EP. 131 — The Chump

OFFICE 131 – The Chump

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 [00:00:25] Hi there.

Jenna [00:00:26] How are you?

Angela [00:00:28] I am well. How is New York City?

Jenna [00:00:30] It is great. You know, I just love that we can do the podcast from two different cities. We’re bicoastal Office Ladies.

Angela [00:00:37] So cool.

Jenna [00:00:38] I’ve got my sound engineer here, Casey, and we are ready to go.

Angela [00:00:42] I cannot believe we are on the second to last episode of season six.

Jenna [00:00:47] Me either. It’s crazy.

Angela [00:00:50] It’s crazy.

Jenna [00:00:51] This is The Chump. It is season six episode 25 written by Aaron Shure and directed by Randall Einhorn.

Angela [00:00:59] Give us a summary, Jenna.

Jenna [00:01:01] Okay. Since you asked. Here is your summary. Last week, Michael learned that Donna, the woman he’s been seeing, is married and is cheating on her husband with Michael. But Michael does not call off the relationship, and he receives a lot of flack from his employees for continuing his affair with Donna. Meanwhile, Pam and Jim struggle to stay awake at work after a late night with the baby. And Dwight and Angela are at odds over the validity of their co-parenting contract.

Angela [00:01:35] Oh, I have some good stuff about the Dwight Angela co-parenting contract. I’ll wait till we get to it.

Jenna [00:01:41] I was hoping you would, lady, because I think there’s stories there. All right. Fast fact number one, this was our 125th episode of The Office.

Angela [00:01:55] Wow.

Jenna [00:01:56] Yeah. We shot this episode the week of March 19th, 2010, and it was viewed by 6.6 million people.

Angela [00:02:06] That seems like a lot of folks.

Jenna [00:02:08] It was a lot of folks. We were second in the ratings right behind Grey’s Anatomy. They were a big competition at this time.

Angela [00:02:16] I mean, it was a big deal if you were even holding your own with Grey’s Anatomy.

Jenna [00:02:20] I know. I mean, they were always number one. Now, the reviews for this episode were pretty good. The A.V. Club gave it a B-plus, and it ranked as the 10th most well-liked episode by fans for Season six on Office Tally. So of all 26 episodes in season six, this was ranked 10th. It was very well liked.

Angela [00:02:42] I love a stat.

Jenna [00:02:44] Oh, me too, lady. Now, the fan favorite moment that was most mentioned in the comments was from this episode. There was a moment.

Angela [00:02:53] Oh, I’m going to guess. I’m Beyoncé always.

Jenna [00:02:56] Oh, yes. That did get a lot of mentions. That was very popular.

Angela [00:03:00] That’s my favorite line.

Jenna [00:03:03] That’s a mug right there.

Angela [00:03:04] Yeah.

Jenna [00:03:06] No, the most popular moment was when Dwight and Angela are having sex in the warehouse and it pans up to Pam and Jim listening from their sleeping spot.

Angela [00:03:18] Oh, that’s hilarious.

Jenna [00:03:21] All right, fast fact number two is a location breakdown. We got a fan question from Harmjan V in The Netherlands. Where did you film the baseball game and who were the players?

Angela [00:03:34] Good question.

Jenna [00:03:36] Yeah, I mean, a big portion of this episode takes place at a baseball field with Michael and Andy watching Donna’s husband, who is a high school baseball coach. This was our first day of shooting. We filmed on location at College of the Canyons on Rockwell Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, California. And then our base camp, which is where they put all the trailers and they put the food and-

Angela [00:04:01] Hair and makeup, everything.

Jenna [00:04:03] Yes. That was in an adjacent parking lot. It was parking lot number eight. So if you’re a diehard fan and you even want to tour our base camps, you can go to College of the Canyons parking lot eight. And that is where Steve Carell and Ed Helms had their lunch. That day. So everyone you see in these scenes are background performers. Randy Cordray told me we had around 100 extras that day.

Angela [00:04:31] For the baseball scenes?

Jenna [00:04:32] Yeah, for the baseball scenes. He said that they went to Central Casting, you know, Central Casting, that’s the famous background casting agency. I was signed up with them when I first came to L.A..

Angela [00:04:42] I was signed up with them. You know my 90210 story.

Jenna [00:04:46] Oh, yes. Exactly. Well, Central Casting provided us with all of the spectators, and here is what we asked for. We wanted six people who could be grandparents. We wanted 18 adults to be parents, and we needed 34 high school students. But all of the students had to be 18 years of age or older who looked younger. Because then they could work adult hours.

Angela [00:05:11] Right.

Jenna [00:05:12] But for the actual baseball scene, like the baseball players, we used a different company. I guess it’s no longer in business, but it’s called Smittyz Casting. Like Smitty with a Z. Smittyz Casting.

Angela [00:05:27] And they were really playing.

Jenna [00:05:29] Yeah, the players were really playing. And that’s why we went to this casting place, because they’re a specialty casting service that provides productions with sports playing background performers. So we got enough people to fill two baseball teams, the Scranton Coal Hawks and the Wolverines. Smittyz casting sent us two male umpires, one male assistant coach, three male Wolverines coaches, 18 male Coal Hawk players, and 18 male Wolverine players. And then our wardrobe department provided the team uniforms.

Angela [00:06:07] I would have signed up for Smittyz. Maybe they would have taken me as a tennis player.

Jenna [00:06:12] Yes, exactly. Can you play at, like, an almost professional level?

Angela [00:06:19] Well, I- no, I can’t. But you know what? I have a very good forehand.

Jenna [00:06:25] I think maybe you would just put that on your profile over at Central Casting. I’m sorry to say, I’m not sure you qualify for Smittyz. Thank you for calling.

Angela [00:06:33] I don’t make the Smittyz cut?

Jenna [00:06:35] I’m so sorry. We are looking for professional level sports players.

Angela [00:06:40] Wow.

Jenna [00:06:41] Did you ever play on a college team or at the state level?

Angela [00:06:44] No, Jenna. But I did play-.

Jenna [00:06:46] I’m sorry. I’m not Jenna. I’m the woman on the phone at Smittyz.

Angela [00:06:49] No, Barbara at Smittyz. Here’s the thing. I was once told by my high school coach that I have a lovely country club game. So.

Jenna [00:06:58] Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’m going to have to just forward you over to Central Casting, but congratulations on your terrific forehand.

Angela [00:07:08] I hear some snark with Barbara.

Jenna [00:07:10] Well, you’ve kept Barbara on the phone for a very long time. She needs to move on to other calls that are actually going to produce a client.

Angela [00:07:17] Gosh, Barbara at Smittyz sass.

Jenna [00:07:21] Listen, try being Barbara.

Angela [00:07:23] Okay.

Jenna [00:07:23] It’s not easy. It’s not easy to be Barbara.

Angela [00:07:26] Thank you for calling Smittyz. This is Barbara.

Jenna [00:07:28] Hey, so I would like to sign up for Smittyz. I play pool, and also I can bowl very well.

Angela [00:07:36] Are you professional level?

Jenna [00:07:38] How do you define professional?

Angela [00:07:40] Click. (DIAL TONE).

Jenna [00:07:40] Look at the sass when you’re Barbara. Do you see what I’m saying? Look what you have to deal with.

Angela [00:07:47] All right. Do we move on to fast fact number three?

Angela [00:07:50] Let’s do it.

Jenna [00:07:51] I’m calling fast fact number three, Is there a guest star in the house?

Angela [00:07:56] Yes, there is.

Jenna [00:07:59] We have three new guest stars in this episode. And guess what? They have all appeared on the TV show House. That’s why there is a guest star in the house.

Angela [00:08:12] Oh, you’re making a pun.

Jenna [00:08:14] I punned it.

Angela [00:08:15] You punned it.

Jenna [00:08:17] So, Amy Pietz is back as Donna. But this fast fact refers to our never before seen guest stars. For example, Bruno Oliver, as our mediator, Mr. Barr. He has been on Arrested Development, Mad Men, Modern Family, most recently in the movie Birds of Prey and House.

