The Party Planning Committee

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, Jenna and Angela dive into the wild world of Dunder Mifflin’s notorious Party Planning Committee! As Pam famously put it: “At its worst, it was a toxic political club used to make others feel miserable and left out. At its best, it planned parties.” After answering a listener chit-chat about real-life parties gone horribly wrong, the ladies break down the hilarious evolution and leadership eras of the PPC: from Angela Martin’s iron-fisted rule, to Phyllis’s blackmail takeover, Jim and Dwight’s disastrous co-chairmanship, to Angela’s eventual (and mysterious) reclaimed reign in Season 9. Plus, Angela goes straight to Greg Daniels to uncover the true origin of how Angela Martin became the head of the committee in the first place! So strap on your party hats, double check your snack arrangements... and enjoy! Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question for Around the Town, Chit Chat, and Second Drink favorite moment: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

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I have a new section on Quince that I've been shopping from. I'm now into the handbags. I got the Eloise Handwoven Clutch in a cream off-white. I love it.

• 0:11Speaker 01

  So chic.

• 0:12Speaker 00

  It was less than $50 and I needed something that was nicer for summery outfits.

• 0:21Speaker 01

  Well, guess what? I have decided this is my season of the cardigan.

• 0:25Speaker 00

  Oh, okay.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  So I got the 100% organic cotton cropped cardigan. I got it in the camel color. It is so stinking cute and it was $49.90. Look at that.

• 0:38Speaker 00

  Oh, it's so cute.

• 0:39Speaker 01

  I know.

• 0:40Speaker 00

  I like the buttons.

• 0:41Speaker 01

  Give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

• 0:53Speaker 00

  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.

• 1:03Speaker 01

  So my niece is a new homeowner.

• 1:08Speaker 01

  And I'm really excited this holiday season because I want to get her one or two items for her new house. I've been looking at Macy's. Macy's gift guide, so helpful. They have everything. They have stylish decor. They have kitchen essentials. So I'm definitely going to be hitting them up.

• 1:25Speaker 00

  Well, I got something for my kiddos and I hope they don't hear this. The Nintendo Switch 2 is out.

• 1:32Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:33Speaker 00

  And I think it's a hot item. They've got it at Macy's. And speaking of gaming, I don't know if you're part of the mahjong trend, but Macy's has got a Jonathan Adler Eden mahjong set. It's beautiful.

• 1:48Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness. Well, listen, Macy's has everything you need this holiday season. Check out Macy's online gift guide for even more ideas.

• 1:57Speaker 00

  Shop now at macy's.com/giftguide to find the perfect gift for homes this holiday season.

• 2:07Speaker 01

  I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you. Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories. We're the Office Ladies 6.0.

• 2:30Speaker 00

  Hi there.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Hey there.

• 2:32Speaker 00

  So you know, Sam is not with us today. We have Jordan with us today in studio.

• 2:36Speaker 01

  Hi, Jordan.

• 2:37Speaker 02

  Hi, everyone.

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 2:39Speaker 00

  But I have to say, as I pulled my car into the parking garage today and I pulled into my parking spot, my song that I was listening to finished at the exact moment I needed to turn off my car. And I thought of Sam.

• 2:52Speaker 01

  Sam would have loved that.

• 2:53Speaker 00

  That's his happy place.

• 2:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:54Speaker 00

  I know, I will always think of Sam now when that happens.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm, same.

• 2:57Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  Interestingly enough, I had a parking garage story, ladies. As I pulled in, I'm short, okay? I'm a short person. I can never reach the button that spits out the parking garage ticket.

• 3:10Speaker 00

  Well, don't get me started on our parking garage because it is too low for anyone.

• 3:15Speaker 01

  Okay, thank you. I always have to put my window down and then I have to open my door and then I have to hang out.

• 3:20Speaker 00

  Take off my seatbelt.

• 3:21Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 3:21Speaker 00

  Hang half out the window.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  Hit the button to get the thingy.

• 3:25Speaker 00

  Every time.

• 3:25Speaker 01

  Well, this morning, there was a lady in the kiosk that's normally not there when you pull in. She looks over her shoulder at me and I swear she rolled her eyes.

• 3:34Speaker 00

  No.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  When I was hanging out and hitting the button, she looked over with this expression like, what is she doing? And I'm like, what am I doing?

• 3:43Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:44Speaker 01

  This thing is impossible to reach.

• 3:46Speaker 00

  Dare I say, everyone needs to do this in this parking garage. Jordan, do you park in this parking garage? And do you also have to hang like halfway out the window to get your ticket?

• 3:54Speaker 02

  Yes, 100%. I park in that garage and I'm halfway out the window.

• 3:57Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:58Speaker 01

  I feel so much better.

• 4:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's not about being short, Angela. It's the fact that the way they have the machine, there's like a ramp and then the machine is very, very low. It drives me crazy.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  Well, this lady looked at me today like I was an idiot.

• 4:12Speaker 00

  Well, yeah, okay. I'd like to see her drive in and get the ticket.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, I want to see her get that ticket. Dang it. Okay, sorry. We have a really fun episode today, which, by the way, this subject probably could come up in this committee. This committee might have ideas about everything, is all I'm saying.

• 4:28Speaker 00

  Well, this committee is very opinionated. Let's tell everyone what we're doing. We are going to dig into the Party Planning Committee on The Office. And as Pam would say.

• 4:40Speaker 03

  At its worst, it was a toxic political club used to make others feel miserable and left out.

• 4:48Speaker 03

  At its best, it planned parties.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  I mean, she's not wrong.

• 4:54Speaker 00

  She is not.

• 4:54Speaker 01

  Pam kind of hit it on the nose there. You guys, Jenna and I had so much fun this past week. I wish we could share all the messages we did back and forth because we have done a huge deep dive into all things Party Planning Committee and we're going to break it all down for you. And it was an absolute pleasure.

• 5:12Speaker 00

  And we have some really fun new tidbits.

• 5:15Speaker 01

  But first, let's get to our Chit Chat of the Week.

• 5:19Speaker 00

  Yeah, so that quote that we played was from Pam from Classy Christmas. And speaking of classy Christmas, we got this letter from Stephen L. in Massachusetts. Stephen said, "Years ago, my brother hosted a classy Christmas party instead of an ugly sweater party because he wanted people to look fashionable. So my then-girlfriend, now-wife, dressed up to the nines. She was in a formal prom dress and I was in a full suit. My brother invited all his friends and other family. A ton of RSVPs came in, but in the end, only two people showed up and it was the most uncomfortable party ever.

• 5:59Speaker 00

  Neither me or my wife knew the other people and my brother only knew them from friends of friends. We ended up trying to play various card games and board games that we knew very little how to play, which made everything so much more awkward. It was the most uncomfortable party ever."

• 6:18Speaker 00

  Just being all dressed up with complete strangers.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  That is miserable.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  So we thought in honor of the Party Planning Committee, it might be fun to share our stories of parties gone wrong.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  I can't wait for this. So Matt, Jordan, we reached out to you guys. We're all going to share one. Who wants to go first?

• 6:38Speaker 02

  I'll go first.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  Great.

• 6:40Speaker 02

  So mine is more of a cute fail.

• 6:43Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 6:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was between my senior year and starting a freshman year of college. And I was asked to go to a party with one of my girlfriends. I didn't know anyone at the party. Met a bunch of people and I met this guy named Mike. Mike was really handsome and he was really cute. He was like 6'4", something like that. Great, great guy. And I was like, oh, my God, I have a huge crush on this guy. Well, had to leave the party, got invited to go to the same party, same location. I wasn't going with anyone, so I asked one of my girlfriends, Megan, to come with me. And she was like, I don't want to go to this party. Like, I don't know anyone. And I was like, I don't know anyone either, but like, there's this really cute guy and like, I would love to see if he's there. And she was like, oh, fine, I'll go with you, like, whatever.

• 7:26Speaker 02

  So I get to the party and there's a huge bonfire, like 20 feet in the air.

• 7:32Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 7:33Speaker 02

  And so I stand at the fire and I'm like, Megan, meet Mike. Mike, meet Megan. And I've never felt in a moment like immediate fireworks and as if like souls reconnected. But in the back of my mind, I was like, no. I was like, no, no, no. So it was a fail on my part for bringing her there, but it was a win in love because they're now married with kids and I introduced them.

• 7:59Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh. And she wasn't even going to go.

• 8:03Speaker 02

  She wasn't even going to go, so.

• 8:05Speaker 01

  Wow. Were you part of the wedding in any way?

