Forgive me one quick detour into television because “The Office” says
goodbye this week after nine seasons on the air. Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s regional
manager, the perennially buffoonish yet lovable Michael Scott, departed the
series back in Season 7, but the show chugged along without him. The show was
never quite the same, but it was as good as it could have been without him. As
a tribute to one of the last popular NBC sitcoms (RIP Must See TV) here are ten
of my personal favorite Office episodes. It’s always hard (that’s what she
said) to come up with a list of ten episodes when there are 200 to choose from,
but I found a nice mix of great episodes. Not all of them are necessarily
considered the “best” episodes but they are ones I could watch over and over
again.
10 Scott’s Tots
(Season 6)
“I have made some
empty promises in my life, but hands down that was the most generous.” –
Michael
One of The Office’s most hated episodes is actually one of my
favorites. Why? Because it’s the epitome of the show’s awkwardness involving
the well-meaning but overwhelmingly horrible acts of stupidity by Michael
Scott. It turns out that Michael Scott once promised a bunch of young
inner-city children that he would pay for their college education if they
successfully graduated from high school – his rationale being that he’d be a
very wealthy future businessman. These kids, known as Scott’s Tots, praise Mr.
Scott – and even sing him a song – in excruciatingly hilarious ways until he
finally reveals that he can’t afford his promise, though he does buy them all
laptop batteries. This is also a great showcase for receptionist Erin, first
introduced in season five, who quickly became one of the show’s more recently
hilarious characters. Also notable: Dwight’s disturbingly accurate
impersonations of Kevin, Stanley, and Toby.
9 The Surplus (Season
5)
“How is it possible
that in five years I’ve had two engagement rings, and only one chair?” - Pam
I haven’t been shy about my love for great standalone episodes of The
Office. The Surplus is a prime example of a great episode that is classic for
many reasons without really broadening the overall story of the series.
Accountant Oscar finds the branch has a surplus so he encourages Michael to
spend the money so corporate doesn’t trim their budget. But the dilemma comes
with deciding what to spend the money on: Oscar insists a new copy machine
while Pam insists on replacing all the office chairs. A war between copier
supporters and chair supporters soon erupts. Watching Michael attempt to deal
with the situation, – including being hilariously wooed and manipulated by both
sides – and his ultimate outcome is truly rewarding. A subplot about Angela and
Andy scoping out Schrute Farms as a possible wedding location is also great.
8 Women’s
Appreciation (Season 3)
“Sometimes the clothes
at Gap Kids are just too flashy. So, I'm forced to go to the American Girl
store and order clothes for large colonial dolls.” - Angela
Michael Scott is never at his goofy, clueless best when he
thinks he’s doing a good thing. Case in point, in “Women’s Appreciation” he’s
never been more offensive as a guy trying to relate to women by taking his
female employees to the mall after Phyllis is flashed by a guy in the parking
lot. Dwight takes over the office by removing all phallic items, requiring
women to cover up and making it his mission to find the flasher. A subplot
about the male employees discovering the awesomeness of the ladies bathroom is
simply hilarious as is Pam’s wanted poster sketch for the flasher that looks
suspiciously like Dwight. This is a great episode for highlighting some of
Dunder Mifflin’s female characters including a ride in Meredith’s van and the
fact that Angela shops for clothes at the American Girl store. And Michael
Scott’s flasher impersonation is as hilarious as it is obscene.
7 The Injury (Season
2)
“I want you to rub
butter on my foot. Pam please, I have Country Crock.” - Michael
A classic early episode features Michael Scott burning his
foot on a George Forman grill – because he likes to set up his grill on his
bedroom floor to cook bacon in the morning. Dwight rushes to his aid that
morning and accidently rams his car into a metal poll, giving him a concussion
– though no one knows it. And here we set up a model Office scenario. Dwight is
the real injured person yet Michael Scott makes everything about him and his
burnt foot. Michael even forces everyone in the office to a seminar on
disabilities - with a guest speaker in a wheelchair. This is a classic
Dwight-centric episode that features Rainn Wilson’s true comedic skills,
including a hilariously timed “that’s what she said.”
