19 Of The Most Underrated Cold Opens On "The Office"

Because Parkour and Lip Dub are amazing, but these are the ones you may have overlooked.

BEFORE WE BEGIN: Each cold open is ranked out of five Dundies. Let's get started!

NBC

1. Season 2, Episode 3, "Office Olympics"

NBC

The Office's very first cold open. Michael wants an early morning breakfast sandwich, and of course makes Ryan hand deliver it. Ryan ends up taking a nap in his car as Michael chows down on his breakfast.

Most memorable line: Michael: "I'm an early bird and I'm a night owl, so I'm wise and I have worms."

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2. Season 2, Episode 22, "Casino Night"

NBC

Jim (with Pam's help, of course) convinces Dwight that he has telekinetic powers.

Most memorable moment: Pam: "That's a nice tux."

Dwight: "I know, it was my grandfather's. He was buried in it so... family heirloom."

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3. Season 2, Episode 6, "The Fight"

NBC

Another first on the list: Jim's first cold open prank on Dwight! Dwight comes in to the office to see his desk missing, and finds it in the bathroom, of course.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "I'm going to tell Michael and this entire office will be punished!"

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4. Season 3, Episode 8, "The Merger"

NBC

After Dwight makes fun of Toby for running a marathon too slowly, Pam decides to prank him. She convinces Dwight to a timed race against Toby, but never actually invites Toby... or times Dwight.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "I am fast. To give you a reference point, I'm somewhere between a snake and a mongoose... and a panther."

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5. Season 8, Episode 3, "Lotto"

NBC

Angry at discovering a dog in a locked car in the parking lot, Oscar breaks the window to give the dog some air. Faced with either taking the dog or leaving it to climb out of the now broken window, Oscar leaves the dog and tapes up the window with a piece of cardboard. Finally, he punches some air holes into the cardboard for good measure and goes back to work.

Most memorable line: Oscar: "I bet this guy didn't leave his weed in the car."

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6. Season 3, Episode 14, "Ben Franklin"

NBC

Scared he's going to die before he can impart his wisdom on his future son, Michael decides to film himself doling out advice. He shows his future kid how to incorrectly jump start a car and how to incorrectly take off a woman's bra.

Most memorable line: Michael: "If I die, I want my son to know the dealio — the dealio of life."

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7. Season 3, Episode 17, "Cocktails"

NBC

Wanting to perform a magic trick for the office, Michael puts himself in a straight jacket and asks that no one help him escape — no matter how much he pleads. He then promptly loses the key to free himself.

Most memorable line: Michael: "A lot of people think that magic camp is for kids... and that's why so many other people in my class were kids."

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8. Season 4, Episode 11, "Night Out"

NBC

Michael gets gum stuck in his hair after investigating a shiny object under Stanley's car. Dwight jumps into action, and covers Michael's whole head in peanut butter to try to get the gum out.

Most memorable line: Michael: "Kill me, right now!"

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9. Season 9, Episode 5, "Here Comes Treble"

NBC

Wanting to prank Erin, Dwight decides to hollow out a jack-o-lantern and put it on his head. His prank succeeds in scaring Erin, but the pumpkin has the last laugh when it refuses to come off of Dwight's head.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "Any blow to the pumpkin itself could prove fatal to me."

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10. Season 4, Episode 12, "Did I Stutter"

NBC

Michael finds a patch of wet cement outside the office and decides to stick his face in it to preserve his memory.

Most memorable moment: Dwight: "Force it in, deep as you can."

Michael: "That's what she said."

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11. Season 5, Episode 4, "Baby Shower"

NBC

Michael is not the father of Jan's baby, but wants to prepare for the birth anyway. To do this, he enlists Dwight to simulate a birth with a greased-up watermelon.

Most memorable moment: Michael: "Wow what was on that?"

Dwight: "Butter, newborns are slippery."

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12. Season 5, Episode 28, "Company Picnic"

NBC

Michael eats an entire family-sized chicken pot pie for lunch and then falls asleep. The office then changes all the clocks from noon to 5 PM. When they wake Michael up from his nap, he thinks it's the end of the day, and everyone goes home early.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "Normally I don't condone leaving the office early, but I have an appointment with the horse doctor. How that horse became a doctor, I don't know."

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13. Season 6, Episode 4, "Niagara: Part 1"

NBC

Pregnant Pam has an overly sensitive stomach, and asks the office to cut down on smelly foods. Uninterested in helping, Dwight eats a boiled egg in front of Pam, who retaliates by throwing up in front of him. This quickly makes everyone in the office vom.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "It's amazing, a three ounce fetus is calling the shots. It's so badass."

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5 out of 5, for Pam being a pregnant badass.

14. Season 6, Episode 11, "Shareholder Meeting"

NBC

The world is introduced to Reclyclops, Dwight's Earth Day alter ego. Recyclops at one time promoted recycling, but eventually evolved into a destructive villain intent on destroying the human race.

Most memorable line: Jim: "God bless you Recyclops and your cold, dead heart."

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15. Season 7, Episode 4, "Sex Ed"

NBC

Dwight reveals that he picks up "day laborers" to work on Schrute farms. In typical Dwight fashion, he scares the shit out of them by having his ever-faithful cousin Mose dress up as an INS agent, put them in his car, and drop them off in the middle of Pennsylvania, telling them that they're in Canada.

Most memorable line: Day Laborer: "We don't go with that man, I've seen several men go with that man...and none come back."

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16. Season 7, Episode 10, "China"

NBC

Dwight decides to train himself to use his feet as hands. To prove to Dwight that his feet aren't capable, Jim gives Dwight a cup of hot coffee to drink. Dwight tries to drink the coffee with his feet... and then spills it all over himself.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "20 minutes a day Jim, that's all it takes. 20 minutes a day of all feet and no hands and I'll have the pedidexterity of a chimp, and you'll be sitting there like an idiot."

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17. Season 8, Episode 4, "Garden Party"

NBC

Andy decides to make some new billboards to promote Dunder Mifflin, and his billboards promptly get defaced with loads of penises.

Most memorable line: Jim: "If there's an opportunity for a graffiti artist to work in a phallic shape, interacting with the art work, it'll happen."

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18. Season 8, Episode 12, "Pool Party"

NBC

With Pam gone on maternity leave, Jim looks to Stanley to laugh at his pranks on Dwight. After trial and error, Jim discovers that Stanley loves pranks involving meatballs. But as it turns out, Stanley was working with Dwight and had only been laughing at the meatballs to take them home as after work snacks.

Most memorable line: Dwight: "That idiot's been feeding us for a week."

Stanley: "We'll never have to buy meatballs again!"

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19. Season 9, Episode 3, "Andy's Ancestry"

NBC

While Jim is out of the office, at the dentist he and Pam prank Dwight by convincing him that Jim is actually asian.

Side note: Asian Jim is Mr. Huang from Fresh Off the Boat!

Most memorable line: Dwight: "You're not Jim, Jim's not asian!"

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