Office Ladies - Second Drink: Chair Model

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

This week we’re breaking down Chair Model. After a disastrous dinner party, Michael is single and finds himself falling in love with a chair model from an office supply catalog. Meanwhile Kevin an...d Andy fight to get their parking spaces back from a construction project by confronting the Five Families. We hear from Paul Faust who actually played himself as one of the heads of the Five Families. Jenna wonders what she’d be like on The Bachelor, Creed Bratton gives theories on why the character Creed was trying to score three office chairs, and Angela reveals something pretty special about the chair she’s been using to record Office Ladies. You totally should listen to this episode, no shortn’t about it. Check out Paul Faust’s Survival Kits at 1800Prepare.com 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

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Starting point is 00:00:02 Welcome to our second drink of chair model. In this episode, we talk about the Scranton Business Park, five families. We got some fun behind the scenes tidbits from Paul Fowst, who plays Cool Guy Paul. And of course, we discussed Michael's love for the chair model in the office supply magazine. That's one of my favorite plot lines. I know. It's so perfect. I'm going to kick us off with a fan theory that a lot of you wrote in about.
Starting point is 00:00:28 Douglas K. and many others said, I always thought the chair model looked like Jan, and that's why Michael was so obsessed with her. And Asma wrote in and said, the chairlady is Jan with black hair. Jenna, what do you think about this theory? Should we look at a side by side? You know, I love a side by side. I know. I have it right here.
Starting point is 00:00:51 I kind of, it's the eyes. I see it a little bit. I see it in the eyes. Mm-hmm. Otherwise, I don't see it. If I'm being totally honest, Douglas and asthma, I'm sorry. I see it a little bit. I do.
Starting point is 00:01:07 I can see why Michael, it looks like he has a type. I mean, his type is woman. Truly. Well, we also talked about the gal that Kevin is going to set Michael up with, you know, Wendy, but then Michael calls the phone number that Kevin gave him and it's an actual Wendy's restaurant. I had reached out to Kent Sbornaq to find out who played Wendy. he didn't remember. But guess what? Cori L. wrote in to tell us that the voice of the Wendy's employee was played by Kelly Leskowitz and Corey included a link to Kelly's IMDB page where it is
Starting point is 00:01:43 listed among her many acting roles. Well, Angela and I thought she crushed this moment, so I think we need to hear it. Okay, Wendy, hot and juicy redhead. We'll give this a try. Wendy's. Hello, Wendy. This is Kevin's friend, Michael. This isn't Wendy. Oh, I'm sorry, could you put her on, please? Dude, this is a Wendy's restaurant.
Starting point is 00:02:17 Okay. Could I just have a frosty and a baked potato, please? You have to come to the restaurant to order food. Well, send somebody to pick it up. Just have it ready. It's ready now. Well, put it aside. Read on, it's ready now.
Starting point is 00:02:34 I love that line read. I loved everything that she did in that moment. I thought it was just so great. Well, Michael also goes on a cringy blind date with Pam's landlady, and some folks wrote in asking us if this scene was a nod to the BBC office. You know, when David Brent attempts to go on a blind date with Susan and the Christmas special Part 2. Oh, I remember it.
Starting point is 00:02:55 It is also super cringy, and you know what? I think they're right, because both scenes start out so similar. One's at a cafe, one's at like a bar, but they start out very much on the same tone. I'm going to play the first 36 seconds of this scene in the UK version, and then we're going to play the first part of Michael's blind date. Yeah, I spoke to your phone. It seemed quite nice, so a bit of a bit sick, really. Not nerves, excitement, really.
Starting point is 00:03:21 Not sexual, you know. She said to be wearing a white chiffon scarf to help me spot her. So, oh, for fuck. David? Huh? Yep, hi. Susan. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:35 Can I get you a drink? No, okay. Have you got one? You go sit down, I'll get one. Our suspect has straight brown hair. She is wearing blue jeans and a black top. So, behold, our bachelorette, give her a ten for looks, and a three for her ability to describe herself. Hello, my lady.
Starting point is 00:03:57 Michael? Uh. Uh. Are you Michael Scott? Scott? So Michael, what? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting someone named Michael. Oh, that's not, yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:15 Michael? Michael? Large hot chocolate with caramel and shot of peppermint. Okay, yes. I agree. It is. It's, yes. Right?
Starting point is 00:04:27 I think everyone that wrote in is right, because basically they have a description of what this person might be wearing. Yep. They're at a bar or cafe, like looking around, and then the person walks up and they're both like, oh, shit. Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever been on a blind date? Like truly like a blind date? No. I haven't. Have you? No. I was never even like on a setup. I've never even been set up. No, I take that back. I did get set up. I was like, I was invited to like a party. Uh-huh, the sneaky setup. But it was kind of known. Actually, I don't think I did know.
Starting point is 00:05:02 I think once I got there, it became very clear to me that I had been invited as a potential love interest for like their single guy friend at the party because I was also single. This happened to me. It's the sneaky setup. It was my mom and a bunch of the church ladies because there was a new youth pastor. They're trying to make a love connection happen. Yeah. And it was so awkward.
Starting point is 00:05:25 It became very apparent to me that this whole gathering was so that the two of us might have a spark. Same. These people planned an entire game night. Yeah. We played running charades in hopes that I would have a connection. with this guy. Yeah. But I've never been on like just a one-on-one setup for a blind date.
Starting point is 00:05:44 No, me either. My mom met my dad on a blind date. Oh, that's so romantic. When it goes right, it's a great story. Well, to wrap up, I went to the candy bag alts. You guys know that there were talking heads from everyone as they wrote the names of women on index cards for Michael. You know, Michael was like, oh, yes. You've got to all come up with names of people for me to date.
Starting point is 00:06:06 Yeah. So there were a lot of these talking heads that didn't make it in. People had strong reactions about writing these names on index cards. I'm going to read you Toby and Oscar. Okay. Toby, forcing your employees to set you up isn't really a violation of any Dundermifflin rule, mostly because nobody at corporate ever considered that someone would do this. Michael really thinks outside the box.
Starting point is 00:06:30 Yeah, there's no rule because who would do that? Who would do that? Here's Oscars. Michael and my sister might hit it off. Oh, Thanksgiving with Michael. You have to think ahead. You've got to plan ahead. All right, everybody.
Starting point is 00:06:45 Please enjoy your second drink of chair model. I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on the office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you. Each week, we will break down an episode of the office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. We're the office ladies.
Starting point is 00:07:10 Hi, everybody. Hello from our closets. Still here. Still in our closets. Still surrounded by Josh's many, many hats. So many baseball hats. So many. Does he have a favorite?
Starting point is 00:07:31 Can we get him on the pod to ask him to give us a breakdown of these hats? Are they significant emotionally in some way? Do they represent a team he loves? I mean, no, I think Josh is all about the fit. And it looks like he loves the Patagonia kind of trucker looking hat. It does with the adjustable band thing, the little plastic snappies. Josh, I hope you are excited that we shared. Listen, there's other things in the closet.
