I was thinking...with all the deleted scenes, would you be in favor of the office going to an hour show or keeping the 30 minute format?

I'm pretty sure none of us would object to an hour long of the show!

i certainly wouldn't.

An hour would be awesome, and they easily have enough quality material to fill it judging by the deleted scenes. Stanley "That's what she said" possibly his best line ever and didn't even make it into the show!

But people are complaining about them dragging out plot lines slowly throughout the season...imagine if the season was doubled with content. I think it would lose its luster.

Small doses is what keeps people coming back.

I don't even know if i could take another 21 minutes of Michael and his antics everyweek. I might just reach through the TV and strangle him.

I'm not betting it will ever be more than a half hour show, which is a shame.

I'd say 30 minutes excluding commercials is a pretty ideal time, all things considered, so 40-45 minutes would be best. Sadly, that's not (usually) an option.

Given the actual options, 30 minutes is best. What would be really great isn't doubling the length of the episodes, but rather doubling the length of the season. Sigh.

or maybe doing the 40 minutes of earl, office, and 30 rock (or scrubs) EVERY thursday. that would be a first.

I think 45 minute shows are best.

If there was an hour long show every week, there might be less humor in it.

How Long... to sing this song?

keep it the way she be... argh...

I wouldn't be opposed to an hour. Bring it on! lol.

Is it just me, or does "the Initiation" episode have more deleted scenes than any other episode yet? I counted at least 7 scenes (Michael & Dwight hugging Ryan, Ryan & Dwight getting in the car, Jim & Karen ignoring Andy, Ryan walking alone to the farm, Ryan & Dwight at the Shrute cemetary, Michael & Stanley discussing sweet pretzels, Michael & Jan arguing). I'm not complaining, but some of that stuff would have been great to see suring the actual airing.

I hope when THE OFFICE Season 3 DVD comes out next year, instead of doing "deleted scenes", they have them set up more like "extended scenes" that are placed directly into the ep itself. You'd still have commentaries, interviews, bios, games, web-isobes, etc for the special features, but why not throw these scenes where they belong in the DVD product ... within the eps themselves?

And to the original question, as these scenes only run about 30 seconds a piece on average, that's only 2-3 minutes of extra footage. Keep it 30 minutes. This show is brilliant in lighter doses. Has there ever been a successful prime-time hour-long network situation comedy before? I can't recall (SNL is a late-night sketch-com, so that doesn't count). It's fine the way it is.

They should have showed the Schrute Cementary. Sounds weird/funny.

Those extra minutes in the "Casino Night" episode made a huge difference. But those extra minutes only brought the episode length to around 30 minutes total minus commercials? I'm happy now, but I'd be ecstatic if we got 30 actual minutes of the show every week, however they did it.

KMM, I totally agree, I would LOVE to buy a season 3 DVD set with the "Director's cut". Or a set that has the episodes as they originally air, with a second set of extended versions. I suspect the director's wouldn't end up wanting to put all deleted scenes back in, but there must be some that they would have wanted to add, (the Stanley TWSS is a perfect example). I'd like to see the episodes the way the directors would like to see the episodes.

It should totally be the 40-minute version or an hour version (which would be about 45 mins of actual episode). even if it meant fewer episodes per season. I love the continuity of longer shows (esp. casino night!)

has there ever been another hour-long comedy other than ally mcbeal? friends was a half hour right?

I would like 30 NEW minutes every Thursday night. I am pretty depressed today with only a rerun (that I've watched on iTunes many times) tonight.

That's what she said!

but more realistically, she added....

On the FRIENDS DVD they add deleted scenes back in. I knew most episodes by heart from reruns, and at first I didn't even realize there were a few extra seconds here and there - they fit in so perfectly! They don't have a separate "deleted scenes" bonus section on their DVD's...whatever the did give us is edited back into the episode.

In the case of The Office, I think there are three types of deleted scenes...

1) Little snippets that just didn't make the cut, probably for time reasons. Ya know, a quick shot of a character's reaction to something, or a bit of extra dialogue between two people. They're certainly funny enough! As everyone's saying, Stanley and Michael eating the pretzel outside was a perfect example of a scene that would have been extra awesome (wink wink!) added in just after they got their pretzels from the vendor. Or scenes that more fully explain a situation and help you understand how the characters got from point A to point B. These types of scenes would be ideal for merging back into the broadcast episode.

2) Other times, however, the deleted scenes don't add anything to an episode. They drag things out a little too much, aren't as funny (purely subjective, I know!), or even drag an episode down a little bit. Or they can be different takes of the same scene, where they might have originally written a scene one way, filmed a few takes, then came up with a funnier line that worked better. Obviously you can't have two versions of the same scene played back to back, so these wouldn't necessarily be able to be worked back in to the full episode. But we still want to see them, so they'd be perfect for a deleted scenes section on the DVD.

3) The third type would be full extra scenes that are cut...such as the scene of Dwight and Ryan in the Schrute cemetery in The Initiation (with the naked teenagers having sex in their field!). That was a whole separate scene that was filmed but not used...that type would also be good to fit back into the episodes.

Just my observations...

Going to an hour show. I think it would take to much.. first of all they are battling NBC and unscripted shows. But if NBC gave the okay.. I still think that the show would not end as many shows makes us wondering whats next. The theme of each episode can only go on for so long. and another 30minutes. i dont know.. yes if the writers could keep the show like it is but add 30 minutes great. I would like the same 30 minute show and then 30minutes or gag reel adn deleted scenes... but what do i know. i only watch! thanks for reading..

i loved this episode being an hour long. and i think they should all be from now on.. maybe they will be who knows

Eh, I felt like there was more space between the jokes. I really liked the ep, but there was slightly more downtime than that of a 30 minute ep. Maybe a 45 minute show would be good.

