Jim's my favorite April fool

In honor of April Fools' Day (is that apostrophe right? I'm assuming there's more than one fool... Ok I'm a geek), and in the spirit of procrastination, I'd like to note my top five favorite pranks from The Office. Think of them as suggestions for your own tomfoolery... especially if you have Dwight Shrute-like colleagues. If you don't work in an office, or if you actually like your coworkers (or, I suppose, if you have serious and/or seriously annoying coworkers who would report you to corporate and get you fired or something), then you can just remember how much you love The Office and have a little laugh.

There have been SO many pranks on the show that it's incredibly difficult to pick a fave-five. (Hey thanks for the catch phrase, t-mobile!) And as you all know, I'm in love with Jim Halpert, so I basically think everything he does on the show is the greatest thing in the world. But after thinking about it for a little while (not long enough, since I have to get back to my stats paper... but in the scheme of things, probably too long, since I have to get back to my stats paper), here are my picks:

5) Jim pranks Dwight (season 3): After the office staff discovers a bat inside Dunder Mifflin, Jim tells Dwight that he thinks the bat bit him (Jim). Then during the rest of the day, Jim starts displaying "symptoms" of turning into a vampire. Of course, Dwight believes him. (Note: this prank narrowly beats Jim convincing Dwight in the season 1 episode "Drug Testing" that Dwight had smoked pot and lost his memory.)

4) Jim pranks Michael (season 3): Michael inappropriately asks Jim to hire a hot stripper to come to the office for Phyllis' wedding shower. Instead of hiring a sexy naked hottie, Jim hires an educational speaker dressed up as Ben Franklin. Of course Michael thinks it's a stripper theme. Hilarity ensues.

3) Jim and Pam prank Andy (season 3): Just when you thought office sycophant Andy couldn't possibly get more annoying, he shows up at work with a new cell phone ring -- a recording of him singing a really irritating song (I think it was Rockin' Robin? I can't remember at the moment)... in multiple-part harmony with HIMSELF. He proceeds to call himself from his desk phone so everyone can hear his new ring. Jim and Pam, in their triumphant return to the world of team-tag pranking, steal Andy's phone, hide it in the ceiling, and call him repeatedly.

2) Jim and Pam prank Dwight (season 1): In perhaps the most elaborate and intricately planned prank of the series, Jim and Pam take advantage of Dwight's paranoia with hilarious results. Dwight indicates to Jim that he thinks members of the office are forming Survivor-like alliances in order to avoid getting laid off. Jim and Pam take this conspiracy theory and run, pretending to overhear people's plans not to "get kicked off" and even staging a secret phonecall in the warehouse, convincing Dwight to stuff himself inside a taped-up storage box in order to learn the other tribes' secrets. With Jim and Pam's encouragement, Dwight even goes so far as to dye his hair in an attempt to go undercover. Just thinking about this one makes me laugh. It was great. And the best part was that the prank lasted for the whole episode!

Now my absolute favorite...

1) Jim and Pam prank Dwight (season 2?): It was a typical Thursday in the office, until Jim realized that Dwight thought it was Friday. Jim and Pam want to keep it that way, so they proceed to talk about "The Apprentice episode last night," make phone calls to friends about weekend plans, and do everything in their power to keep up the charade that today is Friday. This prank is so effective that for the first time in his life, Dwight doesn't come in to work Friday morning -- because he thinks it's Saturday! One of the funniest Office plotlines ever.

I had a hard time choosing and ordering these five, because there are SO many pranks on this show, and they're all so funny. I guess that's what you get when one of the writers (the guy who plays Ryan the Temp) used to do Punk'd with Ashton Kutcher!

How do your favorite pranks on The Office compare to mine? And have you ever tried anything like this in real life? Maybe today's the day to start.

Happy April Fools' Day!!!