EP. 24 — Take Your Daughter To Work Day

OFFICE-024-20200304-DaughterWork-SKv06.mp3

JENNA [00:00:04] I’m Jenna Fischer.

ANGELA [00:00:05] And I’m Angela Kinsey.

JENNA [00:00:06] We were on “The Office” together.

ANGELA [00:00:07] And we’re best friends.

JENNA [00:00:08] And now we’re doing the Ultimate Office re-watch podcast just for you.

ANGELA [00:00:12] 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.

JENNA [00:00:19] We’re the “Office Ladies”. Hey.

ANGELA [00:00:25] Hello.

JENNA [00:00:25] If you have a daughter, you can take her to work today.

ANGELA [00:00:27] Yes.

JENNA [00:00:28] It’s “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”.

ANGELA [00:00:29] To Dunder Mifflin?

JENNA [00:00:31] Season 2, Episode 18. This one’s written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Victor Nelli Junior.

ANGELA [00:00:38] Victor Nelli.

JENNA [00:00:39] Second one he’s directed.

ANGELA [00:00:40] Yes. Prolific TV director. He’s fantastic.

JENNA [00:00:42] We really liked him.

ANGELA [00:00:43] He was so nice.

JENNA [00:00:44] Should I start with a summary?

ANGELA [00:00:46] Jenna you know that’s how you start.

JENNA [00:00:49] I know.

ANGELA [00:00:49] Just do it.

JENNA [00:00:50] I should just do it in order.

ANGELA [00:00:51] I like every week, though, that you ask me. Every week you’re like, “Should I start with a summary”? Like, what if I was like, “No, not today, lady”.

JENNA [00:01:01] What would I do?

ANGELA [00:01:02] I don’t know.

JENNA [00:01:02] Would I listen to you or would I just do it anyway?

ANGELA [00:01:05] You’d probably be deer in headlights.

JENNA [00:01:06] You know what? Try it some weekend. We’ll see.

ANGELA [00:01:08] OK. I will.

JENNA [00:01:09] But not this week. You told me to do it.

ANGELA [00:01:10] Do it.

JENNA [00:01:11] Here I go. In this episode, the Dunder Mifflin employees bring their daughters to work for the day. Stanley brings his teenage daughter, who starts crushing on Ryan.

ANGELA [00:01:22] I mean, she’s just a version of Mindy, right?

JENNA [00:01:24] A little bit.

ANGELA [00:01:25] A little bit.

JENNA [00:01:26] What is it about Ryan? The ladies love Ryan.

ANGELA [00:01:29] I know.

JENNA [00:01:30] Kevin brings his fiancee’s daughter.

ANGELA [00:01:32] Right.

JENNA [00:01:33] Meredith brings her son. And Toby brings his kind of shy 5 year old daughter who ends up bonding with Michael. Also in this episode, Pam makes it her mission to befriend just one kid. Just one.

ANGELA [00:01:47] Yeah, we learn that Pam is not good with kids.

JENNA [00:01:49] Apparently not. All right. Should we do our fast facts?

ANGELA [00:01:54] Why are you asking me?

JENNA [00:01:56] Because that’s part of it.

ANGELA [00:01:56] Yes. Do them.

JENNA [00:01:57] Part of doing the fast facts is me asking you if I should do the fast facts.

ANGELA [00:02:00] Yes, Jenna, you should do your fast facts.

JENNA [00:02:02] All right. Fast Fact Number One: We got a lot of questions about the kids in this episode. So let’s break them down one by one. Stanley’s daughter, Melissa, was played by Jazz Raycole.

ANGELA [00:02:15] OK.

JENNA [00:02:16] And she is a professional actress. No relation to anyone on the show. We hired her. She was also on the sitcom “My Wife and Kids”. When she shot this episode she was 17 or 18 years old. So her birthday is in February. And I think that’s right around the time we were shooting. And I have this memory of her telling me that she had just turned 18. When I first came to Los Angeles, I was in my 20s, but I looked like I was a teenager.

ANGELA [00:02:46] Right.

JENNA [00:02:47] And so I had this special agent who would send me out for roles to play high school kids, because when you have a kid on a set, they have very limited work hours. They have child hours according to the union rules. And so they can’t work as long days. They have to take these breaks. There has to be a tutor who teaches them school stuff. So if you look older than 18, but you can play a kid. This is like a little niche market.

ANGELA [00:03:15] I was in “90210”.

JENNA [00:03:17] Oh, my gosh, Angela. No, you were not.

ANGELA [00:03:19] I was in “90210” And I didn’t have lines. My biggest moment, though, was when I played Tori Spelling’s sorority sister.

JENNA [00:03:27] Uh huh.

ANGELA [00:03:28] And we were collecting votes. I think they were gonna vote some girl out of the sorority. And I collected the votes and I had to hand them to Tori.

JENNA [00:03:34] Whoah.

ANGELA [00:03:34] Yes. So I remember I remember it like it was kind of cool if you, you know, could get parts like that because you could work longer hours and you were older playing younger.

JENNA [00:03:47] I got to be in the movie “Pleasantville” with Tobey Maguire.

ANGELA [00:03:50] Yes.

JENNA [00:03:52] And Reese Witherspoon.

ANGELA [00:03:52] That’s a good one.

JENNA [00:03:53] Uh huh. And I got to work a whole week, which is really exciting. I was just a featured extra.

ANGELA [00:03:58] Me too. When I was the sorority sister, I was the featured extra.

JENNA [00:04:00] Yes, I was a featured extra in “Pleasantville” because I was over 18 to play under.

ANGELA [00:04:05] Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I love that.

JENNA [00:04:08] Toby’s daughter Sasha was played by Delaney Ruth Farrell. Now, here’s a little interesting tidbit about her. She was the daughter of our set dresser, Sean Farrell.

ANGELA [00:04:20] Aw.

JENNA [00:04:21] So you maybe remember, we had an establishing shot of Toby’s desk a while ago where he explains that he’s divorced and he has a daughter and there is a picture of a little blonde girl. He says, this is Sasha. That picture was placed there by Sean, of his daughter. So when it came time to do this episode, we kind of had to use her.

ANGELA [00:04:42] Wait. So did, wait. Did Sean just sort of make that happen?

JENNA [00:04:47] Yeah, Sean just put a picture of his daughter on Toby’s desk.

ANGELA [00:04:50] Well, she’s very cute.

JENNA [00:04:51] So cute. And she was so good.

ANGELA [00:04:54] She did great.

JENNA [00:04:54] Not an actress. Just daughter of our set dresser. Yeah. And she’s going to come back again in “Family Portrait Day”. OK. So now Meredith’s son.

ANGELA [00:05:05] Meredith’s son is hard to say.

JENNA [00:05:06] Meredith’s son.

ANGELA [00:05:07] You guys, Jenna has tried it three times.

JENNA [00:05:09] I have. Meredith’s son.

ANGELA [00:05:10] Meredith’s son.

JENNA [00:05:10] Jake Palmer was played by Spencer Daniels. No relation to Greg Daniels.

ANGELA [00:05:17] Nope.

JENNA [00:05:17] Wikipedia, you’re wrong.

ANGELA [00:05:19] OK. Did you hear us? Fix it. OK.

JENNA [00:05:22] Maybe that was somewhere else I read that.

ANGELA [00:05:24] Dunderpedia.

JENNA [00:05:25] Maybe it was Dunder-, one of the “pedias” is saying that Spencer Daniels is Greg Daniels’ son. He is not.

ANGELA [00:05:30] Not the case.

JENNA [00:05:31] Now, Spencer is also going to come back in Season 8, episode 24, “Family Portrait Day”. Fan question from Curly Hair Tess and Hannah Bursill and Lisa Far and many others, “Was Meredith’s son played by the same actor when he came back as the stripper for Angela’s bachelorette party in Season 9”?

ANGELA [00:05:52] We’ll get there, but that’s one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life.

JENNA [00:05:57] Yes, it’s the same actor.

ANGELA [00:05:58] Yes. Oh, oh, oh.

JENNA [00:06:04] Yes, same guy. And he’s still acting today. So he is a professional actor.

ANGELA [00:06:08] I mean, that wasn’t for him as a person. It’s just that.

JENNA [00:06:12] Right.

ANGELA [00:06:13] He’s just too young.

JENNA [00:06:14] We met him when he was a boy. And then when he was a man, he stripped at your fictional bachelorette party.

ANGELA [00:06:20] I know. Okay. Okay.

JENNA [00:06:21] And then finally, there was Kevin’s fiancee’s daughter, Abby, who was played by Hayley Daniels, who is Greg Daniels daughter.

ANGELA [00:06:30] Yes. Haley is so, so sweet.

JENNA [00:06:32] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:06:32] And she did a great job. She’s-.

JENNA [00:06:34] So good.

ANGELA [00:06:34] Not an actor.

JENNA [00:06:36] Not an actor.

ANGELA [00:06:36] She did such a great job. Just, she had to be very deadpan. And I thought she was hilarious.

JENNA [00:06:40] Fast Fact Number Two: a lot of people ask, “What was it like to do an episode with all these kids around”? Now, what did you remember about that, Ang?

ANGELA [00:06:50] Well, I mean, Haley was in our little accounting nook quite a bit. And I just wanted to make sure she was good.

JENNA [00:06:57] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:06:57] I think I just want to make sure she was good. Like “Are, do you need to go the bathroom? Do you have snacks”? I just sort of became that person.

JENNA [00:07:03] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:07:03] But obviously, when kids are in an adult work environment, you do change your behavior or you should. So I-.

JENNA [00:07:12] I remember we got a little lecture about it.

ANGELA [00:07:13] Yeah. Oh-.

JENNA [00:07:14] We got a little talking to.

ANGELA [00:07:15] We got a little talking to, actually you’re-.

JENNA [00:07:17] At the beginning of filming.

ANGELA [00:07:18] Yeah. At the beginning of filming, just like, hey guys, there’s gonna be kids on set. Let’s just mind our manners today. And actually when Michael and you have that scene in the cold open where, you’re like, “Michael, I talk to you about this”. That actually reminded me of whenever we had people visiting the set.

JENNA [00:07:34] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:07:35] Whenever, sometimes families would visit the set. They would win like some type of visit and a whole family would come. And a lot of times our A.D. Kelly Cantley would be like, hey, everyone heads up, young children.

JENNA [00:07:50] Keep it G-rated.

ANGELA [00:07:52] Yeah. Not that we were like a body group. But, you know, it’s like a group of adults all day.

JENNA [00:07:57] I feel like when there weren’t kids around, though, there was quite a bit of cursing.

ANGELA [00:08:01] There were yes, that’s true.

JENNA [00:08:03] You know, so there were adult words but-.

ANGELA [00:08:05] There were adult words.

JENNA [00:08:06] But besides that, we weren’t.

ANGELA [00:08:08] Yeah.

JENNA [00:08:09] Super like weird or inappropriate or anything.

ANGELA [00:08:11] No. But our scripts were.

JENNA [00:08:13] That’s true.

ANGELA [00:08:14] Half the time. Halfthe time there were things that were said within the context of a script where I like “Gelllll”.

JENNA [00:08:19] Yeah. Yeah, that’s true.

ANGELA [00:08:21] OK.

