The Prestige TV Podcast - 'The Office' Top 5

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

In honor of 'The Office' getting put on Peacock, Shea Serrano and Jason Gallagher get together to countdown their five favorite episodes of the series. Hosts: Jason Gallagher and Shea Serrano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's the very, very worst thing about prison? Don't encourage him, do you? The worst thing about prison was the dementors. They were flying all over the place and they were scary and then they'd come down and they suck the soul out of your body and then height! Hello and welcome to TV concierge. My name is Jason Gallagher. I'm a producer at the ringer.com and I'm joined by the great Shea Serrano.

What up, baby? What's up, Shea. We're here to talk about the office. It's a little show. show, you might have heard of it. It's moved over to Peacock, and if for some reason you haven't seen The Office, you can go to Peacock and watch that. To celebrate that, Shea and I are talking about the Office's top five episodes of all time. The Top Five episodes of the Office ever. He has a list, I have a list. I think my list is better. I haven't seen his list. There's no chance.

There's no chance. Anyway, so we're going to get started. Shea, why don't you unveil your your number five top episode of the office. All right. This is the fifth best episode of the office. This is one that I will put on regularly for one specific moment in there. But it has a bunch of the little cool stuff that the office is really, really good at. I'm going with, it's called the client. Michael, when he closes the deal with Tim Meadows, with Jan at the at the Chili's, really, really

smart episode. Listen, we have, that's going on there. Back at the office, they're doing the first reading of threat level midnight. So there's going on there. That's when Jim and Pam have their first unofficial date, which Pam ends up just sort of shredding in front of Jim. And then he makes a mean comment about Roy. And then it's, all of the pieces of here are especially great. But the one that I enjoy the most, I really like to see Michael coming through. So much of the show is Michael just fucking everything up. And you see him here and it looks like he's maybe ruining this and then you realize, wait, are they getting along? Jan is looking extremely bored and frustrated and she just wants to do her sales pitch. And then they have this great turn after they've been at Chili's for who knows how long,

where Michael sets the hook and Tim Meadows bites on it. And Jan realizes what's happening. And she gives this great, just a lion showing her teeth smile when she realizes it's about to happen. It's just fucking great. I love this episode so much. Yeah. Honestly, if you would have just told me, Michael is out of Chili's, like that would have done it for me.

Yeah. Also, you came through with some real in-depth analysis. I think I'm going to have to... Do you have this in your top five? I do not. See, that's why I'm already going to win. All right.

Well, my number five is Season 2, Episode 22, Casino Night. Casino Night is really funny. I love it. it when Michael's feeling himself and he's really feeling himself in this episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he has two dates to the casino night. It also just sort of features, I love this sort of, like, unexplained cutaways to the side characters that the office sort of did early on, where it was just like, and here's a moment with Kevin. And then, like, it had nothing to do with

the story, but it was great. And then also, like, obviously ended with one of the all-time sort of cliffhangers, in my opinion. I was really, that's so good. Yeah, yeah. It's. Yeah. It's so good. Yeah. It's so good. It's so, like, well executed. And they're like, they're the perfect TV couple in that moment. Like, they did the Ross, Rachel thing better than Ross and Rachel in that moment. I think all time, they're my second favorite couple, Jim and Pan, we're talking about. They're my second favorite TV couple that's ever been on TV, ever.

Number one for me, Turk and Carla and Scrubs. I think they might, I think they might have them beat out. But that moment right there, he gets his heartbroken first. It was really, really touching and really great. And yeah, you don't know how it is. I can't, I didn't watch it. Did you watch this in real time? Like, I did.

Yeah. Did you really? I was together with college friends and we were, we used to gather to watch the office. That's the nerdy shit I ever heard in my life. Whatever. It was a Baptist school. We didn't drink. And so, and so, yeah, we gathered.

