Q. Phil | Was Andy’s line “So it’s a date” a reference to Jim’s “Then it’s a date” line from ‘The Job’ or was that just a coincidence?
Charlie: More coincidence. There are only so many natural things you can say at the moment and they all involve the words “it’s,” “date,” and “a.”
Q. Jaime | On most shows when someone has a baby, the baby comes out at a 3-month-old’s size. Cecelia was very tiny and actually looked like she could be a newborn. How old was she really, and whose baby is it in real life?
Charlie: I think we ended up using three sets of twins. They were all 6-weeks old. And they were all amazing. I would work with any of them again.
Q. kip | I loved Oscar’s subtle quip: “The hospital will provide a dictionary; bring a thesaurus.” Who can I thank?
Danny: That was in my original draft, so let’s all have a round of applause for me.
Q. BrokenBrain | Michael parks in the ambulance zone and throws Jim’s keys across the street. At the end, Jim apparently has his keys and the car is not in the ambulance zone anymore (but has tickets) and Jim has not gone home the whole time since he does not know Dwight is there. How did you see that playing out and were there scenes that were cut that would have shown more of that?
Charlie: We were hoping people wouldn’t notice that. This was one of the jokes that made us laugh really hard while breaking the story but didn’t really work in the final product.
Here’s what we think happened. Michael exited the hospital to find the Subaru still parked in the emergency zone covered in tickets. He found the keys and parked it in the lot. That works, right?
Danny: The car was ticketed, then towed to the parking lot. Meanwhile, Michael went and found the keys and gave them back to Jim.
Q. sorano916 | Were there any difficulties in making sure everything was consistent, especially since there was a different director with each part as well?
Charlie: Yes. The episodes were broken as a two-parter as opposed to an hour long. Then network said they wanted an hour long so we had to scramble to make all our b and c-stories line up.
The time line was also crazy. Fortunately, Seth and Harold are both great directors — it sure never looked like they had any difficulties.
Danny: Not really — our editors are great at working with what the director films and giving it the rhythm and feel of an Office episode.
One issue we had with combining the episodes (at one point they were going to air a week apart) was that Part 1 ended with Jim, Pam, and Michael running into the hospital and checking in. Then Part 2 starts many hours later, with Michael coming back in with balloons.
It would’ve been weird to show two separate Michael entrances back to back, so we lost the first one. I was a little bummed; it had some funny stuff.
Q. elegantrenegade | Now that Pam has a family of her own, does she still aspire to a higher, more artistic career? Or, are her goals now focused on just being the best mother she can be?
Charlie: My experience as a parent is that it doesn’t change goals, it focuses them. You have much less free time and have to be very clear about how you want to use it.
I can’t say what Pam will do next, but I can say she will never give up anything that is truly important to her. Unless it’s really, really funny.
Danny: My feeling is that she will combine her love of art and her newfound passion for mothering by giving baby Cece some custom tattoos.
Q. mustardcoloredshirt | Was it intentional to dress almost every character in blue during the conference room scene? Was this to throw us off?
Charlie: Yes. We were hoping you’d think this was actually our long awaited “blue shirt day” episode.
Danny: It was actually a deliberate decision. We wanted to evoke a sense of water, to symbolize the vast ocean of possibilities stretching out before … zzzzzzzzzz …sorry, I just fell asleep.
Q. Robert M. | Now that the Halpert baby has arrived and the Jim/Pam dynamic has given fans a type of closure … will the writers start to concentrate on any new office romances?
Charlie: Between you and me, all our energy is currently focused on bringing Hank and Bob Vance’s secretary together. Please don’t share that with anyone.
Danny: With all the romances we have planned, I personally guarantee you will be sexually aroused at least thrice before season’s end, Robert M.!
Thanks so much for this! i love getting the inside scoop about the episodes! and as a resident of the home of the Kentucky Derby, i love the fact that Erin mentioned the triple crown winners… Calvin Borel is like a hero here in May!
can’t wait for more question and answer sessions!
My question was answered! Such a thrill! And such a funny, but awesome answer. Thanks guys :)
So fantastic! Thanks for putting together another awesome Q&A, tanster! And of course to Charlie, Danny and Jenna for sparing the time and input.
I like the ongoing trend of hospital employees making jokes to the camera, from, “So that is where her uterus went” to “Oh, great, you know everything” and “Got milk?” What a bunch of hams.