Absolutely should be an hour, last nights episode flowed so much better because they didn't have to rush an entire storyline in 20 minutes. Has this ever happened in the history of television where they changed how long a show was?

I like the show at 30 minutes. And if it were an hour every week then what would they do throughout the year to give us treats? Hour and a half shows? Two hour shows?? I like that every once in a while we get bonus time and I wouldn't want the show to get stale with hour long shows.

This hour long show without commercials is 41minutes 59 seconds(iTunes). That is the average double amount of the normal 30 minutes(21-22minutes) episodes. MONEY is the deciding factor in having a show be 1 hour long. We can hope and wish for it all we want but I do not see another 1 hour episode till the season finale(IMO). Too much of a good thing is always wanting more.

I loved the one-hour length. I could sit back and relax, and not look at how fast the time was going by. In fact once or twice, I just thought, "wow! it's STILL on!".

How about a compromise? (I know they're not ideal, ), every time there's a party, or holiday, we get an hour-long episode? Sweet!

I could deal better with 30 min. shows if they did not skip weeks between them. This everyother week thing is killing me!!

But I have always been an advocate for hour long episodes. Can't get enough!

I would say an hour.They clearley can run with one hour.Also its NBCs best comedy they have so why dont they give them the time slot.Everything seems to flow better.

I liked last nights episode- but I am with ADA and Office-holic- I think its better to have hour long episodes once in awhile. I like the 30 minute episodes and then the deleted scenes posted online during the week. Plus NBC has this comedy night thing going for them right now- with the 4 half hour comedies. They would have to cancel one of those first before they could make The Office an hour. So I say stick with the 30 minutes

I thought the length of the British Office was perfect; it was about the same time of plot contribution but slightly more pauses and jokes.

But, it was a nice treat, 30 minutes is the perfect slot for The Office. An hour is a bit long for this type of show. Like Scrubs, I love Scrubs but I couldn't imagine watching an hour long episode. A half hour raps up what happened last week, introduces something new, then leaves you wanting more. It's perfect.

[Off topic: does anyone know when It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is coming back to FX?, the only person I remeber that watched it too was ilovepam.]

Give us 30 minutes of new every week and no one gets hurt.

Win-Win-Win

What? The office get stale. Now way. It looks like the old Jim is creeping back. We saw more of Andy, which was hirlious and Dwight trying to compete. With the amount of character on the show, an hour(41 min) would be fine. I think the show may attract more viewers also, being an hour long.

It would be great if there was a hour. But if got a hour all the time we'd get spoiled

and it would be hard to fit an hour in between my name is earl at 8 and scrubs at 9. i doubt the other shows will move their primetime slot to benefit the office

although they should!

I think that would be cool if they did it an hour long. I agree with the others on this one - last night's episode seemed to flow more smoothly then others. It also gave us the perfect amount of each character: Andy, Dwight, Jim & Pam & Rashida without it feeling crammed in.

Sometimes what you want and what you get are two different things though. I mean, lets appreciate the fact that we have any OFFICE whether it be an hour or not.

I've been liking these extended shows so if he get a few of those a year I'm happy with how it's going

So we get extra long episodes for New Year's, MLK Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, President's Day...sounds great to me.

I think it would be nice to have hour long episode once in a while, and I think it would be better if they didn't skip weeks.

I did not know this before last night, but when checking my on-screen guide I noticed that Ugly Betty is an hour-long show.

Let that sink in.




UGLY BETTY IS AN HOUR LONG! AN HOUR OF CLICHES, OVERACTING AND PREDICTABILITY! And yet The Office, an original, real, and unpredictable television show gets a paltry half hour.

This is disgusting.

I am starting an Official Ugly Betty Haters Club. Who's with me!??!

i am.

they win the golden globe for best comedy...?!


IM SO WITH YOU.

i hate to be a hater, but i'm so with you. i watched it out of curiousity last night, and it was pretty worthless.

A show about fashion vs. the best and craziest show in the world

Hmmmmm.... Yeah ill go with the office

To me, Ugly Betty just seems like a weekly version of The Devil Wears Prada. Very uninspired...whereas The Office is the best show on television! Also, as the office has super-loyal flans like us, it would be very apprecieated as an hour long show.

Do you think Ugly Betty will ever get cancelled? Or moved to another night? Lol, I wish....

Ill join. No one I knows can stand that show. I hear great things about it, but when I watched it, I didn't laugh once

who is the betty you speak of and why is she ugly?

I find Ugly Betty offensive. Just because someone isnt the most attractive person doesn't mean we can call them ugly. Betty has braces, unplucked eyebrows and untameable hair, so that makes her ugly? I was watching a Inside Edition or something like that, and a reporter(pretty, I guess) was going on the set to find out how they made the actress who plays Betty "ugly". They give her fake braces, frizz her hair, and darken her eyebrows. She looks in the mirror and cries, "OMG, I'm ugly!". What a b!tch...

And sorry to burst your bubble, but Ugly Betty is on ABC, not NBC. even if it was off the air, The office wouldn't get anymore time. Sorry.

I definitely agree with you here. Who's to say what's ugly or not. Just because I wear glasses sometimes and used to have braces makes me un-pretty? And they wonder why so many young girls have image problems today...

Ditto that, my sister.

i watched ugly betty once well more like flipped back and forth when the office was on commercials. and i was just like okay?
i have nothing against the actress or anything. but i just dotn see all the appeal int he show as everyone else. and i for one dont really know anyone who watches it. or even remotely likes it.
when it one for best comedy i was like wtf? it seems more drama then comedy to me.