Office Ladies

I took my camera to set that day and I have some great pictures. I put them in our book, *The Office BFFs* but the only photo I have of myself and Jake Lacey, just the two of us from his whole time on the show, is the two of us with this mayonnaise on our heads.

The Office BFFs.

Yes, we shared about this in our book, "The Office BFFs", but I'll never forget it.

We wrote an entire chapter about this one episode in our book, "The Office BFFs", because number one, we had a lot of pictures from this episode thanks to you, Angela. You brought your camera on this shoot.

We've all talked about this a lot as a cast and crew in our book with Brian, that the irony that Brian was working on a show that filmed outside in the heat in an RV.

In your book, The Office BFFs, Jenna shared about how hard it was for her to return and film this episode after having her baby and how supportive everyone was.

We got a lot of mail about this, people who had read our book and were surprised to learn about this.

Hi, Office Ladies. My name is Rory and I'm 12 years old. I have read The Office BFFs, The Actor's Life, and Bassoon King. I'm a big fan.

We now have signed copies of our book, The Office BFFs, available for pre-order.

You guys, Jenna and I signed thousands of copies of books, boxes and boxes of these sheets of paper that were pages from our book that they bind into the book.

Mr. Schofield from HarperCollins!

HarperCollins, who is publishing our book, Office BFF!

Does this mean our book is going to be printed on dundermifflin paper?

What?

That would be amazing.

I mean, that's... They're a client, right?

Right?

Our book is being published on the East Coast!

It was really cool, though, because of all the book publishers out there, we're with HarperCollins and then Dwight says HarperCollins and I was like, oh my god.

I know!

We are signing copies of our book, The Office BFFs, and we are going to bundle it with a super cute coffee mug that says, it is your mug.

Erin was so lovely, and we got to talk to him for quite a bit. He was such a great guest.

We loved this episode. Wolf! I was cracking up. I hadn't seen this episode in so long.

Erin Scherr, who, by the way, was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award for episodic comedy for this episode, Wolf.com.

I'm going to say something now that is going to come across to most listeners than most every viewer of The Office as a sort of like, welcome to the party, Jenna remark.

I do remember getting an email from, I think it was Greg, that said, here you guys, if you're asked about Steve leaving or Michael leaving or what's going to happen to the show, here's things you can say.

It's in our book, The Office BFFs.

Sidebar note, all the black and white photos in our book, The Office BFFs, were taken with my black and white disposable camera.

I wrote about it in our book, The Office BFFs, because I, with my foot, went under the desk to try to turn my heater off.

Surprise! It's Friday. It's not Wednesday. We're hitting your feed. On a Friday! On a Friday! T G I F. We have a way to celebrate. We hope you like it.

We are going to play for you the entire first chapter of our audiobook of The Office BFFs.

We hope you have a great weekend. Chapter 1. Job Opening. Office Work.

You can buy the audio book anywhere you buy audio books. And on the audio book, we have some really fun friends who pop in for, I don't know, what would you call it? Surprise audio tidbits.

Yeah, it's not in the hardback.

We are going to play for you the entire first chapter of our audiobook of The Office BFFs.

In 2003, a group of strangers had one very big thing in common. We had all just been cast on a new TV comedy pilot called The Office.

...experience that would come in handy later, as you will learn in this book...

...and we have all of these great moments with Steve Carell, Ryan Baumgartner, Oscar Nunez, Ellie Kemper and Jennifer Garner.

Thanks so much for listening to a little bit of our audio book, The Office BFFs.

We now have signed copies of our book, The Office BFFs, available for pre-order.

You guys, Jenna and I signed thousands of copies of books, boxes and boxes of these sheets of paper that were pages from our book that they bind into the book.

We signed them with love, you guys. We signed them with love.

Mr. Schofield from HarperCollins! HarperCollins, who is publishing our book, Office BFF!

Our book is being published on the East Coast!

I 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.

I 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.

Because I actually wrote a whole chapter about interviewing in my book, The Actor's Life.

Hi, Office Ladies. My name is Rory and I'm 12 years old. I have read The Office BFFs, The Actor's Life, and Bassoon King. I'm a big fan.

I do in my book, The Actor's Life.

I'm gonna bring out this story. I wasn't planning on it, but this episode feels like, I don't know, it feels like it would be on theme. I wrote about this in my book, The Actor's Life, A Survival Guide.

So guys, if you're an aspiring actor and you wanna come to Los Angeles or New York, maybe buy my book, The Actor's Life, A Survival Guide, where I lay out a lot of things that you should and shouldn't do based on my experience.

