10 behind-the-scenes 'Office' facts to celebrate 1 year of 'Office Ladies'
It is your birthday, Office Ladies.
It's been a full year since the first episode of Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey's podcast aired, and what a ride it's been.
On the latest episode of Office Ladies, the two BFFs chatted about the "Safety Training" episode of Season 3 and celebrated their exciting podcast milestone by answering general fan questions about the show.
Rather than pull out one key highlight from the episode, we wanted to really live it up and highlight 10 of the best behind-the-scenes Office facts that were shared. Please enjoy, and don't forget to celebrate your favorite office ladies today.
1. The cast members always had assigned seats when filming conference room scenes.
2. Showrunner Greg Daniels decided not to include audio of the camera operators asking questions during characters' talking heads to give the show a more immersive documentary feel. But he did consider revealing a documentarian in the final season. Among the people being considered for the role was Ricky Gervais, co-creator of the original British series.
3. When Darryl and Michael are going back and forth about when office workers can use the baler, Michael says, "Only on the rarest of occasions," and Darryl screams at him. Turns out that delightful exchange was improvised.
4. Several times during this episode Ryan (B.J. Novak) references a "long-sleeved tee." Apparently, there was a huge running debate about whether or not to include the joke. "At 2:00 a.m. in the writer's room, they were debating it. Mike Schur said, 'No. This is a ridiculous line.' And Greg [Daniels] was all for it," Kinsey explained.
5. Jenna Fischer kept the candy container that Pam had up at reception and it's in her office today.
6. When Michael says that office life causes a "sedimentary lifestyle," that was not in the script. Sounds like some brilliant Steve Carell improv.
7. Fischer and Kinsey also think a bit of the convo that Dwight and Michael had about how to illustrate the dangers of depression was improvised. Remember when Dwight suggested a "depression quilt?"
8. 12 watermelons were purchased for the trampoline test scene, and the first 10 or 11 takes didn't go well, so Daniels thought they'd have to use a CGI watermelon in the end.
9. Miraculously, a watermelon finally bounced off the trampoline and onto the Chrysler 300 in the parking lot. The melon reportedly dented the roof and broke the electric moon roof, which cost the production team $6,500 to fix.
10. Creed really ate a raw potato after they switched out his apple in a scene. Kinsey texted the actor to confirm, and he replied, "I definitely bit right into that potato and it wasn't half bad."
Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories about the show, the podcast, and what it was like to film "Safety Training."
You can stream episodes of The Office on Netflix and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.
Topics The Office Celebrities
Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.
