Search Committee, Part 1
2023-04-19 01:15:23
The Office co-stars and best friends, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, are doing the ultimate The Office re-watch podcast for you. Each week Jenna and Angela will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scene stories that only two people who were there, can tell you.
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I'm Jenna Fisher.
And I'm Angela Kinsey.
We were on the office together and we're best friends, and now we're doing the ultimate office rewatch podcast just for you.
Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you.
We're the office ladies.
Hello.
Hi hi, well, Jenna, I think we should just jump right in. We've got a lot to discuss. Why don't you tell them what we're talking about today?
Search Committee Part One, Season 7, Episode 25, Written by Paul Lieberstein, directed by Jeff Blitz. Here's your summary. Desperate for a new boss? The employees of the Scranton branch assemble a search committee, but they are less than impressed with their applicants.
The search committee is Jim, Gabe and Toby.
The pasty crew, I'd like to call them.
That's a pretty good nickname.
The pasty crew will be interviewing you.
Dwight really wants to be considered for the job, despite the fact that he fired a gun in the office. He is not a candidate, but he is going to make himself a candidate. All right, are you ready for fast fact number one?
I've been waiting. You said you had something fun.
Yeah, fast. Fact number one is that this episode was originally 75 pages long.
It's like a small phone book.
I mean, movies are often 90 pages or 100 pages.
Y'all, it was thick.
It was I reached out to Paul Lieberstein, he said he really enjoyed writing this episode. And I also found that the writers created a 23-page Cliffhangers document. This was a document that included cliffhangers for every single character in the cast.
Ooh.
This is my favorite thing since finding the show. Bible, I read all 23 pages. I wish I could just read them to you now.
Every character had a cliffhanger for the whole season.
Every character had, like a cliffhanger, and then they said, like, what that cliffhanger would then become for season eight?
Ooh, but then they didn't use all of them, they used like one or two, that's right, okay.
ANGELa Your storyline about getting engaged to the senator is in the cliffhanger document. And also the fact that people are trying to decide if they should tell you that he's gay, also in the document. All of that made it into the script, made it into the story, but the writing staff clearly loved the storyline because they dedicated seven pages to it.
Come on.
It was the most pitches of any character, the second most pitches were on a Ryan Kelly storyline that never came to fruition.
What was their cliffhanger?
Basically, every pitch was that. Ryan finds out he has a child.
Oh, no way.
Or that Kelly is pregnant with Ryan's child?
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, in some cases, Ryan's child is like 13 years old, in some cases, Ryan's child is three. One of the pitches I really liked was that Ryan and Pam get together for a play date with their two toddlers. That was sort of fun.
There was also a pitch for Jim and Pam that made me laugh out loud, which was that they were gonna find out that. A disgraced person, like a person who does something that goes viral in a not great way, has the name Cece Halpert, and they have to decide if they're gonna legally change her name.
Because everyone's talking about whatever show is Cece Halpert online.
That's funny, right? Yeah, that is funny.
I mean, I feel like I know people who have famous people names, and I always wonder, what's that like? Like, I know a regular guy named Steve Martin. Oh my gosh.
What happens when he makes a reservation? He lives in California. Steve Martin, but not Steve Martin, the comedian.
Yeah, like Brad Pitt, but I live in Nebraska.
I wonder if there's a Nebraska Brad Pitt.
I don't know, but that's a funny idea.
All right, do you want fast? Fact number two?
Yes.
Okay, the main plot of this episode is that Jim, Gabe and Toby are interviewing applicants to be the new manager. And this is gonna bring in a slew of famous cameos we have in this episode. Will Arnett, Warren Buffett, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais, Catherine Tate, James Spader and Jim Carrey? Jim Carrey is actually in part two, Yes.
But you get it.
Finger legs, guy.
Finger legs, that's right.
From Wisconsin said Was this episode sort of a trial run for which of the guest stars would be a good fit for the show in upcoming seasons? And Jake M, from Delaware, said When Paul Lieberstein was writing this episode, did he know who the guest stars would be? And did he write parts based on their strengths, or did they cast people after the script has been written?
That's a good question. Yeah, I would like to know that.
Well, I talked to Paul and he said, and then they started reaching out to people.
Cause, I swear, the way they wrote, Merv was Ray Romano. like, in my mind, if I had to cast anyone as Merv, it would be Ray Romano. So I was wondering which came first.
Paul also said that they had not made any decisions about who would be joining us as a potential manager for season eight. The cameo actors were not even necessarily being considered for roles, not even James Spader or Catherine Tate.
Paul also said The way we got most people was that they just called them up and said, Hey, do you want to play this part? and everybody they called said, Yes.
That's basically how we get guests on office, ladies, we just text or call someone and say, Do you guys want to come on our show?
And then they say, yes or no in some cases.
Or no, I'm filming in. Where was Keanu Reeves filming? Remember when we reached out, he was like somewhere like, like, seriously, he was where he was like, in Rome or somewhere?
You know, one of our big guest stars was Will Arnett, who I have done two movies with. I did a movie called Brother Solomon with him. It's a very funny scene where we are on our very first date and he proposes marriage to me in a restaurant and I have to awkwardly say no, but of course, people in the restaurant don't know it's our first date.
So they're rooting for him so awkward.
It's amazing. And then I also worked with him in Blades of Glory.
And then I reached out to him to ask him about getting his role on the office.
And he sent in audio clips.
Oh my gosh. This means we get to hear his voice because this man could read the phone book. To me, I love his voice, I don't know him at all, but I love his voice.
His voice is in my house all the time because of the Lego movie.
Oh, yes.
And, incidentally, Lego Masters was like our first big family show that helped us get through the beginning of the pandemic.
