Office Ladies - Peacock Superfan: Boys and Girls with Director Dennie Gordon

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, the ladies talk about the Peacock Superfan episode “Boys and Girls” with the director of the episode, Dennie Gordon! Jenna and Angela ask Dennie what directing “Boys and Girls” was like and Dennie shares how having an improv background from college helped her direct a show like “The Office”. The ladies dive into some great scenes that didn’t make the original cut but now live in the superfan version. Plus they discuss Pam’s storyline of following her dreams and how having cheerleaders in their personal lives helped them with pursuing their careers. So no need to hate on Jan’s outfit like Angela Martin, instead enjoy this episode! 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

Some trips are just better in an Airbnb. And right now you can discover Canada and their many local hidden gems with an Airbnb. I worked in Canada off and on for two years. Yes. And my first year, the production put me up at a place. And the second year, I was like, hey, whatever that production budget is,

can I have it and go find my own place in more of a neighborhood, you know? Yes. And I did, I got an Airbnb, I got a little apartment, it faced a park, it was so lovely. I loved the host and I stayed there for two months. Wow. Yeah, and I was near a grocery store.

I really felt like I made a little life there. I'm thinking about like the Rocky Mountain areas in Canada where they've got the lakes and the Alberta Rockies. I don't know, it just feels like if you got yourself a cozy little cabin there. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like Banff National Park.

Well listen, maybe you should consider Airbnb for your next adventure. I mean, we love it. Love it. There are very few things that you can be certain of in life. But you can always be sure the sun will rise each morning. You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll always need air to breathe and water to drink. And of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans,

you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for. Public Mobile. Different is calling. 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 Ladies 6.0. Hello. Hi there. We have a really special episode today. We're so excited about it.

We are going to be revisiting Boys & Girls' episode from season 2 with a very special guest. That's right. This is season 2, episode 15. Boys & Girls is very special to us for a number of reasons. First, because this episode was based on an idea that we pitched to Greg on set one day. That's right. We were standing.

I remember by the copier that was between reception and accounting and we were chit chatting. And we were like, Greg, Greg, we have an idea for an episode. And he walked over and we both said, look, we tipped in corporate America and we would have to go to these like women seminars. Women in the workplace seminars. And so we said, wouldn't it be funny if Jan came in and threw a women in the workplace seminar and Michael got all jealous and he threw a men in the workplace

seminar. And Greg was like, oh my gosh, I love it. Wait, wait, BJ, come here. Yeah. BJ was sitting over by Creed and he was like, get over here, grab a notepad. And literally he was like, jot this down. And he was like, tell him what you just told me. So we told BJ, same thing, and then Greg goes, then what happens? And we were like, no idea. We don't know, that's all we got. But BJ was like, okay, okay.

And he would ask us some questions, and I think there were like a number of things that kind of made their way into the episode that were based on some of the questions that BJ asked us. And then he got assigned to write it. Boys and girls. Yes, so fun. Well, it was also really special to us

because it was directed by Denny Gordon, who at the time in 2006 was only the second woman to direct an episode of The Office. And she joined us in the studio to talk about her time on the show. This was such a wonderful interview. Oh, my goodness. From the minute she walked in the door, you'll hear.

Yes. And you'll get it. She's just amazing. She just walked in the door and hugged us and told us how proud she was of us. I know. We were like trying not to tear up because we respect her so much. Yeah. We actually wrote about Denny Gordon in our book, The Office BFFs. We did a little research for the book and we found that of the 55 different directors

that we had on The Office, only six were women. Denny directed two episodes of The Office, actually. She directed The Secret and Boys and Girls. She is such a trailblazer among female directors in film and television. She was one of the first women to graduate from the Yale School of Drama with an MFA in directing. She has directed over 100 hours of network television

as well as films and commercials. She has a very long and impressive resume. And she's also directed several episodes of John Krasinski's show, Jack Ryan. Yeah, and we talked to her about that too. We did. We also shared a photo in our book that we took during the filming of Boys and Girls. It's really special to us.

We were basically on set one day and we looked around and realized it was just us gals that were working the whole day. So we all gathered around Denny for a picture. It's so great. You have to share it in stories, Ange. I will. We're also going to discuss the extra footage added

to the super fan version of Boys and Girls. So the original broadcast ran at 21 minutes and 21 seconds, and the extended cut has an additional 10 minutes and 84 seconds. So that's a lot of extra scenes. Well, when we talked to Dave Rogers about creating the superfan episodes, he said Boys and Girls was one of his favorites. He gave us his list of top 10 super fan episodes and this is one of them.

I loved watching it. I mean, I can see why he said that. So many of the scenes are extended. And also not only are they extended, but they really add to the story. Yes, exactly. I think really enrich the story. That's right.

Well, before we go to break, let me give a quick summary of the episode. But rather than have me summarize the episode, let's hear what Pam has to say. Today's a women in the workplace thing. Jan's coming in from corporate to talk to all the women about, um, I don't really know what, but Michael's not allowed in. She said that about five times. And then of course, Michael has his version of what's happening. Let's hear that.

Yeah, translation. I have been banned from my own conference room so that Jan can talk in secret to all the girls. Whoa, sorry, Women of the workplace. About what? I don't know. Clothes. Me. Ugh. He's so put out that they're talking about me.

I know. Probably him. Yeah. Well, Michael gets upset when he's excluded from the seminar, so of course he's going to have his own meeting with all of the men down in the warehouse. And meanwhile in this episode, this is the one where Jan tells Pam about a special design program that the company is offering.

Jim is encouraging her to do it, Roy is not, and ultimately Pam decides not to pursue it. Very dramatic arc in this one. Very dramatic. That Pam talking head kind of in this one. Very dramatic. That Pam talking head kind of breaks my heart. I know. Well, the super fan episode starts

with a whole new cold open. And lady, I loved it because it's more of Michael versus technology. Yes, it's very funny. Well, it starts with Michael hanging out at front reception. Yeah, he tells Pam that he's really overwhelmed because he just spent $400 on a new phone because he liked the ringtone,

only to learn that you can choose any ringtone you want. He thought the ringtone came specifically with the phone. But also, lady, he has a flip phone. He spent $400 on a flip phone? I don't know. Did they ever cost that? I wanted to look it up, but I didn't. And then Michael's like going through

all the different ringtones. Some are like classical, but the one that he really loves makes the sound kind of like a jackhammer and he makes the noise. It's like, grr, grr, grr. And Jim goes, do you mean vibrate? Because they all have vibrate.

