Paul Lieberstein/Amy Ryan conference call
Monday, September 8th, 2008 | 54 commentsSPOILER ALERT! Notes and subsequent comments may discuss spoilers.
I had the pleasure of participating in a conference call with The Office’s Paul Lieberstein and Amy Ryan this morning, along with bunches of press people. We all got a turn in asking Paul and Amy questions, mainly about Season 5.
Here are my rough notes from the call.
- Regarding the relationship between Holly and Michael, Amy says “there’s a lid for every pot, or as I like to say, a lid for every crackpot.”
- Amy is back home in New York, and has already finished shooting the initial agreement of six episodes. There are no plans for any additional eps, but Amy says “never say never.”
- Does Holly get to interact with everybody at the office, and not just Michael and Kevin? Amy says she completely moves into Toby’s desk. Holly gets to interact with everybody in the office.
- What brings Toby back? Paul replies, “a failure to escape.” Paul had a friend who actually saved up enough money to “live poor” on the beaches of Hawaii, had a big going away party, and then came home two weeks later. He was lonely, was robbed on the beach, “and this was our model.”
- Paul finds it hard to watch other comedies. He says it’s like looking at code in ‘The Matrix.’
- When asked if Toby can find happiness, Paul laughed, “I don’t know if happiness is in Toby’s future.”
- Does the hazing of Holly continue? Paul says the hazing stops.
- Paul characterizes Holly as a “junior Michael.”
- Paul says he will probably be directing a couple of episodes this season.
- Paul says “We miss Mike [Schur] a lot.” They see him when he gets hungry and has to come over for snacks.
- Does Holly figure out that Kevin isn’t “special”? Amy says “yeah, she finds out the hard way.”
- I asked Paul about Stephen Merchant, who is directing the episode in production this week — a Halloween episode! Paul said it was really exciting having Stephen there; he kept them honest in preserving the integrity of the documentary format. “He’d call us out every once in awhile, when we seem to go a little too far, or a little too personal. When we shoot a scene in the bathroom, he’s like ‘really?’ He’s extremely funny, and it’s been great working with him. There will be some great new Halloween costumes to look forward to!” (Jenna Fischer also talks about the Halloween episode in her latest MySpace blog.)
- Jason Reitman (he directed last season’s ‘Local Ad’) will be back to direct another episode this season.
- Amy talks about bloopers. She said at one point, she laughed so hard she started to cry. Makeup had to be reapplied. Paul laughed, “I didn’t know that.”
- NBC interjects at one point to confirm, yes, there will be cast bobbleheads.
- Paul says it breaks his heart when some of the most priceless scenes (such as Creed jamming with the band in ‘Booze Cruise’) never make it to air.
- Is Toby a threat to JAM? Paul quips “Toby is less of a threat than the price of gas.”
- Paul almost never writes lines for Toby.
- Is there sometimes a concern that the writing focuses too much on relationships and not enough on funny stories? The writers talk about it a lot. No episode is ever just about a relationship. There is always something else going on, a robbery, ethics training, etc. Paul says “The relationships are always the B story.”
- What happens with Ryan? “He’ll spring back up in a way that’s typical of people who can spin anything.” Hmmm, what could that mean …
- Do Angela and Andy actually make it to the altar? Paul says “There will be altar of sorts. But not in the way you’re thinking. There’s a lot of fun coming up in their relationship.”
- What about Jan’s baby? Paul says “You will see a baby shower that the office throws for her. There is some talk about who the father might be.”
- The last question of the call was for Paul: “You mentioned earlier a robbery and ethics training. Are these coming up this season?” Paul: Yes.
Watch With Kristin was also in on the call: here is their report.
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my predictions for this season: ryan as the new receptionist,(he has to do community services) and jan’s baby is gonna be black.
I think that Hunter could be the dad of Jan’s baby — and perhaps Pam’s replacement, too?
Headphone -
I understand, but I still think it was kind of rushed. It would have been easier if there was no strike and there was more time for buildup, but compare Ryan pre-”Night Out” to Ryan post-”Night Out” and it’s a DRASTIC change.
