The US version of Ricky Gervais's hit documentary-style series follows the staff at Dunder Mifflin paper company led by clueless and gauche regional manager, Michael Scott.
Stars: Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Angela Kinsey, Kate Flannery, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton, Oscar Nuñez, BJ Novak, Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, Paul Lieberstein, Craig Robinson, Ellie Kemper
Awkward Awards: Episode 1, "The Dundies" (2005). Michael hosts the annual "Dundies" at a local Chili's, and his forced attempts at comedy, re-written lyrics to popular songs, and inappropriate award titles make things awkward until an inebriated Pam picks things up with her loud antics.
Home Sweet Office: Episode 7, "The Client" (2005). While Michael and Jan are at at Chili's giving sales pitch to Lackawanna County, Dwight waits for Michael at the office, but Michael doesn't come back, so Dwight sleeps there. Michael and Jan finally come back the next morning after a drunken night of making out and deep conversation.
Performance Evaluations: Episode 8, "Performance Review" (2005). Michael's supposed to be doing the annual performance reviews, but he's more interested in whether or not Jan wants to be with him after their drunken make-out session, so asks everyone to listen to a voicemail she left him and tell him what it means, and they all tell him what he wants to hear so they can get good performance reviews.
Botched Suggestion Box: Episode 8, "Performance Review" (2005). Jan wants to hear some of Michael's ideas at his performance review, and the only one he can remember is the suggestion box, which he implemented years ago but forgot about. So when Jan arrives Michael leads their "weekly suggestion box meeting," where he reads out suggestions like, "What should we do to prepare for Y2K?" and comments about his BO and bad breath before he gets to one that says, "Don't sleep with your boss."
Pyramid Scheme: Episode 19, "Michael's Birthday" (2006). Michael gives a presentation at the conference room about selling calling cards with some guy named Phil. While he's trying to explain to Jim why it's not a pyramid scheme, Jim gets up and draws a triangle around his diagram to show that it is.
Don't Speak: Episode 20, "Drug Testing" (2006). Jim and Pam say something at the same time, and Pam calls "jinx," which she says means Jim can't talk until he buys her a Coke, but the soda machine is sold out of Coke, so Jim has to stay silent for the rest of the day, and he does, even when Kelly rambles on to him about Ryan.
Season 3
Who Brings a Dog to a Leg Funeral?: Episode 4, "Grief Counseling" (2006). Michael is upset that his former boss, Ed Truck, passed away, so when Toby tells him he saw a bird fly into a glass door and die, Michael insists that everyone join him in the parking lot for a bird funeral. Pam designs a special box for it and writes a eulogy, and Dwight plays his recorder while Pam sings, and the ceremony makes Michael feel better.
Secret Criminal Past: Episode 9, "The Convict" (2006). The Accounting department receives a credit from the government, and Jan tells them it's for hiring an ex-con, Martin, one of the new transfers from Stamford. After Michael tells everyone that Martin's been tor prison, Martin regales them all with tales of his time in stir, which actually sounds better than working for Dunder Mifflin.
Reluctant Hero: Episode 18, "The Negotiation" (2007). After Pam tells Roy that she and Jim kissed on Casino Night, he becomes enraged, storms into the office, and tries to take a swing at Jim, but Dwight jumps in and pepper sprays Roy before he can. Everyone in the office hails Dwight as a hero, but he won't accept it because he doesn't want to be praised or awarded for doing the right thing. Even when Jim wants to give him a gift or buy him a drink to thank him, he refuses, so when Jim accidentally sees Dwight making out with Angela in her cubicle, he promises never to tell as his gift to Dwight.
Plastic Fantastic: Episode 23, "The Job" (2007). Jan, with whom Michael recently broke up, shows up at the office with a new, much bigger, pair of boobs, and Michael is so wowed by them that he decides to get back together with her.
Season 4
Mr. Gray: Episode 2, "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" (2007). When Ryan comes back to the office to make a speech about how the company is getting "younger and faster" and more high tech, Creed feels threatened because of his age, so he dies his hair black with toner, which drips on his shirt.
