Andy’s Ancestry

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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.

What are we gonna find out?

We're gonna find out a lot. It's season nine, episode three. This episode was written by Jonathan Green and Gabe Miller. This is a new writer alert.

New writers.

Yes, new writing team alert. They were a new writing team for this season. Before joining The Office, they had written on The Class and Late Show with David Letterman. And after The Office, they worked on The Cleveland Show, The Mindy Project, Superstore, and American Auto. And they were really nice guys. They were. This episode was directed by Dave Rogers. Would you like a summary?

I really would, because then I have some call sheet information for you.

Oh, I'm loving you and these call sheets. You didn't read them when we were on the show.

I know. No. I literally, I stepped over them. They would put them by our doors. They would slide them under and I would be like, why are these papers?

I love a call sheet. I know. I would read them front and back.

I, well.

I would study them. I'm so excited. you're into the call sheets, Ange. 20 years later.

Don't ever give up on yourself, people. You have it in you to discover new things about yourself.

Here is your summary for this episode. Nellie retaliates against Andy's bullying by falsifying his family tree. Erin learns a new language in order to impress Andy and his family. Pam helps Nellie practice driving for her upcoming driving test. And Daryl helps Jim come clean with the secret that he's been keeping from Pam.

That summary is rich.

Yeah. Angela, I have fast facts, but do you need to hit us with your call sheet delights first?

I would like to just set the temperature for the week for everybody.

Are you gonna continue to tell us the weather?

Am I so old?

I'm like how your parents just have the weather channel on all the time?

A little bit.

A little bit. Okay. Well, Steve Burgess, you know, you're my favorite fella who loves to take sunset photos by the lake. He gave me all the call sheets for season nine. I have all of them, lady.

It's very exciting.

I need everyone to know that the first day of filming happened on August 13th, 2012.. The high was 97 degrees.

Still real hot.

Day two, high of 100.. It continued into the high nineties for the rest of the week. The one other thing I wanna share with you guys, I'm gonna put this in stories as well. These call sheets for Andy's Ancestry were so heavy, with special announcements for all of the meetings they had to take for work bus the next week.

Yes, while we were shooting this, they were prepping that.

In fact, they just started putting buses on all the call sheets, like little images of buses.

Oh, that's very cute.

So I'll share that in stories, but yeah. And then I will have a few. get to know your cast and crew moments coming up. I love it.

Well, fast. fact number one, Angela, is that we had a very special guest star on this episode. Randall Park.

Yes.

Is in our cold open. You might recognize Randall from Fresh Off the Boat or WandaVision. You know, the New Yorker did a fantastic profile on him last year. It's definitely worth a read. So last year, Randall Park directed a film called Shortcomings. It's based on the graphic novel by Adrian Tomina. Okay, you know that I went through a nerd out time in my life where I was super into graphic novels. I love Adrian Tomina so much. So this whole New Yorker profile was kind of around this subject. So anyway, give it a read. It's very, very good.

I'll find it and put it in stories, like a swipe up.

Yes, yes. So, Randall also did an interview for NPR, where he said that, despite the popularity of Fresh Off the Boat and WandaVision and being part of that world, the two things that he gets recognized for the most are for playing Kim Jong-un in the movie The Interview and for The Office.

Really?

Yes, those two things. Those are the things people yell out to him on the street. But he said for a period of time, he actually forgot that he had been on The Office.

Well, yeah, because he's gone on to do so many things.

Yes, and that people shout out to him on the street and he was confused. He actually told the story to Conan O'Brien, and I have an audio clip.

Great.

You did a role on The Office, and when I heard about this, I thought, oh, okay, well, maybe you had an arc on The Office. It wasn't an arc. No, no. You were barely in The Office, and they found that character.

Tell us about that. I mean, I did, so. this was like many years ago. It was the final season of The Office. I got the chance to play a character named Asian Jim in like one scene during the final season, and at that point, the popularity of the show had been waning, and I was in and out in an hour, and I thought that was really fun, and then I just kind of, I completely forgot about it, and then, several years later, I'm like walking down the street, and this car drives by, and a guy yells like, Asian Jim, and drives off, and I'm thinking, is this some racist thing that I don't know about?

Either a fan, just saw you, or it's a hate crime.

I thought it was a hate crime, because I had forgotten about my appearance on The Office, and people would be walking up to me like, what's up, Asian, Jim? I'd be like, fuck you.

That's like, what are you, you know, and then. By the way, I want to apologize for greeting you when you came here to the studio today, you know.

And then you went like that.

Yeah, I did that, and whatever. I mean, man, I was way out of bounds.

Yeah.

Have you ever done something that you forgot, and then you were reminded later? Are there roles like that?

Oh yeah, for sure. I was actually doing a Q&A at a university, and there's a bunch of college kids. They were so wonderful. Everyone had questions about The Office, and then this one guy raised his hand and said, I don't have a question, just my favorite quote. So I thought it was gonna be from The Office, and he quoted my character from Hot Wives of Orlando, and I was clearly confused. at first. I was like, what? And then he was like, Hot Wives of Orlando. I was like, oh yes, right. Yes, I did that.

Well, we had a fan question from Claudia L. in Miami, Florida, who said, please tell us how it was working with Randall Park. You know what? Claudia, it's what he said. We allotted one hour for that cold open. He was in and out. I barely met him before I smooched him. You know, he was so nice, but it was just like a very kind of like professional moment, really. It's so funny.

And we shot those cold opens really quickly.

