Michael Scott left, Jim and Pam got married and have a kid, Dwight and Jim seem to be on more amicable terms, Jim has seemingly matured and no longer has any classic pranks, Kelly is just annoying, Creed is almost funny, you don’t really know what Ryan’s role is, Erin and Andy are trying to hard to be Pam and Jim and whoever replaces Scott won’t be half as funny.

The Office has seemingly jumped the shark. Even the original creator of the U.K. version, Ricky Gervais, didn’t want the job as the new boss.

So, to set the stage for the top ten episodes, I ignored the first and last season, the two worst, and I used the following criteria: The cold open, references to old episodes, things that set up future episodes and if humor was present through the entire episode.

Here are the top ten office episodes according to me.

(Two part episodes are considered one episode in this list.)

(The list will be updated each day, adding a new entry.)

#6. Season 5, Episode 3: Business Ethics

Open:

Pam and Jim announce their engagement, Michael tackles Jim after hearing the news.

Review:

Michael and Holly hit is off, starting their personal relationship on a trip to lunch.

Holly gives an ethics meeting and to spice things up Michael has an “immunity” period where people can confess times they have been unethical.

Meredith admits she traded sex for discounts on supplies… and Outback stake coupons.

After the ethics meeting Jim counts up the seconds Dwight wastes. While doing that he actuality wastes the entire day doing nothing.

While Jim makes sure Dwight wastes no time, him and Andy have a conversation about Battlestar Galatia with blatant errors in the main characters and story. Dwight’s reaction and expressions are classic.

Humor Throughout:

Yes, anytime Dwight pee’s in a soda bottle you have to laugh—it is some sort of comedy law.

Best Quote:

“19 minutes and 48 seconds, what were we doing for 19 minutes and 48 seconds?” -Jim on Dwight “stealing” company time having intercourse with Angela during office hours.

#7. Season 4, Episode 1: Fun Run

Open:

Michael enjoying “domestic bliss” after he doesn’t get the job a corporate, he then hits Meredith as he drives in to work.

Review:

Kevin and Oscar debate if Pam and Jim are in a relationship, later prove to be true.

Dwight kills Angela’s cat Sprinkles putting a damper on their relationship exploits outside the office.

Michael dreams up a charity “fun run” to raise money for rabies after Meredith had to get a rabies shot.

Pam and Jim announce their relationship to the camera crew.

Pam walks in on Michael changing in his office and has the displeasure of seeing his “dangling participial.”

Humor throughout:

Yeah. Oh Andy and his nipple chafing… Nipple chafing is always funny no matter what.

Best Quote:

“I thought they would be good together like PB&J. Pam Beasley and Jim… what a waste, what a waste.” -Kevin on Pam and Jim’s relationship

#8. Season 5, Episode 14 & 15: Stress Relief Pt. 1 & 2

Open: Pt.1: 

Dwight starts a fire to test the office on their fire preparedness, Stanley has a heart attack.

Pt. 2: Dwight and Michael drink and commiserate in Michael’s office.

Review: Pt. 1:

Pam’s parents are going through a rough patch and Michael is the cause of all the stress in the office.

Pt. 2:

Michael throws a roast for himself then gets upset when nobody is nice to him in their turn at the mike. 

Humor throughout: Pt. 1:

Not bad. Dwight got in trouble by corporate and Michael was an idiot.

Pt. 2:

Michael got roasted and then he roasted the rest of the office. All in all, pretty good.

Best Quote: Pt. 1:

“Stanley! Barrack is president!” -Michael after Stanley suffers a heart attack.

Pt. 2:

“I consider myself a good person. But I am going to try and make him cry.” -Oscar on Michael having a roast 

#9. Season 5, Episode 12: The Duel

Open:

Michael and the rest of the office workers are out in front of the building running past a radar gun to see how fast they could run.

Review:

Jim removes all of Dwight’s weapons from the office, flash forward to when Roy tries to attack Jim, looks like Jim missed the pepper spray in Dwight’s desk.

Michael visits corporate, foreshadowing the future job opening at corporate and CFO David Wallace’s request for Michael to interview for the job.

Michael also mentions his improv comedy class he takes.

Humor throughout:

Not bad, the blatant references Kevin makes about Dwight and Angela’s secret relationship was pretty funny. Brief side note, Kevin is a sneaky funny character that is lost in the shadow of Michael, Jim and Dwight. This will be more apparent in a few more episodes on this list. 

Best Quote: 

“Eventually he will figure it out when their kids have giant heads and beet stained teeth.” -Jim on Andy not knowing Dwight and Angela were having an affair. 

#10. Season 2, Episode 7: The Client

Cold Open (The 1-2 minute segment before the body of the episode starts):

We learn the origin of casual Friday, referenced again in a later episode when most of the office was wearing inappropriate clothing. Not really funny, but for those that have watched every episode several times (me) it fills in the very, very in depth story the writers created.

Review:

During lunch break the crew discussed their worst first dates, Pam admitted on her first date with Roy he took her to a minor league hockey game, with his brother, then left her there when the game ended and she was in the bathroom.

Most importantly is the beginning of Michael and Jan’s relationship, on a sales meeting, at Chili’s no less, to get a contract with the county.

By the end of the meeting Michael seals the deal and Jan is liquored up, it is implied that they ended up hooking up, though it is unclear exactly how far they got.

Pam finds the movie script Michael wrote in his desk, thus the debut of agent Michael Scarn and “Threat Level Midnight.”

Humor throughout:

Eh. It is better then most episodes, but there are still places that are a bit boring.