"Lecture Circuit" is a two-part episode of the American comedy television series The Office. They constituted the sixteenth and seventeenth episodes of the fifth season and the 88th and 89th overall episodes of the series. The first episode originally aired on NBC on February 5, 2009, and the second on February 12.
During both episodes, Michael and Pam visit the various branches of Dunder Mifflin to make business lectures, and in particular visit the Utica branch – where Jim's ex-girlfriend Karen Filippelli is regional manager, and the Nashua branch, where Michael's ex-girlfriend and the love of his life, Holly is an H.R. rep. In both episodes, Jim and Dwight hit a snag as the new heads of the Party Planning Committee when they forget Kelly's birthday. In the first episode, Andy develops a crush on a customer, and in the second episode, Angela's unhealthy obsession with her cats is spotlighted when she installs a nanny cam.
Both episodes were directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Mindy Kaling, who also plays Kelly Kapoor in the show. "Lecture Circuit" included guest appearances by screenwriter Dan Goor, comedian Rob Huebel and actress Rashida Jones, who reprises her role of Karen, a regular character from the third season. Although the character Holly Flax played a major part in the storyline, actress Amy Ryan did not appear in "Lecture Circuit". The episodes received generally positive reviews. According to Nielsen Media Research, the first part was watched by 8.4 million viewers and the second part was watched by 8.89 million viewers.
Plot
Part one Michael Scott is asked to visit the Dunder Mifflin branches to lecture about his success in Scranton. He and Pam Beesly, who is coming along as his assistant and driver, plan to visit every branch except Nashua because Michael is not ready to face his ex-girlfriend Holly Flax, who works there. They first visit the Utica branch, where former Scranton employee Karen Filippelli is now regional manager. Pam, who is engaged to Karen's ex-boyfriend Jim Halpert, fears the encounter will be awkward, but Karen is now married and pregnant, and the two get along very well. When Pam reveals her and Jim's engagement, Karen offers genuine congratulations. Michael's lecture in Utica proves to be a disaster when he teaches the employees a trick for memorizing names which insults everybody. Nevertheless, Pam is ecstatic to have found closure with Karen. Later, on the road, Michael tells Pam that he never found closure with Holly and, at Pam's suggestion, they blow off the other lectures and drive to Nashua.
Back in Scranton, Jim and Dwight Schrute have been named the reluctant heads of the Party Planning Committee by Michael due to previous fights between Phyllis Vance and Angela Martin. Jim and Dwight prove terrible at the job. When Kelly Kapoor chastises them for forgetting her birthday, they try to make it up to her by throwing a party but do a poor job, choosing horrible decorations and forgetting Kelly's age. Dwight reads her file and learns Kelly spent time in juvenile hall.
Andy Bernard finds himself attracted to Julia, a potential client who is talking with Stanley Hudson. Andy repeatedly acts awkwardly in front of Julia and accidentally sets off her car alarm while trying to look inside and find out what music she likes. Andy admits his attraction to her to Stanley, who then gives the potential client over to Andy in exchange for two of his clients. After walking her out to the car, Andy tries to kiss her, but is rebuked. Andy apologizes and mentions that he just got out of a relationship. Julia claims she also just got out of a relationship and Andy starts feeling a connection, but she still rejects him and he loses the account.
Part two Michael and Pam arrive at the Nashua branch, only to learn Holly is away on a human relations retreat. They also learn Holly is dating one of the Nashua salesmen, A.J. Deeply upset, Michael is at first unable to go forward with the presentation, but Pam encourages Michael to do the best presentation possible so people will tell Holly about it. He starts the presentation, but it falls apart when Michael starts asking A.J. intimate questions about his relationship with Holly. Michael leaves in the middle of the talk, leaving Pam to awkwardly finish the presentation. When Michael goes to Holly's desk he cuts a sleeve off her sweater, and notices a document on her computer called "Dear Michael", which he copies onto his flash drive. Later, at a diner, Michael tells Pam about the letter, but she insists reading it would be violating Holly's trust. Pam herself reads the letter and does not tell him the exact contents, but reassures him Holly still has feelings for Michael and it is not over, giving Michael the closure he sought.
In Scranton, Dwight loudly confronts Kelly about her time in juvenile hall, which turns out to be for stealing the boat of an ex-boyfriend when she was 14. Kelly also declares she hates the cake Jim picked for her, which is completely blank; he later decorates it and spells her name incorrectly as "Kelley". When Kelly insists the party needs a theme, Jim and Dwight are unable to think of anything. They finally settle on offering her one hour of napping or one hour of watching television. She loves the idea and chooses the nap.
