Transcript - Ep 250 - Office Ladies Meet Pod Meets World

TRANSCRIPT

Office Ladies | Episode 250 – Office Ladies Meets Pod Meets World

Jenna [00:00:04] I'm Jenna Fischer.

Angela [00:00:05] 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 [00:00:09] And now we're doing the ultimate office lovers podcast just for you.

Angela [00:00:13] Each week we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.

Jenna [00:00:21] We're the Office Lady 6.0. Hello.

Angela [00:00:25] Hi there.

Rider [00:00:26] Hi.

Jenna [00:00:27] Ooh, we have some special guests today.

Angela [00:00:30] We do. This is the most we've ever talked on the podcast as a group.

Danielle [00:00:34] You've never had five people.

Angela [00:00:35] No.

Jenna [00:00:37] Angela, Do you wanna tell everybody what's happening?

Angela [00:00:38] I sure do. We have a super fun episode today because we are doing a crossover with Pod Meets World. We have Rider, Danielle and Will from Boy Meets world. We each got to watch an episode of each other's show. Okay, Jenna, why don't you share with everyone how this episode came about.

Jenna [00:00:57] Okay, well, Rider and I know each other. That's how this came about!

Danielle [00:01:01] How do you guys know each other?

Rider [00:01:03] We have a mutual friend in Natalie Zea. Party's at her house, right? How far you guys go back?

Jenna [00:01:08] So, Travis Schuldt is friends with my husband, Lee.

Rider [00:01:12] Okay, so it's Travis. Okay, okay.

Jenna [00:01:14] Travis, who is married to Natalie. Travis and Natalie will have a party here and there and you're there and I'm there.

Rider [00:01:19] Yeah, one of the first people I talked to about pod meets world, because I was like, how's your rewatch podcast going and you were super helpful and you were like do it you'll have the best time. It's so good and yeah, you you were like one of those people that really convinced me that this was a great idea.

Jenna [00:01:33] Oh, good. Oh, I'm so glad. Well, your podcast is super successful.

Rider [00:01:37] We've been very lucky.

Jenna [00:01:38] You guys have an amazing community. You guys are real friends in real life, like me and Angela.

Angela [00:01:44] You do a fantastic job telling the show, telling all the scenes and what goes on behind. I think it's just such a great podcast. And I really am so curious to watch more episodes now. Especially now that I know some of the things you can share with us. Oh yeah.

Danielle [00:02:00] Our little trivia game.

Jenna [00:02:03] Yes, yes, because, full disclosure, Angela and I had not seen an episode of Boy Meets World until this collab happened.

Danielle [00:02:10] I think similarly, Rider, had you ever seen an episode of the Office?

Rider [00:02:13] Yeah, I'd only watch probably the first two seasons, maybe, or maybe up to three.

Angela [00:02:19] So you had not seen the episode we picked for today then?

Rider [00:02:21] No, no.

Danielle [00:02:22] Will has seen every episode of The Office numerous times.

Will [00:02:27] Yes, I'm also a little weird when it comes to TV, so if I see it more than once, I can recite it backwards and forwards. So I watched the episode again, you had us watch, but I didn't need to. I could have literally told you what you were wearing usually in most of this.

Angela [00:02:40] Wow, wait, are you, you're like a genius person? Yes, like, photographic memory or TV?

Will [00:02:46] Yeah with TV so like if I have nothing to do and I'm bored and I have there's nothing around me I shut my eyes and watch MASH.

Jenna [00:02:52] Come on, because you can just play that in your head.

Will [00:02:58] So I can do that with the office. The images, the sound, the music, the breaks.

Danielle [00:03:00] But if he doesn't have his giant calendar in front of him, he can't remember what there is to do or whether or not something is scheduled.

Will [00:03:11] My wife helps but no, I don't.

Danielle [00:03:13] Yeah, no, so it's selective genius.

Angela [00:03:17] There's a little bit of undercurrent business happening in this conversation.

Will [00:03:21] No, they just know not to ask anymore. They'll be here such and such a time and she'll text my wife.

Danielle [00:03:26] We also just say, could you just take a picture of the big calendar? Because I understand that you can't care. It's a literal giant calendar. So I'll say, because if you just had the picture of it, you'd know if you were free on it.

Jenna [00:03:36] This is a really good idea, so did you take a picture of your calendar?

Will [00:03:40] I think the last one I took was in April.

Danielle [00:03:42] Yeah, we're a little behind.

Will [00:03:47] They just tell me where I'm suppose to be.

Angela [00:03:48] You guys, we are actually in your studio today. It's lovely and there are cameras. I feel like they could make a video for you of your calendar that you would watch and then you would know everything.

Will [00:03:59] That's not a bad idea. I'd know where I have to be and all the stuff I have do. Again, comes to episodes of The Office all day long. Where I have be tomorrow, anybody's got to know.

Jenna [00:04:08] I feel like you could be a really good asset for Office Ladies.

Will [00:04:11] What would you like to know?

Angela [00:04:12] I mean, we're gonna hit you up.

Will [00:04:15] Okay, great. Yeah, please let me know be happy to yeah, I'll walk you through it. It's a great show

Jenna [00:04:20] Thank you. Not to belabor this, but I am really fascinated. Does this extend as well to things you've read, books, articles?

Will [00:04:29] It depends on what, if it's stuck in my brain, it's forever stuck in my brain. And I can go back and see the page, see the thing. But then again, calculia is a very real thing. So put two numbers in front of me and my brain doesn't compute.

Rider [00:04:39] But you also, in school, wouldn't take notes. You would just watch the teacher. I could, because if I looked down to take notes, yeah. But if he just listened and watched it, he could remember everything he learned.

Will [00:04:48] If I listened and watched the board, then I could just see the board. No, but again, somebody gave me a phone number or people's names. I have to meet somebody a thousand times before I remember their names, but I can see the blue shirt you're wearing. I can the shirt you walk in on when, fashion show, fashion show at lunch. I can I see the color of your shirt.

Rider [00:05:04] You should ask him if you remember a certain line or stuff like that.

Jenna [00:05:09] It's so crazy because we just did a side by side, a fan wrote in and said that they think that Josh in Stanford is wearing the same suit that Michael Scott wears on his birthday and I had to go and look at both episodes and take a picture of each one and make a side-by-side and it's not the same suit.

Will [00:05:26] No, it's not the same suit birthday episode is is when he goes and plays hockey with the blue shirt and the blue tie.

Angela [00:05:32] Holy cow.

Jenna [00:05:32] It's not exactly the same.

Will [00:05:33] That's not the same suit no no no and also which which episode are you talking about with Josh from Stanford?

Angela [00:05:41] Oh is it the Initiation?

Will [00:05:44] Which is right before Diwali. Branch closing, oh, is when you leveraged the promotion to do another offer, that was the branch closing. Okay, so when Jen's like, I've done the, I've driven something like 400 miles today, so I'm just gonna say this. That one?