I did some research on the average wages of an actor in general. And according to the Screen Actors Guild, which is the union that actors belong to, the median income for a working actor is $52,000 a year. But most of the SAG-AFTRA membership earns less than $7,000 a year from acting. And only 5% of union actors earn more than $100,000 a year.

But I did more math. I really break it down in the book because I said, let's pretend that you earn that median income of $52,000 a year from acting. You don't get to keep it because you have to pay agent commissions, manager commissions, taxes.

So I calculated the average take-home pay per year of a working union actor, and it is $29,000 a year.

Listen, the artist's journey is not one that you do for money. You do it because you love to do it. It's because it's your passion and you feel like you couldn't do anything else, you know?

And if you buy Jenna's book, you'll also get to see her early headshots, which are really a delight. And so many of them I'm wearing overalls for a reason I can't explain. That was a thing.

And I actually have a whole chapter about it in my book, The Actor's Life and you can see them all but I'll share these online.

Owen was quoted in Andy Green's book about The Office saying that early in the pitches for this episode, it was going to be... Andy was gonna host his Here Comes Trouble alumni.

Owen said he was really just trying to find a way to differentiate Andy from Michael and he was like, well, that's something Michael's never done. You know, Michael's never killed a guy and covered up a murder.

And then Owen said we obviously cut this idea. We went with all studs, I do not stand. And years later it became yellow jacket.

when I first started, they had this idea for a christening episode, which is as unsexy an episode as you can possibly pitch.

And when they brought it up, the entire room looked at me because I had a lot of kids.

I think the thought was, we'll let him write it.

And I felt this sense of how do you keep what we all loved in Jim and Pam in this post-marriage, post-baby world?

But he said they just tried to lean into it and acknowledge that The Office was as much of a family for Jim and Pam in season seven as it was for Michael.

Now I was reading a lot about what the writers had to say about her coming in and her character in Andy Green's book about The Office. And basically, all the writers kind of apologized for not using her enough as her arc went on.

Now I was reading a lot about what the writers had to say about her coming in and her character in Andy Green's book about The Office.

And basically, all the writers kind of apologized for not using her enough as her arc went on.

And in Andy Green's book, which by the way is called The Office, The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, Danny Chun shared that James had seen a few episodes of the show and he was very complimentary and very interested.

If you wanna read everyone's passionate feelings about this, it is all in Andy Green's book.

There's a lot of stuff in Andy Green's book that I knew already, like we knew.

This was a glimpse into the writer's room that I found very interesting.

And oh my God, it is amazing. I love James Spader so much.

He said he took the role because he liked the show and also because he was basically broke and needed the money.

This is so him, I can hear him saying this.

He said he'd just done a big renovation on his house and he'd spent all of his Boston legal money.

He needed the paycheck, guys.

He said this, when the play was done, quote, I knew I was gonna need some money cause I was hemorrhaging cash doing the play and then all of a sudden I got a call from The Office.

He said they were doing the movie Lincoln on a really reduced budget. It was not gonna be a big paycheck and the movie wasn't gonna start for eight months.

He really wanted you to know, quote, by this point I was broke. Really, I was broke.

So he told his agents to go back to The Office and say he would do the part for one year, but it had to be for a full season and he needed time off to do the movie Lincoln if it came together.

He needed to get that coin.

He said, quote, when I first started, they had this idea for a christening episode, which is as unsexy an episode as you can possibly pitch.

And when they brought it up, the entire room looked at me because I had a lot of kids.

And that's true. He had five kids. He has a big family.

I think the thought was, we'll let him write it.

And I felt this sense of how do you keep what we all loved in Jim and Pam in this post-marriage, post-baby world?

I bet Mike Schur's book, How to Be Perfect, would tell us the moral answer to this question.

Perhaps we should ask him.

I bet Mike Schur's book, How to Be Perfect, would tell us the moral answer to this question.

It's a book about how hard it is to be a good person and how we can use ethics and moral philosophy to try not to screw up all the time, but in a funny way, not like in a homework way.

The basic idea was to explain all the stuff I learned for the good place without giving everyone a headache.

Do I Have to Return My Shopping Cart to the Shopping Cart Rack Thingy?

As someone who worries that a deep dive into morality will ruin my fun and problematic life, I was certain this book wouldn't be for me, boy was I wrong. It's so brilliant and funny and warmly written, you don't realize you're becoming a better person just by reading it.

It's essentially a...show about what it means to be a good person and...I thought I had this thought while I was researching it which was that these people have such good ideas for how to be better people...but their writing is so tortured and boring that no one wants to read it...so maybe I could write a version where I sort of try to explain as best as I can what their theories are but in a way that doesn't give you a tension headache and make you sleepy.

It's a book about how hard it is to be a good person and how we can use ethics and moral philosophy to try not to screw up all the time, but in a funny way, not like in a homework way.

