Top 10 Episodes of the Office (10, 9, 8)

My Top 10 (Non-Disqualified) Episodes of the Office

The Office! This is my favorite TV Show of all time, which is saying a lot. There are so many hilarious actors that you could put any two characters together and they’ll find a way to make it funny. Over the course of 9 seasons there are 201 episodes (if you count double-length episodes as two). I decided to give a snap shot of The Office by picking out 10 episodes that showcase why I love this show so much.

 

Disqualified Episode: Dinner Party

I also wanted my Top 10 List to be distinct from all of the other lists you might find. There are some very well-known episodes that everyone talks about. I didn’t want to focus on these episodes, because there are so many great episodes in that 201 total. I decided to scour the internet for other lists of great episodes of the Office. I kept track of the lists and I disqualified any episode that I found on 5 or more lists. Not to say that those aren’t great episodes, but I wanted to focus on episodes that might otherwise get over-looked. So I present to you, My Top 10 (Non-Disqualified) episodes of The Office.

Note: Disqualified Episodes consist of Diversity Day, The Dundies, Booze Cruise, The Injury, Casino Night, Gay Witch Hunt, The Convict, Beach Games, The Job, Fun Run, Dinner Party, Goodbye Toby, Stress Relief, Niagara, Threat Level Midnight, Garage Sale, Goodbye Michael, and Finale.

 

#10: After Hours (Season 8, Episode 16) 

 
Favorite Quote:

“Five dots Darryl, are you kidding me?! Ok, three dots means to be continued, four dots is a typo, but five dots means, whoa! Do not make me say what I want to say, but if I did, it would blow your mind, dot dot dot dot dot” – Kelly

 

Dwight prepares to check Jim's bed for bed bugs

I know it might seem crazy to start off with a post-Michael Scott episode, but hear me out. The entire Florida arc in season 8 is gold. As you’ll see a few times in this list, I love episodes that take our characters out of the familiar Dunder Mifflin setting and see how they act in the real world. In this episode, we see how they interact after hours in the hotel. In the lobby, we have Dwight and Todd Packer competing for the butt-kisser of the year award as they try to schmooze their way to a promotion. This is probably the most likable I’ve ever found Packer. Sure, he’s still a jerk, but he’s not being perverted and it’s fun to see him and Dwight keep trying to one-up each other. The other big story is the new girl, Cathy trying to seduce Jim. Of course he’d never cheat on Pam, but he didn’t just turn her down. He put his pranking mind put to good use. Getting rid of a horny woman by convincing Dwight to strip down and fart in your bed is genius! Props to Jim for not only staying loyal, but doing it in a creative way.

 

Darryl and Val react to Brandon's accusations

The B story in this episode also brings its A Game. Everyone back at the office is working late, and their attention is quickly shifted from work to gossiping about Darryl’s personal life. It basically becomes an episode of Maury. It has all the elements: Surprise guests, boyfriend confrontations, explorations of feelings, examining incriminating texts. We even had the audience there to make it more dramatic. I still agree that as a whole, The Office was better with Steve Carell, but episodes like this make the final two seasons watchable. Of course it also helped that Robert California was nowhere to be found.

 

# 9 Crime Aid (Season 5, Episode 5)
 

Favorite Quote:

 “So much for sex without consequences” – Michael

 

Bob Vance and David Wallace bid on Phyllis's hug

Crime Reduces Innocence, Makes Everyone Angry, I Declare. That’s the hilariously stupid acronym that Michael Scott came up with for Crime-Aid. After an office robbery, the employees of Dunder Mifflin put on a charity auction to raise money. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase what our characters can come up with on short notice. Some of the items included Kevin doing your taxes, a CD of Hank the security guard singing the blues, or my personal favorite, Creed. (apparently all-inclusive). It’s like a late night infomercial, I don’t want any of it….but I can’t stop watching it. As ridiculous as it sounds, this auction is also proof of how sweet everyone can be. They were all just trying to help and it ends with a nice moment where David Wallace and Bob Vance end up in a bidding war for a hug from Phyllis. They really do care about each other.

