Do you remember when the Scranton branch absorbed the Stamford branch and one of the Stamford employees asked how they get any work done? In all seriousness, how did Dunder Mifflin Scranton stay open? It seems like all of the employees were unqualified and if they were qualified, they were too busy being distracted by their coworkers’ antics and Michael Scott’s pointless meetings.
It has been almost five years since The Office ended, but we still remember every episode almost perfectly. That could have something to do with the fact that we’re constantly re-watching the series. All 201 episodes are available for binge-watching on Netflix (don’t you dare take this show from us, Netflix), but we all know some episodes are better than the others. Can you watch the “Threat Level Midnight” episode without laughing from start to finish? We think not.
1. “Stress Relief”
Season 5, Episodes 14 & 15
It all starts when Dwight stages an extremely realistic fire drill to test the fire safety skills of all the employees at Dunder Mifflin. It obviously does not go as planned, because… does anything Dwight does go as planned? Oscar tries to escape in the ceiling, Angela throws him one of her cats, and Andy screams “the fire’s shooting at us!” The drill ends with Stanley having a heart attack and Michael screaming at him that Barack Obama is President. Stanley lives, but Michael is inspired by his brush with death to try and find ways to relieve everyone’s stress. One of his ideas for this is to have a very public and hilarious roast of himself. Fun fact: This episode is also the most viewed episode of The Office of all time because it aired immediately after the Super Bowl that year.
2. “Dwight Christmas”
Season 9, Episode 9
Any time that Dwight shares Schrute family traditions with his co-workers, we all win. The party planning committee failed to plan something for the holiday, so Jim convinced them to let Dwight plan his own Christmas. It all kicked off with Dwight showing up to the office dressed as the Christmas gift-giver Belsnickel. Only Jim and Pam find Dwight’s antics and German cooking amusing. But when Jim announces he has to leave early for his other job, Dwight starts to beat him with his switch (which is also a great The Office blooper). This is also the party where Darryl gets so drunk he passes out and breaks the table after dancing. An iconic GIF.
3. “The Injury”
Season 2, Episode 12
This is the episode where Michael got the most Michael Scott-esque injury of all time and burned his foot on his George Foreman grill. Apparently, Michael used to leave a George Foreman grill next to his bed with bacon on it, so he could wake up to the smell of cooking bacon. Naturally. But even though he is the one who put the grill next to his bed, he forgot one morning and accidentally grilled his foot. Because Michael needs attention 24/7, he shows up to work over-dramatizing the injury as much as possible. The best part of the entire thing is that Dwight actually does suffer a concussion while trying to rescue his boss, and his concussed actions are seriously hilarious. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight. Dwight.
4. “Angry Andy”
Season 8, Episode 21
After Scranton and Stamford merged, Andy punched the wall and got sent to anger management classes in a fit of rage. Back then, Andy was kind of a jerk, especially to Dwight. But this time his anger management issues erupted again, Andy was much more relaxed, a lot more hilarious, and dating his perfect match, Erin. When Andy and Erin return to the office after he spends some time away, Andy learns that Nellie has taken over the position of manager and Robert California refuses to give Andy his job back. It results in Andy being publicly embarrassed when Erin tells Dwight that the shift is affecting their sex life. Dwight tells Nellie, who then holds a meeting about it for the entire office. Andy winds up punching the wall… again. Overall, a great episode.
5. “Initiation”
Season 3, Episode 5
On The Office, there is no day more important than Pretzel Day. Pretzel Day is when Stanley really shines. And while the antics and etiquette of the pretzel line cause some serious laughs during “Initiation,” that’s not the only thing happening in Scranton. Meanwhile, Dwight tries to give Ryan an initiation to the sales team after Ryan expresses his interest in making his first call. It was probably Ryan’s mistake to tell Dwight because, of course, the Assistant to the Regional Manager proceeds to take him to Schrute farms and essentially hazes him. He forces Ryan to wrestle his cousin Mose and really, every episode that has Mose in it is a good episode.
6. “Casual Friday”
Season 5, Episode 26
One of the best parts of every episode of The Office is the cold open, but this one has to be the best. Countless memes have been inspired by the opener of this fifth season classic, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Basically, Kevin is excited to bring in his famous chili, explaining how he stays up the night before cooking the chili. Of course, chaos ensues when the elevator is broken and Kevin accidentally drops (and rolls around in) his famous chili. Later on in the episode, casual Friday comes to the office and no one seems to get what that really means. Meredith upsets everyone when she wears a super short dress… without a bra or underwear… and winds up flashing everyone multiple times throughout the day. After that, casual Friday was canceled, of course.
7. “Dinner Party”
Season 4, Episode 13
For the first few seasons of The Office, Michael Scott desperately wanted Jim Halpert to think he was cool. Jim avoids Michael’s socializing requests time and time again, until Michael schemes to trap him and Pam into a double date. Michael cancels overtime, and even though Jim is convinced that Michael made up the overtime as an elaborate way to get him and Pam to Michael’s condo, there’s not much he can do about it. Michael also invites Andy and Angela (AKA the most awkward couple in the show’s history) and the weirdest dinner party ensues. Jan shows she just might be next-level crazy, and we learn about Michael’s multiple vasectomies and reversals. Dwight and his “date” (aka former babysitter) are just the cherry on top of a genuinely wild episode.
8. “Koi Pond”
Season 6, Episode 8
Jim and Michael go to a sales meeting together and at the end of the meeting, Michael falls into a fountain in the lobby of the client’s building. When they get back to the office, Michael claims he was caught in a crazy storm, not knowing that the security footage of when he fell in the koi pond has been made public. Everyone makes fun of him, so he tries to hold a sensitivity meeting, which obviously doesn’t go as planned. Jim tells him that in order to get everyone to stop mocking him, Michael needs to make fun of himself. It starts out funny but quickly turns tragic when everyone realizes just how lonely Michael is after Holly’s move.
