Office Ladies - Second Drink: Pilot

Episode Date: November 11, 2024

This week, Jenna and Angela start at the beginning and break down The Pilot episode of The Office. The ladies hit you with some Fast Facts, insights from Ricky Gervais, and the origin of Angela's 'cat party'. And if you're wondering about secret messages hidden in The Pilot episode, Jenna and Angela break those down as well. Check out Office Ladies Merch at Podswag: https://www.podswag.com/collections/office-ladies  Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Episode Transcript 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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See terms at sephora.com for complete details. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Second Drink. Yes, every Monday we are rerunning the Office Ladies Rewatch episodes in order from the beginning and today we are taking a second drink of the pilot. I re-listened to this episode and I thought we killed it. I really did. I thought we did an amazing job. I was legitimately impressed. I mean there is a ton of great info in this. I know. I re-listened too and I was like damn. Okay. But we did go digging around and we

found a few more things we could share. I'll start. I have a background catch. Oh yeah? There is a kitten calendar at reception. Pam has a kitten calendar on the wall. I feel like Angela and Pam could have been friends if not for maybe everything. Okay, I have another one. Last week we had our interview with Alison Jones. Yes.

And when I was digging around preparing for that interview, I found my audition materials. I had saved them. And in those materials, there was a talking head that I had to do for my audition, and it reveals how Roy proposed to Pam. And I know we shot it, it did not make it in the original episode,

but I believe it is in the Peacock Superfan episode of the pilot, but I thought I could read it. Do it. All right, here it is. This is what I said. Yeah, we're engaged. Roy proposed on Valentine's Day. Well, he didn't actually do it in person.

He did it through one of the little Valentine's ads in the paper. It must have cost money by the word because it only said, Roy, love, Pam, marriage, question mark. Which I think is great because it's not every day that you get something that's both romantic and thrifty. And that's really what everyone wants. Every young girl's dream is romance plus thrifty.

I know. Oh man. Well listen, we all know Kevin's philosophy. Why say lot word when few word do trick? It's true and look at all the ladies Kevin has. Exactly. Incidentally, that talking head was taken from the British office. It was in the episode training day. I'm glad we didn't include it.

Yeah, I don't think we need that much information about Pam's unhappiness yet. Yeah, I like some of the backstory that we created for Pam and Roy. I love the stuff we're going to find out about him and his brother leaving her at the hockey game and about the jet skis and all that. So I like that stuff a little better. Well, here's what I'm bringing to Second Drink today. When we originally broke down the pilot, Jenna, you talked about a fun deleted scene where Dwight is distracted by the boom operator's microphone. Yes.

It was one of those early talking heads where Ken Quapus, our director, would just sit us down and start asking us a series of questions to get us talking in character. We didn't play it, but I thought it'd be fun for you guys to hear. No, no, can you move it? Is that all right? Can you make that work? That's fine. You don't need to even... That's fine. We'll keep it...

I'm sorry, it makes me nervous. But it's what we need to capture what you're saying as clearly as possible. I understand. It's in a blind spot. Because I'm trained in several martial arts and one of them includes an awareness that the masters bring of anything on all sides of you. It could be behind you or whatever. This is directly in a blind spot so I'm trained to respond negatively to something right above my head.

This now, I have an eye on, you see? It's in my periphery, and if I needed to block it, attack it, stop it somehow, I could come right out. I mean, I know you're doing your job, but I'm doing my job. What is his job in this moment? To like karate kick the boom operator's microphone? His job in life is to be aware of any unexpected, I guess, danger. Correct.

Yes. He is my chihuahua. He is biscuit. Yes, yes. Well, I'm really glad you played that clip because I wished we had played it during our breakdown of the pilot. I also love hearing Ken. Yes, me too.

Well, like I said, I really enjoyed re-listening to this episode, so maybe we should get to it, our second drink of the pilot. And be sure to join us this Wednesday for Office Ladies 6.0. It is all about Michael Scott. That's right, you all wrote in and wanted to know more about Michael Scott's family of origin. Well, I uncovered some good stuff and I can't wait to share. She won't even tell me. She's keeping it a surprise.

You have to wait till Wednesday. We'll see you Wednesday, but for now, here is the pilot of The Office. 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 re-watch 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 just for you. Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. We're The Office Ladies. Hello, everybody. This is Jenna Fischer. Hi, this is Angela Kinsey. And this is our very first Office Ladies podcast.

I'm so excited, Jenna. I'm so excited. I'm a little bit freaking out. I'm freaking out. We hope you guys like it. We have been working really hard. This is a dream we've had for years of getting to work together again.

Yes. Because we became best friends while working on The Office together. We did. We ate lunch together every single day. Every single day. And I think the hardest part for me about the show ending was not getting to see you every day, Angela.

Me too. It is so special to get to work with your best friend every day. Yes. What a gift. That was the thing. You know, Steve Carell told us, and I just love this moment so much, he said to Jenna and I, no matter what happens with the show,

this is what you two will take from it. And he was so right. It's true. And we've been trying to figure out some way that we could work together again ever since. So here it is. It's a dream realized. It's a dream realized. We thought, what a better time. The 15-year anniversary is coming out. And I had like three Rubbermaid bins of photos in my shed.

And I was going through them and I was getting really nostalgic. And I was telling Jenna about it. I was like, Jenna, we had such an amazing time on that show. I mean, it just was one of the joys of my life. And you know, I hadn't watched most of the episodes since they aired. So this has been a real treat for me to go back and finally rewatch them.

Me too, and it's so good, you guys. I mean, it really- We've become kind of nerdy fans of our own show. We've become nerdy fans. And here's the thing. When we were filming it, you're kind of living and breathing the day of it. And I watched them all when they aired.

But now I'm watching them just as like an audience. And it's just so fun. It's been so much fun. And I feel like here it is. It's the office bringing us back together again. Yes. It's so special. It's so special. It's so special.

Okay, we're geeking out. So we're geeking out. And listen, you guys, we just want you to know, we're so excited that you're gonna join us in this journey and rewatch every week with us, listen to us, chitty chat about being best friends. And there are gonna be times that maybe we forget something, right?

