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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: October 4, 2005
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Office (U.S.), “Office Olympics” (season 2, episode 3). [Stream on Netflix.]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Any TV show that lasts for a significant amount of time is going to change and evolve. The mission statement that was there for a show at its outset is not always the mission statement that sustains it, and particularly for sitcoms, they move outward in directions that make their end points seem very distant from where they began. In the case of the American version of The Office, the show eventually became about relationships (Jim and Pam!) and who got to be the boss of whom and who owned the paper company. It was easy to forget that the very simple initial mission statement of the show was a comedic look at the little indignities that befall a group of office drones and the equally little ways in which they seek to momentarily brighten their dreary days. Sure, it doesn’t sound super funny, but it was in just how recognizable that struggle was that the show was able to be so funny about these characters’ lives.
Which is why “Office Olympics” may just be the most perfect episode to sell the spirit of these early seasons of The Office. The premise is simple: Michael has to step out of the office for a few hours to deal with some personal business (he’s signing a lease on his new condo), and Dwight has convinced him to let him tag along, so with the boss and his lackey out of the way, Jim gets inspired by Oscar and Kevin’s goof-off activities and leads the rest of the employees (minus Angela) in a series of dumb competitions in the guise of an Olympics. As Pam describes in a talking head interview, this is where Jim’s actual potential comes shining through, where his creativity and enthusiasm are allowed to flourish, and as a result, everybody (minus Angela) has a great time. Look at how happy Jim gets when Phyllis starts trash-talking. It’s a beautiful thing. Of course, the great tragedy of Jim, as we are reminded at the end of the episode, is that days like this are few and far between at Dunder Mifflin, and the truth of the matter is that nobody cares as much as he (and maybe Pam) does.
And all the while, Michael is going through a life crisis at his new condo, as Dwight keeps enthusiastically pointing out bad things about the condo and that his 30-year mortgage will be his tomb.
“Office Olympics” has everything that makes The Office great, and it’s early enough in the series’ run that these great things hadn’t already been done to death. Like the melancholy undercurrent of the Jim-Pam thing, which at this point was at the longing stage, and where Pam could be scared off my Angela making a mean comment. Or how Ryan very subtly began to show his true douchebag colors by ditching Pam’s yogurt-lid medals in the trash. AND THEN things all come together with Jim arranging a medal ceremony for Michael (complete with doves!), because Michael really needed it. IT’S THE BEST EPISODE.
