Office Ladies - The Paper Ep 2: The Five W’s
Episode Date: January 7, 2026This week on Office Ladies 6.0 Jenna and Angela break down the second episode of “The Paper”, “The Five Ws”! Ned works with a group of volunteers to write the paper version of the Toledo Truth...teller and they all scramble for stories while Esmeralda finds ways to intervene. The ladies find more “The Office” easter eggs, point out some “Paper” set food that unlocked “Office” set food memories for them, and Jenna and Angela answer a fan chit chat question on what’s the worst place they’ve ever been stuck in. So no need to decipher any coded letters, instead play some Sudoku and enjoy! Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question for Around the Town, Chit Chat and The Paper: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow Us on YouTube Follow Us on TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey.
We were on The Office together and we're best friends.
And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you.
Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews
behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories.
We're the Office Lady 6.0.
Hello!
Hey, happy New Year.
Happy 2020.
2026, lady.
We have a New Year's resolution.
We do.
Should we share it?
Yes, this is a shared BFF, not only just in our work life, but in our home life, shared New Year's resolution.
I've never had a shared New Year's resolution before.
Me either.
I highly recommend it because I feel like we're going to hold each other accountable.
I do too.
Okay, say what it is.
It's called get off the hamster wheel.
That's right.
Because we work from home, and I've talked to a lot of people who manage businesses from home,
you can very easily always be working or always be doing a chore.
It's like, oh, I'm just going to throw this laundry in before I get on this Zoom.
Yeah.
Or it's Saturday.
So I'm just going to bang out a couple hours of work here in the morning.
Yeah.
But what happens is you were saying, Ang, it's like all of a sudden you wake up and you're like,
I have worked 20 days in a row without a full day off.
Yeah, because you just like, you know, you just scoge little things in every day.
but what you are saying, and I so agree, is that let's say you're like, oh, you know, it's
Saturday morning. I'm going to do a few hours of work, but then it stays with you.
All day. All day. So then you're like, hmm, I wonder if Jenna saw that email. And I'm like,
no, no, no, turn that part of my brain off. Yeah. So I am committed to you, Jenna, that we are going
to take two days off every week. Yes, weekends off. Yes. We're getting off the hamster wheel for a
full decompress. And this was inspired by our break, where we took a full week off for our break.
Yeah. And we were like, oh, wow. That felt good. Feels good. Yeah. So we're getting off the wheel.
And then I want to get us a gift that I was telling Jenna. I'm sure you're going to be like,
I don't want it. I want to get on a pillow or like some kind of embroidery, a little hamster on a
wheel with a big X across it. Why would I not want that? I want that. I want it to be like a visual reminder
because it's easy to climb on that wheel.
It is, right?
Yes.
All right.
Shared New Year's resolution.
Well, listen, we are excited to be back.
We're excited to be breaking down all of the episodes of the paper in the new year.
But we have a new, what would you call it?
More new things.
We have a new format.
Oh, yes.
For the new year.
We are going to kick off each episode with a chit-chat suggestion from one of you.
Yeah, we're having so much fun.
you guys have sent us really great topics.
So let's kick off this episode with a suggestion from Stephanie A in San Diego, California.
Hi, office ladies.
This is Stephanie in San Diego, California, originally from Ohio.
Go, Buckeyes.
My question for you is, where is the worst place you have been stuck for a long time?
Looking forward to hearing the answers.
I knew mine right away.
Same.
Go.
You go.
go? Yeah, you go. Mine's kind of long. Mine's also long. Oh, no. These were clearly core memories for us.
Stephanie, great question. Many, many, many years ago, when I was still married to James, we received a Christmas gift.
Okay. And it was to go on an outing on a shark boat. Oh my gosh. What's a shark boat? You get on a boat.
somewhere in like the Long Beach Harbor.
Okay.
And you go out to sea and then you see sharks, I guess.
Like they swim up by the boat?
I think you go down in a cage.
No.
And then you can see sharks.
Jenna.
Let me tell you what happened, though.
We loaded onto the boat with enthusiasm.
And we got out, oh, we were 10.
minutes on this boat, I got so, so seasick, like so seasick that I spent the whole trip inside
the little galley of the boat. Oh, no. Curled up under the dining table. There was no
dramamine. There were no options. It was just me and my personal grit. And just muscling through it.
That is a miserable feeling, that kind of nausea, that rocking back and forth. Yes. Because when you,
get out there, they stop the boat.
And so you're just rocking for hours, hours.
And my kids know about the shark boat experience because I have said, like, as an anecdote,
if I can survive the shark boat, I can survive anything.
And when I was getting chemo and I said that I didn't feel good, my kids said,
is it worse than the shark boat?
Oh.
Like, that's how, like, how often.
the shark boat was. And I texted James about it. I said, do you mind if I tell the shark boat? And also,
I can't remember. Did you enjoy the shark boat? Yeah, did he go in the cage? He, no, he didn't.
He wrote me and he said, and he said, I could quote him. He said, quote, it was one of the worst days
of my life. Oh, no. He said, I was miserable. I didn't throw up like nearly everyone else around me.
And then I asked him about the cage.
I said, did you see any sharks?
I wouldn't know.
I spent the whole trip under the table.
He said, they brought out a shark that was about nine inches long, and I pet it, and I felt terrible for it.
That's the only fucking shark we saw.
Worst day of my life.
Oh, that's Josh's worst nightmare.
He gets so motion sick.
He can't go on a boat.
I have swim with sharks.
You know that, though.
Yes.
Yeah.
but they weren't like big scary sharks and they were well fed. And Rashida and I swam with them.
I mean, it sounds like the only shark that James saw was about the size of a large fish.
Oh, no. Nine inches. I mean.
That's, and you guys, it was all day on that boat. That's horrible.
Yeah. Oh. Yeah. I got through it by telling myself that time passes.
Yeah. Time can't stop. This day will end. The sun will move through the sky. Night will come.
the boat will dock and I will get off. That was the mantra I played in my head. It was my own
personal, the edge. I was just going to say, you're like singing Annie. This sun will come out
tomorrow. Basically. Oh my gosh. All right. That's the worst place I've ever been stuck.
What about you? Well, Jenna, I actually was texting you from the worst place I've ever been stuck.
So I'm going to jog your memory now. Was it? Well, it was the,
biggest snowstorm in North Texas in 21 years. It was December 24th, Christmas Eve, 2009.
