Second Drink: Business Trip with Rich Sommer

Hello everyone and welcome to your second drink of business trip. This is the episode where Michael goes on a business trip with Oscar and Andy to Winnipeg. He meets Concierge Marie. one of my favorite characters. Andy drunk dials Angela, one of my favorite scenes, and Pam finds out she's failed art school and has to stay another 12 weeks if she wants to really graduate. And we got to interview Rich Summer for this episode, all about his arc as Pamps Art School friend, in quotes, friend.

Mm-hmm. And listen, we also recently did an interview with Wendy McClendon Covey about her time as Concierge Marie. It's episode 259, if you want to check it out. She's delightful. Yeah. Well, I mentioned in our breakdown of this episode that there were some awesome deleted scenes, specifically between Oscar and Andy. I talked all about Oscar being the fun stopper on the airplane, and I played a little clip.

Well, you guys, all of the Oscar and Andy stuff from the plane has been added back to the Superfan version, including more that isn't even on The DVDs. I watched it. It's really great. And it really sets up the scene in the bar later. Because it's actually on the plane that Andy decides he's gonna be Oscar's wingman. Yeah. In fact, there's this whole scene on the plane where he tries to set him up with the guy sitting in the window seat of their row.

And speaking of this storyline, when we ask people their favorite moment from this episode, we got this letter from Carrie J in Omaha who said, One of my favorite scenes from the whole series is Oscar in the bar with Andy trying to be his wingman. I love how Oscar plays the part. Like absolute perfect acting by Oscar. And everyone, the scene is also the scene with the drunk dial to Angela. I really think we need to hear it. If you don't mind me asking anything, you can ask me anything.

Thank you. I'm your wingman. It's just that I've sat next to Angela for a very long, very long time. Right ooh. How can anyone stand that woman? What? What do you see in her? I wanna know. I see through a hard exterior to a little jelly in the middle. She Is teaching me to be a better person. Thank you. She's working really hard on that. and she's the softest skin I've ever seen and I can't wait to have sex with her.

You haven't had sex. No. Are you guys waiting to get married? Or I just like I don't know why we're waiting. Waiting for it. Andy, something is wrong with that woman. What is wrong with her? I'd like to know you should call her and ask her. I'd like to know what's wrong with her. I should call her and ask her. What is wrong with her? Do it! It's a collar. Oh my god, don't call. Don't call. Too late. Oh my god. Too late. It's silent. Now it's ringing. What is wrong with you? Why would you do it?

Does Oscar and he's not going to be able to do I don't know why you won't do me and I think it's a valid question. Are you drunk? This is Annie Bernard. I know who this is. I wanna take you to sex school. O que? Who is that monkey? Is somebody there? Are you drunk? I have needs. We will discuss this later. Neken! What? We'll discuss it later naked. I wanna see you naked. Uh It is such the perfect drunk dial. It really is.

And the two of them together, it's delicious. It's chef's kiss. I agree with you, Carrie J. It's fantastic. And uh he Ed played that moment so great because you know, being drunk isn't easy to play. And I loved it when he was like, It's Andy Bernard, I just like I I also love it when

You know, Oscar blurts out, Andy wants to know why you won't do him. And you're like, what? And you think maybe Andy is gonna like cover then, right? Like he's gonna be like, no, no, no, no, he meant he meant nothing. He just repeats it. So good. Yeah.

Well, listen, there were so many great things added back to the superfan version of this episode, including this very funny scene. Where Michael, before they go to Winnipeg, he's at the airport and he's changing money at one of those kiosks. Mm. You have to hear it. What is the heart of the Canadian economy? Money. And I am getting some. Thank you. Thank you very much. Michael how much money did you change? Two grand baby. Oh no, we're only there for one night.

Look at the commission rate. And there's a handling fee. Okay. Right, all right, chill out. Quick fix. Excuse me. Change your back. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Get as much as you can. Strippers do not take credit cards. Thank you. Why are you still changing money, Michael? You don't need cash. You get a better rate on the credit card. You only need cash for the cab ride. Do you understand? I'll see you at the game. Change it back. This is a smaller pile. That okay. Now I have eighteen hundred dollars.

It's amazing. He's lost money before they've even like done anything. He just stood there and just paid two hundred dollars to change his money back and forth. I know. So good. And the person that plays the attendant is so put out with him. It's really funny. Yes, they're very funny. There was also a little bit of an old tech alert in there too, because now everyone pays in a cab with like their credit card. Oh, this is true. There's no like cash transaction cabs anymore.

No, you just use your credit card or Venmo or whatever. Oh true. Oh well, we also got this letter from Caroline K from Dublin and it really made me chuckle. Caroline says, Hi ladies, hope you are both keeping well. Just an observation, Michael brought two huge empty suitcases to fill with souvenirs, but no sign of them on the way back.

Maybe they had checked them in already. It reminded me of when I worked for a dessert company and once had to travel from Dublin to Edinburgh with some frozen dessert samples. Yeah. The little case was full on the way over. We had our meeting and presented the samples to the client, and then the suitcases were empty coming home. I got stopped at security because they thought it was suspicious to be traveling with an empty case.

I could only laugh trying to explain my situation. They were grand about it in the end. So this was reminding me of how whenever we go on like a big long family trip. We never anticipate that we're gonna buy anything on that trip and we pack our suitcases totally full and then we're scrambling and we have to buy like some duffel bag or something. Yeah, some random bag to bring your your souvenirs back.

Yeah, so I think it was very smart of Michael to bring the two empty suitcases. Well, I wanted to round out this second drink with this letter from Soyan from South Korea, who writes us all the time. I know. So Jan, you're lovely. Thank you. lovely and I really especially loved this letter. And it has to do with this episode.

Here's what Soyan had to say. I've wanted to write this message for a long time because I loved that Pam gave up on art school. I know some people might say that decision wasn't very feminist, but honestly, it has given me tremendous comfort. In most sitcoms or dramas, when a protagonist makes a big career decision, everything works out in the end and they become very successful. But the office is different. It let Pam fail, and that's okay. Life goes on anyway.

Even when you fail in your work, it's okay. What matters is remembering that you tried. It's not your fault, and you are still loved by your friends and family. Right now I'm pursuing my own dream and it's a tough road. At the end of it, I might fail, but that's okay. I believe I will still find meaning and joy in my life one way or the other, just like Pam did. Love you, ladies. That is fantastic. Isn't that great? It's just so great and so true.

So true. I mean, how many things did we fail at before we got on the office, lady? So many. And all of those things were worthwhile. They always led to a new friendship. Or maybe like just enough money to pay the rent that month or something. Like everything I've tried in my life has not been a huge success. But there's value in the trying. Isn't it great? I loved that letter. I loved that point of view for this episode.

Same. Well, you guys, thank you so much for writing in. And now please enjoy our second drink of business trip. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on the office. And we're best friends. And now we're doing Just for you. Behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. All right, today we're talking about business trip. But first. We have a fantastic interview for you. Yes, we are gonna be talking with Rich Summer. Who played Alex? Art school Alex.

I know. We love Rich. We're good friends with Rich in real life. Yes. Um my stepson and Rich's daughter B are in a book club. You guys they meet every week. It's the cutest thing. The cutest thing. You might know Rich Summer because he played Harry Crane on all seven seasons of Mad Men. And at that same time, he was doing his arc on The Office as Pam's art school friend. Friend?

