Office Ladies - Second Drink: Valentine’s Day with Andy Buckley

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Pack your day bags because we're headed to New York! This week we're breaking down Valentine’s Day, and we are joined by the wonderful Andy Buckley (The Office, Veep, Avenue 5). Andy chats with Jenna and Angela about his time as a stock broker, how he got the part of the David Wallace, and his surprise to be a recurring character. Then Jenna does a deep dive on Sbarro Pizza and Angela gives us some insider info on 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and the ladies ponder the best and worst Valentine's gifts. Finally, we couldn't end this episode without talking about the Faces of Scranton video and Micheal running into Devin on the streets of New York. 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

I know it's early in the year, but we're already talking about our summer family trip. And you know we like to Airbnb. I know this. Well, we like to have a kitchen and I like to be able to walk out in my robe in the morning and have a cup of tea and as you call it, Jenna, I like a long runway. Yes. Well, you know, Lee is working in Oklahoma right now and we're going to come out to visit him and he got us a really nice Airbnb to stay in as a whole family. So that we could spread out, and everybody could sleep well. And then you feel like you're at home,

even though you're in a different city. Lady, I don't wanna sleep in the same room as my whole family. That's why I can't do hotels great anymore. Yeah, cause you all bunk up, and share a bathroom. Yeah, I like the space. I like a refrigerator, a real refrigerator. I like to have snacks, as you know, I don't know this. Yes, I don't want to call room service. I want them right there. That's right.

Yeah. Everyone were ladies who Airbnb, I guess, for your next adventure for your next vacation, maybe consider Airbnb. Welcome to our second drink of Valentine's episode. In this episode we had Andy Buckley as our guest, David Wallace. Yes, I remember he showed up in a yellow suck-it sweatshirt. Yes. And he brought us each a little Dunder Mifflin coffee mug. It was so sweet. So sweet. Well, I cannot tell you the amount of mail we got saying how much people loved this interview. Alison T said, I grew up in Lynn. So hearing Andy Buckley shout out the North Shore

was the best. Ms. Bonita said, I have the biggest crush on Andy Buckley. And Megan M said, Andy Buckley was so great for this role. David Wallace was probably my favorite non-main cast member. Well, we also had a few folks write in to tell us a crazy fun fact about Andy and Lady. I did not know this. I so wish we would have asked him about it, but he was in two country music videos.

He was? Yes, both for Reba McIntyre. What? I went and watched them. No. Yes, so in 1997 he was in the music videos, I'd Rather Ride Around With You and What If It's You by Reba. And oh my goodness, in I'd Rather Ride Around With You, Andy is Reba's love interest. No. Yes, and they go on a road trip. It is so wild. And then in the song, What If It's You, he plays the guy who got away.

She like watches him longingly as he rides a horse on the beach. Then he canoodles with this other woman. I just need to ask him about this. We have to call him right now. Call him right now. Okay. I can't let another moment of my life go by. I know and like clearly she liked him. She put him in. Okay, I'm calling him. All right, Andy. Here

goes. Let's see if he answers. Angela. Oh, Angela. Andy, it's me and Jenna. We're calling you from our podcast. Hello, young ladies. Hello, Jenna. Hi and Jenna. We're calling you from our podcast. Hello, young ladies. Hello, Jenna. Hi, Andy. We are revisiting the episode that you joined us on the podcast for Valentine's Day. And Andy, people wrote in and said they could not believe

we did not ask you about being in Reba McEntire's music videos. Well, I don't go a day in my life without walking down the street without someone asking me about those. But you play her love interest in one. You guys go on a road trip. How did that come about? By the way, she is the greatest. She couldn't be nicer. She couldn't be lovelier. She is the queen of country music. But just as a human being, she's just, she's, you know, much like you two young ladies, just as kind and lovely as a person can be.

And it's funny, I just think this is great. So I did two music videos with her in the course of like three weeks. So each one took like four days. So I was around her for like about eight days. Every single day, people come up to you and people come up to her, oh, you're great, you're great. But every day, there was always somebody

who came up who was very emotional about her music and got them through some horrible period in their life. And she was the greatest. She would give each person as much time as they needed. I thought that was great. How did it come about? I had an agent at the time who was friends with someone who was producing the music video.

Originally, I was supposed to be a big actor that was gonna do it, but that person wanted to direct it. Like, yeah, I'll do it, I'll be the love interest, but I really wanna direct it, and push came to shove, and they're like, eh, we want the person who directed us to do it. So that fell out and then it was like four days before and they're like,

hey, we got to find somebody in my agency. Hey, what about this guy Buckley? How'd you end up in the second music video? Here's my question. The first one, you're clearly her love interest. Then in the second one, you're like the guy that got away. You're riding a horse on the beach you're with some other gal now I had to break Reba's heart I would what if it's you yeah that was the other

thing yes so exciting I would go and I would sit there and I would listen to her sing you know it's music videos they sing along and they're playing the track but she's singing and it's I mean oh that was a treat and that's such a pretty song the other one's such a fun song. You got like a private Reba McIntyre concert. I did. Yeah. Wow. I guess this is this is going to be on the podcast. So you're on it right now.

It's OK. Sorry. Thank you for answering your phone. Yeah, exactly. It was in a place called Jekyll Island, which is North Florida's beautiful Savannah-like looking place, as I guess you can tell from looking at them. Yeah, I was very curious.

I thought it was the Caribbean or somewhere, and it looked like, wow, what a great gig. I mean, it was great. It was like I was doing much acting, and at the time I had done a few episodes of this show called Pacific Blue, which was instead of like a Baywatch thing it was Cops on Bikes, you know, but you know the main guy and then the cute girl Cops on Bikes by the beach.

Sells itself. It sells itself. Yeah. That was about all, I did like two episodes of that. Well thank you so much for answering the phone because fans wanted to know about it. And so there you have it. And Andy, you're just a delight.

And I hope all is well. And I think maybe I'll be seeing you this summer at the convention. I guess so. At the office convention. Maybe we'll convince someone else to come along. Someone else is going to be doing a play in Chicago. Yeah.

Yes, at that's cool. Yes, at the Goodman. Maybe on your way back. You'll have to stop in Chicago. You should stop in Chicago and see me on stage. Yeah. I'm glad that you're feeling so much better, Jenna. Thank you, I really am.

That obviously could not have been very fun at all, to say the least. So you sound great, and you're doing a play in Chicago. Come on. That's right. At the Goodman. Forget about it. Fancy Chicago theater. I went and saw Steve's play last summer. Oh, Uncle Vanya.

Uncle Vanya, which was so fun. Yeah. What can't that guy do? He can do it all. But has he been in a Reva McIntyre video? I think not. You know what? I think it was him. He was the guy that was gonna do it. But he insisted on directing. Sounds like Steve. He was probably still like in the,

that was in like 95 or 96 or something like that. So that was a while ago. I was just gotten out of high school. All right, Andy, big hugs. We love you and thanks so much for chatting with us. I'll chat with you ladies anytime. All right. Thank you.

Bye. See you office ladies. Okay, bye. Bye. Bye bye. Well, there you have it. There you have it. I'm so glad he answered the phone

because I needed that story today. Also, I need everyone to answer the phone like that needed that story today. Also I need everyone to answer the phone like that when I call them. I know, that was incredible. All right, well everyone, thank you so much for listening to Second Drink. Here is our breakdown of Valentine's Day. 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. Today we are talking about the Valentine's Day episode. I am so excited for this one. Me too. I liked this one so much, I watched it an extra time in my prep just for pleasure. I did too.

My husband Josh was like, baby, how many times are you going to watch that episode? I was like, I am really enjoying it. I think this one sneaked up on me because there are certain episodes that I remember as being favorites. And this one wasaked up on me because there are certain episodes that I remember as being favorites. And this one was not on my radar. And then I watched it and so many memories came back. So many. Okay, this is a goodie.

This is season two, episode 16, written by Mike Schur and directed by Greg Daniels. I mean, honestly, that's all you need to know. That's like the super team. Yeah, of course this is a great one. All right, I'll give a summary. It's Valentine's Day at Dunder Mifflin. Michael has to go to the corporate offices in New York. He has to meet and do a presentation for the new CFO, Chief Financial Officer. It's a big deal. It is, and he's going to be there with Jan on Valentine's Day. Oh no. It is, and he's going to be there with Jan on Valentine's Day. Oh, no.

