Secretary's Day with Ellie Kemper

And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on the office together. And we're best friends. Just for you. office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. Everybody! Hi there! We are back from our vacations and so excited to be back. So excited! The irony is that we recorded this before our vacations. So we have not actually vacationed yet.

In terms of it being released in your feed, here we are. Back from vacation. Yes. I don't know why that tickles me. We're time traveling right now. We are. In truth. We are recording on a Saturday because I got food poisoning last week. Yeah. But everyone came in. Hi guys. Hi. Happy Saturday. Happy Saturday to you as well. Today we are talking about Secretary's Day. It is season six, episode twenty-two.

Written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Steve Carell. So exciting. That's a great duo. Would you like a summary? More than anything. Alright, here it is. Andy tries to make Secretary's Day special for Aaron. He encourages Michael to take Erin to lunch. During which Michael accidentally reveals Andy's past engagement to Angela, something Aaron did not know about.

Meanwhile, a spoof video circulates likening Kevin to Cookie Monster, which Gabe finds offensive, and he flexes his authority to squash it. I love that you called it a spoof video. What would it be? Maybe like a parody video? Are they not the same? I think they are parody. It's just funny to me. Spoof video sounds funny to me.

Well, I wanna tell you all we do not have fast facts today. None. No fast facts. You wanna know why? Why? I'll tell ya. What is it? Ellie Kimber is our fast fact. That's right. Yes, you guys, we spoke to Ellie earlier in the week. While Angela had food poisoning, by the way.

Ellie You'll hear it in her voice. Ellie knew right away, here's the thing, we had to do it over Zoom because I was I had to be by a bathroom. Sorry, in TMI. And Ellie looked at me right away. I hadn't even said a word and she goes, Are you okay? Yeah. But you guys, we were so excited to talk to Ellie and I didn't want to miss it. So here is our interview with Ellie. She's the best. Hello Ellie. Hi Jenna and Angela. How are you? Good. Welcome to office ladies. Welcome, welcome.

Hello. I am so happy to be here. I am a huge fan of your show. I'm a huge fan of the two of you. And it is always delightful chatting with you. So thank you for having me. Ellie, you are a ray of sunshine that I could really use right now, as Jenna knows I had a little bit of food poisoning. And I am this you're my first thing back from food poisoning. Okay. So congratulations. I hope I don't send you back

No, back into illness. But um I I I'm sorry that you're I I hope that you are feeling better, Angela. You are a trooper. I know you're not. You're not asking for compliments, but I'm here to tell you you're a trooper. So I I'm glad that you're feeling it. I'll take'em today. I'll take it. Well Ellie, we always start our interviews with asking each person how they got their job on the office.

I got my job on the office in sort of a roundabout way. I met with Greg Daniels and Mike Scher, um, like, you know, at the beginning of 2008, maybe when they were developing parks and recreations. And I believe, although I was never explicitly told that I was auditioning for parks and recreation, like there was an untitled script that I read from in a room with Greg and Allison Jones.

Nothing ever came of it. The the characters didn't have any names that matched the ones on what was to become parks and recreation. So I really don't know what I was doing in that room with them, but that's how I met them. Then later that, you know, like a few months later, there was an audition when Pam went to go work at the Michael Scott paper company. There was an opening for a temporary secretary. And so since I had already met some of those, you know, big guys from the office.

it it was two guys. That's why I said two guys. Um I I was I guess on their in their world in their orbit. So I came in to read for that part. I read with Ed Helms. And then um I got the call, you know, the next week that I had booked the part. So that's how I got on the office, you guys. Wow. That is so wow. You know what though?

I remember like showrunners would do that. If they had a project, they didn't want it leaked out in any way. You would go in sometimes and read and not really know much about what you were reading for. Yeah. Right. And that's kind of how you met Greg. You were I'm sure that was Parks and a wreck, you know, it sounds like it. It had to have been, I don't know what part it was. Like they never said they wanted to keep everything a little tight lip.

Um, but but yeah, I mean you guys, it goes without saying. So that was that was the end of season five, I think that I came on. I was such a fan of The Office. So it's like, I mean, I watched it with my family. I watched it, you know, by myself. It was surreal actually meeting you guys for the first time because I was so familiar with the show and felt like I already knew you.

You played it so cool though, Ellie. I know, I would have never known. You were super like, Hey, what's up? You weren't you didn't go crazy. Oh, well that is my finest performance. Because I was like, my heart inside was just like beating a million miles a minute with a sitcom. They're in your living room every week. You feel like you know them. I'm sure this happens to you all the time where people feel like they know you very well, even though you've never met them.

And so I felt like I knew all of you. And yet you had never seen my face before. So it's this surreal experience of s of suddenly working alongside these people who you sort of consider to be your friends. But also icons. And so it was all of that at once. And it was it was a lot. So I'm really glad you thought I played it cool because I didn't feel cool.

Now, originally it was just supposed to be a few episodes, right? And then Pam was gonna come back from Michael Scott Paper Company. And I remember discussions about whether or not Pam would return to the receptionist desk. Or do something else. And I had sat down with Greg and he asked me my opinion. He said, What do you think Pam would want? And I said, Well, I don't know, after art school and this big move with Michael.

I feel like it might be a little depressing if she's just back at reception again. I would love some movement for this woman. And he agreed and he said, All right, I think we're gonna make Pam part of the sales team and we're gonna move her to the desk clump with Dwight and Jim. And then that kind of opened the door for we need someone to sit at reception. And Ellie, you were so beloved by everyone. I mean

Listen, there is a chance that Greg was making me feel like I had a part of that decision, but the real story was, listen, we're not letting Ellie Kemper go. So we're gonna make you feel good by telling you we want Pam to move to sales. Okay. Because everyone was so excited for you to come on in a more permanent position. What was that part like from your end? Okay, Jenna, first of all, I have to say first and foremost.

Thank you for your input that Pam should be promoted to salesperson because you you gave me in real life a job with a paycheck. on one of the most iconic shows in television history. So thank you. I did not give you gave yourself a job by kicking ass in that role. That's very that's who got you that job. You won them over in the room, Ellie. You really did. And then you showed up and you crushed it.

So you're the reason you were there a hundred percent. Yeah. Everyone is I just more. I need you I need to listen to you. when I wake up every morning, like in and you need to be in my bathroom mirror saying, God, you can do it. You can do it. So thank you for those very, very encouraging words. What was that moment when they called you and they said We're gonna make this character a regular character. That was insane. So yes, I think my the arc was at first four episodes, and maybe maybe six.

But then it um, you know, Aaron stayed for the rest of the season and then it wasn't until June, so the show had stopped I guess the show and that season ended in May. And in June is when they called my agents, and then my agents called me to say that we want to offer her a, you know, a a regular

um spot on the show. And that that is like you have won the lottery, of course, because I I and which I do feel that I did because um not only creatively is the show just so spectacular, but I I just felt so lucky to be working with normal people who didn't have there were no egos. There was I mean, y you were there longer than I was, but I there was no like fighting or like drama. It felt like a very, very nice group of people to work with and it was. So I felt

Um, again, like, okay, this is wow, this is my big break. And so that that was a exhilarating moment when I got that call. Our writer, Jean, told us that for your first episode, and this is so crazy, Ellie.

that you were asked to perform the role of Aaron two ways in every scene because they were still trying to figure out exactly what they needed from your character. And so the one way we know her as, right, is just so adorable and she just desperately wants Michael to love her and like her and it's so cute.

But I guess the other way was like a sarcastic version. Do you remember this? I do remember that. And I'm glad you brought that up because I do remember that specific direction, which was we haven't really figured this character out yet. And so there were I don't know if it was every take, but there were moments where it was okay, like they were just sort of, you know, I think adjusting and um like modulating the character in terms of what

she would be. And and so there were a lot of um takes where it was just m more straightforward and a little bit, you know, um, I guess I don't wanna say cynical, but just a little bit more serious, I think. But that's not the direction Aaron ended up going. But that's intri it was ha very interesting to be there, you know, at the introduction of a new character as and to see like how, you know, the writers and director and actors sort of figure out this new person in the office.

