Office Ladies - The Duel
Episode Date: August 18, 2021This week we’re breaking down The Duel! When Michael tells Andy that Angela and Dwight are having an affair, Andy and Dwight challenge each other to a duel for Angela’s hand! Jenna does a deep div...e on duels, Office writer Ryan Koh calls in to share a behind-the-scenes racing accident, and Angela breaks down all the fakey items used to create the duel scene. There’s also talk of a casting sheet filled with cat headshots! And Jenna may have worn something in real life that Meredith wore in this episode… So enjoy The Duel! And remember, always keep an eye out for a Prius slowly trying to crush you.
Transcript
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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.
It's The Duel. I mean, two men are gonna fight over me today. Me, aka Angela Martin.
I have to say, like Andy's Prius, this episode sneaked up on me. But in a great way. Oh my gosh,
hidden gem. It's so good. It's one of my favorite episodes. I loved watching it. I loved filming
it. And I'm excited to talk about it today. Well, it is season 5, episode 12, written by
Jen Salada and directed by Dean Holland. Here's your summary. Michael takes it upon himself
to expose Angela and Dwight's affair to Andy. The two men then challenge one another to a duel
in the parking lot. Meanwhile, Michael is summoned to corporate to speak with David Wallace. He thinks
it's gonna be bad news, but he gets some unexpected praise. Oh, those scenes. We'll get to it. But man,
those are good too. Fast fact number one, this episode was written by the always amazing Jen
Salada. Applause for Jen. Oh, Jen. Jen, so many good lines in this. I reached out to Jen and she
sent in an audio clip explaining the inspiration behind this episode. Let's hear it. My biggest
memory about writing The Duel was how little I had when I was sent off to write the script. It was
mid-season five. It was a really busy patch for the writers, for all of us. And I remember this
episode had to be written really, really quickly. And I knew it was about Andy finding out about
Angela and Dwight's affair. But where we'd usually spend time as a group fleshing out the story,
I went off on the script with a sentence. Andy runs over Dwight and his Prius, keeping it under
five miles an hour so Dwight doesn't hear him coming. I mean, it was a good sentence, but there
was a lot to fill in. That was it. She had a sentence. And she crafted this amazing story.
Yes. Why Andy was going to run over Dwight slowly with a Prius? She didn't know. She just knew that
was going to happen in the episode and this is what she came up with. She had to build to that
moment. Because usually they would get whole outlines. They would have an A plot, a B plot,
all of it. No. Amazing. Jen Solana again. Amazing. That was Jen. Amazing.
Fast fact number two. This episode was directed by Dean Holland. Dean was our other editor alongside
Dave Rogers. We love Dean. Yes. We love Dean and he knew the show so well, much like Dave. They
knew every moment. Oh yeah. Dean told me that he had directed something for MTV, but that this was
his first time directing an episode of television. He was so nervous that he threw up in the bathroom
at crew call. When he texted me that I was like, are you joking? He said, no, I'm being serious.
I vomited in the bathroom. He said that it was really daunting because he had come from editing
and he hadn't spent a lot of time on set. You know, editor's life is very isolating. They're
just in their editing room. And while we would pop over and say, hello, it's very different than
how a set works. And he said he felt a little bit like a stranger in a strange land. Those were his
words. But he also said he'd consulted a little bit with Paul Feig, but more than anything,
he did a ton of prep work for this episode. He said he knew the script inside and out and listened
to this. He said it changed very little from our table read. So that was good because he had been
prepping and prepping on that table read draft. And a lot of times, you know, after the table read,
they'll come back and whole scenes are gone and new plots. But no, he said he was really happy
that not a lot changed. But I think again, Jen Salada clearly nailed this one from the beginning.
She nailed it. So here's a little secret that Randy Cordray told me, Angela. You know, he's our
line producer and he's in charge of setting the schedule for the directors. Yeah. So he must
have known when Dean was directing. He manipulated the schedule so that Dean would get this episode
because when he read it, he thought Dean would be perfect to direct it. Oh my gosh, Randy,
look at you working it. Yeah. He said he really wanted Dean to get this one for his
directorial debut. I mean, what a gift. Wow. Well, this was a really big episode, you know,
for the whole love triangle. The Dwight, Andy, Angela was all coming to a head and I was nervous
actually about this episode. I just knew that I wanted to play these moments, right? And that was
a tricky kind of scenario, Jenna, because like Angela is worried about both of them and feeling
guilt. But also, I don't know, is she turned on? I don't know. It's a lot happening. And I felt
very safe knowing Dean was directing me this week because like we knew him. You know what I mean?
Yes. And I could go up to him and be like, Dean, did I do that right? What do you think? Should
I try something else? So I felt very happy to have Dean there for the duel. Well, shortly after
this, he went over to do Parks and Rec. He was the editor over there. Yeah. He directed a bunch
of episodes there. But then years later, I got to be reunited with him because he was the executive
producer and director of my show over at ABC, splitting up together. Yes. And then I got to come
and do a guest spot on your show. And I got to see Dean and our sound department. It was like a
mini office reunion. I loved that day. It was a fun day. It was. All right. Fast fact number three,
the history of dueling. What? Oh, no. What is your search history on your computer? Oh, no.
First of all, I would just like to say I am not a historian. I'm just a lady with Google. You're
just a delightful lady that loves to Google. That's right. But I did read about four to five
what seemed like reputable websites on the subject of dueling. Okay. And here is what I have pulled
together. Okay. Dueling seems to have originated in medieval Europe. Nobles would defend their
honor in man to man battles. Well, listen, if you watch Outlander, you know that's true.
I don't. Come on. Come on, Sasanek. Come on. Well, in 1777, a group of Irishmen codified the
dueling practices. They wrote a document of rules and listened to what they called it. They called
it Code Duelo. Code Duelo. I'm pretty sure that's the type of dessert you can get. I'll have the
Code Duelo, thanks. I love the lemon flavor. It consisted of 26 very specific rules outlining
all aspects of the duel, including the time of day during which challenges could be received,
the number of shots or wounds required in order to win. I feel like Dwight would have known these
26 rules of dueling because he had the 40 rules all shrewt boys have to learn before their five.
He loves rules. I feel like Dwight knows about these dueling rules. He must. Right? He suggested
the duel. Oh, I'm sure he knew. I'm sure that some of these rules have made their way into the shrewt
life. Into the shrewt 40 rules? Yes. The first recorded duel in America took place in 1621
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Okay. And then America created their own set of dueling rules.