• 8:08Speaker 02

  I was at the wedding. I got a special shout out. So and to this day, neither of them know that I had a crush on him.

• 8:16Speaker 01

  Oh, do they listen to Office Ladies?

• 8:17Speaker 02

  They might, though they'll know now. But it's so long ago that it's like this. Yeah, and I'm very happy for them, so.

• 8:24Speaker 01

  Aww.

• 8:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  All right, Matt Beagle, do you have one?

• 8:27Speaker 04

  I do. This is actually one of the most painful stories from my life. So I was at one of my best friend's wedding with my other friends from high school. And it was in this like old school tiki lounge. It's from the 60s or something. You guys would love it. There's a lagoon inside. Everything is tiki. There's a band playing that floats out on a lily pad onto the lagoon.

• 8:51Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 8:52Speaker 04

  Mai tais flowing, like the vibes were very high. And something about me at weddings and dance parties is I like to take things to the next level. Like, I'm usually the one to start like an electric slide or a conga line.

• 9:03Speaker 01

  Are you serious?

• 9:05Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 9:05Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 9:06Speaker 01

  We only know Matt Beagle in like conference room Zoom edit sessions. So like, to picture you busted out the electric slide.

• 9:14Speaker 04

  I love it. And so the band starts playing "Africa" by Toto. And I get this idea in my head that people are going through the buffet line, getting their plates. And no one is dancing at this point, but I was like, I am going to prance and do these running jump dances down the buffet line as the band launches into the chorus of "Africa". And it was just not a good idea. Like, it's not dancing time. Like, people were.

• 9:39Speaker 00

  It's not dancing time.

• 9:40Speaker 01

  People are getting their food.

• 9:42Speaker 04

  And the chorus starts, I start doing these leaps down the line. I see a really good friend coming with his plate of food and I'm like, oh, I'm going to dodge him. And like, I miscalculate and I tip his plate up and it goes up and the food falls all over him. And he's in his wedding vest, kind of dressed to the nines. And this is someone who kind of like cares a lot about their outfit and stuff. He was so mad and this is like a good friend. And I have to say, our relationship hasn't been the same since.

• 10:13Speaker 01

  Oh, Matt.

• 10:14Speaker 00

  Oh, no. Matt, this is like something out of a rom-com.

• 10:18Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 10:19Speaker 04

  It's honestly a very painful story and we've never addressed it. So maybe this is a sign that we need to.

• 10:25Speaker 01

  How many years ago was that?

• 10:27Speaker 04

  It's been like five years plus.

• 10:28Speaker 01

  Maybe this is the time you're like, look, I know we're coming up on a decade anniversary of when I colossally [BLEEP] the bed and tossed food all over you. And I just want to make a stand and say, I'm so sorry. I hope it hasn't changed you wanting to elevate the dance floor.

• 10:45Speaker 04

  You know what? It hasn't.

• 10:47Speaker 01

  Oh, good, good.

• 10:48Speaker 00

  Yes, don't let anyone dim that light.

• 10:52Speaker 01

  Yes. Just don't dance by the food.

• 10:55Speaker 04

  Not a good idea, not a good call there.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  Okay, I have one. So I'm in Los Angeles in my early twenties. I'm doing a lot of improv. I'm improvising it up all the time. I'm in multiple shows, so I have this big group of improv pals. And we started taking turns just kind of hosting get togethers. And I lived in this tiny little apartment and then I finally got a scooch bigger of a place. So I'm like, it's my turn to host and I'm really excited. And one of the guys in our group had a new girlfriend. Everyone else is a bunch of improvisers. We all know each other, so you know what that means. We're just doing bits all the time.

• 11:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:29Speaker 01

  We're so annoying to be around. And really, it's kind of like your dance card is full. When someone's like, can I bring a random person? Everyone's like, you know? Because you just want to get together and do bits.

• 11:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  So one of the guys in our group is like, hey, I've started dating this girl. Can I bring her? None of us know her. And I kind of put it out to the group. I'm like, hey, so and so wants to bring this girl he's dating. And everyone's like, oh, bummer. So I'm like, already it's stacked against her. So I'm going to do my best to make her feel welcome because I'm like, oh, this is going to be a tough group to come into.

• 12:02Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 12:02Speaker 01

  I lived in a neighborhood where I had to run parking passes out to people, you know? So I'm like, guys, he's here. Everyone be nice, okay? Come on. So I walk in with them and the first thing she said was, she looked around my little apartment, she goes, oh, it's so cozy. It's like a grandma's house. First thing she says. You could feel the room be like, hmm. And I was like, oh, thanks. And she goes, there's just so many little things everywhere. I'm like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. She then spent the rest of the night, one by one, insulting everybody. And I'm like, does she know she's insulting people? One of my friends travels a ton. It's part of their job.

• 12:47Speaker 01

  They've been all over the world. Even at that time, they were already doing this job. She says to him, she was like, well, you probably can't relate to my stories because I travel so much. He'd just been talking about a work trip. She was like, in fact, I'm probably more traveled than most of you here. And we were like, oh, my God, she is the worst. Like, she went around saying just shit things about everybody. And we looked to our friend like, you're seeing this, right? Completely couldn't see anything, was just like so enamored with her. And I'm like, she called my house grandma's house.

• 13:23Speaker 00

  I don't know what to tell you, Angela, but this a little bit sounds like a party gone right, because I love a crazy curveball guest at a party. Like, tell me you guys have not bonded over this.

• 13:35Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 13:35Speaker 00

  Right?

• 13:36Speaker 01

  Oh, for years, for years. My friends in this group will say, oh, we're going to grandma's house. Like, my house is grandma's house.

• 13:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 13:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:46Speaker 00

  I sort of love it.

• 13:47Speaker 01

  Mm hmm. So that was the odd party guest that just insulted everybody.

• 13:53Speaker 00

  Well, lady, I will get to my story about my party gone wrong, which I'm pretty sure I've told on this podcast before. But let me just tell you, the reason we are best friends is because after I got divorced and I got my first place all on my own, it was this little bungalow in Los Angeles. It was so cute. And I decorated it all myself with all my things.

• 14:18Speaker 01

  Aww.

• 14:19Speaker 00

  I had my plates on the wall.

• 14:21Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 14:21Speaker 00

  All my tchotchkes.

• 14:22Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 14:23Speaker 00

  It was wonderful. I had a friend come over and I showed them the place and they said, oh, did it come furnished?

• 14:30Speaker 01

  No.

• 14:32Speaker 00

  And I said, no.

• 14:34Speaker 01

  It's my things.

• 14:35Speaker 00

  These are my things. And they're like, oh, it's just very grandma.

• 14:40Speaker 01

  This is why we're best friends.

• 14:40Speaker 00

  This is why we're best friends.

• 14:41Speaker 01

  We're grandma houses.

• 14:43Speaker 00

  All right, here's my story, and it's going to bring us back to the party planning committee. I know I've told this story in the early days of our podcast, but when I was a temp at an office, someone came around to all the little cubicles. I was doing data entry for a medical company, you know, inputting, I don't know, just alpha numeric codes into a spreadsheet all day long.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  Very accurately and quickly. I've seen you type.

• 15:10Speaker 00

  Thank you. And someone came around all the cubicles and said, you know, we're meeting for Marcy's birthday. Everyone come to the break room at 2 o'clock. Went to the break room. It was like right out of an episode of The Office. There was a sheet cake. There were like two sad balloons. There was a card. We sang happy birthday. They started cutting up the cake, handing it out to people. And when I went up, the head of the party planning committee took the plate out of my hands with the cake on it and said, it's for permanent employees only.

• 15:45Speaker 01

  Ugh. Tims don't get cake.

• 15:47Speaker 00

  Tims don't get cake. I was like, don't invite me then. And she said, you know, we all put in money for this. I was like, I'm happy to contribute. I just like, I wasn't here last week to give the $5, but like.

• 16:01Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh, you knew Angela Martin before you came to the office.

• 16:05Speaker 00

  I was like, it was so important. By the way, there was plenty of sheet cake. Marcy was taking home half the cake at the end of this party. So, yeah, that's my party's gone wrong story.

• 16:16Speaker 01

  Okay, those were really great. I love this question, Stephen, and it's the perfect kickoff to the party planning committee breakdown.

• 16:24Speaker 00

  So we're going to take a break and we will be right back.

• 16:33Speaker 01

  You know, sometimes it feels like everything at work can be kind of falling apart. That's when it's a job for sponsored jobs.

