Classy Christmas

"Classy Christmas" is the collective name for the eleventh and twelfth episodes of the seventh season of The Office, and the show's 137th and 138th episodes overall. It was played in two separate "parts". It was written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Rainn Wilson. It originally aired on December 9, 2010. It was viewed by 7.18 million people.

Cold open
The Scranton branch take a group photo outside the office for their Christmas card. Michael insists they do a fun shot as well, even though it is freezing outside, and they decide to jump in the air together. After several tries, they are still unsuccessful at capturing a picture of them in the air and begin to bicker among each other. Andy suggests that everyone jumps as high as they can, but they are still unsuccessful. Frustrated, Dwight charges towards the camera as the Scranton branch continues to argue. The scene then cuts to Michael in his office, who reveals in a deadpan tone: "We didn't get it."

Summary
Pam reveals that now that she is the office administrator, she is the head of the Party Planning Committee. Her first act, as she happily reveals, was to shut the committee down since in her opinion, "At its worst it was a toxic political club used to make others feel miserable and left out. At its best, it planned parties." Michael then enters the office as Santa expecting a situation, but finds to his dismay that there are no problems this Christmas. He then claims in a talking head how a wonderful Christmas with no drama is just what he wanted, as he bites his lip in annoyance. Before the party begins, the Scranton branch finds out that Holly will be replacing Toby while he is out on jury duty, and Michael demands that Pam throw a new Christmas party to coincide with Holly's return. Michael wants the Christmas party to be "classy", and is against doing any typical Christmas stuff that would be too childish or unsophisticated. He is under the impression that Holly will be single when she arrives, even though last time he saw her, she was dating A.J., her boyfriend from her last job. Pam decides to give Jim a homemade comic book for Christmas (The Adventures Of Jimmy Halpert), and worries that Jim may not like it, but he loves it and is extremely touched. Jim gives Pam a diamond bracelet which she happily accepts, after Pam spends the day speculating on what Jim made for her. Jim then admits laughingly, that while he does usually give homemade gits to Pam, there was no way he could have made a diamond bracelet.

Meanwhile, Darryl is worried that his daughter doesn't want to spend Christmas with him. He decides that he will try and convince her to spend Christmas with him by bringing her to the office Christmas party. He is dismayed when he finds out that Michael has decided to make the party "classy", thus making it no fun for kids. Andy and Pam team up to give Darryl's daughter a fun scavenger hunt so she will be more interested in spending Christmas with her father, but Andy inadvertently ends it prematurely. In the end she enjoys spending Christmas with Darryl, after Darryl buys her most of the items in the break room's vending machines to give out to everyone and Michael eventually dresses up in a traditional Santa costume.

When Holly arrives, it turns out she is still dating her boyfriend, despite living far away from him. It is clear that she is somewhat disappointed that he hasn't proposed yet, and the women in the office encourage her to give him an ultimatum, which she decides to do. Michael is so upset about her still being with A.J. that he takes it upon himself to vandalize a “Toy Story” doll of Woody that A.J. gave her, which she keeps at her desk. She angrily asks who did it and after trying to frame Toby, Michael admits it was him and that he did it out of jealousy. When asked why he is upset, Michael admits that he is hurt that while Holly claimed she loved him but they had to breakup when she transferred, she is still with A.J. despite the long distance. Later he overhears her tell A.J. that she was the one who accidentally spilled food on the doll, and realizes that she's forgiven him. Pam sees an upset Michael leave the party and follows him outside to tell him about the ultimatum, and points out that it means Holly and A.J.’s relationship probably won't work out. Michael agrees and says he's prepared to wait it out.

