Based on the BBC series of the same name, The Office is a mockumentary-style sitcom about the employees at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Each episode follows the colorful characters as they pull pranks, fall in love, and sometimes try to sell paper. Out of all these characters, the most “sane” person was arguably accountant Oscar Martinez, but that apparent normalcy just made his comedic moments even funnier.
Oscar, played by Oscar Nuñez, was the only openly gay POC character on TV during the 2006-2007 season. He was also among the most intelligent people in The Office and the go-to person when something went wrong. Some of the funniest moments were made at his expense, but other times, it was Oscar’s zingers that delivered laughs.
Now that Oscar has returned to the small screen in The Paperit’s time to take a look back at his funniest moments from where it all began.
Battle of the Parents
Season 8, Episode 16
The cold open of “After Hours” began with Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) sharing photos of their babies, until Oscar interjected with a photo of his dog. Angela and Pam started complaining about Oscar equating dog-parents with human-parents, but when Angela claimed that her son was already crawling, Pam and Oscar started complaining about her lying instead. Pam then mentioned that it was even harder having two kids, which led to Oscar and Angela mocking her for having more than one. The cold open concluded with Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) mentioning how hard it was to take care of a boat, which led to the three parents finding common ground as they berated him instead.
Quoteworthy
We’re not sure which Oscar line from “After Hours” is our favorite. It might be his pronunciation of “Un-be-liev-a-ble,” but we’re also big fans of the sarcastic:
“The world just needs more Pam and Jim DNA. Thank you, no.”
Michael’s Handmade Doll
Season 7, Episode 22
Oscar and his boss, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) didn’t always have the best relationship. Oscar thought Michael was incompetent and unfit to lead, and to be fair, he wasn’t wrong. But when Michael was leaving the office, he gave each employee a present, telling Oscar that his gift was a scarecrow because he’d given Michael a brain. He then pulled out a doll that, in Michael’s own words, looked like a 2-year-old monkey had made it. After a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of bewilderment, Oscar accepted the gift, looking sincerely touched by the gesture, in spite of how absolutely ridiculous it was.
Sincere and Silly
The sincerity with which Oscar accepted the doll was equal parts touching and hilarious. What made the scene even funnier was Michael’s reaction, in which he was doubled-over laughing in his office. The scene wouldn’t have worked with any characters but these two, as it was a strangely sweet culmination of their complicated, sometimes adversarial relationship.
Falling Through the Ceiling
Season 5, Episode 14
The cold open for the fifth season episode “Stress Relief” was incredibly stressful, with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) setting off a small fire in order to test how prepared his coworkers are for a real emergency. The answer was unsurprising: not at all. This explains why Oscar climbed into the ceiling to try and get help, telling Angela to stay alive and that she was too heavy for him to pick up. Angela then thew her cat, Bandit, into the ceiling behind him, only for Bandit to fall out the other side. But karma was all too quick to catch up to Oscar, as he soon fell through the ceiling himself.
Memorable and Hilarious
On the one hand, we couldn’t really blame Oscar for trying to crawl through the ceiling, since all the exits were seemingly blocked by fire. However, we’re not sure that this was quick-thinking so much as it was desperate-thinking. Regardless of whether it was the best option available, this scene (and everything surrounding it) has become one of the most memorable in Office history.
Where, Dwight?
Season 5, Episode 12
Early on in “The Duel” Michael found out that Dwight has been having sex in the office. Overhearing the conversation, Oscar responded with disgust, and then asked Dwight, “Where?” Rather than answer, Dwight simply stared him down, leading to Oscar asking this question twice more. Although we don’t learn the exact answer, Oscar’s face said it all.
Better Not to Ask
This is one of those times when the smartest thing would have been to ask nothing. Dwight couldn’t have given any good answer, and by giving no answer at all, all of Oscar’s fears were realized (to his horror, and the viewer’s amusement).
Hogbing
Season 9, Episode 24
Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) was one of the highlights of The Officebringing humor to every scene. Sadly, he was fired from the company toward the end of the series, and his replacement quickly realized that many of his old accounts were filled with a strange number. Oscar called the number a Keleven, saying it was “a magic number [Kevin] used to balance his accounts.” Unsurprisingly, this number was also the reason why Kevin was fired.
