Ryan Howard (The Office)

Office character box
name = Ryan Howard


debut = "Pilot"
departure =
gender = Male
age = Mid 20s
occupation =

• Office temp
• Sales representative
• Former Vice President, North East Region and Director of New Media
• Receptionist for Dunder Mifflin Scranton

family =
spouse = Kelly Kapoor (ex-girlfriend)
children =
relatives =
portrayer = B. J. Novak
based on =
• Ricky Howard
• Neil Godwin

nickname = Fire Guy
Temp
Fired Guy
Big Turkey

Ryan Bailey Howard, played by B. J. Novak, is a fictional character on the US television sitcom "The Office". He is based upon Ricky Howard from the original version of "The Office", but his role is significantly expanded. In addition, his role in season four as corporate manager is similar to the character of Neil Godwin from the original series.

Overview

Little is known about Ryan's early life, but it is revealed in a deleted scene from Diversity Day that Ryan grew up in Scranton. At the beginning of the series, Ryan Howard is a temporary employee at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin who joined the staff in the first episode, earning him the nickname "The Temp". He is unsure of what to make of the antics that take place in the office. In early episodes, he is shown to be uncomfortable with the fact that Michael makes him do a great many menial tasks and the fact that Michael might have a "man-crush" on him.

As of "The Job", he has taken Jan's widely sought after job at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office in New York. This position seems to have made him far more outgoing than he ever was at the Scranton branch, having boosted his confidence and infused his overall style with a great deal of arrogance. Ryan never made a sale while he was working in Scranton, and he started a fire in the office's kitchenette while trying to make a cheesy pita in "The Fire". It is implied in "Night Out" that he is using drugs, most likely ecstasy or cocaine. In the episode, Ryan indirectly reveals to Michael and Dwight that he believes he may be a drug addict. Ryan was arrested for fraud in the season 4 finale, "Goodbye Toby", after it was discovered that he was fraudulently reporting his sales twice to mislead Dunder Mifflin shareholders. However, he was released and given a community service sentence. Co-workers recorded his arrest on their cell phones and it was broadcast on YouTube; previous scenes involving Ryan at Corporate indicated that other employees there didn't like him very much.

In the season 5 premiere, Ryan returns to the Scranton branch after Michael arranges for him to fill in for Pam during her time at Art School. However, his malevolent aspirations to climb back to the top of the corporate ladder are revealed in a talking head, when he adds Jim and Kevin to a list of people who "will be sorry" when he returns to the top. He was also called out (implicitly) when Holly Flax said that his fraudulent behavior was the reason the Scranton office needed to undergo ethics counseling.

Characteristics

Ryan was a member of a fraternity in college and holds an MBA from the University of Scranton's Kania School of Management, which he earned during the second and third seasons. His dream is to ultimately own his own business one day, as he said to Michael who derided it as "a terrible idea". Ryan does not wish to stay at Dunder Mifflin long or even be remembered when he leaves, citing that his ultimate fear is that he will gain a nickname around the office (being "the something guy"). This fear came to pass in the same episode (penned by Novak) when Ryan activated a smoke alarm by accidentally overcooking a cheese pita in the break room, earning him the nickname "The Fire Guy." Underscoring his lack of enthusiasm for working at Dunder Mifflin, Ryan mentions that he could clean out his desk in five seconds and everyone (including himself) would forget that he ever worked there. During Ryan's term as a temporary employee (and even for a few months after his promotion to full-time status), Dwight frequently addresses him as "Temp" instead of his real name; Michael also called him "Temp" occasionally.

Ryan is often the victim of Michael's antics and bizarre crush on him, usually resigning to requests (such as helping Michael clean out his car or making a long car trip to buy yams) without complaint. This has given way to frequent use of sarcasm and general disinterest towards his co-workers, as he remains dissatisfied and unproven with his position.

By the third season opener "Gay Witch Hunt", Ryan becomes a full-time employee and inherits the job (and desk) vacated by Jim Halpert, who transferred to Dunder Mifflin's Stamford, CT branch. Despite the promotion, Michael still treats Ryan as his personal assistant, assigning him menial tasks such as taking inventory of Michael's possessions for his trip to the convention in Philadelphia or organizing paperwork in his office. Upon Jim's return to Scranton as a result of the branch merger, there is a moment of awkwardness when Jim casually sets up at his former desk, only to learn that it now belongs to Ryan--who refuses to give the desk back to Jim (which is an early indication of Ryan's selfish behavior). Ryan says that Jim is a nice guy and "that's why I got the desk".

