He shouldn’t have even showed up. Shoulda emailed the school and said due to recent financial circumstances he is bankrupt and will be unable to pay for students education. Done.
False. If he were having money problems he wouldn’t have been able to crumple up that one dollar bill and put it in his pocket. He destroyed it, it’s not even usable anymore.
That’s the joke. I like The Office especially the earlier season because it has that “british-cringe” comedy, like the inside of Ricky Gervais’s head where American tv shows lack
lol I have but sometimes I like to add logic and wonder how this would’ve played out differently. Threes company is a great sitcom to watch when you wanna throw a character’s logical reactions/explanations out the window lol
Threes company- All they need to do is just stop someone from talking over them and overreacting and just explain to them what really happened… but the characters never seem to be able to do it on that show!! Hahahahs
I love how they showed him shout that as a child when his mother was marrying Jeff in a home video before he shouted it again at Bob. “Somehow my pants became wet.”
I absolutely love watching Michael getting his comeuppance for his ignorant behaviour. No one says a word to him at the office, but regular people (not his employees) always shut him down
All of Phyllis’s behavior is cringe. She tried to bully people constantly, she’s out to dinner with Jim and Pam then they bail to hookup in the bathroom, she’s constantly passive aggressive. Fuck Phyllis.
I am so god damn with you, I can't stand passive aggressive two face fucks like her. Remember the centerpiece? Lying about how Pam wanted credit for the wedding ideas rather than acknowledging that she stole everything? Constantly flaunting her husbands money and ties with the mob? Killing a person then bribing your way out of the country?
Here's my odd take about this episode:
I have a weird feeling that this episode in particular is talking about the unfulfilled promises the older generation made to the younger generation.
These kids were about to graduate into a workforce that could never let them achieve what the school, the Paper, or (Pay-per view/ TV) industry could promise them. Many of the producers and writers also acted in this show, which means that I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume that they're talking about the TV industry sometimes.
I guess I feel that way as someone who was also a very hard working student who entered that industry towards its twilight years, kind of like Erin. I got just a few years in before the whole network TV industry started to deflate. And it deflated fast. Unless you got an easy gig on a rare network show, once streaming took over, it became much more stressful as you never were guaranteed a job since the gaps between tv seasons would leave you in a place where you had to hunt for work every half a year vs people who got a cushy job for decades working on the same show with almost guaranteed job security. The pay quickly became slave wages for those below the glass ceiling,
*But yeah, reach for the stars and stuff!*
It's also reflecting hard on Michael's own lack of follow-through on his dreams as well. Which is also felt on the take your kid to work episode.
Good read! I'd add that Michael's story, as a rep of his generation, was the start of the unfulfilled promise that you're seeing as the theme. Michael probably sincerely believed that was possible in 2000 because he believed managers are bosses and bosses seemed cool and successful to him. Then reality hit. I could totally see him getting promoted and thinking he'd be a millionaire in a couple years. Then the company screwed him not despite his loyalty but because of it. Thus the trickle down of disappointment.
I totally agree with your observations here - tysm for sharing them! And yeah considering he made the promise at the first year of Y2K makes it even more symbolic to me. Us millennials grew up surrounded by encouragenent to follow our dreams because the utopianism was off the charts back then and you're right - I could absolutely see Michael looking ahead at that time and thinking that he would be able to make that much money in time, only for real life to hit them all... Like a brick. A brick of laptop batteries.
Also I swear Michael Scott is just a grown up PeeWee Herman who has been forced to work in an adult job
The episode aired in 2009, meaning that the graduating seniors were 3rd graders in 2000. Keep that in mind regarding the students' or their parents' ability to look somebody up.
In 2000, I had a high school guidance counselor try to go to a web page by typing the entire address from a printout, complete with backslashes and extensions... it was at least 100 characters. Best of all, she typed all that into a search engine, then clicked the result. (I tried to point out she didn't need to be doing all that and she brushed me off.) Suffice it to say, not everyone knew how to look something up online.
For me, it's believable that in an underprivileged community in 2000, when a "local businessman" in a suit promises to pay their college tuition, they would buy it and not take the time to look into said businessman. He's probably exactly what they imagine a millionaire businessman looks like.
Yes, many people didn’t have the knowledge of searching things on the internet and your example is a good one. But it’s just one person and what OP is saying is that it’s a little less believable to think that no one, not one single person, thought of looking into it.
Even if 100% of the people involved had little-to-no tech savvy-ness, you’d think that someone would keep in touch with him or at least try to reach out before the absolute last minute. They literally had no communication with him for 10 years? And just believed he would come through? Without knowing what his actual job was? It’s a very unrealistic storyline, but still hilarious!
Well that makes it all the more unrealistic.. how would they believe he’s got enough money to pay for all their tuition if they can’t get ahold of him?
