Golden Ticket

"Golden Ticket" is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the show's 91st overall. It was written by Mindy Kaling (who also wrote "Frame Toby" and "Night Out") and directed by Randall Einhorn, who also directed "Blood Drive". It originally aired on March 12, 2009. It was viewed by 7.51 million people.

Cold open
Michael walks to Pam's desk and interrupts her phone call so he can make a knock-knock joke that ends with him putting a slab of butter and a slice of bread on her desk. Dwight then tells a knock-knock joke to Michael about the KGB. The punch line is that Dwight slaps Michael and shouts, "Ve vill ask the qvestions!"Michael and Dwight have a brief slap fight before Michael declares that knock-knock jokes are banned in the office. Jim then makes a "ding dong" joke, intriguing Michael. Jim responds that the KGB is at the door, and Michael and Dwight try to convince the other to answer the door. While they argue, Jim slaps Dwight: "The KGB vill vait for no one!" Dwight solemnly looks to the camera and says, "It's true."

Synopsis
Michael comes to work dressed as Willy Wonka after being "inspired" by an idea that is sure to bring up paper sales: He placed golden tickets in shipments of paper which grant a 10% discount for a year. In addition to his excitement, Michael also holds a "marketing conference" in the office. However, his idea backfires, as the company's largest client, Blue Cross of Pennsylvania, receives one of these tickets. In fact, they got all five of the tickets, for a cumulative discount of 50%. (Michael did not specify "limit one per customer".) Michael, at first, berates Darryl for not properly labeling the shipments for the customers, although Darryl made it clear that Michael had to know that shipments close to each other meant they were headed to the same customer. Embarrassed, Michael disposes of his Willy Wonka attire and returns with Andy's blazer, and starts a conference to get the branch out of the problem.

All the employees are disgruntled and are furious with Michael as this could be cause for the branch to shut down during the current economic crisis, with Jim being upset with Michael for him losing half of his commission while he has to pay a mortgage. Soon Michael receives a call from CEO David Wallace, who is also furious and demands an explanation on the perpetrator responsible for the idea and why the idea was approved. Michael, not admitting that it was his idea, claims it was an "inside job" and blames it on one of the employees: Dwight. Soon, Dwight is seen talking with Michael, fighting over who was responsible for the idea, which Dwight clearly explains was Michael's fault, with the help of his diary.

Later, Dwight and Michael are seen walking around, discussing loyalty and what Dunder Mifflin had offered Dwight. Michael also explains that true loyalty is to take the blame from Wallace and risk losing his job. Dwight considers accommodating Michael but has not made his mind up when Jim tries to talk him into letting Michael take responsibility for his actions. When Wallace comes in Michael, expecting Dwight to get fired, anxiously asks Dwight to take the blame for the golden ticket idea. Michael is appalled when Wallace tells them that due to the golden ticket idea, Blue Cross is making Dunder Mifflin its exclusive office supply provider. Dwight, having risked losing his job when the golden tickets were a bad idea, takes the credit as the office cheers 'his' great idea. Wallace wants Dwight to talk to the Marketing department and as the telephone conference begins, Michael listens in then busts into the conference room to claim the credit. Michael becomes furious and complains that it was his idea and fights with Dwight to take credit. However, Wallace, unable to believe that Michael wants credit after having blamed a subordinate, becomes annoyed and leaves prematurely. Dwight and Michael later discuss to the camera about whose idea it was in their own words and begin to fight over Dwight's diary. In the end, Dwight also continues his KGB joke with Jim, only to be stood up after Jim states "I'm taking a shower, can you come back later?"

Meanwhile, Kevin, interested in Lynn, asks advice from Jim, Pam, and Andy. Jim recommends caution, Pam recommends action, and Andy recommends brutish behavior. As the three begin to fight over what is true and whose idea is more practical, a frustrated Kevin decides to take matters into his own hands. Kevin asks Lynn out in his own method and is successful.

Quotes
For quotes see: Golden Ticket Quotes.

Deleted scenes
Many deleted scenes were put on the Season 5 DVD. Notable cuts include:
 * Kevin tells Lynn that he is going to be busy for the next twenty days. Kevin explains he doesn't know much about women.
 * In a talking head interview, Andy says that was raised to be a gentleman around women, "but when your fiancée is Satan, that doesn't work." He has come up with some new dating ideas, and he's using Kevin as his guinea pig.
 * Michael tries to get Dwight to take a stroll with him outside. When Dwight asks Michael if he is wearing sunblock, Michael says he put on SPF 1 sunscreen. (Sun Protection Factor or SPF is a multiplicative scale. An SPF of 1 is the same as no sunscreen at all.) Cut to Dwight putting on sunscreen.
 * Upon Pam's advice, Kevin touches Lynn. However, upon Andy's, Kevin tells Lynn he likes the color of her shirt but not the cut.
 * Jim jokingly tells Pam that they can't date. Pam says that's hot and Jim tells Pam to pick him or Kevin. Jim leaves and Pam laughs.
 * Andy tells Kevin to tell Lynn that he has tons of girlfriends.
 * Dwight says that Lynn and Kevin are perfect for each other.
 * Dwight calls Oscar a lady.
 * Kelly wants Dwight to be fired and replaced with a new, hot guy. Angela, Oscar, and Kelly talk to each other and say that Michael is being unfair. Michael overhears and goes into the bathroom to spy on them. Angela says that Dwight shouldn't be blamed and Meredith replies that Angela's saying that because "she used to bone him." Michael spies on them from the men's room.
 * Michael makes an announcement. He says that if he wasn't there, the new manager could be terrible: He could hate minorities (singling out Oscar for being "far too Hispanic"), he could think people should have private lives and go home rather than be a work family, he might realize that accounting is overstaffed, or he might be opposed to romance in the workplace (looking at Pam and Jim). Everyone looks sad, and Michael tells them not to say something mean behind his back when he is faking going poop. Watch it.