Do you remember when they told you, Okay, we figured it out. We've picked an errand. Yeah, no, I think it was more I think it was more gradual and honestly it's like I don't know if it was just from talking with them in real life'cause I I do

I d did you guys ever experience this where you'd be like talking with a writ with Mindy or BJ at the at Crafty and then all of a sudden you're like, wait a second. It's not exactly something you said, but something sort of related to what you said made its way into a script. I'm not taking credit for writing. I'm just saying that

I think certain parts of my personality may have been incorporated into the aspects of Aaron where you're like, um Oh, Ellie, we talk about this all the time. We totally say that One of the things we became aware of is having writers on the set, which is pretty unique, and having them as cast members. that they were sort of always paying attention and little moments of our real lives or things would end up in scripts. Very subtly, but they'd be there. Right.

Right. And so so then I'm like, Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that writer's room, like what are they picking up? But also like checking what I say. I think I learned the less not that it's a lesson, but I think I picked up on that too late where I was like, Oh right. They're they're There y everything's material or everything's copy, whatever that quote is, but anyway, yeah.

And I love, love how different her relationship with Michael is than than Pam's relationship. And I thought that was really important. She brought out this whole other side of him and I I loved it. I always thought of it as a father-daughter relationship and you know, Aaron didn't have a dad, a stable father paternal figure growing up and, you know, Michael, they have quarks that are similar, I think. And so they mesh. But yeah, Pam, like ha I I don't know if it's a wisdom or just like a a um

Ability to perceive that's a little sharper than Aaron's, but um that was not the relationship you had with Michael. I mean, Pam had with Michael. I think maybe Pam had a kind of mother son relationship with Yes Michael. Pam was a bit of like a surrogate caretaker. Yeah. More of a nurturer. Try to

Steer him. Yeah, steer him. Exactly. That's exactly what I was looking for. Yep, that's exactly right. Um Well, I love your romance with Andy. I have been really enjoying that part of this rewatch. And I feel like that was one of the first things that really brought your character more to the forefront. And now here, Secretary's Day. Oh. Big A story. Yes. Yes. I mean, what was that like?

Angela and I know what it's like to have a a little bit more of a supporting role on the show and then all of a sudden you get thrust into one of these big storylines. And you suddenly have all these scenes with Steve Carell. Who was also directing. Like it was that was

Crazy. And I didn't have any warning or anything. Like it wasn't until sitting down. At the table read, right? What? Yeah. Yes. You just you sat down at the table read, opened your script, and you're reading it cold and you're like, oh my gosh. Or maybe you read it in your trailer thirty minutes before, but still That is my experience of like every script we got. Like that's how I found out Angela was gonna hook up with Dwight. I was like, what?

Right. Like thirty minutes. I I maybe mi'cause Mindy wrote that episode, as as we all know, and maybe there had been maybe she had been saying I I can't remember. I remember the having a discussion with her where she was like, Oh, it'd be it'd be fun. I can't remember if it was about Secretary's Day, but it was something she was writing and she had some idea for Aaron. So maybe there was an inkling of that, but certainly not the A story, which is such a thrill.

And like you said, it was probably thirty minutes before the table read. in your trailer and you're like, Oh my gosh and then and then like sir and and and like very seriously for Aaron, who did have, you know, a a a very supportive role that's to say like a few lines in every episode.

that suddenly you're saying all these things and you're in all these important scenes and it feels it felt really, really cool. And um not that there was anyone who wasn't, you know, a great uh writer or director on the show, but I really loved that Mindy had written it and that Steve was gonna direct it'cause like you know, it it's he's he he he's so beloved.

And then to know that he was gonna be directing this episode. It just all felt very special to me. Yeah, and you and Mindy were f you know, you guys were friends on set. You would hang out and so all of a sudden she's there too. And that must have been a great feeling that you had. Two people that you knew and trusted and worked with.

A lot up until this point. That's exactly right. So it felt very I like I could use the word safe. It felt just like uh there there was a lot of security there because I did know both of them. I loved your driving scenes. I loved that Aaron looked up

conversation topics and y she was just gonna throw them all out. Everything she had. And there's even more in the deleted scenes. You know, I'm gonna share them in the episode, but You look like you were having a lot of fun. Lady, that was like again, it feels like something that you offer as a prize at an auction. You're like, oh, you can I mean I know that I do this professionally, but it still felt like

you know, something that oh you get to um so the prize is you get to ride in a car with Steve Correll. You're acting, he's also directing it, and then you get to say these like really crazy, absurd and funny things to him. And like You know, and there were just as I recall, there were a lot of just like, you know, alts and uh you know, and just we kept doing those in the restaurant and in the car and like

I think there had been one driving scene with um Michael Scott before that on for Scott's Tots and that was I think that was the other time I had been driving with him. But yeah. They're such a funny pair. It's fun to see those two characters together. There were a few moments where Steve is Michael. just as exasperated on how to connect with Aaron and it's it's like

So painful for him and it was so funny to watch him do those scenes'cause when you don't really see Michael like that. Michael just constantly wants everyone else's attention and approval. So to see him not wanting someone's attention is really funny.

It's so it's like I was thinking the exact same thing. I just rewatched it and seeing him be exasperate, you never see that. He's always the one exasperating others. And so for him to be out, you know, annoyed, yeah, and I'm not sure that's the right word, but is really rare and hilarious. Ellie, we got this fan question. It's not even really a question.

Um, more of a comment, Reagan H. from Boston, Massachusetts wrote in to say, shout out to Ellie Kemper for this episode because every single line that she delivers in the restaurant scene is Emmy worthy. Emmy worthy. She loves your performance. I have to agree. I agree.

Excuse me again, bring Regan into the bathroom mirror. Uh I don't know how I'm gonna set this up, guys. I I want to look in the bathroom mirror and how your face is coming out and saying encouraging things to me. I think you're on to like some kind of app. I think I am.

I think you are too. I think you should sell this. It's gonna be something that projects up there and they're just holograms coming. I'm doing I'm working on it. I'm working on it. Um that's incredible. Those lines were written by Mindy. And it's easy to deliver lines that as we all know that are written so brilliantly. And um they're they were just like I think there were a couple times when Steve was like, Okay and then, you know

'Cause we all know there was room for improv. I found that to be so scary. like doing a run or whatever, because I think there's so much pressure on and there were uh there were a few. I don't think any made it into the show, but I remember I was like, I I I don't wanna have I don't wanna do that during the table seat. But it's like it's like the it was such an opportunity for for Aaron and then it was just like every line that was written was was so pitch perfect. So

So thanks for sharing that, Jenna. But half of the work was, you know.

In the w in the writing. Well, my other favorite scene is in the conference room after you throw cake in Andy's face. And it hits him with a like a thwap. Like it is And it couldn't have hit him better. Like his eyes are completely covered. Terrific aim. Thank you. Thank you. Really well done. But then you have this breakdown. You just and and the emotion underneath it. And what's so great about it is just how you really grounded it in some real emotion and real hurt. Um

it it was never just like sort of like an over the top comedic take on it. It was it was so oh, it just really broke my heart for your character. I love that scene. Yeah. Well, thank you. for saying that. I I remember, I d I do have vivid memories of that day and episode because it is the first time Aaron really has an emotional

moments and a full on, like you said, breakdown. And I was very nervous about that because not only from an acting point of view, which was just okay, you need to find these feelings in there and you need to dig deep. On this day. But also, I was really intimidated to do it in front of all of you guys. Cause I did, again, there's always that element of like,

I joined halfway and like everyone is I just did not want to derail any train. So I was like, okay, this is gonna be, you know, the first time doing this in front of this group of people, something more serious. And so I'm I just was very, very anxious that day. But I do remember making the target of his face and feeling like, okay, good, we're not gonna have to clean up the cake and do it again.

That would have been I would have been Did you only hit him with cake one time? I feel like yes. I I I d I wanna say yes. Amazing. I don't wanna brag and I don't wanna rewrite history. That may not have been the case, but I just remember feeling happy that it didn't go on the wall. Like there wasn't a massive cleanup. There wa and I remember there wasn't. When I watched that scene, everyone's reaction seems so genuine that I feel like it was the first take because we're all like, Oh, I feel like

There's two things happening. One as actors were reacting to this moment, but then as just humans, we're like Ellie nailed him. I agree with Angela. That is definitely our real reaction to the cake hitting his face in that scene. I could not have faked. that reaction. That was You're phenomenal actresses. You could have you could have No re rewatch the scene for the reactions. It's just us. I'm gonna re watch I was gonna say I was so excited because Angela and Erin got to have a scene together.