We did, and this cold open has become one of the most famous, most popular, but for us, it was like one hour of our workday. We had no idea that it would take off the way it did, or that Randall Park would take off the way he did, but I liked him. He was lovely and funny and ready to go. You know, all the best things.

I'm so thankful. I got to work with Randall again because I played Amy Chestnut in Fresh Off the Boat.

Yes.

And we had a few episodes together. We had some great scenes where we were on a double date and we were laughing so hard and they let us improvise a little, and he is so fun. And I really enjoyed my time on that show and really enjoyed working with him.

Are you ready for fast fact number two?

I am.

All right, this is a fan question from Selena P in Chandler, Arizona, who has a question about our season nine set.

Okay.

Selena said, whose decision was it to change the lighting of the office? Season nine is so much brighter than the rest of the series, and I've always wondered why.

What a good catch.

Well, Selena, I reached out to Greg Daniels and he said that Dave Rogers, our editor, and subsequently the director of this episode, had been complaining for a couple of years that the lighting seemed to be getting darker and darker.

Really?

Yes. And so they had a big meeting about it and they actually felt that the lighting this season was more of a restoration of our original look. And so, good eye. They did bump up the lighting, Selena. I'm so impressed that you recognized this.

I kind of want to do a side by side.

Maybe we should.

Yeah.

I'll also tell you, Selena, that after I had my baby, I got a bunch of melasma on my face, the dark spots, and they were having a really hard time because the lighting in our office wasn't traditional kind of movie lighting, where they light the actors from the front.

It's not the pretty lighting. It's the overhead lighting. Everyone looks like they're a crypt keeper or something.

And it was actually that overhead lighting was enhancing these melasma spots on my face and the makeup department literally couldn't put more makeup on my face. If you notice that Pam's makeup is a little heavier in season nine, it's because of this melasma. And actually bumping up the lighting helped with that. I had to do a bunch of test lighting days. They would combine certain makeup with certain lighting and they ended up creating a little tiny, like portable light box that would sit on my desk and shine on my face from below to help counteract the shadows from our overhead lighting system. And then the makeup department tried a bunch of things. But yeah, there was a bunch of new lighting stuff happening in season nine.

Yeah. I mean, I know we don't wanna go off on this tangent, but just the things women's bodies go through to have a baby.

Yeah. The spots on the face that have never gone away from me. They've lightened now over the years, but then I had another baby and then hello again.

And then hello again. And then where's my little box lamp? Yeah, at that point I was off the office. I travel with a box lamp. I wish.

All right, fast. fact number three. I'll have you know, this episode was very well received by critics. The new critic over at the AV Club, Eric Adams, gave it a B. I did not see any comments from Miles. I looked through all the comments.

Okay. Nothing yet. What about a Steve B?

Didn't see a Steve B. Okay. Mark Trammell of TV Equals named it, quote, the best episode of the final season of The Office to date. Well, I thought that was nice, but, Mark, it's only the third one.

It's a big proclamation.

It is. And after this episode aired, E! Online said that Pete, aka Jake Lacey, was, quote, especially charming and named him one of the best things in pop culture this week.

Let me tell you, people had their eye on Jake. Yep. He was gonna be a superstar.

I got curious about what other things were on the best things in pop culture this week, along with Jake. You wanna hear some of them?

Sure. You know, I love a list.

Okay, well, there was a NASA LADEE spacecraft liftoff, and during the liftoff, a frog jumped up in flame. So there's the- What? A frog photobombed the liftoff. Do you wanna see a picture?

Yes! So NASA has a spaceship. What do you call them? I don't know. NASA has a thing going out into space, and a frog eclipsed the moment.

Yeah, because they take a picture, you know,

of the blastoff. Sure, of the takeoff. Yeah, liftoff.

Uh-huh, and this frog jumped up like a photobomb, and it went viral, and it became, here, you'll see it.

See the little frog? Oh my God, I now remember this.

Oh, buddy.

Well, listen, I'm sorry, this frog is not jumping. What's it doing? This frog is being catapulted by the force of the liftoff. Please look at this and tell me you think he's jumping. He's like, whee!

He does, he does look a little catapulted. I'll give you this photo.

You can put it in stories, Angela.

Another thing that was one of the best things in pop culture this week were Freddie Prinze Jr.'s abs. Portraits of babies eating lemons. You'll like this one, tiny hats on cats.

Love a tiny hat, love it, any animal.

Any animal, a tiny hat. Any animal. Yes. The Despicable Me soundtrack. Oh. Harry Styles' dog.

Oh.

And the Mega Burger pizza.

What?

So they take multiple burger patties and then they sandwich them between two large pizzas and then they top the pizza with burger toppings. It was being sold in Kyoto. It weighed three pounds and cost $26, the Mega Burger pizza.

We should also note, Kevin would have eaten this.

Yeah, he would have invented it.

He would have invented it. Look at his dip.

Yeah.

His Super Bowl dip. This is his kind of pizza.

Well, there you have it. I kind of want to look up the best things in pop culture every week now, because it was really fun.

Yes, do it.

Okay.

I have a list coming up that you are gonna love. As someone who I've taken a road trip with, I can't wait to share it with you.

Oh, I'm very excited. Well, why don't we take a break and then we will start breaking down this very famous cold open.

We are back. Dwight is at his desk and a new guy enters and sits at Jim's desk. He's claiming to be Jim. He even has Jim's water bottle, says Jim in Sharpie.

He knows Jim's voicemail code. Yeah.

Dwight is trying to stump this guy with questions. He's unsuccessful. And then Pam walks out, gives him a kiss and then their family photos. He's in all the family photos.

