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Okay, you say, I want some breakfast. Your so-called boyfriend says, we got eggs in the fridge. Obviously, when you say breakfast, you mean McDonald's. Definitely a side-eye situation. Bring home the bacon, steak patty, or others with a BOGO for $1 breakfast. Only in the app. Limited time only at participating McDonald's. Valid once a day. Must opt into rewards. Visit McDApp for details. 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, everyone. Hey there. Today we're talking about Christening, which is Season 7, Episode 7, written by Peter Oko and directed by Alex Hardcastle. How about a summary? I thought you'd never ask. It is Cece Halpert's Christening, and the whole office shows up to the dismay of Jim and Pam.
Michael is not the godfather, but during a post-christening reception with Too Little Food, he is moved by the spirit of the church parishioners and impulsively joins a youth ministry trip to Mexico. And Andy goes too. I mean, the whole office shows up because Michael invited them. Yes. Not Jim and Pam. Michael invited them. And they didn't know better not to come. I know. Like, aren't you like...
Weird that Jim and Pam didn't invite me, but Michael did. I guess I'll go. I mean, it's really sweet that everyone showed up, actually. It is, but I don't think Jim and Pam invited them. Fast fact number one, both our writer and our director are new on this episode. Yeah. Let's start with our director, Alex Hardcastle. He is a British television director and producer. He has directed such shows as New Girl, The Mindy Project, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Grace and Frankie.
He was recommended by our executive producer, Howard Klein. And I remember him well. He was delightful. He was so charming. You guys, he had a really cute accent. I mean, we were such suckers for the accents. Charles McDougall. I know. Idris. Alex Hardcastle. I know. Randy said he worked with Alex on other productions after The Office, and he was always awesome. Now let's talk about Peter, our writer. He was a new writer on staff with us for Season 7.
And he had previously written on Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies. And Peter was quoted in Andy Green's book about The Office, and he specifically talked about the christening episode. Oh, what'd he say? He said, quote, when I first started, they had this idea for a christening episode, which is as unsexy an episode as you can possibly pitch. And when they brought it up, the entire room looked at me because I had a lot of kids. And that's true.
He had five kids. He has a big family. And then he said, I think the thought was, we'll let him write it. And I felt this sense of how do you keep what we all loved in Jim and Pam in this post-marriage, post-baby world?
But he said they just tried to lean into it and acknowledge that the office was as much of a family for Jim and Pam in season seven as it was for Michael. And so that's where they got the idea that in the christening episode, you would bring the office into that story. Yeah. I can imagine your first writing assignment, the christening, to be a little tough. I love hearing all of that. My memory of Peter is that he was so nice. And
And I was a big fan of Dead Like Me. So I was like, oh my gosh, that's such a cool show. And now we get one of the writers from that show. One of the fun parts about working in this industry is that you get to run into people you're fans of and you get to hear all the inside scoop about what went into making this show or movie that you love so much. Mm-hmm.
Do you want fast fact two? Can I guess what it is? What is it? Because we're becoming like that old married couple. Oh, no. You know what I order for dinner? Maybe. I'm going to guess. Sam, you guess too. Okay. Fast fact two. I'm going to guess that it's a location breakdown of the church. History of christenings. Those are two good guesses, I think. Angela is correct.
Is it? Yes. We had a fan question from Faye B. in New Hampshire who wanted to know where were the church scenes filmed? It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. We shot at Church of the Angels in Pasadena.
I want to give a shout out to this gal, Lindsay, and her blog, quote, I'm not a stalker, because she goes around to different like film and television locations. Okay. And then she writes a little history about them. And she pulled together all this cool information on Church of the Angels. Let's hear it. So this church was built in 1889, and it is the oldest church in Pasadena.
It was built by Mrs. Frances E. Campbell Johnston in memory of her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell Johnston, who was one of the first settlers of Pasadena. He was British, and the church's design was based on Holmby St. Mary's Church in Surrey. I was going to say, it looks like an old sort of English country church.
I thought you were going to say, it looks like Hornby St. Mary's. Yeah, definitely. That would have been funnier. But it really did when I was looking at it. I was like, oh, all the old stone and all of that. Yeah. Well, speaking of stone, the very first cornerstone of the church was laid in place by Frances herself.
It's an Episcopalian church, and I don't know if you remember this, Ange, but there's a large pipe organ inside the church. It is functional. It was built in 1889 by the Roosevelt Organ Works in New York City. This church has been featured in a lot of film and television.
It has appeared on Knotts Landing, which is why Lindsay stalked it. She was a Knotts Landing fan. It has also appeared on Desperate Housewives, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, Jag, The Mick Jagger God Gave Me Everything I Want music video, The Movies Just Married, Heathers, and of course, The Office. That church has a longer resume than I do. That's impressive. Yeah.
And incidentally, our base camp with all our trailers was in the Rose Bowl parking lots. Well, I loved that location breakdown. Thank you. Thank you, Lindsay, for blogging about it. Couldn't find your last name. Fast fact number three is all about our amazing guest star, Zoe Jarman, who played Carla. Carla. Carla. I mean...
When she popped up, I immediately started giggling because we were so taken with her when we were shooting. She was so fantastic in her scenes with Steve. She held him toe to toe. Zoe, I was so excited to rewatch these scenes. I could not find Zoe on Instagram or Twitter or anywhere social media. Respect, Zoe. Whenever I can't find somebody, I'm always like, oh, they're a real actor. I do. And so
So I could not slide into her DMs. Zoe, if you hear this, we would have loved to spoken to you. If you ever do get a social media, slide into our DMs. Yes, it's an invitation. Well, let me tell you a little bit about Zoe. She is a comedian, sketch performer, and also a writer and director. She studied theater at Northwestern University in Chicago, and she also studied at both Upright Citizens Brigade and the Groundlings.
