The Accountants: 2006

The Accountants: 2006

NBC announced on March 16, 2006 that there would be ten original, stand-alone Webisode shorts on NBC.com starting in July 2006. They first debuted on NBC.com on July 13 and concluded on September 7. Major characters Michael, Jim, Pam, and Ryan do not appear in these episodes, while Dwight appears in only one webisode of the series. Instead, the focus is on the three members of the accounting department: Oscar, Angela and Kevin, as they try to find $3000 missing from the office budget. Oscar, Angela, and Kevin appear in each Webisode.

"The Accountants" webisodes were directed by Randall Einhorn and written by Michael Schur and Paul Lieberstein. It took two days to film them. They were edited by Michael Zurer, an assistant editor on the series. In June 2007, the Webisodes won the Comedy Short Award at the inaugural Webby Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Broadband Program - Comedy. In November 2007 the Webisodes became a point of argument for the Writers Guild of America for their strike, as none of the writers or actors featured in the webisodes were paid residuals for their participation.

"The Books Don't Balance"
Original Air Date: July 13, 2006
The accountants inform Jan that the books don't balance and $3,000 is missing. The accountants decide to interrogate the other office employees, but Oscar is sure Michael took it.

"Phyllis"
Original Air Date: July 13, 2006
The accountants question Phyllis and she makes a confession that she borrowed $14 and forgot to report it.

"Meredith"
Original Air Date: July 20, 2006
Meredith is the next employee to be questioned. She claims that she wouldn't be at work if she did and also wouldn't do anything to get arrested, as she has a son to take care of, and wouldn't risk getting arrested.

"Stanley"
Original Air Date: July 27, 2006
The accountants question Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker). Stanley thinks whoever did it was smart to steal that much.

"Someone in the Warehouse"
Original Air Date: August 3, 2006
Kevin thinks Angela has a crush on Roy, who ends up being questioned next, but he doesn't even know how to take $3,000 out of petty cash.

"The Memo"
Original Air Date: August 10, 2006
Kevin types a memo for the thief to come forward. Kevin gets ticked off that Angela bosses him around and makes a fake memo for himself.

"Things Are Getting Tense"
Original Air Date: August 17, 2006
With new developments, the accountants start turning on each other.

"You're Mean"
Original Air Date: August 24, 2006
The accountants wait for Michael to leave his office so that they can check to see if he stole the money.

"Michael's Office"
Original Air Date: August 31, 2006
The accountants check Michael's office for evidence of the money. After finding nothing but inexpensive, useless novelty items, Oscar and Kevin unanimously decide Angela must talk to him.

"The Best Day of My Life"
Original Air Date: September 7, 2006
Dwight confronts Angela about her decision to accuse Michael of taking the money. Kevin and Oscar discover that the missing funds are merely an accounting mistake made by Angela, upon which Kevin declares "this is the best day of my life."