Diversity Day (29 Mar. 2005)

Michael's off color remark puts a sensitivity trainer in the office for a presentation, which prompts Michael to create his own.

Director:

Ken Kwapis

Writers:

Greg Daniels (developer), B.J. Novak,

Stars:

Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Steve Carell	...	Michael Scott
Rainn Wilson	...	Dwight Schrute
John Krasinski	...	Jim Halpert
Jenna Fischer	...	Pam Beesly
B.J. Novak	...	Ryan Howard
Larry Wilmore	...	Mr. Brown
Leslie David Baker	...	Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner	...	Kevin Malone
Kate Flannery	...	Meredith Palmer
Mindy Kaling	...	Kelly Kapoor
Paul Lieberstein	...	Toby Flenderson
Angela Kinsey	...	Angela Martin
Oscar Nuñez	...	Oscar Martinez
Phyllis Smith	...	Phyllis Lapin

Storyline

When Michael imitates a Chris Rock comedy routine, many people in the office are offended, prompting corporate to send in a sensitivity worker to give the Scranton office a diversity training day. When Michael is dissatisfied with the training, he creates his own diversity course ("Diversity Tomorrow"). Meanwhile, Jim loses one of his big commissions for the year.

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Plot Keywords:

seminar | reference to abraham lincoln | tolerance | racism

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deedle-Dee Productions, NBC Studios, Reveille Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Michael rips up his signed pledge, Jim is chewing on a pencil. When the camera shows Jim again, he is chewing on a pen.

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Quotes

Michael Scott: I am Michael, and I am part English, Irish, German, and Scottish. Sort of a virtual United Nations.

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Connections

Spoofs Chris Rock: Bring the Pain (1996)

User Reviews

"If you're a racist, I will attack you with the North"

After following the British template almost slavishly in the pilot episode, the American version of The Office goes its own way already in the second show, the painfully hilarious Diversity Day (although, truth be told, it does occasionally remind of the first episode of the original's second season).

Shockingly, the fun derives from Michael trying to fix something: after one of his employees told a subtly racist joke, a Diversity Day is organized. What Michael doesn't know is that the spokesperson in charge of the event, Mr. Brown (Larry Wilmore), is actually there because of numerous complaints about his behavior, not someone else's. That the boss thinks Mr . Brown is a made-up name - due to the person's skin color - isn't very helpful, either. Soon everyone in the office is involved in a series of increasingly ridiculous tolerance games that undermine everything Diversity Day is meant to stand for.

From Michael's lame attempt at (mis)quoting Abraham Lincoln to Dwight's twisted mentality (when given a clue to find out what race he is representing as part of a test, he says: "Aw man, what am I, a woman?"), this episode is a good example of the show's ability to pull off the same kind of awkward humor as the original version whilst adapting it to the American way of life. It's considerably lighter (the British one's gag about over-sized genitalia would never have made it past the idea stage), but that doesn't mean it's any less entertaining.