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DArcy Carden:That is interesting.
What is it Im trying to say?
Audience member:Slumming.
I dont want to say any names, but you all know who Im thinking of.
Its something we see a lot.
M.E.J.:Sure.
D.C.:Like, women dating down, slumming, whatever that is.
And they just wanted to double-check that thats not what this is.
Manny Jacinto:Yeah, I mean I think they definitely just wanted to do something different and weird.
And the fact that this should not happen but it does makes it very special.
D.C.:Right, but it makes sense.
M.J.:That just goes to show how incredibly talented the writers are.
They make this pairing believable.
But you guys did the opposite of Nah.
You were like, Nyah, which was so great for us.
It was freedom, sort of.
:Mike Schur texted me the answer.
He said, Its our writers room backstory for understanding Janet and Jason.
Bad Janet says, How is Janet dating him?
Shes the smartest being in the universe, and he thinks snow is dead clouds.
D.C.:Thats a good line.
Why did we cut that out?
:I mean, the stuff you havent seen!
Michael responds, Compared to Janet, all human beings are essentially the same amount of intelligence.
:To Janet, theres no difference between Jason and Stephen Hawking.
Thats exactly what it is.
I mean, theres something …
I was about to say its the soul, but I dont think she has a soul.
D.C.:Yes, totally he is.
Shes feeling these things, whether it be good or bad, through Jason because thats what Jason is.
Hes all these different emotions that he cant tame, and Janets learning that.
Theyre kind of evolving.
M.J.:Its a different Janet.
Janet in the reboots has become far more human.
Its fun to watch and see.
Not that it was mechanical, but its a different character.
D.C.:A little mechanical.
Shes just grown so much.
I keep getting stressed out that Im getting too human, that Janet is getting too human.
But I just trust the writers so much, and this is a good example.
That might be too cuckoo.
So, Im going with it.
Bad Janet vs. Thats Bad Janet torturing Jason.
My brain was wrong.
I was like,I cannot wait until the episode where I turn into regular Janet.
I had a little taste of what Ted [Danson] must have felt in all season one.
Ted is playing the long game.
And then, the big reveal happens.
I was just like, The audience that we love and that weve formed this bond with … M.E.J.
:Were lying to.
Were lying to you guys and it feels terrible!
A Lovely Gift in the Form of Derek
M.E.J.
:There was a time in the story when Jason and Janet are not together.
Jason and Tahani are together.
:Painful for you on a personal level?
:Character-wise, that was something that threw Janet into it.
It afforded us a lovely gift in the form of Derek.
Talk about Derek a little bit.
D.C.:So, Jason Mantzoukas is …
M.J.:… the best.
D.C.:The best.
He is like an insane genius, one of our favorite people to work with.
:And then it solidifies, I think, very quickly.
D.C.:It couldnt be anything else but that, you know.
God, we have had so much fun with Jason.
M.J.:Yeah, hes just so unpredictable.
You dont know what hes going to do, and hes just perfect for that role.
I cant imagine anybody else being Derek.
He loves playing Derek.
He knew it so well, and it was fun that he got to keep coming back until now.
We dont improvise a lot.
We really, really dont.
I remember we shot it as sort of an hour-long.
Am I allowed to say that?
M.E.J.:Yes.
D.C.:I dont know, I did.
And I remember when we were having our breakup scene, you got the direction from Drew Goddard.
Show me the pain or whatever.
And Manny just produced tears without even thinking about it.
No preparation, we just did it tears fully.
I was like, This man is an actor!
I was so impressed, oh my God.
Like, stop enjoying this so much.
D.C.:All right, I dont know about that.
M.E.J.:Really?
D.C.:Maybe, maybe.
I remember it was in your bud hole.
M.J.:Yes, it was in my bud hole.
D.C.:I forgot, I was thinking that that wedding was our first kiss.
M.J.:It was a very quick one.
D.C.:Remember, it was in the bud hole.
You kissed me in the bud hole.
M.J.:It was in the bud hole that I suggested we get married.
D.C.:Yeah, right.
M.J.:So, the bud hole kiss was our first kiss.
D.C.:It was fun kissing in the bud hole.
A kiss in the bud hole!
What do you think they, or even the rest of the characters, have learned about your relationship?
And what have you learned about Eleanor and Chidis relationship?
Im trying to think if they have learned, but they are so in their own little world.
This relationship is very the two of them.
I mean, Im sure that Janet has, like, taken in information thats what she does.
You know, to just stop overthinking things and just go for certain things.
D.C.:Aww, Manny!
:Hows your real life going?
For instance, did you get engaged recently?
M.J.:Yeah, I did.
[Audience cheers.]
D.C.:A little bit?
:For a long time.
I was like, Hey, I think this is a sign.
I think a week later, I popped the question.
