Moroccan Christmas

"Moroccan Christmas" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of The Office and the 83rd episode overall. It was written by Justin Spitzer, who also wrote "Did I Stutter?" and "Back From Vacation" and directed by Paul Feig. It first aired December 11, 2008. It was viewed by 8.79 million people.

Cold open
Dwight enters the office to see that Jim has wrapped his desk, belongings, and chair in gift wrap. Dwight asks Jim how long it took him to do this and Jim sarcastically responds that it took him 5 mins, as he is a "black belt at gift wrapping." Dwight tells Jim that he hopes it was worth the time since it will take him 5 mins to cut everything open, while Jim warns him that it might take him longer than that. As Dwight brandishes his pocket knife and sits on his chair, his entire desk and chair to fall to pieces, revealing that Jim has either deconstructed or replaced Dwight's items with breakaway props.

Synopsis
Phyllis throws a Moroccan-themed Christmas party, her first Christmas party as head of the Party Planning Committee. Alcohol is served at the party, of which Meredith takes full advantage - she gets so intoxicated that she accidentally sets her hair on fire while she is dancing around. Dwight puts out the fire with an extinguisher and the party comes to a halt. Michael then stages an intervention by gathering everyone in a circle to discuss how Meredith's alcoholism affects them. When Meredith continues to deny her alcoholism, the rest of the office find it best to go back to the party. Michael then talks with Meredith in his office before leaving the building. Meredith is told by Michael that they are going to a bar, but he actually takes her to a rehabilitation center. When Meredith sees this, she tries to escape, but Michael grabs her and drags her into the center. However, Michael learns that the staff will not check anyone in against their will, so he and Meredith leave and head back to the office.

Dwight has been performing research to determine what will be the most popular toy of the current Christmas season: a doll named "Princess Unicorn", which is (as the name implies) a princess with a unicorn horn on its head. Dwight has bought every doll he could find in the local toy stores and explains he is going to sell the dolls to desperate parents for an enormous profit. Jim is skeptical that people would pay a high price for a doll, but he watches numerous customers come in throughout the day to purchase a doll from Dwight, all paying his asking price of $200. Toby wants to buy a doll for his daughter, Sasha, so he can be the hero this Christmas, which would irritate his ex-wife. When he goes to Dwight to purchase one, he finds that Darryl has already purchased the last one. Toby begs Darryl to the verge of tears, and Darryl offers to sell it to him for twice the price. Toby tells him that he doesn't have the money with him, but Darryl allows him to pay him back later, and Toby becomes visibly happy. He is, however, slightly shocked when the doll he gets from Darryl is a black version of the doll, but he decides not to complain.

Throughout the day, Phyllis continues to order Angela to do various tasks for the party, such as preparing a plate of bread and hummus during Michael's intervention, or putting away her Nativity scene and removing the Christmas tree (as neither of those are in the theme of Moroccan Christmas). When Phyllis tells Angela to bring back the Christmas tree after Michael and Meredith leave, Angela refuses, telling Phyllis that she will no longer fulfill Phyllis' demands. Phyllis threatens to inform everyone of Angela's affair with Dwight, but Angela still refuses, as Phyllis would no longer be head of the Party Planning Committee if she did. As Phyllis despondently heads toward the door, she suddenly turns around and announces to the office that Angela is having an affair with Dwight, much to everyone's shock. Angela is visibly upset while Dwight is visibly amused. Pam claims that she knew it all along, which Jim initially doubts, but then decides to believe her in the spirit of Christmas. Andy, however, was absent for Phyllis' announcement, having been in the annex teaching himself to play a sitar. At the end of the episode, he returns to the party to play "Deck the Halls" for Angela on the sitar, before she asks him to take her home. The rest of the office decide not to reveal the secret to Andy.

Deleted scenes
The DVD contains additional deleted scenes
 * Extended clip of Angela lugging the Christmas tree out of the office, down the stairs, out of the building, across the parking lot, to the street. Voice-over of Angela explaining, "I do not mind doing hard labor. got his start as a stock boy, lugging heavy boxes ten hours a day. And he went on to become the president of a party planning committee I like to call the United States of America."
 * Phyllis talking head: "Did you know that an ant can carry five times its own weight? All it needs is a strong queen to tell it what to do. And there is nothing that little creature can't accomplish."
 * Alternate talking head of Michael explaining what an intervention is. He compares it to an alcoholic drink. "I call it a responsibilitini."
 * More of the intervention: Michael invites everyone to name a celebrity who died of a drug overdose. Watch it.
 * In a talking head interview Michael, says that he's a chocoholic and jokes that they should have an intervention for him, then realizes that he shouldn't joke about addiction. Watch it.

