Now You Can Smell Along With ‘The Office’s ‘Dinner Party’ Episode

Damian Holbrook August 26, 2019, 9:00 am

Fans of The Office know that watching the Emmy-winning NBC comedy (2005–13) often feels uncomfortable, but for the first time, they can also smell the pain.

For Cozi TV’s airing of “Dinner Party” — 2008’s excruciatingly funny Season 4 episode that saw odd couple Michael Scott (Steve Carell, above) and Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin, below) host the world’s worst get-together with duo Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer), Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) — the retro network has created scratch-and-sniff cards that cater to the outing’s most memorable scenes.

Sound crazier than Dwight (Rainn Wilson) crashing the fete with his childhood babysitter (Beth Grant)?

We make scents, er, sense of this wild idea!

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Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Would Be Proud

You can sign up on Cozi TV’s Facebook page to receive your card in the mail — and use it again when Cozi repeats the episode September 2 at 10/9c.

When in Aroma…

An onscreen pop-up of Hardin will alert viewers when to activate the appropriate fragrance. Since the episode introduces Jan’s penchant for DIY candle-making, one smell is Bonfire (obviously!).

(Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank)

“A campfire-scented candle is something people actually buy, so that [scent] was easy to acquire,” says Cozi’s creative director Tom Hill.

Other olfactory flavors include the wine Pam brings and the night’s entrée, osso buco. “Oh, it’s so terrible,” Hardin says of the savory blend. “It’s unbelievable how bad it is!”

Filming Stank Too

“It was very, very, very hot and we were in a tiny little condominium in [L.A.’s] San Fernando Valley and it was just, wow,” Hardin recalls of shooting the episode, which earned its writers an Emmy nom. “They had to turn the air conditioner off for sound reasons, so it was just scorching in there.”