Yeah. Pam has a lot of family photos. She has a talking head. She says, Jim is at the dentist. Steve is an actor friend of ours. This is a prank on Dwight.

Can I just say that Pam has really signed up for this prank? I mean, she's all in on this prank. She like kisses their friend, Steve.

Did you see my hairdo?

Yeah.

It's a little judged. I kissed Steve on the lips?

Yeah.

Not on the cheek.

Not hey, babe on the cheek.

When's the last time Pam kissed Jim on the lips? Well. It's been a while.

Well.

Pam's like, I'm all in. Yeah. We actually got a piece of fan mail from Sue in China who said, why would Pam kiss a random friend like that? And why did the rest of the office seem so unbothered? And Chiara from Belgium said, would Jim be okay with his friend Steve kissing his wife as part of a prank? I guess they were.

I have a theory.

Oh, please tell me.

Well, who needs to sneak off all the time now?

Jim.

Who figured out a prank where he didn't have to be at work?

Jim.

Yeah.

Like here we go.

Yeah.

So, like I said before, this cold open always makes the best lists, and Screen Rant compiled a list of the 10 best office cold opens. This is based on Reddit debates. This one is on it. I wondered if you could guess the rest.

I don't know, but I love a Reddit debate.

I know. We don't even understand how Reddit works,

but we like their debates. I don't know how to sign up. I don't know how I find it half the time. I don't understand the threads. But when I do find something there, it's always delicious. I know. I don't get it. I don't get it either. It's the mystery for us.

Do you need like to sign up? Do you need a sign in?

I don't know. Maybe if you want to start.

Be a contributor? Yeah. Is that what you're called? I don't even know.

I don't know. A poster? No.

Posting it?

I don't know. Post it. All right. I don't ever want us to figure out Reddit. I just want you to know that. Like, if there's anyone right now writing in like, ladies, this is how you do Reddit. I don't ever want to learn it. I just like it that it's this mystery place where there's fun tidbits. Yeah. Mystery online place.

I agree. All right. Are you going to guess the other top cold opens? Or do you want me to just say it?

I will guess some. Try to guess. Fire drill?

Yes.

Oh gosh. Let's see. What about when Jim wrapped Dwight's whole desk in wrapping paper? Yeah?

That was number two. Okay.

Have I hit number one?

No. You're just not thinking of it. It's like whole cookbooks have been written.

Oh, Kevin's chili. Yes. Okay.

Kevin's chili. I'll tell you the rest. The exercise ball.

Oh yeah.

Parkour.

Parkour.

The murder scene that Jim sets up in the hotel room during Tallahassee.

Oh, my gosh.

Future Dwight.

Future. Dwight was great.

Identity theft, Bears Beats, Battlestar Galactica.

I liked that one.

And the Pavlov prank, which I didn't totally remember. It's from season three.

Oh, it's when the bell. The bell. Jim rings the bell. And is that when he slowly makes his handset heavier by putting the coins? I think it is. Because I loved that. I thought it was. And then he picks up the phone and he hits himself in the head when he takes the coin. Yeah, I love that one.

Anyway, there you go. We did get a fan mail flurry about this cold open, people wondering about the kiss, but we also got this question from Glissette in Houston, Texas. Angela.

Yes, Glissette.

Why are you standing near your desk in the background, looking at what's going on during the cold open, with what I would describe as a quote, happy curiosity? I feel like Angela would normally be annoyed by these types of shenanigans.

Okay, I love this question. I went back and watched the scene very carefully and I call busted on myself. Oscar was showing me something on his computer and I am tickled by it. One point, I don't even try to hide. I'm literally leaning over his shoulder and we're watching something. Yeah. Yeah.

I thought you both looked out of character as well. I thought maybe you didn't know the camera was getting you. I think we did it.

And then, when we did, I stand up and I look, I turn around. Yeah. Yeah. So busted in accounting.

We also got this question from Nathan S. in Ontario, who said, Pam explains in the cold open that the gym impersonator is Steve, an actor friend of ours. I just realized in season two, Boo's Cruise, when Jim puts all of Dwight's belongings in the vending machine, Dwight tells Jim, I know you did this because you're friends with the vending machine guy. And Jim replies, who, Steve? So I have to ask, while Steve is a common first name, does Jim have two friends named Steve? One that is a vending machine guy and one that is an actor? Or is this actor also a vending machine guy?

I like to think they're the same person.

I like to think that they're the same as well. You know what? When I was growing up, I had a friend in grade school and her dad, his job was placing and stocking the machines that you like put a quarter in and you get a bouncy ball.

Oh yeah.

Or you get candy.

Yeah.

And it was so crazy because they had extras of these machines like in their garage. In their living room. Like just around their house. And so I'd go over to her house to play, and he had them where you didn't need to put a quarter in. And so if you wanted some sweet tarts, you'd just go over and crank it and get some sweet tarts.

I was like, you are the luckiest person in the whole world. Yeah, you live in a magical land. Yes.

Do you want a spider ring? Right over by the couch.

Oh, my gosh.

Amazing, right?

Yeah.

Pretty cool.

So this episode starts with Erin and Daryl. They're both in the break room. They're study buddies.

Yeah.

She's trying to learn French. I guess everyone in Andy's family speaks multiple languages. And Daryl is reading a book. It's like life hacks, how to become more efficient. He said he saved 90 seconds brushing his teeth in the shower. Lady, do you brush your teeth in the shower?

No, but I know people who do. Do you?

I have to save time. And Josh is like, that's disgusting. And then last night I went down the rabbit hole and like, how common is this? Do people do this? Am I the only one? It's a very divisive topic online. I want you to know. People have strong opinions.

