page_title: Test the Store
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Test the Store / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Actress Mindy Kaling at PaleyFest 2013's panel for "The Mindy Project"
context_page_description: "Test the Store" is the seventeenth episode of the eighth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 169th episode overall. The episode was written by Mindy Kaling, directed by Brent Forrester, and aired on NBC in the United States on March 1, 2012.
  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 the episode, Dwight Schrute attempts to put on a theatrical presentation to impress Nellie Bertram. Meanwhile, in Scranton, Andy Bernard comes to work with an embarrassing black eye.
  "Test the Store" contains many cultural allusions, including several to the NBC action-comedy series Chuck. The episode received mixed reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research, "Test the Store" was viewed by an estimated 4.95 million viewers and received a 2.5 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode ranked first in its time slot and was also ranked as the highest-rated NBC program of the night.
context_section_description: "Test the Store" was written by executive producer Mindy Kaling, her second script of the eighth season after the Christmas special, "Christmas Wishes." The episode was directed by consulting producer and series writer Brent Forrester. Matt Selman and Matt Warburton, writers for the long-running animated comedy series The Simpsons, appeared in the episode as bloggers. The episode also features a guest appearance from David Koechner, who appears as Todd Packer in the series. He recently had made a deal with NBC to do more episodes for the series and also possibly join the cast of series developer Greg Daniels's next series, Friday Night Dinner, an adaption of the British series of the same name.
  The episode also marks the eleventh appearance of Lindsey Broad who plays Cathy, Pam's replacement during her maternity leave. She appeared in a recurring role for the season, after she initially appeared in "Pam's Replacement". The Season Eight DVD contains a number of deleted scenes from this episode. Notable cut scenes include Erin and the senior citizen that she forcibly removed from the Sabre store discussing rent payments over pretzels, Nellie and Dwight lying and telling the team that they went to church, Jim and Cathy having an awkward moment, and Stanley attempting to convince a group of bloggers that he is Al Roker's brother and Raven-Symoné's father.
caption: "Test the Store" was written by Mindy Kaling, who portrays Kelly Kapoor on the show.
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