Starting point is 00:07:59 Right over my shoulder, I notice all the time that there's the, what's the stuff they spray in their shoes, Jenna? Fabriz. No. All dudes do this. They spray that stuff in their shoes. Odor eaters? Yes, yes. Anyway, oh, now Josh, you're really happy. I've shared with everyone that you spray your shoes.
Starting point is 00:08:17 Well, because we need to talk about this longer, I am really curious about the very bright red pair of shoes over your shoulder in the shoe cubby. Who's are those? Oh, those are my red converse. Okay, so here's the thing. Yes, this is Josh's closet, but I occupy most of the shoe space. I have lots of shoes. You have overflow that goes into his closet. Yeah, he's real happy about it. Well, guys, it's what you're here for. A breakdown of Angel's Closet. Next week, we'll do my closet. But this week, we are talking about chair model.
Starting point is 00:08:54 It's so good. Season 4, episode 14, written by B.J. Novak, directed by Jeffrey Blitz. With a duo like that, you know it's going to be good. I love the simple idea that Michael has a thing for the model in a chair catalog. I just love how simple. and perfect that is. Yes. Let me give you a summary. Do it. Michael is unable to pick a new chair for his office after he becomes infatuated with a woman modeling office chairs in a catalog. He decides he's ready to rejoin the dating pool. He's inspired by his love of the chair model. Meanwhile, the Dundermifflin
Starting point is 00:09:35 parking spaces are being used by a construction crew doing work for W.B. Jones. And the the staff of Dunder Mifflin has to park in a satellite lot. Kevin and Andy joined forces to confront the other bosses of the Scranton Business Park to reclaim their places in the main lot. Simple storylines, absolute perfection. Also, absolutely true. Yeah. You know, I had to park in a satellite lot when I had my admin job. If you were an executive, you could park in the parking lot of the building, this high rise in downtown Los Angeles. Yeah. I did not get a parking space. I had to park in a satellite lot that was about a half a mile away, and it wasn't a big deal except for on days that it rained. Well, here's the thing. You know where you rank in a company by where you park.
Starting point is 00:10:26 Oh, yeah. Well, Michael has a spot right up front. He's not concerned. Well, later, he's going to try to imagine what it would be like if he didn't have that spot. Mm-hmm. But it takes two employees. Boy, he's angrily confronting him for him to get there. What are our fast facts, Jenna? Fast fact number one. The original title of this episode was Michael Dating. Hmm. But they realized that they would have to release the name of the episode before dinner party had aired.
Starting point is 00:11:00 Oh, and they didn't want that. They didn't want to ruin the surprise about Jan and Michael's breakup, right? Yes. So they changed the name of the episode to parking. But then they felt, well, while it's a big part of the episode, it's not the main storyline of the episode. So they eventually settled on chair model, which I personally love. I mean, when you see that, aren't you intrigued? I'm so intrigued.
Starting point is 00:11:25 What is this episode going to be about? Chair model. I'm more intrigued than parking. I'll say that. They picked the right one. All right. Fast fact number two, I think we need to do a little breakdown of the Scranton Business Park five families. I mean, it's like Goodfellas.
Starting point is 00:11:41 It is. All right, here are the bosses of the five families, Michael Scott, of course. Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. Then there is W.B. Jones from W.B. Jones Heeding and Air. He was played by Barry Sigismundi. Bill Kress of Cress, Tool and Die, who was played by Terrence B. Sur. And finally, Paul Faust of Disaster Kits Limited, who was played by Paul Faust.
Starting point is 00:12:11 This is an amazing story, and it all starts when an actual man named Paul Faust came to visit the set of the office. Yes, so I have known Paul Faust for years. We used to be related by marriage, and I reached out to him, and he's just such a hoot, and he sent in all of these fantastic audio clips about his day on set. They are amazing, and in this first one, he explains exactly how. he got the role on the show. Sam, you got to play this clip. Hey, office ladies and office fans. This is Paul Faust, a cool guy, Paul. I want to tell you how I got a part of the show. So I was out in L.A. business and decided to visit
Starting point is 00:12:53 the set because my cousins are part of the office. And when I was out there, I met the writers, and I kind of told him one of my companies and what I did, which was a company that sells his answer kits. And Greg, it said, this is my cousin. He's a little nuts. Tell him what you do. I told them about the company. And when I walked out of the room, unbeknownst to me, B.J. Novak said, that guy's got to be a character on the show. So he wrote a part based on me. And the day before they shopped the scene, they hadn't found an actor to play the part. So I got a call asking me if I wanted to audition to play the part.
Starting point is 00:13:29 And long story short, I got the part, got to fly out and be part of the awesome show and play myself. So that's how I got to be on the show. It's really a story only could happen in Hollywood. I mean, that's bonkers. I know. He's literally playing himself. But what's bonkers to me about it was that they did hold auditions. They held auditions for this role.
Starting point is 00:13:51 And the night before, they just had not found someone who could play Paul Faust. So they're like, how about Paul Faust? Paul really sells disaster kits. That's real. That is his company. Oh, yeah. And, Angela, he talked about that in this next clip. I think one of the most unique things about me being in the office was that I actually played myself.
Starting point is 00:14:13 When I went out to L.A. and I was visiting and I went to the set, I talked about one of the businesses I run, which is a company called 1-800-Prepair.com, where we actually sell disaster kits and prepare of his kits. So I talked about it, and that's what DJ had picked up on. And so he wrote a part called About Cool Guy Paul, the owner of Disaster Kids, limited and yes, I still own that company. We still sell disaster kids. So I think I'm one of the few people who played himself on TV with his real name in a real business that he runs, which was kind of cool. So we asked Paul, how did he prepare, you know, to have these scenes? He's not an actor. He's not used to learning lines or where to sit, you know, how to navigate a set and all that
Starting point is 00:15:00 kind of stuff. And here's what he had to say. So I got this part. let's say on a Thursday and I had we were shooting Friday morning so I had about a good 10 hours to learn my five or six lines so I'm studying studying on the plane I'm reading them I didn't sleep I studied them so we go there and this whole experience happens and you're nervous and there's a lot of people around and I had 10 hours to learn a bunch of lines so I was able to do it and we knocked it out and and I got it done and I was like great I finished and then all of a sudden somebody came in and they threw these new scripts down. They said, okay, here's the altered and ending.
Starting point is 00:15:36 Let's take a five minute break, learn our lines and come back at you. And I'm like, wait, wait, what a minute? Five minutes? What? I had 10 hours to learn my lines. Five minutes, I'm not learning new lines. So I raced out the hallway, had to study, learn all the lines, learn when I came in and whatever. A lot of doing it, knocking it out, getting it done right.
Starting point is 00:15:56 And again, life experience with amazing people who were just so supportive. that I was glad that I was able to be a tiny part of this amazing family. Well, Angela, I found an interview with Paul and he said that he landed in L.A. at 1.30 in the morning. The airline lost his luggage, so he had no luggage. He got to his hotel and went to sleep about 3.15 in the morning, and he had to be up at 5 a.m. for work. So after all of that, I'm kind of amazed. I would have been loopy. I wouldn't have been able to learn new lines.