They all have that. Little bit of old tech made me chuckle. Well, listen, why don't we go to break and when we come back, you're going to hear our conversation about this Peacock Extended episode of Boys and Girls with Director Denny Gordon. It is not to be missed. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. I just had a visit with my mom and I was kind of thinking about all the ways that she has

really informed my life as an adult. And one of the things that I really admire about her is that she was always willing to ask for help when she needed it. For advocating for herself. Yeah. Well, you know, mental health awareness is growing now, but there's still progress to be made. 26% of Americans who participated in a recent survey say they have avoided seeking mental

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And I'm Kaylen Moore. And we're the hosts of the Crime House original podcast, Clues. Every Wednesday, we sneak past the crime scene tape and open a new case file for some of the most gripping true crime cases. While Kaylen pieces together the timelines and breaks down the hard facts of these cases, I'llin pieces together the timelines and breaks down the hard

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Hi there, I'm Ryan Reynolds and I have a list of things I like to have on set. It's just little things like two freshly cracked eggs, scrambled with crispy hash browns, sausage, crumble, and creamy Chipotle sauce from Tim Hortons. From my writer to Tim's menu, try my new scrambled eggs loaded breakfast box. Denny, hello and welcome to the studio. I am super excited to be here.

I've been fans of your show and thank you for having me. I mean, it took me back to look at all the old episodes and what a blast, how deliciously fun. Normally I can't go back and look at episodes and this was just beyond fun, so thank you. Oh, wow. Well, we have been wanting to talk to you for a long time. So you really just made our dreams come true by being here today. So thank you. Oh, wow. Well, we have been wanting to talk to you for a long time.

So you really just made our dreams come true by being here today. Bless you. Bless you. Now, you directed two episodes of The Office. You directed The Secret and Boys and Girls. We always ask people this question, how did you get your job directing The Office? Well, I had done a couple of shows with our beloved Ken Guavis, and we knew each other.

And I think he started talking to Greg Daniels about me. And I think Greg and I had the same agent. So I think Richard White's super agent was, you know, blah, blah, and about me. So I got an interview. And of course, you were the hottest show on the planet at the time, I mean, and continued to be so, like, I was so thrilled. I thought, even if I don't get a job, I mean, and continued to be so like, I was so thrilled.

I thought even if I don't get a job, I'm just so excited to be in the mix and have a chance to talk. And I met Greg at the Earth Cafe. And what was crazy was it was not even an interview. It was like, Greg just started downloading to me all these wonderful idiosyncrasies about the show, you know, how you shot it and your process and how you created this environment and how special it was and just all these tips on how I might come live in that world with you for a while. So when I got a chance to come over, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Wow, that's so great. So we've asked a lot of people about their first meeting with Greg and they've said that a lot of people about their first meeting with Greg, and they've said that a lot of times conversation went to all kinds of places and lasted like an hour, and it sounds like you guys had a great first meeting. It was a great first meeting. He dropped so much knowledge on me, so many things I still remember to this day and think of in all the work that I'm doing. One of the things he said was

of in all the work that I'm doing. One of the things he said was how important it was to just remember we were a documentary. And it had never dawned on me, even though I'd been devoted to your show and watching, was that sometimes we would rehearse something and then there'd be a swish pan to rain or something. And how that always had to stay spontaneous and how you had to keep the camera late in getting there because you don't know that magical moment is going to happen. So it really required a very lively camera and of course Randall was awesome and the operating was so key and it was just so of the moment and when Greg started talking about

that and how we keep that so that it feels like we're capturing life, which was so critical on this show. When he started talking about that, it was just so amazing. Yeah, I think our conversation spun around a lot of ways, but he did really get me so excited and intrigued because I began to see how you worked and the process, you know, there's this secret little world and we close the door and all the crew is gone and there we are and you're powdering your own nose and you're journaling at your desk

and everybody is just, you know, you remember, everybody's just behaving and it was such a magical time and place, I've never experienced that anywhere before. So it was such a magical time and place. I've never experienced that anywhere before. So it was such a gift. Oh, my God. How did you prep for directing the show? Well, crazily enough, I had been making a film in the UK. So I had watched the UK version. I was out of my mind over it. I remember saying to somebody, a producer,

we should buy the rights. Of course, you guys, I think, were already in production. But I watched, of my mind over it. I remember saying to somebody, a producer, we should buy the rights. Of course, you guys I think were already in production. But I watched, of course, all of season one. And I think it was such a well-oiled machine, you guys. I mean, I think I had the script well before I came. And I think I came over a couple days to observe. I don't know, maybe Ken was directing and I got a chance to observe. Because it was so unusual.

It was pretty rare air and how you guys worked and how you achieved what you were achieving really needed to be a good fit. So I was super keen to fit in and fall in line. Of course, Ken Kwapa is the hardest act to follow on the planet as a director. He's like, oh my God, we're not worthy. And I remember thinking, with this group of superstars, I don't need to be doing your homework for you.

You will do your homework for you. You know these people so well that, man, I'm just lucky if I can come in and maybe figure out what's the most fun place to play this scene? Where's the chance for physical comedy? That's how I can help. But that you guys knew yourselves so well that it was just how do I keep that atmosphere going

so you can live and breathe in this moment? Yeah. You certainly put the camera, I thought, in some really fantastic places. And if you watch the Superfan episodes, there are a few tags and things. There's a shot of Madge in the warehouse pushing her cart, and the camera is really low on the ground, so you're kind of looking up her neck and up her nose a little bit. And she's just pissed off at just being a part of it.

But it just built that moment so wonderfully. Oh, thank you. I know that. I'd forgotten about so much of that. at just being a part of it, but it just built that moment so wonderfully. Oh, thank you. I know that. I'd forgotten about so much of that. That's what was so delicious about these extended episodes. These super fan episodes are crazy. Great. Aren't they amazing? Yes. Yes.

