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r/DunderMifflin - DunderMifflin's Sunday Episode Review Thread! Season 3: Episode 1 - Gay Witch Hunt

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r/DunderMifflin: Why watch many show when one show do trick?

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Writer: Greg Daniels, Director: Ken Kwapis

Summary: When Michael unintentionally outs a gay employee, he stumbles through a sensitivity mine-field. Also, we find out what happened with Jim and Pam.

The Office Gay Witch Hunt extras

The Office Gay Witch Hunt quotes

Ryan: Yeah, I'm not a temp anymore. I got Jim's old job, which means at my 10-year high school reunion, it will not say "Ryan Howard is a temp." It will say "Ryan Howard is a junior sales associate at a mid-range paper supply firm." That'll show 'em.

Jim: You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.
Pam: Me too. I think we're just drunk.
Jim: No I'm not drunk. Are you drunk?
Pam: No. (Jim reaches in for another kiss.) Jim.
Jim: You're really going to marry him. (Pam nods.)
Jim: Okay.

Dwight: False. I do not miss him.

Toby: Okay, I am telling you, Oscar is an actual homosexual.

Michael: You don't call retarded people "retards." It's bad taste. You call your friends "retards" when they're acting retarded. And I consider Oscar a friend.

Michael: Maybe we could go out for a beer, sometime, and you can tell me how you do that to another dude.
Oscar (flabbergasted): That sounds like a great, wonderful idea. Let's do that.

Angela: It explains so much.

Oscar: Yeah, I'm gay.

Jim: I can't say whether Dunder Mifflin paper is less flammable, sir, but, I can assure you that it's certainly not more flammable.

Andy: Steer clear, Big Tuna. Head for open waters.

Jim: I don't think any of them actually know my real name.

Andy: I went to Cornell. Ever heard of it?

Andy: I sang in the a cappella group, Here Comes Treble.

Michael: Yeah, I'm sure everyone would appreciate me treating them like they were gay.

Michael: What about Angela? She's hard and severe. She could be a gay woman.

Dwight: Jim told me you could buy gaydar online.

Jim: Gaydar, um, I think they have it at Sharper Image.

Jim: I miss that.

Roy: Chicken or fish?

Pam: We still had to pay for all the food. So we froze it. But I'm...I'm doing well. I have my own apartment, and I'm taking art classes, and I have lunch for the next five weeks.

Roy: I gotta win her back.

Stanley: I got them a toaster. They called off the wedding and gave the toaster back to me. I tried to return the toaster to the store, and they said they no longer sold that kind of toaster. So now my house has got two toasters.

Kelly: That is so cool that you're gay. I totally underestimated you.

Oscar: Yes, I am super cool. I am an accountant ... at a failing paper supply company. In Scranton. Much like Sir Ian McKellen.

Angela: Sure, sometimes I watch Will and Grace. And I want to throw up. It's terribly loud. But I do like it sometimes when Harry Connick, Jr. is on. He's so talented.

Andy: I need to know who put my calculator in Jell-o, or I'm going to lose my freaking mind!

Michael: I watch "Queer as F*ck."
Jan: That's not what it's called.

Michael: "Gay Pride Parade." It's not like, "Gay Shame Festival."

Michael: The company has made it my responsibility today to put an end to 100,000 years of being weirded out by gays.

Michael: Gay porn, straight porn, it's all good.

Oscar: What are you doing?
Angela: Watching some of your friends.

Michael: I don't care if you are gay, or straight, or a lesbian, or overweight, just get in here! Right now!

Michael: We're all homos. Homo sapiens.

Creed: I'm not offended by homosexuality. In the sixties, I made love to many, many women. Often outdoors, in the mud and the rain, and it's possible a man slipped in. Would be no way of knowing.

Michael: And I take that as a compliment.

Dwight: What about Phyllis? She makes absolutely no attempt to be feminine.

Michael: I am coming out hetero.

Oscar: This has been the worst, most backwards day of my life.

Oscar: I don't want to touch you! Ever consider that? You're ignorant. And insulting. And small.

Dwight: Michael appears to be gay, too. And yet he is my friend. I guess I do have a gay friend.

Michael: We're not in the playground anymore. There are new rules. We have to be mature, but we can't lose the spirit of childlike wonder. What is love, anyway? Maybe it's supposed to break all the rules. Like me and Jan. Or Oscar and some guy. Life is short. When two people find each other, what should stand in their way?

Michael: I'm glad today spurred social change. It's part of my job as regional manager. But you know what, even if didn't, at least we put this matter to bed. That's what she said. Or he said. Oh, there's Gil, Oscar's roommate. I wonder if he knows.

Oscar: I was going to quit, but Jan offered me a three-month paid vacation and a company car. All I had to do was sign something saying I won't sue. Gil and I are going to Europe. Kids, sometimes it pays to be gay.

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Writer: Greg Daniels, Director: Ken Kwapis Summary: When Michael unintentionally outs a gay employee, he stumbles through a sensitivity mine-field. Also, we find out what happened with Jim and Pam. The Office Gay Witch Hunt extras The Office Gay Witch Hunt quotes Ryan: Yeah, I'm not a temp anymore.

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We talk to the Office star about improvisation, guest directors and getting kissed by Steve Carell.

Oscar Nunez's character on , one of a trio of accountants, has had to put up with a lot during his time at Dunder-Mifflin. Essentially the voice of reason stuck sitting amongst the rigidness of Angela (Angela Kinsey) and the oddness of Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), Oscar then had to deal with a lot more when his homosexuality was revealed to Michael Scott (Steve Carell). This led to one of the most uncomfortable and funny moments on the show, as Michael forced a kiss on Oscar to prove how accepting he was, whether Oscar liked it or not.

Nunez took a break from The Office for awhile last year to film his Comedy Central improvisational series Halfway Home, before returning for the second half of the season. Nunez will be back full time for The Office's fourth season this fall, and shortly before the show went back into production we had the chance to talk to him at an NBC party at the Television Critics Association press tour last month.

IGN TV: NBC has given you a 30-episode order this season. How does that feel?

Nunez: It's amazing. When we shot the pilot, it was "Give us a quarter of a season." And now when you get orders for 30 episodes. That's fantastic. For an actor, there's nothing better.

IGN TV: [Office executive producer] Greg Daniels has said that having more episodes can mean more time with the supporting cast.

Nunez: Yeah, absolutely. And Ed Helms is back too, so that's great. He's fantastic. I'm looking forward to it.

IGN TV: Angela [Kinsey] told me that in Season 1, you guys would just begin doing little improvs in the accounting section in the background.

Nunez: Yeah, I've known Angela for years and years and we've done improv together, so we were dying to show them what we could do. So the first shows, we would call Greg aside and go "We've got a little bit we've worked on!" And he'd say, "Go ahead and do it," and [director] Ken Kwapis was open to it too. And they'd look and go, "Yeah, that's not bad!" They'd shoot it. They wouldn't use it, but they'd at least be respectful enough to at least shoot it, and not in a condescending way, but kind of like "You guys are doing good. Keep it up. We'll find a place for it eventually." And that did pan out in the end. But we were always chomping at the bit to show them what we could do, because we knew we could do this, you know?

IGN TV: Is it nice to use those improvisations, whether it be in the group scenes or in the talking head interviews, to add some quirks to your character?

Nunez: Sure, yeah, it's the most fun. And like I said, it's not nerve-wracking for Angela and myself because that's what we do. We've been doing it for years. So it's just right up our alley.

IGN TV: I know you've said that you were not expecting Steve [Carell] to kiss you full on the lips in the "Gay Witch Hunt" episode. What were you thinking as that happened?

Nunez: I was thinking, "I can't believe he did it." And then I was thinking, right after that, "Of course he did it!" And then I was thinking "I hope no one laughs. I hope we can use this. I hope no one laughs out loud." Because I know there's a bunch of gigglers out there, and I thought, "I hope it's not a ruined take that we can't use." But thankfully the cameras were on us, so it worked out okay.

