Fundraiser (The Office)
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Episode 22
| "Fundraiser" | |
|---|---|
| The Office episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 22 |
| Directed by | David Rogers |
| Written by | Owen Ellickson |
| Cinematography by | Matt Sohn |
| Editing by | David Rogers |
| Production code | 822 |
| Original air date | April 26, 2012[1] |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Fundraiser" is the twenty-second episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 174th episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 26, 2012. "Fundraiser" was written by Owen Ellickson and directed by David Rogers. The episode guest stars Andy Buckley and Jack Coleman.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) crashes a fundraiser and ends up adopting twelve dogs. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) learns that an auction winner loses money. Nellie (Catherine Tate) learns how to eat a taco.
"Fundraiser" received mixed reviews from critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Fundraiser" was viewed by an estimated 4.17 million viewers and received a 2.1 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, making it the lowest-rated season eight episode of The Office to air. The episode ranked third in its timeslot and was also the highest-rated NBC series of the night.
Angela Lipton's husband Robert throws a silent auction fundraiser for local animal rights activists and Robert California buys two tables to seat everyone in the office. Newly fired Andy Bernard arrives and tries to get into an argument with Robert, telling him about a rock opera he has written with the hero based on Andy and the villain being a heartless character who wants to destroy all music named Thomas Oregon (with the name being a thinly veiled reference to Robert California), who is "humanized" when he pees himself at the end. Andy runs into David Wallace, former CFO of Dunder Mifflin, and begins plotting his return to Dunder Mifflin. Andy interrupts Robert's speech introducing the senator by volunteering to adopt the twelve dogs brought by the local animal society. Afterwards, members of the office ask if he is having a breakdown, and, at Kevin Malone's urging, Andy sadly agrees that he is.
Dwight Schrute attends without understanding how silent auctions work: he believes that the purpose of the function is to guess correctly the market price of the objects. By the end of the night, Dwight has put exorbitant amounts on the items and ends up accidentally donating over $34,000. He flees when he discovers his mistake, giving a bizarre speech on the value of animals before doing so. Nellie Bertram tries to talk with Darryl Philbin by complaining about the food. She suggests they get a taco at her expense, offering $30 to Darryl to go out and buy some. When she does, she shovels the ingredients in her mouth, not eating the shell. Darryl realizes she has no idea what a taco is, but appreciates that "she's trying" to socialize with her employees.
Oscar Martinez talks briefly to Senator Lipton about animal rights, and Lipton (who Oscar suspects is gay) gives Oscar his private cell phone number, asking Oscar to call him in the evening to discuss issues further. Oscar tells Pam and Jim Halpert that the Senator was hitting on him. Jim says Lipton was likely just schmoozing a voter, talks to Lipton himself, and also gets his number. Meredith Palmer later gets Lipton's number as well, resulting in Oscar thinking that the senator may not have been hitting on him. When Oscar is leaving, Lipton shakes his hand and caresses Oscar's arm for long enough that Oscar once again believes Lipton was pursuing him.
Production
"Fundraiser" was written by Owen Ellickson and directed by David Rogers.[2] The episode features the return of the character David Wallace (Andy Buckley), former CFO of Dunder Mifflin.[3] Wallace, who is also attending the fundraiser, reveals to Andy that after his firing, he sold his toy-vacuum invention "Suck It" to the military for $20 million.[2]
Cultural references
The cold opening references several notable bands and musicians: the scene consists of Ryan complaining because he recently heard—erroneously—that musician Smokey Robinson died.[4] Initially, Ryan refers to him as only "Smokey", which causes Pam to believe he is talking about Smokey the Bear. However, Ryan, on the bequest of Pam, is only able to name one song that Robinson had sung, "The Tracks of My Tears".[2] Pam, however, is later able to remember that he sang "Tears of a Clown", and Jim references "I Second That Emotion".[2][4] After Jim proves that Robinson is both still alive and playing at a local venue, Ryan tells him that he will be unable to attend because the opening band is Paul Anka, and that is "not what Smokey would have… does want!"[2] During his pontificating rant, Ryan mentions that popular music is not all about "Jason Mraz and The Beatles", which shocks Dwight. Dwight lists off "Eleanor Rigby" and "Paperback Writer" and asks Ryan if he truly does not like those songs.[2]
