EP. 61 — Launch Party Part 2

OFFICE-061-20201203-LaunchParty2-SKv03.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 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.

Jenna [00:00:24] Hey, gang.

Angela [00:00:26] Hey, everybody.

Jenna [00:00:27] We are here this week to finish talking about Launch Party. It’s Launch Party, part two, and it is a launch party of the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website.

Both [00:00:39] It’s a big deal.

Angela [00:00:40] Jinx!

Jenna [00:00:41] Buy me a Coke. It’s Season four, Episode six, written by Jenna Celotta and directed by Ken Whittingham. Here is a summary.

Angela [00:00:52] Do it.

Jenna [00:00:52] This week, Michael returns to Scranton after realizing he was not invited to the big New York launch party for Dunder Mifflin Infinity, but instead he has to celebrate via webcam so he decides to ramp up the launch party in Scranton and he gives Angela a very long list of demands. Then he orders pizza, but when the pizza delivery guy refuses to honor Michael’s half off coupon, he holds him hostage in the conference room. Meanwhile, Andy tries to woo Angela to the dismay of Dwight.

Angela [00:01:28] Does he? He’s relentless.

Jenna [00:01:31] And a little charming.

Angela [00:01:32] And a little charming and a little douchey. We’ll get there.

Jenna [00:01:38] All right. Fast fact number one, we have a big guest star alert.

Angela [00:01:43] Yes. We’re so excited, you guys.

Jenna [00:01:45] The pizza delivery guy was played by Kevin McHale. Now, you guys probably know Kevin because he would go on to be a regular on the TV show Glee. But this was about two years before that happened. This appearance on The Office was one of his first television acting jobs. So we reached out to him to hear how it all went down.

Angela [00:02:06] Yeah. Kevin, thanks for let me slide into your DMs.

Jenna [00:02:11] Angela really slid into his DM’s, guys.

Angela [00:02:13] I always feel so weird, but he’s a very nice person. I was like, Hey, Angela and Jenna here, hello. And he was wonderful. He sent us in audio clips. And here is what he had to say, you guys, about coming in to audition for the role. It’s so charming. Sam, can you play that clip?

Kevin McHale [00:02:30] So what I remember about the audition is actually the callback, because the initial audition, no memory, but the callback I was waiting in the stairwell. It was me and Dave Franco and a couple other guys. And then one of the casting assistants comes out and says, oh, we’re going to start in a few minutes, but we just have to wait for Steve. And I’m someone who has terrible, terrible nerves. And I don’t know if my manager didn’t know and didn’t tell me, but I was very unaware that Steve Carell was going to read with us for the callback. And I went in I sat there and tried with all my might just to get the words out. And at some point, Steve Carell, like, chuckled, looked at the casting director and they chuckled. And I was like, oh, my God, I made him laugh. And that was it. Like, I if I didn’t get the job, I was happy enough just with that that I made he and Alison Jones laugh. By who, by the way, Alison Jones casting director, she was the first casting director to just continuously give me a chance when I hadn’t worked or booked anything. And she kept getting me further and further along in these jobs like this or Superbad. And she just kept putting me in the room. And I have her to thank for giving me any confidence to even continue to pursue acting at all.

Jenna [00:03:59] That’s Alison Jones.

Angela [00:04:01] Yeah. And then also, Steve, just so gracious coming there for those callbacks and being there in the scene with him like that. I mean, I just loved that story.

Jenna [00:04:11] But I see why they asked Steve to pop in on this audition, because the pizza delivery guy, it’s all him and Steve and Rainn. And Steve was a big star. And the last thing you want to do is hire someone and bring them to set and then they freeze up because they’re now performing not with a casting associate, but with this big star. So he did it. He made it through and he got the job.

Angela [00:04:36] Yeah, I like when he said, I was just concentrating on getting the words out.

Jenna [00:04:42] Well, he does a great, great job in this part. And guys, he sent in a few other audio clips that will sprinkle in throughout the episode.

Angela [00:04:50] Yeah. All right. So what’s your Fast fact number two?

Jenna [00:04:53] OK, my fast fact number two, Ange, when I was researching this episode, I was going through my archives and all this stuff started popping up from the 2007 Emmy Awards.

Angela [00:05:04] Yes. Oh, that was a fun one.

Jenna [00:05:07] Yes. We shot this episode right around the same time as the Emmys. And this was the year that I was nominated.

Angela [00:05:15] I know it was a big deal. We were so excited.

Jenna [00:05:19] It was so cool. And I found a blog that I wrote on MySpace about getting the nomination. And it’s so cute.

Angela [00:05:27] I got to hear the old- ye olde MySpace blog. Let’s hear it.

Jenna [00:05:32] Here’s what I wrote: Man. I am so excited. I just can’t tell you what this means to me, not because it is an award or something like that, but because it feels like it’s for our gal, Pam. She’s a shy girl who doesn’t get recognized very often. You know, it’s like that shot from the episode with the art show where Pam is standing in front of her display waiting for the first visitor to come by. That just sums it all up for me. So I guess I feel it in that part of me that is Pam, the part that still gets excited to show my art and know people are responding to it. It’s like, hey, people showed up to my art show.

Angela [00:06:10] Oh, that is so sweet, Jenna.

Jenna [00:06:13] And you know what, I remember I did not win the Emmy and I remember thinking, like, damn it, I wanted Pam to go up there and get her trophy. It was like her Dundee’s moment. I really wanted to say, I feel God in this Emmys tonight.

Angela [00:06:28] I know you were so excited. You had your opening line. It was going to crush you would have crushed it.

Jenna [00:06:34] I would have crushed it. But lady, you were my plus one.

Angela [00:06:38] I know I was about to say I remember this year because you had a really hot date. It was me. We got to go together and it was a blast.

Jenna [00:06:49] But it was also, if you remember Angela, it was in the round.

Angela [00:06:53] I will never forget it. It was so bizarre. So, you know, normally the Emmys, it’s like in a traditional type theater where you sit in theater style seating. Right? One row in front of the other. Well, this year it’s like the television academy decided to mix it up and they put the seats in a circle and the stage in the middle, a big circle. So it was like theater in the round and Jenna. I remember where we were seated.

Jenna [00:07:20] Oh, I knew the minute we took our seats I wasn’t going to win.

Angela [00:07:24] Oh, honey, we were in the back of the circle, so we faced everyone’s butt all night. All night we just saw real fancy people’s asses. That’s what we saw.

Jenna [00:07:37] And we kept thinking at some point, are they going to turn around and face our section? No, never once. The entire thing was performed as if there were not people sitting behind the speaker.

Angela [00:07:51] It was so bizarre. And, you know, sometimes someone who would win would like sort of glance over their shoulder like, hey, guys, how are you back there? And we would get so excited. We’re like, we’re good, we’re good. Hey, but yeah, it just was an evening of fancy TV butta that’s what-.

Jenna [00:08:07] Yeah, it was very funny. But something else I noticed when I was seeing all these photos pop up from this time, Angela, was that my back was still not healed at the time and there were a lot of restrictions on what I was allowed to wear or not wear. I couldn’t wear anything that was too tight on my ribcage, too tight on my waist, and I could not wear high heels. So I have all these pictures of us on different red carpets. Going to the various events and things where I’m wearing these baggy dresses and like bejeweled flip flops.

Angela [00:08:43] Yes, yes. And I mean, I just felt like in that moment you were like family for me because my sisters love a bejeweled flip flop. They love it.

Jenna [00:08:54] Yeah. I wore bejeweled flip flops to the 2007 Emmy Awards.

Angela [00:08:59] And you got to look at people’s butts. There you go.

Jenna [00:09:03] It was a special time.

Angela [00:09:05] I was really bummed you didn’t win though. And I, I have no poker face. It’s like when Steve didn’t when year after year. You know, it’s a good thing the camera’s not on me or whips away fast because it’s all across my face. It’s what the-.

Jenna [00:09:22] You know, they really missed an opportunity for some good television by not having the camera on you every time one of us lost.

