"I told Dwight that there is honor in losing, which, as we all know, is completely ridiculous. But there is, however, honor in making a loser feel better, which is what I just did for Dwight. Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me, and I think I proved that today at the dojo." - Steve Carell as Michael Scott
The Office: Season Two DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Adapting British series for American TV can be a risky proposition. The 1970s brought a slew of Brit-based hits, including All in the Family, Three's Company, and Sanford and Son. Many recent attempts have failed, however. Why watch inferior versions of English favorites like Coupling and Cold Feet when the originals can be seen on PBS, BBC America, and any number of other cable outlets? When NBC's redo of the cult phenom The Office hit the airwaves in March 2005, purists scoffed and audiences mostly stayed away. In its six episode first season, the series didn't exactly have time to find its own voice. Then something interesting happened - NBC renewed the series, and when it returned in September, it quickly became one of the funniest, most romantic sitcoms on TV.
Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) stars as Michael Scott, the doltish Regional Manager of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company's Scranton, PA office. Michael is the perfect example of failing upward. He can barely motivate himself to even sign his name to expense forms, much less actually run the office. And while he's well-meaning and tries to be supportive of his staff, he's also racist, sexist, and prone to say and do terribly inappropriate things. How inappropriate? Each year, he hosts The Dundies - an interoffice awards ceremony - at the local Chili's. The awards are meant to motivate his employees, yet this year's trophies include the "Don't Go in There after Me" award to someone who chronically stinks up the restroom and the "Bushiest Beaver" award (which was really meant to be the "Busiest Beaver" award).
Not that his subordinates are necessarily anything to write home about. Dwight Schrute (Six Feet Under's Rainn Wilson) is the power-mad Assistant to the Regional Manager who is proud of the fact that his grandfather served in WWII before being held captive in an Allied prison camp. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) is an amiable slacker who spends most of his days dreaming up ways to torture Dwight. Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) is the branch's meek receptionist, perennially engaged to lummox warehouse worker Roy (David Denman). Intern Ryan Howard (Punk'd's B.J. Novak) wants to put his experiences at Dunder-Mifflin to good use as part of his business school training, but often ends up trying to avoid becoming Michael's man-crush. Angela (Angela Kinsey) is a judgmental, conservative Christian scold. Schlumpy Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) is so apathetic that he can't even keep his mouth from involuntarily drifting open. Stanley (Leslie David Baker) is the office crank. Oscar (Oscar Nunez) often takes sick days so that he can go ice skating and attend marathon viewings of The Prince of Tides. Meredith (Kate Flannery) has a tendency to drink her lunch. And her breakfast. And her mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Kindhearted Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) is mistaken for Mother Goose by a visiting toddler. Chatterbox Kelly (Mindy Kaling) never heard a conversation she didn't want to join. Creed (Creed Bratton) is the employee most likely to bring a gun to work. Toby (Paul Lieberstein), who heads the branch's human resources department, is Michael's nemesis because he is a stickler for company policy. Jan Levinson (Dirty Dancing's Melora Hardin) is Michael's exasperated New York City-based supervisor.
This motley group of goof-offs is being filmed by a movie crew for a documentary on business management. This fly-on-the-wall conceit gives The Office the feel of a reality series. "Candid" vignettes alternate with "confessional" interviews made popular on shows like The Real World. Together, they present one of the funniest, most realistically mind-numbing portrayals of the workplace on TV today. The pettiness, the in-fighting, the boredom - it's all here.
One of the show's best running gags is Jim's persistent plots to drive Dwight insane. When Dwight mistakenly loses track of the week and thinks that a Thursday is actually a Friday, Jim convinces everyone else to play along, thus ending Dwight's record of perfect attendance. Jim teams up with Pam to post a doctored version of Dwight's résumé on a Web site for job seekers. When it actually gets a nibble, Dwight becomes convinced that it was posted by a satisfied customer. Dwight's desk gets moved into the bathroom, his office supplies are put in the snack machine, and he's given a security I.D. that lists his middle name as "Fart" rather than "Kurt."
If The Office stuck with sending up workplace politics, clueless bosses, and corporate culture, it would deserve a spot in the disgruntled worker hall-of-fame along with 9 to 5, Office Space, and Clockwatchers. The series goes much further than that, though, exploring the hearts of these supposedly soulless office drudges. Jim harbors what quickly becomes not-quite-secret crush on Pam. Their flirtatious friendship is gracefully developed over the course of the entire season, leading up to the season's touching finale. Their relationship (or lack of a relationship, as the case may be) is so finely drawn that a simple smile or look says more than all of Meredith's pontificating about McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy put together.
Yep, love is in the air at Dunder-Mifflin. Michael fools himself into thinking that he and Jan are dating because she confided in him about her recent divorce. It's sort of sad, but it also sheds more light on Michael's various insecurities. Just try not to get a lump in your throat when watching footage of a young Michael appearing on a kids' show proclaiming that when he grows up he wants to get married and have one hundred kids so that he can have one hundred friends. Even Dwight finds a kindred spirit in Angela, a secret that only Pam figures out.
I must admit that I wasn't a big fan of the original British version of The Office. I was just unable to connect with its sense of humor which, to me, mostly seemed to rely on the discomfort of its characters for laughs. By adding heart to the humor, I believe that the American version improves upon the original, fleshing out the characters and their situation into a complex, funny soufflé. Don't miss it.
Guest stars include Amy Adams (Junebug), Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live), Ken Howard (The White Shadow), and Conan O'Brien.
The twenty-two episodes that make up season two are divided onto four discs. Each of the discs are designed to look like crumpled paper and feature portraits of the gang - Michael on disc one, Dwight on disc two, Jim on disc three, and Pam on disc four. The discs are housed in a foldout case decorated with an office theme. The four discs attach to two panels - two of the panels hold two discs (one on top of the other) in a figure eight pattern. Two panels of the foldout case list the titles of each episode along with a brief episode synopsis. The case slides into a cardboard sleeve featuring Michael peering out from behind a set of blinds.
The clever DVD menus - which feature an office theme - are simple and easy to navigate. Viewers can play all episodes or choose an individual one. There are no scene selection menus, but the episodes do include chapter stops.
