Couples Discount
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Today's top story, the flavor merger of the century between the peanut butter group and Chocolaty Corp. Joining me is a PBC executive. Thanks for having me, Barry. Now, how did you know the merger and the byproduct of it, Jif peanut butter and chocolate flavored spread, would be a success? You know, it was a gut feeling, a rumbling, if you will. Besides, they're two titans of taste. Very true. Goes great with pretzels. And pancakes. Apples too, I bet. Try Jif PBC today.

Pulling up to Mickey D's just for drinks. Oh yeah, that's me. Nothing extra, just perfection and a straw. Coming in hot for the coldest cups on the block. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. Mix things up with any size lemonade or sweet tea for $1.49. Perfect with our classic fries. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office Rewatch Podcast just for you. Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. We're The Office Ladies.

Hello. Hey there. How are you? I'm good. Look at you. You got a little knit hat on. You got a little fuzzy sweater. You look so cute. I know. Well, I was very cold today. We're having a cold snap and I couldn't get warm. So I put on my little hat. My friend Alec knitted this hat for me. I wear it all the time when we go like on ski trips. A hand knitted hat. I am in short sleeves because I'm having a little bit of a hot flash. We are two very different temperatures today.

We are. Also, do we sound like complete old ladies right now? This is how old ladies start their conversations. Yep. With like their aches and their pains and their hot flashes. That's it. This is who we become. Well, these two old gals are going to break down couples discount for you today. That's right. It's season nine, episode 15, written by Alison Silverman and directed by Troy Miller. And here is your summary.

It's Valentine's Day, and it's the last day before Andy is set to return from his very long boating adventure. Aaron and Pete are dating now, everybody, and she's planning to break up with Andy upon his return to the office the next day. However, plot twist, Andy shows up today, and the whole office tries to keep his secret that he's been gone from David Wallace.

We'll see how that goes. The rest of the folks in the office decide to couple up and take advantage of Valentine's Day discounts at a nearby mini mall. And Jim and Pam are going to have a Valentine's Day lunch with Brian, the boom guy. Womp womp. Yes, this is ultimately going to cause some friction between Jim and Pam.

All right. Fast fact number one, Amy Hill, major comedy legend, guest star alert, everybody. I mean, here's the thing. Amy Hill is just one of those actors that when you see her in something, you're like, oh, my God, I love her. Yeah. Right? She's brilliant. Brilliant. I'm going to give you some background on her. She was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, to a Japanese-American mother and a Finnish-American father.

She started her career working with the famed Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco, California.

And she is also a very respected performance artist. She has written and performed a number of one-woman shows. We were so lucky to have her. You have probably seen her many times on such shows as Mom, Friends, Seinfeld, All-American Girl, The Hughleys, Night Court, Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, King of the Hill, Third Rock from the Sun, The Sarah Silverman Program, and...

We have our very own crossover connection here. Angela Kinsey, both you and Amy Hill have appeared on the show Life in Pieces. We did. Amy was the principal.

And I played Ruth, who worked at a pet adoption booth. I was just in one episode. Okay. Amy is an amazing character actress. She's just a legend. Her filmography is huge. And I want you guys to know there's a fantastic interview with her by the AV Club. And I'm going to put it in our stories because it's great. I love it. And everyone, you can now catch Amy on the new Magnum PI. Are you ready for fast fact number two? I am. I'm calling this one...

Jim and Pam, Valentine's Day, not their holiday. I did a review of their experiences on Valentine's Day. What? I'm leaning back. I'm getting my iced tea. This is not their day. It is not. I've divided their list into the following categories. Lousy, meh, and good. What category? You know I do.

They have way more lousy and meh Valentine's Days than good ones. They should stop trying to celebrate this day. Your face is very funny when you say meh. Meh. Okay, here are their worst Valentine's Days. Are you ready?

Season two on Valentine's Day, this is when Phyllis got a lot of gifts and Pam had to manage all the flowers coming in for Phyllis. Yes. But then Roy didn't get her anything, and then Jim didn't get her anything. Her friend didn't save the day. Yeah. That was a double whammy for Pam. Yes. Season eight, special project, this is when Pam returns from her maternity leave only to find out that Jim is now going to go to Tallahassee for a special project. Yeah.

That happened on Valentine's Day. Okay. And now season nine, couples discount. They have lunch with Brian the Boom Guy and get in a giant fight. Terrible Valentine's Days. Terrible. Listen to their meh Valentine's Day. Okay. Their season four chair model. That's the day that Pam set up her landlady with Michael. That happened on Valentine's Day. Season five, blood drive.

Pam and Jim spent Valentine's Day with Bob Vance and Phyllis, who hooked up in the bathroom. Now, we could move this to the good column. I was going to say. Because it's a funny story. I think they had a fun Valentine's Day. You would call that a good Valentine's Day? I didn't say good. I said fun. Like, oh, my God, can you believe that happened? Kind of like something they've laughed about for years, maybe. Right. I didn't say good.

That's why I said it was meh. Okay. All right. And then in season six, the manager and the salesman, that's the day they met Joe Bennett. Meh.

Meh. Okay. You know, listen, we don't know what happened at home on those Valentine's Days. We don't because we don't know anything about their home life other than they have a clown painting and he makes salmon. They've only had one good Valentine's Day that we've seen, like truly good. It was season seven PDA. That's when they hooked up in the closet and where we believe they conceived Philip. It's only a good Valentine's Day for Jim and Pam. Every other Valentine's Day at the office is either meh or horrible. So not their holiday. No, it's not. Yeah.

I loved that. All right. Fastback number three, everybody. You've been waiting for it. You've been wondering when it's going to happen. Here is your landline update. Okay, let's go. On March 16th, on the front page of my Sunday New York Times, which you know I get every week, there was an article with this headline. I'd never been so excited. It said this.

Quote, landline users remain proudly old-fashioned in the digital age. This is tying back into our opening of this whole episode. This is what old people talk about. It's true. I did notice that most of the people quoted in the article were over 60.

So the reason for this article is because there are phone companies that want to phase out the landline. The number of copper landlines, which is also known as plain old telephone service or POTS. POTS? POTS. Okay. If you have POTS, you have plain old telephone service.

The number of people who have this fell by 89% over the last 20 years in California. Wow. I know. So here's the thing that I want to get out there to everyone, okay? Okay. This is important to me. All right. It's like pockets to me. Pots is like pockets to you? Yes. Okay.

A landline is not just a home phone. A true landline has to be hooked up to a copper wire. And most phone companies are phasing these out. And instead, you can have a landline. You can have a phone that goes into the wall.

but they are putting them on fiber optic cable. And it's not a landline. Not a true landline. And the reason they're doing this is because those fiber optic cables can also carry cable and internet services. So it's like they can hook everything up to that as it comes into your house. And this is what my phone company did to me without telling me.