Question mark? And Jenna and Rich spent a ton of time together filming all those scenes and became really good friends. We did. We just had to talk to him. We wanted to hear his side of the story of filming that crazy scene with the little Bluetooth ear pieces from customer survey. We talked about it last week with Steven Merchant. Yeah. Yeah, we needed Rich's take on that. Talk all things the office for Alex and here is that interviewing. Rich Summer, welcome to office ladies. Hi, Ray!

Thank you. Hi, Angela and Jenna. Thank you. Oh my gosh, when we post the photo from this interview, Rich looks so professional. I can't believe you you're saying that. This I am in I am in a teeny tiny box. I just have a wide angle camera. It makes it look cool. I know, but you have the you have like the stuff that looks like egg egg carton, you know what I mean? You have like the real deal sound stuff. That's ten dollars at a a foam place in Burbank that I went to. We probably There.

Gone there. Will you text us about it later when we get done? Yes, I will. I also wanna share that as we were setting up this Zoom, my microphone broke. So I'm using a backup microphone. So I probably sound the worst of all of us. Rich is gonna sound the best. You look the most professional. Uh-huh. Really? Rich is what matters. You're what matters, Rich. We're here for you. We're excited to talk to you. We are.

Rich, we always ask everyone on the show how they got their job on the office. Did you audition for the part? Do you have a story? We have heard that Mindy was lobbying very hard for you. Did you know Mindy? To my recollection, uh, Mindy and I met at the SAG Awards, um, when you guys and the Mad Men cast were nominated. And Mindy was uh a fan of Mad Men and came up to me

And I was so excited to to meet her. And we had chatted maybe a couple of times, but she came up to me and said, Hey, I'm writing a part. Uh with you in mind on the show. Would that be okay if I My gosh. And what happened was like, yes, because you know, like everybody else, The Office was one of my favorite shows on TV. So it was a really exciting thing to have, you know, a an actor, writer, producer from another show, any show, say that to you, but to have it be one of your

your favorite shows that you are so excited to even step into that world. It was it was um incredibly special. Yeah. That is so cool. So is that what happened? They just offered you the role after she had written it? Yeah, they reached out and offered it. And I had a a friend of mine who, um, I hadn't told him yet about that and and he said, Oh, I just auditioned for the office and I was like, Oh, that's awesome. I I'm hoping to

audition for them as well and he said that yeah it's for this part. I guess Pam goes to art school and she's gonna meet some guy at art school and I was like, Uh-huh. Oh, good, good, good. And in my head I knew what Mindy had said. And we hadn't finalized anything yet and and you know how these things work in the business. They'll keep auditioning even if they have an offer out to someone or a or in conversation with someone, they'll keep auditioning other people. I'm usually on the

auditioning end of that where I'm throwing uh an audition down a hole rather than uh, you know, being the one that's actually being considered. But this was um one of those rare times. So as soon as the offer came through officially I I was uh I accepted immediately. But yes, it was I I I did audition for the office a time or two with uh Allison Jones, but I didn't get those roles and then this came through and it was um just an offer.

Well, Rich, uh you mentioned that you met Mindy at a SAG Awards party. Uh something people should know, I guess, is just that the cast of the office and the cast of Mad Men, we kind of glommed onto each other. We were um on the rise. At the same time, and we were kind of experiencing the same thing of being both casts that were basically unknown actors. suddenly on these really popular shows. And so we would go around to all of these events together and we all became really good friends.

It was a really um uh sort of spectacular odd marriage between the shows because we we ended up like you say, we w our group Because the way the way the SAG Awards work in particular is the entire cast of each show is is seated together at one or two tables, depending on the size of the group. And uh, you know, our and then at the party there's usually like there's this corner for Mad Men and this area for the office and this every show sort of has an area.

And our areas often ended up being near each other and at least ended up being sort of shared real estate. It was a very um it was a very it was a very cool relationship between the groups.

Yeah, some of my favorite memories from that time are are cast. hanging together. It was really cool. I remember people watching at the Mad Men party. There was a Mad Men like after party and Oscar Nunez and I sat on a couch and we were sidebarring as everyone walked by. We're like, look at this guy. Oh check that guy. Those madmen after parties sometimes uh I mean every show has sort of

The the people that you you're always like, I can't believe they watch our show. And I know you guys had that too. It was Very strange talk. Yeah. Huh. Ha ha. I'm curious, what were you told about the role of Alex before you came in? Did you get anything? to read and were you told specifically that you were an art school friend or you were a possible love interest? How was this role pitched to you? Well, this is this is gonna be this is this is the meaty part of the conversation, I suppose. I I

The way it was pitched to me was you know, s this was the beginning of season five, obviously. And the way it was pitched to me was that it would be A now I should also clarify, especially if Mindy is listening. I'm not saying that Mindy uh pitched me anything, it was conversational.

It was just sort of like we we think this is a character who's gonna be throughout this season. We think it's a character that's gonna be kind of like Rashida's character was, where it might be a little bit of another road bump for Jim and Pam. So when it started, that was definitely what was in my mind. But we filmed scenes that didn't make it into the show, and I started to kind of put together that the the response from the audience.

were so because your show how how long uh in advance did you guys shoot and then air? I would say only three to four weeks maybe. There was a pretty tight turnaround. really tight. Yeah. It it was enough time, or a short enough time, I should say, that the audience response to my first appearance was had landed before I was filming customer survey. Um and The they were not pleased. were not pleased. They did not want to see Pam Alex like with anyone, but Jim, oh man.

No and I who could blame them? After what they had been through for you know four seasons, who could blame? Blame them. Well, you have very kind of flirty eyes in your first scenes at art school. You're very flirty and you're right. Those scenes aired And all of a sudden, tiki bar is on the cutting room floor, right? There is a whole Alex storyline with Pam. Actually the whole Pam art storyline

isn't deleted scenes. I watch the deleted scenes for the podcast and every week I'm like, Jenna, oh my gosh, there's this scene and this scene and one in the hallway and at a bar and here and she's like, I know. How did it feel to watch those scenes get cut week to week? Did anyone warn you? As far as how it felt, uh look, I am very uh I consider myself fortunate that I have a fairly uh Uh, I don't know, um a comfortable ability to to to see where things fit in story-wise. And I could feel.

From the moment we were The second anybody said I this feels weird, this is too much too much uh consternation for Jim and Pam. I agreed. I mean, I again I was a fan from the beginning. Now, I would have loved to have gotten to be around more, but I also wasn't gonna be greedy. I was I remained delighted that I had the parts that I had. Um I do think it's a funny part of office lore because it seems clear to me at least.

that this was a sort of aborted storyline. Um, that they kind of cut bait when they could. Um and that was I don't know, I just think it's it How I feel about it is that it's a very funny, interesting way to have been a part of the office legacy.

Well, I was bummed that you never came to the actual set'cause we never got to hang out on set and you and Jenna would have stories and we were missing Jenna, you know, Jenna was who I had lunch with every day and I was like, gosh, why can't Alex just um you know, show up with Pam at work one day. Of course that would have completely like blown up the storyline. But we were sad you were never in the actual bullpen. Should we talk about this?

insane scene that we filmed for customer survey with Steven Merchant. First of all, did you crap your pants when you found out Steven Merchant was directing?'Cause I did. I did poop myself. Yep. Yes. Yeah, it was upsetting. I mean it was it was uh uh ten percent exciting, ninety percent upsetting. I had no idea, Rich, how many different ways you guys did this scene.

