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Dinner Party (The Office)

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Template:Office episode "Dinner Party" is the ninth episode of NBC's fourth season of The Office and sixtieth episode overall.[1] It was written by series producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and directed by Paul Feig.[2] It originally aired on April 10, 2008 on the NBC network.[1] Guest stars in this episode include Frederik Pohliv, Beth Grant, Steve Seagren and Gary Weeks.

The episode focuses on, a dinner party thrown by Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) and his girlfriend Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin). Attending the party are Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) and Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) as well as the uninvited Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) along with his childhood babysitter (Beth Grant). The party quickly becomes a disaster when Michael and Jan begin to argue, leading Michael to break up with Jan.

Plot

Michael succeeds in tricking Jim and Pam to join him and Jan for dinner at his condominium. He also invites Andy and Angela, but excludes Dwight, much to Dwight's dismay. On a tour of the condominium, Jan shows the workspace from which she runs her candle-making home business. Jan's dominance in the relationship is apparent from the living arrangements; Michael sleeps on a small bench due to Jan's "space issues", and his sole comfort is a very small plasma television, which he bought for $200.

In the kitchen, Jan quietly confronts Pam with her knowledge that Michael and Pam had once dated, knowledge which is infact false. Jim's attempts to get himself and Pam out of the increasingly uncomfortable evening are unsuccessful. Dwight arrives, uninvited, with his own food, and his former babysitter as his date. The feud between Michael and Jan escalates, culminating in Jan's destruction of the plasma television using one of Michael's beloved Dundie Awards. Under the advice of responding police officers, Michael agrees to spend the night with Dwight. Jim and Pam share a warm moment together eating take-out food in their car. In Andy's car, Angela coldly rejects Andy's attempt at flirting.

Production

The Writers Guild of America was on strike for 100 days causing production of The Office to go on hiatus for four months.[3]

"Dinner Party" was the first original episode of The Office to be broadcast since the episode "The Deposition," on November 15, 2007, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[4][5] The Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike at 12:01AM Eastern Standard Time on November 5, 2007.[6][7] Filming of The Office immediatly halted on that date, as Steve Carell, who is a member of the WGA, refused to cross WGA picket lines.[8] Members of Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West voted to end the 100-day strike on February 12, 2008.[9] Writers were allowed to return to work on the same day.[10] The WGA allowed for show runners to return to work on February 11,[11] in preparation for the conclusion of the strike. The show runner for The Office is executive producer and creator Greg Daniels. The writers returned to work on February 13.[10]

If not for the writers strike, this episode would have completed filming successfully during the week of November 5, 2007. Also, a Christmas episode would have been produced and aired, but that script was discarded as the strike lasted past the 2007 holiday season.[12]

Reception

"MILF Island" brought in an average of 9.2 million American viewers,[13] which was the highest total audience since the fourth season premiere episode, "Fun Run".[13] This episode achieved a 4.8/12 in the key 18–49 demographic;[13] the 4.8 refers to 4.8% of all 18–49 year olds in the U.S. while the 12 refers to 12% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast in the U.S. The episode ranked in eighth place among all programs on television, which aired during the week of this episodes original broadcast.[14]

Travis Fickett of IGN wrote that "This is one of those great episodes of The Office that is hysterical and difficult to watch at the same time. Only this time, it's not because of something Michael is doing that makes you wince. It's because of what's happening to him."[15] Jay Black of AOL's TV Squad said that "[he] was happy The Office was back" but "the only thing [he] worried about was whether it'd still be good" after the writers strike.[16] M. Giant of Television Without Pity graded this episode with an "A."[17] Aubry D'Arminio of Entertainment Weekly said that her favourite moment of the episode "was when Jan popped on that song by her former assistant, Hunter."[18] Jack Rodgers of TV Guide wrote that "on the one hand it’s a hilarious, brutally awkward look at the relationship (and apartment) from hell, a train wreck that you just can’t keep from staring at. But it’s also a study of four couples: one hideously dysfunctional (Michael and Jan), one loving (Jim and Pam), one mismatched (Angela and Andy), and one, ahem, "purely carnal" (Dwight and babysitter)."[19]


References

  1. ^ a b "The Office "Dinner Party" 04-10-2008 9:00PM" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Paul Feig (director); Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky (writers) (2008-04-10). "Dinner Party". The Office. Season 4. Episode 9. NBC Universal. NBC. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "The 100-Day Writers' Strike: A Timeline". The New York Times. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-24. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "11-15-2007 9:00 PM 30 Rock — "The Deposition"" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2008-02-14). "NBC renews series, announces premieres". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-02-14. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Cieply, Michael (2007-11-05). "Writers Begin Strike as Talks Break Off". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ McNary, Dave (2007-11-04). "WGA goes on strike". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ TV Guide Staff. "Office Closing: Carell, Others Won't Cross Picket Line". TV Guide. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Writers Guild Members Vote to End Strike" (Press release). Writers Guild of America, West. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (2008-02-12). "It's official: WGA strike is over". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2008-02-10). "Showrunners back to work Monday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Daniels, Greg (2008-04-10). "Strike effect". NBC. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b c Levine, Stuart (2007-10-07). "Fox wins competitive Thursday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-04-11. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "NBC ratings results for the primetime week of April 7—13" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-06-13. The Office ranked #8 among all programs on television this week in primetime's key demographic of adults 18–49. {{cite press release}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Fickett, Travis (2008-04-11). "The Office: "Dinner Party" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Black, Jay (2008-04-11). "The Office: "Dinner Party" - Video". AOL's TV Squad. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Giant, M. (2008-04-10). ""Dinner Party"". Television Without Pity. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ D'Arminio, Aubry (2008-04-11). "The Office Recap: The Last Supper". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Rodgers, Jack (2008-04-10). "Episode Recap: "Dinner Party"". TV Guide. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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