Dinner Party Horror Stories

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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.

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We're the Office Lady 6.0.

Hello.

Hello.

Welcome to Office Ladies 6.0.

Today's show is so fun.

It is all about dinner parties gone wrong, inspired by one of our favorite The Office episodes, the dinner party.

I mean, so many of you love this classic episode.

We love this episode.

It's maybe my favorite.

I know.

I love it.

It's definitely top five for me.

And, you know, we thought it would be fun to hear from you guys about your dinner party stories.

And boy, did you deliver.

Oh, yes.

You all wrote in with some unbelievably cringy dinner party stories.

I can't wait to share them.

But first,

I want us to share about an amazing dinner party that we were just at recently that I'm still delighted by.

It was one of those dinner parties where it was a humongous, huge table, like a giant long rectangle of just such fun people.

There were probably what?

Like it was 26 of us at a restaurant.

We got a little private room and it was to celebrate the wrap of Lee's movie, New Year's Rev.

Yeah.

The cast was there.

A bunch of the producers were there.

Some of the crew.

Yeah.

So we had just finished shooting at the palladium with Green Day and we all go out to dinner and Angela, you came up for it and Bobby Lee was there.

Yeah.

And the two of you

took over this dinner party.

Well, it was amazing.

Here's the thing.

Here's the thing.

We sat right in the middle of this long table.

Yes.

And you and Lee were right across from us.

And Bobby and I kind of split the table.

To his right were all the actors.

And to the left were a lot of the crew and producers.

Yeah.

And him and I were chatting and chatting and chatting and we would sort of engage with the actors.

And then I said to him, I kind of feel bad that we're not talking to anyone on the left side of the table.

And he sort of threw down this gauntlet.

He was like, oh, no, no, no.

He goes, you can't get in there.

Look, they're all talking to each other.

They don't want to talk to you.

You can't get in there.

Good luck getting in that conversation.

And I said, oh, yeah.

And he was like, yeah, I dare you try to get in that conversation.

And so I immediately stood up and I took like my fork to my wine glass and went, clink, clink, clink, clink.

You guys, she stood up and did the thing where you're going to do a toast, like at a wedding.

It was so funny.

The whole room goes silent.

Silent.

And I'm thinking, what is she doing?

And you, it was so funny, Angela.

Angela goes,

Everyone, I worked three days on this film.

And so it seems only fitting that I should speak, that I should give a toast.

And it was so funny.

And you gave a very funny toast, a very sweet toast as well.

I did.

I basically was like, this was such a wonderful project to be a part of.

Lee, you did such a amazing job, like just setting the tone for this creative experience.

And so when I sat down, the group to the left looks at me and goes, oh, and one of the producers was was like, Thank you so much for saying that.

And look, I am in now with the left side of the table.

And I look over at Bobby like, uh-huh.

And he goes, Damn it.

And he pops up and he does a clink, clink, clink.

And then he goes, I have a toast and I'm going to say it in Korean.

Yes.

And then we were all like, oh,

and he does his toast and he sits down.

And then Angela, I immediately pop back up and I go, clink, clink, clink.

And I said, I lived in Indonesia for 12 years from ages two to 14.

And I am now going to give a toast in Indonesian.

And everyone was like, wow.

It was so great.

And then Ignacio, one of the actors stands up.

He gives a speech in Spanish.

And then the production designer, Adam, stands up.

He gives a speech in Italian.

Guys, all I can say was this dueling speeches was one of the highlights of the dinner.

Angela kicked it all off.

It was just such a fun night.

It was really fun.

Well, that is an example of an amazing dinner party.

That was fun.

And there's nothing more fun than an amazing dinner party, which I think is why when a dinner party goes wrong,

there's nothing worse.

Because you're just all stuck in it.

You're in it.

So stuck.

So let me now set the tone for today, which is dinner party horror stories with a little refresher.

The last time we talked to you all about the dinner party episode on Office Ladies, it was in March of 2021.

And it really is a fantastic breakdown.

We have audio clips from Paul Feig and John Krasinski.

We got behind-the-scenes details from writers Gene Stepnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, and Steve Corell even read us the summary.

I know.

I want to hear it.

Yeah, me too.

You are cordially invited to Michael and Jan's condo for a last-minute couples-only dinner party.

Attendance is limited.

We only have six wine glasses.

Join Jim and Pam, Angela and Andy, and eventually Dwight and his former babysitter for an evening of drinks, games, music, candles, ozobuco, and a home tour like no other.

Snip snap, snip, snap.

Let's get to it.

I just love it.

I know.

You know, I went back and we both re-watched this episode.

And, you know, the dinner party, it's just really a perfect combination of cringe plus comedy.

And when it was originally released in 2008, I wanted to read you guys what the AV Club had to say about it.

Ready?

Quote, oh, the agony, the sweet, sweet comic agony.

For me, the best episode of The Office in both its British and American incarnation are also the most excruciatingly uncomfortable.

