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‘Diversity Day’ in TV Guide’s Top 100 Episodes

TV Guide has named The Office episode ‘Diversity Day’ as one of TV’s Top 100 Episodes of All Time.

This Season 1 classic, written by B.J. Novak and directed by Ken Kwapis, is also rated by OfficeTally readers as their favorite episode in the Season 1 Survivor Poll.

Here is where ‘Diversity Day’ ranked in TV Guide’s top 20:

  1. Seinfeld: The Contest
  2. The Sopranos: College
  3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Chuckles Bites the Dust
  4. I Love Lucy: Lucy Does a TV Commercial
  5. Lost: Pilot
  6. ER: Love’s Labor Lost
  7. The Honeymooners: Better Living Through TV
  8. Mad Men: Nixon vs. Kennedy
  9. All in the Family: Cousin Maude’s Visit
  10. 24: Season 1 finale
  11. The Twilight Zone: Time Enough at Last
  12. Saturday Night Live: April 22, 1978
  13. The Dick Van Dyke Show: It May Look Like a Walnut
  14. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, With Feeling
  15. The Cosby Show: Goodbye Mr. Fish
  16. The Fugitive: The Judgement
  17. South Park: Trapped in the Closet
  18. The Andy Griffith Show: Opie the Birdman
  19. The Office: Diversity Day. TVG description: By its second episode, NBC’s remake fulfilled the order of Americanizing the classic Britcom The Office. Dunderhead Michael Scott (Steve Carell) puts his underlings through a sensitivity-training session. “It’s the strongest example of the kind of trouble Michael would get into,” exec producer Greg Daniels says. And a job well done.
  20. M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry

See the rest of the top 100 in the June 15-28 issue of TV Guide!

Tipster: Megan

9 comments

  1. “Diversity Day” is easily my favorite episode of The Office, so great to see it make the cut. But no Arrested Development in the top 20? :( I’d love to see a How I Met Your Mother episode this high too (“Slap Bet”/Robin Sparkles maybe) but I know to pick my battles.

  2. The Contest, haha. Truly is one of the best episodes ever. Glad to see Lost’s pilot made it on there too. Like Anth, surprised no Arrested Development is on the list, and Slap Bet is one of HIMYM’s best eps for sure haha. Company Man from Heroes Season 1 should be on the list (if not that, Landslide). An Extras episode should be in there too!

  3. Anth – I totally agree with you: Diversity Day is a definite favorite for a lot of people (an iconic Office episode), AD should be somewhere on the list (will be interesting to see when it comes out), and Slap Bet is easily as good as Diversity Day-easily.

  5. Right on, Office. Diversity Day is an absolute classic and it’s crazy they got off to such a strong start on their first original episode, in terms of both envelope-pushing comedy and Jim and Pam awesomeness. Not a bad day, indeed.

    Also cool to see The Sopranos’ “College” make it that high. That’s essentially a movie in 55 minutes and a highwater mark for one of the most important shows of our time.

  6. I’m super surprised that not a single episode of Friends isn’t on the list, unless it’s in the second half. But Diversity Day is pretty much an instant classic.

  7. “Diversity Day” was the defining moment for the success of the series I think. Also, it says a lot about the greatness of “The Office” that this was only the second episode of the first season in the entire series.

  8. The entire list can be found here

    (this page talks about the top 10, but has links to the rest of the list)

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