It's so... There was, especially this episode, there was so much extra. It was able to breathe. In fact, let's jump in because this episode opens and Jan has gathered all the women in the conference room. She's going to start her Women in the Workplace seminar. But Michael, of course, is super jealous and annoyed that he's not included. So he keeps busting in.

Jan eventually throws him out. The superfan episode is so great because it just includes more stuff from Jan. She talks about how men who are assertive are respected, but women who are assertive get called the B word or the C word. And it just kind of builds even more on the premise, which I really loved. And we were curious, what were your thoughts

when you first read this script? Like, did this speak to you in any way? It definitely spoke to me. It totally spoke to me. You know, at this point in my career, I think I had been everywhere I'd gone to direct. I was usually the only woman in the whole season. So it's like I really, you know, was relating. It's so much better now. And we've still got miles to go, but at the time I was always the lonely chick and I remember thinking how great the script was that BJ Novak wrote and that we were going to get to see all of you guys reacting to this idea, you know, pre-human resources, pre-canceling, like women in the workplace, boys and girls, you know,

what do people really think of these issues? And it was, I just thought, if I do it right, we're gonna have like all these wonderful surprises about your characters and how you really feel about things. It was a goldmine, I knew, you know, BJ had just like, it was the tip of the iceberg and there was always gonna be so much extra, I mean, I remember we were 10 minutes over

in the extra super version, we had 10 minutes of gold that the audience didn't get to see. Yeah. Yeah. So glad for that because jokes didn't even have time to pay off. Yeah. You know, in lots of ways, like the fact that the guys had unloaded that Michael had told them to unload the truck. And we thought, okay, well, that goes. But then we realized that that was a shipment going out. Out.

Yeah. Okay, well that goes, but then we realized that that was a shipment going out. Out, yeah. So we really needed that time to let it breathe. So thank God for the super episodes. I wanted to talk about a scene that's extended in the super fan that I thought really built with that extra footage. So, you know, Michael has come into the conference room and he's interrupted this women's meeting

and Jan throws him out and he just can't take it. He can't take it that the ladies have this meeting, so he gathers the guys in the bullpen. Of course, he sits right up against that conference room window. He even bangs it and they're so loud. The way you cut the scene back and forth in the extended version, you can actually hear how inappropriate Michael's being because you actually go into the conference room, whereas in the

original way it's edited they're outside the whole time, and I thought Denny we should hear it. Yes. Oh God, what fun. My favorite. Yeah, he's really banging against that glass. Yeah. So to be in a position of leadership, you often need to be assertive, right? You have to be able to state a firm opinion. And this means that you have to give up the fantasy of being everyone's friend. Well first of all, I just want to warm up a little bit. Now I know this is going to sound crazy to you, but in India they do this thing called

laughter therapy. And I want to try it out. It's when a group of people just get together and they laugh as hard as they can. So I want to try that with you right now on the count of three. Let's laugh as hard and loudly as we can. Ready? One, two, three. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Oh my God, I love that so much. And what was so great, when I think we discovered this in rehearsal, was what's Jan gonna do? And she goes back in and closes the blind so that they're not even there. There was another physical comedy moment I think we discovered,

but yeah, that teed up everything that's gonna follow. That's right. And I loved it so much. God, there was just so much there. And what a poignant episode. I remember, you know, and going around the room and hearing from everybody on your side and every, you know, you all had such interesting reactions.

I think you said you were in the most mature relationship of your adult life. And then we cut to you and Rain being super awkward going through a door. I know. You know, and then the reveal of your interest in art and that you actually started a beautiful drawing. Yes. Yes.

Tell me about that. Did you just make that up on, was that in the script or did you just do that? That was Phil Shea, the prop master, gave me that notebook with that sketch in various forms of being done because I couldn't draw something like that. And so that was like his contribution

that I be like kind of doing that sketch. And I know, I noticed that too. I thought, what a great detail, right? Such a fantastic detail. And you know, the other, the thing that is so incredible that, you know, in our life, we're maybe blessed to have a, be on a show where everyone cares so much about what we're doing that our prop man

would be so deeply involved in the story that he would think that for you and offer that up to you. I mean, that was part of the magic of the thing. Every single person in that family was rooting for the best show possible. I mean, that's just one example. That's truly how it felt, though. Like, we're only as good as our weakest person or, you know,

like everyone was a collective. And, and Denny, you just came right in to the fold, just like that. Like, I felt like you elevated us. And Jen and I've talked about this on the podcast, just we had this moment where we all looked around and we're like, it's only us gals. There's only gals on the set today.

And how special that was in that moment. It was, it was. And I just, I thought it was just so wonderful, you know, sitting in the, you know, in the conference room and being able to, you know, get reactions from each of you. Of course, each woman coming from her different place and time, I remember Kate's line. She says, hi, I'm Kate, and I'm an owl.

Yeah. It was just so full of gold, and everybody having, you know, Mindy wanting an SUV, and what everybody wanted was so in character and such a reveal. I think the audience, I don't know, did the audience love the episode as much as we three do? I think they do. And people remind me a lot of Pam's dream to have a terrace that she can plant flowers on.

I get asked that question a lot. Do I think Pam ever got her terrace with flowers? Because that, and in the superfan episode, that's even more extended. Like her talking about that and what that means to her. I really loved that. That was based on a story that I told BJ Novak about reading a book when I was younger. It was like a choose your own adventure book. And the girl in the book had a house with like a, what do you call that? It almost looks like a little tower.

You know, where it's like a round room, kind call that? It almost looks like a little tower. You know, where it's like a round room, kind of a. Like a Rapunzel tower. A little bit like a Rapunzel tower. And the girl in the book would just, this was her special place and she got a new little sister, but she could go to her tower and daydream. And I used to think, oh, I hope one day I can have a house

with like my own tower room, and I'll just make it my own little library where I read books and be creative. It just sounded like so wonderful. And he turned that into a terrace with plants. So I think when I was doing those talking heads and as Pam, when I was talking about them, I was trying to like summon the little girl in me who wanted her tower house. Yeah.

Beautiful, beautiful. I think that's why it's so relatable too, because you, every little kid does have a dream like that, you know, of something that feels a little magical, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that it resonates with the audience, you know, and that you told the story so well. You know, it's not a lot to and that you told the story so well.

