The episode features Ricky Gervais reprising his role as David Brent, his character from the original British version of The Office, in an uncredited cameo.
In order to improve his worst-in-office sales totals, Andy Bernard holds a seminar on starting a small business.
Kevin's speech goes bad when he gets ill from running around the room to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train," and vomits in front of the audience.
Kelly Kapoor, who replaces Ryan, calls up an old professor from her management training time at Yale to talk business lessons.
After Jim spends all day outside of the office doing meaningless activities, Pam forces him to tell the camera crew why he is avoiding the guy.
During a break in Andy's seminar, Dwight talks to one of the attendees, a man who owns a golf supply business, and realizes this could actually be a good opportunity for the sales team.
At the end of the seminar, Andy is able to sell three packages, thanks to the advice of Michael, who has taken a Greek persona of "Mykonos" in order to impress Holly Flax, who has broken up with AJ.
[8] In its original American broadcast on January 27, 2011,[1] "The Seminar" was viewed by an estimated 7.93 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating/11% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 according to the Nielsen Media Research.
HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall said the episode was "uneven but often funny, and a nice showcase for the supporting cast.
"[11] James Poniewozik of Time praised the cold opening with Ricky Gervais, writing, "In barely over a minute, it showed us the commonalities between the two characters: how they've each created a world in which they are 'performers' whose cutting-edge comedy is often unappreciated".