Second Drink: Business Trip with Rich Sommer

Today we’re breaking down Business Trip. The ladies kick off this episode by interviewing Rich Sommer, who played Alex, Pam’s art school friend. Rich shares what it was like to play Alex and navigate being a character that Office fans were afraid was going to get in between Jim and Pam. Afterwards, the ladies breakdown Business Trip. Michael, Oscar and Andy go on a business trip to Winnipeg, Canada, while everyone back at the office counts down the days until Pam comes home from art school. Wendy McLendon-Covey sends in clips sharing her experience playing concierge Marie, Jenna shares some fun facts about Winnipeg and Angela deems which character is the “Office Fun Stopper” and surprise, it’s not Angela Martin. Check out Wendy’s podcast, Generation Ripe:https://www.generationripe.com https://www.generationripe.com/ Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: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

• 0:02Speaker 00

  Hello everyone and welcome to your second drink of Business Trip. This is the episode where Michael goes on a business trip with Oscar and Andy to Winnipeg. He meets Concierge Marie.

• 0:14Speaker 01

  One of my favorite characters.

• 0:16Speaker 00

  Andy drunk dials Angela, one of my favorite scenes. And Pam finds out she's failed art school and has to stay another 12 weeks if she wants to really graduate.

• 0:27Speaker 01

  Ugh.

• 0:28Speaker 00

  And we got to interview Rich Sommer for this episode, all about his arc as Pam's art school friend, in quotes, friend.

• 0:35Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 0:37Speaker 00

  And listen, we also recently did an interview with Wendy McLendon-Covey about her time as Concierge Marie. It's episode 259, if you want to check it out.

• 0:46Speaker 01

  She's delightful.

• 0:47Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 0:48Speaker 01

  Well, I mentioned in our breakdown of this episode that there were some awesome deleted scenes, specifically between Oscar and Andy. I talked all about Oscar being the fun stopper on the airplane, and I played a little clip. Well, you guys, all of the Oscar and Andy stuff from the plane has been added back to the superfan version, including more that isn't even on the DVDs.

• 1:11Speaker 00

  I watched it. It's really great. And it really sets up the scene in the bar later, because it's actually on the plane that Andy decides he's going to be Oscar's wingman.

• 1:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:23Speaker 00

  In fact, there's this whole scene on the plane where he tries to set him up with the guy sitting in the window seat of their row.

• 1:29Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:31Speaker 00

  And speaking of this storyline, when we asked people their favorite moment from this episode, we got this letter from Carrie J. in Omaha, who said, "One of my favorite scenes from the whole series is Oscar in the bar with Andy, trying to be his wingman. I love how Oscar plays the part. Like, absolute perfect acting by Oscar." And everyone, the scene is also the scene with the drunk dialed Angela, I really think we need to hear it.

• 1:58Speaker 02

  If you don't mind me asking, anything.

• 2:00Speaker 03

  You can ask me anything.

• 2:03Speaker 03

  I'm your wingman.

• 2:04Speaker 02

  It's just that I've sat next to Angela for a very long, very long time.

• 2:08Speaker 03

  Righto.

• 2:09Speaker 02

  How could anyone stand that woman?

• 2:12Speaker 03

  What?

• 2:13Speaker 02

  What do you see in her? What do you see in Angela?

• 2:16Speaker 03

  What I see in Angela?

• 2:17Speaker 02

  I wanna know.

• 2:18Speaker 03

  I see through a hard exterior to a little jelly in the middle. She is teaching me to be a better person. And she's working really hard on that. And she has the softest skin I've ever seen, and I can't wait to have sex with her.

• 2:36Speaker 02

  You haven't had sex?

• 2:37Speaker 03

  No.

• 2:38Speaker 02

  You guys waiting to get married? Or?

• 2:41Speaker 03

  Honestly, I don't know what we're waiting for.

• 2:44Speaker 02

  Andy, something is wrong with that woman.

• 2:45Speaker 03

  What is wrong with her?

• 2:47Speaker 02

  I'd like to know. You should call her and ask her. I'd like to know what's wrong with her.

• 2:50Speaker 03

  I should call and ask her. What is wrong with her?

• 2:52Speaker 02

  Do it. It's a caller. Oh my god, don't call her. Don't call her.

• 2:59Speaker 03

  Too late. Too late. It's silent. Now it's ringing.

• 3:05Speaker 04

  Hello? Hello?

• 3:07Speaker 03

  What is wrong with you?

• 3:08Speaker 02

  Why would you do Andy?

• 3:10Speaker 04

  What?

• 3:11Speaker 03

  That's Oscar, and he wants to know why you won't do me, and I think it's a valid question.

• 3:14Speaker 04

  Are you drunk?

• 3:15Speaker 03

  This is Andy Bernard.

• 3:17Speaker 04

  I know who this is.

• 3:18Speaker 03

  I wanna take you to sex school.

• 3:20Speaker 04

  What?

• 3:21Speaker 02

  Who is that monkey?

• 3:22Speaker 03

  There's somebody there.

• 3:24Speaker 04

  Are you drunk?

• 3:25Speaker 03

  I have needs.

• 3:27Speaker 04

  We will discuss this later.

• 3:28Speaker 03

  Naked.

• 3:29Speaker 04

  What?

• 3:30Speaker 03

  We'll discuss it later, naked. I wanna see you naked.

• 3:36Speaker 00

  It is such the perfect drunk dial. It really is.

• 3:40Speaker 01

  Uh huh.

• 3:41Speaker 00

  And the two of them together, it's delicious. It's chef's kiss. I agree with you, Carrie J.

• 3:46Speaker 01

  It's fantastic. And he, Ed played that moment so great, cuz you know, being drunk isn't easy to play. And I loved it when he was like, it's Andy Bernard. Just like, I know who it is.

• 4:00Speaker 00

  I also love it when, you know, Oscar blurts out, Andy wants to know why you won't do him, and you're like, what? And you think maybe Andy is gonna like, cover then, right? Like, he's gonna be like, no, no, no, he meant, he, nothing. He just repeats it. So good.

• 4:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:20Speaker 00

  Well, listen, there were so many great things added back to the superfan version of this episode, including this very funny scene where Michael, before they go to Winnipeg, he's at the airport and he's changing money at one of those kiosks. Yes. You have to hear it.

• 4:36Speaker 05

  What is the heart of the Canadian economy? Money. And I am getting some.

• 4:44Speaker 05

  Thank you very much.

• 4:47Speaker 02

  Michael, how much money did you change?

• 4:48Speaker 05

  Two grand, baby.

• 4:50Speaker 02

  Oh, no. We're only there for one night.

• 4:55Speaker 02

  Look at the commission rate, and there's a handling fee.

• 4:58Speaker 05

  Okay. All right, all right. Chill out. Quick fix. Excuse me. Change it back.

• 5:04Speaker 03

  Yes, yes, yes, yes. Get as much as you can. Strippers do not take credit cards.

• 5:11Speaker 05

  Change it back.

• 5:14Speaker 05

  Change it back.

• 5:15Speaker 02

  Why are you still changing money? Michael, you don't need cash. You get a better rate on the credit card. You only need cash for the cab ride. Do you understand? I'll see you at the gate.

• 5:26Speaker 05

  Change it back.

• 5:29Speaker 05

  Change it back.

• 5:37Speaker 05

  This is, this is a smaller pile. That, okay.

• 5:46Speaker 05

  Now I have $1,800.

• 5:49Speaker 00

  It's amazing.

• 5:50Speaker 01

  He's lost money before they've even, like, done anything.

• 5:54Speaker 00

  He just stood there and just paid $200 to change his money back and forth.

• 5:59Speaker 01

  I know.

• 6:00Speaker 00

  So good.

• 6:00Speaker 01

  And the person that plays the attendant is so put out with him, it's really funny.

• 6:05Speaker 00

  Yes, they're very funny.

• 6:07Speaker 01

  There was also a little bit of an old tech alert in there, too. Because now everyone pays in a cab with, like, their credit card.

• 6:14Speaker 00

  Oh, this is true. There's no like cash transaction cabs anymore.

• 6:20Speaker 01

  No, you just use your credit card or Venmo or whatever.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  It's so true.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  Well, we also got this letter from Caroline K. from Dublin, and it really made me chuckle. Caroline says, "Hi ladies, hope you are both keeping well. Just an observation, Michael brought two huge empty suitcases to fill with souvenirs, but no sign of them on the way back. Maybe they had checked them in already? It reminded me of when I worked for a dessert company and once had to travel from Dublin to Edinburgh with some frozen dessert samples. The little case was full on the way over. We had our meeting and presented the samples to the client, and then the suitcases were empty coming home. I got stopped at security because they thought it was suspicious to be traveling with an empty case.

• 7:06Speaker 01

  I could only laugh trying to explain my situation. They were grand about it in the end."

• 7:12Speaker 00

  So this was reminding me of how whenever we go on like a big, long family trip, we never anticipate that we're going to buy anything on that trip and we pack our suitcases totally full and then we're scrambling and we have to buy like some duffel bag or something.

• 7:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, some random bag to bring your your souvenirs back.

• 7:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, so I think it was very smart of Michael to bring the two empty suitcases. Well, I wanted to round out this second drink with this letter from Soo Yoon from South Korea, who writes us all the time.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  I know, Soo Yoon, you're lovely. Thank you.

• 7:45Speaker 00

  Lovely, and I really especially loved this letter. And it has to do with this episode. Here's what Soo Yoon had to say. "I've wanted to write this message for a long time because I loved that Pam gave up on art school. I know some people might say that decision wasn't very feminist, but honestly, it has given me tremendous comfort. In most sitcoms or dramas, when a protagonist makes a big career decision, everything works out in the end and they become very successful. But The Office is different. It let Pam fail, and that's okay. Life goes on anyway."

• 8:21Speaker 00

  Even when you fail in your work, it's okay. What matters is remembering that you tried. It's not your fault and you are still loved by your friends and family. Right now, I'm pursuing my own dream and it's a tough road. At the end of it, I might fail, but that's okay. I believe I will still find meaning and joy in my life, one way or the other, just like Pam did. Love you ladies.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  That is fantastic.

• 8:49Speaker 00

  Isn't that great?

• 8:50Speaker 01

  It's just so great and so true.

• 8:53Speaker 00

  So true. I mean, how many things did we fail at before we got on The Office, lady?

• 9:00Speaker 01

  So many.

• 9:00Speaker 00

  And all of those things were worthwhile. They always led to a new friendship.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 9:06Speaker 00

  Or maybe like just enough money to pay the rent that month or something like. Everything I've tried in my life has not been a huge success. But there's value in the trying. Isn't it great? I loved that letter. I loved that point of view for this episode.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  Same. Well, you guys, thank you so much for writing in. And now please enjoy our second drink of business trip.