6 Golden Ticket
(Season 5)
“I love candy, sweet
sugary candy. From the second it touches my tongue to the moment it’s
metabolized by my stomach acids. So naturally I liked ‘Willy Wonka.’”- Dwight
The Office was one of the last great shows to feature
terrific stand alone episodes. Yes, the show featured overarching plotlines,
but the show truly shined with it’s more character driven episodes. In “golden
Ticket” Michael Scott takes a note from Willy Wonka and hides five golden
tickets inside five boxes of Dunder Mifflin paper. Problem, is all five tickets
wind up at the same client – their largest client in fact - which proves to be
problem since the company will end up losing money. Michael ends up forcing
Dwight to take the rap. But in true great television sitcom fashion things
don’t always end up the way you expect. Michael Scott trying to emulate Willy
Wonka is hilarious and Michael Scott trying to skirt the wrath of David Wallace
and pinning it on Dwight is classic Office stuff.
5 Stress Relief
(Season 5)
“I’ve got to make sure
that YouTube comes down to tape this.”- Michael
The opening scene of this episode – involving Dwight’s
staged fire drill – was extremely zany (but a truly wonderful highlight of
hilarious physical comedy). And of course it was, this is the episode that
premiered after the Super Bowl. Its gimmicky-ness aside the episode was a great
highlight of the season’s wonderful fifth season. Michael’s discovery that he
is the cause of his office worker’s stress is a truly wonderful - yet obvious -
revelation. The scene involving a CPR training session, which turns into the
employees breaking out into “Stayin’ Alive”- is pretty great – though the
subplot about Jim, Pam, and Andy watching a pirated movie starring Jessica Alba
and Jack Black is completely forgettable. But the real highlight is the roast
Michael throws for himself – and his employees really let him have it: for
instance, Kelly says she’d rather make out with Kevin and Lord Voldemort than
Michael Scott. The show was always at its uncomfortable best when Michael Scott
was being humbled.
4 Goodbye, Toby
(Season 4)
“Pass metal curvy
piece, you will.”- Holly
The season four finale is probably considered one of the
best of the series’ season finales. “Goodbye Toby” said goodbye to HR Rep Toby
Flenderson – Michael Scott’s nemesis – and introduced Holly Flax, Michael
Scott’s quirky soul mate. Amy Ryan’s Holly instantly became a favorite and
continued to be one of the show’s more popular guest stars. This episode has so
many great moments: like Dwight hazing Holly by telling her that Kevin is
mentally challenged – a prank that even carries over into the following season,
Michael Scott seeing a pregnant Jan at the supermarket, and let’s not forget
that brilliant final shot of Phyllis catching Dwight and Angela in the act –
not long after Angela had accepted Andy’s marriage proposal.
3 Niagara (Season 6)
“I have painted a
portrait of the two of them from memory. And I have another one of them in the
nude. But that one is for me.”- Michael
The whole “will they or won’t they” Jim & Pam storyline
came to a spectacular head with this epic wedding themed episode about
everyone’s favorite Office romancers (besides Angela and Dwight of course)
finally walking down the aisle together. But not before some hilarious
shenanigans involving Pam’s conservative grandmother, Andy tearing his scrotum,
and Dwight hooking up with Pam’s friend Isabel. The wedding scene is terrific
including a spoof of that popular wedding dance video circling the Internet at
the time. It was the perfect series finale… except that the show went on for
three more arguably unnecessary seasons.
2 Fun Run (Season 4)
“It is up to me to get
rid of the curse that hit Meredith with my car. I'm not superstitious but I'm a
little stitious.”- Michael
The “Fun Run” episode holds a special place in my heart
because this was the first Office episode that really got me into the show. I
had seen earlier episodes from season one and two that just didn’t do that much
for me. There’s something about Michael Scott trying to do something good but
doing it completely wrong and misguided that just made this show click.
The idea that he would set up a 5k race to cure something like rabies (after running over Meredith with her car) was just
a hilarious idea. This episode also finally introduced Jim and Pam as an actual
couple, something fans had been waiting to see for almost four years.
