While U.S. remakes of British TV shows usually fail miserably, NBC’s stateside adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s mockumentary masterpiece The Office stands alongside its source material as one of the greatest TV series ever made. Over the course of nine seasons, The Office aired more than 200 episodes, so fans have plenty of Dunder Mifflin antics to feast their eyes on.
As with any show that has 200 episodes under its belt, there are plenty of underrated Office episodes that get lost in the fray when the classics like “Dinner Party,” “Stress Relief,” and “Niagara” are routinely praised by the fanbase.
Basketball (Season 1, Episode 5)
The first season of The Office was criticized for sticking too closely to the cringe-heavy tone of the original series. The remake wouldn’t find its feet and establish its own comic tone until the second and third seasons.
But there’s one great episode in season 1, “Basketball,” in which Michael challenges the warehouse staff to a basketball game and finds that he’s hopelessly outmatched.
Email Surveillance (Season 2, Episode 9)
The new I.T. guy gives Michael the ability to read through his employees’ inboxes in season 2’s “Email Surveillance.” He catches wind of a barbecue at Jim’s house that he invited everyone from the office to attend — everyone, that is, except the world’s best boss.
In addition to “Office Olympics,” “Email Surveillance” was one of the first Office episodes to shed a sympathetic light on Michael Scott and turn him into a more likable character.
Dwight’s Speech (Season 2, Episode 17)
Dwight’s trailblazing sales record lands him the opportunity to give a speech about his techniques at a corporate event. But since he’s not used to public speaking, Michael helps him with some of his own confidence-building tactics. Plus, Jim gives him some pointers lifted from the methods of dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.
When Dwight arrives at the event, he finds that there are a lot more people than he expected, but his dictatorial style of speaking ends up wowing the crowd.
Money (Season 4, Episodes 7/8)
While episodes like “Fun Run” and “Finale” are The Office’s most talked-about two-parters, one extra-long installment that doesn’t get the love it deserves is season 4’s “Money.” Jan’s draining of Michael’s account puts him in financial trouble, which leads to all kinds of hilarious situations, like the iconic “I declare bankruptcy!” moment.
Michael’s financial woes make for a terrific A-plot as he balances a second job with his responsibilities at Dunder Mifflin, while Jim and Pam’s visit to Schrute Farms creates an unforgettable B-plot.
Branch Wars (Season 4, Episode 10)
When Karen becomes the regional manager of the Utica branch and offers Stanley a job, Michael thinks she wants to poach his best people and teams up with an enthusiastic Dwight and a reluctant Jim to exact revenge.
It’s rare that Michael, Dwight, and Jim are united as a trio on-screen, but whenever they are (like the “Buttlicker” phone exercise), the interplay between the characters is always hilarious.
The Surplus (Season 5, Episode 10)
Michael learns what a surplus is in season 5’s “The Surplus,” as there’s some money left over in the office’s annual budget and if he doesn’t spend it, it’ll be deducted from the following year’s budget. Half the office wants to spend the money on new chairs; the other half wants to spend it on a new copier.
This creates a hysterical conflict that involves everyone in the office. Then David Wallace raises the stakes when he tells Michael that he can take a bonus on his own salary from a surplus.
Golden Ticket (Season 5, Episode 19)
Inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Michael comes into the office dressed as Willy Wonka and introduces a new promotion. He slips Wonka-style golden tickets into five random boxes of paper, guaranteeing the customer that buys them a discount on their next Dunder Mifflin purchase.
Unfortunately for Michael, they all end up with the same client, one of the branch’s biggest accounts. So, he ditches the Wonka costume and frets all day. He gets Dwight to take the fall when David Wallace comes in, but Wallace turns out to be there to praise the golden ticket idea and Michael instantly tries to backtrack.
Shareholder Meeting (Season 6, Episode 11)
Michael is invited to address Dunder Mifflin’s shareholders in season 6’s “Shareholder Meeting,” because he’s the company’s most successful branch manager, but what he doesn’t expect is that the shareholders hate the company.
He walks out onto the stage to the sounds of boos, then wins the crowd over by promising a plan to save the company that doesn’t exist, infuriating his bosses.
The Incentive (Season 8, Episode 2)
Andy tries to incentivize his employees with gifts in season 8’s “The Incentive,” but finds that they’re not interested in earning the prizes that he’s laid out in the conference room. So, he makes up some new prizes.
The top prize is that if they earn a certain number of points, they can tattoo anything they want on his bottom. As they all join forces to make it happen, Andy desperately tries to de-incentivize them.
Andy’s Ancestry (Season 9, Episode 3)
Andy Bernard’s backstory as a WASP from a wealthy family was explored in a lot more depth in the final seasons of The Office after Steve Carell left the series and Andy became the new manager.
In season 9’s “Andy’s Ancestry,” Andy is falsely told that he’s related to Michelle Obama, which leads him to believe that his family’s money came from slavery. Plus, “Asian Jim” is one of the show’s all-time greatest cold opens.