 

Dwight seeks advice from Phyllis

Crime Aid also catches up with 3 of our favorite Office couples in various relationship stages. In the honeymoon stage, we have Michael and Holly. They have such a hard time keeping their hands off each other that the inadvertently caused the robbery by getting frisky and leaving the door unlocked. In the maintaining stage, we have Jim and Pam. Their relationship is tested as they deal with long distance, trust, and paranoia. Finally in the parting stage, we have Dwight and Angela. Unable to accept that it’s over, Dwight seeks advice from Phyllis. I like these stories, because it humanizes these characters. Most people can relate to these relationship stages, which allows us to identify with them. They become more than funny caricatures, they become people.
 

# 8 Michael’s Last Dundies (Season 7, Episode 21)

Favorite Quote:

 “Wow, I do not parent for the award, but I gotta tell you it feels pretty good. Cece if you’re watching this at home, it’s way past your bedtime, by the way how’d this get televised?” – Jim  

Jim accepts his award for Best Dad

You can’t go wrong if you include the Dundies, it’s just a recipe for great TV. We hadn’t seen the Dundies ceremony since the season two primiere, but they’re back! Against all reason, the Dundies are now held in a fancy restaurant and everything that happens cracks me up. DeAngelo co-hosts with Michael, despite having terrible stage fright. Dwight arrives in a full tuxedo and judges everyone’s outfits. Erin decides the best time to break up with Gabe is in public, in front of everyone. Then there’s the actual awards themselves. Jim wins “Best Dad”, so obviously “Best Mom” goes to……..Meredith? Ryan is shocked that he doesn’t win “Hottest in the Office”, although it still goes to a man. It’s never dull when you give Michael Scott creative control. It’s also important to watch carefully as there are a lot of quick lines and background hilarity going on, like Kevin bringing his own crayons to the restaurant.

Michael's Goodbye Song

Unsurprisingly, they all get kicked out and go back to the Dunder Mifflin conference room. This is the part of the episode that all fans remember. This episode is more than just a funny Dundies ceremony. It’s also preparing both the characters and us as the audience for the departure of Michael. Even though he often does stupid stuff and makes their lives difficult, he’s still a part of their family and they’re going to miss him. Everyone breaks into the Goodbye song, where they recount favorite moments and say their goodbyes in song. Even the grumpy characters, like Stanley, Toby, and Angela are singing along with smiles on their faces. If you think about it, it’s Micheael’s last conference room meeting, which I think is very fitting.

 

 

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Top 10 Episodes of The Office (7, 6, 5)

# 7 Back from Vacation (Season 3, Episode 12)

 

Favorite Quote:
 “You’re wrong for me. In every way, but I still find myself wanting to be with you” – Jan
 

Jan confronts Michael

Adjusting back to regular life after a vacation is always difficult. That’s what Michael is dealing with in this episode as he returns from Sandals Resort in Jamaica. He tries to bring the fun, laid back life style into the office with a steel drum and a bad Jamaican accent, much to everyone’s annoyance. Then there’s the photo. Juicy gossip travels at light speed, and even faster if it’s accompanied by an incriminating photo of Michael with a semi-nude Jan in Jamaica. Michael accidentally lets the photo get out and it spreads like wild fire. Suddenly everyone has seen it. According to Toby, nine people, including his ex-wife have emailed him this photo. Michael started the day in vacation mode and ends up running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to hide this photo until Jan finally arrives. Even though they’re all grown adults, the tone is still “oooh, Michael’s in trouble.” The twist ending is that just when we think Jan’s going to rip Michael a new one, she decides to start dating him.

