Category: People

From Jenna Fischer’s MySpace blog, dated February 23, 2006:

Hailing The Office’s Unsung Heroes!
by Jenna Fischer, aka “Pam”

I’ve talked a lot about the writers, directors and producers behind The Office [returning with new episodes March 2 at 9:30 pm/ET, on NBC]. But there is another, often overlooked, group of people who are just as essential to creating the environment at Dunder-Mifflin. They are the set-dressing, props and art departments. Led by our production designer, Michael Gallenberg, these departments work together to create our authentic office atmosphere. Michael might be our most underappreciated genius. He has an overall vision for our office environment and oversees even the smallest details. If he does his job right, no one notices. He’s not supposed to razzle-dazzle you. He makes sure each department works to create the most real-looking sets possible.

The set-dressing folks, headed by Steve Rostine, choose the desks, the wall hangings, the plants, the lamps. They fill the shelves with random clutter. They are the ones who make sure we have lighted EXIT signs over our fake doors. If you get our Season 1 DVD, you will notice that in the first few episodes my office chair didn’t have arms. I really wanted one with arms so I talked to these guys and they ordered a new chair for me. Pretty cool, huh? I’m such a diva.

The props department works closely with the actors, since they are responsible for anything an actor might hold in his/her hand or use specifically in a scene. Pam’s teapot, Dwight’s bobblehead, Meredith’s sippy cup and Phyllis’ flowers from Bob Vance are all examples of props. I worked with Philip Shea, the head of our props department, to pick out Pam’s engagement ring. We went through two trays of rings before settling on a 14K-gold-and-diamond-cluster ring worth about $80. (Roy’s not much of a spender.) Philip also asked me what color teapot I thought would be Pam’s favorite. In the Christmas episode, our on-set props assistant, Doug Abrahamson, had to wrap and rewrap the teapot between every take. We did that scene over a dozen times.

The art department is responsible for any type of card, sign, certificate or logo created specifically for our show. For example, they created the Dunder-Mifflin logo. They designed the greeting card that we give to Meredith for her birthday. They also created that horrible poster of the babies playing jazz that Angela gets in the Christmas-party episode. That poster made us all laugh so hard, the writers gave it another plotline in a future episode. Everything is subtle and wonderful.

These guys have a good sense of humor, too. If you look closely at the certificates they made for the walls of the office, they are quite hilarious. Here are some of my favorites:

Rain Forest Harvesters Association presents the One Million Cut Trees Award to Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company. Whereas the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company has demonstrated excellence in the total disregard of the environment in its utilization of the vast resources of rain forests across the globe, the association has awarded them this citation.

Or there is this one:

Paper Manufacturers Conglomerate presents the Pulp Tonnage Award in recognition of the company’s outstanding use of over 50 megatons of raw pulp in one year.

It is a very popular thing on TV shows to put the names of crew members on the decorations around the set as an inside joke. We have a “Dunder-Mifflin Salesman of the Year” plaque and a “Humanitarian of the Year” certificate that feature the names of several crew members. Our first-assistant director, Kelly Cantley, was upset that her name didn’t make it on any of the decorations around the set. I guess she complained, so they made this one up especially for her and hung it on the pole by Stanley’s desk:

Whereas it came to our attention that Kelly Cantley was whining that a lowly second assistant director had a plaque with her name on it and whereas Kelly Cantley made a comment on the air regarding that fact… we have decided to give her this certificate because we love her.

So, it’s not just the actors and writers who get to have fun. Our crew is pretty darn cool as well. We spend a lot of time sitting around the set, and it’s fun to find their little jokes posted here and there. It’s like a treasure hunt! Thanks for all your hard work, guys, and for keeping me entertained in the process.

Until next week…

From Jenna Fischer’s TV Guide blog, dated February 16, 2006:

The Office: Your Questions Answered!
by Jenna Fischer, aka “Pam”

So… there is no new episode of The Office this week. NBC is airing the Olympics. Have you been watching? They have actually been pretty cool and exciting.

Since we don’t have an episode airing tonight, I thought it would be a fun to answer some of your questions. Here we go!

Quick question: Do you write these blogs personally, or does someone from NBC do it? Come on, be honest! — Scott in Anthem, Ariz.
This seemed like a good first question. It kind of makes the rest of them more meaningful. Yes, I (Jenna) do write this blog myself. Not only do I write it myself, I sometimes write it at work from my desk on set. We have real working computers. When I am in the background of a scene (like I am right now), I will sometimes take the opportunity to work on my blog. Or e-mail friends. Or play Spider Solitaire. But, yes, it’s really me.

What do you think of Dwight and Angela? — Beth in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
The Dwangela romance is one of my favorite parts of the show. Aren’t they wonderfully creepy? I love the fact that the audience knew about the romance before anyone else in the office. And now Pam is the only one in the office who knows. She hasn’t even told Jim. Dwight and Angela don’t know that Pam has figured it out, either. In an upcoming episode, Pam confronts Angela about her secret. It’s awesome!

In the “Boys and Girls” episode, your character could draw. Is that something you do in real life? What are some things you like doing? — Vanessa in Chatsworth, Calif.
One of my hobbies is cartooning. I don’t do it much anymore, but I really love it. Back in Season 1, when we were first developing the role of Pam, I was excited to learn that she would have a secret talent and passion for drawing. Pam is a much better artist than I am, though. I mean, she could do it professionally.

Other things I like doing in my free time: playing with my pets, shopping at Target and watching TV with my husband. (We are rooting for the gray-haired guy on American Idol.) I also like putting together photo albums and scrapbooks.