Other deleted scenes
 * Jim talking head in which he explains, "Actually, it took me about a week to recreate the desk and chair in chicken wire. I had to come in about four hours early and set it all up. And I think I pulled something in my back dragging Dwight's real desk all the way up to the roof, all for a three second payoff. Totally worth it."
 * At her intervention, Meredith explains that she drinks because she's bored, and then hijacks the meeting by asking who else is bored. She points out that everyone has a coping mechanism, "You eat, you eat, you shop, [to Angela] you confuse Dwight, [to Stanley] you eat." Immediately followed by a Stanley talking head: "I do eat when I'm bored, but I also drink, and I drink a lot more than Meredith. I just don't do it at work and I keep my clothes on."
 * A B-blot in which Jim and Pam look for gifts for each other.
 * Joint talking head of Jim and Pam in which they explain that things are financially tight because they just bought a house, so they agreed not to buy each other Christmas presents but instead will take items from Dunder Mifflin and give them to each other. Pam says, "My credit's so bad I'm hoping someone steals my identity. They couldn't handle my finances worse than me."
 * Various scenes of Jim and Pam showing things to each other.
 * At the end of the day, Pam gives Jim a gift wrapped in copier paper. It is a pair of sunglasses made of paper clips and brown plastic from a folder. Jim gives Pam a watch. Pam points out that he bought the watch, in violation of their agreement. Jim explains that he did find it in the office, because he bought it three years ago, but "it was way too big and I chickened out."

Connections to other episodes

 * This episode concludes the story arc of Phyllis blackmailing Angela over her knowledge of Angela's infidelity, which she discovered in "Goodbye, Toby".
 * The "Copier maintenance" on the whiteboard is a callback to "The Surplus", in which the office decide to spend the surplus money on new chairs instead of a new copier.
 * Kevin calls Meredith "Fire girl", referring to the incident in "The Fire" which earned Ryan the nickname "Fire guy".
 * While discussing when to host an intervention for Meredith, Michael says he can’t host an intervention on a day because he is having a dentist appointment for his soft teeth, which he mentions in "Dinner Party".
 * When talking about Christmas wishes, Michael says, "A watch would be nice." Michael gave his watch to Toby in "Goodbye, Toby".

Goofs

 * Andy says, "Hey, Ange, check this out" before playing a song for Angela. Ed Helms called Angela Kinsey by her real-life nickname, something Angela Martin would never allow.

Amusing details

 * Phyllis is wearing new glasses in this episode. The writers gave her bolder "power glasses" to further illustrate that the power has gone to her head.
 * When Phyllis dumps most of Angela's nativity scene in the drawer, the whiteboard behind them has some new entries:
 * December 10: "Copier maintenance 10am"
 * December 15: "Christmas Party Planning Committee Meeting, 4pm, conf. room"
 * December 17: "Scranton annual holiday luncheon @ Coopers 12pm"
 * December 23: "Warehouse closed - No shipping until 12/26"
 * December 24: "🌲🌲 Xmas Eve. Office Closed @ noon. Office Xmas party 1pm"
 * December 25: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
 * December 30: "Warehouse closed - No shipping until 1/2"
 * December 31: "Office Closed"
 * December 31 / January 1: "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
 * If the whiteboard is to be believed, this episode took place on Christmas Eve, and Michael attempted to check Meredith into rehab on the night of Christmas Eve.
 * Phyllis rejects Angela's nativity scene because it is not on the theme of "Nights of Morocco", even though she has no problem herself wearing a wreath pin, nor any problem with Michael wearing his Christmas tie, or Pam wearing a Santa pin. She just has it out for Angela.
 * Dwight mocks the logic of the unicorn princess, just as Michael walks out of his office and reveals that he is a fan of the toy, leaving Dwight with a bemused look.
 * Michael tells Dwight he thought the unicorn princess dolls were sold out, implying he tried to buy one; possibly for himself given his enthusiasm about the toy.
 * Michael mistakenly believes that Morocco is in India.
 * Michael tells Jim he celebrated Groundhog Day privately, as though it is an actual holiday.
 * Andy's monologue about his college drinking days is absurd, but if you look more closely, it is also sad: He said that he "polish off a few people's empties", meaning that he had to resort to drinking the last few sips of warm beer people left behind because nobody would pour him one.
 * Kevin looks to Jim after making his "fire girl" joke, likely expecting affirmation from Jim, which he usually receives after making "fire guy" jokes about Ryan.
 * When Dwight enumerates the steps of the Schrute five-fingered intervention, he counts starting with his thumb, then adds fingers in order starting with the index finger. This is the German way of counting on one's fingers. (This detail was a major plot point in the movie , which B.J. Novak was filming at the time this episode was made.)
 * Michael is concerned for Meredith to the point of not saying "that's what she said" at the end of the intervention after Jim says "Michael, I think you did the best you could, but this is bigger than all of us."
 * Toby had all day to buy a doll from Dwight, yet chose to wait until the end of the day to buy one, even calling his daughter about the doll first.
 * A security guard helps the admitting nurse escort Michael and Meredith out of the rehabilitation center, implying that Michael had to be forcibly removed after being told that they cannot accept people against their will.
 * The overarching joke of the episode is that there is no such thing as "Moroccan Christmas": Morocco, as a Muslim country, does not celebrate Christmas.

