Second Drink: Mafia

Today we’re breaking down “Mafia”. Jim and Pam are on their honeymoon leaving the office deficient in reasonable people. So when an Italian insurance salesman tries to sell Michael life insurance, Dwight and Andy convince him he’s with the Scranton mafia. Writer of this episode, Brent Forrester, sends in clips to defend why this farcical episode is legendary. Jenna reveals how Pam’s watercolor was almost destroyed in this episode and Angela uncovers that Scranton had real mafia members including Russell Bufalino who was later played by Joe Pesci in “The Irishman”. This episode is so great that even if there was salad on top, you wouldn’t send it back. Check out Brent Forrester’s writing class : https://www.brentforrester.com/ Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod https://www.instagram.com/officeladiespod/ Follow Us on YouTube https://youtube.com/@officeladiespod?si=D0oKJwFJuK9txzFM Follow Us on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@officeladiespod?_t=ZT-8y1gqTrJyOs&_r=1

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• 1:32Speaker 02

  Hello, everyone, and welcome to your second drink of Mafia. We've got a couple of fun extra tidbits for you, thanks to some Office Ladies listeners who wrote in. But before we dive into those, we just want to let you all know that we have an Office Ladies 6.0 episode coming up with none other than Mike Starr.

• 1:50Speaker 03

  Yes, as you all know, Mike Starr plays the insurance salesman that Michael Scott becomes convinced is in the Mafia. And it's such a great interview, so please be on the lookout for that. It's coming soon. Now, also in the Mafia episode, Jim and Pam are on their honeymoon.

• 2:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:06Speaker 03

  So Kevin takes over Jim's desk, and he ends up talking to Jim's credit card company on the phone and canceling their card.

• 2:13Speaker 02

  That's so funny.

• 2:14Speaker 03

  So, in the scene, in order to like prove he's Jim, he gives out Jim and Pam's address. We got some letters. The first one is from Lily T. in Australia, who said, "Is the address that Kevin gives out on the phone an actual address or a fakey address?" I just assumed fakey.

• 2:34Speaker 02

  Me, too.

• 2:35Speaker 03

  Well, we got a second letter. This was like an example of one letter asked the question, another letter answered it. Dave W. from Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, wrote in to say, "Did you know that the address Kevin gives to the credit card company, 383 Linden Ave, is the address of the side entrance of St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton?"

• 2:58Speaker 03

  So I looked it up, and it looks like the exact address for St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton is 315 Wyoming Avenue. But it's on the corner of Wyoming and Linden.

• 3:12Speaker 02

  Got it.

• 3:13Speaker 03

  Although, when I looked it up, it said Linden Street, whereas Jim's address was Linden Ave. But it doesn't matter, because I had a really fun time looking this up. This is a really beautiful church. It is a historic landmark, and thank you, Google Maps.

• 3:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, and that's the way it goes sometimes for mom detectives.

• 3:32Speaker 03

  It is. Sometimes it's just a wonderful tangent where you learn something about this city of Scranton.

• 3:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. We also got this letter from Jana M. from Woodbridge, Illinois. "Ladies, I've been waiting ever since the original Mafia podcast episode came out to submit this fan catch. I was shocked when this wasn't mentioned, so I just have to share this with you now. When Michael calls Jim on his honeymoon, and Jim says he is on a catamaran, I can only assume Jim is speaking to Michael on a cellphone. However," in all caps, "when Jim goes to hang up the phone call, it is clearly a landline hang-up sound and not the beep of a cellphone hang-up. I call it out every time I watch the show, and I'm pretty sure my husband is sick of hearing about it, but I can't help it. This tidbit gives me so much joy for some reason. Ha ha."

• 4:23Speaker 02

  All right, ladies, so this whole scene is so funny. And we talked about how these guys did a lot of improv when they were shooting the scene. I think we should listen to it. And let's listen for that hang-up, okay, that Jana mentioned.

• 4:34Speaker 04

  Hello?

• 4:34Speaker 05

  Jim?

• 4:35Speaker 04

  Michael.

• 4:36Speaker 05

  Oh, thank God.

• 4:37Speaker 04

  How did you get this number? Michael, we're on a catamaran.

• 4:41Speaker 05

  It wasn't easy. I had to tell the hotel that it was a medical emergency. I chose massive coronary, because you told me that your dad had a bad heart. Listen, man, I got a problem. I think I'm in trouble with a mob or a major insurance carrier.

• 4:56Speaker 04

  That sounds bad.

• 4:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, I know. And you usually can get out of stuff like this, so I'm turning to you, my friend.

• 5:02Speaker 04

  I'm gonna help you through it, all right?

• 5:03Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 5:04Speaker 04

  All you're gonna need to

• 5:08Speaker 04

  and then go to

• 5:09Speaker 05

  Jim, are you?

• 5:10Speaker 04

  And you'll be saved.

• 5:12Speaker 05

  What? Wait, I didn't hear a thing you just said.

• 5:14Speaker 04

  Just and then you'll be saved.

• 5:16Speaker 05

  No, God, I missed the important part again. No, oh, my God.

• 5:22Speaker 04

  And you'll be saved.

• 5:22Speaker 05

  No, Jim, please, repeat what you're saying. I can't understand you.

• 5:27Speaker 04

  You're muted, turn angle.

• 5:30Speaker 04

  Please don't call again.

• 5:33Speaker 05

  Jim? Oh, my God.

• 5:40Speaker 03

  I heard it.

• 5:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's 100% a landline hang-up.

• 5:44Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, I think that was just a mistake in post, because I think he is meant to be on a catamaran. I do. I actually think, I don't think Jim is lying. I don't think he's like really in his hotel room or anything. But that scene is so funny. I would, I have never noticed that before.

• 6:02Speaker 02

  I'm trying to picture that scene. You only see Michael's side. You don't see where it cuts to.

• 6:07Speaker 03

  That's right. It's just on Michael's side of the thing.

• 6:11Speaker 02

  I think Jim's in his hotel room.

• 6:12Speaker 03

  You do?

• 6:13Speaker 02

  I do. I don't think he's on a catamaran.

• 6:15Speaker 03

  You think he's lying? Maybe so.

• 6:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:19Speaker 03

  I wonder.

• 6:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:20Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 6:21Speaker 02

  Okay. Jana went on to say, "On a personal note, I've just gone back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for the last seven and a half years."

• 6:29Speaker 03

  Ooh, wow.

• 6:30Speaker 02

  "And listening to your journey of developing this podcast has been so inspiring to me. I landed the perfect job working part-time in an elementary school library, and I'm as happy as I can be. It's a job that is both fulfilling and allows me to be there for my family. So keep it up, ladies. You're amazing, inspiring, and I'm so grateful to have the both of you in my ear on a regular basis. Love you both."

• 6:50Speaker 03

  Oh, Jana, congratulations on your new job. That's a big thing to go back to work after seven and a half years.

• 6:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:58Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:58Speaker 02

  Well, that was wonderful.

• 7:00Speaker 03

  Well, everyone, we hope you enjoy your second drink of Mafia. We've got some great behind-the-scenes information from writer Brent Forrester and a very interesting deep dive from Angela about the Scranton Mafia. So enjoy.

• 7:16Speaker 03

  I'm Jenna Fischer.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  And I'm Angela Kinsey.

• 7:19Speaker 03

  We were on The Office together.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  And we're best friends.

• 7:21Speaker 03

  And now we're doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you.

• 7:25Speaker 02

  Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

• 7:32Speaker 03

  We're The Office Ladies.

• 7:36Speaker 03

  Hello, everyone.

• 7:38Speaker 02

  Good morning, our afternoon, our nighttime.

• 7:42Speaker 03

  I like our intro. This is our new intro.

• 7:46Speaker 03

  Today, we are here to talk about Mafia, Season 6, Episode 6. And Ange, you and I were kind of texting back and forth about some fun, what would you call them? Asides, mini deep dives that we went on as a result of this episode. And you have one that I, I was like, don't tell me anymore. Don't tell me anymore. I want to hear it on the podcast. I can't wait.

• 8:10Speaker 02

  I have one that I just dipped my toe in, you guys. There's so much more to it. I actually bought a book.

• 8:18Speaker 03

  Your own deep dive led you to now buy a book?

• 8:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 8:21Speaker 03

  That's what happened with Clementine Paddleford.

• 8:24Speaker 02

  I have her book.

• 8:25Speaker 03

  We became obsessed.

• 8:26Speaker 02

  I know.

• 8:27Speaker 03

  Oh, my.

• 8:28Speaker 02

  How about you hit us with a summary, and we'll get into it.

• 8:31Speaker 03

  Well, I'm gonna tell you that this was written by Brent Forrester and directed by Dave Rogers. And my summary is this. Michael is visited by an insurance salesman whom Dwight and Andy convince him is a member of the Italian Mafia. Michael then feels pressured to purchase a very expensive insurance package that he does not need. Meanwhile, Kevin takes over Jim's office, because Jim and Pam are on their honeymoon.

• 8:58Speaker 02

  In Puerto Rico.