IGN TV: You're an old pro at improv, so are you at the point where it's really difficult to get you to break character and laugh, even when things get that outrageous?

Nunez: Yeah, I just don't break. I don't. And there's only one person I know who's a better non-breaker than me, and that's Will Forte from SNL. You can not make that guy break. I'll break eventually - Will Forte will never break.

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Exclusive: The Office's Oscar Nunez Kisses and Tells - IGN

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Oscar Nunez's character on The Office, one of a trio of accountants, has had to put up with a lot during his time at Dunder-Mifflin. Essentially the voice of reason stuck sitting amongst the rigidness of Angela (Angela Kinsey) and the oddness of Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), Oscar then had to then deal with a lot more when his homosexuality was revealed to Michael Scott (Steve Carell).

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"The Gay Witch Hunt"

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I think we can all agree when I say that is one of the most hilariously cringe-worthy TV shows in history, right? I mean, if you can find a show with something more mortifying than Scott's Tots, let me know.

And because I enjoy visiting my old faves (who doesn't?), I recently found myself watching this near and dear NBC comedy for the fifth (maybe sixth?) time. The nostalgic theme song graced my ears like my favorite lullaby, I was eager to watch the gang's adventures... But something this time around felt very different. As I rewatched this dearly beloved sitcom I noticed that I didn't find it nearly as funny as I used to.

Over a decade has passed since The Office first aired and it only makes sense that humor has changed along with the world around us. But in today's politically and socially charged climate, Michael Scott's blatant misogyny, homophobia, and racism come off worse than ever. There's no doubt that this show has some seriously funny moments (Dwight faking an office fire, anyone?) but let's take a second to remember some of the series' painfully problematic episodes.

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5 Episodes of 'The Office' That Are Totally Problematic in 2018

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I think we can all agree when I say that is one of the most hilariously cringe-worthy TV shows in history, right? I mean, if you can find a show with something more mortifying than Scott's Tots, let me know.

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Gay Witch Hunt

"Gay Witch Hunt" is the first episode of the third season of and the 29th overall. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis. It first aired on September 21, 2006. It was viewed by 9.1 million people.

No longer a temp, Ryan accepts the sales position vacated when Jim transferred to the Stamford branch. Pam looks at Ryan sitting at Jim's former desk and flashes back to Pam and Jim's kiss prior to his transfer. In the flashback, Jim tells Pam he has wanted to do that "for the longest time" and Pam admits the same. She stops Jim from another kiss and tells him she's still getting married and they say their goodbyes. In an interview, Dwight feigns tears over Jim's transfer, before indicating he's glad to be rid of him.

Michael calls Oscar "faggy" for preferring Shakespeare in Love to Die Hard. Michael is asked by Toby not to use such terms, but insists it is a harmless synonym for "lame." ("That's what 'faggy' means!") Toby tells Michael that Oscar is homosexual and finds the word offensive.

Michael approaches Oscar at the copy machine and loudly apologizes and invites him for a beer sometime. In a succession of short on-camera interviews, Oscar reveals that he is gay, Angela indicates she hates the whole idea of homosexuality and the jowls of Kevin's face jiggle as he is unable to manage anything but "Oscar...is gay" through his giggles.

Meanwhile, in Stamford, Jim's transfer came with a promotion and a modern office where his desk includes a window view. Co-worker Andy, who sits at a desk in front of Jim, calls him "Big Tuna" in reference to his first-day lunch, a switch from his daily ham and cheese sandwich in Scranton. Co-worker Karen, who sits at the desk behind Jim, mocks him for repeatedly smirking at the camera and says she doesn't believe he's fitting in. Andy meanwhile, discusses how he doesn't feel threatened by Jim as he thinks he's an ambitious know-it-all, just as he brags about his wild college days at Cornell University.

Back in Scranton, Roy brings Pam lunch in a short, awkward exchange. In an interview, Pam says she got cold feet, called off the wedding, ended the relationship, and moved into her own apartment. As a result, Roy and Pam are making the frozen wedding reception meals their lunch for the next five weeks.

A disheveled Roy is seen in a mug shot as he recalls how being dumped led him into a downward spiral of weight gain, beard growth, and a drunk driving arrest. Roy claims he has recovered, laments mistreating Pam, and vows to win her back. Stanley's only comment on the breakup is that he gave the couple a toaster, was unable to return the discontinued model, and now has two toasters at home.

Dwight and Michael worry about other homosexuals working in the office without their knowledge. Dwight recalls Jim mentioning "gaydar" being available for purchase online, though Dwight is skeptical because he believes Jim a liar. Nonetheless, the pair phones him in Stamford where Jim pretends to check the availability and reports that gaydar is sold out on the Internet. Also in Stamford, Jim recycles a prank he pulled on Dwight by encasing Andy's calculator in Jell-O, with different results: Andy gets violently upset and kicks a wastebasket as Jim silently returns to work, visibly terrified by Andy's reaction.

Kelly approaches Oscar and tells him that he is "so cool" for being gay. Jan Levinson informs Michael that he has outed Oscar, a personal decision Michael had no business making while Toby points out that Oscar feels discriminated against by Angela. Employees gather around as Dwight looks at gay pornography at Michael's suggestion. Angela makes a homophobic comment which offends Oscar who bumps her as he walks past, sending Dwight into a brief frenzy.

Michael calls an emergency meeting in the conference room and informs the assembled they are all "homos-homo sapiens". Pam looks to Ryan as she holds back shocked laughter (as she would have done with Jim), and is disappointed when he does not do the same, perhaps had hoped they would begin to have a friendship like Jim and Pam's had been. Michael tells Oscar to come out to the office formally, "right here, however, you want". Oscar does so reluctantly but unemotionally, concluding his confession with, "whatever." Dwight demands that "all the other office gays out themselves or I will do it for them."

Dwight then implies Phyllis might be gay. Phyllis takes offense and announces that she is engaged to Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration. Several employees congratulate her, and a surprised, jealous Michael says there is hope for everyone. Phyllis retorts that she and her friends thought Michael was gay when they were in high school together. Michael sheepishly defends his school-age sense of fashion. Creed, in an interview, states that while he's never deliberately made love to a man, it's possible that one "slipped in" during the 1960s.

Oscar announces that he can no longer work at the branch and begins to leave, but Michael stops him and tries to hug him as a show of acceptance. Oscar blows up and calls Michael "small," which silences the staff in discomfort and reduces Michael to tears. Oscar apologizes and allows the hug to happen. Believing the hug insufficient, Michael tells the staff to "watch this, and burn this into your brains", and kisses a struggling, reluctant Oscar on the mouth. Dwight, who was seemingly moved by Michael's actions, consequently attempts to kiss Oscar. In interviews, Dwight says he now believes Michael is gay. Michael says any two people who want to should be together. He concludes by saying, "That's what she said...or he said." His facial expressions make it clear he believes he has said something profound.

Pam looks longingly at Ryan's desk, as Jim simultaneously glances at an empty seat next to him as Mr. Brown directs a humorless diversity training in Stamford. Glancing through his office blinds, Michael sees Oscar catch a ride from Gil, and muses, "Oscar's roommate...I wonder if he knows?" Oscar reveals in an interview that Jan gave him three months paid vacation and use of a company car in exchange for signing an agreement not to sue the company about his botched outing. In Oscar's words, "it pays to be gay."

In the final moments, Dwight opens a package from Jim, a novelty "gaydar" machine fashioned from a metal detector and lettered with the prefixes "Homo", "Bi", and "Hetero". He confirms the device on Oscar but is dumbfounded when the device goes off as he inadvertently swipes it across his own belt buckle. Pam smiles to herself.

