B.J. Novak answers ‘Chair Model’ questions
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Q. Was Kevin using his footbath from the Christmas party in the scene where he talked to Michael? | Moe
A. Yes he is. Kevin is having a pretty bad morning at that point. The footbath is to alleviate the effects of his thirty-minute walk from the satellite parking lot. We shot it from other angles that emphasize the footbath more, but that seemed to distract from the dialogue of the scene.
Q. Brian did a wonderful job at showing a different side of Kevin. It was very touching. How did this come about? Were you reluctant to show a different side of Kevin? | Scott G
A. It was great to see more of Kevin. I don’t think we were reluctant at all, it was just a question of whether there was time for that much story. I love that Michael is such a dramatic and public person that he spends his post-breakup episode making outrageous ultimatums to his staff and driving to graveyards; and yet, the same thing just happened to Kevin, and we just catch a glimpse of his story shyly poking through. It has a beginning, middle, and end, just like Michael’s breakup story, but it’s on a much more realistic scale.
Q. Last week we heard about some great visual jokes that were in Dinner Party that weren’t really focused on, like all the photos in the condo being of Jan with other men — were there any little background jokes in this episode that we might not have noticed? | Megan
A. I would have said the footbath, but someone noticed that.
Q. Was the song that Michael sang at the chair model’s grave improvised or did you really change the words to the beloved American Pie song in the script? | Kim
Q. Were there other possibilities for the song that Michael and Dwight sang at the Chair Model’s grave? If so, what other ideas were tossed around? | Ashley
A. Yes. The original idea was a version of “Candle in the Wind,” which we wrote lyrics for. When we didn’t get permission for it, we made a wish list of alternative possibilities. We were surprised and thrilled that “American Pie” cleared.
We also cleared ZZ Top’s “Legs,” which we planned to use when we do a time-cut to later that night. But on the last take in the graveyard, we had the idea to let Steve and Rainn just sing their hearts out to American Pie. Once we saw that … there’s no other way to end a show if you have a take like that.
Wow! I love all these tidbits! They let me appreciate this great ep even more! Thanks BJ
72 | Jill Fri. Apr. 25, 2008 at 11:46amI agree, these are great! Please make them a regular!!
71 | In2TheRoses Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:44pm66 - I doubt it was in a real cemetery. They had to have made that gravestone, and most cemeteries have visitors and ceremonies each day. They can’t just shut one down because a show has to film.
70 | Sara in Philly Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 3:55pmThis is so cool because it shows you just how down to earth the Office people are. They sound like they’d be so fun to hang out with.
69 | Dwigt Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 3:36pmAwesome!!! I LOVE this site!!
68 | I like beets Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 2:54pmThank you B.J. for providing such great answers and thank you Tan Monster for setting this up!
67 | Sticious Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 2:46pmI didn’t think about the cemetery angle until it was brought up here, but yea, it would seem kinda strange to take a small film crew into a real cemetery to film a comedy where a guy dances on a grave.
66 | absolutely I do Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 1:15pmIn tanster’s set blog there was a pic of fake Schrute headstones in the prop dept. It’s plausible it’s either a fake cemetery or real with fake headstones(esp those Dwight jumped on.)
Thanks a bunch! These were great!
65 | Pam Scherbatsky Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 12:58pmJust as brilliant as last time. Thank you so much BJ and Tanster. Our writers are the best. Hope to hear from Mindy as well. This is sort of, kind of a regular column now, yes? :) Once again thanks.
64 | eb Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:46amThanks Tanster and BJ! It is really great to have these Q&As! Just another reason (the graciousness of everyone involved) why The Office is my favorite show!
63 | my my my turn Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:18amI concur with everyone above…great to have a Q&A feature with guest responders! Really appreciate the time BJ took to answer questions and of course Jennie for setting it up.
I love any behind-the-scenes insight like this. It proves that the fans are sharp (like picking up that Kevin was using his footbath) and the writers for making these characters so real and remembering their histories (even though we didn’t see the footbath in the broadcast version, the writers put it there and we noticed).
LOVED the Paul Faust story - how he got cast, using his real name, and how he connected his real website to his character. Just brilliant!
62 | Stapler Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:03amThanks B.J. and Tanster…I love these Q&A’s!!
61 | Extra Awesome Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 10:14amWow… this is not your ordinary blog. You have the connects!
60 | UNSHUN Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 9:59amlol, I seriously saw that Reddi Whip commercial with Pam’s landlady like 10 minutes after I watched this episode and I was completely thrown off!
Thanks BJ and tanster :-)
59 | kelley Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 8:42amI would have died to see Michael and Dwight singing ‘Legs’ about the chair model. But, it ended pretty well anyway.
58 | the zoppity Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 8:16amSo informative! PLEASE have these for every episode, they greatly add!
57 | Ben Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 7:34amThanks for using my question, Tanster (and thanks for answering BJ)!
I hope this continues…it’s really cool to get the background behind these episodes so soon after watching them!
56 | Ashley Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 7:25amThank you so much for giving us this extra insight into the show we all love so much! What other show has writers/actors/producers/directors who are so giving of their time and talent to their fans??? And what other fan website has such an awesome administrator who thinks up great ideas like this Q&A segment and then has the connections to pull it off? Thanks Tanster! And thanks to B.J. and Gene and Lee for taking the time to answer. I really hope to hear from Mindy too!!!
55 | Kristin Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:50amAh! I wish I would have submitted a question on time…but maybe i’ll just ask you tallyheads what you think? do you think that they shot the cemetery scene on a fake cemetery? I mean it would be sooo disrespectful to be dancing around and being so silly like that in a real cemetery, no?
54 | jenn mark Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:00amThis is just awesome. Many thanks to B.J. for taking the time to do this. And many corresponding thanks to tanster for hooking us up!
53 | NathanTheTemp Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 5:45am