| "Promos" | |
|---|---|
| The Office episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 18 |
| Directed by | Jennifer Celotta |
| Written by | Tim McAuliffe |
| Featured music | "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood |
| Cinematography by | Matt Sohn |
| Editing by | Rob Burnett |
| Production code | 9018[1] |
| Original air date | April 4, 2013[1] |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Promos" is the eighteenth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 194th overall. The episode was written by Tim McAuliffe and directed by Jennifer Celotta. It originally aired on NBC on April 4, 2013. The episode guest stars sports star Ryan Howard, Chris Diamantopoulos, Nora Kirkpatrick, and Allan Havey. Former series regulars Steve Carell and B. J. Novak also appear through archival footage.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, everyone in the office is excited when international promos for the documentary surface, but are soon horrified to discover how much candid filming has taken place. While everyone panics about their secrets being revealed, Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) reflects upon how much she and Jim (John Krasinski) have changed over the past nine years. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) makes Angela Lipton (Angela Kinsey) jealous when he starts dating a Brussels sprout farmer. Meanwhile, at Athlead's office in Philadelphia, Jim and Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) have a big meeting with baseball player Ryan Howard (not to be confused with the former series regular), who pitches a bizarre sci-fi sports movie about himself.
The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics; many felt that while the episode had an interesting theme and that much of the drama was successful, the humor was too broad or forced. The episode was viewed by 3.44 million viewers and received a 1.8/5 percent rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode ranked fourth in its timeslot, and it was the highest-rated NBC series of the night, though it was lowest rated episode of The Office at the time of airing.