Trust me, I was one of the O.G. fans of THE OFFICE from when it first played late nights on BBC America and I'd proselytize to my hundred of friends (according to Facebook) who knew nothing about it. And I was shocked as anybody when it was adapted to American TV and (after a rocky start) worked! But I do take issue with all of you 'smartest man in the room' wannabes and hipsters with your, "the British version of The Office is better than the American version" because you're wrong and later I’ll prove it with Math.

The sixth season of The Office is all about change and there have been a number of significant changes for the employees of the Dunder Miflin paper company and even bigger changes for the company itself.

Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) get married and later have a baby. Jim gets promoted to Co-Regional Manager alongside Michael Scott

(Steve Carell) and Jim has to struggle to assert his authority with Michael; Dwight (Rainn Wilson) forms an alliance with Ryan (B.J. Novak) in attempts to sabotage Jim; Rumors of bankruptcy begin to surround Dunder Mifflin and it gets bought out by Sabre Corp, a printer company; All of the other executives are let go and only the Scranton office survives due to Michael Scott's surprising success within the company; There’s the new challenge in merging with Sabre and the spirited style of its CEO, Jo Bennet (Kathy Bates), when they enforce new office rules.

As the show transitions from being less acerbic and dry to having more heart (after all, we’ve had six years to get to know more dimensions to the characters), it hasn’t lost any of its ability to present awkward situations with the squirm factor cranked up to 10. Some of my favorite episodes this season include:

• Gossip - After Michael learns from Stanley that the rumor he spread about him having an affair is based on fact, he makes up rumors about everyone else, hoping they'll all be uncovered and disbelieved, but accidentally concocting a rumor that's actually true in the process.

  

• Niagara - The Dunder Mifflin staff head to Niagara Falls for Jim and Pam's wedding, with the understanding that her pregnancy is a forbidden discussion topic, but Jim's slip of the tongue prods Michael to attempt damage control.

  

• Mafia - Dwight and Andy (Ed Helms) believe an insurance saleman calling on Michael is a Mafioso.

• The Lover - Jim and Pam are stunned to discover Michael is dating her mother (Linda Pearl). Dwight bugs Jim's office under the guise of a gift.

• Double Date - Jim and Pam go on a double date with Pam's mom and Michael.

• Scott's Tots - A decade-old promise to pay college tuition for a bunch of children comes back to haunt Michael.

• The Banker – This episode is a clip show and I HATE CLIP SHOWS!!!...Except this one. I teared up while watching it.

• St. Patricks Day - Michael is flummoxed when Jo takes a liking to Darryl (Craig Robinson) and his new shipping idea. Dwight proves to be agitating when Jim returns from paternity leave. Andy and Erin (Ellie Kemper) have their first date planned. When Jo stays late working, everyone else feels they have to, too.

  

• Happy Hour - Oscar (Oscar Nuñez)—looking to spend time with Matt from the warehouse—sets in motion a Dunder Mifflin happy hour, where Michael seeks to impress a friend of Jim and Pam's. Andy desperately wants to hide he and Erin's relationship to avoid drama. This is my FAVORITE episode of the season, featuring “Date Mike”, and feels the most like one of the old classics.

  

• Secretary's Day - Andy tries to give Erin the perfect Secretary's Day, but gets in hot water when Michael reveals his past with Angela. Oscar makes a video comparing Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) to the Cookie Monster, leading to Gabe trying to flex some authoratative muscle. Definitely the 2nd best episode!

• The Chump - The office staff is shocked that Michael seems ready to continue seeing Donna (Amy Pietz) despite having learned that she's married. Jim and Pam's sleep deprivation from their new baby leaves them exhausted. Angela and Dwight bring in a mediator to settle their pre-natal contract.

  

The sixth season of The Office has taken lumps from critics for being inconsistent in quality and the situations being less grounded. I may have conceded too that The Office “jumped the shark” by this time had I not just sat down to rewatch it and laughed harder than I did the first time it aired.

I won’t waste time on a point-for-point debate on which version of the series is better because in the end I know you'll praise Ricky Gervais for having the balls to end the British show after only two short six-episode seasons before it could become embarrassingly mediocre. But that's actually where it loses. The real balls are in taking the concept further, with the eminent threat of failure and
unfair comparisons looming, for 6 full, 22+ episode- American seasons! (Okay, the 1st was only a half season and the 4th was only 14 shows due to the writer's strike). And even if you want to counter that the show "jumped the shark" by 6th season you can’t deny, by the shear numbers of the 85
episodes between seasons 2-5 that you’re willing to admit are at least “good”, that the British version walked away leaving a lot- and I mean A LOT- of comedy gold still on the table.

See? Math.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray picture quality is impressively clear, which is great for the viewer but not so much the actors. It isn’t so much that it reveals their flaws as it’s painful to see just how much makeup some of them wear. Steve Carell puts on more lipstick than the Joker and for cinema veritae…Hmmn. Y’know, considering whatan egomaniac his character ‘Michael Scott’ can be it’s perfectly in keeping
that would get made up everyday for a documentary crew.

“The Office” Season Six on Blu-ray comes with hours of bonus features, including:

• Digital Short “The Podcast:” In the uncensored version of the digital short “The Podcast,” Gabe (Zach Woods) tries to impress corporate by recording a podcast for the Sabre
  website. However, his plans for a small meaningful, profile of Kevin quickly unravel as
  the rest of the office forces Gabe to become the reluctant host of a late night style talk show.

• Welcome to Sabre Featurette: Full-screen version of the corporate welcome video starring Kathy Bates and Christian Slater.

• Episode Commentary: Commentaries featuring the cast and crew of The Office on episodes such as “The Promotion,” “Niagara,” “The Lover,” “Murder,” “Secret Santa,” “Sabre,”
  “The Delivery” and “Happy Hour.”

• More than Two Hours of Deleted Scenes

• Two Extended Episodes

• Blooper Reel

• The Office Promos: Dwight’s Tribute to Canada

In my history for reviewing DVDs and Blu-rays this was the first time I LIKED the extras. There’s not a whole lot of them and what’s there is hilarious, especially the shorts and deleted scenes. It’s painful to see how much gets cut from each episode, not because of being lesser content but because of time.

Its focus has changed some and the audience has grown to not being taken offguard by its mockumentary style so much. Also, where The Office used to be hands down the funniest show on prime time, the last few years it's faced stiff competition from '30 Rock' and the two new kids on the block, 'Community' and 'Modern Family' actually fight toe-to-toe for Best Comedy every week. It's all enough of a distraction to make you forget that The Office might not be “as funny as you remember it”, yet even the worst Office episodes continue to be some of the most quotable comedy on television. And honestly, wouldn’t it be getting knocked just as hard for being “stale” if hadn’t changed after all these years?

THE OFFICE: SEASON SIX [Blu-ray] can be purchased here.