You know, we got the scripts and all the alts from James Carey and I could not believe it. Jenna told me, how many different versions were there, Jenna? Good night. Now I wasn't privy to all of those versions because as a as a guest actor I was really only given the script. On the day. This is how I remember it. And I I I've listened to you guys talk about it with Stephen and I

I I my memory's slightly different, but I don't know uh where where it goes off. I've certainly mulled over this aspect of the story a thousand times, so it's probably gotten altered as I've gone. But Uh the the here was my problem. My problem was that I had an inside I had a mole on the inside, and I don't know if I've ever even told you guys about this and I Wait I won't On the podcast. You had a mole on the set of the office? I w

I won't I won't name this person on the podcast, but this was a person who was not an actor who worked in in the production. And this person sent me the script. Earli he said, Oh you've got some great stuff in the guy. 다음 영상에서 만나요. Oh my god, I'd love I'd loved sh Yeah, okay, fine. Yes, it's a guy. So this person sent me the script, and I was uh in that version, Alex professed his love to Pam.

And I thought, oh wow. And as a it it left it open. Is this a send-off for my character or is this something that we may see him later on? I showed up on the day I was handed the size. And those sides were, as as you guys know, wildly different. That they had taken out any profession of love at all, made it purely about her sort of artistic sensibilities, and uh changed how that was gonna go. So when we were filming

Um, I will admit this is a fault of mine as an actor. I couldn't get it out of my head because again, everything we had been playing so far was that Alex had a crush on Pam. And like you guys said with Steven, um What Alex ends up saying is enough. It didn't need to be this on the nose sort of profession of of love and

implied, it's intrinsic. As Jim says, uh, you know, this guy's into you. I mean it's it's clearly there, but in the moment, I couldn't find the right level of demonstrative that Steven wanted. And the level that Steven wanted was zero.

that I was was continually pumping out was more in the neighborhood of like seventy five percent demonstrative. I couldn't reel it in. And in fact Jenna, to your question of pooping my pants when I found out it was Stephen Merchant, uh that was just a little uh that was just like a a little jitter compared to how I felt when Stephen Oh no.

He came up to me after a take and said these words. The words that have haunted me as an actor forever. He came up to me and said, I don't know why you're not getting this. Oh. Yeah. He was, by the way, a hundred percent right. I just couldn't do it. So uh, you know, um looking at Jenna Fisher standing across from me. John Krasinski is crumpled up into a ball under the table in that room reading his lines for the Bluetooth. He was there, John was there.

I remember he was there, but I didn't remember he was hiding under the table. Oh my god. Through all the takes. There was nowhere for him to hide in the room because it was a small like conference room and the cameras, as you guys know, were moving all the time. Everywhere. There was no safe space. So he just hid under the desk. Six foot three John Krasinski was curled up under the desk.

Yes. And I'm I'm just like mortified. Like this is the well, this is it. I'm never acting again, obviously, because Steven Merchant's never gonna cast me in anything. Uh Jenna and John think I'm absolutely out of my mind. I c it was It was a stressful day. It's all great now, but it was a stressful day.

Oh my gosh. Rich, I think you're being too hard on yourself and taking on too much of the responsibility because I was also told that Alex might be a possible love interest for Pam. Not that Pam would have feelings for Alex, but that she might have to manage his feelings for her. And by the way, I wanna say I only respected Rich in that moment. And so much so that we went on to do a movie together. We did the giant mechanical man, you played my brother in law, and you were so funny.

That's right. Giant Mechanical Man is a great movie, by the way. Great. And you guys are fantastic in it. It's a re I love that movie and I uh believe me When I in the in the month or so following my final day at the office, and and we had exchanged information because we, you know, we it was clear we were going to be friends, um, I I uh my recollection is when you and and Lee reached out.

to ask if I would come and do a table read for this movie that you guys were working on. It was s both uh uh so exciting, but also such a relief that you had not um uh r written me uh off after that day. Because it was it was just such a stressful you know, you know, you've had those days on a set where you feel like this is my last day on a set. I'm never acting again. Obviously I'm garbage. I don't know why I uh did this.

And usually I don't leave a day feeling that way. It's usually somewhere uh closer to the middle. Um but uh that day I left and I was just like, Oh, that that is that. That was that. I hope Mad Men goes forever because this Uh door has been closed. So it was such a relief. No one felt like that. Everybody thought that you crushed it. Really and truly. I I thought

I was rooting for Alex and I know I I'm not I wasn't rooting What? No, listen, listen now so I don't get hate mail. I wasn't rooting for Jim and Pam to break up. But I became like I thought Alex was so endearing that I just I want Alex to have a good life. I became that person. Like I hope Alex finds his person'cause he's so sweet and kind and I don't know. Rich, I have to ask, how did the set of the office and the way we shot and the way things worked differ from the way you guys made mad men?

I mean the ways we are similar is a very short list. Um the the Mad Men set the filming style was entirely different. First off, for the first Three, maybe four seasons of Mad Men, we were still shooting on film. So at this time when I was doing the office. we were we were definitely shooting on film. And that, you know, for anyone who's been on a set where they're filming with film, it's a it's a whole other process. It adds a remarkable amount of time when you're even just changing a film mag.

you know, a a ba uh the the cartridge of film, it has to be sort of taken to a dark place and dealt with so that it can be sent off for processing and it the turnarounds on scenes, uh you know, moving the camera around take Uh I don't know, not twice as long, but a l a lot longer. So The fact that on the office they would h hit roll and almost never stop until they were out of tape, as I recall, right? I mean it just yeah it felt like we were always rolling. Yes. Yeah.

you could kind of stop mid scene if you needed to and and adjust something. Whereas on Mad Men it was more um if we're filming everything has to be in order. And if we're if we cut, then everybody can breathe again. It was just a very um different type of precision that they were doing on Mad Men because it was obviously the look is not handheld. The look

uh on Mad Men was very uh carefully and intentionally composed. Not that shots weren't composed on the office, but it was just composed in a different way. It was much more fluid. We're watching the show now with our daughter. Um be she's thirteen and she's never seen it and we're probably three quarters of the way through season two. Now she knows just because it's in the zeitgeist that Pam and Jim end up together.

It is driving her bananas. Like, uh, and I haven't I haven't even thought to say, uh, if you think this is tough, wait till Rashida Jones shows up because she's just frustrated that, you know, Roy set a date. For the wedding and Jim was sad and B was like, This is terrible. When do they get together? I can't stand it. I got news for you. It's gonna be a minute. Yeah. Rich, she's gonna hate you when she gets to your park. Oh yeah. What's that gonna what's breakfast gonna be like at your house?

Well, I she she has been with me when I have been um recognized from the office. We were gonna Yes, do you get recognized as Alex? It I do. And it is amazing to me how often'cause sometimes um you know, as as as uh actors we get uh different people recognize us from different things and truly But it's gotta be half the time. It's the office. I mean I di I'm on screen for two episodes of The Office.