• 9:00Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 9:01Speaker 02

  But everyone keeps calling them. We'll get to it.

• 9:04Speaker 03

  Yes, they do. And Kevin accidentally cancels their credit cards.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Amazing.

• 9:12Speaker 03

  All right, fastback number one. I reached out to Brent Forrester. We always love to hear from Brent.

• 9:18Speaker 02

  Oh, Brent is so fun.

• 9:20Speaker 03

  Like I said, he wrote this episode, and he was very interested in discussing the tone of this episode, which he pointed out is a little different. Here's what he He had to say.

• 9:32Speaker 06

  I wrote the Office episode called Mafia, considered now a minor comedy classic, but it was controversial at the time of shooting. Why? Because what makes The Office great is this tone of naturalism, realism, groundedness. And this episode pushed in the opposite direction tonally. The whole premise is farcical. Michael Scott believes an Italian-American insurance agent is a mafioso. That's farce. Then we added Ed Helms dressed as a mechanic in order to justify bringing a wrench into a restaurant. Things got tense on set between the guys behind the camera, the director, Dave Rogers, and me, and the guys in front of the camera, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, and Ed Helms,

• 10:17Speaker 06

  who had to play this material as real. Very, very challenging.

• 10:25Speaker 03

  So I remember this tension. The guys in general did not love when we pushed into farce. There was always a lot of pushback from all of us in the cast. We just loved that early-season realism more than anything.

• 10:40Speaker 02

  Well, you know, Jenna, I know some of the bigger storylines, and particularly with Dwight, would crack us up, right? Like, we could get on board with some of the big storylines, but when the whole entire storyline was so absurd, that's when it was harder, I think, for us. Because we needed the balance of like, the smaller, like, just like, run-of-the-mill, daily work-life, mixed in with something crazy. But this was kind of just crazy, start to finish.

• 11:06Speaker 03

  It's funny, because in this re-watch, I have loved these farcical storylines. I mean, remember when those guys all put on fake mustaches and they went to Utica to steal the industrial copy?

• 11:19Speaker 02

  Yes, I was cracking up.

• 11:21Speaker 03

  I mean, I also feel like if you go all the way back to the injury and Michael grilling his foot on a George Foreman grill, I mean, that's, I don't know if that's necessarily farce, but that's definitely very broad.

• 11:34Speaker 02

  Yeah. I just think the difference for this one is, it was the whole entire storyline, "Oh, your cat is here. Hi, Sunny Cat."

• 11:40Speaker 03

  Sunny has just walked into the Zoom.

• 11:44Speaker 02

  I wish I could take a picture of this. This is so cute. Jenna's cat is like the whole screen.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  Hey, Sunny, how are you? How are you? On the microphone, he's just come for a visit.

• 11:55Speaker 02

  What is so funny is, I just saw his tail go through your plant, round the corner, and then there he was.

• 12:01Speaker 03

  I know.

• 12:02Speaker 02

  This is our life right now, you guys, with like, the minimum occupancy in studio is, I'm here, and Jenna's in her closet.

• 12:10Speaker 03

  With my cat.

• 12:11Speaker 02

  With her cat.

• 12:12Speaker 03

  He sits in my office most of the day with me, so he wanted to say hi. But yeah, I mean, you're right. It was more of a side storyline. But the injury was like, that was, you know, he's asking Pam to rub butter on his foot. I don't know. I have to say, in the re-watch, I love these storylines. And by the way, I'm also noticing that it's coming on the heels of what Jen Salata was saying last week about how her storyline in the promotion was so dramatic. And it really goes to show like, how much influence an individual writer and their script can have on the tone of an episode.

• 12:52Speaker 02

  Oh, 100%. And also, the characters they write for.

• 12:56Speaker 03

  Yes. All right, well, speaking of storylines, my Fast Fact number two is all about a deleted storyline in this episode, which, by the way, this deleted storyline would still show up in the episode description on Netflix. It's still there on iTunes as well.

• 13:14Speaker 02

  You're kidding? Because it's not in it at all.

• 13:17Speaker 03

  Not in it at all.

• 13:18Speaker 02

  I was surprised, Jenna, when I watched the deleted scenes. It's the whole entire runner of the deleted scenes. It was a big storyline.

• 13:26Speaker 03

  Let me tell you what it is, because, oh, I had a reaction.

• 13:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, you did. Sure.

• 13:33Speaker 03

  Aaron was supposed to be cleaning Pam's watercolor, her famous watercolor that Michael bought from her art show. She sprays the glass with this cleaner, and then Creed kind of distracts her by chatting her up, and the spray seeps under the glass and the watercolor is ruined.

• 13:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:57Speaker 03

  Aaron destroys Pam's watercolor while she's on her honeymoon, was the storyline.

• 14:03Speaker 02

  If you watch the deleted scenes, you watch it melt, like, all the colors, like, slide down to the bottom of the frame. And I literally went, "Ah!"

• 14:15Speaker 03

  Yes!

• 14:15Speaker 02

  I forgot it was in the story at one point.

• 14:18Speaker 03

  And then there's another deleted scene where she asks Kelly to help her fix it. And Kelly's like, "Oh, yeah, I can do watercolor." But what Kelly does is she like, adds a rainbow and a sunshine, but the painting is still totally melty. And then in the end, Aaron calls Pam on her honeymoon and says she ruined it. And Pam has this line where she says, "You know what? I will be mad at you about ruining my painting when I get back. Stop calling me. Tell people to stop calling us."

• 14:45Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm. There was a scene that let up before she ruined your painting? I'm gonna save it. I'm gonna share it when it would have happened in the episode, okay?

• 14:54Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  That sort of set up why she even started cleaning it in the first place.

• 14:58Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Yeah. But I think it will make more sense if I bring it up where it would have occurred.

• 15:04Speaker 03

  I like it. After we read the script in our table read, which is the week before we're meant to shoot it, I, like, as soon as I started reading it, I got hot inside, you know? Like, you heat up, and I could barely focus on the rest of the table read.

• 15:23Speaker 02

  You had a physical reaction.

• 15:25Speaker 03

  I did.

• 15:26Speaker 02

  You like, flushed, like your cheeks were red.

• 15:28Speaker 03

  Yes! I waited till after the table read, everybody left, and this was unusual. I did not normally stay after a table read and, like, give my feelings.

• 15:39Speaker 02

  No, no. In fact, we usually had to scooch out because we had to go to hair and makeup to get back to set.

• 15:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, to go back to shoot. But I was like, "Listen, you cannot destroy Pam's painting. You can't do it. It's the heartbeat of the show. It's on the wall. It's her relationship with Michael. It's hope. It's so many things. Like, you don't understand. Like, you can't make this a gag." And Paul Lieberstein was like, "I think it's funny. What are you talking about?" And it was a battle. I was like, "No, no, no. I don't, you don't understand. Like, you cannot do it." And I called Greg. I would like, made my case to anyone who would listen. They shot it anyway. They were like, "I'm sorry, it's staying in. We really like this gag. We think it's great. We like it."

• 16:25Speaker 02

  They were so wrong. They were so wrong.

• 16:28Speaker 03

  Lady, after we shot it, I went into the edit bay, and I was like, "You have to take this out. You have to take this out." I appealed to Dave Rogers. I appealed to Brent Forrester. Like, I would not shut up about it. Finally, in the end, they took it out. They took it out, and I was so relieved. But you'll see, next week, there's not Pam's watercolor on the wall, because that was the week they were editing and still deciding. So if you look, Pam's watercolor is missing for a couple of episodes, and we just sneakily put it back on the wall without saying anything.

• 17:06Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh. So for those episodes, there's no painting because you were still pleading your case?

• 17:11Speaker 03

  Yes! But I would not give up. And then, I mean, listen, the whole series ends on Pam's watercolor.

• 17:21Speaker 02

  I know, and I couldn't imagine it ending any other way. I mean, that made me ball my eyes out.

• 17:26Speaker 03

  I know! And you better believe that I marched right up to Paul Lieberstein when I read that ending of the finale, and I was like, "Paul, do you see now why Aaron couldn't destroy the watercolor? Do you see?"

• 17:42Speaker 02

  You held on to that for years.

• 17:44Speaker 03

  Yes!

• 17:46Speaker 02

  Well, I'm so glad you did, because it represents such a tender moment between Michael and Pam, and it is the hope. It's hope. It's hope in a frame.

• 17:56Speaker 03

  It's hope in a frame! I wish I'd said that!

• 18:00Speaker 02

  It's hope in a frame. You're welcome. Oh, man. Well, I'm really glad you fought hard for it. I knew you didn't want it to be destroyed. I remembered all of that. I did not remember how hard you had to fight for it.

• 18:13Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, there were two things in the series that I fought hard for. I would consistently fight that there be no infidelity in Jim and Pam's relationship. That would often get brought up, and John and I would go say, "No, no, no, no, no, no." And this was the other thing. "Don't destroy the painting."

• 18:33Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, Jenna, the amazing Randy Cordray shared with us that the whole destroying of Pam's painting was considered a mini stunt.