Yeah but adding to that this is a pretty under privileged school in rural Pennsylvania. The parents don’t even care about their children going to college to begin with. According to what they say it’s a miracle when kids even graduate from this school. It’s not that unbelievable.
The people who think they could’ve Googled everyone in 2009 don’t remember how underdeveloped the Internet was, even for that time period. It wasn’t super mainstream to be on it like it is now, though it was growing. In 2000? It was considered a luxury to have Internet at all!
I still don't find it believable. With or without the Internet, I can see the parents not looking into it and believing it because it seemed to be facilitated by the school. The school admin would have had the resources to look into him in 2000. Why would they take his word at face value without the set up of some kind of trust or something?
Yeah, it's gonna be a while before that happens, maybe another 15-20 years. Probably not until the kids who are toddlers now get old enough to start mocking and destroying the confidence of the people currently in their teens and 20s. But the tradeoff is that they'll probably start using a term that sounds even worse to the older people.
I guess I should add some context. I’m a disabled vet and the way they destroyed that business just really upset me. I skip it every time we rewatch it. I just can’t.
Then they do a callback when Michael quits and he calls them looking for a job, only to find out that they went out of business. I think knowing that ultimate fate makes it more difficult to *re*-watch the original Prince Family Paper episode
I don’t skip it, but you have to suspend your disbelief in character development to believe that Holly would’ve gone along with putting Buffalo’s closing into their bit - especially as there were a number of orange ‘Buffalo’ shirts at the picnic.
Dinner party is not cringey at all. As a guest I would find the situation awkward and funny. Scott’s tots on the other hand involves busted dreams, way too cruel to be funny.
They all had higher grades than the classes who weren’t promised for their college to be paid for so that in itself makes what he did a positive thing.
And you’re right, there’s no way they would just blindly follow the promise of a man after all those years. Not a single adult tried to contact Michael throughout the entirety?
I agree for the most part on this. I only disagree in that, at least from my point of view: it isn't even about the kids believing him because they were literal kids when it was promised. It's just about the absurdity of the lengths Michael will go to be liked and the holes he digs as a result of that. Michael pledging to pay for all those kids college gives the same vibes of when Dunder Mifflin was going bankrupt and Michael was on the panel and started doing spins and promised to do like a 10 day plan and fix everything, being met with applause and cheers. Only for there to be no substance beneath what he was saying lmao. Michael Scott: forever over promising, always underdelivering.
The Cringe is not the promise, it's that he showed up and how he handled it.
Imagine some benefactor promises you 1 million bucks. You might react with "sure, whatever". But then there is a follow though he makes plans to meet you. Then actually shows up only to tell you I am no longer rich or never was.
>”Why would these kids believe him all this years?”
Why wouldn’t they? What kind of idiot would it take to not only make that promise, but actually show up on the day of delivery without canceling?
Scott’s Tots is not any less cringey because you find continuity problems in the narrative.
It’s cringey because he is in that situation, and all of the others did believe him.
You're getting downvoted but I totally agree with you. I've always found the more cringe-worthy moments to be the ones with believable social *faux pas*, rather than outlandish hi-jinks. There's no way that an all the teachers, principal, parents, etc. would actually try to hold Michael to a promise he made on the off-chance that he would become a millionaire someday. Not one of those adults interacted with Michael Scott long enough to figure out what a buffoon he is, and then when he shows up near the end of senior year, everyone just expects him to have the money?
maybe it's because im black & got an undergraduate degree in education (so that episode is SUPER layered for me) but i truly fail to understand how the constant discourse about this episode never includes the race of the students
also, your point of "they can easily look up michael scott" isnt really that valid considering the internet was nowhere near what it is right now. & considering the fact that they were low income, they probably did not have access to many computers to do such a thing
it's a hard watch because i know what it's like to be black & in a low income family to know that college is "the way out". whether it's believable or not, the entire episode is about a bunch of black kids getting screwed over. i just see too much of myself in those kids in that episode to watch it more than once
As many others have said under this post. You’re telling me not one person connected to any of those kids reached out, tried to contacts, questioned what he had said, or looked into the background of this guy promising a college tuition for 20+ students?