• 9:33Speaker 00

  I'm Jenna Fischer.

• 9:34Speaker 01

  And I'm Angela Kinsey.

• 9:35Speaker 00

  We were on The Office together.

• 9:36Speaker 01

  And we're best friends.

• 9:37Speaker 00

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

• 9:41Speaker 01

  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.

• 9:49Speaker 00

  We're the Office ladies.

• 9:53Speaker 00

  Hello.

• 9:54Speaker 01

  Hi, you guys.

• 9:55Speaker 00

  All right, today we're talking about business trip.

• 9:57Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 9:58Speaker 00

  But first.

• 10:00Speaker 01

  We have a fantastic interview for you.

• 10:02Speaker 00

  Yes, we are going to be talking with Rich Sommer.

• 10:06Speaker 01

  Who played Alex. Art school Alex.

• 10:09Speaker 00

  I know. We love Rich. We're good friends with Rich in real life.

• 10:14Speaker 01

  Yes, my stepson and Rich's daughter B are in a book club. You guys, they meet every week.

• 10:18Speaker 00

  It's the cutest thing.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  It's the cutest thing.

• 10:20Speaker 00

  You might know Rich Sommer because he played Harry Crane on all seven seasons of Mad Men. And at that same time, he was doing his arc on The Office as Pam's art school friend.

• 10:33Speaker 01

  Friend? Question mark. And Jenna and Rich spent a ton of time together filming all those scenes and became really good friends.

• 10:40Speaker 00

  We did. We just had to talk to him. We wanted to hear his side of the story of filming that crazy scene with the little Bluetooth earpieces from Customer Survey. We talked about it last week with Stephen Merchant.

• 10:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, we needed Rich's take on that.

• 10:56Speaker 00

  We really did.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  And we talk all things The Office for Alex. And here is that interview.

• 11:05Speaker 00

  Rich Sommer, welcome to Office, ladies.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Hi, Rich.

• 11:09Speaker 06

  Thank you. Hi, Angela and Jenna.

• 11:12Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh, when we post the photo from this interview, Rich looks so professional.

• 11:19Speaker 06

  I can't believe you're saying that. I am in a teeny tiny box. I just have a wide angle camera. It makes it look cool.

• 11:25Speaker 01

  I know, but you have the, you have like the stuff that looks like egg carton. You know what I mean? You have like the real deal sound stuff.

• 11:33Speaker 06

  That's $10 at a foam place in Burbank that I went to, across from the old Toys R Us.

• 11:39Speaker 00

  We probably should have gone there.

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Gone there.

• 11:42Speaker 00

  Will you text us about it later when we get done?

• 11:44Speaker 06

  Yes, I will.

• 11:46Speaker 00

  I also want to share that as we were setting up this Zoom, my microphone broke, so I'm using a backup microphone. So I probably sound the worst of all of us. Rich is gonna sound the best. You look the most professional.

• 12:01Speaker 01

  Rich is what matters. You're what matters, Rich. We're here for you. We're excited to talk to you.

• 12:06Speaker 00

  We are.

• 12:07Speaker 01

  Rich, we always ask everyone on the show how they got their job on The Office. Did you audition for the part? Do you have a story? We have heard that Mindy was lobbying very hard for you. Did you know Mindy?

• 12:19Speaker 06

  To my recollection, Mindy and I met at the SAG Awards when you guys and the Mad Men cast were nominated. And Mindy was a fan of Mad Men and came up to me, and I was so excited to meet her. And we had chatted maybe a couple of times, but she came up to me and said, hey, I'm writing a part. With you in mind on the show, would that be okay if I?

• 12:41Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 12:43Speaker 06

  Was like, yes, because, you know, like everybody else, The Office was one of my favorite shows on TV. So it was a really exciting thing to have, you know, an actor, writer, producer from another show, any show, say that to you, but to have it be one of your, your favorite shows that you are so excited to even step into that world. It was, it was incredibly special. Yes.

• 13:07Speaker 00

  That is so cool. So is that what happened? They just offered you the role after she had written it?

• 13:13Speaker 06

  Yeah, they reached out and offered it. And I had a friend of mine who, I hadn't told him yet about that. And, and he said, oh, I just auditioned for The Office. And I was like, oh, that's awesome. I'm hoping to audition for them as well. And he said, yes, for this part, I guess Pam goes to art school and she's going to meet some guy at art school. And I was like, uh huh. Oh, good, good, good. And in my head, I knew what Mindy had said. And we hadn't finalized anything yet. And, and you know how these things work in the business. They'll keep auditioning, even if they have an offer out to someone or in conversation with someone, they'll keep auditioning other people. I'm usually on the auditioning end of that, where I'm throwing an audition down a hole rather

• 13:53Speaker 06

  than, you know, being the one that's actually being considered. But this was one of those rare times. So as soon as the offer came through officially, I, I was, I accepted immediately. But yes, it was, I, I, I did audition for The Office a time or two with Alison Jones, but I didn't get those roles. And then this came through and it was just an offer.

• 14:18Speaker 00

  Well, Rich, you mentioned that you met Mindy at a SAG Awards party. Something people should know, I guess, is just that the cast of The Office and the cast of Mad Men, we kind of glommed onto each other. We were on the rise at the same time and we were kind of experiencing the same thing of being both casts that were basically unknown actors, suddenly on these really popular shows. And so we would go around to all of these events together and we all became really good friends.

• 14:53Speaker 06

  It was a really sort of spectacular, odd marriage between the shows because we, we ended up, like you say, we, our groups, because the way, the way the SAG Awards work in particular is the entire cast of each show is, is seated together at one or two tables, depending on the size of the group. And, you know, our, and then at the party, there's usually like, there's this corner for Mad Men and this area for the office. And this, every show sort of has an area. And our areas often ended up being near each other and at least ended up being sort of shared real estate. It was a very, it was a, it was a very cool relationship between the groups.

• 15:32Speaker 00

  Yeah. Some of my favorite memories from that time are our casts hanging together. It was really cool.

• 15:39Speaker 01

  I remember people watching at the Mad Men party. There was a Mad Men like after party and Oscar Nunez and I sat on a couch and we were side barring as everyone walked by. We're like, look at this guy. Check that guy out.

• 15:54Speaker 06

  Those Mad Men after parties sometimes, I mean, every show has sort of the people that you, you're always like, I can't believe they watch our show. And I know you guys had that too. It was very strange times.

• 16:09Speaker 00

  I'm curious, what were you told about the role of Alex before you came in? Did you get anything to read? And were you told specifically that you were an art school friend or you were a possible love interest? How was this role pitched to you?

• 16:30Speaker 06

  Well, this is, this is gonna be, this is, this is the meaty part of the conversation, I suppose. I, I, the way it was pitched to me was, you know, this was the beginning of season five, obviously. And the way it was pitched to me was that it would be. Now, I should also clarify, especially if Mindy is listening. I'm not saying that Mindy pitched me anything. It was conversational. It was just sort of like, we, we think this is a character who's going to be throughout this season. We think it's a character that's going to be kind of like Rashida's character was, where it might be a little bit of another road bump for Jim and Pam. So when it started, that was definitely what was in my mind.

• 17:13Speaker 06

  But we filmed scenes that didn't make it into the show and I started to kind of put together that the, the response from the audience were so, because your show, how, how long in advance did you guys shoot and then air?

• 17:29Speaker 00

  I would say only three to four weeks, maybe. There was a pretty tight turnaround.

• 17:33Speaker 01

  About a month, yeah.

• 17:35Speaker 06

  Yeah. It, it was enough time, or a short enough time, I should say, that the audience response to my first appearance was, had landed before I was filming Customer Survey. And the, they were not pleased.

• 17:53Speaker 01

  They were not pleased. They did not want to see Pam, like with anyone, but Jim, oh man.

• 18:00Speaker 06

  No, and who could blame them? After what they had been through for, you know, four seasons, who could blame them?

• 18:06Speaker 00

  Well, you have very kind of flirty eyes in your first scenes at art school. You're very flirty and you're right, those scenes aired and all of a sudden, tiki bar is on the cutting room floor, right?

• 18:21Speaker 01

  There is a whole Alex storyline with Pam. Actually, the whole Pam art storyline is in deleted scenes. I watched the deleted scenes for the podcast and every week I'm like, Jenna, oh my gosh, there's this scene and this scene and one in the hallway and at a bar and here. And she's like, I know.

• 18:40Speaker 00

  How did it feel to watch those scenes get cut week to week? Did anyone warn you?

• 18:46Speaker 06

  As far as how it felt, look, I am very, I consider myself fortunate that I have a fairly.

• 18:56Speaker 06

  Uh, I don't know, a comfortable ability to, to, to see where things fit in story wise. And I could feel from the moment we were, the second anybody said, this feels weird. This is too much, too much consternation for Jim and Pam. I agreed. I mean, again, I was a fan from the beginning. Now, I would have loved to have gotten to be around more, but I also wasn't going to be greedy. I was, I remain delighted that I had the parts that I had.

• 19:32Speaker 06

  I do think it's a funny part of Office lore because it seems clear to me at least that this was a sort of aborted storyline, that they kind of cut bait when they could.

• 19:47Speaker 06

  And that was, I don't know, I just think it's, how I feel about it is that it's a very funny, interesting way to have been a part of the Office legacy.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  Well, I was bummed that you never came to the actual set because we never got to hang out on set. And you and Jenna would have stories and we were missing Jenna, you know, Jenna was who I had lunch with every day. And I was like, gosh, why can't Alex just, um, you know, show up with Pam at work one day? Of course, that would have completely like blown up the storyline, but we were sad you were never in the actual bullpen.

• 20:20Speaker 00

  Should we talk about this insane scene that we filmed for customer survey with Stephen Merchant? First of all, did you crap your pants when you found out Stephen Merchant was directing? Cause I did, I did poop myself.

• 20:35Speaker 06

  Yep. Yes. Yeah, it was upsetting. I mean, it was, it was a 10% exciting, 90% upsetting.

• 20:43Speaker 01

  I had no idea, Rich, how many different ways you guys did this scene. You know, we got the scripts and all the alts from James Carey and I could not believe it. Jenna told me, how many different versions were there Jenna?

• 20:57Speaker 00

  I think there were some.

• 20:58Speaker 01

  Something like 10. Good night.

• 21:02Speaker 06

  Now, I wasn't privy to all of those versions because as a as a guest actor, I was really only given the script on the day. This is how I remember it and I I've listened to you guys talk about it with Stephen and I I I my memory is slightly different, but I don't know where where it goes off. I've certainly mulled over this aspect of the story a thousand times, so it's probably gotten altered as I've gone, but ah, the the here was my problem. My problem was that I had an inside. I had a mole on the inside and I don't know if I've ever even told you guys about this and I

• 21:40Speaker 01

  Wait.

