Junior Salesman

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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.

Hey there.

How's it going today?

Pretty good, I'm pretty cozy.

I see we've both shown up in our robes today, I am in my pajamas.

I slept in this top, I just put a bra on for you, so I wasn't sloppy sloppies.

I want everyone to know we did not plan this. But moments before we were set to start this recording, we're recording from home today. We did not come into the studio in our robes. But moments before, I texted Angela and I said, It's been a crazy morning.

Yes, when I record from home, I record in our little closet, but the closet doesn't have a vent, so it doesn't get any heat, so it's really cold.

Well, I'm in my pajamas and robe today because I am full on. Pam Lee is out of town.

That's true.

And we have talked about what happens to me when he is gone, and this is what happens. He is off skiing with the kids. I don't even have the kids. And I had such a show of the morning with just the pets that I did not have time to get dressed.

This is no makeup in our robes energy.

So here we go, we are here today to talk about junior salesmen. It is season 9, episode 13, written by Keri Kemper and directed by Dave Rogers.

Give me a summary. Pajama Jenna.

Here it is when David Wallace tasks Dwight to find a temporary replacement for Jim. He interviews all of his friends and family in an effort to avoid hiring Clark and instead create a desk cluster alliance against Pam. This is really an episode with just an a story.

Yeah, well, didn't start out that way. We'll get to it.

That is true, all right, today, Fast Fact 1, 2 and 3 is one Fast Fact, and it is called We are halfway through Season 9..

Oh my gosh, halfway through.

Yeah, I mean, we halfway through.

And then there's that's the show.

Yes, if this season was a day of the week, we have just hit Wednesday evening.

Thank you for putting it in that analogy for me. You're welcome, we're on Hump Day.

In case everyone out there didn't know what halfway meant, well, listen. We've been getting a lot of mail from people on the subject of our rewatch coming to an end, and I wanted to share some of it today.

I'm so excited about this because you've told me there's some great letters.

There sure were first up. We got this letter from Mackenzie C. in Atlanta, Georgia, who said. I have been listening to your podcast since the first episode, and I've gone back and re-listened. Just like I re-watched the show. It's so funny to go back and listen to earlier episodes where y'all were apologizing about deep dives or going off on random tangents.

Yeah, he really does not like them.

Yeah.

There's been a few.

Yeah, but thank you. I think for the most part, people enjoy them. But Mackenzie went on to say, And do you remember when y'all didn't have this amazing feature on your website? And we all just had to email in our questions? It's crazy how far this podcast has come.

Thanks, Mackenzie. I mean, yeah, it's definitely been a lot of learning curves, right, Jenna?

It's come a long way and I feel like it's always evolving. As soon as I think we've found some formula, we mix it up, which I love.

Yeah, me too, and I feel like the audience has been on this learning journey with us.

Yeah.

Well, you know, Mackenzie, speaking of re-listening to the podcast, we have Jenna gotten comments also on our Instagram like mackenzie at michellegoldrunstrails said. We have been listening to them for so long. I might just go back and re-listen to their re-watch. And at Xtheian, I'm not sure if I'm saying that correctly, said. How are we already at season 9? I don't want it to end. I've been re-listening to their re-watch five times.

That's amazing, we love you guys.

That is so awesome and humbling, and oh my gosh, thank you.

Well before we finish our re-watch, people have some suggestions for us. Angela This is the suggestion box section.

I cannot wait to hear these.

Karen W. from Sharon, Massachusetts, said I would love to hear you both interview Alison Jones.

I would, too.

Yeah, Karen said. I just listened to the interview with Zach Woods where he talks about her, and I want to learn more about her. Thanks for your show. That's a good suggestion.

She is wonderful and, you know, I just ran into her. Remember I was running errands and then I sat down, had a cup of tea with her, and it was so lovely. All right, that's got to happen.

Nicholas J. from Alton, Illinois, said Have you considered interviewing someone from standards and practices?

Oh man, I would love to interview the person who was always snarky to Randy Cordray.

We got to do that. Well, you know, I did that commercial with those guys, that At&T commercial, and in the commercial. Brian Baumgartner has a little pug dog. Guess who brought the pug, Bob Dunn?

Not giant bandit. The biggest cat I've ever held. I was shocked.

But I was like, now I'm so intrigued, this guy's got to have so many stories.

Lady, there's so many people we still want to talk to about the office. I still really want to talk to Timothy Oliphant, and I want to talk to Kathy Bates, and I want to talk to Jerry Miner. And I mean, there's so many.

I agree, I need to hear from them, all right? Listen more than anything, Angela. We got a lot of mail from people asking us to just keep podcasting in general. Aw.

I love that.

The re-watch ladies, we got to, OK, that's got to go on our list.