Is the dialogue on your show scripted, improvised or both? Sara in St. Louis, Mo.
Our shows are 100 percent scripted. They put everything down on paper. Our glances to camera, our hesitations… everything. It is the actor’s job to make it seem fresh and natural. But we get to play around a little bit, too. Steve [Carell] and Rainn [Wilson] are brilliant improvisers. They often come up with funny alternate jokes within a scene. Some of Steve’s stuff on the streets of NYC in the “Valentine’s Day” episode was improvised. And in “Sexual Harassment,” when Dwight is asking Toby about the female body, Rainn improvised that. It makes working with them very fun.

But the writers are great at writing dialogue that sounds real. Here is what that famous Jim-Pam scene from “Booze Cruise” looked like on paper:

EXT. SHIP – BOW

SPY SHOT: Jim and Pam watch the wake.

PAM
It’s getting kind of rowdy in there.

JIM
Yeah.

PAM
Sometimes I just don’t get Roy.

Jim looks at her curiously. What’s she up to?

PAM (CONT’D)
So… is it fun to date a cheerleader?

JIM
Eh.

Jim almost says something more but doesn’t. Pam looks at him encouragingly. He still doesn’t go on. A moment passes.

PAM
I’m cold.

She turns back inside. Jim takes a deep breath and shakes off a sense that he just blew something, then follows her.

And here is an example of a Michael Scott monologue from the episode “Email Surveillance”:
INT. MICHAEL’S OFFICE

Michael is glued to his computer. He glances up at the camera from time to time.

MICHAEL
Oooh, Meredith got an Evite…. Looks like Jim’s
having a BBQ… tonight? That’s odd. How come
I didn’t get my Evitation? Oh, here we go —
(reading)
Click here for the invite list….
Angela, Stanley, Oscar… hmmm…
I don’t see… Meredith, Phyllis…
(looks at camera)
You guys are on here…
(back to screen)
… Kevin, Creed… must be… no.

Besides “getting the best sex of your life,” what would be the perfect Valentine gift, in your opinion? — Alex in St. Louis, Mo.
I think it changes depending on how long you’ve been with someone. The first year we were married, my husband gave me some peach-colored roses. They were similar to the ones I carried in my wedding bouquet. I was really touched. This year, he changed the filter on our water-filtration system and brought our laundry downstairs without me having to ask. We also watched TV and ate giant heart-shaped shortbread cookies. It was perfect.

I am a 1995 grad of Truman State University (NMSU). I don’t think we ever met, but you seemed so familiar that we probably had a class together or something. Anyway, my question is: Did you ever sing Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” with the pep band between women’s and men’s basketball games? Or am I thinking of somebody else? — Troy in Cincinnati, Ohio
Wow! Yes, that was me. I also worked with the pep band on an original country song I wrote called “I Should’ve Never Had the Wine.” It was a short-lived union as I am not the greatest singer and they had other obligations. But it was fun. I was committed to the performance. Do you also remember my ridiculous outfit — black crushed-velvet hot pants and a ruffled purple top? Yikes. If you have a photo of this, please give me a chance to buy it from you before you put it on eBay.

Thanks to everyone for your nice notes and questions. A lot of people asked where they can get a Dwight bobblehead. That was specially made by our props department for the Valentine’s Day episode. I’m sure Rainn will get to keep it after the show is over. I’m jealous, too.

Until next week…

From Jenna Fischer’s TV Guide blog, dated February 9, 2006:

The Office Presents: “Valentine’s Day”
by Jenna Fischer, aka “Pam”

I get a lot of letters about my hair. People want to know if it is naturally curly. They want to know how I wear it in real life. When I took it down briefly in the episode “The Secret,” people asked why Pam doesn’t wear it like that more often. Pam’s hair attracts a lot of attention.

You know it well. It’s curly in the back, straight in the front. Or as I like to call it, “the girl mullet.” I created Pam’s look when I went to my first audition for The Office [Thursdays at 9:30 pm/ET on NBC]. I channeled my experience as an awkward teenager in St. Louis trying to figure out how to tame my crazy mop of naturally curly hair. I didn’t know about big round brushes and blow-drying and antifrizz products, like I do today. And I figured that Pam didn’t know about that stuff, either. The best she could come up with was the scrunch-and-dry approach. She throws it in a clip because it’s easy. She doesn’t wear it down because it would attract too much attention, and Pam is shy.

But tonight’s episode, “Valentine’s Day,” marks a first for The Office: Pam changes her hair!

“Valentine’s Day” was written by the gifted Mike Schur, who wrote one of my favorite episodes so far this year, “Christmas.” He must be good with holiday themes, because this episode is awesome, too. It was directed by our very own executive producer, Greg Daniels.

In this episode, it’s Valentine’s Day and Michael has to go to the corporate office in New York City to do a presentation for Jan and the new company CFO. If he does poorly, it might mean the end of our Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Back at the office, Phyllis is overwhelmed with gifts from her boyfriend — Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration — while Pam waits patiently for a gift from Roy.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Pam wears a pink sparkly headband! There has been a season-long debate over whether or not we could ever change Pam’s hair. I worked with the amazing Office hairstylist Kim Ferry for weeks on different versions of Pam’s look. We tried ponytails, barrettes, and headbands…. We photographed each choice and consulted the Big Boss, Greg Daniels. In the end, he chose the headband. You’ll have to let me know what you think.

In other news, Dwight gets a Valentine’s Day gift and it is awesome. Everyone is going to want one. I’m very jealous that Rainn [Wilson] will get to keep this when the show is over. Kudos to our props department.

Finally, the poker update: So, we can’t gamble at work. But do you know where we can gamble? My house. That’s right — I’m hosting a game of cards tonight for some cast and crew. Here’s hoping that the house is lucky!

Until next week…