EP. 144 — Classy Christmas, Part 2

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer.

Angela [00:00:04] 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 rewatch 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. Hello!

Angela [00:00:23] Ho, ho, ho!

Jenna [00:00:25] Oh, you’re really bringing it for Classy Christmas Part Two.

Angela [00:00:28] I am. Look at my sweatshirt.

Jenna [00:00:30] Angela is wearing her Christmas sweatshirt. Her sprinkles. Ugly Christmas sweatshirt.

Angela [00:00:36] Yes, it’s my Christmas sprinkles sweatshirt.

Jenna [00:00:38] Which is available for purchase over at Office Ladies dot com, I believe?

Angela [00:00:42] That’s right. I love to dress for theme.

Jenna [00:00:44] You do. This is true. Well, today is season seven, episode 12. It was written by Mindy Kaling, directed by Rainn Wilson. It is part two of what we started last week.

Angela [00:00:54] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:00:55] Since this episode is a continuation, I thought everyone might appreciate a little update. On my legs.

Angela [00:01:02] Oh?

Jenna [00:01:03] Guess what?

Angela [00:01:06] Oh, I thought you were going to update us on where we were at the episode, but no.

Jenna [00:01:09] Oh, I will.

Angela [00:01:10] Oh, yeah, we’ll get to that.

Jenna [00:01:11] But first, don’t you want to know about my legs? If they’re shaved or not? Did I get a razor in the mail like you suggested?

Angela [00:01:18] Can I get a touch test?

Jenna [00:01:20] Well, I mean, you can see it.

Angela [00:01:22] Let’s see it. Heyyy. Look at them shiny gams.

Jenna [00:01:28] Yep. Just in time for fall weather.

Angela [00:01:30] Oh, yeah. Just in time for short skirts.

Jenna [00:01:33] Are you being sarcastic?

Angela [00:01:35] I am.

Jenna [00:01:36] Second update. I think we’re going to need to make sure that Cassi is still working on the clacky balls.

Angela [00:01:42] Oh, yes, the clacky balls that-

Sam [00:01:45] The setup she has in here with the lamp and- it’s the most focused I’ve ever seen her.

Jenna [00:01:49] Well, Cassi, if you untangle the balls, you need to break in immediately to tell us. Don’t wait. We want to know right away.

Angela [00:01:58] It’s a special announcement.

Cassi [00:01:59] Okay.

Jenna [00:02:00] Now that we got that out of the way, here’s your summary. Remember, Michael forced Pam to redo the Christmas party for Holly’s return?

Angela [00:02:07] Yeah, he wanted a classy Christmas.

Jenna [00:02:09] But he learned that Holly is still dating A.J..

Angela [00:02:12] Mm hmm. They live together.

Jenna [00:02:13] Yeah. Also, Jim and Dwight got in an epic snowball fight. Well, that’s not going to quit. Darryl brought his daughter Jada to the Christmas party, and he’s struggling to keep her entertained. In this episode, Angela’s boyfriend, the senator, is going to show up at the party.

Angela [00:02:29] Yes, he is.

Jenna [00:02:31] She’s very proud.

Angela [00:02:32] She’s so smug about it.

Jenna [00:02:35] Except Oscar’s pretty sure he’s gay.

Angela [00:02:37] Yeah.

Jenna [00:02:38] And then A.J. is going to arrive to surprise Holly. That’s what’s going on.

Angela [00:02:44] And you thought there wouldn’t be any drama at the Christmas party.

Jenna [00:02:47] I know. Well, there wouldn’t have been any drama at the first Christmas party.

Angela [00:02:51] That’s true.

Jenna [00:02:53] Fast fact number one, we had a fan mail flurry. It was all about that amazing comic book that Pam makes for Jim. You know, the one, The Adventures of Jimmy Halpert?

Angela [00:03:04] Yeah. He’s the bear man.

Jenna [00:03:06] The bear man. In last week’s episode, she showed it to Ryan, who didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about it.

Angela [00:03:14] No. This episode, she shows it to Phyllis. I titled that scene Phyllis Snark. We’ll get to it.

Jenna [00:03:21] Yeah. But then she finally gives it to Jim.

Angela [00:03:25] Yeah.

Jenna [00:03:25] The fan mail flurry was all about who created this comic book. Some people wanted to know, did I draw it? They had heard that I did used to do comic book art.

Angela [00:03:34] You did comic book art. I have a little doodle you gave me I saved all those years ago. You drew it on the set. You’re very good.

Jenna [00:03:41] I got really into autobiographical comics for a period of time. Joe Matt was one of my favorites, and then I started kind of drawing out basically almost like diary entries. So I had a little myself. I had a little you.

Angela [00:03:56] Yeah.

Jenna [00:03:56] Had whoever. Yeah. For this comic book, I will say I did not draw this. I’m not this good. You know, you see glimpses of it in the episode. It’s very, very good.

Angela [00:04:05] It’s very good.

Jenna [00:04:06] Good to find someone to do this comic book. Phil Shea reached out to a comic book shop called Deejays Universal Comics. And a woman there named Kat suggested that he reach out to a local comic book artist named Tone Rodriguez. Tone had been working on The Simpsons Comics for several years, and she thought he might be a good choice. We reached out to Tone!

Angela [00:04:29] Yes!

Jenna [00:04:30] And he told us his whole story. It is amazing and I cannot wait to share. So Tone said, One day Phil just called him out of the blue. It was a Wednesday. And Phil said, I need a comic book drawn up. And Tony said, Well, when do you need it by? And Phil said, Monday. And Tone didn’t think he could do it.

Angela [00:04:51] Yeah.

Jenna [00:04:51] He sort of said, I can’t turn it around that quickly. But Phil said, Why don’t you come down to set so I can better explain what we need? Phil didn’t tell him what show it was. So Tone didn’t know. He knew he was drawing something for a TV show, but he didn’t know what one. He said he got to the studio. Nobody was there. He said there’s no security. It was a weird part of town.

Angela [00:05:15] Yeah.

Jenna [00:05:16] He said he just walked past the gate and he started basically just wandering around.

Angela [00:05:21] That sounds about right.

Jenna [00:05:23] Yeah. He was just asking, Does anyone know someone named Phil? Finally, he made it to Phil’s prop trailer where he got introduced to Paul Lieberstein. They started to explain what we needed, but then they said, You know what? This is really Mindy’s episode. She wrote it, so we should check with her. Tone said by this point, he realized the show was called The Office, but he’d never seen it. He said he doesn’t watch much TV because if he starts watching something, it really distracts him from his art. He has to focus. And so he doesn’t get into television shows.

Angela [00:05:52] Wow.

Jenna [00:05:53] I know, right? So they walk him on set to meet Mindy. And here’s what he said. He said, I’ll be 100% honest here. We were on set waiting for Mindy to give us a heads up on what she wanted for the comic. And when she walked up to the three of us, I swear I have no recollection of what she had to say. Nothing. She walked up to us, and it was like the scene in Wayne’s World where Garth sees the woman in the donut shop, the light radiating from behind her, and you’re hearing Dreamweaver by Gary Wright. Mindy was stunning. That’s all I can say. She had me absolutely speechless, and I have no idea what she might have said. I had never seen the show. Maybe if I had, I would not have been as surprised by her. But I was. Again, she was stunning.

Angela [00:06:37] Oh, my gosh, Mindy!

Jenna [00:06:40] So he says she explained everything she needed. And at the end of the encounter, she said, Did you get that? And he said, Yeah. And she said, All right. And she turned and walked away. And at that point, he said Phil and Paul turned to him and said, Did you get that? And he said, I have no idea what she said.

Angela [00:07:00] He was honest?

Jenna [00:07:01] Yes. And he said they must have seen the effect she had on idiots like me before, because at this point, they both said, Yeah, we know. We wrote it down for you.

Angela [00:07:12] Aww.

Jenna [00:07:12] And he said, That’s a 100% true story. And then he said, My wife hates that story. Haha.

Angela [00:07:19] Mindy is someone when you meet her, she just she’s a captivating person.

Jenna [00:07:24] Yes. I mean, she’s beautiful and she has kind of an aura and she’s confident.

Angela [00:07:31] She’s smart. Yeah.

Jenna [00:07:31] I know. She’s a force.

Angela [00:07:33] She’s a force.

Jenna [00:07:34] So I asked Tone, how many pages did you illustrate? And he said that he drew the cover and two interior pages. He said a full comic book is usually 22 pages. So that’s why he panicked when Phil said they needed it in a few days. Because he couldn’t do 22 pages.

Angela [00:07:51] Right. Right.

Jenna [00:07:53] But he said after they explained what Mindy wanted, they said just two pages would be fine and they would just duplicate them a couple of times to make it look like a full comic book. Tone said everything in the comic book is hand-drawn, including the logo on the front. And he said all of the lettering inside was done by his buddy Tony Fleece. And he said, people just- you didn’t do it digitally back then. Everything was done by hand.

