00:00I just want to start by saying when I was young and I would see these Hollywood Walk of Fame
00:06ceremonies for some reason I thought these stars were being buried under their star and that's not
00:16the case. We could make an exception. So let me begin by saying that everyone told me not to do
00:24the office. It will not work. The original is too good. It is a waste of time and mostly it
00:31is just
00:32going to stink. And then a crazy thing happened. It didn't stink and it didn't stink because of Greg
00:40Daniels. I'm going to pause for the truck. Sound good. I first met Greg at a coffee shop on Beverly
00:56Glen. He was an unassuming guy, very smart, very funny and like me a little bit introverted. So
01:05here we have two slightly awkward middle-aged men meeting for the first time over coffee. Oh to
01:13have been a fly on the wall. The excitement. A thrilling combination of personalities. But it
01:22actually was. We talked about life and we talked about family and we talked about what made us laugh
01:28and what moved us. He was obviously a lovely person and we completely agreed on what we thought was
01:36funny. After that meeting Greg cast me as Michael Scott and over the next several years he became my
01:44mentor, my partner and my friend. I watched how he took an existing show something that was already
01:53considered to be a classic and a bunch of relatively unknown actors. A lot of them here and they're no
02:00longer unknown. And he created something special and entirely unique. The show, The Office, always had a
02:09good heart and I think that was a reflection of Greg. He leads by, yes, same person, same guy, one
02:20clap.
02:23You will be cast in something.
02:27He leads by example and I believe that everyone who works with him, who knows him, loves him. He's that
02:37kind of person. And sort of off page a little bit, there's so much that only the cast and crew
02:44of The
02:45Office will actually know in terms of what Greg did for us all and for us individually, for us as
02:52a whole.
02:54And there are things that we kind of keep close to the chest, things that maybe aren't for
03:00public consumption. But he was always there for us. He was always looking out after us, not just
03:06professionally, not just in terms of the show and the material that we were doing, but he made sure
03:14that everyone was okay. And that level of kindness, I think, trickled down. And it all started with him.
03:30But enough good things about Greg Daniels. I'd like to take a moment to talk about the bad things,
03:37because after all, that is why we are here today. Unfortunately, I'm out of time. But you can read
03:46all about it in my toxic... I blew that one. You can eat... Oh, man. All right. We can cut
03:59this and edit it
04:00later. You can read all about my toxic relationship with Greg in my upcoming memoir, Monster Boss.
04:11That's what he said. That's the joke. Until then, let it suffice to say that Greg Daniels is an absolute
04:19gem of a person. He is as decent as he is talented. And I can think of no one who
04:26is more deserving of
04:27this honor. Congratulations.
