Of all of the sitcoms to be aired in the past couple of decades, there are not many as iconic and beloved as The Office. When The Office first began, it wasn’t really the most popular show on television. It wasn’t until the show’s true target audience was discovered to be college students and graduates that The Office really started to get moving. The hit series ended up receiving 9 seasons, with 188 hilarious episodes.
One of the best parts about The Office isn’t just the hilarity of the show itself, but the fan base. Those that love The Office are known for making memes of the series, in addition to coming up with a plethora of fan theories. The theory that Dunder Mifflin’s Human Resources representative Toby Flenderson was actually the Scranton Strangler has been a viral concept online over the past couple years.
While it doesn’t really make sense for a show with a concept as boring as people working in an office to actually work as a highly successful TV series, The Office’s phenomenal cast and team of writers managed to make it work. People on the internet love The Office, and they’ve chosen to show it in the best way they know how: with memes.
With that said, here are 25 Hilarious The Office Memes That Every Fan Needs To See.
25. The Ladies Of The Office
The Office’s Dunder Mifflin has hired a fair number of women. While some characters like Pam and Erin are almost always portrayed as being beautiful, other characters like Meredith are portrayed otherwise. In real life, almost all of these actresses are absolutely beautiful, even actress Kate Flannery, who plays Meredith.
However, season 6 of the series brought forward someone who was arguably the most feminine character yet. Gabe Lewis, the representative from Saber, appeared in The Office for quite a few seasons, and certainly added elements to the series we had yet to see, at least from a male character.
Gabe was awkwardly feminine in his actions and mannerisms, which made him something of an outcast in the series. He wasn’t written as a stereotype, which was clever, and instead was his own unique character that certainly added an element of comedy to the show.
One of Gabe’s most memorable, and fitting, moments in The Office, was the Halloween episode when he dressed up like Lady Gaga.
Like a Pokémon, Gabe had evolved into his final form, and it was a great way for the viewers to truly see and understand his character’s interests.
24. Michael Scott’s Worst Nightmare
One of the funniest running gags in The Office is Michael Scott’s complete hatred of Human Resources representative Toby Flenderson. Even though Toby is actually a nice guy, Michael still hates him simply due to his job title. It’s an essential job in the office that Michael passionately hates, so perhaps Toby shouldn’t take it too personally. Then again, Michael went on to marry an HR representative, so maybe Toby should take it personally.
While Toby has learned to try to stay out of Michael’s hair, and vice versa, there are always some hilarious exceptions. One episode that certainly touched on the hilarious dynamic between the two characters, which this meme is taken from, is “Counseling” in Season 7, when Michael had to actually sit through counseling with Toby, otherwise he would lose his job.
In this episode, we saw what can only be described as the most in-depth look at Michael’s hatred of Toby, as the two were forced in a room together for the entirety of the episode. Typically, Michael is able to escape from Toby, but in this episode, that was not an option.
By the end of the episode, Toby discovered that he was actually connecting to Michael on a personal level. Unfortunately, Michael soon caught onto this as well, and refused to participate in the counseling after that point.
23. She May Owe Roy An Apology
During the second season of The Office, Pam was offered the opportunity to marry her fiancé Roy while on board a boat during a company event. However, she opted out of this opportunity, claiming that she wanted to wait to actually have a wedding her parents could attend that wasn’t on a boat.
As we all know, this wedding with Roy never panned out as Pam was more in love with Jim. By the show’s sixth season, we finally saw Pam get married to Jim. However, the circumstances of the wedding were a bit hypocritical.
While there was an entire wedding reception planned, Jim and Pam ran away before the wedding began to get married in private aboard a boat by Niagra Falls. They then returned to the actual wedding reception, despite already being married, just so everyone else could have fun with the ceremony.
While this was a touching moment for the couple, showing that they want to have privacy in their personal lives, it completely negated Pam’s statement in season two.
However, it may show that the boat and the absence of her parents weren’t the problems, and that the person she was marrying was the real reason she backed out.
22. Distracted Michael
As much as Dwight does for Michael, working as his right hand man for over a decade, he never managed to earn the same amount of love from Michael as the “temp” Ryan Howard. Right from the start, Michael saw a lot in Ryan, and regularly chose to show his admiration at uncomfortable times.
