The speech scene employed over 500 extras, an unusual occurrence for the series. Much of Dwight's speech is based upon real speeches by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics. In its original broadcast, "Dwight's Speech" earned a Nielsen rating of 4.4 in the 18–49 demographic, being viewed by 8.4 million viewers.
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is named Northeastern Pennsylvania Salesman of the Year and must make a speech at an association meeting at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, getting some assistance from Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Before he leaves, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), in retaliation for Dwight's cocky attitude, gives him tips on how to give public speeches. Unknown to Dwight, Jim's tips are taken from speeches by famous dictators, such as Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. When Michael and Dwight make it to the convention, Dwight gets cold feet and Michael goes up and tries to relive his glory days of winning Salesman of the Year two years in a row, but ends up embarrassing himself on the stage. Dwight finally works up the nerve to give his speech and, by using Jim's advice, wins over the crowd with a passionate yet unorthodox speech. Michael ends up leaving the convention room and later entertains Dwight with his tales at the bar.
Meanwhile, back in the office, Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) begins to write invitations for her approaching wedding with help from Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) and Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling). Kelly talks about her dreams of getting married someday and is visibly hurt when Ryan responds to her flirtatious question about future weddings by saying he doesn't think he'll ever tie the knot; when Kelly leaves the room, Pam advises Ryan to be considerate of Kelly's feelings, but Ryan curtly notes "I know what I said." Jim makes plans for a vacation anywhere away from Scranton, and while that happens, the other employees subtly duel over the thermostat. At the end of the episode, Jim tells Pam that he will be going to Australia and, unfortunately, he will be missing her wedding as a result.
Production
Parts of Dwight's speech were taken from a speech given by Benito Mussolini.
"Dwight's Speech" was directed by Charles McDougall, making it his second directing credit after the earlier second season episode "Christmas Party".[2][3] "Dwight's Speech" was written by Paul Lieberstein, who plays human resources director Toby Flenderson.[4] Lieberstein later revealed that Jim never went on his trip to Australia, noting "The whole Pam thing took him by surprise, he transferred and then wasn’t really up for vacation. Unless, of course, we find a good joke in his vacation."[5]
During the earlier scenes when Dwight is in Michael's office, Pam can be seen in the background talking to Meredith. According to actress Jenna Fischer, she and Kate Flannery stayed in character and acted out mundane talking scenes. Although they were not recorded, the dialogue was very detailed. In a guest post written for TV Guide, Fischer described several of the conversations, which ranged from Pam and Meredith discussing "the problems with the new quality-assurance computer-input program", that the computers don't "accept both alpha and numeric characters", "backlog [of] receipts dating to 2001", and that Dunder Mifflin "changed to all-numeric product codes in 2004 and the computer system does not allow for the earlier records."[4]
The speech scene employed over 500 extras, which was unusual for The Office, and was hectic for the crew to organize.[4]
The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include Dwight coming to work wearing sunglasses, Michael criticizing Dwight's speaking skills, Dwight trying to tell another joke to the office, Ryan bringing the wrong type of stamps for Pam's wedding invitations, and an extended scene of Michael's unfunny and very awkward speech.[6]
Cultural references
In order to practice his public speaking skills, Dwight tries to convince the office that Brad Pitt was in a car accident. Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) then states that it "is karma because of what he did to Jennifer Aniston."[7] During the meeting in the break room Dwight references Good Morning, Vietnam. Michael later references the movie at the actual convention when he is filling time for Dwight.[7] When Jim asks the office where he should go for vacation, Kevin tells him he should go to Hedonism Resorts, describing it as "Club Med, only everything is naked."[7] Toby tells him he should go to Amsterdam, while Creed informs him that he should go to Hong Kong. Dwight later reveals that he will be going to New Zealand to "walk the Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom."[7][8] Much of Dwight's speech is drawn from a variety of sources, including the following:
"Dwight's Speech" originally aired on NBC on March 2, 2006.[14] The episode received a 4.4 rating/10 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[15] This means that it was seen by 4.4 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 10 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.[15] The episode was viewed by 8.4 million viewers, and retained 88 percent of its lead-in My Name Is Earl audience.[15] An encore presentation of the episode on August 15 received a 1.9 rating/6 percent share and was viewed by over 4.6 million viewers and retained 100 percent of its lead-in audience.[16]
