Dwight’s Christmas with Sam Kieffer

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.

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.

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 Rewatch Podcast just for you.

Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.

We're the office ladies.

Hello.

Hi there.

Happy 200th episode of Office Ladies.

Wow.

200th.

I can't believe it.

And you know what?

What?

Dwight's Christmas.

I know.

What a special episode for our 200th episode but before we break that down we have a very special guest with us today it is our very own sam kefer hi everybody

sam is at the table in the report it's very fun to be on this side of this with us we are so excited to have you on the podcast today we could not have celebrated this episode without you

but maybe we should share the bittersweet reason why you are a guest on the show and not engineering the show

today And some of you listening might know this, Sam, you shared on your Instagram.

But after we recorded our last episode, the Target, SiriusXM, did a big round of layoffs and Sam and some of the other Earwolf employees were let go.

Yeah, I didn't make the cut.

Oh, you make my cut.

Every time.

Yes.

So we wanted to give a little background for people who may not know how it all works.

When we started Office Ladies back in 2019,

yes, I found it.

It's in my digital clutter.

Continue.

Continue.

Okay.

Well, we signed a deal with Earwolf.

And when we agreed to work together, part of the deal was that they would give us a recording space and a production team.

So we went in for our first day of work and they just introduced us to you, Sam.

They were like, this is your sound engineer.

Yep.

And then a couple of years ago, Earwolf and its partner Stitcher got bought by SiriusXM.

So now it's kind of all under Sirius XM.

And they started implementing some changes, like how they closed down the Earwolf recording studio.

And then they did layoffs.

And then the layoffs included you, Sam.

And it all took us completely by surprise.

I mean, we learned about it when you texted us.

Yeah, I learned about it by surprise too.

Yeah, you did.

I mean, we were just heartbroken.

And, you know, Sam, I went back into my digital clutter like I do.

Yeah.

And you have literally literally been with Jenna and I from day one.

I know.

Day one.

I found a video from May 1st, 2019, where I was filming us getting set up in the studio for our first recording.

And I met you while videoing.

And I have it.

I'm

gosh.

Yeah.

Ready?

Yeah.

Angela, I love you for things like this.

That I never clean out my phone videos and photos.

Okay, here we go.

Here we are.

Okay, we are at Earwolf.

This is Colin and Cody.

Look, office.

Jenna, this is our very first time.

They're very busy.

I'm preparing

to do this.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

See, I always say Jenna is who you want to sit next to in chemistry class.

Okay, and Sam.

Sam.

Oh, wow.

Make sure we sound normal, Jenna.

So that's great.

Hi.

Hi, good morning.

Hi, how are you?

Hi, okay,

put a filter on that.

I'll call it Sam.

Oh, wow.

That's my God.

Yeah, that was the first time.

You swung over and you had to say, Yeah, it's Sam.

And I said, Oh, hi, Sam.

Okay.

I mean, May 1st, 2019.

That's incredible.

I mean, you're just such a big part of our Office Ladies family.

We could not celebrate this milestone without you.

Oh, thank you.

And I have to say, I'm really upset and gutted that we're going to finish this thing that we started together and without you with us.

I know, me too.

Oh, me too.

Yeah, it just doesn't even seem like

it's, it's just,

it's just.

Yeah.

Yep.

I've been trying to look at it from the positive point of view and see what doors it opens and that whole thing.

But currently I am still in the anger stage of the grief process.

So yes, I feel that it's brutal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you know, we started our Office Ladies Network, but it's still under the umbrella of SiriusXM.

But I really do hope, Sam, that there's going to be a way that we're going to work together again.

I have the feeling we're not done.

We're not done.

I really believe that.

And I did, Sam, I did have to make you a scrapbook.

Okay.

It's from Jenna and I.

It's from Angela.

It is

Sam.

It's from Angela.

Yeah, okay.

Okay, it's amazing.

You can tell by the level of craftsmanship that is

that I probably did it, but but it is from Jenna and I.

And

you know what?

I could not believe how many photos I had of us.

Really?

Yeah.

It's been four years.

And you can look at it later.

Okay.

You also get Office Lady's tote bag.

Okay.

But that's for you.

Anyway, we had a lot of wonderful memories and I just know that this isn't goodbye.

Oh, wow.

You're going to make me cry.

Thank you guys.

Thank you so much for this.

Yeah.

I forgot how much I wore sweatpants to work.

You did.

You did.

You got a real comfortable period there.

And you know what?

I also love your dog.

Ramen made it.

Oh, yeah.

Ramen's in the book, too.

Oh, God.

Yeah.

And I have a whole chapter called The Pandemic in there.

And it's just all Zoom photos.

Thank you.

Well, Sam, we thought a really fun thing to do for our 200th episode.

And as just to honor your time on the show, is to interview you.

I'm so nervous.

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

So our top of show today, we're going to kick things off with our favorite question.

We shared that you were assigned to us.

Yes.

Right.

But how did you get your job on Office Ladies from your side?

How did that happen?

So,

I think it was Paul Scheer had mentioned that you guys were coming to be on our network before anything was announced.

He had mentioned it just offhand.

And I piped up and I was like, hey, I love the office.

Just wanted to like put my stake my claim in it immediately.

And he was like, all right, cool.

And just like kind of went on with his day.

But Colin overheard that.

And then when it was time to record the pilot, put me in.

Oh, gosh.

I love it.

I love it.

I'm so glad you spoke up.

What are some of your favorite memories from your time on Office Ladies or a behind the scenes moment that you would like to share?

All right.

No, I'm literally taking a page out of your book, consulting my phone full of notes that I took for this.

I had such a hard time picking behind the scenes things that were.

Each episode recording was such a fun, magical thing.

And it's rare.

I think it's an office quote, isn't it, Andy, who's like, it's, how come you never can know that you're in the special times while you're in them?

Right, right.

Yeah.

This was one of those rare moments where every episode we recorded, I was aware that it was special and was magical and was present during it and was recording it in my brain.

It's like, this is a really special thing we're doing.

So, hold on.

I have,

if you guys put your headphones on, if you can play the clip that says Jenna and Angela post first episode.

What?

You're coming in with audio clips?

Oh my God, I love it.

So this is you guys like two minutes after recording the very first episode of the video.

That video that I just filmed, that's right after that.

Okay, yeah, exactly.

I'm glad to have that behind us.

I know, I hope it's okay.

They said they can, there's so much there.

I know.

Go carve it up.

And then, if we need to come in and do some bumpers or whatever, yeah, we'll get there.

We'll get there.

I'm glad to have it out of our system.

And I was in my head about it too.

It was looming there.

It's so hard because there's so much to cover and

you know,

oh my goodness.

I'm very cold in here.

Why is it?

I just got super, it just like went up a notch.

I wasn't.

Oh my god, Sam.

Has there ever been a more us audio clip?

Yeah, so the episode, if you end and it immediately ends with you guys going negative, being like, I couldn't get that out.

Like, I couldn't get that out fast enough.

I hope that was all right.

Also, Angela's starving.

I just need to eat before we record ever.

In almost all the clips I brought, you're eating.

I'm so sorry.

The minute we stop, I eat.

In front of me right now, I have cheese, cashews, and cranberries.

Oh, gosh, that is hilarious.

And I am just being so my negative self.

I'm like, well, I don't know.

There's probably nothing there.

It's out.

I mean, I got it out of me.

Yeah, but what I really liked is you can tell how far you guys have come as podcasters.

Like, just your insecurities in that is fascinating to me, considering now you do them and you're like, that was good.

Like, you have a solid, like, you know, if something was good, or you'll do it and you're going, that was bad.

That was bad.

I got to do that again.

During those first ones, you would do it and go, is this good?

Because there's no one to tell you whether or not it's good.

There's no audience to bounce off of.

Yeah.

You were our audience.

Yeah, exactly.

Oh, man.

You know, as I was looking for that video of when we first met,

I found emails from you that were just titled Giggling.

Oh, yeah.

Just an audio of us losing it.

Speaking of which, which, if you'll play the clip entitled Jenna Angela Fluffer Nutters.

Oh no!

All right, we have to pause while my friend gets it together.

Okay, go ahead.

You had a fluffernutter letter in Cleveland?

Where were you?

Connecticut?

Connecticut!

Connecticut.

My first fluffernutter was in Connecticut.

Sorry.

Am I the only one?

Sam, please.

Sam, please.

Yeah, those behind-the-scene moments killed me when, like, when you would get on like a laughing tear, the stuff we had to cut from the episode, just we didn't have time for it.

That stuff always killed me.

Oh, my gosh.

I love that.

Well, Sam, do you have a favorite episode that we broke down?

Or a favorite, I guess, what would that be?

A non-behind the scenes, but like an episode moment?

I think it was episode three or four that we re-recorded oh we yes healthcare we re-recorded three different times yes

and we used pieces of each one it was the frankenstein episode yes yes hold on if you'll play uh jenna angela confess healthcare oh no

this this killed me oh no i found this should we confess what happened with the healthcare episode, Angela?

Should we confess it?

No.

All right, we'll just move on then.

No.

If by the, if what you mean is that we listened to it and didn't like it, so we're redoing it.

No.

All right.

No, we're perfect.

I like how quickly I came to that.

Like I didn't even have to think it off.

Like, nope.

Nope.

Okay, Sam, just like the cast and crew.

on the office, you know, I found those questions on the back of the call sheet.

I love them so much.

Well, we want to ask you the office casting crew call sheet questions.

Great, lay it on me.

Number one, what was your first entertainment job?

First entertainment job was doing sound for the Riot Comedy Festival in 2007.

It was a short-lived comedy festival that ran downtown for two or three years that my friend Abby put on.

And one of the shows on there was Comedy Bang Bang, which afterwards was how I met them and how I got my job at Earwolf.

Wow.

