This 17-Year-Old The Office Episode Gets A Stealth Follow-Up In Netflix's Divisive New Comedy Movie

Summary The Office continues to influence popular culture, with a new Netflix movie referencing the iconic sitcom.

Many cast members have found success post-The Office, including Andy Daly in a quirky new role.

Despite mixed reviews, The Office's "Benjamin Franklin" episode still has its moments, like the memorable Pam and Karen confrontation.

Despite ending in 2013, The Office still manages to have a large impact on popular culture, with a divisive new Netflix comedy movie being the latest project to reference the series. Widely regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time, The Office provided viewers with a wealth of memorable episodes and laugh-out-loud moments across its nine-season run. Now, a certain episode of the show from way back in 2007 has received an unexpected follow-up.

Many members of The Office cast have gone on to have even greater success both on TV and in film. In fact, the show featured many early guest appearances by comic actors who have since become household names. One such example of this is a comedy actor who has starred in dozens of TV and movie roles over the years, including in a recent Netflix film, where he plays a character with a pleasing connection to his appearance in The Office.

Related 10 Best The Office Episodes, Ranked From emotional moments to some of the most hilarious scenes in a sitcom, The Office’s best episodes reveal how rich and compelling the show was.

Andy Daly's Unfrosted Quaker Oats Role Is A Great Follow-Up To His "Benjamin Franklin" Character In The Office

There's A Surprising Connection Between The Two Projects

Jerry Seinfeld's new Netflix movie, Unfrosted, tells an exaggerated version of the true events that led to the creation of Pop-Tarts. The comedy film features an ensemble cast, with Unfrosted's celebrity cameos including Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Dean Norris, Tony Hale, and many others. One of the briefest cameos is made by actor and comedian Andy Daly, who appears as one of Unfrosted's numerous breakfast mascots. He plays Isaiah Lamb, the face of Quaker Oats. Interestingly, Daly's appearance in the movie has a neat link to his role in The Office.

Daly appears in just one episode of The Office - season three's "Benjamin Franklin" - where he plays a Benjamin Franklin impersonator named Gordon. When Michael asks Jim to hire a stripper, Jim instead orders Gordon as a joke. He then convinces Dwight that Gordon is the real Benjamin Franklin, something that Dwight tries desperately to disprove. However, Gordon has an answer for all of Dwight's questions, which inevitably (and hilariously) drives him insane.

In The Office, Andy Daly is credited as 'Andrew Daly'.

Daly's cameo in Unfrosted is, therefore, pleasing for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was the second time in the actor's career that he was allowed to chew the scenery while dressed in historical attire. Secondly, Benjamin Franklin had strong ties to the Quakers in Pennsylvania, so Daly's latest role ended up creating a strange link to his past in The Office. Though Quaker Oats wasn't originally founded by Quakers, it has had an association with the religious society since the late 1800s. While Ben Franklin pre-dates Quaker Oats, Daly's appearance in Unfrosted, nevertheless, cleverly connects to his role in The Office.

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Why The Office's "Benjamin Franklin" Episode Received Such Mixed Reviews

It's Certainly Not Considered One Of The Show's Best

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While "Benjamin Franklin" is far from the best episode of The Office, it does have its moments

Throughout its run, The Office had some truly great episodes. Unfortunately, "Benjamin Franklin" doesn't stand out among them. The episode received a mixed response from critics when it first aired, which jarred with the positive reaction to the rest of the third season. Criticism was largely aimed at the episode's relatively low gag rate and the sexist nature of the A-plot. Michael's eagerness to hire a stripper for Bob Vance's bachelor party certainly means that "Benjamin Franklin" is one of the few episodes of The Office that have aged poorly.

Additionally, while the Dwight/Ben Franklin impersonator subplot provides a fair few laughs, some reviewers believed that the joke went on too long. Arguably, the joke would've been better-suited to a cold open rather than the B-plot of a whole episode. While "Benjamin Franklin" is far from the best episode of The Office, it does have its moments, with the long-awaited confrontation between Pam and Karen being singled out as a highlight of the episode.