All right, we've got another pitch from Emma Grace from Texas. Hey ladies, will you please add the edge to your breakdown list? I watched it because of Jenna and it is one of my all-time favorite movies. She's right, so inspirational.

I know it would be stressful, but I'll do it for you guys.

And finally, Larry P, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said Please do at least one whole episode of the office. Ladies, burn it to the ground. You're both so kind and polite, and diplomatic 99.999 of the time. But surely there have been occasions when you could have said more, but chose not to? After all these years, aren't you entitled to have a say? Let it out, ladies?

That's awesome.

I agree, this is my happy place. Ange It is, it really is. Look at me.

OK, you know how I feel about putting stuff out there, put it out there. What are you going to put out there? I'll come in agreement with you.

Would it be totally insane for us to go back and re-watch it again and just keep talking about it? Because, listen, I am genuinely curious to go back and watch season one again? I want to see it now that I have the scope of the whole series in my head, I mean, this is what people do, they go back and re-watch.

I mean, you're not crazy. There are people that have written in and said this, I have a comment right here. Oh, it's from at Brisa Rodriguez. They said. I really need you guys to start from the beginning again.

I didn't have the deleted scenes.

We didn't have all the call sheets, we didn't have some of the candy bag alts and the shooting drafts. Like, we have gathered information as we've gone, and I know some of those early episodes, we would have more to share.

Well, lady. Just the other day, we were out to lunch with Dave Rogers. And he reminded us of a behind-the-scenes tidbit from Garden party that we had completely forgotten about. And I'm not even gonna say it right now, just in case we really do re-watch it again, I'm gonna save it. We already have a garden party tidbit is what I'm saying, that's true.

We were so excited at lunch. And then I feel like there's just so many more things that are in the world of the office. There's the webisodes, for example.

Yes, people have asked us to break those down. I would like to do that. You won an Emmy for that.

I did for the accountants.

Yeah.

And then you and I both loved the original version.

Yes, why are we not breaking down the British Office? Of course, I know, and you know what else?

Oh, how about this? Because I don't know if your phone was blown up, but mine was blown up. Because there's some new tidbits about the possible spinoff slash reboot. I mean, they haven't started shooting or anything, but there's a big update.

Yeah, you should tell people all right.

So, writer Michael Komen has joined Greg Daniels to co-create the new Office spinoff. Some of you might know Michael because he co-created the series Nathan for You alongside Nathan Fielder.

That show is so funny, It's so funny. Did you watch it? It's so funny.

That Nathan is so funny, I just sound like my mom, that Nathan.

We both did that, was a funny show, people. Oh, I laughed.

Oh my goodness.

We turned into the two old aunties on that one.

Michael has also worked on The Colbert Report, MadTV, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and A Little Tidbit. Both Michael and Greg got their starts as writers on Saturday Night Live. But Jenna, we know Michael, we know, know Michael, yes.

We know him very well because he is Ellie Kemper's husband. I'll tell you a sweet thing about Michael when I was in New York and I was shooting mean girls with my broken shoulder when it was time for me to leave town. I couldn't get my bag down to the car. And Michael, who was nearby, hopped over and grabbed my bag for me and took it down to my car for me.

Such a sweetie.

Do you see what I'm saying? So nice guy and also very funny.

And also someone we could say, Hey, we're gonna break down the reboot, we should do it, we have to break down whatever the reboot spinoff ends up being.

We definitely need to podcast about that. We will go on set and we will stalk and take notes. Sorry guys, we will do that.

We're coming.

Get ready.

And then here's the other thing I loved doing. Our Dear Office Ladies episode. I loved when our call to action was, Write in about your workplace dilemmas. That was so fun.

I would love to do more. Dear office ladies. We could do a lot of themes, we could do BFF advice or wedding advice. I mean, I feel like we could have guests come on and help give us advice.

We know that.

So how do we pick?

I don't know how we pick, I don't know.

Can we do all of them?

I don't know, maybe we can.

Maybe we are, I don't know, guys, maybe we'll put a poll in stories. What do we do? We do the we rewatch the office again, or we rewatch something else, or we do, Dear office ladies, or we do a hybrid.

I mean, for me, my top contenders are rewatch the office again. I can't believe I'm saying that.

I know.

When we started, I didn't even know if we'd finish, and now I want to do it again. I would want to watch other office centered content and Dear Office ladies, but also maybe a bonus episode where we watch The Edge. Yeah, I don't know, that's not a poll anymore.

Cody is saying something, Cody, what are you saying, Cody? Hop on the mic.

Cody as our executive producer, what are your thoughts? Well, I love dear office ladies number one. But second. It was like, when we were starting the podcast, we were trying to find the vibe of the show, what listeners liked. And I was like, well, we could probably redo the first 10, 15 episodes to make them in the style of this episode, and not like the first ones were bad. But it's like, but the styles changed. I don't know, you guys come at it in such a fun, unique way that, like, we found as we went along, you know, I don't know.

