TRANSCRIPT
Office Ladies | Episode 171 - Gettysburg
Jenna [00:00:04] I'm Jenna Fischer.
Angela [00:00:04] And I'm Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [00:00:06] We were on The Office together.
Angela [00:00:07] And we're best friends.
Jenna [00:00:08] And now we're doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you.
Angela [00:00:12] 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.
Jenna [00:00:19] We're the Office Ladies. Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that allen are created equal.
Angela [00:00:43] (SINGS YANKEE DOODLE TUNE)
Jenna [00:00:44] Welcome, everybody, to Gettysburg!
Angela [00:00:50] It is season eight, episode eight.
Jenna [00:00:52] Written by Robert Padnick and directed by Jeffrey Blitz.
Angela [00:00:56] Well, Miss Lincoln, would you like to read us a summary?
Jenna [00:00:59] Yes, please. Andy is struggling to inspire his em- I'm kidding- is struggling to inspire his employees, so he decides to take them on a corporate retreat to the Gettysburg Museum. He even has custom hats made. The employees who choose to stay at the office are recruited by Robert California to brainstorm innovative game changers. And guess who gets Robert's attention? Kevin.
Angela [00:01:25] Kevin the cookie man.
Jenna [00:01:27] Yeah! Much to Ryan's dismay.
Angela [00:01:31] I know. He's just going to have to be the hot guy now.
Jenna [00:01:33] Fast fact number one, this is a location breakdown fan question from Elise W in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Angela [00:01:41] I love that.
Jenna [00:01:43] Elise says, I have been waiting since the start of this podcast to write in about this episode, because I grew up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and this little town was absolutely tickled that we were chosen to be featured in this amazing sitcom. I know I can speak for the town when I say we were honored. Elise goes on to say, It is obvious that the scenes located in Gettysburg were not actually filmed there.
Angela [00:02:06] Oh, Elise, I'm so sorry.
Jenna [00:02:08] I would love to hear a location breakdown. I would also love to know if anyone from the cast or crew came to Gettysburg or if you were able to get donations from local businesses or tour our historic town. Please, ladies, add the Gettysburg National Battlefield to your list of tours to take. It is a beautiful area with an amazing history and wonderful people that all, including myself, would love to show you around.
Angela [00:02:33] I'm adding it to our list. Our list is getting really long. It's going to require a lot of travel. But I am really looking forward to the season of my life where I am just kind of an older gal that gets to like go to fun places with my best friend.
Jenna [00:02:48] You're literally describing my mom and dad. That is what they do. They travel around to different places in the United States and abroad. Little nuggets, not the big hits. They go to the little charming places.
Angela [00:03:02] Yeah. They're always finding some little nugget somewhere.
Jenna [00:03:06] Well, Elise, we shot the Gettysburg scenes at Woodley Park in Van Nuys. The museum and archives were sets that we built on our warehouse stages. Our design team did a lot of research to try and make the park look like the real Gettysburg. For example, Pam Punch, who was our NBC executive, grew up around Gettysburg and said, Hey, it looks pretty good. She gave some notes. Our art department brought in the cannons. They brought in the signage and other kind of decorations to look like Gettysburg. And Phil Shea got a bunch of stuff from the actual Gettysburg Battlefield National Park Gift Store.
Angela [00:03:43] Well, I reached out to Michael Gallenberg. You guys have heard us talk about him before. He was our production designer. And I wanted to know if he had any stories about putting this episode together. He emailed me back right away and he said, You know, Angela, Gettysburg was the end of my tenure on The Office.
Jenna [00:03:59] Wow.
Angela [00:03:59] Yeah, he said. In fact, it might have been my last official episode. So Michael actually put me in touch with Matt Flynn from the design team, and he had such fun things to share about this episode.
Jenna [00:04:10] Ooh. Like what?
Angela [00:04:12] Okay, first of all, he says greetings to you both, Jenna and Angela, and congratulations on your very popular podcast.
Jenna [00:04:19] Yay!
Angela [00:04:20] Isn't that so sweet?
Jenna [00:04:21] Yes!
Angela [00:04:21] Great way to start an email to us. And then he went on to say, Yes, indeed. This episode was my first stint as production designer at The office. However, he had been working with Michael Gallenburg as art director since season two.
Jenna [00:04:34] Okay. I remember him.
Angela [00:04:35] Yeah, he knew the show very well. He shared one of the demands of the script was to provide a- ready for this? Here was his call to action: We need you to provide for us a verdant setting which has a parking lot adjacent to a plaza like area in front of an existing structure where we could then turn it into a Gettysburg Visitor Center.
Jenna [00:04:56] Wow.
Angela [00:04:57] So, Jenna, you mentioned there were cannons. Right? He said they did a lot of research. They wanted to place them the way they were in the actual park, and they had to rent these cannons from a prop house.
Jenna [00:05:09] Crazy.
Angela [00:05:10] Listen to this. He said when they went to rent them, some of the cannons were in a distressed state and they required cosmetic repair because the prop house said, you know, these were used in Gone with the Wind.
Jenna [00:05:22] What?!
Angela [00:05:23] Yes! He went on to say that the prop rental house had a historic inventory. Now, you can't always 100% be accurate about where they were used and everything. But apparently the lore of these cannons were that they were the same ones used in the movie Gone with the Wind.
Jenna [00:05:42] Wow. They kept those a long time.
Angela [00:05:44] He also said one of the things he remembers is the existing structure that they made to look like the Gettysburg Visitor Center was actually a public restroom.
Jenna [00:05:54] I wondered. I have to be honest with you, it had restroom qualities.
Angela [00:05:59] Did it really?
Jenna [00:06:00] Yes. When I saw it in the episode, I thought, Is that a bathroom?
Angela [00:06:04] He said they, you know, covered it. And then right as you enter, they built sort of like a fake wall. But if you went just around the corner, there was a row of toilets.
Jenna [00:06:13] That is so funny because, you know, Angela, you and I weren't there. We stay back at the office. So I love all that detail.
Angela [00:06:20] I did find in an early draft that we were sent off the table read that my character went.
