The premise of The Office—borrowed from its original U.K. counterpart—is as simple as a blank sheet of paper. A documentary crew decides to follow the employees of the Dunder Mifflin paper company (Scranton branch) for eight straight years, for reasons that are never made quite clear. But man, the things their cameras captured.

We got to watch a doofy-haired salesman named Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) fall in love with the engaged receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) five feet away. We watched the Regional Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) grow from a childish buffoon to a slightly less childish man, and then to an ever-so-slightly less childish husband to HR representative Holly Flax (Amy Ryan). The crew followed an unstable beet farmer called Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), chronicled the descent into douchebaggery of a young temp named Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak), and even—once in a rare blue moon—caught Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) voluntarily standing up from his chair.

Yes, The Office’s low points are well-documented. You may notice the list below doesn’t contain a single entry from Season 8, a season whose sole bright spot was James Spader declaring himself the “fucking Lizard King.” But like any 9-to-5 job that you come to begrudgingly love and that eventually changes your life for the better, you accept the lows because the highs are worth it. At its best—and there really was so much more good than bad—The Office strode the line better than anything else on TV between earnestly heartfelt and painfully uncomfortable. It was able to take the dull greys of a conference room and the sounds of clock too-slowly ticking to 5 and turn them into a home. “There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things,” Pam says in the series’ final line. “Isn’t that the point?

So, naturally, narrowing this show’s entire run down to 50 episodes was a process as hard as it was long. There were times when I almost pulled out. Honestly, I didn’t think I could fit everything in to such a small space. Eventually, though, after a lot of effort, I was finally satisfied.*

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50) Season 7, Episode 23: The Inner Circle

The Office - The Inner Circle
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“Okay, a little about me. I respond to strong leadership.”

Was the sight of Will Ferrell juggling invisible balls to Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” enough to soothe the pain of Michael Scott’s departure? Not quite, but it definitely helped. The Office never quite figured out what to do with Ferrell’s Deangelo Vickers, but this episode—which ends, amazingly, with Vickers being crushed by a basketball hoop—is laugh-for-laugh the funniest post-Michael entry in the show’s entire back half.

49) Season 9, Episode 22-23: A.A.R.M.

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“Not enough for me? You are everything.”

Andy’s singing competition subplot here is admittedly terrible, as 90% of latter day Andy Bernard is. But “A.A.R.M” (that’s “Assistant Assistant Regional Manager”) also happens to include the emotional culmination of the best-written will-they-won’t-they turned romance in TV history: Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley. Jim not only asks the documentary crew to cut together nine seasons-worth of half-glances and awkward hand touching, he also finally gives Pam the letter he wrote all the way back in Season 2’s “Christmas Party.” “A.A.R.M” is probably the most deliberately schmaltzy episode in The Office’s history, but dammit, after eight years of making us root for these people, they earned it. Plus, Craig Robinson absolutely slays the episode-ending dance routine.

48) Season 5, Episode 27: Cafe Disco

Steve Carrell in The Office
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“You all took a life here today. You did. The life of the party.”

Speaking of dancing! If I’m being honest, not much of consequences happens in “Cafe Disco.” The show was still taking a breather after the genuinely tense six-episode “Michael Scott’s Paper Company” arc. But what it lacks in substance it makes up for by just being a damn good time. Michael’s attempt to turn his old office into a cafe bar and disco club is mostly an excuse for the cast to have a dance party, and the audience is invited. We also get Dwight trying to fix Phyllis’ dance-strained back, a legitimately sweet subplot between two characters who don’t get many moments.

47) Season 5, Episode 26: Casual Friday

The Office - Casual Friday
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“The trick is to undercook the onions.”

Three words: Kevin’s Famous Chili. Again, if I’m being honest, “Casual Friday” would make this list if it ended after the sight of Kevin desperately trying to scoop spilled chili into a pot with a binder, my personal favorite cold open on a show filled with classics. (The rest of the episode, in which the topic of “casual Friday” nearly forces a mutiny in the office, is fantastic. But man, that cold open.)