Okay, number two, do you speak any other languages?

I don't speak any any other languages, and I know this because Duolingo is very hostile to me about it.

Hold on a minute.

I'll show you guys.

Do you keep getting props?

Like, okay, tell me this isn't the most hostile email you've ever gotten.

This is because I skipped a week.

I skipped it.

I skipped a week.

This is because I skipped a week in Duolingo.

Okay, what does it say?

Read it out loud.

How do you say Quitter in Spanish?

Yeah, that's the header of the email.

How hostile is that?

And I like that you wrote back.

Sorry, that was harsh.

No, that's them.

That's the body of the email.

Yeah, that's Duolingo texting me.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

No, I don't speak another language and Duolingo won't let me forget that.

Wow.

Number three, what's a place you've been to that you loved?

I just went to Brussels in November and went to Bruges.

You talked about that.

And it was perfect.

It was little cobblestone streets.

It was perfect.

I love it.

Love that.

And what do you like to do on the weekends?

On the weekends, you can usually find me at music festivals volunteering with End Overdose.

It's a group that gives out Narcan for reversing opioid overdoses and just tend to get the information out.

I always see you post about that and you just have such a heart for others.

And I just love that about you so much.

Okay, last question from the call sheet.

Favorite midnight snack?

Midnight snack would be Indian food.

Oh, yeah?

At midnight?

What specifically?

Lamb tiki masala.

Well,

my sleep schedule is horrific and I'm aware these two are related.

Indian food digesting in your stomach at midnight.

I'll get up and order, have Indian food delivered.

It'll get there at one in the morning.

Oh, my gosh.

Yep.

Does it put you back to sleep?

Eventually.

Okay.

But no, it's definitely an upper.

That I was not expecting.

I wasn't either.

I was going to say cereal, but lamb tiki marsala.

Yeah.

All right.

I want to share one of my favorite behind the scenes with you, Sam, is early on when we would edit episodes, Angela and I would come in together with our notes, with our little sack lunches, and we would all cram into your editing desk.

And those few hours on those days are just some of my favorite memories from doing this podcast.

Honestly, mine too.

Yeah.

We would laugh.

We would laugh so hard.

And we would be, you know, there was no extra tables.

One time there wasn't even enough chairs.

One of us was on the floor.

And it kind of reminded me of those early days in like college where you all hung out in like someone's dorm room.

We would eat our lunches in our laps, whatever they were.

We had to balance them in our laps, plus our notes.

And we were in a room that was, I don't know, it was the size of

a very small walk-in closet.

Yeah, and it was freezing.

Yeah.

Freezing.

We have many photos of me and Angela in like full winter.

Yeah, in like hoodies and beanies and stuff.

Yeah.

And mittens.

But, you know, that was before the pandemic, before everybody discovered Zoom.

Now we edit on Zoom.

But man, I miss that.

And that was, you guys changed up like how a lot of us edited.

Up until then, podcasts, we just pretty much recorded and there was, I don't know, two or three edits and we'd turn them around.

It was a pretty quick process.

But this show like really changed the way a lot of us edit at Earwolf.

wow it was cool we because we would edit in real time with you we tried emailing you notes and thoughts and no with the it was just like a

few to go put this here and point at it yeah yeah

oh sam thank you so much for being on our 200th episode and thank you for everything you've done for office ladies and for everybody who has not listened to Sam's podcast, Enemy in Paris, you need to check it out.

It is my new favorite, like it's hilarious

podcast.

Yes.

And, you know, I was telling you before we started recording that I have not been re-watching the episodes because you guys do such a good job of describing them.

Oh, well, that's the goal: we don't want anyone to have to watch this show.

Ideally, we don't want to have to watch again.

Yeah.

That is hilarious, but it is.

If you love to hate watch Emily and Paris like we do, and we would always talk about it, this is the podcast for you.

But I love your opening song.

I love how you guys describe the scenes.

I love your deep dives.

Uh-huh.

I'm heavily lifted from this show.

Oh, my gosh.

I mean, you guys are very entertaining.

I love your co-host.

It's great.

Everybody, go listen to it.

Go listen to it.

We're going to put a swipe up in our Instagram stories.

Sam also brought us.

Yes, I brought you guys.

So we have official merch.

There's an episode where this woman, this American actress, comes to Paris and only refers to Emily as Bucket Hat and says, Bonsois, Bucket hats.

So we have bonsois bucket hats.

It's perfect.

I love it so much.

I can't wait to wear it.

I'm going to wear it on my walks.

I'm going to wear it on my hike.

I'm going to take a picture of us in it, Jenna.

Great.

And I just wanted to say my time here triggered something very special inside me.

You two took a very simple concept of a recap show and made something extremely special, something extremely rare, something that bonds people.

That's the thing that all podcast companies desperately want, that they foam at the mouth over, that they can't recreate.

And it comes down to the people making it, the time it was made.

It takes a very special type of magic to create a show like this, and you two did it.

I hope you're very proud of yourselves.

And if you ever doubt that, take a peek into the fan page on Facebook.

The community that has rallied behind this podcast is truly incredible and rare and magical.

And to that fandom, I just want to say you are seen and you are heard and you are loved.

Even when you think nobody sees you, you are seen and you are loved.

See ya.

I'm just, I don't know how to do the podcast without you.

It'll be okay.

Sam, thank you so much for sharing that.

But more than that, just thank you for believing in Jenna and I when we had so much self-doubt and we were in a whole new space and some people wrote us off right away and you never did.

Oh, no.

You guys had something special right out of the gate.

And we just are very proud of you.

We love you so much.

Great.

If we can go out in the clip of Jenna and Angela dancing,

I think you've posted this before.

There was an episode we recorded that just didn't click from the start.

So you stopped and danced to Taylor Swift for 30 seconds.

I remember this.

Jenna was in her head, and I was like, we got to get in our body.

It was the third one we recorded, but it was the pilot.

And because it was the pilot, I suddenly couldn't shut down.

I did.

And I made Sam put on Taylor Swift.

And there's a great Angela Angela cussing in it, which is always, always funny.

No, no.

Get loose.

Hey.

Hey.

It's just so much pressure to say.

It is

so much pressure.

I'm terrified, too.

I get it.

I'm terrified.

Okay, okay.

Oh, my gosh.

Wow.

Oh, sorry.

Sam, Sam, Sam.

I know.

Sam, Sam, Sam.

I'll see you.

This isn't the end.

Yeah, this isn't the end.

And by the way, I have my cell phone on me.

We can make outgoing calls at the studio.

Always call me like you've done if you have any Lord of the Rings questions.

Or do you remember once you called me?

I remember once, actually, I do have a favorite memory.

I have a favorite show memory.

I was in New York and my phone rang and you were on the air and you wanted to know if someplace was the porn capital

of the world.

And I was like, why would I know this?

And they're like,

why don't you?

Like, it was.

But you did.

Yeah, I did.

But you did know.

It somewhere like it's in California.

It's in like studio.

Oh, yeah, Chatsworth.

Chatsworth.

Yep.

Yeah.

So that's my favorite.

We called you on vacation.

Yeah, that's right.

That's right.

All right, Sam.

You'll be our dial of friends.

All right.

I love you guys.

Love you so much.

Guys, we're going to take a break.

We're going to give Sam some hugs and have a good finish to our ugly cry.

And then we'll be back to break down Dwight's Christmas.

All right.

This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace.

Today, I had lunch with Ileana, who does our website, and we talked about the shop feature on our Squarespace website.

We can't wait, we have some new merch coming, and we're going to have a new little drop-down feature.

But this is the great thing about Squarespace.

We have been using it for years and it continues to grow with our business.

There's so many great templates and tools on Squarespace that you can design the perfect website for your business.

It's really an all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online.

Whether you're just starting out, which we were years ago, or as you start to evolve your brand and add more things to your website, Squarespace is there for you.

They make it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place.

And you know, every dream needs a domain.

Squarespace Domains makes it easy to find the best name for your business at one fair, all-inclusive price.

No hidden fees or add-ons required.

Head to squarespace.com slash office ladies for a free trial.

And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com slash office ladies to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

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 eggo protein waffles for my kids the other day.

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

They're just the ego 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.

If you thought goldenly breaded McDonald's chicken couldn't get more golden, think Golder, because new sweet and smoky special edition gold sauce is here.

Made for your chicken favorites at Participate in McDonald's for limited time.

Hello, we are back.

And wow, it was really so good to have that moment with Sam.

I just loved it.

I loved having him on the show so much.

And thank you also to the Office Ladies family.

A lot of you have reached out to us.

And to Sam.

And to Sam, and it's meant a lot to all of us.

And I know Sam holds.

all of your messages very dear.

Yes.

Well, now we are going to break down Dwight's Christmas.

Yep.

This is season nine, episode nine, written by Robert Padnick and directed by Charles McDougal.

Action!

Remember, Charles McDougal directed our very first Christmas episode, Yankee Swap, and Greg wanted him to come back to direct the last.

Yep, this is the last Christmas for the Dundromifflin crew.

Yes.

Here's your summary.

It is the eve of Jim's first day at his new job, and everyone in the office realizes they forgot to plan the office Christmas party.

They ultimately take Dwight up on his suggestion of a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.

Meanwhile, in Andy's absence, Pete and Aaron bond while watching Die Hard, and Daryl fears that Jim has forgotten his promise to include him in the new business.

Yeah, he's really taking that hard.

So, you know, we jump right into this episode.

There is no cold open.

There are no opening credits.

This is the only episode in the entire series without opening credits.

It was a big episode and I read the shooting draft.

A lot more happens and I think they had to really trim it down.

Well, we open with Jim and Pam at their desks and Jim is having second thoughts about the shirt he packed.

He's doing that thing where he's nervous about his new job and that anxiety is being sort of processed through his packing list.

