page_title: Welcome Party
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Welcome Party / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Ed Helms at the premiere for The Hangover.
context_page_description: "Welcome Party" is the twentieth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 172nd episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 12, 2012. "Welcome Party" was written by Steve Hely and directed by series regular Ed Helms, who portrays Andy Bernard.
  The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Robert California forces the office to prepare a welcome party for Nellie Bertram, but the party planners seek to sabotage it. Meanwhile, Erin Hannon helps Andy Bernard break up with his girlfriend, Jessica.
  "Welcome Party" was received differently by many critics, resulting in mixed reviews, with multiple critics feeling that the episode never lived up to its potential. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Welcome Party" was viewed by an estimated 4.39 million viewers and received a 2.2 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode ranked fourth in its timeslot and was also the highest-rated NBC series of the night.
context_section_description: "Welcome Party" was written by Steve Hely, his second writing credit for the season after "Trivia". The episode was directed by series regular Ed Helms, who portrays Andy Bernard. This marked his second director's credit for both the series and season, after "Christmas Wishes".
  The Season Eight DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include Jim trying to stall Nellie, Robert California asking the party planning committee how great the party will be, Nellie checking out her new neighbors and asking her neighbor if he is an abortionist, in order to make sure her building will not be the target of a fire-bombing, and the party planning committee trying to think of catty ways to make Nellie angry.
caption: "Welcome Party" was directed by Ed Helms.
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