Speaker 1: Oh my god, that's it right there, scrant the Electric City.
Speaker 1: It's been seven years since The Office Finale aired and
Speaker 1: we had the Scranton Rap Party here. I haven't been
Speaker 1: back since, really and exploring anything about the Office, I
Speaker 1: felt like it was important to come back here to
Speaker 1: scrant It's not really where it all started, but it
Speaker 1: somehow feels like it's where it all started. My name
Speaker 1: is Michelle Dempsey and I'm a co chair of the
Speaker 1: Office Convention in the Office Rap Party. My name is
Speaker 1: Tim Holmes. I'm a co chair of the Office Convention
Speaker 1: in the Office Rap Party. Hello everybody, and welcome to
Speaker 1: a brand new and very close to my heart episode
Speaker 1: of The Office Deep Dive. I am your host, Brian
Speaker 1: baum Gartner. Now, I thought we could do something a
Speaker 1: little bit different today, alright, something very special. If you've
Speaker 1: been following me on Instagram, you know that I just
Speaker 1: got back from my book tour, and let me tell
Speaker 1: you it was freaking incredible, all right. I went all
Speaker 1: the way back to Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Electric City, the
Speaker 1: hometown of the Office, and I'm not even making this up.
Speaker 1: I left Scranton with an honorary certificate in Scrantology from
Speaker 1: the University of Scranton. I'm a doctor as far as
Speaker 1: I'm concerned. Yes, I think I am the only person
Speaker 1: to have ever been bestowed with such an honor. So
Speaker 1: take that everybody else. Uh Now, as an honorary Scrantonian,
Speaker 1: I thought I would take you back to Scranton with
Speaker 1: me and introduce you to some of the amazing people
Speaker 1: I have met in the town. I really have not
Speaker 1: felt more welcome from any town or any group of
Speaker 1: people ever. Scranton has become my second home, and it
Speaker 1: is all because of the people. I am so excited
Speaker 1: to introduce you to to such people, the incredible Tim
Speaker 1: Holmes and Michelle Dempsey. These two were responsible for the
Speaker 1: Office Convention in two thousand seven and the Rap Party
Speaker 1: in two thousand thirteen. If you read our book or
Speaker 1: listen to the podcast, you know how special those events were.
Speaker 1: Tim and Michelle's love for the show and for their
Speaker 1: town Scranton is so big that they volunteered to co
Speaker 1: chair all of these spectacular office events. They have done
Speaker 1: an amazing job every single time I have come, and
Speaker 1: they have made those experiences extra special, not just for me,
Speaker 1: but for everyone else who was there. Along with the
Speaker 1: rest of the town. They keep the show's legacy going
Speaker 1: and I could not be more grateful. So on this
Speaker 1: very special edition of the podcast, please give a warm
Speaker 1: Scrantonian welcome to the true keepers of the office. Tim Holmes,
Speaker 1: Michelle Dempsey, and all of the people of Scranton. Bubble
Speaker 1: and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and
Speaker 1: Squeaker cooking at every month. Lift over from the night before.
Speaker 1: I was driving down the highway here and we got
Speaker 1: off and there was the mural there. I started, no joke,
Speaker 1: I started getting emotional when I just like, I just
Speaker 1: saw the sign. Honest to God, when Scranton heard you
Speaker 1: were coming, you felt the electricity searched through the city.
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you. Every my phone hasn't stuffer ringing.
Speaker 1: I'm sure Tim has been the same way it has
Speaker 1: been and everybody and anybody who thinks they might be
Speaker 1: you know, they it has just been on fire since
Speaker 1: you're since your tweet. Yeah, we were trying to keep
Speaker 1: it under the bottles. Were like yeah, and then your
Speaker 1: tree went out. We're like, okay, it's on Well, John
Speaker 1: just kind of he was because I talked to him
Speaker 1: yesterday and then he was like, will you send me
Speaker 1: a photo? Will you send me a photo? And I
Speaker 1: sent John the picture. And the true story is I
Speaker 1: like put my phone in my pocket and then it
Speaker 1: like buzzes what seems like fourteen seconds later, and it's
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys remember Steve Socks. I
Speaker 1: think he was here at the rap party. He was
Speaker 1: like the long time stand in, like like he was
Speaker 1: like Steve stand In anyone standing on the show. And
Speaker 1: I look at my I'm like Steve Socks and he goes, hey,
Speaker 1: if you're with Krasinski telling me it was a hundred
Speaker 1: dollars for the fantasy football buy in this year because
Speaker 1: he's like a missioner, and I'm like, how does he
Speaker 1: know with Presinsky? And then suddenly my phone went like
Speaker 1: you're with John tell him this you're blah blah blah,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my god. He posted it
Speaker 1: like so quickly after he got his hands. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: now how did you first find out about the Office? Well?
Speaker 1: I was a huge fan of the British version of
Speaker 1: the Office, Okay, so when I heard that The Office
Speaker 1: was coming to America, yea. And then when I heard
Speaker 1: was Scranton. I actually panicked. I panic, I was. I went,
Speaker 1: I didn't know the mayor well, but I like, like
Speaker 1: march to city Hall, like this is not a good thing.