I'm sure a lot of people know her as Betsy in the first two seasons of The Mindy Project, and that was a role that she got thanks to this guest role on The Office. I did find an interview with her where she said this. Oh. Quote,
I knew Mindy a bit before the show through the comedy community. She's been really supportive and kind to me in the times that I had gotten to be around her. Then she was really nice to me when I was on the set of The Office and made me feel really welcome. Zoe said she had a really positive experience doing The Office and was really happy with the way her part turned out in the episode. Well, Zoe, we loved you. And I kept hoping for some kind of wrap-up to Carla's story. Like, I wanted to hear how it went.
I mean, I would have loved if like in season eight. Yes. Someone got a card from her. From Carla. Yeah. In Mexico. I got for Fast Facts. Well, I have a fan catch. I'd love to hear it. This starts the beginning of a new DVD. You know, I'm watching the DVDs. New DVD. It's very exciting.
Clearly, it's more exciting for me. Jenna's looking at me with such a blank expression. I get very excited, Jenna, when I finish a DVD and I set it aside and I go get the next one. I know. You have commented on the DVDs before. Okay. Clearly, I've brought it up too much, but I have a fan catch from Sam S. from Canada.
Sam says in the delivery, Jim announced that their daughter's name is Cecilia, Cece for short. I have the DVD box set, and on the description for the christening episode, it says that her name is Celeste. Quote, it's overcrowded at Jim and Pam's christening for baby Celeste when everyone from the office shows up. But then throughout the rest of the show, she's referred to as Cecilia or Cece. Was this a production error?
Oh. It had to have been. What did your DVD say, Angela? My DVD said the same. Celeste. What? Does anyone else's DVD say Celeste? Is happening. I think there was a little bit of an oops. There was an oopsie. Mm-hmm. Sam, I want you to know that you have made Angela's day. Yes, you have, Sam. You have also scrutinized your DVDs.
And that makes Angela's heart happy. It really does. And for anyone else that got a DVD box set that says Celeste, let us know. I think Sam and I need to know. Speaking of baby Cece...
Guess what I have, thanks to Joya Balfour from NBC.com. Lady, I hope you're going to tell me that you have Pam's christening blog because I couldn't find it, but I remembered it existed. Yes, I have it. Joya sent it to me. Here's how it read. CC's christening, posted by Pam Halpert on November 4th, 2010 at 19.42 hours. 19.42 hours. Okay. Yeah. You know, you're minus 12. So I...
Posted at 7.42 p.m. Didn't say. Well, that's what the 17 is. Oh, right. That's why we're doing military time. Yeah. Right. So that you don't have to worry about. So you don't have to worry if it's a.m. or p.m. Right. Because you know it's in the number. Yes. Yes. And that way, if things are going down, you know it's nighttime and not the morning. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay, here's what it said. Okay. 7.42 p.m. It's official. Cece is a member of the Covenant community. The baptism ceremony was beautiful, mostly.
Cece looked so cute in her christening gown, she was almost in it long enough to get a picture. It was wonderful to see all of our friends and family at the church. My apologies to everyone that went to the reception. We promise that Cece's wedding will be catered. Although the day didn't go as smoothly as planned, all in all, it was a truly blessed event. I know all babies are equal in the eyes of the Lord, but Cece was definitely the cutest baby there.
Very sweet. Pam's baby blog. Who is she writing this for? It's like who I used to write my journals for. Yeah, I don't know who's reading her blog. I might have brought a journal today. Please say yes. Yes, I found one of my journals.
All right. We're going to take a break. We're going to come back and break down this episode. And at some point, Angela will be getting out her journal. Oh, I can see it. I can see it. What nugget. Wait, I just need Jenna to read. I just need Jenna to read what's on the front of my journal. I am here to live out loud. Yes, I am, guys. Yes, I am. And when we come back.
We're going to break down the christening, get into my journal, and who knows what else. I have a present for you. You do? There's so much to do today. We'll be right back.
Okay, you say, I want some breakfast. Your so-called boyfriend says, we got eggs in the fridge. Obviously, when you say breakfast, you mean McDonald's. Definitely a side-eye situation. Bring home the bacon, steak patty, or others with a BOGO for $1 breakfast. Only in the app. Limited time only at participating McDonald's. Valid once a day. Must opt into rewards. Visit McDApp for details. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.
This episode starts with Pam in her role as office administrator, and she is leading a conference room meeting all about hygiene. Yeah, and she's got a big sign. If you go to 12 seconds, it says Saber Hygiene Day. Semicolon. Simple steps to a cleaner working environment. Always wash your hands. Remember to get your flu shot. Wipe down your desk daily.
Stay home when you are sick or contagious. Use the hand sanitizing station often. Dwight isn't happy about the hand sanitizing stations or any of these suggestions, really. He says that the best way to not get sick is to be exposed to germs, and he would like a hand desanitizing station. Did you hear what he wants in his hand desanitizing station?
No, I missed it. He wants, and I quote, a simple bowl at every juncture filled with dirt, vomit, fecal matter. Oh, God. And then he gets cut off. What?
What the heck? This got me curious because Pam said, according to a study done by the University of Arizona, they discovered that your keyboards have hundreds of times more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat. That's true. It is true. I know. So does your phone, by the way. Oh, I went to WebMD. Are you ready for the top five most germy places in an office? Yeah. Number one, elevator buttons.
And many of them don't work as we've learned. Yeah. Stop touching them. Who cares? Number two, door handles. Number three, your actual desk, like your actual desktop. Okay. Number four, your keyboard. Number five, your telephone. Yeah.
Is this a good time to tell you that when I go into like a hotel room or something, I wipe down the remote and the light switches and like everything with a little antibacterial wipe because I watched a whole, you know, whatever, Dateline or something like that all about it.
I feel like we all saw that dateline where they went in with that special light and everything glowed blue because it was poop or earwax or something disgusting. The most disturbing part of that show for me was when they showed, like, secret cameras of how they don't really...
clean the water glasses that are left in the bathrooms. Like a lot of places, they just like sort of rinsed them underwater using the same rag that they had just used to like clean the bathroom. I never use those cups. Okay. I don't. Well, I've been using them, but I might not anymore. I put my makeup brushes in them. I don't drink out of them. That's a no for me. Okay. Well,
Just saying. It's a new no for me. Well, Pam also suggests that you should cough into your elbow as a great way to prevent the spreading of germs or sneeze into your elbow, like the Dracula. Yeah, the vampire cough. And I read some studies on that, and that is good advice.
