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Office Ladies

The Paper Ep 3: Buddy and the Dude

14 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the premise of the episode 'Buddy and the Dude'?

4.165 - 30.193 Jenna Fischer

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you. Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes details, and lots of BFF stories. We're The Office Lady 6.0. Hello. Hi. How are you, lady? I'm good. Me too.

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30.213 - 55.172 Jenna Fischer

I need an update from us. Oh, yeah? I want to check in on our New Year's resolution to get off the hamster wheel. How's it going? Well, pretty good. I hamstered a little bit on Saturday. I know you did. And then I put it away. I put work away. And then I have started... purging my closet. This is what I did with this extra time. Yes. And I'm so happy about it.

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55.252 - 74.195 Jenna Fischer

And also like I went through and there's some stuff in my closet that I'm like, it doesn't really fit me anymore, but I still like this stuff. And I put together like a little pile and Isabel got to go through it all. And she was so excited. It was like shopping in mom's closet. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. Because you guys are the same size. Almost. But her feet are bigger than yours, right?

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74.295 - 93.255 Jenna Fischer

Her feet are, she's tinier than I am. But like overall, but her feet are bigger, which makes her crazy because she's like, oh, you have so many great shoes. Well, I have added on to getting off the hamster wheel. I have added on doing one thing at a time, which I found has been really good for me.

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93.475 - 119.055 Jenna Fischer

I think I used to pride myself on being an expert multitasker, and I want to become an expert single tasker. I like that. Single tasking. You know what? Multitasking's overrated. I think so. And I think, again, especially as a person who works from home, I don't want to put in a load of laundry while also answering an email. So I've stopped doing that.

119.236 - 134.638 Jenna Fischer

I have work hours and I have home hours, and I'm actually finding that I'm happier, more present, and more efficient in those spaces when I divide them up rather than try to make them work together. I like this.

Chapter 2: How do Ned and Mare plan to investigate the mattress store scam?

135.6 - 157.813 Jenna Fischer

I've started doing this thing. Tell me if you think it's passive aggressive. I'm excited. I'm sitting up. Okay. So whenever someone's on a device in my house, like we start a conversation and then maybe they check an email or look at a text, I stop talking. Oh. Just mid-sentence. I love this. I stop talking.

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157.974 - 179.953 Jenna Fischer

And then inevitably they realize and they look up and I go, hey there, let me know when you're ready. Oh, lady, I'm living for this. Here's the thing. I'm trying to have a conversation. Yeah. I don't want to like have a conversation with the top of your head while you're looking at a device. And I have a house full of teenagers. We're learning our boundaries with devices, right?

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180.834 - 205.348 Jenna Fischer

Social cues and whatnot. Yes. And I think this is a good life skill to take out with you that when someone's talking to you, you focus on them. And then if you have an email or something you need to check, then you go do it. I like this. I think this is smart. I think this is good parenting. Maybe it's passive aggressive if you want to give it that label, but it's also proactive life lessening.

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205.709 - 226.329 Jenna Fischer

Okay. How about that spin on it? There's our self-help book. Proactive Life Lessening by Jenna and Angela. All right, everyone. Welcome to this week's Office Lady 6.0. Today, we are going to be breaking down the third episode of Season 1's The Paper, titled The Buddy and the Dude. Yeah.

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226.99 - 235.086 Jenna Fischer

But before we dive into that, we are going to kick things off with a chit-chat sent in from Steve T. from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Yeah.

235.758 - 249.801 Steve

Hi ladies, this is Steve from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'm curious what your preferred thermostat setting is, both in the summer and winter. My fiance and I both like to keep the house pretty cold, so any warmer than 68 degrees and we feel like we're roasting.

250.726 - 274.86 Jenna Fischer

That is not the question I was expecting, but okay. What were you expecting? I don't know. I wasn't expecting a thermostat question, but I sort of love it. It's very timely for me, Steve. I don't know how you knew this. Well, I loved this question because this has been a theme in my life, the thermostat war. Yeah. I mean, especially on the set of The Office.

275.043 - 275.784 Jay Pharoah

Mm-hmm.

275.804 - 278.449 Jenna Fischer

We had Steve Carell, who ran hot.

Chapter 3: What insights do Jenna and Angela share about the filming process?

357.864 - 381.819 Jenna Fischer

I'm going to throw you a curveball. What is it? Your face is so funny. Why? Like, what is it? I turn off the heat at night. I know. Me too. That's what I'm saying. No, no. But like I let it get down. Like it doesn't kick on ever. And I sleep with the window open and it gets cold. Like you wake up and the house is cold, but I like to sleep in a cold room. I'm with you, Steve.

