Pam Beesly

Pamela Beesly is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom The Office, played by Jenna Fischer. Her counterpart in the original UK series of The Office is Dawn Tinsley.

Overview

Pam is the friendly but often frustrated receptionist at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper-distributor Dunder Mifflin. She can seem shy or hesitant to speak her mind, but enjoys chatting with her best friend, salesman Jim Halpert. She often helps Jim play pranks on his deskmate Dwight Schrute. At the beginning of the series she has been engaged to warehouse worker Roy Anderson for three years.

Pam has above average typing skills, and is able to type 90 words per minute. She attended college, and later in the series returns to school to take art classes. Her desert island top five movies are Fargo, Edward Scissorhands, Dazed and Confused, The Breakfast Club, and The Princess Bride. However, none of these five is her all-time favorite movie. Pam's favorite flavor of yogurt is mixed berry. Her favorite type of chips is French Onion Sun Chips. Pam drives a Toyota Yaris hatchback, first seen in the third season. She is Presbyterian ("Fun Run").

Character history

Seasons 1 & 2

At the beginning of the series, Pam and Roy have been dating for eight years and engaged for three. Their open-ended engagement has become one of Michael's running gags and a sore spot for Pam.

Pam does not want her current job to become permanent, remarking that "no little girl ever dreams about becoming a receptionist." Pam is apathetic toward her work, evidenced by her frequent games of FreeCell on her office computer. However, in the pilot episode, she breaks down crying when Michael pulls an ill-schemed prank by telling her that she will be fired.

Michael has criticized Pam for simply forwarding calls to voice mail without answering and (in a deleted scene) for not sounding enthusiastic enough when speaking on the telephone. Pam is usually happy to abandon her work if asked to do something else by Jim. She will do extra, unnecessary work (such as making paper doves for the Office Olympics) if she thinks it will make Jim happy.

Despite the abuse she takes from Michael, she has never up to this point gone any farther than to call him a jerk.

Pam denies, or is in denial about, having any romantic feelings for her friend Jim. Yet in "Basketball," the camera catches her looking at a sweaty Jim and licking her lips. Also, while at Chili's during the Dundies, an intoxicated Pam kisses Jim in celebration after winning an award.

She was banned from all Chili's locations after she got drunk at the Dundies by stealing drinks from other people's tables. The manager photocopied her driver's license to enforce this.

After Jim confesses his love for her at the Dunder Mifflin "Casino Night" she turns him down. He returns minutes later and kisses her.

Season 3

In "Gay Witch Hunt," it is revealed that Pam got cold feet before her wedding and did not marry Roy after all. Pam and Roy break up, and Pam moves into her own apartment. She begins taking art classes, a pursuit that Roy had previously dismissed as a waste of time.

Meanwhile, Roy becomes depressed, gains weight, and is eventually arrested for a D.U.I. This serves as a wake-up call to Roy, who vows to clean up his act and win Pam back.

Jim and Pam appear to have ended all communication after Jim transfers to the Stamford branch, but he accidentally calls her at her desk one night when trying to reach Kevin's voice mail. Pam is delighted when Jim moves back into the Scranton office as a result of The Merger, but he soon reveals to Pam that he is seeing someone else. His new girlfriend is Stamford transfer Karen Filippelli. Pam still harbors feelings for Jim, but awkwardly denies this when confronted by Karen in "Ben Franklin."

Roy's efforts to improve his relationship with Pam are successful. In Phyllis' Wedding, Roy reminds Pam of various moments during their history and pays Scrantonicity twenty dollars to play "their song." They dance and leave the reception together.

Once Pam and Roy are back together, he falls back into old habits almost immediately. When Pam has her first art show, Roy offers a half-hearted compliment about how "pretty" her art is, and then leaves early with his brother. Pam later tells Roy that he has to do "boyfriend stuff" if they're going to stay together. Roy agrees to attend an after work get-together at a local bar with Pam and her coworkers. Pam, feeling that she should be more honest with Roy, tells him about Jim kissing her at "Casino Night." Roy yells, smashes a mirror, and trashes the bar. Pam, frightened and embarrassed by his reaction, breaks up with Roy immediately. Roy vows to kill Jim.