Jenna [00:06:25] You went?
Angela [00:06:26] Yeah.
Jenna [00:06:27] What did you do the whole time?
Angela [00:06:29] I don't know.
Jenna [00:06:30] Be miserable?
Angela [00:06:30] Yes, but I guess someone changed their mind. And I'm so glad because it meant A) I got to be with you, and I got to be in an air conditioned room for the whole week. Cuz it was hot.
Jenna [00:06:40] Well, I love that. I'm so glad he got back with you. Thank you, Matt!
Angela [00:06:43] I know.
Jenna [00:06:45] Well, fast fact number two, I thought we could use a teeny, tiny history lesson on the Battle of Gettysburg.
Angela [00:06:53] Okay.
Jenna [00:06:53] That was fought July 1st through third, 1863. You know, just because we're there in the episode.
Angela [00:07:01] All right, Professor Fischer, continue.
Jenna [00:07:03] Here it is. The Battle of Gettysburg was led by Union Army General George Meade. And this is the battle that ended the Civil War. The Gettysburg National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Military Park are maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. And four months after this battle is when President Abraham Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address. The, you know the one that begins the four score and seven years ago.
Angela [00:07:29] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:07:29] And that address also contains the famous line, quote, Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Gettysburg is located in Adams County, Pennsylvania, and it's about 2 hours and 45 minutes away from Scranton.
Angela [00:07:44] So they would have had time to watch Limitless.
Jenna [00:07:46] Oh, well, I've got a whole lot to say about this time on the bus later.
Angela [00:07:51] Okay.
Jenna [00:07:52] But basically, yes. Andy made everyone spend 6 hours round trip on that bus that day. Angela, for when we go visit the Gettysburg National Military Park, it is open year round. And you can tour the park by walking, you can drive your car, they have like audio tours that you can download on an app. You can do it by bus. Or horse-
Angela [00:08:13] Or a horse. Please tell me a horse! Yes!
Jenna [00:08:16] Yes, lady!
Angela [00:08:17] We have to do it by horse.
Jenna [00:08:19] 100% we have to do it by horse.
Angela [00:08:21] Oh, my gosh. That just moved up higher on my list.
Jenna [00:08:26] Yeah. If you can tour by horse, it gets priority billing.
Angela [00:08:28] Yeah.
Jenna [00:08:29] So, there you go. That's a little bit about Gettysburg. Fast fact number three is a crazy, weird thing that Steve Burgess told me happened while we were shooting this episode.
Angela [00:08:41] And you wouldn't tell me. You said, I'm going to surprise you on the podcast. So what?
Jenna [00:08:46] I have photos.
Angela [00:08:47] What?
Jenna [00:08:48] Meredith's van was struck by lightning.
Angela [00:08:52] What?!
Jenna [00:08:52] In our parking lot, and it caught on fire.
Angela [00:08:56] Oh my gosh! No way!
Jenna [00:08:56] Yeah.
Angela [00:08:58] Does Kate know that?
Jenna [00:08:58] I don't know.
Angela [00:09:00] We have to tell her!
Jenna [00:09:01] Yeah. The photo is like a burned out shell of a van.
Angela [00:09:05] Holy crap.
Jenna [00:09:07] He said they repaired it. I thought it looks like a goner to me, but they repaired it.
Angela [00:09:13] I mean, it was a pretty junky looking van, so maybe having a little lightning distressing wasn't the worst thing.
Jenna [00:09:20] No, there is, like, a giant fire hole.
Angela [00:09:23] Oh, my God.
Jenna [00:09:25] On the whole top of the car. The top of the van. A fire hole. I think that's what the- I think that's the technical term for it.
Angela [00:09:32] Come on.
Jenna [00:09:34] No, I'm kidding. I don't know. But he said that our crew was actually at the technical Emmys. Remember the technical Emmys? How much fun we'd have.
Angela [00:09:42] Yes.
Jenna [00:09:43] So the technical Emmys are the weekend before the Emmys. And it's where they give Emmys to all of the crew members, editing, sound design, all of those things. And so our crew was attending the Emmys when they got a phone call that Meredith's van was on fire.
Angela [00:10:01] That is so crazy. There was so much crap in that van, too, that they just left in there, like set decorating. But it was like Meredith's mess.
Jenna [00:10:10] I mean, what did the fire department think when they came to put that thing out?
Angela [00:10:14] Oh, my gosh.
Jenna [00:10:15] Yeah.
Angela [00:10:16] That is amazing. I will be sharing those pictures. You have to send them to me.
Jenna [00:10:19] I absolutely will. Well, that's all I got for fast facts.
Angela [00:10:23] I loved your fast facts. And, you know what? Let's take a break. And when we come back, Gabe is holding a real boring meeting in the conference room. We are back and we're in the conference room. Gabe is leading a meeting. He is outlining Saber's code of conduct, and it's super boring. If there is an award for fake yawn acting, I think I should receive it, because at 11 seconds, I do a real great fake yawn.
Jenna [00:11:00] Wow!
Angela [00:11:03] Mmhmm. But yeah, Kelly says, Oh, my God, kill me. And Andy's like, Hey, all right. Obviously, we all want to die, but we have to get through this. So, Gabe, go ahead. It's okay. This is when Pam says, Ah, I'm going into labor.
Jenna [00:11:17] Which I guess she's been doing a lot.
Angela [00:11:19] A lot.
Jenna [00:11:19] To get out of things. So no one believes her.
Angela [00:11:22] No.
Jenna [00:11:23] They're like, You are not going into labor. But then, oh, my gosh, her water breaks! She really is going into labor!
Angela [00:11:31] And people are like, oh, my gosh. Okay, Well, I mean, good luck! We love you! And then a water bottle falls out from between her legs. It's been duct taped to her thigh?
Jenna [00:11:42] Mm hmm. Yeah. Let me tell you about that. Let me tell you how we did this. This was really tricky because I had to- and you can see me start to do it- I had that bottle duct taped to my thigh for real. It was just some leggings. Right? And then I had to, like, kind of undo the lid to let the water out.
Angela [00:12:04] How did you do that?
