"The Fight" is the sixth episode of the second season of the television series The Office, and the show's twelfth episode overall. It was written by Gene Stupnitsky

Gene Stupnitsky

Gene Stupnitsky is a film and television writer. He usually works with Lee Eisenberg.In television, he wrote for the NBC comedy series The Office from seasons 2 to 6, and served as a co-executive producer and directed two episodes with Eisenberg, "Michael Scott Paper Company" and "The Lover"...

 and Lee Eisenberg

Lee Eisenberg

Lee Eisenberg is a film and television writer. He usually works with Gene Stupnitsky.-Life and career:In television, he wrote for the NBC comedy series The Office from seasons 2 to 6, and served as a co-executive producer and directed two episodes with Stupnitsky, "Michael Scott Paper Company" and...

 and directed by Ken Kwapis

Ken Kwapis

Ken Kwapis is an American film and television director and screenwriter. He specialized in the single-camera sitcom in the 1990s and 2000s and has directed feature films such as Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and He's Just Not That Into...

. It originally aired on November 1, 2005 on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

.

In this episode, Michael

Michael Scott (The Office)

Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...

 and Dwight

Dwight Schrute

Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a character on NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. He originally exactly resembled Gareth Keenan from the original UK version of The Office. Dwight is the top salesman and former acting manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and has won numerous awards for...

 engage in a karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 match during lunch, and Jim

Jim Halpert

James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office...

's flirting with Pam goes too far.

Synopsis

Michael

Michael Scott (The Office)

Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc...

 has but one thing to do: sign a few dozen routine documents. To procrastinate, Michael makes Ryan

Ryan Howard (The Office)

Ryan Bailey Howard , played by B. J. Novak, is a fictional character on the US television sitcom The Office. He is based upon Ricky Howard from the original version of The Office , but his role is significantly expanded and he is a main character.-Character profile:Little is known about Ryan's...

 update emergency contact information of the staff. When Michael gets Ryan's cell phone number, he constantly prank call

Prank call

A prank call is a form of practical joke committed over the telephone. Prank phone calls began to gain an America-wide following over a period of many years, as they gradually became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musicians, sound engineers, and media traders...

s Ryan with crude impersonations of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

, and Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

.

Talk of Dwight

Dwight Schrute

Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a character on NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. He originally exactly resembled Gareth Keenan from the original UK version of The Office. Dwight is the top salesman and former acting manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and has won numerous awards for...

's karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 experience gets Michael's competitive juices flowing, leading to a lunchtime match between the two at Dwight's dojo. Jim

Jim Halpert

James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office...

 goes too far flirting with Pam

Pam Beesly

Pamela Morgan "Pam" Halpert is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom The Office, played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of The Office is Dawn Tinsley....

, and she abruptly shuts him down when their co-workers take notice.

After a pathetic showing by both combatants, Michael emerges victorious over Dwight, which leads to Dwight changing his emergency contact from "Michael Scott" to "The Hospital". At the end of the day, Michael promotes Dwight from Assistant to the Regional Manager to Assistant Regional Manager, most likely to ensure that Dwight will still idolize him despite the hard feelings over their lunchtime battle. The rest of the staff, fed up with Michael's inability to accomplish even the simplest task, are forced to forge his signatures on the documents so they can go home.

On the way out, Jim gives Pam the bag of chips he owed her from earlier. Pam quietly takes them and stares in a forgiving manner after Jim leaves.

Deleted scenes

The Season Two DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include:

• Brief scenes of Dwight at the dojo and Michael and Dwight preparing to fight.
• Jim asks Dwight whom he could take on in a fight.
• Dwight discusses the result of the fight.
• Stanley confronts Michael about signing the forms; Michael says that "no one ever lost their job for missing deadlines", then reacts like he realizes what a stupid statement that is.
• Michael delivers Pam "part one" of the forms, but it is just the emergency contact information. He then blames the time spent answering her questions for his incompetence and inability to do his job.

External links

• "The Fight" at NBC.com
• B.J. Novak's Blog on "The Fight" at TVGuide.com