Or we miss something. Or we miss something. Because we're not experts, we just, we're on the show. We're on something. Because we're not experts. We just were on the show. We're on the show and we love the show. You are actually probably the expert. You guys are the experts. So please watch along with us, send in questions, and let's just rewatch it together.

And we're gonna start from the beginning. We're gonna start with the pilot and we're gonna watch it in order. Oh my gosh, that brings us to the pilot. This is it. This is it. That's what we're gonna talk about today. Okay, so just so you know how Jenna works, you guys, she has like her list, she prints out,

she has her laptop, she has two notepads, and then I just bring a whole bunch of colored note cards with a Sharpie. That sort of paints a picture of how we process information. It is. I'm a little bit more, I don't know. I don't know, Jenna, you're more organized. It's okay. You can say it. And you're more colorful.

Oh, well, okay. Well, I guess I'm going to take that as a compliment. All right. So let's get started. Let's get started. The pilot. We're going to talk about the pilot. This is season one, episode one. This episode is written by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Greg Daniels, and directed by Ken Quapis. Let's start with a synopsis. I think that's a good place to start.

Great. All right. So in this episode, we're going to meet the employees of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company as introduced by their manager, Michael Scott. This is just a normal day at an ordinary, like, workplace, just people living their lives. Yes.

A pilot episode is usually introducing each of the characters and also the convention of the show. And in this case, the convention of the show is that this is a documentary. Right. This is the world you're going to see every day. Is this paper company? Yes.

Now, I had an idea. What? I think for each episode, we should have something called fast facts. What are you even talking about? This sounds crazy. A fast fact. What is a fast fact? Okay, stay with me here.

A fast fact is a fact about that episode. Mm-hmm. And then we talk about it. Not necessarily fast. Wait, do I have to talk quickly? No. Here's an example of a fast fact. Okay. The show, The Office, is actually an adaptation

of a British show of the same name, The Office. That's right. It was called The Office. It was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It's fantastic. It is amazing. I was a huge fan of it before I even went to the audition for the American version of The Office.

Same. I had watched the entire series and then I got a phone call that they were doing an American version and asking me to audition for the receptionist. And I about pooped myself. Yeah, yes. I was excited and nervous because I loved the British version so much. And I was like, oh, I hope they do it justice. And I mean, come on.

Years later, I think we did it. Well, we got a lot of critical attention when we were making the pilot and not a lot of love because people really thought we were going to mess it up. That's right. People were worried because this, the British show was award-winning, critically acclaimed. It's considered still to this day, one of the greatest television comedies ever made. And it deserves all of that.

And it is. Because it is amazing. Yes. And so there was a lot of pressure on us when we were going in to make this. And something that I think is often said is that we did a shot by shot remake of the British pilot, which is not true. That is not true.

It is not a shot for shot remake, but we did use their script as a template. And there are some adjustments. There are elements, though. There are elements that are the same that, if you watch it and watch this one. Yes. For example, in general, each of the characters and like the fact that there's this buffoonish silly boss in their version named David Brent and ours, Michael Scott.

But if you look at the talking heads, there are some differences. Yes. And also like the way the story is told is a little different. I mean, some of the points are the same that happen, but it's told differently. But Greg Daniels was the person who was tasked with Americanizing the British show. Yes. And Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant kind of oversaw that process, but they, for example, they were not on set when we were shooting the pilot. No. No, they came and they visited with us. I remember sitting and getting to have lunch

with Ricky Gervais. Yeah. Oh my gosh, cause I was such a- Were you nervous? Oh yes, I was a super fan of the British version. Me too. And I had been cast in the pilot and they came and they listened to us do a table read.

And afterwards they asked me, John, Rain, Steve, and BJ and Greg to join them for lunch to discuss the show. And I remember thinking, if I get fired tomorrow, at least I got to have lunch with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. At least that happened. That was to me just huge. Was it a fun lunch? I was not at that lunch. That was, to me, just huge. Was it a fun lunch?

I was not at that lunch. I was not invited. It was so much fun, Angela. And I remember Ricky saying something in that lunch that was really important. He said, you know, in England, you can be really, really bad at your job for a long time, and you never get fired.

He's like, in America, that's gonna frustrate people. So my one piece of advice is that Michael can be a buffoon. He can be silly, he can be irritating, but you should, I suggest, he said that you show glimpses of him actually being a good salesperson. And we do that throughout the show. You see in future episodes

that he is actually good at sales. And he said that's gonna be an important, I think, piece of the puzzle. in future episodes that he is actually good at sales. And he said, that's gonna be an important, I think, piece of the puzzle. And Stephen Merchant said, my piece of advice would be to lean a little bit more into the Jim and Pam relationship. He said-

He knew the heart of it. He said, that's really gonna be the heart of your show. Cause the British version, they did six episodes for their first season, six episodes for their second season, and one big Christmas special. And they knew that for American television, we were looking to do years.

And we ended up doing 200. So he said, you need to keep the heart beating on the show. And so that's the heart of the show. That's Jim and Pam. OK, I have another fast fact. We filmed the pilot six months before the rest of season one. And we shot it on the second floor of a real office building in Culver City.

So it was an actual office building. And a lot of times on sets, they build the office. So if they want to film and get a certain camera angle, they can move a wall. They can move a window. They can move a door, because they built it. They actually say wall flying out and they move a whole wall. They move a whole wall. It's insane. On our show, because it was in an actual office building, you just had to work with it. And it sort of really lended

itself to the documentary style that all the shots weren't going to look pretty. They weren't going to be lined up just right because they had to work around actual walls and windows. They couldn't just pop them out. I remember speaking to Ken Quapus, our director, about setting certain rules for the documentary style of filming. And he said it was very important to him that for all of the actors and the crew that the set felt like a real working office and a real documentary was happening. And so one of the rules that he came up with was that he cleared the entire set of all

crew members except for a camera operator, a boom operator and himself. Yes. And that was it. That was it. He also made all of the actors come in every morning, go through hair and makeup and then sit at our desks starting at 730 AM and we had to pretend to work. Yes. And he walked around with the documentary crew and filmed us for 30 minutes.