Back at the office, Phyllis is overwhelmed by gifts from her boyfriend, Bob Vance, at Vance Refrigeration. They just come all day, these gifts. All day. Pam patiently waits for a gift from Roy that never comes. No, no. And she really dolled herself up. Oh, yes. That's my fast fact number one, Angela. Do it. Fan question from Baltimore Ashley.

What was the thought process behind Pam's hair for this episode? Was there another special meeting? I bet there was. Oh, my gosh. You guys, I also got similar questions from Casey McMillan and many other people asking if there was a special meeting for Pam's hair,

there was more than a meeting. It was like the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was. Came together for your hair. So the thought process here was that Pam and Jim in this episode, they're gonna be a bit estranged. So wouldn't it be an extra nail in the coffin for Jim if Pam just looked super duper cute?

Right. So we thought, can we please do something different with her hair? I had a MySpace blog at the time, and I wrote about my hair. Yes. And I said that Kim Ferry and I worked for weeks on different versions of this look. Well, knowing Kim Ferry like I worked for weeks on different versions of this look.

Well, knowing Kim Ferry like I do, like you do, she must have been so excited because she was so good at hair, but she never got to do much with our hair. No. Okay, so here's what we tried. We tried a ponytail, a barrette, and headbands. We took a picture of each choice and we presented them to Greg Daniels and he went through the photos and had to pick hairstyle and he picked the headband. And there were various headbands. I was going to say, were there 12 different headbands? Yes, yes. So it was, and also ponytails, high pony, low pony, side pony. No side pony.

Well, side pony shows up later at the art fair. I wore a side pony tail to my prom. My, I think it was my senior year I did a side pony. I was not cool, guys. You did a side pony to prom? Yeah, I did a side, who? Did you get that done at a salon or did you do that at home?

No, my mom did it. My mom did it and that was the year. The year before we had all had dates and none of us had a good time, my group of like really close girlfriends. Yeah. So that was the year, the guys thought they were being really cool

and they were like, we're not gonna take dates this year. I went to a small school. And so the girls were like, fine. And we had the best time. Was that your senior prom? Our senior prom, I danced in a circle with all my girlfriends with a side ponytail. Lady, I did an all girls prom for my senior prom too.

You did, we would have been in the same dance circle. We would have. You would have loved my side pony. I have a card about that fast fact. Tell it. I mean, not only is it Pam's hair, Pam is wearing a pink sweater. Her headband's pink.

She has a heart necklace on. She has pink earrings on. I mean- Little pink dangle earrings. I know. The lady came, like she came to be noticed. She did. She's, I think a little lip gloss.

Yes. It was a whole look. I have to say, when I first saw myself on screen, I was a little bit like, oh. Oh, Pam went for it. Pam showed up today. And I mean, it's gonna play out later in the episode, but like, Roy, come on, this is someone who clearly wants a Valentine.

No matter what she says. Okay, sorry, fast fact number two. Fast fact number two, a portion of this episode was shot in New York City. We got a lot of fan questions about this. People wanted to know if we did Steve stand in front of a green screen? Did we shoot on the streets of Los Angeles? No.

But there's more questions, Angela. Fan question from Cora Louise, how many crew members came to New York City? And Guava Aora asked, how long did it take to shoot this episode in New York and was the rest of the cast in California? Yes. We did not get to go. We did not. We were all pretty bummed

because it sounded like so much fun. So I reached out to Randall Einhorn, our director of photography. Jenna, you know I did this. I know and you guys, she wouldn't tell me what he said. She's got all this good information about the New York shoot and she made me wait. Well, this is I did this. I know. And you guys, she wouldn't tell me what he said. She's got all this good information about the New York shoot, and she made me wait. Well, this is something we do.

We both love to dig up nuggets of info, and then we don't tell each other because we want the surprise. I know. So I've been waiting like five days for this. OK. Here we go. So I reached out to Randall, and he

said the crew in New York was just him and Greg and Steve. That would go out on the street when they would film. And in the van, they had, I think think two crew members that were New York based like because they had to do things by the rules, you know, and our line producer Kent Zabornak. But whenever the van doors would open, it would just be Greg, Steve and Randall. He said that this was right at the height of 40 year old Virgin. It was the biggest movie in America. He said there was a billboard in Times Square

where they were filming. So he said the minute Steve would get out of the van, a crowd would form. So he said they had to move really fast and quickly. And he said he used a handy cam camera, like a basic handy cam camera that you could buy at Costco. Whoa. It's a really small camera,

so not to draw a lot of attention to them. Yeah. Because the minute people saw Steve, literally he said a crowd would form. Well, wasn't this also right after his Golden Globe win? Oh yes, yes, it was all of that. He just won the Golden Globe, there was a billboard of him in Times Square,

and they're gonna film on the streets of New York. Bonkers. Bonkers. Now this was scripted though. They had certain scripted spots, but I know that Steve was also improvising and riffing at the same time. It was very loosey goosey.

That's true, that's true. So I asked Randall, okay, what were some of the things that you know were scripted? He said the Rockefeller Center portion was scripted. He said that Sabaro was scripted, but he said that he's pretty sure when Steve goes into the subway and sees a man pooping in the box that that was improv. That was Steve just goofing around. But Steve did a lot of improv. Like whenever they saw something or they had a moment he would hop out, you know, there's a tag at the end of like the fiddler on the roof, like him goofing around. That's improv. There's a bunch of deleted scenes of him on the streets of New York that I think

are a lot of improvisations. They're fantastic. The deleted scenes for this are great, and I'll bring up some more of them later. And then I said, Randall, is there like a fun story or a memory you have from filming in New York that maybe doesn't even have anything to do with the episode? And he said, yes.

This is what he said. He said, the night they got into New York, just him and Steve went to this place called Johnny's and they got beer and pizza. He said he thought the pizza was pepperoni. But he just said it was really special and they were walking back to their hotel, walking through Times Square.

And he said, there were billboards everywhere. A 40 year old virgin with Steve's face, like all over the place. And the show is getting popular. Steve had just won a Golden Globe. So it was kind of surreal to walk through all of those billboards of Steve. And people started coming up to Steve and Randall said that Steve was as gracious and kind to the first person who stopped him as he was to the 100th.

He just was so kind and in the moment. But that is Steve. He was so kind and in the moment. But that is Steve, you know? He is so kind and gracious. And Randall just said it was really special, I think, for him and Steve to just have that night together like that. Yeah. Just grabbing a slice and a beer and being in New York, I'm sure it felt really cool. Aw, I love that. I know, me too. That's one of the cool things about the show where there's some circumstance that brings you to an experience you would not have normally had. Yeah, yeah. So cool.

So cool. And Greg and Kincebornak talk a little bit more about New York in the DVD commentary, so if you want to give that a listen. All right, Jenna, that's my New York City nuggets. They were great and they were worth waiting for. Thank you. I loved for. Thank you. I loved them. Thank you.

Fast fact number three. In this episode, we meet the new CFO of Dunder Mifflin, David Wallace. Hey now. Hey, who's here? Who's here? Brased by Andy Buckley. There we go.

Who's in studio with us now. I'm gonna put on the Wallace glasses. Put on the Wallace glasses. Andy, you appeared in 37 episodes of the show. Yep. 37. That's crazy, yeah. Here's some stuff I learned about you by looking you up on the internet.

Well, get ready. We should say the three of us are friends in real life. So it was a little bit interesting to Google a friend. But here's some things I learned about you. None of it is true. Oh, boy. But it's probably all true. That's good to know. It's probably to Google a friend, but here's some things I learned about you. None of it is true. Oh boy. But it's probably all true. That's good to know.

It's probably all true. You were born in Boston. Yup, Salem, Massachusetts, grew up in Marblehead, Swampskate, Peabody, mostly Marblehead, and I have the SmartPak. You do? SmartPak, Sean Krasinski, SmartPak. You graduated from Stanford University, but you got a degree in political science. Yes.

Not theater, not acting. No. So I was a golfer in high school and I went there to play golf. Like I was on the golf team. Like on a golf scholarship? Yeah. They didn't have a ton of money, but I got in through the golf program and they gave you a thousand bucks.

Hold up. That means you're a good golfer. I used to be. I'm still good, but I got in through the golf program and they gave you a thousand bucks. You're a good golfer. I used to be. I'm still good, but I used to be. But yes, and I was a polysciamator. I did plays there and I had done plays in high school also and loved acting and saw a James Dean movie when I was in high school and thought I was going to be like a brooding young. Brooding, golf playing, James Dean yeah. All of the above. James Dean, political science.

