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{{Quote|text=I am taking a calculated risk. What's the upside? I overcome my nausea, fall deeply in love, babies, normalcy, no more self-loathing. Downside... I date Michael Scott publicly and collapse in on myself like a dying star. Why is this so hard? That's what she said. Oh my god, what am I saying?|saidby=Jan Levinson}}
 
{{Character
 
{{Character
 
|name = Jan Levinson
 
|image = 151564.jpg
 
|image = 151564.jpg
 
|gender = Female
|name = Janet Levinson
 
|born = 1969
+
|status = Alive
 
|alias = *Jan Levinson-Gould
 
|alias = *Jan Levinson-Gould
 
*Jan
 
*Jan
*Hillary Rodham Clinton
+
*[[Pilot|Hillary Rodham Clinton]]
*Godzillary
+
*[[Pilot|Godzillary]]
 
*[[Casino Night|Lan Jevinson]]
*Ice Queen
 
 
*[[Back From Vacation|Ice Queen]]
 
*Dirty Bitch
 
*Dirty Bitch
*Urkle Grue
+
*[[Urkel Grue]]
 
*[[Dinner Party|Babe]]
|marital = *Mr. Gould ''(ex-husband)''
 
  +
|marital = *Unnamed karate instructor ''(ex-partner)''
  +
*Unnamed unemployed fireman ''(ex-partner)''
 
*[[Mr. R. Gould|Mr. Gould]] ''(ex-husband)''
 
*[[Michael Scott]] ''(ex-boyfriend)''
 
*[[Michael Scott]] ''(ex-boyfriend)''
*[[Hunter]] ''(ex-affair partner)''
+
*[[Hunter]] ''(alleged ex-affair partner)''
  +
*[[Clark Green]] ''(fling)''
 
|children = [[Astrid Levinson]]
 
|children = [[Astrid Levinson]]
  +
|siblings = Unnamed sister
 
|job = *Chief Executive Officer
 
|job = *Chief Executive Officer
 
*Director of Office Supplies
 
*Director of Office Supplies
  +
*CEO and Founder of [[Serenity by Jan]]
*Owner
 
 
*[[VP of Northeastern Sales|Vice President of Northeastern Sales]] ''(former)''
 
*[[VP of Northeastern Sales|Vice President of Northeastern Sales]] ''(former)''
 
|workplace = *Scranton White Pages
 
|workplace = *Scranton White Pages
 
*Hospital
 
*Hospital
 
*[[Serenity by Jan]]
 
*[[Serenity by Jan]]
*Dunder Mifflin ''(former)''
+
*[[Dunder Mifflin Paper Company|Dunder Mifflin]] ''(former)''
 
|first appearance = [[Pilot]]
 
|first appearance = [[Pilot]]
 
|last appearance = [[Couples Discount]] ''(voice-only)''
 
|last appearance = [[Couples Discount]] ''(voice-only)''
 
|seasons = [[Season 1|1]] • [[Season 2|2]] • [[Season 3|3]] • [[Season 4|4]] • [[Season 5|5]] • [[Season 7|7]] • [[Season 9|9]]
 
|seasons = [[Season 1|1]] • [[Season 2|2]] • [[Season 3|3]] • [[Season 4|4]] • [[Season 5|5]] • [[Season 7|7]] • [[Season 9|9]]
 
|portrayed by = [[Melora Hardin]]
|aka = *Hillary Rodham Clinton
 
  +
|born=June 29, 1967 (age 56)
*Godzillary
 
  +
}}
*Ice Queen
 
  +
'''Janet "Jan" Levinson''' (formerly '''Levinson-Gould''') is the secondary antagonist of the U.S. sitcom ''The Office''.
*Dirty Bitch
 
*Urkle Grue
 
*Janet
 
|gender = Female
 
|actor = [[Melora Hardin]]
 
}}'''Janet "Jan" Levinson''' is a fictional character played by [[Melora Hardin]] in the television series ''[[The Office (US)|The Office]]''. She was the [[VP of Northeastern Sales|Vice President of Northeastern Sales]] and was later the director of office purchasing for the Scranton area hospital. She is currently the CEO of Scranton White Pages. Her UK counterpart is Jennifer Taylor-Clarke.
 
   
  +
She serves as the main antagonist in the first two seasons, a major character-turned-main antagonist of season 3, the secondary antagonist in Season 4, a supporting antagonist in Seasons 5 and 9, and a minor character in Season 7.
== Season 1 ==
 
During the first season, Jan and Michael have a traditional boss-employee relationship. Jan shows contempt for Michael as the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin is failing. Michael in return dislikes Jan because she is demanding and humorless.
 
   
  +
Her counterpart in the UK version is Jennifer Taylor-Clarke. She is portrayed by [[Melora Hardin]]. At the start of the show, she is the Vice President of Northeast Sales at the paper distribution company [[Dunder Mifflin Paper Company|Dunder Mifflin]], directly supervising central character and Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin's [[Dunder Mifflin Scranton|Scranton branch]], [[Michael Scott]]. Her character is notable for the dysfunctional relationship she enters with Michael following the second-season episode, "[[The Client]]", until the fourth-season episode "[[Dinner Party]]". Michael and Jan's personas contrast to much humor in the series, particularly in their professional attitudes and social interactions, although Jan's erratic and sexually-domineering state of mind leads to the loss of her job.
Michael refers to her as "Hillary Rodham Clinton". However, this is not said to her face, regardless of Michael stating that he is not afraid of her. During their meeting in "[[Pilot]]", a phone call from Todd Packer reveals another nickname - "Godzillary".
 
