Basketball (19 Apr. 2005)

Michael and his staff challenge the warehouse workers to a basketball game with a bet looming over both parties.

Director:

Greg Daniels

Writers:

Greg Daniels (developer), Greg Daniels,

Stars:

Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Carell	...	Michael Scott
Rainn Wilson	...	Dwight Schrute
John Krasinski	...	Jim Halpert
Jenna Fischer	...	Pam Beesly
B.J. Novak	...	Ryan Howard
David Denman	...	Roy Anderson
Craig Robinson	...	Darryl Philbin
Patrice O'Neal	...	Lonny
Leslie David Baker	...	Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner	...	Kevin Malone
Matt DeCaro	...	Jerry
Kate Flannery	...	Meredith Palmer
Angela Kinsey	...	Angela Martin
Oscar Nuñez	...	Oscar Martinez (as Oscar Nunez)
Karly Rothenberg	...	Madge

Storyline

Michael and his staff challenge the warehouse workers to a basketball game with a bet looming over both parties.

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Plot Keywords:

basketball | game | team

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deedle-Dee Productions, NBC Studios, Reveille Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael's line, "Try not to look too gay on the court", was improvised. The look on John Krasinski's face is genuine.

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Quotes

Michael Scott: I know. Grumble, grumble, but you would follow me to the ends of the earth grumbling all the way. Like that dwarf from "Lord of the Rings."
Dwight Schrute: Gimli.
Michael Scott: Nerd. That is why you're not on the team.
Dwight Schrute: Just trying to be helpful.
Michael Scott: [mimicking Dwight] "I'll help. Elwyn Dragonslayer. Ten points, power sword."
Jim Halpert: That's him.

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Connections

Features Solitaire (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Sweet Georgia Brown"
Written by Ben Bernie and His Orchestra, Kenneth Casey, and Maceo Pinkard
Performed by Steve Carell

User Reviews

Let's go to the warehouse...

Remember the episode of the British version of The Office where Tim (Martin Freeman) showed people around and took them to the warehouse? That was basically a one-off incident (except for that one other time when David Brent lied about firing someone), a 2-minute laugh that didn't lead to much else. In the US version, however, the warehouse workers play a more substantial role (for one thing, Pam's fiancé is one of them), and this episode is the first good example of that.

In his eagerness to prove his staff is top notch, Michael challenges the warehouse workers in a basketball game, to be held in the warehouse. Naturally, since he doesn't want to lose, the rule-book can be subject to a few, uh, tweaks, as the boss, Dwight, Jim and the others take on Roy (Kevin Denman), Darryl Philbin (Judd Apatow collaborator Craig Robinson) and the rest of the workers.

Whereas the previous shows were all about embarrassing dialogue exchanges, Basketball manages to combine verbal and visual comedy, with terrific results: the game in itself is a major treat, as are Michael's bizarre morale-boosting remarks (which include calling Jim "gay" and dismissing Dwight as a "nerd" - not that he's wrong about the latter). Still very wrong, and very, very funny.