After Dwight makes fun of him for being excited about snow falling, Jim leaves to gather a snowball in the parking lot and throws it at Dwight in the office. Upset, Dwight demands that Jim apologizes, but he refuses. Dwight challenges Jim to a snowball fight "at the first real snow of winter", which Jim is excited about, but it eventually gets intense. Dwight relentlessly pummels Jim with snowballs he had gathered in a bowl, after hiding inside a snowman, to the point that Jim is bleeding from the nose. For the rest of the day, Jim is haunted constantly by the threat of getting hit with a snowball, as Dwight repeatedly pummels Jim with snowballs whenever Jim drops his guard. Jim tells Dwight that he surrenders, but Dwight tells him there is only one thing he will accept as a condition of surrender: Jim must throw a snowball at Pam's face while he watches. Horrified, Jim tells Dwight he is a psychopath, which Dwight happily takes as a refusal to surrender. Jim and Pam leave work to find the parking lot populated with snowmen and Jim frantically smashes them as a satisfied Dwight observes from the roof. Dwight then muses, "In the end, the greatest snowball isn't a snowball at all. It's fear," before happily wishing the viewer and documentary crew a Merry Christmas.

Connections to previous episodes

 * When asking the office members if there are any problems this Christmas, Michael appears to be referring to issues that occurred on past Christmas episodes:
 * "Are we over budget?" - "Christmas Party"
 * "Did anyone get drunk already?" - "Moroccan Christmas"
 * "Angela, lay it on me, what's the problem?" - "A Benihana Christmas"
 * Sabre had been struggling to find Kelly something to do after she became a Minority Executive. She joined the Sabre Minority Executives program in "Body Language".
 * Pam warns Michael that he might be idealizing people again when he expects everyone to chip in for a new Christmas party for Holly. She previously helped him realize he was idealizing his relationship with Ryan in "WUPHF.com".
 * Dwight disguises himself as several other employees. In "Product Recall", Dwight was furious at Jim for dressing like him, shouting, "Identity theft is not a joke!" Dwight has apparently softened his stance on the subject, or simply is being hypocritical.
 * Jim accidentally breaks a conference room window with a snowball. In "Stress Relief", Michael used a projector to break a conference room window. Coincidentally, both of these episodes were the first part of a two-part episode.
 * In Dwight's fake note from Pam to Jim, Pam calls Jim "Pickles". In "The Lover", Michael's pet name for Pam's mother was "Pickle".
 * When A.J. arrives at the office he says it's to surprise Holly, however it's more likely he came because of the history between Holly and Michael that he didn't know about until "Lecture Circuit Part 2" and further awkwardly witnessed in "Company Picnic."
 * When Michael gives Kelly a fast food receipt in lieu of a mall receipt, she asks him how many Number Nines he ordered. This recalls Michael's love of McDonalds Filet-O-Fish sandwiches from "Hot Girl".

Amusing details

 * Pam gets a fake Christmas tree for the office. In "Secret Santa," however, she seemed disappointed when Jim and Dwight reveal a fake Christmas tree.
 * When Jim throws a snowball at Dwight, Pam seems to be the only one that doesn't find it funny. She previously claimed in "Viewing Party" that she always saw Dwight as a good friend.
 * Jim spins around in his chair instead of working, as he no longer has any incentive to sell after meeting his commission cap for the fiscal year in "WUPHF.com".
 * A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. Kevin, an accountant himself, doesn't know what a comptroller is.
 * After Michael says that he interrupts Toby because he leaves long pauses when he talks, Toby's speech is slightly faster in the remainder of the scene. In part, that's because he's excited about the case he is going to be serving on, but he may also be subconsciously speaking faster to prevent Michael from interrupting him.
 * Erin and Gabe were not at Dunder Mifflin when Holly was the H.R. representative. Erin asks outright who Holly is. Gabe doesn't understand why Holly's return warrants a party. A popular fan theory is that Jo arranged for Holly be Toby's replacement during his jury duty, fulfilling her promise to Michael in "Whistleblower".
 * After Dwight's first attack, Jim is so traumatized he does not remove his jacket for the rest of the episode. He had previously only worn his jacket while he was co-manager of the branch.
 * Even though Phyllis was very set on being Santa in the previous Christmas episode, she seems very happy to see Michael in his Santa suit.
 * When Holly says to Michael, "I didn't know you had a girlfriend", Michael responds, "I do, she is," as if he expected her next question to be, "Is she real?"
 * Dwight is wearing Pam's actual cardigan when pretending to be her. Pam isn't wearing her cardigan when she walks out of the break room shortly before Dwight reveals the deception to Jim.
 * Dwight reveals that he has a wig for every person in the office.
 * Kevin shuts the door to the conference room and blocks it when Dwight throws snowballs at Jim in the office. Angela is also seen wincing with each throw of a snowball through the conference room window.
 * Oscar turns around to look at Michael and Holly when they do impressions of Mexican shooters.
 * Jim, Dwight and Michael are visibly confused when Holly claims that the last time she was here Jim and Dwight were best friends.
 * The entire office collectively groans when Michael tells Holly that it will be a story to tell their kids.
 * The snowman that Dwight was first hiding in is collapsed on the ground when Jim and Pam walk out to the parking lot at the end of the episode.