Angela [00:08:37] Bruno was so much fun and he was just amazing. Like, I loved all of our scenes.

Jenna [00:08:45] As an actor, I have to imagine that was such a fun guest star to come on the show and work with you and Rainn in those scenes.

Angela [00:08:52] He was so good too as just the voice of reason between these two absolutely ridiculous people.

Jenna [00:08:58] He had some of my favorite lines. So our other guest star is Donna’s husband, Shane, who was played by Larkin Campbell. Larkin has appeared in Passions, 24, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy- our big competition- and also House.

Angela [00:09:16] Hmm.

Jenna [00:09:17] Finally, our guest star, Tina Huang, who played the reporter at the end who confronts Michael about the exploding printers. She was a regular on the TV show Arrow. She also had a recurring role on Law and Order L.A. That was a short lived spinoff of the Law and Order series. But I kid you not. She has also appeared on House. So there were guest stars in the house.

Angela [00:09:42] Nice.

Jenna [00:09:44] Well, that’s all I got for fast facts. But I was very tickled when I was looking up all of the actors resumes and they had all been in House. Different seasons.

Angela [00:09:52] Were you tickled by the fact that they had this crossover show or that you saw an opportunity to make a pun?

Jenna [00:09:57] Both, lady.

Angela [00:10:00] Well, let’s take a break, because when we come back, we’re going to find a whole bunch of radon kits all over the office. Or are they ant traps? Or are they the little thing you turn upside down and it goes moo?

Jenna [00:10:11] Or are they none of the above?

Angela [00:10:13] We’ll be back. I think this might be Toby’s happiest day.

Jenna [00:10:20] 100%. Well, it starts as Toby’s happiest day.

Angela [00:10:23] Yes, absolutely. It starts that way. He’s in the conference room, you guys. He is holding court about one of his favorite subjects, radon. He is explaining to everyone that he’ll be placing radon kits all over the office. And he urges everyone- in particular, Michael, and he’s snapping at Michael to please not throw them in the garbage. At 13 seconds after Toby is snapping at Michael repeatedly, I want you to look at Steve’s face as Michael, the way he glares at Toby. I went back and looked in the script. You know, this was in the cold open shooting draft for Secretary’s Day. I had to know if this look to Toby was scripted. It was. It said Michael gives Toby an annoyed look. And I want you to know, Jenna, we could not get through it. The first time Steve did it, we all erupted into laughter. It’s in the bloopers.

Jenna [00:11:23] Well, we got a fan question, actually, a fan mail flurry asking where is Pam during this cold open? Was Jenna not available for filming? Why am I not there? When I watched this cold open, I actually thought the same thing. And then I remembered, like you said, this cold open was written for Secretaries Day. We actually shot it that week, and Pam was not back from her maternity leave yet. She returns after the cold open. So that’s why I’m not there. And that’s why I did not get to see Steve’s glare.

Angela [00:11:54] Oh, yeah, that’s right. Pam is on maternity leave. Well, that’s a great catch. Michael is going to have this talking head, and he is going to walk around his office and talk about all of the radon test kits, the first radon kit he mistook for an ant trap. Then, of course, he thought it was the thing that you turn over that makes the cow noise and he just keeps tossing them in the trash. The last one he tossed in the trash just out of spite.

Jenna [00:12:19] Well, I asked Randy about these test kits, and it turns out these are not real radon test kits. Fakey test kit alert.

Angela [00:12:28] Fakey radon test kit.

Jenna [00:12:30] Yeah. Randy said that the real ones at the time were actually pretty large and quite pricey, and we were looking for something smaller that really did kind of look more like an ant trap. So Phil Shea bought some inexpensive, just electronic modules at Fry’s Electronics for Toby to place around the office. And after we got them, we realized that they looked like the thing that goes moo. So that line was added later after our purchase was made.

Angela [00:13:00] I was curious about that because it’s so specific and you know, it’s an instant memory we all have. We’ve seen those things.

Jenna [00:13:07] For sure. Angela, We got a piece of mail from Brent M in Vancouver, Canada, who said, I was wondering if you ladies knew anything about the radon gas fan theory. I didn’t.

Angela [00:13:20] I don’t.

Jenna [00:13:21] The radon gas theory basically suggests that everyone in the office is slowly getting poisoned by radon. One of the side effects of radon poisoning is odd behavior, which may explain the characters’ wacky behaviors in the later seasons. So you can go to the Reddit fan theories thread and you can read all about why the Scranton employees became so crazy in later seasons. And the theory is that we are reacting to the radon gas and that Toby was right.

Angela [00:13:54] How many theories are there on this thread?

Jenna [00:13:57] Well, here was my thought about this theory is that it’s kind of at odds with Toby being the Scranton Strangler. I mean, wouldn’t Toby want us to all die slowly from radon poisoning if he is the Scranton Strangler? I mean, it would be like he’s slowly strangling us all to death.

Angela [00:14:13] I mean, it’s the slow play.

Jenna [00:14:15] Yeah. I mean, or maybe he’s just, what, trying to throw us off with his theatrics? Like he’s pretending to care about radon, but he really is just going to strangle us all later? I don’t know.

Angela [00:14:28] It’s making Toby really complex, if that’s the case.

Jenna [00:14:31] It’s true.

Angela [00:14:32] Very complex killer. Well, Toby is going to say something that Michael cannot resist. He says that radon gas is silent, but deadly. Silent, but deadly. I mean, here comes Michael and fart noises. It’s going to happen.

Jenna [00:14:49] I know. I mean, what did Toby expect?

Angela [00:14:51] The group must be pretty bored by Toby because they’re actually finding Michael’s joke hilarious.

Jenna [00:14:56] Yes, until he goes too far.

Angela [00:14:59] Yeah.

Jenna [00:15:00] Yeah. He declares that if he had a gun with two bullets and he was stuck in a room with Hitler, bin Laden and Toby, he would shoot Toby twice. Then everyone’s like, Michael…

Angela [00:15:10] Michael. Michael.

Jenna [00:15:11] No.

Angela [00:15:12] And then, of course, Dwight has to be Dwight and say that he could get all three with one bullet. And then he makes everyone line up to demonstrate. And that’s how the conference room meeting ends.

Jenna [00:15:22] Yes, exactly.

Angela [00:15:24] Well, I have a little something about this cold open.

Jenna [00:15:27] What’s that?

Angela [00:15:29] You know, it was in Secretary’s Day. We often moved our cold opens around. So here is what was in the actual shooting draft for this episode. The Cold Open featured Dwight and he shares that he has one year’s worth of provisions that can carry him through the chaotic first year of an apocalypse before cannibalism becomes accepted practice. After that, he’ll be on Easy Street, but his provisions have a shelf life, so it’s time to start eating and replacing everything that’s about to expire. Then there’s all this B-roll of Dwight eating smelly foods that have been stored for years. A jar of pickled okra. Mackerel. The bullpen is grossed out, and Jim in particular gives Dwight a lot of grief.

Jenna [00:16:15] Did we shoot that?

Angela [00:16:16] We did.

Jenna [00:16:18] I have a memory of it.

Angela [00:16:19] We did. And there is a really funny blooper on this season six last DVD, where you guys are all in the break room and Dwight is eating gross stuff and he’s going around and telling everyone how they would fare in this sort of zombie apocalypse. And Creed says, What would I do? And Dwight said, Your skull would be used as a bowl. And Creed says, Cool. You guys couldn’t get through it. Rainn, John, they would disintegrate every time Creed was like, What would I do? Every single time Creed said his line.

Jenna [00:16:54] Oh, that’s amazing. Well, this episode opens with Erin and Pam working together to unpack some shopping bags filled with ice cream that is named after songs by The Eagles.

Angela [00:17:07] Yes, I loved the names of these ice creams. I kind of have a thing for ice cream flavors with fun names or crazy ice cream flavors. I just get so tickled by it.

Jenna [00:17:17] Oh, my gosh. You are the marketing person’s dream consumer.

