Basketball (The Office episode)

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The Office episode

"Basketball"
The Warehouse challenges the Office to a heated game of "Basketball"
Episode No.	5
Prod. Code	104
Airdate	April 19, 2005
Writer(s)	Greg Daniels
Director	Greg Daniels
Guest star(s)	Matt DeCaro Patrice O'Neal Craig Robinson Karly Rothenberg
The Office Season 1 March 2005 - April 2005
Pilot Diversity Day Health Care The Alliance Basketball Hot Girl
List of all The Office episodes...

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The Office (US)

"Basketball" is the fifth episode of the first season of U.S. television comedy The Office. It was written and directed by Greg Daniels. It first aired on April 19, 2005.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Deleted scenes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

After noticing new hoops in the warehouse, Michael comes into work prepared to play basketball with Jim and Ryan against the warehouse workers. Dwight is also prepared to play but Michael distracts him by assigning him to work on the weekend work calendar. Michael challenges the warehouse crew to a match with the losers having to work on Saturday. Michael picks Jim, Ryan, Stanley (Michael's "secret weapon" on account of his race), and, reluctantly, Dwight and Phyllis (as an alternate).

The game begins and Michael discovers that Stanley, despite being black, is a horrible player. Furthermore, he himself can not make a shot, nor is he a fan of passing or defending. During the game, Roy and Jim start gradually becoming aggressive toward each other, with Pam looking on. At a crucial point in the game, Michael is accidentally hit in the face. He pettily stops the game and declares the office winners since they were winning when the foul occurred. The warehouse finds the call unfair and Michael caves under pressure, stating the office would come in on Saturday instead. As everybody is returning to work upstairs, Kevin shoots hoops with Jim and Ryan, making every shot.

Afterwards, Michael, in a rare (and short-lived) moment of heart, tells the office that they don't have to come in on Saturday either. However, his justification does little to calm them: "Like coming in an extra day is going to prevent us from being downsized."

[edit] Trivia

For a list of songs featured in this episode, see List of songs featured on The Office (US TV series).

This episode was inspired by a cut interview with Michael from the "Pilot" episode where he brags about playing basketball in the warehouse.^[1]
Jim's response to Michael's line to "try not to be too gay on the court" was genuine; the line was improvised by Steve Carell.^[2]
Darryl suggests the winner of the game gets treated to "dinner at Farley's", which is a real restaurant in Scranton, Pennsylvania.^[2] Steve Carell also quipped that if Farley's made a "Steve Carell Burger," he would personally fly to Scranton to "cut the ribbon."^[3]
David Denman's elbowing of John Krasinski in the lip was an accident. The blood on Jim's lip is real, and Krasinksi missed a photo shoot the next day due to the swelling. Denman reportedly felt horrible.^[2]
Although only a few made the final cut, Brian Baumgartner actually made fourteen shots in a row during the filming of Kevin's scene on the court after the game.^[2]
According to her blog, this episode contains Jenna Fischer's favorite Pam line of all-time: "Please don't throw garbage at me."^[4]

[edit] Deleted scenes

The Season One DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include:

Pam compliments Michael on his new pants.
Michael complains to Dwight about looking at the camera.
Michael talks to the warehouse crew about the 76ers game.
Michael talks about his nicknames on the basketball court.
Kevin asks Dwight for Saturday off for band rehearsal.
Michael calls Todd Packer to remind him about the game.
Dwight eats Angela's Tootsie Rolls as a form of blackmail.
Pam laments Roy's recent monetary decisions.
Dwight tries to protect his dry erase board schedule from Jim.
A series of interviews where Michael shares more thoughts on basketball.
Stanley hurts his knee and is replaced by Phyllis.
Michael makes a full-court shot, much to everyone's (including his) surprise.

[edit] References

^ Daniels, Greg (Producer). 2005. "Basketball" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Krasinski, John (Actor). 2005. "Basketball" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
^ Carell, Steve (Actor). 2005. "Basketball" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
^ Fischer, Jenna (May 11, 2006). "Supersize Office Finale, Supersize Blog!", TVGuide.com