   
  +
==Biography==
Jan appears in "Health Care" where she tells Michael to choose a health care plan for the office and later berates him for putting Dwight in charge.
 
  +
At the start of the show, Jan Levinson-Gould, as Vice President of Sales at Dunder Mifflin, has a no-nonsense management style that is at odds with Michael's more casual approach. Since her office is in New York, Jan's contact with the Scranton branch is largely by telephone, although she will make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Scranton if necessary. She usually asks if she's on camera when talking to Michael on the speaker phone, and Michael often lies and tells her she is not, before admitting that they are—at which point she hangs up on him. While initially based on Jennifer Taylor-Clarke from the UK version, her character develops in a different direction.
   
  +
Although married at the start of the show, Jan becomes divorced and drops "Gould" from her last name in "[[The Client]]". Jan had entered into the marriage knowing that her husband didn't want to have children, and that disagreement was a contributing factor to their divorce. {{Episode|The Client}} She has mentioned seeing a psychiatrist, as well as having been a victim of identity theft. {{Episode|Back From Vacation}}.
== Season 2 ==
 
Michael calls Jan to attend the Dundies, however, Jan tells him that she is not coming as she does not want to give the impression that corporate supports this. She tells Michael that they simply do not have the funds to afford all of Michael's parties (The Dundies).
 
   
  +
In a deleted scene from "[[Dinner Party]]", it is implied that Jan grew up in West Virginia. The "Serenity by Jan" website indicates that she had an unhappy childhood and ran away from home, and she once said that her family refused to speak to her anymore "on advice of counsel".
Jan shows up to talk to Michael about the recent allegations of the company's CFO has had inappropriate relations with his secretary. She shows up just as Michael comes out of the conference room and announces to the office that one of the girls in the video on sexual harassment he had to watch had slept with Darryl. During their meeting, Michael becomes angry that he can no longer make inappropriate jokes and announces to the office that he must "retire" from comedy. Jan becomes annoyed when Jim tricks Michael into saying "that's what she said!" (Sexual Harassment).
 
   
  +
She initially drives a Volvo S80 and Volvo S60, and trades it in with Michael's Sebring for a shared Porsche Boxster. However, she is seen in season five with a Toyota Highlander. She smokes in stressful situations and indulges in self-destructive tendencies with poor judgment in spite of her inherent competence and professional attitude. She demonstrates a strong and often fetishist sexuality which sometimes intimidates Michael, such as when he revealed in "[[Women's Appreciation]]" that Jan did not always abide by their safety word "foliage". It is implied that she may have taken the virginity of her assistant, [[Hunter Raymond|Hunter]], of whom Michael is jealous.
Jan had told Michael to fire someone by the end of the month, which Michael procrastinated. When Pam asked Michael why he had put this off until Halloween, Michael replied: "because its very scary stuff" (Halloween).
 
   
  +
Jan has also been shown to be rather vain, creating musical media to supposedly express love for Astrid but rather seems an attempt to flaunt her performance skills, whilst also acting smug about her parenting in Pam's presence.
Jan arrives to help Michael land a very important client. Michael finds the various charts and graphs she has impressive. Jan becomes irritated upon learning that Michael had changed the location of the meeting place to Chili's, as he believed the Radisson was too snooty. When Michael learns that Jan is divorced, he is shocked and keeps barraging her with questions. Jan attempts to convince Christian to buy from them. However, Michael keeps distracting him with jokes which he positively responds to. Jan becomes bored and starts drinking heavily being stuck with the two men. When Michael finally lands him, Jan becomes impressed and starts viewing Michael in a different light. In the parking lot, a slightly drunk Jan kisses Michael and coaxes him to go to a hotel with her. Jan is later spotted the next day by Dwight and the cameras getting into her car, which still in the Dunder-Mifflin parking lot. Jim learns about this and finds it amusing and shares it with Pam. Jan calls later and wants to know if Michael had put something in her drink (The Client).
 
   
  +
==Character History==
Jan comes over to give Michael his performance review and finds him to be irritating as he can only focus on romancing her. Jan later sits in on a meeting of staff giving advice on how to improve the office and Michael ends up insulting the staff. Jan becomes angry with learning that Michael told the entire office of their one-night stand. She leaves saying she will just conduct the review over the phone ([[Performance Review]]).
 
   
 
===Season 1–2===
Jan comes to conduct women in the workplace seminar and tries to find someone who is corporate material. She becomes annoyed when Michael bothers them. Jan's authority becomes undermined when the staff keeps bringing up how Jan had slept with Michael. Upon learning that Michael had accidentally inspired the warehouse to form a union she goes to the warehouse and advises them not to unless they want the branch to be shut down. She advises Pam to take a design class as well. She leaves the office looking quite depressed (Boys and Girls).
 
