Office Ladies Meet Pod Meets World

I used to have this idea of what home security was.

I thought it was like an alarm that goes off after someone tries to break in and that scares off the intruder.

Maybe it gets your neighbor's attention.

But what I learned is that's really a reactive approach.

By the time the intruder's in your home, it's too late.

And you know, that's one of the things I really love about Simply Safe because their system is designed to be proactive, not reactive.

And here are ways that they are proactive.

They use smart, AI-powered cameras to identify threats lurking outside your home and immediately alert SimplySafe's professional monitoring agents.

You also might be wondering, how do I design my home security system?

And I can tell you from personal experience, their website is so easy to use.

They literally have a toggle that says build my system and you click on it and you go through all the different features that they offer and there are so many.

I've found that really helpful.

Some of the cameras they offer are like the outdoor cameras, the video doorbell pro, which that one I really like because you can see who's coming right up to your front door.

Visit simplysafe.com slash office ladies to claim 50% off a new system.

That's simplysafe.com slash office ladies.

There's no safe like simply safe.

All right.

If you're like me,

you want to look put together, but you don't have a lot of time to put into your routine to trying to look put together.

I'll give it 15 minutes.

I want to look polished in 15 minutes.

And I'm talking that's everything.

That is skincare and makeup.

Yeah.

Well, Merit helps you simplify what it takes to get ready.

Merit is designed for people who want to look put together without spending a ton of time on their routine, aka me and Angela.

That's right.

Merit is a minimalist beauty brand that has curated sets to create easy-to-use routines for you.

All of their products are clean, vegan, and cruelty-free, and they're made with skincare ingredients that leave your skin looking better long after you take your makeup off.

In fact, Merit's products are so easy to use, they claim you don't even need a mirror when you're doing your routine.

Okay,

okay.

I'm listening, Merit.

I am listening.

It's time to simplify your morning.

Head to meritbeauty.com to get their signature makeup bag free with your first order.

I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey.

We were on the office together and we're best friends.

And now we're doing the Ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you.

Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes details, and lots of VFF stories.

We're the Office Lady 6.0.

Hello!

Hi there!

Hi!

Ooh, we have some special guests today.

We do.

This is the most we've ever talked on the podcast as a group.

You've never had five people.

No.

Correct.

Angela, do you want to tell everybody what's happening?

I sure do.

We have a super fun episode today because we are doing a crossover with Pod Meets World.

We have Ryder, Danielle, and Will from Boy Meets World.

We each got to watch an episode of each other's show.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay, Jenna, why don't you share with everyone how this episode came about?

Okay.

Well, Ryder and I know each other.

Yeah.

That's how this came about.

How do you guys know each other?

Yes.

We have a mutual friend and Natalie Z.

Parties at her house, right?

How far do you guys go back?

So Travis Schultz is friends with my husband Lee.

Okay, so it's Travis.

Okay, okay.

Travis, who is married to Natalie.

Travis and Natalie will have a party here and there, and you're there and I'm there.

One of the first people I talked to about Podmates World

because I was like, how's your rewatch podcast going?

And you were super helpful and you were like, do it.

You'll have the best time.

It's so good.

And yeah, you were like one of the people that really convinced me that this was a great idea oh good oh i'm so glad well your podcast is super successful

you guys have an amazing community you guys are real friends in real life like me and angela yes you do a fantastic job telling the show telling all the scenes and what goes on behind i think it's just such a great podcast thank you and i really am so curious to watch more episodes now truly truly

especially now that i know some of the things you shared with us

Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Because full disclosure, Angela and I had not seen an episode of Boy Meets World until this collab happened.

I think similarly, Ryder, had you ever seen an episode of The Office?

Yes, I had only watched probably the first two seasons.

Okay.

Maybe.

Maybe up to three.

So you had not seen the episode we picked for today then.

No.

Will has seen every episode of The Office.

numerous times.

I'm also a little weird when it comes to TV.

So if I see it more than once, I can recite it backwards and forwards.

So I watched the episode again.

You had us watch, but I didn't need to.

I could have literally told you what you were wearing usually in most of the days.

Wow.

Wait, are you?

You're like a genius person?

Yeah.

Like photographic memory?

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, with TV.

So like if I have nothing to do and I'm bored and I have, there's nothing around me, I shut my eyes and watch MASH.

Come on.

That's true.

Because you can just play that in your head.

Yes.

And the images are there as well as the images, the sound, the music, the breaks, all the time.

If he doesn't have his giant calendar in front of him,

he can't remember what there is to do or whether or not something is scheduled.

My wife helps, but no, I don't.

Yeah, no, so it's

collective GV backwards and forwards.

There's a little bit of undercurrent business happening in this conversation.

No, they just know not to ask anymore.

They'll be here such and such a time, and she'll text my wife.

I'll also just say, could you just take a picture of the big calendar?

Because I understand that he can't care.

It's a literal giant calendar.

Right.

So I'll say, because if you just had the picture of it, you'd know if you were free on the this is a really good idea.

So did you take a picture of your calendar?

I think the last one I took was in April.

Yeah, where's where I'm supposed to be?

Otherwise they just tell me where I'm supposed to be.

You guys, we are actually in your studio today.

It's lovely and there are cameras.

I feel like they could make a video for you of your calendar that you would watch and then you would know everything.

Yeah, that's not a bad idea.

I'd know where I'd have to be and all the stuff I had to do.

Again, comes to episodes of the office all day long, where I have to be tomorrow anyway.

No idea.

I feel like you could be a really good asset for office ladies.

What would you like to know?

I mean,

we're going to hit you up.

Okay.

I mean, yeah.

Please let me know.

Be happy to.

Yes.

I'll walk you through it.

It's a great show.

Not to belabor this, but I am really fascinated.

Does this extend as well to things you've read, books, articles?

It depends on what.

If it's stuck in my brain, it's forever stuck in my brain.

And I can go back and see the page see the thing But then again I a calculia is a very real thing So put two numbers in front of me and my brain doesn't comprehend that you also in school wouldn't take notes You would just watch the teacher I could because if I look down at the if you look down Yeah, you wouldn't but if you just listen if I listen and just watch the board then I could just see the board right no but again somebody gave me a phone number or people's names I have to meet somebody a thousand times before I remember their names But I can see the blue shirt you're wearing I can see the shirt you walk in on when fashion show fashion show at lunch I can see the color of of the future.

You guys should quiz him.

You should ask him the shirt episode.

Do you remember a certain line or a message?

So stuff like that.

It's so crazy because we just did a side-by-side.

A fan wrote in and said that they think that Josh in Stamford is wearing the same suit that Michael Scott wears on his birthday.

And I had to go and look at both episodes and take a picture of each one and make a side-by-side.

And it's not the same suit.

No, it's not the same suit.