Yeah, just us quietly working. And little shots that you see, for example, of Pam doing whiteout, that is a piece of B-roll from one of those working mornings that we did. And we did that every day on the pilot. Something else about this episode that I noticed is that there is a random exterior shot of a building. Oh, Jenna, let me tell you.

Well, wait, wait, let me grab one of my colorful note cards, as you call them. Exterior shot at 929, nine minutes and 29 seconds. Not our building! With a huge exclamation point. This is a big discovery. This is a big discovery for me. Not only not our building, it wasn't the building

we were filming in. I don't know where they got that shot. I don't know. It's like stock footage from something. I think it was stock footage. And then we never use it again. That was it. That was it.

They should go back and take that out. See you later. And put a shot of the reals under Mifflin exterior. Jenna's getting sassy on you. Yeah, I'm going to call someone. Someone get it right. All right, here is my last fast fact for this episode. and put a shot of the reels under Mifflin exterior. Jenna's getting sassy on you. Yeah, I'm going to call someone. Someone get it right. All right, here is my last fast fact for this episode.

Meredith is not Meredith. She is not. She is Henriette. It's Henriette. Yes, Meredith is played by Henriette Mantell in the pilot episode, not Kate Flannery. Henriette Mantell was a comedy actress who had just broken out because she had played Alice in the Brady Bunch films.

And she was there for the pilot. And then it was six months later that we got picked up and then we started filming the rest of the episodes. And I guess the rumor was she was not available. She was busy. And we had to recast her. So Kate Flannery came in. Here is my fast fact.

Kate Flannery and I met years before the office. We were in a all-female improv group called Bitch Planet. Woohoo! Aw, Bitch Planet. Sunday nights at like 10 p.m. That's when you want to... It's exactly when you want your comedy. That's when you want to watch improv.

Kate and I had known each other for a really long time. And also, Oscar Nunez and I did a sketch comedy show together called Hot Towel. Where do you get these names, Angela? So it was really fun for me because here I am. I was so nervous the first day. I didn't know Oscar had been cast. He didn't know I had been cast.

You guys, this was before smartphones. It's not like you texted someone you got a role or you put it on your social media. There was none of that. So you walked in and were completely surprised. Completely surprised when I saw Oscar. And not only did I see Oscar, but Ken Quapa sat us next to each other.

So I was like, oh my god, I'm going to be OK. That's amazing. My buddy's here. And then Brian walked in as Kevin, and I was like, here we go. We're off to the races. You guys were amazing in accounting. Thank you. My buddy's here. And then Brian walked in as Kevin, and I was like, here we go, we're off to the races. You guys were amazing in accounting. Thank you.

Yeah, it's true. I'm giving you a compliment. Thank you so much. So yeah, so I was so excited to have these friends that I had performed with for years before the office sitting in my little corner back there. I remember meeting everyone for the first time. Do you remember your first impressions of people?

I remember my first impression of Rainn Wilson. Tell me. Well, I met Rainn Wilson at a live test audition. So for all the leads of the show, they brought us into screen test, and they mixed and matched us. There were four Pams and four Dwights and four Jims and four Michaels. And we spent an entire day being mixed and matched with each other. And I remember I met Rainn Wilson, and he was in character, but I couldn't really know that because I didn't know Rainn yet.

And I thought he was the weirdest person I'd ever met in my life. Wait, he was in character the whole time? Yeah. He just was white. Oh, so method, Rainn. He had his hair like that. So method.

But you know what? I kind of did the same thing. I did my same thing. I did my Pam hairstyle. The hairstyle that I wore on the show, I sort of invented through the audition process, that sort of half up, half down scrunchie, air dried curl. And so I was very quiet. I didn't talk to people in the waiting room because I just thought Pam was sort of not

a chatter and I didn't want to get out of character. I remember one of the first things. Wait, this is so random, but it's true. That first week of filming, Rain's wife came to have lunch. And this is the main interaction I remember from Rain during the pilot episode. Okay. Rain introduced me to his wife.

She was pregnant at the time with their son. Yes. And he said, this is my wife Holly, bearer of my seed. And I was like, what? And she started laughing. And, but that was just Rain being Rain. That's Rain.

That is Rain, but Witton Dwight say that. He would also say that. This is Angela, bearer of my seed. Yes, it's amazing how- She's carrying my seed. I'm like, oh my god. I feel like we all have little parts of our characters in us. But I don't know if that's true of you,

because you are so opposite from Angela Martin. I am. I was thinking about how you were saying, you stayed in character and so did Rain. In between your auditions in the lobby, I would not have. I would have been like, chitty chat chat, chitty chat chat. For sure. And then I would have just turned into a bitch when I entered the room.

Well, you know, I didn't have any scenes with Rain in the pilot of Substance. I didn't have any one-on-one scenes. So for me, when we were shooting the pilot, the people that I really bonded with were Steve, John, and you, because you were over the little part. You were my closest seatmate in the office. So you and I bonded.

And I remember after we finished the pilot and we all left and we didn't know if we were gonna be picked up or make any more, shortly after that, I turned 30 years old. It was a big milestone birthday for me. And I really wondered if I should invite any of you guys. And I didn't. I didn invite any of you guys. And I didn't. I didn't invite you guys because I thought,

well, I'm probably never gonna see them again. Should I throw you another 30th birthday party and invite everyone? Would you? And then we could just say happy 30th. Will you? Okay. Cause now you guys are some of my closest friends

and you aren't at my milestone birthday. Okay, we'll have to throw you a 30th birthday party. It won't be weird. All right, guys. So next up, we are going to break down this episode. We're going to really get into the nitty gritty. We're going to talk about scenes and memories and stories, so stick with us. Metrolinx and CrossLinx are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton-Crosstown LRT train

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to prepare you for a meaningful career and long-term success. Join us in creating positive change at yorku.ca slash write the future All right, and we're back we're talking about the pilot episode of the office And I think we should talk about some of our favorite moments Jenna. Yes Well, one of my favorite moments is the dynamic between Pam and Michael. I mean selfishly I guess I'm in that moment Yeah, I really loved working with Steve

Carell. I really loved how much he let me be silent and just look at him. And just react. Yes, I loved that. But I especially love whenever Melora Harden, who plays Jan Levinson Gould, got in the mix. She's so commanding. Just like Melora's presence is like, I'm scared of her. Yes. I get it. I get why like, I'm scared of her. Yes. I get it. I get why he was a little scared of her.

