Dwight Christmas

Last updated
"Dwight Christmas"
The Office episode
Episode no.Season 9
Episode 9
Directed by Charles McDougall
Written byRobert Padnick
Cinematography byMatt Sohn
Editing byClaire Scanlon
Production code9010 [1]
Original air dateDecember 6, 2012 (2012-12-06) [2]
Running time22 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Target"		Next →
"Lice"
The Office (American season 9)
List of episodes

"Dwight Christmas" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 185th episode overall. The episode was written by Robert Padnick and directed by Charles McDougall. It originally aired on NBC on December 6, 2012. The episode guest stars Robert R. Shafer as Bob Vance and Mark Proksch as Nate.

Contents

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) gets everyone to celebrate with a traditional Schrute Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas. Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) fears that Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) has forgotten to include him in the new job in Philadelphia. Pete (Jake Lacy) teaches Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) about his favorite movie, Die Hard.

"Dwight Christmas" received generally positive reviews from television critics, with many noting that it resembled past Christmas episodes of The Office. The episode was also viewed by 4.16 million viewers and received a 2.1/6 percent rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, ranking fourth in its timeslot. The episode, however, ultimately ranked as the highest-rated NBC series of the night.

Synopsis

The party planning committee drops the ball on the annual Christmas party, and on the behest of Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute gets everyone to celebrate with a traditional Schrute Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas. He dresses up as the traditional winter Christmas gift-bringer figure Belsnickel, cooks German food, and plays a game similar to "Naughty or Nice". The festivities cause displeasure among all the employees except Jim and Pam Halpert, who are amused by Dwight's antics. Jim, however, announces he is leaving the party early to arrive in Philadelphia for his sports marketing job. In response, Dwight repeatedly hits Jim with his switch and leaves the party angrily, after which a "normal" Christmas party is started. Although Pam tries to cheer him up, she too is saddened by Jim's absence. Jim returns later, having discovered that there is a 5 a.m. bus the next morning, and both Dwight and Pam are delighted by his return. During the party, Darryl Philbin fears that Jim has forgotten to include him in the new job in Philadelphia, and gets extremely drunk. When he goes to confront Jim, Jim—not knowing that Darryl was upset—excitedly tells him that he has arranged an interview for him. Darryl, appeased, turns around but passes out and crashes down on the catering table.

Pete Miller teaches Erin Hannon about his favorite movie, Die Hard , and attempts to recite all the dialogue from memory while an impressed Erin checks his accuracy using an online transcript. Andy Bernard, who is still away in the Caribbean after sailing his family's boat, emails Erin and says that he is going to stay for a few weeks. Hurt, Erin decides to watch Die Hard with Pete rather than just hear him quote it. While watching the movie, Erin begins to cry as she starts doubting Andy's commitment to her and Pete tries to comfort her by placing his arm around her, which she accepts. Toby Flenderson tells Nellie Bertram about the Scranton Strangler case he was on. After boring her for what is implied to be several hours, she hushes him and gently kisses him to make him stop talking. Toby passionately kisses her back, and she reciprocates.

Production

"Dwight Christmas" was written by executive story editor Robert Padnick, marking his fourth writing credit for the series after joining the writing staff in the seventh season. [3] [4] [5] [6] It was directed by Charles McDougall, his first directing credit for the season. McDougal's first job for the series was directing its first Christmas episode during the show's second season. [7] The basic plot of the episode, involving Belsnickel, had originally been conceived during the writing for fourth season and was going to air as that year's Christmas installment. However, the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike halted production, and the unfinished script was never used. According to executive producer and showrunner Greg Daniels, the writing staff wanted to use the premise for many years, but could never find a right time to implement it, until an opportunity during the show's last season presented itself. [8] Before the episode aired, Kemper, in an interview with TV Guide said that "I feel like I might be expected to say this because it is the last one, but I truly love this episode so much" and that she "specifically love[s] Dwight's storyline" because "he brings in his family Christmas traditions. I've always held Dwight as one of my favorite characters and now 'Dwight Christmas' just takes it to a new level." [9] Fischer said that filming the last Christmas episode was "emotional" and regretted not being able to have Mindy Kaling, who portrayed Kelly Kapoor on the series, film a karaoke scene. [10] This is the second episode of season nine to not feature Andy or Clark. Ed Helms, who portrayed Andy, left the show temporarily in the season's sixth episode "The Boat" in order to film The Hangover Part III , whereas Clark Duke, who portrayed Clark, left for a few episodes to film Kick-Ass 2 . [11] [12]

On June 26, 2020, it was announced that a scene where the character Nate Nickerson appeared in blackface as the mythical personage Zwarte Piet was removed from the episode in light of the George Floyd protests. [13] [14]

Cultural references

Belsnickelcrop.jpg
Zwarte Piet.jpg
Dwight dresses up as the character Belsnickel (left) and has Nate dress up as Zwarte Piet (right). (The scene featuring Zwarte Piet was edited out of the episode in June 2020.)