It's not a lot to ask that you can have a room with some plants and a view. Yeah. And it's such a lovely dream. I think that really kicked off the whole poignancy of your dreams and then the whole art school subplot or the art training subplot, which was so great in the script and the way you played it

that we know this is something that your hearts desire, but like you're already, even though Jan's trying to make it possible for you, you're already thinking of all the reasons why not. And how much it meant that Roy versus Jim, that Roy was never going to be on board with this, but who's your greatest supporter? Who's your biggest fan? Is Jim? And the whole poignancy of that arc

and how sometimes we all give up on our dreams at some point because it's just too hard. Or because you don't have the cheerleader in the place where you need it the most. I mean, if the person you're living with and spending your life with isn't lifting up your dreams and aspirations, that is a really hard wind to push against.

No, and I think that we began, you know, we the audience, we saw that and it relates to the episode that I did prior to this in The Secret when you find out that that crush that everybody's talking about Jim having is not in the past. It's right here right now. And how you are just, and you played it so beautifully, just like so secretly thrilled that it's today and then you're going down in the elevator together and then we and the audience are going keep them together, keep them together, please, please, please. We need this love to blossom.

It just teed up everything so well that followed. Yeah. Well, the super fan episode has more of this Jim Pam arc. Yeah. It actually turns a little physical between Jim and Roy. This is not in the original episode. It happens down in the warehouse. Roy, you know, has heard that Jim told Pam

she should take the job. Yeah. And he's ticked off about it. It starts with Roy shoving Jim. Well, we have a clip. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. Oh, boy.

We're fighting. We're fighting. Hey, look at us, huh? All working together, getting along, united. Band of brothers. Like a union. Better. Hey, what the hell, man?

You don't tell her what to do, all right? Come on, man. I was just giving her my opinion. Yeah, well, it has nothing to do with you. It's between her and me, all right? You got to respect that. Yeah. In front of all the guys in the warehouse, you got to respect that.

It's amazing that because there's been all these undercurrents and all these rumors, and you know, I guess it was inevitable that it would get, you know, that it would come out at some point. Yeah. I can't remember. Was that in the original script? That was in the original script, but it did not make it into the original episode. Right, right. Oh, it's so important that it got to that hot level. Yeah. And Jim looks like When Roy yells at him,

you've got to respect that. He looks like someone just slapped him across the face, like just the embarrassment and being held accountable in a way, in front of everyone to his feelings. It's really powerful. Then Jim goes up to the kitchen and Pam's sitting there and he's like, really, you're not going gonna do it, huh? And she is, it's so awkward between them. And Pam has a line that now makes sense because she's like, how'd you

know? Yeah. And you're like, well, Roy just, you know, slammed me to the ground. Exactly. Oh man. And you know, we saw that life, we could all understand what that life was gonna be like going forward, that flat line of a life going forward with Roy, as opposed to being with your best friend who really gets you. Yeah, who sees you. He sees you, you were seen by Jim.

I mean, such a fantastic relationship. I remember that is one thing that Greg talked to me about early on, he said, you know, you're going to really get into the weeds big time on this very precious storyline that we have. And he teased some of the story out to me at that point. You know, very delicate, very delicate stuff. And boy, I mean, and how that romance captured everybody in America. Man, we were rooting for you. Mm. I mean, yeah. Well, I just know in my own life,

I feel such gratitude that, um, my parents supported my dream of being an actor. Like, my key relationships supported me. Like, I always felt like on each step of the journey, there was at least one person who was telling me I could do it. And even with that, it was hard, you know? Even with my parents saying,

listen, we don't know if you'll ever make any money doing this or make a living, but if this is what is in your heart, then we're here for you. Oh, my God, what a gift. What a gift. Such a gift. Because I talk to a lot of acting students and creative students, and they're here for you. Oh my God, what a gift. What a gift. Such a gift. Because I talk to a lot of acting students and creative students and they don't have

that support. And I know how hard that is. And Pam didn't have it. I don't imagine like her parents were encouraging her to become an artist either, you know? She had a good job at Dunder Mifflin, why fool with it. Yeah. I'm sure. Exactly. No, but what with it. Yeah. I'm sure. Exactly. No, but what I know, it's wonderful.

I had the same thing, my parents just said, do it, follow your heart and the rest will follow. We can't wait to see where it's all going. And you know, what a wonderful thing. I said that to my son all the time. I don't know where you're going, but can't wait to see. Yeah. Was it always directing for you?

Always, always. I mean, for like a nanosecond, I thought, oh, maybe I'll try being an actress. And then I got, my God, you have to have a skin like a rhinoceros. I don't know how you guys do it. I got kicked in the teeth a couple of times, and I said, okay, try that next. And my directors, who I was working with, said,

you tend to boss everybody else around. Maybe you want to think about directing instead of acting, because that might be a better fit. And that was in college. And then the head of the theater department at my college, he said, why don't you take a show, do a show. And so I did a show. I did Samuel Beckett's Endgame, had a blast.

Wow. Yeah, really amazing play. And then he said, you should apply to Yale Drama School. And I went, oh no, that's, oh no. I was really pam on that. I was like, oh, that's not for me. That's Rich Blood. I said, they only take like four students.

And he said, yeah, you could be one of those four. Oh man. So I applied and I couldn't believe it. I got my acceptance letter on April Fool's Day and I was so sure that my friends had pranked me. Had pranked you? And it was, I always consider that my first big break, you know, and yeah. So

But you had someone that believed in you. I had someone that believed in me and was pushing me. So yeah, so yeah, I think we know that we know that Jim is going to continue to push Pam and who knows where that all could go. We captured some really wonderful moments because of that, not just Yorick, but everybody else and kind of where they were and what they were doing. How checked out they were of the whole process

or how committed they were. Or how judgy they were. How judgy they were. Do you ever think how fun it would be to just go back there again? If they talked to you guys about, wouldn't it be just dreamy to do a reunion show? I wish that I could, like,

if I ever found like a genie in a bottle and I got three wishes, I think one of my wishes would be that I could go back and shoot an episode of The Office again, but like go back and shoot an episode of The Office again. But like, go back and like, reshoot Boys and Girls. Like, just experience it and live it. With this perspective after all these years.