• 18:42Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 18:43Speaker 02

  Here's how they had to do it. Our special effects coordinator, Mike Thompson, created what the special effects folks call an A/B reaction. It's where two different substances are inert and non-reactive until mixed together.

• 18:57Speaker 03

  Oh, I remember that from chemistry class!

• 18:59Speaker 02

  I was gonna say, you didn't know we were gonna have a little bit of science today. The A substance was pre-applied over the watercolor. It dried clear and was not visible. The B substance, a reactive, also clear liquid, was what Aaron sprayed. There were minute openings in the top of the frame to allow the B liquid to run inside the glass, and when the B chemical reacted with the A, it changed the colors and achieved the desired result of the gag, which was the watercolor's melting. He even sent us a video of their practice run, which we can put in stories.

• 19:36Speaker 03

  Oh, then, so people can see the melting of the watercolor.

• 19:40Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 19:41Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 19:42Speaker 02

  But I thought that was so interesting. Look what all they had to do to make this moment happen. I mean, ultimately, I'm glad it didn't make it in the show, right?

• 19:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 19:50Speaker 02

  But pretty cool to see what all they had to do.

• 19:53Speaker 03

  Gosh, it's sort of like a very mini version of... Everything Randy was doing to get a horse to go over Niagara Falls.

• 20:00Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 20:01Speaker 03

  You know, like, how do I make this happen? And then, oh, we actually cut it out of that episode.

• 20:06Speaker 02

  Right.

• 20:08Speaker 03

  All right, well, Fast Fact number three, we have a very big guest star this week. Mike Starr as Angelo Grady. You guys might remember him from Dumb and Dumber. He had a scene stealing role.

• 20:22Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 20:24Speaker 03

  He has been on Chicago Fire, The Young and the Restless, Ed. He was so great. He was the nicest man.

• 20:31Speaker 02

  So nice. And he's just been in everything, you guys, everything.

• 20:35Speaker 03

  He's a total pro. I found this interview he did. And it was so cool. He grew up in Queens, in Flushing, right near Shea Stadium, which is by where the Mets play. But in the interview, he said he was a Giants fan. He's married and has two kids. His wife is a surgeon and he kept his family in New York and he would travel to be an actor. He just got bit by the acting bug and created this life as a working actor, but also raising his family on the East Coast. And he said he just goes where the work takes him. And I don't know, it just sounded so cool.

• 21:13Speaker 02

  Again, another example of how lucky we were as a show to get these amazing, amazing actors.

• 21:19Speaker 03

  Well, that's all I got, lady.

• 21:22Speaker 02

  Well, I have something from my Kinsey Digital Clutter.

• 21:25Speaker 03

  Oh, these are my favorite segments.

• 21:27Speaker 02

  I'm telling you, I think I need a sting that's like Angela's Digital Clutter. It's because I have so much.

• 21:36Speaker 03

  We do need a digital clutter sting. I agree.

• 21:39Speaker 02

  Here's what I got. We filmed this in September of 2009, so I went digging in my digital clutter. And I found an email I wrote from set while we were filming this episode.

• 21:53Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 21:54Speaker 02

  I sent it to two of my friends. And this is what it said. Hey, guys, so I'm in the background of a bunch of scenes today. So get ready for random emails with ridiculous links.

• 22:07Speaker 02

  And then I attached a link of like animals doing crazy things.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 22:11Speaker 02

  Right? Animals being silly. One of my friends was at work when she received this and she responded and said, sorry, Ange, but work is super busy here today. Can you please forward all the funny emails to my personal account instead? So I can check them later. Thanks.

• 22:29Speaker 02

  I was pretending to be at work, but just surfing the internet, blasting one of my friends who was really at work. And she was like, can you, can you stop?

• 22:41Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh, that's so funny.

• 22:43Speaker 02

  It made me laugh. There you go. That's a little something from my digital clutter for the week we filmed Mafia.

• 22:50Speaker 03

  I mean, I feel like this could be a new segment on the podcast. I'd be willing to turn Fast Fact number three into Angela's Digital Clutter every week. These are wonderful.

• 23:02Speaker 02

  I don't know if it's always going to come through, but.

• 23:05Speaker 03

  Well, that, that's part of the appeal. Will it pay off or won't it?

• 23:11Speaker 02

  We'll see.

• 23:12Speaker 03

  We should try. All right, I'm assigning that to you next week. Fast Fact number three is Angela's Digital Clutter.

• 23:19Speaker 02

  Okay, okay.

• 23:20Speaker 03

  That might be because I already started prepping it and I don't have a Fast Fact three yet.

• 23:24Speaker 02

  Oh, I see how it is.

• 23:27Speaker 03

  All right, why don't we take a break and then we'll come back and break down this episode.

• 23:30Speaker 02

  Awesome.

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• 24:30Speaker 03

  Now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Office Ladies. It's the best way to support the show.

• 24:45Speaker 02

  Well, we are back. We're in the conference room because Michael is discussing the fundamentals of business.

• 24:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 24:53Speaker 02

  He has written on a dry erase board, handshakes, small talk, shut up and sell.

• 25:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, he invites people to give suggestions for small talk. He really likes Meredith's idea and he says, come on up here. She says, the weekend. He's like, that's great. Let's riff on that. Get on up here, Meredith.

• 25:13Speaker 02

  That's right. They start to role play. Michael's like, so Meredith, how was your weekend? What did you do? And Meredith says, well, I caught my son taking a dump on the upper part of the toilet. He calls it an upper decker. And Michael's like, oh, God, okay, you know, just go sit down.

• 25:30Speaker 03

  That made me laugh out loud.

• 25:32Speaker 02

  It made me laugh too. And I remember when we were filming this, we all cracked up. And I went and looked in the shooting draft. That line is not in there.

• 25:41Speaker 03

  The upper decker line?

• 25:42Speaker 02

  It's not in the shooting draft. This is what was in the shooting draft. Meredith says, I caught my son doing my fur coat. I had to shave off one of the sleeves.

• 25:53Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 25:54Speaker 02

  Michael's like, gross. So I texted Kate. I said, Kate, did you improvise the upper decker line? I mean, come on, where did that come from? And she said, no, Paul Lieberstein whispered it in my ear after the very first take.

• 26:11Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh. That just goes to show you that when Paul Lieberstein was in the background of a scene, he was still writing the show in his head.

• 26:20Speaker 02

  Right, he was pitching jokes. And the rest of us had no idea what he whispered in her ear. So when she said it, we all heard it for the first time.

• 26:28Speaker 03

  Oh, brilliant.

• 26:31Speaker 02

  They would do that to us, you guys, and it would send us all into fits of giggles because we were ready and prepared for the crazy line about the fur coat, right?

• 26:40Speaker 03

  Right.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  And then all of a sudden we get hit with the upper decker.

• 26:43Speaker 03

  I want to point out that at 49 seconds, you'll get a real good shot of the fact that Kate is wearing that Nanette Lepore vest again. This is the third time now.

• 26:55Speaker 02

  Jenna, I noticed that too. The woman loves that sweater vest.

• 26:59Speaker 03

  It's a very expensive sweater vest. I'm telling you, I was working with a stylist at the time and it was like $200 back then. How does Meredith afford this vest?

• 27:12Speaker 02

  I don't know, but she wears it a lot, so she's getting her money out of it.

• 27:16Speaker 03

  She is.

• 27:17Speaker 02

  Well, the role play doesn't work. And Michael's so frustrated. He's like, God, I could fill a book with the stuff you guys don't know about business. And Ryan's like, go write it. Write a book.

• 27:28Speaker 03

  Yeah. So Michael immediately goes into his office. He starts dictating his book, The Fundamentals of Business by Michael Scott, one billion sold, more than the Bible. Chapter one, The Businessman. And then he stops talking.

• 27:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:42Speaker 03

  I got curious, as happens. I was like, how many copies of the Bible have been sold?

• 27:50Speaker 02

  I would think a lot.

• 27:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, it's so many that even if Michael's book, The Fundamentals of Business by Michael Scott, sold 1 billion copies, it would not be more than the Bible. The Guinness Book of World Records estimates that more than 5 billion copies of the Bible have been sold. The Quran has sold approximately 800 million copies and the Book of Mormon has sold around 120 million copies. They used, I guess, historical records and a variety of other sources to get those numbers. But I couldn't stop there, Angela. I had to know more.

• 28:28Speaker 02

  What else is there to know?

• 28:30Speaker 03

  So the top selling books in general are religious texts. But I needed to know, what is just the top selling fiction book?

• 28:41Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 28:43Speaker 03

  What is it? It is Don Quixote by Cervantes. And it was published in 1605. It has sold approximately 500 million copies and it has been translated into 145 languages.

• 28:57Speaker 02

  I had to read Don Quixote, by the way, in my college Spanish class.

• 29:01Speaker 03

  Oh, well, you are one of the 500 million copies sold.

• 29:05Speaker 02

  I am.

• 29:06Speaker 03

  But you know what else is up there, lady?

