The Office: Seasons One and Two (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Remaking movies is bad enough, but remaking TV shows is even worse -- when that happens, there's ninety-nine atrocious shows for one good one.
But "The Office" is that one in a hundred that's good. Scratch that -- it's that one in a million that is AS GOOD as the Ricky Gervais series it sprang from, while still having its own unique flavour. "The Office: Seasons One & Two" brings together the first half-season and the full second season, which are full of outrageous corporate disasters filmed in a mockumentary style. It's absolutely sidesplitting.
The action takes place at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin (a paper corporation), presided over by Michael Scott (Steve Carell), a wannabe comic who claims to be a pal to all the people under him, despite driving them all up the wall. There's also the "fascist nerd" Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), bored everyman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), and the beautiful secretary Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), whom Jim hopelessly longs for.
In the first season, Michael is ordered to do some downsizing, which he spends the whole season trying to avoid. In the meantime, Jim and Pam spend a great deal of time mocking the rigid Dwight, even starting an "alliance" with him, Survivor-style. And the Scranton employees are faced with a disastrous basketball game, Michael's version of a diversity seminar, a sexy purse salesgirl, and (most horribly) a Dwight-planned health care package.
The downsizing problem continues well into the second season, where the Scranton employees are faced with more "typical" corporate problems -- workplace awards (the "Dundies"), sexual harassment, a workplace fire, email spying, Secret Santa, drug testing ("Do you want to give Michael your urine?"), a house party Michael isn't invited to, sales conventions, and "Take Your Daughter To Work" Day that ends in a disaster.
Of course, all these are given a more bizarre twist by Michael's constant attempts to make the office a "fun" place (stealing Christmas gifts!!), and Dwight's equally peculiar antics (a public speech using lines from Hitler and Mussolini... courtesy of Jim). In the meantime, Jim's feelings for Pam get more cumbersome as her engagement slowly creeps toward marriage with the loutish Roy, and Michael enters a sort-of-relationship with his exasperated boss Jan.
Don't expect a typical sitcom in "The Office." No laughtracks. No punch lines. No gag humor... well, okay there's some. And no episode has a clear-cut ending. Instead, we have the format seen in "This is Spinal Tap" and the Christopher Guest mockumentaries -- hidden cameras watching the madness. And what those cameras see is enough to make the world's cubicle-dwellers cry, because it's all so familiar... yet so twisted.
The first season (which is rather short at only six episodes) is also heavily flavoured with the British series' humour, right down to the stapler-in-Jell-O joke. But most of the humor belongs to this show alone -- loads of pranks from Jim and Pam ("That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion"), horrendously awkward problems (Dwight trying to find drugs in the office) and intertwined storylines about office romance and conflict.
But the best part is the dialogue -- deadpan, unspeakably funny dialogue, on any topic ("I need a username, and... I have a great one. 'Little Kid Lover.' That way people will know exactly where my priorities are at").
Steve Carell has some big shoes to fill, but his earnestly manic, unconsciously offensive Michael Scott makes a brilliant boss that you would sell a kidney to avoid working under. Wilson is equally brilliant as the totally bizarre dork Dwight ("Last year I came to work with my spud-gun in a duffle bag"), while Krasinski and Fischer are quite likable as the mischievous everyman and his soul-mate (who is unhappily engaged to another man).
More subtle and yet goofier than just about any other American sitcom, "The Office" translates British humour into a great post-mockumentary comedy. Funny, witty, and horrifyingly true to life, the first two seasons are a treasure.

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Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Daily Show) stars in The Office, a fresh and funny mockumentary-style glimpse into the daily interactions of the eccentric workers at the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company. Based on the smash-hit British series of the same name and adapted for American Television by Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Simpsons), this fast-paced comedy parodies contemporary American water-cooler culture. Earnest but clueless regional manager Michael Scott (Carell) believes himself to be an exceptional boss and mentor, but actually receives more eye-rolls than respect from his oddball staff. Entertainment Weekly calls The Office "smart and trenchant," and all six hilarious season one episodes are available here on DVD for the first time. The awkward silences in The Office will have you laughing out loud!It's time to clock in for Season Two of The Office, the comically honest look at the world of white-collar employment. Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) won a Golden Globe for his role as Michael Scott, the sometimes pathetic but always hilarious regional manager of Dunder-Mifflin paper supply company. Join him and the amazing ensemble cast (Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B.J. Novak) as Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam and Ryan navigate the hidden romance and open absurdity of the business world, from the Christmas party to sexual harassment training to the "Booze Cruise" retreat to the heartbreak of "Casino Night." Developed by Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Simpsons), fully staffed with all 22 outrageous episodes and packed with hours of laugh-ot-loud bonus features, The Office: Season Two is the must-own cure for the workday blues.

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