Business Trip with Rich Sommer

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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, you guys.

All right, today we're talking about business trip.

But first,

we have a fantastic interview for you.

Yes, we are going to be talking with Rich Summer.

Who played Alex?

Art school Alex.

I know.

We love Rich.

We're good friends with Rich in real life.

Yes.

My stepson and Rich's daughter B are in a book club.

You guys, they meet every week.

It's the cutest thing.

It's the cutest thing.

You might know Rich Summer because he played Harry Crane on all seven seasons of Mad Men.

And at that same time, he was doing his arc on the office as Pam's art school friend.

Friend?

Question mark.

And Jenna and Rich spent a ton of time together filming all those scenes and became really good friends.

We did.

We just had to talk to him.

We wanted to hear his side of the story of filming that crazy scene with the little Bluetooth ear pieces from Customer Survey.

We talked about it last week with Stephen Merchant.

Yeah, we needed Rich's take on that.

We really did.

And we talked all things the office for Alex.

And here is that interview.

Rich Summer, welcome to Office Ladies.

Hi, Rich.

Thank you.

Hi, Angela and Jenna.

Oh my gosh, when we post the photo from this interview, Rich looks so professional.

I can't believe you're saying that.

I am in a teeny tiny box.

I just have a wide-angle camera.

It makes it look cool.

I know, but

you have like the stuff that looks like egg carton.

You know what I mean?

You have like the real deal sound stuff.

That's $10 at a foam place in Burbank that I went to.

Jenna Shiva.

We probably should have.

Maybe we've gone there.

Gone there.

Will you text us about it it later when we get done?

Yes, I will.

I also want to share that as we were setting up this Zoom, my microphone broke.

So I'm using a backup microphone.

So I probably sound the worst of all of us.

Rich is going to sound the best.

You look the most professional.

Rich is what matters.

You're what matters, Rich.

We're here for you.

We're excited to talk to you.

We are.

Rich, we always ask everyone on the show how they got their job on the office.

Did you audition for the part?

Do you have a story?

We have heard that Mindy was lobbying very hard for you.

Did you know Mindy?

To my recollection, Mindy and I met at the SAG Awards

when you guys and the Mad Men cast were nominated.

And Mindy was a fan of Mad Men and came up to me, and I was so excited to meet her.

And we had chatted maybe a couple of times, but she came up to me and said, hey, I'm writing a part.

with you in mind on the show.

Would that be okay if I

goshed?

I was like, Yes.

Cause, you know, like everybody else, The Office was one of my favorite shows on TV.

So it was a really exciting thing to have, you know, an actor, writer, producer from another show, any show, say that to you.

But to have it be one of your favorite shows that you are so excited to even step into that world.

It was, it was, um, incredibly special.

Yes.

That is so cool.

So is that what happened?

They just offered you the role after she had written it.

Yeah, they reached out and offered it.

And I had a friend of mine who

I hadn't told him yet about that.

And he said, oh, I just auditioned for the office.

And I was like, oh, that's awesome.

I'm hoping to audition for them as well.

And he said, yeah, it's for this part.

I guess Pam goes to art school and she's going to meet some guy at art school.

And I was like, uh-huh.

Oh, good, good, good.

And in my head, I knew.

what Mindy had said.

And we hadn't finalized anything yet.

And you know how these things work in the business.

They'll keep auditioning, even if they have an offer out to someone or in conversation with someone, they'll keep auditioning other people.

I'm usually on the auditioning end of that, where I'm throwing an audition down a hole rather than

being the one that's actually being considered.

But this was one of those rare times.

So as soon as the offer came through officially,

I accepted immediately.

But yes,

I did audition for the office a time or two with Alice and Jones, but I didn't get those roles.

And then this came through and it was just an offer.

Well, Rich, you mentioned that you met Mindy at a Sag Awards party.

Something people should know, I guess, is just that the cast of the office and the cast of Mad Men, we kind of glommed onto each other.

We were on the rise at the same time, and we were kind of experiencing the same thing of being both casts that were basically unknown actors suddenly on these really popular shows.

And so we would go around to all of these events together, and we all became really good friends.

It was a really

sort of spectacular, odd marriage between the shows because we ended up, like you say,

our groups, because the way the SAG Awards work in particular is the entire cast of each show is seated together at one or two tables, depending on the size of the group.

And,

And then at the party, there's usually like there's this corner for Mad Men and this area for the office.

And this every show sort of has an area.

And our areas often ended up being near each other and at least ended up being sort of shared real estate.

It was a very,

it was

a very cool relationship between the groups.

Yeah, some of my favorite memories from that time are our casts.

hanging together.

It was really cool.

I remember people watching at the Mad Men party.

There was a Mad Men like after party, and Oscar Nunez and I sat on a couch, and we were sidebarring as everyone walked by.

We're like, look at this guy.

Check that guy out.

Those madmen after parties sometimes, I mean, every show has sort of

the people that you're always like, I can't believe they watch our show.

And I know you guys had that too.

It was some very strange times.

I'm curious, what were you told about the role of Alex before you came in?

Did you get anything to read?

And were you told specifically that you were an art school friend or you were a possible love interest?

How was this role pitched to you?

Well,

this is going to be, this is the meaty part of the conversation, I suppose.

The way it was.

pitched to me was, you know, this was the beginning of season five, obviously.

And the way it was pitched pitched to me was that it would be a, now, I should also clarify, especially if Mindy is listening, I'm not saying that Mindy pitched me anything.

It was conversational.

It was just sort of like,

we think this is a character who's going to be throughout this season.

We think it's a character that's going to be kind of like Rashida's character was, where it might be a little bit of another road bump for Jim and Pam.

So when it started, that was definitely what was in my mind.

But we filmed scenes that didn't make it into the show.

And I started to kind of put together that the

response from the audience were so, because your show, how long in advance did you guys shoot and then air?

I would say only three to four weeks, maybe.

There was a pretty tight turnaround.

It felt about a month.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was enough time, or a short enough time, I should say, that the audience response to my first appearance was, had landed before I was filming Customer Survey.

And

they were not pleased.

They were not pleased.

They did not want to see Pam

like with anyone, but Jim.

Oh, man.

No, and who could blame them after what they had been through for, you know, four seasons?

Who could blame them?

I know.

Well, you have very kind of flirty eyes in your first scenes at art school.

You're very flirty.

And you're right.

Those scenes aired, and all of a sudden, Tiki Bar is on the cutting room floor, right?

There is a whole Alex storyline with Pam.

Actually, the whole Pam art storyline is in deleted scenes.

I watch the deleted scenes for the podcast, and every week I'm like, Jenna, oh my gosh, there's this scene and this scene, and one in the hallway, and at a bar and here.

And she's like, I know.

How did it feel to watch those scenes get get cut week to week?

Did anyone warn you?

As far as how it felt, look, I am very,

I consider myself fortunate that I have a fairly,

I don't know, a comfortable ability to

see where things fit in story-wise.

And I could feel

from the moment we were

the second anybody said, this feels weird.

