Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey on more ‘Office’ rewatch
Their yearlong rerun of “The Office” may be coming to an end, but “Office Ladies” is just getting started. On the Oct. 2 episode of “Office Ladies,” hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey announced the next phase of their hit podcast — which will begin when they complete their rewatch of the Emmy-winning comedy later this month.
From the beginning of November, “Office Ladies” will switch to a twice-a-week format. Wednesday’s episodes are called “Office Ladies 6.0” – the new title is a reference to the Season 1 episode “Hot Girl,” in which boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) insults Pam (Fischer) by comparing her to the traveling purse- saleswoman Katy (Amy Adams). “You’re like the new and improved Pam!” Michael says in front of both of themcreating the awkwardness he enjoys. “Pam 6.0.” The first guest on “Office Ladies 6.0″ – on the November 6 episode – will be the person responsible for bringing together the show’s ensemble, famed casting director Allison Jones. Future episodes, Fischer and Kinsey said, will feature new interviews, more stories from the set, their patented “deep dives” into random topics and in-depth character studies. As a preview of that upcoming feature film, they said they are currently working on an episode about Michael Scott, with the promise of more to come. Fischer said, “I hope one day we’ll do that for every character.”
In addition to “Office Ladies 6.0,” they’re repeating it from the beginning — along with new material — in a podcast starting Nov. 11 called “Second Drink.” This title refers to the season 2 premiere episode, ‘The Dundies’, then a extremely wasted Pam schools Jim (John Krasinski) on the art of making the most of frozen drinks. As a giggling Pam sucks on a straw, Jim says, “I think those might be empty.” Pam answers, “No, no, because the ice melts, and then that’s it second drink.These episodes will be released on Mondays, starting with the series premiere. As Kinsey described during the “Second Drink” podcast, “Every Monday we’ll be redoing the rewatch library, with bonus news at the top of each episode.”
One of the first rewatch podcasts was ‘Office Ladies’ which premiered as an Earwolf production on October 16, 2019, and over the summer it switched platforms from SiriusXM to Audacy. By the end of this month, Fischer and Kinsey — who played Pam Beesly and Angela Martin, respectively, from the series premiere of “The Office” on March 24, 2005, to the finale on May 16, 2013 — will take listeners through all 201 episodes of the NBC comedy . On Wednesday’s episode, Fischer said, “These last four episodes of the rewatch — there were so many things we didn’t want to miss, especially with the finale, that we needed an extra week to get it all together.” Kinsey then teased, “We have a certain special guest who will be joining us in the studio for our very last episode, and we weren’t able to record that until he was available.” At that point, Fischer scolded Kinsey for giving away that the guest is a “he,” but added, “This particular thing is something we had talked about wanting to do for our last episode since we started the podcast started.’
“The Office” was created by Greg Daniels, based on the British version of the series created by Ricky Gervais – also the star – and Stephen Merchant. Although the American version flirted with cancellation in its early seasons, NBC stuck with it, and ‘The Office’ is now considered one of the best TV shows of all time. During the pandemic, “The Office” gained new popularity — and a whole new generation of fans, as families watched the show together for comfort. Recently, the show has been in the news again for a new Australian version of “The Office” premiering this month on Prime Video (starring Felicity Ward), and Daniels’ new take on the series, unofficially. titled “The Paper” – with co-creator Michael Koman – expected on Peacock next year.
According to Audacy, “Office Ladies” has more than 400 million downloads. In Edison Research statistics for the Top 50 podcasts In the United States, ‘Office Ladies’ debuted at number 34 for the second quarter of 2024, and more than a million listeners follow the show on Spotify. In 2022, “Office Ladies” won a Webby Award, and that year Fischer and Kinsey also published the book “The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There.”