Roy unsuccessfully tries to attack Jim at work (Jim is saved by Dwight's intervention), and is fired. Pam later agrees to meet Roy for coffee. Mirroring an earlier conversation between Michael and Jim about Pam, Roy encourages her to ask out Jim. Pam resists, telling Roy that Jim has a girlfriend now, but Roy is unfazed (as was Michael).

In "Beach Games," Michael suggests his employees test their bravery by walking over hot coals. Even though Michael has left Pam out of the activities for the day, Pam walks across the coals of her own accord and works up the courage not only to tell Jim she misses her friendship, but also to confront her co-workers about their lack of respect and support. She tells Jim that she broke off her wedding because of him, then says she's okay with the fact that he's dating someone else now, but that she misses their old friendship.

In "The Job," Pam has become much more assertive and still doesn't regret her previous speech. She states that she is happy that Jim is with Karen and that she hopes that she may find love too someday. As she is saying this, Jim interrupts her and asks her out for dinner. She happily accepts, forgetting what she was previously saying.

Season 4

In "Fun Run", Pam initially denies dating anyone but admits that she and Jim are happily dating when confronted with film evidence of the two kissing. Pam wears her hair in a more loose style and retains the assertiveness she developed in the third season.

Coworker relations

Jim

Main article: Jim Halpert

Pam is the object of Jim's affection, although she was engaged to Roy Anderson, a warehouse worker at the office. After a fight with Roy at the Dundie Awards, Pam momentarily lets her guard down, and kisses Jim on the lips. In the parking lot afterward, she seems to want to tell him something, but becomes aware of the camera, and just says "thanks".

In the season finale of season 2, after Jim tells Pam that he is in love with her, Pam is talking to her mother on the phone when her mother asks her a question to which she responds, "I think I am," leading to speculation over what her mother asked.

She is overheard being quizzed about him by her mother in "Sexual Harassment," and her embarrassed reaction reveals that she has discussed him in private. Jim had complained to Toby about Pam making wedding preparations in the workplace ("Conflict Resolution"), although he claimed previously that it does not bother him.

She ultimately calls off the wedding, but not until after Jim has transferred to the company's branch in Stamford, Connecticut. In "Beach Games," Pam reveals to Jim (and the entire office), that she called off the wedding because of him.

In the finale of season three ("The Job"), Jim leaves Karen in New York after their corporate interview and returns to Scranton to ask Pam on a "date."

In the first episode of season 4 it is revealed that Jim and Pam have started dating.

Roy

Main article: Roy Anderson (The Office)

What Pam sees in Roy is never exactly clear. He openly admits being attracted to Angela and to Katy the purse salesgirl with Pam right next to him. He bosses her around, ignores her at parties, makes fun of her interest in art, and offers her sex as a gift on Valentine's Day. However, he does display charm and thoughtfulness when Pam's mother arrives for a visit. Jim comments in Season 2 that Pam does not like to "bother" Roy with her "thoughts or feelings" and previously noted that her job and Roy seemed to be the only two problems in Pam's life.

Roy's worst offense, arguably, was his role in crushing one of Pam's ambitions. She is skilled at drawing and would like to pursue a career in art, possibly in graphic design. Jan informs Pam of a graphic arts internship offered by Dunder Mifflin, and Pam expresses enthusiasm. Yet Pam becomes unsure about taking it after arguing with Roy, who objects to the opportunity (while Jim supports it). Pam elects not to take the internship, arguing that the impracticality of it was the deciding factor, but Roy's role in cajoling her to change her mind is undeniable. They split up after the wedding is called off, but they eventually reconcile. In an attempt to be completely honest with Roy, she tells him that Jim kissed her during "Casino Night." Pam breaks up with him following his violent reaction to the news.

