The Office - Complete Series One & Two and The Christmas Specials [2001] [DVD]

It's hard to imagine how this series was successfully pitched to the BBC.
There is no canned laughter. It is a faux documentary set in the admin section of a paper manufacturer. The boss is really nasty and none of the staff lead interesting lives. When the show was being made none of the actors or writers were even mildly famous.
The Office is hilarious though, possibly because of rather than despite these points.

David Brent is one of the great sitcom characters. He is unpleasant to deal with, completely self-absorbed and seemingly oblivious to how much he is disliked and ridiculed. Initially it is impossible to have any sympathy for him. However by the end of the Christmas Specials, when his ego has taken enough of a battering, I was glad to see a bit of hope appearing in his life.

While Brent is definitely the main character the supporting roles are integral to the series. The "will they, won't they" romance between Tim and Dawn is well done. Even these characters have an edge as we wonder why she stays with her fiancé and why Tim will neither take a promotion nor go back to college. Brent's scary sidekick Gareth is also an excellent character. Most of us have had to work with a Gareth at some point.

The scripts are brilliantly written by Gervais and Merchant. Among the best scenes are:
- Brent breaking into song on the training day
- Brent in the bird costume on Comic Relief Day
- The dance (of course)

This box set has good extras such as interviews with the writers and cast, early versions of the series and Gervais obviously getting a great kick from recording "Free Love on the Freeway" with Noel Gallagher

This box set is all fourteen episodes of one of the funniest British sitcoms ever

When "The Office" first aired I was only in my teens and it passed me by. In the years that followed when I stumbled upon repeats I never gave them a proper chance, partly because I felt I had missed the bus, and also to a large extent because its ability to prick my cringe-reflex was too much to handle. However, when "Extras" came along, and I had the chance to experience the genius of Merchant and Gervais, I began to feel obliged to give "The Office" another try. I only recently got round to doing just that, opting to take a chance on the boxset and having watched both seasons and Christmas specials over the course of two days I'm definitely a belated convert.

The similarities between "Extras" and "The Office" aren't difficult to spot, and there really isn't any reason I can see why a fan of one wouldn't enjoy the other just as much. I'm only left wondering why I missed out on it for so long. The cast is perfectly assembled, and it's probably fair to say, 10 years on and with the series having been remade and revamped dozens of times in a multitude of countries, that this is one of the best written and most original TV show in TV history (not trying to be hyperbolic I think it's justified). All the central characters are brilliantly conceived and perfectly played. I'm not surprised that it's not some people's cup of tea, seeing as it isn't exactly a standard-issue sitcom (with the easily disliked central character, absence of laugh track and the degree to which it embraces its dull setting), nevertheless having remedied my ignorance of it I couldn't recommend it more. The DVDs have quite a few special features, with the usual behind the scenes, commentaries and outtakes, all of which are well worth watching. All in all a great series and boxset, definitely a 5 star product, and at less than £10 you can't go wrong.

It's a dark "Dilbert," a realistic "Office Space." Hit Brit-comedy "The Office" takes mockumentaries to the small screen, featuring the hilariously unfunny David Brent, and his unhappy employees. This three-pack includes both seasons, plus the satisfying holiday special, which also serves as the grand finale.

The first season opens with David Brent (Ricky Gervais) learning that either his branch or another branch of paper corporation Wenham-Hogg will shortly be downsized. So this wannabe-comedian sets out to prove that his branch is better, stumbling as he tries. Trailing in his wake is bored everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), dead-looking yes-man Gareth (MacKenzie Crook), and pretty, quietly cynical receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis).

The second season, while more unsteady than the first, takes some new and darker steps. Now David's rival Neil (Patrick Baladi) is his boss, and David has a slew of new employees who are less than thrilled about his racist jokes, chicken suits, and the lack of any actual work going on. Dawn becomes jealous when Tim gets a girlfriend, and Gareth searches for any way to bed Tim's girlfreind. And after a catastrophic managerial meeting, David learns that the next downsizing just might be him...

After the dismal ending of the second season, the feature-length "Office Special" provides a satisfying wrap up. Three years later, everyone from Wenham-Hogg -- including those who no longer work there -- is being called back for a special reunion. Tim is given one last chance to win Dawn's affections, and David finally learns the truth about himself. (Anyone disappointed by the end of the second season had better check out the new endings)

Don't expect a typical sitcom in "The Office." No laughtracks. No punch lines. No gag humor... well, not much. 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. Okay, most offices don't have giant inflatable genitalia, or a comedy-for-charity day, but the core of it is frighteningly close to home.

The series gets off to a slightly bumpy start -- at first, the jokes are a bit too thinly-spread. But soon "The Office" gets its footing and the humor steadies itself ("Tim's put my stapler inside a jelly again. That's the third time he's done it!" Gareth complains, displaying the stapler in a Jell-O mold). And a lot of the humor is a subversive, subtle kind -- it creeps into your mind, and by episode two you'll be laughing your head off at David's bad jokes, his spastic chimp dance, and his prejudices hidden behind a veil of political correctness.

Ricky Gervais is brilliant -- David is every bit as annoying and obnoxious as the immortal Basil Fawlty, but hides it under a genial mask and stupid jokes. Mackenzie Crook is wonderful as the obsequious boot-licker with a bit of a sex fixation; his Dirty Bertie toy is one of the most tasteless, horribly funny scenes on TV. Tim, like Dilbert, is a lovable loser who can't get himself out of his soul-sucking job. And Dawn is mired in a relationship with an obnoxious cheapskate, yet it takes her the whole series to finally do something about it.

Clearly destined for cult status, this is "The Office" as it was meant to be, with a darkly funny storyline culminating in a satisfying finale. Funny, strange and immensely entertaining.