Jenna [00:05:56] I think that one. He has a pinstripe suit on and a bright blue shirt, which is similar to Michael's birthday.

Will [00:06:02] He does, but it's wider pinstripes than Michael's.

Jenna [00:06:05] And the tie is different.

Will [00:06:06] Tie is different as well, yeah, yeah.

Jenna [00:06:08] Why do I need to do side-by-side photos?

Angela [00:06:10] You don't, just call Will.

Jenna [00:06:12] A new resource.

Will [00:06:15] If I ever decided to use this for evil we don't even want to go down that path because it'd be pretty dangerous.

Angela [00:06:24] Wow, yeah, don't come at me trivia night at a bar.

Rider [00:06:28] If there was an Office themed trivia night, oh my god.

Will [00:06:32] I win Jeopardy most nights.

Angela [00:06:34] Oh, wow.

Will [00:06:34] Yeah, I know a lot.

Angela [00:06:36] You have to go on Jeopardy!

Will [00:06:38] I don't know if I'd be able to do that. The ringing in would be the weird part for me, I don't know. buzzer. I was asked to do it one year and I freaked out. I was like a teen celebrity Jeopardy. I was, like, I don't want to go beat Melissa Joan Hart in Jeopardty. Just make me feel bad.

Angela [00:06:52] All right, you guys, Pod Meets World is a fantastic re-watch podcast of the hit show, Boy Meets World. It premiered on ABC in 1993. Oh my goodness. It ran until 2000. All three of you guys were on it. And over the course of the run, the show received numerous awards and nominations. And in 2020, Boy meets world won online film and television hall of fame award for television programs.

Will [00:07:18] Really?

Rider [00:07:19] What did we win?

Angela [00:07:20] According to IMDb..

Jenna [00:07:22] You guys, 2020 Hall of Fame.

Danielle [00:07:27] Wow. Why weren't we invited? I know. I wonder if no one sent us even a screenshot.

Will [00:07:31] I'd like to thank my parents.

Jenna [00:07:34] Exactly. Wow, that's cool. That's cool, yeah. I'd like to bring up the fact that we were all five on long running hit television shows, but there was a big difference. Y'all were kids. Yes. So can you tell us how old were each of you when the show started and then when it ended?

Danielle [00:07:51] I was from 12 to 19.

Rider [00:07:53] 13 to 20,.

Will [00:07:55] 16 to 24.

Jenna [00:07:56] Wow.

Danielle [00:07:56] Yeah. Yep.

Jenna [00:07:57] Wow, and also filmed in front of a studio audience, which is different.

Danielle [00:08:01] There would be a few episodes where we would not have an audience. Two or three, right? Yeah, I think a handful.

Will [00:08:06] Yeah, but it was okay. There's nothing like show night.

Rider [00:08:10] Much more like theater.

Will [00:08:11] And especially when you're on a younger show, especially when we're starting to get popular, I'm putting that in quotes, because we were never really that popular when we were on, it was later we became popular, but kids would line up, so it'd be 14 and 15 year olds just screaming all night long, and it's such a rush, it was really great.

Angela [00:08:26] Yeah, that must have been such a buzz in the room.

Will [00:08:28] Ugh. God, it was so fun.

Angela [00:08:30] You know, our sound stage was really quiet, and you were happy if you saw the boom mic guy shake a little bit. Yeah, like, I got him, I've got him! But otherwise it was pretty quiet, except for us breaking and ruining each others cake.

Rider [00:08:41] I was gonna say, you must have wanted to break each other.

Will [00:08:45] Do you not watch the outtakes of The Office? I love when you're making each other laugh, but when the dialog's so funny that you're making yourself laugh?

Danielle [00:08:52] Yeah.

Will [00:08:52] That's one of my favorite things in the world, where you can't even get through the line because they're so good. I think you're talking about brain.

Jenna [00:08:55] I think you're talking about Rainn Wilson. He would crack himself up all the time.

Angela [00:09:02] All the time. Well, wait. So when we were on Pod Meets World, we were watching the Boy Meets World episode, hair today, goon tomorrow. And today, we are watching The Surplus from The Office. And speaking of bloopers, I think one of the hardest times I ever laughed in a scene was when Dwight gives Andy and Angela directions to- Oh, my god.

Will [00:09:21] Oh my god, what so many cases do you hear the beehive?

Jenna [00:09:25] That's a great blooper.

Angela [00:09:26] Ed and I could not keep it together.

Jenna [00:09:29] I have a question. We've talked a lot about how on the office there was this real collaboration between the writers and the show runner and the actors. How much input did you guys have into your lines or changing a line or a storyline? I know that Hair Today Goon Tomorrow was a little bit inspired by Danielle's desire to cut her hair, but.

Angela [00:09:49] I see heads shaking, I see head shaking on.

Will [00:09:52] No. It was very top-down.

Danielle [00:09:55] We've gotten to improvise a little bit.

Will [00:09:55] I got to especially towards the later seasons. They kind of let me do my thing. Yeah, so I could improvise I would often button scenes, but we weren't really changing our dialog unless something was awful I had one I grew up in a military family and I had won where we do an episode were like you do a Magical cat sends you back to World War Two.

Danielle [00:10:13] You know.

Will [00:10:18] And so a lot of the stuff they had me doing was I'm in a military uniform and being really disrespectful. And I went to our producer and said, I'm not gonna do this. And in all fairness, he went, okay, fine. And they changed it. But we as young actors, I won't say kids, we weren't really going up.

Rider [00:10:31] No. In fact, they started taking things from my life more and more, like, sort of, you know, sort of being, my character was being inspired by writer's real life. And annoyingly so. And more and more as the show went on.

Will [00:10:43] And without permission.

Rider [00:10:44] Yeah, I mean, it's so interesting because, of course, as an adult actor, like having input on your character, you know, is like part of the process. But as kids, we never felt, we felt like being a good actor would be, you, know, and probably being told how to say it with a line reading.

Will [00:10:56] So the other thing we talk about on the podcast a lot is that one of the things our executive producer was famous for is we would finish a run through and then we'd all gather for notes and the notes would sometimes be an hour and a half to two hours long of just.

Angela [00:11:07] To each of you?

Will [00:11:07] Like line by line.

Danielle [00:11:09] He'd start on page one and basically like page one, line one, have notes about how what we said was wrong and how we needed to do it a different way and it's very clear you guys don't understand the point of this episode so let me tell you.

Angela [00:11:21] What a fun creative environment for you guys to grow up in.

Will [00:11:23] At least we were children.

Angela [00:11:25] Yeah. Makes it better. Right. I did hear on your podcast, and I love this, that you would find ways to like sneak in a huh. I'm gonna be rooting for that whenever I see it.

Danielle [00:11:38] That is true that we would try to make each other laugh.

