TCB Infomercial - Episode #726: Bryan & Krissy welcome The Office cast member Kate Flannery. Playing the frisky, ornery and possibly intoxicated Meredith Palmer, Kate joined the ensemble early in its run and quickly became a fan favorite. Kate shares her long road to the front doors of Dunder Mifflin. From a near casting on SNL to improv work with Second City, Kate proves that the overnight success' never happen overnight. KATE'S LINKS: Follow Kate on Instagram Watch EP #726 on YouTube! Text us or leave us a voicemail: +1 (212) 433-3TCB FOLLOW US: Instagram: @thecommercialbreak Youtube: youtube.com/thecommercialbreak TikTok: @tcbpodcast Website: www.tcbpodcast.com CREDITS: Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley Executive Producer: Bryan Green Producer: Astrid B. Green Voice Over: Rachel McGrath TCBits Written & Produced by Bryan Green To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who are the hosts and what is the episode about?
Oh, yeah, cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and the co-host of this show, Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Kristen. Best to you, Brian. And best to you out there in the podcast universe. How the hell are you? Thanks for joining us. It's TCB Infomercial Tuesday with Kate Flannery from The Office is joining us.
We have reached the pinnacle of success, Chrissy. There is no... Greater hill to climb than having one of the, I'd say one of the main characters. Oh, yeah. From one of the best television shows that has ever been, ever, and ever will be. I think we can all agree that The Office is hilarious in so many ways. Brilliant for almost ten seasons. I think it was ten seasons. I think it was ten seasons.
I think it's eight, but...
Nine and some bonus episodes. Okay. So anyway, so there you go. Kate Flannery, who plays Meredith on The Office, is going to be with us in just a few minutes. And I'm really excited about this because this is one of my favorite television shows of all time. And I don't know too many people whose it isn't. So many people I know. Literally watch The Office on rerun all the time.
You know how I have my favorite shows that I watch at night? The Office isn't in rotation, but I do watch Office episodes pretty often. If I see them on live TV, I was watching one the other day. I think it was a parkour episode with one of my kids. And he's like, what's parkour? And I was like, well, let me show you what parkour is.
And then we went to a park this weekend, and I showed him more parkour. Because, you know, parkour. I'm a parkour master, Christy. I don't know if you know that.
I did not know that.
With my bad hip and my bad back and my bad heart, I just run around doing parkour all the time. So many quotable lines, and Meredith owns a few of those throughout the season. So anyway, we'll talk to her all about that. Celebrating their 20th season, The Office is available on Peacock for rewatch. Yeah, it's 20th year. Wow.
And lest you think that Kate only did The Office, she has done many other things in her career. We'll talk to her about some of that. But one of the things I think you got excited about was the Jane Lynch interview. Christmas variety show that they do. They go out and sing and they do it with a big band and coming to a town near you during Christmas season.
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Chapter 2: What is Kate Flannery's relationship with The Office?
Michael, that's right. Identity theft is no joke, Jim. Millions of families suffer every year. Dwight, Michael, or Pam? It's got to be Dwight. It's Dwight. Okay, let's see here. Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me. Michael, Scott, Dwight, or which one?
Michael.
That's right. When you're a kid, you assume your parents are soulmates. My kids are going to be right about that. Oh, that's a sweet line from Pam. I'm just going to say that. You guys, like, I'm really smart now. You don't even know. You could ask me, Kelly, what's the biggest company in the world? And I'd be like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Giving you the exact right answer every time. Kelly Kapoor. Let's see if I can find another deep cut here. These are all great lines, and I can almost remember the episodes.
Oh, yeah, it takes you back.
I'm fast. To give you a reference point, I'm somewhere between a snake, a mongoose, and a panther. Somewhere between.
You want to meet Dwight?
Of course. Yeah, yeah. The Dunder Mifflin stock symbol is DMI. Do you know what that stands for? Dummies, morons, and idiots. Because that's what you'd have to be to own it. And as one of those idiots, I believe the board owes me answers. Oscar. That's great. Oscar. Oh, here's one from a lesser-known character. Oh, I don't think it's blackmail.
Angela just does what I ask her to do, so I won't tell everyone that she's cheating on Andy with Dwight. I think for me, for it to be blackmail, I would have to put it in a formal letter.
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Chapter 3: How did Kate Flannery get cast in The Office?
It would have.
