Fact: NBC’s “The Office” not only dominates just about every powerhouse show on network television today, its third season packs a serious punch on DVD, making it one of the best TV collections released since Judd Apatow’s “Freaks and Geeks” series in 2004. Also, “The Office” could totally defeat a black bear with its bare hands if it had to … and it doesn’t even have hands.Season three is packed not just with all 22 episodes but also several hours of actually-worthwhile bonus features, including sets of deleted scenes that individually span almost the length of a typical episode, a music video highlighting classic Dwight Schrute moments and a hilarious interpretation of Saturday Night Live’s “Lazy Sunday,” aptly named “Lazy Scranton,” in which Michael (Steve Carell) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) highlight aspects of the mundane “Electric City” in Pennsylvania.
The season begins with a big reveal. The lovable, smirky Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) ended up transferring to the Stamford, Conn. branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company following the conclusion of season two, in which he is rejected by his love interest, the already-engaged receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer) following a stolen kiss at a casino party at the Scranton branch.
Several new actors make their debuts in “The Office’s” third run.
Rashida Jones, daughter of the music legend Quincy Jones, plays Karen Filippelli, a headstrong and gorgeous contrast to Pam’s soft and cute demeanor. Karen plays a major part in the Jim/Pam relationship as the season progresses. Another new key player is Ed Helms, a former “Daily Show” correspondent like Carell. Helms plays the incredibly annoying brownnoser Andy, who among many other things finds out he’s dating a high-schooler and makes it a priority to compromise Dwight’s role at the branch.
Perhaps the biggest reward for “Office” fans in season three is the depth added to characters like Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein, a former “Clarissa Explains It All” writer), the newly-engaged Phyllis Lapin (Phyllis Smith) and Creed Bratton, the self-portrayed former Grass Roots band member and self-proclaimed mung bean fan who dryly admits in a talking head segment: “I go to the woman’s bathroom to do number two. I’ve been caught several times … and I have paid dearly.”
Each episode contains Michael’s typical non-politically correct behavior. In “Gay Witch Hunt,” he outs Oscar as a homosexual, and in “Back from Vacation” he manages to get a risqu picture of Jan Levinson (Malora Hardin) taken during their trip to Jamaica circulating throughout the Dunder-Mifflin e-mail system, causing him to freak out while also sporting a single, subtle Jamaican weave on the side of his head.
Perhaps the funniest episode is “Phyllis’ Wedding,” in which Michael gets the honor of escorting her wheelchair-bound father down the aisle during the ceremony. Mr. Lapin gets so upset with Michael that he spontaneously decides to just get up and walk for the first time in years.
Viewers are also treated to office accountant Kevin Malone’s (Brian Baumgartner) Police cover band Scrantonicity at the reception. At one point, a deadpan Kevin tells reception attendees: “I’m supposed to ask if anyone has seen Uncle Al. He is old, and has brown eyes and dementia. His family is very concerned. It’s a very serious situation … 1-2-3-4! ‘Roxanne…'”
In typical fashion, as it usually is with NBC, the network’s best comedy keeps getting better as it ages. Thankfully, the U.S. interpretation finally strips itself of any semblance to the, albeit excellent, U.K. version in season three.
A hilarious yet unrealistic twist ends the season, but even after the last credit rolls in the final episode, “Office” fans, both casual and hardcore, will have plenty more of the DVD set to enjoy.