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Mindy Kaling would love to give us a tour of the home of 'The Office' -- but this is her first visit

November 25, 2007|Meredith Goldstein, Globe Staff

SCRANTON - Kelly Kapoor, Dunder Mifflin's chipper, vapid customer service representative, calls Scranton home.

It's where she goes to the Steamtown Mall (which she loves, loves, loves), where she pines for her ex-boyfriend Ryan ("Is that [memo] from Ryan? Does it mention if he's seeing anyone?"), and where she watches her Netflix (which, of course, is "awesome"). Kelly thinks Scranton is amazing - and she'd be happy to give us the grand tour.

But there's one problem.

The actress who plays Kelly, Cambridge native Mindy Kaling had never actually been to Scranton. She visited for the first time last month as part of a convention for fans of "The Office," where she signed autographs and traipsed around with fellow actors who play Phyllis, Bob Vance (of Vance Refrigeration), Oscar, Angela, Andy, Kevin, Stanley, and Creed.

For Kaling, 28, the trip served a few purposes. Not only does she play the self-absorbed, love-struck Valley girl on the Thursday night NBC comedy series but she's also one of the show's Emmy-winning writers. So she spent some time as a tourist in the Electric City ("They call it that 'cause of the elec-tri-city.") to find out whether Scranton has been portrayed accurately and to get ideas for shows.

Lucky for us, we got to tag along. On our day trip we learned:

1. "Office" boss Michael Scott (played by Acton native Steve Carell) may have been ex aggerating when he said, "Ain't no party like a Scranton party 'cause a Scranton party don't stop."

2. This industrial city off Interstate 81 does have some spots worth visiting, especially if you're an "Office" fan.

Our tour, led by volunteer Drew Hailstone, started in the Radisson Lackawanna Station, which was once Scranton's railway station but is now a luxury hotel. "Office" fans may know the Radisson as where then-boss-now-girlfriend Jan hoped to have a business meeting with Michael in the episode "The Client." Michael moved it to a local Chili's, telling Jan the Radisson has a "snooty" vibe.

Actually, there is no Chili's in Scranton, and the hotel is revered by residents. It was built in 1908, and, after being vacant for 10 years, was turned into a hotel in 1983. Kaling believes it's haunted.

"I expect to see the ghosts of dead train workers," she said in her own voice, which is almost as fast-paced and high-pitched as her character's.

With that, we were on our way to the most important stop on our tour, the Mall at Steamtown, where Michael took Dunder Mifflin's female staff members, including Kelly, in the episode "Women's Appreciation."