"Dwight's Speech" received mostly positive reviews. Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad wrote that he wonders if the Jim-Pam relationship "will reach some sort of resolution or become a season-ending cliffhanger". Sciannamea also noted that "you know you're living in a Bizarro World when Dwight wins Dunder Mifflin's salesman of the year award."[17] M. Giant of Television Without Pity graded the episode with an "A–."[7] Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk felt that Dwight's enlarged role was great, but noted that the episode was not as funny as his "strange behavior" in "The Injury."[18] Betsy Bozdech of DVD Journal described "Dwight's Speech" as an instant classic.[19] Not all reviews were so glowing. Brendan Babish of DVD Verdict felt that "Dwight's Speech" was "one of the few misfires" of the season, noting that it "certainly has laughs", but that "its humor is a bit too absurd compared to the show's usual riffs on office ennui".[20] He ultimately gave the episode a "B−", but wrote that "Dwight's Speech" being the worst episode of the season was a "testament to the show's excellence."[20]
IGN ranked the scene with Dwight making his speech as its third-best moment in the first two seasons, and called Wilson's performance a "hilariously spot-on impersonation of Mussolini's crazed arm movements."[21] In addition, Rolling Stone named the same scene the eighteenth-funniest scene in the first three seasons of The Office.[22]
References
Footnotes
^"Shows A–Z – Office, The on NBC". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^ abMussolini, Benito (23 February 1941). Speech Delivered by Premier Benito Mussolini (Speech). Rome, Italy. Paragraph 1. Retrieved 31 January 2021.{{cite speech}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ abcMussolini, Benito. "Translation:Declaration of War Against the United States, by Benito Mussolini. Italy, December 11, 1941". Wikisource.
^ abLenin, Vladimir (October 22, 1918). "Report at a Joint Session off the All-Russia Central Executive Committee: The Moscow Soviet, Factory Committees and Trade Unions". Marxists Internet Archive. Translated by Riordan, Jim. from the original on 2002-07-08. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
^ abMarx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1848). "Manifesto of the Communist Party/4". Wikisource. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
^. NBC. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
^ abc"Mar. 7, 2006 Press Release ("Dwight's Speech")" (Press release). NBC. February 27, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.[dead link] Alt URL
^"Aug. 15, 2006 Press Release ("Dwight's Speech")" (Press release). NBC. February 27, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2012.[dead link] Alt URL
^Sciannamea, Michael (March 3, 2006). "The Office: Dwight's Speech". TV Squad. Weblogs, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
^Rizzo III, Francis (September 12, 2006). "The Office – Season Two". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
^Bozdech, Betsy. "The Office: Season Two". DVD Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
^ abBabish, Brendan. . DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2007.
^Goldman, Eric; Zoromski, Brian (September 20, 2006) The Top 10 Moments from The OfficeIGN. News Corporation. Retrieved June 16, 2008
^Thomas, Lindsey (October 17, 2007). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
Bibliography
Mussolini, Benito; Severino, Barone (2006). Mussolini: As Revealed in His Political Speeches November 1914 – August 1923. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN9781428654938.
dwight, speech, seventeenth, episode, second, season, american, comedy, television, series, office, show, twenty, third, episode, overall, written, paul, lieberstein, directed, charles, mcdougall, episode, first, aired, united, states, march, 2006, office, epi. Dwight s Speech is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show s twenty third episode overall Written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Charles McDougall the episode first aired in the United States on March 2 2006 on NBC Dwight s Speech The Office episodeEpisode no Season 2Episode 17Directed byCharles McDougallWritten byPaul LiebersteinFeatured music Get Ready for This by 2 UnlimitedCinematography byRandall EinhornEditing byDean HollandProduction code2017 1 Original air dateMarch 2 2006 2006 03 02 Running time22 minutesEpisode chronology Previous Valentine s Day Next Take Your Daughter to Work Day The Office American season 2 List of episodesThe series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company In the episode Michael Scott Steve Carell helps Dwight Schrute Rainn Wilson with an important speech that he is going to give Meanwhile Jim Halpert John Krasinski plans a vacation to avoid Pam Beesly s Jenna Fischer wedding The speech scene employed over 500 extras an unusual occurrence for the series Much of Dwight s speech is based upon real speeches by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics In its original broadcast Dwight s Speech earned a Nielsen rating of 4 4 in the 18 49 demographic being viewed by 8 4 million viewers Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cultural references 4 Reception 5 References 5 1 