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The Deposition (The Office)
Encyclopedia
"The Deposition" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American comedy
television series
The Office, and the show's sixty-fifth episode overall. Written by consulting producer Lester Lewis
and directed by Julian Farino
, the episode originally aired in the United States on November 15, 2007 on NBC
. "The Deposition" was the last original episode of the show to air before the show went on hiatus due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.
Jan and Michael travel to New York City for the deposition of Jan's lawsuit against the company. While Michael originally intends to be a witness against the company, he ends up defending the company. Meanwhile, Kelly talks smack to Pam after Darryl beats Jim in a game of ping pong, prompting Jim to spend the entire day practicing in the conference room.
) sues her former employer Dunder Mifflin for wrongful termination
, Michael Scott
(Steve Carell
) finds himself forced by Jan to be a witness against his employer. The deposition
goes well for Jan at first, as she claims that she was terminated due to discrimination over her breast augmentation
. But, the tide of the deposition turns when Michael learns that Jan gave him a scathing performance review after they had begun dating. Michael learns he was never a contender when interviewing for Jan's former position at the corporate office, with the CFO insisting repeatedly that he is a nice guy, but ultimately unsuited for the position. Michael defends the company anyway, and later states that "you expect to get screwed by your company, but you never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend." Jan and Michael drive home, clearly angry at each other over the events of the day.
Back at the Scranton, Pennsylvania
branch of Dunder Mifflin, Jim Halpert
(John Krasinski
) repeatedly loses to warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin
(Craig Robinson) at ping pong
, prompting Darryl's girlfriend Kelly Kapoor
(Mindy Kaling
) to gloat to Jim's girlfriend Pam Beesly
(Jenna Fischer
) over her boyfriend's superior skills. Unable to tolerate Kelly’s insults
, Pam builds a makeshift ping pong table in the conference room for Jim to practice against other office employees. Throughout the day, Jim practices against his coworkers, eventually discovering Dwight Schrute
's (Rainn Wilson
) prowess at the game. When Jim and Darryl have a rematch, Jim again loses to Darryl. Fed up with Kelly's continued taunting, Pam challenges her in a game of ping pong, but the two are pathetically incompetent players. Jim and Darryl, embarrassed, decide to play ping pong in the conference room. The episode concludes with Dwight playing a high-intensity game of ping pong against his cousin Mose Schrute (Michael Schur
), with the two at an apparent stalemate.
. Lewis also works for the show as a consulting producer. The episode was the second of the show to be directed by Julian Farino
. Farino also directed the third season
episode "Back from Vacation
". "The Deposition" was the last original episode of The Office to air in 2007 due to the effects of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
. The Writers Guild of America
(WGA) went on strike at 12:01AM Eastern Standard Time
on November 5, 2007. Filming of The Office immediately halted on that date, as Steve Carell, who is a member of the WGA, refused to cross WGA picket lines. Members of Writers Guild of America, East
and Writers Guild of America, West
voted to end the 100-day strike on February 12, 2008. Writers were allowed to return to work on the same day. The WGA allowed for show runner
s to return to work on February 11, in preparation for the conclusion of the strike. The show runner for The Office, Executive Producer Greg Daniels
, returned on the February 11, while the show's writers returned to work on February 13. The Office finally returned with original episodes on April 10, 2008, with the episode "Dinner Party
".
Executive producer
and show runner
Greg Daniels
stated that one of the main purposes of "The Deposition" was to add on to the tension building between Michael and Jan. This tension would finally end its build-up with the splitting of Michael and Jan in the episode "Dinner Party". The scene where Michael pushes Toby's lunch tray off the table was not scripted. The crew was doing one last take of the scene and actor Paul Lieberstein
suggested that Steve Carell
push his food off the table. The ping pong game between Dwight and Mose was made using Computer-generated imagery
. Rainn Wilson and Michael Schur
mimed the actions of a ping pong game, and during the stages of editing and post-production the ping pong ball was added in as an effect.
and a 8% Share. The episode was watched by 8.86 million viewers and achieved a 4.8/11 in the key adults 18 to 49 demographic, meaning that 4.8 percent of all people 18 to 49 watched the episode, and 11 percent of all people 18 to 49 watching television at the time watched the episode.
