Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful stuff - watch Season One first, though
Review: The second season of "The Office" is, like the first season, brilliantly executed, with its trademark fly-on-the-wall pseudo-reality show/observational documentary style, its particular brand of humor, and its portrayal of painfully realistic conversational and social awkwardness, as well as its depiction of the mind-numbing tedium of a day (after day after day) in an office, stuck with a bunch of people you probably would never want to hang out with if you had a choice. The characters from Season One are all back, with the addition of some new characters: the Swindon branch of Wernham Hogg has joined the Slough branch, and David Brent has a new boss.
So it's still great fun and it maintains its place in the pantheon of classic British comedies. I watched Season Two of "The Office" all in one sitting immediately after getting the DVD from Amazon. At the same time, though, do yourself a favor and watch Season One first. The main drawback to Season Two is that David Brent has become a bit too much of a caricature of himself. I think the fact that he has moments of self-doubt is entirely realistic but, at the same time, some of his behavior in Season Two is just a little too "over the top". I can understand that Gervais wanted to push the envelope of David's obnoxiousness even further, but in a few places, he crossed the line.That being said, buy this DVD! It's great stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Things you should never consider doing in the office
Review: Wow! This is some funny funny stuff. Not as good as Season 1 in my estimation but damn good. Wryly written and finely executed performances. Ricky Gervais (the face of writing tandem) and Stephen Merchant have taken what could be considered the banal existence of a typical office worker and fused it with a lethal dose of British vernacular and behaviors. The results are glorious and riotous.The clever part about it all is that you dont have to be British to be able to identify with these characters or their personalities. Each character truely represents an individual that you know in your workplace. The documentary style really is where the genius lies, the overt acknowledgement of David's idiocy in the moment he glares at the camera are captured beautifully. David Brent (the lead character played by Gervais), unfortunately, begins a gradual descent into insanity and paranoia and isnt as vulnerable and loveable as you remembered him in the first series. I can assure you that you will at least laugh if youre not too busy going into hysterical convulsions on the floor. The creators have indicated that the second season would be the last and I think television will be much poorer medium because of that fact.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart, Brilliant
Review: It is not a typical tv program, it actually assumes that the audience is intelligent. It doesn't talk down to us, or preach to us, or spoon feed us. It doesn't need a laugh track to tell you when you are supposed to laugh. It just makes you think, and sometimes cringe, and laugh out loud hysterically or just smile and wonder "why can't 99% of american sitcoms be this brilliant?". Our society is so dumbed down and we stand back and let them decide what we can watch until there is nothing left but stupid story lines, unrealistic conversation, sugary sweet endings and those horrible laugh tracks to make us all think it's funny, when it really isn't at all. The Office challenges all of that. Buy it, and enjoy it! It's a rare gem that we won't see again any time soon, well maybe until Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant come up with their next project.
Rating: 
Summary: The most over-hyped "comedy" of all time-FACT!
Review: The Office might be mildly amusing if it really was a fly-on-the-wall documentary but to think that this dross is mentioned in the same breath as Fawlty Towers,defies belief.Vulgar,profane,mawkish-it's all of these but it certainly isn't comedic.The more we learn about the early years of Ricky Gervais (such as his failed attempt to become a rock star),the more obvious it becomes that he IS David Brent and this programme merely documents his desperate quest for fame.For witty,inventive and genuinely funny British comedy avoid this and try The League of Gentlemen,Phoenix Nights or Alan Partridge.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't quite live up to series 1, but still funny
Review: Definitely a sophmore slump for The Office. Not quite as subtle and laugh-out-loud funny as the first go-round, but still worth a look. The scary thing is that my old boss both looks and acts like David Brent.
Rating:
Summary: Must Have
Review: I have seen the christmas specials and can say that the ending is really good wraps up the whole thing, they dont leave any plots hanging so the christmas specials will probably be the last shows. This season though is hilarious too funny and great television, I was dissapointed when they said they would create a US version. Most Americans dont have the same sense of humor also what they have to realize is what makes a great television show, THE CAST, look at what they did to the really good show COUPLING, the american version with the same script just sucked.
Rating:
Summary: no christmas specials???
Review: The second series is indeed fantastic, but look at the "running time" in the technical features section: 180 minutes. That's six episodes at 30 minutes each, which means that the Christmas specials will not be included on this set. This doesn't make much sense to me, since DVD sets of American-format sitcoms (22-26 episodes each) are routinely being released these days. Obviously time, disc space, or cost weren't much of a factor in the decision to omit the specials... it all comes down to stretching out the series' comparatively short run so they can get a bit more $$ from fans. That's perfectly understandable, to tell the truth; I just hope that they release the specials shortly after Series Two since episode 2x06 has about as many open plot threads as the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
Rating:
Summary: A Simple Endorsement
Review: It would be understandable if a fan of the first season of this series expected a let-down in the second season. Let me assure you that this is not the case. The high level of comic subtlety and irony is actually surpassed while continually exploring the inner lives of the characters in greater detail, which is fantastic as we come to care so much about what happens to these people as they play out their fates. I believe this to be the final season, but there is a bit of a haze in the ending...the door is open somewhat for a future season. The "making of" special feature far surpasses the one that came with season one's dvd package, and the outtakes and deleted scenes are hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Brilliant!
Review: Get your hands on this before the cheap immitation American version hits the screen here in the USA.......There is no way they could find a new cast 1/10th as funny as the employees of the original Wernum/Hogg. Subtle but flawless gags make this show funnier than anything else you have seen on television in the last 5 or 6 years (however long it has been since Seinfeld left the air).
PS- Does anybody know if the Christmas specials will be included on this dvd?
Rating:
Summary: Ricky Gervais is a Comic Genius
Review: Nietzche said that he knew "best why it is man alone laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter." This helps explain why The Office is so hilariously successful. The laughs spring from the crushing mediocrity and alienation of pointless office jobs. This may explain why more people enjoy Series One over Series Two; Series Two takes a much more stark view of office life, skewering the clueless chauvinism, bigotry, and political correctness of office life with exhilarating skill, showing the magnificent self-destruction of David Brent with equal parts gags and pathos. You'll be maniacally laughing with and at David Brent.
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