It's actually called the Christmas Eve blizzard. And I was flying back to see my family for the
holidays with Isabel the morning of Christmas Eve. I think, Jenna, that year we worked right up into the
holidays. So that was the day I could get out of town. And my dad said, well, there's a big storm coming
in. So get the early flight. Get the earliest flight. Because once you land in Dallas, our family farm,
is a good two and a half hour drive from Dallas.
So we're talking rural farm-to-market roads.
And, you know, they don't go out and treat those roads.
They don't put salt on them.
They ice over.
So my dad was like, we are going to need to get on the road.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
So we land.
Temperatures drop to, like, their 20s.
Winds kick up to like 60 miles an hour.
It's snowing like crazy when we land.
They close DFW Airport.
Oh, I remember all this now.
Yeah.
No more flights going out.
So we get in the car, and as we start to drive, it is just coming down and coming down.
Isabel was only 19 months old.
It was me, my mom, my dad, Isabel, and Warren.
And it was like a whiteout.
My dad could barely see.
We were watching cars slide off the road into snow drifts.
I remember this.
Hundreds of people were stranded in this storm.
And, you know, these little towns did not have the resources to get this many people stranded out of the snow.
So they called out.
like local farmers. They were getting their tractors, their plows, trying to get people out. I ran out of
everything in our diaper bag. We ran out of food. We were stuck. And we made it as far as outside of this town
called Decatur. And we were at the bottom of this hill. And when you got to the other side, the farmers had
been kind of successful clearing the road a little bit on the other side, but no one could get over the
hill. And it was just like all of these cars slid off in the snow. And then you'd watch another one
try. And my dad sat there. We were running out of gas. And he would turn the car off to save the
gas. And we'd get really cold. We would be able to see our breath. And then he'd turn the car
on for a little bit. We'd warm up. And we were doing this like intermittently and just sitting there
watching car after car try this hill and go into the snowbank. Now it's nightfall.
our windshield has frozen over and I'm getting really worried because I have a 19 month old
and I'm just like, it's cold. We're running out of gas. And my dad was like, we got to go for it.
We got to go for the hill. We just have to. And we had no, my dad, oh my gosh, my dad felt so bad
because we never get this kind of weather there. He didn't have an ice scraper for the windshield.
So he got out his country music CDs and busted him apart.
so they'd get sharp and jagged, and they got out there, him and Warren, like, scraping off the
ice on the windshield. My dad slipped and fell. I was like, oh, my gosh, Dad, are you okay? And I'll never
forget. My dad goes, I'm all right, but my dignity took a hit because he wiped out. Okay, I have to
tell you, that's when I start texting you. I was like, Jenna, I'm worried. I'm worried. It is dark.
People are stranded in their cars, and you said, Ange, I'm scared. I mean, as you're
retelling this story. I am having all those feelings come back. And also, this is like,
this is not a funny story. This is like a traumatic story. No, it's not. I'm sorry. But it's the
It's the worst place I've ever been stuck. And so then while we're scraping the ice off the
windshield, there's a young woman holding this little dog and she's out in the snow. Her cars run out of
gas. And she's going from car to car that stranded knocking on the windows to see if someone will take
her in. And she's, I don't know, she's probably in her 20s, you know. My dad waves at her. He's like,
we'll make room because we had a big SUV. So now this young gal gets in the car with us with her
Chihuahua. And I remember the Chihuahua's name was Jaze. So now we're all in it. And there's a
18-wheeler that's in front of us that's going to try the hill. He starts to go up. He slides sideways.
off. And now it's our turn. You have to remind me, why have you not stopped for shelter? It's because
there's just a vast nothingness between where you left and where you're going. Once you pass to Cater,
for those of you guys that drive north in Texas, there's nothing for a while, you know? And my...
No, that's what it's like when you drive to Kirksville, Missouri, which is where I went to school. There's just
like long stretches of there's no gas station. There's nothing. There's nothing. Just pasture. Just
acres of just land with nothing on it, but some cows. So the 18-wheeler slides off, and I'm like,
oh, my God, and now it's our turn. And I'm like, if we slide off, we're in a snowbank. Right now,
we're on a road. So my mom just starts praying. Even if we get to the other side of the hill,
we didn't have a plan, except in the neighboring little town, my parents knew a pastor that lived there.
And he said, if we could make it to the town, we could stay at their house for the night.
him and his wife and their two kids. So we start, my dad, I mean, my dad was such a hero in this moment.
He starts the SUV with everything he has. He's just like going to gun it. He guns it and we're going
up and we are sliding left and right and sliding. And he's not turning into the slide. He's letting
the car like just go with the slide. And there were a few times I was like, we're going to go off,
we're going to go off. And we didn't. We didn't. And we made it to the top. I mean, you could have
heard like it's like it was like the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl in that car we were like
and isabel poor isabel i just don't even know what she remembers about this um i asked her if
she remembered and she said she remembered snow and we get to the top of the hill and then we just
slide we just coast down little by little we make it to this town we can't even get down the
road that the pastor and his family live on but we get out and we weighed through the snow and
And Giselle?
And Giselle.
Did she stay at the pastor's house, too?
Yes.
And I want to give a shout out to this pastor and his family.
His name is Mike Sanders, and he and his wife, Andrea, were so lovely to me and my family,
and I'm forever grateful.
And on Christmas Eve night, at 11 p.m.
Okay, we started our drive at 3 p.m.
At 11 p.m., we arrive at this pastor's house.
We're waiting through the snow.
I remember holding Isabel high up so she wouldn't get just damp from all the snow.
because it was waist-high, and they took us in, we were starving.
They fed five adults, a chihuahua, and a 19-month-old,
and we woke up Christmas morning with this family.
And finally, that young woman who got in the car with us was able to reach her dad,
because, you know, she'd run out of cell service and everything.
Her family, she was driving home for the holidays.
They didn't know where she was.
They knew she was stuck in this storm.
Her dad and her brothers, because the roads still weren't.
cleared, slowly made it to the pastor's house on Christmas Day. And when he arrived and he saw
his daughter, he hugged her and began to cry. And then he turned to my dad, choked up and shook
my dad's hand and said, thank you, thank you. Not a dry eye. We all were sobbing. And then she
was able to leave and go to her family's home. We didn't make it to our farm until Christmas
day, late in the day, because we had to go so slow. But the roads were better. It was melancholy.
melting. That's the longest I've ever been stuck anywhere. I mean, this also sounds like an answer
to the question, what's your most memorable Christmas? I mean, that's right up there. Wow. Wow.
Well, I think that if I had to choose, I would get back on the shark boat rather than do your
adventure. Oh, gosh. Because, and I've never chosen the shark boat. Over something else.
or something else.
I've never, the shark boat has never won anything.
Well, I mean, yeah.
