens. So guys, it's just more like finger food. Uh-oh, a lasagna. Look out, Garfield. Uh-oh. What does that mean?

Oh, they call me Garfield. I've never seen a lasagna not eating the whole pan. Oh, I wish you wouldn't. Oh, well, I can't help myself. Can you imagine what it's like for me that it has that power over me? I got to have some. Sorry, guys. Everybody gets them?

I got mine. Okay. Okay, so that's the scene, but then what happens? We're outside of the conference room. Yeah. And inside the conference room, you are eating all of the rest of the lasagna, and all the warehouse guys are screaming. Garfield, Garfield, Garfield. How much lasagna did you eat?

That's our question. A half a pan. Oh. No, no, I had a spit bucket. Okay. spit bucket. They had three changes, shirt changes, which I didn't need because I was very careful. But there was a spit bucket right there. And I think you were the one that suggested that I needed one. Thank you. You know why? Do you know how we all say, be careful what you do in the background.

Mine was the very first time we ate ice cream cake. It was the scene, it was the Alliance and it was Meredith's birthday. And I took a big old bite of that ice cream cake at 7 in the morning. I was so excited. And then we ate it for hours. I thought that's it. I can't, I still to this day, like, I'm like, I don't want any ice cream cake. No. Yeah. Spit bucket. And it was good.

I mean, it was delicious because whoever it crafty made it, it was wonderful. But after about the fourth time. The fourth half of lasagna you ate. Fourth half of lasagna, yeah. Well, because they left, I think whoever did it left me, like, in the trade, they left me, like, this quarter. So I just had to really. put the whole thing up and just scoop it in like that. Yeah, because you're like shoving it in your mouth. Yeah. And the whole quarter of the pan is up like this. But the funny part was when I

walked in, I had worked so hard on my lines because I wanted to get them right because it's my first scene with John. And he completely improvised. And I was like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was going to improvise something. And I was like, no, that's fine. I just was ready for something. else. And he said, no, I'll do the other thing. I was like, okay, but I'm fine now that I know you were going to go off in a different direction. He was like, no, no, no, I'll stick to what we got. I was like, sorry. So I got really nervous after that. And then Craig started chanting Garfield, Garfield, and I was like, please don't do that. I'm going to laugh. I'm going to laugh and choke to death. Please don't do that. But then this spit bucket happened. And then we shot it and I didn't

get any shirts dirty. And I was like, okay, I did that right, did that right. Everything's cool. and we finished shooting, and then they said, okay, let's take a break. Everybody go and, you know, Crafty set up lunch, and I walk outside, and I open the lid, and they're serving lasagna, and I go, oh, look, lasagna. It was probably all the lasagna's we didn't use in the scene. Yeah. They're like, we know what we're going to do with the extra lasagna. Somebody said, Carly gets quoted the day, so I got quoted the day on the sheet.

On the call sheet? Oh, yeah. I was like, oh, no, I didn't mean to be ungrateful, but LaSania for lunch, yay. No, everybody got it. That was brilliant. It was great. I'm like, oh, no. Well, I wanted to ask you about the day that we learned, the scorn.

Do you remember that? I do. We all had to practice in that side room. Yes. That was hysterical. And I was so worried I wasn't going to get it right. I can't dance, Carly. I just can't.

It's like you have to really break it down for me. I think you can see me counting. But that was so fun. That was hysterical. They made me change my hair because I had a braid and you had a braid. Even though in basketball it was okay that we both had the same hair, I guess, for the scorn. They wanted us to have different hair. Yeah, I had to have different hair.

I sat at the bar with Jean and Lee and Lee. Yeah. Because they were in it. I remember they positioned us a little bit by height. Yeah. So I was in the front because I'm shorty, shorty. They went shorter and then taller, so on and so forth. You know, threat level midnight was another B.J. Novak script.

So he really did bring you back a lot. He wrote me in literally once a season. Oh, that's great. So if it wasn't for him and Mindy, I would not have been in like almost every season. Wow. Yeah. And I always, whenever I came back, I always said, thank you for writing me in. He said, my pleasure.

And it was literally like once a season. That's great. Yeah. I mean, we've definitely noticed over the years of rewatching the show themes that writers were drawn to some characters and would bring them back. So I love that. I'm incredibly grateful. All right. Well, listen, why don't we take a break?

And then when we come back, we're going to ask you our call sheet questions. And we're going to ask you our office question of the week. All right, we are back, and it is time for the call sheet questions. I'm going to kick us off with number one. Carly, what was your first entertainment job? The first official entertainment job was my friend John Putch hired me for my first Hallmark movie, and it was with Louise Fletcher. Whoa.

Oh, oh, oh. I mean, and Doris Roberts, and Dana Delaney. Wow. And it was a hallmark picture called A Time to Remember. It was also with my friend Michael Dean Jacobs, literally, like a direct hire, like John wanted to hire me. And I played cousin Connie, which was sister, cousin Connie. Doris Roberts was Dana Delaney's mom, who had Alzheimer's. and Louise Fletcher played Aunt Billy.