And at that moment, everyone was just like, whatever. It was fantastic. Laramie and I came to the show late. And then we were watching it on Netflix when it was on Netflix. And when that episode went off, we couldn't start the next episode fast enough. I didn't even know what time it was, what day it was just like, I have to see what happens here. That one didn't make my top five, though. Wow.

That one felt a little too predictable. Oh, my gosh. You know what I'm saying? Like, oh, the first time Jim and Pam kiss, sure. I get it. I get it. All right, let me give you my number four Because this one will definitely not be on there

If you didn't have the client on there Then you don't have this one But this is my number one favorite example In the series of like a Of them just juggling all of the very silly pieces In a really fun, cool way And I'm gonna cheat a little bit here Because it's actually two episodes that I'm picking

But the official episode is broke When they start the Michael Scott Paper Company Everything is like, whatever they're doing it, they realize they're going to run out of money. At the same time, they've been poaching all of the clients from Dunder Mifflin. And we have the showdown with David Wallace and Stringer Bell versus Michael, Pam, and Ryan. And again, to see Michael come through, to see him finally fucking pull the arms and legs off of David Wallace, after the whole series, David has had the power.

And then you see him do it there. It just, I wanted to fucking high five everybody. I felt like I was watching a playoff game when that happened. And it just felt so great to watch. That's number four. The cutaway to Jim when he just is, he's so happy for them. He just, it's exactly how we, like, I felt like we all felt. I didn't have that on my list.

Of course you didn't. Of course you didn't. But that was a, so that was some of the, like, a little later than of, like, the Michael stuff that I, like, considered, I loved that chapter of the office is when he started the Michael Scott Paper Company. I realize that all of my picks are basically different versions of Michael. Everything is Michael related on my picks. He's the center of the show.

You got to do it. Yeah. And so everything is a version of Michael. My number five pick was Michael feeling himself. Number four pick, it's season three, episode nine, the convict. Only for that one scene. Only for prison Mike. It's the worst version of Michael.

It's the most inappropriate version of Michael. It's insane. It's, I can't believe this is happening. It's pretty offensive in some ways. And he's, he's just completely ignorant the whole time. And Michael's such a complex, weird guy who showed a lot of growth and everything. And this was him at his lowest, but also meant it was him at his, had his funniest. When he started to be prison Mike and started mentioning Harry Potter de Mentors in the prison

and all of this stuff, like, I just couldn't believe what I was watching. I have it, it's the emotion I felt when I was just like, I literally was like hiding behind a pillow. I couldn't take it. It was incredible. It was honestly incredible. The line that always stands out to me in that episode, I know everybody goes crazy for the Dementor's line. But the one that gets me is in the very beginning when they're trying to figure out who the convict is. And he asks if it's Toby.

And then he picks like the, just the worst, most terrible thing he could think of to associate Toby with and he's like is it Toby convicted rapist and he's like what the fuck how did this get on network TV I don't understand what is happening right now that's that's a strong pick he did the time to kill reference to yeah he was like imagine this type of person oh my gosh it was and it was like an old elderly white woman the thing that I want to mention before we keep moving on here with the stringerbell thing because I said I was going to have two episodes for my fourth pick. But I really enjoy the episode when he gets introduced. And that's the one where Jim is in the tuxedo. And you get to see Jim just sort of squirm the whole time. It's great. Jim has a special place in my heart. All right,

let's do number three. This will be one that I know for certain you'll have on yours. And I'm going to have it on mine. We've talked about this one before, the dinner party episode. Yeah. Probably the line for line funniest episode in the series. The only reason I couldn't put it at number one, though, is because the office to me has always been more than just a funny show. Like that's a big part of it, obviously. But when the office is at is very best, it's when it's able to press those buttons in your chest a little bit, like to get you to feel some stuff that maybe you weren't expecting to feel in this moment. There's no moment like that in the dinner party. So I couldn't put it at number one. But I have to have it on there. It's also just not in the office. And that feels like some sin or whatever. Because it's on my top five.