• 16:39Speaker 00

  Yes, when you need a hiring hero, an Indeed sponsored job will match you with quality candidates.

• 16:46Speaker 01

  And if you're tired of struggling just to get your job post seen on other sites, Indeed sponsored jobs gives your listing the ultimate boost and search results to connect you with the talent you actually need. Plus, you only pay for results. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for sponsored jobs.

• 17:13Speaker 00

  And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed.com/podcast. Just go to indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com/podcast.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 17:38Speaker 00

  We are so excited to be collaborating with Audible because audiobooks are a big part of my life, my life and my kids' life.

• 17:46Speaker 01

  Same. Josh has used Audible for years and now the kids use it and now he's got me so into it, too.

• 17:52Speaker 00

  It is awesome. I listen in the car. I listen while I'm working out. I listen while I'm walking the dog.

• 17:58Speaker 01

  Same. And I have a hard time, I guess, sitting still to read. So I love to listen to a book and I am listening to Project Hail Mary.

• 18:09Speaker 00

  Oh, that's a good one.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  I know, and I really wanted to hear it before I saw the movie. And I know I'm late to the party, but it's a great listen.

• 18:16Speaker 00

  I just finished You Like It Darker by Stephen King. That was our book club book. And it is read by Stephen King.

• 18:23Speaker 01

  Oh, that's really cool.

• 18:25Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 18:25Speaker 01

  Well, you can obviously tell we love Audible.

• 18:28Speaker 00

  Audible, stories that speak to you.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  New members can start listening with a 30 day free trial at audible.com/office.

• 18:40Speaker 00

  All right, we are back. And I think we should start with some party planning committee stats.

• 18:46Speaker 01

  You love a stat.

• 18:47Speaker 00

  We both love stats.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  I know.

• 18:49Speaker 00

  Now, admit it, you love a stat.

• 18:50Speaker 01

  I do, Jordan, I do. She's worn me down over the years and now I'm a stat person.

• 18:56Speaker 00

  Stats are fun.

• 18:57Speaker 01

  Stats are kind of hot.

• 18:59Speaker 00

  I can't tell if you guys are doing a bit or if you really love stats.

• 19:03Speaker 01

  Some would say stats are sexy. Oh, sexy stats.

• 19:07Speaker 00

  Well, you tell me, are these sexy? The original members.

• 19:11Speaker 01

  Oh, I'm there, yes.

• 19:13Speaker 00

  Of the party planning committee were Angela Phyllis and Pam.

• 19:18Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 19:19Speaker 00

  As we meet them.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  In our documentary of this time of Dunder Mifflin. And the party planning committee always had members, but also seemed to always have a leader. And the leaders of the party planning committee are as follows. Angela Martin, seasons one through four, very clear she was leading these meetings. Head of the party planning committee.

• 19:42Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 19:43Speaker 00

  She declares. But then, season four, goodbye Toby, to season five, baby shower and Moroccan Christmas, Phyllis Vance.

• 19:53Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 19:53Speaker 00

  Head of the party planning committee. Then in season five and season six, Jim and Dwight are the head of the party planning committee.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  Hot mess.

• 20:05Speaker 00

  Yes. Then we go back to Angela Martin again, then Pam, and then, question mark?

• 20:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:14Speaker 00

  We did a little mom detective-ing. We'll get to it. And then there were additional members from time to time. We had Ryan, we had Meredith, and we had Oscar.

• 20:24Speaker 01

  I would also add maybe Karen. Okay, yes, she is kicked out of the PPC by Angela Martin, but then she does help create the committee to plan parties.

• 20:32Speaker 00

  Well, she's definitely in the committee to plan parties.

• 20:35Speaker 01

  And then I think we have to note the one time Jim did some solo party planning in the episode Survivor Man, when he tries to consolidate all the birthday parties into one.

• 20:44Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 20:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, disaster. And then some fans have pointed out that Daryl and Dwight were the people Michael went to help plan his roast and stress relief.

• 20:54Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, so it is not just the PPC that plans events at Dunder Mifflin.

• 20:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:59Speaker 00

  Which we discovered in our deep dive.

• 21:01Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 21:02Speaker 00

  But listen, I think now we need to talk about what was the criteria to be a member of the party planning committee? Angela, you said you dug into this.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  I did, and it was an absolute wonderful adventure into Dunder Mifflin. Okay, so if you were selected to the PPC, there were many duties and skills that you would need. I made a list of a few.

• 21:24Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 21:24Speaker 01

  Okay. Feel free to jump in at any point, you guys. Number one, you would have to attend countless conference room meetings to discuss themes and make extensive lists of supplies.

• 21:35Speaker 00

  Yes. I need to say one thing.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 21:39Speaker 00

  When Angela was head of the party planning committee, I'm not sure you discussed the theme. I believe you were informed of the theme.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  This is true. And also, the only one that usually was writing things down was Pam.

• 21:51Speaker 01

  And as part of the committee, you would be responsible for not only planning the parties, but all the decorating. Here's an example of some of the types of parties you would have to help plan or decorate. An 80s party, a movie DVD release party, a 05, 05, 05 party, a tsunami fundraiser party, coworker birthdays, holidays such as Christmas and Halloween, bridal showers, baby showers, inventory luos, lunch parties, retirement or going away parties, and welcome parties.

• 22:24Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  This is a big scope.

• 22:27Speaker 00

  That's a lot, yeah.

• 22:28Speaker 01

  You would also need to be good at coming up with fun new themes for parties that you've hosted every year. For example, a new spin on a holiday party like Nights in Morocco, or a Nutcracker Christmas. And then you would have to closely monitor the decorations and food to make sure everyone was staying on theme.

• 22:44Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  There's a lot of policing involved in this committee. You would also have to coordinate all the food, drinks, and desserts. You would need to curate the guest list. That could get dicey. From time to time, you might have to deal with a rival party planning committee. Things get very ugly. Lastly, you will have a very limited budget to try to accommodate ridiculous requests from your boss. And according to the Dundees, Jan says they only have the budget for each branch to throw one party a year.

• 23:13Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 23:14Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 23:15Speaker 00

  I know. How are we doing it?

• 23:17Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 23:18Speaker 00

  I found something that might shed some light on that.

• 23:19Speaker 01

  Ooh. I can't wait to get to it. I do think we need to list all the crazy party requests, but before we do, we got a question from Sasha P. in New Jersey. Sasha says, "Hi, ladies. I loved your breakdown of the Dundees, but I've always wondered about who planned the Dundees. There is a scene where Pam is watching old tapes of past Dundees because Michael wants her to put together highlights. So do you think the party planning committee also had to help plan the Dundees, or were they a party that Michael hosted by himself?" These are the questions I think about whenever I re-watch the show. Thanks for doing the podcast. Okay, what do you think?

• 23:56Speaker 00

  I do not think the party planning committee helped throw the Dundees. And the reason I say that is because when I watched the first Dundees especially, it all seems like a surprise to them. It's not at work.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Right. It's outside of work. Michael has all of his costumes.

• 24:15Speaker 00

  Yes, and he has the keyboard that Dwight is playing. He has so many props. And I mean, it's interesting that Sasha says that he's making Pam do a highlight reel.

• 24:25Speaker 01

  Yeah. I went back and I saw the scene she's talking about.

• 24:28Speaker 00

  But I feel like that might fall more under just random stuff Michael asks Pam to do.

• 24:35Speaker 01

  Exactly. I think Dwight is who helped Michael with the Dundees, and probably only Dwight.

• 24:39Speaker 00

  I think so, too.

• 24:40Speaker 01

  Because everyone else really didn't want to go to them.

• 24:42Speaker 00

  Right.

• 24:43Speaker 01

  All right. So this brings me to the absurd requests the PPC got from Michael Scott. Here are some of the most random items, according to me.

• 24:51Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 24:52Speaker 01

  So other people might not think so. Trick candles, surprise stripper gram, firecrackers, a chihuahua, grass skirts, poi, tiki torches, suckling pig, fire dancers, coed naked strippers, orchids, a thing made of ice, anti-gravity machine slash potion, live storks, and, you know, honestly, the list goes on and on if you like go through all of this. But I do have a clip of what it would be like as the head of the party planning committee jodding down what Michael Scott wants. Let's hear it.

