Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner

An enigma wrapped in a riddle... Creed Bratton is full of surprises as always when he sits down with Brian. Creed tells tales from his rock-n-roll days and reveals the name that is actually on his passport, PLUS a special bonus interview about writing our Deep Dive theme song, Bubble and Squeak.

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Brian finally gets his Oprah moment when he surprises his former castmate Phyllis Smith with a very special guest, her old boss and friend Allison Jones. They reunite to talk about the child actor that blew their mind with only one line, how Phyllis really got into showbiz, and that time Greg Daniels jumped out of a window.

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What do The Office, Freaks and Geeks and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air have in common? If you said one of the greatest comedy casting directors of our time, you would be correct! Brian welcomes legendary casting director Allison Jones into the studio to chat about how bad stand-up comedians are at auditions (God bless them), the time she talked back to a studio executive, and the shame she feels after passing up Kristen Wiig for a reading.

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If The Office were a puppy, director Ken Kwapis would be “the country vet that birthed it” (according to Greg Daniels, at least). Ken speaks on the decisions he made that let the audience feel like they were catching the action on screen by accident, how no one was allowed on set while filming the first few episodes - not even hair and make-up - and the moment he knew that Phyllis just belonged in a paper company.

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This week Brian sits down with the unsung hero behind the Office, the man who laid it all down for the show, former NBC executive Kevin Reilly. He and Brian discuss the casting process that felt too good to be true, how The Office was a generational turning of the page if you will, and the decidedly not-lame webisodes of The Accountants that ended up winning an Emmy.

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The American Office turns 16 today! In this very special Sweet 16 episode, Brian responds to listener comments, questions, and reviews. He is joined by some VERY special guests and friends of the pod - Green Bay Packers QB and Office guest star, Aaron Rodgers, and Rainn Wilson himself as Terry Carnation from his new podcast, Dark Air with Terry Carnation.

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Sure, they made it look easy, but executive producer Ben Silverman knows the true struggles behind bringing The Office to American television. Ben tells the tale of his decision to adapt the British sitcom and the meeting with Ricky Gervais that followed only 24 hours later, and the time he found out about the show’s second season pickup … while watching Brad Pitt sleep on an airplane.

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To truly Deep Dive into The Office, Brian must go to the person who started it all - the creator and star of The Office U.K., the incomparable Ricky Gervais. In this episode, Ricky shares David Brent’s deepest desires, talks about the greatest love story ever told (hint: it’s The Office) and discovers a shocking truth about Steve Carell.

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Brian is joined by The Office U.K. co-creator Stephen Merchant, all the way from London. Stephen talks about meeting the quintessential Hollywood producer, Ben Silverman, and finding just the right American counterparts to make The Office work on the other side of the Atlantic.

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High school sweethearts (well, classmates) Brian and Ed Helms (Andy Bernard) reunite to talk about... the weather. Ed also dives into his Daily Show years, the Stamford office, and what it took to play the yuppie bro with a heart of gold.

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