Jenna [00:12:05] I start- you see me start to do it. I kind of start to reach up and then the puddle.
Angela [00:12:11] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:12:12] But then I had to also make the water bottle fall on the ground. So there's a cut. Because then as I'm shuffling out, we had to take the tape off. There was no way to make it fall off. So we kind of took the tape off, and then I'm just shuffling with this bottle. I'm like, holding it with my thighs until I'm supposed to kind of let it go on to the ground. It was a whole like we spent- we're like, Wait, how are we doing this? How is this tape suddenly falling off?
Angela [00:12:41] Add this to my fake award show.
Jenna [00:12:43] Thank you.
Angela [00:12:44] For fake yawning. And then you get the award for stunt water bottle acting.
Jenna [00:12:50] I would love to see that on a plaque. Stunt water bottle acting goes too. Who are the other nominees
Angela [00:12:57] Fake yawn goes to...
Jenna [00:12:59] But that's how we did it.
Angela [00:13:01] You did a great job. I had a lot of questions for Pam. I looked up, Do people fake labor to get out of things? And it turns out people do.
Jenna [00:13:10] I don't doubt it.
Angela [00:13:13] I think Pam just did it the most, though. The episode is going to start with Andy on his phone. He's loudly saying that he cannot believe what he's hearing. Another client has been stolen. It's like war out there. No one's listening.
Jenna [00:13:28] Yes, he's trying to create a metaphor. Such that everyone will go to Gettysburg with him, basically.
Angela [00:13:35] Yeah.
Jenna [00:13:36] He holds up a pamphlet at 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Phil Shea made that pamphlet.
Angela [00:13:41] Well done, Phil Shea.
Jenna [00:13:42] Yes.
Angela [00:13:43] But, yeah, Andy is trying to rally the troops. What's that saying? Nothing brings people together like a common enemy?
Jenna [00:13:49] Yes.
Angela [00:13:50] But Andy's trying to get a buzz going.
Jenna [00:13:52] He is. Dwight is going to point out he has a beef.
Angela [00:13:56] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:13:56] Which is that everybody always talks about Gettysburg, but nobody talks about the Battle of Schrute Farms, which was actually home of the northernmost battle of the Civil War.
Angela [00:14:09] Oscar's like, No, it wasn't.
Jenna [00:14:11] We had a fan catch from Melissa D who said, In Drug Testing in season two, Dwight says that his great grandfather's name was Dwide Schrude. So considering the timeline, wouldn't this have been the Battle of Shrude Farms?
Angela [00:14:25] Yes! That is such a good catch. I love that. Oh, I wish he would have said that. That would have been such a cool callback.
Jenna [00:14:31] Yeah. We also had a fan question from Ro R in Oxford, UK, who said, Did you know there is a song that was released in 2018 called Battle of Schrute Farms? It is by Lost in the City. They're a band from Kansas City, Missouri, led by songwriter and vocalist Shane Radford with Colin Wylie, Dustin Proctor and Kyle Constant. I found the song. There don't seem to be any lyrics that specifically say Battle of Schrute Farms, but that is the title of the song. I thought we could hear it.
Angela [00:15:02] Okay, let's do it.
Jenna [00:15:22] (SONG PLAYS) It's a pretty good song.
Angela [00:15:51] I have to say, Dwight would have loved to rock out to that song.
Jenna [00:15:55] I think if you're making an Office playlist, this would be a pretty cool addition.
Angela [00:16:00] Rock and roll, baby.
Jenna [00:16:02] You'd be kind of like super in the know.
Angela [00:16:04] Well, here is a breakdown of who's going to go with Andy: Oscar, Dwight, Phyllis, Erin, Stanley and Jim. I was very surprised that Jim would be going.
Jenna [00:16:14] Well, so is Becca S from Rochester, Minnesota, who says, Why would Jim go to Gettysburg, a trip that is two and a half hours away, and leave Pam when she is nine months pregnant?
Angela [00:16:24] Yeah. What's going on? I did find a deleted scene where Jim has a talking head about going to Gettysburg.
Jenna [00:16:31] Okay.
Angela [00:16:32] I wanted us to hear it, because once again, it's a window into Jim's childhood and pranking.
Speaker 3 [00:16:39] I'm excited. I've actually never been to Gettysburg. My family was going to go once, but then my brothers convinced me that it was full of dead soldier zombies. So I freaked out and we turned the car around. But I'm older now. I can outrun a zombie.
Jenna [00:16:55] Okay.
Angela [00:16:57] But, you know, I'm always like, why does Jim prank so much? Why does he prank so much? Look at his brothers!
Jenna [00:17:02] Yeah. Well, when we met his brothers, right?
Angela [00:17:06] Yes!
Jenna [00:17:06] You're right. Jim's pranking origin story explained again.
Angela [00:17:11] Once again.
Jenna [00:17:12] Yeah.
Jenna [00:17:13] Well, as the group is getting on to the bus, Andy's going to give all of them very neon pink hats that read DM Goes to GB.
Angela [00:17:22] Yeah.
Jenna [00:17:23] And once they're on the bus, they have a big discussion about what they're going to do on the way there and they decide to watch Limitless. This is Darryl's suggestion. He brought it.
Angela [00:17:32] Yeah.
Jenna [00:17:33] Guess what I did?
Angela [00:17:34] What?
Jenna [00:17:35] I watched Limitless.
Angela [00:17:36] Guess what I did?
Jenna [00:17:37] 'What?
Angela [00:17:37] I watched every trailer I could find on Limitless. So without watching the movie. But this was back in the day where a trailer basically says the whole movie. And I watched like eight trailers. Jenna I feel like I have a good handle on the movie.
Jenna [00:17:51] Well, I loved it. It's Bradley Cooper.
Angela [00:17:54] Yeah.
Jenna [00:17:54] It's so good. You know, I have to ice my broken shoulder a lot in a day. And so what I've started doing is putting on a movie and icing, and then I watch it throughout a whole day. That's how I watched Limitless. It's great.
Angela [00:18:08] I wrote a note here. I said, I now I wish I'd seen the whole movie. Should this be on our Office Ladies movie list?