Ryan goes to his first sales call in "Initiation", where he is subjected to a series of tests by Dwight, including being stranded on Dwight's beet farm and sitting in a barn answering questions regarding the company. Dwight later admits to an angry Ryan that he wants to get along with him and be a team, since he and Jim were always at odds. He also points out Ryan's problem, which is that he will not accept that other people can teach him things. Despite his superior education, Ryan is not a good salesman—his first client tells him flat out that he does not like him. A sales call with Stanley in "Traveling Salesmen" is also disastrous, and Stanley laughs uproariously at Ryan's stammering ineptitude.

In "The Return", he mocks Jim's query as to whether he will help plan a prank on Andy, making Jim say that he liked him better as "the temp". Ryan replies, "Me too."

When Michael visits Ryan's "Business School", Ryan criticizes Dunder Mifflin's failure to adapt in an increasingly paperless society. Though the comments were made with the assumption that Michael, being outside the room, would never hear them, a classmate eventually revealed what Ryan had said. As punishment, Michael relocates Ryan to a new desk in the back of the office, where he would be forced to sit next to Kelly Kapoor, much to her delight and Ryan and Toby's horror.

At the very end of "The Job", Ryan receives a call from the New York headquarters, offering him the job previously held by Jan Levinson, which made him Michael's immediate superior.Confirmed by producer Greg Daniels in [http://blog.nbc.com/theoffice/2007/05/to_anissa.php The Office Live Blog: To Anissa] .] Confirmed by writer/actor BJ Novak in his blog http: /blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=3241662&blogID=266132650] After he hangs up, Kelly asks who was on the phone. Ryan replies "Nobody. You and I are done," much to Kelly's shock.

In the fourth season opener "Fun Run", he is seen in his new office, now with a beard and more sharply dressed with an outgoing personality. He says that he has a new life with new friends, but negative aspects of his true nature start to show: being abrupt, cocky, condescending and the drive to stab people in the back for his own gain. He also says that he does not remember much of Scranton, and vaguely recalls dating a "black girl" referring to Kelly. During the "talking head" interviews, Ryan speaks almost exclusively in business buzzwords. In the following episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", Ryan presents his concept of Dunder Mifflin Infinity to the Scranton Branch, and gives a BlackBerry to all of the key employees. He also seems to take advantage of his new authority over the Scranton branch by flattering Pam about her drawings in attempting to have a date with her (with no success). He also brags to Kevin Malone and Andy Bernard that he met actor Vince Vaughn in New York. He appears to be eager to show off his newfound wealth, such as when he insinuates to the camera that his haircut "cost more than these guys would ever guess" before revealing that it cost $200. His relationship with Kelly remains tense.

It is implied in "Night Out" and "Did I Stutter?" that Ryan has a drug problem. In "Night Out" he is shown tapping his leg constantly and having dilated pupils, as well as having Dwight mention that he has visited the bathroom frequently (both implying cocaine and/or amphetamine use). Additionally, Ryan checks himself for red-eye in "Did I Stutter?." These are some of the first episodes that exhibits Ryan's social behavior outside the workplace, contrasting from his typical professional demeanor, such as showing his studio apartment in Manhattan. Less serious drug usage was implied in Creed's "What I Did Over The Summer" preview on NBC.com: Creed mentions that "some kid I used to sell weed to got a job at Corporate."

Ryan's Dunder Mifflin Infinity website eventually became infested by sexual predators due to an ill-advised social networking section, and the police were called in for investigation. Due to the diminished legitimacy of the site, Ryan made the employees of Dunder Mifflin mark any sale made as a website sale to help restore its reputation. Ryan also decides to try and push Jim out of Dunder Mifflin after he made comments to David Wallace regarding the website. Ryan gives a formal warning to Jim about his job performance, citing Jim's frequent pranks on Dwight and flirting with Pam as reasons for a subpar performance, despite Jim's good sales numbers and his popularity with Wallace. A confident Ryan states that he needs to take this risk in a talking head interview, which shows his drive to stab people in the back, such as Jim.

