Brent and Justin answer ‘Did I Stutter?’ questions

Q. Why is Toby having this complete character turn-around? How did he become likeable to a jerk? | Sarah

A. We’ve heard a number of people come away from this episode with the idea that Toby is a jerk, and honestly, that was never our intention. As the HR representative of the branch, we thought he would be in the room at the time Ryan gave Jim a formal warning.

Following as it did after he accidentally put his hand on Pam’s knee in ‘Night Out’, it may have seemed more malicious. And after the formal warning, Toby tells the camera that Jim possibly shouldn’t have spent so much time with Pam, but that was never meant to imply that he had anything to do with the warning.

The truth is, Toby is the same meek, put-upon, lovable guy he’s always been. Paul Lieberstein, on the other hand, has become a total jerk. Wish that guy would move to Costa Rica. — Justin

Q. Was Toby the reason Ryan gave Jim a “warning”? | Renee

A. Ask Sarah above about this. She gets it. — Justin

Q. Which came first, the Xterra subplot or the actual owner deciding to sell the car? | What’s Second Base?

A. Definitely the subplot. The car is owned by one of our talented hair stylists, and she would loan it to the show whenever we needed it. After it was used in this episode (and maybe inspired by it?), she decided it was time to let it go. And starting Monday morning, it’s supposed to be featured on the eBay homepage.

If I’d thought of using the show to sell a car on eBay, Andy would have been driving my wife’s ’02 Honda Civic. It has 30,000 miles and a working cassette player if anyone’s interested. — Justin

Q. Angela and Andy playing Madlibs was adorable!! What made you choose that game as opposed to some other wholesome activity? | Dundie All-Star

A. I wish we could take credit for that amazing scene, but it was written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. The writers always talk about the challenges of showing a relationship on our show, since you don’t get to see the characters much out of work, or at least any time the documentary cameras wouldn’t be following them. So I love this little peek into the sort of thing Andy and Angela do together in their free time. — Justin

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47 comments

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1. 
   47. Glenna  Wed. May. 7, 2008 | 9:42pm

   thanks for answering questions! i love reading these :]

   p.s. i’m looking for a car and i’m definitely interested in your honda civic, haha!

2. 
   46. J'osh  Tue. May. 6, 2008 | 3:38am

   Sorry, but mark me in the Toby has an agenda column. I smelled something fishy as soon as he wouldn’t allow Pam and Jim sign the disclosure agreement.

3. 
   45. Fancy New Beesly  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 11:32pm

   So Toby wasn’t supposed to be a complete A-hole? Hmmmm. I’m not convinced the writers don’t have something up their sleeves.

4. 
   44. StephP  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 6:26pm

   Glad they answered the Toby/Jim/Ryan question. Discussing it with my other OFFICE fans at my office, we all thought Toby was using Ryan as a way to break up Jim and Pam.

5. 
   43. what's the dealio?  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 6:03pm

   It’s so fun to get all of the insight from the writers (and their responses were hilarious!) Not only did we get to watch a wonderful and well written episode to start with, we then are treated to this awesome Q&A–icing on the cake! Thanks so much to Office Tally for facilitating this and to Justin and Brent for the generous time to share the cool behind the scenes information. No wonder The Office has such devoted fans–we’re treated so well!

6. 
   42. Post-it Thief  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 5:35pm

   Thanks! Justin, I would have had your back on “The Reprimand.”

7. 
   41. Tina  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:48pm

   Woo!! Yay! My question got answered thank you so much Tanster, Justin and Brent!!!!

   I died laughing at the ’shock of a collar’ part! lol

8. 
   40. rspad  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:32pm

   On NBC.com, there’s a photo of Michael attempting the fluffy fingers on Stanley - too funny:

   Thanks for taking the time to answer questions! It’s very cool to hear the inside story.

9. 
   39. dying star  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:21pm

   Thank you, once again, tanster and The Office writers, for doing this for us fans. What class acts you are! I adore this show more and more every week!

10. 
    38. jkrasislove  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:13pm

    these are great! i think this was my favorite questionnaire yet!

11. 
    37. Michelle  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 3:19pm

    I love these Q&A’s! Thanks for setting them up.

    I’m still wondering if Angela’s “tall” adjective was a reference to Dwight…

    I remember hearing somewhere (maybe it was in the video commentary on the DVD) that in one of the scripts for Stanley’s previous rants, all it said was “Stanley rants” and then he got to just… rant. It’s interesting that they scripted this one. I loved it.

12. 
    36. Lisa  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 3:16pm

    Thank you Brent and Justin for answering these questions!! I love reading these.

13. 
    35. In2TheRoses  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:57pm

    Thanks writers and OfficeTally!

14. 
    34. Pam Scherbatsky  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:53pm

    Haha. Amazing. Tanster, please say Gene & Lee are coming back for Job Fair questions?

15. 
    33. Amie  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:51pm

    The writers always answer everyone’s questions and it is so nice of them! They are all so talented. This Q&A is hilarious, this pair crack me up. Thanks so much Brent and Justin! :)

16. 
    32. Shrutastic  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:39pm

    They HAVE to post the fluffy fingers scene on-line. I can’t believe that got cut out!

17. 
    31. Jill  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:09pm

    Great and interesting stuff! Thanks for answering, Justin & Brent :)

18. 
    30. Joy  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:07pm

    The writers are awesome :) I can hardly get through reading a Q&A without cracking up. Thanks tanster for putting these together, and thanks to all the writers who take the time to answer the questions.

19. 
    29. Jim  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 1:59pm

    Thanks for taking my question, guys (and Tanster).

20. 
    28. Cayce80  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 1:15pm

    I LOVE these little questionairres. Keep ‘em coming. It’s so much fun to read the behind-the-scenes takes on these episodes.

    Thanks again, Tanster and “Office” writers.

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