Which rarely happened. I know. And I mean at front reception, sitting over there in these hushed tones and I remember that we had that scene, but Ellie I had forgotten the dialogue. You know, like I knew I was basically saying to you, don't you don't need to be worried, right?

And then when I watched it and I was like, You're throwing up for the wrong reasons. And our dialogue was so ridiculous, but the sentiment was so real. It w that's exactly right. And then to see that Toby had been there the whole time, it's just like It's so funny. And it's also and in my memory of it before re-watching it, I I thought it was longer and had more substance. Like that that it is is is inconsequential, but that it is like it it's quick and it's mostly about

Throw up. Yeah. So it's like yeah, yeah. So so it's like I've I thought for some reason it was more of a heart to heart, but it wasn't. And that's really a funny lie. You're throwing up for the wrong reason. Yeah. Well, Pam tries to have a heart to heart with Erin. And it was really good. I thought what Pam said was so good. And I thought, Oh, maybe this is sinking in. I thought so too. No.

Well, Ellie, another question we always ask our guests is if they took anything from set when the show was over. Yeah, what'd you take? I took something that I feel confident I was not supposed to take. It's in my closet. It's I so I'm not gonna show okay. It's I don't I mean not that anyone could see it, but you'll know immediately what I'm talking about. It's in Michael Scott's office. It's music is the friendship of life.

Wow. Friendship is the music of that it's that bulletin board you guys with all of the photos. Yeah, I have that. Oh my god. You gotta hold it up. You gotta hold it up. That is so amazing. That is so cool. I mean, how did I get this? Did you just grab it off the wall and like leave after we wrap? I must have. And how cool is it? It's got all the pictures of the cast and everything. Ellie, did you take anything else? I took Erin's.

It was like a ski I really hope this wasn't Pam's it was the boot a ski boot? The ski boot. We love that you took the ski boot. Yes, okay, good. I I I took it, but you're gonna That was Erin's, that wasn't Pam's, that was never on Pam's desk. Yes. We noted that. Oh, there was also a little bear. Yeah. And we were like, is Aaron a ski enthusiast? And we didn't know it. I never was that question ever answered?

I don't think it was ever brought up. We're gonna we're gonna continue to rewatch and we were curious if you ever were revealed as a skier. I don't I wanna say no, but I mean maybe we'll, you know, uncover something that none of us remembers. I'm glad we all have a little piece of the show. It was such a big part of our lives.

Well let's see, is there anything else? Like Ellie, is there any sort of favorite memory you have from this episode or anything that you wanted to share a behind the scenes moment or anything like that? I was just going to say my favorite part of this episode is the end. I felt like that when Michael is trying to cheer Aaron up.

uh on the bench outside and it's a really, really tender moment I thought, where it is this dad saying, like, you can do better and I mean I've had those moments in real life where my dad

is, you know, like I'm getting over a breakup or whatever. And and my dad, who's, you know, not normally emotional like that, would try to help me feel better. And that's what this felt like with Michael and Aaron. And it was just my a great moment because You know, we were shooting it and it was a scene between the two of us and it just felt like

Steve Corell is also saying it's gonna be okay. It felt like a a part of the cast in in in real life. And it felt like I I'm I'm in the fabric of the show now. And it just felt very special. So to be able to do that. Um, of course, it's something that I'll remember forever. And it was um I just I I remember that as being my favorite moment from that episode to answer the question. I love that. And it was such a sweet way to end the episode. I know. Yeah, I love those moments when Michael

gets the opportunity to rise to the occasion and and he does. I know. And that was one of those moments. It Yep. I I loved that scene between the two of you. I loved it. I and I remember talking to Greg at the end of the series. And and just talking about the show as a whole. And the thing is that like it's such a funny, funny show. Like that's why

I started watching it with my family. Like it's it's an immediately relatable and really funny show, but it's so rare because it has such heart, you know, at the center of it. I know it's all been said before, but it really does and in a way that's so different from shows both then and now, which like, you know, makes it, I think, stand apart. And I'm saying this as a fan, like before being on the show. I just Whether I consciously noticed that or not, it had to resonate in some way.

So um yeah, that's that's my that's my take on it. Ellie, what are you up to now?

Can you share about what you're up to? The last thing I worked on was um a movie for Netflix, which is a Date TV D. It's called Happiness for Beginners and it's Honestly, about a woman who finds love. So talk about heart. There you got it. But it's a hiking movie. It's based on a book by the same name.

Happiness for beginners and we'll wait and see when it is released, but um they haven't they haven't named a release date yet. So that's mostly what I'm working on and figuring out what's gonna be next. So that's that's it from these parts. Well, we will let people know when that movie comes out. Mm-hmm.

Thank you, Jen and Ann. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Ellie. Ladies are so fun. Yes. You guys, this has been I was looking forward to this on so many levels. It was such a pleasure chatting with you, but I really wanted I mean obviously congratulate you on your book, which is like number one. Like congratulations. That's huge. So I mean, you make it look easy. So hats off. I mean, that's really incredible. But

Thank you very much for having me, you guys. I I I adore you. So I was very much looking forward to this. Aw. You made my day, Ellie. You made my day. I mean, listen. That's a lot. Trooper. That's a lot. Oh my lord. Thank you so much, Ellen. My lord, Mylanta. Is that what they used to say? My Lord, Mylanta. Give me some Milanta. Love you so much. Thank you, ladies. I hope we'll see you soon again in person. I hope we see I hope I get to see you soon in person too. New Maybelline Serum Lip. Yeah.

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Well we are back. That was delightful. I love her. Love her. Jenna, let's get into this episode. Let's do it. I have some stuff about the cold open. I do as well. Who's going first? You go first. Oh, okay. Well maybe we should describe the cold open. Nah. Skip it. You describe it. All right, everybody is gathered around Oscar's desk. Whenever the writers wanted us to watch something at someone's desk, it was always Oscar's desk. Facts.

And what they are watching is a Cookie Monster video, but Cookie Monster has Kevin's voice. Yeah. So per Randy Cordre, this was actually scene number fifteen in the shooting draft. It was not the cold open, but in editing they did some rearranging. Well I went to the shooting draft, Jenna. And guess what was the cold open in the shooting draft? What? I I love that I'm saying guess because you're gonna be like, I have no idea.

You can tell I'm feeling better because everything tickles me. Everything is like wonderful. Every little thing about life is making you happy right now. Yes, it is. Yes. Okay. Here's what the cold open was. Interior conference room morning. Toby is running a meeting. He is energized and excited in a way we've not seen. He holds up a small booklet. Toby says, A Citizen's Guide to Radon. This book could save your life. Yes, Toby's obsession with radon. Yes.

That was the original Cold Open. It will eventually end up in the episode The Chump. But the one we went with, as Jenna shared, was when Oscar dubs Kevin's voice Jenna, there were many, many alts for this scene. First of all, it started with an Oscar talking head that did not make it to air. This was the Oscar talking head.

Oscar. I was listening to a message Kevin left me and I thought for a second it was Cookie Monster. So I edited this together at home. And then that would have led in to the scene with everyone gathered around his computer. Oh, okay. I know. Fascinating. I think it is. Oh Lord. Here were some of the alts they gave to Brian. Oh my gosh, Jenna.

Oscar, I'm gonna be late today. I'm stuck in a drive-thru behind a bus. Bye. Hey Oscar, I'm at the dentist. Turns out I have a cavity. Can you save me some cake? Bye. Oscar, I'm pushing the volume on my phone. Do I sound louder? Oscar, do my hands feel sweaty to you? Wow. Those were all in the shooting draft. That means Brian, as Kevin, read all of those. Yeah.

So I wonder how they decided which one was gonna win. I bet they just dubbed them all and then sat around and watched'em and decided. Well the two that made it in did crack me up. The first one is Oscar, Toby said he left my Girl Scout cookies on my chair. Have you seen them? Wait, I'm sitting on them. Bye.

