Top 10 favorite moments from "The Office" season 3

"The Office" is consistently at the top of my favorite shows on television, along with LOST and above 24. More than any other comedy on TV, I think it best depicts the complex and subtle interactions between people of all different personality types. Though most of the characters are charactitures, there's always some bit of realism and truth to even the zaniest things that Michael, Dwight, Kevin, and the rest all do (and I must admit that I adore the realism, subtlty, and slow pace that the Jim/Pam relationship exhibits). The Office is the only TV show I can watch over and over again and not get bored with (I've rarely been able to sit through a second viewing of LOST, even though it is one of my favorites) - this is often because there are so many subtle bits that are easily missed on first viewing.

In any case, here are my top ten favorite moments from season 3 (in no particular order):

1. Dwight: "How would you like to sleep with the district manager?" Angela (thinking he means Michael): "No, I don't care if that's how they consolidated power in Ancient Rome." Funny because you know Dwight's asked this before!
2. "A Benihaha Christmas" - Michael X's the arms of the Japanese waitress that he brought as a date to the party, so that he can tell her apart from the others. Cmon, you knew exactly what he was doing.
3. Jim and Pam hiding Andy's phone in the ceiling tiles, causing Andy's "brain to break." I did this to my officemate's cellphone once, and it took half an hour to retrieve from the ceiling. And I broke a ceiling tile in the process.
4. Dwight saving Jim from an eminent beatdown by macing Roy. And Dwight macing Andy on his return to the office. And Dwight then relinquishing his entire armory full of weapons (throwing stars, nunchucks...)
5. Stanley chewing Ryan out for talking to his daughter again at Poor Richard's (sadly this only appeared in the deleted scenes).
6. Jim and Dwight's sales call, cause it showed how good a team they really could be when they want to.
7. Jan throwing Michael in the bathroom during the cocktail party, and Michael's response: "but you said this is your private place!" Cause you know this has come up in the past...
8. Basically, everything with Pam this season: her first first date in 9 years, taking up art lessons and no one but Michael showing, her tense interactions with Karen at the end.
9. The best Ryan and Kelly moment of all time: Kelly: "What is so stupid about wanting to name a baby Usher? Usher Jennifer Hudson Kapoor." Ryan: "Don't you see why that's insane?"
10. Two great Toby moments: 1) after Ryan gets moved in with Kelly and they start bickering, Toby: "I don't know if Michael intended this as punishment for me, but if he did...genius." 2) after Michael threatens to withhold himself from Jan unless she gives him a raise, Toby starts writing down the details of Michael's statement. Michael: "what are you writing, perve." Toby: "Just preparing for the deposition." And then Toby's talking head: "This may be the first time that a male subordinate has attempted to get a modest, scheduled raise by threatening to withhold sex from a female superior. It will be a groundbreaking case when it inevitably goes to trial." The best part is how amused and slightly thrilled Toby seems as a result.
11. And, of course, the final voice over by Pam as Jim seems to have turned down the NYC job - interrupted, of course, by Jim asking her out to dinner. So believably done and well acted, and an excellent end to the season.

What to look forward to this season? Ryan as Michael's boss. Jan becoming increasingly erratic and driving Michael up the wall. Darryl and Andy as series regulars. The further developments of Pam and Jim, Dwight and Angela. And, 4 one hour episodes to start things off!