We take it, we redo the beginning.

All right, to sum up, we love you all and we wanna hear from you. We do. We are halfway through season nine and we wanna hear what you want us to do next. We're here for you.

We should probably start making a plan, so we'd love to hear your thoughts.

For now, why don't we take a break and then when we come back, we will start talking about junior salesmen.

Let's do it.

It's true.

I have one quick background catch at 33 seconds. I'm calling this a sensible shoe catch.

What is it?

Did you see Pam's heels? I mean, is it 1960? I feel like my grandmother who loved a sensible shoe. Lena McKenzie loved a sensible shoe. I feel like she would be like, that's a very sensible high heel, Pam Beasley.

That is a working woman's shoe.

It's a sensible shoe catch.

We got some fan mail about this cold open Angela.

Oh, I bet we did.

This first one is from Shaylee, D. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hi Shaylee. You write in every episode, every episode, you send us questions, multiple questions, and they're always so good.

Yes, tell us, Jenna, spill the tea.

Well, a rich, that's what they say, right?

You spill the tea.

Do you serve the tea?

No, you spill it, or do you spill it? you spill the tea.

Is it because when I was drinking my tea, you told me such a good gossip moment that I spilled it? is that what spilling the tea is?

I don't know, but I did just. It doesn't matter, though, it doesn't matter, I did just learn what the ick is.

What's the ick, the ick?

Okay, my teenagers told me. It's like, if you like someone and you're like, Oh my gosh, they're great, they're great. And then all of a sudden they do something and you're like, Ick, that's the ick.

Oh, like, if you like them, but then maybe you go on a date and they chew with their mouth open, that's the ick or something.

Yeah, then all of a sudden it's like, the ick.

Anyway.

Anyway, I don't think Pam has the ick about Brian. I think Pam cares for him as a friend.

Yes, that is true, and originally in the script, in fact, in this scene as scripted, Pam tells Brian, she talked to Alyssa about what's going on with her and Jim, and that Alyssa sort of took Jim's side. And they have a whole banter about how that's typical of Alyssa, and they kind of laugh about it. And what we were trying to do with that storytelling was express that Alyssa and Brian are like couple friends with Jim and Pam, and that Brian. Comforting Pam was like as if your friend's husband was comforting you in a difficult moment. But we ended up cutting it out and making it simpler and just having Pam reference Alyssa.

I think that's good, I think that was a good cut.

Yeah, we also got mail from Clara D in Germany who said, probably not a very niche opinion, but the Brian storyline dot dot dot. It feels physically painful to watch. Do you remember the fan reactions when these episodes first came out?

Oh, wow, Clara.

From the moment Brian appeared, fans went completely berserk.

I mean, they lost their minds.

Their reaction was so much stronger than we ever expected, and we actually started scrambling and pulling back on some of the plans we had. Because just this spy shot of the two of them talking, where Pam even references Alyssa, people got so upset.

You know, our longtime editor Dave Rogers, who Jen and I just had lunch with? He directed this episode, right? And we were catching up with him and we told him we were about to break down this episode. He's gonna share a bunch of audio clips. But the first thing we asked him was about this Pam-Brian storyline, and here's what he had to say.

I have a pretty strong opinion on the Pam-Brian arc. I don't have any issues with Brian being a potential threat to Jim and Pam's relationship. He's supposed to be, he's supposed to, you know, that's what he was there for was to, you know, be someone like, Oh, is this gonna put a deeper wedge in between Jim and Pam, who are already fighting? But that never bothered me, I had no issues with that and I had no issues.

Dave, I hear you, I hear what you're saying.

Yeah.

And we did discuss this when we were kind of playing out this storyline. And I guess the excuse we came up with is that we haven't really followed any of Jim and Pam's real-life friends unless they showed up at an occasion like, for example, the christening. Or maybe how, like Jim's friend came in to play a prank on Dwight. Like, we don't know a lot about their personal lives or their personal friends, so that's how we thought we could get away with it.

I would even say there's times where we've gotten a little nugget, even in deleted scenes. That, like, Jim might make his usual salmon, and we're like, Oh, Jim makes salmon. We really don't know about their lives at home.

Like, yeah.

So that wasn't as big a jump for me. It was just weird, though, to see such a cutie patootie who had been, i guess, there with Pam all along. He's very fit, Chris, he's like, super fit.

Yes, the cutie patootie that you are referring to is Chris Diamantopoulos, who played Brian, the Boom operator. And it occurred to me that I hadn't done a good introduction of him because we're hoping to have him on the pod.

Yes.

