The Office season 7 | |||
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Region 1 DVD artwork |
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Country of origin | United States | ||
No. of episodes | 26 | ||
Broadcast | |||
Original channel | NBC | ||
Original run | September 23, 2010 | – May 19, 2011||
Home video release | |||
DVD release | |||
Region 1 | September 6, 2011[1] | ||
Blu-ray Disc release | |||
Region A | September 6, 2011[1] | ||
Season chronology | |||
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List of The Office episodes |
The seventh season of the American television comedy The Office premiered on September 23, 2010 and concluded on May 19, 2011. The season consisted of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 22 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes. The seventh season aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (ET) as part of Comedy Night Done Right.[2]
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On June 28, 2010, it was confirmed that the seventh season would be Steve Carell's last on the show, as his contract expires.[3] NBC plans on continuing the series after his departure, and would welcome any return appearances by Carell.[4] Actor and writer/co-executive producer B. J. Novak renewed his contract with Universal Media Studios through an eighth season and was promoted to full executive producer halfway through the seventh season.[5] As of this season, Zach Woods, who plays Gabe Lewis on the show, has been promoted to a series regular.[6] Executive producer/writer/actor Paul Lieberstein confirmed that Amy Ryan, who portrays Holly Flax, would appear in eight episodes of the season. He also confirmed Kathy Bates would return as Jo Bennett in the season premiere.[7] Melora Hardin returns as Jan Levenson. Timothy Olyphant guest starred in two episodes as rival salesman, Danny Cordray, who previously went on two dates with Pam.[8] Jack Coleman appears in a new recurring role as Senator Robert Lipton, who is dating Angela. Amy Ryan made her first return appearance as Holly in a voice-only role in "Sex Ed", and finally returned to Dunder Mifflin in the hour-long Christmas episode; and she is now billed among the rest of the starring cast.[9] The episode titled "Threat Level Midnight", which aired February 17, 2011, revolved around the screening of Michael's film where all the office employees portray the characters in the film. The episode featured Melora Hardin as Jan, and the return of Rashida Jones as Karen and David Denman as Roy.[10] During NBC's TCA press tour, it was confirmed that Steve Carell would depart with three episodes left to go in the season, with the remaining episodes focusing on the search for (and selection of) his replacement as office manager. Executive producer Greg Daniels, who wrote Carell's farewell, stated the top candidates are Andy, Dwight, and Darryl, or possibly a newcomer. He also stated that whoever becomes the new manager would not become the main focus of the show like Michael was, and that two new regular cast members would join the cast during the eighth season.[11][12] Ricky Gervais reprised his role as David Brent from the original British series in a cameo appearance in the episode "The Seminar" that aired January 27, 2011.[13] Will Ferrell appeared in four episodes as Deangelo Vickers, Michael Scott's temporary replacement. Ferrell's character proved to be just as inept as Michael when it came to managing a business.[14] Mindy Kaling's contract expires at the end of season, meaning she might not return for the next season.[15] Steve Carell finished filming his final scenes for the show on March 4, 2011.[16] Ricky Gervais returned as David Brent in the season finale, along with Will Arnett who played a new character.[17] Gervais also contributed to the script for the season finale.[18] Ray Romano, James Spader, Catherine Tate, Warren Buffett and Jim Carrey also appeared in the season finale.[19][20]
The seventh season of the show is produced by Reveille Productions and Deedle-Dee Productions, both in association with Universal Media Studios. The show is based upon the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom are executive producers on both the U.S. and UK versions.[21] The Office is produced by Greg Daniels,[21] who is also an executive producer. Returning writers from the previous season include Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak, Paul Lieberstein, Brent Forrester, Justin Spitzer, Aaron Shure, Charlie Grandy, Daniel Chun, Warren Lieberstein, and Halsted Sullivan. New writers in the seventh season include Peter Ocko, Jon Vitti, Steve Hely, Carrie Kemper (sister of Ellie Kemper), Robert Padnick, and Amelie Gillette. Lieberstein serves as executive producer and showrunner, and Novak was promoted from co-executive producer to executive producer midseason. Kaling, Shure, Chun and Ocko are co-executive producers; Forrester and Vitti are consulting producers; Spitzer and Grandy are supervising producers; and Warren Lieberstein, Halsted Sullivan and Steve Hely are producers.