Because, you know why?
Because you weren't just stuck, you were terrified.
We were, I wasn't scared on the shark boat.
I was just miserable.
Yeah.
Wow.
Well, Stephanie, thank you for your question.
I mean, that was a real, like, zingdinger.
I don't know the expression.
But that was my honest answer.
I was like, I mean, that's it.
That's the worst place I've ever been.
been stuck. Well, listen, why don't we take a break? And when we come back, we're going to break down
the paper, season one, episode two. Where no one is stuck anywhere. True.
This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know, just because it's a new year, that does not
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totally knew you, but maybe like you just want to hone in. You want to refine. Yeah. I like that.
Refine. Well, therapy can help more easily identify what is weighing you down. What might be holding
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All right.
We are back, and we will be talking about the paper, season one, episode two, titled The Five Ws.
This episode was written by Greg Daniels and Michael Komen and directed by Ken Kwapis.
Aw, our favorite.
Let me give you a summary.
It's been a long time.
Were you excited to give a summary?
I was excited to give a summary, but I'm only doing one fast fact.
And that's okay. Moving forward, these breakdowns will contain a single fast fact, not three.
Here's a thing. We are not on the paper, but we know so many people who are working on the paper,
so they're giving us little behind the scenes details, and I think it's okay that you're only doing one fast fact.
Thank you, lady. Thank you. Well, here is your summary. Ned is struggling to stitch together
his first issue of the floundering Toledo Truth Teller newspaper. As Moralda sabotages Ned's efforts
by killing their wire service and doctoring his first letter to the readers. She still has it out
for him. Well, yeah, she's bitter. Yeah. He's kind of replaced her. Yes, for sure. Yeah. He also
stole her office. That wasn't necessary anything. I agree. Yeah. The staff of the paper become
reporters, but no one really writes anything. And he has to turn this flop into a feature by writing
a blunt and very earnest letter, owning that it was a quiet newsday, and rebooting the paper's
promise to tell the truth. There you go. All right, fast fact number one, we are watching the
broadcast version of these episodes of the paper. You know they live on Peacock, but now they're
also living on NBC Monday nights at 8.30. And I thought to myself, wait a second. They were really
long on Peacock. But to be on broadcast, they can only be 22 minutes. Yeah. I asked Dave Rogers about
it. He said, yeah, we had to cut them down. He said most of the episodes were like in the 28 to 29
minute range, and he had to spend his entire summer cutting them all down to 21 minutes and 30
seconds. It was like reverse supersizing that he's doing, he's, you know, for the office,
he's doing the supersized episodes for Peacock. He had to do like reverse supersize.
My gosh. What would you call that? Reverse supersized. I guess so. Yes. He said that because
so much time had to come out of each episode, both Greg and Michael really wanted to be involved in the
process and they each had their own way of trimming the episode. He said Greg would take the
broadcast scripts. So like after a show is broadcast, they turn it into a script because then
it will incorporate all of the improvs and the way it was edited. That's right. It's like the
transcripts you find online. Exactly. They form those after the episode airs. So Greg would take
the broadcast scripts, and he would do what they call box cuts. That's where he would just put a
giant box around certain scenes. And then if there were other little bits that related to that
scene, they would cut those out too. But I guess Michael Komen would take the peacock cuts and actually
use editing software, where he pulled out little pieces of scenes and little pieces of dialogue
to try to get down to the 21 minutes, 30 seconds. This is very interesting. This is very interesting.
because it also is a little bit of a generational choice.
Greg is clearly paper and pen, and Michael is computer.
Dave said he would kind of use both of those as quote-unquote notes to determine how he would cut the episode down.
But he said there were a couple times early on that Michael would suggest doing a different take of a scene because it was shorter or faster.
And he and Greg had to explain that since this is a documentary, there aren't multiple takes.
Right.
So if a take or an angle lives in the original episode, it can't be changed.
It can be removed, but it can't be a new version of that same scene.
Exactly.
So there you have it.
That's your single fast fact.
I like it.
Well, let's get into the episode.
this episode opens with Ned welcoming everyone into the conference room.
Mm-hmm.
Ned, you remember, is the brand-new editor-in-chief of the Truth Teller Paper,
a newspaper that up until now has written no original stories.
Yeah, they would just pull clips off of other news sites.
But now they have to do it all on their own.
Did you notice what the sign said on the door?
I did.
There's a handmade sign on the door.
As you walk into the conference room, it says Truth-Teller staff meeting 9 a.m.
9 a.m. I was like, that's kind of early. I mean, he has to get going. He does.
Everyone is in the conference room except for two people. Oscar is not there. Yep. And Esmeralda is not
there. And Ned starts by asking, how many people have written for a newspaper before? Only mayor.
Only mayor. And everyone else's experience is pretty thin. Someone's like, oh, I have a text thread, really?
That's their writing experience. I've tweeted.
It's like the experience is real slim.
Ned is now going to share his favorite issues of the Toledo Truth Teller.
He's taken like these newspapers, these front pages, they've been framed.
They're like antiques that hang in the hallway of the building.
And he brings his favorites into the room.
These are the headlines on his favorite issues.
Shepard orbits the Earth, Dr. Salk Cures Polio, and Victory in Europe.
I looked up the headlines.
I figured you would.
So Alan Shepard did do a sub-orbit of the Earth in 1961.
Dr. Salk created the polio vaccine in 1955, and victory in Europe was declared in 1945.
I was like, how old is this paper?
These headlines go back to 1945.
I mean, you remember what the printing press looked like.
It was in black and white.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Well, then I looked up my hometown paper of the St. Louis Post to Span.
Yeah.
The first issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch was December 12th, 1878.
You go, St. Louis.
1878.
I saw a picture of the front page.
It was almost all ads.
Hmm.
Were early newspapers just, it looked kind of like just an ad section and the, oh, the ads lady,
you would have loved it.
Oh, I bet.
It was like needlepoint napkins now on sale.
Mm-hmm.
Lace gloves, half off.
Lace gloves!
Yes!
Well, Ken, he's kind of like one of the boss guys over everything.
He's this British guy.
He's going to come in and stir up some shit.
And I just want you guys to know, I have a few people in this episode that I'm calling shi-stirers.
Oh, is he one of them?
He's one of them.
And I had to call a bullshit card on him right out of the gate.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
What is it?
Well, Ken comes in the room and he's like, I'm sorry, you can't use these.
framed newspapers in your conference room meeting. I'm going to take them all back. Why? Why? Why can't he
show these framed, like newspapers to his staff? Oh, I'm sorry, he's got to go hang him back on the hallway.
