Email Surveillance
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"Email Surveillance" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
television series ''
The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
'' and the show's fifteenth episode overall. Written by Jennifer Celotta, and directed by Paul Feig, the episode first aired in the United States on November 22, 2005 on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. The episode guest starred
Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong ( ; ; born July 13, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' ...
and Omi Vaidya. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the
Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
branch of the fictional
Dunder Mifflin Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series ''The Office''. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jennings ...
Paper Company. In the episode, the company tech support employee gives Michael Scott (
Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...
) the ability to read his employees' emails, causing him to find out that
Jim Halpert James Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder Miff ...
(
John Krasinski John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), where he was also a producer and occasional director. He directed, co-w ...
) is throwing a party that Michael was not invited to. Meanwhile,
Pam Beesly Pamela Morgan Beesly Halpert ( born Beesly) is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom ''The Office'', played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of ''The Office'' is Dawn Tinsley. Pam begins the series as th ...
( Jenna Fischer) begins to suspect that
Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a character on the American television series ''The Office'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight is a salesman and assistant to Michael Scott, at the fictional paper distribution company Dunde ...
(
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...
) and
Angela Martin Angela Noelle Schrute (née Martin; formerly Lipton) is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office,'' portrayed by actress Angela Kinsey. The character is based on Sheila from the original version of ''Th ...
( Angela Kinsey) might secretly be having a relationship. Ken Jeong explained that, while all the scenes were scripted, the actors were allowed to improvise their lines during the improv shots. Omi Vaidya revealed that, during the party scenes, the cast were allowed to drink real
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
and play video games on an
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
. "Email Surveillance" received largely positive reviews from television critics. The episode earned a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...
of 3.9 in the 18–49 demographic and was viewed by 8.3 million viewers in its original broadcast.


Plot

Dunder Mifflin's tech support employee,
Sadiq Sadiq may refer to: Places * Sadiq (town), Faridkot district, Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the ...
, arrives at the Scranton branch. Michael Scott panics, assuming that Sadiq is a terrorist due to his wearing a
turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Commun ...
. Sadiq sets up a system that allows Michael to monitor his employees' emails. When everyone in the office finds out,
Jim Halpert James Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder Miff ...
worries that Michael will discover the party he is throwing that night, to which Michael is not invited. Michael finds an e-mail about it and tries to get Jim to admit that he is having a party, while Jim acts nonchalantly as if nothing is happening. In order to keep
Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a character on the American television series ''The Office'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight is a salesman and assistant to Michael Scott, at the fictional paper distribution company Dunde ...
from exposing the party, Jim tells him that it is a surprise party for Michael.
Pam Beesly Pamela Morgan Beesly Halpert ( born Beesly) is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom ''The Office'', played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of ''The Office'' is Dawn Tinsley. Pam begins the series as th ...
overhears Dwight warning
Angela Martin Angela Noelle Schrute (née Martin; formerly Lipton) is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office,'' portrayed by actress Angela Kinsey. The character is based on Sheila from the original version of ''Th ...
to delete any sensitive emails to avoid Michael reading them, leading her to suspect that Dwight and Angela are in an undisclosed office romance. However, she discreetly abandons her suspicions when she asks Phyllis Lapin if she noticed any office romances and Phyllis guesses that Pam meant her and Jim. Jim and Pam bond when she sees Jim's room for the first time and looks through his high school yearbook. After ruining an
improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...
class, Michael is uninvited to the class's after party. He decides to crash Jim's party, much to the staff's dismay and Dwight's naïve delight. Michael awkwardly tries his hand at karaoke but Jim then joins in, easing the tension considerably. The documentary crew catches Angela and Dwight making out in Jim's backyard.


