#4

It somewhat hurts to admit that season two of The Office isn't the best season of The Office. Don't misconstrue my comments on this season. The second season of the office is an example of masterful television comedy production done in new and unique manner for American audiences. But, the second season holds a special place in my heart, because it's the first season that I ever owned on DVD, and I owned it for an extended period of time before I finally attained other seasons of The Office, so I've watched these episodes countless times. The second season was when The Office really became The Office. It found a unique tone that distinguished itself from the U.K. original, and although the first season implied multiple story arcs occurring in the confounds of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, the second season showed us that even the funniest of modern television comedies, and The Office IS the funniest of modern television comedies, can offer compelling storytelling and characters so real that we feel like we can touch them...if Kevin Malone doesn't touch them first. With this season, The Office began its rise to popularity, and shocked American audiences with just how colorful, creative, hilarious, and touching the seemingly bland American sitcom can be.

#3

For what was apparently a rushed season, with several episodes being discarded before it's airing and the final episode count arriving at 19 (14 if you count two-parters as singular stories), the fourth season of The Office is such an incredible season, distinguishing itself from other seasons in it's approach to storytelling. By season four, although The Office hadn't quite peaked in popularity, the show had still become popular enough for the writers to begin getting creative and intricate with the various story and character arcs rather than inserting too many standalone episodes that aren't consequential in the grand scheme of the show. Starting off strongly with the classic episode where Michael runs over Meridith with his car and finishing off strongly with the brief exit for Toby Flenderson in which multiple story arcs hit a standpoint (such as Angela's insincere engagement to Andy), the fourth season was an incredible season that was unpredictable and tight in its writing. We are also reminded of the writers' skill to write for hilarious but relatable and likeable people by transforming Andy from an irritating and manipulative jerk into an imperfect, likable addition to the cast.

#2

This was seriously a tough call for me to make. I mean, truthfully, although The Office is a modern classic, even the weaker episodes in later seasons were still thoroughly entertaining for me. The third season was somewhat of a conclusion to a trilogy of seasons that completed a story surrounding around Michael, Jim, Pam, and Dwight's attempts to find their identity and pursue their goals, and the writing is unbelievably tight, joke after joke in every episode being a side-splitter. It contained classic episodes such as "Gay Witch Hunt," during which Michael inadvertently outs Oscar as a homosexual (Office Facts: Michael's decision to kiss Oscar near the end was not scripted and completely improvised courtesy of Steve Carell), and the explosive episode in which Roy finally attacks Jim for influencing Pam to drift away from him, and Dwight proving himself as a competent and watchful protector by possibly saving Jim's life in the event, pepper spraying Roy to the ground. There isn't much more to say about the season. It's near perfect in every aspect of The Office that distinguishes it from the rest of American comedies, and it's uniformly solid in its production by finally providing for us fans exactly what we've wanted since the first season...which is ultimately why this season is in the second slot for me.

#1

And with the conclusion of this list, I place the fifth season as the best season of The Office. Whereas the third season was solid and uniform in its comedy brilliance, it was with the fifth season, during which The Office began to quickly escalate in popularity even more so than before, that the sitcom left other American sitcoms in the dust. It's solid. It's fast-paced. It's hilarious. But, it also ascended to a higher level that the third season couldn't achieve by carefully and decisively taking risks. In its storytelling, how many plot points might not have sounded appealing on paper? We witness Stanley's literal heart attack as the consequence of Dwight's careless fire safety drill, which could have proven to dark if not handled too quickly (I think Michael screaming that Obama was president and trying to shove a wallet in Stanley's mouth made up for the darkness of the event). We witness Michael Scott quit his position and no longer work as regional manager for multiple episodes, choosing to tell multiple stories simultaneously, which is a difficult task to tackle for the writers. Dwight, who was enduring some difficult times, somewhat returns to his old self yet decisively more hostile as a result of events in his life as evidenced in his refusal to feel sympathy or grief for indirectly causing Stanley's heart attack. Last, but not least, we see a roast of Michael Scott, who we love, by other characters we love just as much that causes him to break into tears. This season was The Office at its finest, basically shoving as much juicy goodness into one season as possible without packing it so tight that it begins to overflow.

Therefore, this is my personal eulogy to one of the best comedy television shows of all time. I watched Jim and Pam find true happiness in their romance. I watched Michael finally find the person he's been looking for all these years. I watched Dwight achieve his dream of becoming Regional Manager of Dunder-Mifflin while discovering the the true essence of love. So, I leave you with a quote from Andy Bernard with the final few minutes of the series finale.

"The weird thing is... Now, I'm exactly where I want to be. I've got my dream job at Cornell. And, I'm still just thinking about my old pals. Only, now, they're the ones I made, here. I wish there was a way to know you're in the good ole' days...Before you actually left them...Someone should write a song about that" - Andy Bernard