Yes. I would love to sit in a party planning committee scene. It would make me so happy. Yeah. Do you, does anybody come to you for that? Has an NPC come to you guys for that? I don't think we can get the whole group back together. And I also think like, I don't know if there's like a,

I don't want to undo the bow that we put on the end of it by like figuring out a way that all these people are back in the office again. Yeah. So we just treasure it, you know? But doing this podcast, it feels like we get to revisit it a little bit. Of course, of course.

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Service fees exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. And I wanted to ask you, with your directing experience, when you joined the office, had you done any talking heads? Had you directed talking heads? No. And the talking heads thing was like a revelation, because I realized that, okay, I have an acting background and now I have to act the journalist.

Yes. You know, I have to be watching you answer my questions and while I'm enjoying so much your answer and just seeing how that's gonna drop into the cut, I have to get ahead of it too at the same time and be thinking about what I can ask you that's gonna bring out something fun and surprising and new. And I would just get so mesmerized and that especially happened with Steve.

We're in the middle of Steve coming up with, you know, spouting some gold and I'm just like... So I have to ask you about one of his talking heads and I laughed so hard because it's so much longer in the superfan version than what originally aired. So basically, Jan has just kicked them out. He grabs the guys, he's like, we're gonna go down to the warehouse. And he has this talking head and let's hear it. Let's hear it.

We're gonna head down there. All of us guys and all of those guys together. We're gonna be one guy today. The office and the warehouse. The Woffus. Journey of self-discovery. Oh I think this can work out great because managing the warehouse is a very important part of my job and I haven't been there in months. Oh my god I know what such a great idea to go down below down to the depths. So great, so great. When you were doing the Talking Heads with Steve, were

you prepared for how much off script he would sometimes go and then come back to the written script so seamlessly? No, I was I was just amazed and I think that's how I got so mesmerized and lost. Because I remember at one point, we literally looked at each other, and he's looking to me like, blank, blank, do you have another question for me? And I'm so completely caught up in his performance. And the way his mind worked, that we

could go off on these crazy tangents, and then he would bring us back. I had an improv background, thank God. I think that every director needs that no matter what they're doing, but especially in this high stakes game of the office, you need your improv chops, you just have to have it because it's such a high wire act what you guys were doing. It's so dangerous.

That's when it got great. It's like we didn't really know what was gonna happen. And you know, that we could just, who knows? You just gotta, I remember talking to Randy Einhorn, our DP about this and just saying, we just have to be ready. We have to be ready. We don't know what's gonna happen.

We don't know, especially Steve or even Rainer. And you don't know what's gonna happen and just be ready to go to it and capture that gold. what I so admired in so many ways, the craft, especially boys and girls, what it seemed like even when someone was just in the deep background, there was something delicious happening that you wanted to rack focus to it and see what it was. It was just nonstop. Yeah. Everybody's on. Everyone's playing their

part. I loved just seeing Kevin in the background once he said that he would back up Jim if Roy came for him. Just how Brian played like this tension throughout the episode. Like, whew. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It didn't break it. All of that. Just so delicious. And that's why I look back so nostalgically at it, because when do we get a chance to do something that incredibly layered and just everybody, I just felt like a composer and you guys, it's just all these Stradivarius violins playing at the same time.

Denny, you mentioned that you had some improv background and I'm so curious, what does that mean? Well, when I was at Yale Drama School, I told you April Fools, I got pranked into going. And it was fantastic preparation because you had to do everything. The directors had to act. I had to pass an acting audition before I could get into the directing program, which I think was pretty brilliant that you could never put yourself in a position

where you could be speaking to actors and not really understand what it is to be in those shoes. Wow, that's fantastic. So that's a very wonderful part of that program. But we did have a little cabaret theater and we did have a lot of classes in improvisation. And it just taught me so much. I always like to do an improv pass. And I tell my people, you know, let's make time for one word. And I tell the writers too, like, you know,

we've got the written version. Let's do, I call it the wing ding, let's go. Let's just get a wing ding in the can, because something magical might happen and how delicious that's gonna be. And so, yeah, I think having that background really helped me to blend with you guys and the way your heads were working.

It made a big difference. That's so cool. Well, I certainly felt like we had the ability to improv when you were on set. And there are some directors that you can just feel that ease. And I don't know if the word permission is the right word, but you just feel that ease. And I don't know if the word permission is the right word, but you just feel that creative dance.

And I remember that even with us gals in the conference room, because not all of that was scripted. There were a few little moments here and there where we got to play around. And poor Jan, most of it was at Jan's expense. I remember your great line, which I was talking about about aspirational dressing. And you said clearly Jan aspires to be a slut or a whore.

But why? Because she has on black stockings. Black high heels. Yeah. Like, imagine. I know. And there is extra moments like as Jan's leaving and all the gals go to the window to watch her leave, Kelly says, I like her shoes and my character goes, I don't.

It's like, why? They're very sensible low heel. Yes. No, I love that. Yeah. It's just a bridge too far for you. She crossed the line. She crossed the line and just slept them. No, there was just so much gold like that. My God.

Well, we also did have a pretty big stunt with you. Now, we never had stunts, hardly ever. But you had this one where Michael has the forklift and he's trying to put a box on a shelf and then he knocks them all and they domino and they crash. And we were so curious about shooting that. Did you guys get it in one? We got it in one.

Because, you know, as successful as the show was, you know, we were always up against it in terms of time and money. And also, I was pretty sure that it would deaden if we had to do take two. So I told everybody we're going to get this in one take. So let's just sort of loosely rehearse it. And what happens, happens. And I think the art department had helped me.

We kind of rigged the shelves so that they would domino down. But, and you know, Steve was great. He had a pretty good idea of how to make that thing swing. But yeah, that was one take. And then what was so challenging was that as the guys further destroyed the warehouse, you know, we had to shoot that in continuity, you know, getting the styrofoam peanuts down and all the mess that we were making had to be in continuity because we were progressively destroying the workplace. And then Dwight's spud gun

that goes into Daryl's window as well. I missed that in the shorter cut. That was so great. I remember in episodes following this episode that Daryl's window was being repaired and then there was no real context for it. But it was because Dwight shot the window with his potato gun. Maybe in our dreams, who are all imagining

we'd get to do a longer version and keep all the gold. I remember inviting you and Krasinski into the edit room once because I was like, oh my God, I gotta make all these hard choices. We gotta get this down to airtime. Were we helpful? You were very helpful. Really?