  +
Jan is introduced in the pilot episode of the series. As Vice President, her authority leads her to inform Michael of the impending downsizing or closure Scranton's branch faces. {{Episode|Pilot}} She continually reappears both over phone and in person over each season to assert corporate policy on Michael, specifically with health care plans {{Episode|Health Care}}, sexual harassment concerns {{Episode|Sexual Harassment}}, and downsizing. {{Episode|Halloween}}
   
  +
Her character is expanded upon, and changes in tone during "[[The Client]]", at which Michael and she attend a business meeting at a [[Chili's]] with a highly-valuable potential client. In that episode, she has dropped "Gould" from her name due to divorce, and the excitement of closing the sale lead her to share an intimate moment with Michael. Michael's attempts at a meaningful relationship stemming from that night are rejected, however Jan open-endedly says that she is not ready for a relationship. {{Episode|Performance Review}} Her appearances in the second season during a 'women in the workplace' seminar {{Episode|Boys and Girls}} and a financial presentation with CFO [[David Wallace]] {{Episode|Valentine's Day}} continue this rejection, despite Michael's advances. However, upon being invited by Michael to the company casino night, she is emotionally hurt by the presence of his other date, [[Carol Stills]], and hastily leaves. With an overnight bag in her Volvo shown to the audience, it is strongly implied Jan has developed feelings for Michael.{{Episode|Casino Night}}
When Michael learns that Jim had a crush on Pam he tries to compare himself by telling Jim, "You know, I made out with Jan" to which Jim replies, "Yeah, I know" (Booze Cruise).
 
   
== Season 3 ==
+
===Season 3===
  +
In the third-season premiere "[[Gay Witch Hunt]]", Jan becomes responsible for the transfer of [[Jim Halpert]] to the [[Dunder Mifflin Stamford|Stamford branch]], having interviewed him in the second-season episode "[[Conflict Resolution]]". She also negotiated a paid three-month vacation and Lexus company car to accountant [[Oscar Martinez]] when Michael ignorantly outs him.
At the beginning of the third season, Jan often gets angry at Michael, such as when she yells at Michael for [[File:111423.jpg|thumb|left]]holding Movie Monday ([[The Coup]]). As Dwight puts it, 'ever since Michael dumped Jan, she's been bitching out on him.' After Carol breaks up with Michael in [[A Benihana Christmas]], he invites Jan to go with him to Sandals, Jamaica, and she agrees. In [[Back From Vacation]], it is revealed that the two had sex several times. In [[Cocktails]], the two become an official couple. However, the two break up in [[Women's Appreciation]], after the women of the office discover that he is unhappy when he is with her. It is also revealed that she records the two of them while having sex, and discusses it with her therapist. In [[The Job]], Jan convinces Michael to get back together with her, after displaying her newly enhanced set of sweater puppies. Her new rack is enough to change Michael's mind, in spite of the fact that the women were urging Michael not to get back together with Jan. She was fired for being extremely unstable. [[David Wallace|Her boss]] said she would smoke in her office all day,<nowiki> </nowiki>took too many days off without explanation, and took too many trips to "Scottsdale", and visited Michael more times than necessary. After Michael told her they were going to fire her, she cursed at her boss on the way out the door. She then moved in with Michael. 
 
   
  +
Her next encounter with Michael is at a Philadelphia-held convention {{Episode|The Convention}}, although she plays a more pivotal role when [[Dwight Schrute]] contacts her in an attempt to be promoted to branch manager at Michael's expense, to which Jan refuses. {{Episode|The Coup}} She has a speaking role in a following episode when Michael faces grief over the death of the branch manager he replaced {{Episode|Grief Counseling}}, and instructs [[Pam Beesly]] to keep note of Michael's activities. {{Episode|Initiation}}.
==Season 4==
 
   
  +
The downsizing hinted at since the start of the show comes to pass when Jan decides to merge Scranton into Stamford, with some employees being laid off and the rest transferred. Her plans are frustrated when [[Josh Porter]], whom she planned on becoming the manager of the merged branches, leverages the position with Staples into a senior management position there. This development leads Jan to merge Stamford in with Scranton instead. {{Episode|Branch Closing}} She has a speaking role when [[Martin Nash]], a Stamford employee, is identified as a reformed criminal. {{Episode|The Convict}}
Jan has moved in with Michael. Her insanity has grown, as she recklessly spends his money and sleeps at home [[File:1616464.jpg|thumb|left]]all day. She has, however, started her own company, a candle business called [[Serenity by Jan]]. Michael and Jan break up in [[Dinner Party]] after a large argument culminating with Jan throwing one of Michael's Dundies at his television. Jan then presumably moves out of Michael's house, living somewhere else. It is implied in this episode, that Jan possibly has a thing for Jim. She tries to dance with him during a song called That One Night, sung by her former assistant Hunter (a song about losing your virginity.) In ''[[Chair Model]]'', Michael accidentally calls Jan when trying to show a picture of her to his date. In ''[[Goodbye Toby]]'', Jan reveals to Michael that she is pregnant, but Michael is not the father: She got inseminated at a local sperm bank.[[File:151564.jpg|thumb]]
 
