Unlike the birth of Jim and Pam’s first child Cecelia (“Cece”), which featured prominently in Season 6’s double episode The Delivery, Cece’s little brother Philip came into the world this week with little fanfare.
Pam wrote about Philip’s birth at the Halpert Baby blog:
It’s official! I’ve said goodbye to my lovely lady bump, and hello to baby Philip Halpert!!! Everything went really smoothly. He was delivered completely healthy, and so happy that he was giving a thumbs up on the way out. Afterward, I had to stay for the recommended 48-hours (which is a little long to be eating questionable hospital soup and rock hard rolls, but I made it through).
Jim asked the doctor if there’s anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth, and I shouted out, “Yes! Pregnancy!” LOL. When we brought Philip home, Cece was overwhelmed with emotion. First she threw her Vtech at the wall and started crying, but then all she wanted to do was be near him. It was pretty adorable. Now I just need to get her to be able to say “Philip” instead of “Pull-Up” so I’m not instinctively rushing to her side with Huggies every time :)
I have been waiting to see how Jim and Pam would react to this birth in comparison to Cece’s and now we won’t get to see it at all. We diehard Jam fans want to see those special moments!!
Disappointing. I wasn’t expecting an entire episode or plot line but a mere mention of it would have been nice/appropriate. We’re talking about two people who allowed the camera crew into the hosptial during the birth of their first child. No mention of it to the crew with Philip’s arrival is egregious.
This makes me sad. I know they said there would be no “baby delivery” episode this season, and I was fine with that, but to have absolutely no mention of it other than “Pam’s on maternity leave” – I just don’t understand. The set-up of the show is that we are to believe this is a “documentary” of these people’s lives so to have no mention of it is bizarre given the nature of the show. I feel like they’ve become afraid to give Jim and Pam too much of the story lines these days which is a shame because they are a big part of what drew people to the show in the first place. And consequently, I’m afraid that’s what is going to slowly drive people away. We don’t need the Jim and Pam show, but every now and then we’d like to know they (and their new baby) still matter in this show.
It’s like they’ve forgotten that a large amount of their viewership started watching for Jim and Pam and only continues to tune in for Jim and Pam.
Feels kind of disrespectful to the viewership, tbh.
I agree Beth, it seems like a slap in the face to us and to Jim and Pam. They were such a huge part of why I fell in love with this show. Now I feel like they just throw us a bone of some JAM love to keep us happy. It’s pretty ridiculous that they didn’t mention Pam having her second baby.
I am so upset about this….Jim and Pam are what make this show so great. They are the reason I’ve watched all these years. I’ve been heartbroken this season with how few real JAM moments there have been. The writing and their demeanor in the few episodes before Pam left have almost seemed like they are having marital problems or something. I mean, come on, there is no way that the Jim we all know would have left his extremely pregnant wife alone at the office to go on a field trip two hours away, or just barely mention in passing that his wife is on maternity leave, and he certainly wouldn’t let the birth if his son go unmentioned. They have really written him out of character this year and it breaks my heart.
I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said by the posters before me. I agree. It’s ridiculous that they didn’t even give Jim a 15-second talking head to say something about the birth of their son. I don’t like how the show has completely side-lined their relationship. They are the main reason I continue to watch.
I’m a big Jim & Pam fan — and hearing that Baby Phillip was born — and it wasn’t acknowledged on the show — makes me sad.
>:(
I find the decision not to mention the baby’s birth in this episode so odd, that I can’t help but think there must be a good reason for it. I don’t think the writers are being disrespectful to Jim and Pam, I think it’s just the opposite. Jenna was on maternity leave, they didn’t have Pam and they couldn’t show us the baby, so they maybe thought that it would be weird to introduce the new baby in. 15 second talking head and not mention him again for the rest of the episode. Maybe they’re waiting for Jenna to come back so that they can properly introduce Phillip to the viewers. In the meantime, Pam has been pregnant for too long, the baby needs to be born, so they decide to use the baby blog to announce his birth. The timing wasn’t great – the episode was both written and filmed long before the blog entry was written, so there was no mention of the birth in the episode.
I agree with every post. So, this is what “we” wanted:
Jim: (Talking head). Yup, Philip was born last Tuesday. [shows a pic on his phone]. Eight pounds, five ounces. I haven’t slept in days. [smiles at the camera] couldn’t be happier.
Is it too much to ask? NOPE! It’s not even 10 seconds. It would have made the Erin/Andy/Andy’s girlfriend plot much more bearable.
Tanster — do you know if the baby pictured in the blog is Jenna’s or another woman’s son? Just curious if Jenna is going to have her baby be Pam’s baby too or if they will have a different child like with Cece.
I agree with #10. They probably couldn’t get Jenna to film with the timing issues but when she comes back, they’ll probably mention it. I like JAM stuff but I don’t see what’s the big deal is. I have a feeling that they’re going to coincide the Phillip’s announcement with Angela’s baby. I just hope the writers don’t go down the same route of inserting the baby into the show like they did with CeCe.
While I agree that there will probably be some big announcement when Jenna Fischer returns, a little something in Mrs. California or Christmas Wishes would have been nice.
To me the oddest thing was their choice to release the news in only one place, and that place being a blog on NBC.com. I agree with post #11. Jim making the announcement in a talking head during the Christmas episode would have been appropriate. We are talking about the birth of his son. And, how many viewers of The Office even visit the NBC blog? They buried the news of Philip’s birth on a site removed from the actual show and its viewership. And, I hope that I’m wrong about this, Pam wasn’t mentioned in the Christmas episode, either. Not by Jim. Not by anyone.
I’m pretty sure that the writers of the episodes are not the writers of the blog. What is possible that happened is that maybe the first episode in the spring addresses it, and whoever reviews the script told some intern to write a blog post about. Just my guess, though.
I’ll bet they’ll say something when they come back to air – maybe Jim didn’t have time to film a talking head before the crew “wrapped” for the holidays.
Stay optimistic, people! :)
Even if they do address when they come back in January, it’s going to be a month or so overdue. There’s no excuse for not having a 10 second TH where Jim addressed Pam’s absence.
Guys, they didn’t show Philip’s birth because Jenna Fischer was actually pregnant, therefore her maternity leave for Pam was really a maternity leave for Jenna.
Jenna Fisher was actually pregnant and actually on maternity leave during filming. That’s why there’s no hospital scenes, yes I agree they should have mentioned it a little more but don’t me mad cause she was just taking break to focus on her actual child. :)