But I will say I did read with him, I did auditions with all of the final contenders for Brian the Boom guy. And this was one of those times when, just like when I read with Rashida for Karen, it was like, Oh, it's you, of course, it's you. Like, he ran away with it and he was so wonderful. And, you know, here's a little tidbit of trivia about him.

No way.

Yes, if you go to Disneyland and you ride the ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. That's him as Mickey mouse. But he's also like the current voice of Mickey Mouse in all kinds of animated stuff.

That is making my brain go, what?

Because it's like, because I just picture him.

I don't see that voice, that's crazy.

Yeah, and I would make him talk to me as mickey mouse on set, because it was, I mean, it's crazy. If you close your eyes, it's mickey mouse.

That's wild.

I don't know if he comes on the pod, if he'll be allowed to do it or not.

Oh, he might not be allowed to, but we can, like, play a little bit of mickey mouse.

Oh, maybe we can find an audio clip of him doing it.

Okay guys, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just know that's Mickey mouse. Brian, the boom guy. Does that make it easier to like him? Knowing that maybe when you watch the show, you're like, I can't hate Mickey mouse.

Oh man, but they definitely can hate Brian, the Boom guy. I felt bad for him, it was like him and Lindsay, man, they got so much heat for playing these characters.

I think that Chris, Lindsay, Rich Summer and Rashida Jones should all go out to dinner sometime and talk about what it's like to play a character. Trying to come between Jim and Pam. I'd love to record that dinner.

Yeah.

Well, this episode is gonna start with Clark approaching Dwight in the break room. He heard that Dwight is gonna be interviewing people for a new sales position, and Clark would like to get the job.

Yeah, basically, Dwight has to find someone to temporarily take Jim's place while Jim is in Philly, and Dwight is really excited. He's looking forward to having someone at his desk. Clump that really gets him, you know?

Yeah, he says, you know, like someone who knows the difference between a slaughterhouse and a rendering plant.

Duh jim.

I looked it up.

Did you really?

I mean, I knew what a slaughterhouse was, because it's in the name, you know, that's where you slaughter animals. But I was like, What's a rendering plant? Do you wanna know?

Is that where they repurpose parts of the animals?

Yes.

Oh.

Yes, that's exactly right. Didn't know that.

Neither did jim.

That's right.

I have a call sheet tidbit for you.

What is it?

Our first day of filming this episode was Monday, December 12th, 2012.

Oh well, lady, we've started doing this as well. When I send him my fan questions and production questions, he now sends me back a photo as well. I love it, this is fun.

He's the cutest human.

Clark is really gonna pitch himself for this job. He reminds Dwight of some of the sacrifices that he has gone through for Dunder Mifflin in his short time here. But Dwight has a talking head, where he says Clark has no chance. Dwight is going to interview Rolf, who fishes with hand grenades, and Trevor, who will laugh so hard you'll puke your pants.

Here's something that Dave shared with us on our lunch. Jenna, which is that in the initial draft, Rolf wasn't included, remember?

Yes.

And that Dave was like, what?

You can't not have Rolf.

And Dave pitched so hard to have the character of Rolf be in this episode, and I have to say some of my favorite moments are of Rolf.

Well, on that note, I have a little tidbit that Dave shared with us. For a scene that comes later, I'll save it.

Save it.

It's about Rolf.

It is I need everyone to go to two minutes and 20 seconds.

What for?

Dwight has super flat like flatty flat, bangs like super flatty bangs.

Did he have a hat on?

No, I think maybe someone got a new flat iron in the hair and makeup trailer. Please note flatty bangs at two minutes 20 seconds. They're real flat.

Well, next up, Dwight and his flatty bangs are gonna antagonize Jim and Pam. He's gonna tell them there's gonna be a new alliance, and it's gonna be Dwight and a friend. Against Pam. Pam is sort of worried.

Jim has a talking head, I don't know. It kind of annoyed me, I felt like he was a little bit flippant.

What bothered you about that?

It just seems like a little blase about the state of affairs. If you will like a little bit of like to the camera. Like, Oh, things are kind of crappy with the missus. Whoop-bo, boop-a-do whoopsies, oh boy.

You do not usually get so hot to trot about Jim, but here you are.

Maybe it's because I'm in my cozy pajamas and my robe.

It's starting, I'm just really comfortable, Sam. If you're listening, it's starting.

Yes, sam.

So Clark and Rolfe are now in the conference room and they're waiting to interview. This is now the waiting room, although Rolfe says to Clark, you're interviewing. I'm getting the job, which was very nice of him, very funny, yeah.

Dwight now has a talking head where he says Rolfe is his best friend, and he's the man. Cool, calm, collected, sweet guy can't be rattled. And then this cuts to a scene where Rolfe is just yelling, like yelling at the sweetest little bunny. He's like he's bending over in the grass, yelling at a bunny.

