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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: March 29, 2005
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Office (U.S.), “Diversity Day” (Season 1, Episode 2) [Stream on Netflix]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The party line on the American version of The Office is that it struggled through its short first season before blossoming when it returned from the summer hiatus. The problem with that read on history is that by only the second episode — the B.J. Novak-penned “Diversity Day” — The Office was already hitting many of the strides that it would hit in the coming years. It’s a fantastic episode that takes a few broad-stroke cues from its English predecessor but gives them a real Michael Scott polish. In the episode, the employeed at Dunder Mifflin are tasked with attending a Diversity Day seminar, which we later find out is because somebody (Michael) did an offensive Chris Rock bit in front of the employees. Larry Wilmore, who was a writer on The Office at the time, plays the seminar leader, Mr. Brown. Already so many of the Michael Scott qualities are sliding into place: he fancies himself a comedian, he’s incredibly threatened by competing authority figures, and he has no concept of how his own behavior is playing with others.
The secondary storyline sees Jim Halpert struggling to land his annual big sale, what with having to be in various diversity seminars all day. And when he finally finds out that Dwight has snaked the sale out from under him, it’s a very melancholy note that leads to an unexpectedly sweet moment for Jim and Pam. Which is in itself a template that would be repeated again and again through the coming seasons.
In terms of The Office history, “Diversity Day” is a fascinating time capsule. Larry Wilmore, Mindy Kaling, and Paul Lieberstein were all writers on the show who got to take small roles onscreen — much like B.J. Novak had — and some of those roles led to long-running characters. We get Kaling playing Kelly as a mousy, buttoned-up type, far different than the bubbly personality Kelly later presents. We also get what may well be the origin story for Michael hating Toby.
All in all, “Diversity Day” is a fantastic episode of The Office and far more representative of what the show was going for than the pilot, which mostly recycled stuff from the U.K. version. It righted the ship almost immediately, and it set the stage for the great series that was to come.