Mm-hmm. And then the second one is, Oscar, what's the difference between a chimichanga, a chalupa, and a tostada? Call me back. A S A P. Amazing. It's funny, all of that is happening in the scene.

But the thing I wrote down in my document is this. I need to talk about Ryan's outfit. I know. That's what I wrote down. He has on an untied bow tie. Here's the crazy thing. I found an interview that Mindy Kaling did for office tally dot com right after this episode aired. And she?

talked about the untied bow tie. Oh, Mom Detective, do it. So validated. Do it, Mom Detective, do it. She said, quote, I take a lot of pride in the choice of Ryan's undone bowtie, which is the infuriating style of some hipsters and hipster musicians. It has such annoying connotations of I partied so hard, I am this unkempt, or I don't even care what anyone thinks of me. I am an iconoclast. Both of which are perfect for the smug Ryan.

Because by the way, it was in the script that he's wearing an untied bow tie. Like this was a Mindy Kaling detail. And I totally noticed it, Mindy. I wanna know where Mindy was when she saw someone that looked like that and she was instantly like ticked off, like, how dare you? Yeah, she was like, Ryan.

Well, Randy Cordre told me that getting permission to use the Sesame Street characters was not easy. It was a very long process. I remember this, Jenna. I remember there was like scuttle butt, like, what if we can't get it? They're like being kind of stickler. Yeah, he said that it started off really easy, and Mindy confirmed this as well, that they had a conference call with the children's television network, which is now called Sesame Street Workshop, asking if they could use Cookie Monster.

And they had kind of shown them the outline of the script. And they were like, Yes, you can. But Randy said it was with the caveat that we had to show them the final cut for final approval. But they said, Go ahead and shoot it. We think it's gonna be okay. Well I guess. After we shot it and showed it to them, they said no. Yeah, that's what I remember. Mm-hmm.

So they set up another conference call with Greg Daniels, Paul Lieberstein, Steve Carell, and Randy Cordre with the senior executives at the New York headquarters of Sesame Workshop. Uh oh. Greg and Paul said, listen, this parody is really innocent. We are not making fun of Cookie Monster. We're making fun of Kevin's voice. So Randy was on the call. He said he could feel the executives softening to the idea. They're coming around, not quite there yet, until

Dun dun dun. Steve Carell volunteered to appear on Sesame Street in the scene of their choosing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. He said he would be in New York City soon and he would do a cameo. Steve knows how to work it. And they were like, yes. I found his cameo. So we can play it. Oh cute. Hi, I'm Steve. And I'm Abby and Elmost Elmo. And we're here to tell you all about the word vote. Yes, vote! Yes!

Let's tell'em what vote means. Well, the word vote means to make a choice between two or more things and right now We are going to show a vote. Oh, what is Elmo going to vote about, Mr. Steve? Well, we're going to vote to decide what we're going to have for snack time. This is exciting! Elmo can't wait to vote! That's adorable. It was so cute. I watched the whole thing. So they're gonna vote on whether to have cheese or peanut butter and jelly as a snack. Okay. But then very dramatically

There is a late breaking third candidate for snack and it's pizza. Oh no. And pizza runs away with it. Pizza wins. But it's really cute. But that is why We were able to use Cookie Monster and the Count in our episode because of Steve. Well, that is stinkin' cute. I love that Elmo calls him Mrs. Steve. I know. Kevin is very upset by all of this. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone else is tickled. Dwight says send me a link to that and everyone's like, Yeah, send me a link. Send me a link.

Kevin appeals to Angela, who is beside herself happy. She says, This is my favorite day. And we got a fan question about it from Selena R in Long Island, New York. In these later episodes, it seems like Angela becomes more emotional and humanized. Do you agree? If so, Angela, how did you interpret this? How'd you feel about it? Both now as a viewer and as an actor?

In this episode, especially, I felt like I saw so much growth in her character. I couldn't imagine Angela doing some of these scenes in the earlier episode. Selena, I love this question because As a performer, my backstory for showing more emotion is Angela. as the years went on, is that she was very guarded in the beginning around the camera crew. She is a distrusting person. She doesn't like strangers. This would have been very awkward for her to have these people there every day.

She, I'm sure, was very reluctant to participate. And so as the years grew and she became more comfortable, she just let her guard down a little bit more and showed more of her emotions. Right. So it's not like Angela is changing, it's just she's changing how much of herself she's revealing to this crew. Exactly. It's so funny because we never really talked about it. It just kinda happened. Yeah. Naturally. Yeah. For all the characters.

Thank you for that question. I thought that was great. Andy has a very exuberant talking head. He's super excited. It's Secretary's Day. Mm-hmm. He's made a banner. He's decorated. He said he's so excited for everyone to celebrate Erin. He really wanted everyone to know to celebrate her. Listen to what he did. He sent an email blast, a text blast, a good old fashioned talk blast, and a snail mail blast.

Yeah, also in his talking head, he says if it weren't for secretaries, he wouldn't have a stepmom. Again with Andy sharing random stuff from his past. We got a fan question slash catch from Anne O in Norway. Hi Ann. Andy says he has a stepmom, but later his parents are still married. What's going on? Welcome Anne. Welcome to the mystery of Andy's backstory. It's true. I had to say Ann's catch because I think we were all thinking it. Yeah.

Well another thing's happening today, Pam's back. She's back from her maternity leave. She is gonna put a photo on her desk of CeCe at two minutes. That was a photo of my real niece, CC. Oh, cute. She's also gonna notice that her plant died. Jim said he didn't even know it existed. That made me laugh. 'Cause I feel like my husband would do that. I have all of these plants. Whenever I travel for work, I'm like, okay, two things.

Change out my hummingbird feeders and my plants. I always am not sure what I'm gonna get when I come home. Well Dwight said he chose to let it die. Welcome back, Pam. Fan question from Caitlin C in Iowa. Is this proof that Pam was buying all the plants for the front desk? Oh I like to think that. I do too. Well there was more to the scene. At twenty five seconds what would have happened it was a deleted scene. is that Pam would find a very old box of cupcakes.

That was a gift like a baby gift that was left on her desk for weeks. It was covered in fruit flies, and she had one of her drawers that was full of maggots. My gosh. Mm-hmm. Pam's dialogue would have been, Ugh, who left cupcakes on my desk for six weeks? My drawer is filled with maggots to which Dwight jumps up, runs over to the drawer protectively, and says, Those are mine. I was breeding maggots for personal use. I have nothing to do with the fruit flies, though.

Did we shoot that? Yes. I have no memory of that. It's in deleted scenes. That's crazy to me. Crazy. But this is what was happening on Pam's desk while she was away. Her plants were dying, there were fruit flies and maggots in her drawer. Randy did share for this deleted scene we use Bob Dunn's animal rentals for flies and maggots. Trainers were Megan Fraser and Kevin Kinzer.

So now Andy is really gonna do everything he can to have Erin have this great secretary's day. And that starts with going to Michael and asking Michael, what do you have planned? What are you gonna do for her? And Michael says he's gonna give her$15, to which Andy says. I think maybe step it up. Like why don't you take her to lunch? Ugh, Michael does not want to spend a lunch with Aaron. Oh no, it's like Andy said I think you should get a root canal.

It's so true. Michael's expression. Well, this scene was bigger and it explained the whole fifteen dollars thing. Yeah, that was a very specific amount of money. While it's in deleted scenes, Michael explains the fifteen dollars and it leads into a Pam talking head. I think we should hear it. I was just wondering what you had planned for Secretary's Day. Oh, I'm going to give Aaron$15. Wow why? Because that's what I always used to do with Pam. See Pam

decided that she would rather have the cash value of her half of lunch were I to take her out. So she promises every year to take that money, go to Cooper's, and buy herself a Sunday. Yeah. I can't believe that worked. That's pretty great. I know, I loved it. Well, I have a background catch for this scene.

You know, earlier at reception one of the gifts that Aaron got for Secretary's Day was like a little stuffed dog. Did you notice? Oh yeah. Well at two minutes and thirty three seconds, in the background through the window, I think Erin is like pretending to give her stuffed dog a drink of water. Oh no from a cup. And then it's talking on the phone. She's doing all this. Business with her little stuffed dog. Well Andy taped the phone to its head.