Footnotes 5 2 Bibliography 6 External linksPlot EditDwight Schrute Rainn Wilson is named Northeastern Pennsylvania Salesman of the Year and must make a speech at an association meeting at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel getting some assistance from Michael Scott Steve Carell Before he leaves Jim Halpert John Krasinski in retaliation for Dwight s cocky attitude gives him tips on how to give public speeches Unknown to Dwight Jim s tips are taken from speeches by famous dictators such as Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini When Michael and Dwight make it to the convention Dwight gets cold feet and Michael goes up and tries to relive his glory days of winning Salesman of the Year two years in a row but ends up embarrassing himself on the stage Dwight finally works up the nerve to give his speech and by using Jim s advice wins over the crowd with a passionate yet unorthodox speech Michael ends up leaving the convention room and later entertains Dwight with his tales at the bar Meanwhile back in the office Pam Beesly Jenna Fischer begins to write invitations for her approaching wedding with help from Ryan Howard B J Novak and Kelly Kapoor Mindy Kaling Kelly talks about her dreams of getting married someday and is visibly hurt when Ryan responds to her flirtatious question about future weddings by saying he doesn t think he ll ever tie the knot when Kelly leaves the room Pam advises Ryan to be considerate of Kelly s feelings but Ryan curtly notes I know what I said Jim makes plans for a vacation anywhere away from Scranton and while that happens the other employees subtly duel over the thermostat At the end of the episode Jim tells Pam that he will be going to Australia and unfortunately he will be missing her wedding as a result Production Edit Parts of Dwight s speech were taken from a speech given by Benito Mussolini Dwight s Speech was directed by Charles McDougall making it his second directing credit after the earlier second season episode Christmas Party 2 3 Dwight s Speech was written by Paul Lieberstein who plays human resources director Toby Flenderson 4 Lieberstein later revealed that Jim never went on his trip to Australia noting The whole Pam thing took him by surprise he transferred and then wasn t really up for vacation Unless of course we find a good joke in his vacation 5 During the earlier scenes when Dwight is in Michael s office Pam can be seen in the background talking to Meredith According to actress Jenna Fischer she and Kate Flannery stayed in character and acted out mundane talking scenes Although they were not recorded the dialogue was very detailed In a guest post written for TV Guide Fischer described several of the conversations which ranged from Pam and Meredith discussing the problems with the new quality assurance computer input program that the computers don t accept both alpha and numeric characters backlog of receipts dating to 2001 and that Dunder Mifflin changed to all numeric product codes in 2004 and the computer system does not allow for the earlier records 4 The speech scene employed over 500 extras which was unusual for The Office and was hectic for the crew to organize 4 The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode Notable cut scenes include Dwight coming to work wearing sunglasses Michael criticizing Dwight s speaking skills Dwight trying to tell another joke to the office Ryan bringing the wrong type of stamps for Pam s wedding invitations and an extended scene of Michael s unfunny and very awkward speech 6 Cultural references EditIn order to practice his public speaking skills Dwight tries to convince the office that Brad Pitt was in a car accident Kelly Kapoor Mindy Kaling then states that it is karma because of what he did to Jennifer Aniston 7 During the meeting in the break room Dwight references Good Morning Vietnam Michael later references the movie at the actual convention when he is filling time for Dwight 7 When Jim asks the office where he should go for vacation Kevin tells him he should go to Hedonism Resorts describing it as Club Med only everything is naked 7 Toby tells him he should go to Amsterdam while Creed informs him that he should go to Hong Kong Dwight later reveals that he will be going to New Zealand to walk the Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom 7 8 Much of Dwight s speech is drawn from a variety of sources including the following Excerpts from Dwight s speech 2 Source Quote Source Blood alone moves the wheels of history It is blood which moves the wheels of history 9 Paraphrased from a speech Mussolini gave in Parma on December 13 1914 advocating Italian entry into World War I 9 Have you ever asked yourselves in an hour of meditation which everyone finds during the day how long we ve been at war the war of work Have you ever asked yourselves in an hour of meditation which every one finds during the day how long we have been at war 10 Taken from a speech Mussolini gave on February 23 1941 10 I say to you and you will understand that it is a privilege to fight I say and you all feel that it is a privilege to fight with them 11 Taken from Mussolini s Italian declaration of war on the United States on 11 December 1941 11 We are warriors Salesmen of north eastern Pennsylvania I ask you once more Rise and be worthy of this historical hour Italian men and women standing once again be worthy of this great hour 11 No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself 12 Taken from a speech given by Vladimir Lenin to the All Russian Central Executive Committee in 1918 12 I say salesmen and women of the world unite Working men of all countries unite 13 Taken from the final chapter of the Communist Manifesto 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 13 Reception Edit Dwight s Speech originally aired on NBC on March 2 2006 14 The episode received a 4 4 rating 10 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 15 This means that it was seen by 4 4 percent of all 18 to 49 year olds and 10 percent of all 18 to 49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast 15 The episode was viewed by 8 4 million viewers and retained 88 percent of its lead in My Name Is Earl audience 15 An encore presentation of the episode on August 15 received a 1 9 rating 6 percent share and was viewed by over 4 6 million viewers and retained 100 percent of its lead in audience 16 Dwight s Speech received mostly positive reviews Michael Sciannamea of TV Squad wrote that he wonders if the Jim Pam relationship will reach some sort of resolution or become a season ending cliffhanger Sciannamea also noted that you know you re living in a Bizarro World when Dwight wins Dunder Mifflin s salesman of the year award 17 M Giant of Television Without Pity graded the episode with an A 7 Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk felt that Dwight s enlarged role was great but noted that the episode was not as funny as his strange behavior in The Injury 18 Betsy Bozdech of DVD Journal described Dwight s Speech as an instant classic 19 Not all reviews were so glowing Brendan Babish of DVD Verdict felt that Dwight s Speech was one of the few misfires of the season noting that it certainly has laughs but that its humor is a bit too absurd compared to the show s usual riffs on office ennui 20 He ultimately gave the episode a B but wrote that Dwight s Speech being the worst episode of the season was a testament to the show s excellence 20 IGN ranked the scene with Dwight making his speech as its third best moment in the first two seasons and called Wilson s performance a hilariously spot on impersonation of Mussolini s crazed arm movements 21 In addition Rolling Stone named the same scene the eighteenth funniest scene in the first three seasons of The Office 22 References EditFootnotes Edit Shows A Z Office The on NBC The Futon Critic Retrieved January 25 2013 a b Charles McDougall director Paul Lieberstein writer March 2 2006 Dwight s Speech The Office Season 2 Episode 17 NBC Charles McDougall director Michael Schur writer December 6 2005 Christmas Party The Office Season 2 Episode 10 NBC a b c Fischer Jenna March 2 2006 The Office Presents Dwight s Speech TV Guide Retrieved August 4 2008 Skerry Kathy October 16 2006 Jim Halpert Did He or Didn t He Give Me My Remote Retrieved September 9 2012 Deleted scenes for Dwight s Speech DVD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2006 The Office Season Two Disc 2 a b c d e Giant M March 2 2006 Dwight s Speech Television Without Pity NBCUniversal Archived from the original on April 21 2008 Retrieved August 4 2008 The Office Dwight s Speech Quotes TV Fanatic Retrieved 9 September 2012 a b Mussolini and Severino p 17 a b Mussolini Benito 23 February 1941 Speech Delivered by Premier Benito Mussolini Speech Rome Italy Paragraph 1 Retrieved 31 January 2021 a href Template Cite speech html title Template Cite speech cite speech a CS1 maint location link a b c Mussolini Benito Translation Declaration of War Against the United States by Benito Mussolini Italy December 11 1941 Wikisource a b Lenin Vladimir October 22 1918 Report at a Joint Session off the All Russia Central Executive Committee The Moscow Soviet Factory Committees and Trade Unions Marxists Internet Archive Translated by Riordan Jim Archived from the original on 2002 07 08 Retrieved February 14 2022 a b Marx Karl Engels Friedrich 1848 Manifesto of the Communist Party 4 Wikisource Archived from the original on 2012 03 16 Retrieved 14 February 2022 The Office Seasons Season 2 Episode Guide NBC Archived from the original on November 13 2012 Retrieved June 13 2012 a b c Mar 7 2006 Press Release Dwight s Speech Press release NBC February 27 2007 Retrieved June 12 2012 dead link Alt URL Aug 15 2006 Press Release Dwight s Speech Press release NBC February 27 2007 Retrieved June 12 2012 dead link Alt URL Sciannamea Michael March 3 2006 The Office Dwight s Speech TV Squad Weblogs Inc Retrieved August 4 2008 Rizzo III Francis September 12 2006 The Office Season Two DVD Talk Retrieved June 12 2012 Bozdech Betsy The Office Season Two DVD Journal Retrieved September 7 2007 a b Babish Brendan The Office Season Two DVD Verdict Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved September 7 2007 Goldman Eric Zoromski Brian September 20 2006 The Top 10 Moments from The Office IGN News Corporation Retrieved June 16 2008 Thomas Lindsey October 17 2007 The 25 Greatest Moments from The Office Rolling Stone Archived from the original on June 22 2008 Retrieved September 9 2012 Bibliography Edit Mussolini Benito Severino Barone 2006 Mussolini As Revealed in His Political Speeches November 1914 August 1923 Kessinger Publishing ISBN 9781428654938 External links Edit Dwight s Speech at NBC com Dwight s Speech at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dwight 27s Speech amp oldid 1128191389, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