Angela [00:08:15] Wow.

Jenna [00:08:16] And he said that the script inside, all the words he took directly from the note that Phil and Paul had handed him after his meeting with Mindy. So that’s it.

Angela [00:08:26] I love that story. You guys, a few years ago, I was at a comic convention in Philadelphia, and I saw the comic book The Adventures of Jimmy Halpert. I was so excited by it that the vendor gave me two. I saved them. I brought him home. I gave one to Jenna. So Jenna has one and I have one. And I don’t know of they’re originals. I’m guessing they’re not, right?

Jenna [00:08:47] Yeah, Tone said people come up to him all the time and tell them that they purchased one of the original props. And he said, I hate to disappoint people, but there were only eight of them that were made for the show. He said he has one. He gave 2 to 1 of his friends in Stockton, California, one to a fan in Bakersfield. He said there’s maybe three original copies out there, but he does make replicas of the book and he makes them available to different vendors at shows.

Angela [00:09:15] Oh, that’s fantastic. We’ll have to share that in stories.

Jenna [00:09:18] Yes. He says there’s an email you can use to contact him about getting one. We can put that in the show notes. He said they’re limited, but you should contact Jacob at that email address. It’s manage ink dot art at gmail.com.

Angela [00:09:32] But we’ll put it in show notes.

Jenna [00:09:33] We will. But thank you, Tone, so much.

Angela [00:09:37] Yes, Tone, thank you. Thank you.

Jenna [00:09:38] I always love hearing stories like that.

Angela [00:09:40] Me, too.

Jenna [00:09:42] Well, Fast fact number two comes to us from Stoce B in Washington, DC. This is a piece of fan mail that just absolutely warmed my heart, and it’s episode specific, and I can’t wait to share it. Stoce said, in all capitals, MY DAUGHTER WAS BORN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE OFFICE.

Angela [00:10:02] Oh, my goodness.

Jenna [00:10:03] I have been waiting to tell this story since she was born on Christmas Eve in 2019. I went into labor with my first daughter on December 23rd, and as soon as midnight on Christmas Eve hit, Comedy Central started playing The Office Christmas episodes on repeat. I kept them on all day, and when the time came to push around 4 p.m., the nurses tried to turn the TV off, but I kept it on, using the episodes to keep me calm and focused for the next 2 hours. And the last thing I remember listening to is Oscar and Ryan’s bit about bartending. It was truly the best way to bring my daughter into the world.

Angela [00:10:44] I love that. That’s hilarious and awesome. I love that she was like, No, you will not turn that off.

Jenna [00:10:49] That’s right. And now fast fact number three, Angela, is all you. You know, it’s my favorite thing when you say, can I have a fast fact?

Angela [00:10:58] Yes. And it actually pairs very nicely with Stoce’s story.

Jenna [00:11:03] Really?

Angela [00:11:03] Yes.

Jenna [00:11:04] I’m intrigued.

Angela [00:11:06] Well, my fast fact three is all about Ryan and his drink order of an F train to Brooklyn, extra bitters.

Jenna [00:11:12] Okay.

Angela [00:11:13] So, you know, from that Office Tally interview, that was great, where Mindy said she made it up.

Jenna [00:11:17] Yeah, it was a made up drink. But she said BJ pitched the line “with extra bitters.”.

Angela [00:11:23] Yeah. So it got me curious if any component of this drink exists in the world. Right?

Jenna [00:11:28] Okay.

Angela [00:11:29] First thing, the f train is real.

Jenna [00:11:32] Oh, yeah. It goes to Brooklyn.

Angela [00:11:33] That’s right. It operates from 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens, all the way to Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

Jenna [00:11:40] Mm hmm. I’ve taken it many times. I have a friend who lives in Brooklyn, and all I know is if I get on the train, you’ll make it there. In fact, it was the first train I ever took all by myself. It was the first subway ride I ever took solo.

Angela [00:11:53] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:11:54] The f train.

Angela [00:11:55] Secondly. There is a real cocktail called the Brooklyn. There’s not one called the F Train to Brooklyn, but there is a cocktail called the Brooklyn. In fact, Jenna, did you know that there are cocktails named after four of the five New York boroughs?

Jenna [00:12:11] Well, I know there’s a Manhattan and I love it.

Angela [00:12:13] Yes. The cool thing about these drinks, too, is they date back to so long ago. I got to nerd out a little bit over cocktails and when they were created and the first time they were ever printed and all that stuff. So here goes. Here are all the cocktails from New York City’s boroughs. You’ve mentioned the Manhattan. Probably the most famous one. It’s composed of whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters, and typically served in a cocktail glass. Of the five drinks, it is the only one considered one of the, quote, unforgettables on the IBA list of official cocktails.

Jenna [00:12:46] Oh, I see. Okay.

Angela [00:12:48] Yes. Okay. The Manhattan is said to have originated at a banquet hosted by Lady Randolph Churchill at the Manhattan Club in the late 19th century. Next up, there is a cocktail named The Bronx. And The Bronx consists of gin, vermouth and orange juice. The Bronx was a pre-prohibition cocktail, and it appears in the 1908 book The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them.

Jenna [00:13:13] I’m intrigued. It sounds good.

Angela [00:13:15] Next up, we have The Brooklyn, which is why we’re here today. A Brooklyn consists of rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur or maraschino cherries and amer picone. The Brooklyn first appeared in print in 1908 in Jacob A Grohoski’s book, Jack’s Manual. Many cocktail experts feel like The Brooklyn fell out of favor because it has a fairly obscure component that’s very hard to get in the United States.

Jenna [00:13:42] Is it the last thing you said?

Angela [00:13:44] Amer picone. It was a French aperitif.

Jenna [00:13:46] Oh.

Angela [00:13:47] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:13:47] Okay. I wonder if there’s a substitute. I wonder what it tastes like.

Angela [00:13:52] Well, people have substituted it with a different type of bitters, but it was very popular in the early 20th century and largely fell into obscurity after prohibition.

Jenna [00:14:01] I see.

Angela [00:14:02] Next up, we have Queens. The cocktail. A Queens consists of gin, vermouth and pineapple juice. This drink dates back to 1930, appearing in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book.

Jenna [00:14:15] Isn’t gin and vermouth a martini? Isn’t that what you make a martini out of?

Sam [00:14:20] Yes.

Jenna [00:14:21] Right. Okay. So we’re making a martini and then we’re throwing a little pineapple juice in it.

Angela [00:14:25] That’s The Queens. Lastly, Staten Island is the only borough without a cocktail.

Jenna [00:14:31] Staten Island?

Angela [00:14:32] I know, but there is a Staten Island ferry cocktail.

Jenna [00:14:37] Oh?

Angela [00:14:37] And it’s named after the ferry that carries passengers between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island. It consists of Malibu rum and pineapple juice, resembling a pina colada. And this is one of the things said about this drink. It’s tropical flavoring as a satire on the fact that Staten Island is an island, though far removed from the tropics.

Jenna [00:14:57] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:14:59] It’s a little shade.

Jenna [00:15:00] Total diss drink.

Angela [00:15:02] I know. So in doing all of this research, I discovered so many old, old books about the art of making cocktails, recipes, how to serve them. For example, the Brooklyn is featured in the book, Jack’s Manual. If you go online and try to find it, there are a few original versions of this book. It’s super old. And they go for hundreds of dollars. I found one that was over $1,000. If you’re a collector of these old mixology books.

Jenna [00:15:27] That’s what I was going to say. What is Jack’s manual? Is that a drink manual?

Angela [00:15:31] Yes.

Jenna [00:15:31] Cocktails.

Angela [00:15:32] Mmhmm. Cocktails.

Jenna [00:15:33] Oh, okay.

Angela [00:15:34] I really wanted to see the original books and the pages of the books, and I found a website that’s so cool. It’s called EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books. They have gone and found these super old books and they’ve put them online as the images appear in the book. You know what I mean? And you click a button and it makes a little page turn noise. And it’s like you’re flipping through the old book. Ye olde books. It was so cool. I’ll put it in stories. So I have Jack’s manual. I have the actual original Brooklyn recipe that was in this book that was printed in 1908. I’ll put it all in stories. I geeked out over it. But you guys, I’m not done. You thought I was done.

Jenna [00:16:15] I did. I did think you were done.

Angela [00:16:16] Now, some of you may or may not know this, but my husband, Josh, used to bartend in his twenties and was a mixologist for a restaurant.

Jenna [00:16:25] Did he know any of these drinks? Has anyone walked in and said, Give me a Brooklyn?

Angela [00:16:29] No. He did not know The Brooklyn. He obviously knew the Manhattan. But I shared this whole story with him. He was part of this whole journey with me. And he said, you know, Ange, I would like to try creating and trying an F Train to Brooklyn.

Jenna [00:16:41] Oh!