• 21:41Speaker 06

  I won't name this person on the podcast.

• 21:43Speaker 01

  You had a mole on the set of The Office?

• 21:46Speaker 06

  I won't. I won't. I won't name this person on the podcast, but this was a person who was not an actor who worked in in the production and this person sent me the script. Early, he said, oh, you've got some great stuff in this upcoming episode. Oh, my God, I'd love. I'd loved. Yeah, okay, fine. Yes, it's a guy. So this person sent me the script and I was in that version. Alex professed his love to Pam. And I thought, oh, wow. And as a it it left it open. Is this a send off for my character or is this something that we may see him later on? I showed up on the day I was handed the sides.

• 22:29Speaker 06

  And those sides were, as as you guys know, wildly different that they had taken out any profession of love at all. Made it purely about her sort of artistic sensibilities and changed how that was going to go. So when we were filming,

• 22:49Speaker 06

  I will admit this is a fault of mine as an actor. I couldn't get it out of my head. Because again, everything we had been playing so far was that Alex had a crush on Pam. And like you guys said with Stephen.

• 23:06Speaker 06

  What Alex ends up saying is enough. It didn't need to be this on the nose sort of profession of of love. It's implied, it's intrinsic. As Jim says, you know, this guy's into you. I mean, it's it's clearly there. But in the moment, I couldn't find the right level of demonstrative that Stephen wanted. And the level that Stephen wanted was zero. That I was was continually pumping out was more in the neighborhood of like 75% demonstrative. I couldn't reel it in. And in fact, Jenna, to your question of pooping my pants when I found out it was Stephen Merchant, that was just a little, that was just like a little jitter compared to how I felt when Stephen.

• 23:53Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 23:53Speaker 06

  Came up to me after a take and said these words, the words that have haunted me as an actor forever. He came up to me and said, I don't know why you're not getting this.

• 24:04Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 24:08Speaker 06

  It was awful.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 24:13Speaker 06

  He was, by the way, 100% right. I just couldn't do it. So, you know, looking at Jenna Fisher standing across me, John Krasinski is crumpled up into a ball under the table in that room, reading his lines for the Bluetooth.

• 24:29Speaker 01

  He was there? John was there?

• 24:31Speaker 00

  I remember he was there, but I didn't remember he was hiding under the table.

• 24:36Speaker 01

  Oh, my God. Through all the takes?

• 24:39Speaker 06

  There was nowhere for him to hide in the room because it was a small, like, conference room. And the cameras, as you guys know, were moving all the time.

• 24:46Speaker 01

  Everywhere.

• 24:46Speaker 06

  There was no safe space. So he just hid under the desk.

• 24:50Speaker 01

  Six foot three, John Krasinski was curled up under the desk.

• 24:55Speaker 06

  Yes. And I'm just like mortified. Like, this is the, well, this is it. I'm never acting again, obviously, because Stephen Merchant's never going to cast me in anything. Jenna and John think I'm absolutely out of my mind. I could, it was, it was a stressful day. It's all great now, but it was a stressful day.

• 25:15Speaker 00

  Oh my gosh, Rich, I think you're being too hard on yourself and taking on too much of the responsibility because I was also told that Alex might be a possible love interest for Pam. Not that Pam would have feelings for Alex, but that she might have to manage his feelings for her. And by the way, I want to say, I only respected Rich in that moment. And so much so that we went on to do a movie together. We did The Giant Mechanical Man. You played my brother-in-law and you were so funny.

• 25:49Speaker 06

  That's right.

• 25:50Speaker 01

  Giant Mechanical Man is a great movie, by the way. Great. And you guys are fantastic in it.

• 25:55Speaker 06

  It's a re- I love that movie. And I, uh, believe me, when I, in the, in the month or so following my final day at the office and, and we had exchanged information because we, you know, we, it was clear we were going to be friends. Um, I, I, my recollection is when you and, and Lee reached out to ask if I would come and do a table read for this movie that you guys were working on. It was both so exciting, but also such a relief that you had not, um, uh, written me off after that day. Because it was, it was just such a stressful, you know, you know, you've had those days on a set where you feel like

• 26:38Speaker 06

  this is my last day on a set. I'm never acting again. Obviously, I'm garbage. I don't know why I, uh, did this. And usually I don't leave a day feeling that way. It's usually somewhere closer to the middle. Um, but, uh, that day I left and I was just like, oh, that, that is that. That was that. I hope Mad Men goes forever because this, uh, door has been closed. So it was such a relief.

• 27:03Speaker 01

  No one felt like that. Everybody thought that you crushed it. Really and truly. I, I thought, I was rooting for Alex and I know I, I'm not, I wasn't rooting. No, listen, listen now. So I don't get hate mail. I wasn't rooting for Jim and Pam to break up, but I became like, I thought Alex was so endearing that I just, I want Alex to have a good life. I became that person. Like, I hope Alex finds his person because he's so sweet and kind. And I don't know.

• 27:34Speaker 00

  Rich, I have to ask, how did the set of the office and the way we shot and the way things worked? Differ from the way you guys made Mad Men.

• 27:46Speaker 06

  I mean, the ways we are similar is a very short list. The the Mad Men set filming style was entirely different. First off, for the first three, maybe four seasons of Mad Men, we were still shooting on film. So at this time,

• 28:04Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 28:04Speaker 06

  when I was doing The Office, we were, we were definitely shooting on film. And that, you know, for anyone who's been on a set where they're filming with film, it's a, it's a whole other process. It adds a remarkable amount of time. When you're even just changing a film mag, you know, a bit, the cartridge of film, it has to be sort of taken to a dark place and dealt with so that it can be sent off for processing. And it, the turnarounds on scenes, you know, moving the camera around takes,

• 28:40Speaker 06

  I don't know, not twice as long, but a lot longer. So the fact that on The Office, they would hit roll and almost never stop until they were out of tape, as I recall, right? I mean, it just,

• 28:52Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:52Speaker 06

  it felt like we were always rolling.

• 28:54Speaker 00

  Yes. They, it, it did feel that way. Yeah.

• 28:57Speaker 06

  You could kind of stop mid scene if you needed to and adjust something. Whereas on Mad Men, it was more, if we're filming, everything has to be in order. And if we're, if we cut, then everybody can breathe again. It was just a very different type of precision that they were doing on Mad Men, because it was, obviously, the look is not handheld. The look on Mad Men was very carefully and intentionally composed. Not that shots weren't composed on The Office, but it was just composed in a different way. It was much more fluid. We're watching the show now with our daughter. She's 13 and she's never seen it. We're probably three quarters of the way through season two.

• 29:43Speaker 06

  Now she knows, just because it's in The Zeitgeist, that Pam and Jim end up together. It is driving her bananas like, and I haven't, I haven't even thought to say, uh, if you think this is tough, wait till Rashida Jones shows up because she's just frustrated that, you know, Roy set a date for the wedding and Jim was sad and B was like, this is terrible. When do they get together? I can't stand it.

• 30:09Speaker 01

  Buckle in.

• 30:10Speaker 06

  I got news for you. It's gonna be a minute. Yeah.

• 30:12Speaker 00

  Rich, she's gonna hate you when she gets to your part.

• 30:16Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah.

• 30:16Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 30:17Speaker 00

  What's that gonna, what's Brett's gonna be like at your house?

• 30:22Speaker 06

  Well, I, she, she has been with me when I have been, um, recognized from the office.

• 30:28Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. We were gonna ask, do you get recognized as Alex?

• 30:33Speaker 06

  It, I do. And it is amazing to me how often, cause sometimes, um, you know, as, as, as, uh, actors, we get different people recognize us from different things. And truly, it's gotta be half the time. It's The Office. I mean, I, I'm on screen for two episodes of The Office. So its reach was just sort of, uh, sort of astounding to me. But I did, my favorite one is when Beatrice was a baby. She, I don't even think was a year old. We went to visit my family in Ohio and we were getting on a connecting flight in Cincinnati. I'm walking my tiny, beautiful little baby girl down the aisle and this guy

• 31:13Speaker 06

  leans into the aisle and he goes, hey, hey. And I sort of start and look, I'm like, yeah. This stranger says, don't F with Pam and Jim.

• 31:23Speaker 01

  Oh, oh my God.

• 31:26Speaker 06

  And he meant it, by the way. So I think people, uh, it was in those kinds of moments where I went, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is, um, it's better that Alex goes quietly into the night and they go back to their thing so that I don't, you know, get kidnapped or anything.

• 31:43Speaker 01

  Oh, Rich. Well, you know, maybe Alex had to go away, but we're glad you got to stay in our lives.

• 31:50Speaker 00

  Yes. And Rich, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It was so great to see you.

• 31:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:57Speaker 06

  Thank you. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this.

• 31:59Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh. I, I'm just, I'm excited that we got to have you on the show. I'm excited we got to take that trip down memory lane. Hopefully this has been healing. I hope it's been healing.

• 32:11Speaker 06

  Yes, yes, I promise.

• 32:13Speaker 01

  I hope it is.

• 32:15Speaker 00

  Aw, thank you so much, Rich. We love you.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  Love you, Rich.

• 32:19Speaker 06

  Thank you. Love you too. And thanks again for having me.

• 32:32Speaker 01

  That was so great. Thank you so much, Rich Sommer. And now Jenna.

• 32:37Speaker 00

  It's time to break down Business Trip.

• 32:39Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 32:40Speaker 00

  It is season five, episode eight. Listen to this dream team, written by Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn.

• 32:49Speaker 01

  Office ladies, folks, are you ready to go to?

• 32:52Speaker 07

  The international business trip. We're going to Canada.

• 32:56Speaker 01

  Canada.

• 32:57Speaker 00

  Canada.

• 32:58Speaker 01

  It's time to go. Get your passport.

• 33:00Speaker 00

  International traveler.

• 33:02Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 33:03Speaker 00

  Let me give you a summary.

• 33:04Speaker 01

  Please.

• 33:05Speaker 00

  Michael is ecstatic when David Wallace sends him on an international business trip to Winnipeg, Canada.

• 33:13Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 33:13Speaker 00

  He brings Oscar and Andy along. While on the trip, Michael romances the concierge and Oscar and Andy bond. Meanwhile, Jim and the rest of the office count down the days until Pam's return, only to be disappointed when she has to stay in New York for another 12 weeks to retake a course that she failed. Also, Kelly and Ryan get back together.

• 33:39Speaker 01

  Yes, they do. The deleted scenes on this one are delicious. I'll be sharing some of those.

• 33:46Speaker 00

  Fast fact number one, we have an awesome guest star alert.

• 33:49Speaker 01

  Yes, we do.

• 33:50Speaker 00

  It is Wendy McLendon-Covey as Concierge Marie. Concierge Marie. How do I love thee?