Yes.

And Dwight comments that Jim's shirt makes him look like a mop.

And Pam agrees.

Sam's like, it comes.

Kim's like, yeah.

This is when Aaron realizes, oh my gosh, today is the Christmas party.

Angela's like, wait, that can't be right.

Kevin is so angry immediately with Angela.

Like, how could you do this?

And guess who comes to Angela's defense?

Oscar.

Well, yes, because he's basically still trying to gain her forgiveness for his affair with her husband.

I'm going to bring it up later, but there is a moment that was in the shooting draft where he slowly gets her favor.

Really?

Yes, I'll share it in a bit.

Well, I will say in this scene, I really loved the shot of the turkey decoration.

Yes.

As everyone's realizing that it's the Christmas party.

Also, there is a scarecrow behind Aaron at reception.

Yep.

So not only did they forget to plan the Christmas party, they have not taken down any of the Thanksgiving decorations.

Exactly.

Well, we have some Phyllis Snark, some good old Phyllis snark.

She says, you know what?

I knew the party was today, but nobody asked me to plan it, so I didn't.

Funny how that works.

You know what?

That felt very lazy genius to me.

I think this is an example of why Kendra said that Phyllis is a lazy genius, because a lazy genius doesn't plan things they weren't asked to plan, and it's not their job to like, you know, pick up the pieces of your slack.

Phyllis knew this day was coming.

She was waiting for it.

Yeah.

Well, Meredith thinks they deserve a Christmas party for all the balls they've been busting.

I thought Kay Flannery was so funny.

They've been busting their balls.

Nellie says, you know what?

Let's get mini cupcakes.

This set Kevin off.

Oh, this is a famous line that gets quoted all the time.

Yeah, Kevin's like, wait, cupcakes are already mini versions of cakes, and now you want to even make the cupcake smaller?

Yes, he's very, very angry about it.

It makes me laugh every time.

I do love a mini cupcake, though.

I do too.

I like it even smaller.

What are those super tiny ones we got one time?

Melissa Bakes or something?

Remember?

Baked by Melissa?

Yes.

They're even, they're even minier than a mini cupcake.

They're literally bite-sized.

But they're so good.

Someone sent it to us as a thank you, and you and I were so delighted.

Yeah.

Baked by Melissa, everybody.

Look it up.

Not baked.

What did I say, Melissa Bakes?

Not Melissa Bakes.

Baked by Melissa.

That's right.

It makes a really good gift.

I've given it now.

Yeah.

Better than flowers.

And they have gluten-free ones.

Just saying.

Just putting it out there.

Dwight has an idea now about the Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.

Jim immediately is like, no, that's it.

I'm in.

Stanley wants tropical Christmas.

Meredith wants topless Christmas.

Creed wants Tapas Swissmas.

And then he says, Spanish Tapas and Swissmas hot cocoa.

What's so hard to understand?

I want you to know there was an extended storyline here.

About Toppas Swissmas?

No.

About Topless Christmas?

About what?

You're going to just list them all.

Okay.

The storyline here was extended.

Angela actually holds a conference room meeting.

We know she has an emergency one later in the episode, but she decides right here to audition everyone who has a real idea for a Christmas party.

And it's in the deleted scenes.

It's going to start with Dwight giving a presentation.

Then Kevin, Kevin, you have to imagine she makes this announcement and they only have a few minutes to get their ideas together.

But Kevin comes in with an easel and a huge elaborate poster where in one picture is just Kevin in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt.

And then there's an overlay.

He drops over and it's a Santa suit.

And then the next person is Meredith.

And she just walks in and she lifts up her shirt and she has Santa hats over her boobs.

Oh my gosh.

I know.

And we also learned a little bit of how Angela would run a meeting.

There's some snark, there's some insults, and there's rules.

It's in deleted scenes.

Let's hear it.

And that is why this Christmas should be a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.

Dunka.

Thank you, Dwight.

We will take your idea into consideration.

Please do.

Thank you very much.

Dwight, for a Christmas party.

Sorry, but that looked like a cat's butt to me.

Next!

Good luck, Chump.

Thanks.

Hope I get it.

Kevin?

Yeah.

Santa.

Santa?

Kevin.

It'll make Christmas a ho-ho-home run.

Once again, displays of support are not needed.

Boos are okay.

Next!

Oh!

Oh.

Thank you.

Lots of good ideas here.

What was that?

Did you hear the moment when I sounded very southern and all of that?

No, when?

I heard it so loud when Angela Martin goes, that looked like a cat's butt to me.

Oh, yeah.

Well, Angela does does call an emergency party planning committee, and Pam tells Jim basically, I'm going to get you the Dwight's Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.

Sort of like it's going to be her going away present to Jim.

Right.

Well, you know, everyone in the bullpen has listened to Dwight really push his idea.

And Pete says, I hope German terrorists don't take over the Christmas party or he'll have to go all John McClain on them.

And Aaron corrects him and says, I think you mean John McCain.

And he's like, no, wait, have you not seen Die Hard?

Aaron has not seen Die Hard.

Pete and Kevin cannot believe this.

Cannot believe it.

And this is when we find out that Pete, I guess in his youth on a dare from his brother,

has memorized the entire movie of Die Hard and he starts reciting it for Aaron.

Do you have a movie that you know like that?

When Harry Met Sally.

Really?

Oh, that's a good one.

Because when I used to drive from my college to my house and back, back it was about a three hour drive and i used like an old cassette recorder and i recorded the movie when harry met sally and i would listen to it in the car because you didn't have a radio yes and so i would listen to two things on that drive i would listen to the lamas soundtrack and i would listen to when harry met sally the movie you would hit play on your tape recorder yes in the passenger seat

And it would keep me entertained.

That's so cute.

Do you have one?

I mean, you know, I know a few movies like that because I used to just be such a nerd and I'd watch movies over and over again.

But one that I know almost every line to is Top Gun.

Really?

You've seen it that many times?

I guess so.

Wow.

It wasn't like intentional, but I watched it with the kids and they were so annoyed with me because I kept saying the lines, just a walk in the park, Mav.

They're like, mom.

Well, we got a fan question from Grace Ann S.

in Lafayette, Louisiana.

My birth city.

I feel like this.

Grace Ann said, I have a question about Pete's storyline, knowing all the lines from Die Hard.

Did this come from any of the writers' experiences or any stories they heard?

I was curious about that too.

And, you know, we reached out to the writer of this episode, Robert Padnick.

He was fantastic.

And he shared with us that this story likely came from his personal love of Die Hard.

He said he remembers once pitching a plot line where Dwight, as the office Santa, crawls through the air ducks to deliver a present.

Remember in Die Hard, where he's crawling through the air ducts?

And he said, you know what?

No one really loved the idea, so it didn't happen.

But maybe the Pete's storyline was his attempt to jam Die Hard in there somewhere.

And he also wanted me to share with everyone.

It's a really good movie, exclamation point.

Well, I love it.

Same.

You know, there's a big debate.

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Yeah, I've heard about this.

Well, I did a little deep dive on this question.

On the big debate?

Yes.

Okay.

What do we think here in the studio?

Do you think it's a Christmas movie?

Do you vote yes or no?

I'm going to say no.

Whenever I think of this movie, I don't think of it as Christmas, you know?

Even though that is the backdrop for it.

Okay.

Cassie, Jordan, Eduardo?

This is Jordan.

I do not think it's a Christmas movie.

Okay.

It is absolutely a Christmas movie.

Oh my God, Eduardo.

It's coming in hot.

Okay.

Cassie?

Just because it's around Christmas doesn't make it a Christmas movie.

Thank you, Cassie.

Thank you, Cassie.

I feel seen.

And Bardo,

let me just say: at Christmas, I get inspired to watch Die Hard.

So I'm going to put it as yes, a Christmas movie.

All right.

It's three to two.

In December 2023, Yahoo News YouGov did a poll, and 50% of the people polled said no.

26 said yes.

Okay.

23 said they aren't sure.

Okay.

And only 14% of people said that they watch it over the holidays.

Well, Yahoo UK had an article, and they have some criteria for whether or not something is a Christmas movie.

And they said you can figure out if something is a Christmas movie by asking these two questions.

I'm so curious.

Number one, does watching the film at any other time of year feel weird if the answer is no then it is not a christmas movie i mean the answer is no for me i could watch diehard anytime right but for example you probably wouldn't watch christmas vacation yes right but what about the movie home alone is that a christmas movie i mean i think so but It's also just a comedy.

Couldn't you watch that in the summer?

And it's about a kid who's home alone?

You think.

I don't know.

It's winter.

There's snow everywhere.

Planes, trains, and automobiles.

I could watch that anytime.

Okay.

All right.

Here's the second question.

If you take Christmas out of the movie, does it still make sense?

If the answer is yes, it's not a Christmas movie.

That's a good one.

That's a good question.

I think you could take.

Christmas out of Die Hard and it's still diehard.

Yes.

So there's a lot of evidence here now that diehard is not a Christmas movie.

I will tell you that Die Hard director John McTiernan spoke at the American Film Institute in 2020, and here's what he had to say.

He said, we hadn't intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie.

So John McTiernan says, yes, it's a Christmas movie.

I don't know if he said yes.

I think he just likes that people have attached this sort of debate to it and the fun of it.

Well, I think the ultimate authority on whether or not this is a Christmas movie is Bruce Willis, right?

Yes.

All right.

Well, Bruce Willis, he had his roast on Comedy Central.

He was roasted in 2018.

What did he say?

He addressed it at his roast.

Here's an audio clip.

People ask me why I did this roast.

Was it because one of the last guys who did it became president?

Hell no.

Why would I want to be president when I can just keep being Bruce Willis?

I did this roast for one reason and for one reason only: to settle something once and for all.

Now, please listen very carefully.