This is too much, too much consternation for Jim and Pam, I agreed.

I mean, again, I was a fan from the beginning.

Now, I would have loved to have gotten to be around more, but I also wasn't going to be greedy.

I remained delighted that I had the parts that I had.

I do think it's a funny part of Office lore because it seems clear to me at least that this was a sort of aborted storyline, that they kind of cut bait when they could.

And that was, I don't know, I just think it's how I feel about it is that it's a very funny, interesting way to have been a part of the office legacy.

Well, I was bummed that you never came to the actual set because we never got to hang out on set and you and Jenna would have stories and we were missing Jenna.

You know, Jenna was who I had lunch with every day.

And I was like, gosh, why can't Alex just, you know, show up with Bam at work one day?

Of course, that would have completely

blown up the storyline.

But we were sad you were never in the actual bullpen.

Should we talk about this

insane scene that we filmed for Customer Survey with Stephen Merchant?

First of all, did you crap your pants when you found out Stephen Merchant was directing?

Because I did.

I did poop myself.

Yep.

Yes.

Yeah, it was upsetting.

I mean, it was

10% exciting, 90% upsetting.

I had no idea, Rich, how many different ways you guys did this scene.

You know, we got the scripts and all the alts from James Carey, and I could not believe it.

Jenna told me, how many different versions were there, Jenna?

I think there were something like 10.

Good night.

Now, I wasn't privy to all of those versions because as a guest actor,

I was really only given the script on the day.

This is how I remember it.

And I've listened to you guys talk about it with Stephen, and

my memory is slightly different, but I don't know where it goes off.

I've certainly mulled over this aspect of the story a thousand times, so it's probably gotten altered as I've gone.

But

here was my problem.

My problem was that I had an inside, I had a mole on the inside.

And I don't know if I've ever even told you guys about this.

And I wait.

I won't name it.

You had a wait.

I'm sorry.

On the podcast.

You had a mole on the set of the office.

I won't name this person on the podcast, but this was a person who was not an actor who worked in the production.

And this person sent me the script.

He said, oh, you've got some great stuff in this guy.

Oh my God, I'd love to.

Yeah.

Okay, fine.

Yes, it's a guy.

So this person sent me the script.

And I was in that version, Alex professed his love to Pam.

And I thought, oh, wow.

And as a,

it left it open.

Is this a send-off for my character or is this something that we may see him later on?

I showed up on the day I was handed the sides.

And those sides were, as you guys know, wildly different.

They had taken out any profession of love at all, made it purely about her sort of artistic sensibilities, and changed how that was going to go.

So, when we were filming,

I will admit this is a fault of mine as an actor.

I couldn't get it out of my head because, again, everything we had been playing so far was that Alex had a crush on Pam.

And, like you guys said with Stephen,

what Alex ends up saying is enough.

It didn't need to be this on-the-nose sort of profession of

love.

It's implied.

It's intrinsic.

As Jim says, you know, this guy's into you.

I mean, it's clearly there.

But in the moment, I couldn't find the right level of demonstrative that Stephen wanted.

And the level that Stephen wanted was zero.

The level that I was

continually pumping out was more in the neighborhood of like...

75% demonstrative.

I couldn't reel it in.

And in fact, Jenna, to your question of pooping my pants when I found out it was Stephen Merchant, that was just a little,

that was just like a little jitter compared to how I felt when Stephen

came up to me after a take and said these words: the words that have haunted me as an actor forever.

He came up to me and said, I don't know why you're not getting this.

Oh, wow.

And I was like,

it was

awful.

Oh, my God.

So

he was, by the way, 100% right.

I just couldn't do it.

So,

you know,

looking at Jenna Fisher standing across from me, John Krasinski is crumpled up into a ball under the table in that room reading his lines for the Bluetooth.

He was there.

John was there.

I remember he was there, but I didn't remember he was hiding under the table.

Oh, my God.

Through all the takes?

There was nowhere for him to hide in the room because it was a small like conference room and the cameras as you guys know were moving all the time everywhere there was no safe space so he just hid under the desk six foot three john krasinski was curled up under the desk

yes

and i i'm just like mortified i'm like this is the well this is it I'm never acting again, obviously, because Stephen Merchant's never going to cast me in anything.

Jenna and John think I'm absolutely out of my mind.

It was a stressful day.

It's all great now, but it it was a stressful day.

Oh my gosh.

Rich, I think you're being too hard on yourself and taking on too much of the responsibility because I was also told that Alex might be a possible love interest for Pam.

Not that Pam would have feelings for Alex, but that she might have to manage his feelings for her.

And by the way, I want to say,

I only respected Rich in that moment.

And so much so that we went on to do a movie together.

We did the giant mechanical man.

You played my brother-in-law, and you were so funny.

That's right.

Giant Mechanical Man is a great movie, by the way.

Great.

And you guys are fantastic in it.

It's a re, I love that movie.

And I,

believe me, when I,

in the month or so following my final day at the office, and we had exchanged information because we, you know, we, it was clear we were going to be friends.

I,

I, my recollection is when you and Lee reached out to ask if I would come and do a table read for this movie that you guys were working on, it was both

so exciting, but also such a relief that you had not

written me off after that day.

Because it was, it was just such a stressful, you know, you know, you've had those days on a set where you feel like this is my last day on a set.

I'm never acting again.

Obviously, I'm garbage.

I don't know why I

did this.

And usually I don't leave a day feeling that way.

It's usually somewhere closer to the middle.

But that day I left and I was just like, oh, that is that.

That was that.

I hope Mad Men goes forever because this

door has been closed.

So it was such a relief.

No one felt like that.

Everybody thought that you crushed it, really and truly.

I thought, I was rooting for Alex.

And I know I'm not, I wasn't rooting.

What?

No, listen, listen now so I don't get hate mail I wasn't rooting for Jim and Pam to break up but I became like I thought Alex was so endearing that I just I want Alex to have a good life I became that person like I hope Alex finds his person because he's so sweet and kind and I don't know Rich I have to ask

how did the set of the office and the way we shot and the way things worked differ from the way you guys made Mad Men?

I mean, the ways we

are similar is a very short list.

The Madmen set, the filming style was entirely different.

First off, for the first

three, maybe four seasons of Mad Men, we were still shooting on film.

So at this time,

when I was doing the office,

we were definitely shooting on film.

And that, you know, for anyone who's been on a set where they're filming with film, it's a it's a whole other process.

It

adds a remarkable amount of time.

When you're even just changing a film mag, you know, a bit the cartridge of film, it has to be sort of taken to a dark place and dealt with so that it can be sent off for processing.

And it.

the turnarounds on scenes, you know, moving the camera around takes,

I don't know, not twice as long, but a lot longer.

So the fact that on the office, they would hit roll and almost never stop until they were out of tape, as I recall, right?

I mean, it just, it felt like we were always rolling.

Yes,

it did feel that way.

Yeah.

You could kind of stop mid-scene if you needed to and adjust something.

Whereas on Mad Men, it was more.

If we're filming, everything has to be

in order.