• 33:57Speaker 01

  She was perfection.

• 33:59Speaker 00

  You guys might know Wendy. She is the star of the TV show The Goldbergs.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  Yes, she plays Beverly.

• 34:05Speaker 00

  She was in Bridesmaids, So Funny, Reno 911. She is a member of the Groundlings Improv, and she's just an all-around amazing human being.

• 34:15Speaker 01

  She is, and she was so delightful. We slid into her DMs.

• 34:19Speaker 00

  We did.

• 34:20Speaker 01

  And I was like, Wendy, we have some questions. She was like, of course. And she sent us fantastic. Audio clips.

• 34:25Speaker 00

  Of course, we had to ask her how she got her role on The Office. I was not expecting this response.

• 34:31Speaker 01

  I know, me either.

• 34:32Speaker 05

  Hello, Jenna and Angela, office ladies, gorgeous office ladies. So my audition process, actually, I did not have to audition for The Office, but it came to me in an interesting way. First of all, I had been in Michigan for not even 24 hours before I had been fired off of a movie because one of the money guys thought I was too ugly. So I was, my ugly ass was put on a plane back to LAX. And when I got off the plane, there was a message from my agent saying, "Oh, they want you for The Office tomorrow."

• 35:14Speaker 05

  So I was thrilled, you know, I'd been crying for, I don't know, five hours on a plane, and then I get this news and it's like, yes, I'm so glad I got fired. So when I got to the set the next day, you know, I was a little raw from being told how ugly I was, and I was in my dressing room, my trailer, and one of the PAs came and said, "Oh," something to the effect of, "Yeah, you don't look as bad as we thought you were going to. So we don't need to see you right away in the makeup chair." I swear it was something like that. It was like, "Oh, we're delighted that you don't look like Shrek," type of thing.

• 35:54Speaker 01

  Oh, Wendy. I mean, we've all had moments like that. That is something about show business where people can get real tacky.

• 36:01Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah. Well, you know my story where they said I couldn't be on Alias because I wasn't hot enough. But then the very next week, I auditioned for a different pilot and they said I was too good-looking for the role. So I was like, "Well, I don't know what I am then. I don't know."

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Well.

• 36:17Speaker 00

  I can't change my face.

• 36:19Speaker 01

  I had an agent say to me, "You're not Hollywood glamorous, okay?" And I said, "I know that." I was like, "Yeah, I know that. Can I be Hollywood dorky, though?"

• 36:31Speaker 00

  You can.

• 36:31Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 36:32Speaker 00

  You did it.

• 36:32Speaker 01

  And I did it.

• 36:35Speaker 00

  Oh no, gosh. And I've been fired. I was fired from a pilot that I did with Matt LeBlanc. I played his wife. It's on the air still, Man with a Plan. I was his wife. That was my part.

• 36:48Speaker 01

  Well, I know this story and you shared it in your book.

• 36:51Speaker 00

  I did. Yeah. I got hired. I shot the pilot. While I was there, the network said they wanted more scenes with me.

• 36:58Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 36:59Speaker 00

  I was like, I am nailing it.

• 37:01Speaker 01

  Right.

• 37:01Speaker 00

  More scenes means you're doing a good job. Well, I guess after we finished it, they showed it to focus groups.

• 37:09Speaker 01

  And they didn't like you?

• 37:10Speaker 00

  No. They, they liked me, but they said, this is a literal quote. They said, I don't believe Pam would marry Joey. The chemistry doesn't work between these two. That was the feedback they got.

• 37:24Speaker 01

  They could only see you as Pam and Joey.

• 37:26Speaker 00

  Yeah. So it wasn't working for them that we got married and had a family. And you know, the show's called Man with a Plan. It's starring Matt LeBlanc. It's his show.

• 37:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, I haven't seen it.

• 37:39Speaker 00

  Okay. Well, guess who they can't fire? The man with the plan. So out the door I went.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  I revenge didn't watch.

• 37:47Speaker 00

  Thank you. I appreciate it.

• 37:49Speaker 01

  That's your BFF.

• 37:50Speaker 00

  That's what you're supposed to do.

• 37:52Speaker 01

  That's right. You fire my BFF, I'm not going to watch your show.

• 37:56Speaker 00

  But here's the crazy part, lady. The crazy part is that I didn't know I was fired until literally like two days before they were going to announce it at the big press junket in New York. I had packed a suitcase.

• 38:11Speaker 01

  Tacky.

• 38:12Speaker 00

  Because everyone was like, it's going, it's gonna go, it's a sure thing. I had hired hair and makeup to get me ready for all the press. And then I get this call and everyone's on the phone. All my agents, my manager, publicist.

• 38:29Speaker 01

  Listen, when there's 15 people on the phone, it's either great news or real, real bad.

• 38:33Speaker 00

  Yeah. And the first thing I said was, is it not getting picked? Up? And they said, it's worse than that.

• 38:41Speaker 01

  Um.

• 38:43Speaker 00

  And I was like, what's worse than that? They said, it's getting picked up, but without you.

• 38:50Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 38:51Speaker 00

  And I was like, wow, I guess I'll unpack my suitcase.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  Dang.

• 38:56Speaker 00

  Yeah. I almost cut bangs in my hair that day.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  I remember.

• 39:01Speaker 00

  You stopped me.

• 39:02Speaker 01

  I didn't want you to cut your hair that day. I said, you know what? Let's pick a different day. Let's pick a different day to change your whole look. You did send me a picture, though, of you jumping in the air, flipping off the world.

• 39:16Speaker 00

  I did.

• 39:16Speaker 01

  I said, that's better. Go jump around, flip off anyone you want in the air. Do not cut your hair today.

• 39:23Speaker 00

  You were a good friend to me that day.

• 39:26Speaker 01

  And I will never watch that show. Sorry, Matt LeBlanc. I actually love you. And I love Joey, but I'm sorry.

• 39:32Speaker 00

  I liked Matt LeBlanc, too. He was very nice.

• 39:34Speaker 01

  Anyway.

• 39:34Speaker 00

  All right. Well, Wendy, I am sorry you got fired because you are a talent and a force, and I love you.

• 39:39Speaker 01

  Yes. And thank you for texting me, emailing me.

• 39:44Speaker 00

  Let's see. Fast fact number two. Michael goes on his business trip to Winnipeg in this episode. And we got a lot of questions from people, why Winnipeg? How did they choose this location? Well, like I said before, this episode was written by Brent Forrester, and he did an interview.

• 40:03Speaker 01

  You mean to the CBC, Jenna?

• 40:05Speaker 00

  That's the one, Ange. Did you find it as well?

• 40:07Speaker 01

  It's the.

• 40:08Speaker 00

  Did we both Google real good this episode?

• 40:10Speaker 01

  Googled real good. CBC is the Canadian broadcast company.

• 40:14Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 40:15Speaker 01

  I'm like so proud that I know what CBC stands for.

• 40:19Speaker 00

  Well, they asked him, why Winnipeg?

• 40:22Speaker 01

  They did.

• 40:22Speaker 00

  Some good journalism. He explained that they knew they wanted this to be an international business trip, that they tossed around the idea of Montreal or Vancouver, but in the end, they chose Winnipeg because it seemed to strike the right balance between, quote, exotic and obscure.

• 40:41Speaker 01

  Yes. And you know what else I loved in this interview? Brent shared that Phil Shea, our prop master, reached out to the Winnipeg Tourism Promotion Agency, and they sent along all kinds of stuff like airport baggage tags, shopping bags from the bay, Old Dutch potato chips, which was founded in Winnipeg in 1954.

• 41:00Speaker 00

  And you're going to see those on the bar.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  I became obsessed, maybe because I watched this episode while I was hungry. I will have some Old Dutch potato chip tracking and also flavors to share with you.

• 41:13Speaker 00

  I'm there for it.

• 41:14Speaker 01

  And also they sent some Fort Gary Brewing Company paraphernalia and all kinds of other stuff.

• 41:20Speaker 00

  Yes, because we did not go to Winnipeg. We shot this whole episode in Los Angeles.

• 41:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:26Speaker 00

  So we had to just make it look as Kanada as possible.

• 41:30Speaker 01

  Fakey Kanada.

• 41:31Speaker 00

  Yes. Fast fact number three, even though we didn't go to Winnipeg, I have some fun facts about Winnipeg, and these were all sent in by fans.

• 41:40Speaker 01

  Oh, I love it.

• 41:41Speaker 00

  Office Ladies listeners who are from Winnipeg wanted us to know these things.

• 41:45Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 41:46Speaker 00

  So first from Leah Patterson, Winnie the Pooh was named after the city of Winnipeg.

• 41:52Speaker 01

  Get out.

• 41:52Speaker 00

  I didn't know that.

• 41:53Speaker 01

  I didn't know that.

• 41:54Speaker 00

  Yeah. A lot of people know that the writer of Winnie the Pooh had a son named Christopher Robin, and his son Christopher Robin had a little stuffed bear named Winnie. And that's where he got the idea for the characters. But do you know why his son named his bear Winnie?

• 42:10Speaker 01

  I do.

• 42:11Speaker 00

  Why?

• 42:11Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 42:12Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 42:13Speaker 01

  I'm just messing with you. I have no idea. There's probably a small number of people that know this, right?

• 42:18Speaker 00

  Well, I don't know. Leah Patterson knows.

• 42:21Speaker 01

  Okay, Leah, why?

• 42:22Speaker 00

  Because in 1915, a black bear was rescued by a cavalry veterinarian who named the bear Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg. And then he gave the bear to the London Zoo, and that's where the real Christopher Robin saw the bear, loved the bear, and then named his little stuffed bear after Winnie.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  Oh, so it's a little roundabout.

• 42:47Speaker 00

  It's hard to explain. I'm sorry if I took you on a real circle there, but the bottom line is, yes, Winnie the Pooh is named after the city of Winnipeg.

• 42:56Speaker 01

  Well, Leah, I love knowing that. What else you got?

• 42:59Speaker 00

  More from Leah.

• 43:00Speaker 01

  More from Leah?

• 43:01Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 43:01Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 43:02Speaker 00

  Winnipeg has been the slurpee capital of the world for almost 20 years.

• 43:06Speaker 01

  Wait, like slurpee like you get at 7-Eleven?

• 43:08Speaker 00

  That's right. They literally sell the most slurpees every year.

• 43:12Speaker 01

  Come on.

• 43:13Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 43:13Speaker 01

  My kids love a slurpee.

• 43:15Speaker 00

  I looked it up. It's true.

• 43:16Speaker 01

  Gotta go to Winnipeg.

• 43:17Speaker 00

  More from Leah.

• 43:18Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 43:19Speaker 00

  Leah, you are a treasure trove of information about Winnipeg. Where do you work? Do you work at the tourism?