Yeah, they should do that. They teach all of our kids to do that at school. And now all my kids cough like that. Well, Dwight says that he would rather people just cough or sneeze directly on him. So we have a montage of people sneezing on him, his food, all kinds of things.
We got a fan question from Rosie S. in Edinburgh, Scotland, who said, I spotted a small error in the cold open. What, Rosie? Dwight talks about the cost of wool in Transylvania. And he blames it on the euro. But Rosie points out that Transylvania is in Romania, which does not use the euro.
It's in Europe, but they have their own currency. Dwight! And they have for a while. Now, I believe they are converting to the euro in a few years, however. Dwight got it wrong. That's rare. Dwight often, we find, has got it right, but not this time. The episode starts outside of the church. Angela's walking up to Jim and Pam, and they're holding little Cece.
Yeah, the whole office is kind of congregated outside before the ceremony begins. And I'll have you know, Angela, we shot this episode the week of September 13th, 2010. And we are recording this podcast almost exactly 12 years later in September 2022. That is crazy.
Now, you know what the temperature is today, right? Oh, yeah. It's like 103. Yes. We did all of these exterior scenes outside this church in heavy wool coats, pretending it was fall because this aired in November. Yeah.
But luckily, it was only 83 degrees. But still, when you watch all of these scenes outside the church, just know that we are very hot. We did not put a coat on baby Cece on purpose. We did not want to overheat the baby. But Pam is in a wool coat.
Well, I got so tickled rewatching these scenes, Jenna, because I had so much fun being so sweet to the baby and so snarky to Jim and Pam. I know. I really loved those turns every time. I even went to the shooting draft, Jenna, to see if there was stage direction about it. Mm-hmm. And it said, Angela is cold to Jim and Pam and cutesy to Cece. Mm-hmm.
And you know, Jen, in this episode, I have two improv lines that made it in. Oh, I think I know one of them. Well, the first one comes in this little couplet of dialogue when Angela turns to Jim and Pam and she goes, Jim, Pam, and the precious bundle of God's gift to everything. And then she goes back to Jim and Pam. I wish you both a pleasant day. And then I improvised. And you too. Yes. Praise God. Okay.
Okay. Aw. I just couldn't get enough of those little girls. Those babies were so cute. People just turned into jelly around those babies. I know. They were the sweetest. Once again, they were played by Bailey and Sienna, although there were a few times that we used the creepy jelly baby. Oh, I caught it.
Yeah, Phil got it for us. They're really expensive. We've talked about these before. They're like thousands of dollars. And we had to be careful with them. I have some catches. I have some jelly baby catches. I do too. But in these opening scenes, it was all Bailey and Sienna.
You know, in the shooting draft, there's a series of talking heads where everyone would have weighed in on whether or not they want kids. Oh. Yeah. But Andy saying that he wanted nard pups is the one that made it in. And it's definitely the best one.
Well, as everyone's entering the church, Dwight is going to hand out his business cards. And you know what cracked me up about this moment, Jenna? It's very small, but Rain chose to deliver the line where he hands the business cards in the way that when you walk into church, they hand you the program. Yes.
I thought that was so great. He was like, Dwight Schrute, regional sales. Dwight Schrute, business card. Like he did that cadence. Yes. This was part of a bigger storyline for Dwight. It's in deleted scenes. It comes out throughout the episode where he is really trying to work this church crowd for business. Well, the one person who's having trouble getting into the church is Toby. He says it's been a few years since he's attended a church service. Yeah.
He and the big guy have some catching up to do. I went to deleted scenes and looked in our candy bag alts because I was curious if there was any more backstory. I mean, we learned in season five, Casual Friday...
that Toby had been in seminary and dropped out because he wanted to have sex with his girlfriend, Kathy. Yes. And then followed her to Scranton and took the first job he could find, which was in human resources at Dunder Mifflin. Well, I'm curious what you found because we had fan questions from Rachel C. in Suffolk, Virginia, and Kaylee E. in Indianapolis, Indiana, who said,
So Toby has trouble going into the church, but wasn't he at Jim and Pam's wedding as well as Phyllis's wedding? He didn't have a problem going into those churches. Oh, that's such a good catch. Well, the candy bag alts were all versions of this. Here's one of them. Toby, I studied for the ministry, but well, it didn't work out. So I'm going to walk into the church, maybe look up at the altar and say, hey, remember me? It's Toby. Okay. Okay.
They were all versions of that, that he left the church and there was some mystery and he's got a little bit of beef maybe with the big man. You know where my brain went? Where? You know who wouldn't want to enter a church because they have a problem with God? Who? A strangler. Oh! And he started strangling after Jim and Pam's wedding and Phyllis's wedding. Yep.
Sam. Sam. Is Toby the Scranton Strangler? Will the Reddit threads be abuzz with this new development?
Michael, of course, is going to try to weasel his way into the family sitting area at the church. I mean, this is what he does. Remember Phyllis's wedding? He wanted to be in the family photo. And he's doing his godfather impression. And I loved this line so much, Jenna. You said, you know, I love it when you do that voice. But today, I'm sorry. I need you to tell me that you know you're not Cece's godfather. And then Michael's like, yeah. And Pam says, I'm sorry, Michael. I need you to say it. I'm so sorry.
I have to say that exchange sort of reminded me a little bit of Carol Stills. Yes. I felt like it was something Carol would say to Michael. Michael, we're breaking up. I need you to know that. And I need you to say it back to me. Exactly. Exactly.
Well, I don't know if you noticed, but little Cece is holding a little toy in her hand through all these scenes. I did. It's like a little tiger. So that was a real little toy. I don't know if it was Bailey or Sienna in this scene, but it was just a great way to help make her feel secure. That was something that we did sometime. We just let them carry their own blankies or their own little toys. Yeah.
