Office Ladies Live: Fan Mailbag
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This special episode of Office Ladies is brought to you by Hershey's Kisses. So earlier this year, we recorded our first ever live Office Ladies episode. People flew in from all over. It was so crazy. This is some of our like OG Office Ladies fans that have been with us from the very beginning. We got to meet so many of you. It was absolutely a blast and we couldn't be happier to partner with Hershey's to now bring it to you all to listen. This collaboration

is kind of perfect because later on in the episode, we are going to talk about kisses. Yeah. That's right. We dive back into the debate about a certain first kiss on the office. But first, let's talk about a different kind of kiss. Well, you know, the holidays are a time to break out your best outfits. And when it comes to candy, I'm sorry, but is there a better dressed treat than a Hershey's kiss with its sparkling festive foils?

This holiday season, you and your family will delight in decorating the house with Kisses chocolates dressed in shining red, green, silver foils. Their snowman foils are even Santa hats. The Santa hats are so cute. My mom stole my bag of Santa hat kisses. She did. Story for later. Hershey's, heartwarming the world. Learn more at www.hersheyland.com. All right. Are you guys ready? Okay. Yay!

Sam, can we get a theme song? Here we go. 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. Hi, you guys! Victoria! Goodness. Oh, my gosh.

you all for being here we know a lot of you traveled to be here we we cannot tell you how much we appreciate it tears here in the first row tears we have some tears now you're gonna make us cry yeah no yeah we don't have tissues we don't have tissues that's the one thing we didn't think of okay um so this is our very first time recording a podcast in front of a live audience yeah so amazing yeah

It might be flunky, but we'll get through it. But just seeing your faces here is just making my heart beat so fast. This is so special. You know I have to document it for Office Ladies. Oh, my God. Okay. Will you guys say hi? Hi!

So today, we are going to do our mailbag fan appreciation episode. That is why you're here. Yes. Yes. Yes.

You know, so many of you have written in over the years and have just shared your stories with us. I'm so emotional. And we just thought it would be really fun to open up our Office Ladies Mailbag with you all. And we're just so happy you're here. Yes, but first we want to introduce you to our team. Yes, our office ladies. Our senior producer, Cassie Jerkins. Cassie! And we also have...

and mixing engineer, Jordan Duffy. - Jordan! - And we're in studio engineer, Sam Kiefer. Our associate producer, Lee Babaco. - And we also have Colin and Cody there around the corner somewhere. We have a reception little party planned for after, so you'll get to meet everyone. Everyone that helps us make the show mean so much to us. Our merchandise team, Ileana who does our website, everyone here at Sirius XM that helped make this happen today.

So we thought we would kick things off with a piece of mail about our team, a particular team member. I've gotten a lot of these letters. You got a fan mail flurry about it. I got a fan mail flurry about it. This one is from Marnie W. from Dallas, baby. Is that what she wrote? Dallas, baby. Yes. Yes.

Oh, Marnie got ya. Yeah.

have known Ainsley for going on 10 years. We had the same acting coach when I was working on my book, The Actor's Life. She was one of my readers. She did the transcriptions for me. We've been friends a long time. She joined the Office Ladies team and is still doing our transcriptions. She helps us with our outlines. Okay.

Here's the thing. In all of these years of knowing her, I never had a reason to say her last name to her face. What? Because, listen, this is a Southern thing. Like, my mom's friend is Sue Dean. Her last name is Dean. We all say Sue Dean. That's her name, Sue Dean. But you don't go around saying, hi, Angela Kinsey. I don't. Hi, Jenna Fisher. Hi, Sam Kiefer. Hi. Never had occasion to do this until...

We are at a party celebrating our 100th episode of Office Ladies. Yes. We threw a fun dinner party because we love a party. And Jenna and I thought we would get up and thank our team. And that's when Ainsley was like, by the way, you've been saying my last name wrong for a lot of episodes. I was like, Ainsley, you've

to them. You've been transcribing them. Ainsley, come here. Why? Why did you wait so long to tell us? A couple of reasons. One, I'm very polite. Two, I knew that I had never said my last name to you, so you didn't know any better. And three, the show is, you know, a train that has left this station. It's already documented. So I just thought, why mess up a good thing?

Well, I'm very happy we are now pronouncing your last name correctly. But, oh, it is actually Babico. No, come on! No! Yeah, you know what? We're going to open up a lot of mail with you guys. I want to start off with something that I know you're going to love, Angela. Okay. This is a letter from Joe V. in Oregon who did an in-depth breakdown of what it costs Jim to prank Dwight. Oh.

Yes. Over the entire series. Yes, I'm always saying this. Like, how does he have the time? How does he have the money?

money. These are big pranks. Okay, he does not break down the time, but he does break down the actual cost, but he made a few caveats. So I'm going to tell you. First, he only tallied the cost of Jim's pranks played on Dwight. He does not include any pranks on Michael, Andy, Pam, Karen, Todd, Packer, Gabe, anybody. Okay, just Dwight. He also did not factor in any loss of sales commissions due to the time spent on pranking. Okay,

And he did not consider any costs that would be part of like office supplies or office expenses. Right. So like, for example, in season one, when he sets up all the pencils. Right. Pencils were free. Okay. He just raided the supply cabinet. He also did not include Jim's gutenpronks.

During Dwight's Bestest Munch Festival in the finale. Okay. Okay. All right. Finally, his prices are based on 2023 dollar value. Okay. He did not go through and like figure out the dollar value in 2005, 2006. Okay. Joe, it's okay. Okay. So then what he did was he broke it down season by season. He listed every single prank, its approximate cost, and then a total for that season, which

I want to say I was shocked at the number of pranks that cost $0. Like which ones? Like the pencil one I told you about. Oh, because of the supply cabinet. Yes. For example, in all of season one... Mm-hmm.

The total amount of money spent was only $1.39. Come on. And that was for the box of Jell-O that he put his stapler in. Okay. Every other prank from season one was using found objects and office supplies. So maybe I didn't have to be so grumpy at gym. Maybe he's not blowing his salary on pranks. Well, I don't know. You tell me. In the end, over all nine seasons, he spent $1,889.11 on pranks.

