Shareholder Meeting

"Shareholder Meeting" is the 11th episode of the sixth season of the U.S. comedy series The Office and the show's 111th episode overall.^[1] It was written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Charles McDougall, and originally aired in the United States on NBC on November 19, 2009.

The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Michael heads to a shareholder meeting in New York, and brings Andy, Dwight, and Oscar with him. Michael is shocked when he and other higher members of the company are booed onstage and tries to improve the situation, but instead worsens it. Meanwhile, Jim struggles to get Ryan to do some work.

Synopsis

Michael (Steve Carell) gets excited when he's invited by CEO Alan Brand to be honored on stage at the Dunder Mifflin shareholder meeting in New York. He brings Andy (Ed Helms), Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Oscar (Oscar Nunez) along for the ride in the limo that was sent, making Oscar wonder why the company would spend money on sending a limo when they're about to go bankrupt. Oscar is further baffled at the fact that they booked a huge conference room for the meeting. Andy suggests that Oscar take a stand, but Oscar refuses to for fear of losing his job. When the meeting begins, the panel, which Michael is a part of, is greeted by jeers, which is not what Michael was hoping for. Although Michael is commended by CEO Alan Brand for his ability to maintain profitability with the Scranton branch, Michael feels he deserves more praise when more people celebrate the opening of a waste management facility. When the meeting appears to be going nowhere, the panel takes a break, and Michael gives the crowd the false hope of a 45-day plan to fix Dunder Mifflin.

Meanwhile, Jim (John Krasinski) has a hard time getting Ryan (B. J. Novak) to do work, as Ryan sees no point since the company is on the verge of closing. Ryan sends an email around the office regarding Jim's lack of authority over the office, prompting Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) to take a two hour lunch break. Jim thinks that he needs to make an example of Ryan in front of everyone, but Pam (Jenna Fischer) doesn't think Jim is capable of doing so. Jim, frustrated with Ryan's excuses, ultimately decides to give Ryan his own personal office space in the small closet in the kitchen, which lacks windows and possibly internet access so he won't bother anyone or become easily distracted. He presents this "honor" to Ryan in front of everyone, showing them he means business. A humiliated Ryan tries to apologize, but Jim puts him in the closet anyway.

Back in New York, a frustrated David Wallace is asking Michael what his 45-day plan is for the shareholders. Michael doesn't have an idea, so he calls Oscar into the hotel room for some suggestions. However, Oscar is visibly embarrassed and can't force himself to criticize the wasteful management to their faces. Oscar instead compliments them, doesn't repeat any of his earlier suggestions, and leaves. When Michael returns, he is further lambasted by the CEO and former U.S. Congressman Chris O'Keefe who openly insults Michael. In his defense, Michael points out he is the only person who seems to be making money for Dunder Mifflin and is therefore not the moron, and goes so far as to call the former Congressman a moron out of retaliation for the same insult. Enraged, Congressman O'Keefe, who is presiding over the meeting, takes away Michael's limo privileges. Michael then triumphantly sneaks away with Dwight, Andy, and Oscar back out into their limo and drive out of the city. As they leave, Michael justifies his actions by saying that of everyone there, he and his team are the only ones who deserve to celebrate with limo rides. As they leave, the camera catches a glance at the stock market ticker, where the Dunder Mifflin (DMI) stock price, currently at $1.13, down 6 7/8, continues to drop dramatically.

Production

New York outdoor scenes for the episode were filmed in California. Two taxi cabs along with Michael's limo, using New York plates, were shot in front of a California intersection with a Roman Revival style building in the background for a New York effect. The building has both a California state flag and US flag hanging over its entrance.

The cold opening for the episode deals with Dwight and his fictional Earth Day super hero "Recyclops". During Jim's narrative, he discusses the history of Recyclops, and a montage of Dwight harassing past receptionists was shown. The receptionists that Dwight harasses include: Pam, who is accompanied by Jim, circa 2006; Ryan; Ronni (Dale Raoul), who was introduced during the fifth season episode "Weight Loss"; and Erin. These clips were created to look as if they had been filmed in the past and were only then being used.^[2] This was not the only time this technique was used in the series. During the seventh season episode "Threat Level Midnight", there is a short sequence that was shot to look as if it had been filmed during the show's second season, although the scene itself was filmed in 2011.^[3] Furthermore, during the season nine episode "Customer Loyalty, the cold opening features a montage of Jim setting up a prank—which involves sending Dwight on a quest for the Holy Grail that heavily suggested that Jim set up the prank sometime during 2006, which would have taken place during the show's second season.^[4] Appropriately, the montage was filmed to look as if the documentarians were using archival footage of Jim; his hair matches the style that Jim had during the first few seasons of the show.^[4][5]

Reception

This episode was watched by 7.39 million viewers, with a 3.7 rating and a 10 share in the 18-49 demographic.^[6]

"Shareholder Meeting" received positive reviews. Dan Phillips of IGN called the episode "funny from beginning to end", particularly praising the scenes between Michael and the board. Phillips also enjoyed the subplot between Jim and Ryan, stating that it "carried its fair share of comedic weight".^[7]

Michael's announcement that Dunder Mifflin would be going "carbon neutral" was a tie-in with NBC's "Green Week".^[8]

References

External links

• "Shareholder Meeting" at NBC.com
• "Shareholder Meeting" at the Internet Movie Database