• 29:08Speaker 02

  What?

• 29:09Speaker 03

  Another one you've contributed to.

• 29:12Speaker 02

  What?

• 29:13Speaker 03

  Lord of the Rings.

• 29:14Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 29:15Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:16Speaker 02

  I believe it.

• 29:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:20Speaker 02

  People love stories about a journey.

• 29:23Speaker 03

  I guess they do. It's true.

• 29:25Speaker 02

  Well, I have something to share about this scene.

• 29:28Speaker 03

  What is it?

• 29:30Speaker 02

  I was very curious what was in the shooting draft about Michael's book, if there was more.

• 29:36Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 29:36Speaker 02

  Because he, he just pauses and looks off into the distance, right? And then it cuts away. And I was like, was there more? Here's how this moment read in the shooting draft. Michael, you know, is talking into the recorder.

• 29:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:50Speaker 02

  He says, The Fundamentals of Business by Michael Scott. There is a long beat. Chapter one, the murderer walked into the garden worriedly, not happily. It was the happiest day of his life. He was going to space. What? Long beat. Chapter two.

• 30:18Speaker 02

  That made me laugh. I'm sure they did a whole bunch of alts, right? I bet there was a bunch of candy bags for this one, but that's what was in the shooting draft.

• 30:26Speaker 03

  Well, now we're going to get into the meat of this episode. Michael arrives to work and there's a man sitting on the reception couch, waiting to see him. Erin has allowed this. Michael's not pleased.

• 30:38Speaker 02

  Michael is so bombed. He's like, you have to protect my creative space.

• 30:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, she was like, well, I thought this could be part of your creative space. And he's like, just push. Creative space to the afternoon. What did I have? And she's like, free play. He's like, push free play to tomorrow.

• 30:57Speaker 02

  What is his schedule?

• 30:59Speaker 03

  I don't know.

• 31:00Speaker 02

  Well, this insurance salesman, Mr. Gotti, begins a presentation. Michael's so bored. He has a talking head where he says, there's nothing more insulting than listening to a bad salesman is like a good basketball player, listening to a bad basketball player. And right after this talking head would have been a pretty important deleted scene for the Pam watercolor fiasco.

• 31:24Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 31:25Speaker 02

  It's between Erin, Stanley and Meredith. It's in the kitchen. And it kind of feels like Erin is stirring the pot a little, like she has some resentment to how long Pam has been on her honeymoon vacation.

• 31:39Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 31:41Speaker 02

  But guess who gets her back? You'll never believe it. Let's hear it.

• 31:45Speaker 03

  Man, doesn't it seem like Jim and Pam have been gone forever? Who gives a crap? I'm just saying, it's great that she has so much time off. It's unusual. Are you trying to get her in trouble? Not at all. She totally deserves time off for her honeymoon. And then I guess for her maternity leave after that. Teacher, teacher, Pam hasn't been in class this week. Backstabbing a pregnant woman. No, I'm just making conversation. We can talk about anything. Meredith, I saw your son's tag on the bridge. Wow. He's so great with a spray can. Look, you're never gonna be Pam. We're always gonna like her more.

• 32:20Speaker 02

  Deal with it.

• 32:22Speaker 03

  What?

• 32:22Speaker 05

  Oh, my gosh. They kind of both have my back.

• 32:26Speaker 02

  They do. I mean, Stanley's like, you're backstabbing a pregnant woman. And then Meredith, of course, is like, we're always gonna like her more. This would have gone on to another scene where Toby approaches Erin at front reception and says, hey, you really shouldn't be talking about people's time off from work, you know?

• 32:45Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 32:46Speaker 02

  And she's like, I didn't say anything. I like Pam. And then Toby is like, Erin! It is like really stern with her. And all of those little moments led up to her then trying to prove to everyone she really likes Pam. She's gonna clean her painting.

• 33:02Speaker 03

  Wow. Oh, my gosh. See, now, I did not remember that stuff. I just remember, I obviously was very focused on the destruction part. I didn't get into the motivation part.

• 33:15Speaker 02

  That's right. I'm still glad it's all gone because it also makes Erin seem petty. And I just, I think it was the right choice. I'm glad you fought for it.

• 33:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, I agree. It feels a little out of character for Erin to be, you know,

• 33:29Speaker 02

  stirring the pot.

• 33:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 33:32Speaker 02

  Well, after this, there's a scene in accounting that sets up a very funny storyline. There was actually more to it. Oscar and Angela are working. Kevin's phone won't stop ringing. They both are looking over at him in Jim's office. He's like eating M&Ms with his feet up on the desk. Angela is staring daggers at him. And Oscar says to her, you could have had Jim's office if you thought of it. And Angela says, I did think of it. I just didn't act on it. And then we cut to Kevin's talking head. That explains why he's in Jim's office. It's because he went in there to fart.

• 34:06Speaker 03

  Yeah. Which I have to imagine Angela is grateful for.

• 34:10Speaker 02

  Well, there's that. There is that. During Kevin's talking head, at 3 minutes, 5 seconds, I caught something, Jenna.

• 34:18Speaker 03

  What's that?

• 34:19Speaker 02

  I got so excited about this moment, I let out a yell. And Josh was in the kitchen. I was in our family room. And he was like, what's going on? And I'm like, it's Kevin Malone's desk plate. His name desk plate.

• 34:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, that we talked with Brian about. I saw it too.

• 34:36Speaker 02

  This would have been the only time anyone would have seen it because it was facing out.

• 34:41Speaker 03

  Yeah. He put it the right way.

• 34:44Speaker 02

  He put it the right way. In accounting, it always just faced himself.

• 34:49Speaker 03

  I noticed a few other things that Kevin brought to Jim's desk. He brought a Coney Island mug, his M&Ms, of course, and an arena football. I thought that was so interesting. I don't think those things are normally in Jim's office.

• 35:05Speaker 02

  No, he's clearly moved in. It's hilarious to me that Michael never said, what are you doing? Why are you in Jim's office? In the shooting draft, it called for a lot of B-roll footage of Kevin in Jim's office. And there was a whole bunch here that they filmed that we didn't see. I'm gonna read it to you. He's sitting at his desk. He starts flossing. He yawns, then falls asleep with the floss in his mouth. He's also wearing his toupee. Later that day, Kevin is napping with his shirt off, scrunched up under his head like a pillow. He has pulled his toupee across his eyes.

• 35:43Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 35:45Speaker 02

  This is like, he lives there now.

• 35:47Speaker 03

  He does.

• 35:48Speaker 02

  There was so much B-roll.

• 35:49Speaker 03

  Well, he says he likes it better than his own home.

• 35:52Speaker 02

  He does.

• 35:54Speaker 03

  Well, Andy and Dwight are watching this meeting go down in the conference room, and they have decided that the insurance salesman is a mobster. Oscar is kind of like, guys, guys, not all Italian Americans are in the mafia.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  This scene would have continued, but it was deleted where Oscar looks around the office for support. He says, who else is here right now? Angela? And Angela says, I didn't see anything. I'm not getting involved. Oscar's like, where's Toby? He's desperately looking for anyone with a voice of reason.

• 36:29Speaker 03

  Well, it's interesting because when I was trading messages with Brent, he said that this Oscar talking head is the premise of the whole episode. When they were thinking about why this could happen, how could it be that these guys could go so far down this farcical road? They thought it's because the balance of reason was off because Jim and Pam were gone. Since this is the premise of the whole episode, I thought we should hear it. This is Oscar's talking head.

• 37:02Speaker 02

  Awesome.

• 37:03Speaker 05

  Pam and Jim are on their honeymoon, so there's not the usual balance between sane and others. Toby has mentally checked out since June. It's a very dangerous time. The coalition for reason is extremely weak.

• 37:17Speaker 02

  It's perfect. I love it. I do want to point out one thing for my background catch people. I'm wearing pants in this episode.

• 37:27Speaker 03

  Really?

• 37:28Speaker 02

  You can barely see it, but in the scene where Oscar is pleading to the bullpen to be reasonable, I have my hands in the pockets of my pants.

• 37:36Speaker 03

  Wow, pants and pockets.

• 37:37Speaker 02

  Pants and pockets.

• 37:39Speaker 03

  The coalition of reason.

• 37:40Speaker 02

  I know, but she doesn't want to get involved. I've seen nothing. I will not get involved.

• 37:45Speaker 03

  So now we're in the bullpen, and everybody is weighing in on whether or not the insurance guy is in the mob. And Ryan is kind of talking about the different mob families. He's like, it's Gotti. Gotti is the mob family, not Gotti. And they're like, oh, no, no, that's perfect. He changed his name. He changed it. And Oscar's like, why would he change his name? That weakens it. And Dwight argues that it's actually brilliant because R is one of the most menacing sounds. And he has one of my favorite lines. That's why they call it murder and not muck duck.