On that level, tonight's episode ranks alongside the deposition for sheer squirm-inducing awkwardness.

It helps that the show chose a can't-miss premise for its triumphant return to the airwaves.

After weeks and weeks of politely and not so politely turning down Michael's dinner party invitations, Jim reluctantly acquiesces to spending a sure-to-be painful evening with Michael, Jan, Andy, Angela, and Pam.

Tonight's episode honed in on that excruciating evening in the deepest depths of relationship hell with surgical focus.

There were no subplots, no random bits of extraneous business to detract from the central gusher of mundane misery, just pure comic despair from start to finish.

I love the phrase comic despair.

That is great.

Well, you know, the idea of making art out of disastrous dinner parties is nothing new.

We got a fan letter from Kristen R.

in Buffalo, New York, who said, there's an episode of Cheers called Dinner at Eightish,

where Frazier and Lilith have Sam and Diane over for dinner and their awkward awkward couple fights ensue.

Okay, I was a huge Cheers fan growing up.

Oh, yeah.

I did not remember this episode, so I had to go back and watch.

Oh, it's so fun.

Oh, I want to see it.

So, Frasier and Lilith are a couple now, but you know, Frazier and Diane used to be a couple.

Okay, they bring Sam and Diane over to their place to host them for this dinner party, and they start bragging that they have total honesty in their relationship.

They've They've told one another about every single person they've ever dated.

And of course, Sam is like, that doesn't seem like a good idea.

And Diane is like, oh, yeah, that's

interesting.

But then she's like, oh, but I think it's just wonderful.

I think it's wonderful that the four of us could be here, even though I was once engaged to Frasier.

Uh-oh.

This is now news to Lilith.

Uh-oh.

And so

it just sets off, as you can imagine, Lilith just keeps storming into the bathroom.

It's so great.

But it made me think of some some other dinner parties with amazing, what did the article say?

Comic despair from start to finish.

And I'm going to name three of my faves.

The opening dinner party for fleabag season two.

Oh my gosh.

I don't think a dinner party could go worse than that one.

Amazing.

I mean, next to this one.

Exactly.

You know that movie, The Breakup, with Vince Vaughan and Jennifer Aniston?

Remember, he doesn't buy all the lemons for the bowl for the dinner party.

Yes.

And then the dinner party is not great.

And that this is what leads to their breakup.

Oh, yeah.

And finally, meet the parents.

Is that the one where he says he milked the cat?

Yes.

Oh my gosh.

When he has lied and said he grew up on the farm.

Yes.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

And of course, there is probably the prize for the ultimate worst dinner party, the Edward Alby play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf.

We got a letter about it from Jo Lynn Y in Cleveland, who said, I don't have a dinner party story, but if you're revisiting this episode, can you please discuss the similarities between this and Edward Elby's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

This is my favorite episode, and when it aired, I immediately thought it must have been inspired by that play.

Was it?

Well, Jo Lynn, When we broke down the dinner party episode originally, writer Jean Stepnitsky said that the play was a big inspiration, and writer Lee Eisenberg shared that in fact the original title for the episode was Who's Afraid of Jan Levinson Gould?

I mean, that's a great title.

I would have watched it.

I mean, I did watch it.

Well, let's take a break.

And when we come back, we have fan favorite moments from Dinner Party.

Plus, we share our personal dinner party horror stories and yours.

I can't wait.

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All right, we are back.

And Jenna, I watched the Superfan version of Dinner Party.

Me too.

It's so good.

So I didn't feel like there were any new scenes, but there were expanded scenes.

That's exactly right.

So if there was like a moment that was a little bit longer that they didn't have time for, they let it play out.

Oh, there's one, my favorite, because I remember shooting it, is the expanded tour of Jan's candle room.

Yes.

Yes.

There's so much more about her candles

that we had to listen to.

And it's so funny.

And also just admit that Jim was in agony of the smells longer and trying to hold his breath.

There's also a moment between Dwight and Angela that's extended as they say goodbye.

So good.

So if you love dinner party and you always wanted a little bit extra, I would check it out.

I just want to say once again, we are not sponsored by Peacock or the Superfan episodes.

No.

But if you want to sponsor us, we are available because we are enthusiastic about these episodes.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Give us a call.

Yeah.

Ringy dinghy.

All right.

Well, let's go into this mailbag.

I have.

Oh my gosh.

This one really cracked me up, lady.

I want to read it.

Okay.

Okay.

This is from Shannon B.

in Virginia.

Shannon says, quote, my husband and I were invited to another couple's house for dinner.

They served chicken legs with no sides, then proceeded to get drunk while the husband accused the wife of having a crush on her coworker.

As if things weren't awkward enough, they decided to call the coworker in question and talk to him on speaker in front of all of us.

To the surprise of no one, they are no longer together.

OMG, they called the co-worker at the dinner party on speakerphone.

I mean, that's insane, but my favorite part of this letter is the dinner.

The chicken legs.

With no sides.

No sides.

What is this meal?

I don't know.

Oh, Shannon, that made me laugh.

