Creators/Executive Producers:
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Greg Daniels
Cast:
Steve Carell ………. Michael Scott
Rainn Wilson ………. Dwight Schrute
John Krasinski ………. Jim Halpert
Jenna Fischer ………. Pam Beesly
B.J. Novak ………. Ryan Howard
Leslie David Baker ………. Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner ………. Kevin Malone
Creed Bratton ………. Creed Bratton
David Denman ………. Roy Anderson
Kate Flannery ………. Meredith Palmer
Melora Hardin ………. Jan Levinson(-Gould)
Angela Kinsey ………. Angela Martin
Mindy Kaling ………. Kelly Kapoor
Paul Lieberstein ………. Toby Flenderson
Oscar Nunez ………. Oscar Martinez
Phyllis Smith ………. Phyllis Lapin
Amy Adams ………. Katy
David Koechner ………. Todd Packer
Patrice O’Neal ………. Lonny
Craig Robinson ………. Darryl Philbin
Karly Rothenberg ………. Madge
Robert R. Shafer ………. Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration
Nancy Walls ………. Carol Stills
The Show:
After a 6-episode first season that used the scripts from the original British show, The Office entered it’s second season hoping not to get cancelled. But something funny happened along the way. Paired with freshman comedy My Name is Earl on Tuesday and featuring all-new scripts, NBC found a couple of hit comedies on their hands, and of course transferred them to Thursdays in an effort to revive their “Must See TV” comedy block. They’re both still there, so they must have done something right.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show, the premise is that people are filming a documentary (don’t call it a reality show, even if that’s exactly what it is) about mid-sized paper company Dunder-Mifflin, and we get to see the goings on in the branch in Scranton, PA. The regional manager is Michael Scott, a good-hearted guy who tries to be friends with his employees but normally ends up looking somewhat pathetic.
The other main characters are: Dwight Schrute, sales representative and assistant (to the) Regional Manager, a rather strange fellow with a bit of a superiority complex; Jim Halpert, a sales representative who is looking for a way to move up in the business world but seems to lack the will to do it; and Pam Beesley, the receptionist who is friends with Jim but is engaged to one of the dock workers in the warehouse.
The other characters are played by improv actors and writers of the show, who graduate to full cast status during this season. They get various subplots and some character depth during the season.
With that, here are the episodes…
Episodes:
Disc One:
201 “The Dundies”
Michael conducts his annual awards event – The Dundees – at Chili’s (of course), and noone is looking forward to it except Michael. And Pam, after she gets toasted on margaritas.
202 “Sexual Harrassment”
A resignation by an executive due to sexual harassment leads to a seminar on sexual harassment and a visit from Michael’s boss, Jan Levinson-Gould. Which is a bit of an issue for “King of Email Forwards” Michael and his “BFF”, traveling sales rep Todd Packer (who is NOT a William Hung fan).
203 “Office Olympics”
Michael has second thoughts about buying a house. And with Michael and Dwight away, Jim takes this opportunity to stage the “Office Olympics”, which seem to go over a lot better than “The Dundies”. And it’s a helluva lot better than doing expense reports.
204 “The Fire”
A kitchen fire forces the employees outside, where Jim starts a game of “Desert Island”. Dwight, naturally, doesn’t understand the game at all. We also find out that Jim is dating saleswoman Katy (from last season), which seems to make Pam a little jealous. And speaking of jealous, Dwight gets jealous when Michael gives Ryan a lot of attention because he’s going to business school. Given that Michael has an attention span of about 5 minutes, Dwight probably doesn’t need to worry that much.
205 “Halloween”
Everyone gets dressed up for the Halloween party, but Michael Beeblebrox isn’t feeling very happy because he has to fire somebody by the end of the day. So naturally, he spends the whole day putting it off. Meanwhile, Jim and Pam put Dwight’s “resume” online.
206 “The Fight”
Guest Star: Lance Krall (The Joe Schmo Show) as Sensei Ira
Jim manages to arrange a fight between Dwight and Michael at the Dojo where Dwight trains (and is older than everyone by at least 25 years). And yes, Karate Kid references are made, so you can email Bill Simmons about that.
The day also happens to be the “perfect storm” of days that Michael has to sign things, so the fight is just another great way to procrastinate. His other way is apparently to crank call Ryan with “hilarious” impersonations.
Disc Two:
207 “The Client”
Guest Star: Tim Meadows as Christian
Michael and Jan have an important meeting with a representative of Lackawanna County at Chili’s. Apparently it’s where business happens. Or it will be if Michael gets his way. It’s not a bad idea, really. Get the client liquored up, and get them to sign a ridiculous contract. Anyways, the meeting actually goes pretty well, and Michael ends up with a shocking surprise, which he naturally takes about 10 steps too far.