The basic idea was to explain all the stuff I learned for the good place without giving everyone a headache.

I started reading it, and I can't stop. I'm like binging a book.

Same. I love it. I couldn't put it down. I was reading it last night. This morning, I was like, I want to read more. I woke up thinking about it.

Mike is such an amazing writer...he takes this conversation of morality and he makes it funny and interesting and relatable.

Always call me like you've done if you have any Lord Of The Rings questions?

Pollock Baggins...Crinkle-Pus, Tinky...There are two Lord of the Rings references in these cat names.

Pollock Baggins...Based on Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit.

You know what else is up there, lady? What? Another one you've contributed to. What? Lord of the Rings.

Yeah. People love stories about a journey. I guess they do. It's true.

Dwight tells Jim he should go to New Zealand and walk the Lord of the Rings trail.

And Dwight was like, I can go anywhere and I will. But one of the places he would like to go is New Zealand because he wants to walk the Lord of the Rings trail to Modor.

Modor is where Sauron is.

The Eye of Sauron. Is that a thing or a person?

It's like a- Why would you want to- Like an evil spirit. But it's not a person. Sam, how do I explain Eye of Sauron?

This is because earlier this summer, I was reading the Splendid in the Vial by Eric Larson. You know this. This is the story of Winston Churchill's time as prime minister during World War II.

This is because earlier this summer, I was reading the Splendid in the Vial by Eric Larson. You know this. This is the story of Winston Churchill's time as prime minister during World War II.

This is because earlier this summer, I was reading the Splendid in the Vial by Eric Larson. You know this. This is the story of Winston Churchill's time as prime minister during World War II.

Mary goes on to say, maybe it will inspire a 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.

Hot to Trot is part of a mystery series. By MC Beaton. Here's a summary for Hot to Trot, which by the way, has a little mystery spy glass thingy on the front and it says Queen of the Village Mystery. Here we go. Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder. And Agatha is named as his accomplice. A high society wedding, a glitzy mast 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. I must uncover the truth before a net of skullduggery closes 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.

Mary goes on to say, maybe it will inspire a 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 M.C. Beaton. Here's the summary. For Hot to Trot, which by the way, has a little mystery spy glass thingy on the front. And it says Queen of the Village Mystery. Here we go. Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder. And Agatha is named as his accomplice. A high society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an in-depth investigation into the murder 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 closes 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.

It's Hot to Trot.

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.

Well, there's a book called Mr. Maybe. I bought it. I think it came 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. Right 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, stodgy. Mm-hmm. Libby soon finds herself weighing the advantages of Nick's sexual prowess and tender heart. Sexual prowess? Yes. Against Ed's luxurious lifestyle and unlimited retail therapy. So Libby's trying to decide between these two guys. Oh my God, Libby, Libby, Libby. Libby. I just have to say sexy, tender hearted. This is not a hard decision. You're going with sexy, tender hearted. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Well, there's a book called Mr. Maybe. I bought it. I think it came 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. Right 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, stodgy. Libby soon finds herself weighing the advantages of Nick's sexual prowess and tender heart. Sexual prowess? Yes. Against Ed's luxurious lifestyle and unlimited retail therapy. So Libby's trying to decide between these two guys.

Well, there's a book called Mr. Maybe. I bought it. I think it came out back in like 1999, early 2000s. And the plot is a little dated.

It says our main character is Libby Mason.

And it says to Libby Mason, Mr. Right has always meant Mr. Rich.

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.

Libby soon finds herself weighing the advantages of Nick's sexual prowess and tender heart. Sexual prowess?

Against Ed's luxurious lifestyle and unlimited retail therapy. So Libby's trying to decide between these two guys.

Hi, Office Ladies. My name is Rory and I'm 12 years old. I have read The Office BFFs, The Actor's Life, and Bassoon King. I'm a big fan.

In his book, The Bassoon King, this is what he wrote. The longest inappropriate laughter was during the episode lecture circuit when Dwight and Jim are put in charge of the party planning committee and Dwight hangs tiny brown and gray balloons and a banner that reads it is your birthday.

I knew you could play the bassoon because your book The Bassoon King is great, so I knew that.

We got it in the UK when we lived in London, when I did that TV show there. No, I don't know it. Oh my gosh, it's the cutest book. It's called Oi Frog. And it's about a cat.

And the cat is explaining to a frog that the only thing he can sit on is a log because he's a frog. And he goes on, the cat explains, cats can sit on mats, frogs sit on logs. And it's a little rhyming book.

What's really cute about it, Angela, is that some of the rhymes only work if you read it in a British accent. Did you love it?