Jenna [00:18:14] I think it should. Bradley Cooper plays a down and out writer and he gets this bootleg experimental drug from.
Angela [00:18:22] From his friend.
Jenna [00:18:22] His ex brother in law or something. And then it makes it so that his brain is super clear. That idea that, like you only use 5% of your brain power.
Angela [00:18:32] Now he has 100%.
Jenna [00:18:32] 100%. And then you see what he does with it. It got a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's only an hour and 45 minutes. So they are still going to have an hour to kill on this trip. So when they get to Gettysburg and they're all like still watching the movie? No, it doesn't track.
Angela [00:18:51] Back in the office, it really feels like a vacation day. Meredith is napping with her skirt open with her hand in it? I don't know, like...
Jenna [00:18:59] Yes. At 5 minutes and 17 seconds, she has a neck pillow, all of that. I wanted to know if that was scripted.
Angela [00:19:07] Was it?
Jenna [00:19:08] It was. All of the business that we open on was scripted. And here's what it says: Stanley is playing cards with Cathy. Ryan sits at reception and Kelly sits on his lap surfing the net. Meredith sleeps with a neck pillow that says Southwest Airlines. Her skirt fly is unbuttoned like a man's pants.
Angela [00:19:27] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:19:28] Kevin is looking over Pam's shoulder at a Williams-Sonoma catalog. They are both very excited about whatever it is they're looking at. Angela makes copies and shoots dirty looks at people.
Angela [00:19:38] Mm. That tracks.
Jenna [00:19:39] Yes. So now, Robert California is going to walk in on the scene.
Angela [00:19:43] Yeah.
Jenna [00:19:44] And he is surprised to see that, number one, not everyone is there. And number two, it seems like no one is working.
Angela [00:19:51] Yeah.
Jenna [00:19:51] That's when Kelly is going to tell him that Andy took some of the employees on a corporate retreat to Gettysburg.
Angela [00:19:56] And Robert California says, Well, you know, he was hoping to discuss some ideas with Andy, but maybe it's even better to discuss them with this group because they're the freethinkers. They didn't go.
Jenna [00:20:07] Yes. They're the people who stayed. So he says, I want you all to brainstorm innovative game changers.
Angela [00:20:16] Yeah. Don't be afraid to get a little weird with it.
Jenna [00:20:18] And then he yells to wake up Meredith before he leaves. However, I want to tell you something I caught.
Angela [00:20:24] What?
Jenna [00:20:25] Meredith wakes up twice.
Angela [00:20:26] Oh, really?
Jenna [00:20:28] She wakes up at 4 minutes and 38 seconds when Robert California walks in, and then she wakes up again at 5 minutes and 27 seconds when he yells her name.
Angela [00:20:37] Well, Robert's call to action is going to really get Kevin's brain going.
Jenna [00:20:40] Mm hmm.
Angela [00:20:41] We see him. He has a marker duct taped to a stapler.
Jenna [00:20:48] Yes, it's a stapler marker.
Angela [00:20:50] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:20:50] But it doesn't go well. He ends up crossing it off his list of ideas.
Angela [00:20:54] Well, that list is real special.
Jenna [00:20:56] We had a fan question from Macy T in Alberta who said, Kevin's list cracks me up. Does number three say marker phone? And how is that different from phone marker, which is number four? And what on earth could human lady mean? Please tell me you have more information. Well, I looked it up in the script, and here's what it said. It said his ideas were stapler phone, marker phone, phone marker, stairs man.
Angela [00:21:25] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:21:25] And human lady cheese.
Angela [00:21:29] Yeah, because you can see the C, but you don't know what it stands for.
Jenna [00:21:32] Yes. Macy thought maybe it's chair. A human lady that's also a chair. Apparently, it's a combination of a human lady and cheese... Is what he's thinking.
Angela [00:21:45] And how does that help you sell paper?
Jenna [00:21:48] I don't know.
Angela [00:21:49] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:21:50] But when I think of a human lady and cheese, I do think of you, Ange.
Angela [00:21:54] Really?
Jenna [00:21:55] Well, you love cheese. And you're a human lady.
Angela [00:21:58] I am.
Jenna [00:21:59] So. Yeah. That is a combo that works for you. And you know what? Josh is kind of a stairs man. He loves a good workout.
Angela [00:22:08] He does love- I guess as a couple we're represented on this list.
Jenna [00:22:12] Congratulations.
Angela [00:22:13] Thank you. Human lady cheese and stairs man. Should have been part of our wedding vows. If Kevin would have written our wedding vows. Oh, my gosh. Could you imagine?
Jenna [00:22:24] I cannot.
Angela [00:22:26] Well, Andy is super excited because the bus has arrived to Gettysburg. As you said, everyone's still watching the movie, which doesn't track. And Darryl wants them to know that he has Source Code for the ride back.
Jenna [00:22:37] I watched Source Code.
Angela [00:22:38] I was going to say, did you watch Source Code?
Jenna [00:22:40] I did.
Angela [00:22:41] I did not.
Jenna [00:22:41] Guess what?
Angela [00:22:42] What?
Jenna [00:22:43] That one's only 90 minutes long. It's even shorter. It has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. And I'm going to say Darryl has great taste in movies. I really liked this. This movie opens, like, in the middle of the movie, which is so fun.
Angela [00:22:58] That's cool.
Jenna [00:23:00] Jake Gyllenhaal wakes up on a train, doesn't know who he is. 8 minutes later, the train blows up.
Angela [00:23:07] Ah!
Jenna [00:23:07] And then all of a sudden he is like, in this little, like, military pod thing. And that woman comes on the screen and she's like, Focus, focus. What did you see on the train? What did you see? I'm sending you back in. You have to figure out who's the bomber on the train. We need to know because he's going to bomb something else next.
Angela [00:23:26] Sending him back in. What does he as he toggling through time?
Jenna [00:23:30] He's like, going into the body of one of the train passengers.
Angela [00:23:34] What?
Jenna [00:23:35] And then he has 8 minutes to figure out who the bomber is. And that's the movie.
