The Office ‘Sabre’ Q&A

Q. Jen it made my day to see David Wallace making a fluffernutter sandwich and the inclusion of the two songs were stupendous: Andy and Erin with Sabre then David Wallace and his son with Suck It! Thank you! Do you write all of the guitar chords and music yourself or do you ask the actors for creative input? | Rachel B.

Jen: We had the idea for the Sabre song to be sung to the tune of “Party in the USA,” and then Ed was sent the original song and the new lyrics and made it sound awesome! He’s very involved in his musical beats on the show.

As for the Suck It! Song, I think the original idea to do the song as a tag was John’s idea, and then the writers worked out some basic lyrics and then John worked with Owen and Andy on set to put the music to it.

Andy: I only know three chords on the piano, and I actually only played one of them.

Q. There was a small moment when Michael was backing out of Wallace’s driveway and Wallace was following him out. Wallace’s mannerism was both so hilarious and creepy. Was that a director’s decision for Wallace to be so creepy or was that in the script? | Jaz

Andy: That was Johhny K’s idea.

Q. How did the tag come about? | sorano916

Andy: Jen Celotta wrote it and we just came up with a way to play it, all of us. Hats off to Young Teddy Wallace for keeping us going though!

Q. Jen – how did you convince Andy to do a topless spa scene, knowing he would get a truckload of grief from his real work colleagues? | Bec

Jen: It didn’t occur to me but that’s a fun way to think about it. Right before we shot the scene, he was thinking he should do some situps and pushups but judging from all the flattering comments he got, he didn’t need to.

Andy: Yes, a few jokes are coming my way … but whadda ya gonna do?

Q. Did Andy Buckley come up with the “Voop” sound for his SuckIt/ShopVac? | NotABadDay

Andy: Yes, the ‘Voop’ sound is a Buckley original.

Q. How did Andy Buckley react when he was told that his character would be going through a crisis? | Dadaist

Andy: I, of course, began going through my own crisis.

Q. Do we know if David Wallace will have any more appearances in The Office? Or is it over for him? | Jonah

Andy: Who can say, but I certainly hope so!

By the way, I appreciate the Save Wallace campaign and all the kind words! Really nice of you, gang. Thanks!

Until next time, I’ll be working on the prototype with Arnie from Research … thanks! That’s all for now, Wallace/AB

Q. John, how much of a role did you play in the editing process? There was a lot going on in the episode but it didn’t feel rushed. | Abbey in PA

John: I wish I could say that the editing was all me, but we have a real life wizard working for the show … no, I’m serious … I think he actually went to Hogwarts! His name is Dave Rogers.

And when I walked in to make my director’s cut, he had pretty much nailed it. I even went back through every take to make sure and yup, he had every single take I would have chosen!

46 comments

  1. I thought when I heard it that “Taste a Rainbow” was a shout out to Chris Kattan’s Mango character, who always said crazy stuff like that. Love these Q&A’s.

  2. You are all so talented. The show is just so great. I am 55 and worked in banking for 32 years, I can’t tell you how many scenes from all the shows I could relate to over the years. I envy all of you for getting to do what you love and are all so great at.
    The Q & A’s are great. Hoping the show will be on for many more years. Thanks for keeping me entertained.

  3. This was definitely one of the best episode Q&A’s ever! I loved all the surprise guests, especially Andy Buckley, that was fantastic. And I’m super excited for Rainn’s directorial debut, who knows what crazy things he might come up with? JKras did an incredible job and I hope he can do more episodes in the future! Thank you so much to the cast & writers, you’re the BEST :) Tanster, you rock for being in such close contact with all of them!

    [from tanster: my pleasure! i love these Q&As. and it was fantastic to get so many Office members involved this time around!]

  4. Thanks to everyone and Tanster! It is so amazing and unusual to be able to learn more details like this. Fantastic!

  5. Wow, what a great Q&A…especially since we get no Office tonight. I think that made up for it.

  6. Wow, what an amazing Q&A! Thanks to everyone – we really do appreciate you putting the time and effort into doing this and doing such a thoughtful job answering the questions.

  7. That was GREAT! Thanks to everyone for participating.
    I still want to know.. “John.. how did you become so awesome?”