They switched my landline, quote unquote, to a fiber optic cable line, and I had to call and make them put me back on a copper line. Because power failures can take out fiber optic cables. They depend on electricity to work. So this is why your Wi-Fi goes out when your power goes out. But copper wires are self-powered, and they do not go down in the event of a power outage.

I will say I loved everyone who was quoted in this article. They are sassy, they are stubborn, and they are my people. Derek Shaw, 68, of York, Pennsylvania, loves his landline. He also prefers speaking to people face-to-face. He's not a fan of Zoom, and he listens to records. Okay? He said, quote, I've never even thought about giving up my landline, and I'll go kicking and screaming when I have to. That's right.

Here are some reasons not related to a zombie apocalypse where you might want a landline. I know I often talk about the zombie apocalypse as my reason for needing these services, but there's other reasons. Okay. If there's a power outage from a flood, a fire, or other natural disaster. Katie Lanza, who was 37, she's from 37. We got a youngin' in there. Yeah.

She's from Fort Worth, and she said that her dog chewed her cell phone. And while she was waiting to get her replacement, she got sick in the middle of the night, and she needed help, and she didn't have a phone. She had to go to her neighbor's house to use a phone. And ever since, she's had a true landline. So there you go. Flood, fire, natural disaster. Something happens to your cell phone. I'm not done, okay? I didn't think you were because you're holding several pieces of paper. Yeah. Francella Jackson, 61, says,

from Illinois said she worries about cyber attacks disrupting her self-service, and that's why she has a landline.

After I read this article, it compelled me to double check with my phone company to make sure that they hadn't switched me again. And I do still have a POTS. I do have that copper landline. Good for you. And we have the cutest little old-timey phone with the little buttons. My kids are mesmerized by it. They love to call us on our cell phones from the landline.

And like prank us. That's cute. They love it. Push button phone, old timey. There you have it, everyone. Public service announcement. You might want a POTS. I think it's a great idea. I'm also very curious what they wrap the fiber optics cables in. Because as you know, my car wasn't working. All the computer buttons were flashing. Seat belt alert. Drive train malfunction. Airbag. I'm like, what's happening?

Well, I have, as it turns out, massive rodent damage. Whatever rodent, I don't know if it was a rat, a squirrel, a mouse, whatever, has been eating away at my engine. And they told me that they used to wrap all the electrical stuff in your engine in like some kind of plastic or something. But now to be more earth-friendly, it's wrapped in like a type of soy. And rodents love soy. Right.

So now it's a thing, rodent damage. I couldn't believe it when you called me about this and told me that rodents had eaten your engine. Yes. Thousands of dollars of damage, guys. Thousands of dollars of damage. I still don't have my car back, but I have now been really looking into...

ways you can prevent rodents from eating your car. There's like a spray, right? Yeah, I'm going to be getting that. If any of you guys have tips for rodent damage, let me know. Well, listen, this has been a very informative top of show. Sorry, we got off on a big tangent. Learned again about landlines. And also now we're warning you, don't let rodents eat your car. Yeah. Be wary of rodent damage. It can happen.

On that note, why don't we take a break and then we'll come back and let's discuss couples discount, the worst Valentine's Day Jim and Pam have ever had. It's definitely the worst. And I have lots more from the shooting draft that wasn't in the episode to share. It was even worse than what we saw? Yes.

Today's top story, the flavor merger of the century between the peanut butter group and Chocolaty Corp. Joining me is a PBC executive. Thanks for having me, Barry. Now, how did you know the merger and the byproduct of it, Jif peanut butter and chocolate flavored spread, would be a success? You know, it was a gut feeling, a rumbling, if you will. Besides, they're two titans of taste. Very true. Goes great with pretzels. And pancakes. Apples too, I bet. Try Jif PBC today.

Pulling up to Mickey D's just for drinks. Oh yeah, that's me. Nothing extra, just perfection and a straw. Coming in hot for the coldest cups on the block. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. Mix things up with any size lemonade or sweet tea for $1.49. Perfect with our classic fries. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

All right, we are back, and I'm going to kick things off with a fan question from Lexi H. in Brockville, Ontario. Why, oh why, is there no cold open in this episode? Was it simply cut for time? Was there a filmed cold open?

Can we see or hear the deleted scene? Angela, can you help us out? Lexi, this is a fantastic catch, and you are correct. There is no cold open because the cold open for this episode was actually moved and put as the tag for moving on part two. So yes, there was a scripted cold open. It just got moved. Wow. Yes, and we will share about it in moving on part two. Perfect. I would

I would like to share that the title of this episode changed three times. I saw the call sheets this week, and I noticed that on Monday's call sheet, this episode was called Andy's Return. On Tuesday's call sheet, it was called Pretending to be a Couple. That was the clunkiest title. Really clunky. Finally, on Wednesday, it was called Couples Discount. Yeah. I read the shooting draft again. So many good nuggets in it.

But the shooting draft was called Andy's Return. Yeah. This episode is going to open on Jim and Pam. They're at their desks. They're working side by side. Pam is so happy that they're going to be together on Valentine's Day. Yes, and Jim agrees. He begged his partners to switch days, but that does mean he's going to have to work an extra day in Philly next week. Yeah. Womp womp. I have a fun tidbit.

This episode was the last episode we shot before our Christmas break. So it was Valentine's Day on the set, but backstage it was decorated for Christmas. It sure was. And we both saw on the call sheets that Steve Burgess sent us that there was a Crew Secret Santa gift exchange this week. I asked Steve what all went into this gift exchange, and he said, first of all, there was a budget. You could only spend $25 on your gift. And then you could only spend $25 on your gift.

And then he said there was a questionnaire that the AD staff made that everyone had to fill out. Oh, my gosh. That's so cool. Yeah. So that way you could get somebody a gift that would be like a good match? Yeah, that they might actually want. Yeah. Yeah. Erin and Pete now have a cute flirty moment. Erin wants to know if he wants to play hooky today. Yeah. Erin says she wants to have fun today because tomorrow is going to be a nightmare because Andy's coming back from his boat trip and she's breaking up with him.

So she wants to make today special.

We then have a Pete talking head where he says, Aaron's breaking up with Andy, but he's not too sure. Because Aaron has told Pete, we can do whatever you'd like to do today. And that kind of reminded him of when he was a kid and his parents did that before they put his dog down. Yes. And then in the next scene, Aaron gets out a Frisbee and she's like, do you want to play? Do you want to play? Lady, there was so much more to this bit. It's in the shooting draft. It's also partly in deleted scenes. It's really funny. I want to read you two of the scenes that they wrote for it.

