Sexual Harassment (The Office episode)
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| The Office episode |
| "Sexual Harassment" | |
2-02.jpg/225px-TheOffice(US)2-02.jpg) Jim reveals his office love when the office discusses "Sexual Harassment". |
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| Episode No. | 8 |
| Prod. Code | 02002 |
| Airdate | September 27, 2005 |
| Writer(s) | B.J. Novak |
| Director | Ken Kwapis |
| Guest star(s) | Melinda Chilton Shannon Cochran R.F. Daley David Koechner Karly Rothenberg Keith Valcourt |
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The Office Season 2 |
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| List of all The Office episodes... | |
"Sexual Harassment" is the second episode of the second season of the television series The Office (U.S. version). It was written by B.J. Novak and directed by Ken Kwapis. It originally aired on September 27, 2005.
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[edit] Synopsis
Michael's "best friend forever" Todd Packer offends the staff with crude gossip about an upper management scandal. Meanwhile, Pam waits with anticipation for her mother to arrive from out of town.
Toby informs Michael that their CFO resigned because of sexual harassment and that he will conduct a review of the company's sexual harassment policies. Michael's indignation that this will put a damper on his easygoing office environment rises to outrage when he learns that Corporate is sending down a lawyer to talk to him.
Michael and the warehouse staff mock the sexual harassment video, but the crude remarks come to a screeching halt when Jan and the lawyer arrive from Corporate. Michael angrily announces that he can no longer be friends with his staff and that he will never tell another joke again. Jim goads Michael into breaking his vow immediately. Michael's attitude suddenly changes when he realizes that he's not in trouble, that the lawyer's job is to protect him.
Pam's mother arrives and asks in whispers (shushed by an embarrassed Pam) which one is Jim. Michael stops Todd Packer when he tries to share another inappropriate joke and concludes with his misguided thoughts on sexual harassment.
[edit] Deleted scenes
The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include:
- Michael is baffled by a casual compliment from Pam.
- Dwight becomes obsessed with contaminated soda cans.
- Michael takes over Toby's sexual harassment training.
- In a talking head interview, Michael bad-mouths Toby.
- Pam apologizes to Jim for using the winking-face emoticon.
[edit] Notes
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- For a list of songs featured in this episode, see List of songs featured on The Office.
- Packer's guy winning the lottery joke was based on a similar joke told by Red Buttons.
- Having both worked in office environments prior to filming The Office, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey both noted that on the days of sexual harassment seminars, they would be harassed by other members of the office as a joke.[1] The exact same thing happens to Pam's character in this episode.
- This episode aired with a warning that it contained adult content and subject matter, which is rare for a network comedy. Writer B.J. Novak explained that he had to fight NBC to get the word "boner" on the air because the replacement ("schwing") didn't have, according to Novak, "the same redemption for Michael at the end." The disclaimer was a compromise. A station in Kentucky nevertheless refused to air this episode.[2]
- Although he is mentioned (and heard on the phone) in previous episodes, this marks the first appearance of Michael's "best friend" Todd Packer.
- This episode introduces Michael's catchphrase "That's what she said," which writer B. J. Novak says was something he heard repeated in college. ("What has two thumbs and X? This guy." also comes from Novak's college days.)[3]
- This episode was inspired by the NBC sexual harassment seminar that the cast and crew had to attend before the series began.[4] Writer B.J. Novak took notes during the seminar and incorporated them into the episode. The borrowing came full circle when NBC inserted clips from this episode into their training materials, including the "Pam's Mom" rule.[5]
- When Dwight asks Toby about female anatomy, actor Rainn Wilson improvised the line "Where is the clitoris? The website says it is at the crest of the labia. What does that mean?"[6]
- Todd Packer's license plate reads "WL HUNG", an abbreviation for "well hung," Ryan's confusion of it with meaning William Hung is in reference to a contestant on American Idol.
- While Pam is talking to her mom before Roy arrives, she explains how her computer used to face the wall, before she moved it "for organization". This reveals that she used to face away from the other employees for some time, but voluntarily moved to her current position, where she faces Jim.
- In Kevin's e-mail inbox, Pam's last name is misspelled "Beasly". Also, Dwight's last name is misspelled as "Shrute".
- The episode is shown as part of the Civil Rights Law curriculum at the University of Notre Dame Law School. Professor Jennifer Mason McAward originally showed a clip available at nbc.com during the first administration of the course in the Fall 2005 semester, but the clip was later removed from the site. In order to continue to use the episode in class in subsequent semesters, Professor McAward had to request that the law library purchase the entire second season of The Office. The request was approved, and the DVDs are now part of the library's permanent collection.
[edit] References
- ^ Novak, B. J. (Writer/Actor). 2006. "Sexual Harassment" [Commentary track], The Office Season Two (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
- ^ Chun, Wing. "The B.J. Novak Interview" Televisionwithoutpity.com Page 8. Retrieved March 2, 2006.
- ^ Novak, B. J. (Writer/Actor). 2005. "Diversity Day" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
- ^ Carell, Steve (Actor). 2005. "Diversity Day" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
- ^ Office Politics panel discussion, USC, July 30, 2006.
- ^ Fischer, Jenna. August 14, 2006. blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=27753303&blogID=155751758&MyToken=477178e4-204a-4259-b079-24480b13306b "Need to Kill Time? Check out this Blog.", MySpace.com
[edit] External links
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