On NBC Prime Time, Fort Lauderdale Cast as the Poor Man's Thailand

Halfway through this past week's episode of NBC's The Office, while the Michael Scott Paper Co.'s three employees sit on the floor of their closet turned headquarters, swapping stories of personal failure, the character Ryan offers:"I never went to Thailand."It's a reference to an earlier episode in which, during a...

By Thomas Francis

April 27, 2009

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Halfway through this past week's episode of NBC's The Office, while the Michael Scott Paper Co.'s three employees sit on the floor of their closet turned headquarters, swapping stories of personal failure, the character Ryan offers:

"I never went to Thailand."

It's a reference to an earlier episode in which, during a reunion with his former officemates, Ryan invited them to ask about his trip to Thailand. When they asked how it was, he replied simply, "Indescribable." In fact, Ryan admitted now: "I went to Fort Lauderdale."

Sadly, to a few people stuck in Scranton, Pennsylvania, this still rates as an exotic adventure. An amazed Michael Scott asks, "Was it nice?"

"Yeah, it was amazing. There's a great pad Thai place, though."

Eating pad Thai in Fort Lauderdale: an experience virtually identical to a trip to Southeast Asia. And speaking of interoffice, cuisine-related tall tales of travel, did you really go to Costa Rica, John Linn? Or was that just a sidewalk vendor in Little Havana?

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