 

Dwight comforts Pam

This episode is also at the point in time when Jim and Pam were still in the “will they, won’t they?” stage. This time it’s Pam’s turn to pine for Jim as he’s dating Karen. The happy couple is fighting about Jim not wanting Karen to move in. Interestingly, we don’t see Jim and Karen fight with each other. Instead, they both talk it through with Pam, who becomes their unwilling counselor.  She talks some sense into Jim, they make up, and everyone’s happy right? Everyone except Pam who is realizing her true feelings for Jim and end up getting comforted by Dwight in an odd yet sweet moment. He didn’t know what was going on, he just knew he had to be a friend.

#6 Office Olympics (Season 2 Episode 3)

 

Favorite Quote:

 “A 30 year Mortgage at Michael’s age essentially means that he’s buying a coffin. If I were buying my coffin, I would get one with thicker walls, so you couldn’t hear the other dead people.” – Dwight

Kevin and Phyllis compete in Flonkerton

Usually it’s Michael who causes the crazy shenanigans that distract everyone from work. In this episode, Michael and Dwight leave to close on Michael’s condo, so naturally everyone should be working hard and being productive, right? Wrong! It turns out, this is the perfect opportunity to see how many fun, wacky games they can come up with. Jim stumbles upon Oscar and Kevin’s paper football game and takes it upon himself to host the very first Office Olympics! There are simple events, such as guessing who will come out of the elevator, and more elaborate events, like Kevin and Phyllis racing with boxes of paper on their feet, otherwise known as "Flonkerton.” This is Jim at his best. He’s having fun and giving everyone at work a pretty good day. He also has his sidekick, Pam who gets creative with the medals and the closing ceremonies. Together, they create a work day that has everyone smiling.

Michael prepares to sign the paperwork on his condo

While all of that is going on, we have Michael and Dwight at the condo. It’s one of many situations where Michael is overwhelmed and way over his head. He didn’t understand the terms of his mortgage, plus he has Dwight pointing out everything from thin walls to carpenter ants. Michael panicks and tries to get out of it and at one point, he even offers to rent the second bedroom to Dwight. This is where we get the first mention of both Mose and Schrute Farms, both of which will become staples of The Office. This just proves that Michael and Dwight can make any situation hilarious.

 

 

 

#5 A.A.R.M. (Season 9, Episodes 22 & 23)

Favorite Quote:

“Dwight listen, no matter what happens, you gotta forget about all the other stuff. You gotta forget about logic, fear and doubt. You just gotta do everything you can to get to the one woman who’s gonna make all this worth it. At the end of the day, you gotta jump. You love Angela, Dwight. I think you always have.” – Jim

 

Jim and Dwight present the A.A.R.M. challenge

Most fans would agree that the series finale is a great episode, but people often overlook this previous episode. We finally see how Dwight runs the office as manager. While there are some quirky changes, like the steam filled security system, things are actually running pretty smoothly. Dwight has even named Jim to be his Assistant Regional Manager. A majority of this episode is Jim pulling one big prank on Dwight. He convinces Dwight that the Assistant Regional Manager also needs an Assistant to the Assistant Regional Manager or A.A.R.M. Basically Jim convinces Dwight to name himself as Jim’s assistant, who is already Dwight’s assistant. What sets this prank apart from others is that he’s not trying to annoy Dwight. Sure, the A.A.R.M. makes no sense, but Jim is having a blast and you can tell that he truly wants Dwight to enjoy being manager. It seems like they’ve finally crossed that line from rivals to friends.

Darry is sent off with a dance party

Jim and Dwight aren’t the only former rivals getting along. Oscar and Angela have also buried the hatchet. Oscar has taken Angela in and has become a second father to her son, Phillip. That’s the beauty of having a double-episode. We’re able to spend more time focusing on multiple different characters instead everyone getting a couple of one-liners. We also follow Andy in his quest to become “America’s Next Acapella Sensation.” A quest that surprisingly ends with Andy wearing old man makeup, crying in front of Aaron Rodgers. On a brighter note, Darryl gets an amazing send-off from Dunder Mifflin as he takes part in a massive going away dance party with the entire staff of Dunder Mifflin.

