That’s What She Said: A farewell tribute to Michael Scott

On Thursday, Steve Carell appears in his final episode of NBC’s The Office as his character, Michael Scott, leaves Scranton for Colorado and a new life with fiancee Holly. The special extended episode “Goodbye Michael” airs at 9pm ET. We’ve come to love Michael Scotch Scott over seven seasons of the show (OK, the last two seasons were kind of iffy), and our office’s Office fans compiled our favorite Michael moments. We’ve even reunited our old Office blogging team of Ryan, Mike and johnnysweeptheleg (the renowned @BtotheD), who recapped episodes on this blog for a few seasons.

Andrea Verschage (Product Manager)
I think my favorite is the diversity training one, where he makes everyone wear the cards on their heads with the different nationalities, and he pretends to be an Indian in a convenience store & starts asking Kelly if she wants some delicious gooky-gooky, and she slaps him. That, or, “I declare … BANKRUPTCY!”

David Lange (TV Listings Manager)
I enjoyed it when he accidentally cross dressed.  He bought a suit that fit him perfectly.  Little did he know it was a woman’s suit. When he proposed to Holly, he reminisced about telling her that he had herpes. Then they found out that it was a pimple, or something. I also enjoyed it when Michael declared bankruptcy.

Stacey Harrison (Staff Writer)
We probably have to devote an entry to a general appreciation for “That’s what she said.” My personal favorite instance was when some higher-up corporate types were around, and Michael had been warned not to say “that’s what she said,” but Jim kept baiting him with lines like, “Are you sure you can go all night?” and “You’ve always left me satisfied.” In the end, Michael just can’t resist. I also loved his trip to New York, when he said he thought the Empire State Building was too “touristy,” so he preferred to go where the real New Yorkers hang out: Times Square. Then he ran off to get a “real New York slice” of pizza at Sbarro.

Meredith Ennis (Managing Editor)
“Diversity Day”
Michael showing up for Pam’s art show
Michael hitting Meredith with his car … and trying to explain it to the staff …

Candice Sullivan (Graphic Artist)
When he fell in the fountain!

Athena Voulgaropoulos (TV Listings Rep)
I don’t much like when people are awkward on TV, so I kind of like Michael’s hero moments of insight and compassion:

  • When Michael follows the GPS’ directions into a lake.
  • When Michael reclaims Dwight from Office Max. (Season 3, “The Return”)
  • When Michael goes to Pam’s art show and buys the picture of the office building. (Season 3, “Business School”)
  • Beach Games (Season 3)
  • When Michael gets back together with Jan after seeing her new breasts. (Season 3, “The Job”)
  • When Michael hits Meredith with his car. (Season 4, “Fun Run”)
  • Survivor Man (Season 4)
  • When Michael confronts David Williams during the “Michael Scott Paper Company” buyout. (Season 5, “Broke”) “Our company is worth nothing. That’s the difference between you and I. Business isn’t about money to me, David. If tomorrow my company goes under I will just start another paper company. And then another and another and another. I have no shortage of company names.”
  • When Michael tries to get a look at Pam giving birth and nearly gags. (Season 6, “The Delivery”)
  • When Michael proposes to Holly. (Season 7, “Garage Sale”)

Jill Klitz (Copy Chief)
Oh, it’s hard to pick one. The first one to come to mind was Michael buying Pam’s drawing of the office (and then revealing that the bulge in his pocket was a Chunky … “Do you want half?”). My favorite Michael Scott quote: “I have an amazing mnemonic device by which I have now memorized all of your names — Shirty, Mole, Lazy Eye, Mexico, Baldy, Sugar Boobs, Black Woman.”

Ryan Berenz (Sports Editor, Office blogger)
In “The Injury” from Season 2, Michael burned his foot on his George Foreman grill. How, you ask? Michael explains thusly: “I enjoy having breakfast in bed. I like waking up to the smell of bacon, sue me. And since I don’t have a butler, I have to do it myself. So, most nights before I go to bed, I will lay six strips of bacon out on my George Foreman grill. Then I go to sleep. When I wake up, I plug in the grill. I go back to sleep again. Then I wake up to the smell of crackling bacon. It is delicious, it’s good for me, it’s the perfect way to start the day. Today, I got up, I stepped onto the grill and it clamped down on my foot. That’s it. I don’t see what’s so hard to believe about that.”

Mike Frey (former staff writer, Office blogger emeritus)
From the episode “Dunder Mifflin Infinity” in Season 4: On a trip to distribute “the essence of class and fanciness” (a.k.a. gift baskets) to former clients, Michael Scott illustrates the potential dangers of allowing machines to replace humans in a way that only he can — by driving his car into a lake because his GPS told him to. Upon returning to the office, he insists that the Scranton branch will not be using any new technology ever, because “computers are about trying to murder you in a lake.” That may be true, but you can’t look at porn on a gift basket … unless, of course, it’s a gift basket of porn.

johnnysweeptheleg (maker of bad puns, Office blogger emeritus)
From Season 2, Episode 11 – also known as “The Booze Cruise.” This episode perfectly sums up everything that made us love Michael Scott as much as cringe. We watch Michael’s interpretive/motivational dance competition followed by sea sickness one moment, which makes us want to find the nearest iceberg to steer into, only for him to win us back over with his surprising, frank, and dead-on advice to Jim when he says, “BFD. Engaged ain’t married. Never ever ever give up.”

Photo: © NBC Universal, Inc. Credit: Paul Drinkwater

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About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.