Scott's Tots - Beyond the Meme - S6E12 

My favorite Michael Scott quote in the entirety of the office is "I've made a lot of empty promises but that one was by far the most generous"

I don’t care what anyone’s says, “Hold on, they’re lithium” is one of the best lines in the show.

I give Michael props for having the nerve to let those kids down in person, face-to-face.

Stanley's reaction in episode gets me every time. He knew from the beginning it was gonna be a disaster.

I don’t care what y’all say the most cringe moment was when Toby touched Pam’s knee

The only scene that makes me really look away (literally, i cant look) is kevins face after he drops his chili, the pain on his face looks so real, it hurts me to look at him out of pity, id rather watch tots a hundred times than watching that scene again.

Honestly, the Jim storyline might bothers me more than Michael's. I don't understand how everyone in the office (apart from Angela and Andy) believed Jim would purposefully make himself or Pam the employee of the month. He may prank Dwight a lot, but he is pretty laid back with everyone else. Even when Jim punished Ryan, he did it calmly. But in this episode, he looked like a deer caught in headlights when confronted. It was just out of character for half of the cast to believe Jim was dumb enough to make himself the EOTM and then immediately get called out on it and then have Pam be BOTH the second and third EOTM? And then have a cake delivered?! It's such an obvious trap, it hurts that even Oscar fell for it.

I love Stanley here. Stanley more than anyone sees Michael as the buffoon that he is and the fact that he kept the newspaper for 10 years which is probably longer than any of his marriages because he just knew. Love it

This man gave a warning for spoilers on a show that ended 8 years ago. Absolute legend.

My biggest problem with the premise is that no teacher bothered to check with Michael to make sure he was going to give them the money. They made shirts and songs and big plans on a promise made many years ago!

“Just minding your business and Scott’s Tots happens”, is the most relatable thing I’ve ever heard.

This episode starts the father daughter relationship with Erin and Michael, Scott's totts is a gem. Stanley's laugh, "hold on their lithium" "your gonna make me say it" Scotts totts is a gem.

I love that at least one of the Scott’s tots was later seen as a greendale student on community

I don’t understand the deep hate a lot of people have this episode. It cracks me up.

Embrace the cringe. Excellent analysis; I also thoroughly enjoyed writing something on this - hence why I probably went on a bit too long, so thank you for giving me the chance.

You broke this down perfectly. I wanna add that I dont hate this episode. I just cant watch it. There are tons of great pieces of media i dont want to watch over and over again like certain law and order svu episodes, schindler's list, the part of Cast Away after he leaves the island, the green mile, requiem for a dream. I love all of these bits of media but they just make me so deeply uncomfortable. I love michael too much to forgive him for the implications of scott's tots... Those kids... He most likely messed up all of their lives. He could have admitted that he couldnt pay for their college during their junior year so they had all of senior year to prepare financially. I mean fasfa grants r first come first serve and they r at least in their last semester. Its deeper than cringe, for sure. My only relief comes from reminding myself that its fictional tbh. Eta: i actually think this is a masterpiece because it accessed a terrible emotion that i rarely feel... Again its not really cringe, for me. Its some mixture of annoyance, frustration, sadness, and "wtf".

“Shame” and “embarrassment” are certainly both aspects of this, but it’s *guilt* that I most feel vicariously through what Michael did by letting all of those kids down. The guilt felt when letting others down… that’s the worst sensation imo

This episode was funny to me honestly the B plot with Dwight setting up Jim is more cringe to me, I guess I'm used to Micheal fucking up to the point where it's just not shocking anymore

"It's unfortunate that Michael lied to those kids and crushed their dreams for the future. Perhaps it's time I introduce them to a little show called Battlestar Galactica. It always helps ease my pain whenever Michael crushes my dreams." 😐 - Dwight K. Schrute

I get the cringe, but it's worth it. When Erin tells Michael about the graduation rate, it gets me everytime. Plus every teen I know, that graduates high school, gets a "Scott's Tots" shirt from me for a gag gift, even my son.

I love the moment at the end where Erin starts singing the "Hey Mister Scott" song in the car, just joyful and carefree and not at all weighed down by what just happened. She's a friggin orphan who grew up in the system, she doesn't feel sorry for these kids who have homes and parents. Her slightly unhinged, cynical/whimsical view of the world is the best thing about the second half of The Office.

I always avoid this episode as it hurts too much. I actually felt anxious even clicking on this video *about* Scott’s Tots 😂

as a high school student whose parents didn’t/couldn’t afford to save for my college… yeah, this one really hurts

Stanley's laugh here is just golden...

