The Office was a classic and iconic sitcom that ran on NBC for nine seasons and focused on the very simple premise that anything, even a regional office of a mid-sized paper distribution company, can be comedic - if you get the right cast and put them in enough hilarious scenarios.
While The Office might have one of the largest ensemble casts for a comedy in recent memory (seventeen members of the show appeared in more than 100 episodes) there were, understandably, quite a few rivalries that broke out among the Dunder Mifflin co-workers - and they didn't all make sense. Take a look at our list of the 5 best rivalries of The Office and 5 that left us scratching our heads.
(Best) Michael vs. Charles/Corporate
I... understand... nothing. The rivalry between Michael and Charles Minor/Corporate during season 5 is easily one of the best rivalries of the show, but it's so low on our list because it made no sense. The entire season leading up to the point that Charles Minor was brought in centered around the fact that Michael Scott and Scranton were the only Dundler Mifflin branch doing well - so Corporate's solution was to bring in a random steel factory worker to tell Michael how to do his job? As comedic as the several episode feuds were, there was just no reason for Charles to have been there.
(Worst) Ryan vs. Jim
This particular stand-off honestly came as a bit of a surprise because while Jim and Ryan were never the closest of friends in the first two seasons, they seemed to have at least a couple of common interests and bonded over the fact that Michael was a gullible goofball. After that, Ryan suddenly jumped to trying to be a young man with endless ambition and potential and essentially attempted a takeover of the company, all the while breathing down Jim's neck and informing him that he should shape up or he'd get the boot. Ryan hardly made any reference to caring about Jim at all before he made it to corporate, so this one just seemed like straw-grasping.
(Best) Ryan vs. Kelly
Ryan's rivalry with Jim might not have made the most sense, but everything about this duo going back-and-forth was wildly entertaining as it was a complete toss-up every episode whether or not Ryan and Kelly would find themselves in a good or bad place romantically. Some weeks it seemed like the couple couldn't get enough of each other, then they'd turn right back around and screw things up and we'd be back to square one. While the most on-again, off-again couple in the show might have run away into the sunset together during the finale, they were anything but a fairy-tale.
(Worst) Michael vs. Ryan
The last rivalry on our list to feature Ryan is one that made even less sense than his beef with Jim because Ryan seemed to be the only person in the entire office who couldn't accept Michael's odd mannerisms and inappropriate tendencies. Seriously, even Angela made it known that she thought Michael was an idiot, but she never even tried to question his leadership (except when trying to con Dwight into Regional Manager). However, for some reason, the youngest member of the Dunder Mifflin team had an irrevocable problem with his mentor, even though he could've just as easily gone and found a job elsewhere.
(Best) Phyllis vs. Angela
The two butting-heads of the Party Planning Committee were always going to be one of the best rivalries on our list because Phyllis and Angela just absolutely refused to get along during the time together at Dunder Mifflin. The entire rivalry that genuinely stemmed because these two women couldn't agree on how they wanted to throw office parties, branched off into one of the most classic head-to-head collisions of the series when Phyllis was able to blackmail Angela for sleeping with Dwight. These disagreeing committee heads were lucky that they worked in two separate departments.
(Worst) Angela vs. Oscar
Up until the whole scenario where Oscar was sleeping with Angela's husband, it didn't make a whole lot of sense why these two characters despised each other. Angela was an intellectual woman and it was well-known that Oscar was one of the smartest people in the office. So why did they disagree so often when they were just doing accounting work all day? Angela hating Kevin was more than believable since Kevin was terrible at his job and made her life stressful. She was no picnic herself but there didn't seem to be a warranted reason for the friction that always existed between the show's two smartest accountants.
(Best) Michael vs. Toby
This was one of the most hilarious rivalries in all of television history for the sole reason that Toby had no problem with Michael. If it weren't for Michael's blind-hatred of the quietest man in the office, this couldn't even be considered a rivalry because Toby never did anything even close to harming Michael throughout the series. There were a dozen instances where Toby came to Michael's aid or tried to befriend him, even though Michael treated Toby like less than garbage. But what else could you expect from the man who'd shoot Toby twice over Hitler and Bin Laden?
(Worst) Dwight vs. Andy
Respect has to be given to Ed Helms for being a complete Cinderella-story for The Office because there wasn't a soul on earth who thought he was going to become as much of a staple of the show as he did. However, when it came to his character's issues with Dwight, it seemed very forced. Andy never seemed like manager material (despite the fact he did later become one) and especially not a better choice than Dwight so there fighting to kiss Michael's butt and become his successor felt unnecessary. Also, the whole story-line of having Andy become Angela's fiance when she clearly still loved Dwight just had every audience member shaking their head.
(Best) Jim vs. Dwight
There wasn't any other rivalry that could even come close to this one as the seemingly endless battle between Jim and Dwight is arguably the biggest running joke of the entire series. In the first seasons it seemed like Jim, the office-clown, was just trying to poke fun at Dwight because he was annoying the other office workers, but as the seasons went on and Dwight became more exhausting, Jim's pranks became more elaborate and more hilarious, eventually escalating into a nine-season long feud that ended with the sworn enemies becoming best friends.
(Worst) Dwight vs. Michael
Talk about the biggest head-scratcher of the entire show because there was no reason at all that this rivalry should have existed. For the entire series, Dwight kissed the ground that Michael walked on for no other reason than he wanted to get on his good side to become the future Regional Manager once Michael retired. Then, out of nowhere, Dwight decided to try and go over Michael's head and attempt to take his job from him and completely undermine and betray the man he had spent several seasons loving unconditionally. Dwight's undying affection for his moronic boss was one of the most comedic aspects of the show, and trying to take that away when audiences knew it wasn't going to happen was just a cheap shot at Dwight's character.