Goofs

 * Erin did see Holly perform with Michael at the company picnic in "Company Picnic". She likely didn't remember, or didn't realize that the person she saw at the picnic is the same person she is meeting in this episode.
 * Jim flinches before opening the present Dwight made look like was from Pam, shooting a snowball at his face, indicating that he knew this was going to happen although it was a surprise.

Trivia

 * This episode begins the running gag of Angela referring to Robert Lipton as a Senator, only for everyone to correct her by pointing out Robert is a State Senator.
 * Dwight has a Zippo lighter in his desk, an unusual item for someone who doesn't smoke since it has to be recharged from time to time even if not used regularly.
 * The story Michael makes up to make Holly jealous is ridiculously ill-conceived, as would be expected of Michael. He mentions going to JFK Airport to go back to Scranton, which is 2 1/2 hours from New York by car, as established in "Casino Night." Also, the airport that serves Scranton doesn't have flights to or from JFK.
 * Pennsylvania is guaranteed 18 representatives to Congress after the 2010 Census. Illinois is the only other state with an equal number.
 * The tracks "King O' Swing" by Gotthard Welker and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Stan Reynolds are featured in this episode.
 * First appearance of Darryl's daughter Jada.
 * First suggestion of Robert Lipton's homosexuality.

Cultural references

 * Jim asks for a "Charlie's Angels" pose. In this pose, popularized by the logo for the 1970's television program , subjects hold their hands together with index finger pointed upward, mimicking a gun, and adopt a sultry pose.
 * Angela refers to Robert Lipton as a "busy senator". Oscar corrects her: "State senator." is the highest elected legislative position in the country, and the title carries high prestige. Robert's position is at the much smaller state level, but Angela uses the "Senator" title anyway.
 * Michael says "The name is Bond... Santa Bond", modifying the catch phrase of fictional super-spy as portrayed by . Michael mistakenly says that he is imitating, who portrayed the character from 1995 to 2002. Michael also asks for an eggnog "", which is Bond's preferred preparation of vodka martini.
 * Michael does a little when talking about how boring he finds jazz.
 * When Holly arrives, she jokes around with Michael in a accent. Eastwood came to prominence by playing tough guys in Westerns.
 * Holly switches to imitating from .
 * Michael responds by imitating, including his signature exclamation, "D'oh!" Holly replies as , Homer's wife.
 * Michael takes Holly to her desk in a stereotypical Mexican accent from a Western. Holly continues the joke.
 * Holly has a doll of, one of the lead characters from the children's animated movie series . Michael says his favorite character from the movie is "Andy's mom", the mother of the boy who owns the toys. Holly jokes that AJ had a note that said "", which is the theme song for the movie franchise, composed by.
 * Andy suggests getting "a really beat up" Christmas tree, "like on Charlie Brown." In , the lead character purchases a small, sad tree.
 * Michael's belief that Holly would be single came from, the writer of many popular romantic comedy movies, most notably  and "''.
 * is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss.

Main cast

 * Steve Carell as Michael Scott
 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert
 * B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
 * Ed Helms as Andy Bernard

Supporting cast

 * Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
 * Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
 * Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton
 * Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
 * Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
 * Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon
 * Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
 * Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson
 * Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
 * Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
 * Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance
 * Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis
 * Amy Ryan as Holly Flax

Recurring cast

 * Mark Proksch as Nate

Guest cast

 * Rob Huebel as A.J.
 * Jack Coleman as State Senator Robert Lipton
 * Taylar Holloman as Jada
 * Jonathan Pintoff as Bassist