The Office

[diggler]

The hour long format hurts it.  I feel like there was a tight half hour show in there somewhere, but some plot points meandered. Still a lot of classic moments though, (ed helms' nipples, haha).

...and Michael was always homer simpson, now he's just turning into homer simpson after season 10

[Stefen]

i was thinking they went a little too far with Michael not caring at all about hitting someone and then Dwight torturing a cat - albe unintentionally.

would it be interesting if Creed and Dwight became enemies?
i wonder if 'Jam' will still mess with Dwight or be more focused on one another.

That would never happen. It's impossible for Creed to have an enemy. I doubt he cares what people think of him. And he probably cares even less about anyone in the office.

[MacGuffin]

Yeah, the hour long episodes just alter the pace of the show.

But, dude, Creed being 'young' was one of the funniest things ever.

[Stefen]

haha, yeah, Creed is awesome. And Phyllis totally turning and telling Pam she can't assign clients based on who she's sleeping with "that week" was hilarious too.

I like the hourlong episodes. If it was something that I cared about being creative and great all the time, I would want them to tighten it up, but seeing as how I'm just trying to be entertained, the longer the better.

[modage]

my time warner fake tivo this week has fucked up and only recorded the first minute of Heroes, The Office and (MOST OF ALL GODDAMNIT) 30Rock.  but it did record The Sarah Silverman Program all the way through.  is NBC implementing some evil system to not let fake tivo-ers tape their shows?  the shows it didnt record were all HD but my box is nowhere near full.  on the bright side a complaint just got me 3 months of free showtime, hello non-torrent'd Weeds!

[pete]

this show has gotten so lukewarm and self-content.  I was watching one of my favorite episodes this morning, Basketball from season 1.  It had edge back then and was absurd in a totally unexpected way.  the past couple of episodes were totally unconvincing, which renders the fake documentary format useless, and its humor was so lukewarm 'cause all the characters became total shorthands, reacting in totally predictable ways.

[Ravi]

Pete, I started to have those same complaints while watching season 3.  The characters never really transcended caricatures of themselves, especially Michael Scott. 

Also, there is only so much one can do with a show set in an office.  You can feel the writers struggling to come up with more retreats, parties, etc. for the characters to be a part of.  I got the first inklings of this when everyone left the office to watch Dwight and Michael duke it out in a dojo in season 2.

[pete]

I think it's also because the writers never got depressed in an office the way ricky gervais did?

[Ravi]

I think it's also because the writers never got depressed in an office the way ricky gervais did?

Buried somewhere in the US version is the idea that "its just work, so don't sweat it" but for the most part its not even really about what people feel towards their work and how it affects their lives.  The feel of the daily grind, of spinning ones wheels, not fulfilling ones dreams, etc. was integral to the UK version, which gave it a poignancy the US version doesn't have. 

The first half of episode 2 in season 4 alludes to real workplace issues such as jealousies over office relationships and fear of technology and loss of relevance, but the treatment ended up being superficial.  Hopefully they'll explore these themes more over the course of the season.

[Gamblour.]

Bingo. I was thinking we're at the point where nothing of the original British Series is left, in terms of plot. British viewed the office as the ultimate deadend, where as American views it, even in the case of Ryan, as having mobility and the ability to move forward. The American addresses the fact that some people do want these jobs, but only to fulfill some post-collegiate, bullshitting lifestyle.

[Redlum]

The American Office has a tenderness that the UK Office rarely achieved. For example, Michael showing up to Pam's gallery showing and buying her painting of the office building. The characters in Scranton are able to show their redeeming qualities; even secondary characters like Toby. In the Slough office, most didn't have any redeeming qualities (or it was just more realistic in not showing them); Gareth and others just served to contrast with Tim's sanity. In Scranton the audience can even sympathise with the nut-jobs, on occasion (for example, Michaels tape of him on a game show when he was a boy).

This (increasing) affection for the characters not only makes it enjoyable to watch but in the last episode, surprisingly Jim has found some contentment with his situation and Pam and doesn't yearn for the corporate life that Ryan has found.  This probably isn't as realistic as Tim's predicament in Slough but I don't see any use for despair in a long running sit-com like this. Nor do I want it.

I don't think its worth even comparing the two to be honest. Most fans of the original here shun the US series expecting it to be a direct transplant of the Slough branch to Scranton. Fortunately, it isn't. If the original series were now at 50+ episodes people would probably have got annoyed with it a long time ago. There's only so much cringing you can take. I still think the original is ground-breaking but I don't enjoy revisiting it that much.

[Ravi]

The American Office has a tenderness that the UK Office rarely achieved. For example, Michael showing up to Pam's gallery showing and buying her painting of the office building. The characters in Scranton are able to show their redeeming qualities; even secondary characters like Toby. In the Slough office, most didn't have any redeeming qualities (or it was just more realistic in not showing them); Gareth and others just served to contrast with Tim's sanity. In Scranton the audience can even sympathise with the nut-jobs, on occasion (for example, Michaels tape of him on a game show when he was a boy).

I thought the game show tape was corny, but Michael visiting Pam at her gallery was a genuinely sweet moment in the show.  And in one episode we see Michael being a good salesman when he goes on a sales call.  I don't know why they make him real in those moments and then unrealistically idiotic in others, like having him about to jump off the roof into a bounce house.  His character is supposed to be annoying and needy and sometimes stupid, but it feels like Michael is headed towards being a total caricature, like Homer in the later episodes of The Simpsons.

[tpfkabi]

especially with him driving a car into water fully knowing he's doing it just because the computer is telling him to.

[Redlum]

Generally, I love the absurd moments of the show and enjoy juggling them with the sincere. But I agree, the lake incident went too far and was less funny because of it.

His character is supposed to be annoying and needy and sometimes stupid, but it feels like Michael is headed towards being a total caricature, like Homer in the later episodes of The Simpsons.

They definitely need to pull it back a bit. Hopefully they're still getting accustomed to the new running time.

[pete]

I think the UK version had its own share of human moments, which were propelled by the relentless drab that set the show apart.  the emotions felt much more real and, by contrast, the absurd moments (and they went for some truly absurd moments with lightning fast crack timing that the American version couldn't keep up with - David Brent calling the Pakistani racist in the first episode for example), the heartbreaking moments, the madness (how they resolved the quiz night), and ultimately the sweet ending, became much more deserved because everything became that much more convincing and invested.  The American show had something going in that department, but became lazier as the season went on.  Everything became shorthand for sitcom conventions.  There were moments of drama and tenderness, but no more dramatic or tender than Friends.  And now with Jim and Pam, the show's assortment of caricatures, and lukewarm slapstick in full swing, it felt very much like Friends.  Which is too bad, 'cause the format had opened so many doors and possibilities.  Driving the car into the water could've been funny too, but the camera shouldn't've been inside the car (look at Sideways or every other Reno 911 episode) and the characters shouldn't've oversold their own disbelief.  They had Dwight as the straightman in that scenerio!

I'm not saying it has to be exactly like the British Office either, but right now it just feels like a subpar version of everything else that's already been done.  the producers have no balls, and the show has no aim.  and the problem is, it seems too self-satisfied to realize its mediocrity.  it's like the last season of Newsradio thinking itself the second season of Arrested Development.