The Office (American TV series) season 2

The second season of The Office was produced by Reveille Productions and Deedle-Dee Productions, both in association with NBC Universal Television Studios. The show is based on the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (who also serve as executive producers of the American version). In total, eight different individuals directed the season's 22 episodes. Four of those directorsBryan Gordon, Ken Kwapis, Ken Whittingham, and Danielshad directed episodes during the show's first season. For Dennie Gordon, Paul Feig, Victor Nelli, Jr., and Charles McDougall, season two marked their directorial debuts on the show. Despite low ratings from the first season of the show, NBC renewed The Office for a second season. Originally, six episodes were ordered, but NBC later ordered an additional seven. In early November, NBC again expanded the season by ordering three more episodes, before ordering a full season of 22 episodes in January 2006. == Cast ==

The Office employed an ensemble cast. Most of the main characters, and some supporting ones, are based on characters from the British version of The Office. While these characters normally have the same attitudes and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show featured a large cast size, many of whom were known for their improvisational work. Main • Steve Carell as Michael Scott, regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Loosely based on David Brent, Gervais' character in the British version, Scott is a dim-witted and lonely man, who attempts to win friends as the office comedian, usually making himself look bad in the process. • Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, who, based upon Gareth Keenan, is the assistant to the regional manager, although the character frequently fails to include "to the" in his title. • John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, a sales representative and prankster, who is based upon Tim Canterbury, and is in love with Pam Beesly, the receptionist. • Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, who is based on Dawn Tinsley, is shy, but is often a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight. • B. J. Novak as Ryan Howard, who is a temporary worker. • Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, Michael's main love interest and vice president of regional sales. • David Denman as Roy Anderson, a warehouse worker and Pam's fiancé. • Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson, a grumpy salesman. • Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone, a dim-witted accountant. • Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer, the promiscuous supplier relations rep. • Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin, a judgmental accountant, who also serves as Dwight’s love interest. • Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez, an intelligent accountant, who is also gay. • Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Lapin, a motherly saleswoman. Recurring • Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor, the pop culture-obsessed customer service representative. • Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson, the sad-eyed human resources representative. • Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton, the office's strange quality assurance officer. • Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin, the warehouse manager. • Devon Abner as Devon White, a supplier relations representative. • Hugh Dane as Hank Tate, the building's security guard. • David Koechner as Todd Packer, a rude and offensive traveling salesman, who’s Michael’s best friend. • Nancy Walls as Carol Stills, a real estate agent. • Amy Adams as Katy Moore, a handbag saleswoman and Jim’s girlfriend. • Bobby Ray Shafer as Bob Vance, Phyllis' boyfriend, who runs Vance Refrigeration. • Andy Buckley as David Wallace, the new CFO of Dunder Mifflin. == Broadcast and reception ==

Ratings The season premiere, "The Dundies" was viewed by 9.0 million viewers, a drastic increase from the first season finale "Hot Girl", which was viewed by only 4.8 million viewers. The increase in viewership led NBC to move the series to the "Must See TV" Thursday night in January 2006, where ratings continued to grow. The season hit a ratings peak with the twelfth episode, "The Injury", which was viewed by 10.3 million viewers. The season finale, "Casino Night"—which was also the show's first forty-minute-long episode—was viewed by 7.6 million viewers. By the end of the 2005–06 season, The Office tied with 20/20 as the 67th most-watched show of the year. It averaged eight million viewers, and scored a 4.0/10 in the Nielsen ratings, meaning that on average four percent of households were tuned in at any given moment and ten percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into the program. The show received dramatic gains in viewers from the previous year, up forty percent in total viewers and up sixty percent in viewers ages 18–49. A year-end report by NBC noted, "The Office was the fastest-growing series on television this season versus last ... The Office grew by 60 percent this season in adults 1849 (to an average 4.0 rating from a 2.5 the prior season)." Reviews received awards for both acting and writing.|alt=A man with black hair, Steve Carell, is standing in a tux. He is looking towards the camera and smiles. The second season of The Office was released largely to critical acclaim and commercial success. Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk wrote that the British version "can't hold a candle to the American" version during this season, due to the show coming "into its own, becoming the best half-hour show on TV." Eric Goldman of IGN noted that season two transformed The Office "from a very funny show into a truly brilliant show". Josh Wolk, an Entertainment Weekly television critic, said that the show has "perfecting workaday moments so hilariously and relatably awkward that it makes viewers both laugh and cringe". The season was also a commercial success. Midway through the season, a deal was made with Apple to offer the show's episodes for download through its iTunes store. and by early January 2006, episodes from The Office occupied ten of the twenty slots in the iTunes list of most popular downloads. In 2006, after the release of the DVD, the second season was the seventeenth highest selling DVD on Amazon that year. Accolades The second season of The Office received five nominations at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, and won the award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Other nominations included Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Steve Carell, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Michael Schur (for the episode "Christmas Party"), and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series for both "Christmas Party" (edited by David Rogers) and "Booze Cruise" (edited by Dean Holland). Carell also received the Television Critic's Award for Best Individual Achievement in Comedy, and the show received the Television Critic's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. For the episode "Michael's Birthday", Ken Whittingham won the award for Outstanding Director in Comedy Series at the NAACP Image Awards. At the 2007 Writers Guild of America Awards, The Office received the award for Best Comedy Series, and Carell won the award for Episodic Comedic Writing for the episode "Casino Night". The Office was also honored as a recipient of a Peabody Award in 2006, honoring the show for excellence in radio and/or television broadcasting. == Episodes ==

The second season of The Office was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment as a four-disc Region 1 DVD box set on September 12, 2006. The set includes all 22 episodes presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound and optional English and Spanish subtitles. The release also included an array of bonus materials, including audio commentaries for 10 episodes, as well as deleted scenes from every episode of the season. Additional special features include the "Faces of Scranton" music video, a series of fake Public Service Announcements, the "Steve on Steve" featurette, a blooper reel, the "The Accountants" webisodes, and a promotional spot for the 2006 Winter Olympics. == Explanatory notes ==

denotes a "super-sized" 40-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 28 minutes). Information on individual episode ratings can be found in the "Episodes" section. == References ==