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Ben Franklin (The Office)
Encyclopedia
"Ben Franklin" is the fifteenth episode of the third season
of the American
comedy
television series
The Office, and the show's forty-third episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling
, who also acts in the show as Kelly Kapoor
, and directed by Randall Einhorn
, the episode first aired in the United States
on February 1, 2007 on NBC
. "Ben Franklin" received 5.0/13 in the ages 18–49 demographic of the Nielsen ratings
, and was watched by an estimated audience of 10.1 million viewers., and the episode received mixed reviews among critics.
In the episode, the employees from the office prepare for Phyllis's wedding. Michael, acting under advice from Todd, instructs Dwight to hire a stripper for the men and delegates Jim to hire one for the women. While Dwight hires a stripper, Jim ends up hiring a Ben Franklin impersonator instead.
(Phyllis Smith) while Bob Vance's (Robert R. Shafer
) bachelor party is held in the warehouse. Todd Packer (David Koechner
) convinces Michael Scott
(Steve Carell
) that it is okay to hire a stripper for the bachelor party if he also gets a male stripper for the bridal shower. Jim Halpert
(John Krasinski
) is tired at work because he has been having many "late-night talks" with Karen Filippelli
(Rashida Jones
) after she learned that he still has feelings for Pam Beesly
(Jenna Fischer
).
Michael delegates the work of finding the two strippers to Dwight Schrute
(Rainn Wilson
) and Jim. Dwight asks Jim if he prefers either a redhead or a brunette, and Jim responds "blonde" while Pam and Karen (redhead and brunette respectively) look over Jim and then at each other for a quick second. While Dwight locates a stripper named Elizabeth (Jackie Debatin) for Bob Vance's party, Jim orders an educational Benjamin Franklin
impersonator (Andrew Daly
) as a joke. Pam and Karen have fun gently heckling the impersonator. During a talking head interview Dwight reveals that Jim has told him that the impersonater is the real Ben Franklin. Dwight says he's "99% sure" the impersonator is not the real Ben Franklin but ask questions to the impersonator that he believes only the real Ben Franklin would know. However, because the impersonator is a historian and studied the life of Ben Franklin, he answers each question correctly without hesitation, much to Dwight's anger and disbelief. In the break room, Pam and Karen share an awkward conversation about Jim and Pam's kiss.
At the bachelor party, Bob Vance refuses a lap dance, so Michael volunteers. Before the stripper is able to perform the lap dance, Michael brings the show to an abrupt close, unwilling to do what he considers cheating on Jan Levenson (Melora Hardin
). Pam and Jim have an understated confrontation in the break room, which ends with Pam asking Ryan Howard
(B. J. Novak
) to set her up with some of his friends from business school in front of a visibly shocked and upset Jim.
. Einhorn had previously directed "Initiation", as well as the summer spin-off
webisodes "The Accountants
". "Ben Franklin" was written by Mindy Kaling
, who acts on the show as customer service representative Kelly Kapoor
. The episode was the sixth of the series written by Kaling.
Jackie Debatin, who appeared in "Ben Franklin" as Elizabeth, is used to playing strippers and hookers. Debatin had previously been a stripper on Friends
, a stripper on That '70s Show
, a stripper on Two and a Half Men
, a madam on Veronica Mars
, and a call girl on Boston Legal
. In an interview, Debatin said playing Elizabeth was "probably the best experience I have had in TV work", because the cast and crew were "down to earth, fun, grateful to be there". Although actor Andrew Daly
, who played Gordon the Ben Franklin impersonator, had already known John Krasinski
, Angela Kinsey
, B. J. Novak
and Kate Flannery
, he said that The Office cast and crew "could not have been more welcoming to me." Daly especially liked it when the actors "depart[ed] from the script and improvising a little."
. This means that five percent of all households with an 18 to 49 year old living in it watched the episode, and 13 percent had their television tuned to the channel at any point. The episode was watched by an estimated audience of 10.1 million viewers. "Ben Franklin" is one of only three other episodes of The Office to reach over 10 million viewers, the others being the show's pilot episode, "Traveling Salesmen" and "Stress Relief," of which the latter reached over 20 million viewers.