So its reach was just sort of uh sort of astounding to me. But I did my favorite one is when Beatrice was a baby. She I don't even think was a year old. We went to visit my family in Ohio. And we were getting on a connecting flight in Cincinnati. I'm walking my tiny, beautiful little baby girl down the aisle. And this guy leans into the aisle and he goes, Hey. Hey! And I sort of start and look at him like, Yeah. This stranger says Don't F with Pam and Jim. Ah

And he meant it, by the way. So I think people uh it was in those kinds of moments where I went, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is um it's better that Alex goes quietly. Yeah. And they go back to their thing so that I don't, you know, get kidnapped or anything. Oh, Rich. Well, you know, maybe Alex had to go away, but we're glad you got to stay in our lives. Yes. And Rich, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It was so great to see you. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this. Oh my gosh. I I'm just I'm excited that we got to have you on the show. I'm excited we got to take that trip down memory lane. Hopefully this has been healing. I hope it's been healing. Yes, I promise. Aw, thank you so much, Rich. We love you. Love you, Rich. Thank you. Love you too, and thanks again for you.

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That was so great. Thank you so much, Rich Summer. And now, Jenna. It's time to break down business trip. Over. It is season five, episode eight. Listen to this dream team, written by Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn. Office ladies folks, are you ready to go to The international business room. To Canada. It's not a good one. Time to go. Get your passport. Yeah. Yes! Let me give you a summary.

Yeah. Michael is ecstatic when David Wallace sends him on an international business trip to Winnipeg, Canada. Mm-hmm. He brings Oscar and Andy along. While on the trip, Michael romances the concierge and Oscar and Andy bond. Meanwhile, Jim and the rest of the office count down the days until Pam's return, only to be disappointed when she has to stay in New York for another 12 weeks to retake a course that she failed. Also, Kelly and Ryan get back together. Yes, they do. Yeah.

The deleted scenes on this one are delicious. I'll be sharing some of those. Fast fact number one, we have an awesome guest star alert. Yes we do. It is Wendy McClendon Covey as Concierge Marie. How do I love thee? She was perfection. You guys might know Wendy. She is the star of the TV show The Goldbergs. Yes, she plays Beverly. She was in Bridesmaids, so funny. Reno911, she is a member of the Groundlings Improv, and she's just an all-around amazing human being.

She is, and she was so delightful. We uh slid into her DM. We did. And I was like, Wendy, we have some questions. She was like, of course. And she sent us fantastic audio clips.

Of course we had to ask her how she got her role in the office. I was not expecting this response. No, me either. Hello Jenna and Angela, office ladies, gorgeous office ladies. So my audition process actually I did not have to audition for the office, but it came to me in an interesting way. First of all, I had been In Michigan for not even twenty-four hours before I had been fired off of a movie.

because one of the money guys thought I was too ugly. So I was uh my ugly ass was put on a plane back to LAX. And when I got off the plane, there was a message from my agent saying, Oh, they want you for the office tomorrow. So I was thrilled. You know, I'd been crying for, I don't know, five hours on a plane, and then I get this news and it's like, Yes, I'm so glad I got fired.

So when I got to the set the next day, you know, I was a little raw from being told how ugly I was. And I was in my dressing room or my trailer and one of the PAs came and said, Oh. Uh something to the effect of, yeah, you don't look as bad as we thought you were going to, so we don't need to see you right away in the makeup chair. I swear it was something like that. It was like, oh, we're delighted that you don't look like Shrek type of thing.

I mean, we've all had moments like that. That is something about show business where people can get real tacky. Oh yeah. Well you know my story where they said I couldn't be on alias because I wasn't hot enough. But then the very next week I auditioned for a different pilot and they said I was too good looking for the role. So I was like, Well, I don't know what I am then. I don't know. Yeah. Well, I can't change my face.

I had an agent say to me, You're not Hollywood glamorous, okay? And I said, I know that. I was like, Yeah, I know that. Can I be Hollywood dorky though? You can. Thank you. You did it. And I did it. Oh no, gosh. And I've been fired. I was fired from a pilot that I did with Matt LeBlanc. I played his wife. It's on the air still, man with a plan. I was his wife. That was my part. Well I know this story and you shared it in your book.

I did. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I got hired. I shot the pilot. While I was there, the network said they wanted more scenes with me. Oh. I was like, I am nailing it. Right. More scenes means you're doing a good job. Well, I guess after we finished it, they showed it to focus groups. And they didn't like you? No. What? They... They liked me, but they said this is a literal quote. They said, I don't believe Pam would marry Joey. Ah. The chemistry doesn't work between these two. That was the feedback they got.

They could only see you as Pam and Joey. Yeah. So it wasn't working for them that we got married and had a family. And you know, the show's called Man with a Plan. It's starring Matt LeBlanc. It's his show. Yeah, I haven't seen it. Okay, well guess who they can't fire? The man with the plan. So out the door I went. Revenge didn't watch. Thank you. I appreciate it. How's your PR? That's what you're supposed to do. Right.

But here's the crazy part, Lady. The crazy part is that I didn't know I was fired until literally like Two days before they were going to announce it at the big press junket in New York, I had packed a suitcase. Because everyone was like, it's going. It's gonna go. It's a sure thing. I had hired hair and makeup to get me ready for all the press. And then I get this call and everyone's on the phone. All my agents, my manager, public.

Listen, when there's fifteen people on the phone, it's either great news or real, real bad. Yeah. And the first thing I said was, Is it not getting picked up? And they said, It's worse than that. And I was like, what's worse than that? They said, it's getting picked up, but without you. Uh And I was like, wow, I guess I'll unpack my suitcase. Yeah. I almost cut bangs in my hair that day. I remember you. He stopped.

me. I didn't want you to cut your hair that day. I said, you know what, let's pick a different day. Let's pick a different day to change your whole look. You did send me a picture though of you jumping in the air, flipping off the world. I said that's better. Go jump around, flip off anyone you want in the air, do not cut your hair today. You were a good friend to me that day. And I will never watch that show. Sorry, Matt LeBlanc, I actually love you. And I love Joey, but I'm sorry.

I liked Matt LeBlanc too. He was very nice. Anyway. All right. Well, Wendy, I am sorry you got fired because you are a talent and a force and I love you. Yes. And thank you for texting me and emailing me. Let's see. Fast fact number two. Michael goes on his business trip to Winnipeg in this episode. And we got a lot of questions from people. Why Winnipeg? How did they choose this location? Well like I said before, this episode was written by Brent Forrester and he did an interview.

mean to the C B C Jenna? That's the one and did you find it as well? It's the same. We both Google real good this episode. Googled real good. C B C is the Canadian broadcast company. Yes. I see I'm like so proud that I know what C B C stands for. Well, they asked him why Winnipeg. They did. Some good journalism. He explained that they knew they wanted this to be an international business trip, that they tossed around the idea of Montreal or Vancouver.

But in the end they chose Winnipeg because it seemed to strike the right balance between, quote, exotic and obscure. Yes. And you know what else I loved in this interview? Brent shared that Phil Shea, our prop master, reached out to the Winnipeg Tourism Promotion Agency and they sent along all kinds of stuff like airport baggage tags. Shopping bags from the bay, old Dutch potato chips, which was founded in Winnipeg in nineteen fifty four. And you're gonna see those on the bar.

I became obsessed, maybe because I watched this episode while I was hungry. I will have some old Dutch potato chip tracking and also flavors to share with you. I'm there for it. And also they sent some Fort Gary Brewing Company paraphernalia and all kinds of other stuff. Yes, because we did not go to Winnipeg. We shot this whole episode in Los Angeles. Yes. So we had to just make it look as Kannada as possible. Fake.

