Q&A with Michael Schur: Part 3
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 | 39 commentsIn this third and final part of my chat with The Office’s Michael Schur, we discuss gift exchanges, the origin of Dwight’s cousin, Mose, and eating on the set.
tanster: Which of your scripts was the most challenging to work on and why?
Michael: Lee and Gene (ugh) and I had to write “Traveling Salesmen” and “The Return” very quickly, so for that reason alone I’d say those two.
On my own, I’d say the “Christmas Party” from Season Two. The mechanics of that gift exchange was like calculus. And I got really scared when I realized that a huge part of the episode was just people sitting in a circle. Fortunately Charles McDougall directed the heck out of it, and the actors were at the top of their game.
tanster: The gift exchange was like calculus? Yeah, I guess I can totally see that! That must have been crazy, trying to figure out all the permutations.
Michael: All we really knew at the outline stage, as I remember it, was Jim’s gift for Pam, and Michael’s gift for Ryan. So I wrote all the other characters’ names on slips of paper, and actually did a mock-selection, to get a truly random Secret Santa list, and then just tried to figure out what everyone would get their intended giftee. The only thing I changed was making Kevin get Kevin, because I thought that would be funny.
tanster: Which single line of script is the one you’re most proud of?
Michael: I honestly have a hard time remembering which lines I wrote and which were pitched by other people. There are tons of great jokes and ideas in “my” scripts that were written by other people, so I’m always wary of taking credit for anything.
tanster: Did you know that IMDB credits you with writing “The Oompa Loompa Song” for the episode ‘Traveling Salesmen’? — I think that is so funny.
Michael: That day of shooting was really fun. I think it was Greg’s pitch to have Andy sing the song (if I’m wrong, sorry, other writer who pitched that). Ed Helms is a great improviser, and we just pitched out a hundred variations of the song that he could do.
I believe I came up with “Oompa loompa doopity dawesome / Dwight is now gone, which is totally awesome,” which is the one we ended up using. Ed came up with “Why is he gone he was such a nice guy! / No he was not, he was a total douche!” Which made me laugh for weeks.
tanster: True, “douche” is an awesomely funny word.
Michael: Especially when Andy says it, for some reason.
tanster: How did the part of Mose come about? Was the part written for you?
Michael: Mose goes all the way back to the very early days of Season One. I had watched a reality show called “Amish in the City,” wherein several Amish people on rumspringa moved in to a house in the Hollywood Hills with a bunch of idiot L.A. club kids.
One of the Amish guys was a very friendly fellow named Mose, who tried to become friends with the idiot club kids by making them little wooden toys. I did an impression of him in the room — this is literally like the first week of work — and immediately Greg said, “You’re Mose! You’re Dwight’s cousin Mose!”
tanster: “Amish in the City.” You are totally making that up.
Michael: IMDb it. It was real, and I watched it. Then BJ pitched the idea of “The Initiation,” and was determined to have Mose lurking around the barn to help Dwight with his weird mission. It was super hot that day and all I did was run around in wool clothes. It was kind of miserable. But BJ was very nice — he gave me a bottle of beet juice to thank me for doing it.
The real reason any of this happened, probably, is that my natural beard growth is, weirdly, very Amish. Nothing on my cheeks, only under my chin. That beard you saw in the episode is real, and it took three months to grow.
tanster: Omigod — I didn’t know your Mose beard was real! You told me it was itchy, so I assumed it was fake.
Michael: No no, my friend. 100% real. I am method. Like Hoffman and Brando before me.
tanster: Was this your first acting role?
Michael: I have actually been on TV a couple other times — when I wrote for SNL I would occasionally get put in a monologue or something.
tanster: Will we see more of Mose in Season 4?
Michael: Man, I hope not. The beard almost ruined my marriage.
tanster: More Mose! More Mose!
Michael: Shhhhhhhhhhh. Greg will hear you.
tanster: The cast members often say that they are just as much in the dark as the fans are, in terms of knowing upcoming storylines. Which cast members badger you the most? Have there been any bribes involved?
Michael: None of them really badger us, remarkably. There has always been a tremendous amount of trust between the writers and actors — we trust them to do a great job performing and improving upon what we write, and they are good enough actors to pretend they trust us with crafting their characters, knowing that they can always chuck the script and improvise something better.
The actors do sometimes pitch ideas, and luckily, they’re often fantastic. Steve pitched the idea of an office Casino Night, I believe. And Angela (and maybe Jenna, too, I think) pitched a “Women in the Workplace” seminar that Jan could lead, which became the basis for “Boys and Girls.” I’d say by this point, probably every actor has pitched some idea, big or small, that we’ve eventually used.
tanster: Do the writers keep up with what’s going on in the Office fandom?
Michael: We are keenly aware of how intently people watch the show, and I’ll speak for everyone when I say that we consider ourselves extraordinarily lucky to work on a show that has such a passionate fanbase.
tanster: Have you gained weight since working on The Office? I noticed during my set visit that there is food everywhere. Writers room, backstage, every nook and cranny. Is this how it is on other shows?