"Ben Franklin" received mixed, but mostly good, reviews from critics. IGN
's Brian Zoromski wrote that "The Office was in truly excellent form this week." Zoromski went on to credit the "great progression" in the Jim-Pam-Karen love triangle and Michael being "his completely inept self" as parts of the episode that made it "one of the best Office episodes this season". Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad was less enthusiastic about the episode, writing that although it was "solid", "not much happened here other than the Jim-Karen-Pam triangle." Abby West, of Entertainment Weekly
, praised the love triangle, saying "The Pam/Karen confrontation was as uncomfortable as I could possibly hope for. It's so gratifying to see Pam's armor cracking." West also praised the work of the supporting cast.
The Office (U.S. TV series) season 3
The third season of the American television comedy The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on September 21, 2006, and concluded on May 17, 2007. The season had a total of 25 half-hours of material, divided into 17 half-hour episodes, four 40-minute "super-sized" episodes, and two one-hour...
of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
The Office, and the show's forty-third episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
, who also acts in the show as Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor , is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. She is played by Mindy Kaling, who is also a writer and producer for the show....
, and directed by Randall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn is an American television director and cinematographer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office . He also directed The Accountants, a ten-part webisode spinoff of The Office which appeared online between the second and third seasons...
, the episode first aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on February 1, 2007 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. "Ben Franklin" received 5.0/13 in the ages 18–49 demographic of the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, and was watched by an estimated audience of 10.1 million viewers., and the episode received mixed reviews among critics.
In the episode, the employees from the office prepare for Phyllis's wedding. Michael, acting under advice from Todd, instructs Dwight to hire a stripper for the men and delegates Jim to hire one for the women. While Dwight hires a stripper, Jim ends up hiring a Ben Franklin impersonator instead.
Plot
The office plays host to a bridal shower for Phyllis LapinPhyllis Lapin
Phyllis Margaret Vance is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. She is played by Phyllis Smith.-Biography:...
(Phyllis Smith) while Bob Vance's (Robert R. Shafer
Robert R. Shafer
Robert Shafer is an American actor who has amassed a substantial cult-following for having played Officer Joe Vickers in the 1989 horror-comedy Psycho Cop and the sequel Psycho Cop 2. Shafer, sometimes credited as Bobby Ray Shafer, is best known for playing Bob Vance on The Office...
) bachelor party is held in the warehouse. Todd Packer (David Koechner
David Koechner
David Michael Koechner is an American comedian, musician, and character actor. Koechner began studying improvisational comedy in Chicago at the ImprovOlympic, under the teachings of Del Close, before joining the Second City Northwest...
) convinces Michael Scott
Michael Scott (The Office)
Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...
(Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
) that it is okay to hire a stripper for the bachelor party if he also gets a male stripper for the bridal shower. Jim Halpert
Jim Halpert
James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office...
(John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
) is tired at work because he has been having many "late-night talks" with Karen Filippelli
Karen Filippelli
Karen Filippelli is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. She is played by Rashida Jones. She is loosely based on the character of Rachel from the original UK version of the show, in that she transferred during the merger of the two branches, and became romantically...
(Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
) after she learned that he still has feelings for Pam Beesly
Pam Beesly
Pamela Morgan "Pam" Halpert 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....
(Jenna Fischer
Jenna Fischer
Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Pam Halpert on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...
).
Michael delegates the work of finding the two strippers to Dwight Schrute
Dwight Schrute
Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a character on NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. He originally exactly resembled Gareth Keenan from the original UK version of The Office. Dwight is the top salesman and former acting manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and has won numerous awards for...
(Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Dietrich Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office...
) and Jim. Dwight asks Jim if he prefers either a redhead or a brunette, and Jim responds "blonde" while Pam and Karen (redhead and brunette respectively) look over Jim and then at each other for a quick second. While Dwight locates a stripper named Elizabeth (Jackie Debatin) for Bob Vance's party, Jim orders an educational Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
impersonator (Andrew Daly
Andrew Daly
Andrew "Andy" Daly is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for playing Principal Terrence Cutler in the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down.-Early life:Daly was born in Mount Kisco, New York and raised in New Jersey...
) as a joke. Pam and Karen have fun gently heckling the impersonator. During a talking head interview Dwight reveals that Jim has told him that the impersonater is the real Ben Franklin. Dwight says he's "99% sure" the impersonator is not the real Ben Franklin but ask questions to the impersonator that he believes only the real Ben Franklin would know. However, because the impersonator is a historian and studied the life of Ben Franklin, he answers each question correctly without hesitation, much to Dwight's anger and disbelief. In the break room, Pam and Karen share an awkward conversation about Jim and Pam's kiss.