Earlier, yeah. Earlier. And then she waves the dog's paw at Michael. Mhm. Yeah. Well, on a rewatch. You can watch the stuffed dog show through the window during this scene. I need to see it. Michael is persuaded by Andy and he's gonna invite Erin to lunch. She suggests Hayworth. And Michael's like, oh He's not feeling it. But ultimately that's where they go. I could not find a real Hayworth in Scranton. Same. Looked it up, couldn't find it.

I did find a great article on Mental Floss that gives you a Dunder Mifflin tour of Scranton of all the places that actually exist and that you can go. I found that same thing too. And Hayworth's is not on the list. Two ladies that googled. Look at us cow googlin' the same things. I have a few catches in this scene. Ooh, let's hear it. At three minutes and one second, when Michael is approaching Erin's desk, the front door is closed. Okay. But at three minutes and nine seconds.

The front door is open. Continuity catch, folks. Ding ding ding. Also, through that door, there is a picture on the wall that I have personally never noticed before. It's some sort of I don't know what. It mountain y or something. It's hazy in the background. Did we always have a picture there? Why is this the first time I'm seeing it? I don't know. But here is the major catch from the scene, and this is truly major, and it is in fact also a fan mail flurry.

Brrrrrrr. It's a fan mail flurry. Yay! I love my new sting. At three minutes and four seconds. Anna H. from Columbus, Ohio, Rudy D. from Utah, and Amanda H. from Boston, and many more, all said Aaron is wearing purple flower earrings in this episode. Are they the same earrings that Pam wore in New York for art school? Yes, they are, folks. They recycled Pam's art school earrings and they put them on Erin for Secretary's Day. I took a side-by-side screenshot.

These are the earrings that Pam was wearing in the hallway in weight loss part two. What a fantastic catch. I'm applauding it. Super well done. I'm gonna show you the picture. I want to see the pick. Oh my gosh. Exactly the same. Yep. What's gonna happen next? She's gonna wear Meredith's vest? What's happening? Oh my gosh. I would love for Erin to wear Meredith's vest. That would be incredible.

In the kitchen there's some people enjoying Kevin's cookie monster bit. It would be Meredith and Daryl. They have cookies out, they tempt him to have one, so then Daryl can just go mm mm mm mm. Yeah. Kevin is starting to clue in that maybe they're not making fun of Cookie Monster. Maybe they're making fun of him. At first he doesn't want to eat the cookie. He is suspicious. He says, You just brought those cookies.

So that I'll eat one and you can make fun of me. And Daryl's like, I brought these cookies because it's my birthday. Fan question from Timber B in Tennessee. Hold on, it's Secretary's Day, but it's also Daryl's birthday? Why didn't the PPC throw him a birthday party? Poor Daryl. No birthday cake for him? He needs a fudge the whale.

I don't think it was his birthday. Same. I think he was just making it up to make Kevin eat the cookie. Mm-hmm. Kevin is gonna go to Gabe. He's gonna show Gabe the video. I think he wants to know.

Are they making fun of me? Is this appropriate? And Gabe is not having it. Oh, Gabe lights up. He's finally got his cause. Something that will demand respect from the coworkers. His talking head is hilarious to me. He said that his beginning there has been a little bit of a fiasco. I loved it when he said some of them still think I'm the IT guy. That just cracked me up. I mean, some of them probably Creed and Meredith have not paid attention.

But the cookie monster thing is Gabe's opportunity. He's really gonna show them that he's the authority figure. And this starts a whole storyline. Well lady, we got a fan question from KCA in Canada. Am I the only one who thinks everybody is being too mean to Kevin? Maybe I'm just too sensitive and have seen the episode too many times, but rewatching it now, it feels genuinely kinda mean. Thoughts?

Casey, I'm glad you wrote in because I also kind of thought like Gabe is right. He should shut this down. This is like not cool to do to your coworker. I'm with you. I'm with you too. I think it went across the line, but I will say this. I imagine everyone in that office has been hits their breaking point with Kevin. I mean, he did walk up to Pam and pretend to be a baby crying to see if her boobs would produce milk. Yes. So

Probably there is part of them that just delighted in it for a little bit, but I think they went too far. Yeah. Well I totally get why the characters at Dunder Mifflin would delight in this parody video. But at the same time, Casey, I'm with you. Yeah, I see it. Well, Gabe is gonna address the bullpen. He's gonna tell them that he forbids anyone from discussing or sharing the parody video. And that is coming from corporate, so they better listen to it. Mm-hmm.

It doesn't seem like anyone's gonna listen to it. It really doesn't.

Well, now we are in the car on the way to Aaron's Secretary's Day lunch. Michael is driving. He would rather not talk. He's hoping that he could listen to his audio book and which is a novelization of the movie Precious based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Per Randy Cordray, all of these driving scenes were filmed on Burbank Boulevard near Balboa Park, which was our go to street. There's no palm trees on this street. I love that it was someone's job to drive around.

The vicinity of where we shoot is looking for stretches of road with no palm trees. Like that was their job. They're like, Go find me a street with no palm trees. This was the main one as I watched this scene. I looked for palm trees, there weren't any, but I did see the mountains in the background. Hm. Yeah. I mean you're not gonna find no mountains and no palm trees. I know. We just went with no palm trees.

Steve was not actually driving in this scene. The car was being towed behind one of those camera insert cars. And Randy shared that we used lipstick cameras that were suction cupped to the windshield. That's how we shot it. Randy also shared that lipstick cameras were often problematic, and whenever we could have a camera operator in a vehicle with us, that was preferred. But if you wanted to get people from the front,

You had to use these lipstick cameras, but he said we had a special camera technician named Tim Arashabin. I hope I'm saying your last name right. who was an absolute master of these lipstick cameras and we actually rarely had problems thanks to Tim. So thank you, Tim. Thank you, Tim. We use those lipstick cameras a lot. We did.

So there's a lot of this scene in the deleted scenes on the DVD. Guess who narrates the book? Oh, I know this. I know this. In the script they had a suggestion of someone, but that is not who narrated it when we filmed. Okay. I know who they put in the script. It was David Hyde Pierce. Exactly. Who ended up doing it? Our editor, Dave Rogers. Oh my gosh, that's perfect. I love it. It was fun to hear his voice.

The other thing I loved about the deleted scenes for this is that Erin has a talking head where she explains how she is coming up with conversation topics so she has things to talk about. Let's hear it. I really want to impress Michael and I don't want to take any chances. So I went to a website that listed hundreds of interesting conversation starters. And I'll just break them out whenever there's a pause or even maybe if there's not. Because bosses like women who can talk at length on things.

So that would have played before the car scene. And while she's searching on this website for these talking points. All of these advertisements keep popping up, these pop up ads, and she's having a hard time clicking on her article. It's just a funny background detail. It's at two minutes twenty five seconds. Randy shared with us that all of the motion graphics were created by Henry Sane. Wow.

Well, you're gonna see a few of these conversation starters coming up in the car. Aaron says, So what decade would you have chosen to be a teenager? And then we're gonna get to the restaurant for a very awkward lunch, and Erin is gonna hit him with this. Do you have a favorite age or month? Michael does not know what to do with this. She goes on to say how many pillows do you sleep on at night? Well, you know, in the script

Michael had a response to that that got cut out in editing. Oh, what'd he say? Michael says, None, just my body pillow. And then he changes the subject to Andy. But that line did not make it in the final cut. But I think that's very funny. I just imagine Michael always sleeping on that little bench at the end of his bed. It's hard to picture him in the actual bed after that scene. I know.

Well, Erin is gonna continue to overshare, if you will, at this lunch. She's just talking and talking. She can't stop. Yeah, she says she used to work at a Taco Bell Express, but she couldn't hack it when it became a full Taco Bell. It was just too stressful. We had a fan question from Beth W in New York City who loves that line, wants to know who wrote that amazing joke. Mindy Kayling said that Danny Chun wrote the Taco Bell Express line and it's one of her favorites in the episode.

