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"Michael Scott Paper Company" is the twenty-third episode of the fifth season of the 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 95th overall episode of the series. It originally aired 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 ...
in the United States on April 9, 2009. In the episode,
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
, Pam and Ryan try to get their new paper company off the ground, but end up bickering among themselves due to the stress and cramped office space. Meanwhile, Jim tries to do a "rundown" for new boss Charles Miner without admitting he does not know what a rundown is, while Dwight and Andy compete for the affections of the new receptionist,
Erin Erin is a personal name taken from the Hiberno-English word for Ireland, originating from the Irish word ''"Éirinn"''. "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in preposi ...
, played by
Ellie Kemper Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress, best known for her roles of Erin Hannon in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2009–2013) and Kimmy Schmidt in the sitcom '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' (2015–2019). She has also app ...
. The episode was written by
Justin Spitzer Justin Spitzer is an American television and film writer, producer, and showrunner. He is best known for creating the sitcoms '' Superstore,'' '' American Auto,'' and '' St. Denis Medical.'' His other credits include ''Scrubs'', ''Courting Alex ...
and directed by Gene Stupnitsky. It included a guest appearance by
Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...
, who played new
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 ...
vice president Charles Miner. The episode aired the same day as " Dream Team"; the debut episode of the new NBC show '' Parks and Recreation'' was shown between the two episodes. "Michael Scott Paper Company" included a new title sequence with footage of the series characters in the new Michael Scott Paper Company office setting, rather than the Dunder Mifflin setting from previous episodes. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, although many said it was not as funny as the previous episode, which had aired previously on the same day. According to
Nielsen ratings 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 rat ...
, it was watched by eight million viewers and captured the most viewers in its time slot for adults between the ages of 18 and 49. "Michael Scott Paper Company" received a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nomination for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation.


Plot

Michael Scott Michael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to: Academics * Michael Scot (1175 – c. 1232), mathematician and astrologer * Michael L. Scott (born 1959), American academic and computer scientist * Mike Scott, British linguist and designer ...
,
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 ...
, and
Ryan Howard Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from to . He is ...
are struggling to adjust to the work environment of the new Michael Scott Paper Company. The office space used to be a closet; water pipes run through the room, so they can hear the toilets flush from the
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 ...
bathrooms above them. Ryan openly goofs off in front of Pam and Michael and mocks both of them in their presence during phone conversations. Pam and Ryan bicker over who is responsible for making copies until Michael separates them into corners. Pam, who joined the company as a saleswoman, is given the corner where the photocopier sits. She is concerned that Michael will force her to be the receptionist, which is why she quit Dunder Mifflin in the first place. She goes upstairs and asks Charles Miner for her job back, but Charles has already given the job to a new employee, Kelly Hannon, who ends up going by her middle name—Erin—to avoid confusion with
Kelly Kapoor Kelly Rajanigandha Kapoor is a fictional character from the American television series ''The Office'', portrayed by Mindy Kaling. She is the customer service representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin from seasons 1 to 8. Following ...
. Michael hosts a pancake luncheon to introduce the company to potential clients, but only one person and a few Dunder Mifflin employees show up. When Michael, Pam, and Ryan come close to giving up, the potential client from the luncheon calls asking for paper. Pam closes the sale and the three cheer in celebration. In the Dunder Mifflin office, Charles asks
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 ...
for a "rundown" of his client information. Jim does not know what a rundown is, but is too embarrassed to ask because he has been making such a poor impression with Charles. Jim spends much of the day trying to figure out what a rundown is, making several failed attempts to figure it out by chatting vaguely about it with Charles and other coworkers. When he finally finishes what he believes is a rundown, Charles does not look at it and simply asks Jim to fax it to everyone on the distribution list. Jim does not know what the distribution list is either, but rather than asking Charles, he simply faxes the rundown to his father.
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 ...
and
Andy Bernard Andrew Baines Bernard (born Walter Baines Bernard Jr.) is a fictional character portrayed by Ed Helms in the NBC comedy television series ''The Office.'' Character synopsis Season 3 (2006–2007) Andy's character is introduced in the season ...
plan a hunting trip, but their new friendship is tested by their mutual romantic interest in Erin. Both make passes at her, but eventually agree their friendship is more valuable than a romantic interest. However, they end up trying simultaneously to impress Erin during a competitive duet of
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...
's "
Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on ''Billboard''s U ...
", with Andy on a banjo and Dwight playing guitar; both sing, and Dwight sings part of the song in German. Erin is initially impressed with both of them, but winds up awkwardly sneaking out of the room as they play. The loud duet is finally stopped by a frustrated
Toby Flenderson ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments ...
.
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 ...
is visibly annoyed by Dwight and Andy's budding friendship.


