TRANSCRIPT
Office Ladies | Episode 287 - Two Truths & a Lie with Joel McHale
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 [00:00:08] and we're best friends.
Jenna [00:00:09] And now we're doing the ultimate Office lover's 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 Ladies 6.0.
Jenna [00:00:00] Hi there, lady.
Angela [00:00:01] Hey there. How's it going?
Jenna [00:00:03] It's going pretty good. Can't complain.
Angela [00:00:07] No complaints here either. Before we hopped on today, I was just kind of doing the scroll on the old social media and I saw the most fun thing. You want to hear it?
Jenna [00:00:17] Yeah.
Angela [00:00:18] So I know you love hockey, lady. [giggling] We know you love hockey.
Jenna [00:00:21] Listen, I don't just love "Heated Rivalry." I also love hockey, period.
Angela [00:00:27] Okay, well listen to this. This was really, really cool. And gosh, it looked like it was a blast. I wanna share it. It's already happened, but I think it's so fun. The Flyers, which I guess are the hockey team in Philadelphia, Jenna, but you probably already knew that.
Jenna [00:00:42] Yes.
Angela [00:00:43] They had their first ever themed night celebrating The Office.
Jenna [00:00:49] What?!
Angela [00:00:50] Yes! On March 14th, they were playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flyers decided to pay tribute to what they said was one of the most iconic TV shows, to celebrate the network's 100th anniversary on NBC. They had all of these clips from the show. You know on the giant Jumbotron? They played clips from The Office. They had themed food and beverages and they had giveaways, and it was all The Office theme.
And there were surprise appearances by Leslie, David Baker and Kate Flannery. They did that really fun thing where they go around the stadium, you know, and up on the jumbotron they play the lookalike game where they put like a celebrity, and then the person that looks like them in the stadium. And it was all characters of the office. But when they got to Leslie and Kate, , they panned actually to them and the place went crazy.
Jenna [00:01:20] Oh my gosh, well I love that. You know, when I was in St. Louis a few years ago, I went to a Blues game with my family. The folks at the Blues knew we were going So they did an Office themed one. and then when they flashed up a picture of Pam, then they would show me and kind of reveal that I was there. But I said, "You know what would be kind of fun? What if you show my daughter first and then I'll sit next to her and then you can pan to me."
Angela [00:02:07] So cute!
Jenna [00:02:07] Cause she probably looks more like Pam than I do now, really, you know?
Angela [00:02:12] Yeah, she's a mini-you for sure.
Jenna [00:02:13] Yeah, and so it was really cute, and it's a fun family memory.
Angela [00:02:19] That's adorable. I was at a Broncos game and they panned to me one time. Lady, I got so excited seeing myself on the Jumbotron that I lost all my cool. I was dancing around.
Jenna [00:02:30] Have you ever seen Jeff Goldblum get spotted on one of those?
Angela [00:02:32] Yes, I was like that!
Jenna [00:02:34] Yes, seeing himself on the Jumbotron is so charming. But I mean, I knew I was gonna be on the Jumbotron, but it's an exciting thing! It just is!
Angela [00:02:43] Super exciting and they played The Office theme music and it's just really fun. But yeah, I thought that was cool. They had an all Office theme night at the Flyers game.
Jenna [00:02:56] Very cool. Well, listen, everybody, we have a really fun episode today. We are gonna be playing the game "Two Truths and a Lie" with Joel McHale. We love Joel.
Angela [00:03:04] We love Joel. He's a good friend, and I just can't wait, because you never know what you're gonna get with Joel.
Jenna [00:03:09] Well first though, we are gonna do our fan chitchat question of the week. This one is coming from Hannah P. in South Carolina
Hannah P. [00:03:18] Hi Office Ladies, apa kabar? My name is Hannah and I have a get to know you question that's usually used in my friend group. When someone starts new at work, we ask, "What's your garbage?" This is usually something weird or gross or funny that you find totally normal, but other people are shocked by. For example, my favorite kind of popcorn is three days old or burnt. My mom's favorite snack or dessert is banana strawberry baby food, and a friend of mine would just clip her nails anywhere in her house and just clean them up next time she vacuumed. So it can be food or a habit or anything someone has said, "That's crazy" to and you just don't agree. Also, I've lived in Indonesia and I'm moving back there soon. So I absolutely love hearing Angela speak Indonesian, since I never get to hear it here in the States. Thanks for all you guys do.
Angela [00:04:11] Oh, Hannah, kabar bik trima kase! Thank you so much for writing in. I'm so excited to hear that you're going back to Indonesia, such a wonderful place. That just gave me all the warm feelings, Jenna. Just hearing her say "apa kabar" made my day.
Jenna [00:04:27] Well, I love that and I love Hannah's question. I love the way they get to know each other is by leading with their garbage. I think that's very cute.
Angela [00:04:37] I mean, Hannah, I want this to be one of the questions when you're at a fun dinner party. "What's your garbage?" I am gonna make a mental note of that.
Jenna [00:04:45] So, Ange, what comes to mind for you?
Angela [00:04:47] Well, Hannah gave the example of three-day-old burnt popcorn. Here's something I like, and I don't think it's that weird. I think there's going to be people out there that do this as well. Let me know. But I love nothing more than if we order pizza and everyone is done with their pizza... Our kids eat the pizza, but then they don't eat the crust and then they put it back in the pizza box. So then I go to clean up, and there's a pizza box full of a lot of crust and I will go get some ranch dressing and I eat the pizza crust. I mean, I'm not going to eat after someone I don't know. But you know what I mean? I'm like, "What? We're not wasting this pizza crust, are we?" I have put pizza crust in a Ziploc bag and saved it for the next day and heated it up in the microwave with some ranch dressing. Is that weird?
