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November 16, 10:25 PM

Signing Off

Well guys...I have to run. It is time for me to eat dinner and watch the west coast airing of the show. I haven't seen the final cut yet so I'm pretty excited!

Thanks for sending in your questions! It was fun chatting with you.

We have a ton of great episodes coming up. After Thanksgiving is an episode called "The Convict". This was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (the creators of the British Office). It is a GREAT episode. Michael finds out that one of the Stamford employees is a former convict. Need I say more? This episode also has my favorite Pam/Andy scene!

Thanks again for stopping by. Take care!
Jenna

November 16, 10:21 PM

Ben - What is John Krasinski like in real life?

John is a sweetheart. He is both outgoing and a little shy - kind of like Jim. He makes the crew laugh more than anyone else. He's really good at doing impressions and that always gets us going. In fact, that episode where he does the impression of Stanely was based on the fact that John is so good at them in real life. I'm very lucky to have him as my co-star. I don't think I could do this with any other actor. It is just something about the way we click I guess and you can't really explain that.

He was also just named one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men.

November 16, 10:19 PM

Dave - Is Oscar ever coming back? Any Holiday episodes?

Yes, Oscar is coming back. If you remember from the first episode, he got a 3 month paid vacation. But, he will be back. Oscar Nunez, the actor who plays Oscar, has his own show on Comedy Central that he's been working on while his character was on "vacation".

We have an hour long Christmas special this year. It's VERY fun. Directed by Harold Ramis. We LOVED working with Harold Ramis (director of Groundhog Day). The episode is rumored to be our best ever.

November 16, 10:16 PM

Alex - What is your favorite TV show besides The Office?

30 Rock! It is my new favorite show! And, I'm not just saying that because it is on NBC. I also love Lost, 24, The Daily Show, How I Met Your Mother and SNL. But, I honestly cannot wait for 30 Rock to be on tonight. I'm in LA so it hasn't aired here yet. I love Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin.

November 16, 10:13 PM

Katie - How did you first get started in acting?

I actually wrote a long blog on the subject. You can find it by going to my MySpace page www.MySpace.com/PamBeesley and clicking on the link that says "Acting Advice Blog".

Basically, I might be new to you but I've been in LA for over 10 years...it's been a long road!

November 16, 10:12 PM

James - Who is your favorite character on the show?

Uh-oh, you are going to get me in trouble! It changes all the time actually. I sort of get character crushes on different people. Phyllis always makes me laugh. I love doing scenes with Toby. And, my current favorite is probably Andy.

November 16, 10:08 PM

Krista - What has been your hardest scene to shoot so far?

Let me think about this...probably the 2 scenes at the end of Casino Night. The scene where Jim tells Pam he loves her and then the kissing scene. John and I really, really wanted to get that right. We worked harder on those than anything we'd ever done on the show. We met with the director, producers and writer (Steve Carell) both separately and together. We discussed how it should be done for almost 2 weeks. We really had a plan. Then that night, we allowed ourselves to also be spontaneous. For example, when John cried during his speech to me I was really moved (as Jenna), but I had to be very stoic (as Pam). I was so excited for his great performance. After that take I gave him a big hug and said, "That's the one we'll use!"

November 16, 10:05 PM

Angie - Who is the least like their character?

Gosh...everyone is so different from their character but I would have to say Brian Baumgartner who plays Kevin. Brian and I are actually very good friends in real life. We hung out over our summer break. When we went back to work and he changed into his Kevin clothes I found myself suddenly avoiding him. He was like, "It's still me, Brian, underneath!" But it took some getting used to. Also, Steve is totally different from Michael. Steve is sweet and sensitive and giving and quiet.

November 16, 10:02 PM

PamJim - What is your favorite Pam/Jim scene so far?