The Third Season DVD contains a number of deleted scenes:

Andy shows off his vertical leap for Jim.

Jan, on speakerphone, demands to know what Michael's plans are for the day. In a talking head interview, Michael explains that every day begins with him reporting to Jan on what he intends to accomplish and ends with him reporting on what he did accomplish. "It's voluntary, really, even though she makes me." Over scenes from the episode "Casino Night", Michael explains that Jan is struggling to get over him. Meanwhile, he and Carol have gone on seven dates. On the phone, Jan suspects Michael is on the toilet and tells him to call her back once he is done.

Jim is distracted by Hannah's breast pump. Karen walks past and tells her, "Nobody wants to see your udder."

In a talking head interview, Dwight explains that his father taught him how to spot a gay person.

Jan asks Michael for progress on his plans for the day. Dwight interrupts and asks for permission to remove the filters from the office Internet connection.

In a talking head interview, Michael admits he's never known a gay person before.

In a talking head interview, Dwight discusses the fate of a gay bull on the farm.

Michael wonders aloud whether a person could be gay without knowing it.

In a talking head interview, Dwight expresses his belief that gay people should wear a patch on their clothes to identify themselves.

Dwight investigates whether Stanley is gay.

Andy asks Jim to recommend a travel route and gloats when Jim's answer is suboptimal.

In a talking head interview, Karen is bitter that she didn't get the Assistant Regional Manager job.

In a talking head interview, Jim explains he likes having a boss he can respect.

Jim complains to Karen that whenever he tries to call an outside number, he gets somebody talking in Chinese. Karen taunts Jim in Chinese, and Josh suggests that somebody programmed his phone to speed-dial Hong Kong. Jim begins to tell Karen about the pranks he played on Dwight, but Karen rudely yawns in his face. When Karen calls Jim Josh's assistant, Jim begins to correct her with his proper title, then realizes that he's doing exactly what he mocked Dwight for doing.

Pam will be spending the evening painting her apartment. Michael tries to be supportive but his efforts are not helpful. In a talking head interview, Pam angrily complains, "What do I think? I think everybody should stay out of everybody's personal business."

Michael uses a notepad to cover his crotch when he talks with Oscar and covers his butt when he walks away.

In a talking head interview, Oscar explains that he told Michael he was gay at his job interview, but Michael thought he was joking.

In a talking head interview, Meredith frustratedly asks, "Why are all the best-looking single men always gay?"

In a talking head interview, Michael is baffled why gay men have so many female friends when they have no use for them.

In a talking head interview, Dwight explains that his uncle is a fudge packer. He works at a chocolate factory in Hershey.

An additional deleted scene is available online:

Andy asks Jim if he's ever googled Google. Jim promptly does so, but Andy, upset, explains that he was supposed to ponder it, not do it and that he ruined the fun.

Jim apparently told Dwight sometime in the past about the availability of "gaydar" online. When Michael and Dwight call Jim to inquire about it, Jim tells them it is "sold out". Later in the episode, Dwight receives a package containing a "gaydar" (actually a hand-held metal detector with "HOMO BI HETRO" branding) that beeps at Oscar and also when Dwight points it himself (because of his metal belt).

Jim places Andy's calculator in Jello, a homage to a similar prank played on Dwight and Michael in the pilot. Andy's reaction is the first indication of his anger management problem.

At the end of this episode when Jim is in the conference room at Stanford and is looking at the empty chair next to him and smiling, you can hear in the background Mr. Brown from Season 1 Episode 2- Diversity Day giving his HERO speech.

In this episode, Pam has a flashback to the episode Casino Night.

The shooting draft script of this episode was 33 pages.

As of this episode, Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor) and Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson) are credited as part of the main cast.

The word "gay" is said 35 times.

This episode marks one of the few times that Toby is seen wearing a suit jacket that isn't tan/brown colored. In this episode, his jacket is grey.

This is the first time Andy brags about his Ivy League education. In real life, John Krasinski actually attended an Ivy League school, having graduated from Brown University in 2001.

Kelly is visibly excited about Michael and Oscar kissing.

The man doing diversity training at the Stamford branch is the same man who does it at the Scranton Branch in "Diversity Day", and he uses the same "HERO" acronym.

Jenna Fischer stated that the kiss between Oscar and Michael was completely improvised by Carell, therefore the looks of shock and confusion in the conference room were real.

Faggie is the adjectival form of , a rude term for a homosexual. Like gay, it is used by children as a mild insult unaware of its sexual meaning. Retard is another children's insult, branding someone as mentally retarded. Toby's suggested alternative insult lame can be construed as offensive to people who cannot walk.

Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 romantic comedy. is a 1988 action movie. Both films have received large amounts of praise, with each being considered the quintessential film in their genres.

is a prestigious private university, a member of the Ivy League. Students are expected to graduate in four years.

Here Comes Treble is a pun on the phrase here comes trouble, used to describe the arrival of a person known to be the source of problems. There is no group at Cornell called "Here Come Treble", though there is a female a cappella group called "Nothing But Treble".

is a term used to describe some people's claimed ability to sense whether people are homosexual. The word is a blend of gay and radar. Part of the joke is that Dwight believes it to be an actual device.

Sharper Image and Brookstone are retail chains that sell primarily electronic gadgets.

Sir Ian McKellen is an openly gay British actor and an advocate for gay rights. Amusingly, Oscar compares himself to McKellan, and McKellen has been nominated for an Oscar.

is a television comedy about a gay man and a straight woman who are good friends. The show also features a flamboyantly gay sidekick. Musician Harry Connick, Jr. played a recurring character on the program.

is a television drama about a group of lesbians. Queer as Folk (which Michael misstates as "Queer as F-") is a television drama about a group of gay men.

In a deleted scene, Dwight states that those who are gay should wear patches identifying them as such, also saying he would not discriminate them. He is seemingly oblivious to the fact that this is similar to the anti-Semitic yellow badge which was worn by Jews during the Middle Ages and famously during the Nazi era.

, short for coming out of the closet, is the act of revealing oneself publically to be gay. To people is to reveal them as gay without their permission (short for forcing someone out of the closet).

is a movement that works to remove the stigma associated with homosexuality. Parades are common.

The pop-ups that Dwight complains about are pop-up advertisements; i.e., Web advertisements that open in a separate window. Porn sites are notorious for having lots of them.

The rainbow flag is a symbol of the Gay Pride movement.

To Put a matter to bed means to resolve an issue conclusively.

Main Cast Edit

Supporting Cast Edit

Recurring Cast Edit

Guest Cast Edit

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"Gay Witch Hunt" is the first episode of the third season of The Office and the 29th overall. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis. It first aired on September 21, 2006. It was viewed by 9.1 million people.

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"The Gay Witch Hunt"

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Today marks ten years since NBC premiered the US adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's iconic comedy series . Like most US remakes, the Peacock Network's version of The Office was initially met with tremendous skepticism - but unlike most US remakes, The Office became one of the defining sitcoms of its era.

The Office earned 42 Emmy nominations in its eight years on the air, and made stars of Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper and John Krasinski. As it grew beyond the shadow of its British predecessor, The Office captured the hearts of millions with a love story for the ages and one paper company manager longing to be accepted for the goofy yet good-hearted person that he was.

In celebration of The Office's 10th anniversary, we look back at the best episode from each of the nine stellar seasons below:

Season 1: Diversity Day (March 29, 2005)

The second-ever episode of The Office featured a wholly original plot, as a diversity meeting was called for the Scranton branch. Michael was all for celebrating diversity - even inviting his employees to share their picks for sexiest race - but his mood soured upon discovering that complaints were made over a racially insensitive comedy routine that he'd performed for his co-workers.

