The Office (American TV series) season 3

The Office was officially renewed for a third season before the second-season episode "The Carpet" aired on January 26, 2006. Series star Jenna Fischer noted that while it is rare "to hear news of a pickup so early", the decision came early because of how pleased NBC was with the show's burgeoning success. This season was produced by Greg Daniels, who also served as its showrunner. Returning writers included Daniels, Michael Schur, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg, Jennifer Celotta, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, and B. J. Novak. New writers for the season included Brent Forrester, Justin Spitzer, and Caroline Williams. This season's episodes were directed by twelve different directors: Of these individuals, Daniels, Ken Kwapis, Ken Whittingham, Randall Einhorn, Tucker Gates, Jeffrey Blitz, and Harold Ramis all directed multiple episodes, whereas Roger Nygard, Miguel Arteta, Julian Farino, Joss Whedon, and J. J. Abrams each directed an episode apiece. Gordon, Kwapis, Whittingham, and Daniels had all previously directed episodes during seasons one and two. the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the show is set, was used for shots of the opening theme. After reports that claimed the show would be "ending in March" were released, Fischer clarified in a TV Guide article that this date referred only to the season finale and that the show had been renewed for another season. However, this season's finale would eventually air in May, rather than March. == Cast ==

had a recurring role in the third season as Karen Filippelli.|alt= 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 show. 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. She is shy, but is often a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight. • B. J. Novak as Ryan Howard, who for the first two seasons is a temporary worker, but is promoted to sales representative in this season. == Reception ==

Ratings The third-season premiere "Gay Witch Hunt" received a 5.7/9 in the Nielsen ratings, meaning that on average 5.7 percent of households were tuned in at any given moment and 9 percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into the program. The season hit a low with the nineteenth episode "The Negotiation", which was viewed by 6.74 million viewers. Reviews The third season of The Office was met with critical acclaim. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the third season of the show an 85 out of 100 rating, which indicates "universal acclaim". Travis Fickett of IGN wrote that, in its third season, The Office was one of the "smartest, funniest and most likable shows" on television. Entertainment Weekly writer Meeta Agrawal praised the show for separating the action between Jim in Stamford and the rest of the characters in Scrantona creative choice, Agrawal argued, that many other shows would have likely fumbled. Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk called the season "an outstanding year for the Scranton crew" and praised the "unbelievably funny 21 episodes in between" the opener and the finale as reasons as to why it was "a great stand-alone season from easily one of the funniest shows on TV." The third season was the first season to feature hour-long episodes, "A Benihana Christmas" and "The Job". While the following season would be criticized for its overuse of hour-long episodes, both of season three's longer episodes received a favorable reception. Awards The third season of The Office received seven nominations for Primetime Emmys at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, and won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the episode "Gay Witch Hunt", as well as the award for Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series for "The Job". The Office was also nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, with the award going to 30 Rock. Other nominations included Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Steve Carell for his portrayal of Michael Scott, Outstanding Supporting Actor for Rainn Wilson for his portrayal of Dwight Schrute, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jenna Fischer for her portrayal of Pam Beesly, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Ken Kwapis for directing the episode "Gay Witch Hunt", and another nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Michael Schur for the episode "The Negotiation". == Episodes ==

In the following table, "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the night of broadcast. Episodes are listed by the order in which they aired, and may not necessarily correspond to their production codes. == DVD release ==

The third season of The Office was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment as a four-disc Region 1 DVD box set on September 4, 2007, followed by a Region 2 release on July 21, 2008. The set contains all 25 episodes—including the "super-sized" and one-hour installments—presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound and optional English and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include audio commentaries on 8 episodes, as well as an assortment of deleted scenes. The collection also features a variety of digital and promotional content, such as the "Kevin Cooks Stuff in the Office" featurette, the "Lazy Scranton" and Dwight Schrute music videos, an interview with Joss Whedon, a series of "Toby Wraparounds", a blooper reel, excerpts from the 2006 NBC Primetime Preview and the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and winning entries from the "Make Your Own Promo" contest. == Explanatory notes ==

denotes a "super-sized" 40-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 28 minutes). denotes an hour-long episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 42 minutes). Information on individual episode ratings can be found in the "Episodes" section. == References ==