Christmas Party (The Office)

"Christmas Party"
The Office episode
Meredith finishes the "Christmas Party".
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 10
Directed by	Charles McDougall
Written by	Michael Schur
Production code	210
Original air date	December 6, 2005
Episode chronology
← Previous "E-mail Surveillance" Next → "Booze Cruise"
List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Christmas Party", alternately titled "Santa Claus is Coming to Scranton", is the tenth episode of the second season of The Office (U.S. version)—the show's sixteenth episode overall. It was written by Michael Schur and directed by Charles McDougall. It was first broadcast on December 6, 2005 on NBC.

In this episode, the office throws a Christmas party with Secret Santas. Jim, having put a lot of effort into finding a gift for Pam, becomes frustrated when Michael makes everyone play Yankee Swap, and an iPod that Michael bought for Ryan becomes the hot object of the game.

Synopsis

The office staffers hold a "Secret Santa" gift exchange at their Christmas party. Jim received Pam's name for the first time this year, and puts a great deal of effort into getting her the perfect gift (a teapot filled with some small items and a personal letter from him to her). Michael buys a $400 video iPod as his gift to Ryan, far exceeding the $20 limit. He is disappointed by the handmade item he receives from Phyllis and introduces a "Yankee Swap", in which someone can choose to steal someone else's gift or open a new one.

Jim is left feeling uncertain about the fate of his special present for Pam (which is eventually claimed by Dwight) while the staff guns for the iPod. Although Pam ends up with the iPod at the end of the swap, she elects to trade the iPod for Jim's gift that was meant for her to show her appreciation. While she goes through the various aspects of her gift, Jim sneaks the letter he wrote for her into his pocket.

After ruining his staff's mood, Michael disobeys company policy by buying an obscene amount of alcohol for the Christmas party to compensate. Everyone ends up having a good time, with the exception of Angela, who is furious that she received no appreciation for her efforts toward arranging the Christmas party, as well as the fact that Kelly makes advances on Dwight, whom Angela is secretly dating. The episode ends with a drunken Meredith exposing herself to a shocked Michael, who takes a picture and then quickly flees.

Deleted scenes

• Oscar and Creed move a desk.
• Phyllis confides to the camera that her new boyfriend is Bob Vance.
• Dwight compares humans opening presents to bears.
• Additional scenes from the Yankee Swap and its aftermath.
• Kevin sings Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC.
• Angela scolds Kelly.
• Michael explains that Christmas is about seeing people envy the gift that you gave someone.

Christmas gifts

The following is a list of the Christmas gifts that were given amongst the employees for secret Santa. Though not all of the gifts are explicitly featured in the episode, Michael Schur wrote them all into the script (the list was confirmed on the Season 2 DVD commentary for the episode). Many can still be seen in the background of certain scenes.^[1]

Secret Santa	Gift	Intended Recipient	Final Recipient
Michael	video iPod	Ryan	Pam (Dwight)*
Dwight	paintballs and free paintball lessons	Phyllis [1]	Michael
Jim	teapot and inside jokes	Pam	Dwight (Pam)*
Pam	drawing of the office	Meredith [1]	Oscar[1]
Ryan	book of short stories by George Saunders	Toby [1]	Kelly (Toby)*
Kevin	footbath	Kevin	Kevin
Angela	picture frame	Stanley [1]	Stanley*
Oscar	shamrock keychain	Creed	Jim
Stanley	customized desk nameplate	Kelly	Toby (Kelly)*
Phyllis	knitted oven mitt	Michael	Meredith
Meredith	"Cancún" shot glasses	Dwight [1]	Phyllis
Kelly	shower radio	Oscar	Creed
Creed	old, worn shirt	Jim	Ryan
Toby	themed poster of babies	Angela	Angela

Afterwards, Pam traded the video iPod to Dwight for the teapot, and Kelly traded the book of short stories to Toby for the nameplate. Stanley ending up with the picture frame determined by process of elimination. Ryan intends to give Creed's shirt "to a homeless guy".

The themed poster hangs on the wall in Angela's workspace below the large whiteboard calendar, and it catalyzed the events of "Conflict Resolution". It also appeared briefly in "Ben Franklin".

The shamrock keychain can be seen briefly in "Traveling Salesman" when Jim tosses his keys to Dwight.

Pam's teapot is used once again in "Branch Wars" during the meeting of the Finer Things Club.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Revealed in deleted scenes/commentary for "Christmas Party" on Season 2 DVD set, disc two

External links

• "Christmas Party" at NBC.com
• Christmas Party at NorthernAttack.com