• 25:26Speaker 05

  How are we doing on time? The party starts in an hour. 60 minutes. 60 minutes. That's a lot of minutes. These are some things that I would like to have happen. Beer, light beer, streamers, orchids, better lighting, something made of ice. Those are just things. This is how I want it to feel. Pizza, pizza with mushrooms, pizza without mushrooms, white pizzas, steak. I would like this party to be sexier, cooler, more important. Chocolates, someone famous, cool music, confetti, go-go dancers. I want it to embarrass all other parties. I want it to be a party that the guys in New York watch on the webcam and say, "Wow, how did they get Al Roker to come?" I can't do this. Yes, you can. I can't do it. Yes, you can. I know you can.

• 26:10Speaker 05

  I wouldn't say that if I didn't 100% believe it. Who else could do this? Okay, okay. No, seriously, is there anyone else who could do it better? Because we don't have a lot of time. I'll get the pizza.

• 26:20Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  I loved doing that scene with Steve. It was so fun. But yeah, go-go dancers, someone famous. His expectations for these parties are crazy. And, you know, he always wanted something grand. It did crack me up when I was re-watching episodes that for his 15th anniversary at the company, he wanted it to feel like, quote, "The opening of a car dealership."

• 26:45Speaker 00

  Oh, my goodness. Well, I want to talk about the evolution of the party planning committee, and I want to go back to the beginning.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 26:54Speaker 00

  Let's start with the very first time we see the party planning committee. It was in The Alliance. This is when Michael comes in and he asks Pam and Phyllis and Angela to plan an impromptu birthday party for Meredith, even though it is not her birthday. What do you remember about this, Angela, about shooting this scene?

• 27:12Speaker 01

  I will never forget this first scene of the party planning committee. Like, it's something that is just part of a core memory for me now. They had a few lines for us, and then sort of encouraged us to just kind of find it. And I remember so many long pauses.

• 27:31Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Intentionally, like awkward pauses, where Phyllis would finally say something, I would [BLEEP] on it, and you would be dying a slow death.

• 27:41Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 27:42Speaker 01

  And we just did so many, and it was so fun. And it was like lightning in a bottle to me. I thought, oh, my God, this dynamic is amazing. It's a comedy like, oh, chef's kiss.

• 27:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, you know, for me, what was so exciting about it was that up until that point, I had kind of had two roles on the show. I had being the love interest role, part of this romantic couple, the Pam-Jim, and then I had the dynamic with Pam and Michael, which was really fun, which was him constantly, like, asking me to do things that I didn't want to do, or whatever. And this was this really funny, new dynamic, like a new toy. And it involved the women in the office and office politics that I thought were so specific and real to office life.

• 28:30Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 28:31Speaker 00

  And I just absolutely loved it. And you're right, we all were so specific. And I don't even know if they knew at the time that this was going to go anywhere beyond this one episode, but surely after watching it, they knew.

• 28:46Speaker 01

  Yeah. I remember being in the moment and thinking, back to my improv days, you would always ask yourself, what's the game of the scene?

• 28:53Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 28:54Speaker 01

  And the game of the scene was so clear.

• 28:56Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 28:57Speaker 01

  And so fun to play that we could just go to the well over and over. And it was also completely different than anything Michael and Dwight did.

• 29:05Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 29:06Speaker 01

  They had their own kind of thing, and the pranks with Jim, and this was its own different game.

• 29:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:12Speaker 01

  And it was great. And I remember Video Village freaking out.

• 29:16Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah. This was so fun. We traded messages with Teri Weinberg, our exec producer, and we asked her, could you tell us about what it was like to watch this scene?

• 29:29Speaker 01

  Yeah. Let's hear what she said.

• 29:31Speaker 06

  I remember when we first met the party planning committee, and it was in The Alliance. And as usual, I was in Video Village when we were shooting the episode, and it was one of the funniest scenes I think I'd seen to date. And I think I almost got kicked out of the Village because I was laughing so loud they could pick it up on the boom. And I looked at Greg and said, "My God, this is just gold. We need so much more of this." And I remember us running out, or me running, I'm sure, in between takes, and ran into the conference room.

• 30:12Speaker 06

  And I think I looked at you guys and said, "Are you kidding me?" Two thumbs up, a million thumbs up. It was just comedy gold.

• 30:22Speaker 00

  Aw.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  Aw, I remember her running in.

• 30:25Speaker 00

  I do, too.

• 30:26Speaker 01

  Yeah. And that was so exciting, too, because these were the early days of The Office. So when there was a buzz in Video Village, it just meant everything.

• 30:36Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah. I mean, this was the time when, one, we were always worried we might get canceled.

• 30:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:42Speaker 00

  But also, I don't know, I felt like we were still proving ourselves every single day. I felt like I had to prove that you gave me this role for a reason.

• 30:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I remember Phyllis and I were so excited because it meant we were in more of a story and not just in the deep background, which we loved being in. It didn't matter where we were. We were so happy to be there. But that was, we really felt that. And yeah, it's still special to me when I go back and watch The Alliance. I recently re-watched that scene with my daughter, and she did say, "Mom, what is this hairstyle?" My character never had that hairstyle again. I think it was like too much to do, but it was weird.

• 31:21Speaker 00

  Well, I found an extra scene for the party planning committee in the table draft of The Alliance.

• 31:27Speaker 01

  Oh, fun.

• 31:28Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. Angela, we are always asking, where did the money come from for these parties? And this little extra scene might help explain it. So this would have come right after Michael came in to call us all his party planning biatches.

• 31:42Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:43Speaker 00

  He would have said, "So, what's the bottom line? What's this going to run us?" And Pam said, "Probably about $50." And Michael would have said, "Cool, so I'll pay with my credit card and collect, say, and even five bucks from everybody. Then I'll absorb the rest." Then Pam says, "There are 16 of us. That'll be $80." Then Michael, glancing to camera, said, "Well, look who's the math whiz all of a sudden. We each owe $4.97.362. Carry the one. What are you, Al Gore? I mean, really, Pam."

• 32:20Speaker 01

  [LAUGHS]

• 32:23Speaker 00

  So, yes, I guess we would collect money for the parties.

• 32:27Speaker 01

  Well, as you watch all these different party planning scenes, the number varies. So like this one's $50. I think launch party was $65. Then we had the dueling Christmas parties, like $200 and then 201, right? And then the one that really cracked me up was Jim and Dwight. Dwight's like, how much money have you collected? And Jim says $6 and Dwight goes, damn it, that's what we put in.

• 32:50Speaker 00

  I know. But listen, the alliance is actually not the origin of the Party Planning Committee. This is just the origin for us as office viewers.

• 33:00Speaker 01

  Right.

• 33:02Speaker 00

  We learn that the Party Planning Committee actually started years and years ago. Thanks to a deleted scene from New Boss, Michael explains to Charles Minor when exactly the Party Planning Committee began. Let's listen.

• 33:18Speaker 07

  What's going on in here?

• 33:18Speaker 05

  Party Planning Committee, not your concern, Charles.

• 33:21Speaker 07

  This doesn't seem like a good way to spend company time.

• 33:23Speaker 05

  Oh, all right. Well, the Party Planning Committee is an institution in this institution. It is something that I incorporated in the mid 90s to celebrate the LaserDisc release of A League of Their Own. It has become a tradition here. It is something that is important to all of us. What did we do for a League of Their Own party?

• 33:42Speaker 07

  A pizza of your own party. Make your own pizza. I didn't even work here then. I just heard the stories. Okay, thank you Dwight.

• 33:49Speaker 00

  So, the PPC predates Dwight and it probably predates Angela.

• 33:55Speaker 01

  Oh, for sure.

• 33:56Speaker 00

  Which brings me to this question from Emily C. How did Angela become the head of the Party Planning Committee? Parties are about having fun, which seems like something she wouldn't enjoy. And Aiden C. said, if Angela hates time wasters and people not working, then why is she the head of the Party Planning Committee? And why does she keep supporting parties even when she is not? And so Angela, when did Angela become known as the head of the Party Planning Committee? Do we know this?

• 34:29Speaker 01

  Well, you and I were both really curious about this. So I went to Greg Daniels and I wrote him and I asked him about it. And I haven't shared with you what he said because it tickled me so much. And I wanted to surprise you. So Emily and Aiden, I shared both of your questions with Greg and he wrote me back this. These are good questions. I think it was inspired by the improv in the pilot about Angela throwing a cat party.

• 34:55Speaker 00

  Wow!

• 34:56Speaker 01

  I know! It was a great way to energize the female characters into a little team. And of course Angela would have the strongest opinions and be the head.

• 35:05Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  So my improv about sprinkles

• 35:09Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 35:10Speaker 01

  and throwing this party at the office for my cat gave Greg this idea about the Party Planning Committee.

• 35:17Speaker 00

  My goodness, that little Post-it note.