46) Season 7, Episode 25-26: Search Committee

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“Bread is the paper of the food industry. You write your sandwich on it.”

There’s no more stressful time in any office than the arrival of a new boss, a tension the series mined to haphazardly fun effect in this Season 7 finale. The parade of guest stars makes “Search Committee” memorable—Will Arnett’s top secret three-step plan being the best, Ricky Gervais as David Brent a treat, and James Spader’s Robert California so intense he was able to stick around for a whole extra season—but it’s Creed Bratton’s clearly insane managerial style that steals the show. Creed throwing his car keys to a nonexistent valet is, no joke, the character’s best moment.

45) Season 2, Episode 6: The Fight

Dwight Shrute at a dojo in karate gear and a helmet
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“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”

It’s funny how an episode that ends with Michael spitting in Dwight’s mouth inside a children’s martial arts dojo highlights just how good The Office was at subtle moments, especially in its early days. Of course, the machismo contest and karate punches between Michael and Dwight are the centerpiece. But the most memorable moment is Jim drafting an apology e-mail to Pam because of a playful exchange turned awkward...and then opting not to send it, because then that is awkward. It’s the type of understated human interaction that’s at the heart of this show. Plus, also, Dwight karate punching Michael in the stomach is just really goddamn funny.

44) Season 7, Episode 19: Garage Sale

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“Your wife becoming me will I.”

Michael Scott and Holly Flax were a match made in some awkward, endearingly unfunny heaven, so it makes sense their engagement starts with a loving tour of the conference room, a triggered sprinkler system, and a pair of Yoda impressions. Not a perfect proposal, no, but it beats lighting the parking lot on fire and/or throwing a corpse off the roof. Meanwhile, Jim convinces Dwight to buy “Professor Copperfield's Miracle Legumes” in the office garage sale, an already amusing subplot made ten times funnier by how aggressively Rainn Wilson pronounces the word “legumes.”

43) Season 3, Episode 13: The Return

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“I don't understand how someone could have so little self-awareness.”

In which Michael Scott—terminally uncool boss and king of taking it too far—meets his match in Andy Bernard, Cornell alum and poster-child for being “that guy.” What’s interesting about “The Return” is that the characters and the audience realize almost side-by-side how much the dynamic of the show is thrown off with Andy in the assistant role and Dwight working a new job at Staples. Thankfully, the world is righted by episode’s end; Dwight returns to his old job (claiming Oscar’s “welcome back” party for his own) while Andy is shipped off to anger management training after Jim’s phone-in-the-ceiling prank sends him into an acapella-fueled wall-punching rage.

42) Season 5, Episode 1-2: Weight Loss

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“What is wrong with these people? They have no willpower. I once went 28 years without having sex. And then again for seven years.”

Most remember Season 5’s two-part premiere for Jim’s rain-drenched gas-stop proposal, but the moment is actually a low-key and quick one, and rightfully so. Jim and Pam were always about the build-up, anyway. “Weight Loss” actually belongs to the show’s lesser-used ensemble, all trying to lose weight for a company-wide contest. Stanley does leg lifts. Kelly eats a tapeworm. Creed confirms that was not actually a tapeworm. Meanwhile, a briefly goateed Michael continues his awkward pursuit of Holly, romantically tearing her Counting Crows tickets in two.

41) Season 1, Episode 5: Basketball

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“Please don't throw garbage at me.”

This entry is kind of the proto-”Cafe Disco,” an early episode that doesn’t carry much dramatic weight but is still a whole hell of a lot of fun to hang out in. The bulk of “Basketball” is a pick-up game between the office’s dream team (including Stanley, “of course”) and the warehouse crew, losers work on Saturday. Come for Michael’s borderline offensive celebration dances but stay for the episode-ending shot of Kevin sinking four straight free throws without a camera cut, something that astounds me every time I see it.

40) Season 2, Episode 7: The Client

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“A gentleman does not kiss and tell. And neither do I.”