Okay, great. Then everyone can just walk to the hallway. Right? Really? I guess he was worried about
them getting damaged, but did you see the person who drops them on the floor? It's Ken. I know.
at two minutes. As he's leaving the conference room, he drops him on the floor. Yeah. And guess what? I have a tidbit about that. Okay. So when we shared that we were going to be breaking down these episodes, the amazing Chelsea Frye, who plays mayor, she reached out to us, and she said she was so excited. And she said, ask me any questions. So I asked her if she had any memories from this episode, and she said this conference room meeting. She said it was essentially the first conference room meeting.
where everybody was all together, and they were so nervous.
They felt like there was a lot to live up to.
So she said that when Tim Key, who placed Ken, left with all the framed articles,
he dropped them, and it was an accident.
No, it's so perfect.
It's so perfect.
And she said it broke the tension.
Everybody couldn't stop laughing.
And then they left it in.
I think that's great.
Oh, Chelsea, great tidbit.
I do have a favorite moment in this conference room scene.
And it's when Barry lights a cigarette and he smokes a cigarette.
I know.
That's longer in the peacock version.
Yeah.
He's like smoking a cigarette through the whole meeting.
No one says anything.
No one's like, do you mind like the smoke?
Nothing.
Yes.
And by the way, after Ken leaves, this conference room meeting just sort of ends.
Yeah, it just sort of ends and everyone kind of goes back to their desk, I guess.
Yes.
Ned is going to go up to Mayor at her desk, and they're excited. They're going to start this first issue.
They're going to go to the AP wire and start pulling articles. Yes. And then Ned spies a tin of popcorn under Mayor's desk and is like, hey, can I have some of that? And she's like, yeah, sure. And here's the thing. There would have been a Mayor talking head right after this. Like as soon as Ned starts diving in that popcorn tin, Mayor would have said something I thought was hilarious. It's still in the peacock.
version. It's not in the NBC broadcast, but I want you to hear about this popcorn. It brought back
some memories for me. Hey, can I have some of this? Uh, yeah, sure. Yeah, dive in. Looks good.
That popcorn was a gift to Maria, who had my desk before me from Enrique, who used to work in
sales. They have two kids now. Yes. This popcorn, it's one of those giant tins that's, like,
divided in three. Yeah. And Ned's going to eat it.
through this entire episode. You see him carry this tin around. He's like basically like...
Stress eating. Yes. Yes. He's stressed eating maybe four-year-old popcorn. I mean, they have two kids?
Two kids. Six-year-old popcorn? I mean, they had to fall in love, get married, and have two children, and not work there anymore.
It reminded me when Ed ate those Twizzlers that had been on the set for like four years. What is that story?
Don't you remember we had all those
Were they Twizzlers or Red Vines?
I can't remember in the kitchen
And they'd been there for years
Oh, the big tub of Red Vines
Yes
On the set of the office in the kitchen
And they were there for years
And then when Ed was new to the show
One day I saw him open it up
And take one out
I'm like, bah
But they've been here a while
He'd already eaten like half of it
I think that they last forever
I think they might
I do have a question for you
What is it?
Are you red vines
Twizzlers. Oh, this is tough. Yeah. I am red vines at the movies. Okay. But I am Twizzlers at Lake of the Ozarks.
What? My whole childhood, my mom would buy a pack of Twizzlers, which she calls liqueish.
Liquish. Yeah. Do you want some liqueish? This is adorable. She doesn't call it licorice.
But she would buy... Also, it's not liqueish or licorish. Isn't it liquorish? It's red licorish.
Is it? I think so.
Oh.
But she would buy a big pack when we would go down to the lake for a week and you could just go in the cabinet whenever you wanted and you could take one.
Because there's no like the cool thing about Lake of the Ozarks and my childhood was that you could just eat chips.
Different rules.
Yes.
Oreos and red licorice.
This is like what I call.
Willy-nilly.
Plain travel.
Like we get to the airport, the kids can get whatever snack they want for the plane.
Right.
You know?
Yes.
And can get skittles, whatever.
It's the plane.
What are you?
I'm Red Vines.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Well, Ned is old popcorn tin.
Super old popcorn tin.
I asked Chelsea about the popcorn because as I was watching him eat this popcorn throughout the whole episode, I was like, did anybody besides Donal eat the popcorn?
Because I just had a hunch.
Yeah.
Just like what you're talking about, Ed, eating food, and I know B.J. and I would eat prop food that wasn't ours.
Yeah.
She said, oh, my God, yes.
she ate so much of it that she was sick by the end of the week.
She said Taylor from props had to refill it constantly.
Okay, well, I was very curious about this popcorn tin as well,
and I reached out to the prop master for the paper, Scott McGinnis.
We met him, remember, when we're on set.
And I asked him these questions, Scott,
did the actors all really eat the popcorn?
It looked like a lot of popcorn.
Where did you get it from?
What were the flavors?
And was there a spit bucket?
What are the answers?
Here's what Scott said.
The popcorn and tin were from Shirley's, a popular Ohio brand.
Oh, I love this.
Yeah, and he sent me the link so I can share it.
He said, the actors ate quite a bit, but mostly donal, who goes full into everything.
Sounds like rain, doesn't it?
Scott also said, the most popular flavor was, any guesses?
Cheese?
White cheddar.
Oh!
He said, it's good popcorn, and I don't remember needing a spit bucket.
I like this inside info.
Here's what's going to happen next in the episode.
Mare and Ned discover that the wire service has been canceled.
They can't get any stories.
Yeah.
As Marelda comes by, and in her very passive-aggressive way, she's like, oh, yes, I canceled
the wire service because you so brilliantly declared that we would be writing original news
stories.
Yeah.
This was your idea.
Yeah, I did this for you.
Mm-hmm.
And he's like, what the fuck?
And she's very sabotagey. And then she mentions this lunch that they have. Yes. She's like,
I'll see you at lunch. And then Ned panics, and he calls everybody back into the conference room.
Because now they have to go get news stories today, right now. The deadline for printing is 6 p.m.
Yes. Here are the news stories that they're going to chase down. This is all they could come up with.
Adelola couldn't find a parking space at the dog park.
They're on it.
They're going to get to the bottom of that.
Who's taking up all these extra parking spaces?
Yes.
There's a water main break in town.
So Mayor and Barry are going to go find out what's going on with that.
Did you catch as Barry gets up to leave?
He throws his cigarette over his shoulder?
No.
I did not.
I was like, did he just throw a lit cigarette over his shoulder?
My gosh.
Travis says that there are some fishing limits that have changed at the wildlife preserve.
