Jim felt awkward at the morning meeting when his boss put him charge of managing Karen and her responsibilities. The other co-workers looked at Jim as a kiss ass. Later on, he flirted with Karen in the break room and told her she shouldn't work until she found her favorite snack chips.
WAR
65.7
Wins Above Replacement
“Grief Counseling” ranks #132 of 183 The Office episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 85.5 — Elite. The episode packs 60 scored jokes at 3.0 per minute, averaging 7.2 on craft and 7.0 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
Michael: Michael's grief ball speech: 'It feels like somebody took my heart and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears. And at the same time, somebody else is hitting my soul in the crotch with a frozen sledgehammer. And then a third guy walks in and starts punching me in the grief bone.'
Michael Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight confessional: 'When I die, I want to be frozen. And if they have to freeze me in pieces, so be it. I will wake up stronger than ever, because I will have used that time to figure out exactly why I died, and what moves I could have used to defend myself better now that I know what hold he had me in.'
Dwight Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Creed: Creed's confessional: 'When I was five, my mom told me that my fish went to the hospital in the toilet. And it never came back. So we had a funeral for it. And I remember thinking, "I'm a little too old for this." And I was five.'
Creed Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Phyllis: Phyllis's confessional about re-absorbing her twin in utero: 'Do I regret this? No. I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby.'
Phyllis Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight: 'I grew up on a farm. We slaughtered a pig whenever we wanted bacon. My grandfather was re-buried in an old oil drum.'
Dwight Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Standout Moments
Dwight: Dwight confessional: 'When I die, I want to be frozen. And if they have to freeze me in pieces, so be it. I will wake up stronger than ever, because I will have used that time to figure out exactly why I died, and what moves I could have used to defend myself better now that I know what hold he had me in.'
Dwight Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael's grief ball speech: 'It feels like somebody took my heart and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears. And at the same time, somebody else is hitting my soul in the crotch with a frozen sledgehammer. And then a third guy walks in and starts punching me in the grief bone.'
Michael Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Creed: Creed's confessional: 'When I was five, my mom told me that my fish went to the hospital in the toilet. And it never came back. So we had a funeral for it. And I remember thinking, "I'm a little too old for this." And I was five.'
Creed Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 60 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Michael · Ryan: Michael eagerly volunteers to go to the warehouse to get Ryan a pencil — an absurdly menial errand for a regional manager — just to use the rope swing/zip line
Michael · Dwight · Office Staff: The entire office catches on and starts sending Michael on increasingly trivial warehouse errands just to hear him go 'Whoo!' on the zip line
Michael: Michael confessional: 'I am like Bette Midler in For the Boys. Gotta keep the troops entertained.'
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist Callback Michael · Jan: Michael asks Jan 'does somebody miss me?' in response to a call informing him his former boss died
Michael: Michael announces Ed's death to the office, then adds 'I'll be in my office. In case anybody wants to drop by. Cheer me up.'
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Michael · Dwight: Dwight to Michael: 'Is there anything I can do?' Michael: 'Oh, gosh, what can anybody do, really? Just...psh. He was almost 70. Circle of life.'
Jim · Dwight: Jim asks 'So did you hear the news?' — Dwight replies 'The news that you just announced? That Ed died?'
Jim Dwight Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Josh · Karen · Jim · Stamford Office: The Stamford office scene where someone off-screen shouts 'Suck up!' at Karen for answering Josh's question, then Josh proceeds as if nothing happened
Andy · Karen: Andy declares that Karen's snack food preferences fall 'under the umbrella of his authority' as project supervisor and that work stops until she gets the chips she requires
Creed · Michael: Creed reveals Ed Truck was decapitated — drunk, slid under an 18-wheeler, 'Pop, it snaps right off' — and declares it 'the way to go. Instant death. Very smart.'
Dwight · Michael: Dwight corrects Michael's claim that 'a human can go on living for several hours after being decapitated': 'You're thinking of a chicken.'