Ridiculous. What happened to like, like just like silly string? Well, that would have cost probably what? A dollar fifty. I guess it adds up. It does. It adds up. Pranking adds up is the moral to this story. The most expensive pranking season is season eight. In that season, Jim spent six hundred and thirty four dollars and twenty five cents. Wow. Do you want to know what the single most expensive prank was? Can you guess?

Is it in season eight? It's not. It's in season three. Is it all the gift wrapping when he gift wrapped the whole, when he made the fakie desk? No. I'll give you a hint. The single most expensive prank was in season three. Can you guess? Anybody out here have a guess? The power line? The cable? Nope. It was not the power line. It was when he shipped Dwight's desk to Roswell, New Mexico. Oh my gosh.

He says this was a deleted scene, but the cost of that prank would have been $500. Way to go, Joe. That is, like, amazing. Yes.

And the second most expensive was in season eight in Free Family Portrait Studio. He estimates that, you know, when he switched Dwight's suit with a tearaway Velcro suit. Yeah. He thinks that cost about $310 because he had to buy a suit. He had to have a tailor sew Velcro into it and he had to tip the dry cleaner. So there you go.

Now, if anyone would like to do a breakdown of the amount of time Jim has spent on a prank, I would love to read it. Joe, are you up for it? Yes, Joe, give us all the data. Okay, Jenna, my turn. I am going to title my section, Y'all Are So Crafty.

Because over the years, you have sent us so many things from scrunchies for our pets to cross-stitched items, drawings, personalized drinkware, jewelry, homemade stationery. That's just to name a few. I'm going to put a bunch of stuff in stories. We love to see what you guys make. We love a homemade craft.

We make homemade crafts. We do. Not as well as these crafts. That's true. But I wanted to highlight Linda C. because she got super crafty over the holidays and she made us each these little ugly Christmas sweater ornaments. And Sam and Cassie, she made you one too. Wait, wait, look. I can't even with these. I can't. Oh my gosh. Look at Phyllis' Santa. Oh my gosh.

And then little sweater. And then wait, hold, look, look. It's a cat. It's a cat. Let me see this. Oh my gosh. How cute is that? So cute. That segues me very well into something that I received for us, Angela. I'm excited to share. We each got beautiful handbags.

handmade cardigan sweaters. They are from Michelle. Michelle said, I am a huge fan and I love the podcast. I listened at home while working on my latest clothing collection. I cut and sew everything by hand with a little help from my mom.

I design my clothing to be comfortable. It's actually my only criteria, Michelle. Michelle, Michelle, who are you talking to? Michelle. Clothing. Is it comfortable? Michelle goes on to say, I know you gals are always cold. So hopefully this will keep you warm. This is good news. Plus they have pockets and they are made in Winnipeg. And I hope you like them more than a bag of ketchup chips. Michelle, I love mine so much. I'm wearing. Stop it. Stop it.

That looks like not something that a person could make. Oh, get out. Angela, here is yours. I love it. I love it. It's so comfy. The pockets are huge. You can find Michelle on Instagram at Sly Scarves. Oh, I don't know. I'm like, oh.

It's a lie. All right. Well, I want to share about Rowan. Rowan wrote in. Rowan is 16 years old and wanted to share with us that in high school, she had really bad anxiety and she would turn to the office on rough days, in particular, season four, episodes seven through 10.

And Rowan went on to say that the show feels so calming and familiar and that because she knows the show so well, it feels like revisiting a childhood memory. I thought that was really sweet. She usually listens to us while she does her homework or paints, and she wanted to say thank you for being there for her through a lot of her school years where she had anxiety. So she sent us each a nifty-gifty and...

Okay, Jenna, she sent you a crocheted cactus because she said you had a hard time keeping plants alive, but this one can never die. Thank you. And she made me a kitty cat. Oh, my God.

I know it's a podcast and the listeners can't see, but I'm going to put everything in stories. That is so cute. I'm going to put that on my desk at home. I know. I have managed to keep my one plant alive that I would put in my podcasting closet when we were podcasting during the pandemic. It's the peace lily. And I think I bought it because I saw one on the show.

And guys, it's still live one year later. That's amazing. Jenna. Thank you. We're very proud of you. Thank you so much. You know, your next challenge is an orchid. I've done an orchid, lady. You've kept one alive? Yes, because someone told me the secret. What's the secret? One ice cube once a week. Yes. And it works. And like filtered light.

Oh, I didn't get that. No. What is filtered light? Well, like, it's not like the blaring sun, but it's maybe like through the blinds kind of light. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. So that way your orchid doesn't end up like a little stick with a hair clip. You know. Well,

Well, it will do that. It will fall off, but then it will re-bloom. Have you ever had an orchid re-bloom? Yes. Same. When did it? Was it like a monumental time in your life? Because I kept putting the ice cube in once a week and it was months, months. But then all of a sudden a re-bloom. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life. No, I had an orchid that was a stick with a hair clip for years and I didn't give up on it.

And I was not super happy in my life. And then I moved and I put it in a new window and maybe it was new beginnings for me. And all of a sudden,

of a sudden it bloomed. New beginnings for the orchid. New beginnings all around. New beginnings. All right. What is next, lady? I want to talk about Catherine, who made us handmade leather journals. Do you remember I talked about Catherine and that she makes handmade leather journals? Well, she was so thrilled that she sent us each our own handmade leather journal. But I want to read you guys what she put on the envelope.

She said, attention, office ladies, care of Angela Kinsey regarding semicolon journals, male category, semicolon, threat level midnight. Jenna, your journal has a fakey flower and it's detachable so you can wear it.

Mine has a vintage cat button that she has been saving for this very moment. Also, she said, P.S., podcast idea, journal BFFs, and people read from their old journals. She said, I'll go first. Call me. That's a great idea. All right. You have a little fakey flower. Oh, this is beautiful.

