The Office: An American Workplace

[souljacker]

I'm with you strung out . I've just finished a re-binge since it has appeared on UK Netflix (bizarrely, the day it moved off of US Netflix). I think it's an excellent show. Steve Carrel is fantastic in it but I also love when Robert California joins the team. There are so many good characters like Meredith and Jan who crack me up. It's brilliant.

 

[chilango]

Dwight's Fire Drill is still my favourite bit. Followed by parkour parkour and Captain Jack.

 

[chilango]

...oh the improv class.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I have been wacking through this. It's quite odd. I think it 'perhaps' shows a difference in humour to the US and the UK.
At first I just didn't understand how the boss with clear mental issues managed to stay in his position. I later realised that the difference between the UK and US office is that the UK one 'could' be real, whereas, despite using the camera crew 'fly on the wall' vehicle, it's just a straight up sit com with implausible characters and situations. The most jarring moments have been perhaps when people say that Micheal is / has been great boss and a great leader, when he has constantly shown only that he is an absolutely shit boss and a terrible leader.
I guess once you get over that there is nothing realistic about it at all it's less annoying.
The interesting thing about speeding through so many years in a couple of weeks is that the characters completely change in personally and motivation really quickly (more noticeable at the beginning - but essentially throughout) and nobody notices whatsoever.

I'm still not sure if I actually like it, but it's easy to watch while washing up or cooking.

 

[hitmouse]

Been slowly working my way through this but I don't "binge" shows so it's been taking me a fair while. It's alright but I dunno if I love it.
Clickhole recently did an article on the American Office which has some good lines:

A Show About Phyllis: An Oral History Of ‘The Office’

In March of 2005, a new sitcom debuted on NBC that looked like almost nothing that had ever aired on the network before. The show…

clickhole.com

Although I think maybe the best one in the whole thing is right at the start:

Ricky Gervais (Creator of the British Office): There’s a saying in England which is, “If something happens in England, then the same exact thing will also happen in America, but for a much longer time.” This was the guiding principle behind the American Office: What if the British Office happened all over again, except this time it took nine fucking years for some reason?

 

[Poot]

The love story with Jim and Pam is up there with Wuthering Heights. We all need someone to play office pranks with.

If you can get beyond the bits that really havent aged well it's really very warm. But no, it's not at all realistic and nothing like the Brit one.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The love story with Jim and Pam is up there with Wuthering Heights. We all need someone to play office pranks with.

I'm not sure it is. It's quite tragic. She stays with that other bloke for so long and almost gets married. So much baggage in every 'written' relationship. Things only happens because of 'plot, then awkward stuff is simply ignored.

 

[skyscraper101]

I'm still not sure if I actually like it, but it's easy to watch while washing up or cooking.

Yeah I'm not into it. I mean the whole reason the UK version was funny is because virtually the entire cast is straight except for Brent and Gareth - so it's way more well observed and believable.

In the US version, it's completely flipped. Almost the entire staff are 'comedy characters' and the only straights are Pam and Jim, and that gets old very quickly.

 

[Poot]

I'm not sure it is. It's quite tragic. She stays with that other bloke for so long and almost gets married. So much baggage in every 'written' relationship. Things only happens because of 'plot, then awkward stuff is simply ignored.

Well, Wuthering Heights wasn't exactly a walk in the park either! You need these complications if you're going to invest in the characters. Pam tried very hard with Roy because she was desperate to do the right thing. But we all loved Jim more. (It's taken me a while to get over Jim. I may need counselling).

 

[souljacker]

I'm not sure it is. It's quite tragic. She stays with that other bloke for so long and almost gets married. So much baggage in every 'written' relationship. Things only happens because of 'plot, then awkward stuff is simply ignored.

It's also quite ironic that one of the reasons she leaves the other fella is because he's got no ambition and she doesn't want to be a receptionist in Scranton all her life. Then Jim gets the opportunity of a lifetime with his sports marketing thing as she doesn't want him to leave. The whole family should have moved to Philly when that job came about I reckon.