   
  +
Following a Christmas party, Michael calls an unknown woman to invite her to Sandals Resorts Jamaica. {{Episode|A Benihana Christmas}} The fact that that woman was Jan is revealed to the rest of the office when Michael accidentally forwards a risqué photo of her tanning to the packaging department who then forwards the email to others. Jan herself doesn't know about the photo. {{Episode|Back From Vacation}} The relationship between Jan and Michael becomes official when David Wallace hosts a cocktail party. The duo attend as a couple after disclosing their relationship to HR; Michael immediately declaring loudly "I love this woman!" shortly after. Jan demonstrates a sexually aggressive attitude and indifference toward the party itself during the course of the episode. {{Episode|Cocktails}} Michael references their relationship when he negotiates with Jan for a 12% raise. {{Episode|The Negotiation}}
==Season 5==
 
Jan appears in Season 5 during episodes, "[[Weight Loss]]" and "[[Baby Shower]]". In the latter, she makes a trip into the office for her new baby [[Astrid Levinson|Astrid]]'s baby shower. [[Michael]] and all the other office employees are surprised that Jan has already had the baby without anyone knowing. Most of the baby shower's games are based around the idea that [[Astrid Levinson|Astrid]] was not born yet. She says to [[Kevin Malone|Kevin]] that her candle company is 'kicking ass and taking names', although this statement is debatable due to the apparently terrible smell of her candles ([[Dinner Party]]). In a deleted scene in ''[[Stress Relief]],'' she tells Michael that he ruined her life and goes on to belittle him (in a pretty cruel manner) over a phone, but it is still not known where she "is." Also, in ''[[Employee Transfer]],'' Michael tells [[Holly]] that he hates Jan.
 
   
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When Michael has a "women's appreciation day", his conversations with the office women lead him to discuss Jan's radical sexual preferences, including recording their intimacy and playing it with a therapist to improve "his form". He realizes his unhappiness with her and breaks up. {{Episode|Women's Appreciation}} In the season finale, during which Michael interviews for a corporate position, Jan attempts a reunion. Michael, despite urgings from all women in the Scranton office (except [[Meredith Palmer|Meredith]], from whom Michael declined to seek advice) to the contrary, and in his amazement at Jan's breast augmentation, agrees to get back together with Jan. Unfortunately, the corporate position for which Michael, Jim, and Karen are interviewing is Jan's; after being absent from work, abusing corporate policies, and being in Scranton far too often, Jan is fired and escorted from the building in New York, and is replaced by [[Ryan Howard]]. {{Episode|The Job}}
==Season 7==
 
  +
===Seasons 4–5===
While visiting all his ex-girlfriends, Michael visits Jan, who now works as supply shopper for a hospital. She thinks that Michael is there to learn why their relationship didn't work. Michael then blurts out that he has herpes while Jan is with her daughter, Astrid ([[Sex Ed]]).
 
  +
Season four has Jan moving into Michael's condo and starting a scented candle business. Her heedless spending combined with his own poor financial sense rapidly drain Michael's resources, leading to a brief scheme in which Michael attempts to escape his troubles by leaving town but is stopped by Jan who (in a very rare warm and positive moment in their relationship) tells Michael that she stands by him despite her earlier treatment of Michael and that she has come to see him as "someone worth standing by". She also sues Dunder Mifflin, claiming wrongful dismissal, largely over her breast implants, although Michael is betrayed by Jan, who uses his private diary as evidence that the company mistreats its employees, and also learning that she gave him a scathing performance review while they were dating. In response, Michael torpedoes her lawsuit by refusing to confirm her negative views of the company, badly damaging their relationship. {{Episode|The Deposition}} Following this, during a dinner party, the two fight over each other's eccentricities and Jan throws a [[Dundie|Dundie Award]] at his cheap plasma television before breaking down and nearly being arrested on a destruction of property charge. The two split up, with Michael staying at [[Schrute Farms]] a few weeks until Jan packed up her things (mostly Michael's, it turns out) and moves away for good. {{Episode|Dinner Party}}
   
  +
Jan is seen again in the fourth-season finale, in which she is revealed to be pregnant via artificial insemination. {{Episode|Goodbye, Toby}} Michael goes to her Lamaze classes when Jan asks him to (where he apparently annoyed the teacher) and is incredibly excited to be there for the birth of "their" child. However, he is utterly deflated when Jan gives birth to her daughter [[Astrid Levinson|Astrid]] without him there, and when Jan reluctantly lets Michael spend time around her, Michael sadly recognizes that he feels no connection at all to Astrid and that he is no longer holding onto feelings for Jan. Jan also insists Michael not go out with [[Holly Flax|Holly]], leading Michael to promptly and successfully ask Holly out on a date.
While watching a home movie from years ago, Jan appears as a singer named Jasmine Windsong. The cameras later interview Jan about it, who doesn't seem to care as she struggles to unlock her locked car ([[Threat Level Midnight]]).
 
==Season 9==
 
Jan at some point becomes the CEO of White Pages. She later learns of David Wallace's return as CEO of Dunder-Mifflin and plots her revenge by offering the company her business. She plans to make David Wallace realize how powerful she has become, but is disappointed when Pam and Dwight show up instead. She reveals she really wasn't going to sell to them. However, Dwight has an idea and runs off. Pam comments on Astrid when she notices a picture of her on Jan's desk and Jan forces her to watch a slideshow on her. Dwight brings in Clark, knowing that Jan is attracted to young men. She has Clark spin around, becomes attracted to him and promises to give Dwight her business. She then asks Clark when they leave if he has a passport ([[The Whale]]).
 