Fast fact number three, even though we didn't go to Winnipeg, I have some fun facts about Winnipeg, and these were all sent in by fans. I love it! Office ladies listeners who are from Winnipeg wanted us to know these things. Okay. So first from Leah Patterson, Winnie the Pooh was named after the city of Winnipeg. Get out! I didn't know that. I didn't know that.

Yeah. A lot of people know that the writer of Winnie the Pooh had a son named Christopher Robin, and his son Christopher Robin had a little stuffed bear named Winnie. And that's where he got the idea for the characters. But do you know why his son named his bear Winnie? I do. Why? I don't know. I'm just messing with you. No idea. There's probably a small number of people that know this, right? Well, I don't know. Leah Patterson knows. Okay, Leah, why?

Because in 1915 a black bear was rescued by a cavalry veterinarian who named the bear Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg. And then he gave the bear to the London Zoo, and that's where the real Christopher Robin saw the bear, loved the bear, and then named his little stuffed bear after Winnie. Uh Oh. So it's a little roundabout. It's hard to explain. I'm sorry if I took you on a real circle there, but the bottom line is yes, Winnie the Pooh is named after the city of Winnipeg.

Well Leah, I love knowing that. What else you got? More? Yeah. More from Leah. Yes. Okay. Winnipeg has been the slurpy capital of the world for almost twenty years. Wait, like Slurpee, like you get at 7 Eleven. Eleven? That's right. They literally sell the most Slurpees every year. Come on. Yep. Kids love a slurpee. I looked it up, it's true. Gotta go to Winnipeg. from Leah. Okay. Leah, you are a treasure trove of information about Winnipeg. Where do you work? Do you work at the tourism board?

Abortion agency? You should. Winnipeg was also the first city in North America to use 911. They invented nine one one. I don't know. They were the first city to use it. It happened in nineteen fifty nine. This one from Taylor, Nacarado, Winnipeg can get to close to negative 30 degrees Celsius in the winter. And we have actually broken a record for being colder than the planet Mars in 2019. This is a tough sell for Winnipeg. On New Year's Eve we have Uh-huh.

The Mars Curiosity rover posted a temperature of negative 29 degrees Celsius. Now that's actually very warm for Mars. Yeah. Yeah. If you are interested, the average temperature on Mars is about negative fifty-five degrees Celsius, but it can get as cold as negative one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius at the poles. But on this warm day on Mars it was negative twenty nine, and on that same day in Winnipeg it was colder than Mars by a few degrees. Dang. Very cold, but

Taylor N would like you to know that Winnipeg is a very diverse multicultural city and they host something called Folklarama. It's one of the largest and longest running multicultural festivals in the world. It has over 40 pavilions where they embrace cultures of different countries, and you can watch singing and dancing and sample different foods from that country. I would go to that. That sounds so fun! I would love that. Well listen, I think we should take a break. I think that's a good idea.

We'll get an iced tea. We're gonna come back and I'm excited to break down business trips. Let's do it.

All right, you guys, we are back. We are in the conference room. Michael is teaching the group about various cultures and how to travel to those cultures. Internet. Yeah. Yes. Jenna, background cat. At eight seconds, you can see Kate staring at me, but I can tell it's Kate and not Meredith. She's kind of looking at me like, uh and then very quickly in the corner you can see me futzing with my microphone. Oh, was she trying to tell you we could see your microphone?

I think something happened. Either my microphone dropped and I was trying to fix it and Kate was trying to be like, camera's coming, something. There's a moment here. But you can see me. It's very quick. I'm like fetzing with my collar doing something. Yeah. Anyway. Oh that's a It tickled me. Well, the reason for this conference room scene is so that Michael can explain to us that he is being sent to woo an international client. Right. This whole meeting could have been an email.

Yeah. The other thing that's happening is we learn that Pam is coming home in six point five days. Yes, and the office is very excited for Jim. Everyone at Dunder Mifflin, Kevin smacks his butt. Creed gives him a kind of a creepy shoulder rub. Phyllis smiles and says one more week. When Phyllis smiles and says one more week, please look at her desk, it is covered with tissues. I don't know what was happening. Oh, she must have had a cold.

Something. I just love the fact that we didn't bother to tidy the desk. No, it's real life. Real life mixed with fake life. Stanley gives Jim a look and goes, eh eh. And in a deleted scene, Jenna, Kelly helps Jim make a sign saying, Welcome back. And she's really annoyed because he needs to use more glitter. Oh yeah.

We had a fan question from Chris S about this scene with Jim. Chris said, I would like to know the specific stage direction Creed was given when he massages Jim's shoulders as he comforts him. He really liked this moment. I looked it up in the script. What did it say?

In the script, it actually said this, quote, Creed passes Jim, he punches Jim's shoulder, and then musses Jim's hair. So this massage They must have found it on the day'cause in the script he was supposed to give'em a punch and a hair muff. Well I think it's funnier because Kevin's already smacked his butt. Yeah.

So it's like a smack and a punch. I think this is way funnier. Also, John Krasinski's reactions to everyone are that's what makes it. Yeah. His face when Creed comes up behind him is so good.

So now Michael is on the phone with David Wallace. He's got his passport ready. He's got his per diem. Fifty bucks he's gonna buy a sweater. He is he'll use other money for food. Yeah. And he has a plane ticket. He does. On Butte airline? B-U-T-T-E. But airlines. Well, I think it's probably beauty. I looked it up and I did too. I found nothing. Not an airline. Not real. Fakey airline. I want to know more though. Why they settled on Butte? Oh, come on, really?

I don't know. Why would you call it Butte Airline? I don't know. We don't know. Sorry guys, it could be butte or butt, but it's a faky airline. Oh, here's something. Michael is gonna bring two extra giant suitcases for souvenirs. Empty. Empty.

Do you do that? Do you bring an extra empty bag? Do you leave room? As you're packing, do you consider I can't pack this totally full because I know I'm gonna purchase something, or are you the person who gets to your vacation and it's time to go home and then you have to go buy like an extra canvas bag to get all your stuff home? Ding ding ding ding ding. Yeah. That's me. Yeah. That's why I have a plethora of real rando bags. Yeah.

Because usually you're in a tight spot. Yep. You don't have a lot of options. Yeah. I once had a travel bag that looked like a Z. Mm-hmm. Because I had to buy it at the airport to fit my souvenirs because my suitcase was starting to like like yeah start to like look like it was gonna tear. And for a long time we had the zebra suitcase. Guess which one I am? You're the first. I leave the room. You leave the room. I anticipate my souvenir purchases.

You're not walking through an airport with a zebra bag. Rando bags for me. Mirando bag Listen, rando bag happened to me once, never again. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like I have a random suitcase from Scotland. I still love it. It looks like a travel trunk from like Joe versus the volcano. This is the problem. Sometimes you get a real find when you're in a bind. I know. Ooh, I rhymed it. You did. I'm still rhyming. You are.

Stop it. If you can pause on rhyming, I want to tell you one other thing that's happening in this scene. I can't. Can you? I can try. I was gonna try to rhyme but I couldn't think of anything. I know. I was trying to set you up. Anyway, while this whole suitcase business is happening, lady in the background, I am telling you, Pam's puffer coat is hanging on the coat rack. Nam's coat. Come on, it's not her coat. How do you know?

Because somebody wrote in about it and I zoomed in on it, it's not my coat. It's not mine. Who wrote in? It was me. Ha ha! Angela Kay wrote in. I think several. Several times. More male than anyone. Hi. I zoomed in too, and it sure looks like that puffer coat you used to wear. I know it looks like it, but it's not my puffer coat. I think it might be Meredith's. Meredith had a similar puffer coat. Okay, well there you go.

