Before this past week, I had never seen NBC’s hit comedy “The Office.” That does not mean I didn’t want to see it. It’s just that the pressures of school prevented me from tuning in. Of course, scheduling conflicts are always solved when a series is put on DVD, and so we have “The Office: Season 3.”
The four DVD set features all 22 episodes of the hit series’ third season and also includes never before seen deleted scenes, several featurettes and audio commentary on every episode.
The show is your basic dry humor laced comedy about a group of co-workers in a work environment similar to those on most reality shows. Think “Dilbert” crossed with MTV’s “The Real World” and you have something that resembles this show. The cast is absolutely stellar in most places. Steve Carell has many a comedic moment as the often times clueless boss, Michael Scott. His supporting cast of characters, including Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson also have their own time in the spotlight. Then, there’s my personal favorite, “The Daily Show” alumnus Ed Helms, who adds the certain silliness mixed with seriousness he is known for.
However, what the show has in star power, it somewhat lacks in actual comedic material. For this show to be a comedy, it was definitely not a good sign that I didn’t actually laugh at anything until about the fourth episode of the season. In some cases, the humor is so dry that it is difficult to catch. Other times, it’s simply too offensive. One episode in particular that illustrates this is the first episode on the DVD, “Gay Witch Hunt.” If you can’t tell from the title, I can simply tell you that this episode took me to new heights of discomfort, as it essentially drags out nothing but gay jokes for a half hour. Despite these missteps, “The Office” provides some good material, but said material is so infrequent it’s difficult to stay interested.
The special features are something else entirely. While the DVDs have the obligatory behind the scenes features and blooper reel, it also has several featurettes of the cast essentially still in character, providing some of the most hysterical scenes on the DVD. Especially wonderful is the special “Kevin Cooks Stuff in the Office” scene, where Kevin Malone (played by Brian Baumgartner) essentially hosts a cooking show in the break room of the office. Who knew you could make cheese quesadillas out of tortilla chips and squeeze cheese?
Still, even with the great special features, this DVD is something of an acquired taste. By no means am I saying that fans of the show will not enjoy this DVD. If you enjoy the show on TV and want to be able to watch it anytime you want, then by all means, this is definitely a good choice for you. If you’re like me however, and are looking at the show for the first time, you might be better served trying to catch an episode or two on free television before shelling out the money for this one. The humor is there, but not everyone will find it funny.