Oh, I'm glad to hear that. Because it was so much about you. I think it may, I don't know if it was the first episode I did or the second, but I just thought, look, you guys are inhabiting this. Let's see what you're thinking about this. And you will be remembering things that you did, and did we capture it the way you remembered it, you know?

Oh my gosh, I don't remember you doing that, but I have no doubt that you did and that was something that they did on the show a lot was invite the actors to come into the editing room, which has never happened to me again. Really? Yeah, no, no. And we didn't know that, we thought that was pretty normal.

So our jobs after were like, are we, Yeah, no, no. And we didn't know that. We thought that was pretty normal. So our jobs after were like, are we, does anyone want us to watch some of the dailies? They're like, no. Isn't that terrible? So many of the things that were set in place and the procedures and the rhythms were designed to succeed. And there's a reason why they just,

and I often, I mean, I wonder like, how did that begin? Did Greg say this is the way we're doing it or was it Ken coming in and saying this is the way we're gonna do it? Because it's clearly, it's all based on success. We're all in this together. I really think it's Greg. I mean, you know, even from the very beginning of the show,

if someone had a thought, he's just a curious person. I remember him going to the accountants in the production trailer and asking their input about what they thought of this scene. Did it seem realistic? And I think he encouraged that in his whole group. I still remember Dave Rogers telling me one time, Ange, we had just filmed Casino Night. And he was like, Ange, I want you to come and see the take where you slap Dwight. He was like, I don't know if you know this, but Matt Sohn caught your little smile after the slap.

And he said, and I put it in. And I was like, that's just so special. And so I went into the editing bay and I saw that. And I just don't think that happens very often. And I think like, that's just so special. And so I went into the editing bay and I saw that. And I just don't think that happens very often. And I think that was Greg. Greg made us all a team like that. It doesn't.

I love having actors in the edit room when I'm ready to show it to them. If they can take it, because you have to ask them first, don't be afraid. If we have a lot more to shoot, I don't want them to be freaked out for the going forward at the choices they've made. You know, I have to always say,

are you someone who can, are you strong enough? Can you take it? Can you take it? But once it's well after the fact, then, you know. I like to see playback on set sometimes. I do too. Because my training, when I came out to LA, I ended up studying with a really great teacher

who was really helping me with like on-camera auditioning when you'd have to go on tape. And he would have us do the audition on tape and then we would sit in class and we would all watch the auditions. But you were only allowed to comment on your own. You were not allowed to give notes to other actors. And I have to say like so often so often, like, watching it back,

I was like, oh yeah, I see it. My face is in my script too much. I didn't have the first three lines memorized. That moment of decision that I thought was powerful in my head is not reading. I need to try something else. So when I'm on set, like if I'm wondering, like am I nailing this?

Am I giving this what it's supposed to have? I'll ask, can I watch playback of that last one? Because I can just see it. I can see that what needs to be there isn't there, and I'll be like, oh, I got it. Sometimes, like for me, but a lot of times, I find that like directors and producers are kind of scared to show actors playback,

because I think maybe some people spiral, but I find it really helpful. I think it is incredibly helpful. I just finished this project in the UK, and it was like, you know, we were like a tower of babble. There were like five different languages being spoken on set. And it was so great for some of the actors. I said, just come and sit for a second, and let me show you what you did.

They think, they're like, I got it. You know, it's so much faster than giving a note in some cases. It's like, oh geez, I thought, okay, got it. Yeah, I love it too. And then you'll go nail it. You love it too, yeah. Yeah, I do.

Cause it's just like what you said, it's immediate. You just see it right away. You're like, oh, why am I, I'm like looking at the plate that's about to break. Right. Maybe I shouldn't be anticipating this, whatever it is that's coming across my face. Right, right.

God, how fun our jobs are. Really? I know. So fun, right? You know, I don't know anything that's more fun. I mean, everybody in Hollywood's trying to pivot right now. I'm like, you know, how could we possibly do anything else when we love it so much?

What's your favorite part of directing? Do you love pre-production? Do you love shooting? Do you love editing? What do you like? You know, it so much. What's your favorite part of directing? Do you love pre-production? Do you love shooting? Do you love editing? What do you like? You know, it's crazy. I really love all of it. In the prep, it's such a heady time because you can dream and invent and imagine, and

then your dreams get kicked in the teeth a little bit because there's not the money or time to do what you're dreaming. But I love the prep, and for me, it's all about the prep. And the more prepped I am, we'll have much more fun when we're shooting. Because when we're shooting, it's like, you know, we've really thought about this. It's like, yeah, well, you know, you need that drawing and that notebook of drawings. You know, we will have already thought about that. We're not always blessed to have such a wonderful prop, you know, man in our pocket.

I love the shooting. I love the thrill of it. I think what makes our work a little addicting is that you look at a schedule, you know, and you go, oh my God, I've got to do this, this, this, and this today, and we'll never make it. And then somehow we do. And at the end of the day, you're so, as the Brits say, chuffed, like, man, we did it. High five all around. You know, it's like, we actually survived this. And I can't think of any other craft or business where at the end of the day, you get to have share that joy with everybody. Like we faced the impossible today and all these disastrous things happened and we still

crushed. That's part of the fun. You have to do that. Absolutely. I mean, that's what we become production junkies. We have to keep going back for that high. The whole time you were telling that story, I thought of this moment that I always say to my daughter when we think something can't happen, like, how are we going to pull this

off? There's that movie Shakespeare in Love, and everything's going wrong with the play. They're like, how's that going to happen? He goes, it's the theater. It's a mystery. No, I love that. Was that, who was that that said that? Jeffrey Rush? Jeffrey Rush. Yes.

It was Jeffrey Rush. It was Jeffrey Rush. It's a mystery. Yeah, it's a mystery. I love that. I've said that on set a couple times. Yeah. I do love that. Wow. Do you still direct theater?