• 43:25Speaker 01

  Promotion agency?

• 43:26Speaker 00

  You should. Winnipeg was also the first city in North America to use 911.

• 43:32Speaker 01

  They invented 911?

• 43:34Speaker 00

  I don't know. They were the first city to use it. It happened in 1959.

• 43:38Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 43:39Speaker 00

  This one from Taylor Nakarado. Winnipeg can get to close to negative 30 degrees Celsius in the winter, and we have actually broken a record for being colder than the planet Mars in 2019.

• 43:54Speaker 01

  Oh, this is a tough sell for Winnipeg.

• 43:57Speaker 00

  On New Year's Eve,

• 43:58Speaker 01

  Uh huh.

• 43:59Speaker 00

  The Mars Curiosity Rover posted a temperature of negative 29 degrees Celsius. Now, that's actually very warm for Mars.

• 44:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:08Speaker 00

  If you are interested, the average temperature on Mars is about negative 55 degrees Celsius, but it can get as cold as negative 150 degrees Celsius at the poles.

• 44:20Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 44:20Speaker 00

  But on this warm day on Mars, it was negative 29, and on that same day in Winnipeg, it was colder than Mars by a few degrees.

• 44:30Speaker 01

  Dang.

• 44:31Speaker 00

  Very cold. Taylor N. would like you to know that Winnipeg is a very diverse multicultural city, and they host something called Folklorama. It's one of the largest and longest running multicultural festivals in the world. It has over 40 pavilions where they embrace cultures of different countries, and you can watch singing and dancing and sample different foods from that country.

• 44:55Speaker 01

  I would go to that.

• 44:56Speaker 00

  That sounds so fun!

• 44:57Speaker 01

  I would love that. Well, listen, I think we should take a break.

• 45:01Speaker 00

  I think that's a good idea.

• 45:02Speaker 01

  We'll get an iced tea. We're gonna come back, and I'm excited to break down Business Trip.

• 45:07Speaker 00

  Let's do it.

• 45:19Speaker 01

  All right, you guys, we are back. We are in the conference room. Michael is teaching the group about various cultures and how to travel to those cultures.

• 45:29Speaker 00

  International.

• 45:30Speaker 01

  International.

• 45:31Speaker 00

  Behaviors.

• 45:32Speaker 01

  Yes. Jenna, background catch. At eight seconds, you can see Kate staring at me, but I can tell it's Kate and not Meredith. She's kind of looking at me like, "Hmm?" And then, very quickly in the corner, you can see me futzing with my microphone.

• 45:49Speaker 00

  Oh, was she trying to tell you we could see your microphone?

• 45:52Speaker 01

  I think something happened. Either my microphone dropped and I was trying to fix it, and Kate was trying to be like, "Camera's coming," something. There's a moment here.

• 46:00Speaker 00

  Ah!

• 46:00Speaker 01

  But you can see me. It's very quick. I'm like futzing with my collar, doing something.

• 46:05Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  Anyway.

• 46:06Speaker 00

  Oh, that's a good catch.

• 46:07Speaker 01

  It tickled me.

• 46:08Speaker 00

  Well, the reason for this conference room scene is so that Michael can explain to us that he is being sent to woo an international client.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  Right. This whole meeting could have been an email.

• 46:19Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 46:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:20Speaker 00

  The other thing that's happening is we learn that Pam is coming home in 6.5 days.

• 46:27Speaker 01

  Yes, and the office is very excited for Jim. Everyone at Dunder Mifflin, Kevin smacks his butt. Creed gives him a kind of a creepy shoulder rub. Phyllis smiles and says, "One more week." When Phyllis smiles and says, "One more week," please look at her desk. It is covered with tissues. I don't know what was happening.

• 46:46Speaker 00

  Oh, she must have had a cold.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  Something. I just love the fact that we didn't bother to tidy the desk.

• 46:52Speaker 00

  No, it's real life.

• 46:53Speaker 01

  It's real life mixed with fake life. Stanley gives Jim a look and goes, "Eh eh." And in a deleted scene, Jenna, Kelly helps Jim make a sign saying, "Welcome back," and she's really annoyed because he needs to use more glitter.

• 47:08Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah. We had a fan question from Chris S. about this scene with Jim. Chris said, "I would like to know the specific stage direction Creed was given when he massages Jim's shoulders as he comforts him." He really liked this moment. I looked it up in the script.

• 47:28Speaker 01

  What did it say?

• 47:29Speaker 00

  In the script, it actually said this, quote, "Creed passes Jim, he punches Jim's shoulder, and then musses Jim's hair." So this massage, they must have found it on the day, because in the script, he was supposed to give him a punch and a hair muss.

• 47:47Speaker 01

  Well, I think it's funnier, because Kevin's already smacked his butt.

• 47:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 47:51Speaker 01

  So it's like, a smack and a punch? I think this is way funnier. Also, John Krasinski's reactions to everyone, that's what makes it.

• 48:00Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 48:01Speaker 01

  His face when Creed comes up behind him is so good.

• 48:03Speaker 00

  So now, Michael is on the phone with David Wallace. He's got his passport ready. He's got his per diem.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  50 bucks, he's gonna buy a sweater.

• 48:13Speaker 00

  He is. He'll use other money for food.

• 48:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, and he has a plane ticket.

• 48:17Speaker 00

  He does. On Butte Airlines?

• 48:21Speaker 01

  B-U-T-T-E.

• 48:22Speaker 00

  Butt Airlines?

• 48:24Speaker 01

  Well, I think it's probably Butte.

• 48:27Speaker 00

  I looked it up.

• 48:28Speaker 01

  I did too.

• 48:29Speaker 00

  I found nothing.

• 48:30Speaker 01

  I found zilch.

• 48:31Speaker 00

  Not an airline.

• 48:32Speaker 01

  Not real. Fakey airline.

• 48:34Speaker 00

  I want to know more, though.

• 48:36Speaker 01

  Why they settled on Butte?

• 48:38Speaker 00

  I think it was Butt.

• 48:40Speaker 01

  Oh, come on, really?

• 48:42Speaker 00

  I don't know. Why would you call it Butte Airlines?

• 48:45Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 48:46Speaker 00

  We don't know. We're sorry.

• 48:48Speaker 01

  Sorry, guys. It could be Butte or Butt, but it's a fakey airline.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  Oh, here's something. Michael is gonna bring two extra giant suitcases for souvenirs.

• 48:58Speaker 01

  Empty.

• 48:59Speaker 00

  Empty.

• 49:00Speaker 01

  They're empty.

• 49:01Speaker 00

  Do you do that? Do you bring an extra empty bag? Do you leave room? As you're packing, do you consider, "I can't pack this totally full, because I know I'm gonna purchase something"? Or are you the person who gets to your vacation, and it's time to go home, and then you have to go buy, like, an extra canvas bag to get all your stuff home?

• 49:20Speaker 01

  Ding ding ding ding ding.

• 49:21Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:22Speaker 01

  That's me. That's why I have a plethora of real rando bags.

• 49:26Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:27Speaker 01

  Because usually, you're in a tight spot.

• 49:29Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 49:30Speaker 01

  And you don't have a lot of options.

• 49:31Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:32Speaker 01

  I once had a travel bag that looked like a zebra. Because I had to buy it at the airport to fit my souvenirs because my suitcase was starting to like,

• 49:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:44Speaker 01

  start to like, look like it was gonna tear. And for a long time, we had the zebra suitcase.

• 49:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:50Speaker 00

  Guess which one I am?

• 49:51Speaker 01

  You're the first one.

• 49:52Speaker 00

  I leave the room.

• 49:53Speaker 01

  You leave the room.

• 49:54Speaker 00

  I anticipate my souvenir purchases.

• 49:56Speaker 01

  You're not walking through an airport with a zebra bag?

• 49:58Speaker 00

  No rando bags for me.

• 50:00Speaker 01

  I'm a rando bag.

• 50:01Speaker 00

  Listen, rando bag happened to me once, never again. You know what I'm saying?

• 50:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:05Speaker 00

  Like.

• 50:06Speaker 01

  I have a random suitcase from Scotland. I still love it. It looks like a travel trunk from like Joe versus the volcano.

• 50:13Speaker 00

  This is the problem. Sometimes you get a real find when you're in a bind.

• 50:16Speaker 01

  I know.

• 50:17Speaker 00

  Ooh, I rhymed it.

• 50:18Speaker 01

  You did.

• 50:18Speaker 00

  I'm still rhyming.

• 50:19Speaker 01

  You are. Stop it. If you can pause on rhyming, I want to tell you one other thing that's happening in this scene.

• 50:25Speaker 00

  I can.

• 50:26Speaker 01

  Can you?

• 50:27Speaker 00

  I can try.

• 50:30Speaker 00

  I was gonna try to rhyme, but I can think of anything.

• 50:32Speaker 01

  I know. I was trying to set you up. Anyway, while this whole suitcase business is happening, lady in the background, I am telling you Pam's puffer coat is hanging on the coat rack.

• 50:44Speaker 00

  It's not Pam's coat.

• 50:45Speaker 01

  Come on.

• 50:46Speaker 00

  It's not her coat.

• 50:47Speaker 01

  How do you know?

• 50:47Speaker 00

  Because somebody wrote in about it and I zoomed in on it. It's not my coat.

• 50:52Speaker 01

  It sure looks like your coat.

• 50:53Speaker 00

  It's not mine.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Who wrote in? It was me.

• 50:59Speaker 00

  Angela Kay wrote in. Several times. More male than anyone.

• 51:05Speaker 01

  I zoomed in too, and it sure looks like that puffer coat you used to wear.

• 51:09Speaker 00

  I know it looks like it, but it's not my puffer coat. I think it might be Meredith's. Meredith's had a similar puffer coat.

• 51:15Speaker 01

  Okay, well, there you go.

• 51:19Speaker 00

  Guess who else gets to come on this trip?

• 51:21Speaker 01

  Besides the money belt and the two empty suitcases?

• 51:23Speaker 00

  Yeah. Andy is going to join him as his translator. He will be translating all of the French that they don't speak in Winnipeg.

• 51:32Speaker 01

  Well, we did learn in a deleted scene in dinner party, Angela said that Andy learned French during his semester in France.

• 51:40Speaker 00

  So this is kind of a callback.

• 51:41Speaker 01

  Kind of a callback.

• 51:42Speaker 00

  Then Andy speaks some not great French.

• 51:45Speaker 01

  Oh, a lot of not great French, mixed in with some Spanish. Oscar is also going on the trip. I don't really know Oscar's role. Why would he be going?

• 51:54Speaker 00

  Something to do with crunching numbers, maybe?

