"Branch Closing" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' and the show's 35th overall. It was written by co-executive producer

Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born 1975) is an American television producer, writer, director and actor. He was a producer and writer for the comedy series ''The Office'', and co-created ''Parks and Recreation'' with ''Office'' producer Greg Daniels. ...

and directed by

Tucker Gates Tucker Gates is an American television director and producer. He has directed several episodes of the ABC series ''Alias'' and ''Lost''. He has also directed episodes of '' Bates Motel'', '' Weeds'', ''Carnivàle'', '' Point Pleasant'', '' Huff'' ...

. An edited version of the episode first aired on November 9, 2006, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

; later that night, a longer "producer's cut" edition was released, with

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

s edited into the full episode and broadcast on the website

NBC.com The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. This uncut episode is the version included on the Season 3 DVD set. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

and Stamford branches of the fictional

Dunder Mifflin Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictional paper and office supplies wholesale company featured in the American television series ''The Office''. It is analogous to Wernham Hogg in the British original of the series, and Papiers Jennings ...

Paper Company. In this episode, the Scranton branch has varied reactions to news that their branch will close. Michael Scott (

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

) and

Dwight Schrute Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a fictional character on ''The Office (U.S.)'' and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight's character was a salesman and the assistant to the regional manager, at the fictional paper distribution compan ...

(

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Emm ...

) head to the CFO's house to convince him not to close it. When head of the Stamford branch Josh Porter (

Charles Esten Charles Esten Puskar III (born September 9, 1965), also known professionally as Charles Esten, and Chip Esten, is an American actor, musician and comedian. Esten played the role of country singer Deacon Claybourne on the ABC/ CMT drama ''Nashvil ...

) announces he is quitting, the employees find that the company's plans have changed. According to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, an estimated 8.05 million viewers watched "Branch Closing" on its first broadcast. Critical reception to the episode was very positive, with one reviewer opining that it "expertly combines character-driven and situational humor, while realistically presenting a major change that advances the stories of all the characters. The result is a fantastically funny, enjoyable and realistic half-hour."

Plot

Jan Levinson Janet Levinson (formerly Levinson-Gould) is a recurring fictional character from the US television series ''The Office'', portrayed by Melora Hardin. She is the no-nonsense Vice President of Northeast Sales at the paper distribution company Dunde ...

(

Melora Hardin Melora Hardin (born June 29, 1967) is an American actress, known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's ''The Office'' and Trudy Monk on USA Network's ''Monk'', and Tammy Cashman on Amazon Prime Video's '' Transparent'', for which she received ...

) informs Michael Scott (

) that the

branch will close, with a few people transferred to Stamford and the rest

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

. Michael takes the news badly, and soon tells the rest of the office prematurely. Michael and

(

) decide to confront the

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

at his home. Back at the office,

Ryan Howard Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from to . He is ...

( B. J. Novak) takes this opportunity to break up with

Kelly Kapoor Kelly Rajanigandha Kapoor is a fictional character from the American television series ''The Office'', portrayed by Mindy Kaling. She is the customer service representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin from seasons 1 to 8. Following ...

(

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...

Meredith Palmer ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments wi ...

(

Kate Flannery Kate Destiny Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series ''The Office'', which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Sh ...

) tries to remember a promise that she made about sleeping with someone on the last day of work,

Creed Bratton Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider, February 8, 1943) is an American actor, singer and musician. A former member of the rock band the Grass Roots, he is best known for playing a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom ''T ...

(

) begins selling off the office equipment for profit, and

Stanley Hudson ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' is an Television in the United States, American television series based on The Office (British TV series), the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the ...

(

Leslie David Baker Leslie David Baker (born February 19, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for playing disgruntled paper salesman Stanley Hudson in ''The Office'' for nine seasons (2005–2013). Early life Baker was born on February 19, 1958 in Chicago, Il ...

) begins relishing the thought of retiring with severance. Stamford branch manager Josh Porter (

) reveals that he has leveraged the situation to obtain a better position at Staples, losing Jim's respect in Josh and stating that "Say what you want about Michael Scott, but he will never do that" as Michael has always been loyal to the company and his employees. The new plan is to close Stamford instead, and Jan offers

Jim Halpert James "Jim" Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom ''The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder ...

