NBC's insanely funny and cringe-inducing fake workplace documentary really hits its stride in the third season as staffs change and branches merge. The creepy affair between Scranton branch manager Michael (Steve Carell) and his no-nonsense corporate boss (Melora Hardin) becomes painfully public. Dutiful nice-guy Jim (John Krazinski) settles into the Stamford branch, where personality clashes play out during violent staff Tour of Duty tournaments.

The Connecticut outpost also introduces a new crew of cubicle malcontents, including Jim's budding love interest Karen (Rashida Jones) and annoying preppy desk-crooner Andy (Ed Helms). A mid-season office merger sets up a love triangle among Jim, Karen and old flame Pam (Jenna Fischer), and sets the stage for the ultimate geek battle between resident fascist nerd Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and pathologically sycophantic nerd Andy, a conniving flatterer who ingratiates himself to the new boss through name repetition and personality mirroring. From the opening "Gay with Hunt" episode through the late season when ineffectual boss Michael Scott guest-lectures at Ryan's (B.J. Novak) business school MBA class, season three soars to new heights of hilarity and, at the same time, gives the characters some heart.

The season's 22 episodes -- each with deleted scenes and three of them "super-sized" to 45 minutes -- are dispersed evenly across four discs. The countless deleted scenes illustrate just how many subplots and how much prime material has to be cut to fit into each episode. They're also testament to the skill of the editors, who manage to pack the jokes so densely into a half hour. Unique bonus features include a kitchenette junk food cooking segment with resident schlub Kevin (Brian Baumgartner), episode wrap-arounds with sad-sack H.R. rep Toby (Paul Lieberstein) and the winning videos of the audience "Make Your Own Promo" contest. There is cast and crew commentary on a handful of episodes from which the series' big star Steve Carell is curiously absent. Yet, the audio doesn't suffer. In fact, it probably allows Wilson, Krazinski, Fischer and Jones more time to talk.

Unable to provide a full-length episode commentary, celebrity guest director Joss Whedon -- who helmed the laugh-out-loud funny "Business School" episode -- sits for his own video interview. A mandatory "Blooper Reel" in which we get to witness the inevitable actor crack-ups is relegated to the fourth and final disc.

by Rob. Walton