The Office ‘Murder’ Q&A with Danny Chun

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | 21 comments

Q. Have the writers made this a conscious decision to make Pam more emotional because she is pregnant? | ArtistGeek

Danny: See above. I’m not sure how much of it is pregnancy hormones — I think it’s more about the fact that she’s starting a family and her priorities have changed. 

Q. Why did Pam walk out on Jim while they were having their discussion about potential joblessness? | Duncan Morgan

Danny: Two reasons: 1) she cares about Michael and she thought it would be best to indulge him, and 2) she was very stressed herself and Michael’s tactic of just playing a game to get through the day was appealing to her. Remember, when the game was starting, Pam was the first to get up and speak.

This episode was partly about Jim realizing that sometimes Michael isn’t crazy, he’s crazy like a fox. And it seemed like Pam would understand that before Jim would.


Q. Did Dwight really hit himself … there? | Kathryn

Danny: I asked Rainn. His reply:  “Yes, I punched myself in the junk.  That’s not something you can fake.  You have to actually haul off and wack yourself in the testicles in order for it to be read on camera and for the truthfulness of the acti…  wait a minute.  Now that I think of it… I COULD have just faked it!  Dammit!  Why didn’t I just hit CLOSE to my junk?!?!  I severed a junk vein and am now wearing a catheter.  Please tell me it was worth it!”

Q. Did you write the cold open as well, if not who’s idea was it? Watching Dwight desperately try to counter his own attacks and eventually catch himself by surprise was priceless. | Nick Merritt

Danny: The seminar updating everyone on the year in karate was my idea. Originally it had a different ending.

The Dwight ending was Jen Celotta’s idea, I think. But I’m not sure, and in general I hate that game of remembering who pitched what.

In my experience, the credit is given to the wrong person about half the time. And then the person who really came up with the joke or idea is in a very awkward position of having to speak up and claim credit. Everyone ends up feeling like a jerk. Friendships are demolished.

But yeah, I’m positive Jen came up with the ending.

Q. Was the scene where Dwight hit himself a reference to ‘Fight Club’? In an earlier episode Pam says: ‘I’m going to hit you as hard as I can’, which also sounded like a reference to that movie. | Tobester

Danny: It was not a reference to the book/movie “Fight Club,” it was a reference to the real fight club I belong to. We meet every week in Jake Busey’s backyard.


Q. Were there any scenes of Stanley participating in the game that were cut from the episode? | Jamie

Danny: No — I thought Stanley would probably not have any interest in playing.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

21 comments

Pages: [2] 1 » Show All

1. 
   21. Courtney L  Thu. Nov. 19, 2009 | 11:13am

   thanks! keep up the great work

2. 
   20. Morgan  Thu. Nov. 19, 2009 | 7:12am

   Thanks for answering my question, Danny! It’s awesome that an Office writer acknowledged my existence! I loved the answers. One of the funniest Q&As ever. I love Rainn’s response.

3. 
   19. Stapler  Thu. Nov. 19, 2009 | 4:31am

   I agree – the Q&A was just as funny as the episode! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud at a Q&A. Hopefully we’ll be seeing Danny’s name in the writing credits more often. Thanks for answering my question too. (You’re sure the hamster wasn’t named “Stapler”?)
   :)

4. 
   18. Vicky87  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 5:27pm

   Thanks for taking the time to do a Q&A Danny! And thanks for answering one of my questions! Wooo! A first for me!

   I loved all the pun names as well. So clever!

   And it’s a shame Michael’s line about Shawn Mullin’s didn’t make it into the ep. It was a good one.

   (And yeah, I think he was joking about the JAM term, too.)

5. 
   17. Kenna  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 5:01pm

   What a fantastic, funny, in-depth Q&A! The Southern pun names are so great – I think Carl Erdgreens is my favorite. And I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at the Michael line about Shawn Mullins. I wish that had made it, too.

   Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us, Danny! Awesome read. :)

6. 
   16. Receptionitis15  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 4:09pm

   I’m pretty sure Danny knows about the term ‘JAM’. :)

   Thanks DChun! Loved the episode and the Q&A!

7. 
   15. Ryans' Hobbit  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 3:59pm

   Danny, thanks for doing the Q&A, you are such a wonderful asset to The Office team!

   I love that your episode is titled MURDER – every time I see that, I think it’s called MUKDUK :)

   *** You guys, I’m pretty sure he was being funny re. JH & P ***

8. 
   14. Tina  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 3:31pm

   Ahhhh!! Oh my goodness :D All my questions were answered! Thank you so much Danny and Tanster. I’ll just believe the hamster was really named Tina. lol

9. 
   13. JuJu  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 3:04pm

   #7 and #12: Are you familiar with sarcasm? ;) Lol. I’m pretty sure he was being ironic. This is an Office writer after all.

   But yeah, thank you so much Danny Chun! GREAT Q&A, and keep up the good work!

10. 
    12. Kalie  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:50pm

    Awesome interview! He’s hilarious! Thanks Danny for answering our questions!

    I agree with #7! Someone should have told him that the shorthand for Jim and Pam is JAM! :D

11. 
    11. Erin  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:45pm

    I literally died laughing when I was reading the Southern pun names. Being from the south, I love that he made a pun using the name of the city where I live. Awesome. And the accents cracked me up too, mostly with how far off some were.

12. 
    10. Beets-man  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:25pm

    LOL i thought that i was the only one who ROTFL when andy is talking to michael about his standup comedy

13. 
    9. Scott  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:12pm

    Danny, you just broke the first rule of Fight Club!

14. 
    8. Nick C.  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:09pm

    Thanks for the Q&A! And also thanks for answering my question :)

15. 
    7. Jamfan  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 1:58pm

    Funny that he didn’t know the abbreviation for Jim and Pam! JAM<3

    Loved the Q&A. Thanks Danny!

16. 
    6. what's the dealio?  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 1:29pm

    These were the best As of any Q&A ever. Thanks so much for all of the great behind the scenes info–it was really funny and interesting! I’d think I’d even be happy to read Danny Chun’s to-do list or grocery list any day–his writing is so fun to read! The collaborative, generous efforts that go into the scripts are so impressive. I loved this episode, it was so funny and well done. (I wish that Michael’s line about Shawn Mullins had been in the final cut too!)

17. 
    5. Collins  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 1:25pm

    Thanks so much Danny! really funny answers and very informative. I’m also a part of the large group of people who “lol’ed” at “just pooping, you know how I be” It was so unexpected.

18. 
    4. Marsha  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 1:18pm

    Thank you for answering questions! And I agree with you and #1. “Just poopin’, you know how I be” was awesome.

19. 
    3. Janae  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 12:43pm

    Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! So very interesting.

20. 
    2. JMJ  Wed. Nov. 18, 2009 | 12:40pm

    That was a great Q&A, very informative and funny.

Pages: [2] 1 » Show All

Add a comment

Please follow OfficeTally's comment policy. Thanks!

Name (required)

Email address (required, won't be shown)

Website

200 word maximum!

Add a gravatar to your comment | Subscribe to comments