page_title: The Whale (The Office)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Whale (The Office) / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Melora Hardin attending the premiere of her movie "YOU", Westwood, CA on May 13, 2009 - Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com
context_page_description: "The Whale" is the seventh episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 183rd episode overall. The episode originally aired on NBC on November 15, 2012. The episode guest stars Jack Coleman as Robert Lipton and marks the return of actress Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson.
  The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Dwight Schrute is tasked with selling paper to a woman—who is later revealed to be Jan —from the Scranton White Pages, so Pam Halpert and the women of the office teach him how to interact with women. Angela Lipton confides in Oscar Martinez that her husband, Robert —who is secretly having a relationship with Oscar—is cheating on her. Oscar helps her spy on her husband at his yoga class. Meanwhile, Toby Flenderson convinces several of the men in the office to grow mustaches for "Movember".
  "The Whale" received mixed reviews from television critics, with many commenting on Hardin's appearance.
context_section_description: "The Whale" was written by executive story editor Carrie Kemper, who is the younger sister of cast member Ellie Kemper, making it her third writing credit for the series. It was directed by Rodman Flender, his first directing credit for the series. The episode sees the return of Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, a former character in the series who left after the early part of the fifth season. Hardin, did however, make two short appearances on the show during the seventh season episodes "Sex Ed" and "Threat Level Midnight". Ed Helms only appears in the episode's cold open; he was written out of several episodes of the season in order to film The Hangover Part III.
  The official website of The Office included several cut scenes from "The Whale" within a week of the episode's release. In the first 105-second clip, Toby admits to the camera his amusement that the men at Dunder Mifflin are partaking in Movember with him. In the second 76-second clip, the women of Dunder Mifflin inform Dwight that his knowledge about women is severely lacking and that he has a long way to go.  In the third and final 85-second clip. Dwight and Pam, while in the car, prepare for their "biggest sales call ever".
caption: The episode marks the return of former series regular Melora Hardin.
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