Trivia

 * B.J. Novak (Ryan Howard) is credited but does not appear in this episode. The actor was on leave to film the movie .
 * Angela's wooden figurine nativity scene is manufactured by Fontanini.
 * There is a lot of alcohol at the party, although in previous Christmas episodes, Toby protests having alcohol because it is against policy.
 * It is unknown where Dwight retrieves the fire extinguisher from.
 * Meredith says that she isn't an alcoholic, however at Jan's women in the workplace seminar, when she is asked what she's good at, she by habit says "Hi, I'm Meredith, and I'm an alcoho...good at supplier relations." Which would imply that she has attended AA meetings.
 * The admitting nurse is played by First Assistant Director Kelly Cantley.
 * Michael continues to wear the same tie in every Christmas episode.
 * For the fourth time, the Simpson's doll has been wearing a Santa hat.
 * Creed Bratton, according to Angela Kinsey, really wears the clothes that he wore in this episode.
 * Michael mentions that he would like a watch for Christmas, recalling the episode "Goodbye, Toby", when he was forced to give Toby his watch as a going away gift.
 * This episode showcases more of Ed Helms's musical talent as he plays a sitar.
 * After this episode aired, NBC produced a fake web site for Princess Unicorn. Archived copy. They also released a fake commercial for Princess Unicorn. Watch it.
 * The 22nd Michael Scott absent in cold open.