It is probably not what you would expect. My favorite Pam/Jim scene is the scene in the kitchen from "The Secret" where Jim tells Pam he "used to" have a crush on her. That was a really powerful scene to shoot because it was the first time Jim and Pam ever verbalize the chemistry between them...but they dance around it in a really awkward way. I'm really proud of how that turned out.

There is also a scene that we shot on the roof where Jim makes Pam a grilled cheese sandwich. That was one of my most favorite scenes to shoot. We actually went up onto the roof of our building. It was warm and there was a breeze and a sunset. It was so serene. We only had a few crew members because, well...it is a tiny roof. All of us just hung out up there and filmed the scene. It was very organic. Kind of hard to explain but when I see that scene, it brings back happy memories.

November 16, 10:00 PM

Alison - Are you surprised by how popular the show has become?

Well, it was really surreal to see people dressing as Jim and Pam for Halloween that's for sure!

I always hoped we would be popular because I am so very proud of the show. And, I LOVE the people I work with. Everyone is the type of person you'd want to have over to your house for a BBQ...just good family folks. It's a dream job. So, I always hoped that other people would love it as much as we do so we could keep making it.

November 16, 09:58 PM

Tara - Did your mother really knit the sweater you were wearing tonight?

Ha! No, not my real mother. In fact, I think they bought it at Anthropologie. They added the big button to make it look homemade.

November 16, 09:53 PM

Brian - Is the show more scripted or more improv?

The show is entirely scripted. Our scripts are about 35 pages long. (The general rule of a script is that one page equals one minute of air time. So, our scripts are longer than the show...but that way we have a bunch of funny material and we can take just the funniest stuff and put it in the episode. But there is always so much good stuff that we can't use and that goes on the DVD - or actually I think they post deleted scenes on the nbc website after each episode now.

That said, we do get to play around. Rainn and Steve are especially good at improvisation. For example, the kiss between Michael and Oscar in "Gay Witch Hunt" was improvissed. Steve just went for it. Those reactions from all of us in the room are real...we really didn't know what was going to happen. Afterwards, we laughed SO hard. Phyllis was crying she laughed so hard.

November 16, 09:51 PM

Gary - What are your other passions besides acting?

Well...this might sound boring but I'm a TV junkie. I just LOVE to watch TV. I wish I could say something really impressive like I love to read or hike but the truth is that most of the time I'm just sacked out on the couch watching shows or DVDs. If I leave the house it is probably to see a movie...do you notice a trend here? I also like to scrapbook. I'm not that skilled but I like organizing my photos and such. I also love animals. I used to do animal rescue work but I've since gotten too busy. But, I kind of miss that.

November 16, 09:48 PM

Laura - The Best Blooper

Funny you should ask! Angela and I had a scene recently where we did over 40 takes. We just couldn't stop laughing. I don't want to give away what the scene was about but it involves Angela and a kitten. I don't think it is supposed to air until after the New Year. But, Angela was being SO funny and I couldn't keep it together. I think we set a record for most number of takes that day. At first everyone was laughing with us but after about 25 takes they were like, "Okay gals...seriously...we want to go home."

November 16, 09:44 PM

To My Sister Emily - Those Pam/Karen Scenes are hard to watch!

First off - Hi Emily! I know you feel this way because you call me every night after the show airs and tell me how much you want Jim and Pam to get together...which makes me laugh. As for Pam and Karen... we have a great storyline in the Christmas Episode this year. I'm very excited about it. I also have some really fun things with Angela. Pam and Angela go to war in an upcoming episode! It was SO FUN to shoot. Especially because Angela and I are best friends in real life.

November 16, 09:42 PM

Dwight's Brother - What is your favorite episode of The Office

My favorite episode from Season One is probably "Health Care". It brings back a lot of fond memories for me because we laughed SO much while filming those scenes where Jim and Pam make the list of fake diseases for Dwight. Season Two - "The Injury". That episode makes me laugh so much. I love seeing Rainn be "nice Dwight". From this year it is hard to say...it is probably a tie between "Gay Witch Hunt" and "Branch Closing". The scenes with Michael and Dwight during the stakeout of the CFO's house are amoung my favorite of all time.