Roy's last name was revealed in the episode "Conflict Resolution" when Angela held Roy's and Pam's wedding invitation up to the camera. Roy's last name is Anderson, which means that if Pam had married Roy and taken his last name, her name would have been Pamela Anderson.

Michael

Main article: Michael Scott (The Office)

It occasionally seems as if Michael might have a crush on Pam. He has stated he likes her "boobs" and her legs and believes she is "hot." He tries to cajole Pam into acting romantically with a female blow-up doll during a sexual harassment seminar. Michael's movie character, "Michael Scarn," has a love interest in his screenplay Threat Level: Midnight who appears to be based on Pam, as the character is Scarn's secretary (though the character happens to be named "Catherine Zeta-Jones"). Michael also tries to kiss Pam in the episode "Diwali," and though disgusted by his attempt, she still agrees to drive him home but only if he sits in the back.

Their professional relationship isn't much better. She often must order Michael to do his work, or must deal with him as a mother deals with a child. She covers for Michael by lying to Jan about his location (Michael was sleeping at his desk). She often finds herself having to perform odd tasks for Michael, such as scanning tapes of Dundie Award ceremonies to find "highlights." She has to come up with various ways to pull Michael out of embarrassing situations. Sometimes, she will hesitate to connect Michael to a caller so he can make an embarrassing joke without knowing that nobody heard it. On one occasion, Pam also found herself having to say to Michael, "Please don't throw garbage at me." In the episode "Hot Girl," Pam jokingly expresses her delight for having Katy the purse girl around because she's another person for Michael to "interact with."

Pam often seems to hold Michael's hand, screening his first line of phone conversations and gently taking over changing a blown out tire. Eventually she expresses her own awareness of the fact by quickly saying "Hey, maybe I should be your boss," after she walks over hot coals while no one was looking, a trial that Michael concocted in order to choose a successor from the sales staff during Beach Games.

Despite her animosity and his obnoxious crush, Pam and Michael seem to share mutual empathy. When Michael was publicly humiliated at Chili's to the point of cutting the Dundie awards short, Pam began clapping and cheering wildly to make Michael feel better and change his mind. She also builds a casket for a bird's funeral, and writes a speech using the bird as a metaphor to assure Michael that people love him and he won't die alone. When Pam has her first art show and is roundly criticized or ignored, Michael shows up, buys one of her paintings, fusses about how talented she is, and tells her that he is proud of her. Pam reacts to this with a long, tight hug, choking back tears as she tells Michael, "Thank you." Pam can be very sympathetic towards Michael, and provides him with good relationship advice in "Women's Appreciation." When he confesses that he feels unhappy when he is with Jan, Pam points out that he shouldn’t be with someone who doesn’t make him happy.

Others

• Toby - When he determines that Pam is single again, Toby considers asking her out several times, but doesn't go through with it. It is also revealed that Toby pretended to like chai lattes to get closer to Pam in a deleted scene from "Traveling Salesmen", as Pam brings him one he waits for her to leave before throwing it away. In "Business School" Toby says he wants to see Pam's art to "support art" and goes to his daughter's show only after Pam told him to go. In "Cocktails", Toby continually tries to win a stuffed yellow duck for Pam, that she thought was "cute." Once he finally does Pam tells him that it would be better for his daughter. Despite her apparent lack of interest, Pam does perform an act of kindness for Toby during the Christmas party: after his gift from corporate, a bathrobe, was confiscated by Dwight (on Michael's orders), Pam finds a way to obtain another one and gives it to him before leaving. In Dunder Mifflin Infinity, Toby is the first to discover Pam and Jim's relationship to which he posts a memo to the office, telling them to keep down their PDA. Toby then reveals the memo was for the two which causes ecstatic responses from everyone else. The two later ask if they need to sign any paperwork to which he puts off, trying to see if the relationship is just casual.