• 38:24Speaker 03

  It's all too many words and sentences for Michael. He goes in his office. I had gotten a fan question from Andy M. in Fort Wayne, Indiana, whoop, whoop, my birthplace, who wanted to know, who wrote Dwight's line about muck duck? Was that rain improvising? I laugh so hard every time I watch this scene. Okay, it was written, and it was intentional. And Brent sent in an awesome audio clip about it. Take a listen.

• 38:52Speaker 06

  Someone asked about the punchline, it's murder, not muck duck. That is a word nerd joke. Some of you word nerds may know that in the 1800s, writers had this philosophy that some letters were more powerful than others. The letter R was considered horrifying, which is why Edgar Allan Poe has his raven saying, never more. So many Rs in it, it's so horrifying. Now, comedy writers think of the K sound as being a comedy magnifier. That's because it's a plosive. K, D, and T are plosive letters that apparently add power to words, which is why George Eastman, when he founded a photograph company, named it Kodak, a fake word that he felt would be powerful. This is a word nerd joke, or

• 39:35Speaker 06

  as John Krasinski would say, a Brent joke, as in, that sounds like a Brent joke.

• 39:41Speaker 03

  I love that explanation.

• 39:44Speaker 02

  I did too. Jenna, when I heard Brent's audio clip, it reminded me of this great panel that I saw. It was all of Sid Caesar's writing room. And they were interviewed. It's still on YouTube. And I went back and watched it last night. It's Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, and Neil Simon. And they're talking about what is the funniest number? And they tell this really great story of how in their writers' room, they spent hours debating, what is the funniest number? It's so great. I'm gonna put it in our stories when I post for Office Ladies Pod this week because it's just the same thing Brent is talking about. It's like a group of people debating on what sound is funny.

• 40:26Speaker 03

  What's the answer? What's the funniest number?

• 40:28Speaker 02

  Well, they had a debate about it. There was a story they tell where they thought the number 32, 32, was funny. And then Neil Simon thought 23. But it was like this debate. And the funniest part to me about it is the debate. And then I went on to read online that some comedy writers believe the number 37 is funny. It's like an odd prime number.

• 40:54Speaker 03

  I think they're all wrong.

• 40:55Speaker 02

  What do you think is a funny number?

• 40:57Speaker 03

  Nine. Nine times. Nine.

• 41:00Speaker 02

  Nine times.

• 41:01Speaker 03

  Whenever I'm embellishing a story, I'll be like, I stood there for nine hours. Nine.

• 41:08Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 41:09Speaker 03

  I think nine is funny. I think it's a good punch.

• 41:12Speaker 02

  Do you know what I say?

• 41:14Speaker 03

  What?

• 41:15Speaker 02

  50.

• 41:16Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 41:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, like I was there. 50 frickin' minutes. I like all the Fs.

• 41:22Speaker 03

  Hmm. Yeah.

• 41:27Speaker 02

  It's a really great video, though. It just is that moment that you and I love where it's a group of like, really funny people brainstorming about the most ridiculous things.

• 41:36Speaker 03

  That sounds like our writers' room.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  You know, this whole episode, I couldn't stop thinking about, was there a local mafia in Scranton?

• 41:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, like, how realistic is this, that this guy? Because I thought that too. I was like, it's Scranton.

• 41:51Speaker 02

  I know. So I typed into Google, Scranton, Pennsylvania mafia.

• 41:58Speaker 03

  And this is what you texted me. You're like, I did this Google search. And I was like, say no more. Wait till tomorrow.

• 42:05Speaker 02

  Okay, so I'm gonna share with you guys. When I Googled Scranton, Pennsylvania mafia, this is what came up. There was a Northeastern Pennsylvania mafia. It was known by several different names. The Bufalino Crime Family, also known as the Pittston Crime Family, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Crime Family, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Crime Family, or the Scranton Mafia.

• 42:28Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 42:29Speaker 02

  It was an Italian-American mafia crime family based in Northeastern Pennsylvania, primarily in the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Pittston. It is believed it's no longer active, but lady, one name kept coming up as I researched the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime families.

• 42:47Speaker 03

  What name?

• 42:49Speaker 02

  The Silent or Quiet Don, known as Russell Bufalino. I guess he really made his mark in the Italian-American mafia in the mid 20th century. He ruled the Bufalino Crime Family from 1959 to 1989. He was a cousin of the attorney William Bufalino, a longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa.

• 43:11Speaker 03

  Huh.

• 43:12Speaker 02

  Stay with me. At his most powerful, Bufalino had operations in Cuba. He was the largest supplier of ammunition to the US government and had close ties with the US Congress. It is rumored that he helped the CIA in their 1961 plot to assassinate Fidel Castro.

• 43:32Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh.

• 43:33Speaker 02

  I know. Listen to this. Apparently Bufalino introduced Frank Sheeran to the leader of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa.

• 43:43Speaker 03

  Who's Frank Sheeran?

• 43:45Speaker 02

  Exactly. Who was Frank Sheeran? Frank Sheeran is the guy who supposedly years later killed Hoffa.

• 43:51Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 43:52Speaker 02

  But for years, they worked together. In fact, this is how his job interview went, Frank Sheeran with Jimmy Hoffa. It is documented that it was over the telephone. Hoffa was in Detroit, Frank was in Philly. The first words uttered to Frank by Hoffa were, I heard you paint houses. This means, I guess, you whack people.

• 44:13Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 44:13Speaker 02

  Because paint is the blood, you know, that splatters on the wall. And then Sheeran replied, yeah, I do my own carpentry too, which meant I get rid of the bodies too.

• 44:25Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh.

• 44:26Speaker 02

  I know. And then Frank got the job.

• 44:29Speaker 03

  And then he painted Jimmy's house.

• 44:31Speaker 02

  Yes, he did. Because years later, Bufalino started to see Hoffa as a loose cannon and as a liability, right? So he thought he had to be taken out. This is the basis of the movie The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese.

• 44:46Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 44:47Speaker 02

  Joe Pesci plays Russell Bufalino.

• 44:50Speaker 03

  Joe Pesci plays the Scranton mobster guy?

• 44:53Speaker 02

  Yes, the Quiet Don. Robert De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, aka The Irishman, and Al Pacino played Jimmy Hoffa. There are so many books about this crime family.

• 45:04Speaker 03

  So that is very interesting, but there is one thing that I did not hear in your breakdown.

• 45:09Speaker 02

  What was that?

• 45:10Speaker 03

  And that is any insurance selling.

• 45:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 45:16Speaker 03

  Bufalino was not in the insurance business, and it sounds like this crime family had left Scranton by 2009, which is where we are now.

• 45:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:29Speaker 03

  But there was a history. So maybe that is making them nervous, this history.

• 45:37Speaker 02

  Also, Michael probably watches too much TV.

• 45:40Speaker 03

  Oh, for sure. For sure.

• 45:43Speaker 02

  Oscar doesn't know what to do because it's spiraling out of control. So he calls Jim for advice. And Pam says he shouldn't be calling them unless someone close to them is in danger and hangs up. They're on their honeymoon.

• 45:57Speaker 03

  We got a fan question from Stephanie K. in Kansas City, Missouri. Jenna, did you and John basically just get the week off work aside from the phone calls? No, we did not. John and I were in Niagara. We were filming the Maid of the Mist scenes.

• 46:17Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh. Poor Randy Cordray. He must have been juggling so much. He had two shoots, two full shoots happening at the same time in two different states.

• 46:25Speaker 03

  Yes. So during this week, our script supervisor, Veda, read Jim and Pam's dialogue to the actors on set. And then when John and I got back in town, we came in and we recorded the audio for our side of those conversations, with the exception of one scene, which was recorded with John there on set. I'll tell you when we get to it.

• 46:50Speaker 02

  Okay. All right. This made me think, Jenna. Did you and Lee get any work phone calls on your honeymoon?

• 46:59Speaker 03

  No, we did not.

• 47:01Speaker 02

  Right? Josh and I, we didn't either. Here's how many Jim and Pam got. I broke it down per the shooting draft. Oscar, Aaron, and Kevin call Pam. Oscar and Michael call Jim. That would be five calls from work, but none of them were actually about real work.

• 47:20Speaker 03

  In one day.

• 47:21Speaker 02

  In one day. How many did they get the other days?

• 47:25Speaker 03

  I don't want to know. Michael's in his office. He's received a follow-up email from Grati. Dwight and Andy are really in his head now because Michael kind of like hones in on this one little phrase in the email and takes it to be like a threat. I actually paused and I transcribed the email that Grati sent.

• 47:52Speaker 02

  You did?

• 47:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, because the only part that Michael reads out loud is, I feel you will regret. And they really like spiral. But let me just, for context, read you the whole email and imagine like you're Oscar reading this email, okay?

• 48:09Speaker 02

  Okay, you're a voice of reason reading this email.

• 48:12Speaker 03

  Yes, it says, hi, Michael. It was a pleasure meeting with you to discuss our company's insurance plans this morning. I'm sorry you felt no need of any insurance coverage at this time, and I feel you will regret missing this great opportunity to be in business with Mutual of Harrisburg. Hopefully you'll reconsider and we can discuss our policies again in the near future. Sincerely, Angelo Grati.