November 16, 09:40 PM

Nick - What is it like working with the new people?

We LOVE the new people! I especially love Ed Helms who plays Andy. Pam and Andy have some hilarious scenes coming up in future episodes. Those were some of my favorite to shoot so far this season. Ed is just really, really, funny and also such a sweet guy. We somehow managed to get all the the sweetest and funniest men in show business on our show. It's the best.

November 16, 09:39 PM

VBarkley – Do you or any of the writers ever lurk on the messages boards?

I don’t really go on message boards, no. I did early on, but they can get nasty. I don't really want to read about people hating on the show. I love it too much. It's like reading about people insulting my sister or something. I started a MySpace page…www.myspace.com/pambeesley. I post pictures and blogs about the show.

November 16, 09:38 PM

Jackie – When are we going to see drunk Pam again?

Ha! I had SO much fun doing that episode! When I first read the script I was terrified! I didn’t know if I could play drunk realistically. I love how it turned out. I’d like us to have another Dundies ceremony myself. But, not at Chillis. Pam is banned for life :)

November 16, 09:34 PM

Mike – What actors do you personally look up to?

I really admire smart, funny, women like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. My inspirations are people like Diane Keaton, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn. I’d like to see more actresses like that in Hollywood again.

November 16, 09:30 PM

Kenzie – Is it hard to watch the flirting scenes between Jim and Karen?

YES! The first time I saw them flirt was in the episode where they are playing video games in the Stamford office. We were shooting the Scranton scenes and the Stamford scenes on different stages on different days so I literally hadn't seen ANY of the footage from the Stamford office until it aired on TV. My heart sank. But, just like many of you, I really like Karen and I've even started to root for her in a small way.

November 16, 09:25 PM

Carly - Do you like how they are slowly changing Pam's hair?

We thought a lot about how Pam is on her own now - meaning that she is out of her relationship and out of her rut. She may not be making big changes but she is trying. You might have noticed that her wardrobe is changing a bit as well. Some brighter colors and some new sweaters. We even decided to try some things that we knew didn't look good...because that is what happens when you try new things - you make missteps sometimes. Like, I'm not sure how crazy we are about the low ponytail from the Diwali episode. You may have noticed that Pam softened her curls in tonight's episode. That was for Jim.

November 16, 09:18 PM

From Anne - Will you or John ever write or co-write an episode?

That is a good question. I wrote a movie once - called LolliLove - but I think that will be my only writing project of my career. It is too hard! John just wrote a movie that he is currently DIRECTING in New York! So, he may want to write or direct and episode of The Office in the future. I'm not sure...I never asked him. As for the two of us together...I think we'll just stick to doing what we do best - being Jim and Pam.

November 16, 09:14 PM

I'm Here!

Hello Everyone! It's Jenna. I hope you enjoyed the episode tonight. Lots to talk about I'm sure. I'll start answering your quesitons now.

November 14, 02:54 PM

Looking Forward to Thursday!

Hi!

This is Jenna Fischer and I'm looking forward to blogging with you after the show. I’ve seen this week’s episode and it’s GREAT. Jim and Pam see one another for the first time since he left for Stamford. I’m excited to answer your questions.

See you back here shortly...Enjoy!

November 14, 01:37 PM

Jenna Fischer (aka Pam) Live Blog Thursday!!

After this Thursday's (11/16) supersized episode of The Office, be sure to come back over here to the live blog site to talk to Jenna Fischer...who you may know better as the always lovable Pam from the front desk. She'll be here to answer your questions live immediately following the east coast airing of The Office, which should be around 6:15 pm PST (9:15pm EST.)

But don't hesitate to leave your questions here early...we'll be providing Jenna with questions from the comments from this post forward.

We're looking forward to talking to you Thursday...see you then!!