Rider [00:11:41] There were in jokes, but they're not in the dialog. It's the subjects. So we're like sending messages to each other with like intonations or physical moves. Watching it back for the podcast has been so fun to see again and be like, Oh my God, that was a thing we used to do. Yeah.

Danielle [00:11:56] It was also stuff that the writers weren't aware we had. They were truly like inside jokes. It was probably our own little rebellion of like, watch me slip in a joke to my friend that you don't know is a joke.

Angela [00:12:10] Especially if you'd been told for an hour and a half how you don't get it and you're doing it wrong. I'd wanna like sneak in something.

Will [00:12:17] It wasn't particularly collaborative. It was fun, but it wasn't particularly collaborative.

Angela [00:12:21] Yeah, right.

Will [00:12:23] Oh, sorry. Is our podcast sadder than yours?

Angela [00:12:31] I have a pivot here. Okay, so you remember every scene of every episode of The Office.

Will [00:12:36] Pretty much, yeah.

Angela [00:12:37] Well, I thought there was a great crossover story between Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow, and an episode from The Office, not the one we're watching today, not Surplus, but there is a similar scene.

Rider [00:12:53] Haircutting, meeting a townie.

Danielle [00:12:55] Let's see, a good looking detective.

Angela [00:12:58] Do you want a hint?

Will [00:12:59] Yes, give me one.

Angela [00:13:02] Sofa.

Will [00:13:07] I'm trying to remember from our episode where the sofa, oh, yeah, okay, there it is. Thank you. Yeesh. This is, I pay for that privilege. I only have one weird thing about me I use the ladies room for number two and I have paid often yeah this is there's a couch right, okay.

Angela [00:13:22] That's right. Okay, that's right in women's appreciation, the office episode, the men, first of all, we find out Creed's been using the women's room and they go in there and there's a sofa and they hang out in there. And I thought it was really funny when we watched this episode, you guys were like, there's the sofa.

Jenna [00:13:40] I had the same thought, Angela, I was like, oh my gosh. And you know what else I thought of? I have not been in very many women's restrooms with sofas.

Danielle [00:13:47] I only think they happen in Nordstrom lounges.

Will [00:13:53] And high schools. The girls in our high school had a couch. They had a sofa. They had sofa. We'd go in there to smoke when the boys' room was too full.

Jenna [00:13:59] I have run across very few sofas.

Will [00:14:02] That's Kevin, like, this is the dream. He's like, isn't the dream the girls' locker room? Normally, there's girls in there, Kev. Yeah.

Rider [00:14:10] I'm still blown away, dude. I know we talked about that you could do this, but when you really can do it, like, on the spot, and it's not a bit, it's crazy to me. It's crazy.

Will [00:14:20] It's the way that my brain works, yeah.

Rider [00:14:20] Yeah

Jenna [00:14:21] All right, well, guys, this is going to be so much fun, we're excited to be with you. We are going to take a break and when we come back, we are going discuss The Surplus.

Jenna [00:14:43] All right, everybody, we're back. And now we're going to talk about the office episode, The Surplus. This was season five, episode nine, written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, two of our favorite writers. Favorite writing team. And our beloved director, Paul Feig.

Danielle [00:15:02] Paul Feig.

Will [00:15:03] I think I've worked with Gene and Lee.

Jenna [00:15:04] Yeah?

Will [00:15:05] I think I did a show can't remember the name of it, but pretty sure that they wrote on it.

Danielle [00:15:13] Bad teacher?

Will [00:15:15] No, I think it was a pilot.

Angela [00:15:17] Sometimes with stories.

Danielle [00:15:19] Yes.

Angela [00:15:19] You want to have detail.

Will [00:15:22] I will here. Okay. Here's what I will say. I think it happened. Okay, okay I'm pretty sure I've worked with Gene and Lee don't they they play in several episodes. Don't they aren't they also?

Jenna [00:15:32] Gino and Leo from Vance Refrigeration.

Will [00:15:34] Yes, so yes, 99.9% sure we have worked together.

Danielle [00:15:38] Okay, I vote to cut that part.

Will [00:15:44] No, because it's true. Keep it in. They're gonna hit you up afterwards and be like, here's the show that we did together with Will, yeah.

Jenna [00:15:47] We'll look it up.

Angela [00:15:48] We'll Google it.

Will [00:15:49] Perfect.

Jenna [00:15:50] I'm gonna give you a summary of the episode and here it is. Oscar informs Michael that they have a $4,300 budget surplus and the surplus must be spent that day or it gets returned and taken out of next year's budget. The office is then divided on what to spend it on, new chairs or a new copier. This creates tension between Jim and Pam who are on opposing sides. Meanwhile, Andy and Angela visit Schrute Farms to discuss their wedding with Dwight, who tricks Angela into marrying him! Michael then learns a third option for the surplus money, which is return it in exchange for a 15% bonus for himself.

Will [00:16:32] Do you know, do you know? I think, I think you know.

Jenna [00:16:44] What were your overall reactions to this? Because we decided to pick quintessential episodes, and I think the thing I love about this episode so much is that it is in a later season, and the A story is just a quirky office thing.

Danielle [00:17:02] Yes, that happens all the time, all the time in offices. Yeah, where like, the hot goss that's going around is about something as mundane as chairs versus copier. And the dynamic spins everybody out of control, no one's focusing, no one, by the way, no work is getting done in that office ever. The manure being in Schrute Farms.

Angela [00:17:24] And also like no one is clocking the odor. Like we were talking and there's a big pile of shit like right next to the table.

Danielle [00:17:33] Just really made me laugh out loud. Yeah.

Angela [00:17:36] Yeah. You know what makes me laugh every time I watch this episode is when Mike Schur as Mose hits Ed in the head.

Will [00:17:44] With the ball.

Jenna [00:17:44] In the background.

Angela [00:17:46] Yes. It cracks me up every time because I really think that Ed wasn't quite expecting it. So every time he's like, hey.

Danielle [00:17:53] It does look like he turns around really confrontational. Like, what just happened there? It's so funny. I'm somewhere in between Rider and Will with my viewing of The Office. I'm pretty sure I have seen most seasons every episode at some point. I do not have a fraction of Will's photographic memory for them.

Angela [00:18:14] Who does? And wait, Rider, had you seen this episode?

Rider [00:18:17] No, no. I don't think so. Yeah, no, but it felt like a quintessential Office episode. So it's what I remembered the show being, like, sort of, you know, like you're saying detailed, like meaningless conflict. That just blows up and gets to show people's behavior. I thought it was hysterical. I mean, it's brilliant. It's so funny. And the show's ability to make awful actions incredibly like, well, it is just unparalleled. I feel like a lot of what your show brought was the beginning of cringe comedy. But cringe comedy usually is mean, or people are kind of awful, and you're like, oh my god, I can't believe this person said that. Whereas every time Michael opens up his mouth, it's the funniest thing ever. And you're, like, oh, I like that guy. He's, you don't want to, and everybody, you know, Dwight, even who is sort of more on the meaner side, you still love him. Like everybody, and the show is just so brilliant that it manages to pull that off and still have very comedic, like I was laughing out loud and I realized I have not laughed out loud, even at comedy these days. I feel like comedy these day, you're sort of like, mm-hmm, you're like whatever. You guys managed, while being incredibly realistic with the performances and understated, still big laughs, like laugh out loud beats. And so I just think it's such an accomplishment and like a legendary show for that.