The first one is Aaron sends the Frisbee flying sideways. It goes under a car. Aaron says, oh, ham it to Deli. It's under the car. We need a stick. Come on, Pete. Let's find a stick. Then they're playing Frisbee again, and Aaron tosses the Frisbee. This time it sails past Pete into the bushes. Pete runs to retrieve it. Aaron says, no, Pete, put it down. That's dirty. Don't touch it.

He looks in the bushes and pulls out a dirty sleeping bag. Pete, some homeless guy stashed his stuff back here. Aaron, oh, just leave it. Leave it, Pete. Leave it. Pete pulls out more stuff. Aaron says, Pete, that's dirty. Leave it. Leave it alone. You are not bringing that into the office. Leave it.

I feel like they had a lot of fun with that. I was really expecting that sleeping bag to somehow end up belonging to Creed. Oh, for sure. Right? That's Creed's dash. Yeah, like sometimes Creed sleeps outside rather than in the ceiling or all the weird places he sleeps. Under the desk. Yeah. Now we're going to get a new window into how things have been working since Andy's been gone. We see Dwight go into Andy's office.

And pretend like he's talking to Andy. And then Andy talks back to him. And then, quote, unquote, Andy signs his expense report. Dwight has really enjoyed Andy being gone. Yeah, he says, I like pretend Andy. Kevin now has a talking head where he says, you know what? Andy left a carton of milk in the fridge, which he's, I guess, been sipping on the whole time Andy's been gone. And now it's goodbye chunky lemon milk because Andy's coming back. Ugh.

I know. You know, we had a mini deep dive from Shaley D. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hi, Shaley. You write us every week. Shaley, you're the best. This was a lemon milk deep dive. Oh, no. Really? Yes. Shaley said, this scene made me wonder, is there actually a lemon flavored milk? I mean, we know that the joke is that this milk is spoiled and everything. But guess what? There is.

Shaley said Lifeway Kefir makes organic lemon whole milk. And Shaley would like to know if we think we would enjoy lemon milk.

Are we fans of lemon-flavored stuff? I love lemon-flavored everything, so I would try it. I don't know if I'm going to like it, but I would try it. I tried to get my hands on some. For today? Yes. Oh, Lord. I was not successful. It's only sold at select grocery stores, this particular brand. But I became so curious about it that now I kind of want to taste it because I also like lemon-flavored things. Like, would this be good in a tea? Yeah.

Maybe. Like a little splash of lemon milk? Maybe so. I don't know. Well, in the shooting draft, this Kevin talking head would have actually started a series of everyone sharing their feelings about Andy coming back. It's also in deleted scenes. I want you to hear it. Nellie, what's wrong with your face? Andy's coming back tomorrow. I guess I'll be back to one lunch and one nap a day. I feel like I'm in the service again.

Oh, yeah. With Andy away, it's been a lot of fun. In fact, our desk comp has kind of become fun central. We get a little crazy. I might be alone here, but I'm happy Andy's coming back. She can never have too many ding-dongs on the dance floor. You know what I'm saying? A great line. That is a mug. Meredith. That is a mug. She can't have too many ding-dongs on the dance floor. You know what I'm saying? I love it. Oh, man. Well...

They are commiserating about Andy's return, and Nellie thinks they should all have one last boss-free day of fun. This is when Phyllis announces, you know, the mini mall is having a couple's discount for Valentine's Day. Maybe they should all couple up, get some discounts. Angela, this is an amazing line read from you.

You say that you get your toes detailed at the nail place in the mini mall and, quote, they use a watch repair kit. But it's the way you say it. Like I'm proud. So proud. So proud. But, I mean, later you see the reception Angela gets at the nail salon. It's amazing. I love it. She's like a queen there. She is. Well, everyone's going to do it. They're going to couple up.

couple up. Clark is going to be Nellie's pretend boyfriend and I guess Phyllis and Stanley. Oscar asked Daryl to be his fake boyfriend. But Angela, who do you couple up with? I think she just goes on her own. I guess she doesn't want the discount. She probably doesn't care. Maybe she goes there enough she already gets a discount. Maybe so. Okay. Jim and Pam are in the kitchen. They're eating Valentine's chocolates. They're really destroying the box. It said, I want you to know in the shooting draft that they have

decimated the box, even though they were cheap and didn't taste good. Like something like that. I enjoyed filming this scene. Pam shares that she made a reservation for State Street Grill, and Jim was like, oh my gosh, how romantic. And then she's like, oh, we'll be meeting Brian and Alyssa. And he says less romantic. Way less. I want you to know that I love eating chocolates.

I love eating these kinds of little chocolates. My favorite is See's chocolate, the dark chocolate raspberry cream. Do you like chocolates? Do you have a favorite? I love chocolates. I particularly love these box of chocolates. Like, you know, at Christmas we get them and Valentine's. The kids get very excited to see. Even though there's a guide on the back, they like to surprise kids.

So there's often half-eaten ones for the reject ones. But yeah, I love chocolates. My favorite is the sea salt dark chocolate with caramel. Yes. And I like to put mine in the fridge and they're cold. Yes.

Well, I wanted to find out what is the best boxed chocolate. Oh, okay. The New York Times did a ranking, and here's what they said. Quote, over the years, we've enlisted food experts and staffers to evaluate 36 brands of chocolate in taste tests.

We found that Rakuti's flavors, craftsmanship, and packaging are nothing short of sophisticated. I've never had Rakuti's. Have you? I have not. Their top pick was Rakuti's Confections Black Box. You get 16 chocolates for $52 or $3.25 per chocolate each.

So I bought us some. Did you? I sure did. Would you like to taste what the New York Times thinks are the best chocolates today? Hell yeah. Let me get them out. Okay, here they are. They're so pretty. I can smell them. Okay, lady, there's a little guide here I'm looking to see. Oh, they have recommendations for how to taste the chocolate.

It says... That is fancy if it's telling you how to eat them. It says, we recommend our truffles be tasted at room temperature. Check. This encourages the full character of the flavors to emerge. Still, spring water between confections helps cleanse your taste palate. Fancy. Very fancy. All right.

Do you want to just dig in or do you want me to tell you where the caramel ones are? No, I want you to find me a caramel. Okay. The one that has their name on it is a burnt caramel and then there's also a rose caramel. Ooh. I don't know what I'm eating, but I am liking it. Oh, I love candied orange peel. I'm doing the candied orange peel. I thought that sounded good too. Will you put that in half for me? Mm-hmm. I want some of that. Mm. That's delicious. That is good. Mm-hmm. Oh.

Ding, ding, ding. Winner, winner. Wow. It's so yummy. Very decadent. All right. We can close our box of chocolates. We have extra for you guys, Cassie and Jordan. That's right. What a treat, lady, that you brought chocolates. You know, recently I was touring a botanical garden and they had the cocoa plant and I learned all about like chocolate in the process. It was fascinating. I know. You left me like a seven-minute message about it. I know. I want to go.