Oh. They were written by South Carolina Governor John Wilson in 1838. So in a typical American duel,
each party has to act through a second. I know this from the musical Hamilton, everyone. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Oh, like you have your partner that goes with you. Yes. You have a second. That's
right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And don't you get to bring like a medic, like a doctor? Oh, that's an
outlander. Never mind. Jamie would bring Sasanac with him. Okay. Never mind. Go. I don't know about
that. Okay. I only read four to five websites. Okay. If we have a historian, perhaps they would
know. You should watch Outlander, but don't watch it with your children around. Okay. So listen,
if a man felt like his honor had been insulted, he would tell his second to challenge the offender
to a duel. You do not do it yourself. You send your second. The main duty of the second is to try
to create a reconciliation, to avoid violence. Oh, so that person's like the mediator. Yeah,
I mean, they're literally doing what all therapists tell us not to do, which is to triangulate
communication in order to, you know, solve conflicts, but whatever, this is dueling.
I'm the second in my family. I'm often the person sent in to smooth over the other stuff.
I think a lot of people have that position in their family. I get it. But if the second goes
and said, hey, my guy is offended by you and wants to duel, and the person says, great,
we're dueling, the recipient of the duel challenge gets to pick the weapons and the time
and the place of the duel. So for example, James Shields and Illinois Attorney General
challenged future President Abraham Lincoln to a duel. Oh my gosh. Lincoln accepted the duel
and he chose the broad sword as their weapon. James Shields was like, what the F? That's insane.
Never mind. Forget it. And he called off the duel. So like bold move by Lincoln,
Lincoln's like, I'll show up and I'm bringing my sword to the duel. Do you want it?
Lincoln was like, I'm tall and I'm a swordsman. Yeah. James Shields was like, never mind.
You know what? I'm good. You know what? I thought about it and I'm okay.
Here's one. This one really got me. I guess Andrew Jackson was very famous for dueling.
Lots of duels this guy. Experts placed his number of duels maybe as many as 100. 100.
Was Andrew just pissing everyone off? He was just pissing everyone off. Everyone wanted to fight him.
His most famous duel was with Charles Dickinson, not to be confused with Charles Dickinson,
the writer. Oh, I was going to say, did you see my look on my face? I was like, wait, what?
Yeah. No. Charles Dickinson, he was a horse breeder and I guess these two guys hated each other.
Dickinson accused Jackson of cheating on a horse bet and he challenged Jackson to a duel.
Jackson was like, I'll be there. The weapon is pistols. But here's the thing. Dickinson was like
known to be one of the best shots in the nation. So I don't know why Andrew Jackson picked pistols,
but he did. I think maybe that was just, I don't know, some swagger or something, right?
So they show up. They duel. Yeah. Dickinson got off the first shot. It hit Andrew Jackson in the
chest. He's bleeding from the chest. Okay. All accounts are that he like held one hand to the
wound, lifted his pistol, fired at Dickinson. His pistol misfired. It didn't shoot. Oh. So Andrew
Jackson recocked his pistol, fired again and killed Dickinson. This was very controversial, Angela.
In the rules of dueling, you only get to fire once. That's what I was going to say. Aren't you
one and done? And I know nothing about dueling, but I was pretty sure that's the case. Thank you,
Hamilton. Yeah. I don't know. Andrew Jackson lived. He got away with it and was later elected
president of the United States. I have a question. What is it? If you're Charles Dickinson. Yep.
You see Andrew Jackson pointing his gun at you. Right. To fire. Do you run a zigzag?
Can you step out of the way or do you just have to stand there? Fingers crossed, it doesn't hit
you. Is there no movement allowed? Can I not jump around? I don't know. I don't know. Because I'm
not going to stand in one place. If you're pointing a pistol at me, I'm going to get moving. Yeah. I
think you're not allowed, Ange. Oh. The last duel of record in the United States was in 1859.
Okay. Here's who it involved. Was it more white men shooting at each other? It sure was, lady.
Not only that, it was a United States senator and a retired chief justice of the California
Supreme Court. Oh. Way to go, guys. No one died in this duel because, listen to this madness,
one guy's gun jammed. Okay. And then the other guy fired his gun, but it hit the other guy in his
gold pocket watch and they called a truce. There you go. That was the last duel in America.
Yeah. All right. Now, if Andrew Jackson was there, he would have unjammed his gun and shot at you
again. Right. Yeah. I would like to say, I don't know who Andrew Jackson's second was,
but I think they did a real shitty job. What about Dickinson's second? Dickinson's second
tried to make a case that, you know, Andrew Jackson I think should be tried for murder,
but no one wanted to hear about it. That was very interesting. I liked all your dual trivia.
Thank you. I enjoyed researching my dual trivia. I mean, there is just a part of me
that would do a history podcast with you, but we get everything slightly wrong.
Well, we're already doing that. I'm sure there are at least 12 things I did wrong in this
fast fact number three. You know what? It's like our version of drunk history, but we're not drunk.
Yes. We're just well-meaning ladies who Google and tell you history. All right. Should we take a
break? I think we should. There's a lot to say about this episode and I can't wait. All right.
This episode opens with an amazing cold open. It was so much fun to shoot. I loved watching it again.
Me too. The phone rings, Pam answers the phone. Someone for Michael, but Michael's not there.
Where is Michael? Oh, Michael is down on the street. He's running. He's screaming.
There is a speed radar sign and he keeps running past it trying to see how fast he can go.
That's what Michael's doing this morning. That's what Michael's doing. We're all wondering why.
Well, Pam shares that Angela has apparently called 911 several times to report cars going too fast
outside on the road. And so the police came and put up this sort of like that radar screen,
right? That tells you your speed. Yes. Well, I guess though, this was a really hard scene to shoot.
Really? Yeah. Dean told me that we had to shoot this in two different places. So anything that
you see out the window of Michael running, we had to shoot that from Paul Lieberstein's office.
Oh, okay. Because that was the window that looked outside onto our parking lot and onto
our street. But of course, everything else that was indoors, we had to shoot inside Dunder Mifflin.
And by the way, this is going to come up again later. Yeah. So Dean told me that for that opening
moment where Pam is on the phone and then the camera pulls back into Michael's empty office,
and then it whips over to the window and you see Michael running. Yeah. He had to use one of those
whip cuts. So he shot Pam, pulled back into Michael's office, and then he whipped to a window that
just had like a scrim behind it, right? Because that's what Michael's office really has.