What's divisive about it?

Well, a lot of people in the dental profession say that your shower has more bacteria. It's like a disgusting breeding place for bacteria and you should not keep a toothbrush in there.

But what if you keep the toothbrush somewhere else and just bring it in with you?

Well, that is their recommendation. Definitely do that.

I pee in the shower. I know you said that. If I have to go, the drain is right there. Come on. Most people do it. Do you not?

I can't. You've never? I mean, I- Sam, Cassie. I have not.

Who else pees in the shower? Who wants to share? Sam gave me a- Oh yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Sam. I knew I could count on you.

Wait, wait, do either of you ever brush your teeth in the shower?

Yep. Thank you, Sam. Sam pees and brushes his teeth in the shower. Well, here's the thing.

I don't know if any of you out there listening have this issue, but when I'm in water, my body can't release water.

You've talked about your problem peeing in the ocean.

It's very hard for my brain to allow it to happen. There's no way. I would have to be in a dire situation to pee in the shower because my body is like, lock it up.

Okay, I get that. When I'm submerged in water, it's very hard for me. I have a very hard time peeing in the ocean, but I can pee in a shower. It's running water, the sound of it. It's almost like if I get in the shower and I don't even think I have to pee, the sound of it triggers something.

No, for me, my body's like, lock it up. You can brush your teeth, but you cannot pee.

Well, maybe don't brush your teeth in my shower, but how often do you brush your teeth in the shower?

Several times a week if I'm running late. If I'm running late, I just make it all happen in the shower. How does it make it faster?

I don't understand.

Okay, here's what I do. I put my conditioner in my hair because I like to let it set for a little bit, because I get my hair highlighted. So I have a conditioner, I put on the ends and that's when I do my other business. I brush my teeth, I shave my legs. That's multitasking. Okay, there you go.

All right.

That is not a perplexing thing. You're like, okay, what?

I don't know. I guess I'm always busy in the shower. I don't feel like I have any downtime. So I don't feel like it's saving me anything to add a task.

I don't have downtime. I'm making use of while the conditioner's on.

I know, I don't do the conditioner thing, I guess, is what I'm saying. I have some tidbits about the book that Daryl is reading.

The Lifehack book?

Yes, it's a real book. It's called Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. It's by an author named David Allen. His whole thing is like just helping you find ways to bring productivity into your life and also help you be more present.

Well, we all need that.

Well, we have our favorite, Ange. We do. She is my personal coach and yours for organizing life and getting stuff done. It's Kendra Adachi. She has a podcast and a book called The Lazy Genius.

It's really brilliant because it's all so simple and that makes it easy to apply to your life. It's be a genius at the things you care about and be lazy at the things that don't matter to you.

She has episodes on. like every topic. She had one recently that was like seven ways to manage daily chaos or how to create a relaxing routine.

I just listened to one where she talked about five steps to just better improve your work life. And I'm already using two of the steps and it's already changing my life.

This is what we're saying, everybody. If we were Daryl, we would be just-.

We'd be reading The Lazy Genius.

Exactly. Lady, let's put a link to her podcast in our stories this week.

Oh, for sure. All right.

Daryl has a talking head where he explains that the reason he's doing all this is because he has been named assistant regional manager.

Yeah.

In fact, you know what would be helpful to him, and more efficient would be if he could do a few sound bites and get them out of the way for the rest of the day. so he does one.

Oh, there were so many more that he did in the shooting draft. They made it into deleted scenes on the DVD. I felt like this episode in particular, there's a few other moments where they're really starting to break the fourth wall. We saw this already, where Jim and Pam addressed the camera crew about their summer. And I know it's intentional, because you want to start seeing the camera crew in their presence more in the show. Listen to Daryl. give them a ton of sound bites. Let's play the clip. Since Andy promoted me to assistant regional manager, I've been trying to step up my game, be more productive. In fact, you know what? Let's knock out a few more of these sound bites while we're here. Whoa, that person has found him or herself in quite a predicament. Woo-hoo, that Toby. When will he ever learn? Andy, Andy, Andy. I can't believe Kevin swallowed a pen. I can't believe Kevin swallowed another pen.

Oh, I think I remember this.

And then there's, like a few minutes later, he starts doing it again.

And my character's like, what are you doing?

But I loved hearing Daryl's different sound bites.

Well, while Erin is practicing French in the break room, Dwight comes in. He's like, that's a great language if you're a chain-smoking acrobat.

He says, ah, French, it's a great language. I know, sorry, that made me laugh. Shout out, though, to Ellie Kemper, because her French was so hilarious. It sounded like she was having, like her whole body was having a moment. It was crazy.

Dwight suggests she learn Dothraki if she wants to impress a man.

Yeah, he has a talking head. He says it's the language spoken on Game of Thrones. You know, I had to geek out at this moment. I geeked out when we filmed it. I was already a Game of Thrones fan. I had already been Khaleesi for Halloween.

I didn't know what any of it meant when we filmed it.

I know, honey.

We did have a fan catch from this scene from Laurel F. in Phoenix, Arizona, who said that Erin is using a coffee mug that says Northern Light and that there is a real Northern Light espresso bar and cafe in Scranton. It has the same logo as Erin's mug. Hey. So local Scranton mug. Dwight is going to start teaching Erin Dothraki.

Yes.

And we had a fan question from Callen S. in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who said, what was the process like of getting permission to mention Game of Thrones and Dothraki in this episode? And were any other fictional languages considered? Well, Steve Burgess said that there was no problem mentioning Game of Thrones. The legal department didn't say anything. He thinks, maybe because we weren't saying anything derogatory. And we also did not consider any other fake languages. Angela, I think we both did a deep dive on Dothraki. I know you did. I had to look it up just to get some basics, but I think you went deeper.