Dwight, who dresses up as Belsnickel, has one of the warehouse workers, Nate, dress up as Belsnickel's assistant, Zwarte Piet, before the office vetoes the idea, feeling that it is racist. [15] (In June 2020, the scene featuring Zwarte Piet was removed from Netflix in response to nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd). [16] Dwight presents the camera with a picture of him and his brother celebrating Christmas, and a version of the same photo decorated in the style of the 1999 science fiction film The Matrix . [17] When Jim is trying to convince the office to do Dwight's idea, he mispronounces one of the German character's names, calling him "Hufflepuff", one of the four houses of the magical school Hogwarts from the book series Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. [18] Creed Bratton (a fictionalized version of the actual Creed Bratton) mentions that, for this years party, he wants a "Tapas Swiss Miss"-themed party, which is a combination of Spanish tapas and Swiss Miss hot cocoa. [19] Andy, via email, tells Erin that he saw the 2012 movie Life of Pi , an adaptation of the book of the same name. He also notes that he wants to see the first part of Peter Jackson's 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey . [15] Pete and Kevin make several references to the film Die Hard by quoting lines from the movie, with Erin and Pete eventually watching the movie. [20]

Reception

Ratings

"Dwight Christmas" aired on NBC on December 6, 2012. [2] In its original American broadcast, the episode was viewed by 4.16 million viewers and received a 2.1 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. [21] This means that it was seen by 2.1 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 6 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The Office ranked fourth in its timeslot, being beaten by an episode of the ABC series Grey's Anatomy which received a 3.0/8% rating, an entry of the CBS series Person of Interest which received a 2.9/8%, and an installment of the Fox program Glee , which earned a 2.2/6% rating. In addition, The Office was the highest-rated NBC television program. [21] The episode ranked number one in its timeslot for men aged 18–34. [22]

Critical reception

The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics. Andrea Reiher of Zap2it named "Dwight Christmas" the best comedy TV episode of 2012. She wrote that the episode "was not only funny but had a huge nostalgia factor", and continued the show's trend of strong holiday episodes. Reiher also praised the episode's two subplots, writing that "drunk Darryl and Die Hard" helped produce "a classic episode of The Office that brought back the warm and fuzzy feelings of the early seasons of the show." [20]

Bonnie Stiernberg of Paste awarded the episode an 8 out of 10. Although she noted that Erin and Pete's subplot "could've easily been ripped from the season two Jim-Pam-Roy storyline", she concluded that "The Office successfully found a way to make its final Christmas count." [23] Damon Houx of Screen Crush called the episode "a really good Christmas episode" that "got [the] central three characters absolutely right". Although he wrote that the show was missing several cast members, like Helms and Duke, it was "as good as the post-Carell Office has been". [12] Cindy White of IGN awarded the episode a 9 out of 10, denoting an "amazing episode". She wrote that it "harkens back to forgotten holiday traditions of old, like good Christmas episodes of The Office". She also concluded that "the nostalgia swirling around Dwight Christmas was particularly noticeable" which she deduced was probably "a conscious effort here on the part of the writers to recapture that old Office magic and make this one to remember, and I think that effort paid off." [19]

Brett Davinger of the California Literary Review wrote that, while the episode's plot was "not particularly notable" on the surface, it manages to work "because of Rainn Wilson's commitment to it". Furthermore, he wrote that the episode concluded the first half of the season in a "respectable and respectful" manner. [17] Dan Forcella of TV Fanatic awarded the episode four-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "a worthy extension of [The Office Christmas] tradition" and "definitely one of the best episodes of this final season". He praised Dwight's antics as well as Kevin's humorous lines. [24] Michael Tedder of Vulture awarded the episode four stars out of five and wrote that "part of the charm of this episode was that the writers didn't try to stuff it with too much plot". [25] One of the very few mixed reviews was written by Caroline Framke of The A.V. Club , who awarded the episode a "B−" and argued that "Dwight Christmas" was trying too hard to replicate the humor of the second-season episode "Christmas Party". She concluded that the episode "ranks as more impish than admirable." [18]

Related Research Articles

"Counseling" is the second episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the shows 128th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on September 30, 2010. The episode was written by B. J. Novak and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. "Counseling" guest stars Eric Zuckerman as a store clerk, Vincent Angelo as a vendor, and Michael Schur as Mose Schrute. Evan Peters also appears as Luke Cooper in archival footage from the previous episode.

