# The Office 5/07/09 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710 "2009-05-08T01:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/21 "2009-05-08T16:11:28Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > I think Michael’s dance party was a strange sort of genius. DM morale was at a low, and everyone has been edgy and bummed out. He was able to get them to enjoy themselves, together. It was actually pretty great team building. Except that Michael didn’t make it happen. The party didn’t really take off until Michael left the room. When’s he gonna learn that you can’t force people to have fun? I think Erin would have gone to lunch with him if he’d asked her. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/22 "2009-05-08T16:23:37Z")
I loved this episode. I thought Michael going to the Café Disco would kill the fun, but it didn’t. I thought Pam and Jim could just dance for a while, then go get married - have the reception before the wedding. How much of that was scripted, and how much was just really funny people being themselves, I wonder? I have a feeling there are a whole lot of very funny people on this show. Oh, and I loved Dwight and Phyllis bonding over him treating her like a sore horse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/23 "2009-05-08T16:27:54Z")
When he shoved the carrot in her mouth and she took it with all her teeth showing! Loved how Angela just walked under the limbo bar without having to duck. But my favorite of all was Andy dancing. More of Andy, please. I have gone from despising him when he was in Stamford to wanting to see much more of him than I do of Dwight. Dwight is getting creepy sometimes. And is Ryan getting an eating disorder now? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/24 "2009-05-08T16:42:05Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > In fact, all the dancing just sort of made me uncomfortable. Are you “opposed to the whole spirit” of dance? 😛 > [@Rubystreak](#): > > Dwight was a huge douche to Pam at the beginning of this ep. I was hoping she’d throw a stapler at his laughing face. I missed the opening prank. What’d he do? > [@](#): > > Any chance Bob Vance is having an affair with his Phyllis-like secretary? It was weird how she said, “After he _gets off_, I’ll have him call you.” It would almost be flattering, though, if your spouse were having an affair with someone who looks just like you. It’s kind of a compliment. > [@](#): > > Kelly was totally piercing Andy’s gay ear. Remember, we were seeing them in a mirror. > [@PoorYorick](#): > > What was it Michael said? Something about how the previous manager had “really done a number” on his staff, and now all they do is work. Heh. “This place used to be like Dave & Buster’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/25 "2009-05-08T16:48:17Z")
The opening prank: Dwight paid Erin, the new receptionist, to shriek with joy that she’d just won an art contest. This, of course, to get Pam’s goat because she struck out with her art career. Pam and Jim thought it was annoying and silly, but Dwight laughed his head off all out of proportion to the level of the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/26 "2009-05-08T16:53:18Z")
Thanks. By the way, I missed the last couple of weeks. If it’s not too much of a pain, can someone summarize how it is that Michael is back at Dunder Mifflin? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/27 "2009-05-08T17:16:17Z")
The Michael Scott Paper Company stole a lot of Dunder Mifflin’s customers by offering much lower prices. DM was frantic to get them back. Of course, Michael couldn’t sustain business with such low prices, and was at the point of insolvency. DM came to Michael with an offer of $12,000 to buy him out, and for once in his life he was masterful. He played them like a Stradivarius, letting David Wallace know that he knows there’s a stockholders’ meeting coming up and he will have to explain to them why the company is losing clients and their most profitable branch is suddenly tanking. Wallace offers $60,000. Michael says they’ll take their old jobs back, plus parking, a company car, and Charles gone. Wallace folds. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/28 "2009-05-08T17:27:48Z")
