Q. Janae | How were the sounds and lines during the actual delivery recorded? Were John and Jenna on-set, or did they record that part separately (and then have it added during editing)?
Charlie: That room Michael walked into was actually the size of a closet. John, Jenna, Sarah Baker (the nurse) and Steve Saux (the voice of the doctor) were all crammed in there yelling.
John and Jenna can do anything. They are effortless. Steve and Sarah were fantastic too. One of my favorite lines in the whole episode is Sarah saying “Oh good, you know everything.” She did it perfectly.
Jenna: We kept saying, “You have to shoot this closet! Just for the DVD extras!” It was soooo tiny. It basically fit 4 folding chairs. We were inside making noises.
We shot this scene around 7:30am. It’s hard to scream like that at 7:30am. Hard for me and hard for the people stuck in a tiny closet with me. Needless to say, we were all very awake after that scene.
Q. Delmy | What was the birth song?
Danny: At one point, it was Dreams-Come-True-Girl by Cass McCombs. It really felt right. Ultimately the scene where the birth song is played had to be cut for time.
Q. Brooke | After 19 hours of watching Pam in labor, why was Jim still wearing his tie?
Charlie: He forgot to take it off.
Q. malaz85 | How easy was it for Jim to cry during the scene where he found out he was having a daughter? I know I’m not alone in saying that a crying Jim makes us girls swoon!
Charlie: I don’t know, but he sure makes it look easy. His chops are insane.
Danny: Well, based on his Jimmy Kimmel Live video, it seems John can make himself cry pretty easily. He only did it on that one take, but it was fantastic and we knew we had to use it.
Q. Esther | When Pam says to her mother that she hasn’t had caffeine in months, Jim gives a weird look to the camera. What was that supposed to mean? The look looked like a “umm no…” kind of look.
Charlie: Pam might have had a little caffeine during her pregnancy. Fortunately, her baby turned out perfectly healthy.
Q. Moe | Whose idea was it to have Erin recite the Triple Crown winners? As a fellow horseracing nerd I loved that part.
Danny: I think it was pitched by our newest writer, famed jockey Calvin Borel.
Q. Karly | Was there any footage of the 19 hours of labor that wasn’t shot (i.e. Jim fainting?) It seemed like it jumped really quickly from Pam and Jim arriving at the hospital to the baby being born the next day.
Charlie: No footage was shot. Jim and Pam would not allow the cameras in the room.
Q. Thelma | What other office talents did the cast use to distract Pam that we didn’t see?
Danny: Ryan’s full poem is available as a deleted scene. And Erin’s triple crown recitation was a very funny little scenelet that had to be cut as well.
Q. Louise | Did Dwight throw any other items out of his car that we didn’t see?
Danny: As I recall, the items were: battle ax, sword, sai, and nunchaku. Stay tuned for an episode in which a homeless man finds the weapons on the side of the road and goes on a ninja-style killing spree.
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 :)