Chan all over. Chan all over. I'm sorry. I just had to say it. I just had to say it. No, no, no. It's crazy, right? Yeah.
Serenity canyons? I don't know. Hunter? I don't know. But I think the casting director, Alison Jones, said, I don't know if this is the part for you, but I feel like this show is right for you. So I actually did not do the pilot. I actually replaced somebody from the pilot that was cut out. Ah. Oh, very interesting. It's always strange when you come into a project.
So I did not do the first episode, but I did every other one.
Yeah, no, fair enough.
And it's so odd because, yeah, it's just odd because they actually asked us to bring paperwork and to look busy at our desk season one. And, you know, I thought that was such a cool idea. Yes. So that when the camera catches you, you're not like suddenly working. You know, you're actually still in progress, in process. Yeah. Uh, and so it did, uh, have that documentary feel from the start.
So, you know, as an ensemble person being from second city, uh, and you know, I, I did Dell closest to prop Olympic for years. I, I worked at the annoying theater. I've worked at a lot of funky theaters and did a lot of stuff where being an ensemble was really the most important part is to, to make sure you're there for everybody else. You're giving everybody else. Yeah.
Yeah.
team player yeah from whether you talk or not you are in there you're in it yeah so i love being a fully actualized character even if you don't speak which i think is the one of the most brilliant things about the office because we all work with people and we all went to school with people and you did not get to know everyone equally well right away sure things were revealed slowly and sometimes there's people you'd be like i didn't know that about or you find out later you're like oh my god i had no idea that that guy's nuts yeah whatever
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Chapter 4: What was Kate Flannery’s career path before The Office?
You were on the Bernie Mac show. Did you have a chance to meet and sit with Bernie Mac to talk to him?
Yes, I got to hang out. Bernie, he was the best. Man, everybody says this. He was the greatest. He would have a separate lunch for all the kids and their parents in his huge dressing area. It was like a house just for him. He was the greatest. He saw everyone so kind, so funny, so smart. I felt very lucky to guest star.
And I was still waiting tables, by the way, at a restaurant in Beverly Hills when all this was going on, by the way. And I got my restaurant job up and through the first season of The Office. I did. It's just like I was waiting on a lot of famous people.
You know, I have an interesting story. So the other day I was watching Reels and a reel came up about Bernie Mac cutting a promo for the Bernie Mac show, which, by the way, I think is one of the more underrated comedies of our generation.
It's so good.
It's so funny. And it's poignant. It's poignant. He's a good dad and he teaches anyway. So, one of the directors of this promo is trying to get this little girl or, excuse me, this little guy to sit on his lap or this little girl to sit on his lap. And Bernie keeps telling the director, not going to do that. It's not appropriate. I'm not going to do that.
And the director keeps pushing him until finally Bernie says, not doing the promo. I'm not having this person sit on my lap. But it was just like Bernie had like a moral compass and it didn't matter about Hollywood. It just it just goes to like I'm not making a larger point about kids and who's sitting on laps and all that.
What I'm making the point is, is that Bernie was a like he had a mommy about him, like this life force about him that really comes through on the screen. Did you get the sense?
He did, and he would fly back to Chicago every weekend because he had friends and family in Chicago that he didn't want to abandon. He was on the move. He was always moving.
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Chapter 5: What are some of the most memorable quotes from The Office?
I remember that.
I remember we got to go to the premiere. We all came from the studio, you know, set. And I remember Ben Siller was there and Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey. And I was like... They were like, checking out the new guy. They were nervous about the new guy. And the movie was such a big hit. And they're like, oh my God, we have that guy.
So I feel like it was really Steve Carell, I think, his magic that allowed us through.
And also his part. Yeah.
And also he understood... He understood how to make a guy who's just so awkward, says the wrong thing all the time, but has a heart. Yes. Because I feel like the British version was so mean and so dark and really funny, but like, whoa, really tough.
I agree with you on this, and I have had arguments about this with friends of mine and other people. I... I'm not the biggest fan of the Office UK. I'm not. And I think it's funny in its own way. And I love British comedies. I mean, you can ask Chrissy. I know them all and I watch them all and I'm tuned into that universe. But something about that Office UK.