We might as well just discuss it now. It's my number two. Okay. I think it's like everything you said. It's pound for pound just the funniest episode. Every line. Every line. Every line.

It's amazing to recount all of the stuff that happens in it. And then, you know, the woman who plays Jan, Malora Harden is like. This is our best episode. This is her best episode right here. She's so good. She is so good. All right, what's your number three, if that's your number two?

My number three is the episode right before that episode, season four, episode 12, The Deposition. Oh, God, that's a tough one, man. What are you doing? Can I tell you, let me explain. Let me explain it. Explain this terrible pick. No, no, there's two things that happen. One, it's Michael being his sort of Michael's self.

in the most inappropriate setting, which is in front of a legal counsel. In some ways, you know, like, he sort of hits every button. He's incredibly embarrassing, very self-centered, and in the end, kind of comes through, which is something you've talked about a lot. And, you know, he sort of lets his heart guide

the decision that he makes, which is sort of weird, because it winds up being away from the woman he, quote, unquote, loves or whatever. But, you know, at the end, when he, when David Wallace says, you know, you're a good guy or whatever. Like that moment right there really touched me.

I don't know. It just sort of like it made David like realize that like he shouldn't have been so shitty to Michael. Yeah. I don't know. I just like that's what she said. I remember watching that episode live and he did the that's what she said joke. Yeah.

Nobody understood. And then they cut to commercial. Okay. And then they come back and they're like, read that again. And they're still trying to explain that that's what she said moment. I just, I love that episode. That's a really rewatchable, like, episode from me. I don't like to see Michael get raked across the eyes like that in that, in that room.

Just, I don't enjoy it. This is a terrible pick. You were doing okay and then you fell apart. No, no. Let me ask a question before we keep going. Yeah. Since we're spending so much time talking about Michael, who is your favorite other half of a relationship that Michael has in the show? Like Michael and Holly, let's say, okay, cool, they're perfect for each other.

But separate of that, Michael and Jan, Michael and Dwight, Michael and Jim, Michael and Pam, Michael and Ryan. Like, who do you enjoy seeing the most onscreen with him? Oh, man, that's such a good question. That is a really good question. I think Michael and Jan have produced some of the funniest moments in TV. I'm going to cop out and say, like, everyone. Pick one.

Pick one, you coward. Okay. All right. I'm going to say Michael. I'm going to say Michael and Jan. I love Michael and Ryan. I freaking love Michael and Ryan. There's something about them, you know, before Ryan got super successful, I loved Michael and Ryan. Yeah. I thought that was amazing. But I'm going to go Michael and Jan. What do you, what do you think? I like him with Pam. Pam is like secretly my favorite on the show. I love how they just sort of lift each other up over and over and over again. We talked about the Michael Scott paper company she's the one who goes with them she's like you know what fucking i believe in this guy i'm

gonna go with them that also in that episode there's like a really quick little moment where when he goes to pick up pam in the morning it's like four in the morning yeah and she opens a door and it's her and jim and i really like that he like woke up that early to just see her off yeah it's the it's the dumbest most uninteresting thing in the world to me when people are like gym is jim is bad pam is bad pam is like She's the worst person. I'm like, you fucking idiot. Who says that? Why would you think that?

It doesn't make any sense. There's nothing here. I don't get it. I always enjoyed Michael and Pam earlier on when Pam was not knowing how to deal with Michael. Like there was something about that that was good. I thought the show did a pretty good job of evolving that. I know some people that also feel a similar way. They're like, why did Pam all of a sudden become Michael's best friend?

But I thought it did a pretty good job of sort of evolving. involving her from like woman who would never like partake in anything Michael does to all of a sudden sort of being like almost being able to read his mind. Yeah, because the more time they spend together, the more she realizes how much they have in common, the more she realizes how interconnected everything in their lives have become. Of course that would be the case. Because the same thing happens with, with Dwight, this person that on the surface she would seem to despise. he describes her in that last episode as his best friend. It's the same thing here.