Production

"Michael Scott Paper Company" was written by
Justin Spitzer Justin Spitzer is an American television and film writer, producer, and showrunner. He is best known for creating the sitcoms '' Superstore,'' '' American Auto,'' and '' St. Denis Medical.'' His other credits include ''Scrubs'', ''Courting Alex ...
and directed by Gene Stupnitsky. It originally aired April 9, 2009, the same day as the episode " Dream Team"; the debut episode of the new NBC show '' Parks and Recreation'' was shown between the two episodes. "Michael Scott Paper Company" was the fourth of six episodes guest starring
Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...
, best known as
Stringer Bell Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character in ''The Wire'', played by Idris Elba. In the criminal world of early 2000s Baltimore, Bell serves as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second-in-command and assumes direct control of the Barksdale O ...
from ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. Elba said he did not watch the episode after it aired because "I'm hypercritical about my work, so I try not to torture myself." According to the Season 5 DVD episode commentary, B. J. Novak came up with the story idea involving Jim and the "rundown" and worked it into Spitzer's final script. The episode included a new title sequence with footage of the series characters in the new Michael Scott Paper Company office setting, rather than the Dunder Mifflin setting from the previous episodes. Rainn Wilson and Ed Helms practiced the guitar competition in Helms' trailer during lunch the day of the filming; Helms, a proficient bluegrass banjo player, coached Wilson, who is proficient at guitar and drums. Wilson said he proposed doing a full studio cover of the song, with
Creed Bratton Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider; February 8, 1943) is an American actor and musician. A former member of the rock band the Grass Roots, he is best known for playing a Creed Bratton (character), fictionalized version of himself o ...
providing backup guitar and vocals, and selling it on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
for charity. Helms said he was happy to have the opportunity to play banjo on screen, but did not feel the instrument made much sense for his character; Helms said, "It's so fun and weird, but he's a Connecticut preppy guy. How did he pick up a banjo? It's one of Andy's many mysteries, not all of which I even understand." Prior to the episode's airing, NBC set up a web site for the new Michael Scott Paper Company at www.michaelscottpapercompany.com, which included a mission statement for the company, photos of the new office space and a downloadable copy of the coupon for "unparalleled customer service" featured in the episode. The official website for ''The Office'' included four cut scenes from "Michael Scott Paper Company" within a week of the episode's original release. In one 85-second clip, Dwight and Andy pretend to shoot, stab and throw grenades at each other in pantomime in anticipation of their hunting trip; they pretend to kill Jim and pester him until he plays dead, after which Charles walks in and believes he is napping. A second one-minute clip includes Pam and Ryan fighting around the new office until they are interrupted by a janitor who believes the room is still a closet and leaves water jugs on the floor. In a third, 40-second clip, Jim asks Charles directly what a "rundown" is, but when an annoyed Charles asks if this is "one of your pranks", Jim gives up and leaves. The fourth and final clip, which is 85 seconds long, features Andy and Dwight both making passes at Erin; Andy discusses how easy it would be to learn
sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...
, while Dwight tells her to be careful not to get her hair or clothes caught in the nearby paper shredder.


