Michael’s Last Dundies

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I'm Jenna Fisher.

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

We were on The Office together.

And we're best friends.

And now we're doing the Ultimate Office 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, everyone.

Today, we will be discussing Michael's last Dundees in our first new recording space.

Yes, we are renting the cutest space.

Sam, Cassie, say hello.

We're all here.

Hi, everyone.

Hi.

They're behind a, it's kind of like a shower curtain.

Yeah, we can see them.

This studio is so adorable.

I have a cute poster.

You do.

Like some of the personal touches in the bathroom, it's clear that the owners have put up their children's artwork, which is so my thing.

And Jenna, how would you say the temperature is in here?

Sam, the temperature is just temperature.

It's neither hot nor cold.

Yes.

And the table we're sitting at was the owner's grandmother's table.

And it's the perfect height for me.

Maybe she was petite in stature because I don't need my footstool.

It's very exciting.

It's very exciting.

So, today, in our new space, we will be discussing season seven, episode 21, written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Mindy Kaling.

Would you like a summary?

I can't wait for it.

I'm going to be honest with you, I struggled with this summary.

Oh, it seems like the title says it all.

So, how do you expand on that?

Here's what I got.

Oh, well, you're really setting me up to be disappointed.

Blown away.

All right.

It is time for Michael's last Dundees.

Michael taps D'Angelo to co-host his final Dundee Awards, but D'Angelo has massive stage fright, and Michael worries about his legacy continuing after he's gone.

Meanwhile, Erin's personal life takes a turn when she follows Pam's advice, and everyone gives Michael a special send-off.

I would add one thing to that.

What is it?

Dwight's heart is broken.

You're right.

That is a major plot point.

See, I struggled with the summary.

I told you.

All right.

Fast fact number one.

Like I said in the beginning, this was written and directed by Mindy Kaling.

You know, Mindy wrote the first Dundee's episode.

And this time around, she both wrote and directed the episode.

Very exciting.

Yes.

And we reached out to Mindy.

She's always so gracious.

She always gets back to us right away.

She got us audio clips a day earlier than our deadline.

Yeah.

She wrote back and said, you guys, let me re-watch it.

I'll send you audio clips.

We're going to sprinkle them throughout the episode.

Well, first off, we asked her a bunch of questions about getting to write and direct this episode.

And here's what she had to say.

Hey, Jenna and Angela.

Thanks for these incredibly thoughtful questions about Michael's Last Dundees.

So I have to admit to you guys that I was feeling really vulnerable about this particular episode and revisiting it and watching it.

And I tried to pinpoint why that is because I have nothing but joyous memories of working on the show.

And I think the answer is because I directed this one.

And

I was so nervous directing the show because I loved writing for the show.

And to this day, I think I've only directed two episodes of television and they were both from the office 16 years ago.

So I loved directing.

I think it was awesome that Greg and Howard let me write and direct an episode of TV.

In fact, it was their suggestion that I did it because I was too scared to volunteer.

I think Greg chose for me to direct this episode because it was a bookend with the first Dundee's episode, but I don't think we ever spoke about that.

Greg is not like so sentimental that he would have been like, do you remember six years ago or seven years ago when you wrote the Dundees and now we've come full circle?

I mean, I wish he was that way,

but he's just not.

It's very funny.

I had wondered how she got assigned to this episode since she had written the first one.

I thought maybe it was intentional.

Yeah.

We also asked Mindy, what were some of the biggest differences between writing the first Dundees and then writing and directing this one?

Here's what she said.

I think the biggest thing was how much more enjoyable it was for me to have written the first Dundees

than it was to write and direct this one from season seven, which seems crazy because I was directing Carell and Will Farrell.

And, you know, obviously our amazing cast.

I was directing a script I had written, which is like everybody's dream is to direct their own words.

And I just remember being terrified.

And I'll tell you what really terrified me.

And this is going to sound ridiculous, but like making sure I didn't sleep through my alarm because when you're a director, you have to be on time.

It's not like an actor where you can kind of be eight minutes late and the hair and makeup team can kind of make up the time.

And you're like, it is such a bad look if you're not there.

So I was really terrified.

I also had the sense that this was an episode.

that was, you know, sort of important in the emotional arc of the series where Michael would be leaving and it was like, our beloved Steve.

And

it was,

I think that we wrote the script, you know, with the Dundees, it's always one of those ones where you have to come up with these like jokey jokes.

And by jokey jokes, I mean the names of the Dundee Awards, it's not just like a joke from the office.

It's like an extra joke.

It has to be like something that a character on the show would come up with.

So it can be funny, but not like so clever.

So I remember that being challenging.

I mean, I have to imagine getting to pitch Dundee Award jokes is so much fun.

I'm sure that took up a whole night.

Right.

I feel like there's like a list of possible Dundees and they're all like so hilarious.

We also wanted to know what it was like to direct Will Farrell.

Yes.

Yeah.

I mean, he's so funny.

Here's what she had to say.

You know what's interesting was I remember Will Farrell being incredibly kind.

Like there's these photos taken from set of him kind of like looking at me like, hey, was this good?

When he absolutely did not have to do this.

It's not like D'Angelo Vickers was this like challenging character for him.

You know, he was just doing his thing, but I thought it was really nice that he was looking to me for input, you know, occasionally, which I thought was great.

He's the best.

I saw those pictures, by the way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I went to NBC's website and found all these office photos and there they are.

Like he's kind of looking over her shoulder.

She's pointing to the script.

I was like, oh, that's so like awesome that that was documented.

Oh my gosh, if I were her, I would have one of those framed in my house.

Like 11 by 14.

But you would still introduce yourself to him.

I would still.

You would hold up the picture and be like, Will remember I met you.

I'd get a wallet size just for that purpose to remind him.

It wouldn't be creepy at all.

Are you ready for fast fact number two?

Yeah.

It's a location alert.

Ding, ding, ding, ding.

Were you wondering where we filmed the Dundees?

Because I'll tell you.

Please do.

I remember.

Well, I know you were there.

I was speaking to our listeners.

I was trying a new thing.

The Dundees are held at a fictitious restaurant called Louis Volpe, where the breadsticks apparently taste like crack.

The exterior scenes when we're all out in the parking lot and the establishing shots were filmed at Baroni's restaurant in Valley Glen, California.

Yeah.

The craft services guys would often order pizza from Baroni's if we were working late on set.

So this was kind of a nice little wink and nod.

I remember my very favorite pizza that we would get from there.

Which one?

Well, first of all, it's all Neapolitan style and it's like a rectangle, right?

What's Neapolitan style mean?

Like thin?

Yeah.

Yeah.

My favorite order is the house combination.

What's on it?

Sausage, pepperoni, and bell pepper.

That sounds good.