JENNA [00:08:22] All right. Fast Fact Number Three: this was sent in by a fan. I loved this. Thank you so much. Kelly Nuddo. She tipped me off to the fact that “Fundle Bundle”, you know, the little TV program that Michael was on as a child in this episode. It was inspired by a real local children’s program in Scranton called “The Land of Hatchy Milatchy”.

ANGELA [00:08:45] Oh, my lord. I love that.

JENNA [00:08:48] Yes. It was a little program for kids that started in the 50s. It ran for almost 25 years.

ANGELA [00:08:55] Local. Local Scranton.

JENNA [00:08:56] Local Scranton.

ANGELA [00:08:57] Oh.

JENNA [00:08:58] Yes. It featured songs and appearances by kids just like our version. It was originally hosted by a woman named Nancy Berg, who was referred to as Miss Nancy. And then it was hosted by Miss Judy, who was played by Lois Burns. I don’t know why they called her Miss Judy when her name was Lois, but they did. And of course, in our version, we had Miss Trudy, who was played by actress Sue Nelson.

ANGELA [00:09:23] And Edward R. Meow.

JENNA [00:09:27] Meow. Yes, but this was really sweet. Lois, who played Miss Judy, was interviewed recently about her time on “The Land of Hatchy Milatchy”. And she said-.

ANGELA [00:09:37] I just love “Hatchy Milatchy”.

JENNA [00:09:37] “Hatchy Milatchy”.

ANGELA [00:09:37] “Hatchy Milatchy”. Sorry, it just makes me laugh. OK. What did she say about “The Land of Hatchy Milatchy”?

JENNA [00:09:45] She said that their goal was to make sure that every kid knew they were important.

ANGELA [00:09:51] Aw, I love that. I love that little tidbit. Thank you, Kelly.

JENNA [00:09:56] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:09:57] For writing in, because that is like I don’t even know how we would find that.

JENNA [00:09:59] No.

ANGELA [00:10:00] That’s so great. Thank you.

JENNA [00:10:01] That’s not on any of the-.

ANGELA [00:10:03] “Pedias”.

JENNA [00:10:03] Websites that I usually go to for research.

ANGELA [00:10:06] For the deep dive. Alright.

JENNA [00:10:07] Yeah. So thank you. She’s over on “OfficeLadiesPod”. Over on our insta. She sent me a message.

ANGELA [00:10:13] Oh, that’s so cool.

JENNA [00:10:14] Yeah. Thanks.

ANGELA [00:10:15] All right. Those were some really good fast facts, lady. High five.

JENNA [00:10:18] Oh, high five me.

ANGELA [00:10:19] That was Jenna and I high fiving.

JENNA [00:10:20] It was.

ANGELA [00:10:21] It’s kind of awkward because we have to reach across the table.

JENNA [00:10:23] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:10:24] And two microphones.

JENNA [00:10:24] And I always worry about your cards.

ANGELA [00:10:25] Don’t mess up my cards, my lady.

JENNA [00:10:28] Don’t mess up her cards.

ANGELA [00:10:28] All right. Let’s take a break and come back and get into this episode.

JENNA [00:10:30] Yeah. All right, we’re back. Let’s start breaking down this episode. We open with a Pam talking head.

ANGELA [00:10:39] Yeah.

JENNA [00:10:40] She explains that it’s “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”. And she says, “I’m not actually great with kids, but I want to get better because I’m getting married”. So she’s going to put out lots of extra candy on her desk.

ANGELA [00:10:51] Lots of candy. She got like a potted plant did you see that?

JENNA [00:10:54] No.

ANGELA [00:10:55] That was like a last minute store grab. There’s like all of a sudden a plant.

JENNA [00:10:58] No, I did notice that.

ANGELA [00:10:59] I have a little thing for my background pals.

JENNA [00:11:01] All right.

ANGELA [00:11:03] At nine seconds. Freeze frame. You’re going to see over your shoulder. It’s on the accounting side.

JENNA [00:11:09] OK.

ANGELA [00:11:10] The Uncle Sam. Do you remember the Uncle Sam?

JENNA [00:11:13] Oh, yeah. Why did we have that guy?

ANGELA [00:11:15] It was a doll of Uncle Sam.

JENNA [00:11:17] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:11:17] He had the Fourth of July hat on. He had a flag. You could hit a button. And I think he would play Yankee Doodle Dandy or something. I don’t know. It sat there.

JENNA [00:11:28] When did he show up? From the beginning?

ANGELA [00:11:30] I think he’s there from the beginning. I mean, I have a memory of him because like, I would turn around to go and talk to you. He’s what I would pass first. So the first time I turn around was like, “Oh, God”. History of Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the US federal government. According to legend, it came into use during the War of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson.

JENNA [00:11:52] Who was Samuel Wilson?

ANGELA [00:11:54] Well, I’ll click on him. I’ll tell ya.

JENNA [00:11:57] Where are you reading this? Is this Wikipedia?

ANGELA [00:11:58] Wikipedia. Samuel Wilson was a meat packer from Troy, New York, whose name is purportedly the source of the personification of the United States, Uncle Sam. Kind of looks like him.

JENNA [00:12:08] It’s going in a circle. It’s going in a circle. I need to know more about meatpacker Sam.

ANGELA [00:12:14] Meatpacker Sam. Anyway, that’s Uncle Sam. He’s sat over my shoulder for nine years.

JENNA [00:12:19] I think I’m going to spend more time on that after the podcast is over. So if you want more Uncle Sam facts, I might bring them to our “Candy Bag”.

ANGELA [00:12:26] OK. Bring to the candy bag.

JENNA [00:12:28] So I noticed something for kind of the detail, folks. At 21 seconds, the candy on Pam’s desk is suckers and life saver.

ANGELA [00:12:37] Lollipop things. Yeah.

JENNA [00:12:38] Yeah, it pretty much stays that way. However in the previous shot at 10 seconds there, there’s a bowl of lemon drops, a bowl of Starbursts and a candy dish full of jelly beans.

ANGELA [00:12:51] And then those are gone. And then there’s lollipops.

JENNA [00:12:53] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:12:54] Candy continuity.

JENNA [00:12:55] Candy continuity.

ANGELA [00:12:57] What happened?

JENNA [00:12:57] And then I hold up bags of even more candy, which is none of those things.

ANGELA [00:13:01] It’s like Jolly Rancher.

JENNA [00:13:02] Yep.

ANGELA [00:13:02] I know.

JENNA [00:13:02] Fan question from Michelle Monge, “Did Jenna get to decide what candy was sitting at reception”? No.

ANGELA [00:13:10] I’m going to say no.

JENNA [00:13:11] They just gave it to me. But she also wants to know, how often did you guys eat it?

ANGELA [00:13:16] A lot.

JENNA [00:13:18] I ate a ton of that candy, all the time.

ANGELA [00:13:20] Everybody did.

JENNA [00:13:20] I would get sick.

ANGELA [00:13:21] People would walk up and you would think they were coming to talk to you, but they were just coming for candy.

JENNA [00:13:26] It’s true.

ANGELA [00:13:27] I remember you would sometimes be like, “Oh, hey”. And then it was just like “crunch crunch”, digging in the candy bowl.

JENNA [00:13:31] I don’t remember you eating a lot of it.

ANGELA [00:13:34] No.

JENNA [00:13:34] Do you have a sweet tooth? I don’t think of you as having a candy sweet tooth.

ANGELA [00:13:37] No.

JENNA [00:13:38] No.

ANGELA [00:13:38] I don’t.

JENNA [00:13:39] Yep. We’re different that way.

ANGELA [00:13:40] We’re different.

JENNA [00:13:41] I do. All right. So now Michael comes out of his office and Pam explains that he cannot be nasty today because kids are coming.

ANGELA [00:13:51] Name’s Pam, “Miss Beazley, if you nasty”. Oh I’m sorry, are you having a wardrobe malfunction? Janet Jackson, you’re like “No, stop it”.

JENNA [00:13:59] Shut it down, Michael.

ANGELA [00:14:00] Shut it down.

JENNA [00:14:01] So Michael is very annoyed. He has a talking head. He says he, you-, why is he going to be held back today? He’s like Eddie Murphy in “Raw”.

ANGELA [00:14:11] He is HBO. No limits.

JENNA [00:14:13] No limits. And now we’re asking him to be Eddie Murphy in “Daddy Day Care”.

ANGELA [00:14:17] No.

JENNA [00:14:18] I mean, can you why are we doing this to him?

ANGELA [00:14:21] I know, he I mean, I love that he thinks of, as his workplace is like a place for R-rated content is-.

JENNA [00:14:27] Should be.

ANGELA [00:14:28] That’s that’s where it happens is at work. He’s like a human resources nightmare is.

JENNA [00:14:35] Such a good point. He is. So Pam convinces Michael to welcome the kids.

ANGELA [00:14:39] Yeah.

JENNA [00:14:39] He comes out to the bullpen. He tries to welcome them. I don’t know, he, he really is not into it.

ANGELA [00:14:46] He’s not into it, but he tries to compare it like, hmm. Let me let me put this in kids speak. Oh, I should compare myself to a superhero. And so he’s like, I’m like the, you know, the guy and I’m like Superman in Gotham City. And it’s the one time like this happens so rarely when Jim and Dwight are both on the same page. They’re like, that’s Batman. And he’s like, oh, fine, I’m Aquaman. But it’s like Jim and Dwight we’re actually like together.

JENNA [00:15:11] It’s true.

ANGELA [00:15:11] For one moment.

JENNA [00:15:12] For that one moment to correct, Michael.

ANGELA [00:15:14] Yeah. Okay. Can we just talk about how cute the little girl that plays Sasha is?

JENNA [00:15:19] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:15:19] And when Paul as Toby walks through the kitchen and then Dwight’s like, “Hello, tiny one. You are the future”. Like just Dwight’s idea. And like how he sees children. It just made me laugh.

JENNA [00:15:31] I think Toby seems like a really good father in this episode.

ANGELA [00:15:33] I do, too.

JENNA [00:15:34] Yeah, he has the most kind of-.

ANGELA [00:15:38] He’s gentle and kind.

JENNA [00:15:40] Warm parental instincts.

ANGELA [00:15:41] Yeah.

JENNA [00:15:41] Of all the people that we see parenting in this episode.

ANGELA [00:15:44] I agree. I think Toby’s a great dad. He might be a little sad, but-.

JENNA [00:15:47] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:15:47] He’s a great dad.

JENNA [00:15:49] So now we go to the scene in accounting where Kevin is explaining his file cabinet to Abby.

ANGELA [00:15:55] Oh man.

JENNA [00:15:56] She’s thrilled.

ANGELA [00:15:57] She’s thrilled. I mean, you know, he’s showing her the file cabinet, but there is a giant vat of M&Ms.

JENNA [00:16:04] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:16:04] Like why doesn’t he just say, “Do you want some M&Ms”?

JENNA [00:16:08] At 2 minutes, 30 seconds, we had a fan catch.

ANGELA [00:16:12] OK.

JENNA [00:16:12] Feo123 says “Angela has a dog photo on her side of the partition”. Angela, she is not the only person who noticed this. Michelle Sexton also noticed. We got two emails about this dog poster on your partition. Michelle wants to know, “What does the sign say”? I tried to look at it and I couldn’t tell what it says.

ANGELA [00:16:35] OK. Well, actually, there’s a great screengrab of it. At 44 seconds.