Jenna [00:05:42] So your garbage is that you can't let pizza crust go.
Angela [00:05:47] I can't, I love the taste of it. I love pizza crust.
Jenna [00:05:51] I don't understand people who don't like the crust. I feel like it's all leading up to the crust, if it's a good crust. I get excited when I get to the crust. Do you ever go and take a piece of pizza crust off the pizza and then leave the pizza part and just eat the crust?
Angela [00:06:08] I haven't done that, but I will tell you, I can't wait for the pizza crust. I kind of get through the pizza, like, just get me through it.
Jenna [00:06:16] You're here for the crust.
Angela [00:06:18] I'm here for the crust. I want you to know that I'm talking all crusts, deep dish crust, medium, thin crust that's crispy. People are like, "Why do you want the thin crust?" I'm like, "Give me the crust, I love the crust." So that's my garbage, what about you lady? What's your garbage?
Jenna [00:06:38] Well, my garbage is something that I feel like maybe I've shared on the podcast before, but this is what came to mind. It's very Angela Martin of me, but sometimes I get foster kittens and I lick their heads.
Angela [00:06:55] Like, where?
Jenna [00:06:56] Between their eyes.
Angela [00:06:58] Like their mama?
Jenna [00:07:00] Like their mama. When they first come in and they're semi-feral and the only way you can hold them is to wrap them up like a little burrito and a blanket and then you snug them up real close on your chest, I always pet them right there. But sometimes if they're especially scared, I might give a little lick. Just to try to, I don't know, create that bond.
Angela [00:07:28] You are so much more Angela Martin in this moment than I am.
Jenna [00:07:33] I know.
Angela [00:07:34] I guess my question is, when you lick that little part between their eyes, do you get hair on your tongue? Are you then like [makes hair stuck on tongue noises]?
Jenna [00:07:43] No, you don't.
Angela [00:07:44] No, you don't? It doesn't come off?
Jenna [00:07:46] There's nothing there. I give it a couple little licks and then I give it a little smooth with the thumb.
Angela [00:07:52] You are a very dedicated kitty foster parent.
Jenna [00:07:56] I hope by the time this podcast comes out, I have none of them in my house anymore.
Angela [00:08:00] Because they've all been adopted?
Jenna [00:08:01] Because they've all gone to their forever homes, but I'll let you know. I've managed to do cat rescue for 20 years without a foster fail, so I'm hoping I can keep up my record.
Angela [00:08:10] There's no way. You're gonna end up adopting one of these. There's not way. Every single time you have a litter of kittens that you're fostering, you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna keep one of them." The odds are not in your favor here. You are going to end up keeping one of them.
Jenna [00:08:23] This is terrible BFFing right now. You're supposed to be like, "Don't worry, the right person will find them."
Angela [00:08:30] No, it's not about that.
Jenna [00:08:31] "Don't give in to this temptation."
Angela [00:08:34] No, its not about. Why is it a temptation if you make a connection with one of the kitties?
Jenna [00:08:39] Because then I can't foster another litter of kittens, because I can't absorb a kitten every time. I'll be overrun.
Angela [00:08:46] I'm just saying, just one time.
Jenna [00:08:49] Oh my gosh. You're a rescuer's nightmare right now. This is not what I need.
Angela [00:08:55] [laughing] I'm sorry, lady. I'm so sorry. Okay, they're all going to find wonderful homes. You're doing a great job. Way to go.
Jenna [00:09:03] Thank you. So yeah, that's my garbage, is that I lick my kittens from time to time like Angela Martin maybe did with her garbage. Her literal garbage cat.
Angela [00:09:15] I mean your garbage is coming from such a nurturing place and mine is coming just from the love of bread. It's kind of lame.
Jenna [00:09:26] Matt, what about your garbage?
Matt [00:09:28] I think I'm kind of like Angela where I just... It's the eating of other people's leftovers.
Angela [00:09:33] Now hold up, Matt, because I am not eating other people's leftovers. I just want your pizza crust. If you and I order a pizza and you're not going to eat your crust, I'll take it.
Matt [00:09:43] So yeah, I'll take it a step further. For me, when my kids come home from school, I open their lunchbox (especially because it's around that time of day, it's the late afternoon) and I'm kind of hungry. Even while I'm still at the school parking lot, I'll open their little My Little Pony lunchbox and grab some warm chicken nuggets and fruit that's been warmed by the sun.
Angela [00:10:02] It's like a parent's afternoon snack.
Matt [00:10:03] I just need a little snack. My blood sugar's a little low, I just need a little snack.
Jenna [00:10:07] I feel worried for you. I'm worried you're gonna get food poisoning.
Matt [00:10:10] So far, so good.
Jenna [00:10:11] Okay, good.
Angela [00:10:13] Come on, what's in a kid's lunchbox? Some goldfish, some pretzels. So you're getting a soggy pretzel.
Matt [00:10:19] Yeah, exactly.
Angela [00:10:20] Jenna, Matt and I are clearly kind of laid back about eating other people's food.