• 48:37Speaker 03

  I mean, that's boilerplate.

• 48:39Speaker 02

  That's just a business email.

• 48:40Speaker 03

  I feel like Michael could have written that same email to someone who didn't want to buy paper. I feel like you're going to regret missing out on these great prices.

• 48:49Speaker 02

  Right.

• 48:49Speaker 03

  But keep us in mind for the future. Maybe I'll check in the next time we have a big sale.

• 48:54Speaker 02

  Right. That's in theory that Michael uses his computer at all, other than, you know, to store posted notes.

• 49:02Speaker 03

  That's right. Well, these guys decide, for whatever reason, that Michael now needs to meet with Grati, but not alone. They'll all go. And they're going to let this guy know that Michael cannot be pushed around. He cannot be bullied. And he's not going to buy any insurance. Period.

• 49:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:20Speaker 03

  Period.

• 49:21Speaker 02

  Period.

• 49:22Speaker 03

  Even though he's already not buying any insurance, they're going to meet with him to tell him again that he's not buying any insurance.

• 49:29Speaker 02

  Ridiculous. I would like to point out in this scene, Michael has the healthiest plant in the whole entire office.

• 49:37Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 49:38Speaker 02

  Seven minutes, 46 seconds. He has a massive tree. He has a tree in the corner of his office.

• 49:45Speaker 03

  Is this new? Have we never seen this? What's going on?

• 49:48Speaker 02

  I don't remember it. I was shocked when I saw it. Where did this tree come from?

• 49:54Speaker 03

  I don't know. By the way, my peace lily is really doing great, and it brings me so much joy. I could not be happier.

• 50:02Speaker 02

  I'm so glad.

• 50:02Speaker 03

  Truly.

• 50:03Speaker 02

  I'm so glad. I love plants.

• 50:05Speaker 03

  I know. Listen, lady, I think we should take a break. Because when we come back, the guys are going to have lunch with Grati, and there's so much to say. I need a snack first. Maybe I'll have some gaba ghul or something.

• 50:20Speaker 02

  All right, let's have some gaba ghul. We'll be back.

• 50:32Speaker 02

  All right, this next scene starts out in a parking lot where Michael and Dwight are waiting for Andy, who is dressed like a mechanic, a mechanic named Pat with a tire iron, which he calls a tire thing.

• 50:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 50:47Speaker 02

  And Dwight and Michael are like, why are you dressed like that? And Andy's like, basically, the tire iron can be a weapon, but he had to dress like a mechanic, so it makes sense why he has it.

• 50:57Speaker 03

  I just want to point out that this man came into our office, sat on reception's couch, which is a direct line of vision to Andy's desk. He had to pass by Andy to get into the conference room. So I guess Angelo Grati is not like a super present in the moment. Like, he makes no connection that he has ever seen Andy before. He completely buys the fact that Andy is a random mechanic who has come to this lunch.

• 51:27Speaker 02

  I know.

• 51:28Speaker 03

  I just want to say.

• 51:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:29Speaker 03

  It made me laugh.

• 51:31Speaker 02

  Here's a little couplet of dialogue that when it was said, I thought, Rain improvised that, right?

• 51:36Speaker 03

  I know what you're gonna say, because I checked, too.

• 51:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, so Michael says, let's go, come on. And Andy goes, should I change? And Dwight goes, you're wearing loafers. Michael's like, forget it, forget it. Not in the shooting draft.

• 51:47Speaker 03

  Not in the script. I've got a location alert for you.

• 51:52Speaker 02

  Let's hear it.

• 51:53Speaker 03

  These guys are gonna go to the Garlic Press Restaurant. That restaurant is fictional, we made that up. However, when I Googled it, I did find a restaurant in Texas called the Garlic Press, and the menu looked amazing.

• 52:06Speaker 02

  It reminds me of that restaurant we used to have here called The Stinking Rose.

• 52:11Speaker 03

  Oh, yes.

• 52:12Speaker 02

  And it was, everything was garlic on the menu. Every single thing had garlic.

• 52:16Speaker 03

  I remember that place. Well, we shot this at a place called George's Bistro in Valencia. I believe it has since closed, but it was a local Italian favorite. And it was located in the Gateway Village Shopping Center, which is where we filmed all the parking lot scenes. So inside the restaurant, they have this scene where Andy sits down and Dwight comes back from the bathroom, you know, because he was scoping the place out. He brings back a roach.

• 52:42Speaker 02

  He brings back a roach motel with a roach in it.

• 52:46Speaker 03

  Yes. And then Andy hits the roach with his tire iron. All right, Brent sent in an audio clip about this one. It's fascinating. Here you go.

• 52:59Speaker 06

  The creative tension in the shooting of Mafia peaked in that scene in the Italian restaurant, when Dwight goes into the bathroom to look for a gun behind the toilet, Allah the Godfather. He comes back and he says, no gun back there, just this. And he tips up a roach motel and a roach falls out on the table. And in the first take of that, Ed Helm spontaneously, unscripted, smashed the roach with his wrench. After the take, the director, Dave Rogers, and I ran onto set and we said, oh, that was so funny, do that again in the next take. And the actress said, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Ed will not be doing that again. This has become a cartoon. And for eight more takes, Ed never again hit the roach with the wrench. But if you watch the episode, Ed hitting the roach with a wrench is what ends up in the cut.

• 53:43Speaker 06

  Now, what is going on here is the earnest search by talented comedy people to find that balance between what Greg Daniels, the show creator, would call the plausible and the comical. If there's too much plausible, it's not funny. But if there's not enough plausible, it's silly. And the search for that is not easy, nor is it doable even by good people in real time. There's a certain trial and error element to finding comedy tone.

• 54:16Speaker 03

  So when I heard this clip from Brent, it really made me think about how much trust you put in your director and editor. And when you don't have that trust there, it can make you, as an actor, not try things. And we did have that trust on our set. And so Ed tried this moment, and in the moment, it didn't feel right to them. So they were like, we're not gonna repeat it. And we would do that all the time. I would try a reaction to something, and I would be like, oh, my God, no, no, okay, no, no, not doing that again. That was, that was like, not the right thing. And then you just kind of, you hope everyone agrees and it doesn't end up in the cut. But then ultimately, sometimes you're wrong. Like, it was the right thing to try.

• 55:00Speaker 03

  And I just love how our show had all those checks and balances, I guess.

• 55:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, me too. I thought it made perfect sense. If a cockroach is on a table, all of a sudden, you're gonna try to whack it or shoo it off or something.

• 55:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 55:14Speaker 02

  So that reaction felt very natural to me. It's probably why he did it in the first take, because it was a natural instinct. And I love that audio clip. There's one thing that keeps coming up for me when I hear Brent's voice make a passionate plea about a joke or why something stayed in the episode or the process. He's reminding me a lot of a youth pastor we had at church.

• 55:36Speaker 03

  Uh huh.

• 55:37Speaker 02

  He's very passionate. I hear this cadence in his voice that is reminding me of a Sunday worship service a little bit. It's a compliment, Brent. You're very passionate. I'm riveted by your storytelling. While the fellows are at the restaurant, Jim's credit card company calls to verify some charges that seem out of the ordinary. There are charges in Puerto Rico, and this has caused a red flag at the credit card company.

• 56:05Speaker 03

  Yes, so they call Jim's office, and Kevin answers the phone. He manages to give Jim's information. They think he's Jim, and they're like, well, you're obviously not in Puerto Rico, so we're gonna go ahead and cancel the card.

• 56:19Speaker 02

  Not just any information. He finds the home address and the last four digits of his social security.

• 56:25Speaker 03

  Well, lady, at nine minutes and 51 seconds, as Kevin's shuffling through all these papers to give away Jim's information, I notice something. He has a word search fun book open under all this paperwork. And I thought to myself, is this a character thing? Or is this a Brian Baumgartner thing? Because I know Stanley always did his crossword puzzles, and that tracks for me, but I don't imagine Kevin is sitting around doing word searches.

• 56:57Speaker 02

  Are you kidding? That is so not Kevin.

• 57:00Speaker 03

  So I was wondering, you sat with him, Angela. Did Brian do like word searches in his free time in the background? Do you remember?

• 57:09Speaker 02

  Mostly over in accounting, he was on his computer surfing the internet, because you could not see his screen. He was very lucky.

• 57:16Speaker 03

  I know.

• 57:17Speaker 02

  Right? He never got reprimanded for his computer screen. But I imagine over in Jim's glass box, he was visible in so many different ways that maybe he had to do something to pass the time.

• 57:28Speaker 03

  Very interesting. I thought it was fascinating.

• 57:31Speaker 02

  As I watched the scene, the only thing I could think of was, why, Jim? Why would you leave such personal information just laying about your desk?

• 57:42Speaker 03

  I agree.

• 57:43Speaker 02

  Why not tidy up a little bit? Put that stuff away before you go out of town.

• 57:48Speaker 03

  Your check stubs. People are gonna see what you make? You think that's not gonna cause a stir?