And I love the scene where Michael tries to throw Pam under the bus about why he doesn't have the agenda that he's supposed to have. And it's because he told her to throw it in the receptacle, the trash can that is a special filing cabinet for corporate memos. And I remember shooting that scene. And I just remember every time that Pam said,

you told me to put it in a special filing cabinet that is a trash can, that we would giggle. And so I just remember the matter of factness of that moment and how fun that was. Pam totally stood up for herself in her own little way in that moment. Here's the thing about Steve Carell. He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He is so nice. I know it's almost even

become like a joke, like Steve Carell is the nicest person ever, but he is. I know. And people ask me a lot, what's it like to work with Steve Carell? Are you just laughing all the time? And no, you're not laughing all the time because Steve isn't on all the time. He's not one of those- He's a real person. He's a real person. And he's, he's, I've worked with comedians who are on all the time. He's not one of those... He's a real person. He's a real person and he's... I've worked with comedians who are on all the time. You walk around and you can just...

They can't turn off their joke-making brain. It drives my car, sorry. It's a little insane. Steve is not like that. You and Steve and I would sit and have long conversations about the best frozen yogurt in the San Fernando Valley. Oh, I will never forget the morning... On Monday mornings, Steve would come out of his office, out of Michael Scott's office between scenes.

He would walk over to Jenna and I, and we would talk about our weekends. And one Monday morning, he walked over, and he was like, ladies, guess what I did this weekend? We're like, what? And he goes, I went to Target. He would talk to us about Target. And he told us about his Target run.

It was really, really sweet. You know, recently, I was in a Michael's, purchasing some supplies for a crafting job, and the checkout guy said, Oh my gosh, now this is getting crazy. This morning, Oscar Nunez came in here, then Steve Carell, and now you? What do you guys all live here?

We love crafting. We love crafting. We love crafting. We're all here. We're all sort of I guess we all live around this one Michael's crafting store. Yeah. I texted Steve and I said, Steve, the checkout guy at Michael's told me you were buying some crafting supplies today. And he said, oh, yes, I needed some glue sticks. He sort of told me what he needed. He's like, what were you there for? But that that is Steve.

That is Steve. That's the kind of stuff we would talk to him about. And so to then, to have that man then shift into this scene where he's just being awful to my character. Awful. Like throwing you under the bus in front of the big boss lady. Yes, when our real dynamic was just like so much love. So in the scene, Jan tells Michael

there's going to be downsizing. Yeah. This is big news. This is important. Michael should be paying attention. We've already established that he's thrown away the agenda for the meeting. Yeah, he should take this seriously.

But instead, he takes a phone call from his friend, Todd Packer. Todd Packer, his party buddy, who he clearly covets. He thinks this guy's amazing. Another interesting fact about this scene is that the voice of Todd Packer that comes on the phone is not the voice of the real Todd Packer. What are you talking about? Dave Keckner ends up playing Todd Packer.

When we meet him in season two, this role is played by Dave Keckner. But Dave was not hired when we shot the pilot. What? He's not? Wait, so I was thinking, it sounds like Dave Keckner. Who is it? But I'm thinking it can't be Dave Keckner, right? All this time I thought it was Dave Keckner.

It's not Dave. Who is it? I texted Dave Rogers, our editor, Dave Rogers. Knower of all things. I mean, he is knower of all office facts. He is. Okay, what did Dave say?

Dave said that the voice is played by Toby Huss. Toby Huss. Yes, very famous voice actor. He was on King of the Hill for years. And friends of Greg Daniels. Yes. Toby Huss is so talented. I know.

How about that? That is Todd Packer's voice. In the Daniels. Yes. Toby Hus is so talented. I know. How about that? That is Todd Packer's voice. In the pilot episode. Yes. Well, I loved, here's one of the things I loved about the pilot, and just sort of the brilliance that was Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and Greg Daniels and their collaboration building this world out, is that so many truths about the characters were established in all these subtle ways. And one of the things I loved is that Michael is clearly thrilled many like truths about the characters were established in all these subtle ways.

And one of the things I loved is that Michael is clearly thrilled that the camera people are there. Oh, he is so excited. He could not have signed up for this faster. I mean, he jumped at the chance at this. And he thinks he's one of the world's best comedians. Oh, yeah. In the world.

He has had the funniest people in the world. He has that amazing talking head where he talks about who his heroes are. Yes. And they are Bob Hope, Abraham Lincoln. Bono. And God, probably. He said probably. Probably God.

And here's a little tidbit. Steve wrote that. He did? Yes. Oh my God, I love that. I didn't know that. Yeah, Greg asked him, would you mind writing a list of who you believe are Michael Scott's heroes?

Oh, so brilliant. And it made it in. Yes. Well, and he just, every chance he gets, he's like looking to the camera and doing his comedy bits. And this sort of sets up just Michael's love of being liked and being appreciated. And he wants everyone to think he's like the fun boss.

And he thinks he's legitimately talented. Well there's that scene where he does the six million dollar man where he's walking away from Pam's desk. I could not get through that scene and in fact, in order to get my reaction shot, they had to make Steve leave the set because I couldn't get through it. So that reaction of me was not while Steve was actually doing anything because every time he did it, I lost it.

You started laughing. Well, he's so giddy to do his $6 million man. I timed it because as I watched it, I was like, wow, this is a long time to commit to this bit because he's like, fadadadadadadada, fadadadadadada. He did it. It started at nine minutes, 40 seconds, and it doesn't end until 10 minutes, two seconds. Oh my gosh.

