The Injury
| "The Injury" | |||
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| The Office episode | |||
 Michael and "The Injury", or his burned, packaged foot. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 12 |
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| Directed by | Bryan Gordon | ||
| Written by | Mindy Kaling | ||
| Production code | 211 | ||
| Original air date | January 12, 2006 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Marcus A. York |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes | |||
"The Injury" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office—the show's eighteenth episode overall. Written by Mindy Kaling, who also acts in the show as Kelly Kapoor, and directed by Bryan Gordon, the episode first aired in the United States on January 12, 2006 on NBC.
In the episode, Michael accidentally burns his foot on a grill, but insists on coming to work anyway. When none of his employees, except for Dwight, help him, Michael feels under-appreciated. Meanwhile, Dwight starts acting strangely nice to everyone, especially Pam.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) accidentally burns his foot while grilling bacon on his George Foreman grill, in bed. When Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) comes to "rescue" him, he crashes his car into "the pole" and suffers a concussion. The injury makes Dwight more likable and much nicer to his co-workers, particularly Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer).
Michael becomes upset with the staff's lack of compassion towards his "disability", and brings in Billy Merchant (Marcus A. York), who uses a wheelchair, to discuss what it is like to be disabled. Billy soon leaves after Michael makes several offensive remarks, but not before pointing out to Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) that Dwight has suffered a concussion.
Jim and Michael take Dwight to the hospital where Michael insists that his burned foot is a more serious injury than Dwight's blunt force trauma. Before they go, Pam bids "goodbye" to the concussed Dwight, aware that she will probably never see the good-natured version of Dwight Schrute ever again.
[edit] Production
This episode was the second episode of the series directed by Bryan Gordon. Gordon had previously directed the first season episode "The Alliance". "The Injury" was written by Mindy Kaling, who also acts for the show as customer service representative Kelly Kapoor.[1] Writer and actor B. J. Novak said the idea for "Injury" started out as an idea in the writing room that just "spun out of control".[2] Novak has described "The Injury" as one of his favorite episodes, and said of it, "I don't think any other TV show would have made an episode from that starting point, and yet it was one of the funniest and most relatable episodes as it went on that we've ever had."[3] The original plan was for Michael to have fallen asleep in the sun, while having sunblock all over him, except for his foot. The episode was originally going to be called "My Grilled Foot", but writer Mindy Kaling thought it was "too weird for people to tune in and watch that".[4] According to BJ Novak, the original working title for the episode was "My Grilled Foot."[5]
Marcus York recalls being nervous during filming, and "drawing a blank" on his lines during the first 'run-through', because of his anxiousness around the cast members, but soon Marcus "smoothed-out".[6] John Krasinski said that the van scene was his favorite to shoot, and that it "will go down in history as one of the most fun moments I’ve ever been a part of".[7]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Ratings
"The Injury" received 5.1/12 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings. This means that 5.1 percent of all households with an 18 to 49 year old living in it watched the episode, and 12 percent had their television tuned to the channel at any point. The episode was watched by 10.3 million viewers.[8] At the time of its airing, the episode was the highest rated episode of The Office, excepting the series' pilot, which received over 11 million viewers.[9]
[edit] Reception
IGN ranked the scene with Dwight getting in a car accident as its seventh best moment in the first two seasons,[10] Rolling Stone has the same scene as the 20th funniest in The Office's first three seasons.[11] TV Squad's Michael Sciannamea said that "The Injury" was "another solid episode" and that the "show gets better with each and every week." [12] M. Giant of Television Without Pity graded the episode with an "A-".[13] In a poll done by OfficeTally.com, an Office fansite, "The Injury" was ranked as the third best episode of the second season by voters.[14] On Officetally, this episode was voted fans all time favorite episode from Seasons 1-5. B.J. Novak stated in an interview that it was his all-time favorite episode of the show.
[edit] References
- ^ "Mindy Kaling". NBC.com. http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/bios/mindy_kaling.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
- ^ OfficeTally (April 1, 2007) Katy meets B.J. OfficeTally.com, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ Yo, Michael (2009-04-30). "The Office: "This Is Their Wedding Episode"". E!. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b121452_office_this_their_wedding_episode.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ The Office Wikia (November 8, 2007) The Office Convention 2007 Cast Q&A theoffice.wikia.com, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ "B.J. Novak answer 'Chair Model' questions". OfficeTally. http://www.officetally.com/bj-novak-answers-chair-model-questions. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ Two Cents and York, Marcus (June 16, 2006) Two Cents & Five Questions With... The Two Cents, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ Krasinski, John (June 16, 2006) John Krasinski chat transcript OfficeTally.com, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ Collins, Scott (13). "NBC Enjoyed Thursday Night". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ American 'Office' an early ratings hit Digital Spy, retrieved February 28, 2008
- ^ Goldman, Eric & Zoromski, Brian (September 20, 2006) The Top 10 Moments from The Office IGN, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ Thomas, Lindsey (October 17, 2007) The 25 Greatest Moments from The Office Rolling Stone, Retrieved June 16, 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007.
- ^ Sciannamea, Michael (January 13, 2006) The Office: "The Injury" TVSquad.com, Retrieved June 16, 2008
- ^ Giant, M. (January 12, 2006) "The Injury" TelevisionWithoutPity.com, Retrieved June 17, 2008
- ^ Tan, Jeannie (April 8, 2008) OfficeTally Survivor Poll: Season 2 OfficeTally.com, retrieved June 16, 2008
[edit] External links
- "The Injury" at NBC.com
- "The Injury" at the Internet Movie Database
- "The Injury" at TV.com
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