Once Ryan was promoted to the company’s Vice President and grew a beard, Michael’s admiration grew for him even more, which is something we can assume Dwight completely hated. Of course, with Ryan now being a higher-up in the company, Dwight did start to look up to Ryan a bit, but he still didn’t see him as much more than competition.
Michael’s uncomfortable and confusing admiration for Ryan is one of the funniest, and frankly creepiest, dynamics of the show. Sometimes the admiration was genuine mentorship, but other times it went a little too far. Of course, the farther it went, the funnier it was, so really, there was no problem with this joke becoming too big.
While Dwight’s jealousy of Ryan was certainly present in the first few seasons of the show, it eventually died down as Ryan’s character evolved. In hindsight, it would have been great to see more of this jealousy dynamic, but at this point, it’s a little too late to ask.
21. He Didn’t Look Into The Camera Once During A Quiet Place
While actor Steve Carell has managed to expand his career outside of The Office without just being known as Michael Scott, actor John Krasinski unfortunately does not have the same privilege yet. Despite having quite a few starring roles in other movies like 13 Hours and A Quiet Place, many The Office fans will only ever see Krasinski as the paper salesman we know and love.
While Krasinski is great in all of his other roles, it sometimes feels unnatural for an hour to go by without the actor looking at the camera as a form of nonverbal commentary on the events at hand.
While this would be unnatural for the genre of most of the movies he is in, expecting Krasinski to look into the camera has become almost instinct.
John Krasinski isn’t the only actor to suffer from this. Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute in The Office, has also been typecast in his Office role. In every movie that Wilson is in, it’s hard for fans to see him as anyone except Dwight Schrute. While this has worked for a few of his movie roles, such as Super, it has not helped Wilson expand his career too much.
20. But Is It The Same Chair?
During a house party at Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace’s home in the third season of The Office, we saw Dwight analyzing every inch of the house to determine its value. Along Dwight’s “journey” through Wallace’s home, he came across a rocking chair that he was rather fond of.
During the final season of The Office, in the episode titled “The Farm”, which was supposed to set up a potential Dwight spin-off, we discovered that Dwight eventually did get an almost identical chair that he placed on his porch. This is one of those small details in The Office that help to make the series so clever.
The question is, did Dwight go and buy an identical chair after David Wallace’s house party, or did he steal the chair? David Wallace’s house was so large with so much furniture in it, surely he would not have noticed a missing rocking chair.
When we saw Dwight in the chair in “The Farm”, it was in his interview spot, which would have been where he sat regularly had the spin-off series been green lit. Perhaps the writers were originally planning on answering this question in the spin-off, but now it reminds a mystery to us all.
19. You Either Think The US Office Is Better, Or You’re Wrong
As many people know, the U.S. version of The Office was not the original version of the show. Before Michael Scott ran Dunder Mifflin, David Brent ran Wernham Hogg Paper Company in the U.K. version of The Office. This series starred Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman, but only lasted two series.
While a great number of people prefer the U.S. version of The Office, which was significantly more popular and successful, there are still a number of fans who prefer the British version of the series. This is a truly matter of preference, but it has split a number of fans, with very few people liking both series equally.
The basis of one’s preference between the two Office shows may actually be based on which series they started watching first. The pilot episode for the U.S. Office was almost a shot for shot remake of the U.K. version, which makes the second of the two pilots you watch to feel less original, starting the series with a bad taste in the mouth.
While it is theoretically possible to to love both series equally, these people are about as hard to find as a person who loves Marvel and DC equally.
While it’s possible to enjoy both, there is almost always one that is preferred.
18. Not even Twitter likes Toby
When The Office started, a number of the show’s stars were not the most well known. Even Steve Carell was just becoming a big name in Hollywood, with The 40 Year-Old Virgin releasing about six months after the pilot episode of The Office.
Actors like John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, and Mindy Kaling went on to have great careers after The Office, becoming household names for people who didn’t even watch the show. However, despite the success that all of the Office cast members saw, Paul Lieberstein, who played HR representative Toby Flenderson, never saw the same amount of fame.
As many Office fans know, Lieberstein did a large amount of work behind the scenes, writing and directing a number of the show’s episodes. During the show’s fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth seasons, Lieberstein was actually the showrunner for The Office, which was a position no other regular cast member held. While Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak did a large amount of writing for the series as well, they never became showrunners like Lieberstein.
