Across nine seasons, The Office had plenty of cringe humor. And for the most part, Office fans love the cringier episodes, because they play into the signature comic sensibility of the show. But for some fans, there are a couple of shows that overstep the mark with comedy that’s too cringeworthy to be enjoyable.
Season 6’s “Scott’s Tots” is a prime example of this. Some Office fans will even skip “Scott’s Tots” on rewatches of the series, because they can’t bear to watch Michael Scott crush the dreams of a classroom full of children. Here are the 10 cringiest moments from “Scott’s Tots.”
“Has It Really Been 10 Years?”
At the beginning of “Scott’s Tots,” Erin is sifting through Michael’s email inbox and finds a message from a school about the Michael Scott Foundation. Stanley starts laughing and asks, “Has it really been 10 years?”
Then, he shows the camera crew a newspaper article that he’s held onto for a decade about the promise that Michael made to a class of third-graders. Pam is horrified.
Michael Refuses To Go In The Michael Gary Scott Reading Room
When Michael arrives at the school, he’s greeted by one of the kids he promised college tuition to. She’s wearing a t-shirt bearing the name “Scott’s Tots.” She gives him a brief tour of the hallways.
One of the rooms has a plaque next to the door marked, “The Michael Gary Scott Reading Room.” The student invites Michael to take a look around, but he can’t bear to look around a room named after him and refuses to go in.
Jim Accidentally Names Himself Employee Of The Month
The B-plot of “Scott’s Tots” is nowhere near as cringeworthy as the A-plot, but it still has plenty of cringe humor, as Dwight cons Jim into accidentally naming himself as the Scranton branch’s employee of the month.
As soon as the newly promoted co-manager is announced as the employee of the month and he’s awarded the staff’s cash from Dwight’s whip-around, everyone is up in arms at Jim.
Scott’s Tots Applaud Michael
As Michael enters the classroom where Scott’s Tots are all eagerly awaiting his arrival, he’s greeted with cheers and uproarious applause. This applause is excruciating to sit through, because we know that it’s unearned and Michael isn’t able to come through on his promise.
To add insult to injury, all the kids are wearing matching blue t-shirts with “Scott’s Tots” printed on them. If the gravity of the situation hasn’t set in by this point, this is when it really sets in.
“Hey, Mr. Scott! Whatcha Gonna Do?”
When Michael and Erin first arrive in Scott’s Tots’ classroom, they each take a seat among the kids. Their teacher tells Michael that they wanted to thank him properly for his generosity.
Then, some of the kids start drumming on their desks and perform a choreographed dance set to a theme song they wrote for him: “Hey, Mr. Scott! Whatcha gonna do? / Whatcha gonna do? Make our dreams come true!”
Pam Is The New Employee Of The Month
After Jim unintentionally names himself the Scranton branch’s employee of the month, he says that there’s been a mistake and they’ll just award it to the employee with the next highest number of points.
Andy checks the chart and is infuriated to learn that the employee with the next highest number of points is Jim’s wife, Pam, so it still seems like he wants the cash prize for himself.
Scott’s Tots Tell Michael About Their Dreams
Before Michael is asked to speak to Scott’s Tots himself, a few of them stand in front of their class to tell Michael about their ambitions, and to thank him for making their dreams a real possibility.
As Michael hears about all the ambitions that he knows he has to step on, because he can’t afford the tuition he promised to the kids, he bursts into tears.
Michael Breaks The Bad News To The Kids
After hearing all the dreams that he knows he has to crush, Michael is invited to go up in front of Scott’s Tots and speak to them. He takes the opportunity to break the bad news to them, and does it in the worst way possible.
He singles out one kid and tells him he can’t pay for his tuition. And then he adds, “...which brings me to my main point, and that is that I will not be able to pay for anybody’s tuition. I’m so sorry.”
The “It Could Only Be You” Cake
As a part of Dwight’s ploy to turn the office against Jim by setting up an employee of the month program and making it look like he awarded it to himself, a cake is delivered.
It has a picture of Jim’s smiling face on it with the caption, “It could only be you.” Angela reads out the caption with the kind of acidic fury only she can pull off.
Michael Offers Laptop Batteries To The Kids
After telling the kids that he can’t pay for their college tuition, Michael tells them that he can give them something to help them with their college education. Since they need laptops to complete their college courses and laptops are useless without batteries, he has a suitcase full of laptop batteries to give them.
Naturally, the kids are furious that they’re being offered laptop batteries in lieu of years of college tuition. In the face of their ire, Michael futilely tries to save face: “Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!...They’re lithium!”