5 behind-the-scenes revelations from ‘The Convention’ episode of ‘The Office’

Ain’t no party like a Scranton party, cause a Scranton party don’t stop.

That motto certainly applies to so many episodes of The Office, but it rings especially true in Season 3, Episode 2, “The Convention.”

On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, former co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey reminisced about filming “The Convention,” and revealed a bunch of behind-the-scenes tidbits from the episode.

The episode shows Michael Scott, Dwight K. Schrute, Jim Halpert, Jan Levinson, and Josh Porter meeting up at the Northeastern Mid-Market Office Supply Convention in Philadelphia. It also finds Pam going on her first date after calling off her wedding with Roy, Jim talking about why he transferred branches, and Michael desperately trying to throw a rager in his hotel room. But there’s a lot of juicy stuff you didn’t see on screen.

Here are five intriguing revelations from the podcast about “The Convention” episode of The Office. 

1. The episode featured three noteworthy cameos, but almost included a UK Office cameo

“The Convention” is jam-packed with fun cameos, but showrunners had also aimed to pull off a great cameo that sadly never panned out.

Daniels was trying to get a cameo by Mackenzie Crook, who played Gareth Keenan on the UK version of The Office. (Essentially the UK Office‘s Dwight for those who haven’t watched.) Fischer said Crook was in town for a Pirates of the Caribbean press junket and the plan was for him to be in a booth having a conversation with Dwight, but scheduling didn’t work out. 

While it would have been great to see the two Dwights, the episode definitely didn’t disappoint talent wise.

Actor Robert Bagnell played Kelly’s neighbor, Alan — a cartoonist that Kelly sets up on a date with Pam. Bagnell got the role because he knew Mike Schur from The Comeback, an HBO show that he starred on and Schur wrote for before leaving to work on The Office. On the podcast, Fischer revealed that Bagnell actually beat out an SNL cast member for the part of Alan, though she doesn’t say which cast member was being considered for the role.

Another great cameo was football star and former NFL player, Jerome Bettis, aka “The Bus.” And finally, one of the Hammermill reps was played by actor Matt Price, who Fischer explained originally screen tested for the role of Dwight. “They loved him and Greg wanted a way to bring him back,” she said.

2. The convention booths featured real businesses

If that convention looks real, it’s because it basically was. Fischer explained that the scenes were shot in a convention room at what used to be called the Burbank Hilton Hotel, and that the production staff reached out to a bunch of real businesses to see if they wanted to set up booths.

The conditions were that the businesses had to bring their own materials, set up their own booths, and provide their own staff and wardrobe. Though the businesses weren’t promised their booths would get screen time, Fischer said that the production staff they got tons of replies because the show was popular at the time. “They had 176 extras and background actors, and 140 of them were actual employees of actual companies,” she explained.

3. The episode is full of improv

Fischer and Kinsey said that several scenes and lines in “The Convention” were improvised, such as when Michael and Dwight left the office to go to the convention and started singing.

“One of the things I really remember about this episode is once I got to the hotel where we were filming, those guys were like kids in a candy jar,” Kinsey said. “They were having so much fun just all riffing off each other… When they would get together — especially John, Rainn, and Steve — they would just get giddy.”

“There is so much improvisation that happens at the convention,” Fischer agreed.

4. They shot on an actual Amtrak train

If you assumed those train scenes were shot with a green screen, you’re wrong. Fischer reached out to producer and production manager Kent Zbornak for the inside train scoop, and he delivered.

“They let us shoot on the train for free but we had to agree that we would not disrupt their schedule in any way,” Fischer explained. “So on Day 2 of filming, while the set dressers and the production designers were setting up the hotel room at the convention, Steve, Rainn, and a very small crew loaded into vans and drove to the Simi Valley train station.”

According to Fischer, the cast and crew had the entire caboose car to themselves. They boarded at 10:30 a.m., got their first shot at 11:03 a.m., and when the train reached the Burbank airport station at 11:27 a.m. they simply got off and drove back to the main set.

5. It was almost revealed that Angela was pregnant with Dwight’s baby

“Here’s a little interesting tidbit about this,” Kinsey said when describing a break room scene she shared in the office with Rainn Wison. “There was a different scene at the table read that didn’t make it into the shooting draft where I was upset with Dwight that he was going [to the convention] and Dwight and I have this exchange in the kitchen where I’m upset with him, and then at the very end I say, ‘I’m late,'” she said. “And it’s like this cliffhanger. It’s like, ‘What? Is she pregnant?'”

“That did not end up getting shot. That did not happen,” Kinsey said. “Cause I think, Jenna, as soon as we read it out loud… I think Greg was like, ‘Wait, maybe this is too soon, right?'”

Can you imagine if Dwight and Angela had a baby in Season 3?! 

Be sure to listen to the full episode of Office Ladies for the entire episode recap. You can stream episodes of The Office on Netflix and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.