And of course with Michael away, Jim and Pam find something interesting to do. This time Pam finds a manuscript for a (partially autobiographical) movie that Michael wrote (while trying to find a joke for Michael), and they decide to do a reading.
208 “Performance Review”
It’s performance review time, and everyone’s somewhat nervous about meeting with Michael. We also get to see a bit more about what happened between Jan and Michael in the last episode. Which is somewhat awkward since Jan is there for MICHAEL’S review. This somehow leads to Michael reading from the suggestion box. Oh, and Jim convinces Dwight that it’s actually Friday instead of Thursday.
209 “Email Surveillance”
The staff finds out that Michael is doing email surveillance and reading their emails, and as you might imagine they’re not that happy about it. Especially since Jim’s having a BBQ (with imported beer and karaoke!) and Michael wasn’t invited. Which is OK, seeing as he has improv class. Meanwhile, Pam suspects that something might be going on between Dwight and Angela.
210 “Christmas Party”
Michael swaps the annual Secret Santa gift exchange for a white elephant gift exchange after he gets an oven mitt, which upsets the staff. Jim especially, since is present is very Pam-centric. But Michael saves the day with the only thing that could possibly help – vodka, and lots of it.
211 “Booze Cruise”
Guest Star: Rob Riggle (SNL) as Captain Jack
I wonder if anyone will get what “Booze Cruise” is referencing in a couple of years? Anyways, Michael takes the staff on a “camaraderie” cruise, that he later calls a “booze cruise”, which Meredith is pretty excited about. And apparently, the cast actually did get a bit drunk shooting this episode. All in the name of playing the part as accurately as possible, I’m sure.
212 “The Injury”
Michael manages to burn his foot on his George Forman Grill (best invention ever for those of us just learning how to cook) and somehow this leads to a concussion for Dwight and Dwight becoming nice. And with Michael being Michael, this leads to him making a speech about disabilities.
Disc Three:
213 “The Secret”
It’s Spring Cleaning Day (in January), but Oscar is out sick, and Dwight makes it his mission to prove that he’s faking in order to have a long weekend. Jim is worried because he confided his crush on Pam – to Michael, which was never a good idea, because Michael is now trying to be Jim’s best friend, and he’s the worst person in the office to tell a secret to. Well, second worst – Kelly would be the worst.
214 “The Carpet”
Someone soiled the carpet in Michael’s office, so he spends the day in the bullpen at Jim’s desk. So Jim gets to sit in the back, beside Kelly. So he’s obviously not gonna get any work done. And what exactly does Kelly DO, anyway? And while he’s in the bullpen, he gets depressed because he’s convinced that someone in the office did it.
215 “Boys and Girls”
Jan comes into the office to host a Women in the Workplace seminar, which greatly bothers Michael because he’s not allowed in. So his solution is to have an impromptu “Guys in the Workplace” seminar. In the warehouse, which of course annoys the Darryl and the warehouse crew. Not a big fan of this episode.
216 “Valentine’s Day”
Guest Star: Charles “Chip” Esten (Whose Line it is Anyway?) as Josh Porter
It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air. Unless you’re Jim, in which case you’ll be taking money from your friends playing poker. But it’s good news for Kelly, since she and Ryan hooked up the night before. No so much for Ryan though. Michael has a meeting at the head office in New York, so he spends some time showing the camera crew some of his favourite places to eat. And since this IS Michael, we’re talking Sbarro (his favourite pizza joint… yikes) and some tourist trap restaurants in Times Square. I’ll cut him some slack though, as he “almost” meets Tina Fey.
217 “Dwight’s Speech”
Dwight is the top salesman at Dunder-Mifflin – pretty good considering they’re the fourth best office (out of five) in the company. But hey, it’s the highest honour that a Northeastern Pennsylvania-based midsized paper company regional salesman can attain, so good on him, I guess. But Dwight doesn’t have a speech prepared, so Michael and Jim help him out. Michael because he doesn’t want to be embarrassed, Jim because he wants to mess around with Dwight’s head. Meanwhile, Pam is planning her wedding, and Jim is planning to miss it.
218 “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”
The staff bring in their kids to learn about the paper business. Unfortunately, they have to be there the whole day, so that’s seven hours, fifty-five minutes that they need to kill. At least they’re not Ryan, who ends up having a rather frightening day. But Michael, who of course has the mentality of a six-year old, eventually connects with them and even shows the kids a show that he was on.
Disc Four:
219 “Michael’s Birthday”
Michael throws himself a birthday party, but is upset because everyone is worried about Kevin, who may have skin cancer. Fortunately, Michael has a solution to cheer everyone up.