Birthday episode is when he goes and plays hockey with the blue shirt and the blue tie.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, that's it.

Holy

not exactly that.

That's not the same suit.

No, no, no.

And also, which episode are you talking about with Josh from Stanford?

Is this you don't snipe and carry this?

Oh, oh, is it the initiation?

Was it the initiation?

Which is branch closing.

Branch closing.

Oh, is when you leveraged the promotion into another offer?

That was the branch clothing.

Okay.

So when Jan's like, I've done that, I've driven something like 400 miles today.

So I'm just going to say this.

That one?

I think that one.

Yeah.

So he has a pinstripe suit on and a bright blue shirt, which is similar to Michael's pinstone.

He does, but it's a different, it's wider pinstripes than Michael's.

And the tie is different.

The tie is different as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Why do I need to do side-by-side?

Just call Will.

A new resource.

I mean,

that's nuts.

If I ever decided to use this for evil,

we don't even want to go down that path because it'd be

pretty dangerous.

Wow.

Yeah.

Don't come at me, trivia night, at a bar.

It was an office-themed trivia night.

Like I went Jeopardy more matches.

Oh, wow.

Yeah,

I know a lot.

You have to go on Jeopardy.

I know.

I don't know if I'd be

running in would be the weird part for me.

I don't know.

Oh, the buzzer.

I was asked to do it one year and I freaked out.

I was like, I couldn't teen celebrity Jeopardy.

I was like, I don't want to go beat Melissa Joan Hart in Jeopardy.

Just make me feel bad.

So, yeah.

All right.

You guys, Pod Meets World is a fantastic rewatch podcast of the hit show Boy Meets World.

It premiered on ABC in 1993.

Yes.

Oh, my goodness.

It ran until 2000.

All three of you guys were on it.

And over the course of the run, the show received numerous awards and nominations.

And in 2020, Boy Meets World won online film and television Hall of Fame Award for television programs.

Really?

What?

What did we win?

What?

According to IMDP, you guys

win.

Wow.

Why weren't we invited?

No one sent us even a screenshot.

I'd like to thank my parents.

Exactly.

Wow, that's cool.

Yeah.

I'd like to bring up the fact that we were all five on long-running hit television shows.

Amazing.

But there was a big difference.

Y'all were kids.

Yes.

So can you tell us how old were each of you when the show started and then when it ended?

I was from 12 to 19.

Okay.

13 to 20.

16 to 24.

Wow.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yep.

Wow.

And also filmed in front of a studio audience.

Yes.

Yes.

Which is different.

Very few episodes where we would not have an audience.

Two or three, right?

I think a handful.

Yeah.

But it was, oh, God, there's nothing like show night.

Yeah.

So much more like theater.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And especially when you're on a younger show, especially when we're starting to get popular, I'm putting that in quotes because we were never really that popular when we were on.

It was later we became popular.

But kids would line up.

So it'd be 14 and 15 year olds just screaming all night long.

And it was, it's such a rush.

It was really great.

Yeah.

That must have been such a buzz in the room.

Oh, God.

It was so fun.

You know, our soundstage was really quiet.

And you were happy if you saw the boom mic guy shake a little bit.

I got him.

I got him.

But otherwise, it was pretty quiet, except for us breaking

each other.

You must have wanted to break each other just to get that.

Do you not watch the outtakes of the office?

I love when you're making each other laugh, but when the dialogue's so funny that you're making yourself laugh,

that's one of my favorite things in the world where you can't even get through the live.

He would crack himself up all the time.

All the time.

All the time.

Wait.

So when we were on Pod Meets World, we were watching the Boy Meets World episode, Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow.

And today, we are watching The Surplus from the Office.

And speaking of bloopers, I think one of the hardest times I ever laughed in a scene was when Dwight gives Andy and Angela directions to

what so many cases do you hear the beehive?

That's a great blooper.

Ed and I could not keep it together.

I have a question.

We've talked a lot about how on the office there was this real collaboration between the writers and the showrunner and the actors.

How much input did you guys have into your lines or changing a line or a storyline?

I know that Hair Today Goon Tomorrow was a little bit inspired by Danielle's desire to cut her hair.

I see heads shaking.

I see heads shaking.

No.

Did you improvise?

No.

It was very well got to improvise a little bit.

I got to, especially towards the later seasons, they kind of let me do my thing.

Yeah.

So I could improvise.

I would often button scenes, but we weren't really changing our dialogue unless something was awful.

I had one, I grew up in a military family, and I had one where we do an episode where, like you do, a magical cat sends you back to World War II.

You know,

like it happens.

Yeah.

Magic cats.

Magic cats.

And so a lot of the stuff they had me doing was I'm in a military uniform and being really disrespectful.

And I went to our producer and said, I'm, I'm not going to do this.

And in all fairness, he went, okay, fine.

And they changed it.

Yeah.

But we, as young actors, I won't say kids, we weren't really going up.

No.

In fact, they started taking things from my life more and more, like sort of, you know, sort of being, my character was being inspired by writers' real life.

Yeah.

Annoyingly so, and more and more as the show went on.

And without permission.

Yeah.

I mean, it's so interesting because, of course, as an adult actor, like having input on your character, you know, is like part of the process.

But as kids, we never felt, we felt like being a good actor would be, you know, and probably being told how to say with a line reading.

So we would, the other thing we talk about on the podcast a lot is that one of the things our executive producer was famous for is we would finish a run through and then we'd all gather for notes.

And the notes would sometimes be an hour and a half to two hours long of just to each of you, like line by line.

He'd start on page one and basically, like page one, line one, have notes about what he says was wrong and how we needed to do it a different way.

And it's very clear you guys don't understand the point of this episode.

So let me tell you, you're in a fun, creative environment.

It was.

But at least we were children.

Yeah.

So

it makes it better.

I did hear on your podcast, and I love this, that you would find ways to like sneak in a huh.

So now I'm going to be rooting for that whenever I see that.

That is true that we would try to make each other laugh.

Yeah, they're in jokes, but they're not in the dialogue.

It's the subject.

So we're like sending messages to each other with like intonations or physical moves.

Watching it back for the podcast has been so fun to see again and be like, oh my god, I remember this.

What do you think?

Yeah.

But yeah.

It was also stuff that the writers weren't aware we had.

They were truly like inside jokes.

It was probably our our own little rebellion of like,

watch me slip in a joke to my friend that you don't know is a joke.

Especially if you'd been told for an hour and a half how you don't get it and you're doing it wrong.

I'd want to like sneak in something.

Yeah, yeah.

It wasn't particularly collaborative.

Yeah.

It was fun, but it wasn't particularly collaborative.

Yeah.

Right.

It's our podcast Saturday New York City Saturday.

All right, all right, all right.

So I have a

pivot here.

Okay, so you remember every scene of every episode of The Office.

