Boys and Girls (The Office)

"Boys and Girls"
The Office episode
The warehouse after Michael spends the day there, while discussing the difference between "Boys and Girls"
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 15
Directed by	Dennie Gordon
Written by	B. J. Novak
Production code	215
Original air date	February 2, 2006
Episode chronology
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List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"Boys and Girls" is the 15th episode of the second season of The Office (U.S. version). It was written by B. J. Novak and directed by Dennie Gordon. It first aired on February 2, 2006 on NBC.

In this episode, Michael becomes frustrated when he is not allowed to listen in on a "women in the workplace" seminar that Jan is conducting, so he conducts his own "men in the workplace" seminar in the warehouse, where talk of a warehouse union emerges. Meanwhile, Pam considers graphic design.

Synopsis

Jan leads the female Dunder Mifflin employees in a "women in the workplace" seminar. Miffed at being excluded, Michael conducts a competing "men in the workplace" seminar in the warehouse. Roy approaches Jim under the belief that Jim used to like Pam. Darryl and his equally irritated crew are forced to participate in Michael's shenanigans, which culminates in Michael trying to drive a forklift.

Michael's recklessness makes a complete mess of the warehouse while jeopardizing the employees' safety. Michael's plans to hold his own seminar backfire when the warehouse workers decide to form a union. Jan intimidates them into reconsidering, citing a liquidation of the branch if it were to unionize.

Jan urges Pam to take a corporate training program in graphic design in New York when Pam reveals that she wants to be a graphic designer, but Roy squashes the idea. Jim rebukes Pam for listening to Roy when he is clearly wrong and acting selfish, which creates tension between them. Pam then tells the camera she is happy with her life now, and that they don't even make her dream house in Scranton. She then breaks down and cries in front of the camera.

As the day comes to a close, Michael leaves the warehouse in complete disarray.

Deleted scenes

The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include:

• Michael asks Pam and Jim for help choosing a ringtone.
• Roy and Dwight talk about guns.
• Dwight shoots his spud gun.
• Dwight agrees that "there's no place like home."

References to previous episodes

• The blow up doll in the warehouse is the same one from the episode "Sexual Harassment".

Notes

• Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer originally had an idea for this episode: what if Jan did a "Women in the Workplace" seminar, and Michael got jealous? They took it to executive producer Greg Daniels who liked the idea and asked them what came next. Daniels then assigned the idea to B.J. Novak to write. Fischer was once a secretary and Kinsey an operator, so they both had to attend similar meetings and seminars.
• Pam's monologue on reading about a girl who lived in a house with a terrace was based on a real book (from the Choose Your Own Adventure series, although not specifically identified as such in the episode) read by Jenna Fischer when she was a child. In the Season 3 DVD, there is an extra clip of the show's cast and crew appearing at the Paley Center, and Fischer relates that Novak asked her if she had any personal stories that could relate to what Pam was feeling. She then came up with the storybook idea, which was immediately written and filmed for the episode.
• Jan's threat to have the warehouse closed if the employees unionize is unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act.
• When the office workers first enter the warehouse, the Chopped and Screwed version of Chamillionaire's song Southern Takeover from the album The Sound of Revenge is playing.

External links

• "Boys and Girls" at NBC.com
• "Boys and Girls" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Boys and Girls" at TV.com