Company Picnic
It marked return appearances of former guest stars Amy Ryan as Holly Flax and Idris Elba as Charles Miner.
Actress Jenna Fischer is not as talented a volleyball player as she is portrayed in the episode, so some of her scenes were modified with computer-generated imagery.
"Company Picnic" received generally positive reviews, particularly for the return of Holly and the scene in which Jim discovers Pam is pregnant.
CFO David Wallace allows Michael and Holly to do a presentation about the history of Dunder Mifflin, and the two spend time in the woods to come up with ideas.
Nobody except Stanley Hudson, finds their presentation amusing, but things take a turn for the worse when they reveal that the Buffalo branch, whose staff are hearing this announcement for the first time, will be closing in the near future because of the economic recession.
Seeing an opportunity to remove Scranton's best player from the game, Charles insists that Pam take a seat on the grounds of her injury being a company liability.
Determined to beat corporate, Jim takes Pam to a local hospital to get an X-ray while Dwight stalls the game to give them time to get back.
"[2] Likewise, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and an Office executive producer, said, "It's a thrill that we got to 100 episodes, and probably incredibly surprising looking back at the process it took.
"[6] The episode marked return appearances of former guest stars Amy Ryan as Holly Flax and Idris Elba as Charles Miner.
"[8] In an interview with The Office fansite "OfficeTally", Celotta said she and Lieberstein had only about one weekend to finish the script and distribute it to the actors, so there was little discussion about their individual volleyball abilities.
Once the scripts were circulated, the writers learned that Jenna Fischer was not very good at volleyball and had trouble making certain motions with her arm over her head due to a previous injury.
As a result, director Ken Kwapis arranged for stunt doubles to perform some of the volleyball moves; a handful of scenes were also shot with Pam doing an overhead motion with the ball being added later using computer-generated imagery.
The first scene with Michael and Holly discussing their sketch possibilities in a secluded area was filmed with three cameras: one focusing on each side of the two actors, and one from the front of both of them to establish that the picnic was still going on behind them.
Due to space limitations, the latter angle was filmed through a mirror (with the actors appearing to be opposite sides) and then the image was reversed and undistorted in post-production.
[9] Although the "SlumDunder Mifflinaire" skit and the scenes in which it was prepared were all scripted, Carell and Ryan improvised several of the moments including Michael's "Yay!"
cheer upon getting an answer right, the bow Carell and Ryan take at the end while the Buffalo branch employees are angry, and Michael's Indian accent.
[9] Lieberstein and Celotta originally planned to have Mose Schrute, Dwight's cousin and a popular minor character, appear in the episode along with Dwight, but actor Michael Schur was unable to attend because he was busy directing "Rock Show", the first-season finale of the NBC series Parks and Recreation, which Schur co-created along with The Office creator Greg Daniels.
The Office editor Dave Rogers makes a cameo appearance as the volleyball player who tells Andy he is wearing expensive sunglasses.
However, in the episode "Job Fair", she said her high school gym brings back memories of her faking PMS to get out of playing basketball and volleyball.
The first clip, one minute and fifty seconds long, is an extended sequence of company picnic scenes, including Michael talking about how excited he is to see Holly, Stanley convincing Creed to stand in his sunlight to provide shade, and Dwight and Andy mocking the Utica team by calling them "You-sucks-ti-ca!
"[10] Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly said she had "some mixed feelings" about the episode and wished it had more from Ryan, Creed and Kelly, but she especially praised the ending scene with Jim and Pam, which she said she did not expect.
Although Rabin said the final scene with Jim and Pam was filmed and handled artfully, he also expressed concern that the subplot could turn into a clichéd device, and said "part of me felt it was a rather pat, heavy-handed way of ending the season on a dramatic note.
"[20] Will Leitch of New York magazine expressed concern about the dangers of television shows adding a pregnancy subplot, but said of the episode, "For now, we’ll bask in the happiness of two main characters who have waited a long time for it."
[31] TV Guide listed the final scene about Pam's pregnancy as one of the twelve top television moments from the week it aired.