Angela [00:09:28] Oh, yeah. That’s the before the the day of the memes. My face would have been a meme.

Jenna [00:09:32] For sure. For sure. All right, lady. Well, I’m going to move us on to fastback number three, because I’ve got a great big surprise for you.

Angela [00:09:44] I know you’ve been a little braggy about this in text to me leading up. She’s like, just wait for fast fact number three. I’m like, OK, what is it?

Jenna [00:09:54] I got the deep dive. On Pams plants.

Angela [00:09:58] Shut up. Shut up!

Jenna [00:10:02] I know everything about Pam’s plants and who’s responsible for them.

Angela [00:10:06] Oh my gosh. I have to tell you, I was texting with Jen Celotta last night and Jen texted me, she said, Ange I didn’t even know that Pam had a plant at front reception until I started listening to your podcast. I need to know all of this. What, what, what? What. Tell me.

Jenna [00:10:23] All right. I reached out to our set designer, Michael Gallenberg.

Angela [00:10:26] Yes.

Jenna [00:10:27] Who told me it was Steve Duchscherer, the lead set dresser, yes, who was in charge of Pam’s plans.

Angela [00:10:36] I had a feeling it would be him because he’s sort of like set that whole area every day.

Jenna [00:10:41] Yes. Well, I called Steve, Angela.

Angela [00:10:46] You did?

Jenna [00:10:46] Yes. We had the best conversation. So I remembered Steve mainly as the guy who was always having to deal with our computers.

Angela [00:10:56] Yes, he would come and also like if our lamps went out or sort of like all the things on our desk that needed attention.

Jenna [00:11:03] Yeah, well, I told Steve that because he said, Jenna, do you remember me? And I said, yes, Steve, my memory of you is that you were always crouching under my desk, dealing with my computer. And he laughed so hard. He said, well, that was probably 80 percent of my job was just dealing with all of the computers at your desks. He said he was the one that was in charge of finally setting up the speaker on Oscar’s desk. Remember? Yeah. Yeah, all of that. So we really went down memory lane. But he also told me that he was in charge of all of the items on our desk, including all of the plants in the office. So here is what he told me about Pam’s plants at reception.

Angela [00:11:45] Wait, did you tell him that I’m obsessed with them?

Jenna [00:11:47] Yes, because I had to explain why I was suddenly calling him to ask him multiple questions about the plants on the reception desk. I had to give some context.

Angela [00:11:58] So he didn’t think you were crazy.

Jenna [00:11:59] No, I mean, he might still think we’re crazy, but, I mean, he’s like retired and living in Oregon now, so. All right. Here is what he told me, Ange. So you might remember he had a little office on our stages that was behind Michael Scott’s office.

Angela [00:12:15] Oh, yeah, I remember it. It was like a wooden like they built him like a wooden. Kind of shed right there.

Jenna [00:12:22] Yes. And lining his walls were all kinds of tchotchkes and things that he would place all around the office. So right outside of his office, he had a tiny like grow station and a plant care station for all of the plants in the office. He said for Pam’s desk, he had only about three different plants and they were in plastic pots and he would rotate them randomly. But he had an assortment, as we’ve noticed, of ceramic pots. So that was how he kind of tried to make them look different. He said that it was absolutely, totally random what plant he put on the desk, because I asked him about the flowering plant for Beach Games and if it was symbolic that Pam bloomed in that episode and he laughed and he said, no, that’s just a wonderful coincidence. He told me that Greg was very, very strict about the set decoration and that they were not allowed to change anything without Greg’s permission. Tiny details, they would get in trouble. He said Greg never noticed the changing plants and he never consulted Greg about the plants. It was his own little thing that he did each week.

Angela [00:13:48] It’s his own small act of rebellion that he would have different plants.

Jenna [00:13:51] I think so. Yes.

Angela [00:13:54] Well, Steve, I noticed.

Jenna [00:13:58] Angela noticed, Steve. He said that he thinks he did a Christmas cactus once and that over the holiday episodes, he would always try to do something maybe a little different. But mostly it was just these little ferns.

Angela [00:14:14] I will be looking for that Christmas cactus.

Jenna [00:14:17] Oh, me too. I got so excited. I was like, oh, I don’t think we’ve seen that yet. We haven’t seen Christmas cactus. Everybody look out for Christmas cactus.

Angela [00:14:24] I’m going to have to go back to the Christmas episodes, but I do not remember a cactus.

Jenna [00:14:30] Well, here’s the other thing he told me, Angela. He would have to water all those plants, and if we ever went on a week long hiatus, he would take all the plants off the set and he would put them under grow lights and Tom Melby would come and water them on our break.

Angela [00:14:46] I believe that, Tom Melby. I believe that. That’s so sweet. I remember Steve. He would he would walk over to accounting and water the plant that was on the file cabinets between accounting and reception. And we would chit chat.

Jenna [00:15:00] Well, here’s the other thing he told me.

Angela [00:15:03] What?

Jenna [00:15:03] Not plant related. Steve Duchscherer was also in charge of all of the plaques around the office. He made all of them, including that one that trolled Kelly Cantley.

Angela [00:15:17] No.

Jenna [00:15:18] Yup. He was also in charge of the white board by accounting. And he said he was the one who wrote that Steve was robbed after the Emmys that one year.

Angela [00:15:28] Oh, I love it. Steve, look at you. You’re like over there mixing up plants. You’re writing secret messages on the message board.

Jenna [00:15:39] Yes! He told me that this job was just his favorite and it was wonderful. And we just talked about what a special thing we had. And he retired when the show ended. He was like, I don’t think it’s going to get better. And he retired.

Angela [00:15:55] Steve, you’re not wrong. You’re not wrong. We’ve worked on other shows and we’ve had good experiences and things. But I have to say it’d be pretty amazing to be able to just ride off in the sunset after a show like The Office because it was that special.

Jenna [00:16:10] Mm hmm. Well, lady, you know, you got me that Morgan Gesell watercolor of the Beasley’s Botanicals for Christmas everybody. Angela got me this. I mean I could not be more excited.

Angela [00:16:25] This is Jenna’s Christmas present from me. I got her. Morgan, you’re so talented. You painted all of Pam’s plants. And Morgan gave me the original. She also gave me a painting of all of Angela Martin’s weird blouses.

Jenna [00:16:40] Yes, I’ve seen that.

Angela [00:16:42] Yes. And Jenna and a coffee mug of Pam’s Botanicals. Jenna.

Jenna [00:16:49] Amazing.

Angela [00:16:49] Amazing.

Jenna [00:16:51] Well, I sent a print of Beasley’s Botanicals to Steve as a thank you.

Angela [00:16:57] Oh, that is so sweet.

Jenna [00:16:59] I thought the man in charge should have a print as well.

Angela [00:17:02] Yes. Oh, I love that.

Jenna [00:17:04] He also sent me a photo of himself in his office on stage. And now that I’ve told you I can send it to you and guys, he said we can put it up on Office Ladies pod as well.

Angela [00:17:15] Oh, we will. And we’ll put up some of Morgan’s stuff so you can see in our stories. And this was wonderful. I loved it.

Jenna [00:17:21] And guys, if you want to get one, go over to society six. It’s the number six and search for Beasley’s Botanicals and it’ll pop up and you can get one yourself. Well, let’s take a break. And then when we come back, we will really get into this episode. Michael is not going to react well to the pizza delivery.

Angela [00:17:43] Oh, no, it’s not going to be good.

Jenna [00:17:49] All right, we are back, everyone, and we are going to open this episode with Michael and Jim returning from their very short road trip where they got, I don’t even think outside of Scranton before realizing that they’re not invited to the big New York party.

Angela [00:18:07] So they come back and Michael makes a big announcement like he actually wanted to be at the Scranton branch party. He actually didn’t want to go to New York, right?

Jenna [00:18:15] Yes. And Stanley’s like, wait, so we’re not going home early.