And none of it worked. But when you were cast on the show, you were working as a wealth management advisor, which I believe is a fancy word for stockbroker. That's exactly it, yeah. At Merrill Lynch. Yes, I study acting. I moved to Los Angeles.

It does not go well for the first like seven or eight or nine years. I get little bits and pieces here. Allison Jones being possibly my only fan, luckily. And my wife, who was then my girlfriend, said, you got to, you got to change it up. This is crazy. Like you can't just keep doing these odd jobs and then think you're gonna get hired. She was like, get a job. Get a job, literally, basically get a job. And there was an old acting buddy of mine

who was working there and he would still audition. He said, oh, come interview, I might be great for you. And they hire me and I loved it, it was crazy, I loved it. So I started there in 2001 and was there and that's all I was doing and then we got married and we had our first son I bumped into Allison Jones. We're like the local farmers market on Larchmont and you're you're Just a guy getting up and being in the office at six and talking to clients or you know potential clients or and And I see her and what are you doing? Buckley? I haven't seen you in a while. I'm like, well, stockbroker, I'm married, I got a kid, I'm like Mr. Grown-up. And she says, well, give me your card just

in case something comes up. You never know. I mean, would you want to do it? I guess if it's in town. And without her mentioning anything or thinking, you never know. I mean, would you want to do it? I guess if it's in town and without her mentioning anything or thinking, you know, four months almost later, she calls me. It's like Buckley, I can't believe I found this card, but I'm glad I did. I think you might be the right guy. You should come audition for this, you know, the boss on the office. You know, the show and yeah, of course I know the show. Like, yeah, he's the financial guy and you're a financial guy. They might like that. You should audition.

And it was great. I go, I, so I go in and say hi, do the first scene. But I read with Alison, it was Mike Schur in the room and it was just the two of them. So I read with Alison, I do the first scene and then the second scene. And then Michael says, now you're, you're like, you're a finance, what are you,

you're like some kind of financial guy, right? Now knowing Mike the way we know Mike, he loved that. I know that he loved that, that you were actually working at Merrill Lynch was probably one of the coolest things to him. I figure that's why I got hired. And then I go back to my office and I'm like, all right. And you just go about your day.

And then the next morning, Alison calls and says, hey, they're going to hire you. I was so excited. It was like, oh man, this will be awesome. At the time I thought, well, maybe this will be cool. I'll get to be on the show once a year or something like that or twice. I mean, that'll be fun.

Yeah. I was going to ask you, when you auditioned, did they say this was one episode with the possibility of more, or did they give you any indication that this might lead to 37 episodes? No, they didn't say anything. And I mean, that was it. It was so whatever day the audition was,

and then the next week, I guess, I did it. Now, where did you film the boardroom scenes? My memory is that it was right next to our Dunder Mifflin set that you could walk from our set to your set. Right. That's that's what it was. Yeah. So you were just right there. I was right there and I show up and Steve couldn't have been nicer. Everybody, you know, everybody couldn't have been nicer.

And and and and it was just it was fun because Greg would come up and he would say, great, that was good. Okay. And they said, let's try it this way. And he would have an idea, which I can't, I was trying to think like, what were his specific ideas? And it was along the lines of like, do this one as if you just want to keep things calm. Do this one as if you're a little irritated. Just sort of subtle changes. This is in the great Scott, you know, when he shows the video. Oh my goodness. You guys, your facial reactions to the video that Michael makes is so amazing. It was so wonderful. So when do you get the call that they want you back for another episode?

A year later. A year later. A year later. A year later. Oh my gosh, Andy. Oh, it's great. Allison calls and says, Buckley, you're in an episode in a couple of weeks and you're all over it like you're having a party at your house. Everybody's there. It's crazy. And she's like, and JJ Abrams is directing like it's crazy.

You're like, wait, I have some meetings I have to rearrange. I'm going gotta change around. But it was after we hired Ryan at the very end of season three that I kind of thought, oh, maybe I'll get to be on this like two or three times. He's like, we're coming to corporate. He's coming to corporate. Maybe I'll get to be on it.

You could see a possible storyline. I thought, yeah, like, oh, wow. Do you get recognized a lot? Do people scream suck it at you? Yes. And then do recognized a lot? Do people scream suck it at you? Yes. And then do other people wonder why people are screaming suck it at you? It's funny.

And I definitely haven't sometimes. And all of this has started to happen so much more in the last three or four years because of Netflix and the show is so much bigger and everything. Andy, do you still work at Merrill Lynch? No. So I left. The last season of the show was when I finally left.

Well, you've gone on to do a bunch of stuff now. You're now a full-time actor. What are you working on right now? Can we tell people where to find you now? Super, super lucky. So let's see. So I get to be on a cast once again by Alison Jones, this HBO show called Avenue 5, which is super funny.

And it's the fellow that wrote, created Veep. It's his new show. We're on this crazy, you know, we're on a cruise ship, luxury cruise ship in outer space. Like it's, it's just a cruise ship, but it's 30 years from now. So we're in space as if Elon Musk or Richard Branson. Right, right, had finally figured it out.

And Hugh Laurie is the captain of the ship. Oh my gosh. And Josh Gann, and Zach Woods is on it. It's great because uh, oh my goodness is he so funny because I never acted with him. Like basically he came in as I was He is so funny. He's so funny. And he's so smart. He's so smart. Thank you so so much. Thank you for coming. You guys can find Andy on Instagram as well and Twitter. You've got quite a nice Twitter. Tell us your handle. I'm at just Andy Buckley and then on Instagram I am Andy Buckley 2020 in case I decide to

run for an office. Great. But just for this year. Just for this year. Well, I am following you Andy Buckley 2020 on the Insta. I appreciate it. We're Insta pals. I appreciate it.

I know. And you'll have to come back. You'll have to come back. Yeah, you do have 36 more episodes. Yeah. And we've only really covered your origin story. So there's more to talk about. All right, Andy, thank you so much. Thank you very much.

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Let's start breaking down the Valentine's Day episode. Let's get into it, lady. All right. So we start with a Pam talking head. She explains it's Valentine's Day. This is not your typical cold open where it's a standalone kind of prank or joke. This applies to the story of the episode. We noted earlier, her hair is down. She's got her sparkly headband on. She actually says, I like Valentine's Day

in this office. Yeah, because we all hand things out to each other. She talks about how last year Jim gave her a card, a hilarious card with Dwight's face on it. It was so funny. But then she says that her and Roy are saving money this year for the wedding. So she told him not to get anything too big. Too big, but she's still clearly expecting something. She still wants something. Well, I have a few little background things for this talking head. Okay. That I found very interesting. Yes. So behind our talking heads was normally you could see Leslie David Baker, who plays Stanley, our Phyllis. Yeah. At their desks. You would never see Jim behind you during a talking head because his desk is over closer to Pam's at reception.

Is Jim in the background of this? Jim is in the background of your talking head. He's like sitting over there talking to Creed. You can see him in the distance. And I was listening to the DVD commentary. And one of the things that Greg and Mike talked about was in this episode, Jim and Pam barely speak. But they're always in the foreground or background of each other's shots.

That was sort of a conscious thing. When they could have one of you in the background they would. That is so interesting because I noticed that in the background of Jim's talking head later, Pam is delivering Phyllis a little piece of candy. Yes. So see, this was thought out. Now, there's one other thing I want to point out because in the deleted scenes, Oscar at the top of the episode is handing out Valentines. And this is footage behind your talking head. You say, I like Valentines at this office. We hand out cards and things.

Yeah. You see Oscar passing out these little red hearts. Well, it's a great deleted scene. He hands one to Creed. Creed is getting off the phone where he calls a guy Ace and then he says to Oscar, thanks Ace. And then he has a talking head where he's like, yeah, I'm not good with names. I don't know. He doesn't know people's names. So that was actually a scene that then they repurposed and used for the backdrop of your talking head. Oh my gosh,

that is a great catch. Yeah. And then I think just before we get into this episode, I would love to give a little props to the party planning committee because you know they were in charge of decorating the office. Yeah. Did you see all the Valentine stuff? I did. Fan catch from Izzy Garragan. She said around 22 seconds, Pam has a football plush on her desk, but I noticed that she has Valentine's Day themed candy.