Pretty much, yeah.

Well, I thought there was a great crossover story between Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow,

and an episode from The Office.

Not the one we're watching today, not Surplus, but there is a similar scene.

Meeting a Townie.

Let's see.

A good-looking detective.

Good-looking detective.

Do you want a hint?

Do you want to hint?

Yes, give me one.

Because, yeah.

A small hint.

Sofa.

Sofa.

I'm so tickled by that.

I'm so kidding.

Wait, what?

I'm trying to remember from our episode where the sofa.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

There it is.

Thank you.

Yeesh.

This is, I pay for that privilege.

I only have one weird thing about me.

I use the ladies' room for number two, and I have paid often.

Yeah, this is, there's a account.

That's right.

Okay.

That's right.

In Women's Appreciation.

the office episode.

Yeah.

The men, first of all, we find out Creed's been using the women's room and they go in there and there's a sofa and they hang out in there.

And I thought it was really funny when we watched this episode.

You guys were like, there's a sofa?

I had the same thought.

I was like, oh my gosh.

And you know what else I thought of?

I have not been in very many women's restrooms with sofas.

I couldn't.

I only had a cabin in Nordstrom lounges.

And high schools.

The girls in our high school had a sofa.

They had a sofa.

They had a sofa.

They didn't go in there to smoke when the boys' room was too full.

No.

Yeah.

Okay.

I have run across very few sofas.

That's Kevin.

Like, this is the dream.

It's like, isn't the dream the girls' locker room?

And normally there's girls in there, Kev.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Still blowing away.

I know we talk about that you could do this, but when you really can do it, like on the street.

Every time.

And it's not a bit.

It's crazy.

It's crazy.

It's the way my brain works.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, guys, this is going to be so much fun.

So much fun.

We're excited to be with you.

We are going to take a break.

And when we come back, we're going to discuss the surplus.

yay yay

this show is sponsored by better help

you know sometimes we turn to some funny places for support maybe a hairdresser a barista maybe a random stranger in the bathroom for life advice but not everyone is a therapist You can find your right match with BetterHelp.

BetterHelp therapists are clinically trained trained and credentialed.

They work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S.

And BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you, so you can focus on your therapy goals.

You'll get a short questionnaire that helps identify your needs and preferences, and then they will match you with a licensed therapist.

As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of

Find the one with BetterHelp.

Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash office ladies.

That's betterhelp, h-e-l-p.com slash office ladies.

Hey y'all, I'm Maddie and I'm Poodle and together we host the podcast Reality Gays.

We are two ridiculous homosexuals who love nothing more than talking about reality television and tearing in a new one.

So whether it's Nadie Day Fiancé, Love is Blind, Love After Lockup, or any other trash TV show about lonely hearts looking for love, your gay besties got you covered, y'all.

New shows every week.

Follow and listen to Reality Gays wherever you get your podcast.

So one of the hardest parts about business-to-business marketing is reaching the right audience.

And when you want to reach the right professionals, you need to use LinkedIn ads.

LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals, and that's where it stands apart from other ad buys.

You can target your buyers by job title, industry, company, role, seniority, skills, company revenue, all in one place to reach the professionals you want to reach.

So you can stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads.

You know how sometimes you get an ad and you're like, was this for me?

Who is sending this to me?

Well, with LinkedIn ads, that's never going to happen.

LinkedIn will even give you an extra $250 credit on your next campaign so you can try it yourself.

Just go to linkedin.com/slash office.

That's linkedin.com/slash office.

Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.

All right, everybody, we're back, and now we're going to talk about the office episode, The Surplus.

This was season five, episode nine, written by Gene Stepnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, two of our favorite, favorite writing team, and our beloved director, Paul Fieg.

Yes, Paul Fieg.

I think I've worked with Gene and Lee.

Yes, I think I did a show.

Can't remember the name of it, but pretty sure that they wrote on it.

Okay.

That is my story.

Story, bro.

Hello, ladies.

No, it did.

That teacher?

No, I think it was a pilot.

Okay.

I'm supposed to be in the case.

Yes.

You want to have detail.

No.

I will keep it.

Okay.

here's what i will say i think it happened okay okay i'm pretty sure i worked with gene and lee don't they uh they play in several episodes don't they aren't they uh also jeno and leo that's right from dance refrigeration yes so yes 99.9 sure we have worked together yeah okay i vote to cut that part No, because it's true.

Keep it in.

Okay.

They're going to hit you up afterwards and be like, here's the show that we did together with Will.

Yeah.

We'll look it up.

You watch it.

We'll look it up.

We'll Google it.

Perfect.

I'm going to give you a summary of the episode, and here it is.

Oscar informs Michael that they have a $4,300 budget surplus, and the surplus must be spent that day or it gets returned and taken out of next year's budget.

The office is then divided on what to spend it on, new chairs or a new copier.

This creates tension between Jim and Pam, who are on opposing sides.

Meanwhile, Andy and Angela visit Shroot Farms to discuss their wedding with Dwight, who tricks Angela into marrying him.

I mean, what the heck?

Michael then learns a third option for the surplus money, which is return it in exchange for a 15% bonus for himself.

Do you know?

Do you know?

I think, I think you know.

Oh, yes.

Yes, and Austin says that.

Do you know?

I think you know.

I think you know.

I think you know.

What were your overall reactions to this?

Because we decided to pick quintessential episodes.

Yes.

And I think the thing I love about this episode so much is that it is in a later season.

And the A story is just a quirky office thing.

Yes.

That happens all the time.

All the time in offices.

Yeah.

Where, like, the hot goss that's going around is about something as mundane as chairs versus copier.

Yeah.

And the dynamics that

spins everybody out of control.

No one's focusing.

No one's, by the way, no work is getting done in that office ever.

The manure

being

in

shruit farms.

And also, like, no one is clocking the odor.

Like, we were talking the whole time.

It's a big pile of shit, like, right next to the table.

It just really made me laugh out loud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know what makes me laugh every time I watch this episode is when Mike Shurismo hits Ed, his dad, in the head.

In the head with the ball.

In the background.

Yes.

Yeah.

It cracks me up every time because I really think that Ed wasn't quite expecting it.

So every time he's like, hey,

it does look like he turns around really confrontational.

Like,

what just happened there?

It's so funny.

I'm somewhere in between Ryder and Will with my viewing of the office.

I'm pretty sure I have seen most seasons every episode at some point.

I do not have a fraction of Will's photographic memory for that.

Who does?

And wait, Ryder, had you seen this episode?

No, no, no.

I don't think so.

Yeah, no, but it felt like a quintessential office episode.

It's what I remembered the show being like sort of, you know, like you're saying, detailed, like meaningless conflict that just blows up and gets to show people's behavior.

I thought it was hysterical.

I mean, it's brilliant.

