The Office Star B.J. Novak's Favorite Episode Is An All-Time Michael Scott Classic
The American version of "The Office," based on Ricky Gervais' BBC sitcom of the same name, is a modern television classic that remains popular even long after its broadcast run ended. On "The Office," there was a lot of overlap between the cast and the writers, with multiple writers on the show also acting in the main cast. These included B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, and Paul Lieberstein, who respectively played Ryan Howard, Kelly Kapoor, and Toby Flenderson while also writing episodes for the show. Even the series' main star, Steve Carell, wrote two episodes of "The Office."
Novak's character, Ryan, had probably the biggest transformation of the show, going from being a seemingly normal temporary employee at Dunder Mifflin Scranton to going off the rails after being promoted to vice president of sales and then being fired after he is arrested for fraud. Although Ryan was rehired multiple times, his actor ultimately found himself losing his passion for the show, and only appeared in a couple of episodes of the last season. Much of this was because Carell and Kaling both departed from the series at separate points before its cancellation.
Despite losing his passion for "The Office," Novak continues to be a fan, especially of the early seasons. So he's more than happy to talk about his favorite things about working on the show. But when asked what his favorite episode was, he gave an answer that makes perfect sense considering his history with the series.
Novak's a big fan of The Injury
During an event for the Chicago Tribune, B.J. Novak revealed his favorite "The Office" episode to be "The Injury," the Season 2 episode where Michael Scott (Steve Carell) manages to accidentally grill his foot on a George Foreman grill. "My favorite episode...is 'The Injury,'" Novak explained. "It happened early in the show's run. Mindy Kaling wrote it. We were all young and trying stuff out ... It was such a silly thing to spend a half-hour of television on." Considering his respect and admiration for Kaling, it's hardly surprising that he chose one of her episodes as his favorite.
It seems like a lot of people agree with Novak, as "The Injury" is on many lists of the best episodes of the show. Variety ranks the episode as the seventh best of the series, and Yardbarker's list ranks it as No. 5. However, it is notable to mention that Mashable ranked the episode 110th out of 185 episodes. But, like everything else with "The Office," opinions vary widely.
Novak is still writing, with his latest project being the anthology series "The Premise." As for Kaling, three recent shows bear her name in the "created by" credit: "The Sex Lives of College Girls," "Never Have I Ever," and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." The two haven't worked together since "The Mindy Project," but hopefully it's only a matter of time before these two friends collaborate again.