Well, I looked at their website and their pizza is a blend of recipes from six Italian families all related who created the original Baroni's famous Italian restaurant, which opened in 1945.

It's a Los Angeles landmark and it's delicious.

And they are famous for their rectangular pizza.

Do you know why?

It's a rectangle.

I found out on the website, Angela.

I don't.

They put it in a rectangle because their first pizza ovens were kind of tiny.

And this way they could fit more pizza in there.

It was just a space saver thing.

Efficiency.

And it stuck.

It did.

Now, the interior for the Dundees was not filmed at Baroni's restaurant.

It was a set that we built over on our warehouse stages.

Randy even sent us a blueprint of Michael Gallenberg's design.

It is so elaborate.

I know.

There's like the restaurant with all the tables.

There's the hallways.

There's a faky bathroom where D'Angelo's going to have to throw up.

There's the host stand.

He built a whole restaurant.

And I remember walking through the faky hallway into the restaurant and it's, it's so mind-blowing.

I don't even know how to explain to people what it's like.

I shot a show splitting up together that had like a whole house.

And when you were in the stage, you felt like you were in a real house.

And then you would walk out the door and you were just in a warehouse.

It's very mind-bending.

But the craziest thing about that house was that there were stairs to go upstairs, but they didn't go anywhere.

Yeah.

It was just like a landing.

And then we would have to get in a golf cart and drive all the way over to a different warehouse on the lot where the upstairs stage was built.

Very similar to, I guess, when we would have to do our elevator stuff on the office.

We'd have to relocate to a different building.

That's one of my favorite things about sets.

And when I watch shows now, like Friends or, you know, anything like that, I think about like, oh, when they go up their stairs, I wonder if it was like us where we went upstairs and then just nothing.

You would just like, maybe just fall off a ladder or be wedged in a little tiny corner and you couldn't move.

And I think about like, you know, Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox up there wedged in a corner.

I don't know.

I'm re-watching Friends, guys.

I'm thinking about this now.

You started from the beginning.

Yeah.

how far are you we're almost done wow yeah

wow

follow-up to office ladies would it be weird if we re-watched friends we weren't on it maybe

i don't know

we'll see just a thought all right last part of this fast fact do you remember the website we talked about before it's called i am not a stalker with this gal lindsay who visits the locations of places made famous on tv or in movies yes i've seen her website Yes, it's fascinating.

Well, she did a really fun blog where she went to Baroni's and she took pictures of the interior of the real Baroni.

So if you want to see it, it's all on her blog.

And while we did not film there, the interior of the restaurant is featured in the movies Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Billy Bob Thornton movie Bad News Bears.

If you go there, And you go to the bathroom and you walk through that one big part of the restaurant they hardly ever use, you know, I don't.

I've never eaten there in person.

What?

I've never eaten there in person.

We need a BFF to eat there.

You know, as soon as I was looking at the website, I thought, why don't I eat here all the time?

Oh, I've eaten there so many times.

We go there for like kids' birthdays and stuff.

It's super fun.

But when you walk to the bathroom, there are so many paintings.

So many paintings.

Of what?

You name it.

A ye oldie boat in a rough sea in some far land.

It's, I love all the paintings.

It's just a hallway of paintings?

It's like a big empty room of paintings.

Anyway, we're going to go and then we're going to both get up and go to the bathroom at the same time.

And I'm going to show you these paintings.

Well, that's my location breakdown.

Angela, you requested Fast Fact 3.

You know, it's my favorite thing when you ask for a Fast Fact.

I did.

Okay.

One second because I need to change clothes.

What is happening?

Oh my gosh.

Angela just got out a red bow tie.

She's putting on a jacket.

A black blazer.

A black blazer and a red bow tie.

She's getting out boxes that say

our names on them.

I don't know.

She's getting out boxes.

All right.

All right.

Sam, hit it.

Is this the Price is Right theme song?

Oh, it's just...

Oh!

Oh my God!

Oh my God!

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome to Office Ladies Dundees.

Or, as D'Angelo Vickers would say, get them to the Dundees.

Our first Dundee goes out to someone who keeps us all going.

And she might just have a great hand with some clacky balls.

Oh,

yeah.

Cassie Jerkins, come on up here.

You win the best ball detangler, Dundee.

Yay.

Come on, speech, speech, speech.

Wow, thank you so much, Dundees.

I can't believe it.

You worked really hard for it.

Let's give it up for Cassie.

Woo, Cassie.

Our next Dundee goes to our fella Sam, who gives us as many lamps as we want.

He also shares knowledge with us from the urban dictionary and the dark web.

And on occasion, he loves to go off on a certain television show.

Sam, come on up here.

You win the biggest Emily in Paris hater.

Biggest Emily in Paris hater speech.

She's just not a good person.

All right.

And last but not least, to my BFF and my co-office lady who does the best deep dives ever, but might also have a problem loudly swallowing.

Jenna Fisher, get on up here because you just won the cut swallow, Dundee.

Speech, speech.

Thank you.

I feel like we need to explain cut swallow for everyone.

Sometimes when we edit, Jenna really focuses on her swallowing and she'll go, Sam, at five minutes, 15 seconds, can you and Cassie cut my swallow?

Can someone cut swallow?

Oh my God, I swallowed again.

Can someone cut that swallow?

Oh,

yeah.

To be fair, we are sometimes cutting your swallows, Angela.

Sometimes, sometimes, but you win

best swallow.

Wow.

Wow.

My husband will be so excited.

Oh, yeah.

Where's my, oh, yeah, Sam?

Oh, yeah.

I sent a request of sound effects to Sam last night.

And then then I told him and Cassie today to have as much fun as Dwight has at a keyboard as I gave out my awards.

Remind me to make you one of these that says latest emailer.

Yes.

I get some solid 1 a.m.

I got an email last night.

It's 1 in the morning.

Hey, do you have fart sounds?

It was not.

It was like 11.

Yeah, Angela, where's your Dundee?

This was so fun.

You didn't make yourself a Dundee.

Well, that doesn't seem like fitting.

Okay,

guys, Sam, Cassie, me,

during this next break, we're going to have a little conference and we're going to come back with what your Dundee award would be, okay?

Oh, what a fun way to kick off this episode.

I love it.

All right, that was Office Ladies Dundees.

We'll be right back and break down this episode.

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All right, we are back.

And Angela, the team and I discussed your Dundee and here's what we've decided to award you.

Yeah, Angela Kinsey, you win the Dundee Award for best visual bits for an audio podcast.

Woohoo!

Putting in the jokes no one will ever see.

Yay!

Yay!

I love it.

Way to go, Angela.

Someday, when we televise our podcast, which will be never,

all of it will pay off.

You guys, Jenna did share that she,

oh, smart speech.

Thank you.