"Viewing Party" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 134th episode overall. Written by Jon Vitti and directed by Ken Whittingham, the episode aired on NBC in the United States on November 11, 2010.

"China" is the tenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 136th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on December 2, 2010. The episode was written by Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein, and directed by Charles McDougall. The episode guest stars Mark Proksch as Nate and Hugh Dane as Hank.

"Classy Christmas" is the collective name for the eleventh and twelfth episodes of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 137th and 138th episodes overall. Written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Rainn Wilson, the episode originally aired on December 9, 2010 on NBC. "Classy Christmas" guest stars Jack Coleman as Senator Robert Lipton, Rob Huebel as A.J., Mark Proksch as Nate, and marks the return of Amy Ryan as Holly Flax.

"Todd Packer" is the eighteenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 144th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on February 24, 2011. The episode was written by Amelie Gillette and directed by Randall Einhorn.

"Lotto" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 155th episode overall. It was written by Charlie Grandy and directed by cast member John Krasinski. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 6, 2011. The episode guest stars Mark Proksch as Nate and Hugh Dane as Hank the security guard.

"Christmas Wishes" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 162nd episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on December 8, 2011. It was written by executive producer Mindy Kaling and was directed by Ed Helms in his directorial debut. The episode guest starred Lindsey Broad, Ameenah Kaplan, and Eleanor Seigler.

"Pool Party" is the twelfth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 164th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 19, 2012. It was written by Owen Ellickson and was directed by Charles McDougall. The episode guest starred Lindsey Broad and Eleanor Seigler.

"Test the Store" is the seventeenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 169th episode overall. The episode was written by Mindy Kaling, directed by Brent Forrester, and aired on NBC in the United States on March 1, 2012.

"Last Day in Florida" is the eighteenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 170th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 8, 2012. "Last Day in Florida" was written by Robert Padnick and directed by Matt Sohn. The episode features the final appearance of Lindsey Broad and guest stars Georgia Engel.

"Get the Girl" is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 171st episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 15, 2012. "Get the Girl" was written by Charlie Grandy and directed by series regular Rainn Wilson, who portrays Dwight Schrute.

<i>The Office</i> (American TV series) season 9 Season of television series

The ninth and final season of the American television comedy The Office premiered on NBC on September 20, 2012, and concluded on May 16, 2013, consisting of 25 episodes. The Office is an American adaptation of the British comedy series, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The ninth season of The Office aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) in the United States, as part of the Comedy Night Done Right television block. It stars Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and Ed Helms, with supporting performances from Catherine Tate, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Clark Duke, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, Angela Kinsey, Jake Lacy, Paul Lieberstein, B. J. Novak, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, and Phyllis Smith. This is the second season not to star Steve Carell as lead character Michael Scott, although he returned for a cameo appearance in the series finale.

"Roy's Wedding" is the second episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 178th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC on September 27, 2012. The episode guest stars David Denman as Roy Anderson, Michael Patrick McGill as his brother, Kenny, Robert R. Shafer as Bob Vance, and Ameenah Kaplan as Val.

"Andy's Ancestry" is the third episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office. The episode originally aired on NBC on October 4, 2012. The episode was written by Jonathan Green and Gabe Miller, and was directed by David Rogers. The episode guest stars Randall Park as Jim and Pam's actor friend, Steve.

"The Target" is the eighth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 184th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC on November 29, 2012. It features guest star Chris Gethard as Trevor.

"Lice" is the tenth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 186th episode overall. The episode was written by Niki Schwartz-Wright and directed by Rodman Flender. It originally aired on NBC on January 10, 2013. The episode guest stars Julius "Dr. J" Erving as himself.

"Suit Warehouse" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 187th episode overall. The episode was written by Dan Greaney and directed by Matt Sohn. It originally aired on NBC on January 17, 2013.

Customer Loyalty (<i>The Office</i>) 12th episode of the 9th season of The Office

"Customer Loyalty" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 188th episode overall. The episode was written by Jonathan Green and Gabe Miller, and directed by Kelly Cantley. It originally aired on NBC on January 24, 2013. The episode guest stars Chris Diamantopoulos as Brian the boom mike operator, and Ben Silverman as Isaac, a coworker of Jim's.