Angela [00:17:20] I know. I will buy ice cream just if it has a fun name. So Erin explains that The Eagles are doing a theme ice cream in honor of The Eagles turning 60. The band The Eagles. And the flavors are Desperadough, Witchy Womannilla. And then later we find out, Cake It to the Limit. I had to know what were some of the craziest ice cream flavors out there. And according to the website Taste of Home, here are just a few that caught my eye. So, Sam, Cassi, Casey, let me know if you guys would try any of these. First one. Kraft macaroni and cheese ice cream from Van Leuwen Ice cream. It has cream, milk, cane, sugar, egg yolks and, of course, tons of Kraft cheese powder. You can find it in Brooklyn, New York and also nationwide.

Jenna [00:18:14] Lady, Van Leuwen’s made a Grey Poupon ice cream that was just released recently. And I thought of you.

Angela [00:18:20] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:18:21] I would not eat that is the answer.

Cassi [00:18:24] That’s a lactose intolerant nightmare.

Casey [00:18:27] I would. Yes.

Angela [00:18:28] You would eat the Kraft mac and cheese ice cream? Okay. Moving on. Cheetos flaming hot ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery.

Jenna [00:18:37] No. No.

Angela [00:18:37] Listen. Now it’s got kind of.

Jenna [00:18:40] I wouldn’t eat a flaming hot Cheeto. Why would I want it in my ice cream?

Angela [00:18:43] It’s got this sweet cream base with flaming hot Cheetos crushed.

Jenna [00:18:46] Oh, my gosh.

Angela [00:18:47] You can get it also in a milkshake. You can. You can find it in Texas and Southeast States.

Jenna [00:18:53] No, I mean.

Speaker 4 [00:18:54] I’m going to say yes, but I’m not proud of myself.

Jenna [00:18:56] You guys. I’m getting sick. I’m getting- I don’t feel well.

Angela [00:18:59] Sam is too. Oh, well, then get ready for this one. Thanksgiving dinner from the ice cream store in Delaware is composed of egg yolk, vanilla ice cream, studded with tomatoes, potatoes and green beans. This seasonal specialty is topped off with hot sauce and granulated sugar. Thanksgiving dinner.

Jenna [00:19:19] What do you think?

Casey [00:19:19] I mean, you only live once.

Jenna [00:19:22] Oh, my God. Casey.

Casey [00:19:25] I think it might just be an engineer thing.

Angela [00:19:27] Oh, my gosh. Wait. I have two more.

Casey [00:19:29] Hold on. I have a caveat. Can I lay down after?

Angela [00:19:31] Yes, sure.

Speaker 3 [00:19:33] You would have to.

Casey [00:19:33] If I can nap afterwards, yes.

Angela [00:19:34] You can wear sweatpants and lay down.

Casey [00:19:37] Then yes.

Angela [00:19:38] Okay. Two last ones that caught my eye. Dill Pickle from Dakota Drug Company in Stanley, North Dakota. It’s got a soft chestnut color that looks like caramel or peanut butter. This brine spiked scoop is sure to surprise.

Cassi [00:19:52] I would try that just because it’s one weird thing.

Casey [00:19:55] I don’t think I would do that one.

Angela [00:19:56] Oh, my gosh.

Casey [00:19:57] I’d be afraid it would ruin pickles for me. No, actually. And I know it’s it’s an audio podcast, so you can’t see. But Jenna is contemplating hard.

Jenna [00:20:06] No. I’m just I’m not speaking because my stomach is.

Casey [00:20:09] Or she’s going to throw up. Never mind.

Angela [00:20:11] Oh, my God. Okay. I’ll quickly do the last one, Jenna. Lobster from Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium.

Jenna [00:20:16] Oh, my God. What is happening? You guys just let the food be the food. It’s delicious as it was made in its original form. It doesn’t need to be turned into a dessert.

Casey [00:20:27] That one is in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Jenna [00:20:30] Casey, how did you know that? Have you had it?

Casey [00:20:32] I’ve been I’ve been to that place many times.

Jenna [00:20:35] Have you eaten it?

Casey [00:20:36] I have tried it.

Jenna [00:20:37] Oh, my God. How is it?

Casey [00:20:40] It’s weird.

Jenna [00:20:42] Does it taste like lobster?

Casey [00:20:44] It tastes lobstery.

Jenna [00:20:45] Does it? Is it like buttery lobstery?

Casey [00:20:48] It’s a little bit buttery, I would say. More more of the more of that kind of crabby aspect comes through.

Angela [00:20:53] Well, you want to know why? Here are the ingredients. It’s vanilla bean and butter based lobster that has been cooked and chopped.

Sam [00:21:01] Do you get the bib?

Angela [00:21:04] I don’t know.

Sam [00:21:05] If so, then yes.

Angela [00:21:05] I don’t know. Anyway, I took us on a tangent there because I find these ice cream flavors so fascinating.

Jenna [00:21:11] Well, I’ll tell you this. Our ice creams were made up. The names were scripted. Randy Cordray said that Henry Saine built the graphics for the labels and then, oh, no, I’m going to take us down the road. Phil Shea got the ice cream cartons made at a place called Earl Hay’s Press. And this is a very famous Hollywood business that mocks up printed items for TV shows and movies. They’ve been around for a really long time. We used them a lot. Randy sent me their website. Lady, do you remember when I had to go to the old timey prop house and I just wandered around for, like, an hour?

Angela [00:21:48] You called me from there. You were so tickled by it.

Jenna [00:21:52] I think maybe in another life I was meant to be a prop master because I love it. I looked at this website. It’s all fakey labels for, like, made up food brands. Like, they’ll make you a fakey cereal, a fakey yogurt, fakey mustard, like anything, you know, so that you because if you show a real label, you have to get clearance. So you have your graphics design person make you a fakey ketchup label and you then get it made into fakey ketchup at this place. They also do fakey newspaper articles, fakey tabloids, and fakey credit cards.

Angela [00:22:28] Oh, my gosh.

Jenna [00:22:30] Lady, I have a fakey Pam Beasley credit card.

Angela [00:22:33] Oh, you kept it?

Jenna [00:22:34] Yeah, it was in my prop wallet. I have a library card and a fake credit card. I did not have a fake driver’s license. But yeah.

Angela [00:22:45] That is so cool.

Jenna [00:22:46] I’ll take a picture of it and you can put it in stories, but I guess that’s where they got it was at this place.

Angela [00:22:53] I love that companies like that exist. I just think that’s so fun. That’s part of like the movie magic stuff that Randy will share with us that just I just love the whole process.

Jenna [00:23:04] I know. I find it fascinating.

Angela [00:23:06] Erin and Pam are going to have a joint talking head and they’re going to share their plan for how to handle Michael’s broken heart.

Jenna [00:23:13] Yes. We’re also going to find out in this talking head that Pam is exhausted because she was up all night with Cece. Lady. I had so much fun doing this talking head with Ellie.

Angela [00:23:22] It’s clearly the first time the two of you ever got to do a joint talking head. You were so tickled by it, you guys kept giggling and you were chatty and it’s in the bloopers. You have to hear it. You guys are adorable. You’re clearly very excited to do this together.

Ellie Kemper [00:23:38] Well, this is all for Michael. Sorry. Okay.

Jenna [00:23:43] This is our first talking head together.

Ellie Kemper [00:23:43] I know, we’re- I’m nervous.

Jenna [00:23:44] Two girls from St. Louis.

Ellie Kemper [00:23:46] Yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay.

Jenna [00:23:47] All right.

Ellie Kemper [00:23:47] All right.

Jenna [00:23:49] Oh, my God. Are we at work or are we at a sleepover? What’s happening?

Angela [00:23:52] I know you’re like, hahahah. It’s so cute. Like, as I watched it and I rewatched the bloopers a few times, I just smiled every time watching the two of you.

Jenna [00:24:05] Well, now Erin and Pam are going to debrief the bullpen about their plan. So here’s what they have going on. They are going to play comedy films in the conference room. They’ve got Mr. Bean playing. They’ve got Pink Panther ready to go. They have a sign up list so that people can watch movies with Michael. Pam also tells everyone they need to keep their conversations light. Do not empathize with Michael because it just encourages him. And if you can’t think of something to do, just make a random sound effect. And also they should laugh at anything he says that might possibly be funny.