Wow, this is really good work. She did say, Angela, you can write all the ridiculously stupid things you want in your journal. Oh, and there's a place for a pencil or a pen. I know, and these are all, this is her hobby. Hold on. Let me find something here, Angela, because I was going to share a little bit about journaling. You are? Yes. This is because...

Earlier this summer, I was reading The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson. You know this. This is the story of Winston Churchill's time as prime minister during World War II. And while I was reading it, I learned about something called the Mass Observation Project in England. Okay. It is a journaling club. No. Yes. Come on. Yes. And it's fascinating. It is fascinating. Listen to this. The Mass Observation Project was a social research organization that was started in 1937. Okay.

And its purpose was to record the everyday lives of British people through a panel of 500 volunteer observers and journalers. They kept diaries and they replied to open-ended questionnaires about everyday life. And then during the war, people were asked to record their feelings, their fears, their

news they heard, questions they still had, general observations about life and how it might be different from before the war. And Eric Larson used these archives from the Mass Observation Project to research his book. And he included a bunch of the passages in the book. And it is so fascinating. It is just absolutely amazing to read these quotes from people. Right.

The Mass Observation Project is still going on today. So if you wanted to start doing it, I just want to say you can go to their website. They post their prompts seasonally. And you can even go back and see all the prompts from the past. So like, for example, in winter 1982, do you know what you're going to be journaling about? And gardening. Okay. Yes. Right? Yes.

They had all these questions about what food do you buy? What food do you prepare? Do you prepare different food for a special occasion? Angela, you could describe the bagel. Yes. I would describe the bagel. You would. And then I might write about some hummingbirds.

Let me tell you about my Rufus that keeps coming by and shoving everyone else out of the way. His name is Rufus? No, it's a type of hummingbird. Oh, the Rufus hummingbird. The Rufus hummingbird. I thought you had started naming them. Have you started naming them? Do they have names? No, I call them mostly like Buddy, and then I have Little Lady, and then I need to do better with names. Okay. You don't... Do you, like, call somebody like Bluebelly? I... Mr. Fast Wings! No, I...

No. That's how I would name them. Okay. Like by their personality. I'd be like, oh, here's shy guy. Yeah. Yeah. You know? That's like how my sister names her cats. Like she has garage kitty because it showed up in her garage. Oh. Yeah. That's it. It's garage kitty. I would maybe do that. Yeah.

Well, anyway, I just found it really fascinating. You know, we've always talked about, we even talked about with Billie Eilish, the value of journaling and you read from your journal and it's always so great. But look at this. This is recording history, like journaling as a historical record. I thought it was fascinating. I absolutely love it. Anyway, everyone keep journaling. I love journaling. I love journaling. It's healthy. It's good for you.

Also, it comes back around years later. So, all right. Here's something I'm very, very excited to talk about, which is I get a lot of Star Wars mail. Uh-huh. Some of you that listen to the podcast will know why. It's because I love Star Wars. We have discussed Star Wars in depth on the show. And Jenna does not know Star Wars. And it wounded me in a way I still am not over. I'm sorry. Oh.

Listen, I know people were mad when I didn't know what a Jedi was. I know. I was asking earnest questions. Well, we got a fan mail flurry about your lack of Jedi knowledge, and I'm going to share some of it. But first, I'm going to give a shout out to someone in the audience who made us adorable mini baby Yodas. They are so cute.

Oh, my gosh. They are so adorable. Mine hangs in my office. I see it every day. Mine's on my bookshelf. Same. I love it. I didn't want to put it on the tree because I didn't want the cats to mess with it. It lives in my office. And also, I want to read a few letters from folks who have my same passion for Star Wars that Jenna does not. Here we go. This is from Brian S. Hi, all.

I'm in the middle of listening to Michael's Last Dundies and the discussion on the Jedis is making me spill my coffee all over my computer.

I think it was Sam's, quote, I'm so viscerally mad line that did it. It reminded me of Jim and Andy discussing Battlestar Galactica with Dwight listening behind them to the point where I almost thought Jenna was faking her lack of Jedi knowledge just to get a reaction. Sometimes these conversations are even better than the episode recaps. LAUGHTER

She was not faking. Brian, she is very clueless about Jedis. Robert D. wrote in and said,

But I forgot there were other people in the studio with you, specifically Sam. Sam, they call you out again. When he came on and said, I'm getting viscerally mad, I almost drove off the road. Now, I'm very excited because we got a question from Lauren, who's in the audience today. Lauren from Fort Collins. Lauren, are you here? Yay! Okay. Okay.

Lauren wrote in and said, Angela, if you were a Jedi, what color would your lightsaber be and where would you be from? Oh, Lauren. Oh, Lauren. Well, you know,

Some say that the color of your saber identifies you, right? Like Darth Vader's was red. Maybe he had some aggression, clearly. And most Jedis have blue lightsabers, which is supposed to represent righteousness. But I love Rey's storyline so much. And I love that her lightsaber at the end ends up being yellow. And I like to think it's like new dawn, new beginnings, right? See, I'm a geek. I'm a total geek for Star Wars. So...

roundabout answer, Lauren, yellow. I would like a yellow lightsaber, please. And then as far as location, you know, I'm kind of a sucker for old school, like forest moon of indoor because I want to hang out with the Ewoks. I want to go up in the trees. I want to see their village. Listen, I know on Kashyyyk, there's like a tree village thing too, but I got to go with the Ewoks. But you know, Jenna has no idea what I'm talking about. So

I will admit that I don't understand a lot of what you said. However, I have an announcement. Sam, you might want to come in here for this. What? Does Sam know about it? No. You're bringing Sam in from the booth? I'm bringing Sam in from the booth. Did you meet Mark Hamill?

What? No! Luke Skywalker! I know who Luke Skywalker is because this lady watched Swords!

So, you know, with my broken shoulder, I have to ice several times a day. Yeah. So this week, while I was icing my shoulder, I watched all of Star Wars from beginning to end without falling asleep once in 30 minute increments. You watched all the... When you say all of all the movies? My God, no. What?

