Pam Beesly

Office character box
name = Pam Beesly


caption =
portrayer = Jenna Fischer
debut = "Pilot"
departure =
based on = Dawn Tinsley
gender = Female
age = 29 [http://www.myspace.com/pambeesley Age according to Pam Beesly's Myspace] ]
born =
occupation = Receptionist
Student at the Pratt Institute
spouse = Jim Halpert (fiancé)
Roy Anderson (ex-fiance)
parent(s) =
child(ren) =
sibling(s) =
other =

Pamela "Pam" Morgan Beesly is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom "The Office", played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of "The Office" is Dawn Tinsley.__TOC__

Overview

Pam is the friendly but often frustrated receptionist at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper-distributor Dunder Mifflin. She can seem shy or hesitant to speak her mind, but enjoys chatting with her best friend and current fiance, salesman Jim Halpert. She often helps Jim play pranks on his deskmate Dwight Schrute. At the beginning of the series she had been dating warehouse worker Roy Anderson since high school and engaged to him for three years.

Pam has above average typing skills and is able to type 90 words per minute. Her favorite yogurt flavor is mixed berries, and she enjoys French Onion Sun Chips. She attended collegecite episode |title=Boys and Girls |episodelink=Boys and Girls (The Office episode) |credits=
airdate=February 6, 2006 |series=The Office
serieslink=The Office (US TV series)
network=NBC ] and later in the series returns to school to take art classes. Pam drives a Toyota Yaris hatchback in Blazing Blue Pearl, first seen in the third season episode Grief Counseling and knows how to change a tire ("Women's Appreciation"). She is Presbyterian ("Fun Run"). In "Did I Stutter?" it is shown she is very nearsighted, and usually wears contacts instead of glasses, even though she had previously stated that she doesn't wear glasses in a different season. In a deleted scene, she says she has 20/400 vision. In "Job Fair", it was revealed that Pam went to Valley View High School. Her character boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) often asks her to do strange office tasks, and mocks her about being a receptionist. In "Weight Loss", her weight is revealed to be 126 pounds. Her AIM Screen Name is Receptionitis15.

Character history

easons 1 & 2

At the beginning of the series, Pam and Roy have been dating for eight years and engaged for four. Their open-ended engagement has become one of Michael's running gags and a sore spot for Pam.

Pam does not want her current job to become permanent, remarking that "no little girl ever dreams about becoming a receptionist." Pam is apathetic toward her work, evidenced by her frequent games of FreeCell on her office computer. However, in the pilot episode, she breaks down crying when Michael pulls an ill-advised prank by telling her that she will be fired.

Michael has criticized Pam for simply forwarding calls to voice mail without answering and (in a deleted scene) for not sounding enthusiastic enough when speaking on the telephone. Pam is usually happy to abandon her work if asked to do something else by Jim. She will do extra, unnecessary work (such as making a casket for a dead bird or paper doves for the Office Olympics) to make other people happy.

Despite the abuse she takes from Michael, she has never up to this point gone any farther than to call him a jerk.

Pam denied, or was in denial about, having any romantic feelings for her friend Jim. Yet in "Basketball," the camera catches her often looking at a sweaty Jim. Also, while at Chili's during the Dundies, an intoxicated Pam kisses Jim in celebration after winning an award. She appeared to be bothered by Jim deciding to start dating Katy, the purse salesgirl, at the end of "Hot Girl". She also seemed quietly pleased at the fact that Jim might still have a crush on her, even after he told her he was over it.

She was banned from all Chili's locations after she got drunk at the Dundies by stealing drinks from other people's tables. The manager photocopied her driver's license to enforce this.

After Jim confesses his love for her at the Dunder Mifflin "Casino Night" she turns him down. She later talks to her mom on the phone and says Jim is her best friend (though she doesn't say his name), and says "Yeah, I think I am" to a question that could be assumed to be either "Are you still going to go through with the wedding?" or "Are you in love with him?" Jim returns seconds later and kisses her.

eason 3

In "Gay Witch Hunt," it is revealed that Pam got cold feet before her wedding and did not marry Roy after all. Pam and Roy break up, and Pam moves into her own apartment. She begins taking art classes, a pursuit that Roy had previously dismissed as a waste of time, and buys a new car.

Meanwhile, Roy becomes depressed, gains weight, and is eventually arrested for a D.U.I. This serves as a wake-up call to Roy, who vows to clean up his act and win Pam back. Roy's desire to reunite with Pam intensifies during Branch Closing when it's initially announced that the Scranton branch will be shut down permanently.

Jim and Pam appear to have ended all communication after Jim transfers to the Stamford branch, but he accidentally calls her at her desk one night when trying to reach Kevin's voice mail. Pam is delighted when Jim moves back into the Scranton office as a result of The Merger, but he soon reveals to Pam that he is seeing someone else, Stamford transfer Karen Filippelli. Pam still harbors feelings for Jim, but awkwardly denies this when confronted by Karen in "Ben Franklin."