Die Hard

is

not a Christmas movie.

It's a

Bruce Willis movie.

How about that?

There you have it.

All right.

Well, in the kitchen, Jim is going to share with Stanley, Toby, and Creed about his new job in Philly.

Daryl enters.

He's really happy for Jim, but he's like, hey, are you ready to go?

Do you have everything?

Are you missing something?

Yeah, then Daryl has a talking head where he says, Jim promised to take me to Philly.

That was two months ago.

And he hasn't heard anything since.

He said that, right?

And we go back to the kitchen and Jim is like, I don't think so.

Not forgetting anything.

This is going to send Daryl on a journey.

A true spiral.

True spiral.

If there ever was one.

Toby, of course, relates everything back to his time.

as a juror on the Scranton Strangler trial.

This was like a huge moment for Toby.

Yeah.

It's like his one claim to fame.

It is.

It is.

He points out that the man alleged alleged to be the Scranton strangler is someone who won't be working on anything new or exciting.

He's in prison for something he may not have done.

Oh, no.

Nellie's like, what?

What are you talking about?

The Scranton who?

Oh, no.

Oh, boy.

Yep.

Toby lights up.

He's so excited.

He has someone new to share this whole story with.

How much did you love John and Craig's exit from the kitchen?

So great.

I love Stanley's exit, too.

He's like, all right, see you.

Good luck with that.

Yeah, see you in a few hours.

Yep.

I want to point out the background of this scene.

This is a very good example of how during our entire nine years on this show, we were always doing background work for other actors scenes.

Did you notice Aaron and Pete are in the background

and Pete is actively reciting diehard to Aaron?

all throughout this entire scene.

They're just in the background.

You can't hear them.

You can barely see them, but you can see him moving.

Great background acting commitment.

I mean, probably three hours they spent in the background while we did this kitchen scene.

Yep.

Back at Angela's party planning committee meeting, Pampa's really trying to make a case for Dwight's Christmas.

Yeah.

And guess what?

She gets everyone on board, everyone but Angela.

Angela does not want her name on this.

I love this so much.

She was like, please do not attach my name to this.

And Pamp's like, where?

where?

Where is your name going to appear?

And Oscar's like, just take her name off of it.

I know I love Oscar in that moment.

So the PPC emerge from the conference room to announce we are doing Dwight's Christmas.

But there is a rule.

The one rule is there are no rules.

Dwight's like, you have never been cooler.

I mean, Pam has made his day.

Jim applauds.

He's so happy.

Best Christmas ever.

So we reached out to Rain Wilson about this episode and he sent in some audio clips.

And the first one, he shares with us about working with Charles McDougal and also how this idea had been around for a long time.

Hello, office ladies.

This is your old friend Rain Wilson.

And what an honor and pleasure it was to go back and watch Dwight Christmas.

I don't think I had seen it since it first came out 10 years ago, 11 years ago, something like that.

It was so much fun to watch.

It brought so many memories back.

Had such a great great time shooting it.

The director of that episode was the famous Charles McDougal, who would always do 47 takes with camera angles.

For those of you keeping track, like watch how many different places the cameras are in and that there is no possible way in heaven that this is a mockumentary with two cameras wandering around in an office capturing things.

But we had a long let go of that conceit by season nine.

I know that Justin Spitzer had been wanting to do this Belschnickel thing for a long time.

They'd been trying to figure out an episode for it.

I think he had come up with the idea and the research and was very excited about it.

Yeah, you know what?

I remember that.

I think this episode of Dwight hosting the Christmas was supposed to happen during the year of the strike.

I do sort of vaguely remember, like, it was a card on the wall, right?

Yeah.

They were working towards it.

Yeah, but then we did not end up having a Christmas episode that year.

And so I think it had been on the shelf ever since then.

Well, I guess Dwight just keeps a horn laying around because he's going to blow this horn.

Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas has officially begun.

He immediately already has a spread of food and wine.

I don't know how he threw this together.

He was ready to go.

Meredith is going to take a sip of the glow wine.

And people are like really,

not really loving the glow wine.

It's very thick.

She says, is this lava?

I want you to know.

I looked up glow wine recipes.

You didn't make it, did you?

Josh made it.

Is it here?

Yes, dear God.

But wait, listen.

Oh my god, listen to this.

I'm scared.

No, do not be scared.

Have you tried it yet?

No, I wanted to try it the same time you tried it.

Oh my god.

Here, I want you to know I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Okay.

Glow wine is a hot, spiced, quote, glow wine found in many winter markets in Germany and Austria.

And you know what?

You come in from the cold and snow and this warm spice mold drink is supposed to make you glow with warmth inside.

This recipe is from Elsie.

Elsie says, my father would make this for New Year's Eve.

Listen to the ingredients before you get scared, okay?

Okay, okay, okay.

I'm just saying the visual in the episode is not appealing.

I know that's why

I'm hearing that it's meant to be, it's like a mold wine.

It's like served warm.

I felt like I had to find out: is glow wine a real thing?

Is it gross?

Is it not?

And it sounds lovely and it is a real thing.

The ingredients are water, sugar, cinnamon stick, oranges, cloves, and a bottle of red wine.

And you cook it up.

That sounds delicious.

I know.

You cook it up and serve it hot.

And I was going to make it last night, but I was making Sam's scrapbook.

Yes.

And Josh was like, babe, I'll make it for you.

So he made it.

And I have it here.

And we're going to try some.

Glue wine.

All right.

So you get a little orange garnish and you, these oranges were from my tree.

Wow, this, I mean, now I'm excited.

I know.

It's not as thick as what we had on set.

Or is it?

We don't know yet.

I don't know.

I doubt it.

And it's also not being served with the spoon that guided your head through the birth canal.

Exactly.

So it's supposed to be served warm because, you know,

these are cold.

You know, you're, and a lot of, I guess, tourists like to get it after they ski.

Oh, well, now you're speaking my language, Angela.

I know.

Okay.

There you go.

Thank you so much.

Enjoy your glue vine.

It smells good, and I'm imagining that I'm chilly.

I am cold.

Oh, I even have

snow on my hair.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh,

it's so fancy.

That is wonderful.

It's real good.

It's real good.

Josh did great.

I know.

He's good.

It literally means to light you from within, like to warm, to warm you up.

To glow you up.

Lit from within.

Well, Angela, I'm really glad you did that.

And thank you, Josh.

I know.

It's delicious.

It is really good, isn't it?

We also, we got a fan mail flurry asking what parts of Dwight's Christmas are based in fact.

Oh, I bet, because there's a lot of random stuff he's sharing.

Yes, and writer Robert Padnick said that there wasn't actually a lot of information about a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas or Bel Schnickel, who we'll be meeting in a minute, that was kind of out on the internet at the time.

But they were very careful to not make anything up.

He said that our writers Jonathan Green and Gabe Miller did a lot of work on this episode and included a number of real traditions.

We also got a fan letter from Andreas H.

in Germany who said,

Hi, office ladies.

This episode calls for a deep dive into German Christmas traditions.

And since I am from Germany and I love Christmas, I took the liberty of assisting you in your research.

Oh my gosh, awesome.

Andreas said, though, beware, this will take some time and some weird turns.

Oh.

Andreas said, let's break down the props and decorations first.

Andreas, I'm loving everything about this as I sip my glue wine.

I know.

Isn't this perfect?

Yeah.

So the first thing that Andreas pointed out was the starry light thing above reception, which Angela, you know, we called the Death Star.

We did call it the Death Star.

This is not a reference to Star Wars.

It's just the fact that it was really pointy and sharp and several people walked into it and got injured.

They did.

And then

like midway through the first day, there had been so many injuries.

It was hung so low by reception that they put corks on the end of all the points and they draped it in like caution tape.

Caution tape.

So many people walked into this thing.

Someone cut their forehead.

Remember?

Yeah, I can't remember who that was, but more than one person.

More than one person.

And who knew we were going to have to have a safety meeting about this prop?

Yes.

We probably should have.

We took pictures of it and it's one of the things that I wish we had the room to write about in our book.

I know we debated this.

Remember when we were writing our book?

We were like, We want a page dedicated to the Death Star because this is one of the things that has gone down in like the cast lore.

Yes.

Was navigating this very dangerous prop in the middle of our main walkway of the show.

Well, this item

is called the Hernhutherstern.

It can also be called the Moravian.

Oh boy.

It can be.

I'm just going to move on.

I'm not laughing at the name.

I'm laughing at Jenna's attempt to say it.

No, I'm going to just, let's try it.

Okay.

You could call it the Moravian star.

Okay.

This star is very popular and a very common Christmas decoration, especially in the regions of the former GDR, but in general, all over Germany.

It is usually not black, however, but red, white, or yellow.

Which you would be able to see better and not walk into.

Yes, definitely yellow.

Andreas did also mention glow wine and said it is something that you cannot escape in Germany around Christmas time.

You'll find it at every Christmas fair, every university, every workplace Christmas party.

I can see why.

It's delicious and warm and cozy.

Well, Andreas said there's even a non-alcoholic children's version called Kinder Punch.

Oh, come on.

And it's basically a fruit infusion with apple, orange juice, and then the spices of cinnamon and cloves warmed up.

I really wish Dwight had had some Kinder Punch.

I know.

It's, I love it.

Andreas also said, I don't recognize any of the food, but Dwight mentions Haasenpfeffer.

This is a rabbit regou.

He said it traditionally consists of all of the leftovers of the rabbit, like the heart, liver, limbs, and neck.

And then it is braised in rabbit's blood.

So if you're in Germany and you order the Haasenpfeffer, is this the

Haasen Pfeffer from Lehorn and Shirley?

We're going to do it.

Haasen Pfeffer Incorporated.

Can't be.

Is it?

Can't be.

I mean, that's what I thought of the minute I heard Haasen Pfeffer.