  8. That was SO much fun to read. Hearing the fun behind the scenes stories make the episode even better, in my opinion. Thanks Tanster! :)

  9. Thanks everyone for answering the questions. It is amazing the information that you share with us fans!

  10. W00t! This made my day! Thank you so much, Office Cast and Staff! (And a special thank you to Tanster. You’re the best!)

  11. Best Q&A ever! …but that was with John Krasinski so I might be biased… ;) Creed: perfect answer!
    Thank you so much everybody: Jen, John, Andy, tanster… :)

  12. To echo others – that was amazing! I always love the Q&A’s, but this one very well may be the best one yet. Many, many thanks to everyone involved!

    And Creed’s answer nearly caused me to spit water all over my computer monitor. Classic!

  13. Loved Creed’s answer,spot on. And I loved the insight into the shenanigans of the writer’s room! Making magic wands out of chopsticks is a fantastic idea…I know what I’ll be doing this weekend!

  14. Woo! One of my questions was answered! Thanks Jen! And thanks Tanster for setting this up! :-)

    Awesome Q&A! One of the best! I love all the behind the scenes stuff. Any chance we may be getting one for the birth? Please?

  15. Hooray! Andy answered a question from me. So fun. Thanks to everyone! What a fun Q&A!

    Oh, and I love the Harry Potter stuff! Too funny. I had to read that out loud to my coworker.

  16. Seriously, how can you not love these people? Cast, crew, and of course, Tanster, all totally awesome.

    We are not worthy.

  17. john answered my question… i can die happy!

    the answer was great too… 9ft. 2in… heeeeeee. oh john how i love you.

  18. Thank you so much! This was the best Q&A — it made me laugh and smile and made my day! All this insight and funny stuff was such a great added bonus to yet another truly great episode. There is no other cast, crew, writing team in the business that gives so much to their devoted fans! What a truly functional, happy, crazy-talented bunch. Thanks again to Tanster and The Office!

  19. Thank you Andy for answering my question. In my opinion your David Wallace and Amy Ryan’s Holly are the only ones who have managed to bring out the most tenderful and precious side of a man who has a tendency to create havoc for himself and others. Michael Scott of course.

  20. Yay! My question was answered. Thanks again Tanster for putting this together. I love all the behind the scenes info!

  21. “Which one’s John?” – Classic.

    Loved this Q & A! Best one yet! Thank you Tanster for making this happen! it certainly helped my Office withdrawals (1 more week!)

  22. This was great! And John answered my question!! *dies a little* Thanks again for having this Q&A, reading all these answers and the behind the scenes tidbits was so much fun. :)

  23. So great. I loved the Harry Potter story, the true story behind the awkward interview, learning that it was John’s idea to have Wallace be so creepy, and of course, Creed’s statement. Thanks so much to EVERYONE for chipping in and answering our questions! (And thanks, Jen, for answering mine!) This Q & A just reminds me why I love you guys so much– thanks for loving us back!

  24. Wow, so so fun. THANKS again, Tanster and amazing Office peeps who make us fans love you and your show so much!

    As far as Office Withdrawal goes, I can only be thankful that these two weeks at work have been crazy! (plus, this Q&A allowed me to spend Office Time – which would start roughly 20 minutes from now if it were a good Thursday – doing some Officey-thing : ) Woot.

  25. Thank you so much for this. Great Q&A. Special thanks to everyone for taking the time to give interesting and funny answers. :)

    I noticed that John mentioned making a Director’s Cut of this episode. Is that why we never saw any deleted scenes on NBC.com? And does this mean the cut will be shown at some point on the website and/or included on the DVDs?

  26. Awesome Q and A for an awesome episode. The cast and crew are some of the most likable and naturally funny people around, and it’s always interesting to hear how much thought goes into even the minor details. Thanks to everybody involved!

  27. Great Q&A! Huge thanks to everyone involved, especially John, Jen and Tanster :D

    It was an honour to have one of my question answered… It’s not very often that fans get this kind of opportunity to interact with the cast and crew like this!

    Also, did anybody else think of Skittles for the “Taste a rainbow” quote? Maybe it was just in Canada, but a couple years ago, Skittles had a promotion called “Taste THE rainbow” =P

  28. Thank you so much for this tanster, you never fail!

    Michael Scott with a sixpack would’ve looked weird, indeed.

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