 

Dwight and Angela are engaged!

In addition, this episode had some important relationship moments as well. Pam is feeling incredibly guilty that Jim left Athlead to stay in Scranton with her. Jim has the documentary crew put together a montage of their relationship. It was the only way he could prove to her that he has no regrets and he really is happy. Jim’s happiness also allows him to help Dwight find his happiness with Angela. After years of a complicated relationship, Dwight finally pops the question and Angela accepts.

 

 

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Top 10 Episodes of the Office (4, 3, 2)

# 4 Happy Hour (Season 6, Episode 21)

 Favorite Quote:

 “You know, it got to the point where keeping it a secret was just too much drama, and I hate drama, so there you go” – Andy

“You love drama” – Erin

 

“I know I do, right? I’m a total drama queen” - Andy

Michael chatting up Donna

Here’s another example of why I love getting the characters out of the office. Lets get them out to a bar and see what happens. The Dunder Mifflin crew goes out for Happy Hour. Pam decides to set Michael up with a friend of theirs and turns it into a double date. The date goes pretty well right up until Michael actually realizes he’s on a date. In true Michael fashion, he sabotages himself by creating another dumb character and acting crazy. He almost gets kicked out of the bar, but somehow ends up hitting it off with the owner, Donna. This is what’s interesting about Michael. He can succeed and do really well at things as long as he doesn’t try so hard. In both sales and dating, Michael has shown to be very competent, providing he stays out of his own way.

 

Like Michael, Andy also gets into his own way in this episode. He’s beginning a relationship with Erin, but is insisting on hiding it due to drama. He does eventually get over himself and they have a good time, which is nice because I really like Andy and Erin as a couple. They’re so weird and quirky, but in a way that compliments each over very well. Aside from the couples, the rest of the crew is also fun to watch in this episode. We have Dwight hitting on Isabel while being followed around by Angela, Oscar trying to be athletic as he tries to impress Matt from the warehouse, and Creed being surprisingly great at Dance Dance Revolution. It’s an episode you can watch with little to know context and just sit back and enjoy.

 

 

#3 Dunder Mifflin Infinity (Season 4, Episodes 3 & 4)

 

Favorite Quote

“Ryan wants everything in our company to be about emails and IMs, but I think he is forgetting about the original instant message, letters attached to baskets of food.” - Michael

Ryan tells Michael to prepare for changes

A lot of things are changing at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. Jim and Pam go public with their relationship. Angela decides to end things with Dwight. Most prominently it’s Ryan’s first time back at the Scranton Branch since being promoted to his corporate Vice President position. Right away, he snaps at Michael, demanding respect as the new boss. That, along with Ryan’s initiatives to update Dunder Mifflin with BlackBerries and the new website scares Michael. Keeping up with new technology was never something Michael had to deal with. He had always been free to do things his own way and that is being threatened. We start to see what can happen when Michael’s insecurity spirals out of control.

 

Michael and Dwight return after crashing in the lake

He starts off small with another pointless conference room meeting, but that doesn’t convince Ryan. Michael tries to prove that the old ways are better by winning back former clients without technology. Once again things don’t go his way. With his back against the wall, the only thing Michael can think to do is to take his car’s GPS instructions too literally and drive directly into a lake, so he can blame technology for something. A lot of people see this as evidence of Michael’s stupidity, but I see it as evidence of Michael’s insecurity. Not only is Ryan suddenly his boss, but he’s changing everything too fast and Michael can’t handle it, which lead to this moment of extreme desperation. I like this episode, because it gives insight into who Michael really is behind all of the “That’s what she said” jokes.