She has a cup of pins and a Valentine's Day cup on the top of her desk. And the cups are even sort of like red pins. Yes, and then she even had, there's all these like decorations on the front of reception. She's got like a Valentine's Day poster and there's a heart shaped candy dish, there's red jelly beans, there's like a little squishy heart dude on the front of reception. She's got like a Valentine's Day poster and there's a heart shaped candy dish.

There's red jelly beans. There's like a little squishy heart dude on top of the jelly beans. Over by accounting, there's heart garland. There's a heart poster. There's some heart garland over on the supply cabinet. So the ladies really- We did a good job.

They went all out, buy all out. They put up two posters. It's still within their budget. But it was fairly decorated, I will say. They went all out, buy all out, they put up two posters. It's still within their budget. But it was fairly decorated, I will say. I noticed as well. All right, so next up, Phyllis gets a giant bouquet of roses. Did you catch the card? It made me laugh out loud.

No, what was it? The flowers are from Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. Oh yes, yes, yes, I did catch that. Just that Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration was part of the card was part of the card that that does make me laugh I don't know about you, but my husband when he gives me a gift like his card skills, babe. I love you I okay first of all, I appreciate the thought but for Valentine's his card said to my wife from your husband And it was like flowers and it was really sweet but that's all the card said, to my wife from your husband. And it was like flowers and it was really sweet, but that's all the card said. So we find out now that Michael is heading to New York

to do a presentation about this grant branch for the new CFO. And we know this is important because there have been rumors of downsizing. And so Michael has to really prove the worth of this branch so that no one gets fired. In this scene he packs his passport. For a two and a half hour drive guys. For a drive. It's a two and a half hour drive. Not even flying. Not going across the border. Nope. Passport. Got it. Dwight asks if he's excited to see Jan

because it is Valentine's Day. And then Michael has a talking head where he says, I would have to be a raving lunatic to try to talk to Jan about what happened between us. Her words, not mine. She sent me an email this morning. I loved that. I love that so much. Also, did you notice right after his passport, Dwight hands him what looks like, it looks

like a Blackberry. Do we have some old tech, some old tech catch there? Ooh, old tech catch. Old tech catch, I can't even say that. Old tech catch. Old tech catch, okay. As Michael is leaving, he asks Pam if he can pick her up anything in New York.

I love Oscar's response. Because Oscar's like the dad. He's kind of the dad. He's like, you know, the best gift would be just do a good job on the presentation so we can all keep our jobs. Yeah, thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. And Michael's like me in New York. Oh, I own that city. Forget about it. Yeah. You have to go back and look at Oscar's face. Oh my God. It's so good. If that's not a meme, it should be that that

should be. So then we have our opening credits. And when those are over, Michael is driving to New York. No need for a passport. Two and a half hour drive. Don't need it. Within the continental United States. Still don't need it. And then Jim has a talking head where he tells us

that he is not dating anyone and he's just gonna have like a party with his buddies. Well, what the heck happened to Brenda? I don't know. He's not dating anyone. He left Brenda that ridiculously awkward voicemail. I guess that didn't work out. I guess it didn't.

Now, during his talking head, you can kind of get a glimpse at Pam's wedding invite list. Yeah, there's a shot of Pam at her desk, and I had a fan question about it. OK, you know I did a screen grab and tried my best to read every name. Oh, I want to hear what they are. Louisa J said, are the names on the wedding invite list

characters or made up or based on real life people? Now, I was looking at some of these names and part of it looked like, like maybe Phil Shea had started the list, but it looked like you had added to it during the scene. Yes, the typed list was provided to me by Phil Shea. Yes. The handwritten list are the names of my real aunts and uncles and cousins. I was going to say I saw Emily, which is your sister. Yep. So I was like, as I screen grabbed it, I was like, Oh, Jenna

just started writing her actual family. I did. Okay, that's what I thought. Yeah, I wrote down Bob and Millie, Jim and Debbie, Ed. Yeah, you wrote down Ed, Mark, Jim and Debbie. It looked like Anne, which is your mom's name. That's my mom. Yeah? Yeah. Okay.

I just thought it would be fun because maybe they would get to see their names on TV. No, I think that's fantastic. I would have done the same thing. I'm pretty sure my uncle Bob did write me an email because he noticed or someone noticed and told him. So that was like a fun little thing. I think it's also good that your family has somewhat

like common names because like I would have done the same thing, but my list would have been like birdie. My aunt Thelma, like it'd be like, wait, this list looks a little Southern. Let's see next up, Dwight gets a Valentine's Day gift. There's a box on his desk. He gets the best gift ever. Yes, he gets a Dwight bobblehead, a bobblehead of himself. And we had a fan question.

Actually, a lot of people asked, but Kelly Peck and Enza from Chicago both asked, how was the Dwight bobblehead made? So Phil Shea found a bobblehead maker on the internet, and he had rain pose for pictures in his Dwight outfit, and they took pictures of him from all directions. All angles. Yes. And sent them in. It took a couple of weeks, and they sent back a sample.

They were able to make notes, and then they sent the real thing and they just sent the one guy. I remember the real thing too was kind of fragile. Yeah. It was heavy. Heavy. Heavy. It's not like the ones you can buy now online.

Not made out of plastic. And if you want one of yourself, the guy's still making them. Oh, what's his name? Let's give him a shout out. It's bobblemaker.com. Bobblemaker.com made the original Dwight bobblehead. That's right. And it was originally called It's You Small.

It's You Small. I like that. It's You Small. But yeah, bobblemaker.com. That's where you can get a bobblehead made of yourself. And I went on there and they're really great. You can also get them made of your pets, your whole family. He'll also just sculpt your face and put it on a coffee mug, like coming out of a coffee

mug. That one I wasn't quite as attracted to. I'm going to just be honest. The coffee mug giving birth to your face? Yeah. But the bobbleheads are amazing. I would kind of like a bobblehead of our cat Oreo. I thought the same thing about Sunny.

Oh, we should get kitty cat bobbleheads. I want a kitty cat bobblehead. Okay, where are we? I had another question about the bobblehead from Dagmara K. Did anyone end up keeping Dwight's bobblehead? Well, I just assumed that Rain got to keep it. So I texted him and he said no. Who kept it? NBC. And they auctioned it off when the series ended. Oh,

that makes me a little sad. It makes me a little sad too. And it brought up a question for me. I remember NBC did this big auction of all our stuff. They auctioned off some of our clothes. Oh, there was a big auction. I think they auctioned off all the desks and furniture. A bunch of stuff from the desk, a bunch of furniture. But it made me wonder, with all this talk and speculation about a possible reboot, how do they get all the stuff back? How do they even recreate the set if they auctioned everything off?

Well, I think that probably doesn't bode well for a reboot. I think people are like, nope. They'll have to get bobblemaker.com to make another bobblehead, I guess. I don't know. I actually have a Dwight and Angela bobblehead. And I bought one, and Rain signed it for me. So I have signed Rain bobblehead.

After this episode, people started asking for Dwight bobbleheads. And so NBC made a run of bobbleheads. They found a way to make them mass produce them. Yes. And they sold out immediately. All right. So next up in the episode, Michael is walking the streets of New York.

Oh, he's so happy. Oh, he's he walks by his favorite local New York pizza joint, Sbarro. You can only find it in New York. It's such a great joke because you guys know Sbarro is a huge chain. You can get it outside of New York City. However, this made me curious about Sbarro. So guess what I found out. What you find out, lady.

Let me tell you, Sbarro began in 1956 when Carmela and Gennaro Sbarro opened an Italian grocery store in Brooklyn that also happened to sell food. Okay. So they had a little deli. They had a little market. Yes. And one of the things that they sold was pizza by the slice. Mama Sbarro, as she was known, had this pizza by the slice and it became super popular with construction workers, shift workers who needed to grab something in one hand and eat on the go. They became so popular that they ended up opening a second location that was only about pizza. Okay. Pizza only. We are not sponsored by Spar- We are not.

Spar-Boro, probably cause I can't say it. Spar-Boro? Sabaro. Sabaro, not Spar-Boro. Not Spar-Boro. That's a different restaurant. Sabaro, Sabaro. Sabaro.

