Dundie awards were an important aspect throughout The Office, and each character obtained their fair share of the special trophies. Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) invented the "Dundie Awards" to celebrate his employees at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch. More importantly, the annual event allowed Michael to forcibly get his colleagues to hang out with their boss outside of work. Despite the branch leader's enthusiasm for the ceremony, the others weren't so thrilled with Michael's performance as the MC, nor the awards they tended to receive.
By the time The Office started, the Dundie Awards was going on for years. Michael created the ceremony to act as a morale booster for his branch. To make each employee feel honored for their work and presence at Dunder Mifflin, Michael awarded a Dundie to every person in attendance. Rather than host the event in the office building, the Dundies took place at a local Chili's restaurant. That location had to eventually be moved when Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) got herself banned from all Chili's locations.
Michael's love for the Dundies was first revealed in The Office pilot episode when he held up a trophy for the "Best Boss in the World." In fact, his array of Dundie trophies could be seen in the NBC sitcom's opening credits sequence. Some of his other trophies were neatly displayed at his condo, which came into play in "Dinner Party" when Jan threw one at Michael's tiny flatscreen TV. Dwight similarly displayed his awards by putting the trophies on the mantlepiece of his bed and breakfast.
The Office Season 2's Dundie Award Winners
The first Dundie Awards ceremony was featured in the season 2 episode appropriately titled "The Dundies." The episode set the tone for the season, which allowed the sitcom to find its footing before emerging as a must-watch series for years to come. With the 8th Dundie Awards, Michael tried to nail his MC performance with various alter-egos, but he fell flat. After being heckled by other Chili's patrons, a drunken Pam ended up rallying her coworkers to encourage Michael to continue. Here were the awards he gave out throughout the night:
- Phyllis: "Busiest Beaver" Award (misspelled to say "Bushiest Beaver")
- Ryan: "Hottest in the Office"
- Angela: "Tight-Ass" Award
- Kelly: "Spicy Curry" Award
- Kevin: "Don't Go in There After Me" Award
- Stanley: "Fine Work" Award
- Meredith: "Grace Under Fire" Award
- Pam: "Whitest Sneakers" Award
- Jim: "Jim Halpert" Award
The Office Season 7's Dundie Award Winners
Before Carell left The Office in season 7, his character was given a chance to host one last Dundie Awards ceremony. During the event, Michael trained his replacement, Deangelo Vickers (Will Ferrell), to eventually take over as the host. The Dundies took place at a local Italian restaurant this time due to Pam's previous banishment. The ceremony didn't go smoothly, but Michael ended up handing out the remaining awards in the conference room. When he finished, his employees sang an altered version of "Seasons of Love titled "9,986,000 Minutes" in his honor. Here were the awards handed out in "Michael's Last Dundies":
- Jim: "Best Dad" Award
- Meredith: "Best Mom" Award
- Stanley: "The Diabetes" Award
- Dwight: "Promising Assistant Manager" Award
- Erin: "Cutest Redhead in the Office" Award
- Deangelo: "Best Dundies Host" Award
- Andy: "Doobie Doobie Pothead Stoner of the Year" Award
- Phyllis: "Redefining Beauty" Award
- Darryl: "Moving On Up" Award
- Oscar: "Worst Salesman of the Year" Award
- Angela: "Kind of A B*tch" Award
- Toby: "Extreme Repulsiveness" Award
- Danny Cordray: "Hottest in the Office" Award
Other Dundie Award Winners
Over the course of The Office's nine-season run, past awards were mentioned from time to time. In 2004, Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) was the winner of the "Great Work" award. That next year, Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) won his first "Hottest in the Office" award, which he won for the next five consecutive years. Of course, Pam had a history of winning the "World's Longest Engagement" award due to her long-term engagement to Roy Anderson (David Denman). Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) was also said to have previously won the "Show Me the Money" award.