And if we're, if we cut, then everybody can breathe again.

It was was just a very

different type of precision that they were doing on Mad Men because it was obviously the look is not handheld.

The look on Mad Men was very

carefully and intentionally composed.

Not that shots weren't composed on the office, but it was just composed in a different way.

It was much more fluid.

We're watching the show now with our daughter.

She's 13 and she's never seen it.

And we're probably three quarters of the way through season two.

Now she knows just because it's in the zeitgeist that Pam and Jim end up together.

It is driving her bananas.

Like, and I haven't, I haven't even thought to say, if you think this is tough, wait till Rashida Jones shows up because she's just frustrated that, you know, Roy set a date.

for the wedding and Jim was sad and Bea was like, this is terrible.

When do they get together?

I can't stand it.

I was like, buckle in.

I got news for you.

It's going to be a minute.

Rich, she's going to hate you when she gets to your part.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

What's that going to be?

What's breakfast going to be like at your house?

Well,

she has been with me when I have been

recognized from the office.

Oh, yeah.

We were going to ask, do you get recognized as Alex?

I do.

And it is amazing to me how often.

Because sometimes, you know, as

actors, we get different people recognize us from different things.

And truly,

it's got to be half the time.

It's The Office.

I mean, I'm on screen for two episodes of The Office.

So its reach was just sort of

astounding to me.

But I did, my favorite one is when Beatrice was a baby.

She, I don't even think was a year old.

We went to visit my family in Ohio.

And we were getting on a connecting flight in Cincinnati.

I'm walking my tiny, beautiful little baby girl down the aisle.

And this guy leans into the aisle and he goes, hey, hey.

And I sort of start and look at him like, yeah.

This stranger says, don't F with Pam and Jim.

And he meant it, by the way.

So I think people,

it was in those kinds of moments where I went, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is,

it's better that Alex goes quietly

and they go back to their thing so that I don't, you know, get kidnapped or anything.

Oh, Rich.

Well, you know, maybe Alex had to go away, but we're glad you got to stay in our lives.

Yes.

And Rich, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

It was so great to see you.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this.

Oh, my gosh.

I'm just, I'm excited that we got to have you on the show.

I'm excited we got to take that trip down memory lane.

Hopefully this has been healing.

I hope it's been healing.

Yes.

Yes, I promise.

I hope it is.

Aw, thank you so much, Rich.

We love you.

Love you, Rich.

Thank you.

Love you too.

And thanks again for having me.

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That was so great.

Thank you so much, Rich Summer.

And now, Jenna, it's time to break down business trip.

Mm-hmm.

It is season five, episode eight.

Listen to this dream team, written by Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn.

Office, ladies, folks, are you ready to go to the international business trip?

Where are you going?

To Kanada.

Kanada!

Kanada!

It's time to go.

Get your passport.

International traveler.

Yes.

Let me give you a summary, please.

Michael is ecstatic when David Wallace sends him on an international business trip to Winnipeg, Canada.

He brings Oscar and Andy along.

While on the trip, Michael romances the concierge and Oscar and Andy bond.

Meanwhile, Jim and the rest of the office count down the days until Pam's return, only to be disappointed when she has to stay in New York for another 12 weeks to retake a course that she failed.

Also, Kelly and Ryan get back together.

Yes, they do.

The deleted scenes on this one are delicious.

I'll be sharing some of those.

Fast fact number one, we have an awesome guest star alert.

Yes, we do.

It is Wendy McClendon Covey as Concierge Marie.

Concierge Marie.

How do I love these?

She was perfection.

You guys might know Wendy.

She is the star of the TV show The Goldbergs.

Yes, she plays Beverly.

She was in Bridesmaids, so funny.

Reno 911.

She is a member of the Ground Links Improv, and she's just an all-around, amazing human being.

She is, and she was so delightful.

We slid into her DMs.

We did.

And I was like, Wendy, we have some questions.

She was like, Of course.

And she sent us fantastic audio clips.

Of course, we had to ask her how she got her role in the office.

I was not expecting this for someone.

You know, me either.

Hello, Jenna and Angela, office ladies, gorgeous office ladies.

So my audition process, actually, I did not have to audition for the office, but it came to me in an interesting way.

First of all, I had been in Michigan for not even 24 hours before I had been fired off of a movie because one of the money guys thought I was too ugly.

So I was, my ugly ass was put on a plane back to LAX.

And when I got off the plane, there was a message from my agent saying, oh, they want you for the office tomorrow.

So I was thrilled.

You know, I'd been crying for, I don't know, five hours on a plane.

And then I get this news and it's like, yes, I'm so glad I got fired.

So when I got to the set the next day, you know, I was a little raw from being.

told how ugly I was.

And I was in my dressing room or my trailer.

And one of the PAs came and said, Oh,

something to the effect of, yeah, you don't look as bad as we thought you were going to.

So we don't need to see you right away in the makeup chair.

I swear it was something like that.

It was like, oh, we're delighted that you don't look like Shrek type of thing.

Oh, Wendy.

I mean, we've all had moments like that.

That is something about show business where people can get real tacky.

Oh, yeah.

Well, you know, my story where they said I couldn't be on alias because I wasn't hot enough.

But then the very next week, I auditioned for a different pilot and they said I was too good looking for the role.

So I was like, well, I don't know what I am then.

I don't know.

Well, I can't change my face.

I had an agent say to me, you're not Hollywood glamorous, okay?

And I said, I know that.

I was like, yeah, I know that.

Can I be Hollywood dorky, though?

You can.

Thank you.

I did it.

And I did it.

Oh, no, Gosh.

And I've been fired.

I was fired from a pilot that I did with Matt LeBlanc.

I played his wife.

It's on the air still, man with a plan.

I was his wife.

That was my part.

Well, I know this story.

And you shared it in your book.

I did.

Yeah.

I got hired.

I shot the pilot.

While I was there, the network said they wanted more scenes with me.

Oh.

I was like, I am nailing it.

Right.

More scenes means you're doing a good job.

Well, I guess after we finished it, they showed it to focus groups.

And they didn't like you?

No.

They liked me, but they said, this is a literal quote.

They said, I don't believe Pam would marry Joey.

Ah!

The chemistry doesn't work between these two.

That was the feedback they got.

They could only see you as Pam and Joey.

Yeah, so it wasn't working for them that we got married and had a family.

And, you know, the show's called Man with a Plan.

It's starring Matt LeBlanc.

It's his show.

Yeah, I haven't seen it.

Okay, well, guess who they can't fire?

The man with the plan.

So out the door I went.

I revenge didn't watch.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

That's your BFF.

That's what you're supposed to do.

That's right.

You fire my BFF.

I'm not going to watch your show.

But here's the crazy part.

The crazy part is that I didn't know I was fired until literally like two days before they were going to announce it at the big press junket in New York.

I had packed a suitcase.

Tacky.

Because everyone was like, it's going.

It's going to go.

It's a sure thing.

I had hired hair and makeup to get me ready for all the press.

And then I get this call and everyone's on the phone.