So funny.

It's so funny.

And like, the show's ability to make awful actions incredibly like well is just unparalleled.

You know, I feel like a lot of what your show brought was like, you know, the beginning of like cringe comedy or like, but cringe comedy usually is mean or like people are kind of awful.

And you're like, oh my God, I can't believe this person said that.

Whereas like every time Michael opens up his mouth, it's the funniest thing thing ever and you're like i like that guy yeah he's he's you know you don't want to and everybody you know dwight even who is sort of more on the meaner side you still love him like everybody and the show is just so brilliant that it manages to pull that off and still have very comedic like i was laughing out loud and i realized i have not laughed out loud even at comedy these days i feel like comedy these days you're sort of like you know or like whatever

you guys managed while being incredibly realistic with the performances and understated still big laughs like laugh out loud beats and so I just think it's such an accomplishment and like a legendary show for that Jenna you saying no don't take it away when he's shaking his butt in

that was my favorite moments yes

it was the perfect amount of all of us knowing that you are faking it but also easily plays like you mean

have to dance with him when he's yeah he's doing it and I see you like half-hearted like am I

like I'm gonna

see all of it like i'm guess i'm gonna dance now no we're stopping good okay it's like all there in that moment it's so funny also you fluffing your hair with the red

all right know what i got to do it's on it is so so yeah this episode i'm so glad you guys you picked this one it's one of my favorites it has in my opinion the most underrated joke of any office episode and it's i find it to be one of the funniest things ever said on the entire show and it's that fast which one is it It is the very beginning when Oscar is explaining to Michael about the lemonade stand and he just says, and the next summer Michael just goes I'll be six

because he just does it I'll be six

genius on so many levels that

I remember the first time I see it just keep reminding me like it's the perfect joke it is the perfect joke

so it's just oh I just explained to me like I'm eight and then he does and I'll be six oh gosh it is so well done now this is like we talked about the boy meets world episode we talked about this episode is so well balanced between the A story and the B story.

It's so funny how you find heart in the office.

Yeah.

Because the scene where Angela finally says to Dwight, I made a mistake.

I've been waiting and

I've been most of you.

That's a big deal.

Dwight, of course, says, well, yeah, well, I know, and that's why I just tricked you into marrying me.

You should have learned German when I took a ton of people.

We're telling you to take it for years.

It is just, that's one of the things I love about your show is that our show, you know, you're going to get hurt because the music swells and we're telling you you're going to get hurt.

Your show, you find it in beats that.

you don't think are going to exist.

And it's Pam being drunk and falling off the chair at Chili's and then a gym picking her up and then tiny dancers slowly starting to play in the background.

It's all just, it's all beautiful.

So yeah, with this episode, though, and then, of course, the ending, which is magical, the magical tag.

By the way, I didn't see that coming.

When he's wearing the coat, I thought, oh, I love that we're just going to see that he bought a fur coat.

And the blood was just, how did they talk even just the fact that he had the fur coat?

But also, I was blown away by the writing in that because it starts when you are asking him about his suit and you're using the suit.

And that's where he throws out how much the suit costs.

And so I thought that was it.

Like, that's it.

But then he brings up the Burlington Coat Factory because it makes him wanting that $600 so much better.

Yes.

Because if you hadn't planned to

see that he is trying to save money by getting good suits, $5.

But it starts as just this you flattering him joke.

Then it builds to a code at the end.

And all you needed is to see, like, I mean, the tag could have just been him like doing the interview in the code.

And I was that's what I'm saying.

That's what I thought.

I thought, wow, of course.

And that was such a payoff that then they even found the topper to it.

Yeah.

One of the things I never get tired of, even in our rewatch, is Steve is Michael when when he's about to curse and they cut him off.

Oh, yeah.

He's like, mother.

Always.

What do you guys call his bluff on getting the chairs?

I just loved it so much.

I've always wanted to know, how much did the script stay the same from when you first got it to when you actually shot?

Like, how much are you ad-libbing and just going with on the moment?

And how much was actually on the page?

Well, do you mean sort of from our table read to what we shot?

table read draft to shooting draft or shooting draft to what you see on air?

Both.

Both.

Both.

I would say there would be some pretty big changes between the table redraft and the shooting draft.

But then the shooting draft to what you see on screen, a lot less than you would think.

Whoever wrote the episode would also be on set with the director producing their episode.

And they would be throwing out.

extra lines, ideas.

So a lot of times it wasn't an improv, but it was an alternate that the writers gave you.

Likewise, though, you could go to the writers.

We had the permission to go to the writers, and it was a real creative collaboration.

So you could go up and say, hey, I have a really great button for this scene in accounting.

Will you let me know once we've got it the way you want it, the way the director wants it?

And then can I do like my pass?

Oh, that's so cool.

Yeah.

And we were smart enough that you didn't improvise within the scene.

You know, if you did tops and the bottom,

that way they can edit around.

You don't mess with the storyline.

And I think a lot of little moments like that do make it in, but it was truly just a great scripted show.

But I think if you went to the script and you looked at that Michael talking head that is the tag, it would be word for word.

It would okay.

Like very often.

Also, they would write in ellipses.

They would write in pauses.

They would write in Pam glances to camera.

So like.

All of that that just like seems like it's just happening, it was choreographed.

Wow.

You know, and then also the idea that the camera would get to you in the middle of what you're saying

instead of landing on the camera.

Even though they knew we were going to say it or that the joke was over there, part of the comedy came from getting to it later.

So they would actually put that in the script, like whip hand to

whip to Jim.

Yeah.

Jim looks to camera.

Yeah.

Jim size.

Okay, so those looks to camera were always looks to camera, or did they get a shorthand eventually in the script where they were just like, give us a look?

Sometimes you could tag the camera like if you wanted, but they didn't want everyone looking down the barrel of the camera all the time.

Right.

So, you know like i'm not sure if it said in the script like that i'm checking in with camera because i'm embarrassed that i'm what i'm doing to michael yeah like some of those just ended up becoming second nature like you know like to right kind of give the camera like oh my god i'm so so sorry we had a camera catching the main scene and then b camera was always roving the background so you had to be on from the minute you were at your desk oh i love that screen

you had to be in character it's very actory you have to be in character yeah and our b camera operator Matt Sohn, would often come up to us in the background and say, I can see your screen.

Log out of your email.

Or he would say something like, I just saw that you did an eye roll after Pam says that line because you're in the deep background, but it was great.

And I caught it.

So if you want to do it again, I caught it.

So that was just us staying in character.

But that's how the crew was so much part.

of the creative process because they were finding moments that weren't necessarily on the page

that helped tell out, you know, fill out the whole story one of the things that we notice about our show is that as it progressed they started to notice which characters really worked with other characters so pairs started pairing up yeah did you start to notice that on your set as well like all of a sudden because you know as the show progresses for a while all of a sudden you know pam and angela start to have kind of an interesting dynamic was that something you think that was planned at the beginning or Was it they were just looking at what worked and then started to write to the relationships they saw.