Mm-hmm.
So he and Detrick are going to go find out.
And finally, Ned says, Nicole, will you please look at the crime beat?
Like, look at all the, like, apps and call all the places and find out, you know, any crimes.
Yes.
And then Ned says, I'm going to write a letter from the editor.
And this is going to be our paper.
It's going to be great.
everyone go get to it.
Mm-hmm.
Lady, did you know that I was a journalism minor in college?
Yes, I feel like in the back folder of my brain of our friendship, I remember this.
Yes, I was a pre-law history major and a journalism minor.
I changed my major to theater, but I did graduate with a minor in journalism, and I found
three of the stories that I wrote for the index, which was my college paper during my, like,
you know, time in the journalism department.
Please tell me you're going to share one.
I'm just going to share the subject of each of them because I thought they were pretty cool.
Okay.
Can I just say Jenna's holding up papers that have like kind of started to turn yellow?
They're so old.
They were typed on a typewriter.
Oh, my goodness.
And then I would turn these in.
So, Jenna Fisher for the index is what it says.
They might be giants and Matthew Sweet teamed up last Friday night in Pershing Arena for a very successful
St. Patrick's Day concert.
As of last Thursday,
SAB had sold a little over
1,000 tickets.
Mm-hmm, and then I have quotes
because you had to get quotes.
Lady, you basically had fast facts.
Oh my gosh, is this where it started?
I think so.
Okay, here's my next one.
Jenna Fisher for the index.
Springtime is bringing more than flowers
to Kirksville this year.
The Kirksville Planning and Zoning Commission
met last Wednesday to discuss the possibility
of adding a Walgreens drugstore on the corner of Illinois and Baltimore streets across from
Hy-Vee. But before the store can be built, the property must be rezoned from residential to
commercial causing controversy among some homeowners in the area. Ooh, scuttlebutt.
Mm-hmm. This was my two-part series. This is going to get serious. Jenna Fisher for the
index. This story is part one of a two-part series on how recent sexual attacks have shaken the
normally quiet Midwestern college town of Crook'sville, Missouri. Part one deals with the ongoing
efforts of law enforcement officials to regain control of their town. Part two will deal with the
ways citizens have decided to fight back against the recent attacks by taking matters into their
own hands. So this was kind of my crime beat. They assign you different sections of the paper.
Sure. So this was when I was on crime beat. I had to interview people, but apparently I didn't do a very
good job in part one because my teacher wrote, anything from the police department? This is
supposed to be the law enforcement side. You have very little from them. I guess I didn't do a very
good job on that story. I don't even know if it ran. It may not have run. Lady, I see so much
of you, like early you in all three of those. Jenna Fisher from the index. Jenna Fisher from the index?
Oh, my gosh. Oh, lady, I used to walk around with a little spiral pad. And I would say, hi, Jenna Fisher from
the index. I'm here to do a story on whatever. Just like Adelola in the parking lot. She had her little
notepad. She was very serious with it. Exactly. Well, you know, I mean, we had talked about this
earlier when we were rewatching this episode. And I shared with Jenna, you guys, and I have to tell you
all. And I've mentioned this on the podcast before that my grandmother, Lena McKinsey,
had a column in the Archer City paper. Yes. I can't even believe this, you guys. I found one of her
columns. Get this. There is a website called Portal to Texas History. They are archiving rare historical
and primary source materials all about Texas. It's been created and maintained by the University
of North Texas libraries. Thank you so much to those folks because I found my grandmother's column.
It was like I got to spend a little moment in time with her. It was so wonderful. Are you going to
read it? Yes, I am. First of all, I stand corrected. I always say,
thought her column was called Around the Town. I think that was an early name of it. Okay.
But it was actually called Around Archer. And here it is, Around Archer by Mrs. Finus Kinsey.
It is basically just, I think people let her know what they were doing, and then she would write up
and say what they were doing. So here's an example. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Wolf of Azel visited
their son and his wife, Coach Terry Wolfe, and Deidre last Friday.
That's it.
That's it.
Next one.
Rattlesnakes are moving in.
Ron Mullins killed one in town, 47 inches long.
I would read this column every week.
Yeah.
I love this.
Here's one more.
The Youth Fellowship Group of the First United Methodist Church traveled to Dallas, Texas Saturday
for the Tulane v. Southern Methodist University football game at Irving Stadium.
The group of 20 camped out at the youth hall of a Dallas Methodist Church where they attended services the following morning.
Can I get on my soapbox for a second?
Can I just say that this is what is missing from today?
This, this tidbits of community.
How amazing is this, how it stitches you together, just knowing little bitty things that they went to visit their son.
I love that.
I love that that guy killed the rattlesnake.
That was my brother-in-law.
This is, we need more of this in our lives today.
these, when I click on quote-unquote, like news sites, it's not news. There's no news. It's just
the same recycled bullshit over and over again. It's just the same like political divide.
It doesn't build community. That builds community. That is beautiful. It's meaningful.
We need more of that. I know. I loved it. And there's little tidbit after little tidbit.
and I just want to share with you the editor's note at the end.
Please.
Editor's note, semicolon, remember to call Mrs. Kinsey, and then they gave her phone number,
to report Archer City activities.
We have had many, many requests from readers for more around Archer events.
This is the first time in four years that we have had a local correspondent.
Help us to make the news your news.
I love it.
How can we start this?
How can this happen?
Isn't that wonderful?
That was the first time in four.
years and the local correspondent was my grandmother.
Now, I know that there are like local church newsletters, school newsletters. I know that there are
like community newsletters. I subscribe to my town newsletter. I do too. I get it quarterly
and I love it for this reason. Yes. But we need this, how do we make this like a national
thing? Like wouldn't you just feel so much closer to everybody if you got
little tidbits? Yeah, I think I would. I think it's nice. It's just, it makes people feel more similar
than a part. Yes. Yeah. All right. I don't know how to make this happen. Well, maybe we can start
making it happen here a little at a time. Should we start a folder called tidbits? Yes,
and you could tell us just a little around your town tidbit, and we'll share it on the podcast. I love this.
Yes. Oh, can we call it around the town?
in honor of my grandmother?
Yes.
Done.
Everyone, please go to OfficeLadies.com.
Look for our folder titled Around the Town
and send us some news about your town.
Yeah.
Or what you did.
Yes.
For the weekend.
Exactly.
Did you kill a rattlesnake we want to know?
Yeah.
Did your home football team go to the playoffs?
Yes.
Well, I'm very excited and I feel inspired.
Me too.
And my grandmother would be so proud, I think.
She should be proud.