You know, something that is revealed in this scene, Angela, is that the godfather of Jim and Pam's baby is their friend Seth, whose wife Pam met at Mommy and Me. I mean, isn't that sort of just like a quick turnaround to godfather status? Don't flurry, Angela!
Many people wrote in to say, why did Pam and Jim choose two people they essentially just met to be Cece's godparents rather than one of their siblings or even an old friend? Fan mail flurry. Well, this made me wonder, hey, where is Pam's sister? Yeah, this is a big moment for Pam. I know. Also, where's her friend Isabel? Yeah. I mean, a lot of people are no-shows. Jim's brothers. Yes.
Yeah. They all live in town. It's not like these people had to travel far. I don't know. Maybe, you know, we did have a lot of guest stars in this episode. Maybe we just like couldn't pack anybody else in. Well, I'm with Michael. Michael's like, he can't believe that these two, in his eyes, random people are going to hold such a huge part in Cece's life. We never find out the godmother's name. It's just Seth and his wife. Yeah.
Anyway. Well, the pastor is going to welcome everyone. I loved this scene. It just reminded me so much of Sundays during football season in church because the pastor says, what a terrific day this is, and not just because the Eagles are playing. And Kevin is so tickled. This is like the biggest laugh that he's had in a while.
We had a fan question from Kirsten L. in Minnesota. I really appreciate that the church pastor was cast as female. As someone who is considering becoming a Lutheran pastor myself, there aren't many women pastors depicted in the media. I'm wondering how this came about. Was Allison Jones looking for a woman specifically for this role? Is this woman an actual pastor? Well, Kirsten, the script called for a woman to play this role.
Minister Gale was played by an actress named Carolyn Wilson. She's also appeared in Veep and Space Force. And get this, she was the casting associate for that 70s show, including the episode in which I played Stacey Wanamaker. Huh. Yeah.
Well, I thought Carolyn did a great job. So believable. I mean, I would have believed she was a real pastor. I mean, I was like, I want to hear her sermon. Well, as part of her welcoming everyone to church that day, the pastor is also going to share with us that their young adult ministry is going to be leaving for Mexico. And they all like applaud. They're very excited.
And they're also going to have their prayers and remembrance section. Yes, Justin's mom, who was played by Sarah Zinsser, is just going to ask everyone to keep Justin in their thoughts and in their prayers. And then there's going to be a standoff for who speaks next. Because both Dwight and a gentleman stand up at the same time, and Dwight stares the man down until he sits. Which was an amazing moment, in my opinion. Well...
Dwight is now going to just basically hit everyone up to buy a printer. It's like so inappropriate. And I have a jelly baby catch. Oh, is it at five minutes and 55 seconds? Yeah.
Yes. During this whole scene, I had Jelly Baby, and I hope you noted some of the ways that I was trying to move Jelly Baby to make it look like it was a real baby. You were like bobbing her on your knee. Yeah. And like kind of like moving her arm with my thumb. Lady, this reminded me of the most famous Jelly Baby in a movie. Do you remember it?
Oh, I do. I do. I do. Wait, no, I've got it. Because Josh and I were like, this is ridiculous. This is a big budget movie. Wait, wait, wait. No, I have it. Wait.
I can see the guy's face. Bradley Cooper. Yes! Bradley Cooper in American Sniper. Yes! He's holding this baby that is so fake. He does a lot of the same kind of jelly baby stuff I was doing. Like, there's one part, I rewatched it, where you see him take his thumb and move the baby's arm. But he's...
like an emotional scene. Yeah. And that baby was so distracting. And I feel like he was doing a really good performance. But all I could look at was this jelly baby. When this came out and it was all over the news, I found an audio clip. There's plenty of buzz and controversy surrounding American Sniper. Moving towards the convoy. But this morning, moviegoers are highlighting one glaring issue in particular.
Do you see it? The baby. It's a fake. It's a prop doll. For 1 minute and 13 seconds, Bradley Cooper pats, cuddles, cradles, and oh so gently lays down that fake baby. Now Twitter erupting with the hashtag fake baby with posts like, did they not trust Bradley Cooper with a real baby? And had CPR class the other morning, found the baby used in American Sniper.
So I can't remember who it is, but someone associated with the movie tweeted, but then deleted why they use the fake baby. What was the tweet? It said something like the real baby showed up with a fever and then the second baby didn't show up. And so they had to just use fake baby and do their best. Why do you have to delete that tweet? That's just information. I,
No, I guess maybe it was like not his place to say why there was a fake baby. I don't know. Or maybe the studio was like, don't call out the fake baby. Yeah, exactly. Enough with the fake baby. I loved that clip from the news so much because I loved how many different stings were in there, Sam. Did you hear them? There was like the screech and the glass breaking. And like, I don't know, was there a helicopter? It was like a Zootime radio warning. There were so many things.
Well, I have a great photo of our jelly baby. It was in between scenes. It was pretty hot because they kept turning off the air when we would film. I was in the main part of the church sitting area. You were up on the dais, and I looked over at you, and you looked at me, and the jelly baby had flopped over, kind of falling off your lap.
And I took your picture. It's in our book, The Office BFFs. It cracks me up every time I see it. I love that we have that picture because Jelly Baby was a big part of my life, starting now till the end of the show. Yeah, you spent a lot of time with Jelly Baby. And then you did too. And then I did too. And Jelly Babies are heavy. And if you're hot, they can also make you more hot. Oh, we got another fan question from Angela V. in Ontario, Canada, who asked, who picked the hymns for this episode?
Also, Jim Dever sings. He's laughing with Pam. Oh, okay. Good catch. Randy said most of the hymns were chosen because they were public domain with the exception of one, which was With Grateful Hearts, Our Faith Professing. That was scripted and it cost $5,000 to license. About the cost of a jelly baby.
Well, I think it's time for a break, and we have a few things outstanding. Mm-hmm. We have a journal. Yep. We have a gift. Yes. Baby Cece needs a whole new outfit. Yep. Let's take a break and get to it. And someone stole the scones. I won't say who. What? I stole them. Someone else put them in my bag. Mm-hmm.
