The Office Stare Machine catalogs every time The Office broke the fourth wall

Since it was presented as a documentary, The Office could get away with characters breaking the fourth wall. In quick, often revealing moments, Michael, Jim, or Pam would look directly at us viewers, their expressions ranging from “amused” to “embarrassed” to “Why didn’t this show end after season five?”

Now, you can relive those stares with The Office Stare Machine. Created by Joe Sabia, who spent a year and a half cataloging the 706 available stares, the site allows you to choose an emotion, then watch it manifest on the face of any number of The Office’s characters. Sure, you can choose “happy” or “worried,” but the site’s loaded with 800 different emotions. “Horny,” for example, yields gold.

The site’s FAQ describes it as “an interactive machine encompassing the full range of human emotional expression” that captures “the many nuances of visual expression through the beloved familiarity of our favorite office-dwelling TV icons.”

It also offers some stats. Jenna Fischer’s Pam had the most worried expressions, while Steve Carrell’s Michael had the happiest ones. One can only assume Robert California had the most confused expressions, what with his character being so pointless.

 
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