Angela [00:16:42] With extra bitters. He took inspiration from the original Brooklyn recipe from 1908. Josh added his twist to it with a special ingredient. Secret ingredient. He made the cocktail last night. I brought it here with me. And I’m going to serve it to you. This is Josh’s F Train to Brooklyn, extra bitters.

Jenna [00:17:01] I’m so excited. Will you remind me what is in a Brooklyn?

Angela [00:17:05] Yes. Rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and amer picone.

Jenna [00:17:10] I am very excited. This is the one. This is the one outside of the Manhattan that I was most interested in.

Sam [00:17:16] This is just the thing Cassi needs to get that extra push to get these balls untangled.

Angela [00:17:20] Okay. Here’s the thing, you guys. It’s going to take a minute of assembly. I mean, when Josh made it, it was beautiful. I mean, I have the shaker. I have instructions from him. And I have pictures of him making it. I’ll share in stories.

Jenna [00:17:31] Well, maybe we should take a break. And when we come back, we’ll all have our cocktail and let you know how it is?

Angela [00:17:36] Yeah, and I will put this recipe on Office Ladies pod, but I’m not going to tell it to you yet, because I want you to have the reveal of the secret ingredient.

Jenna [00:17:44] I am very excited for this day. We’ll be right back. Okay. We are back.

Angela [00:17:52] Okay.

Jenna [00:17:53] Sam and Cassi are here.

Sam [00:17:55] Hello.

Angela [00:17:55] I have made Josh’s F Train to Brooklyn, extra bitters. I want you guys to know, one of the reasons why he jumped in as I started this endeavor is there is a special ingredient. It’s the F ingredient.

Sam [00:18:07] Now, does this ingredients start with an F?

Angela [00:18:09] Yes, it does. But I was starting to make this drink, and Josh was like, That’s going to be disgusting. I was doing my idea of it. He goes, you can’t have another beet vodka. And I was like, wait, Sam liked the beet vodka.

Cassi [00:18:22] Very earthy.

Angela [00:18:23] Very earthy. But anyway, so Josh was like, I’m gonna step in. I’m going to have you try his version, and then I’m going to tell you what my secret ingredient would have been. Okay, here you go.

Jenna [00:18:31] I want to say. I want to describe the drink.

Sam [00:18:33] Yeah, remind me what’s in it?

Jenna [00:18:35] It’s very pretty. It’s a sort of off pinkish color. It looks sort of like a dirty cosmopolitan. And you’ve put even a cherry.

Angela [00:18:45] Yes.

Jenna [00:18:45] On two toothpicks.

Angela [00:18:48] Because I didn’t have a long toothpick. I’ve tried to make it fancy.

Jenna [00:18:51] Well, and you’re serving it in a martini glass.

Angela [00:18:53] Yes, I am.

Jenna [00:18:53] I’m very excited.

Sam [00:18:55] Cheers, everyone.

Angela [00:18:55] Okay. Cheers, you guys. F Train to Brooklyn, extra bitters.

Jenna [00:19:01] All right… That is a great cocktail.

Sam [00:19:07] That’s fantastic.

Angela [00:19:07] I know!

Jenna [00:19:08] I would order that any time.

Sam [00:19:09] It’s really great.

Angela [00:19:10] Right? Do you like it too, Cassi?

Jenna [00:19:11] Wow.

Cassi [00:19:12] Yes. I’m trying to guess what the F is.

Angela [00:19:14] Okay.

Sam [00:19:15] I have a guess.

Cassi [00:19:15] I have a guess.

Jenna [00:19:15] I have a guess. Well, first of all, Angela threw us out of the recording studio because she said she didn’t want us to know the secret ingredient.

Angela [00:19:23] Uh huh.

Jenna [00:19:24] But it makes a sound. And we heard.

Cassi [00:19:27] We heard the sound.

Angela [00:19:28] Oh, I gave it away!

Jenna [00:19:29] We heard like a (MAKES NOISE).

Angela [00:19:29] Oh, I gave it away.

Jenna [00:19:31] So we’re each going to write down what we think the…

Angela [00:19:33] F ingredient is?

Jenna [00:19:35] The F ingredient is.

Angela [00:19:36] So this was Josh’s idea. I did not really know this at all. So this was all his idea.

Jenna [00:19:42] All right. Ready?

Angela [00:19:43] Yeah.

Jenna [00:19:43] We’re going to hold ’em up. One, two, three.

Angela [00:19:46] Okay, I have a Fanta. I have a Fresca. And I have a Fanta. It is Fresca!

All [00:19:51] Ohhhhh!

Angela [00:19:53] Sam got it! So, yes, here is Josh’s recipe, you guys. And it’s really good. He did one and a half ounces of rye whiskey. Half an ounce of dry vermouth. One fourth ounce maraschino cherry juice. 2 to 3 drops of bitters. Fresca. And he garnished it with a maraschino cherry.

Sam [00:20:12] It’s fantastic.

Jenna [00:20:13] So it doesn’t have that weird French liqueur in it?

Angela [00:20:16] No, you can’t get it. And even that French liqueur isn’t even made the same way anymore.

Jenna [00:20:21] Okay, so that’s why this is the F Train to Brooklyn and not the Brooklyn.

Angela [00:20:24] That’s right.

Jenna [00:20:25] I think Josh has invented a drink.

Sam [00:20:27] Yeah. Tell him great job and great job to you as well.

Angela [00:20:29] Thank you. Well, guess what? When he stepped in, I was going to infuse rye whiskey with a fig I had cut in half, and he.

Cassi [00:20:38] That is beet vodka all over again.

Angela [00:20:38] But he was like, he’s like, no, no, no, no, Angela, you can’t do that to them. Don’t. And I was like, What? It could work. And he goes, It won’t work.

Jenna [00:20:45] I think it could have worked.

Angela [00:20:46] He said, it would have to be a dried fig. I was just chopping into a fig.

Jenna [00:20:50] Oh.

Angela [00:20:51] He said it would get real funky.

Sam [00:20:52] When you first set it in the booth, I was like, Oh God. Fish. That was my first fee-

Cassi [00:20:55] Oh no.

Jenna [00:20:56] Anything F.

Sam [00:20:57] Yeah.

Angela [00:20:58] Isn’t that a great drink?

Sam [00:21:00] This is fantastic.

Jenna [00:21:00] It’s a great drink.

Angela [00:21:00] Yeah. Well, way to go, Josh.

Jenna [00:21:04] Way to go, both of you.

Angela [00:21:06] Thank you.

Sam [00:21:07] I hope we all finish ours. And by the end of this episode, it’s another one where we’re all like, I love you guys.

Angela [00:21:11] I love you so much.

Sam [00:21:13] I love this pod.

Angela [00:21:13] All right. Let’s get back to the episode.

Jenna [00:21:18] Well, I’m very excited to break down this episode with my cocktail. I haven’t even finished my cup of coffee yet. It’s 10:15 in the morning.

Angela [00:21:27] You might have to do both. You might have to do caffeine and cocktail back and forth. Before we get into this episode, did you notice that the entire episode is only 18 minutes long?

Jenna [00:21:39] No.

Angela [00:21:40] My daughter Isabel pointed it out to me. She said, Mom, that felt so short, when we watched the second one.

Jenna [00:21:46] Okay.

Angela [00:21:46] And I was like, it did. And she goes, Mom, can you see how long it was? Because I don’t think it’s as long as a regular episode. And I went and I checked and she was right. It was 18 minutes.

Jenna [00:21:56] Hmm.

Angela [00:21:57] So when it aired as one episode, obviously it was a big episode. But when they split it in two, it wasn’t quite enough for that full 22 minutes.

Jenna [00:22:04] It seems like maybe the first half ran a little longer? They took up more time. I did notice that there no traditional cold open here. We just pick up right where we left off in the last episode. Jim had broken the window and it’s now been patched up with cardboard. It’s still cold because everyone’s had to put their coats on.

Angela [00:22:24] I was so happy this day filming.

Jenna [00:22:26] I know. It was the one day we were actually warm.

Angela [00:22:29] Oh, when they were like, You’re going to wear a coat all day. I was like, wahoo!

Jenna [00:22:33] I noticed that the bass player is still there. Even after he was at a party where the window broke, he’s going to keep playing the bass. I thought it was admirable.

Angela [00:22:42] He’s professional.

Jenna [00:22:43] Remember last week when I said he was played by Jonathan Pintoff, but that if you go to IMDB, this was his only credit?

Angela [00:22:49] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:22:50] I asked Randy Cordray about that. He said that’s because he wasn’t an actor. He was an actual accomplished professional bass player. He said we used our music contractor to hire someone to play the bass. And Jonathan worked with us for two days.

Angela [00:23:05] He was so nice. You know, I was stuck in the conference room for a lot of these scenes when the snowball fights were happening, and it was just really nice to get to know Jonathan and have a whole different energy on set. Like a musician.