Roy's efforts to improve his relationship with Pam are successful. In Phyllis' Wedding, Roy reminds Pam of various moments during their history and pays Scrantonicity twenty dollars to play "their song." They dance and leave the reception together.

Once Pam and Roy are back together, he falls back into old habits almost immediately. When Pam has her first art show, Roy offers a half-hearted compliment about how "pretty" her art is, and then leaves early with his brother. Pam later tells Roy that he has to do "boyfriend stuff" if they're going to stay together. Roy agrees to attend an after work get-together at a local bar with Pam and her coworkers. Pam, feeling that she should be more honest with Roy, tells him about Jim kissing her at "Casino Night." Roy yells, smashes a mirror, and trashes the bar. Pam, frightened and embarrassed by his reaction, breaks up with Roy immediately. Roy vows to kill Jim.

Roy unsuccessfully tries to attack Jim at work (Jim is saved by Dwight's intervention), and is fired. Pam later agrees to meet Roy for coffee. After the polite but brief meeting, it appears that their relationship has ended.

In the "Women's Appreciation" episode, Meredith's car has a flat tire, and Pam subtly displays assertiveness when she voluntarily changes the tire by herself. Near the end of the episode, Michael reveals that at a wishing well he "wished for Pam to gain courage."

In "Beach Games," Michael suggests his employees test their bravery by walking over hot coals. Even though Michael has left Pam out of the activities for the day by making her keep "score" and cook 800 hot dogs, Pam walks barefoot across the coals of her own accord and works up the courage not only to tell Jim she misses his friendship, but also to confront her co-workers about their lack of respect and support. She tells Jim that she broke off her wedding because of him, then says she's okay with the fact that he's dating someone else now, but that she misses their old friendship.

In "The Job," Pam has become much more assertive and still doesn't regret her previous speech. She states that she is happy that Jim is with Karen and that she hopes that she may find love too someday. As she is saying this, Jim interrupts her and asks her out for dinner. She happily accepts, forgetting what she was previously saying.

eason 4

In "Fun Run", Pam initially denies dating anyone but admits that she and Jim are happily dating when confronted with film evidence of the two kissing. Pam wears her hair in a more loose style and has updated her old dowdy wardrobe. She retains the assertiveness she developed in the third season. After the next episode, they have informed the entire office of their relationship and have begun openly dating.In "Money", the fourth episode of the fourth season, Jim comforts Dwight about his breakup with Angela and recounts the days of when he longed to be with Pam, noting that he couldn't sleep and that "things like food...had no taste." Jim goes so far as to say that the tension went so far that he "couldn't take it anymore" and transferred to the Stamford branch. He reveals that it was a situation he would not wish on his worst enemy, including Dwight. Jim then returns to the office and passionately kisses Pam as she begins to discuss their dinner plans for that night. Pam coyly dismisses this by saying, "Jim's just really passionate about Italian food." Jim concurs, saying, "In fact, I'm in love with Italian food," indirectly confessing that he's in love with Pam.

While their relationship had continued to go well overall, it began to take on more of a traditional minor roller-coaster feel in small ways: Pam initially doesn't want Jim to join the "Finer Things Club" in Branch Wars that she formed with Toby and Oscar and is embarrassed when Jim proves their fears right by making stupid jokes and not bothering to read a book they're discussing; she stands back and lets Jim make a fool of himself with an asinine plan to merge birthday celebrations during Survivor Man; and she pushes him to practice his ping-pong skills after Kelly trash-talks her over Daryl's consistent walloping of Jim in matches in The Deposition.

At Michael's dinner party, she and Jim make an attempt to escape when Michael and Jan Levinson are making them uncomfortable, but are unsuccessful. Jan reveals to Pam that Michael told her he used to date Pam, which Pam denies, but Angela claims she sees how Pam looks at Michael at the office. However, some of the episode's final moments show Pam and Jim having burgers in their car, and they appear to be (easily) the happiest couple out of the three that attended the party. In "Chair Model", Pam tries to set Michael up with her landlady, which turns out to be unsuccessful. Pam confesses to Jim that she doesn't really care that much for her apartment and is considering moving out, though she states she doesn't feel like moving in with Jim unless they were engaged. Pam asks Jim when he would propose to her and he tells her that he is going to soon and jokingly tells her to "stay sharp", afterwards telling the documentary crew he is not kidding around about an engagement, showing them a ring that he got one week after they started dating. As a joke, when they are walking to her car, Jim gets down on one knee in front of Pam, who thinks he is proposing, but he only asks her if she'd wait for him to tie his shoe.