Cultural references

Dwight and Andy sing and perform the
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...
song "
Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on ''Billboard''s U ...
" while trying to impress the new receptionist. At one point, Toby is overheard through a vent discussing and praising the FX show ''
Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...
'' while on the phone in a bathroom. He said it is as good as anything on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, a premium television channel known for such shows as ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'', '' Six Feet Under'' and ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. During the workday, Ryan watches a
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
video of a rap music commercial for Flea Market Montgomery; the low-budget rap music advertisement for the Montgomery,
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
flea market gained Internet fame. Michael uses Evite, social-planning website for creating online invitations, to invite people to his pancake luncheon. On a whiteboard, Michael writes a quote of himself quoting
Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
, the popular ice hockey player who said "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take." The new paper company office included
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
computers and a
Nerf Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of Foam weapon, foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football, basketball, an ...
basketball hoop. During a phone conversation, Ryan said he wants an
iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
music player that also serves as a phone, but not an
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
, which is essentially that very product; both items are Apple products. Michael listens to " Just Dance", a
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
song, while driving his convertible to work, which he mistakes for a
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
song. Near the end of the episode, when Andy states that every song sounds better
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
, Dwight asks about the songs "
Cherry Pie Cherry pie is a pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, it is made with sour cherries rather than sweet cherries. Sour Cherry, Morello cherries are one of the most common kinds of cherry used, but other varieties such as the black cherr ...
" by Warrant, "
Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist ...
" by
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
and "
Rebel Yell The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses. There ar ...
" by
Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
.


Reception

In its original American broadcast on April 9, 2009, "Michael Scott Paper Company" was watched by 8 million overall viewers, according to
Nielsen ratings 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 rat ...
. The episode earned more ratings than "Dream Team", the other ''Office'' episode of the night, which had 7.2 million viewers. It also performed better than the ''Parks and Recreation'' pilot, which ran between the two ''Office'' episodes and had 6.8 million viewers. "Michael Scott Paper Company", as well as "Dream Team", had the most viewers in its time slot among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received mostly positive reviews. Travis Fickett of ''
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 ...
'' said this and other recent episodes are "proving that the show has plenty of life in it and
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
''The Office'' has still got it." He said the funniest element of the show was the emerging "bro-mance" between Dwight and Andy. Will Leitch of ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' magazine said, "''The Office'' kind of needed this sort of shake-up, even if it’s something as simple as another room to put all our characters in." Keith Phipps 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 ...
'' said he liked the plot aspects involve the new company, particularly the pancake breakfast and the first successful sales call: "I know the series probably has to revert to something like the old status quo at some point, but I almost wish it could stay in that dank little corner a little longer." Phipps, who gave the episode a B+ grade, said the "rundown" subplot between Jim and Charles was a bit strained by the end. Steven Mullen of ''
The Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. It is owned by Gannett. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that ...
'' called the episode "stellar" and particularly praised the comedic chemistry between Andy and Dwight. Alan Sepinwall of ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...
'' said he was enjoying the new paper company storyline, but that "Michael Scott Paper Company" was not as funny as "Dream Team", which aired the same day. Sepinwall praised particular scenes such as Dwight and Andy's competitive duet and Kelly's plan to make Charles want her. He criticized the cramped new office space jokes as being less funny than those in previous episodes. Sepinwall also said the storyline between Jim and Charles was getting repetitive and, "It would help if the writers ever gave Idris Elba something funny to do." Margaret Lions of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' said, "This episode wasn't one of my favorites … No bombs, no bits that failed, and by ''The Offices standards, nothing even particularly cringe worthy. But 'TMSPC' is more groundwork than payoff." She said Dwight's rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in German was "the absolute funniest moment of the episode". In her list of the top ten moments from the fifth season of ''The Office'', ''phillyBurbs.com'' writer Jen Wielgus ranked Michael's formation of the Michael Scott Paper Company in the downstairs storage closet as the number one, citing the "Dream Team", "Michael Scott Paper Company" and " Heavy Competition" episodes in particular. She also said she specifically enjoyed the paper-shaped pancakes from "Michael Scott Paper Company". "Michael Scott Paper Company" was voted the twelfth highest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite ''OfficeTally''; the episode was rated 8.27 out of 10. This episode received a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nomination for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. "Michael Scott Paper Company" accounted for one of the ten Primetime Emmy Award nominations ''The Office'' received for the show's fifth season at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, which were held on September 20, 2009.


References


External links


"Michael Scott Paper Company"
at
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 ...
.com * {{The Office US Episodes 2009 American television episodes The Office (American TV series) season 5 episodes