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Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of Maximum Fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

Hey! It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.

Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey are my guests this week.

Two performers, who I think it is fair to say, will be forever linked, thanks to one show, The Office.

It started in 2005, which is now 20 years ago. It was an American version of the BBC series of the same name.

That show was created by Ricky Jervais and Stephen Merchant. But in its nine seasons, it became

something else entirely. One of the most popular sitcoms of all time, an inspiration for dozens of shows like it, and a launchpad for some of the greatest writers and performers in comedy today, folks like Greg Daniels, Larry Wilmore, Mindy Kaling, John Krasinski, and Michael Shore.

And of course, my guests.

Jenna Fisher played Pam, the receptionist turned office administrator, who eventually falls in love with

John Krasinski's gym. Angela Kinsey played Angela Martin, the steely judgmental accountant with a thing for

cats. Angela and Jenna were strangers when the show started, but they soon formed a friendship that

has lasted long after the show started, but they soon formed a friendship that has lasted long after

the show wrapped. In 2019, the two of them started a podcast called Office Ladies. It's a recap podcast.

Each episode corresponds with a different episode of the show, but it's also more than that.

Angela and Jenna talk about their friendship, their co-workers, their

families. It's like watching the show again with your best friend, only, you know, your best

friend if they were also an actor on the show. When I talked with the two of them in 2022,

they had just written a book. Like their podcast, The Office BFFs is both a celebration of the show and a memoir of a friendship.

It dives deep into behind-the-scenes stories from the show, how the cast narrowly escaped carbon monoxide poisoning while riding a sketchy bus, 80s Hollywood gossip from James Spader.

...