The Office - Season Two - Thank goodness for second seasons. While the...

Thank goodness for second seasons. While the first season of The Office started dubiously with a pilot that was just a poor copy of the original British version, it did manage to provide enough good material to stay on the air and hint that better was yet to come. And here it is. The second season of The Office finds its own footing and manages to do the near-impossible by not only breaking free of the gravity of that excellent BBC version to stand solidly on its own, but establishing it as one of the best comedies on TV. Season 2 starts out strong with "The Dundies," where Regional Manager, Michael Scott (Steve Carell, The 40 Year Old Virgin) hosts the company's annual office-awards event with his signature less-than-perfect grace. Things seem to only get worse for him this season as he bumbles a potential affair with his boss, Jan (Melora Harding), angers his employees by reading their emails ("Email Surveillance"), cooks his foot ("The Injury"), and accidentally destroys the warehouse with a forklift in "Boys and Girls," one of the season's highlight episodes. Always at his side is the clueless paranoid Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), the Assistant Regional Manager ("Assistant to the Regional Manager," Michael always reminds him in one of the show's running jokes).

One of the reasons for the show's improvement in the second season is increased focus on Dwight's character, who's becoming something of a pop-culture icon right down to having his own bobblehead. He in turn provides so much good material for Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinsky) to play off of, to their own amusement. But of course, Pam and Jim's simmering relationship is the real meat of the show, as their compatibility becomes more obvious, Jim's feelings for her continue to grow, and Pam struggles with the impending marriage to her less-than-caring boyfriend, Roy (David Denman). Things have to come to a head, and they do nicely in the final episode, "Casino Night." As strong as the leading characters are in The Office, it's the excellent peripheral characters that really make the show hilarious, especially dimwitted office-slug Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), long-suffering intern Ryan (B.J. Novak), office-ditz Kelly (Mindy Kaling), and ultra-conservative Angela (Angela Kinsey). As with season 1, this season contains excellent bonus features to give you an excuse to spend more time at The Office, including the fake PSAs, commentaries, Michael's The Faces of Scranton movie, the ten stand-alone webisodes, and deleted scenes. --Daniel Vancini

It's time to clock in for Season Two of The Office, the hilarious and witty TV-mockumentary starring Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) in his Golden Globe Award-winning role. From sexual politics to performance reviews to email espionage, the employees at Dunder-Mifflin are there to get the job done…or not. Join earnest but clueless boss Michael Scott (Carell), Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight (Rainn Wilson), receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer), sales rep Jim (John Krasinski), and the office temp, Ryan (B.J. Novak), as they make the daily grind a lot more laughable. Fully staffed with 22 outrageous episodes and hours of side-splitting bonus features, it's the must-own collection that caused Time magazine to declare "Never has a lousy job been so much fun."

Customer Reviews:

The Funniest & Best Written Show
The Office is one of the funniest shows on network TV. The cast and writers took the genius concept of the British import and did a fine job crafting their own show that will hopefully be on the air for many years to come. While it might not look like there are many extras, the few that are here are the perfect companion to these episodes. Some include truly funny bits, stuff that fans need to see for themselves.
--2006-12-11

I don't even watch television.
The Office is the single most well written TV sitcom that I have ever experienced. I've only enjoyed certain shows, such as Seinfeld and Family Guy, but this is absolutely amazing. This is a show for the intellectuals, the jokes are quickly carried out, giving it that British comedic feel. If you have this one, you're going to need to buy the first one, and most definitely the third season when it comes out. As I said in the title, I don't even watch television, and this my friends is the most amazing DVD set to come into light to this very day.

Dwight Shrute is coming to the Steamtown Mall in Scranton in mid-December!

--2006-12-02

Hands down the best comedy on TV today
...and well on its way to ranking amongst the best of all time. The Office is a smart (and dry) comedy that offers something different. The cast is all exceptional, particular Raine Wilson and Steve Carell as Dwight and Michael respectively. The cast expertly portrays a parody of office life in a way that leaves you rolling on the floor laughing with each episode.

Unlike Season 1, which was an overpriced single disc with just 6 episodes, this collection represents not only the first full season of the show, but also the episodes where it begins to hit its stride. And unlike so many of the box sets out there, the bonus features on this one are actually worth watching, especially the deleted scenes that accompany each episode (about 5 extra minutes on each episode!). No watered down content in these -- the deleted scenes are just as funny as any of the jokes in the episode.

My one beef actually goes back to the special features. I wish that there was a way to watch the full extended version of an episode with the extra scenes included so that you could see them in their full context. The added jokes ring well as long as you watch the deleted scenes immediately after watching the corresponding episode, but it's not the kind of thing where you can sit back and just watch all the deleted scenes for an evening. They lose some of their impact as standalone segments.
--2006-11-30

Well, it's starting to get better.
The Office is a mockumentary surrounding a group of typical office workers, where their workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium.

What worked so well in the BBC program fails to translate in the American version. The awkward silences, the confessionals, and the naturalism seem artificial. Unfortunately the majority of the actors seem overly in on the joke and preoccupied with trying to recreate what made the British version flow so well, causing the show to feel unnatural and forced. The subtle blink-and-you-miss-um jokes feel all too unsubtle and sometimes over the top. The only actor who manages to rise above this is Steve Carell, the star of the show. Somehow I feel the American version of "The Office" is worthy of a laugh-track, and that's never a good thing. Although I will finish by saying that as season two has moved on from imitating the British version it seems to be laying out its own ground which is promising. It's starting to feel less like a phoney rip-off and more like a new creation.
--2006-11-28

Simply Amazing
I could simply repeat what everyone has thus far said: amazing show, amazing acting, and completely hilarious. However, what sets the show apart from other hilarious sitcoms (Arrested Development, another drop dead eye-tearingly funny show, comes to mind) is the moments of actual, genuine emotion that slip through all the awkward humor. This show is the absolute king of sucker punching you with heartfelt moments when you least expect them. Everyone talks about Pam and Jim (more on that later), but Steve Carrell's Michael Scott is actually the master at this. Every time you think they are going to push him totally over the edge into cartoon buffonery, he comes back with something you don't expect. The first thing that comes to mind is the "Dundies" episode, where Michael is getting heckled by some frat boy drunks at the Chili's bar. You go from laughing at his ridiculous so called "comedy" to totally feeling crushed for the guy, and kind of guilty for making fun of him in the first place. Of course, what review would be complete without Pam and Jim, everyone's favorite unrequited love. All I'm going to say is this: many viewers have gotten used to anti climactic endings, unanswered questions, and big moments that never come (coughcoughLostcoughcough)....BUT if you haven't seen this season, just stick with it, because the last (and now legendary) "Casino Night" episode has one of the most well-earned (and truly suspenseful) payoffs I've seen in the last 5 years of watching TV.
--2006-11-27

The Office - Season Two

- Universal Studios