Jenna [00:10:26] Oh, well, thank you so much, Hannah. We had fun sharing our garbage. Everyone, we're going to take a break. We'll be back with Joel McHale.
audio cue [00:10:34] [musical sting]
Jenna [00:10:41] Hi, Joel.
Angela [00:10:42] That's our sting, Joel, are you so impressed?
Joel [00:10:45] Can't believe you got Sting to do that whole sting. Wow. I'm off to a roaring start. I apologize.
Angela [00:10:52] You stop it.
Jenna [00:10:54] Joel, how are you?
Joel [00:10:55] Look at us. Drinking, enjoying ourselves. Remember the last time I stumbled into your podcast?
Angela [00:11:03] Yes. We do.
Joel [00:11:04] That was pre-pandemic, right?
Angela [00:11:06] That was pre-pandemic, that was at Earwolf. That's when you could walk down a hallway and look in the sound booth windows and see who was recording. You walked by and saw us and you just came in. You're like, "Hey guys."
Joel [00:11:19] Just, like, "What are you guys doing?"
Angela [00:11:20] "What's happening here? You guys making a podcast?" Joel, I have to brag on you a little bit, which is you've got a wicked forehand, my friend. You've got really good forehand.
Joel [00:11:31] I'll take that. I had to work on it.
Angela [00:11:34] You had to work hard on it, but you've got a really nice forehand. So if you guys ever find yourself in a tennis match with Joel, watch out for the forehand.
Jenna [00:11:43] How many times a week do you play, Joel?
Joel [00:11:45] Every day. Almost.
Jenna [00:11:47] Is that right? Do you get out there every day?
Joel [00:11:49] Yeah, my son plays. He's 17 and on his high school team, so that really helps. We have a tennis court. Yes, I've done well, everyone. I just want to let people know, that's what I spent my money on.
Angela [00:12:04] I will say you share though, because I do not have a tennis court. But you're like, "Anne's just come over." Then I come and I show up with homemade granola. I just leave you guys granola. That's our trade.
Joel [00:12:16] Sarah loves that homemade. She won't stop talking about it. "How did they do it? It's toasty and it's so flavorful. It's salty and sweet." See Jenna, you have this whole other world of old people hitting tennis balls and eating granola.
Jenna [00:12:34] Am I allowed to come over and just eat the granola?
Joel [00:12:37] Yes!
Jenna [00:12:38] Is there a place for me?
Joel [00:12:39] Yes, we have some benches you can watch from. Just watch out for the errant line drive.
Angela [00:12:46] And a lemon tree that has the most lemons I've ever seen in my life, right by the tennis court. It's kind of nuts.
Joel [00:12:53] It is so weighed down, it doesn't look like it's gonna survive. It's a Meyer lemon tree, too.
Jenna [00:13:01] Oh, those are the best lemons! I have a Meyer lemon tree. They're sweeter.
Joel [00:13:05] They're so good. Growing up in the northwest... Shout out to Rainn Wilson. I never dreamt if you lived in Southern California, you could just plant any fruit tree and it's going to grow and just start dumping oranges everywhere. Seems like Shangri-La when you think about it that way.
Jenna [00:13:24] Can I ask a question, because I've wondered this. So in my neighborhood, like you said, living in Southern California, people have fruit trees. They just have them. There's pomegranate trees and persimmon trees and so many lemon and lime and orange trees. You just go for a walk in the neighborhood and sometimes those trees are in people's front yards and they're really full of fruit. Do you think it's okay to pick a piece of fruit off of someone else's tree that's in their front yard?
Angela [00:14:00] Are you trespassing? Are the branches leaning over the fence?
Jenna [00:14:03] There's no fence. It's just a sidewalk and there's a tree there and maybe you're passing by and you are like, "I'd love an orange." And there's so many of them. There's so much. So I'll just say, I never do it. But I feel like it should be okay. As long as you're not taking the last one or there's a dozen left. Like, how many oranges does one person need?
Joel [00:14:32] I need them all.
Angela [00:14:33] You don't want anyone taking your lemons?
Joel [00:14:36] Well, why do you think we have such a huge wall keeping everyone separated from our lemons?
Angela [00:14:40] Well, I have neighbors, guys, and they are side by side. Like, their driveways line up next to each other.
Jenna [00:14:47] That's how it is with my neighbor, yeah.
Angela [00:14:48] Okay, so on one side, my neighbor has a lemon tree. It's loaded with lemons, and he has just a basket underneath it. He's got a little sign that says, "Please take the lemons, feel free." Then on the other driveway, just a few feet away, another lemon tree loaded with lemon, and they have a sign, "Do not pick the lemons."
Jenna [00:15:09] That's not true.
Angela [00:15:10] It is true! It is true. I promise you. I'm like, "What?" These two people have very different philosophies. They're letting the whole neighborhood know about it. Well, on those good vibes, I think it's time.
Joel [00:15:24] Are you trying to transition to this game, Angela?
Angela [00:15:27] I'm trying, Joel. You should know this about me. I'm horrible at transitions and segues. Like, if we're at a cocktail party and I really want to talk to you and you're talking to people. If you're standing, let's say, by a Christmas tree, I might walk up and be like, "Here's the thing about Christmas trees." The whole energy.
Joel [00:15:52] At least you segue into conversation though. If you were to launch into, like, "The Atlas Mountains are in Morocco." Id just be like "What?"
Angela [00:16:01] Yeah, no, I just look at something right in front of me and comment. This is going to be the best transition of your whole F'n life. Are you ready?
