Q. How much of the Jim and Pam stuff was scripted and how much came out through the process of directing? There was so much communication between Jim and Pam that didn’t involve a whole lot of talking, like little nods and looks. Not to start a fight or anything, but should the credit for those amazing scenes be to you or John? :) | Brigette
Jen: Credit to John and Jenna.
Q. John, since you and Jenna have been playing Jim and Pam for so long, did you really need to do all that much directing for your scenes, or is it just so natural with you two that now you can improv a lot of it with the faces you give each other, etc? | Jackie
John: That daycare scene is one of my favorite scenes of all time. And every beat of that scene is in the script! Jen Celotta is by far one of the most talented writers in the business. And when you have a scene like that, the actors have to do very little to make that funny!
Q. WHAT was with Michael keeping his t-shirt on in the hot tub? | phyllis*farm
Jen: A couple of things went into that — I liked how the focus in this scene was on how Wallace looks different then we’ve seen him before. Michael seeing his boss bare-chested kinda highlights that.
But also, Steve is in better shape then Michael is and this was a good way to hide that!
Q. What can you tell us about the kid playing the drums? | Kip
Jen: The kid playing the drums is Owen, the son of Greg Daniels. We met him before in Cocktails and I was excited that he was able to do this episode with us. I thought he did a great job and it was fun seeing him drum/shout out with Wallace in the tag.
Greg had lunch with us on set and Owen was having fun eating lunch with his real dad and his actor dad.
Andy: He’s got the comedy gene … .and the musical gene comes from his mother perhaps … (Susanne).
Q. 1) Was the child who played Wallace’s son really playing the drums!? 2) Did you have to get permission to use Party in the USA? | SaraS
Jen: Yeah, he was really playing the drums – he’s crazy good at the drums so that’s why it looked like he was crazy good.
And we did need permission to use “Party in the USA” and we have to pay for song usage. It’s tough on a show like ours because we really like to use real, current songs.
There is a song list we can choose from of free songs — but it’s hard to imagine Dwight karaoke-ing to “Turkey in the Straw” or “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Q. Was it written in the script for Wallace’s son to play the drums or was that a talent the actor already had that later was incorporated into the script? He was great! | Cayce80
Andy: I assume it’s because Owen D. plays his drums constantly in the Daniels house — storyline created!
Q. Is David Wallace having a mid-life crisis or is he genuinely happy and wanting to really start on his new idea, the Suck It? | Brittany
Jen: I don’t think he’s having a mid-life crisis. I think “Suck It” is the invention of a man who’s been at home for a while and misses work and his office, and it’s all starting to get to him and he kind of wants to escape for a bit by throwing his mind into a new idea.
I have to give credit to my mom for “inventing” the Suck It a few years ago. She thought it would be a fun idea to teach kids to pick up their toys and I teased her about it, and then when I needed an invention/thing for Wallace to use to get his mind off his situation, this seemed perfect.
It seemed like something Wallace could come up with because he was at home more and he was probably frustrated with seeing his kids’ toys everywhere.
Q. The scene in David’s house with the drums going gave the conversation between David, Michael, and his wife and interesting vibe and rhythm, more than the absurdity of David’s whole situation. Was that intentional? | mr.dude
Andy: The kid just felt it baby, he’s got the comedy gene in him!
Andy Buckley in the house! We miss you! Thanks all for answering our questions.
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.
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.
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!]
Thanks to everyone and Tanster! It is so amazing and unusual to be able to learn more details like this. Fantastic!
Wow, what a great Q&A…especially since we get no Office tonight. I think that made up for it.
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.
That was GREAT! Thanks to everyone for participating.
I still want to know.. “John.. how did you become so awesome?”
That was SO much fun to read. Hearing the fun behind the scenes stories make the episode even better, in my opinion. Thanks Tanster! :)
Thanks everyone for answering the questions. It is amazing the information that you share with us fans!
LOL at Creed.
[from tanster: i wrote creed, and that is the exact response he sent me. :) ]
What a fun read. And, once again, Creed steals the show.
W00t! This made my day! Thank you so much, Office Cast and Staff! (And a special thank you to Tanster. You’re the best!)
Best Q&A yet! Thanks tanster!
One word…AWESOME!
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… :)
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!
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!
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?
Yay! My question got answered! Thanks everyone for an awesome Q&A!
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.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved in the Q&A! It was awesome!
Seriously, how can you not love these people? Cast, crew, and of course, Tanster, all totally awesome.
We are not worthy.
That was fantastic! I love these Q & A’s. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
That was awesome, thank you so much for being able to make things like this happen.
Love this. I am so ready for The Office to come back. I am having Jim withdrawals…
john answered my question… i can die happy!
the answer was great too… 9ft. 2in… heeeeeee. oh john how i love you.
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!
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.
Yay! My question was answered. Thanks again Tanster for putting this together. I love all the behind the scenes info!
my question was answered! thanks so much jen & john (:
“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!)
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. :)
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!
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.
Lol I love Creed.
My question was answered!!!! That was really cool and insightful!! :)
i loved creed’s comment about john
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?
What a great Q&A! I just love the show, the cast, the crew, and OfficeTally, of course!
Nice Q&A! I loved Sabre! Creed’s comment just killed me!
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!
Thanks so much!!! That was fun to read!
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
Thank you so much for this tanster, you never fail!
Michael Scott with a sixpack would’ve looked weird, indeed.
@Ampay, the “Taste the Rainbow” quote made me think of Skittles, too!