I looked it up and the difference between a Taco Bell Express and a Taco Bell. And I see why it might be more stressful for Erin. Taco Bell Express, if my memory is correct, is there's no seating area. No. It is to serve, quote, hungry customers on the go. Mm-hmm. It's a grab and go. And it also has a smaller menu. It's just the tacos and burritos. And so yeah, if you went from grab and go to a seated restaurant

When I worked in fast food, I have to say, like fifty percent of it is just cleaning up that dining room. I bet, you know? People are messy. People are messy. You know, the trash cans say thank you. And I used to say, you know, that's for you, the guest. They're not thanking me the employee for throwing your stuff away. They're thanking you. That's why carry your stuff over and throw it out on your way out. Maybe trash cans should have a longer message like thank you for

Not being a total a hole and putting your trash where you're supposed to put it. It's literally on your way out of the restaurant. You have to pass by it anyway. Clean up after yourselves. If you make the mess, clean it up. My gosh, how hard is that? I don't even know where we are now. I do, I do. Okay. So this scene, Jenna, was even bigger of Aaron just talking and talking There was part of it that just really cracked me up. It's in deleted scenes.

It's about what's in her purse. You have to hear it. At my foster home I never had a death. So it's like a I I don't mean that I didn't like my foster home. I I did like it. didn't have a desk there, so sorry, I know I feel weird. I think I'm nervous and you're looking at me like I'm weird, but my blood sugar is really low. You know, I didn't have my lunar bar this morning. I thought I put my lunar bar in my purse. But it turns out I put my TV remote instead. You ever see?

There's no there's no woman nutrition. No folic acid in that though. Can you imagine eating your TV remote for Breakfast? I don't know if it would kill you, but it wouldn't it wouldn't even taste good to begin with. But I don't know. There's so many things that are nice about being a receptionist that I can't just pick one and say that it's my favorite, but you probably feel the same way about being a boss. You can't pick one. Did you have a favorite age? Or month.

An age or month? Yeah, like a favorite month. Like I like April when I was seven. I don't have a favorite month now. It's sort of like every month is different. I could listen to it forever. I it's so delightful. It's such a wonderful free association. She holds up the remote control. She fishes it out of her bag and the look

on Steve's face as Michael when he's like, What do you want me to do with it? Like, what do I what do I do with all of this? We got a fan question from Jenna R in Los Angeles, California. Hi Jenna. Yeah. Where did they film Michael and Aaron's lunch scene? It was filmed at a restaurant in Encino called Boca, which has since closed. It is now called Monaco Encino.

And Randy even sent us a photo from their location scout. So what they would have done a week prior to an episode where we have to shoot something on location. Everybody would get in a little van, the director, the writer, the producers, the camera operators, and they would go around to like three or four restaurants that are options to shoot at that our locations manager, Kyle Alexander, would have found.

And they would sit in them and they would talk about, like, we could put the camera here. This is what you would see if you put the camera here in this location. And then after that they'd pick the one they like. Randy sent us a picture from the location scout. You can see Steve in it. You can see our first AD Rusty talking about how they might shoot the scene in the background.

And then Randy is sitting at a table pretending to be Michael and our second A D, Jenny O'Keefe, is sitting pretending to be Aaron. Oh, I love that. It just warmed my heart. Oh, we'll have to put it in stories. Definitely. Well, I think we should take a break because when we come back, Michael is uh gonna put his foot in his mouth. Oh my gosh. He sure is. And Aaron is gonna have quite the reaction.

We're back. Erin says, Tell me about Andy before I met him. Oh no. She's got like those dreamy eyes. Michael's like, Mm, let's see. Andy plays the banjo. She's like, Yeah, I love that. Other than the fact that he dated Angela, I don't think he's a snappy dresser. Aaron's like, what? And then Michael has what is my favorite line of the whole episode. Same. He says, I don't think he is the best dresser. Reminds me of Easter. I can't unsee this now.

All of his outfits are like pastel and like beige and pinks and light blues. He does dress like Easter. He does. But Aaron is like, that's not what I meant. Yeah. I meant the thing about Angela. At the same time the waiter has come by to drop off their food. Yeah, he's like, Here we go, hot plate. And all of this chaos is starting to happen. Michael is not picking up on it. Instead, he is frustrated that he asked for pickles, but there's only like five or six on this plate.

To which the waiter says, I will bring you a bowl of pickles. Yeah. And then Aaron is gonna hide inside of her hair. Yes. And that was in the shooting draft. It specifically said that Erin covers her face with her hair. Yes.

I have a fun catch, said The waiter in the scene was played by our writer Aaron Scher. You guys know him as the master of the cold opens. Yeah, he was the go-to guy for cold opens and gave us some of our most famous cold opens. Yes, the Kevin spilling the chili. He wrote that. He wrote the speed meter where everyone's trying to run in front to see how fast they can run. So Mindy said that Aaron getting cast as the waiter happened the day before we were set to shoot these restaurant scenes.

She said at first they were gonna cast like a young actor, but everybody just looked too Hollywood. This was supposed to be a restaurant in Scranton. And so then in the writer's room they pitched maybe it would be really funny if the waiter in the restaurant were like really, really, really, really old. She said, quote, like the night at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Oh my god, old. That's crazy old. But Steve Carell thought that might be distracting to the scene. So they decided to cast someone who was not too young and not too old. And right at that moment of making that decision, Mindy said that our writer, Aaron Scher, got up, walked across the room, and went to the bathroom.

And everyone was like, How about Aaron? Oh my god. He is neither too old or too young. This is a great origin story of how did you get cast on the office? I know. I had to pee and I walked by the writer's room. So Mindy said that he read for it, he got the part. She also pointed out that he is a trained actor. Well, I reached out to Aaron Schur to ask him about this story and he confirms it.

But he thinks that there might be something else at play, which was that in the weeks before this moment, he decided to grow a beard. He thinks maybe the beard had something to do with it and he's gonna explain why. Hello office ladies, it's Erin Scher. I'm gonna tell you the exciting story about how I became a waiter on the office. I had done a little bit of acting, but mostly I was a stand-up and improviser, uh street performer, even a circus clown, and the audiences all

said pretty much the same thing to me, which is, you should be a writer. So that's what I did, because I'm more of a back office sort of guy. But as you know, Dunder Mifflin has the annex which is there just so that people like Mindy, Paul and B J, who are all writer actors, they had somewhere to be behind a door, so there was a reason why we didn't wonder where they were when they were actually in the writer's room making the show.

So when you're on the show it's easy to start to think maybe there's room in the annex for me too. Maybe I could also be a star. Obviously that was not gonna happen. And so at a certain point I grew a beard, which is A daring thing to do in Hollywood where you're supposed to always look as young as possible. And that's when Mindy came in with her script. and was like, Hey Aaron, could you read this restaurant scene? And I'm like, You want me to

criticize your scene and she's like, No, I want you to audition. And so she pulled me into the other room, and there's Steve Carell, who's gonna be directing this episode. and I read the scene with him, and I'm terrified, so I do a terrible job. And yet they cast me. So the next week I'm on set And um they send me to Hair and Makeup, the Hair and Makeup trailer. And when I walk in, th they go, Oh, it's our old waiter.

So the beard, it turns out, actually got me the job. And then he started to trim the beard and kept trimming it. I was in there for like three hours and I got a little paranoid. Like, is this all because my beard was annoying Steve and he just cast me in a evil plot to get my beard to not look so scraggly. Of course that wasn't it. Okay, but I wanna say Aaron, I hear you because remember When Ryan went blonde? Yeah.

That was because Mindy thought it would be funny for BJ to have to dye his hair blonde. So they created this whole plot. So why the character would do it. So maybe Mindy was like, That beard needs a trim and a tidy. Exactly. How can I do that? You know what? I'm gonna write'em into an episode.

I also asked Aaron what it was like to shoot the scene. I wanted to know, like, did you get much direction? And he said they pretty much let him do his own thing, but that actually led to some problems. But I'll let him explain.

Once I get on the actual set, I'm determined to do a good job for obvious reasons, but also because there's a lot of hardworking actors out there who could have used this opportunity and I owe it to them to at least do a decent job. And also as a writer I know how easy it is for a an actor who has only a few lines to ruin a scene because they're nervous or because they think it's their star vehicle.

So I'm gonna do a good job. And Steve is directing it, but he assumes I know enough to do my own blocking. So I come up with my own which is blocking is how you move around the set, right? And I come up with my own blocking and it I did the dumbest thing, which is I started way back in the kitchen. I'm not even in the room. So all I can hear back there is Steve yell action and then I've got to walk in and I can't hear what's being said at the table and I gotta find a way to land right on my cue.