Moonlighting: Episode 4, "Money" (2007). Ever since Jan got fired and moved in with Michael, she's been spending money like it's going out of style. To stay afloat, Michael takes a second job as a telemarketer at night, and it's making him exhausted. When he's so burned out that he neglects to create a presentation for Ryan, Ryan tells him he has to quit his second job or he's fired.
Trapped: Episode 11, "Night Out" (2008). While Michael is out with Dwight and Ryan, the rest of the gang accidentally get locked in the parking lot, and Dwight has the only key. Jim calls Hank, the security guard, but Hank doesn't like Jim, so he takes his time getting there. Meanwhile, the cleaning staff shows up and opens the gate.
Season 5
Labor Drill: Episode 3, "Baby Shower" (2008). Michael is weirdly obsessed with Jan's sperm donor baby, so he enlists Dwight to pretend to be Jan in labor so he can practice getting her to the hospital and helping her through the birth, but Jan comes in with her newborn daughter, to whom she gave birth without Michael's involvement.
We Were Robbed: Episode 4, "Crime Aid" (2008). Michael and Holly go on their first date, but Holly can't wait, and she pulls Michael into a supply closet to make out, and they're both so distracted that they forget to lock the doors, and the office gets robbed.
Accidental Marriage: Episode 9, "The Surplus" (2008). Well demonstrating how Angela and Andy's wedding will proceed at his farm, Dwight hires a Mennonite priest who only speaks German to perform the ceremony for him and Angela, but what Angela doesn't know is that the priest is performing a real ceremony, and she and Dwight are actually getting married.
Season 6
Toupée or Not Toupée: Episode 5, "Niagara: Part 2" (2009). Kevin is attending Jim and Pam's wedding, and he wants to look sharp, so he buys a toupée to wear for the event, which somewhat distracts from the tissue boxes he wore on his feet after the hotel staff incinerated his shoes.
Not-the-mafia: Episode 6, "Mafia" (2009). An insurance salesman with an Italian name and a New York accent comes to the office to try to sell Michael insurance, and everyone but Oscar and Toby is convinced he's a mobster threatening Michael with bodily harm if he doesn't buy insurance from him.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 8, "Koi Pond" (2009). Pam and Andy have to go cold calling because they're two worst salespeople at the branch, and with Pam being visibly pregnant, most of the leads they visit assume they're a couple, so they decide to go with it and pretend to be a married couple to help them make a sale.
Whodunnit?: Episode 10, "Murder" (2009). Rumors are spreading about Dunder Mifflin possibly declaring bankruptcy, and everyone's nervously waiting for news, so to distract the staff, Michael holds a murder mystery party in the conference room with an audio game called "Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets."
Clip Show: Episode 14, "The Banker" (2010). Dunder Mifflin is being sold, land first an investment banker has to check out the branch. To impress him, Michael creates a fake version of the office with a robot assistant, an actor playing Stanley, and Dwight posing as Toby. When the real Toby shows up, the banker asks him about potential liabilities, and Toby thinks about them in clips from previous episodes.
Season 7
Worthless Worker: Episode 1, "Nepotism" (2010). Michael hires his nephew, Luke as an assistant, and everyone hates him. He he brings Darryl decaf coffee, calls Andy "Nard Man" instead of "Nard Dog" (Nard Man is his father), and neglects to deliver any packages they ask him to, instead keeping them in the trunk of his car, losing them sales. But because he's his nephew, Michael is reluctant to fire him and instead starts doing his job for him.
Between Floors: Episode 1, "Nepotism" (2010). After Dwight buys the building, he becomes even more insufferable, so Pam plays a prank on him that involves Kevin sabotaging the elevator. While recording Dwight freaking out about the elevator, Pam gets trapped in the elevator with Dwight.
Training Wheels: Episode 5, "The Sting" (1985). Oscar shows off his new bike, which is the same one Lance Armstrong rides. While the gang is discussing it, Michael tries to ride it and immediately falls. He tries it a few more times and keeps falling. When the gang question whether he knows how to ride bike, he swears he did it before, but then he admits that he "had those extra wheels on the back that support you."
Character Tropes
Idiot Savant: Michael Scott - Played by Steve Carell.