JENNA [00:16:39] Oh, OK.

ANGELA [00:16:39] The dog is actually holding up a sign and it says “Will love for food”. And I think it’s like an adoption or like food donation or something for animals.

JENNA [00:16:51] Do you remember this going up? Why did it all of a sudden appear on your side of the partition?

ANGELA [00:16:55] Yeah, it wasn’t normally there. And I will tell you guys this. I don’t know specifically why this one went up at that moment, but I can tell you sometimes, Matt Zone, our B camera operator or Randall Einhorn, A camera would need to be shooting in accounting. And they were quite a bit for this episode. And that glass partition would make a glare.

JENNA [00:17:15] OK.

ANGELA [00:17:16] And so sometimes they would strategically put a little piece of paper of some kind on the glass partition to sort of block the bounce of that glare.

JENNA [00:17:25] Oh. So that they wouldn’t get their own reflection.

ANGELA [00:17:28] Yeah.

JENNA [00:17:28] In the glass?

ANGELA [00:17:29] Yeah. And so they did that sometimes. So all of a sudden I’d sit down to do a scene and I’d be like, “What it was, what is that”?

JENNA [00:17:35] Why are all these papers?

ANGELA [00:17:36] Yeah. And it would be to sort of block that glare in the-, and them being able to see the camera or the boom.

JENNA [00:17:42] Oh my gosh. So the the dog paper was a glare blocker.

ANGELA [00:17:45] I think the way they were shooting to catch Abby through the partition and Kevin, there was a glare and so they put that up. They would often do that. And then that’s when I would have random signs on the partition. And you know that Kevin and I, I’ve said this before of everywhere in the bullpen were the only desk pod with a partition.

JENNA [00:18:03] Yes.

ANGELA [00:18:03] And, you know, my backstory for this is-.

JENNA [00:18:05] Yes.

ANGELA [00:18:05] I think Angela Martin requested it because Kevin’s disgusting.

JENNA [00:18:11] Well, next, we move to Kevin’s talking head where he just says he really hopes that Abby doesn’t look on his computer.

ANGELA [00:18:19] Why is Kevin such a perv?

JENNA [00:18:20] This is the second time he’s worried about what’s on his computer.

ANGELA [00:18:24] I know, right?

JENNA [00:18:24] I mean, Kevin, did you learn nothing after “E-mail Surveillance”?

ANGELA [00:18:27] I know, but also-.

JENNA [00:18:28] You didn’t scrub your computer after that?

ANGELA [00:18:30] Also, Kevin, just stop being gross.

JENNA [00:18:34] All right. So now Stanley introduces Michael to his daughter, Melissa.

ANGELA [00:18:39] Oh, man.

JENNA [00:18:39] She’s wearing some headphones. Michael says, wow. How do we explain what Michael said?

ANGELA [00:18:46] He says she’s a stone cold fox.

JENNA [00:18:48] Yeah. And to keep the frat boys away from her.

ANGELA [00:18:51] And then she says, “I’m in eighth grade”.

JENNA [00:18:53] Yeah. She’s a middle schooler.

ANGELA [00:18:56] Oh, Michael, that was really awkward.

JENNA [00:18:59] This moves us into Michael’s talking head where he says this is a quote that a lot of people e-mailed about. He says, “It’s not that children make me uncomfortable. It’s just why be a dad when you can be a fun uncle”? And a lot of people thought that this was a continuity error because we’ve heard so much about how Michael wants a family and wants to have kids. And they were saying, why does Michael say that he doesn’t want to be a dad? Oh, no.

ANGELA [00:19:25] He’s not saying that.

JENNA [00:19:26] He’s, he’s compensating for the fact that he’s not a dad, I think.

ANGELA [00:19:30] He is just giving himself a pep talk.

JENNA [00:19:32] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:19:33] All Michael wants to do is have a family.

JENNA [00:19:35] For sure.

ANGELA [00:19:35] For sure. And I think in this moment, he’s just like trying to put a good spin on where his life is at for himself.

JENNA [00:19:43] I think so, too.

ANGELA [00:19:44] Yeah.

JENNA [00:19:44] I think so, too.

ANGELA [00:19:45] It kind of made me sad because, you know, that’s not really where his heart’s at.

JENNA [00:19:48] Oh, well.

ANGELA [00:19:49] Just wait. I know. It gets sadder.

JENNA [00:19:51] I mean, I sobbed twice during this episode. We’ll get to that.

ANGELA [00:19:55] At three minutes, 31 seconds. We meet Jake, Meredith’s son.

JENNA [00:19:59] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:19:59] Meredith’s son.

JENNA [00:20:00] Meredith son. A hard line to say.

ANGELA [00:20:02] He was suspended from school. He’s kind of a rascal.

JENNA [00:20:06] That’s a nice way to put it.

ANGELA [00:20:07] I know, I wrote a different word. It rhymes with “smash mo”. But yeah, he’s just not nice. And I’m like, I mean, he’s like throwing things at people. He’s like a name caller.

JENNA [00:20:22] Yeah, like insulting people.

ANGELA [00:20:22] I know.

JENNA [00:20:23] His shirt. Did you see what his shirt says?

ANGELA [00:20:25] Yes.

JENNA [00:20:26] It says something like, “I have already forgotten your name”.

ANGELA [00:20:30] Yes, that’s what it says.

JENNA [00:20:30] I mean, Meredith.

ANGELA [00:20:31] Meredith.

JENNA [00:20:31] Why are you letting him walk around? With that on?

ANGELA [00:20:35] “I already forgot your name”.

JENNA [00:20:36] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:20:36] OK. So the next thing I love, it’s three minutes, 44 seconds, we’re in the conference room. We’re setting up for something. It looks like there might be a party aspect to this day.

JENNA [00:20:44] It’s you, Kelly and Ryan.

ANGELA [00:20:46] Kelly’s helping me put a tablecloth on the conference room table.

JENNA [00:20:49] But she’s-, I just want to say, hey, remember in the Christmas episode when Pam is not helping you put it on.

ANGELA [00:20:54] Yeah.

JENNA [00:20:55] Kelly is also not really helping you put it on.

ANGELA [00:20:58] Anytime there’s a party. I totally relate to Angela because you guys are a bunch of jerks that don’t really help.

JENNA [00:21:02] You know what? I have a feeling that every time we try to help you with that tablecloth, you yell at us.

ANGELA [00:21:07] I don’t think so.

JENNA [00:21:07] And that’s why we’re not helping you with it.

ANGELA [00:21:10] I don’t think so.

JENNA [00:21:10] you probably nit pick how we’re doing it. That’s what I, why does no one help you with the tablecloth?

ANGELA [00:21:16] Because you’re a bunch of slackers.

JENNA [00:21:18] No, I think-.

ANGELA [00:21:18] A bunch of slackers.

JENNA [00:21:19] ‘Cause you’ll say just as you as, you’re about to shoot down a child. And so I’m just saying.

ANGELA [00:21:26] Anyway.

JENNA [00:21:26] This might be why it’s all on you.

ANGELA [00:21:28] She’s trying to set up for this party. Ryan and Kelly aren’t helping.

JENNA [00:21:32] No.

ANGELA [00:21:32] I mean, Kelly’s looking at Ryan. Ryan’s like, “Don’t look at me”. And I’m in the meantime, like “eh”. Anyway, Toby walks in with Sasha, his daughter, and she very sweetly says, “Can I help”? So sweet.

JENNA [00:21:43] So sweet.

ANGELA [00:21:44] Angela’s like “No. No, I’d have to explain everything to you. Bleh, no”. And then Kelly, I look at Kelly and I’m like “no”. And I love Paul’s delivery of like, “Well, I didn’t see it going that way”.

JENNA [00:21:57] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:21:58] He’s like-.

JENNA [00:21:58] Not what I was expecting.

ANGELA [00:22:00] Not what I was expecting.

JENNA [00:22:01] Yes. I love that scene.

ANGELA [00:22:04] Kelly was so excited. She’s like, “I love babies. I can’t wait to have babies”. Ryan is really funny in this episode. B.J. is great. He has some really funny moments. And he’s just like basically, Kelly, just her idea of hooking up is just having babies with me as soon as possible.

JENNA [00:22:18] Well, his talking head, he’s like, “Kelly and I agreed we were just gonna have fun. But what I’m realizing is that fun for Kelly means getting married and having babies as soon as possible with me”. That’s her definition of having fun.

ANGELA [00:22:33] And don’t hook up with anyone like that on February 13th.

JENNA [00:22:36] That’s right. I like your line in the scene. Angela.

ANGELA [00:22:39] I get quoted this a lot.

JENNA [00:22:41] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:22:41] When she asked me if I would like to have kids and they say, “Well, maybe some small, well-behaved boys”.

JENNA [00:22:47] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:22:48] So weird.

JENNA [00:22:49] Small, well-behaved boys.

ANGELA [00:22:50] Small. I don’t want big, big boys.

JENNA [00:22:53] Apparently not.

ANGELA [00:22:53] I want tiny, petite boys.

JENNA [00:22:56] All right. So next up, Michael is on the phone to corporate and Toby’s daughter Sasha walks in.

ANGELA [00:23:04] Yeah.

JENNA [00:23:04] She, then she leaves, but then she comes back later and starts playing with his toy train.

ANGELA [00:23:09] They’re so sweet together.

JENNA [00:23:10] So sweet.

ANGELA [00:23:11] Michael’s so tickled. He’s having such a great time with her.

JENNA [00:23:13] I know they do the train whistle.

ANGELA [00:23:15] And he really, Steve, when we were filming that, Steve actually kept making the kids crack up. Do you remember that? I remember how hard it was for Hayley to keep a straight face and Delaney too. Steve was cracking her up. It was really sweet.

JENNA [00:23:27] But we had a couple of fan questions about that. Katie Procedo said, “I always love episodes where we get to see Michael interacting with kids because you can just tell that Steve Carell likes being around kids”.

ANGELA [00:23:39] He’s a great dad.

JENNA [00:23:40] He is. And Beth White said, “Is Steve really this good with kids in real life”?

ANGELA [00:23:44] Yes.

JENNA [00:23:45] He is.

ANGELA [00:23:45] He is.

JENNA [00:23:46] He is. The kids were so tickled by him.

ANGELA [00:23:49] He’s a sweetheart.

JENNA [00:23:50] And we should say, you mentioned earlier, Angela, how families would sometimes come and visit. Steve was such a great ambassador for the show. He would always go into our green room and meet the families and take the kids on a little tour and show them his office.

ANGELA [00:24:08] Take pictures.

JENNA [00:24:08] Yes. Well, I think now Pam is going to try to get Abby to help her shred some old documents.

ANGELA [00:24:13] Shut down.

JENNA [00:24:15] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:24:15] Pam gets shut down.

JENNA [00:24:17] No, Abby’s reading on the couch in reception. But then Jim says, “Hey, I’ve read that book”.

ANGELA [00:24:24] Yeah.

JENNA [00:24:24] They have a little banter.

ANGELA [00:24:25] They bond.

JENNA [00:24:26] Yeah. Abby agrees to help him with sales. Now, I want to say something here.

ANGELA [00:24:32] Oh, okay. I feel a soap box coming.

JENNA [00:24:35] It’s tiny. It’s a very it’s a small opinion.