Rick Porter of Zap2It.com praised the writing of the episode, as well as the acting of Mindy Kaling
and Jenna Fischer
. Porter also praised the final scene of the episode, when Jan and Michael drive home after the day. Porter stated "I don't know whether to laugh or turn away in shame from that final scene, though, as they bicker about what to eat while they're driving home. It was like watching two friends fight -- fascinating and incredibly uncomfortable at the same time." Christine Fenno, of Entertainment Weekly
, stated "'The Deposition' was a simmering slow cooker of corporate intrigue, flavored by Michael Scott's ridiculousness, with spicy smack talk on the side." Fenno, like Porter, also praised the acting of Jenna Fischer, saying that she "stole the low-key opening scenes". Travis Fickett, of IGN
, stated that "this happens to be the best episode of the season and one of the best episodes of the series. It's almost as if the writers planned it this way - to emphasize their importance and remind us how much we'll miss them when they're gone." Fickett went on to praise the acting between Steve Carell
(Michael) and Paul Lieberstein
(Toby
). BuddyTV
Senior Writer Oscar Dahl stated that the episode was an oddity among the series, saying “The Deposition” was an atypical episode of The Office, one that basically put the character of Michael Scott on trial and humiliated him over and over again."
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 sixty-fifth episode overall. Written by consulting producer Lester Lewis
Lester Lewis
Lester Lewis is an American television writer and producer, whose credits include sitcoms such as Flight of the Conchords, Caroline in the City and The Larry Sanders Show. He is currently a supervising producer and writer on The Office and is developing a musical series for Disney Channel...
and directed by Julian Farino
Julian Farino
Julian Farino is a British television and film director and television producer. Farino has directed several shows both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, most of them being for HBO...
, the episode originally aired in the United States on November 15, 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...
. "The Deposition" was the last original episode of the show to air before the show went on hiatus due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.
Jan and Michael travel to New York City for the deposition of Jan's lawsuit against the company. While Michael originally intends to be a witness against the company, he ends up defending the company. Meanwhile, Kelly talks smack to Pam after Darryl beats Jim in a game of ping pong, prompting Jim to spend the entire day practicing in the conference room.
Synopsis
After his girlfriend Jan Levenson (Melora HardinMelora 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:...
) sues her former employer Dunder Mifflin for wrongful termination
Wrongful dismissal
Wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is an idiom and legal phrase, describing a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer in circumstances where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contract of...
, 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...
) finds himself forced by Jan to be a witness against his employer. The deposition
Deposition (law)
In the law of the United States, a deposition is the out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that is reduced to writing for later use in court or for discovery purposes. It is commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada and is almost always conducted outside of court by the...
goes well for Jan at first, as she claims that she was terminated due to discrimination over her breast augmentation
Breast augmentation
Breast augmentation denotes the breast implant and fat-graft mammoplasty procedures for correcting the defects, and for enhancing the size, form, and feel of a woman’s breasts...
. But, the tide of the deposition turns when Michael learns that Jan gave him a scathing performance review after they had begun dating. Michael learns he was never a contender when interviewing for Jan's former position at the corporate office, with the CFO insisting repeatedly that he is a nice guy, but ultimately unsuited for the position. Michael defends the company anyway, and later states that "you expect to get screwed by your company, but you never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend." Jan and Michael drive home, clearly angry at each other over the events of the day.
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
branch of Dunder Mifflin, 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...
) repeatedly loses to warehouse foreman 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....
(Craig Robinson) at ping pong
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, prompting Darryl's girlfriend 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....
(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...
) to gloat to Jim's girlfriend 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,...
) over her boyfriend's superior skills. Unable to tolerate Kelly’s insults
Trash-talk
Trash-talk is a form of boast or insult commonly heard in competitive situations , primarily in the US. It is often used to intimidate the opposition, but can also be used in a humorous spirit...
, Pam builds a makeshift ping pong table in the conference room for Jim to practice against other office employees. Throughout the day, Jim practices against his coworkers, eventually discovering 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...
's (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...
) prowess at the game. When Jim and Darryl have a rematch, Jim again loses to Darryl. Fed up with Kelly's continued taunting, Pam challenges her in a game of ping pong, but the two are pathetically incompetent players. Jim and Darryl, embarrassed, decide to play ping pong in the conference room. The episode concludes with Dwight playing a high-intensity game of ping pong against his cousin Mose Schrute (Michael Schur
Michael Schur
Michael Herbert Schur is an American television producer and writer, best known for his work on the NBC comedy series The Office and Parks and Recreation, the latter of which he co-created along with Greg Daniels...
), with the two at an apparent stalemate.
Production
"The Deposition" was the first episode of The Office to be written by Lester LewisLester Lewis
Lester Lewis is an American television writer and producer, whose credits include sitcoms such as Flight of the Conchords, Caroline in the City and The Larry Sanders Show. He is currently a supervising producer and writer on The Office and is developing a musical series for Disney Channel...
