Basketball (The Office)

rdf:langString Basketball (The Office)

rdf:langString List of The Office episodes

rdf:langString *David Denman as Roy Anderson *Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin *Patrice O'Neal as Lonny Collins

rdf:langString The Office

rdf:langString Greg Daniels

rdf:langString "Basketball" is the fifth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American comedy television series The Office. The episode aired on NBC in the United States on April 19, 2005. The episode was written and directed by producer Greg Daniels, marking both his first solo writing credit and first directing credit for the series. This episode also marks the first appearance of comedian Patrice O'Neal. In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and the office staff take on the workers in the warehouse in a basketball game. Owing to racist and sexist stereotypes, Michael chooses many less-skilled office workers for the team over their more athletically talented peers. Michael claims a "flagrant personal intentional foul," stops the game, and declares his team as the winners. The warehouse finds the call unfair and Michael caves under pressure and concedes the victory to the warehouse staff. The episode was inspired by a deleted scene from the first episode where Michael talks about a pick-up basketball game. For two days, the cast of The Office played actual basketball games, which were then spliced together to give the effect of one continuous game. In addition, several lines from the episode became fans and cast favorites. "Basketball" was viewed by an estimated 5.0 million viewers and received a 2.4/6% rating share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received positive reviews from critics.