My opinion? Kevin is Jan’s baby daddy. Think about it, he has money problems so he probably went to donate and lied on the form.
OMG! I just watched Kristen’s Videos (Watch w/ Kristen -eonline) On one video clip she says that JAM stays in contact with the “world’s smallest Bluetooth.” The other clip says that there are 2 guys speaking about their engagements at Dunder Mifflin. One is Andy and the other is NOT Jim! I don’t know what to say…
“Toby is less of a threat [to JAM] than the price of gas”? Seriously?
Epinson-
I think the conflict with Jim is totally believable. He was insecure about his job and the website was not doing well(even before the fraud) and Ryan saw Jim going to Wallace as a threat to his position. That’s why he decided to get Jim fired.
i saw the hard partying and the ego mash-up with jim as further parody of the business school d-bag (no offense to any real business school people out there, i just mean that cliche type of guy)
i think it is also just another element of him getting in over his head. i feel like ryan thinks he is hot stuff, takes himself too seriously and is intense. i feel like that has been consistent throughout. with that in mind, all the developments this season seem reasonable to me. i mean, reasonable within a fictional comedy parody about people who work together :)
I know that Ryan was kind of a jerk this season, but I still love him! As fantastic as everyone else is, he’s always been my favorite character. I can’t wait to see what they do with him this season. Rehab, haha? And I sort of hope he keeps the half-beard. It was really cute.
I have to wonder what they meant about the altar involved in Andy and Angela….Hmmmm…
Honestly, I think Ryan’s big thing was not that he was above everyone else, but he was above where he currently was, and he was frustrated with it. It’s the situation where someone is right out of college, and they can’t do exactly what they want to do, because they don’t have enough real world experience.
His ideas at Corporate were actually very good ideas (on paper) that should have been put in long before he got there. Since when does a publicly traded company not have a working website? Also, blackberries ARE good for salesmen who travel to clients, and need to access information from the road. He just went overkill by having a social networking section on the website.
The reason why I said he did a 180 was because of the later developments of the season (the conflict with Jim and the drug problem). Both came out of nowhere, and didn’t seem like the real Ryan.
Wait, Toby’s returning? I don’t want Holly to leave!
Ryan was always a conceited jerk who thought he was above everyone in Scranton. He had a funny side. So his turn in season 4 wasn’t unrealistic it was inevitable when he was given that power in the company. He didn’t have the maturity or experience to handle it.
exactly diahern, that’s what i was thinking. you are picking up what i am putting down!
I’m glad Toby is back but what about Jim and Pam AHHH
Ooooohhhh… Tuna Tuna Tuna, you make a good point! What if the internship is the weekend only program that Jan introduced to Pam in Season 2. I’m not worried about JAM. They’re too good together and make for good TV.
I don’t think Ryan did a 180 last year at all. From the very beginning, Ryan was always a bit of a jerk who thought he was above it all and better than everyone else. He always treated Kelly poorly (okay, who could put up with her, but still). I think they planted the seeds (so to speak) of his downfall a long time in advance.
oh, i didn’t even pay attention to the internship thing cause i thought they were referring to her program at pratt. but yeah, i guess this is something different. i am not going to freak out about jim and pam, i didn’t get worked up at any point last season although i know a lot of people got worried every other episode! anyway it will all work out in the end.
so if it is an internship that means it is unpaid. i wonder if she is doing any part time receptionist work to pay her bills….hmmm….
Holly finds out “the hard way” that Kevin’s not special? I’m kinda worried about what that means… lol
also- thank GOD there’s a Halloween special. and thanks for asking about Merchant’s directing Tanster! Loved that bit of info :)
(also - now I have to make room on my work desk for a whole cast of bobbleheads… hmmmm I guess I could move my employee of the year mug.)
We need Todd Packer back! Any possibility that that’s who Jan’s donor will turn out to be?
If Pam is getting an internship, I wonder if it will cause her to stay longer in New York? I hope not cause the office wouldn’t be the same without Pam at reception and who knows how Jim would handle that.