So Jenna’s fake husband had to be annoyed at her real husband groping her in front of the pseudo documentarians and actual filming crew. Got it.
Hank can’t hook up. If he does he likely won’t have material for his next self-produced blues album.
So we have a guarantee of blood rushing to penises throughout the season. Nice.
The sound of Andy’s pants made that joke. I was wondering if it was enhanced in post but it doesn’t sound like it. I’d have probably had to leave the room.
Speaking of how awesome Sarah Baker (Josie the nurse) was, this has been driving me crazy — didn’t she look vaguely familiar? Hasn’t she been on some other show? I know that voice from somewhere …
I finally figured it out — she played Emo Sarah on Lance Krall’s VH1 comedy Free Radio! OMG!
Awesome! Thanks so much!
Thank you Danny, Charlie, and Jenna.
Jenna answered my question!! :) (The one about dealing with the crying baby). I feel ridiculously pleased about that!
Thanks for arranging these Q&As Tanster, they are so informative.
I loved this! First of all, Q&As are always amazing, but the line “We wanted to evoke a sense of water, to symbolize the vast ocean of possibility stretching out before…..zzzzzz…sorry I just feel asleep”. Haha! That made me spit my drink out! Danny was hilarious in that Q&A.
On another note, I’m glad we got some imput from Jenna. It amazes me that they filmed that scene in a closet, now I can’t wait for the DVD extras!
That was one of the funniest Q&A’s I’ve ever read!
i KNEW lee was cast because he’s the only one allowed to “manhandle” jenna’s breasts! ha, nice way of putting it, jenna!
i can imagine that the crying baby would break jenna’s heart. it would break my heart too. my first instinct would be to pick that sweet baby up and give it a cuddle.
Thanks again for putting this together! These Q&A’s are awesome, even better than the DVD commentaries.
The writers’ answers were hilarious. I wish I were a fly on the wall in the writers’ room…
Awesome Q&A segment! Tanster, thanks so much for always being our link to my ideal “Second Life”!
I am always mad at myself for reading these Q&A’s so quickly!
Full of awesome, as usual. And hilarious. And informative.
Melissa’s “How on earth did you get a diaper on a cat?” is my favorite question!
Great Q&A! Thank you :)
#1, Becky – hello, fellow Kentuckian! :) This entire Q&A was hilarious, but the thought of Calvin Borel being a writer on The Office made me laugh the most. Thank you, Danny and Charlie!
And tanster – it took me a few minutes as I was watching the ep, but I nearly started jumping up and down when it finally hit me that the nurse was Emo Sarah! The voice was definitely the biggest hint. She’s great.
wow i totally missed the whole ‘jenna is engaged’ memo. when did that happen?
HAHA wow i just finished reading the whole Q&A and some of their responses actually made me lol. only with office writers would Q&A be ‘good writing’.
This Q&A Session was Hilarious.
Here’s hoping Quentin Tarantino directs the episode with the homeless man finding Dwight’s abandoned weapons! ;)
whoa-my friend and I took Jim’s comment about Pam using his move as sexual, which was apparently not the case :/
Half of the responses made me crack up — I was laughing out loud throughout! This was an AWESOME Q&A!! Even while answering questions about an episode Charlie and Danny are hilarious. Thanks so much for being so generous and taking the time to do this Q&A–it was truly interesting and so, so funny.
Funniest. Q&A. Ever.
True story!
my question was answered! Great Q&A thanks tanster!
Oh, one more thing–Dream Come True Girl is such a great song, and would have been perfect in this episode, Danny Chun! Sometimes wish the show was scored–It’s not sappy to have a little music now and then, it’s sweet and warm!
I swear, The Office cast and crew are the BEST in hollywood.
[with the exception of Meryl Streep]
Thank you so much Tanster for putting this together! I was very excited to see my question answered… it will be interesting to see what makes it to the DVD extras in a few months!
Fantastic post! Can’t wait to see the scenes that got cut on DVD (hopefully!). My question (birth song) was answered! Thank you sooo much, Tanster! :) #11, Jaz — I wish the same thing everyday ;)
@16 (Megan) – jenna got engaged last summer.
she wrote a blog about it
yay, my question was answered! Love these Q&A’s! Please keep them coming!
Hilarious Q&A, Danny Chun cracks me up! Anyone on twitter should follow him (@dannychun). He always makes me giggle :)