Joel [00:16:10] Oh, now there's a lot of pressure.
Angela [00:16:12] Who's so much fun at a party and who's great at playing games? It's our dear friend Joel McHale. We thought who better than to play two truths and one lie with? We had Creed Bratton on he played it. Joel, no pressure. He is amazing at two truths and a lie
Joel [00:16:30] At lying and telling the truth?
Angela [00:16:33] Yes, because his truths and his lies are kind of blurry. Jenna and I did not do a lot of Googling on you. We wanted to be surprised. We don't wanna know all your ins and outs, okay? All your business. So we're going to need you to tell us two truths and a lie in any order, and then Jenna and I are gonna guess which one is the lie. You folks listening out there can play along with us. So Joel, you're up. You have to tell us now: two truths and a lie.
Joel [00:17:06] And it can be anything?
Angela [00:17:08] It can be anything.
Joel [00:17:10] So I could tell a 25 minute story?
Angela [00:17:15] Sure.
Jenna [00:17:17] Three 25 minute stories, and one is a lie.
Angela [00:17:18] But you are gonna have to take a break. You will have to pause, because I'm gonna have to go pee if you do three 25 minute stories.
Joel [00:17:27] I will be offended because these stories are real humdingers.
Angela [00:17:32] Okay, two truths and a lie with Joel McHale. Here we go.
Joel [00:17:35] Two truths and a lie. Here we go. I have been bitten by a bear. I have met Luciano Pavarotti when he was alive, obviously. I didn't meet him after he died. And I quit drinking scotch.
Angela [00:17:56] Okay. Two truths and a lie.
Joel [00:18:00] Oh, is it two truths?
Angela [00:18:02] Two truths, and a lie.
Jenna [00:18:04] Did you just give us two lies and one truth?
Joel [00:18:07] Yup.
Angela [00:18:07] Did you really?
Joel [00:18:08] Yeah, let's do that.
Jenna [00:18:09] Okay, we're now playing Two Lies and One Truth.
Joel [00:18:12] I like that.
Jenna [00:18:14] I just saw you at a holiday party, where I believe you were drinking scotch. So I am asking myself, "How recently did you stop drinking scotch?" Were you not drinking scotch at that party?
Joel [00:18:30] I was not drinking scotch.
Jenna [00:18:30] Were you not drinking an old fashioned?
Joel [00:18:33] I was drinking sparkling wine.
Angela [00:18:36] Sparkling wine?
Joel [00:18:36] You know, it wasn't a champagne, it was a sparkling wine. It was a [in an Italian accent] prosecco!
Jenna [00:18:41] You were?
Joel [00:18:41] I was definitely not drinking an Old Fashioned.
Angela [00:18:46] Okay.
Joel [00:18:47] I think, in my entire lifetime, I have had maybe two old fashions.
Angela [00:18:54] Jenna, you love an old-fashioned.
Joel [00:18:57] Maybe you were drinking the old-fashioned.
Jenna [00:19:00] I was drinking an old-fashioned and so was Lee and I thought you and the other fellows were too. I thought we were all toasting old-fashions, but clearly not.
Joel [00:19:15] I choose the sparkling wine because I can drink a lot, but if I start drinking hard alcohol, publicly... People will be like, "Do you go crazy?" No, I will curl up.
Angela [00:19:26] You can go night-night.
Joel [00:19:28] I'll be like, "I'm just gonna sleep in the pool. I don't care where, I just gonna lie down right here."
Angela [00:19:34] Wait, so what was your other one? You got bit by a bear?
Joel [00:19:37] Bit by a bear, and met Luciano Pavarotti.
Angela [00:19:41] When he was alive, obviously.
Joel [00:19:45] Because you guys know where I was born, right?
Angela [00:19:47] Pacific Northwest, there are bears.
Joel [00:19:50] No!
Angela [00:19:50] What, where were you born?
Joel [00:19:51] Yeah, now look up on Wikipedia where I was born.
Angela [00:19:54] Oh god, you're gonna make me google it right now? Don't tell me!
Joel [00:19:57] I was born in Italy, so...
Angela [00:20:00] You were born in Italy?
Jenna [00:20:02] Do you have Italian citizenship as well? Do you have dual citizenship?
Joel [00:20:06] Nope. I could have had it. I was born before America recognized dual citizenship
Angela [00:20:12] You were born in Rome? Aw. Your dad was the dean of students.
Joel [00:20:18] Yes, at Loyola University Rome Center. My mom was a student. Scandal!
Jenna [00:20:24] How long did you live in Rome?
Joel [00:20:26] Not long, but enough to meet Luciano Pavarotti, who was in his prime.
Angela [00:20:33] And you were born in 1971. Me too! Yes, yes!
Jenna [00:20:40] So that's the truth. The lies are that you've never been bitten by a bear and you still drink scotch, but not at public parties.
Joel [00:20:48] Wait, how do we play this?
Angela [00:20:51] We have to guess which is the truth.
Joel [00:20:53] Oh, okay.
Angela [00:20:55] Because you flipped it on us.
Joel [00:20:59] I'm not even sure now.
Angela [00:21:02] Okay, so, wait, you don't know which is your truth?
Joel [00:21:04] No, I know what they are.
Angela [00:21:07] He did grow up though in the Pacific Northwest. There could be bears, lady. Maybe he had a field trip and a bear bit him, like when a monkey threw me on the ground in Indonesia.