'Diversity Day' originated key storyline elements that would remain with the series throughout its run. Aside from introducing Michael's irrational hatred of mild-mannered human resources rep Toby (Greg Daniels), the BJ Novak-penned episode daringly had its lead character make a series of truly uncomfortable and inappropriate workplace decisions - from declining to include Arabs in his own diversity training seminar because it was 'too soon', to speaking to Indian customer service representative Kelly (Mindy Kaling) in a stereotypical accent.

This episode set the tone for challenging viewers to root for Michael despite his boorish behavior. Carell also quickly signaled that Michael Scott was not simply a knock-off of Gervais's David Brent, as Michael's kindness shone through right away despite his thoughtlessness. After a pilot that was not well-received by critics, 'Diversity Day' proved that The Office was a comedy series worth following.

Season 2: The Fire (October 11, 2005)

The hostile reaction to NBC's remake turned around sharply early in season two, when the series ventured further and further away from Gervais and Merchant's source material. When a fire alarm went off in the office kitchen, Michael, Dwight, Jim and Pam were forced to gather uncomfortably in the parking lot as firefighters put out the flames.

A wrench was also thrown in Jim and Pam's budding will-they won't-they romance, as Amy Adams guest starred as Jim's new girlfriend Katy. Katy was quite a lot like Pam, if maybe a little more outgoing. And yet, Jim wasn't satisfied. The push-and-pull of Jim and Pam's bond was a backbone in the first three seasons of The Office, and in the process became one of television's best-written love stories.

'The Fire' was particularly interesting from the perspective of temp Ryan Howard (BJ Novak), the character who would evolve most over the course of the series. Presented here as meek and level-headed, seeds were clearly planted for Ryan's more eccentric personality to bloom as his dissatisfaction with being Michael's chosen protégé grew. Another Novak-penned episode gave Ryan the spotlight to stand out from more eccentric characters for the first time, with Dwight's merciless mockery of him becoming a classic moment.

Season 3: Gay Witch Hunt (September 21, 2006)

Season three's opener marked the first major change in The Office's established dynamic. Having been set almost exclusively at the Scranton offices of Dunder Mifflin previously, the 2006 premiere introduced a second workplace full of unique characters in the paper company's Stamford office. The sexual tension between Jim and Pam had come to a head with a passionate kiss in season two's finale 'Casino Night', but 'Gay Witch Hunt' dealt audiences a true shock by revealing that the two had not actually become a couple.

Showrunner Greg Daniels's decision to split up Jim and Pam in different offices for the first half of season three was controversial. However, the long-term implications of bringing the Stamford staff into The Office were monumental in shaping the show's future. New cast members Ed Helms and Rashida Jones moved to the forefront throughout the season, as Jim tried to get used to his new work environment.

In another attempt to delay the inevitable, Jim was given a new love interest in the sharp-tongued Karen (Jones). Unlike Amy Adams's short tenure on The Office in the previous season, Karen and Jim's romance was given the air time to develop into a grounded, realistic pairing that audiences grew to accept. Karen was the sole competing love interest that viewers accepted in a show that frequently set up roadblocks to Jim and Pam finding happiness together.

'Gay Witch Hunt' is also memorable for its outing of accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) while Michael struggled to wrap his mind around homosexuality. Daniels expertly wrote a storyline that allowed Michael to look foolish while working through his confusion, without making him seem bigoted. The episode-closing moment where a disgusted Oscar accepted a kiss from Michael against his better judgment became an instant classic. A case could certainly be made that 'Gay Witch Hunt' was the show's all-time best episode.

Season Four: The Deposition (November 15, 2007)

The Office's fourth season was perhaps its most consistent run in terms of quality, despite having its episode order cut down due to the writer's strike. November 2007's 'The Deposition' was a pivotal instalment, as Michael's dysfunctional romance with former boss Jan (Melora Hardin) came into direct conflict with his loyalty to the now-promoted Dunder Mifflin VP Ryan. Michael was caught in the middle, as Jan and Ryan toyed with his emotions in the course of their legal showdown.

'The Deposition' was a tour de force for Carell, who alternated between nervousness and heartbreak with each betrayal from the two loves of his life. A brief and touching détente between Michael and Toby during a break in the contentious deposition was a comedic highlight.

Long before his Oscar-nominated performance as convicted killer John Eleuthère du Pont in Foxcatcher, The Office routinely gave the actor opportunities to mine the sadness and dissatisfaction in the life of Michael Scott. Michael would not ultimately become a tragic figure, but episodes like 'The Deposition' showed just how easily the character could have gone down that path. 'The Deposition' was a prime example of the injustice of Carell never winning an Emmy Award for The Office.

Season 5: Dream Team (April 9, 2009)

Michael Scott's dream of proving his worth to the people in his life reached its zenith in season five, when he quit Dunder Mifflin over a series of rows with his aggressive new supervisor Charles Miner. Idris Elba was a surprisingly perfect addition to The Office as the corporate overlord fixated on cost-cutting and productivity in lieu of the well-being of his workforce. Charles was intensely logical, and yet thoroughly detestable in his adversarial role to the eternal dreamer Michael Scott.

Michael's decision to start a rival paper company marked another major shift in direction for the series. After impulsively joining Michael Scott Paper Company, Pam found herself instantly regretting her decision as she lobbied Michael to give up song parodies and pancakes in favour of actual work. Ever the reassuring optimist, Pam encouraged Michael to put together his dream team of employees. She was, of course, disappointed when Michael turned to his former protégé Ryan, whose meteoric rise to the top of Dunder Mifflin crashed spectacularly.

The new company was a refreshing change of pace for a series now entering the middle of its run - in fact it's arguable that Greg Daniels didn't fully exploit the potential of Michael breaking off from Dunder Mifflin in such a short run of episodes. Most importantly, the plotline gave Michael one of his most necessary moral victories. As much as The Office depended on Michael making a mess of his life, it was just as dependant on showing him be savvy and skilled when it mattered most.

Season 6: Niagara (October 8, 2009)

Taking The Office on the road to Niagara Falls was certainly fitting for the marriage of Jim and Pam. Daniels deserves credit for holding off such a monumental moment until season six. Rather than feeling long overdue, 'Niagara' came at the perfect moment for a series at the height of its popularity. Daniels partnered with writer-star Mindy Kaling to pen a double-sized episode that paid tribute to the sitcom's core romance.

'Niagara' also introduced the extended families of a few of The Office's major characters. While Dwight clearly held the title of weirdest relative for his beet-farming cousin Mose, Pam's cantankerous grandmother (Peggy Stewart) wasn't far behind. The elderly woman's refusal to attend the wedding because of Pam's pregnancy gave Michael the perfect chance to save the day by talking her round.

The wedding flashmob to the tune of Chris Brown's 'Forever' would ultimately become a lasting image. A nod to an early viral video sensation was a charming way of including all of the show's major characters in its most significant episode to date.

Season 7: Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager (May 12, 2011)

While the most obvious choice from season seven was undoubtedly Carell's exit in 'Goodbye, Michael', 'Dwight K Schrute, Manager' topped it two weeks later. As the search for Michael's replacement as Scranton's regional manager began, putting Dwight in charge of the office was a proposition too irresistible to pass up for the writers.

Dwight's lust for power finally paid off after seven seasons of campaigning to be Michael's successor, but the power quickly proved to be too much for Dwight. After the Scranton branch was turned into a military dictatorship with employees encouraged to inform on one another for rule breaks, Dwight's reign of terror ended in the only way it could - with a gunshot.

Steve Carell's decision to leave The Office initially appeared to be a death knell for the series. Producers wisely chose to schedule several episodes without Carell to end the season as a way to ease viewers into this new incarnation of The Office.

Season 8: Mrs California (December 1, 2011)

The final five episodes of season seven proved that The Office could survive without Carell, but any goodwill earned was squandered fairly quickly in season eight. The Office attempted to shift its focus towards Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) taking over for Michael as the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. Such a move theoretically made sense because Helms was riding high off the success of the Hangover films, but Andy never quite worked out as the central figure of the series.

