Structuring the Pilot: The Office (US)

Here comes another Structuring the Pilot, this time taking a look at The Office (US).

I wanted to breakdown a sitcom, because of how different they are from an hour-long drama. They have half the amount of time to tell a story and focus more on finding the humor in situations (shocking, giving the genre name) than being story driven.

On top of that, The Office sets itself apart even further with its mockumentary format. There are moments that it can create solely because it allows characters to have one on one chats with the camera.

It was actually so much harder to create a breakdown of a comedy than a drama and have it feel at all representative of the show itself. So much of comedy comes from details, so in removing the details to find the purpose of the scenes, it rips out a lot of what the show is meant to be. It’s almost counter-intuitive. But, in the end, this is meant to be about story structure, and not necessarily about jokes.

Act One: Introductions Happen and Rumors Spread

·         (A) Michael brings Jim into his office to show off his own sales ability to the camera.

·         (A) Michael gets the sale but mistakes the woman on the other end for a man.

·         (A) Michael introduces the office and Pam. He plays up throwing out a fax as a joke.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael shows off his World’s Best Boss mug, reveals he bought at Spencer’s.

·         (A) Dwight connects his phone, Jim is bored.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Jim bores himself as he tries to explain his own job.

·         (A) Michael over does an old joke until it is awkward.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael jumps between trying to look cool and scared to insult corporate.

·         (A) Michael learns about possible downsizing.

·         (A) Dwight taps Jim’s right shoulder while on his left, laughs when Jim looks the wrong way.

·         (A) Michael shows bad judgement; is told downsizing should be kept secret.

·         (A + B) Word of downsizing spreads. Pam and Jim chat about a party.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael doesn’t see the point in telling the office the bad news.

·         (C) Michael tries overly hard to be funny for the new temp, Ryan.

·         (A + B) [Talking Head] Pam would rather be an artist, mentions Jim likes her work.

·         (A) Jim’s work is interrupted by Dwight pushing files that overlap with his desk.

·         (A) Jim retaliates with a barrier of pencils, makes Dwight more upset.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Dwight has always wanted downsizing to happen.

In the first half of the episode, we’re seeing the focus here really is on Michael and his managerial style. We aren’t introduced to titular office, Dunder Mifflin, until three scenes in. Instead, we start off in Michael’s office, where he talks as though Jim has come to him asking for help. Not the case at all. Jim says Michael called him in there. We begin to learn that this is about Michael trying to show off for the camera.

We cut away for most of the sales call. This would often mean going to another story happening in the episode, but instead it is just to a shot of another part of the office without much going on. This let’s us both skip through the boring sales talk, without distracting us by throwing too many characters at us this early on.

Anyway, we jump back to Michael and Jim as Michael has reached the end of the call. He did it, he made the sale! He calls the person on the other line a “gentleman and a scholar”, only to be informed he has been speaking with a woman the whole time. He apologizes, but as soon as he hangs up the phone, he blames it on her voice, claiming she is probably a smoker.

We’re getting an idea of who Michael is, and so we start being introduced to the setting as well. Michael introduces us Dunder Mifflin. And when I say “us”, it is much more literal than is usually the case. The format of the show had Michael speaking to the camera, telling us the information directly. He walks us over to Pam, the receptionist, where he continues trying to play himself up for the camera. This time it is by making a big deal out of a “special filing cabinet” for faxes from corporate, before throwing a fax in the trash. Pam’s reaction is enough to tell us that whatever Michael might be like with cameras off, this is bigger.

To really drive home that we are primarily following Michael here, he is the first one to get a talking head, a scene that consists of nothing but him looking into the camera to tell us something. Vaguely different from when he introduced us to Dunder Mifflin only in that these don’t tend to end with the camera following the character afterwards and are instead more like little inserts. Anyway, this talking head is about Michael telling us what people think of him, how he is hilarious and the best boss. In fact, he even has a World’s Best Boss mug to prove it. He then reveals that he saw the mug at Spencer’s and just had to buy it for himself. Again, we’re driving home exactly who Michael is as a person and a boss.

We move on to a bit of the normal goings on in the office. Dwight is introduced at a moment where he is weirdly putting his phone together while Jim watches on. Jim gets a talking head where he tries to explain his job as a salesman but is quickly too bored to continue. Michael comes out saying “wassssup” like the old Budweiser commercial from ’99. Jim laughs at first, essentially calling it dated but getting a bit of a kick out of the throwback. Between Michael and Dwight it is way over done, until eventually Michael is just standing there awkwardly. We’re getting so much here, primarily between the relationships of both Jim and Dwight to Michael, where Michael gravitates more to Jim, who only humors him a little, but Dwight will jump in on anything trying to impress Michael.

So, we have some main characters now, we know what the office itself does to a degree, it is time to get bring something in to give purpose and context to the rest of the episode. Jan, a woman from corporate, comes in and brings with her what I’m going to call the A plot. We get payoff to the joke earlier where Michael throws out the fax (which turns out to be the agenda for this meeting), and he is quick to throw Pam under the bus. Thankfully she stands up for herself and reminds him in front of Jan about his trash can filing system. Jan reveals the reason she has come is that the company will have to do some downsizing, to the degree that one of two branches will be closing.

We have a quick cutaway for a little of Dwight and Jim’s antagonistic relationship, and then we’re back to the meeting!

The meeting is interrupted by a call that Michael puts on speaker phone, where a sales rep that Michael just complimented comes off like a huge ass, insulting Michael and heavily implying he wants to have sex with Jan. When that’s over with, Jan tells him the downsizing needs to be kept quiet.

Of course, this is a comedy, so the secret is out the moment he is told it’s to be kept secret. We see the rumor spread as various people throughout the office react to the news, all of which we haven’t heard speak before this point. The rumor acts a device to give purpose to these characters who are relegated more to the background (in this episode, they become more prominent later). At the end of this little sequence we get a bit of Jim and Pam. They are made different from the rest, not only in that these are characters we already know, but in that they aren’t talking about the downsizing at all, they are talking about a party. And I’m going to call this the beginning of a B plot. The Jim and Pam story of the episode, the possibility of something romantic happening between them.

Michael gets another talking head where he says he doesn’t see the point in telling people bad news, comparing it to a doctor telling a patient they have cancer. Michael just wants to be liked. It’s like to him, giving bad news would be the same as being a bad person.

We have the A plot (word spreading about downsizing) driving the episode, and the B plot (possible romance between Jim and Pam) working on a smaller level. At this point we pile on a little more, with a bit of a C plot starting up. Ryan, the office’s new temp arrives, and Michael continues trying way too hard to be funny, going so far as a Hitler impersonation.

There is a degree to which Ryan is taking the place that the camera has held so far in the episode. Michael plays up to him to look good. He also takes on the role of an audience surrogate. It’s a common character type in a pilot episode, where there is someone new who comes in to ask questions and have their first experiences with the setting along with us. Though, because of the mockumentary format, he is less necessary in that role, and is kind of only used in that way once in this episode. It comes at this point, because although many main elements have already been introduced, the focus of the main plot has been shifted from introductions to dealing with the possibility of downsizing. Ryan coming in here gives a reason going forward to introduce the audience to facets of the office without it feeling like the downsizing is being ignored.

Pam has a talking head, which has her revealing she doesn’t think it would be that bad to be let go, that she wants to be an artist. In that sense, it begins in a way that is tied to the A plot, being her response to the possibility of downsizing, but then it shifts. As she is talking about her art, she tells us that Jim thinks her illustrations are good. With just that one line, the B plot is pushed forward.

We end the act on a small sequence between Jim and Dwight. Jim is actually doing his job but is interrupted by Dwight knocking over everything on Jim desk, as he pushes over the little bits that overlap onto his. Jim retaliates by making a barrier around his desk using pencils. Jim tells the camera downsizing might not be so bad, and Dwight hears this. Dwight responds in a talking head where he says he has been wanting downsizing since he was first interviewed. The fact that the act out (“act out” being a term for last moment in an act) is his reaction to his discovery of the situation, after the sequence earlier of the rumors spreading, has the implication that this is the whole office now knowing, that Dwight is the last one to know. Along with, of course, the juxtaposition of everyone else’s reaction to his, which is pretty much polar opposite.