Angela [00:18:20] Yeah.

Jenna [00:18:21] Michael’s like, no, no. In fact, Michael calls Angela into his office and he says to Angela, I want this party to be sexier, cooler and more important than the one in New York. And he gives her a list of demands.

Angela [00:18:38] Yeah. Let’s just talk about this list for a minute, OK? Now, remember, the party starts in one hour. This is the list. Ready? Beer, light beer, streamers, orchids, better lighting, something made of ice, pizza, pizza with mushrooms, pizza without mushrooms, white pizza, steak, chocolates, someone famous, cool music, confetti, go go dancers, maybe Al Roker.

Jenna [00:19:05] Yeah.

Angela [00:19:05] Guess what? Michael says he’ll get the pizza since Angela is going to do all those other things in one hour.

Jenna [00:19:11] Yeah. I mean, he wants the people in New York to be jealous that they got Al Roker to attend in Scranton. How is that so hard to understand, Angela?

Angela [00:19:20] I don’t know. Just go get some go go dancers and some steak, possibly change the whole lighting scheme of the office. That’d be great. Thanks.

Jenna [00:19:28] But he tells Angela, if anyone can do it, it’s you. But actually, if there is someone who could do it better, could you let him know? What was it like for you to do that scene with Steve? Were you improvising any of the things on that list as you were reading them off, or was that pretty much scripted?

Angela [00:19:44] No, that was pretty much scripted and it was really fun because Steve has to interrupt me and I just loved love doing scenes with him. It felt like I got to be like in this comedic dance, you know, and except I’m dancing with, like, the best comedian in town. It just was so fun. I was like, you know, how you have like a body buzz, you know?

Jenna [00:20:07] Yeah.

Angela [00:20:07] Like, I had that kind of feeling going in there to get to do scenes with him. And I loved every single second. And he would like he would be so generous. We’ve talked about this, but he’d let me have a moment like when I say steak and I look at him, you know, like he just let all of that breathe.

Jenna [00:20:24] I know exactly that body buzz you’re talking about, because I would get that feeling every time I’d get a script and be like, oh, there’s a Pam Michael scene. I get Steve all to myself.

Angela [00:20:33] Yeah. And he’s just so good. And he I feel like every person in a scene with Steve, Steve makes that person better.

Jenna [00:20:40] Oh yeah. Well, I love that scene. I watched it, I rewound it and watched it a second time just because it was so, so delightful.

Angela [00:20:50] Yes. And I had to memorize that list. Guys, I’m not reading off.

Jenna [00:20:54] Oh my gosh. That wasn’t written on the piece of paper for you?

Angela [00:20:57] No. I mean, you know, like I maybe the prop department had a list, but I had to learn that.

Jenna [00:21:02] Well, and it’s important because some of those elements are going to come up later. Right. So you had to make sure you said certain things.

Angela [00:21:09] Yeah.

Jenna [00:21:10] Well, next up, Andy is trying to talk to Dwight to see what does he think about Angela? Does he think that Andy should go after Angela? And Dwight is like, no.

Angela [00:21:23] The first thing he says, which if you speak Dwight, you know is one of the highest compliments he could give anyone. He says she’s efficient.

Jenna [00:21:36] Well, that’s just like that’s like stabbing Dwight in the heart right there. That he’s lost such an efficient woman.

Angela [00:21:43] Yeah. And, you know, Dwight does not obviously want Andy to make a play for Angela. So he tells her it’s inappropriate to date someone at work and and he could actually date Kelly because she’s in the annex, like he can date Kelly or Toby.

Jenna [00:21:57] But not anyone in their immediate bullpen.

Angela [00:22:01] Yeah.

Jenna [00:22:01] Well, now Michael triumphantly announces that he has ordered pizza from everybody’s favorite place. Everyone gets kind of excited until they learn that Michael ordered pizza from the wrong place.

Angela [00:22:16] Well, you know, clearly the favorite of Dunder Mifflin is Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe. And Michael has ordered from pizza by Alfredo’s, which Kevin describes as like eating a hot circle of garbage.

Jenna [00:22:31] Well, Michael asks, what’s better: A medium amount of good pizza or all you can eat of pretty good pizza? And everyone is like, a medium amount of good pizza.

Angela [00:22:41] Yes, but Jenna, this sent me on one of the craziest deep dives I have done in the year that we’ve been podcasting together.

Jenna [00:22:49] Well, I hope that you’re going to tell me some stuff about Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe because we got a fan question about this.

Angela [00:23:00] Oh, yes, and and more more information than you’ll ever want to know.

Jenna [00:23:06] All right, well, Catalina Rizzi and Paisley Celadon would like to know are pizza by Alfredo and Alfredo’s Pizza Café, actual pizza places in Scranton?

Angela [00:23:18] Well, Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe is, in fact, a real pizza place. It’s opened every day. It’s still open in Scranton. And Pizza by Alfredo is a made up place that the writers made up. But Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe is in Scranton and you can still get pizzas from there today.

Jenna [00:23:39] And Angela, I’ll have you know, Angela, the character could have ordered steak because Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe also serves steak, burgers and pasta.

Angela [00:23:50] Oh, yeah, it’s a cafe. It’s like a restaurant.

Jenna [00:23:53] Yes.

Angela [00:23:53] Mm hmm. Well, I was very curious. I just wrote in Alfredo’s Pizza into my Google search, because I was like, I wonder if this is just in Scranton or do we have Alfredo’s Pizza other places. Right? So here we go. In Homewood, Alabama, there’s Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe. In California there’s Alfredo’s Pizza in Los Angeles. In Colorado, there’s an Alfredo’s pizza in Denver. In Connecticut, there’s an Alfredo’s restaurant and pizza in Gaylordsville. In Delaware, there’s an Alfredo’s Pizza Gallery in Seaford. In Florida, there’s an Alfredo’s Pizza and restaurant in Cooper City. In Illinois, there’s an Alfredo’s pizza and pasta in Lake in the hills. In Iowa, there’s an Alfredo Pizza- we’ll let it slide, Iowa, that’s in Sioux City. In Maine, there’s Alfredo’s Italian Pizzeria in Wells. In Maryland, there’s Osteria Alfredo in Easton. In Massachusetts, there’s Alfredo’s Italian kitchen in Boston, Somerville and Medford. In New Jersey, there’s an Alfredo’s in Carteret. There’s an Alfredo’s Restaurant and pizzeria in Point Pleasant. There’s a cafe Alfredo’s in Somerset. In New York there’s an Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe in New Rochelle. In North Carolina, there’s an Alfredo Pizza Villa in Chapel Hill, Alfredo’s Restaurant Italiano in Clinton wait for it. In Ohio, there’s Alfredo’s Pizzeria in Salem. In Pennsylvania, there’s Alfredo’s Pizza and Restaurant in Scranton. And Alfredo’s Pizza and Grill in Swiftwater. In South Dakota, there’s an Alfredo Pizza in Vermillion. We’ll let it slide South Dakota. In Texas, there’s Alfredo’s pizza and pasta in Dallas, Alfredo’s in Plano and Alfredo’s in Lewisville. Utah has chef Alfredo’s in St. George and Cedar City. Virginia has Alfredo’s in Bristol. Now, are you ready for this? Who has the most that comes up in a Google search? West Virginia. West Virginia has Alfredo’s in Somerville, Alfredo’s Italian pizzeria in Petersburg, Alfredo’s Pizza of Rainville, Lewisburg, White Sulfur Springs, Buckhannon, Alfredo’s Italian and Greek because, OK, in Marlinton, and Alfredo’s in the Crossroads Mall in Mount Hope.

Jenna [00:26:22] I love you.

Angela [00:26:24] There’s Alfredo’s everywhere.

Jenna [00:26:25] I love you.

Angela [00:26:25] There’s Alfredo’s everywhere.

Jenna [00:26:28] Guys, I watched Angela as she listed all of the Alfredo’s, and it was three pages long.