In "Night Out", she and Jim collaborate to avoid having the employees come in on Saturday to fix errors with Ryan's website, by staying late to do the work. The plan works initially until they find the gate locked by the security guard, whom Jim forgot to tell they were staying late. The rest of the office blame him and then blame Pam for locking them out of the office. While everyone is waiting for the security guard to come unlock the door, Pam and Toby make jokes about Michael planning an elaborate theme party for the employees on Saturday, after which Toby puts his hand on her leg and rubs it in front of Jim and everyone else. Realizing what he just did, he announces that he is moving to Costa Rica and hops the fence, leaving Pam and Jim shocked at what they just saw.

In "Did I Stutter?", Pam left her contact solution at her place when she spent the night at Jim's and is forced to wear her glasses to work, where Michael and everyone else start to tease her about it. Her middle name is revealed to be Morgan when Jim attempts another faux proposal during a meeting in the conference room, when Jim "proposes" that Pam get him a coffee.

In "Job Fair", Michael takes Pam, Oscar, and Darryl to a job fair at Pam's alma mater. Michael states she is there for "eye candy" and harasses her in front of potential interns. He also makes her drive all the way back to the office to get a single blank sheet of paper after the original single sheet got ruined, because regular paper will not do, only Dunder Mifflin paper will suffice. While she is there, she revisits her old art room. She comes across a booth for a graphic design internship. The representative tells her that she would require experience in numerous software programs in which she currently does not have experience (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Corel Painter, Adobe Illustrator), though he assures her the programs are not complicated. The representative also tells her that if she were serious about a career in graphic design, she should pursue places in Philadelphia or New York.

In "Goodbye, Toby", Pam discovers she's been accepted at Pratt Institute, an art and design school in New York City. She tells Jim, who is supportive, reminding him they'll only be apart for three months. In an interview later in the episode, Jim announces that he will propose to Pam -- he even pays Phyllis to work fireworks into Toby's send-off, so that the moment will be romantic. But just as Jim is preparing to propose, Andy Bernard stands up and makes his own impromptu proposal to Angela, asking for her hand in marriage (to which she replies with a half-hearted "okay"). Having had his thunder stolen by Andy, Jim reluctantly puts the ring back in his jacket pocket -- leaving Pam visibly disappointed, as she was expecting Jim to propose after spotting the fireworks during the preparation for the party.

eason 5

In the Season 5 premiere, "Weight Loss", Pam begins her three-month course at the Pratt Institute. She gets off to a rocky start, having trouble finding her class on the first day. She does, however, manage to find ways to keep in touch with Jim, including chatting with him via her computer's webcam. Jim visits her at her dorms, where we see a sign stating that she is the Resident Advisor. Pam makes friends while at school, one of whom she had to console while Jim waited outside. Jim and Pam begin to look as if their relationship is starting to lose steam because of the distance; Pam becomes good friends with a male student at Pratt. While discussing plans for the weekend with Jim, he suggests that they meet that day for lunch at a gas station where a soda had exploded on him. There, in the rain, Jim surprises her with his marriage proposal, and she happily accepts.

Coworker relations

Jim

At the beginning of the series, Pam is the object of Jim's affection even though she is engaged to Roy Anderson, a warehouse worker at the office. After a fight with Roy at the Dundie Awards, a drunken Pam momentarily lets her guard down and kisses Jim on the lips. In the parking lot afterward, she seems to want to tell him something, but becomes aware of the camera, and just says "thanks".

Pam's mother asks who Jim is when she enters and begins talking to her in "Sexual Harassment," and Pam's embarrassed reaction reveals that she has discussed him in private. Someone complains to Toby about Pam making wedding preparations in the office during work hours ("Conflict Resolution"). As the complaint is anonymous, Pam initially assumes the person who filed it is Angela, who complains about everyone in the office "except Bobble-Head Joe" (Dwight). However, Jim confesses to Pam that he filed the complaint, saying "I was just venting," and that he was complaining unofficially and didn't know it would be recorded by Toby. Embarrassed, Pam drops the subject without another word.

In the final episode of season 2, Jim finally tells Pam that he is in love with her. Later, Pam is talking to her mother on the phone when her mother asks her a question to which she responds, "I think I am," leading to speculation over what her mother had asked -- particularly if it might have been "Are you in love with Jim?" or "Are you still going to marry Roy?". Afterward, Jim returns and kisses her, and even though she returns the kiss, she tells him she still intends on marrying Roy.

She ultimately calls off the wedding, but not until after Jim has transferred to the company's branch in Stamford, Connecticut, and the two start speaking to each other less. Even when Jim moves back to Scranton due to the merger, their friendship remains very distant, due to Jim's relationship with Karen as well as Roy's attempts to win Pam back. In "Beach Games," Pam reveals to Jim (and the entire office), that she called off the wedding because of him--specifically that there were a lot of reasons not to marry Roy, but none that mattered until she met Jim.