• 51:57Speaker 01

  Maybe. I'm so glad that Oscar went because Jenna, there are so many fantastic deleted Oscar scenes and Oscar and Andy scenes, if you have the DVDs. And you guys, Oscar does that thing in these deleted scenes. Like what he did with Holly in employee transfer. I have a new term for Oscar. He's the office fund stopper.

• 52:18Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 52:18Speaker 01

  You might think it's Angela Barton, but kind of like Debbie Downer on SNL.

• 52:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 52:23Speaker 01

  Oscar is always going to have that sidebar comment that's a little too honest for the moment.

• 52:28Speaker 00

  Takes the wind out of your sails.

• 52:29Speaker 01

  Takes the wind out of your sails.

• 52:31Speaker 00

  All right. So now they're on the plane.

• 52:33Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 52:34Speaker 00

  Michael is up in business class. He's got a mimosa. He has a moist hand towel that's still wet.

• 52:40Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 52:41Speaker 00

  We got a lot of fan questions from Kyle T, Sarah M, Steph Hernandez, and Madison C. Did you guys film on an actual airplane? If so, which airport and airline were used for this episode?

• 52:56Speaker 01

  Well, we have some information for you.

• 52:58Speaker 00

  Yes, we do. Thanks to Randy Cordray, who was our line producer, who took over for Kent Zabornak. He gave us the lowdown. The interior airplane scenes were filmed at a place called Air Hollywood in Pacoima, California. And at the time, this company was, I guess, like the go-to location for all things airline related.

• 53:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was like a set, but for airplanes.

• 53:24Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 53:24Speaker 01

  So if you needed a plane to film, they were ready for you.

• 53:28Speaker 00

  Yeah. He said they had all these sound stages. They had various aircraft, various airport-related props. They even had like interior airport kind of stuff. So we used the interior of a jet for Michael in business class and Andy and Oscar in coach. He explained that these airplanes can be split down the middle.

• 53:51Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, Michael is going to introduce Oscar and Andy, you know, before they go back to coach, to Beth, who he says is his personal valet slash flight attendant, and she's going to be helping him this morning.

• 54:04Speaker 00

  I love Beth.

• 54:05Speaker 01

  I love Beth.

• 54:07Speaker 00

  When I watched it, it reminded me of the woman who played the transcriber in The Deposition.

• 54:12Speaker 01

  Just no. No nonsense.

• 54:14Speaker 00

  Just did we hire an actual flight attendant to play this role?

• 54:18Speaker 01

  She's so like over Michael and the camera.

• 54:21Speaker 00

  We did not. This is an actress. Her name is Deb Hite. She has been on The Good Place, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Baskets, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation. She's a writer. She has written plays. She has written award-winning pilots, award-winning short films, and she wrote a comedy book about the rivalry between the Alabama-Auburn college football teams called When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn. You can find it on Amazon. It's really cute.

• 54:58Speaker 01

  We were so lucky. We say this every week. Oh, my gosh. We say it every week. But seriously, every single person hired on this show always crushed it and was amazing.

• 55:08Speaker 00

  My favorite moment is when she slams Michael's leg with the cart.

• 55:12Speaker 01

  I know.

• 55:12Speaker 00

  It's

• 55:14Speaker 01

  It's Steve's reaction, though. Steve's reaction. That was like amazing.

• 55:19Speaker 00

  It's too good.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  While Michael's getting his foot run over with the beverage cart, Andy is really trying to bond with Oscar back in coach. This is a deleted scene. It is amazing. It's Oscar the Fun Stopper, guys.

• 55:35Speaker 03

  Honey roasted peanuts, am I right? I don't understand the question. Yes, you're holding a bag of peanuts. And save that for later.

• 55:46Speaker 01

  That just made me laugh so hard because Andy's like trying to bond. He's like, honey roasted peanuts.

• 55:52Speaker 00

  But what are you supposed to say to that?

• 55:54Speaker 01

  I know, but

• 55:54Speaker 00

  I'm with Oscar.

• 55:56Speaker 01

  I know, but this is my point.

• 55:57Speaker 00

  Yes, you're holding peanuts.

• 55:59Speaker 01

  I know, but Oscar cannot edit. Like, I think other people would be like, I know, they're really good, you know, or something. But Oscar's just like, I don't understand what you're saying to me.

• 56:09Speaker 00

  I have to say, I actually really love a honey roasted peanut on an airplane. So I would probably respond, I might actually be Andy in this scenario.

• 56:20Speaker 01

  I just thought that was really good Oscar the Fun Stopper. But you know, if Oscar's not going to be fun, at least Andy has his DVD player and he's going to watch Harry and the Hendersons.

• 56:28Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:29Speaker 01

  I think we should talk about what's happening over at Dunder Mifflin.

• 56:32Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah. Pam's coming back, which means Ryan is going to have to move into Kelly's nook.

• 56:38Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 56:39Speaker 00

  Mm hmm. And he's looking for a place he might be able to do his pushups.

• 56:44Speaker 01

  You need space to do pushups.

• 56:45Speaker 00

  He does.

• 56:46Speaker 01

  It's kind of tight and cramped over there, but he's going to try.

• 56:48Speaker 00

  He's going to find a way. We had a fan question, how many pushups did BJ have to do in this episode? He must have been so sore.

• 56:56Speaker 01

  I want to hear this because I, as Jenna knows, I texted BJ last night and I said, by the way, I just watched you do a one arm pushup in the business trip. Dang BJ.

• 57:10Speaker 00

  Well, I texted with BJ about his pushups as well. And he said he doesn't remember how many takes they did, but he said that Mindy definitely wrote this scene. He said, there was a period of time when all the writers were doing pushup contests. And that might have inspired it. But also at the same time, he was in training because he was prepping to do the Tarantino movie in Glorious Bastards.

• 57:36Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. He was getting in really good shape for that because he was going to be a soldier.

• 57:40Speaker 00

  Yeah. So he was doing pushups in the writer's room all the time. He had to literally find room to do pushups at work. So Mindy might've been going off of that as well. But also maybe she just wanted to make BJ have to do a bunch of pushups in a scene.

• 57:53Speaker 01

  And then a one arm pushup.

• 57:55Speaker 00

  Yeah. See, that's a moment where if I'm BJ, I'm like, I'm so glad I got that on camera.

• 58:01Speaker 01

  That I did it.

• 58:01Speaker 00

  That I could do it. Yeah. I'll always have that. Well, listen, Kelly is claiming she's not impressed. Ryan has hurt her too much. It is not going to happen. No, she is in a healthy relationship with Daryl. That door is closed.

• 58:15Speaker 01

  Cut to.

• 58:17Speaker 00

  Major make out.

• 58:19Speaker 01

  Kissy sounds.

• 58:20Speaker 00

  Yeah. I could tell.

• 58:22Speaker 01

  Oh, you could.

• 58:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:25Speaker 00

  You did it.

• 58:28Speaker 00

  Back in Winnipeg, the guys are arriving at the hotel.

• 58:33Speaker 01

  It's so beautiful. Michael says he could live there.

• 58:35Speaker 00

  We had a fan catch from Tori, Mary, and Katie, who said, "Michael left Dunder Mifflin with multiple suitcases, but he shows up at the hotel with only his carry-on. What happened to his souvenir suitcases?" Well, guys, I'll tell you, they're there. You have to look deep in the background. At 6 minutes 37 seconds, you can see the bellman loading the suitcases onto a trolley.

• 58:59Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 59:00Speaker 00

  As Michael goes up.

• 59:01Speaker 01

  Snap.

• 59:02Speaker 00

  The escalator.

• 59:04Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 59:04Speaker 00

  So don't worry, he has them and he's gonna get those souvenirs.

• 59:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're gonna put them in his room. Jenna, this hotel has something sort of magical about it. Fantastical. It's called a concierge.

• 59:17Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 59:17Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. I don't know if you've ever heard of it.

• 59:19Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 59:20Speaker 01

  You know, they help you with the fine art of fanciness and pleasure.

• 59:23Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. These guys are gonna try it out. They're gonna go over and they're gonna ask her a bunch of questions. And guess what?

• 59:30Speaker 01

  What?

• 59:31Speaker 00

  Almost nothing she says is true.

• 59:34Speaker 01

  But I just love how completely blown away Michael is that she knows restaurants and their street address and the best way to get there. This is mind-blowing to him.

• 59:44Speaker 00

  This is such a real concierge interaction when she pulls out the map.

• 59:48Speaker 01

  The map and circles it and then tells them two different routes and two different means of transportation.

• 59:54Speaker 00

  Perfection.

• 59:54Speaker 01

  Perfection.

• 59:55Speaker 00

  But we did have a lot of fans from Winnipeg who wrote in. Again, Kimberly K. said, "Did the writers know that everything Concierge Marie said about Winnipeg is inaccurate? Was this on purpose?"

• 1:00:10Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:00:11Speaker 00

  Natalie V. said, "The number 17 bus is real, but it runs a lot later than 9:00 PM. It goes till almost 1:00 AM. It wouldn't be the only bus to the Exchange District, which does not exist. I think they meant the Financial District." And then Leah P. said, "We also don't have an Astro Cleaners."

• 1:00:34Speaker 01

  Or the restaurants, or the bar.

• 1:00:36Speaker 00

  No, The Huntsman is not a real bar.

• 1:00:38Speaker 01

  And neither is the sushi place.

• 1:00:41Speaker 00

  Yes. Well, Angela, we have another story happening in this episode. It's Pam, right?

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  It's a big story.

• 1:00:49Speaker 00

  Well, she's supposed to be coming home from art school, but we're gonna have a phone call between her and Jim, and they're gonna find out some news. She's failing her flash class.

• 1:00:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, she's gonna have to take it again.

• 1:01:01Speaker 00

  If she wants to pass art school, she does. That means she has to stay another 12 weeks.

• 1:01:07Speaker 01

  Is this art school, like, just digital art? Does she get to do any of the art that she's actually really good at?

• 1:01:13Speaker 00

  I don't know. It seems like this was mostly a graphic design program.

• 1:01:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:18Speaker 00

  Well, I had to cry in this scene. It was in the script that I'm holding back tears. And there's a lot that is coming down on Pam right now. She's dealing with the fact that she didn't complete this course and the idea of being away from Jim even longer. But I had something else that I was playing. We'll get to it.

• 1:01:38Speaker 01

  Okay. Well, I thought it was a very moving scene, and it just reminds me of those moments, you guys, when life happens, even though everything around you just keeps moving on. So Pam is sitting down. It's like a busy stairwell. People are going up and down, and she's having a life moment.

• 1:01:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:01:55Speaker 01

  I thought that was very relatable. Well, Jenna, back in Winnipeg, the fellows are gonna arrive at Huntsman Bar.

• 1:02:02Speaker 00

  Yes, we shot these scenes at the Seven Grand Bar and Grill in Los Angeles.

• 1:02:08Speaker 01

  Did you notice at 9 minutes 20 seconds what the chalkboard says at the Huntsman?