I watched Star Wars colon A New Hope. Okay. Which I want you to know was very confusing for me as I was scrolling through all of them. Well, I have questions. Okay. I have questions, but I watched the whole thing. Okay. And I'll say this. Okay. Because I have questions, but I want you to know I liked it. Good. How many years have you been on this planet and you...

been throwing shade at Star Wars for years. Oh my God. I really liked it. So much so that I have started Empire Strikes Back. Come on. So good. Okay. So what are your questions? Here are my questions. I cannot believe she said she liked it. First of all, I don't believe that she liked it. I can't. First of all, you're not just saying it. I don't believe it.

to say something in my defense so the first 23 minutes of the movie because i looked has no human protagonists you meet princess leia for a hot second right and then everybody is in a costume that covers their face or they're a robot or they're a an r2 and they're in the sand yeah

And it's like, it takes a long time to meet Luke Skywalker. It takes a while. So I will say this. I was attached to R2-D2 immediately. Like when they were going to maybe not buy him when they bought C-3PO, my heart was racing. I was like, don't leave him behind. I know. He's very cute. So I went.

I was able to hook in, but in my childhood, I never made it to Luke Skywalker. You never made it 23 minutes? I didn't make it 23 minutes. Too many robots. Because I remember I had memories of the sand and all of that. And then I had no memories until the trash compactor. I think I woke up because I remembered from the trash compactor to the end. Okay. The middle part is great. The movie? Yeah. Okay.

But here are a few of my questions. Okay. I don't understand Darth Vader's position in the hierarchy. In the hierarchy. Because there seems to be a different guy that's in charge. And I don't understand who the ruler is. Or the general. The guy who's calling all this shit. The one who blows up the planet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I know. Yeah. I know. Spoiler. That's the Death Star, lady. I know. You're expecting us to react more. It's just that we've seen it. Yeah. I know this is new. I know. I know this is new to you. Yeah, he does. He blows up the planet. Yeah. We're like, yeah. Crazy. He's a bad guy. Yeah. Yeah. That's wild. So one of my questions is, why do they wear the white outfits? The stormtroopers? Mm-hmm. Why? Why?

Easy visibility, I guess. This is not the question I saw coming from you. Well, it's not armor because you can shoot right through it very easily. It seems cumbersome. They seem to move more slowly because of it. They're less agile. It didn't make sense to me. I didn't understand why they forced their army to wear these outfits. Also, clearly, there's a height requirement because everyone is exactly the same size. George Lucas, are you listening?

It visually is very cool. It didn't make logical sense to me. I didn't understand. You're going to have to let go of logic. Yeah. You're going to have to keep watching until they get to the Clone Wars, which is a whole other movies about the stormtroopers and why they're the same height. Oh, well, that will be explained to me eventually if I keep going. By the way, you watch really closely. You're going to hate it. Yeah. I guarantee it.

If you watch really closely, I think it's in Empire Strike Back. My friend and I would like watch it and rewind, watch it and rewind. One of the stormtroopers is just a little bit taller than everybody else and they're all marching through the tunnel and he hits his head and he goes all the way back and comes back like a rubber band. Oh, because he was a little bit too tall for the tunnel. Yeah. Background catch. I have a background catch from Star Wars and I wonder if any of you noticed. What?

One of the guys, one of the leaders of the rebels. That's the term. Yes. Is explaining the information that they have gotten from the R2. Right, where to shoot the Death Star in the middle. That's right. He says, Princess Leia.

Calls her Princess Leah. He doesn't call her Leah. Oh. They left that in. Yeah. Rude. He got her name wrong. Flub. Flub. Well, there you have it, guys. Well, I'm honored. I'm honored that you watched it. You thought of me. Yeah. I can't believe it, Sam. I'm in the middle of Empire Strikes Back. He just fought off the wormy creature and he's looking for Yoda. Yeah.

Yeah. It'll soon be clearer. Sam, we need to discuss. I feel like we need to download. All right. I can't believe you like it. It's going to take me a minute. I don't. Wait, wait, wait. We've been friends for how many years? How many years have we been friends? I don't know. 20 years.

I don't love it, lady. But you like it. I like it. You're going to get Star Wars merch. Enough. I don't want any merch. Get ready. Don't buy me Star Wars. I have the cutest Star Wars pajama bottoms. Oh, boy. I don't know. I got them at Target a few years ago. I don't know if they still make them, but get ready for Star Wars pajamas. I don't want to wear it.

I don't want to wear it. Twinning. But I might this Halloween. What? What? I might go as Princess Leia. Yes. No. In the outfit at the end of the movie when she's putting the medals on them. Oh, that's a great. A white outfit with a braid and a necklace. There is a chance someone might mistake you for a bride.

It's kind of Bridey vibe. I'm sorry. If you know the movie, you won't mistake me. Oh, shade. Now there's Star Wars shade. Okay. All right. Well, I think we should take a break because when we come back, we have an audience question from Charles. This holiday season, Hershey's is warming hearts and melting boundaries to create a better, sweeter world.

You know that traditional holiday cookie. It can be a little bit boring, but the ones with Hershey Kisses on top are sure to be a huge hit. Oh, Angela, you know all about this. You know I do. You guys, my husband Josh made the cutest cookies. So here's the recipe. He did a gingerbread cookie, right, with a little bit of spice in it.

And then in the middle, he put the Hershey's Kiss candy cane. That's the one that's the white with the little red swirl. Yes. It's my favorite. That one is my favorite. I will bring some of these cookies in for you guys. And then everyone out there listening, I will put the recipe in our stories. It's so festive and cute. You're going to love it. And delicious. Well, Josh is baking with kisses. I decorate with kisses because all the wrappers are so cute. You know, like they have the one with the little snowman. And remember earlier,

Earlier when I said that my mom stole my Santa hat kisses. Yeah. So the folks at Hershey's sent both of us these amazing gift baskets full of kisses. And I had it in my kitchen. My mom came to visit me and she goes, where did you get this bag of Santa hats? My store was out of Santa hat kisses. I need these. I need these for my elf. Let me explain. She has this elf candy dispenser and she likes the Santa hat kisses for it. It's a tradition.