Mm-hmm. Guess who else gets to come on this trip? Yeah. Yeah. Andy is going to join him as his translator. He will be translating all of the French that they don't speak in Winnipeg. D well, we did learn in a deleted scene in dinner party, Angela said that Andy learned French during his semester in France. So this is kind of a callback. Kind of a callback. Then Andy speaks some not great French. So a lot of not great French mixed in with some Spanish.

Oscar is also going on the trip. I don't really know Oscar's role. Why would he be going? Something to do with crunching numbers, maybe? Maybe. I'm so glad that Oscar went because Jenna, there are so many fantastic deleted Oscar scenes and Oscar and Andy scenes, if you have the DVDs. And you guys Oscar does that thing in these deleted scenes. Like what he did with Holly in employee transfer. I have a new term for Oscar. He's the office fun stopper.

You might think it's Angela Barton, but kind of like Debbie Downer on SNL, Oscar is always gonna have that sidebar comment that's a little too. For the moment I Takes the wind out of your safe. Takes the wind out of your sails. All right, so now they're on the plane. Mm-hmm. Michael is up in business class. He's got a mimosa. He has a moist hand towel that's still wet. Mm-hmm. We got a lot of fan questions.

From Kyle T, Sarah M, Steph Hernandez, and Madison C. Did you guys film on an actual airplane? If so, which airport and airline were used for this episode? Well, we have some information for you. Yes we do. Thanks to Randy Cordre, who was our line producer, who took over for Kent Zabornak. He gave us the lowdown. The interior airplane scenes were filmed at a place called Air Hollywood in Poquoima, California. And at the time this company

I guess like the go to location for all things airline related. If you It was like a set, but for airplanes. Yeah. So if you needed a plane to film, they were ready for ya. Yeah. He said they had all these sound stages, they had various aircraft, various airport related props. They even had like interior airport kind of stuff. So we used the interior of a jet for Michael in business class and Andy and Oscar in coach. He explained that these airplanes can be split down the middle.

Yeah. Well Michael is gonna introduce Oscar and Andy, you know, before they go back to coach, to Beth, who he says is his personal valet slash flight attendant, and she's gonna be helping him this morning. I love it bath. I love Beth. When I watched it, it reminded me of the woman who played the transcriber in the deposition. Just No nonsense. Just did we hire an actual flight attendant to play this role? She's so like over Michael and the camera.

We did not. This is an actress. Her name is Deb Height. She has been on The Good Place, Barry. Curb Your Enthusiasm, VEP, Baskets, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation. She is a writer. She has written plays. She has written award-winning pilots, award-winning short films, and She wrote a comedy book about the rivalry between the Alabama Auburn college football teams called When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn. You can find it on Amazon. It's really cute.

We were so lucky. We say this every week. Oh my gosh, we say it every week. But seriously, every single person hired on the show always crushed it and was amazing. My favorite moment is when she slams Michael's leg with the cart. It's It's Steve's reaction. Steve's reaction. That was like amazing. It's too good. While Michael's getting his foot run over with the beverage card.

Andy is really trying to bond with Oscar back in coach. This is a deleted scene. It is amazing. It's Oscar the Fun Stopper, guys. Any roasted peanuts? Am I right? Thank you. I can't understand the question. Yes, you're holding a bag of peanuts. Save that for later. That just made me laugh so hard because Andy's like trying to bond. He's like, honey roasted peanut! But what are you supposed to say to that? I know, but I'm with Oscar. I know, but this is my point. Yes, you're holding people.

No, but Oscar cannot edit. Like I think other people would be like, I know they're really good, you know, or something. But Oscar's just like, I don't understand what you're saying to me. I have to say I actually really love a honey roasted peanut on an airplane. So I I would probably respond, I might actually be Andy in this scenario.

I just thought that was really good Oscar the fun stopper. But you know, if Oscar's not gonna be fun, at least Andy has his DVD player and he's gonna watch Harry and the Henderson's. Yeah. I think we should talk about what's happening over at Dunder Mifflin. Oh yeah. Pam's coming back, which means Ryan is gonna have to move into Kelly's Nook. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And he's looking for a place he might be able to do his push-up.

He needs space to do push ups. He's t is kinda tight and cramped over there, but he's gonna try. He's gonna find a way. We had a fan question, how many push ups did BJ have to do in this episode? He must have been so sore. I wanna hear this because I as Jenna knows, I texted BJ last night and I said, By the way, I just watched you do a one arm push-up and then business trip. Dang, BJ Ha ha. HELP! Well I texted with BJ about his push ups as well.

And he said he doesn't remember how many takes they did, but he said that Mindy definitely wrote this scene. He said there was a period of time when all the writers were doing push-up contests. And that might have inspired it. But also at the same time, he was in training because he was prepping to do the Tarantino movie in Glorious Bastards. Oh yeah, he was getting in really good shape for that'cause he was gonna be a soldier.

Yeah. So he was doing push ups in the writer's room all the time. He had to literally find room to do push ups at work. So Mindy might have been going off of that as well. But also maybe she just wanted to make BJ have to do a bunch of push-ups in a scene. And then a one arm push up. Yeah. See, that's a moment where if I'm BJ, I'm like, I'm so glad I got that on camera. I did it.

That I could do it. Yeah. I'll always have that. Well listen, Kelly is claiming she's not impressed. Ryan has hurt her too much. It is not gonna happen. No, she is in a healthy relationship with Daryl. That door is closed. Cut two. Major makeup. Kissy sounds. Yeah. I could tell. Oh, you could. Okay. Mwah! You did it. Ha ha ha.

Back in Winnipeg, the guys are arriving at the hotel. It's so beautiful, Michael says he could live there. We had a fan catch from Tori, Mary, and Katie who said Michael left Dunder Mifflin with multiple suitcases, but he shows up at the hotel with only his carry-on. What happened to his souvenir suitcases? Well, guys, I'll tell you. They're there. You have to look deep in the background. At six minutes thirty seven seconds you can see the Bellman loading the suitcases onto a trolley.

Oh As Michael goes up A snap. The escalator. But don't worry, he has them and he's gonna get those souvenirs. They're gonna put him in his room. Jenna, this hotel has something sort of magical about it, fantastical. It's called a concierge. Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. You know, they help you with the fine art of fanciness and pleasure. Mm-hmm. These guys are gonna try it out. They're gonna go over and they're gonna ask her a bunch of questions. And guess what? What?

Almost nothing she says is true. But I just love how completely blown away Michael is that she knows restaurants and their street address and the best way to get there. This is mind-blowing to him. This is such a real concierge interaction when she pulls out the mask. A map encircles it and then tells them two different routes and two different means of transportation. Perfection. Perfection.

But we did have a lot of fans from Winnipeg who wrote in. Again. Kimberly Kay said, Did the writers know that everything Concierge Marie said about Winnipeg is inaccurate? Was this on purpose? Natalie V said the number 17 bus is real, but it runs a lot later than 9 p.m. It goes till almost 1 a.m. It wouldn't be the only bus to the exchange district, which does not exist. I think they meant the financial district. And then Leah P said, we also don't have an astro cleaner.

