Todd Packer (The Office)
Encyclopedia
"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. Written by Amelie Gillette
and directed by Randall Einhorn
, the episode aired on NBC
in the United States on February 24, 2011.
(David Koechner
) comes to Dunder Mifflin looking for a desk job in the office. However, the office is unsure if they want him to work there due to his previous behavior. Holly
gives him a job as a salesman, forcing Dwight
to leave his desk and move to the annex. Todd repeatedly offends everybody with his "jokes," especially Kevin
, although Kevin pretends to go along with it. Only Michael
, who has a similar sense of humor, is un-offended by Todd. Holly, who was at first excited to have Todd in the office per Michael's recommendations, quickly discovers how insensitive Todd is and asks Michael to get him under control. Michael and Todd have coffee in the lobby, where Todd says he wants to make the effort to be a better person. Michael gets Todd to apologize, but everyone can tell that the apologies are insincere. Dwight and Jim
scheme to get rid of Todd, first by planning to pull pranks on him, but eventually taking more drastic measures. They call him, pretending to be Corporate offering him a job in Tallahassee, Florida
, a job which Todd readily accepts. When Michael finds out about the scheme, he plans to tell Todd that Dwight and Jim have tricked him. Before he has a chance to, however, Todd insults Holly, which causes Michael to keep Dwight and Jim's scheme a secret and allow Todd to take the "job" in Florida. As Michael and Holly witness Todd drive away from the view in his office, Michael smiles as he refers to Packer as "an ass" before they embrace.
Meanwhile, when office administrator Pam gets a new computer for the receptionist's desk to replace the current, ancient one, Andy
wants a new computer too. Pam states that if she were to get a new computer for one sales rep (Andy), she would have to get one for every sales rep, which leads the entire office momentarily believing that new computers are being freely handed out. Since Pam refuses to give him a new computer, Andy switches his computer with Erin
, a trade Erin seems to be fine with. Pam is angry with him, saying that the computer was not meant for Erin personally but for the receptionist's desk in general, and therefore it was not hers to switch. Pam tells Andy that the only way he can get a new computer is if his breaks, which leads to him accepting all cookie
s, intentionally opening pop-up ad
s, and placing food in the disc drive. Pam then buys Andy a new computer, but they scratch it up as to not make it look brand new. When they pretend to argue about it in front of the office, Pam claims that she found it in the warehouse. Darryl
subtly confronts Pam later regarding finding the computer in the warehouse. As he knows everything that's in the warehouse and where, he leverages Pam into giving him more sick days. Pam appears to be gleeful that she is now "full-on corrupt!".
, her first writing credit of the series. She previously was a writer for The A.V. Club
before being hired for The Office. It was directed by Randall Einhorn
, his 14th directing credit of the series. The cold open
in the episode was actually filmed for the previous season and is featured in the blooper reel on the sixth season DVD and Blu-ray sets. Following the episode's air date, the term "Justice Beaver" became popular trend on Twitter
, and led to a website in honor of the quote.
IGN
writer Cindy White criticized the episode commenting that it was too similar to a scene in the series finale of the original version of The Office
in which David Brent
, after a successful blind date, tries to jump into a conversation with traveling salesman Chris Finch
at a Christmas party. Finch makes a rude comment about his date which makes David stand up to him and tell him to "fuck off". Despite that she spoke highly of Jim and Dwight's storyline writing that "I wish their final ruse had been a bit more original, but it served the purpose of getting rid of Packer". She ultimately gave the episode a 7.5/10.
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 144th episode overall. Written by Amelie Gillette
Amelie Gillette
Amelie Gillette is a newspaper columnist and television writer. She is currently the author of the weekly infographic The Tolerability Index for The Onion’s A.V. Club and is a writer for The Office. She has written for many publications, including Spin, The Believer, and Blender.- Early life...
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 aired 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 United States on February 24, 2011.
Synopsis
Traveling salesman Todd PackerTodd Packer
Todd Finch Packer is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by David Koechner, and based on Chris Finch from the original British version.-Overview:Todd is a boorish Outside Sales Representative...
(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...
) comes to Dunder Mifflin looking for a desk job in the office. However, the office is unsure if they want him to work there due to his previous behavior. Holly
Holly Flax
Hollis "Holly" Partridge Flax is a fictional character from the US television series The Office played by Amy Ryan. She was an original character, and not based on a character from the British version of the show...
gives him a job as a salesman, forcing Dwight
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...
to leave his desk and move to the annex. Todd repeatedly offends everybody with his "jokes," especially Kevin
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:...