Behind the scenes

 * This is the first Christmas episode since "A Benihana Christmas". The Season 4 Christmas episode was cancelled due to the . Ideas carried forward from the cancelled Christmas episode were Jim wrapping Dwight's desk, but in a different way, and having Phyllis catch Angela and Dwight having sex in the office, which moved to "Goodbye, Toby". Other story lines were not used because character arcs had changed in the interim.
 * The main stories of the episode came from two cards on the story wall: One said "Moroccan Christmas" and the other said "Meredith Intervention".
 * The writers were careful to address serious topics like alcoholism and religion delicately. They tried to make the comedy come from Michael's buffoonery.
 * According to Randy Cordray, Greg Daniels was insistent that the fake desk be made of chicken wire, because that's what the script said Jim used. No one could talk him out of this, even though chicken wire is quite strong and wouldn't collapse. Ultimately, the props department created four sets of desks and chairs, wrapped in gift wrap, each set made of different materials: Chicken wire, Styrofoam, balsa wood, and corrugated cardboard. They invited stand-in Stephen Saux to test out each one. The first try was chicken wire, and it didn't collapse. Next was Styrofoam, which collapsed as intended. The show then created three desks out of Styrofoam for filming, although they needed only one take.
 * Justin Spitzer remembers it slightly differently. The first attempt at making Dwight's collapsing desk was done with "this complex mechanism of boards and spring-loaded locking mechanisms". What was ultimately used was a desk made of Styrofoam. Four desks were constructed, but the scene required only take and the other three went unused.
 * Justin Spitzer kept asking his friends who still worked corporate jobs about pranks that they pulled at work, and he learned that wrapping someone's desk in something (such as newspaper or aluminum foil) was a common prank. He took that prank to the next level with Jim's prank.
 * The talking head interviews in this episode were taken in unusual locations or with unusual framing so that they could more easily be moved around during editing. You can't tell what time of day the talking head was filmed, and you can't see the progress of the party.
 * Writer Halsted Sullivan remembered that when he was a kid, every Christmas there would be a must-have toy that ended up in short supply, like the . He pitched the idea of having Dwight corner the market on the hot Christmas toy. Writer Aaron Shure came up with the idea of Princess Unicorn. (Another toy idea was "Hank Grenade", a doll whose arms blow off when you throw him.) According to Justin Spitzer, it was Gene Stupnitsky who thought of Toby buying the black doll from Darryl. Halsted Sullivan recalls that it was his idea, because whenever he wanted a doll, he got an African American version, which he added to the story as punch line. The catch phrase "My horn can pierce the sky" came from Halsted Sullivan.
 * There was a lot of discussion over what the toy should look like. Is it a princess with a horn? Or a centaur with a single horn? The show hired a team of designers and toy makers to design a toy that did not infringe upon any trademarks, and have it cleared by NBC's legal department.
 * Instead of an "orange vodjuiceka", the script called for Michael to mix Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola (a "") and call it a "Coke Daniels".
 * Steve Carell and Kate Flannery improvised scenes in which Michael invents drinks. Michael mixes sangria and peppermint schnapps, and Meredith calls it "sex on the couch." Michael is disgusted. In another take, Michael hands Meredith a drink, and she takes a huge gulp, and Kate Flannery is surprised that the drink has real alcohol in it. The props department forgot to replace the alcohol with water or iced tea in one of the bottles.
 * Greg Daniels came up with the idea of having Meredith's hair catch on fire be what finally forces the office to address her alcoholism.
 * Stunt double Marie Fink performed as Meredith in the fire scene. She wore a flame-resistant Nomex suit under her costume, with a flesh-colored flame-resistant mask over her head, and a wig on top. Three wigs were made, but only one was needed because the scene was successful on the first take. A large crew from the Los Angeles fire department were on set, which was staged so that Meredith was by herself in the conference room, to reduce fire risk to the other actors. Kate Flannery and Marie Fink worked out Meredith's dancing moves so that the footage would match when Flannery took over. The burning hair was a wig made from real human hair, and Flannery had to wear the stinky wig for the rest of the week. A stunt double (Shawn Crowder) was hired to play Dwight, but ultimately it was Rainn Wilson with a real fire extinguisher putting out Meredith's hair on the stunt double, as well as spraying Kate Flannery after the actors switched. Picture of Marie Fink dressed as Meredith. Picture of Kate Flannery with the wigs.
 * The pen Michael throws at Toby was made of rubber. The actors in the background are mostly out of frame because they kept laughing. For the remainder of the show's run, Jenna Fischer kept the rubber pen in Pam's pen cup in order to prank people who reached for one of Pam's pens to jot something down.
 * According to writer Justin Spitzer, Michael's private celebration of Groundhog Day consists of watching the movie "".
 * Director Paul Feig wanted the long intervention scene to be shot in one take. Angela appears only briefly, so actor Angela Kinsey had to wait in the kitchen for most of the scene. Eventually, she brought a magazine with her to read, and a crew member would let her know when it was time to enter.
 * The intervention scene was uncomfortable for the actors, who had to remain on the floor in a single pose for repeated takes. Mindy Kaling lay on the floor, which caused her back to ache.
 * Filming the scene in which Angela spits out her cookie took so many takes that Angela Kinsey couldn't stand the taste of the cookie any more. For many takes, she had peanuts in her mouth, which she spit out.
 * Kate Flannery kept trying to sneak in the name of her family bar when her character rattles off a list of Scranton bars. She was unsuccessful.
 * Steve Carell is really driving the car as Michael takes Meredith to the rehab center.
 * The show had hired stunt actors for the scene in the parking lot of the rehab center, but they were not used. Director Paul Feig told the actors to forget the script and just go for it, and the scene was entirely improvised, including Meredith's "Wait a minute, wait a minute." The trash can contained fake trash, and you can see Kate Flannery hesitate after Steve Carell falls down, concerned that he may have hurt himself.
 * After filming the scene in which Toby buys the last Princess Unicorn doll from Darryl, Paul Lieberstein returned to the writers building and told Jennifer Celotta that he thinks he messed up. He explained that the scene called for Toby to be sad, and he figured that the way to do that was to draw upon a sad thing in real life that happened to him. "Well, I didn't do that." Celotta laughed and told him, "I'm pretty sure you just made the decision not to act." Celotta felt that it turned out for the best, because his reaction is so subdued: Toby's life is so full of abuse from Michael, and if he let the emotions take over, he wouldn't be able to get through life. But it came about because Paul Lieberstein didn't want to feel sad for the rest of the day.
 * In the scene in which Phyllis reveals Angela's infidelity to everyone, Angela Kinsey felt the shame of her character, and it heightened her performance: Her face turned red, and she felt panic getting out of the room. She also felt genuine sadness for Andy when he played the sitar for her character, and the camera caught her crying.
 * Randy Cordray had previously worked on a show where they needed an actor to play the sitar. The actor already knew how to play the guitar, but he was told that the sitar was very hard to learn, so they hired a tutor for four weeks. Cordray planned to hire a tutor for Ed Helms, but Helms declined and taught himself to play the sitar in about a week. The original script called for him to play "Silent Night", but on the morning of filming, the writers informed him that the song was changed to "Deck the Halls". Helms said "No problem", practiced for "a minute and a half", and was ready to go.
 * Ed Helms improvised the "rit-dit-dit-dah-doo" that substituted for "fa-la-la-la".

