The Promotion (The Office)

Last updated

"The Promotion"
The Office episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 3
Directed by Jennifer Celotta
Written byJennifer Celotta
Cinematography by Randall Einhorn
Editing by David Rogers
Production code603
Original air dateOctober 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)
Guest appearance
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Meeting"		Next →
"Niagara"
The Office (American season 6)
List of episodes

"The Promotion" is the third episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 103rd episode overall. [1] It was written and directed by Jennifer Celotta and originally aired in the United States on NBC on October 1, 2009.

Contents

In this episode, the office struggles to deal with having both Michael and Jim as managers, with Dwight trying to manipulate the office into thinking that Jim will be a horrible boss. Meanwhile, Pam tries to get people to give money as a wedding gift.

Synopsis

The office is trying to adjust to having both Michael Scott and Jim Halpert as bosses, with Jim moving into a newly built personal office space in the main section. Michael and Jim constantly find themselves at odds with each other as Michael keeps having "conference room meetings" while Jim wants to keep productivity in the office place. They get a call from CFO David Wallace who tells them that not everyone in the branch will get their desired raise and that they will have to decide how to disperse it amongst the employees. Michael gets annoyed when Jim keeps making pros and cons lists for each idea. Jim decides to give the raises to the sales staff since they bring money to the company. Michael is against the idea, but invites Jim to announce it to the office.

Dwight Schrute, not wanting Jim as a boss, complains about the unfairness of Jim's decision despite being a salesman, as do all the non-sales people. Michael, who was scoffing at Jim, is then asked to give his idea, but he does not speak coherently about it, leading everyone to rail against him as much as Jim. Michael and Jim go back into the conference room to decide how to handle the raise issue. They ultimately decide that the raises should be performance-based, and decide to take turns placing beans on employee pictures, with each bean representing a small raise. When Michael and Jim leave the conference room, Dwight sneaks into the conference room and shows the employees their plan. Everyone gets upset at Michael and Jim for this, particularly Pam Beesly, whose picture did not have any beans, as Jim was trying to remain unbiased.

With the entire office now upset with both Michael and Jim, Dwight uses this opportunity to start an uprising against Jim personally. However, everyone in the office refuses to as they are more concerned about the raise issue. Michael then goes into Jim's office to check on him. Michael explains he felt terrible having to make those kinds of decisions on his own and he leaves to get Jim something. Jim comments that Michael is currently his only friend in the office at the moment, as everyone else, even probably Pam, is upset at him about the raise situation. Michael returns to give Jim his own new "World's Best Boss" mug and they share some gin together.

Pam is trying to discreetly ask everyone to give cash as wedding gifts instead of actual gifts. She first tries Phyllis Vance to no avail. She manages to get Kevin Malone to write her a $40 check, and starts to feel guilty about asking people for simple cash, but she gets ecstatic when she sees that the check is made out to "Mrs. Pam Halpert". When she then tries Ryan Howard, he cons her into giving him $50 as a supposed investment in betting on college basketball games.

Reception

In its original American broadcast on October 1, 2009, "The Promotion" was seen by 7.28 million households, according to Nielsen ratings. It was a drop in viewership compared to the previous week's episode, "The Meeting". "The Promotion" received a 3.7 rating/10 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. [2] The episode received generally mixed reviews. Several commentators specifically praised the scene in which Meredith and Creed reveal they previously had sex. [3] [4] [5] [6]

""The Promotion" stands as a perfect marriage between a genuinely funny situation and a number of goofy asides and comedic gags, a formula which always makes for a great episode. Michael and Jim's dynamic grows a lot in this one episode."

Dan Phillips, IGN [4]

Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said the episode "represented both a return to The Office's roots and a bold look at what the future holds for the Dunder-Mifflin gang" due to the Michael and Jim co-manager arrangement. Rabin praised the episode's "sharp little character moments", like Oscar's deadpan speeches and Ryan's gambling schemes. [7] IGN writer Dan Phillips said the episode further developed the relationship between Jim and Michael, and Phillips liked that they found common ground at the end. He also praised "laugh-out-loud gags", like the revelation about Creed and Meredith. [4]

New York magazine writer Will Leitch said it was smart to make Jim a smug, flawed manager, and said "it was impossible not to love the quiet final scene with Michael and Jim bonding over the hatred their co-workers feel for them". [5] Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly said the episode felt like a "placeholder", although she said it improved upon a second viewing. Lyons said the episode had some good moments, "none of these moments seemed tied to the main plot" and was "basically just killing a week until The Big Wedding Episode OMG next Thursday". [3] Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said "The Promotion" did not live up to a "promising new dynamic" between Michael and Jim set up in the previous episode, "The Meeting". However, Sepinwall said he liked the gifts subplot with Pam, and said Dwight's new role as "the office insurrectionist" has promise. [6]

Related Research Articles

"The Negotiation" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's forty-seventh episode overall. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Roy Anderson tries to attack Jim Halpert for kissing Pam Beesly on Casino Night, only to be pepper-sprayed by Dwight Schrute. Jim repeatedly tries to thank Dwight for his actions, but each attempt is rejected. Meanwhile, with Roy fired, Darryl Philbin asks for a raise and is astounded when he learns that this raise would cause him to be paid more than his boss, Michael Scott.