And this gets us into my number two pick. Pam has an art show where it's her and Michael again. And Pam just puts on a fucking acting clinic. She's so good. She's so smart there. I really love all of the little touches that they do. Of course, we're talking about Michael shows up to her art show where nobody else came except for Roy, who bumbled everything.

away. She's just feeling terrible about herself. He gets there. He's super proud. You're expecting him to make the situation worse, as he always does. She's expecting it to. He says the exact right things in the exact right order. He's looking at this painting that she made. And a really clever thing in the painting is that she paints a building and there are only two cars in the parking lot. It's Pam's car and Michael's car. Like they're always linked together. You have to have this one in here on any like best of list. It's, it's possibly the most poignant moment in the show. Just watching her come out of her like self and realize, oh, I have like an ally here, somebody who's going to make me feel good about myself right now. It's just, it's so, so well done.

Do you tell me you have this on here. I'm going to fucking. I don't. Oh, my God. Are you serious? Okay. Okay. Well, you know my number two and my number one is something different. So. Golly. So here's the deal. I think you're touching on like Pam's acting, Jennifer Fisher's acting as Pam is, she has like three or four of the most memorable,

like, acting moments to me. What you're talking about in this episode. Tell me what they are. Tell me what they are. Okay, so I have a distinct... So on casino night, I think the way that she's sort of, like, when Roy drives away, I distinctly remember the way she's sort of looking at Jim, like she, is in love with him, but she can't... Like, it was there's something about her look to him. And then when he comes back from New York, that's it right there.

That's a good one. And then he interrupts the interview and she turns around and she's just so shocked and it's all one take. And then she's like, and then she turns around her eyes are like literally teared up. Dude, she's so good. I was like, there's your Emmy right there. That was amazing moment.

And, you know, and like the episode you're talking about like is also one that just will always stick in my mind. So I just, I don't know. She was like an underrated actress on that show, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's really good. The other one, when she

gets sad during her confession, it starts crying, too, and you're just like, golly, this is, she's, so, she's, she's, she's, too good. And yet, you didn't have it on your, on your list. Sorry. Okay. My number two is the dinner party. We already sort of covered that.

Yeah. And then, so what's your number one? My number one, my like personal favorite, it. This episode has every single thing that we need for it to be the best episode that's ever happened. It takes place in the office. It's an early, it's an early season episode. You know, that's sort of when you're building up the lore of a show is during those, those early seasons. You go back and rewatching, and you see all of the, like, little pieces that were put in place that eventually became bigger things. It's, it's funny. We get the introduction of the warehouse crew.

we have the like all of the little secret stuff that that would come to light later on. I'm talking about the basketball episode here. Oh, wow. I got to have the basketball episode. As my number one favorite one to put on, I want to watch it. I want to see the way that Michael is going to bumble his way through the, through picking the teams. I love the joke that he throws at Oscar about baseball and boxing.

I love the twist with Stanley. I love Phyllis turning out to be really good at basketball. Kevin, we have the, like, you know, the, what is it, the urban legend or whatever of him, of the, like, real actor hitting 14 shots in a row when they were, like, practicing. It's a bunch of little stuff in there. But number one of all is I just, I really, really, really have a good time watching Jim get his moment against Roy in the game, where he calls him out. He's like, I want to guard him.

He guards him, and then he fucking puts him in the dirt in front of Pam. He's just doing everything he can think of to make this woman fall in love with him. And it's just so good. Can I ask you a question? Please. I really love that pick, and it's not in my top five. God, you're the worst. You're the worst.

