Hickenlooper has his moment on 'Office Ladies' podcast

Call Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper a paper cut-up.

Hickenlooper got a hilarious shout-out on last week’s episode of the “Office Ladies” podcast when the hosts recalled a fun moment from just two months into Hickenlooper’s first term as Colorado’s governor in 2011.

Actors Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, co-stars of the hit NBC comedy “The Office,” have been doing a weekly recap of each episode since 2019.

Last week, they were remembering the seminal Season 7 episode titled “Garage Sale,” when bumbling boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) tells his staff he is moving to Colorado to support his future wife, Holly (Amy Ryan). More than 7 million tuned in to watch the episode in its original airing on March 24, 2011.

The hosts remembered that Hickenlooper’s office issued a press release after the episode aired offering the fictional character of Scott – Regional Manager of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company's branch in Scranton, Pa. – a job in his administration.

The then brand-new governor appointed Scott to the fictional position of Director of Paper Distribution in the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. In the tongue-in-cheek announcement, Hickenlooper said: “Scott’s success in selling paper will help Colorado effectively and efficiently move the large amount of bark-beetle lumber from the forest and into the marketplace, creating tons of jobs and making lots of money.”

Hickenlooper went on to say, “This is a unique opportunity to resolve Colorado's forest-health and budget issues. We’ve hired Michael based on his skills, personal drive and love for ‘That’s What She Said’ jokes.”

On the podcast episode, Kinsey wonders how many people heard Hickenlooper’s announcement “and thought maybe there was someone named Michael Scott that was hired, and not a TV character,” she said. “I feel like my grandmother (in Colorado) would have thought, ‘Oh yeah, we just got Michael Scott, and he's going to help with (the bark beetle).’”

Scott, one can only assume, was as incompetent in Colorado as he was in Scranton. On both the Front Range and Western Slope, the mountain pine-beetle epidemic lingers. According to the U.S. Forest Service, bark beetle currently affects all eight national forests in the Rocky Mountain Region.

There’s more Colorado fun to come. In the next episode (“Training Day”), Scott unknowingly meets his Dunder Mifflin successor, Deangelo Vickers, in a bar, setting off an absurdist comedy exchange between Carell and Ferrell that has to rank among the best moments in the series’ history:

• Michael: I'm moving to Colorado.

• Deangelo: Colorado! The Sunshine State.

• Michael: Yep. Don't Mess with Colorado.

• Deangelo: Doing some skiing?

• Michael: No, no. I don't want to end up like Sonny Bobo.

“The Office” was the most streamed TV show during the largely shuttered pandemic year of 2020, with viewers taking in 950 million hours of the show when it was on Netflix.