But this is my plan. I I I realized okay, here's what I'm gonna do. So my plan was I'm gonna hide behind B camera. There's usually we had two cameras shooting simultaneously. And so if I'm behind B camera I won't be in the shock as camera A isn't gonna film camera B. That's not how the pros do it. Um but I of course couldn't be in front of camera B, but you gotta be behind anyway, when I come out

Camera B has been moved to the further side of the restaurant. So now there's no way for me not to be on camera and to hear the scene. So I come up with this what I hope seems like a human behavior of circling the table slowly trying to hear what's being said. And in this scene you can see Steve looks over his shoulder like trying to find this weird lurking waiter.

And this is proof that I was never an actual waiter,'cause a real waiter knows how to show up at the table at the most awkward moment when somebody's heard terrible news and is about to start crying. But at the end of it all, I think it went Fine. And Steve was very kind and told me I did a good job and that meant so much to me. I mean what an opportunity to perform a script written by Mindy, directed by Steve, and to be on the greatest show ever. And now I'm on the greatest podcast ever.

So thank you. Oh. Thank you, Erin. Erin, that is so fun and we just love you.

Also, Aaron said for the record he actually likes pickles but not by the bowl. One of his lines that cracked me up because like he was saying when you have Only a few lines. It's really hard not to make them like the most important things you ever say. Yes. And he had this line when Michael says, Could I get more pickles? And his first response is Of course. And that, of course, to me was so perfect. Like anyone who's worked in food service knows that moment when you're like,

Absolutely. Sure. I would love to do that. I would love to get you a bowl of pickles. Well Erin is really starting to spiral, you know, she's got her face covered with her hair. She's making really heavy groaning sounds. Ugh like that. Yeah. Michael delivers a famous line. It's from when Harry met Sally. Yes. He looks around the restaurant and says, I'll have what she's having. Mm-hmm. I went back and watched the scene after that.

It's so brilliant. It makes me want to rewatch when Harry Met Sally. Oh, I rewatched it recently. It's a flawless movie. It's terrific. Office Ladies breaks down movies. Yeah. We have to do a series of rom-coms. Well I also just re-watch Dirty Dancing. Yeah. I want to break down Dirty Dancing. Nobody Nobody puts baby in a corner. Come on. We need to really incredible. We need to watch it.

Well it's a very awkward car ride back to the office. Oh is it? And lady there was more in deleted scenes. In the shooting draft, Michael is trying to console Aaron in the car, right? He knows he's messed up. Mm-hmm. He says, you know, I think it's probably best to not say anything about this. And Aaron is just like stewing. He goes on to say

You know, take a beat. Calm down. Talk to him privately about it next week or a month, maybe never. It would probably make things awkward at work if you bring it up. Heck, you might even forget about it. And then I don't know if you've noticed, Jenna, in the car scenes, there's a little patch on Michael's seatbelt that's frayed. It's right at his shoulder. Mm-mm. And when I watched it, I did notice this sort of like fuzzy thing in a seatbelt and I thought,

Why would they let that be in the shot? Why wouldn't they get him a seatbelt that wasn't damaged? Well, in deleted scenes, Michael says, Sometimes I chew on my seatbelt when I'm upset. You can feel free to do that. Erin does not respond. And then Michael shows her and starts to chew on his seatbelt. So they actually had to put chew marks on the seatbelt on purpose. Yes. Wow. And it's in deleted scenes. Michael like puts his seatbelt in his mouth. Anyway, that seatbelt was damaged on purpose.

Well, when they get back to the office, Pam's milk is coming in, she's uncomfortable, she wants to pump, but her pump is missing. Yeah. Guess who has it? So crazy. I forgot about the scene. I forgot that Meredith Took Pam's breast pump because it feels good. She likes how it feels. Oh my gosh. Once again Kate is fearless. Yeah. So Pam is like it's not sterile. She's very upset. And then Dwight is gonna offer to hand express the milk. Mm-hmm. He's gonna get it out for her. Yeah.

She's like no thank you. No thank you. Jenna, when I watched the scene, all I could think about was the time when I was back on set after having Isabel and I was breastfeeding and we were taking breaks so I could breastfeed. Kelly Cantley helped make that happen.

And we were in the conference room. We were in there all day and someone said, Hey, what time is it? And I touched the side of my boobs and I said, About eleven AM and and then they were like, Yeah, it's ten fifty nine. Do you remember that? Yes. We all started cracking up and like doing this bit that I could tell time by Yeah, we would be like, Angela, what time is it?

We started testing you and you were very accurate. Because I had my whole pump schedule. Yeah, and your milk really does come in on a schedule. Yeah. Well, incidentally, you know, my mom told me that when I was born back in nineteen seventy four, not as many women nursed their babies back then. But it was something that she was open to and she had done some research on. And she said when I was about two months old

Her and my dad wanted to go out to dinner for the first time. She said they hired their very first babysitter, and in order to leave for that period of time for dinner, it took her an entire week. of self expressing using her hand, one bottle of milk. She kept it in the freezer so that the babysitter could defrost it and give it to me. Oh my gosh. Yeah. The things our moms did for us. I know.

Oh, incidentally, I will say, Mindy also said that the idea that Meredith would steal Pam's breast pump was a pitch from Charlie Grandy.

Andy is gonna ask Aaron how lunch went, and she is very cold to him. She then completely bites Oscar's head off. Oscar says I think we're out of fax cover sheets, and she says, God, Oscar, will you keep your pants on? It's easy. At nine minutes forty eight seconds, you guys, Oscar looks right to camera. Like what the hell? Mm-hmm. But Oscar never looked right to camera. So this was really fun to spot. And I just loved him in that moment. I love that.

Well now we're gonna go to the conference room because there is a Secretary's Day party underway in Erin's honor. Her face is on a cake. Yeah. And I think also it's on the plate. Oh no way. I mean it's a very elaborate party, all thrown by Angela. Yes. Wait, is she the head of the PPC again? That's what I'm wondering. Ugh Wow. They slid that right in there. There was a couplet of dialogue between Ryan and Kelly in the scene. And as I watched it, I was like, that's just BJ and Mindy.

Which one was it? They're talking about the Cookie Monster parody. Mm-hmm. And Kelly does her version of it. And Ryan goes, That's a little derivative. And Kelly says, But parity is always derivative. And Ryan says, It's not organic. Do you know what I mean? That just sounded like a conversation between the two of them. That could have been a conversation that we would hear them having on set. Yes. A hundred percent.

So you know, in this scene, Andy is gonna put on his guitar, he's gonna put on his harmonica, and he's gonna sing Aaron a song called Secretary of Love. I had a question about the harmonica bit of it all. Uh-huh. He never straps on a harmonica. I think it was a little scheme to make sure the cake stayed up around his face. Well, it was in the script. I looked it up. It says Andy gets his guitar and one of those harmonicas attached to headgear.

And Andy begins to sing an original song called Secretary of Love. It has a feel of Ricky Nelson's Travelin' Man. In the interview on Office Tally, Mindy mentioned that she wrote lyrics for the song Secretary of Love. And they were in the table redraft and Ed does play the harmonica and they had intended for him to play it. Okay. Here are the lyrics. Oh my gosh. There's the Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health, Health and Human Resources just asked me on a date.

Secretary of Energy keeps on a winkin' at me, but I can't keep my hands off of homeland security. But all the different secretaries that I've taken to my bed there's only one secretary I can't get out of my head. The red haired secretary is the one I sing of. She's my Dunder Mifflin secretary, my secretary of love. Oh my gosh. I mean, in in some ways it's good that he didn't sing it because Erin already thinks he slept with everyone in the office. She's like, Phyllis, Kelly, Pam?

Jenna in the shooting draft, after Aaron says, Who else did you sleep with, huh? Phyllis Kelly Pam, this was the direction for us in the shooting draft. Angela hides her face in her hands. Phyllis, Kelly, and Pam add lib, Oh God no. Are you kidding me? Barf me to death. Erin then lets out a weird sound from deep within her chest.