Speaker 1: This is not a good thing because Slough. They're not
Speaker 1: kind to Slough in that show. And the mayor was
Speaker 1: trying to turn Scranton around and we were on this
Speaker 1: upswing and and so I thought, you know, slow was
Speaker 1: really the road to nowhere in that show. And um
Speaker 1: and Chris Staherty, who's the mayor at the time, He's like, well,
Speaker 1: I talked to Greg Daniels and who's the creator of
Speaker 1: the American version, and he said, he's you know, it's
Speaker 1: it'll be different, like he's going to be good to
Speaker 1: the city. And I took a deep breath, like, okay,
Speaker 1: that sounds good. And I hope this Greg Daniels everything
Speaker 1: he told you he is, And like, could I think
Speaker 1: higher of Greg Daniels, I don't think so. Like he
Speaker 1: he made Granton like another quirky, lovable character on the show, right,
Speaker 1: he captured the essence of who we are. And that,
Speaker 1: you know, to me is because it's forever change the
Speaker 1: perception on the outside. It finally let people like the
Speaker 1: perception wasn't what the reality was to us, and now
Speaker 1: they match, right, Like the perception is the reality, and
Speaker 1: the Office was the springboard for that. Like it really
Speaker 1: had an impact on Scranton, like huge, And I know
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that a little bit, but there's the
Speaker 1: before the office and after the Office for Scranton and
Speaker 1: for when you leave Scranton and tell people where you're from.
Speaker 1: What used to happen is like I'd say I'm from Scranton,
Speaker 1: people be like, oh, I'm sorry, right right right, like really,
Speaker 1: And I always I never knew what they were sorry
Speaker 1: about because I always loved to hear and thought it
Speaker 1: was a great place. But um, now it's I'm from
Speaker 1: Scranton's like I love the office and it's your instant
Speaker 1: bond across the world with everybody, and you'll hear from
Speaker 1: all these people the connections and the love and the
Speaker 1: interesting moments that they've had outside of the area telling
Speaker 1: people that they're from Scranton. Right, And I think there's
Speaker 1: a cool story about how Greg picked Scranton to that
Speaker 1: folds into pace. Go ahead. Um so actually Tim tells
Speaker 1: us better than I do. So so this is Greg's words,
Speaker 1: not ours. And we're obviously paraphrasing, but it is our
Speaker 1: understanding that he chose, you know, basically, when he's looking
Speaker 1: where he's going to do a philosophically speaking, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a satellite brand, so it's got to be a
Speaker 1: kind of a smaller city. Uh. He felt it had
Speaker 1: East Coast sensibility, so he was kind of looking at
Speaker 1: the East coast. When he decided the home office would
Speaker 1: be in New York City, he began to look at
Speaker 1: cities with with our with with with our, which in
Speaker 1: might be a two hour driving distance. So he looks
Speaker 1: at Grand Pennsylvania, Stanford, Connecticut, Utica, New York, Nashua, New Hampshire.
Speaker 1: These may all sound familiar because they all wind up
Speaker 1: being the branches and so and that's when he sends
Speaker 1: out these teams to go check out, and Johnny Kay
Speaker 1: happens to be one of them coming into Scranton. So
Speaker 1: you know, from what we understand, there was a lot
Speaker 1: of little happy circumstances because it wasn't only pinn Paper.
Speaker 1: There was another place here called paper Magic, which is
Speaker 1: also a place that John visit. And paper Magic is
Speaker 1: the one that had a like Greg remembers getting a
Speaker 1: greeting card that had paper paper magic Scranton p A.
Speaker 1: So he kind of had that in mind, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's he he did say, you know, he might
Speaker 1: have just been being nice to us, but he felt
Speaker 1: Scranton was kind of the one to beat because he
Speaker 1: felt it was a big enough name just because of
Speaker 1: how big we were during the investoral Revolution and a
Speaker 1: bunch of things, you know, for a little town, we
Speaker 1: have a big name, um, you know. And ultimately everything
Speaker 1: fell into place and it and it worked out wonderfully
Speaker 1: for the show, for us, for everybody involved. Magic makes
Speaker 1: all those Valentine's that used to give out in grades
Speaker 1: magic scrant p A on the back of all of them,
Speaker 1: and he remembered that. So it was a confluence of things, right,
Speaker 1: and that was one of them. Yes, And he also
Speaker 1: thought the name Scranton was a funny thing to say,
Speaker 1: and it is. There's a lot of consonants all in
Speaker 1: a row, and it works around in your a little bit.
Speaker 1: And so that's that was the one thing. And if
Speaker 1: you're from here, you don't pronounce the te right, so
Speaker 1: so you, um, you were born here. I was born here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So that was how I heard about the office. And
Speaker 1: then probably a few years into the show, I have
Speaker 1: an architecture firm, and I was at work and I
Speaker 1: opened up my web browser and there was just an article.