So she asked if she could have some. And I said, of course, sure. And then, Angela, I'm not kidding you. She took the entire bag and put it in her purse. She stole my bag of Santa hats. I just love that she put them in her purse. She did. These are going home with me. It was a huge bag. Well, you know, we took all of our Hershey Kisses out of our basket and our cat Oreo took over the basket. So I got to keep the kisses, but she stole the basket.

if you want to decorate with kisses or if you want to bake with them, check out Hershey's website. They also have a recipe on there for this adorable melting snowman cookie using the kisses. Hershey's, heartwarming the world. Learn more at www.hersheyland.com. Well, we are back. And like Angela said, we have a question from Charles in our audience. Charles, I loved this question. Yeah. Where are you? You are home!

All right, Charles asked, which one-off character or guest star do you wish had a longer story arc, and what do you imagine that arc might be? Such a good question. This is who came to mind to me immediately. Okay. Michael's improv teacher, Chris. Yes! He was played by Michael Naughton. I just, I would have loved to have seen more of the improv class, but then I thought, what if, in order to try to manage Michael in the improv class...

Chris was started reaching out to Dunder Mifflin employees to learn more about Michael. Just if he invited Jim to lunch. Yeah. What might they talk about? I don't know. I would love to see that lunch. But there was another one, too. Another storyline that never went anywhere that I just wanted to see more of was Pam's administrative mentor, Sue.

over in Vance Refrigeration, the one that Phyllis hated. Yeah, Phyllis doesn't like her outfit. I wanted to see more of Pam and Sue. I wanted to see Phyllis sabotage this relationship. I don't know. I would have loved to have seen that. I love that. Okay, well, here's what I thought, Charles.

Okay, do you guys remember in season six, it's St. Patrick's Day and everyone is staying late because Joe is there and Michael's like feeling like, I can't let everyone leave. And they're there so late that the cleaning crew comes in with like music blaring. Yes. And then they're like, oh, sorry, sorry.

I want to know more about this cleaning crew. I'm like, is there any footage of them? Did the documentary crew capture them? I want to know more about what they do after hours. Yes. Or like when Dwight would sleep on the couch, did they clean around him? Exactly. Exactly. And then...

Also, you know, we recently watched trivia in season eight. I am obsessed with the receptionist at Sabre. Same. Stephanie. Like everything she says when she's like, that must be so frustrating for you. Yes. Everything. I want to know more about her. Maybe she has a gym. Maybe she has like this love in her office. Yes.

But with sidebar kind of snarky comments. I don't know. I like all of it. I want to see those folks. Charles, we want to know if you have an answer to your question. Thank you for having me. I kind of want to know what happened to Kevin McHale's character after he was kidnapped. Yes. Did they refuse to ever deliver pizza to us again? Yeah. Yes. How does he tell that story to others? Yeah.

Yes. Mm-hmm. That's a good one. That's a good one. I like it. Thank you so much.

One of the things I loved about that question, too, is it just really made me think about all of the characters that just had one-offs over the course of the nine seasons. And there are so many rich, amazing day players that came on the show. I did also think of Maura Tierney as Mrs. California. Yeah. And how much I would have loved for them to have maybe, I don't know, what if Mrs. California and Andy started dating? Right? Right.

No, no, no, no. She says. I know. In the parking lot. I know. She throws out the possibility. No, I don't see it. I don't see it. But I would have loved to seen more of Mrs. California. Yes. So I would love to give a shout out to everyone that sends us invitations to their weddings. Yes.

We get so many. I open every single one. You know, we divide up the mail, but we go through it all. I had a stack of wedding invitations. My son came in my office and said, are we invited to all of those weddings? Because I think he thinks, oh, I have to wear a suit. You know what I mean? We do divide up the mail. And I want you to know that I always make sure that Angela gets all the wax seals. I'm very excited about that. I love a wax seal. And then

I also love all the little details. I'm going to share two really quickly. I just appreciate so much the thought that people put into their invites. So Scott and Victoria in Arroyo Grande, California, they did a Polaroid, but they made it a magnet.

date. That's so cute. I really love a magnet as a save the date. Me too, because you're not going to miss it. No. Yeah. And you get a photo of people you care about. And then this I thought was so cute. This envelope says with love from the future Fritz's.

Please show the wax seal. Did I say? Did I say? Sorry. Yes. Wax seal. Oh, applause for wax seal. I love it. I love it. So this is Katie and Jared, and they're the future Fritzes. And they have a few items here, but it's all paper clipped with a little letter F. That is so cute. Isn't that

These are things I get excited about, you guys. I don't know what it says about where I'm at in life, but you send me a paperclip in the shape of your last name, I'm going to get excited. And oh my goodness, this is something that I really want to share. So we also, obviously, we get a lot of invitations to baby showers and graduations. So many young people graduated this year from high school and college and sent us their graduation invitations. And

And I want to share a letter we received from Spencer in Bellingham, Washington.

She wrote to us and said that we really helped her get through college. She just received her BA in early childhood development. And she went on to say that during the pandemic, she took up running and she would listen to the podcast as she ran. But unfortunately, in 2022, she got long COVID and ultimately had to have surgery on a blockage in her femoral artery. And during that time, she couldn't listen to the podcast.

But now she is post-surgery and she can walk again. And she said it's so motivating, even when it's really painful as she regains her muscles, that she gets to hear our voices again.

And that just meant so much to me, you know, just knowing that we're there for her. And Spencer, if you hear this and you're listening to us right now as you're on a walk, I just want you to know I'm thinking of you. Oh, that means so much to me, too. You know, Spencer, in my own way, I can relate a little bit. Back in April, I broke my shoulder, which I am still rehabbing. I've got tape on it today. It's going to be about a year, they said, before I'll have a fully functioning shoulder. Yeah.

