Jen Celotta answers ‘Goodbye, Toby’ questions
Thursday, May 29th, 2008Here is the final Q&A of the season, which answers your ‘Goodbye, Toby’ questions.
The wonderful Jennifer Celotta, who co-wrote ‘Goodbye, Toby’ with Paul Lieberstein, presides over this Q&A, with guest contributors sprinkled throughout. Enjoy!
Please don’t copy and paste this post to other sites; link to http://www.officetally.com/jen-celotta-answers-goodbye-toby-questions instead. Thanks!
Q. Was it really hot the day you filmed the outdoor party scenes? Everyone looked really sweaty. Michael’s singing and dancing was hilarious. How many takes did Steve do, and was everyone else cracking up? | Jaz
Jen: It was pretty hot when we shot those day scenes and then at night the temperature dropped and we all had hand warmers in our pockets.
I think Steve did three takes of “Goodbye Toby” and he really let loose on the last one — he also did some Michael Scott-style break dancing and started a conga line — I believe the full version of his song is being cut together, possibly for the Season 4 DVD, but don’t quote me on that.
Q. Who were the other “band” members? Members of the crew? Casted musicians? Friends who jam with Craig? | MNFan
Jen: The other band members were friends of Craig’s that he plays with and they were great. I especially liked Craig’s vocals on the Norah Jones song “Don’t Know Why.”
from tanster: here’s a band introduction from Craig Robinson –
Craig: Yes, that is my band. The bass player is my brother Chris Rob, the drummer is Asa Watkins, and the guitar player is David Sampson, also known as Sampsonic.
from tanster: a hello from Chris Rob (bass) …
Chris: I got the gig because I perform in Craig’s band, who incidentally is my brother. We rock the house every time, just like on the Office!
This was my first time on a television sitcom, but not on a TV show. While touring with John Legend, I was on many talk shows, including Oprah, Ellen, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and the Tonight Show.
Working with Steve was crazy, it’s very difficult to keep a straight face while doing the take … there was some footage I was praying they would put in the show of him dancing, but they didn’t! I think he’s like a new Steve Martin, he’s great.
from tanster: and a hello from David Sampson (guitar) …
David: Craig held auditions. There were thousands of applicants lined up around Staples Center. He was looking for a hot chick, but I had the best chemistry with the band.
Steve is totally loose. He is all about the improv. We did a few takes and each one was totally hilarious and different. One take, he took my guitar and ripped an Eddie Van Halen style guitar solo! It was just too out of character for Michael, so they cut it.
I had a great time filming that episode. The crew and cast were all super friendly and professional.
WOW. I promised myself I would not obsess about anything related to The Office until after my final exams…and it was a very rough few weeks, but OFFICETALLY MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT!!! It is so great to have such devoted fans (tanster) who will set up discussions with such amazing and talented writers. We are indeed very lucky fans : )
49 | from himself, from the future Mon. Jun. 2, 2008 at 3:28pmThanks again for all your willingness to share with us, and for giving me a nice happy light at the end of the tunnel of exam-taking!
Ahaha, that chair and trampoline leg made me laugh so hard!
48 | That's What She Said Sun. Jun. 1, 2008 at 9:26pmWow, I want to see the 73 minute rough cut! It’d be like a feature length version of The Office!
47 | d.j. Sat. May. 31, 2008 at 5:02pmI have to admit that after the finale I was bitter about the lack of JAM nuptials - but reading Moses’ account of chair and trampoline leg just make me fall in love all over again. Thank you SO much Mike Schur!
46 | chilistonite Sat. May. 31, 2008 at 7:39amI do not normally laugh at stuff I read(I’m the type who finds the delivery of lines to be more amusing than the actual dialogue.) But wow, the “Chair” story definitely had me LOLing. Possibly even LMAOing.
45 | Brown Bear Sat. May. 31, 2008 at 7:35amI am so excited and grateful that Jen answered my question. Thanks so much for doing all of this Tanster!
44 | Lisa Sat. May. 31, 2008 at 5:03amWow the full finale was 70+ minutes long? I wonder what else we missed? DVD extra maybe??
43 | Jessica Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 9:48pmholy gosh! Tanster, this is sooo awesome! I love how you put other tidbits from different castmembers!
42 | kat Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 9:00pmThanks for all the effort you put into this website that satisfy my office craving!
Thanks Tanster for submitting my question! Thank you to Jen and Jenna for the response. It feels great to contribute.
41 | Jamey Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 7:05pmWhat great insight into the episode. Thanks for taking our questions Tanster, and thank you to the writers for answering them. :)
40 | StephanieC Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 6:50pmThanks once again, Tanster, for putting this together. Also, BIG thanks to the awesome Jen Celotta (and guest contributors) for answering my question and all the rest! Craig, I think your band needs to book a gig in Minneapolis. ;)
I have to agree with the earlier comment “It sounds silly, but this show brings a lot of joy to my life.” :)
39 | MNFan Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 6:35pmGoodbye Toby was so much fun to watch and rewatch, and it’s wonderful to learn about the making of it. These Q&As are so generous and just golden. Thanks so much! Jen Celotta can even make me laugh when she’s answering questions about an episode! No wonder the talking heads are always so great. The effort and care that goes into them is amazing.
38 | what's the dealio? Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 5:49pmHahahahaha….”Chair”
37 | I like beets Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 4:22pmThanks to the awesome input from Jen and the Office gang! And a special thanks to Tanster for organizing the Q&A! Office fans are so spoiled :)
I was glad that they originally chose a badger… Go Wisconsin Badgers!!!
36 | Tiffany Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 2:51pmBig thanks to Tanster and Jen for these answers. It is so great that the writers do this for us fans.
I literally do not know how I’m going to make it until Sept. 25th…
35 | jkfan9989 Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 2:06pmThank you so much everybody for a fantastic season finale and Q&A! This is one of my favorite features on the site and I have been eagerly awaiting these answers.
I also enjoyed the recognition of Pam’s mad note taking skills - I started laughing so hard when she started writing after Toby’s answer to “Who do you think you are?”
34 | spontaneous/dental/hydroplosion Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 1:43pmTHANK YOU!! i literally came to this site 10 times a day for this Q&A! you rock, TANSTER!!!
btw, i hope they include the extended rough cut version of goodbye, toby on the DVD
33 | oaky afterbirth Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 1:39pmJen, I feel the exact same way about deep fried Twinkies.
Thanks Jen and Tanster. I absolutely love these Q&A’s!!
32 | BlueJeanBaby Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 1:19pmThese Q&A’s are awesome! Thank you so much to Tanster, Jen, and all of the previous writers for doing this!
31 | Michelle Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 12:59pmThanks tanster, and also kudos to the Tallyheads for all these great questions (I haven’t been able to think of one yet!)
30 | nv Fri. May. 30, 2008 at 12:42pm