Yeah.
Well, let's get back to breaking down this episode.
Nicole is going to knock on Ned's door and say, listen, as a single woman living alone,
I cannot do the crime beat.
No.
I need my bubble of ignorance.
Could we please switch assignments?
How about I write the letter from the editor and you do the crime beat?
You know, I did notice in the conference room when she looked on her phone and saw one of the first crimes,
it was like a guy with a machete or something, she then took her phone and hit it under her purse.
Oh. I thought that was a nice little, like, a little nugget there that she does not want anything to do with this.
I mean, it makes sense to me. This is why I don't watch, like, haunted house scary movies because I can't have that in my head as I'm falling asleep in my 100-year-old house that I'm convinced is maybe a little haunted, you know?
Too close to home. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Now we're going to go to the dog park because we're going to try to figure out why there's no.
parking spaces. Remember, Adam and Adelola are asking questions of a park employee. And they're
asking them, like, in a way, like there's something sketchy going on. Like, what's up with the lack of
parking? Yeah. And the guy's like, well, if you look at the sign, the parking is for park employees to
unload their things. This guy that plays this role is brilliant. Do you know who it is? I didn't know who it was.
I did. It's Nick Thune. Yes. Yeah. I went down a whole
rabbit hole. He's so good. He's so no nonsense, but he's also not a dick in the role, you know?
He's really great. He's a comedian, and he's been on tour with Nate Bargotsie.
Yeah. No, he's fantastic. He's done a gazillion things. I started watching all his YouTube specials.
He plays guitar while he does his comedy. It's very charming. It's very soothing. Yeah. And very funny.
I feel like he was a huge git. Like, I hope he comes back in this role somehow. That would be amazing.
The other thing that's going on is that mayor calls Ned to let him know that Barry's injured.
I guess somehow walking down a sidewalk, he put his foot through a wooden crate.
He's sprawled out on the ground.
He's in a lot of pain.
Shout out Chelsea to this deep squat that you hold throughout the whole scene.
I was very impressed.
Ned is like, okay, can you go see what's happening with the water main break?
And she's like, I told him I'd ride in the ambulance with him.
It doesn't look like he needs an ambulance, but apparently one has been called.
Yeah.
And Ned's like, could the ambulance swing by the water main break on the way to the hospital?
No.
And then he's like, I don't think so.
And then he's like, fine.
Can you just get me any details about what's happening at the hospital?
He's getting so desperate.
I want to point out something.
Background catch.
All right.
While Ned is talking to her, behind him on a credenza, go to nine minutes and 41 seconds.
Clacky balls.
No.
Yep.
No, there's not.
Big old set of clacky balls.
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
Yep.
Clacky balls.
Made it back.
Little the office Easter egg there.
Well, listen, on that note, I think we should take a break because when we come back, we're going to talk about what is my favorite scene in this whole episode.
Awesome.
All right, we are back, and we're going into, I think, you and I's favorite scene of the whole episode, lady.
Yes, it's Travis and Detrick.
They've gone to meet with the assistant fish and game warden to talk about this new fishing law.
Yeah.
And Travis, you know, as they arrive, he's putting on a blazer over his softies t-shirt.
He's clearly wanting to look a little bit nicer.
And we find out that the assistant fish and game warden is Harper Brewster.
his ex-girlfriend, I love this scene so much, it's perfection.
Please tell me you pulled an audio clip.
I absolutely did.
And I want to give a shout out as you listen to Tani Newsom, who plays Harper, Detrick, played by Melvin Gregg, and Matt Peters, who plays Gary.
They are so damn funny in it.
Let's hear it.
Mr. Moore?
Yes, Assistant Fishing Game Ward and Brewster, right?
Travis?
Hello, Harper.
How are you?
You know you're not supposed to be here.
I'm here in my official capacity as a reporter, okay?
Not your ex-boyfriend.
You have to respect me as a member of the press, all right?
The First Amendment compels you.
Everything okay here?
What's up, Gary?
I'm with Gary now, Travis.
I'm just here to ask you guys some questions about fish.
That's it.
I warn you what would happen.
Now have to tune you up.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold a second, Gary.
Okay, look, we're just here's reporters.
We have one question, one question, and we'll leave, right?
Yeah.
Has the Blue Gill limit in the Lake Erie District changed recently?
You know that it has.
What are we doing?
That's great, thank you.
We're done.
That was a setup question, Gary.
I obviously need to ask a follow-up.
Go, yes.
Thank you.
Follow-up.
Harper, is there any part of you that still loves me?
Dude, I warned you.
Follow up to that.
This is the guy that you chose?
Are you kidding me?
Get out.
Get out.
Oh, ow, ow, my foot.
I mean, it's so good.
It's so good.
That was a setup question.
Clearly I have a follow-up.
up. I really love this scene. I wanted to know if we were going to see more of the characters of
Harper and Gary. I went to IMDB. This is the only episode that Tani and Matt are listed in as guest
stars. Greg, Michael, if you are listening, can we please revisit this love triangle in season two?
Because I know you're working on season two right now. Yes, if you're listening, we want more of this
love triangle. I loved it so much. So much. All right.
Now we are back at the Toledo Truth Teller offices, and Nicole is working on her letter from the editor, even though she's not the editor.
Mm-hmm.
And Esmeralda is going to come by her desk, see what she's doing, and, you know, she's a saboteur.
Yeah, she's the second shi-stir of this episode.
Oh, okay.
She's going to tell Nicole, I need you to defrost the freezer right now.
You are the only person who can do this task.
I have a question.
Yeah.
Who is the boss of this office?
Why is Esmerelda allowed to redirect what Nicole is doing?
Because I thought Asmeralda, she's in charge of online content.
She's the online newspaper.
But Ned is in charge of the print newspaper and is sort of like the boss of the office.
But are they like co-bosses?
I don't think they're co-bosses, but I think – I think Esmeralda is senior to Nicole
and has probably been her boss in some form for so long.
that she still bosses her around a little bit, but probably this is not someone that Nicole has
to listen to anymore. But it's just sort of like learned behavior. Well, it sounds like this job
of defrosting the freezer has happened before as well. Yeah. Nicole has had this job before.
Esmeralda might just boss Nicole around. That might be their dynamic.
I had a question. Do they need a new freezer? I mean, how often do you defrost your freezer?
Yes. Here's my follow up to that.
I don't think they have the money for a new freezer.
I guess you're right.
Well, when Nicole gets up to go defrost this terrible freezer,
Esmeralda sits down in Nicole's computer and starts typing out this letter from the editor.
So now Esmeralda's writing it.
