Pam's Replacement

"Pam's Replacement" is the seventh episode of the eighth season of the American television comedy series The Office and is the show's 159th overall. It was directed by Matt Sohn and written by Allison Silverman. It originally aired on NBC on November 10, 2011. It was viewed by 5.96 million people. The episode guest stars Lindsey Broad and Steve Moore.

"Pam's Replacement" relates to Pam's pregnancy; Jenna Fischer was actually pregnant and her pregnancy was written into the series with Pam and Jim having their second baby. The episode received mixed reviews from critics with Myles McNutt from the AV Club calling it one of the "laziest" episodes of the series. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode received 5.96 million viewers and received a 3.0 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 marking a slight drop in the ratings from the previous episode, "Doomsday."

Cold open
In the cold open, Andy tries to impress a potential client by pretending to turn down an "important phone call," when in fact it is really a made-up ruse being aided by Erin. However, Erin describes the fake phone call in-depth with the "death" of Andy's mother, prompting the potential client to urge Andy to take the call (helped along with concern from a knowing Dwight). After pretending to talk to the "police" on the phone (actually, Darryl, who is reluctantly part of the ruse), a humiliated and embarrassed Andy tells Erin to leave the room and "hold all other calls".

Synopsis
Pam trains an attractive temporary worker, Cathy Simms, so that she can take her place when she goes on maternity leave. Pam asks Jim if he finds the new temp attractive. Jim, not wanting to upset his pregnant wife, tells her that he does not find her replacement attractive at all. However, Pam is convinced that Jim is lying to her (even after reassurance from the rest of the staff), and she enlists the help of the harshly honest Dwight to prove that Jim finds the new temp attractive. After a battery of tests (including an embarrassing show of Dwight reaching for Jim's crotch to search for an erection), Dwight and Pam convince Jim to go get his blood pressure checked, as a means of a lie-detector test. As Dwight's homemade lie-detector test fails, Pam realizes that Jim has unusually high blood pressure, which his father also suffers from, and forgets about the issue in order to focus on her husband's health.

Meanwhile, CEO Robert California surprises Andy, Kevin, and Darryl when he asks to join their band after he finds them having a jam session in the warehouse. Soon thereafter, California's friends, skilled musicians themselves, arrive and take over the original band. Andy, Kevin and Darryl, with the help of warehouse worker Val, realize that they were ousted, and after a failed attempt to try getting their original band roles back, they instead satisfyingly jam outside by themselves.

Connections to previous episodes

 * Andy asking Erin to fake a phone call is a callback to Michael's similar request of Pam in "The Deposition." The result is similar: The "call" ends up having to be taken. However, this is also a common trope.
 * Oscar lives up to his nickname "Actually" in this episode, from "China."
 * Dwight grabs Jim's crotch in a feigned attempt at regaining his balance. In "Company Picnic", Pam and Jim recall a previous picnic in which a drunk man grabbed Pam's breasts "for balance."
 * The newspaper Dwight reads says "Fee Proposed for City Mural Project", foreshadowing Pam's later appointment to paint a mural for the city.

Trivia

 * Andy had his "scatting" written down on a piece of paper. is an improvisational form of singing using nonsense syllables. Writing out one's syllables goes against the fundamental principles of scat singing.
 * Pam states within earshot of Ryan that Cathy is single, even though Jim stressed that he was trying to save Cathy from being pursued by Ryan.
 * Dwight shifts in seconds from insisting Jim is a pathological liar to reminding Jim that he wanted to get a toothbrush for their baby.

Cultural references

 * The office discusses the hotness of British actress .
 * Kelly initially tells Pam that she needs to avoid ending up "like ", the ex-wife of golfer Tiger Woods, whom he cheated on. Kelly then changes her mind: "You wish you had her life." Nordegren received a $100 million divorce settlement.
 * Darryl went to The Deerhead every weekend. The Deerhead Inn is a real-life combination inn and jazz club in The Pocono Mountains.
 * Jim and Cathy discuss the movie .
 * Kevin confuses singer with the fictitious character Khan Noonien Singh from .
 * Dwight refers to the elderly man at the drugstore as "".
 * Dwight and Pam hand Creed a bar of chocolate candy and he thinks it's just a "long triangle".
 * The band in the warehouse plays "Midnight Rambler" by British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones.

Main cast

 * 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
 * James Spader as Robert California

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-Lipton
 * 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

Recurring cast

 * Lindsey Broad as Cathy Simms

Guest cast

 * Steve Moore as the Drummer
 * Rodney J. Hobbs as the Pharmacist
 * Linda Taylor as the Guitarist