Comic-Con interview with The Office writers

Greg: Are you enjoying Comic-Con? Are you doing some other things? You’ve got like five other sites, too? No, I’m just kidding.

tanster: Yes, I’ll do the not-a-spin-off-tally.com for the new show.

Lee: I think that’s a good URL.

tanster (as the writers try to figure out the acronym for that): It’s kind of a mouthful, right?

Greg (pondering out loud): Not, a, spin-off, N-A-S … NASTY? (Laughs)

Justin: NASOT.com.

tanster: There you go!

Lee: Yeah, there it is.

Justin: “Nasot” is a very lewd part of the female anatomy, so you may want to be careful …

tanster: Is it really? And why do you know this, Justin?

Justin: It’s my other specialty. (Everybody laughs.)

Greg: He is a doctor. He is.

tanster: You play one and you become one, okay. No, I came down here specifically for this panel.

Greg: Oh wow.

tanster: And I’m not going to any others.

Greg: You’re not going to see any of it? Did you walk around?

tanster: I did. And the people who are …

Matt: She’s intimidated by the costumes.

tanster: The costumes are of characters on shows that I know nothing about.

Lee: That’s part of the thing. That’s part of the theory.

Greg: Oh, oh, yes. There are huge celebrities inside those costumes. That’s how they mingle when they go to Comic-Con.

tanster: Omigod!

Greg: Michael Jackson, this year, dressed as a Sith Lord, no, as Darth Vader, I believe …

tanster: We should knock on the masks and ask!

Matt (pondering my ridiculous idea): … knock on the masks …

Greg: Britney Spears is here as that robot from Futurama.

Lee: Is that true or are you making that up?

Greg: No, I’m making the whole thing up. (Everybody laughs) I don’t think there’s any truth to it, but I am trying to spread it.

tanster: That’ll be an exclusive on OfficeTally. Your theory on Comic-Con costumes.

Greg: That’s my theory.

Lee: You should start spreading that, so next year, people will be constantly bumping into each other …

Greg: … yanking their masks off. (Everybody laughs)

tanster: So are you guys going back? Right after this?

Greg: We’re all going at different times.

tanster: The hotel situation is just impossible.

Greg: That’s right. We couldn’t get any rooms. I was thinking about bringing my family and staying the weekend, but there were really no rooms in the entire city.

tanster: No, there’s nothing. And the rooms are exorbitantly priced.

Justin: It’s crazy expensive. I think Lee’s staying on a friend’s couch or something, the rest of us are going home.

Lee: What, tonight?

Justin: Tonight.

Lee: I can afford a hotel room.

Justin: But you can’t. (Everybody laughs.)

Lee: No, I can.

Justin: But you choose not to.

Lee: I choose not to. I’m sleeping on the floor of the convention.

Greg (pointing to drapes in the press room): These curtains, you’re just going to wrap yourself up in these curtains.

Lee: Yeah. I’ll probably sleep standing up.

tanster: Awww. Well I’m sure I could post something on OfficeTally and, you know, a local Tallyhead could put you up for the night.

Lee: Ah see, now that would be something. That would be great.

Greg: That’s interesting. You could make a Craigslist out of it.

tanster: Yeah!

Lee: If you posted a thing now, how fast, I have a hotel room for real, I’m just curious …

tanster: If I posted it now? How fast would it take for someone to respond? Immediately.

Lee: Somebody in San Diego would say, oh Lee Eisenberg can stay with me? (Does Lee even have to ask?)

Justin: Let’s say one of The Office writers needs a kidney. (Everybody laughs.)

Matt: Three minutes.

Lee (to Justin): The problem with that is that the Tallyheads would want you to do the operation.

Greg: The FBI is riddled with Tallyheads. The founding fathers were Tallyheads.

At this point, Matt takes a photo.

Greg (to Matt): You didn’t happen to be in Banff, Canada, did you?

Matt: I did not happen to be in Banff.

tanster: Does he look familiar?

Greg: Yeah, you look familiar! Last summer, I went to the Banff Television Festival and did some interviews with some guys …

Matt: Next time you go to Banff, I’ll go. Just so this makes more sense later.

–

And with that, my audio recording ends. It was less a formal interview and more of a casual chat. With some spoilers thrown in, of course. Hope you enjoyed it, Tallyheads!

Thanks to Jen, Mike, Greg, Justin, Lee, Rainn, J, J, and J for letting me hang out in the press room with y’all.

A special thanks to Matt for being OfficeTally’s photographer, videographer, and post-production engineer during this trip. Hope you had fun! :)