Search - The Office - Season One on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/15/2023...

Goofy fun surrounding an office environment. We have all been there at one time or another.

Suzanne P. from WHITESBURG, TN
Reviewed on 10/13/2013...

Hilarious! This is the best TV show ever!!!! I think anyone can relate to this. Clean enough to watch with your kids, and just great for non-stop laughing. The actors are great. Def. a favorite!!

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Monica G. from MOUNT AIRY, MD
Reviewed on 10/2/2010...

Great Show~!

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Alex D. (SwapaGoat) from STERLING HTS, MI
Reviewed on 11/20/2007...

I give it 5 stars out of 5...."That's what she said."

Personally, I recommend this to anyone who works in an office setting. So many ridiculous things happen each episode. The Office is one of the few shows that does not rely on episode continuity(ie: one episode leaves you in suspense so you have to tune in next week to find out what happens) or at least as much as others. Each episode in Season 1 can stand on it's own.

A hit this big is hard to come by..."That's what she said."

9 of 10 member(s) found this review helpful.

Unexpectedly funny version of a classic BBC original

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 08/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like most other fans of the great BBC series THE OFFICE, I was absolutely horrified when they announced that they were doing an American version of the show. Ricky Gervais's show was so perfect, so unique that it didn't seem possible for it to be successfully translated into an American context. Also, the show was unimaginable without Ricky Gervais, who was both the creator and lead performer of the original. And to be honest, when the American show straightforwardly imitates the original, especially in the first episode, it compares rather badly. The jokes were tailored perfectly to Gervais and his cohorts, and they just didn't translate all that well to the new set of actors. However, once you get past the first episode, and the American crew produces original material, it actually becomes a very, very funny show. In fact, if you have seen the BBC version, I would recommend just skipping the first episode of the American version and going on from there. My other complaint with the imitation is that they straightforwardly stole the British theme song, though they did pep it up a lot.



If you haven't seen the American version but have seen the BBC original, the first question is almost certainly going to be: how can they possibly do the show without Ricky Gervais in the lead? Does Steve Carell manage to make us forget Ricky? Well, not quite. There is absolutely no question that Ricky Gervais's David Brent is better than Steve Carell's Michael Scott. It isn't just that Gervais has a degree of ease with the role that Carell barely lacks: David Brent is a more complex character. While it is certainly true that Brent was a complete ass, he was also a lovable ass; we cared about him, and despite all of his blithe self-ignorance he is someone for whom we are on some level rooting. But Michael Scott, while incredibly funny, is essentially a lost cause. He is too complete an idiot to have any hope of redemption, and he is also fairly unlikable. Irredeemably unlikable. We laugh at Michael Scott, but we laugh with David Brent. That is the bad news. The good news is that while Carell's character is not as likable as Gervais's, he is possibly about 90% as funny, which means that the American show is quite unexpectedly a very funny show.



Once the show gets into original material, it is actually quite good. The second episode deals with diversity training (i.e., racial sensitivity training), with Michael Scott attempting to take over the training by injecting such stupid sensitivity questions as, "Name another race to which you are attracted to sexually." The irony is that the only reason the training was instituted because of racially charged jokes Michael had told, but he remains blissfully ignorant of the fact that he was the one being targeted. Another great episode is the one where Michael and the white-collar workers play the warehouse workers in a game of basketball. Michael ignores the overweight white guy (who later turns out to be a dead shot) and the Hispanic guy (who is also a dead shot) in favor of the office African-American, who turns out to be a simply horrendous player.



I have to add that those who are giving this one star are clearly fans of the original who have never bothered to watch the American version. As I pointed out above, while it isn't quite as good as the original, it is nonetheless quite good on its own merits."

Comedy is Reborn

Mr. Bey | Riverside, CT United States | 10/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this show and I think NBC actually made one good decison this year by renewing it. Steve Carrell is genious as Michael Scott the manager with a little too much enthusiasm. The supporting cast is great and I'm glad that the bonus features are good because a 6 episode season of a half hour show is hardly worth twenty-two dollars but it's worth it. I didn't think the pilot was great but I tuned in again and I'm glad I did. I hope that if you don't watch this show that you decide to try it out because it is brillant. A lot of people say it isn't as good as the British version but it comes close. Check out Diversity Day it's the best in the set.



The Episodes

1. Pilot

2. Diversity Day

3. Healthcare

4. The Alliance

5. Basketball

6. Hot Girl



The bonus features include deleted scenes and audio commetaries. Even though it may seem pricey you'll probably get as much enjoyment out of it as you would any other show."

Finally, a US production worthy of its UK predecessor

Michael T. Rognlien | Chicago, IL USA | 08/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am and always have been a huge fan of British comedy. The wry sense of humor and the intelligent wit has always held far greater appeal to me than the cheap/obvious laughs that many American sitcoms tend to go for. Sadly, many copies (or attempted copies) of British comedies have been overadapted for the American audience (Coupling is a perfect example) and the result is a weak translation that loses all or most of what made the series so funny/original in the UK.



Fortunately, this version of the original UK show is absolutely hilarious, perhaps because the producers are tied closely and stay faithful to the original version. There was no dumbing down of the comedy - the irony, the facial expressions, the unbelievable audacity of the characters - for the sake of easier/louder laughs. The fact that there is no studio audience here makes it even funnier - the viewers are left to laugh on their own, without canned tracks or cues from a studio audience.



While there are certainly things that would cause you to think "There's no way a manager would say/do/get away with anywhere near that bad of behavior" I can say that in 6+ years in leadership development that I've seen all this and more.. and we all know that one person who just has absolutely no clue how little others think of him/her.



This is truly brilliant comedy, but subtle and atypical when compared to other sitcoms on TV (with the exception of Seinfeld reruns and Scrubs). You won't be disappointed!"