ANGELA [00:24:39] Ok.

JENNA [00:24:40] Observation.

ANGELA [00:24:40] Ok.

JENNA [00:24:41] Jim knows that it’s Pam’s goal to befriend a kid.

ANGELA [00:24:45] Mmhmm.

JENNA [00:24:45] But rather than help her bond with Abby, he just kinda shows off and steals Abby away.

ANGELA [00:24:55] I think this has hurt feelings, Pam talking because I-.

JENNA [00:25:00] But did you notice? I mean, I thought that was a little bit of like-.

ANGELA [00:25:03] Passive aggressive?

JENNA [00:25:05] I don’t know what it is, but it was a little bit of like, come on. It’s not that hard. I can do it.

ANGELA [00:25:11] Like Jim?

JENNA [00:25:12] Watch me bond with a kid.

ANGELA [00:25:14] So it’s like a competition?

JENNA [00:25:16] A lit-, yes. It felt a little bit weirdly competitive.

ANGELA [00:25:21] Hmm, ok.

JENNA [00:25:23] Do you not see that?

ANGELA [00:25:24] Well, I guess I do. I guess I also just thought Jim was being really nice.

JENNA [00:25:28] No, he knows Pam’s goal. And I think if he were really being nice at the end of that whole spiel, he would have said, and Pam, “Why don’t you join us”?

ANGELA [00:25:38] Or he might have said, Do you know, who else loves books? Pam”.

JENNA [00:25:41] Yes. Yes. This is what I’m saying. He doesn’t help facilitate anything. He just comes in and shows off.

ANGELA [00:25:49] Maybe it’s not his job to help Pam.

JENNA [00:25:53] It is. It is his job to help her.

ANGELA [00:25:57] Pam is not his responsibility. Pam is getting married. He’s ticked off that.

JENNA [00:26:02] See, that’s what I’m saying.

ANGELA [00:26:03] Oh.

JENNA [00:26:03] That’s what I’m saying. That’s what’s underneath it.

ANGELA [00:26:06] Hmm.

JENNA [00:26:06] If, see? Before they got an all these little fights and all the wedding date was set, I think Jim would have facilitated.

ANGELA [00:26:15] Maybe.

JENNA [00:26:16] But now he’s like Boundary Jim. Now he’s like, I have boundaries. I don’t help you anymore because I’m not your fiance.

ANGELA [00:26:23] Also, maybe I’m practicing self-care. Pam. Oh.

JENNA [00:26:29] Wow. See what side you’re on. OK.

ANGELA [00:26:34] OK.

JENNA [00:26:34] OK.

ANGELA [00:26:35] Here we go.

JENNA [00:26:36] Well, let’s talk about how Dwight is doing with the kids.

ANGELA [00:26:39] OK, let’s.

JENNA [00:26:41] Abby is hanging out with Jim and Jim’s doing that thing where, you know, she’s shaking his hand. He’s like, “Oh, man, you’re crushing me”.

ANGELA [00:26:47] Oh wait. I watch this with Isabel.

JENNA [00:26:49] OK.

ANGELA [00:26:49] And so when Dwight’s like, “Pfft, you’re not even, she’s not that tough. I’ll show you”. He’s, she’s like, “What is wrong with Dwight, Mom”?

JENNA [00:26:57] I know. He’s so literal.

ANGELA [00:26:58] He is, he’s, he is childlike himself.

JENNA [00:27:01] It’s true. It’s true. And then after that, Meredith’s son comes over to Dwight’s desk and starts touching all his bobbleheads.

ANGELA [00:27:10] Hold up. Where’s the Dwight bobblehead?

JENNA [00:27:13] Well, Melinda Magorkuth would like to know that as well. “Seven minutes, one second. Where is Angela’s gift to Dwight”?

ANGELA [00:27:22] Thank you, Melinda. I am hoping, Melinda, that Dwight saw all those children there and feared for its safety and with loving care, locked it in his drawer. He has one door that locks. It’s on the left side of his desk, and I hope it’s locked there for safety.

JENNA [00:27:38] You know what? Let’s say that that’s where it is. During this scene. Meredith’s son refers to Meredith as Meredith.

ANGELA [00:27:48] And Dwight as Mr. Poop.

JENNA [00:27:49] Yeah, he’s being a jerk.

ANGELA [00:27:52] He’s being a jerk. And Jim and Abby laugh.

JENNA [00:27:57] Oh, they think it’s so funny.

ANGELA [00:27:58] They’re like now they’re like, totally in cahoots. I loved when Sasha goes up to Phyllis and says, “Are you Mother Goose”?

JENNA [00:28:05] Yes. We were also tickled by that when we read it at the tableread. I remember I laughed so hard at that observation. If anyone should ever be cast as Mother Goose, it is Phyllis.

ANGELA [00:28:18] And Phyllis’ reaction, though, is so brilliant. And so Isabelle and I were watching it together. So we we went we wanted to see what a picture of Mother Goose looked like.

JENNA [00:28:28] Does it look like Phyllis?

ANGELA [00:28:30] It looks like Phyllis.

JENNA [00:28:30] 100 percent. 100 percent. You’re showing me a drawing of Mother Goose. And it looks like Phyllis.

ANGELA [00:28:37] And she’s even wearing purple. You know what I mean?

JENNA [00:28:40] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:28:41] I know. Phyllis is wearing purple in the scene, this whole episode, I wondered if they sort of looked at.

JENNA [00:28:47] She was always in purple.

ANGELA [00:28:48] She was in purple a lot.

JENNA [00:28:50] If you went to Phyllis this house and looked in her closet, it would just be purple outfits.

ANGELA [00:28:54] And lots of like beaded jewelry.

JENNA [00:28:57] Yes, she always alot of-.

ANGELA [00:28:59] Always some-.

JENNA [00:28:59] Beaded necklaces.

ANGELA [00:29:00] Beaded necklace.

JENNA [00:29:01] It’s so true. Ang, I just realized.

ANGELA [00:29:04] What?

JENNA [00:29:05] You kind of took your daughter to work.

ANGELA [00:29:07] I did? Oh! ‘Cause she watched the episode with me?

JENNA [00:29:08] She watched it with you.

ANGELA [00:29:10] Yes, I guess I did.

JENNA [00:29:11] You took your daughter to work for took, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”.

ANGELA [00:29:14] For “Office Ladies”.

JENNA [00:29:15] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:29:15] Aw, I did.

JENNA [00:29:16] That’s kid of sweet.

ANGELA [00:29:17] That’s so funny. All right. Seven minutes, 53 seconds, we’re back in the kitchen and Melissa and Ryan are talking.

JENNA [00:29:24] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:29:24] And Melissa’s like, so I thought it was really funny in sort of the way they wrote her eighth grade brain to try to impress Ryan is that she just drinks coffee all day.

JENNA [00:29:33] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:29:35] The iced macha-lata-whatevers all day.

JENNA [00:29:36] Yes. Can’t get enough ’em.

ANGELA [00:29:37] Yeah. “Ryan, you’re such a dork. You’ve haven’t been to Jitters? Oh my God, give me your phone number”. He’s like, “Uh”.

JENNA [00:29:44] Speaking of Jitters. At Steam Town Mall, so Steam Town Mall is a real place.

ANGELA [00:29:48] Yeah, we’ve been there.

JENNA [00:29:49] It’s in the center of the city of Scranton.

ANGELA [00:29:51] Yeah.

JENNA [00:29:52] I could not find a Jitter’s in today or in the past. I spent a good 40 minutes looking for it.

ANGELA [00:29:59] Well, that’s 40 minutes of your life you’re never getting back.

JENNA [00:30:01] I’m never getting back. But guys, if there is or ever was a Jitter’s, will you let me know? Because-.

ANGELA [00:30:09] Jenna needs that 40 minutes back.

JENNA [00:30:11] I just need, I need an answer.

ANGELA [00:30:11] You need to validate. Yeah. Validate that 40 minutes.

JENNA [00:30:15] Well, during this whole conversation about Jitters in the kitchen, Kelly-.

ANGELA [00:30:19] Kelly is vicious. Kelly is the type of gal that if you step on her like territory, like her man space in any way, she’s going to burn you to the ground.

JENNA [00:30:29] And she does.

ANGELA [00:30:30] She decimates Ryan.

JENNA [00:30:32] She goes and tattled immediately to Stanley.

ANGELA [00:30:35] She points. She’s like something fishy going on over there.

JENNA [00:30:38] Yeah, I don’t know, they’re talking a lot.

ANGELA [00:30:39] I’ve been watching them all day.

JENNA [00:30:41] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:30:42] And Stanley is pissed.

JENNA [00:30:44] OK. This leads us to the scene that we got more mail than any other scene in this episode.

ANGELA [00:30:52] OK.

JENNA [00:30:52] The scene when Stanley confronts Ryan in the break room. This was called out as many people’s favorite. Fan question from Chris Johnson. “How many takes did it take to get the Stanley-Ryan scene”?

ANGELA [00:31:06] I tried to text Leslie. We need to get Leslie in here.

JENNA [00:31:09] We do.

ANGELA [00:31:09] I tried to reach out to him. Hopefully we’ll hear back.

JENNA [00:31:12] He’s traveling right now.

ANGELA [00:31:13] He’s traveling. OK, so I know from the bloopers.

JENNA [00:31:17] Yep.

ANGELA [00:31:17] ‘Cause there are great bloopers on YouTube of this.

JENNA [00:31:19] Yes.

ANGELA [00:31:19] That he completely like made B.J. lose it.

JENNA [00:31:23] Oh, yeah. Season two bloopers at the three minute mark. I watched it as well.

ANGELA [00:31:29] OK. Stanley is letting Ryan have it. Leslie improvised a ton. That whole thing with like “Jesus isn’t going to help”.

JENNA [00:31:36] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:31:36] “None of them are going to help you”. He was fantastic in that scene. And now we’re going back to the conference room.

JENNA [00:31:43] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:31:44] And Dwight is playing the recorder for the kids and he’s got this on the table. He’s got corn husk and plates and cups, ribbons and things.

JENNA [00:31:52] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:31:52] There’s gonna be some kind of crafting project.

JENNA [00:31:54] Yeah. I had a fan question from Laura.

ANGELA [00:31:57] OK.

JENNA [00:31:58] “Rainn’s recorder playing is top notch. Did he really play the recorder or was it added in later”?

ANGELA [00:32:03] No, he really played that.

JENNA [00:32:04] Yeah, he played the bassoon in high school.

ANGELA [00:32:06] Yeah.

JENNA [00:32:07] He plays the recorder again in the bird funeral.

ANGELA [00:32:09] Yes.

JENNA [00:32:10] When Pam sings along. So Rainn is recorder proficient.

ANGELA [00:32:14] He is a recorder player.

JENNA [00:32:16] Yeah, he is. Now he’s also reading a book.

ANGELA [00:32:20] Wait, wait. Before we get to that.

JENNA [00:32:22] Oh.

ANGELA [00:32:23] Hold up. This is big. This is one of my biggest cards of this episode.

JENNA [00:32:26] What is it?

ANGELA [00:32:27] Which might not be saying much but-. This is a big card for me. He finishes playing the song and he goes, “That was Greensleeves. That’s an English ballad written about the beheading of Anne Boleyn”. OK. So, you know, I did a term paper on Anne Boleyn.