Or the restaurants or the bars. No, the huntsman is not a real boss. And neither is the sushi place. Well Angela we have another story happening in this episode. It's Ham, right? It's a big story. Well, she's supposed to be coming home from art school, but we're gonna have a phone call between her and Jim and they're gonna find out some news. She's failing her flash class. Yeah. She's gonna have to take it again.

If she wants to pass art school she does, that means she has to stay another twelve weeks. Is this art school like just digital art? Does she get to do any of the art that she's actually really good at? I don't know. It seems like this was mostly a graphic design program. Yeah. Well, I had to cry in this scene. It was in the script that I'm holding back tears. And there's a lot that is coming down on Pam right now. She's dealing with the fact that she didn't complete this course.

And the idea of being away from Jim even longer, but I had something else that I was playing. We'll get to it. Okay. Well I thought it was a very moving scene and it it just reminds me of those moments, you guys, when life happens even though everything around you just keeps moving on. So Pam is sitting down. It's like a busy stairwell. People are going up and down and she's having a life moment. Yeah. I thought that was very relatable.

Well, Jenna, back in Winnipeg, the fellows are gonna arrive at Huntsman Bar. Yes. Yes. We shot these scenes at the seven grand bar and grill in Los Angeles. Did you notice at nine minutes twenty seconds what the chalkboard says at the Huntsman? No. No. This is what it says. Welcome to the Huntsman. Enjoy, quote, pup hour all night. Sunday and Monday, five to seven PM. No creeps allowed. Oh Well Get out, creeps Don't creep.

And I have a background catch. Again, I was hungry as I watched this episode. The chips, you guys. The chips that Phil Shea got are at the bar. Yes, and I think I can see the ketchup flavored chip. They're in a red ketchup flavor. Oh yes, lady. Why dum why do I do that with my voice? Have you eaten? I've never heard of this item.

I worked in Canada for a bit, you know, and I have had these ketchup chips. Jenna, they're so good. Listen to how they're described on the internet. They are the perfect balance of a delightful old Dutch chip layered with that lovely ketchup flavor you desire. But I don't desire a ketchup flavor on my potatoes. I'm just telling you. Maybe I will. Chip people, old Dutch chip people, will you send me a ketchup chip? Oh my gosh, get ready. But listen, make sure some come my way. You got it.

They're tangy, they're delicious. Okay. Guess who else is at the bar? Concierge Marie! Yeah! Michael is um how you say so excited to see her. How do you say it? How do you say it? Auntie's gonna bring him two glasses of wine. Mm-hmm. Started. He's also going to try to get things started for Oscar and a couple of gentlemen sitting at a table nearby. That's right, he says to the bartender, Mademoiselle, beer me, dose long island iced teas, si vous play. Bad decision in a glass.

It is a bad decision and it's not a good idea. Horrible decision. You know how you've had a volcano and you did the split. Yes. I had some Long Island iced teas. Where In the Bahamas on spring break with my friends. I've never had one before. I wasn't twenty one yet, but in the Bahamas you can drink when you're eighteen. We went to the casino And they just give'em to you free if you sit at the slot machines. All of this was like, What is happening?

I have not had a Long Island iced tea. I've had the volcano, but it's just the same thing. They just dump a bunch of booze in it, right? It's like seven or eight different liquors. Tasty went down easy. Well, yeah. Then a lot of vomiting. Well, we got a fan question about this scene from Evan L. At eleven minutes fourteen seconds, Andy says, You will thank me when they spank thee. Mm-hmm. And he wants to know who came up with that line. Can I guess? Lee or Jean.

That's a good guess. It's in the script and I asked Brent Forrester about it and he said he is the author of the thank me spank thee line. He said there are few things more fun than writing a rhyming punchline for the Andy character. He said he got a little bit too into writing rhyming punchlines for Ed that season. He said that one day in the writer's room, he pitched a line where Andy refers to his quote.

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

I wonder if he wrote nifty gifties. He might have. Oh Brent, that's so good. Well guess what? They're not gonna spank him. I'm not. Yeah. And Oscar and Andy now drink the Long Island iced teas, which is gonna lead to some trouble. Some real trouble because Oscar says to Andy, what do you see in Angela?

And again, I was hungry as I watched this. So at twelve minutes seventeen seconds, I can see another bag of old Dutch potato chips sitting next to Oscar's arm on the bar. They're the green and white bag. You know what that means. sour cream and onion They are the dill pickle chips. What? Do they make any regular flavors? They do. I'm telling you, these chips are so good. You've had the Dill Pickle one? I have sampled. You know, like on set, we would have a whole bunch of bags of chips.

They're real salty and I like it. Yes, I'm a chip traditionalist. You know what? You need to be a chip traveller. All right. I'll try'em. Well, the dill ones are real salty. I do like a pickle. I know. But anyway, Andy drunk dials Angela. This is a huge mistake. Oh my goodness. He says, you know what, we're gonna discuss this. We will discuss this naked. But then there's a voice in the background. I mean, she's with Dwight. Of course she is. Yeah, but somehow Andy doesn't totally register.

He's out of the way. Several, I think, at this point. Yeah and guess what? Michael and Concierge Marie, they're clicking. They're gonna leave. They're gonna smooch outside in the alley. And we asked Wendy about this, about kissing Steve. And here's what she had to say. I was super nervous to kiss Steve Corell. I was so nervous that I was practically going into convulsions. But I did it and it was great and I highly recommend it.

She highly recommends. Oh well. They're not just gonna kiss outside the hotel. All right. We are gonna cut to Michael being sort of shoved out of her. Room eight eight seven. Yeah. He's shuffling down the hall. I know. And then she's like, Wait, you forgot your shoes only she says nothing. She just sets them out and quickly shuts the door.

Well, that kind of wraps up Concierge Marie. We had to ask Wendy if she ever gets recognized for being on the show. And here's what she said. Yes! So many things. Many times. I'm so surprised at that because I was, you know, barely in it, but you know, that just speaks to the reach and the popularity of the office. I read a fun fact about Wendy. Yes, you did. Share it, Jenna. It's so good.

Okay. Wendy was the editor for California State University's Academic Journal of Social Work. This was her day job before she hit it big as an actress. But even after she was working all the time, she kept her job until two thousand and twelve. Bridesmaids came out in 2011. So even after Bridesmaids, she was still editing this journal of social work, and we had to ask her about it. Here's what she said.

It is true that while I was building my acting career and, you know, doing pretty well, that I kept my side job at Cal State Long Beach. I was an assistant editor for a social work journal. I did that for 12 years, all through Reno 911, all through, you know, all these movies that I did, rules of engagement, and right up until the Goldbergs. And the only reason I'm not doing it anymore is because the journal folded. It went out of business.

But it was a great job. It was like not even twenty hours a week. I could do it from wherever I was. And it was all about, you know, people in the social work profession. And let's be honest, those people deserve a lot of credit for what they do. They don't get recognized enough. Yeah, it was great. And I loved doing it. I loved my original boss.

who used to come and see my shows at the groundlings. Like she was just so super supportive that she said, please don't ever quit. So I kept my word and I stayed until the very end. See what I was saying about amazing human being? I love her. You know, that was so moving to me when I heard it. My niece is a social worker. Mm-hmm.