And so I just know what it is like to have to fight just to have an ordinary day with nothing extra in it. And also how the triumph that it is to be able to go on that first walk post long COVID, post surgery. And so I just want to say to you, Spencer, keep fighting, right?

I'm over here fighting my fight. I know there's a lot of other people out there doing their thing to fight their fight. We all have something, right? Right.

But we're just going to stay in it. We're going to stay in it together. And if this podcast gives you any relief, that brings me so much joy because doing this podcast gives me relief. Aw, lady. Thank you. I love you. I love you. Love you guys.

You know, as my dad would say, I just sit in gratitude a lot. You know, I'm very thankful for our friendship and that we get to do this. Now, I do want to share also about couples that listen to our podcast in their courtship. It means so much to me. I just think it's so adorable. And a lot of you write in about it, especially when you send your wedding invitations and save the dates. And I got one also, Jenna, about our audio book.

So, Josh and Jenny wrote in from Madison, Wisconsin. They are getting married this summer. And they said, Jenna and Angela, we listen to your podcast on every long drive we make. And we loved your audio book. Thanks for keeping us sane and laughing. And I don't know Jenny and Josh, but I pictured the two of them in their car on a long commute. And you and I are just like, blah, blah, blah.

I actually, when I was going through a mailbag, I got a lot of letters from people who had never watched The Office until after they read our book.

Yeah. So do you remember when we did the Sharon Says So book club? Yeah, yeah. We did a Zoom. Yes, yes. With all the members of her book club. Well, there were several people in that book club who have never watched The Office. And we got letters and they said, I'm glad I read your book because then I started watching The Office. And then I realized you had a podcast. But who could have imagined that the book would be the way in? I know. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Now they've gotten like nine.

seasons of entertainment. I can't even believe that. That's crazy. Yeah. Speaking of books, you know, lady, for a long time, we have talked about starting a book club. I might have our very first book. Okay. You told me that you were going to do this. So I want you to know, I don't know what her book is. Yeah. I also have a book. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. Well, there's no way you can guess my book. There's no way. You're never guessing my book. Well, you're not guessing my book. Okay. Okay. Okay.

So my book was sent to me from Mary W. Okay. She said, Dear Angela, I work at a library and when I first saw this title, I immediately thought of you. You got to look at the title of this book. Here it is. I'm very intrigued. To trot. Not to trot. No. Yep. Mary goes on to say, maybe it will inspire plot for mom detectives.

Which she's very much looking forward to, and I'll tell you why. Mary, I cannot wait to read this book. Hot to Trot is part of a mystery series. No, it is not. By MC Beaton. Here's a summary for Hot to Trot, which, by the way, has a little mystery spyglass thingy on the front, and it says, Queen of the Village Mystery. Oh.

Here we go. Private detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Freyth is accused of murder. And Agatha is named as his accomplice.

a high society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leaving Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion's tail. Agatha must uncover the truth before a net of skullduggery.

Clothes is around them. And if events weren't complicated enough, Agatha's ex-husband, James Lacey, is back in Carsley and back in Agatha's heart. Wow. Hot to trot. I was going to ask you if the hot to trot meant angry or if it meant...

You know, the other thing, how I know it to mean, but it clearly is in relation to the horses. Well, well, Hot to Trot is about this glitzy world of show jumping. Yes. But it's also about James Lacey being back in her heart. She's hot to trot. Yes. Can I share my book with you? Yes. Okay. This was a tip sent in by Leah W. after our interview with BJ Novak. Okay. Okay.

Mr. Maybe. Oh, you don't want to be a Mr. Maybe. Yeah, because in our interview, I said, I don't want a Mr. Maybe. You did. Well, there's a book called Mr. Maybe. I bought it out back in like 1999, early 2000s. And the plot is a little dated. Okay, so here's what it says. I have to type it out because I can't read the back.

It says our main character is Libby Mason. Okay. And it says to Libby Mason, Mr. Wright has always meant Mr. Rich. Oh. Yes. So here's the thing. Libby is dating a sexy, struggling writer named Nick, but she won't commit to him because he's not wealthy. But then she meets Ed, who is, quote, Britain's wealthiest but stodgiest bachelor. Oh, stodgiest.

Stodgy. Mm-hmm. Libby soon finds herself weighing the advantages of Nick's sexual prowess and tender heart against... Sexual prowess? Yes. Against Ed's luxurious lifestyle and unlimited retail therapy. Mm-hmm.

So Libby's trying to decide between these two guys. Oh my God, Libby, Libby, Libby. Libby, I just have to say, sexy, tenderhearted, this is not a hard decision. You're going with sexy, tenderhearted. Yeah. Okay? Yeah. So that's why I say this is kind of dated. Ladies, I don't feel like this is our struggle today. We're not, we're all picking sexy, tenderhearted. I think, right? This reminded me though of that. Of course.

Of course we are. I would say

would say yes I can't speak for everybody well I don't know someone might want stodgy with benefits I don't know dodgy and an unlimited bank I mean they make poor Ed sound horrible in the back cover I mean maybe he has other qualities maybe he's handsome but they didn't say I don't know this did remind me of that quote from Cher that I love I love this quote I love it you know it when her mom told her to settle down and marry a rich man and Cher said mom I am a rich man

That's right, Cher. You tell us. All right. And now for my bird people, I have a fellow hummingbird fan in the audience who made me a hat to feed hummingbirds. Made you? Made me a hat. Michelle, I'm going to need you to stand up. All right. I'm going to take a picture of you. Michelle, please come.

Michelle, I have some questions for you about this hummingbird hat. First of all, does this hummingbird hat work? Will they come?

Yes. You have video proof of this from my Instagram. Yes, we'll have to share. You've used it. It's a straw hat. She's put flowers on it and the little hummingbird thingy pods. I put some sugar water in it. Put some sugar water in it. How still and how long did you have to sit before your first hummingbird came? It depends. You have to sit very still. And the first couple times they came because they flutter up to you. I jerked away, but you get used to them coming so close. Okay. Oh, my God. I can't wait. Oh.