1 Dinner Party
(Season 4)
“You know, Pam, in
Spain they often don’t even start eating until midnight.”- Jan
One of the real highlights of a sitcom like “The Office” was
its surreal sense of awkwardness. And the show was never more uncomfortable
then during the “Dinner Party” episode which featured Michael Scott throwing a
dinner party for Jim & Pam and Andy & Angela, with his fired live-in
girlfriend/total train wreck Jan Levenson. Michael and Jan’s rocky relationship
literally disintegrates as the evening progresses and their guests watch in
horror, and we watch in awkwardness and hilarity. This Emmy-nominated episode
for Best Writing is an outstanding example of the show at a complete creative
highpoint and most of the episode isn’t even set in the Dunder Mifflin office. I
was always a big fan of Jan – Melora Hardin has great comic ability – and
watching her seemingly well put together character slowly unravel as the series
progressed. She reaches the pinnacle of insanity here and the audience is
forever grateful.
Honorable Mentions:
Christmas Party
(Season 2) The first of many Christmas-themed episodes is a real present.
Michael turns the offices secret Santa celebration into a Yankee swap, which
gets uncomfortable since everyone bought gifts for specific people and Michael
eventually buys fifteen bottles of vodka to liven things up.
Email Surveillance
(Season 2) This hilarious episode revolves around Jim throwing an after
work party that Michael’s not invited to. But the company has just installed
email surveillance software so he sees Jim’s email invites, so he awkwardly
tries to get in on the party.
Murder (Season 6) This
is a highlight episode during the plotline about Dunder Mifflin going under and
eventually being bought out by office supply company Sabre. In order to
distract his employees from possible bad news about the possibility of Dunder
Mifflin going bankrupt, Michael sets up a murder mystery game with some
wonderfully hilarious results.
Money (Season 4) This
wonderful doubled sized episode features two terrifically entertaining plots.
One involves Michael having to get a night job at a telemarketing company and
Jim and Pam spending a night at Schrute Farms which Dwight has turned into a
bed & breakfast.
Michael Scott Paper
Company (Season 5) I simply loved Season 5’s Michael Scott Paper Company
storyline. A new corporate boss comes in and changes things up which leads
Michael Scott to quit and start his own rival paper company – in the same
building. It’s really fun to see Michael, Pam, and Ryan squeezed into a tiny
office and the ensuing complications. This episode also features the
introduction of new receptionist Erin who replaced Pam when she left to work
with Michael.
My All Time Favorite Office Moment:
Worst Episode:
The Banker (Season 6)
I hardly hate any episode of The Office, but this episode was bad for one main reason: after waiting six
weeks while the show was on winter break, the show returned with a clip show. A
banker hired by the new company owner Sabre arrives to fact check the office.
Various clips from the past seasons proceed to fill a majority of the episode’s
runtime. The clips are hilarious as a “best of The Office” type of episode, but
this felt more like DVD bonus material than a real Office episode. There’s
nothing really particularly bad about it since the clips are all funny, it’s
just insulting and lazy, the true definition of a clip show in the first place.
And now, I leave you with some Creed Thoughts:
“I'm not offended by homosexuality. In the '60s, I made love
to many, many women, often outdoors, in the mud and the rain, and it's possible
a man slipped in. There would be no way of knowing.”
“I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in
my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death.”
“The only difference between me and a homeless man is this
job. I will do whatever it takes to survive. Like I did when I was a homeless
man.”
“I've been involved in a number of cults both as a leader
and a follower. You have more fun as a follower but you make more money as a
leader.”
“I'm a pretty normal guy. I do one weird thing. I like to go
in the women's room for number 2. I've been caught several times, and I have
paid dearly.”
“That’s Andrea the office bitch. You'll get used to her.
[shakes hand] Creed.”
“You don't go by Monopoly, man, that game is nuts!
Nobody just picks up ‘get out of jail free’ cards. Those things cost
thousands!”
“When Pam gets Micheal's new chair, I get Pam's old chair.
Then I'll have two chairs. Only one to go.”
“If I can't SCUBA then what's this all been about?? What am
I working toward?”
“You ever notice you can only ooze two things? Sexuality and
puss. Man I tell ya.”