That is 22 seconds of the slow-mo bit. I think that's why. That's a ton. When you think of the whole scope of an episode for 22 seconds, he went... I mean, that's probably why I couldn't get through it. That's why they couldn't get a reaction of me, because I couldn't get a reaction of me because I couldn't hold it for 20 seconds. I couldn't hold a straight face that long. And he was so desperate for you to look at him and have some kind of reaction.

Oh man. Okay. What else? What else? There's the conference room scene where Michael officially announces that there is going to be downsizing at Dunder Mifflin. This is a big theme of the pilot. This is the news that Jan gives him

when she comes into the office, that Dunder Mifflin can no longer support both a Scranton branch and a Stanford branch, and that they're gonna have to prove who is the branch that should stay. But even if Scranton gets to stay, there might be downsizing of employees. Yeah, the company's hurting, and they have to make make some cutbacks and they have to fire some people.

Yes. And so Michael goes into the conference room and this is the first time we see Michael in the conference room. And of course Dwight won't give him the space to do that. It's their first power struggle, which you'll see for years to come. It's the first time he refers to himself as the assistant regional manager, which is great. And I noticed something about this conference room scene. What? I bet I have it on my note card. I bet you have it that there are some extras in this scene that are never to be seen again.

There are two women. Do you want me to refer to it? Let me just tell you what I wrote on my note card. Conference room faces, semicolon. So in the background, there are two women and they are the real production company accountants for our show. Yes, we needed more people to fill out the space

and they pulled in our actual accountants from our production office. Yes, Ken Guapas, the director, walked into the production office and asked if anyone would like to be in the background of a scene. And those two women came and sat there for that couple of hours. They were so giddy.

They loved it. They loved it. They loved it. And then also in the conference room, some faces you might see sprinkled through the first season, but then they don't go past that season, are Lou Ann Kelly, who worked in the annex.

She is someone that you see a lot. I get asked a lot, who is the lady in the annex? Yes, she was sort of over where Mindy ends up sitting by Kelly's desk. And then also, of course, Devin and Creed, who ultimately do have a storyline that will come later. But not until season two. That's right.

So for an entire season, you just see Devin and Creed in the background of scenes. They don't get any lines until the second season. But that is the only scene our actual accountants are in, because then they had to go back to work. They did. They had to actually go back to being accountants for the show. I think this is an interesting tidbit.

Phyllis Smith, who plays Phyllis on the show, she was the casting associate for The Office. So when I auditioned for The Office, she read my audition scenes with me. Everyone. I read my scene with Phyllis. That's who I read my scene with. Yes. And Ken Quapus, the director, was so taken with how she did her readings with the actors.

She's so earnest, you guys. She is so earnest. And so real that he said to Greg Daniels, I want her on the show. Can I give her a part on the show? And so Phyllis went from being a casting associate, which she He said to Greg Daniels, I want her on the show. Can I give her a part on the show? And so Phyllis went from being a casting associate, which she had done for years with Alison Jones,

the casting director, worked with Phyllis, to having a part on this pilot. And I think because we all thought the show was going nowhere, it was fine. And after the pilot was over, she went back to being a casting associate. She went right back to work. Phyllis has a great story that she tells that the way she found out that she got Phyllis is that she got sides and they said Phyllis.

Oh, so there was a character and they named it Phyllis. And Kim was like, that's you, you're Phyllis. And she was like, what? We wrote a part for you based on the numerous readings with actors. You're now in the show, Phyllis. Which is just so cool, because Phyllis had wanted to be an actress. She had been an actress. She had been a burlesque dancer.

Burlesque dancer? No one can shimmy. No one can shimmy like Phyllis. She has a great shimmy. She had an amazing photo on her desk, because Ken Quapus wanted us to personalize our desk for the pilot episode and moving forward. So we all brought in something from home. I have a photo of myself and my

grandmother and a frame that says, I heart grandma. And my eyes are closed in the photo, but my grandmother framed it anyway. And so I have that on my desk and it just kind of like tickled me and made me think of my grandmother. I had a picture of me and my sister swimming in Lake of the Ozarks. Yes, and Phyllis had a picture of herself in her full burlesque outfit with a red feather boa draped over her shoulders.

Angela, let's take a quick break. Okay, Jenna. You gonna get a snack? Why? Because you always get a snack during the breaks. I do. There are two sides to McDonald's new Cajun Ranch McRisbee. On the one hand, it's a masterpiece centered around that crispy, juicy, tender seasoned chicken.

On the other hand, McRisbee fans are going to love the bold, tangy taste of the new Cajun Ranch flavors. In other words, the Cajun Ranch McRisbee is a work of art for all your senses. Yep, like a flavorful fusion. Precisely. When is the gallery opening? It already has. Experience the Cajun Ranch McRisbee today for a limited time only at Participating McDonald's in Canada. So then we get to that crazy scene where Michael is walking Ryan the temp around. So he's just been told that we need downsizing. And then he hires a temp. It's the exact opposite of downsizing.

It's the opposite. Can I just say one thing I love too is when Dwight has his talking head and he said, I've been talking about downsizing for years. I brought it up in my interview. Like, who does that? He was like interviewing for a job and it's like, you should downsize. I would like this job.

I suggest you get rid of three other people. So here's a little fun fact. It's not a fast fact, but a fun fact is that BJ Novak was the first person cast on the show. He was? He was. Greg Daniels saw him doing standup comedy and he thought he was like, this guy.

I want this guy. And so he offered BJ a role as both a writer and the role of Ryan the temp on the show. So when I came in for my audition, BJ was already cast. He was the very first person. And he was also the first example of that synergy of having people who were both performers and writers for the show. Which was so great. Something that we haven't talked about, but we will talk about it many times as the show goes, is that what a wonderful creative collaboration we had between the

writers and the actors. And that was because of Greg Daniels. He sort of set the tone that he wanted this creative collaboration. He wanted to hear our ideas and he wanted writers on the set. And I think we were just so much the better for it. I've been on other shows now that where the writers and actors are separate and there's not a lot of collaboration. It feels weird after having experienced something else. No, Greg really trusted us to be the experts of our characters. So whenever he was trying to mull something over

or justify something, he would come to us and ask us, just in the way that he went to Steve and said, hey, do you have any thoughts on who Michael Scott's heroes would be? He trusted us to have done our homework and know our characters so well that we could contribute. Yeah, it was great. It was really special.

