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In the Negotiation episode of The Office, Roy tries to attack Jim and Dwight intervenes in the fight and stops it using pepper spray.

Meanwhile in Vandalism episode Frank tries to attack Pam, and Brian the boom mike guy saves her. Why didn't Brian try to stop Roy even though he has been filming them for 9 years?

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    A fight between two men is quite different from a man atatcking a woman!
    – Paulie_D
    Oct 10, 2018 at 16:19

2 Answers 2

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There are a number of possible reasons.

  1. The Jim/Roy fight was between two men while the attack against Pam was a man attacking a woman.
  2. Dwight was already quick to intervene in the Jim/Roy fight, in fact there is quite a bit of emphasis on Dwight's quick acting heroism.
  3. Its possible the boom mic guy didn't even work on the set for the first fight as it happened years earlier. (Update: after rewatching, they do mention that he has been working on the show since the beginning so this point is invalid)
  4. As evidenced at the end of the series, the crew was quite emotionally invested in the characters by the end of the show but were probably not as invested in Season 3.

    EDIT:
  5. Brian's character plays an important role in the story of Jim and Pam drifting apart in the final season.
  6. This is the first time in the series that anyone in the film crew breaks the 4th wall and Brian gets in trouble for it the first time when he comforts Pam and then gets fired for intervening. They were under strict orders NOT to intervene.
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  • Additionally, the Jim vs Roy fight was conflict between two "main" characters, and thus would make for good TV, even if Dwight hadn't intervened. With Frank vs. Pam, Frank was basically a one-off extra character who we've never seen before and will never see again, so it makes more sense to protect a more valuable cast member.
    – Mage Xy
    Oct 10, 2018 at 20:40
  • They probably also only use the boom mics when outdoors and they have room, everyone has a wireless mic while they are in the office and they seem to remove them at the end of the day in general. We see boom and parabolic mics used outside the office.
    – John Meacham
    Sep 5, 2020 at 2:02
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The other important point the other answer missed is that Pam was alone in the parking lot when Frank charged towards her. Only the crew (Cameraman & boom mic guy) were there. So naturally, Mike intervened & saved Pam.

When Roy attacked Jim, there were other people around to intervene so the crew could let the confrontation play. But if they let Frank attack Pam while they film it, it would be pretty shameful & inhumane on their part

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  • "But if they let Frank attack Pam while they film it, it would be pretty shameful & inhumane on their part" Funny enough, this is what Brian was expected to do, since he got fired for intervening.
    – JMac
    Oct 11, 2018 at 12:51
  • Yeah, I thought him getting fired for that was absurd.
    – ruffdove
    Nov 18, 2020 at 0:37

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