Let me tell you guys, sometimes we look ahead to see like, oh, what episodes are coming up? And when I saw this a month ago, I started watching videos. And we'll share a little bit of that with you.

Well, for all of y'all out there who might lean a little closer to a Jenna than an Angela, the Dothraki language is a fictional language. in George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire, and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. The language of Dothraki was created by linguist David J. Peterson for the Game of Thrones. He explained that the grammar is most similar to Russian, but that the vocabulary was heavily inspired by the Genghis Khan Mongolian language to reflect the nomadic lifestyle of the Dothraki people.

I mean, it's already so fascinating, right?

Yes. I mean, I guess there were so many words that were in the novel, but it wasn't enough for a full language for people on a TV show to like speak it.

There were a handful of words. But they needed to create a language. Yes. So I found so many great articles about David J. Peterson and how he came to develop these languages, but I have to tell you a little something. What is it? I met David a few years ago.

How?

Okay, he was a contestant on the game show to tell the truth. when I was a judge. It was me, Donald Faison, Ashley Graham, and Jalyn Rose. You remember the show. There were the judges, and then there were three people who would claim to be something, and only one would be telling the truth, and the other two were lying, and the judges had to guess.

Yes, I've been on to tell the truth as well.

I know. So in this particular episode, there were three contestants that came out and said that they created the Dothraki language for Game of Thrones.

Okay.

And we had to ask them all questions and then guess who the real creator was. I found the episode online. Do you wanna know who guessed correctly and incorrectly?

Did you guess correctly? I did!

I bet! I did, I guessed correctly, and so did Donald Faison, and Jalyn and Ashley got it wrong.

I bet you asked good questions.

Thank you, lady. Anyway, I wanted to go up to him so desperately, but they moved the show along. But I think I did a thing like, hee, hee, hee, like a wave, like yay! Wow. Yeah, it was so cool. Then he did an interview with Vanity Fair, where first of all, he explains how he got the job, and then he listens to other people trying to speak Dothraki and gives his analysis of their attempts, and he addresses Dwight and Arryn's. Really? Yes, all of their scenes. He was very impressed with our writers and their research of the language. Let's hear him in this interview. The producers of Game of Thrones contacted the Language Creation Society, who then put together a competition and announced it to language creators all over the world online. I then was one of the finalists that emerged. There were five finalists that were picked, and then the producers chose from that set of finalists, and they chose mine, so I became the official creator of Dothraki for Game of Thrones. And now this is Dwight Schrute teaching Arryn how to speak Dothraki.

I throat, rip. Forth agendak. You throat, rip. Forth, agendi. He, she, it throat, rips. Forth agendak. More of a barbaric growl. Forth agendak. Louder, you're shouting it from the back of a horse. Forth agendak.

Okay, so first, this construction was not something that I had ever imagined for Dothraki. Whoever was the writer of this episode really kind of studied the grammar, and so they created something pretty interesting. I was like, all right, I'll go with that noun incorporation. You did it right, so let's do it. And so I made that a part of the Dothraki language. after that, I call it the Schrutean compound. I don't know if I ever got to use it on the show. I don't think I did. There wasn't much Dothraki after this thing aired. So, to the writers of the office, thank you very much for actually studying this to make sure that the Dothraki was correct, but not a thank you for not inviting me to the set. What's the deal? I found out because I watched it live. Literally, that's how I found out. Come on, man. Throw me a bone. And then, Erin, your pronunciation was pretty good. Just be sure you get the stress right. Sanath tumhari, je, Erin. Good job.

Wow. Yeah, isn't that great? I am so impressed with our writers. I know. They don't phone anything in.

And now part of the Dothraki language was created on the office, a tiny part, but there's a compounded noun now.

Look at how excited you are.

I'm very excited.

That your worlds of the office and Game of Thrones have collided.

Have had a crossover.

They have.

I'm giddy about it.

That was very cool. Yeah. So now we're gonna go over to Pam's desk, where Nellie is very distracting. She's just sort of like tapping her pen. Yeah. And we come to find out that she has to take her driver's test in a few days. She needs to practice, but she hasn't had any time to do this. thanks to Demandy.

Yeah.

And Pam is gonna offer to go driving with her at lunch.

Yeah, she's like, sorry, Jim. I won't be here for lunch. And he's like, that's okay. I have a thing of soup. I have a thing of soup. You know what?

You, Jim. You know that you're keeping something from Pam. You know she's onto you. We don't need your little like, I have a thing tease of soup. Put it away, dude. What is that?

I think he slips and then has to backpedal.

I don't know.

But he looks at the camera.

I don't know. I'm sorry, guys. But the part of me that is Pam is not real happy with Jim over this weeks-long secret that is changing their lives.

I have a hot tip.

What is it?

If you're gonna lie, don't say I have a thing of soup. Uh-huh. It's not a good one.

Do you think he's lying? I thought he was teasing her. I thought he was like, that's okay. I have a thing of soup. No. I know you keep asking me if I have a secret and I keep telling you I don't.

No, no, no. I think he forgot in that moment and he slipped up. And then I think his cover is soup. I think his I have a thing was honest and then he caught himself and he had to say soup.

Well, you know what? Look at your wife's face for one second. I know. And realize that you're breaking her heart. I know.

Thing of soup.

I can't keep secrets like that.

You know what? Thing of soup is not hope in a frame.