No, sadly I don't. And you know what? I'm so keen to give it another whack. I've been reading about this wonderful play on Broadway that Sarah Snook is starring in. And they're using a lot of cameras. And I thought this is such an exciting place, you know, a new way of telling a story, new media where cameras meet performance, live performance. And I'm dying to get to New York to see it. And I just, I would love to do something like that.

That would really be up my alley. And I am dying to see how they're doing it because I keep hearing there's moments where they go in close on her hands. She's playing about six, eight parts. It sounds like a tour de force. But yeah, I'd love to do theater again. Anytime, anywhere.

I would really love it. Now I'm writing and doing some personal projects that I'm into. And I just finished this massive project. Did I mention this? In the UK with Guy Ritchie. No, what are you doing? It's called Young Sherlock. And Guy Ritchie is the executive producer.

It's like we go back from the movies, you know, with Robert Downey and Jude Law, we go back. And now Sherlock is just a young man at Oxford. And God, we had a blast. We had such a great cast. I got reunited with Colin Firth, with I'd done a movie and we had Joseph Fiennes, and then his nephew, Hero Fiennes, gonna be a huge star, plays Sherlock, and it was super fun to try to

shoot in Guy Ritchie's style, you know, which is so crazy and muscular and completely nutball. We had just the best time. I literally just got back from that. I can't wait to watch that. That's coming in the fall. Oh, man. I think Amazon's thinking of it as kind of a big temple, fingers crossed. We had a blast, so we hope the audience does.

Well, you also had reunited with John Krasinski on season two of Jack Ryan. How was that? Oh, my god. Well, he advocated for it, and I was so grateful, because I think he just really needed a familiar face, you know, at that point. And we'd had such a good time together. And that show was crazy and really hard.

And we were in all these, like, super dangerous locations. I was going to say, they filmed that all over the place. Oh, my God. Well, we were in the jungle. You know, we had poisonous snakes and poisonous spiders and everything and 120 degrees. And then we were in Moscow and New York and London. It was completely nuts. And everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And so, you know, naturally we needed to laugh our way

through it or otherwise we would have jumped off a cliff. It was really hard. That was a blast. And he's asked me back a couple of times. It's never quite worked out, but that turned out to be such a big thing, you know, big franchise for him. And how fun, knowing him as Jim, to see him develop into this huge leading man.

Yeah. I mean, we all knew he had that in him. I remember one time you said, I mean, look at him. Do you remember that? Like, look at this guy. I mean, of course. And see him develop as a director. Because we'd wake up every morning and we'd talk about the box office for a quiet place.

And that was just exploding. We would like to shake our heads and go, oh my God, John, here you go. Here you go. You're a big ass director now. Well, I remember on the set, I would say to John, John, I think you're our Tom Hanks. Like, this is your bosom buddies.

Like, this is literally just the start of something for you. Like, I know people will always know you as Jim Halpert and all of that, but like, when people think of Tom Hanks, they don't think of bosom buddies. They think of everything else Tom Hanks has done. I was like, I think you're going to be our Tom Hanks, John. I really do. Boy, that was astute. Yeah.

That was astute. Yeah, what a meteoric rise, too. Just the best. Yeah. Just the best. I texted him. I watched A Quiet Place on an airplane. Probably not the best place.

I was so freaked out on the plane and having big reactions. This lady next to me was like, what is happening with you? But yeah, it's just been such a joy to watch our cast mates have these new chapters of their life and we all still have a text thread, the cast. I was gonna ask you if you guys did. Yeah, it's called the Office Peeps and we check in on it.

And it means so much to us that we have each other still through all of these different seasons of life and we check in and BJ always says office family forever. Oh, I love that. I know. I love that. Well, you know, because I think even at the time you all knew that you were creating something

extraordinarily special and that the likelihood of it coming again was slim, and that somehow everything was firing on all cylinders, and that you had to just sort of revel in your time. And I just, I think everybody felt that. Everybody knew that, and you know, how joyous that was. And this group of people too, we all knew each other well before anyone knew us. You know, like we journeyed that other part of this industry, which is being at the very

beginning and it just builds a lifelong friendship in you. I remember one of my good friends from back home in St. Louis, when I was getting married, she said, I'm sorry to be nerdy, but are there going to be any famous people at your wedding? And I said, no, not really. No, I don't think there's going to be any famous people. And she said, oh, the cast of The Office isn't coming. And I said, oh no, they're coming. Sorry, I don't think of them as famous people.

Yeah. That's hilarious. And I think that still holds true to this day. That's exactly right. Even as people are household names to us, they're just those people who were touching up their noses themselves on set or helping you buy your Honda. It's like, I remember Phyllis looking at cars online with me.

Yeah. Things like that. I completely love that. These are, what does BJ say, friends forever? Office family forever. Yeah. There you go. I just had one thing, since we all rewatched

this super fan version of Boys and Girls, I know there was a moment that made me laugh every time that got me. It was my favorite moment and it's such a tiny moment. And the way you shot it is so brilliant. Michael has everyone in the warehouse seated in a circle and he's like, guy talk. And he has his shirt on buttoned and he says, hassle off. Yes. He's like, I was off. But the thing that got me is I only saw a group of men and then Madge leans forward and

says, Hey, do you want me to go? And he's like, um, no, why would I? And she's like, I'll go. I know. I love that moment. I love that moment. I, you know, I, it was pretty easy lens wise for her to just lean back. And we, I remember thinking like we have to hide her until that moment. It's so good. I love that you love that moment, but yeah, there's so many.

I mean, there's so many. Do you have a favorite moment in your rewatch of this? God, again, so many. Oh God, I mean, it's just like the whole episode. There's never a moment where I felt let down. I mean, rain doing angels in the snow with the styrofoam that Michael has emptied all the bags. And there were so many moments like that.

Just loved every bit of it. I can tell you one of my favorites is that first shot of all the office guys at the top of the staircase, and they're looking down at like the hustle and bustle and the machinery and the music of the warehouse. And I love that line when Dwight says, "'Remember on Lost when they met the others?' And that's what it's like. And I like that line when Dwight says, remember on Lost when they met the others?