Starting point is 00:16:30 No. And I think of Paul just like he's had no sleep. He's probably in the same underwear because they lost his bag. And he, you know, and now he's like, he thought he reached the finish line. And then they hand him this whole new task. Well, Paul sent a few more clips about his experience. Just being on set, they're so delightful. We're going to sprinkle those in throughout the episode. All right. Fast fact number three, Angela. I'm titling this, am I the inspiration? for this episode? I'm sorry, what? Were you a chair model? No. But in season one of the show, I wanted a new chair at reception.
Starting point is 00:17:14 And I had to lobby for it. So I'm sure I'm not the inspiration for this episode. But in season one, they gave me a chair at reception without arms. It was an armless chair. Mm-hmm. And I really, really wanted a chair with arms. and so I attempted to try to sort of move the chairs or find a chair maybe that hadn't been claimed or used. It wasn't working.
Starting point is 00:17:38 And big shout out to our set dresser, Steve Rothstein, because he is one of the guys who headed up the team that picked out all our furniture on the office. And he got me a chair with arms. Oh, lady. And I was so excited. Well, I have a chair story for you. I've been holding on to this. I'm going to go ahead and tell you now, the chair I'm sitting in right now, ready? I'm going to pan down. Do you see this chair? I do. It's a blue chair with mesh. Do you recognize it?
Starting point is 00:18:07 I don't recognize it, but it has no arms. Phil Shea gave me this chair. It was a leftover chair from work bus. Oh my gosh, you've been sitting in a work bus chair this whole time for a year in my closet. it. I have been sitting in my work bus chair and I was going to save it for work bus, but we're having all this chair talk. I couldn't hold it in anymore. Well, I just have to say this is why our show is so great because getting a chair is a very relatable big deal moment when you are in an office job or any job, your chair, you sit in it all day and they created this amazing, wonderful storyline out of it. Yes. And thank you, Phil Shea, because. I had gotten a desk, you know, I had in the corner of my guest room a little desk where I would sit and do work.
Starting point is 00:18:59 And I didn't have a proper desk chair. I was using one of the kitchen chairs. And I was sort of talking about it on set. And Phil Shea was like, Angie, I have some extra chairs from work bus. Do you want one? I was like, yes. This is making me happy. I know. We all have a chair story. And I have been sitting in it for a year with you and haven't told you because I was going to try to work it in a work bus. But there you go. Let's take a break. And when we get back, We'll get into it. All right. What's up, guys? I'm Candace Dillard Bassett, and you may know me from my time
Starting point is 00:19:36 on The Real Housewives of Potomac or as a part of the latest cast of the traders. And I'm Michael Arsinoe, author of the New York Times bestseller, I Can't Date Jesus. On our podcast, Undomesticated, we don't just say the quiet parents out loud for putting it all on the kitchen table and inviting you into the chaos.
Starting point is 00:19:52 If you're ready for bold takes, real talk, and a little fun, come join us. Listen to and follow Undomesticated and Odyssey Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. We are back. We open on a gym and Pam talking head. They are standing outside of the Dundermifflin office, and they are explaining that due to some renovations in the building,
Starting point is 00:20:18 all of their parking spots are being taken up, and they have to park in a satellite lot and walk to work. They're being really positive about it, though. Yeah, they saw a junkyard dog eating, you know, some of a chicken. Yeah, eating the bones of a rotisserie chicken, And Angela, which was based on a real story. It was. There was a junkyard next to our real office building.
Starting point is 00:20:43 And there was a junkyard dog who they would throw like old rotisserie chicken bones to. We've talked about this junkyard in the dog. We got very invested in this dog's life that lived over there. We did. And it made it into an episode. So then we have Oscar and Andy who are less positive. and then there's Kevin who is just downright angry. Kevin is going to have a breakdown over the satellite parking lot.
Starting point is 00:21:12 Yeah. Well, Andy says he's so bummed because he lost a penny out of his penny loafers. Yeah. Jenna, I don't understand penny loafers, so I looked him up. Oh. You could have asked me, I wore penny loafers all through high school as part of my school uniform. Okay, well, why did you put a penny in your penny loafer? I don't know, because there was a slot there for.
Starting point is 00:21:32 for it. Okay, well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you why. Oh, my God. Well, you have put me in my place. I clearly don't know about penny loafers. You told me I could have asked you. Well, you're not answering my question. Why a penny in your loafers? So, according to the internet's, back in the 1930s, the pay phone in the phone booth cost two cents. The new loafer design allowed just enough space for a penny in each shoe, equaling the cost of an emergency phone call. Thus, the penny and the loafer were united. But only men could make emergency phone calls.
Starting point is 00:22:14 If you were a woman, so sorry. You don't even get a pocket to put your pennies in. Good luck, lady. You're just going to die on the street. But for the men, we have pockets. You can hide money in your shoes. where else can we make life easy for you, gentlemen? That took a turn, but point taken.
Starting point is 00:22:37 So now the episode starts, and Jenna, it would have started with a deleted scene with Michael checking out of Shrewp farms. What? Yeah. Oh, because he's been staying with Dwight? Yes, so there was an alternate beginning where Michael is leaving the farm and he's like, it's moving day. you know, I've been here about a month. I let Jan have the condo, and I'm moving out of Shrewp Farms. And as he's leaving, Dwight goes hold up and hands him a bill.
Starting point is 00:23:08 And Michael's like, wait, you were charging me this whole time? And Dwight was like, yeah. And then they have this funny back and forth about it. Oh, my gosh. My mind is blown by the backstory that Michael lived with Dwight for a month. And it does sort of show why maybe now he's looking at the chair model like he is, because he's a month past his breakup and I don't know, maybe he's ready for something new. Yeah. Oh, can we see this deleted scene somewhere? Yes, it's on the DVDs.
Starting point is 00:23:44 Amazing. So the scene they went with is this one in his office. He's looking through the catalog and really just gazing at this late. lady in this chair. Well, we had some fan mail about it. Carly D. Jenna A. Mariah K. and Charlotte S. all wrote in to ask who played the chair model in the picture. The chair model was played by April Eden. She would go on to play Trish, aka Miss Pawnee, in two episodes of Parks and Recreation. Well, I have a little background catch. At a minute, nine seconds, there's a wonderful shot of the chair model, but the magazine is sitting on top of some message slips.
Starting point is 00:24:29 Oh. And I zoomed in on the message slip. The message that was written down said, Andrea Ufer or Uder guys, I don't know, I couldn't make it out. From Dunder-Lewisville called and asked Michael to please call as soon as he returns. And the number was 307-55-4438. So I called it. Well, that's a fake number.
Starting point is 00:24:54 Well, yeah, it rang fast-busy, but I wasn't sure, so I called it. No, you know that thing where in movies, they always start phone numbers with 555 because nobody has that as a prefix. Jenna, I know that, but we've had a phone number and it ended up being a sex hotline. So I decided to do my due diligence. It is a phony baloney number, but the area code 307 is a Wyoming area code, but there is no Louisville in Wyoming. There you have it. Boom. Everything you needed to know about this message slip next to the catalog.