Well, lack of food was a common theme in your dinner party horror stories.

Liz Kay from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania said, we were invited over for a cookout and they had no ketchup and thought nothing wrong with this.

And they only served three hot dogs and two burgers and one steak for five adults.

What?

How do you divide up that?

I know.

How do you divide up?

Like, what if everyone wanted a hot dog?

I guess you could cut them in half.

Everyone could get half a hot dog with no ketchup and some steak and two burgers.

Again, no sides.

No sides.

We also got a fan story from Emily R.

in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who said, when when I was a kid, my parents hauled my sister and I to a neighbor's dinner party.

We arrived around five, thinking we'd be eating at six.

We learned we'd be having ribs for dinner, but they were behind schedule and we didn't eat until almost 9 p.m.

Oh my god.

What does that remind you of?

Jan's osabuko.

When dinner was served, they had enough for two ribs per person.

My sister and I quickly ate our portion and then sat in hangry moods.

No sides.

No sides again.

The brother of the host then stood up, walked around the table, collecting everyone's rib bones off their plates and proceeded to suck the already eaten

off of rib bones to get every last morsel.

We had never met this man in our life.

I can't eat ribs anymore.

I'm so disgusted by this memory.

He got everyone's ribs?

What?

I don't know.

And sat there and sucked on them?

You know, Angela, one of my big fears when I'm throwing a dinner party is that I'm not going to have enough food.

And I cannot tell you how many times I have planned the food and then like in the last hour before the party is supposed to start, I send Lee to the store to buy more food.

And I panic and then I end up with way too much food at the end.

Have you ever done this?

I mean, I think we always do this.

I think we're always worried.

You know where I go overboard is like the munchies before the dinner.

Like Josh is always like, babe, stop.

Cause I'm like, okay, I have mixed nuts.

I have hummus.

I have a cheese plate.

I have some salami.

I have a dip.

I have three more dips.

Oh, maybe we should have something sweet.

He's like, stop with the munchies.

Well, something I know about going to a party at your house is that I am going to arrive to food.

Oh, so you are very good at having out that like pre-dinner moment.

Oh, no, yeah.

No, I want food the minute I walk in your house.

Like, so if you invite me over, if you don't have food out right away, I'm going to have a granola bar in my bag.

Are you Pam?

I'm Pam.

I don't care what they think about me.

I just want to eat.

All right, we've got this other letter from Hannah in Oregon.

Hannah wrote in and said, a few years ago, I went to a Hanukkah party where I met my partner's coworker, who was the host for the first time.

The host was cooking glazed carrots before the meal started.

I was standing in the kitchen chatting with them when out of nowhere, they pulled a carrot out of the cooking pot with their bare fingers and bit it in half.

But instead of eating the second half of the carrot, I watched in horror as they put the half-eaten carrot back in the pot.

No.

And Hannah's like, were they trying to check for doneness?

I mean, what the heck?

Then, then Hannah says, after they put the half-eaten carrot back in the pot, they licked their fingers.

No.

I stood there frozen trying to process what just happened.

But before I could form a complete thought, the host did it again.

Oh my God.

With a new carrot.

They stuck their pre-licked fingers back in the pot, grabbed a new carrot, bit it in half, and then dropped the remaining half of the carrot back in the pot and stirred it all together.

Hannah says, I immediately made an excuse to step out.

I found my partner and frantically whispered, don't eat the carrots.

I want to know that car right home.

I need to know.

I know.

Hannah says, needless to say, we did not eat the carrots.

We left before nine and we did not go back the next year for many other reasons.

And, lady, this made me think of the moment in dinner party when Michael comes back from the bathroom and Jan asks if he washed his hands.

Yes.

And he says yes, but then he whispers to Jim and Pam no.

Then he like touches everything on the appetizer plate.

I mean, I know I just described it, but it's a little longer in the Superfan episode.

Let's hear it.

Did you wash your hands, Dave?

Yes, I did for you, Princess, even though I only went number one.

I didn't really wash my hands.

Oh, what have we here?

This looks delicious.

They need to be presented royally.

Anyone?

There you go.

Good stuff.

Yeah.

Pam goes, not the hands.

Lady, he didn't wash his hands after going number one.

Did it make you think of anyone?

I'm sorry, men touch their Mr.

Parts.

You don't touch your ladybiz.

No.

Listen, men like handle their penis when they pee, right?

Don't they have to touch it and get it out?

I'm assuming they have to flop it out.

I don't know how.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I mean, I don't know exactly how it works.

I don't know the mechanics, but I think if your hand has touched your bits, you should wash them, right?

Because then basically he just touched the appetizers with penis hand.

Yes, yes, right.

Okay, also,

also, I can't believe I still have to defend this.

I have said that sometimes, after going number one in my own house, I do not wash my hands.

I know, and you know, if I'm at someone else's house, if I am in public, if I'm at the airport, if I'm hosting a dinner party, I wash my hands, everybody.

Do you know?

Okay, do you know?