Joel [00:21:18] A monkey threw you on the ground?
Angela [00:21:20] Yes but we're not here to talk about that we're here to talk about that.
Jenna [00:21:23] Don't ask her about it.
Angela [00:21:25] But i'm just saying, you could have been on a field trip.
Joel [00:21:28] Don't! You do not ask about it! We will be here for so long.
Angela [00:21:34] We will here for a long time.
Jenna [00:21:36] Wait, but also, he is on a show called "Animal Control" with many animals.
Angela [00:21:42] Yes!
Jenna [00:21:43] And now I'm worried that perhaps you have been bitten by a bear. You're calling it a bear, but maybe it was a bear cub, and maybe it a little love nibble.
Joel [00:21:55] When was the last time you heard of somebody being love nibbled by a bear?
Jenna [00:22:02] A bear cub, a tiny bear.
Joel [00:22:03] Do bear cubs nibble?
Jenna [00:22:04] I don't know!
Angela [00:22:07] Wait, do they have puppy teeth, that are real sharp and hurt?
Jenna [00:22:10] That's what I'm wondering.
Angela [00:22:12] Okay, well, I'm gonna go with, a truth is, you met Pavarotti.
Jenna [00:22:22] That's it. There's only one truth.
Angela [00:22:24] Oh, yeah. So that's it. I forgot the game. I think that's the game. Now i know you have a very vast wine collection and I feel like you might have a scotch every once in a while, at home. Not in public, we know that, because you'll go sleep in someone's yard.
Joel [00:22:43] Take their lemons.
Jenna [00:22:47] This is my guess as well. I think that's the truth, and I wanna know if we're right, and then I wanna hear the story.
Joel [00:22:54] Alright. I have not met Luciano Pavarotti.
Angela [00:22:58] What?! Oh no, now we have to pick between the other two!
Joel [00:23:06] And notice how I walked you into it.
Jenna [00:23:09] You really walked us into it. "I was born in Italy."
Angela [00:23:12] I know.
Jenna [00:23:13] It was the time! 1971!
Angela [00:23:17] Joel, me thinks you've hosted game shows before!
Joel [00:23:20] Welcome to the "One Percent Club," on Fox. Not to be confused with "Crime Scene Kitchen," on Fox.
Jenna [00:23:28] [incredulously] Joel, have you been bitten by a bear?
Joel [00:23:31] I was bit by a bear.
Jenna [00:23:33] You were?!
Angela [00:23:34] Please tell the whole story!
Joel [00:23:36] And I did not quit drinking scotch.
Angela [00:23:38] Well, yes, okay.
Joel [00:23:40] But I did not have an old-fashioned at that party.
Jenna [00:23:43] I stand corrected.
Joel [00:23:45] Ironically, it was not on Animal Control. It was on the six episode arc I had on "The Office," which I don't know why you didn't bring that up.
Angela [00:23:54] What?
Jenna [00:23:56] Joel, there was no 6 episode arc where you fight a bear.
Angela [00:24:00] But you know what? I really wish you and Dwight were in the woods, whatever your character was. Maybe you're one of his cousins and you had to fight a bear.
Joel [00:24:08] Oh, I did audition for Dwight.
Angela [00:24:12] You did?
Joel [00:24:14] Yeah, this is going way back. I was like, "I probably should audition for Jim." They were like, "No, no, no, Dwight." I was, like, "I don't know if I'm the right one for this one." I didn't get past the initial read. Then when Rainn got it, I was like, "Oh, yeah, it couldn't be anybody else."
Jenna [00:24:42] Did you know Rainn before?
Joel [00:24:44] I knew of Rainn. Rainn was already on his way to being... He was already a well-established comic and a local Seattle legend because he had done good. He had done good by then. What was that, 2000... Did you guys start in 2006?
Jenna [00:25:02] 2003 or 2004? Yeah.
Joel [00:25:05] If it was three or four, then it would have been right as "The Soup" was starting. Anyway, going way back!
Angela [00:25:11] God, I remember watching The Soup. I remember you on The Soup all the time. Then when I met you, I was like, "Oh my God, be cool. Don't make a weird awkward transition into the conversation."
Joel [00:25:26] "Do you have any lemons?"
Angela [00:25:29] "Oh, fancy finding you by some lemons!"
Joel [00:25:32] "Angela Kinsey's trying to steal lemons from us."
Jenna [00:25:35] [shouting] Are we ever gonna hear about this bear attack? What do I need to do? I need to hear the story of the bear attack.
Joel [00:25:41] It was for a show called "The Great Indoors," which was on CBS for one season in 2016. It was me, the great Stephen Fry, Chris Mintz-Plasse, Christine Koh, Deborah Baker Jr., and Shaun Brown. Stephen Fry played my boss. Anyway, we did this scene with a bear cub. I had to hold the bear cub while I gave a speech. They were like, "Okay, so the bear will probably become impatient. You got about 40 seconds, because the bear doesn't really like to be held." And so you're holding the bear and the bear's cuddly. It's a bear cub. It weighs 50 pounds and I start givin' the speech as fast as I can. They were like, "He'll just be annoyed and he might bite ya, just to test things out." So I was wearing three layers and that thing bit me in the arm. That thing, that beautiful thing. Bears do not have sharp teeth. They have teeth that crush things.
Angela [00:26:49] Oh no!