I put this episode in the category of “Michael being Michael” episodes where Michael has a lame idea that turns out okay because of something that happened unbeknownst to him, which swells his ego even more. The only part that cracked me up was seeing Bob Vance’s secretary! And I frankly find the Jim/Pam thing more annoying than anything nowadays. We need some tension in that relationship! The opening joke that Dwight played on Pam was great – if you’re going to dish it out you have to be able to take it too! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/29 "2009-05-08T17:32:39Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Michael says they’ll take their old jobs back… …with Pam and Ryan joining the sales team (Ryan has subsequently been knocked back down to the role of Office Bitch). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/30 "2009-05-08T18:16:09Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > …with Pam and Ryan joining the sales team (Ryan has subsequently been knocked back down to the role of Office Bitch). But he’s eating 5 small meals a day because at least he can control food. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/31 "2009-05-08T18:20:36Z")
Also, Ryan never went to Thailand, but he did eat some Thai food. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/32 "2009-05-08T18:21:30Z")
In Fort Lauderdale. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/33 "2009-05-08T18:22:18Z")
It was a fun episode. Had a smile on my face throughout the whole thing. Wouldn’t really want to see another similar episode though. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/34 "2009-05-08T20:06:01Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The opening prank: Dwight paid Erin, the new receptionist, to shriek with joy that she’d just won an art contest. This, of course, to get Pam’s goat because she struck out with her art career. Pam and Jim thought it was annoying and silly, but Dwight laughed his head off all out of proportion to the level of the joke. Erin, of course, had no idea why Dwight had paid her to do so. > [@nivlac](#): > > The opening joke that Dwight played on Pam was great – if you’re going to dish it out you have to be able to take it too! I agree that it was not a bad prank (though a little cruel), but the difference between Dwight and Jim is that Jim always keeps his cool when pranking Dwight and milks it as long as he can and for all it’s worth. Dwight–being Dwight–_immediately_ runs up to the receptionist to pay her and gloat and throw it in Pam’s face that he had pranked her. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/35 "2009-05-08T21:21:38Z")
“I’m not here to get wet and wild!” ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/36 "2009-05-08T21:54:15Z")
> [@Auntie Pam](#): > > Except that Michael didn’t make it happen. The party didn’t really take off until Michael left the room. When’s he gonna learn that you can’t force people to have fun? It was his idea. He got Erin down there, who got Kelly, who got the warehouse guys, so it was really, essentially, Michael’s idea. It had to catch on by itself, you’re right, he couldn’t force them. As for Dwight giving as good as he got… well, that wasn’t really a prank, was it? It was just nasty taunting. It wasn’t even funny, it was just dickish. At least Jim’s pranks are humorous, and they started because Dwight was such a dictatorial, humorless prick all the time. Sorry, I just have no sympathy for Dwight. If I had to deal with him in real life (as if such a person could really exist), I’d go nuts. I definitely wouldn’t handle him with as much grace as Jim does. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/37 "2009-05-08T22:42:54Z")
Hilarious episode. Dwight’s “alone time” with Phyllis stole the show for me, though Andy was fantastic too. I loved when Phyllis sais “No!” at Dwight cutting her blouse and he said “Please, like it was doing anything for you.” That and Dwight agreeing to dance with Phyllis after she confessed her suspicion about Bob Vance (Vance Refrigeration) cheating with his new secretary. As insenstive as he can be sometimes, Dwight really cares about his co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/38 "2009-05-08T22:53:35Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > As insenstive as he can be sometimes, Dwight really cares about his co-workers. Well, if you consider treating a woman like a racehorse and then referring to her as her husband’s property “really caring,” then yes, Dwight really cares. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/39 "2009-05-08T22:55:08Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > As insenstive as he can be sometimes, Dwight really cares about his co-workers. It sealed it for me when he saw Pam crying – Who did this? Where is he? and he was ready to fight. That was the sweetest moment. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710/40 "2009-05-08T23:46:19Z")
> [@quixotic78](#): > > I _lost_ it when Andy said, “I’m not sure, but I think I’m in the middle of a dance-off.” And then I laughed even harder when it turned out that he was right!! > > A+ I rewatched some scenes quite a few times, and even better what he said was “I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure…” Not sure but pretty sure? Oh, Nard-Dawg, never change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-5-07-09/495710.md?page=3)