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List Price: $49.98 | | Label: National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
Salesrank: 161
Released: September 4, 2007 |
| Our Price: $17.95 |
| Used Price: $15.74 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Fill your Inbox with hilarious moments from The Office Season Three in this four-disc collection that's crammed with extensive bonus features and all 22 episodes of the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Comedy Series! Steve Carell is back in his Golden Globe-winning role as earnest but clueless boss Michael Scott, who can't help but contribute his own irreverent commentary to the daily happenings at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. As the staff deals with potential office closures, mergers, romances, and advancement, Michael's always there to say all the wrong things at all the right times. Including five supersized episodes and over three hours of deleted scenes, The Office Season Three is packed with classic moments from the show that TIME magazine praises for "satirizing the culture of coffee, cubicles and Chili's with heart and laser precision."
Description of The Office - Season Three:
After a shaky first season of finding its footing, and a second season of establishing itself as one of the funniest shows on TV, the third season of The Office finds the show in its strongest form yet, thanks in large part to the addition of some new characters and stronger plotlines centered on office romances. A corporate merger brings the Stamford staff to the Scranton office of Dunder-Mifflin a quarter of the way through the season giving a nice boost to the season's arc of story lines, especially the addition of Andy (Ed Helms, another Daily Show alum in a role that seems custom made for him) who serves as yet another foil to Dwight (Rainn Wilson) in his unending fight for Michael's approval. As the season begins, the focus is more on Michael (Steve Carell) and his unique "leadership" style in the Scranton office. "A good boss gruntles the disgruntled," and despite his best intentions, he proceeds to somehow screw it up, as in the opening episode, "Gay Witch Hunt," in which he accidentally outs a gay employee. In the second episode, "The Convention," Michael tries to get the party started at the Mid-Market Office Supply Convention ("fun jeans"), and ends up revealing his insecurity about Jim's (John Krasinski) decision to move to Stamford. It leads up to "The Coup," where Dwight meets with Michael's Boss Jan (Melora Hardin) in a misguided attempt to take control of the office. The merger of the two offices into the Scranton location provides the fuel needed to continue the Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) subplot as Jim returns with his new girlfriend, Karen (Rashida Jones) who also transferred, and with Pam no longer engaged to Roy, the tension among them increases significantly. Other major plot points this season include: Dwight shows his true feelings for Angela in an excellent climax to one of the funniest subplots on the show; Michael negotiates a raise after learning he barely makes more than his subordinates; new office suck-up Andy is forced into anger management classes; and finally, in what may be the most bizarre company retreat in history, a day at the beach ends with Pam revealing her true feelings for Jim in front of the entire office. The season wraps up in unpredictable fashion when Karen, Michael, and Jim all travel to headquarters to interview for the same position. The strength of this season just continues to solidify The Office's place as the preeminent satire of today's cubicle culture. --Daniel Vancini
The Office - Season Three Reviews:
Gains My Respect For Developing Characters Instead Of Relying On Repetition 
2009-12-16 - To be brutally honest, the second season of this show (the one preceding this one) will most likely be viewed as the funniest of the bunch, as the show was still incredibly fresh and the writers still had a large bank of ideas from which to draw on. Season Three, while still incredibly funny, didn't have quite the extra "oomph" that the second season had (what with the incredible Jim & Pam romance). That being said, after finishing this third installment of the show, I actually have gained even more respect for the writers and actors, as they didn't fall into the "same old, same old" trap of many comedies and instead kept right on developing the characters we have come to know and love.
The biggest change, of course, is the separation of Jim and Pam. As the third season opens, Jim has taken a position at the Stanford branch of Dunder-Mifflin (away from "beloved" Scranton) to try and escape the awkwardness of the Pam/Roy relationship (which begins to experience trouble of its own). This move, while losing the playfulness of the interactions of those two characters (which I consider to be the backbone of the entire show), actually serves to give the show more credibility, as you will be pulling even more for the couple to be re-united (whether or not that actually happens is for you to find out!).
Another curveball from the previous season is the development of characters from the Stanford branch. While season two essentially takes place almost exclusively inside the Scranton office, this season spends a considerable amount of time following Jim as he meets and interacts with his new co-workers. Again, this may not be what you want to see in the short-term, but it eventually serves to give the show an even stronger base of characters in Andy Bernard and Karen Fillipelli (a potential love-interest for Jim).