 

[Yossarian]

The love story with Jim and Pam is up there with Wuthering Heights. We all need someone to play office pranks with.

It definitely seems to have universal appeal - adaptations with the same storyline as the first UK series were also made in France, Israel, Quebec, Chile, Germany, India, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic. Beyond the US one, the longest-lived seems to have been Germany's "Stromberg," which had five seasons plus a crowdfunded film.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Yeah I'm not into it. I mean the whole reason the UK version was funny is because virtually the entire cast is straight except for Brent and Gareth - so it's way more well observed and believable.

In the US version, it's completely flipped. Almost the entire staff are 'comedy characters' and the only straights are Pam and Jim, and that gets old very quickly.

Yes indeed. It did slowly evolve into that though. When Jim went to work in that other office the nard dog bloke (I forget his name) was quite straight to start with, but now (I'm not at the end quite yet) he's a totally out of touch mental case boss. . . (plus we have all forgotten he was hopeless at relationships and about to marry that blonde short woman and he is now a lady killer).

When Kimmy Shmitt joined on reception it was suddenly really obvious they were all incompetent comedy characters that deserve the sack.

 

[spanglechick]

I watched all of this this for the first time recently. It really was the strangest thing because it totally isn’t my kind of comedy (the surreal bits of Community; Always Sunny...), and I didn’t love it with the emotional connection I felt to Parks and Rec or Crazy Ex Girlfriend or Schitt’s Creek... but it just really reliably made me laugh out loud fairly regularly and moreso than any other comedy I can think of. It’s just this gentle, not very demanding sitcom and then I’d find myself not seeing something coming and it’d be funny.

it’s very different to the uk office. I hear what’s being said about the American characters being heightened, but the uk characters, while more grounded in reality, are more grotesque. David Brent is more painful to watch, and far less redeemable than Michael Scott. Dwight is weirder than Gareth but also has more redeeming features. The uk office is unrelenting cringe-comedy. I watched it all again after I finished the American office and although it’s braver and more original, I didn’t really enjoy it.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I watched all of this this for the first time recently. It really was the strangest thing because it totally isn’t my kind of comedy (the surreal bits of Community; Always Sunny...), and I didn’t love it with the emotional connection I felt to Parks and Rec or Crazy Ex Girlfriend or Schitt’s Creek... but it just really reliably made me laugh out loud fairly regularly and moreso than any other comedy I can think of. It’s just this gentle, not very demanding sitcom and then I’d find myself not seeing something coming and it’d be funny.

it’s very different to the uk office. I hear what’s being said about the American characters being heightened, but the uk characters, while more grounded in reality, are more grotesque. David Brent is more painful to watch, and far less redeemable than Michael Scott. Dwight is weirder than Gareth but also has more redeeming features. The uk office is unrelenting cringe-comedy. I watched it all again after I finished the American office and although it’s braver and more original, I didn’t really enjoy it.

Yet again, I think I agree with you for the most part. I would ask you to recommend some TV for me, but I tried Schitts Creek and found it immediately utterly uninteresting and dull. Admittedly I didn't get far, but I think 3 episodes is enough. . . . . mind you, having said that I had to jump into the middle of season 3 of the American office because I just hated it, and found it utterly depressing, but assumed as it was so popular it would eventually get going at some point.

 

[spanglechick]

Yet again, I think I agree with you for the most part. I would ask you to recommend some TV for me, but I tried Schitts Creek and found it immediately utterly uninteresting and dull. Admittedly I didn't get far, but I think 3 episodes is enough. . . . . mind you, having said that I had to jump into the middle of season 3 of the American office because I just hated it, and found it utterly depressing, but assumed as it was so popular it would eventually get going at some point.

Schitt’s Creek was unimpressive background telly for me until the last ep of season two when they begin to be much more bearable people. By the end i was laughing, crying... it was pure and golden and delightful. And enormously silly. But it’s tough when a series takes that long to make itself loveable. It has to be forgivable if people don’t get that far. Parks and Rec takes nearly that long too.