Danielle [00:19:27] Jenna, you saying, no, don't take it away when he's shaking his butt in the soup.

Rider [00:19:34] That was my favorite moment, yes.

Danielle [00:19:35] It is, it was the perfect amount of all of us knowing that you are faking it, but also easily plays like you mean it in the most way, you mean it in the moment?

Rider [00:19:45] Right, when she starts to have to dance with him. Yeah. I see you like half-hearted. Am I going to? Am I? I have too. It is perfect because you see all of it. Like, I guess I'm going to dance now. No, we're stopping good. Okay. It's like all there in that moment. It's so funny.

Danielle [00:19:57] Also, you fluffing your hair with the red lip. Alright, know what I gotta do here.

Will [00:20:02] It is so on, yeah. This episode, I'm so glad you guys, you picked this one. It's one of my favorites. It has, in my opinion, the most underrated joke of any Office episode. And it's, I find it to be one of the funniest things ever said on the entire show, and it's that fast.

Angela [00:20:16] Which one is it?

Will [00:20:17] It is the very beginning when Oscar is explaining to Michael about the lemonade stand and he just says in the next summer, Michael just goes, I'll be six. It's genius on so many levels that I remember the first time I see it just keep reminding like it's the perfect joke. So it's just oh I just explain it to me like I'm eight and then he does and I'll be.

Danielle [00:20:46] Oh

Will [00:20:49] Now, this is like we talked about the Boy Meets World episode we talked, this episode is so well balanced between the A story and the B story. Funny how you find heart in the office yeah because the scene where Angela finally says to Dwight, I made a mistake. Dwight of course says well yeah well I know and that's why I just tricked you into marrying me.

Angela [00:21:13] You should have learned German when I told you to!

Will [00:21:20] That's one of the things I love about your show is that our show, you know, you're gonna get heart because the music swells and we're telling you you're going to get heart right your show you find it in beats that you don't think are going to exist and it's Pam being drunk and falling off the chair at Chili's and Then Jim picking her up and then tiny dancer slowly starting to play in the background. It's all just it's all beautiful. So Yeah, but this episode, though, and then, of course, the ending, which is magical, the magical tag.

Danielle [00:21:50] By the way, I didn't see that coming. When he's wearing the fur coat, I thought, oh, I love that we're just gonna see that he bought a fur coat. And the blood was just, how did they top even just the fact that he had the fur coats?

Rider [00:22:04] But also, I was blown away by the writing in that, because it starts when you are asking him about his suit. And you're using the suit, and that's where he throws out how much the suit costs. So I thought that was it. But then he brings up the Burlington Coat Factory. Mhm. Because it makes him wanting that $600 so much better. Because if you hadn't planted the seed that he is trying to save money by getting good suits, $5. But it starts as just this you flattering him joke, then it builds to a code at the end and all you needed to see the tag could have just been him like doing the interview in the code and I was already dying. That's what I'm saying, that's what I thought.

Danielle [00:22:40] Yeah that's what i thought i thought well of course is that it was such a payoff that they even found the topper to it.

Angela [00:22:46] Yes, yeah. One of the things I never get tired of, even in our re-watch, is Steve as Michael, when he's about to curse and they cut him off. Oh, yes. He's like, mother, yes, I'm always so funny. As you guys call his bluff on getting the chairs,  I loved it so much.

Will [00:23:01] I've always wanted to know, how much did the script stay the same from when you first got it to when you actually shot? How much are you ad-libbing and just going with on the moment, and how much was actually on the page?

Jenna [00:23:13] Well, do you mean sort of from our table read to what we shot?

Angela [00:23:19] Table read to shooting draft or shooting draft to what's you see on air?

Will [00:23:22] Both. Yeah, both.

Jenna [00:23:23] I would say there would be some pretty big changes between the table read draft and the shooting draft. But then the shooting draft to what you see on screen, a lot less than you would think. Whoever wrote the episode would also be on set with the director producing their episode and they would be throwing out extra lines and ideas. So a lot of times it wasn't an improv, but it was an alternate the writers gave you.

Angela [00:23:50] Likewise though, you could go to the writers. We had the permission to go to the writers and it was a real creative collaboration. So you could go up and say, hey, I have a really great button for the scene in accounting. Will you let me know once we've got it the way you want it, the way the director wants it, and then can I do like my pass? And we were smart enough that you didn't improvise within the scene, you know, if you did tops and the bottom, that way they can edit around, you don't mess with the storyline. And I think a lot of little moments like that do make it in, but it was truly just a great scripted show.

Jenna [00:24:24] But I think if you went to the script and you looked at that Michael talking head, that is the tag, it would be word for word. It would, okay. Like, very often. Also, they would write in ellipses. They would write pauses. They would right in Pam glances to camera. So like, all of that that just like seems like it's just happening, it was choreographed. And then also the idea that the camera would get to you in the middle of what you're saying, right, instead of landing on you. We knew we were going to say it or that the joke was over there. Part of the comedy came from getting to it late.

Rider [00:25:01] So they would actually put that in the script, like whip pan to...

Angela [00:25:06] Jim looks to camera. Yeah. Jim sighs.

Rider [00:25:09] OK, so those looks to cameras were always looks to camera, did they get a shorthand eventually in the script, or they were just like, give us the look? Or just the thing?

Jenna [00:25:15] Sometimes you could tag the camera if you wanted, but they didn't want everyone looking down the barrel of the camera all the time. So I'm not sure if it said in the script that I'm checking in with camera because I'm embarrassed that what I'm doing to Michael. Some of those just ended up becoming second nature, you know, to kind of give the camera like, oh my God, I'm so sorry.

Angela [00:25:37] We had A camera catching the main scene and then B camera was always roving the background. So you had to be on from the minute you were at your desk. And you had to be in character, it's very actor-y, you have to be character, and our B camera operator, Matt Sohn, would often come up to us in the background and say, I can see your screen, log out of your email. Right? Or he would say something like, I just saw that you did an eye roll after Pam says that line, you're in the deep background but it was great and I caught it, so if you want to do it again, I caught it. But that's how the crew was so much part of the creative process, because they were finding moments that weren't necessarily on the page, right? That helped fill out the whole story.

Will [00:26:24] One of the things that we notice about our show is that as it progressed, they started to notice which characters really worked with other characters. So pairs started to form.

Danielle [00:26:33] Pairing up, yeah.