Michael: TV sets are the absolute unhealthiest places on earth. One day I kept track of what Greg ate during the course of one day. It must have totaled eleven thousand calories. Mindy thinks he might be a New England Brown Bear in a man suit.
Once we were on a particularly unhealthy eating streak and Greg asked the writers’ assistant to go to the supermarket and get everyone a fresh yellow pepper. We ate fresh yellow peppers for dinner. It was the only healthy moment in the history of television production.
tanster: Final thought: Mose steals Angela away from Dwight at the end of Season 4 — can I add that to OfficeTally’s spoiler thread?
Michael: Angela has been pitching for a while that Mose, Angela, and Dwight go on a road trip. So maybe …
tanster: Well, Michael, I should probably let you get back to writing those amazing scripts. This was fantastic — thanks for taking OT readers on a journey inside the writing process. The writers truly make it look so easy. Can’t wait to see where you guys take us in Season 4!
Michael: Thanks so much for this. It was really fun.
tanster: “It was really fun”? I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes in these interviews with you, and you had “fun”?
Michael: Wait. I’m second-guessing myself. This was the awesomest thing ever! Tanster and Mike 4-eva!!!!
THE END.
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I know I’m late to the party, but as one of the Executive Producers of “Amish in the City,” I was of course thrilled to see that there has been so much interest in the Mose character from the show and that he has been immortalized in “The Office.” I gave Mose a call (we are still in touch) and we were flattered to hear that a character was named after him. He has heard of “The Office” but says that he “doesn’t watch much TV.”
FYI, Mose did NOT move to an Amish community, but he is married and just had his first child. He works as a construction foreman and lives in a house that he built for his new family. He has never regretted doing “Amish in the City,” but admits that “it sure was hard to live with those city kids.”
one of the best office interviews I have ever read.
That was such a fun read! Thanks for bringing the kind of stories we’re really into to your site (much better than “who’s John dating” gossip.) I caught that Amish show too - I guess that brings the total up to 5 on the planet that watched it.
Great job, Tanster. You asked questions we all were curious about–and more–and elicited answers I’ve not seen in the mainstream media. Thumbs up!
What a delightful interview, tanster! Such a treat. A huge thanks to you and to Mike Schur for taking the time to do this. That scene in Initiation with Cousin Mose in the barn was my first lol moment of Season 3, so he will always have a special place in my heart. :)
Great interview, tanster! Thanks for sharing, and thanks also to Mike Schur for taking the time to do the interview. It was really great reading from the writer’s perspective on what goes on on “The Office”. Best interview trilogy ever :)
Thank you, just, thank you. You deserve every minute with the Office cast you can ever have.
I saw Part 3 was posted yesterday but I waited until this morning to read it so I could start my Tuesday off right…and I wasn’t disappointed! If any of us meet up at the convention in October I would propose soft pretzels and fresh yellow peppers for dinner one night. :-)
Thanks, again, tanster for your continued dedication Office fandom. And, of course, thanks also to Mike–if you’re reading this–for giving so much time and energy to helping fans understand the writing process.
I love your site, but I wish you’d have put “Spoiler Alert” in a more prominent position. I want to be surprised by what happens, and unfortunately didn’t realize a spoiler was coming up.
“Mindy thinks he (Greg) might be a New England Brown Bear in a man suit.”
Too funny!!! I’ve had so much fun reading these. Thanks so much, Tanster!
Thanks. That was grrrrrrrrreat! Hope we see more of these in the future. Surely you have proven yourself more than worthy with The Office folks.
Ba ha ha ha! I remember Amish in the City! Here’s the link for a picture of the Amish kids(in case nobody has already posted one): http://www.flakmag.com/tv/images/amish.jpg Mose is on the right if I remember correctly.
I totally remember the wooden toy making. C-lassic (that cee lassic for anyone interested).
Great interview tanster!
Oh my gosh! I totally watched “Amish in the City”! I always hoped they would do a reunion show so we could find out who returned to their Amish town and who left for good. Oh well…..
All 3 parts of this interview were awesome. Great job tanster!
Again, awesome interview! Great questions with real heart - such a rare thing in this world of pimp-my-blogger famewhores. Tanster you rule!
And Mike, ah Mike. Don’t go a-changin.
Again, thanks so much for these.
omg i love how they came up with the cousin mose concept!!!!
I remember seeing the commercials for Amish in the City. I didn’t know that people actually watched it!
Thanks for the awesome interview, Tanster!
amazing! so sad there’s no more though ):
Thanks, Tanster, for bringing us an awesome interview! Great questions!
Oh my rumspringa! We soo watched Amish in the City! Are we dorks?! Who cares, this interview is awe–some!! Hopefully you’ll get to do more of them in the future!! Thanks Tanster!
p.s. CrazyGringa..don’t deny Mose, you know he was yours and that he completed you! ;)