Yeah. Yeah. On our set, there's nothing behind his window. Yeah. Then he went up to Paul Lieberstein's
office. He did another whip and then had Steve run by outside and he did that thing where he cut
in the whip and put it together. That's movie magic, guys. Movie magic. Now, I guess everyone
has decided they want to know how fast they can run. It feels like Michael has forced us all outside
to run past the sign. Dwight is very enthusiastic. He's happy to run past it. He runs past and he
gets a speed of 13 miles per hour. Yes. Well, Jenna, do you notice how we're all just like,
we're so cold and we're like shivering? But truly, the guys are like sweating their butts off. Oh,
yeah. I went to because I'm just an old lady who loves to know what the weather was. I've clearly
become my parents because at my parents' house, the TV is always on and it's always on the weather
channel. If you need to know what the weather is anywhere, just call my mom. She'll tell you.
So I dug into my digital clutter and found out we shot this episode the week of October 13th
in 2008 and the average temperature was in the 90s for this week. Randy told me that, yeah,
not only was it over 90 degrees that day, but we had to schedule this scene to shoot right after
lunch. Oh, gross. So we all had these full bellies and the sun was right directly over us. Yeah.
But he said, luckily, it only took a couple of hours to shoot. A couple of hours. I know.
Lucky for us. Oh my, I always felt bad. This is the one moment I felt bad for the guys because
we froze our butts off on the stage. The ladies did. We were always in less clothing. But then
when we were in these parking lot scenes and they're in full suits and they're sweating their
butts off and running with full stomachs of food. I have to imagine we were pretty comfortable out
there in that 90 degree parking lot. I was probably fine. We were great. So it is hot and
they're running past this radar gun. Dwight scored a 13 and Michael wants to beat it.
And so he starts running again and a car goes by and all of a sudden Michael clocks 31 and he's
like, yes. And everyone kind of calls BS on that. Yes. Well, we got a lot of questions about how did
we technically pull this off with these speed numbers. Randy shared with us that the machine
just worked. It was actually clocking people's real running speeds and the real car speed.
But then he shared with us the reason we did this cold open was inspired by one of our
writers, real life experience. Yes. Aaron, sure, you guys. Aaron is always coming up with these
great cold opens. And I talked with him. He is so hilarious to me, Jenna, because he's like,
I guess my real life is just weird enough that it translates into a great cold open.
Prior to working on the office, Aaron had been working on the new adventures of old Christine.
It was a show on CBS. Yeah, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Exactly. They filmed on the Warner Brothers
Lot and he said on the Warner Brothers Lot, there was this radar gun. And he was walking back from
lunch from the commissary with some of the other writers. And as he walked past the radar gun,
it said zero. So he was like, oh, yeah? So he set his lunch down, backed up, and he ran as fast as
he could by it. Surprisingly, it clocked 20 miles per hour. That's his memory. That is his memory.
He said other writers were like, wait, I want to try this. They backed up and they started
running past it as well. And he said it was a very sweaty writer's room that afternoon.
That is incredible. So he told this story when he came to the office and they were like, oh,
my gosh, like this is something Dwight and Michael would do. For sure. After we were done filming
this, they moved that speed meter onto the parking lot near catering and it sat there for the whole
week of production. Well, I guess it was too tempting to ignore. Oh no. Randy said that one day
during lunch, a bunch of the writers went down and they started sprinting past it. Here we go again.
But then I guess there was an accident, lady. What? Remember our writer, Ryan Co.
Yeah. I don't remember an accident. Yeah. Randy shared that Ryan ran past the speed meter and it
didn't go well. Oh no. So I reached out to Ryan to get the story. And lady, I did not tell you
this because I think you need to hear it from him directly. When he emailed me, I literally
shouted, oh no. As I was reading his email, he's calling in, lady, to tell us the story. Oh my
gosh, Ryan. All right. Here he is. So Ryan, you were a member of the writing staff in season five.
You wrote business ethics. You wrote heavy competition. But the reason you're calling
is because you have a story to tell. Yeah, I guess so. So the cold open of this episode is
Michael and Dwight running out of, your speed is like one of those signs that gets you to
slow down on streets. Yes. Right. Right. We had spoke to Aaron Schur about this. So we remember
it well and we did not know you were also part of the speed racing. Oh yeah. So I should say
Randy Cordray said that after we finished shooting this scene, he put the speed tracker in the
parking lot and a bunch of people, writers and crew all decided to go down and do this thing
where you run past it. And you were one of the people who wanted to run past it.
Absolutely. Yeah. I was like a staff writer in season four and still like felt insecure
about being there in season five. And this is my chance to prove everyone that I was at least
the fastest. You were the fastest writer. This was your moment. Yes. But you ran track in high
school, right? I was sixth in New England in the hundred and sort of our very small school division.
Oh my God, Ryan, sixth in all of New England? In the very small schools. But yes. So I was like,
I'm going to beat stupid old writers. So tell us what happened. I rewatched the cold open this
morning. And so like both Steve and Rain ran like 12 and 13 miles an hour. Yeah. Yeah. And then a
couple of a couple writers ran and they all got like 12 miles an hour. And then I was like,
oh, I can beat that. So I had on corduroy's and like Chuck Taylor's. You were just in your work
clothes. You weren't like dressed to run. You were just in what you wore to work that day.
Well, Randy just poked his head up and said like, who wants to run at a speedometer? And I'm like,
yeah. So yeah, I like really laced up. I mean, they're, they're sort of loose fitting chucks
and they're sort of like a slip on shoe. Anyway, I laced them up really tight. And then I started
running. And I, I have this memory like it was yesterday of, I don't know if you ever had this
experience where you're running fast, and then there's no ground beneath your feet. And you're
just sort of wind milling your feet with no ground underneath it. And then I very clearly remember
seeing, well, not clearly, because I don't remember exactly, but it was like 17 or 18 miles an hour
before I like sort of flew into the air, which for reference is like getting thrown out of a
golf cart. It's not too bad. And then so like my, my quarter eyes totally shredded, shredded off my
legs. So I laid it on my elbows and forearms. And Dan Gore, who was one of the people watching,
said you could tell how it was really hurt because I immediately popped off the ground
and said like, I'm fine, I'm fine. This is what people do when they're really hurt.
But you were pretty hurt. Like the medic did have to come over, right?
I did get really mummified. I had to go to my cousin's wedding like an hour afterwards.
Oh no. They used, you know, like that, that gauze, not even like bandage, but you know,
that gauze that you can see through. Right. And they wrapped it all around my arms and legs,
which were pretty skinned. And then I got on the plane. And then when I arrived in Portland,
I went into the drugstore and bought a ton of like nonstick gauze and stuff. And then
I had seen that all the scabs had formed like in the bandage anyway. So I stood in the shower for
like an hour, just unwrapping my mummified arms and sort of yell a good thing. Right after I fell,
I remember Randy immediately was like, all right, let's put this away. No one else. No one else.