Jenna [00:23:17] Mm hmm. You know, we also had a fan ketch from Amelia G in New York for this scene. Amelia said, I love the details that go into each episode. I noticed that the boxes that Holly used to carry in her things are the boxes they used to cover up the window after Jim throws a snowball into it.

Angela [00:23:35] Oh, my God.

Jenna [00:23:36] Yeah, I checked. Same boxes.

Angela [00:23:37] That’s applause catch.

Jenna [00:23:39] I know.

Angela [00:23:39] Applause.

Jenna [00:23:40] Very good. Very, very good.

Angela [00:23:41] Well, Michael and Holly are going to come together despite all their tension, and they’re going to reprimand Jim and Dwight. Jenna’s taking a sip of her cocktail.

Jenna [00:23:52] It’s very good.

Angela [00:23:54] They’re going to reprimand Jim and Dwight, and they need to knock it off, right? Before someone really gets hurt. Did you catch at one minute, 7 seconds when Holly says, Dwight’s right. What you did was dangerous and inappropriate. I’m really surprised at you guys. Like she’s totally chastising Jim. But Jim is the one that has blood all over his shirt.

Jenna [00:24:17] Yes. Yes.

Angela [00:24:18] And she’s siding with Dwight. And then Michael makes up this whole elaborate story right on the spot. I couldn’t believe how quickly he came up with the story. I felt like we needed to hear it. And then I need to share some candy bag alts for it.

Michael [00:24:32] All this arguing reminds me a very funny story. You see this on my desk? Know, who gave me this? My girlfriend, Tara, who lives in New York City.

Dwight [00:24:44] Wait. What girlfriend?

Michael [00:24:45] I haven’t told you about her.

Dwight [00:24:47] No. I find that unlikely. You email me when you get a new zit.

Michael [00:24:50] I’m a man in my mid-forties and I still get zits. I think that’s pretty interesting. But you know what? I am not on trial here. The Scranton Strangler is. So anyway, we have this great weekend and she drives me to the airport and we get to JFK, but I’m flying out of LaGuardia. So we laugh and laugh and laugh. And then we spend the rest of the day walking around slo mo, drinking latte. And at the end of the day, she gives me this and she says, Michael, maybe next time you should take a cab.

Holly [00:25:17] I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.

Michael [00:25:19] I do. She is.

Jenna [00:25:21] I loved that couplet at the end because he’s answering two things. Holly says, Michael, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. And he says, I do. But he’s also answering the imaginary question, Is she real?

Angela [00:25:36] She is.

Jenna [00:25:36] She is.

Angela [00:25:38] So I went to the candy bag alts to see if they had anything different in the script during his big speech. And they did.

Jenna [00:25:45] Oh, wow.

Angela [00:25:46] And it all centered over one line. So the line was, And my ticket was for LaGuardia. And we laughed and laughed. And then he had three alts.

Jenna [00:25:54] Okay.

Angela [00:25:55] Here’s the first one. We laughed and laughed and spent the rest of the day eating hotdogs in Times Square.

Jenna [00:26:01] Okay.

Angela [00:26:02] And we laughed and laughed and spent the rest of the day climbing the steps from Rocky.

Jenna [00:26:08] Okay.

Angela [00:26:10] Which, by the way, different city.

Jenna [00:26:12] It is?

Angela [00:26:12] That’s in Philadelphia.

Jenna [00:26:14] I didn’t know that.

Angela [00:26:15] Yeah.

Jenna [00:26:15] Oh, my gosh. That’s so funny.

Angela [00:26:18] Next one. And we laughed and laughed and spent the rest of the day making love on the top of the Empire State Building.

Jenna [00:26:26] I love, walking slo mo.

Angela [00:26:28] I do, too.

Jenna [00:26:30] In the next scene, Pam is going to show Phyllis her comic book.

Angela [00:26:34] Yeah. And I’m guessing if anyone ever starts a conversation by saying, So you went homemade this year? That is some sass.

Jenna [00:26:42] Phyllis gave Michael a homemade oven mitt. Does she not remember?

Angela [00:26:47] It doesn’t matter for Phyllis. She’s going to judge you. It doesn’t matter. Also, she makes Ryan a homemade gift in this episode.

Jenna [00:26:54] Exactly. What’s going on, Phyllis?

Angela [00:26:57] Mmhmm.

Jenna [00:26:58] I guess only your handmade gifts are worthwhile?

Angela [00:27:01] Yeah.

Jenna [00:27:02] Hmm.

Angela [00:27:03] Well, the drama is going to crank up a notch because Holly is coming in wide open, as my dad would say.

Jenna [00:27:09] Yeah, she’s found her Woody doll. Remember, at the end of last week’s episode, Michael threw it in the trash and poured coffee over it?

Angela [00:27:16] Hot coffee.

Jenna [00:27:17] Yeah. Because A.J. gave her the Woody doll, and he was all upset.

Angela [00:27:22] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:27:22] Well, she’s found it, and she is demanding to know who defaced the Woody doll.

Angela [00:27:28] Phyllis really quickly says, Well, Erin doesn’t seem to like you. And then Toby like, It sounds like it was Michael. Angela also agrees. Yeah, it was probably Michael. Kevin, in classic Kevin form, says, Wait, guys. Toy Story is all about toys that come to life when people aren’t looking. You don’t think it’s not possible that Woody did this to himself? This cracked me up, but also reminded me how the writers said, with each season, Kevin just got more ridiculous.

Jenna [00:27:57] Yes. Well, I had a very, I don’t know, odd catch as I was watching this scene, I just observed the number of poinsettia that we had on the set. They were all white.

Angela [00:28:11] They were everywhere.

Jenna [00:28:12] Last week, we had a bunch. They were red.

Angela [00:28:15] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:28:15] And it just got me curious about the poinsettia.

Angela [00:28:18] Oh, you’re about to break it down? I’m going to have a sip of my cocktail. Go.

Jenna [00:28:22] In my research, I found out that poinsettia come in red, white, pink, purple, multicolor and salmon pink.

Angela [00:28:32] Okay. I knew about salmon pink. I don’t know how I knew that. But purple?

Jenna [00:28:37] Yeah. They are indigenous to Mexico and Central America. But here’s the big thing. I always heard that if you have a cat, you can’t have a poinsettia because.

Angela [00:28:49] They’re poisonous!

Jenna [00:28:49] They’re poisonous.

Angela [00:28:50] Yes, I’ve heard that, too.

Jenna [00:28:52] Guess what?

Angela [00:28:52] What?

Jenna [00:28:53] They are not poisonous. It is an urban legend. Not poisonous, everybody. I guess that in the early 1900s, a boy was found dead in a wild poinsettia pasture? I don’t know. And they assumed that he had eaten a leaf and it had poisoned him, and he had died. And this just lived on in lore for years and years and years and years and years and years. But according to poison dot org, after many studies throughout history, no study has ever found the plant to actually be fatal. In fact, a study at Ohio State University showed that a 50 pound child would have to eat more than 500 poinsettia leaves to have any harmful effect at all.

Angela [00:29:41] I mean, I feel like eating 500 leaves of most things would not be good.

Jenna [00:29:46] Yes. I think if you ate 500 daisies, you might not feel good.

Angela [00:29:50] Right?

Jenna [00:29:52] Here’s what they said. Quote, In most cases, exposure to any parts of the poinsettia plant in children or pets has very little, if any, effect. If swallowed, it may cause mild irritation, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Touching it may cause a rash. There have been reports of gardeners who work with the plant frequently developing a rash from handling the plant. No death.

Angela [00:30:15] No death for cats.

Jenna [00:30:17] No. For anybody. For people or pets or anything. You might get, you know, a cat who has some diarrhea.

Angela [00:30:27] This is going to change my decorating this year.

Jenna [00:30:29] That’s what I thought! I have avoided the poinsettia my whole cat owning life.

Angela [00:30:35] Yeah.

Jenna [00:30:37] There you go. And I kept looking at various things because I was like, I don’t want to get this wrong.

Angela [00:30:41] You want to make sure. Don’t put it out there.

Jenna [00:30:42] Poison dot org. And other websites. There you go. Right?

Angela [00:30:49] Yeah. Mm hmm. Michael is going to fess up. He laughs. He’s, like, surprise! It was part of the party. Pretty funny, huh? Holly’s like, You think this is funny? And then, oh my gosh, the groan factor. Michael says, I don’t. But someday I think we will laugh about this when we tell our kids. Everyone is like, ugh. I had to know, what did it say in the script at this moment? Because Jim says, Yikes. Kevin says, Oh, no, that’s not happening. Dwight says, Dear God in heaven. I’m like, was that scripted? That sounds not scripted. So I went to the script and it just simply said, Everyone groans. So John, Brian and Rainn’s improvs made it in.

Jenna [00:31:41] Very well done.