Despite this success and major part to play in The Office’s mechanics, Lieberstein never earned proper verification on Twitter. It would seem that Michael Scott’s pure hatred of Toby was contagious and was caught by almost everyone on Twitter.
17. Maybe Dwight Wasn’t As Dimwitted As We Thought
While Jim’s constant pranking of Dwight was one of the best elements of the show, looking back on all of his pranks as a whole, he did take things a bit far. Jim never let up, constantly taking Dwight’s stuff, even his wallet at one point, just because Dwight was easy to prank. All in all, Jim Halpert was a bit of a jerk.
However, as we know, the prime motivation for Jim’s pranking was to make people smile, particularly his crush, and eventual wife, Pam. At the end of the day, we could never be too mad at Jim because he was doing all of it to win the girl. While this is obviously not proper justification, making him sound quite a bit like Beauty and the Beast villain Gaston, it at least adds some likable qualities to his character.
This comic actually brings into consideration a theory that had not been considered.
Perhaps Dwight was more street smart than we gave him credit for and did realize all the times he was getting pranked.
However, being a romantic at heart, and thinking the world of Pam, he wanted the two to eventually get together. Being the subject of a number of pranks for years may have been the only way to keep the two happy, and this was something Dwight was okay with.
16. There Are Good Surprises, And Then There Are Bad Ones
Of all the cringe-inducing things Michael Scott has done over the years, kissing Oscar Martinez upon discovering his orientation probably takes the gold. In a hilarious episode that started the third season of The Office on a humorous note, Michael discovered that the accountant Oscar was actually gay.
Being truly horrible at keeping a secret, Michael eventually let Oscar’s orientation slip to the rest of the office, which understandably created some negative issues. In a move to right his wrongs and prove that he was not “homophobic,” Michael decided to kiss Oscar in the middle of a conference meeting, much to Oscar’s disdain.
To top things off, Dwight tried to follow suit and kiss Oscar himself, but fortunately for Oscar, this kiss was stopped before it even happened. Of course, all of this almost led to a major lawsuit for the company, but the moment was still hilarious nonetheless.
While many people may see surprise kisses as a good thing, this meme undoubtedly proves that they’re not always the best. However, it can be argued that surprise kisses can still be a good thing, as long as they are not coming from Michael Scott in front of all of your coworkers.
15. #JusticeForKaren
Season 3 introduced one of the most hated characters in The Office, Karen Filippelli. The thing is, people didn’t hate her because of her personality or because of anything actually viable that she has done. Instead, Karen was despised by The Office fans for one sole reason: she was dating Jim.
It’s no secret that the romance between Jim and Pam is the driving force behind The Office, and in its early seasons, viewers were anxious to finally see the two get together. At last, Pam ditched Roy, and Jim and Pam should have been good to go, if not for Karen Filippelli.
As much as we hate Karen for dating Jim, after rewatching the third season of The Office, it starts to become noticeable that the two of them were actually a good match for each other. Both of them enjoyed pulling pranks and not taking things too seriously, while still managing to be successful.
If not for Pam, there’s a good chance that Jim and Karen could have actually went on to have a long and happy relationship together.
Everyone hates Karen for keeping Jim and Pam apart, yet no one ever blames Pam for keeping Jim and Karen apart.
14. What Is The Office Really About?
Despite being a mockumentary about a small paper company, The Office puts a lot more focus on the character arcs. While most people consider Michael Scott or Jim Halpert to be the main characters of the show, there is one character whose arc many people tend to overlook: Creed Bratton.
Creed is one of The Office’s greatest mysteries, with him having some secretive, criminal past that he never chooses to reveal. In addition, his present day actions in the show were also a mystery, at one point showing up to work with blood splattered all over him, and another time running away guiltily during an episode in season six.
During the final episode of The Office, the answers of Creed’s past were finally answered when the police found his location at the time the documentary was aired. Creed went into hiding after being discovered, until the members of the office reconvened for one last celebration at Dunder Mifflin.
It was here that the police finally caught Creed Bratton, bringing an end to Creed Bratton’s 8-year manhunt. The series ended when Creed was caught, leading some people to the conclusion that the entire series was actually about him.