   
  +
===Seasons 7–9===
When Andy returns and learns that Dwight offered a discount to Jan that he was not authorized to, he calls Jan to tell her. Jan becomes annoyed when she learns that Andy is asking for more money and she tells Andy that a part of their contract says that she can back out within 30 days, which she plans to do. She then hangs up much to Dwight's anger as Andy had just lost the company's biggest client ([[Couples Discount]]).
 
  +
Jan is not seen again until the seventh season, by which time she is employed as a hospital administrator, raises Astrid as a single mother and has recorded a Doris Day cover album. She tells Michael at great length that they were never a good couple and she was slumming by ever dating him; an angry Michael shocks her by saying (wrongly as it turned out) that he has herpes, and later expresses disbelief that he thought she could have been "the one". She reappeared on the show in a cameo scene in Michael's self-produced movie "[[Threat Level Midnight]]", playing a covert agent jazz singer named [[Jasmine Windsong]] who slips key information to [[Michael Scarn|Agent Michael Scarn]] and gets killed by an assassin. When the documentary crew approaches Jan about the movie, she pretends to be proud of Michael's finished film, and looks disgusted as she makes a hasty attempt to get her dry cleaning into her car and get away from both the cameras and any mention of Michael. Jan did not appear in the eighth season.
   
  +
In the ninth-season episode "[[The Whale]]", Jan is now back in Scranton, working as an executive at the White Pages phone book company. Dwight and Pam make the sales call in her office, initially unaware that she is the contact. Jan had no intention of giving Dunder Mifflin her business, and had intended to refuse David Wallace (now the owner and CEO of Dunder Mifflin) personally in retaliation for firing her several years before, and was dismayed when Dwight and Pam arrived instead.
==Family==
 
Jan has a sister in [[wikipedia:Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale, Arizona]]. She often uses her as an excuse for her various unexplained absences such as going to Jamaica with Michael (''[[Back From Vacation]]''*).
 
   
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Nevertheless, Dwight keeps her from refusing by assigning Customer Service representative [[Clark Green]] as her personal liaison. The two hit it off and travel abroad for several weeks. In "[[Suit Warehouse]]", Clark returns to the office, having gotten Jan to sign on as a client after spending several weeks in Europe as her lover. He compared sex with Jan to sex with "a swarm of bees... bees that just find something wrong with every hotel room." Jan also sent an expensive Italian-made espresso machine back with Clark as a gift to the staff.
Jan admits (''[[Cocktails]]''*) to being overly litigious with her family. Her family will not talk to her "on the advice of counsel." (''[[Money]]'').
 
   
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In Jan's final appearance on the show (albeit over the phone) "[[Couples Discount]]", [[Andy Bernard]] (now the Scranton regional manager), points out that Dwight had offered a discounted price without getting Andy's approval (something that would've been impossible for Dwight to do, as Andy himself was abroad at the time), and attempted to renegotiate Dunder Mifflin's contract with the White Pages. Infuriated, Jan proceeds to terminate her contract with Dunder Mifflin altogether.
Jan delivered a baby girl, [[Astrid Levinson|Astrid]], shortly before the season five episode "[[Baby Shower]]." [[Astrid Levinson|Astrid]]'s father is an unknown sperm donor. (A deleted scene implies that, to Jan's horror, the donor might well be [[Kevin]].) Later in the deleted scenes for episode "The Whale" Jan reveals to Pam Halpert the sperm donor was a "Caltech physicist" - possibly a reference to "The Big Bang Theory" episode where Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter visit the sperm bank. Jan's nickname for her daughter is "Assy".
 
   
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In "[[Finale]]", it is mentioned that Dwight (who succeeded Andy as regional manager) managed to reacquire the White Pages' business by again offering the discounted price. Jan is not referenced over the course of the documentary's TV release and is not invited to any of the events connected to it.
==Relationship status==
 
* '''Married''' ([[Pilot]] - [[The Client]]) 13 Episodes
 
* '''Divorced/Single''' ([[The Client]] - [[A Benihana Christmas]]) 26 Episodes
 
* '''Dating Michael''' ([[A Benihana Christmas]] - [[Women's Appreciation]]) 11 Episodes
 
* '''Single''' ([[Women's Appreciation]] - [[The Job]]) 3 Episodes
 
* '''Dating Michael again''' ([[The Job]] - [[Dinner Party]]) 9 Episodes
 
* '''Single''' ([[Dinner Party]] - Present)
 
* '''See also''': [[Michael-Jan Relationship]]
 
   
== Trivia ==
+
==Trivia==
  +
* Daniel Levinson and Roger Gould are adult developmental psychologists who have contributed massively to the field, including the study and definition of the midlife crisis.{{OfficeLadiesCitation040|01:04:08}} Jan's character is the epitome of a midlife crisis. (This is probably a coincidence, but an interesting one.)
* After leaving Dunder-Mifflin, Jan took up candlemaking and launched a line of homemade candles called "Serenity by Jan", which reportedly smell awful.
 
  +
* Pam Beesly tells Dwight that she thinks Jan isn't normal in The Whale.
 