 

[hitmouse]

Not tried Schitts Creek myself, but would highly recommend Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as maybe the most underrated and brilliant comedy series. As long as you're OK with both dark material and musicals, if you strongly object to one or the other you might have a bad time with it.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Schitt’s Creek was unimpressive background telly for me until the last ep of season two when they begin to be much more bearable people. By the end i was laughing, crying... it was pure and golden and delightful. And enormously silly. But it’s tough when a series takes that long to make itself loveable. It has to be forgivable if people don’t get that far. Parks and Rec takes nearly that long too.

Yeah, I guess parks and rec was a bit dull for the first season or so. I only continued because I had already seen parts of later episodes already.
Humm.
I think Shitts is Prime though isn't it, so that boat has sailed for me now.

 

[chilango]

I loved the US Office. Watched it through several times.

Superstore is now filling that gap. Very similar, to the point of plagiarism, type comedy. It's not great art, but it's easy watching for a tired brain.

 

[Orang Utan]

Yeah, I guess parks and rec was a bit dull for the first season or so. I only continued because I had already seen parts of later episodes already.
Humm.
I think Shitts is Prime though isn't it, so that boat has sailed for me now.

Schitt’s is on NetFlix. Not impressed so far, 2 in. Haven’t got time to wait for it to get better

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Schitt’s is on NetFlix. Not impressed so far, 2 in. Haven’t got time to wait for it to get better

Well maybe I will jump in halfway through season 2 and see. I think I got three in and thought it was just dreadful.

 

[Johnny Doe]

It's quite hard to feel sympathy for David Brent, until the other chap who looks like Jeremy from S Club 7 becomes his boss, and I think when he brings his date who actually like his jokes etc to the Xmas party, we're finally rooting for him.

Michael's easier to warm to from the off, quite possibly because he doesn't have a wanker like Chris Finch for a mate

 

[spanglechick]

Schitt’s is on NetFlix. Not impressed so far, 2 in. Haven’t got time to wait for it to get better

You have somewhere to be?

 

[Orang Utan]

You have somewhere to be?

I have 6 unmanageable watchlists on various platforms and I can't watch tv for more than a couple of hours at a time

 

[spanglechick]

I have 6 unmanageable watchlists on various platforms and I can't watch tv for more than a couple of hours at a time

Fair enough. I don’t build watchlists. I pick something, binge all the episodes of all the seasons, then move on to the next thing.

 

[magneze]

Dwight's Fire Drill is still my favourite bit.

The bit with the cat

 

[Orang Utan]

Fair enough. I don’t build watchlists. I pick something, binge all the episodes of all the seasons, then move on to the next thing.

I watch one or two at a time, generally giving a few day between each, so it takes me ages to get through shit. I know I'm never gonna watch Walking Dead cos there's 9 fucking series of it and I really dig zombies!

 

[spanglechick]

I watch one or two at a time, generally giving a few day between each, so it takes me ages to get through shit. I know I'm never gonna watch Walking Dead cos there's 9 fucking series of it and I really dig zombies!

You could knock that out in a fortnight. Three weeks maybe.

 

[Orang Utan]

You could knock that out in a fortnight. Three weeks maybe.

No I couldn't! I have other things to do!

 

[killer b]

I loved the first few series of the office, but haven't bothered finishing it, though I've really enjoyed some episodes from later seasons - the Cafe Disco episode in particular was a joy I thought.

The kids spent the first lockdown watching it instead of lessons, and are currently filled with sadness that they have to spend their schooldays watching dull presentations on teams instead of lounging on the sofa watching the office. I can't disagree with them tbf.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Michael's easier to warm to from the off, quite possibly because he doesn't have a wanker like Chris Finch for a mate

But Michael is clearly mentally ill. I didn't warm to him in any way at all. He does have a Finch, but he is not around so much and doesn't have quite as much influence.