I saw a thing that like it's, I don't know if someone, I forget where, BuzzFeed, one of those kind of things that said, like, 10 celebrities with gross hygiene.

Oh, my God.

You are on the list.

Why am I on the list?

Because of the P story.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

I don't know.

It makes me want to get genuinely in love back in the news cycle.

This, I don't know what's worse.

Oh, my gosh.

I'm sorry.

I'm just thankful that Ellie Kemper wrote in her book that she also does not always wash her hands after number one.

In her own home when she's not hosting.

Is it a St.

Louis thing?

Oh Lord, don't bring St.

Louis into it.

St.

Louis.

Don't you dare.

I'm going to get male.

All right.

Well, I have a fan story from Stephanie M in Saskatchewan, Canada.

And this letter, Stephanie, reminded me of my own dinner party horror story that I will share in a moment.

But here is Stephanie's story.

Stephanie says, this happened more than 10 years ago, and I'm still baffled by the whole whole thing.

My boyfriend's best friend was getting married, and rather than having a giant event, the couple opted for a close friends and family event only with dinner to be hosted at their house.

Because my boyfriend was in the bridal party, I was not invited to the ceremony, but I was invited to the dinner.

Okay.

So I guess the ceremony was just literally.

family and bridal party.

Okay.

And then the dinner was a bigger thing.

Okay.

I asked my boyfriend, what time should I arrive at the house for dinner?

And I was told 5.30.

Great.

Stephanie said, no problem.

I can do that.

I like how Stephanie is not even bumped by not being invited to the wedding.

Yeah.

She's like, listen, this is his close friends.

I don't really know them.

It's okay.

You do you.

Just tell me when to be there and when.

At the bigger celebration.

Yes.

Yeah.

Stephanie says, I arrived at the house at 5.20 with a bottle of champagne and the wedding gift to discover that everyone was already seated at the table waiting for me.

Uh-oh.

I was mortified.

The bride told me it was nice of me to show up

and showed me where to sit.

Snark.

I figured it was my mistake and I apologized for being late until my boyfriend confirmed that he had been told 5.30 and the bride changed her mind to 5 o'clock at 5 o'clock.

Is she being like a little sabotage-y?

Does she not like Stephanie?

I don't know.

Stephanie says, so we're moving on with dinner and everything's going fine.

And then at eight o'clock, the bride decides she's done and going going to bed at eight o'clock at eight o'clock the guests were surprised and started cleaning up and getting ready to leave the bride went around the table hugging everyone and saying good night and since she had always hugged me every time we saw each other i offered her a congratulations and a hug she rolled her eyes and said i mean i guess if you want a hug what Stephanie said we left shortly after.

It was by far the most bizarre dinner and wedding dinner I've ever experienced.

Stephanie, I have questions about this bride.

I feel like she has a vendetta or something.

She's got her bullseye on you.

Was this bride pregnant?

Or because I just feel like if you're doing a small wedding, you're going to bed at eight.

Going to bed at eight.

You're a little cranky.

You're annoyed.

Or is it possible that the bride maybe had at one time had a thing for Stephanie's bow?

Wow.

Just saying.

Don't know.

We don't know.

We don't know.

If we had been invited, we could have mom detected of the moment.

We would have asked questions.

I really do want to go to a wedding, you guys.

I know.

You guys,

I love a wedding.

I want you to know Angela loves all of the wedding invites that you guys send out.

I do.

I do.

And it is her goal that we are one day going to show up at one of these weddings.

And I am invited to.

I'm going to pull it off, but I would love it.

I know.

It would make me so happy.

I'll do it.

I want to do life.

Eventually.

I want to dance.

I want to to eat some of the cake.

I want to meet the aunts and uncles.

Yeah, that's a wedding.

You're describing a wedding.

Sounds great.

Describing a wedding.

Well, now I'm so curious.

Like you said Stephanie's story reminds you of your story.

What, what is your dinner party horror story?

All right.

So here is my dinner party horror story.

Okay.

I was the host.

Okay.

This was many years ago.

In fact, I was not with Lee.

I was married to my ex, James.

Okay.

And I had done a project and I'd become really close with one of the other actors on the project.

We had like palled around, sure, buddies.

Sure.

And he was so funny.

And I just adored him.

And we said, when this comes out, why don't we watch it together?

And I said, oh, I'll host.

Bring your wife over and we'll watch it.

Couples night.

Yes.

And watch the project.

So fun.

Yes.

And we had been kind of like, we want to be couple friends.

Nice.

So this was our plan.

So I said, great.

And when it was time for the show to come out, I sent him a message and I said, why don't you and your wife come over around six and then we'll have dinner at seven and we'll watch this show at eight.

So fun.

So fun.

So at six o'clock on the night of,

James and I are sitting in our living room.

I've put out a charcuterie spread.

Look at you go.

Yes, I put a lot of time into it.

I had the table set.

I had a chicken dinner all ready to go in the oven.

It was a one sheet dinner so that I could still visit visit while the dinner was going and baking and roasting.