And so since then though, Sabaro has expanded into 630 eateries across 28 countries. I'm applauding you, Sbarboro. Also, on their website, it says, quote, you're welcome, world. Well, well, not only pizza slices, but pizza slices with sass. I like it. That's some Sbarro sass. That's some Sbarro sass. I like it. That's some Sbarro sass. That's some Sbarro sass. But I thought it was interesting because the joke of our episode is kind of that Michael doesn't get what a local pizza

joint is, but it did actually start as a local pizza joint. It did start local. It did start local. Just not in Times Square. So there you go. So next we go back to the office and Jim and Kelly are in the kitchen. I love this scene so much. John Krasinski, your acting in this scene is delicious. It's delicious. Mindy's acting is delicious. I was like, she's so funny in it. She's full on Mindy. Yeah, it's full Mindy. This is full Mindy. I want you to know when I was listening to the DVD commentary, I almost like spit out like the water I was drinking because Greg and Mike both go, oh, I mean, Mindy just took

over. Like, there's no more Kelly. It's just Mindy. This was a whole thing. Yeah, what they don't know is that it happened last episode. Okay. Well, I felt very validated that we didn't even know that like they totally talk about it in the commentary.

That's amazing. Well, basically, she tells Jim that her and Ryan hooked up last night. Yes. And Mindy says in the DVD commentary, she goes, Mike, I really feel like this scene is just like a transcription of a conversation you and I actually had about a guy. Which cracked me up. Well, it leads to the very famous Ryan Talkinghead. I hooked up with her on February 13th. I know, it was like so perfect.

All right, so then we head back to New York City again, and now we're gonna see Michael in Times Square. You know, a lot of people, he tells you, they get to New York and they go to really touristy places, like the Empire State Building, but he likes to go to Times Square. Yeah, he likes to go to the most tourist spot in New York. Which I love.

And then at five minutes, 26 seconds, Michael is giving us a tour of Rockefeller Center. Yes. Where he says, founded of course, by Theodore Rockefeller. And he also says that the Rangers sometimes practice there. OK, I did a deep dive. The Rangers don't practice there. The Rangers don't practice there,

but they do sometimes practice at this rink in Central Park. Like once a year, there's a rink there. I know this because I have a huge hockey. Yeah, I'm a hockey mom. Your husband plays hockey. your son plays hockey, you're a hockey mom. Yes, we've been in New York when the Rangers have practiced on this rink in Central Park, and it's super cool.

It's a thing they do for the fans. But never at Rockefeller Center. Also, there is no one named Theodore Rockefeller. I did a deep dive on the Rockefeller family, and I could not find anyone named Theodore. Okay, I know 30 Rock really well because I worked there. Oh, that's right. I was an intern on the Conan O'Brien show.

And so we're like a bunch of office people. Mindy, Ellie, John. But not at the same time. Not at the same time. I'm much older than those guys. I was there the very first year of Conan when they thought they were going to get canceled, week to week. Oh my gosh. What do you do when you're an intern on that? What is that? What does that mean?

Well, there was different types of internships. There was a writer's intern. So when I got the internship, they already had the writer's intern. So I became a general intern. So I just basically got everyone their coffee. I didn't know New York City, so I kept getting lost. I was probably the worst coffee run person ever. Did you get to meet Conan or interact with him as an intern? I didn't. And I mean, he would walk past and he was always nice. He would kind of give a nod or away, but he was busy, you know? And I knew not to bug him. Like I had enough like awareness that I wasn't going to be like, Hey, Conan, I'm the new intern, what you doing?

The really cool thing about Conan Studio is it was one floor away from where they did Saturday Night Live. So could you- You could do a back door- Like watch SNL ever? I actually, one of the people that worked on Conan knew that I was pretty strapped for cash

and she got me a weekend job on Saturday Night Live as an extra. So there's a whole season of SNL that I'm an extra and I'm in a bunch of skits. What? Yes. There's a great scene with Chris Farley and I'm sitting in front of him, and everyone was so nice. Yeah, because all that stuff is happening in that same building. That's what's so crazy about that area.

And NBC News is happening in the Today Show, That's what's so crazy about that area. And like NBC News is happening and the Today show, it's all right there. Can I tell you one of the coolest moments? Is right outside the stage doors where we recorded, I'm standing in this hallway alone. There's no one in the hallway. The elevator doors open and Robert Redford walked out. Wow.

And he was with like an NBC, you know, someone in a suit and they were walking down the hall and they just walked past me and I was just like, just watched Robert Redford walk right by. Wow. I'm just like a young kid from middle of nowhere, Texas. It was just like a really cool, surreal moment. And there were many of those in my time there. That is pretty awesome.

So we got a lot of fan questions about this Tina Fey, Conan O'Brien business. The first one is from Sarah Marshall, 44. Did production hire the woman to play the fake Tina Fey or was she just a random person? No, we hired her. She is an actress named Miriam Tolan. She's been in a ton of stuff,

including ironically an episode of 30 Rock, season two, episode 14. She has a really funny scene with Jason Satekis around 12 minutes. She plays a woman at a check-in counter at an airline. It's very funny. I went back and watched the whole episode. Oh, I want to see it. It's really good.

And then we had another fan question from Livy Fitzgerald. Please explain the Conan cameo. Well, you know, Greg and Conan were very good friends. They went to college together. They were roommates. I think some of their very early writing jobs on SNL and Simpsons, they were like, they lived together. They're friends.

They're really good friends. And so it definitely makes sense that Greg, you know, would want to reach out to Conan if he was right there. There is quite a bit about it in the DVD commentary, but one of the things that really stuck with me that I loved is that Greg said it took Conan 15 takes to time that out. Like he said, literally it took about 15 tries.

And he said, you think Steve gets a big crowd? Imagine Conan standing in front of the building where they taped Conan. He said the crowds were crazy. so they were trying to get that. And he's really tall. He's incredibly tall. And has red hair. He's very, very distinguishable.

Hard to blend. Hard to blend. Mike sure said that he wrote the scene with fake Tina Fey as a shout out to her, a little nod to their time together on Saturday Night Live, because he said tourists were constantly mistaking other women with brown hair and glasses for Tina Fey. It was almost like a joke. They would watch other women get tapped on the shoulder,

and it was never Tina Fey. And he said that many times him and Tina would take a coffee break in between writing and walk outside, and no one would stop her. No one would stop the real Tina outside and no one would stop her. No one would stop the real Tina Fey. No one would stop the real Tina Fey, but they would mistake all these other women.

And so he said that scene was kind of his little nod to Tina. Oh my gosh, I love that. I did too. I love that. All right, so next we go back into the office and more flowers arrive for Phyllis. Oh, gosh.

From Bob Vance. I mean, Bob Vance. Not for Pam. They're for Phyllis. Pam is getting annoyed. And you know who else is taking it hard? Meredith. Meredith.

She's taking it real hard. She's looking real sour. Yeah. Well, then we have this awesome covert scene between Dwight and Angela at the copier. Yes. He says, thank you for the gift. And then she says, I haven't gotten one yet. I haven't gotten anything. Now, this has nothing to do with the scene, but I have to bring it up right now because this is the first moment you really get a full shot of me, right on camera. Yeah.

Do I look tan, Jenna? Do I look a little tan? Yes, now that you mentioned it. Oh, I am very tan because in my journal, you guys, I wrote, we shot this during the Golden Globes when I got that Mystic Spray Tan. Oh, that's right. When we went to the Golden Globes,

when Steve won, you got a spray tan that was real dark. It was orange. Guys, I watched this episode and the next one. I am like orange for two weeks. Oh my gosh. I mean, I am so tan. It's ridiculous. And they tried to like make my face look lighter.

Like I wrote about it in my journal that they tried to tone down my tan. But what happened was I just look weird. I thought you looked good in this episode. Well, I have a mystic tan, a spray tan. But anyway, when I watched that scene, all I could see was my very, very tan forehead. And next to Rain, I look crazy tan, because he's so white. But yes, I have given Dwight, he says the best gift ever. Yeah.

And then he promises that he has one for me, which I'm very happy about. And then he clearly realizes, oh no, now I have to deliver. Exactly, exactly. He says, you'll get something by the end of today. He needs to give himself some time. Yeah. To get something by the end of today. He needs to give himself some time. Yeah. To get something. All right. So then we have the scene where Jim is on the phone.

He's making plans with his poker buddies. John Krasinski does such great fake phone. You guys, fake phone is not easy. No, there's no one on the other end of that call. I fully believed he's talking to someone and his laugh seems so organic. Yeah. I'm like, John, applause for fake phone skills. Great fake phone.

Really, really good. And this is also sort of the time in their relationship, if you will, where Jim, I mean, you have a wedding date set. Yeah. It's like all that Pam is talking about really is like planning the wedding. And Jim really starts wedding date set. It's like all that Pam is talking about really is like planning the wedding. And Jim really starts to pull away. And then you see Pam feeling that absence.