Angela [00:31:43] I love that Dwight is like, Dear God in heaven. Michael’s going to start to spiral. He does that thing, Jenna, where he has his huge, like, confession of his relationship in front of everyone. He’s like, I threw this whole party for you. The whole thing. He’s going to storm off to his office. Erin will follow. I have a random background catch.

Jenna [00:32:06] What is it?

Angela [00:32:06] And I need your help out there, folks. I need your help. At 5 minutes, 34 seconds, did you all notice that little white Christmas tree on Michael’s desk? It has, like, a silver base, and it looks like it lights up. It’s tiny. My grandmother had one. My grandmother Kinsey had one that she would sit on her end table. I’ve always wanted one. I feel like it’s something you would get at- Jenna’s pouring herself some coffee.

Jenna [00:32:31] Sorry. I have had so much of the cocktail. I’m feeling it. It’s so good. I can’t stop sipping it.

Angela [00:32:38] Cassi is nodding and laughing.

Jenna [00:32:41] How are you guys doing in the booth?

Sam [00:32:43] Great.

Jenna [00:32:44] Yeah.

Sam [00:32:45] Honestly, doing great.

Angela [00:32:46] Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Jenna [00:32:48] I mean it’s-

Sam [00:32:49] Oh, no, it’s Friday now.

Cassi [00:32:50] It’s Thursday.

Angela [00:32:50] Oh, no, it’s Thursday. I said, Happy Wednesday.

Jenna [00:32:53] It’s also. It’s 10:45.

Angela [00:32:56] I said, Happy Wednesday.

Jenna [00:32:56] It’s so early. I’m sorry, Angela, to interrupt you. You want this Christmas tree? Clearly.

Angela [00:33:04] My grandmother had one, and I can’t find it. I do feel like it was like one of those Spencer Gifts kind of things, because I, I remember there was a little switch on the base, and then it would all light up. There are two in this episode.

Jenna [00:33:15] One on Michael’s desk. And where’s the other one?

Angela [00:33:17] I’m going to wait and reveal it.

Jenna [00:33:19] Oh! We’re going to have to wait, folks.

Angela [00:33:22] Michael is going to change out of his sassy Santa costume, back into his street clothes. And Jim is going to find a gift on his desk.

Jenna [00:33:32] To Pickles from Swiss Cheese.

Angela [00:33:34] Yeah, it says, Hey, Pickles. Merry Christmas. Open immediately. Love Swiss Cheese. I mean, what the heck? Swiss Cheese?

Jenna [00:33:43] We had a fan mail flurry, Angela. Amy L from Burlington, Ontario, Canada and many others said, When Jim opens what he thinks is a gift from Pam, he reads the card. You know, Hey, Pickles. Blah, blah, blah. Love, Swiss Cheese.

Angela [00:33:56] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:33:57] That immediately made me think of when Michael called Pam’s mom Pickle during the boardroom scene of The Lover.

Angela [00:34:03] What?

Jenna [00:34:04] Given how Pam felt about that relationship, I was surprised to hear that Jim and Pam adopted that term of endearment for themselves. However, one theory is that after hearing Michael call Helene Pickle, they ironically called each other Pickle as a joke. What do you think?

Angela [00:34:21] Yeah, the Pickle threw me. I’m not gonna lie, Amy. I like your theory that it became a joke between the two of them.

Jenna [00:34:26] I’ll tell you what Mindy Kaling said.

Angela [00:34:28] Oh!

Jenna [00:34:29] She said that when picking the names Pickle and Swiss Cheese, her requirements were, would I actually say this to a boyfriend? And, is it nauseating to an outside person?

Angela [00:34:40] Well, yes, to both, I guess.

Jenna [00:34:42] That’s what she decided. That’s how she was going to pick these pet names. It was not based on the Helene thing when Mindy was writing.

Angela [00:34:50] I was very curious about pet names that you have for your significant other. Josh and I call each other babe. Babe. Babe. Babe. Babe. We say babe a lot.

Jenna [00:35:00] Lee and I call each other lover.

Angela [00:35:02] You say lover?

Jenna [00:35:03] No, I’m teasing you because you hate it so much when people call each other lover.

Angela [00:35:08] Well, listen, I did a show, Jenna knows this.

Jenna [00:35:09] I do. You shared it on the pod.

Angela [00:35:13] I did. Oh, my God. It was so awkward. I would be sitting there on stage and they’d be like, Lover, lover, you missed your line, lover. I’d be like, Oh, my God, please get me out of here.

Jenna [00:35:24] I think we call each other babe.

Angela [00:35:26] Okay, so you say babe. Cassi, Sam. Pet names that you’ve had for significant others?

Sam [00:35:31] I’m just a big hun. Simple.

Angela [00:35:33] Yeah. Cassi?

Cassi [00:35:36] Yeah, I’m not a big nickname person.

Sam [00:35:39] It’s all business with Cassi.

Cassi [00:35:40] Well, yeah, it’s all business. Or just shortening the name. Like Brian to Bri.

Angela [00:35:44] Oh, I like that. That counts, though. Actually, Bri counts.

Jenna [00:35:48] Lee sometimes calls me darlin’ because he’s from Texas, so I love it. Oh, when we were dating and he would call me darlin, it was just, ooh it would melt my heart.

Angela [00:35:57] Jenna’s taking another sip of her cocktail.

Jenna [00:35:59] I’m literally going between cocktail and coffee. I don’t know what’s happening to me today.

Angela [00:36:04] Well, I was very curious about these pet names, and I found a fascinating survey. Dr. Thibodaux, you would love this. There is so much data. It was on a website called The Black Tux dot com, and I’m quoting them. They wrote, We surveyed 100 couples in all 50 United States and asked them, What pet name for your partner do you use most often? We then broke down the trends of these 5000 responses by state, region, gender and generation.

Jenna [00:36:35] Oh, that is fascinating.

Angela [00:36:37] Yeah. There were lots of maps, lots of, like, percentages. You’d really like it. I’ll put it in stories, Jenna. But here we go. In 41 out of the 50 states, the reigning most popular pet name in the United States is- drumroll… Babe or baby.

Jenna [00:36:56] Hmm.

Angela [00:36:57] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:36:58] Okay.

Angela [00:36:58] Second contender for most popular pet name in the United States is honey, hun, or honeybunch. Sam.

Jenna [00:37:06] Honeybunch?

Angela [00:37:07] Honeybunch. And the third most popular is dear. They had so much data. It’s really interesting. They had, like, Gen Z and the millennials. Like, they had everybody. The Boomers, like what they say. It was very interesting.

Jenna [00:37:22] You know, something else happens in this scene. Jim opens the box, and it is not a gift from Swiss Cheese. It is a little mechanical.

Angela [00:37:25] Catapult.

Jenna [00:37:33] Like snowball launcher. Yeah.

Angela [00:37:34] Yeah.

Jenna [00:37:35] And it launches a snowball into Jim’s face. This was another Phil Shea contraption where he had to hire the folks at Hand Prop Room to create a tiny machine that didn’t exist. These guys were asked a couple of weeks ago to make a toilet paper de plier, and now they’re making a tiny snowball launcher.

Angela [00:37:53] A little catapult machine.

Jenna [00:37:55] I have a question for you.

Angela [00:37:57] Okay.

Jenna [00:37:57] Is today Toby’s favorite day of his life? He’s holding court. People are hanging on his every word.

Angela [00:38:07] I think it is his favorite day.

Jenna [00:38:10] I mean. Why are you laughing so hard? Are you drunk?

Angela [00:38:14] No, I’m not yet. But I’m laughing because you went- you you became when I was glitchy up in there in my closet.

Jenna [00:38:23] What?

Angela [00:38:23] When, when we would record from our closets and I would have a time lapse, because my wifi was so bad, you were just that but in real time. You went, Is today Toby’s favorite day? Like-

Jenna [00:38:37] No, I did not.

Angela [00:38:38] It was really slow.

Sam [00:38:39] You did a bit. It’s that that cocktail coffee combo.

Jenna [00:38:43] Oh, no! Oh no!

Sam [00:38:45] You were traveling in the future and in the past through time.

Jenna [00:38:49] Oh, no, this is not good. We’re not even halfway done.

Angela [00:38:55] We might have to take a break and have some water.

Jenna [00:38:58] Yes. Let us take a break and have some water. And when we get back, we’re going to, I don’t even know what we’re going to do. Oh, we’re going to go to the warehouse and meet a Grinch. We’ll be right back.

Angela [00:39:13] We are back. We have had water, we’ve had popcorn, we’ve had some veggie sticks, a cheese stick.

Sam [00:39:19] Cassi got one ball for you.

Jenna [00:39:20] Oh, yeah.

Angela [00:39:20] Cassi got a ball free.

Jenna [00:39:21] We have a big update over the break.

Angela [00:39:24] Clacky ball.

Jenna [00:39:25] One ball is free. One of five. So. Angela?

Angela [00:39:29] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:39:30] What’s happening?

Angela [00:39:34] I thought you were doing better.

