In the first episode of the second season, fans of The Office were blessed upon viewing their first Dundies. The Dundies was an award ceremony for those working at Dunder Mifflin Scranton. Created and thrown by regional manager Michael Scott, this was the hardest thing he worked on every year. Consistently held at a nearby Chili's, Michael created a personalized Dundie for everyone in the office (except for you, Toby).
After this episode aired in September of 2005, it went on to being one of fans' many favorite episodes. It was where Pam and Jim accidentally kissed and we saw some of the most outlandish awards ever given in corporate America. Fourteen years later, we're taking a look back at this iconic episode's goofs and secrets fans may not have known.
KELLY ACTUALLY ADMITTED THAT TOBY WAS CUTE
If you search for scenes that didn't make the cut for "The Dunides," you'll find Kelly doing a one on one interview about sitting with Toby at the Dundies. She was excited to sit next to him and she was hoping to share some views with him throughout the awards ceremony.
"Toby is so cute...Except he has that stupid kid," she said to the camera. When you go back to the episode that aired, we do see Kelly sitting with Toby but the possibility of these two ever hooking up seems so far fetched. She and Ryan are the perfect blend of crazy.
AND MINDY KALING (WITH GREG DANIELS) WROTE THE EPISODE
Speaking of Kelly, the actress who portrays her, Mindy Kaling, was also a writer for the hit show. She teamed up with fellow television writer and director Greg Daniels, where the two created this episode.
After the first season, writers decided to make Michael a little more likable and this episode was an introduction to his vulnerability. And due to Kaling's hard work, "The Dundies" went on to win an Emmy for Best Comedy. But this wasn't the only episode to win an Emmy. Five others also one, including everyone's favorite "Booze Cruise."
HE WAS GOING TO GIVE KEVIN THE 'FAT ACCOUNTANT' AWARD
In the deleted scenes for "The Dundies," we see Michael and Jim working together in his office for a Dundie Award for Kevin. Michael asks Jim what he knows about Kevin so they could create a unique award for him.
Jim explains that he enjoys the guitar when Michael interrupts him and says "He's fat. Fat Accountant Award." Thankfully, he didn't give Kevin the Fat Accountant Award. Instead, he gave him the Don't Go In There After Me Award, which actually has a man squatting on the trophy...
JENNA FISCHER AND DAVID DENMAN IMPROVISE THEIR DUNDIE FIGHT
Pam and Roy really tried to make their relationship work. The two were together since high school and were engaged for far too long. When word got around that Pam called off the wedding and broke up with him, it seemed like more of a relief than a loss. Unsurprisingly, when the two were still dating at the Dundies, they got into an argument where Roy left in a rage. It's unclear what the two were explicitly fighting about, but it had to do with Roy wanting to leave and Pam wanting to stay. Roy never did anything Pam wanted to do anyway.
While they were filming, Jenna and David thought their fight scene would be shown silently, so they improvised the whole thing. But producers were so impressed with their argument that they kept the audio!
PAM WAS SUPPOSED TO THROW UP FROM DRINKING INSTEAD OF FALLING OFF A STOOL FROM LAUGHING
Considering the entire Dundies Awards was filmed in a Chili's, it's obvious that The Office and NBC needed to work with Chili's so that no lines were crossed.
In the original script, Pam was supposed to vomit from drinking too much. However, Chili's was not a fan of their restaurant overserving customers — even on a TV show. Instead of Pam throwing up, they decided to have her fall off her stool from laughing too hard, which was a-ok with Chili's and production. This is also why Pam was stealing drinks off tables instead of being handed them by the wait-staff.
THE DUNDIES ARE HOSTED IN A FAKE CHILI'S WITH REAL CHILI'S WORKERS
It would have been awesome if The Office filmed this scene inside a real Chili's with a live audience (aka dinners), but that's not the case. Instead, NBC found an old, unused restaurant that they transformed into a Chili's.
They had the artwork and everything! And instead of hiring background actors for these scenes, they hired real-life Chili's workers to be Chili's workers on camera, too!
B.J. NOVAK (RYAN) TOOK JENNA FISCHER (PAM) DRINKING SO SHE KNEW HOW TO ACT DRUNK
Apparently actress Jenna Fischer (Pam) is not a big drinker. In "The Dundies," however, Pam gets drunk and essentially makes a fool out of herself (she got banned from Chili's after all!).
Due to Jenna never really getting drunk, B.J. Novak (Ryan) took her drinking so she could see how she really acted while intoxicated. You can call this an extreme form of method acting combined with team bonding. After her wild night with Novak, Jenna copied her own drunken self for the episode.
CHILI'S ISN'T QUITE DOWN THE ROAD FROM DUNDER MIFFLIN SCRANTON
We see Michael go to Chili's three times: two times at the Dundie's and another time for a business meeting with Jan. He loves some baby back ribs! In the episode "The Client," Michael convinces Jan to ride with him to Chili's because it was just a few blocks away.
However, Scranton locals noted that's not the case. The closest Chili's was actually 15 minutes away.
THE HR CONNECTION
Michael was incredibly single at the first Dundie Awards. Knowing him, it was probably his dream to show up at one of his own awards shows with a pretty woman on his arm but that didn't happen in the second season.
He did, however, lie about being with a woman in the HR department at the first Dundie Awards. Ironically (or maybe this was always the plan), in Michael's last Dundie Awards, he was actually leaving with a woman in HR. As we know, Michael leaves Dunder Mifflin to start a life with HR rep Holly Flax.
ELTON JOHN AND RAINN WILSON
What's the connection between Elton John and Dwight Schrute's Rainn Wilson? "Tiny Dancer." At the Dundie Awards, Dwight is Michael's right-hand man acting as the DJ for the night. At the end of "The Dundies," Dwight plays "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John.
Funny enough in a small shoutout to Rainn, he was in Almost Famous four years earlier, where he entered a scene with "Tiny Dancer" also playing. It's a small nod to Rainn and his obvious connection to the song.