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 Cece's diaper needs a change. But before we do that, Angela, I want to give you your gift. Oh, okay. All right. Here it is. I wrapped it. You really did. So, you know, we shared with everyone last week that we got desks and that we opened the mail. Wait, before you look.
I want to give it a caveat. I thought I was allowed to open it. Okay. I just want to say, what have you been saying you wish you had? A letter opener. Because there's so many letters. Yes. And I've been opening them with my little finger, and I snagged that little side part of your fingernail. So here, this is my special letter opener for you. The Night's Watch. Wait, it's a Game of Thrones. Yeah. Yeah.
letter opener. Oh my gosh. It is the Longclaw sword letter opener. Yes. Winter is coming and so is your mail. So here's the thing. I really wanted to get Aria's sword for you. By the way, I don't know anything about what I'm saying. I did a lot of Googling to figure out like what Game of Thrones item. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts you've ever given me in all of our friendship.
They don't, from what I know, make Aria's sword into a letter opener. The needle. It's called the needle. The needle, yes. You can get a replica for your house, but you can't open letters with it. So I hope that this long claw sword is good. Yes, I love it. I will take a picture of it and I will open mail happily with it. Mm-hmm.
Something that keeps coming up in our mail. I'm holding up my letter opener. Something that keeps coming up in our mail is what is next for office ladies? What are we doing next? Are we going to be ladies who Google? Are we going to be mom detectives? What's our next podcast? Are we going to do movies? I know, lady. This is the question because I can't believe. What do we have, like a year? OMG. I know.
I know. I like it here. I want to keep doing this with you. I love our office ladies family. I know me too. So we do need to figure out what's next. I think we should try some stuff out. That's how we got here, right? We put the phone between us and we started chatting. What should we do next? Like a bonus episode, like on a Monday or something. Oh, this has gotten bigger. I thought we were going to be in your garage again, but yes, you're right. We could. We're
we going to do? Just sit and record and not play it for anyone? Okay, you're right. You're right. Okay, yes, I like this. Bonus episode. But what should we talk about? I like the idea of doing maybe let's break down a movie. Ooh, what movie? Ooh, should we put it in Office Ladies Pod? People can weigh in. What movie, guys? What movie? Why are you even asking this question? It's so obvious.
That this movie is John Wick. Yes. Or stars Keanu Reeves. Oh, what about Speed? Oh, I love Speed. That's how I started on my Keanu journey. That was your introduction to Keanu? Yes. That was my gateway drug into Keanu. Pop quiz, asshole. Yeah. Come on. I'm ready. I'm ready.
Grant. Oh, she would give us all the inside info on sitting on that bus, I'm sure. Beth Grant played Dwight's babysitter slash date to Dinner Party. She was also on the bus in Speed. Oh, guys, it's coming together. I feel very inspired by this Speed idea. Should we put it to a vote, though? Because I would love to point out some background details in John Wick that I know you missed, a.k.a. the coffee maker, a.k.a.
Excuse me? Do not even come to me. You're going to want to back away from that statement about things I missed when the first time you ever watched it, you stopped watching at 15 minutes. This is the other podcast idea we could do. Just the first 15 minutes of every movie. We call it Jenna's Breakdown. Well, I would thrive on that podcast because I'm very good at watching the first 15 to 20 minutes of a film. I know. And then you fall asleep.
But I come back. You do. In the days that follow. Okay, well, we should get back to this episode. That's lots to think about. And it all started with my letter opener. Thank you. What a gift. What a gift. That letter opener may lead to our next thing. Who knew? Who knew? But that is the power of the long claw sword. Clearly.
I don't know what I'm talking about, but is that true? Does it hold power? I hope I willed it with the justice it deserves. Let's pivot back into this episode because Cece has pooped all over her christening dress. And Jim is going to hustle out to his car. This was such a real dad moment for me. Like, he's like looking desperately. And of course, Pam has packed a backup outfit. Yeah, Jim said that he saw it in there. He checked.
He didn't bring it. Yeah, he did say that, is what he says. There's two lines that Jim has that made me laugh so hard as a parent. First of all, he says to Pam, this is happening. Yeah. Because you've had those moments where, like, one parent is already halfway down the road, and they're bringing the other one up to speed. And they're like, this is happening. Trust me. This is. Yeah. This was our best option, was this t-shirt.
So we're going to go from here. And then she's like, no, there's this backup outfit. You said you checked the bag. And he's like, I did say that. That's what I said. Maybe not what I did. So I loved those.
I personally was charmed by the fact that all of their photos from the day would have Cece in this t-shirt. That would just become fun family lore, in my opinion. Like, if that happened to my kids, they would be so delighted to look at those pictures and hear that story again. Oh, for sure. Right? Like, you can't get too upset over these moments. Well, the christening is over, and Stanley thinks he can go, but the pastor's going to let everyone know that the Halberts are homesteading.
are hosting a reception next door. For everyone. Yep. Everyone's invited. Well, this mistake really angered Chelsea L. from Houston, Texas. I want to say that in Chelsea's letter, there are a lot of all caps. Chelsea, what got you? Was it the Halbert? It was so many things.
Here is what Chelsea said, quote, Okay, this bothers me so much every time I see this episode. Why does Jim not correct the minister when she announces the Halbert reception? Come on, Jim. Or Pam. I suppose Pam could have corrected this too.
think anyone in the church would be angry if they corrected the minister and asked folks not to come to the reception unless they knew Jim and Pam. This makes me so irrationally angry for them. Chelsea. But Jim and Pam do not correct the minister. Instead, they are now going to host a reception for which they do not have enough food. Well, this is kind of a recurring thing with Jim's last name.