Well, it's all people our age on the tour, just so you know. I'm not surprised. Well, after Jim and Pam ate their chocolates, Jim has a talking head where he says he's really looking forward to seeing Brian. He's a great guy. They've become close to him and his wife, you know, and he knows that he got fired for protecting Pam.

And he's like, you know him. He's a good guy. Well, I think this talking head was from a candy bag alt because it was not the scripted talking head. Okay, this interests me because I found this talking head curious. So the scripted talking head was, well, you guys know Brian. Brian is a great guy. Pam and I got pretty close with him and his wife Alyssa over the years.

Brian probably would have been in our wedding if the documentary didn't have strict rules about who could be a groomsman. I also used that as an excuse with my cousin Mark. But with Brian, it's actually true. Wait, what? That's the scripted Jim talking head. But it really portrays Brian as being a close friend if Jim would have asked him to be a groomsman.

So the reason he couldn't be a groomsman was because the documentary crew had strict rules, I think, about breaking the fourth wall. Right. Being part of people's lives. Because they would have had to explain who this person was. Yeah. Hmm. Did Brian boom their wedding? Do you think Brian was there? No.

I don't know, but isn't that interesting? That is interesting. All right, we're going to go to the nail salon now. The technicians are making such a fuss over Angela. Baby foot lady's here. Baby foot lady. Okay.

We got a fan question from Sarah M. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Does Angela really have teeny tiny feet or just like average small? No, I have teeny tiny feet. It's true. I wear a kid size three. That is bonkers. I know. I know. I got so excited when I was pregnant because everyone tells you you go up a foot size, right? And I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be amazing. No, didn't change my foot size at all.

Well, my experience with Your Tiny Feet, Angela, was during our book launch in New York. And we were going to go beyond Seth Meyers. And you realized as you were getting ready that you had left your gold high heels back in L.A. And you needed shoes. Yeah, because all I had were sneakers or flip-flops. And then I had one pair of black shoes, but they didn't go. This was like a spring dress. Yes. And so thus began this experience.

for shoes, gold shoes, small enough for your feet that still looked good with your outfit. And was it Stuart Weitzman? Well, yeah, because I know, because I've had to get fancy shoes before, and Stuart Weitzman has really small shoes for ladies with tiny feet. So that was really the first place we looked. And thank goodness they had a pair and they sent them over. They were amazing. I remember that. I remember it so clearly. Mm-hmm.

But they only had like two pair. And so I'm on the phone with the salesperson at Stuart Weitzman and he was wonderful. He was taking pictures and texting them to me. They were great. And we ultimately got me a pair of shoes. They sort of flew in. Like you arrived with sneakers and your dress and then the shoes like met you there, right? Arrived, yeah. And they are fantastic. I love them. And now they are one of my favorite pair of fancy heels. Well, Sarah, there you have it. She

She has really tiny feet. We also got a fan question from Clara D in Germany who said, can we get a location breakdown for the nail salon, please? Yes, we can. Thanks to Steve Burgess, we know that this place was actually called the Nail Luxury, and it was located in a mini mall in Santa Clarita, California. And according to the call sheet, we had three actors and seven real manicurists playing the salon workers.

Well, why don't we take a break? Because when we come back, I have lots of stuff about this episode in my digital clutter. I love it. Can we eat another chocolate on the break? You know it. Be warned that once you pick up a refreshingly cold drink from McDonald's and

and people see just how refreshingly cold that drink from McDonald's is, you may create drink envy. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. For a morning brew that really creates a stir, get any size iced coffee, including caramel and French vanilla, for just 99 cents before 11 a.m. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal. Ba-da-da-ba-ba.

We are back, and I tried more chocolate while you used the restroom, Angela. I found the rose caramel. I only ate half of it. I want some of the rose caramel. You don't. I don't? I don't think you do. Oh, my God. Where is it? It's that pink one. So I'm so sorry, fancy box of chocolates, but as I go deeper, you're too fancy for me. A lot of the flavors are like...

Oh, I think that's delicious. Oh, you like it? Mm-hmm. A lot of the flavors are... It's strong. Like star anise, lavender. I just, I don't need my chocolates to taste like herbs and perfumes. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. I mean... You liked it. I liked it. I just want my See's chocolate back now. I just want my dark chocolate raspberry cream. Sorry. Sorry, fancy chocolates. You're great and you're fancy, but...

But I think you can just eat one. Now, I don't know. Sorry. Anyway, back at the nail salon, Nellie and Clark are getting their manicures. And Nellie's manicurist says if Clark takes off his glasses, he kind of looks like a pretty girl. And Nellie finds this hilarious. But Clark gets mad and he decides to share, you know what? We're not really in a relationship. We're going to pay full price.

Nellie's like, turns out I can't even be in a pretend relationship. Nellie, come on. Come on, Nellie. Oscar and Daryl now arrive, and they ask for two foot massages, and the woman at the front desk says, no, two men can't be a couple. Well, Daryl now grabs Oscar's hand and says, you know what? We are madly in love with two disposable incomes and no kids, and they'll be taking their business elsewhere. They storm out. Yeah. We got a fan question from Soyun J in South Korea saying,

who said, in case anyone wonders, the young female worker at the nail salon who defended Oscar and Daryl to the shop owner said, it's okay, they are in that relationship. And she spoke perfect Korean with a perfect Korean accent.

Well, that's nice to hear. I have to say I thought everyone in the nail salon was excellent, and especially now knowing that, like, seven of the people were just actual manicurists. I thought all the casting was great. Let's give a shout out to Angela Shin, who played one of the manicurists, and also to Julia Cho. Julia Cho is an actress, and she's also an incredible playwright. You know, the theater nerd in me loves this.

In March 2020, she was awarded a very prestigious prize for drama. It's the Wyndham Campbell Literature Prize for Drama. And she also recently appeared in Greg Daniel's show, Upload. Oh, my gosh. And also, of course, Amy Hill. Are you ready now for the things I found in my digital clutter? Yes. All right. All right.

Here we go. Per the call sheets, we started filming this episode on December 17th, 2012. So I went back into my digital clutter. What was happening this week? Here are some of the emails that I had with our production office and one that I had with you, lady. Oh. First of all, I was still getting lots of emails from people who came to my Yankee Swap Christmas party. Aw. That was on December 8th.

Secondly, I had emails with Joya from NBC Digital because I guess I did a tour of the whole office set for NBC.com showing all of our actual Christmas decorations, like within our different departments, not pretend Christmas, our real Christmas. I remember this. And I have two photos I can share in our stories from that day where I did the tour for NBC.com. Next is an email from Greg Daniels' office. His assistant wrote me and said...