Speaker 1: You know, they all populate. There was an article about
Speaker 1: President Idaho getting this little economic boom from people who
Speaker 1: were fans of the cult classical, the cult movie Napoleon
Speaker 1: Dynamite going there to see all the sites, like we're
Speaker 1: the fictional home of Donder Mifflin, right, Like that seems
Speaker 1: like cooler. Um, we should invite everybody to come here
Speaker 1: and like have like invite the actors to come here
Speaker 1: and see the city and show people what it's like here,
Speaker 1: and they'd have a great time. They'd meet with the fans,
Speaker 1: the city you know, would be on displayed. Be a
Speaker 1: win win win, which is what we ultimately That's that's
Speaker 1: what we ultimately pitched, right, like the win win win, Right.
Speaker 1: But that's where the idea came from, and it literally
Speaker 1: went nowhere. And this is where Tim comes and went nowhere.
Speaker 1: I I met with like three groups of people until
Speaker 1: somebody was finally like, I have to introduce you to
Speaker 1: Tim Holmes, right right, I didn't know you. I didn't
Speaker 1: know each other at all, which is crazy to think
Speaker 1: of a time I didn't know Tim and the Homes
Speaker 1: family right right, uh. And so we were introduced, and
Speaker 1: Tim instantly saw the you know, he was got it. Yep,
Speaker 1: all right, here's what we're gonna do. And then he
Speaker 1: went into Tim mode right right right now? Did you
Speaker 1: know the show? Were you watching the show? So I
Speaker 1: was definitely familiar with it, but I wasn't as immersed
Speaker 1: in it as Michelle was, so I certainly saw the
Speaker 1: value in it, but it was definitely something that we
Speaker 1: were all beginning to see license plates from Ontario and
Speaker 1: South Carolina and everything driving from town that doesn't happen
Speaker 1: in Scranton, but it began to happen, and we're all like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess what you're saying. Michelle is making an awful
Speaker 1: lot of sense. So, and like we were doing things.
Speaker 1: And just to be clear, Tim worked for the local
Speaker 1: newspaper and I was an architect. We had no background
Speaker 1: and anything like okay, like like Tim did planning events locally, right,
Speaker 1: so he knew how to put an event together. But
Speaker 1: this was going to be bigger than anything I think
Speaker 1: you'd ever done, right, And so here I am an
Speaker 1: architect and he's a marketing We come up with this
Speaker 1: big idea. We got all these partners on board, I
Speaker 1: remember at one point. Then then we had to go
Speaker 1: through everybody's act like agents and managers, right, Like for
Speaker 1: everybody I'm calling, I'm like, I don't hello, Hi, I'm
Speaker 1: representing office convention, right, I'm I'm putting together contracts. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, what am I doing staring at a piece
Speaker 1: of paper? And I like negotiating Like this was crez
Speaker 1: Like we had to do it all right. It was
Speaker 1: like Tim and I had to do all of that,
Speaker 1: which is exactly why I think Greg liked it because
Speaker 1: he could see it wasn't like some outside group that
Speaker 1: was coming in and trying to monetize this thing. It
Speaker 1: was not set up to be a, you know, a
Speaker 1: for profit thing, which is why you guys gave us
Speaker 1: a ACN talent fees and you know, and they helped
Speaker 1: with travel and all this other kind of stuff. They
Speaker 1: could see right from the get go that it was
Speaker 1: it was a partnership. The partnership was with the city
Speaker 1: of granted, it was with the county. He was with
Speaker 1: the Visitors Bureau. We weren't selling, you know, sponsorships where
Speaker 1: you had to put a shirt on that said somebody Sunjoko.
Speaker 1: We were gonna, you know, we knew enough not to
Speaker 1: do any of that stuff. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we would have conversations with to Wann Park and the
Speaker 1: NBC Universal folks, and and truly they were kind of
Speaker 1: put they were put on the sc Yeah, they didn't
Speaker 1: open the door to the producers of the show and
Speaker 1: to Greg and tell what they realized we really had
Speaker 1: something that they're like, Okay, I think these guys have
Speaker 1: their stuff together, right, so we're going to now make
Speaker 1: this connection because we had to dream up the entire
Speaker 1: like all the the office Olympic Games. The writer's blocked,
Speaker 1: Like that just came out of our heads, right. That
Speaker 1: was like it was maybe about seven or eight of
Speaker 1: us that did it. Tuck our house, Matt Smith, you know,
Speaker 1: Eric Devi and all these guys are building our websites
Speaker 1: and everything. Uh, all of that stuff was critical because
Speaker 1: they all played a certain role in it. And then
Speaker 1: all the partners, the University of scrant and all these
Speaker 1: guys tapping into all that. Once we had it all,
Speaker 1: you have one of these conference calls. We had already
Speaker 1: had a number of them, but I later found out
Speaker 1: that at one of the big ones, when they were
Speaker 1: deciding whether we're in or out, Kinsabornack had told me
Speaker 1: when he came to Scranton that he was listening in
Speaker 1: on the one and he just looking to hear if
Speaker 1: we're just a bunch of fangirls we're gonna lose their
Speaker 1: minds when you guys get to town, or if we're
Speaker 1: actually going to hold this together and keep you guys
Speaker 1: safe and have it lined up with the University of
Speaker 1: scrand police and you know in the scrand Police and
Speaker 1: the State police, and the Marshall's office. Like Michelle's brother
Speaker 1: in laws a he's a worked here in downtown. We
Speaker 1: had all of that, but it's such a small town
Speaker 1: you can do something. And our whole pitch to Greg was,
Speaker 1: you know, office fans are are unique. They need to
Speaker 1: come together like Allah's Star Trek convention. But it can't
Speaker 1: be done in l a. It cannot be done in
Speaker 1: New York. It has to be done in scrant Because
Speaker 1: it was such a part of the show interesting afterwards
Speaker 1: became even more part of the show, which I thought
Speaker 1: was was interesting because Greg had the foresight to bring
Speaker 1: the writers here too. But but I think, but not
Speaker 1: to get ahead. I think, so here we have we've
Speaker 1: like sort of put this this agenda together. We have
Speaker 1: this thing. The only thing we didn't have were the actors.