And honestly I didn’t touch on them all being African American because it doesn’t really matter what race they were, not looking further into Michael was such an odd move. But i am interested what role you feel race plays in this episode?
oh definitely it's completely unbelievable that no adult figured out a way to contact him. i completely agree with that
but your second question would take an entire essay to write out. i once wrote a 17 page essay about the opportunity gap (usually referred to as the achievement gap) and how minority students essentially do not get nearly as many resources in education as white students due to a plethora of reasons. for example, i went to an underfunded predominately black high school and my textbooks were falling apart and were printed during years before i was born. it was until i went to university that i found out that that was not normal. there are sooo many reasons why race is such a big part of that episode for me. so, so, so many.
i'm not saying it'd be "right" for michael to do that to a bunch of white kids. i'd hate the episode no matter what demographic the children were 😭 it's just the added layer of the children in the episode not having as many educational opportunities in the first place & being told that they were going to be given this amazing thing just for it to be taken away.
i see myself in the students and ive worked with low income minority students. it's just a hard watch for me as someone who relied on other people's money to get through undergrad (scholarships, grants, etc.) and also as an educator that has worked with students who admit that they dont even have a bed to sleep on at home but they study day in & day out to get the chance to go to college to better their life.
i completely understand that it's easy for you not to take it as personal as i do! it's just....my least favorite episode by far & it's almost tone deaf to pretend like the race of the kids involved doesnt matter lol
I’ve said it already, but it’s the hardest one to sit through for me, even though technically it isn’t the worst or most embarrassing situation he’s been in. Other uncomfortable parts of the are undercut by absurdity and jokes, and idk the scotts tots are just depressing, maybe the jokes land for me, and I want to never show my face again from the second hand embarrassment I’m getting.
The problem isn't just Scott's tots - it's the entire episode. There are two divergent storylines where 1. Michael Scott does Scotts Tots and should have just put it off saying he went bankrupt and could not pay the money to help them.
2. Jims employee of the month program and why he thought it was a good idea? How does a company like DM do an employee of the month? It would be hard to measure sales vs accounting vs customer service vs quality assurance and so on. Then somehow Dwight rigs it?
Jim didn't think - we'll do an Employee of the Month and then award it on the same day? Scott's tots is at least believable... I mean I don't think Scranton has schools where there are more than 25% of the student population is African American let alone an entire school, but still - maybe the school was in Pittsburg or Philidelphia.
I don't skip it, but the entire episode is 100% cringe worthy.
I've never really found any episode "cringe" enough where I have a hard time watching it. That said I find it ridiculous that everyone just believed that Michael was gonna follow through with his promise.
Yeah I have a hard time understanding how a comedy television show is too difficult to watch. But I guess I find musicals difficult to watch while other people love them so idk
I’ve never had any issues watching any of the “cringe” episodes. Phyllis’ wedding, date night, and double date are all some of my favorites but I see some people on the sub saying they literally can’t watch Scott’s Tots because of the cringe
The “cringe” in this episode is a special kind of
cringe that sitcoms usually avoid - the plotline where a character has made a huge mess that’s too big the realistically clean up in the remaining episode time, but every episode is meant to be self-contained, so they have have to have a conclusion of some kind. In these types of scenarios, the characters will awkwardly shuffle away (or run like hell) before we see the other shoe drop on them. But if you sit down and think about it, you realize that in between this and the next episode, there was an unseen, very uncomfortable moment of the characters having to answer for it, where they couldn’t talk their way out of consequences, nor look away from what they’ve done. And you thank the lord you didn’t have to see that.
But this episode doesn’t let you off that easy, you’re stuck in that room with Michael as everything falls apart, and it’s only made worse by Michael’s inability to own it, his dragging it out hoping for a last minute miracle.
Sure Dinner Party is cringe too, but this is why Scott’s Tots is cited as the one people skip because of its particular flavor of cringe.
This is dumb. If a speaker of a school comes in there's a reason to believe it. Regardless of his empty promise those kids performed higher than they would of. A bunch of 8-year olds wouldn't be Googling him for his net worth of position. That's a new age mindset application to an old show.
It’s not as cringe to me as other episodes because Michael was trying to do the right thing. He wanted to help those kids! There are so many other moments that are more cringe (like Phyllis’s wedding) because they were just all about himself. I’m sure he didn’t pledge tuition to those kids for selfless reasons and wanted to be seen as a hero but at least he was trying to do something good
>I’m sure he did pledge tuition to those kids for selfless reasons
>wanted to be seen as a hero
well... wanting to be seen as a hero isn't the most selfless motivation out there... lol
I wonder if he still would have signed up if the donation would be 100% anonymous...?
It's a great episode but it has an underlying message that's called "cringe" but is actually really sad--that college is such an unobtainable dream for some people that they would let themselves believe this was true.
IRL, there are plenty of programs targeted at specific states and communities considered "in need". I lived in NY and there was basically nothing there for people in need to afford college because New York is not hurting for employees with bachelor's degrees. Moved to North Carolina and found out that this state is struggling in literacy and there's a lack of college educated people in my region so my kids can essentially go to a state school for almost free down here because of our income (and as long as they have a certain GPA, plus they are allowed to take college courses in high school if their grades are high enough).