In "Goodbye, Toby", Ryan in his now usual short manner with Jim, orders him to enter the huge sale he made into the website before abruptly hanging up. However, it is later discovered that Ryan was misleading the company's shareholders by labeling those sales as ones made both by employees and the site, constituting fraud which Oscar Martinez explains before cracking "If you ask me, the real crime was his beard." In a YouTube video entitled "Wooah! Check This Out!" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Ymh0MOD14] watched by the Scranton branch, Ryan is seen being arrested and escorted out of Dunder Mifflin's New York office by police, much to Michael's dismay and Jim and Kelly's pleasure. Multiple cell phones are used to record Ryan's arrest, which only indicates the number of co-workers who dislike him.

In the first episode of Season 5, it is revealed that he had been released with a community service sentence. Michael hires Ryan through the temp agency to be the fill-in receptionist, while Pam is at art school, and Kevin has now renamed him 'Fire-d Guy'. He makes a weak apology to Jim, and shows a renewed interest in Kelly (who is still dating Darryl), treating her much more nicely than he had in previous seasons (in a meeting when Kelly was very sick because of her unusual dieting techniques, Ryan plainly said that she "is perfect"). While Jim accepted his apology, he teases Ryan about his community service. Ryan still exhibits the ego issues he developed in the fourth season and in an interview, he shows the camera crew he is writing down names to take down when he gets back "on top" (in Dunder Mifflin), adding to the list Jim and Kevin (after calling him "Fire-d Guy").

Relationships

Kelly

Ryan has an on-again, off-again relationship with office chatterbox Kelly. The relationship has been troubled from the outset, for Ryan desires a very casual relationship, whereas the overbearing Kelly wants to get married and have children as soon as possible. The two "hooked up" on the eve of Valentine's Day, although Ryan was cold to her the following day. Things seemed to be starting up between the two again during the office "Casino Night". Ryan and Kelly are later seen dating in "The Convention". Ryan met Kelly's parents during Diwali, but they were not impressed by his low income, desire to travel and saving up money to buy an Xbox, rather than start a family. Ryan has more than once tried unsuccessfully to break up with Kelly, with one of the more notable occurrences in the wake of the "The Merger" when the Scranton branch absorbs the Stamford branch instead of the other way around, once again putting the two of them back together.

Even though Ryan and Kelly continue to bicker, he is sweet to her in the episode "Safety Training" after he kisses her on the forehead while winning a bet. B.J. Novak has stated that Ryan and Kelly are going strong, well into the third season: "I think Ryan and Kelly is a relationship that everyone has been in. It's a puzzle as to why they're still together, but I think Ryan loves being loved--even though he won't admit it. He lost Michael's love so he has to take in more love from Kelly."

After accepting a promotion to Corporate over the phone in "The Job", an elated Ryan immediately breaks up with Kelly, telling her "You and I are done," with a smile.

In Dunder Mifflin Infinity, Kelly tries to rekindle their relationship by feigning pregnancy, a lie which she later reveals. This only upsets Ryan more and leads to him attempting to have her job outsourced to India. Ryan is visibly upset in later episodes when Kelly later flirts with and kisses Darryl in front of him. When Ryan is arrested in the Season 4 finale, Kelly says she looks forward to rubbing in his downfall by visiting him in prison.

Ryan and Kelly make amends in "Weight Loss", and Ryan indicates a renewed interest in her. He witnesses Kelly and Darryl make out.

Michael

Michael also seems to have a bit of a crush on Ryan, which frightens him at times. Ryan was also inconveniently stuck in the position of being personal assistant to Michael, who immediately summons him to all menial tasks, such as picking up a video for Michael at his mother's house and helping him clean out his car, although in the end of the episode "The Job", Ryan becomes Michael's boss. In "The Dundies", Michael gives Ryan the "Hottest in the Office" award, describing him as "someone who really lights up the office" and "someone we all can't keep from checkin' out". After congratulating Ryan for his award, he slaps Ryan's buttocks, further displaying his feelings.

In a complaint filed on him in "Conflict Resolution", Kelly complains to Toby that Ryan doesn't return her calls. Michael reads the complaint aloud to the office, and joins Kelly in the same complaint, as Ryan does not return his calls either. Ryan replies that his voicemail is rather spotty. Also, in "The Fire", when all of the employees are standing around playing 'who would you do' in the parking lot, Michael bluntly states that he would have sex with Ryan.