JENNA [00:32:41] In college.

ANGELA [00:32:42] I love Anne Boleyn. No, in high school.

JENNA [00:32:43] Oh.

ANGELA [00:32:44] Yes, in high school. Senior term paper. But I looked up “Greensleeves”. OK, this was fascinating to me. Sorry. Bout to geek out on you guys a little bit. There is a persistent belief that “Greensleeves” was composed by Henry the 8th for his lover, Anne Boleyn. Here’s what really threw me for a loop. Ready?

JENNA [00:33:02] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:33:03] There’s this other interpretation of the lyrics. Ready?

JENNA [00:33:06] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:33:07] Lady Greensleeves was a promiscuous young woman, even perhaps a prostitute.

JENNA [00:33:14] OK.

ANGELA [00:33:15] At the time, the word green had sexual connotations, most notably in the phrase “a green gown”, a reference to the grass stains on a woman’s dress from engaging in sexual intercourse in a field somewhere.

JENNA [00:33:29] Green is kind of whorish.

ANGELA [00:33:30] Green is kind of whorish. This justifies that whole line for Angela Martin. I freaked out. I was in my “that’s what you she shed” and I’m like, “Green is whorish!” I’m sure my neighbors were like, “what is happening”? Lady, green was like a dirty color.

JENNA [00:33:48] Great find, Angela.

ANGELA [00:33:50] Thank you.

JENNA [00:33:51] That is some deep diving historian type work.

ANGELA [00:33:56] On the Internets.

JENNA [00:33:57] To prove a reference line from “The Office”. Well done.

ANGELA [00:34:02] Thank you.

JENNA [00:34:02] I give you this.

ANGELA [00:34:03] Thank you.

JENNA [00:34:03] I want to give you.

ANGELA [00:34:04] I take that. I take that.

JENNA [00:34:06] All right. So also in this scene, he is reading a book called “Struwwelpeter”.

ANGELA [00:34:12] Mmhmm.

JENNA [00:34:12] We had a fan question from Tyler O’Donnell. “Was the story that White reads the kid’s a real folk tale or was it something the writers made up”? Gang, it’s real. It’s real. Loosely translated, it means Shaggy. Peter. It was a German-.

ANGELA [00:34:30] It sounds-.

JENNA [00:34:31] What?

ANGELA [00:34:31] It sounds dirty. Don’t wave your shaggy Peter at me. It sounds inappropriate.

JENNA [00:34:36] It does.

ANGELA [00:34:37] OK. So it’s a story about Shaggy Peter?

JENNA [00:34:39] I went out last night and this guy had such a shaggy Peter.

ANGELA [00:34:42] Jenna. We’re going to get the E.

JENNA [00:34:47] All right. So it is a German book.

ANGELA [00:34:50] OK.

JENNA [00:34:51] Of cautionary tales for children.

ANGELA [00:34:52] All right.

JENNA [00:34:53] OK. Written by Heinrich Hoffman in 1845. Now, I found this fascinating. Heinrich Hoffman wanted to get a Christmas present for his three year old son.

ANGELA [00:35:05] Ok.

JENNA [00:35:05] And he could not find a good children’s book.

ANGELA [00:35:08] I’m sorry, Heinrich.

JENNA [00:35:09] So he wrote his own. He wrote it himself.

ANGELA [00:35:13] About Shaggy Peter.

JENNA [00:35:14] Yes, he wrote “Struwwelpeter”.

ANGELA [00:35:19] “Struwwelpeter”.

JENNA [00:35:19] And it was so sort of popular, I guess, among people that Heinrich knew that it was eventually published.

ANGELA [00:35:27] Let’s cut off their thumbs.

JENNA [00:35:29] Yeah, exactly.

ANGELA [00:35:30] It’s in the story.

JENNA [00:35:31] Here’s a super crazy fact.

ANGELA [00:35:33] What?

JENNA [00:35:34] In 1891, Mark Twain wrote a translation of this book that he called “Slovenly Peter”.

ANGELA [00:35:45] “Slovenly Peter”.

JENNA [00:35:45] Yes. Which was published, but not until 1935., 25 years after Mark Twain died.

ANGELA [00:35:52] Mmhmm. And you and I are gonna write our version called “Shaggy Pete”.

JENNA [00:35:59] There are ten stories in this book. So in addition to the thumb sucking story that Dwight reads the kids, which is true and in the book. There is also a story about a little girl who plays with matches, accidentally lights herself on fire and dies. Then there’s the story of a boy who doesn’t want to eat his soup for dinner. He holds out for five days and then starves to death.

ANGELA [00:36:24] And dies. Do all the kids die or get maimed?

JENNA [00:36:26] No, not all of them. Some of them live through their rebellions.

ANGELA [00:36:31] But are forever like-.

JENNA [00:36:33] Sort of maimed or-.

ANGELA [00:36:34] Maimed or-.

JENNA [00:36:35] Sort of just, you know.

JENNA [00:36:37] Not the same emotionally.

ANGELA [00:36:39] Kind of. Yeah.

JENNA [00:36:40] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:36:40] Well, that’s fun.

JENNA [00:36:41] Yeah. So that’s a that’s the book. It’s real.

ANGELA [00:36:46] Well we really get a window into Dwight and Angela’s childhoods in this episode.

JENNA [00:36:50] Oh yeah.

ANGELA [00:36:51] I mean Dwight grew up reading these stories with his grandmother.

JENNA [00:36:54] Yes.

ANGELA [00:36:54] And then Angela is like, listen, my father was a strict disciplinarian. So you better whip these kids into shape.

JENNA [00:37:01] That’s right.

ANGELA [00:37:02] So they are, they’re perfect match. I say it over and over. They really are.

JENNA [00:37:06] They really are. At nine minutes, 47 seconds, we do pan to the table with Dwight has laid out supplies to make corn husk dolls. No one ever makes them. But there is-.

ANGELA [00:37:16] Right.

JENNA [00:37:16] The supplies are there. We had a fan question from Lauren Paige, “Who actually made the corn husk dolls that Dwight plans to make with the kids. Was it Phil Shea”?

ANGELA [00:37:26] I would say Phil Shea.

JENNA [00:37:27] It was, Lauren.

ANGELA [00:37:28] Yeah.

JENNA [00:37:29] Phil Shea was responsible for all of those items on the table.

ANGELA [00:37:33] Phil Shea is a jack of many trades. Like he really had to do a lot.

JENNA [00:37:37] He does.

ANGELA [00:37:37] Yeah.

JENNA [00:37:38] I just love it that now our questions come in with like specifics.

ANGELA [00:37:43] They know. Yeah.

JENNA [00:37:44] “Hey. Am I spotting a Phil Shea moment”?

ANGELA [00:37:46] Yeah.

JENNA [00:37:46] Yes. Lauren, your your spotting a Phil Shea moment. I think we should take a little break.

ANGELA [00:37:51] Ok.

JENNA [00:37:52] Because Michael is about to give the kids a tour of the office, and I think that deserves its own space.

ANGELA [00:37:58] All right. It’s really sweet.

JENNA [00:38:00] It’s sweet.

ANGELA [00:38:00] Let’s take a break.

JENNA [00:38:01] Take a break. All right. We’re back. We got some food. There’s a bagel bar, Angela’s eating an everything bagel.

ANGELA [00:38:10] With as much butter as I could put on it. Don’t judge me.

JENNA [00:38:15] What?

ANGELA [00:38:17] Don’t judge me.

JENNA [00:38:19] OK, we won’t judge you because we can’t understand you.

ANGELA [00:38:22] I love butter. OK.

JENNA [00:38:24] But Angela, before we get started, I want to take a moment because I feel like there’s something I have to say to you.

ANGELA [00:38:32] Is this like a, do I need a glass of wine moment? Like, is it that big of a moment or am I ok with my bagel and butter.

JENNA [00:38:38] Well. You’re fine with your bagel and butter.

ANGELA [00:38:40] OK.

JENNA [00:38:41] I feel like it’s something that I need to say. I’m saying it reluctantly yet with enthusiasm.

ANGELA [00:38:48] Is it about my hair today?

JENNA [00:38:49] Nope. It’s not about your hair. All right. I’m going to say it. I’m going to say it. But once I say it, it’s been said. I love “Game of Thrones”.

ANGELA [00:39:11] Yes! Yes! I told you you would. Where are you? What’s happened? Spoilers, spoilers.

JENNA [00:39:14] End of season 1, end of season 1.

ANGELA [00:39:17] Oh Khaleesi. Out of the fire.

JENNA [00:39:20] I mean, Angela.

ANGELA [00:39:23] With her dragons.

JENNA [00:39:24] When Khaleesi rises out of the fire.

ANGELA [00:39:30] “I am Khaleesi. First of my name. Mother of Dragons”.

JENNA [00:39:34] She’s got three baby dragons on her.

ANGELA [00:39:39] Yeah.

JENNA [00:39:39] I was like I was. I was like, oh my God, I am Khalessi with three baby dragons. And my dragons are just gonna get bigger. I was like, I’m a woman coming into her own. I’m with you, Khaleesi. Everyone out there who was really, I got a lot of mail and support from people out there who were like, Jenna, you do not need to watch “Game of Thrones”. You do not need to-. We, like we were in it together. I feel like I’m letting some folks down.

ANGELA [00:40:11] You told me it was a soap opera. A fantasy soap opera.

JENNA [00:40:14] Well, it is a fantasy soap opera, Angela.

ANGELA [00:40:16] A little bit, a little bit. But it’s more than that.

JENNA [00:40:20] Well, you know what? I’m just gonna say that I was wrong about it, but I do. I’m going to stand by the “Star Wars”.

ANGELA [00:40:29] OK. OK. You know what? I’ll take it. I’ll take it. I got one. I got one. I got GoT with you.

JENNA [00:40:35] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:40:35] I’m good.

JENNA [00:40:36] I’m in it. I’m in it to win it on GoT. OK. Michael takes the kids over to Creed. He says, “This is Creed. He’s in charge of something”.

ANGELA [00:40:47] Right.

JENNA [00:40:47] And Creed says, “That is correct”. I love that delivery.

ANGELA [00:40:53] Yeah, ’cause Creed doesn’t know what he is in charge of.

JENNA [00:40:54] Creed doesn’t know either. No one knows.

ANGELA [00:40:56] And then and then, of course, Creed is like the show stopper, crowd-pleaser, when he’s like, “Want to see a foot with four toes”?

JENNA [00:41:04] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:41:05] And they’re so excited. And Creed is giddy. Creed can’t wait to show them.

JENNA [00:41:08] Finally, someone wants to see his four toes.

ANGELA [00:41:11] I know.

JENNA [00:41:12] But he says, don’t worry. Like the hair covers up most of it.

ANGELA [00:41:17] What does he have hobbit feet?

JENNA [00:41:18] I guess so.

ANGELA [00:41:19] Hobbit, Jenna. “Lord of the Rings”. I’m sorry.

JENNA [00:41:21] I’m not going to go there.

ANGELA [00:41:21] I know.

JENNA [00:41:22] I’m not going to, that I will. I mean, I might watch a “Star Wars” one day, but you are not getting me into the “Lord of the Rings”.

ANGELA [00:41:28] Alright, alright.

JENNA [00:41:28] That is where I draw the line.