Also, any tips in wearing the hummingbird hat that you've learned with your experience? The only thing I do is remove all the other feeders, like take away the other food sources so that you are the only food site, the food store. You can double it with the shield because you have a shield, don't you? I do. I also, I got a shield for my birthday. A what? Josh got me. In fact, I opened Michelle's hummingbird hat first.

And he was like, dang it, Michelle. Because he got me. It's like, I don't know, Michelle, how do you describe it? It looks like a shield. You know those COVID face mask things? Yeah. We have one and I upcycled it into a DIY hummingbird feeder. But they basically come up to your face and feed off your face and it's amazing. Oh, wow. Yes. Okay. The shield covers your face like you're a welder. Yes. But you're not. You have little hummingbird pods on your face.

It's not weird. I have a question. Okay. Would you like want to wear sunglasses or something because it would like further trick them because they can't see your eyes? I don't know why. Do you think hummingbirds are going to look me directly in the eye? I don't know because their eyes are so little. But they like as a predator, like if they think you're like, if you sit really still with your hat and your shield and your eyes behind sunglasses, they're

Michelle, when I started wearing this cool hat, I would wear sunglasses because I was afraid they were going to like poke my eyes out. They never did. Don't worry. No, I don't. Okay. I was seeing it as like a way to make them feel safe, not as like for your safety. I've heard they can recognize faces. I don't know if that's true, but they get used to you. So they'll be endeared to you. Okay. I can't wait. Thank you, Michelle. Yay. Yay.

Angela, would this be a good time for me to share about some mail that we received over the Jim and Pam's first kiss controversy? Yes. We are still getting mail about this. Yes. Was it the Dundies? Was it casino night? I know my feeling. I know.

And I know that you tried to prove your point that it happened at the Dundies because in the show, Michael's Last Dundies, you found some new dialogue in the script. I'm going to reshare it to refresh our memory. You shared that there was a scripted line that got cut out, but Michael was going to describe the Dundies this way. Quote, it's a magical night, D'Angelo, and not just because we recognize fellow employees, but because we're going to have a great time.

People fall in love. Pam and Jim had their first kiss there. And then the script said, Pam and Jim look at each other and smile a little. That's true. Well, in that podcast, you kind of convinced me because I've been saying that it was casino night.

Paul B. in Minnesota. Paul is the pastor at Minnesota United Methodist Church. He wrote in, and he had this to say. Pastor Paul wrote in, y'all. Yes. Love the pod. Y'all are the best. I'm writing to say that despite what the script appears to say, I am still firmly in the camp that Jim and Pam's first kiss was not at the Dundies. Pastor Paul! Yes. Yes.

Michael says, I appreciate y'all. Said y'all. I appreciate y'all sticking to the script since everything has to be consistent. But the script doesn't say that their first kiss was at the Dundies. It says Michael Scott says their first kiss was at the Dundies. And of course he would say that because he wants matchmaker cred.

This is his evidence of the magic that is the Dundies. So this is Michael's perception of what happened. Because he's trying to brag about the Dundies. Paul goes on to say, yes, the script says that Jim and Pam look at each other and smile. But I think it could be because Jim and Pam have an ongoing debate about the kiss as well. Pastor Paul has thought a lot about this. Yes. Yes.

Pastor Paul says, perhaps Jim, like John, thinks it was their first kiss. But Pam, like Jenna, believes that it was casino night. And then Paul says, be strong, Jenna, be strong. Don't let Angela corrupt your thinking.

We also got a letter from Gabrielle S. She's a school teacher in Alabama who said this. As I have listened to every episode of the podcast, I have been following the back and forth discussion about when Jim and Pam had their first kiss. And I was very surprised to hear Jenna concede that it might not be casino night. Then Gabrielle says this. So I'm eating an English muffin this morning. Oh.

Is this my journal? While watching Goodbye Toby Part 1, and Jim shared with Michael when he and Pam had their first kiss. It is at 14 minutes and 28 seconds, and he says, the first time we kissed was right outside, thus making it clear that even Jim believes their first kiss was casino night. Jenna, you should have stood your ground. Oh, God.

So I went back, I rewatched it, and in the scene, Jim is trying to explain to Michael how he should slow play things with Holly. Uh-huh. And he's explaining the history of his relationship with Pam. Okay. Here is the clip from Goodbye Toby Part 1 that Gabrielle is referring to. Let's hear it. Here, Michael, you can court her as you get to know her, you know? I mean, the office is a great place for that. Pam and I, we got to know each other right out there. I mean...

First time we joked around was at my desk. And the first meal we ever had was in the break room, actually. We were at two separate tables, and I remember that. First time we kissed, even, was right outside. And look, all I'm saying is that you can get to know someone really, really well, like I did, right here at work. Right here. At work. Right there. Not at Chili's. No. Case closed. I'm sorry. Case closed. Case closed.

what? What? All right. Okay. Okay. To make it official, to make it official, let's do a poll. Show of hands. Who thinks their first kiss? You have all the evidence now. I'm not trying. Oh, lights up. Lights up. We're going to see how you vote. Who thinks their first kiss was Casino Night? Who thinks it was Dundee's? Yes. My back row. There are still Dundee's holdouts. Yes.

I mean, I have three in the back row and front row. Oh, my gosh. I have multiple people here. But most people agree with me and with logic and reason and evidence. I just want to say something to you and Pastor Paul for one second. Pastor Paul, first of all, I want to come to one of your sermons because I feel like you really peel back the layers. But here's what I want to say.

If we're going to have this debate and really have a true, honest debate about this, then I need to know what Jim and Pam think is a kiss. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, back row. You need to define a kiss. Yeah, define a kiss. Because I saw two lips lock. I know, but lips can touch other lips. Excuse me? Also, by the way, it wasn't a full lip. It wasn't full lip to full lip. It was Pam...