(

John Krasinski John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine ...

) the number two position in Scranton, but he is reluctant to accept it. The Scranton branch is relieved when they hear they are saved, and Kelly is thrilled that she and Ryan do not have to break up after all. When Michael and Dwight get the news, they celebrate their success, believing, erroneously, that they accomplished it. After agonizing over the decision, Jim accepts the position and suggests to

Karen Filippelli ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments wi ...

(

Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...

) that she join him in Scranton. In a talking head interview, Karen admits that even though she does not think he is "into her," she is "kind of into him".

Production

"Branch Closing" was written by co-executive producer

and directed by

. On her MySpace blog, actress Jenna Fischer urged readers to watch the episode, declaring that "The stuff ichael and Dwightdo together is the absolute funniest thing ever on our show. And also the most touching... The entire episode is amazing. I can't wait for you to see it." The episode featured recurring guest stars

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom ''The Offic ...

, Rashida Jones, Craig Robinson, and Charles Esten. This episode also marks as Esten's last appearance in the series. The same night the episode first aired,

released a "producer's cut", which contained additional scenes and extra footage not shown in the first broadcast. Vivi Zigler, the executive vice president NBC digital entertainment and new media, explained that "this is a first-of-its-kind and a real bonus for fans of ''The Office.'' It's also a natural for this show which has continually pushed the envelope in the digital landscape. We're seeing an incredible audience reaction to the evolving digital extensions of our programming and anticipate this being one of their favorites." In her weekly blog post for ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'', actress

wrote of the producer's cut, "Isn't that cool? I think the ''Office'' fans are going to really dig it. I love the Stamford characters. Everyone is so much fun to work with." This version contained two new story lines and other minor additions and changes, including Meredith remembering an agreement to have sex with a coworker on the final day of employment,

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

selling electronics and furniture from the office,

Andy Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

having a plan in case he gets laid off, and Ryan admitting that Kelly has a strange power over him.

Reception

"Branch Closing" first aired on NBC in the United States on November 9, 2006. According to

, it was watched by an estimated 8.05 million viewers. The episode was broadcast again on March 1, 2007, in its normal timeslot, receiving a viewership of 6.5 million people and a 3.0/8 rating share among adults aged 18 to 49. This was consistent with other repeat airings of the series on Thursday nights; the episode also retained 100 percent of its adult audience from its lead-in, ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Jaso ...

''. "Branch Closing" has received generally positive reviews from television critics.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Brian Zoromski rated it 10 out of 10, making it one of only two third-season episodes he deemed a "masterpiece". He explained that the episode "is a perfect example of why ''The Office'' is the best-written comedy currently on the air. The episode expertly combines character-driven and situational humor, while realistically presenting a major change that advances the stories of all the characters. The result is a fantastically funny, enjoyable and realistic half-hour." Michael Sciannamea of

AOL TV AOL TV was the name of both a thin client which uses a television for display (rather than a monitor), and the online service that supports it, both of which were launched in June 2000 to compete with WebTV. The product and service were develop ...

felt that because of the poor economy, the episode "surely hit home with quite a number of people," and added that it shows that Michael "does have a soul... you ended up rooting for him to save the day." Sciannamea highlighted Stanley's reaction to the branch closure as one positive element, though he criticized the Ryan-Kelly storyline as "tiresome". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' columnist Abby West lauded the episode, writing that it "had almost everything we could want: all the major players in the mix, an unexpected (not-really) twist, a juicy little revelation, and the short-term promise of a Jim/Pam reunion." She was pleased with the emphasis on Jim and the way he "wonderfully bookended the conflicting emotions Michael inspires". West also believed that the "writers did a great job of creating the sense of crisis that resulted in the Scranton branch instead absorbing Stamford (I never trusted that Josh guy) even though fans of the original knew it was going to end up that way."

Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...

graded "Branch Closing" with an ''A''.

References

External links

"Branch Closing"
at NBC.com * {{The Office US Episodes The Office (American season 3) episodes 2006 American television episodes Television episodes written by Michael Schur