Safety Training
Encyclopedia
"Safety Training" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American comedy
television series
The Office. Written by B. J. Novak
, who also acts in the show as sales representative Ryan Howard
, and directed by Caddyshack
and National Lampoon's Vacation
director Harold Ramis
, the episode aired in the United States on April 12, 2007 on NBC
.
In the episode, Michael attempts to prove life in an office is dangerous after Darryl berates him about the dangers of the warehouse. The attempts lead him to the roof of the building, where he tries to show that depression caused by an office can lead to desperate circumstances. Meanwhile, gambling between the other employees of the office leads Karen to discover that she is still an outsider.
(Steve Carell
) repeatedly disrupts Darryl Philbin
's (Craig Robinson) warehouse safety training session, Lonny Collins (Patrice Oneal
) and Darryl mock the office workers' safety session in retaliation, claiming that office work does not entail physical danger. Offended by Darryl's disdain for office safety training, Michael decides to demonstrate the risk of depression and suicide
by jumping off the roof, landing on a hidden trampoline
. When Michael tests out the trampoline landing on a watermelon, it bounces off and hits an office worker's car, prompting it to be replaced by a bouncy castle hidden from the general view of the parking lot. From the roof of the building, Michael talks dramatically about the dangers of depression. When the bouncy castle is discovered, Jim and Pam realize that Michael is "going to kill himself pretending to kill himself." The employees collectively talk Michael down from the roof, with Darryl doing most of the talking, to assure Michael that he is brave simply by living as himself. At the end, the car that was hit by the watermelon is revealed to be Stanley's
(Leslie David Baker
), who is shocked to see the mess.
Meanwhile, the office staff begins betting
on various things, from counting the jelly beans in Pam Beesly
's (Jenna Fischer
) candy dish to whether Creed Bratton
(portrayed by the actor of the same name
) will notice that his apple
has been replaced with a potato
. Karen Filippelli
(Rashida Jones
) loses every bet and realizes that she is still an outsider. Also, Andy Bernard
(Ed Helms
) returns to the office after several weeks in anger management training, determined to make a fresh start with his co-workers. His attempts to go by the name Drew are unsuccessful, and Dwight Schrute
(Rainn Wilson
) decides to shun
Andy for three years, although he often "unshuns" him to inform him of Michael's plans.
. Ramis had previously directed the episode "A Benihana Christmas
" earlier in the third season
. The episode was the sixth of the series written by B. J. Novak
. Novak also acts in the show as Ryan Howard
.
Brian Baumgartner
, who portrays accountant Kevin Malone
, stated that while director Harold Ramis didn't make any major changes in the script of "Safety Training", his input changed other points of the script. Baumgartner said that "...our structure and how the show is written is all there and pretty much doesn't change. Harold (Ramis) might have ideas or specific changes that would change a moment." The hand movement used by Dwight Schrute to "shun", and then "un-shun" Andy Bernard was improvised by Rainn Wilson.
among people ages 18–49, meaning that 4.1 percent of all people 18–49 watched the episode, and 11 percent of all people 18–49 watching TV at the time viewed the episode. "Safety Training" received 7.7 million viewers overall.
The episode was almost universally praised by critics. Abby West, of Entertainment Weekly
, complimented the writing of B.J. Novak in the episode, saying that "This was another gem penned by B.J. Novak (who also plays Ryan). He kept a very nice light touch on the whole love triangle thing, only giving us that one wonderfully uncomfortable moment at Pam's desk when they were betting on how many jelly beans were in the container." Brian Zoromski, of IGN
, stated that "Another truly brilliant episode of The Office aired this week, with more humor packed into the half-hour than you get in many feature-length comedies." Zoromski also praised the acting by minor characters, such as Creed Bratton and Mindy Kaling
, who portrays customer service representative Kelly Kapoor
. BuddyTV
Senior Writer Oscar Dahl stated that "What can you say? The Office is, if anything, only getting better. Last week's super-sized episode was absolutely spectacular, but tonight's might have been even better. Dahl went on to say that both storylines of the episode were the main contributors to the success of the episode. In a poll taken by OfficeTally.com, an Office fansite, "Safety Training" was ranked by viewers of the show as the 19th most popular episode of season three.
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. Written by 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...
, who also acts in the show as sales representative 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...
, and directed by Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...
and National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation
Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...
director Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
, the episode aired in the United States on April 12, 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...
.
In the episode, Michael attempts to prove life in an office is dangerous after Darryl berates him about the dangers of the warehouse. The attempts lead him to the roof of the building, where he tries to show that depression caused by an office can lead to desperate circumstances. Meanwhile, gambling between the other employees of the office leads Karen to discover that she is still an outsider.
Plot
When Michael ScottMichael 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...
) repeatedly disrupts Darryl Philbin
Darryl Philbin
Darryl Mathias Philbin is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Craig Robinson.-Overview:Darryl Philbin is the foreman of the warehouse of the Scranton branch of fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin....
