Company Picnic

Squeaky Yugi

New member
I watched the episode "Company Picnic" a while back, but I was confused? What was wrong with Hal's new boss, and why did he decide to "fire" him?
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
That was quite an ingenious plot. See, Hal's boss thought that Hal was his boss. Hal didn't want to admit he was actually his subordinate, so he decided to fire his own boss instead. Only MITM could pull something like that off.
 

PecanSandies

New member
I'm going to have to watch the episode again. I just taped it from the syndication run. I guess I wasn't paying very much attention to WHY Hal was freaked out about meeting his boss.
 

PecanSandies

New member
The episode is actually a two-parter (or was it an hour episode split for syndication?), so I was wondering why UPN 35 was repeating the same episode twice when I looked at the discription for this afternoon's episodes on the DirecTV guide.
I don't believe that Hal actually talked to his boss in part 1, or maybe I might have missed it.
 

allison

New member
Actually it´s kind of confusing since you don´t know the family´s surname (at least it has never been mentioned on the show). So the first time Hal´s boss calls him Mr. Landon it´s actually not obvious that he mixed up the names. But I´m not sure, I haven´t seen this episode for a long time.
 

PecanSandies

New member
I like how Hal turned "Mr. Landon" into his alias, so the boss never actually met THE Hal.

I wonder if in the final season we'll finally figure out the name of the company Hal works for.
It seems like we know everything about Lois (She works at Lucky Aid, ect), but things about Hal remain secret, such as the name of his workplace, his (And the family's) last name.

I still use Wilkerson as the default last name like everyone else, but I know it could turn out to be something else.
 

allison

New member
That´s interesting. You´re right, it seems like we know a lot more about Lois than about Hal. We know both of her parents (we´ve only seen Hal´s father once), we know where she works, we know that Victor had another family and we can even guess her age since she turned 38 in Lois´birthday.
It seems like Hal´s work is supposed to remain a secret. Not even Bryan Cranston knows what Hal does for his living. (I read an interview where he said it would be good if they made an episode about Hal´s work and where you can see what he´s doing all day long). The only thing we know is that he can´t stand his work.
I think I missed some important things. How did Lois get her job back after she got fired in "Reese joins the army"?
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I don't recall how Lois got her job back. Craig maybe? We don't know what Hal's job is, but it's important to remember that it changed early in season six. DId we learn about it then, I really don't remember.
 

PecanSandies

New member
I recall at some point that he went from the office to working at a store similar to Circuit City and Best Buy where his co-workers were total slackers.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
That was just for an episode, Stereo Store, when Lois' doctor told her she should stay with her sister to escape the stress of her home for awhile while she was pregnant; the family was a bit low on money, so Hal took that second job and got the boys a babysitter who happened to be the same age as them. Great episode.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
You guys have made great points, I agree that it is unusual that they have given information on Lois's occupation and where she works, but they haven't for Hal. He seems to do a lot of work from home and work short days at the office because he always seems to be home either before the boys get home or arrives home not long after.

And the last name, I don't know why they decided against giving the family a last name.
 

Garbage Kills Megan

parties with your mom
The use the name Wilkerson when they talk about the family outside of the show. I first heard it in used by the voiceover in the little documentary about MITM on the DVD. They also use it in articles, like one I saw in TV Guide that was doing the top 10 or 20 tv brats and they listed "Reese Wilkerson" So it seems the writers, or perhaps Linwood Boomer himself, have decided on a name, but it has never been said in an episode.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Linwood Boomer thought of giving them that last name, and it was set to appear in the Pilot, but they scraped it at the last minute, feeling it may limit storylines too much. For more information, simply search the offiicial forums.
 
D

Deleted member 1693

Guest
Water Park and Traffic Jam is my favorite two parter, but it used to be Company Picnic.

This is mainly because of experience. I had a crush on my best friend a long time ago and finally got a chance to meet him again. Fortunately, we didn't get stuck together playing a game, but unfortunately, it felt like he was avoiding me. I'm still kind of mad about that.
 
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