 

 

# 2 Viewing Party (Season 7, Episode 8)

Favorite Quote

“I wanted to eat a pig in a blanket….in a blanket” - Kevin

 

Gabe, Michael, and Erin discuss snacks

It’s interesting to see how your opinions on someone can change when you see them in a new setting. Previously, Gabe was just seen as the creepy, skinny guy who made things awkward at work. The Dunder Mifflin staff is invited to Gabe’s house to watch the latest episode of Glee. When they arrive, it seems like Gabe has his life together. His house is nicely decorated, he can cook, he seems very cultured. All of this intimidates both Michael and Andy, making them very jealous. While Andy is jealous because Gabe and Erin are dating, Michael is jelaous, because people are seeing Gabe as the boss. Michael does everything he can to sabotage the party. He insults Gabe, shuts the cable off, and just acts like a jerk in general. His behavior probably would have gotten worse if Erin hadn’t confronted him. She tells Michael it’s important to her that he and Gabe get along. Michael starts to realize that Erin sees him as a father figure. It’s a sweet moment between Erin and Michael. They’ve always had a special relationship and it’s nice when that can come out.

 

Jim begrudgingly feeds Dwight beer

In addition to having sweet moments, this is also one of the absolute funniest episodes. Andy decides to deal with his jealousy by eating a powdered sea horse, which proves to be a terrible idea. Meanwhile Pam and Jim can’t get Cece to sleep, but guess who can….Dwight. He offers to help, but only if Jim becomes his Pizza slave and feeds him on command. This really goes to show that any amount of power in Dwight’s hands is a dangerous thing. There is a lot going on in this episode, but in a good way. We have three main stories that are all hilarious, along with great little moments from the rest of the crew, all while putting our characters in a new setting.

 

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Top 10 Episodes of the Office (1)

# 1 The Merger (Season 3, Episode 8)

Favorite Quote

“I’ll be the number two guy here in Scranton in six weeks. How? Name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a hand shake. I’m always thinking one step ahead, like a carpenter that makes stairs.” - Andy

 

Michael welcomes Karen to Scranton

The Merger is one of my favorite go-to episodes if I want a good laugh. The Scranton and Stamford branches of Dunder Mifflin are merging under Michael’s leadership. Until now, we haven’t really gotten a chance to see new people experience Michael for the first time. When The Office started, the characters all knew each other already. Here we get that experience of people who are showing up for their first day of work expecting a normal boss and instead are introduced to Michael Scott. The existing employees play the part of the audience, telling their new coworkers that they’ll get used to Michael.

 

Michael presents "Lazy Scranton"

So how does Michael welcome a batch of new employees? I would sum up Michael’s management style as “Lets make everyone feel awkward and uncomfortable.” He gives thee new employees random gift bags. He shows them a ridiculous rap video called “Lazy Scranton” that he made with Dwight, welcoming them to Scranton. He tries to be funny with a Night at the Roxbury routine. He even has the new employees sit up on a desk, making them stand out from everyone else. This is where things reach their breaking point. Tony Gardner is unable to lift himself up, even when Michael tries to force him and eventually quits. In all of this, Michael meant well. He really was trying to make everyone feel welcome, but it just goes to show how completely oblivious he can be.

 

Andy and Dwight meet

Any time you’re mixing two groups of people, it’s going to be interesting. It’s not just Michael, either. When the branches merge, it adds a lot of tension to the Jim and Pam storyline. Jim comes back, but he brings Karen with him. Now Pam’s the one who watches Jim date someone else, mirroring Jim’s position in the first two seasons. Despite this, Pam and Karen seem to be getting along, but you can just tell that this is the calm before the storm. Then there’s Andy and Dwight, the annoying suck up of both branches meet. This is the beginning of an epic rivalry that starts instantly and will continue on for seasons to come. This episode marks what I believe to be the best era of the show. Michael is still around, Jim and Pam are still a mystery we can root for, Dwight and Andy are at peak hilarity. I’m glad that this episode wasn’t disqualified, because this is my absolute favorite episode of The Office.