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382.2 - 399.247 Jenna Fischer

I'm like, I tell the kids, guys, pile on the blankets. Okay. And I sleep with the window open no matter where I am. So like we go to see Josh's family in Colorado in the winter. I open that window. You know, that's really healthy. I was reading about it. Oh, yeah? We're supposed to be getting more fresh air into our homes than we're getting. Oh.

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399.268 - 421.681 Jenna Fischer

Like, you're supposed to—remember in ye olden times when there was no, like, you know, HVAC systems? Yeah. You had your windows open a lot. Yeah. And that's really good to get that fresh air. I'm that person. I have windows open all over the house. Smart. I like it around 64 degrees at night. 64?! Yes! Yes. That's what the thermostat said this morning when I woke up.

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421.781 - 442.795 Jenna Fischer

It said it was 64 degrees in the house. And I just, oh man, I just layer these heavy blankets and I'm so snug. But it is hard for me to get out of bed in the morning because I'm so snug. There you go. 70 and 64. Yeah, those are our numbers. Thanks, Steve. Loved your question. Well, listen, why don't we take a break?

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442.815 - 454.657 Jenna Fischer

Because when we come back, we've really got a lot of fun stuff to share about this episode. Yes, we reached out to Greg Daniels. Yes, and I traded some texts with writer Patrick Kang and also Chelsea Fry.

Chapter 4: What is the significance of the 'Two Truths and a Lie' game with Creed?

454.677 - 491.444 Jenna Fischer

And we have a little something something from Creed Bratton. I'm really excited about that one. I know, me too. Okay, we are back. Let's discuss today's The Paper episode. It is season one, episode three, titled The Buddy and the Dude. It is written by Patrick Kang and Michael Levin. Guess what show Patrick worked on before? Like, back in the day. You're not going to guess. I'm going to tell you.

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492.085 - 512.059 Jenna Fischer

How I Met Your Mother. I might have guessed. I didn't give you time to guess. I was thinking like, oh, it's got to be something we're connected to. That's where my brain was going. Okay. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, small world. I know. And this episode was directed by Jana Gorskaya. Are you ready for a summary? Yes. All right, here it is.

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512.7 - 536.145 Jenna Fischer

In this episode, Ned scrambles to teach his staff about the importance of fact-checking sources. Mayer pitches an undercover investigation into a shady mattress pricing scam. Meanwhile, Esmeralda continues her attempts to sabotage Ned, including revealing the fact that Mayer might have a plan to leave the paper for a job in hospitality.

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537.348 - 566.99 Jenna Fischer

All right, my single fast fact is a fun guest star crossover. Mary Hollis Imboden plays Cindy, the mattress store employee. She's got a really great big guest star on this episode. You all might know her from her many roles on shows like HBO's The Righteous Gemstones or AMC's Kevin Can F Himself, or maybe ABC's The Real O'Neils, which is where Angela, the two of you met. Yep.

567.371 - 584.315 Jenna Fischer

You had a two-episode guest arc on that show. And I remember you telling me how much fun you had and how nice Mary was to you on the set. She's great. And I just enjoy her. Every time I'm around her, we've reconnected a few times throughout the years. She's just wonderful. And I reached out to her for this episode.

Chapter 5: How does Esmeralda attempt to sabotage Ned and Mare?

584.515 - 606.218 Jenna Fischer

You did. You asked her about her time on the paper. She sent us some great behind-the-scenes details. We're going to sprinkle those in as we break down this episode. But the first question you asked her, of course, was, how did you get your job on the paper? And it turns out she first auditioned for a series regular role on the show when they were casting the pilot. I know. How about that?

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606.258 - 629.86 Jenna Fischer

She said she spent, quote, most of February 2024 auditioning under a cloak of secrecy. A month of auditioning for a series regular role on the show. That she knew nothing about. She said it, quote, could not be named. How crazy is that? All she knew was that Greg had created a show. She was pretty sure it was the paper.

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629.84 - 649.825 Jenna Fischer

But she said it was hard to manage all the emotions around an opportunity that exciting. She also said the material was clearly decoy pages, which made it obvious that they were really just searching for the right ensemble chemistry. I thought that was so smart of her to, like, realize that. If I got decoy pages, I was trying to think about it.

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649.865 - 664.465 Jenna Fischer

Would I really understand, like, are they trying to get a sense of... my timing, my comedy, but I think it's about personalities, like how these people are going to mesh together. Yeah. And I remember Chelsea telling us something similar when we interviewed her. Yeah.

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664.486 - 685.699 Jenna Fischer

Well, ultimately, they went in a different direction for the series' regular role, but Mary said in a truly generous twist, they invited her to join this episode as Cindy, no additional audition required. Oh, that's so nice. She also said, shout out to good casting directors who keep track and remember all the people who might fit into the world of the show. Well, I just love that.