This episode has one of the most adorable moment of the whole series for me: the moment they're driving back from school and Erin starts rapping the line "Hey mr. Scott, what you gonna do?". So cute.

My reaction to the whole episode is literally the same as Stanley's. I love it!

I'm sure this'll get buried, but like, this content is so freaking good and has been getting me through a crazy end to November. I'm 20 days from graduating nursing school with my bachelors and while I'm super excited, that means I have finals starting in three days! Every week before finals of my college career, I always pick up some kind of obsession to help keep myself calm; one finals I only listened to Vocaloid music which I hadn't done since I was in late middle school, one finals I played Pokémon Showdown like a mad woman and one year I had taken all my little sister's old My Little Ponies and painted over them. It's never the same thing twice and it's always something that connects me to my roots in a time of stress. Uh, this semester it's apparently your content and this video was the starting point. This specific fixation might clue into the fact that over the summer my little sister got into a really awful car accident and as a result developed a traumatic brain injury. She was in the ICU for 19 days, inpatient rehabilitation for 20 more days and now she's back home doing outpatient rehab 5x a week. But during those 20 days in the inpatient rehab, one of the things she consistently wanted to do was watch Comedy Central in her downtime; more specifically she wanted to watch The Office. So I'd be in that room from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm and any time it was on and she wasn't in a therapy, we'd watch The Office together. And when she came home? She wanted to watch The Office. Now, I've seen it before. I saw it all the way through in my very early 20s, but now it's even more sentimental because it was one of the first bonding things we did as she started to really get better. And somehow your covering them and teaching me even more about the work that went into this series is helping me get through the very last finals of my college career. I'll probably be caught up on your whole catalogue by the time finals is over haha, but I know I'll be coming back even after because your content is just fantastic. Thank you for everything and keep being an incredible content creator!!

Maybe it's because I am a big fan of cringe that I love Scott's Tots so much.

"Hold on....there lithium" lol....my favorite episode next to Dinner Party

For me, as a public school teacher I find "Scott's Tots' so painful. Yeah, I know it's fictional. But children's hopes being shattered isn't. I sadly see it. As one of the RU-vidrs said in the video. It's one thing when Michael's silly plans or promises screw with the adults in the office. But these are children, not employees..but the Jim plot line doesn't bother me. After all the stuff Jim did to Dwight, its kind of great Dwight has gotten so savvy. Go Dwight.

I try hard to see things from others’ shoes, and I still don’t understand how this bothers people… genuinely hilarious episode!

The entire school incident is cringe and tough to watch, but compiling it with the Jim, Dwight chaos, I cant find a place to release any cringe until it's over.

When someone tries to tell me that Tesla cars are good for the environment, I say "Hold on, they're lithium"!

I love how this is a fundraiser to put kids through school. Meta af, and a good cause.

Thank you for having me!

Thank you for the 2 to 4. I predicted a 4/5 and I got it. Glad to see you putting some RESPSVT on Scott's Tots.

This might be your best episode yet. I really liked the breakdowns from the other RU-vidrs; the British (?) guy nailed it perfectly. When this was on Netflix, I'd skip over it though. I shouldn't have, but I just struggle to get through it. Even though the show was starting to show cracks by this point, this was pretty much a solid encapsulation of Michael Scott's journey and probably his lowest point in the series.

The 'Kevin's chili' cold-open and Phyllis' wedding are physically painful for me. This episode is uncomfortable but nothing tortuous.

The BOOST BUS dropped me off here from the FUTURE and I'm here to say congratulations on 20k!! Also just a little bit of future advice, it's a really long story but fork farms are going to be having a hard time soon so keep your silverware

Yessss been waiting for this viddd

Love that inbetweeners was brought up. I might be the biggest American inbetweeners fan in the US (that is my “background noise” show) I know scary right. But the difference is that from the beginning of the show the cringe is dialed up to 10 and we very rarely see a real emotional moment from the 4 boys. In The Office we see ,through six season, these characters become real people with real emotions. Then Scott’s Tot’s happen and we are forced to watch character we know have real feelings get brutalized with cringe…I think that is what makes this episode so difficult.

