Some of the most iconic scenes in The Office took place in the conference room, and if you need any proof look no further than the fierce whoever/whomever debate in the Season 4 episode, “Money.”
On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted about the second half of “Money,” and the fierce conference room grammar debate that made them break. “Money” — which also gives fans a look at Dwight’s bed and breakfast — was the first episode that Paul Lieberstein directed. The episode was nominated for an Emmy alongside the Season 4 finale, “Goodbye, Toby,” which Paul Feig directed.
Both episodes lost, but in retrospect this conference room scene alone was clearly worthy of an Emmy. If you need a refresher, the whomever/whoever drama starts around 2:33 in the clip below, but the earlier kiss between Kelly and Darryl is important to watch as well.
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“I want you to know that smooch that they have… you guys, I took a picture of it, John Krasinski is full-on breaking. He’s doing that weird puffy cheek thing when you break and you’re trying to turn away. He’s looking at you and he is losing it,” Kinsey said to Fischer.
“Well, Angela. If you look, it is you, then John, then me. This should never be allowed in [a conference room scene,” Fischer replied. “You should never seat the three of us in a line… Because I have a sense memory of leaning forward and talking to you over John.”
“I’m turning the other way because I can’t look at you guys,” Kinsey explained. “Like I positioned my body away. John is laughing, and you look like you’re on the verge.”
“Yeah. No, I remember we were a mess during this whole scene,” Fischer confirmed.
The whomever/whoever debate kicks off because Ryan is begging Michael to learn PowerPoint so that he can “communicate it to the people here, to your clients, to whomever…” Michael scoffs and argues that Ryan should have used “whoever” instead of “whomever,” and that’s when things go off the rails.
The scene is so brilliant that upon rewatching it both Kinsey and Fischer texted Paul Lieberstein to commend his writing and directing skills. And you know what? Turns out the scene almost got cut from the episode.
“He fought for it. He loved it. And I love every beat of this conference room scene,” Kinsey said.
“There was a lot of pressure on him to cut that runner. And he really felt like it should stay in.”
“He told me that there was like a vote in the writers room to cut it. There was a lot of pressure on him to cut that runner. And he really felt like it should stay in,” Fisher explained. “And he’s really glad he did, because that’s the clip they ended up playing at the SAG Awards when we were nominated that year. It was the whoever/whomever scene.”
Much like the 27 seconds of silence in the Season 2 “Booze Cruise” episode Kinsey marveled over the fact that this was not only allowed to air on television, but embraced so heavily by fans.
“I just feel like these kind of scenes were never allowed to breathe on other shows. They would succumb to network pressure or whatever. And this huge long scene where we talk about whomever and whoever, it just wouldn’t have happened on another show. I believe that,” Kinsey said.
Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories about filming “Money.”
You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.