Pam's Replacement

Pam's Replacement is the seventh episode of the eighth season fo 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 viewed on NBC 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; 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".

Synopsis

In the cold open, Andy (Ed Helms) 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 (Ellie Kemper). 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 (Rainn Wilson)). After pretending to talk to the "police" on the phone (actually Darryl (Craig Robinson), who is reluctantly part of the ruse), a humiliated and embarrassed Andy tells Erin to leave the room and "hold all other calls".

Pam (Jenna Fischer) trains an attractive temporary worker Cathy Simms (Lindsey Broad) so that she can take her place when she goes on maternity leave. Pam asks her husband, Jim (John Krasinski) 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 re-assurance 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 (James Spader) surprises Andy, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), 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.

Cultural references

• The office discusses the hotness of British actress Helen Mirren.
• Kelly says Pam wishes she were like Elin Nordegren, the ex-wife of golfer Tiger Woods, who he cheated on.
• Jim and Kathy discuss the movie "Zoolander."
• Kevin confuses singer Chaka Khan with a character "from 'Star Trek.'"
• Dwight refers to the elderly man at the drugstore as "Tin Man."
• Dwight and Pam hand Creed a bar of Toblerone chocolate and he thinks it's just a "long triangle".

Connections to previous episodes

• Andy asking Erin to fake a phone call to make him seem more important in front of clients echoes Michael's similar wishes featured in The Deposition.

Cast

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
• as James Spader as Robert California

Supporting cast

• Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
• Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
• Creed Bratton (actor) 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