's (Craig Robinson) warehouse safety training session, Lonny Collins (Patrice Oneal
Patrice Oneal
Patrice Lumumba Malcolm Oneal , usually credited as Patrice O'Neal, was an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, and actor. He was known for his cutting, often confrontational crowd work during which he often played couples against each other...
) and Darryl mock the office workers' safety session in retaliation, claiming that office work does not entail physical danger. Offended by Darryl's disdain for office safety training, Michael decides to demonstrate the risk of depression and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by jumping off the roof, landing on a hidden trampoline
Trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
. When Michael tests out the trampoline landing on a watermelon, it bounces off and hits an office worker's car, prompting it to be replaced by a bouncy castle hidden from the general view of the parking lot. From the roof of the building, Michael talks dramatically about the dangers of depression. When the bouncy castle is discovered, Jim and Pam realize that Michael is "going to kill himself pretending to kill himself." The employees collectively talk Michael down from the roof, with Darryl doing most of the talking, to assure Michael that he is brave simply by living as himself. At the end, the car that was hit by the watermelon is revealed to be Stanley's
Stanley Hudson
Stanley James Hudson is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Leslie David Baker. Stanley's counterpart in the UK series is Malcolm.-Overview:...
(Leslie David Baker
Leslie David Baker
Leslie David Baker is an American film and television actor who plays Stanley Hudson on The Office. He also had several small roles in Scrubs and appeared on That '70s Show as a janitor after a Ted Nugent concert and played an office worker in several of OfficeMax's "Rubberband Man" series of...
), who is shocked to see the mess.
Meanwhile, the office staff begins betting
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
on various things, from counting the jelly beans in 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....
's (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,...
) candy dish to whether Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton (character)
Creed Rowland Bratton a.k.a. "William Charles Schneider" is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. Confusion may arise from the fact that the character is played by and partially based on the musician of the same name, Creed Bratton...
(portrayed by the actor of the same name
Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton is an American actor and musician, a former member of The Grass Roots...
) will notice that his apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
has been replaced with a potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
. 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...
) loses every bet and realizes that she is still an outsider. Also, Andy Bernard
Andy Bernard
Andrew "Andy" Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. The character is highly insecure, yet egotistical, constantly mentioning his education at Cornell University...
(Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
) returns to the office after several weeks in anger management training, determined to make a fresh start with his co-workers. His attempts to go by the name Drew are unsuccessful, and 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...
) decides to shun
Shunning
Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or mental rejection. Social rejection is when a person or group deliberately avoids association with, and habitually keeps away from an individual or group. This can be a formal decision by a group, or a less formal group action which will spread to all...
Andy for three years, although he often "unshuns" him to inform him of Michael's plans.
Production
"Safety Training" was the second episode of the series directed by Harold RamisHarold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
. Ramis had previously directed the episode "A Benihana Christmas
A Benihana Christmas
"A Benihana Christmas" is the tenth and eleventh episode of the third season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Jennifer Celotta and directed by Harold Ramis...
" earlier in the third season
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...
. The episode was the sixth of the series written by 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...
. Novak also acts in the show as 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...
.
Brian Baumgartner
Brian Baumgartner
Brian Baumgartner is an Emmy Award-winning American film and television actor, best known for playing Kevin Malone on The Office.-Personal life:...
, who portrays accountant Kevin Malone
Kevin Malone
Kevin Jaye Malone is a character in the United States television series The Office. He is played by Brian Baumgartner. Kevin's counterpart in the UK series is Keith Bishop.-Biography:...
, stated that while director Harold Ramis didn't make any major changes in the script of "Safety Training", his input changed other points of the script. Baumgartner said that "...our structure and how the show is written is all there and pretty much doesn't change. Harold (Ramis) might have ideas or specific changes that would change a moment." The hand movement used by Dwight Schrute to "shun", and then "un-shun" Andy Bernard was improvised by Rainn Wilson.
Reception
"Safety Training" received a 4.1/11 in 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...
among people ages 18–49, meaning that 4.1 percent of all people 18–49 watched the episode, and 11 percent of all people 18–49 watching TV at the time viewed the episode. "Safety Training" received 7.7 million viewers overall.
The episode was almost universally praised by critics. 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...
, complimented the writing of B.J. Novak in the episode, saying that "This was another gem penned by B.J. Novak (who also plays Ryan). He kept a very nice light touch on the whole love triangle thing, only giving us that one wonderfully uncomfortable moment at Pam's desk when they were betting on how many jelly beans were in the container." Brian Zoromski, of 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...
, stated that "Another truly brilliant episode of The Office aired this week, with more humor packed into the half-hour than you get in many feature-length comedies." Zoromski also praised the acting by minor characters, such as Creed Bratton and 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 portrays 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....
. BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
Senior Writer Oscar Dahl stated that "What can you say? The Office is, if anything, only getting better. Last week's super-sized episode was absolutely spectacular, but tonight's might have been even better. Dahl went on to say that both storylines of the episode were the main contributors to the success of the episode. In a poll taken by OfficeTally.com, an Office fansite, "Safety Training" was ranked by viewers of the show as the 19th most popular episode of season three.
External links
- "Safety Training" at NBC.com
- "NEBOSHTraining" by Sheilds