So it's like, newts sit on flutes, puffins sit on muffins, weasels sit on easels. But then it'll say like gorillas sit on pillars. Pillars with an R? Yeah, you know like a pillar for a building? Yeah. Gorillas sit on pillars. You have to say gorillas sit on pillars. Because then it rhymes. Right, gorillas sit on pillars. Yes.

It reminded me of that children's book, Oi Frog.

It's called Oi Frog and it's about a cat and the cat is explaining to a frog that the only thing he can sit on is a log because he's a frog.

And he goes on, the cat explains, cats can sit on mats, frogs sit on logs.

But what's really cute about it, Angela, is that some of the rhymes only work if you read it in a British accent.

Do you know that book? We got it in the UK when we lived in London, when I did that TV show there. No, I don't know it. Oh my gosh, it's the cutest book. It's called Oi Frog. And it's about a cat.

And the cat is explaining to a frog that the only thing he can sit on is a log because he's a frog. And he goes on, the cat explains, cats can sit on mats, frogs sit on logs.

What's really cute about it, Angela, is that some of the rhymes only work if you read it in a British accent. Did you love it? So it's like, newts sit on flutes, puffins sit on muffins, weasels sit on easels. But then it'll say like gorillas sit on pillars.

Yeah, you know like a pillar for a building? Yeah. Gorillas sit on pillars. You have to say gorillas sit on pillars. Because then it rhymes. Right, gorillas sit on pillars.

Ryan got Toby a book of short stories by George Saunders, who happens to be one of Mike Schur's favorite writers.

Ryan got Toby a book of short stories by George Saunders, who happens to be one of Mike Schur's favorite writers.

Joseph knows Chinese Taiwanese and English his favorite books are the Harry Potter books the prettiest place he has ever been is Paris

It is page 85 from the Deathly Hallows book. It is the scene when Voldemort is interrogating Ollivander and the Wandmaker.

You remember we had Rain on to talk about his book *Soul Boom*, why we need a spiritual revolution. Well this podcast is going to cover similar themes.

It's called *Soul Boom* the podcast.

And I'm a guest on his show. I was a little nervous but it was wonderful to sit down with Rain. We talked about some real big life moments that shaped our lives. I laughed a lot, I cried. He's such a thoughtful person and I'm really looking forward to his new podcast. I think it's just going to be great.

This was the post when Rain Wilson joined us to record search committee part two and we all talked about his book, Soul Boom.

You know when I read my kids book the book in no pictures like a classroom. It's like the happiest I am

He's also the guy that wrote The Book with No Pictures.

It's one of our kids' favorite books, and we've read it to them over and over over the years.

And if you have a youngin, The Book with No Pictures, you will love it.

I highly recommend it.

I highly recommend it.

I did it twice because the first time I didn't finish and it bothered me so deeply because I realized that one of my challenges in my early artistic life was having great, tons of great ideas of which I finished none.

I thought, I need to get over this finishing things problem. Right. Why don't I start by finishing The Artist's Way?

You know, one of the things is once a week you have to go on an artist's date alone, by yourself, just you. That could be going to a symphony. That could be sitting in a park and watching people. That could be taking yourself bowling alone.

It's a 12 week self-led creativity seminar in a book.

It requires you to journal three pages every single morning, first thing.

I told a story in my first book, The Lazy Genius Way about how I started small with yoga.

It's Kendra Adachi. She has a podcast and a book called The Lazy Genius. It's really brilliant because it's all so simple and that makes it easy to apply to your life.

John loved this book.

And I guess he purchased the rights to the book with his first paycheck from the office. He had always wanted to adapt it.

He's so smart like that.

Originally, he was just going to write and produce the film.

And I guess it was Rainn Wilson who said to him on set one day, why don't you just direct it yourself?

That sounds like Rainn too.

Rainn is very much the person that's like, why don't you just do it?

So I guess Rainn Wilson kind of kickstarted John's directing career.

So this might have been the thing that inspired him to keep directing, but it was not his debut. He had written, produced, and directed the film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men based on the short story collection by David Foster Wallace.

John loved this book.

I remember this from the time we did the pilot.

He had always wanted to adapt it.

He had also been in John's movie, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

The guy next to me has been diligently reading a book on Texas Hold'em and furiously scribbling notes.

The guy next to me has been diligently reading a book on Texas Hold'em and furiously scribbling notes.

There is a Christian-based mystery novel by writer Marvin Ream called Night Swept and it's available on Amazon.

I just want to let you know that I did google Night Swept and there is a Christian-based mystery novel by writer Marvin Ream okay called Night Swept and it's available on Amazon okay there you have it for super fans out there who might want to read a book called Night Swept it doesn't smell like anything from what I would assume since it's a book and it's not a cologne there you go there you go

Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin.

Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin.