The third season of the American sitcom The Office premiered in the United States on NBC on September 21, 2006, and concluded on May 17, 2007. The season had a total of 25 half-hours of material, divided into 16 half-hour episodes, five 40-minute "super-sized" episodes, and two one-hour episodes. The Office is an American adaptation of the British TV series as a mockumentary portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The season stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and B. J. Novak, with supporting performances from Melora Hardin, David Denman, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Paul Lieberstein, Oscar Nunez, and Phyllis Smith.
The season marked the move of main character Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) from Scranton to Stamford, and also introduced Rashida Jones as Karen Filippelli, and Ed Helms as Andy BernardâÂÂboth members of Dunder Mifflin StamfordâÂÂas recurring characters. Helms would later be promoted to series regular. The main plot for the early episodes of the season deals with a recurring problem in seasons one and twoâÂÂthe problem of company downsizingâÂÂwhile in the last half of the season, intra-office relationships (specifically those among Pam, Jim, and Karen; Dwight and Angela; and Michael and Jan Levinson) also become major plot points.
The third season of The Office aired on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The season saw its ratings increase from the previous. In addition, it continued the critical praise that had started during the show's second season. The season was released on DVD in a box set containing four discs. While the DVD features all 25 episodes, the episodes "Traveling Salesmen" and "The Return" were condensed into one episode. The set contained commentaries from creators, writers, actors, and directors on some of the episodes, while also containing deleted scenes from all of the episodes. It was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
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 of the show 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 are executive producers on the show and wrote the third-season episode "The Convict". 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. While The Office was mainly filmed on a studio set at Valley Center Studios in Van Nuys, California, 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.
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.
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 premiere was watched by 9.1 million viewers, and marked a slight increase from the second season premiere "The Dundies". At the onset of the season, the show began to eclipse the viewership of its lead-in program, My Name Is Earl. The season hit a low with the nineteenth episode "The Negotiation", which was viewed by 6.74 million viewers. The season finale, "The Job" was viewed by 7.88 million viewers, also an increase from the second-season finale "Casino Night". By the end of the 2006âÂÂ07 season, it placed 68th, a one-place slip from the previous season. Despite this, the show's third season was slightly more watched than the previous: it averaged 8.3 million viewers, and scored a 4.1/11 in the Nielsen ratings, meaning that on average 4.1 percent of households 18âÂÂ49 years old were tuned in at any given moment and 11 percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into the program. This season of The Office also ranked as the 28th-most watched series in the 18âÂÂ49 demographic.
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. Ultimately, Agrawal gave the season an "AâÂÂ". 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.
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".
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. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude>
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 episodesâÂÂincluding the "super-sized" and one-hour installmentsâÂÂpresented 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.
denotes a "super-sized" 40-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 28 minutes).<br> denotes an hour-long episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 42 minutes).<br> Information on individual episode ratings can be found in the "Episodes" section.