Nepotism (The Office)

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

According to Nielsen ratings, the episode was watched by 8.4 million viewers, a slight increase from the sixth season premiere, "Gossip", and it finished second in its timeslot.

Kelly Kapoor attended a corporate training class as part of the "Print in All Colors" initiative for Sabre, and is trying to impress everyone by dressing up and "sounding smarter."

[2][3] At the time that "Nepotism" was filmed, the writers and producers had not yet determined who would replace Michael Scott as the office's manager, nor whether that character would be the primary protagonist of the show.

[4] "Nepotism" features Kathy Bates, Hugh Dane and Evan Peters in guest appearances as Jo Bennet, Hank Tate and Luke Cooper, respectively.

In the first clip, Toby reveals that he self-published his murder mystery novel and sold four copies, but is now being sued for plagiarism, while Kevin interviews that he's decided to deliberately lie all the time about everything.

[13] In one scene, Darryl explains he blew out his knee playing softball over the summer and watched a great deal of the cable news network CNN, which led him to develop grave concerns about the ongoing War in Afghanistan.

[7] While trying to recall the last time he saw Luke, Michael remembers it was the release year of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), a comedy film starring Jim Carrey.

[16][17] "Nepotism" doesn't change the game or reinvent the wheel for the aging mockumentary, but rather offers a slightly more energetic variation on the usual formula.

If anything, only the outside knowledge that the seventh season represents Steve Carell's final turn as career nincompoop Michael Scott affects the way we perceive this solid, if unremarkable entry into the series.

The Atlantic writer Suzanne Merkelson praised the episode, and felt the opening lip-syncing scene highlighted the talents of the entire cast.

However, she said the subplots were not as strong as the main story involving Michael, which underscored the challenge writers would have in maintaining The Office after Steve Carell's departure.

Although slightly disappointed that the episode did not allude to Michael's eventual replacement, McNutt said "Nepotism" demonstrated The Office would continue to be the same show even without Carell.

[12] Rick Porter of Zap2it described "Nepotism" as "an old-school episode" with a strong main story and subplot, and praised Kelly's new attitude following her executive training.

[13] Time magazine television critic James Poniewozik called it "a fine but unremarkable, meat-and-potatoes Office about a Michael screw-up", which made him question whether the show could continue after Carell left.