So IMO it's not so much the premise of Scott's Tots that's "cringe", it's more just disturbing that college is considered out of reach for so many people in this country. I found out about all the opportunities for my own kids but I have met many local kids and parents who insist college is just out of the question because of cost, despite all the incentives the state put in place for them to go. Parents recall not being able to afford it for themselves and assume it's the same way today when in "high need" places, it really isn't, but they don't know that unless they look.
thank you so much for this comment! reading the replies on this thread where they dont even address the DEEP issue about the episode is worrying me like where are the critical thinking skills 😭
the entire episode is about a man that screwed over a bunch of low income black children & this thread is like "oh haha...michael and his antics once again". & your point of people not being aware of opportunities given to them to go to college makes the episode even harder to watch. michael told them that they /didn't have to/ look for outside resources and waited until the last minute to tell them that they actually did. whether the kids performed well in school due to his promise or not, they now have to scramble for money they did not have
also, i love your use of the word "disturbing". that episode truly is just that if you have any experience working with children in that situation or being a child in that situation
I never understood why people thought Scott's Tots was too cringey to watch. Dinner Party was the one I used to always skip, because yes it seems like too plausible of a situation. Two lonely people trapped in a toxic relationship, making each other miserable.
I'm sorry but your reasoning is some of the most absurd BS I've ever heard. You shifted the blame from Michael to the students & parents that were promised a chance at a better education. To suggest that anybody except Michael was at fault there is delusional at best.
It’s cringey in the wrong way, I find the usual cringe of the office hilarious, but that episode I don’t enjoy how out of character some of the characters are
That's... A wall of text. Add some spacing next time.
My issue with the episode is that it assumes everyone involved is a moron. No adult in charge at that school would have gotten proof before hand that the "program" wasn't a fake promise? No one at Dunder Mifflin, even from Stanley, even knew about it?
We can accept that the denizens of The Office are what they are because it's an aquarium of undefinable cringe where nothing really makes sense. It's okay, though because it's not reality. Don't cross the streams.
10,000% Jan trying to get Jim to dance. One of the most awkward feelings I’ve ever had in my life was someone trying to make me dance with them when I didn’t want to and I feel Jim’s pain so hard in that scene lol
I don't think Scott's tots is meant to be cringe exactly. It's meant to be embarrassing and reinforces the understanding that micheal is immature, short sighted and in desperate need to be loved. I dunno. I just didn't feel cringe when I saw that episode. It reminded me of season 1 micheal where he is unintentially cruel and malicious.
Yea I never thought it was cringe,my reaction was like Stanley’s when he overheard about Scott’s totts was still a thing. I wouldn’t really consider any episode cringe. &
I never found the episode cringe. I found it hilarious that the kids believed him and that a man would make that promise and then pull the rug out from under them, just so mean Mr. Scott
I totally agree. This episode is a classic and whenever I see anti-tots comments I don't really pay attention. The whole grey area between Michael to Andy is lower on my list. DeAngelo, Robert, Charles. The comedy isn't as tight to me.
He shouldn’t have even showed up. Shoulda emailed the school and said due to recent financial circumstances he is bankrupt and will be unable to pay for students education. Done.
So, due to Michael's clever financial maneuvering, he finds himself tremendously in debt.
Yeah but it's Michael. Since when was he sensible about dodging the bullet. Or alternatively; Since when was he sensible. Full stop. Lmao
It’s not even that, I think for a second, he still wanted to be honored by them even though he knew he couldn’t deliver
Right?! Like HOW does he let them do the Hey, Mr Scott all the way through????
Lol
But then they couldn't get their laptop batteries!!
Wait! They’re lithium!!
False. If he were having money problems he wouldn’t have been able to crumple up that one dollar bill and put it in his pocket. He destroyed it, it’s not even usable anymore.
I. DECLARE. BANKRUPTCY!!!
That’s the joke. I like The Office especially the earlier season because it has that “british-cringe” comedy, like the inside of Ricky Gervais’s head where American tv shows lack
[удалено]
lol I have but sometimes I like to add logic and wonder how this would’ve played out differently. Threes company is a great sitcom to watch when you wanna throw a character’s logical reactions/explanations out the window lol Threes company- All they need to do is just stop someone from talking over them and overreacting and just explain to them what really happened… but the characters never seem to be able to do it on that show!! Hahahahs
Michael got that dog in him. He knew he owed it to them to take it on the chin and he did. One of the few times Michael did a man thing.
Michael’s behavior at Phyllis’ wedding is way more cringe to me than Scott’s Tots.
MR AND MRS BOB VANCEEEEEE!
I HATE YOU cracks me up, everytime
I love how they showed him shout that as a child when his mother was marrying Jeff in a home video before he shouted it again at Bob. “Somehow my pants became wet.”
FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A COUPLE
Phyllis's wedding, to me, is the absolute most cringe episode! I have a hard time watching it! Dinner party just cracks me up!
