This is turning out to be a great week. This week I’m getting the opportunity review the DVD releases of two animated series. First I mentioned the highly underrated “The Critic”, which lasted a whopping (almost) two seasons. It’s seeing the light of day again thanks to a ‘complete series’ DVD set. This show in particular really appealed to me as a (self-professed) movie reviewer, with all its inside jokes about the Hollywood Hills. On the same day, another underrated series is dusting off its episodes for release into the DVD market with “Dilbert: The Complete Series.” I’ve always enjoyed comic strips. Whenever I pick up a newspaper, that’s generally the direction I head. I gave up on all the murders and wars long ago. I am constantly in search of a laugh. Amongst the strips I used to read religiously were “Doonesbury”, “Calvin & Hobbes”, “Bloom County”, “The Far Side” (which was actually more of a comic panel than a strip) and occasionally “Garfield.”

Most of these however, I’ve since left by the wayside making only sporadic opportunities to revisit them. The only, and I mean the ONLY strip I still read daily (thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet) is “Dilbert.”

I’m hooked on this strip for a number of reasons, the least of which is that it is funny. I’ve spent the last 12 years of my life working in the corporate world, but not really IN the corporate world. I’m the guy who still wears jeans to work everyday, even though everyone else is into khakis and dress pants. With only a few exceptions, the large firm I work for is mostly populated by humorless drones who buzz about the workplace looking for the next meeting, project or cup of coffee. To this day, I do not understand the corporate mentality which thrives on words like ‘Paradigm’ and ‘Benchmarking.’ This atmosphere has never been for me, but hey… it pays the bills.

What all this experience has taught me though, is that “Dilbert” is not so much a comic strip, as it is a microscopic look at the stupidity and pointlessness of the corporate world. Creator Scott Adams’ wit and insight casts a harsh light on the idiocy of clueless bosses, the worthlessness of ‘Certificates of Merit’ Awards, the ineffectiveness of downsizing, the ambiguity of mission statements and the bloated self-important attitude of those who embrace the lifestyle. It’s only funny because it’s all true.

When I first heard about the idea of an animated version of “Dilbert” I was very wary. Much in the same way comic book fans are wary when a live action film is being made of their favorite superhero. As a longtime reader of not only the strip, but Adams’ books on surviving the workplace, I was concerned as to whether or not the humor would translate well into this new medium. I already had the characters voices and timing in my head and knew that the casting would be crucial to the success of the series.

The first episodes aired back in 1999 and though it was not necessarily a hit with viewers, it was a hit as far as I was concerned. Daniel Stern provided the voice of Dilbert and there could not have been a better choice. I was already familiar with his voiceover work as the narrator of the series “The Wonder Years”, and his straight forward method of delivery suited the character as well as the material. Chris Elliott lent his sarcastic tone to the character of Dogbert. If you haven’t read the strip, Dogbert is Dilbert’s smart-alecky genius if a dog. He knows full well (as do I) that he is going to take over the world of ‘in-DUH-viduals’ some day and unlike those in the corporate world, is deserving of his bloated self-importance.

Probably the most inspired bit of casting had to be that of comedian Larry Miller as the ‘pointy-haired’ boss. In the strip, he is Dilbert’s foil. He shoots down every good idea, until of course the idea becomes his. He expects more work for less pay. His work plan involves stripping away any and all family time from his employees; as a matter of fact he’d like your family to work, too. Fortunately, like most corporate bosses he is a clueless twit. So much so that you can convince him that an Etch-A-Sketch is his new laptop and that you can fax electricity.

“Dilbert: The Series” unfortunately lasted only two seasons, and then disappeared. Part of the problem might have been because the humor was a bit hit and miss. Most of the episodes were great, but there were the occasional few that just didn’t deliver. More so though, I think the series didn’t catch on because people either didn’t ‘get’ the humor, or they did ‘get’ it and were made uncomfortable having it hit too close to home. I think too many people recognized their own workplace and ‘cow’-workers.

