Several months ago I finally began binging the American version of The Office on Netflix. I'm probably one of the only tv fans who had only seen a handful of episodes of the popular workplace sitcom, which ran for 9 seasons from 2005-2013. I'm currently about midway through season 6. Michael is dating Pam's mom, Pam is pregnant, and Michael and Jim are co-managing the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin. I thought that it would be a good time to rank the show's many supporting characters. It seems that fans have varying opinions about which characters they love and which they are indifferent to. for the purposes of my list, I'm excluding main characters whose names appear in the show's opening credits: Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, and Ryan (who probably would have been near the bottom of my list...). So, here we go.
17. Andy: His antics and dorkiness, although similar to those of Michael, to me make him more creepy and annoying than lovable. His relationship with Angela didn't make much sense to me either. I'm a little confused why the show felt the need to add a less-likable version of Michael in season 3.
16. David Wallace: As Michael's boss who works at Corporate in New York City, David is good at looking bewildered by Michael's antics...but that's about it. Also, the show never convincingly explains why David never fires Michael despite multiple antics that threaten the company's well-being.
15. Charles Miner: Yes, Idris Elba is cool. But this was a nothing character who briefly ran the Scranton branch while Michael, Pam, and Ryan went off to start the short-lived Michael Scott Paper Company. Although it was kind of funny how Angela and Kelly fought for his affection.
14. Karen: She's mostly there as a foil to Jim and Pam being together. She's only a regular for about a season, and the show never takes much time to flesh out her character before she inevitably has to go. Wisely, the producers decided against their original plan to build a spinoff around Karen, since Rashida Jones's character on Parks and Recreation turned out to be much more interesting.
13. Erin: As the receptionist who takes over for Pam once she goes into sales, Erin is sunny and pleasant but mostly kid of boring. I did like her with Andy though.
11. Jan: As Michael's original boss and eventual love interest, Jan starts off as being a tough corporate bitch but turns into a complete nutjob who is even crazier than Michael. Still, she has some very funny moments, particularly in the dinner party episode.
10. Hannah: It's a shame that Hannah only lasted for a couple episodes. Because, as one of the transplants from the Stamford, CT branch, Hannah is absolutely hilarious in her few appearances. She uses a breast pump in the office and gets mad when Pam mistakes her son for a girl.
9. Oscar: As the show's only gay character, Oscar is actually my favorite "straight man" (sane, relatively normal character) on the show. He puts up with a lot of teasing from Michael and actually takes advantage of his politically incorrect boss by taking freebies from the company in lieu of suing it. The episode where Oscar's sexuality is revealed is probably the most politically incorrect but hilarious things that I've ever seen on network television.
8. Holly: As the short-lived replacement to Toby as the Scranton branch's HR rep and Michael's love interest, Holly seems normal. In actuality though, she's totally weird but adorable, a perfect match for Michael. She has several standout moments with Michael, such as their beat-boxing riff and their awkward sketch at the company picnic.
7. Kevin: Kevin is just adorable, like a wide-eyed kid in a candy store and without a mean bone in his body. Dwight memorably tricks Holly into believing that Kevin is mentally challenged. Kevin's brief relationship with the socially awkward Lynn is also one of the show's sweetest couplings.
6. Phyllis: She's one of the "normal" characters early on, but later on she gets some of her own quirks, like when she blackmails Angela into taking control of the party planning committee, or when she and husband Bob Vance have sex in a restaurant bathroom, leaving double date partners Jim and Pam to wonder where they went. She's one of the sweetest and most likable characters on the show.
5. Meredith: As the office's resident alcoholic and promiscuous grouch, the show wisely uses Meredith sparingly. But whenever she appears, she has some great one-liners and sight gags, mostly memorably when she reveals a bit too much during the office's casual Friday, or when Michael hits her with his car in the parking lot.
4. Kelly: Yes, her character is one-note (a pop-culture obsessed dimwit who is obsessed with a man who treats her like garbage), but Mindy Kaling breathes so much life into this role that I always want more of her onscreen. It's no wonder that she left the show before the end to start her own sitcom, The Mindy Project.
3. Creed: Like Meredith, Creed doesn't get a whole lot of screen time, but his creepy and secretive criminal old man character is hilarious. His conference room confessional scenes, where he drops details of his weird and criminal behavior, are the best of any character.
2. Stanley: Stanley, always annoyed by Michael, has some of the best facial expressions on the show. He's one of the few characters to call Michael out on his bullshit, although Michael usually just ignores him.
1. Toby: I've had an ongoing debate with a friend about whether Toby is a good character; in fact I think he's the absolute best supporting character. One of the best running gags of the show is how Michael absolutely hates Toby just for doing his job as an HR rep. He's awkward and lovelorn, with an requited crush on Pam. But the best part of Toby is just his overall look of constant exhaustion and absolute misery, in his job dealing with the absolute HR disaster that is the Scranton branch.
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