There are plenty of brilliant episodes of The Office, from “The Injury” to “Stress Relief,” but the one that is considered by most fans to be the very best is season 4’s “Dinner Party.” The storyline involving Michael and Jan’s toxic relationship came to a head when they invited Jim, Pam, Andy, and Angela over for dinner.

Some fans can’t bear to watch the cringier moments of the show, and skip episodes like “Scott’s Tots” and “Phyllis’ Wedding” on rewatches. But for other fans, the cringe humor is the best thing about the series. So, here are the 10 cringiest moments in “Dinner Party.”

10 Jan Holds Jim’s Hand While She’s Dancing

The first of many times that Jan plays her old assistant Hunter’s demo single “That One Night,” the lyrics of which strongly suggest that the two had a sexual encounter while they were working together, she dances around the living room of Michael’s condo and awk[tldr_position]wardly takes Jim by the hand.

Apparently, this moment was improvised by Melora Hardin on the spot. You can see that John Krasinski is struggling to keep it together.

9 Michael’s $200 Plasma-Screen TV

At the end of the condo tour, Michael tells Jim and Pam that he finally broke down and bought himself a plasma-screen TV. Then, he shows it to them, and it’s tiny. The pride that Michael takes in his little TV is hysterical.

The icing on the cake is when he demonstrates that he can push his TV into the wall (with virtually no difference) if there are a lot of people in the room.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

8 The Video Camera In Michael And Jan’s Bedroom

The first order of business when Jim and Pam arrive at Michael’s condo for the party is the tour. When the tour reaches the bedroom, Jan is horrified to discover that Michael didn’t tidy up like she asked him to.

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There’s a video camera on a tripod set up in front of the bed. Jan promptly shoves it down the side of the bed, but Jim and Pam have already seen it.

7 “Snip, Snap, Snip, Snap, Snip, Snap!”

Steve Carell ad-libbed this line. Michael is having an argument with Jan in the doorway, debating whether or not to let Dwight and his old babysitter join the party, and he starts listing off examples of when Jan got her way.

When Michael wanted kids, but Jan didn’t, Michael got a vasectomy. Then, when she changed her mind, he had the vasectomy reversed. Then, when she changed her mind again, he had it reversed yet again. “Snip, snap, snip, snap, snip, snap!”

6 Jan Thinks Pam Used To Date Michael

When Jan takes Pam and Angela into the kitchen and she makes a sly reference to Pam’s relationship with Michael, it dawns on Pam that, for whatever reason, Jan thinks she used to date him. Pam insists that she’s never dated or wanted to date Michael, but Jan clearly doesn’t believe a word of it.

5 Dwight’s “Purely Carnal” Relationship With His Ex-Babysitter

Initially, Jan won’t let Michael invite Dwight to the dinner party because he’s not a part of a couple, but when he shows up with his old babysitter, Jan has to let him in. At the dinner table, Dwight makes the wildly inappropriate announcement that his relationship with his ex-babysitter is “purely carnal.”

4 Michael Asks Jim And Andy To Invest In Jan’s Candle Business

In “Dinner Party,” we learn that since being fired from Dunder Mifflin, Jan has started her own candle business. She keeps her workspace separate from her office, so she’s taking up two rooms in Michael’s condo for non-existent business.

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When Jan takes Pam and Angela into the kitchen, Michael takes Jim and Andy into the garage and asks them to invest in Jan’s candle business — which Jim can see right through.

3 “Thanks, That’s My Bed.”

During the tour of Michael’s condo when Jim and Pam first arrive for the dinner party, Pam mentions that the bench in the bedroom is nice. Michael instantly says, “Thanks, that’s my bed.”

Jim and Pam are taken aback by the revelation that Jan takes the whole bed and forces Michael to sleep on the tiny bench at the foot Michael insists that the bench is big enough and curls up on it to prove it, but he has to bend his knees to fit.

2 Michael’s Soft Teeth

By the time Michael and Jan actually serve dinner to their guests and sit down to eat, they’re on the brink of a full-blown argument. In particular, Jan is very passive-aggressive toward Michael.

When she tells Michael to stop dipping his meat in his glass of wine, a gravely offended Michael says, “You know I have soft teeth. How could you say that?” With venom in her eyes, Jan says, “Whoops.”

1 Jan Throws A Dundie At Michael’s TV

In the middle of the titular meal in “Dinner Party,” Michael and Jan’s passive-aggressive barbing erupts into a screaming match when Jan starts playing Hunter’s song for the umpteenth time.

After Michael insults Hunter’s talent, Jan grabs a Dundie Award off the shelf and launches it at Michael’s TV, smashing the plasma screen. Horrified to see the damage, Michael yells out, “That is a $200 TV you’ve just killed!”

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Ben Sherlock
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Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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