• 1:02:12Speaker 00

  No.

• 1:02:13Speaker 01

  This is what it says. Welcome to the Huntsman. Enjoy, quote, "pub hour" all night. Sunday and Monday, 5 to 7 p.m. No creeps allowed.

• 1:02:24Speaker 00

  Oh, wow. Get out, creeps.

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  Get out, creeps. And I have a background catch. Again, I was hungry as I watched this episode.

• 1:02:33Speaker 00

  The chips.

• 1:02:34Speaker 01

  The chips, you guys.

• 1:02:36Speaker 00

  The chips that Phil Shea got are at the bar.

• 1:02:39Speaker 01

  Yes, and I think I can see the ketchup flavored chips. They're in a red and white.

• 1:02:44Speaker 00

  Ketchup flavor.

• 1:02:45Speaker 01

  Oh, yes, lady. Why do I do that with my voice?

• 1:02:49Speaker 00

  Have you eaten them?

• 1:02:50Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:02:51Speaker 00

  I've never heard of this item.

• 1:02:52Speaker 01

  Well, I worked in Canada for a bit, you know, and I have had these ketchup chips. Jenna, they're so good. Listen to how they're described on the internet. They are the perfect balance of a delightful old Dutch chip layered with that lovely ketchup flavor you desire.

• 1:03:07Speaker 00

  But I don't desire a ketchup flavor on my potato chips.

• 1:03:10Speaker 01

  Well, it might change your mind. I'm just telling you.

• 1:03:13Speaker 00

  Maybe I will. Chip people, old Dutch chip people, will you send me a ketchup chip?

• 1:03:18Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh, get ready. But listen, make sure some come my way.

• 1:03:23Speaker 00

  You got it.

• 1:03:24Speaker 01

  They're tangy. They're delicious.

• 1:03:26Speaker 00

  Okay. Guess who else is at the bar? Concierge Marie.

• 1:03:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:31Speaker 00

  Michael is, um, how you say, so excited to see her.

• 1:03:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:36Speaker 00

  How do you say it?

• 1:03:37Speaker 01

  How do you say it? Andy's gonna bring him two glasses of wine.

• 1:03:41Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. He's gonna get things started.

• 1:03:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:44Speaker 00

  He's also gonna try to get things started for Oscar and a couple of gentlemen sitting at a table nearby.

• 1:03:49Speaker 01

  That's right. He says to the bartender, Mademoiselle, bear me, dos Long Island iced teas, si vous plaît. Bad decision in a glass.

• 1:03:58Speaker 00

  It is a bad decision in a glass.

• 1:04:00Speaker 01

  Horrible decision.

• 1:04:01Speaker 00

  You know how you've had a volcano and you did the splits?

• 1:04:04Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:04:04Speaker 00

  I had some Long Island iced teas.

• 1:04:07Speaker 01

  Where?

• 1:04:07Speaker 00

  In the Bahamas on spring break with my friends. I've never had one before. I wasn't 21 yet, but in the Bahamas, you can drink when you're 18. We went to the casino and they just give them to you free if you sit at the slot machines.

• 1:04:24Speaker 01

  I have not.

• 1:04:25Speaker 00

  All of this was like, what is happening?

• 1:04:27Speaker 01

  I have not had a Long Island iced tea. I've had the volcano, but it's just the same thing. They just dump a bunch of booze in it, right?

• 1:04:33Speaker 00

  It's like seven or eight different liquors.

• 1:04:35Speaker 01

  Ugh.

• 1:04:36Speaker 00

  Tasty, went down easy.

• 1:04:38Speaker 01

  Well, yeah.

• 1:04:39Speaker 00

  Then a lot of vomiting.

• 1:04:41Speaker 01

  A lot of vomiting.

• 1:04:42Speaker 00

  Well, we got a fan question about this scene from Evan L. At 11 minutes, 14 seconds, Andy says, "You will thank me when they spank thee."

• 1:04:52Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:04:53Speaker 00

  And he wants to know who came up with that line.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Can I guess?

• 1:04:56Speaker 00

  Sure.

• 1:04:57Speaker 01

  Lee or Jean?

• 1:04:59Speaker 00

  That's a good guess. It's in the script and I asked Brent Forrester about it and he said he is the author of the "thank me, spank thee" line. He said, "There are few things more fun than writing a rhyming punchline for the Andy character." He said he got a little bit too into writing rhyming punchlines for Ed that season. He said that one day in the writers' room, he pitched a line where Andy refers to his quote, "Backup snack pack backpack."

• 1:05:33Speaker 00

  And he said at that point, the writers forbid him from writing any more rhyming punchlines for the rest of the year.

• 1:05:39Speaker 01

  I wonder if he wrote nifty gifties?

• 1:05:41Speaker 00

  He might have.

• 1:05:43Speaker 01

  Oh, Brent, that's so good.

• 1:05:44Speaker 00

  Well, guess what? They're not gonna spank him.

• 1:05:49Speaker 01

  They're not.

• 1:05:50Speaker 00

  They turn him down.

• 1:05:51Speaker 01

  And Oscar and Andy now drink the Long Island iced teas, which is gonna lead to some trouble.

• 1:05:56Speaker 00

  Some real trouble because Oscar says to Andy, what do you see in Angela?

• 1:06:02Speaker 01

  And again, I was hungry as I watched this. So at 12 minutes, 17 seconds, I can see another bag of Old Dutch potato chips sitting next to Oscar's arm on the bar. They're the green and white bag. You know what that means?

• 1:06:15Speaker 00

  Sour cream and onion?

• 1:06:16Speaker 01

  They are the dill pickle chips.

• 1:06:19Speaker 00

  What?

• 1:06:20Speaker 01

  Yep. Described on the internet.

• 1:06:22Speaker 00

  Do they make any regular flavors?

• 1:06:24Speaker 01

  They do. I'm telling you, these chips are so good.

• 1:06:27Speaker 00

  You've had the dill pickle ones?

• 1:06:29Speaker 01

  I have sampled. You know, like on set, we would have a whole bunch of bags of chips. They're real salty and I liked it.

• 1:06:36Speaker 00

  I guess I'm a chip traditionalist.

• 1:06:38Speaker 01

  You know what? You need to be a chip traveler.

• 1:06:40Speaker 00

  All right.

• 1:06:41Speaker 01

  You need to try some international chips.

• 1:06:43Speaker 00

  I'll try them.

• 1:06:44Speaker 01

  Well, the dill ones are real salty.

• 1:06:46Speaker 00

  Mmm hmm. I do like a pickle.

• 1:06:49Speaker 01

  I know. But anyway, Andy drunk dials Angela. This is a huge mistake.

• 1:06:57Speaker 00

  Oh, my goodness.

• 1:06:58Speaker 01

  He says, you know what? We're gonna discuss this. We will discuss this naked.

• 1:07:02Speaker 00

  But then there's a voice in the background. I mean, she's with Dwight.

• 1:07:07Speaker 01

  Of course she is.

• 1:07:08Speaker 00

  Yeah. But somehow Andy doesn't totally register it.

• 1:07:13Speaker 01

  He's had a Long Island iced tea.

• 1:07:15Speaker 00

  Several, I think, at this point.

• 1:07:17Speaker 01

  Yeah. And guess what? Michael and concierge Marie, they're clicking. They're gonna leave. They're gonna smooch outside in the alley. And we asked Wendy about this, about kissing Steve. And here's what she had to say. I was super nervous to kiss Steve Carell. I was so nervous that I was practically...

• 1:07:40Speaker 02

  Going into convulsions, but I did it and it was great and I highly recommend it.

• 1:07:49Speaker 00

  She highly recommends.

• 1:07:50Speaker 01

  Oh, well.

• 1:07:51Speaker 00

  They're not just gonna kiss outside the hotel. All right, we are gonna cut to Michael being sort of shoved out of her.

• 1:08:00Speaker 01

  Room 887.

• 1:08:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, without his shoes.

• 1:08:04Speaker 01

  Barefoot, he's shuffling down the hall.

• 1:08:06Speaker 00

  I know.

• 1:08:07Speaker 01

  And then she's like, wait, you forgot your shoes. Only she says nothing. She just sets them out and quickly shuts the door.

• 1:08:13Speaker 00

  Well, that kind of wraps up Concierge Marie. We had to ask Wendy if she ever gets recognized for being on the show. And here's what she said.

• 1:08:23Speaker 02

  Yes, so many times. I'm so surprised at that because I was, you know, barely in it, but you know, that just speaks to the reach and the popularity of the office.

• 1:08:35Speaker 00

  I read a fun fact about Wendy.

• 1:08:37Speaker 01

  Yes, you did. Share it, Jenna. It's so good.

• 1:08:39Speaker 00

  Okay, Wendy was the editor for California State University's Academic Journal of Social Work. This was her day job before she hit it big as an actress, but even after she was working all the time, she kept her job until 2012. Bridesmaids came out in 2011. So even after bridesmaids, she was still editing this journal of social work and we had to ask her about it. Here's what she said.

• 1:09:10Speaker 02

  It is true that while I was building my acting career and, you know, doing pretty well, that I kept my side job at Cal State Long Beach. I was an assistant editor for a social work journal. I did that for 12 years, all through Reno 911, all through, you know, all these movies that I did, Rules of Engagement, and right up until The Goldbergs. And the only reason I'm not doing it anymore is because the journal folded. It went out of business. But it was a great job. It was like not even 20 hours a week. I could do it from wherever I was.

• 1:09:49Speaker 02

  And it was all about, you know, people in the social work profession. And let's be honest, those people deserve a lot of credit for what they do. They don't get recognized enough.

• 1:09:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, it was great and I loved doing it. I loved my original boss who used to come and see my shows at the Groundlings. Like she was just so super supportive that she said, "Please don't ever quit." So I kept my word and I stayed until the very end. See what I was saying about amazing human being?

• 1:10:18Speaker 01

  I love her. You know, that was so moving to me when I heard it. My niece is a social worker.

• 1:10:23Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 1:10:24Speaker 01

  I'm just always, you know, honestly, guys, I'm lifting her up in prayer all the time because it's not an easy job and I'm thankful that we have people that have a passion for helping others in that way.

• 1:10:36Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's not an easy job because sometimes you have to see and confront real hard things.

• 1:10:41Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:10:42Speaker 00

  And then you have to hold that.

• 1:10:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:45Speaker 00

  Yeah. Well, as if you needed another reason to love Wendy, I would also like to share that in 2009, 2010, and 2011, she rang in the new year, performing at military bases in Iraq and Kuwait. And she went to the smaller bases that a lot of people didn't go to that kind of rarely get entertainment.

• 1:11:06Speaker 01

  Love that.

• 1:11:07Speaker 00

  Love you.