Act Two: Pranks and Soft Resolutions

·         (A) Michael goes too far with jokes, responds overly serious when Pam makes the same one.

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael thinks he is a role model.

·         (A) Michael calls a meeting

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael names his influences but doesn’t know about any them.

·         (A) Dwight thinks he has a higher position than he actually does.

·         (C) Ryan tells someone on the phone the branch might close.

·         (A) Michael makes false promises about the downsizing.

·         (A + B) [Talking Head] Jim mentions info exclusive to this job; mentions Pam’s favourite yogurt.

·         (B) [Talking Head] Pam laughs about which yogurt Jim named.

·         (C) Michael introduces Ryan to Dwight, who discovers his stapler is encased in Jell-O.  

·         (C) [Talking Head] Dwight thinks people take advantage of the relaxed work environment.

·         (C) Dwight wants Michael to reprimand Jim, but Jim wins Michael over with a pun.

·         (B) Jim tries making plans with Pam; stops when Roy arrives.

·         (B) [Talking Head] Pam explains Roy has been her fiancé for the past 3 years.

·         (B) Pam asks Roy about going out, but Roy says no. Jim and Roy are awkward around each other.  

·         (B) [Talking Head] Jim thinks about if he would be invited to the wedding.

·         (A + C) Michael shows Ryan the fun vibe of the office by jokingly firing Pam.  

·         (A) [Talking Head] Michael calls people most important; clearly doesn’t believe it.  

·         (B) Pam and Jim are interrupted by Roy honking outside. Jim has put Michael’s mug in Jell-O.

We come back to Michael making lame Six Million Dollar Man jokes, including that it would be a good salary for him. When Pam basically says the same thing back to him, he thinks things have gone too far. He turns serious, and tells her to talk to HR. Soon he calls a meeting.

Michael promised not to tell anyone about possible downsizing, so of course brings everyone into a meeting to talk to them all about it at once. It starts out with Dwight trying to be above the rest of his coworkers, which Michael doesn’t agreement with. A quick cutaway to the C plot, where Ryan is presumably telling a client the whole place might close down, and then we’re back to the meeting where Michael tries to calm everyone. He makes a lot of false promises about how there is no way anyone is getting fired, none of them should worry at all. He tries to get Pam to back him up, but she tells the truth about how things sounded in the prior meeting with Jan, again bringing out the more serious Michael.

We transition out of the meeting, and out of the A plot, with a talking head with Jim. It’s him listing information that he’s gained in this job that would be useless anywhere else. Eventually, this gets into Pam’s favourite yogurt. It’s the things he is noticing about her that push their possible romance further. Pam gets her own talking head right after where his comment is brought up, and she just laughs it off.

Michael starts introduces Ryan to Dwight. Michael gets Dwight started talking about a car he is restoring and goes to take pictures out from his desk, but it is all interrupted when he angrily pulls out his stapler, now encased in Jell-O. He immediately blames Jim, who is actually eating Jell-O at the time. Michael, trying to be the fun boss, comes off uncomfortable with the idea of Jim being in real trouble for this, and half-heartedly makes Jim apologize, but then is immediately won over when Jim makes a pun. Ryan joins in on the pun game, Michael tries desperately to come up with one, and Dwight doesn’t seem to get that there is a joke going on at all.

Now it is time for the B plot to come to a head. Jim is trying to make plans with Pam to go out for drinks with other people from the office. Jim leans over her desk, he’s pretty close to her. This immediately changes when Roy comes in. Jim steps back, putting more distance between himself and Pam the moment he sees Roy coming. We find out that Roy is actually Pam’s fiancé and has been for three years. It’s a wedding that keeps being put off again and again. Pam leaves her desk to do some faxing, and the two men couldn’t be more awkward around each other. Finally Roy decides to wait outside for Pam to finish up work.

We move on to a moment where, to a degree, everything kind of dovetails. I say, “to a degree”, because it really only connects to the B plot in that Pam is involved, so it’s reaching a little bit. Anyway, Michael is in his office, making sure Ryan is getting a good feel for how they do thing, how loose and fun it all is (C plot). He decides they should pull a prank together to really get Ryan in the spirit. Pam comes in with some faxes for Michael and is told to take a seat. The “prank” is telling Pam that she is the one being let for from the downsizing (A plot), specifically because of very inconsequential theft of office supplies. Pam is in tears, Ryan is mortified, and Michael is struggling to hold in his laughter. Michael reveals it was a prank and Pam storms out.

