Office Olympics

"Office Olympics"
The Office episode
The placing medalists in "Office Olympics"
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 3
Directed by	Paul Feig
Written by	Michael Schur
Production code	204
Original air date	October 4, 2005
Guest stars
Nancy Walls
Episode chronology
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List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Office Olympics" is the third episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's ninth episode overall. Written by Michael Schur, and directed by Paul Feig, the episode first aired in the United States on October 4, 2005 on NBC.

In the episode, Michael and Dwight leave the office to buy a condo. Meanwhile, Jim organizes office games and gets his co-workers to play them.

Plot

While Michael Scott (Steve Carell) leaves with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) to sign closing papers for his new condominium, the staff fills out their expense reports. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) "dies" of boredom, and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) revives him by calling him to the reception desk and throwing objects into Dwight's coffee mug. Jim discovers that his co-workers have their own office games, and he and Pam organize the Games of the First Dunder-Mifflin Olympiad, competing for medals made of yogurt lids and paper clips.

Dwight finds a variety of things wrong with the condominium, and Michael gets cold feet but relents when he learns that backing out of the deal will cost him a substantial amount of money.

A coffee cup race quickly dissolves when Michael and Dwight return, and the office returns to normal. Michael isolates himself in his office, still upset over the closure of his condo. Undeterred, Jim and Pam organize the "closing ceremonies", awarding Michael the gold medal for closing on his condo. They also award Dwight the silver medal for unknown reasons (though it is assumed that it is due to him accompanying Michael in the condo deal). Michael feels touched by this and thanks everyone for the honor.

Production

This episode was the first episode of the series directed by Paul Feig. Feig had previously directed episodes of Arrested Development and Undeclared. "Office Olympics" was written by Michael Schur.

Producer Greg Daniels said the idea for the Office Olympics stemmed from The King of the Hill Office Olympics (created and run by his former assistant Tim Croston and the show's two production assistants at the time, Tony Gennaro and Seranie Manoogian) which were held in the King of the Hill offices (for which he is also executive producer), stating "Like, who’s going to get off the elevator first and races in chairs. The funny thing is then it became a TV episode and it has now gone full circle and I hear offices are doing it all over."^[1]

When choosing Michael's car for the episode, producer Kent Zbornak brought in pictures of various cars and had the writers choose which one they thought Michael would most likely own. The writers ended up choosing a Chrysler Sebring convertible, because according to B. J. Novak "we figured it's the showiest car that he could afford". While shooting the scene in Michael's car, cameraman Randall Einhorn accidentally broke the back window, which ended up costing $859 to replace.^[2]

Writer Mike Schur made a cameo appearance in the episode, playing Dwight's Amish cousin Mose. The idea for Schur to be Dwight's Amish cousin had been a joke among the writers since the first season. Mose was based on an actual participant in the UPN reality show Amish in the City.^[3]

The Yogurt Lid Medals reappear in the third season finale, The Job. Receiving the lid and a note from Pam is the catalyst of Jim's decision between Pam and Karen.

Reception

"Office Olympics" received 3.9/9 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings. This means that 3.9 percent of all households with an 18 to 49 year old living in it watched the episode, and nine percent had their television tuned to the channel at any point. "Office Olympics" was watched by 8.3 million viewers.^[4]

"Office Olympics" received mostly positive reviews. Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad wrote that "The Office has turned the corner into separating itself from the British version." Sciannamea went on to say that "although Michael still garners the most attention, the other characters are beginning to break out." His only criticism of the episode was that "Dwight is too creepy", Sciannamea suggested that the writers "tone down his insanity a bit".^[5] "Miss Alli" of TelevisionWithoutPity.com graded the episode with a "A-".^[6] In a poll done by Office fansite OfficeTally.com, viewers ranked "Office Olympics" as the ninth most popular episode out of the twenty-two episodes of season two.^[7]

References

1. ^ Ryan, Maureen (2006-02-23). "'Office' promotions pay off in a big way". Chicago Tribune. http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/02/office_workers_.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
2. ^ Novak, B. J. (2005-10-04). "Michael and Co. Hit the Road". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={1A623B2B-5407-4341-B5F0-7B84E654B4D9}. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
3. ^ Tan, Jeannie (2007-07-18). "Q&A with Michael Schur: Part 3". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/qa-with-michael-schur-part-3. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
4. ^ Tan, Jeannie. "The Office Nielsen Ratings". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/the-office-nielsen-ratings/3/. Retrieved 2008-07-06. 
5. ^ Sciannamea, Michael (2005-10-04). "The Office: "Office Olympics"". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/10/04/the-office-office-olympics/. Retrieved 2008-07-28. 
6. ^ ""OFFICE OLYMPICS"". TelevisionWithoutPity.com. 2005-10-04. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/the_office/the_client.php. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
7. ^ Tan, Jennie. "OfficeTally Survivor Poll: Season 2". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/?p=1433&cp=35. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 

External links

• BJ Novak's Blog on "Office Olympics" at TVGuide.com
• The 'Office' Olympics at ChicagoTribune.com
• "Office Olympics" at NBC.com