I'm going to act out my speech.

Jenna did share with us during the break that she felt like she had a true Pam moment because as I was doing the Dundee Awards, she started to tear up because she thought I was going to award her for best deep dive, which now I feel horrible.

I mean, you sort of mentioned the deep dives and I, I mean, I wasn't expecting it, but I just swelled with pride to receive an award for this thing that I take such care with.

And I was like, oh my gosh, it's happening.

And then I got best cut swallow.

And it just felt so

similar to the longest engagement.

All the wind went out of her sails.

You should have seen her face when I said cut

I want you to know last night as I was making these, I was brainstorming with my husband about what to give everyone.

And he said, you should give Jenna like a best deep dive.

And I said, that's not funny.

That's not funny.

They all have to be cheeky and Michael Scott-like.

Thank you, Josh.

There you go.

Thank you for seeing me.

Maybe next year on Office Ladies Dundee's, Jenna.

Maybe next year.

I have, we'll have to see.

Yeah.

Well, we should get started.

It's 6 a.m.

6 a.m.

So early.

And Michael and D'Angelo are about to deliver the Dundee nomination certificates.

Why did they drive all the way to Dunder Mifflin to meet up?

Why didn't they just meet up at the first person's house?

So many questions about all of this.

And apparently Michael's been doing this every year.

So everyone at Dundromifflin has tons of framed,

like Dunder Mifflin, like certificates of their nomination.

Well, you're assuming people are keeping these items.

That's true.

I mean, that's true.

Stanley doesn't even let them bring it in the house.

They just leave it on the front porch.

Yes, they go to Stanley's house.

He tells them to, you know, get off his lawn.

They go to Jim and Pam's house.

Jim answers in his PJs and Pam yells, what is it?

He's like, stay in bed.

I showed up to work for that.

Did you really?

I did.

I stood deep in that house and I yelled, what is it?

Then they go to Toby's house, not to give him a certificate, just to egg his house.

Yeah, Randy said they really threw eggs at a house and then they had to clean it up.

I mean, it must have been a little bit of fun

to just throw eggs at something.

Yeah.

The next stop is Meredith's house and they beat her there.

She's going to walk up the driveway, walk a shame, busted.

I would like to point out at one minute, 23 seconds, maybe for the first time ever in the history of office ladies, a hummingbird feeder catch.

Oh, on Meredith's front porch.

I'll tell you, my favorite moment of her walking up onto her porch is how she walks into her wind chime and it goes off.

It's really funny.

I loved Kate's performance in this.

I love when, as Meredith, she's like, no, no, no, I have Vienna sausages.

I have napkins.

Let me fix you breakfast.

I looked in the script and the last couplet of lines between D'Angelo and Michael were not in the shooting draft.

Oh.

So when D'Angelo whispers, I'm not going in there

and Michael says, go, go, go.

That was not in the script.

We had a fan question from Rachel H.

in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

When Michael and D'Angelo are delivering Dundee nominations, Michael says he's never seen Meredith's house in the daylight.

To me, this implies he has seen it at night.

Could this mean that Michael and Meredith have hooked up?

Is there any other reason why he would have seen it at night?

I think he's given Meredith some rides home because she's had too much to drink before.

That's where my brain went.

Yeah, I don't think they've hooked up i don't think they've hooked up yeah so randy told us that they found all these houses where all of the employees lived kind of in one neighborhood because they were going to try to knock out these scenes as quickly as possible and steve rostein and our set dressing crew they would do things to the outside of the houses to make them you know make sense for our characters well i found this old interview that kate did where she talked about how

You know, we were not going to go inside her house or any of the houses, but she had to walk in, right?

But we were never going to film the inside of the houses.

She said the inside of this house was like

really how she would imagine Meredith would live.

It was like a true hoarder house.

Here's what she said, quote, this was like a gorilla shoot.

It's not like they did much set dressing.

They just found this house and we got in a van.

When I walked into the house for the first time, We did a rehearsal on camera and I could not believe it.

It was like a hoarder's house, paper paper stacked up, and pizza boxes from floor to ceiling.

It was bizarre.

I'm sure they did some set dressing on the outside, and they really sold it.

And I'm sure whatever Kate saw inside was maybe just the person that lived there.

Yeah.

Well, I love seeing people's homes.

I mean, I know we'd already seen Jim and Pam, but that's one of the things I always wanted to do in the show.

And I remember I pitched to Paul one time, I was like, Can we have an episode where we go to a few people's houses?

He's like, Angela, it's called the office.

I know.

And I mean, I know over the years we had a few get-togethers at Michael's condo and like Gabe's apartment, but like he was like, no, Angel, we can't just keep going to people's houses.

Well, now this episode is going to get started.

And Michael is going to walk in the door and ask Erin what her plans are for that night.

Yeah, Erin really fakes him out.

She's, you know, pretending that she forgot all about the Dundees, but then she's so excited and she holds up her certificate and she's like, I'm going to the Dundee's.

At two minutes and 21 seconds, I noticed that there's caramels in the candy dish.

I think this might be the first time we've had kind of a sticky chewy candy in there.

So I bet it's a big catch, everybody.

This is breaking news, everybody.

Sticky candy at reception.

Maybe that's your next Dundee.

Sticky candy.

I didn't put it there.

Best spotter.

Okay.

I mean, I think my next Dundee could just be Best Deep Dive, but I don't want to tell you how to run your Dundees.

you know, what I'm positive of?

Every Office Lady's Dundees I host, you are not going to get the award you wanted.

Well, that's clear.

Tradition started.

Michael's going to have a talking head where he shows just how important the Dundees are to him.

You know, this is his legacy that he's going to be passing on.

He gets really excited.

He addresses the whole group, kind of amping up the night.

And, you know, Jenna, we have had many debates on this podcast about when Jim and Pam's first kiss was.

We all know your thoughts,

but I think the shooting draft for this episode might solve this question for us.

Really?

Mm-hmm.

I'm intrigued.

This scene would have started with D'Angelo saying, for those of us who've never experienced a Dundee Awards, I've asked Michael to talk a little bit about it.

Then Michael would have said, it is a magical night, D'Angelo.

And not just because we recognize fellow employees, people fall in love.

Pam and Jim had their first kiss there.

And then the script says, Pam and Jim look at each other and smile a little.

Then Dwight says, Pam got so drunk she fell out of a chair.

And then Michael says, Yes, anything can happen.

Like the Golden Globes, but less mean.

Wow.

Wow.

Yeah.

All right.

I guess it might be time for me to accept that Jim and Pam's first kiss was at the Dundees.

Yeah,

okay.

As an actor, I accept what has been scripted.

You know, that's our job.

Yeah, right.

That's the truth.

We had a fan question from Julia Pee in Indiana who said, Dwight has a great line in the scene where he's discussing the dress code for the Dundees with Michael Scott.

