My Top 25 The Office (US) Characters

I'm on my 4th/5th viewing of every episode of The Office (US) right now and it's become clear to me that I love this show.  Don't get me wrong, the O.G. Office is dope, but it feels like a great movie due to it's relatively shorter life span.  The American Office is truly a great TV show and now it's time to list the best characters from the show.

Incidentally, I really thought I was going to have Nellie, as played by Catherine Tate, on here but she actually plays as more sad than funny and quirky and this list is all about the funny moments these characters had.  Let's get started!

Character/Rank:
#25- Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates)

Best Moment:
Most moments involving Jo and Dwight are my favourite.  I liked when she tried to call Dwight out for not standing to attention for her and then respected his stance on not standing for anyone: male or female.  However, the best moment for me was when Jo called Dwight's bluff in "Search Committee" and called him crazy for the lengths he would go to in order to become the manager.

Character/Rank:
#24- Charles Miner (Idris Elba)

Best Moment:
I don't know why, but I didn't like how mean Charles was to Michael.   However, I was all for the cold shoulder Charles gave Jim.  The scene where Jim trips up on his words as he tries to make fun of Dwight's adherence to a made up title and Charles asks Jim if he wants to keep drawing attention to his similarly made up position in "New Boss" is always funny to me.

Character/Rank:
#23- Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak)

Best Moment:
As much as I liked every time Kelly pointed out that Ryan's just not about that life.  How he would scurry to her place if he was scared or failed to stick up for her if someone bigger than him (and most times darker) accosted Kelly.  It's the time that Ryan condescended to Jim and told him to take things more seriously in "Search Committee" or when he is legitimately hurt that he didn't win hottest in the office during "Michael's Last Dundies."

Character/Rank:
#22- Hank Tate (Hugh Dane)

Best Moment:
Hank is hilarious for his ostensible contempt for the people who work in the office.  However, my favouirte moment with Hank is when he's called in to weigh in on whether the office should replace chairs or get a new printer in "The Surplus."  I love that he just wants to soak in the attention and not have to do his actual job so he keeps asking to test out the chairs.

Character/Rank:
#21- Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones)

Best Moment:
Unfortunately for Karen she mostly has to be the straight-man in most situations or the counterpoint to Pam so that the audience can see that Jim really should ditch the woman who won't prank along with him and get with Pam.  That doesn't mean she doesn't have her moments though!  My favourite moment is when Jim tells her to leave a more engaging voicemail recording and she leans into her Italian heritage and exclaims "Abbondanza!" during "The Merger."

Character/Rank:
#20- Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker)

Best Moment:
Stanley admonishing people for disrespecting the pretzel line in "Initiation" but my favourite moment with Stanley, because it's a recurring joke and also feels like a joke I would do is his "shove it up your butt," comments that start in "The List."  If we're talking realest moment, I really liked everything to do with Michael and Stanley in "Did I Stutter?"

Character/Rank:
#19- Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith)

Best Moment:
I do appreciate a good Phyllis vs. Angela show down, I also like the running gag that Michael and Phyllis attended school at the same time and he still insists on painting her as much older, I even liked how she connected with Dwight for a bit, but the funniest thing Phyllis did was steal Pam's wedding in "Phyllis' Wedding."  Even down to using the P(amela) & R(oy) as a theme even though Bob has never gone by Robert.  Everything about that subtle jab in a not always subtle antagonistic relationship between Pam and Phyllis was great.

Character/Rank:
#18- Andy Bernard (Ed Helms)

Best Moment:
Andy would have been higher on this list but the writers decided to just make him a mean, clueless guy instead of his early well meaning but clueless guy character.  As much as I don't like that change for his character it did provide his funniest moment.  Andy's disdain for Nellie got real sometimes but the funniest moment was when he returned in "Couples Discount" and glared at Nellie and asked her why she was still around.  Other than that I was always a fan of Andy's musical moments; especially if he had a banjo.

Character/Rank:
#17- Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton)

Best Moment:
Creed is the perfect vessel for a non sequitur in any scene.  What makes him more than just a nonsense character is the fact that every now and then Creed will show that he's quite competent at certain things ore that he understands more than he let's on.  One of the times that was the funniest was during "Product Recall" where Creed realizes he'll be in trouble without having someone else to blame for an offensive watermark being shipped out.  It was quick work and he made some money out of it.