So also in that scene, that is the famous stapler in Jell-O. Yaw. The stapler goes in Jell-O. I have seen so many people recreate this. How? How? I am blown away. Every time I see a fan tag me in a photo

where they put something in Jell-O, I'm like, where to go? I know. Something we haven't mentioned is the flirtation between Jim and Pam in this episode. And it goes on through the whole first two thirds of this episode or three quarters of this episode. Little things. What did I write on my pink note card, Jenna?

Mixed berries. End quotes. He's on to me. Yeah. That is one of the cutest things. It is so pure. It is. Like that's flirting for them. That he knows your favorite yogurt.

But up until the end, you are just sort of following this flirtation between the two characters and then all of a sudden Roy walks in the door. Roy, David Dinman. Carrying that weird trash bag. We never know what's in that trash bag. What is he carrying? I loved it so much when John is Jim is like, what's in the bag? And Roy's like, yeah, just tell her. Yeah, tell her I'll meet her in the car.

Yeah. But I think it is such a, I remember watching the pilot with people and having them be shocked. Yeah. By like, oh, wait. Oh, crap. She's been engaged three years? Three years.

Holy moly. Yeah. And then Jim has that heartbreaking talking head. Do I think I'll be invited to the wedding? Oh, Jim. Breaking hearts. John Krasinski breaking hearts. He's breaking hearts right out of the gate.

He's breaking hearts. He really is. So another really cute flirty moment between Jim and Pam. After the conference room scene, where we all find out there's gonna be downsizing, the camera cuts to different groups of people talking about downsizing. But when it cuts to Jim and Pam,

we are not talking about downsizing. What are you guys talking about? We are talking about your cat party. Oh! Do you remember this? I do, I do. So this is, I feel like this is really significant and kind of goes on the heels of what we were talking about

with Greg wanting to collaborate with actors. So Ken said, listen, I'm just going to roll the camera. You two just talk to each other. Don't push it. Just talk. Make each other laugh. And so here's something you should know is that earlier in the scene, Ken had asked me if I would pass out papers in the background. Yeah. I only had three lines in the episode. Otherwise, I was just background, basically, for that pilot. So he asked me if I would pass out papers. And I had just doodled a little drawing of a cat.

And I said, you're invited to Sprinkle's birthday party. I just sort of made up that my character had found a cat in the parking lot. I was just sort of bored. We all made up backstories for ourselves. I just made up backstory that my character had found this cat in the parking lot. I don't know, I was just sort of bored and... We all made up backstories for ourselves. Yeah, I just made up backstory that my character had found this cat in the parking lot. But I think it's really significant because you, in your character,

actory prep work, decided that your character was a crazy cat lady. I guess I did. Because you kind of decorated your desk with some cat stuff. Now, the prop department that set my desk had a paperclip holder that was a cat laying on its side, and it holds paper clips.

OK. I took it from my desk. I still have it. I might have stolen it as a memento. And so I think I was just looking at that, and I was doodling. And truth be told, there's only about three things I can draw in real life that look like the actual thing.

And one of them is a cat? One of them is a cat. That's kind of true for me. I can draw a palm And one of them is a cat. One of them is a cat. That's kind of true for me. I can draw a palm tree. I can draw a cat. And I can draw Snoopy. Hey. There you go.

And I guess I had just doodled a cat. And so I'd written on it. So maybe my poor skills at drawing is also what gave birth to this moment. But I drew this cat. And I wrote, you're invited to Sprinkles birthday party in the parking lot. And you gave it to me.

I handed it to you earlier. I remember, and it was weird. I remember getting it in the background of the scene and thinking, I don't know what this is. But I stuck it to my computer monitor. Yeah, it was on a Post-It and you stuck it to your computer. So when Ken Coop has asked me to talk to John

about anything, to do the scene, just talk to each other, I noticed that post-it note and I said, are you gonna go something like, I can't remember if it's cat party on Sunday. And he... He's like, oh no, it's ridiculous. No, definitely not. And then we giggle.

And that is the bit that they left in the episode. And that's the birth of Sprinkles. That was the birth of Sprinkles. That turned into this cat birthday party. Greg honed in on that. He was like, what is the cat birthday party? And I said, well, Angela gave me this post-it note about her birthday party for her cat or something.

And he loved it. And then for four seasons, we discussed Sprinkles until his untimely death in the freezer. Yes, but that's another episode. I won't make you think about it. Because it's one of my favorite Michael moments, too. Yeah, so that was really fun, how just these little elements of us in the background sort of being bored and improvising

made it into the show. Yeah. It's so special to me. All right, so I have something that I am so curious about. And Jenna, I don't even know if you know this. Fans out there, I don't know if you know it or if we need to text Dave Rogers, our editor extraordinaire. So my Dwayne Angela fans, did you

notice in the pilot episode that Dwight is singing Little Drummer Boy as he unpacks his desk? Angela. He's singing like, come, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum. But then he goes, do do do, do, do, do, do, do, do. And then in season three, I karaoke, little drummer boy, and Dwight joins in and sings with me. Now that story is that I was very nervous to sing.

I don't like singing in front of people. And, and Rain, as Dwight just jumped in and kind of like supported me, so I wasn't up there alone. And he kneeled down and he held the microphone for me. And I'm just like, oh my God. I mean, what? That's crazy. I feel like that has to be a coincidence.

I think it's a coincidence, but how, and so many fans say to me, like what amazing synergy it is that Dwight is singing Little Drummer Boy in the pilot, and then in season three, I sing it to him. Now, did a writer remember that? Was that something that, like, was, or was that just in the subconscious of the show?