Will [00:26:33] Did you start to notice that on your set as well? Because as the show progresses for a while, all of a sudden, Pam and Angela start to have kind of an interesting dynamic. Was that something you think that was planned at the beginning? Or was it they were just looking at what worked and then started to write to the relationships they saw?

Jenna [00:26:51] Well, our writers told us that something they would do sometimes is they would get a writing assignment where they would just take a random pairing of actors and they'd have to pitch storylines for them, for characters. And there's an episode, I can't remember what the name of it is, where they all go out in pairs on sales calls.

Angela [00:27:10] Uh huh, oh yes, yeah, so it's Phyllis and Karen.

Jenna [00:27:13] Right, and that was an episode that came out of that, like they would call it the unusual pairings assignment.

Will [00:27:21] Oh, that was the salesman in the return.

Jenna [00:27:23] Yes, yes, the return. Yes. I really wish we had you.

Will [00:27:29] I could have helped that one, yes.

Angela [00:27:30] Can you just come sit in on our recording?

Will [00:27:32] I would be happy to.

Angela [00:27:34] I mean, because half the time, Cassi, our producer, we're like, Cassi, Google it! Wait, what episode was that?

Will [00:27:38] Yeah, Dwight is bringing, has to bring the late taxes back to New York. He misses the entire time. Yeah, for Angela. And yes, exactly. That's when your hair, the back of your hair was very- It's like a pinwheel. Yeah, the pinwheel all the way around. Very dramatic the way they did the back your hair in that episode.

Rider [00:27:51] One of my favorite, like, completely undiscussed jokes is when Michael is pouring sugar into a diet coke. Is that in the script? Would something like that always be in the scripts?

Jenna [00:28:01] Yes, that is in the script. That's in the show Bible for Michael Scott, that he adds sugar to his diet soda.

Angela [00:28:11] Yes, so what was great I loved about our show is like let's say that's established one time in an early season, that it keeps finding it's moment back into the show.

Will [00:28:22] We got one small glimpse of it because I have all the DVDs and when you got to the dinner party, which is arguably one of the greatest, they gave you the script. The script came with the DVD.

Angela [00:28:31] Oh, no way.

Will [00:28:32] So you got, it was the size of sides, but you got actually the script and I was, that's why I wanted to ask, cause some of the stuff was right on and other stuff it was like, okay, they said Andy harmonizes with the song. But then he kind of goes off and does his own thing. So I was just curious how much you got to play as you were doing it because it was, man, it was so good.

Jenna [00:28:51] We did get to play a lot. We did. Most of the time, like, I feel like what you ended up seeing on screen was it was mostly scripted. Yeah. Gotcha. But it was a very playful collaborative set.

Will [00:29:03] Must have been so fun.

Jenna [00:29:04] It was so fun!

Will [00:29:05] You talked about alternate takes that you would use. You have one of my favorites, which they didn't put in, which you say, I used to get a runner's high, which is why now I lift. Yeah. Which didn't make it into the show, which I thought should have.

Angela [00:29:16] They were called our candy bag alts. And our writers would write, so you would have one talking head. They might write 10 extras. And you would get handed those pages. As you sat down, you would learn the one in the script. They would hand them to you, right? As you started your talking heads and you would get the scripted one. Then you'd kind of look down and do the rest and a lot of times in Talking Heads, that's where you can play a little bit, too. And Greg Daniels, we asked him like, why did you call him the candy bag?

Jenna [00:29:44] Yeah, he named him the Candy Bag.

Angela [00:29:46] Yeah, so you guys here are the Candy bag. And he said, well, I knew it was a lot of extra stuff and I didn't want you guys to be mad. So I thought I'd name it something fun. It's a candy bag.

Jenna [00:29:55] So smart. It's bag of candy. It's like if I called him the alts. So something I want to ask you guys, people always ask us, why do you think The Office is so relatable? And I don't think that the answer is because everyone's worked in an office, because clearly not everyone has worked in an office. But I did work in an Office, and so did Angela. And I'm curious, since you guys grew up doing television, you were actors by the time you were adults. Did you ever work in an office?

Danielle [00:30:40] I worked in customer service for Bloomingdale's.

Angela [00:30:43] You have a very good customer service voice.

Danielle [00:30:45] Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I worked on customer service. I really only got the job because I'm a good gift wrapper.

Jenna [00:30:53] Oh, was that part of it?

Danielle [00:30:54] It was during holiday for gift wrapping. So I actually just wanted to wrap presents and they were like, well, it's a customer service job. Could I just be the person in customer service who wraps the presents? And the truth was I did get to wrap most of the presents, but I also had to like be there to help people with their credit card bill and deal with other issues. Well, you know, the Bloomingdale sale where you get a $25 gift card for every $200 you spend. I had to help with that stuff. I had that real job.

Jenna [00:31:24] Okay, so there's a very famous episode where Pam says that if you need more than three pieces of tape to wrap a present, you're doing it wrong.

Angela [00:31:32] And I disagree with him as Angela Kinsey because I tape the crap out of my gifts, like good luck opening them.

Danielle [00:31:38] So I use double-sided tape.

Angela [00:31:39] Oh, fancy.

Danielle [00:31:42] So you need one to cover the back and at least two to do the perfect triangle folds on each end, okay So is there a way to do it with only three pieces of tape? Yes. Do you get the most bang for your buck presentation-wise? No, so can I do it? Yes. Do I do it? No.

Will [00:32:02] By the way the next couple lines after three pieces of tape are Roy then says 'well, can I just use the comics from the newspaper?' And you say 'yeah, your mother would love that.'.

Jenna [00:32:10] Oh my gosh, that is nuts! Oh my gosh, you know, every holiday season, people send that to me and I use way more than three pieces of tape, I wrap a gift and every time I give a gift to someone, I feel like they're judging me.

Danielle [00:32:27] It's just because you you care more about the aesthetics.

Jenna [00:32:30] Okay, thank you. So now you guys have never worked in an office and have you ever had jobs other than actor or producer.

Rider [00:32:37] I mean, non entertainment, just teaching, I teach, but that's it.

Will [00:32:43] I worked one day in a motorcycle shop when I was 13.

Jenna [00:32:46] Were you on hiatus from the show or was this before the show?

Will [00:32:49] It was before the show,  I was on Nickelodeon at the time. But it was, my dad, it was his client and I had just bought a motorcycle and I wanted to learn more about them. So I thought this was my in, I worked one day and then that was it.

Rider [00:33:01] Because you quit or you got fired?

Will [00:33:03] Neither, it's just I think he thought, okay, I'm gonna let him come in here one day.

Danielle [00:33:07] Other than a child actor, I didn't even know it was legal to work before at least the age of fifteen.

Will [00:33:11] I don't think it was, but most of the shit I did wasn't legal by the time I did it.

Danielle [00:33:16] He also started smoking at 11.

Will [00:33:18] I was a heavy smoker.