I think this episode is hilarious, just finished watching your video and about to go watch it right now

the song they sing is still stuck into my head to this day

Jesus why does everyone say this is the most cringe episode? I swear like 2 people said and it just snow balled to the point where everyone just blindly agrees with it. How in the hell is this worse than Michael dragging a wheel chair down the aisle and then getting thrown out by Bob and screaming "I HATE YOU!!!!" Like a toddler throwing a tantrum would?

it's the discomfort...it's the mental discomfort that we can almost perceive physically

Stanley's laugh gets me rolling every time. The few times throughout the series he breaks out in laughter are amazing. It's the most infectious laugh I've ever heard

I must be a miserable person, because I love this episode

I feel like this story was taken from my life. In fifth grade Larry Ellison of Oracle came to my school and promised every kid in my class a personal laptop computer at their desk by graduation. Never happened. My best friend was on the news catching a pass from Steve Young..I have a Polaroid somewhere

I recently introduced my mom to The Office…. This was her favorite episode

I wish anyone would have mentioned Dwight's impressions of other The Office characters. His Toby is perfect.

I remember seeing a clip of the beginning of the episode on RU-vid... There were people in the comments that thought it was wrong of Pam to rightfully call out Michael???

I just wanted to say, I think Dwight is insufferable in this episode. I think this was one of your best videos. I was looking forward to it. Did not disappoint!

i’m a huge office fan and i gotta say i’m kinda shocked to hear about the hatred of this episode! it’s one of my favs, i think it is sooo funny. literally i laugh like Stanley the entire time lmfaoo. the first time i saw this episode i literally screamed laughing when the kids did the “hey mr. scott” dance. it’s sooo hilariously bad, if it’s on i will watch and laugh every time lol

Idk, this was probably one of my favorite episodes, it's the bizzareness and irony, and how people actually do/have done this 😂😂, like in a retrospect the entire episode is a comedic masterpiece to cringe humor 😂😂

My favorite part was Erin singing along with the hey Mr Scott song.

This episode is one of my favorites. I grew up watching the office and I feel desensitized to the “cringe”. Of course a few episodes had some cringy moments. (I thought so as a 9 year old) but now watching it, all the “cringe” makes me laugh almost hysterically. Cringe comedy is satire and it’s beautiful, the people who don’t like this sort of comedy just can’t understand it.

Listening to your guests painted every cringe moment from the show my brain could remember and I started laughing out loud at these millisecond moments where things go from serious to ridiculous. It's a reminder why it's still a great show.

Scott’s Tots is one of the only episodes I can remember exactly where I was the first time I saw it. And I found it HILARIOUS. Still do. Funny concept. Funny execution.

Love this episode. It’s like being beheaded by a slowly descending guillotine. If anything, Michael got off way too easy for this, and there are some gross racist undertones not fairly addressed in this episode but it’s still a master class in cringe comedy.

I thought it was endearing episode - because it shows who Michael really is. He's a good guy and want to make people happy but that is also his downfall. Besides, at the end of the episode it showed some maturity and growth from Erin. She said that most of the kids probably wouldn't dream so big and they can pay college thru other ways. So, Michael actually inspired them to think big like he's trying and pick yourself up and move on.

someone in a facebook group told me that "it's unwatchable because those kids will now not have an education and being a person who still pays student loans, i can relate to how the kids felt" or something like that. It's so stupid, to me this is not even the worst thing michael did. Scotts tots is literally one of my favorite episodes.

Salari's interpretation is spot on for what I took out of this episode. It is an amazingly cringe episode for so many reasons. I usually skip but will have to re-watch to take it all in again.

The 2-4 clip in the rating section is gold!

This one did not affect me like it did others apparently. The dinner date for me is the one episode that riggers everything for me. Anxiety at max the whole episode, yet I can't stop laughing.

I don't love Scott's Tots, but I will watch it. I don't believe in skipping. Rhe fact that people are so bothered by it actually makes it more watchable

Hot Take: The administration is partially responsible. TEN YEARS and not ONCE did anyone ask if money was in escrow, if/how the kids would receive a check, if Micheal was going to cover campus visits and SAT tests (which are typically taken a year in advance)? Michael drives an average car, wears an average suit, hasn't gotten a promotion in his decade as regional manager, and yet the school named a reading room after him?? That's typically reserved for the affluent who make a six-to-seven-figure donation, and only AFTER the money has already been used. Yes, Michael shouldn't have promised these kids a full scholarship, but the administration should have done their homework. Otherwise, any schmuck can waltz in, make an empty promise, and get a building named after him.

True superfans don't skip this episode or Dinner Party

This episode is pure genius.

HEY MR. SCOTT. WHATCHA GONNA DO? WHATCHA GONNA DO MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

It probably seems silly, but I think the funniest line in this episode is from Angela when she reads out Jim’s cake, “It could only be you”. Not only the idea of someone sending a cake to themselves to prop up their own ego, or the fact it has their face on it, or that they’re so pathetic to send a special message to themselves saying “it could only be you”, but the fact Dwight thought of that as a step that an ego maniac would take and that it actually worked and was believable to everyone cracks me up each time.

