Catching up with the "Ladies"

 

"No Unplayed Episodes"

I'm not afraid to say that I love podcasts.

I've hosted and produced them.

I still host a pretty good one -- "Talent Talks" -- that I'm pretty proud of. According to a quick count, I've done 52 of those since becoming host back in late 2019.

I still have my old podcast -- "Tales From the Booth" -- that I'd really like to kickstart somehow but feel a little lost on. It embarrasses me that I let that languish.

John Nash and I have talked about restarting "The Owner's Box Horse Racing Podcast" as well.

Then there are the podcasts that I listen to. Thanks to my niece Stephanie, I have listened to every edition of "My Dad Wrote a Porno" which is, basically, just as it sounds. Think about three friends sitting around reading the works of the father of one of the hosts. That's it.

And it is hysterical.

So hysterical that I considered buying a ticket to go see the stage version when, coincidentally, it was in London at the same time I was there in April. I didn't think it was responsible of me to make a plan on my own so I didn't do it.

But I admit I was so close to buying a ticket.

I've listened to quite a bit of the "Ron Burgundy Podcast" which is also just as it sounds. Ron Burgundy -- OK, Will Farrell -- takes you inside his world. I have to catch up on that one.

Mike Hirn has a podcast that he's dabbled in and I've listened to that one also as he details life in sports around the NWO.

From left: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey during the run of "The Office"

Then there is "Office Ladies."

I was a fan of the UK version of "The Office" and never thought -- as, apparently, many people thought -- that the US version would succeed.

Obviously, the naysayers were wrong. I watched quite a few episodes when they were first on but was never that big on the show.

Then I had an epiphany and I became addicted. 

Two members of the show's ensemble -- Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesly, and Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin -- started the "Office Ladies" podcast a few years ago and it became a huge success, spawning merchandise as well as a recent best-selling book. It has also won a few awards.

The podcast includes thorough research by both hosts and a crack staff that the "ladies" include in the conversation. They also interact with fans who send in notes, sometimes to excess.

"We got a lot of mail," is a frequent quote from the show, along with "fan catches" and other trademarks of the podcast.

It's clear that the cast of "The Office" loves each other and their willingness to come on the podcast is just wonderful. Most of them have either contributed audio files or have done full interviews.

I bring this up -- while burying the lead -- as a way of saying thanks to Jenna and Angela for keeping me company during the insanity of the transition from Mahopac to Greenwich.

I started listening when the show first came out in Sept 2019 but then I got sidetracked. Episodes began to pile up and, eventually, I was more than a year behind. 

My podcast listening was a habit as I was in the car, driving between Mahopac and Greenwich and beyond.

Then came the pandemic. My listening habits changed.

But with the move, I needed to keep my mind sane. As I would clean the attic or pack up the kitchen, I'd put my headphones on and listen.

Or I'd run it through an Amazon Echo Alexa device.

Or I'd just let it run via the speaker on my cellphone.

Eventually, I caught up with all 127 episodes.

From the pilot episode to the most recent edition, "Happy Hour."

I'd laugh through some of Angela's "isms" such as saying how she played "Waffle Ball" (um, Ange, it's "WIFFLE" Ball and it originated here in Connecticut). She also "chunks" things (versus, er, "chucking" them).

So as I went through everything, cleaning, junking, chucking, etc, I'd listen to the ladies when I was alone.

I even listened to them in the moving truck as I motored between my old home and new home.

These were the moments when I was truly alone. When there was nobody to talk to and I would just bear down on dealing with the reality of moving out. So I'd listen to a podcast.

I'd be in the workroom as they talked.

The garage.

My old bedroom.

It didn't matter.

I listened intently as they broke down the famous "Dinner Party" episode and everything else.

And, finally, I'm caught up, not too long after finishing the move.

So, thanks, ladies.

A new episode is scheduled to drop soon.