"WUPHF.com" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of the Americancomedy television seriesThe Office and the show's 135th episode overall. Written by Aaron Shure and directed by Danny Leiner, the episode aired on NBC in the United States on November 18, 2010. It resolves two long-running plot threads: Ryan's WUPHF.com project and Dwight and Angela's contract to have a baby. This episode received positive reviews and was nominated for the.
Synopsis
has gotten Michael Scott, Darryl Philbin, Stanley Hudson, Andy Bernard, and Pam Halpert to put in funding for WUPHF.com. While Ryan touts a planned "investors ski weekend", Michael learns that there is already an offer to buy out WUPHF.com and Ryan only has nine days of funding left before his venture collapses. Ryan's subsequent sales pitch falls apart when he reveals that the potential buyer is Washington UniversityPublic Health Fund, since the investors deduce that they only want to purchase the company for the domain name, because it is the acronym for the fund. Though the others demand that WUPHF.com be sold, Michael stands by Ryan, and since Michael owns over 50% of WUPHF.com, his decision stands. Pam tells Michael that Ryan has never viewed Michael as either his mentor or a best friend, and is now using Michael's unrequited affection for him to make him support WUPHF.com beyond reason, but everyone will lose their money if they do not sell, not just Michael. Michael takes this in, and is silently hurt when Ryan talks his way out of having dinner with him and blithely supports Michael's theoretical plan to get a second mortgage for more WUPHF.com funds. Despite this, he still does not agree to a sale, and instead lists his erstwhile protege's flaws right in front of a surprised and visibly wounded Ryan, then points out all his talents and that he believes in him. Taken aback by Michael's faith in him, Ryan at last makes a sincere effort to make WUPHF.com a success without additional investor funds. Ultimately forced to accept defeat, he sends Michael a message that he is going to sell WUPHF.com. Michael expresses relief. Dwight Schrute creates a hay festival in the parking lot for the Thanksgiving holiday, in order to exorcise the memories from his childhood days when his family had competing hay festivals and he never was elected king for them. His efforts distract him from fulfilling a request for sex from Angela Martin per their contract. A frustrated Angela meets a charming, friendly man who is attending the festival with his young son. Angela is pleased to meet someone who laughs at her jokes rather than at her, and approves when he asks if he can call her sometime. She is still more pleased when the man reveals he is a widower. Dwight appoints himself the "Hay Festival King" in the meantime, but arrives at his and Angela's warehouse rendezvous point to see their procreation contract has been stamped VOID, and looks stricken. Kevin Malone, meanwhile, gets lost in the hay maze and panics. Jim Halpert is in the midst of a record sales streak; he claims that his sales skills have been sharpened at home by convincing baby Cece to eat baby food. However, Kevin and Angela inform Jim that Sabre instituted a commissions cap for the year and Jim maxed out his returns. Jim talks to Gabe Lewis about it, but Gabe insists that he cannot change the policy. Unmotivated to work, Jim chats with his coworkers and makes fart noises, irritating both Gabe and Pam. He finally fills his time by editing the intro to Jo Bennett's audio autobiography so that it addresses Gabe. He then calls Gabe on his desk phone and sets up the receiver next to a playback of the edited autobiography, prompting Gabe to listen to the entire audiobook.
Production
"WUPHF.com" was written by co-executive producer Aaron Shure, his fifth writing credit on the series, and directed by Danny Leiner, his first Office directing credit. In a deleted scene, Michael seeks advice from Toby while the HR representative is having a webchat with his daughter; when Michael overhears Sasha talking about Toby's ex-wife's new boyfriend, Michael forgets he wanted help dealing with Ryan, and laughs at Toby's misery at the news.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on November 18, 2010, "WUPHF.com" was viewed by an estimated 7.28 million viewers and received a 3.8 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, improving from the prior week's episode. For his work on this episode, Aaron Shure was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for.