You guys love that show.
We love it. Here is what Will had to say about coming on our show. I remember getting a call, I guess, from my agent saying that. Paul Lieberstein, from the office, who's obviously the showrunner and one of the stars of the show, wanted to talk to me about a role. I knew that they were looking for a new boss on the show, the character of the boss.
And so we had a conversation or two and he'd said, Hey, we've got this idea and would you want to come and do it? And I also remember him saying, basically, to the effect, something to the effect of, if it works out, would you be interested in doing it? Kind of long-term? Joining the cast? And I was a fan of the show and of course, I knew a bunch of people on the show and thought, yeah, it would be great. And so we talked a few times and it was kind of left, like, well, just come and do this episode, just come and do this scene, and then let's see how it goes.
And I was, like, great. At that same time. I was also talking to NBC, the Network, about doing a pilot that Lorne Michaels was producing. Written by my friend Emily Spivey with Christina Applegate, and it was a great pilot. And I just remember that they were both coming around the same time. So there was a question as to whether or not I could actually do the office, even if I wanted to kind of longer term. Even though they hadn't actually said that they wanted me to do that.
But I do remember them kind of both coming around the same time and talking about actually doing up all night on my way to shoot the office. So anyway, I was a little confused as to what it was gonna be. So I remember all that because I remember he did end up doing that show with Christina Applegate. It's really funny, yeah.
And I remember being super bummed. Because he and John Krasinski are really close buddies and I had worked with him before. And John and I were campaigning heavily for will to join the office.
To be the new branch manager.
Or just come on our show. We just like him so much. He's such a good guy and we wanted him to be on the show so badly and then he ended up doing that other show.
AW, Well, at least he got to come play one day.
He did, and I did ask him, what was it like to be on the set and doing that scene? And here is what he said. You come onto a show, especially a show like The Office. That was really good and everybody was at the top of their game. And you just don't wanna stand out and be terrible.
And you wanna make sure that you're not, you know, coming in at a different volume from everybody else. But I was really excited because I was doing a scene with John Krasinski, who was and still is one of my good friends, and that was exciting and fun. And then with Paul Lieberstein and Zach Woods, and we didn't really talk too much about what it was gonna be.
It was just kind of I'd read the scene and then, you know, we just they're like, all right, they're ready, let's go. And we just started. We just shot it and it was pretty quick. My memory was that it was kind of over before I knew it. And how long am I supposed to talk for?
Is this am I just like 30 minutes? I was born in Toronto, I'm a taurus.
I remember it felt like it was over before it started, too.
Well, if you guys love Will Arnett the way we do, go to the DVDs. We have an extended producer's cut for this episode, and his scene has a lot more fun stuff. His character has a very funny story about being in the Navy, so if you like, Will Arnett? go to the DVD extras?
All right, fast. Fact number three we've talked about all the people from outside of Dunder Mifflin who are applying for this job. But there are three internal applicants, they are Daryl Philbin, Andy Bernard and Dwight Schrute. And after this episode aired, NBC.com posted their resumes.
Oh, no way.
You found them? Yes, Officetelly..com still has them, and I thought I'd read a little bit from each of their resumes. Let's start with Daryl. This is sort of alluded to in the episode.
You know, Joe is gonna say, Why is your resume so long? Aren't you the same Daryl Philbin that has only had two jobs at the same company?
His resume is four pages long.
Yes, well. His resume does confirm that Daryl has only ever worked at Dunder Mifflin, and it lists his starting date as June 1999..
Under work experience, he has a line that says quote upheld the highest standard of safety amid the warehouse. The D'Angelo Vickers incident was the first happening of coma and will not result ever again. I can almost promise you that end quote.
All right, on Andy's resume. Something I found very charming is that the font for Cornell University is larger than any other font on the entire page, including the one for his name.
That tracks.
It is also in bold and all caps. It looks like Andy worked. Quote Brief Stressful, yet invaluable, invaluable.
Invaluable.
Okay, stints at AIG, Bear Stearns, Enron and Lehman Brothers between 1996 and 1998.
And then, in 1999, he started working at Dunder Mifflin's Stanford, and under his special skills, he, of course, lists frolf and banjo.
I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned his summer studying to be a fromage.
I know the fromage-er.
Yeah, fromage-er.
Finally, Dwight K. Schrute III Did we know he was a III?
I feel like somewhere, he said. He was Dwight K. Schrute III. I feel like that.
Maybe I have no memory of it.
Okay. He lists his titles as assistant regional manager, manager, Slash, Sales Representative, Beet Farmer, Slash, volunteer, sheriff, deputy and Respected Capitalist. According to his resume, he has only ever been employed at Dunder Mifflin, and he started in 1995..
That's his only job.
Yeah.
I'm surprised by that.
Me too, by the way. His special skills are listed before his professional experience, and here are his special skills.
Wait, they're at the top.
They are first on the resume.
That is beautiful.
Right?
That is how I would love every resume to start, that is so good.
It actually would be kind of nice. Yeah, you really are gonna get a sense of the person first, and then you're gonna learn their job experience.
Okay, go.
All right, he is trained in the art of surveillance, possesses a Purple belt in Goju Ryu, master of one-upmanship, expert in beat-related agro-tourism, Senpai at My Dojo, sci-fi pundit, table tennis champion, skilled at guitar and recorder, survivor of twin embolization syndrome.
That's a nice call back.
Right and proficient in pre-industrial and religious German. Now, if that resume came across your desk and you read that, I would be dying to meet this person.
Of course, it's like, what Joe says in the second part, like, I like, a little bit of crazy. Yeah, we'll see where this goes.
All right, that's all I got. Those are my fast facts today.
