Michael was excited to know Dunder Mifflin bought television ad space in local markets, including Scranton. Michael wanted to create the perfect commercial. Only problem was Michael wasn't seeing eye to eye with guys who were going to be producing the commercial.
WAR
75.9
Wins Above Replacement
“Local Ad” ranks #82 of 183 The Office episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 88.5 — Elite. The episode packs 60 scored jokes at 3.0 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.2 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
Dwight: Dwight's Second Life confessional: 'Back then, my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one. In my second life, I was also a paper salesman and I was also named Dwight. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly.'
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Andy · Dwight: Andy re-enacting 'Oh, D! Oh, D!' with increasing enthusiasm while Dwight must sit silently
Andy Dwight Cringe/Discomfort Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Andy: Andy's Andy/Angela update: describes neck-on-neck nuzzling escalating to ear lobe kissing, Angela not kissing back but closing her eyes and saying 'Oh, D. Oh, D.'
Andy Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael's unicorn speech: 'When I was five, I imagined there was such a thing as a unicorn. And this was before I had even heard of one or seen one. I just drew a picture of a horse that could fly over rainbows and had a huge spike in its head. I was five, five years old. Couldn't even talk yet.'
Michael Character Comedy Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jim · Dwight: Jim: 'You playing that game again?' Dwight: 'Second Life is not a game. It is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn't have points or scores.' Jim: 'Oh, it has losers.'
Jim Dwight Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Standout Moments
Dwight: Dwight's Second Life confessional: 'Back then, my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one. In my second life, I was also a paper salesman and I was also named Dwight. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly.'
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Andy: Andy's Andy/Angela update: describes neck-on-neck nuzzling escalating to ear lobe kissing, Angela not kissing back but closing her eyes and saying 'Oh, D. Oh, D.'
Andy Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Andy · Dwight: Andy re-enacting 'Oh, D! Oh, D!' with increasing enthusiasm while Dwight must sit silently
Andy Dwight Cringe/Discomfort Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback All Jokes — 60 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Andy: Andy starts singing 'Break me off a piece of that...' and completely blanks on the Kit Kat jingle
Andy Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Andy: 'Break me off a piece of that... applesauce'
Andy Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Andy: 'Break me off a piece of that... Chrysler car'
Andy Callback Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Andy · Michael: 'Break me off a piece of that... football cream.' 'Okay. It's football cream.'
Andy Michael Callback Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Andy: Michael introduces Andy as 'Andrew Bernard, the Nard Dog' to the ad professionals
Andy: 'Who let the Nard dog out?' Andy says to the ad guys
Andy Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Callback Michael · Andy: Michael tells the ad guys Andy 'gives the best back rubs in the office' and Andy enthusiastically confirms
Andy: 'You just got Nard-dogged!'
Andy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael · Stanley: Michael calls Stanley 'key to our urban vibe' — Stanley looks at camera
Stanley: Stanley deadpans: 'Urban? I grew up in a small town. What about me seems urban to you?'
Stanley Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael says 'Phyllis is like our Mrs. Butterworth. Kind of a less urban Aunt Jemima.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael on the accountants: 'As you can see, they are very different sizes. What you might want to do is a Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear thing.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Pam: 'And frankly all of those sound better than paper, so I let it slide.'
Pam Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Jim · Dwight: Jim: 'You playing that game again?' Dwight: 'Second Life is not a game. It is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn't have points or scores.' Jim: 'Oh, it has losers.'
Jim Dwight Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael pitches a zooming-out commercial concept: girl in a field → desert → sandbox → world's largest resort → world's largest prison
Michael Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Ad Exec · Michael: Ad exec: 'I can tell that your time is valuable...' Michael: 'Actually I don't get paid by the hour anymore, but thank you. I get paid by the year.'
Michael · Ad Exec: The office watches the Nashua ad — Michael says 'That sucks' — then reveals 'That's what we came up with'
Michael · Ad Exec: Michael negotiates creative control to 'the waving' portion of the ad — '5 seconds of leeway'
Andy: Andy confessional: 'I've been making out with Angela lately. We've been necking. But only necking. Right? Not actually kissing our mouths. Just neck on neck. It's just like rubbing/nuzzling our necks together.'
Andy Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dwight: Dwight: 'We cannot talk about this because someone might hear us. We'll use code names. Angela can stay the same, but we'll change Andy to Dwight.'
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Andy · Dwight: Andy: 'That's not different enough.' Dwight: 'Dwike?'
Andy Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Dwight: Dwight's receptionist announces: 'You have a call from Eddie Murphy'
Dwight Character Comedy Absurdist Michael: Michael does an Eddie Murphy impression on the phone: 'Shrek. Shrek. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey, Shrek.' then immediately drops it: 'I'm just kidding. It's me. Hello, Ry.'
Michael Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Michael: Michael: 'Well, actually I can't cook and I am starting a restaurant. Mike's Cereal Shack. I'm thinking we'll have as many varieties as you can buy in the store.'
Michael Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael's unicorn speech: 'When I was five, I imagined there was such a thing as a unicorn. And this was before I had even heard of one or seen one. I just drew a picture of a horse that could fly over rainbows and had a huge spike in its head. I was five, five years old. Couldn't even talk yet.'
Michael Character Comedy Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Michael: 'How about never-hundred hours, sir?'
Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Michael · Ryan · David Wallace: Michael to David Wallace: 'Ryan is being a little bitch again.' Then realizes Ryan is on the call: 'I'm on, Michael.'
Michael: Michael immediately pivots: 'What's up, my brother?' to Ryan after being caught calling him a 'little bitch'
Michael Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Callback Michael: 'And thus Michael Scott sealed his own destiny.' [long pause] 'In a good way.'
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Michael: Michael's pep talk: 'You are so much more creative than all of the other dry, boring morons that you work with.' Camera pan to the room full of people he's talking to.
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Kevin: Kevin confessional: 'My nickname in high school used to be Kool-Aid Man.'
Kevin Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Ryan: Ryan confessional: 'When I was younger I always wanted to be an actor in commercials, then I realized I had a brain.'
Ryan Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Michael: Michael assigns 'costume design' to Oscar — 'obviously'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Phyllis · Michael: Phyllis suggests Sue Grafton (mystery novelist) is at the mall — Michael immediately wants to recruit her as a celebrity for the ad
Michael · Office: Michael: 'Is she hot?' Someone: 'She's crazy hot.' Michael: 'Well, then maybe we should just use Angela and say she's Sue Grafton. Would anyone notice?'
Angela: Angela: 'That's not happening. I find the mystery genre disgusting. I hate being titillated.'
Angela Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Darryl · Office: The Dunder Mifflin jingle: 'The people person's paper people' — Darryl's original song
Michael · Darryl: Michael: 'I was under the impression this was going to be a rap.' Darryl: 'What's rap?'
Michael: Michael: 'Okay Darryl, wow. You need to learn a lot about your own culture. I'll make you a mix.'
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Andy: 'News flash. I got some juicy updates on Operation F'allen Angel.' 'Remind me to tell you later.'
Andy Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Jim · Dwight: Jim shows the ad exec Dwight's Second Life, which contains a 'Second Second Life' for people who want to be removed even further from reality
Jim Dwight Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jim · Dwight: Jim's Second Life avatar: 'Philly Jim' — a sports writer with a guitar on his back, and Jim denying he spent much time on it
Jim Dwight Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Pam · Jim: Jim tries to change subject back to animation; Pam insists: 'No, no, no. I want to see more of Philly Jim.' / 'I want Philly Jim.'
Pam Jim Character Comedy Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael: 'I don't hate it. I just don't like it at all, and it's terrible.'
Michael Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Andy: Andy's Kit Kat guesses continue: 'lumber tar,' 'Snickers bar,' 'Grey Poupon'
Andy Running Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Phyllis · Michael: Phyllis returns from the mall: was thrown out of the Sue Grafton signing 'in front of all my friends' after refusing to take no for an answer
Michael · Phyllis: Michael: 'Did you or did you not get Sue Grafton?' — long pause — 'No.' — Michael: 'Oh, you're...' can somebody give her a tissue?'
Jim: Jim confessional: 'I hope you're not killing yourself on this, because I'm sure it's good enough for Michael's ad that will probably be seen by no one.'
Jim Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm Pam: Pam confessional: 'I worked until 2:45 a.m. ... drive home and probably fall asleep at the wheel and die in a fiery car wreck. I passed out on my keyboard trying to decide.'
Pam Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Creed: 'Piss or get off the pot!' — shouted during what appears to be an otherwise quiet/transitional moment
Creed Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jim · Pam · Creed: Creed steals Pam's hash browns — Jim reports it matter-of-factly: 'I'm sorry. I looked away for a second and Creed snatched your hash browns.'
Jim Pam Creed Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Dwight · Andy: Dwight: 'She called you D?' Andy: 'Yeah. D for Andy.' Dwight's reaction beat as he processes that 'D' likely means 'Dwight'
Dwight Andy Reaction Beat Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael anxiously waits for corporate to call about the ad — 'They could call any second now' — long silence, then 'I better call.'
Michael Character Comedy Awkward Silence Michael: 'The geniuses at corporate rejected my commercial, and tonight they are airing the brain-dead version. So welcome one and all to the world premiere of corporate crap fest.'
Michael Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jim · Michael: 'Hey, seemed like a big hit.' Michael: 'No. People are stupid. People like waving. Waving sells, not art.'
Michael · Pam: The Michael Scott 'Director's Cut' commercial ends with the tagline: 'Dunder Mifflin. Limitless paper in a paperless world.'
Michael Pam Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Michael · Pam: The Michael Scott commercial ends with the slogan: 'Dunder Mifflin. Limitless paper in a paperless world.'
Michael Pam Observational Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Top Episodes — The Office
