S01E03 - Articles of Incorporation
No: 3 | Season: 1 Episode: 3 | Air Date: 20-Apr-14 | Ratings: 1.62
Summary
After they discover the Pied Piper name is already being used by a local irrigation company, Richard attempts to legally acquire the name. In their own attempt to resolve the problem, Jared, Dinesh and Gilfoyle brainstorm new names for the company, while Erlich decides to ingest hallucinogenic drugs and embark on a "vision quest" to discover new name possibilities. Meanwhile at Raviga, Peter Gregory becomes inexplicably obsessed with fast food and instructs his assistant to purchase one of each item on the Burger King menu. Surprisingly, after sampling the Burger King fare, he is able to make a remarkably shrewd business decision.
Director and Writers
Director: Tricia Brock
Written by: Matteo Borghese & Rob Turbovsky
Quotes
Jared: My name's only Jared because Gavin called me that on my first day. My real name is Donald.
Dinesh: You know "smiler" is also something that guys call women's assholes.
Jared: If you keep screaming your name, it forces the assailant to acknowledge you as a human.
Peter: Is there cumin in this barbecue sauce?
Evan: I will definitely find out.
Erlich: Time is a sphere, and I have been reincarnated during the same time period in which I exist.
Music
"Stretch Your Face" by Tobacco (Opening title music)
"Hey Lover" by Blake Mills (End-credits music.)
Notes and Trivia
When the "Burger King" scenes were filmed the prop team had to make several trips to Burger King as the day went on, just so everything continued to look fresh. Apparently, the food dries out quickly, and then it doesn't look right.
When Peter Gregory decides he is going to invest in sesame seeds, the writers are likely making a reference to a real-world situation involving Bill Gates and peas.
Writer Dan O'Keefe had originally come up with the line about the logo looking like a guy "sucking a dick". However, it was Kumail Nanjiani who improvved the part about the "snack dick".
According to the DVD commentary, the Burger King plotline was based on a "very prominent Hollywood director" who had asked everyone if they'd ever eaten Burger King, and then had his assistant go out and buy one of each item on the menu.
According to the DVD commentary, when Richard and Erlich are speaking on the phone, Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) are actually playing a real game of "Call of Duty" in the background.
According to Mike Judge, the Burger King plotline was not a case of product placement.
To prepare for the scene where they are brainstorming names, production forced Zach Woods to write the entire list of names on the whiteboard in his own handwriting for continuity.
The writers got the idea of the characters repeatedly saying their names from "Silence of the Lambs", where the mother purposefully repeats her daughter's name in an attempt to humanize her in the eyes of the kidnapper.
When Erlich is brainstorming new names for the company he mentions "Infotrode". Many fans of Mike Judge's work have pointed out that this name is very similar to the name "Initrode", which was a rival company to "Initech", the company featured in the Mike Judge movie "Office Space".
Goofs
In this episode, Peter Gregory pretends he has never heard of Burger King before. However, in the first episode of the series he actually tells Richard, "Go work at Burger King.", when Richard met him on the street after Peter's TED Talk.
Locations
The establishing shot of the outside of the "Raviga" offices were taken at the Woodbury University School of Business, Burbank Campus, 7500 North Glenoaks Boulevard, Burbank, CA.
The "BevMo!" store where Richard purchases the margarita maker is actually located at 6520 Canoga Ave, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, CA 91303.
Cast
Starring | Thomas Middleditch | Richard Hendricks |
Starring | T.J. Miller | Erlich Bachman |
Starring | Josh Brener | Nelson 'Big Head' Bighetti (credit only) |
Starring | Martin Starr | Bertram Gilfoyle |
Starring | Kumail Nanjiani | Dinesh Chugtai |
Starring | Christopher Evan Welch | Peter Gregory |
Starring | Amanda Crew | Monica Hall |
Starring | Zach Woods | Donald 'Jared' Dunn |
Co-Starring | Juliocesar Chavez | Rogilio |
Co-Starring | Dustyn Gulledge | Evan |
Co-Starring | Karen James | Kelsey |
Co-Starring | Jim Lau | Delivery Guy |
Co-Starring | Anil Margsahayam | Astraphile Manager |
Co-Starring | Jimmy O. Yang | Jian Yang (as Jimmy Ouyang) |
Guest Starring | Eugene Cordero | Jamie (BevMo! Sales Clerk) |
Guest Starring | Adam Lustick | Astraphile Manager |
Guest Starring | Casey Sander | Arnold Garris |
With | Matt Ross | Gavin Belson |