Well, they were fantastic. I think we should take a break because when we come back. I talked to Creed Brattain about this cold open and I can't wait to share with you.
Wait to hear it.
Well, we are back and Creed is gonna zip into the parking lot in a really nice silver convertible Porsche, his license plate says. New manager, you guys. I asked Creed about this scene and he told me. He said. Ange, I had a Porsche back in my grassroots days.
Yeah.
And he said, So I told the producers I can drive this car because they were maybe gonna get a stunt driver. He goes, No, no, no, I got this, I know how to drive this car.
I'm familiar. And the way the scene was gonna be done is that Creed would pull into the parking lot, come to a screeching halt. Matt Sohn, Our camera operator, would be standing in the parking lot with a handheld camera.
Okay, right, yeah.
They told Creed where to stop, but they were like, Hey, Matt, we're gonna make a little wall of sandbags around you. Smart. If Creed misses the mark, he could hit you.
My gosh.
And Matt was like, No, no, no, I trust Creed, I know he's got this.
To be fair, are like a few sandbags gonna really stop a speeding Porsche.
I don't know, okay, so Creed was like, Matt trusted me. I was like, I got this, he said. I pulled right up to him, hit the brakes.
Matt didn't even flinch. He goes, look at the camera, it doesn't even budge.
Wow, yeah.
Nerves of steel. They got the shot. And then he said, When he gets out, Creed tosses the keys and says, keep it running, but there's no one there. Yes, he said. That was the third toss because the first two tosses the camera couldn't find the keys.
They had to kind of figure that out. Yeah, where are you tossing those? Because he doesn't look right?
Right?
But I love that. Creed was like, I'll drive the Porsche.
Yeah.
I got this.
Well, I remember talking to Creed recently and he said to me, Jenna, when you get to the part where I'm manager.
Oh yeah, I'm so glad you talked to him.
We had such a fun conversation. I was like, Creed, you got to come in, and he said, Well, and he calls me Pumpkin, you know? he's like, Pumpkin. I'm going to New York, I'm recording my new album, You guys. He's 80..
He's recording a new album.
It's coming out soon, right?
Yeah, he's working on it, I told him. I said, Creed, when your album comes out, you got to come on and talk to us about it. And he was like, Oh, I'll do that.
Oh, and play us one of the songs in studio.
Yeah.
And I got a little tidbit from Randy Cordray, you know, you mentioned that his license plate, says new manager, new Mgr. They actually had to clear that they had to make sure that there was not a Pennsylvania license plate with that exact lettering. And there wasn't, so we were able to use it.
Wow, I know I feel like if you're a diehard office fan and you love personalized plates, that's like a nice little nod.
Hey, if you live in Pennsylvania, you should get that plate. I mean, maybe it's not still up for grabs, but it was at the time.
Creed is going to start off with a talking head. He's going to say, Do I love being manager? I love my kids, I love real estate, I love ceramics.
I love my job, I love wrestling. While he's making this speech at 28 seconds, Michael's world's best boss mug is on his desk.
Yes, because Michael gave it to Creed.
Yeah.
Oh, I missed that. That's a good catch.
I also love that we found out that he loves his kids. What excuse me?
Yes, Nicole W. from Maryland, was confused. same as we are. I'm sorry Nicole, we don't know.
We don't know. I mean, Creed's show Bible must just be pages long.
I know.
At some point before our rewatch ends, I think you need to start off an episode just reading Creed's show Bible.
Okay, I like this idea.
Creed is dictating to Jordan a bunch of things, and he asks her to figure out what language this is, and then he speaks a bunch of gibberish.
Yes.
I went to the shooting draft to see what all was scripted, this was all scripted.
Okay.
Except it did not describe the language that was up to Creed.
Oh yes, what the gibberish would be.
What it would sound like, what it would be. Creed told me he made that language up off the top of his head. But he had given himself a little backstory for his character. That someday everyone would find out that Creed was an alien. Oh okay, so he decided his made-up language should have an alien sound, so that's what he was going for.
Mm-hmm.
Do we need to hear his made-up language?
I feel like we do find out what language this is. I finally get the clock near the star, emersed in the star bright sky. I mean, I hear the alien in there, I hear it.
Obviously, Creed said he loved running a conference room with only Kevin and Meredith in there. And he says, On this side of the room, Stanley, Phyllis, Jim, Ted, Elroy. on the other side of the room, Pam Meredith, Phyllis, Creed himself.
I missed that, Oh my gosh.
And then, you know, we have his bullpen meeting where he has his poster board that says Bo body, and he's having everyone help him make this acronym. Kevin says B is for business. Creed gets very excited and Creed in real life wanted to point something out to you guys.
He said For those of you who pay close attention, you've probably caught in past seasons how the character Creed would get his coworkers names wrong. He said Well, this was a choice I made for my character and I never shared it with anyone. I never told anyone, I never asked for permission. I would get the scripts, and people's names would often be accurate, especially in the beginning.
And I would purposely say them wrong while we were filming and no one ever corrected me on it, so I just kept doing it. But this time, he said, because Creed was the branch manager, he thought, No, I'm going to get Kevin's name correct. Oh, what a great tidbit, I know.
I thought that was so cute. Also, at 59 seconds during the scene, you can clearly see John starting to break. Jenna, he looks over at you and he's about to lose it.
Oh, I know. We had a fan question from Brittany in Sunbury, Ontario, who said, How on earth did you get creed as manager? How many takes did you have to do for those? and how many times did John Krasinski break Brittany every time?
He broke every time and I think what Angela is pointing out is you can see it like we had no footage of him, not breaking or almost breaking.