Angela [00:26:33] Well, if I didn’t say your state, it’s because there was no Alfredo’s that came up in the Google search. But I looked up every single state.

Jenna [00:26:42] Well, you know, the one in Scranton is not actually called Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe. It’s just called Alfredo’s Cafe.

Angela [00:26:50] That’s right. Hmm, mm hmm. And it says their slogan.

Jenna [00:26:54] Please tell me their slogan is we’re not a hot circle of garbage, because if that’s not their slogan, it should be.

Angela [00:27:02] Here is Alfredo’s cafe slogan. We’re not fine dining. We’re just fine food.

Jenna [00:27:09] I like it. I still think not a hot circle of garbage might be something they should consider.

Angela [00:27:14] Well, Alfredo’s you heard it from Jenna. Get your marketing team on it.

Jenna [00:27:17] Yeah.

Angela [00:27:18] She’s not wrong.

Jenna [00:27:21] I want to talk about something from this scene that has nothing to do with the pizza. Can we please talk about your weird ass blouse in this episode?

Angela [00:27:34] Oh, Jenna, Jenna.

Jenna [00:27:35] I’m sorry to curse, but guys, it is weird.

Angela [00:27:38] It is so weird. And actually- now, listen, later in the episode, I’m going to give you a time code that really zooms in on the sweater. In particular, the part I want to talk about. But just know it’s called the Elbow Pouf.

Jenna [00:27:55] All right, well, I’ll I’ll wait till we get to the appropriate time code, I can wait.

Angela [00:28:00] Yeah, but it’s it’s a bizarro sweater. It’s got a poofy part at your elbow.

Jenna [00:28:06] Well, moving us along then, Angela, in this next scene, Phyllis comes in to the conference room to confront Angela again. She maybe is using some of her techniques from the last episode on how to deal with difficult people. And she has placed items on Post-it notes and then put a Post-it note on each finger and she says to Angela, you can pick one of these, one of these, I’ll do one, but I can’t do all of these. This is her visual way of showing you how you’ve overwhelmed her with too many tasks.

Angela [00:28:37] Well, let me tell you, this is some serious Phyllis sass. She wads them up, she throws them in my face, and I want you to know it did kind of hurt that ow was kind of honest, because when you crumple up paper, it’s like pointy. And also, I think that was the only usable take. I’m not kidding. Phyllis laughed every time she threw them in my face, she would laugh every time. And so that to me, when I was watching it, I just was remembering us cracking up and it just made me so happy.

Jenna [00:29:10] Well, any time Phyllis has to do something like that, she can’t do it because it is so against her nature. It is so against her sweet, kind, loving nature that she just giggles. She gets the giggles.

Angela [00:29:23] Yes.

Jenna [00:29:25] Well, next up, Angela, we have this scene and I have some things to ask you about. Andy is attempting to ask Angela out, but she is searching through this box of party supplies. What do you think you’re going to find in there? What are you looking for in this box? A steak, an ice sculpture? You think any of the things on Michael’s list? Better lighting? It’s a small box.

Angela [00:29:49] It’s a busy work box, Jenna. It’s a box so I could look busy and I could ignore Andy. And what I gave to myself was like, clearly, I’m looking for more of those weird blue spiral thingies that I’m going to hang in the conference room later. She had a vision of blue spiral thingies, and she needed more of them. And so she’s digging and digging. But who uses this as a pick up line? Who thinks that a woman is going to, like, stop everything she’s doing in here and just be like, you’re right, there’s not dinner and a movie in this box.

Jenna [00:30:24] Oh, well, lady, we also have a fan catch here from Abbey Tilford. She says in Launch Party around 16 minutes twenty five seconds, so this was a moment from last week’s breakdown, Angela says she’s been working on the party for two weeks, but now at twenty five minutes twenty one seconds she says she’s been planning it for three weeks. Is this just Angela being dramatic? What is this? This is a bit of a continuity catch and I looked. She’s right.

Angela [00:30:56] Oh, no, she’s right. It’s a continuity error. And maybe we can justify it by saying that Angela feels very put upon all of a sudden. So maybe she’s exaggerating. And I have an improv catch. I improvised the last line as I walked away. I said, and Kevin had Greek food for lunch again.

Jenna [00:31:13] I love that. That was an improv?

Angela [00:31:15] Yes, that was an improv. And what you don’t see is that Matt cut over to Bryan as Kevin and he was like, hey.

Jenna [00:31:27] I love that your character’s go to is always to find some subtle way to insult Kevin. Because he was a constant annoyance for her constant all day long.

Angela [00:31:39] I’m telling you, I think she requested the glass partition. He drives her crazy. She needed a barrier. Well, now we have a little bit of Pam Sass coming up, the pizza guy has arrived and Pam calls Michael and says, Hey, the pizza by Alfredo Guy is here. Michael says, you don’t have to say it like that. And Pam says, I said it normal.

Jenna [00:32:00] I did say it normal.

Angela [00:32:02] I know. But I just love that Pam.This is this new I’m in love, Pam. I give zero F’s. I say what I think, and I loved it. But yes, the pizza guy is here and oh, man, this starts a whole Michael spiral. Everything he is feeling about Ryan and feeling left out and not treated fairly, he is going to pile on this poor teenager who’s just a pizza delivery guy.

Jenna [00:32:31] Yeah, he is mad because the pizza kid will not accept his half off coupon for all of the pizzas. He explains. You can have half off two pizzas, but not all of the pizzas. And Michael is like, it doesn’t say that anywhere on the coupon. And the pizza kid is like, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, he’s basically like, if I give you half off all these pizzas and I go back, I’m going to get in trouble. This is not I mean, it’s not my decision to make. I can’t authorize your new use of this coupon.

Angela [00:33:03] Well, and listen, the pizza guy does have a little bit of that teenage sass, though, because he’s like, not my problem.

Jenna [00:33:10] A little bit? Full teenager sass.

Angela [00:33:13] Listen, this truly isn’t his problem and Michael needs to lighten up. But the kid is also kind of an ass.

Jenna [00:33:21] For sure. Well, Michael’s response to this is to have Dwight lock him in the conference room until he decides to honor the coupon. It’s so irrational.

Angela [00:33:33] He says that he needs to learn to about respect and accountability and follow through. He’s saying all this crazy stuff. And then, of course, he really loses it and it’s like the guy is like, this is stupid. And he’s like, you don’t even know it’s stupid is. It’s about to get off stupid up in here.

Jenna [00:33:51] This is such an outrageous storyline. As I was watching this episode, I just kept thinking, I can’t believe we are doing this story line. It is so funny.

Angela [00:34:02] It is really broad. It’s really broad. But yet at the same time, you kind of believe that Michael would do it, that Michael would be like, no, you’re going to stay here and you’re going to learn a lesson. And everyone around him is like, you have just kidnaped someone. You are currently holding someone hostage. And he’s like, no, no, no, I’m teaching him a lesson.

Jenna [00:34:21] Well, yeah. Kevin, Oscar, Stanley, they’ve all started researching kidnapping and accomplices to see if they can be charged as accessories to Michael’s crime. But this is what Michael does. You know, it’s like in the episode when he drives his car in the lake, he takes it out on the guy who ate the turtles from the gift basket. He always, like, shifts the blame and responsibility. If Michael is embarrassed or if Michael is upset about something, he takes it out on a very ordinary moment. And it’s so funny.

Angela [00:34:58] And we all sort of been there, right, we’ve all had that displaced anger, like I’ll never forget one time my dad had he had ordered this new barbecue grill and Jenna this guy in my hometown makes them, you know, like a smoker. And he’s like a welder, and he made my dad this smoker. And it took him a while because he makes it by hand. He’s out there welding. And my dad went to get it and he got a flatbed trailer to put it on and pull it behind our truck. He was so excited. We’d waited so long and he’s driving down the driveway with it. And he didn’t like factor in like the overhang of the carport and dented in the new smoker.

Jenna [00:35:46] Oh, no.

