.png)
1 week ago
15
The holidays are finally here, and there’s no better way to embrace the festive spirit than by rewatching the hilarious Christmas episodes of The Office. After all, no one could mess up Secret Santa worse than the Dunder Mifflin employees. Well, the season 2 Christmas Party episode stands as the proof, with hilarious moments and unforgettable lines.
Dwight and Michael Scott in a still from The Office Christmas Party episode | image: NBCOne of the most memorable scenes in the episode features Dwight’s unexpected interpretation of Jim’s gift for Pam during the chaotic Yankee Swap, leading him to quote a line from Titanic. And surprisingly this has earned a special place in the heart of The Office writer Michael Schur, in fact, it’s his favorite joke from the entire series. Even though this scene didn’t feature Steve Carell’s showstopper Michael Scott, it became one of the unforgettable moments in the series.
The Yankee Swap Almost Ruined Jim’s Secret Santa Gift for Pam in the Christmas Party Episode
Much like every year’s Christmas celebration at Dunder Mifflin, even season 2 brought back the tradition during their Christmas Party episode. Only this time, it was all about the employees of the Scranton branch being assigned a coworker to purchase a gift for—yes, it’s Secret Santa. Well, although the gift exchange started fine, Steve Carell‘s Michael Scott has to intervene and ruin it.
Apparently, after Michael got to know that despite purchasing Ryan a $400 iPod, he didn’t get it—it led Steve Carell’s character to force the employees into doing a Yankee Swap out of disappointment and sheer rage. And that’s when it all got messed up. Although Jim had picked Pam as the recipient of a Secret Santa gift exchange so that he could express his feelings for her through his teal teapot containing bonus presents, the Yankee Swap led the present toward Dwight.
Dwight ended up receiving Jim’s teapot meant for Pam | image: NBCEventually, Pam picked the iPod over the teapot, and Jim faced his worst nightmare, where his super romantic and ultra-thoughtful present went to Dwight. This whole mess-up eventually led Jim to trade the teapot with Dwight by offering a lucky Shamrock keychain. To which Dwight responded quoting a dialogue from Billy Zane’s Titanic character “a real man makes his own luck”.
Thankfully, by the end of the episode, it is revealed that Pam had traded the iPod to get back Jim’s gift, realizing that it was meant specially for her. It was then revealed that the teapot held a bunch of mini gifts, including a cassette, a high school yearbook photo of Jim, a Boggle timer, two hot sauce packets that Pam mistook as ketchup, and a miniature golf pencil which Pam once threw at Jim after losing.
The Office Writer Michael Schur Still Cracks Up Over His Hilarious Line for Dwight
Now, while the episode itself had several hilarious scenes and dialogues, The Office writer Michael Schur mentioned his favorite. Speaking with EW, Schur recalled Dwight’s delivery of the Titanic dialogue with utmost seriousness and mentioned how it ended up becoming his favorite joke from the entire show. Although the scene lacked Steve Carell’s titular character, known for his humorous antics, Schur mentioned Dwight’s dialogue was the best thing he ever wrote.
Oftentimes, when someone has asked me what’s my favorite joke that I ever wrote for that show, that is the one I very frequently quote.
It’s very clear in Dwight’s mind that Billy Zane is the kind of hero of that movie. In his mind, Titanic is the story of an honorable, wealthy man who was done wrong by two scoundrels [laughs].
Pam and Jim with the teal teapot in The Office | image: NBCSo it seems that the Christmas Party episode, with its chaotic Yankee Swap and Dwight’s hilariously misguided quote from Titanic, ended up becoming Michael Schur’s favorite thing from the series. Although he had written several other humorous bits in the show that left a lasting impact on audiences, Schur implied that nothing cracks him up like Dwight’s effortless delivery of Billy Zane’s quote.
The Office is currently available to watch on Peacock.
Bengali (BD) · 
English (US) ·