You know, they didn't want another idiot filing a lawsuit against the office. That was it.
I hurt myself. I still have scars on all four of my limbs. Oh my gosh.
Sort of a decent story. But you won. You won. You got the fastest speed. So there's that.
I don't think anyone would call me the winner, but sure, I do believe. Sort of. I will definitely
vouch for the fact that I got the fastest speed. I mean, I helped by disqualifying everyone by
getting it removed. Maybe that was my strategy. Get a high speed and then mangle myself so they
get rid of the speedometer. Ryan, thank you for coming on Office Ladies and telling your story.
We're going to hit you up for some trivia about heavy competition when we get to it,
if you don't mind. Okay, sounds great. All right. Love you, Ryan.
Somebody talking to you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
Oh my gosh. This is like, it's art imitating life. Life imitating art and art back to life
is that it? This is crazy. Do you remember early in the podcast when you said life intimidating art?
I do, Jenna. I do. It feels like life said to Ryan Coe, I'm going to intimidate you by throwing
you to the asphalt. Life is intimidating art. I think so. Life threw Ryan to the asphalt
in a very intimidating way based on his art. Oh man. Well, that is the cold open,
you guys, and we haven't even gotten to the episode yet. Let's get into it because this is a big day.
It's a big day for Michael because David Wallace wants to meet him and talk to him
about big picture stuff. Michael doesn't really know what that means. It's probably bad.
It's also a big day because Pam makes an announcement. New year, new candy, hot tamales,
but did you notice at one minute 50 seconds that Pam has dark nail polish? I did not. Oh yeah,
I took a picture to show you and then I did a weird mini dive. All right, I want you to see,
I'll put this in stories, but you got to see. Look at your nails. How did I get away with that?
Why did they let me do that? I don't know. Because I will just say that if I ever came
in with a nail polish that wasn't a natural looking nail polish, they would make me take
it off in the trailer in the morning. I don't know how this fell through the cracks, but I
remember this nail polish on you. Is this so weird? What is it? I looked up on the internet
and it said in the fall of 2008, one of the big trends in nail polish was gray nail polish. In
fact, CollegeCandy.com said the OPI Sephora had a very popular color called Metro Chic,
which was a matte purplish gray. Well, I think we all know. If anything, I'm on trend.
Hey, you know the fashions. I do. I really do. I think you got some Metro Chic and put it on
your nails for the weekend. I have no doubt. I didn't catch it. I love OPI nail polish. I wear
it all the time. I am certain that's what it was. I just can't believe I got away with it.
You know, they would let Amy Ryan and Malora Hardin as their characters. They could have a
darker nail polish, but they wanted Pam to always like either have no nail polish or just some clear
nail polish. I sneaked it in, I guess. Maybe I sat on my hands while I got my hair and makeup done
that day. Well, listen, Andy's going to come in and he's clearly upset about something. He would
like to address the elephant in the room. I love how Rainn Wilson as Dwight chose to kind of stand
up and get in a power stance. He's ready to fight because of course we all think that he knows about
this affair that Angel is having with Dwight, but that's not what he says. He says, none of you have
RSVP to our wedding. How awkward. In the deleted scenes, this scene goes on where he goes to every
single person and is like, hey, Phyllis, you haven't RSVP'd, Jim, and everyone like pretends to be on
the phone. Oh, no. You have this hilarious talking head where you're like, you say you've been avoiding
him and you can't look him in the eye so you only look at his nose. So then Andy comes up to you and
asks you and you're just awkwardly looking at his nose and then he thinks he has something on his
nose. It was really funny. The deleted scenes for this episode, I feel like every single one of them
should have been in because they were all awesome. Jim says it's been 17 days. It's been 17 days
since the Christmas party when Phyllis spilled the beans. Everyone meets in the break room,
except Andy, and Michael says he's going to tell him. He has to tell him. And of course, everyone's
like, you can't. It's really Angel's responsibility. And then I loved the exchange between Oscar and
Dwight. Oh, I know. I was anticipating it as you were about to say it. And just the fact that the
whole group starts learning where all Angel and Dwight have shagged in the office.
We had a fan question from Jess R who said, who wrote the moment in the break room when Dwight
implies he's been doing it with Angel on Oscar's desk and was any of that scene improvised? No.
No. None of it was improvised. It was all scripted by Jen Salada. So good.
This scene takes us into accounting. And Angel has kind of given it to Kevin that he screwed up
again. And then there's some real Kevin sass. Oh, it's great. Oh my gosh. He's like,
I didn't realize I was doing something wrong. If I had, I would have admitted it and stopped right
away. He really leans in hard on this moment. And Oscar gives him props. He's like, no, that was
really good. You did a great job. Congratulations. Jenna, immediately after the scene in the script,
there's a very angry Angela talking head. And it's pretty amazing because Angela is so furious
that she breaks the fourth wall and berates the camera documentary crew and then flashes them
some of her shoulder. Really? Yes. Sam, will you play it? It's just so important for you to get
your big story, isn't it? To edit everything together to make it look like there's a villain?
Well, there's not always a villain. Sometimes there's just a hardworking,
petite woman trying to make a conscientious decision about the rest of her life.
Too boring? Did I lose you? Here, is this what you want?
Okay, that was amazing. But I have to say, I think it was right to cut it out because I don't know
if we've ever had that much direct conversation with the documentary crew before, if we've ever
referred so much to what they're doing. I was shocked when I watched it, Jenna, because she's
like, is that what you want? You're going to edit this together. You're going to make a villain.
And also, it was a little bit too sophisticated for Angela Martin to understand the whole process
of a documentary and how they tell it through narration in these moments. So I think it was
the right move to cut it, but I was shocked when I saw it. I had to share.
So Angela, I love this episode because there's just so much tension,
and it plays out so slowly over when or whether or not Andy is going to figure out
that Angela's having an affair. So he has this exclamation on the phone, and everyone's like,
but it's really just about the cake. He's just having an issue with the cake.
But this leads to that Dwight talking head, because Dwight is on guard this whole time.
He's like constantly leaping out of his chair. And he kind of explains that there are these
40 rules that all shrewd boys must learn by the age of five. And one of these rules is like,
don't put your back to a man who you've wronged. That's just one of the 40 rules.
Mm-hmm. Don't turn your back on a bear or a dominant turkey during mating season.
Yeah. There's a lot of things you shouldn't turn your back on.
