The Dundies 

Very much unlike his staff, an overeager Michael can't wait for this year's annual Dundies awards.

Director:

Greg Daniels

Writers:

Greg Daniels (developed for american television by), Mindy Kaling

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
Melora Hardin	...	Jan Levinson-Gould
David Denman	...	Roy Anderson
Leslie David Baker	...	Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner	...	Kevin Malone
Kate Flannery	...	Meredith Palmer
Mindy Kaling	...	Kelly Kapoor
Angela Kinsey	...	Angela Martin
Paul Lieberstein	...	Toby Flenderson
Oscar Nuñez	...	Oscar Martinez (as Oscar Nunez)
Craig Robinson	...	Darryl Philbin

Storyline

The time comes for the annual Dundies Awards to award everyone in the office with their fine work with odd categories. Created my Michael, he is overly excited for it while everyone else couldn't care less. Michael sends Pam to look at highlights from the past Dundies while preparing to have this years Dundies as Chili's.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Greg Daniels has said that The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) was a huge part of the process where the show went from being promising but very erratic in Season 1 to a huge hit that would win the Best Comedy Series Emmy in 2006 and run for seven seasons after that. The reason for this is that Steve Carell's performance in Judd Apatow's film gave them a guide for how to make Carell's Michael Scott into a more nuanced and likable character (even as Michael was not intended to be, and wasn't, as nice or good a person as Carell's Andy character from the film). One of the major problems with Season 1 was that Michael Scott was often mean or menacing, and keying into Carell's other work helped re-calibrate Michael Scott into more of a well-meaning person who was still often ridiculous and/or incompetent.

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Goofs

There is a moment in Chili's where Pam falls to the ground. A couple talking at a table behind Jim and Pam disappears and reappears as Jim is helping Pam up from the ground.

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Quotes

Pam Beesly: [shouting into camera] Oh, my God! I just want to say that this was the best Dundies ever.
[whoops loudly at the camera]

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Connections

References Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972)

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Soundtracks

(I've Had) The Time of My Life
Written by John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz, and Franke Previte
Performed by Bill Medley

User Reviews

When the U.S version really became the U.S version.

Throughout the first season of the show, it was desperately trying to copy the UK version when it came to the way characters acted (you could see some early Pam, Jim and Dwight scenes in season 1 where their personalities were somewhat defined) but this was the official change. You can really see the characters distance themselves from their British counterparts starting in this episode. Michael really changed starting here. He went from the cocky boss to someone who really cares about his co-workers and that change is evident starting here. The episode itself is one of my favorites, a lot of jokes and awkwardness (The good kind) and you also get some Jim and Pam scenes in here where it is clear they should be together. This is definitely a classic episode.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille Productions, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

21 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1