Michael celebrates Phyllis' wedding shower by bringing two adult performers into the office, a stripper and Ben Franklin. Meanwhile, Karen confronts Pam about her past history with Jim.
WAR
103.3
Wins Above Replacement
“Ben Franklin” ranks #32 of 183 The Office episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 91.6 — Elite. The episode packs 85 scored jokes at 4.7 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.1 on impact, with Michael landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Pam · Ben Franklin (actor): Didn't Ben Franklin have syphilis? / Yes, but I don't. My name is Gordon.
Pam: Something's up with Jim and Karen. Not that I've been eavesdropping. It's not really any of my business. But I've gotten pretty good at reading the back of Jim's neck.
Pam Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Karen · Pam: Karen confronts Pam: Jim told her about the kiss. / But you're not still interested in him? / Oh, yeah. / Really? / Oh, no! I was confused by your phrasing.
Karen Pam Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Michael · Elizabeth: Elizabeth, I want you to sit here. When the phone rings, answer it. / You want me to answer phones with my clothes on? / We hired you for three hours' work, and we're gonna get it.
Michael: Yes, but Ben Franklin was.
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Standout Moments
Pam: Something's up with Jim and Karen. Not that I've been eavesdropping. It's not really any of my business. But I've gotten pretty good at reading the back of Jim's neck.
Pam Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Karen · Pam: Karen confronts Pam: Jim told her about the kiss. / But you're not still interested in him? / Oh, yeah. / Really? / Oh, no! I was confused by your phrasing.
Karen Pam Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Pam · Ben Franklin (actor): Didn't Ben Franklin have syphilis? / Yes, but I don't. My name is Gordon.
All Jokes — 85 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Dwight: Hello, Son. If you're watching this, that means I'm already dead.
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael: How do you know it's gonna be a boy?
Michael Reaction Beat Character Comedy Dwight: Yesterday, I was scraping some gunk off my wall sockets with a metal fork and I gave myself the nastiest shock.
Dwight Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Dwight: And when I came to, I had an epiphery.
Dwight Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: ...to know the dealio. The dealio of life.
Dwight Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Dwight: To jump-start a car, first, pop the hood. Then you take these bad boys and clip them anywhere on the engine. Then, you take these and clip them wherever.
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist Dwight · Pam: Number eight, learn how to take off a woman's bra. We will demonstrate on Pam.
Dwight Pam Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: You just twist your hand until something breaks.
Dwight Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Michael · Dwight: What if he's a murderer? / He's not gonna be a murderer. / Maybe that's how you die?
Michael: So get your suits to the dry cleaners and get your hair did.
Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Michael: Karen, you might wanna invest in a dress or a skirt of some kind if you don't already have one.
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Michael: So I am instituting prima nocta.
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael: Prima nocta, I believe, from the movie Braveheart and confirmed on Wikipedia, is when the king got to deflower every new bride on her wedding night.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: So... I'm sorry, I had a very different understanding as to what prima nocta meant.
Michael Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: I'm trying to get everyone excited about Phyllis' wedding because I want her to get people excited about my wedding when the time comes... A lot better than hers, that's for sure. It'll probably be on a boat.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Michael: It is the only time that Bob was available. Sort of a guys' night out. A G.N.O. If you will. A gno.
Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Michael: Actually, it's more of a guys' afternoon in. A G.A.I. A gay. Not... Not... It's not gay. It's just a...
Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: It's a bridal shower for guys. A guy shower.
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Callback Michael: An hour-long shower with guys.
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Karen: Karen and I have had a little bit of a rough patch for the past couple weeks, but we had some really good talks and, actually now, I think that we're better than ever.
Karen Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jim: Karen and I had a long talk last night and the night before that and every night for the last five nights.
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Todd Packer: Halpert! Tall, queer, handsome as ever.
Todd Packer: Either this chick is a dude or Halpert got scared straight.
Todd Packer: And what kind of stripper did you get?
Michael: Michael's mumbled, embarrassed non-answer about strippers — 'Not personally, no.'
Michael Character Comedy Awkward Silence Todd Packer: Get one for the girls, too. That evens it out. Like, you know, separate but equal. So that's what that means.
Angela · Michael: Under no circumstance should a man strip off his clothes in this office. / Shut up, Angela!
Jim · Pam: The Jim-Pam sleep advice scene — Pam gives Jim banal advice about getting more sleep while both are clearly uncomfortable discussing his relationship problems
Jim Pam Cringe/Discomfort Awkward Silence ★ Rewatch Jim: Good advice, Beesly. Thanks.
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Ruddy cheeks, thick calves, no tats, no moles.
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dwight · Michael: No tats. / No, tats. Of course, I want... Stop. That's disgusting.
Michael · Dwight: What do you think, redhead or brunette? / Blonde. / Nice.
Dwight: He hasn't even said a word yet. Just giggling.
Dwight Reaction Beat Character Comedy Dwight: Okay, so they have Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin or SpongeBob SquarePants.
Dwight Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: Michael referred me to a male strip club called Banana Slings. Instead, I called the Scholastic Speakers of Pennsylvania.
Dwight Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Ben Franklin (actor) · Dwight: FRANKLIN: Hold the door, please! / You wearing a thong?
Ben Franklin (actor) · Michael: Sparkling cider is very good. / I think that's champagne.
Michael: Who, here, is a history buff? / I. / Who's a fan of buff naked?
Michael Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Michael · Ben Franklin (actor) · Office Woman: Half pants, right, Mr. Franklin? / Knickers, in fact. Yes. / He's in his knickers.