In the finale of season three ("The Job"), Pam gives Jim an affectionate note wishing him luck on his corporate interview, which prompts him to leave Karen in New York and return to Scranton to ask Pam on a "date," which she happily accepts. ("Note:" This is both a nearly direct reference to, and a reversal of, the British series' Tim-Dawn relationship, in that Tim was the giver of the gift that made Dawn realize she wanted to be with him, resulting in the two getting together.)

In the first episode of season 4 it is revealed that Jim and Pam have started happily dating, saying that "it's going really great". They initially try to keep it a secret from their coworkers, but they first announce it to the documentary crew after confronted by footage of them kissing. Afterwards, the rest of the office finds out about them when Toby files a complaint about them (Toby secretly has a crush on Pam and appears to be acting out of bitterness; however, when Jim and Pam assume the complaint memo to be a joke and the rest of the office appears supportive of the relationship, he saves face by agreeing with them). They reveal they kept it a secret because they did not want their coworkers gossiping about their sex life, which a number of them have done since. They seem to be playful and not too stern with their relationship, and they more often than not try to pull minor pranks on each other, such as Pam not assisting Jim while he's acting as regional manager in Michael's absence ("Survivor Man"), and Jim attempting to leave Michael's unpleasant dinner party without Pam after he fails to get her out with him ("Dinner Party").

In "Chair Model", after Michael's blind date with Pam's landlady turns out disastrous, Pam tells Jim that she never really cared that much for her apartment and she is thinking of moving out, but she doesn't want to move in with Jim unless they are engaged. After the two joke about when they'll get engaged, Jim reveals to the documentary crew he is very serious about proposing to her, showing them an engagement ring he says he bought a week after they started dating. Jim's most recent pranks on Pam since mentioning the engagement have been faux proposals which she has laughed off, once by kneeling in front of her and asking her to wait for him to tie his shoe, and again by "proposing" that Pam get him a coffee.

In the episode "Goodbye, Toby," Pam shares the news with Jim that she was accepted into the Pratt Institute, and Jim happily shows his support. She reminds him that she'll be in New York for three months, but it doesn't worry Jim as he'll visit her. Jim decides to propose to Pam that night at the party for Toby, even going so far to pay Phyllis to buy fireworks. But while fumbling to retrieve the ring out of his pocket, Jim's engagement is interrupted by Andy's impromptu proposal to Angela, ruining the moment. Pam is deeply disappointed, as she had suspected that Jim would propose that night.

In the Season 5 premiere, Pam is in New York at the Pratt Institute and Jim is in Scranton. Throughout the episode, they find different ways to stay in touch while they're apart, as they employ a webcam to speak to one another, and Jim drives to New York to visit Pam at her dorm. In a talking-head interview, Jim confesses that he and Pam have not gotten engaged yet because Pam will be away for three months, and she doesn't want to have a long engagement, since her first one (to Roy) was long and unpleasant. Pam and Jim have agreed that they will think more about engagement after she returns from the Pratt Institute. Their long distance relationship starts to take a toll on them, particularly Jim, who's forced to endure the office's antics and is finding it difficult to visit Pam. At the end of the premiere episode, Jim and Pam get on AIM to arrange an impromptu lunch date; they decide to meet "halfway" between Scranton and New York, at a rest stop. The camera crew, evidently waiting across the highway with a camera trained on the rest stop, captures the two meeting in the driving rain. As Pam starts to tease Jim about the rest stop being "not halfway!" between their two locales, Jim drops his jacket and falls to one knee. To Pam's utter shock, Jim proposes then and there, saying "I can't wait." She happily accepts, and they kiss in the rain.

Roy

Pam has dated Roy since high school, but has become so comfortable in the relationship that she ignores his faults. He openly admits being attracted to Angela and to Katy (the purse salesgirl) with Pam right next to him. He bosses her around, ignores her at parties, makes fun of her interest in art, and offers her sex as a gift on Valentine's Day. However, he does display charm and thoughtfulness when Pam's mother arrives for a visit. Jim, with a hint of disgust, comments in Season 2 that Pam does not like to "bother" Roy with her "thoughts or feelings" and previously noted that her job and Roy seemed to be the only two problems in Pam's life.

In "The Client," it is revealed that on Pam and Roy's first date, he took her to a minor-league hockey game, brought his brother and left her there when she went to the bathroom and the game ended. They were apparently engaged for three years without ever setting a wedding date, until Roy set a wedding date during Booze Cruise.

Roy's worst offense, arguably, was his role in crushing one of Pam's ambitions. She is skilled at drawing and would like to pursue a career in art, possibly in graphic design. Jan informs Pam of a graphic arts internship offered by Dunder Mifflin, and Pam expresses enthusiasm. Yet Pam becomes unsure about taking it after arguing with Roy, who objects to the opportunity (while Jim supports it). Pam elects not to take the internship, arguing that the impracticality of it was the deciding factor (followed by a moment of her breaking down into tears) but Roy's role in cajoling her to change her mind is undeniable.

