DVD review: The Office, Season 3

The Office: Season Three hits DVD this Tuesday, and with it comes the buckets of laughs that this season delivered. As a huge fan of the show (and a defender that it is indeed better than the original British version), I've been highly awaiting this release, as it's one of the few shows that I can watch over and over again.

I'm not a huge comedy fan, and of everything I watch on television, The Office is the only comedy I watch religiously. With the occasional flat episode that still is better than most of the sitcoms out there, the season is full of punchy, water cooler comedy that often gets repeated at my real office the next day (and not always by me). As I traverse through these episodes once again, I am reminded of some of the highlights of the season, including Jim's expression after unleashing Dwight-competitor Andy upon Pam, an expression awkward heterosexual man-kiss between boss Michael and newly un-closeted Oscar, and a Michael improvisation of a prison convict. All of these highlights are from the first two discs (of the four-disc set) as I haven't gotten farther than that, but glancing over the summaries that are printed on the box (thank God, because how many times do box sets not include an episode summary?), other highlights include Michael's hiring of a stripper and Ben Franklin for his employees, an awkward speech at Phyllis' wedding and so on and so forth.

The DVD is full of special features that include episode commentaries, Toby wraparounds, a Dwight Schrute music video, an interview with Joss Whedon, videos from The Office "Make your own promo" contest and a blooper reel, but the real highlight, the highlight that makes the DVD worth it, are the deleted scenes. Deleted scenes have become overrated, but The Office's deleted scenes are excellent. Each episode has its own slew of deleted scenes, and many of them are hilarious and clearly removed due to time restraints.

Fans of The Office should be thrilled to get more of The Office with this DVD set, and non-fans should at least rent a disc or two to see what the craze is all about. The Office is a hilarious comedy with great acting, characters and writing.

The Office DVD hits stores September 4, 2007.