Angela [00:35:46] Yeah. And for whatever reason, we were all like, don’t say anything. Don’t say anything. He got out of the car and he was like, if that tree hadn’t been there, then he was going to cut down the tree. And my mom was like, it’s not the trees fault! Leave the tree out of it, you know? But we’ve all had these moments where we’re so like upset and irrationally we’re like, that’s it. It’s the tree.

Jenna [00:36:11] Oh, my gosh. Well, speaking of tree that happened to me this year, Angela, we were all set to get our Christmas tree. On this one day, we were going to set up the Christmas tree and I can’t remember what happened. It was like something. And it was the night before. And I said to Lee, I said, So we’re getting up early in the morning. We’re going to go get our tree. We’re going to decorate the tree tomorrow. And he said very casually, well, I don’t know. I mean, tomorrow or another day. And I was like, whoa, it’s going to be tomorrow at nine am, and I like I was like a mess. I was like screaming and yelling and he sat there and then he looked at me and he said, Babe, is that really about the tree or is something else going on? Yeah. And then I was like, oh, yeah, it was that the tree was the one Christmas tradition that I knew we could do in a pandemic. I could still put a tree in my house and I could decorate it and we could drink hot chocolate. I couldn’t do any of the other gatherings or parties or seeing of people or seeing my family. All of my gift exchanges turned into Zoom exchanges, and I had been holding on to this tradition of putting on Christmas music and decorating our tree and the idea that we might not do it on that Saturday, but maybe we do it Sunday. I was like I had a real, real big reaction.

Angela [00:37:40] Yeah.

Jenna [00:37:41] So guess what? We got our tree that next day at nine a.m.. We went ahead and got it because Lee was like we clearly need to get this woman a tree.

Angela [00:37:50] Well, my dad cut down a few limbs off that tree. So to clear the driveway, he said, even though we all know it’s because he didn’t measure and he pulled into the carport and he dented in the top of it.

Jenna [00:38:02] So we’ve all been Michael.

Angela [00:38:04] We’ve all been Michael, you guys. And and. Yeah, and it’s it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Jenna [00:38:10] Well, yeah. Dwight and Michael go into the conference room and they confront this pizza guy. Kid. It’s a kid. He’s a teenager.

Angela [00:38:21] He’s a teenager and they’re sort of like interrogating him. He doesn’t own the company. He doesn’t set the prices. And he said, listen, the pizza guy is just like, you guys can kiss my ass like he’s not having it.

Jenna [00:38:33] Well, we had to ask Kevin what it was like to do these scenes with Steve and Rainn interrogating him because they are being so ridiculous. And guys, here’s what Kevin had to say.

Kevin McHale [00:38:44] It was definitely one of my first jobs. It was absolutely, without question, the biggest job I had ever done, even though it was just one episode. It was on one of the biggest TV shows in the world. And I just remember more than anything, obviously, I was very nervous and scared to work with Steve, but it was just as I was just as nervous to work with everybody else because there’s something about, one, I think I was 17 years old. I was the only kid everyone else was, you know, a fully realized person. And I feel like I had tricked everybody into letting me get on the show. And everybody was just so good. And I did not understand how they could keep a straight face. And Rainn Wilson and Steve would ad lib the craziest, craziest stuff. And I, you know, locked in a room and Rainn would just be yelling at me and watching it back I’m frowning almost every scene I’m in because that was my only way to stop from breaking. And that was the only thing I really, really remember in terms of working with them, specifically because I was just trying not to break, because they’re obviously comedic geniuses.

Jenna [00:39:56] That’s very funny.

Angela [00:39:58] And he’s 17 in this scene, you guys. I would not have that kind of composure at 17. I’m so impressed by that.

Jenna [00:40:07] No, I mean, I was thirty years old when I got my job as Pam on The Office. I couldn’t imagine if I had been 17 years old and paired with someone like Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson in those scenes. I couldn’t have done it.

Angela [00:40:23] I know. I know. Same. Well, now, you know, Angela interrupts sort of Dwight’s interrogation. She comes in very matter of factly and says, I have to hang these.

Jenna [00:40:36] I mean, because if she didn’t hang those two blue spirals.

Angela [00:40:40] Yeah. Yeah, what would happen? She literally walks in holding two little blue spirally decorative things, that’s it. But she has to come in. She has to hang them.

Jenna [00:40:51] Yeah, yeah. And it’s going to take her all of 45 seconds.

Angela [00:40:56] Mm hmm. But Dwight looks at her longingly, and the pizza guy is like, why are you looking at her like that? It’s like he’s such a punk. I love this kid.

Jenna [00:41:06] Well, now there’s a scene coming up, Angela, that I love, because Kevin is going to have a moment where he takes charge.

Angela [00:41:14] He’s hangry.

Jenna [00:41:16] He is. He walks into Michael’s office and he says, listen, everyone is hungry. And we would like to make a request that we order the good pizza so that we can eat it while we’re waiting for the hostage negotiation over the bad pizza to end. I mean, this is the most.

Angela [00:41:36] Assertive.

Jenna [00:41:36] Yes. Have we ever seen Kevin take a stand before?

Angela [00:41:42] I feel like the time we really see who Kevin is outside of the office is when he plays poker with his hat and drums. And clearly, when it comes to pizza.

Jenna [00:41:52] Yeah, strong feelings.

Angela [00:41:54] Strong feelings. Well, let’s take a break, because when we come back, the party is in full swing.

Jenna [00:41:59] Yeah. Who’s that woman from the other office who’s going to judge Angela’s party?

Angela [00:42:03] Oh, Denise Stims in Buffalo.

Jenna [00:42:06] Oh, I don’t know..

Angela [00:42:08] Damn you. Damn you, Denise.

Jenna [00:42:10] All right. We’ll be back.

Angela [00:42:15] Well, we’re back in the conference room, the party is underway. Angela really wishes she had just had one more hour, one more hour to hang more blue thingy’s. And possibly get, you know, some dancers or something.

Jenna [00:42:29] Meredith says she thinks it looks good.

Angela [00:42:31] Meredith is so nice to Angela in this moment.

Jenna [00:42:34] Yeah, she’s trying to build her up. She’s like, I think it looks great.

Angela [00:42:38] And Angela just it’s like, well, that describes a lot. I don’t know what she says.

Jenna [00:42:41] Angela says, well, that’s why you’re never in charge of these things.

Angela [00:42:46] So snarky.

Jenna [00:42:46] So sassy and snarky, so uncalled for. This is why no one is nice to Angela by the way. You have given me grief. Why doesn’t Pam help Angela? Why isn’t Pam nicer to Angela? Because any time anyone tries to be nice to Angela, Angela sasses them.

Angela [00:43:04] Well, isn’t Angela just having her moment here, her moment of cutting down the tree branches? She is upset and she’s going to take it out on Meredith.

Jenna [00:43:15] But then Andy’s got a surprise.

Angela [00:43:18] Andy walks in- rolls in, I should say, this humongous ice sculpture. And you guys, it was huge in real life. In real life, it was enormous. I don’t know if it really does it justice like on TV watching it. It was so big. It was two swans kissing in the shape of a heart. Yeah.

Jenna [00:43:43] Yeah, I remember they had a bunch of them and they had them in this big walk in freezer on these carts, and they would have to wheel them in because they would sit there then in the background for a while and they’d have to change them out.

Angela [00:43:56] Yes.

Jenna [00:43:57] So Phil Shea had to place an order for multiple swan heart giant ice sculptures.

Angela [00:44:05] And you have to know that there was probably a meeting between Phil and Greg where there was a flipbook of all the different ice sculptures he could order. And yes, it’s the one they settled on.

Jenna [00:44:16] One hundred percent.

Angela [00:44:17] Well, I texted Jen Celotta and I was like, Jen, what was the back story of this ice sculpture like? Andy says he stole it. Was there any back story that we didn’t get to see? And Jen said her idea was that Andy went into a wedding reception and stole this, that he stole it from a wedding reception. Isn’t that hilarious?

