The 40 Best Guest Stars on The Office, Ranked

The Office is well known for its eccentric and hilarious main cast of characters, but the characters who've graced us with pitch perfect cameos over the years are no slouches in the comedy department either. They've made us laugh until we're rolling on the floor, and now it's time to pay tribute to those unforgettable characters despite the brief amount of time we had with them. These are the 40 best cameos from the sitcom, ranked by a highly scientific algorithm measuring the combination of hilarity and likability. 

Don't get us wrong: Idris Elba is great in his part as Michael Scott's new boss, Charles Miner. But the former Wire actor's character is supposed to be unlikeable. He succeeded, so he's ranked low. Though in our hearts, he'll always be number one just for that sexy smile alone. Kelly Kapoor knows what we're talking about.

Elba, who debuted in "New Boss," appeared in seven episodes throughout the show.

In the episode "Launch Party," Kevin McHale -- who you might remember as Artie from Glee -- plays a sarcastic delivery man who gets kidnapped by Michael Scott.

After Dwight Schrute quits Dunder Mifflin, the paper salesman has to find a temporary job. He's eventually hired at Staples, and his judgmental coworker is none other than Yvette Nicole Brown, who would go on to star in another great NBC comedy, Community.

In the series finale, a blonde Dakota Johnson makes an appearance as a newly hired accountant after Kevin Malone is fired.

In the episode "Stress Relief," Andy Bernard, Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley watch an illegally downloaded movie that stars Jessica Alba as a consumer goods entrepreneur.

In the episode "Mrs. California," Maura Tierney plays Robert's wife Susan , who is job hunting at Dunder Mifflin even though her husband doesn't want her hired. Comedy ensues.

Debuting in the second episode of the show, "Diversity Day," Larry Wilmore portrays Mr. Brown, who is tasked with teaching the office about tolerance and diversity after Michael Scott does a controversial Chris Rock imitation.

In the series' penultimate episode, Clay Aiken, Santigold and Aaron Rodgers are judges for a reality show competition that Andy is auditioning for. Andy -- and the judges -- go viral for his embarrassing performance.

In the series finale, Bill Hader and Seth Myers appear as themselves as they crack jokes about Andy's performance on the reality show. The pair of comedians are shown on what appears to be Saturday Night Live.

Michael Scott and his boss Jan Levinson begin a romantic relationship after taking an important client, Christian -- played by guest star extraordinaire Tim Meadows -- to Chili's.

In the "Sabre" episode, a pre-Mr. Robot Christian Slater plays himself, appearing in commercials for the company.

Erin, the secretary at Dunder Mifflin, was adopted as a child and had never met her birth parents. In the series finale, Hannon -- played by Joan Cusack -- reveals to Erin that she is, in fact, her birth mother.

Right after Fran Hannon tells Erin that she is her birth mother, Martin Hannon -- portrayed by Ed Begley Jr. -- then informs Erin that he is her real father.

Another candidate for the regional manager position, billionaire Warren Buffett plays himself as he shrewdly negotiates salary during his interview.

In "Search Committee," Will Arnett is one of the men who interviews for the open regional manager position. The Arrested Development star proclaims that he has a three-step plan to turn around Dunder Mifflin, but he fails to divulge his idea.

Playing a traveling salesman, Timothy Olyphant was so handsome that the office resented him. The former Justified star also goes on two dates with Pam, but then doesn't call her back.

In "Hot Girl," Michael Scott lets a purse saleswoman, Amy Adams as Katy, use the office. Eventually, she dates Jim until he breaks up with her because he's in love with Pam.

In the episode "Email Surveillance," Michael Scott takes an improv class with Bill (Ken Jeong). Unfortunately for the class, Michael always pulls out his imaginary gun and ruins the scene.

While on a business trip to Canada, Michael becomes enamored with Concierge Marge (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who he believes is a prostitute.

Michael Scott's nephew Luke (Even Peters) is spanked by his uncle for being unprofessional in the episode "Nepotism."

Sometimes an actor doesn't even have to do much to have a great cameo. While in New York, Michael Scott thinks he sees Tina Fey. As he's chasing her down, he completely misses Conan O'Brien casually walking down the street.

An applicant for the open regional manager position in Scranton, the Finger Lakes Guy (Jim Carrey) spends most of his interview talking about -- you guessed it -- the Finger Lakes.

While Dunder Mifflin was searching for a new regional manager, Robert California manipulates Bronte -- played by Ray Romano -- into performing poorly during the job interview.

In the episode "Garden Party," Josh Groban plays Bernard Jr., Andy's more popular younger brother. Walter eventually kicks his brother out of the shindig.

A former classmate of Andy Bernard at Cornell, Broccoli Rob, played by Stephen Colbert, upstages Andy and takes credit for all of his college stories in the episode "Here Comes Treble."

In a classic cold open of the episode "Andy's Ancestry," Jim and Pam enlist their friend Steve (Randall Park) to play a prank on Dwight. The couple convince Dwight that Steve is actually Jim.

During the episode "Booze Cruise," Captain Jack (Rob Riggle), a Gulf War vet, leads the party on the boat despite Michael Scott trying to commandeer control.

In the movie in "Stress Relief," Cloris Leachman plays the grandmother to Alba's Sophie before seducing Jack Black's Sam.

Jack Black, who is engaged to Alba's Sophie in the illegally downloaded movie from "Stress Relief," falls in love with her elderly grandmother (Leachman) in this hilariously odd cameo.

In the episode "Training Day," DeAngelo Vickers (Will Ferrell) replaces Michael Scott as branch manager. The self-proclaimed professional juggler lasts just four episodes because a basketball injury leaves him comatose.

Introduced in the episode "Sabre," Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates) is the CEO of the company that purchases Dunder Mifflin. Bennett is a no-nonsense executive who loves three things: her two Great Danes and making money.

Hired to replace Michael Scott as Regional Manager in Season 8, Robert California (James Spader) is so inspiring and intimidating that he convinces Bennett to make him the CEO of the company.

While interviewing for a new position in the episode "Moving On," Pam meets her potential new manager, Mark (Bob Odenkirk), who is really just a lesser version of Michael Scott.

Appearing throughout the series, Packer -- aka the Pack-Man (David Koechner) -- is a salesman with an extremely crude sense of humor that everyone despises. Well, everyone except Michael Scott, of course.

The star of the original British version of The Office (which aired on BBC), David Brent (Ricky Gervais) runs into his American counterpart, Michael Scott. The pair, who have similarly immature personalities, really hit it off.

Initially, Holly Flax (Amy Ryan) is Dunder Mifflin's replacement for the hated HR representative, Toby Flenderson. But she eventually becomes the only one who can handle (and match) Michael's personality.

The ultimate guest star couldn't be anyone other than Dwight's, uh, eccentric cousin. Played by writer Michael Schur, who would later create Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, Mose is described as a "weirdo" beet farmer. Every time he appeared, he did something unforgettably weird, like the time he played ping-pong in the warehouse, which was the first time in his life he ever left the beet farm.