Speaker 1: You and Angela had come in like that in May
Speaker 1: to to say, hey, we're gonna there's gonna be the
Speaker 1: office convention, like you sort of generously because at the
Speaker 1: time all this could have backfired, right, kind of put
Speaker 1: yourselves out in front. But come like a month before,
Speaker 1: still there was nobody officially signed up to come of
Speaker 1: the day that we got our first actual country, we
Speaker 1: were panicking. We're like, we're gonna have a party no
Speaker 1: matter what. And I remember you called me. You did, right, Brian,
Speaker 1: And you called me when night You're like, how's it going?
Speaker 1: And I was like, well, you know, it's going pretty well.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to keep up the front, like it's come
Speaker 1: pretty well. You know, all the planning seems to be happening.
Speaker 1: You know, we got this, that got that, and um, yeah,
Speaker 1: we just you we don't have any of the actors yet.
Speaker 1: And you said something that made my stomach drop. First,
Speaker 1: he said, I just want to start by apologizing I'm
Speaker 1: just so sorry. And I was like, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: it's cool, um trying to keep up, you know, with
Speaker 1: the front again, and You're like, I've talked to my people,
Speaker 1: and um, I can I can only convince thirteen of them.
Speaker 1: I think I'm pretty sure. I started crying ran on
Speaker 1: the phone, right, I was like so emotional. I don't
Speaker 1: even know what I said after that, I just lost it.
Speaker 1: And I was just like, because that was that, I
Speaker 1: knew it was gonna happen. It was gonna be this thing,
Speaker 1: and it was going to be unprecedented. You know. That
Speaker 1: was everything that moment to me with with you on
Speaker 1: the phone, it was just too much. It was awesome.
Speaker 1: So just to put a timeline on this, So this
Speaker 1: is two thousand six, so you're already in season three
Speaker 1: at this point. We hosted it in October, late October,
Speaker 1: but that was we all remember that day when you're like,
Speaker 1: we got twelve. Now, the beauty of that. So you
Speaker 1: may remember that none of the Fab four could make
Speaker 1: it that year, right, So Steve, John, Jenna, and uh
Speaker 1: and Rain could not make it, you know, just conflicts
Speaker 1: and all that other kind of stuff. What we felt
Speaker 1: from the very beginning is the actually convention was so
Speaker 1: special because it celebrated the ensemble cast. Everybody else was there,
Speaker 1: all the writers were there, so it really you know,
Speaker 1: we you know, we're glad that we didn't want to distracted.
Speaker 1: Jenny Tan was there, like Danster was there. But we
Speaker 1: you know, we were able to build it and get
Speaker 1: our hands around it, you know. And the people who
Speaker 1: were they were truly office fans, you know, they weren't
Speaker 1: four year old virgin fans. They were office fans. And
Speaker 1: that was why the first one was so special, and
Speaker 1: it was packed. It was packed. I was actually there, yes,
Speaker 1: and I thought like it was one of the moments
Speaker 1: to me because I was up in the balcony kind
Speaker 1: of looking down and just enjoying it so much. And
Speaker 1: each writer told episode that they wrote and and people
Speaker 1: were like cheering for the episodes like I, you know,
Speaker 1: I did the Baconator with the George forming girl that
Speaker 1: was failing. And but the cool moment too, was at
Speaker 1: the end. First everybody was so into it, but then
Speaker 1: at the end they did a little clip of a
Speaker 1: piece of a show that hadn't been seen yet, and
Speaker 1: the crowd got to watch it live, and the actor
Speaker 1: or the writers later told us they'd never like they'd
Speaker 1: never gotten to see the fans watch the show and
Speaker 1: get the reaction in real time, and that that was
Speaker 1: like a really cool moment for them to hear them
Speaker 1: laughing where they hope they would get a laugh and
Speaker 1: like just so appreciating the beauty and the joy of it.
