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The Office - The Complete First Series

The Office - The Complete First Series

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $23.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: lol
Review: There are things that I will never laugh at. The handicapped - because there's nothing funny about them. Or any deformity. ...At least the little handicapped fella is able minded... or sometimes not - it's difficult to tell with the wheelchair ones.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Required viewing if you work in an office yourself
Review: Many people regard Office Space as THE great office-life comedy. I think it's a very funny movie and there is a lot to identify with in it, but there are more unrealistic moments in that movie (and the love story felt a little tacked in) than you'll find here.

I think most office workers can identify with: the boss who makes unfunny/inappropriate jokes then waits for the laughs, the two people in the office who seem to be flirting all the time, the two people engaged in office romance, the painful HR training session, the people who have a few too many drinks and embarrass themselves at the office party, the dirty jokes that get emailed to everyone, the worry about office downsizing, the guy who's always kissing up to the boss, the tedium of your job, etc.

The Office captures all of these elements so realistically that it does actually make for somewhat painful viewing at points. The reason you'll keep watching is that it is also very, very funny. All of the lead actors and actresses do a great job and the show doesn't overstay its welcome with a tight six episode season.

Bring on Season Two!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Too Good Not To Be True
Review: What do you get when you take Waiting For Guffman and put it in a business setting? You get "The Office," the British sitcom that is ferociously breaking into American culture. This 2 DVD set contains the first season of "The Office," as well as a behind the scenes documentary of the making and creation of the show. Enjoy it now before we have the sure-to-be stupid American version of it on NBC or ABC, which will likely perform about as well as the disastrous "Coupling" import.

"The Office" shows us the day-to-day lives of the employees of Wernham Hogg paper company, led by the insufferable boss David Brent (Ricky Gervais, the shows co-writer and co-creator). While David is usually the focus of each episode, the show contains a very deep supporting cast, including Gareth, the military-trained assistant-to-the-manager, Tim, the anti-Gareth, who he's constantly warring with, and his in-office romantic interest Dawn, the everyday-pretty secretary.

If you are familiar with the films of Christopher Guest - Waiting For Guffman, Spinal Tap, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind - then you'll be right at home with "The Office." It's filmed in the simplistic and usually funny "mockumentary" style. For reasons never named in the show, there are cameramen throughout the Wernham Hogg offices filming the daily activities of all the employees, as well as conducting frequent and insightful interviews with the characters.

Enough of that - here's why the show is brilliant: You know everyone in the cast. At one time or another, you have met David Brent. Maybe he was your own boss once. Gareth was that psycho kid in study hall that always read Guns and Ammo and always insisted on showing you some Judo throw he'd recently learned. Tim is the nice guy that the pretty girls always took advantage of. You'll even see aspects of yourself in all the characters.

And it's the characters that make this show such a success. When you watch the first episode, you'll laugh a few times, a chuckle here and there. Then the second episode will yield more laughs as you get to know the quirks of the characters a little more. By episode three, everything becomes funny. It's this fact that makes it difficult to introduce the show to people, since it contains a great deal of humor that is only funny once you're familiar with the characters.

The runaway star of the show is Gervais as David Brent. He has a world-class ability to always say the wrong thing at the right time. More than anything he is proud of his comedic ability and cherishes this as the highest virtue of corporate bosses. The problem? He's not funny. Not intentionally anyway. Every joke is carried too far and in the course of trying to be England's most politically correct man, he manages to insult practically every race and every woman in the office.

Lastly, this DVD is worth buying not only for the repeat watching value, but also for the behind-the-scenes look at the show, which is almost funnier than the episodes themselves. Both Gervais and co-director Stephen Merchant are hilarious throughout it and you realize that Gervais can't not be funny. You get interviews with all the important cast, and you'll see several minutes of brilliant outtakes where the actors can't get three lines into the scene before losing it.