But, so Jim, one thing we haven't really talked about is Jim and Dwight's relationship much. How do you feel about that relationship? chip and sort of the evolution of it. Oh, I love it. It's so good. That, okay, so that's sort of what I was hinting at earlier and people are like, oh, Jim is a bully. All he does is pick on Dwight. He's like, no, they're their best buds. They're very close friends. Jim is the one who like prevents Dwight from getting fired. Dwight is the one who gets sad when Jim has to leave and he doesn't get to be around for the Christmas party. Like these are clearly good, close competitive friends. what are you talking about? I love their relationship. A really good example of like how involved

their relationship is is when they go out on the sales pitch together. And number one, we see like a very clear version of them working in harmony together being like, you know, they're doing the sales pitch together without even thinking about. They're just on it and they make the sale, of course. But prior to when they walk into the building, Dwight is like, leave me alone in the car, basically, for, give me a second. And then Jim says, oh, you still do the thing? And he's like, yeah. And then he just gets out and he waits while Dwight hypes himself up with the music.

Like, they're the best of friends. And what are we talking about here? Of course, they're awesome. Yeah, no, no. I figured that's how you would feel. It's funny in my sort of like calculation of my list. I didn't really consider that relationship and sort of thinking about it, which goes to show how, like, amazing this show.

I didn't even think about it. Like you mentioning Pam and Michael being like a factor for why you picked it an episode. Yeah. And in the basketball episode, we get another very tiny little version of that with Jim and Dwight on the same team. They're both good. Dwight shoots 100% from the field. He's balling out. But there's a part in there, if I'm not mistaken, where Jim sets an off-the-ball pick for Dwight.

And that's not a thing you do with someone you hate. If you ever play basketball with something you hate, I would fucking never set an off the ball pick for someone on. I wouldn't even throw them the ball, but these guys are, they're buddy-buddy. And you don't have it in your top five. This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

What is your number one, if not that? So my number one, you know, you can't explain love. And this is my, I love watching, re-watching this. This is number one for me.

And season two, episode 12, The Injury. Oh, my God. When Michael Burns his foot on a George Foreman grill. Yeah. It is the best episode to me. To me, it includes, it takes place in the office, as we've discussed.

It includes so many little funny moments. It's also got a little bit of, like, the heartfeltness. It's like one of the earlier episodes where I really, like, you know, like when Dwight starts to become friends with Pam. That's a good Dwight Pam episode. And, you know, Michael begrudgingly sort of helps Dwight out. And you see how much Michael means to Dwight. and Angela's like low-key trying to figure out what's going on.

So all the heartfelt stuff is there. And then it's just, it's so funny to me in the way that Michael just wants everyone's attention. And when he falls in the bathroom and Ryan is standing there and Toby says he died, there's so many, and you know, and Michael comes out and I, my best office episode has to have like a Michael speech. It has to have him coming out into the,

into, you know, where everybody's working and where he just like starts shouting and he's, and he's shouting, you know, has anyone ever been disabled? He brings a wheelchair guy in. It's like, it has so many moments to me that are so funny in different ways. I love, I love rewatching this episode. Opposite, opposite of the Dwight Pam secret friendship is I have so much fun every time Pam and Ryan lock horns. that she just so clearly, she genuinely dislikes him and just sort of hates his whole essence. And anytime she could poke him in the eye, it just makes me very, very happy.

Yeah. So yeah, so my number one episode is sort of the clear number one, I think, in terms of just what people would probably think if they looked at our lists. Oh, absolutely not. You got one right. You were one for five. What's my one? The dinner party episode. but all the other ones should not have been on there.

You didn't have casino night, which is objectively great. And then I remember watching an interview with the guy who plays Ryan, and he said that the injury was his favorite episode, too. Hey, awesome. Ryan's the worst character on the show. So great job. Great job aligning with the convicted felon, Ryan. Awesome.

Awesome. All right. Well, I choose to think of Ryan as the youngest, VP. The Rwanderth. The Wanderthin. Some people that are calling them a Wondercan. So that's it for us.

Thanks for listening to TV concierge. I'm Jason Gallagher. That's Shea Serrano. Be sure to check out more TV concierge later this week.