Production

"Email Surveillance" was written by Jennifer Celotta, making it her first writing contribution to the series. This episode was the fourth episode of the series directed by Paul Feig. Feig had previously directed the episodes " Office Olympics", "
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
", and " Performance Review". When filming the scene with Michael in the improv class,
Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong ( ; ; born July 13, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' ...
, who played Bill, said that "they (the crew) would shoot the scenes as scripted the first few takes, and then we would improvise after that." For example, "the scene where I (Ken Jeong) say 'Good job' to Michael and he says 'Nice job, Bill... not' was improvised." Jeong, who had previously taken part in an actual improv class, noted that "Anyone who's ever taken an improv class appreciates that bit ith Michael starting every session with a gun" The episode guest starred Omi Vaidya, who played the part of Sadiq, the IT assistant. Vaidya later explained that, originally, "a lot of people auditioned for that role, bigger Indian American actors". However Vaidya, who had watched the British version and was familiar with the camera style, "took a scarf, created a turban out of it and walked to the audition room with it on" because he thought that "that was what was needed for the character and the show". He later called his guest appearance "one of the best productions in the United States that I have been a part of". Vaidya said that he enjoyed shooting the party scenes the most because they got to drink real
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
(rather than a stand-in liquid) and play video games on the then-unreleased
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
gaming console. Vaidya said that "it was like being at a real party with everyone from ''The Office'' except that we had to shoot a few scenes while we were chatting and relaxing."


Cultural references

After Oscar confronts Michael about reading the staff's emails, Michael references Big Brother, from the novel ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...
'' and does an impression of The Tin Man from the 1939 film ''
The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...
''. Michael invites Dwight over to his house to watch the 2004 version of ''
Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...
'', but he misidentifies the show as "''Battleship Galaxy''". At his improv class, Michael, in an attempt to get the instructor's attention, asks "Mr. Kot-ter", a reference to the 1975 series ''
Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...
''. During Jim's party, Phyllis sings a karaoke version of the 1987 hit " Here I Go Again" by hard rock band
Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...
, and Kevin sings
Cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...
's 1996 cover of "
I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...
", originally by
Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...
. Finally, Michael and Jim share a duet of the 1983 single " Islands in the Stream", originally sung by
Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...
and
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
. At one point during the party, Kevin tells Ryan "Not so fast... 'Fire Guy'". This is a reference to the earlier second season episode " The Fire", in which Ryan accidentally started a fire in the office building. As a result, Dwight and Michael gave him the nickname "The Fire Guy".


Reception

"Email Surveillance" originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 22, 2005. The episode was viewed by 8.1 million viewers and received a 3.9 rating/9% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 3.9% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 9% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode retained 76 percent of its lead-in ''
My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...
'' audience, and was tied with an episode of the medical drama ''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
'' as the number one television show in the 18–34 male demographic.Alt URL
/ref> An encore presentation of the episode, on June 20, 2006, received 2.1 rating/7% share was viewed by over 5 million viewers, ranking it as the number one program in the 18–34 demographic.Alt URL
/ref> "Email Surveillance" received generally positive reviews from television critics.
TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...
's Michael Sciannamea said that "Email Surveillance" was "a solid episode", and that even though "Michael's vulnerabilities were again exposed", in the end "you walk away from the episode feeling good that he did make it to Jim's party." M. Giant from Television Without Pity graded the episode with an "A−". Dan Phillips from
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
named "Michael Crashes Jim's Party" the fifth most awkward moment of the show, noting that, "Few things are more awkward than a party crasher, especially when the party crasher happens to be named Michael Scott." Erik Adams of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' awarded the episode a "B+", and wrote positively of the way the show was able to write-in the presence of the Documentarians into the episode's plot; he compared this to the story arc in the ninth season involving Brian the boom mic operator, noting that the documentarians presence in "Email Surveillance" was much better executed than then the aforementioned Brian plot. He also called the episode's conclusion, featuring Michael and Jim singing a duet, "emotionally satisfying" because it relies "on what these people mean to each other outside of the office".


References


External links


"Email Surveillance"
at NBC.com * {{The Office US Episodes The Office (American TV series) season 2 episodes 2005 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Paul Feig