November 09, 10:02 PM

Good night and good luck

Hey, thanks for replying so much, this was really fun. Next week we are doing a big extended episode on the merger of the two branches. Thank you for watching!
Greg

November 09, 10:01 PM

Office album

There are no plans for an Office soundtrack but you can get some songs on iTunes from the characters' playlists. maybe we can update those if there are songs you guys really like.

November 09, 10:00 PM

Scrubs and 30Rock

Yes, I am excited. I am really liking 30Rock. Amazing cast. NBC comedy Thursdays, yeah baby.

November 09, 09:56 PM

Dear Zach

I wish there was a Stanley Tree. There is a Phyllis Bush as we have mentioned before. Ask your aunt.

November 09, 09:54 PM

Darryl

is played by Craig Robinson and he is so terrific. We are talking about more episodes with him. He is a great stand-up comedian and played the Icehouse in Pasadena last night. For those of you with access to time machines, you might check it out. Also please stop Hitler.

November 09, 09:50 PM

Conan on the show

Conan has been on the show, in the Valentines Day episode. As for him writing an episode, this is a comedy show, and Conan only has drama specs. His Grey's Anatomy brought McTears to my eyes.

November 09, 09:47 PM

what is paul best at?

Actually, he is best at human resources.
He runs the writers room a lot.
He also naps very well. Mindy naps well too. Today I had to pour water on her head while she slept in the writers room to wake her up. This is not a joke.

November 09, 09:46 PM

Mindy is a writing genius

Yes.

November 09, 09:45 PM

What episode to convince friends to watch the show

Depends on the friends. I think the Injury is a great one, or the Dundies. Diversity Day. Office Olympics.

November 09, 09:43 PM

Producers cut

It will be available around midnight east coast time, which is right after the west coast airing of the show. Hawaii is lucky.

November 09, 09:41 PM

Limiting factors of documentary storytelling

No pillow talk scenes. They were the most useful scenes on the Simpsons in terms of explaining the story.

November 09, 09:37 PM

Response to Alex

How do I choose which writer gets to write an episode? They often pitch ideas and then it is simple, because you just let them write it. Also, they take turns so each gets a few a year. Some are better at some kinds of stories but it is more about tone than dialogue vs. exposition. Some like crazy stories, some are more into the romance. Caroline is best at epistolary novels which is why she hasn't got a credit yet.

November 09, 09:36 PM

Do the writers fight

Constantly. Mostly in the back seat on the way to Disneyland.

November 09, 09:35 PM

more on the delivery jerks

Their names on the show are Leo and Gino. Gene plays Leo and Lee plays Gino. Why can't you guys figure this out on your own?

November 09, 09:32 PM

Live episode

It would be really weird for a documentary, and hard to figure out how to do the interview segments and the editing, but it is really intriguing. I would love to figure out a way.

November 09, 09:31 PM

Will Toby pet Pam's hair?

If anyone pets Pam's hair, it will be Mose.

November 09, 09:30 PM

Michael and romance

Fans of Michael's lovelife should especially catch the Christmas special.

November 09, 09:29 PM

Reply to "I love Pam's hair"

Jenna, if you have time to blog replies to me, maybe you should do your own on NBC.com.

November 09, 09:27 PM

British cast

We tried to get Mackenzie Crook (Gareth) to be in the paper convention episode but we couldn't work it out timing-wise.

November 09, 09:26 PM

Oscar

Oscar will return. I have just finished directing that episode and it will air in January.

November 09, 09:24 PM

The two delivery jerks

I can't tell you anything more about the two delivery jerks. I will tell you this: one of them ends up with Pam.
This may be true if they take over the show in season ten.

November 09, 09:22 PM

Pam/Jim part two

Alright, we'll keep them around a little longer. Perhaps they can play a part somehow in the Toby surf story.

November 09, 09:18 PM

Will Toby/Paul surf?

