The Office Turns 20: The Best Cold Opens, Ranked

It's already been 20 years since Dunder Mifflin opened for business at NBC. (It might not feel that way, if, like many TVLine editors, you watch The Office on Peacock regularly. But it's true!)

In celebration of the sitcom's anniversary, we're honoring one very important piece of the Office puzzle: the cold open. Typically separate from an episode's actual plot, the show's cold opens ultimately yielded some of the weirdest, funniest and most memorable scenes from The Office's nine-season run — but only one could claim the No. 1 spot, of course.

Whittling down The Office's 200-plus episodes to just a handful of standout scenes was no easy task. We didn't even have room for some of Jim's best pranks, like that time he sent Dwight faxes from the future. Or that time he put Dwight's belongings in the vending machine. Or that time he moved Dwight's desk to the bathroom. You get the idea.

The list below does include some of Jim's more elaborate jokes on his frenemy, along with assorted antics from the rest of the Dunder Mifflin staff. And though some might argue The Office lost a little mojo at the end of its run, several of our picks come from the show's later seasons — and we'll warn you now that looking through our rankings might send you down a YouTube rabbit hole of classic scenes and blooper reels. (Speaking from experience on that one.)

Keep scrolling to see which cold open took the top spot on our ranking, then weigh in below with your own favorite scenes!

When Stanley doesn't seem to realize he accidentally drank Jim's orange juice instead of his own coffee, the office wonders if there's a limit to what Stanley won't notice, cuing up a series of sight gags as they try to get him to observe his surroundings. This particular cold open loses its hilarity after too many viewings — once you know Kevin will be dressed as Phyllis, the entertainment wears off a bit — but it delivers solid laughs if you haven't watched Season 7 in a while. (Watch it above.)

Two Office worlds collide in this meta Season 7 opener, which finds Michael Scott meeting David Brent, Ricky Gervais' protagonist from the British version of the show. The two men quickly bond over their love of offensive comedy — and when David makes a "that's what she said" joke, Michael can hardly contain his joy. (Watch it above.)

Michael has no idea that his office nemesis, Toby, has returned from Costa Rica and is working at Dunder Mifflin once again. At Jim's suggestion, Michael pays a visit to the annex, and his reaction upon seeing Toby again — "No, God! No, God, please, no!" — has become the meme that keeps on giving. (Watch it above.)

We could have easily packed this list exclusively with Jim's pranks on Dwight (and almost did, for that matter). But if only the very best pranks can make the cut, we've got to include this Season 2 classic, in which Jim convinces Dwight he can move objects with his mind. Extra kudos go to Jenna Fischer, who makes us laugh without even saying a word as she holds up that crucial umbrella. (Watch it above, at the 10:13 mark.)

In 2010, the Internet was all about "lip dubs," which were essentially long lip-sync videos filmed in one continuous shot. With its Season 7 premiere, The Office got in on the trend (much like it did with the planking phenomenon in Season 8) and opened with a lip dub of The Human Beinz' "Nobody But Me." As with anything involving Dunder Mifflin Scranton, the endeavor starts well enough — even resident cynic Jim gets in on the fun! — before devolving into total chaos. (Watch it above.)

Michael thinks his employees are fascinated by whatever he's saying during a staff meeting... but they're really concentrating on the floating DVD logo behind him, which often moves tantalizingly close to the corner of the screen without actually hitting it. The Office always excelled at finding the joy in mundane workplace moments, and there are few more delightful than the staff's bonding experience in this cold open, even though poor Michael never gets in on the joke. (Watch it above.)

Michael comes to regret the visual gag that he sets up in this scene, in which he pretends to go down to the warehouse by crouching behind a stack of boxes. Dwight is thoroughly tickled by the joke, but it's Pam's cheeky request for a cup of coffee — and Michael's reaction to it — that elevates this cold open to Top 10 material. (Watch it above.)

Jim's best pranks on Dwight tend to take some time before there's any payoff. (Remember when he and Pam spent evenings learning Morse code just to taunt him?) One of the most memorable long cons is Jim's recreation of Pavlov's experiment on dogs, which involves conditioning Dwight to want an Altoid every time he hears Jim's computer restarting. Dwight, oblivious as ever, turns out to be the ideal test subject. Caution: Repeat viewings may cause your mouth to taste so bad all of a sudden. (Watch it above, at the 3:18 mark.)

Even before Michael mows Meredith down with his car, the first scene of Season 4 is hilariously bleak as he reveals that domestic bliss with Jan isn't actually all that blissful. But the highlight, naturally, is the accident that occurs in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot, which delivers the remarkable visual of Meredith rolling off the hood of Michael's vehicle. (His shocked inhale is the cherry on top.) (Watch it above.)

It's not often that the entire Dunder Mifflin staff works together on something — unless, of course, that thing is an opportunity to end their work day a few hours early. That's the case in the Season 5 finale, when everyone convinces Michael — who fell asleep at his desk after eating an entire chicken pot pie — that it's 5 pm when it's really much earlier. The flawless plan leaves everyone in such a good mood that Jim doesn't even mock Dwight for his celebratory finger-gun gesture. And that's really saying something! (Watch it above.)

The Office's post-Steve Carell era isn't exactly beloved by fans, and the criticism isn't unwarranted. But the final season did deliver one of the very best cold opens, as an actor friend of Jim and Pam's (played by Fresh Off the Boat's Randall Park) pretends to be Jim as part of a prank on Dwight. Just when you think the entire ruse is going to fall apart, it only gets more convincing, culminating in a twist that literally leaves Dwight speechless. (Watch it above.)

Jim's humiliation of Dwight in this cold open — by way of popping Dwight's annoying exercise ball — is so sudden that you just can't help but giggle upon every rewatch. But the scene is even funnier with context from the Office Ladies podcast, in which co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey revealed this cold open didn't actually go as planned. The exercise ball (sorry, fitness orb) was supposed to slowly deflate after Jim punctured it, causing Dwight to just sink out of frame. But John Krasinski happened to pop the ball at just the right angle, and Rainn Wilson fell to the floor. If you watch closely, you can see Krasinski running out of frame as he breaks character, which makes it all the more enjoyable. (Watch it above.)

Proving that an Office cold open can still be tremendously funny when it's sad and a little gross, this scene finds Kevin describing how he makes his famous chili... only for him to drop a gigantic pot of it on the office carpet. The juxtaposition of Kevin's proud voiceover (he toasts his own ancho chiles!) with the visual of him scooping the chili back into the pot (with paper!) is simply, well, chef's kiss. (Watch it above.)

If you've never seen this episode of The Office, you've still probably seen that GIF of Michael yelling, "Oh my God! OK, it's happening!" somewhere on your social media. But this cold open, in which Dwight takes an office fire drill way, way too far, has plenty of other standout moments, perhaps none funnier than Angela's cat crashing through the ceiling tiles. (Watch it above.)

With the help of some drugstore glasses and a calculator watch, Jim pulled his most unforgettable prank on Dwight... by becoming him. There's a lot to love about this excellent cold open: Jim's spot-on impression of Dwight as he blurts out, "Question." Dwight's immediate anger at Jim owning a bobblehead. Dwight taking the bait and racing to Michael's office after Jim does. But outside of being a truly spectacular prank, this scene gave us an instantly iconic line: "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." Pop culture was never the same, making this Season 3 opener the show's best ever. (Watch it above.)