The Office today is an extremely popular show among people of all ages. With its dry sense of humor and many comical characters, it is able to capture the attention of many people. The Office explores the every day lives of average American workers that work for a paper company, Dundler Mifflin. As people watch the show, they are able to relate to the office environment, as well as envy the easy-going setting. There is not one episode that people watch where they do not encounter the hilarious humor that Dwight, Michael, Kevin, and many other characters bring to the show. However, there is one episode in particular that sticks out as one of the most hysterical episodes in the entire show, Stress Relief Part 1.
In this episode of The Office, Stanley, one of the employers at Dundler Mifflin, has a heart attack because Dwight sets of the fire alarm. No one in the office knew how to attend to Stanley, so because of this, Michael, the manager of the group, decides to hire an American Red Cross instructor to teach everyone how to do CPR. She attempts to instruct everyone by using a mannequin; however, this lesson was very unproductive for the group. Many attempted to do CPR, including Michael, which ended with everyone singing "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees instead of learning how to properly perform CPR. Dwight then decides to take the lesson way too far, and begins to stab the dummy and cut it apart to "harvest the organs". He continues by cutting off the face of the dummy and ends up wearing it as a mask. The CFO and HR were extremely upset by his behavior, especially since it ended up costing them $3,500 because of the mannequin. Because of how badly the lesson went, Michael tries another way to relieve everyone's stress by doing yoga, but he quickly realizes that he is in fact the reason why everyone is so stressed.
In Monroe's article, "Theories of Humor" he references the superiority theory, which is summarized as laughing at "people because they have some failing or defect, or because they find themselves at a disadvantage in some way or suffer some small misfortune". This kind of humor can be found throughout this episode because of everyone's foolish behavior, especially Dwight's as he does the fire drill and tears apart the mannequin. Many find their behavior very funny because of how unintelligent all of them act.
In this episode of The Office, Stanley, one of the employers at Dundler Mifflin, has a heart attack because Dwight sets of the fire alarm. No one in the office knew how to attend to Stanley, so because of this, Michael, the manager of the group, decides to hire an American Red Cross instructor to teach everyone how to do CPR. She attempts to instruct everyone by using a mannequin; however, this lesson was very unproductive for the group. Many attempted to do CPR, including Michael, which ended with everyone singing "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees instead of learning how to properly perform CPR. Dwight then decides to take the lesson way too far, and begins to stab the dummy and cut it apart to "harvest the organs". He continues by cutting off the face of the dummy and ends up wearing it as a mask. The CFO and HR were extremely upset by his behavior, especially since it ended up costing them $3,500 because of the mannequin. Because of how badly the lesson went, Michael tries another way to relieve everyone's stress by doing yoga, but he quickly realizes that he is in fact the reason why everyone is so stressed.
In Monroe's article, "Theories of Humor" he references the superiority theory, which is summarized as laughing at "people because they have some failing or defect, or because they find themselves at a disadvantage in some way or suffer some small misfortune". This kind of humor can be found throughout this episode because of everyone's foolish behavior, especially Dwight's as he does the fire drill and tears apart the mannequin. Many find their behavior very funny because of how unintelligent all of them act.
This is one of my favorite scenes. I always wonder why he isn't fired though, especially since he was already on thin ice. It raises the question of how we respond to humor that violates our expectations.
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