Because it happened in Niagara as well. Remember outside of the reception, there was a sign that said the Hal Pritt reception? This happens to me all the time. People put an L in my last name. So they'll say Kinsley. I've heard people call you Kinsley. Over and over. It is time for the reception. It is very crowded. Angela is going to clock this right away. And I have one of my lines that is quoted to me coming up. I have seen it.
stitched on a pillow. Angela says to Pam, you don't know them all. Pam says, nope, and we're going to need a loaves and fishes kind of miracle to feed them all. And that's when Angela says, Jesus is not your caterer, but he should be your caterer because you're a little angel. Why didn't your parents get you a caterer? And now do you know what I improvised? Because they don't think. It was so Southern. When I heard it, I was like, they don't think. Everyone is hungry.
Everyone is angry. There's a lot of hangry folks at this reception. Well, Angela isn't the only person who's miffed at the lack of food. We also have to deal with Doug McPherson Davies' uncle. It's one of my favorite character names.
He was played by Emil Beheshti, who is a very accomplished comedic actor. He's been on Will & Grace, The King of Queens, Greg the Bunny, Grounded for Life, Big Love. The list goes on and on. Even after finding out there's not really any food, everyone is still staying. Leave, everybody. Just go away. My favorite grump was Sconesie Cider. Oh!
sconesy cider. Lady, there is a Twitter page for sconesy cider. No way. Yes, it is basically a bunch of posts about cider and scones.
Also, if you'd like a sconesy cider bumper sticker, you can find one over on the Etsy page. That's what Soap said. We even got a fan question from Patrick R. in Aylesbury, UK, who said, I did a mini deep dive on sconesy cider and I find out that if someone questions where the food and drink is at at a party, you call them a sconesy cider. It's a whole thing. That is awesome.
We've got to start using sconesy cider. Why haven't we been using that all this time? Well, because we haven't done this rewatch yet, and now we have, and now we have a new catchphrase. Don't be a sconesy cider. Don't be a sconesy cider. She's amazing. Well, sconesy cider was played by actress Stephanie McVeigh. She's been on Parks and Rec and Superstore and like a gazillion things because...
She's fantastic. I didn't point it out earlier, but she had a great background detail in the church. It's at eight minutes and 25 seconds. Sconesy Cider is putting on powder with a little compact. So, you know, before she gets up to go to the reception to be disappointed by the lack of food, she is going to powder her face. Carla is going to stand up and give a really great speech about the youth ministry. And she thanks Jim and Pam for hosting them.
Because after this reception, they're going to Mexico. They're going to spend three months building a school. Yes, and Michael is really inspired by the joy that's sort of emanating from this youth ministry table. And nobody else is taking it seriously. We got a table of sass, basically. So much sass. And Michael is like, let's go build an airport. Okay, we'll start small with a car wash. Ryan is like spinning his iPad.
What's up with Ryan and his iPad? This is the second thing he's brought it to that it's not appropriate. He brought it to Andy's play. Oh, yeah, you're right. And now here it is at the christening. Well, Michael is just like, guys, I don't get it. We should hang out more. Like, I think he's seeing the fellowship of that table and he's seeing the lack of fellowship at their table. And then Daryl has the best sass line. I loved it so much. He says,
We are hanging out right now. You want some more of this? It's so good. I loved it. Michael is so bummed out by his table that he's going to storm out at 12 minutes, 48 seconds. Did you see the sign as he leaves the reception hall? No. It says, Halbert Christening Reception. They made a whole sign? Yeah. Oh, my God.
Well, meanwhile, Pam is going to go out. She's going to grab some subs and sodas. Yeah, everyone's hungry. They need to get more food. Well, Jim is going to be looking for some chairs, and he needs a place that's quiet for Cece. Jim finds Mima in a little side room on a sofa, just sitting by herself, and this is what she has to say. Oh, hey, Mima. Would you watch Cece for a second? Don't worry, she's asleep. I'm just going to track down some more chairs. Fine. Okay.
Fine, I guess I'll watch Suzanne's purse and your baby. Suzanne's purse and your baby. I want to say later when Jim comes back and he can't find Cece, he comes into Meemaw and he's like, Meemaw, where is Cece? And she says, I lost the purse too. She's so matter of fact. She's like, I don't know. It's so good. She doesn't even turn around and look at him.
said Jim is on the hunt for some chairs, but we had a fan catch from Kristen H. in Austin, Texas, and Jesse T. from Chicago, Illinois, who said, when Jim gives Cece to Pam's Meemaw, he says he's looking for chairs. Why does he not just use the chairs right behind him in that room? Are those special holy church chairs?
Lady, it's true. There is a dining table surrounded by chairs. And he walks right past them and says, I need to find some chairs. I didn't catch that. That's great. I mean, I thought maybe he's looking for some folding chairs or something, but there are clearly eight chairs right there. Didn't need to look so hard.
Well, it is time for the youth ministry to leave. Their bus is waiting, and people are gathering outside, kind of making a long line to give them high fives and hugs as they go. It kind of reminded me of like when a football team is entering the stadium, and people give them a high five as they take the field. Yeah, and Michael joins right in. He's just very into it. He's wishing them all the best. He's really caught up in this, and all of a sudden, he's like, you know what?
I'm going with him. Yep. And he gets on the bus. We had a fan catch from Maricela Kay in Riverside, California, who said, at 13 minutes and 45 seconds, did anyone else notice that the camera crew was already on the bus?
And like in the back of the bus before Michael even got on. I totally noticed that. I totally noticed that. And I was like, why is the camera crew on the bus? We had another question from Liam M. in Brisbane, Australia, who said, was there ever a discussion in the writer's room about the integrity of the camera crew? Would they have really gone all the way to Mexico? Yeah, I thought the same thing. Oh, my goodness. None of them have any bags, including Michael and then our other volunteer, Andy. Yeah.
Well, Michael has a speech that he gives that cracked me up, Jenna. Phyllis says, Michael, what am I supposed to tell my clients if they ask about you? And Michael, leaning out of the window of the bus, says, tell them that I died and I turned into an angel. And when they feel a breeze in a room with all the windows closed or that chill on the back of their neck, that is just me watching over them. And then Phyllis is like, OK, but what about the bigger corporate accounts? And Michael says, tell them I'm in a meeting.