It sure, isn't, Angela.

Put that on a pillow.

Well, before Nellie goes driving, she's gonna have a meeting with Andy.

Yes. I would like to point out something here.

What is it?

I feel like Nellie is Andy's Pam. the way Pam was with Michael, except Michael would have all these random projects for Pam, but they were earnest. Whereas Andy has all these ridiculous tasks for Nellie, but they're spiteful.

I don't know. Is asking her to do his genealogy a spiteful thing? Like, is he doing that just because?

I think it's busy work. He's demanding. So there were more scenes in the shooting draft. Not only did he ask her to produce childproof paper that doesn't give you paper cuts, which is impossible. He also asked her to make as many different types of hats as possible out of a piece of paper. So she spent half the day trying to make hats out of paper. Yeah. And then she did the genealogy thing.

Andy doesn't even wanna read the genealogy report. He just wants the highlights. And so she reveals you are a distant relative of Michelle Obama. Yeah. Andy could not be more excited.

Oh, he is so thrilled. He makes a huge announcement to the bullpen. He says, my fellow Americans, I have a feeling my approval rating is about to go through the roof. He thinks this is gonna catapult him.

Yeah.

In the shooting draft, it's also in deleted scenes, he then sits down and writes Michelle Obama a letter.

No, he doesn't.

Yes, he does.

What does it say?

I'm gonna read it. Andy reads aloud as he writes. Dear Michelle, how are you? I am fine. My name is Andrew Bernard, and I recently discovered that we are related. I want you to know. the rest of the family is so proud of you for all that you have achieved. As for me, I currently manage one branch of a mid-level paper company. If you'd like to meet, I can come to DC any Saturday except October 20th, due to a previous commitment. Hope, and then he looks to camera. I put that in all capital letters. Hope to see you soon, but again, not on the 20th. Love, Andy Bernard.

That is amazing.

I know, it got me so tickled.

In your youth, did you ever write a famous personal letter? A fan letter, any kind of letter?

Well, I had heard that if you invite the president to your wedding, if you send them a formal invitation, you get a reply back, and I did that.

Did you get a reply?

I did. Oh! Sorry, we're unable to attend your wedding. Oh, my goodness! We wish you all the best.

That is a person's full-time job. I know. You would love that job.

I would.

You would just get wedding invites.

I would get wedding invitations all day. So many wax stamps.

I know. Little confettis, Angela, all day.

I know, all day.

Oh my gosh, how do we get you that job in your retirement?

I just opened, oh, that is a perfect retirement job. You have a stack of the presidential seal responses. You open people's wedding invites. I bet I could have a window, have my hummingbird feeder.

Lady.

This is a perfect job for me.

Wow. Well, Erin is completely intimidated by this news.

Yeah.

She's gonna have to see the first lady at holidays now?

Yeah, what is she gonna say at holiday dinners?

Oh, my goodness, the pressure.

In the break room, Andy tells Clark and Pete that he's getting rid of all the junk food because, in case they hadn't heard, he's now related to Michelle Obama. They applaud him.

Yes. Turns out they applaud him all the time.

All the time. Well, Andy wants to remove this junk food, partly because now he has this very strong connection to one of Michelle Obama's initiatives that we need to get healthier. Mm-hmm. There was a scene, it's in deleted scenes, and I had never heard this term before, and now I just want to use it for the rest of my life. Andy flexes in front of everyone. You know, he comes out of his office and he does like the flex. Sure. Shows off his biceps. And then he shouts to the room. He says, I want someone to come slap my hang down.

What's that mean?

Jim says, what's a hang down? He said, it's the part that hangs down, you know, from your bicep. Your tricep? Yeah, yeah, right here. Yep. He's like, someone. come, slap my hang down. Because, you know, he's sort of like, it's so rock hard, right? Yeah. It's not gonna hurt. Meredith walks over and slaps the shit out of this.

Oh, my gosh. His hang down.

And Andy's like, ow.

But, I mean, I had never heard that part of your body called the hang down.

I've got some hang down. I've got some hang down. You know what, I think to myself, thank goodness I'm not, you know, part of the royal family where I have to put my arm up and wave, because then you just see a jiggly hang down.

Oh.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Thank goodness. That's the only reason I'm glad I'm not part of a royal family. Everything else I could handle.

You could do everything else. I could do all the rest of it,

but with my broken shoulder and my hang down, I'd have a hard time waving.

Otherwise, you would be in. Count you in. One of my mom's sisters years ago, my aunt, I'll never forget. She had reached a certain age and it was so hot out and she had a long sleeve on. And I was like, what are you doing in long sleeves? She's like, I haven't worn short sleeves in years. I was like.

Because of the hang down?

Because of the hang down.

Here's what I'm gonna tell everybody.

Let it hang down.

Hang it down. Let it flap.

Hang it down now.

Life is too short. Yeah. Is this the 50s that we were talking about a few episodes ago, Angela?

Yes.

Like my, just like body, face, wrinkly neck, hang down. body is just like, I'm just like, I'm fine. Bring it on. I'm fine. Worried about it in my 40s, in my 50s. I'm like, just whatever.

You know, I have to tell y'all out there, who are a lot younger than us, when you get to your 50s, it's a real like liberating zero Fs chapter.

Yeah. We should all have started this in our 20s. Maybe the next generation will have some of it.

Yeah, they'll figure it out. Yeah.

Jim is now in Daryl's office and he's learning about batching and he's really into it. Andy comes in and Jim's like, you gotta see this. This is really cool. And Andy's like, I'm gonna need you to be canned tuna right now. I don't wanna hear from you.