Angela [00:24:40] The random sound effect was my favorite thing.

Jenna [00:24:45] My favorite thing is that Toby walks through the door and everybody is like no. Leave. Get out.

Angela [00:24:49] No, no, get out, get out!

Jenna [00:24:52] I have a catch from this scene at 3 minutes and 49 seconds. It is a proof of cold. You can see the heater under my desk. The light is on.

Angela [00:25:00] Yeah, I saw it. Well, Michael is going to come in and he gets the warmest welcome. Erin hugs him, Dwight compliments his tie. Everyone is laughing at his jokes. Pam offers him ice cream.

Jenna [00:25:12] Yeah, he’s loving it, but he just kind of walks into his office. He doesn’t seem upset. And everyone’s like, Huh? Maybe he’s going to take this one better than the others. Hmm. But maybe there’s another reason why he’s not upset, which we will find out soon.

Angela [00:25:29] Mmhmm.

Jenna [00:25:29] Well, lady, now, Angela and Dwight are in the conference room, and they are reviewing their contract with their mediator. So, like I said earlier in m’ fast fact, the mediator was played by Bruno Oliver. And Aaron Shure told us that he named him Mr. Barr after a friend of his whose last name was also Barr, who was also a mediator. And Aaron consulted her for advice on what a mediator might realistically do in this insane situation. And Aaron also sent in an audio clip, and he shared a little memory about this runner, this storyline, which he really loved.

Aaron Shure [00:26:11] Hi, Office Ladies, it’s Aaron Shaw. What I remember about shooting The Chump is that I decided to bring my son to work. And it’s a little risky to bring a ten year old on to a set, even a friendly set like ours. But my son was having a blast. He didn’t realize what a cool job his dad had at the time. I mean, now I’m sure his Bumble profile says, my dad wrote for The Office, but then he was just meeting really charismatic, funny people and eating a lot of fun food. And Rainn came up and was charming, my son. But at one point, Rainn leans over to him and says, Hey, listen, buddy, I need to talk to your dad for a minute because this negotiation scene, it’s not hitting on all cylinders. And I’m like, okay, son, have a cookie. I mean, have all the cookies you want. I’m going to go talk to Mr. Wilson, because if he thinks the scene is not working, the scene is not working. And Rainn’s like, I’m not saying it’s not working, I’m just saying some of the bits feel a little forced. So basically Rainn and I negotiated the negotiation scene with my son as the mediator chomping on a cookie. And I did do a hectic rewrite over lunch, none of which got in. It wasn’t any better. That’s the beauty of the documentary style. Pro tip: If you’re going to make a hit show, make it documentary style, because then you just keep the parts that work, like Angela with red teeth because of her beet fast.

Angela [00:27:29] Oh, my gosh, Aaron, I cannot believe you did that rewrite. I do remember Rainn pulling him aside. I remember we were going through stuff and there were so many more scenes between Dwight and Angela. If you have the DVD box set they’re in deleted scenes and there’s also a bunch in the bloopers because we couldn’t keep it together. In fact, the very first time we meet the mediator, the very first few sentences, we just started laughing. Here it is. It’s in the bloopers.

Dwight [00:28:02] Good day.

Mr Barr [00:28:03] Hello.

Dwight [00:28:03] Dwight Schrute.

Mr Barr [00:28:04] Archie Barr.

Dwight [00:28:06] I’m sorry?

Mr Barr [00:28:07] Archie Barr.

Angela Martin [00:28:09] That’s his name, Dwight. (LAUGHTER)

Angela [00:28:16] And then we have a joint talking head where Dwight and Angela share that rather than spend all day in court, they’ve decided to mediate this child bearing contract dispute. And they go back and forth. Dwight’s like alleged contract. Angela’s like, alleged? I could own your farm by the time we’re done with this. We couldn’t get through this talking head either.

Angela Martin [00:28:38] Rather than spend the whole day in court, we decided to settle our dispute using a mediator. It was one of the options spelled out in our child rearing contract.

Dwight [00:28:46] Alleged contract.

Angela Martin [00:28:47] What are you talking about?

Dwight [00:28:48] The contract is alleged.

Angela Martin [00:28:50] You wrote the contract, Dwight.

Dwight [00:28:51] Your notary was out of date.

Angela Martin [00:28:52] We notarized, which- we. (LAUGHTER) Sorry.

Angela [00:29:01] We had so much fun. Just the idea that Dwight and Angela would have this contract in the first place and then be disputing it and involve the mediator. Rainn and I could not stop doing bits. We got to do stuff that was scripted. We got to play around a little bit. It was just the best.

Jenna [00:29:20] That must have been so much fun to shoot.

Angela [00:29:24] I mean, I loved every second and there are so many in deleted scenes.

Jenna [00:29:29] Well, Dwight is really trying to pick apart this contract. He’s trying to find some way that maybe Angela is in breach of contract to make it null and void. And the first thing he brings up is whether or not Angela has been following the beet juice cleanse. Apparently I guess to prepare your body for baby, you’re supposed to do a beet juice cleanse. But Angela is like, Oh, no, no, I’m doing it. Look at my teeth. And your teeth are red, Ange.

Angela [00:29:53] They’re really red. If you go to 5 minutes, 7 seconds, you’ll see. Also, a fun little game if you want to rewatch this episode is you can see when my teeth are stained and when they aren’t. We go back and forth within the same scene.

Jenna [00:30:08] I noticed that. Well, we had a fan question from Cameron D in Richmond, Virginia, who said, What did you use for the beet stained teeth? Angela, was it gross? Were your teeth really stained? And Leanne H from Lake Stevens, Washington, said, As a dental hygienist, I was wondering how Angela’s beet stained teeth were achieved because the color looks similar to a dental disclosing solution used to show patients where they are missing plaque with their brushing. I’m wondering, did you get your teeth really dirty and then use this solution?

Angela [00:30:47] No, Leanne, I didn’t do that. But I will tell you, Kenneth Paul, who did my makeup, we did a few tests on my teeth. He had, like a cotton swab. He also used, like, a little brush, and he had it looked like a red food dye. It had no taste, so it didn’t taste gross. But it really made my teeth red. And I thought we knocked this out of the park. I thought the teeth looked really red. Kenneth Paul was happy with it. Even when I walked to set, I would forget that my teeth were stained and I would start talking to people and people would wince. They’d go, ughh, and I actually became self-conscious while I had my teeth stained because everyone had such a reaction to it. But I remember they wanted my teeth even redder, Jenna.

Jenna [00:31:28] Yeah, I guess this was a rather involved gag. Randy Cordray said that yes, in person it was reading if we were speaking to you. But I guess like when they were looking at it in editing, it just didn’t look read enough. So they actually sent the shot of you showing your teeth to a visual effects company called Encore Video and they added red to your teeth in post.

Angela [00:31:56] Well, it really made me laugh. I had forgotten just how much of a visual gag it was until I rewatched it and I was like, Oh my gosh.

Jenna [00:32:05] Well, lady, I got curious about the beet juice cleanse because I assumed this was just like a joke because of Dwight having a beet farm. But I guess it’s, it’s actually a thing.

Angela [00:32:16] What kind of cleanse is it?

Jenna [00:32:18] Well, according to JustBeetIt.com.

Angela [00:32:23] I love it.

Jenna [00:32:24] Quote An epic detoxifier that eliminates toxins from the liver, beets promote healthy liver function. And according to Tastylicious dot com, beets have several essential health benefits that can help detoxify your body and give your organs and immune system a much needed boost. Aside from being healthy and packed full of vitamins, a beet juice cleanse has been known to help a range of conditions and ailments. And it is the perfect food to prevent aging and to battle inflammation.

Angela [00:32:58] Well, now I’m thinking we need to do a beet cleanse.

Jenna [00:33:01] I mean, after drinking your beet juice vodka, lady, I mean, I don’t know.