• 35:20Speaker 01

  That I drew and walked around with and then you looked at the Post-it note and shared it with Jim.

• 35:27Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 35:27Speaker 01

  Are you going to Angela's cat party? And he said no, because I hadn't given him one. I mean, this is the beauty of being a creative collaboration. And anyway, I just was delighted by that.

• 35:41Speaker 00

  Well, I'd like to paint a picture of Angela as head of the Party Planning Committee because she was, after all, the head of the PPC for the first four seasons of The Office. We definitely got a sense of how she ran things. So first of all, she took this job very seriously. I feel like both her and Phyllis take the job very seriously. Pam, Jim, Dwight, not so much. But when she recruited Ryan into the PPC, she sent a memo that said, quote, "We need to prepare for every possible disaster." That's how Angela approaches her party planning.

• 36:16Speaker 01

  I think that's how she approaches life.

• 36:19Speaker 00

  You might be right.

• 36:20Speaker 01

  I think she walks out the door and says, not today, Satan. You're not coming for me.

• 36:25Speaker 00

  Well, Angela does not like it when people spring things on her out of nowhere. It actually made her emotional when Michael changed the Christmas party gift exchange. You know, she's a planner and we know how she plans decorations, food. She consistently has very specific criteria for both. She loves a theme and we know that she does not like when her authority is challenged. She gives the marching orders and she wants other people to follow them. And she kind of loses her [BLEEP] when they don't.

• 36:56Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 36:57Speaker 00

  I mean, look at Benihana Christmas and launch party.

• 36:59Speaker 01

  Oh, she's a mess when things don't go according to plan.

• 37:04Speaker 00

  But here's the other thing. She's also one of those people who like she'll give out jobs, but then she doesn't trust anyone. And this is my favorite example of that. It is from a deleted talking head that was recently added back to the superfan version of Goodbye Toby.

• 37:19Speaker 01

  I was gonna have Phyllis be in charge of cups today. But even then, I had a stack of cups standing by in my trunk.

• 37:26Speaker 00

  She's that person.

• 37:28Speaker 01

  But can you blame her? I mean, Phyllis really dropped the ball many times. On very simple tasks, we'll get to it. Well, of course, there was always some type of PPC drama happening at Dunder Mifflin.

• 37:41Speaker 00

  That is an understatement.

• 37:42Speaker 01

  Understatement, but guess what? The PPC drama wasn't only at the Scranton branch. It extended to other branches. I mean, who can forget Angela's rival Denise Stims?

• 37:52Speaker 00

  Yes, we talked about her when we broke down launch party.

• 37:56Speaker 01

  We did, and there was extra footage of Angela trashing Denise. We discussed it, but I thought we should hear it.

• 38:02Speaker 00

  Let's hear it, please.

• 38:04Speaker 01

  Tonight, my party will be broadcast out to five other states, which means it will be compared to Denise Stims' party in Buffalo. Any idiot can defrost a microwavable hors d'oeuvres platter. And Denise proves that with every party she throws. Oh, and Denise, stop telling people your hair is naturally curly. We all know you get perms.

• 38:26Speaker 00

  Oh, my goodness.

• 38:27Speaker 01

  She's just hates her. I mean, Angela Martin has got to know this is documentary. Someone's gonna see this if she doesn't care.

• 38:36Speaker 00

  So, so, so sad we did not meet Denise Stims and her perm.

• 38:41Speaker 01

  I know.

• 38:42Speaker 00

  You know, who could have played Denise Stims is Jenny Slate.

• 38:45Speaker 01

  Oh, yes.

• 38:46Speaker 00

  Wouldn't she have been a great Denise Stims?

• 38:48Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm, yeah. I would like to see Denise Stims and Sconcey Cider in some kind of committee.

• 38:56Speaker 00

  There's your spinoff, NBC.

• 38:58Speaker 01

  There's your spinoff, Denise Stims and Sconcey Cider. But Angela Martin's biggest nemesis was Phyllis.

• 39:06Speaker 00

  For sure.

• 39:07Speaker 01

  There were so many standoffs between those two that there are multiple compilation videos on YouTube called either Phyllis versus Angela or Angela versus Phyllis, semicolon, the number one party planner. But here's one of my favorite moments from Phyllis and Angela drama. They are planning the launch party. Phyllis has a new strategy on how to deal with Angela. But to be fair, Phyllis really does mess up her duties. Lunch party? It's supposed to say launch party. What is wrong with you? Angela is worse than usual lately and we have a party to throw. So I Googled how to deal with difficult people and I got all of this.

• 39:50Speaker 01

  So we're gonna try out some new things today. So how do you feel about the fact that the banner says lunch? I feel angry, angry at you. Angry at you for doing something stupid. Angry at me for believing you could do something not stupid. I'm so sorry to hear that. That must be awful. It is awful. You've made this day awful. I asked for assorted cutlery and I got back spoons. These are worthless. I want to understand what you're saying, but it's difficult for me when you use that tone. Phyllis, these are spoons. Spoons have rounded tops and are used to scoop things.

• 40:31Speaker 01

  What we need are forks, which have prongs or tiny spears on top. And we need knives, which have blades. Do you understand me now? Yes. Goodie.

• 40:47Speaker 00

  Well, all of that, Angela, is why it is so very satisfying when Phyllis becomes head of the Party Planning Committee.

• 40:54Speaker 01

  But Phyllis goes hardcore, too.

• 40:56Speaker 00

  She does. Yeah, it's pretty juicy. She becomes head of the PPC through blackmail.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, through blackmail. And she holds that over Angela's head for a long time.

• 41:08Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 41:09Speaker 01

  But I thought we should discuss the parties that Phyllis threw during her reign as head of the PPC.

• 41:15Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 41:16Speaker 01

  We have Toby's goodbye party, Stanley's birthday party, Jan's baby shower, and of course, Nights in Morocco, her holiday party. Her parties were often very over the top and seemed to have lavish budgets you and I both think Bob Vance chipped in.

• 41:32Speaker 00

  Yeah. Well, besides Stanley's birthday party, which ended up being very lame, but only because Michael refused to let her serve cake.

• 41:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, fruit only.

• 41:43Speaker 00

  I think the other parties were some of our better parties. Toby's goodbye party, come on, a whole carnival in the parking lot.

• 41:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, Michael was not impressed with Jan's baby shower, but you know.

• 41:57Speaker 00

  I thought it was lovely.

• 41:58Speaker 01

  I did too.

• 41:59Speaker 00

  It was totally appropriate.

• 42:01Speaker 01

  I know.

• 42:02Speaker 00

  Well, I asked writer Justin Spitzer, why did they decide to make Phyllis the head of the party planning committee? I love this plot twist.

• 42:10Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 42:11Speaker 00

  And here's what he had to say. He said, "It's always fun to flip the power dynamic between characters with different statuses. In this case, Angela had spent years using the miniscule, meaningless amount of authority she had on the party planning committee to treat Phyllis like dirt. So we figured that if Phyllis caught Angela having an affair, Phyllis could use that knowledge to finally be the one on top. It's kind of a revenge fantasy. But what I really liked is that Phyllis turns into a bigger bully than Angela ever was."

• 42:46Speaker 01

  Thank you, Justin.

• 42:48Speaker 00

  Justin said, "Some people thought that it was out of character for Phyllis, but I think the whole point was that this just revealed who Phyllis was all along."

• 42:57Speaker 01

  I feel very seen right now by Justin.

• 42:59Speaker 00

  Finally, Justin said, "There's something kind of universal about the worst tyrants not being inherently strong people, but weak people who suddenly get power and abuse it."

• 43:11Speaker 01

  Oh, he's so smart.

• 43:13Speaker 00

  So smart.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  I loved that.

• 43:15Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 43:16Speaker 01

  Well, you know, Phyllis ultimately loses control of the party planning committee. In Lecture Circuit Part 1, Michael puts Jim and Dwight in charge of the party planning committee because there was, quote, "too much drama." And I guess Michael believes that consolidating power into a single head position was too dangerous. So now the committee has a chairmanship that is shared.

• 43:36Speaker 00

  Well, my personal favorite party planning committee clip is from Lecture Circuit, and it is when Jim and Dwight present Kelly with her birthday cake.

• 43:45Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 43:45Speaker 00

  And Phyllis is kind of listening in from the kitchen table. Let's hear it.

• 43:50Speaker 07

  And ta-da.

• 43:53Speaker 03

  I hate it.

• 43:55Speaker 07

  How do you hate it? It's a cake.