Angela [00:33:24] I just pictured you smoking on the subway going into New York for my job.

Will [00:33:30] I was, yeah, that was me. Yeah, 11 to 37, 35, actually, May 27th. Coming up.

Angela [00:33:36] Hey, anniversary.

Will [00:33:37] It will be my 11 year anniversary without a cigarette.

Angela [00:33:39] That's great. T.

Will [00:33:40] Thank you very much. I miss it all the time. I don't, actually. But no, yeah. So no, I never had a job.

Jenna [00:33:47] Well, you know, this gets a little bit to my point, which is that I feel like the reason why the office works is because you don't have to work in an office to know a Dwight or to have met your Michael.

Rider [00:33:58] No, it's all just human behavior. It's so good, it is so relatable, and the performances are just amazing. Yeah, and I feel like you guys changed television, you know, because you just brought everything down a notch. Still, like I said, still managing to pull off big laughs, giant set pieces, but man, it was just so nice to see people behaving like people, you know? And like, when we go back and watch our show... As much as I'm able to say, like, it was good, like it was, you know, it's a sitcom. It's a very stylized form of rhythm and acting, and it has its benefit. Realism, though? Like, you now, I mean, often we would have moments of realism, but you know the jokes were like da, da, dah, dah. You know, you're just hitting it, and you guys didn't have any of that. Still had a musicality, still had a rhythm, but it was part of the camera. It's really remarkable, and yeah.

Jenna [00:34:46] But what you were doing is really difficult and you do it so well on the show. And I couldn't do it. In my early acting struggles and trying to land a role, I was going out for three camera because that's what you did. That was the majority of shows were. And I was terrible. I was terrible. I couldn't do it and I didn't understand because I was like, it's in front of a live audience. I went to theater school. It's just theater, right? But it's not just theater.

Angela [00:35:15] It's its own art form. It really is.

Jenna [00:35:17] It's a certain kind of style. And it is to be respected. And you can do it, Angela.

Angela [00:35:22] Not great, lady.

Jenna [00:35:23] No, you can. Much better than me.

Angela [00:35:25] I mean, right after the office wrapped, my agents were like, let's get you on a three camera. And they said, do you want to do this role for Hot in Cleveland? And I was super excited. And I've told Jenna this with Betty White, my gosh. Yes. I had to be the bitchy principal. This is in my wheelhouse. I just spent nine years being the bitchy principal. And I said the line and the director was like, louder, say it louder. And then I said it louder, but then it sounded weird. And then he was like can we get her like maybe a cane, like a cane like she comes in like with a, and I was like and he goes, maybe she has a hat. And Craig Ferguson was in the episode with me and we had become friends at this point. And he goes, maybe we get her a parrot and a patch. Yeah, exactly.

Rider [00:36:12] But they were trying to sitcom it up, and yeah.

Angela [00:36:14] They were trying to like make me more of a bigger character, and I'd forgotten, I didn't know how to do it.

Rider [00:36:21] Yeah, you probably you'd gotten so used to the volume and tone level that you guys were on. It's so different.

Angela [00:36:26] And I do love sketch comedy, but I think like, I didn't know how to time it out with all the moving parts.

Jenna [00:36:32] Well, just thank god the office came along for me because I did not thrive in the three-camera world. I really tried. I always thought that I was like a pretty naturally funny person and that comedy was my thing in terms of comedy acting, but I was not a fit for the three camera style. In fact, the one major role that I landed was the pilot of Man with a Plan starring Matt LeBlanc. I was on for many, many seasons without me because I was fired after the pilot. Yeah, yeah, that was my big job after the office was Man with a Plan. And I just struggled. I was like, why can't I do this? It is not easy. And I really respect anyone who can do it.

Danielle [00:37:16] You both thrive on the office.

Will [00:37:19] It's amazing. Well, I wanted to say that I think one of the reasons why The Office was so successful is not just, you would arguably be in the conversation for best ensemble cast on TV and mainstream TV, but there's so much heart that's unexpected. I remember watching an interview with your editor who said that as he was editing the scene where Jim and Pam are on the boat for the booze cruise, that he's editing, he goes, I knew what happened and I was still there going kiss her, kiss her. Come on. Jim, kiss her.  You're working on the show. You know what's gonna happen and you're still so invested that you're yelling at the screen to have the characters kiss. That's rare in any medium, but on television at the time, it was unheard of. So we were yelling at the screen, things like that. Kiss her, and oh my god, and Jim can't come back from Stanford with her, come on. And Pam's doing this, she walks across the hot coals, we were just invested in everything. And then on top of that, it was hysterical. So that was just an added bonus to the show. It was lightning in a bottle. I mean, it's tough to get that again. I don't know if we ever will, frankly.

Jenna [00:38:20] I mean, I don't know if I ever will, you know, it was a dream job. Yeah. Came around at the exact right time. And I felt like I was ready. My acting coach always says, successful come when your readiness meets the opportunities, and so you can be as ready as you are and then never have an opportunity. But likewise, you can have all the opportunities in the world, which I was getting with all of my auditions for three camera shows, but I wasn't ready. And so the office for me was the thing where finally the opportunity met the readiness.

Angela [00:38:54] I think that's true for a lot of our cast, too, because we had a lot of really great seasoned comedians that had just been you know plugging away. Kate Flannery is hilarious. She was part of a lounge act called The Lampshades. Oscar Nunez I had met at the Groundlings. He was in Hot Towel. We had a scene together. You know obviously Steve Reign. Everyone had been sort of putting their dues and putting their time in and it was just that right moment. But I have a question for you guys. Yeah. So okay. If you could play a character on The Office, like which one would you want to play?

Danielle [00:39:29] Oh, that's such a good question. Will, I really hope you say Dwight.

Rider [00:39:31] Yeah, you've gotta be Dwight...

Will [00:39:31] My comedy does actually tend itself towards Dwight. It does. You'd be Jim. I'd be Dwight and you'd be Pam.

Danielle [00:39:38] I'd wanna be Pam.

Will [00:39:39] Yeah, I would have to agree with that assessment. Yeah, I would to agree with that assesment entirely.

Jenna [00:39:43] Now, I really, really wish we had brought a Jim Pam Dwight scene with us. We should do that next time.

Will [00:39:50] Which scene would you like? No, I mean, that's definitely how I would have cast it, too, if it had to be the three of us to do it. It would have been.

Danielle [00:40:02] So great.

Will [00:40:03] Is it true that there was a chance you guys were going to be canceled after the first six?

Angela [00:40:06] Oh, oh, yeah, not just after the first six, the first six episodes any day when we went, we were like, Oh, we're still here. Yay. We were not a hit. And also NBC wasn't rallying behind us at all.

Jenna [00:40:18] No, we were very surprised to get a pickup for season two, but the pickup for Season Two was only six episodes. Oh my gosh. And then they ordered only six more. And then, they ordered the back 12, and we ended up with 24 episodes.