Jim and Pam were also largely sidelined in favor of Andy's romance with sweet but dim receptionist Erin Hannon. Andy and Erin's quirky relationship was a perfect subplot for any Office episode, but stalled when it was forced into becoming that season's major story arc. Also underwhelming in season eight was James Spader as new Dunder Mifflin CEO Robert California. The oddly charismatic Robert was a standout in the previous season's finale 'Search Committee', but his eccentricities were diluted once Spader joined on a recurring basis.

Spader was most effective in the early season eight episode 'Mrs California', in which Robert was desperate to prevent his wife from working for Dunder Mifflin. Guest star Maura Tierney impressed as the polite but fed up Susan California, while the episode itself was able to recapture the strangeness that made Robert California such an appealing presence in his 'Search Committee' cameo.

Season 9: Finale (May 16, 2013)

Whereas as season eight was The Office seemingly lost at sea, NBC's announcement that season nine would end the series gave Greg Daniels something finite to build towards. Despite the departures of long-time writer-stars BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling, The Office regained its focus and put the spotlight back on the show's central storyline - Jim and Pam's fairytale romance. Their marriage was tested like never before throughout the season as Jim struggled with unfulfilled career goals and Pam began feeling a connection with a cameraman who had documented her life for nine years.

The Office reached its crescendo in its May 2013 finale, which paid tribute to its past without solely dwelling on nostalgia. Overtly acknowledging the documentary series-within-a-series in a reunion panel discussion led to one of The Office's most touching scenes. Erin (Ellie Kemper) was finally reunited with her birth parents (Ed Begley Jr and Joan Cusack) after a lifetime of searching. The dawning of realization for Erin as a seemingly-random questioner was revealed to be her mother was undeniably heartwarming.

Much of the buzz leading up to 'Finale' was dominated by the question of whether Steve Carell would reprise his role as Michael Scott, two years after quitting The Office. Carell and Greg Daniels both denied such a return was planned ahead of transmission, only for Michael to unsurprisingly show up as the best man at Dwight and Angela's wedding. Carell made only a few fleeting appearances throughout the episode, but it was clear Michael had married long-time love Holly and become a doting father. The sparing use of Carell was incredibly effective. His presence was felt in a significant way, but focus remained on wrapping up season nine's character stories.

The episode was capped by Jim and Pam putting their Scranton home up for sale and moving to Austin to start a new life. Having spent years doubting her talent and ambitions, Pam was finally at peace and ready to embark on a new journey with her family. "It would make my heart soar if someone out there saw this and she said to herself 'be strong, trust yourself, love yourself'," she said to camera while summing up her life. "Conquer your fears. Just go after what you want and act fast, because life just isn't that long." 'Finale' was a rarity in a television landscape where few shows manage to please their fans in signing off - it was pitch perfect from the opening credits to the final goodbyes.

What is your favourite Office episode? Leave a comment below:

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Today marks ten years since NBC premiered the US adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's iconic comedy series . Like most US remakes, the Peacock Network's version of The Office was initially met with tremendous skepticism - but unlike most US remakes, The Office became one of the defining sitcoms of its era.

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We Have Proof!

As the NBC sitcom limps to its final episode, Kevin Fallon offers proof for why we should mourn its departure.

On Thursday night, The Office will punch its final time card after nine seasons on NBC. If it seems TV fans are throwing more of a staid conference-room-fruit-punch-and-brownies goodbye party than a full-on farewell blowout, that's because the NBC sitcom has taken a sharp nosedive in ratings and certainly in quality since the departure of Steve Carell 's Michael Scott two seasons ago.

But ignoring the end of The Office completely just because it's not as great as it used to be would be a shame for that very reason: it used to be great. Like, really great. It managed to walk the tightrope of edginess and heart without wobbling too nerve-rackingly in either direction. It popularized that single-camera, mockumentary film style that's now become ubiquitous. The Office was cynical but not sarcastic, and broad while still human, somehow populating a drab office park with characters that were kooky enough to laugh at but real enough to relate to and, more important, care about.

Plus, it was really funny.

So as Jim (John Krasinski), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Andy (Ed Helms), and the gang pack up their cardboard boxes, here's a reminder that though the sitcom may be a little tarnished now, it once more than deserved its status as NBC's crown jewel.
'Diversity Day' Jim and Pam Kiss
"Diversity Day" remains one of the strongest the series has produced. Carell delivers a cringe-comedy tour de force, commandeering a diversity-tolerance training workshop with a politically incorrect game that required each employee to assume a mystery ethnic identity that they must guess using stereotype clues given to them by co-workers. Pam begrudgingly trying to help Dwight understand that he's been assigned "Asian"-"If I have to do this based on stereotypes that are totally untrue and do not agree with, you would maybe not be a very good driver"-is the viewers' level-headed window into the madness. Dwight's response-"Oh man, am I a woman!?"-is just the right amount of funny to remind us that comedy of discomfort is still comedy ... and it's OK to laugh.
The 'Forever' Wedding Dance
For all the cartoonish antics of The Office, the brilliance of it was that none of its characters were cartoons. They were real people with real relationships that we really rooted for. The response to Jim and Pam's angsty romance in the early seasons proves just how smart it was to occasionally replace sitcom-y fart jokes and guaranteed punchlines with quieter character-developing moments. If you asked a regular Office viewer what their favorite moment from Season 2 of The Office was after that season aired, they'd without fail cite the scene that didn't make them laugh but cry: when Jim finally manned up, confessed his love for Pam, and kissed her. It was a Grey's Anatomy moment that still, somehow, fit perfectly in this zany workplace sitcom.
The Jell-O Prank
The Office went so against the grain with the way it developed the relationship of Jim and Pam that most people forget how bold the show really was. Getting a will-they/won't-they couple together too soon was always thought to be a creative death sentence for a TV show, so much so that even when writers cave to fans' demands and unite the characters, smooth sailing is forbidden. Yet The Office not only made Jim and Pam a couple early on in the series, it made them so happy that when it was time for their wedding, you didn't wonder, as you do on every other TV show, whether the characters would go through with it. Instead the question was, how would Michael ruin it? Shockingly, he didn't. In a gloriously cheesy, spot-on-for-the-character move, he orchestrated a rip-off of the viral Chris Brown "Forever" wedding-dance video, proving that, even in today's sarcasm-obsessed comedy world, sweetness still has a place.
Michael Takes Off His Microphone
It wasn't just the hot-and-cold romantic relationships that provided the emotional through line to The Office's nine years. The unlikely friendships-or frenemyships-were just as vital, and none more than Jim's lovingly antagonistic relationship with Dwight. In the show's pilot episode, Jim sets Dwight's stapler in Jell-O, in turn setting off nine seasons of inspired pranks-convincing him that gaydar is real, convincing him that he's a vampire, convincing him that the FBI is recruiting him-that really just betray the brotherly-like love Jim has for his co-worker. Do we hope there's one last prank in the finale? " Absolutely, we do."
The Fake Fire Drill
The Office deserves credit if not for pioneering the idea of a scripted sitcom breaking the fourth wall by having its characters directly address the camera, then certainly for popularizing it. With the Dunder Mifflin employees routinely confessing their feelings in one-on-one interviews with cameramen, we expected Carell's final episode to be emotional-watch Jim and Michael say goodbye to each other and try not to cry. What was unexpected was the bomb-drop of Carell's final scene, in which he takes off his microphone and asks the cameraman to let him know if the footage ever airs. We'd gotten used to the idea that this was some sort of documentary being filmed, but this was the first clue that it was a documentary in progress. As Pam chased after an un-mic'd Michael in the airport for a soundless goodbye conversation, the whole thing was a jarring-and necessary and smartly timed-reminder that the Dunder Mifflin employees were real people. Does The Office end when Michael Scott leaves? No, because there are still people at Dunder Mifflin who have lives to lead, even after he's gone.
Michael Proposes to Holly
By the time The Office was given the coveted post-Super Bowl showcase in its fifth season, the show was already a solid performer. But thanks to perhaps the strongest episode opening it had ever put together, the super-size audience it was gifted after the Super Bowl translated into a huge new fan base for the show. In that opening sequence, Dwight purposefully sets a fire in the office to test his co-workers' flight-or-fight impulses. Chairs are thrown through windows. Cats fly through the ceiling. A character has a heart attack. It was impeccably staged mayhem comedy at its best.
Michael and Oscar Kiss
The beauty of Carell's performance as Michael Scott was how it proved that you can make a lunatic the lead of a TV show so long as you make him earnest enough to be endearing. When it came time for Michael to propose to Holly (Amy Ryan), he ran through a laundry list of ideas that only a lunatic would come up with-"So I throw a corpse dressed like me off the roof ..." But because Carell makes Scott's misguided best intentions perennially evident, you don't laugh at the lunacy but at the heart behind it. Striking that balance has huge payoffs, too. There were many poignant moments during Carell's farewell season on the sitcom, but few as Kleenex-required as his heartfelt, perfectly Michaelesque proposal, complete with a fire-sprinkler shower.
Holly Thinks Kevin Is 'Special'
To call Michael's attempts at boosting office unity and morale bumbling would be a gross understatement, and never were they more so than during the episode "Gay Witch Hunt." The employees of Dunder Mifflin discover that Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) is gay, and Michael shoots for the moon with his struggle to prove that he's OK with it. In this case, the moon is Oscar's lips, resulting in one of the best of the series' many squirm-its-way-to-a-laugh moments.
Steve Carell as Michael Scott
Dwight hazes new HR hire Holly (played brilliantly by Amy Ryan) by convincing her that dopey Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) from accounting is mentally challenged. The whole gag stinks of meanness-to Holly, to Kevin, to the mentally disabled community. Yet somehow, perhaps through the good-natured, sweet way Holly treats Kevin and the adorably flattered way Kevin reacts to the special attention, The Office once again skirts taste lines of political incorrectness and crassness.