Hi, Angela. The writing staff was hoping to meet with you tomorrow to discuss your character's arc in the final episodes. Will you be available tomorrow at 11 a.m. to meet with them? Oh, my gosh. This is when they started the interviews. Yep. They interviewed every single member of the cast to find out what you thought would be the perfect ending for your character. Is that the coolest thing? It's the coolest thing. It meant so much to us.

Well, in this email chain, mine was scheduled for December 19th at 5 p.m. Wow. Do you remember doing it? I do, actually. I remember them asking me...

What were my hopes and dreams for my character? If there was one last thing that she could do, where I thought she would sort of end the series at in her story arc. And I told them I thought that Angela should end up with Dwight. Yes, 100%. And I hope that that relationship reconciled itself. Amazing. Third email was to you. Subject title, OEMs.

OMG, all caps, exclamation point. Ooh, leaning in. Then when you open up the email, it said, Lady, I am going to co-host Carson Daly's New Year's Eve show. Oh.

Gosh, I remember when you did that. You wrote back, OMG! That is amazing! Will you be outside the whole time? Tell me everything at lunch! Here's the thing. Even when we were younger, I was still worried about the weather. It's cold!

And I was always cold back then. So that was a legitimate, like, immediate concern for me as well. I just know every year that I watch those guys outside, I wonder how cold they are. I think about them at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I think about them on New Year's Eve. I was so excited to get some insider info on how cold it actually is doing that. Angela, tell everyone. Wow.

Well, here's the thing. Anyone you see that's on a platform, like, you know how, like, you have the New Year's Eve show and they're on the main platform? And then there's people kind of out in the street and on the ground and around. The people on the platform have it best. It's still cold, but they have these tubes, like, by their feet that you can't see. It's off camera that pump in heat. Mm.

All right. So, yeah, your face is getting a little cold, but your bottom half is at least warm. But anyone you see that's doing the man on the street bits, they're freezing their ass off. That was me. So the whole night I'm doing man on the street bits. There was one point where, like, I remember I was like, I'm not sure if my words sound correct because I can't really move my lips because I was so cold. So cold. So at the end of the night, I joined Carson Daly on the platform and I was like, son of a bitch.

a bit. It is so warm up here. What the hell? I had no idea that they had tubes of heat on the platform. Okay. Lastly, the whole entire cast got an email from the production office titled Sinapalooza. Oh, we had a Sinapalooza before we left? Yep. And I looked, it was also in the call sheet. Yep. Starting on Tuesday, we'll be tackling Sinapalooza. Get ready.

All right, here's what Sinopalooza was, everyone. They would take our lunch tables back in the back, and about half of them would be covered with scripts,

posters, DVD boxes. Yes. And there would be Sharpies out and you had to go down the table and you had to sign every item. I need to put the size of the table in context and why it was called Sinapalooza. This lunch area fed 300 people. Yeah. So this lunch table, it was actually three tables that were like...

half the size of the soundstage. Yeah. And there would be items all the way down it. And you would start at one end, and you would make it as far as you could make it between a scene, and then they would mark where you made it to. Okay, Angela made it through the first half of posters, so the next time she's got to start right here. Yes. And you would tackle it, and it took a week. It would take all week because you could only do it in starts and stops. Right.

Oh, my gosh. Sinapalooza. Sinapalooza, yeah. And that's everything from my digital clutter for this week. That was a treasure trove. My goodness. That was really a trip down memory lane and I think gave a lot of insight into some of the stuff that happened behind the scenes. Thank you, Angela. Mm-hmm.

Well, now Pam and Jim are going to arrive to their restaurant. Brian is sitting at a table for four. He has an empty seat next to him. Yep. They ask, where is Alyssa? And that is when Brian says, oh, yeah, we're splitting up. I do have a bulls**t word to play. What is it? Lady. What? I call bulls**t on Pam inviting Brian and Alyssa to Valentine's lunch. Why? Because. Why?

Like, her husband is working in another city. This is so special that they got to be together. Don't have Brian and Alyssa at lunch. What if it happened this way?

Brian reached out and was like, we'd love to take you guys to lunch. Like, you know, it sounds like they used to get together. Yeah. Remember? He was going to be in Jim's wedding party. Jim's not around a lot. Would you want to go to lunch on this one day that Jim is in town? Let's do a couple's lunch. And then the idea was maybe Jim and Pam were going to have a romantic evening together, even though they seem to have no plans for that because they're terrible at Valentine's Day. Yeah.

I mean, I guess, but I feel like... So it's not like Pam reached out. It's like he reached out? Okay, fine. If he reached out, then I guess she felt bad, but still...

Yes. Okay. But here's the bullshit card that I have to play, although it tracks with how Jim and Pam are communicating lately, which is if I got a text from someone or if I had this idea, I would speak to my partner before committing. Right. You would not commit to plans without being like, hey, I know you're only here for one day this week.

Yeah. It's Valentine's Day. You move things around so you could be here. Brian reached out. Him and Alyssa want to have lunch. And then Jim would have probably been like, oh, no, let's not. Let's just have the day for us. Yeah. If we get a break at lunch, let's go home and have sex because the kids are at daycare. Uh-huh. And you know we're not going to tonight because we're going to be too tired. That's a very specific example. Yeah.

Very specific. Well, listen, if you want to know this restaurant location, it was Marston's on Newhall Ranch Road. It's still there.

And it was recognized by Zagat as the number one place for breakfast in L.A., and it was named the best breakfast in California by the Food Network magazine. I've always called it Zagat. It's Zagat? It's Zagat. I never knew that. It is hard for me to say it correctly because I thought it was Zagat. Yeah. And we called it Zagat forever. Yeah. But it's apparently Zagat. Zagat. Dwight is back in Andy's office signing off on more paperwork as, quote, fake Andy, and

When the real Andy appears behind him. I have a call sheet tidbit for this scene, Angela. Let's hear it. We shot this scene on Monday. And the back of every call sheet has a section called Daily Notes. This is a little spot on the call sheet that includes notes for costumes, hair, makeup, props, sound. And under props in the Daily Notes for this scene, it said this. Props note.

Andy's satchel, Andy's stacked up mail, sales order to sign, pen, and then in parentheses, multiples. And I was like, what happens to the pen? Why do they need multiples? I'll tell you why. Because Rainn Wilson was using it. That's right. Rainn Wilson loved options. He liked lots of choices. This is why I called him Carrot Top, because he always needed his box of different tricks.

I have no doubt that Rain wanted to pick the pin that Dwight would be using. I wondered if it was because perhaps he might end up throwing it or doing something with it and they had to have more. No, I think it just meant that Rain either wanted to click it or twist it. Right. Yes. Something. Multiples. Well, the hair and makeup note was this. Andy is tanned, unkempt as scripted, scraggly beard, unkempt hair, long, dirty fingernails.