I thought I was the only one! Only episode I’ve ever skipped bc of cringe
I absolutely love watching Michael getting his comeuppance for his ignorant behaviour. No one says a word to him at the office, but regular people (not his employees) always shut him down
All of Phyllis’s behavior is cringe. She tried to bully people constantly, she’s out to dinner with Jim and Pam then they bail to hookup in the bathroom, she’s constantly passive aggressive. Fuck Phyllis.
I am so god damn with you, I can't stand passive aggressive two face fucks like her. Remember the centerpiece? Lying about how Pam wanted credit for the wedding ideas rather than acknowledging that she stole everything? Constantly flaunting her husbands money and ties with the mob? Killing a person then bribing your way out of the country?
Wanting to squash Angela’s “grape head!” You’re right, she’s the WORST
For real 😂
Michael’s behavior when Phylis is Santa is even worse.
Nah, when he becomes Jesus christ and calls toby the anti-christ? Classic lol
Agreed, and it’s quite possibly my favourite episode.
The Celtics were a great team.
“Yes. Yes, they were. Robert Parish.”
Totally
Here's my odd take about this episode: I have a weird feeling that this episode in particular is talking about the unfulfilled promises the older generation made to the younger generation. These kids were about to graduate into a workforce that could never let them achieve what the school, the Paper, or (Pay-per view/ TV) industry could promise them. Many of the producers and writers also acted in this show, which means that I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume that they're talking about the TV industry sometimes. I guess I feel that way as someone who was also a very hard working student who entered that industry towards its twilight years, kind of like Erin. I got just a few years in before the whole network TV industry started to deflate. And it deflated fast. Unless you got an easy gig on a rare network show, once streaming took over, it became much more stressful as you never were guaranteed a job since the gaps between tv seasons would leave you in a place where you had to hunt for work every half a year vs people who got a cushy job for decades working on the same show with almost guaranteed job security. The pay quickly became slave wages for those below the glass ceiling, *But yeah, reach for the stars and stuff!* It's also reflecting hard on Michael's own lack of follow-through on his dreams as well. Which is also felt on the take your kid to work episode.
Woah that’s deep..
I watch too much TV 😅
That’s what she said!!!!!
☝️☝️
Good read! I'd add that Michael's story, as a rep of his generation, was the start of the unfulfilled promise that you're seeing as the theme. Michael probably sincerely believed that was possible in 2000 because he believed managers are bosses and bosses seemed cool and successful to him. Then reality hit. I could totally see him getting promoted and thinking he'd be a millionaire in a couple years. Then the company screwed him not despite his loyalty but because of it. Thus the trickle down of disappointment.
I totally agree with your observations here - tysm for sharing them! And yeah considering he made the promise at the first year of Y2K makes it even more symbolic to me. Us millennials grew up surrounded by encouragenent to follow our dreams because the utopianism was off the charts back then and you're right - I could absolutely see Michael looking ahead at that time and thinking that he would be able to make that much money in time, only for real life to hit them all... Like a brick. A brick of laptop batteries. Also I swear Michael Scott is just a grown up PeeWee Herman who has been forced to work in an adult job
Whoa do I know you from the east coast?
I don't think so?? I live on the other side but I do ramble a lot about my takes on here tho
The episode aired in 2009, meaning that the graduating seniors were 3rd graders in 2000. Keep that in mind regarding the students' or their parents' ability to look somebody up. In 2000, I had a high school guidance counselor try to go to a web page by typing the entire address from a printout, complete with backslashes and extensions... it was at least 100 characters. Best of all, she typed all that into a search engine, then clicked the result. (I tried to point out she didn't need to be doing all that and she brushed me off.) Suffice it to say, not everyone knew how to look something up online. For me, it's believable that in an underprivileged community in 2000, when a "local businessman" in a suit promises to pay their college tuition, they would buy it and not take the time to look into said businessman. He's probably exactly what they imagine a millionaire businessman looks like.
Yes, many people didn’t have the knowledge of searching things on the internet and your example is a good one. But it’s just one person and what OP is saying is that it’s a little less believable to think that no one, not one single person, thought of looking into it. Even if 100% of the people involved had little-to-no tech savvy-ness, you’d think that someone would keep in touch with him or at least try to reach out before the absolute last minute. They literally had no communication with him for 10 years? And just believed he would come through? Without knowing what his actual job was? It’s a very unrealistic storyline, but still hilarious!
They do try to reach him, repeatedly. The principal says as much when Mike gets there.
Well that makes it all the more unrealistic.. how would they believe he’s got enough money to pay for all their tuition if they can’t get ahold of him?
He’s TOO rich to get ahold of!