I'd really thought it out.

I was so excited.

Yeah, you planned the perfect like hangout.

And then six o'clock rolls around and they aren't there.

They don't show up.

Call, text, anything?

No, nothing.

6.30.

Ooh.

Nothing.

What?

Later than 6.30?

It's almost 7 o'clock.

Oh, no.

And they haven't shown up.

And James and I are like, what do we do?

Like your charcuri board's looking a little sad at this point.

I mean, it should probably be back in the fridge.

We're also starving.

So we've been like picking at it, but trying not to leave any holes in it.

So it looks still nice.

And also, I was like, what do I do?

Like, do I put the chicken in the oven?

Do I make the chicken?

Yeah.

So finally, we get a text and it says on way.

On way, that's it.

Just, that's it.

No reason.

Nothing.

On way.

Right.

Finally.

They show up.

It's almost eight o'clock, lady.

No.

Yes.

And they don't apologize when they arrive.

They say nothing?

Nothing.

No excuse, not sorry.

No acknowledgement that this evening started two hours ago.

Oh my God.

And we are completely.

You're like, what is happening?

What is happening?

They acted like everything was totally normal.

And then my memory is that one of us said something like, well, do you want to still eat dinner?

Yeah, because now it's eight o'clock.

Yeah.

And they're like, no, we're good.

They're eating in the oven.

No, they they said, no, we're good.

They said, no, we're good.

They don't want to eat dinner.

They don't want to eat dinner.

They're not going to be a dinner party.

I know.

And so I made a plate of chicken for me and James.

And we sat and awkwardly ate chicken while we watched the show.

Like on the sofa, not at the table, you know.

No.

And I really wrestled with like, did I?

get this wrong?

But I went back and I looked.

And the text.

It was very clear.

Six o'clock.

See you then.

Yeah.

No acknowledgement.

Oh, Lord.

Oh, my God.

James was furious.

He was so furious that when they finally arrived, he said, tell them to go home.

And I was like, I can't tell them to go home.

Out of my driveway.

So, I mean, have you run into this person since?

I haven't.

But here's something crazy.

I called James and I said, James, I want to tell this story on the pod.

I won't say who it is because this is, this guy is famous and he's really famous now.

Like he's super famous.

Like we would all know who this was.

Yes.

Okay.

much so.

And I have weirdly never run into this person again.

And I said, James, I'm going to tell this story.

First of all, James has no memory of it.

He's like, oh my God, that's a hilarious story.

I have no memory of that story.

Oh my gosh.

And he's like, and by the way, I just ran into him a few years ago.

at some, I don't know, industry event.

And he's like, and we hit it off.

We're great friends.

I really like him.

And I was like, it didn't come up.

The weird dinner party?

The awkward, weird night.

Oh my God.

He's like, no, he didn't mention it.

I had no memory of it.

No memory.

I mean, I feel like sometimes men can just kind of forget those things and move on, whereas we hold on to it.

Like we're holding a grudge.

Like this person, I don't know who it is.

You're going to have to tell me because now they're going to be on my list too.

Cause, you know, we do that.

Like your list is my list.

I know.

This is true.

I mean, if I ever ran into this person, it would be the first thing I would think of.

Yeah.

I mean,

you can't bring it up.

You can't at this point.

I guess we've decided to collectively forget about it.

Which is

maybe there'd be like some kind of snark you could do, like just for like gratification.

Maybe you could be like, you know what I love is like a chicken dinner on my lap.

And I eat in my lap.

Well, I watch myself on television.

Yeah.

I always watch myself on TV, but I wait two hours and then I eat chicken in my lap.

See if anything comes across his face.

It was very, very strange.

That is strange.

and i have a weird recollection of them saying something like like a very brief afterthought apology that was like oh sorry we had a babysitter issue

but like as if you don't want to call and then you arrive two hours later and i've clearly made dinner it was very strange very strange and you know for sure they have kids

I don't even know.

I think they do.

But maybe they don't.

Oh my God, Angela, let me tell you who it is.

Okay.

Hold on, everybody.

I need to know who it is.

I'm going to write it down.

Write it right down here.

Okay.

Hold it up.

Lady.

What?

Lady, I know that this person does not have any children.

That's not true.

No, no, are you kidding?

I promise you.

I promise you.

We can Google that person.

I have worked with this person

on a different project.

Were they nice to you?

Super nice.

They only worked one day.

Like I was on the project and they did like a day play, right?

This person has no children.

I am telling you because I talked about my kids and he was like, yeah, that that wasn't in the cards for me.

I am telling you.

I promise that was a bullshit excuse.

These people clearly did not want to be our friends.

Why did they even come?

I don't know.

Why would you come, lie about having kids, not eat her dinner?

I mean, just say, i don't

it's not gonna work out unless they're one of these people where like their pets are like they got a babysitter for their pet i don't know i don't know all right anyway okay that's craziness lady that's my dinner party horror story that is craziness it was so cringy and awkward once they arrived it was so cringy and awkward it was so uncomfortable oh man It was fun to reconnect with James about it, though.

