The characters on NBC’s The Office have gotten into plenty of antics over the show’s nine seasons whether knowingly or by mistake. In an interview with Today, Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone) reminisced about Kevin’s iconic chili scene and noted that the mistake was “tremendously sad” because of how much effort Kevin put into the chili, and it wound up being for nothing.
While Kevin’s chili spill was an accident, other office antics were done intentionally. These outrageous decisions were committed by a majority of the Scranton branch, making them all the more foolish because of the office’s serious environment.
When They Stormed The Utica Branch
What made The Office such a rewatchable series were the hilarious stunts the Scranton branch pulled. Whether intentional or not, characters like Michael, Dwight, and Jim found themselves in awkward situations because of their stunts — including an embarrassing situation at the Utica branch.
In season 4, Michael and Dwight tricked Jim into going to the Utica branch to retaliate after Karen recruited Stanley to her office. The three dressed up as warehouse workers (with fake mustaches) and tried stealing their massive copier to send a message. This resulted in Karen catching them and creating a scene for their childlike behavior. This was a bad look for the Scranton branch, and for Jim as Karen’s ex.
When They Collected Customer Complaint Cards For Fun
In season 9’s ‘The Target,’ Jim was trying to bribe Phyllis and Stanley into helping him work part-time at Dunder Mifflin while he started a new career in Philadelphia. The two salespeople proved they were some of The Office’s best colleagues for helping Jim when he was in need. While gone, the rest of the office found themselves distracted by the company’s complaint cards.
Instead of working, the entire office built a pyramid out of the complaint cards. Needing one more complaint to complete the tower, Pam called a client, insulted them, and eventually, lost their business — resulting in the completion of their tower. Losing clients during a hard time in the paper industry on purpose seemed like an odd choice of company time, as did building a pyramid for the entire workday.
The Drunken Shenanigans At Holiday Parties
It’s hard to rank the holiday parties on The Office because they’re all so different from each other. The one thing each party has in common, however, is foolish office antics.
Although alcohol wasn’t permitted at company parties, Michael Scott broke that rule early on and added it to most parties thereafter. The addition of adult beverages only made things sloppier (albeit hilarious). Moroccan Christmas resulted in Meredith’s hair catching on fire, Michael’s classy Christmas led to a bloody snowball fight between Dwight and Jim, and who could forget Erin’s failed Halloween party that was filled with inappropriate office games?
An Office Divided
One of the smartest business decisions The Michael Scott Paper Company made was selling the company back to Dunder Mifflin for their jobs. Once Michael, Pam, and Ryan rejoined Dunder Mifflin, however, the office was divided.
It was three against everyone else. The salespeople, especially, felt hurt by Michael and Pam because they stole their clients from underneath them. This divide continued in season 6 when Michael’s antics had the salespeople fighting for the best leads. Jealous of the salespeople’s success, Michael hid the leads and had his workers guess where the leads were. This, of course, led to the leads being thrown away and $50,000 worth of research being trashed — all because of an antic gone wrong.
When They Hosted Bachelor And Bachelorette Parties On Company Property
One of Michael’s oddest antics took place in ‘Ben Franklin’ after he was convinced to throw Bob Vance and Phyllis Lapin’s bachelor and bachelorette parties… on office property… during office hours. He hired an adult dancer for the men and a Ben Franklin impersonator for the women.
With most of the workers being at the dueling parties, work was not done on this day. Instead, Michael got uncomfortable with the dancer when he realized Jan would be upset with him, and the Ben Franklin impersonator flirted with Pam. The lap dance wasn’t a moment that led to Michael and Jan’s breakup, but it was foolish behavior that wasted time and stirred the pot.
Nellie’s Party Was Horrible On Purpose
In season 8, Nellie became a permanent addition to Dunder Mifflin. The only problem was that most of the office didn’t like her because of how she started her time with the Scranton branch, especially when she took Andy’s job from him.
Robert California encouraged the office to throw a welcome party for Nellie, but considering no one was fond of her, the collective group threw an awful party on purpose. Pam and the Party Planning Committee made sure the party had everything that Nellie hated — all to make her have a bad time. But when Jim and Dwight realized Nellie was more sensitive than they realized, they tried to change the direction of the party. Unfortunately for them, their buffoonery went too far and Nellie was offended.
An Entire Meeting Dedicated To Oscar’s Sexuality
One of the most inappropriate escapades Michael Scott got himself and the office into was a conference room meeting on Oscar’s sexuality.
At a time when gay marriage was still illegal, Oscar wasn’t ready to be open and honest about his sexual orientation. But when Michael caught wind of it, he put the spotlight on Oscar and wanted him to come out to the entire office. The antic was humiliating, and it only became more embarrassing when Michael pulled a kissing stunt to prove to everyone that he was fine with Oscar being gay. Michael had some failed ideas before, but this was one of the worst.
The Work Bus
In ‘Work Bus,’ Jim pulled a prank on Dwight that would lead him to close the office park while he got it checked for dangerous magnetic energy. Jim’s prank, however, was met with a dueling antic by Dwight. Instead of losing a week’s worth of work, Dwight rented a work bus for the branch to work in.
The new bus environment was exciting for a few workers but annoying for most. And as predicted the Scranton branch couldn’t just work on a bus without going somewhere. Jim somehow convinced Dwight to take the bus to a nearby pie stand, which resulted in drama, fears, and even a few tears.
A Pressure To Lose Weight For Company Gain
‘Weight Loss’ was a two-part episode that showed Dunder Mifflin’s branches competing with each other from afar for the chance to win three extra vacation days. The purpose was to get Dunder Mifflin’s branches healthier, so the branch that lost the most weight collectively won.
As always, Scranton took things too far. Creed sold Kelly a tapeworm (and she fainted by extreme diet fads), Michael body-shamed everyone, and Dwight forced Phyllis to walk to work to burn calories after dropping her off miles away from work. In this case, the office’s collective antics were dangerous.
A Public Duel Over Angela
While Angela and Andy were planning their dream wedding, she was also sleeping with Dwight. Everyone found out about the affair and Andy was heartbroken. Knowing both men loved Angela, she agreed to a duel for her heart.
Even though Toby was in HR, he agreed that a duel could be had in the parking lot of the business park. This outlandish high jink ended when Andy tried to run Dwight over. The duel never should have happened to begin with, but the fact that it happened at work was outrageous.
