NBC’s ‘The Office’ sits at the top of people’s favourites list, more so because of its experiential mockumentary style. Here we present the five best episodes of ‘The Office’ that will put any other sitcom, new or old, to shame.
Whether you love or hate the show, you can’t deny the impact that ‘The Office’ has had on pop-culture. Although there have been questionable moments and choices regarding the show’s casting, the content has never rendered a disappointing outcome. Be it Michael’s actions that scream cringe or the office weirdo Dwight, ‘The Office’ has something for everybody. Here is our choice for the five best episodes of ‘The Office‘ that would leave you never wanting to quit Dunder Mifflin.
Why should you watch ‘The Office’?
Highlights —
- Garden Party
- Drug Testing
- Stress Relief Part 1
Golden Ticket
Michael Scott often comes across as a rude, ill-mannered person who has no respect for boundaries or social etiquettes. In season 5, episode 19, “Golden Ticket”, we get to see the ultimate childish side of the Dunder Mifflin boss. Michael’s whims and childish actions throughout the episode makes it one of the best episodes of ‘The Office’. Like always, Michael’s actions come to bite him back in this episode as he takes a cue from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory‘ and puts in five golden tickets inside randomly chosen paper shipments as a marketing ploy.
The situation builds up into huge panic as the tickets ensure their biggest customer a large discount that could prove to be a loss for the company. Michael tries to get Dwight to take the fall for him, while Andy, Jim, and Pam are busy providing relationship advice to the accountant Kevin Malone. To top it all, “Golden Ticket” begins with a classic cold-open knock-knock joke in true ‘The Office’ style.
Garden Party
It would be a crime to not include an episode with the classic Jim pranks. ‘Garden Party’ aka episode 4 of season 8 presents Andy at his best. Determined to impress Robert California, the new CEO, Andy gives his all into arranging a garden party. The venue for the party is Schrute Farms, where Mose Schrute ends up clowning around. Interestingly, the character of Mose Schrute was played by writer cum producer Michael Schur, which grants “Garden Party” a place among the best episodes of ‘The Office’. The bonus perk is the guest appearance of Josh Groban as the brother of Andy, entertaining fans with his musical performance.
Drug Testing
The only reason why this episode is on our list of the best ‘The Office’ episodes is that it has Dwight being Dwight, and who doesn’t love Dwight! The final episode “Drug Testing” of season 2 gives us a sneak into the extent to which Dwight could go to live up to his duty as the Deputy Sheriff. That means, an excruciating interrogation of a long list of suspects when a half-smoked joint is discovered in the parking lot. True to Jim’s remark, “Dwight finding drugs is more dangerous than most people using drugs”, the whole episode takes a hilarious spin with Dwight losing his cool and firing empty threats at his co-workers.
Product Recall
Cold-open is ‘The Office’s’ thing. In the episode titled “Product Recall” in season 3 of ‘The Office’, Jim enters the office mimicking Dwight’s look – a mustard yellow short-sleeved button-up shirt with a watch and glass, and, of course, the Dwight hair. As anticipated, Jim’s prank immediately infuriates Dwight, and is the reason why this one is among the best cold-open episodes of ‘The Office’. The audience is made aware of a crisis as Michael says,
“Apparently, a disgruntled employee at the paper mill decided that it would be funny to put an obscene watermark on our 24-pound cream butter stock. Five hundred boxes have gone out, with the image of a beloved cartoon duck, performing … unspeakable acts upon a certain cartoon mouse that a lot of people like”.
The chaos is hilarious as Michael tries to make a client feel better and Andy realises that he might be a paedophile, at least technically.
Stress Relief Part 1
Written by one of the cast members, Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby Flenderson in ‘The Office’, this two-part episode is one of the best and most popular episodes. In the show’s classic cold-open style, the episode opens with a ridiculously annoyed Dwight who is upset that his colleagues don’t take his instructions seriously. After deciding to teach them a lesson, Dwight deliberately starts a fire inside the office and locks his co-workers while shouting safety protocol instructions at them. The commotion results in one of the employees having a heart attack, and after a hilarious turn of events, Dwight is found wearing a CPR dummy’s cut out face.
Which is your favourite episode from ‘The Office’? Let us know in the comments section below!
