Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
20 years ago a new TV show hit the air and it was called “The Office.” The show was a mockumentary of a paper company branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania called Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The show followed a series of characters including Regional Manager Michael Scott, Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Shrute, The love story of Jim and Pam, and the never ending prank war between Jim and Dwight. In honor of 20 years of comedy these are some of the most memorable pranks from The Office.
Stapler in the Jello prank: Starting off the list is the timeless stapler in the jello prank. In season 1, the prank war between Jim and Dwight starts off with Jim stealing Dwight’s stapler and encasing it in yellow jello. Dwight was not amused by the antics but Jim and the audience were. Dwight shouts for Michael to get justice for his stapler in the jello but Micheal lets a little chuckle slip at the prank. There is a callback to the prank but instead of being encased in jello, the stapler is encased in a meatball.
“Identity theft is not a joke Jim!”: Another Jim prank where he found a pair of glasses at a drugstore that happened to look exactly like Dwight’s which inspired him to create the rest of Dwight’s signature work outfit. Jim confirmed in a confessional that the prank cost him $11. He even had a briefcase and when he arrived at work wearing his Dwight costume he made sure to sell the joke by saying “Fact: bears eat beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.” and Dwight reacted first by being flattered but he ended up shouting “Identity theft is not a joke Jim! Millions suffer from it every year!”
Jim’s new fear of snowmen: In the later season Jim throws a snowball at Dwight telling him it can’t be a snowball because it’s only a dusting because Dwight called the first snow a dusting. Dwight gets his ultimate revenge by challenging Jim to a snowball fight and at the end of the day as Jim and Pam head out to their car he sees a parking lot full of snowmen that Dwight built. Dwight watches with glee from the roof of the building as Jim beats a snowman senseless with his umbrella because he’s scared Dwight is going to pop out of one of them to get revenge.
The Holy Grail: One of Jim’s most elaborate pranks in the show. After Jim’s move to Philadelphia to work at a sports company Pam calls him telling him about a note Dwight found written in invisible ink and how Dwight is following the clues. It takes Jim a minute to remember why Dwight found the letter and then the realization dawns on him that he set up The Holy Grail prank years prior. In the end the box the chalice should have been in was empty because the warehouse employees had found it and were using it for coffee to dip their donuts in. Jim was so dedicated to the prank he stayed late at work for an entire month to set it up.
The Complaints: Dwight and Jim struggle to work together so Michael Scott pulls them into the conference room and pulls out a stack of complaints Dwight has made against Jim. Each of the complaints was a different prank including Jim adding coins into Dwight’s handset and then removing them so he’d hit his head with it and then changing Dwight’s name in his computer to say Diapers.
Dwight’s Wedding Day: The nicest prank Jim played against Dwight happened at the end of the series when Dwight married Angela. Jim told Dwight that the minister said that the best man is usually older than the groom and Jim can’t be his best man since he is younger than Dwight. Dwight is obviously unhappy but he didn’t know that Jim had gotten Michael Scott to sub in for him. When Dwight sees Michael he says “You came.” Michael responds with his signature line “That’s what she said.” Jim says himself “Best prank ever.”
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