The Office: Corporate Shenanigans At Their Best

The Office is one of the funniest shows on television. It is a half-hour long situation comedy that appears on television Thursday nights at 9:00 on NBC. Television fans will note that this is Seinfeld’s old timeslot. The show seems to be moving to 8:30; I
m sure if this is permanent or because they are accommodating Let's Make a Deal. The show is due to start it’s third season next Thursday (Sept 21), and the second season has just been released on DVD.

The Office is the American version of a British sitcom with the same name and the same premise. There is a large group of purists out there who do not like the American version and claim that it cannot compare to the British version. I have almost no experience with the British version, but I find the American version to be hilariously quirky.

As the title might suggest, the show takes place in an office. Specifically, the office in question is the Scranton, PA branch of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. The format of the show is rather interesting- instead of being a straight sitcom, the action is presented in a documentary format. This allows the characters to address the camera directly- there are even “confession cam” type moments where the characters share their feelings privately.

While there is a strong ensemble cast, there are some characters who are more principal than others:

Michael (played by Steve Carell) is the regional manager and the boss. During season 2, he morphed from an insensitive jerk to being rather pathetic. He worries obsessively about whether or not the employees like him, and he wants more than anything to be pals with them. Bear in mind that he is still an insensitive jerk, and most of his attempts to be funny fall flat. We are definitely laughing at him, not with him.

Dwight (played by Rainn Wilson) is Michael’s right hand man. There is a running joke that involves Dwight calling himself “assistant regional manager” and Michael (or another character) correcting him and reminding him that he is “assistant to the regional manager”. Dwight is fastidious to the point of hilarity. He requires absolute adherence to the rules. He is a volunteer sheriff’s deputy, and after finding half of a joint in the parking lot, he ropes off the area like it is a crime scene and brings in the drug testers. Dwight also has an unhealthy obsession/adoration towards Michael. Dwight also plays some mean Billy Joel on his recorder.

Jim (played by John Krasinski) is a young salesman. He loves to torment Dwight by doing things like putting his personal supplies in the vending machine or setting them in a large jello mold. Jim also has a crush on his friend Pam, the receptionist.

Pam (played by Jenna Fischer) is the receptionist. She is a very sweet girl, and she is engaged to the loutish Roy, who works in the warehouse in the same building. Pam spends a lot of time with Jim, thinking up schemes to torment Dwight and just laughing at the office antics.

Those are the four primary characters, but as I have said, they are joined by a talented ensemble cast. The writers have done a great job of developing each character’s personality. You might not see as much of some of the characters, but they are all distinct and unique.

The Season 2 set includes all 22 episodes, which aired during the 2005-2006 broadcast year. Here are some of my favorites:

The Injury- In this episode, Michael has an accident involving his foot and a George Foreman grill. He wraps his injured foot in bubble wrap and comes into work anyway. He proceeds to whine about having a disability, and claims that no one else in the office knows what it is like to have a disability. When Phyllis reveals that she had scoliosis as a child, Michael retorts that he wants to know about real disabilities, not “women’s trouble”.

Office Olympics- In this episode, Michael buys a condo and Dwight pesters him into coming along for the closing. Michael panics about supposed flaws in the place, as Dwight uses his influence at the sheriff’s department to get the crime statistics for the neighborhood. Meanwhile, back at the office, the rest of the gang engages in Office Olympics.

Halloween- In this episode, Michael has spent the entire month procrastinating about who is going to fire. His boss from corporate (Jan) expects him to have a name for her by the end of the day. Michael wonders how he can fire someone and still be their friend. Also, as a joke, Jim and Pam post Dwight’s resume online and try to get him a new job.

The Client- In this episode, Jan and Michael are meeting with a very big client- the Lackawanna county representative (played by Tim Meadows). Michael moves the meeting to Chili’s, his favorite restaurant. Jan is terrified that the meeting will be a disaster, but surprisingly, the client is very receptive to Michael’s unique style. They bond over an Awesome Blossom and baby back ribs.

Take Your Daughter To Work Day- In this episode, several of the workers' daughters (and one son) spend the day in the office. Michael tries to play nice, Dwight reads from Der Struwwelpeter, and we get to see a movie of Michael as a child when he appeared on a children's television show. He is interviewed by a cat puppet named Edward R. Meow.

My all time favorite moment occurs during the Valentine’s Day episode. Michael has to travel to the corporate headquarters in NYC, and upon arrival, he tells the camera that he loves to go to this special authentic NYC pizza shop. The camera cuts to him crossing the street and entering a Sbarro’s shop.

Each of the episodes has 3-5 minutes of deleted scenes. Many of these scenes are hilarious, and it’s a shame that they didn’t make the cut on the show.

There are also an absolute plethora of extras. There is commentary on ten of the episodes, the fake PSAs that aired during commercial breaks in the spring, and the webisodes that aired this summer. Also, if you purchase this at Target, you will get an exclusive bonus- Jenna Fischer’s video blog during the filming of the Booze Cruise episode.

Television shows can be difficult to recommend. Fans of the show have probably already made a purchasing decision. And people who have never seen the show are going to be reluctant to buy something if they don’t know if they will like it.

As a fan of the show, I love having the convenience of having all the episodes to watch whenever I want to. I also had the chance to see the episodes that I had not seen; I started watching midseason, and so there were a couple that I missed. The extras are really great- I am amazed at the amount of deleted scenes available- it’s such a letdown when DVDs promise deleted scenes and then only offer up a couple of minute’s worth. To have five minutes of scenes per show is amazing. Having the PSAs and the webisodes is also great.

I highly recommend The Office Season 2 DVD set. If you enjoy the show, this is a must-buy. If you have not seen the show, add the first disc to your Netflix queue- you will not be disappointed. If you don’t have Netflix, you can watch the show on Thursdays at 8:30 (7:30 central?) on NBC.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the third season to start next week!