Jenna [00:39:36] What? I am.

Angela [00:39:38] Okay. Well, I’ll tell you what’s happening, Jenna.

Jenna [00:39:42] Yep.

Angela [00:39:42] Jada is bored. And Darryl is scrambling. But Pam has an idea, and at 6 minutes, 41 seconds, as she walks into Darryl’s office, there is another miniature white Christmas tree.

Jenna [00:39:56] Where is it?

Angela [00:39:56] On top of the water cooler. It’s my grandmother’s Christmas tree.

Jenna [00:40:02] Don’t you wish you could just ask them if you could have it? They might have given it to you way back then if you thought of it.

Angela [00:40:08] I know. I know.

Jenna [00:40:09] Pam’s idea is to lead Darryl and Jada down to the warehouse. There is Christmas music playing. There’s a little- I don’t know what you would call it. A tiny maze?

Angela [00:40:20] Yeah.

Jenna [00:40:21] But not really a maze. But there’s kind of Christmas garland and things.

Angela [00:40:26] Yeah, it looks like they made an obstacle course of some kind with warehouse stuff.

Jenna [00:40:32] And Andy comes around the corner of a stack of boxes, and he’s got, like, you know, a lot of coats on him. And he’s done a makeshift Grinch costume, basically. And he says that someone has stolen the Christmas star.

Angela [00:40:48] Yeah.

Jenna [00:40:49] And maybe, maybe Jada can help find it.

Angela [00:40:52] Yeah, she has to do a few challenges.

Jenna [00:40:55] Her face lights up. She’s so excited. This is what she’s been waiting for.

Angela [00:41:00] Yeah. And then Andy says, You must answer topical political questions. How many congressmen in the state of Pennsylvania are guaranteed? And what other state has the equal number?

Jenna [00:41:13] She does not know.

Angela [00:41:14] This is a record scratch moment. What are these challenges? I was curious. I looked in the shooting draft. As the scene continues, Andy tries to hint to Jada what the other state is. He won’t let it go.

Jenna [00:41:29] Really?

Angela [00:41:29] Yeah. She’s like, I don’t know. And he goes, Come on. It starts with a I E, Illa- and then Darryl’s like, Oh, man. And Andy is correct. I looked it up. Both Pennsylvania and Illinois have 18 congressional seats in the House of Representatives.

Jenna [00:41:47] I looked it up as well.

Angela [00:41:48] Oh, what you got?

Jenna [00:41:49] Well, I found out that California has the most. They have 53.

Angela [00:41:55] Yes.

Jenna [00:41:56] I also learned that there are seven states that only have one. They are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. I found this very fascinating.

Angela [00:42:08] It is fascinating.

Jenna [00:42:09] You know, Pam says, Maybe we could do this another way. Maybe Jada is going to look for it and you tell her if she’s hot or cold.

Angela [00:42:18] Yeah, that’s a classic.

Jenna [00:42:19] Yeah. So he walks toward Jada and he says, You’re getting warmer. Warmer. You’re red hot. It’s right here in my coat.

Angela [00:42:27] And the game’s over.

Jenna [00:42:30] That lasted all of maybe 2 minutes. You know that Christmas music we hear in the background of the scene?

Angela [00:42:36] No.

Jenna [00:42:37] There’s a little bit of Christmas music. It sounded like it was from The Nutcracker.

Angela [00:42:41] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:42:42] I asked Randy. He said we paid $0 for the music in this scene because we reached out to the Universal Music supervisor who provided us with a list of public domain Christmas tunes. And then Randy sent me the list. Here’s what you can sing for free, everybody. Or play.

Angela [00:42:59] Ooh.

Jenna [00:43:01] Deck the Halls, Away in a Manger, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Oh, Christmas Tree, Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Lots of songs.

Angela [00:43:13] That’s a lot.

Jenna [00:43:14] I think they were recordings of those songs that were public domain. Maybe. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. You go singing things in a recording. But there was one song that I didn’t recognize.

Angela [00:43:27] Which one?

Jenna [00:43:28] It was called I Saw Three Ships.

Angela [00:43:31] Did you look that up?

Jenna [00:43:32] I did. And then I immediately recognized it as one of my favorite Christmas songs. And I’m going to play a clip for you.

Angela [00:43:39] Okay.

Unknown Singer [00:43:44] I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas day, on Christmas day. Saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning.

Jenna [00:43:55] Christmas Day in the morning. Right?

Angela [00:43:58] Yes.

Jenna [00:43:59] We love this song.

Angela [00:44:00] We love this song. It’s exactly what I thought it was. Once it played.

Jenna [00:44:04] Yeah, exactly. Our guests are about to arrive. First up, Senator Robert Lipton.

Angela [00:44:11] Yes. You need to go to 8 minutes, 34 seconds, if you want to see the happiest I think we’ve ever seen Angela Martin.

Jenna [00:44:17] Mm hmm. Oscar’s going to introduce himself. He’s going to shake hands with the senator, and then he’s going to have a talking head.

Angela [00:44:24] Yeah, he’s going to say, Robert seems great. He’s very handsome. Firm handshake. He’s gay. Good sense of humor.

Jenna [00:44:30] Mm hmm. And next, A.J. is going to walk in the door. He’s going to surprise Holly.

Angela [00:44:36] Michael is going to come out. He’s going to try to be the better man. He says, Nice to see you again, A.J. Welcome. And he’s like, Good trip down? A.J. is like, Yeah, it was great. Michael’s like, Good, good. You know, have fun, enjoy the par-tay. And then it cuts to Michael in his office and he says, I am dead inside. That made me laugh so hard. I had to rewind it and watch it again.

Jenna [00:44:59] We had a fan question from Annie S in Columbus, Ohio, who said, A.J. surprises Holly by showing up at the office Christmas party. However, the party is supposed to be a surprise.

Angela [00:45:09] Oh.

Jenna [00:45:09] To impress Holly on the day she returns. How did A.J. know about the party? He didn’t seem to be surprised to walk into a belated Christmas party at all.

Angela [00:45:18] I mean, don’t you feel like she called him and said, things are going sideways here, get over here? Oh, but he surprised her!

Jenna [00:45:25] Oh, yeah. I mean, if he was going to see her the day she came in town, wouldn’t he have just driven with her? Why didn’t he drive with her, by the way? If you were relocating to another city that was just a couple of hours away, wouldn’t Josh drive you there?

Angela [00:45:39] Yeah.

Jenna [00:45:40] Right?

Angela [00:45:40] Yeah.

Jenna [00:45:41] I mean, we already know things aren’t going that great with A.J. He’s about to get an ultimatum.

Angela [00:45:48] Things are finally going to turn around for Darryl. He takes Jada to the break room, and it’s full of vending machines. She can’t believe it. It’s so awesome. He has an idea. He’s going to let her get whatever she wants, as many things as she wants, and then they become Santa’s helpers.

Jenna [00:46:04] I loved this plot line. When I saw this, this 100% reminded me of the time that my dad brought me to work with him, and I had the same reaction to this room full of vending machines. Kids love to put the coins in a vending machine and press the buttons and see the little swirly thing release the item.

Angela [00:46:22] Yeah.

Jenna [00:46:22] So if I could have stood at a wall of vending machines with a bag of money and just gotten things out. Amazing. This tracked for me.

Angela [00:46:31] It was very sweet. Everyone starts opening gifts as well. Kevin got Oscar UGG boots for his feet. I love that Kevin’s like, They’re for your feet. Phyllis made Ryan a knitted iPad sleeve. Angela gives Creed a multipack of deodorant. Erin gives Andy a card to help him stop biting his nails. And Jenna, Sam, and Cassi, it’s time for Santa Kinz.

Sam [00:46:55] Aww.

Jenna [00:46:56] What is going on today?

Angela [00:46:57] It’s Santa Kinz!

Sam [00:46:58] I don’t know what this is, but yay!

Angela [00:47:02] Santa Kinz decided to get you guys gifts in two of the most unlikely places.

Sam [00:47:08] Okay.

Angela [00:47:09] Cat Con and Martha Stewart.

Sam [00:47:12] Yes.

Angela [00:47:13] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:47:13] Wow.

Sam [00:47:14] Our queen.

Jenna [00:47:14] A cocktail and presents?

Angela [00:47:16] That’s right. Because it’s Classy Christmas. All right. First of all, I went to Cat Con. It’s a convention for people who love cats. There’s cats there. There’s famous cats. There’s every cat thing you could want. There’s cat art. There’s cat clothes. People dress as cats.

Sam [00:47:32] Cassi just lit up.

Angela [00:47:33] Uh huh. And also, they sponsor a huge cat adoption center, and almost 200 cats were adopted this year. So a lot of good things happening. It’s great fun. And I bought you all gifts there. And I’m going to start with Cat Con and then I’m going to move on to Martha.

Jenna [00:47:52] Cassi, I’ll go with you next year because when Angela was describing Cat Con to me, I was like, I want to go next year.