I'm just always, you know, honestly guys, I'm lifting her up in prayer all the time because it's not an easy job. And I'm thankful that we have people that have a passion for helping others in that way. Yeah, it's not an easy job because sometimes you have to see and confront real hard things. And then you have to hold that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, as if you needed another reason to love Wendy, I would also like to share that in two thousand nine, two thousand ten and two thousand eleven

She rang in the new year, performing at military bases in Iraq and Kuwait. And she went to the smaller bases that a lot of people didn't go to that kind of rarely get entertainment. Love that. Love you. Wendy. Thank you so much. It was so great to reconnect with you. Thanks for sharing your memories of the office. You guys, you can find Wendy in so many places. She's so talented. She has a podcast called Generation Right.

It is for teenagers over 40. It's described as a generation ripe listener is someone who thinks of their age as an asset, not a liability. We are older people with young souls, are younger people with old souls. Of course she's on the Goldbergs. They're about to start season nine. She's on a Marvel series on Hulu called Modak and just tons of other things, you guys. And you can find her on Instagram at Wendy McClendon Covey. Yes.

Let's see, where should we go? It's the next day. Ooh people are hung out. Over? Very hungover. Andy does not remember calling Angela. I know. Oh no. But Michael is very melancholy. Yeah. And he has to go sell paper at Catalyst Paper, which I looked it up. Yeah. It's a real Canadian paper company, but it looks like its headquarters is based in Richmond, British Columbia, which is over on the west coast. I could not find a Winnipeg branch. I mean but if you couldn't, I doubt it's there.

David Wallace calls to congratulate Michael because he did it. He got the sale. Michael is mad. Yeah,'cause he's realized that this trip was a band aid to try to help his feelings about Holly being transferred. He's upset. And he tells him all. Yeah. I have a location breakdown or something. Why do you say it like that? I don't know. You said it like sad sack. You said it like this. I have a location breakdown.

I'm sad with Michael. Oh. Yeah. For the Winnipeg Airport for these scenes, we used terminal number two at LAX. Randy let me know that there was an area that was out of service at that time, and that our location manager, Kyle Alexander, was able to get an agreement from the LAX airport to let us film there. That's Like unheard of. Well, LAX does not let you film. Like they are hardcore.

Well, especially after nine eleven, they had incredibly strict airport security. So we were only allowed a very small number of cast and crew and extras. Everybody had to submit credentials very far in advance and they had to be screened. Yeah. So he said they had to create what they called a micro unit. That's how small it was. He said that the airplanes outside the window were not Air Canada planes. They had to paint over the logos using visual effects.

during post production and so they put the red maple leaf on the tail of one of the planes. We could only afford to do one plane. If you look over Michael's shoulder, it's on the left. Yeah, I saw it.

Well, before we get to this big business with Jim and Pam, we should probably let you know that Kelly is gonna break up with Daryl. I mean, Ryan has a text ready to go. They just have to hit send together. And I think what does Ryan want? Does he want Daryl to come upstairs and make a scene? What does Ryan want? He wants to be the other guy. Yeah, he wants a reaction out of Daryl. Daryl seems relieved. He's whistling as he walks to his car.

He responds immediately. Okay, cool. And then literally is like doing a dance to his pickup. He's like, whoo, thank you, Ryan. And that then, of course, immediately makes Ryan less interested in this relationship. And here we go. You go. All right. Jim is gonna leave. And again, you guys have this Jim and Pam scene. At that golden hour, your hair is sparkling with sunshine. It's like that sunset scene in the parking lot. You couldn't look cuter. I know. I thought this scene was really sweet.

Yeah, Pam is standing in the parking lot and Jim says, What are you doing here?'Cause he had told her on the phone, when you come back, you're gonna come back the right way. Right, and he's supportive. If she wants to take the class again, they'll get through it. Yes, that the right way to come back is for her to come back having graduated from art school. So Pam's standing there and she says, I'm coming back the wrong way.

But she's okay with it. She's happy about it. She missed Scranton. She missed Jim. She actually hated the graphic design school. Yeah, she tells Jim, This isn't really what I wanted to do. But she had to go to find that out. She did. You know, we had a question from Evan L. Why did the writers have Pam fail art school? Well that's a good question, Evan.

I asked Brent Forrester about it. He said that the story of Pam failing art school and coming back, quote, the wrong way was a pitch from Jen Salada. Brent said, I have a daughter, and he said, I'm a big fat feminist. That's a quote. And the idea that Pam would give up on her dreams to be with a man really rubbed him the wrong way, but that Jen Salada absolutely insisted that the romantic power of this gesture outweighed any politics.

And also that the truth for Pam was not that she was giving up on her dreams for Jim, but that she was distinguishing what her real dreams were. And I really liked that because I think what Pam did here in going to graphic design school was that she was taking her real dream of being a creative artist. And she was doing what a lot of artists do and she was trying to find a practical application. Right. How can I sort of do art but make a living? Yeah. Right?

Yes, exactly. But you know, I mean, people go into graphic design when they're passionate about graphic design. It's not some backup job, right? And the truth is, is that Pam discovered she does not have a passion for graphic design. And that's sort of what I had in my head when I was doing that scene on the phone with Jim and Pam's crying. Pam is realizing that even if she did pass the course. This isn't for her. But she's also embarrassed that she failed.

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

For me in that moment, I just saw Pam stating her truth. And I always think that's so powerful. Yeah. There is a very sweet deleted scene, you guys, with Jim and Pam. It's in the break room. And you know what? I'm titling it. What? Love in the break room. What is it? Pam is showing Jim her art assignment. She has this portfolio and she's showing him the piece that she got an F on. Oh I remember shooting this now. Yes, yes. Oh Oh I remember it.

It's really sweet. And as he goes through her art assignments, in the back, tucked in the binder, is a sketch pad. And he's like, What is this? And she said, Oh, you know, it just sketches of things I would see in New York. And when you look at them, Jenna, and I'll put it in stories, it's like people sitting at a cafe, things she might have seen on her walk, and they're really good. And this is such a wonderful moment. I wish it had stayed in. Sam, can you play the clip? This is my practice.

Before we start, how did you fail? You're good at art. Yeah. We had to make a logo for a coffee company. That's nice. This is the one that got an A. The teacher handed it out. Mm-hmm. And this is mine. I couldn't get it to print out right, so I got an F. I would have given you a D. That's only because we were sleeping with the professor. Was ist das? That's my sketchbook. It's just, you know, stuff I saw in New York, people on the subway.

This is great. So much different than your other work. Wow, Pam. That is awesome. Yeah? Yeah! Oh I wish that had stayed in. It's a really sweet scene and I feel like it just shows what Pam did get out of New York and I really wish it had been in the episode. I agree because I don't think Pam's art story is over yet. Mm-hmm. You know, she did not have the benefit. of I think parents or role models who encouraged her to follow this piece of herself.

And she only finally does now have that person in gym. So she's gonna have to take her art journey at the same time as her romantic journey. Well I'm gonna put that scene in stories'cause it's really sweet. I love it. I did too.

Well that kind of wraps up this episode. Yeah. Thank you to everyone who helped us make this episode. Brent Forrester, Randy Cordray, Wendy McClendon Covey, and Rich Summer, thanks for coming on for an interview. It takes a village. It does, and thank you to you guys for sending in awesome questions and Winnipeg trivia. Some last parts. According to Andy, Long Island iced teas are way stronger in Canada.

The next time we're going to be able to do it Well that was business trip and Yeah, see you next time. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies Second Drink. This episode was initially created in collaboration with Earwolf. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle. Our second drinks episodes are produced by Molly Nugent. Our audio engineer is Sam Keith. Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Brown.