The Office: Prince Family Paper, 5.13
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 | 179 comments
W: B.J. Novak, D: Asaad Kelada
Summary (NBC): Michael and Dwight go undercover to do a bit of industrial espionage on a paper company competitor. Meanwhile, the rest of the office holds a debate to settle the question: is Hilary Swank hot?
Icon provided by pessimistreader.
Favorite quotes
Jim: Looks like a red wire.
Jim: Oh, he’ll be fine. I made it up there.
Michael: Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Wallace?
Michael: Fax? Why don’t you just send it over on a dinosaur?
Dwight: Michael, please. Can I seduce her?
Dwight: You know how I feel about IHOP! Are you a socialist?
Michael: You will have pancakes and you’ll like it.
Michael: Clouds in the sky. That means it’s going to rain. Bad for business.
Dwight: Michael, get your clouds right.
Michael: All right. Here come the sharks.
Michael: Replace sharks with paper companies, and that is all you need to know about business.
Michael: Ooh, Vietnam. I hear it’s lovely.
Kevin: A painting can be beautiful, but I don’t want to bang a painting.
Michael: Laughter is my job. Tears are my game. Law is my profession.
Dwight: I’m your son now. You can visit him on holidays.
Kevin: It’s “is she hot?” Not “would you do her?” Respect the game.
Angela: Hot is a temperature, people.
Angela: Yes, she’s hot. She’s hot as heck. She’s a female Boris Becker.
Pam: We don’t even give him full Internet access.
Michael: Ah, coffee. That’s too much … nice.
Dwight: Goodbye, Prince Family! Should be called the Sucker Family …
Dwight: Have you ever seen a raccoon devour a squirrel?
Dwight: Save your heart for love and use your brain for business.
Dwight: If Frodo hadn’t destroyed the ring, then goodness itself might have died.
David: You are a titan of industry, pal.
Dwight: Guess whose stock just went up, golden boy?
Michael: I slightly destroyed a wonderful little family.
Rating
In a poll conducted Jan. 22-26, Tallyheads rated this episode: 6.98/10
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OMG, is it just me, or did anyone else notice that the guy at Prince Family Paper had the same mug as Michael? “World’s Best Boss”?
I think the only thing missing from this episode was more talking heads. The deleted ones with Andy (Theron), Dwight (Dolphins) and Kevin would have made this a great one.
Also a little mention of “the Duel” would have been nice.
I had put off watching this episode b/c I heard so many bad things about it. I was pleasantly surprised, though. I really enjoyed the whole Hilary Swank storyline. That is exactly something that I would do to waste time at work. The academic feel of Oscar’s presentation was my favorite.
I was disappointed in this episode. Destroying a family business, especially in this economy? That was too sad. I was hoping they’d revisit the Prince family paper company in a future episode to make things right.
I liked this episode, but agree with others that it probably received a lower fan rating than usual because the rest of the office is doing the same thing the whole episode, boring. If that had spun out into some other good story line, then it would be a top episode b/c the Michael/Dwight part is hilarious!
I’m shocked that this episode got such a low rating as well. It was definitely reminiscent of Season 2 (which is obviously a good thing) and brought the funny.
Wow. I cannot believe that this episode received such a poor fan rating. This episode totally rocked! Aside from being just plain hilarious, it was one of the most grounded episodes of the Office that I’ve seen in a while.
I just barely watched this episode last night. After reading so many negative reviews of it, I wasn’t expecting it to be great…boy was I wrong! This episode was hilarious, one of the top 5 of the season. It had, as many have mentioned, that Office Olympics feel, and I thought every character had a really funny moment without anyone being over the top. I wish they had stuck in parts of the deleted scenes, but overall it was a really great episode, with a classic Office-feel.
The intro may have been the best of the year. The rest of the episode was pretty blah. Besides everyone knows Hillary Swank is NOT hot.
On one hand, I was a little disappointed that there weren’t any of the usual plotlines in this episode. After The Duel, I expected the Angela/Dwight/Andy situation to be addressed. But on the other hand, I agree with everyone who said that this episode was reminiscent of season 2. I guess it’s a little strange that they stuck it in the middle of season 5, after The Duel. But isn’t the random, silliness of season 2 the reason that we all loved The Office in the first place?
Not my favorite episode, but overall it was pretty good.
#154 and #151
Angela has said “Oh My God” before, in the season two episode “Conflict Resolution.” I’m pretty sure it was in response to Oscar comparing her baby poster to hardcore pornography.
I’m a nerd.
171. Koos: I’m pretty sure that was Pam. It was my favorite part of the episode :-)
I absofruitly LOVED this episode it was so realistic and easy to relate to. I think it can take its place among season 2 classics. It was great because it was a break from all the strung along plot drama that season 5 has been so far. This episode is really quotable (my favorite is probably the IHOP/socialist one =]) and had great character development with Michael, which Steve Carell acted perfectly. I think this would make a fantastic Emmy submission for the show and Steve Carell!
Is it Pam who says the really loud Yeeeeah! at the end?
A second viewing of this episode only further entrenches me into one idea: This episode totally rocks! I loved both the subplots, and they were edited in such a way that everything was clear and cohesive. The Hilary debate was a great opportunity to see all of the characters interact. Oh, and I loved Stanley’s speech about looking upward! Well done, B.J (even if you didn’t write a line for yourself)!
Socialist.
Hilary Swank? What about IHOP vs Denny’s? I’m gonna go w/Michael & vote IHOP. =)
I loved this episode. The Hilary Swank debate reminded me of all that wasted chatter in offices I’ve worked at (although we rarely take votes). I also love how they’re making Michael be a good worker for once: in an upside-down economy, of course he should thrive.
157 – I respectfully disagree. Season 2’s episodes had little in the way of a basic chronological plotline except for perhaps the JAM story – and as said before, this is not the JAM show. Personally I think this was a fine episode: great cold open, a story with Michael and Dwight together again (yes!), and a fun subplot that had everyone in the office without too much of anyone. This is my tied fav for Season 5 (with Weight Loss and Customer Review), and I think the writers did a nice job brining back the best of the good old days
I loved it. There were so many little lines throughout the episode that had me laughing. Dwight’s “socialist” remark about IHOP, Michael’s math, the return of Michael Scarn, the debate was hilarious…some of John Krasinski’s expressions had me rolling…the cold open and the tag were perfection. Now that I think back, I am pretty much a fan of most episodes written by B.J. It was cleverly written, smart, and funny.
Good point #145 tuna tuna tuna. No complaints here. I think this season has been great and continues to get better.