Joel [00:26:49] It's not like a puppy at all. It just squeezes so hard, because they crush bones with them. So it didn't break skin, but it left this gigantic mouth-shaped bruise on my arm. So then I dropped the bear, out of pain. Sure. The bear didn't care. The guy was like, "Oh yeah, the bear falls out of trees all the time, like three feet. This is nothing. He's never been happier." Then Stephen Fry had to pick him up and hold them and give a speech and the exact same thing happened. So anyway...
Jenna [00:27:24] Was it just the one take though? They weren't like, "Can you go again?"
Joel [00:27:27] We did one take. They had river otters on set, at one point. They wanted me to hold a river otter and that was about 20 times more terrifying because they are big and they move so fast and they were eating raw chicken and crushing the bones in their teeth. Like it's popcorn.
Angela [00:27:48] No.
Joel [00:27:49] The bear was just mellow and cool. The bear on the ground just walking around was like a nice dog.
Jenna [00:27:56] You know, I actually have a bear story if you're interested.
Joel [00:28:01] Yes!
Jenna [00:28:01] OK, so I'm not sure if I've told this story on our podcast before, but early in the Office shoot (I think maybe I've mentioned it) they asked me and John and Rainn to do a photo shoot. I think it was for TV Guide. I don't know why, but it was the three of us and a fully grown bear. Like, a full bear. The bear was coming through the window,
Angela [00:28:29] What?
Jenna [00:28:29] And then the three of us were like, "Ah!"
Angela [00:28:32] I have no memory of this, lady.
Jenna [00:28:34] You can Google it. I think you can find the image of us with this bear. So they were setting it up and we were getting ready to go. Then someone came in and said, "You know what? We've decided that we're going to do these separate. So you guys just react as if the bear is there and then we'll bring the bear out later, and we'll get the shot of the bear and we will put them together." And we were like, "That sounds good." I kid you not, a couple years later, (I am pretty sure this is true, I don't want to disparage this bear if I'm wrong) I think he killed his trainer.
Angela [00:29:13] Oh my gosh!
Jenna [00:29:16] I think he killed someone.
Joel [00:29:17] When you have a gigantic wild animal...
Jenna [00:29:21] Yeah, and so I'm so grateful that on the day, they decided to shoot us separately. Because it turns out this bear, he had worked a long time and I think he was done. He was grumpy. He wasn't into it anymore. He didn't wanna be a performing bear.
Joel [00:29:41] That bear may not even had intended to kill his trainer. It could have just been like, "Hey," and their arm is a thousand times more powerful than a human arm, so then...
Angela [00:29:54] Right.
Joel [00:29:55] I did a shoot with some monkeys, some chimpanzees. It was for a magazine and they were like, "So don't look the monkeys in the eye."
Angela [00:30:07] No, don't.
Joel [00:30:08] And then I said, "If that's the rule, then you shoot those guys separately. Because I'm not gonna accidentally gaze at this thing and then it's gonna come at me and kill me."
Angela [00:30:22] Also, now that you've told me not to look at the monkey in the eye, that's all I'm gonna do. That's what's in my brain now. "Gotta look him in the eye. I gotta see what happens."
Jenna [00:30:31] Joel, it seems like you've done a lot of television programs with animals because you are now in season four of Animal Control.
Joel [00:30:39] I don't know how that worked out, but yeah, I've worked with a ton of animals. I don't know how it all happened. I do love them. I love them to death. I got to ride a camel this year, down a residential street in Vancouver and I was like, "This is the greatest. Can't believe this is happening."
Jenna [00:30:57] I have a question for you. Season four, episode one, Animal Control. There's a horse. It's going down the road. You jump out of a moving car, a slow moving car and you kind of roll and then you jog up to the horse and you mount it.
Joel [00:31:16] Yes. That was not me.
Jenna [00:31:18] But did you fall out of the car? Cause I believe you rolled out of the car, but I'm like, "I think the guy mounting the horse was not you" because it's on your back. Then we go to the front of you and you are on the horse.
Joel [00:31:32] Riding a horse down a highway.
Jenna [00:31:33] What an opener! What a season opener!
Joel [00:31:35] Yeah, we shut down a highway in Vancouver and we had, like, six hours total. So we ran out there and got everything all set up and got in and got out and it worked. So they would not let me fall out of the truck. Even though I'm one of those guys that believes I can prove that I'm going to live forever through physical accomplishments. So they were like, "That's exactly why we're not allowing you to roll out of a truck." So I had a bunch of pads on, so I did the last final roll. The only thing scary about that is there was a team of trucks, all driving, and they all had to be at a certain speed. So they're like, "Make sure you get up fast or you're gonna get hit by this truck."
Angela [00:32:13] Oh my God.
Joel [00:32:14] Great. Then the guy that did the horse thing, that jump, I could not have done that jump because he grabbed the pommel and then he just flipped his legs up. That dude is one of the greatest horse trainers and performers on the planet.
Jenna [00:32:30] It was like an old timey mounting of a horse. It was in the old west, how you might run out into the field and just jump on the back of the horse. It was very cool.
Joel [00:32:41] Thank you!
Jenna [00:32:43] Is there anything that you can tease for this season because now the two animal control units have merged? Is that going to be the main crux of the season?
Joel [00:32:53] That is the main crux of the season, and everybody dies.
Angela [00:32:59] [laughing] Stop it.
Jenna [00:33:01] Wow! What happens in season 5?
Joel [00:33:02] I don't know if you've seen "Hamlet," or the movie "Hamnet."