This season received mixed to positive reviews. Cindy White of IGN gave the season an 8 out of 10, calling it "great." She felt that the departure of Steve Carell helped reinvigorate the series, as well to see the character of Michael evolve and mature over the course of the season naturally. She also noted that the show proved it could survive without Carell. She highlighted the episodes "Threat Level Midnight", "Garage Sale" and "Goodbye, Michael" as the best episodes of the season.[22] James Poniewozik of Time called the season "mixed at best" and that the best episodes of the season "played almost like a series of vignettes and set pieces that allowed the characters to just be." He ended with saying it was an improvement over season 6 and he generally enjoyed the season overall.[23] Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club commented though the season was uneven, said it was a "distinct improvement over season six," claiming Carell's exit gave the show a "sense of focus that was absent last year."[24]
During the seventh season, The Office received two award nominations at the 2011 Writers Guild of America Awards. Aaron Shure was nominated in Episodic Comedy category for writing the episode, "WUPHF.com", and the series was nominated for Best Comedy Series.[25] The series was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards.[26] Steve Carell was nominated for four comedic acting awards, at the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards, 68th Golden Globe Awards, 37th People's Choice Awards and the 2010 Satellite Awards.[27][28][29] At the 1st Critics' Choice Television Awards, the series was nominated for Best Comedy Series, while Steve Carell was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.[30] For the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, the series received four nominations—for Outstanding Comedy series, Steve Carell for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Greg Daniels for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Goodbye, Michael", and for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation for "Andy's Play".[31][32]
In the following table, "№" refers to the episode's number within the entire series, whereas "#" indicates the episode's number within that particular season. "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the night of broadcast. Episodes are listed by the order in which they aired, and may not necessarily correspond to their production codes. † denotes a longer 50-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 38 minutes) and ‡ denotes an hour-long episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 42 minutes).
№ | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | U.S. viewers (million) |
Original air date | Production code |
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127 | 1 | "Nepotism" | Jeffrey Blitz | Daniel Chun | 8.40[33] | September 23, 2010 | 701 |
Michael upsets the office when he ignores their pleas to fire office assistant Luke, Michael's immature nephew. Pam's attempt to prank Dwight backfires when Kevin's faulty rewiring of an elevator strands the two together. Andy grows even more upset with Gabe and Erin's relationship. | |||||||
128 | 2 | "Counseling" | Jeffrey Blitz | B. J. Novak | 7.36[34] | September 30, 2010 | 702 |
Michael is forced to have six hours of counseling with Toby after he physically reprimanded Luke, but Michael refuses to make Toby's job easy. Pam attempts to finagle a promotion to office administrator. Dwight boycotts the Steamtown Mall after a shop owner refuses to serve him. | |||||||
129 | 3 | "Andy's Play" | John Stuart Scott | Charlie Grandy | 6.95[35] | October 7, 2010 | 703 |
Andy lands a role in a local production of Sweeney Todd and invites the entire office to the performance, hoping to impress Erin. While Michael struggles to put his jealousy aside, Jim and Pam have trouble with their less-than-stellar babysitter. | |||||||