Angela Martin [00:33:07] You really were not a fan.

Jenna [00:33:09] It’s just that it was so dry.

Angela [00:33:12] It’s very earthy.

Jenna [00:33:14] Well, what I want to know is, is there a beet juice ice cream? Has anyone done that?

Angela [00:33:20] I’m sure.

Jenna [00:33:21] Where’s that flavor?

Angela [00:33:22] I’m positive there is one out there somewhere.

Jenna [00:33:25] I would try that.

Angela [00:33:27] You would try beet ice cream?

Jenna [00:33:28] Probably not the same health benefits as a beet juice cleanse. Incidentally, I could not really find any instructions for a beet juice cleanse. I could just find that beet juice is good for you.

Angela [00:33:38] Well, now in the kitchen, Andy, Jim, Pam, and Phyllis are discussing how Michael just seems okay. You know, has he evolved? Has he matured? He’s not crying. He’s really handling this breakup well.

Jenna [00:33:51] I know.

Angela [00:33:53] And Jim’s like, so what? He just matured overnight? And Andy’s like, that’s what happened in Big. Yeah.

Jenna [00:34:01] Well, Pam and Jim are going to make an announcement.

Angela [00:34:05] This was so well done. I thought you and John crushed this moment because you look so weary and inviting Michael to come to your house and play with your baby and you order food to go from Hooters. You look so pained as you’re saying all of it, Jenna, it just cracked me up.

Jenna [00:34:27] It reminded me of the scene where Pam is trying to get Michael to talk to her. So she tells him that she needs to discuss her sex life with him.

Angela [00:34:35] Yeah.

Jenna [00:34:36] They really know Michael well.

Angela [00:34:37] They do.

Jenna [00:34:39] Even after all of these promises, Michael is going to take a rain check. And that is when Pam says, are you still seeing Donna?!

Angela [00:34:48] She yells it across the bullpen. I wrote down the time code. 5 minutes and 56 seconds into the episode. I couldn’t believe it. Like, I was like, Wow, Pam.

Jenna [00:35:00] I have something to say about this scene. One of the things that Pam offers to do with Michael is play rock band. She says they’ll play Billy Joel songs on rock band. Now, first of all, Billy Joel songs were never on rock band. He hadn’t given permission to use his songs. So this is something that we made up. And the reason that I would know this is because I got really, really into rock band for a while. And I don’t know if you remember, but I used to come to set and I used to talk about it and I even had some folks over to my house for a barbecue to play rock band. And I kind of like to imagine that maybe that’s how Rock Band made it into this episode.

Angela [00:35:41] I do remember you having a thing for rock band. I was not part of it.

Jenna [00:35:46] No, lady. I know that you couldn’t because it was a late night thing and you had a child and I was still…

Angela [00:35:54] You were my friend who was still playing video games late at night.

Jenna [00:35:58] Exactly. I’m sure this was me at my most annoying for you as a new mother.

Angela [00:36:03] But you did love it. It had to have made its way in because of you. I’m going to cosign on that.

Jenna [00:36:08] Okay. Thank you. Well, now Michael is going to have his orange lips talking head.

Angela [00:36:14] Yeah. Why is that? I noticed it, too.

Jenna [00:36:19] Yeah. He has this talking head where he says he likes Donna, and if it’s wrong to keep seeing her, he doesn’t care. And he has orange lips. And the message boards after this episode had all these comments. Why did Michael have orange lips?

Angela [00:36:34] Well were there any fan theories? Because I have one.

Jenna [00:36:38] There was a fan theory. First of all, there was no mention of it in the script. But the one fan theory is that his lips are stained from kissing Donna, who wears red lipstick.

Angela [00:36:50] Okay, here was my theory. So later in the episode, he comes in with all of these oranges. And I wondered if maybe we shot out of order, and Steve ate a bunch of oranges.

Jenna [00:37:02] Oh, my gosh. Lady, I’m going to go with you.

Angela [00:37:06] I mean, I don’t know. Well, how many oranges do you have to eat for your lips to take on some color? But that’s all I could think of was, well, we really did eat a bunch of oranges.

Jenna [00:37:16] We did. You might be right.

Angela [00:37:18] Well, the bullpen is really going to confront Michael on having this affair. Even Meredith is like, Hey, I’ve never cheated, been cheated on or used to cheat with. She has a whole talking head where she says she asks everyone in the room if they are in a relationship.

Jenna [00:37:34] Yeah, she has standards.

Angela [00:37:37] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:37:37] But out in the bullpen, Michael is going to defend himself. He says we are the Paris of northeastern Pennsylvania. And in Paris, it is rude for a woman to have any less than four lovers. He’s just one of Donna’s four Parisian lovers.

Angela [00:37:54] Yeah. And he also says her husband is like a scummy sports guy, and Andy’s like, wait a second, Michael. Are you making assumptions here? And Michael just doesn’t want to hear it. I want to point out at 7 minutes, 3 seconds, there is a great shot of the whole entire bullpen. And if you notice, Dwight and Angela are not in this scene.

Jenna [00:38:16] Well, are you in the conference room?

Angela [00:38:17] Yes, we’re in the conference room. But it meant that Rainn and I had part of the day off.

Jenna [00:38:22] Oh, because we don’t even see you in the background of the conference room.

Angela [00:38:25] That’s right.

Jenna [00:38:27] Lady, whenever I would get a script where I clearly had a storyline that was, like, segmented off from the other storylines, and I knew that I would have days off, I would get so excited and I would go to Randy or to Jenny O’Keefe, who planned our schedule, and I would say, what day are you going to shoot the stuff I’m not in? Because that was the day that I could, like, go to the doctor. You know, you could make your doctor’s appointment.

Angela [00:38:51] Yeah.

Jenna [00:38:52] Whatever you needed to do that were like things that have to happen during daytime working hours that we could never do.

Angela [00:38:59] Yeah. Andy is going to share that he is a cuckold, which is a Shakespearean term for a man whose woman is cheating on him. And you know what? He lived it, and he doesn’t ever want to do it again.

Jenna [00:39:10] Yeah. Andy has a very personal attachment to this issue with Michael. He is going to kind of take it on.

Angela [00:39:18] Yes. He’s going to confront Michael about it in Michael’s office. Andy says, In any cheating movie, the person getting cheated on is the hero. You’re Ali Larter. I’m Beyonce. To which Michael says, I am Beyonce. Always.

Jenna [00:39:34] Yeah.

Angela [00:39:35] Yeah.

Jenna [00:39:37] We had a fan question from Cassie M in Brisbane, Australia. When Andy goes to try and talk Michael into understanding that what he is doing is wrong, he references the Ali Larter and Beyonce movie Obsessed. Well, that movie has Idris Elba, a.k.a. Charles Miner, in it. And I just thought it was funny that The Office was in a world where Idris Elba exists and Michael knows him from the movie, but also Charles Miner exists as a completely different person.

Angela [00:40:08] Oh, my gosh. We’re in the Matrix.

Jenna [00:40:11] We are. Well, somehow Andy is going to convince Michael that they should go meet Donna’s husband, that they should scope him out. And Michael thinks that’s great, because then Andy will see what a bad person he is.

Angela [00:40:24] Yeah. Michael says he can’t wait to see this jerk who’s making him cheat on his wife and that he should punch him in the face for what he’s making Michael do to her.

Jenna [00:40:33] Yeah, well, listen, should we take a break before we go to this baseball game, lady?

Angela [00:40:38] Yes, because at the baseball game, we’re going to meet Andy’s alternate persona, Trevor. And I can’t wait to share with you about Trevor. We are at a baseball game. Andy is really into it. He is singing, he’s making up sort of like baseball commentary. Michael’s like, can you just act normal? Just, you know, blend in. Andy’s like, I am the one blending in.