I don't know. I don't know. You know what I found? I found this article. And I can't remember where. I apologize. I found an article that was all about secret messages in the pilot episode. And one of the secret messages that someone points out

is that in the scene where Roy comes in the door for the first time, the boom mic dips into frame. And someone wondered, was that a nod to the boom operator Brian that we will meet in season nine? No, that was just an accident. Was it foreshadowing to let us know that there are three men in Pam's life, Jim, Roy, and Brian? No, no, that was just a boom operator accident,

and they left it in because it's a documentary. Yes, we left that stuff in all the time. That was the thing that we coveted that. We loved it. If the camera person fumbled or if the boom accidentally wasn't shot, we still used it. And we could. And that was actually great.

Because sometimes you're on a set, and your best take is ruined because of some technical accident on the set, but we were able to use all of it. We didn't have to put it on the cutting room floor. Okay, so yeah, so no conspiracy, but yeah, I don't know if Dwight singing Little Drummer Boy in the pilot and Angela singing it

in Benny Hauna Christmas in season three is just a crazy coincidence, but it's cool, right? It's a pretty cool observation. I actually really love these fan theories because I like to think that these accidents or coincidences, if they are accidents, are part of a fun collective unconscious thing that kind of lend itself to the magic of the show. Wow, Jenna, that was really deep. It kind of was.

I got real philosophical there. Oh my gosh, I feel like I just had like a vision of what you were like in college or something. Yeah. Like you sat around like maybe like you wore like black turtlenecks and like I don't know. I was kind of like I was kind of like Art Show Pam. Art Show Pam! With my turtleneck.

Yeah. My jumper. Well, I like it. Spilling philosophy. All right, Angela, what have you got for us? I only had one speaking scene in the pilot and so did Brian. It was back in accounting when Angela and Kevin are trying to figure out who's going to be fired for downsizing. We were really nervous about shooting the scene. It's the only time we speak. And it was at the end

of the day, Ken Quapus, who's, you know, we've said the nicest guy was like, go ahead. And I said, somebody's going to be fired. It'll probably be me. And Brian, as Kevin says, yeah, it'll probably be you. And Ken came up to me and goes, hey, Angela, can you do it again? And I'm like, just give it like half. Give it half. Hmm.

So I guess I was like, was I too big? Was I like, somebody's going to be fired. It'll probably be me. And then so I was like, somebody will probably be fired. It'll probably be me. Someone's going to get fired. Is that the exact line? Somebody's going will probably be fired it'll probably be me someone's gonna get fired is that the exact line somebody's gonna be fired it'll probably be me then he came up and he goes half of that I said oh okay so then I was like somebody's gonna be fired it'll probably be me and he goes half of that oh my I said oh my god I'm gonna get fired because I'm

like an improv sketch comedy actor and clearly I'm too broad. And so ultimately the take they use, by the end of it, I literally was like, somebody's gonna be fired, it'll probably be me. And then Brian's like, yeah, it'll probably be you. And Ken was like, we got it. I was like. Do you wanna point out what you noticed

about this scene as well about Kevin? Here's my tidbit guys, is that when I watch this and Brian, I want to call you about it. You just sound like Brian to me. You don't sound like the Kevin voice. Okay, can we play it? I bet it's going to be me, probably. It's going to be me.

Yeah, it'll be you. That's Brian! Oh my gosh! That's Brian! That is Brian's voice. That's not, cause Kevin would have been like, yeah, it'll probably be me. It'll probably be me. Yeah. That's a horrible because Kevin would have been like, yeah, it'll probably be me.

Yeah. That's a horrible Kevin. We just really did not do that well. Oh my gosh. I want to call Brian about it. But when I watched it, I was like, wait a second. Like that's Brian. But I think in the pilot, we were still sort of like figuring out our characters and who they were. However, I have to say, Angela. What? I went into the deleted scenes on the DVD,

season one DVD, and there is, this is something we did on the pilot. Some of it was an acting exercise where they called us each into the conference room separately and they just asked us unscripted lines about our characters and about our relationship to other characters. I remember this.

It wasn't written. It was not written. We just improvised. Oh, so this was sort of, I think, an exercise that Ken wanted to do that Greg and Ken came up with. In addition to that thing where they filmed us all just working, they also filmed us being interviewed in character. And I think Greg thought, this will be great.

Maybe I could use some of these little tidbits here and there. Well, there is a series of interviews with each of the members of accounting. Oh my god. Where you guys are all trash talking each other very subtly. And Angela, you have this incredible deleted scene talking head where they ask you about Oscar.

Is this where I compare him to a stapler? Yes. Sam, can you pull that up so we can listen to that? Oscar, how do I describe him? He's like a stapler. Do I need a stapler? Yes. But I'm still the one that has to push it down.

I did. I improvised that because I was trying to think of, like, what? Like, how does Angela see Oscar and he's just like he's necessary but he's a he ends up being more work for her. Yes. He's annoying. What was so clear to me when I was watching them was this accounting dynamic had already started. Yeah. This little pod that you guys formed, this little trio. It was there from the very beginning. Also, I do have to point fans, all of the deleted scenes are fantastic.

Rainn Wilson has some talking heads. There is a long extended deleted scene talking head of him talking to Ken Quapus, who played the documentarian for us. He would ask us the questions, our director, all about where the boom microphone was. Rain as Dwight was very distracted by the boom.

By the boom, oh my God. And he was saying, I really need you to move that. Ken says we can put it in your blind spot. And he says something like, I don't have a blind spot. I've been trained. So it's especially distracting for me. You need to understand that I'm highly trained. And it's just this little non-presentational conversation between Dwight and a documentarian

about how to be Mike. I just want to say one thing. So many great things that were established in the pilot that you go on to see for years to come. Of course, one of the big ones is the Jim versus Dwight. Sort of their battle, right? And the pranks that Jim is going to do on Dwight. And I love that it just started out so simply with Dwight, like sort of their battle, right? And the pranks that Jim is gonna do on Dwight. And I love that it just started out so simply

with Dwight pushing all of Jim's papers back to his desk and then Jim making the pencil wall. That is just ridiculous. Well, that was borrowed from the British show. In the British show, they have the same desk war, but instead the Jim character piles up a bunch of boxes. He makes a box wall between the desks. And we did that when we filmed the pilot.