Speaker 1: You know, well, I remember, I remember, I mean from
Speaker 1: my side, and I don't even think that I was
Speaker 1: aware that it was like a tryout. I remember coming
Speaker 1: There was this brunch and I remember Tim saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, this was like for v I P things
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm not sure how many people are
Speaker 1: going to be there, but you know, then we've got this, this, this,
Speaker 1: and Angela and I show up and I don't know
Speaker 1: if you remember this, but like something happened and we
Speaker 1: were walking into a room that was way over fire
Speaker 1: code capacity of people and us walking in and like
Speaker 1: you just like you feel a wave of heat from
Speaker 1: bodies just walking into this room, and I like I
Speaker 1: remember like my breath like being taken away, and like
Speaker 1: where the fuck am I and I could say whatever
Speaker 1: we want. I could say whatever I want I and
Speaker 1: I I mean, I will never I will never forget.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll I will tell you right now. There
Speaker 1: was a plan in place of the V I P.
Speaker 1: And they were gonna be able to have a picture
Speaker 1: with us. And then so many people came in. You
Speaker 1: were like, okay, so here's the plan. You're gonna go
Speaker 1: around to each table and they were like banquet tables
Speaker 1: of like ten or twelve people. You're gonna go around
Speaker 1: to each table and you're gonna say hi to each table,
Speaker 1: and then they'll take a picture with you, and then
Speaker 1: you'll move around to the next table. And what happened
Speaker 1: was there were so many people that you you begin
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a percent what happened. People started
Speaker 1: thinking they're not going to get to us, like they're
Speaker 1: gonna leave before it's our turn. And so then the
Speaker 1: plan went awry and everybody stood up and started just
Speaker 1: like descending into this corner. And I had Gen Garrity
Speaker 1: police officer, police officer Gen Garrity four ft ten and
Speaker 1: I was told could take me over her back if
Speaker 1: she needed to body slam me um. And I remember
Speaker 1: I was taking napkins off the table because it was
Speaker 1: so hot and there were so many people and I
Speaker 1: was like white base and she's like her eyes are big,
Speaker 1: like whoa. And I turned around to her at one
Speaker 1: point and I said, okay, and I, I mean, you
Speaker 1: have to understand, I'm just a theater guy from Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 1: Like this is I was like, what is going on?
Speaker 1: I turned her at one point, I looked, I looked
Speaker 1: in her eyes, and I said, okay, I just I
Speaker 1: need I need to make sure you know you're watching
Speaker 1: my back because I feel like I'm going to die.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm not going to make it out
Speaker 1: of here. If I know you got my back, we're good. UM.
Speaker 1: And just that whole trip, the um, you know, the
Speaker 1: roof party and everything. So when we came, you had
Speaker 1: this idea to do the convention, and then we came
Speaker 1: and it was clearly I mean, I feel feel like
Speaker 1: even then it was surpassing your expectation. Were you surprised
Speaker 1: by people's reaction or was that had you come to
Speaker 1: know that this was how it was going to be.
Speaker 1: I think from your visits, we knew if everybody came
Speaker 1: it would be something epic. It was even more epic.
Speaker 1: It was just beyond like you can't imagine those things, right,
Speaker 1: Like even when you try, it's like it's just because
Speaker 1: there are so many stories from that visit. So the
Speaker 1: Today Show came right and they filmed live at the
Speaker 1: University of Scranton. And then we're realizing that everybody thinks
Speaker 1: actors are like otherworldly and kind of whatever. And because
Speaker 1: we had this him and I had this sort of
Speaker 1: backstage access, we're realizing, my god, they're just people who
Speaker 1: and this is kind of new to them too, right.
Speaker 1: So Phillis was getting ready with Stanley to go out
Speaker 1: and be interviewed by by All Broker and and when
Speaker 1: she came out, the crowd went insane, insane, insane, and
Speaker 1: she got very emotional because she never felt anything like that,
Speaker 1: Like she wasn't she one of the people who helped casting. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: she she started out in casting, wasn't an actor, and
Speaker 1: Ken Kappas and Greg Daniels and everybody just thought, well,
Speaker 1: this is what we're looking for. We're looking for real people.
Speaker 1: And yeah, she got cast. So she was here since
Speaker 1: she was feeling this reaction, and right she was one
Speaker 1: of the first famous faces the kids saw. So like
Speaker 1: that was you guys had come on a Thursday night,
Speaker 1: Friday night, we're about to go live. It's a three
Speaker 1: day convention. And again this is October two thousand six,
Speaker 1: season three, so we have we all stay out way
Speaker 1: too late Thursday night, so you guys all come to
Speaker 1: town birthday. It was Craig Robinson. So we you know,
Speaker 1: we say at what was Whistles Pub back in the day,
Speaker 1: and we're doing karaoke which just wounted to be in
Speaker 1: a wild night. So now it's we've got to be
Speaker 1: here at like six in the morning because we're going
Speaker 1: live with local TV stations. So the students at the
Speaker 1: University of Granton, about four thousand of them, camped outside,
Speaker 1: so they are waiting all night long for this and
Speaker 1: they are losing their minds. And so it's when we're pulling,
Speaker 1: you know, out of the out of the kind of
Speaker 1: the staging area. We're pulling fill us out of there,
Speaker 1: she is like, if you remember, she had like a cane.