Pushing her lips to like the side of Jim's lip. I'm going to need a screen grab. I'll get it for you. Okay. And you'll see that I'm right. Okay. And Jim doesn't even pucker. That's not a kiss. That's not a kiss. A kiss is like, a kiss is casino night and we all know it. And it's why our hearts melted. Fine. Yes. That was, I would say a technical open mouth kiss. We're going to get technical. Okay.

But lips touched, lady. Lips touched. There was lip touching. Lips touching is not a kiss. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe that we have not settled this. We will never settle it. Well, I'm never changing again. I'm holding strong for Casino Night. And that is totally fine. But I will always be in the camp. Thank you, Gabrielle and Paul, for bringing me back to my senses. Pastor Paul, Gabrielle. All right. We can move on. Thank you to my back row and my handful of people over here who witnessed lips touch lips.

All right. Danielle from Somerville, Massachusetts wrote in because Jenna, she loves our deep dives. And in particular, she was very excited to hear about the Somerville's Fluff Festival. Oh, yeah. Because she has been there. Okay. And she even brought us t-shirts from the Fluff Festival. Here they are. I love this. I remember this. I had never heard of this. This.

Fluffernutter. Yes, I said, have you had a fluffernutter? And Jenna snickered like I'd said a dirty word. I'd never heard of this thing. No. I made you a fluffernutter. What's on it? It's peanut butter and fluff. Like, you know, marshmallow fluff. And I got gluten-free bread. It's very tiny. It smells good. Butter and fluff. There's nothing else in it. You don't want to buy it? No, I'm going to eat it. Are you nervous about it?

Have you all ever had one of these? Yes. And they're good? They're delicious. Okay. All right. I wanted to eat it for breakfast. I almost did. Oh, my gosh. I don't want this to become another Star Wars, but... You don't like... Oh, my gosh. It's two sticky things. You know what I mean? It's like I can barely even talk. All of the saliva has been sucked out of my mouth.

This is why jelly is important. Because it smooths out the peanut butter. I mean, I'm still eating it, though. I don't know. It's tasty. Or do you feel compelled to keep eating it? You don't have to keep eating it. But that's a fluffernutter. Okay. I've now had a fluffernutter. See? I've watched a fluffernutter this week. Yay. Yay.

Where will it end? All right, Angela. Okay. I have some beverages to share with you. Okay? Okay. Can I have a little bit of the fluffernutter? Yeah.

Here's the fluffernutter. You can have as much of it as you want. Okay. Thank you for making it. I'm glad I've tried it. This is clearly my year of doing things for the first time. That is so good. Okay, here are some beverages. First off, Michael M. sent us Sunny Cat Beer. You know my cat's name is Sunny. It's an orange cat. He found this in St. Louis, Missouri. Look at this. In St. Louis? Sunny Cat Beer.

is so cute. Yeah, I read about it. They had a cat who passed away and this is in honor of their cat, Sunshine. Sunny Cat Beer is a New England style pale ale with tangerine peels. Oh. Right? So there's that. Fancy beer. And then also, get this, Carrie M sent us Cafe Disco Beer. Oh,

So cute. Let me see. That is so fun. It's from the Stellwagen Brewery in Massachusetts. Oh, we need to send a picture to Warren and Halstead. They wrote that episode. Is that cute? All right. I'm a sucker for packaging. Carrie M did say maybe don't drink that beer because it might be really old. Carrie had a hard time finding our address. So, oh, no, you are not going to drink it.

I was that person in college, guys. It's stout. I don't hate it, though. Okay, well, here's Sunny Cat Beer. Do you want to try Sunny Cat Beer? Okay, it's real foamy. It's real foamy. What's the thing where you do the grease off your nose and put it on the foam? Have you guys ever heard about that? I'm showing my true colors. This, this, what? You know, it's kind of like a Guinness. I don't mind Cafe Disco. I think it's turned. No, it hasn't turned.

That's tangy. I don't mind Sunny Cat. You'll like it better. This just tastes like a Guinness. Oh, yeah. The Sunny Cat beer has like... I taste the tangerine. I do. That's a good beer. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. I did not get beer, but I have a great coffee hookup for us all. Mary Telly, the founder and CEO of the Electric City Roasting Company...

of boom roasted coffee. Woohoo! Yes. Yes. Well, you remember because I did a deep dive. It all started when I was deep diving Andy's mug from the seminar. And then that led me to the Zumos Cafe, which then led me to the Electric City Roasting Company. I got a letter from Anna S., who heard that episode, who lives in Scranton. Anna went to Zumos Cafe. Anna sent us both mugs from Zumos. Oh,

I love it. I know. We heart scream. Well, speaking of all of this food and beverages, I think we should wrap this up because we have a little party planned for everyone that came today. You know I love a party. I was the head of the PPC and in real life I am. We have a really fun reception planned with food and beverages and little gift bags. Yes, we have nifty gifties for everyone.

Everyone here is going to get an Office Ladies book bag filled with goodies. There's really fun stuff in there, including the Boom Roasted Coffee and more from some really wonderful companies that contributed to the bag. Yeah. You're going to get a backpack full of stuff. Yes. And so we just want to say thank you so much for listening out there. Thanks for sending in your letters. Thank you to the entire staff who put together this live recording. Yeah, of our podcast. Yes. Thank you.

And just thank you guys so much for being here today. We know you traveled from far places and you made a trip out of it and it just means so much to us. And you have been part of our journey for so long. And let's go have a party together. Let's party! Yay! Yay! Woo! Woo!

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 in-studio engineer is Sam Kiefer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy. And our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbico. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

Well, there you have it. Our first live episode of Office Ladies. It was so special. The energy in that room, it was so positive and it was so fun. I loved it. I loved it. I loved getting to meet everyone. I loved our little reception party afterwards and everything.

I want to do another one. I'd be up for that. And we also want to say a big thank you to Hershey's Kisses for sponsoring this special episode. With Hershey's Kisses chocolates, you and your family can unwrap presents all month long, making little moments together feel special. These little candies pack a big chocolate taste. Hershey's heartwarming the world. Learn more at www.hersheyland.com.