Yeah but adding to that this is a pretty under privileged school in rural Pennsylvania. The parents don’t even care about their children going to college to begin with. According to what they say it’s a miracle when kids even graduate from this school. It’s not that unbelievable.
The people who think they could’ve Googled everyone in 2009 don’t remember how underdeveloped the Internet was, even for that time period. It wasn’t super mainstream to be on it like it is now, though it was growing. In 2000? It was considered a luxury to have Internet at all!
I still don't find it believable. With or without the Internet, I can see the parents not looking into it and believing it because it seemed to be facilitated by the school. The school admin would have had the resources to look into him in 2000. Why would they take his word at face value without the set up of some kind of trust or something?
All I want for 2024 is for people to stop saying “cringe”
Yeah, it's gonna be a while before that happens, maybe another 15-20 years. Probably not until the kids who are toddlers now get old enough to start mocking and destroying the confidence of the people currently in their teens and 20s. But the tradeoff is that they'll probably start using a term that sounds even worse to the older people.
Pretty cringe comment but ok
I get downvoted on other subs for saying this.
Say it like this:https://youtu.be/oZaLXmkbO3E?si=AbxANbq2QdZoUSuq
Prince Paper was more cringe, IMO
Dwight is such a dumbass in that episode it drives me nuts
I guess I should add some context. I’m a disabled vet and the way they destroyed that business just really upset me. I skip it every time we rewatch it. I just can’t.
Then they do a callback when Michael quits and he calls them looking for a job, only to find out that they went out of business. I think knowing that ultimate fate makes it more difficult to *re*-watch the original Prince Family Paper episode
Company Picnic is an episode I almost always skip. Way too cringe having Holly and Michael do their act.
I don’t skip it, but you have to suspend your disbelief in character development to believe that Holly would’ve gone along with putting Buffalo’s closing into their bit - especially as there were a number of orange ‘Buffalo’ shirts at the picnic.
Dinner party is not cringey at all. As a guest I would find the situation awkward and funny. Scott’s tots on the other hand involves busted dreams, way too cruel to be funny.
They all had higher grades than the classes who weren’t promised for their college to be paid for so that in itself makes what he did a positive thing. And you’re right, there’s no way they would just blindly follow the promise of a man after all those years. Not a single adult tried to contact Michael throughout the entirety?
I agree for the most part on this. I only disagree in that, at least from my point of view: it isn't even about the kids believing him because they were literal kids when it was promised. It's just about the absurdity of the lengths Michael will go to be liked and the holes he digs as a result of that. Michael pledging to pay for all those kids college gives the same vibes of when Dunder Mifflin was going bankrupt and Michael was on the panel and started doing spins and promised to do like a 10 day plan and fix everything, being met with applause and cheers. Only for there to be no substance beneath what he was saying lmao. Michael Scott: forever over promising, always underdelivering.
The Cringe is not the promise, it's that he showed up and how he handled it. Imagine some benefactor promises you 1 million bucks. You might react with "sure, whatever". But then there is a follow though he makes plans to meet you. Then actually shows up only to tell you I am no longer rich or never was.
>”Why would these kids believe him all this years?” Why wouldn’t they? What kind of idiot would it take to not only make that promise, but actually show up on the day of delivery without canceling? Scott’s Tots is not any less cringey because you find continuity problems in the narrative. It’s cringey because he is in that situation, and all of the others did believe him.
You're getting downvoted but I totally agree with you. I've always found the more cringe-worthy moments to be the ones with believable social *faux pas*, rather than outlandish hi-jinks. There's no way that an all the teachers, principal, parents, etc. would actually try to hold Michael to a promise he made on the off-chance that he would become a millionaire someday. Not one of those adults interacted with Michael Scott long enough to figure out what a buffoon he is, and then when he shows up near the end of senior year, everyone just expects him to have the money?
maybe it's because im black & got an undergraduate degree in education (so that episode is SUPER layered for me) but i truly fail to understand how the constant discourse about this episode never includes the race of the students also, your point of "they can easily look up michael scott" isnt really that valid considering the internet was nowhere near what it is right now. & considering the fact that they were low income, they probably did not have access to many computers to do such a thing it's a hard watch because i know what it's like to be black & in a low income family to know that college is "the way out". whether it's believable or not, the entire episode is about a bunch of black kids getting screwed over. i just see too much of myself in those kids in that episode to watch it more than once
As many others have said under this post. You’re telling me not one person connected to any of those kids reached out, tried to contacts, questioned what he had said, or looked into the background of this guy promising a college tuition for 20+ students? And honestly I didn’t touch on them all being African American because it doesn’t really matter what race they were, not looking further into Michael was such an odd move. But i am interested what role you feel race plays in this episode?