Speaker 1: She had heard her ankle that we so she has
Speaker 1: like this cane and she has her purse on her
Speaker 1: arm like she's just like going to the store. And
Speaker 1: as we're walking up the door, it's like go time.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be live in about fifteen seconds, she starts
Speaker 1: reaching in her purse to get out of camera to
Speaker 1: take a picture for her mom. Again, that's that's the
Speaker 1: part that she's a regular person, you know, And so
Speaker 1: I like grab the camera and I'm like, I'll take
Speaker 1: pictures for your mom. You gotta get on national TV.
Speaker 1: So it's just those experiences. But everyone, you know, every
Speaker 1: one of the folks at Helms is a young guy,
Speaker 1: never been in the hangover, Like people don't know who
Speaker 1: he is. And we have them playing a banjo at
Speaker 1: the bog, which is legitimately about three square feet. So
Speaker 1: many things that happened, but I remember, um, we were
Speaker 1: actually in this room I think, or no, it was
Speaker 1: another building at you and uh we had fireworks going
Speaker 1: off and it was another really nice event. But a
Speaker 1: gentleman came over to me and he said, are you
Speaker 1: Michelle Dempsey? And I said yes, and he's like, I'm like,
Speaker 1: who are you? And it was Greg Daniel's dad and
Speaker 1: I was like, and he told me that he like
Speaker 1: catching my breath right, and he's like, he's like, I
Speaker 1: just want to let you know that I've been to
Speaker 1: an oscars and I've been to an Emmy's and you know,
Speaker 1: I've been a super Bowl. He's like, He's like, and
Speaker 1: this is the best party I've ever been to. This
Speaker 1: this weekend, it's now it was in his son's honor
Speaker 1: and like a right but but like for us, I
Speaker 1: think that mom was like, wow, like this did happen
Speaker 1: and it came together and people are enjoying it. And
Speaker 1: then the letters we got afterwards from the fans who
Speaker 1: came that would just melt your heart about how is
Speaker 1: the best weekending of lives or you know people who
Speaker 1: came here who you know, we're special needs who got
Speaker 1: to meet their their heroes right like it It really
Speaker 1: was for some people they had the best day weekend
Speaker 1: of their lives. In script because of the office, the
Speaker 1: press was also a great thing. So you talked about
Speaker 1: the letters we received and everything you know, we got.
Speaker 1: We were in the China Times, like the got on
Speaker 1: the ap wire. It was a sweetheart of a story.
Speaker 1: So it was in every newspaper in the nation, you know,
Speaker 1: back when people read newspapers. It was in I forget
Speaker 1: what paper, but one of them said that it was
Speaker 1: like a Star Trek convention with girls. But it just
Speaker 1: it was just great group of people. Everybody was happy.
Speaker 1: Now fast forward to two thousand thirteen with the rap
Speaker 1: party that was bananas, that was everybody came for that.
Speaker 1: How did you feel when you found out the show was?
Speaker 1: Of course bittersweet? Right, it felt like it had this
Speaker 1: amazing like if you go on too long, as like
Speaker 1: knowing when to end. I guess it's as important as
Speaker 1: anything else. Right, Um, So it was like sad, but
Speaker 1: oh my god, the way the show ended was so
Speaker 1: there's not a show in anywhere in TV history that
Speaker 1: ended more beautifully in my personal opinion than the big
Speaker 1: ending that you can talk about. But this was. This
Speaker 1: was fantastic. So so we just I think a texted
Speaker 1: um it's time and you were like, let's go or something.
Speaker 1: It was like a real nice little We were both
Speaker 1: almost like kid met like the same moment saying we've
Speaker 1: got it. Take a deep breath, We're going to do
Speaker 1: it again. So, just so you know, it didn't that
Speaker 1: didn't just come out of thin air. So as we
Speaker 1: were wrapping up the Sunday, Greg Daniels, you know, everybody
Speaker 1: had already gotten off. Greg was on one of the
Speaker 1: last flights out of Scranton. You know, we got to
Speaker 1: have a moment with him where we just said, you know, hey,
Speaker 1: this was awesome. You're welcome to do this anytime you
Speaker 1: want to come on back. If we can't do something
Speaker 1: like this every year every year, just at least consider
Speaker 1: doing a rap party here, you know, and just instead
Speaker 1: of going wherever you would normally go, just get on
Speaker 1: an airplane party at thirty thousand feet and let's just
Speaker 1: do it here. And instead of this crazy three day thing,
Speaker 1: let's cram it into one super awesome day because we
Speaker 1: already knew once it had started that was way too
Speaker 1: big and unwieldy. You know. Just when I went out
Speaker 1: and that was Steve Carrell, he was He's like, I'd
Speaker 1: love to be in a parade and screened now here.
Speaker 1: You have a big parade, right and you wanted to
Speaker 1: be in a coffee cup world best boss. I like,
Speaker 1: you want a parde and Scrien, You've got a parade,
Speaker 1: say the word. And we did. We had a parade.
Speaker 1: We had it all mapped out. It was a perfect,
Speaker 1: like four block parade to this awesome thing. We had
Speaker 1: set a right at Courthouse Square and everybody is off
Speaker 1: on the streets easily twenty people on the streets and
Speaker 1: just a very small area and everything is looking good.