Well, our writers told us that something they would do sometimes is they would get a writing assignment where they would just take a random pairing of actors and they'd have to pitch storylines about

characters.

And there's an episode, I can't remember what the name of it is, where they all go out in pairs on sales calls.

Uh-huh.

Oh, yes, yeah.

So,

like, daughter team here, the young firefighters.

Yes,

right.

And that was an episode that came out of that, like, they would call it like the unusual pairings assignment.

Oh, no, that was the salesman, the return yes yes the return yes

really wish we had to

i could have i could have helped out yes can you just come sit in on our i would be happy dude that's the one that starts

kassy our producer we're like cassie google like what episode was that yeah dwight is bringing has to bring the late taxes back to new york he misses the entire star for angelo

and yes exactly that's when your hair the back of your hair was very it's like a pinwheel yeah the pinwheel all the way around very dramatic the way they did the back of your hair in that episode one of my favorite like completely undiscussed jokes is when Michael is pouring sugar into.

Is that in the script?

Would something like that always be in the script?

Yes, that is in the script.

That's in the show Bible for Michael Scott that he adds sugar to his diet.

So that's what I'm doing.

I was like, is he, oh my God,

perfect.

Yes.

So what was great I loved about our show is like, let's say that's established.

one time in an early season that it keeps finding its moment back into the show.

We got one small glimpse of it because I have all the DVDs.

And when you got to the dinner party, which is arguably one of the greatest, they gave you the script.

The script came with the DVD.

Oh, no, we did.

So you got, it was the size of sides, but you got actually the script.

And I was, that's why I wanted to ask because some of the stuff was right on and other stuff, it was like, okay, they said Andy harmonizes with the song, but then he kind of goes off and does his own thing.

So I was just curious how much you got to play as you were doing it because it was, man, it was so good.

We did get to play it.

We did.

yeah, most of the time.

Like, I feel like what you ended up seeing on screen was it was mostly scripted.

Yeah, gotcha, but it was a very playful, collaborative set.

It was so fun, it was so fun.

You talked about alternate takes that you would use.

You have one of my favorites, which they didn't put in, which you say, I used to get a runner's high, which is why now I lift.

Which

didn't make it into the show, which I thought should have.

They were called our candy bag alts, and our writers would write, you know, so you would have one talking head, they might write 10 extras and you would get handed those pages as you sat down.

You had learned the one in the script.

They would hand them to you right as you started your talking heads.

And you would get the scripted one, then you'd kind of look down and do the rest.

And a lot of times in talking heads, that's where you can play a little bit too.

And Greg Daniels, we asked him, like, why did you call him the candy bag?

Yeah, he named him the candy bag.

Yeah.

So you guys hear the candy bag.

And he said, well, I knew it was a lot of extra stuff and I didn't want you guys to be mad.

So I thought I'd name it something fun.

I can't do that.

So smart.

It's like if I call them the alts.

I have seen alts.

Fall is in full swing.

I am in Chicago and I just had a costume fitting for my play, Ashland Avenue.

The costume designer gave me a pair of the most amazing corduroy pants.

I'm going to wear them in the play.

Guess where they are from?

Quince.

I couldn't believe it.

I told her I love Quince.

She said, I love Quince.

And right now, Quince has all of the elevated essentials for fall.

You have to check out these corduroy pants.

They also have 100% Mongolian cashmere.

Starting at 50 bucks, you can give your wardrobe an upgrade that feels smart, stylish, and effortless.

Keep it classy and cozy this fall with long-lasting staples from Quince.

Go to quince.com slash office ladies for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

That's q-u-in-ce-e dot com slash office ladies to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

Quince.com slash office ladies.

This show is sponsored by Liquid IV.

So you guys know I play a lot of tennis.

I love it.

And it gets pretty hot here in the summer and it gets really hot on that tennis court.

So one of the things I always bring with me are my packets of Liquid IV.

New Liquid IV's Energy Multiplier.

Sugar-Free Hydrating Energy.

It is scientifically formulated to support physical energy, hydration, focus, mood, and social stamina.

How about that?

Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone.

Powered by LIV HydroScience, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration.

Here are two of my favorite flavors I've got in my tennis bag right now, guava and lemon lime.

Hot tip for me.

Get the variety pack because then you get a lot of different flavors.

Ditch the glitch with zero sugar and zero crash from Liquid IV.

Tear, poor, live more.

Go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first order with code Office Ladies at checkout.

That's 20% off your first order with code office ladies at liquidiv.com we want to talk to you guys a little bit about the new ego protein waffles it's really good tastes great plus it's going to give you 20 of your daily protein yes ego protein plus waffles provide the same great taste of ego that you know and love plus 10 grams of protein per serving I made the new Ego protein waffles for my kids the other day.

They didn't even know that they were protein waffles.

They're just the eggo waffles that you know and love.

I know they have protein.

They're just yummy waffles.

Yes.

I mean, listen, I know we're talking about breakfast, but I have shared this before.

I like them as an afternoon treat.

And when your teenagers come home hungry, guess what's real easy to give them?

A little protein waffle.

They say you can fuel your morning, but you can also fuel your afternoon.

Sure can.

Head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with eggo protein waffles and pancakes available at retailers nationwide.

So something I want to ask you guys, people always ask us, why do you think the office is so relatable?

And I don't think that the answer is because everyone's worked in an office because clearly not everyone has worked in an office.

But I did work in an office and so did Angela.

And I'm curious, since you guys grew up doing television, you were actors by the time you were adults.

Did you ever work in an office?

Never had a real time.

Have any of you guys?

I worked in customer service for Bloomingdale's.

You have a very good customer service voice.

Thank you.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

Yeah, I worked in customer service.

I really only got the job because I'm a good gift wrapper and I was that part of it.

It was during holiday for gift wrapping.

So I actually just wanted to wrap presents.

And they were like, well, it's a customer service job.

And it was like,

could I just be the person in customer service who wraps the presents and the truth was i did get to wrap most of the presents but i also had to like be there to help people with their credit card bill and deal with other issues what you know the bloomingdale sale where you get a 25 gift card for every 200 you spend i had to help people with that stuff i had that real job okay so there's a very famous episode where pam says that if you need more than three pieces of tape to wrap a present you're doing it wrong How many pieces of the pressure?

And I tape

Pam as Angela Kinsey because I tape the crap out of my gifts.

Like, good luck opening them.

So, I use double-sided tape.

Oh, family.

Next level.

So, you need one to cover the back, and at least two to do the perfect triangle folds on each end.

Okay.

So, is there a way to do it with only three pieces of tape?