We got a fan question from Stacy F. in Santa Cruz, California, who said That bunny that Rolfe is yelling at at three minutes and 36 seconds is perfect. Please tell me about the bunny actor and how the Wranglers got the bunny to turn away from Rolfe as he is yelling at it? Well, Stacy. Steve Burgess told me that the bunny was from Bob Dunn, and if we get to interview Bob Dunn, we will ask them, How do you train a bunny to disregard someone who is yelling at them?

The transportation costs more than the bunny.

Yes, it was more expensive to transport the bunny than the bunny charges to appear. Yeah, yeah, it's a good thing the bunny can't read.

He didn't get a good deal.

He didn't.

Everyone else made more money. Jim is now on the phone. He's assuring his athlete teammate that he will talk to David Wallace today, but says, Don't get your hopes up. And we learned that athlete lost a really big investor last week, and his coworkers want Jim to ask David Wallace for some money. That's gonna be awkward.

Yeah, so he says. They lost a big investor last week. Remember? They also lost a big investor when Jim couldn't drive home for the recital, so have they lost two big investors now?

I'm worried for athlete.

I know.

Well, Rolf and Dwight now loudly, very loudly approach the desk clump, where Dwight and Jim and Pam sit. Dwight's saying that chair's gonna be yours and this desk. And Jim's trying to talk on the phone. And Jim's like, I'm on the phone and Dwight goes, No Doi, who says that anymore?

Is that out? I think that's out, you know what that is? That's an ick.

That's an ick.

Well, Rolf says to Pam, you better like Norwegian black metal because I don't wear earbuds. So that's what's in store for Pam if Rolf gets the job, and, you know, Pam tries to brush it off, she says. You know what, it's just a seating arrangement.

Well, next up in Andy's office, Dwight is gonna look over Rolf's resume. This was my favorite interview of all the ones that Dwight did. And I think we need to hear it. So I've got your resume here, but it's not telling me everything. A lot of that information is private. How do I know you're qualified to evaluate me?

I've worked here for 12 years, I'm one salesman of the year.

I'm an assistant to the regional manager. I think I've heard everything I need to hear. Wait, wait, wait. No. I mean, if you need to know more, you can call David Wallace, I'm sure he'd give a reference.

I love it so much. I really want to have an interview. Where I hand over a resume and I've redacted it, there's like, redacted those bars, those black bars.

How do I know you're qualified to know these things about me? I just loved it. James Urbaniak is so great as Rolf. That's another person I would like to talk to on the podcast.

Yes, see, next time we rewatch this episode, we'll have James Urbaniak on.

That's right.

The redo of the rewatch is writing itself well. Next up is Trevor.

Yeah, and apparently Trevor is a real professional who loves to jump on people like he actually jumps on people.

Yeah. In his interview, Trevor seems blindsided by the fact that he's going to be asked questions he has clearly never interviewed for anything before, I guess. And we got a fan question from Carly O. in Chicago, Illinois, who said, Wouldn't Oscar recognize Trevor and be mad that he's interviewing at Dunder Mifflin after trying to break his kneecaps?

Yeah.

Carly, If you look in the background over Trevor's shoulder, kind of through the blinds. You can see Aaron and Oscar at reception, looking in on the interview. So I think that this was meant to express Oscar's concern.

Yeah, I think you're right, Clark and Jim are now gonna have a moment. Clark asked Jim for permission to review the price sheets before his interview. And Jim wants to see if Clark's gonna be a good desk mate for Pam. And he's liking him.

That's right, Clark is now in Dwight's office and he is doing a good job at this interview, that Dwight is really trying to make him fail.

That's right, he's asking him a whole bunch of questions, and then Clark says, That's just a classic no-win situation. So I'd Kobayashi maru it, and Dwight says, Damn it, perfect answer again.

Were you wondering what that meant?

I was.

Well, then you'll be happy that we got a letter from Anne-Marie Kaye in London because Anne-Marie Kaye, thank you very much, is gonna explain it to us.

Is it Kobayashi from the usual suspects?

No, it is a Star Trek reference, Oh.

But it's not a real ship, this is a simulation.

It's a simulation, however, in the simulation, if you don't cross into this enemy territory, a hundred people will die.

In real life or in the simulation?

In the simulation, So the simulation is asking you, what do you do? what do you do when there's no good, right answer?

Oh you Kobayashi maru it.

Yes, Captain Kirk famously hacked the simulation, lowering the Klingon's attack shields so that he could win. So that he could pass into the territory without a hundred people dying, and also without starting a war. And so this is the sort of cheat that Clark is calling out in his interview.

But no one was ever in harm's way because it was just a practice.

Lady, I will tell you again because you have been worried. I'm worried. It is a simulation the whole time. you will not accept that it was a simulation.

Okay, okay.

No one was ever gonna be harmed, lady.

