Chris Haston/NBCForget NBC's Leno mishap. The peacock net's greatest crime against humanity must be this:
They are putting Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) in labor for two whole weeks—after a 10-month pregnancy!
As we previously reported, Pam's original due date of February was pushed to March due to the Olympics, and now NBC wants a two-parter ratings bonanza, so Pam will give birth in a two-episode arc on The Office on March 4 and March 11.
So why the long labor? And what's up with Kathy Bates guest-starring? Here's what boss Greg Daniels just told us:
"It's a big thing," Daniels says of the Halpert bambino's entrance into the world. Well, duh! But how does it go down?
"Part of the concept is that Pam is trying to hold the baby in until after midnight so that she can get the maximum time in the hospital, so the HMO will...If she comes in at 11:50, her first day is 10 minutes and then she gets 24 hours after that, so she's trying to keep the baby in while she's at work and trying to distract herself. That's the plot of the first half-hour."
As if she didn't already find the office torturous enough, right? And Daniels says the rest of the Dunder Mifflin gang will be in on it: "They are all aware that she's in labor, and she pushes it maybe too far." Well, at least they have the world's most prepared watermelon-birther on hand, Dwight Schrute!
Meanwhile, Kathy Bates is coming on board as CEO of the new parent company that buys Dunder Mifflin. Daniels tells us of her character:
"She's a larger than life character. She has two giant Great Danes that accompany her to the office, and she's very funny. Fantastic actress. We're very excited to have an Academy Award person on the show."
Will you be watching the birth of the Halpert baby? Is your money on a boy or girl? Got a name?
And hey, I suppose it could be worse. Alpine salamanders are pregnant for 38 months.