The US remake of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s masterclass in workplace observational agony notches up its 100th episode at the end of this fifth season.
There is a large cultural argument to suggest that the British version set in Slough knew when to check out at the height of its popularity and critical acclaim, whereas its American cousin will milk the concept dry for as long as viewership remains buoyant and that argument is partly true here.
Certainly the heyday of the show is in the past, but the superb cast led by Steve Carell as the Brent-esque Michael Scott and Rainn Wilson as Mackenzie Crook’s counterpart Dwight Schrute steer the employees of Dunder Mifflin in Scranton from disaster to catastrophe with aplomb. Stephen and Ricky remain as executive producers, with Merchant popping up to direct an episode this season, with nigh on all of the lead actors (Carell, Wilson, Krasinski, Novak) helming at least one episode by now, following luminaries such as JJ Abrams, Josh Whedon and Harold Ramis also taking up the reigns in more superlative seasons gone by.
One of the fifth season’s undoubted highlights is the romance between Carell and alter-ego Holly Flax (Amy Ryan). The relationship is put on ice, since management has gotten wind of it and Holly is relocated to a far off Dunder Mifflin outpost. This story strand nicely mirrors the relationship of New York based Pam and the strain that is placed on fiancé Jim to carry on with their long-distance tryst.
The penultimate episode, ‘Café Disco’, is finally able to put the ghost of “that dance” to rest in its own unique way and should also be highly commended. However, it must be said that newcomers to this office will find themselves thrown in somewhat at the deep end.
Extras: The discs are chocked full of deleted scenes, commentaries and a gag reel, but a lackluster ‘100 Episodes, 100 Moments’ featurette has as many misses as it does hits.
Released on DVD on Monday 7th February 2011 by Universal Pictures UK.