“Diversity Day” is a season 1 episode of the USThe Office, and its provocative plot has led some to wonder if it was purposefully pulled from syndication.The first season ofThe Officewas a strange onewith showrunner Greg Daniels still trying to feel out how to make his version stand out from the beloved British version. While the first episode of the series was nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the British pilot, the rest of the five episodes of season 1 were original scripts, though they retained a lot of the characterizations of the original show.
WhileMichael Scott (Steve Carell) has always been a cringe machine, in season one, he had all of Carrell’s awkwardness combined with David Brent’s (Ricky Gervais) unlikeability and rudeness. These characteristics combined for a truly unpleasant character, andit wasn’t until season 2, when Michael became more of a well-meaning idiot, that the AmericanThe Officebegan to come into its own. Now, that first season ofThe Officefeels like an easy skip when fans want to rewatch, a sentiment Comedy Central apparently agreed with, in one specific case.
Why The Office’s “Diversity Day” Episode Was So Controversial
“Diversity Day” Sees Michael At His Most Ignorant
Season 1, episode 2, “Diversity Day” is the first originally written episode of the series and features the employees of Dunder Mifflin undergoing diversity training after Michael decides to debut a Chris Rock-inspired stand-up set during work hours. Cut to the end of the episode, and the employees are in a room with notecards on their foreheads that have different ethnicities written on them.
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Michael and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) spout off racist and ignorant comments while the rest of the office can only watch in horror and frustration. On its surface, “Diversity Day” may appear to be mocking race, but it quickly becomes clear that Michael is the butt of the joke. He’s so ignorant and self-centered that he can’t understand how offensive he is even when everyone in the room is telling him to stop. Hence, why he ends the episode with a big slap to the face, courtesy of Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling).
Comedy Central Pulled “Diversity Day” From Its Rotation In 2021
Neither Comedy Central Nor NBC Issued A Statement
In August 2021, aBarstool Sportsblog noticed that Comedy Central was running aThe Officemarathon but “Diversity Day” had been surreptitiously pulled. The blogger accused “cancel culture” for the removal andSnopesconfirmed that the episode had been removed from that specific marathon. However,it could not find any evidence of a petition for removal, nor comment from Comedy Central or NBC as to why the episode had been removed. Furthermore, Snopes found that other episodes had been removed from the marathon, such as season 2, episode 5, “Halloween”, and season 2, episode 10, “Christmas Party”.
Mr. Brown (Larry Wilmore), who leads the official diversity training, returns in season 3, episode 1, “Gay Witch Hunt”, where he gives his seminar to the Stamford branch after Michael’s inappropriate comments towards Oscar (Oscar Nunez).
It appeared that Comedy Central was skipping over holiday episodes.It’s possible an inattentive scheduler included “Diversity Day” as a holiday episodesimply for the word “Day”. At least, it seems as likely as Comedy Central pulling this specific episode for controversy, despite this website not even ranking it in thetop seven worst-agedThe Officeepisodes.
At the time, episodes from other shows likeSeinfeld,30 Rock, andIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiawere being pulled from syndication and streaming for perceived offensive content, so it’s not completely impossible that “Diversity Day” was removed for similar reasons, however. “Diversity Day”, along with the entirety ofThe Office, can still be watched on Peacock.
The Office
Cast
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