13. The Evolution Of Jim
Like all of the other members of The Office, Jim Halpert certainly changed quite a bit between season one and season nine of the series. He changed both in personality, becoming less and less disdainful about his employment at Dunder Mifflin, and in appearance, with his shaggy hair becoming gradually more well kept.
People tend to forget about the times that Jim wasn’t actually Jim.
The first occurrence of Jim being impersonated occurred in the series’ third season, when Dwight dressed as Jim and acted like him as a response to Jim’s prank at the beginning of the episode.
The next occurrence of an impostor Jim happened during Michael’s final Dundie awards in season seven, when the opening video featured Michael dressed up like a number of the members of the office. Jim was among these people he dressed as. Michael went on to give a rather terrible impersonation of Jim, but that’s besides the point.
The final Jim impostor was Jim’s own doing, as this imposter was Jim and Pam’s actor friend, played by Randall Park. As those who have seen the episode know, this was a clever prank against Dwight that put Dwight into a hilariously awkward situation.
12. You Thought This Episode Was Cringy Before? It Gets Worse…
In one of Michael’s most hilarious and cringy moments, he brought back two waitresses from a restaurant to a Christmas office party as his dates. He was recently dumped and hearbroken, and rebounding with his attractive waitresses seemed to be the only option for him at the time.
As the episode proceeded, Michael had difficulty telling the two waitresses apart, unable to remember which one he actually connected with. He ended up marking one of them with a Sharpie, which was a move that shocked everyone who watched. However, upon further analysis, the cringe-worth state of this episode gets so much worse.
As it turns out, the two waitresses he brought to the party were not the two waitresses he asked out at the restaurant. Clearly, the first two waitresses were not interested, but Michael did not seem to notice, confusing them with two completely different waitresses who were seemingly gullible enough to join him.
It’s fortunate that Michael chose not to pursue a relationship with either of these girls, as there is no telling how much more confused he could have gotten as their relationship ensued. This episode was already hard to watch, but with this new information, it becomes even more embarrassing for Michael.
11. “I’m The King Of The World! - Jack Dawson” - Michael Scott
Like it or not, Jim and Karen actually made a decent couple together. However, Karen wasn’t Pam, so most fans of The Office did not like her, and certainly did not approve of her season three relationship with Jim. Because of this, most fans did not feel bad when Pam came along and sabotaged their romance.
Jim actually gets a lot of hate for crossing boundaries in seasons one and two with Pam and Roy’s relationship.
As much of a homewrecker as Jim was in the first two seasons, Pam was ultimately a lot worse in season three.
Pam would regularly confront Karen in the office, stating how much she hated her for dating Jim. At one point, she even stood in front of the entire office while on a retreat to make it clear to everyone how angry she was at Jim for dating Karen.
Jim never did this when Pam and Roy were together. Jim was always respectful to Roy and tried his best to stay out of their relationship. With the exception of the time he kissed Pam, Jim was very kind and did not try to actually break the two up. He most certainly did not confront Roy and tell him off because he was dating Pam. All in all, Pam’s actions in season three were extremely inappropriate.
10. Run, Toby, Run!
While most of Toby’s appearances on the show are followed by him being yelled at mercilessly by Michael, some episodes actually show the HR representative’s true colors. One character arc for Toby that is regularly forgotten is his seemingly undying crush on Pam.
As soon as Pam and Roy broke up, Toby started to have feelings for the receptionist, regularly trying to have the nerve to ask her out, but always chickening out. When Toby did finally have the nerve to do something about his crush, awkwardly putting his hand on Pam’s leg in front of Jim, he immediately announced that he was moving to another country and proceed to run away.
The ironic thing is, Pam actually did admit that she thought Toby was cute. Had Toby actually decided to ask Pam out during season three, when she was single, there’s a chance she would have said yes.
However, had they actually dated, Toby’s crush would have been a lot less humorous, thus ruining what went on to be one of The Office’s funniest ongoing jokes. Of course, there’s also the theory that him asking Pam out could have prevented Toby from supposedly becoming the Scranton Strangler, but that’s a discussion for another time.
