Jim’s 7 Most Iconic Pranks On “The Office”

When viewers tuned in to The Office, they could expect a myriad of recurring jokes and predictably enjoyable sequences. Just as audiences could rest easy in the knowledge that they’d witness Michael utter some kind of strange, often inappropriate comment in the workplace, viewers could safely look forward to seeing Jim prank his corporate rival, Dwight, on an almost weekly basis.

Since The Office began in 2005, Jim’s increasingly elaborate pranks on Dwight provided the series with many of its most lauded jokes, allowing for plenty of anarchic hilarity throughout the show’s nine-season-long run. From fan-favorite pranks involving identity theft to practical jokes that ended with a heartfelt emotional payoff, here are some of Jim’s absolute greatest pranks in The Office, ranked in order from worst to best.

The Red Wire Prank

Yes, many of Jim’s best pranks adopted a cartoonishly convoluted guise, but in some cases, his most satisfying pranks turned out to be his simplest. Such is the case for season 5’s “Prince Family Paper,” which sees Jim unrolling 500 feet of red wire through the office, leaving behind a comically large trail for Dwight to follow. While it’s certainly funny watching Dwight climb up a telephone pole in pursuit of the wire’s path, it’s even funnier when you stop and realize Jim did the exact same thing in the middle of the night, all for a simple joke. (And people say Jim is the normal one …)

The Hotel Room Prank

Raising a baby is not without its fair share of hardships, but it’s also not without its perks. Take, for example, the fact that most parents are used to waking up at odd hours of the night, something Jim uses to his advantage in season 8’s “Tallahassee.” As Dwight rushes to wake his fellow coworkers up at 5 a.m., Jim uses his parental insomnia to stage a fake murder in his hotel room, leaving a terrified Erin and confused Dwight to wonder what on earth happened. From the makeshift rope ladder thrown off the balcony to the slanted “It was Dwight” scrawled across the closet door in fake blood, everything about this improvised prank is pure comedic gold.

The Pavlovian Prank

Not every one of Jim’s pranks proved as simple as causing a mess in a hotel room or unspooling some wire in the office. In the case of season 3’s “Ben Franklin,” Jim used psychological conditioning to literally rewire Dwight’s brain, adopting a similar technique practiced by influential neurologist Ivan Pavlov. Spending days, weeks, perhaps even months training Dwight without the latter’s awareness, Jim’s Pavolvian hijinks in “Ben Franklin” just shows the lengths he’s willing to go for a laugh at poor old Dwight’s expense.

Professor Copperfield’s Miracle Legumes

Only Jim could manage to sell Dwight a bag of magic beans – er, I mean, a packet of Professor Copperfield’s Miracle Legumes. As Dunder Mifflin rolls out a public garage sale in season 7’s “Garage Sale,” Dwight successfully trades his way up from a paperclip to a valuable telescope. Of course, Dwight’s ruthless business acumen proves less than successful when he crosses paths with Jim. Trading his $150 telescope for a packet of beans is one thing, but actually believing they’re magical (as Dwight does) makes this joke far more endearing, leading to one of Jim’s most simple yet effective pranks in The Office’s later seasons.

The Wedding Prank

A rare practical joke that led to a cathartic conclusion, it’s fitting that Jim’s final prank in The Office also happens to be one of his most heartfelt. As Dwight prepares for his official wedding ceremony to Angela in The Office’s series finale, Jim surprises the groom with a returning Michael Scott, who takes over Jim’s duties as Dwight’s “bestest mensch.” Watching Steve Carell’s long-awaited return to his breakthrough role on The Office, we have no choice but to agree with Jim’s teary-eyed assessment of his very last practical joke: “Best prank ever.”

The Identity Theft Prank

It’s hard to believe one of Jim’s best pranks on Dwight only cost him $11. Talk about money well spent. Donning an eerily similar outfit as his longtime Dunder Mifflin frenemy, Jim humorously recreates Dwight’s entire appearance, right down to the bobblehead figurine on his desk. As funny as it is to see Jim perfectly disguise himself as Dwight, we have to single out Dwight’s manic concern when he realizes what Jim’s doing, leading him to shrilly cry out, “Identity theft is not a joke, Jim! Millions of families suffer every year.”

Asian Jim

Randall Park may have trouble remembering he was on The Office, but we sure don’t. Cited by many fans to be the greatest prank Jim ever pulled on his hapless coworker, season 9’s “Andy’s Ancestry” sees Park stroll into Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch whilst pretending to be Jim. What follows is a hilarious back-and-forth interaction between Dwight and Park’s Jim impersonator, complete with some masterful gaslighting from Park’s character and Pam (who is, of course, completely aware of the prank).