Starting point is 00:25:31 Angela, I admire you. I do. I really love that detail. Pam just needs Michael to pick a chair so that she can get his chair. But he is now obsessed with the chair model and Pam is very sad. But then Michael has a talking head where he says, he really likes being single, because he can start off each day with a sense of possibility. And this was my favorite part when this talking head takes a turn. He says, and each day becomes
Starting point is 00:26:05 more desperate and desperate situations yield the quickest results, which is kind of true. It is true. There was an alt-talking head here that was pretty amazing. Jenna, you know the nursery rhyme where it's like, Pam and Jim sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, you know that one? Yes. So he's sort of used this nursery rhyme as a template for how to find your perfect match. And Sam, can you play it? Love, marriage, baby carriage. Those have been my goals ever since I heard that song.
Starting point is 00:26:49 Jan and I had love. We did not have marriage. We did have a baby carriage, which I got her for bringing groceries home after she got a DUI. It's just so messed up. And I have to say, Jenna, in this scene with you when he says, remember after my dinner party when I said that I was swearing off women, the way you said, I definitely remember your dinner party was so good. You just crushed it.
Starting point is 00:27:25 I love doing that scene. with Steve. I remembered when I was watching it how much we were laughing. It was just so fun. That was a good memory. It's a very subtle, like, reminder, too, to the audience what just came before this. Yeah. Okay. Well, now, Jenna, we have a creed talking head that is phenomenal. It is phenomenal. He says, when Pam gets Michael's old chair, he gets Pam's old chair, which will bring him to two chairs, only one more to go. Why does he need so many chairs? You're not the only person who's wondering.
Starting point is 00:28:04 We got a lot of mail about it. So I texted Creed. Oh, no. And he had a lot of answers for why he needed three chairs and I'm going to share them all. Wait, wait. Is this sort of like Creed, the actor giving Creed the character backstory? Yes.
Starting point is 00:28:18 Oh, I love it. All right. Option number one. He was growing weed in the ceiling. It was the same place where Angela threw her cat. Now, he had access through a crawl space outside, but he needed to get in there at night by his desk. So after finally getting his three chairs and climbing into the ceiling, they collapsed one night and he was stranded in the ceiling. He wants you to know that's a whole thing that could
Starting point is 00:28:43 have happened. Creed, what the hell are you talking about? You're going to stack three office chairs? I think all three of them had wheels. Yeah. Well, here's option number two. He said Crete stole many things from the office and he needed the extra chairs for a set because he was selling it to a competitive paper company. That, I believe. Yes. I believe Crete had many side hustles. Well, here's his final answer.
Starting point is 00:29:11 After perfecting his cartwheel, he wanted to use the three chairs as part of an obstacle course to really challenge himself. Well, that could have been very true. Oh, Creed, you are so fun. Thank you for humoring us time and time again. Well, Michael tells everyone in the bullpen, get out your catalogs, open them to page 85, and take a look at the woman in the catalog. Yeah, use that as a template for who you're going to set me up with. Jenna, this was an announcement. He came out of his office to address his employees.
Starting point is 00:29:47 Could you imagine working with a boss that made a huge announcement about how you should go about setting him up? No, later, he says if you don't provide him a name, by the end of the hour, you're going to be fired. We'll get there. But it's crazy. So now, here's what I noticed. We all do get out these catalogs and we start opening up to page 85. And I remember these catalogs, Angela. Do you remember them?
Starting point is 00:30:16 Yes. So we got mail about this, too. Mariah, Charlotte, and Christina all wanted to know. Did the props department have to make an entire. hire magazine just for these scenes with the catalog. No. So what they did was they had like an actual, I don't remember what it was, Angela, do you?
Starting point is 00:30:35 I think it was Staples or Office Depot or something. And they glued a new cover on it. Yes. So it was like a Dundermifflin cover. Yeah. And then on the inside on page 85, they glued this two pages so that when we opened it up, we could show those two pages. But the rest of it was an actual.
Starting point is 00:30:55 office catalog. That's right. And they just had to print basically the cover and then the two insert pages that we would all turn to. Right. Jenna, you might notice there's not a lot of reaction shots of me in this because my belly was so big. I'm peak preggers here. That is why I'm not anyone that walked in, you know, like from the satellite parking lot. Mm-hmm. So Jenna, I don't know if you remember, but this week on our set, Chris Hastings, our NBC set photographer was there. And he took a picture of me at my desk. I'm completely out of character and I'm pointing at my belly. Look, Jenna, here it is. Oh my God, you're huge. I know. Anyway, I'll put that in stories, but yeah, it was getting really hard to hide my belly. Well, there were enough shots of you,
Starting point is 00:31:39 Angela and I noticed that they were all very close up. They're like shoulders and up, but it's enough for me to notice that you were wearing a blouse with tiny keys on it. Little, like, skeleton keys. What was it? Lady, look. Look at this picture. It's not a blouse. It's a freaking dress. It was a whole dress of it. It was a turtleneck dress. I mean, it looked like a moo-moo. It was very comfortable. But we were starting to struggle with what could fit me over my belly and look like business attire of someone who was not pregnant. Yeah. I have a question for you. What is it? At three minutes, 35 seconds, you'll notice that Kevin and Michael are sitting on the sofa by front reception.
Starting point is 00:32:22 Michael's wanting Kevin to set him up. He's asking him about Stacey. Do you know why they're sitting on the sofa and why Michael isn't an accounting talking to Kevin? Well, I know that Kevin's feet are in a foot bath. Is that why, though? Yes, Jenna, there's a whole deleted scene where you're trying to answer the phone, but Kevin's footbath, it's so loud. It sounds like a ginormous hot tub, but it's a little foot bath.
Starting point is 00:32:50 So for the majority of this episode, Kevin is sitting there next to front reception. Yes, he is soaking his feet in his footbath that he bought himself for the Christmas party episode, that very first episode. And it's such a wonderful callback. But since they cut that scene at reception, you can't even really see it. I tried to even find a time code where you could see the footbath and you can't. You can't. You can see just like Kevin's pants are hiked up. You're like, why are they hiked up?
Starting point is 00:33:19 Yeah. Why am I seeing Kevin's bare ankles? But it's because they're resting in a footbath, and that's in the deleted scenes. Well, now Michael's going to walk around the office. He's going to try to make pleas to various people in the office to see if they have any single friends that they can set him up with, which leads to a very funny runner with Phyllis about her friend Sandy. Phyllis is so good in this scene. So good.
Starting point is 00:33:45 And the way Steve fires off his questions about Sandy. I mean, Phyllis says, look, she's gorgeous with a feisty personality. And Michael's like, so wait, jolly or sassy? Right. And Phyllis is like, no. And he's like, well, what does she do for a living? And Phyllis is like, she's a professional softball player. And Michael's like, mm, catch her or infield?