He is so clearly not Jim. At 59 seconds. I know he's just trying to turn away, I think, to avoid camera, but the camera caught him. Well. Now we're going to have the opening credits. You guys remember Michael would always take his dundee and kind of put it into position on his desk, right?
Well, now that he's gone. Each new boss has a little moment where they take a figurine and position it on their desk. In the opening credits, a little recap for you. In Inner circle, D'Angelo adjusts a southwestern figurine. in Dwight K. Schrute, acting manager, Dwight adjusts a shogun statue.
And in search committee, Creed adjusts a fan made in the shape of a Sumo wrestler. Yeah, I had to ask Creed about this.
Oh.
And here's what he said. He said, Ange, that little fan slash Sumo wrestler statue was on my desk on the very first day of filming.
It was on his original desk. Yes, wow.
He said it was with him for the entire run of the show. And he said it was one of the things he took when the office wrapped. And he has it to this day.
That is pretty cool.
He said It's really odd looking, but he was like, I have to have it.
This is reminding me of my pen, with the wonky broken giraffe on the end of it on, like a little broken spring. Yeah, that was in my pencil cup, and I still have it in my pencil cup at home now, yeah.
Just some odd trinket.
Some odd trinket. I have the cat paperclip holder that has the chipped ear, it's on my desk from day one.
I wish that I had that weird, like you remember it. We talked about it a long time ago when we were breaking down our desks. Like back in season one, it was like a plastic, colorful thing that had like spiky things coming out of it. Oh, yeah, someone knew what it was, yeah.
Different colors, It was like different colored plastic things on it. I mean, wow, could I be describing it worse? I don't think so.
I wish I had that thing, but it did eventually disappear. Like when Pam took it to Michael Scott Paper Company, it was in her box, but I don't think it ever returned.
Well, at one minute and 25 seconds, Creed is playing the guitar in his office. For some women, I was wondering if these women had a name, if they were described at all. All I could find in the shooting draft is that. Creed tells Jordan his friend Ace is stopping by. Hmm, not sure. this lady looks like an ace. I asked Creed about this scene and he said, Actually there were two women.
One is dancing, one is seated. They were both dressed kind of like hippies. And that they just told Creed to play his guitar, and that's his actual guitar, and he's actually playing.
Nice.
I guess Creed just has friends. Stop by.
Those two women, they were just background performers. That was a great day of work. I mean, you get to just sit in an office and listen to Creed play guitar, that's kind of awesome, yeah.
I love every time Creed played his guitar. Well, now we're gonna go into the conference room and we're gonna meet our first applicant. His name is Fred Henry.
A man with two first names.
Oh, good point. Fred Henry was played by Will Arnett. Will kind of talked a little bit about this scene. I love it that he has a three-step plan to double their profits, but he's only gonna share the plan if he gets the job. And then they're like, Well, how do we know you have a plan?
And then he's like, I wouldn't have a plan if I didn't have a plan.
And then he shares just one step of the plan.
One part of one step, which is color code, said documents. TM. Yeah, I wanted to discuss. I think he's right to not share his plan to double their profits, why would he do that? I mean, I get it.
They're like, but we need like, are you the real deal? Because then they could just take his idea they don't need to hire him.
Of course, yes.
You know, this is a complaint of a lot of writers in Hollywood, which is that they'll get these meetings for a different show. And then part of your meeting is that you sit down and pitch ideas for this television show or this movie, but it's not. You don't own your ideas. Like once you give them in the interview, they can just like, not hire you, but they can be like. Those were a couple of good ideas.
Yeah.
I mean, it makes sense to me. When is it your intellectual property and when is it not?
Lady, I one time auditioned for a show and I improvised a line in my audition, and I did not get the part and the line I improvised. When I watched the show was in it. This is what I'm saying.
I don't know. I think if they wanted the line, they need to hire you, if they want your good idea, then you need to get the job. That's how I feel about it. You heard it from me?
I'm with you.
Jim's gonna have a talking head where he says, we are the search committee, and the search committee is him and Toby and Gabe, and they're looking for their candidates.
And Jim did not know that Gabe's last name was Lewis.
Hey, two first names again. GABE LEWIS Oh, you know, my husband has two first names or two last names.
That's true.
Lee Kirk Have we talked about this?
Yes, and sometimes you go places and they're like Kirk Lee.
Always, always 50 of the time. Hello, Mr. Lee.
Now we're gonna go to the elevator. Stanley, Daryl and Phyllis are all heading into work. They seem excited. They know Daryl is gonna be interviewing today, and I think Daryl is kind of everybody's favorite choice for new manager.
Yes, in the extended producer's cut, right after this elevator scene, there's a scene with Stanley and Phyllis. And they're telling the camera operator that they're excited about Daryl being the new manager and they're rooting for him. And that didn't make it in the broadcast episode. But you kind of understand their energy on the elevator because they go right into this one-on-one with the camera that they're rooting for Daryl.
Daryl is the most capable, most sober choice.
Yes, he's the most level-headed.
Yes, absolutely. He's also shown himself to have great business ideas. He is who should be manager now. Craig Robinson did an interview, though, around this time, where he said I don't want the job. I like being just Daryl supporting character.
He was not interested in leading conference room scenes and doing what Steve Carell did. So he was like, I don't want it, like Craig Robinson was like, I don't want Daryl to be manager.
Well, Andy really wants to be manager and he's going all out. He has a pin that says Andy for manager. And he's putting up posters around the office with this catchy slogan If you are on the search committee, please consider Andy.
Is he running for school president or is he applying for a manager job? This is exactly what I thought.
It made me think of this guy when I was in high school, that ran for student council. And he made posters, his name was Doug, and he made posters that said, plug for Doug. I know he put them everywhere and I feel like this is kind of like Andy with his slogan and posters.
