| After being fired from UPN's primetime line-up, this animated series based on Scott Adams's nationally syndicated comic strip has received a well-deserved promotion to DVD. Dilbert, the bespectacled potato-shaped engineer with the upwardly mobile tie, is the poster boy for the corporately disenfranchised. Though Adams's cynical, cubicle eye-view of corporate culture was somewhat co-opted by The Drew Carey Show, animation gives the series a surreal flourish not possible in a live-action series. In the first episode, for example, we can see the devastation wreaked by an "all-natural" anthrax lozenge, and an interoffice riot sparked by budget cuts. Co-executive producer Larry Charles, whose resume includes Seinfeld and Mad About You, wisely preserved Adams's Kafka-esque comic vision. Dilbert may "just want to make the world a better place," but that is difficult in a workplace where the Pointy-Haired Boss insists his employees first come up with a name for an as-yet-undeveloped product, employees literally give their souls to the company, and an evil cat reigns as an evil director of human resources loathe to help employees. As the old saying goes, it's funny because it's true. The voice cast are excellent hires, with Daniel Stern as Dilbert, Larry Miller as the clueless Boss, Kathy Griffin as sardonic co-worker Alice, and Chris Elliot as Dogbert. You don't have to have a refrigerator, cubicle wall, or computer festooned with yellowed Dilbert strips to appreciate the series. It will strike a beleaguered chord in fans of Office Space and The Office, or anyone toiling for a company that loves misery. --Donald Liebenson Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