I loved all that, too. And I love how Andy decides he's going as well. There's a great thing in deleted scenes. So, you know, they give Michael a T-shirt. Michael's very excited. Oh, he puts it on. Yeah. Put under his suit jacket, over his shirt. Yes. Andy, when he gets on the bus, is like, can I get a shirt? And they're like, we're all out. Here, you can have a pin. And if you guys go to 15 minutes and 41 seconds, you can see the pin on Andy's, like, jacket. Yeah.
All of this talk about being on a bus and travel is making me think of my journal.
Oh, is it time? It is time because I used to write a lot in my journal when I was traveling. Nothing like writing when you're on a bus or a plane. All right, Sam? Sam and I have both sat forward in our chairs with anticipation. Physically giddy. All right. You guys have a choice. Do you want to hear what I've titled anniversary or do you want to hear what I've titled airplane? Both, please. Yes. I must be selfish. Okay. Let's start with anniversary. Okay.
September 10th, 1996. Oh my gosh. I don't like who this is. Yeah. 1.28 p.m. P.M. is underlined. Oh. Just so you know. Today marks my one-year anniversary in Los Angeles, California! Exclamation point. Can you believe it? Question! Exclamation point. Time has flown here. It crawled in New York. Hmm.
I haven't accomplished a great deal yet. Or have I accomplished a lot? Why is it in a riddle? This part is so embarrassing. What is it? Oh, gosh. Angela's wiping tears from her eyes. Because it's so dorky. I was such a dork. I'm still a dork. Okay. I haven't accomplished a great deal yet. I have accomplished a lot. On whose measure am I judged? Okay.
It's written in Game of Thrones. All right. That's how that one ends. Okay. Okay. Next one. Let's see the date here. December 24th, 1996, Christmas Eve, Delta Airlines. Oh, okay. Okay. 5.16 p.m., Utah Airport. I just got bumped up to first class! Exclamation point.
What a nice Christmas present! Fun! This has never happened to me. I am so psyched. A window seat in first class makes up for that two and a half hour layover in Salt Lake City. I'm drinking my complimentary pre-flight drink. Oh, and in first class you get a hot meal. Economy gets a sack lunch.
Oh my gosh. Now you get nothing. I know. I wonder if they upgraded me because I don't feel well. My cold is getting worse. Did you tell someone? I feel pretty sick. My nose is driving me crazy and dripping a lot. Did you go to the airport and go, I'm so sorry to bother you. I don't feel well. Well, first class rocks, but I feel really sick. I might be getting the flu.
You know what? I want to see the journal entry of the person who sat next to you on this flight. My first time paying for first class and they seat me next to some sniffly, runny-nosed, wide-eyed weirdo who's downing a drink pre-flight. She keeps telling the flight attendants how sick she is. The stewardess is the nicest lady. She's really taking good care of me. I'm pretty sure now I have a fever. I'm getting worse.
This is now two hours into the flight. Oh, goodness. This is how it ends. Feeling so sickly. Exclamation point. Sad face. Oh, yeah. There you go. Did you have the flu?
Yeah, I caught the flu. I showed up on Christmas Eve with the flu. I like that it has callbacks like we've been, like, not like the other airport, as if we're going to be like, ah, I remember that entry. Wait, I didn't count on this one. But here is January 2nd, 1997. Well, 1997 is here. Can you believe it? You and the reader have been through so much.
Gosh, all right. I'm going to stop for today. My journals are so embarrassing. Thank you so much for that. Well, that was delightful, Angela. And I just want to say we do also have the option of a spinoff podcast called Angela's Journal. No, no, we can't take it. I'm just saying. No. As we figure out what's next. You can break down a journal entry each episode. Deep dives on it.
I mean, who am I writing to always is the question. Okay. I'm sorry you were sick that Christmas. I know. That really stinks. But I did get to fly first class. You did? Yeah. The bus is on the road and Toby has made it inside the church. Finally. And we had a fan catch from Sean L in Indiana. It's wonderful.
Sean said, this is not a question, but something fun to look out for. When Toby enters the church toward the end of the episode, you can see Dwight put his business cards inside of the Bibles in the pews. Oh, Sean, this is something I was about to bring up.
Yes, it's at 15 minutes and 50 seconds. You can see Dwight's little business card popping out of the Bible. That's right. In deleted scenes, there is a scene. If you go to the DVD, Dwight is stuffing all of the Bibles and hymnals in all the pews with his business card. Incredible. Well, Jim is panicking. He cannot find Cece. And someone says a little blonde lady took Cece.
Yes, that little blonde lady is Pam's mother, but Jim doesn't know that. So just as Pam is entering with a tray of sub sandwiches...
Jim screams, stop that woman. Stop her now. She stole my baby. Kevin grabs Angela and her big bag right as Pam is entering. And they all collide. And this tray of sub sandwiches goes flying in the air. Jenna, this was like a stunt for us. Do you remember? I do remember. They had to break it down. We had to time it out. Someone was cuing you on the outside. Brian had to be in the right
place than I did and you had to come in? I'm not going to lie. When I watched it, I thought my like tray fumble was a little forced.
I don't know if you saw, I like brought the two trays together almost like symbols. It looked like a cartoon. It looked like Looney Tunes. It looked like so crazy. And I also wanted to know why the silver platter? I don't know. She would be bringing them in in bags. This whole silver platter thing was so over the top. Well,
Well, we got a fan question from Kirsten W. in Fort Myers, Florida, who said, when Pam comes back from getting the subs, she drops them when Angela bumps into her. And then they insinuate that they can't eat the subs because they fell on the ground, but all the subs were wrapped. So why couldn't they just pick them up and eat them? I agree. Yeah, I agree.
the same thing at first, but then I remembered that we were implying in our blocking that we were like stomping on them. That like when they were on the ground. They got tripped on and stepped on. Yeah. Because of the whole struggle with Kevin and Angela and the purse and the stones. Yes, that was the idea. But like I said, I'm not sure we sold the moment. Exactly. As well as we could have. I want to tell you who is selling the moment. Mm-hmm.
There is a background actor behind Angela and Kevin while they're struggling with Angela's purse and the scones and all of that. He gave me life. He is so horrified by this behavior. Oh, my goodness. I wish I could see this. It's so good. Yeah.
