The Fight (The Office)

"The Fight"
The Office episode
Michael and Dwight duel in "The Fight".
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 6
Directed by	Ken Kwapis
Written by	Gene Stupnitsky Lee Eisenberg
Production code	207
Original air date	November 1, 2005
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List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"The Fight" is the sixth episode of the second season of the television series The Office, and the show's twelfth episode overall. It was written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg and directed by Ken Kwapis. It originally aired on November 1, 2005 on NBC.

In this episode, Michael and Dwight engage in a karate match during lunch, and Jim's flirting with Pam goes too far.

Synopsis

Michael has one task: sign routine documents. Unfortunately, it's a month where three separate sets of paperwork are due at the same time, so Michael mulishly ignores his workload. To procrastinate, Michael makes Ryan update emergency contact information of the staff. When Michael gets Ryan's cell phone number, he constantly prank calls Ryan with crude impersonations of Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, and Saddam Hussein.

Talk of Dwight's karate experience gets Michael's competitive juices flowing, leading to a lunchtime match between the two at Dwight's dojo. Jim goes too far flirting with Pam, and she abruptly shuts him down when their co-workers take notice.

After a pathetic showing by both combatants, Michael emerges victorious over Dwight, which leads to Dwight changing his emergency contact from "Michael Scott" to "The Pub". At the end of the day, Michael promotes Dwight from Assistant to the Regional Manager to Assistant Regional Manager, most likely to ensure that Dwight will still idolize him despite the hard feelings over their lunchtime battle. The rest of the staff, fed up with Michael's inability to accomplish even the simplest task, are forced to forge his signature on all the documents and get home.

On the way out, Jim gives Pam the bag of chips he owed her from earlier. Pam quietly takes them and stares in a forgiving manner after Jim leaves.

Deleted scenes

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

• Brief scenes of Dwight at the dojo and Michael and Dwight preparing to fight.
• Jim asks Dwight whom he could take on in a fight.
• Dwight discusses the result of the fight.
• Stanley confronts Michael about signing the forms; Michael says that "no one ever lost their job for missing deadlines", then reacts like he realizes what a stupid statement that is.
• Michael delivers Pam "part one" of the forms, but it is just the emergency contact information. He then blames the time spent answering her questions for his incompetence and inability to do his job.

External links

• "The Fight" at NBC.com
• "The Fight" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Fight" at TV.com
• B.J. Novak's Blog on "The Fight" at TVGuide.com