• 57:54Speaker 02

  I agree.

• 57:55Speaker 03

  Trust no one in that office. Back at the restaurant, when Grati arrives, he makes them change tables. And I absolutely loved his bit when he says, is this the table you've chosen? It's a half booth, half table. It doesn't know what it is.

• 58:15Speaker 03

  It made me laugh so hard. I went to the script and that little couplet wasn't in there. I don't know if it was something on the day or if Mike thought of it, but I love describing that table isn't not knowing what it is.

• 58:28Speaker 03

  But a waitress is gonna come and take their order. Wow, if you do not make Grati's order exactly how he wants it, he is gonna send it back.

• 58:37Speaker 02

  Michael is fascinated by how Grati orders. He's taking mental notes.

• 58:41Speaker 03

  He is. And you know, the whole point of this lunch is that Michael's supposed to seem intimidating. So he's going to try to give a very intimidating lunch order, and he's gonna order gabagool. But the waitress doesn't know what he's talking about. He's like gabagool.

• 58:58Speaker 02

  Andy knows.

• 58:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, gabagool. They don't have it. What is gabagool? I didn't know.

• 59:06Speaker 02

  I only knew it from one place.

• 59:09Speaker 03

  The Sopranos.

• 59:10Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 59:11Speaker 03

  Yeah. Well, I looked it up, and thank you, Esquire. They wrote an article called, What the Hell is Gabagool? And Why Does Tony Soprano Talk About It All the Time? I found an audio clip online where somebody stitched together all the times they say gabagool on Sopranos. Let's listen to it. Gabrielle says, we down here for the gabagool. The gabagool. Tony gabagool, grandma, it's nothing but fat and nitrates. Gabagool.

• 59:36Speaker 05

  And four with a half salami gabagool. Taking the gabagool and shit out of the fridge. Let's get back to that gabagool. Gabagool. All this from a slice of gabagool to gabagool.

• 59:49Speaker 03

  Okay. Clearly, Michael watches The Sopranos as well. I Googled it. Gabagool is a cured meat. It is known formally as Capocola, and it is made from pork shoulder. It's kind of a cross between a sausage and a prosciutto. You would find it on like a charcuterie board. Gabagool is kind of like a shorthand for saying capocola, where you just sort of garble it. This is what the article said, that it's like, instead of saying capocola, you say gabagool. That's it.

• 1:00:27Speaker 02

  It's so interesting because Tony Soprano's anxiety attacks were triggered by meat, remember?

• 1:00:34Speaker 03

  Yes, yeah. What isn't in that audio clip that we played were all of these additional scenes of him just standing in the fridge, eating gabagool. He would often get up in the middle of the night and eat it. And then he would have an anxiety attack.

• 1:00:50Speaker 02

  Well, ultimately, Michael can't order gabagool because they don't have it. So instead, he says he'll order spaghetti with a side salad. If the salad is on top, he'll send it back.

• 1:01:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:02Speaker 02

  If the salad is on top of his spaghetti.

• 1:01:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:05Speaker 02

  In the shooting draft, the scene continues. Andy is also going to order. Here's what Andy orders. He would like a ham sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise and some Lowry's salt.

• 1:01:18Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 1:01:19Speaker 02

  Lowry's seasoning salt on top of his ham sandwich.

• 1:01:22Speaker 03

  I love a Lowry's seasoning salt on top of some salmon before you grill it. I mean, you can really put it on anything.

• 1:01:29Speaker 02

  You really can. I wouldn't think to put it on ham.

• 1:01:32Speaker 03

  Oh, why not? I think it would be great. I mean, ham's already a little salty, but I really think you can put it on almost anything.

• 1:01:39Speaker 02

  I don't disagree.

• 1:01:40Speaker 03

  Oh, I just saw this fan question from Kimberly W. in Fort Worth, Texas. It's going back to gabagool. She would like you to know that Black Cat Pizza in Fort Worth, Texas, has a special order gabagool pizza. And I looked it up.

• 1:01:57Speaker 02

  What's on it?

• 1:01:58Speaker 03

  It's their take on a meat lover's pizza, and it has capocola, which is gabagool, pepperoni, sopressata, spicy Italian sausage, a bunch of peppers, mozzarella, and provolone on a marinara.

• 1:02:14Speaker 02

  It's 11:15 here, and I'm now hungry.

• 1:02:18Speaker 03

  Oh, I know. I wish, well, you also love a charcuterie board.

• 1:02:24Speaker 02

  I do. I mean, it's.

• 1:02:25Speaker 03

  You know, it goes with the cheese that you love.

• 1:02:27Speaker 02

  I love it. Oh, I read today's National Cheese Day.

• 1:02:31Speaker 03

  What?

• 1:02:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:32Speaker 03

  It is?

• 1:02:33Speaker 02

  I know.

• 1:02:34Speaker 03

  Oh, I'm going to put that on my calendar for next year because I want to be the friend that sends you cheese on National Cheese Day.

• 1:02:41Speaker 02

  That is some serious BFF territory. I love you for it.

• 1:02:45Speaker 03

  Oh, wait, we got another fan question from Izzy T. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who wants to know who played the waitress. I think she was very funny. I agree with you, Izzy. She was played by Deborah Puente. I hope I'm saying your last name right, Deborah. She has been on, oh, my gosh, Parks and Recreation, Grey's Anatomy, Strong Medicine, and she's also a theater producer. She won a Drama Desk Award in 2011 for producing the play Four Places.

• 1:03:15Speaker 02

  Awesome. Well, we have another guest star alert because a woman and her child are going to approach Andy because he's dressed like a mechanic. Her car won't start, and she needs his help.

• 1:03:28Speaker 03

  Yes, that woman was played by Ray Lat. The son was played by Tucker Albrezi. And you know, she's going to regret asking for Andy's help because he kind of blows up her car.

• 1:03:43Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh, he clearly knows nothing about cars. He even says, you know what, I have a great guy that can help you.

• 1:03:52Speaker 03

  Randy told us that to make the battery spark and blow up in the scene was another special effect engineered by Mike Thompson. He used squibs, which are electronically ignited devices that spark. And they also used an electronically triggered smoke generator. And he also sent us a video of them testing the effect. You got to put it in stories. I love how they have to test this stuff. They're not just going to hand Ed some electric things and make it blow up. Somebody has to test that first. But just in case you find yourself with a dead battery, I am going to tell you how to jumpstart a car.

• 1:04:37Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 1:04:38Speaker 03

  You know, I feel like our rabies information really helped some people. And so I'd like to offer this for you all.

• 1:04:46Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:04:47Speaker 03

  So you're going to need a car with a battery that's working, and then you'll have your dead battery car. Before you start, make sure both cars are off. Then you take the red clamp, which is positive, and you clamp it on the dead battery. Start with dead battery first.

• 1:05:05Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:05:07Speaker 03

  Then attach the red clamp to the positive terminal of the working battery. Then stay where you are. Clamp the negative, which is the black clamp, to the working battery. And then complete the circle by clamping the negative to not the battery, but to any unpainted metal surface of the dead car. You don't go battery, battery, battery, battery.

• 1:05:34Speaker 02

  Uh-uh.

• 1:05:35Speaker 03

  Uh-uh. Then start the working car.

• 1:05:40Speaker 02

  Then start the dead car.

• 1:05:42Speaker 03

  Right. Then remove the cables in the reverse order that you attached them. And you have to keep the previously dead car running for several minutes, or you can drive around for like 15 minutes, and then your battery will be recharged. So positive, positive, negative, negative not to battery, turn on cars.

• 1:06:04Speaker 02

  One of my friends in my early 20s out here, you know, when you move out here and you're just at the very beginning trying to start out. His car was a bit of a clunker, and there were a few times we had to do that. After like performing at comedy clubs, we'd be like, does anyone have jumper cables?

• 1:06:19Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, me too. I found out why Andy had the problems he had. If you connect the negative first, there's a chance that it'll short circuit and the battery will explode.

• 1:06:33Speaker 02

  Oh, yesh.

• 1:06:34Speaker 03

  Also, this website just wants you to know, never try to jump a frozen battery, and don't try to jump a broken or leaky battery.

• 1:06:43Speaker 02

  Good to know, guys. Good to know. Our final moment here with Mr. Grady at the restaurant is a real power struggle between Dwight and Andy. Dwight says, don't sign the letter of intent. Andy really wants him to sign it so they can be done with all this. Michael signs the paper, and Dwight is really disappointed.

• 1:07:04Speaker 03

  I just want to point out, I love how they all ordered dessert at a lunch that they didn't want to go to.

• 1:07:09Speaker 02

  I know.

• 1:07:10Speaker 03

  I mean, this was a three-course meal.

• 1:07:13Speaker 02

  I looked in the shooting draft to see if there was anything about what really was in this insurance policy. Like, what did it cover?

• 1:07:20Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:07:21Speaker 02

  The shooting draft did not disappoint. Mr. Grady says to Michael, so from getting to know you a little, I think this policy is the right size for you. It will provide enough for your mother to eat at Red Lobster for the rest of her days. Endow a scholarship in your name at Hamburger University and preserve your brain and genitals in a cryogenic lab.