, although Kevin pretends to go along with it. Only Michael
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...
, who has a similar sense of humor, is un-offended by Todd. Holly, who was at first excited to have Todd in the office per Michael's recommendations, quickly discovers how insensitive Todd is and asks Michael to get him under control. Michael and Todd have coffee in the lobby, where Todd says he wants to make the effort to be a better person. Michael gets Todd to apologize, but everyone can tell that the apologies are insincere. Dwight and Jim
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...
scheme to get rid of Todd, first by planning to pull pranks on him, but eventually taking more drastic measures. They call him, pretending to be Corporate offering him a job in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, a job which Todd readily accepts. When Michael finds out about the scheme, he plans to tell Todd that Dwight and Jim have tricked him. Before he has a chance to, however, Todd insults Holly, which causes Michael to keep Dwight and Jim's scheme a secret and allow Todd to take the "job" in Florida. As Michael and Holly witness Todd drive away from the view in his office, Michael smiles as he refers to Packer as "an ass" before they embrace.
Meanwhile, when office administrator Pam gets a new computer for the receptionist's desk to replace the current, ancient one, Andy
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...
wants a new computer too. Pam states that if she were to get a new computer for one sales rep (Andy), she would have to get one for every sales rep, which leads the entire office momentarily believing that new computers are being freely handed out. Since Pam refuses to give him a new computer, Andy switches his computer with Erin
Erin Hannon
Kelly Erin Hannon is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. She is the office receptionist for the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, a position previously held by Pam Halpert before she left the company. Erin is played by Ellie Kemper...
, a trade Erin seems to be fine with. Pam is angry with him, saying that the computer was not meant for Erin personally but for the receptionist's desk in general, and therefore it was not hers to switch. Pam tells Andy that the only way he can get a new computer is if his breaks, which leads to him accepting all cookie
HTTP cookie
A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is used for an origin website to send state information to a user's browser and for the browser to return the state information to the origin site...
s, intentionally opening pop-up ad
Pop-up ad
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements...
s, and placing food in the disc drive. Pam then buys Andy a new computer, but they scratch it up as to not make it look brand new. When they pretend to argue about it in front of the office, Pam claims that she found it in the warehouse. Darryl
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....
subtly confronts Pam later regarding finding the computer in the warehouse. As he knows everything that's in the warehouse and where, he leverages Pam into giving him more sick days. Pam appears to be gleeful that she is now "full-on corrupt!".
Production
This episode was written by Amelie GilletteAmelie Gillette
Amelie Gillette is a newspaper columnist and television writer. She is currently the author of the weekly infographic The Tolerability Index for The Onion’s A.V. Club and is a writer for The Office. She has written for many publications, including Spin, The Believer, and Blender.- Early life...
, her first writing credit of the series. She previously was a writer for The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
before being hired for The Office. It was 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...
, his 14th directing credit of the series. The cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
in the episode was actually filmed for the previous season and is featured in the blooper reel on the sixth season DVD and Blu-ray sets. Following the episode's air date, the term "Justice Beaver" became popular trend on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, and led to a website in honor of the quote.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Todd Packer" was viewed by an estimated 6.121 million viewers and received a 3.2 rating/9% share. This means that it was seen by 3.2% of all 18–49 years olds, and 9% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked the lowest rating for the series since the first season. Despite this, the episode became the highest rated NBC program for the original week it aired and also became the sixteenth most-watched show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49.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...
writer Cindy White criticized the episode commenting that it was too similar to a scene in the series finale of the original version of The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
in which David Brent
David Brent
David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary The Office, as well as a recurring character in the NBC series of the same name, portrayed by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of the BBC series...
, after a successful blind date, tries to jump into a conversation with traveling salesman Chris Finch
Chris Finch
Chris Finch is a character in the BBC comedy show, The Office. He is played by Ralph Ineson.Finch is an outside sales representative for the paper merchant Wernham Hogg, in whose Slough office the show is set, and as such is frequently on the road...
at a Christmas party. Finch makes a rude comment about his date which makes David stand up to him and tell him to "fuck off". Despite that she spoke highly of Jim and Dwight's storyline writing that "I wish their final ruse had been a bit more original, but it served the purpose of getting rid of Packer". She ultimately gave the episode a 7.5/10.
External links
- "Todd Packer" at NBC.comNBCThe 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...