  +
==Behind the scenes==
* In the episode, "Dinner Party" Pam finds out that Michael lied to Jan and said they used to date. Angela remarks that she's seen the way Pam looks at Micheal much to Pam's dismay which seemingly validated Jan's claim.
 
  +
* In [[Pilot|the pilot]], the character of Jan was a single-episode guest, with the possibility of becoming a recurring character. During filming of that episode, [[Melora Hardin]], [[Steve Carell]] and [[Greg Daniels]] laughed at the weird dynamic between Jan and Michael and if the show made it to a second season, "we should have them hook up".{{OfficeLadiesCitation013|11:04}}
   
 
==Appearances==
 
==Appearances==
  +
{{Appearances
* ''[[Pilot]]''
 
  +
|yes||yes||yes|voice
* ''[[Health Care]]''
 
  +
|voice|yes|||||yes|yes|||||||yes|yes|||yes||yes|yes
* ''[[Hot Girl]]'' (voice only)
 
  +
|yes|yes|yes|yes|yes||yes|yes|yes||yes|yes||yes|||yes|yes|||yes||yes
* ''[[The Dundies]]'' (voice only)
 
  +
|yes|yes||yes||||yes|yes|voice||||yes
* ''[[Sexual Harassment]]''
 
  +
|yes||yes||||||||||voice*||||||||||||
* ''[[Halloween]]'' (voice only, deleted scene)
 
  +
|||||||||||||archive|||||||||||
* ''[[The Client]]''
 
  +
||||yes||||||||||||yes||||||||
* ''[[Performance Review]]''
 
  +
||||||||||||||||||||||||
* ''[[Booze Cruise]]'' (deleted scene)
 
  +
|||||||yes||||||||voice||||||||
* ''[[Boys and Girls]]''
 
  +
}}
* ''[[Valentine's Day]]''
 
  +
* ''[[Drug Testing]]'' (voice only, deleted scene)
 
  +
==References==
* ''[[Casino Night]]''
 
  +
<references/>
* ''[[Gay Witch Hunt]]''
 
* ''[[The Convention]]''
 
* ''[[The Coup]]''
 
* ''[[Grief Counseling]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[Initiation]]''
 
* ''[[Diwali]]'' (voice only, deleted scene)
 
* ''[[Branch Closing]]''
 
* ''[[The Merger]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[The Convict]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[Back From Vacation]]''
 
* ''[[Traveling Salesmen]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[Ben Franklin]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[Cocktails]]''
 
* ''[[The Negotiation]]''
 
* ''[[Women's Appreciation]]''
 
* ''[[The Job]]''
 
* ''[[Fun Run]]''
 
* ''[[Dunder Mifflin Infinity]]''
 
* ''[[Launch Party]]'' (voice only)
 
* ''[[Money]]''
 
* ''[[The Deposition]]''
 
* ''[[Dinner Party]]''
 
* ''[[Chair Model]] ''(voice only)
 
* ''[[Goodbye, Toby]]''
 
* ''[[Weight Loss]]''
 
* ''[[Baby Shower]]''
 
* ''[[Stress Relief]]'' (voice only, deleted scene)
 
* ''[[Sex Ed]]''
 
* ''[[Threat Level Midnight]]''
 
* ''[[Threat Level Midnight: The Movie]]'' (as Jasmine Windsong)
 
* ''[[The Whale]]''
 
* ''[[Couples Discount]] ''(voice only)
 
   
{{Main Characters}}
+
{{Wikipedia}}
  +
{{Characters}}
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Dunder Mifflin employees]]
 
[[Category:Dunder Mifflin employees]]
Line 150: Line 115:
 
[[Category:Actors of Threat Level Midnight]]
 
[[Category:Actors of Threat Level Midnight]]
 
[[Category:Females]]
 
[[Category:Females]]
[[Category:Antagonists]]
+
[[Category:Main Characters]]

Latest revision as of 18:24, 29 January 2024

I am taking a calculated risk. What's the upside? I overcome my nausea, fall deeply in love, babies, normalcy, no more self-loathing. Downside... I date Michael Scott publicly and collapse in on myself like a dying star. Why is this so hard? That's what she said. Oh my god, what am I saying?

—Jan Levinson

Janet "Jan" Levinson (formerly Levinson-Gould) is the secondary antagonist of the U.S. sitcom The Office.

She serves as the main antagonist in the first two seasons, a major character-turned-main antagonist of season 3, the secondary antagonist in Season 4, a supporting antagonist in Seasons 5 and 9, and a minor character in Season 7.

Her counterpart in the UK version is Jennifer Taylor-Clarke. She is portrayed by Melora Hardin. At the start of the show, she is the Vice President of Northeast Sales at the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin, directly supervising central character and Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, Michael Scott. Her character is notable for the dysfunctional relationship she enters with Michael following the second-season episode, "The Client", until the fourth-season episode "Dinner Party". Michael and Jan's personas contrast to much humor in the series, particularly in their professional attitudes and social interactions, although Jan's erratic and sexually-domineering state of mind leads to the loss of her job.