And the costume note was, Andy is unkempt as scripted, a Gaia Berra shirt, Sansa belt, slacks, and woven loafers. I love Sansa belt. It's one of my favorite terms. What is it? Sansa belt. No belt. Oh! Sansa belt. I thought

My friend's dad used to always wear pants that were Sands Belt. He's a very funny comedian, and he did an improv monologue one time about – his name is Mike Bunin. He did an improv monologue one time about his dad's Sands Belt pants. I'll never forget it.

Well, the Dunder Mifflin crew now return from their mini mall excursion to find Andy waiting for them. Andy has so many classic, like, pun phrases in this episode. Oh, my gosh. Here's a good one. Cancel my order from Zappos because the loafers have arrived.

Mm-hmm. I mean, who does he think he is calling anyone a loafer? I know. Oscar says, hey, we thought you were coming back tomorrow. And then Andy says, no, I came back early. It's a romantic Valentine's Day surprise for Erin. I did think it was really funny when he tried to run up to hug her and she's trying to give him just a high five. Yeah.

This is when Dwight says, hey, maybe you should put on a tie because David Wallace is going to be here in an hour. And Andy's like, oh, yeah, that's actually why I came back. I mean, and also to surprise Aaron. Andy. This is when Clark is like, why are you looking forward to this meeting with David Wallace? Isn't Wallace just going to like yell at you because you've been gone for three months? Yeah.

And then everyone's like, wait, David Wallace knew you were gone, right? And this is when Andy shares that actually he kept in touch with David Wallace. He emailed him all the time. He would get high-speed internet at this cafe. Erin has a talking head where she says he only emailed me four times.

Yeah. That stings. Andy notices that Pam and Jim are gone. He has another snark remark about it. And Oscar is like, I find it curious that you're concerned about people's absence from work. This is a great Oscar snark. Thank you, Oscar. Back at the restaurant, Brian is now sharing kind of about how him and Alyssa just drifted apart. And he said something I thought was great, which is he said,

It's when they stopped fighting that he knew it was over. Yeah. And he gets really emotional. He kind of starts crying. And he says, Pam, we have to stop breaking down in front of each other. And Jim's like, what? And then he says, at least my crying won't get you fired. And Jim's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pam was crying. What? I thought, what? Well, here's my bull card for Brian. What is it?

He knew that Jim didn't know. Mm-hmm. I know what you're doing, Brian, and stop it. Ooh. Mm-hmm. Angela's not a fan. Yeah. You're trying to drive a wedge here. You're trying to find an intimate moment with Pam in front of Jim. Not cool. Not cool. This is when you're allowed to turn on Brian, everyone. Yeah, I think. Listen, at 9 minutes and 35 seconds, I need to talk about the woman over Brian's shoulder. Through this whole emotional discussion...

There is a woman over Brian's shoulder who full on puts her fork into her food, lifts it up to her mouth. What is it? What is she lifting up? Nothing. What? There's nothing on her fork. And then she like mimes eating nothing off her fork. Nothing. Oh my gosh. I cannot wait to go check that out. It's crazy. So then I was like, did they not give these people real food? Was she forced to do this? But then...

Look at the woman over Pam's shoulder. She puts food on her fork and eats it. I think that lady just didn't want to eat the prop food. I think she didn't want it. And I was like, good for you. Well, remember how I said that there was more Jim and Pam stuff in the script? Yeah. There was more here. There's also more later in the parking lot. We'll get to it. Okay.

But here's how the scripted scene read in the shooting draft. Okay, so the scene at lunch would have continued, like Brian is still sitting there? Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh, man. And you know what? I'm glad they didn't include it because I think people would have lost their minds. I do not remember this. All right. In the shooting draft, it read like this.

At least my crying won't get you fired. Jim says, crying? And then Brian would have gone on to say, and it says in parentheses, Brian, thinking he's funny, says, and neither of you is trying to hug me, so maybe I should have kept my hands to myself, huh? Then Jim says, where were your hands? Then Jim looks to Pam. Pam sighs, knowing they are about to get into it. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Uh-huh.

Probably good that they didn't keep that in. Good trim. Well, we're going to leave Jim and Pam in their awkward moment and go back to Dunder Mifflin. We're going to go to Andy's office where he's coming down on Dwight for not running the Scranton White Pages account details by Andy before offering such a low price point. And so he's like, I'm sorry, I'm going to need to call the White Pages.

And Dwight's like, stop it. What are you talking about? And he calls Jan. Yeah. And basically, she's like, I cannot believe you're going to call me and ask for more money after we've already agreed to this rate. And I have a clause where I can back out, and I'm going to. Yeah, she says, have Angela send me the final invoice. Click.

We had a fan question from Martha B. in Malta who said, I love Jan's scene in this episode. Melora really brings the character to life even through just a telephone conversation. Is this the last time the character of Jan appears? It is, Martha. Oh, yeah, it is. That was the last time we hear Jan's voice. Mm-hmm. Aw. This is the beginning of goodbyes. It is.

Well, Andy is now going to approach Angela to get his paychecks. She gives him the checks for the last 12 Fridays, but the scene was a little longer in the shooting draft, and there was a bit that didn't make it in that I think is really funny, and I want to share it with you. Okay. Angela says, yes, as you know, we hand out paychecks on Fridays, but you haven't been here for 12 Fridays. Andy says, sounds like an acapella name.

And then he announces to the bullpen, now give a warm welcome to the 12 Fridays. And he makes his own applause sound. Angela sits with silent rage. And then the scene would have continued as scripted. And it said in the notes, when Andy strides off, he leaves the bullpen in a fury.

absolutely loved this scene. I have a big circle around it. I thought you and Oscar were so funny. I don't know. There was just something about this one that just totally got me. I loved it, too. I love any time Angela and Oscar are on the same page. Yes, I think that's what it is. I like it when you guys agree. Yeah. Now everyone is lunching or snacking in the break room, and they're all talking about how annoyed they are that Andy has gotten away with this.

Yeah. Guess what Clark is eating? He's having Jim John's baby carrots. Baby carrots for Clark.

Dwight is going to suggest one of us should tell Wallace that he hasn't been here, but nobody wants to do it. Nobody wants to be the one to, like, rat out Andy, I guess. Yeah, and Dwight says, I'd like to rat out Andy. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a boy-who-cried-wolf dynamic with David Wallace, except instead of a boy, I am a man, and instead of a wolf, I cried genetically engineered monster wolf. So Dwight can't do it. Dwight can't do it. Well, Andy's going to come in the break room now, and there

there's one section of this conversation that made me laugh so hard. It is Jake Lacey when Meredith is going on and on where she's talking about how like, there are many things you can call me, floozy, alky, Einstein, vomit mop, floor meat, flesh hoover, but never a narc. I love when Jake is like, why does no one stop her? Why does no one stop her? It's so good. Really funny.

