Golden Ticket (The Office)
| "Golden Ticket" | |
|---|---|
| The Office episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 19 |
| Directed by | Randall Einhorn |
| Written by | Mindy Kaling |
| Production code | 519 |
| Original air date | March 12, 2009 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Golden Ticket" is the 19th episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the 91st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 12, 2009.
In the episode, Michael excitedly starts a Willy Wonka-inspired promotional gimmick providing discounts to customers who receive golden tickets, then tries to blame the idea on Dwight when the promotion appears to cost the company a large amount of money. In a B story, Kevin receives conflicting romantic advice from Andy, Jim and Pam.
The episode was written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Randall Einhorn. It received mixed reviews from critics, and many commented on the selfishness and mean behavior of Michael Scott in the episode. According to Nielsen ratings, "Golden Ticket" was watched by 7.7 million overall viewers the week it aired. In addition to multiple references to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "Golden Ticket" includes two knock knock jokes involving the KGB.
Michael (Steve Carell), inspired by the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, decides to put five "golden tickets" randomly into five different boxes of paper that will provide Dunder Mifflin clients with a ten percent discount for one year. Michael is excited about the promotional gimmick, which prompts him to dress and act like Wonka throughout the day. However, because Michael distributed all the tickets on the same day in the same small area of the warehouse, all five golden tickets go to their biggest client, the Blue Cross of Pennsylvania; because Michael did not specify "limit one per customer", the company is owed a fifty percent discount. As a result, the Scranton branch is expected to lose a significant amount of revenue which could shut down the branch, making everyone in the office upset with Michael. When angry Chief Financial Officer David Wallace (Andy Buckley) demands to know who is responsible, Michael claims Dwight (Rainn Wilson) thought of the idea. Michael tries to convince Dwight to take the fall, insisting that Michael needs the job more than Dwight and that it would allow Dwight to focus more energy on his beet farm.
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