Jenna [00:33:08] Okay.
Joel [00:33:09] But yeah, there's a duel at the end. One of us is poisoned and then accidentally poisons the other and...
Angela [00:33:15] That's it?
Joel [00:33:16] That's it. It's like Hamlet and the Red Wedding, all at once.
Angela [00:33:19] Oh, The Red Wedding, which I want Jenna to watch.
Jenna [00:33:23] I don't know why I find this hard to believe, but I feel like Fox is not letting the show end that way.
Joel [00:33:30] No, Kyla Pratt and Gerry Dee, who came onto the show, are just knocking it out of the park. Just so funny and just a wonderful nemesis. Yeah, it's good times. It's airing now. I think we're almost to the season closer.
Angela [00:33:49] I do want to say this, you guys, that for folks that love The Office, some of my favorite scenes, Joel, are when y'all are just all in the office giving each other a bunch of crap, you know? Like, the Animal Control offices with the desks. The whole vibe reminded me a lot of us in the bullpen of The Office. So, Office fans, you want to check this show out.
Joel [00:34:10] We literally said, "This should be like The Office." It's the interpersonal relationships that all these guys have. Just keep zipping around those and we should be okay.
Jenna [00:34:21] I'm gonna give you this. I think it's as if The Office and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" had a baby.
Joel [00:34:26] Now I feel like you're lying to me because I can't take a compliment and my imposter syndrome goes through the roof, to even be compared to those shows. It seems insane. So I'll take that.
Angela [00:34:42] Well, it's a ton of fun, and you guys are hilarious. I love just shooting the s**t with you, Joel. You're such a good person. I love you.
Joel [00:34:50] It's the best business. We're so lucky
Angela [00:34:53] Joel, thank you so much. I just adore you and I appreciate you.
Joel [00:34:57] Well come back on over and play some more tennis. Jenna, you're welcome to come any time.
Jenna [00:35:02] Thank you, I'll be there to eat the granola. Everyone else, we're gonna take a break and we're going to be back with Around the Town and the Office Question of the Week.
Joel [00:35:10] Alright, all the things I told were lies.
Jenna [00:35:13] No,
Angela [00:35:15] Joel, you stinker. Alright, bud, I'll talk to you soon.
Joel [00:35:18] See you guys! Thank you!
audio cue [00:35:20] [musical sting]
Jenna [00:35:22] Hello, we are back. We are back from playing Two Lies and a Truth with Joel McHale.
Angela [00:35:28] I told you, I knew when I was like, "You never know what you're gonna get." We had no idea he was gonna flip the script on us, but that was really fun.
Jenna [00:35:36] Well, could we get a little Around the Town?
audio cue [00:35:42] [Around the Town sting plays]
Jenna [00:35:45] Our first news item comes from Don T. in Lytton, British Columbia. Don says, "Hey Angela and Jenna, I live in a very small Canadian town along the Frazier River and we have a little two-car ferry that I have to go on to get across the river to get to work. Lately, there have been a lot of large ice chunks floating down the river and this caused the paddle to break. So, the ferry shut down for a while. But it's back and running as usual now."
Angela [00:36:16] Wow, that's so wild to me, just seeing huge chunks of ice floating. That's so wild. Alright. Our next Around the Town is from Stephanie Z. in St. Louis, Jenna.
Jenna [00:36:26] Hi Stephanie!
Angela [00:36:27] Stephanie said this week, for Valentine's Day, we're seeing something very dear to my heart. There's a great entertainer, Clownvis Presley, playing a set of love songs in his style at the City Museum. I've been seeing his live shows for over 10 years and he's a local legend. The first time I visited this beautiful city was in 2021 to see one of his shows. The year after that, I traveled here solo for another one, met my partner at a show, and then I moved here in 2022. We now have a charming little house in South City and five adorable cats. Neither of us really celebrates this holiday too much, but it's become our cute/weird little tradition. It's also really fun to explore the city museum at night.
Jenna [00:37:13] Stephanie, this is so cool. The last time I was in St. Louis with my family, we went to City Museum. Angela, it's like no place I've ever been. It's, like, five stories and a roof. It is filled with caves and caverns and crawl spaces and a giant sculpture of a whale. You just walk through all of it and climb through all of it. But then they also have this tank where you can put your hand in and all the fish come over and eat the dead skin off your hand.
Angela [00:37:43] Oh my goodness.
Jenna [00:37:44] It's so cool and unique and I didn't think it could get more unique, but now i'm hearing that this past Valentine's day they had Clownvis Presley. I had no idea. This place is really cool.
Angela [00:37:57] That is so cool. Well, our last Around the Town comes from Mandy L. in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Mandy says, "I'm just bursting with pride for my niece. Miss Hayden A. has been cast as the role of Mrs. Heron in her school's rendition of "Mean Girls Junior." The role was originated by Miss Anna Gasteyer and more recently played on the big screen by Miss Jenna Fischer, wishing many broken legs to Miss Haydn A."
Jenna [00:38:24] Oh, Haydyn. Break a leg as Mrs. Heron. I loved playing that part. It's a good part.
Angela [00:38:30] Well thank you so much for sending in your Around the Towns and now we're gonna wrap things up with our Office question of the week.
Jenna [00:38:37] This comes from Craig W. in Albany. Craig wants to know, "Who was the grownup in the room when the cast lost it for too long? How was everyone brought back from contagious giggles?" Oh, Craig, this is a good question.
