The 10 Best Office Episodes Ever

The following is the 10 Best "The Office (NBC)" Episodes Ever

01 Christmas Party (Season 2)

This is the best episode of Season 2. Michael is brilliant in this episode. The whole iPod premise just shows how socially awkward Michael is. Furthermore, the secondary characters were excellent in this episode. The best part was how Phyllis was able to forgive Michael for being so rude.

Michael's Notable Lines:

01 "Yan-KEE Swap"02 "I call it fun."
03 "Everyone wants the iPod. The iPod is a real hit. It's almost a Christmas miracle."
04 "Ugh." - Not really a quote, but his reaction to a naked Meredith is priceless.

Dwight's Notable Lines:

01 "Yankee Swap is like Machiavelli meets Christmas"
02 "A real man makes his own luck. Billy Zane. Titanic."
03 "I will take the teapot. Gracias."
04 "The man is supposed to do that."
05 "Take that Saddam."

02 Gay Witch Hunt

Oscar is a great secondary character. Apparently, he is gay despite the fact that he said in the episode, "The Client", that he went out on a date with a woman who printed out a background report on him. Regardless, more evidence has shown that he is in fact gay. For example, in the episode, "The Secret", Oscar is seen coming home after spending a day shopping with Gil, his roommate. Furthermore, he holds hands with Gil while they are watching television with Dwight. In the episode, "Michael's Birthday", Oscar shows that he is good at figure skating. Some of these examples are based on stereotypes that are obviously a sign of lazy writing aimed to get a cheap laugh. However, "Gay Witch Hunt" is a very well-written episode. Oscar gives his best performance to date. His best scene is when he calls Michael ignorant, but quickly apologizes. His outburst and quick repentance shows that Oscar is definitely a good person. Good for him that the company gave him a paid vacation.

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"I will give you the rest to-morrow." (Michael Scott, The Fire)

Jan Recommends that Michael be Demoted

In last night's episode, "The Deposition", it is revealed to Michael that Jan stated in a performance review that Michael is unfit for a managerial position. Perhaps she would have preferred Josh, former regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Stamford (the poor man's Michael Scott), who was such a good manager that he did not mind the fact that all the employees that worked for him were laid off or transferred to another branch, simply because he, himself, wanted a better job. It was also apparent in the episode, "Survivor Man", that Jim, who was supposed to have been the one promoted to replace Jan, is incapable of managing the Office. It is not so easy to manage people like Creed (ex-con?) and Angela (high maintenance and moody).

Michael Betrays his Catherine Zeta

I am still disgusted by last night's episode, "The Deposition", where Michael sabotages Jan's chance to get $4 million dollars from Dunder Mifflin out of loyalty for a company that promoted his inexperienced "mento" (Tracy Jordan, 30 Rock), Ryan, instead of him. A previous episode revealed that Michael was severely underpaid, especially since he was responsible for overseeing the merging of the Scranton and Stamford branch offices. David, the CFO, confirmed the fact that Michael was able to cut costs without losing a single customer. However, Michael did not get promoted. Ryan did. It sounds like David should be getting a poor performance review.

Michael Should Listen to Darryl

Last night's episode, "The Deposition", is supposed to be the season finale, because of the writer's strike. It's a shame, because I am really looking forward to the next episode. I did not like how this one played out, especially looking at David, the CFO's smug little face. Michael said to David that he thought David was nice. Was Michael trying to tell David that he is an incompetent little jerk? If so, why not come right out and say it? Michael should listen to Darryl. In the episode, "The Negotiation", Darryl tells Michael that Dunder Mifflin is "exhibiting a pattern of inappropriate behavior" by underpaying loyal and hard-working employees like Michael and Darryl. Michael should use some leverage, seeing as how he has "an alliance" with Dwight, and Dwight is the best salesperson in the entire company. Michael should threaten to leave the company with Dwight if he does not get promoted to a corporate position. If he does not get what he wants, it does not matter anyways, because by Ryan's "own estimate, the company would be obsolete in five years."

Michael Scott is George Bush

Michael Scott bears a striking resemblance to George W. Bush. Both are unpopular leaders that their employees (or citizens) deem incompetent. In fact, last night's episode "The Deposition" showed that the top management at Dunder Mifflin do not think much of Michael's leadership either. There was a scene in the episode where David, the CFO, was quoted as basically saying that Michael does not have any chance of ever advancing in the company. This can be compared to George W. Bush's administration having no hope of regaining the trust of the world community.

Another similarity between the two leaders is that both attempt (miserably) to gain acceptance from minorities. The famous "Diversity Day" episode showed how awkward and out of touch both leaders are with the minority population. Chris Rock once made a joke about how George W. Bush kissed an African American baby and made a face. This can be compared to all the times Michael tries to relate to Darryl and Stanley, both of whom think he is an idiot.

Let's see. Ryan would be Saddam Hussein. He used to be on our side (fighting against the Iranians), but now he has moved on and become a real jerk.

Jim would be the disenchanted youth of America, essentially the types who watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report everyday. Jim represents the youth who should play a bigger role in American politics (the Office), but instead sits on the sideline passing judgment on those who try to make America (the Office) a better place to work. Enter Dwight. Dwight, who represents the conservatives of this country, wants to make America (the Office) more efficient does all the wrong things, and ends up hurting America (the Office) more than he helps.

Tonight's Episode - Season 04 Episode 08 - The Deposition

November 16, 2007 - The Deposition

Tonight's episode was one of the worst episode in the history of the show. The ping pong story line was hilarious. However, Michael really ruined the episode by taking sides with David, the CFO, and Dunder Mifflin despite the fact that David stated in his deposition that he had no intention of promoting Michael. It was disgusting and reminiscent of last season's finale episode where he chose to back down during Jan's confrontation with David. I do not understand why the writers of this show choose to portray Michael as a incompetent coward.

NBC's Office Had a Horrible Start

NBC's The Office has blossomed into a great show. It started out trying to emulate its British predecessor exactly, and it failed miserably in its first season. Who can forget the ending of the Health Care Plan episode where Michael Scott makes an absolute fool of himself just because he is too scared to tell his employees that he has to cut benefits? Being a Steve Carrell fan from his Daily Show days, I found it very hard to watch those episodes. Luckily, the show started Season 2 by completely changing Michael Scott's character. He was no longer the idiot boss who did stupid things because he was so concerned with his image and reputation. He became the idiot boss who genuinely cared for his employees and tried his best to manage them despite the fact that he lacks the formal education and training required of a regional manager of a mid-sized paper company.