It's laughably easy to point to one reason The Office, as it winds down its final days, is saddled with critiques about how it's a shell of the show it used to be. That reason is Michael Scott. Carell's work was less a performance and more a cultural phenomenon, in the way of Mary Richards or Archie Bunker. Need a reminder of how great The Office was? Look no further than these Michael Scott highlights.

On Thursday night, will punch its final time card after nine seasons on NBC. If it seems TV fans are throwing more of a staid conference-room-fruit-punch-and-brownies goodbye party than a full-on farewell blowout, that's because the NBC sitcom has taken a sharp nosedive in ratings and certainly in quality since the departure of Steve Carell 's Michael Scott two seasons ago.

But ignoring the end of The Office completely just because it's not as great as it used to be would be a shame for that very reason: it used to be great. Like, really great. It managed to walk the tightrope of edginess and heart without wobbling too nerve-rackingly in either direction. It popularized that single-camera, mockumentary film style that's now become ubiquitous. The Office was cynical but not sarcastic, and broad while still human, somehow populating a drab office park with characters that were kooky enough to laugh at but real enough to relate to and, more important, care about.

Plus, it was really funny.

So as Jim (John Krasinski), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Andy (Ed Helms), and the gang pack up their cardboard boxes, here's a reminder that though the sitcom may be a little tarnished now, it once more than deserved its status as NBC's crown jewel.

"Diversity Day" remains one of the strongest the series has produced. Carell delivers a cringe-comedy tour de force, commandeering a diversity-tolerance training workshop with a politically incorrect game that required each employee to assume a mystery ethnic identity that they must guess using stereotype clues given to them by co-workers. Pam begrudgingly trying to help Dwight understand that he's been assigned "Asian"-"If I have to do this based on stereotypes that are totally untrue and do not agree with, you would maybe not be a very good driver"-is the viewers' level-headed window into the madness. Dwight's response-"Oh man, am I a woman!?"-is just the right amount of funny to remind us that comedy of discomfort is still comedy ... and it's OK to laugh.
Jim and Pam Kiss
For all the cartoonish antics of The Office, the brilliance of it was that none of its characters were cartoons. They were real people with real relationships that we really rooted for. The response to Jim and Pam's angsty romance in the early seasons proves just how smart it was to occasionally replace sitcom-y fart jokes and guaranteed punchlines with quieter character-developing moments. If you asked a regular Office viewer what their favorite moment from Season 2 of The Office was after that season aired, they'd without fail cite the scene that didn't make them laugh but cry: when Jim finally manned up, confessed his love for Pam, and kissed her. It was a Grey's Anatomy moment that still, somehow, fit perfectly in this zany workplace sitcom.
The 'Forever' Wedding Dance
The Office went so against the grain with the way it developed the relationship of Jim and Pam that most people forget how bold the show really was. Getting a will-they/won't-they couple together too soon was always thought to be a creative death sentence for a TV show, so much so that even when writers cave to fans' demands and unite the characters, smooth sailing is forbidden. Yet The Office not only made Jim and Pam a couple early on in the series, it made them so happy that when it was time for their wedding, you didn't wonder, as you do on every other TV show, whether the characters would go through with it. Instead the question was, how would Michael ruin it? Shockingly, he didn't. In a gloriously cheesy, spot-on-for-the-character move, he orchestrated a rip-off of the viral Chris Brown "Forever" wedding-dance video, proving that, even in today's sarcasm-obsessed comedy world, sweetness still has a place.
The Jell-O Prank
It wasn't just the hot-and-cold romantic relationships that provided the emotional through line to The Office's nine years. The unlikely friendships-or frenemyships-were just as vital, and none more than Jim's lovingly antagonistic relationship with Dwight. In the show's pilot episode, Jim sets Dwight's stapler in Jell-O, in turn setting off nine seasons of inspired pranks-convincing him that gaydar is real, convincing him that he's a vampire, convincing him that the FBI is recruiting him-that really just betray the brotherly-like love Jim has for his co-worker. Do we hope there's one last prank in the finale? " Absolutely, we do."
Michael Takes Off His Microphone
The Office deserves credit if not for pioneering the idea of a scripted sitcom breaking the fourth wall by having its characters directly address the camera, then certainly for popularizing it. With the Dunder Mifflin employees routinely confessing their feelings in one-on-one interviews with cameramen, we expected Carell's final episode to be emotional-watch Jim and Michael say goodbye to each other and try not to cry. What was unexpected was the bomb-drop of Carell's final scene, in which he takes off his microphone and asks the cameraman to let him know if the footage ever airs. We'd gotten used to the idea that this was some sort of documentary being filmed, but this was the first clue that it was a documentary in progress. As Pam chased after an un-mic'd Michael in the airport for a soundless goodbye conversation, the whole thing was a jarring-and necessary and smartly timed-reminder that the Dunder Mifflin employees were real people. Does The Office end when Michael Scott leaves? No, because there are still people at Dunder Mifflin who have lives to lead, even after he's gone.
The Fake Fire Drill
By the time The Office was given the coveted post-Super Bowl showcase in its fifth season, the show was already a solid performer. But thanks to perhaps the strongest episode opening it had ever put together, the super-size audience it was gifted after the Super Bowl translated into a huge new fan base for the show. In that opening sequence, Dwight purposefully sets a fire in the office to test his co-workers' flight-or-fight impulses. Chairs are thrown through windows. Cats fly through the ceiling. A character has a heart attack. It was impeccably staged mayhem comedy at its best.
Michael Proposes to Holly
The beauty of Carell's performance as Michael Scott was how it proved that you can make a lunatic the lead of a TV show so long as you make him earnest enough to be endearing. When it came time for Michael to propose to Holly (Amy Ryan), he ran through a laundry list of ideas that only a lunatic would come up with-"So I throw a corpse dressed like me off the roof ..." But because Carell makes Scott's misguided best intentions perennially evident, you don't laugh at the lunacy but at the heart behind it. Striking that balance has huge payoffs, too. There were many poignant moments during Carell's farewell season on the sitcom, but few as Kleenex-required as his heartfelt, perfectly Michaelesque proposal, complete with a fire-sprinkler shower.
Michael and Oscar Kiss
To call Michael's attempts at boosting office unity and morale bumbling would be a gross understatement, and never were they more so than during the episode "Gay Witch Hunt." The employees of Dunder Mifflin discover that Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) is gay, and Michael shoots for the moon with his struggle to prove that he's OK with it. In this case, the moon is Oscar's lips, resulting in one of the best of the series' many squirm-its-way-to-a-laugh moments.
Holly Thinks Kevin Is 'Special'
Dwight hazes new HR hire Holly (played brilliantly by Amy Ryan) by convincing her that dopey Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) from accounting is mentally challenged. The whole gag stinks of meanness-to Holly, to Kevin, to the mentally disabled community. Yet somehow, perhaps through the good-natured, sweet way Holly treats Kevin and the adorably flattered way Kevin reacts to the special attention, The Office once again skirts taste lines of political incorrectness and crassness.
Steve Carell as Michael Scott
It's laughably easy to point to one reason The Office, as it winds down its final days, is saddled with critiques about how it's a shell of the show it used to be. That reason is Michael Scott. Carell's work was less a performance and more a cultural phenomenon, in the way of Mary Richards or Archie Bunker. Need a reminder of how great The Office was? Look no further than these Michael Scott highlights.

