Although we can all look back at the writers' strike and laugh at the fact that some of us went through TV withdrawal and didn't know what to do with ourselves, viewers can now get their weekly fix since the new Fall season is upon us. On Thursday night, September 25 at 9pm, The Office makes its Season 5 debut with Oscar nominated actress Amy Ryan resuming her role as Human Resources rep Holly Flax for a multi-episode arc while actor, executive producer and writer Paul Lieberstein steps back in front of the camera as Dunder Miflin employee (and pain in the butt) Toby Flenderson.

With the cast of The Office set to go back to work for a new season of cubicle laughs, we dialed in to a conference call with both Amy Smart and Paul Lieberstein to get the scoop on how they'll survive life x 5 in The Office.

THE DEADBOLT: I thought it was hilarious when Dwight was trying to put the raccoon in her car. Is he going to continue trying to haze her, or does that stop?

AMY RYAN: I think - it pretty much stopped, didn’t it Paul?

PAUL LIEBERSTEIN: Yeah, the hazing stopped. Dwight pretty much accepts what Michael accepts, you know. And he hazed her in kind of a miscommunication with Michael when Michael - because she came in and - as an HR rep and he didn’t know her yet, and instantly hated her. And Dwight took on a - you know, took that as a directive. But I think once...

RYAN: Yeah, he said the guy was Toby and that it smelled like a woman.

LIEBERSTEIN: Yeah, it was just Toby as a woman. And as that changed, Dwight didn’t pick up on it, so that’s where the hazing came from.

THE DEADBOLT: [Paul] You mentioned that you liked writing dialogue and scenes for the other actors. How do you tackle that when you have to write for Toby?

LIEBERSTEIN: You know, I almost never do it. I give him like one or two lines in my episodes, so I feel like, the best and certainly the most Toby talk comes from the other writers.

THE DEADBOLT: So you intentionally pass it off onto them? [laughs]

LIEBERSTEIN: Yeah, exactly. I tell them to make me a star.

Other Conference Call Highlights:

Amy Ryan on what it was like returning to comedy:

"I was truthfully, very nervous because it wasn’t just going back into comedy, it was going back into the best comedy. And trying to stand up next to that cast is - it’s not an easy thing to do. But they certainly made it easier for me. As [they] said earlier, the writing is so stellar. But I guess it’s also, just those roles have just - you don’t play the comedy, you play the seriousness of the situation, you know. Don’t ask for the last [off] for [the ham sandwich] or something like that. Is that the rule, Paul? But I was happy to see it was kind of a much more freeing experience than I had thought. But truth be told, the first day I showed up at the finale I was petrified. I think I really was."

Ryan on how she landed the role of Holly Flax:

"I think there were a few things in play. One is, I knew Paul Lieberstein many years ago from a television show we both worked on called The Naked Truth. And then most of the writers turned out to be fans of The Wire. And then I had briefly known Steve Carell when we shot the film Dan in Real Life. And then I got nominated for an Oscar and I asked my agent and manager - I said, 'The one job I’d like that I don’t think I’d get if I weren’t nominated, I want to be on The Office.' And so some people thought I - they all laughed at me when I told them that story, but they said I shot too low. But I disagree. I think that’s one of the best shows on TV."

Ryan on the relationship between Holly and Kevin, and Holly and Michael:

"Well, Holly and Kevin is probably a little bit more a misunderstanding. You imagine her misunderstanding that he’s mentioned a handicap that sort of - [may] show its truth pretty soon. And with Michael and Holly, I think that it gives us all hope that there’s a lid for every pot or I like to say there’s a lid for every cracked pot out there. So it’s - everyone has a chance at some form of love."

Paul Lieberstein on whether Toby’s love for Pam brings him back:

"I think what brings him back is failure to escape. There was a friend of mine who’s actually one of the writers here that decided to - maybe about ten years ago, collected enough money to live poor in Hawaii and he was going to just do it and surf because he loves to surf. And he had made a big deal of it, had a going away party and he was back in two weeks because he was lonely. Nobody talked to him. He was robbed on the beach and that was it. So that was our model."

Lieberstein on what he draws upon to make Toby a sad sack and how he ended up in front of the camera:

"Yeah, I must draw on myself because I never even [thought I was a sad sack]. But I think it got started as a bit of a practical joke or just Greg Daniels wanting the writers to have a little in front of camera experience to kind of inform the writing, see what that’s like. And then Kevin Reilly was President of NBC at the time and he was watching dailies and I think he forgot he knew me as a writer, and said that redheaded guy who is kind of funny - more of him. And that kind of got around town as a joke in itself and all of a sudden I was in most episodes."

Stories Paul Lieberstein would use for Toby to impress Pam:

"Maybe the time his camera was stolen by a monkey or the time he was attacked by a monkey in Costa Rica, or the time when a monkey took his wallet. Probably one of those three."

Amy Ryan on joining an already established cast:

"Oh, well on paper in the first day, it’s quite intimidating because - especially when you enter a show that you’re a fan of but you have great admiration for - you have to take a moment to allow yourself to join them. But it’s quite an extraordinary group that everyone was really supportive and very down to earth, which is kind of staggering. You rarely see that when a group has a great success - a bunch of actors. There’s usually one - there’s always one, you know, and I’m happy to report that everyone was so gracious and generous and that made the greatest welcome."