Q. How many times did Steve, Rainn, Ed and Jenna crack up during gunpoint scene? | Tiffany
Danny: They held it together really well. Greg and I were the ones cracking up. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of me peeing myself.
The camera was used really well to hide and then reveal that Pam was a part of the Mexican standoff in the tag scene. Whose idea was it to use the camera to hide Pam from the audience in the first half of that scene? | kreidy
Danny: Greg and our DP, Matt Sohn, worked it out. Greg came to the shoot with the idea of whipping the camera in a 360 to show all 4 actors. I had the idea to watch all this while eating applesauce.
Q. How did you come up with the idea for Tube City? Was it fun testing it? What was the Hamsters name? | Tina
Danny: I’m not sure how I came up with it, but the stated purpose of that talking head was to have some funny reason why Jim has to back down from stopping the Murder game. It was just a totally wide-open spot for a joke.
That’s my favorite, and it’s definitely something I was experienced with from The Simpsons. Tube City feels kind of like a Simpsons-y joke to me.
I wasn’t actually around when they shot that footage, so I didn’t get to play with it.
The hamster’s name was Tina.
Q. Were there any more scenes taken with Tube City? | Mike
Danny: Sadly, the tubes were dismantled after that shot and the hamster was fed to a local coyote.
Q. Is the budding yet awkward relationship between Andy and Erin inspired by the early days of Jim and Pam? | Courtney L
Danny: We definitely wanted to remind people of early Jim and Pam. But it’s not really inspired by that — it’s its own thing.
Andy and Erin are much more awkward characters, so we are doing a kind of bizarro version of Jim and Pam where both parties are constantly embarrassing themselves. But we definitely want people to feel for Erin and Andy, as they did for Jim and Pam.
Man, it’s annoying to keep writing “Jim and Pam.” There should be some sort of shorthand. Maybe “JH and P”?
Q. Before becoming one of the writers on the show, how familiar with The Office were you? Were you already involved with it in some way? You seem to know the characters inside and out! | Nick C.
Danny: Thanks Nick! I was a big fan of the show, and I’d seen every episode. I also knew some of the writers, but aside from pushing for certain northeast PA references (I’m from Stroudsburg, 40 minutes from Scranton), I wasn’t involved with the show.
Great interview! Thanks, Danny! I agree that one of the best lines from Thursday was “Just poopin’. You know how I be.” I chuckle often while I watch TV, but rarely do I laugh out loud. That was an LOL moment.
That was a great Q&A, very informative and funny.
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! So very interesting.
Thank you for answering questions! And I agree with you and #1. “Just poopin’, you know how I be” was awesome.
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.
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!)
Funny that he didn’t know the abbreviation for Jim and Pam! JAM<3
Loved the Q&A. Thanks Danny!
Thanks for the Q&A! And also thanks for answering my question :)
Danny, you just broke the first rule of Fight Club!
LOL i thought that i was the only one who ROTFL when andy is talking to michael about his standup comedy
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.
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
#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!
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
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 ***
I’m pretty sure Danny knows about the term ‘JAM’. :)
Thanks DChun! Loved the episode and the Q&A!
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. :)
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.)
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”?)
:)
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.
thanks! keep up the great work
The Murder Mystery episode was one of my favorites; it was just too much fun. They did such a great job with everything, awesome work everyone.