Fundraiser

"Fundraiser" is the twenty-second episode of the eighth season of the American television comedy series The Office and is the show's 174th overall. It was directed by David Rogers and written by Owen Ellickson. It originally aired on April 26, 2012 on NBC. It was viewed by 4.17 million people.

Synopsis
In order to appear sophisticated, Ryan pretends to be "completely devastated" about Smokey Robinson's death. Jim and Pam challenge Ryan's authenticity and reveal that he can only name one of Smokey Robinson's songs. Oscar reads on the internet that news of Robinson's death is a hoax and Jim finds that Robinson will be playing in concert only three hours away. They try to persuade Ryan to buy tickets, but upon learning how expensive it is, Ryan makes excuses why he can't go.

Angela excitedly tells the cameras about how her husband, "The Senator", is hosting a fundraiser for dogs, and Robert California has purchased two tables for the entire office staff. Dwight comes in warning the office that they are all about to be murdered, as Andy is sitting in his car in the parking lot. Dwight believes that Andy is seeking revenge and may go on a shooting spree. Jim, Pam, Erin and Kevin go down to the parking lot to check on Andy, but he is merely there to pick up Erin and that he is going to be her date to the fundraiser the office staff are attending. Meanwhile, Nellie tries to bond with Darryl, but fails to connect with him. She tells the documentary crew that she will try to connect with him at the fundraiser.

Andy arrives at the fundraiser and shares a brief and awkward reunion with the office staff. When asked how he is doing, Andy talks about a rock opera he is writing and most of the staff write him off as "on the brink of a breakdown". Andy becomes excited about this idea and starts singing, annoying many of the guests. Robert believes that Andy made a mistake by coming and offers him money to take Erin out to a nice romantic dinner, but Andy refuses. Robert then kicks Andy out of the group, and Andy is forced to purchase a whole table to stay.

Oscar becomes excited when Angela's husband appears to flirt with him and gives him his cell phone number. Oscar excitedly tells Pam and Jim about it. Pam seems excited, but Jim is skeptical and thinks that he was just schmoozing with voters. Jim decides to go talk to Senator Lipton and see if he gives his number out to everybody.

The guests participate in a silent auction. However, Dwight believes it is a "Guess the Price" game and puts down extremely high bids. Kevin finds it amusing that Dwight is the "idiot of the office" and that before that "they didn't have one".

Jim succeeds in getting The Senator's number and Oscar and Pam tease him that The Senator probably thinks he is gay.

Nellie tries to bond with Darryl again by talking about American food. Darryl realizes that Nellie has no idea what tacos are and offers to go buy some. Nellie offers to pay for them, and after realizing that she has no idea how much they cost, Darryl takes more than they really cost.

While Andy is participating in the silent auction he runs into David Wallace. The two catch each other up on events and David Wallace reveals that his vacuum cleaner toy "Suck It!" was sold to the military for $20 million. David tells Andy to forget about Dunder Mifflin.

Robert gives a speech on how the fundraiser's purpose is to raise money to take care of elderly or disabled dogs and explains how the dogs are all unlikely to ever find homes. Andy, in an attempt to outdo Robert, offers to adopt all 12. Robert tries to stop Andy, but Andy gives his own speech about how he is actually doing something for the dogs and ends up making a fool of himself.

Darryl returns with tacos and watches in amusement as Nellie attempts to eat it by shoveling the filling out of the shell into her mouth. However, Darryl decides to stop pranking her upon realizing that she is really trying to be friends.

Andy realizes that all the dogs he has adopted are all very needy dogs due to their various conditions. Jim, Pam, Erin, and Kevin come to comfort Andy and assure him that his life will get better.

Oscar is disappointed that the Senator isn't interested in him, but as he leaves the Senator shakes Oscar's hand and reminds him to call. He ends the hand shake by awkwardly stroking Oscar's arm and Oscar becomes very excited, as he takes it as a sign he is still attractive.

Andy's problem is solved when various office staff members agree to adopt the dogs. Darryl adopts a dog that helps Darryl exercise by taking him for walks. Kevin brags about his dog, Ruby, describing how she just lies around all day, never seems to eat and smells horrible. The office staff become horrified when they realize that the dog might be dead and Kevin doesn't seem to realize it. However, a clip of Kevin and his dog show that the dog is in fact alive and is just extremely lazy.

