Threat Level Midnight

"Threat Level Midnight"
The Office episode
The poster for Threat Level Midnight. Michael Gallenberg, the series' production designer created the poster on his own time without being asked.
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 17
Directed by	Tucker Gates
Written by	B. J. Novak
Production code	7016
Original air date	February 17, 2011
Guest appearance(s)
David Denman as Roy Anderson Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson Rashida Jones as Karen Filippelli Linda Purl as Helene Beesly David Koechner as Todd Packer Mike Bruner as Tony Gardner Noel Petok as Troy Underbridge Lee Eisenberg as Gino Dan Goor as Dan Hidetoshi Imura as Hidetoshi Hasagawa Karly Rothenberg as Madge Calvin Tenner as Calvin Rob Huebel as A.J.
Episode chronology
← Previous "PDA" Next → "Todd Packer"
List of The Office (U.S.) episodes

"Threat Level Midnight" is the seventeenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's 143rd episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on February 17, 2011. The episode was written by B. J. Novak and directed by Tucker Gates.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) screens his action film Threat Level Midnight to the office after eleven years of writing, shooting, re-shooting, and editing. This film features Michael as Agent Michael Scarn, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) as Scarn's robot butler, and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) as Scarn's archnemesis "Goldenface".

The episode's genesis stems from the second season entry "The Client", in which the office discovers Michael's incomplete screenplay for Threat Level Midnight. The episode features the reappearance of several actors and actresses who had not appeared on the show in years. Due to the nature of Michael's film, scenes were filmed to create the illusion as if they had been shot years prior to the episode. "Threat Level Midnight" was viewed by 6.41 million viewers and received a 3.3 rating among adults between the age of 18 and 49. The episode was the highest-rated NBC series of the week that it aired, and received acclaim from critics, many of whom enjoyed the humor and the continuity references to the show's past.