9. Somebody Get Me A Bob Vance
Couples like Jim and Pam, Dwight and Angela, and Michael and Holly regularly take the spotlight in The Office, with each of them being seen as dream couples. However, one romance on the show that people tend to overlook is the incredibly happy marriage between Bob and Phyllis Vance.
Bob Vance is one of the nicest guys in the show. He has no quirky elements to him outside of being a total sweetheart. He regularly stands up for his wife against Michael, and is an all-around great guy to have in your life.
The greatest example of Bob Vance’s kindness was during the auction Michael held, when he bid $1000 just to give Phyllis a hug.
It was not only a great way to show how much he loved his wife and to make her feel appreciated, but it was also a generous way to help his wife’s workplace.
Much of the office’s stuff had been stolen, including Phyllis’s own belongings. This donation made Phyllis’s workplace a lot happier for her, and helped to make up for what she had lost. Actions like this show how great of a man Bob Vance is, making him easily the most underrated character in The Office.
8. It’s The Little Things…
Michael Scott has done a lot of quirky things on the show, but this is one completely inexplicable action that a majority of Office fans somehow overlooked. Rather than buying a regular soda, Michael Scott went out of his way to get a diet soda (which as most people know is sugar-free), only to pour sugar in it himself.
Does Michael do this for the taste, considering the extra amount of sweetener that is put into diet drinks, or does he just do this out of pure ignorance? Perhaps Michael doesn’t know what “diet soda” means, and upon tasting it, immediately noticed the lack of sugar.
Quirky actions like this show how ingeniously well-made The Office was. It’s possible that this was a decision made by the writing staff, but considering that it has such a small role to play, it’s even more likely that this was something Steve Carell came up with himself.
Despite how ridiculous Michael looks in the above meme, this does make us curious to know what diet soda does taste like after sugar is added. Does it taste better, or significantly worse? It would take a madman like Michael Scott to determine the answer to this.
7. Don’t Mess With Mrs. Halpert
After years of being unhappy with her receptionist job at Dunder Mifflin, Pam finally took a stand which eventually led to her becoming part of the office’s Sales staff. This was a huge step up for Pam, and she certainly took it seriously, refusing to do any task having to do with reception again.
What put Pam over the edge, leading to her quitting reception, was everyone in the office pushing her around when it came to the new copy machine. Because of this, anyone asking her to make a copy in the proceeding seasons became something of a sour spot for her.
Even after Pam cleverly moved on to be the Office Administrator, she still refused to do any reception jobs.
In fact, towards the end of season eight, when the current receptionist Erin was in Florida, Pam absolutely refused to cover the reception desk, leaving the current manager Andy to take all of the calls. It was a bold move, but Pam certainly did not regret it.
Once Pam moved on from reception, she really did move on. She was sick of being pushed around, and even had her husband to back her up if anyone tried to push her too far.
6. Say No More
The Office isn’t just a fun show to watch, but it’s also extremely addictive for many who watch it. After watching all 188 episodes of the series, many people become so hooked that they see no other option except to restart the series.
Netflix may have Stranger Things and Friends, but those shows aren’t The Office. Because of this, they will never be good enough for the fans who don’t want to watch a show without Michael Scott or Dwight Schrute.
What really works for The Office to give it such rewatchability is how much the show evolves over the course of its nine seasons. While some sitcoms stay almost completely the same from beginning to end, The Office changed quite a bit in its nine-year run, while still managing to stay the same tonally.
The reason why this works is that once someone is done with season nine of The Office, they are able to start season one while still feeling like they are watching a new show. Additionally, the tone is still similar enough that it doesn’t feel like too big of a change in pace. It is a genius move that has certainly turned The Office into one of the most successful shows on Netflix.
5. We Need Answers
The final season of The Office tied up a lot of loose ends. It brought a fitting conclusion to Andy’s homesickness for his Alma Mater, it finally showed Jim leaving Dunder Mifflin, it showed us what happened to Roy, and finally answered the mystery of Creed’s criminal past. One thing season nine did not answer, however, was what was on the teapot note.
In the season two episode Christmas Party, Jim drew Pam’s name in the Secret Santa. As a gift, he prepared Pam a teapot filled with a number of inside jokes the two had shared over the year. To top it off, the teapot was accompanied by a mysterious letter that was theorized to say exactly how Jim felt about Pam. Unfortunately, Jim pulled the letter out of the gift last second, leaving fans wondering what became of it for years.