Michael: Michael's absurdly fumbling attempt to relay the decapitation news to the office: 'He was driving on the road. And he went under a truck. And that's when his h-h-head was... separated from... the rest of him.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Callback Michael · Pam: Michael to Pam: 'If my head ever comes off, I would like you to put it on ice.' Pam: 'I do not want to talk about this.'
Michael · Jan: Michael argues for a day off, then reverses himself: 'You don't understand these people. That is the last thing that they would want is a day off.'
Michael · Dwight · Jan: Michael and Dwight's escalating robot-memorial plan: a life-sized robot of Ed with light-up eyes and moving arms. Michael: 'Better make it 2/3. Easier to stop if it turns on us.'
Michael · Jan: Jan ends the call; Michael shouts 'You know who wished they could get back to work is Ed Truck! But Ed Truck can't because he is—' Jan hangs up mid-sentence: '—dead!'
Michael · Jan: Michael to Jan: 'You know who wished they could get back to work is Ed Truck! But Ed Truck can't because he is— [Jan hangs up] —dead!'
Dwight · Jim: Dwight, having apparently been given a leash/extension cord restriction: 'Look, I gave him a six-foot extension cord, so he can't chase us.'
Andy · Karen: Andy insists Karen is 'not a quitter' when she tries to end the chip quest; Karen: 'I am not a quitter. I will do this all day, if you want.' Andy: 'Really?' Karen: 'Yeah, all day.'
Andy Karen Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Callback Jim · Andy · Karen: Jim's deadpan recap to the third party joining: 'We went right for the copier. Mm-hmm. And then we checked the fax machine. Yeah, nothing there.'
Unknown Stamford Employee: 'Did you check your butt?'
Michael: Michael graphically describes the decapitation splatter: 'If it happened right here, it would reach all the way to reception. Probably get on Pam.'
Michael Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Callback Stanley · Michael: Stanley: 'You have just spit on my face.' Followed by Michael explaining there's 'something wrong with everybody in here' for not grieving
Michael: Michael confessional: 'If I can get them depressed, then I'll have done my job.'
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Roy · Pam · Jim: Roy interrupts the grief counseling session to tell Pam something is wrong with her car radiator — revealed to Jim as a fabrication to rescue her
Roy · Pam: Roy to Pam about her new (small) car: 'It sure is small.' Then: 'Got air bags?' Pam: 'I think so. I don't know, I was mainly focused on the cup holders.'
Roy Pam Character Comedy Observational Andy · Jim: The chip-quest phone call to 'West Side Market': Andy pretending to be 'Mike from the store,' then asking Jim what his store number is. Jim whispers: 'Six.' Andy: 'Six? — no. I'll call you back.' Then to Jim: 'Shut up. Six?'
Andy Jim Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Callback Michael · Pam: Michael waited the entire grief session for Pam to return from her car errand: 'Pam, you're a member of this family. So we will wait for our family members.'
Phyllis: Phyllis's confessional about re-absorbing her twin in utero: 'Do I regret this? No. I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby.'
Phyllis Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael · Stanley · Pam: Michael trying to force Stanley to participate in the grief ball; Michael theatrically tosses the ball to Pam instead after Stanley refuses
Pam: Pam's fake grief story: her 'aunt,' a 'female boxer,' was paralyzed in a fight and asked her manager to remove her breathing tube — this is Million Dollar Baby
Pam Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Kevin: Kevin's grief story: his 'cousin Mufasa' was 'trampled to death by a pack of wildebeests' — The Lion King
Kevin Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Kevin: Kevin's Mufasa story: 'All of us kind of in the audience... of what happened.'
Kevin Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Kevin · Michael: Kevin's Mufasa follow-up: Michael asks if he wants to talk more. Kevin: 'It would probably take me, like, an hour and a half to tell that whole story.'
Kevin Michael Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Oscar · Michael: Oscar catches the ball: 'I was trying to throw this party once. And everyone was over for the weekend. And then my Uncle Bernie died. And so me and my best friend, we had to pretend like he was alive.' Michael: 'Wait a second. That's Weekend at Bernie's.'