• 43:57Speaker 03

  Well, there's no flowers or toys or, I mean, there's nothing on it. Where did you even find a cake like this? I mean, it doesn't have my name on it. Do you guys know what my name is? My name is Kelly.

• 44:08Speaker 07

  Right. I forgot if there was an E between the L and the Y. I still don't know.

• 44:13Speaker 03

  I mean, I don't even know what the theme is. What's the theme?

• 44:16Speaker 07

  It's birthday.

• 44:19Speaker 03

  Frosting. Those aren't themes. There's always a theme.

• 44:26Speaker 01

  There's always a theme.

• 44:30Speaker 07

  Nice job on the cake, bozo. Okay, you know what? Next time, I'll let you get the cake and I get to scream at the birthday girl.

• 44:36Speaker 00

  Amazing.

• 44:37Speaker 01

  So good. And you know what? There is always a theme. And I think Angela Martin would have appreciated Kelly and Phyllis noting that.

• 44:46Speaker 00

  Well, we got a letter from Erin O, who asked, "Was there ever a consideration of adding Kelly to the party planning committee? I feel like she would have had a lot of ideas for parties." Yeah.

• 44:56Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 44:57Speaker 00

  I had never thought about this until I read this question. Why wasn't Kelly on the party planning committee?

• 45:04Speaker 01

  Well, I think you and I know, because Mindy was a writer and they needed her in the writer's room. They couldn't keep adding her to stories in the main bullpen. That's my guess.

• 45:12Speaker 00

  I think Angela wouldn't let her on the party planning committee.

• 45:16Speaker 01

  Well, yeah.

• 45:17Speaker 00

  I feel like there's some meeting where she was on the committee and got kicked off. I feel like she was like Karen.

• 45:24Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, that she got escorted out.

• 45:27Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 45:27Speaker 01

  I believe that. And I think I found a place where I thought she was in a meeting.

• 45:31Speaker 00

  Well, I didn't see her in a meeting necessarily, but she is the person who's decorating for the Lonely Hearts Valentine's Day party in Blood Drive.

• 45:41Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 45:41Speaker 00

  I think that's the only time we ever see her decorating.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think you're right, which makes you think she had been given a task.

• 45:48Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 45:49Speaker 01

  Maybe she was on the committee. But I did want to point out that she's also in the conference room in Launch Party Part 1. She's with Angela, Phyllis, Pam, and Oscar when Michael needs advice if his shirt is too tight for the fancy New York City party that Ryan's hosting.

• 46:04Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 46:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:05Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  But we can't discuss the party planning committee without talking about the moment in season 5, when Charles Minor disbands the committee. And I think we can all blame Jim for that one. Here he is, dressed in a tux, and he's saying that they should have a two-way petting zoo at Michael's anniversary party. You pet them, they pet you back.

• 46:24Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 46:25Speaker 01

  And Charles is like, "This is over."

• 46:27Speaker 00

  He says it's over, but then in season 6, in Secretary's Day, Andy thanks Angela for organizing the Secretary's Day party. So how did that happen?

• 46:37Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 46:37Speaker 00

  The committee is back, Angela is head of the PPC again? Clearly somehow the PPC has reorganized. But then, in season 7, Classy Christmas, when Pam gets office administrator job, she announces that she is dismantling the PPC.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 46:58Speaker 00

  So this made me wonder, did we ever see the PPC again? Because there were parties, but if it was disbanded, who planned them? Because there were more parties in season 8 and season 9.

• 47:09Speaker 01

  So true.

• 47:11Speaker 00

  So we felt like we had to really deep dive this.

• 47:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, guys, we were two ladies Googling up a storm.

• 47:17Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. Well, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we'll tell you what we found out.

• 47:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:28Speaker 00

  Do you remember being a kid around the holidays and anytime you would ask for something, your parents would just say, "Wait until the holidays."

• 47:34Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 47:35Speaker 00

  Well, Mint Mobile does not make you wait. Right now, you can get any of their plans for $15 a month. Every single plan includes high-speed data with unlimited talk, text on the nation's largest 5G network.

• 47:49Speaker 01

  You get to keep your current phone and number while choosing a 3-, 6-, or 12-month plan that lets you say goodbye to monthly bill stress. The entire signup process happens online in moments.

• 48:00Speaker 00

  So what are you waiting for? To get your new wireless plan for $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com/office ladies.

• 48:08Speaker 01

  That's mintmobile.com/office ladies.

• 48:10Speaker 00

  Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at mintmobile.com/office ladies.

• 48:16Speaker 01

  Upfront payment of $45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months, or $180 for 12 months. Plan required, $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50GB may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Around this time of year, I always catch myself stressing over all these unspoken rules, feeling like I have to say yes to every single holiday event, buy the perfect gift, or maintain traditions that honestly can just drain you.

• 48:46Speaker 00

  It really makes you realize how much mental space you give to obligations that don't really serve you.

• 48:51Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. Well, therapy is such a helpful tool to figure out what you actually want to keep in your life and what things you can rewrite.

• 49:00Speaker 00

  BetterHelp makes getting started with therapy simple by handling the therapist match for you. You do a brief questionnaire, and then they will connect you with an experienced, fully licensed professional. BetterHelp is now in-network with more than 125 health plans, with many copays as low as $15 for eligible members. And if you don't have eligible insurance or live outside the US, you can still get 20% off your first month. So sign up and get 20% off at betterhelp.com/office ladies. That's better H-E-L-P.com/office ladies.

• 49:36Speaker 01

  I am in the process of going through my closet and really looking at items that look great, but that I haven't worn in a long time because maybe they're not my season anymore.

• 49:47Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  You know, I'm a little older, and some of my looks, I don't know, they're not for me anymore, but they're still really great pieces. So I have been looking into Vinted because my sisters love it.

• 49:59Speaker 00

  Yes. Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app that makes it really easy for an everyday person, people like you and me, to sell pre-loved fashion and earn a little extra money. There are no seller fees, and the app is free to download. It's really simple to list an item on Vinted, and then, once the item sells, Vinted actually creates the prepaid shipping label for you.

• 50:23Speaker 01

  I know, isn't that fantastic?

• 50:25Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:26Speaker 01

  All right, everyone, there's a lot of great, amazing items on Vinted. You should check out the website and give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

• 50:43Speaker 01

  All right. So as we dig deeper, we had to open up season 8, y'all.

• 50:47Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:48Speaker 01

  And there were only a handful of office parties this season. So in the episode, Christmas Wishes, there is a holiday party happening at work. Andy's dressed as Santa. He's making people's wishes come true, but there was zero mention of the party planning committee.

• 51:02Speaker 00

  Yes. How did all the decorations get up? We never find out.

• 51:05Speaker 01

  We never find out. I went to the shooting draft to see if something was mentioned in the script.

• 51:09Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 51:10Speaker 01

  Nothing. But then, you guys, get excited because we have a real twist in the PPC drama and the episode spooked.

• 51:17Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 51:18Speaker 01

  We learned from Pam that Andy put Aaron in charge of the entire Halloween party. And you know, Robert, California, texts Andy, says his expectations are high, so Andy is tense, and things are not going to go well for Aaron. Robert's super snarky son calls the party lame, and then Andy cowardly replaces Aaron. You have to hear it. Oh, I put those up. I know. I'm taking them down. I almost wonder if putting nothing... On this wall. This is more Halloween.

• 51:50Speaker 00

  I don't know about this, guys. Andy put me in charge of the Halloween party, so.

• 51:54Speaker 01

  Well, Andy sent us in here, so which is it?

• 51:57Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 51:58Speaker 01

  So can we speak our minds now? Are we still sparing feelings? Because I hate all of this.

• 52:06Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 52:07Speaker 01

  Who did Andy send in but Phyllis and Angela? So are they back?

• 52:12Speaker 00

  I don't know. Because next up is welcome party.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  That's right. And I think there's another power shift. So we need to discuss this, lady, because I wanted to bring this up to you. You know, it's the cold open and Pam and Phyllis together as a team, they approach Jim. They have this get well card for Stanley. And they want Jim to sign it. And they get into an argument. Gets a little heated. Pam gets spicy. I want you to hear it.

• 52:40Speaker 00

  Hey, Jim. Stanley's back from the hospital today. Can you sign his card?

• 52:43Speaker 07

  Okay.

• 52:46Speaker 07

  Glad they didn't mix up your tonsillectomy with a mustacheectomy.

• 52:51Speaker 07

  Oh, that's not good.

• 52:52Speaker 01

  Well, because your jokes are all hilarious.