I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. What plug for? I can't even say it.
I know, I know. Plug for Doug.
I know Jenna, I'll never forget it.
Because we were like, What are you doing? This led me to Google American campaign slogans over the years.
Okay.
Oh my goodness, what a ride. I cannot share all of them, there are way too many, but I'm going to give you a few. And I made up my own categories. Oh great, the categories are old timer.
Puntastic and hey now, oh boy.
These are not in chronological order, they are in order of my categories.
Okay.
Here we go from the old timer category. Abraham Lincoln Election 1864. Don't change horses midstream.
That was his campaign slogan.
That was one of them.
That's like a saying now, I know he coined that saying, or was it a saying, and then he used it as a campaign slogan.
What we do know is Franklin Roosevelt liked it so much he used it again in 1944.
Really, okay.
Here's another one from William McKinley. Election 1900.
Let well enough alone.
Oh, no. His campaign slogan was Let well enough alone, Yep.
What does that even mean? I don't know. This is why it's the old timer category now from the category Keep It Simple.
Okay.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as Ike, Election 1952..
I know this one I like, Ike exactly keep it simple.
Next one and keep it simple. Dwight D. Eisenhower again in 1956. I still like, Ike, Oh, there you go.
And now, from the Puntastic category, Ulysses S. Grant 1872 grant us another term. Wow, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
I was very torn within myself whether to label this category puntastic or wah-wah.
I see okay.
Alfred M. Landon Election 1936 Let's make it a Landon Slide. Wah-wah and Thomas E.
Dewey election of 1944.
Do we or don't we?
No, no, that's not real, it is real. Do we or don't we?
Do we or don't we?
Why are you even giving people the option to don't we, I know, in your campaign slogan?
Well, lastly, from the Hey now category. Al Smith Election 1928.
Al Smith Someone named Al Smith ran for president.
Yes, Jenna in 1928.
Campaign slogan Make your wet Dreams Come True.
No, what?
This was referring to what?
Wait, listen. This was referring to his stance in favor of getting rid of prohibition, he was referencing alcohol.
He was gonna make all of this, was he?
Well.
Did we not have the term wet dream back in 1920? Whatever, I don't think so.
I don't think so.
That campaign slogan did not age well.
It did not.
For him.
Well, Buckle in Richard Nixon in 1972 had an official slogan that was Keep it simple, Nixon Now.
Okay.
But a few of his supporters and non-supporters had slogans in the Hey now category.
Okay.
Here are two that really caught on with his supporters. They can't lick our dick.
Wait, wait, wait, what? What is happening?
I'm telling you, next one, don't change dicks in the midst of a screw vote for Nixon in 72..
I don't understand what is happening, I know these are slogans.
These are slogans that caught on with his supporters. People had a lot of fun with his name, and now one from folks who did not support Nixon.
I mean, I can't imagine his supporters ones are looney tunes, okay?
Dick Nixon Before he dicks you.
Now I like that one.
Okay.
I'm gonna have to say, that's clever.
Well, that's everything from Hey, now, and that is my coverage of campaign slogans.
That delighted me, I loved that, thank you. Erin is very impressed by Andy's campaigning and she really hopes that he gets it.
And now we're gonna kick off a little storyline between Erin and Phyllis. We hinted at this in a previous episode, this idea that Erin might be Phyllis long lost daughter.
And it seems like they both really want it to be true.
Yeah, it's really sweet.
We're basically gonna find out that Erin was born in around the same time and region where Phyllis gave away a child. And the chances are slim, but they wanna find it out.
Yeah, and I guess they've done some sort of a test and they're waiting for these results. But in the meantime, Phyllis is gonna take on a very maternal role in Erin's life, and it's really quite sweet.
Now we see Dwight at his desk.
He's showered, he's eating a bag of chips and reading the newspaper at four minutes, 55 seconds. I wanna know what is up with Rain's facial hair?
Thank you for bringing it up because you said he's unshaven, but he's what, what? It's a patch, there's like a, but only on one side. Yeah, it's like a rectangle of hair that's slightly longer than the rest of the scruff.
Slightly longer and a different color.
It's very bizarre.
What happened?
It's very, very odd. I don't know if you noticed, but there is a computer game on Dwight's computer. This was, you know, to further prove that he's not working, and that is unusual. You know, we're not gonna see the character of Dwight ever playing games on his computer.
He's all business.
All business, but I liked that little detail that they made that point. He is not working.
I did also notice next to the weird facial hair. Pam's plant, Yeah, it's a very nice plant.
Oh, thank you, I didn't notice it. Now we're gonna move into the conference room, we have another person interviewing for the job. He's very concerned about being reimbursed for his mileage and his long distance phone calls.
This character was played by Warren Buffett, you guys know, the billionaire Warren Buffett. A lot of questions about how this came about, and it's a very unique story. Jonathan Tee, from Utica, New York, actually wrote in and had some insider details. And I'm gonna read you what he said.
So, he said, I have no idea if the cast remembers filming this, but here's the short film I saw featuring the cast of the office. He said. There's a conference room, meeting and in walks. Warren Buffett, who announces that Dunder Mifflin has been bought out by Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett, is now the CEO of the company.
I remember this.
Yes, everyone in the cast, we're sitting in the conference room, we react. Then Dwight stands up and says, I will be your number two, Mr. Buffett, and Mr. Buffett says, Sorry, Dwight. But that position has been filled.
In comes Charlie Munger, who approaches Dwight and says, Dwight, right now there are 87. Wait. then he adjusts Dwight's tie and says 88 ways I could kill you right now, Jonathan says. Mind you, these were not impersonators, it was the cast of the office and Rainn Wilson as Dwight. And he wants to know what are the details behind filming this little scene for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting.