All my agents, my manager, publicists.

Listen, when there's 15 people on the phone, it's either great news or real, real bad.

Yeah.

And the first thing I said was, is it not getting picked up?

And they said, it's worse than that, hon.

And I was like, what's worse than that?

They said, it's getting picked up, but without you.

And I was like, wow.

I guess I'll unpack my suitcase.

Dang.

Yeah.

I almost cut bangs in my hair that day.

I remember.

You stopped me.

I didn't want you to cut your hair that day.

I said, you know what?

Let's pick a different day.

Let's pick a different day to change your whole look.

You did send me a picture, though, of you jumping in the air, flipping off the world.

I did.

I said, that's better.

Go jump around, flip off anyone you want in the air.

Do not cut your hair today.

You were a good friend to me that day.

And I will never watch that show.

Sorry, Matt LeBlanc.

I actually love you.

And I love Joey, but I'm sorry.

I liked Matt LeBlanc too.

He was very nice.

Anyway.

All right.

Well, Wendy, I am sorry you got fired because you are a talent and a force and I love you.

Yes.

And thank you for texting me,

emailing me.

Let's see.

Fast fact number two, Michael goes on his business trip to Winnipeg in this episode.

And we got a lot of questions from people.

Why Winnipeg?

How did they choose this location?

Well, like I said before, this episode was written by Brent Forrester and he did an interview.

You mean to the CBC, Jenna?

That's the one.

And did you find it as well?

It's the Did we both Google Real Good this episode?

We Googled Real Good.

CBC is the Canadian broadcast company.

Yes.

I'm so proud that I know what CBC stands for.

Well, they asked him why Winnipeg.

They did.

Some good journalism.

He explained that they knew they wanted this to be an international business trip, that they tossed around the idea of Montreal or Vancouver.

But in the end, they chose Winnipeg because it seemed to strike the right balance between, quote, exotic and obscure.

Yes, and you know what else I loved in this interview?

Brent shared that Phil Shea, our prop master, reached out to the Winnipeg Tourism Promotion Agency and they sent along all kinds of stuff like airport baggage tags, shopping bags from the bay, old Dutch potato chips, which was founded in Winnipeg in 1954.

And you're going to see those on the bar.

I became obsessed, maybe because I watched this episode while I was hungry, I will have some old Dutch potato chip tracking and also flavors to share with you.

I'm there for it.

And also they sent some Fort Gary Brewing Company paraphernalia and all kinds of other stuff.

Yes, because we did not go to Winnipeg.

We shot this whole episode in Los Angeles.

Yes.

So we had to just make it look as Kanata as possible.

Feggy Kanada.

Yes.

Fast fact number three, even though we didn't go to Winnipeg, I have some fun facts about Winnipeg, and these were all sent in by fans.

Oh, I love it!

Office ladies listeners who are from Winnipeg wanted us to know these things.

Okay.

So, first from Leah Patterson.

Winnie the Pooh was named after the city of Winnipeg.

Get out.

I didn't know that.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

A lot of people know that the writer of Winnie the Pooh had a son named Christopher Robin, and his son Christopher Robin had a little stuffed bear named Winnie.

And that's where he got the idea for the characters.

But do you know why his son named his bear Winnie?

I do.

Why?

I don't know.

Oh!

I'm just messing with you.

I have no idea.

There's probably a small number of people that know this, right?

Well, I don't know.

Leah Patterson knows.

Okay, Leah, why?

Because in 1915, a black bear was rescued by a cavalry veterinarian who named the bear Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg, and then he gave the bear to the London Zoo.

and that's where the real Christopher Robin saw the bear, loved the bear, and then named his little stuffed bear after Winnie.

Oh.

So it's a little roundabout.

It's hard to explain.

I'm sorry if I took you on a real circle there, but the bottom line is: yes, Winnie the Pooh is named after the city of Winnipeg.

Well, Leah, I love knowing that.

What else you got?

More from Leah.

More from Leah.

Yes.

Okay.

Winnipeg has been the slurpee capital of the world for almost 20 years.

Wait, like slurpee like you get at 7-Eleven?

That's right.

They literally sell the most slurpees every year.

Come on.

Yep.

My kids love a slurpee.

I looked it up.

It's true.

Got to go to Winnipeg.

More from Leah.

Okay.

Leah, you are a treasure trove of information about Winnipeg.

Where do you work?

Do you work at the tourism

agency?

You should.

Winnipeg was also the first city in North America to use 9-1-1.

They invented 9-1-1?

I don't know.

They were the first city to to use it.

It happened in 1959.

Wow.

This one from Taylor Nacarado.

Winnipeg can get to close to negative 30 degrees Celsius in the winter.

And we have actually broken a record for being colder than the planet Mars in 2019.

Oh, this is a tough sell for Winnipeg.

On New Year's Eve,

the Mars Curiosity rover posted a temperature of negative 29 degrees Celsius.

Now that's actually very warm for Mars.

Yeah.

If you are interested, the average temperature on Mars is about negative 55 degrees Celsius,

but it can get as cold as negative 150 degrees Celsius at the poles.

But on this warm day on Mars, it was negative 29, and on that same day in Winnipeg, it was colder than Mars by a few degrees.

Dang.

Very cold.

Taylor N would like you to know that Winnipeg is a very diverse multicultural city and they host something called Folk La Rama.

It's one of the largest and longest running multicultural festivals in the world.

It has over 40 pavilions where they embrace cultures of different countries and you can watch singing and dancing and sample different foods from that country.

I would go to that.

That sounds so fun.

I would love that.

Well, listen, I think we should take a break.

I think that's a good idea.

We'll get an iced tea.

We're going to come back and I'm excited to break down business trip let's do it

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Hey everyone, it's Jenna.

I'm in Chicago.

I'm working on my play, Ashland Avenue, and I'm staying in an Airbnb and I'm loving it.

You know, the play I'm doing is set in Chicago.

And so I wanted to find a place where I could have a really authentic local experience.

That's why I got Airbnb.

I just love it.

And it's especially great because my kids are going to be coming back and forth to visit me and I've got a bedroom just for them.

So we can really spread out.

And I don't know if you've ever stayed in Airbnb, but wouldn't it be cool to give that experience to other people?

You can earn some extra income.

I mean, if you're traveling frequently or have a seasonal home, and then while you're away, you can earn extra income and pay for your vacation.

Or maybe you're saving up for a home renovation.

Your home might be worth more than you think.

Find out how much at airbnb.com/slash host.

All right, you guys, we are back.

We are in the conference room.

Michael is teaching the group about various cultures and how to travel to those cultures.

International

behaviors.

Yes.

Jenna, background catch.

At eight seconds, you can see Kate staring at me, but I can tell it's Kate and not Meredith.

She's kind of looking at me like, huh?

And then very quickly in the corner, you can see me futzing with my microphone.

Oh, was she trying to tell you we could see your microphone?

I think something happened.

Either my microphone dropped and I was trying to fix it and Kate was trying to be like, camera's coming, something.

There is a moment here.

But you can see me.