Between Seasons 2 and 3, Pam decides they are no longer engaged nor a couple anymore, which sends Roy into a downward spiral. He eventually gets arrested for driving under the influence, but he also vows to turn his whole life around and become more supportive and friendlier to win Pam back. For a time, this works out for him, as they reconcile and get back together.

However, the reconciliation is ultimately short-lived. In an attempt to be completely honest with Roy, she tells him that Jim kissed her during "Casino Night." Roy reverts to type and becomes violent, which forces Pam to break up with him for a second time. The next day, Roy confronts Jim -- but just as he is about to hit him, Dwight steps in and sprays pepper spray in Roy's eyes. Shortly after the altercation, Roy is fired from his job in Dunder Mifflin, and he apologizes to Jim for the incident.

After losing his job, Roy meets up with Pam for lunch and discusses her relationship with Jim, proceeding to tell her that Jim is more deserving of her than he is, as well as encouraging her to at least "try" to get together with Jim (even though he is dating Karen at the time). After lunch they share one last hug, officially ending their relationship, and part ways. In an edition of the "Dunder Mifflin Newsletter", Daryl writes that he does not keep in contact with Roy and thus doesn't know what Roy's been up to since losing both his job and Pam.

Roy's last name was revealed in the episode "Conflict Resolution" when Angela held Roy's and Pam's wedding invitation up to the camera. Roy's last name is Anderson, which means that if Pam had married Roy and taken his last name, her name would have been Pamela Anderson. Pam makes mention of this at the start of season 4, as she flatly denies the fact that she and Jim are now dating: "Almost marrying Roy Anderson was as close to Pamela Anderson as I want to be".

Michael

Michael often makes inappropriate jokes about Pam. He has stated he likes her "boobs" and her legs and believes she is "hot." He tries to cajole Pam into acting romantically with a female blow-up doll during a sexual harassment seminar. Michael's movie character, "Michael Scarn," has a love interest in his screenplay "Threat Level: Midnight" who appears to be based on Pam, as the character is Scarn's secretary (though the character happens to be named "Catherine Zeta-Jones"). This can also be viewed as a parody of the James Bond films, as Bond casually flirts with his secretary in the films (the antagonist of Michael's screenplay also has a name similar to the James Bond film villain Goldfinger). A depressed Michael also tries to kiss Pam in the episode "Diwali," and though disgusted by his attempt, she still agrees to drive him home but only if he sits in the back and doesn't talk.

Pam and Michael's professional relationship isn't much better. She often must order Michael to do his work, or must deal with him as a mother deals with a child. She covers for Michael by lying to Jan about his location (for example, she tells Jan that Michael was out on a sales call when he was actually asleep at his desk). She often finds herself having to perform odd tasks for Michael, such as scanning tapes of Dundie Award ceremonies to find "highlights". Michael has asked her to rub butter on his foot when he burned it on his George Foreman grill, but Pam refused. She has to come up with various ways to pull Michael out of embarrassing situations. Sometimes, she will hesitate to connect Michael to a caller so he can make an embarrassing joke without knowing that nobody heard it. On one occasion, Pam also found herself having to say to Michael, "Please don't throw garbage at me." Michael is generally meaner to Pam in Season 1 than ever in the series. For example, when he pretends to "cut" Pam from Dunder-Mifflin as a big joke--also claiming that Ryan was his accomplice. (Since part of his character's evolution from a nasty jerk to a mostly-clueless goof.)In the episode "Hot Girl," Pam jokingly expresses her delight for having Katy the purse girl around because she's another person for Michael to "interact with."

Pam often seems to hold Michael's hand, screening his first line of phone conversations and gently taking over changing a blown out tire. Eventually she expresses her own awareness of the fact by quickly saying "Hey, maybe I should be your boss," after she walks over hot coals while no one was looking, a trial that Michael concocted in order to choose a successor from the sales staff during Beach Games.

Despite her animosity and his obnoxiousness, Pam and Michael seem to share mutual empathy. When Michael was publicly humiliated at Chili's to the point of cutting the Dundie awards short, Pam began clapping and cheering wildly to make Michael feel better and change his mind. She also builds a casket for a bird's funeral, and writes a speech using the bird as a metaphor to assure Michael that people love him and he won't die alone. When Pam's first art show is roundly criticized and ignored, Michael shows up and buys one of her paintings. He then fusses about how talented she is, telling her that he is proud of her, lifting the spirits of a teary-eyed Pam. Pam can be very sympathetic towards Michael, and provides him with good relationship advice in "Women's Appreciation." When he confesses that he feels unhappy when he is with Jan, Pam points out that he shouldn’t be with someone who doesn’t make him happy. He later seeks her advice again regarding his relationship with Jan.