Angela [00:40:33] But I mean, yeah, at the end of this six episodes those first six they printed my name on paper and they just laminated it with some velcro and that's what was on my door. So I took my laminated piece of paper home I'll save it forever. We just thought that was it.

Will [00:40:51] So what episode would you then look to and say, that's the one where we knew what we were doing. Everybody knew we were gonna go from here. We're now a hit. This is what's gonna happen.

Angela [00:41:01] But it's very clear to me as far as like the downloads because the Christmas episode with Yankee Swap and babies playing jazz poster and Phyllis's sad oven mitt, all of that, the teapot, that episode became the number one download on iTunes.

Jenna [00:41:20] The ratings weren't there. But this new world of like, oh, wait, we can make money off of this other thing, this downloadable item, not the cast, the cast doesn't get money for that.

Angela [00:41:32] But people were watching it on their iPods remember like this and they were like.

Will [00:41:36] Also from YankeeSwap. Video iPod.

Jenna [00:41:39] Now, what about you guys? Did you always have, well, you mentioned individually, you felt like you could be fired at any moment, but what about the show as a whole?

Rider [00:41:46] We always felt like we were pretty much on the bubble. We never ever.

Will [00:41:50] Maybe three to four or four to five, maybe one season we knew were picked up for the next one.

Rider [00:41:52] I think four and five, maybe we were kind of, it was also just a weird position to be a kids show. We felt like nobody was watching, you know, like we'd had no cultural feedback. Like there was no online culture, but there was also no way that kids could, like we would get recognized, like we couldn't go to the mall, but otherwise, like as far as like the industry, we were nothing, we felt like we were getting no, and so it's only now that we're like, oh my God, we were big.

Will [00:42:17] Yeah, well we also had one of our other executive producers on not not the one used to give us notes But another one who just recently came on and said that was also a network thing where they specifically didn't want you to know that you were popular so that they couldn't go and ask for more money to make more make the show they want so if you're always on the bubble then you're lucky we're giving you this budget like so don't ask for any more because you barely got picked up, where if we knew the show was or they knew that the show is popular the executive producers go in and ask for the moon. So to stop that, they would kind of make us seem like we're just, we're lucky to be there. Don't forget you're lucky.

Rider [00:42:50] But also, we were canceled in 2000 with what, like a 25-share? Nowadays, everybody would chill for that kind of audience.

Will [00:42:59] But that was a big drop for us. So that was, I mean, it was like, oh my God, we're only getting a 25. Yeah, we are done.

Jenna [00:43:03] Did you feel like you got to wrap up the show?

Will [00:43:08] Yeah, we got a nice, you know, we had a very nice hour long with the retrospective and where everybody moves. We really did get a chance to say goodbye. It wasn't like we were just done.

Rider [00:43:16] And our final scene was so great, like it was a really nice final scene and we're all like really crying actually in the classroom.

Danielle [00:43:21] We didn't rehearse it throughout the week, we just read it at table read and then shot it once in front of the audience. And so it's us saying goodbye to Bill Daniels as Mr. Feeney and all of us, just real emotion, kind of talking to each other in character.

Angela [00:43:38] Wow. I'm very thankful for that. And I don't think a lot of, you know, actors get that experience. It's just, you're just done. Yeah, closure. You don't get any like notice. Yeah, your character doesn't get closure.

Jenna [00:43:48] You don't get closure as a group or as a crew. A lot of people just get canceled. You're just like, not next year, guys. You're like, oh.

Rider [00:43:56] For me, moving into any other acting job after Boy Meets World was a shock. It was like, wait, we're not all best friends? We're gonna be together forever? You know, it's like, oh right, that is such a rare gift.

Jenna [00:44:07] Well, I was going to say that I think that's something that our cast have in common, which is that, like Angela was saying, for a lot of the people in the office, this was really our first big job. And you're a very open vessel when it's your first big job. And we all like learned together, we learned about parts of the industry together, like none of us had ever done a junket. None of us had ever been to the upfronts or to all the, like, business stuff that goes behind the making of a show or the publicity or anything. And so we're really bonded, not just because of the show we were on, but because we kind of learned about the entertainment business together.

Angela [00:44:42] Satellite media tour.

Jenna [00:44:44] Yeah, get up at 4 a.m. And talk to 25 news stations.

Danielle [00:44:48] 25 radio stations.

Angela [00:44:49] That have a delay, but you can't see them.

Angela [00:44:56] I'm sorry, you go ahead.

Rider [00:44:57] And also, you guys must have been there for each other for just fame, like what that weird experience is like of like getting recognized and now everybody's talking. It's like a weird thing, you know, and I'm so glad we had each other.

Angela [00:45:09] We have people come up and say this to us all the time, which is like, you look like an older version of that lady on the office. Oh my God. And we are like, that's true, you are correct. I am the older version of the lady on the office.

Will [00:45:25] Hindsight being what it is, would you have done anything else with your characters or anything different with your character if you could go back and do it again?

Jenna [00:45:31] You know what? Yes. I maybe would not have changed Pam's hair. I kind of fought to change the frizzy mullet when she started dating Jim. I said, I think she's growing as a person and I had this whole thing in my head character wise that she was gonna go to art school and she's with her love now and so maybe she's gonna do more than just you know, let her hair air dry and put it in the clip. Like maybe she's just gonna primp a little bit more. And then later I became sort of sad that that sort of signature hairdo was gone. So you might see it in later seasons. I tried to bring it back. A tiny bit. But when I rewatched the show, I became somewhat sad when Pam's hair changed. And I kind of wish that I had just let her be.

Will [00:46:27] You even make fun of it in one episode!

Jenna [00:46:28] Do I?

Will [00:46:28] Where you say, yeah, including this very old, frizzy-haired picture of me when they're doing the baked beans going all the way around. When you're putting the beans on people's pictures. What does a bean mean? Someone tell Kevin what a bean means.

Jenna [00:46:39] Yeah and greg didn't want me to change it. He really loved it. I somehow wore him down.

Angela [00:46:46] Well, Mindy had already worn him down.

Jenna [00:46:47] Well, this is true. I mean transformation.

Angela [00:46:50] So by the time you wanted it, he was like, all right.

Jenna [00:46:53] He was like, whatever. Some of that was a little bit selfish because what would happen is after work, maybe there'd be an event or something we wanted to go to. And I didn't want to go to that event with Frizzy Pam hair. And so I was like if I could be halfway there, if you could just help me a little. Yeah, it would be a lot easier.

Rider [00:47:14] That's part of the re-watch is like recognizing how different the lived experience is. Like the lived experiences as an actor is like, I want my hair to look like my hair. I don't care about the iconography of Pam, but now that you can go back and watch it, you're like, actually that iconography was pretty great. Yeah, a hundred percent. You can see it more like the way your producer did, right?