Angela [00:47:59] Oh, our son Cade wants to go every year now. So we’ll just get a group.

Jenna [00:48:02] My daughter will want to go to this as well.

Angela [00:48:05] Yeah. And you dress up. I wore cat ears like you just you go for it.

Jenna [00:48:10] I just want to make sure everybody understands that Angela was just a guest at Cat Con. She wasn’t speaking there or making any kind of professional appearance.

Angela [00:48:18] No, this was not a work gig in any way. We just wanted to go see cats, and we did. And then I bought a lot of stuff. All right, so, Jenna, go first.

Jenna [00:48:29] All right.

Angela [00:48:30] This is from an artist that all she does, you guys, for the most part, are cats and plants. So, you know, I loved it. I had to get one that resembled Oreo. And Jenna… It’s Sonny cat!

Jenna [00:48:44] It’s so cute!

Angela [00:48:45] It’s so cute.

Cassi [00:48:46] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:48:47] It’s an orange kitty cat laying in a box.

Angela [00:48:49] Yes.

Jenna [00:48:50] I love it.

Angela [00:48:51] And he barely fits. So I feel like he’s that hashtag, if I fits, I sits.

Cassi [00:48:55] Yes.

Angela [00:48:55] And that’s by this artist named Leeza. She was lovely. All right, Cassi, go.

Cassi [00:49:00] Okay. Oh. Oh.

Angela [00:49:04] Cassi got a cat wallet!

Sam [00:49:04] Oh wow.

Cassi [00:49:05] It’s so cute.

Jenna [00:49:09] It’s really cute.

Angela [00:49:10] It’s little cat wallet.

Cassi [00:49:13] Oh my gosh, yes.

Angela [00:49:13] It’s got little kitties all over it. It’s very cute. And then, Sam, you got the most random.

Sam [00:49:19] I’m very excited for this.

Angela [00:49:19] But very funny.

Jenna [00:49:21] Sam does not have a cat.

Angela [00:49:22] Okay, you guys should know, the Australian firefighters do a calendar every year where the hottest firefighters hold kittens. I met all of them. I got their calendar.

Cassi [00:49:35] Yes!

Jenna [00:49:36] Oh. Oh, my gosh!

Sam [00:49:38] I mean this without sarcasm. Sometimes when people enter my home, I think, how will they know I’m bisexual? Now, it’s a slam dunk.

Angela [00:49:47] I know. They are so hot and they were so nice.

Sam [00:49:50] When people ask my sexuality, it’s this calendar.

Angela [00:49:53] The kittens are really cute. They raise money for Kitten Rescue. And then, Sam, for your walks, I got you- and you can take it to a concert, Sam!

Sam [00:50:01] Oh, cuz it’s clear?

Angela [00:50:02] Yes!

Sam [00:50:02] For everyone home, it’s a clear, shiny fanny pack.

Angela [00:50:05] Yes. Because if you go to a concert and I know you like to go, you have to have a clear bag. I learned that.

Sam [00:50:10] We just went to one. Oh, yeah. I bumped into Cassi at The Killers downtown were playing. And it was a- did you see the pile of purses outside the metal detector for people who didn’t want to go back to their car?

Angela [00:50:21] But look, Sam!

Jenna [00:50:21] I know. It’s great.

Sam [00:50:23] World’s best cat litter. This will be attending some raves. And I will send you many pictures.

Angela [00:50:28] Okay, great. So a few years ago, I went to a food festival where Martha Stewart was the key speaker. Everyone on her staff had to wear a puffer vest t-shirt. It’s a T-shirt, but it’s a puffer vest.

Jenna [00:50:43] I don’t understand.

Angela [00:50:45] Martha loves them. They’re part of her fall collection. I didn’t understand either. She couldn’t stop talking about them. She’d be like, Have you all looked at my puffer vests t-shirt? Cecile over here is wearing maroon. I think it looks amazing. I am in the green. That’s my Martha.

Sam [00:51:02] Spot on Martha.

Jenna [00:51:03] That’s a really good Martha Stewart.

Angela [00:51:04] Yes. She also shared that she likes her hens to have the eggs be a certain blue color. So she’s like, I feed them blueberries. Okay, well, now I had to- they sell out, you guys. These things sell out. I bought this months ago. You all get a Martha Stewart Puffer T-shirt!

Sam [00:51:22] What does that mean?

Jenna [00:51:22] What is it?

Angela [00:51:24] I got one for myself, too. Here we go. Jenna, you got it in black. You’ll have to put them on. Cassi, you got a mercury color. It’s called mercury.

Cassi [00:51:38] Ohh, mercury? Okay.

Angela [00:51:39] Sam! You got, oh, silver.

Sam [00:51:43] Thank you.

Angela [00:51:44] And I got Navy.

Jenna [00:51:46] I understand now. It’s just a short sleeved puffer jacket.

Angela [00:51:50] It’s a puffer jacket that looks like a T-shirt when you put it on.

Jenna [00:51:54] Instead of being a long sleeved jacket or a vest, it is a short sleeve puffer jacket. All right, hold on. I’ll put mine on as well.

Cassi [00:52:02] I love it. There’s pockets.

Angela [00:52:04] There’s pockets! Oh my god, Sam. You look amazing.

Sam [00:52:08] Oh, the pockets are like fleece.

Angela [00:52:10] Oh, yeah.

Cassi [00:52:10] Ooh. Comfy.

Angela [00:52:12] Did I get the right sizes?

Sam [00:52:14] You sure did.

Cassi [00:52:14] Yes.

Angela [00:52:14] Oh, my God. You guys look amazing. All right. Happy holidays, everybody.

Sam [00:52:21] Thank you, Santa Kinz.

Cassi [00:52:22] Thank you, Santa Kinz.

Angela [00:52:23] You’re welcome.

Jenna [00:52:26] That was amazing, Angela. You really brought it today. How did you get all this stuff in here without me seeing it?

Angela [00:52:32] I had to make two trips.

Jenna [00:52:33] How many bags of stuff did you bring in?

Angela [00:52:35] I had to make two trips. I made one trip and hid stuff in our desk area.

Jenna [00:52:40] Okay.

Angela [00:52:40] For a week. And then I brought everything else today.

Jenna [00:52:44] There are some other people exchanging gifts. They are Jim and Pam. It’s finally time. They’re in the break room.

Angela [00:52:51] Yes, I am calling this Christmas in the break room.

Jenna [00:52:54] You know, we had a fan question from Bill S in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and many others who wrote in to say, Pam and Jim are married and have a child at home. They presumably give each other gifts at home on Christmas Day like families do. So why do they give one another their most special presents at the office? This has never made sense to me.

Angela [00:53:16] It’s a valid question. And if I am sort of living in the world of the show, Jim and Pam met at Dunder Mifflin, the first gift exchange they ever had that really meant something to the two of them for their relationship happened there. I could see it being sort of a very sweet couple tradition that they sneak away somewhere in the office and they give each other a gift because of that very first Christmas.

Jenna [00:53:41] Angela, that is exactly what John and I decided on set during this episode.

Angela [00:53:48] Yay!

Jenna [00:53:48] We asked the same question. We said, Why would they give each other their big Christmas gift at work?

Angela [00:53:52] Yeah.

Jenna [00:53:52] It’s a little odd. And we talked about it as a group, and that is exactly what we said. And the other thing we said was that it’s supposed to be a homemade gift. So each year, in the tradition of the teapot and all of that, that they’re going to exchange a little homemade item at the office. Remember, there was that whole deleted runner that one Christmas episode where Pam and Jim are making gifts for one another…

Angela [00:54:17] From things that they found in the office?

Jenna [00:54:19] Yes. So this is the tradition.

Angela [00:54:21] That makes total sense. And then they might save other gifts for home. But at Dunder Mifflin, they give each other something they made.

Jenna [00:54:27] Yes, but of course, this year, Pam has really gone all out there and she’s made this comic book and she’s expecting that Jim has given her something. He gives her a box, and she shakes it and she says, Oh, is it pebbles from the beach in Jamaica?

Angela [00:54:43] I loved how hard you shook the box and he’s like, Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Jenna [00:54:47] Well, she opens it and it is a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet.

Angela [00:54:52] That Pam is clearly not expecting.

Jenna [00:54:55] No.

Angela [00:54:55] But Jim did have a good year.

Jenna [00:54:57] Mm hmm. We had a fan question from Michelle Q in Chicago. Is the bracelet Jim gives Pam the same one she’s wearing in the finale? Yes, it is. We saved this. Like we told you how every character had a wardrobe, had a closet in the wardrobe trailer. Pam also had a jewelry box. And all of her most special things, her wedding rings and her watch, and this bracelet would live there. And any time there was an occasion to dress up, she would wear this bracelet.

Angela [00:55:30] I love that Pam had a jewelry box. Angela also had a jewelry box.