We had Jim make a box wall. And in fact, you can see it in the background of conference room scenes. You can see a bunch of boxes piled up on Jim's desk. My lady, I'm going to go back and look. Later, when we got picked up, we reshot that scene and turned it into a little pencil thing.

And you can also see that Rain's hair is a little bit different in the pencil scene compared to the rest of the pilot. It's not as poofy. That's right. Exactly. Rain, as Dwight went through poofy hair phase, which looks like they used a little miniature

like rolling brush to blow dry his hair. And then he went through flat parted down the middle phase. Well, Rain created the hairstyle for Dwight. And he said before that it is based on the hairstyle that he wore when he was a 16 year old boy. And so he did his own hair for the pilot. That makes me laugh. I've seen those photos of Rain.

They're crazy. You wore your own clothes in the pilot. I wore my own clothes in the pilot. All right, so the last sort of thing I think we need to talk about is this big prank on Pam, quote unquote, the scene where Michael fake fires her. Well, he's so excited, because Jim has had a very successful prank,

and Michael just, he wants to be in the spotlight. He wants to be the funny guy. So he's gonna show off for Ryan the temp, and he's gonna fake fire Pam. And it of course goes horribly wrong and she ends up in tears. And we shot that scene probably 30 times. Wow. And at the beginning of the scene,

you can see everyone in the background kind of getting ready to leave for the day. And all those people had to wait for hours. They would have to start in the background and then we would do this whole scene. Oh, I know, Jenna, I know. I was there. I had to grab my jacket, my coat and my purse,

put them down, my coat and my purse. I think of any scene in the entire history of The Office, this is the one that I've done the most because we did about 30 takes of it that day, but it was also my audition scene. This was one of my audition scenes. And so I auditioned for months for this role. I did that scene one time when I auditioned for the role of Pam,

and I didn't get it. This is such a crazy, crazy bit of trivia. Yes, yes. Your first audition for The Office was for the role of Pam. Was for the role of Pam, and I wore a pink sweater. What? Was for the role of Pam and I wore a pink sweater. What? Yes. We both had the same instinct.

Pam wore pink sweaters. I wore a pink sweater and my hair down and I was told to look, you know, like not too fancy, so I didn't do too much with my hair and makeup. I went in and I did the scene and it was for a room full of people, the producers. And when we got to the point where Michael fake fires you and you start to cry and you call him a jerk. Yeah. When I called him a jerk, everyone started to laugh. And I thought, I did something wrong.

I don't think they're supposed to laugh at this moment. And of course, like Jenna, you were so brilliant because you brought such a vulnerability to Pam that even though this job sucks and she hates it, she needs it. She needs this crappy job. And you really felt her in that moment. You just, my heart broke for her. And when you call him a jerk, it's just like you're really wounded. And it checks Michael in his place of like,

that wasn't cool. Right? Well, it's funny because this was a somewhat controversial scene about whether or not it should be included. When Ricky and Steven were counseling Greg, I understand that they told him that he should consider cutting this scene because they said that it's in their pilot and they felt like they always had to fight to come back from it, that it made the boss a little too mean

and so later they really leaned into his buffoonery. But Greg fought to keep it in. He thought, no, we're going to try it. We're going to let her cry. We're going to let Michael be mean to her. Now there was an alt line where I think that sometimes instead of saying you're a jerk, I said you're a sad little man. And they said that's too harsh. That's harsh. You can't come back from that. That is harsh. So here's a little fun tidbit, Jenna. Another tidbit, not a fast fact. A tidbit from Angela Kinsey. When Michael wants to prank Pam in front of Ryan the temp, Michael as Steve turns to Ryan, BJ, and says, have you

ever seen, you know, do you like prank shows? Have you ever seen Punk'd? BJ was on Punk'd. He was on Punk'd. He was on season two of Punk'd. So I thought that was a nice little nod that he's looking at someone who was on Punk'd and says, do you like Punk'd? And BJ's like, yeah, like is Ryan. Anyway, that's a Kinsey tidbit for you. So the end of this episode, Pam has been crying and Jim wants to cheer her up. So he puts Michael's world's best boss mug in Jell-O. Now, this was exclusive to our show. Yes.

So the whole- It's not in the BBC version. That's right. The mug itself is set up in an early talking head. And then this convention of ending the episode with Jim doing something sweet for Pam by putting the mug in Jell-O. That was all Greg Daniel's idea.

And I think it's such a sweet way to end the show. Yeah. Yeah, and so, and now, and then of course, the iconic World's Best. We just did it! We did it. We did it. We did our first podcast.

You guys, we really, we were really nervous. You guys, we were really nervous. We actually, in the middle of doing this, I was getting so nervous that Angela made us turn off the microphones and have a dance party. I did. To loosen me up. I did, I put on Taylor Swift's paper rings and I made her dance around and get out of her head.

I was spiraling. You were, but here's the thing. This is why we're nervous. It's because the show means so much to us, and we are new, obviously, to the podcast scene, and your support has been overwhelming. I literally teared up when we let you guys know we were doing a podcast, and just the immediate support

from all of you out there, I got a little emotional. Me too. So I just thank you guys so much, and just know how much it means to us that this show that is so special to us keeps finding an audience. It just really means the world to us. It's changed our lives. Forever.

Yeah. So thank you. Thank you guys. All right. First one. Next week, since we're going in order, we're going to be talking about Diversity Day. So much fun. So if you want to watch it with us, just watch Diversity Day by next Wednesday and then we'll talk about it. Yeah, and you hear that? That's our theme music by my neighbor,

Creed Bratton. It's his song, Rubber Tree, with Mr. Ed Helms on banjo. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies' Second Drink. This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwulf. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins and our audio engineer and associate producer is Daniella Silva. Odyssey's executive producers are Jenna Wise--Berman and Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Breton.