We laughed really hard.

I bet.

Well, let's take a break.

And when we come back, I have my dinner party horror story.

I gave it a name.

What is it?

Taboo Gone Wrong.

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Well, we're back and I googled it.

He doesn't have kids.

I know.

I can't believe he doesn't have kids.

I don't know what that was about.

I am now haunted, re-haunted by this dinner party.

But anyway, Angela, I also need to hear your dinner party horror story.

Taboo gone wrong.

All right.

So long, long, long time ago, I'm in acting class.

When I first get to LA, I meet this gal.

We become friends.

She's dating this guy.

They have a house together.

We go over there for dinner.

And after dinner, they want to play a board game of some kind.

So they say, hey, we just got taboo.

Do you you want to play taboo?

And we're like, yes.

And so this is a long time ago.

And I just want you guys to know that recently there's been an SNL sketch that is so similar to what happened that Warren and I wonder if we have told this story in different crowds and it made its way to the writer's room.

Because when we both saw it, we immediately texted each other like, oh my God, did you see that?

So here's what happens.

It's me and Warren against this gal and her boyfriend at Taboo.

We are killing them.

We've won like five rounds.

We're like, you guys, we can stop.

They're like, no, another round.

We want to play another round.

They're starting to get really agitated that they've lost over and over again to us.

Okay.

But they are at telling each other clues.

And it's like they can't remember anything about each other, right?

So like, let's say the clue is the Grand Canyon.

And she's like, we went there and we hiked down and we camped.

And then we're like, eh, can't say camp.

So then she finds other words.

By now, Warren and I both know it's Grand Canyon.

Anyone in the world would know it's Grand Canyon.

And he's like, I don't know what you're talking about.

Tell me something.

And they're getting so mad at each other.

And she's like saying stuff to him, like, like the word was like Empire State Building.

And all he kept saying over and over was building, building.

And she's like, stop saying building.

Like, they're getting in such a big fight.

We're like, you guys, we can be done.

We can be done.

And now it's his turn.

Fifth round.

He's got this word.

He looks at her he looks at her like he just won the super bowl the happiness in his face he looks at her and he goes oh babe babe we can get this one we can get this one and she's like okay okay and he goes all right this is what i call you all the time and she goes stupid and they go yeah

and they jump up and down and start hugging each other

And we're like, you could have heard a pin drop.

Warren and I are like, I call you this all the time.

Stupid.

Oh my God.

We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We're like, well, that was a fun night of games.

I mean, that was so long ago.

And now there's sort of an SNL sketch a little bit like it.

And I'm just like, oh my God, I'm sure many couples have had a complete fight over a game like Tabu.

Wow.

So there you go.

You know, it's kind of interesting to me, Angela, that our dinner party horror stories are like from so long ago, because I think that is your period in your life where you're kind of like trying to figure out who your people are.

Yeah.

So you have to, yeah, you have to experiment a little, right?

Like who am I going to be friends with?

Like I thought we hit it off on set, but then in real life, it's not really turning into a real friendship or whatever it is.

I feel like I don't have any recent dinner party horror stories that I can think of.

I don't think so either because at this point, like you're just more settled in your life.

Yeah.

Right.

And so are your friends.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we got a letter from Grace in Springville, Utah, who I think could probably relate to my taboo night.

Here's what she said about her dinner party horror story.

It was a first date with people I had just met in college, but they were good friends with each other.

I didn't really want to go in the first place.

I was still getting over an X, but they did not take no for an answer.

All I knew was that we were going to someone's place to have dinner.

And after dinner, which took three hours because they wanted to make it together, they said, time for the talent show.

I had no idea this was going to happen.

And this is something out of my comfort zone.

I wanted nothing more than to leave, but they had picked me up for the date and I wasn't near my home.

So I was stuck.

One couple performed the cup song from Pitch Perfect.

One boy did an earnest and uncomfortable rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

I pulled a gym and I sent an SOS text to my family and they called with a quote emergency that got me home before it was my turn.

I never spoke to these people again.

I mean, surprise talent show is a lot to ask of a new friend.

Time for the talent show.

This really made me think of the dinner party scene when Jan and Michael make everyone play their game of celebrity.

Oh, I love it so much.

Let's hear the clip.

Sam actually pulled two different parts of the game for us to hear.

No, it's a hump.

There's a hump.

Joe Camp!

Yes!

Okay, yes.

First name of that animal, and the second name is the state where Helena is the capital.

Montana.

Oh!

Joe, Montana?

Yes!

Why didn't you just say 49 is quarterbacks?

All right, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike turn.

Mike, Mike, Mike, my turn.

Mike, my, my, my turn.

Can you just like, really, whoa, we're sick.

What?

What?

Can you just zoom down this?

Make people laugh.

Yes.

I was watching Jim's face.

I was watching Jim.

And he was laughing.

No.

Look.

He smiled.