Starting point is 00:34:11 And she's like, I don't know. Oh, and then he asks her if she could fit in a rowboat in a standard size robot. And Phyllis gets so angry with him. She's like, fine, no, Michael. No, she can't fit in a rowboat. It's really amazing writing. Michael really loses it now, Angela, and he gives this impassioned speech
Starting point is 00:34:33 where he says he wants to play ball with his kids before he's too old. But first, he needs to get laid, and that means he needs to be in love. Oh, that kind of made me love Michael for saying that. He just wants the picket fence and the kids. kids in the two-car garage and he just Michael is one of these people and I and anyone out there that's had children you know how you have one of your kids who just wants a family yes and Michael was that
Starting point is 00:35:02 kid since he was a little boy all he wanted was a family I mean if you and not to be a downer but I don't think Michael had a great family experience as a child and he's still longing for it as an adult. Of course. That's like part of his whole driving force. Yeah. It's to find family, whether it be at work or with a partner, he wants family. Yes. Well, this is now, Angela, where Michael says, everybody, I want you to give me the name of someone that he can go on a date with within the hour or they're fired. And Dwight is going to hand out index cards. That he's already written prompts for. Did you see that? Yeah, he's ready. He's ready. Well, listen, let's take a break, and when we come back, we will find out how this goes.
Starting point is 00:35:52 Guess what? Not well. Should, maybe, but shan't. That's right. Well, we're back. We're in Michael's office. Andy and Kevin are really making a passionate plea to Michael to please do something about these parking spots that the construction guys are blocking.
Starting point is 00:36:20 Michael says, you know what? He's gotten assigned parking spots, so not really affecting him. And there is a couplet of dialogue, Jenna, that just cracked me up, seven minutes, four seconds. Michael says, wish I could, but I can't. Well, can, but won't. Should, maybe shorn. And Kevin's like, Michael, please. And then Michael says, what part of short, don't you understand, Kevin?
Starting point is 00:36:44 What part of short? Don't you understand? They're on their own. He's not going to help them. No. But he does give them permission to fix the problem themselves. Yeah. Right?
Starting point is 00:36:55 Mm-hmm. He thinks this will be a good thing for them to figure this out. Right. An exercise. Meanwhile, in the break room, I don't even know what title to give this, everyone is sitting trying to come up with a name to put on their card for Michael. We had a fan question from Stephanie, Emily, Laura, and Anne. When giving Michael names of single women he should ask out, Jim writes down Pam's mom.
Starting point is 00:37:22 I know. Right? Was this an intentional foreshadowing or just a coincidence? Well, guys, spoiler alert. In future seasons, Michael is going to date Pam's mom. It was a very controversial storyline. We'll get to it. I think this was the first time the writers had ever even thought of this idea.
Starting point is 00:37:48 And it was just a funny joke in the moment, but I have to believe that it stayed in their brain. It planted a seed. Well, there's a deleted scene between Michael and Kelly where Michael's like, Kelly, who are you going to set me up with? And she's like, well, I have a friend who's 23. And he's like, yeah. And she's like, oh, you know, I actually have the perfect group to set you up with. My friend's parents who've gotten divorced. And Michael's like, ugh.
Starting point is 00:38:17 And he walks off disgusted. So there is sort of this running joke in this episode that didn't fully make it in that like, Kelly is going to set Michael up with this whole older group of people. Right. The Diversay. I guess I'll say the writers at this time didn't know yet that they were going to write that storyline, but I think this was the beginning of something. It's the group mind, lady. There it is.
Starting point is 00:38:42 In action. I love that Michael calls Wendy. It's so funny. Do you know who the voice of Wendy was? We got a lot of mail about it. and I wrote to Kent Zabornak. And he did not remember who we cast, but one of the finalists for the role was Lindsay Broad,
Starting point is 00:39:05 who ends up playing an arc on the show. Yeah. Now, I don't think she got the role. I really listened to the voice, and I think it was someone else. So I don't have the answer. But I thought it was very interesting that Lindsay had auditioned for just this voice role.
Starting point is 00:39:23 Right. Well, you know who's on the case. Who's always on the case? Dwight. Dwight, he's on the case. He's going to find Michael, the chair model. Yeah. And he says, I will find her and I will bring her to you.
Starting point is 00:39:38 And as God is my witness, she shall bear your fruit. This is such good writing, in my opinion, that we set up that Dwight is going to go on this quest. And the quest literally lasts one scene. Like, I think the expectation in writing is that we're now going to watch Dwight go on a search for the chair model. But then he sums it all up in one talking head. Yeah, he basically only had to make two phone calls. So the furniture company put him in touch with the advertising agency, who put him in touch with the photographer, who put him in touch with the modeling agency. And the modeling agency told him that she died in a car accident.
Starting point is 00:40:19 Case closed. Case closed. Investigation over. And by the way, he's super proud of his investigation, and it's not really landing on him that this is horrible news. Michael takes the news really hard. He has to sit down in Dwight's chair. Yeah. And Jim says, Michael, you didn't even know her.
Starting point is 00:40:40 Gasp. Even Pam shakes her head at Jim. I know. Like, Jim. Not now. Michael's like, try not to be so hurtful, Jim. Dwight's like, how dare you? And one of my favorite lines of this whole episode is coming up.
Starting point is 00:40:54 What is it? Pam says, okay, Michael, you know what? I might have someone for you. And Michael says, oh, really? What's her name? Burger King? Oh, yeah, that made me laugh out loud too. It made me laugh so hard.
Starting point is 00:41:09 Pam, for whatever reason, decides to give Michael the phone number of her landlady. Margaret. Mm-hmm. She says she's really nice and I think you might get along. I mean, Michael's jazzed. He's excited. He starts brushing his teeth in the kitchen sink. Why can't he do that in the men's room?
Starting point is 00:41:32 Well, don't worry, Angela. He's not going to spit it out. He swallows it. Did you notice that? Yes, so disgusting. Also, electric toothbrush. Also, remember when we were wondering in local ad? Does he have a toothbrush in the office?
Starting point is 00:41:47 He does. So now the five families are going to be assembled. Andy and Kevin are doing it. Kevin has a talking head where he breaks down the five families, how they rarely ever meet. Yeah. And they have this great footage of each member of the five families. It's pretty amazing. I have two little fun facts from this.
Starting point is 00:42:07 Okay. So now when they show W.B. Jones, they kind of show a clip of what looks like a commercial that he's in where he's selling his air conditioners, right? Right. There's a 1-800 number in that commercial on the screen. Did you call it? I didn't need to call it because it's the exact same number that was on the flyer in women's appreciation, which we know is a sex hotline.
Starting point is 00:42:33 Why do we keep recycling this number? I think we must have bought this number because after this episode came out, they put an outgoing message for WB. Jones. So if you called it, you got that message. Yeah, we must have owned it. for a bit, and we clearly don't own it anymore. We really don't. Well, the other fun fact I have about this little montage is that at 10 minutes, 55 seconds,
Starting point is 00:42:57 we see a photo of cool guy Paul sitting on a motorcycle. And there's a very interesting story here. Sam, will you play this clip from Paul? Hey, so a quick story about that motorcycle picture, because a lot of people ask me, is that your motorcycle? And no, it's actually, we were shooting the scenes. And we were supposed to shoot somewhere on some guy's house in the back deck, overlooking the ocean, but it got late in the day,
Starting point is 00:43:24 and they didn't want to move the whole crew and the cameras and the lighting and that all that stuff. So right behind the lot where they shoot all the scenes where the office is, is a residential neighborhood. So we went through the fence, and it was some guy's house, and we just set up on the front lawn. I believe it was the motorcycle of one of the camera guys. He happens to ride motorcycle. So he brought his motorcycle around.