It's very quick.

I'm like futzing with my collar doing something.

Yeah.

Anyway,

it tickled me.

Well, the reason for this conference room scene is so that Michael can explain to us that he is being sent to woo an international client.

Right.

This whole meeting could have been an email.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The other thing that's happening is we learn that Pam is coming home in 6.5 days.

Yes, and the office is very excited for Jim.

Everyone at Dunder Mifflin, Kevin smacks his butt.

Craig gives him a kind of a creepy shoulder rub.

Phyllis smiles and says one more week.

When Phyllis smiles and says one more week, please look at her desk.

It is covered with tissues.

I don't know what was happening.

Oh, she must have had a cold.

Something.

I just love the fact that we didn't bother to tidy the desk.

No, it's real life.

It's real life mixed with fake life.

Stanley gives Jim a look and goes, eh, eh.

And in a deleted scene, Jenna, Kelly helps Jim make a sign saying, welcome back.

And she's really annoyed because he needs to use more glitter.

Oh, yeah.

We had a fan question from Chris S.

about this scene with Jim.

Chris said, I would like to know the specific stage direction Creed was given when he massages Jim's shoulders as he comforts him.

He really liked this moment.

I looked it up in the script.

What did it say?

In the script, it actually said this, quote, Creed passes Jim.

He punches Jim's shoulder and then musses Jim's hair.

So this massage, they must have found it on the day because in the script, he was supposed to give him a punch and a hair muss.

Well, I think it's funnier because Kevin's already smacked his butt.

Yeah.

So it's like a smack and a punch.

I think this is way funnier.

Also, John Krasinski's reactions to everyone are, that's what makes it.

Yeah.

His face when Creed comes up behind him is so good.

So now Michael is on the phone with David Wallace.

He's got his passport ready.

He's got his per diem.

50 bucks.

He's going to buy a sweater.

He is.

He'll use other money for food.

Yeah.

And he has a plane ticket.

He does.

On Butte Airlines?

B-U-T-T-E.

Butt Airlines?

Well, I think it's probably Butte.

I looked it up.

I did too.

I found nothing.

I found Zilch.

Not an airline.

Not real.

Faky airline.

I want to know more, though.

Why they settled on Butte?

I think it was Butt.

Oh, come on, really?

I don't know.

Why would you call it Butte Airline?

I don't know.

We don't know.

We're sorry.

Sorry, guys.

It could be Butte or butt, but it's a faky airline.

Oh, here's something.

Michael is going to bring two extra giant suitcases for souvenirs.

Empty.

Empty.

They're empty.

Do you do that?

Do you bring an extra empty bag?

Do you leave room?

As you're packing, do you consider I can't pack this totally full because I know I'm going to purchase something?

Or are you the person who gets to your vacation and it's time to go home and then you have to go buy like an extra canvas bag to get all your stuff home.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Yeah.

That's me.

Yeah.

That's why I have a plethora of real rando bags.

Yeah.

Because usually you're in a tight spot.

Yep.

You don't have a lot of options.

Yeah.

I once had a travel bag that looked like a zebra

because I had to buy it at the airport to fit my souvenirs because my suitcase was starting to like

start to like look like it was going to tear.

And for a long time, we had the zebra suitcase.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Guess which one I am?

You're the first one.

I leave the room.

You leave the room.

I anticipate my souvenir purchases.

You're not walking through an airport with a zebra bag.

No rando bags for me.

I'm a rando bag.

Listen, rando bag happened to me once, never again.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Like, I have a random suitcase from Scotland.

I still love it.

It looks like a travel trunk from like Joe vs.

the volcano.

This is the problem.

Sometimes you get a real find when you're in a bind.

I know.

Ooh, I rhymed it.

You did.

I'm still rhyming.

You are.

Stop it.

If you can pause on rhyming, I want to tell you one other thing that's happening in this scene.

I can.

Can you?

I can try.

Okay.

I was going to try to rhyme, but I couldn't think of anything.

I know, I know.

I was trying to set you up.

Anyway, while this whole suitcase business is happening, lady in the background, I am telling you, Pam's puffer coat is hanging on the coat rack.

It's not Pam's coat.

Come on.

It's not her coat.

How do you know?

Because somebody wrote in about it and I zoomed in on it.

It's not my coat.

It sure looks like your coat.

It's not mine.

Who wrote in?

It was me.

Angela Kay wrote in

several times.

More male than anyone.

I zoomed in too, and it sure looks like that puffer coat you used to wear.

I know it looks like it, but it's not my puffer coat.

I think it might be Meredith's.

Meredith had a similar puffer coat.

Okay.

Well, there you go.

Guess who else gets to come on this trip?

Besides the money belt and the two empty suitcases?

Yeah.

Andy is going to join him as his translator.

He will be translating all of the French that they don't speak in Winnipeg.

Well, we did learn in a deleted scene in dinner party, Angela said that Andy learned French during his semester in France.

So this is kind of a callback.

Kind of a callback.

Then Andy speaks some not great French.

Oh, a lot of not-great French mixed in with some Spanish.

Oscar is also going on the trip.

I don't really know Oscar's role.

Why would he be going?

Something to do with crunching numbers, maybe?

Maybe.

I'm so glad that Oscar went because Jenna, there are so many fantastic deleted Oscar scenes and Oscar and Andy scenes.

If you have the DVDs, and you guys, Oscar does that thing in these deleted scenes.

Like what he did with Holly in employee transfer.

I have a new term for Oscar.

He's the office fun stopper.

Oh.

You might think it's Angela Barton, but kind of like Debbie Downer on SNL, Oscar is always going to have that sidebar comment that's a little too honest for the moment.

Takes the wind out of your sales.

Takes the wind out of your sails.

All right, so now they're on the plane.

Michael is up in business class.

He's got a mimosa.

He has a moist hand towel that's still wet.

We got a lot of fan questions.

from Kyle T, Sarah M., Steph Hernandez, and Madison C.

Did you guys film on an actual airplane?

If so, which airport and airline were used for this episode?

Well, we have some information for you.

Yes, we do.

Thanks to Randy Cordre, who was our line producer, who took over for Kent Zabornak.

He gave us the lowdown.

The interior airplane scenes were filmed at a place called Air Hollywood in Pacoima, California.

And at the time, this company was, I guess, like the go-to location for all things airline related if you yeah it was like a set but for airplanes yeah so if you needed a plane to film they were ready for you yeah he said they had all these sound stages they had various aircraft various airport related props they even had like interior airport kind of stuff so we used the interior of a jet for Michael in business class and Andy and Oscar in coach.

He explained that these airplanes can be split down the middle.

Yeah.

Well, Michael is going to introduce Oscar and Andy, you know, before they go back to coach, to Beth, who he says is his personal valet slash flight attendant, and she's going to be helping him this morning.

I love Beth.

I love Beth.

When I watched it, it reminded me of the woman who played the transcriber in the deposition.

Just no nonsense.

Just did we hire an actual flight attendant to play this role?

She's so like over Michael and the camera.

We did not.