After moving in with Michael after being fired from her corporate job, Jan begins to suspect that Michael would have an affair with Pam, insinuating that Pam was "peeping" when she walked in on Michael naked and viciously states "he's mine". When Pam and Jim come over to Michael's condo for a dinner party, it is revealed that Michael lied to Jan and told her that he had a romantic past with Pam. Her suspicions are fueled further when Michael offers Pam technical support and gives her his sweater when she gets cold. Pam sarcastically refers to herself as "Michael's former lover" in an interview where she thinks she would be the most likely person out of anyone sitting at the dinner table whose food would be poisoned by Jan.

Others

=Toby=

When he determines that Pam is single again, Toby considers asking her out several times, but doesn't go through with it. It is also revealed that Toby pretended to like chai lattes to get closer to Pam in a deleted scene from "Traveling Salesmen", and after Pam brings him one he waits for her to leave before throwing it away. In "Business School" Toby says he wants to see Pam's art to "support art" and goes to his daughter's show only after Pam told him to go. In "Cocktails", Toby continually tries to win a stuffed yellow duck for Pam, that she thought was "cute." Once he finally does Pam tells him that she thinks his daughter will like it, and a forlorn Toby decides not to offer it to her as a present. Despite her apparent lack of interest, Pam does perform an act of kindness for Toby during the Christmas party: after his gift from corporate, a bathrobe, was confiscated by Dwight (on Michael's orders), Pam finds a way to obtain another one and gives it to him before leaving.

In "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", Toby is the first to discover Pam and Jim's relationship, after which he posts a memo to the office regarding the inappropriateness of public displays of affection. Toby then reveals the memo was provoked by the couple which causes ecstatic responses from everyone else. The two later ask if they need to sign any paperwork too, which he puts off, hoping that the relationship is just casual. In a new scene that aired during a repeat of the episode, Toby later makes out with his girlfriend right in front of Pam. Toby also greatly enjoys being in a "Finer Things Club" with Pam (and Oscar), is not happy with the prospect of Jim joining and looks disgustedly at Pam when Jim does join and acts like an idiot. When the Dunder-Mifflin crew are locked out of their office in the episode "Night Out," Toby gets a bit too friendly with Pam and rubs her knee in front of Jim and all of their co-workers. Realizing what he did, he announces he is moving to Costa Rica, hops the fence, and runs off into the night. The whole office seemed shocked at this display of affection.

Finally, in the Season 4 finale, Pam kindly presents Toby with a group photo of the office. Toby immediately looks for Pam in the photo and, realizing she's not in it (she was the one taking the photo) uncharacteristically yells asking for a camera. When nobody responds, he tells Pam that he'll get one (presumably from home or at the store) and runs out the door. Later, while Toby is beginning his exit interview with Michael, Pam walks in and asks if she should take notes. Toby quickly responds with a very loud yes. During Toby's send-off party, Pam talks to the camera in response to some of the messages Toby is giving her, telling them how nice he is. Although Pam does not have feelings for Toby, she does appear to like him better than some of the other office workers. She says that he 'calms the office' and that she even thinks of him as 'cute.' At the end of the episode, during Toby's own going away party, he comes up to Pam with his recently-retrieved camera. Meredith takes their picture, but ends up repeating this process multiple times as there's 'something odd' about Pam's smile (because she is still disappointed that Jim did not propose to her).

=Kevin=

Kevin has numerous times throughout the series called Pam "hot," and went so far as to tell Toby in "The Convention" that if he were not engaged, he would "so hit that." In Did I Stutter?, when Pam forgets her contact solution and has to wear back up glasses for the entire day, Kevin comes up to her and tells her that "every girlfriend he has ever had has worn glasses" and that it is "kind of a turn on". He even goes so far as to say that he has had fantasies about librarians and asks Pam to say, "These are due back Thursday", which seems to greatly offend her. However, Kevin has also criticized Pam on her looks when comparing her to others. In the episode "Hot Girl," he says that Pam is less pretty than Katy, a woman who comes in selling purses, to which Pam responds "that's a very rude thing to say." Despite all of this, Kevin and Pam seem to be good friends. This may or may not have something to do with Kevin and Jim being such good friends.

=Creed=

In the episode "Conflict Resolution," Creed makes a complaint to Toby, requesting a seat "facing the receptionist [Pam] , rather than facing the redhead [Meredith] ". In "The Coup," after Pam purchases an outfit that is more revealing than her usual office attire, he openly stares at her chest; when she angrily tells him to go back to his desk, he says "In a minute". He has also described her in his blog, Creed Thoughts, that she reminds him of a "young Daphne du Maurier." Also on "Did I Stutter?" where Pam forgets her contacts at Jim's and wears her glasses, Creed says in an interview " A lot of jazz cats are blind, but they can play the piano like nobody's business. I'd like to put the piano in front of Pam without her glasses and see what happens. I'd also like to see her topless".

