Traveling Salesmen (The Office)

Office episode
name = Traveling Salesmen


ep_num = 40
prod_code = 312
date = January 11, 2007
writer = Michael Schur
Lee Eisenberg
Gene Stupnitsky
director = Greg Daniels
season = 3

"Traveling Salesmen" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the US version of "The Office". It aired January 11, 2007. It was written by Michael Schur, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and directed by Greg Daniels.

ynopsis

Michael announces that the sales department will be pairing up. Andy chooses Michael, Phyllis chooses Karen, and Stanley grudgingly chooses Ryan, leaving Dwight with Jim. Andy learns that Dwight does Michael's laundry as punishment for meeting with Jan to take over the branch. Andy aggressively ingratiates himself with Michael, but his efforts backfire when he ruins the sales call.

While the salespeople are out, Angela tells Pam a thinly disguised story of how "Kurt" saves "Noel" by taking important documents to New York.

At first, Jim and Dwight's sales call appears to be a fiasco, but it is immediately clear that the joint force of Jim's straight and honest sales approach, along with Dwight's agressive, erratic tactics is a very successful partnership. Ryan asks Stanley if he could lead on this call so Stanley can critique him, which Stanley obliges. However, Ryan freezes up and fails when he realizes that Stanley's clients are all black. Stanley laughs at an annoyed Ryan during the entire trip back to the office. Phyllis and Karen first stop at beauty palor and come out with gaudy makeovers, but land a large order, probably due to the subtle hint that their client's wife is the owner of the beauty palor. Returning to the office, Phyllis tells Karen that she's pleased that Jim got over his crush on Pam. Karen confronts Jim with this information, and he reassures her that his crush has passed.

Andy finds evidence of Dwight's trip to New York. Michael accuses Dwight of disloyalty, and Angela prevents him from clearing his name because it would expose their relationship. Dwight resigns.Andy gloats over his success, but the documentary camera catches Angela in the background glaring at him. Fans have since referred to that scene as the "death stare".

Added scenes

The episode was rebroadcast on March 15, 2007 with a new story line:

Pam wins an art contest. Kevin and Angela react coolly, and Jim is the only person who is happy for her.

Deleted scenes

The Season Three DVD contains a number of deleted scenes. Notable cut scenes include:
*Andy dramatically illustrates to Karen that they are the only two Stamford employees remaining.
*Michael asks if Pam left a message for Dwight telling him that "his ass was grass and that I am the lawn mower."
*In a talking head interview, Michael emphasizes the importance of punctuality. "I need them to show up on time, so when I finally show up, we can get started right away."
*Numerous scenes in Michael's and Jim's cars, among them Michael thinking Andy has a crush on Dwight because he brings him up so much, and Jim freaking out Dwight by rummaging through his glove compartment while driving.
*Jim and Dwight surreptitiously plan their sales tactic.
*Pam offers to get coffee, and Toby asks for a latte. He watches Pam as she delivers the beverage, then puts it in the trash.
*Before giving his box of possessions to Michael, Dwight emotionally gives away selected items to other co-workers.

Trivia

:"For a list of songs featured in this episode, see [http://theoffice.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_songs_that_appear_in_episodes#Traveling_Salesmen List of songs featured on The Office] ."
*While Michael is typing "Long time. Me love you long time", the screen shows that Michael had also typed "Pam is the receptionist" and "Bye", neither of which are heard from the computer during the scene before. The initial broadcast version contained the proper insert of Michael typing the words as Harvey speaks them.
*In the 40 Year-Old Virgin, also starring Steve Carell, his character also says "Me so horny, me love you long time".
*Andy mentions to a customer that he caught a "80 pounder" off the coast of Montauk. This is a reference to the film "Jaws" where the character Quint claims to have caught a "16 footer" off the coast of Montauk.
*This is the first episode to use a new, abbreviated title sequence, which has appeared in several subsequent episodes.
*When Jim throws Dwight his keys, the shamrock keychain from "Christmas Party" is seen.
*To prepare himself for the sale, Dwight plays "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe.
*The executive that Michael and Andy are selling to tells them that he caught the fish he's pictured with on Lake Wallenpaupack, the northeastern Pennsylvania lake that was the site of the "Booze Cruise" episode.
*In the Lake Wallenpaupack scene, Michael refers to fishing there with his stepfather. This is not only the first time Michael refers to his mother's second husband as his stepfather, but also the first time Michael calls to mind a happy experience with the man.
*Dwight's farewell salute was first seen in "Initiation".
*Frances Willard Elementary School in Scranton teaches kindergarten through fifth grade. It does not have a sixth grade class.
*When this episode was rebroadcast with "The Return" as a combined hour-long episode, the cold open with Michael and the talking computer was deleted. The hour-long recut appears on the Season 3 DVD, so the scene is moved to the Deleted Scenes for the episode.
* Dwight usually calls shotgun, yet in this episode he deliberately does not.
*When Angela is talking to Pam while they are getting coffee, she mentions Dwight's middle name (Kurt) as the man and Noelle as the woman. One can only assume that Angela's middle name is Noelle.

References

*cite press release|url=http://www.nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/entertainment-20061221000000-nbcprimetimeschedu.html
publisher=NBC
date=2006-12-21
title=NBC Primetime Schedule For Sunday, Jan 7 2006 - Saturday, Jan 13 2007
*cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199948/filmoseries|title=Greg Daniels - TV Episode Filmography By Series|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=2006-12-21

External links

* [http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/episodes/3012_1.shtml#main Traveling Salesmen] at NBC.com