However, besides the "loss" of Jim and Pam for the time being, the rest of the show still rolls along with laugh after laugh. Michael Scott shines brighter than ever, Dwight is still hilarious, and the supporting cast does a remarkable job of keeping themselves relevant to the ongoing storylines.
Thus, although this season is a bit weaker than the two previous ones due to the factors described above, I have to give the writers/creators credit for not falling into the trap of repetition and allowing the show to grow stale. Instead, they stretch things in a whole new capacity and, by the end of the season, end up a better show for it going forward.
Good Season, not the best of all of them though 
2009-12-11 - Season 3 was good. I laughed & had a good time watching it. But I just didn't like this season as much as I loved season 2. Maybe it was Jim being away & dating Karen, pam left alone sad, or everyone merging together (though I'm glad Andy stuck around he's now one of my favorite characters) Still worth buying though!
Dunder Mifflin meets the real world
2009-10-27 - 22 episodes
SPECIAL FEATURES
1. Deleted Scenes
2. Kevin cooks stuff in the office
3. Excerpt from the 2006 NBC prime time preview hosted by the office
4. Toby wraparounds
5. Dwight Schrute music video
6. Joss Whedon interview
7. Videos from the office "make your own promo" contest
8. Blooper reel
9. Lazy Scranton video
10. Excerpt from the 58th annual prime time Emmy awards
11. 8 episode commentaries
Total Viewing Time: 987 minutes
There are moments during season three that I thought it might be able to bypass the incredible season two. And then there were moments that just didn't feel quite right and made me think, "the magic of season two was a one time thing" and then I sighed. But then I would end up laughing hysterically at something and I was okay with the fact that season three is different from season two - in a lot of ways.
The one thing that stands out to me most about season three of The Office is how "real" it gets. Dunder Mifflin has always been susceptible to downsizing. Hell, they even hint at it in the "Pilot" episode, but in season three, does it become a reality? I won't ruin any of the surprises of season three, but I will say that the show has a lot of "real life" office politics in it. There are real problems that companies go through. It doesn't ruin the show at all, it actually makes it better I believe. For as much as Dwight (and Creed) push the boundaries of insanity, knowing that these people work at a paper company brings us back to Earth.
Season three also introduces us to new characters, mainly Andy and Karen. Still to this day, I don't really know what to think of Karen's character. I understand why she was on the show and the role she played, but as far as what she added to the episodes or show, I'm not real sure. She wasn't really a jokester, or especially serious, and I feel like the writers never really took her character anywhere. In a lot of ways this is fine since I'm sure a lot of fans didn't like her because of her connection to Jim. Meanwhile, Andy's character instantly stole several scenes and - if he stays on - could become a great character that could rival with Dwight, as Jim does.
My overall impression of season three however was that it has some lackluster moments and some "good, but not great" episodes. But this season is still better than most shows could ever pull off - even in their prime.
The packaging is pretty much the same as season two, and contains some good pictures through the season. The packaging has a slip case cover again (as S2 did), and fold open like a book. The discs are still placed in an annoying manner, but otherwise I like the box set.
The standouts of special features are the 8 commentaries (however not as much fun as season two's collection), and the deleted scenes (hours worth of footage, again). The rest of the special features are generally pretty short - except for the excerpts - and while some are fun (the Dwight Schrute music video and "Lazy Scranton" video), there's not nearly as much to sink your teeth into, but still more than most companies put into their box sets.
All in all, I was not surprised that season three wasn't as good as season two (but how could it?) but I was glad it didn't fall off as far as I originally thought it would. Season three is great, season two is classic - and that's when comparing the two. As a stand alone it's probably even better. The Office continues to succeed and has created a great series and a great box set for its third season.
9.0 THE SHOW ITSELF
8.7 VISUALS
9.0 SOUND
8.3 PACKAGING
7.7 EXTRAS
9.3/10 FINAL VERDICT
Excellent
2009-10-20 - Just finished watching this season. I must have missed several episodes cause there was a lot that I hadn't seen that made me about pee my pants. Love this season. Just great! If you are a fan you will love it. If you aren't you will love it. Jim, Pam, Roy... just great stuff. And of course the whole damn cast is just great. I love it.
Office Series
2009-09-18 - I purchased this series as a gift for my daughter and son-in-law. They tell me that they are really enjoying it and the discs are in good condition.