=Andy=

In the episode "The Convict," Andy asks Jim about which women in the office are available for dating. Andy asks if he should try for Pam and Jim tells him to. As a prank, Jim purposely gives Andy Pam's dislikes but tells him that they are her favorite things. Andy embarrasses himself when hitting on her by speaking in Pig Latin to her, suggesting they play frisbee golf or "frolf" and singing her "The Rainbow Connection" in his "sexy" falsetto voice. In a later episode, Pam joins Jim in pulling a prank on Andy that ends with him punching a hole in the wall and having to attend anger management training.

=Dwight=

Pam usually acts as an accomplice with Jim on pranks at Dwight's expense. She even plays pranks on him when Jim is not present; she throws crumbled pieces of paper into Dwight's coffee mug when he is not at his desk, spends several months sending him e-mails under the guise of being from the CIA, draws a picture of Dwight as the flasher on the flyers to warn people of Phyllis' flasher, and creates an animation of Dwight's head exploding (Local Ad, deleted scene). Their animosity is briefly curbed when Dwight suffers a minor concussion that actually causes him to be friendly and helpful toward Pam. When Dwight leaves to go to the emergency room, Pam embraces him and emotionally tells him good-bye, explaining that things will be different after he is treated. Although the pranks continue, Dwight appears to be fond of Pam, though his treatment of her is misguided.

He confides in her and asks for advice when trying to find a Valentine's Day gift for Angela, and immediately tells her to "shut up" when he thinks of one with her help. Dwight sees her crying in a hallway during "Back From Vacation". Dwight apparently thinks at first that she has been assaulted, until Pam assures him that "it's nothing." Dwight gives her a tissue and puts his arm around her to comfort her. They sit in silence until he asks, "So, you're PMSing pretty bad, huh?"

In "The Job," Dwight (under the assumption that he is the new Regional Manager) recruits Pam to be his "Secret Assistant to the Regional Manager." She accepts, if only to motivate Dwight in his misguided authoritarianism. After Michael returns, Dwight thanks Pam and tells her that she "served the office with great dignity." Since the ending of Dwight's relationship with Angela, Pam has been very sympathetic towards Dwight. This includes not playing mean pranks on him (except once in "Launch Party" when he was being very annoying while making sales) and refusing to set Andy up with Angela. Pam and Jim spend a night at Dwight's beet farm and give him a nice review online, and Pam prompts Jim to comfort Dwight and talk about his own pain over the "Casino Night" kiss and aftermath, which leads Dwight to emerge as his old self. In "Dinner Party", Pam is happy to see Dwight show up uninvited to Michael and Jan's condo after the two have made her uncomfortable.

=Kelly=

Pam spends more time with Kelly while Jim is working in the Stamford office. Her first date after breaking off her engagement is a double date with Kelly and Ryan; Kelly had fixed her up with a local cartoonist. Kelly's encouragement also leads Pam to buy nicer clothes, with Kelly assuring her that she looks sexy when Pam suggests that her new outfit is "too much." During "The Job" Pam says bluntly that she and Kelly have nothing in common and that she needs to make new friends. In "The Deposition", Kelly trash-talks Pam because Darryl, Kelly's new boyfriend, is better than Jim at ping pong. Pam challenges Kelly to a ping pong match after Pam tires of Kelly's numerous casual insults. Humourously, neither Kelly nor Pam are any good at ping pong.

=Ryan=

Pam rarely interacted directly with Ryan until Jim went to Stamford, only having shared story time when Ryan helped Pam put together her wedding invitations. Afterward, she tried to bond with him as the new Jim but Ryan was either unaware of this or decided to not play along with it. When Ryan returned to Scranton for the first time after earning the Corporate job, he asked Pam to help out with animation graphics for the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website, and later invited her out to dinner. Pam immediately said she was going out with Jim, and Ryan was left feeling very embarrassed.

=Angela=

Like most members of the office, Pam has frequently had a hostile relationship with Angela, particularly in their work as members of the Party Planning Committee, in which they frequently clash. Angela has accused Pam of being a "hussy" and has made catty remarks about her friendship with Jim. (She plays a game called "Pam-Pong" where she counts how many times Jim gets up from his desk to talk to Pam.) Angela even seems to look for excuses to dislike Pam, first getting annoyed with her for not being sent a save-the-date for Pam’s wedding, and when Pam relents and gives her a save-the-date, complaining that it was hand-delivered and criticizing the design.

When Angela ostracizes Karen during the Christmas Party Planning Committee meeting, Pam takes Karen’s side and they plan a competing Christmas party, which turns out to be a big hit. Pam finally invites Angela, who eventually accepts, and this seems to be an olive branch for the two of them. In "The Dundies," Angela gives a drunken Pam a ride home from Chili's. Pam is one of only two people to know of Angela and Dwight’s secret relationship, the other being Jim (Ryan may also be aware of the relationship, but this has not been confirmed). When Dwight drives all the way to New York to cover for a mistake Angela made, Angela, in a rare good mood, invites Pam out to coffee and tells her what her friend “Kurt” (Dwight’s middle name) did for her friend “Noelle” (possibly Angela’s middle name), and offered Pam the dominant male in her cat's litter of kittens. Pam turned the offer down (later, in "Fun Run" claiming to be more of a dog person), which promptly ended Angela's good mood.