ANGELA [00:41:30] Ok, fine.

JENNA [00:41:30] All right. So we go into the conference room and all the kids are in there and they’re eating candy. And this is when Michael tells them that he used to be the star.

ANGELA [00:41:42] I know.

JENNA [00:41:42] He calls himself the star of a TV show called “Fundle Bundle”.

ANGELA [00:41:46] Here’s my question for you, because as I watch this, I kept thinking about this. Is just Michael’s memory of this just through rose colored glasses?

JENNA [00:41:55] Yes.

ANGELA [00:41:55] He doesn’t really remember what it was like. He’s re-created sort of. He’s rewritten history, if you will. Right?

JENNA [00:42:00] Yes. Yeah.

ANGELA [00:42:01] That he was the star and it was a great thing.

JENNA [00:42:03] Yes. I mean, I think that’s pretty common. I’m thinking of the time, for example, that I got to be on the radio reading a poem about the St. Louis Cardinals during the World Series.

ANGELA [00:42:13] How old were you?

JENNA [00:42:15] Oh, I was probably-.

ANGELA [00:42:17] Last year.

JENNA [00:42:18] No, I was like ten. I was ten.

ANGELA [00:42:22] I’m teasing.

JENNA [00:42:22] Yeah. Because it was the ’84 World Series, I believe. So I was ten.

ANGELA [00:42:25] Ok.

JENNA [00:42:26] And not my memory of it is that I was a radio star. But I’m sure if I heard the audio. It’s me like, “Roses are red, violets are blue. I love the cardinals and so do you”. Right? Like I was probably not the-.

ANGELA [00:42:46] Poetry reader you are now.

JENNA [00:42:48] Yes, and who knows what this poem really was, but in my mind it was such a fabulous poem. It got live on the radio and we all listened. You know? So I think that’s what’s happened in Michael’s brain.

ANGELA [00:42:58] He has this childlike nostalgia of what what that was. Ok.

JENNA [00:43:01] Yes. And “Fundle Bundle”. If it was anything like “The Land of Hatchy Milatchey” was a big deal in Scranton.

ANGELA [00:43:07] Yeah.

JENNA [00:43:08] And so and Michael was on it. This is a little bit of a claim to fame.

ANGELA [00:43:12] Right.

JENNA [00:43:12] So he decides we’re going to watch it. He tells Ryan, go get the tape. Go get the tape from my mom’s house. And then he goes into this very elaborate explanation.

ANGELA [00:43:23] Go to Dixon City, which I looked up. It’s about a 14 minute drive. Go to Dixon City Mall. Mom, might be by the pool.

JENNA [00:43:29] She might be at the pool.

ANGELA [00:43:30] At the pool.

JENNA [00:43:31] And so you’re going to have to go through the window.

ANGELA [00:43:33] Boost yourself up.

JENNA [00:43:34] Yes, can we play this clip?

ANGELA [00:43:34] And go to the basement.

JENNA [00:43:35] It’s at 12 minutes. I just love Steve delivers it very, very quickly. He just rattles it off as if everything he’s saying is totally normal.

ANGELA [00:43:46] And also, this is something he’s done countless times.

JENNA [00:43:49] Yeah. It’s so easy to do. This is how you get in my mom’s house.

ANGELA [00:43:52] She’s gonna be the pool.

JENNA [00:43:53] Yeah. So you just you put your, the window will be open, though.

ANGELA [00:43:55] Yeah.

JENNA [00:43:56] Here it is.

STEVE [00:43:57] I would like you to go to my mother’s house in Dixon City. And if she is at the pool, the back kitchen window should be unlocked. I want you to boost yourself up.

B.J. [00:44:04] Alright.

STEVE [00:44:04] I want you to go down to the basement. In the basement is a tape labeled “Fundle Bundle”. I want you to grab it. I want to get my guitar.

B.J. [00:44:11] Right, ok.

STEVE [00:44:11] I want you to get the tambourine. Do you know how to play the tambourine?

B.J. [00:44:13] I’m already getting the pizzas from Brunetti’s, so.

JAZZ [00:44:15] You know, I go with him.

STEVE [00:44:17] Ok.

B.J. [00:44:17] No. I will go.

STEVE [00:44:19] OK.

JENNA [00:44:20] I love that. I love it. “Oh, get my guitar”. Which is in his mother’s basement.

ANGELA [00:44:25] Yeah.

JENNA [00:44:25] And then can you play the tambourine?

ANGELA [00:44:28] It’s it’s it’s it’s all about to happen.

JENNA [00:44:31] It’s all about to happen. So at 12 minutes, 17 seconds, Ryan says he can’t go because I’m already getting pizza from Brunetti’s. Brunetti’s is a real pizza place in Scranton.

ANGELA [00:44:44] No Jitters, but there is a Brunetti’s.

JENNA [00:44:46] There is a Brunetti’s. But guys, guess what?

ANGELA [00:44:50] What?

JENNA [00:44:50] I went to the Facebook page for Brunetti’s.

ANGELA [00:44:53] You did?

JENNA [00:44:54] Their pizza is a rectangle.

ANGELA [00:44:57] What?

JENNA [00:44:57] Rectangle pizza.

ANGELA [00:44:59] Brunetti’s. Scandalous.

JENNA [00:45:00] Not circular pizza.

ANGELA [00:45:02] Like Baroni’s here.

JENNA [00:45:04] Baroni’s in Los Angeles. Steve’s favorite pizza.

ANGELA [00:45:07] Where we would get pizza sometimes on-set.

JENNA [00:45:09] For the cast and crew.

ANGELA [00:45:11] Square.

JENNA [00:45:11] Rectangle.

ANGELA [00:45:13] Oh, rectangle.

JENNA [00:45:13] Yeah, it’s made on like a cookie sheet. Well, in our episode we have circular pizzas. To be fair, I did see they tend to sometimes serve circular ones.

ANGELA [00:45:25] Well you heard it here, you guys.

JENNA [00:45:27] You heard it here.

ANGELA [00:45:28] Sorry for the circular pizza when it wasn’t Brunetti’s rectangle pizza.

JENNA [00:45:33] All right, guys. Everybody is in the conference room now at 12 minutes, 29 seconds, they’re eating the circular pizza that should be a rectangle. Fan catch from Mrs. Kray.

ANGELA [00:45:45] What, Mrs. Kray?

JENNA [00:45:46] What is the funny dance move that Jon Krasinski is doing in the background?

ANGELA [00:45:51] I don’t know. They’re just goofing around with the kids.

JENNA [00:45:53] It’s just John being John.

ANGELA [00:45:55] He’s just play-.

JENNA [00:45:56] That’s John.

ANGELA [00:45:56] Yeah.

JENNA [00:45:56] If you want to know what John is like, check out 12 minutes, 29 seconds.

ANGELA [00:46:00] Yeah. He’s just having fun.

JENNA [00:46:01] He is. Are we ready to play this tape from “Fundle Bundle”?

ANGELA [00:46:05] 12 minutes, 51 seconds of the “Fund Bundle” tape has arrived.

JENNA [00:46:09] We had a lot of fan questions about the “Fundle Bundle” video and how it was made. So I reached out to Kent Zbornak, our line producer. So he told me that our set designers built the set and that our wardrobe designer, Carey Bennett, found all of these vintage 1960s outfits for the kids.

ANGELA [00:46:28] She was great at that.

JENNA [00:46:29] So good.

ANGELA [00:46:30] And probably so excited because all we wore were gray turtlenecks and like beige tops. And so she was pretty so thrilled to have a project.

JENNA [00:46:38] Here’s an interesting bit of trivia about Carey Bennett. So before our show, Carey worked on “Scrubs” and she designed some kind of like, I guess, quote unquote, designer scrubs.

ANGELA [00:46:51] Well, she could sew. And so she designed her own line of scrubs.

JENNA [00:46:54] That were less boxy, that were more flattering and fitted for both men and women.

ANGELA [00:46:59] Right.

JENNA [00:46:59] Different colors and patterns. They were so popular that she actually started a line of scrubs.

ANGELA [00:47:07] Yeah.

JENNA [00:47:07] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:47:08] Go, Carey.

JENNA [00:47:08] So there you go. So when they shot this footage, they used a cheap video camera instead of one of our regular cameras. And then in post-production, he told me they threw in some additional artifacts. I guess artifacts is a term for lessening the quality of the film image. And so that’s how it got that degraded.

ANGELA [00:47:28] Grainy look.

JENNA [00:47:29] Yes.

ANGELA [00:47:29] Yeah.

JENNA [00:47:31] We had another fan question from Karen Fryer. She said, “Who was the voice of Edward R. Meow, the puppet, that all the kids are talking to in ‘Fundle Bundle’”? The voice is Kevin Carlson. He is a puppeteer and voice actor. But here’s something very sweet.

ANGELA [00:47:53] What?

JENNA [00:47:53] I did not know this. Kent Zbornak, our line producer, used to be a puppeteer.

ANGELA [00:47:58] Stop it.

JENNA [00:47:59] Yeah, he worked with Jim Henson.

ANGELA [00:48:02] Kent? Kent?

JENNA [00:48:03] Kent Zbornak worked with Jim Henson and Sid & Mary Krofft. And he wanted to be Edward R. Meow.

ANGELA [00:48:10] And they didn’t let him?

JENNA [00:48:12] No, he couldn’t do it in the end, he didn’t have the time. He couldn’t leave his job of line producing to be Edward R. Meow so he asked his friend, another professional puppeteer, Kevin Carlson, if he would do it.

ANGELA [00:48:25] This is that classic thing that I love where, you look at someone, you think you know them. You’re like, I know you. You’re very efficient, Kent’s kind of like this high-strung, but like nice and kind. But he’s getting stuff done.

JENNA [00:48:37] He’s got Excel spreadsheet.

ANGELA [00:48:38] Yeah. And I’m like, Kent, I know who you are. And then you’re a freakin puppeteer.

JENNA [00:48:42] Puppeteer.

ANGELA [00:48:42] What?

JENNA [00:48:43] Yeah. I did not know. That blew me away when he told me that.

ANGELA [00:48:46] I love that.

JENNA [00:48:47] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:48:48] I love it.

JENNA [00:48:48] But here’s something.

ANGELA [00:48:50] What?

JENNA [00:48:51] The little blond kid that gets interviewed by Edward R. Meow.

ANGELA [00:48:55] The first kid?

JENNA [00:48:55] The first kid.

ANGELA [00:48:57] Yeah.

JENNA [00:48:57] That’s Kent Zbornak’s son.

ANGELA [00:48:59] Aw.

JENNA [00:48:59] Oh, Alec.

ANGELA [00:49:00] That’s so cute.

JENNA [00:49:01] He had to audition for the role-.

ANGELA [00:49:02] No.

JENNA [00:49:02] And he got it.

ANGELA [00:49:04] He had to audition.

JENNA [00:49:05] He got it. Yeah. He had to audition, isn’t that cute?

ANGELA [00:49:07] That’s so cute.

JENNA [00:49:08] Should we talk about Chet Montgomery?

ANGELA [00:49:10] We should. Chet, he’s like a local like celebrity.

JENNA [00:49:14] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:49:14] So my hometown is pretty small, you know, in north Texas. And the evening news there is “Good Evening, Texoma”, because we’re right by the Texas-Oklahoma border.