Angela [00:23:40] And you have a problem with Game of Thrones?
Jenna [00:23:44] What do you mean?
Angela [00:23:45] You're like, I don't want to learn dragon names and blah, blah.
Jenna [00:23:50] This is so different. These are two totally different kinds of movies.
Angela [00:23:52] How do you go into a human body and like, how do you- what are these rules of physics I'm having to learn to make this movie make sense?
Jenna [00:23:58] Listen, I guess I love fantasy physics.
Angela [00:24:01] I guess you do.
Jenna [00:24:02] Sass from you. My gosh. Hell-o. Speaking of sass, Macy T in Alberta has maybe some mini sass.
Angela [00:24:13] Let's hear it, Macy.
Jenna [00:24:14] Macy says, It has always bothered me that when they arrive at Gettysburg, it looks like it's evening. There are long shadows and the orange sunlight hitting the side of their faces in the bus. But then when they get off the bus, it looks like normal daytime. Was the arrival filmed in the evening? And how many days did it take to film all the Gettysburg parts?
Angela [00:24:32] Macy is paying attention.
Jenna [00:24:35] That's for sure. Well, according to Steve Burgess, we shot two days at Woodley Park, and Steve said, Unfortunately, sometimes we had to shoot out of order, and so the shadows do not match. And he said that this made Matt Sohn crazy, but we didn't have any choice. This is how we had to do it.
Angela [00:24:52] Macy, Matt Sohn would have talked your ear off about this.
Jenna [00:24:55] That's right. I thought that was a really good catch. Good attention to detail.
Angela [00:24:58] I know. I do, too. Well, as the group is approaching the visitor center, Andy blocks them because he's like, Hey, we're not tourists. We are going to do the Andy Bernard tour. Oh, no.
Jenna [00:25:10] Yeah.
Angela [00:25:11] Yeah. Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:25:12] Well, when Andy starts his tour, Dwight is in the background, and he is kind of schooling Erin on the Battle of Schrute Farms, which he again says the history books have ignored. You should see some of these letters that the soldiers wrote about their time there. And once again, it is the northernmost battle of the Civil War.
Angela [00:25:36] Well, you know, when Dwight was telling Erin she should read some of the letters from the soldiers, this made me think about a time where I was in a museum and they would have letters from long ago displayed in glass cases. And you could read like what people were doing at the time. So I looked online and the New York State Library in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of two major Civil War battles, including Gettysburg and Vicksburg, digitized some of the letters from the soldiers and put them on their website.
Jenna [00:26:05] Oh, wow.
Angela [00:26:06] Yeah. So you don't have to go to a museum to see some of these. You can go on their website. I'll put it in stories. I found them very fascinating. I want to read one.
Jenna [00:26:16] Okay.
Angela [00:26:17] This is from Calvin Haynes, who served as a sergeant in the 125th New York Infantry. He was raised in Troy, New York, and he has written a letter to his wife about the Battle of Gettysburg. July 19th, 1863. Dear wife.
Jenna [00:26:37] (LAUGHS) Sorry.
Angela [00:26:38] Wait for the first line. Not having heard from you in a great while, I did not know but what you would like to hear whether I am dead or alive.
Jenna [00:26:47] Oh, no. Something is happening in this marriage. Very clear.
Angela [00:26:51] Just the beginning opening beginning made me think of that SNL sketch. Dear Lydia, where he's writing to his- oh, my gosh. It's so good. Okay. Anyway, Calvin goes on to say, I am enjoying good health at present. We have had an awful march and a terrible battle. A great many of our boys were killed or wounded, but I escaped without a scratch. It is a miracle that we were not all killed or wounded. We were in the thickest of the fight, making a charge on the Rebs, a half a mile through a fire of grape and canister. Our regiment lost 100 men in 10 minutes. Our company lost eight and 14 were wounded. Stephen Hunt was wounded in the hip. I have not seen him since he fell. Stephen was a good soldier full of his fun and we miss him. This has been the hardest campaign the Army of the Potomac ever had. The second in the afternoon was the bloodiest part of the battle. At 2 p.m., they opened on us with over a hundred cannon. We lay flat on our faces for 2 hours. The air was filled with shell bursting in every direction. The battery that lay in front of us had 55 horses and 80 men killed. That night and the next day the rebels retreated, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. I went over the field. Such a sight I never wish to see again. Every conceivable wound that can be thought of was there. There were so many wounded that it was impossible to attend to all of them. Some of them lay 48 hours in drenching rain. It is beyond the power of me to describe a battlefield.
Jenna [00:28:28] Wow.
Angela [00:28:28] Isn't that powerful?
Jenna [00:28:30] I mean, wow.
Angela [00:28:31] Yeah. There are more letters, and a common theme in all the letters is what a horrible, horrible battle. There were so many losses that on the Gettysburg field.
Jenna [00:28:45] Thank you for reading that letter, Angela. You know, right now I am reading the graphic novel of the Diary of Anne Frank.
Angela [00:28:51] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:28:51] And these letters and diaries of people recounting their experiences during these times of war, I think it is so important for us to read and know these things. So thank you for reading that letter.
Angela [00:29:07] Yes. And I mean, you know, that was written July 19th of 1863.
Jenna [00:29:13] I really hope Wife wrote back.
Angela [00:29:16] I do, too.
Jenna [00:29:17] Because, I mean, my gosh.
Angela [00:29:19] I hope Wife received the letter and they were able to find each other in all of that madness.
Jenna [00:29:23] Well, lady, on that note, I think we should take a break. And when we come back, we're going to hear from all of Robert California's freethinkers in the conference room.
Angela [00:29:33] They are really bringing their A-game of ideas, sort of.
Jenna [00:29:47] All right. We are back and Ryan is going to go first. He's got a presentation for Robert. And you know what it is? Raw fish. Lady, we laughed so hard at raw fish. We could not pull it back. There was the way he said it. I wanted us to listen to it.
Angela [00:30:04] I saw Mindy break.
Jenna [00:30:06] Oh yeah.
Angela [00:30:06] I saw her break. She has the like she has the silliest smile on her face through his whole presentation.