Yes.

Do you get the most bang for your buck presentation-wise?

No.

So, can I do it?

Yes.

Do I do it?

Do I do it?

No.

By the way, the next couple lines after three pieces of tape are Roy then says, well, can I just use the comics from the newspaper and you say yeah your mother would love that oh my gosh that is nuts

oh my gosh

you know every holiday season people send that to me and I use way more than three pieces of tape

and every time I give a gift to someone I feel like they're judging me nope nope it's just because you you care more about the aesthetics okay thank you

so now you guys have never worked in an office and have you ever had jobs other than actor I mean pretty teaching.

Not entertainment.

Yeah, not entertainment, just teaching.

I teach, but that's it.

I worked one day in a motorcycle shop when I was 13.

Were you on hiatus from the show?

Or was this before the show?

It was before the show.

I was on Nickelodeon at the time.

Okay.

But it was

my dad, it was his client, and I had just bought a motorcycle, and I wanted to learn more about them.

So I thought this was my inn.

I worked one day, and then that was it.

Because you quit or you got fired?

Neither.

It was just, I think he thought, okay, I'm going to let him come in here one day.

I'm not a child actor.

I didn't even know it was legal to work before at least the age of 15.

I don't think it was, but I didn't, most of the shit I did wasn't legal by the time I did it.

That's true.

That's true.

Yeah.

He also started smoking at 11.

I was a heavy smoker by 11.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

He's got a weird life.

Beautiful, weird life.

I just figured you smoking on the subway, going down to New York, doing my job.

Yeah, that was me.

Yeah, 11 to 37, 35.

Actually, May 27th.

Coming up.

Hey, anniversary.

It will be my 11-year anniversary without a cigarette.

That's great.

Congratulations.

I miss it all the time.

I don't, actually.

But no, yeah.

So I know I never had a job.

Well, you know, this gets a little bit to my point, which is that I feel like the reason why the office works is because you don't have to work in an office to know a Dwight or have met Michael.

No, it's all just human behavior.

Right.

That's right.

It's so relatable.

And the performances are just

amazing.

Yeah.

And I feel like you guys changed television, you know, because you just brought everything down a notch.

Still, like I said, still managing to pull off big laughs, giant set pieces.

But man, it's just so nice to see people behaving like people.

You know, and like when we go back and watch our show, as much as I am able to say, like, it was good, like it was, you know, it's a sitcom.

It's a very stylized form of rhythm and acting, and it has its benefits.

Realism, though, like, you know, I mean, often we would have moments of realism, but, you know, the jokes were like, da, da, da, da, da, you know, you're just seeing it.

And you guys didn't have any of that, still had a musicality, still had a rhythm, but it was part of the camera.

It's really remarkable.

And, and, yeah.

But what you were doing is really difficult.

And you do it so well on the show.

And I couldn't do it in my early acting struggles and trying to land a role.

I was going out for three camera because that's what you did.

That's what the majority of shows were.

And I was terrible.

I was terrible.

I couldn't do it.

And I didn't understand because I was like, it's in front of a live audience.

I went to theater school.

It's just theater, right?

But it's not just theater.

No, it's its own art form.

It's a certain kind of style.

Yeah.

And it is to be respected.

And you can do it, Angela.

Not great, lady.

No, you can much better than me.

I mean, right after the office wrapped, my agents were like, let's get you on a three-camera.

And they said, do you want to do this?

role for Hot in Cleveland.

And I was super excited.

And I've told Jenna this with Betty White.

My gosh.

of course.

I had to be the bitchy principal.

This is in my wheelhouse.

I just spent nine years being the bitchy principal.

And I said the line and the director was like, louder, say it louder.

And then I said it louder, but then it sounded weird.

And then he was like, can we get her like maybe a cane?

Like a cane.

Like she comes in like with a like a and I was like, And he goes, maybe she has a hat.

And Craig Ferguson was in the episode with me and we had become friends at this point.

And he goes, maybe we get her a parent and a pen.

Yeah, exactly.

There you go.

But they were trying to sit com it up and they were trying to like make me more of a

bigger character.

And I, I'd forgotten.

I didn't know how to do it.

Yeah, probably you'd gotten so used to the volume and tone level that you guys were on.

It's so different.

And I do love sketch comedy, but I think like I didn't know how to time it out with all the moving parts.

Well, just thank God the office came along for me because I did not thrive in the three camera world.

I really tried.

I always thought that I was like a pretty naturally funny person and that comedy was my thing in terms of comedy acting, but I was not a fit for the three camera style.

In fact, the one major role that I landed was the pilot of Man with a Plan starring Matt LeBlanc.

And I was on for many, many seasons without me.

I was fired after the pilot.

Yeah,

that was my big job after the office was Man with a plan and i just struggled i was like why can't i do this it is not easy

and i really respect anyone who can do it yeah you both thrive on the office it's amazing well i i wanted to say that i think one of the reasons why the office was so successful is not just you would arguably be in the conversation for best ensemble cast on tv and mainstream tv that's true but there's so much heart that's unexpected i remember watching an interview with your editor who said that as he was editing the scene where Jim and Pam are on the boat for the booze cruise that he's editing he goes I knew what happened and I was still there going kiss her kiss her come on Jim kiss her you're working on the show you know what's gonna happen and you're still so invested that you're yelling at the screen to have the characters kiss that's rare in any medium but on television at the time it was unheard of.

So we were yelling at the screen, things like that, kiss her, and oh my God, and Jim can't come back from Stanford with her.

Come on.

And Pam's doing this when she walks across the hot coals we were just invested in everything and then on top of that it was hysterical so that was just an added bonus to the show was lightning in a bottle i mean it's tough to get that again i don't know if we ever will frankly i mean i don't know if i ever will you know it was it was a dream job yeah the exec came around at the exact right time yeah and i felt like i was ready my acting coach always says success will come when your readiness meets the opportunities and so you you can be as ready as you are and then never have an opportunity.

But likewise, you can have all the opportunities in the world, which I was getting with all of my auditions for three camera shows, but I wasn't ready.

And so the office for me was the thing where finally the opportunity met the readiness.

I think that's true for a lot of our cast too, because we had a lot of really great seasoned comedians that had just been, you know, plugging away.

Kate Flannery is hilarious.

She was part of a lounge act called The Lampshades.

Oscar Oscar Nunez, I had met at the Ground Links.

He was in Hot Towel.

We had a scene together.

You know, obviously, Steve, right, everyone had been sort of putting their dues in, putting their time in, and it was just that right moment.

But I have a question for you guys.

So, okay, if you could play a character on The Office, like, which one would you want to play?

Oh, that's such a good question.

Will, I really hope you say Dwight.

Yeah, we've got to be Dwight.

Comedy does actually tend itself towards Dwight.

It does.