Starting point is 00:43:48 I sat on it. We took a bunch of pictures. And that just became the shot associated with cool guy Paul. And it saved having to move everybody to another location and spend hours doing it. So people always ask me, hey, you motorcycle. How did you get the motorcycle? But nope, it was just a quick shot of one of the crew members' motorcycles. Well, Jenna, I reached out to Kenneth Paul, who did my makeup on the show because he rode a Harley, right?
Starting point is 00:44:13 To set. Every day to work. And I sent him the picture and I said, Kenneth Paul, is this your motorcycle? And he said, no, Angela, that's not a Harley. It's not mine. So we don't know whose motorcycle it was. But I think that was Tom Milby's yard. Oh, for sure. When I heard Paul's clip and he said we went to some guy's yard through a fence, Tom Melby was our, I guess, general maintenance guy on the show. He was always fixing things when we went on vacations. He was the person who watered the plants. And he lived right behind the set in a house. I loved the idea that cool guy Paul was originally going to be filmed in a big mansion with the ocean behind him.
Starting point is 00:45:01 It definitely tracks, right? Yeah. But then they had to scramble and they're like, what else is cool? Ooh, a motorcycle. And I kind of love the motorcycle better, actually. actually. I do too. So Jenna, at 11 minutes 30 seconds, it is time for Michael to go on his date. He's at the coffee shop. He's a little early, so he's going to go ahead and get a cup of coffee. Oh, here's his order. Large hot chocolate with caramel and a shot of peppermint. He's going to pay for it with his
Starting point is 00:45:33 did you notice bejeweled wallet? No. Yeah. What? It's really subtle. But if you freeze at 11, minutes, 26 seconds. Michael is paying for his coffee. Yeah. And his wallet has an outline of little bedazzled fuchsia gems. I am so curious why. Did Jan get bored and bedazzle everything in their whole condo one day? Perhaps. I looked at it so closely. There's no name on it. It's just an outline. I need to see that. Fascinating. Well, he's looking around and he's trying to figure out where's his date. He's wearing a rose on his lapel, right? Because that's how you'll know it's him. Could you imagine if Michael was in The Bachelor, that reality show? So crazy. That would be so good.
Starting point is 00:46:24 I was thinking the other day, what would I be like on The Bachelor? Oh, God, you wouldn't do it. You'd say, oh, right, all these women have to kiss the same guy. F you, patriarchy. You wouldn't do it. But then I was sort of like daydreaming about me getting out of the limo in my joggers and a hoodie. And just keeping it super real. I was like, dude, I'm getting out of the limo how you're going to see me most of the time after we have two kids.
Starting point is 00:46:57 And if you love me now, you're going to love me then. And I think we should start this way. That'd be my pitch. You literally said that with like a snarl in your lip. You're like, this is... I did. It's badass. It's a badass way to start a date.
Starting point is 00:47:12 If you're getting out of a limo on my first date, you've already lost me. If you want to dial up the doucheery, show up in your limo. Well, Michael sees a woman. It's such a funny line. He says, I'm looking for a woman in blue jeans and a black top with brown hair. And he goes, there she is. And the camera swings to a blonde, a tall blonde wearing a skirt, like a floral skirt with a top, clearly not the description he was given.
Starting point is 00:47:49 But he says, there she is. I give her a 10 for looks and a three for describing herself. Oh, he's so charmed. Okay, obviously the woman in the dress is not his date, since she's dressed nothing as described. But then Pam's landlady walks in Margaret wearing jeans in a black top, and Michael gets one look at her. He's clearly disappointed and he tries to get out of it. Oh, it's so cringy. And she's really cute and like nice. Like what is wrong with Michael? Michael has such a bad picker. Yes. Well, Pam's landlady was played by Brooke Dillman. She is an improv comedy actress.
Starting point is 00:48:33 She starred in this sketch comedy show called Blue Collar TV. And by the way, she has voiced several characters on Bob's Burger. She's amazing. She's just got the chops. Brick is hilarious. I have just known her through improv circles over the years, and she's so funny. And, you know, I know her role as Margaret was supposed to be understated. And I just wish you guys could see the comedy chop she has. I know you see it in her timing of the scene and all of that. But she is really, really funny. You know, a lot of times it takes a great comedic performer to play restraint. Yeah, to have the patience to play the restraint. Yes, and to not try to overload the scene with their own bits.
Starting point is 00:49:22 Yeah. And she does it perfectly. Incidentally, she graduated from the University of Missouri's theater program. Good old Missou, that was about 90 minutes away from the school that I went to in Kirksville, Missouri. I had to drive through Missou, Columbia, Missouri to get to Kirksville. You and Brooke, Chris Crosson. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:49:42 I know. We're both two gals from theater schools in Missouri who landed on the office. Go Mo. The scene between Margaret and Michael is so cringy. Michael literally is like rubbing his forehead. Like he's in pain. He's like, so you get the rent checks every month? And she's like, yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:02 I mean, it's like. I know. He's like, and then what do you do with them? And she goes, are you really asking me what I do with the checks that people give me? and he's like, I'm just, I'm trying to make conversation, okay? Oh, Michael. And he just talks about, like, he goes, well, this is who I was dating before you. And he shows the photo of Jan.
Starting point is 00:50:20 Oh, and then he calls her by accident. It's just like layer of layer of cringy. And then he kind of starts opening up to Margaret about, like, how it's so hard to find someone. And he tells her, you know, thanks. This has been nice. It's like talking to the old lady on the bus. Mm-hmm. And Margaret's had it.
Starting point is 00:50:38 She's like, you're rude. That was rude. Well, and then Michael says, well, now you've ruined it. Michael was such a jerk in this scene. Listen, if you had any sympathy for him after dinner party, it evaporated after this scene. Yeah. We were very good at taking you on quite the roller coaster as your feelings for Michael are concerned on this show. But at this scene, I was like, you deserve Jan.
Starting point is 00:51:01 You deserve to sleep on the bench at the foot of the bed. You're being such a turd. Exactly. It's very complicated. Well, now we go into the. this wonderful scene where Andy and Kevin are going to meet with the heads of the five families. Yeah. Make their plea.
Starting point is 00:51:17 They're in what looks like to be some kind of conference room at the Scranton Business Park. I wanted to point out at 14 minutes, 12 seconds, how nice the freaking TV is in this conference room. Yeah. It is a true big flat screen TV, not like Michael's tiny one. Nothing like our crazy old tube TV that. we roll in on a cart for our conference room scenes. Yeah. It's like a fancy big flat screen TV.
