[S2E10] Christmas Party
The Scranton branch celebrates Christmas. Michael and Dwight bring in a huge Christmas tree in preparation for the office party. It's too tall to fit, so Michael recommends they cut off the top and sell it to charity.
[S2E10] Christmas Party
Ryan is drafted onto the Party Planning Committee. Michael interrupts to make sure they double everything and gives them extra money. He informs the documentary crew that he received a Christmas bonus of "3,000 g's" ($3,000) for coming under budget due to firing Devon. He wants to serve liquor at the party, but Pam reminds him that Corporate does not allow alcohol at company parties.
Michael's magnanimity only lasts as long as it takes for him to open Phyllis' gift to him: a home-made oven mitt. He storms out of the party circle, visibly upset. For the cameras, he expresses his belief that the cost of the gift reflects the level of one's affection for the person receiving the gift. This oven mitt isn't worth anything. And, after all, he got Ryan an iPod.
In a talking head Michael, lacking self-awareness of how his greed, petulance and pettiness has ruined things, complains about how no one appreciates the "nicest thing anyone's ever done" for them. Michael says "Happy Birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party's so lame!"
The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, the office throws a Christmas party and plays Secret Santa. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), having put much effort into finding a gift for Pam (Jenna Fischer), becomes frustrated when Michael Scott (Steve Carell) makes everyone play "Yankee Swap", and an iPod that Michael bought for Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) becomes the hot object of the game.
The office staffers hold a "Secret Santa" gift exchange at their Christmas party. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) received Pam Beesly's (Jenna Fischer) name, and puts a great deal of effort into her gift (a teapot filled with some mementos and a personal letter from him to her). Michael Scott (Steve Carell) buys a $400 video iPod as his gift to Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), far exceeding the $20 limit. He is disappointed by the handmade oven glove he receives from Phyllis Lapin (Phyllis Smith) and insists on turning the exchange into a "Yankee Swap". This goes amiss as many of the gifts, such as a decorative name plate with Kelly Kapoor's (Mindy Kaling) name on it, are specific to the recipients. The staff competes for the iPod, and Pam opts to swap for it rather than keep Jim's gift.
After ruining his staff's mood, Michael disobeys company policy by buying vodka for the party to compensate. Everyone ends up having a good time, with the exception of Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), who is furious over not receiving appreciation for her efforts toward arranging the party, as well as Kelly kissing Dwight, whom Angela is secretly dating. The party ends with a drunken Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery) exposing herself to Michael, who takes a picture and then leaves.
"Christmas Party" was written by Michael Schur, who portrays Mose Schrute in the series. The episode was his third contribution after the first season entry "The Alliance" and second-season episode "Office Olympics".[2][3][4] B. J. Novak later noted that, compared to Schur's previous episode "The Alliance", the "driving force of the mayhem" in the episode is Michael's desire to make all of his workers "happy", rather than him being "a jerk".[5] The scene wherein Dwight plugs the Christmas tree in, only for the office to be underwhelmed by the dismal lights was based on a real moment Schur and his wife experienced during their first Christmas together.[6] Schur based the Christmas party sequences on a scene in Rushmore that happens after the main character does his Vietnam play. He noted that he wanted it to be "pastiche-y" and feature "small groups of people talking to each other".[6] Meredith flashing Michael was based on a real-life experience Greg Daniels's dad had at a former job; at the end of one particular Christmas party, there was a stain on the office couch, which he called an "inappropriate ending" for the party. Daniels's father kept pressuring him to make a Christmas episode of The Office, and so Daniels utilized this experience.[7]
During the flashing scene, Carell told Flannery that he "wasn't staring at" her breasts, rather, he was looking at her clavicle. Despite what it appears on camera, Flannery was not completely topless, as she was wearing pasties. The scene was shot several times; Flannery admitted that the shooting was excruciating and it felt like they had been shooting the one scene for "14 hours".[12] To preserve Flannery's modesty, the series' monitors were shut off and the memory card for the digital camera was removed. Carell actually took pictures during the Christmas party shoot. All of the photos were released online.[8]
Maurice finds Janine and flirts with her for a while, but Janine is ultimately left alone until Ava finds her outside and invites her to keep partying with her and her boyfriend, NBA champion Andre Iguodala.
The first Christmas episode in the series follows a Christmas party where everyone is assigned a secret Santa gift, but manager Michael Scott flips the party on its head and turns the gift opening into Yankee Swap, causing chaos in the office. 041b061a72