• 52:55Speaker 00

  It's nice. It's funny. It mentions his tonsillectomy and makes a funny little joke about his mustache.

• 52:59Speaker 07

  Stanley doesn't have a mustache.

• 53:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, he does.

• 53:04Speaker 07

  Pam, hit the brakes. Stanley does not have a mustache. I misspoke. I'm not sure. I think he has one now that I think he has a mustache.

• 53:14Speaker 00

  Okay, Phyllis sits across from him every day. Phyllis, does he have a mustache or not?

• 53:17Speaker 01

  Oh, I don't know. Um, now I think he doesn't.

• 53:21Speaker 00

  Phyllis, what are you talking? The whole card depends on this.

• 53:25Speaker 01

  The whole card depends on this. Pam is mad at Phyllis. Now, I think this could show that Pam and Phyllis are back in cahoots as party planning committee heads.

• 53:36Speaker 00

  See, I don't think this is evidence of the party planning committee. I think there's still no official party planning committee. At this point, I think this is why Andy had to ask Erin to do the party. And then this is why he had to call in Angela and Phyllis. I think it's still disbanded at this point.

• 53:57Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 53:57Speaker 00

  And I think that this get well card is just something that Pam is doing as office administrator. And probably Phyllis is closest with Stanley. And so Pam has kind of consulted her. That's my take on it.

• 54:09Speaker 01

  I think that's a really good take. It brings the question, the get well card, are those part of the PPC duties? You know, they have this elaborate card for Meredith's birthday that everyone signs. It's got the bird on it.

• 54:21Speaker 00

  I know. And see, I think that is part of the PPC.

• 54:24Speaker 01

  Right.

• 54:24Speaker 00

  I think because there's a party attached to it. If it's a birthday party, it comes with a birthday card.

• 54:31Speaker 01

  So if there was a get well party.

• 54:33Speaker 00

  There might be a get well card.

• 54:36Speaker 01

  This gets blurry.

• 54:37Speaker 00

  Oh, no. This is why there's so much drama. People don't know what their role is.

• 54:43Speaker 01

  But then there is a clear PPC meeting that comes later in this episode. It's in the break room. It's Pam, Angela, Phyllis, and Oscar.

• 54:51Speaker 00

  Yes, because Robert, California, he says to the whole bullpen, though.

• 54:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:55Speaker 00

  He says, throw Nellie a welcome party.

• 54:59Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 55:00Speaker 00

  He does not direct it at any one person, I noticed. But yes, now from that directive, we go to the break room.

• 55:08Speaker 01

  Right. And remember, no one liked Nellie. I can't believe he's making us throw a party for her. I know, right?

• 55:15Speaker 07

  She's always late. She's always rude.

• 55:17Speaker 01

  Kind of makes me want to throw a really bad party.

• 55:19Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  On purpose.

• 55:22Speaker 00

  Phyllis.

• 55:25Speaker 01

  We should do it right here in the break room.

• 55:28Speaker 01

  Art or carrot cake?

• 55:31Speaker 07

  Sounds delicious. And I'm not talking about the cake.

• 55:38Speaker 01

  He's talking about the revenge.

• 55:40Speaker 00

  Pam, you should make those cookies that you make.

• 55:43Speaker 01

  What? She doesn't know.

• 55:47Speaker 00

  What are my gross cookies?

• 55:49Speaker 01

  I don't know, but I like that Oscar, the way he shushes me goes.

• 55:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 55:56Speaker 01

  But they are all in cahoots that they hate Pam's cookies.

• 55:59Speaker 00

  Well, Jim gives Pam that information that there's something that Nellie hates about magicians.

• 56:04Speaker 01

  Right, because they're helping her move into her apartment. And she tells them all this stuff about her personal life.

• 56:08Speaker 00

  Yes, so Pam suggests they get a magician, but then Jim calls her and is like, don't get a magician.

• 56:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:14Speaker 00

  So Pam has to pivot away from the bad party.

• 56:18Speaker 01

  It's too late, though. The magician's on the way.

• 56:21Speaker 00

  The train has left the station.

• 56:22Speaker 01

  There is a second PPC scene where Pam is now trying to backpedal and get them out of this.

• 56:28Speaker 00

  Yes, and during that scene, at one point Angela says, quote, "I wanted to leave you out."

• 56:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, to Pam.

• 56:36Speaker 00

  Right. So is Angela back in charge? What does this mean?

• 56:41Speaker 01

  I'm not sure. You know, I don't think she's solely back in charge. I think there's a more equal balance of power now based off the cold open that I talked about with Pam and Phyllis. And then this moment at the very end of Nellie's lame party. Let's hear it.

• 56:57Speaker 07

  Little known fact about me, before I was a magician, I used to work at a rope factory. Not true, because that's not a real place. But I never could seem to figure out those knots. That's not a real knot. When you pull on it, it disappears. What the hell? All right, where's Phyllis? Who's Phyllis? Look, this is really uncool, okay? I put on a clean show here. Scram wizard. What? You heard me.

• 57:24Speaker 01

  Where's Phyllis?

• 57:26Speaker 00

  That just proves she hired the magician. That doesn't mean she's in charge. That might have been her task.

• 57:31Speaker 01

  I know. So I'm saying I don't think Angela's in charge. Angela didn't have the get well card for Stanley. She wasn't part of that. She also didn't call the magician. She's in the meeting, same as Oscar. I'm saying I think there's a more equal sharing of power.

• 57:47Speaker 00

  We're saying the same thing. Nobody is the head of this committee.

• 57:51Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 57:52Speaker 00

  All right, let's get to season nine. Season nine, Here Comes Trouble. Halloween party. Tons of decorations. There's cups that say boo. There's punch and cookies. Who threw this party? Angela brings the senator to the party. After he arrives, he looks at the food table and Angela says, quote, "Who designed this spread? The sweets and savories are mixed together. This is mayhem."

• 58:15Speaker 01

  She really hates that. She really hates the sweets and savories.

• 58:18Speaker 00

  She has so many opinions about where food is placed. And then she says, "This is outrageous. I have to find Phyllis." And then, lady, in the superfan episode, they added back a scene where she finds Phyllis. And it's a little different than the version that's in the deleted scenes because you shared about the deleted scene version in our breakdown of Here Comes Trouble. This superfan scene has even more information.

• 58:47Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 58:48Speaker 00

  Let's listen.

• 58:49Speaker 01

  Brownies and ginger snaps on the same plate? Where was the logic there? I mean, what was going through your mind? I just thought it was a party and people wouldn't think too much about it. Ridiculous. You know, if you're not going to focus, maybe you shouldn't be in charge of arranging the snacks. Your decorations, I'm food. Snack arrangements is a type of decoration. We have to start all over. Okay. Go ahead. I can't picture it. I'm all confused. Maybe the cupcakes with the ginger snaps? No, nothing should be with the ginger snaps. Ginger snaps are off putting to some people. What about that thing? I don't even think that's food.

• 59:29Speaker 00

  Okay. She says Angela was decorations, Phyllis was food. And I feel like Angela is bossing Phyllis around as if she's in charge.

• 59:40Speaker 01

  Listen, you can't deny the woman who she is. She's bossy, okay? She's bossy. And she has this phrasing that I've never used before. Snack arrangements, which are also part of decorating. She's not wrong about the ginger snaps, though. I don't think they should be on the same tray as cupcakes. I'm going to say that.

• 59:57Speaker 00

  Why serve them at all if they're so off putting to people?

• 1:00:00Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 1:00:01Speaker 00

  All right. Well, if you are not convinced that Angela is back in charge yet, may I present Dwight's Christmas?

• 1:00:08Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:00:09Speaker 00

  So first of all, everybody forgets about the party. Do we remember this? Let's listen. Hey, guys, the Christmas party is today. Merry Christmas, everyone. No. Is it? I mean, it says Xmas party, but.

• 1:00:24Speaker 01

  I think we all know what that's code for. So we're not gonna have a Christmas party this year? Angela, how could you do this to us? Oh, right. Like, I'm responsible because I'm in charge of the party planning committee. Well, you are the one in charge. Don't blame me for something we all forgot.

• 1:00:38Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. You say it.

• 1:00:40Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:00:41Speaker 00

  You say it. And, again, thanks to the superfan version, we got this extra little delightful gem in this episode. Lady, after this moment, Angela takes a tiny bedazzled box out of her desk, and she opens it up, and there's a little pink whistle inside. Let's listen.

• 1:01:06Speaker 01

  Party Planning Committee, emergency meeting, now. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I remember doing that, too. I remember that.