Angela [00:38:53] Oh, Craig. I can tell you what, it wasn't me.
Jenna [00:38:57] It wasn't me. Who brought us back to being serious? I can definitely tell you all the people it wasn't. It was not John Krasinski. It was not Angela. It was not me.
Angela [00:39:08] It was not Mindy.
Jenna [00:39:10] It was definitely not Mindy.
Angela [00:39:11] Definitely not Mindy.
Jenna [00:39:13] Maybe a director would step in and try to wrangle us?
Angela [00:39:19] Every once in a while when Brian and I would get the giggles over in accounting, Oscar would be like, "Come on guys." So sometimes Oscar, but yeah, it was hard. It was really difficult not to laugh. We often ruin many takes.
Jenna [00:39:38] But it was also the crew. I mean, sometimes you could just see Matt and Randall kind of shaking with the camera on their shoulder. Especially if you had a writer like Jen Salata, she would ruin so many takes herself, just as a writer/producer.
Angela [00:39:53] Off camera.
Jenna [00:39:56] Greg too, though, and Paul. I feel like, in terms of people who were off camera who would break and then get us going... It's hard to come back from that, especially when you've made the off-camera people laugh too.
Angela [00:40:10] Well, that's the biggest win, right? I remember one time watching our boom operator, Nick Carbone's hand shake as he held the boom because he was laughing. His shoulders were going, and I was like, "Yes!" But yeah, well Craig, thank you so much for your question. It definitely brought a smile to my face, remembering all of that. But I guess our answer is that the directors usually had to rein us in and every once in a while, Oscar under his breath would be like, "Come on guys."
Jenna [00:40:38] And maybe... Maybe Kelly Cantley could get us to pull it together.
Angela [00:40:41] Oh, yeah, for sure, Kelly. Yeah. Our AD.
Jenna [00:40:45] Maybe Kelly.
Angela [00:40:46] I think she would sometimes come in and be like, "Guys, do we want to make it to lunch? Let's make it."
Jenna [00:40:52] Yeah. Bring up food, and that could get us to become serious. Lady, do you remember early on before Nick Carbone joined us? It might have even been someone who was just on set as an extra set of hands. There was a boom operator. We were laughing, and he got really annoyed with us. Do you remember that? It was in the kitchen. We were in the kitchen and I'm thinking of the episode, but I don't want to say what it is. We were all busting up laughing and he got super annoyed. I thought, "Man, this is not the job for you." Like, this is part of it. We're making comedy here. We're going to break sometimes and that's part of the energy. I think he didn't find the show as funny as the rest of us.
Angela [00:41:42] I don't think he thought it was funny. I do remember him. But yeah, our show wasn't for him.
Jenna [00:41:49] He needed to be on a drama, something more serious.
Angela [00:41:52] A procedural, yeah.
Jenna [00:41:54] He wasn't loving it. But listen, I mean, that comes with the territory on a comedy. I feel like that's something that I learned too, is that the atmosphere of making a comedy is comedic. If you get too serious or you're just constantly looking at the clock and you're like wondering, "When are we gonna get this shot?" That's actually a hard role for our first ADs, for Kelly and for Rusty, because they have to leave time for the levity on set to keep the comedy ball in the air. But you also have to make sure you're getting the shot and that we're breaking in time for lunch and all that kind of stuff. So we were really lucky with Kelly and Rusty because they let us have fun, but they were pretty good at reining us in when they needed to.
Angela [00:42:42] Yeah, they were your fun aunt and uncle, you know? That lets you just let loose, but then was like, "All right guys, come on, let's go."
Jenna [00:42:51] "You can't stay up too late. Can't eat too much candy before bed."
Angela [00:42:55] Mm-hmm, yeah. Some of the times I laughed so hard, too, was just in the pauses. I don't know if you remember that, Jenna. There were so many times when we were in a conference room, and Steve as Michael would start improvising, so we didn't know what he was about to say. We'd already gotten the scene scripted many times. Then there'd be one or two moments where Steve, as Michael, would have a list of things he had to say, and he would start improvising that list. It was the pause before he said the next thing where I would come undone. The excitement of what he was gonna say was so thrilling to me. And then inevitably, whatever he said would be ridiculously funny. But it was a pause that got me, his long like, [makes long pause]. I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm out, I am out."
Jenna [00:43:47] All of this reminiscing about this is just... Gosh, we laughed a lot. What a gift, that our job was to go somewhere and be around funny people being funny. There's just nothing like it. We're really lucky.
Angela [00:44:02] Oh, you guys, thank you so much. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Big thank you to Joel McHale for spending the afternoon with us, being silly. Thank you to everyone who sends in their chitchats and Around the Towns. We love hearing from you guys so much, we appreciate this community so very much.
Jenna [00:44:22] And just in case these kittens are still in my house, everybody please, go to kittenrescue.org and adopt my kittens.
Angela [00:44:30] Yes! Adopt Jenna's sweet kittens. Alright, you guys have a great week. We'll see you next time.
Jenna [00:44:35] See you then.
Jenna [00:00:17] Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.
Angela [00:00:19] Office Ladies is a presentation of Audacy and is produced by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [00:00:24] Our senior producer is Matt Beagle. Our audio engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.
Angela [00:00:32] Audacy's executive producer is Leah Reis-Dennis.
Jenna [00:00:35] Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Angela [00:00:37] Our theme song is "Rubber Tree" by Creed Bratton.