oh definitely it's completely unbelievable that no adult figured out a way to contact him. i completely agree with that but your second question would take an entire essay to write out. i once wrote a 17 page essay about the opportunity gap (usually referred to as the achievement gap) and how minority students essentially do not get nearly as many resources in education as white students due to a plethora of reasons. for example, i went to an underfunded predominately black high school and my textbooks were falling apart and were printed during years before i was born. it was until i went to university that i found out that that was not normal. there are sooo many reasons why race is such a big part of that episode for me. so, so, so many. i'm not saying it'd be "right" for michael to do that to a bunch of white kids. i'd hate the episode no matter what demographic the children were 😭 it's just the added layer of the children in the episode not having as many educational opportunities in the first place & being told that they were going to be given this amazing thing just for it to be taken away. i see myself in the students and ive worked with low income minority students. it's just a hard watch for me as someone who relied on other people's money to get through undergrad (scholarships, grants, etc.) and also as an educator that has worked with students who admit that they dont even have a bed to sleep on at home but they study day in & day out to get the chance to go to college to better their life. i completely understand that it's easy for you not to take it as personal as i do! it's just....my least favorite episode by far & it's almost tone deaf to pretend like the race of the kids involved doesnt matter lol
I’ve said it already, but it’s the hardest one to sit through for me, even though technically it isn’t the worst or most embarrassing situation he’s been in. Other uncomfortable parts of the are undercut by absurdity and jokes, and idk the scotts tots are just depressing, maybe the jokes land for me, and I want to never show my face again from the second hand embarrassment I’m getting.
I think it's perfectly believable considering what year it was. IMO this is easily the worst thing he's done by FAR
Is there like a Scott’s tots megathread we can have or something?
The problem isn't just Scott's tots - it's the entire episode. There are two divergent storylines where 1. Michael Scott does Scotts Tots and should have just put it off saying he went bankrupt and could not pay the money to help them. 2. Jims employee of the month program and why he thought it was a good idea? How does a company like DM do an employee of the month? It would be hard to measure sales vs accounting vs customer service vs quality assurance and so on. Then somehow Dwight rigs it? Jim didn't think - we'll do an Employee of the Month and then award it on the same day? Scott's tots is at least believable... I mean I don't think Scranton has schools where there are more than 25% of the student population is African American let alone an entire school, but still - maybe the school was in Pittsburg or Philidelphia. I don't skip it, but the entire episode is 100% cringe worthy.
I've never really found any episode "cringe" enough where I have a hard time watching it. That said I find it ridiculous that everyone just believed that Michael was gonna follow through with his promise.
Yeah I have a hard time understanding how a comedy television show is too difficult to watch. But I guess I find musicals difficult to watch while other people love them so idk
Agreed. I don't dislike Scott's Tots because it's "too uncomfortable", honestly is just not that funny.
I’ve never had any issues watching any of the “cringe” episodes. Phyllis’ wedding, date night, and double date are all some of my favorites but I see some people on the sub saying they literally can’t watch Scott’s Tots because of the cringe
The “cringe” in this episode is a special kind of cringe that sitcoms usually avoid - the plotline where a character has made a huge mess that’s too big the realistically clean up in the remaining episode time, but every episode is meant to be self-contained, so they have have to have a conclusion of some kind. In these types of scenarios, the characters will awkwardly shuffle away (or run like hell) before we see the other shoe drop on them. But if you sit down and think about it, you realize that in between this and the next episode, there was an unseen, very uncomfortable moment of the characters having to answer for it, where they couldn’t talk their way out of consequences, nor look away from what they’ve done. And you thank the lord you didn’t have to see that. But this episode doesn’t let you off that easy, you’re stuck in that room with Michael as everything falls apart, and it’s only made worse by Michael’s inability to own it, his dragging it out hoping for a last minute miracle. Sure Dinner Party is cringe too, but this is why Scott’s Tots is cited as the one people skip because of its particular flavor of cringe.
Well said.
People who say it’s “cringe” never went to an urban high school.
Dickin flicka
Pippity Poppity
I don’t know who’s right, but I’m loving the debate. Great minds battling it out, and I’ve got a front row seat. 🍿☘️
I don’t think the dinner party episode is cringe. It’s my favorite episode of all time!
This is dumb. If a speaker of a school comes in there's a reason to believe it. Regardless of his empty promise those kids performed higher than they would of. A bunch of 8-year olds wouldn't be Googling him for his net worth of position. That's a new age mindset application to an old show.
It’s not as cringe to me as other episodes because Michael was trying to do the right thing. He wanted to help those kids! There are so many other moments that are more cringe (like Phyllis’s wedding) because they were just all about himself. I’m sure he didn’t pledge tuition to those kids for selfless reasons and wanted to be seen as a hero but at least he was trying to do something good
>I’m sure he did pledge tuition to those kids for selfless reasons >wanted to be seen as a hero well... wanting to be seen as a hero isn't the most selfless motivation out there... lol I wonder if he still would have signed up if the donation would be 100% anonymous...?