In the final season of The Office, Jim finally gave Pam the mysterious teapot letter, which was apparently so romantic, it brought her to tears.
However, what it actually said was never revealed. Even in the Q&A during the final episode, when Pam was asked to tell everyone what the letter said, she still refused to reveal it, trying to keep what privacy they had left.
4. The Many Faces Of Michael Scott
Let’s face it, we’ve all done it. Free trials are always so good that you can’t have just one. Whether it’s by creating a fake email or a fake Facebook account, many people tend to find ways to stretch out their free trials by having one after another.
If Michael Scott were to ever try this, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him as he already has quite an expansive assortment of alter egos. The thing is, there’s more than just his presentation alter egos like Prison Mike, Michael Klump, and even Secret Agent Michael Scarn.
One of the most hilarious moments of Michael’s final episodes was when he created a video presentation featuring himself dressed as a number of other character in The Office. All in all, his performance in (almost) all of these roles was phenomenal, but not as phenomenal as the wardrobe.
The question is, how did Michael manage to come across all of these costumes?
While Jim’s outfit would have been easy to replicate, one can only guess how much dough Michael spent to get those wigs. Maybe we are delving too deep into it and should just appreciate this hilarious moment for what it is.
3. “Why Are You The Way That You Are?”
It’s no secret that Michael Scott can almost always find a way to blame every problem on Toby Flenderson. Because of this, when a monstrous Winter Storm came through America a few months back, many of the show’s fans weren’t surprised to learn that it was named Toby.
Of course, before someone decides to point it out, this meme was not real. Like most memes, it was photoshopped and was not actually tweeted by Steve Carell. Regardless, it’s still truly hilarious and a great reflection of Carell’s character on the show.
While Toby never did anything as enormous as creating a winter storm, there’s a good chance that Michael would have found a way to blame him nevertheless had the show still been running at the time. Unfortunately, the show ended almost five years prior, forcing this wonderfully comedic opportunity to go to waste.
Does Toby get a bit too much hate in The Office? Probably. But, Michael Scott hates him, and since Michael is seemingly the most lovable character in the show, we are prone to side with him in this matter. Toby is probably a great guy, but no one in the office will ever see him this way because, well, he’s Toby.
2. Looking Good, Jimothy
Since they left The Office, both John Krasinski and Steve Carell have made some leaps into more serious genres outside of comedy. In order to do this, they have both had to change their physique quite a bit, making the two most lovable actors from The Office even more lovable.
John Krasinski has gone on to star in movies like 13 Strong, where he had to gain a lot of muscle in order to properly portray an American soldier. He also went on to direct and star in A Quiet Place, which he once again needed to be rather muscular for considering he was portraying a family patriarch during the post-apocalypse.
Steve Carell, on the other hand, has landed a number of serious roles, such as the Oscar-winning movie The Big Short. He also had to gain quite a bit of muscle for the wrestling movie Foxcatcher, which earned Carell his first Oscar nomination.
As great as John Krasinski and Steve Carell were in The Office, it has been even greater to see the two actors evolve over time. Many of their proceeding roles truly showed their acting talents, proving that both of them can play more characters than Jim Halpert and Michael Scott.
1. What’s Even The Point?
For many people, The Office is more than just a show: it’s a way of life. It’s not uncommon for The Office fans to quote the show on a regular basis using lines a majority of people wouldn’t even recognize. Of course, when doing this, any nearby Office fans would immediately catch on, and bonding and friendship would most likely follow.
These are also the types of people who will regularly comment with GIFs from The Office on Facebook, especially on posts that had nothing to do with The Office to begin with. There is so much source material from The Office that the options for Office GIFs are seemingly endless.
All in all, The Office fans are normally the best kinds of people. They can find elements of comedy in almost all situations. If someone can find a show that’s all about a simple workplace hilarious enough to rewatch time after time, then their own lives must certainly have some good elements to them as well.
The Office truly is more than just a regular sitcom.
Not only did it inspire a number of other mockumentary sitcoms, but it also has earned the love of millions of fans around the world.
Do you have any hilarious The Office memes to share? Let us know in the comments!