Starting point is 00:51:46 Yeah. Imagine if Michael had seen it. He would have passed out. Well, we asked Paul about shooting this scene, and I loved what he had to say. Here it is. So being on set, and sort of be careful what you wish for, because I'm a huge fan of the show, I think they're super funny. And I remember the first time we're about to shoot, they say, okay, quiet on the set.
Starting point is 00:52:07 camera's rolling and I will never forget it but Brian says okay nobody F up Paul and he looks at me and you know he was messing around but it was so funny and then the entire time we shot the scene I had my lines this day but we shot it about 20 30 times and every single time Brian and Ed said different things and I happen to think they're super funny and it was very hard to keep straight face I never knew it was going to come out of their mouths. They were making faces of me, trying to get me to laugh, and I just sit there and be dead serious. I don't want to be the guy to mess up the scene. So working with people who were literally comic geniuses in their delivery and their timing and having to sit there and being
Starting point is 00:52:52 the new guy on set and trying to keep a straight face and not to mess up was a challenge, but such a life, a life experience and just so funny to do. And I'm so honored to be a part a small little part of the office. I love that Brian and Ed were trying to mess with them. We would do this. We would know when someone was going to break and we would have a little fun. We would. It's true.
Starting point is 00:53:13 Well, Paul mentioned to us, you know, what it was like to get lines at the last minute. But he also talks to us about what it was like just being on the set and the lingo that they used. So we're shooting the scene over and over again. You know, we want to get it right. And sometimes the lines don't work, but the facial expressions are great. So one of the guys comes in and says, when this happens, I forget the word of use. I want you to do this. And then he walked out and I'm looking around like, I have no idea what that means. So the camera guy behind me, he's like, you don't know what that means? I'm like, no, I've never done this before. He goes, okay, I'll tap you on the shoulder when you should say your line. So I was literally sitting there and something was going on and I felt the camera guy who was shooting over my shoulder, tap me on the shoulder when to say my line. And it was just sort of indicative of the whole experience because everybody was so friendly and helpful and just wanted to get it done. right, except I think Brian and Ed, who were just trying to make me laugh the whole time.
Starting point is 00:54:09 Can I say, Angela, that when we got these audio clips from Paul, the thing that was so fun for me was his observations as a non-actor being on a set, because it really took me back to all of those moments in my career as an actor where you just are learning on the fly. I didn't learn any of this stuff in theater school. And I don't even know if there is any other way to learn it. You just kind of absorb it in the moment. But he sent in an audio clip that is my favorite. Me too. Because I struggled with this too. You and I have talked about this, but I don't think we've ever talked about it on the pod. So this is great. I love that he had the same, the same observation. Okay, we'll play it and then we'll talk about it.
Starting point is 00:54:54 So this was a new experience for me. I kind of was my first time being really on the set. And I'm sitting in my trailer going, what do I do now? So I decided to get something to eat. I walk out and I'm like, where can I get some food? And they pointed me in the direction of where the breakfast was. And as I started walking, I heard someone at a headset go, cool guy Paul's going to breakfast. And then I come back and I get them go, cool guy Paul's back in his trailer. And where I went, someone's like, cool guy Paul's in the bathroom, cool guy Paul's in it. Like someone had to know where I was at all time. I thought it was really funny. They had to track me to make sure they knew where I was in case they needed me. So that was one super funny story from being
Starting point is 00:55:29 on the set. Yeah, you guys, on film and television sets, there is a whole network of production assistants that wear these walkie-talkies and they have little earpieces, kind of like the secret service, you know, but not as fancy, but not as fancy. Like when they talk into them, you hear it echo. Well, their job is literally to keep track of all the actors at all times. and you can hear them tracking you all day as you walk by. As you walk by, and sometimes you hear it from the person directly behind you who's actually speaking about you, and then you hear it in stereo from the other person they're talking to as you walk past them. And I guess the theory behind it, Jenna, is that production needs to know where we are
Starting point is 00:56:16 because if the scene is lit and ready, they need us on that soundstage ready to go, and they can't have an actor unaccounted for because then that holds everyone up and it costs money, right? Yeah. So when they're lighting a scene, they let you go back to your trailer. You might use the restroom. You might get a snack. In our case, maybe we pop over to the writer's building and we're hanging out. But once the scene is ready, they have no time to lose because a production day is very regimented. And if you run out of time, that means you probably have to cut something. And you don't want that, right? You don't want to have to cut content. Right. So yeah, all day long. But my favorite thing, Angela, is that they came up with a code for the bathroom. I guess maybe it's to be, I don't know, more discreet, but everyone knows what the code is. The code is 10-1. Jenna is 10-1.
Starting point is 00:57:09 Everyone knows when you go to the bathroom on a set. Every single person, it goes through every walkie-talkie. Angela 10-1, Jenna 10-1. And I just want you to know, what if you need to tend to? and you're going to be in there for a minute. Every time they would announce, Jenna is 10-1, I would get a lot of anxiety
Starting point is 00:57:31 because I would think I better make it fast or they're going to think I'm doing a poop. Right. What about when we both started pumping? And then you would hear in the Waukei, Angela's pumping. Angel's going to pump? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:43 All your business. All your business through a walkie-talkie. It's crazy. And I get why they have to do it, but it is very surreal. And so that clip from Paul all really, Jen and I immediately called each other. We're like, oh my gosh.
Starting point is 00:57:57 He talked about the thingy with the tracking. The tracking. They should warn you in film school. That you're going to be tracked all day. They should warn you because it's very jarring at first. Yeah. Well, let's just say that this meeting of the five families goes very well. It also goes very quickly in about three sentences.
Starting point is 00:58:19 W.B. Jones agrees, fine, you can have your parking space. back. It's a triumph. Listen, it looks like Kevin's about to cry, and Bill Kress is not here for that. He can't handle a grown man crying about a parking spot. And so Paul Faus calls it. He's like, just give them their spots back. And it just wraps up so quickly. It does. And then Paul has a great line where he says this could have been an email, which is like a meme. It also speaks to me. Yeah. I mean, Paul needs to get out and ride his motorcycle. He's done. Kevin's talking head after this St. Stacey broke my heart. Brian did such a good job with it. He just says that after Stacey broke up with him, it was really a tough time. And, well, it's just nice to win one. And he tears up. It was so sweet.
Starting point is 00:59:07 Yeah. Guys, we didn't go to the character of Kevin very often for a heartfelt moment on the show. And it's a shame because Brian Baumgartner is a fantastic actor. Yeah. And you can see that. in this talking head. Yeah, I was excited to get to see this performance from him. Great job, B. Oh, no, Michael has come back from his date, and he's very angry. Mm-hmm. He gives a big speech.
Starting point is 00:59:37 Angela, here are the things that he's a man of. Intensity, cool, youth, and passionately. He's a man of passionately. He's a man of youth and passionately. Well, at 15 minutes, minutes, 10 seconds, you might notice I'm writing on the top of my desk. I have several papers on this very little thin lip of the top of my desk. I had to do that for camera because when I was staging my writing on the actual desk, they couldn't see my face when Michael entered.