Jenna [00:41:07] Yeah, kind of true. I mean, you want to show support of your team. At 9 minutes and 21 seconds, I have a couple of cool background catches. There are two background actors sitting next to Andy and Michael wearing custom Scranton Wolverine T-shirts. And behind Michael and Andy, I spotted a background person who is having their best day ever. As someone who was a background performer, I saw this person and I thought, That’s a great gig. I would have been so happy to have that gig. Lady, they have their earphones in. They only have one in, you know, so they’ve got one ear free to listen to the action and then they are probably just listening to whatever- a podcast, their favorite music. Their job that day was to sit on a bench behind Ed Helms and Steve Carell and just listen to whatever they wanted to all day in the fresh air and sunshine.

Angela [00:42:03] Yeah, when I was on 90210 as a background performer, I would get very excited when we would have sorority meetings because we were just indoors in the air conditioning and I just got to sit there.

Jenna [00:42:13] Yeah. Well, lady, you know what? I’m just remembering now? And I can’t believe I didn’t bring this up earlier. My best day as a background performer was the day that I played a field hockey player in a phone commercial. And it was shot outside of the city. And so I actually got to ride on a bus with all the other background performers. We stayed overnight in a hotel. They just gave me, like, a random roommate. Yeah, but it was like a little vacation. And then the next day, I pretended to be a field hockey player because I was able to put that down on my background casting list because of my high school field hockey experience. But I don’t think I would have qualified for Smittyz.

Angela [00:42:56] I was going to say.

Jenna [00:42:57] It was not professional level field hockey.

Angela [00:42:59] Barbara would have hung up on you.

Jenna [00:43:01] She did hang up on me earlier today.

Angela [00:43:06] Back at the office, Jim and Pam are completely asleep at their desks. And they get busted.

Jenna [00:43:14] Well Jim was supposed to be the lookout.

Angela [00:43:17] Gabe says, Come to my office, which cracks me up because he doesn’t have an office. He just has a desk outside of the breakroom. But he’s like, Please come to my office. And they’re like, Oh, crap.

Jenna [00:43:27] Yeah. He forgives them pretty quickly because they take responsibility. But then he starts droning on and on and Pam and Jim start dozing off while he’s talking.

Angela [00:43:38] It’s just such a relatable moment. We have all been in some meeting and just fighting to stay awake, fighting to keep your eyes open.

Jenna [00:43:48] Well, sleep deprivation is a real thing. I have suffered from it, lady. I’m sure you’ve suffered from it, right?

Angela [00:43:56] Yeah.

Jenna [00:43:57] Well, according to the Sleep Foundation, a third of adults suffer from sleep deprivation, like, at any given time. So let me ask you, how much sleep do you get per night on average, would you say?

Angela [00:44:10] Oh, gosh, it just depends. I mean, you know, we still are at that age where if you have a kid that can’t sleep, they come in your room, you know, anywhere from 5 hours to 8 hours, if I’m lucky.

Jenna [00:44:24] They recommend that adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.

Angela [00:44:28] Hmm.

Jenna [00:44:29] Here are the primary signs of sleep deprivation. Slowed thinking. Reduced attention span. Worsened memory. Poor or risky decision making. Lack of energy and feelings of stress, anxiety or irritability.

Angela [00:44:46] Yeah.

Jenna [00:44:47] You are also more likely to crave junk food and gain weight if you aren’t getting enough sleep because you start eating to kind of, like, compensate for the energy that you didn’t get at night. I mean. Yeah.

Angela [00:44:59] Yeah, well, I can definitely relate to the irritability because I feel like, you know, I definitely get grumpy when I don’t get sleep.

Jenna [00:45:07] Yeah, I get grouchy if I haven’t had enough sleep. And I also get grouchy if I haven’t had enough to eat. So you do not want to catch me on a sleep deprived day while I’m also hungry. That would be bad news.

Angela [00:45:21] I feel like I’ve been with you on one of those days.

Jenna [00:45:24] Oh, lady, I’m sure you have.

Angela [00:45:26] It’s a travel day. Sometimes we don’t get food when we need it and we’re tired.

Jenna [00:45:31] Yes, exactly.

Angela [00:45:32] I love that their meeting with Gabe ends with Gabe being like, okay, so great. And they’re like, What? What was he even talking about? They have no idea. They’ve just agreed to help him do something and they have no idea what he said.

Jenna [00:45:44] Well, over in the conference room, the mediator says, I have to tell you, this is a solid contract. And Dwight is shocked that he could not find any holes in this contract.

Angela [00:45:56] Not only that, the mediator says, Listen, I can’t force someone to have a child with another person. So, Dwight, you have to pay Angela $30,000 in damages.

Jenna [00:46:07] Yeah. Dwight refuses to pay Angela. He doesn’t have that kind of money, he says. I mean, he has it, but it’s buried very deep, and he would have to dig past a certain person to get it. So Angela presents him with an alternative idea. How about they have intercourse to completion five individual times rendered at her discretion? And Dwight agrees.

Angela [00:46:30] The mediator is like this is getting dangerously close to prostitution, so I might have to step back here. I want you guys to know Phil Shea made us prop procreation punch cards.

Jenna [00:46:43] That you have and put in our book.

Angela [00:46:46] That’s right. That I still have. It’s in our book, The Office BFFs.

Jenna [00:46:50] Four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Angela [00:46:52] Woo hoo! Yeah. It tickles me. I open my desk drawer, I keep it right in my top desk drawer. I see it almost every day. My procreation punch card. NBC.com at this time also shared Dwight and Angela’s procreation contract.

Jenna [00:47:10] What?

Angela [00:47:11] Yeah. It’s in web archives. You can still see it. There is a lot. It’s pages long.

Jenna [00:47:19] Oh, my God.

Angela [00:47:21] I’m going to read you just a few things that were on this very long and detailed contract. Number one, if the child is breached, he must be turned around in the womb via mind power. I’m guessing Dwight wrote that one. Number two, should the child have mutant powers, parties agree to send the child to a school that aids the child in harnessing his talents for good. Okay. I think Dwight also wrote that one. Number three, see if you can guess who wrote this one. Child shall not have a puppy, dog, nor any toys shaped like puppies or dogs. Cats should be treated with high regard and all other animals regarded only for their usefulness and meat.

Jenna [00:48:10] Hmm. Yeah.

Angela [00:48:11] I think that’s a combo. Angela and Dwight contribution. It is so funny to me how detailed this contract is. You know our writers had a lot of fun with it. And it’s still archived on the Internet.

Jenna [00:48:25] I could not love that more. I would buy that as a little mini booklet pamphlet thing if somebody would print it. Well, speaking of cats, Dwight is going to have a stipulation that their intercourse cannot take place in Angela’s lumpy bed.

Angela [00:48:46] This is one of my favorite Angela speeches. Fans quote it to me. I thought we should hear it.

Dwight [00:48:53] But not in your bed. It’s lumpy.

Angela Martin [00:48:54] Those lumps are cats, and those cats have names. And those names are Ember, Milky Way, Diane and Lumpy.

Jenna [00:49:00] We had a fan question lady from ABC in Atlanta, Georgia.

Angela [00:49:04] What does Abby want to know?

Jenna [00:49:06] Abby would like to know why Angela does not mention Bandit, Princess Lady, Mr. Ash or Petals. She only mentions Ember, Milky Way, Diane and Lumpy. Is this because the other cats are not allowed to sleep in the bed?

Angela [00:49:20] Oh, I think Princess Lady has her own bed that’s right next to Angela’s bed. I mean, there might be some senior cats that have special needs. There is a system. Don’t doubt it. All cats are sleeping perfectly where they’re supposed to, and they are treated very well.

Jenna [00:49:37] Okay, good. Thank you for clearing that up.

Angela [00:49:40] Mm hmm. Back at the baseball field, Andy says it seems like Donna’s husband, Coach Shane, is really well-liked. And Michael’s like, look how he high fives people. He probably does that to Donna. Donna, you did the dishes. High five. Michael is really trying here to find fault in Coach Shane.

Jenna [00:49:57] The next scene at the baseball field is super cringey because they are going to speak to Coach Shane.

Angela [00:50:04] Mm hmm.

Jenna [00:50:05] It’s awkward.