Well, and remember in the last episode, they got in a full fight about Pam's decision to not pursue her graphic design internship. And so I think Jim kind of feels like, I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I don't know where I fit in anymore. Yeah, and she's getting married. Yeah.

Then a giant teddy bear arrives. And it's being delivered by two guys, advanced refrigeration outfits. They were played by our writing team of Jean Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. But you only see Gene. Lee got cut out. Lee got cut out.

It's in the deleted scene. Yeah, they get in a fistfight. Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous. But Gene is the person who says, Phyllis Lapin? So if you're wondering which one is Gene and which one is Lee, Gene is in this episode. And they come back later. They're going to recur, and you'll actually get to see Lee.

There's a very funny little sort of exchange between Jean and Brian as Kevin where Kevin's like, that thing's as big as me. And Jean's like, no, it's not. No, it's not. Kevin's like, zip it. So now Michael has finally made it to his meeting. He's done wandering the streets of New York

and he's gonna meet with the other branch managers in a conference room. And I just want to mention, we said this earlier, this part of it was not shot in New York. This was shot on some stages. Right there where we film every day in California. Yes. Look out the window.

They did such a good job. The backdrop, it really looks like they're up high in a building in New York. The trickery is so good. Our set design team was phenomenal. Yeah, but really they are on ground level in a warehouse in a set. In Van Nuys, California. Yeah, kind of amazing. But let's meet the other managers.

Yes, I have a card. All right, give me your card, lady. Here's a card. All right, give me your card, lady. Here's my card. So the other managers are Dan Gore, who manages Buffalo, played by Dan Cole, Josh Porter, he manages Stanford branch, Craig, Michael calls him Craigers, played by Craig Anton, manages Albany. Yes.

So here's a little tidbit about the Dan Gore character. Okay. In the DVD commentary, Mike sure says, the quiet guy in the conference room, he named after his good friend, Dan Gore, the writer Dan Gore. Oh yeah. Dan Gore, who I mean, he created Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He's a phenomenal writer. Yeah.

And he was a friend of Mike's and Mindy sort of chimed in that Mike loved to do that. He loved to put his friends names in things. He was a Conan writer. He wrote on Parks and Rec, and now, of course, he's the showrunner of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. So Dan Gore got a nice little shout out in this episode. Yes. So we are meeting all the branch heads, and Craigers is an idiot. He's right. He's gotten kicked out of all the strip clubs in Albany.

Very proud of that. We find out. And then he starts insulting Jan. Yeah. Yeah, he says. He calls her the B word. He does, and Michael comes to her defense. He says, oh, come on now, come on now. And he stands up for her first by saying, that's my girlfriend, boy.

And then he backpedals and says, I mean, we hooked up. And then Josh Porter's like, you hooked up with Jan? And now he's in it. He spilled the beans. Dang it, Michael. Michael. He's only been there like five minutes. Yeah, he's been in a room with these people

for five minutes and he's already told everyone that he's hooked up with Jan. With their boss. Yeah. Oh, Michael. And then it's like crickets in the room. All right, well, maybe we should take a break. Yeah, with that news. On that news, Michael has just spilled the beans

and we'll be right back. We'll be back. Because one of my favorite scenes is happening back at the office. Yeah. We need to talk about it. It's good stuff. It's good. With the Fizz loyalty program,

you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Okay, so we're back.

You guys, I have to talk about this scene between Dwight and Pam in the break room. I loved it so much, Jenna. I rewound and watched it a few times. Oh gosh, how did you get through it without laughing? Your reaction when he says, like a ham? And you're like, no, not exactly like a ham. Jenna is so funny. I don't even know how you kept straight face though.

My intention in that was like I was talking to like a ham. Jenna is so funny. I don't even know how you kept straight face though. My intention in that was like I was talking to like a five or a six year old and I couldn't let them see my real feelings about the things they were saying. Yeah, exactly. We had a fan question from Suzy Young 22. She wanted to know if like a ham was scripted or improvised. It was improvised. Did he improvise a bunch? Yeah. So on the day, we didn't really have an ending to this scene. Okay. We had him coming in and asking for advice and they wanted a button and this would often happen in scenes and the writers would then come over and give us a list of options.

Like suggestions. Yeah. So Like a Ham was improvised, but then there were and give us a list of options. Like suggestions. Yeah. So like a ham was improvised, but then there were all these other options that were written on a piece of paper. And so we shot all of these things that he said, like, like a this, like a that, like this, like that. It was so hard not to laugh.

I did laugh at like a ham because it wasn't on the piece of paper. So I was not expecting it. No, no. So that my response is definitely like take four or five because I remember everyone just lost it when he said it. And then they were like, okay, wait, that's good. That's good. That's the one we want. And so then they were like, pull it together and do it again. Do it again. Okay, I have a question for you. When he says shut up, I know exactly what to do. Was that improvised? That I don't remember.

I don't remember because I do think that that final look to camera was, that was some direction I was given, which is like, I know the cameras out there. Yeah. And your look to camera is like, can this day get any worse? It's so weird. I'm not getting any gifts. No. Jim has barely acknowledged me and Dwight just asked for my help and then told me to shut up.

I also love when rain, how rain responds to me saying like, she's a little like tightly wound. Oh gosh. Yeah, he like chose to be like turned on by it. So gross. Kind of creepy. Did you notice how many times we were in scenes in the break room in the kitchen?

Like in this episode, we're in quite a few, I think we have like three break room scenes, two kitchen scenes. Yeah. So it's interesting. And I don't know if that's cause they were constantly trying to keep Jim and Pam apart, or there were these secret conversations about relationships.

But I feel like this was a very interesting episode for that reason, because a lot of the scenes don't actually happen in the bullpen. Yeah, they're not at our desks this time. Mm-mm. Yeah. So Jim is in the break room with Kelly, and he's kind of trying to give her advice.

He's really just trying to eat his bag of chips. Yeah. He tells her to take it slow, and then Ryan walks in. And she asks him out in front of Jim and John's, the way John played this moment, like he's like, not in front of me. Oh, he's like, oh no, not while I'm here. No, please. Oh, so good.

But Ryan shoots her down. He says, I can't, I have plans with friends and I can't. It's so cringy. And she's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a problem. Yeah. Oh, and Jim is just sitting there. Like, get me out of here.

Back in the bullpen, more gifts for Phyllis. Meredith is drinking heavily. She's had it. She's full on mixing up a cocktail and that super gulp. I have been to family reunions where I have one or two aunts that walk around with a giant 7-Eleven super gulp and I have been to family reunions where I have one or two aunts that walk around with a giant 7-Eleven Super gulp and I'm always like, what's in there? What's in there?

Why are you nursing on that 7-Eleven Super gulp all day? Well, I used to do an opposite thing in college. So I was not a big drinker, but I wanted to go to the parties and not be judged. So you'd bring a Super gulp full of like soda? I would bring a red solo cup full. Your own solo cup to the party? I had my own red solo cup. And then I would put something non-alcoholic in it.

And you'd be like, I'm good, I've got my drink. Yeah, I got it. I'm fine. I'm good. I don't need to get drunk on whatever you're handing out. Weird frat boy party. Oh my gosh. Have solo cup, weird frat boy party. Oh my gosh. Have solo cup, we'll travel.

Yeah, exactly. So I did like an opposite thing. A reverse. Yeah. A reverse Meredith. Should we go back to New York and meet our CFO David Wallace? Yeah, cause it's about to really go south.

And also, I mean, oh God. Yeah. How funny is faces of Scranton I don't want to jump ahead but that is some funny shiitake. Yeah it's time for the presentations. Josh Porter gives a nice normal presentation. Yes yes and you know in the DVD commentary Mike Schur said it was really important to him that you saw a range of competence in the that you saw a range of competence in the branch managers. A range of competence.

I like that phrase. Yes. I'm paraphrasing. I don't know that he said that exactly. But like Josh Porter is on it. He's got his presentation. He's got it down. And then you have, you know, Michael's kind of somewhere in the middle.

Yeah. Because he does actually have a binder. He hands something out. Yeah. And then you have Craig who didn't prepare at all. Right. And Dan, we don't get to see. Oh, well, actually, he's sort of finishing his.