All right.

Also, if it wasn't a simulation, it's still a TV show.

Well, yes.

So, in either scenario, simulation or not, it's just a television show storyline. And everyone was always safe.

Everyone's okay.

Including people from this made up universe that doesn't exist.

Okay, thank you.

Good, don't worry.

I needed to get that out of the way.

You're so sweet in your worry about them.

Well, Jenna, on that note, I think we should take a break and when we come back, I have a Mallard update.

No, you do not.

I do.

We get to find out about the band Mallard today. I did not know this was coming, sort of, you'll see, oh no, we'll be right back.

Well, this is definitely gonna be a letdown. I'm just gonna, Oh no, I'm just gonna put that out there, or maybe you tell me so.

Well, I have been keeping myself from googling it all this time.

And do not google it.

I didn't.

OK, because I got to the bottom of why this bird was banned, and it's pretty embarrassing.

What?

Not for the Mallard.

Oh.

But for me?

What is it?

Well, you know, when I finish my document each week for the podcast, I go through and I do a misspelling and typo pass.

No, no.

And well, Microsoft Word suggested the correct spelling, and I hit fine. Here's how it actually read on the website.

No.

The Mallard had been banded from the state of Louisiana since 1981.

I want to apologize to the Mallard Bird.

Community for that typo. And I then had to find out what it meant for a bird to be banded, and here's what I found out.

This update exceeded my expectations. So basically, what we learned was that this bird had migrated from Louisiana, that's all.

That's it.

To Arkansas not been thrown out.

He had not been kicked out, he had not been kicked out of the state of Louisiana. He just flew to Arkansas. His mistake, though he was doing okay in Louisiana, he'd lived a ripe old age.

Yeah, thank you so much, because you know, what if I had googled Band Mallard from Louisiana?

I want you to know, I typed in the band Mallard Duck, from Louisiana in 1981.

This is a very good reason to continue to do Mailbag episodes.

Because we got a question for me to look up Mallard.

Yeah, and look where it led.

Oh, I want you to know. I feel very well versed on banding birds now, sort of like, because of my shame, I really went deep into bird banding and watching videos about migration.

Thank you so much for that update, Angela.

You're welcome.

Should we get back to this episode?

We should, because in the conference room, a real cast of characters has gathered, waiting to interview. They're all of Dwight's friends, plus Moe's.

We got a fan question from Vicki S in Little Elm, Texas, who said I would love to hear the story behind bringing back all the amazing characters in this episode. For job interviews, this felt like such an Avengers ensemble moment in the best way. Please give us all the details.

Vicki I was so excited about this too. And here's how it was described in the shooting draft interior bullpen. The office is staring with concern at the conference room where Dwight's Army of Freaks is assembled. Nate Moe's Gabor Zeke, Trevor, Wolf Melvina and Sensei Ira. Some are looking over notes, preparing nervously to be interviewed, others are stretching pointlessly or taking photos of everyone in the office with a cell phone.

Wow.

Dave Rogers also talked about this scene and what it was like to have everyone back. Here's what he said.

God, that was a pretty fun episode. Getting all these people together, all these people from Dwight's past, it's kind of like a This is your life for Dwight. It was pretty fun. This was something Greg Daniels really wanted to, have all these weirdos together in one room and see them interact with each other and with Dwight.

It was really fun.

And all of the actors were really, really up for it. They were just excited. Everybody was so excited to be there and they knew we were kind of doing something special. Just having all of these, you know, Dwight friends together. Side note James Urbaniak, who plays Rolf, is originally from New Jersey and his father, Frank, ran the Marlboro Recreation Summer Camp program that I went to for many summers as a kid. So we chatted a little bit about his dad and the camp that I went to.

That's quite the cast of characters. I will also add that ultimately, Heday interviews as well.

Yes, well, I asked Steve Burgess about how this came about as well. And he said that Greg and the writers made a list of everyone that they would want for the episode. And like you mentioned earlier, Angela, we shot this during the second week of December. But Alison Jones started reaching out to people the week before Thanksgiving. We almost never reached out to people that early for things. But Steve Burgess said Alison and her associate Ben, did an amazing job of trying to coordinate everyone's schedule to see who could be available this same week of shooting.

I'm sure Mike was so excited to get dressed back up as most.

I know.

Well, everyone else in the bullpen is looking in to the conference room and they're not happy about it. They say they don't wanna judge, but these people smell. Meredith says, Hey, if I ever get that bad, will you tell me? and Kevin goes, I tell you this all the time, Meredith.

I know, and she says, walked right into that one.

I love that exchange.

Well, we asked Dave about directing this episode and any shots that stood out to him, and he mentioned this scene. Here's what he had to say.