In the third season, Ryan begins correcting Michael for embarrassing him as evident by "The Convict", when one of Michael's latest seminars involving prison life has Michael referring to Ryan as "da belle of da ball" if he were in prison. In a deleted scene from "Diwali", it is suggest that Michael has begun stalking Ryan, when Carol lists a good amount of information about him (such as the street he lives on). He has a list of excuses he programmed into his cell phone to use if Michael summons him into any of his antics. Along with Stanley Hudson and Phyllis Lapin, Ryan counsels the new employees from the Stamford branch on how Michael operates as manager of their branch. In "The Job", Michael comes back from his interview in New York and asks Ryan to get him a cup of coffee, but Ryan firmly says "I don't do that stuff anymore." A clueless Michael says it's not for Ryan and later says he's still waiting for his coffee, unaware that Ryan has just become his direct supervisor. In retaliation, Ryan pointedly makes Michael get bottled water for him when Ryan returns to Scranton during "Dunder Mifflin Infinity".

Ryan's sudden promotion (to the position Jan Levinson was fired from, making him Michael's superior) has created considerable tension between the two when Ryan tries to implement his authority and introduce new company procedures to the Scranton branch. Ryan has also asserted his authority by forcing Michael to quit his second job as a telemarketer and by pointedly not inviting him on a wilderness retreat that other D-M Branch Managers--and Michael's bete noir Toby--participated in. In spite of this, Michael seems upset that Ryan keeps rejecting his friendship; during "Branch Wars" he tells Dwight that he is more likely to hang out with Ryan (or Darryl) than with Dwight when he "plays hooky" from the office. He also refers to Ryan as "Just as hot as Jan but in a different way" when his diary entries are read during "The Deposition". In "Business School", while upset with Ryan, Michael tells his entire class that everyone thinks that he is a tease.

Michael seems to be aware that Ryan isn't very fond of him, though possibly in denial; when Dwight and Michael show up in New York to join Ryan for a night of partying in Night Out, Michael is taken aback when Ryan loudly says how happy he is to see them, and points out to Ryan that it's "Michael and Dwight". Later in the episode, Ryan tries to indirectly confide to Michael that he has a drug problem (using his friend's name as the individual in question), but Michael ends up giving Ryan useless advice he learned from watching The Wire. Michael later is devastated when he learns of Ryan's arrest.

Michael arranges for Ryan's return to the Scranton branch, and temporarily grows a goatee because Ryan was wearing one after he got fired and moved into a new place, which Michael apparently helped him do.

Others

Ryan probably became aware of the relationship between Dwight Schrute and Angela Martin. He overheard them in the break room, talking covertly about sex but using piteously transparent code words.

After Jim broke up with her, Ryan expressed interest in dating Katy, making her the first of three romantic prospects who date Jim but do not date Ryan.

Ryan asked out Karen Filippelli by email, but she turned him down saying she isn't ready for an office relationship but likes him "as a friend" ("Women's Appreciation"). In reality, Karen was seeing Jim at the time; her explanation was a cover to avoid hurting Ryan's feelings. In the episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" he lied to Kelly about the email, saying that Karen sent "him" an email asking him out which Ryan turned down because he was already seeing Kelly and was "committed to their relationship."

Stanley's teenage daughter, Melissa, appears to have developed a crush on Ryan. When she shows interest in Ryan, Stanley (tipped off by a jealous Kelly) intercedes to berate and browbeat Ryan.

In the episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", Ryan asks Pam Beesly to draw some logos for the new website. After drawing a few, Ryan asks her out to dinner to "discuss the drawings". She declines because she is dating Jim Halpert, much to Ryan's shock and embarrassment. Jim then has a talking head interview in which he is enjoying the moment and mocking Ryan by saying, "I guess he can't get "any" woman he wants." This was a joke alluding to his conversation earlier in the episode with Kevin and Andy, in which they said with his new wealth Ryan could have any girl he wants. During season 4's "Night Out", Ryan begins to antagonize Jim for going behind his back to David Wallace about the necessity of the company's website. He issued a formal warning to Jim for wasting time in the office. When Jim asks whether it was because of the incident with Wallace, Ryan dismisses this accusation and tells Jim not to get "defensive." Jim later suspects that Ryan is trying to push him out of Dunder Mifflin. This suspicion is confirmed in a deleted scene, Ryan says that "going after Jim is a risky move [for Ryan] " because David Wallace likes Jim. Jim later responds to Ryan's passive-aggressive behavior and leaves him a confrontational message on his voicemail, saying that he's here to stay at Dunder Mifflin. In Job Fair, Jim mentions that Ryan (Jim refers to him as "the temp that used to work here") put him on probation; ironically, this leads Jim to try his hardest on the job and close a large sale with a new customer.

