The Convict

"The Convict"
The Office episode
"Prison Mike" scares the office straight.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 9
Written by	Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Directed by	Jeffrey Blitz
Production no.	03011
Original airdate	November 30, 2006
Season 3 episodes
"Gay Witch Hunt" "The Convention" "The Coup" "Grief Counseling" "Initiation" "Diwali" "Branch Closing" "The Merger" "The Convict" "A Benihana Christmas" "Back from Vacation" "Traveling Salesmen" "The Return" "Ben Franklin" "Phyllis' Wedding" "Business School" "Cocktails" "The Negotiation" "Safety Training" "Product Recall" "Women's Appreciation" "Beach Games" "The Job"
List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes

"The Convict" is the eleventh filmed and ninth aired episode of the third season of The Office (U.S. version). It aired on November 30, 2006. It was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (creators of the original The Office) specifically for the U.S. series. It was directed by Jeffrey Blitz.

Synopsis

Michael learns that Martin Nash is a former criminal, and tells the entire office. Meanwhile, Jim encourages Andy to pursue Pam, and intentionally gives him wildly incorrect information about her favorite things.

Martin tells the others he was incarcerated for insider trading, and that he enjoyed certain perks of prison, including outside time and art classes. Pam comments that prison sounds better than their current work situation. Attempting to convince his employees that the office is better than prison, Michael sends everyone to "outside time" in the bitter cold. He then calls a meeting in which he adopts the persona of "Prison Mike," in a segment reminiscent of the Scared Straight! documentaries. Martin comments that Michael's performance did not remind him of his time in prison. This further infuriates Michael, who then locks all of the staff inside the conference room. Toby tells Michael the staff is simply teasing him. A relieved Michael relents, but Martin chooses to quit.

Andy strums "The Rainbow Connection" on his banjo, while singing falsetto and in pig latin. Pam smiles politely and silently shares the joke with Jim.

Deleted scenes

The Season Three DVD contains several deleted scenes. Notable cut scenes include:

• Dwight and Andy spar verbally in the kitchen.
• In a talking head interview, Ryan is upset that Kelly forgets to take her birth control pills on purpose.
• Martin offers Meredith a ride to the tire shop so she can pick up her car. In a talking head interview, Dwight reads a pretend story of the events of the day, beginning with "There is a convicted probably-murderer" and ending with "Everybody died. The end." Angela pointedly takes notes on Martin's license plate and car model.
• Dwight informs Michael that he believes Martin has murdered Meredith. In response to Angela's prodding about what he is going to do about it, Dwight explains, "She's on her own."
• In a talking head interview, Michael explains that he created "Prison Mike" in a improv class.
• Pam gives Andy wildly incorrect tips for hanging out with Jim.

Notes

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)

• Meredith's appearance in the elevator as Martin leaves is a remnant of a deleted subplot regarding her apparent disappearance.
• At the end of the episode, Andy serenades Pam with the Muppets song "The Rainbow Connection." The UK version of The Office featured another Muppets song, "Mah Nà Mah Nà," which opened the first episode of the second season.
• Andy calls Pam "Pam-a-lama-ding-dong" while trying to smooth talk her. Michael says the same thing to Pam in "Health Care".

External links

• The Convict at NBC.com