. Lewis also works for the show as a consulting producer. The episode was the second of the show to be directed by Julian Farino
Julian Farino
Julian Farino is a British television and film director and television producer. Farino has directed several shows both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, most of them being for HBO...
. Farino also directed 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...
episode "Back from Vacation
Back from Vacation
"Back from Vacation" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the US version of The Office. It aired on January 4, 2007 on NBC and was the first episode to air after the winter hiatus. It was written by Justin Spitzer and directed by Julian Farino....
". "The Deposition" was the last original episode of The Office to air in 2007 due to the effects of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
. The Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
(WGA) went on strike at 12:01AM Eastern Standard Time
Eastern Standard Time
Eastern Standard Time may refer to:*North American Eastern Time Zone, UTC-5*Australian Eastern Standard Time, UTC+10*An album by Hip Hop group Kooley High...
on November 5, 2007. Filming of The Office immediately halted on that date, as Steve Carell, who is a member of the WGA, refused to cross WGA picket lines. Members of Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East is a labor union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....
and Writers Guild of America, West
Writers Guild of America, west
Writers Guild of America, West is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. The Guild was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, which include the Screen Writers Guild...
voted to end the 100-day strike on February 12, 2008. Writers were allowed to return to work on the same day. The WGA allowed for show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
s to return to work on February 11, in preparation for the conclusion of the strike. The show runner for The Office, Executive Producer Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels
Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...
, returned on the February 11, while the show's writers returned to work on February 13. The Office finally returned with original episodes on April 10, 2008, with the episode "Dinner Party
Dinner Party (The Office)
"Dinner Party" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the American comedy television series The Office—the show's sixty-sixth episode overall. Written by the writing team of Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and directed by Paul Feig, the episode originally aired on NBC on April 10, 2008...
".
Executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels
Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...
stated that one of the main purposes of "The Deposition" was to add on to the tension building between Michael and Jan. This tension would finally end its build-up with the splitting of Michael and Jan in the episode "Dinner Party". The scene where Michael pushes Toby's lunch tray off the table was not scripted. The crew was doing one last take of the scene and actor Paul Lieberstein
Paul Lieberstein
Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American screenwriter, actor and television producer. An Emmy Award winner, he is most widely known as a writer, producer, and as supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the U.S...
suggested that 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...
push his food off the table. The ping pong game between Dwight and Mose was made using Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
. Rainn Wilson and Michael Schur
Michael Schur
Michael Herbert Schur is an American television producer and writer, best known for his work on the NBC comedy series The Office and Parks and Recreation, the latter of which he co-created along with Greg Daniels...
mimed the actions of a ping pong game, and during the stages of editing and post-production the ping pong ball was added in as an effect.
Reception
"The Deposition" received a 5.1 Nielsen ratingNielsen 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 a 8% Share. The episode was watched by 8.86 million viewers and achieved a 4.8/11 in the key adults 18 to 49 demographic, meaning that 4.8 percent of all people 18 to 49 watched the episode, and 11 percent of all people 18 to 49 watching television at the time watched the episode.
Rick Porter of Zap2It.com praised the writing of the episode, as well as the acting of 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...
and 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,...
. Porter also praised the final scene of the episode, when Jan and Michael drive home after the day. Porter stated "I don't know whether to laugh or turn away in shame from that final scene, though, as they bicker about what to eat while they're driving home. It was like watching two friends fight -- fascinating and incredibly uncomfortable at the same time." Christine Fenno, 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...
, stated "'The Deposition' was a simmering slow cooker of corporate intrigue, flavored by Michael Scott's ridiculousness, with spicy smack talk on the side." Fenno, like Porter, also praised the acting of Jenna Fischer, saying that she "stole the low-key opening scenes". Travis Fickett, 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 "this happens to be the best episode of the season and one of the best episodes of the series. It's almost as if the writers planned it this way - to emphasize their importance and remind us how much we'll miss them when they're gone." Fickett went on to praise the acting between 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...
(Michael) and Paul Lieberstein
Paul Lieberstein
Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American screenwriter, actor and television producer. An Emmy Award winner, he is most widely known as a writer, producer, and as supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the U.S...
(Toby
Toby Flenderson
Toby Wyatt Flenderson, M.S.W. born 1971 is a character from the US television series The Office. He is played by Paul Lieberstein. He is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office.-Overview:...
). 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 the episode was an oddity among the series, saying “The Deposition” was an atypical episode of The Office, one that basically put the character of Michael Scott on trial and humiliated him over and over again."
External links
- "The Deposition" at NBC.com