9. “Stairmageddon”
Season 9, Episode 19
This episode showcases everyone’s fears about the upcoming release of The Office: An American Workplace, which does not portray most of the office in a very flattering light. On top of that, the elevator is out of service and everyone needs to take the stairs. When Stanley climbs to the top, he is greeted by Dwight, who says they need to go on a sales call. Stanley refuses to go back down the stairs and then walk back up them again. (Relatable.) Of course, this prompts Dwight to shoot him with a bull tranquilizer. He then wraps Stanley in bubble wrap and pushes him down the stairs. Stanley winds up closing the sales call – without any recollection of leaving the office at all. It’s one of those Office episodes that’s almost too ridiculous, but just enough so that it works.
10. “The Merger”
Season 3, Episode 8
The Dunder Mifflin Stamford branch merging with that of Scranton probably leads to some of the most hearty laughs The Office ever served. In order to welcome the new employees, Dwight and Michael create a “Lazy Sunday” parody video, appropriately titling it “Lazy Scranton.” Andy and Dwight’s inevitable rivalry starts off with a strong start in this episode when Andy swears he’ll be the #2 man at the Scranton office in just six weeks, using “name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake” to his advantage. One by one, the Stamford employees are thrown off by the insane environment in the Scranton office. When Michael makes the Stamford employees get on a table to show that no one at Scranton is above them, one man quits after Michael and Dwight forcibly try to help him get on the table when he cannot do it alone. It’s so cringeworthy – and yet, so funny.
11. “The Convict”
Season 3, Episode 9
Michael, Angela, Dwight, and Pam learn that there is a convict working in the office when they notice they’re getting money from a program set up for companies that employ felons. Later, they find out it’s someone who came with the Stamford branch, and of course – they can’t help but get curious as to who it could be. In order to make the office feel comfortable with their convict co-worker, Michael holds a meeting about prison… even though he’s obviously never been. During the meeting, his alter ego, Prison Mike, reveals the secrets about what happens behind bars. One of the best lines of the whole show comes when Prison Mike tells the office that the worst thing about prison is… the dementors. What a perfect character.
12. “Fun Run”
Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2
Season four starts off strong with Jim and Pam finally in an official relationship. That’s definitely not the highlight of the episode, but it deserves an honorable mention. At the beginning of “Fun Run,” Michael hits Meredith with his car in the parking lot of the office. She then has to go to the hospital for a fractured pelvis where she learns she actually has rabies – leading Michael to feel he’s actually saved his employee, not nearly killed her. Elsewhere, Dwight is instructed to care for Angela’s sick cat but decides to mercy kill it instead. It’s pretty classic Dwight, though admittedly sad when Angela announces she found her food all clawed up in the freezer where Dwight put her not-dead-yet cat.
13. “Threat Level Midnight”
Season 7, Episode 17
All the way back in season two, the office found out that Michael had written a screenplay and never finished it. It was called Threat Level Midnight and followed secret agent Michael Scran. Michael screens the movie for the office, which BTW, took him about ten years to film and stars many office faves. In Threat Level Midnight, Michael is asked by the President of the United Staes (played by Darryl) to stop Goldenface (played by Jim) from blowing up the NHL All-Star game. Scarn goes undercover and kills a hockey player (played by Oscar) so he can make it into the game – but is then shot by Goldenface during a confrontation. The movie itself makes this episode one of the best Office had to offer, but Michael’s sensitivity over the viewing is also a welcome bonus.
14. “Product Recall”
Season 3, Episode 20
Another episode with a hilarious cold opening is this one. Because Jim lives to upset Dwight, he pranks Dwight by dressing up as Dwight. He completely re-creates Dwight’s looks before actually pretending to be the man. He jokingly asks Dwight which bear is best, and it is only then that Dwight realizes Jim is making fun of him. “Identity fraud is not a joke, Jim.” Meanwhile, the rest of the office is thrown into chaos when reams of paper with a graphic cartoon of animals having sex are sent out in mass. We see Kelly teaching all of the accountants the right way to handle customer service calls, something really none of them were cut out for. Andy and Jim are sent to a high school to do damage control and Andy learns that yes, his girlfriend is actually in high school. So many cringes, but so much hilarity.
15. “Goodbye, Toby”
Season 4, Episode 14
Poor Toby, he really was the worst. Or at least, according to Michael (and later Andy). When Toby announces he is leaving the office, no one is more excited to see him go than Michael. Especially when Michael meets Toby’s replacement, Holly, and instantly falls head over heels for her. Jim spends hundreds of dollars on the party because he plans to use fireworks to propose to Pam. But his thunder is stolen when Andy proposes to Angela instead (who grudgingly accepts). Meanwhile, Holly is very kind to Kevin because she thinks he is mentally challenged, and because it’s Kevin, he thinks she’s interested in him. So many moving parts, yet they come together to form one of the funniest episodes of The Office ever.
16. “Diversity Day”
Season 1, Episode 2
This one probably hasn’t aged very well, but it’s still a classic episode of The Office that came during season one. The office needs to have a diversity day when Michael refuses to stop repeating a Chris Rock impression that pretty much everyone deems racist. They have a meeting about racial sensitivity but Michael takes offense and finds it boring. So instead, he stages a problematic game of “celebrity” where everyone must pretend to be someone of a different race. Michael Scott is SO problematic, but at least his heart is always in the right place?