Jenna [00:44:39] That explains the heart shaped swans kissing for sure.

Angela [00:44:43] Yeah, but I thought that was a really funny little detail.

Jenna [00:44:48] Well, listen, the virtual part of this party is about to begin. I have to say, it was so crazy in this new world of Zoom’s and, you know, virtual meetings that we’re in right now to see this webcam, multiple webcam party, because back then this would have been just very cutting edge.

Angela [00:45:12] Very cutting edge and and now it’s all we do.

Jenna [00:45:16] It’s the only way I see you.

Angela [00:45:19] We’re doing this right now, closet to closet.

Jenna [00:45:22] That’s right. Well, Pam tells Michael that Ryan is going to introduce him in a few minutes. And when that happens, they’re going to cut to our conference room and all Michael has to do is smile and wave. And Michael’s like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Angela [00:45:39] You know, you know, it’s not going to go well. Well in the meantime, Jim very charmingly invites Pam up on the roof. He said he’s going to grab pizzas, tells her to grab some napkins and plates and stuff, and they go up on the roof and they have a rooftop dinner date.

Jenna [00:45:57] Yeah, well, this is a call back to the client episode when Pam and Jim sneak up to the roof after they’ve read threat level midnight and they share some grilled cheese sandwiches. Now they’re going to go up and they’re going to share some pizza.

Angela [00:46:13] And they’re also going to talk about when they knew that they liked the other person. Right. Because now they’re dating. Now they’re not these star crossed lovers. Now they’re actually a couple. And I thought that was kind of interesting to find out for sure. Pam was there first. We find that out in the scene.

Jenna [00:46:31] Yes. But then there’s other episodes where Jim talks about Pam’s first day.

Angela [00:46:37] What?

Jenna [00:46:38] It’s in complete conflict.

Angela [00:46:41] Ugh.

Jenna [00:46:41] Yeah.

Angela [00:46:42] Well, here in this scene, Jim says, Do you remember what you said to me on my first day of work just before you walked me over to my desk? So clearly, it’s like Pam is showing him around.

Jenna [00:46:53] I am, but there’s another episode where Jim says, I remember when Pam first came into the office.

Angela [00:47:00] Oh, continuity error. That’s a big one. That’s a big story point. I like the idea personally that Pam worked there first. It makes sense to me. And and I love this moment when Pam goes, yeah, I said to you, enjoy this moment because you’re never going to go back to this time before you met your desk mate, Dwight.

Jenna [00:47:20] And then Pam says that she knew that she liked Jim when he warned her that her mixed berry yogurt that she was about to eat was expired.

Angela [00:47:32] And you know what? I get it.

Jenna [00:47:34] Me too.

Angela [00:47:35] I get it because he had so just observed her, seen her. Knew her. It just such a like window into how much attention he paid to her.

Jenna [00:47:50] Well, listen, when Lee and I first started dating, there was this moment where I had moved into a new place and I wanted a grill. Speaking of grills, you were talking about your dad getting his big grill,.

Angela [00:48:02] His big. Yeah.

Jenna [00:48:03] So I got this grill and it needed to be assembled and I was a little bit like, oh, but I guess I’d been talking to Lee all about how excited I was to barbecue because it would it reminds me of home. My dad grilled a lot, you know, and he taught me how to grill. So he said, hey, how about I go over to your place while you’re at work and I’ll put together that grill for you. And we could grill some food when you get home from work. And I was like, really? When I got home from work that day there he was in my backyard. He had put together the grill. He had broken down the box. He had gotten rid of the- breaking down the box is everything.

Angela [00:48:46] Come on. Come on. Getting rid of the mess. I mean building the grill-

Jenna [00:48:49] The box was as big as me. And then he had marinated some chicken for us to grill. That is the moment I knew I am probably going to marry this man. This is amazing. And I’m sure that Lee, if he asked me and was like, what was the moment you knew? And I was like, it was that day that you broke down the box for the grill, and he was like, that was the moment?

Angela [00:49:17] Well listen, building a grill is no joke. I have like done that. I’ve assisted and it’s like building a small Cessna. It’s so many parts. And and then to break down all the mess. Come on. Of course you’re like, I think this one’s a keeper.

Jenna [00:49:32] Yes. Listen, so I get where Pam is coming from. That is a sweet, wonderful detail of everyday life. That’s intimacy. It really is that he tracks her yogurt. It’s adorable.

Angela [00:49:45] Well, I had a really long drive for work and a long commute coming up. And Josh dropped off a mix CD of music because I was saying I didn’t have a lot in my music library, I’m really bad about that you guys like I’ll hear a song and like it, but I don’t ever put it in a playlist. And then music’s all over the place. It probably actually, as I say it, you’re probably like Angela, this sounds very on brand like if I could write all the songs I like on one hundred different Post-it notes, but Josh made me this driving playlist for my long commute and I was like, that is so stinking thoughtful.

Jenna [00:50:24] Yeah. Guys out there, it’s the little things. We like that stuff.

Angela [00:50:30] Break down a box and make a make a playlist. You’re in.

Jenna [00:50:34] If you want to like really get your wife turned on.

Angela [00:50:40] Oh Lord. Here we go.

Jenna [00:50:41] Take out the trash without being asked.

Angela [00:50:45] Take it out before it’s overflowing. Do you know what I mean. Take it out before you’ve like tried to cram it back in.

Jenna [00:50:52] That’s right. And then pour her a glass of wine. And like, subtlely walk her past the empty trash can and you’re in. Telling you, if you want to land a lady like me or Angela, take out the trash without being asked. And you got us. Or notice the new bathmat that I bought and be like, oh, my gosh, babe, did you get a new bathmat? I love it. It’s fantastic. I’m like bowm chicka bown bowm.

Angela [00:51:28] Or how about this? You know what? Those extra Christmas seasonal pillows that you had to have really made the place feel homey.

Jenna [00:51:36] Oh. Oh, my gosh. Yes.

Angela [00:51:39] You notice my seasonal pillows? Bow chicka bow bow.

Jenna [00:51:45] Guys, we’re telling you. You try one of these things and then you write us about the night you had because it’s on.

Angela [00:51:53] Well, give us the overview of the night you had.

Jenna [00:51:58] Just tell us it worked.

Angela [00:51:59] We don’t need all the details, Jenna.

Jenna [00:51:59] No, I don’t want the details. Please, no unsolicited pics.

Angela [00:52:04] Oh, my God. Who’s asking for pictures? Now you’ve put that in their brains. Pictures of what?

Jenna [00:52:12] Their night.

Angela [00:52:13] That’s inappropriate.

Jenna [00:52:15] That’s why I’m saying don’t send them. I don’t want photos. I don’t want details. Just tell me. Oh, my God, you guys, it worked.

Angela [00:52:23] OK, so now the party is really underway and we see a little bit of a callback to a character at 32 minutes fifty eight seconds, we see Dan Gore, the regional manager. He’s back. And now we’re coming up to the point where Scranton is going to get a shout out. Right. This is what Michael says. He says, hey, I just think you should know one of my salesmen beat your stupid computer, so take that asshole.

Jenna [00:52:50] Yeah. And then Kelly takes her pizza and smashes it onto Ryan’s face on the TV screen.

Angela [00:52:56] That Scranton’s moment in this corporate event.

Jenna [00:53:00] But wait, then the pizza kid runs up to the webcam and says that he’s a minor being held against his will.

Angela [00:53:08] Yes. How does anyone in this branch still have a job?

Jenna [00:53:13] I don’t know. I don’t know. But meanwhile, just as all of this is going on Andy tries to scratch Angela’s back.

Angela [00:53:24] Andy, what are your moves? Tell me, what are your moves to, like, get a lady interested in you? First you have ridiculous pickup lines like the movie in the box, and then you go up to someone you don’t really know and scratch their back. Are you crazy?

Jenna [00:53:41] Well, she said she had an itch she couldn’t reach.

Angela [00:53:45] She did. But I don’t think that was an invitation.