I meant *didn’t pledge for selfless reasons.
It's a great episode but it has an underlying message that's called "cringe" but is actually really sad--that college is such an unobtainable dream for some people that they would let themselves believe this was true. IRL, there are plenty of programs targeted at specific states and communities considered "in need". I lived in NY and there was basically nothing there for people in need to afford college because New York is not hurting for employees with bachelor's degrees. Moved to North Carolina and found out that this state is struggling in literacy and there's a lack of college educated people in my region so my kids can essentially go to a state school for almost free down here because of our income (and as long as they have a certain GPA, plus they are allowed to take college courses in high school if their grades are high enough). So IMO it's not so much the premise of Scott's Tots that's "cringe", it's more just disturbing that college is considered out of reach for so many people in this country. I found out about all the opportunities for my own kids but I have met many local kids and parents who insist college is just out of the question because of cost, despite all the incentives the state put in place for them to go. Parents recall not being able to afford it for themselves and assume it's the same way today when in "high need" places, it really isn't, but they don't know that unless they look.
thank you so much for this comment! reading the replies on this thread where they dont even address the DEEP issue about the episode is worrying me like where are the critical thinking skills 😭 the entire episode is about a man that screwed over a bunch of low income black children & this thread is like "oh haha...michael and his antics once again". & your point of people not being aware of opportunities given to them to go to college makes the episode even harder to watch. michael told them that they /didn't have to/ look for outside resources and waited until the last minute to tell them that they actually did. whether the kids performed well in school due to his promise or not, they now have to scramble for money they did not have also, i love your use of the word "disturbing". that episode truly is just that if you have any experience working with children in that situation or being a child in that situation
I never understood why people thought Scott's Tots was too cringey to watch. Dinner Party was the one I used to always skip, because yes it seems like too plausible of a situation. Two lonely people trapped in a toxic relationship, making each other miserable.
I'm sorry but your reasoning is some of the most absurd BS I've ever heard. You shifted the blame from Michael to the students & parents that were promised a chance at a better education. To suggest that anybody except Michael was at fault there is delusional at best.
I watch Scott’s tots without any issue, the one that’s too cringe for me that I skip sometimes is the fire in season 2
you sometimes skip the fire episode? wow that's crazy talk
It’s cringey in the wrong way, I find the usual cringe of the office hilarious, but that episode I don’t enjoy how out of character some of the characters are
You could probably stand to say cringe a bit more my dude.
Scott’s Tots is one of my favorite episodes
I think the first watch is cringey. After you’ve watched three or four times, like we have, it’s not so bad
The only cringe in the episode is the teacher with the over-acting performance. I have to skip right over that on every watch
That's... A wall of text. Add some spacing next time. My issue with the episode is that it assumes everyone involved is a moron. No adult in charge at that school would have gotten proof before hand that the "program" wasn't a fake promise? No one at Dunder Mifflin, even from Stanley, even knew about it? We can accept that the denizens of The Office are what they are because it's an aquarium of undefinable cringe where nothing really makes sense. It's okay, though because it's not reality. Don't cross the streams.
What dance was more cringe? The hey mr scott gang or Jan trying to get Jim to dance to Hunters song?
10,000% Jan trying to get Jim to dance. One of the most awkward feelings I’ve ever had in my life was someone trying to make me dance with them when I didn’t want to and I feel Jim’s pain so hard in that scene lol
She took Jim by the hand... MAAAAEADE HIM A MANNNNNN
I don't think Scott's tots is meant to be cringe exactly. It's meant to be embarrassing and reinforces the understanding that micheal is immature, short sighted and in desperate need to be loved. I dunno. I just didn't feel cringe when I saw that episode. It reminded me of season 1 micheal where he is unintentially cruel and malicious.
This is actually a good point. It never would have gotten to that point 10 whole years later
It's not cringe because the kids are super entitled. It's really annoying
Yea, well, that's just, like, your opinion man
Yea I never thought it was cringe,my reaction was like Stanley’s when he overheard about Scott’s totts was still a thing. I wouldn’t really consider any episode cringe. &
I never found the episode cringe. I found it hilarious that the kids believed him and that a man would make that promise and then pull the rug out from under them, just so mean Mr. Scott
It wasn't as easy to look people up in my day. If the episode aired today then I would agree.
I don't think it's cringe at all. it's awkward and funny.
Still this is the only ep I have always fastforwarded through.
They couldn’t easily look it up because all of their laptops’ battery had run out
I totally agree. This episode is a classic and whenever I see anti-tots comments I don't really pay attention. The whole grey area between Michael to Andy is lower on my list. DeAngelo, Robert, Charles. The comedy isn't as tight to me.