The only negative reviews of the show speak to the similarity of the episodes and that they are hard to distinguish between one another. This might be valid, but I don't necessarily think it's a negative factor. In the DVD itself, the episodes are not separated but are listed as a sequence of scenes, six per episode. This says it more clearly than I ever could - the shows are all meant to be taken as one continuing episode, much like the monotonous days of office labor. I think it's one of the more reality based shows I've seen, unlike another recent reviewer who thought Seinfeld was more realistic. That's too stupid a comment to even defend here. The bottom line - if you work in an office, you'll instantly recognize the humor in your own day to day life. If you don't, then after watching "The Office," you'll thank God for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best comedy I've seen in a very long time
Review: The Office is hands-down the most original comedy series on television today. Filmed as a mockumentary/"reality" TV show, there is no audience to laugh along with you, which will be appreciated. You'll enjoy watching David Brent, the insecure extroverted idiot who is in a near constant state of self-embarassment through attempts at acceptance, mostly through his self-righteous and forcefully imposed "comedy"; Gareth Keenan, (my favorite) the brown-noising over-confident grumpy geek who knows everything about how to kill a man from his stint in the Territorial Army, as well as office saftey; Tim Canterbury, the everyday man with his almost too-relatable career misery and his crush: Dawn, the adorably sad recpetionist who dreams of being more; quiet and boring Keith: Mr. No personality, Chris Finch - the sleaziest of sleaze jerk-of-a travelling salesman and best friend of David (not suprisingly), Jennifer, the level-headed partner of Wernham Hogg, and many more.

The only downside to the 2-disc DVD is the lack of episodes (there are only 6) but its still worth buying since The Office is a comedy series of unusually high quality and wit. Every episiode is a gem, and I can't wait for the season 2 DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Series 2 is better than Series 1
Review: Series 2 has now been released on DVD in the UK and the general view over here is that it is as good if not better than the first series. Without giving the plot away (what little plot there is) the David Brent MC-Hammer/Flashdance fusion dance has now been voted the #1 comedy moment of all time in the UK.

Check it out

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Too good
Review: I rented this DVD today and watched all the episodes in a row. And then I watched the whole behind the scenes DVD. I can't recommend it highly enough. I wish all TV shows could be like this one. It's consistantly funny without ever resorting to 'gags,' the characters have depth, the writing is good enough that it seems improvised. Better than 'Office Space,' surprisingly enough.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: very funny but overrated -- 3 1/2 stars
Review: Sorry. I had to say it. I bought this from Amazon based on all the rave reviews. I had high hopes but was slightly disappointed. Yes, this is funny and original TV, but in watching it all the episodes kind of fused into one another. Perhaps that is why the episodes are not named; they are merely numbered like days in a calendar. While day to day life in the office may vary little, the episodes in a highly praised show should show greater identity though that's a tough chore when every program is almost exclusively shot within an office.

While the first season frequently cracked me up, it tried to have it both ways by fusing over-the-top humor (the guitar playing session comes to mind not to mention all the overt sexual harrassment) while have a documentary feel that purports to capture the going-ons of a highly dysfunctional office. I realize that this is a parody, a la Spinal Tap, but still, had the show been rooted in reality a bit more I think it would have been stronger. That is one reason why I think "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" are far better. Aside from the brilliant structure of those shows (whereby no detail is extraneous), they offer ridiculous but plausible situations. "The Office" is reliably ridiculous but relentlessly serves up unlikely situations, which makes me all too often suspend belief even as I watch, smiling, the talented and engaging David Brent hold court.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth every penny!
Review: This is a great series! Can't wait for Series 2 to be released!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why can't I give it 6 stars?
Review: It's unfortunate that the best ranking I can give this show is the same lowly 5 stars that 8 billion unthinking people probably gave the movie Titanic (admitedly, I haven't confirmed those numbers).

This is, hands down, the best and funniest show on television right now.

It is also in the running for best and funniest television show ever made.

Watch it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hysterical
Review: I hadn't heard about this show until I went to London for two weeks, and stayed in a hotel with dvd players in the rooms and a video library for guests to borrow from. The concierge recommended The Office, and I watched both series from start to finish. This is by far one of the funniest shows I have ever seen, although I am quite skeptical about the chances of a forthcoming Americanized version being anywhere near as funny. Ricky Gervais is involved, though, so if he can transfer the genius of the British show into an American production, maybe it will succeed.

WHEN IS THE SECOND SERIES COMING OUT IN REGION 1 FORMAT - IT'S EVEN FUNNIER THAN THE FIRST, AND IT'S AVAILABLE IN ENGLAND!!!!


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