Character/Rank:
#16- Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez)

Best Moment:
Oscar's inability to let things go always made me laugh.  It was such an interesting device to add to the show since it made it that much more interesting when Oscar wasn't sure of an answer.  The first time I enjoyed seeing it was in "Diversity Day" when Oscar didn't let Michael slide with saying he was two fifteenths Native American.  I'll always laugh at "That fraction doesn't make any sense!"

Character/Rank:
#15- Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson)

Best Moment:
Darryl's path on the show seemed to get him to an eventually great place but it was rough watching him tank his interview to become the manager.  It also was rough watching him spin his wheels before and after that interview.  Darryl's sweet spot for comedy was anytime he interacted with Michael Scott and taught him a new "black" phrase.  This trend started in "Casino Night" with Dinkin' Flicka and popped up every now and then.  Darryl's ability to use Michael's ignorance to his advantage and actually highlight Michael's ignorance always made me giggle.

Character/Rank:
#14- Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery)

Best Moment:
Meredith is a great character for just getting in quick comments that momentarily bring people down a peg.  She also knows what she wants out of life making her very funny to watch operate since she makes bold choices.  When she all of the sudden comes on to Jim with a broken pelvis in "Launch Party" it's just as funny to me as when she all of the sudden decides Jim creeps her out in "Spooked."

Character/Rank:
#13- Holly Flax (Amy Ryan)

Best Moment:
I've got a real soft spot for Holly since I always thought her relationship with Michael would be the kind of relationship I would like to have and ended up having with Pauline.  Someone who will  "yes and" all your silly jokes and would be able to find you if you ever got lost in the city.  Not the whole dumping you and avoiding you for a whole season and a bit.  Even though I did find a lot of humour in the way Holly and Kevin interacted, it was Holly's brief interaction with Jan in "Baby Shower" where she made a Michael-esque joke about the whereabouts of Astrid that made me laugh the hardest and was the most charming.

Character/Rank:
#12- Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling)

Best Moment:
A standard thing Pauline and I will chant to each other is "Fashion show! Fashion show! Fashion show at lunch!"  Thanks for that, Kelly!  Perfect delivery of that line.  But, I suppose the moment I found the funniest was Kelly denouncing her name when Charles Miner says he thinks Erin is a pretty name in "Michael Scott Paper Company."  I really liked any kind of humour that came out of Kelly's tenuous connection to her ancestry.

Character/Rank:
#11- David Wallace (Andy Buckley)

Best Moment:
The whole show David is nice to Michael while doing some fairly mean spirited things to Michael behind his back.  Mostly the making Holly go away, cancelling his work anniversary... we all know, we've all seen the show.  That's why I liked that he was genuinely excited to see Michael during "Sabre" and that we got to see him and son pitch "SUCK-IT"  the idea that even Michael didn't want to get on board with.

Character/Rank:
#10- Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods)

Best Moment:
Gabe vs. Andy in "Goodbye, Michael" is all sorts of great.  Everyone remembers when he finally gets courage to tell Andy where to go and how to get there a little too late. But, if you want to get Gabe in a more positive, if not misguided, light, his interaction with Toby about courting Val during "Doomsday" is Gabe at his best.  He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to put it out into the world even though all he did was make a "Mondays..." comment to her in passing.

Character/Rank:
#9- Toby Flenderson (Paul Liberstein)

Best Moment:
There are a lot of funny things that happen to Toby, and I will get into those later.  This entry is to highlight where I think Toby came out on top and it made me laugh.  It took until the 8th season but when Toby accepted, without question, that he's Lloyd Gross, a person Jim and Dwight made up, in "Turf War," it was amazing.  He even had character history like Lloyd likes to call Kemosabe  and he sticks up for himself until it gets to dangerous and makes a cool exit via a text from Lloyd's wife.