This moment in the scene also drove home for me something that I've wanted for a long time. I'm a fan of the show Abbott Elementary, and I have always wanted them to have Kate Flannery come on and play Melissa's sister. Melissa is like the brassy teacher on Abbott Elementary, and I don't know why. And the thing is, is like she has a sister, but she's played by someone else, but she needs another sister played by Kate Flannery. This is my feeling. You heard it here, Abbott Elementary producers.

I don't know why, but I just feel like she's in this world. Actually, what would be funny is if Meredith, specifically, played by Kate Flannery, is somehow related to that family. I don't know if we can do that crossover. Aaron is now just going to suggest that they let Andy get himself in trouble. I mean, look at how he looks. Wallace is going to take one look at him and know that something is off. And that's when Andy emerges, freshly shaven and suited up. Mm-hmm.

And orders everyone back to work. We had a fan question from Katie G in Iowa who said, I've always been curious about Andy's who's that girl, who's that girl, it's Andy moment. Who came up with that idea? And did you need approval from Zooey Deschanel or anyone at New Girl to use the theme song?

Well, Katie, it was scripted, and Steve Burgess said, no, we did not need any permissions, but we did have to clear and pay for the song, just like any other song we used, and it was $12,000, which he said is fairly inexpensive. Well, there was a whole runner of Andy cleaning himself up. It's in the shooting draft and in the deleted scenes. I'm going to play part of it, and then I'm going to read you some of it. But first, let's start with this clip. Okay.

Well, I wanted to show off my sweet Caribbean-y look to the whole office, but David Wallace probably wants me looking a little more profesh-magesh. So, time to say adios to the halitos.

Interesting. Yeah, I feel like there was a writer pod just on all of the phrases that Andy says in this whole cleaning himself up bit. Kariba Andy, profesh magesh. Then he goes on to say, gotta give a little trim to the rin tin chin. And he holds up a comb. Then he says, gotta tame the Loch Ness monster. Dreadlock monster, that is. Then he holds up cologne and he says, a quick cologne.

Cologne-oscopy from my doctor, Sylvester Cologne. Yo, Adrienne, how do I smell? What is happening? There were more, but those were the best ones. Have we talked about how, like, obsessive pun making is one of the signs of narcissism? Yes, I think we have. Okay, that's what that made me think of. Oh, boy, then I just saw the next scene.

Here it is, everybody. I know. Pam and Jim in the parking lot. They're coming back from work. She's like, you're obviously mad. Do you want to tell me what you're mad about? And he says, you know, I think it's weird that you didn't mention this big intimate detail that you and Brian shared that you cried in front of him. Yeah, but he doesn't say it as nice as that, Angela. No, I know. He's like, oh, my God.

I just, Jim, you're upset. You're upset about Pam withholding things from you? Really? You took a whole job and spent their savings before you told Pam. You just like completely like backed her into a corner. Her only choice was to accept this decision that she got to play no part in that completely upended her family, right? Yeah.

Why does everyone hate Pam in this storyline when it is Jim who is so incredibly self-righteous? Well, also, he's insecure. So it's his ego. He got embarrassed. He was embarrassed that he didn't know this detail about his wife in front of another man, that she cried. And then his embarrassment and insecurity flipped to anger. Oh, that was a really good analysis, Ange. It's true.

Well, he says he feels like a chump for knowing less about his marriage than the sound guy. Now it's no longer Brian, my friend, who was almost a groomsman. It's the sound guy. Pam is like, well, I didn't want to stress you out. You're always talking about how stressed you are. And then he says, you know what? I probably don't have a right to be mad since, you know, I wasn't there.

Andy is now going to hold a meeting in the conference room. He's going to try to get caught up on the last three months. Yeah, he has something written on the whiteboard. It's like, what's been going on? Yeah. It's super literal. Yeah, exactly.

And this is when Dwight realizes they can mess with him. Yeah, Wallace comes in. Andy tries to say, oh, we're doing our weekly roundtable. You know, David's like, I don't want to interrupt. You know, I couldn't be happier with the numbers for the last three months. I'm just going to go down to the warehouse because we have to talk about that guy we let go.

And he leaves, and then Andy's like, what? Why did we let someone go? Yeah, who did we let go? Well, this is when the light bulb goes off for Dwight. And he says, you know, the guy that lit the whole warehouse on fire. Everyone else catches on pretty quickly. Phyllis says, oh, yeah, and then we started selling balloons. And then Clark chimes in and says, yeah, and Kathy Ireland is going to be our official spokesperson. Yeah, spokes-babe for Dunder Mifflin. She's going to be topless on the European billboard.

Everyone, set your DVRs for 16 minutes and 35 seconds. Angela, you are very upset that Kathy Ireland will be topless on the European billboards. The look, you are horrified. You can't believe this news. It's not in the script. I think I just chose to react that way. So...

You know, we also got a very, very funny fan catch from Alanya M. in South Carolina who said, not a question, but a wardrobe catch. Did you all notice that Kevin, Dwight, and David Wallace are all dressed almost identically? Their characters are so different, but they're all wearing a greenish blue shirt, and it fits them all so well. You know what? I did not notice this, but I went back to look. I took a photo. It's very nice. I love it.

I completely agree. It's very nice. It is. The color is lovely and it fits them all really well. And they are all wearing like this icy blue undershirt and then this sort of like dark gray suit. Oh, yeah, they are. Kevin, Dwight, and David Wallace. It's really lovely. You can put it in stories. Okay.

Well, now we go to Andy's office because he's been totally set up by the Dunder Mifflin crew. And Wallace is talking to Andy and Andy says, hey, so great about that balloon game that we got going on, especially in Wake of the Fire. Wallace is like, what are you talking about?

There's no fire in the warehouse. I know. And then Andy's like, oh, I mean, metaphorically. And he figures out what they were trying to do. Then later, Aaron's going to go into Andy's office and say, I don't love you anymore. You were gone a long time. You didn't email me very much. To be fair, you retweeted me quite a bit. What is Aaron tweeting about? I don't know. Wouldn't you love to know? Yeah. We had fake Twitter accounts, remember? For a few characters. Yeah.

Andy insists there's a lot of love between them. Aaron says there isn't any love on my side. And he says you can just fake it. He's not letting her break up with him. Nope. Well, now we've got a pretty big scene. Jim is going to tell Pam they should cancel that bottle of wine and she should just drop him at the bus station. Yeah. I'm sorry. Do you not want to see your...

children, Jim. Thank you. You don't want to just like say hi to your kids? I know. You don't want to go home and be a dad tonight? I mean, yeah, okay, fine. You and your wife are having a fight. At least go hang with your kids. Sorry, had to do that rant. Does Jim remember he has children? I don't know.

