explained, "it gets kind of tiring and old. I think it was the appropriate time [to leave], and I had such a great experience working with all those guys." Denman also added that Daniels' decision stemmed from a desire to advance the Jim–Pam storyline "to the next stage," rather than having anything to do specifically with Denman himself. Denman briefly returned in the series' fifth, seventh, and ninth seasons. Actress Kate Flannery, who plays Meredith Palmer, attributed her love of the episode to Craig Robinson, because the two shared an enjoyment of singing together ever since the first season episode "Basketball". She explained, "We sing on the set and in the hair and makeup trailer. We sound good together, but sometimes people are not in the mood to hear our amazing duets, mostly from the '80s." Flannery believed that Robinson's performance in the episode was "very funny," as his character served as a "great foil for Michael Scott." "The Negotiation" featured the return of character Andy Bernard, who had last been seen in the episode "The Return", as he was attending anger management classes. At the time "The Return" aired, no one was certain Helms would be returning, but in early February, NBC confirmed Helms had been hired on as a series regular for the rest of the year. In early 2007, the first half of "The Negotiation" was screened before fans at Paleyfest, along with its preceding episode, "Cocktails". According to Eric Goldman of IGN, "the crowd reacted gleefully to watching the series in the group setting... laughing uproariously at the never ending stream of terrifically funny material." Part of "The Negotiation" involved Michael Scott reading the English Wikipedia entry on negotiations for advice in his attempt to fend off Darryl's request for a pay raise. This scene triggered a plethora of activity around that particular article, as viewers added their own thoughts on the subject. It was ultimately placed into "semi-protection" mode by English Wikipedia administrators to discourage false information and vandalism among anonymous IP users. One hundred edits were added before the security protection was added. Reception "The Negotiation" first aired on April 5, 2007 in the United States on NBC as a "super-sized" episode, a term used by the network and media outlets to indicate an unusually long episode. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was viewed by an estimated 6.7 million people and earned a