130 | 4 | "Sex Ed" | Paul Lieberstein | Paul Lieberstein | 7.36[36] | October 14, 2010 | 704 |
Michael comes to work thinking he has a pimple, but it turns out to actually be a cold sore. When he is told that it is a form of herpes, Michael contacts all his ex-girlfriends—Jan (Melora Hardin), Holly (Amy Ryan), Helene (Linda Purl), Donna (Amy Pietz) and Carol (Nancy Carell). Andy holds a sex education meeting in the office hoping to appeal to Erin's passionate side. | |||||||
131 | 5 | "The Sting" | Randall Einhorn | Mindy Kaling | 6.87[37] | October 21, 2010 | 705 |
When a Dunder Mifflin client is stolen by a rival salesman named Danny (Timothy Olyphant), Michael, Dwight and Jim decide to set up a sting in order to uncover his sales secret. Andy starts a band with Darryl when he learns that one of his old college friends has a successful music career. | |||||||
132 | 6 | "Costume Contest" | Dean Holland | Justin Spitzer | 8.07[38] | October 28, 2010 | 706 |
Michael freaks out when Darryl goes over his head by taking an idea to corporate. The employees partake in a Halloween costume contest in the office. Meanwhile, Pam tries to get the truth from Danny about their dating history. | |||||||
133 | 7 | "Christening" | Alex Hardcastle | Peter Ocko | 7.65[39] | November 4, 2010 | 707 |
Pam and Jim's baby, Cece, gets christened and Michael invites the entire office to celebrate. Michael joins a church group of high school graduates on a mission to Mexico, with Andy following along to impress Erin. | |||||||
134 | 8 | "Viewing Party" | Ken Whittingham | Jon Vitti | 7.15[40] | November 11, 2010 | 708 |
Erin and Gabe invite the office over to Gabe's house for a Glee viewing party. Michael can't handle the fact that the office workers think of Gabe as their boss instead of him. Growing more jealous of Gabe and Erin's relationship, Andy goes to extremes in order to impress her. Dwight helps Pam with Cece, much to Jim's chagrin. | |||||||
135 | 9 | "WUPHF.com" | Danny Leiner | Aaron Shure | 7.28[41] | November 18, 2010 | 709 |
Michael helps Ryan by charming people to invest in his internet company, WUPHF.com. Dwight creates a hay festival in the parking lot for the Thanksgiving holiday. Jim learns of a new Sabre capping policy that prevents him from earning too much commission. | |||||||
136 | 10 | "China" | Charles McDougall | Halsted Sullivan & Warren Lieberstein | 7.31[42] | December 2, 2010 | 710 |
When Michael reads an article about China growing as a global power, he decides they must be stopped before they take over the United States. Pam threatens to move Dunder Mifflin to a new building after everyone in the office complains about Dwight's building standards. Darryl is sick of Andy's annoying text messages. | |||||||
137/138 | 11/12 | "Classy Christmas"‡ | Rainn Wilson | Mindy Kaling | 7.18[43] | December 9, 2010 | 711/712 |
Michael couldn't be happier when Toby takes a leave of absence, leaving corporate to send Holly Flax (Amy Ryan) to cover for him. Michael forces Pam to plan a second Christmas party on the day Holly returns to Scranton. Jim agrees to a snowball fight with Dwight, which he later regrets. | |||||||
139 | 13 | "Ultimatum" | David Rogers | Carrie Kemper | 8.26[44] | January 20, 2011 | 713 |
Michael anticipates the news regarding the status of Holly and A.J.'s relationship. In the office, Pam puts up a New Year's resolution board so everyone can post their resolutions. Meanwhile, Andy, Dwight and Darryl go out in hope of picking up women. | |||||||
140 | 14 | "The Seminar" | B. J. Novak | Steve Hely | 7.93[45] | January 27, 2011 | 714 |
Andy holds a small business seminar in the office with some special guests after he finds out that his sales are at his lowest. Michael and Holly use the seminar as an improv challenge, posing as a Greek couple. Erin and Gabe have a game of Scrabble, and Oscar and Pam help Erin out when she turns out to be a very bad Scrabble player. | |||||||