I do feel like we needed to have more scenes of him just calling and, like, talking to the kids or something. The only time he does it is for Cece's dance recital when they're driving in the car. Yeah. He says he has work to do in Philly, and she's probably got things to do as well, and they'll probably just end up fighting anyway. And then he's like, oh, and here's a gift. I didn't have time to wrap it. Oh, I am so sorry, but I am going to toot my own horn. Okay. I love my reaction to the present.

I love it when I'm like, oh, you kept it. Thanks. Well, it's funny that you mentioned that because there was a note in the shooting draft about your reaction. What did it say? The whole scene was actually longer and some of it's in deleted scenes. This is another thing I'm glad they cut out. Do you want to hear it? Yes. Okay. Pam has just gotten the gift. The shooting draft says, Pam opens it. It's one of her drawings framed.

It doesn't mean what it once would have, but she's still appreciative. That was my note. That was my acting note. Pam says, I didn't know you kept this. Thank you. Jim says, no problem. Pam looks at Jim. He avoids her gaze.

Then it cuts to a Pam talking head. Pam says, my husband Jim is very special and he's stubborn and he's making me insane and he's impossible and I will not let him give up on me. Oh. And then it cuts back to the scene where she says, I think you should stay and fight. I won't let him give up on her? Excuse me? What the hell?

You know, a lot of people wrote in to comment on this drawing, by the way. I'm going to read this one from Sarah S. in Montgomery, Alabama. Some people were confused about what is this drawing? Yeah. Well, Sarah said, I've been waiting forever for this. The gift that Jim gives Pam is a sketch from her sketchbook from when she returned from art school. And Jim had looked through the sketchbook and loved it. But it is a deleted scene. Yeah.

So Sarah says this is the proof that deleted scenes are canon, that they do live in the show. Sarah, wow. That kind of blows my mind. We also got this letter from Brittany T. in Dallas, Texas, who said, I'm getting married in 2024, and my fiance and I have talked a lot about Jim and Pam's relationship throughout the show, specifically in season nine.

Our many debates and conversations led to the same conclusion. I feel Jim had many dickish moments with Pam, like not telling her about Philly and not being very empathetic toward her being alone in Scranton taking care of their family. He feels Jim's attitude about Brian is justified and that it was just working hard for their family's future.

The one thing we always admire is how intentionally they chose each other and how they really put in the work to improve their relationship. And as we are getting married soon and you are both happily married, we would love to hear your advice for overcoming rough patches and the secret to a long, happy marriage. Well, Brittany, I am very happily married. This year is going to be our 14th wedding anniversary and a little over 16 years together. Yay!

But I always like to fall back on some advice that I got from a woman who had been married over 40 years, and it always stuck with me. So I thought I'd share that. Yeah. I asked her this same question. I was like, 40 years? What's the secret? How'd you do it? Because I knew this couple, and they were this lovely older couple. I had met them through church, and they were so happy and wonderful together. And she said, well, I'll tell you the secret. Okay.

I've been married to four different men. Okay. And I was like, what? She was like, here's what you can count on. You can count on the fact that

that you all aren't going to change very much and that you're also going to change every 10 years. And I was like, oh, tell me more. And she was like, about every 10 years in our marriage, we had a different season of our marriage. And I had to look at our season and look at this man, and I had to decide to commit to him again. And she said, and I've done that about once a decade.

She said, because, you know, it's so easy in the beginning when it was just us before kids. Oh, yeah. You know, that's a whole season. And then, you know, then different jobs would come up. And that stresses a person or changes a person. And she said, but I'll tell you what, if you pick right from the beginning, and you'll know if you're picking right, if you pick right from the beginning, then you'll be able to

to be married to all the versions of the person you're married to. She was like, you know, they say marriage is work, and it really is, but it should also be the easiest work. She said, life is hard. Your marriage should be easy. And I was like, wow, I really like that. I like that, too. And this was a woman I met before I had ever married Lee. And then when I started dating Lee, I was like, oh, this is what she was talking about. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, you know, my mom always would say, in the course of a lifetime, romance comes and goes. So marry your best friend. And Josh is my best friend. And then, you know, on a lighthearted note, Brittany, I think a true test of any relationship is if you can go to Ikea on a busy day and still have fun. That's right. Do that before you get married. Well, listen, Pam is going to fight for her marriage here.

She's going to say, I don't think you should go to Philly tonight. I think you should stay and I think we should fight. And he agrees. It just melts Jim's heart. It does. He smiles and says, all right, Beasley, put your dukes up. A lot of fans noted that Jim calls Pam Beasley at the end of this episode. And she loves it when he calls her Beasley. That's right. And this is, I think, how we know this is going to be OK.

Well, Erin is going to find Pete in the parking lot. A lot happens in the parking lot in this episode. She apologizes that she couldn't break up with Andy. And he says, hey, you know what? I just want you to be happy. And that melts her heart. And she gives him a big kiss. Well, we got this letter from Catherine P. in Redding, Pennsylvania, who said this. Just a quick story about why this episode means a lot to me.

When I was in college, I started talking to this guy that I really liked. Suddenly, his ex-girlfriend, who for the record had left him for another guy, suddenly resurfaced and wanted him back. He came to see me one night after having talked to his ex. I told him that while I obviously wanted to be with him, what I wanted more was for him to be happy. He gave me a big hug and said that his ex had listed all the reasons why she was the right choice, but never once told him to do what made him happy.

It reminded me a lot of how Pete just wanted Erin to be happy. Thankfully, Pete and I both got our own happily ever after, since I've been with that guy from college for the past 12 years, and we've been married for seven. Hey. Hey. Love that. Congratulations, Catherine. I love that story. Erin is now just going to kind of barge right into Andy's office, and she's going to say, you know what? We're breaking up.

I thought you were dead. You were gone for three months. She really just kind of bears her soul to him here in this moment. He's kind of speechless. And then she leaves. Well, we find out that David Wallace was on speakerphone and heard everything. And he says, what's this about being gone for three months, Andy? And that's how the episode ends. Yes. Well, there you have it. That's Couples Discount.

This episode is going to set up quite a few big storylines, and I'm so excited for the next few episodes. And we have some fantastic guests coming up. We do. So thank you guys so much for rewatching and listening, for sending in your questions and comments. Thank you to Steve Burgess for his call sheets and all his good production behind-the-scenes trivia. And thanks to Jordan Cassie for helping us out this week. And we hope you guys have a great one. We'll see you next week.

Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our audio engineer is Jordan Duffy, and our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbico. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. Pulling up to Mickey D's just for drinks? Oh yeah, that's me. Nothing extra, just perfection and a straw. Coming in hot for the coldest cups on the block.

Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. Mix things up with any size lemonade or sweet tea for $1.49. Perfect with our classic fries. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.