• 1:07:44Speaker 03

  Okay, well, Michael says, listen, it's only the same as the cost of one cup of coffee per hour.

• 1:07:51Speaker 02

  To preserve your brain and genitals? What a deal.

• 1:07:54Speaker 03

  Well, I looked it up, and the average cost of a hot black coffee in the United States is $2.70. So that means Michael's policy costs $23,587 a year.

• 1:08:10Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 1:08:11Speaker 03

  I thought that was a lot. I thought $2.70 for a cup of coffee was a lot. But it is not the most expensive cup of coffee in the world, according to the Global Coffee Report, which ranks 104 countries. In South Korea, the average cost of just a black coffee is $7.77.

• 1:08:33Speaker 02

  Whoa.

• 1:08:34Speaker 03

  I know. The least expensive cup of coffee is in Iran, where you can get a cup of coffee for just 49 cents.

• 1:08:43Speaker 02

  Hmm, well, you can certainly see why Michael's in a bit of a jam financially because he's just signed a policy he can't afford.

• 1:08:50Speaker 03

  At all.

• 1:08:51Speaker 02

  At all. And Dwight, as they're walking to the car, is like, what happened there? And Michael's like, I had to make a snap decision. And this line that Dwight says, do you know what a snap decision means? And then he snaps. I was like, that's rain improvising. It has to be. So I went to the shooting draft, and it's not in the shooting draft. This is what was scripted. Michael says, I had to make a snap decision, Dwight. Dwight says, no, you didn't. You were sitting there for an hour. Just please tell me you only agreed to term life insurance. Michael holds up a pamphlet. Dwight snatches it. He looks at it and says, an annuity? No. And then Andy excitedly squeaks. And Michael goes, what?

• 1:09:35Speaker 02

  Andy says, nothing. And then Andy turns to camera and has this talking head on the fly. He annuity was doing, eh? And then he smiles and goes, the mood was wrong.

• 1:09:47Speaker 03

  I don't get the joke.

• 1:09:49Speaker 02

  He annuity was doing, like signing up for this insurance.

• 1:09:53Speaker 03

  Oh, he annuity.

• 1:09:55Speaker 02

  He's making a pun.

• 1:09:56Speaker 03

  He knew what he.

• 1:09:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, but he's doing it like in an accent, like he annuity was doing, eh?

• 1:10:02Speaker 03

  Oh, my God, that's like a hardcore dad pun right there.

• 1:10:05Speaker 02

  I know. And then I guess it's like crickets. And he goes, ah, the mood was wrong.

• 1:10:10Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 1:10:11Speaker 02

  That's what was in the script.

• 1:10:14Speaker 03

  I think he annuity what he was doing is a Brent joke.

• 1:10:17Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 1:10:19Speaker 03

  That's a word nerd pun joke, for sure.

• 1:10:21Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 1:10:22Speaker 03

  Back in the office, Michael decides he needs some advice from Jim. And so he is the latest person to call him on his honeymoon.

• 1:10:30Speaker 02

  You're on a catamaran.

• 1:10:32Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:10:33Speaker 02

  I'm very surprised Jim answered, to be honest.

• 1:10:36Speaker 03

  It's a very funny bit. This is the scene where John was actually on the other line. And the two of these guys, they started improvising. They went off script. This whole thing with the crackle, and you'll be saved. And then Michael is like, what are you? I can't. And he's like, and you'll be saved.

• 1:10:58Speaker 03

  They came up with that on the day.

• 1:11:00Speaker 02

  So fun.

• 1:11:01Speaker 03

  It shows the value of having the actor there live, especially on a show like ours that, you know, encouraged improvisation.

• 1:11:08Speaker 02

  And especially between John and Steve, who were so good at this Jim Michael dynamic.

• 1:11:14Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:11:15Speaker 02

  Well, Dwight overhears Michael talking to Oscar. He's clearly stressing out. And Dwight says, we've got to fix this. Michael is broke and living in fear with no friends at a dead-end job.

• 1:11:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, I know. And Andy's kind of like, well. Well, I mean, some of those things were true before today.

• 1:11:32Speaker 02

  And Dwight's like, not the fear part. So they come up with this plan that they're going to convince Michael that Mr. Grady is not in the mafia, even though, in truth, Andy and Dwight still think he is. But they go in and Andy's like, I have a friend who's a fed. This guy checks out. Dwight says he has a friend on the police force that also clears Grady's name.

• 1:11:53Speaker 03

  And also cleared the fed, just to make sure that he wasn't on the take.

• 1:11:57Speaker 02

  That's right. Oh, my gosh. Steve's performance, that moment when he, as Michael, thinks he's been lied to, the look that came over his face, Jenna, I was like, oh, Steve is so good.

• 1:12:09Speaker 03

  I love every time Steve realizes something as Michael.

• 1:12:12Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:12:13Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:12:14Speaker 02

  So Michael says, if there's one thing I hate more than the mafia, it's a liar, right? He's gonna call up this guy.

• 1:12:21Speaker 03

  Oh, and he gets on the phone and he lays into him and he cancels his policy. Everybody is so happy. And then Dwight and Andy are like, yeah, they tell him what they did. He just stood up to a mobster.

• 1:12:36Speaker 02

  And Michael's like, oh, God, oh, God. I should be mad at you guys. But now he just feels like a badass.

• 1:12:45Speaker 03

  Well, Brent sent in a final audio clip where he explains why he thinks this ending works so well and why he believes it endures.

• 1:12:54Speaker 06

  I think the Office episode Mafia is an original contribution to the history of comedy because there is a real story and there's a fake story. And all of the stakes for the characters happen in the fake story. But the actors grounded and played so real that we actually feel stakes for them and we actually feel their emotional resolution at the end. It also has an incredibly original ending where Dwight and Andy fake Michael into believing the truth. And this quote, false, understanding of reality is what allows Michael to solve his problems in the fake story. It's highly original. And I think those scenes of Andy, Dwight, and Michael in Michael's office will stand the test of time with comedy nerds forever.

• 1:13:37Speaker 03

  Well, it stood the test of time for me. I loved the complexity of it.

• 1:13:42Speaker 02

  For sure. And, you know, a little piece of Mr. Grady is gonna stay with Michael now. Forever.

• 1:13:49Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:13:50Speaker 02

  I mean, look at how he orders coffee at the end. Aaron, I want coffee. Not from the kitchen? The Stop & Shop. If it's not the Stop & Shop, I send it back. Large. If it's a medium, I send it back. If it's an extra large, I send it back. So there is part of Michael and Mr. Grady that are always going to be together.

• 1:14:07Speaker 03

  I also want to point out that at 20 minutes and 49 seconds, very briefly, over Michael's shoulder as he's bragging to the bullpen about standing up to this mobster, you can see that there is a replacement painting on the wall where Pam's watercolor would have been. It says, being cleaned, and it has stars and smiley faces all around it. This is something that Aaron put up on the wall. Now, in the next episode, that's going to be replaced with something else, but we'll get to it.

• 1:14:40Speaker 02

  Well, Sam was motioning to me. Sam, what do you got? What'd we miss?

• 1:14:44Speaker 04

  Your Angela's Digital Clutter sting is ready.

• 1:14:47Speaker 02

  You made one?

• 1:14:48Speaker 04

  Yeah, I made it during this episode.

• 1:14:49Speaker 02

  You did?

• 1:14:50Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:14:51Speaker 02

  No way. Let's hear it.

• 1:14:52Speaker 04

  Here we go.

• 1:14:56Speaker 04

  Angela's Digital Clutter.

• 1:15:00Speaker 04

  It'd sound like The Matrix if I did it right.

• 1:15:02Speaker 02

  It does. It sounds like Neo getting a message. Oh, Sam, I love it so much. Thank you.

• 1:15:10Speaker 03

  All right, Sam, you need to save that because next week, Fast Fact Number Three is going to be Angela's Digital Clutter.

• 1:15:18Speaker 02

  You guys literally might be nothing, but okay.

• 1:15:21Speaker 03

  That's what's so riveting about it.

• 1:15:24Speaker 02

  What's it gonna be? We don't know.

• 1:15:26Speaker 03

  Will it pay off? Will it not? You'll have to wait until next week when we break down The Lover.

• 1:15:33Speaker 02

  And also, we want to say thank you to Brent Forrester for sending in those audio clips. Check out his TV comedy course. You can go to BrentForrester.com. See you guys next week. We hope you have a great day.

• 1:15:50Speaker 03

  Thank you for listening to Office Ladies Second Drink.

• 1:15:52Speaker 02

  This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

• 1:15:56Speaker 03

  Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle.

• 1:16:04Speaker 02

  Our Second Drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.

• 1:16:07Speaker 03

  Our audio engineer is Sam Pfeifer.

• 1:16:09Speaker 02

  Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese-Dennis.

• 1:16:12Speaker 03

  Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

• 1:16:15Speaker 02

  Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.