"WUPHF.com" is the ninth episode of the seventh 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 A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

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 135th episode overall. Written by

Aaron Shure Aaron Shure is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is known for his work on several comedy series, including ''The Office'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''Lucky Louie'', ''George and Leo'', ''and The New Adventures of Old ...

and directed by

Danny Leiner Daniel Leiner (May 13, 1961 – October 18, 2018) was an American film and former television director. He was best known for directing the stoner comedy films ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' and ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle''. He was born in ...

, the episode originally aired 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 ...

in the United States on November 18, 2010. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees at the

Scranton, Pennsylvania 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 ...

branch of the fictitious Dunder Mufflin Paper Company. In the episode, Ryan Howard ( B. J. Novak) and 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 ...

) struggle to convince coworkers who have invested in Ryan's startup company that he can make it profitable. Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute (

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 ...

) that hosts a hay festival in the parking lot of the building, distracting him from fulfilling a contract to Angela Martin (

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...

) to have sex. The episode received positive reviews and was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Comedy.

Synopsis

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) has convinced Michael Scott (

Darryl Philbin ''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 ...

( Craig Robinson),

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 ...

Andy Bernard Andrew Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the NBC comedy television series ''The Office'', portrayed by Ed Helms. He is introduced in Season 3 as the Regional Director in Charge of Sales at the Stamford branch of paper distribution co ...

(

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 ...

), and

Pam Halpert Pamela Morgan Halpert ( née Beesly) is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom ''The Office'', played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of ''The Office'' is Dawn Tinsley. Pam begins the series as the recept ...

(

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

) to invest in his startup business, a cross-portal messaging system housed at WUPHF.com. While Ryan touts a planned "investors ski weekend", Michael learns that there is already an offer to buy out WUPHF.com, but also that Ryan only has nine days of funding left before his venture collapses. Ryan's subsequent sales pitch falls apart when he reveals that the potential buyer is the

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

Public Health Fund, who are only interested in the URL because it contains their initials, WUPHF. While the others demand that Ryan sell the company, Michael defends him, and because Michael is the majority shareholder in the company, his decision stands. Pam privately tells Michael that Ryan has never viewed Michael as a best friend, and is merely taking advantage of Michael's affection and loyalty for him. Pam reminds Michael that other people have money at stake, and they will all lose money if he and Ryan do not sell the company. Michael is later upset by Ryan when he refuses to have dinner with him, and again when Ryan supports Michael's theoretical plan to get a second mortgage to fund WUPHF.com. While Michael refuses to sell the company, he pressures Ryan to save everyone's money and find a suitable course of action. Ryan, unable to make WUPHF.com profitable, decides to sell the company, to Michael's relief. Meanwhile,

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 ...

(

) hosts a hay festival in the parking lot for the Thanksgiving holiday, distracting him from a contractual obligation to have sex with

Angela Martin Angela Noelle Schrute (née Martin; formerly Lipton) is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom ''The Office,'' portrayed by actress Angela Kinsey. The character is based on Sheila from the original version of ''The O ...

(

) at her request. A frustrated Angela meets a charming, friendly man ( Jack Coleman) who is attending the festival with his young son (

Griffin Gluck Griffin Gluck (born August 24, 2000) is an American actor. In television, he is known for his roles as Charlie in ''Red Band Society'', Mason Warner in ''Private Practice'', and Danny Gannon in '' Back in the Game''. He also starred as a main ch ...

). Angela discovers that he is a widower, and approves when he asks if he can call her sometime. Dwight appoints himself the "Hay Festival King" in the meantime, revealing that the entire purpose of the festival was to exorcise memories from his childhood, where his family would host similar hay festivals and he never was elected king for them. He arrives at his and Angela's warehouse rendezvous point to see their procreation contract has been stamped VOID, and looks stricken.

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 ...

) is in the midst of a record sales streak, but Angela informs Jim that Sabre instituted a commissions cap for the year and Jim maxed out his returns. Jim talks to

Gabe Lewis ''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 ...

(

Zach Woods Zachary Woods (born September 25, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known for his roles as a series regular for three seasons as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', as Jared Dunn on the HBO ...

) about it, but Gabe insists that he cannot change the policy. Unmotivated to work, Jim struggles to entertain himself.

Production

Jack Coleman Get Smart premiere arrival (crop)

"WUPHF.com" was written by co-executive producer

, his fifth writing credit on the series, and directed by

, his first ''Office'' directing credit. In a deleted scene, Michael seeks advice from Toby while the HR representative is having a webchat with his daughter; when Michael overhears Sasha talking about Toby's ex-wife's new boyfriend, Michael forgets he wanted help dealing with Ryan, and laughs at Toby's misery at the news.

Reception

In its original American broadcast on November 18, 2010, "WUPHF.com" was viewed by an estimated 7.28 million viewers and received a 3.8 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, improving from the prior week's episode. For his work on this episode,

was nominated for a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

for Episodic Comedy.

Notes

References

External links

"WUPHF.com"
at

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 ...

* {{The Office US Episodes 2010 American television episodes The Office (American season 7) episodes Television episodes about social media