And he goes, and that's how we're doing it, or whatever. I think Mike was saying it was important that they wanted to show that although Michael Scott does this crazy video, that he also did come prepared. He's not like Craig. He's not completely incompetent. Yes. Well, let's not completely incompetent. Yes. Well, let's talk about that video.

When Michael starts his presentation, he presents Faces of Scranton, which is a video of the people at the Scranton branch set to With or Without You by U2. How could we afford that? We must have blown our whole budget on that song. With or without you? Yeah. By you too? Yeah. How could we afford that? We must have blown our whole budget on that song. And it's like not in slow motion, but it's not in regular motion. It's a little slowed down. It's a little slowed down, so everyone is like blinking real slow and waving to camera

real slow. Yeah, walking slowly, sitting slowly. We had a fan question from Rebecca Heaven. She said, did Steve actually film the footage from the business meeting presentation video? Did you get any intel when you were talking with Randall about how they made Faces of Scranton? Randall said that he filmed that specifically for this episode. Okay.

It wasn't pieced together from other footage. That was my question. That he actually filmed that. I noticed I'm wearing the wardrobe from Boys and Girls. Did you notice? I did not. Yeah, so I think we filmed it the week prior because I'm in my Boys and Girls wardrobe,

which we filmed the episode before this one. And you're not spray tanned. I'm not tan. In faces of scram. I'm not tan and I'm in my pinkranton. I'm not tan, and I'm in my pink sweater with my low ponytail. Oh, OK. Yeah.

So that, I think we filmed it right before. I'm happy to hear that, because my memory was that those shots were scripted in the script, that there was a description of Faces of Scranton. Particularly, I remember getting those shots of him like over my shoulder with the like the dialogue was scripted and then there were suggestions of what the shots should be. Definitely. The whole scene where I have the brownies and I'm looking kind of sour at him.

That was all like planned out. Phil Shea had the brownies, the whole thing. Yeah. So, so yeah, Randall shot that specifically for this and there were beats that he had to hit. Now, the great thing is you guys, if you love it, go to the DVD extras because there's extended footage. What you see is actually condensed. There's actually more footage of faces of Scranton. Maybe that's the version that Michael submits to the film festivals.

Well, but he tells, so he's like, but you know what, maybe it's not appropriate. Maybe not, maybe he will, maybe he won't. Maybe he won't. He's not sure. The video doesn't go over well, they're stunned. Oh my God, Melora's reaction as Jan is just amazing. Melora, you crushed it, I loved it.

So David just asked for his sales numbers. He's like, can I just get your sales numbers? And I was really worried for a second. I was like, oh no. But no, Michael has those too. He hands out some little binders. He was prepared. He had binders all ready to go. That's Michael in a nutshell. He's trying to be outside the box. He's trying to tug on your heartstrings and make this is his whole thing. He wants the work to be more than box, he's trying to tug on your heartstrings and make this is his whole thing. He wants the work to be more than just a binder of numbers. He wants it to be about people.

The thing is, they are his family. You know, things move at a slower pace. The song is with or without you. It has nothing to do in the workplace. It's is it's like a like a love song. Yeah. And and just when he was like our spend a day in Phyllis's pants. What does he say? Spend a day in Phyllis's pants is not what he says. Well he says like see what it's like to walk a day in Oscar's shoes or sit in Phyllis's pants. I don't know what he says about Phyllis's pants. It's right as she's sitting down in slow motion. I just love it. I hope this gave you a little taste of what life is like here at Dunder Mifflin Scranton. What it's like to walk a mile in Oscar's shoes or try on Phyllis's pants.

There it is. Or try on Phyllis's pants. Okay, okay. So he says, try on Phyllis's pants in slow-mo as she's sitting down. Yes. Faces of Scranton and then the very end, great Scott. Mike said was, Mike sure said that was an afterthought that he just sort of added that last minute and they made it, but it's so funny. It's so funny. So funny. All right. So now we're going to go back to the office again after that presentation and Oscar is going to get some flowers. Not flowers.

He got a plant. Well, yeah. Which I think is perfect. Perfect. And he reads the card. He says they're from his mom. And I loved his choice of putting the card in his pocket. Yeah.

He puts it in his pocket. Puts it in his pocket. Meredith has passed out. There's nothing for Pam. There's nothing for Angela. Yeah. And Meredith is getting annoyed. Meredith is going to sleep this one out. Here's a fan catch.

At 14 minutes, 45 seconds, Adam West, 84, says, there's a huge week calendar on the wall beside accounting that you can see from both accounting and from reception. It's always there. It's always there. It's a dry erase board calendar. Yes. He said it has always bothered him that they abbreviate Thursday as T-H-U-S, thus, instead of T-H-U-R. And he said quote, it breaks my mind.

Well, I need to go back and see that. 14 minutes, 45 seconds. I mean, I know, I do remember the handwriting was a bit sloppy. There is a chance that R looks like an S if it's in cursive. I'm gonna go and look at it. I'm gonna go check it.

So you're thinking it's T-H-U-R? You know what, I'll tell you what, it's not written in cursive. The days of the week are taped out. Oh. In block letters. T-H-U-S thus. That would make me crazy too.

Yeah, it's really bothering Adam. That's a crazy good catch. I'm gonna go check it out. And I think it's just always that way. I can't wait. I can't wait to go check it out. All right, so next, Jim's in the kitchen with Kelly. And he is giving her like, he is being a good friend, actually.

He's being gentle. And he's like, you know what? He's just not into you. It would be great if he was, but he's not. So you just have to suck it up. Both Jim and Pam are saying to others, they're giving advice to others in this episode. Pam gives advice to Dwight, and she says something

where it's just Pam projecting, where she says, you know, it's just, you want her to think that you thought of her. Yeah, it's not what you give her, it's that she knows you thought of her. Right, and that's desperately what Pam wants. She just wants to feel like Roy thinks of her, it's that she knows you thought of her. Right? And that's desperately what Pam wants. She just wants to feel like Roy thinks of her, ever. Ever thinks of her.

And then Jim is saying to Kelly, look, it'd be nice if he was into you, but he's not. You just got to let it go. And of course, Jim is talking about Pam. Yes. Yes. And Kelly doesn't hear any of it. Kelly does not get it. She's like, you know, he invites her to poker and she's like, can I invite Ryan?

And the face John does when she says that is like, come on. Come on. Really? All right. So again, back to New York, we go back and forth between New York and Scranton a lot in this episode. This is when we find out that Craigers did not prepare anything for the meeting,

because he thought it was more of a meet and greet. Well, he's also just a slacker. He's a slacker. For sure. And he ignores direct orders. I think his performance is so delicious. And he kind of gets in trouble. Jan says, this does not bode well for your branch. And then he throws her under the bus.

Yeah. He's like, what? I mean, I guess I'd get better treatment, you know, if we hooked up, like that's what he's inferring, right? Because she, you hooked up with Michael. He flat out says Michael made a stupid movie and didn't get in any trouble. Maybe I should have slept with you too. Oh yeah. Boom. Screech. This heads us into the Jan Michael scene. And Jan is just so defeated. She's like, Michael, it's like, I can't. My career's over.

Yeah, I can't believe it. Like, you don't understand. For the new CFO to find out that I would have slept with an employee, she's like, I can't believe you. Why? Why are you you? And Michael just says, he's gonna fix it. He's gonna talk to David Wallace.

And you just see Michael loves Jan so much. He feels so bad. Like I think he finally gets it. He's like, wow. He feels bad. He feels bad, but he still makes a really lame joke. He's like, and don't call me Shirley. He can't resist kind of just being an idiot.

He can't resist it. Yeah. He's trying to make her feel better and then has to like put a joke in and look to camera. Oh, Michael. So I'm gonna jump ahead to the scene where Michael does go into David Wallace's office. And then we'll go back to Dunder Mifflin

and talk about what's happening there. But Michael does go into David Wallace's office and he says, it's not true. I didn't sleep with Jan. I just made a joke. This is all my fault. Yeah, it's a joke. It's all my fault. It was a bad joke.

I'm so sorry. And Jan kind of perks up like, oh yes, it's a joke. It's totally a joke. It didn't happen. And David Wallace kind of accepts this. He's like, okay. Michael promises it will never happen again. And all is forgiven. Like, they don't get in trouble. It's okay. But I want you to know that I noticed something on David Wallace's desk in this scene. What? At 19 minutes, 24 seconds, David Wallace has a world's best boss mug. Oh my god. But it's black with white cursive writing.

