The Michael Scott x Ryan Howard relationship is a complex one on The Office. Both Michael and Ryan are straight men who have had their fair share of relationships at the office and yet there's always been this strange, cosmic connection between the two, much to Ryan's chagrin.
As a temp, Ryan was hired at Dunder Mifflin to do menial labor while learning on the job, but Michael saw him as a young man who was trying to learn everything he could from the regional manager — i.e. him. Almost like Michael knew Ryan was putting him on a pedestal (even though he wasn't). Over the course of nine seasons, the funny relationship between Michael and Ryan grew and fell, but one thing remained: Michael's subtle crush on Ryan.
Michael Thinks Ryan's The Hottest In The Office
In the second season, we see our first Dundies. Michael is of course the host, and excited for the big night. For the award "Hottest in the Office," he calls Ryan's name and Ryan looks both mortified and pleased with himself. As he grabs the award and walks back to this table, Michael slaps his bum. Funny enough, after years of getting "Hottest in the Office," Danny Cordray won the coveted award at Michael's last Dundies. When Ryan was asked how he felt about it, he seemed relieved that he didn't get it (but he had a hint of sadness in his voice).
Out Of Everyone In The Office, Michael Would Sleep With Ryan
In the episode "The Fire," a fire breaks out in Dunder Mifflin's kitchen and everyone is forced to wait outside in the cold until the firemen arrive. While waiting for the fire to be put out, the employees asked each other questions to pass the time.
When Michael was asked who he'd sleep with at the office, he says "Ryan, because he's going to own his own business." Ryan has zero expression on his face while Roy laughs at the fact that Michael would choose Ryan over let's say, Pam, Angela, or Phyllis. Meanwhile, Dwight was sulking in the car knowing that Michael has moved on from a bromance with him to another, younger man.
He Broke His Own Secret Santa Rule For Ryan
In "Christmas Party," Michael is Ryan's Secret Santa. Even though the office has a $20 limit on gifts, Michael goes above and beyond and gets Ryan a Video iPod to show off his admiration for him. (Viewers can also sense how desperate Michael is to get Ryan to like him and is hoping he'll have more respect for him once he receives such a cool gift.)
However, once Ryan opens the iPod, the entire office is confused since they had a $20 limit. Things only get worse for Michael when his gift for Christmas is a hand-sewn oven mitt from Phyllis. By the end of the episode, they turn Secret Santa into a Yankee Swap because of Michael's poor attitude.
Ryan Unknowingly Inspires Higher Education For Michael
With Ryan being a temp, Michael acts in a way that a father would around his impressionable son — even though Ryan isn't impressionable, nor is he learning anything from Michael or Dunder Mifflin. However, when Michael learns that Ryan is in business school, his personality shifts.
He now realizes how smart Ryan is and how he probably knows more about business than he does, which only makes his crush on him bigger. He even told Dwight that Ryan knew more about business than he did, which is telling considering Dwight has been the top salesman at Dunder Mifflin for years. In "The Fire," we see Michael flipping through Ryan's textbook and asking questions about business school.
Michael Compared Ryan And Jan In His Diary
In "The Deposition," Michael accompanies Jan to corporate for her wrongful termination suit. Michael was highly trained by Jan on what to say and how to act, but things took a strange turn when she made copies of his diary for evidence — unbeknownst to him.
While flipping through the diary, one of the lawyers says, "Michael, who's this woman Ryan? Who you refer to here as 'just as hot as Jan but in a different way.'" Viewers know exactly who Ryan is but he says, "Ryan is not a woman just a cool, great looking best friend."
Michael Was The Only One Fully Behind WUPHF
In the seventh season, Ryan creates a website called WUPHF. WUPHF alerts a person when they have a message from any of their social media, email, or business accounts. Instead of going on to Twitter to see if you have a notification, you'll be notified immediately. Funny enough, Ryan sold his idea well enough where other co-workers at Dunder Mifflin funded the project, but it was Michael who fully backed his idea. When the rest of the office was ready to call it quits, Michael stood by Ryan. It wasn't until Pam made Michael realize that Ryan was using him and didn't see him as a true friend that Michael finally gave up on their bromance.
He Only Trusted Ryan To Help Him Off The Toilet
When Michael burns his foot on a George Foreman Grill, Dwight comes to his rescue and brings him to the office. Instead of keeping his foot stable and working, he does nothing but complain and seek attention all day — which bothered everyone in the office.
When he gets up and hobbles to the bathroom, we hear a loud crash. When Toby checks on him, Michael claims he fell off the toilet and needs Ryan's help. Seeing as Ryan didn't want to see Michael on the toilet, Toby said he was dead and walked away.
He Grew A Goatee To Match Ryan
When Ryan becomes the VP of Northeastern Sales, his entire demeanor changed. He's no longer the nice, quiet guy in the office, but a rude and arrogant man from corporate. He spoke down to the Scranton branch and had more confidence to say things that he wouldn't normally. Now that Ryan was Michael's boss, his new VP personality took Michael by surprise.
Viewers could tell that Michael thought Ryan was so cool and wanted to be just like him The next time that Ryan came to Scranton, Michael trimmed his facial hair to match Ryan's goatee. Ryan noticed the similarity and cut his off as soon as he could.
Ryan Is Like A Son To Michael
Michael claims that Ryan is more like a son to him but viewers would agree that Michael has an unspoken crush on him more than anything. However, when Michael is in the midst of selling the Michael Scott Paper Company to Dunder Mifflin, he negotiates jobs for himself, Ryan, and Pam as well. David Wallace wasn't too keen on hiring Ryan back but Michael backs him up."I don't care if Ryan murdered his entire family, he is like a son to me," he says. If it weren't for Michael, Ryan would still be working at the bowling alley.
Michael Drove Through The Night To Surprise Ryan
In the episode "Night Club," Ryan (as VP) takes a visit to the Scranton branch. In need of a girlfriend, Michael asks Ryan if he knows any girls he can hook him up with. Ryan escapes the question and leaves. That's when Michael decides to take a road trip to New York City with Dwight to see Ryan and hopefully meet some girls. But the night doesn't pan out how they thought it would. They ended up taking care of Ryan after he has one too many drinks, but something tells us that's all Michael wanted...