Michael · Ben Franklin (actor): Mr. Franklin, I would say you are probably one of the sexiest presidents ever. / Well, actually, I never was President.
Michael: Yes, but Ben Franklin was.
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: ...and the era of the Founding Fathers... And when they came over on the Mayflower.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Unknown Office Woman: Wait. This is the entertainment?
Michael: And Mr. Franklin. If any of these ladies misbehave, I give you permission to spank them, especially that one.
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Michael · Dwight: Have you ever seen a stripper before? / Yes. / Jennifer Garner portrayed one on Alias. It was one of her many aliases. / Yeah, me neither.
Michael · Elizabeth: Okay. I specifically ordered a stripper. / I'm the stripper. / Oh, okay. Good. Well, in the future, please identify yourself as such.
Dwight: "Is she hot?" Text back, "Kind of."
Dwight Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Ben Franklin (actor) · Office Woman: It was a warm June evening in 1752, the night of my fateful kite flight... / Mr. Franklin? Do you have a girlfriend? / I have a lovely wife, Deborah.
Office Woman · Ben Franklin (actor): But don't you also have girlfriends in Paris? Like, a lot of them? / Well, that is a gray area of my life.
Office Worker · Michael: Is it the same grill you grilled your foot on? / No. / Yes, but I got all the foot off of it.
Office Woman · Ben Franklin (actor): Ben Franklin tied a cherry stem in his mouth! / Well, that is because I am a Renaissance man.
Office Woman · Ben Franklin (actor): Ben Franklin? Do you wear boxers, briefs or pantaloons? / Well, you're very saucy.
Michael · Dwight · Jim: Guys! Beef, it's what's for dinner! / Who wants some man meat? / I do! I want some man meat! / Michael, Dwight would like your man meat.
Jim · Ben Franklin (actor): So I guess, you have the Ben Franklin wig and the costume and you figure, 'How can I put this to practical use?' / Well, I'd like to think that his dad was a Ben Franklin impersonator, and he really pressured him into it.
Pam · Karen: You should definitely go out with Jim. I mean, you're going out with Jim. I'm not going out with Jim. / You're dating him, which is awesome, because you guys are great together.
Pam Karen Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Karen · Pam: What are you sorry about? / Nothing. I was just thinking of something else.
Karen Pam Awkward Silence Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Ryan: I'm not really into strippers. You know what I find sexy? Pam's art. She's an artist and I appreciate that. It's very moving and sexy, the art.
Ryan Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Elizabeth · Michael: You smell nice, like Tide. Do you use Tide detergent? / I have a girlfriend, so...
Michael: This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong! / I have a girlfriend. I... And you are engaged and I'm sure you have a boyfriend in prison or something, so...
Michael Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Michael · Elizabeth: Elizabeth, I want you to sit here. When the phone rings, answer it. / You want me to answer phones with my clothes on? / We hired you for three hours' work, and we're gonna get it.
Elizabeth · Pam: I love your poster. / Thank you.
Elizabeth · Pam: I love your poster. Thank you.
Ben Franklin (actor) · Pam: You know, I invented electricity. / I know. / Well, I'm sensing a little electricity right here.
Michael: On one hand, I want to be honest with Jan and tell her the truth. On the other hand, I'm afraid she's gonna dump me.
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Ben Franklin (actor): You know, Michael, I fathered an illegitimate son. But I kept all this from my wife, Deborah. These things only serve to upset the women. They are the gentler sex.
Michael: Wow. Ben Franklin, you're really kind of a sleazebag.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Michael · Elizabeth: Should I tell my girlfriend that you danced up on me? / 'Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone.'
Elizabeth: 'Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone.'
Elizabeth Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jim · Ben Franklin (actor): Care for a piece of chocolate? / Chocolate? Where did you acquire it? That is a delicacy in the Amazon, but it has not yet been imported to the United States.
Jim · Ben Franklin (actor): Who is the king of Austria? / Joseph II. / Who is the king of Prussia? / Friedrich Wilhelm III. / Who is the king of England? / Why, the tyrant, King George, of course!
Dwight: I don't care what Jim says. That is not the real Ben Franklin. I am 99% sure.
Dwight Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Michael · Jan: Michael tells Jan about the stripper at work — Jan's reaction: 'You went to a bachelor party at work? / Yes, I kind of arranged it.'
Michael: I don't even think the stripper was that hot. Did you guys think she was hot?
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Jim · Kelly: Kelly, don't do this. / Do what? I just asked you a question.
Kelly: You know who was totally flirting with Ben Franklin? Pam.
Kelly Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Pam: God, I need a boyfriend.
Pam Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Pam · Ryan: You know, Ryan, I'm totally ready to be set up with one of your business school friends. Whenever. / RYAN: Okay.
Pam Ryan Character Comedy Reaction Beat Elizabeth · Pam: Oh, my God, I would get so fat if I worked here. / Yeah? I lose my appetite all the time.
Elizabeth · Pam: You could strip, you know. / Thanks.
Michael · Jan: So you don't want to end our relationship? / I'm closer to firing you. / That is so sweet. You are the best GD girlfriend in the world. Do you know that?
Michael: So you know who turned out to be kind of a creep? Ben Franklin. And, Elizabeth, the stripper, gave me great advice which rhymed.
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Office Woman · Ben Franklin (actor): Are you near-sighted or far-sighted? / Both. That's why I invented the bifocals. / (EXCLAIMS)
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