It seems like every episode or two there is something that busts a gut. For me, it can be a big obvious joke or something that you could blink and miss. Last night it was ...

(read no more if you don't like spoilers ... and if you are even more behind the zeitgeist than we are ...)

... as we watched "Benihana Christmas" when Kevin takes the mike to perform the least likely possible public karaoke song in the galaxy, namely Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know." Lyrics here ... and no, Kevin didn't skate too close to stanza 4, which will have to wait for the HBO version of "The Office."

Then there was the moment when Michael used a marker to draw a line on the arm of one of two dissimilar looking Asian girls to tell them apart.

Update, Dec. 29: I mentioned to a family member that he reminded me of Jim Halpert. "We know the real Jim Halpert!" he exclaimed. Said "real Jim Halpert" has a son that goes to the same school as our family member's son in Washington, D.C., and the "real Jim Halpert" knows the executive producer of the American version of "The Office." 

"He's always watching the show in this state of anxiety, wondering if he really comes off the way the TV portrayal looks," I was told.

The photo above shows the real Jim Halpert, who appears to be a law partner in a D.C. firm. And here's a Washington Post item on him.

So getting back to the show itself, here are some of my favorite laughaloud moments so far, focusing on ones that caught me by surprise:

• Kevin does the aforementioned Alanis Morisette karaoke.

• Dwight and Michael trying to push the morbidly obese new guy, Tony, from the Stamford branch onto a platform at a meet-everyone exercise in the conference room. Each strains against part of a butt cheek. (Episode: "The Merger")

• Creed leading the boat band on the Booze Cruise (Season Two) in a smooth blues in E after Michael flounders with some badly played Deep Purple "Smoke on the Water" riffs. This may be on the extras rather than the actual show.

• "Dwight's Speech" (Season Two) to the sales reps based on a speech by Mussolini.

• Angela appears on camera to discuss how she is doing and says she's in the "most fulfilling relationship of her life." I figure, huh, she must have someone fabulous off-screen who hasn't been introduced in the series. The show cuts to her and Dwight awkwardly trying to pass each other near the coffee machine. It took me a full 24 hours to realize OMG she is talking about Dwight.

Favorite episodes so far: "Booze Cruise" was just funny and poignant, Michael the ham as ever and Jim and Pam at their most awkward.

Then there's "The Client," when Jan and Michael take an important client (cameo by Tim Meadows, formerly of Saturday Night Live) to Chili's, to Jan's horror as she wanted to go to a stuffy hotel conference room. Here Steve Carrell's Michael begins to depart strongly from Ricky Gervais's David Brent in the BBC version. David Brent was more train-wreck awful than Michael and couldn't do anything right. Michael Scott gets it right singing "I want those babyback babyback babyback ribs" from the Chili's jingle while Jan watches with consternation and then admiration as Michael's goofy method works to land a big contract.

Watching Season One of the American "Office," I thought this is 90 percent as good as BBC version ... having worked in offices in the U.K. for three years, and seen the phenomenal devotion to social outings and pranks over actual work there, plus been able to keep up with the numerous Anglicisms reasonably well, I thought nothing could touch the British version.

"The Client" was when the U.S. version seemed to come into its own. Lamont likes the U.S. version much better because he thinks Pam is way cuter than Dawn. I think that's what it boils down to.

Some others' favorite moments roundups:

Notes the brilliant "Diversity Day" and "Health Care" episodes, with the fabulous line about "government created killer nano robots" being a disease requiring health coverage. My god the writers' meetings for this show must be hysteria.

Rolling Stone's "The 25 Greatest Moments from "The Office"

Oh here's a good one, from "Diversity Day," Season One: Michael shows his employees a Diversity Tomorrow video presentation in which he proclaims, "Abraham Lincoln once said, 'If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North."