Jan Levinson (but not Gould) and Michael meet with an important potential client (played by all-time great guest star Tim Meadows) at a Chilis, which Small Business Magazine will eventually get around to calling the new golf course. After many margs and at least one Awesome Blossom, Michael actually manages to land the deal; thus begins the Michael and Jan relationship, a romance that eventually leads to disastrous dinner parties, near bankruptcy, and three (3) different vasectomies. Back at the office, Pam finds a copy of Michael’s original screenplay—titled Threat Level: Midnight—about secret agent Michael Scarn and his stupendously dumb assistant Samuel L. Chang (or Dwight, before a search and replace re-write).

39) Season 2, Episode 9: Email Surveillance

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“The problem is that when people hear the term "big brother", they immediately think it's scary or bad, but I don't. I think, wow, I love my big brother.”

After the company’s IT guy (not a terrorist) sets Michael up with access to his employees’ emails, he discovers Jim is throwing a party and didn’t send an e-vite his way. The scenes that see Michael ruining his improv class are both horrifying to watch and incredibly humanizing; pulling out a gun in every single scene isn’t going to gain you many friends, which isn’t Michael’s strong suit in the first place. The conclusion, in which Michael just shows up to Jim’s gathering without an invite, is one of those classic Michael Scott moments where you’re begging this guy to just stop, but also kind of want someone to hug him already. Or, in this case, hop on the karaoke mic and belt out some Bee Gees.

38) Season 1, Episode 3: Health Care

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“Uh, leprosy? Flesh-eating bacteria? Hot dog fingers. Government created killer nano robot infection.”

The first episode to really show off Rainn Wilson’s comedic presence as an absolutely vital part of this show. The conference room scene in which Wilson is just improvising fake diseases one after the other—bless that man forever for introducing the phrase “Count Choculitis” into my life—is one for the ages. We also get prime Season 1 Michael Scott buffoonery; after failing to find the “surprise” he promised his employees (something better than an ice cream sandwich or a slow descent into a coal mine, at least), the cast leaves the office silently, Carell’s always on-point stammering making the whole thing ten times more uncomfortable than it needs to be.

37) Season 7, Episode 17: Threat Level Midnight

The Office - Threat Level Midnight
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“It'll take a lot more than a bullet to the brain, lungs, heart, back and balls to kill Michael Scarn.”

The most gimmicky entry The Office ever produced also happens to be a whole hell of a lot of fun. “Threat Level Midnight” is essentially just a screening of Michael’s work-in-progress film, but the cast has the time of their careers with it. The plot is genuinely too much to sum up in so small a space (as all great, misunderstood art is), but just know that an NHL All-Star Game is in danger, Jim plays a dastardly villain with a golden face (named Goldenface), and Pam’s mom makes a scantily clad cameo. To the show’s credit, episode writer B.J. Novak manages to take what could have been an empty gag and turns it into a major personal turning point for Michael Scott. After an entire episode emphasizing how sensitive Michael is over his creation, the boss—with the help of Holly—comes to term with the fact that Threat Level: Midnight is kind of terrible...and that’s kind of okay.

36) Season 4, Episode 7-8: Money

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“At the end of my life, when I'm sitting on my yacht, am I gonna be thinking about how much money I have?”

It makes a lot of sense that the series directorial debut of Paul Lieberstein—you know him as Toby Flenderson, perpetually downtrodden HR manager—is one of The Office’s saddest episode. I mean, it’s still funny; to this day, I respond to most situations by screaming, “I declare bankruptcy!” But Michael’s gradual realization that his relationship with Jan is draining his bank account dry is as depressing as it is humorous, as is his night job at a telemarketing agency. Michael trying to hop on to a train to escape his responsibilities is maybe the hardest I’ve ever related to the character. Luckily, the grief is offset by Jim and Pam spending a night at Dwight’s rustic bed and breakfast. (Well, no, even that subplot sees Dwight wailing into the night over Angela. But an appearance by Mike Schur as Mose is always a delight.)