Well, I know we talked about this moment when Aaron hits Andy in the face with the cake during our interview with Ellie, but I also found a little tidbit from Mindy on Office Tally about it. She said that the cake was really dense and that the first time Ellie threw it at Ed, it made a really loud sound. It sounded like whack. That's why we reacted like that. 감사합니다. We had a fan question from Mary Kay in Portland, Oregon.

I think the real question we all want to know the answer to is how good was that cake? Because it looks delicious. I really ate that cake. Me too. It was delicious. It was so good. Mary, good call. It was great. Well, people are gonna start trying to make Erin feel better. Kevin tries to console her slash hit on her.

And while that is happening, Gabe overhears Pam doing an impression of Kevin. I wanna point out when Jim laughs, that was John's laugh. Yeah. That is exactly how he starts to laugh. It's true. Gabe is gonna suspend them. Mm-hmm. He suspends Pam, he suspends Jim, and then he even is gonna suspend Dwight for slow clapping the suspension. Kevin is so happy. He says C is for suspension. Oh Kevin. Kevin.

Meanwhile in Michael's office, Andy has a great line where he's like, I don't understand how my past engagement came up. in your restaurant talk. Yeah, it's Secretary's Day. How did this come up? But I'm with Michael. Like

Why did you keep this a secret from her? How how is Michael supposed to know that she doesn't know? This is not, I think, an example of Michael revealing a secret. Right. Like he has been known to do in the past. Right. Exactly. Michael didn't even know this was a off topic subject. Well Andy is now gonna have a very agonizing talking head.

He's like, who cares? It'll blow over. Maybe I should have told her. Everybody does stupid things. He's like all over the map. Well, it's actually like a series of talking heads sort of intercut into one talking head, which I'm not sure we've ever seen before. Yeah. I just wanted to point out. that at the top of the episode, at one minute twenty seconds,

Andy says that it's not only Secretary's Day, but it's also he and Aaron's three-week anniversary. And I just want to put this out there. I think Maybe if you've just been dating someone for three weeks and they go to such effort to Celebrate you on Secretary's Day. Maybe you can say, hey. Why didn't you tell me about this previous relationship that really upset me?

It's only been three weeks, you guys. I think there's still some discovery. Am I wrong? Well, it's interesting you asked this question because we got mail from both Liza A in North Carolina and Paul W in Chicago. Asking, if you were Andy, would you have told Aaron that you were once engaged or would you have waited? And do you agree with Aaron's decision to break up with him because of this?

Well listen, I think it would have been a big flipping conversation. I would have been upset, but at three weeks I might have understood that maybe he was waiting for the right moment to tell me. I have to say I one hundred percent understand Aaron's reaction. It's not just that he didn't tell her that he's been engaged before, but this is a coworker that she sees every day. So I think that that makes it different. I think that's something That you just say right away.

You know, I agree. Like if you've just started dating someone, maybe around, I don't know, around this time, three weeks, a month, you might say, Oh, you know, I was engaged before. Yeah. Here's all my business. Cause we've lasted three weeks, maybe we're gonna make a real go of it. Here's everything. Right. But not if the situation is like, oh hey, you should know I actually used to be engaged to my roommate.

Yeah. You know, like that's like that. Like, oh, I used to be engaged to this person right next to you. Right. And everyone in this room knows. Yeah. But you know, that's the difference. Yeah, I see that. But do you think it's breakup worthy? Yes. Okay. I would feel very embarrassed. Embarrassed. and humiliated and distrustful. Yeah. Of like right. I don't know. It w make me think twice about the person, frankly. I get that. Yeah. It's because they're in the same office. Mm-hmm.

Well now Angela's gonna try to console Aaron as best as she can. She's like ps hey Aaron, and I love this line. Aaron's like you want to talk to me? Come to my desk. Yeah, she's ready to throw down. They have this hilarious dialogue. We talked about it with Ellie, where they go back and forth about wanting to throw up just thinking about it.

Yeah, and then at the end of the scene the camera pulls back and Toby is standing there. He can't seem to work the fax machine. Suddenly everybody has to fax things today and it's not working well. Yeah, everyone's real busy at reception. Mindy said that that reveal of Toby having been there for this whole exchange was Steve's idea. It was really funny.

Well now Pam's gonna try to console Erin and I thought she was so like eloquent in this moment. I know. We talked about this with Ellie too. It doesn't work again. It's too bad. But then Pam is going to walk over and give Jim a kiss. And we haven't kind of seen any like kissy kiss between Jim and Pam in a while. So I thought this was a really nice kind of romantic moment. Kinda took us back. Yeah.

Gabe is gonna get some news now. At fifteen minutes and forty-eight seconds, he is standing in a hallway. He's talking to corporate. Randy told me that this was filmed in the stairway directly opposite the door to his office. In the writer's area. He said that Steve Carell chose the stairwell because it was rarely used, and Steve thought that it would be good to see Gabe in a setting that was more unfamiliar to viewers. I love how so much thought goes into every

Moment. Little moment. Yeah. Yeah. When I think of the stairwell, I always think of Dwight Pumping himself up. Yeah. Exactly. Moaning and wailing. Yes. Well, on this phone call, Gabe is gonna learn that he actually cannot reprimand or suspend anyone. And then Toby is gonna call Pam and tell her the same thing. He also says to her, I found out some of the other things they're doing at their and she hangs up one.

She's like, I got all the information I need. She passes a note to Jim and now they know exactly what they're gonna do. Yeah. They're gonna take their suspension. Yeah. Paid. They're gonna go home and think about their behavior. Well, Dwight is going to apologize, but Gabe is running after Pam and Jim. He does not want them to leave because now he's got egg on his face. When he comes back in the bullpen, Oscar's like, Is it me or did they just get a paid day off? Mm-hmm.

To which Gabe now tries to do his cookie monster impression. Right. This leads us to what I'm calling Jedi Kevin. All right. At eighteen minutes twenty three seconds, Kevin is at his desk when Gabe starts his cookie monster impression. And then At eighteen minutes twenty eight seconds, Kevin is now standing at Angela's desk.

as he starts doing his impression of Gabe. And then at 18 minutes 37 seconds, Kevin is now standing next to Gabe by front reception as he continues his impression. Those are amazing catches. He's just what? He's teleporting around. Second by second. He's moving around. Well, I don't know what was going on while we were shooting the scene.

I went to the script because a lot of the impressions that everyone starts doing of Gabe were not in the script. Like Dwight's impression of Gabe was not in the script. So I don't know what happened. I wasn't there. Were they just throwing out like I think this scene changed a lot and that's why maybe Kevin is all over the room. Yes, I made note of this as well. I think we just started riffing.

And some of the reactions you see are so honest. I wanna show you at eighteen minutes forty three seconds, Creed and I are just hysterically laughing. We're not in character at all. Look at this screen grab. Oh yeah, for sure.

I love that. I'll put it in stories. Well, this whole plot of the dubbing of the voice on the characters. is gonna end with Kevin playing a video of Oscar as the count, but nobody is getting it. Except Michael. Michael thinks he nailed it. And at the very end of the episode, Michael says, Good work, Cookie Monster. It's kind of sweet. But then of course the episode also ends with that wonderful scene on the bench with Michael and Aaron. We talked about it with Ellie.

Where Michael is being really sweet with her. He is being the father she never had. And Andy's kinda watching from his car from across the street. Yeah. Andy says at least someone made her happy on Secretary's Day. Did you notice that it was like nighttime in Andy's car but it's daytime on the bench? Did you notice that? Is it just me? I didn't notice that. I'll have to go back and look. Yeah. Well, guys, that's Secretary's Day.

This Andy Aaron breakup is gonna start a whole new series of storylines. We're gonna see more of Gabe, and I'm very excited for that because one of the things I loved about this episode was just seeing Zach Woods do his thing. He's so flippin' funny. So we'll see you next week. We've got body language. Body language, and I've got a Pam haircut. gonna have to wait for it. Well stay tuned for that. We'd love to say thank you to Erin Scher for sending in those audios.

Erin, you're the best, and Randy Cordre for giving us those behind-the-scenes details. We'll see you next week. Listening to office ladies. produced by Cody Fisher. Our producer is Cassie Our sound engineer is Sam Kiefer and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubico. Our theme song is rubber. For ad-free versions of our Go to Stitcher Premium. For a free one-month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code.