If someone were to ever come up to me and ask, “If there was one show that you had to watch for the rest of your life, what would it be?” I would always respond with one show in specific: The Office.

Now, I know The Office is a widely-known and popular comedy, and maybe I would be called “basic” for choosing that as the show I would watch until I was on my deathbed, but I could not think of any other show that I would not get tired of throughout the years. I have over 70 quotes from the comedy saved on my Notes app, and I can recite many moments and scenes from multiple episodes flawlessly. I can, without fail, sob uncontrollably at the end of seasons seven and nine.

I have seen the Office Ladies podcast while scrolling through my Spotify many times, but I finally decided that I should give it a listen. Hosted by Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer, who played Angela Martin and Pam Beesly on The Office, the duo breaks down different episodes of the comedy, talking about how they were feeling while filming, the layout of the set, and deleted scenes. While scrolling through the podcast’s episodes, the one that caught my eye was released on March 17, 2021, where they dissected an episode that easily has a spot on my top ten favorites, “Dinner Party.”

A quick rundown of “Dinner Party” is that the Scranton, Pennsylvania Branch Manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Michael Scott (Steve Carell), tricked two of the office couples, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam along with Angela and Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), to come to his house to join him and his girlfriend, Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin), for a dinner party. As the night went on, the party was crashed–fights broke out, plasma-screen televisions were shattered, and the police were called. 

When I pressed “play” on the podcast episode, all I was expecting was Fischer and Kinsey to just talk about their experiences while filming the episode and nothing else. Though I had that much correct, there was much more to the episode than what brushed the surface. Along with Fischer and Kinsey recounting their memories during the filming process, they also were joined by actors that were in “Dinner Party.” The director and writers of the episode elaborate on their emotions and memories too. This was a very pleasant surprise for me, and I was very excited to hear the voices of some of my favorite cast members on the podcast.

The Office Ladies podcast taught me a lot about the filming process, such as how the writers concocted the masterpiece of the script and what parts of the show were improvised. After listening to the episode, I told my dad–who is another raving fan of The Office–everything I learned. 

One aspect of the show that was most surprising–and extremely entertaining–for me were the deleted scenes. 

There would be times in the podcast episode where Fischer and Kinsey would be conversing over a moment that happened while they were filming a scene that didn’t make it into the episode and then go on to play the audio from the scene. Without fail, I found myself laughing and wishing that those scenes made it into the actual episode. This part of the show was very enjoyable–I would even go as far as to say that it is my favorite feature of the Office Ladies.

The Office is one of my all-time favorite television shows. To be able to listen to what was going on behind the scenes was an absolute treat for me, a fan of The Office through and through. The Office Ladies podcast is a blessing in disguise, and I highly recommend it to every fanatic of the best comedy on the planet.