Character/Rank:
#8- Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin)

Best Moment:
I don't think there is any doubt that Jan shines the most in "Dinner Party."  What always gets me is "I guess that makes me the devil" and the face she makes.  But all the passive agressive work she does throughout the night, making Pam think she could poison her, playing Hunter's music, making fun of Michael's soft teeth, and then finally losing it at the end.  It's such a great episode for Jan let alone moment.

Character/Rank:
#7- Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey)

Best Moment:
Speaking of "Dinner Party" I'll always laugh at Angela's response to Jan's devil comment.  It's a simple "You shouldn't joke about that" but the timing and delivery is so amazing.  If you haven't noticed by now, I really like the mini tensions between characters on this show and Angela's disdain for Pam (while still attempting to bring her close at times) is always fun.  In "Search Committee" I love when she claps back at Pam for laughing at the senator's proposal by doing an imitation of Jim proposing to Pam.  Just the type of comedy I like on this show.  Taking people down a peg no matter how much I may like them.

Character/Rank:
#6- Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)

Best Moment:
Dwight takes a beating throughout the series.  He's constantly being made a fool by Jim and even though he's devoted to Michael, he isn't treated very well by him for the most part.  That's why I truly enjoyed anytime Dwight got back at Jim or didn't bow down to Michael.  In "Classy Christmas," Dwight makes Jim bleed and scares him for the rest of the episode.  That was more satisfying than funny.  What I did find hilarious, was the tone took with Michael throughout "New Leads."  The pressure he applied to Michael while also making sure that he didn't need Michael's approval or care about Michael's feelings was funny and satisfying.

Character/Rank:
#5- Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer)

Best Moment:
Watching Pam get angry about Michael dating her mom in "The Lover" is amazing!  It's by far her funniest work on the show especially when she disrupts the meeting Michael is trying to have and gets Stanley to chant along with her in protest of meetings.  While I'm not the biggest Pam fan, I recognize that her journey is so important to the show.  You watch her break out of her shell and stop being a doormat twice and you have to respect that on a certain level.

Character/Rank:
#4- Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper)

Best Moment:
I don't know what it is but I accept that Erin can be so clueless sometimes and other times be on the ball if it suits the moment.  Unlike other characters on this list, I actually enjoy the father-daughter relationship Erin had with Michael as opposed to a rivalry she had with someone else in the office (which was definitely Pam).  So when Erin was befuddled by Michael's love for Holly and broke down her rating system of people in "Classy Christmas" it was amazing!

Character/Rank:
#3- Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)

Best Moment:
There is no doubt that Jim was funniest when he was pranking Dwight.  But I can't pick a favourite prank.  What I can do is talk about how surprising it was when they actually mined genuine humour out of Jim and Pam's married life.  I don't think I've laughed harder at a Jim and Pam moment than when they got drunk during "PDA" on Valentine's day and toyed with the idea of having sex in the office.  The best parts were Jim and Pam congratulating themselves on not showing any signs of affection in the office and Jim's drunken reaction to Dwight rejecting his Valentine's day card.

Character/Rank:
#2- Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner)

Best Moment:
Kevin creeped up on me.  I never paid him much mind but as I go through this show it's become quite clear to me that Kevin starts out very funny and only gets funnier as he gets more vocal throughout the series. My favourite moment is when he talks about appreciating Michael and Holly's PDA but even if that's not your style, you can't tell me Kevin spilling chilli and trying to get it back in the pot during the cold open of "Casual Friday" isn't hilarious and memorable.  Plus he has so many subtle gags.  Like his two different bands he plays in that do Police covers, his hair piece for fancy events, whatever is going on with his feet, and his embracing of Ryan being the fire guy!

Character/Rank:
#1- Michael Scott (Steve Carell)

Best Moment:
Michael Scott might be one of the best characters to ever be on a TV screen let alone to be on this show.  I never found his petty ways to be off putting  I just wanted him to be happy.  And he certainly made me laugh every time he got into it with Toby.  His unexplained disdain for Toby knew no bounds and I loved how far they pushed it sometimes.  If I had to pick my favourite moment, though, it would definitely be when he tries to give an exit interview to Toby in "Goodbye, Toby" but has to change things up since Pam and Holly are sitting in.  After that is the famous "NOOO" moment and subsequent attempts to be nice to Toby while trying to get him fired in "Frame Toby."

-YG