Amusing details

 * After disposing of his Willy Wonka costume, Michael wears Andy's blazer for the remainder of the day. While Andy is seen only with a sweater vest over his dress shirt.
 * Michael gives David the textbook definition of what a colonoscopy is during their phone call.
 * When he was a child, Dwight wasn't allowed to consume candy or sugary confectioneries or see movies.
 * Dwight wears white sneakers for his stroll with Michael.
 * As Michael and Dwight explain in a talking head in Michael's office the reasons why Dwight would benefit from leaving Dunder Mifflin, the two of them switch their usual places. Dwight sits at Michael's desk while Michael leans at Dwight's usual position.
 * David Wallace doesn't question why Michael is wearing a random t-shirt, sweatpants and a tan blazer.
 * One of Michael's ideas was to open up a shoe store called "Shoe La La," which would sell men's shoes for all the occasions in a man's life.
 * When Dwight yells "Horse Boat," he looks at the documentary crew, as if he is selling them the idea.

Trivia

 * When Michael is walking outside with Dwight they walk past a sign saying "Keyser Valley Auto Parts." This is a real place in Scranton and has its own website.
 * B.J. Novak (Ryan Howard) is credited but does not appear in the episode.
 * It is likely that the events of this episode drove David Wallace to introduce a buffer between himself and Michael in "New Boss", while before he took a more hands on approach to dealing with Michael after Ryan and Jan's departure.

Connections to previous episodes

 * The last time Pam hugged Dwight was "The Injury", another Mindy Kaling episode.
 * Michael couldn't remember the name of the movie  in "Goodbye, Toby".
 * When talking with Andy in the kitchen, Kevin has his "America's Got Talent" mug from "Customer Survey". Andy's mug is from "Moroccan Christmas".
 * Michael also misused the phrase "No harm, no foul" in the episode "Women's Appreciation".
 * Dwight continues to be paranoid about computers, harking back to Jim and Pam's prank in "Launch Party".
 * This is not the first time Dwight has been slapped by Jim, the other was in the episode "Traveling Salesmen". The same episode also has references to the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Andy compares the employees from Stamford to the children in the movie and makes up a song about Dwight leaving to the tune sung by the Oompa Loompas.
 * Dwight wasn't allowed to watch movies as a child, but in "The Merger", he brags that he's seen over 240 movies. All of his movie-watching must have been as an adult.
 * Michael tells Dwight that he has a diary; Dwight has just never seen it. Although Michael is trying to frame Dwight using the diary, it is previously shown that he does keep a diary in "The Deposition".
 * Michael had invented the "Toilet Buddy" in the deleted cold open of "Job Fair".

Cultural references

 * A  is a joke pattern popular among children. (The ding-dong joke was invented for the episode.) The joke pattern is demonstrated at the start of the episode when Michael tells a knock-knock joke to Pam. It is based on a pun on a name. The "KGB" version subverts the user's expectations: The user expects a pun on the letters "K-G-B", but instead the joke-teller plays out the scene pretending to be a KGB agent.
 * The  was the state security agency of the former Soviet Union.
 * Michael's Golden Ticket idea and his Willy Wonka costume are taken from the children's movie , based on the book .
 *  was a long-running American sitcom from the late 1980s.
 *  is a brand of breakfast cereal.
 * "No harm no foul" expresses the principle that if there is no injury, then there was no offense. The term comes from the sport of basketball, wherein a violation of the rules is not penalized if it has no effect on the game. Michael uses the phrase incorrectly because in this case, there was harm.
 * After changing out of his Willy Wonka costume, Michael wears a Pioneers football shirt. The were a minor league arena football team from 2001 to 2009.
 * Michael is allegedly attending a civil rights rally at the  in Washington, DC (over 200 miles away).
 * Another of Michael's excuses is attending an  fashion show. was President of the United States when this episode aired.
 * Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania is a health insurance company based in nearby Wilkes-Barre. They also have an office in Scranton.
 * Michael claims that he had a colonoscopy to avoid talking with Wallace. A colonoscopy is the examination of the colon with a small camera. One typically undergoes a routine colonoscopy at ages 50, 60, and 70, though earlier or more frequent procedures may be called for based on medical history.
 * are colorful flowers that are often given to people as gifts for decorating.
 * Michael's idea for a shoe store is "Shoe La La", a pun on the phrase "ooh la la", an expression of surprise with sexual overtones. (The phrase is itself a corruption of the French "oh là là" which means roughly "oh no".)

Main cast

 * Steve Carell as Michael Scott
 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly
 * B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard (Credited Only)

Supporting cast

 * Ed Helms as Andy Bernard
 * Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
 * Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
 * Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton
 * Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer
 * Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
 * Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
 * Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
 * Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance

Recurring cast

 * Andy Buckley as David Wallace
 * Calvin Tenner as Calvin (uncredited)
 * Hidetoshi Imura as Hidetoshi Hasagawa (uncredited)

Guest cast

 * Lisa K. Wyatt as Lynn