And that's what it's like. And Michael has that line where he says, it's like meet the Fokkers, but it's like meet the warehouse. It's like, Michael, this warehouse has been here. But they're all almost discovering this world for the first time. And the way you shot it, they really are almost descending into this other place.

Right. I remember that with Dwight. Going down into the warehouse, going down at the balls, it was so masculine down there, you know, so much testosterone down there and it was so, you know, and Michael's saying, you know, I'm call, uh, white collar, blue collar, I'm collar blind. everybody goes. Exactly. It was so fun. Well, Denny, we love to end our interviews with the call sheet questions. You know, these were the questions that were on the back of the call sheet in the later seasons of the show and we would get to know a crew member or a cast member.

And so here we go. Are you ready? I'm ready. What was your first entertainment job? You know, I got a job as an actress. That was my first entertainment job. A little municipal theater in Minneapolis, St. Paul, called The Stagecoach. It was a summer theater, and I got that job

while I was still in high school. But it was an actual paying job. It was incredible. I was actually a little late to get into college because of it. So yeah, that's when I thought I could be an actress. Did you have to sing and dance for that part? I had to sing and dance.

Yeah. I had to sing and dance. It was super fun. But I was kind of terrible. We were doing old melodramas and stuff like that. If you stuck with it for the very long, you would develop all these loathsome habits. You had to get out fast. All right.

Second question. Do you speak any other languages? I do. I do, but one I don't even know how to use, which is German. I speak German. I was very lucky in my grammar school that there was this extraordinary woman that started offering German to us in fourth grade.

So I took it and then got to high school and thought, well, I'll just keep this up. Then got to college and thought, I'll just keep this up. Finally, like when I was scratching around in New York trying to get arrested, I got a job translating. So it was a useful side hustle, but German. If you get me really drunk,

I can sing downtown in German. Really? Do we have any booze? Later. Wear some booze. Later. Later. All right. Next question. What's a place you've been to that you absolutely loved? There's so many. I work mostly internationally these days. There's so many, would have to be Italy and I think I would say Portofino. Just beautiful blue, blue ocean water. Of course, incredible food. And just sort of this rare little village hanging on the side of a cliff. And I remember being there with my husband and we were just falling in love. It just seems so idyllic. I love to go back

there in my mind. Portofino, Italy, people. Question number four. What do you like to do on the weekend? I love to watch old movies. I've got four books going at once usually. And one of the nights, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I just love to have a bunch of friends over and cook. That's my favorite, favorite thing. Love to cook. And I live part-time in LA and part-time on an island, on Orcas Island up in Washington State, which by the way I had turned Ken and Marissa onto. And so I see them all the time. They were at my son's wedding a year ago. We see each other all the time. That's wonderful.

Can you imagine that I get to have Ken Quapus in my life forever now? So amazing. So yeah, cooking, most of the time on weekends, the joyous things are, you know, up there gathering a tribe. What is your go-to meal or what do you love to cook? What's your signature? I'm pretty famous for my garlic chicken. I take a chicken, I stuff it full of rosemary, and then I spread garlic all around the outside and then the inside. And the secret is malden sea salt flakes to kind of keep it juicy. You make a crust of salt.

That is a perennial. That's a perennial. Love to make that. I love it. I love that you're also kind of famous for it. You're known in circles. Some of my friends will literally call me up and said, you're not invited, but I really need your chicken.

Can you bring one over? Well, the last call sheet question is number five. What is your favorite midnight snack? Well, it's so wicked, of course, but it's ice cream. It's ice cream. And I've learned to like, I can't have it in the refrigerator. If I have it, it's gonna go.

It's gonna be the midnight snack and I'm gonna go eat the whole fricking tub. What's the flavor that does you in? Oh God, it's chocolate. It's almost flavor that does you in? Oh, God. It's almost always chocolate-oriented, but maybe with some caramel or some nuts, it's like, oh, it's my downfall. It's my downfall.

I guess we all have them. But I've learned, if I want to stay slender, which is like, that was years ago, what am I talking about? But no ice cream. Don't keep any ice cream in the refrigerator. Get it out. Make somebody else eat it. Aw, Denny, this was wonderful. Is there anything that we failed to ask you or that you would like

to share before we go? Oh my God. It was such a great talk. You guys made it so easy. I just want to say one moment that I love from Boys and Girls is when Jim comes back upstairs and he says, how did it go? And you said, we watched a video about our changing body. Yes. That's such a good joke. It was so classic. I think we covered everything, all our favorite moments.

It was just joyous to walk down memory lane with you guys. Thank you. Thank you so much. Hmm. Well, a big thank you to Denny for joining us in the studio. And before we go, we did want to mention a couple of extra little scenes in the superfan episode that we just loved. So many fantastic tiny moments.

There are such gems, like there's a whole Toby runner, because you know, he doesn't go down into the warehouse. So the camera kind of checks in on him throughout the day, and he's reading the paper, he's juggling. At one point, he's full on taking a nap. Like he's put chairs together and made a little bed. Yes. And there's a lot of extra stuff that happens both in the conference room with Jan,

but also down in the warehouse. We talked a little bit about it with Denny. There's this great moment at the end where all the guys realize that they have been unloading a truck that was meant for delivery. Yes, it's so fun. And we also talked a little bit about our other favorite

moment, which are these two tags at the very end of the episode with Lonnie and Madge. Yeah, so Lonnie is Saran wrapping a big group of boxes and the camera crew is filming him. And then that moment follows Madge pushing a cart. They cracked us up. Let's hear him. Why are you even filming this? I'm walking.

Let's see how interesting I can make this. How's that? Is that getting better? How about that one? I turn the corner. I pretend I'm a race car sometimes. How's that? Is that getting better? How about that one? I turn the corner. I pretend I'm a race car sometimes I gotta take a breath. What?

Don't take me. I'm wanted in three states. She's wanted in three states. I mean, it's just great. When I see those moments, that is when I really super appreciate those bigger episodes because we had so many funny people on the show. And bits like that would get cut for time. So I love that there's a place for them to live. Well, thank you so much for everyone for listening. We love doing this podcast so much.

And we're just so thankful for days like today. We'll see you next week. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins, our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbaco. Odyssey's executive producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman and Leah Reese-Dennis. Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.