How did this come about? did this happen during search committee? Well, Jonathan, we totally remember filming it, and it directly led to Warren Buffett's cameo on the show, so here's how it went down. Warren Buffett reached out to the producers of the office and asked if we would film something for his annual meeting.
This is something we have never done before as a cast. This is not something that we would do, but Paul discussed it with us and in exchange, we agreed as a cast that we would do it. If Warren Buffett would make a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Make-a-Wish was a charity that we as a cast had supported.
Over the years, we had a lot of people come through as part of their wish.
We had a very, very generous donation to Make-a-Wish and so we agreed to have him and Charlie Munger come to the set. And I guess while he was visiting, we were filming this episode. And Greg Daniels said, Hey, would you also do a cameo on the show? And Warren Buffett agreed. And that is how that all happened.
It was just a sort of crazy bit of timing, however. Do you remember the little thing that happened when Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger were there with the bathroom? Do you remember the bathroom thing that happened?
No.
You don't remember this?
What?
Okay, we don't know which one of them. Oh, I do.
I do.
One of them used the prop toilet. Yes, oh my God, yes.
Yes, we don't know who it was.
No one told them that the bathrooms.
In the kitchen are fake.
Yes.
They're all prop toilets, there's no running water. Oh my God.
So one of them peed in the fakie urinal and it was like, there's no, it doesn't go anywhere.
No, it's just like peeing in a bowl.
Yes, yes.
At least it was Pee.
That's right, I mean, to be fair, they really look like real bathrooms 100. I can't believe it hasn't happened before, frankly.
But after that we put up signs.
Yes, we did.
That said, this is a fake bathroom. And they even like, Remember they would put, they would tape over the toilet, and they only removed it when we were shooting.
I totally forgot about that.
Yeah, that was crazy. Angela, you're very happy in this next scene.
I know.
You know, something's coming.
I know the senator has invited her to lunch at the Botanical Gardens, Scranton's hidden gem. She's very, very excited.
Kevin warns her not to eat any berries that she doesn't recognize.
Is Kevin eating berries at botanical gardens? probably.
Probably Angela. I did something that I hope you will enjoy, which is a mini deep dive on the best botanical gardens in the world.
Oh, I would love it, let's hear it.
Because this should be like bucket list for us all, right? The number one best botanical garden in the world, on every list I looked at, is Kew Gardens in England.
No.
I have not either. We have to go. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, there are more than 50,000 plants, including the world's largest water lilies. But you're gonna like this, Angela.
Oh, they have hydrangeas.
Probably, oh.
They have a giant greenhouse that is separated into different zones. Each zone creates a unique climate so that they can host all kinds of different plants. And they have a whole section on succulents.
Oh, yes.
I think you would like it.
I would like it. I loved how many hydrangeas were in England, I would literally make the family stop on our walks and I'd be like, I need a photo with these hydrangeas.
Have you considered a coffee table book that is just photos of all the plants that you've taken pictures of on your walks and on your travels? No, just for yourself.
Maybe when I'm like an older lady, I'll do that and hummingbirds and give it as a gift, that's what everyone wants.
Give it as a gift to yourself, all right. Also noted on these lists were the botanical gardens in Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Norway and Cape Town, South Africa. In the United States, there were three gardens that were featured on the best of list. They are the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, which I've heard a lot about and haven't been to yet. It was modeled after Kew Gardens.
The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, and I am very proud to say, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri.
Hey.
My parents go all the time. It has an 8,000 square foot butterfly house, it's absolutely gorgeous. Way to go St. Louis.
If I ever get to come home with you, I wanna go there.
Of course, okay, yes. They also have the corpse flower. Do you know about the corpse flower?
It's a giant thing, right?
It's very big, and when it blooms, it only blooms for, like, 24 hours. Yes, and when it blooms, it smells like rotting flesh. Ooh.
My parents stood in line for it because it bloomed a few years ago in St. Louis.
Did they witness the corpse flower?
They saw it, but they said by the time they got in there, it had started to not smell anymore. So it blooms for 24 hours, but the smell is only like six to seven hours, like it doesn't smell the whole time. Yeah, so they missed the smell, but they saw the bloom.
Well, maybe that's not the worst thing.
I know I agree, and so ends my mini deep dive on botanical gardens.
I really wanna go to the one in England, I mean, listen, I will go to all of them. You will never, ever have to twist my arm to go on a road trip to see plants and flowers. I just feel like I should go on record saying that.
So, noted Lady, should we take a break, because when we come back, we're gonna meet a fantastic candidate? Robert, California and I just I need to marinate in it because I loved this scene so much.
Talk about a lesson in scene study in how to command a room.
Yes.
James Spader as Robert California in this interview is not to be missed. So let's take a break and then we'll come back and talk about it.
We are back and we are about to meet a former refinery equipment salesman named Robert California.
Yes, Toby is gonna ask, like, how does your experience as like a refinery equipment salesman, sort of translate into the world of paper? And Robert, California has a speech that it needs to be heard, it does, let's listen to it.
I sit across from a man, I see his face, I see his eyes.
Now does it matter if he wants $100 of paper or $100 million of deep sea drilling equipment? Don't be a fool, he wants respect.
He wants to be younger, he wants to be attractive. There is no such thing as a product, don't ever think there is, there is only sex.
Everything is sex.
Do you understand that what I'm telling you is a universal truth? TOBY Yes, I mean, I hung on his every word. I mean, the scene continues. And it's so rich, yes.