Jenna [00:53:48] No.

Angela [00:53:49] Yeah, that wasn’t an invitation. Andy, don’t go scratching people’s backs unless you’re invited to scratch their back. And Angela definitely does not seem interested. And then there’s a scene Jenna that I love. It’s something our show does that I love. It’s never explained. It’s just Dwight and Andy standing outside the men’s room. Dwight is clearly on guard. By his whole physical posture. So we’re just left to assume pizza guy’s in there on his bathroom break. He’s been led in there. And Andy and Dwight have this whole conversation outside the men’s room.

Jenna [00:54:23] And at one point, Dwight kicks open the door and says, unless you’re going number two, you’ve got about fifteen seconds left or something to that effect. And I just have to say, I really loved Rainn’s choice here, like the way he kicked the door. He looked very official.

Angela [00:54:42] He did. And Rainn, I feel like his performance in the scene is so great. It’s all these little moments. He’s slightly like pleased, right, that Angela has rejected Andy. He’s still crestfallen. He’s still upset that Andy wants to continue to pursue her. But yet he has a job to do and that is to make sure the pizza guy doesn’t escape.

Jenna [00:55:03] Well, the Dwight character is such a great character because he is so invested and committed to being Michael’s number two. So much so that in a minute he’s going to be interrogating this pizza kid and Michael is now going to suddenly realize what they’ve done, that they have kidnaped someone and he starts freaking out and it takes Dwight a second because he was so committed to the other choice. But then he becomes just as committed to the new choice and he pays for all the pizza.

Angela [00:55:36] Yeah, he’s so loyal to Michael. And it is a little bit like creepy. It’s it reminds me a little bit of, like, Lord of the Flies, like, you know, it’s like all of a sudden, you know, when people follow someone who they shouldn’t be following and then where does that lead them and what are they capable of? What was Dwight going to continue to do to this pizza guy?

Jenna [00:55:59] Well, it’s such a crazy storyline. We talked about it and I feel like so much of it really hinges on Kevin’s great performance.

Angela [00:56:07] Yes, I absolutely agree. He was perfect all throughout the scenes.  And we just asked him if he had any memories from his time on the show. And here’s what he had to say.

Kevin McHale [00:56:18] My biggest memory or takeaway from the entire experience period was honestly the generosity and the kindness from everybody. Everybody went out of their way to accept me, to welcome me with open arms. I sat with, you know, a lot of the cast for lunch every day. I think they you know, I was totally a fish out of water. And I think everybody could see that. And it’s one of those things where you come on set, they welcome you to set and rehearsal and everybody cheers. And that is something that I’ve taken with me. And I remember going into Glee how it hit me at some point of like, oh, I’m now in their position as a person who’s on this show every week. And when people come on, I need to treat them how The Office people treated me. And whenever I would see people, I’d see Kate, I would see Mindy out at events or whatever it may be. And everyone was just still so nice to me. And they’d come up and be like, oh, I’m so happy like that Glee is doing so well. And it was one of those things where me coming on to a show that was so big and all these people were so very famous and successful, that even though I was now on to a show that was successful, I still felt very much like the fan and the fact that they could come up to me and they just always treated me with kindness and as an equal, and that’s something I will never, ever forget. And I say they but I realize it’s you, you guys. So thanks for being so nice.

Jenna [00:57:52] You know, lady, it’s so sweet for him to say that and. It really takes me back because when I was an aspiring actor and I would get those guest star roles on shows, it would be such a big deal to me. But I would go on the set and I would feel just so alone. And most of the time, people didn’t invite me to eat lunch with them. And they were in their own world because they had that job every day. So it wasn’t particularly special to them. And I would just feel, you know, like I was really on my own. We’ve talked about it like a kid in a new school on the first day of school.

Angela [00:58:31] Yeah. With all the pressure of, like the new day in the new place and the new work and all of it.

Jenna [00:58:38] Yeah. And people did not generally go out of their way to try to make me feel better. And that was fine. But I think all of us on The Office had been knocking around for so long and had experienced that feeling so many times that whenever we did have a guest star, I would watch as everyone would go out of their way to introduce themselves, say hello, shake hands, invite that person to eat lunch with them, show them where the craft services was. I do have this memory of us just being so hospitable. It was like, welcome to our house. Let’s show you around, give you a tour. Do you know where the bathrooms are? And I think it was because all of us had been around for so long experiencing it the other way that we wanted our show to be different. And we just did it. We never talked about it. It was just this collective thing that we all did.

Angela [00:59:32] Yeah. And you definitely remember with each job, especially when you’re starting out, if there was one person that showed you kindness, you just like remember it and you hold on to it. And and I’m so glad that our show was like that for Kevin, you know, and that he took that same philosophy to Glee with him.

Jenna [00:59:53] Yeah, that’s really cool.

Angela [00:59:55] Well, we also asked him if he, after all this time, still gets recognized as the pizza guy from The Office, even though he’s gone on to all these other amazing projects. And here is what he had to say about that.

Kevin McHale [01:00:09] The amount of times I get recognized for The Office is mind boggling, truly. Like even in the midst of Glee, even after Glee, I get recognized a solid quarter of the time from The Office from one single episode. I did one hundred and twenty something episodes of Glee, but the one episode I did of The Office, I get recognized that much. And it’s absolutely a different demographic. And you can always tell. But it’s still just surprising because I also I think I look pretty different. That was almost 15 years ago, so I’m always baffled and it’s sort of makes me feel very proud every time. Yeah, that’s right. I was on that show once. Well, you know, four days.

Angela [01:00:59] I love it. I love it.

Jenna [01:01:02] Well, I’m glad he had such a great experience on the show and I like that the legacy has endured for him.

Angela [01:01:09] Let us tell you where you can find Kevin on Instagram. He is just his full name, Kevin McHale. That’s Kevin McHale. And on Twitter, he is Druid dude, Druid Dude.

Jenna [01:01:24] Well, now, Angela, we have my other favorite scene from this episode coming up with you in it again, I love that scene with you and Michael where he’s giving you all the instructions. And I love when Andy comes over to serenade Angela over speakerphone with his a cappella pals.

Angela [01:01:46] This was, did you say a cappella Pells?

Jenna [01:01:49] Acapella pals.

Both [01:01:54] Acapella pals.

Angela [01:01:56] Aka what? My a cappella pals. This scene was so much fun to do and oh my gosh, more went into it than you’ll know. I mean, it was pretty like a tech heavy moment.

Jenna [01:02:09] Oh, for sure. Well, we actually asked Jen, how did she come up with this idea for the serenade or how did she pitch this idea? Because this was a brilliant and so charming. And here’s what she had to say.

Jen Celotta [01:02:23] I remember pitching to Greg that Andy could sing Take a Chance On Me to Angela with a speakerphone, backup singers. And Greg was like, cool, cool. Go tell Ed he can start thinking about how he’d want to sing it. And I walked down to Ed’s trailer and I’m just awkward in general but then also I had a bit of a fan girl thing because I loved Ed on The Daily Show and I was so excited that he was on The Office. So I just awkwardly knocked on his trailer door and told him, hey, we’re thinking about having Andy sing, Take a Chance On Me to Angela, and we just wanted you to start thinking about the song, he’s like, what song? And I said, Take a Chance on Me, Mamma Mia, Abba. And he didn’t know the song. And I’m thinking, oh, God, how can you not know the song? Maybe slightly predicting the horror that was about to come. And he’s like, how does it go? And I am a terrible singer. I cannot sing at all. And so I was like, oh, you know, it’s like you remember Mamma Mia? And I just, you know, the song. And I just tried to figure out how to say it without singing it. And then we ended up walking around the parking lot and I had to sing, Take a Chance on Me to Ed. And it was so embarrassing but so lovely, he was so wonderful about it. And I love that scene so much. I just thought he killed it and was so excited that that he was able to do such a fantastic job with it. It was just exciting.