Speaker 1: I take a nice little picture of the parade route.
Speaker 1: We've got everybody in, the beautiful open cars and everything.
Speaker 1: The first guy we have gon down as Craig Robinson,
Speaker 1: and he is on you know, on the back of
Speaker 1: his pickup truck, and he just starts dancing. He's got
Speaker 1: his arms and he starts waving the crowd to come in.
Speaker 1: You're too far away, come on. That's how it happened.
Speaker 1: And the whole the entire length of the parade route
Speaker 1: all collapsed on the parade so we were literally elbowing
Speaker 1: eighteen year old girls away from but Steve Carell we
Speaker 1: could have never protected him. It was just again the
Speaker 1: whole thing that that evening, and just the the genuine
Speaker 1: smiles on the faces of everybody. Yes, the fans could not.
Speaker 1: I mean I think they lost their months, like they
Speaker 1: couldn't have if you that is what happiness looks like.
Speaker 1: That's what joy looks like. That stadium is like what
Speaker 1: joy looks like if you get to see it right,
Speaker 1: And and everybody's faces were just lit up like and
Speaker 1: including Steve's. He came out and hit. He just you
Speaker 1: could tell, even at that level of fame, he genuinely
Speaker 1: appreciates that those people were there, you know, to to
Speaker 1: to to appreciate the body of work that was created,
Speaker 1: you know, and and and you guys as individual actors,
Speaker 1: and you're extreme and massive talent that brings. I was
Speaker 1: thinking about the other night because I went home and
Speaker 1: I was you know, it doesn't matter how your day is,
Speaker 1: you put The Office on and you're gonna smile and
Speaker 1: you're gonna laugh, you know. For me, I adopted two
Speaker 1: boys three years ago from Kyrgyzstan, so they came over.
Speaker 1: They spoke Russian in order of English, and um, we
Speaker 1: were still using translators. Um. And my older son started
Speaker 1: watching The Office, probably because it was in my saved programs, right,
Speaker 1: and he just started binging it. And I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe there's a little inappropriate here and there, but what's
Speaker 1: he going to know? Right, let him watch it, right,
Speaker 1: And one day I'm sort of sitting there watching it
Speaker 1: with him, and he's laughing at the jokes. He's laughing
Speaker 1: at all the right not just the slapstick, he's laughing
Speaker 1: at all the right spots and I'm like, he can't
Speaker 1: talk to me yet, but he knows what's happening here, right.
Speaker 1: I'm like, so he probably knows when I say clean
Speaker 1: your room too, But like you, but it was the
Speaker 1: the appeal was so unique, Like what is that? I
Speaker 1: don't know. I can't see it ever ending because it's
Speaker 1: just it's timeless. It is timeless. Well, Ken, today I
Speaker 1: was talking about I said, what is the office done
Speaker 1: for Scranton? Why is the office so special? Or why
Speaker 1: is that bond there? And he just very plain spoken,
Speaker 1: said well, what is your life and your career since
Speaker 1: the office? And I said, well, it's completely and totally
Speaker 1: changed me and and people's perception on me. And he said, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's the town too. And I can't explain it
Speaker 1: is it makes no sense to me. I'm a guy
Speaker 1: from Georgia that now lives in California, but the the
Speaker 1: bond that I feel to this place, it doesn't make
Speaker 1: any sense. I am telling you. I said this, when
Speaker 1: you got here like you are, your love is so
Speaker 1: it's so real, it's so felt by us. And I
Speaker 1: think maybe you're you're feeling that genuine love that people
Speaker 1: have for you here because it is it's as real
Speaker 1: as it as it gets for someone that you didn't
Speaker 1: grow up with, who wasn't your family, do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? But they feel your your love, We
Speaker 1: feel your love for us a town that wasn't loved
Speaker 1: for a long time, right, And you came here and
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm this is this is part of me now,
Speaker 1: you know, and we get it and we love it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But the two of you and the initiative you showed,
Speaker 1: and how respectful you were of the show as we
Speaker 1: tried to be of Scranton, your love of the place,
Speaker 1: and how hard I know you were. The show was
Speaker 1: a little engine that could terrible ratings. We were trying
Speaker 1: to do something new and different. And you know, my
Speaker 1: my last impression or memory from the office convention was,
Speaker 1: you know, they said yes, but did they think it
Speaker 1: was going to be a success? And all I remember
Speaker 1: is we had a three day convention, an NBC sent
Speaker 1: only one semi truck of merchandise down and by halfway
Speaker 1: through the first day everything was gone. And I think
Speaker 1: we were under underestimated. You guys were underestimated, and our
Speaker 1: fans were underestimated in a way, and you guys will
Speaker 1: always have huge love in my heart and appreciation for
Speaker 1: the two of you and what what you did for us.
