Check Out Stanley Hudson's Best Moments on The Office

For all nine seasons of The Office, Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) was the predictable salesman working in the heart of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch. His love for crossword puzzles and avoiding meetings always remained the same, but audiences saw his character grow and change over the series. 

Revisit Stanley's most memorable moments that made him a fan-favorite character. 

Stanley confronted Ryan over his teenage daughter

Stanley's first appearance in The Office was during Season 1, Episode 2 ("Diversity Day") and, throughout the first season, he solidified his role as the quiet, keep-to-himself guy of the office. However, during Season 2, Episode 18 ("Take Your Daughter to Work Day"), fans saw an entirely different side of Stanley. 

Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) had been ignoring Stanley's teenage daughter all day as she followed him around the office and attempted to get his number. Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) saw these conversations and told Stanley that "something fishy" was happening, despite Ryan not ever actually feeding into the teenager's conversations. 

Stanley confronted Ryan in the break room and angrily delivered one of his most memorable lines: "Boy, have you lost your mind? 'Cause I'll help you find it!" Ryan later told cameras that being yelled at by Stanley was "one of the most frightening experiences of [his] life." 

Stanley's Love for Pretzel Day

In Season 3, Episode 5 ("Initiation"), the normally grumpy Stanley lit up with joy when Pretzel Day was announced. Pam explained to the cameras, "Once a year, they bring in a little cart and they give away free pretzels. It's really not a big deal. To some people it is." 

An excited Stanley waited in the long line for the treats and explained, "I wake up every morning in a bed that's too small, drive my daughter to a school that's too expensive. Then I go to work to a job for which I get paid too little. But on Pretzel Day... Well, I like Pretzel Day." He then teamed up with Michael Scott (Steve Carell) to "boo" at Phyllis Lapin (Phyllis Smith) when she attempted to cut in the line. 

At the end of the day, Stanley bemoaned, "364 days until the next Pretzel Day." 

Stanley Asked Michael "Did I Stutter?" 

As he tried to avoid Michael's endless shenanigans, Stanley would sometimes reach the end of his rope. In Season 4, Episode 16 ("Did I Stutter?"), Michael called a meeting to talk about how to "Energize" the office and asked Stanley to put down his "little game" (a crossword book) and offer an idea. "Leave me alone, damnit," Stanley said, but Michael kept pestering. "Did I stutter?" Stanley snapped back. Everyone in the conference room went silent. Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) intervened on behalf of HR, saying that Michael needed to deal with how "insubordinate" Stanley was. 

Stanley refused Michael's vague request for an apology. "It's like I tell my wife. 'I do not apologize unless I think I'm wrong. And if you don't like it, you can leave.' And I say the same thing to my current wife, and I'll say it to my next one, too," he told the cameras. 

Michael decided to "fake fire" Stanley, who replied, "Do you think I'm going to let you do this to me? I've watched you screw up this office for 10 years, and I'm filing a lawsuit and I'm gonna tell them about every stupid thing you've ever done up in this office." Michael then revealed that it was fake, and that Stanley wasn't actually fired.

"You are out of your damn little pea-sized mind," Stanley said angrily. "Every day you do something stupider than the day before... You are a professional idiot." 

Michael asked everyone else to leave the office and cried to Stanley, asking him why he continually "picks on" him. "You are a person that I do not respect," Stanley told him. Michael finally stood up for himself.

"Alright, you don't respect me. I accept that. But listen to me, you can't talk to me that way. You just can't. I am your boss," he told Stanley, who said "Fair enough" and agreed to be civil. 

Stanley's Heart Health and Stressors

In Season 5, Episode 14-15 ("Stress Relief" Parts 1 and 2), Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) decided to teach the office safety protocols by staging a fake fire and trapping them all inside. Convinced that they would all die, Stanley had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. 

When Stanley returned, Michael was committed to make the office "peaceful" as to not do more damage to his heart. He led a meditation session and noticed that Stanley's "biofeedback machine" was going off every time they were close to each other, indicating that he was stressing Stanley out.

"Looks like I am the killer. You never expect that you're the killer, it's a great twist," Michael told the cameras. 

Stanley's Oblivion to All Office Happenings 

Another major Stanley moment was when his coworkers realized he was completely unphased by things around him. In Season 7, Episode 6 ("Costume Contest"), Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) had put his mug of orange juice on Stanley's desk, and Stanley drank it without even realizing it wasn't his coffee. 

"The question has to be asked: Is there no limit to what he won't notice?" Jim said.

Then, different coworkers took their turn pulling off weird antics that went over Stanley's head. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) took off his shirt and wore a tie on his bare chest; Jim placed a cardboard box over Stanley's computer; the entire office sat backwards in the conference room, yet Stanley didn't notice any of it. 

"Florida Stanley" and His Retirement Plans

Leslie David Baker stars as Stanley in "The Office". Photo: NBC

In Season 8, Episode 14 ("Special Project"), Dwight was tasked with putting together a team to travel down to Florida for a corporate project, launching a chain of Sabre stores. He and Andy interviewed members of the office to see who would be the best fit for the task force and Stanley came in hard. 

"Florida Stanley smiles. Florida Stanley is happy to go to work. Florida Stanley is who you want on your Florida team," he told them, dressed in his colorful vacation clothes. In the following episode, ("Tallahassee"), Stanley pulled into the hotel in a red convertible and said, "I'm in Florida for a month without my family, I'm gonna enjoy this."

At the end of the series, it was revealed that Stanley ended up retiring in Florida. "Little town called Florida City, just on the edge of the Everglades. I sit on my porch all day carving birds," he told cameras in Season 9, Episode 26 ("Finale Part 1 and 2").

Phyllis later revealed a statue that Stanley had carved of her, saying, "Lots of people think that Stanley Hudson is a mean old grump. But would a grump make this?" 

Watch every one of Stanley's finest moments by streaming all episodes of The Office on Peacock.