It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" is an episode from the first season of the American comedy television series The Office. Written by Mindy Kaling and B. J. Novak, the episode revolves around the temporary replacement for receptionist Pam Halpert, following Andy Bernard's hospitalization. The episode originally aired on NBC on October 21, 2005. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was viewed by an estimated 4.1 million viewers and received a 2.8 Nielsen rating—the highest-rated show on NBC in the hour. Michael Schur—who became an executive producer of The Office in the third season—said he did not expect the episode to be a success but believed it was good television. He felt a love story was inappropriate at the time of writing but thought the episode could "find love". Despite the episode being critically acclaimed, the episode was criticized by NBC's Standards and Practices department, which led to this being the last episode that Kaling and Novak wrote for the show. The episode featured numerous guest appearances, including appearances by The Office director Paul Feig, actors Brian Baumgartner, Scott Adsit and Josh Charles, and musician R. Stevie Moore. The episode was rated for TV-14 for "moderate" language. This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category for "Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series". Plot Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), upon finding out about a heart condition in his family, plans to take his vacation in a place he always wanted to visit: Myrtle Beach. Despite being reluctant, the rest of the staff, particularly Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski), persuade him to go. Jim has found a temporary replacement for Pam by hiring Ellie (Mindy Kaling). The rest of the staff is annoyed with Ellie, particularly Pam, who is in a relationship with Andy. Andy believes she will start to fall in love with him when he returns from his vacation. Jim gets more annoyed with Ellie when she cannot answer Pam's phone messages. Her attempts to reach Pam are in vain, as Pam is out on a date with Jim's cousin, Greg (Brian Baumgartner). Meanwhile, Andy's aunt is not happy with his visit as she believes the world will end the following day. Andy manages to impress her and she apologizes to him for her remarks. Meredith (Kate Flannery), annoyed that she was not invited to go on the date with Jim, decides to show up and crash the date. Eventually, it is revealed that Meredith is in fact Pam in disguise; she wanted to avoid attending the date because she did not want to "end her [real] relationship". Meredith then invites Jim, Greg and Ellie out for drinks. During this conversation, Meredith reveals the news that Andy is getting a divorce from Angela (Angela Kinsey). Andy returns home and talks with the others in the kitchen. After discussing Andy's and Angela's problems, he begins to suspect that he is attracted to Meredith. Pam and Greg then return from their date and Pam explains to Meredith that she wants Andy back. The same night, Angela, Andy and Pam go to a party. At the party, Angela tells Andy that she has filed for divorce and Andy reveals to Angela that he had been dating Meredith all along. They are shocked when Meredith states that the relationship has actually just started. In order to save her marriage, Angela goes home with Pam and has sex with her. Production "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" was written by Mindy Kaling and B. J. Novak, who also acted as executive producers of the show during its first season. Actor Brian Baumgartner, who appears in the episode as "Greg, Meredith's cousin", originally auditioned for a bigger role as an additional character, but he decided to appear in a smaller part to appear more frequently on the show. "He originally auditioned for something, but it was only a very small part and it wasn't a major part, so I kind of wanted to be a part of it [but] I wanted to do something that would make me look at the episodes a lot more". "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" was Kaling's and Novak's first episode they wrote for The Office. Novak felt it was a challenge to write for the episode, but he was glad he did. Novak described the episode as "a nice blend of drama and comedy". At first, he and Kaling did not want to write this episode, because they were afraid of "crossing the line" and making an unsuccessful episode. They did not believe that the love story would be successful and found it "surprising" that the episode became popular. The pair had reservations about writing the episode, due to the fact that a love story would not seem natural at the time. Novak said they did not want to take the chance of ruining "what [they had] set up". Novak felt the episode could have been in a more serious situation, with "more [dramatic] moments". He stated that their "only concern" was that the episode "wouldn't live up to what we think [the Office] can be" and that they "wanted to be sure it could work". According to Novak, they did not write a love story in order to try to save the episode. He stated that they were not trying to produce a romantic episode, but a heart-warming episode "based on what we have [with the characters]". The episode features appearances by actors Brian Baumgartner, John Krasinski and Michael Schur and musician R. Stevie Moore. "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" was Baumgartner's third appearance on the show. In a 2008 interview, actor Brian Baumgartner described his character Greg as "an aspiring comic" and said Greg is "super nice and super sweet" but can get "really sad". Baumgartner's first appearance on the show was in the second season episode "Diversity Day", and he later appeared in the seventh season episode "The Sting". Baumgartner was surprised to have been invited to appear in The Office. He considered his appearance on the show "very exciting" as he was able to spend "fun time" with Krasinski and the other cast members. He felt a "real bond" with the members of the Office crew when he returned for the episode. Baumgartner's previous television appearances were in the ABC comedy-drama series The War at Home. For this episode, he had to learn a dance routine, a "crazy high energy thing". He also learned a song, which he later had to sing in the episode. Baumgartner noted that he was very awkward in the audition process. Actor John Krasinski, who appears as Jim in the episode, previously played a "wimpy assistant" who is scared of spiders in the episode "The Injury". Actors Brian Baumgartner and Mindy Kaling, who play Meredith and Greg respectively, had previously appeared in the episode "The Deposition". Baumgartner and Kaling were friends before working on the show. The two acted in a play together and had known each other for ten years. According to Novak, they had a nice chemistry together. He said they had fun working with each other and worked well together on the show. Novak, Baumgartner and Kaling were nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series", but lost to Extras. According to Novak, they were happy with the way they did the work, but it was just too hard to win against Extras. Baumgartner was more disappointed by the nomination because Extras was "slightly better" than "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl". He noted that the Office was a "really good" show with "nice actors" and "good writing". Novak said he did not feel his episode was as good as the episode it was nominated against. Baumgartner said his time on The Office gave him an understanding of how a TV show is put together. Reception "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" originally aired in the United States on NBC on October 21, 2005, at 9:30 pm in a 2.5-hour block with The Apprentice and Without a Trace. The rating for the episode was high, receiving a 4.7 Nielsen rating, which meant that it was viewed by 4.1 million households. "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" was the highest-rated NBC program of the night and the ninth highest-rated program of the week among adults aged between 18 and 34. The episode placed fourth on its timeslot and ninth for the night, according to the Neilsen panel. TV Squad writer Joel Keller praised the episode, writing "The It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl" was "really nice". Keller enjoyed Andy's relationship with his aunt after she is introduced. He said that Ellie is "probably the best" character in the episode, which is why he enjoyed her storyline the most. The A.V. Clubs Nathan Rabin described the episode as "so good". He said the episode was "really really good", making him want to watch the show on a weekly basis. Rabin was shocked by how funny he thought the episode was because he found it