Look at him.

He's laughing.

Michael, you're up.

All right, here we go.

This is going to be fun.

Ready?

Go.

All right.

First name is Tom.

No, no, no, no names.

No names.

No rhyming.

No sound alike.

Okay, you're getting it into my head.

First name is Blank, and he goes on a cruise.

He goes on a Caribbean cruise.

I don't know.

Katie Holmes.

No.

Ah!

But he's married to her.

Oh, Dawson's Creek.

No, no, it has to be a real person, Jim.

Come on.

Okay.

No, no, I'm going to pass.

I'm going to pass.

Oh, okay.

Rhymes with Parnold Schmarzeniger.

Rhyming.

That's really a rhyme.

Okay, another clue.

Another clue.

Okay, he's the governor of California.

He is the Terminator.

Those aren't helpful.

Tom Cruise.

No!

Does anybody read the paper?

Oh, my God.

My, my, my turn.

He is so amped.

And then Jan is just pissing him off.

I loved shooting that scene so much.

Same.

It was so funny.

And the way Jim is messing with him.

I know.

Jim is messing with him.

Angela legitimately doesn't know any like celebrities.

All right.

Well, I've got a fan story from Jennifer O in Cleveland, Ohio.

Jennifer, oh, your story.

This is very unique.

Jennifer says, it was my first dinner with my new boyfriend and now husband and his parents and I wanted to make a good impression because I was a senior and he was a junior in high school.

I offered to help his mom set the table and she told me to pour drinks for everyone.

So I took everyone's order, including hers.

Her order was water.

Jennifer said I poured all the drinks and then poured her a large glass of water from a pitcher in the refrigerator.

We sat down to dinner.

Everyone's chatting.

It's going great.

His mom takes a big swig of water and starts gagging and falls out of her chair onto the floor, grabbing her throat.

No, yes.

Jennifer said we thought she was choking.

So I grabbed her glass of water and she smashed it out of my hand and said, vinegar.

Because I guess someone should have mentioned that that wasn't a pitcher of water.

Earlier in the day, the vinegar lid broke and she poured it into a pitcher and then I served it to her.

Jennifer said luckily she survived, married her son four years later, and we're still together after 30 years.

She said her mother-in-law has since passed away.

She said, and I will never live down the moment I tried to kill my mother-in-law.

I guess this is their family lore.

How Jennifer joined the family.

This is in no way that similar, except that I have a picture, you know, just it's like a tall picture.

It's got like a floral theme on it.

And I keep it to the right of the kitchen sink because our kids always like they fix themselves a glass of water and they have like four or five sips and then they're done.

Or I'm just going around the house and I'm just collecting cups of water throughout the day.

And so I've told them, if you're not going to finish your water, put it in the pitcher and I'll give it to my plants.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So everyone in my family knows any unused water goes in the pitcher.

Oh, have you had guests drink from the water?

I had it.

I had a was it me?

No, it wasn't you.

It wasn't you.

And I also didn't see them pour the glass.

I came around the corner and they were sort of in close proximity to the pitcher and they had a glass of water.

And I said to Josh, I was like, did you get them water?

And he goes, no.

And I said, did they go to the fridge to get the water?

He goes, no.

And then we saw the pitcher had been moved.

Did you say anything?

But they had already drank the water.

So do you said nothing?

I said nothing.

Of course you said nothing.

I said nothing.

But now I'm paranoid.

So as soon as anyone comes in the kitchen i say to them do not drink from that pitcher that is like everyone's backwash old water for my plants i pour our unused water into our dog's bowl oh yeah i do that too sometimes yeah i think you need a special pitcher that says

for the plants or it needs like a little sign with a machine and a little blackboard or something that you write in on it and you i'm sure you can find that at michael's or i could just write it on a post-it note and tape it to it you could but but now I have an idea of what to get you for your birthday.

A special picture that says for the plants.

For the plants.

I would love that.

Yeah.

Or a sign or something.

Don't get me a sign.

Do you want a sign?

I want to deal with the sign that I then have to hang on the picture.

I'm going to lose a sign.

It's going to break.

One of the kids is going to like.

No, you're making a good point.

Okay.

All right.

Well, no dinner party horror story episode would be complete, you guys, without an epic fight between a couple to make everyone cringe.

And we got a good letter from Beth in Fredericksburg.

She wrote and said, my husband and I went to dinner at a friend from high school's house.

She and her husband,

sorry, I read this, but then I forgot.

Ready?

Yes.

She and her husband were drunk when we got there.

They had a huge were of the roses fight while we sat there in horror, throwing things, screaming.

She told him he had a little dick.

And he said, well, you weren't complaining two hours ago when you were riding it.

We left and we never saw them again.

They got a divorce.

Shocker.

That

is

literally Jan and Michael's fight.

I mean, for real.

For real.

Jan and Michael have many big fights in the dinner party, but I think my personal favorite is

when Michael goes out and gets the neon poly sign in the middle of dinner and he hangs it on the wall and then everyone lights up blue.