Biography

At the start of the show, Jan Levinson-Gould, as Vice President of Sales at Dunder Mifflin, has a no-nonsense management style that is at odds with Michael's more casual approach. Since her office is in New York, Jan's contact with the Scranton branch is largely by telephone, although she will make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Scranton if necessary. She usually asks if she's on camera when talking to Michael on the speaker phone, and Michael often lies and tells her she is not, before admitting that they are—at which point she hangs up on him. While initially based on Jennifer Taylor-Clarke from the UK version, her character develops in a different direction.

Although married at the start of the show, Jan becomes divorced and drops "Gould" from her last name in "The Client". Jan had entered into the marriage knowing that her husband didn't want to have children, and that disagreement was a contributing factor to their divorce. ("The Client") She has mentioned seeing a psychiatrist, as well as having been a victim of identity theft. ("Back From Vacation").

In a deleted scene from "Dinner Party", it is implied that Jan grew up in West Virginia. The "Serenity by Jan" website indicates that she had an unhappy childhood and ran away from home, and she once said that her family refused to speak to her anymore "on advice of counsel".

She initially drives a Volvo S80 and Volvo S60, and trades it in with Michael's Sebring for a shared Porsche Boxster. However, she is seen in season five with a Toyota Highlander. She smokes in stressful situations and indulges in self-destructive tendencies with poor judgment in spite of her inherent competence and professional attitude. She demonstrates a strong and often fetishist sexuality which sometimes intimidates Michael, such as when he revealed in "Women's Appreciation" that Jan did not always abide by their safety word "foliage". It is implied that she may have taken the virginity of her assistant, Hunter, of whom Michael is jealous.

Jan has also been shown to be rather vain, creating musical media to supposedly express love for Astrid but rather seems an attempt to flaunt her performance skills, whilst also acting smug about her parenting in Pam's presence.

Character History

Season 1–2

Jan is introduced in the pilot episode of the series. As Vice President, her authority leads her to inform Michael of the impending downsizing or closure Scranton's branch faces. ("Pilot") She continually reappears both over phone and in person over each season to assert corporate policy on Michael, specifically with health care plans ("Health Care"), sexual harassment concerns ("Sexual Harassment"), and downsizing. ("Halloween")

Her character is expanded upon, and changes in tone during "The Client", at which Michael and she attend a business meeting at a Chili's with a highly-valuable potential client. In that episode, she has dropped "Gould" from her name due to divorce, and the excitement of closing the sale lead her to share an intimate moment with Michael. Michael's attempts at a meaningful relationship stemming from that night are rejected, however Jan open-endedly says that she is not ready for a relationship. ("Performance Review") Her appearances in the second season during a 'women in the workplace' seminar ("Boys and Girls") and a financial presentation with CFO David Wallace ("Valentine's Day") continue this rejection, despite Michael's advances. However, upon being invited by Michael to the company casino night, she is emotionally hurt by the presence of his other date, Carol Stills, and hastily leaves. With an overnight bag in her Volvo shown to the audience, it is strongly implied Jan has developed feelings for Michael.("Casino Night")

Season 3

In the third-season premiere "Gay Witch Hunt", Jan becomes responsible for the transfer of Jim Halpert to the Stamford branch, having interviewed him in the second-season episode "Conflict Resolution". She also negotiated a paid three-month vacation and Lexus company car to accountant Oscar Martinez when Michael ignorantly outs him.

Her next encounter with Michael is at a Philadelphia-held convention ("The Convention"), although she plays a more pivotal role when Dwight Schrute contacts her in an attempt to be promoted to branch manager at Michael's expense, to which Jan refuses. ("The Coup") She has a speaking role in a following episode when Michael faces grief over the death of the branch manager he replaced ("Grief Counseling"), and instructs Pam Beesly to keep note of Michael's activities. ("Initiation").

The downsizing hinted at since the start of the show comes to pass when Jan decides to merge Scranton into Stamford, with some employees being laid off and the rest transferred. Her plans are frustrated when Josh Porter, whom she planned on becoming the manager of the merged branches, leverages the position with Staples into a senior management position there. This development leads Jan to merge Stamford in with Scranton instead. ("Branch Closing") She has a speaking role when Martin Nash, a Stamford employee, is identified as a reformed criminal. ("The Convict")

Following a Christmas party, Michael calls an unknown woman to invite her to Sandals Resorts Jamaica. ("A Benihana Christmas") The fact that that woman was Jan is revealed to the rest of the office when Michael accidentally forwards a risqué photo of her tanning to the packaging department who then forwards the email to others. Jan herself doesn't know about the photo. ("Back From Vacation") The relationship between Jan and Michael becomes official when David Wallace hosts a cocktail party. The duo attend as a couple after disclosing their relationship to HR; Michael immediately declaring loudly "I love this woman!" shortly after. Jan demonstrates a sexually aggressive attitude and indifference toward the party itself during the course of the episode. ("Cocktails") Michael references their relationship when he negotiates with Jan for a 12% raise. ("The Negotiation")

When Michael has a "women's appreciation day", his conversations with the office women lead him to discuss Jan's radical sexual preferences, including recording their intimacy and playing it with a therapist to improve "his form". He realizes his unhappiness with her and breaks up. ("Women's Appreciation") In the season finale, during which Michael interviews for a corporate position, Jan attempts a reunion. Michael, despite urgings from all women in the Scranton office (except Meredith, from whom Michael declined to seek advice) to the contrary, and in his amazement at Jan's breast augmentation, agrees to get back together with Jan. Unfortunately, the corporate position for which Michael, Jim, and Karen are interviewing is Jan's; after being absent from work, abusing corporate policies, and being in Scranton far too often, Jan is fired and escorted from the building in New York, and is replaced by Ryan Howard. ("The Job")