This is an actress.

Her name is Deb Height.

She has been on The Good Place, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Baskets, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation.

She's a writer.

She has written plays.

She has written award-winning pilots, award-winning short films.

And she wrote a comedy book about the rivalry between the Alabama-Auburn college football teams called When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn.

You can find it on Amazon.

It's really cute.

We were so lucky.

We say this every week.

Oh my gosh, we say it every week.

But seriously, every single person hired on the show always crushed it and was amazing.

My favorite moment is when she slams Michael's leg with the cart.

I know.

It's

Steve's reaction.

Steve's reaction.

That was like amazing.

It's too good.

While Michael's getting his foot run over with the beverage card,

Andy is really trying to bond with Oscar back in coach.

This is a deleted scene.

It is amazing.

It's Oscar the fun stopper, guys.

Honey roasted peanuts.

Am I right?

I don't understand the question.

Yes, you're holding a bag of peanuts.

I'll save that for later.

That just made me laugh so hard because Andy's like trying to bond.

He's like, honey roasted peanuts.

But what are you supposed to say to that?

I know, but I'm with Oscar.

I know, but this is my point.

Yes, Oscar.

You're holding peanuts.

But Oscar cannot edit.

Like, I think other people would be like, I know, they're really good, you know, or something.

But Oscar's just like, I don't understand what you're saying to me.

I have to say, I actually really love a honey roasted peanut on an airplane.

So I would probably respond, I might actually be Andy in this scenario.

I just thought that was really good.

Oscar the fun stopper.

But, you know, if Oscar's not going to be fun, at least Andy has his DVD player and he's going to watch Harry and the Hendersons.

Yeah.

I think we should talk about what's happening over at Dunder Mifflin.

Oh, yeah.

Pam's coming back, which means Ryan is going to have to move into Kelly's nook.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And he's looking for a place he might be able to do his push-ups.

He needs space to do push-ups.

It's kind of tight and cramped over there, but he's going to try.

He's going find a way.

We had a fan question.

How many push-ups did BJ have to do in this episode?

He must have been so sore.

I want to hear this because I, as Jenna knows, I texted BJ last night and I said, by the way, I just watched you do a one-arm push-up and then business trip.

Dang, BJ.

Well, I texted with BJ about his push-ups as well.

And he said he doesn't remember how many takes they did, but he said that Mindy definitely wrote wrote this scene.

He said, there was a period of time when all the writers were doing push-up contests, and that might have inspired it.

But also at this same time, he was in training because he was prepping to do the Tarantino movie In Glorious Bastards.

Oh, yeah.

He was getting in really good shape for that because he was going to be a soldier.

Yeah.

So he was doing push-ups in the writer's room all the time.

He had to literally find room to do push-ups at work.

So Mindy might have been going off of that that as well.

But also, maybe she just wanted to make BJ have to do a bunch of push-ups in a scene.

And then a one-arm push-up.

Yeah.

See, that's a moment where if I'm BJ, I'm like, I'm so glad I got that on camera.

That I did it.

That I could do it.

Yeah.

I'll always have that.

Well, listen, Kelly is claiming she's not impressed.

Ryan has hurt her too much.

It is not going to happen.

No, she is in a healthy relationship with Daryl.

That door is closed.

Cut to

major makeup.

Kissy sounds.

Yeah.

I could tell.

Oh, you could.

Okay.

You did it.

Back in Winnipeg.

The guys are arriving at the hotel.

It's so beautiful.

Michael says he could live there.

We had a fan catch from Tori, Mary, and Katie who said, Michael left Dunder Mifflin with multiple suitcases, but he shows up at the hotel with only his carry-on.

What happened to his souvenir suitcases?

Well, guys, I'll tell you.

They're there.

You have to look deep in the background.

At six minutes, 37 seconds, you can see the Bellman loading the suitcases onto a trolley.

Oh.

As Michael goes up

the escalator.

Nice.

So don't worry.

He has them and he's going to get those souvenirs.

Yeah.

They're going to put them in his room.

Jenna, this hotel has something sort of magical about it.

Fantastical.

It's called a concierge.

Oh, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I don't know if you've ever heard of it.

Oh, yeah.

You know, they help you with the fine art of fanciness and pleasure.

Mm-hmm.

These guys are going to try it out.

They're going to go over and they're going to ask her a bunch of questions.

And guess what?

What?

Almost nothing she says is true.

But I just love how completely blown away Michael is that she knows restaurants and their street address and the best way to get there.

This is mind-blowing to him.

This is such a real concierge interaction when she pulls out the map.

The map and circles it and then tells them two different routes and two different means of transportation.

Perfection.

Perfection.

But we did have a lot of fans from Winnipeg who wrote in.

Again.

Kimberly Kay said, did the writers know that everything Concierge Marie said about Winnipeg is inaccurate?

Was this on purpose?

Natalie V said, the number 17 bus is real, but it runs a lot later than 9 p.m.

It goes till almost 1 a.m.

It wouldn't be the only bus to the exchange district, which does not exist.

I think they meant the financial district.

And then Leah P said, we also don't have an Astro Cleaners.

Or the restaurants or the bar.

No, the Huntsman is not a real bar.

And neither is the sushi place.

Yes.

Well, Angela, we have another story happening in this episode.

It's Pam,

right?

It's a big story.

Well, she's supposed to be coming home from art school, but we're going to have a phone call between her and Jim, and they're going to find out some news.

She's failing her flash class.

Yeah.

And she's going to have to take it again.

If she wants to pass art school, she does.

That means she has to stay another 12 weeks.

Is this art school like just digital art?

Does she get to do any of the art that she's actually really good at?

I don't know.

It seems like this was mostly a graphic design program.

Yeah.

Well, I had to cry in this scene.

It was in the script that I'm holding back tears

and there's a lot that is coming down on Pam right now.

She's dealing with the fact that she didn't complete this course

and the idea of being away from gym even longer.

But I had something else that I was playing.

We'll get to it.

Okay.

Well, I thought it was a very moving scene and it just reminds me of those moments, you guys, when life happens, even though everything around you just keeps moving on.

So Pam is sitting down.

It's like a busy stairwell.

People are going up and down, and she's having a life moment.

Yeah.

I thought that was very relatable.

Well, Jenna, back in Winnipeg, the fellows are going to arrive at Huntsman Bar.

Yes.

We shot these scenes at the 7 Grand Bar and Grill in Los Angeles.

Did you notice at 9 minutes, 20 seconds, what the chalkboard says at the Huntsman?

No.

This is what it says.

Welcome to the Huntsman.

Enjoy, quote, pub hour all night, Sunday and Monday, 5 to 7 p.m.

No creeps allowed.

Oh.

Wow.

Get out, creeps.

Get out, creeps.

And I have a background catch.

Again, I was hungry as I watched this episode.

The chips.

The chips, you guys.

The chips that Phil Shea got are at the bar.

Yes, and I think I can see the ketchup flavored chips.

They're in a red color.

Ketchup flavor.

Oh, yes, lady.

Why do I do that with my voice?