You're going to find out it's not going to be a great letter.
Right.
Saboteur.
Saboteur.
Meanwhile, Ned is on the phone.
He's desperately trying to find if there's any crime in the area.
He's not having any luck.
He's very frustrated.
He calls the morgue.
He's like, are you sure?
Can you look in any of the drawers?
Yeah, he's like, have any new bodies come in?
Yeah.
Are you sure no new bodies have come in?
Have you looked everywhere?
Yeah.
It's weird.
It's creepy.
But he's desperate.
Did you clock how orange his fingers are getting?
I literally wrote down, Popcorn Tracker.
He's eating the cheese popcorn now and his fingers are orange.
So yes, I did.
I thought it was such a great touch.
It just kind of reminded me of when we got the kids Cheetos on this car ride.
We took a road trip.
Oh, no.
In the back seat, like the window is like just like orange dust everywhere.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, Esmeralda's going to pop her head into Ned's office and be like, I'm excited for our lunch.
And Ned is like, I can't do lunch.
And she's like, oh, no, I invited Marv.
It's your welcome lunch.
And Ned's like, fine, fine.
He can't say no to Marv.
No.
That's the boss boss.
Yes.
He's like, I'll go to lunch, but it needs to be quick.
And as Marilda says, you know, in Italy, we have a saying,
If a man eats quick, he also finishes quick.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And then she sachets out.
She does.
God, I love her.
She's got some really great one-liners.
She really does.
Well, now at the lunch, Esmeralda is trying to sabotage him, but it's backfiring.
For example, she says, you know, Ned got rid of the wire.
That was his idea, you know?
And they're like, great.
Take some balls.
Yes.
She's also trying to make this lunch last as long as possible.
possible. So we find out she sent her fish back like three times. Yeah. Because she's trying to make it so
that he can't get his paper done today. She's also ordered wine. Mm-hmm. This restaurant that they're
eating in, I recognized it and I'm really proud of myself. Really? Yes. I was pretty sure when I saw it that
I had shot something there before. Where is it? It's a faky restaurant on the universal lot. This was my
suspicion. I'm like, I have shot here. So I reached out to Kelly Cantley, first AD. And guess what? I was
right. I was right. What is it? She said we shot the restaurant on the New York Street on the
universal back lot. Oh, I know the New York Street. Yes. Yeah. Now here's the thing. When you shoot in a
faky restaurant, you have to create all of the business outside of the windows. And this faky restaurant has
windows on two sides. So if you watch this scene, not only do you have to fill the restaurant
with all the people inside, you have to make all the business happen outside. So you have to watch
this because it's really, really cool. You see cars driving by. You see pedestrians. All this is
happening. I asked Kelly about it. She said we had 24 background performers inside the restaurant
and 40 people outside the restaurant.
20 people were drivers
and 20 people were pedestrians
who were like parking cars or walking by.
She said,
Joe Moore, who was their second, second AD,
and Elizabeth Robbins, their DGA trainee,
and nine production assistants,
had to help with all of the traffic direction,
and she sent me the map
that shows the loop that the cars made.
And it reminded me of,
the proposal scene that John and I did.
I was going to say, look at all of that sort of atmosphere and ambiance and background.
They had to create out of nothing.
Yes.
So when you watch this restaurant scene, just know it is all actors.
Very good, right?
So good.
And all the work that went into that one moment.
Also, at the end of this restaurant scene, did you see how Ned eats his cupcake?
Yes.
He's running out.
He got a cupcake somehow.
And he pulls the bottom off of the cupcake.
Yeah.
And then he puts it on the top and he makes like a little cupcake sandwich.
Yeah.
And the peacock version, Marv thinks that the way he ate his cupcake is like visionary.
And that just annoys the hell out of Esmeralda.
That's how I eat my cupcakes.
Are you serious?
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Why?
If I'm on the go.
Because, you know why?
Because I don't like to like have to like smooosh all.
all the icing into my upper lip and bottom of my nose, which is what happens when you eat a
cupcake.
Yeah.
But if you smush it down and eat it like a little cupcake sandwich.
Like a ding-dong.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Then you get the icing right where you want it.
We've talked about so much snack food in this episode.
What is happening?
I don't know, but now I'm hungry.
Well, now we're going to go to Adelola and Adam, who are at the dog park.
they're still trying to find some story.
The parking thing is a bust, but they're like, let's ask these teenagers if there's
anything happening around town.
And the teenagers immediately just mess with them.
They say that there's a thing called dogging where they just act like dogs when they get
together and hang out.
And they like bark.
And I can't believe Adelola and Adam think this is a thing.
Well, I'm going to come to their defense.
Okay.
First of all, I want to give a guest star shout out to the teenagers.
who were played by Jillian Craighead and Zaire Adams.
But here is me coming to the defense of this storyline.
Okay.
Is the idea of Doggin any less realistic than 6-7?
Oh, yeah, 6-7 makes everyone go berserk.
6-7 is like so random.
It makes no sense to me.
It has no meaning.
It's not meant to make sense.
Right.
So who's to say that,
kids aren't barking at each other and calling it dog.
Oh, that's true.
That's true.
I'm dogging you.
And I remember there was like a trend.
It was a few years ago where people would perch.
Like they was perching.
I don't know.
I did it with Sarah Highland on this movie.
You were supposed to just sit on the edge of something like an owl, like you perch.
I didn't even know what I was doing.
Like, I just did it because they were like, let's do this for a picture.
But yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm just saying these things do come up.
Yes.
I'm agreeing with you.
Yes.
I mean, we're doing trends now on TikTok, lady.
What's happening?
We are doing TikTok trends.
Are people following us on TikTok, Office Ladies' Pod?
I want you to know that we have this really young, fun team at Block Party who tells us what
trends are happening and then pitches us a few.
And half the time, Jen and I don't even know what we're doing, but we do them.
Lady, you just sent me one.
I did.
You want to do that thing where one of us holds the other person's leg and then you try to thread
through their arm.
You kind of have to dive through the other person's arm while someone's holding your
leg. I mean, it's going to be a hot mess. I don't know. I'm worried I'm going to get hurt.
I know. We're too old for that one. That one we might have to nix.
Well, as Ned is leaving, he gets this phone call. He's like really excited. He's at this lunch.
He gets this phone call. And guess what? The police department calls. They're like, hey, are you
the guy who called earlier wondering if there were any crime stories? Because we have a possible
serial killer. Yeah. And he's like, that's fantastic. And the guy's like, what? And he's
I mean, it's terrible.
It's clearly terrible.
But now he might have a story for his paper.
So he returns to the office.