When Michael says it is black tie optional, and Dwight replies, every day is black tie optional.

Julia would like us to know, quote, I don't always agree with Dwight, but as someone who loves any excuse to dress up a bit, I loved this line.

I also liked this line, but I'll tell you, I did look up what black tie optional means.

Yeah.

And black tie optional actually means you're supposed to get really, really dressed up.

And you can wear a tuxedo and a full-length gown if you want.

If you don't want to wear those things, you still need to dress it up.

So black tie optional does not mean you can show up in casual clothing.

So Dwight is wrong.

And Angela's already picked both options today in one podcast recording.

She has.

She has gone both black tie optional and casual.

We had another fan question from Tess W in Virginia who said,

I always thought it was interesting that Pam and Ryan get on each other's nerves during the later seasons.

Oh, is she talking about the scene I call back-to-back sass?

Yes.

Please describe Angela.

Phyllis, they're talking about the breadsticks at the restaurant.

Phyllis says, I love their breadsticks.

Pam says, oh, their breadsticks are like crack.

Ryan says, I love when people say like crack when they've obviously never done crack.

Pam says, well, the breadsticks are like what then, Ryan?

What can I use?

Ryan says, I don't know, something from your world.

The breadsticks are like scrapbooking.

Pam says, you're right.

You're right.

I'm a middle-class fraud.

Well, Tess pointed out that they grew so close during the Michael Scott paper company arc.

When and why do you think they started to dislike each other?

Tess, I'll tell you, it all started right here.

Mindy had written this scene for me and BJ, and we couldn't get through it because we kept laughing about it.

It was so funny to us, this dialogue.

But then

People really liked this bickering.

And so it's going to continue, but it kind of started here over this thing about the breadsticks.

Yeah, I feel like this one is the one that knocked it out of the park, but you guys have always bickered a little bit here.

It's true.

It's true.

But now we're really going to start amping it up.

Michael is now going to reveal that his Dundee's co-host will be D'Angelo.

Dwight is crestfallen.

Always the Padawan, never the Jedi.

I did not understand that reference.

Padawan?

What's a Padawan?

It's like the apprentice to the Jedi.

Oh.

But no.

Then, right.

The Jedi is the best thing.

Yeah.

What's a Jedi?

A Jedi?

What is a Jedi?

Yeah.

Is that like a plane fighter?

Like you drive the plane and you

drive the plane?

Is it like, you know, the pilot?

Are you the...

the pilot, the fighter pilot?

Is a Jedi?

The Jedi

is the person that can channel the force and use the Force in battle?

Is there only one Jedi?

I'm getting viscerally mad.

There's so many Jedis.

I can't even believe that you're like, is there one?

One.

Do they, are they also fighter pilots?

Oh my God.

What are you watching?

Like, Top Gun?

Is this like some Luke Skywalker?

And who's the other guy?

Darth Fader?

No, the other one.

Yoda?

Moby One Kenobi?

You can't just say the other one.

There's so many.

No, the one.

Chewbacca, Leia.

a human.

Han Solo.

Han Solo.

Han Solo.

He's not a Jedi.

He can't use the force.

He can't?

No.

He flies the Falcon.

He's the fighter.

He's the jet fighter.

He's the pilot.

He's not a jet fighter.

He's just a pilot.

He's a scrappy fella.

Is Luke Skywalker a Jedi?

Yes.

But he also drives a plane.

Right?

He does drive a plane.

He drives a plane.

He does drive a plane.

Okay.

yeah

so

so piloting the plane has nothing to do with it it's not a prerequisite to being a jedi to everyone listening at home getting mad i know is princess leia uh yes she can sense the force she can reach out to luke through it she they're like they are con solo is not a jedi as he has no no ability to use the force the overwhelming force

how do you get the force how do you have do you have to become a padawan well you're you're born with it and then your training helps you use it.

So, like Harry Potter, you're either born with magic or not.

That's true.

Yes.

Okay.

And then a Padawan would be like an apprentice with the Jedi who's a master, a master of the master.

A master in harnessing the force.

That's right.

And a Padawan would learn how to

sort of tune into the force and use it.

Is Chewbacca a Jedi?

No.

He doesn't have the force.

No.

No.

Okay.

I wish.

Yeah, that would have been a great Jedi.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Where are we?

So, well, D'Angelo is going to say that he's not interested in co-hosting these awards.

He's not much of a performer.

In fact, he's very, very bad.

So Michael's going to need to call a conference room meeting, and everyone's going to try to coach D'Angelo on how to do banter and rat-a-tat-tat.

Kevin has one of my favorite lines in the whole episode, which is, I love banter, but I hate witty banter.

Well, um, D'Angelo's trying, but it turns out he's all rat and no-tat.

Now, Michael's going to try all of these sort of wacky ways to get D'Angelo comfortable at hosting.

We have an old tech alert, six minutes, four seconds.

Is that a yellow Sony Walkman, like the waterproof one?

Oh, yeah, that we all got, but mine never went in the water.

I never took it in the water.

No, it was just, it was not fully waterproof, but it was like water resistant because you needed that water resistance because you were going to sweat so hard while you were working out with that on.

I see.

Yeah.

Also, the blow buttons used to pop off.

Do you remember?

They were like squishy puffy buttons and they would come off.

It was super fun to take them off and put them back on.

You know, before we move on, I did have a quick catch from the conference room scene at four minutes and 10 seconds, which is that Daryl is still rocking his

Southwest style shirt.

Oh, yeah.

He's still trying to butter up to D'Angelo.

He's going to

have to forever, forever love it.

Outside, Jim and Pam are strolling and they walk up and Erin's in her car.

She's eating in her car, eating lunch.

And she like ducks down, like to hide.

Yeah.

And then she's like, get in, get in.

And we find out that the reason that she's eating in her car is because she just needed to have a little alone time from Gabe.

Yeah.

She doesn't like him, as it turns out.

And Pam says maybe she should tell Gabe, you know, rather than waste more of his time.

Oh, Pam, Pam, Pam, Pam.

This is

going to set up a real awkward moment for later.

We had a question from Soyeon Jae from South Korea.

Around six minutes and 30 seconds, there's a scene where Jim and Pam are walking down the street and find Aaron.

Was the dialogue about sweet potato fries scripted or did you guys improvise?

Well, I can tell you in the shooting draft, it said, Pam and Jim walk.

They see Erin sitting in her car.

Erin sees them and ducks down.

They go to her window, intrigued.

So when I heard this dialogue and I saw this fan question, I had like one of those things like that memory just comes racing back into your head.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I think this was John dunking on me.

Really?

Yeah.