Have you eaten them?

Yes.

I've never heard of this item.

Well, I worked in Canada for a bit, you know, and I have had these ketchup chips.

Jenna, they're so good.

Listen to how they're described on the internet.

They are the perfect balance of a delightful old Dutch chip layered with that lovely ketchup flavor you desire.

But I don't desire a ketchup flavor on my potato chips.

It might change your mind.

I'm just telling you.

Maybe I will.

Chip people, old Dutch chip people.

Will you send me a ketchup chip?

Oh Oh my gosh, get ready.

But listen, make sure some come my way.

You got it.

They're tangy.

They're delicious.

Okay.

Guess who else is at the bar?

Concierge Marie.

Yeah.

Michael is, how you say, so excited to see her.

Yeah.

How do you say it?

How do you say it?

Andy's going to bring him two glasses of wine.

Mm-hmm.

He's going to get things started.

Yeah.

He's also going to try to get things started for Oscar and a couple of gentlemen sitting at a table nearby.

That's right.

He says to the bartender, Mademoiselle, bear me, dose Long Island iced teas, si-vo play.

Bad decision in a glass.

It is a bad decision in a glass.

Horrible decision.

You know how you've had a volcano and you did the splits?

Yes.

I had some Long Island iced teas.

Where?

In the Bahamas on spring break with my friends.

I'd never had one before.

I wasn't 21 yet, but in the Bahamas you can drink when you're 18.

We went went to the casino and they just give them to you free if you sit at the slot machines.

I have not.

All of this was like, what is happening?

I have not had a Long Island iced tea.

I've had the volcano, but it's just the same thing.

They just dump a bunch of booze in it, right?

It's like seven or eight different liquors.

Tasty, went down easy.

Well, yeah.

Then a lot of vomiting.

A lot of vomiting.

Well, we got a fan question about this scene from Evan L.

At 11 minutes, 14 seconds.

Andy says, you will thank me when they spank thee.

And he wants to know who came up with that line.

Can I guess?

Sure.

Lee or Jean.

That's a good guess.

It's in the script, and I asked Brent Forrester about it, and he said he is the author of the thank me, spank thee line.

He said there are few things more fun than writing a rhyming punchline for the Andy character.

He said he got a little bit too into writing rhyming punchlines for Ed that season.

He said that one day in the writer's room, he pitched a line where Andy refers to his, quote, backup snack pack backpack.

And he said at that point, the writers forbid him from writing any more rhyming punchlines for the rest of the year.

I wonder if he wrote nifty gifties.

He might have.

Oh, Brent, that's so good.

Well, guess what?

They're not going to spank him.

They're not.

They turn him down.

And Oscar and Andy now drink the Long Island iced teas, which is going to lead to some trouble.

Some real trouble, because Oscar says to Andy, what do you see in Angela?

And again, I was hungry as I watched this.

So at 12 minutes, 17 seconds, I can see another bag of old Dutch potato chips sitting next to Oscar's arm on the bar.

They're the green and white bag.

You know what that means.

Sour cream and onion?

They are the dill pickle chips.

What?

Yep.

Described on the internet.

Do they make any regular flavors?

They do.

I'm telling you, these chips are so good.

You've had the dill pickle ones?

I have sampled.

You know, like on set, we would have a whole bunch of bags of chips.

They're real salty, and I like them.

I guess I'm a chip traditionalist.

You know what?

You need to be a chip traveler.

All right.

You need to try some international chips.

I'll try them.

Well, the dill ones are real salty.

I do like a pickle.

i know but

anyway

andy drunk diales angela this is a huge mistake oh my goodness he says you know what we're gonna discuss this we will discuss this naked but then there's a voice in the background

i mean she's with dwight of course she is yeah but somehow andy doesn't totally register it.

He's had a Long Island iced tea.

Several, I think, at this point.

Yeah.

And guess what?

Michael and Concierge Marie, they're clicking.

They're going to leave.

They're going to smooch outside in the alley.

And we asked Wendy about this, about kissing Steve.

And here's what she had to say.

I was super nervous to kiss Steve Corell.

I was so nervous that I was practically going into convulsions.

But I did it and it was great.

And I highly recommend it.

she highly recommends oh well they're not just gonna kiss outside the hotel all right we are gonna cut to michael being sort of shoved out of her room 887 yeah without his shoes barefoot he's shuffling down the hall i know and then she's like wait you forgot your shoes only she says nothing she just sets them out and quickly shuts the door Well, that kind of wraps up Concierge Marie.

We had to ask Wendy if she ever gets recognized for being on the show and here's what she said yes so many times i'm so surprised at that because i was you know barely in it but you know that just speaks to the reach and the popularity of the office i read a fun fact about wendy yes you did share it jenna it's so good okay Wendy was the editor for California State University's Academic Journal of Social Work.

This was her day day job before she hit it big as an actress.

But even after she was working all the time, she kept her job until 2012.

Bridesmaids came out in 2011.

So even after Bridesmaids, she was still editing this journal of social work.

And we had to ask her about it.

Here's what she said.

It is true that while I was building my acting career and, you know, doing pretty well, that I kept my side job at Cal State Long Beach.

I was an assistant editor for a social work journal.

I did that for 12 years, all through Reno 911, all through, you know, all these movies that I did, rules of engagement, and right up until the Goldbergs.

And the only reason I'm not doing it anymore is because the journal folded.

It went out of business.

But it was a great job.

It was like not even 20 hours a week.

I could do it from wherever I was.

And it was all about, you know, people in the social work profession.

And let's be honest, those people deserve a lot of credit for what they do.

They don't get recognized enough.

Yeah, it was great.

And I loved doing it.

I loved my original boss who used to come and see my shows at the Groundlings.

Like she was just so super supportive that she said, please don't ever quit.

So I kept my word and I stayed until the very end.

See what I was saying about Amazing Human Being?

I love her.

You know, that was so moving to me when I heard it.

My niece is a social worker.

I'm just always,

you know, honestly, guys, I'm lifting her up in prayer all the time because it's not an easy job.

And I'm thankful that we have people that have a passion for helping others in that way.

Yeah, it's not an easy job because sometimes you have to see and confront real hard things.

Yes.

And then you have to hold that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, as if you needed another reason to love Wendy, I would also like to share that in 2009, 2010, and 2011, she rang in the new year performing at military bases in Iraq and Kuwait.

And she went to the smaller bases that a lot of people didn't go to that kind of rarely get entertainment.

Love that.

Love you.

Wendy.

Thank you so much.

It was so great to reconnect with you.

Thanks for sharing your memories of the office.

You guys, you can find Wendy in so many places.

She's so talented.

She She has a podcast called Generation Ripe.

It is for teenagers over 40.

It's described as a generation ripe listener is someone who thinks of their age as an asset, not a liability.

We are older people with young souls, are younger people with old souls?

Of course, she's on the Goldbergs.

They're about to start season nine.

She's on a Marvel series on Hulu called Modak and just tons of other things, you guys.

And you can find her on Instagram at Wendy McClendon Covey.