JENNA [00:49:24] OK.

ANGELA [00:49:25] And the folks that do the news there, the local anchors. I have been in Wichita Falls with like my grandmother or mom or like at the mall or going to Luby’s. They love Luby’s. It’s in the mall.

JENNA [00:49:35] What’s Luby’s?

ANGELA [00:49:37] Luby’s is like-.

JENNA [00:49:37] Do they sell earrings?

ANGELA [00:49:38] No, it’s like it’s my grandparents love to go there for lunch. You get a tray, you go all the way down-.

JENNA [00:49:42] Oh, it’s an eatery. You eat there.

ANGELA [00:49:44] Yeah. You get a tray, you go all the way down. It’s like a buffet.

JENNA [00:49:48] Like a cafeteria style.

ANGELA [00:49:49] Yeah.

JENNA [00:49:50] Buffet place.

ANGELA [00:49:50] Yes.

JENNA [00:49:51] I’d love that place.

ANGELA [00:49:52] Oh, yeah.

JENNA [00:49:52] Like a Soupplantation.

ANGELA [00:49:53] Kind of. Yeah. Luby’s, it was called Luby’s, it’s in the Mall. But I remember going there with my grandparents and we saw the local news guy and they were like, “There he is. Oh, my God. That’s the-. He does the evening news. Oh, my God”. They’re so excited.

JENNA [00:50:08] This kid who’s being interviewed. He’s Chet Montgomery. We find out he’s the weather guy.

ANGELA [00:50:15] Yeah.

JENNA [00:50:15] Right? He’s played by Damani Roberts. Here is a crazy thing about Damani Roberts.

ANGELA [00:50:20] What?

JENNA [00:50:21] Remember earlier in the talking head when Michael says, I’m Eddie Murphy and “Raw”, but they’re gonna make me be Eddie Murphy and “Daddy Daycare”?

ANGELA [00:50:28] Is Damani in “Daddy Daycare”?

JENNA [00:50:30] Yes.

ANGELA [00:50:31] Stop it.

JENNA [00:50:32] Yes.

ANGELA [00:50:32] That’s amazing.

JENNA [00:50:34] Damani Roberts is also in “Daddy Daycare”. Fan question from Grace Marville 5005 and Chris Wolpert, “Who played Michael as a kid”? This was an actor named Jake Kalender.

ANGELA [00:50:46] Jake Kalender.

JENNA [00:50:47] Jake Kalender. He sounds like Chet Montgomery.

ANGELA [00:50:50] He does. “Jake Kalender with the Evening News in Texoma”.

JENNA [00:50:53] So when young Michael is interviewed.

ANGELA [00:50:56] Didn’t you think Young Michael looked like young Shelden? A little bit?

JENNA [00:51:00] Oh, yeah, I can give you that.

ANGELA [00:51:02] Right?

JENNA [00:51:02] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:51:02] Yeah.

JENNA [00:51:03] Looks a little bit.

ANGELA [00:51:04] Little bit. OK. So he’s interviewed.

JENNA [00:51:07] He’s interviewed and he’s asked what he wants to be when he grows up.

ANGELA [00:51:11] We should also remind you guys he’s in a full suit and tie.

JENNA [00:51:14] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:51:14] He’s a little kid.

JENNA [00:51:15] Yeah. And he says, “I want to be married and have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends and no one can say no to being my friend”.

ANGELA [00:51:27] Is this when you cried?

JENNA [00:51:28] This is when I had to turn off the episode. It hit me. So hard. I don’t know why. This idea of just this little kid longing for friends. And-.

ANGELA [00:51:46] Longing for acceptance. But we’re getting a real window into his life. Listen.

JENNA [00:51:51] It was just it was almost too much for me. It was almost too much for me. The sentence. About Michael’s past. It was just. And I think because then you go to Steve’s reaction and Steve’s acting is so good in that moment. It just, it just like, I don’t know. I mean. I remember at the time when we shot that. That after the little Michael says that it cuts to a shot of the puppet who, and the puppet can’t speak. And we lost it.

ANGELA [00:52:27] The puppet is like agape, right? His mouth is open. Do you know that the puppet. They linger on the puppet with its mouth open in silence. Like what the heck? Right?

JENNA [00:52:38] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:52:39] They linger on that puppet for six seconds of silence. I mean, seeing a puppet with its mouth agape being like “What the f is going on”? It is it is funny.

JENNA [00:52:55] It is.

ANGELA [00:52:55] It is funny.

JENNA [00:52:55] And when we were shooting this-.

ANGELA [00:52:57] Six seconds.

JENNA [00:52:58] We were dying.

ANGELA [00:53:00] Yeah.

JENNA [00:53:00] We were dying at the shot of the puppet. And so when I was getting ready, I think, to sit down and watch the scene. All I could remember was how we were crying, laughing at this reaction shot of the puppet. But then. I saw, I just saw this whole other side of how not funny that was.

ANGELA [00:53:21] Well, we were looking at the puppet.

JENNA [00:53:21] And how sad it was.

ANGELA [00:53:22] We weren’t looking at Steve at that moment.

JENNA [00:53:25] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:53:25] So we missed, we missed that moment for Michael.

JENNA [00:53:29] Yes. We needed to watch it as an episode. Yes. So-.

ANGELA [00:53:32] As an audience.

JENNA [00:53:32] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:53:33] Yeah.

JENNA [00:53:34] I just was-. Anyway.

ANGELA [00:53:37] Well, the kids start peppering Michael with questions. Right?

JENNA [00:53:41] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:53:41] They’re saying, “Well, did you get married? Do you have kids? Do you have a girlfriend”. And then the little girl says, “I guess you didn’t get to be what you wanted to be”. And it is soul crushing. And I was watching this with Isabel, who’s 11, and she turned to me and she goes, “Mom, were there just times when you were doing this show that you were like, I am so umcomfortable”? She’s like, “This is really uncomfortable”. I mean, she thought it was funny, you know, but she was like, “That is awkward”. And I was like, “Yeah, oh, yeah. There are a lot of cringy moments”.

ANGELA [00:54:16] Yeah.

JENNA [00:54:17] On this show which make it all work and balance. But just the fact that she picked up on that at her age of like what an awkward moment this was.

JENNA [00:54:25] Oh man. Well Michael is so gutted. He just-.

ANGELA [00:54:28] He locks himself in his office.

JENNA [00:54:30] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:54:30] He won’t come out.

JENNA [00:54:32] And the reaction shots of all of us are great. We’re all really sad for him.

ANGELA [00:54:38] Sad. A little embarrassed.

JENNA [00:54:41] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:54:41] All of it.

JENNA [00:54:43] So. Pam’s talking to Jim, we got a lot of mail about this little scene. Pam’s talking to Jim. She’s saying Michael won’t come out of his office. He won’t answer his phone. Over her shoulder, Roy is wrestling with Meredith’s son.

ANGELA [00:54:59] He’s so happy.

JENNA [00:55:00] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:55:00] Roy and the jerk kid are having the best time.

JENNA [00:55:03] We had a lot of questions about what this scene was supposed to mean because Pam seems a little bit embarrassed or ashamed that Roy and this kid are getting along. They’re like, what did this mean? Well, I think. I don’t know what what was your interpretation?

ANGELA [00:55:19] Here was my take on it.

JENNA [00:55:21] OK.

ANGELA [00:55:21] Because you have Roy’s this big guy, right? And he’s kind of fratty. He’s kind of like a frat guy. And he is with the kid that’s the asshole.

JENNA [00:55:31] Right.

ANGELA [00:55:31] And they’re having the time of their lives. They’re in there, there’s other people around them. They’re not even caring about other people’s personal space. They’re wrestling in this room. And Roy’s like got him in a headlock. He’s like, “I love this kid”. And I think Pam had a flash of what her life would be like, with Roy, with children, what their kids would be like.

JENNA [00:55:52] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:55:53] She is going to have a kid that’s like, “om, pull my finger. Fart.” Dad laugh.

JENNA [00:55:58] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:55:59] And Pam was like, oh, god.

JENNA [00:56:00] Well.

ANGELA [00:56:01] Oh, no, I’m going to be outnumbered in my own house by like the Roy’s kids.

JENNA [00:56:06] Yeah, I think it’s definitely there to show a contrast to the way Jim bonds with a kid.

ANGELA [00:56:13] Yeah.

JENNA [00:56:13] Over books and reading as opposed to just roughhousing.

ANGELA [00:56:18] Yeah.

JENNA [00:56:18] But I have to say, when I saw that I thought, yes, that’s what this kid needs actually, he needs a father figure in his life. He needs someone to wrestle with him because that is an important part of parenting. I didn’t think that that was so bad of a thing.

ANGELA [00:56:36] No, I think it’s perfect for Roy. The problem is, that’s not what Pam wants in a dad. Pam wants more of a Jim dad that is gonna do a silly dance and talk about books. And probably wrestle a little bit, too. But I think Roy is just a little brutish. It’s absolutely what Meredith’s son needs. I mean, he needs a big guy to, like, grab him and be like, hey.

JENNA [00:56:57] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:56:58] You know, pay attention. But I just think it’s just that moment that shows that Jim and Pam are just you know, you meet people we all like dated people. And there’s some people, you know, instinctively that you’re gonna parent the same with.

JENNA [00:57:11] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:57:12] And I think Pam and Jim are gonna parent the same.

JENNA [00:57:14] Yes. Yeah, I think that’s good. That’s good. That’s good analysis. I like that. Well, next up, we go to the copier with Dwight and we’re gonna see how Dwight might parent Jake.

ANGELA [00:57:27] Well, again, Dwight and Angela. Angela has told him he needs to be tougher with the kids. Basically, that’s her subtext because that’s what she would expect.

JENNA [00:57:36] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:57:37] Right? That’s what she had growing up. And she expects him to be that way.

JENNA [00:57:40] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:57:40] And she’s egging him on. She’s like-.

JENNA [00:57:42] She is.

ANGELA [00:57:43] Glaring at him like, shut the kid up.

JENNA [00:57:46] Jake tells Dwight that he’s ugly. And then Dwight is horrible, I’m sorry.

ANGELA [00:57:53] At my proding. And at my proding. He’s horrible.

JENNA [00:57:56] I, get my mini soapbox out again because I did not care for this.

ANGELA [00:57:59] No, it wasn’t good.

JENNA [00:58:00] It bumped me. I didn’t like that Dwight told a child like that Dwight insulted a child the way he did. I didn’t, I think were meant as an audience to be like, yeah, you give it to the jerk kid. But I just that, I didn’t like it.

ANGELA [00:58:17] I don’t think we’re meant to do that.

JENNA [00:58:19] You don’t think?

ANGELA [00:58:19] I don’t think so. I think like there’s part of you that’s like, glad that this kid is like at least put in his place a little bit, although done completely inappropriately. But I think what I took away from it is like Dwight. Dwight is a kid. You have two, these are two kids in one conversation. I mean, Isabel, watch it with me. And she’s like, oh, mom. Dwight. And I said, I know he’s just a kid.

JENNA [00:58:44] Well, it all just made me super sad for Jake.

ANGELA [00:58:47] Well, Jake, Jake is doomed.

JENNA [00:58:50] That’s what I felt like.

ANGELA [00:58:52] He’s Meredith’s kid and he’s doomed. At 15 minutes., 39 seconds. Pam strikes out again.