Jenna [00:30:12] You know, when we talked about Mike Tibbetts is like a trigger?
Both [00:30:16] Raw fish.
Ryan [00:30:18] Raw fish. The disgusting food from Japan that Americans would never want to eat. Now we can't get enough of it. From movie stars to construction workers, sushi is what's for dinner.
Jenna [00:30:31] Oh, lady, I videotaped this speech, and I sent it to B.J. because I was like, Do you remember this B.J.? Raw fish.
Angela [00:30:41] Also, it's like Ryan thinks he's one of those voice actors that does the trailers for movies, like, In a world where there's raw fish.
Jenna [00:30:50] Yes. Well, Ryan's idea is that he wants to make origami the sushi of paper.
Angela [00:30:59] Yeah.
Jenna [00:31:00] He thinks that it could sweep the nation in the same way that sushi did.
Angela [00:31:05] I was so tickled by all of Robert California's responses.
Jenna [00:31:10] Yes.
Angela [00:31:11] The way he shoots someone's idea down is so hilarious. And this is what he said. I recorded them. This is what he says to Ryan.
Robert California [00:31:22] This idea hasn't gripped me. What else did you come up with?
Ryan [00:31:25] Well, I had to memorize the presentation, Robert, and it took a long time to build the swan. So.
Robert California [00:31:30] That was bad.
Jenna [00:31:33] Very much to the point. So now Stanley is going to present his idea. It's called paper. Papyr.
Angela [00:31:40] Yes.
Jenna [00:31:41] It's pink scented and silky soft. It's paper for women.
Angela [00:31:45] Yeah. Now you can watch the game, and she can write a letter to her sister. This is what Robert said to that pitch.
Robert California [00:31:53] The situation you described, returning home to a wife complaining about her paper being too masculine is not one I'm familiar with.
Angela [00:32:01] The situation you described. Oh, my gosh. That cracked me up.
Jenna [00:32:07] Finally, Pam is going to get up. She starts speaking and then she says, You know what? I'm already not feeling it.
Angela [00:32:15] Yeah. She wanted to put little coupons at the back of a test booklet. You know, like when you're in school. And then she's like, you know, unless you're responding to it, he goes, I am not.
Jenna [00:32:24] Yeah. Exactly. The person who's going to get Robert's attention is Kevin.
Angela [00:32:29] Yeah.
Jenna [00:32:30] He starts talking about cookie placement in the vending machine. And Robert is intrigued. He translates what Kevin has said into being.
Angela [00:32:41] Oh, I have it.
Jenna [00:32:42] Oh, please.
Angela [00:32:43] Yeah. So basically, Kevin's like, Why put a cookie that you really want people to eat an A1 when your eyes naturally go to D4?
Jenna [00:32:51] Yeah.
Angela [00:32:52] And Robert's like, Huh, Cookie placement. Who else agrees with Kevin that we're wasting facilities, manpower on our own underselling products when we should be pushing our top performers? Everyone raises their hand, and they're all collectively like, What the hell just happened? Kevin continues. He says another thing about oatmeal cookies. Who even wants them? I mean, I've seen Toby eat like one once, but other than that? Robert says, Interesting. So what is Dunder Mifflin's oatmeal cookie? What is the product that no one wants? Stanley chimes in, How about that two hole punch letter? Only the lawyers want that punch at the top and they use legal. Robert goes, That's the oatmeal cookie. Fantastic, Kevin. Fantastic. This runner would have continued. There was one in deleted scenes, and I want you to hear it.
Robert California [00:33:49] The problem is the hedge fund is essentially a cowards game. You're hedging your bets. I suppose you see right through the numbers. Sometimes I wish I'd taken your road, Kevin. Just taken a few years to just live in the numbers.
Kevin [00:34:14] Yeah, I do the numbers.
Jenna [00:34:22] Oh, boy. Well, let's check in with our Gettysburg Group. They have encountered a ranger, a guide who was played by Phil Hahn.
Angela [00:34:35] Yeah.
Jenna [00:34:35] Who studied at the Groundlings. And he is trying to share some information with the group. But Dwight continues to go on about this battle of Schrute Farms. And that is when a young girl is going to mistake Gabe for Lincoln.
Angela [00:34:52] Lady, this was such a bigger runner. In the deleted scenes, multiple times kids are stopping him along the way.
Jenna [00:34:59] Oh, that's great.
Angela [00:35:01] It finally culminates to this person asking for a photo. But people are like, looking at him and pointing and whispering for the whole day.
Jenna [00:35:09] I looked it up to see if Zach Woods had ever played Lincoln before. And according to his IMDB, I couldn't find anything. I thought, Oh, maybe on Drunk History or I don't know, some other parody somewhere. No. We were the ones who capitalized on his Lincoln lookalike ability.
Angela [00:35:28] I know. We really wanted to ask Zach about this. Well, let's add that to the list of things we want to ask Zach.
Jenna [00:35:34] We had a fan question from Eli E in Denver, Colorado, who said, How much of Gabe's speech as Lincoln was scripted? Well, Eli, it was all scripted, but it was massively reordered. Originally, the bulk of his speech was the tag at the end of the episode. But we reordered a lot of this episode in editing. Scenes got moved around. And because of this, you're going to see, for example, at 13 minutes and 29 seconds, Gabe is standing by a tree with the rest of the group while he's simultaneously giving speech as Lincoln.
Angela [00:36:07] Yeah.
Jenna [00:36:08] So I guess in answer to your question, it was all scripted. At this point, Andy is going to try to get people to go on a very long walk to Spangler Spring, but people are hungry. You know? They're not really up for it. They're tired. I looked up Spangler Spring and it's a pretty cool part of the park. You know, they could do worse than to follow Andy there.
Angela [00:36:32] He should have had food with him. He locked all the food and everything back in the bus.
Jenna [00:36:36] Yeah.
Angela [00:36:37] Oscar has located an archivist for the Gettysburg Museum, and it turns out this fella knows a little something about troop farms.