"Moving On" is the sixteenth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 192nd episode overall. The episode was written by Graham Wagner and directed by Jon Favreau. It originally aired on NBC on February 14, 2013. The episode guest stars Bob Odenkirk, Mary Gillis, Collette Wolfe, and Andy Buckley. The episode also features the return of former series regular Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis.

"A.A.R.M." is the collective name for the twenty-second and twenty-third episodes of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office, as well as the 198th and 199th episode overall. It was also the series' penultimate entry, airing a week before the series finale. It originally aired on NBC on May 9, 2013. This episode guest stars Nora Kirkpatrick, Aaron Rodgers, Clay Aiken, Mark McGrath, Santigold, Jessica St. Clair, and Rachel Crow.

References

  1. ↑ "Shows A–Z – Office, The on NBC". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "The Office : Dwight Christmas". Zap2it . Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ Robert Padnick (writer); Greg Daniels (director) (February 10, 2011). "PDA". The Office. Season 7. Episode 16. NBC.
  4. ↑ Robert Padnick (writer); Jeffrey Blitz (director) (November 17, 2011). "Gettysburg". The Office. Season 8. Episode 8. NBC.
  5. ↑ Robert Padnick (writer); Brent Forrester (director) (March 8, 2012). "Last Day in Florida". The Office. Season 8. Episode 17. NBC.
  6. ↑ Robert Padnick (writer); Charles McDougall (director) (December 6, 2012). "Dwight Christmas". The Office. Season 9. Episode 9. NBC.
  7. ↑ Charles McDougall (director); Michael Schur (writer) (December 6, 2005). "Christmas Party". The Office. Season 2. Episode 10. NBC.
  8. ↑ "Greg Daniel/John Krasinski Press Call". OfficeTally. May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  9. ↑ Harp, Justin (December 6, 2012). "'The Office' Star Ellie Kemper Teases Last-Ever Christmas Episode". Digital Spy . Hearst Magazines British . Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Jenna on the Final Christmas Party". NBC.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ White, Cindy (November 9, 2012). "The Office: "The Boat" Review". IGN . News Corporation . Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  12. 1 2 Houx, Damon (December 7, 2012). "'The Office' Review: 'Dwight Christmas'". Screen Crush. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  13. ↑ Thorne, Will (June 26, 2020). "'The Office' Blackface Scene Edited Out, Netflix Pulls 'Community' Blackface Episode". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  14. ↑ Venable, Nick (June 28, 2020). "10 Big TV Shows That Removed Episodes From Streaming Over Controversial Blackface Scenes". CinemaBlend. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Giant, M. "Dwight Christmas". Television Without Pity . NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  16. ↑ Saavedra, John (June 29, 2020). "The Office: NBC and Netflix Remove Blackface Scene from 'Dwight Christmas' Episode". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  17. 1 2 Davinger, Brett (December 7, 2012). "The Office Recap: Dwight Christmas (Season 9, Episode 9)". California Literary Review.
  18. 1 2 Framke, Caroline (December 7, 2012). "'Dwight Christmas' | The Office | TV Club". The A.V. Club . The Onion . Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  19. 1 2 White, Cindy (December 7, 2012). "The Office: 'Dwight Christmas' Review". IGN . News Corporation . Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  20. 1 2 Reiher, Andrea (January 2, 2013). "The Best TV Episodes of 2012: 'The Good Wife,' 'The Office' and 'Big Brother'". Zap2it . Tribune Media Services. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  21. 1 2 Kondolojy, Amanda (December 7, 2012). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The X Factor', 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'Glee' Adjusted Up; 'Two and a Half Men', 'Elementary', 'Person of Interest' and 'Big Bang Theory' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers . Zap2it. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  22. ↑ "NBC's THE OFFICE Grows 7% in Total Viewers". BroadwayWorld. Wisdom Digital Media. December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  23. ↑ Stiernberg, Bonnie (December 7, 2012). "The Office Review: "Dwight Christmas" (Episode 9.09)". Paste . Wolfgang's Vault . Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  24. ↑ Forcella, Dan (December 7, 2012). "The Office Review: Impish or Admirable?". TV Fanatic. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  25. ↑ Tedder, Michael (December 7, 2012). "The Office Recap: Last Christmas". Vulture . New York Media, LLC. Retrieved December 7, 2012.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.