Because

and I had this memory of him doing it and me laughing because

I am pretty sure that I was going on and on about sweet potato fries and restaurants to him because I'm allergic to sweet potatoes and I was getting really frustrated that everywhere you went now, it was a sweet potato fry.

Sweet potato fry.

Why can't I just get a regular fry?

And so I am pretty sure that he improvised that line because you had been going off about it.

Yes.

That's really funny.

Because of this scene, I decided to do a deep dive on the sweet potato fry.

Hit it, Sam.

Hey, everybody, we have a special treat at the Office Ladies Dundee Awards.

Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, Fisher, Fisher, Fisher is going to do a deep dive.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Yes, the New York Times published an article in 2010 called Sweet Potatoes Step Out from Under Marshmallows.

This was an article that was all about how sweet potatoes were making a huge comeback in restaurants and in recipes, in particular, the sweet potato fry.

Ooh.

Here's what it said, quote, there is no denying that sweet potato fries are at the center of the sweet potato revolution.

Wait, there's a sweet potato revolution.

According to this article, there is.

What began as innovation at the trendiest restaurants in San Francisco and New York in the 1980s has finally worked its way into the culinary mainstream.

This article said that over the past two years, the number of restaurants offering sweet potatoes as a side dish had increased by 40%.

40%.

And most of that was sweet potato fries.

How about them apples?

The article also cited that Google.

New invention on the internet.

Yes, at the time.

Searches for sweet potato fries were up 40%.

There's that number again.

I know.

It's sweeping the nation

in increments of 40%.

Yeah.

I also learned from this article that in the United States, we harvest over 2 billion pounds of sweet potatoes each year and that 47% of our nation's sweet potatoes are grown in North Carolina.

Thanks, North Carolina.

Yeah.

I can't eat any of them, but that's cool.

Finally, nutritionists love sweet potatoes because it is a vegetable that also has protein and complex carbs that don't spike insulin levels.

It is recommended for those with diabetes.

And there you have it.

That's why next year you're winning the best Dundee for deep dives.

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Well, with that, you guys, let's take a break.

We're going to be back because it's time.

Sam, can you cut swallow?

For the Dundees.

We'll be right back.

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The ceremony is going to begin with a video sketch, and it's starring D'Angelo and Michael.

Oh, yeah.

It's like those opening video sketches that they would do at the MEs or something like that.

D'Angelo is searching for Michael.

And guess who's going to help him find Michael?

Everyone in the office.

All played by Michael Scott.

That's right.

First up is Joe Bennett.

Michael is dressed as Joe.

He has a wig.

And he's getting some laughs, you guys.

Yeah, it's actually a good video.

Yeah, it's not bad.

Then D'Angelo is going to go to accounting.

He's looking for Michael.

And guess who's going to help him?

Michelangelo?

Michaangela.

This bit gets a lot of laughs, in particular from Oscar.

I want you to know there was a talking head in the shooting draft that would have come right after the scene in accounting.

So D'Angelo says to Angela slash Michael, hey, can you help me find Michael Scott, Angela?

And Michael, as Angela answers, my boyfriend can.

He's a state senator.

Oh, wait, he can't because that title has no meaning.

And then it cuts to Oscar and he is doubled over, right?

Yes.

Well, immediately after Oscar's laughter, it would have cut to him saying, I did some of the writing.

That's fun.

I know.

That's very fun.

Next up, it's Jim.

And Michael's Jim is very funny.

He has an earring.

He does.

And he's very slumped down.

Yeah.

You want to listen to some music?

Then Michael is Phyllis.

And he plays Phyllis so old.

And kind of like that commercial.

Remember that commercial?

I've fallen and I can't get up.

Yes.

Michael does that.

In the shooting draft, Phyllis would have had a talking head after Michael's impression of her.

Oh, I loved it.

This is what she would have said.

Look, I'm rich.

I have a high-profile marriage.

People are going to take shots at me.

Oh, Phyllis.

This all ends with D'Angelo running into the bathroom.

He's talking to himself, but guess what?

When he looks in the mirror, Michael Scott has appeared.

Well, we got a fan question about this mirror moment.

I'm going to let Mindy take it away.

One question that you have from a listener, Molly W.

from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

That sounds really idyllic.

She said that one of my favorite movies growing up was the 2005 movie Bewitched.

There's a scene in the movie where Will Farrell is looking at the mirror and Steve Currell pops up beside the mirror as Uncle Arthur.

And Molly's asking if in Michael's Dundees, the same thing happens where D'Angelo is looking in the mirror and Michael shows up inside.

Was that a complete coincidence?

Honestly, I think it is a complete coincidence.

I did not see the Bewitched movie, although maybe I should.

I think as a director, this is going to sound so corny.

I think I wanted to do something with reflections because it's like a little bit tricky, but not too tricky.

So I think that's why I did it as like a first-time director.

That reminded me of that advice that BJ Novak gave about directing when he came on the podcast.

Remember, he said that advice that someone gave him is to just just have one

shot.

That's interesting.

One razzle dazzle.

Yeah.

Well, I'll have you know that we shot all of these sequences for the video earlier in the week.

So they were able to edit them together and we were really watching that up on the big screen.

And Randy wanted to give a shout out to Chris Shadley, who was our playback technician.

He was in charge of getting it all to play back on queue.

I remember us watching that in real time, and I thought it was hilarious.

And then when I rewatched this episode, I caught myself out of character laughing.

Really?

Yeah.

Several times I'm just laughing.

Brian, Brian, too.

We're like sitting next to each other.

Well, we used to have to wait like a month before we would see our episodes on TV.

And it was always fun when you got to see a little something put together.

Yeah.

It's time for the Dundees to start, but D'Angelo can't do it.

He's run to the bathroom.

He's throwing up.

Oh, yeah.

Michael's really trying to convince him to go back on.

He says, you got to do it for all those kids out there.

We think this is really going to be a big speech, but then he says, You know, the kids eating from the kids' menu.

Like, what?

And then he means literally the kids out in the restaurant.

And D'Angelo's like, I can't.

And Michael's like, it's showtime.

And he slaps him.

And D'Angelo says, stop hitting me.

They end up both slapping each other.

And then they're ready to go.

It's showtime.

It's showtime.

Mindy also had something to share with us about this scene.

One of my favorite parts of any episode was in the injury when Michael needs help, but he's in the toilet.

We can't even see him.

And Steve is doing all this like audio comedy off camera in the bathroom.

And so I think in this episode, when D'Angelo goes and throws up, like, it's ridiculous to like people barfing so much, but on the office where we can't see anything, right?

Because it's everything is mostly off-camera.

It's just, it's just fun sometimes to do that.

Well, whatever happened in the bathroom, it worked.

D'Angelo is going to take the stage and they're going to start handing out awards.

The first award is the best dad award, and it's going to go to Jim.