However, Ryan barely acknowledged Jim's achievement and told him to "be a team player" and falsely record the new sale as a website-based transaction, continuing his abrupt communication with Jim before hanging up on him. Ultimately, Ryan was exposed for this fraud, as it meant that sales were counted twice. He was caught and arrested for fraud, and his arrest was posted on YouTube and recorded multiple times by his colleagues. When Jim learns of Ryan's arrest, he leaves another message on his voicemail by sarcastically apologizing for his previous voicemail and saying "Clearly, you have your hands tied."

Upon his return to the Scranton branch, Ryan makes amends with Jim, who accepts before ridiculing Ryan by condescending to him about his court ordered community service. Ryan is also diligently keeping a list of people who upset him, for when he rises back up the chain. Thus far Kevin, and Jim have made the list.

Trivia

*Ryan's car was a blue Honda Civic sedan. It is now a blue Chevrolet Cobalt sedan. As seen in ″Did I Stutter?″ Ryan has a BMW Z4.
*Ryan uses a Palm Treo PDA/Cell Phone, as seen in "A Benihana Christmas", in some parts of Season Two he was seen with a LG VX8000.
*Ryan shares a name with Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who played on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in 2004 and 2005. It's possible this is because Ryan Howard was the MVP.Citation | last=Dansby | first=Andrew | title=The temp label is permanent | newspaper=Houston Chronicle | year=2007 | date=2007-10-02 | url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2007_4435539 | accessdate=2007-10-25 ]
*In an interview with Yahoo! TV, that was released before the episode "Business School", B.J. Novak describes Ryan and Kelly as "the worst relationship that all of us have been in." He adds, "The bad news is that that's what a lot of people have actually experienced, something that just doesn't work on any level, and they just keep going for some weird reason." Mindy Kaling (Kelly) adds, "It seems like Ryan has just adjusted to the fact that he is the boyfriend of this crazy girl." [ [http://tv.yahoo.com/the-office-nbc/show/36001 Y! TV Exclusive: 'Office' Romances] The Office (NBC) on Yahoo! TV, February 15, 2007.]
*Ryan likes garage rock music, as revealed in a deleted scene from "Hot Girl" when Michael asks him for music to play in order to impress purse saleswoman Katy. He mentions bands such as The Strokes and The Hives. The same scene also implies that he likes hip-hop.
*It was suggested that Ryan was for a time interested in women of different ethnicity, specifically Kelly and Karen. B.J. Novak noted this in the commentary of the episode Initiation, and it is more directly implied in a deleted scene from Ben Franklin, in which Ryan says that the stripper looked too "pale". This seemed to have changed after his promotion to corporate management, as he asked out Pam in the episode Dunder Mifflin Infinity. In Season 5, though, Ryans mentions that while in New York he once hooked up with a woman who looks just like African-American contestant JoAnna from .
*Ryan bears a passing resemblance to "Scrubs" star "Zach Braff" and Kelly's younger sisters were probably making fun of him (He could not understand Hindi) for it in "Diwali".
*In "Goodbye, Toby", a Youtube video of Ryan being arrested was discovered by the Scranton employees. This video was posted on a real Youtube user "EricinNYC", and in the episode the video details say it was uploaded 20 hours ago. The account is inactive now, and the video is removed. The video is still available on the NBC web site [http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/clips/ryan-is-busted/252007/] and on Youtube via a fan post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Ymh0MOD14

Behind the scenes

* Writer B. J. Novak explains that in the fourth season, "We wanted him to dress as obnoxious as possible. As much black as possible.". Novak also said that it was originally planned for Ryan to have a new goatee, but Greg Daniels vetoed that idea because it would have made Ryan look like "a flat-out chump" and they went with a beard instead.

References