• 1:01:15Speaker 00

  And then the people who stand up after the whistle blows are Pam, Phyllis, and Oscar. So there you have it. That is our PPC.

• 1:01:25Speaker 01

  And I remember, it wasn't season nine, Angela's going through all that stuff, right? She's really going through it in life. So that was sort of like a justification that she's so distracted by her personal life that she forgot.

• 1:01:37Speaker 00

  She forgot about the Christmas party.

• 1:01:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:39Speaker 00

  But also added back to the superfan version of Dwight's Christmas are all the scenes that you talked about, Angela, in our breakdown of Dwight's Christmas, where we have this pitch meeting in the conference room, and all these people come in and pitch their idea, their theme, for a Christmas party to the Party Planning Committee. And Angela is very clearly the one in charge when you watch these extra scenes.

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  Okay, so she got it back, you guys.

• 1:02:05Speaker 00

  She got it back.

• 1:02:06Speaker 01

  She got it.

• 1:02:08Speaker 00

  The show starts and ends with Angela as head of the PPC.

• 1:02:12Speaker 01

  Woo-hoo!

• 1:02:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:02:14Speaker 01

  And the idea for the Party Planning Committee came from me, drawing Sprinkles the Cat on a Post-it, passing it around, and Jenna, looking at it and improvising a line.

• 1:02:26Speaker 00

  We did it. We started it. We-

• 1:02:29Speaker 01

  Did it.

• 1:02:30Speaker 00

  Me and you started the Party Planning Committee.

• 1:02:32Speaker 01

  We did, lady. We did.

• 1:02:34Speaker 00

  Well, you're welcome, everyone.

• 1:02:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:37Speaker 00

  Well, before we go, we did have this question come in from both Jenna F. and Angela K. in Los Angeles.

• 1:02:43Speaker 01

  Oh, they love to write into Office Ladies.

• 1:02:45Speaker 00

  Yes. Jenna and Angela said, "Who would you nominate as head of the Office Cast and Crew PPC?" So this was our fun way-

• 1:02:52Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:02:53Speaker 00

  -of being able to talk about some of the people who contributed behind the scenes on The Office to our own personal parties.

• 1:03:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:00Speaker 00

  Because we had them.

• 1:03:01Speaker 01

  We did. So why don't we start with who would help make things feel festive on the set?

• 1:03:07Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:03:07Speaker 01

  Okay, behind the scenes. Whenever we would walk to stage, you know, in hair and makeup, they always decorated the trailer. They went all out for the holidays. But then they had stations backstage where they would give you touch-ups. They would decorate that area. And then there was always just things all behind the scenes. And I reached out to Steve Burgess, and I said, "Steve, who would decorate the set every year?" And he said it was a combination. Our set deck crew always decorated backstage, and also hair and makeup did their section. Jimmy McDermott and his crew did most of the backstage. And also Crafty would decorate their area. And he said, although Peter and Vartan weren't huge decorators.

• 1:03:51Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 1:03:52Speaker 01

  And then he said, "Post-production also had decorations." He said, "The one area I didn't think had a ton was the writer's room." But the production office, he said, "We always had something. We'd put a little tree in our office every year."

• 1:04:07Speaker 00

  Well, I remember I used to walk into Michael Gallenberg's trailer at the holidays, and they would always have a little tree up over there. They were the production design office. And I knew that Jim McDermott used to put up the Christmas trees backstage.

• 1:04:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, where we would all eat. But yeah, everywhere you walked throughout all the different stages and offices, a lot of the department did little things.

• 1:04:31Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. Well, lady, I came across something in my digital clutter.

• 1:04:35Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:04:36Speaker 00

  And it made me want to nominate Paul Feig and Lori Feig.

• 1:04:42Speaker 01

  Oh, for outside-the-office parties?

• 1:04:44Speaker 00

  Yes. You know, they used to throw these viewing parties for us to come watch the show at their place, and I found one of his invitations.

• 1:04:54Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:04:54Speaker 00

  And I think it gives you a little glimpse into what these were like. Here's what he said. "Hey, everyone, I realize that the production day may go long today, but we'll be keeping the party and the taco truck going. Whenever you wrap, if you still have energy and the hunger for tacos and the thirst for drink, please come over. We'll be showing the episode a second time, and this way we can even skip the commercials. So please still come by if you have the energy. The house is decorated, and the fun will only multiply as the evening wears on. And if you wrap out early, the party still starts at 7:30 PM."

• 1:05:35Speaker 00

  So this was sent in December, so their house must have been decorated for the holidays.

• 1:05:40Speaker 01

  They have the most charming home, too.

• 1:05:43Speaker 00

  And I love that there was a taco truck and that we would watch it live. That's why he said, you know, "Come at 7:30, we'll watch it live, but we'll play it again." If you had to go late at work.

• 1:05:54Speaker 01

  Yeah. I have something so sweet to share, and I didn't know you were gonna read that today, and I absolutely love it. It just brought up this memory to me, and it's just this wonderful thing about Paul Feig and his wife Lori. They're such great hosts. He had a viewing party, and Isabel was a couple of months old. And I just said, "Oh, Paul, I'd love to go, but I don't have childcare and I have Isabel," you know, that evening. And he was like, "Bring her." I was like, "Paul, she's a baby. You're gonna want to be..." What if she starts fussing or something? He goes, "Angela, I will just make a little area for you where you can go, and if she needs anything, you'll just step outside the viewing room. You'll just step into a little nook, you know?" And so I did. I was like, "Are you serious?" And he was like, "Yes."

• 1:06:38Speaker 01

  And so I kind of planned out a nap feeding session. So I got there, and she was just asleep, and I just held her. And I just got to be a part of it, because, you know, sometimes when you're a new mom, you miss out on stuff.

• 1:06:49Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 1:06:50Speaker 01

  Right?

• 1:06:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:51Speaker 01

  And then when she did kind of start to stir, I went out of the living room, and I went to this little nook with her, and I have a picture from the nook with Isabel.

• 1:07:00Speaker 00

  No way!

• 1:07:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07:02Speaker 00

  That's so sweet.

• 1:07:03Speaker 01

  But just so welcoming, you know? No fuss, just wanting to gather and be with friends. That's Paul and Lori.

• 1:07:10Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm. Well, everyone, there you have it. That is our episode, "Diving Deep Into the Party Planning Committee."

• 1:07:17Speaker 01

  We did wear our Party Planning Committee sweatshirts today.

• 1:07:19Speaker 00

  We sure did. We did. And we want to say a big thank you to Justin Spitzer and Steve Burgess and Greg Daniels for giving us those extra little tidbits about how this all came about.

• 1:07:31Speaker 01

  That's right. And to Jordan Duffy for being here today and also filming a cheesy video we tried to make. We'll post it if it's cute.

• 1:07:40Speaker 00

  All right, everyone. See you next week.

• 1:07:42Speaker 01

  See you then.

• 1:07:46Speaker 00

  Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

• 1:07:48Speaker 01

  Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

• 1:07:54Speaker 00

  Our senior producer is Matt Beagle, and our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer.

• 1:07:58Speaker 01

  Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

• 1:08:01Speaker 00

  Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schulz.

• 1:08:04Speaker 01

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

• 1:08:22Speaker 00

  So lady, you know that my son started his own kind of like small business.

• 1:08:28Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:08:29Speaker 00

  Having to do with sports card trading.

• 1:08:32Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. Our sons have this in common, because my son had a fresh drink business this summer. Like a fruit smoothie stand.

• 1:08:41Speaker 00

  And so I went to Canva.com, and I made up these business cards-

• 1:08:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:47Speaker 00

  -that said, "Thank you for your purchase." And then it included a discount code for future purchases, and they were so lovely. They were really nice. My son made a logo for his business, and we put those inside of every one of his packages.

• 1:09:03Speaker 01

  Well, you know what? Canva is amazing, and they do so many fantastic things, and it's so user-friendly. I'm actually making a deck for one of my daughter's projects right now. And guess what? What will you Canva today while I'm Canvaying a deck?

• 1:09:19Speaker 00

  Well, that's the question. What will you Canva today at Canva.com?

• 1:09:24Speaker 06

  Retire Path Virginia is a convenient way for Virginians to save for retirement, giving employees an easy option to help build long-term financial security. State law requires certain Virginia employers to register and facilitate the program if they meet eligibility criteria, and recent changes mean more businesses are now included. Retire Path is simple to administer, integrates with most existing payroll processes, and has no employer fees, making it an efficient way to meet state requirements. Take the employer eligibility quiz and register at retirepathva.com.