Seasons 4–5

Season four has Jan moving into Michael's condo and starting a scented candle business. Her heedless spending combined with his own poor financial sense rapidly drain Michael's resources, leading to a brief scheme in which Michael attempts to escape his troubles by leaving town but is stopped by Jan who (in a very rare warm and positive moment in their relationship) tells Michael that she stands by him despite her earlier treatment of Michael and that she has come to see him as "someone worth standing by". She also sues Dunder Mifflin, claiming wrongful dismissal, largely over her breast implants, although Michael is betrayed by Jan, who uses his private diary as evidence that the company mistreats its employees, and also learning that she gave him a scathing performance review while they were dating. In response, Michael torpedoes her lawsuit by refusing to confirm her negative views of the company, badly damaging their relationship. ("The Deposition") Following this, during a dinner party, the two fight over each other's eccentricities and Jan throws a Dundie Award at his cheap plasma television before breaking down and nearly being arrested on a destruction of property charge. The two split up, with Michael staying at Schrute Farms a few weeks until Jan packed up her things (mostly Michael's, it turns out) and moves away for good. ("Dinner Party")

Jan is seen again in the fourth-season finale, in which she is revealed to be pregnant via artificial insemination. ("Goodbye, Toby") Michael goes to her Lamaze classes when Jan asks him to (where he apparently annoyed the teacher) and is incredibly excited to be there for the birth of "their" child. However, he is utterly deflated when Jan gives birth to her daughter Astrid without him there, and when Jan reluctantly lets Michael spend time around her, Michael sadly recognizes that he feels no connection at all to Astrid and that he is no longer holding onto feelings for Jan. Jan also insists Michael not go out with Holly, leading Michael to promptly and successfully ask Holly out on a date.

Seasons 7–9

Jan is not seen again until the seventh season, by which time she is employed as a hospital administrator, raises Astrid as a single mother and has recorded a Doris Day cover album. She tells Michael at great length that they were never a good couple and she was slumming by ever dating him; an angry Michael shocks her by saying (wrongly as it turned out) that he has herpes, and later expresses disbelief that he thought she could have been "the one". She reappeared on the show in a cameo scene in Michael's self-produced movie "Threat Level Midnight", playing a covert agent jazz singer named Jasmine Windsong who slips key information to Agent Michael Scarn and gets killed by an assassin. When the documentary crew approaches Jan about the movie, she pretends to be proud of Michael's finished film, and looks disgusted as she makes a hasty attempt to get her dry cleaning into her car and get away from both the cameras and any mention of Michael. Jan did not appear in the eighth season.

In the ninth-season episode "The Whale", Jan is now back in Scranton, working as an executive at the White Pages phone book company. Dwight and Pam make the sales call in her office, initially unaware that she is the contact. Jan had no intention of giving Dunder Mifflin her business, and had intended to refuse David Wallace (now the owner and CEO of Dunder Mifflin) personally in retaliation for firing her several years before, and was dismayed when Dwight and Pam arrived instead.

Nevertheless, Dwight keeps her from refusing by assigning Customer Service representative Clark Green as her personal liaison. The two hit it off and travel abroad for several weeks. In "Suit Warehouse", Clark returns to the office, having gotten Jan to sign on as a client after spending several weeks in Europe as her lover. He compared sex with Jan to sex with "a swarm of bees... bees that just find something wrong with every hotel room." Jan also sent an expensive Italian-made espresso machine back with Clark as a gift to the staff.

In Jan's final appearance on the show (albeit over the phone) "Couples Discount", Andy Bernard (now the Scranton regional manager), points out that Dwight had offered a discounted price without getting Andy's approval (something that would've been impossible for Dwight to do, as Andy himself was abroad at the time), and attempted to renegotiate Dunder Mifflin's contract with the White Pages. Infuriated, Jan proceeds to terminate her contract with Dunder Mifflin altogether.

In "Finale", it is mentioned that Dwight (who succeeded Andy as regional manager) managed to reacquire the White Pages' business by again offering the discounted price. Jan is not referenced over the course of the documentary's TV release and is not invited to any of the events connected to it.

Trivia

  • Daniel Levinson and Roger Gould are adult developmental psychologists who have contributed massively to the field, including the study and definition of the midlife crisis.[1]:01:04:08 Jan's character is the epitome of a midlife crisis. (This is probably a coincidence, but an interesting one.)

Behind the scenes

  • In the pilot, the character of Jan was a single-episode guest, with the possibility of becoming a recurring character. During filming of that episode, Melora Hardin, Steve Carell and Greg Daniels laughed at the weird dynamic between Jan and Michael and if the show made it to a second season, "we should have them hook up".[2]:11:04

Appearances

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Season 1 V
Season 2 V
Season 3
Season 4 V
Season 5 V*
Season 6 A
Season 7
Season 9 V
* - deleted scene • V - voice only • M - mentioned only • C - credit only • P - photo only • A - archive footage

References


Wikipedia
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