And then he has this little jingle that he sings.
Now, Angela, is it true that Rain improvised that song?
Oh, no. That was in the script. That was 100% written. They shared in the DVD commentary that
Rain was singing the jingle a few different ways. And then Dean asked Jen,
Jen, how did you hear it when you wrote it? She's sort of saying it her way. And they found it in the moment.
So they found the melody, but the words were written. The words are totally written. They're
in the script. This is like fabulous Jens Selotta writing. They just improvised the melody.
Got it. Well, now Dwight is going to signal Angela to meet him in the hallway. He does this by moving
his little bobblehead to the other side of his desk. Yes. He's going to confront her. He wants
her to tell Andy the truth. Angela has a line, Jenna, that really made me laugh. She's like,
this is a terrible idea. One of your worst. And then he's like, just get it over with. And then
Angela says, you're expanding on your worst idea. That just really made me laugh.
Well, Michael is leaving now and he asks Andy to walk with him. Yeah, he's going to do it.
He's going to do it. He can't not do it. This is like true, Michael. Like he can't not.
The scene is so funny. It's so funny. I mean, it's so perfect. You know, I believe Angela,
originally in the scene, he is supposed to tell Andy before he got in his car.
Yes, it's scripted that he tells him outside of the car. But on the day, they came up with the
idea that it would be really funny if Michael was in the car and then he sort of says it through
the window as he's driving away. And that is so good. Yes. So in the commentary, Dean said he
had the idea in the moment that the scene takes place with Michael in the car. And then Steve
sort of built on that and was like, what if Michael really doesn't want to tell him? So it's
kind of like as he's pulling away. And then Dean said that Steve really peeled out of the parking
lot. They did not add that sound in in post. That's actually the car peeling away. That's
amazing. Well, we had a fan question from Maria M about this scene. She said,
is there a production related reason why the vehicles in this episode all appear so dusty
and dirty? And when I went back and looked at it, yes, they're all covered in grime.
Yeah, they're filthy. I asked Randy Cordray about it and he said, yes, Maria. Great. I,
to detail, all of the cars were purposely dirtied by the scenic painting crew using flour and water.
And this was meant to simulate what cars might look like during a typical scranton winter
from just road grime and salt. And snow. Yes. When snow gets dirty looking, right? And it's on your
car. Yes. And that the cars in the parking lot belonged to our crew members. And any crew member
who volunteered to park their car in the lot got a free car wash every Friday. Oh, how about that?
So during the week, they'd have to drive around with a grimy car. But on the weekends,
you got a fresh clean car. Well, I think this is a good place to take a break because Andy knows
the truth. And when we come back, we'll talk about what he does. Oh, man, it's a lot. This was some
cringy stuff to watch. We'll be right back. All right, we are back. And guys, Meredith knew
something big was going to happen today. Now, she said that yesterday, but she was also right
yesterday because her neighbor was murdered. What is her life? I don't know, but Meredith has
the best, like, throwaway lines. It's like her and Cree. Like, what the heck is their life?
It must have been so fun to write for them. I know. At eight minutes, 42 seconds,
we get a really good shot of Meredith in this episode. And she is wearing a sweater vest.
Yes. Lady, I wore that same sweater vest to a press event with John Krasinski in New York.
What? Yeah. I walked on set this week. We were shooting the duel and I looked at Kate
dressed as Meredith and I thought, oh my God. Oh my God, did I make a terrible mistake? I thought
it was fashionable. I wore that same vest over this like big poofy white blouse with big poofy
shoulders. This was the style. What? It was actually a really expensive vest. It was like
Betsy Johnson or something. Can we do a side by side of you and Meredith? We must. Jenna in real
life has the same fashion choices as Meredith. Lady, look, here's a picture. Look at it.
See? Look at it. Oh my God. First of all, you and John look 14 years old. We have to put this photo
in Office Lady Stories. You are wearing Meredith's sweater vest and John looks like he could host
Blue's Clues. He does. He's in like a stripy polo. Yeah. Oh my God. You guys look 14 years old.
We were doing press at this NBC Experience store showing off all the new office merchandise. Meredith
called. She wants her sweater vest back. Oh my gosh. And like I'd already done the event. You know?
Well, you could have heard a pin drop when Andy walked back into that bullpen and he goes over to
Angela and says, we need to talk. And she's like, we can talk right here. He's like, no, no. Ed played
it so real. I was sweating. I was sweating it. I felt it. We went into that conference room and
he shut the door and we were in there a long time and Ed broke my heart as Andy when he was like,
do you love him? And I was really feeling all of this emotion and then Angela has to make this
plea, this plea to him to don't give up on us. And Jenna, it was all going great until we got to two
words. Formal chrysanthemums. I couldn't say it. Formal chrysanthemums. Formal chrysanthemums. I
really had to break it down to be able to say it. But you need to say it like it's effortless.
But I literally was like going formal chrysanthemums.
You know what, lady? That is not anything having to do with your accent or you. I challenge anyone
to say that word. I can't chrysanthemums. Say it quickly, guys. Formal chrysanthemums.
That was my best effort, by the way. I mean, literally Jen Salata had to come in the room
and help me break it down. But try saying it quickly while you're like throwing it away,
like you have no problem saying it in a speech where you're pleading to save your relationship.
And you know what? It wouldn't have worked any other flower. That's the funniest flower. It had
to be that. I know. Well, while this whole Andy and Angela scene is going on in the conference room,
there's a flip side to what's happening. It's everyone in the bullpen watching.
It was deleted for time. It's so great. And I really feel like Phyllis summed up the whole
moment perfectly. Phyllis, why is it taking so long? He found out this little angel has been
screwing the bead farming weirdo. He's trying to make a make sense in his brain. And then he's
going to come out here and kill you. Thank you, Phyllis. You're welcome. Oh yeah, she got it.
I mean, that made me laugh really hard. I wish it had stayed in.
Well, this takes us to corporate. Andy and Angela are going to stay in the conference room. They're
not done. But meanwhile, we cut over to corporate and we see the reason why David Wallace is called
Michael in. He says to Michael, Scranton is outperforming the other branches. Everyone
else is struggling. And we want to know, what are you doing right? What is Michael doing so right?
I mean, everything in Michael lit up like a Christmas tree. He's like,
David Wallace wants advice from me. Yeah. And then he starts talking.
Oh, Jenna, I have to read it. Can I please read it? Please read it.
The minute he said, David, here it is. My philosophy is basically this. And this is
something that I live by. And I always have, and I always will. Don't ever, for any reason,
do anything to anyone for any reason, ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who,
or who you are with, or, or where you are going, or where you've been, ever, for any reason,
whatsoever. What is he saying? What is he saying? I went to the script. This was not scripted.