Did you notice that the camera was positioned on Daryl and then it goes to Jim?

No,

like in a real award show.

Exactly.

That's pretty great.

Jim fails to thank Pam,

the mother of his child,

during his speech, and she has a little bit of sass about it.

The next award is the Best Mom Award.

And much like you, Jenna, if there had been a Best Deep Dive Award, you would have thought that was going to you.

Pam thinks she's going to get best mom, but it's a Meredith.

Yeah.

One of my personal favorite pat myself on the back acting moments from the show is when they say the next award is going to be best mom and Pam kind of like shyly is preparing herself to win.

There were a few awards we didn't see in this episode.

They're in deleted scenes, and I think we should hear them.

First up was Phyllis.

Here is the Dundee that she got.

The Redefining Beauty Award goes to Phyllis Vance.

This is for all the real women out there.

Yeah.

Get up, girl.

Here you go, Phyllis.

Get up, girl.

People get so behind Phyllis on that award, the whole place erupts.

Then it's Angela's award.

Let's hear what she got.

This is very funny.

This is a laugh riot.

But you know what?

I don't care if you think I'm kind of a bitch.

I'm also kind of dating a senator and kind of the happiest I've ever been.

Yeah.

Yes, you know, later in the episode, there's a reference to the kind of a bitch award.

We never saw anybody win it.

It was you.

I kept my Dundee.

I have both of mine.

I have the Tightass Award and I have Kind of a Bitch.

And they sit up on my shelf right next to my Emmys and SAG awards.

Pam does not get a Dundee in this episode.

I was fascinated by that.

Yeah.

I read the shooting draft.

Same.

I was like, am I forgetting something?

I went back to the shooting draft and it had the Dundee's pitch list and it had Jim best dad, Meredith best mom, Pam best kid.

Oh,

that would have been a funny picture.

I mean, Michael did date her mom.

I don't know.

Well, we never shot that.

I never had a moment.

It wasn't in the 70s.

No.

Nope.

It wasn't ever even in the script.

It was just on a pitch list.

There was one that we did film that I wanted you to hear.

It's Kelly's Award.

Let's hear that one.

Oh, man.

This has been such a good year for women in paper.

Am I right?

Come on, guys.

Give ourselves a hand, women in paper.

This is pretty awesome.

So I don't know why I'm up here and you're not.

I don't know how I could have beaten you to get this, but I'm just going to take it.

So thank you so much, you guys.

This was part of the montage with Phyllis and Angela, but Kelly won the Women in Paper Award.

Wow.

She's sorry you didn't win it.

She's sorry.

She likes said that to everybody in the room.

And then it's time for the hottest person in the office.

Ryan thinks it's going to be him.

Again.

Nope.

Who's it going to be?

It's Danny Cordre, everybody.

Yeah, but I'm so sorry he couldn't attend tonight, but don't worry.

Michael took the camera crew to his house.

It's in deleted scenes.

Let's hear part of it.

Hottest in the office goes to Danny Cordray.

Danny could not be here tonight to accept his award, so he is live via satellite.

Oh, Danny, are you there?

Hey, you guys.

I wish I could be there in person to accept this Dundee Award.

Michael came to my house and gave it to me in person.

Look, there he is.

Hey everybody!

Hey Michael!

Hey!

Oh, here.

It's very nice of you, really.

Where are you gonna put that?

I don't know.

I think you should put it right here on the piano.

Well.

Isn't he good looking?

Yeah.

That's so...

Look at him.

Look at how good looking that guy is.

It's already pretty embarrassing, Michael.

Anyway, Pharis, I appreciate you stopping by.

Us studs have to stay together.

What are you doing for the rest of the day?

Yeah.

It ends so awkward.

And then Dwight goes, bye, yang, yang, yang.

Next up, Stanley is going to be presented with the Diabetes Award.

And Phyllis has my favorite talking head.

I love it so much.

And she's like, you know, I have diabetes too, but you don't see me making a big deal about it.

So much Phyllis says.

I know.

It's like they're friends, but there's so much competition there.

Stanley and Phyllis are frenemies.

They are true frenemies.

Well, during all of these awards, in the shooting draft, Michael goes over to check on Dwight.

And Dwight's really starting to unravel.

It's also in deleted scenes.

It's going pretty well.

Same crop, different Dundas.

Yeah, D'Angelo's great, but he's a little green.

I'm going to need you to keep an eye on him in the future there.

You can count on me.

That's what I do.

Keep the boss on track.

Thank you, Dwight.

Yes, Master.

You're welcome, Master.

Anything for you, Master.

Michael's like, uh,

okay.

Yikes.

Yeah.

And then next up,

salt in the wound.

Dwight wins the promising assistant manager award and tosses it right in the trash.

Yeah, I don't know if you noticed during this scene at 13 minutes and 17 seconds, Aaron is holding up a cue card.

Yeah.

And if you read the cue card, Dwight's last name is spelled S-H-R-U-T-E

instead of S-C-H.

Yeah.

When this episode aired, fans pointed this out.

They wanted to know why.

Well, the reason it was written that way is because that is how it was scripted.

But it was not intended as a joke.

You know, Mindy wrote this episode and she revealed that that is how she spells Shroot.

And this reveal from Mindy began a hilarious, snarky text exchange between Mindy Kaling and Mike Scher.

Mindy said, I have spelled it Shroot, S-H-R-U-T-E, in every single script I've written since Hot Girl.

Have I been wrong this whole time?

That's what she tweeted.

And Mike Scher wrote back, yes,

S-C-H-R-U-T-E.

Don't worry, it's not like you've been writing lines for that character since 2004.

Damn.

And Mindy wrote back, this is legit mortifying.

I guess you have a leg up on its spelling because you're in the Shroot clan.

To which Mike replied, I also have a leg up on it because I saw the way it was spelled in the pilot and then continued to spell it that way.

Burn.

Note to self, do not get in an argument with Mike.

Sure, I know.

Oh, my lord.

Yeah.

But if you go to 13 minutes, 17 seconds, you can see it right there on the cue card.

It's funny to me that the people writing the cue card didn't question it in any way.

They didn't say, hey, Mindy, did you mean this?

Yeah.

They just, they're like, they were just like, no, this is what the script says.

So I'm going to do it.

Next up, Erin is going to win cutest redhead in the office.

And Meredith is pissed off.

She throws her best mom trophy on the ground.

She would rather be cutest redhead than a great mom.

Interesting.

Erin is going to go up to receive her award.

She is so genuinely delighted.

She's never won an award in her life.

Yeah, she says, you know, it's true what they said.

The Dundees are magical, but I don't feel it because

Gabe, I don't think we should be together.

Yeah, she's with the wrong person.

Oh.

For her, the awards have become this truth serum.