Great Delivery
Kevin might be the comedic genius behind the number Keleven, but it was Oscar’s delivery that really sold it. Imitating Kevin, he said, “A mistake plus Keleven gets you home by 7,” only to somberly add, “He was home at 4:45 that day.”
Rational Consumer
Season 7, Episode 6
“Costume Contest” saw the entire office dressing up in Halloween costumes (minus John Krasinski’s Jim Halpert) in pursuit of the prize of a coupon book. After realizing how little the prize was worth, a frustrated Oscar changed out of his pimp costume into normal clothes, claiming that he was now a “rational consumer.” As the party went on, Oscar began to feel embarrassed by his lack of costume, so he made a point of telling everyone what he was dressed up as, but the more times he told people, the more obvious it became that his costume was a dud.
The Last Laugh
This is one of those rare moments when Oscar had the last laugh. Everyone voted for him to win the contest, thinking that he would lose (except for Creed Bratton, who thought it was a legitimately good Edward James Olmos costume). In the end, he got the most votes and triumphantly claimed the $40 coupon book as his prize.
Kevin Beats Oscar at Trivia
Season 8, Episode 11
When the office was short on meeting its quarterly sales goal, Andy took the team to a trivia contest to try and make up the difference. Oscar was already competing there, and he wasn’t thrilled to see them, but he was eager to take them down. For a while, it seemed like that’s exactly what was going to happen, until a team consisting of the office’s backup-backup players started pulling ahead.
A Funny Fluke
The despair on Oscar’s face at losing—and at losing to Kevin, of all people—was hilarious. Even funnier, Kevin acknowledged that the win was a fluke, but that didn’t stop him and his team from celebrating.
Actually
Season 7, Episode 10
Oscar was known around the office for saying “Actually” and then correcting others. However, this backfired in the episode “China” when Michael brought up a stat about the titular country and Oscar was wrong in his correction. As a result, the office began to make fun of Oscar by acting as if Michael were more intelligent. This led to Oscar trying to one-up Michael by having a conversation about China that he knew his boss couldn’t keep up with. However, rather than discuss politics, Michael spoke about patriotism and friendship, causing the others to view him as having “won,” to Oscar’s disbelief.
Not So Know-It-All
Obviously, Oscar was more intelligent than Michael in a lot of ways. But he was pretty smug about it, so it was pretty satisfying to see him be wrong for a change. More than that, it was hilarious to see how quickly the office backed Michael even when he was obviously less knowledgeable. It might not have seemed fair to Oscar, but actually, he kind of deserved it.
Liquidity Accent
Season 6, Episode 10
During the episode “Murder,” Michael wanted to take his employees’ minds off the office’s potential bankruptcy by playing a murder mystery game. For a while, the distraction worked, until Oscar came in saying that corporate told him to stop sending payments to vendors. Michael said he couldn’t understand Oscar’s “Yankee accent,” and what followed was perhaps the worst, but funniest, accent of the show.
Amazing Bad Accent
It was hilarious to watch as Oscar tried to explain that the “plantation” was low on “greenbacks” and couldn’t pay the people who gave them seeds. Even funnier, after a moment, Oscar dejectedly declared, “Michael, I can’t,” before explaining the situation normally.
Explaining a Surplus
Season 5, Episode 10
In the appropriately titled episode, “The Surplus,” Oscar discovered a surplus in the office budget. Michael didn’t understand what that meant, so he asked Oscar to explain it to him like he was eight. After the explanation, a still-confused Michael asked him to explain it like he was five. Without hesitating, Oscar jumped into an explanation involving Michael’s Mommy and Daddy and a lemonade stand, and as ridiculous as it sounded, Michael finally was able to follow.
Pretty Brilliant
While it’s funny to laugh at Oscar, this is one of those moments when we were laughing with him (or laughing while he internally rolled his eyes, anyway). The scene isn’t just one of Oscar’s funniest moments, but also one of the moments in which his value to the office was cemented. And now that he’s in The Paper, we expect even more moments where Oscar’s brain and funny bone are on full display.
- Release Date
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September 4, 2025
- Network
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Peacock
- Directors
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David Rogers, Jason Woliner, Jeffrey Blitz, Jennifer Celotta, Ken Kwapis, Matt Sohn, Paul LiebersteinYana Gorskaya
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Sabrina Impacciatore
Esmeralda Grand
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Melvin Gregg
Detrick Moore