Angela buys a $7,000 cat with the money she received from selling Andy's engagement ring, and sets up a nanny cam so she can monitor her cats from work. She is horrified to see one of her other cats having sex with the new cat, and rushes home to stop it. Kevin Malone and Oscar Martinez watch Angela arrive home on the nanny cam screen, and become disgusted when Angela starts licking the cat to help clean it. Angela eventually returns to work and coughs up a hairball. Oscar claims the image will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Production "Lecture Circuit" was directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Mindy Kaling, who also plays Kelly Kapoor in the show. The cold open, in which Michael abuses the P.A. feature on the office's phones, was written by Aaron Shure. It was inspired by Shure's time working on Everybody Loves Raymond, when the production staff discovered their phones had access to a P.A. system. Relevant content occurs at 11:38-12:08.
Part one includes a cameo performance by Rashida Jones, a regular cast member during the third season, during which she played Jim Halpert's love interest Karen Filippelli. "Lecture Circuit" aired just two months before Jones began her regular role as Ann Perkins in the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation, which was created by Office producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. Dan Goor, a future writer for Parks and Recreation, made a cameo as Karen's husband in the photographs featured in the part one episode. Rob Huebel, a comedian best known for the MTV sketch comedy series Human Giant, guest starred as Holly's boyfriend, A.J. Amy Ryan, who played Holly Flax in previous episodes, did not appear in either "Lecture Circuit" episode, although the decision by Michael and Pam to visit Holly at the end of the first episode led to speculation about whether she would appear in the second.
Continuity and cultural references Michael handing out candy bars during his lectures is a reference to the third season episode, "Business School", in which Michael passed out chocolate bars during his speech to a business school classroom. Michael expresses regret for insulting Tony Gardner, the heavyset man who briefly transferred from the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin to the Scranton branch, who Michael drives to quit by trying to lift onto a table for an orientation demonstration in the third-season episode, "The Merger". Among the Dunder Mifflin branches Michael visits is Nashua, New Hampshire, where Holly works, and Utica, New York, where Karen works. Michael said he can only prepare for his lectures by listening to "silence or Sam Kinison", an American stand-up comedian known for his extreme and vulgar sense of humor. Michael said he learned the Pledge of Allegiance, the lyrical oath of loyalty to the United States flag, by setting the lyrics to the rhythm of "Old McDonald Had a Farm", a children's song about the various animals on a farm. When learning the name of Holly's boyfriend, Michael asks, "What kind of name is A.J.? What, do you race cars?" - a reference to famed racing driver A. J. Foyt and others. During one lecture, Michael and Pam both do impressions of the protagonist from Forrest Gump, the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks as a mentally handicapped man. Michael also uses the title from the films Good Morning, Vietnam (at his Nashua lecture by saying "Good morning, Vietna...shua!") The Princess Bride, Gone with the Wind and Jerry Maguire in his lectures. Holly's computer has a screensaver with images of Ed Grimley, the nerdy character with a cowlick played by comedian Martin Short in the comedy shows SCTV and Saturday Night Live.
Angela said she sold Andy's engagement ring on eBay, an online auction website. Creed gives Andy romantic advice and says, "This is how I got Squeaky Fromme", a reference to the Manson family member who tried to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford. A picture of President George W. Bush appears on a fake three-dollar bill Creed gives Jim to pay for the party. Creed suggests Kelly watch The Bonnie Hunt Show, a syndicated talk show hosted by actress Bonnie Hunt. Andy puts Splenda, an artificial sweetener, into Stanley's coffee because he has adult onset diabetes, a disorder characterized by high blood glucose. Andy sings Julia a song by Feist, the Canadian singer and songwriter, after he spots a Feist CD in her car. Michael takes a document file from Holly's computer that was created with Microsoft Word, the Microsoft word processing program. Pam said she hates the notion of even Al-Qaeda hating her, a reference to the Islamist terrorist organization that committed the September 11 attacks. Kelly confesses she went to juvenile detention in Berks County, Pennsylvania, at age 14 for doing something "like Thelma & Louise, but with a boat", a reference to the 1991 road movie starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon on the run from their troubled, caged lives. Jim said during a birthday trip to a museum at age seven, his father bought him a plastic toy triceratops, a three-horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period, which Dwight insists is not a good dinosaur. Pam remembers the name of one audience member by comparing her to k.d. lang, the Canadian singer known for her extremely short hair.
Reception In its original American broadcast on February 5, 2009, the first part of "Lecture Circuit" was seen by 8.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The original broadcast for the second part on February 12 was seen by 8.89 million viewers. The second episode received a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 3.8 rating/9 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49, numbers which were close to the season's average rating. The first episode received a 5.0 rating/14 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. Both ratings were three-tenths of a drop from the previous episode, "Stress Relief", which was heavily viewed because it immediately followed the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII on NBC. The drop in ratings led some media outlets to speculate that the post-Super Bowl ratings boost was only temporary and would not help The Office in the long run.