But it is also a dish made up of rabbit leftovers.

I don't think that's what they're singing about at the beginning of their TV show.

Is it also a name?

Could you be named Haasen Pfeffer?

Yes.

I'm going to say yes.

Yes.

So then your name means rabbit leftovers soup.

Okay.

Well, there you go.

There you go.

I mean, my last name means fisher.

It's very literal.

Like someone going fishing?

I mean, I think so.

Although it is the German spelling.

It's F-I-S-C-H-E-R.

I don't know what my last name means.

Kinsey?

Mm-hmm.

Someone could probably tell us.

You know what?

We didn't look it up.

We didn't look it up.

And it's going to remain a mystery today.

For today.

Pam and Jim have a talking head.

Is this what they thought it would be?

Guys, it's even better.

It's even better.

Dwight is holding a candle.

He's reading a poem.

Jim is super happy.

Andreas from Germany said the poem that Dwight is reciting is a poem called Advent by a famous romantic German poet, Ranye Maria Rilke.

Real poem.

Oh.

Well, Dwight's poem is interrupted by the sound of something on the roof.

Dwight excuses himself to run to his car.

He says, I got to take a dump.

What?

He's like a 13-year-old boy.

This is his excuse to get out.

I've got to take a dump.

Kevin says, I wish my car had a bathroom, which I thought was so funny.

While you were speaking, I took another sip of my glow wine and it is just so good.

I know.

I'm going to put Elsie's recipe in our stories because it's delicious.

Well, everybody, you should make it because it's good.

Or you could make the Kinder Punch version.

Yeah.

Well, now we're going to go back to the annex and Pete is still reciting diehard and Erin is following along using a script that she found on the internet and she thinks Pete gets something wrong.

And he says, no, no, no, no, your script is wrong.

That's right.

That's how well he knows it.

Well, this scene was much longer and it's in deleted scenes.

I have to play it because jake lacey is crushing it jake someday when you're on our podcast this is just one of the things we want to talk to you about oh my gosh is he great in this scene you got to hear it

the fire has been called off my friend

no one is coming to help you you might as well come out and join the others

i promise i won't hurt you

John McLean's not there.

Where did he go?

na.

What's that sound?

Tony better go check it out.

Comes running down the corridor.

Into what?

Nothing there.

Into nothing there.

One final corner to go around.

John McLean's not there again?

No.

How is that possible?

Zen nun nun na!

The sound he heard before.

Nothing but a bandsaw running in the wind.

All of a sudden, drop it, dickhead.

It's the police.

Y'all not going to.

It's me.

Oh, yeah, why not?

Okay, wait, I have to pee.

I'll be right back.

Yeah, sure.

Uh, hey, do you mind if maybe I just keep going?

You mean like by yourself?

Yeah, just kind of in the flow.

Yeah, sure.

Okay.

Because you are policemen, there are rules for policemen.

That's what my captain keeps telling me.

Elbow to the face.

My pistol, my pistol.

Jake!

I know!

Oh my gosh!

He knows the whole movie.

It is amazing.

I can't imagine how much time he spent.

And it's so physical, too.

He has a fight with two people, but he's just himself playing both people.

I can't even imagine what that looks like because it sounded incredible.

I know.

It's so good.

It's in deleted scenes.

While we're talking diehard for a minute here, there's one part about that movie that is so stressful to me every time I watch it.

It's so incredibly stressful.

I have a couple of stressful moments as well.

I wonder if it's the same.

For me, it's that he is barefoot.

Yes.

The whole movie.

It makes me so unsettled.

I was going to say that.

And then he gets the glass in his foot.

Yes.

And then you know he has to walk on it.

And you know what that does to me.

It's a wound on a wound.

He's a, yes.

Yes.

Shoot the glass.

The glass.

What?

What?

What?

Shoot the glass.

Yes.

He has to run through the glass.

Run through the glass barefoot.

And he has to fish it out.

Yeah.

Big hunk of glass.

I can't.

I can't.

Oh, my goodness.

Yep.

Well, Aaron is now going to get an email from Andy.

He's reached land.

He sold the boat.

Got super drunk.

Then watched Life of Pie, got really introspective.

And now he's going to hang out there for a couple of weeks and try to figure this whole life thing out.

Maybe see the hobbit.

There were some candy bag alts for this.

For this email?

Mm-hmm.

Oh, please do tell.

Okay, there were several.

I'm going to just share two with you because I think our writers really love doing candy bag alts for things like this because sometimes there's pages.

Here's one.

What up, Shorty?

Just sold the boat.

Got super depressed.

Gonna hang down here for a while and search the old soul.

Maybe try some surfing.

Back soon.

Love you loads.

Sad and scared, Andy.

Search the old soul.

I love that.

I love how you said it like Andy.

Here's the next one.

Girlfriend, it's boyfriend.

How are you?

I'm fine.

Actually, sort of train wrecking right now.

Got some stuff to figure.

Back in a month.

I miss you.

I love you so much.

I realized I forgot to leave food for my bird.

So if you could check in and feed him or bury him, that'd be swell.

Oh, no.

Andy has a bird?

Who hasn't been fed in several weeks now?

Yeah, Erin comes back from reading this email and she is, she is hurt.

Yeah.

And she's bummed out.

And she says, why don't we watch this movie?

Why are we talking about it?

And Pete's like, oh.

And the way he said, oh, it's as if she said, why don't we make out?

I don't know.

Like it landed so meaningful to him.

Like, oh, oh, we're going to, we're going to hang, we're going to actually hang out and like sit next to each other and watch a movie.

Well, lucky for him, he has a copy or two in his car.

That's how much this guy loves diehard.

Dwight had a horn in his car.

Pete has diehard in his car.

I'd like to point out that during this whole scene of Pete and Aaron, if you look through the doorway window, you can see Toby and Nellie in there talking about the Scranton Strangler.

Yes.

Once again, we're just doing the background work for our fellow actors.

That's right.

Very big part of being on the office.

Well, Kevin now is really enjoying the hog mama, but he spits it out when Phyllis tells him it's hog maw.

I like to call bullshit on Kevin spitting out anything.

He eats brown, remember?

Like the title hog maw is going to throw him.

Well, also at this point, he's tasted it.

And liked it.

Right.

I accept that bullshit card.

Thank you.

Well played.

Thank you.

We had a fan question from Eve H.

in Portland, Oregon, who said, My grandmother has cooked hog maw for many holidays.

No.

She doesn't anymore because she says it's too much work.

But Eve says, I can say it is delicious.

What is it?

It is a pig's stomach

that is stuffed.

Eve says, I know the idea of a pig's stomach sounds gross, but it's actually just very similar to like a sausage casing,

which are made of intestines.

So we eat that.

Like if you've had a bratwurst, welcome to your intestine casing.

But they just use a very clean portion of a pig's stomach, which is prepared in advance by a butcher.

You can purchase these from butchers in many places in Pennsylvania, although it is sometimes just upon request.

It's not like if you go to right, they don't have them ready to go.

Right.

Eve said that hog maw is made mostly of sausage and potatoes.

Some people also include vegetables.

Different family recipes feature slightly different variations on the ingredients, but in the end, it's kind of like a very flavorful, steamy, potatoey meatloaf.

I mean, that sounds good.

Eve said the best way to cook it is a crock pot because then it keeps the casing, like the stomach, more edible.

Because if you cook it, I guess, and it gets too dry, then the outside, it's hard to eat the outside, and then you just eat the inside.

But it's really good when you can't eat the outside.

But her grandma will not cook it anymore because the grandma says, quote, why take the time to stuff all the ingredients inside a raw pig's stomach when you can just cook sausage and potatoes in a pot and basically get the same dish?

She's not wrong.

She's not.

I mean, it had a purpose at one point, probably.

Yes.

How you transport it or how it's contained or something.

I'm sure it had a purpose.

Yes.

The stomach was an important element, but now we have things like crock pots.

Yeah.

Okay.

Eve does have a question for us.

And the question is, would you try Hogma during your next visit to Pennsylvania?

If you make it,

yeah, would your grandma make us?

Yeah, yeah, can we come to your house?

I would try your grandma's hog ma.

I would too.

I mean, we have it on good authority that it's delicious.

Yes,

I would.

I would try it.

I would try it.

Yeah.

Well, Eve, thank you so much for all of that Hogma detail.

I think we should take a break, Jenna, because when we come back, we have another 200th episode surprise.

I'm excited about this one, too.

Yeah, me too.

Charlie Sheen is an icon of decadence.

I lit the fuse, and my life turns into everything it wasn't supposed to be.

He's going the distance.

He was the highest-paid TV star of all time.

When it started to change, it was quick.

He kept saying, No, no, no, I'm in the hospital now, but next week I'll be ready for the show.

Now, Charlie's sober.

He's gonna tell you the truth.

How do I present this with any class?

I think we're past that, Charlie.

We're past that, yeah.

Somebody call action.

Aka Charlie Sheen, only on Netflix, September 10th.

We are back, and guess what, everybody?

We have something super special from our office ladies family.

It's Dr.

Thibodeau.

Yes.

He reached out.

He's got some stats and data tracking for us, but he also sent in a little video for us.

You got to hear it.

Office ladies, this is Dr.

Thibodeau.

Congratulations on 200 episodes of your podcast.

It's been a pleasure to be part of it since the 100th episode.

I'm really excited to provide some more stats for you here today.

And I look forward to at least 200 more episodes as you start this new network and new adventure.

Congratulations.

Aw, I didn't even love hearing his voice.

I really did.

Dr.

Thibodeau went on to share, for your 200th episode, I'd like to share some new data I've tracked along the way.

So here are some key things that I've put together as fast stats.

Fast stats.

Yes.

Here is Dr.

Thibodeau's Fast Stat number one.

There have been over 474 fast facts so far.