686.14 - 706.054 Jenna Fischer

And we have some more fun tidbits from Mary as we break down this episode, but how about we get started? Let's do it. The episode starts with Ned. He's in his office, and he's working off a dry erase board coming up with story ideas. Did you zoom in on the dry erase board? No, did you? Yes, I did. Oh. Okay, so here are the story ideas they're working on.

706.394 - 737.519 Jenna Fischer

First of all, on the dry erase board, there's all these squares, kind of like a layout, you know? And in the squares, here's what they say. Feel good story, photo, water department update, downtown construction, senior center, shoplift story, mud hens game. Mud hens? Exactly, lady. What is a mud hen? Well... Mud hen? Like a hen that lays an egg? Mud hen? M-U-D-H-E-N. Mud hens game.

737.579 - 759.581 Jenna Fischer

Well, you know I had to Google it. What is it? Turns out the Toledo Mudhens are a minor league baseball team. Oh. Yeah. Their AAA affiliate is the Detroit Tigers, but they are located in Toledo, Ohio, and they play their home games at Fifth Third Field. Oh. But again, what is a Mudhen, you might say? Are you going to tell me? I am.

759.621 - 783.537 Jenna Fischer

According to the internet, here is how they got their mascot name. A mud hen is a marsh bird with short wings and long legs, and it inhabits swamps or marshes. I guess the Toledo mud hens earned their name in 1896. That's going back. That's going back. I guess that's the year the team played at Bayview Park, and it was surrounded by marshlands, and these birds hung out there.

Chapter 6: What are the challenges faced by the newsroom team?

794.994 - 815.815 Jenna Fischer

So someone's going to report on that game. It's making me wonder how the St. Louis Cardinals got their name. Were they playing and a bunch of Cardinals flew by? How'd that happen? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I really want to now check out a Toledo Mud Hens game. I'm invested. You are? Yes. You're going to follow their season now? I might have to go find them online.

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815.835 - 844.398 Jenna Fischer

Does the board say anything about the status of all of these articles by any chance? No. No status updates. Okay. Well, Mayer is going to walk in, and they've got this, like, really cute shorthand now. Yeah. They're going over a story about the inspection budget. You know who they should follow up with. And they both say, Angie. Yeah. They've got someone on the inside. It's so cute.

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844.458 - 872.358 Jenna Fischer

They've got a nice groove. Adam enters. And instead of calling Ned, Ned, he calls him Ed. Ed. Ned corrects him, and he's like, no, no, I'm calling you Ed. It's short for editor-in-chief. I wanted to save some time. I'm sorry. Hold on. Yeah. Flag on the play. Who does this remind you of? I mean, Kevin. Why waste time? Say lot word when few word do trick. I know. I thought the same thing.

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872.418 - 894.783 Jenna Fischer

I mean, is there a world— Where one day, Kevin shows up as Adam's cousin. Like, are they related, these two people? I think a big yes. And they just don't say very many words. They leave words out of their sentences, and that's their bit. And they have weird number combinations. Maybe so. Yeah.

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895.043 - 921.932 Jenna Fischer

Well, Adam has come into Ned's office to turn in his article about a man who stuffed a Dyson down his pants at Target as a joke. His source is the man himself. Yeah. Ned asks Adam to consider that maybe his source is lying to him. Uh-huh. Adam's like, I don't think so. I don't know. And then Ned is like, you know what? I'm going to make this the lead story of the also news.

922.03 - 945.665 Jenna Fischer

And this is where we find out that articles that aren't sourced well or maybe they're just not good, they end up in the also news because Ned doesn't want to hurt people's feelings. Yeah. And Adam, as it turns out, is the star reporter of the also news. Yeah, the also news is just printed on the copy machine and distributed it internally. And we all know who else would be in the also news. Kevin.

945.685 - 945.926 Jenna Fischer

Kevin.

946.767 - 946.907

Mm-hmm.

946.887 - 973.995 Jenna Fischer

Well, now Ned is going to call the whole team into the conference room. He wants to coach everyone on separating fact from fiction. This is obviously for Adam, mostly, but maybe for everyone. I think for everyone. He proposes that they play the game two truths and a lie so that they can help learn discernment. Right. He puts Travis and Adalola head-to-head. They're going to go first.

Chapter 7: What are the humorous moments from the mattress store scene?

989.894 - 1004.488 Jenna Fischer

Yeah. Here are the two truths and a lie that Adelola says. Ready? Yes. I buy a new toothbrush every week. I can't feel pain on the bottoms of my feet. And I once misdialed a phone number and accidentally called Martin Lawrence. Yes.

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1004.888 - 1026.102 Jenna Fischer

Travis says, I think your story of accidentally calling Martin Lawrence is the lie because you would never sit on an anecdote that strong, and I've never heard that before. Yeah, he calls BS on that. Mm-hmm. Well, guess what, you guys? Adelola whips out her phone and calls someone, and you hear this. Okay, who doesn't have any good stories?