Jenna [00:55:35] Oh, yeah?

Angela [00:55:35] Yeah. It mostly was cat earrings.

Jenna [00:55:38] And things like of that nature. Things you might find at a Cat Con.

Angela [00:55:42] Exactly.

Jenna [00:55:43] Pam is overwhelmed by this bracelet. Moved to tears. And now she is especially nervous about giving Jim her gift. But, I mean, Jim loves it. Loves it.

Angela [00:55:56] He’s speechless. He loves her. I want to backtrack for one second. There is a scene I thought was so sweet. Michael is giving Woody a bath in the bathroom sink- That sounds… Hey, now, hey, now. Jenna. The doll. He’s giving the doll a bath. At 10 minutes, 51 seconds, there’s a little tiny clothesline that Michael has made, and Woody’s clothes are hanging on it and his hat, and it’s the cutest thing.

Jenna [00:56:26] I really loved Steve’s performance in this little moment. I have to say, he just was doing it so earnestly and honestly. There wasn’t a lot behind it. He was cleaning it.

Angela [00:56:38] He was just trying to make something right.

Jenna [00:56:40] It was great. And then he’s going to try to sneak out of the office without saying goodbye. But Pam notices. She comes out after him and she says, I shouldn’t tell you this, but A.J. won’t commit to Holly. And she’s going to give him an ultimatum.

Angela [00:56:57] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:56:58] She sort of says, I don’t know, a lot of happy marriages that start off with an ultimatum.

Angela [00:57:04] And she tells Michael to just be patient. And he’s like, Yeah, I can do that. Yeah. And they’re going to walk back to get-.

Jenna [00:57:11] Oh! Oh! Ah! What?

Angela [00:57:12] What?! Ah?!

Jenna [00:57:15] It’s! It’s!

Angela [00:57:15] You scared the crap out of me!

Jenna [00:57:18] She did it! She did it!

Angela [00:57:18] Oh, my God. Cassi. Oh, my God! She did it! Cassi!

Jenna [00:57:25] Hold it up! Hold it up!

Angela [00:57:26] It took two weeks. Cassi, get over here.

Cassi [00:57:29] Two episodes to do.

Jenna [00:57:30] Here it is, everybody. The clacky balls are free. Listen.

Angela [00:57:34] Oh, my gosh. Cassi in two weeks undid what a toddler did in 30 seconds. But I’ve had this a year and no one who came to my house could undo it. Yay!

Cassi [00:57:46] Yay!

Angela [00:57:47] I can’t believe that. My kids are going to flip out. Cade is going to flip out. Cade has worked the hardest at it. Oh, my gosh.

Cassi [00:57:54] I didn’t think it was going to happen. And then it just. Yeah. After a cocktail it magically….

Angela [00:58:00] After the F Train to Brooklyn, it magically happened.

Jenna [00:58:03] It’s a magic elixir.

Angela [00:58:05] I mean, my kids are going to freak out. Like they are. They have tried so hard.

Sam [00:58:09] One visit from Santa Kinz and-.

Angela [00:58:11] I know.

Jenna [00:58:11] Wow. What an episode.

Angela [00:58:15] Woo! That scared the crap out of me.

Jenna [00:58:16] I know, because Angela’s back is to the door, so I could see Cassi.

Angela [00:58:19] I didn’t see. You were just screaming.

Sam [00:58:21] There was a Michael Myers element to it where she was behind you all of a sudden.

Angela [00:58:25] Is someone is going to attack me? Okay. I don’t know where we were.

Jenna [00:58:30] Well, I believe Michael was about to give Kelly her gift.

Angela [00:58:34] Yes. Michael and Pam have come back into the party. At 15 minutes, 12 seconds, we have a really hard core fakey bag. It’s a fakey paper bag.

Jenna [00:58:45] I can’t believe I missed it.

Angela [00:58:45] Oh, it’s substantial. But as Michael is trying to re gift this Hello, Kitty laptop sleeve. He overhears Holly and A.J..

Jenna [00:58:55] Yeah. AJ finds the Woody doll and he says, It smells. What happened?

Angela [00:58:59] And Holly makes up a total lie to protect Michael. She said it was her that spilled salad dressing on Woody.

Jenna [00:59:07] Bleu cheese salad dressing.

Angela [00:59:09] Yeah. Stinko.

Jenna [00:59:09] Michael kind of smiles. He realizes, you know, she’s protecting him.

Angela [00:59:15] Yeah. Michael is going to come through for Jada. He dresses up as the original Santa from the first part of the Christmas party, and he asks her, What do you want for Christmas? It’s a very sweet moment. Holly clocks it. It makes us all hopeful.

Jenna [00:59:30] Mm hmm.

Angela [00:59:31] And the episode is going to end with such a creepy scene.

Jenna [00:59:36] Yeah. Jim doesn’t want to leave the office. Earlier, he tried to form a truce with Dwight. Dwight did not accept. And he has to leave now. And he’s scared. Remember the last time he was down in the parking lot, Dwight hid in a snowman and pelted him with snowballs until his nose was bleeding?

Angela [00:59:53] Yeah.

Jenna [00:59:53] Right.

Angela [00:59:54] Pam is like, Come on, it’ll be fine. And then they step outside and there are like 20 snowmen, creepy snowmen staring at them. Jenna, it gave me major Squid Game vibes.

Jenna [01:00:08] Yeah, you’re right.

Angela [01:00:10] It’s like some weird part of Squid Game where, you know, they’re going to attack you.

Jenna [01:00:14] We had a fan question from Kaley D in Montreal, Canada, who said, What were the snowmen made of in the parking lot scene? How do you do this in the L.A. temperatures? Kaley, we talked a lot about this last week because it was very warm the week we were filming this episode, and these snowmen were made out of real snow. Rainn Wilson, who directed this episode, said that the snow effects for this episode required 100 tons of chipped ice.

Angela [01:00:42] Wow.

Jenna [01:00:43] In order to make these snowmen, the special effects team had built the metal molds, and they hand packed them. But unlike the one in the previous episode where the back was open so that Dwight could get in, you notice these are full snowmen.

Angela [01:00:57] Right. Because they run through them. And Jim, like, is attacking them with the umbrella, and they’re dense.

Jenna [01:01:05] Mindy said the snowmen took an entire day to build, and they also took a lot of maintenance. And the biggest thing that they had to worry about were footprints. They had to make sure that the footprints were only one person. So, you know, even though it took many people to place all these snowmen, it had to look like Dwight did it himself.

Angela [01:01:25] Oh, my gosh. That’s attention to detail, folks.

Jenna [01:01:28] Randy Cordray said for this whole episode, labor, materials, real and fake snow, making all the snowmen, the special effects budget was over $65,000.

Angela [01:01:39] Well, there was a lot.

Jenna [01:01:41] There was a lot. But guess what?

Angela [01:01:43] What?

Jenna [01:01:44] No one’s going to pop out of these snowman. Dwight is actually up on the roof. And he says, in the end, the greatest snowball is fear.

Both [01:01:53] Merry Christmas.

Angela [01:01:55] And that’s how the episode ends.

Jenna [01:01:57] Yeah. Pam and Jim are, like, just trying to make their way to their car. Jim starts attacking the snowmen. We had a final fan question from Grace B in Clinton, Arkansas. How did Jim and Pam get out of the parking lot?

Angela [01:02:09] That was my question! Because it’s solid snowmen. They would have had to driven through it.

Jenna [01:02:14] Yeah. Grace said, This keeps me up at night.

Angela [01:02:17] Yeah, me too, Grace.

Jenna [01:02:18] Grace, once I read your question and watched the scene, now it’s all I can think of. I can’t unsee it.

Angela [01:02:23] Yeah, me too. Well, that was Classy Christmas Two, everyone. Next week, we’re going to be back with Ultimatum. It is so good.

Jenna [01:02:30] A big thank you to Josh Snyder for this amazing F Train to Brooklyn drink. Thank you, Angela and Cade, for going to the Cat Con and bringing us these lovely gifts. And Martha Stewart, thank you. Thank you so much for designing a short sleeve puffer jacket that you call a puffer tee.

Angela [01:02:50] Yes, because it looks like a t shirt, but it’s a puffer.

Jenna [01:02:52] But t shirts don’t have zippers down the front.

Angela [01:02:55] This one does, Jenna. How dare you?

Jenna [01:02:57] Which is why it’s not a t shirt.

Angela [01:02:58] We also would like to thank Randy Cordray. Every week he gives us the best behind the scenes details. We love you, Randy.

Jenna [01:03:05] And of course, Tone Rodriguez, thank you so much for telling us about your comic book.

Angela [01:03:10] And to Cassi for undoing the clacky balls!

Jenna [01:03:13] This was a big week.

Angela [01:03:15] It was a big episode. You guys have a great week. We’ll see you next time.

Jenna [01:03:19] See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer, and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

Angela [01:03:41] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcher Premium dot com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code: office.