"WUPHF.com" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of The Office and the 135th overall. The episode was directed by Danny Leiner and was written by Aaron Shure. It first aired on November 18, 2010. It was viewed by 7.28 million people.
Cold Opening
The power went off briefly because Michael had overused a plug, but then Michael unplugged what was causing the loss of power and then the power came back on. Because of this power outage the server shut down and needed a password to be opened again, and because the server was set up seven years ago they forgot the password. After a guessing rant from the employees of Dunder Mifflin, the password bigboobz with a "z" was guessed which turned out to be the correct password.
Synopsis
Erin comments to Pam that Ryan's new project WUPHF.com (Website) is using a lot of Dunder Mifflin supplies after a brief scene of him collecting a large stack of papers from the printer. As the new office administrator and an investor in WUPHF.com, Pam ignores it. Michael and Ryan talk about WUPHF.com and how it has an offer to be purchased, but Ryan insists the company can be worth a lot more money if they had more investors to fine-tune it before they sell. The two make an announcement that they are inviting more people in as investors. No one bites, so the current investors - Darryl, Andy, Pam, and Stanley - meet with Ryan and Michael in the conference room. Everybody wants to sell the company that only has 9 days before bankruptcy except Ryan, who uses Michael's friendship against him to keep him majority vote. Kelly enters the room, claiming she came up with the idea and that she wants to sue. Ryan coddles her and tells the investors that he'll take care of everything. In the break room, Pam tries to convince Michael that Ryan is using him and that other people could be hurt financially if Ryan doesn't sell WUPHF.com, which is only valuable because of its domain name. Michael claims he has faith in Ryan. Michael tests Pam's theory and when Ryan dodges attempts to hang out, Michael sees some truth. Later, Darryl pulls Ryan out of his closet and the four investors try to bully Ryan into selling, but Michael comes in. He eventually gives Ryan an ultimatum to make WUPHF.com profitable in 9 days. After pondering, Ryan decides to sell the domain name.
Meanwhile, Jim is on a hot sales streak. After talking with Kevin and realizing he isn't getting any commission from his latest sales, he approaches Gabe. Gabe informs him of Sabre's new commission cap, but insists Jim still keep busy. With no motivation Jim grows extremely bored. He decides to focus his efforts on pranking Gabe by editing Jo's audiobook to insult Gabe and make him sit through her entire audiobook.
As the owner of the business park, Dwight hosts a "Hay Festival" in the parking lot. He is so carried away that he misses his scheduled rendezvous with Angela, who meets Robert Lipton, a widower taking his son to the Hay Festival. The two begin to flirt, and Robert asks if it is alright if he calls Angela. Angela voids Dwight's contract and tapes it to the door to their sexual lounge. At the end of the festival, Dwight crowns himself "Hay King" to rectify years of him losing to Moes as a child.
Deleted Scenes
- Michael talked to Angela that someone is going to do Michael's taxes. Ryan interrupts and tells that Michael could be a billionaire. Ryan told the audience that WUPHF.com used to be a prototype.
- Dwight and Nate met a busty girl named Sheri and recommended her to play the role of Mother Harvest.
- Darryl invested with Ryan because the internet had a history of rewarding annoying, white boys.
- Michael and Ryan took Andy to Michael's office for false pretense. Andy said, "The Nard Dog does not invest in friends' companies."
- Dwight was eating lunch as the Hay King while he was interrupted by Angela.
- Michael had a conversation with Toby that Ryan was using Michael after Pam's conversation and interrupting Toby's video chat with Sasha.
- Dwight was reading a poem called Mother Earth. It goes as follows:
- The water runs, the Sun will glint,
This is our environment
The Hay King steps upon the ground
He wields a giant man-sword 'round
He penetrates Mother Earth
Once, twice, again and again
And again and again for all he's worth
Pounding into her soft warm dirt
Her lips quivering
Mounds shaking in ecstacy
And sudden relief
- Naturally, none of the parents are pleased
- Kevin is still stuck in the Hay Maze.
Cultural references
- When trying to guess the server password, Pam mentions The Lord Of The Rings films.
- Michael and Ryan's WUPHF skit is similar to the Apple Get A Mac advertising campaign.
- MLK stands for Martin Luther King, Jr. His "I Have A Dream" speech is a 17-minute public speech delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination.
- John Legend is an American singer-songwriter and actor.
- Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations as well as thousands of small startups.
- Michael compares his employees to playing cards. "Pam is a solid 7" serves as a double entendre about her appearance. He compares Ryan to a "2" and says that they can sometimes be wild, referencing "deuces wild" varieties of card games in which a deuce represents any suit or number.
Connections to previous episodes
- Pam invested in WUPHF back in The Promotion.
- Jim edits together snippets of Jo's autobiography "Take A Good Look", which he got from her in Manager and Salesman.
- Ryan wears a WUPHF.com t-shirt to advertise while being part of Dunder Mifflin's Lip Dub in Nepotism.
Cast
Main cast
- Steve Carell as Michael Scott
- 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
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
- 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
- Kathy Bates as Jo Bennett (Voice & Picture Only)
- Mark Proksch as Nate
Guest cast
- Jack Coleman as State Senator Robert Lipton
- Delaney Ruth Farrell as Sasha Flenderson (Deleted Scene)
- Griffin Gluck as "Mixed-Bred"
- Selah Victor as Sheri/Mother Harvest
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