Justin Spitzer answers ‘Moroccan Christmas’ questions

Q: My question is all about Jim’s hilarious cold-open prank: Was that your idea, or someone else’s? Did it take the prop department a long time to construct? And how many takes did you do of Dwight sitting down into it – Rainn’s reaction was priceless! | Laura M.

Justin: That one was mine. Ever since I started working on the show, I’ve been asking my friends in the corporate world what pranks go on in their offices, and the single most mentioned one is wrapping people’s desks, whether in wrapping paper or newspaper or aluminum foil. I’ve been looking for an excuse to get some version of that prank in the show, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The construction guys went through a lot of different options to get the effect right. The first thing they tried was this complex mechanism of boards and spring-loaded locking mechanisms (I’m just saying words — I don’t know what any of that means). But it was pretty elaborate.

What we finally ended up using was a cheap, simple box of foam core — kind of a cardboard/Styrofoam thing. The prop guys spent I don’t know how many hours making up four desks, which would give us four takes to get it right. Then the first take ended up being perfect and we moved on.

Q: Meredith sure seems to do a lot of stunts – i.e. getting hit by a car, a ball, having her head put in a garbage bag … and now her hair catches on fire! How did you pull it off, and did Meredith herself perform her own stunts? | Agent Michael Scarn
Q: I can imagine that it was too dangerous for Kate Flannery to do her own stunt, but did she want to? | jkrasislove

Justin: Kate Flannery has done a number of her own stunts, but this is one that was way too dangerous (although knowing Kate, I wouldn’t be surprised if she would have gladly stepped in had we given her the option of doing it herself).

A stunt woman was wearing a version of Meredith’s costume that had been flame retarded, a flesh-colored mask over the side of her face that would be flamed, and I’m pretty sure some Vaseline over the other side of her face. We had three wigs made to look like Kate’s hair, with part of each ready to go up in flames and the rest of it similarly flame-proof.

And then, just like the desk in the cold open, the first take worked great and we didn’t need the rest. So we’ve apparently made three gift-wrapped foam-core desks and two Kate Flannery replica wigs too many. Let’s start the bidding …

–

Thanks again to Justin, and to Tallyhead Nation for providing the questions! All I wanted from Santa this year was one last Q&A — I’m a happy girl. :)

Check out more Q&As in the Episode Q&A Archive. Essential reading for every Office super fan!

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43 comments

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1. 
   43. Lesa Byrum  Sat. Feb. 21, 2009 | 11:56pm

   Do you know the song which was played while the credits rolled on the Moroccan Christmas – Dec 12, 2008? It was a slow quiet song, maybe a female singing some.

   Thank you!

2. 
   42. Angela's Cat Party  Fri. Feb. 20, 2009 | 9:24am

   In regard to the last answer… did you mean flame retardANT?

3. 
   41. julie  Wed. Jan. 7, 2009 | 2:32pm

   it must make the writers so happy to know people pay such CLOSE attention to the episodes. the office has the best/most obsessed fans! represent, dunderheads!

4. 
   40. Jill  Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 | 2:28pm

   Fascinating as always! Thanks Justin (and tanster) Happy Holidays :)

5. 
   39. nv  Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 | 9:31am

   I actually burst out laughing at Justin’s answer to the Pam and porn question. Thank you, Justin and tanster- these are always SO entertaining!

6. 
   38. scrantonicity  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 7:35pm

   @ 36:

   Jim already did that. In Conflict Resolution it is revealed that Jim set up a macro on Dwight’s computer so that whenever he typed ‘Dwight’ the word ‘diapers’ came up instead.

   What do you guys think of the “Pam loves porn” comment?
   Was he kidding, or….

7. 
   37. Karen  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 3:58pm

   I think knowing that it was a rubber pen makes that scene even funnier. And that’s funny “ha-ha”. Thanks so much Justin for answering mine and everyone else’s questions!

   And, Tanster, for selecting my question, I think I quite simply love you. :D

8. 
   36. DJ Jazzy Flax  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 12:39pm

   Wow, I thought it’d be impossible for Ed Helms to get any more awesome. I shall call him the Big Talent.

   And thanks Tanster for another awesome Q&A; your hard work is very greatly appreciated! Thanks to Justin Spitzer & the rest of TO for your awesomeness as well!

9. 
   35. Ashley VanDellen  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 12:36pm

   A really funny, simple prank that would be hilarious for Jim to do to Dwight is changing the Microsoft Word auto-correct setting. For instance, if Jim set the auto-correct for “Dwight K Schrute” to something like “The Dark Knight.” Every email he sends would be signed by the dark night or something like that. It’s funny to do with common words too like “the.”

10. 
    34. black cat  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 11:26am

    I appreciated Justin’s willingness to answer the “dark tone” questions. I’m glad he realized people would either love or hate this episode. Sadly, I didn’t love it. But, I enjoyed Justin’s answers and thank him for his time!

11. 
    33. No, not like a ham  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 10:00am

    Great fun! I enjoy the thought process behind the magic we see each week.

    I have to chuckle at how some of you folks take all the answers to heart. It shows how excited you are about the show, it’s cute. I know he was kidding about JAM eloping but I hope, when they do marry, it’s a real wedding. We need a pay-off.

    I agree with 28|SSE – Cheers to Tanster, in the immortal words of Toby Flenderson, “To Amsterdam!”.

12. 
    32. Zac  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 8:31am

    Thanks for answering my question, Justin.

13. 
    31. wheresmybulldog  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 7:55am

    Wow, Pam and I have something in common!

14. 
    30. jkfan9989  Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 | 5:06am

    The Office writers and Tanster are very good to us! Much thanks, and Happy Holidays to all.

15. 
    29. luvrgrrl  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 10:08pm

    #25 Caity- Thank you! I was just about to say the same thing. He was KIDDING about the porn and the elopement thing you guys! I can’t believe how many people took it and ran. Haha!

    Thank you, Justin and tanster! These are just an awesome treat every time. :o)

16. 
    28. Stacey  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 9:34pm

    Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this Q&A! =)

17. 
    27. SSE  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 8:28pm

    Awesome, as always. I would like to propose a toast in honor of Tanster…to Amsterdam!

18. 
    26. Jana  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 7:43pm

    It doesn’t matter how much I love an episode–it ALWAYS goes up a notch or two after reading the writer Q&As.

    Big sloppy wet kisses to Justin for the answers.

    And air-fives to tanster for bringing this site into existence.

19. 
    25. jennyl  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 6:38pm

    Very cool – lots of details….thanks Justin & Tanster!

20. 
    24. Caity  Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 | 3:57pm

    I love how seriously people are taking the porn and elopement jokes, haha. He was kidding!

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