JENNA [00:58:58] Oh, boy.

ANGELA [00:58:59] Yeah. Melissa comes over. She’s like, you know, I’ve spent some time with your mom. She’s so nice. And Melissa’s like, that lady is not my mother. Like, you mean Terri? That’s my step mom.

JENNA [00:59:09] Yeah.

ANGELA [00:59:09] So now she’s like, 0 for 2. Right?

JENNA [00:59:12] Oh, yeah.

ANGELA [00:59:13] Pam’s not doing great until Jake comes over, Jake. Jake’s probably a little wounded by this time. I think he’s a little softer around the edges.

JENNA [00:59:21] Maybe so.

ANGELA [00:59:22] And she’s like, do you want to shred some stuff? Your shredder.

JENNA [00:59:26] My shredder, 17 minutes, 50 seconds, everyone.

ANGELA [00:59:29] Your shredder that you said we’d never use. And people are like, oh, I’m getting to my keyboard.

JENNA [00:59:34] Yes. Boy, we got a lot of mail after I said that early on. Yes. Pam does use her shredder.

ANGELA [00:59:42] With Jake.

JENNA [00:59:42] By the way, I want to say that original shredder did not work. It was inoperable. And I can’t remember now if they had to bring in some other shredder. I think there’s a reason why there’s not a great shot of it is because it doesn’t technically match the giant shredder that’s always been there. And-.

ANGELA [00:59:59] I will say also in our early years on set, I know we were on a tight budget. Right? We were the show that was almost gonna get canceled. We were like it was sort of shoestring budget. And a lot of our appliances in the office, if you look really closely, are old used appliances.

JENNA [01:00:15] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:00:16] That they would take from like a prop warehouse or other show.

JENNA [01:00:19] Oh, the copier didn’t work at first. And then they wrote that someone uses the copier and they like, whoa, hold up.

ANGELA [01:00:25] It doesn’t work.

JENNA [01:00:26] We need a, we need a copier. We’re just I mean, that was just decoration.

ANGELA [01:00:30] It was just a prop.

JENNA [01:00:30] Weren’t planning on using that.

ANGELA [01:00:32] And that shredder looks like something from the dharma initiative.

JENNA [01:00:34] It does.

ANGELA [01:00:34] It looked really old.

JENNA [01:00:37] Well, you remember that copier used to often not work, right? Do remember that we were always fixing that copier.

ANGELA [01:00:42] Oh my god, all the time.

JENNA [01:00:43] But then when I worked in offices, we were always fixing our copiers. So maybe it worked just as it was meant to work.

ANGELA [01:00:50] I don’t know.

JENNA [01:00:50] Or as good as any copier I’ve ever used.

ANGELA [01:00:53] All right.

JENNA [01:00:54] All right. So now Toby goes into Michael’s office and he’s returning the toys that Sasha took, and Toby asked Michael if he’s OK. And Michael says, well, you have to ask me that because you’re head of H.R. and Toby is like, well, it’s true.

ANGELA [01:01:10] It’s true.

JENNA [01:01:11] But how are you?

ANGELA [01:01:12] And then they end up having a heart to heart.

JENNA [01:01:14] A sweet heart to heart.

ANGELA [01:01:15] Michael and Toby.

JENNA [01:01:17] I know. But of course, then Michael asks if Sasha has a godfather and Toby’s like she does.

ANGELA [01:01:25] I, Toby actually cuts him off.

JENNA [01:01:26] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:01:26] So he’s like, hey, does Sasha have a godfather? Because-. No.

JENNA [01:01:29] He does.

ANGELA [01:01:30] He does. She does.

JENNA [01:01:31] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:01:31] She does.

JENNA [01:01:31] Oh, right.

ANGELA [01:01:32] Yeah.

JENNA [01:01:32] But Michael decides he’s gotten, he’s feeling a little better. He’s going to sign up for an online dating service.

ANGELA [01:01:39] Gonna get out there.

JENNA [01:01:39] He is. He’s gonna try to make little Michael Scott’s dream come true. Let’s get married and have his one hundred kids.

ANGELA [01:01:45] And he wants the ladies out there to know how serious he is about having a family and his love of children. So he makes his username. “Little kid lover”.

JENNA [01:01:57] Yeah, he’s gonna do it. Oh, boy. All right. So now a huge bombshell. Abby is leaving with Kevin, and she wants to invite Jim over for dinner. Very sweet.

ANGELA [01:02:12] He can’t, he has plans.

JENNA [01:02:14] He has plans. What plans? Kevin says you never have plans. Guess what, guys?

ANGELA [01:02:20] Jim has a date.

JENNA [01:02:21] Jim has a date.

ANGELA [01:02:22] With who? Is this maybe Brenda? Is Brenda back?

JENNA [01:02:25] Fan question Laura Deneey would like to know, “Who is Jim going on a date with”?

ANGELA [01:02:30] I don’t know.

JENNA [01:02:31] Brenda? Is he lying? No, he, he has a date.

ANGELA [01:02:36] No, he has a date.

JENNA [01:02:36] I think he does.

ANGELA [01:02:37] No, he for sure has a date.

JENNA [01:02:39] Yeah. So then we get to the last scene of the episode. This is the second time I cried in this episode.

ANGELA [01:02:45] When they were singing?

JENNA [01:02:46] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:02:48] Jenna.

JENNA [01:02:49] Dwight is playing the guitar.

ANGELA [01:02:50] I get your first one. Why did you cry on this one?

JENNA [01:02:54] I don’t know. This song really gets to me. “Teach your children”. Michael is singing.

ANGELA [01:03:01] Crosby, Stills and Nash. Neil Young, I guess.

JENNA [01:03:04] Yeah. I love how, I love how Steve does this.

ANGELA [01:03:09] He went for it.

JENNA [01:03:09] He went for it. His very weird harmony.

ANGELA [01:03:12] High falsetto. Yeah.

JENNA [01:03:14] Yeah. And during this scene, Jim and Pam have a little banter. Little banter.

ANGELA [01:03:19] This was a real kick in the nuts for Pam.

JENNA [01:03:21] Oooh.

ANGELA [01:03:21] This was a tough one.

JENNA [01:03:22] Jim says, “Why does he have a guitar if he never plays it”?

ANGELA [01:03:26] They’re doing their thing where they kind of flirt and chitty-chat in the corner.

JENNA [01:03:29] Exactly. They’re commenting on what’s happening, but then they kind of giggle. Then Pam looks away and she turns back and she’s like, “Well, my theory is-“.

ANGELA [01:03:40] He’s gone.

JENNA [01:03:41] Jim’s gone.

ANGELA [01:03:42] Oh.

JENNA [01:03:43] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:03:44] And then you’re a little adjustment after you realize, you were talking to no one.

JENNA [01:03:49] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:03:49] And he’s gone. It’s so great because you kind of feel her like, oh, OK. Jeez. So at 19 minutes, 1 second. We sort of start this montage, right? Jim is leaving.

JENNA [01:04:01] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:04:02] And you see this really sweet thing with Michael and Sasha. Like he’s kind of helping, I think, get her in Toby’s car. And then you end with this Dwight talking head.

JENNA [01:04:13] Yeah. It’s so good.

ANGELA [01:04:15] What? OK. I have a question.

JENNA [01:04:18] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:04:18] Where’s that photo from?

JENNA [01:04:19] I found out.

ANGELA [01:04:21] Good. I was hoping you would.

JENNA [01:04:22] Yeah. So during this talking head, Dwight is kind of explaining the value of children in the Schrute ancestry. And there is this photo, this black and white photo of a family’s seemingly kind of impoverished family.

ANGELA [01:04:38] Impoverished family. Well, Dwight says that they would have a lot of children so they could work the fields, which, you know, is not a real stretch because my mom grew up in rural Texas on a farm and she had, there are 12 siblings.

JENNA [01:04:50] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:04:51] They all worked the farm. I think that was a thing.

JENNA [01:04:53] Yeah, that if that was a thing.

ANGELA [01:04:55] Yeah.

JENNA [01:04:56] Life on the Prairie, “Little House on the Prairie”. We learned that from “Little House on the Prairie”.

ANGELA [01:05:00] Not really, but-.

JENNA [01:05:01] That that family had a lot of kids and they all worked that field and farm.

ANGELA [01:05:06] They had like four.

JENNA [01:05:09] I think they had more than that.

ANGELA [01:05:10] Five?

JENNA [01:05:11] I feel like it was upwards of seven.

ANGELA [01:05:14] What?

JENNA [01:05:15] Mara. Maira, Mary?

ANGELA [01:05:18] Half pint.

JENNA [01:05:20] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:05:21] The baby who I think died on Christmas Eve of fever.

JENNA [01:05:25] There were some boys.

ANGELA [01:05:26] One boy.

JENNA [01:05:28] Maybe there were only four or five. I don’t know, they all worked the farm though. Anyway Dwight also says that they sometimes ate the weakest person in times of real hardship, but not a kid.

ANGELA [01:05:42] But then’s he like, “We didn’t eat the babies”.

JENNA [01:05:44] But the way he says it means like maybe sometimes they do.

ANGELA [01:05:48] No, he said, I’m kidding. We never eat the children. It never came to that,.

JENNA [01:05:52] Right.

ANGELA [01:05:53] But if it did-.

JENNA [01:05:54] They were, yeah. All right. Well, at 20 minutes, 17 seconds, there is a shot of this photo. And in the “Booze Cruise” podcast, we mentioned that Rainn did bring in a number of photos of his real family.

ANGELA [01:06:08] Is this one?

JENNA [01:06:09] No.

ANGELA [01:06:09] Oh.

JENNA [01:06:10] It’s not. There was a real photo of his family in the vending machine in the cold open of “Booze Cruise”. But this was not Rainn’s real family. Kent told me that they just found it on Getty Images. It’s a stock photo. They just licensed it and it became, the lore of Dwight’s family. Right there, just a picture.

ANGELA [01:06:28] There you go.

JENNA [01:06:29] There you go.

ANGELA [01:06:29] It’s somebody’s family.

JENNA [01:06:31] It’s someone’s family.

ANGELA [01:06:31] Maybe someone will write in and say.

JENNA [01:06:33] Hey, that those are my ancestors.

ANGELA [01:06:35] Those are my ancestors. A Getty Image photographer came to a reunion in 1814.

JENNA [01:06:43] Yeah.

ANGELA [01:06:44] Anyway.

JENNA [01:06:45] All right. Well, there you go. That’s our episode.

ANGELA [01:06:48] All right, you guys, that’s “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”. If you have any questions, if we left anything out, write us in and we will see you next week.

JENNA [01:06:57] We will. I think for “Michael’s Birthday”.

ANGELA [01:07:00] “Michael’s Birthday”.

JENNA [01:07:01] Yeah, the ice skating rink.

ANGELA [01:07:02] Oh, I have good photos from that one.

JENNA [01:07:04] I’ve good stories. Thank you for listening to “Office Ladies”. “Office Ladies” is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, our producer is Codi Fischer, our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer.

ANGELA [01:07:17] And our theme song is “Rubber Tree” by Creed Bratton.

JENNA [01:07:21] For ad free versions of the show and our bonus episodes “Candy Bag”. Go to StitcherPremium.com.

ANGELA [01:07:27] For free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code “Office”.