Angela [00:50:07] It’s so awkward. Andy can’t stop talking. He’s- what you’re later going to find out, he’s playing his character, Trevor. He’s also going to introduce Coach Shane to his friend Sheldon.

Jenna [00:50:18] Yes. And then Michael and Shane are going to have a very awkward handshake through the fence. At 13 minutes and 6 seconds, we had a fan catch from Joshua P in Cincinnati who said, What is the story with the bleachers at this baseball game? Earlier at the game, there are several rows of bleachers behind Michael and Andy, but in this scene they suddenly disappear. And you can see just background behind Michael. Were these scenes shot on different days or in different locations? Well, this is a really good catch, Joshua. I thought the same thing. I was like, oh, my gosh, they are on different bleachers. That is because in the script it was scripted as such. Quote, Michael and Andy now take seats closer to the foul. And this is so they can talk to Shane. But we cut out the part where you see them move. So it looks like they sort of instantaneously are sitting somewhere else.

Angela [00:51:17] Well, Michael is going to have a talking head and his back is going to be to the field. He’s going to say his heart is racing because he just shook the hand of this man who he is having an affair with his wife. And you know who else does that? James freakin Bond. During this talking head, you know, there was a pop fly that was hurtling toward Steve, but his back was towards the field and he didn’t see it coming. It’s in the bloopers. Randall Einhorn quickly steps forward and grabs Steve.

Angela [00:51:46] Oh, my gosh!

Jenna [00:51:47] Yeah. And then, of course, they’re all like everyone okay? Everyone okay? And Steve does a funny bit because the way he ducked, it’s kind of it looks like an awkward dance move. He’s like, Ehhh.

Jenna [00:51:58] That’s crazy. Oh, my gosh. I thought you were going to say that Randall Einhorn reached out and caught the ball.

Angela [00:52:05] Oh, that would have been amazing. Just put like one bare hand.

Jenna [00:52:08] Yeah, that’s very Randall. So Andy’s plan of trying to shame Michael does not work. Michael is emboldened. He returns to the office. He’s throwing out orange slices. He hits Oscar with an orange slice.

Angela [00:52:23] Oscar says, Why would you throw something wet at me? It reminded me of Pam’s line, Please don’t throw garbage at me.

Jenna [00:52:30] Me, too.

Angela [00:52:33] We find out he stole the orange slices from the team.

Jenna [00:52:36] Well, it’s not the first thing he took from Coach Shane.

Angela [00:52:39] Ugh.

Jenna [00:52:40] You know, by the way, at 14 minutes and 52 seconds, we’re going to see that orange slice hit Oscar’s shirt, and it leaves a wet spot.

Angela [00:52:48] Yeah.

Jenna [00:52:48] But at 15 minutes, 30 seconds, Oscar has another line. And I noticed it as well as Christian B from Chattanooga, Tennessee, that Oscar no longer has a stain from the orange hitting him in the shoulder.

Angela [00:53:01] I caught that, too.

Jenna [00:53:02] It has magically disappeared.

Angela [00:53:05] Well, this is when Andy tells the group, You know what? He doesn’t condone this affair. He even tried to get Michael to meet Coach Shane. Here is the deleted storyline that I loved so much. Andy actually had more to say to the bullpen that got cut. Here’s what was in the shooting draft. Andy: I just want to say that I do not condone this and I tried everything to stop it, including adopting a persona of Trevor, a nosy but affable stranger who asks super leading, guilt tripping questions. And then it would have gone to a talking head where Andy explains who Trevor is. You have to hear it.

Andy [00:53:44] Exactly. Who is Trevor? Well, he’s a regular guy with a passing interest in high school sports. Bit of a foodie. Loves documentaries. If you were to ask Trevor who he is, he’d probably just say, I’m a dad. But with layers, you know, he’s actually inquisitive, which gets underneath those layers. I don’t know. He’s just a delight.

Jenna [00:54:16] I agree. I love Trevor.

Angela [00:54:18] I mean, I love Trevor. I think Andy wants to be Trevor. Now, Kelly and Ryan are having just one of their silly arguments in the kitchen. Michael is going to enter and just take Meredith’s birthday cake and just start eating it. Jenna, this is in the bloopers. I think there’s, like, five takes of Steve eating that cake, and they kept laughing because he had to talk to such a big mouthful. But it cracked me up because you really see how many takes that we do sometimes. And Steve had to do take after take, taking this huge bite of cake.

Jenna [00:54:54] Steve is very, very funny when he talks with food in his mouth.

Angela [00:54:57] He really is.

Jenna [00:54:58] He’s a very funny comedic eat talker. I don’t know what that talent is, but he should put it on his resume. I noticed in that scene that the cake box says that it’s from Fresh from Mom’s Bakery, but I could not find a local Scranton bakery with this name. It made me wonder if it was a fakey box that we had made from the fakey food making people.

Angela [00:55:23] I bet it’s fakey box. It was a real cake. And I did notice it was not an ice cream cake. So we didn’t make that mistake again as the party planning committee.

Jenna [00:55:32] That’s right.

Angela [00:55:33] Ryan is so enamored by this version of Michael, he’s like, Wow. Michael takes what he wants. And this inspires him to march up to Erin’s desk at front reception and tell her he finds her attractive. He wants to sleep with her. She’s like, What about Kelly? And he’s like, Yeah. And she’s like, Is this a joke? And immediately he backpedals and he’s like, Yup. This would have rounded out the Ryan threesome storyline that started in Secretary’s Day. It was in the deleted scenes that I shared about. He just was determined to have a little tryst with Kelly and Erin.

Jenna [00:56:10] Mm hmm. Our next montage is explained in a Dwight talking head where we learn that Dwight is going to try to sabotage his sperm count by doing a number of things to his testicles.

Angela [00:56:24] Yeah, he’s going to hold a microwave that’s microwaving something to his crotch. He’s going to bang on his balls with drumsticks, throw yellow pages at his crotch, and also bounce harshly on a bicycle and then crash into a door.

Jenna [00:56:40] I was curious if any of these things would reduce his sperm count.

Angela [00:56:45] Oh, gosh.

Jenna [00:56:46] I’ll tell you. Dwight is doing all the wrong things.

Angela [00:56:48] What should he be doing?

Jenna [00:56:50] Well, first of all, I believe he’s microwaving a cup of coffee. If he wants to reduce his sperm count, he should drink lots and lots and lots of coffee. Because too much coffee can reduce your sperm count. Also, he should try to make his crotch very, very warm by sitting in a sauna. These are according to U. Chicago Medicine.

Angela [00:57:12] Warm crotch.

Jenna [00:57:13] Warm crotch. Also, if he ate too much of certain foods like foods high in soy products or high fat dairy products, that could reduce his sperm count. Yeah. So.

Angela [00:57:28] Well, Dwight, you didn’t have to bang on your balls so much.

Jenna [00:57:32] You didn’t. Your sperm is going to be hearty. Incidentally, another thing that I read is that, you know that myth where if you ejaculate less, you’ll have more sperm. Maybe the sperm will be more potent when you do want to conceive? Have you heard that myth. You know, like you’re trying to conceive a child and so.

Angela [00:57:54] Don’t masturbate.

Jenna [00:57:55] Right? Because you want to save it for the baby making.

Angela [00:58:00] Save it up.

Jenna [00:58:01] Yeah. No, you should ejaculate more.

Angela [00:58:04] Oh.

Jenna [00:58:05] It doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t, like, save up the sperm.

Angela [00:58:08] It’s not like a little a bank. You don’t have a bank in your testes.

Jenna [00:58:12] That’s right. So actually, you should ejaculate daily and that will increase your sperm count, folks. So really what we needed was a scene of Dwight drinking coffee with soy milk in a sauna.

Angela [00:58:28] Yeah.

Jenna [00:58:29] That woulda worked.

Angela [00:58:31] Well, the printer is out of paper. Michael isn’t even going to add more. Creed, like Ryan, is like, wow, he don’t give an F about nothin!

Jenna [00:58:40] Yeah. Exactly.