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'The Office' Used to Be a Great Show. No, Really! See Proof (VIDEO)

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We Have Proof! As the NBC sitcom limps to its final episode, Kevin Fallon offers proof for why we should mourn its departure. On Thursday night, The Office will punch its final time card after nine seasons on NBC.

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Gay Witch Hunt /

We take a look at the highly anticipated third season premiere.

Fans of finally got answers to the questions that have been bugging them all summer after Pam & Jim's kiss in last season's finale. Pam told Jim she was still going to marry Roy; Jim is no longer at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, having taken a promotion and transferred to Stamford; and Pam ended up calling off her wedding. Having Pam and Jim separated completely changes the dynamic of the show, as we see Jim try to find a new Dwight to pick on, and Pam has no one to laugh at the absurdity of the office with. There's no way the show can continue forever like this (it is "The Office," not "The Offices") so the question now is, how can Jim get back to Scranton?

Quite a few of the best moments in " Gay Witch Hunt" are the ones that show the impact of Jim and Pam being in different offices. One of the Stamford office workers mocking Jim's smirks at the camera is a hilarious example of The Office not being afraid to make fun of itself and its conventions. Jim putting Andy's (new series regular Ed Helms) calculator in Jell-O, only to see Andy completely freak out helps you really appreciate Dwight -- Dwight may be an idiot, but his reactions to Jim's pranks have always been harmless. The most heartbreaking moment was Pam turning to no-longer-a-temp Ryan to laugh at a ridiculous comment by Michael, only to see confusion on Ryan's face. He may have Jim's old job, but he's definitely no replacement for Jim's amiable personality.

Michael and Dwight's reactions to Oscar being homosexual get increasingly uncomfortable for everyone as the episode progresses, with Michael's ignorance and stupidity ratcheted up to a new high. We, along with the Scranton branch employees, can only watch with our mouths gaping open as Michael first inadvertently outs Oscar, has Dwight "research" gay porn, and calls everyone into the conference room where he takes Oscar completely out of the closet, hugs him and then forcibly kisses him on the mouth. They're the types of uncomfortable moments that The Office excels at, but without everyman Jim there to experience and laugh at the situations with us and Pam, the humor gets slightly diminished.

Making fun of the moronic actions of Dwight and Michael are what Jim and Pam truly excel at, romantic storyline aside. After toying with Michael and Dwight over the phone, Jim says to the camera, "I miss that." We miss it too, Jim. Get back to Scranton soon.

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The Office: ''Gay Witch Hunt'' Review - IGN

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Gay Witch Hunt / We take a look at the highly anticipated third season premiere. Fans of finally got answers to the questions that have been bugging them all summer after Pam & Jim's kiss in last season's finale.

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"Gay Witch Hunt" (season three, episode one; 9/21/2006)
In which Michael wants you to burn this into your brains...
Michael Scott never looks more like David Brent than he does in the first episode of the American Office's third season. It's a weird bit of walking the ball back a few yards after season two did such a great rehab job on the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton. The Michael in "Gay Witch Hunt" is hurtful and selfish-or, as Oscar more accurately puts it "ignorant and insulting and small." There's a great deal of malleability in the characterization of Michael, with Steve Carell's embodiment of the character serving as the consistency that reconciled the multiple Michaels appearing across multiple episodes. Compare that to Ed Helms as Andy Bernard-who we meet for the first time in "Gay Witch Hunt"-who ended up a man of many faces, but lacked something solid to unite them all. (The caulk filling in those inconsistencies is "Cornell" and "anger.") In "Gay Witch Hunt," Carell expresses the desire to be loved that so richly informed Ricky Gervais' Office persona-but there's also a tenderness there, a vulnerability that David Brent never exposed to his co-workers. Even when Carell is playing a jerk so oblivious, he outs a co-worker and can't see what the big deal is.

"Gay Witch Hunt" must have been a difficult episode to make, on multiple counts:

1. It was the first new Office produced after season two, a high-water mark for both the series and TV comedy in the 2000s.

2. It was the first episode of the "Jim in Stamford" arc, a narrative necessity that temporarily split up some of the show's best character pairings and left a big hole in the Scranton staff.

3. If handled poorly, the A-story could've blown up in the show's face.

Let's start with what happens to Oscar, a minefield of a storyline that the show escapes nearly unscathed. Oscar's sexuality was one of the many secrets uncovered by The Documentarians in season two, a truth about the character revealed in order to reinforce Dwight's general obliviousness. The fact that Oscar is gay isn't the butt of the joke, and Greg Daniels' script for "Gay Witch Hunt" uses this as its guiding principle. But that's a tough line to walk, because any homophobia expressed by the employees of Dunder Mifflin has the potential to reflect back on the show. The third-season premiere harkens back to The Office 's cringe-comedy roots, but it has scattered moments-Dwight stating "all the other office gays should identify themselves" or Angela's "Watching some of your friends"-that are cringe-inducing for reasons I don't believe Daniels or any member of his team intended.

And so it comes down to Michael and Oscar-and, to a tremendous extent, the actors playing those characters-to keep this part of the episode afloat. Whereas the cartoonish aspects of Dwight's breakthrough-character status interfere with Rainn Wilson's "Gay Witch Hunt" performance, Steve Carell gets at the core of a sheltered, straight, white guy handling this situation as well as he possibly could. It helps that all of his motivations are couched in apology-he wants Oscar's forgiveness, but his behavior betrays a certain selfishness. The telltale line arrives during the pair's scene in Michael's office, delivered with a grace note from Carell's eyebrows: "Is that the right answer?" Michael lives in a binary world, a place where a fun workplace fights against the stifling professionalism Jan advocates-it's also a world with very rigid, poorly informed standards of sexuality. Oscar offers a potent challenge to those views, his "I don't want to touch you. Ever consider that?" raising a question that Michael, in all likelihood, hasn't considered. It's the second time Oscar shoves a co-worker in the episode, and with the camera giving the viewer their own seat at the conference table, it's shocking and uncomfortable to witness. What follows-Michael forcing a kiss on Oscar-is also uncomfortable, but in a hilarious, leavening manner. The confusion, displeasure, and resign expressed by Oscar Nuñez in that moment sells it all.