141 | 15 | "The Search" | Michael Spiller | Brent Forrester | 7.29[46] | February 3, 2011 | 715 |
Jim gets an emergency phone call from Helene (Linda Purl), forcing him to leave Michael at a gas station bathroom. This leads Holly, Erin, and Dwight on a search for the whereabouts of Michael. A captioning contest starts in the office over Pam's artwork, which seems to offend Gabe. | |||||||
142 | 16 | "PDA" | Greg Daniels | Robert Padnick | 6.90[47] | February 10, 2011 | 716 |
Michael and Holly's public displays of affection start to make everyone in the office uncomfortable. Jim and Pam have too much champagne during lunch, causing complications when they have to return to work. Andy tags along on a romantic treasure hunt Gabe has made for Erin. | |||||||
143 | 17 | "Threat Level Midnight" | Tucker Gates | B. J. Novak | 6.41[48] | February 17, 2011 | 717 |
Michael screens his action film Threat Level Midnight to the office after eleven years of writing, shooting, re-shooting, and editing. The film features Michael as Agent Michael Scarn, Dwight as Scarn's sidekick, and Jim as archnemesis "Goldenface," as well as several people from Michael's past including Jan (Melora Hardin), Karen (Rashida Jones), Roy (David Denman), Helene (Linda Purl), Todd Packer (David Koechner), Tony Gardner (Mike Bruner), and Troy Underbridge (Noel Petok). | |||||||
144 | 18 | "Todd Packer" | Randall Einhorn | Amelie Gillette | 6.12[49] | February 24, 2011 | 718 |
Traveling salesman Todd Packer (David Koechner) comes to Dunder Mifflin looking for a desk job in the office. However, the office is unsure if they want him to work there due to his previous behavior. After dealing with computer problems, Andy confronts office administrator Pam to get a new computer. | |||||||
145 | 19 | "Garage Sale" | Steve Carell | Jon Vitti | 7.07[50] | March 24, 2011 | 719 |
Michael decides to propose to Holly, and runs into trouble thinking of how to do it well with his expensive diamond ring. He consults Oscar, Ryan, Jim, and Pam for advice, and their opinions on his ideas. Meanwhile, Dunder Mifflin Scranton's warehouse and crew hosts a public garage sale. | |||||||
146 | 20 | "Training Day" | Paul Lieberstein | Daniel Chun | 7.87[51] | April 14, 2011 | 720 |
Michael's replacement appears in the office, to start receiving training from Michael. The new manager, Deangelo Vickers (Will Ferrell), has everyone hoping to make good first impressions: Andy finds himself awkwardly typecast while Jim and Pam worry that they've come on too strong. Only Dwight is apathetic about the new leader. | |||||||
147 | 21 | "Michael's Last Dundies" | Mindy Kaling | Mindy Kaling | 6.85[52] | April 21, 2011 | 721 |
Michael trains his office replacement, Deangelo (Will Ferrell), for hosting the Dundie Awards. Meanwhile, Erin deals with her dislike of her boyfriend, Gabe. | |||||||
148 | 22 | "Goodbye, Michael"† | Paul Feig | Greg Daniels | 8.42[53] | April 28, 2011 | 722 |
Michael prepares to leave for Colorado with Holly, and spends his last day in the office saying goodbye to everyone individually, wanting no drama to ensue. Meanwhile, new manager Deangelo and Andy try to keep Michael's biggest clients. | |||||||
149 | 23 | "The Inner Circle" | Matt Sohn | Charlie Grandy | 6.90[54] | May 5, 2011 | 723 |
New office manager Deangelo picks favorites among the staff, revealing his true management style. | |||||||
150 | 24 | "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager" | Troy Miller | Justin Spitzer | 6.45[55] | May 12, 2011 | 724 |
Dwight becomes the interim regional manager, instituting a typically heavy-handed management style. Meanwhile, Gabe tries to win back Erin. | |||||||
151/152 | 25/26 | "Search Committee"‡ | Jeffrey Blitz | Paul Lieberstein | 7.29[56] | May 19, 2011 | 725/726 |
Deangelo's new replacement is sought out through a search committee process led by Jim. |
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