Nice catch, lady! Yeah, yeah. If you freeze frame it. Oh, that's a really good catch. Yeah. Oh, that's a really good catch. Yeah. Oh, wow. And I have to imagine that that was a choice and that they, that's a very subtle Phil Shea thing. Yes.

Yeah. That's the kind of sense of humor that Phil Shea has, that he gave him a world's best boss mug on his desk. I love that. Isn't that great? All right. So back at the office, Angela finally gets her gift from Dwight. Yes, it is a key.

Angela, your performance in the scene is so good. Oh. Your real is that you get this key, and you're like, what is this? Just a key? I feel like I could hear your whole interior monologue. What is this? This is a key.

I don't even know what this. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Yeah. Like you're so delighted. It's so great.

I had a fan question. Jenny Zislin asks, was the key Dwight gave Angela for her to move in or just for her to have when she wants to stay there? What do you think? I think it's an all access pass. I don't think I move in. We're not ready for that.

Yeah. But it means I get to come and go now as I please. Yes. I had the same interpretation. Yes. That's what I think too. And she's thrilled by it. And in the bloopers, one of my favorite bloopers from this episode, they're on YouTube, there

was the thought at first that Dwight would give her this gift with a card. Okay. Okay. So Dwight was going to write a card and he wanted Jim's help in writing a card for a girl. He doesn't say who it's for. And so he starts, Jim doesn't want to help him really. He gives him a hard time and Dwight's like annoyed.

So Dwight is sitting here trying to write this card and Jim is hearing all of it and they're in the bloopers and it is hilarious. But if you want to see John Krasinski break really hard, watch the bloopers on YouTube when Dwight writes, you are evil like a hobbit. This is the Valentine's card you might give Angela This is the Valentine's card you might give Angela and John loses it. So that's a fun blooper moment. Well next up, Roy comes in and Pam is done. She's very annoyed. And Roy is like, what's wrong? Are you upset?

And she's like, yeah, I mean, I know I said don't spend a lot, but I thought I'd get something. But not only that, the person that fills in the blanks when Roy consistently fails is Jim. Yeah. And he didn't fill in the blanks. So she's filling it more than ever. It's magnified. She didn't get a cute little card from Jim this year. He gave her nothing this year. But Roy tells her, it's not over yet, baby. Yeah. Let's get you home and you're going to have the best sex of your life. Your reaction to that was so perfect. Oh my gosh. We had a fan question from Jonia Woods. What is the worst Valentine's gift you've ever received? What is the worst Valentine's gift you've ever received? Have you ever gotten anything worse than what Pam gets from Roy?

The best sex of her life. Oh my gosh. I mean, I was dating a guy one time and he got me salsa. Really? Was it special? Was it from somewhere that you enjoyed salsa together? No. This wasn't a bad gift. Okay. It was just odd. It was just odd. It was homemade salsa.

Did he make it? No. A coworker made it. I think the coworker gave it to him. And then he was like, oh, I got you salsa maybe. Do you like salsa? I like it salsa maybe. Do you like salsa? I like it, OK? I mean, it's like kind of getting like a condiment. Like here's some mayonnaise. Happy Valentine's, my friend makes their own mayonnaise.

Listen, I tried it. It was good salsa. But it was kind of like, OK, well, I think I see the writing on the wall here. How much longer did you guys date? Not much longer. Really? Yeah, not much, just a few more months later.

Shocker. But you know, I am not, like I don't need a big gift. It's kind of like that thing, if you thought of me, great. Yeah. But it was just really random. And I really, really think his coworker made everyone salsa for Valentine's and he basically gave me.

He regifted. He regifted salsa. What about you? I can't think of a worst gift. I can't think of a best gift either. I think most of my Valentine's days have come and gone without much fanfare. I mean. I love flowers. I do. Flowers are nice. I'm sort of old fashioned that way. I love flowers. I do. Flowers are nice. Old fashioned that way. I love flowers. And you know what? My husband was like,

Ange, I am not a mind reader. I am not good at this. If you want something for Valentine's, you have to tell me because I am going to get it wrong. So I just said to him when we first got married, I was like, babe, just always get me flowers and I'll be happy. You can put to my wife from, to wife, one year it was to semicolon wife from semicolon husband, but it was roses. I'm happy you got me flowers. I just like to get a nice card with a little note on it. I think that's why, you know, I married a writer, write me something good and a card, and I'm happy. And that's what he does. To wife, to wife, from husband. I guess very different. That's why you need the flowers. I want the flowers guys. All right. So now, you know,

Pam just so desperately wants Jim to acknowledge her in any way today. And he doesn't know he just walks past kind of taps her desk says happy Valentine's Day and your little bye is the saddest thing at the end. So sad. Like bye. I'm gonna go home, get the best sex of my life. I can't wait. Happy Valentine's Day to me. Per Roy. Yeah, what is, what level of investment is that from Roy? I don't even want to think about it. And then Phyllis and the enormous bear. You know the writers just wanted to see her carry that bear. Oh my gosh. We got a lot of questions about where did that bear come from?

And I'm sorry, I couldn't get you an answer, but where did that bear come from? I don't know. That's insane. That's a Phil Shea classic. Now in the deleted scenes, there's one that is hilarious. Uh-huh. Michael actually gives all the ladies a Valentine.

Yes. So in Pam's talking head at the beginning, she talks about how people at the office hand things out, and there's actually a bunch of deleted scenes of people handing things out, including Michael, who hands out a bunch of plastic roses. Plastic roses that have thorns, and then his card says, me so thorny. Yeah. Oh. That's what we all want. And then one other deleted scene before we wrap up this episode, you guys, is that when Michael

is walking on the streets of New York, he walks past Devin. Oh, yes. And Devin recognizes him and is ticked off and kind of chases after him. Yes, because Devon was now in real life, living in New York and doing theater. So they called him up when they were gonna be in New York to have this additional cameo. And unfortunately, it did not make the cut.

It's a very funny deleted scene though. So you guys have to go check it out. And Michael has a talking head about it that's also deleted. Well, the very end of this episode, Jan catches Michael as he's getting in the elevator at corporate. And she just says, Thank you, Michael. Thank you so much. And he's like, Yeah, okay. And once again, he's oddly impressed her. Yes. And he's very calm and he's clearly like, I get it. It's over. It's over and I'm never ever gonna go there again.

And then she kisses him. Jan! Jan. Jan! You are torturing this man. What are you doing? Jan, you're self-destructive. Oh my gosh. And you even see her look around.

She looks over her shoulder to see if they're alone. And then she kisses him, but she forgot to look over the other shoulder. But Michael knew immediately. He looked right at camera and was like, uh, uh. And then she looks at camera and she's like, oh, forget about it. Forget about it. Oh boy. And then that is how the episode ends.

That is how the episode ends. It's such a good one. And I have kind of a fun journal entry that I wrote. During this week, I wrote, John and I have a new goofy walk we do when we pretend to be kid sister and big brother. Well, you have to explain kid sister, big brother, because we've never even talked about that. Guys.

So John and I, you guys, we would have some downtime between scenes and we would just kind of hang out and sometimes he'd get a little punchy as the day would go. And John's, when I stand next to John, he's so much taller than me. We both sort of remembered this childhood doll that you could buy that was called kid sister that stands about three feet tall and you could hold her hand and kind of make her walk.

And John and I made up this whole thing where he would hold my hand and I'd pretend to be the kid sister doll. And he'd go, kid sister, and I'd go big brother. Yes. And we made up this whole goofy walk and everything. So this is, this is what was happening behind the scenes. Yes.

While we were all, we loved when you guys did kid sister, big brother. That was very entertaining for our downtime. You guys were a good team. So you came up with a new walk. I guess a new goofy walk. We had a new bit to do. All right, you guys, that was the Valentine's episode.

Yes, and next up is Dwight's speech. Another really good one. Really good, and we'd like to thank Andy Buckley so much for stopping by. Yes, and thank you Randall Einhorn for all of your insider tidbits. Yes, and for more stuff, guys, don't forget to check out the DVD commentary

and the bloopers. There's good stuff there. And thank you so much for sending in your questions. Yeah, happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Happy Valentine's Day. Enjoy your salsa. Angela, wait, can you please, I have a new merchandise idea for Office Ladies.

It's Valentine's Day salsa. Oh no, that guy's gonna crawl all the woodworks and be like, I think I'm gonna cut that salsa. 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 Fisher 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 Weis-Berman and Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.