If I have any major misgivings about "Gay Witch Hunt," they're wrapped up in the fact that this isn't really Oscar's episode. It's a story that happens to him and around him, but he's hardly an active participant in it. The whole episode is roundabout in that way-mostly for the good. Curiosity swirls around the Jim-Pam cliffhanger, but it's up to The Documentarians to get the answers. As a result, the camera is up in Pam's grill for much of the premiere, panning to her bare ring finger and catching her reaction to the Gaydar prank in extreme closeup. This is an episode in which one secret spreads through the office with viral intensity, but a tight lid is kept on the "Casino Night" indiscretion. As with Phyllis' engagement-more big news that's forced out into the open this week-the missing element is Michael. Pam and Phyllis keep to themselves when the cameras aren't around, so naturally no one catches on to their opposite nuptial trajectories. Michael, meanwhile, can't keep his big mouth shut about how he slurred a person he didn't realize his slur was slurring.

And if that storyline appears to go on for a beat or two longer than it should, my guess is Jim's new Dunder Mifflin digs have something to do with it. When "Gay Witch Hunt" debuted, I was a few months away from delving deeply into The Office, so I can't recall if there was much of an uproar about stringing the 'shippers along, but the show takes some time to find its footing once it sends Jim off to Connecticut. It's necessary for the tension in what was increasingly becoming the show's primary plot, but I can feel the writers straining to get Jim on the phone with Michael and Dwight early in the episode. But there's some mighty fine payoff in that tag, as Jim makes his presence felt even when he isn't physically present in Scranton. It's another silent Jenna Fischer closeup that speaks volumes, a shot that isolates her character as much as that empty seat in the Stamford conference room isolates Jim. Not being alone at the end of "Gay Witch Hunt" is Oscar's consolation (aside from that three-month vacation, of course) in the episode that's about him but not really.
Stray observations:

Welcome to The A.V. Club's look back at season three of The Office. Though it was a tumultuous year for Dunder Mifflin, this was the season that saw the show break through in a major way, attracting increased ratings, a pair of hour-long event episodes, and guest directors like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, and Harold Ramis. It's my pleasure to guide you through these episodes, and I hope you don't mind the occasional comment about how season two was better.

I might be wrong about this, but I recall reading that Oscar's time away from Dunder Mifflin was written into the show to accommodate for Halfway Home, a series Oscar Nuñez was in the process of selling to Comedy Central when he auditioned for The Office. An improvised half-hour comedy about a group of ex-convicts re-entering society, Halfway Home is now best remembered for co-starring future Oscar winner Octavia Spencer-and for being one of the many, many single-season shows Comedy Central threw on the wood pile in its futile attempt to find its next .

Jim answers a client's difficult question: "I can't say Dunder Mifflin paper is less flammable, sir, but I can assure that it's certainly not more flammable."

All-time great Stanley line reading from Leslie David Baker: "Now my house has got two toasters."

And here's Roy's mugshot, which would've been the main image for this review if, you know, it was more than just a hilarious cutaway gag:

"The Convention" (season three, episode two; 9/28/2006)
In which Michael and Jim used to work together-now they're friends...
The ripples of Jim's Stamford sojourn extend beyond romantic concerns. I mean it when I write that his transfer disrupts "some of the show's best character pairings"-emphasis on the plural. The Office 's second season hit such great heights of quality because it plugged into the potential of Jim and Pam... and Jim and Dwight... and Jim and Michael (and so on and so forth). So essential to the energy of the show, two of these pairings are revisited only one episode after they were broken up. "The Convention" is little more than a 22 minute "Are we good?" conversation, but it's worth it to get to the exchange between Steve Carell and John Krasinski at the episode's end.

Distance, separation, and reunion are key themes to season three, and Michael Scott is uniquely equipped to process and render those themes. "The Convention" is a "petulant Michael" episode, and that requires Carell to be pouty and petty throughout-not my favorite mode for the actor, but one that neatly mirrors the emotional dregs played by Krasinski whenever Pam's name comes up. It's all a bit of low-key farce, a sense heightened by the hotel setting, with its ample opportunities for misinterpreted "friendship" and surprises behind locked doors. Michael's real beef isn't with Josh, the Stamford manager played by Charles "Please, 'Chip' Was My Whose Line Name" Esten-it's with Jim, whose departure for Connecticut is taken as a personal slight by Michael. Thus ensues the escalating, one-sided pissing match of paper airplanes and $100 tips, actions that make sense only to Michael. Then again, Jim's actions only make sense to himself, as well-when he finally tells someone that he left Scranton because of Pam, it returns both men to the understanding they first struck on the waters of Lake Wallenpaupack. We don't necessarily need Jim to say the "now we're friends" line at the end of "The Convention," because it's implied by the fact that he's opening himself back up to Michael.

There's an accordion effect that happens in the first half of The Office's third season, a spreading out of the principals before November sweeps slammed them all together. There's that emphasis on isolation in "Gay Witch Hunt," and it's kicked up a few notches in "The Convention," in which Michael and Dwight are depicted as being stranded amid the teeming crowds of the Annual Northeastern Midmarket Office Supply Convention. Even among colleagues, they're alone: When Team Scranton arrives in Philadelphia, their dorky Dunder Mifflin polos set them aside from Jim and Josh's ties-off, after-work look. Michael, all protests to the contrary, is usually set aside from Jan in these sequences as well. When he's finally, legitimately alone in his hotel room-with nothing but the self-aware sleaze of Captain Ahab's "Girls Gone Wild to keep him company-it's evident that Pam isn't the only one feeling marooned in Scranton.

The office segments in "The Convention" feed into this sense, as the employees of Dunder Mifflin pass Pam some uninspiring advice for her lukewarm date with a local cartoonist. She's not fully committed to returning to the dating pool, and while the plot is set up like "Oh no, what if she hits it off with the guy?", there's a lack of investment that betrays the show's intentions here. (Besides, Rashida Jones is hanging out with Andy back in Stamford, and she wouldn't have gotten a talking head in the premiere if her character wasn't poised to muck about with the show's will-they/won't-they...) Pam's "I'll just kind of know" is reserved for a guy who isn't making jokes about freedom fries in 2006-a guy who likes her, but isn't staring down her shirt at what appears to be Lima, Ohio 's favorite casual-dining establishment, Breadstix. In terms of the season-three accordion, this is an instance of the show putting too much effort into pulling people apart.

The crucial work performed by "The Convention," then, involves putting Michael on the defensive. Dunder Mifflin's financial woes are no joke anymore-well, they were a joke when Oscar sarcastically remarks on how "cool" he is during "Gay Witch Hunt"-and the threat of a branch closing is starting to feel real. Jan asks Michael what he's been "generating," and Josh presumptuously extends an olive branch in anticipation of a branch merger. If Michael seems flustered here, it might be because he's feeling more isolated than normal-but it could also be because he suddenly feels like his job is being threatened. In an episode that has a lot of heavy emotional stuff, those under-pressure spoonerisms ("The progidal-my son has returned!") and mixed metaphors ("Find out if there are any skeletons in his attic") slip through cracks in his confidence. And he'll have even more reason to worry next week.
Stray observations:

Michael admits to talking to himself at home: "Poor little guy has been working under Josh-the poor man's Michael Scott, as he is known around my condo."

In a week of uncomfortable Office jokes, this one is the most painful: "I love inside jokes. I'd love to be a part of one someday."

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The Office: "Gay Witch Hunt"/"The Convention"

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"Gay Witch Hunt" (season three, episode one; 9/21/2006) In which Michael wants you to burn this into your brains... Michael Scott never looks more like David Brent than he does in the first episode of the American Office's third season.

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The Office - Gay Witch Hunt (Episode Highlight)

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Carell kissin Oscar to say, being gay is okay