You'd be Jim.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'd be Dwight and you'd be Pam.

I'd want to be Pam.

Yeah.

I would have to agree with that assessment.

Yeah.

I would have to agree with that assessment entirely.

Now I really, really wish we had brought a Jim Pam Dwight scene with us.

I don't know what we can do.

Which scene would you like?

Which scene would you like?

No, I mean, that's definitely how I would have cast it too for if it had to be the three of us to do it.

It would have been that.

So great.

Is it true that there was a chance you guys were going to be canceled after the first six?

Oh, yeah.

Not just after the first six.

The first six episodes, any day when we went, we were like, oh, we're still here.

Yay.

It's cool.

And we were not a hit.

And also NBC wasn't rallying behind us at all.

No, we were very surprised to get a pickup for season two, but the pickup for season two was only six episodes.

Oh, my gosh.

And then they ordered only six more.

Yeah.

And then they ordered the back 12, and we ended up with 24 episodes.

I mean,

at the end of this six episodes, those first six, they printed my name on paper and they just laminated it with some Velcro and that's what was on my door.

So I took my laminated piece of paper home with me.

I'll save it forever.

We just thought that was it.

So what episode would you then look to and say that's the one where we knew what we were doing?

Everybody knew we were going to go from here.

We're now a hit.

This is what's going to happen.

It's very clear to me as far as like the downloads because the Christmas episode with Yankee swap and babies playing jazz poster and Phyllis's sad oven mitt, all of that, the teapot, that episode became the number one download on iTunes.

Okay.

And so the ratings weren't there.

The ratings weren't there.

But this new world of like, oh, wait, we can make money off of this other thing, this downloadable item, not the cast.

The cast doesn't get money for that.

That's right.

But people were watching it on their iPods, remember?

Yes.

And they were like, oh, Yankee Swap.

Yankee Swap.

Yes.

There you go.

Video iPod.

Now, what about you guys?

Did you always have, well, you mentioned individually you felt like you could be fired at any moment, but what about the show as a whole?

Yeah, we always

were pretty much on the bubble.

We never ever.

Maybe three to four or four to five, maybe one season we knew.

We were four to five.

Maybe we were kind of.

It was also just a weird position to be a kids' show.

We felt like nobody was watching.

You know, like we'd had no cultural feedback.

Like there was no

online culture.

But there was also just no way that kids could, like, we would get recognized, like couldn't go to the mall.

But otherwise, like as far as like the industry or we were nothing.

We felt like we were getting no, you know, and so it's only now that we're like, oh my God, we were big.

We also had one of our other executive producers on, not, not the one who used to give us notes, but another one who just recently came on and said that was also a network thing where they specifically didn't want you to know that you were popular so that they couldn't go and ask for more money to make more, make the show.

They wanted to show you.

So they would, if you're always on the bubble, then you're lucky we're giving you this budget.

Like, so don't ask for any more because you barely got picked up.

Where if we knew the show was, or they knew that the show was popular, the executive producers go in and ask for the moon.

So to stop that, they would kind of make us seem like we're just, we're lucky to be there.

Don't forget you're lucky to be there.

Also, we were canceled in 2000 with what, like a 25 share?

Yeah, right.

And right, like, if, you know, nowadays at the

chills and that kind of thing.

Yeah.

But that was a big drop for us.

So that was, I mean, it was like, oh my God, we're only getting a 25.

Yeah, we're done.

Did you feel like you got to wrap up the show?

Yeah.

yeah, definitely.

We got a nice, you know, we had a very nice hour-long with the retrospective and where everybody moves.

We really did get a chance to say goodbye.

It wasn't like we were just done.

The final scene was so great.

It was like it was a really nice final scene.

And we're all like really crying actually.

Yeah, we didn't rehearse it throughout the week.

We just read it at Table Read and then shot it once in front of the audience.

And that was it.

And so it's us saying goodbye to Bill Daniels as Mr.

Feeney, and all of us just real emotion, crying, kind of talking to each other in character.

Very emotional.

Wow.

I'm very thankful for that.

And I don't think a lot of actors get that experience.

It's just you're just done.

Yeah.

You don't get any like notice.

But your character doesn't get closure.

You don't get closure as a group or as a crew.

A lot of that is just get canceled.

You're just like, not next year, guys.

You're like, oh.

Yeah.

For me, moving into any other acting job after Boy Meets World was a shock.

It was like, wait, we're not all best friends.

We're going to be together forever.

You know, it's like, oh, right.

That is such a rare gift.

Yeah.

Well, I was going going to say that I think that's something that our casts have in common, which is that, like Angela was saying, for a lot of the people on the office, this was really our first big job.

Yeah.

And you're a very open vessel when it's your first big job.

And we all like learned together.

We learned about parts of the industry together.

Like none of us had ever done a junket.

None of us had ever been to the upfront to all the like business stuff that goes behind the making of a show or the publicity or anything.

And so we're really bonded, not just because of the show we were on, but because we kind of learned about the entertainment business.

It's like Mediator.

Yeah, get up at 4 a.m.

and talk to 25 media stations and 25 radio stations.

Yeah, that have a delay, but you can't do that.

I was just going to say, you just sit there.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

You go ahead and get bonded.

And also, you guys must have been there for each other, for just fame, like what that weird experience is like of like getting recognized.

And now everybody's talking.

It's like a weird thing, you know?

And we're so glad we had each other.

Like, yeah, we have people come up and say this to us all the time, which is like, you look like an older version of that lady on the office.

Like, that's true.

You are correct.

We are

hindsight being what it is, would you have had done anything else with your characters or anything different with your characters if you could go back and do it again?

You know what?

Yes.

I

maybe

would not have changed Pam's hair.

Really?

I kind of fought to change the frizzy mullet.

When she started dating Jim, I said, I think she's growing as a person.

And I had this whole thing in my head character-wise that she was going to go to art school and she's with her love now.

And so maybe she's going to do more than just, you know, let her hair air dry and put it in the clip.

Like maybe she's just going to primp a little bit more.

And then later, I became became sort of sad that that sort of signature hairdo was gone.

So you might see it in later seasons.

I tried to bring it back

a tiny bit.

But when I re-watched the show, I became somewhat sad when Pam's hair changed.

That's so funny.

And I kind of wish that I had just let her be.

You even make fun of it in one episode.

Do I?

Where you say, yeah,

including this very old frizzy-haired picture of me when they're doing the big beans going all the way around.

What does a bean mean someone tell kevin what a bean means yeah and greg didn't want me to change it he really loved it like he i somehow wore him down well mindy had already worn him down well this is true ellie's transformation yeah yeah so by the time you wanted it he was like all right he was like whatever some of that was a little bit selfish because what would happen is after work maybe there'd be an event or something we wanted to go to right and i didn't want to go to that event with frizzy pam hair yeah and And so I was like, if I could be halfway there,

if you could just help me a little bit.