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1026.122 - 1031.851 Angela Kinsey

Oh, my goodness. You reached Martin Lawrence. When you hear that beep, you know what to do. What? Whoa.

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1032.899 - 1059.691 Jenna Fischer

Yeah. Yeah. Martin Lawrence. So I thought, oh, my God, how do they get Martin Lawrence for this? This is amazing. What a get, right? Well, that's what you said. And then I said, I don't think it's Martin Lawrence. And I said, well, I'm going to call Greg and find out. Greg said it's actually an impression by comedian Jay Pharoah. Oh, I love Jay from SNL. Yes, he's so great.

1059.751 - 1077.098 Jenna Fischer

He was on SNL from 2010 to 2016. He does a ton of amazing impressions. I actually went down the rabbit hole and watched him on an interview, nine minutes of impressions. Yes, I saw that because the guy's just like throwing names at him and he just can do it. It's amazing. It's amazing.

1077.078 - 1100.089 Jenna Fischer

See, that fascinates me because I can get honing an impression and then doing it, but like switching between accents or switching between impressions one right after another, like how do you do that? It's amazing. And he does, he did this whole bit where it was like Martin Lawrence and Will Smith going back and forth, but he does both of them. Oh my God. And their cadence is so different. Yeah.

1100.109 - 1120.1 Jenna Fischer

He does so many amazing impressions. Anyway, shout out to Jay Pharoah. You totally had me fooled. And then we go on to find out that Adelola did one time call him by accident, and he thought she was his niece. And they had this really nice heart-to-heart about her spending habits. But now whenever she calls him, it just goes to voicemail. Have you ever played Two Truths and a Lie, Ange?

1121.121 - 1141.099 Jenna Fischer

No, I haven't. I haven't either. I don't think I'd be good at it. No? You wouldn't be good at giving the things, or you wouldn't be good at guessing? I think I wouldn't be good at giving the things because I think I probably would have a tell. Oh, yeah? Yeah. My tennis gals, they said they can always tell when I'm going to go down the line, like go down in the alley.

Chapter 8: What lessons do the characters learn by the end of the episode?

1171.777 - 1189.913 Jenna Fischer

He's the master of saying all kinds of crazy shit that we think isn't true, but then it is true. And then we don't know what's not true. And I called him up and he said, I'll do it. Let's go, gals. He sent us in, you guys, three audio clips where he does two truths and a lie. We don't know what they are. We haven't listened to them.

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1190.273 - 1214.101 Jenna Fischer

And then he sent us in an additional one where he reveals which one is the lie. But before we play them, I have to tell you, Jenna, right before he sent us these clips that we have not listened to, he called me. Okay. And he said, hey, Pumpkin. He was like, I'm going to need some room here. And I was like, huh? And he goes, to kind of get into it. You know, I want you guys to believe it.

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1214.562 - 1239.176 Jenna Fischer

So, like, is this a one sentence, a two sentence, or do I have some room? Well, lady, this is what you need. You need room when you're telling a lie. I learned this from when I was a struggling actor and I would have to fib my way out of like work to go to auditions. And you have to, you have to spin a yarn. Yeah, I think that's where the phrase comes from, right? You really have to tell a tale.

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1239.596 - 1253.863 Jenna Fischer

So I said, Creed, babe, you do you. Like, give it to us the way you want to do it. So we have not heard these, but okay, everyone listening, we are all now going to play Two Truths and a Lie with Creed Bratton. Listen with us, and let's see if we can all guess.

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1254.721 - 1283.089 Angela Kinsey

Back in the early 80s, I was involved in this drug deal, and I ended up owning a 1958 Gibson Carina Explorer, one of the rarest guitars on the planet. I think there was only 20 of them made. This was like one of the earlier, even though they had only 20, one of the earlier serial numbers on that. And later on, I had to sell it for some reason.

1283.409 - 1292.564 Angela Kinsey

And, I mean, I mean, God, it's probably worth $800,000 to a million dollars today, something like that. It was a loss.

1294.307 - 1302.7 Jenna Fischer

Okay. Okay. I mean, I'm already just, I'm in. I'm waiting. I know. Here we go. Number two.

1303.102 - 1328.173 Angela Kinsey

In 1965, I was doing a movie in Israel, and I came on the set and was leaning against this wall. And unbeknownst to me, there were live squibs, explosives in the wall. And this gentleman walks over to me and he says, hey, kid, you're going to blow your arm off or kill yourself. And he's going to lead me away from the thing. And that man was Frank Sinatra.

1328.714 - 1333.6 Angela Kinsey

He probably saved me losing my arm or my life. Thank you, Frank.

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