The Office - An American Workplace - Complete Season 3 [DVD]

For those not sure what to expect with The Office, expect a brilliant, well-written, funny, sweet and touching show. I haven't watched the Brit version (to be honest, Ricky Gervais isn't quite my cup of tea) so I can't compare the two. However, I know that the US version stands on its own merit.One of the brilliant things about the Office, is the interesting and loveable cast. There's the boss, Michael, who is always eager to please, but goes about it completely in the wrong way. Sometimes Michael's humour is off, and I find myself skipping certain parts when he goes on a bit, but overall is comes across in an endearing, if sometimes irritating way. Dwight is another brilliant character- a straight-laced, complete odd-ball, extremely gullible man, who always falls for Jim's pranks. The dynamic between Dwight and Jim is hilarious, and one of the funniest things about The Office. Jim has to be my favourite character, and I'll admit that I'm in love with him. His plays off Dwight brilliantly, but the sweetest thing about him is his love for Pam; the sweet and adorable secretary. Other characters such as spiteful Angela, plain Phyllis, Ryan, Creed, Kelly, Kevin and Oscar etc, really make for a brilliant watch. For those who don't work in an office, it almost makes you wish you do. And for those who do, you can see the similarities...and the differences!Season Three of The Office starts where season 2 left off. Jim is in the Scranton brach (which introduces Pam's rival for Jim's affections, Karen, and Dwight's rival to Michael's attention, Andy) which opens up an interesting dynamic. For instance, Jim looks for a bit of Dunder Mifflin/Pennsylvania in Scranton, only to find that Andy's not like Dwight, and his new boss is not like Michael, but that doesn't stop him from still pranking Dwight. Long-distance.Season three also carries on the Pam-Jim interest, which for me is the selling point of The Office. Having dumped her fiancee, Pam is still trying to discover her feelings. She realises she misses Jim, but whether that's as a friend or more is something season 3 toys with. Their relationship, is, as ever, extremely sweet, and when the two branches merge, it sees the return of their amazing banter/ Pam-Jim talk, as well as throwing in the complication of Karen in the mix.So this season: expect to see more Jim/Pam moments, hilariousness from Dwight and Michael, an office worker in need of anger management therapy, an illicit office affair...and possible the best bit: Jim coming in dressed like and talking as Dwight. Need I say more?

This is a flat-out comedy classic. But what is it about British TV networks? Is their quality control so off-kilter, that they would force-feed the population hours of total crap, while hiding the truly transcendent stuff in some nether-world of night-owl TV scheduling?As with Seinfeld on BBC2, Curb on More4, so it happened with The American Office. Buried by ITV2 in a spot where only insomniacs would have found it ( apart from a brief spell where they put it out at 7pm to try and compete with this DVD release of the same week ), The Office USA, is, as far as I am concerned, the next best thing if you've completed your Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm collections.Season Three is a show that brings it's A-Game to almost every plot strand, and it's amazing how much they cram into every single episode. My favourite is perhaps the Joss( 'Buffy' )Weedon-directed episode, whereby Jim pretends to have been bitten by a bat. He suddenly becomes averse to daylight and allergic to garlic bread, in order to freak out Dwight, the office geek. Jim's underplayed, subtle impersonation of Bela Lugosi at the end, is pure comedy gold.It's indicative of how much material goes into every episode, that the above-mentioned plot is not even listed on the episode guide. So i was unable to show it to visiting friends, as i had no idea which episode it was from. In fact, it is only in the incidental details where this particular box set falls short. The printed plot synopses are not exactly useful, and the fact that there are no subtitles, comes across as rather cheap, and stingy. ( No, I'm not deaf - but you try listening to a show where a lot of the dialogue is realistic and mumbled, late at night, without having the sound way up and annoying the hell out of everyone. And besides that, deaf people should be allowed to enjoy this, too..! ).Both the aforementioned Seinfeld and Curb box sets had well-cued subtitling, and extensive extras and liner notes. This doesn't. However, i will say that the deleted scenes offer much more than you would expect. They are actually more like mini-episodes that must have been lopped-off simply for timing reasons, as the material is so strong that it's just as good as the stuff which makes the final cut.My girlfriend and i would curl up every night for a fresh episode, only to end up having a marathon viewing session, but we couldn't help it. It's just so good.

I cannot recommend the third season of The Office: An American Workplace highly enough. It builds on the somewhat experimental 6 episode first season and the stride-hitting second season to become one of the best shows on TV today. It is certainly without a doubt the funniest. This show -- and in particular Michael and Dwight -- have made me laugh so hard, I have literally been rolling around the floor, tears streaming down my eyes, roaring with laughter until my ribs ached.The show also touches you on a personal level, as the repressed, slow burning and very sweet relationship between Jim and Pam develops episode by episode. If you work 9-to-5 Dolly Parton style in an office, the show resonates with you even more, as you recognise neurotic characters and idiosyncratic events that actually happen in your own workplace. When you think that an office is just a room with four walls, fluorescent lights, some desks and computers, it's amazing how creative the writers get with this set up and how they breathe life into the dreary, monotonous place where millions of us spend most of our adult lives.Perhaps the ultimate testament to the show is Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant coming out of "The Office" retirement to pen an entire episode. Unless you hate laughing and feeling good, you have to buy this show. I personally will be counting down the days until this is released and I just hope the release date isn't delayed several times like with Season 2.