Will [00:47:32] Like you can see the- With you with your hair.

Rider [00:47:33] Oh, yeah, it's like why, you know, and but at the same time- You said the same thing, yeah. It's like your lived experiences from really, it's important. And as an act you, you, know, but a good actor-

Will [00:47:41] But for us, it was also because of how we grew up on the set. It was a little bit of control.

Rider [00:47:46] Oh yeah, like if we could go and cut our hair and then we had a little bit of control.  Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's a different thing. But I think like as an actor, it is hard to recognize, you know, like.

Jenna [00:47:55] What about you, Anne? I wouldn't change anything. I really wouldn't. I just, um...

Angela [00:47:59] Would you have worn your pantyhose?

Jenna [00:48:01] Never, and I didn't. Don't you think, though, if you're being honest, I was just honest about Pam's hair, if you are being honest and I want you all to weigh in, don't you thing the character of Angela Martin would wear panty hose?

Danielle [00:48:15] Yeah. Yes, of course.

Jenna [00:48:17] Right, Angela?

Will [00:48:22] Although, I would have to say, wouldn't pantyhose really pick up cat hair?

Jenna [00:48:28] And probably get run by cats. That's yeah. That is true.

Angela [00:48:31] Thank you.

Jenna [00:48:32] So maybe there's a character justification.

Angela [00:48:34] That was part of my character assessment, that she would not spend all this extra money on clothes that would just get scratched up.

Danielle [00:48:42] You'd have to be like me today and have an extra pair in your purse in case it gets run.

Will [00:48:46] She also buys most of her clothes at stores where they sell large, colonial American dolls. Gap kids is too flashy.

Angela [00:48:52] Sometimes Gap Kid is too flashy. Okay, this makes me want to ask you a question. What do fans ask you to sign? Is there a quote from each of your characters? Cause I know ones that I get asked that one.

Will [00:49:03] I have a catchphrase, so I have something called the Feeny Call, so that I get asked to sign that quite a bit. That Life's Tough, Get a Helmet, or the Good Looking Guy theme song from the episode you watched.

Angela [00:49:13] Right, I wondered if you had to sing that, because I know Craig Robinson, people ask him to sing.

Will [00:49:18] Out of papers, Out of stock. So yeah, no, having a catchphrase, you have to write it.

Danielle [00:49:25] Yeah, do I get no yeah, I was thinking you don't really have one. No, I get asked to do hello, bye bye I'm so at the mall. I get asked Topanga says something to Cory at one point where she says you or you and I am I and if in the end we end up together, it's beautiful. So I get that quote, people like us to write dream and try do good, we didn't say it.

Rider [00:49:47] Oh, you can use a mirror, babe. It was an episode where I walk, her first episode, she was like very much a hippie, she draws with lipstick during like a reciting a poem. And so I walk in and I look at her and just say, use a Mirror, babe, and that was a big laugh. But that's it, like, I don't really have like catchphrases, that's interesting.

Jenna [00:50:02] There's a little bit of an Office, Boy Meets World crossover connection, but Will, you might be the only person who has it, which is casting director, Allison Jones. She cast your pilot episode.

Rider [00:50:16] She's a legendary casting director. Yeah, no, she wasn't on our show. And I don't even remember. I went back like five times. I don t remember her. I know. It's too bad. So, I mean, I'm sure I've met her. But yeah, I was too young to.

Will [00:50:29] Well, we have another connection from the episode that you actually had us watch is Hank, your security guard, played the coach on Boy Meets World.

Angela [00:50:37] Oh, he's so fantastic.

Will [00:50:40] Matthews B-team doesn't get suited up for away games and play is the one who plays Hank. That's amazing. You know, I hustled up to stay.

Jenna [00:50:45] I love that scene so much when he's going between the coffee and the chair.

Angela [00:50:49] He takes the little jelly beans.

Jenna [00:50:51] That was an improv. He did that. And I laughed the first time he did it.

Angela [00:50:56] And then Steve as Michael is like, get out!

Jenna [00:51:01] But also just when he sits in Pam's chair. Oh my God. It just was really hard for me not to laugh.

Angela [00:51:10] There was a few times we broke, one of the most, I would say, really precarious moments of Ed breaking was his character has to take a bite of a tuna fish sandwich. It's really a tuna fish sandwich and then I have to go and grab him and kiss him.

Danielle [00:51:25] Yeah, I thought of that while it was happening.

Angela [00:51:27] Yes, and Ed, right before the take, said, Ange, I'm not going to open my mouth at all so you don't get any of this tuna. I said, thank you. The camera couldn't see his face right as I grab him. My body's blocking, but he'd go like this. And he would hold, because he had to hold his breath, because they wanted it to be this like, and he started to break at one point. And I'm like, and he's like, frr frr, frrr, and I'm, like, no, no. No, no! It was so gross. It's so gross, and so you see me kind of wipe my, like, oh my God, it was so gross. And Ed was like, I'm sorry. I can't keep it together. I know.

Jenna [00:52:06] Guys, this was so fun.

Angela [00:52:06] This was so wonderful.

Jenna [00:52:09] Rider, thank you for reaching out and suggesting it. This was so cool.

Danielle [00:52:14] It was really great, and it was really nice for us to be able to look you in the eyes and to thank you for paving the way for us to even have a show. And so we just, we admire you both so much, admire what you do, love your work, both podcast and TV. So thank you everything.

Angela [00:52:32] Well right back at ya. Thank you. Will, I will be getting your phone number for future Office Ladies episodes.

Will [00:52:37] That's no problem. Hit me up. I'll let you know what happened on your show.

Angela [00:52:40] Okay, thank you. Well, that was so much fun.

Jenna [00:52:47] They are so fun, lady. I'm so glad we did that. I am so glad that Rider suggested it.

Angela [00:52:53] Yeah. I love just hearing about their journey becoming podcasters and rewatching their show. Yeah, it was really cool.

Jenna [00:53:01] I loved it. Well, listen, everybody, head over to Pod Meets World because we did part one of this collaboration where Pod meets office ladies. We watched an episode of Boy Meets world and we talked all about it.

Angela [00:53:15] Yes, we watched Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow, and neither of us had seen it, and we talked all about it, and we learned a lot of behind-the-scenes details.

Jenna [00:53:24] Yeah, they gave us a quiz too, and I mean.

Angela [00:53:27] You won.

Jenna [00:53:28] I did well, anyway.

Angela [00:53:29] You did. All right, you guys, go listen to that, and we hope you have a great week.

Jenna [00:53:33] See you next week. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

Angela [00:53:40] Office Ladies is a presentation of Audacy and is produced by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.

Jenna [00:53:46] Our executive producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our audio engineer is Sam Kieffer. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

Angela [00:53:54] Audacy's executive producer is Leah Reis-Dennis.

Jenna [00:53:57] Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

Angela [00:53:59] Our theme song is RubberTree by Creed Bratton.