220 “Drug Testing”
A joint is found in the parking lot, and volunteer sheriff Dwight makes it his mission to find out whose it is.
221 “Conflict Resolution”
Michael decides to take a day to address the complaints the staff have about each other, since he doesn’t like Toby’s passive methods. Or Toby, for that matter. This is great because we get to hear several of the pranks that Jim has pulled on Dwight. Pam gives out “save the date” letters, but doesn’t give one to Angela (Pam doesn’t want to invite anyone who’s called her a hussy. Can’t say I blame her.).
222 “Casino Night”
It’s Casino Night at Dunder-Mifflin (Scranton), and everyone is pretty excited. And why not – the food is from Hooters, you have to pay for your own drinks and the proceeds go to the Boy Scouts of America. Truly, this was what Lord Baden-Powell had in mind when he created the Boy Scouts.
In addition to the Casino backdrop, Jim talks to Jan about transferring out of Scranton, Jim and Pam look at wedding bands (including Kevin’s band “Scrantonicity”, which we heard about last episode.) and Michael thinks he’s got two dates when both Jan and Carol agree to come to Casino Night. But before the season ends, we get one final surprise.
The DVD:
Video:
(Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen Format 1.78:1)
I’ll be honest – the visuals look TOO good to make the average person believe that it’s a documentary.
Audio:
(Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround)
Yep, sounds good.
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes – There are deleted scenes for every episode, as the directors apparently film about 40 minutes worth of story, so around half of that gets cut. So you may spend a lot of time watching these.
Faces of Scranton – A mini-movie about the Scranton office as seen in “Valentine’s Day”. A Michael Scott joint.
Webisodes – The Accountants – First off, a big BOO for not being able to “play all” episodes consecutively. It’s fricking annoying to have to have to go back to the menu and choose another episode, especially for a lazy bastard like myself. And it’s odd that you can see all the deleted scenes collectively but not the webisodes.
Anyways, the premise is that $3000 is unaccounted for, and Angela, Kevin and Oscar have to figure out where it’s gone. They suspect Michael, naturally, but they have to go through everyone else first just to make sure.
Fake PSAs – These were a series of April Fool’s Day skits done in the form of NBC’s “The More You Know” messages. The premise is that Dwight, Jim, Pam, Ryan and Kelly are doing the ads, and true to The Office, they are rather bizarre and funny. Dwight talks about wolves, Jim talks about jellybeans, and my favourite is Ryan and Kelly’s differing views on office relationships. But like the webisodes, you have to select each clip separately, which is really, REALLY annoying given that each clip runs about 5-10 seconds.
Blooper Reel – Are these things ever really that funny?
Olympics Promos – NBC’s promos hyping the return of The Office after the (winter) Olympics.
Steve on Steve – Steve Carell talks with Steve Carell in between episodes during an Office marathon. We also get to see a trailer for The 40-Year Old Virgin
Audio Commentaries:
– “The Dundies” – (John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, David Denman, Dave Rogers (Editor) and Greg Daniels)
– “Sexual Harassment” – (Brian Baumgartner, Rainn Wilson, Novak, Oscar Nunez, Lieberstein, Angela Kinsey, Melora Hardin and Larry Wilmore (Writer))
– “The Client” – (Krasinski, Fischer, Hardin, Baumgartner, Novak, Lieberstein, Mike Schur (Writer) and Daniels)
– “Performance Review” – (Wilson, Nunez, Lieberstein, Kinsey, Hardin, Wilmore and Paul Feig (Director))
– “Christmas Party” – (Fischer, Novak, Kate Flannery, Denman, Rogers, Schur and Daniels)
– “Booze Cruise” – (Fischer, Wilson, Novak, Denman, Kinsey, Nunez, Randall Einhorn (DP) and Daniels)
– “The Secret” – (Krasinski, Fischer, Baumgartner, Kaling, Kinsey, Lee Eisenberg (Writer) and Gene Stupnitsky (Writer))
– “Valentine’s Day” – (Krasinski, Fischer, Kinsey, Kaling, Hardin, Schur, Kent Zbornak (Co-Executive Producer) and Daniels)
– “Drug Testing” – (Wilson, Lieberstein, Fischer, Nunez, Baumgartner, Novak, Kinsey, Einhorn, Jen Celotta (Writer) and Daniels)
– “Casino Night” – (Fischer, Wilson, Hardin, Lieberstein, Denman, Baumgartner, Einhorn and Daniels)
Surprisingly, having 25 people on commentary works for this bunch, as they manage to stay on topic and bring up some interesting notes about shooting the episodes and how they get along and such.