Angela [00:58:42] Michael’s going to say he’s got big balls.

Jenna [00:58:45] But Phyllis is going to be the one who I think finally gets to Michael.

Angela [00:58:49] This scene is so funny. Phyllis not making eye contact with Michael cracked me up.

Jenna [00:58:58] Mm hmm. Michael’s going to pretend like it didn’t get to him, and he’s going to leave the office, and he’s going to start driving to a motel where he’s going to meet up with Donna.

Angela [00:59:08] I have a little background catch while he’s driving and thinking, you know, he’s really contemplating what’s happening.

Jenna [00:59:15] Yes.

Angela [00:59:15] His seatbelt is still frayed. Remember in Secretary’s Day?

Jenna [00:59:19] I love it.

Angela [00:59:20] Yeah. We talked about a deleted scene where Michael tells Erin when he’s stressed out, sometimes he chews on his seatbelt.

Jenna [00:59:27] Well, I thought that this driving location looked new. This did not look like our usual driving street without the palm trees.

Angela [00:59:34] They’re rolling hills.

Jenna [00:59:36] I asked Randy about it and he actually said, Good eye, Jenna- which made me feel proud. And he confirmed that it was a stretch of road in Santa Clarita that was next to the baseball field on Rockwell Canyon Road.

Angela [00:59:49] Hmm. Well, that explains it.

Jenna [00:59:51] Guys, Michael does not make it to the motel. He leaves Donna high and dry. We see her sitting in her car waiting for him. Do you know what that hotel was, Ange?

Angela [01:00:01] No, but it had a bright orange door.

Jenna [01:00:03] Yeah. Do you know the Tangerine Hotel in Burbank?

Angela [01:00:08] Oh, is it that one?

Jenna [01:00:09] You would know it if you drove by it.

Angela [01:00:11] Yes, I do.

Jenna [01:00:12] That was the hotel we used.

Angela [01:00:14] Oh.

Jenna [01:00:15] And it has the bright orange door.

Angela [01:00:17] Yeah. Mm hmm.

Jenna [01:00:19] I couldn’t believe it. Randy told me that. I was like, yes! Oh my gosh.

Angela [01:00:21] Yes, I knew I knew I knew it, but I didn’t know how I knew it.

Jenna [01:00:25] It’s still there. A famous hotel. Michael’s going to have a talking head where he tells us that he feels good. He broke up with Donna, and he knows he made the right decision. But then, of course, he broke my heart a little bit. He had to choose between happiness or living with himself. And he chose living with himself, which means he had to give up his happiness.

Angela [01:00:49] Yeah.

Jenna [01:00:50] And now he’s going to be, you know, lonely again.

Angela [01:00:53] Yeah.

Jenna [01:00:54] But he does the right thing.

Angela [01:00:56] He does the right thing, and he’s going to go back to the office and grab his ice cream. Pam and Jim don’t know if they can make it through the rest of the day. They’re really struggling, and Darryl tells them where they can go to sleep in the warehouse. There’s this little secret spot. Darryl loves it so much, sometimes he thinks about it when he’s at home trying to go to sleep.

Jenna [01:01:20] I don’t know if this was on the bloopers, Angela, but we could not get through this scene with Craig. When Craig was like wistfully talking about the sleeping spot. Like his voice. He’s like, sometimes I think about it. So warm. Like, we would laugh. It was so funny.

Angela [01:01:39] It’s not in the bloopers, but there is a really funny Darryl talking head in the bloopers from this episode. It was deleted, so it’s not in the episode. But Darryl shares that he used to cheat. But then he watched the movie Love Actually, and that really set him straight. It really got to him. And he kept laughing through it and it’s really funny. Well, I guess Angela has picked one of her moments, one of her five moments with Dwight, and they are going to rendezvous back in their meeting place in the warehouse. Dwight says, Angela, are you warmed up? She says, no. And he goes, Why is that always my responsibility? And then they go in and they shut the door and she goes, What have you done to yourself? You start hearing some noises. He’s like, No kissing. This is a really awkward thing to overhear. And guess who’s overhearing it?

Jenna [01:02:25] Yeah.

Both [01:02:26] Jim and Pam.

Angela [01:02:28] Poor Jim and Pam. All they wanted to do was go to this special little sleeping nook that Darryl told them about in the warehouse. And now they’re overhearing Dwight and Angela.

Jenna [01:02:39] So I have to tell you, getting to our sleeping spot was actually very complicated.

Angela [01:02:44] You guys are up really high.

Jenna [01:02:46] Yes, we are actually up on a shelf in the warehouse. It’s a special thing that they built. Randy reminded me that we actually had to practice getting up there using a scissor lift.

Angela [01:03:00] Wow.

Jenna [01:03:01] And it involved a whole rehearsal the week prior with a Universal Studios safety officer named Ian Bass Gillespie. This person was in attendance to sign off on our use of the scissor lift, and it was a big deal. But we made it up there and we’re laying truly up on this high shelf, in this little nook. And I will tell you right now, it was so comfy cozy. It was everything that Darryl advertised it to be. And it was a dream to just sort of get to kind of nap for part of my workday.

Angela [01:03:40] All I could think about when I saw you guys up there was, what if you have to pee? That’s what I always think. Like, could you imagine?

Jenna [01:03:50] That is why I never want to sleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed.

Angela [01:03:53] I know.

Jenna [01:03:54] Well, we had a fan question from Michele S in Melbourne, Australia, that I thought was very wise. Michelle said, The spot where the warehouse guys take their naps is right above Dwight and Angela’s sex spot. Does this mean that the warehouse guys know about Dwight and Angela’s affair? I mean, they’ve been there the whole time. I think the warehouse guys do know about your affair.

Angela [01:04:22] For sure.

Jenna [01:04:23] I don’t think you guys are hiding it from them at all.

Angela [01:04:27] Clearly, we haven’t been hiding it very well from anyone.

Jenna [01:04:31] Exactly.

Angela [01:04:33] Well, the episode is going to end with Michael exiting the building and he’s approached by a news team. The reporter says, Michael Scott, do you want to make a comment on the rumors? Michael sighs. He’s like, ugh, I have done some very bad things, things of which I am not proud. I would like to publicly apologize to the coach and the players, and I vow to never listen to my bodily instincts ever again. The reporter is confused. She says, I’m talking about the Sabre printers that catch on fire. And Michael’s like, Oh, okay. I was talking about- wait, wait, what?

Jenna [01:05:14] Yeah. So Randy told me that this was like a standards and practices issue, this scene.

Angela [01:05:21] Why?

Jenna [01:05:22] That’s what I asked. He said that they wanted us to create a fictitious news channel. They didn’t want us to use the real NBC affiliate, which is WBRE. But we had established WBRE in the show before, so they had to get a signed clearance agreement from the real WBRE in Scranton. And eventually we were given a pass so that we could use the actual call letters in the show.

Angela [01:05:53] Oh, yeah. And you can see it very clearly on the microphone.

Jenna [01:05:56] Mm hmm. Yeah.

Angela [01:05:57] Well, this is going to set up a huge story arc now for Michael. He’s going to end up being the spokesperson for Sabre. Jo is going to come back. It’s all going to go down next week in The Whistleblower.

Jenna [01:06:14] Yes, the season finale. Whistleblower.

Angela [01:06:19] Well, that was The Chump. Thank you for rewatching with us. Thank you so much, Aaron Shure for sending in those audio clips and sharing with us about writing this episode. Thank you to Randy Cordray for always giving us awesome behind the scenes details. And I would like to thank whoever put together that blooper reel on the Season six DVD because much like Trevor, I am finding it delightful.

Jenna [01:06:41] I would like to thank my engineer, Casey, here in New York. We did this podcast with me in New York and Angela in Los Angeles. Casey and I might take off right now and get some of that lobster ice cream.

Angela [01:06:54] Okay. Report back.

Jenna [01:06:57] We’ll see you next week.

Angela [01:06:59] We’ll see you next time.

Jenna [01:07:04] 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 [01:07:21] 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 at Stitcher Premium, use code: Office.