Yeah, big tuna zip it. That's when Andy tells Daryl his good news. Daryl is skeptical.

Yeah.

But he's like, that's cool.

I have a fun fact. Michelle Obama's brother is named Craig Robinson. That's crazy.

How about that? That's a crossover. It sure is.

I also wanted everyone, when you're rewatching this episode and you see this scene, to please note that there's a lot of background action in this scene. Creed does a cross to reception. Meredith is at the copier. The reason for this is because Rain and I could not be at our desks in the background. And if we didn't have all that crossing, it would have just looked like an empty office. But Pam is supposed to be teaching Nellie to drive. Dwight is supposed to be teaching Aaron Dothraki. So this is something that they would do to prevent empty backgrounds. And I thought this scene was a good example of it.

I like it. Well, let's go to break, because when we're back, Nellie is eating a salad while driving. Yes. And I have a list for you. Best foods to eat while driving. Wait for it.

I can't wait for it, but I will wait for it. We'll be right back.

Pam is in the passenger seat. Nellie is driving. And on the console between the two of them is an open takeout container with a salad. I don't know what kind of salad, Caesar salad. There's big croutons. Like, how is she eating the salad and driving?

You know what? It was scripted that she would be eating a salad specifically.

It was scripted that it was in her lap.

It was, yes. Well, here's the thing. When we first did this scene, we did a take of Katherine holding the salad, like, kind of in her lap slash. You couldn't see it when it was on her lap. So then she was kind of holding it up. So we had some, like, visual issues, because, you know, we had those little lipstick cams. And, you know, they only show so much.

So it's like, where can we put the salad where it's clear that she's eating a salad?

Yes. And we started with her kind of, like, holding it with one hand and having to take her hand off the wheel to eat it. And it was so funny. She is such an amazing physical comedian. I know this footage is somewhere. I couldn't stop laughing. Ultimately, we decided that it might be, like, a little too unrealistic. I mean, it was so funny. And, you know, by the way, she's not actually driving. in these scenes. We're hooked up to, like, an insert car that's pulling us. Because my memory is that Katherine did not drive much.

She didn't. She didn't drive in Los Angeles. No.

I don't think she really- I don't think she has a driver's license. I don't know what the system is over in England. No, I remember this was a whole thing.

She had to get dropped off to work.

Yes, they had someone drop her off. I think, like, for insurance reasons, they're like, we don't want this actress-.

Who doesn't have a driver's license.

And who doesn't drive on the right side of the road, having to drive so far out to where we would shoot. So yes, this was quite an adventure.

Well, you know, in the scene, Nellie is distracted. She swerves. And Pam's like, ah. And she, kind of, like, pulls herself to the side. She's like, turn. There's something in your hand. Did you see it?

Yes, I squeeze it.

You squeeze it. Yes. I was very curious. I couldn't make out what was in your hand. So I went to the shooting draft. It says that Pam is holding a wrapped sandwich.

Yes.

And after Nellie swerves, she looks down, and she's gripped it in her hand and squished it. Yes.

That was an extra joke. And I'm not sure it ever landed, because we had the lipstick cams. We couldn't punch in on it.

No, I couldn't make out-.

There's no punching in.

What you were squishing. Yes. I was curious about the best foods to eat while driving. Oh. There are a lot of opinions about this online.

Can I guess one?

I'm going to give you top five, and one of them is kind of a category. Oh, guess one.

Burrito.

Yes. That is in the category with sandwiches, wraps, bagels, burritos.

Oh. OK.

French fries, number one. on many lists, French fries. I get it.

But what about if you want to dip your fry in ketchup?

Well, that's a different thing. But a lot of people, whatever French fry fast food place they go to, they put the container of fries in the cup holder. Yeah. Burger.

Beef jerky.

I was surprised by this one. But then Josh told me in his 20s, whenever he went on a road trip, he made sure to bring beef jerky. Have we talked about this?

I only see beef jerky as something that goes in your proper backpack for the zombie apocalypse.

No.

I don't snack on it.

I don't like it, but people road trip with it. And I guess they pack their zombie apocalypse bag with it. Yeah.

Well, I don't see it as a road trip food. I see it as a survivalist food.

Last one that made the top five, which I always have in my car. Right now, you could go to my console. There would be one in there. Granola bar.

Granola bar.

Keep one with me.

These are good foods for while driving.

A burrito?

A burrito.

That's like a hot mess. I guess you have to keep it wrapped in the foil.

No, a taco would be a hot mess. Well, yeah. But yeah. Burrito. Burrito. That's Lee's favorite. I'd like to add one to the list. OK. Banana.

Yes.

Although then you're left with the peel.

But that's OK. You just flop it in the floorboard, and then you forget about it. Then your car gets a funky smell, and then you find it. Yeah. Yeah. It's happened many times.

So, back at the office, Oscar's talking to some folks. And he says to people, you guys, if Andy is related to Michelle Obama, there's a possibility that his family were slave owners.

Yeah, Stanley's going to chime in here too.

Yeah. But then, when we're in the car, Nellie tells Pam that she made the whole thing up. Andy isn't even related to Michelle Obama in the first place.

Well, I want you to know. the second driving scene started with a bit at the top. that didn't make it in. I read it in the shooting draft, and it made me laugh so hard. Ready? Here it is. Interior Pam's car. Nellie is driving. The mood is slightly somber. Pam, you can't dwell on it. Nellie.

It's just what's the one thing you associate with squirrels?

A quickness, an ability to scamper. They've run over a squirrel. It says Pam nods. They drive in silence for a moment. And then that's when they get into the rest of the scene.