I like that you included a way to help with this issue, but the best way to help underprivileged kids with education actually isn’t scholarships. those just reinforce the idea that a poor/poc student must be exceptional to be afforded the same resources taken for granted by white/upper class students, as well as causing tokenism. The best way to truly even the playing field is to advocate for free secondary education for all, something our government easily has the power and $$ to do. In terms of high school, advocating for better funding in lower income areas is also way more effective across the board than offering a few scholarships to “exceptional” students.

"This is probably going to be a lot longer of an episode" (Looks at time stamp) 39:45 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Alright, Chris. I’m gonna finish watching this episode cuz i like YOU. But man, (much like Erin) I just don’t GET it!! I am curious as to how Tots, considering the existence of, say, Employee Transfer (s5e6) or the *entire* first season… how does Tots even register a blip on the cringe radar!?! Tots gives us fantastic insight into the geography of Michael Scott’s heart in relation to his brain. It reminds us how valuable it is just to have someone believe in you. & it kicks off that fatherly role Michael develops toward little orphan Erin. Scott’s Tots is one of the funniest AND feelsiest episodes in existence!! I love it.

probably the reason i didn't find this episode so cringe like the rest of the fandom is probably because im from denmark where school is free

I thought I was a terrible person for liking this episode, I'm glad I'm not the only one

I legitimately thought people saying they skip Scott's Tots because of the cringe was a joke, I didn't know that there was an actual negative connotation towards the episode. It's actually an extremely fun watch for me BECAUSE of the cringe, are Americans super sensitive to cringe or am i just a masochist?

At 12:54 there is a brief scene that looks to be Ryan and Toby getting into some altercation. I don't recall this scene being in the regular episodes: is it from a deleted scene, or did I somehow forget about this?

Honestly, besides one of the person's thoughts (can't remember the name, don't want to single them out), this was a pretty nuanced take on the complex issues facing the school system. I'm glad you respectfully touched on them without resorting to shit flinging and needlessly blaming a party or group or whatever. Most of the time, the issues in our country are caused by dozens if not hundreds of small, complex reasons rather than one big thing to put a target on for clout and twitter points, good job.

Wow 17k subs, nice job. Hope life is treating you well.

my favorite episode

You don't need to have watched this episode prior. As soon as you see that newspaper article your heart skips a beat.

I can’t watch it. I have the office on all of the time. Just playing in the background. Every time Scott’s Tots start I run to the controller to switch.

I don’t think this episode has as much cringe as other moments because Michael has well intentions. He was just swept up in the moment. He didn’t know this promise would go on for two years. Also the school board could have checked if he could really afford this.

Are some clips from the Superfan episodes? Like the one where Toby and Ryan (apparently) have a mild skirmish in the annexe?

I love this episode just for the cringe. Michael always wanted this to happen to him: given attention, his name celebrated, and performances done for him. But even he knows he doesn’t deserve this. The only other time we see all this happening for Michael is when he leaves for Colorado. And then he deserve all that attention and praise

People hate this episode because the Facebook groups told them too lol getting upset about cringe humour on a show fully about cringe humour is crazy, I love the episode

I don’t find this episode that cringy.. I just think it’s hysterical!!

There has been significant debate over the existence and role of mirror neurons in humans. The debate was ongoing as of the early 2010s. I do not know if it has been settled since then.

12:53 Is that a deleted scene??? What episode is that from???

That employee of the week was so BS! JIM always saw through Dwight's plots. He would've know there was more on the list then those eligible and done his own list. JIM WAS TO SMART TO FALL FOR THAT TRAP!

coming back after xmas to donate!

First time seeing some of this footage since it aired.

I’ve never seen when Toby hits Ryan(12:54)? When did that occur

Scotts tots is probably my favorite episode no joke

I really loved this episode! Everybody messes up, Micheal Messed up bad. The thing is, it is a sitcom and you know it is supposed to be funny to a degree, and to me it's just far enough from reality to be able to walk away. The next episode would just be silly or wholesome antics. If it hurts, well I feel for you

Hey you might not be checking comments on this video but what are your plans after finishing all the field guides?

This episode hurts so bad

FWIW, Contra Points’ episode on cringe was very enlightening.

I think a lot of the cringe actually comes from the connotations with white guilt. Reparations and slavery after all, this is a white man promising black youth in the inner city. And then they put a comedic twist on this all which is absolutely hilarious and daring. It's honestly one of the funniest things you could even think of or imagine. Truly the show is remarkable

Michael doing the Chris Rock bit gets me every time 😂