On April 26, 2021, the culinary TikTok channel Cooking Panda uploaded a special video showcasing what Michael Scott’s “Pretzel Day” order for “the works” might have resembled, featuring a scene from “The Office”.
The video was shared on the occasion of National Pretzel Day.
‘Pretzel Celebration’
The scenes of “Pretzel Day” were featured in an episode of “The Office” called “Initiation,” which was Season 3, Episode 5.
In a special episode of the Scranton Business Park, a man with a pretzel cart sets up in the lobby, lining up all the ingredients and equipment on the ground floor. This happened once a year.
Steve Carell’s order for Scott’s video on TikTok included a variety of toppings, such as powdered sugar, candy bits, cotton candy sprinkles, Oreos, butter drizzle, peanut butter, coconut flakes, toffee nuts, marshmallows, chocolate chips, mint dip, caramel, M&M’s, fudge, white chocolate, chocolate sauce, sugar glaze, cinnamon, and a sweet “the works” pretzel.
(It is important to mention here that the pretzel belonging to Michael Scott was never displayed in the episode.)
Stanley Hudson
The episode is beloved by fans of the character Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker).
In one of his most famous quotes, Hudson said: “Every morning, I wake up in a small bed, drive my daughter to an expensive school, and then go to work for a job that pays me too little, but I still like it.”
This was a rare moment for the show, as Stanley, a character who often gets annoyed by Michael’s antics, actually wanted to go home. Even Stanley, one of Michael’s most famous phrases, was annoyed by this. The episode also includes a deleted scene where Michael and Stanley bond for a brief moment.
Stanley’s pretzel order, which was removed from the episode, was supposedly “salty, with additional mustard.”
Ideas for the Episode
The podcast “Office Ladies” came from the episode titled “Stanley’s Confirmation.” It is hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who portrayed Pam Beesly and Angela Martin on the show.
According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, the idea for the “Pretzel Day” episode of “The Office” originated from a visit to actual office parks, as documented in the intriguing details from the podcast.
During season 1, the writers for The Office were taken to visit real offices to find inspiration for storylines and episodes and they even visited a paper company.
Writer B.J. Novak told Fischer that at one office park he witnessed a spin on pretzel day — the employees were given a morale boost with free food and the were so excited about this company perk. The writers put the idea on a card in the writers’ room and B.J. thought that Stanley would be the character who is most excited about the free snacks.
To bring the idea to life, the show rented a pretzel cart from a prop house and ordered 100 pretzels and the toppings, and the leftovers were eaten by the cast and crew of the show.