Jenna [00:36:45] Yes, he has heard of it! The archivist was played by Weston Nathanson. You might also recognize him from The Mindy Project, Law and Order, Boston Legal with James Spader and most recently, Superstore. He's going to put in a documentary video.
Angela [00:37:01] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:37:02] That explains what really happened at Schrute Farms.
Angela [00:37:06] There was no battle.
Jenna [00:37:07] No.
Angela [00:37:08] It was a refuge for artists.
Jenna [00:37:11] For dandies and dreamers.
Angela [00:37:13] Yeah.
Jenna [00:37:13] They put on plays, and they sang tender ballads.
Both [00:37:17] They danced in the moonlight.
Jenna [00:37:21] It was basically an underground railroad for the fabulous.
Angela [00:37:24] Oscar agrees there should have been a monument to this.
Jenna [00:37:27] We got a lot of mail about this documentary from Brandon R in Illinois and Jessica N in Rochester, New York. Can you please tell us how all the wonderful photos were made for the Battle of Schrute Farms mini documentary? I must know who played all of the artistic and sensitive members of the group. Were they crew members? These little details make me so happy.
Angela [00:37:47] Well, I spied Matt Sohn.
Jenna [00:37:49] Mm hmm.
Angela [00:37:49] And one of our writers, Steve Healy.
Jenna [00:37:52] Yes. So Matt Sohn is in the center of that big photo, and Steve Healy is on the right playing the flute. He's also in-
Angela [00:38:02] Shirtless.
Jenna [00:38:02] Yeah, and I was going to say, pumping his muscles in that picture. He's the one on the left. But the rest of the people were background actors. We took all of these photos on a green screen over on our warehouse set. And Steve Burgess said this was a major production. You know, Jenny O'Keefe, who was our second A.D., she wrote out a ten page document breakdown that detailed every shot, every photo that had to be taken. There was a special wardrobe fitting and hair and makeup tests with all of the people in the photos. Her document said, quote, Laverne and Kim will add or take away hair as needed. Add or take away. So, you know, if hair had to be added, that would be Laverne in makeup. But if it had to be taken away, like a shave or a haircut, that would be Kim.
Angela [00:38:53] Mm hmm.
Jenna [00:38:54] But we also brought in two additional makeup artists in order to get everybody ready. The last photo they took was the one with Matt Sohn, and this was noted in Jenny's document because he was directing in the other photos. So we were going to try to take as many photos as possible and throw him in at the end.
Angela [00:39:11] Matt had also grown a very extensive beard.
Jenna [00:39:14] Yes.
Angela [00:39:15] Which probably made him perfect for Civil War era photography.
Jenna [00:39:19] Yes. Also, our writer, Owen Elickson is the narrator of this film. And Dave Rogers is the voice of Melvin Phifer Garis
Angela [00:39:28] I heard him right away.
Jenna [00:39:29] Me too.
Angela [00:39:31] Listen, one of the things I wanted to point out earlier, and I just didn't get it in-.
Jenna [00:39:37] That's what she said.
Angela [00:39:41] This is a very ridiculous, probably background catch, but I could not unsee it once I had seen it. Back at the beginning of the episode, Dwight has a talking head. And I'm telling you, Rainn had clearly just had a haircut. And talking about all of these haircuts it made me think of it. If you start the episode at 2 minutes, 53 seconds, he has the shortest little bangs in his little zipper part. They don't even make it like, just a few little inches on his forehead.
Jenna [00:40:13] Wow.
Angela [00:40:14] Yeah. Someone had a haircut.
Jenna [00:40:16] Well, someone wrote in and said that they thought Rainn looked really fit in this episode. And moving forward, he continues to look very fit. I wonder if the haircut and the fitness were for a role.
Angela [00:40:28] Oh, yeah. Maybe so.
Jenna [00:40:29] I'm going to look ist up for next week.
Angela [00:40:31] Yeah. Robert and Kevin are spending more time together. We're in the break room and Kevin is telling Robert you can never trust a cookie with a woman's name. Lorna Doone. Madeleine. Pecan Sandy or Pecan Sandy, depending on where you live. They'll just break your heart. Ryan has had it, you guys. He has had it with Kevin being sort of like the genius of the office. He's going to set him up. He comes in the break room and he's like, Hey, I want to pitch one of my ideas. It's called the Big Mac idea. And Kevin is instantly annoyed. He's like, No, no, no, that's my idea, and you know it.
Jenna [00:41:08] The Big Mac idea is so disgusting.
Angela [00:41:11] It's so gross. Basically, here's the Big Mac idea, which Kevin proudly says to Robert. And Robert starts to see the writing on the wall here. Kevin says, You get a Big Mac and each day- you get one every day for like a week, and each day you take out one ingredient. You set it aside. And by the end of the week, you have a bonus Big Mac that you can reassemble.
Jenna [00:41:33] Yeah. I mean, is he scraping the cheese?
Angela [00:41:38] I don't know.
Jenna [00:41:39] Off of the pickles? So disgusting.
Angela [00:41:40] I don't know.
Jenna [00:41:42] Also, what about the day where he eats the Big Mac with no bun?
Angela [00:41:46] Well, people do that.
Jenna [00:41:48] Yeah.
Angela [00:41:49] Yeah. But, Kevin. But anyway, Robert just looks at him and goes, It was really just about the cookie all along, wasn't it?
Jenna [00:41:58] Yeah.
Angela [00:41:59] Yeah.
Jenna [00:42:00] It turns out that Darryl and Jim did follow Andy. No one else came, though. Everyone else is back at the bus.
Angela [00:42:07] I don't think they so much followed him as wanted him to know that people are done. They're tired. They can't get in the bus. They can't get their food.
Jenna [00:42:14] Yeah.
Angela [00:42:15] And you know, Jim is being a little bit of a wise ass and Andy calls him out on it. I think in the biggest way that anyone has ever called him out on the show, and I think we should hear it.
Jenna [00:42:27] Okay.
Jim [00:42:29] Yeah, Sorry everybody else didn't come. I think they're just tired. With holes in their shoes and they have dysentery.
Andy [00:42:35] Even without an audience, you're still at it.
Jim [00:42:37] What are you talking about?