They have appeared in 158 episodes.

While traditionally the episodes give three fast facts, Dr.

Thibodeau noted that on nine occasions, there was a bonus fast fact number four,

most notably in episode 90 when we learned that the stress release episode was the first time that the main titles featured the entire cast.

That was a bonus fast fact.

I just, I love everything he tracks.

I love it so much.

Fast at number two,

there have been 110 deep dives.

Now, most episodes, you only get one deep dive, but there have been four episodes where we have given Angela as many as four deep dives.

However, there have also been episodes with no deep dives.

In fact, there were seven episodes without a single deep dive.

Oh, a deep dive drought.

Yes.

Dr.

Thibodeau said you've taught everyone so much, such as how to clean a microwave.

all about cow butter sculptures at a state fair, and even why pancakes are round.

I have to say, I'd forgotten about the cow butter sculptures.

I hadn't forgotten about the cow butter, but I forgot about the pancakes.

Wow.

You know, I thought I would never forget any of the deep dives, but I don't know.

You know, my husband thinks we should have an episode with all the deep dives.

Like best of deep dives.

Deep dives.

It's not a bad idea.

I know.

I want to do a book based on our deep dives.

Deep dives.

With all our extra time.

Yeah, we'll squeeze it in after Carp will pick up.

All right, here's another one.

Also, I love that he labeled them Doctors Fast Stat.

Yes.

Doctors Fast Stat number three.

In episode 43, Ben Franklin, you introduced the world to the mom detectives, starting with the case of the garage massage.

You presented us with 47 cases across 38 different episodes.

That blows my mind.

I know.

47 cases?

We clearly love being mom detectives, lady.

My gosh.

He goes on to say, Angela and Jenna, y'all could be the next Agatha Christie.

On Facebook, I once ran a March Madness challenge to crown the best mom detective story, and the undisputed winner was Knights of the Night Help the Mom Detectives from episode 145, Ultimatum.

Thousands of votes were cast throughout the challenge, and your fans are clearly passionate for mom detectives to come to life.

The real mystery is how nobody in Hollywood has grabbed this idea and put the two of you on the screen together for this TV series.

It really is.

It's just waiting to happen.

I know.

Again, if we just had more hours in our day, I know.

You know what I mean?

You know what?

We just need someone to write it and then give us a call and we'll show up and do it.

That's what we need.

We need someone to write it, develop it, sell it, make it.

And then we'll show up.

We'll show up.

No problem.

We're there.

We're there.

Doctor's Fast Stat number four.

In parentheses, he wrote bonus stat.

If you add up the time spent listening to your podcast just once, but hey, who can listen just once?

That's what

you put in parentheses.

A person has spent nine and a half days of their life listening to office ladies.

Well, actually, it's nine days, 10 hours, 48 minutes, and 43 seconds.

But who's counting?

Wow.

We've made nine and a half days of content.

Yeah.

Well, you know, the first time we talked about Dr.

Thibodeau was during our 100th episode, and he had tracked our use of the words amazing and lady.

Oh, no.

Well, he's back again.

Oh, gosh.

He said,

we have now used the word amazing a total of 1,445 times.

Amazing.

There's another one for you.

That's right.

He should track that's right.

I think I say that's right all the time.

Well, listen, you could track that one too.

Meanwhile, I know.

We have a lot for you.

We have said the word lady 1,276 times.

Oh, no.

That is a pace

of 7.45 amazings and 6.3 ladies per episode.

And lastly, he says, just for Angela, because I did request this, he asked if we were curious about anything.

He went and looked at the Instagram account for Office Ladies Podcast.

There have been 102 Insta stories and 305 Instagram feed posts.

And I need everyone out there to know that those 102 Insta stories and 305 feed posts were all done by Angela Kinsey, our Instagram goddess.

Oh, gosh.

You do all our Instagram, Angela, and you're so amazing at it.

Every once in a while, you've needed me to post something.

And I have to dig out the password and figure out what I'm doing.

But you always have it all ready for me anyway.

But you're amazing.

Round of applause to our Instagram.

Thanks.

I love it.

Your stories are always so creative.

I really enjoy doing it.

I don't know why I get such a kick out of it, but I do.

Dr.

Thibodeau also shared with us that our most popular post was from May 16th, 2023.

It had 264,956 likes.

Wow.

That post marked the 10th anniversary of the airing of the Office series finale.

And our most popular reel was from April 26, 2023.

It had 2.4 million views.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, and over 200,000 likes.

This was the post when Rain Wilson joined us to record Search Committee Part 2, and we all talked about his book, Soul Boom.

I love these stats.

I know.

Wouldn't Rain love to hear that?

We'll have to share that with him.

We need to tell him that.

Well, Dr.

Thibodeau, thank you so much.

This was such a treat.

We just are so tickled by your tracking of things.

Yes.

You know, and then he signed off with the loveliest note, Angela.

He said, Ladies, thank you for all you have given us through your rewatch podcast.

Let's face it, you are each amazing, and we all look forward to so much more from you.

I will continue to track data and stats for your show, and I am at your service for any future stat needs.

All my best, Dr.

Peter Thibodeau.

And he asked me if I would like any of his his data or stats, like in a graph or any kind of visual.

And I said yes.

And he's sending me stuff for our stories.

Oh, I love that.

All right, let's get back to this episode because Dwight is about to enter dressed as Belschnickel.

Yeah.

Judgment is nigh.

It's nigh.

I want you guys to know that this costume was designed and built from scratch by our amazing costume designer Alicia Raycraft.

And when we were doing our book, I was going back and forth with her.

We were doing research about the costuming department and its history for the book.

And I said to her, I remember how you would build these costumes on the forms.

Yeah, we would go into her office and on a mannequin, she would be building a costume.

Kind of like how you see them doing it on Project Runway, where they got a bunch of fabrics in their pieces and

like clipping things.

I asked if she had any examples or any photos of a costume like that that she had done.

And the photos she sent me were from this episode of Belschnickel.

She sent a photo of her first drawing, her first artistic rendering.

I think that's so impressive.

So impressive.

She sent me pictures of the fabric that she was draping on the form, and then a picture of the hat, which was a whole thing, and then a picture of it on rain.

We featured these in the book.

Yes, the Office BFFs.

I'm going to share that in stories because it's really impressive to see.

It really is.

Dwight shares that every year his grandfather would dress up as Belschnickel.

And you know what?

He was okay at it.

Dwight says, I am great.

You know how they say some people were born to be bad?

Well, I was born to be Belschnickel.

Well, we got a fan question from William M.

in Sioux City, Iowa slash Valencia, California slash all over Florida slash the United States Air Force.

William, you've been a lot of places.

William, I see you.

William wants to know, did Dwight embellish Belschnickel at all, or was the character played exactly as scripted?

Well, here's how it was described in the script.

There's not much.

It just says, Dwight hobbles in costumed, a dirty, hunched, fur-clad, bell-jingling, bearded traveler carrying a bundle of menacing tree branches.

He shakes them.

We also reached out to Rain and asked him what it was like playing Belschnickel, and here's what he had to say.

I just remember they, it was so much fun just kind of coming up with Dwight's version of the character of Belschnickel, the accent, which is absurd.

It's a very strange accent.

But his glee and delight at reenacting this kind of Christmas from his childhood, we get the nice peek into Dwight's childhood there, which was really fun.

And then there's such nice like emotional underpinnings of like, oh, Dwight's mad at Jim for leaving more because he's going to miss him, you know, at the new job.

And, you know, there's a love there and there's a connection between Dwight and Pam.

And there's some actual like subtext going on, which is not

that common in

prime-time network television comedies.

So that was nice to revisit.

Yeah, we just had a lot of fun.

You know, what I love about Rain's answer is that it's just kind of reminding us that playing Belschnickel had these layers because he also still had to be Dwight

expressing all of his frustration, disappointment, love for Jim

while also playing this character.

So it was very layered.

Very layered.

And also he's probably vulnerable because he's sharing his family memories.

Well, Dwight is Belschnickel now goes around the room.

He says he's traveled from distant lands to discover how all the boys and girls have been behaving this year.

Phyllis is going to say, oh, come on, Dwight, you're making this up.

And Dwight says, no.

So Oscar looks it up on the internet.

Oscar is always the one that looks up everything on the internet.

Yes, he's our like, what's the fact checker in real time?

He's the fact checker.

Oscar starts reading from his phone.

He says, this is a real thing.

Belschnickel is a crotchety, fur-clad gift giver related to the other companions of St.

Nicholas in the folklore of southwestern Germany.

Everyone reacts to this, and then Oscar continues reading.

We learn that Belschnickel has a partner named Schwartz-Pete, or Black Peter.

He's often portrayed in colorful pantaloons and blackface, and Stanley's like, no, uh-uh, Dwight, no.

And Dwight says, come on, we don't blindly stick to every out-moded aspect of our traditions.

So then we see Dwight, he immediately turns around and texts someone, and we never see who he texts or what happens.

But in the original airing, you would have seen Nate down in the parking lot about to enter the building dressed as Black Peter and Nate would have quickly turned around and not entered the building and left.

Yes, so this moment was cut from the episode in 2020.

It was cut because it featured a character in Blackface.

Greg Daniels put out a statement and here is what he said.

He said, the office is about a group of people trying to work together with mutual respect despite the inappropriate actions of their boss and assistant manager.

The show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion.

Today, we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice.

Blackface is unacceptable, and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong.

I'm sorry for the pain that caused.

Yeah, so that that moment was cut.

Yeah.

You know, Andreas from Germany weighed in on Belschnickel and Black Pete.

Andreas said, I come from a very German family, but I had not heard of Belschnickel before.

So Andreas did a little deep dive and said that, yes, Oscar is correct.

It is a traditional character in Germany's southwestern regions.