And she is going to break up with Gabe in front of everybody.

And then Gabe goes up on stage.

So odd.

Why doesn't he just leave?

I was very curious about this, so I went to the shooting draft.

Okay.

He's going to respond to Aaron's breakup, also on the microphone publicly.

And D'Angelo says to him, Since you're up here anyway, do you want your Dundee?

It's the Ichabod Crane Award.

Sorry, that made me laugh out loud.

So I don't know if the whole reason they brought him up on stage was for that Dundee joke, but then it didn't make it in.

Things are going to get more awkward rather than less awkward when Michael presents the award to D'Angelo for Best Dundee's host.

Oh, man.

Poor Dwight.

I know.

Dwight is so hurt.

And then in order to make his speech, D'Angelo has to put on the Walkman and then he's screaming.

The manager of the restaurant has had it.

First, Kevin is coloring on the tablecloth.

Then they talked about STDs and now he's just screaming into the microphone.

Yeah, he's going to throw everyone out.

The manager was played by Bill Coleus.

And according to his bio, he has also appeared in the marvelous Mrs.

Maisel, Criminal Minds, and over 50 national commercials.

Wow.

Yes, he says in his bio that the commercials have allowed him to visit Buenos Aires, hang out with James Gandolfini, and get naked on 43rd Street.

What ad was that?

Don't know.

It didn't say.

Hmm.

Everyone is now just sort of milling about outside.

Go to 16 minutes, 50 seconds.

In the background of Michael's talking head, did anyone else catch that Paul and Rain and Will were talking?

And Rain motions to Will that he has something in the corner of his mouth.

I don't know if it's food or what.

And then immediately Will wipes off his mouth.

Did anyone catch it?

How about Justine Y from San Francisco, California?

Yes, Justine.

She wrote in that exact background catch.

Now Pam is going to approach Michael and suggest that they all grab some ice cream and go back to the office and keep the night going.

And what's in her hand, Jenna?

It's so weird.

It's a Dundee.

Yeah.

Is she carrying Jim's best dad Dundee?

I could not, this threw me off.

This is what made me obsessed with trying to figure out if my memory was wrong and Pam had won a Dundee.

There is no way that Michael Scott didn't give Pam a Dundee.

There is no way.

Well, it's not in the script.

We never shot it.

I kept both of my Dundees.

I can promise you, if I had been given a Dundee that night, I would have it.

Mm-hmm.

We kept all of our Dundees.

Of course.

We got to take them home with us.

On the way back to Dundromifflin, I guess D'Angelo really had to pee.

And he wanted to use use the bathroom, but Michael was like, no, it's close.

Just get in the car.

They're not going to get seats together in the conference room if they don't leave now.

Yeah.

And Dwight just starts to go off.

He goes off on D'Angelo.

He goes off on the Dundees, what people wore, that the awards were stupid.

And Michael is ticked off.

Yeah, they get in a pretty big argument.

And then Dwight gets out of the car and runs away.

Well, when everyone is walking in, you can see that Ryan has a Dundee in his hand.

Now, I do remember he really did win a Dundee.

We just, it got cut.

Yeah.

In the shooting draft, it says that Ryan wins the most classically handsome Dundee.

Yes.

And he's very pleased with that.

Once we get in the conference room, Daryl has set up a keyboard in the corner.

And two awards are given in the conference room.

One was in the shooting draft.

We also filmed it.

It's in deleted scenes.

Daryl would have won the Moving On Up award.

And then Michael is going to present Andy with the Doby Doobie Pothead Stoner of the Year award

because he tried pot in college.

And oh boy, this kicks off a moment.

Does it ever?

Andy accepts and he tells Michael, thank you.

And then he says, no, thank you for everything.

Did you hear Ed's voice crack?

I did.

Yeah, that's just real emotion.

Yeah, if you go to 18 minutes, 53 seconds.

He's emotional because he knows what's coming.

Music is going to start playing, and everyone in the conference room is going to sing a tribute song to Michael.

We are going to sing a version of Seasons of Love from the musical Rent.

So, Jenna, right as the music starts, there would have been a cutaway Jim and Pam double talking head.

And I wanted to share it with you.

Jim says, We practiced every day after work in the warehouse.

And Pam says, We just thought it would be a nice thing to do.

And then it would cut back, and everyone would start to sing.

Well, we practiced a lot as a cast for this moment.

And Angela, you thought we should hear this.

I do.

I mean, my memory was just, it was so special to us.

You know, Phyllis and I had to sing together Email Forwards, You Made Us Read.

I remember.

And we would meet in my trailer and practice, Email Forge, You Made Us Read.

It's a lot.

We all got like a digital file with the music and we would do that.

We would just sing our little phrase and practice and practice and practice.

And because Phyllis and I had to do ours together, we would meet and practice.

Well, we got a fan mail flurry.

People wanted to know, is it true that the Seasons of Love parody The Office Sings for Michael in this episode was actually a surprise for Steve Corell?

So yes, it was.

Yes and no.

This story has gotten embellished.

So the truth is, Steve knew this song existed.

It was in the shooting draft.

It was part of the table read.

Yeah.

But we practiced it privately.

He was never part of any rehearsals.

So the first time he heard us sing together was in that room on the first take.

We even did our on-camera rehearsals without him.

Yeah.

So what you see in Steve's face, you know, his emotion.

I mean, yes, he's a great actor, but also Steve, our friend, was watching all of our hard work and just us showing him how much we loved him and we're going to miss him.

When I look at Steve's face in that scene, I see a person who's really in the moment who is taking in everything he's about to leave behind.

Yeah.

And I think he was feeling that in the moment.

I've actually talked to him about it, and he said it was incredibly moving.

Yeah.

And we all tear up.

In fact, Phyllis and I held hands for part of it.

I just think we need to hear it.

Oh my god, something's happening.

9,986,000 minutes.

We actually sat down and did the math.

9,986,000 minutes.

That's how many minutes that you've worked here.

In costumes, and impressions, in meetings, in cups of coffee, four birthdays, more meet exams.

Email fortune made us read

9,986,000 minutes.

That's like watching die hard 80,000 times.

You hit me with your car.

You helped me get off drugs.

I watch you when you sleep.

I forgive you for kissing me.

Remember to call.

Go to

call.

Roll

Measure,

measure your love and love

remember to call

so sweet.

I love it every time.

time.

I just love it.

I want you guys to know in the shooting draft, right after D'Angelo hits that super high note, there was a talking head written for him where he would have said, I'm not a good performer, but I can sing like a fing angel.

Well, we got a lot of fan mail flurries about this song, Angela.

And one of the biggest was something I did not notice until I read our mail.

I don't know how I missed it.

I think I was just overcome with emotion.

But fans pointed out that Rain Wilson as Dwight

was not in the scene.