Angela [01:03:57] That would be me. I’d be so nervous if I all of a sudden I had to sing something to someone because I hate singing in front of people. I love to belt it out at home in the shower or like just in the kitchen with the kids. But if I had to like, you know, Oh my God like have someone like Ed or like Steve or someone be like, OK, how does that go? I’d be so nervous and embarrassed.

Jenna [01:04:23] Well, we also got a lot of fan questions from Jen Reynolds, Sarah Thorup, Steven Jackson, Roxann Hoffman and Becca Harrington. They wanted to know who sang the backup on the telephone for Andy. How was that accomplished? Were they actually on the line or was it prerecorded?

Angela [01:04:43] Oh, Jenna. My memory is we did that in real time. And I’ll tell you why, because I had to be there reacting and I thought, whatever you do, Angela, you cannot mess this up for these guys, you know, like because they had it all timed out and we actually asked Jen Celotta about it. And this is what she had to say.

Jen Celotta [01:05:02] One of the singers we were so lucky to get for the a cappella take a chance on me was John Michael Higgins. You’ll know him from Christopher Guest movies. He’s just brilliant. And so we were super, super excited. I don’t know who the other singer was. So I tried to track it down and I was unsuccessful. We I believe we recorded it on the day in that John and whoever else maybe besides John were in the little office that the writers used to hang out on on set. And they called in and sang through the speakerphones. And then I’m sure we recorded a clean version too of it, not through the speaker phone so that we could have it in the mix and then just make sure that we got the sound quality great. But it was a really fun day. I just thought that they killed it.

Jenna [01:05:54] Well, I remember that, Angela, because I remember listening to Ed and those guys practicing before they divided up and went into this sort of speaker phone situation. But it was a big deal. And what a big get for just this voice on the phone that has gone completely uncredited.

Angela [01:06:15] I know and I am such a fan of John’s like he is such a comedic genius. And and he and Ed and how they put this all together and did it was so fantastic. I loved every second of it. It was hard for me not to fully smile because it was so charming and delightful. And, you know, Angela’s trying not to tip her hand too much. She only has a very slight smile at like one or two parts. Right? But I just I have such fond memories of this, and I just felt like we had to hear it.

Andy and friends [01:06:50] If you change your mind, I’ll be first in line. Honey, I’m still free. Take a chance on me. If you need me, let me know. Going to be around if you got no place to go, if you’re feeling down. If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown, honey I’m still free take a chance on me. Gonna do my very best and that ain’t no lie, if you put me to the test if you let me try. Take a chance on me. That’s all I ask of you, Angela.

Angela [01:07:37] I mean I mean, come on, how they harmonize at the end like that.

Jenna [01:07:41] All right. I got goosebumps listening to that. I got a little choked up. I don’t know if I just miss Ed a lot. And he’s so charming in the scene. Or if it’s just the time we’re in. I don’t know, I I’ve also just fallen in love with Andy during this re watch, you know, we’ve talked about how I have this new appreciation for Ryan, but I also just have been loving the character of Andy and his journey. But I don’t know, Angela. I also have to say, I know I mentioned that the way to my heart is to put together a grill and break down the box. But I think that if there was a guy that I actually was not that interested in, if he did this, I would be like, OK, all right. I it is so sweet.

Angela [01:08:34] It’s so, so charming. You know, my husband is a really good singer and he doesn’t really sing around people. But when we first started dating, we went out and there was karaoke and I didn’t really know this side of him. He’s like an a cappella guy. And he got up and sang Journey and he brought down the bar. And I was like, Oh, my gosh. This is amazing. But it was just so, so sweet in this moment. Andy, you know, and Andy will go on to sing to Angela again. But, you know, he must really like her if he’s going to bust out the a cappella group. He’s all in.

Jenna [01:09:15] I hope one of those guys was broccoli Rob.

Angela [01:09:18] Oh, it had to have been. And Angela just looks at him and says she has to go clean up the party. And then we reveal that the whole bullpen has watched this. Including Dwight. And before we move on, Jenna, 38 minutes, 15 seconds. Prime Elbo poof, prime elbow poof of the sweater. I don’t even understand the sweater, you guys. It was skinny at the top then had a big, fluffy, poofy part right at the elbow, then skinny again down to the wrist. And it also had lace sewn into the V-neck.

Jenna [01:10:02] Yeah, I mean. I I think that we have to acknowledge that Andy serenaded Angela while she was wearing this terrible blouse.

Angela [01:10:15] Yeah.

Jenna [01:10:15] No other man was going to hit on Angela today. I’ll tell you that, because that blouse is a it’s a repellent.

Angela [01:10:24] I think I think we have a callback to a flirty shade of beige here.

Jenna [01:10:29] Yes. Very flirty shade of beige again. Yes.

Angela [01:10:33] Well, actually, it’s like a Victorian shade of beige with the poofy sleeve, right? Poofy elbow. Dwight ogles her in this flirty shade of beige and Andy sings to her. So clearly something was working.

Jenna [01:10:48] It’s a shocker. Well, now we go into Michael’s office and he and Dwight are just both miserable over this day.

Angela [01:11:00] Yeah, they’ve had a day.

Jenna [01:11:02] And Michael says more than anything, he’s bummed that he did not get to have authentic New York sushi. Not a thing. New York has very good sushi but it is certainly I don’t think the sushi capital, but whatever. Michael is really, really bummed. And he says to Dwight, I think we should go to New York and get that sushi. You’re driving.

Angela [01:11:29] Dwight is so excited he can’t wait. He can’t wait to drive all the way to New York to crash the tail end of this corporate party and get the leftover sushi that no one else wanted to eat.

Jenna [01:11:40] That’s been sitting out for a while.

Angela [01:11:42] For a long while.

Jenna [01:11:44] I just want to say. So that’s what they do. They get there. They go into the party. They get kicked out pretty much immediately. There’s no one there. But they grab a plate of sushi and then they go and they sit on the hood of Dwight’s car. And guys, this they did not go to New York to shoot this. Obviously, this is a little parking lot that they found in downtown L.A. I believe. I recognized it because I think I’ve shot there. They are just eating the sushi and they are making fun of Ryan.

Angela [01:12:16] And someone leaves the party and says to Michael, Hey, that was pretty awesome, you know, when you called Ryan out like that. And it is it’s like all he needed, right? He feels seen and they’re having sushi in they’re in New York. And now he can go home. And he sets the tray of sushi and soy sauce on someone else’s car and they go home.

Jenna [01:12:42] It’s pretty amazing. And then we have just a little tag at the end. We just see Ryan in full douche mode winking at the camera from his New York party that’s in full swing.

Angela [01:12:55] Oh, yeah. So pleased with himself. Well, I don’t know if you thought about it, but this scene had basically three couples in it having intimate moments. We have Jim and Pam dinner on the roof. We have Andy and Angela serenading in accounting. And we have Michael and Dwight having dinner in a parking lot.

Jenna [01:13:15] Yeah. Very sweet.

Angela [01:13:18] Very sweet, and we had one hostage, but we let him go.

Jenna [01:13:26] Well, guys, that was Launch Party part two.

Angela [01:13:30] And a big thank you to Jen Celotta and Kevin McHale and Steve Duchscherer for all the behind the scenes details.

Jenna [01:13:38] Yeah. Guys, thank you so much for always letting us reach out to get those details each week. We really appreciate it. And um.

Angela [01:13:45] And we’re going to be doing it for like three more years. So don’t get tired of us.

Jenna [01:13:49] Everyone check your DM’s. If you’ve ever had anything to do with The Office, please check in. We’ll be there.

Angela [01:13:55] There’s a good chance John and I are there saying, hey, what’s up?

Jenna [01:14:00] All right, guys, we’ll see you next week.

Angela [01:14:01] Take care. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.

Jenna [01:14:11] Our producer is Codi Fischer, our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

Angela [01:14:17] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

Jenna [01:14:20] For Ad free versions of Office Ladies go to Stitcher premium dotcom for a free one month trial of Stitcher premium use code office.