We had a fan question from Susanna H. in Clermont, Florida, who said, Did they pick James Spader and then write Robert California for him to play? Or did they create Robert California and cast James Spader? Because he's perfect for it? I kind of mentioned this earlier, They created Robert California first, and then Paul had the idea of James Spader to play this role. It is perfect.
I loved it. I know for certain that James Spader memorized that word for word, because later in season eight, when we go on to work with him, he was like a word for word actor.
It's exactly as it's scripted, yes, and he talk about someone who just has such a presence. And Paul and Zach and John's reactions as their characters to him are so great, too. They are terrified of him, they're mesmerized by him.
And then his like look to camera at the end.
Yeah, Paul said. James immediately knew how to put a button to the camera and it was pretty amazing.
Well, a great line for anyone in an interview. If anyone ever says to you, we think you might be overqualified. Just look right at him and say, Do I look like someone that would waste my own time?
It's amazing.
Well, his interview is done, Robert California is gonna exit the conference room and he sizes up the whole bullpen.
And you can feel his gaze.
Like it affects everybody, Jim says that he creeps him out, but he might just be a genius.
And now it's time for Daryl's interview, but Daryl, I think he thinks he's just gonna get the job. He has not prepared a resume.
This is very on Daryl like cause in the warehouse, he's so prepared, but I think you're right. I think he thought he was a shoe in.
Like, this is a formality. Yeah. We got a lot of mail about this storyline with Daryl, and a lot of what you said about how you kind of can't believe. It seems out of character that Daryl wasn't more prepared. This was a criticism.
All I could think of was maybe he's never had to do an interview. Like maybe at the warehouse he was hired and worked his way up or something. But it didn't track for me.
It didn't track with a lot of fans, and it also didn't track with Miles McNutt at the AV Club.
Oh, miles.
This was one of his main criticisms of this episode.
Okay.
He said.
He's not wrong, Miles, you're not wrong.
You're not wrong. I kind of agree. This felt a little too far out of character.
We are now down in caffeine corner.
For one of my favorite scenes of the whole episode.
Dwight is in the corner and he is watching an exchange between Merv Bronte and Robert. California.
Merv Bronte, played by Ray Romano. He's coming in for his interview.
As perfect as James Spader was for Robert California, I thought Ray Romano was perfection for Merv Bronte.
Yeah, Merv just sort of says, like, Oh, you know, just how is it? He's making small talk, yes.
And Robert, California, because he is just mischievous and somewhat sinister, plants a seed of doubt. He's like, you know, that just looks like a place where everyone is just working till they die. It's like, dreadful up there, it's horrible.
Yeah.
And Merv gets in the elevator, and Robert is in Merv's head. Merv gets in the elevator and he's like, Now I don't even know if I want this job.
Yeah, well, Dwight doesn't care for what Robert California has said about Dunder Mifflin. And he's like, What qualifies you to make these judgments? And Robert California just stares him down and Dwight's like, stop it, stop trying to figure me out.
Already figured you out?
Oh.
It's already done.
I mean, I loved the two of them going toe to toe here.
How fun for rain. That must've been so fun as an actor.
Yes, I mean, I feel like, also, of all the applicants we see Robert California interact with other office members, Yes, you know, mostly the applicants are just with the search committee. But I have to imagine, I know that, Paul said. We had no plans to bring James Spader back for season eight. But I have to imagine that. When they got in the editing room and they saw this scene between Robert California and Dwight Schrute, I mean, I just as a writer, I would have begun having like, a flurry of ideas.
How he affects everybody is so great. And of course, this is a plot point. We need to motivate Dwight to reapply.
That's right.
And now Dwight is like, I'm not gonna let this guy get the job and he's gonna reapply.
Merv, meanwhile, is gonna have a sandwich during his interview.
He has a line that made me laugh so hard. He says. They ask him why he left his other job, and he says, I'm leaving my other job. Because they were all jerks, really. Then he opens up his tupperware and he starts eating a sandwich, and he says, You know all of them, you had your jerk wads and your jerk offs.
So just between the wads and the offs, I had to get out of there.
I also noticed how Ray Romano, he didn't bite into his sandwich, he tore off a piece of sandwich. Do you bite your food or do you tear because it's a way to eat your sandwich?
I mean, here's the thing we don't really know. Ray Romano. Maybe he normally eats a sandwich by just biting into it. But I love the character choice that this man, Merv is like. All of a sudden, annoyed, annoyed that he's there.
So him like tearing at it, talking about the jerks and the jerk wads. It just fit for me, for the story. But yeah, I generally bite into a sandwich.
I think I'm gonna put this in my acting journal that I keep of behaviors, you know, remember, I told you, one of mine is like lady who applies lipstick immediately after finishing a meal. That's like a character trait.
I'm a laughter lady.
Yes.
Yes, but she's like, How are you doing?
Yes, and like, then when I get a role, I go to my little journal and I see if any of these little quirks apply to my character. Well, I'm gonna have to put down person who picks sandwich instead of bites into it.
Or bring sandwich to a meeting. Yeah, yeah, Jenna. I was in a movie called Struck by Lightning and I was the high school counselor. The director was Brian Danily, and we were talking about this scene.
It's between my character and Chris Colfer, who's a high school student. Chris Colfer actually wrote the script. And Chris and Brian and I were talking about, like, what would my character be doing? As students were coming in to talk to her, and they were saying, Well, maybe she took this meeting on her lunch break, she's eating a sandwich, like through the whole scene, and I was like, Oh, yeah, that'd be great.
And we decided on a big, sloppy sandwich, and it was so difficult to eat it and talk at the same time. Things were falling out of the sandwich. It was a hot mess.