It's crazy to think about.

Yeah.

And they said, we get why he wasn't in the scene.

It's because in the scene prior, he gets mad, he gets out of the car.

But people said, considering how monumental a scene this was for both the show and the cast, it really feels like he is missing.

A lot of people felt that it should have been Dwight standing next to Michael instead of D'Angelo.

And people were hoping maybe Mindy could make sense of this.

And here's what she had to say.

This is a question

that you said a lot of people sent in, which was why wasn't Rain a part of the song?

We know why Dwight wasn't in the scene because in the scene prior, he stormed out of the car.

So it makes sense he wasn't there.

But considering how monumental a scene this was for both the show and the cast, it really feels like he's missing.

And so I have to say, I think this is a taste thing.

I think that if it didn't make sense emotionally in the episode for him to be there, and I think that

orchestrating it so that Joy would be there when it didn't make sense for his character would have, I think, been a bridge too far.

But I did feel like emotionally, it's like what the cast.

the actors and also the characters sort of wanted to express.

And we, you know, that like Steve is so good when Michael's emotional.

He's like, and gets touched.

So, and it just felt like it was nearing the end, so it needed to happen, but that's my answer to that.

Well, we were really curious what it must have been like to direct such a huge moment.

And we asked Mindy about it.

Here's what she had to say.

I have to say, it is so hard to direct.

an emotional goodbye like this.

So much harder than directing a fight or even people kissing or romance and obviously harder, anything harder than comedy because in comedy, you kind of know when you have a scene.

But in something emotional, when everyone's coming together to sing, it's very hard to give notes because if it, if everyone is like feeling it so emotionally and then you have a lot of notes, people kind of don't want to hear it.

They're like, don't be a drag.

We're all like in our feelings.

And so that's was, I think, one of the unique challenges of this episode.

I hear that.

Yeah.

I also know as a cast, we were so gutted.

And we were in our feelings.

We were.

Yeah.

We got one final fan mail flurry about this scene people wanted to know who wrote the song well mindy wrote the lyrics and randy said that eve nelson our go-to composer created that instrumental track that we sang along to and we paid a royalty fee of twenty five for the rights to the music and people also wanted to know Is that an accurate number of minutes that Michael would have worked in the office?

Or was it the number of minutes that Steve worked on the show?

Well, Ange, I got out my calculator.

You did the math.

I did.

So what I did was I counted all the episodes that Steve has been in and I assumed that we, on average, we work about 60 hours a week per episode.

So I added all that up and did the minutes.

And I can tell you, it's not the number of minutes that Steve worked on the show.

It wasn't enough minutes.

So I'm going with the answer is it's the number of minutes Michael has worked at Dunder Mifflin because also Michael has worked at Dunder Mifflin more than seven years, which is how long Steve worked on the show.

I hope that clears things up for everyone.

It was about 10 minutes of math.

I was going to say, how long did it take you to come to your conclusion?

About 10 minutes.

I mean, because I was trying to figure out a lot of things.

I had to

count episodes.

I would say that's impressive.

I think it would have taken me longer than 10 minutes.

Maybe I'll get a Dundee for best calculator work.

Yes.

Next year, you'll have to see.

I'm on the edge of my seat.

Well, the episode is going to end with a tag.

It's a flashback to earlier in the evening because Toby is going to win the Extreme Repulsiveness Award.

D'Angelo's reading the cue card.

He's like, wait, what am I?

He's like, what is this?

It's kind of mean.

Toby doesn't want to go accept it.

But Oscar's like, it's his last Dundee's man.

You got to play along.

Yeah.

And he's going to use his acceptance speech to come clean about this Grant Strangler case for which he was a juror.

And they found this person guilty.

And he's been given the death penalty.

We find out, Toby's now not so sure that guy really did it.

And that's how it ends.

Yeah, it almost ends like mid-sentence.

Yeah.

Like when I was watching it, I was like, my wait, that's it?

Well, that was Michael's last Dundee.

I've got a few extra tidbits here for the end of the episode.

I didn't know where to put this information, so I'll tell it to you now.

This episode was originally titled Goodbye Michael Part 1, but it was renamed and given a new release date when NBC announced that Goodbye Michael, Steve's actual final episode, could be a supersized episode.

So then this became Michael's last Dundees, but the original goodbye to Steve Corell on our show was going to be Dundees that flowed into Goodbye Michael Michael.

Yeah.

My gosh, we're literally speaking in unison.

I also thought you might be wondering what Miles McNutt thought about this episode.

I have to tell you, from the very beginning of the episode, when you did Fast Facts, I thought for sure one of your Fast Facts was going to be what Miles McNutt thought of it.

I have been waiting this whole episode.

I can't wait to hear.

It was going to be, it was, but then yesterday you asked me if you could have fast fact number three.

So I had to move this information to the end of the episode.

But I was not going to leave you hanging.

Trust me.

Miles McNutt gave it a B minus.

B minus.

He said he really liked the cold open and the closing song.

But

a lot of his review focused on comparing the two Dundee episodes.

And he felt that the first one was superior.

And it was very hard to live in its shadow in Miles' estimation.

Miles, so much more is happening in this episode than in the first Dundee's.

Your lead character is leaving the show.

You have a lot of ground to cover.

Miles, I think you're being too harsh.

I will end this with a letter from Autumn B in Wisconsin who said, incredible women of office ladies.

Thank you.

Thank you, Autumn.

After watching Michael's Last Dundees, I watched the first one.

Please, please do this.

Watching these two episodes back to back illuminates the evolution of Michael Scott.

A man yearning for belonging and acceptance becomes a man who has found his place, his confidence, his people, and his purpose.

The contrast between the first and the last dundies brings hope and comfort to all of us who believe that with time and conviction, we will become better versions of ourselves and live our best lives.

Of all people, it was Michael Scott who would have thought.

Take that, Miles McNutt.

That's what I'm saying.

Go autumn.

I think you cannot compare one Dundee's to another.

You have to put them together, marry them,

watch them together.

And there you have your A plus.

Pen drop.

I did a visual bit on our podcast.

You sure did.

You sure did.

It's your special talent.

You guys, that was Michael's last Dundee's.

Big thank you.

Oh,

big thank you to Mindy Kaling for sending in audio clips.

Thank you, Randy Courdre, for all your tidbits.

Thank you to Sam and Cassie and Angela, our very own Michael Scott.

Have a great week.

We're taking next week off, but we'll be back with goodbye, Michael.

Oh my goodness.

Oh no, I'm not ready.

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

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

Our show is executive produced by Cody Fisher.

Our producer is Cassie Jerkins.

Our sound engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubba.

Coe.

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

For ad-free versions of Office Ladies, go to StitcherPremium.com.

For a free one-month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code Office.

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