Oscar · Michael: Oscar's response when caught: 'Do you think that this is a game?' Michael: 'Well, there is a ball.'
Michael: Michael: 'You are not leaving! No, we are not done!' — as employees try to flee the grief session, revealed to be genuinely emotional: 'The guy who had my job has died. And nobody cares.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Toby · Michael: Toby offers comfort: 'Just this morning, I saw a little bird fly into the glass doors downstairs and die.' Michael: 'How do you know? Was its heart beating? You're not a veterinarian. You don't know anything!'
Michael · Dwight: Michael retrieves the dead bird from outside and holds it against his face; Dwight: 'Get him away from your head! He is covered in germs and bacteria!' Michael: 'You can't get diseases from a bird!'
Michael: Michael announces a 4pm parking lot funeral for the bird, having named Toby as the killer: 'Toby killed this bird. And now we are going to honor it.'
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist Callback Michael · Meredith: Meredith: 'I have a lot of work to do.' Michael: 'I'm sorry to inconvenience you, Meredith. But that is what you do when things die. You honor them.'
Andy · Jim: Andy's French phone call to a Montreal supermarket: 'Bonjour, je cherche de chips de la marque Herr's. Non? Oh, merci comme même. Au revoir.' Jim: 'Sounded good.'
Andy Jim Character Comedy Escalation Callback Angela: Angela at her desk on phone: 'I mean, how many times do I have to confirm plans with Ryan for him to know that we have a date tonight?'
Angela Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Dwight: Dwight attempts to stuff the dead bird into a comically wrong-sized container — apparently something much too large — then defends it: 'It would've fit if he had given me another minute.'
Dwight Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight: 'I grew up on a farm. We slaughtered a pig whenever we wanted bacon. My grandfather was re-buried in an old oil drum.'
Dwight Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Pam · Michael: Michael asks if someone will play a song at the funeral; the person (Pam?) reveals she plays recorder. Michael: 'Do you have it with you?' Person: 'Always.'
Unknown — likely Pam: Talking-head confessional: 'Did I wake up this morning thinking I'd be throwing together a bird funeral? You never can tell what your day here is gonna turn into.'
Jim: Jim's chip-quest resolution confessional: 'I called the manufacturer, who referred me to the distributor, who referred me to the vending machine company, who told me that they sell them in the machines in the building next door.'
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Escalation Callback Dwight · Michael: Dwight has built a tiny, handcrafted wooden bird coffin. Michael: 'You made this?' Dwight: [nods]. Michael: 'That's... that's very nice.'
Michael: Michael's funeral eulogy: speculating the bird was 'that same bird that surprised Oscar that one morning with a special present from above'
Michael Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Michael · Dwight: Michael eulogizes the bird: 'I don't think he was being stupid. I think he just... really, really wanted to come inside our building to spread his cheer and lift our spirits with a song.' Dwight: 'It's not a songbird.' Michael: 'Shh. An impression, then.'
Michael: Michael's funeral conclusion: 'Lastly, we can't help but notice that he was by himself when he died. But of course, we all know that doesn't mean he was alone.'
Michael Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Pam: Pam plays a recorder at the bird's funeral — the sound of a recorder played by an adult at a parking lot bird funeral
Pam Visual Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael confessional closing: 'Society teaches us that having feelings and crying is bad and wrong. Well, that's baloney, because grief isn't wrong. There is such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown.'
Michael Character Comedy Misdirection Michael: Michael's talking head: 'Society teaches us that having feelings and crying is bad and wrong. Well, that's baloney, because grief isn't wrong. There is such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown.'
Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael's final line: 'Let's get back to work.' — immediately after the emotional funeral — followed by the crew breaking down the scene
Michael Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm Callback Michael: Michael: 'Guys, get a broom. Let's clean this up. Grab a broom. You heard me. Mush.'
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Top Episodes — The Office