• Kevin - Kevin has numerous times throughout the series called Pam "hot," and went so far as to tell Toby in "The Convention" that if he were not engaged, he would "so hit that." However, Kevin has also criticized Pam on her looks when comparing her to others. In the episode "Hot Girl," he says that Pam is a "less hot version" of Katy, a woman who comes in selling purses, to which Pam responds "that's a very rude thing to say."

• Creed - In the episode "Conflict Resolution," Creed makes a complaint to Toby, requesting a seat facing Pam, rather than one facing Meredith. In "The Coup," after Pam purchases an outfit that is more revealing than her usual office attire, he openly stares at her chest. He has also described her in his blog, Creed Thoughts, that she reminds him of a "young Daphne du Maurier."

• Andy - In the episode, "The Convict," Andy asks Jim about which women in the office are available for dating. Andy asks if he should try for Pam and Jim tells him to. As a prank, Jim purposely gives Andy Pam's dislikes but tells him that they are her favorite things. Andy embarrasses himself when hitting on her by speaking in Pig Latin to her, suggesting they play frisbee golf or "frolf"and singing her "The Rainbow Connection" in his "sexy" falsetto voice.

• Dwight - Pam usually acts as an accomplice with Jim on pranks at Dwight's expense. She even plays pranks on him when Jim is not present; she throws crumbled pieces of paper into Dwight's coffee mug when he is not at his desk, spends several months sending him e-mails under the guise of being from the CIA, and draws a picture of Dwight as the flasher on the flyers to warn people of Phyllis' flasher. Their animosity is briefly curbed when Dwight suffers a minor concussion that actually causes him to be friendly and helpful toward Pam. When Dwight leaves to go to the emergency room, Pam embraces him and emotionally tells him good-bye, explaining that things will be different after he is treated. Although the pranks continue, Dwight appears to be fond of Pam, though his treatment of her is misguided. He confides in her and asks for advice when trying to find a Valentine's Day gift for Angela, and immediately tells her to "shut up" when he thinks of one with her help. Dwight later sees her crying in a hallway. Dwight apparently thinks at first that she has been assaulted, until Pam assures him that "it's nothing." Dwight gives her a tissue and puts his arm around her to comfort her. They sit in silence until he asks, "So, you're PMSing pretty bad, huh?" In "The Job," Dwight (under the assumption that he is the new Regional Manager) recruits Pam to be his "Secret Assistant to the Regional Manager." She accepts, if only to motivate Dwight in his misguided authoritarianism. After Michael returns, Dwight thanks Pam and tells her that she "served the office with great dignity."

• Kelly - Pam spends more time with Kelly while Jim is working in the Stamford office. Her first date after breaking off her engagement is a double date with Kelly and Ryan; Kelly had fixed her up with a local cartoonist. Kelly's encouragement also leads Pam to buy nicer clothes, with Kelly assuring her that she looks sexy when Pam suggests that her new outfit is "too much."

• Angela - Pam has frequently had a hostile relationship with Angela, particularly in their work as members of the Party Planning Committee, in which they frequently clash. Angela has accused Pam of being a "hussy" and has made catty remarks about her friendship with Jim. (She plays a game called "Pam-Pong" where she counts how many times Jim gets up from his desk to talk to Pam.) Angela even seems to look for excuses to dislike Pam, first getting annoyed with her for not being sent a save-the-date for Pam’s wedding, and when Pam relents and gives her a save-the-date, she complains that it was hand-delivered and criticizes the design. When Angela ostracizes Karen during the Christmas Party Planning Committee meeting, Pam takes Karen’s side and they plan a competing Christmas party, which turns out to be a big hit. Pam finally invites Angela, who eventually accepts, and this seems to be an olive branch for the two of them. Pam is one of only two people to know of Angela and Dwight’s secret relationship, the other being Jim (Ryan may also be aware of the relationship, but this has not been confirmed). When Dwight drives all the way to New York to cover for a mistake Angela made, Angela invites Pam out to coffee and tells her what her friend “Kurt” (Dwight’s middle name) did for her friend “Noelle” (possibly Angela’s middle name). After Dwight is fired, in "The Return," Angela reveals their relationship to Pam and asks her to advice. Since then, however, there has been no sign of the developing friendship between the two women.