• 1:11:08Speaker 01

  Wendy, thank you so much. It was so great to reconnect with you.

• 1:11:12Speaker 00

  Thanks for sharing your memories of The Office.

• 1:11:15Speaker 01

  You guys, you can find Wendy in so many places. She's so talented. She has a podcast called Generation Ripe. It is for teenagers over 40.

• 1:11:24Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 1:11:25Speaker 01

  It's described as, "A Generation Ripe listener is someone who thinks of their age as an asset, not a liability. We are older people with young souls or younger people with old souls." Of course, she's on The Goldbergs. They're about to start season nine. She's on a Marvel series on Hulu called Modak and just tons of other things, you guys. And you can find her on Instagram at Wendy McLendon Covey.

• 1:11:49Speaker 00

  Yes. Let's see, where should we go? It's the next day.

• 1:11:54Speaker 01

  Ooh, people are hungover.

• 1:11:55Speaker 00

  Very hungover. Andy does not remember calling Angela.

• 1:12:01Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:12:02Speaker 00

  Oh, no.

• 1:12:04Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:12:04Speaker 00

  Michael is very melancholy.

• 1:12:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:07Speaker 00

  And he has to go sell paper at Catalyst Paper, which I looked it up.

• 1:12:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:14Speaker 00

  It's a real Canadian paper company, but it looks like its headquarters is based in Richmond, British Columbia, which is over on the West Coast. I could not find a Winnipeg branch.

• 1:12:27Speaker 01

  I mean, if you couldn't, I doubt it's there.

• 1:12:29Speaker 00

  David Wallace calls to congratulate Michael because he did it. He got the sale. Michael is mad.

• 1:12:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, because he's realized that this trip was a Band-Aid to try to help his feelings about Holly being transferred. He's upset.

• 1:12:45Speaker 00

  And he tells him off.

• 1:12:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:47Speaker 00

  I have a location breakdown.

• 1:12:50Speaker 01

  Why do you say it like that?

• 1:12:51Speaker 00

  I don't know.

• 1:12:52Speaker 01

  You said it like sad sack. You said it like this. I have a location breakdown.

• 1:12:56Speaker 00

  Well, I'm sad with Michael.

• 1:12:58Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:12:58Speaker 00

  Yeah. For the Winnipeg airport for these scenes, we used Terminal Number Two at LAX. Randy let me know that there was an area that was out of service at that time and that our location manager, Kyle Alexander, was able to get an agreement from the LAX airport to let us film there.

• 1:13:18Speaker 01

  That's like unheard of.

• 1:13:19Speaker 00

  Well.

• 1:13:20Speaker 01

  LAX does not let you film. Like, they are hardcore.

• 1:13:23Speaker 00

  Well, especially after 9/11. They had incredibly strict airport security. So we were only allowed a very small number of cast and crew and extras. Everybody had to submit credentials very far in advance and had to be screened.

• 1:13:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:13:41Speaker 00

  So he said they had to create what they called a microunit. That's how small it was. He said that the airplanes outside the window were not Air Canada planes. They had to paint over the logos using visual effects during post-production. And so they put the red maple leaf on the tail of one of the planes.

• 1:14:03Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:14:03Speaker 00

  We could only afford to do one plane. If you look over Michael's shoulder, it's on the left.

• 1:14:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, I saw it.

• 1:14:10Speaker 00

  Well, before we get to this big business with Jim and Pam, we should probably let you know that Kelly is going to break up with Daryl.

• 1:14:19Speaker 01

  I mean, Ryan has a text ready to go. They just have to hit send together. And I think, what does Ryan? What? Does he want Daryl to come upstairs and make a scene? What does Ryan want? He wants to be the other guy.

• 1:14:32Speaker 00

  Yeah, he wants a reaction out of Daryl. Daryl seems relieved. He's whistling as he walks to his car.

• 1:14:40Speaker 01

  He responds immediately. Okay, cool. And then literally is like doing a dance to his pickup truck.

• 1:14:45Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:14:45Speaker 01

  He's like, whoo, thank you, Ryan.

• 1:14:49Speaker 00

  And that then, of course, immediately makes Ryan less interested in this relationship.

• 1:14:54Speaker 01

  And here we go. And they're back.

• 1:14:56Speaker 00

  All right, Jim is gonna leave.

• 1:14:59Speaker 01

  And again, you guys have this Jim and Pam scene at that golden hour. Your hair is sparkling with sunshine. It's like that sunset scene in the parking lot. You couldn't look cuter.

• 1:15:10Speaker 00

  I know.

• 1:15:11Speaker 01

  I thought this scene was really sweet.

• 1:15:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, Pam is standing in the parking lot and Jim says, what are you doing here? Because he had told her on the phone, when you come back, you're gonna come back the right way.

• 1:15:25Speaker 01

  Right. And he's supportive. If she wants to take the class again, they'll get through it.

• 1:15:28Speaker 00

  Yes, that the right way to come back is for her to come back having graduated from art school. So Pam's standing there and she says, I'm coming back the wrong way.

• 1:15:40Speaker 01

  But she's okay with it. She's happy about it. She missed Granton. She missed Jim. She actually hated the graphic design school.

• 1:15:49Speaker 00

  Yeah, she tells Jim, this isn't really what I wanted to do.

• 1:15:53Speaker 01

  But she had to go to find that out.

• 1:15:55Speaker 00

  She did. You know, we had a question from Evan L. Why did the writers have Pam fail art school?

• 1:16:02Speaker 01

  Well, that's a good question, Evan.

• 1:16:04Speaker 00

  I asked Brent Forrester about it. He said that the story of Pam failing art school and coming back, quote, "the wrong way" was a pitch from Jen Salata. Brent said, "I have a daughter," and he said, "I'm a big fat feminist," that's a quote. And the idea that Pam would give up on her dreams to be with a man really rubbed him the wrong way. But that Jen Salata absolutely insisted that the romantic power of this gesture outweighed any politics.

• 1:16:36Speaker 00

  And also that the truth for Pam was not that she was giving up on her dreams for Jim, but that she was distinguishing what her real dreams were. And I really liked that because I think what Pam did here in going to graphic design school was that she was taking her real dream of being a creative artist. And she was doing what a lot of artists do, and she was trying to find a practical application.

• 1:17:08Speaker 01

  Right. How can I sort of do art but make a living?

• 1:17:10Speaker 00

  Yeah. Yes, exactly. But, you know, I mean, people go into graphic design when they're passionate about graphic design. It's not some backup job, right? And the truth is, is that Pam discovered she does not have a passion for graphic design. And that's sort of what I had in my head when I was doing that scene on the phone with Jim and Pam's crying. Pam is realizing that even if she did pass the course, this isn't for her. But she's also embarrassed that she failed. But what she definitely does not want to do is spend 12 more weeks studying something she doesn't love.

• 1:17:48Speaker 01

  For me, in that moment, I just saw Pam stating her truth. And I always think that's so powerful.

• 1:17:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:17:55Speaker 01

  There is a very sweet deleted scene, you guys, with Jim and Pam. It's in the break room. And you know what? I'm titling it.

• 1:18:03Speaker 00

  What?

• 1:18:04Speaker 01

  Love in the Break Room.

• 1:18:06Speaker 00

  What is it?

• 1:18:07Speaker 01

  Pam is showing Jim her art assignment. She has this portfolio, and she's showing him the piece that she got an F on.

• 1:18:15Speaker 00

  Oh, I remember shooting this now. Yes.

• 1:18:18Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:18:18Speaker 00

  Oh, I remember it.

• 1:18:20Speaker 01

  It's really sweet. And as he goes through her art assignments, in the back tucked in the binder is a sketch pad. And he's like, what is this? And she said, oh, you know, just sketches of things I would see in New York. And when you look at them, Jenna, and I'll put it in stories, it's like people sitting at a cafe, things she might have seen on her walk. And they're really good. And this is such a wonderful moment. I wish it had stayed in. Sam, can you play the clip?

• 1:18:50Speaker 07

  Before we start, how did you fail? You're good at art. See?

• 1:18:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, we had to make a logo for a coffee company.

• 1:18:59Speaker 07

  Well, that's nice.

• 1:19:00Speaker 00

  This is the one that got an A. The teacher handed it out. And this is mine.

• 1:19:04Speaker 07

  Well, that's cool.

• 1:19:05Speaker 00

  I couldn't get it to print out right, so I got an F.

• 1:19:07Speaker 07

  I would have given you a D. That's only because we're sleeping with a feather. These are cool. What's this?

• 1:19:15Speaker 00

  That's my sketchbook. It's just, you know, stuff I saw in New York, people in the subway.

• 1:19:20Speaker 07

  Whoa. This is great. So much different than your other work. Wow, Pam. That is awesome.

• 1:19:30Speaker 00

  Yeah?

• 1:19:33Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 1:19:35Speaker 00

  Oh, I wish that had stayed in.

• 1:19:36Speaker 01

  It's a really sweet scene, and I feel like it just shows what Pam did get out of New York. And I really wish it had been in the episode.

• 1:19:46Speaker 00

  I agree, because I don't think Pam's art story is over yet. You know, she did not have the benefit of, I think, parents or role models who encouraged her to follow this piece of herself. And she only finally does now have that person in Jim. So she's gonna have to take her art journey at the same time as her romantic journey.

• 1:20:14Speaker 01

  Well, I'm gonna put that scene in stories, because it's really sweet.

• 1:20:17Speaker 00

  I loved it.

• 1:20:18Speaker 01

  I did, too.

• 1:20:19Speaker 00

  Well, that kind of wraps up this episode.

• 1:20:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:20:22Speaker 00

  Thank you to everyone who helped us make this episode. Brent Forrester, Randy Cordray, Wendy McLendon-Covey, and Rich Sommer. Thanks for coming on for an interview. It takes a village.

• 1:20:34Speaker 01

  It does, and thank you to you guys for sending in awesome questions and Winnipeg trivia.

• 1:20:39Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:20:40Speaker 01

  Some last parting advice. According to Andy, Long Island iced teas are way stronger in Canada. So be careful the next time you order one of those.

• 1:20:50Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:20:51Speaker 01

  All right, you guys. Well, that was Business Trip, and we will be seeing you next week.

• 1:20:56Speaker 00

  Yeah, see you next week.

• 1:21:01Speaker 00

  Thank you for listening to Office Ladies Second Drink.

• 1:21:04Speaker 01

  This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf.

• 1:21:08Speaker 00

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

• 1:21:15Speaker 01

  Our Second Drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent.

• 1:21:18Speaker 00

  Our audio engineer is Sam Pfeifer.

• 1:21:20Speaker 01

  Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese-Dennis.

• 1:21:24Speaker 00

  Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

• 1:21:27Speaker 01

  Our theme song is "Rubber Tree" by Creed Bratton.