I remember that now.

You can't dwell on it.

Doing these scenes with Katherine was so fun. Oh my gosh. I loved being teamed up with her. We spent a whole day on these. Gosh, she made me laugh. In this scene, she goes on to explain that she made up the story about Andy and Michelle Obama as payback for him sorting her undies. This got me curious about fun British phrases, and I looked some up.

I love a fun British phrase.

All right. Here are some fun British phrases to expand your vocabulary, and sound cool. Ready?

Bagsy. Yeah.

If you yell bagsy, it's like calling dibs or shotgun. But if there's like, oh, someone's like, oh, there's only one cola left. Bagsy. Yeah. OK. Got it. Brawly.

Brawly? Is that when you take your bra off? You're done. I'm brawly. No. Oh.

If it's raining, you got to grab your brawly. It's short for umbrella.

What?

I am cream crackered.

Tired. Yes. Yay.

Yes. How about this? Wow, you've made a real dog's dinner out of that.

Does that mean you just destroyed something? You ate so much of it? No.

It's kind of like a mess. Like, you made a mess of it.

A hot mess.

Yeah, a hot mess. You made a dog's dinner. of that. You know what?

What?

I'm Hank Marvin. Means, I'm starving. I'm a starving Marvin. I'm Hank Marvin.

Hank Marvin.

Yeah. You know what? Don't get shirty with me, mister.

Oh, is that snippy? Yeah.

Someone who's like short-tempered or snippy. Yeah, don't get shirty with me.

Don't get it twisted and get shirty with me.

And how about this? Excuse me, I need to go spend a penny.

Is that pee? Yes.

This is a polite way of saying you have to go to the bathroom because I guess back in the day, the women's restroom cost a penny.

I've got to go spend a penny. Yeah. Well, you know, my friend Micah is from Australia. And he told me that his mom, one time, there was someone they were talking about. And his mom was like, oh, she's a real, see you next Tuesday.

What's a see you next Tuesday? What is it? What is it?

It's a see you next Tuesday.

I'm so sorry. I just got it.

I just added Sam's laughing in there.

He's trying to help me. So yeah. See you next Tuesday. You don't want to be a. see you next Tuesday.

You sure, don't. Oh, my gosh. If you get too shirty, you're going to become a see you next Tuesday. Oh, fun phrases.

Fun phrases.

I guess something happens to Pam's car and she has to get the tire changed.

Yeah, I guess Nellie maybe has run over something.

Probably run over something.

Pam is going to have a talking head. She's pretty tickled by Nellie. She says she's fearless and almost sort of fun. And while Pam is saying this, Nellie is pretending to be hitting the mechanic from behind. Pam chuckles. This is hilarious.

She's loving it.

This is their Thelma and Louise moment.

You know, we had a fan catch from Natalia M. in Toronto, Canada, who said, I'm thinking back to season three, Women's Appreciation, when Pam changes the tire on Meredith's car.

Oh yeah.

But this time she needed help. I guess maybe Nellie did more damage. Yeah, Pam did need some help. Also, just if you have AAA, you know, Pam could have called, but maybe Meredith didn't have it, so Pam had to change the tire. I can change a tire, can you?

Yes, and I have.

Yeah, my dad made sure.

Me too.

And you gotta do the nuts in a star. You don't do them in a circle. That's the best way to get them tight. Tighten them in a star pattern.

My dad also made sure I had a socket wrench set in my car.

And of course, jumper cables.

Yes.

All the things.

All the things. Well, it's time for a get to know your cast and crew from the call sheet.

Okay.

We have Kim Ferry from the hair and makeup department. Three things you didn't know about Kim Ferry. Kim knows sign language. The prettiest place she has ever been is Monaco. Her favorite superhero is Wonder Woman, and she once worked in the games department at Six Flags, Great America. Kim misses family vacations with her parents, and she was Miss Gurney, Illinois, in 1986..

Wow, so lovely.

I know, I love these.

I think we might need to do a get to know your office, ladies crew.

Yes.

And answer these questions. We'll send out an email with the questions.

Yes.

To our group.

I like these group of questions. I do too. I don't know who came up with them, but I really like them. Andy is gonna come into the bullpen now, and his employees are all gathered around talking, and he's like, hey, get back to work. Yeah. Yeah.

And Oscar tells Andy he might wanna be nice to people today because his relation to Michelle Obama carries some implications, some negative connotations. Mm-hmm. Then he says, you know, this means that you most likely have slave owners in your family lineage.

Andy's like, who else thinks this is the case? Everyone agrees.

And this is when we have Daryl's talking head that he filmed earlier when he was batching.

Yeah.

That person has really gotten him or herself into quite a predicament. I really enjoyed that callback.

I did too.

I thought that was really funny.

I did too. Andy is now gonna call his mom. He goes to voicemail, but he really needs to know. He just has a quick question.

about America's national shame.

Yeah.

Just quickly, I need to ask you some questions. Meanwhile, Daryl comes in to discuss business.

Yes. He's trying to get work done.

And Andy is too distracted and Daryl is annoyed. He has worked on this whole report and Andy has not paid any attention to it. Mm-hmm. This is gonna feed into a later storyline.

That's right, of Daryl's frustration at the company. Mm-hmm. After this scene, there was one between Oscar and Angela over in accounting. Oh. It was in the shooting draft. It's in deleted scenes. Angela's gonna notice Oscar's tie. I want you to hear it. Oscar, is that a Paul Smith tie? The senator loves them.

Oh, does he?

Yeah, they're really expensive.