Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Workaholics: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

No work and all play make these guys the "Workaholics."

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 14, 2013

It takes real drive and determination to be noticed in the business world, a real go get 'em attitude to succeed, and it certainly requires the right connections to get things done, and that's all especially true for those who see life and work as one big party. For the guys of Workaholics, "work" is a four-letter word (well, it really is a four-letter word, but anyway...) that means "sex, drugs, and anything and everything but staying seated and making sales." It's a Comedy about slackers who put on the slacks and knot up the tie everyday but who do so with an eye towards the next high and the next hijinks -- both of which can and often do take place at work -- and not the next sale or promotion. Now in its third -- and first extended -- season, Workaholics has proven to be a runaway hit with the generation that grew up in the "aughts" and now slaves away at lower end jobs just to make ends meet. It's a show about friendships and the daily routine of just getting by with the help of pick-me-ups that only hard drugs and a whole lot of tomfoolery can provide. In other words, it's a show about avoiding life's responsibilities and finding that perfect nirvana of living high without experiencing the lows of unemployment, or worse.

Ouch.

Adam (Adam DeVine), Blake (Blake Anderson), and Anders (Anders Holm) are three slackers who "work" at the not-so-prestigious TelAmeriCorp. There, they're over-the-phone pitch-men who somehow stay employed even when they rarely accomplish anything. In season three, they're up to their usual pranks, highs, and party lifestyle. They prep for adventures in hard drugs, "cheat" on their usual weed dealer with a tougher-than-nails woman who actually wants them to pay her in a timely manner, and they even learn that hard drugs and random sex can be a real boon for the telemarketing business when a work conference takes an unexpected twist to involve acid, strippers, and a kinky contract target. Over the twenty-episode season, they also attempt to finagle their way to a valued handicap parking spot by landing Adam's obese and disabled cousin a job at their firm, get involved in a rift between a co-worker and his wife, fear a haunting in the office, fall in love with an Internet stripper, and even face the challenges of being replaced by technology. And if there's one thing that's worse than work, it's being out of work, and all those hours are just too valuable to be spent anywhere but at the office and doing anything but actual work.

Workaholics' third season generally outclasses and outpaces its seasons one and two predecessors. It's not a leaps-and-bounds improvement but it's a noticeable step up in tempo and humor, not to mention its firmer grasp of the offbeat brand of humor and, just as important, the best way to implement it into the program. It feels a little more naturally flowing while at the same time maintaining a very real sense of the absurd taken to ridiculous heights. Never does the viewer wonder how the guys keep their jobs. Instead, the audience is content to merely go with the flow and enjoy the antics of three of television's most lovable losers. The show nails that crucial sense of true irreverence as anything and everything can be the source of a gag or punch-line; even a scene showing the guys unwittingly violating a corpse proves funny rather than grotesque, and even when the rest of the episode deals in the trio trying to exploit the death for their own lazy and selfish gain, the program maintains a breezy sense of fun and never feels morbid, as morals and basic human decency would, in most other circumstances, dictate. It's not a brilliant show -- the original British version of The Office absolutely destroys it in every department -- but for a little slice of adult-oriented escapism, today's twenty-something office worker drones will have a hard time denying the show's genius at portraying modern life with a complete lack of tact and embracing of sophomoric humor with a clear absence in meaning.

Season three offers a well-rounded collection of shows that zip on by faster than a weekend high. Certainly, laughter is subjective but the show will very likely speak to audiences that crave hollow humor and an endless string of drug references and usage, sexual innuendo, and a general disregard for taste. Those in search of a humor with more wit, more bite, more character will find the program lacking. Yet there's enough of a gray area that slightly more demanding audiences might find just a little bit to enjoy, too. This is a classic "wash-rinse-repeat" sort of program in that there's no deviation from the core structure, but each episode shakes things up enough to produce some unique scenarios that aren't all quite so emotionally bankrupt and dramatically vacant as they might appear to be, even if that emotion and drama are grossly overplayed to humorous effect. That doesn't mean this is smart television, it simply means that the guys manage to keep things fresh even if the core never really changes. Whether flashing backwards to when the guys met or flashing forwards to a possible Terminator-inspired future for their office, there's always a healthy helping of interesting and inspired shenanigans sprinkled in amongst the juvenile drug, sex, and offbeat humor that defines the program. There's not much diversity, but there's enough distinction between episodes to keep audiences wanting to come back for just a little bit more, to see exactly what sort of crazy scenarios will greet Adam, Blake, and Anders and how they'll respond to their latest brush with insanity.

Workaholics: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Workaholics: Season Three features a fairly basic high definition presentation. The HD vide source material provides a fairly flat, causal viewing experience that sees acceptable details and colors but nothing to set it apart from the pack. It's stable and largely consistent, flawed by only light banding, a touch of aliasing in spots, and some excess noise in darker backdrops (an outdoor sequence in episode four appears exceptionally rough; globs of red noise damage the integrity of the picture). Otherwise, the transfer features solid details and dependable clarity. The usual facial and clothing textures are fine, showing skin imperfections and facial hairs and seams in clothes with good accuracy in close-up shots. Various environments -- the office interior, the guys' home -- are sharp and nicely showcase all the little odds and ends in the background. The color palette appears neutral throughout, never really popping with eye-opening brilliance but never going dull, either. It strikes a nice balance between some of the drab, colorless office partitions and walls and the many little colorful trinkets in the background. Flesh tones are balanced, though blacks show a little crush here and there. It's a midlevel HD video transfer, one that holds its own and suits the program just fine but that is in no way visually spectacular.

Workaholics: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Workaholics: Season Three arrives on Blu-ray with an effective Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's also rather basic, though that's hardly a knock considering the show usually gives it little with which to work. It delivers some good, deep bass when called upon, noticed right away during an acid trip early in the season. Musical reproduction leaves little room for want; it's clear and focused, enjoying natural spacing across the front while also sending some information to the back. The opening titles see the most energy, usually, but the show surprises every now and then with some fun musical pieces and sound effects to spruce up an otherwise dialogue-heavy program. Speaking of, the spoken word comes through clearly enough. It's center-focused and never unbalanced in either placement or volume. This is another one of those tracks that's accomplished given the parameters of the material, but it's not one that will be remembered for anything other than doing its job.

Workaholics: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Workaholics: Season Three contains unique commentaries for each episode. Additionally, a few random extras are included on disc two.

• "Drunkmentaries": Informal commentaries that are more focused on fun than deep observation, but that suits the show just fine. The guys chat in the background, eat, and discuss what is sometimes completely irrelevant material. Fans are going to fall in love with these tracks.
• Bloopers (HD, 9:31): A collection of goofy outtakes from the making of the show.
• Alternate Takes (HD, 9:05): Different versions of several scenes.
• Music Video (HD, 2:58): "My Queen" by Montez Walker.
• The Other Cubicle (HD): Adventures from elsewhere within the hallowed halls of TelAmeriCorp. Skits include Bill for a Day (2:51), Over the Top (2:32), and Nap Time (2:52).

Workaholics: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Workaholics: Season Three still lags behind the best office-themed Comedies, but the adventures of Adam, Blake, and Anders certainly don't disappoint for brief escapes into the world of irreverent, cutting-edge humor. The show works great for short bursts of adult-oriented comedic entertainment, but needless to say audiences in search of smarter, wittier, and more relevant laughs will want to, generally, look elsewhere for twenty minutes of televised fun. That said, Workaholics is definitely worth checking out if crude humor sounds even remotely fun. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Workaholics: Season Three features fine video and audio. Commentaries and a few other extras are included. Recommended to the target audience.