Launch Party
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| The Office episode |
| "Launch Party" | |
 Phyllis and Angela hang the misspelled sign for the "Launch Party". |
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| Episode No. | 54 |
| Prod. Code | 4005 |
| Airdate | October 11, 2007 |
| Writer(s) | Jennifer Celotta |
| Director | Ken Whittingham |
| Guest star(s) | Kevin Michael McHale
Chris Cockerham |
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The Office Season 4 |
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| List of all The Office episodes... | |
"Launch Party" is the third episode of the fourth season of The Office (U.S. version). It first aired on October 11, 2007. It was written by Jennifer Celotta and directed by Ken Whittingham. It is the third of four consecutive hour-long episodes.
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[edit] Synopsis
As with all of the hour-long episodes this season, "Launch Party" was produced in two parts which were initially aired together.
[edit] Part One
Michael prepares to attend the New York launch party of the new Dunder Mifflin Infinity website. Each branch is to have its own satellite party connected by webcams.
Dwight decides to compete against the Web site. Andy keeps a running tally of reams sold, blowing a bear horn each time Dwight makes a sale. Irritated by the distraction, Jim and Pam plot a prank. They send Dwight instant messages pretending to be the company's computer system, taunting Dwight when he believes it has achieved self-awareness.
Dwight wins the challenge, but when he gloats to Angela about his victory, she rejects him outright and makes it clear that they are broken up for good. Pam, feeling sorry for Dwight, sends another message as the computer acknowledging him as a superior being.
Since Jan doesn't want to go to the launch party, Michael invites Pam, who makes Jim take her place. Only after they reach New York does Jim realize that Michael received an "invitation" to a chat room, not the actual party. Michael returns to Scranton dejected and attempts to plan a better party. This irritates party planner Angela, who has already been in an exceptionally irritable mood.
[edit] Part Two
Michael accidentally orders pizza from the office's least favorite pizzeria and refuses to let the surly delivery boy leave when he refuses to honor an ambiguous coupon. The party goes on (with good pizza) even while Michael's kidnapping victim sits next to them. Jim and Pam escape the madness and dine on the rooftop.
When it is his turn to appear at the party via webcam, Michael uses the opportunity to insult Ryan and point out that Dwight actually sold more paper on its first day. The pizza boy also uses the webcam to send out word that he has been kidnapped. Eventually Michael has an epiphany about the fact that he's committed a crime, and lets the delivery boy go after Dwight pays full price for the pizzas.
Andy's romantic attentions turn to Angela, eventually serenading her with ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" in front of the entire office. She doesn't answer, but stifles a smile. After the Scranton party, Michael decides that he wants authentic New York sushi, and he and Dwight crash the just-completed main party. One of Ryan's coworkers tells Michael they enjoyed his earlier webcam outburst because it clearly embarrassed Ryan.
[edit] Reception
"Launch Party" received a 5.2 Nielsen Rating and a 8% Share. The episode was watched by 8.91 million viewers and achieved a 4.7/11 in the key adults 18–49 demographic.[1]
[edit] Deleted Scenes
- Dwight explains that he is growing a beard because he broke up with his girlfriend.
- Michael puts teabags on his face, saying Pam suggested it as a way of avoiding bags under his eyes.
- Angela stresses out about the party and Meredith volunteers to help.
- Kevin and Oscar continue to look up crimes on the internet while Dwight attempts to intimidate the pizza delivery boy.
- Toby has to do online driving school since he couldn't get out of his "going too slow" ticket with the famous Toby Flenderson 10,000 watt smile.
[edit] Notes
- In this episode, Michael wants Al Roker to come to the Scranton Party. Al Roker opened the 2007 Office Convention.
- In "The Job," Jim is interviewing for a position in New York when he finds that Pam has left him a note saying she'll miss him. Jim doesn't get the job, but it was unclear why. In this episode, Jim says he withdrew his name from consideration.
- In each of the two previous episodes, "Fun Run" and "Dunder-Mifflin Infinity," Michael got into car accidents, and as a result has a Sebring in the mechanic's and has ruined a rental car. In this episode, he insists that other people drive whenever he went somewhere with someone.
- Michael mentions inviting Carol Stills, his girlfriend from the first half of the third season, to the launch party.
- This is the second time Andy has admitted being interested in dating Angela, the first being the third season episode, "The Convict".
- In "The Secret," Jim said that he had a crush on Pam when she first started working at Dunder-Mifflin, implying that he was there before her. However, in that same episode, Pam tells Michael that Jim told her he had a crush on her when he first started, implying Pam was there first. This episode seemingly confirms that Pam was there before Jim since she was the one to lead him into his desk on his first day. However, based on Jim's confession in "The Secret" and a deleted scene from "The Client," in which Jim recalls a lunch date with Pam, who started there first is still unclear.
- The rooftop scene is reminiscent of "The Client," where Pam and Jim had a similar "date" of sitting on the roof eating.
- Michael says, "I'll be baaaaack" before leaving with Jim to the party in New York the same way he said it in "The Job." In both cases, he was forced to return earlier than expected.
- During the Cold Open, Michael says that they have lots of "collard paper" which is supposed to be "colored paper." He got these same words mixed up in "Diversity Day" when he called a certain ethnic dish "colored greens." Stanley corrected him by calling them "collard greens," to which Michael retorted "That doesn't make sense; they don't call them collared people." In "Boys and Girls," however, Michael switches these words on purpose to joke that despite the blue collar and white collar workers present, he was "collar-blind."
- Dwight uses sales leads that he stole from Staples when he worked there briefly in "The Return."
- It is said in the "Pilot" that Pam's favorite flavor of yogurt is mixed berry, and the yogurt lid "medals" seen in "Office Olympics" and "The Job" were made from that flavor of yogurt. This is again referenced in the roof conversation with Jim.
- Kevin, Stanley, and Meredith can be seen drinking local Lionshead beer.
- Alfredo's Pizza Cafe is a real pizza place in Scranton. It was previously mentioned by Toby in "Fun Run".
- Michael's coupon was indeed a fake.
- Before serenading Angela, Andy receives phone calls and puts them on speaker phone. In the episode Gay Witch Hunt, Andy states he was in an a Capella group titled "Here Comes Treble." It is likely his old a Capella group he dials. According to an interview, one of the singers on speaker phone was John Michael Higgins. [2]
- When Jim signs Meredith's cast, he signs his name as John Krasinski.
- The plot of the episode is very similar to the story of John Henry.
[edit] References
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