• Karen Filippelli - Pam's relationship with Karen starts off on the right foot in the episode "The Merger." They immediately hit it off when Karen compliments Pam's sweater and Pam silently reprimands Michael for making an insensitive remark about Karen's "exotic" appearance. By the end of Karen's first day in Scranton, Pam has learned that she is dating Jim, and weeks later, before the Christmas party, in "A Benihana Christmas," Pam admits to being "cold" toward her for "no reason." Pam consoles Karen after an embarrassing scolding by Angela at a party-planning meeting, leading them to plan a competing party. The two of them bond as they make preparations, to Jim's obvious dismay. During "Back from Vacation," their friendship actually becomes so strong that when Jim and Karen have a fight that threatens their relationship, Pam puts aside her own interest in Jim and takes Karen's side, helping patch things up between the two of them (privately, Pam is reduced to tears after doing so). In "The Return," Karen eventually learns of Jim and Pam's past. In "Ben Franklin," Karen confronts her about it for assurance that it's all in the past. Karen accepts Pam's assurance that it is but is put off by the fact that Pam had trouble giving her a direct answer at first. Their friendship seems to have cooled after this; a deleted scene for "Business School," reveals Karen nearly tearing down a flyer advertising Pam's art show, attempting to sabotage it. Karen also makes a show of embracing Jim while Pam is watching, apparently trying to make a show out of the fact that they're together. In "Women's Appreciation," Michael asks the women of the office for advice on his relationship with Jan. Karen tells Michael to try and push through the trouble and stay together and Pam says that they don't sound right for each other and should break up. Michael eventually takes Pam's advice. A small rivalry visibly forms between the two because of this, although neither of them acknowledge it or argue directly with each other. This rivalry further develops, as seen in "The Job," as Karen openly calls Pam, "kind of a bitch" after Pam tells Karen that she did not regret telling Jim, in front of everyone from the office, that she called off her wedding because of him and that she missed his friendship.

Behind the scenes

• Jenna Fischer's MySpace page spells the character's last name "Beesley." In her MySpace blog, Fischer confirmed that the correct spelling is "Beesly." In a deleted scene for "Conflict Resolution," however, Pam's security pass reads "Beesley". In addition, in Season 1, a message appears on Kevin Malone's computer that states "From the desk of Pam Beasly." Also, in "Sexual Harassment," a shot of Kevin's computer screen reveals e-mails from "Pam Beasly." During the art show in the Season 3 episode "Business School," the nameplate at her exhibition reads "Pam Beesly."
• According to Fischer's MySpace blog, Pam has worked at Dunder Mifflin since March 2002.
• Following the advice of the casting director to "dare to bore me," Fischer violated the improv principle of "Yes, And" at her audition. When asked if she enjoyed being a receptionist, Fischer merely replied, "No." Her performance was so understated, one of the people at the audition remarked, "I think that woman is under the misperception that she’s here for a receptionist’s job."
• In May 2007, at a party in Manhattan celebrating a successful season of The Office, Fischer fell down a flight of stairs. She fractured her back in four places and also tore a ligament in her elbow. Her publicist has said that Jenna will be in good enough condition to return to acting by the time the fourth season of The Office is filmed.
• In July 2007, it was announced that Jenna Fischer received an Emmy nomination for her portrayal as Pam Beesly on the third season of The Office. Jenna has said that she feared Pam would fall into the background after Jim left for Stamford, and that she is very proud and honored to have helped create the character arc that Pam went through in the show's third season.