- Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
- Language: English
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 2
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Release Date: April 20 2004
- Run Time: 360 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0001EFVGI
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#27,474 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
- #5 in DVD > Comedy > Series & Sequels > The Office (UK)
- #71 in DVD > TV Shows > BBC > Gift Sets
- #98 in DVD > TV Shows > TV Series > TV Series By Letter > O
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Product Description
From Amazon.com
It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller
The second series exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais is once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, but in this series, Brent's to-the-camera assertions concerning his management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil (Patrick Baladi) takes over as area manager. To compensate, Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer-motivator-comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), a sympathetic character persisting in a relationship with a man about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. All this and Keith too. --David Stubbs
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Office- Finally a comedy I can laugh at!,
By
This review is from: The Office: The Complete First and Second Series (DVD)
I had heard rumors about The Office from poking around on the internet, but was never really interested because my cable provider does not offer BBC. That all changed when I was trying to decide what to get my father-in-law for Father's Day. I walked past a DVD display in Target and there was The Office-Season One, and The Office- Season Two. They only had one copy of Season One left, which is surprising considering I'm in South Dakota (not exactly the British Humor Mecca). My father-in-law is your typical corporate guy who is constantly frustrated by his job and the people around him. I knew right away what we had to get him for a gift.Naturally, after reading the back of the DVD I became curious, and my husband and I ended up purchasing The Office Season One & Two for ourselves. I can't say enough good things about The Office. The characters are flawlessly developed (not shallow play-things like the cast from Friends), the writing solid, and the humor deft but subtle. There have been several times where my husband and I were laughing so hard that we were crying. Season One, Episode Two, where Gareth is "investigating" Tim and Dawn, is one of my many favorite moments. Don't be put off if you've never worked in an "office-setting"- The Office can appeal to anyone who has ever held a job and was forced to deal with co-workers. My dad, who has been a truckdriver his whole life, LOVES The Office! A word from the wise, though: You'll definitely want to watch with the subtitles on. Since it's filmed "mockumentary" style, some of the things they say are muttered, and the subtitles help you to keep up with the humor.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you work in an Office, you have to see this!,
This review is from: The Office: The Complete First and Second Series (DVD)
The Office is the funniest thing I have seen in a while. It does take a little bit to get used to the lingo for all of us from the "States", but it is worth it. If you have ever worked in an office environment, you will get plenty of laughs from this show. The boss, David did get a little old by the end of the second season, but that was really the only complaint I had. I was impressed, and will definately be looking at other BBC shows in the future. I hear they are looking at making a US version, that would be awesome!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Office humour I can relate to,
By
This review is from: The Office: The Complete First and Second Series (DVD)
Great laughs. I think I've worked with some of those people... *lol*The Characters were very well written and the actors/actress' were great. It was like watching a reality workplace documentary without the commentary. There were some British slang I couldn't pick up on and had to be explained to me, but it wasn't a big issue and I still found it hilarious. I enjoyed both series, but I wish there was more... I'd definitely watch it again sometime and I definitely recommend this to others.
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