Lecture Circuit

"Lecture Circuit" was directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Mindy Kaling, who also plays Kelly Kapoor in the show. The first episode included a cameo performance by Rashida Jones, a regular cast member during the third season, during which she played Jim Halpert's love interest Karen Filippelli. "Lecture Circuit" aired just two months before Jones began her regular role as Ann Perkins in the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation, which was created by Office producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur.[2] Dan Goor, a future writer for Parks and Recreation, made a cameo as Karen's husband in the photographs featured in the part one episode.[3] Rob Huebel, a comedian best known for the MTV sketch comedy series Human Giant, guest starred as Holly's boyfriend, A.J.[4] Amy Ryan, who played Holly Flax in previous episodes, did not appear in either "Lecture Circuit" episode, although the decision by Michael and Pam to visit Holly at the end of the first episode led to speculation about whether she would appear in the second.[2][5][6]

Michael handing out candy bars during his lectures is a reference to the third season episode, "Business School", in which Michael passed out chocolate bars during his speech to a business school classroom.[2] Michael expresses regret for insulting Tony Gardner, the heavyset man who briefly transferred from the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin to the Scranton branch, who Michael drives to quit by trying to lift onto a table for an orientation demonstration in the third-season episode, "The Merger".[7] Among the Dunder Mifflin branches Michael visits is Nashua, New Hampshire, where Holly works,[5] and Utica, New York, where Karen works. Michael said he can only prepare for his lectures by listening to "silence or Sam Kinison", an American stand-up comedian known for his extreme and vulgar sense of humor.[2] Michael said he learned the Pledge of Allegiance, the lyrical oath of loyalty to the United States flag, by setting the lyrics to the rhythm of "Old McDonald Had a Farm", a children's song about the various animals on a farm.[8] During one lecture, Michael and Pam both do impressions of the protagonist from Forrest Gump, the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks as a mentally handicapped man.[9] Michael also uses the title from the films Good Morning, Vietnam (at his Nashua lecture by saying "Good morning, Vietna...shua!")[7] The Princess Bride, Gone with the Wind and Jerry Maguire in his lectures.[10] Holly's computer has a screensaver with images of Ed Grimley, the nerdy character with a cowlick played by comedian Martin Short in the comedy shows SCTV and Saturday Night Live.[4]

Angela said she sold Andy's engagement ring on eBay, an online auction website.[10] Creed gives Andy romantic advice and says, "This is how I got Squeaky Fromme", a reference to the Manson family member who tried to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford. A picture of President George W. Bush appears on a fake three-dollar bill Creed gives Jim to pay for the party.[2] Creed suggests Kelly watch The Bonnie Hunt Show, a syndicated talk show hosted by actress Bonnie Hunt.[4] Andy puts Splenda, an artificial sweetener, into Stanley's coffee because he has adult onset diabetes, a disorder characterized by high blood glucose.[11] Andy sings Julia a song by Feist, the Canadian singer and songwriter, after he spots a Feist CD in her car.[8] Michael takes a document file from Holly's computer that was created with Microsoft Word, the Microsoft word processing program.[6] Pam said she hates the notion of even Al-Qaeda hating her, a reference to the Islamist terrorist organization that organized the September 11 attacks against New York City.[8] Kelly confesses she went to juvenile detention in Berks County, Pennsylvania,[12] at age 14 for doing something "like Thelma & Louise, but with a boat", a reference to the 1991 road movie starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon on the run from their troubled, caged lives.[13] Jim said during a birthday trip to a museum at age seven, his father bought him a plastic toy triceratops, a three-horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period, which Dwight insists is not a good dinosaur.[10] Pam remembers the name of one audience member by comparing her to k.d. lang, the Canadian singer known for her extremely short hair.[7]

In its original American broadcast on February 5, 2009, the first part of "Lecture Circuit" was seen by 8.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.[14] The original broadcast for the second part on February 12 was seen by 8.89 million viewers. The second episode received a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 3.8 rating/9 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49, numbers which were close to the season's average rating.[15] The first episode received a 5.0 rating/14 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 4.3 rating/11 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. Both ratings were three-tenths of a drop from the previous episode, "Stress Relief", which was heavily viewed because it immediately followed the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII on NBC. The drop in ratings led some media outlets to speculate that the post-Super Bowl ratings boost was only temporary and would not help The Office in the long run.[14]

Both episodes of "Lecture Circuit" received generally positive reviews. Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly described them as "nearly perfect", calling them the two best episodes of the season so far: "[Writer Mindy Kaling] nailed the characterizations, the interactions, the tossed-off one-liners, the weird-yet-realistic scenarios...I wonder how much it helps that she's out on the acting floor every day, getting attuned to her costars' rhythms?"[10] Josh McAuliffe of The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pennsylvania, said the first "Lecture Circuit" episode was his favorite episode of the fifth season so far, which he said provided several laugh-out-loud moments and a poignancy with Michael's decision to find Holly.[12] McAuliffe described the second episode as a "satisfying wrap-up" and said Michael's outburst during the lecture was "one of the most painful Michael meltdown moments in the show's history".[7] Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said the first episode perfectly balanced drama and comedy. He particularly complimented the chemistry between both Carell and Fischer and between Krasinski and Wilson, and said he was particularly pleased to receive closure over the Karen character.[2] But Sepinwall said the second episode felt padded with "material I would have been fine seeing as deleted scenes". Although he described Carell's reaction to the news that Holly still has feelings for him as a "wonderful performance", Sepinwall also said the subplot involving Angela's cat was particularly unfunny and that subplot with Jim and Dwight, "so brilliant last week, ran out of steam quickly here."[9]

Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said the episode "was full of laughs but had a bit of a bittersweet aftertaste" and had "one hell of a cliffhanger" ending. Rabin praised the Jim and Dwight teaming in the first episode, but said the plot line of Michael's lectures were predictable and "promised more than it delivered".[11] Rabin said the second episode "wrapped up everything up nicely [and] delivered larfs aplenty"; he particularly enjoyed the subplot involving Angela's cats, and the fact that it "left the door open for Holly's return".[4] Will Leitch of New York magazine praised the cliffhanger ending of the first episode and said he was pleased the Holly character was still in the show's equation. Leitch also praised Ed Helms, who "is nailing the right combination of ridiculous and sad-sack pathos", although he said he "[was not] nearly as inspired" by the Jim and Dwight subplot.[5] Leitch also enjoyed the second episode, particularly the "legitimately sweet moment" when Pam tells Michael that Holly still has feelings for him. Leitch was less praiseworthy of the Angela subplot involving her cats, and said the character "appears to have officially gone batshit insane."[6] Travis Fickett of IGN criticized the first episode and said, "I'm starting to wonder if the show is showing signs of winding down." Fickett said the idea of Michael giving awkward lecture tours felt old and familiar, so much so that "I was convinced it was a repeat". He also said the Jim and Dwight idea was funny, but "nothing the show hasn't tapped before".[16] Likewise, Fickett described the second episode as "average Office and feels overly familiar without really blazing any new ground." He also said it was disappointing Holly did not appear, and that Angela felt like a "caricature" in her subplot.[17]

The scene with Angela licking her cat was heavily criticized by reviewers,[6][17][18] prompting some observers to describe it as the moment when The Office jumped the shark, a phrase used to describe the moment of downturn for a previously successful television show.[18] When asked about this during an interview, actor Oscar Nuñez responded, "No show is 'Jump the Shark'-proof, but there have been other moments on The Office that I think were more 'Jump the Shark' than that." He did not specify what other moments he meant.[18]