Deleted scenes

 * A subplot about Phyllis and Pam fighting over the centerpiece flowers at the fundraiser dinner. Watch it.
 * Phyllis at first insults the centerpiece flowers, but when Pam notes that the guests are welcome to take it home, Phyllis tries to talk Pam out of them.
 * In a talking head interview, Pam realizes that Phyllis is a bully and declares her intention to get the flowers.
 * Phyllis says that she gives $1 to every charity so she gets free stuff from them. When Jim and Pam say that they give to the Red Cross, Phyllis implies that they shouldn't be donating money when they are so poor.
 * Phyllis moves the flowers closer to her, ostensibly so they won't block Pam's view.
 * Later, Pam notices that the centerpiece is gone. Phyllis explains, "I knew it was bothering you, so I threw it in the garbage." Pam accuses Phyllis of taking the centerpiece. Phyllis replies, "Come on, sweetie. We both knew how this was going to end." Pam quietly fumes.

Connections to previous episodes

 * David Wallace mentions Suck It, his invention from "Sabre".

Amusing details and trivia

 * Senator Lipton organizes a fundraiser for dogs because he loves them, but Angela strongly hates dogs and loves cats. It also reflects their marriage.
 * Senator Lipton tells Oscar that he's more likely to answer late at night. It's possible that the Senator would have to wait until his family was asleep before looking for sexual partners.
 * The evil character in Andy's rock opera Thomas Oregon is clearly based on Robert California. is a state that lies directly north of.
 * The 3-legged dog Andy ends up adopting is Lucy, who also stars on NBC's Parks and Recreation as 'Champion'.
 * In "Sabre", David Wallace offered Michael a chance to invest in "Suck It!", but he didn't even consider it, losing his best chance of becoming a millionaire, something he always wanted and was, at times, sure he would eventually achieve.
 * In Pam's deleted talking head, she says "Phyllis is a bully. A big f... beautiful bully." She might have wanted to say "fat", or an even nastier word beginning with "f".

Behind the scenes

 * One time, writer Halsted Sullivan's sister called to tell him "I just won this $17,000 Italian sofa!" then adds, "In this contract, it looks like they want me to pay for it." Sullivan had gone to law school and looked over the contract: His sister thought that the silent auction was a "guess the price" game. This inspired Dwight's story line.

Cultural references

 * Ryan is upset over the (falsely-reported) death of musician.
 * Initially, Ryan refers to him as only "Smokey", which causes Pam to believe he is talking about.
 * Ryan is able to name only one of Robinson's songs: "".
 * Ryan does not realize that Jim and Pam worked into the conversation the titles of Smokey Robinson songs "" and "".
 * During his pontificating rant, Ryan mentions that popular music is not all about " and ". Dwight challenges him to confirm that he does not like "" and "", both popular Beatles songs. (Ryan's use of the Beatles is particularly questionable, as the group held Robinson in high regard, even recording on their .)
 * Jim notes that Robinson is playing at, the name for a group of towns in central Pennsylvania that collectively are the home to . One of the towns is itself named.
 * The for Smokey Robinson's show is singer-songwriter . It is common for relatively a less well-known musician to perform ahead of the featured artist. Anka is himself quite notable and is an odd choice for an opening act.
 * A fundraiser dinner is a common fundraising technique in the United States. In a charity fundraising dinner such as the one in the episode, each table is purchased by a "table captain", who then invites their friends to join them at the event. Robert California generously purchased two tables.
 * A is a common fundraiser activity. Net to each item is a sheet of paper, and each potential buyer must write a bid higher than the current highest bid. The highest bid at the conclusion of the auction period is the winner and buys the item at the bid price.
 *  is a Japanese martial art.
 * Meredith and Stanley call Andy a Jabroni.
 * Andy purchases an entire fundraising table for himself. This is unusual: Tables are normally sold far in advance of the fundraising event because the organizers need to know how much food to prepare.
 * are a Mexican street food popular in the United States. Two tacos typically cost around $5, not $30.
 * Jim says, "Life isn't ."

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

 * Catherine Tate as Nellie Bertram
 * 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
 * Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
 * Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
 * Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance
 * Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis

Recurring cast

 * Andy Buckley as David Wallace
 * Jack Coleman as Robert Lipton