Of course, when I mentioned this to some of my ‘cow’-workers who didn’t find the show funny at all, they asked how my theory explains the worldwide phenomena that the comic strip has become. I simply told them that people who read are a breed apart from those who just watch. Those who read are generally more intelligent and can appreciate the humor in their own lives, no matter how wasted their lives might be. For example, I realize that I am spinning my wheels at my job. I work for a huge financial services firm, and am quite content to do what I do every day in my quiet little area. I do well enough monetarily to live a comfortable lifestyle and have no desire to ‘climb the corporate ladder.’ What do I get out of it? Enough time to spend with my family (as I refuse to work overtime or take out of town trips that they cannot accompany me on) and an endless supply of laughter at the stupidity that surrounds me. Not so much from the people I directly work with, but from those at the upper levels. I read the memos, which are always worth a chuckle. I attend the ‘workshops’, and wonder how much this guy gets paid to make me stand in a hoop with my ‘cow’-worker so I can learn the value of teamwork.

I’ll even give you a perfect example, one that I shared recently with Scott Adams. Our firm is implementing a new records management system to help track files. The decision on what system to use was made without consulting any of the ‘records’ people we have working for us. It has been slowly rolled out to many of our offices at great expense. As the program has chugged along, the ‘guys upstairs’ have decided that we have less and less money in the budget and might have to start cutting corners. When we turned in the listing of what components of the system our office would require, we received an email that told us that we might have to cut out the color printer that would be used to print our ‘color-coded side tab labels.’ It was suggested… are you ready… that we print our ‘color-coded side tab labels’ on a black and white printer. As if I didn’t already have an idea that the ‘guys upstairs’ were clueless, I now know they were complete idiots.

Getting back to the point of my answer, those who only watch TV either don’t want to be reminded of the uselessness of their lives, or as I mentioned before simply don’t ‘get it.’ Those of us who can do both (read and watch), will ultimately join Dogbert in his bid for world domination.

In the meantime, while we’re waiting for this plan to go into action, we can treat ourselves to the return of “Dilbert.” Not on television, but on DVD. Sony / Columbia Tristar is releasing the entire two season run on a 4-disc set, complete with a few funny extra features. All 30 episodes are presented here in glorious full screen, along with a booklet that gives you a brief synopsis of each one.

There is a really good ‘making of… featurette that runs just under twenty minutes. But in those twenty minutes, Adams is able to describe the essence of the humor and give us a fairly good look at how the series came together. We get to hear from some of the cast and crew, and see a little bit of the animation process. This is followed up by four clip compilations introduced by Adams. Under normal circumstances I don’t really find a use for clip compilations, but I like these as they can be used to show your friends what the show is like without actually watching a whole episode.

So remember kids, “Work harder, not smarter!” The DVD set for “Dilbert: The Series” easily belongs in the collection of anyone who doesn’t consider themselves an ‘in-DUH-vidual.’

Episodes:
The Name
The Prototype
The Competition
Testing
Elbonian Trip
The Takeover
Little People
Tower of Babel
Y2K
The Knack
Charity
Holiday
Infomercial
The Gift
The Trial
The Shroud of Wally
The Dupey
Art
Hunger
The Security Guard
The Merger
The Off-Site Meeting
The Assistant
Company Picnic
The Virtual Employee
The Return
Ethics
The Fact
Pregnancy
The Delivery

Starring (the voices of): Daniel Stern, Chris Elliott, Kathy Griffin, Larry Miller, Gordon Hunt, Jackie Hoffman
Extras: “Making of Dilbert” Featurette, 4 Clips Compilations Hosted by Creator Scott Adams – Dogbert Speaks, You’re Not the Boss of Me, Marketing or Felonious Activity, and Catbert: Feline or Pure Evil
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 1/27/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website

We'll give Dilbert: The Complete Series an A.