35) Season 2, Episode 13: The Secret

The Office - The Secret
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“People are always coming to me, ‘Michael, I have a secret. You’rer the only one I trust.’ No thanks.”

The Office’s first plot twist. The majority of the episode is dedicated to the secret Jim confided in Michael in “Booze Cruise”—his crush on Pam—that is no longer a secret because, you know, he confided in Michael. But despite a typically uncomfortable trip to Hooters, that plot thread turns out to be a bit of a moot point; Jim tells Pam before, like, Kevin can, and the situation is squashed amicably (I mean they totally get married and have a child, but that’s way later). It’s the story happening in the background that’s most interesting. Dwight, convinced Oscar is faking an illness, stakes out his co-worker’s house to discover, shockingly, that he was right the whole time. Oscar was, in fact, taking a vacation...with his boyfriend. A great move forward for The Office in terms of giving character development to someone not named Jim, Pam, Michael, or Dwight.

34) Season 2, Episode 2: Sexual Harassment

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“In the future, if I want to say something funny, or witty, or do an impression, I will no longer ever do any of those things."

“Sexual Harassment” loses a few points for following a very similar formula to Season 1's “Diversity Day.” Michael acts inappropriately—in this case, alongside David Koechner’s crude Todd Packer—corporate sends someone to interfere, and Michael decides to take things into his own hand. Hijinks, as they say, ensue. But this episode is still a classic for two reasons. One: Before they became TV’s most passive-aggressive lovers, Michael and Jan Levinson were pitch-perfect foils for each other, Jan’s stone-cold upper-business manner clashing with Michael’s ever-present need to be everyone’s friend at all times. And two: You are lying, lying, if you tell me you’ve never used a that’s what she said joke. Steve Carell didn’t invent it, but he did etch it into pop culture stone.

33) Season 2, Episode 5: Halloween

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“It's not a popularity contest. Although it does makes sense to fire the least popular because it has the least effect on morale.”

Michael acting two-faced—trying to be his employees’ buddy while also deciding who to fire—while he wears a costume that literally has two faces is some next-level symbolism, folks. “Halloween” makes great use of its calendar day with its costuming; Three-Hole Punch Jim has inspired many a lazy trick-or-treater, and “are you some sort of monk?” directed at Darth Dwight is a top shelf Phyllis moment. But the episode also made huge strides in the evolution of Michael Scott with a (until this point) uncharacteristically moving coda. After ten episodes of watching Michael bounce between oafish and borderline cruel, we see him alone in his home, still smarting from having to fire a “friend,” coming to life again at the opportunity to put smiles on a few costumed kids’ faces.

32) Season 5, Episode 19: Golden Ticket

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“I've got a golden-ticket idea. Why don't you skip on up to the roof and jump off?”

Michael’s Willy Wonka-inspired Golden Ticket promotion blows up in his face when Scranton’s biggest client finds all five ten-percent discount vouchers in the same shipment. Critics knock “Golden Ticket” a lot for what seems like a return to the Michael Scott of old, when he was closer to mean than endearing. But these criticisms seems to ignore that Michael spends one half the episode in a whimsical-ass top hat and bow tie, and the other hiding from his boss at made-up colonoscopies. “Golden Ticket” works because at no point does Michael look anything other than very, very stupid. Bonus: the subplot that centers around Kevin asking his friend Lynn on a date is the purest thing The Office has ever put on screen.

31) Season 3, Episode 8: The Merger

The Office - The Merger
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“I'll be the number two guy here in Scranton in six weeks. How? Name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.”

“The Merger” is the story of two worlds colliding in a hailstorm of paper and office supplies. The Scranton and Stanford branches converge. Jim and Pam are reunited, but wedged apart by the presence of Karen Filippelli. Andy Bernard and Dwight Schrute immediately form a heated rivalry, bonded only by their (totally professional) love for Michael. And anyone who is a halfway decent and normal person—like the overweight Tony Gardner, who Michael urges to stand on a table—quits immediately. It’s a testament to The Office, and to Steve Carell, that “Lazy Scranton” still feels funnier than it does dated.