And I was like so tickled by it. Well, Kevin's going to go through Angela's bag thinking he's going to find a baby. But what he does find is thousands of scones in Angela's bag. Thousands. All the scones, basically. Sconesy cider is not happy. Angela's the new sconesy cider.
We got mail about this scone theft. Oh, yeah? Mm-hmm. Sarah M. from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania said, I never understood why Angela took all the scones. Did she do it to sabotage the christening luncheon?
And then Susanna H. from Clermont, Florida said, hot take. I think Angela stole the scones to make Pam and Jim look even worse for having so little food. I don't think she even likes scones. Angela, what's your take? Strong words. Well, are you a saboteur? I don't think she's a saboteur.
I think she might just be that person that takes extra rolls when they leave a party or a few extra party favors. Or if you have fruit set out, she might take some of your bananas and apples.
I think she might be that person. Well, before we're done closing out this reception, there was a deleted scene I'd like to talk about that happened at the reception. It was sort of the end of the day and a lot of people had left and Jim and Pam finally got the small intimate gathering they were hoping for. And Jim gives a really sweet speech. I thought we should hear it. We can have your attention. Today, we christened our daughter Cecilia Marie.
And yeah, for a moment there I thought she was bailing on her own reception, but I guess she decided to stick it out. We named Cece after Pam's grandmother, Cecilia, and after my grandmother, Marie. And I always remember how cool Marie was. She loved people and she loved a full and crazy house and nothing ever rattled her. So she would have loved it here today. And we just hope that Cece has that same carefree spirit.
Thank you guys all for coming and sharing this special day with us. Who wants to go pick up Michael and Andy? Okay, so that's how that really sweet speech ends. And when Pam says, who wants to go pick up Michael and Andy, Erin flies out of her seat, doesn't say anything to Gabe or anyone, and sprints out the door. Wow. Yeah. But wasn't that a sweet speech? That was really sweet. And we found out sort of inspiration for the baby's name. I love that.
Well, I guess we should go to the bus because Michael and Andy are regretting their decision. It's going to take two days to get there. Their next stop is Tennessee. Yeah, Michael and Andy went off the bus. They're changing their minds. Full stop. And they asked the bus driver...
To stop the bus, the bus driver was played by Terry James. You know, Randy said that Allison Jones read stunt drivers for this role. They had to hold a certain category license because he was really hoping that the person they cast as this actor could actually drive the bus.
So our stunt coordinator, Wally Crowder, suggested Terry James. He read for the role. He did great. And he could really drive during this scene. I thought Terry did so great. I loved it when he said, you shouldn't talk to a bus driver. Yes. Well, they start making a scene. They're screaming, stop the bus! Stop!
Yes, Andy is, I mean, he's like starting to cry. And the young kids that are on the bus are like, what's going on, you guys? What's happening? Yeah, the female student was played by Erica Murr. And then the other gentleman, the kind of scraggly haired fella, we got some mail about him. And that led me down a road. Zianne from Amarillo, Texas said, my brother-in-law had a small guest spot in this episode. His name is Seth Allison.
He is the youth group kid with the scraggly hair that says, are you coming with us? And stop the dang bus. He is still in Hollywood working in comedy. In fact, he was on an episode of the gong show that Ed Helms judged. He has also been on America's Got Talent several times and traveled to other countries to be on their versions of the show. His stage name is Sethward. Angela? Angela?
Seth Word has appeared on 12 episodes of America's Got Talent over multiple seasons. Wow. Five episodes of The Gong Show. He always appears as a type of animal.
I don't know how to explain it, but he has been Sethward the Worm, Sethward the Phoenix, Sethward the Peacock, Sethward the Walrus, the Caterpillar, the Snake, the Chicken, the Cow, and the Bunny. What does he do when he's an animal? Well, it's very interesting. So, the first one that I saw was Sethward the Caterpillar. Okay. He is in a caterpillar outfit. Okay.
And when he comes out onto the stage, he falls down. He rolls off the stage. And then he goes up on the stage and he goes through a metamorphosis and turns into a butterfly. But they didn't let him finish. They judged him out. Oh. But he became sort of like an audience favorite. So he came back multiple times. Finally, they let him move forward.
But he was just a recurring... Like a recurring fan favorite of the show. Yes, of America's Got Talent coming back in different forms every time. I went down a rabbit hole. I watched all of his appearances. Is it lots of like physical comedy? Yes, yes. But also just very charming and funny. I'll have to check it out, Seth Word.
Well, they finally stop the bus and let them off. And we see that they call someone to come get them. And it is Aaron. Yes. And another student gets off the bus with them, too. That's right. He's like, don't tell my parents.
That student was played by Jeff Loveness. He's a writer-performer. He's worked on Rick and Morty, The Onion News Network, and has been a writer for the Emmys and Oscar televised programs. We got some fan mail from Alania D. in Wisconsin and Lauren H. in Santa Clarita, California, who both pointed out that he looks a lot like Steve Carell. They thought he looked like
teenage doppelganger. They wanted to know if he was related to Steve, but he's not. Oh, no, no, he's not. I can kind of see it. Well, they're going to get in with Aaron, and Michael wants to know, is the reception still going on? And she said, no, most everyone left. In fact, I think they all went to see a movie. And Michael got what he wanted. Everyone's hanging out. They're having a memory together. And he's very happy to be back in this country. Yes, the country he never left. That's right.
Well, that was christening, everybody. Thank you so much to Randy Cordray for sharing behind the scenes details with us. And thank you, James Carey, for sending me over those call sheets. Sam and Cassie, you guys are the best. Thanks for sitting through my journal entry. And Jenna, I can't wait to open letters with my letter opener. I can't wait to watch you do it. It will bring me joy. Have a great week, you guys. We'll see you next time.
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Cody Fisher. Our producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kiefer. And our associate producer is Ainsley Bubico. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For ad-free versions of Office Ladies, go to stitcherpremium.com. For a free one-month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code...
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