Belschnickel is a scary, furry man, sometimes even depicted as a monster.

Oh.

So Dwight's costume is quite on point.

And like Oscar said, he is Santa Claus's companion.

And as the tradition goes, on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus and Belschnickel will enter your living room together.

Okay.

They will ask your kids if they were well-behaved over the last year.

If they were nice, they get presents like apples and nuts from Santa Claus.

If they were naughty, they would get a lump of coal and a whack from Belschnickel.

Oh, wow.

So sticks were accurate, I guess.

So I guess in our Western traditions, Santa Claus is kind of both.

You either get presents or coal, but their tradition is there's like sort of good Santa and mean Santa.

Yeah.

Now, Andreas went on to say there is one detail in Oscar's explanation that's not quite correct.

Black Pete is not a German Christmas tradition.

It's actually a tradition in the Netherlands.

Oh.

hmm.

So there you go.

Well, Aaron and Pete are now watching Die Hard in Andy's office.

And in the background, Daryl is drinking the glue wine right out of the bowl.

He's getting a little sloppy.

He's really mad at Jim.

He's like, you got to stick to your word.

Yeah.

The rest of the evening is going to really take a turn for Daryl.

In the conference room, we're all kind of sitting in a circle, and it's time for Belschnickel to hand out gifts.

So this whole exchange between Dwight and Phyllis about the set of bowls is my favorite moment in the whole entire episode.

I know.

Because it just reminded me of my husband.

If you borrow Tupperware from us, he's going to expect it back with the correct lid.

He would also be like, these bowls are a set.

These aren't the gift.

Yes.

No, I love it.

He's handed out these really beautiful wooden bowls

that everyone wants to keep, but you can't keep them.

Belschnickel's actually going to put your gift in the bowl once he's determined that you're admirable.

Only if you're admirable do you get a gift in the bowl, but the bowl is not your gift.

He needs them all back.

They're a set.

And if you're impish, you're going to get hit with those sticks.

Yes.

I have an unpopular opinion to share.

Oh, let's hear it.

Maybe it's unpopular.

Maybe it's popular.

We'll see.

Oh my God, I don't even know if I can say it.

I don't want people to turn on me.

Oh, is this like a Star Wars moment?

No, it's

just, you know, I think

people are so hard on Pam in this season,

but I

don't, I

don't love Jim in this episode.

Oh, and I don't love this storyline for Jim and Pam in this episode.

I remember struggling with it a little bit at the time.

I don't like how Jim is heckling Dwight in this moment.

I don't like that they've set up this whole dream of Dwight's to come true just so that they they can kind of like just poke fun at it.

Yeah, just kind of think it's mean.

Yeah.

And mean spirited.

They're kind of being bratty.

Yeah, they're being jerks, but I'm sorry.

I think in particular, Jim

and

it was hard for me as Pam, who has a soft spot for Dwight, to

find a way.

to do this thing for her husband

that was resulting in her friend getting made fun of.

Yeah.

And I just, I didn't like the snickering.

I didn't like what I also sort of saw as kind of this like

smug,

too cool for school kind of vibe that was that Jim.

That was coming from Jim.

I can see all that.

I can see it.

Yeah.

It was hard.

It was, I didn't like it.

I didn't find Jim likable in this storyline.

Also, just like, why haven't you said anything to Daryl?

Right?

Like, Jim's very self-involved.

Very self-involved.

He's having that moment where he has this new thing that is really distracting him and occupying all of his space and also maybe making him lose sight on the people that matter around him.

He's just having his little selfish chapter here.

He is.

And we all have them in our lives.

So I am able to.

Yeah.

We've all had moments moments where we get so consumed by something and yes and then we come out of the fog and we're like oh i was i was kind of a turd sorry i'm sorry yes and that's okay because he'll he'll grow out of the fog you got to come out of the fog yes stop being a turd yes well jim is going to realize now oh my gosh i have to go i have to go to philly and both pam and Dwight are taken aback.

They're like, oh my gosh, already?

What?

They're both bummed out in their own different ways.

Yeah.

But before he leaves, Belschnickel needs to judge if he was impish or admirable.

And guess what he was?

Jim was impish.

So impish.

So impish.

We got a fan question from Ty B in Calgary, Alberta.

When Dwight was whacking Jim with the stick, is he actually hitting him?

It looks so real.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember it.

I remember the pieces of the stick breaking off as Rain whacked him with that.

I did too.

When I watched the scene, I was like, oh, yeah, remember how hard he was hitting him?

I will tell you, there's a moment, and you can see it's truly honest, where John is like, okay, enough.

Yes, I saw it too.

Well, we asked Rain if he remembered this scene, and here is what he said.

You know, the number one thing that I remember is.

Like, I was infamous for hurting people on the set.

At one point, I had thrown a mini barbell up in the air and it hit Freg Robinson in the head and gave him a bump the size of a golf ball.

You know, thrown a snowball in John's face.

I'd knocked sand into Leslie's eyes.

Like, everyone had some way, shape, or form, had been hurt by rain playing Dwight in some way, shape, or form.

So I knew, like, oh, geez, I've got to like literally whip people with a straw baton.

Someone's going to get their eye gouged out.

So probably I hit John too many times and too hard.

And I think a couple of times I tried to hit him in the groinal area just on purpose, just because it was so much fun.

I always like to just get a little,

little reaction out of him.

So I was very wary and careful around that.

Well, Rain, I remember all those same things.

I do too.

I like how you said, Rain, that you were very careful around that area, but you still tried to hit it.

Yes, that's right.

Well, lady, before we move on,

my neighbor is such a big fan of the show and wanted to make a message for us.

I hope that's okay.

Oh, he's such a huge fan.

And

we'll hear,

you have to hear it.

Hey, Jenna.

Hi, Angela.

Happy 200th episode.

What a fantastic milestone.

Well, cool beans and congratulations, girls.

Oh, my gosh.

I did not know what to expect when you set that up.

I know your face, you were like, what?

Because I know I saw you doing that thing in your brain of like, who, what, who, what neighbor?

I thought it was going to be like a kid or somebody who lives in your neighborhood.

And it was the biggest kid of all, Creed.

Creed, who lives at the end of my street.

Aww.

He's been so supportive of the podcast and he wanted to wish us happy 200th.

I love that.

Well, now Pam is going to walk Jim to his cab.

She's like, this is it.

I can't believe it's actually happening.

And Jim says, thanks for putting together such a great last Christmas party.

I felt that on two levels.

I was like, this is it.

This is the last Christmas party.

Yeah, he also makes a joke and he's like, well, I guess this is goodbye.

You know, I'll never see you again or something like that.

I can't remember the exact joke.

And Pam's like, come on, I'm trying to be serious here.

Yeah.

And I felt like this was another moment that we were trying to play to show how Jim's head is a little bit in the clouds.

He's enamored with the new job.

He's having that selfish time and he's not seeing Pam.

He's not registering.

last Christmas party and like the look on her face.

He's not registering like the separation of their family so that this job can happen.

Yes.

And also, I don't know if you noticed, but Pam says, I love you as he's getting into the cab.

And he's like, oh, yeah, I love you too.

It's like everything is a real afterthought for Jim here.

And it's meant to be kind of to show like, oh, wow, they are in different spaces right now.

Yeah.

Well, Pam is going to very sadly walk back into the office.

And Dwight has been watching all of this from the window.

Well, as Pam's going up to the office, Dwight is on his way out.

He's taken all of his his decorations down he's like you know what you bell on christmas christmas bells on you and guess what bell schniggle isn't real it's me dwight yeah he's hurt he is but the christmas party is going to continue because phyllis finds some old decorations in the warehouse oscar ran to the store for food and drinks and phyllis says guess what i guess they needed me after all

And lady, I have to share with you, I have a little call sheet tidbit here.

I think I know what this call sheet tidbit is.

Yes.

The Dundra Mifflin crew is decorating for Christmas, but in real life on our set, it was Halloween.

Halloween was this week.

This used to happen all the time when we would shoot our Christmas episode.

It would be Halloween week in real life.

This has happened more than once.

Yeah.

And boy, did our casting crew love Halloween.

I mean, I shared in last week's episode, there was a countdown on the call sheets to Halloween.

Well, Steve Burr just sent me the call sheet for October 31st.

We were filming.

I printed it out.

I'm going to share it.

Someone was having a lot of fun with this call sheet, lady.

First of all, normally on a call sheet, it tells you the crew call and what time everyone's called to set.

On this one, it says the bewitching hour and the spooky call.

And then normally we have a message if there's going to be an on-set photographer and it will say NBC still photographer on set today.

But on this call sheet announcement, it said the NBC still coroner will be on set set today.

There's also an announcement that the Halloween costume contest will be at lunch.

And then if you go to the back of the call sheet for all of the different crew categories, they were changed to different names.

For example, instead of saying hair and makeup with everyone's call times, it says morticians.

Oh.

There's the headhunters.

There's the groundskeepers.

There's the bloody heart department.

The grave robbers, the flamethrowers, the office of the recently deceased.

Amazing.

Amazing.

And in the transportation department, they were labeled instead of transportation, hearses.

I mean, someone was just having a really good time with all of this, and I'm going to share it.

It's really fun.

Well, I remember this Halloween because my son was a year old, and we were going to dress him up as a Wimbledon tennis player.

Yeah, I remember.

We had gone to Wimbledon when I was pregnant and we had gotten a teeny baby size Wimbledon shirt.

It was white.

And we were like, oh, this is such a good costume because he can wear the shirt.

He can wear the little white shorts, right?

And little hat, little shoes.

And I was like, oh, I want to get him like a little tennis racket, like a little toy tennis racket.

Well, I couldn't find any that were like the right size for him.

Sure, they're all so big.

Yeah.