You know, from a directing standpoint, I don't really have any groundbreaking shots or any crazy camera moves, or even, you know, strange editing things. In this episode, you know? Most of the action takes place in the conference room, the bullpen and Andy's office. But I will say I do get a kick out of the shots of the weirdos in the conference room, where the main cast is just looking at them from the bullpen. It's like they're looking at a zoo or a fish tank behind the glass window.

I totally get that.

Yeah, Moe's is up next for his interview and he's really padded his resume. So it's like, why would you put this on there? We live together, I know everything about you.

Yes, so Moe's does what Moe's does, and he runs away.

Yes.

Steve Burgess said We had to use a photo double for that part. That's not Mike Schur running no way.

They really got the Moe's rundown, whoever they were.

I know.

Clark watches Moe's out the window and then he's gonna ask everyone how they heard about this position. Nate's response is my favorite line in the entire episode and I'm gonna play it.

Okay.

So how'd you guys hear about the position?

My mom, Dwight, called my house, but he didn't realize that I had already moved out. Because my mom and I are quarreling because I can't stay out of her stuff.

Yeah.

I can't stay out of her stuff. It made me laugh so hard, like, what is he getting into her tupperware? like, what is he messing with?

Go figure.

20 years.

Angela Martin is in it for the long haul.

She sure is.

And now everyone's about to turn on Jim.

Yes, it's because of Jim that now they might have to work with one of these oddballs that Dwight's bringing in.

Well, we got a very impressive fan catch from Maddie N in Cocoa Beach, Florida, who said around 11 minutes and 30 seconds. When everyone is talking around Pam's desk about who the next hire will be, Pam says Quote I'm in a position to vote for Nate and that just feels wrong, but her lips move differently, like, what she's really saying is that just feels weird.

Why were you dubbing?

I don't know because I looked at the script.

And my line was supposed to be, that just feels off.

I was supposed to say off.

I wasn't supposed to say weird or wrong.

Huh, I don't know why we did this. I don't remember going in and doing any kind of dubbing. So I think they must've grabbed that word from a different take and put it on this take, yeah.

That's a good catch.

It's a really good catch. Oh my gosh, the next scene is just Cringe at Jim's desk with The Call with David Wallace.

Oh yeah.

Oh my goodness. This is when Jim calls David Wallace because he's trying to get some say in who is hired so he can protect Pam. Yeah, but instead, he is gonna learn that number one, David Wallace is gonna cut his pay in half to pay for this replacement. And two, he tries to ask David to be an investor, an athlete, and David cuts him off mid-sentence.

I know.

Thank you.

Why don't you go upstairs and interview for the new position they're hiring?

He's genuinely thankful, he's like, thank you for this information, I will.

We're now gonna see a montage of all of Dwight's odd friends doing things around the office. One is drying his pants in the bathroom, another one is at the vending machine, one tries to touch Daryl's hair, and the rest of the coworkers have had it.

Yeah, so we got this fan catch from Chris Kay in Vancouver, British Columbia, who said? At 13 minutes and 55 seconds. Is Phyllis sitting in the back annex by HR? Why would she be back there? And I looked at Angela, and she is, she's sitting right there.

Yes, well, I have the answer for you. There was a really big storyline for Aaron, Pete and Phyllis in this episode. It went through the entire episode and the whole thing was cut. There's a lot of it in deleted scenes if you have the DVDs.

Great.

The storyline all starts because Aaron is trying to get a bank account and Pete is helping her online set it up, and here are the clips.

Now you just need a password needs to be six letters long, at least one capital and a number.

A okay, b, c-d-e-f okay.

So, security questions What was your mother's maiden name?

I don't know.

Okay, how about what's your father's occupation?

No clue, I don't know who my dad is.

Oh, that's right, I'm sorry.

What is the middle name of your oldest sibling? I don't know if I have one. What street was your first home on?

Wow, they do not make these orphan friendly, do they? mm-mm.

AW, I know. So. Then Aaron decides to approach Phyllis because she knows Phyllis had a child the same time Aaron was born, and maybe Phyllis might have some clues as to Aaron's origin story. So they approach Phyllis, Phyllis says she's sorry.

Well, I remember Angela, and when I read that fan question, I went to the script as well. And after they see the video, they realize she was born at this one particular hospital. So her and Pete go take a walk in the neighborhood near the hospital. And they wonder, like, Oh, is this maybe where she grew up?

Right, her neighborhood. There's a very sweet line where in the nursery on the crib, the name just says St Margaret's, and Aaron goes, Oh, my original name was St. Margaret's.

Well, we asked Dave Rogers about this, and he sent us in an audio clip explaining why this entire storyline, this very elaborate storyline, was cut. Here's what he had to say.

