The Convict

"The Convict"
The Office episode
Michael Scott portraying Prison Mike
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 9
Directed by	Jeffrey Blitz
Written by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Cinematography by	Randall Einhorn
Editing by	David Rogers
Production code	310[1]
Original air date	November 30, 2006 (2006-11-30)
Running time	21:11[2]
Guest appearances
Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton Ed Helms as Andy Bernard Rashida Jones as Karen Filippelli Wayne Wilderson as Martin Nash
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Merger" Next → "A Benihana Christmas"
The Office (American season 3)
List of episodes

"The Convict" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 37th overall. It first aired on November 30, 2006 in the United States on NBC. The episode was the series' only original script written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who are the creators of the original British comedy series of the same name. It was directed by Jeffrey Blitz, his first such credit of the series.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton and Stamford branches of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) discovers that an employee named Martin Nash (Wayne Wilderson), who came with the branches' recent merger, was previously in prison. Michael becomes frustrated when Martin's stories of prison sound better than working in the office. Meanwhile, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) plays a prank on Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) by giving incorrect information to Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) on how to impress her.

According to Nielsen Media Research, an estimated 9.07 million viewers watched "The Convict" on its first broadcast, making it up to that point the largest audience of the season. Among adults aged 18 to 49, it earned a 4.4/11 ratings share, finishing in eighteenth place for the week among all the major networks. Television critics were largely positive towards the episode, particularly Carell's "Prison Mike" sequence as well as Helms' performance as Andy Bernard.