"Dunder Mifflin Infinity" is the third and fourth episode of the fourth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh episode overall. It was written by Michael Schur, who also acts in the show, and directed by Craig Zisk. It first aired in the United States on October 4, 2007, on NBC.

"Lecture Circuit" is a two-part episode of the American comedy television series The Office. They constituted the sixteenth and seventeenth episodes of the fifth season and the 88th and 89th overall episodes of the series. The first episode originally aired on NBC on February 5, 2009, and the second on February 12.

"Golden Ticket" is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office and the 91st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 12, 2009.

"Heavy Competition" is the twenty-fourth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office and the 96th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 16, 2009. In the episode, Michael enlists the help of Dwight in getting Michael's new paper company off the ground, but the two eventually end up engaging in a war for each other's clients. Meanwhile, Jim pretends to be afraid of his future with Pam to play a prank on Andy, who is still reeling over his recent break up with Angela.

"Casual Friday" is the twenty-sixth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office and the 98th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 30, 2009. In this episode, Michael, Pam and Ryan return to Dunder Mifflin as salespeople, and other members of the sales staff become upset when they do not get their old clients back that the Michael Scott Paper Company stole from them. Meanwhile, Jim tries to remain neutral about the situation and plays board games with Creed, and Casual Friday is reinstated in the office, with mixed results.

"The Meeting" is the second episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 102nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States and simultaneously on CTV in Canada on September 24, 2009.

Niagara (<i>The Office</i>) 4th and 5th episodes of the 6th season of The Office

"Niagara" is a two-part episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office. It is the 4th and 5th episodes in the season's episode count and the 104th and 105th episode of the series overall. The episode was written by executive producer Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling, and was directed by Paul Feig. It originally aired on October 8, 2009 on NBC in the United States.

"Double Date" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 109th episode overall. It was written by Charlie Grandy and directed by Seth Gordon. It originally aired on NBC on November 5, 2009.

"Murder" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 110th episode overall. It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Greg Daniels. It originally aired on NBC on November 12, 2009. The episode guest stars Andy Buckley as David Wallace, although he only appears via the phone.

"Shareholder Meeting" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 111th episode overall. Written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Charles McDougall, it originally aired on NBC on November 19, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott's Tots</span> 12th episode of the 6th season of The Office

"Scott's Tots" is the twelfth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 112th episode overall. The episode was directed by B. J. Novak, his directorial debut for the series, and written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. It first aired in the United States on NBC on December 3, 2009.

Secret Santa (<i>The Office</i>) 13th episode of the 6th season of The Office

"Secret Santa" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 113th episode overall. It was written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Randall Einhorn. The episode aired on NBC on December 10, 2009. The night the episode premiered, it was immediately followed by an episode of 30 Rock with the same title.

"The Manager and the Salesman" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 116th episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Marc Webb, it first aired in the United States on NBC on February 11, 2010.

"The Delivery" is a two-part episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office. The episode aired on NBC on March 4, 2010. Since it is an hour-long episode, it is considered to be the 17th and 18th episodes in the season's episode count. It is the 117th and 118th episode overall.

"Happy Hour" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 121st episode overall. It originally aired March 25, 2010 on NBC.

"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.

"Garden Party" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 156th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 13, 2011. It was written by co-executive producer Justin Spitzer and was directed by David Rogers and marks Mindy Kaling's first credit as executive producer. "Garden Party" features guest appearances from Josh Groban, Dee Wallace, and Stephen Collins.

"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. ↑ The Office 6.03 – The Promotion [ permanent dead link ] NBC Universal Media Village. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  2. ↑ Gorman, Bill (October 2, 2009). "TV Ratings Thursday: Flash Forward, Grey's Anatomy Stay Strong; Private Practice Opens Big". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Lyons, Margaret (October 2, 2009). ""The Office" recap: Like a boss". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 Phillips, Dan (October 2, 2009). "The Office: "The Promotion" Review". IGN . Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  5. 1 2 Leitch, Will (October 2, 2009). "The Office: Twofer". New York . Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  6. 1 2 Sepinwall, Alan (October 2, 2009). "The Office, "The Promotion": What does a bean mean?". The Star-Ledger . Newark, New Jersey . Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  7. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (October 1, 2009). "The Office: "The Promotion"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved October 29, 2009.
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.