It was so bright.

It was so hard not to laugh when that happened.

Sam pulled a clip.

I think we should listen to it.

Oh God.

Okay.

That's nice.

Everybody enjoying their meal?

Hey, babe.

Yeah.

How about we take the beer sign down until our guests leave and then we can discuss it?

No.

No.

I'm going to leave it up.

I think it ties the whole room together.

Okay.

Jim thinks Hunter's very talented.

You know what?

I don't think he's that good.

At least he's an artist.

BFD.

I'm a screenwriter.

And I'm a camel maker, but you don't hear me bragging about it.

No, all you do is you get me to try to work on my rich friends for an investment opportunity.

Man, I would love to burn your candles.

You burn it, you buy it.

Oh, good!

I'll be your first customer.

But you're hardly my first.

That is a $200 plasma screen TV that you just killed.

Good luck.

Paying me back on your $0 a year salary plus benefits, babe.

That one tonight.

Oh my gosh, lady.

Lady, do you know what this just made me realize just now when we're talking about this neon sign?

What?

Okay, you know, when you shot the movie New Year's Rev for Lee,

You're in the bar?

Yeah.

Bucks.

Bucks.

So the production designer, Adam, he had a special neon sign made for this fictional bar.

Oh, I remember it.

It hangs over the stage.

It's huge.

It's in the shape of Oklahoma.

And it says the word Bucks across it.

I think it's orange?

Well, orange neon?

We were talking about this dinner we just had to close out the movie and Adam comes up to me and he says, Jenna, the bucks sign, it's going to be there tomorrow.

What do you mean tomorrow?

I said, what do you mean the bucks sign?

He's like, Lee didn't tell you.

He, he wanted the neon sign for your house.

Lady, it's enormous.

I was like, what are you talking about?

And he's like, the one in the bar, it's going to be there tomorrow.

Lady, the box arrived.

It's, it's like a small fiat.

I haven't, it's so, I'm thinking, I'm like, where is it going?

And I, I haven't even had a chance to ask Lee, like, what is your intention for this?

What I assume is a very bright neon sign.

And then it's so funny that we just rewatched dinner party because I'm like, is this, where are we putting this?

We're going to be like Michael.

I'm fanning myself.

I'm having a hot flash.

I'm fanning.

I'm going to take a picture of you.

I'm sorry, everybody.

The AC is broken today.

And it's hot.

I'm so hot.

I'm in a tank top.

I I didn't want anyone to see my arms, but here I am.

There you are, lady.

This is the fan Angela got me from Singapore.

It's very pretty.

And you're using it.

I'm so happy.

I'm using it.

Well, I guess I'm soon to have a neon sign in my house.

I don't know where it's going.

I don't know where it is.

Lady, I know your house.

I can't even imagine the wall space that could accommodate it.

It's really big.

I know.

Well, listen, everybody.

I'm burning up in here.

We need some air.

We need some air.

I think that was super fun.

Thank you all for writing in your dinner party horror stories.

Oh my gosh, they were so fun to read.

We were cracking up.

Well, to end this episode, I thought I'd share something I saw online when I was prepping.

It's about an office-themed dinner at a restaurant in Minnesota.

So I saw this post.

A digital creator named Aubrey, aka only Obs, shared this reel, and it's titled A Dinner Party with Michael Scott Himself right here in the Twin Cities.

Yes, please.

The latest themed dining experience at Travail Kitchen is truly one for the books.

I went and watched her reel.

I could not believe how all out this restaurant goes.

If you're an office fan, I think people would be really tickled by it.

Here, I'm going to play a little bit of it, okay?

Okay.

This was our first time at Trevail, located in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and this is the office-themed dinner party.

As soon as we were sat, we already had the first course waiting for us, and our first drink got handed to us immediately.

And from that point on, the drinks and the food courses were flowing.

The whole place was decked out as if we were in the office.

All of the staff was dressed up.

Michael Scott was there.

All of our bartenders were named Dwight.

This was truly an experience.

Okay, so I'm watching that and I saw a scotch and splenda.

Uh-huh.

But the food looks like you get to eat actual, really good food.

Yes.

It's not, I wondered, I'm like, oh, are we eating like steak dipped in wine?

Like, what are we eating at this point?

No, the food looks amazing.

Although I did see what looks like an appetizer that has beets.

Yep.

And I thought I saw some tiny jello something.

Maybe so.

But I just thought that was really fun.

And I guess Michael Scott's there.

Every waiter is Dwight.

I mean, come on.

I mean, that seems kind of fun.

Well, everyone, thank you so much for listening to our dinner party horror stories.

I have a request.

Okay.

I'm going to need another dinner party success story with you and Bobby Lee.

I need another dinner with you and Bobby Lee sometime soon.

Done.

All right, you guys, we hope you have a great week and we'll see you next week.

See you then.

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 Bebico.

Odyssey's executive producers are Jenna Wise-Furman and Leah Rhys Dennis.

Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Chris Basil.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

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