And it was a Thanksgiving movie called The Time to Remember, and it plays literally on Hallmark every Thanksgiving. Oh, no way. Yeah, and that was my first big job. And I was, like, on set for, like, three days, and I just looked at him, and I said, you sat me next to Louise Fletcher at a Thanksgiving table, and he says, just enjoy the ride.

And I was like, I'm sitting next to Nurse Ratchet. Yeah. That's Nurse Ratchett. All right. Question number two. Do you speak any other languages? I speak French, sort of, because I took it in junior high. So a little.

A bit de Francaise. Sounds good to me. It got me through living in Paris for a month. That's pretty good. Because I was with the touring company of Hair. When I was in New York, I auditioned for it when I was training in New York, and I got the international touring company of hair. That's amazing. So you did hair?

Yeah. Okay. Wait, what hair is famous for? We all know how that goes at the end. Did you do it? I did because I was in Paris and nobody in Paris knew me and they all used to seeing naked people on this date. So nobody knew me. Wow.

I was a lot younger. That was 1984. Carly, you are an onion. There are layers. No. All right. Next question. What's a place you've been to that you absolutely loved?

I love Hawaii. I love any place in Hawaii. I was also very, very fortunate to take two really cool trips with my first one was to Kenya with my mom and dad. Oh, wow. They wanted to take me on safari, so I got to go. to Tanzania and the Serengeti with my mom and dad. That was in 2009. And then my dad wanted to take me on a cruise to Greece. I enjoyed that trip with him and his new wife. My mom passed away in 2018, but I got to go with him and his new wife. I'd have to say Alaska was the last place

that we got to go, that was really cool. I love Alaska. I love the air. It's so beautiful and clean. But you've traveled a lot. Mostly because my dad is a big traveler and he's been kind enough to sort of like include the family always. So that's kind of cool. It's interesting to me, though, of all of these places you've been in the world, your first instinct was to say Hawaii. There's something about Hawaii. It's just magical. That's kind of like where my soul would go. If I could just get on a plane and go, I would go to Hawaii. It's a great answer. I love where my soul would go. I like that phrase. All right. Next question. What do you like to do on the weekends?

I like to garden. I like to garden and I like to bake. My grandfather was a baker. And he had a bakery in Queens. And he was a pastry chef. So I sort of inherited a little bit, But not as much skill, that's for sure. But I love gardening. And when the sun is out and it's just crisp, cool weather, that's sort of my favorite time to do. So I plant daffodils and sort of try and keep my backyard in order, which now with three dogs is a little more difficult. Yeah. I like gardening.

I love all that. Okay. Last question. Okay, dook. What is your favorite midnight snack? Dark chocolate anything. Dark chocolate caramel with the sea salt. Oh, yes.

Forget it all day long. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All right. Last thing is our office question of the week. So we really enjoyed last week we got a would-you-rather question for Lisa in Calgary when we spoke with Terry Weinberg. I love Terry Weinberg.

I know. She's the best. Well, in honor of you being here, Carly, we thought we could do a wear. Warehouse-related, would-you-rather question, an office warehouse. Here it is. Would you rather, this is as you. Okay. As you.

Carly. Carly. Not match. Right. Would Carly rather play in the basketball game against Michael or attend Michael Scott's Men in the Workplace Seminar? You have to attend one of these events. Which one would you go to?

Your face has the pained expression. They're both horrible choices. That's the whole point of which you rather, right? As long as I don't hurt myself again, I'd rather redeem myself in the basketball game. Okay. That's fair. But I missed out on, I never got to be in the conference room. So I think your answer is that you would rather attend the women in the workplace.

Women in the workplace seminar. Up in the conference room. Angela, what do you pick? You have to go to one of these events. Oh, man. I mean, I love sports, but I think I would want to be in the men in the workplace seminar

just because it would be ridiculous with Michael running it. And I think I'd like to ask stupid questions that I know are stupid. Oh, just to frustrate him to watch him meltdown. Oh, that would be fun. Like, just something like, can we discuss belts?

Yeah. Do I have to wear a belt? Okay. I don't know. Why do I have to have my hair back in your house? Yeah, exactly. Well, Jenna, what about you? I would want to play in the basketball game.

Yay. I think it would be fun. I would enjoy that more than having to sit through a Michael Scott seminar. Okay. That's me. Sam, Cassie, what would you like? We should have a women's basketball game. Yeah.

We know Cassie's answer. Sign me up for basketball, please. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I got to go with Michael's. men's meeting. Sam, can I just say this is often how we're split that is often meeting you. And then Jen and Cassie.

Well, Carly, thank you so much for coming into the studio and sharing your things and your stories and your memories. It was my pleasure. Absolutely my pleasure. I'm so happy to see you guys and to share such fun memories. It's wonderful. It warms my heart. you for having me. It's my pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you. And hey, everyone, be sure to check

your feeds on Friday because we've got a special holiday bonus episode coming your way with Ms. Kate Flannery. That's right. I love Katie. We'll see you then. Yay. 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 Bubbicoe. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Ruppertry by Creed Bratton.