What? There was a different moment. There was the same thing where he sort of started to talk
nonsense. I think Steve was also improvising here. I think he went off what Jen had. And then I think
they let Steve do his thing. And now his talking head where he says, sometimes I start a sentence
and I don't even know where it's going. I just find it along the way. That was 100% scripted.
The improvisation? Yes. That was all exactly scripted. But this answer to David, I think,
was a little bit on the page. And then they just let Steve play. I love it.
This little scene between Michael and David Wallace was important story-wise because it's
really starting to set up the economic struggle slash decline of Dunder Mifflin,
which is going to play out in future seasons as branches start closing, as we get bought out by
Saber, spoiler alerts, I guess you're supposed to say that first. Yeah, that's supposed to come
first. And also, you start to learn that David Wallace might be in a precarious position.
Yeah. So we made it a comedy moment with Michael suddenly giving advice to David Wallace.
But this was also setting up a broader story that we will play out.
In the DVD commentary, Dean said one of his notes for all of the Michael David scenes in this episode
was, no matter what, Michael won't leave the office, no matter what.
Well, that makes sense because he suggests they order some pasta. And then my favorite thing is,
like, after that pasta eating scene where Michael is still just going on and on and on,
David Wallace kind of gets up and then Michael keeps eating his pasta and David is like,
no, no, yes, go, I guess, just finish your meal there.
Yeah, I mean, like, pass him on the shoulder and shuts the door and sits back down.
Well, when we get back to the office, Angela and Andy are still in the conference room.
She needs him to know that her and Dwight did not do anything fancy sexually.
Well, Dwight tells Michael something very differently about their sex life earlier.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe we didn't bring that up. That made me laugh so hard, Angela.
Yes, Michael is all asking Dwight, like, if she's crazy in bed, crazy in the sack. Is she crazy?
And Dwight's like, yes. And then Michael is like, how? How is she crazy? And Jim's just standing there.
Yeah, Jim is like, oh God, no, no. And then Dwight says, eager and flexible.
Lady, is that in the script? Was that an improv? It's 100% scripted.
It was so good. All of those beats. That made me laugh all out.
Some of John's reactions as Jim are improvised, but everything else is scripted.
Well, Angela doesn't tell Andy any of that stuff. She just says she loves him.
And when he leaves the conference room, he tells Dwight, it's over. It's over. And he means
over between you and Angela, not me and Angela. He's still going to marry Angela.
Well, Angela made a big case. She was like, listen, we're out of crossroads here. Let's
prove all these people wrong. Dwight makes a big declaration that Bernard will never be her last
name. They are going to stay together. He is not going to give up. Jenna, this was a much longer
scene. And when Dwight says a duel, we'll have a duel over Angela. The winner gets Angela.
Angela, Stanley can't take it anymore. He's going to call BS. And he has this great moment.
Okay, we're not doing that. Hang on, Pam. Andy, do you fully understand that the prize is Angela?
So help me God, I do. And Dwight, do you fully understand that the prize is Angela? I do.
I say give them both guns. Stanley. Darwin, baby. Darwin.
Darwin, baby. Darwin. I just love that moment.
Even Pam turns to Angela and is like, you have to stop this. But Angela says,
I will respect the results of the duel. So yeah, I remember us shooting this moment,
Jenna. But in my mind, there was more to the scene. I went to the script and there was an alt
of this moment where Pam confronts Angela. It didn't make it in. And you have a whole speech.
And I called it preach, Pam. This takes place in the break room. Okay, Angela. What?
You have to put a stop to this. I admit at first, I was blaming you for being selfish
and dishonest. But then I decided to put myself in your shoes. I didn't ask you to do that.
I get it. You're having a hard time choosing between Dwight and Andy for reasons that you must
have about that. But you have to make a decision, Angela. Who would you rather go home to at night?
Who would you rather wake up with in the morning? Marriage is a big deal, Angela.
Who do you see as the father of your children? Who are you most proud of?
Who's most accepting of your quirkiness?
I don't see how any of that matters now. Why not? Two men are about to fight for my hand.
And when it's over, I will respect one of them and pity the other. Decision made.
Wow. Yeah. I mean, Pam like really tried to show up for Angela in this moment,
tried to empathize with her and what, you know, you guys are hearing it. But if you watch it,
if you go to the deleted scenes on the DVD, you see all of this emotion go across my face.
I'm clearly torn. And it just really showed something you don't get to see that much in this.
You only see little moments that Angela is really struggling.
Yeah. Well, Angela, when I was trading messages with Jen Salata about this episode,
she was very complimentary of your performance. Oh, she said that this episode was tricky
and a lot rested on how your character would react to these two men dueling over her. She
said she was really worried. Like, how do you convince people that you would accept the results
of a duel? It's so crazy. Yeah. And she said, you know, there was this scene that really shows you
stuffing down your real feelings. But she said that you were able to play it so perfectly
in just your one line in the bullpen. We so believed that your character would accept
the results of a duel that it grounds the whole episode. And she was so grateful for your performance.
Oh my gosh, that's so nice. Thank you, Jen. Well, you know, what I thought about Angela is that
she really loves Dwight. She really thinks Andy is a better partner for her, like socially,
sort of acceptable and all of that. And she's really struggling about what's the right thing to do
in her life. And the duel for her is actually a relief. Because now she doesn't have to decide.
To her, this is like an institution that will decide for her. And she's off the hook. And I
think that's why she was so willing to accept it. We had some people write in wondering,
were you secretly rooting for one man over the other? Do you think Angela Martin was secretly
rooting for one person? I think she was hoping Dwight would win for her. I just have this feeling
that on paper, Andy Bernard is more presentable to her family, right? And makes more sense to
Angela Martin's family and that they would be more accepting and more willing to embrace Andy
Bernard than Dwight Shrut. And so I feel like she could go to her family and be like, well,
Dwight bested him in a duel. So, you know, clearly Dwight is the dominant man. And I have no
doubt that your whole family would accept the results of the duel. Yes. And I have to go with
that. So, you know, I mean, I know we all thought Andy was the one, but I don't think Angela ever
thought Andy was the one. And so I think she thinks her family would accept it too. Is that crazy?
But that's what I was thinking. Yeah. So she's rooting for Dwight to win this duel
because she loves him more and because it would help gain acceptance with her family.
Exactly. Well, this duel is happening. It is happening in the parking lot at 4pm.