You know, often in our episodes we have scripts that are way, way longer than the time allotted to the final broadcast of the television show. So a lot of stuff gets cut out. Sometimes there's a beat here and there, or a runner, or a scene, or multiple scenes. In this case, we ended up removing an entire storyline from the episode, which had Aaron and Pete exploring Aaron being an orphan. They go to talk to Phyllis.

You know, it is so like Dave to reach out to us. If he ever had to cut something that we had done, he would always reassure us. He's so thoughtful, just so, you know, this wasn't your performance.

Yeah.

This was a story thing, this was a time thing, this was a whatever. we just didn't have time to tell this story.

Yeah, he's a standup guy that way.

Yeah.

Now Dwight is gonna interview Wolf, but this interview goes off the rails really quickly.

Yeah, it really does, and I think Dwight's starting to get nervous. He's now gonna interview, Hide, Yeah.

With Dave, yeah.

Yes, and he told us how they didn't confirm Rolf for the episode. They didn't have James Urbaniak confirmed to be in the episode until after we already started shooting the episode.

Yeah, he wasn't even on set till, like, day two or something, yes.

But Dave told us he was so hopeful that it would work out that. He shot this scene with a blank note card up in the corner and he wrote Rolf on it in post.

That's right, that's right. He put a little placeholder just in case they got him on that cork board.

Yes.

Dwight's in a tough spot now. He's actually kind of rolling around on the floor in Andy's office, and Melvina wants to know if he needs to be changed. He says, No, he does that himself now, and she says, Well, are you gonna have a decision soon?

And then a few more of his friends come in and they promise, Listen, no matter who you choose, we'll still be your friend. And Dwight's like, Yeah, I mean, even if I choose none of you, they say, Well, that wouldn't happen. You wouldn't drag us all down here and waste all of our time to pick none of us.

Yeah, that would be insulting.

So Dwight is gonna have to team up with Jim.

Yes, he's gonna seek out his enemy because he has no choice.

And he says, Jim, will you please pick someone? And he basically says, I don't wanna hire any of these people. You can hire Clark. But you have to break the news to everyone and we're gonna make it seem like it was your decision.

Dwight says It turns out my standards for coworkers are higher than my standards for friends. He couldn't imagine any of them in the old Golden Gray, and yes, he did design uniforms for Dunder Mifflin.

Hey, as a talking head, he shows us the uniforms, they are summer, winter, jungle and formal. We got a fan question from Megan B in Toronto and Martha B in Malta, who said who drew the Dunder Mifflin uniforms and were they given any instructions by the writers? Well, this was such a quick pop, but I loved it so much I went to the script.

One of the things that was really fun.

Was Dwight's talking head where he shows off?

You know, sketches of Dunder Mifflin uniforms that he designed? I do remember giving small notes to color them in so they'd read better on camera that they weren't just like, you know, pencil sketches. What's really interesting is that when we got into editing, Greg actually thought they were too fashionable. And he had us reshoot with new versions, and so we had alternate versions. We shot a new version of the Talking Head, where the uniforms really leaned more into the military.

So Dave is so amazing and you know what, he saves everything, too, Jenna. We're kind of both like that.

You are digital clutter buddies.

We are, except his are organized.

It's true.

But, you know, I looked at all of those sketches, and they did remind me so much of the sketches that I saw Alicia do over the years.

Me too.

Such a good artist and it had her sort of style, so I feel like they were hers. But I will put them in stories so you guys can all see.

Next up, Jim is gonna break the news to all of the applicants, he says. I am hiring none of you, Dwight pretends to be outraged.

Jim's like, tone it down, tone it down.

Yes, exactly. Ralph is like, I know what this was, I know you're behind this. I wouldn't open any suspicious packages, or maybe you should open them.

You do not wanna cross Ralph?

You do not.

All of Dwight's friends start to leave, and they're kind of unsure what they're gonna do for the rest of the day. Then they decide to go paintball without Dwight. He is bummed and creed as they leave, kind of sneakily joins them in leaving.

Yes, we got a fan catch from Emily B in San Diego and St. Louis, who said I'm not the best at fan catches. So I was pretty darn proud of myself for noticing this one. Dwight's friends all leave to play paintball, and we see Creed run out after them, presumably to join them.

No, ladies, he actually went.

But he's not in the picture, I know.

Here's how it was in the shooting draft. There was a tag written for the episode where they all go and play paintball, and it said Exterior paintball. Field Day Creed is on his knees, begging for his life as Wolf holds a paintball gun to his head.

Ah, Wolf, I'm on your team.

Okay, I'll tell everyone everything. The hobbit and the old woman are hiding in the porta potty.

Oh my gosh.

So I knew about this tag, lady, but I didn't know Creed was in it.

Yes, and Creed ultimately gives up. Melvina and Troy. I guess they were hiding in the porta potty, like you said, but here's my theory I think Creed took the picture.

Oh, that's good.