| "Casino Night" | |
|---|---|
| The Office episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 22 |
| Directed by | Ken Kwapis |
| Written by | Steve Carell |
| Cinematography by | Randall Einhorn |
| Editing by | |
| Production code | 2021[1] |
| Original air date | May 11, 2006 |
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
"Casino Night" is the second season finale of the American comedy television series The Office and the twenty-eighth episode overall. Written by Steve Carell, who also acts in the show as Michael Scott, and directed by Ken Kwapis, the episode originally aired in the United States on May 11, 2006, on NBC. The episode guest stars Nancy Carell as Carol Stills and Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson.
The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, the office hosts a casino night, to which Michael Scott (Carell) inadvertently invites two dates. Meanwhile, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) reveals to Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) his feelings for her.
The episode was the first of the series to run as a "supersized" episode, featuring twenty-eight minutes and twenty seconds of content rather than the standard twenty minutes and thirty seconds. In addition, the episode was the first of the series to be written by Carell; he had suggested the idea for the episode to executive producer Greg Daniels, who thoroughly enjoyed the idea and green lit the script. "Casino Night" also introduces the musical exploits of Kevin Malone, played by Brian Baumgartner. The episode received wide acclaim from television critics and earned a Nielsen rating of 3.9 in the 18–49 demographic, being seen by 7.7 million viewers. It is generally considered by both critics and audiences to be one of the show's greatest episodes.