Bring the weapon of your choice. Yeah. So it's four o'clock. The duel is beginning. Dwight's
outside in the parking lot. He's yelling, Andy, where are you? You know, he's like,
are you a coward? Everyone else is upstairs watching from the conference room. Angela's
saying, I can't believe two men are fighting over me. And then Kelly like has a dig. She's
like, well, I guess when you're old, you run out of options or something like that.
I thought that was really funny. Yeah.
Oscar doesn't think Andy's going to show. And they're actually kind of placing bets.
And Kevin's like, come on. But then Dwight sees a note on some bushes.
He goes over to read it. What is this? Yeah. What's this note about?
While he's reading it, Andy does show up very slowly, very quietly in his Prius.
Well, you know, Jenna, Jen had that one sentence that she had to write this whole episode off of,
right? Yeah. About the duel. This was Paul Lieberstein's idea about the Prius. He said,
if you go under five miles an hour, it's totally silent. And so this is the weapon Andy chooses.
Yes. He is going to pin Dwight up against the bushes. He's going to crush him.
But really, he's only crushing like from his kneecaps down.
Yeah. But he's pinned. I mean, Dwight can't move. Dwight can't hit him with his bike chain anymore.
Yeah. So he starts slamming it on the hood of the car. They're screaming at each other.
At 18 minutes, 16 seconds, Rain shared on the DVD that during this whole screaming match between
the two of them, they improvised for about 40 minutes. Dean said at least 40 minutes, just
insults and banter back and forth at each other. Dean said there was so much good stuff.
I wish we could see that. The 40 minutes of them yelling at each other.
I would watch it. Sure. They're probably amazing. Well, we got a lot of questions
about how did we do this scene? How did we do this stunt? Who was driving? Yada yada.
Well, I talked to Dean and he said this was really complicated because we had to shoot this scene
over two different days from three different locations. First, we shot in the parking lot
with Rain and Ed. They performed the whole thing. We shot it and the rest of us were upstairs in
Paul's office looking out that window and the camera could whip up to us. In real time. In real
time. Yes. We watched all of it. Then they moved the cameras up to Paul's office to get really tight
shots out of the window onto the action below and Rain and Ed had to do it all over again
just to get a few little shots through the window. But then on a different day, we shot
inside the actual Dunder Mifflin conference room and this time we had to be careful to not shoot
out the window because there was nothing there. It was just a backdrop and that we were basically
looking at nothing. But Dean was shouting out all the action that had happened the day before.
Right. He said this was the moment when being an editor on the show really helped him.
He had kind of cut this whole thing together with a shot list inside his head
and he just kept telling people, trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me.
He could see it, right? He could see it. He could see the whole thing. He said he planned
all of these whippan cuts between the window, between us, all of it. And when he got in the
editing room because he edited this episode as well, it actually did all come together and it
looked really, really seamless. Well, you have to think that Randy Cordray was like, I knew it.
I knew it. Yes. That Dean's editing was going to come into play here.
This is why Dean has to direct this episode. But he did say it was a little grueling for the actors
because we had to play these same moments over and over and over again more so than we normally do
and we had to make it seem like we were doing it for the first time every time.
Now, as for the stunt, Randy told us that Ed actually drove the Prius silently through the
parking lot. He said they had stunt doubles standing by for the actual moment of impact.
They thought that they would have a stunt driver actually drive into a stunt Dwight.
And then after they were kind of squished, they would place rain into the bushes.
And Ed into the car. Yes. But then on the commentary, didn't Rain say they just kind
of ended up doing it themselves? Actually, the commentary was Rainn Wilson, Jen Salata,
Dean Holland, and Rusty Mahmood, who was our first assistant director. And they discussed that Ed
actually drove into rain very slowly and that it totally worked. And those takes of those guys
actually doing it were their favorite. So those were the ones they used and they did not use
takes with the stunt people. Well, we also got a fan question from Samantha T who wanted to know
what was up with the fence? Like what was on the other side of it? Was it padding?
Was it an actual fence? Was the bumper of the car padded? Was Rainn really being squashed?
Well, it was the real bumper of the car. And then Rainn sent in an audio clip to tell us
a little bit about the bushes. Oh, I'm so glad you guys are doing the dual fantastic,
one of my very favorite episodes. And I always loved those episodes where Dwight and Andy got
to go head to head. I just loved that, that subplot of that, that tension. And Ed Helms is so funny
in this episode. But you know what it reminded me of is in college, we studied clowning and
Comedia dell'arte. And it really is classic, old, old comedy, like back from Comedia dell'arte
and the Greeks and ancient clowning of two idiots going at it over absurd and in this case, love
and a Prius. It was so much fun to shoot. I don't remember a lot of specifics about it,
but I remember the hedge had a lot of give in it. So you could really pretend like you were pinned.
But it was just a big mass of vines and it was actually very soft and comfortable. And I love
that line about the bears in Scranton. So fantastic. So I guess Rainn was quite comfortable being
pinned against the bushes, no complaints. Well, I can tell you about those big giant hedges.
One time, Brian in a scene as Kevin nudged me, he thought it was a nudge. I went flying
into them. I don't know if you remember that. I can't remember what episode, but I can attest to
the fact that it's a very deep, dense, very sort of a hedge you could fall into without
getting to the other side. Well, the hedges might have been a good thing for Rainn. They were a nice
soft place to land, but they actually caused a little bit of a headache for our production.
So Rusty Mahmood, our first assistant director, shared on the DVD commentary that we had about
six hours a day to film these parking lot scenes. That's what they had allotted for the time. And
by the time we got to the parking lot scenes on the first day of filming, those big hedges
had cast a shadow over half of the parking lot. If you go and watch, Jenna, you'll see.
Okay. There's a huge shadow. Well, now guess what? We needed to match that shadow exactly
the second day we filmed. Yeah. Right? So in order to do that, they had to create this fake
shadow. We have fakey shadow. Fakey shadow. Fakey shadow. They used giant 20 by 20 bounce cards
and positioned them behind the hedges on the street so that the shadow would cast and match
each day we filmed in the parking lot. Gosh, those are things you just don't think about.
I know. But this is the amazing thing about your crew. Someone was like,
oh, hold up. That shadow is not going to match. We've got to recreate a shadow.
Amazing. Well, fakey shadow wasn't the only fakey thing we had in the scene. We also had
fakey bicycle chain. Fakey bicycle chain. That's right. Clearly Rainn could not whip around a real
bicycle chain. So Phil Shea had a rubber bicycle chain made and that's what Rainn used as Dwight
to hit the Prius and wave around. So obviously a rubber bicycle chain is not going to make the same
sound as a real bicycle chain on metal. So all the sounds you hear are put in post that whopping sound.