After Dwight quits his job, in "The Return," Angela reveals their relationship to Pam and asks for her advice. Since then, Angela has begrudingly turned to Pam for relationship advice in "Fun Run". Pam appears to be the closest thing to a friend Angela has in the office, despite recently referring to her as "the office mattress" (Dunder Mifflin Infinity). The fictional hostility between the two women is ironic because in real life, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey are best friends.

Karen Filippelli

Pam's relationship with Karen starts off on the right foot in the episode "The Merger." They immediately hit it off when Karen compliments Pam's sweater and Pam silently reprimands Michael for making an insensitive remark about Karen's "exotic" appearance. By the end of Karen's first day in Scranton, Pam has learned that she is dating Jim, and weeks later, before the Christmas party, in "A Benihana Christmas," Pam admits to being "cold" toward her for "no reason." Pam consoles Karen after an embarrassing scolding by Angela at a party-planning meeting, leading them to plan a competing party. The two of them bond as they make preparations, to Jim's obvious discomfort. During "Back from Vacation," their friendship actually becomes so strong that when Jim and Karen have a fight that threatens their relationship, Pam puts aside her own interest in Jim and takes Karen's side, helping patch things up between the two of them (privately, Pam is reduced to tears after doing so).

In "The Return," Karen eventually learns of Jim and Pam's past. In "Ben Franklin," Karen confronts her about it for assurance that it's all in the past. Karen accepts Pam's assurance that it is but is put off by the fact that Pam had trouble giving her a direct answer at first. Their friendship seems to have gone downhill after this; a deleted scene for "Business School," reveals Karen nearly tearing down a flyer advertising Pam's art show, attempting to sabotage it. Karen also makes a show of embracing Jim while Pam is watching, apparently trying to emphasize the fact that they're together.

In "Women's Appreciation," Michael asks the women of the office for advice on his relationship with Jan. Karen tells Michael to try and push through the trouble and stay together and Pam says that they don't sound right for each other and should break up. Michael eventually takes Pam's advice. A small rivalry visibly forms between the two because of this, although neither of them acknowledge it or argue directly with each other. This rivalry further develops, as seen in "The Job," as Karen openly calls Pam, "kind of a bitch" after Pam tells Karen that she did not regret telling Jim, in front of everyone from the office, that she called off her wedding because of him and that she missed his friendship. Karen and Pam have not interacted since Jim dumped Karen and she quit Scranton to take over the Utica branch, but in a deleted scene from Branch Wars Pam expresses a little bit of worry about Jim seeing Karen again.

Behind the scenes

*Jenna Fischer's MySpace page spells the character's last name "Beesley." In her MySpace blog, Fischer confirmed that the correct spelling is "Beesly." In a deleted scene for "Conflict Resolution," however, Pam's security pass reads "Beesley". In addition, in Season 1, a message appears on Kevin Malone's computer that states "From the desk of Pam Beasly." Also, in "Sexual Harassment," a shot of Kevin's computer screen reveals e-mails from "Pam Beasly." During the art show in the Season 3 episode "Business School," the nameplate at her exhibition reads "Pam Beesly." The NBC website also spells her surname as "Beesly" [ [http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/bios/ The Office TV Show Series on NBC: Find Video Webisodes Online NBC Official Site ] ] . In the 5th season premiere, a sign on Pam's dorm-room door says "PAM BEESLY."
*According to Fischer's MySpace blog, Pam has worked at Dunder Mifflin since March 2002.
*18 minutes is Pam's Sudoku time.
*Following the advice of the casting director to "dare to bore me," Fischer violated the improv principle of "Yes, And" at her audition. When asked if she enjoyed being a receptionist, Fischer merely replied, "No." [Fischer, Jenna. (Actor). 2005. "Pilot" [Commentary track] , "The Office" Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD] , Los Angeles, CA: Universal.] Her performance was so understated, one of the people at the audition remarked, "I think that woman is under the misapprehension that she’s here for a receptionist’s job." [Cite web | last = Roberts | first = Sheila | title = Ken Kwapis Interview, License to Wed | publisher = MoviesOnline | date = 2007-06-19 | url = http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12295.html | accessdate = 2007-07-02]
*Before Fischer branched into acting, she was a receptionist for several offices.
*In July 2007, it was announced that Jenna Fischer received an Emmy nomination for her portrayal as Pam Beesly on the third season of "The Office". Jenna has said that she feared Pam would fall into the background after Jim left for Stamford, and that she is very proud and honored to have helped create the character arc that Pam went through in the show's third season.

References