Yes.

Let's see.

Where should we go?

It's the next day.

Oh, people are hungover.

Very hungover.

Andy does not remember calling Angela.

I know.

Oh no.

Michael is very melancholy.

Yeah.

And he has to go sell paper at Catalyst Paper, which I looked it up.

Yeah.

It's a real Canadian paper company, but it looks like its headquarters headquarters is based in Richmond, British Columbia, which is over on the West Coast.

I could not find a Winnipeg branch.

I mean, but if you couldn't, I doubt it's there.

David Wallace calls to congratulate Michael because he did it.

He got the sale.

Michael is mad.

Yeah, because he's realized that this trip was a band-aid to try to help his feelings about Holly being transferred.

He's upset.

And he tells him off.

Yeah.

I have a location breakdown.

Why do you say it like that?

I don't know.

You said it like sad sick.

You said it like this.

I have a location breakdown.

I'm sad with Michael.

Aw, yeah.

For the Winnipeg airport for these scenes, we used terminal number two at LAX.

Randy let me know that there was an area that was out of service at that time and that our location manager, Kyle Alexander, was able to get an agreement from the LAX airport to let us film there.

That's like unheard of.

Well, LAX does not let you film.

Like, they are hardcore.

Well, especially after 9-11, they had incredibly strict airport security.

So, we were only allowed a very small number of cast and crew and extras.

Everybody had to submit credentials very far in advance, and they had to be screened.

Yeah.

So, he said they had to create what they called a micro unit.

That's how small it was.

He said that the airplanes outside the window were not Air Canada planes.

They had to paint over the logos using visual effects during post-production.

And so they put the red maple leaf on the tail of one of the planes.

We could only afford to do one plane.

If you look over Michael's shoulder, it's on the left.

Yeah, I saw it.

Well, before we get to this big business with Jim and Pam, we should probably let you know that Kelly is going to break up with Daryl.

I mean, Ryan has a text ready to go.

They just have to hit send together.

And I think, what does Ryan want?

Does he want Daryl to come upstairs and make a scene?

What does Ryan want?

He wants to be the other guy.

Yeah, he wants a reaction out of Daryl.

Daryl seems relieved.

He's whistling as he walks to his car.

He responds immediately, okay, cool.

And then literally is like doing a dance to his pickup truck.

Yeah.

He's like, whoo, thank you, Ryan.

And that then, of course, immediately makes Ryan less interested in this relationship.

And here we go.

And here back.

All right.

Jim is going to leave.

And again, you guys have this Jim and Pam scene at that golden hour.

Your hair is sparkling with sunshine.

It's like that sunset scene in the parking lot.

You couldn't look cuter.

I know.

I thought this scene was really sweet.

Yeah, Pam is standing in the parking lot and Jim says, what are you doing here?

Because he had told her on the phone, when you come back, you're going to come back the right way.

Right.

And he's supportive.

If she wants to take the class again, they'll get through it.

Yes, that the right way to come back is for her to come back having graduated from art school.

So Pam's standing there and she says, I'm coming back the wrong way.

But she's okay with it.

She's happy about it.

She missed Scranton.

She missed Jim.

She actually hated the graphic design school.

Yeah, she tells Jim, this isn't really what I wanted to do.

But she had to go to find that out.

She did.

You know, we had a question from Evan L.

Why did the writers have Pam fail art school?

Well, that's a good question, Evan.

I asked Brent Forrester about it.

He said that the story of Pam failing art school and coming back, quote, the wrong way, was a pitch from Jen Salata.

Brent said, I have a daughter, and he said, I'm a big fat feminist.

That's a quote.

And the idea that Pam would give up on her dreams to be with a man really rubbed him the wrong way.

But that Jen Salada absolutely insisted that the romantic power of this gesture outweighed any politics.

And also,

that the truth for Pam was not that she was giving up on her dreams for Jim, but that she was distinguishing what her real dreams were.

And I really liked that because I think what Pam did here in going to graphic design school was that she was taking her real dream of being a creative artist.

And she was doing what a lot of artists do and she was trying to find a practical application.

Right.

How can I sort of do art but make a living?

Yeah.

Right.

Yes, exactly.

But, you know, I mean, people go into graphic design when they're passionate about graphic design.

It's not some backup job, right?

And the truth is, is that Pam discovered she does not have a passion for graphic design.

And that's sort of what I had in my head when I was doing that scene on the phone with Jim and Pam's crying.

Pam is realizing that even if she did pass the course, this isn't for her.

But she's also embarrassed that she failed.

But what she definitely does not want to do is spend 12 more weeks studying something she doesn't love.

For me, in that moment, I just saw Pam stating her truth.

And I always think that's so powerful.

Yeah.

There is a very sweet deleted scene, you guys, with Jim and Pam.

It's in the break room.

And you know what?

I'm titling it?

What?

Love in the break room.

What is it?

Pam is showing Jim her art assignment.

She has this portfolio and she's showing him the piece that she got an F on.

Oh, I remember shooting this now.

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, I remember it.

It's really sweet.

And as he goes through her art assignments, in the back, tucked in the binder, is a sketch pad.

And he's like, what is this?

And she said, oh, you know, just sketches of things I would see in New York.

And when you look at them, Jenna, and I'll put it in stories, it's like people sitting at a cafe, things she might have seen on her walk.

And they're really good.

And this is such a wonderful moment.

I wish it had stayed in.

Sam, can you play the clip?

This is my project.

Before we start, how did you fail?

You're good at art.

See?

Yeah.

We had to make a logo for a coffee company.

Well, that's nice.

This is the one that got an A.

The teacher handed it out.

And this is mine.

Well, that's cool.

I couldn't get it to print out right, so I got an F.

I would have given you a D.

That's only because we were sleeping with the professor.

These are cool.

What's this?

That's my sketchbook.

It's just, you know, stuff I saw in New York, people on the subway.

Whoa.

This is great.

It's so much different than your other work.

Wow, Pam.

That is awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, I wish that had stayed in.

It's a really sweet scene, and I feel like it just shows what Pam did get out of New York.

And I really wish it had been in the episode.

I agree because I don't think Pam's art story is over yet.

You know, she did not have the benefit of, I think, parents or role models who encouraged her to follow this piece of herself.

And she only finally does now have that person in gym.

So she's going to have to take her art journey at the same time as her romantic journey.

Well, I'm going to put that scene in stories because it's really sweet.

I loved it.

I did too.

Well, that kind of wraps up this episode.

Yeah.

Thank you to everyone who helped us make this episode.

Brent Forrester, Randy Cordray, Wendy McClendon Covey, and Rich Summer, thanks for coming on for an interview.

It takes a village.

It does.

And thank you to you guys for sending in awesome questions and Winnipeg trivia.

Yes.

Some last parting advice.

According to Andy, Long Island iced teas are way stronger in Canada.

So be careful the next time you order one of those.

Yes.

All right, you guys.

Well, that was Business Trip, and we will be seeing you next week.

Yeah, see you next week.

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 Bubico.

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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