So Jenna, for your actor's journal, I'm just saying, be particular about the sandwich.
Do I want a large, sloppy sandwich? Maybe I do. It sounds like it was a hit.
Difficult to deal with in the moment.
But provided some good comedy.
I can put the bloopers in our stories and you tell me, okay, if it was the right choice.
Well, we have Erin Sher to thank for that. Ray Romano Cameo You remember that Erin was a writer on Everybody Loves Raymond? Yes, and she asked to reach out to Ray Romano, and Ray said yes immediately.
I loved, loved Ray Romano as Merv.
Angela has returned to the office in a chauffeured car.
Yes, you guys. In the extended cut, Angela shows, hank her ring first before everyone else.
Her giant ring.
Yes.
What is she Naomi Judd, I know?
And Hank goes, Damn girl, and I say, I know, and then she goes up to the office and she goes up to the bullpen. So here's the thing about this ring. I remember Phil Shea coming over to me with a box of rings and they wanted it to be a showstopper.
They wanted it to be a ring that Kelly would be impressed with.
That's a good note.
So it was about like three carats with little diamonds on either side. I think it was a cushion cut or emerald cut, I can't remember. It was like one of those, right, like the square rectangle, but it was really big.
Jenna, I googled what rings that size cost and they are so expensive. Oh yeah, I had no idea.
Yeah, your state senator.
He threw down some cash for that.
Yeah, something I didn't mention from the Cliffhangers document and the seven pages of pitches that involved your character. Marrying the senator is that? In the end, there were several pitches where we were gonna find out that the senator was corrupt. And you were gonna have to deal with whether or not you turn him in.
So he's getting money from somewhere.
I mean, see, they planted the seed with this ring. How does he have this money?
I don't know.
Maybe it's a fake ring.
Well, Angela starts to tell their engagement story. She says that he tucked a flower behind her ear and he got down on one knee to ask her to be a senator's wife. And Pam laughs, and I'm saying right here and now that this is some Pam snark. She couldn't help herself.
He talked about himself in third person, and Angela's like, Yes, Pam, not everyone is as informal as you and Jim dude, whatever, wanna marry me?
And everybody laughs, Pam's like, That's not how it happened.
And then one of my favorite things is, Angela says. And then I saw flashes, reporters were there, they always find us, and everyone was crying, even his aide.
Oscar's gonna have a talking head where he says Angela is engaged to a gay man, and he says as a gay man and as Angela's friend. He's horrified. But as a lover of elegant weddings, he's excited, so Oscar has decided you're gonna have a nice wedding, he's pretty sure.
And he also finally can't hold on to this information anymore. He needs to let people know that Angela's engaged to a gay man.
Guess who is gonna interview for this job? Now? It's Andy.
And listen, if you ever need anyone to give you a pep talk, don't ask Phyllis, because this is what she says. Are you sure this is a good idea? I hate to see you disappointed. Well, right off the bat in his interview, Gabe is not having it.
No, he's just sort of throwing out odd, unrelated questions.
How many windows are there in New York City?
But then Andy throws down some serious knowledge about the sun, which causes Gabe to flip out and scream Shut up about the sun. Emma M. in Florida, wanted to know if that was scripted or improvised. Emma, that was scripted, shut up about the sun.
I feel like that would maybe make like a fun, ironic coffee mug.
Shut up about the sun.
Meanwhile, Daryl is working on his resume. And, as Miles McNutt said, this is the clippy joke, right?
Yes.
Remember, Clippy, this is old tech, it was part of Microsoft.
Yes, when you would open a document, a little talking paperclip would come up. I remember Clippy.
I looked up Clippy. Clippy's original name was Clippet, and when Microsoft got rid of it years ago, Time labeled it one of the 50 worst inventions ever. Oh my gosh, there's a list of the 50 worst inventions, yes, and Clippy is on it.
But nearly three decades later, guess what?
What?
It's coming back.
Clippy's coming back.
Yes, according to the internet and also an article I read at Seattlemet.
CoM. Last year, Microsoft officially revived the office assistant that they debuted in, Office 97.
The character replaced a plain old paperclip in Microsoft 365 to help liven up the company's emojis and indulge a social media outpouring. Clippy can now permanently live in word files, Outlook, emails, or other common workplace apps. Well, listen. Though coding circles treated Clippy like new coke pop culture, never quite quit the retired paperclip. When Daryl Philbin needed help with a resume for the season seven finale of The Office, he pined for Clippy.
Wow.
And then it goes on to list all the different times Clippy came up in movies and TV shows. So one of the points this article is making is that while the coding circles thought Clippy was total crap, pop culture loved Clippy.
Here was the thing. Clippy would come up, you're typing a document, and Clippy would be like, Are you sure you meant to say it that way? Yeah, and it would give little suggestions or like, if you needed help. You could ask Clippy, How do I change my margins? Clippy, and then Clippy would tell you, but you could also just shut down Clippy from the beginning.
Yeah, so it wouldn't talk to you.
Yeah.
Well, Clippy lived on in TV and movies, and now it's made a comeback.
I don't know how I feel about it.
I know.
Now we're gonna get to a bit with Pam and Creed. That gets quoted to me all the time and has been turned into a meme, and it is they are the same picture. Oh, here's what's gonna happen. Pam overhears Creed, telling a longtime client that Dunder Mifflin is going out of business. And she's like, Oh, no, this is on her.
So she hands Creed two photos and says, you have to spot the seven differences between these photos. Corporate needs this.
Yeah.
It's very important.
Corporate need this, no questions.
No, and then Pam simply has a talking head where she says, they're the same picture.
Of all the things, Pam says, I had no idea that was one that you get like, quoted or said to you, or used like on the internet.
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