First off, let me get this straight. I am a huge fan of the British show The Office. Which was a first for me, because up until that point I had never cared for British comedy. Monty Python, AbFab, The Young Ones... Sorry I know it's blasphemy but they just never did anything for me. But The Office? LOVE!
So when I heard that an American version of the show was in the works, I had mixed feelings. For one thing, if it aint broke, why fix it? The only reasons I could see doing a remake of The Office were purely financial. Plus, how could a country who embraces crap like According To Jim and Two and a Half Men and then shits on comedy like Arrested Development POSSIBLY do justice to a show of that caliber? Either it would be good, and fail. Or be mediocre and find success. Then again, Ricky Gervais was involved in the project, and Steven Carell, (who I was not yet oversaturated with at that point.)
But when The Office finally aired I didn't watch it, until just recently. Not because I was boycotting it or anything, just because I don't watch much primetime TV. And I actually have to say the show is NOT bad! I've been watching it a for a couple of weeks now that they have summer blocks (last night I didn't even have to sit through that despicable 'Earl' show between episodes) and I even catch myself laughing at it.
I think that the Dwight character is very funny and probably the best developed on the show, mostly because he's not a total rip-off of Gareth. Unlike say... Jim. I mean, come on. Jim? Tim? It's like they weren't even trying there. Jim is just an American version of Tim minus charisma. Dawn was the only character of the British show that I thought had room for improvement, since she was slightly bland. The jury is still out on this one, but it seems her American counterpart may be a bit more interesting. And, although sometimes he does ham it up a little much, Steve Carell is still very funny. Michael Scott is no David Brent... But it looks like this show may really have the potential to come into it's own. Only time will tell...
4 comments:
no monty python, ab fab OR the young ones??? that is blasphemy.
if you like the less silly brit shows, check out "as time goes by." i've never seen the office, but it's funny in that smart ass, play on words way that the daily show is, i think... if you could sipher that humor into a sitcom about two old people
The American version takes place near where I live. I used to work in Scranton and there are many local references on the programs. Michael, Dwight, Pam, and Jim are on my friends list.
Hey ya, I'm a friend of "I Love You in the Face" (if we're all going by our blog names now). Nice blog. If you like the British version of the Office you may want to check out Steve Coogan's brilliant Alan Partridge character, who is a walking trainwreck of a talk show host and a big inspiration for the David Brent character. The first Partridge series, Knowing Me Knowing You, about the actual chat show, is on dvd now. The follow-up show, I'm Alan Partridge, is even better and shows him after he's lost his show, working as a late night dj and living in a third-rate travel lodge. I think that's coming out in October. Anyway, that's all for my nerdy comedy recommendations.
Thanks, brotha! I'm so netflixing that. (Three cheers for new verbs! Suck on that, dictionary!)
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