Though it all turns out to be a joke, this is the natural climax of a story about downsizing. The episode is about the threat of it looming over them, and that whole situation builds until one of them is told they are fired. The tone of the situation is completely different than it would be if we went into the scene in Pam’s perspective rather than Michael. Knowing it is a prank the whole time lightens the mood, but in this kind of messed up way, where we are put in a similar situation to Ryan (again, basically the audience surrogate).

Michael gets the final talking head of the episode in which he explains how people are the most important part of any company. But, everything about how he says it shows how little he believes in it. Even the anecdote he uses about a particular employee that meant so much to him, ends in him letting the employee go because he sucked.

Pam comes out from the back somewhere and finds Jim at his desk. She questions why he isn’t out for drinks. He explains he changed his mind, and it is clear to us it is because she couldn’t go. They have a nice moment, and are about to walk out together, when Roy starts honking outside. Pam is rushed off, and Jim is left in the office. In the prior scenes where Roy was introduced, it almost closed off this possible romance, but here it shows something is still there. This scene exists to give that whole romantic subplot to the series more fuel.

In the final moments of the episode, while Jim is left alone in the office, he pulls something out from beneath his desk. He brings it into Michael’s office and reveals to us what it is: Michael’s World’s Best Boss mug, encased in Jell-O.

Conclusions

In the end, even just looking at how the A, B, and C plots are divided shows a clear difference between Act One and Act Two. Act One narrows is scope to almost exclusively being about the A plot, and having Michael being the driving force of most of the scenes.

The A plot proper, the news of downsizing, doesn’t come up until about midway through the first act. The episode begins with introducing us to the main characters and the setting before getting into any real story at all. The two other plots only come up either in relation to the A plot (Jim and Pam’s romance first hinted at in them talking about going to a party juxtaposed with everyone else worrying about downsizing, and then again as Pam talks about Jim liking her art, the job she would rather be doing), or in relation to the development of Michael (Ryan’s introduction as the new guy becomes about Michael having a new audience to try to impress and show how funny he is).

In Act Two, the show shifts into what a normal episode will feel like. No longer are Michael and the A plot such an exclusive focus. The story spreads and we start jumping between different things going on around the office. The world is still narrow for us in comparison to later episodes (many of the people around the office aren’t given a single line or even screen time in this episode, while others we see here never appear again), but Pam, Jim, Dwight, and Ryan are all now given more time to develop.

There are only what I would call “soft resolutions” to any of the plots in this episode. The rumor of downsizing is proven to everyone to be a real thing that could be happening, but it isn’t prevented, nor does it come to pass in any way here, aside from the prank. The love story between Pam and Jim builds until the reveal of her fiancé, but it leaves the door open for the possibility. Ryan being the new guy is the closest thing we get to resolving, but only in that he has finished his first day, he still continues to be used as such for a long while.

In the end, it all comes back to Michael (which is a reason why the last two seasons can feel off). Even without his presence in the final scene, we end on Jim going into his office, and his mug being encased in Jell-O. It’s a call back to two jokes from prior in the episode, and it is pretty symbolic of how Michael comes off (the idea of him being the “best boss” can’t be taken seriously at all).

As much as this show becomes an ensemble, this episode is about Michael. He is its main character, and it works harder to develop him than anyone else. This is seen even just in looking at some basic stats, like how the talking heads are divided. Of the 13-14 (one is sort of intercut back and forth), 5-6 of them are Michael. That is just under half, when the remaining ones are divided fairly equally between three other characters. This is most clear in Act One, where 3 talking heads are Michael, and 1 each are given to Jim, Pam, and Dwight.

A lot of this is subjective, of course. It is how I personally read what is going on throughout the episode. There are definite facts, but how I divide scenes into particular plots can have arguments going in other directions. Even still, there are clear patterns emerging here that help reveal a little of what thinking could have gone into developing this episode.