He's very excited.
He tells mayor.
Very close talking.
She's the person he wanted to tell.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Close talking sharing.
Mm-hmm.
So the two of them, they're off.
They're going to, like, go try to figure this out.
Yeah.
Adelola and Adam come back.
They're typing up their story.
Oscar overhears them talking, and he says, did you guys get any questions?
Did you guys get any quotes?
Yep.
They didn't.
Oscar rolls his eyes, kind of looks to camera.
Yep.
Has a classic snark look to camera.
Is this the first time Oscar has spoken in this episode?
It is.
It is.
Yes, because from the last episode, Oscar makes it clear he doesn't want to be part of this documentary and he doesn't want to participate.
Leave me out of it.
Yes.
But guess what?
He's getting curious.
He is.
About being a reporter.
And this is going to pay off later.
I really like how they incorporated the character of Oscar into this new show.
They didn't make him front and center.
Yeah.
You know, he's very much a supporting character right now.
Right.
And I think that was really smart.
So you're slowly going to see him getting more invested in the paper.
Yes.
And it plays out over time.
Yes.
So Detrick returns to the office and he says, Travis has been arrested.
We didn't get our fish story.
But I sold an ad.
The guy's trying to sell his boat.
So they have one ad for the paper.
That's, I think, all they have.
So far their paper is a single ad.
Yeah.
But ads are good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
After Adelola and Adam give Ned their story about the dog in, Ned says, yeah, I called two local
high school principals and none of this story is real.
I can't print it.
Nope.
Mm-hmm.
He does get a mystery manila envelope, though.
And inside it is a Sudoku.
Yes.
It has like the version with all of the empty spaces, and then it has the answer.
Yeah.
So that's good.
So now what do we have for the paper?
We have the Sudoku and an ad.
That's it.
Mm-hmm.
Because guess what?
Nicole finally returns to her desk.
She sees the letter from the editor written by Esmeralda, and it's just basically a letter
from Ned's point of view saying that he stole this job from a woman named Esmeralda who has a
bang and body, despite being a single mother. It's just all about Esmeralda and her awesome body.
Yeah, and how he took her job. So clearly, they can't use that. No, so Nicole just deletes it.
Mare is going to have a talking head where she says, it's 538, and she doesn't know what they're going to
print. Maybe she'll just type up the train schedules to be safe. And lady, this made me curious.
What? I was curious about the 6 p.m. deadline that they're up against. And then I started researching what
the hours are like to get a newspaper out into the world. And I found this fantastic YouTube video
about a local newspaper in Singapore called The Straits Times. And they sort of take you through
their night getting a newspaper out. It starts at 5.30 p.m. And all throughout the night,
different articles and headlines are coming together and they're printing. And their day ends at
5.30 a.m. So whoever Ned is turning this over to is going to be the night shift that is then
going to get this newspaper out by daybreak.
Wow.
It's a really interesting existence.
Like, the man that was showing you around the newspaper in Singapore said, you know,
his wife is leaving for work when he's getting home.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So shout out to the night shift at the newspaper.
Yes, thank you.
Well, guess what?
Their final article, the one thing they thought they still had, this crime beat article,
is also going to fall apart.
Yeah.
Because what they realize is that the morgue,
called the police to say that some creep called them, insisting that there was a body they didn't
know about and they needed to look around for it. And we realized it was Ned. Yeah, Ned's really
quickly, like, hangs up because he's like, oh, crap. Ned's like, oh, no. So there's no serial
killer. There's no nothing. So Ned has to quickly bang out a letter from the editor.
And he decides to title it, no news is good news.
Mm-hmm. And he says that's not something you expect.
to hear from the editor-in-chief of the town newspaper, but a lack of crime is evidence of people
who treasure their community. And so he releases this very long letter, which in order to pat it,
he just ends up kind of plagiarizing. Yeah. Elmore Leonard's novels. Fifty-two pickup. He just includes
a few chapters of it, it sounds like. Yes, and get shorty. Yeah. There is a great cutaway. It's
Oscar. He's outside. He's at the newspaper stand.
He's picking up the paper, and he's really excited to see the Sudoku puzzle because he created it.
Yes, we didn't know who did it, but it's revealed it was Oscar.
And Oscar calls Stanley, and is like, Stanley, what'd you think?
Yeah, he sends him a picture of it.
And he's like, oh, you would say it's too easy, Stanley, of course.
It's a very cute exchange, and it shows that Oscar's still in touch with Stanley.
Yeah, and it may be hints to the fact that Oscar is still in touch with other people.
from Dunder Mifflin.
Yes.
Well, the episode is going to end with a mare talking head.
She says, you know, it wasn't perfect, but it was his first issue.
And she framed it, and she put it in the hallway next to the other antiques.
It's very, very sweet.
Yeah.
Well, you know, this episode was directed by Ken Quappas, and we did reach out to him because I wanted
to know what was it like to return to the world of mockumentary, and did you have any challenges?
He wrote us back such a lovely email.
He did.
I remembered something that Greg told us when we visited.
He said, when we designed this space, we wanted it to look very different from Dunder Mifflin.
And they also researched what these old newspaper buildings looked like.
And they were big and expansive.
And beautiful old grand buildings with the big windows.
Yes.
So they have this giant bullpen, which Ken Kopp is said is so different from the Dundra Mifflin bullpen.
He said it was a challenge to visually connect.
people in the space. He said he was very grateful that this opened with a conference room scene
because he could get everybody in the same room and really tell the story of who people were
and connect them. And he certainly has a lot of experience with conference room scenes.
But he also confirmed what Greg said, which was spy shots were difficult because when they
were designing the set, the set was designed by Susie Mancini, by the way. And Greg said,
I want you to use different blinds. Yeah. Because I don't want it to look like.
under Mifflin. So they chose these, like, tinier blinds. But then when you open them, it's really
hard to do spy shots through them. Yeah. The blinds being a bigger size was a good thing.
Yes. But overall, Ken was just so happy to be back working with these people. He said it's an
amazing group of actors. And he had a great time. Well, I love that Ken is part of this world, too,
and I love seeing all the little crossover moments. But I'm excited to get to know these characters.
Yeah, I agree.
Well, listen, everybody, that's your breakdown of the paper episode two.
A big thank you to Kelly Cantley, Ken Quapis, Chelsea Frye, and Scott McGuinness, the Prop Master.
Thanks for answering our questions when we reached out, and we'll see you guys all next week.
See you then.
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.
Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.
Our executive producer is Cassie Jerk,
Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbicoe.
Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.
Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Our theme song is Ruppertree by Creed Bratton.