So I was just chatting with Phil Shea, the amazing Phil Shea, and I said, Phil, what would you do if you had to get like a tiny tennis racket for like a one-year-old?

Like, where would you get that?

Sure.

Where can you point me in the right direction?

And he said, Jenna, I got it.

I'll get you one.

I'll get you one.

I'm like, no, no, no, it just, I'll do it.

Like, you don't need to tell me what you're going to do.

He was like, no, I'll get it.

I'll get it for you.

I got it.

I got it.

I was like, okay.

This was like a few weeks before Halloween.

For Halloween, Angela, Phil Shea presented me with a tiny tennis racket.

Lady, it was not a toy.

I remember.

It was a tiny, real tennis racket.

He had someone make your son a real, teeny, tiny, real racket with strings and everything.

Yes, with a teeny, tiny tennis bag.

Oh my gosh, it was the cutest thing.

I was like, Phil,

what is this?

I was like, what have you done?

And he was just smiling.

He was so delighted.

I have all these pictures.

I mean, this tennis racket made the outfit.

It was the sweetest thing.

And, you know, guys, we all gathered recently for a celebration of life for Phil.

All of our crew came and celebrated him, the crews of other shows he had worked on.

It was so

wonderful to see how many lives Phil touched.

It was so bittersweet.

but also so special to see our crew and to spend time with them and to share our memories of Phil.

Yeah.

And this was a story that I told because it's so very Phil.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I remember this and I have pictures.

I do too.

I love the pictures from this Halloween and also Steve Burgess shared some of his photos from the Halloween costume contest.

Our crew would often coordinate costumes.

And so there was a group this year, I remember, who did Scooby-Doo.

They were so creative.

I have a photo that I love of my daughter and your son son on set together.

He's in his tennis outfit, and you would never know this because she's just in a pink shirt and pink leggings, but she was a cupcake, like a papier-mâché cupcake that you step into.

But she got tired of wearing it, so she took it off.

She was just the underneath part.

Yeah, but they were a cupcake and a tennis player.

This was a really special episode.

Everyone brought their kids.

It was really special.

It was our last Christmas episode and our last Halloween parade all in one.

Yep.

Nellie hears the party starting, but Toby is still sharing with her about his jury experience.

There's a great montage in the bullpen of people starting to have a good time at 16 minutes, 33 seconds.

Did anyone else catch Brian as Kevin lifting me off the credenza?

Yes.

And almost dropping me.

What was that?

We just improvised that.

I was supposed to be up there hanging decorations and I legitimately couldn't get down and needed help.

And Brian thought it would be funny to kind of clumsily get me down from there.

It looks like also Kevin got his wish.

He is Santa.

That's right.

Daryl is really hitting that punch bowl hard and getting more and more drunk.

Dwight is going to return.

He's in his own clothes.

And Pam says, you know, for the record, I liked your party better.

Yeah, they're kind of commiserating, but they're going to go ahead and, you know, participate in the party when all of a sudden, surprise, surprise, who walks in the door?

Jim.

Jim.

Yeah.

Jim is back.

What's going on?

Turns out.

He missed his wife.

Yeah.

And he also found out there's a bus at 5 a.m.

Why is he taking the bus?

I don't know.

They have two cars.

I don't know.

Does he not need a car?

Maybe he doesn't have a parking spot.

Is it hard to park in Philly?

I mean, he could just get there faster in his own car.

I don't know.

And then he would have a car.

And guys, it's not that far away.

I know.

I mean, frankly, he could drive there in the morning, get his work day done, and drive home.

He could be a commuter.

People do that all the time.

All the time.

Well, Dwight is so happy.

Pam is so happy.

Dwight wants to compete for the big piece of the pig rib with Jim.

Jim wins.

And oh, gosh, this was disgusting.

What was it?

I don't know.

It was like the

wishing bone was like covered in, I don't know, it looked like some kind of frothy

gravy.

And it looks gross it splatters all over everyone i wouldn't want that i wouldn't want that either i mean you know i don't want a pie in the face i don't want you to smush my wedding cake in my face no i don't want you to throw gravy on me please don't throw gravy on me

daryl sees jim and oh my gosh he is ticked off he's gonna charge towards jim and let him have it And Jim's like, hey, I talked to the guys about hiring you and they want to set up an interview.

Daryl's like, what?

Oh my gosh, great.

He does this like, woo-hoo spin move and completely crashes into the food table.

We had a fan question from Kelly Kay in St.

Louis, Missouri who said, I need to know every detail about Daryl falling on the table because it's one of my favorite moments of the whole series.

The spin before he falls, the table breaking twice, everyone screaming.

It just cracks me up every single time I watch.

Well, Steve Burgess said we had a special breakaway table built.

Our stunt coordinator, Brett Jones, worked out the fall with Craig.

Craig really did it himself.

That was not a stunt person, I think you can tell.

Yep.

And Steve said we were prepared to do two takes.

We had two breakaway tables, but Craig nailed it on the first go, so we only had to do the one.

Angela, we also had a fan catch in this scene from Anna W.

in Edmund, Oklahoma.

Edmund, Oklahoma.

I was just there.

You were?

Yeah, Josh's sister lives there.

Does she know Anna W?

I don't know.

We'll have to find out.

What's up, Anna?

Well, Anna says between 19 and 20 minutes, we catch a glimpse of Phyllis at the party wearing a fur coat.

Was there a side story that explains why she's wearing a fur coat?

Oh, Anna, I got you covered.

All right, so there was a montage of the Christmas party where everyone was having a good time, right?

I mentioned that.

Yes.

Well, it's longer and extended.

It's in deleted scenes.

And Bob Vance gives Phyllis her Christmas present.

Again, why at the work party?

This happens sometimes.

It does.

We get big gifts at these parties.

Yes.

And it's a fur coat and he wraps her in it and then they snuggle.

She's so happy.

Also in this scene, Creed is walking around with a tray of hot chocolate and Tapas.

Oh, I love that.

This is how the scene was described in the shooting draft.

The office is decorated in a slapdash fashion for a last second Christmas party.

The table is laden with food and drink, a few strings of lights, Christmas music.

People are having fun.

Phyllis, Angela, and Oscar look around at their handiwork and are proud.

People start taking shots.

Creed hands out hot chocolate and tapas.

Bob Vance watches Phyllis open her gift, a luxurious mink coat.

It takes her breath away.

Oscar gives Angela a gift.

What?

Remember how earlier in the episode we talked about how he's trying to win her favor?

Yes.

Angela opens a hand-knitted snuggie for a cat.

And it cuts to Oscar.

He says, I made a snuggie for Pebbles.

I know she gets cold at night.

In the background, Angela gives Oscar the slightest nod of appreciation.

Pebbles.

This is a new cat review.

Reference?

Yes.

To a Pebbles?

Pebbles.

Hmm.

There you go.

Was that on our list of cats with Billie Eilish or no, because it didn't actually live in the episode?

I don't think so because this is in a deleted scene.

Okay.

Billie Eilish, if you're listening, please note there was another kiss.

There was a pebbles.

Well, Toby is still blabbering on and on, and Nellie tells him to stop, stop talking.

And Toby says, are you going to kiss me?

And she says, yes.

And then they have a huge, passionate make out.

Is this just her truly trying to get him to shut up?

Or is there an attraction here?

I don't remember and I don't know.

I went to the shooting draft.

Okay.

It was at first her just trying to get him to shut up.

She's like, yeah, sure.

Yeah.

But then after their smooch, she's like, wow.

Like, whoo, who knew?

Oh, wow.

Uh-huh.

Well, everybody, that was Dwight's Christmas.

Yes, I would like to end with this.

There were seven Christmas episodes on the office.

And according to the internet, percollider.com, if you want to to know how the fans ranked them, I can share it with you.

All right.

Give it to me.

Number one favorite, Classy Christmas.

Oh.

Second favorite, Christmas Party.

Third, Benny Hana Christmas.

Fourth, Secret Santa.

Fifth, Dwight's Christmas.

Sixth, Moroccan Christmas.

And seventh was Christmas Wishes.

Wow.

Seven Christmas episodes, nine seasons.

What a ride.

I know.

Thank you guys so much for listening and re-watching with us, for sending in your questions, your comments.

Thank you to Sam for coming and sharing about his time on Office Ladies.

And thank you to Rain Wilson for your audio clips and Steve Burgess for all your good behind-the-scenes info.

And Robert Padnick, our writer.

Thank you to you as well.

Yes, and to my neighbor, Creed Bratton, for wishing us a happy 200th.

And Josh for making the glue vine.

Oh my goodness, a lot of people helped us with this episode today.

Yes, and to Eduardo for stopping by to get our new full-time engineer, Jordan Duffy, up and running.

You guys who listen to the podcast have heard Jordan many times.

And she also sang a version of Eclipse of the Fart for us.

Classic.

A classic.

And Jordan, what were you just saying to me about the glue wine?

I feel like Josh would really want to hear this.

I was saying that my sister used to live in Germany and I've been there during times and have had the mold wine.

And out of all the wines that I've had in Germany, Josh's is by far one of the best I've had.

Well, you just made his day, he listens to every episode, so there you go, babe.

Thanks for making us glue vine,

guys.

We are gonna take a two-week break for our spring break, and then we will be back with lice.

Lice.

Oh, it's such a great episode.

You're so good in it.

And, lady, it's either the globe vine and I'm glowing with warmth or I'm having a hot flash.

Hmm.

Okay.

Maybe both.

Maybe both.

See you soon.

Bye.

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey.

Our senior producer is Cassie Jerkins.

Our audio engineer is Jordan Duffy, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbaco.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

Listen.

That's the sound of the fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron.

The sound of captivating electric performance,

dynamic drive, and the quiet confidence of ultra-smooth handling.

The elevated interior reminds you this is more than an EV.

This is electric performance, redefined.

The fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron.