Mental Floss

Watch This Supercut of the Cold Opens From ’The Office’ Season Finales

By Michele Debczak|
Because sometimes we'll start a cold open and don’t even know where it’s going—but supercuts like this help us along the way.
Because sometimes we'll start a cold open and don’t even know where it’s going—but supercuts like this help us along the way. | NBC

Many episodes of The Office succeed in making viewers laugh before the opening credits roll. From “bears, beats, Battle Star Galactica!” to Kevin’s chili incident, the workplace sitcom is famous for its cold opens. If you agree that the show’s opening scenes are some of its best, you can watch 13 full minutes of them in the video below.

This compilation from The Office’s official YouTube channel features the cold opens from the final episodes of seasons two through eight. Jim’s pranks on Dwight kick off several season finales, and the supercut illustrates how their relationship evolved throughout the series. After getting tricked into thinking Jim has telekinetic powers in “Casino Night,” Dwight joins forces with Jim to prank Michael three seasons later in “Company Picnic.” (Though as this collection of pranks from The Office shows, the pair still ends up at odds later in the series.)

The video only includes footage from the show, but the cold opens that never made it to air are also worthy of appreciation. In one deleted opener shared on YouTube, Jim convinced Dwight that he’s living in a simulation with help from a trained cat and a pair of twins à la The Matrix (1999). The scene is just as funny as the clips below, but its 5-minute length may have landed it on the cutting room floor.

After watching compilation above, check out this supercut of The Office’s best conference room scenes.

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