Except for the car horn. Oh, yeah. Ed was really blaring the horn. I know.
Poor Rainn. I know. But he was really having fun with it too because he'd wait and
blare it right when Rainn started to talk. Well, all of this mayhem is going on and Jim has a
talking head where he's just kind of standing there and you can hear it all in the background.
Oh, yeah. So good. Dean told me that they came up with that idea on the day. He said that as he
and Jen Salada were standing there just listening to these two guys go on, he thought it would be
really funny to add that. So he and Jen came up with that and they positioned John and they just
kind of added that in the moment. It's so perfect because it's the voice of reason. It's this totally
normal rational person reacting to this moment of chaos and I feel like it lets the audience
take a breath and be like, oh, yeah, this is crazy. Well, in this argument, Andy ends up revealing
that he and Angela have had sex, which is something that Dwight did not know. Well, yeah, he says,
I can't believe she's been sleeping with you this whole time and she's only slept with me twice.
I made a sex tracker. Oh my God. I did. Oh, no. Here's what I'm going to say, Angela.
Oh. In the business trip episode, Andy told Oscar he had never had sex with Angela. In the surplus,
Andy says he has seen Angela naked zero times. So we have to imagine that either
they've had sex twice since the surplus or they've had sex twice since business trip,
but that while having sex, he never saw Angela naked. Which one do you think it is?
Fully clothed sex or naked sex recently? You know what? I believe both. I believe that
he could possibly have had sex with her, but she wouldn't let him see her naked. Like she'd have
some kind of like long gown on, but I also can believe that after Dwight hoodwinked her into
this fake wedding that she was furious and she went and had some revenge sex.
I think that's most likely. That's when they had their sex.
Yeah. Well, Andy is going to return to his desk. Dwight returns to his desk.
They're both crestfallen. Yeah. I mean Dwight feels betrayed and Andy feels betrayed.
But who won the duel? Angela's standing there. She hears Andy make a phone call.
Well, he cancels the wedding cake.
Yeah. It's the one that was in the shape of a sailboat.
Yeah, that one.
That wedding cake. Jen said they did have an alt cake line where he would say it was the one in
the shape of the letter C for Cornell. Oh, I was like for cat.
I know. But they went with sailboat.
Then Angela looks to Dwight. Did he win?
Hmm. He puts his bobblehead in the trash.
Jenna, there was a deleted scene that comes after this where Angela goes up to Pam and she's teary-eyed
like her voice is wavering and she says, um, can you give me a right home from work today?
Because I no longer have a right home. Yeah. And Pam says yes.
Yes. And then her and Jim give Angela a right home.
Oh my God. This car ride, we did shoot the scene. It's in the deleted scenes.
Angela just barks directions angrily at Jim.
And then she starts sobbing in the backseat and then she's angry again.
Well, I'll never forget shooting this scene, Angela, because I mean, this was a whole location
day for us. You know, we had this location that was your house and we just dropped you off outside.
But they had this really funny joke that there would be like a dozen cats in your window staring
out the window at you expectantly as we drop you off. And it was so funny.
It was so funny. I remember they, you know, they had to get a house with like sort of a big front
window, like a bay window that all the cats could be in so that we could see them from the street.
But then you guys, as we were trading messages with Randy Cordray about this episode,
he sent us the casting sheet of the cats and all their headshots. It's a sheet of like cat headshots.
Yes, you guys. And here are the names of the 12 cats that played Angela's cats. Potato, Prada,
Echo, Flame, Prophet, Whisper, Milkman, Sushi, Roswell, Harvey, Hannah, and Milton.
And Roswell looks just like sunny cat. He does. My cat. Yeah. We have to put that photo in stories.
And also Randy sent us the photo of Angela Martin's house. Yes. So unfortunately,
the scene was deleted, but the cats can get their moment of fame. And we got to do a driving scene
together. We did. It's very cute because at the end, after we drop you off, Pam turns to Jim,
and she says, you know what? I'll call her later to check up on her. And Jim says, she'll hang up on
you. Yes. And Pam says, I know. Well, that would have been our alt tag, right? The car ride.
Instead of Jim collecting Dwight's weapons. But also right at the end, Michael had a great
talking head. Yeah, he's standing on the streets of New York. And he just sort of says, you know,
exciting things can happen when you leave Scranton. Just kind of sums up this storyline for him. Well,
got a little tidbit from Randy. I didn't notice it the first time I watched it. But in hindsight,
it was obvious to me. Oh, yeah. This scene was a cheat. Steve was not in New York. Steve was shot
on a green screen. And we digitally added the office building scene behind him. Randy said we
hired this New York based cinematographer named Alan Pierce to go out and shoot the exterior
of a New York office building with people walking by. Randy said it was this awesome shot. But we
ran into a problem with the cameras on our end. So for all you techies out there, we would shoot
our show on a Sony 900 digital camera. It was a very early generation digital camcorder. And I
guess these cameras had very poor color latitude. Oh, sure. Jenna, you know color latitude. I know.
I know. And when it's not good, it's it can be tough. I mean, we know. Oh, yeah. How many times
have I struggled with my color latitude? So many. It does not do well shooting on green screen.
And Randy said that's why we did it so infrequently. Now, normally, we would just find some place in
downtown LA to double for New York. But I noticed on the call sheets that we only had Steve for two
and a half days this week. He worked Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. And the whole rest of
our shoot was really dedicated to that complicated parking lot scene. I asked Randy about it. He
said he doesn't know exactly why we chose to go green screen, but he has to imagine that we just
simply did not have time to go downtown and get that shot because it was a complicated shoot week.
Well, I didn't catch it on my first watch, but I really did on the second one. Me too. I was like,
oh, that's Fakie backdrop. There you have it. Fakie building, Fakie shadow, Fakie bicycle chain.
Real feelings, guys. That's the duel. That pretty much sums up the duel.
All right. Well, thank you to everyone who contributed to this episode. Thank you, Ryan Coe
for calling in and giving us the story of your tragic fall. Yes. Thank you, Ryan. And we're
going to be back here next week, guys. We have Prince family paper. I'm going to be honest,
I do not remember the plot of that one. Who's Prince? Who are they? We're going to find out next
week. We're going to find out. I feel like a real audience member. I don't know what's coming.
I'm sure I'll remember after I watch the episode, but I can't wait. Hopefully. I hope so. See you
guys. Have a great one. Bye. 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 Bubicoe. 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, office.