Yeah, it would be a lot easier.

That's part of the rewatch is like recognizing how different the lived experience is.

Like the lived experience as an actor is like,

I want my hair to look like my hair.

I don't care about the iconography of Pam, but now that you can go back and watch it, you're like, actually, that iconography was pretty great.

Yeah.

I should have struck quicker.

You can see it more like the way your producer did, right?

Like they can see you with your hair.

Oh, all yeah.

It's like, why?

You know, and you said the same thing.

Yeah.

You know, it's like your lived lived experience is really it's important and as an actor you you know but a good actor but for us it was also because of how we grew up on the set it was a little bit of control oh yeah like if we could go and cut our hair then if we had a little bit of control yeah yeah exactly it's a different thing so i think like as an actor it's it is hard to recognize you know like what about you and i wouldn't change anything i really wouldn't i just um would you have worn your pantyhose never

um and i didn't don't you think though if you're being honest i was just honest about pamp's hair If you're being honest, and I want you all to weigh in, don't you think the character of Angela Martin would wear pantyhose?

Yeah, yes, of course.

Right, Angela?

No, no.

Although, I would have to say

pantyhose really pick up cat hair and probably get run by cats.

That's the idea of the thank you.

You're right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That was part of my character assessment that she would not spend all this extra money on hose.

That would just mean

that you'd have to be like me today and have an extra carriage in your purse in case it gets rushed.

She also buys most of her clothes at stores where they sell large colonial American dolls.

Okay, this makes me want to ask you a question.

What do fans ask you to sign?

Is there a quote from each of your characters?

Because I know ones that I get asked that one.

Of course.

Yeah.

I have a catchphrase.

So I have something called the theme call.

So I get asked to sign that quite a bit.

That Life's Tough, Get a Helmet, or the Good Looking Guy theme song from the episode You Watch.

Right.

I wondered if you had to sing that because I know Craig Robinson, people ask him to sing.

Out of paper.

Yes.

Out of stock.

Yes.

Exactly.

Uh-huh.

So, yeah, no, having a catchphrase, you have to write that.

Yes, do I?

I get, no, I was thinking you don't really have one.

No, no.

I get asked to do hello, bye-bye.

I'm so at the mall.

Yes.

I get asked, Topanga says something to Corey at one point where she says, you are you and I am I.

And if in the the end we end up together, it's beautiful.

So I get that quote.

People like us to write dream, try, do good, even though we didn't say it.

And it was a mirror, babe.

Use a mirror babe.

You get use a mirror, babe.

It's an episode where I walk, her first episode, and she was like very much a hippie.

Yeah, she draws with lipstick during like a reciting a poem.

And so I walk in and I look at her and just say, use a mirror, babe.

And that was a big laugh.

But that's it.

Like, I don't really have like catchphrases.

That's interesting.

There's a little bit of an office Boy Meets World crossover connection, but Will, you might be the only person who has it, which is casting director Allison Jones.

Oh, she did a show.

She cast your pilot episode.

She's a legendary casting director.

Yeah, no, she wasn't on our show, and I don't even remember.

I went back like five times.

I don't remember her.

I don't, you know, I do remember her.

Yeah, I know.

It's too bad.

So, I mean, I'm sure I've met her, but yeah, I was too young to.

Well, we have another connection from the episode that you actually had us watch is Hank, your security guard.

Yes, yes.

Played the coach on Boy Meets World.

Oh, he's so fantastic.

But Matthew's B-Team doesn't get sued up for away games.

It is the one who plays Hank.

That's amazing.

You know, I hustled up the stairs.

I love that scene so much when he's going between the coaches.

He takes a little jelly bean.

That was an improv.

He did that.

And I laughed the first time he did it.

And then, and like, Steve's Michael is like, get out of here.

You're going to get it.

That's it.

But also, just when he sits in Pam's chair.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

It just would, it was really hard for me not to laugh.

There was a few times we broke.

One of the most, I would say, really precarious moments of Ed breaking was his character has to take a bite of a tuna fish sandwich.

Oh, yeah.

It's really a tuna fish sandwich.

And then I have to go and grab him and kiss him.

Yeah, I thought of that while it was happening.

Yes.

And Ed right before the take said, Ange, I'm not going to open my mouth at all.

So you don't get any of this tuna.

I said, thank you.

The camera couldn't see his face right as I grab him.

My body's blocking, but he'd go like this.

And he would hold because he had to hold his breath because they wanted it to be this, like, and he started to break at one point.

And I'm like tuna.

He's like,

No, no, no.

It was so gross.

And so you see me kind of wipe my,

oh my God, it was so gross.

And Ed was like, I'm sorry.

I can't kill you.

You know.

Guys, this was so fun.

This was great.

This was amazing.

It was so wonderful.

Writer, thank you for reaching out.

Of course,

suggesting it.

This was so cool.

It was really great.

And it was really nice for us to be able to look you in the eyes and to thank you for paving the way for us to even have a show.

And so we just, we admire you both so much, admire what you do, love your work, both podcast and TV.

So thank you for everything.

We'll write back the show.

Thank you.

Will, I will be getting your phone number for future office ladies.

That's no no problem.

Hit me up.

I'll let you know what happened on your show.

Okay, thank you.

Well, that was so much fun.

They are so fun, lady.

They really are.

I'm so glad we did that.

I am so glad that Ryder suggested it.

Yeah.

I love just hearing about their journey becoming podcasters and re-watching their show.

Yeah.

It was really cool.

I loved it.

Well, listen, everybody, head over to Pod Meets World because we did part one of this collaboration where Pod meets Office Ladies.

We watched an episode of Boy Meets World and we talked all about it.

Yes, we watched Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow, and neither of us had seen it.

And we talked all about it and we learned a lot of behind-the-scenes details.

Yeah, they gave us a quiz too.

And I mean, you won.

I did well.

Anyway,

all right, you guys, go listen to that.

And we hope you have a great week.

See you next week.

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

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

Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins.

Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbico.

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

As a young adult, finding the right path to your future can feel overwhelming.

It starts with Year Up United's tuition-free job training program Career Pathways.

If you're without a bachelor's degree but have a high school diploma or GED, you can get skills-first training to succeed in the industries you're passionate about, all while earning a weekly educational stipend to offset basic expenses.

From there, you'll have access to internships and hands-on experiences with Fortune 500 companies.

And with Europe United's job placement services and personalized coaching and mentorship, you can put your knowledge, skills, and most importantly, confidence into practice.

Apply to Europe United today and take the first step toward achieving the career you want.

Visit europe.org to learn more.

Tired of waking up hot and sweaty?

Feel refreshed every morning.

Visit perfectly snug.com and use code SLEAP25 for up to $300 off today.