Andy [00:42:39] Our office has a disease, and it goes by many names: sarcasm, snark, wisecracks. You take things that people care about and you make them feel lame about it with your jokes. That's what you did with this trip.
Angela [00:42:56] I mean, he called it out, didn't he?
Jenna [00:42:59] I have so many things I'm not saying.
Angela [00:43:01] Oh, no.
Jenna [00:43:02] Angela, I have thought for a long time that Jim has changed a little bit. And I don't like the Jim snark. He used to be an underdog that you were rooting for.
Angela [00:43:14] Yeah.
Jenna [00:43:15] And now he's too cool for school.
Angela [00:43:17] A little bit.
Jenna [00:43:17] You know? And it's a little bit of like a superiority thing. And it's this subtle shift that I have not loved in the character, I have to say.
Angela [00:43:27] For season eight?
Jenna [00:43:29] It kind of started in season seven into season eight, and it's almost like when he gets the girl. And then Pam participates in it sometimes too. And it's an aspect of them and their journey that I have not.
Angela [00:43:44] Loved.
Jenna [00:43:44] Super loved.
Angela [00:43:45] The too cool for school journey.
Jenna [00:43:47] Yeah.
Angela [00:43:47] Well, I thought Andy really called him out and was so honest.
Jenna [00:43:51] Yes, yes.
Angela [00:43:51] You know? And Jim's response is, you know, he doesn't apologize. But he does say, you know what? Your parallel between war and business, it just doesn't really hold up. This is a simple paper company, and you're the manager and people like you, and you don't need to prove yourself. So he is saying some nice things. And he says, Look, I'm even wearing a very pink hat that I think says something sexual on it, maybe.
Jenna [00:44:18] Mm hmm.
Angela [00:44:18] And I'm doing that for you. I'm wearing this ridiculous hat. I went on this adventure for you. And that really means something to Andy. And Darryl's like, Yeah, man, I hate myself for wearing this hat, but I'm here with you.
Jenna [00:44:31] Mm hmm.
Angela [00:44:32] So I feel like Jim tried to give him a pep talk. He didn't really own his wise ass.
Jenna [00:44:38] That's right.
Angela [00:44:39] And I did, unfortunately, look up what DM does GB means. So I know now.
Jenna [00:44:43] What does it mean?
Angela [00:44:44] Well.
Jenna [00:44:45] What?
Angela [00:44:46] Jim wasn't wrong.
Jenna [00:44:47] What?!
Angela [00:44:48] According to Urban Dictionary, it means dirty MILF does gangbang.
Both [00:44:55] (BURST INTO LAUGHTER)
Jenna [00:45:00] Oh, my god.
Angela [00:45:05] I'm telling you. My search history...
Jenna [00:45:09] That was real! I thought that that was just like Jim being like, I mean, it feels like it could be something dirty. I didn't know...
Angela [00:45:19] Well, that's what, that's what I found in Urban Dictionary. So sorry for that, guys.
Jenna [00:45:27] Okay.
Angela [00:45:27] That's what they were walking around the whole day with on their heads.
Jenna [00:45:32] Well, that makes a second viewing of that episode have a new filter. We had a fan catch from Sabrina S in Queens, New York, who said, You know, in this episode they're outside and a number of times people talk about how really hot it is, but how can this be? This episode is two episodes before the Christmas episode, which means it's more like early to mid-December. Wouldn't it be freezing in Pennsylvania?
Angela [00:45:58] Sabrina, this is such a good catch. I was very curious, too. And remember how I said I found an early draft, like a table read draft where Angela goes with them?
Jenna [00:46:07] Yeah.
Angela [00:46:08] Also in that same script, it said they tour the cemetery and it's getting extremely cold.
Jenna [00:46:14] Well, Garden Party, which was a few episodes ago, they're all complaining about how cold it is.
Angela [00:46:20] Yes.
Jenna [00:46:20] There's a heatwave in December, I guess.
Angela [00:46:23] But there was a whole storyline that the weather would be an obstacle for this Gettysburg tour.
Jenna [00:46:29] I guess when we got there and-
Angela [00:46:31] It was hot.
Jenna [00:46:33] The sun was just bright up in the sky. There you go. This episode does end with Gabe finishing his performance as Abe Lincoln. We had a fan catch from Rachel G in Pennsylvania who says, I don't even know if anyone else has mentioned this, but there's a connection between Gabe's speech and Michael's talking head in season two, Casino Night. Michael says that the Lincoln assassination recently became funny again and he makes the joke, I need to see this play like I need a hole in the head. And in this episode, he says, I need her- meaning Mary- like I need a hole in the head. Was this an intentional callback to Michael Scott or a coincidence that the writers made the same joke twice? Rachel, I'm going with coincidence. But I love love when people find these connections to earlier episodes because people know the show so well.
Angela [00:47:27] They know the show so well. But I do think there's something to a group mind. You know, sometimes when there's shared information in a room, it comes back around.
Jenna [00:47:35] It sure does. Well, there you have it, everybody. Gettysburg.
Angela [00:47:39] Yeah.
Jenna [00:47:40] I really wish we knew more of Darryl's movie choices because he has very good taste in films.
Angela [00:47:47] Jenna was a big fan of Darryl's movie choices.
Jenna [00:47:49] I'd like to say I also recently watched The Inside Man, which stars Clive Owen and Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster. And it was excellent, and I think it would be on Darryl's list.
Angela [00:47:59] I haven't seen any of these movies.
Jenna [00:48:02] Well, you're not ice your broken shoulder all the time.
Angela [00:48:05] I have a list for the summer, I guess.
Jenna [00:48:08] Well, big thanks to Steve Burgess and Matt Flynn for all of your great insider info.
Angela [00:48:12] And Michael Gallenberg for helping me find information once again. He's always so sweet. And you guys for sending in your questions and comments. You're just the best.
Jenna [00:48:22] We'll see you next week!
Angela [00:48:23] Bye!
Jenna [00:48:30] Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer, and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our in-studio engineer is Sam Kieffer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.
Angela [00:48:46] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcher Premium dot com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code "office".