Because I watched The Office US first, there is something tender and gentle and empathetic about most of the characters in The Office that is lacking in some of the characters that just gives it this depth. It's like, I don't know. It's like soup after... I think that's why you...
yeah it's like soup after you've been sitting for a couple days it's better it's it has more flavors it's like the flavors come out or something i don't know how to explain it totally no no no i think that's that's well stated and i also think that you know i don't think um i mean there's a reason why uh the british office is has so few episodes yeah i feel like it's really hard to watch this character because he's not really growing as a human it's hard to get behind him for years yeah yeah i agree season yeah so yeah and it's lucky
Really easy to get behind, you know, Michael Scarn as he's... Michael Scott, yes, yes. Totally. What is... And I know that... So now you're... When are you world famous? When do you get out of your house and realize, holy shit... I can... I am... I did it. I made it. Here I am. People are recognizing you. They're repeating the lines. They're probably saying, you know, I don't know.
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Chapter 6: How much of The Office was scripted vs. improvised?
Well, it's got to be such a huge change. You're waiting tables through season one, right? Probably the character is growing, but still limited in season two and three. And then all of a sudden, this ensemble, like this kind of core group of characters starts to come in to play. And now people are becoming familiar with them. So now everyone knows you as Meredith, and they're familiar with you. And
We were talking about this with someone else just last week. You grow an affinity and a relationship with these characters on the screen. And it's interesting how, in our minds, it's like we do have a friendship with these people that we're watching. Did you ever feel uncomfortable with the amount of attention that the office was being paid or everybody kind of knowing who you were?
I mean, it's...
It's a champagne problem. If you don't make peace with it, you're screwed. I just feel like it's literally like deciding to be happy or not. Sometimes people come up to you and they think I'm their third grade teacher and they're like, Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
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Chapter 7: What was Kate Flannery’s experience with Second City and SNL auditions?
It's really well written.
It's really, yeah. It's definitely worth your time. And, you know, I feel like I'm doing, I don't know, I feel like I'm kind of all over the place right now. But things are good. I get to sing with Jane pretty frequently. I mean, we're always on tour every Christmas because we did a Christmas album together that did very well. We were literally on the Billboard Top 10 for a couple weeks.
That's insane.
I love it.
I know, right? So it's called Swingin' Little Christmas. You can find it on iTunes and Spotify and all that stuff. Or you can buy the CD on Amazon. You might need to get a new car. If you have a player. But yeah, so it's a joy. And we get to play really great places, big halls. And sometimes we play for 2,000 seats or 3,000 seats or 500 seats. We're kind of all over the place.
But it's really been a joy. And we've been doing that for 10 years. So that's really fun. And we have a non-Christmas show as well. Go to Jane Lynch official soon. Okay, Jane Lynch official. The first time I ever went to Second City, Jane Lynch was understudying. She was on stage understudying for Bonnie Hunt. And then a year later, a year and a half later, I became Jane's understudy. It's crazy.
And then we started singing together. um, for benefits. And like, there were a couple live shows that we would do just like little bits in, in some sketch shows we did, did together. Then we were, uh, we did a sketch show in LA where we got to sing in that with a bunch of other people like Ana Gastar and, um, Oh my God. It's like so many, so many great people that were coming and Joey Soloway.
And then we got to do, um, then we became, um, award show buddies because Glee and The Office were on at the same time. And then our shows got canceled around the same time. So Jane asked me to kind of join her in this cabaret endeavor in New York. I can't wait to see it. We just never look back. We had a great time. It's really fun. We sing with the Tony Guerrero Quintet. They're great.
I think it's great. I love Jane. Jane is also iconic. She's the greatest. Yeah, she really is.
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Chapter 8: What was it like working with Bernie Mac and other projects before The Office?
I know.
They just give me a Dundee. Just my Dundee. They give me back my Dundee.
That is a freaking Dundee she is holding up. YouTube.com slash the commercial. Yes.
It's my second Dundee. The first one is Grace Under Fire. It's not Best Redhead, though, so it's great.
That is crazy.
I love it. Oh, my God. I'm not full of props. Meredith Funko Pop was my first casual day. What else do you have? What else do you have? There's the Funko Pop from Fun Run. So it's my cast, my pelvis cast. Oh, my God. Yes. I love it. You know, there is some, here's my, Oh wait, sorry.
Go ahead. No, I was going to say, you know, there's some guy or girl out there that would pay $1,700,000 for that, for that Dundee. I know. Um,
Well, yeah, so actually we're going to be, a bunch of us from the office are going to be at the Meadowlands. I think it's the first weekend in August. There's an office reunion con.
Oh, fun.
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