Starting point is 01:00:11 I have to imagine that was a tough reach and very awkward because you're leaning over your desk to write on a tiny ledge. Well, I'll tell you something. Pam's desk was very narrow in general. I couldn't fit more than a keyboard on it. In order to write on Pam's actual desk, which was made very thin, I think, for production. It was always awkward. Always. Yeah. So I've perched up on that little ledge, which was also awkward. In this scene, Jenna, it seems like Jim and Pam are just kind of teasing each other. Like, he's like, what were you thinking, setting Michael up with your landlord? Now you have to move out. That went horribly. And they're kind of joking.
Starting point is 01:00:54 And she's like, maybe I should move in with my boyfriend. And then Pam has a moment of vulnerability. And you see it in your face, Jenna, where you're going to be an advocate for yourself. This is something you've been working on. And she says, you know what? I'm only going to move in with my boyfriend if I'm engaged. Yeah. And Jim doesn't miss a beat.
Starting point is 01:01:13 He's like, oh, it's coming. Of course. And then Pam just kind of keeps joking along. And Jenna, I was like, does Pam? I mean, In the moment, I was positive that Jim was serious. Does Pam know? Does Pam know he's doing a bit?
Starting point is 01:01:29 Does it hit her that he's not? I think this maybe in my backstory was kind of one of the first times that this idea of them getting engaged or married has really come up. And that was a reason why I chose to kind of hesitate as well when Pam says, oh, I'm not going to move in with anyone until, I'm engaged is because this idea of being engaged, it's not something that I thought they had talked about a lot yet. No, and that's how it reads. As an audience, I loved it because this is how real life stuff comes up. Sometimes it just seeps in to like a mundane conversation.
Starting point is 01:02:12 And then you're like, oh, crap, we're here now. Okay. Yes. And so I think Pam isn't totally sure what to do with this conversation. Was it a bit? Is he being serious? Now, he has a talking head for the audience where he says, oh, I'm not kidding. I got this a week after we started dating.
Starting point is 01:02:32 And he shows an engagement ring. And I'm sorry, does he carry it to work with him every day? I don't know. Does it live in his pocket? Is he too worried to leave it at his apartment? Like, he has it ready to go. We had a fan question from Abigail B who said, is the ring Jim shows the camera, the ring he proposes with later and the one that Pam wears
Starting point is 01:02:56 for the rest of the show. I think it is. I think that it is. I remember Phil Shea coming up to me and presenting me with a tray of rings and he and I had a very long conversation about what kind of ring would Jim buy Pam? Like, Jim's going to hit it out of the park for Pam. Remember, Pam was always a little disappointed in her ring from Roy. That was my backstory. The cluster. Yes. And so Phil was like, what would make Pam's heart sing? And I remember picking that ring. So yeah, I think it is that ring. Pretty bold move, Jim. To buy it the first week you guys started dating. Yeah. But I guess he knew he loved her for a long time. Yeah. Well, guys, here's the scene that's in Michael's office that I love. It's shot a little different. this was Jeff Blitz.
Starting point is 01:03:50 You know, there's always so many of the same scenes in the same places because we only had one set. And every once in a while a director would find a fun way to shoot. And Jeff Blitz had this idea for this scene between Michael and Dwight, that he would just lower the camera a little and shoot at an angle and slowly push in as Dwight convinces Michael that what he needs is closure. And when I watched the scene, there was a brief moment that I thought he meant with Jan. Same. He needs closure with Jan. But no. No.
Starting point is 01:04:26 It's with the chair model. So they head to the cemetery of a woman he's never met. Mm-hmm. That's right. And they are going to launch into a tribute to her by singing a version of American Pie. Bye. by Miss Chair Model Lady. Oh my gosh.
Starting point is 01:04:52 So, you know, the writers actually had a hard time getting a song cleared for this. Shocker. The first song they were going to parody was Elton John's Candle in the Wind, but they could not get the rights because here's an interesting bit of trivia. He had given permission for the song to be parodied on 30 Rock and he did not care for the results. So he said no more parodies of Candle in the Wind. No. Okay.
Starting point is 01:05:19 They also wrote parodies of Legs by ZZ Top. She's got legs. How is that a song you sing at a gravesite? She was a chair model and you really see her legs in the picture. Oh, my gosh. Okay. And then also Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones. Oh, I love Ruby Tuesday.
Starting point is 01:05:39 But the song that got cleared was American Pie. And I'm so glad it did because I really love them in the dark singing. Well, we can't wrap up this episode without this adorable scene. Jenna, I literally wrote adorable and highlighted it. Mm-hmm. Between Jim and Pam as they're walking to the satellite parking lot. And the sun is setting. You guys both look like angels.
Starting point is 01:06:05 You both look so flippin adorable. Well, I remember we had to wait in our trailer for that light. That's called The Magic Hour in the biz. And there's this little 45 minutes, and the sun is truly magical. Everybody, take your photos at Magic Hour. It's when you look the best. That's right.
Starting point is 01:06:24 If you're planning a wedding, plan for some like Magic Hour photos. Yeah. So we waited for that moment and we could only do a few takes because then we were going to lose the light. He drops to one knee. Mm-hmm. Well, I'll tell you, this moment was promoed like crazy. Like crazy. I bet they blasted it out.
Starting point is 01:06:47 Yeah. Well, you know, we talked about how season four was interrupted by the writer's strike. The writers originally had this very, very big storyline for Jim and Pam that I think involved them moving in together, if I'm correct. And instead, because we lost a bunch of episodes, they were like, you know what? We should skip that and they should just get engaged. Or we should just skip to the part where we're thinking they might get engaged any minute. And so that was where this part of the story came from. I like it. I like that Pam still had her own place.
Starting point is 01:07:24 I like all of that storyline for her because you sort of feel like Pam lived with Roy for a long time. And then she finally carved out her own space in the world. And I really liked that choice. Well, your reaction when you realize that Jim is faking is so great. It's so cute. You're like, I hate you. And he's like, what? It's really cute.
Starting point is 01:07:45 Yeah. I have some bad news. What? I mean, spoiler alert, Pam's going to need to go to art school. We're going to frustrate you. I know. The proposal's going to take a little while, but we're planning the seeds. They have to pull you guys apart to put you back together.
Starting point is 01:08:02 It makes me crazy. I know. Well, guys, that is chair model. Next up is night out. I'm really enjoying season four, Angela, I have to say. Me too. So fun. And for all of you chair models out there, just know your work is not in vain. You might be inspiring others to find true love. And Paul, thank you so much for sitting in these audio clips
Starting point is 01:08:31 and being so quick to respond when I texted you. You are just such a delight. And I adore you. And these made our day, Jenna. And you guys, 1-800-prepared.com. Get your preparedness safety and survival information there and all the kits you might ever need. You know I'm on that. Oh, I know. I was like, oh, Paul, there's some good stuff on here. Christmas gift for me, earmark that. Survival and emergency kits and products, Jenna. We'll see you next week, everyone. See you next week. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies' Second Drink. This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our executive producer is Cassie Juerkins and our audio engineer and associate producer
Starting point is 01:09:23 is Molly Nugent. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

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