Interesting question. That is exactly what we have been torturing ourselves with. We have written a script with two endings, surf and drown.

November 09, 09:16 PM

Pam and Jim

What do you think we should do? I was kind of thinking of dropping that storyline.

November 09, 09:15 PM

if you want to direct questions to other writers

A number of them are down the hall. Caroline Williams, for instance, is here.

November 09, 09:12 PM

hour long show, answer to Will

We will do a Christmas episode this December 14th and it will be an hour long, and was directed by Harold Ramis. We are usually in the weird position of being between a half hour and an hour. Maybe a half-hour episode without commercials is the answer. NBC?

November 09, 09:10 PM

Ricky Gervais

Ricky and Stephen Merchant wrote an upcoming episode called the Convict that will air November 30. I am editing it today, and it is very long and funny so perhaps we can have an extended version on-line.

November 09, 09:08 PM

to Christine

Mose actually wrote tonight's episode, in charcoal on the back of a shovel. He is the cheapest writer, since we pay him in penknives and beet-worm poison.

November 09, 09:05 PM

Scranton/ webisodes

Rainn is coming. We are trying to build a Saint Patricks day episode and go in March, but the current NBC schedule has in repeats around St. Patricks, so it depends on the storylines. I want to get the whole cast out there soon. We would like to do new webisodes based on following the cast around Scranton and getting real interactions.

November 09, 09:04 PM

Dwangela

Dwangela are going strong, although still trying to hide it. There will be some big drama in that relationship in January.

November 09, 09:00 PM

Simpsons vs. Office?

They are both great shows. I love the improvisation on the Office, and the fact that we can over-produce scenes and play around. The Simpsons you only get to make a minute or two more than you can air. But the cool thing on the Simpsons is that you can write anything, a scene can take place anywhere, and the physical stunts are so much easier to produce. The thing with John falling off the bicycle had safety coordinators and guys telling you that he has to be protected etc. Homer can fall into the Grand Canyon and nobody cares.

November 09, 08:57 PM

did I ride a bicycle drunk?

I think it is the most responsible way to get home if you are drunk, since you can't really injure anyone else. There's no legal limit. John had to fall off the bike a number of times for that stunt and I stopped him when he wanted to do more. He was roaring drunk at the time.

November 09, 08:44 PM

to megan and emily

There IS a lot of joking around on the set. John always sticks his fingers in that clapper thing before it snaps shut and starts the take. John also will carry on a conversation about fantasy football up until the split second that action is called and then snap into character. Rainn shouts weird things a lot. He shouts things he has heard that the ADs are supposed to say, like "we're on a bell!" which confuses the other professionals that are waiting to hear the real commands. And they all play a lot of online games on the office computers.

November 09, 07:21 PM

Welcome Back to the Live Blog...Take 2!

Hi Office fans,
I will be blogging again tonight after an episode I am very proud of called Branch Closing, written by Mike Schur (Mose Schrute) and directed by Tucker Gates. And then after the West Coast airs the episode, you will have the opportunity to see our Producers' Cut, which is much longer and contains two subplots we had to cut for time.

I will be blogging out of my office at the end of our workday so there may be some writers or writer/actors hanging around to answer questions if you get bored with me. I haven't blogged since the premiere, and if you don't mind, let me ask you all for a favor. If this episode doesn't turn out exactly as you had anticipated, detail for detail matching the expectation in your head, please really let me have it.

That was sarcasm, but this is sincere: Hope you like the show!

- Greg

November 08, 04:16 PM

Back For Round 2

Hey everyone...after the amazing success of the first live blog following the season premiere of The Office, Greg Daniels has decided to come back for another round. We're extremely excited to have him back Thursday, November 9th following the east coast airing of the episode, or approximately 9pm EST.

We look forward to hearing what new and burning questions you have now that we're a few episodes into the season, so be sure to log in and leave them in the comments.

See you Thursday!!