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you. That is wonderful, but
Speaker 1: we certainly appreciate it. And as we said, without your connection,
Speaker 1: it never happens. And uh, we all passed this way
Speaker 1: but once and at the you know, my parents are
Speaker 1: in a nursing home right now and they look back
Speaker 1: and look at the fun times in their lives. We'll
Speaker 1: all be doing that soon enough. And those real connections
Speaker 1: that you create is all that matters, you know, And
Speaker 1: this has been wonderful. I I said to um to
Speaker 1: Greg after after I think after the originally convention, I said,
Speaker 1: I said, thank you for the rocking chair stories. You know,
Speaker 1: these are experiences and memories. When I'm an old lady
Speaker 1: on the rocking chair and the old folks home, I'll
Speaker 1: be still be telling people about until they don't want
Speaker 1: to hear it anymore. But Mike, it's still good though,
Speaker 1: and uh. And so we have these rocking chair stories
Speaker 1: now thanks to the office, thanks to Greg's risk taking
Speaker 1: belief in us. And we always tell people who ask us,
Speaker 1: like these characters you love, they deserve your love because
Speaker 1: as people through the exact same It's like you are
Speaker 1: just salt to the earth. Amazing wonderful people too. And
Speaker 1: and so where maybe I'll end it is sort of
Speaker 1: what I heard um, Steve Kerl say to a little
Speaker 1: group of people at the rap party. Um, he said,
Speaker 1: don't be sad it's over. Be happy it happened. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I'm a rocking chair. So I'm going to
Speaker 1: feel about my life too, write And this is something
Speaker 1: I always these these events and even these conversations like
Speaker 1: don't gave us this and you just that's well, thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much. No, and thank you for coming
Speaker 1: and talking to me and being so open and letting me,
Speaker 1: letting me come back again. I sopate always welcome. All right. Wow,
Speaker 1: that got a little emotional there at the end. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Tim and Michelle, I love you. Thank you for being
Speaker 1: so open with us, and and thank you Scranton for
Speaker 1: always welcoming me home. But before I wrap this episode up,
Speaker 1: I just want to give a shout out to a
Speaker 1: few of the other folks who made my last trip
Speaker 1: to Scranton, oh special. First, I want to thank Ken,
Speaker 1: the limo guy, who that he's my go to driver,
Speaker 1: in Scranton and always make sure I get to all
Speaker 1: of the planned destinations on time or at least fashionably late.
Speaker 1: Two Mayor Page GEPHARDT. Cognetti, And to the Scranton Police Department,
Speaker 1: especially my dear old friend Jen Garritty for keeping us safe.
Speaker 1: The University of Scranton, who not only bestowed my new
Speaker 1: certificate in Scrantology, but also helped us organize the Q
Speaker 1: and A and the book signing for hundreds of students
Speaker 1: who might I add, waited for hours in the rain.
Speaker 1: Thank you to the President, Reverend Joseph Marina, the Executive
Speaker 1: Director of Conferences and Events Services, Frannie Mancuso, the director
Speaker 1: of News and Media Relations stand Sigmund, the Vice president
Speaker 1: for Student Life Bobby Davis, and the Director of the
Speaker 1: Center for Health, Education and Wellness, Stephanie Adamack, who very
Speaker 1: kindly volunteered to moderate the Q and A. The bookstore
Speaker 1: staff Lisa Mikhailo and Wayne Beach who stocked over a
Speaker 1: thousand books for us. Also a big thank you to
Speaker 1: the students who helped organize the event and to all
Speaker 1: the fans who attended. Next my people from Cooper's Cooper's
Speaker 1: Seafood House big thanks to Jack, Paul, Mark, Ryan, the
Speaker 1: whole gang you open your doors for hundreds of fans
Speaker 1: who wanted to get their books signed, including the bride
Speaker 1: that I mentioned in the preface of the book, to
Speaker 1: Patrick and Billy Nassair, Tony Potus, Eric Miller, the whole
Speaker 1: crew at Backyard Ale House for well the most unforgettable
Speaker 1: after party ever in the world, where I tended bar
Speaker 1: into the wee hours of the night. It is, without
Speaker 1: a doubt, my favorite hub in the entire world. Finally,
Speaker 1: one more giant thank you to Tim and Michelle and
Speaker 1: their families for greeting me with open arms and making
Speaker 1: my trips back home to Scranton so special. So everyone listening,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, the next time you're in Scranton, all right,
Speaker 1: you have to check out each and every one of
Speaker 1: their establishments, get the full office experience, and you will
Speaker 1: get a big Scranton welcome and listen. Just tell him
Speaker 1: Brian send you. I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday.
Speaker 1: I will see you next week for another special edition
Speaker 1: of The Office Deep Dive. Where are you guys from
Speaker 1: Video Texas? Yeah, literally watched your show at least twenty
Speaker 1: times character, and I'm about the priory own because I
Speaker 1: loving him so much. I drove all the way from
Speaker 1: show to meet you. I have an interview in the morning,
Speaker 1: got to get back to it. Her brother got married
Speaker 1: at the Ratis and when the convention was on, and
Speaker 1: you and Awa came downstairs and you took a picture
Speaker 1: with him and his wife and our wedding. We actually
Speaker 1: walked into the office theme. I have a tattoo of
Speaker 1: Jim Helper when he addresses this twe My mom would
Speaker 1: not believe this because she thinks the Office of the
Speaker 1: stupidest show up all time. Please cut that part. I
Speaker 1: love