Cultural references

 * The "orange vod-juice-ka" which Michael "invents" for Jim, is actually called a . Jim subtly teases Michael, saying that he "can't believe no-one's thought of that", to which a proud (and oblivious) Michael responds, "I know!"
 * After Meredith says she threw up, Michael complains, "TMI", a colloquial abbreviation for "too much information", meaning that someone shared information that is too personal and made the listener uncomfortable.
 * Andy's talking head about his college days is filled with slang. He got wicked hammered (extremely drunk), his nickname was puke (vomit), he drank copious SoCo (a nickname for the liqueur ), snuck into a frat (fraternity) party, polished off empties (drank the remaining sips of drinks the owner had finished with), drank brewskies (beer), did Jell-O shots (ate Jell-O gelatin made with alcohol), did body shots (drank shots of alcohol from a person's body, usually the navel), rally (regain strength to resume drinking), and still aced his courses (got the top grade of A), with a nickname of Buzz (slightly drunk). Andy says he did the body shots from himself, which would require significant contortion skill. He also contradicts his claim that he "aced" his courses by adding he got "straight B's" (the second highest grade).
 * Andy says that he got wicked hammered in college. (See longer discussion above.) The use of the word "wicked" as an intensifier is characteristic of the New England area of the northeastern United States, where Andy grew up.
 * The "Place in France" song that Andy plays badly on the for a disgusted Angela, is called, and was written in 1893 by American Congressman , for the.
 * Meredith dances to Moroccan.
 * The cookie Phyllis mentioned is known as a "chebakia" or "Halwa Chebakia" cookie. The cookie is made from sesame seeds, fried and coated with honey. As mentioned, the cookie is of Moroccan origin and is served during Ramadan.
 * Michael reads off a list of personal questions of alcohol consumption one of which is whether Meredith has ever questioned the teachings of the Mormon Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon Church) forbids its members from drinking tea, coffee, or alcohol.
 * After Meredith's reaction to Michael's "one of everything" drink, Michael points at the camera with both index fingers. This gesture is most associated with the character of Isaac Washington, the bartender on the television show .
 * All the bars mentioned by Meredith, including The Bog, Coopers, Brixx's, Kelly's, Coopers, Carmen's and Andy Gavin's, are all real bars in Scranton. Ed Helms, Angela Kinsey and Brian Baumgartner have all visited The Bog, and Helms sat in with some local musicians there, performing on the banjo.
 * and were American comedians.
 * The  is an Indian musical instrument. It is unclear why it was used in a Moroccan themed Christmas.
 * Andy sings , a traditional Christmas carol. It is a festive song, which contrasts with the seriousness of the situation.
 * Andy's bids farewell by saying, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." This is a common misquotation of the final line of the poem . The poem was instrumental in shaping the modern celebration of Christmas in the United States.

Main cast

 * Steve Carell as Michael Scott
 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly

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
 * Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
 * 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

Guest cast

 * Kelly Cantley as Admitting Nurse
 * Matthew Craig as Desperate Father