At the bachelor party, Bob Vance refuses a lap dance, so Michael volunteers. Before the stripper is able to perform the lap dance, Michael brings the show to an abrupt close, unwilling to do what he considers cheating on Jan Levenson (Melora Hardin
Melora Hardin
Melora Diane Hardin is an American actress, best known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's The Office and Trudy Monk on USA's Monk.-Early life:...
). Pam and Jim have an understated confrontation in the break room, which ends with Pam asking Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard (The Office)
Ryan Bailey Howard , played by B. J. Novak, is a fictional character on the US television sitcom The Office. He is based upon Ricky Howard from the original version of The Office , but his role is significantly expanded and he is a main character.-Character profile:Little is known about Ryan's...
(B. J. Novak
B. J. Novak
Benjamin Joseph Manaly “B. J.” Novak is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for being a writer and co-executive producer for and playing the role of Ryan Howard on the US version of The Office, as well as appearing in Inglourious Basterds...
) to set her up with some of his friends from business school in front of a visibly shocked and upset Jim.
Production
"Ben Franklin" was the second episode of the series directed by Randall EinhornRandall Einhorn
Randall Einhorn is an American television director and cinematographer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office . He also directed The Accountants, a ten-part webisode spinoff of The Office which appeared online between the second and third seasons...
. Einhorn had previously directed "Initiation", as well as the summer spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
webisodes "The Accountants
The Accountants
The Office: The Accountants is an American comedy web series, spin-off from the television show The Office. The series depicts office accountants in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company trying to find $3000 missing from the office budget...
". "Ben Franklin" was written by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
, who acts on the show as customer service representative Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Kapoor
Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor , is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. She is played by Mindy Kaling, who is also a writer and producer for the show....
. The episode was the sixth of the series written by Kaling.
Jackie Debatin, who appeared in "Ben Franklin" as Elizabeth, is used to playing strippers and hookers. Debatin had previously been a stripper on Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, a stripper on That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
, a stripper on Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, a madam on Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
, and a call girl on Boston Legal
Boston Legal
Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...
. In an interview, Debatin said playing Elizabeth was "probably the best experience I have had in TV work", because the cast and crew were "down to earth, fun, grateful to be there". Although actor Andrew Daly
Andrew Daly
Andrew "Andy" Daly is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for playing Principal Terrence Cutler in the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down.-Early life:Daly was born in Mount Kisco, New York and raised in New Jersey...
, who played Gordon the Ben Franklin impersonator, had already known John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...
, Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey is an American actress. She currently appears as the uptight accountant Angela Martin on the hit NBC television series The Office.-Personal life:...
, B. J. Novak
B. J. Novak
Benjamin Joseph Manaly “B. J.” Novak is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for being a writer and co-executive producer for and playing the role of Ryan Howard on the US version of The Office, as well as appearing in Inglourious Basterds...
and Kate Flannery
Kate Flannery
Katherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery is an American actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer on the NBC hit series The Office.-Personal life:...
, he said that The Office cast and crew "could not have been more welcoming to me." Daly especially liked it when the actors "depart[ed] from the script and improvising a little."
Reception
"Ben Franklin" received 5.0/13 in the ages 18–49 demographic of the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. This means that five percent of all households with an 18 to 49 year old living in it watched the episode, and 13 percent had their television tuned to the channel at any point. The episode was watched by an estimated audience of 10.1 million viewers. "Ben Franklin" is one of only three other episodes of The Office to reach over 10 million viewers, the others being the show's pilot episode, "Traveling Salesmen" and "Stress Relief," of which the latter reached over 20 million viewers.
"Ben Franklin" received mixed, but mostly good, reviews from critics. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Brian Zoromski wrote that "The Office was in truly excellent form this week." Zoromski went on to credit the "great progression" in the Jim-Pam-Karen love triangle and Michael being "his completely inept self" as parts of the episode that made it "one of the best Office episodes this season". Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad was less enthusiastic about the episode, writing that although it was "solid", "not much happened here other than the Jim-Karen-Pam triangle." Abby West, of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, praised the love triangle, saying "The Pam/Karen confrontation was as uncomfortable as I could possibly hope for. It's so gratifying to see Pam's armor cracking." West also praised the work of the supporting cast.
External links
- "Ben Franklin" at NBC.com