Why is there a US-version of "The Office"?

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I never liked Steve Carell as much as the other Daily Show folks anyway.

Me neither. He always overplays -- very DO YOU SEE. His character on The Office is just GRATING and there's no reason to expect that he'll tone down in later episodes.

― Aaron A., Friday, 25 March 2005 06:52 (nineteen years ago) link

you losers! talking about sitcoms while shitty Star Wars movies are on their way!

good night!

― latebloomer: AKA Sir Teddy Ruxpin, Former Scientologist (latebloomer), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm okay with it so far. The vibe is accurate and they've left out the laugh track, and those are both key things. The preview for next week has a really good idea, and its one that wasn't used in the original (which I adore.) Given the fact that it's a retread, they could've really fucked it up a lot worse. And for Aaron upthread, the show does have one of Mike Judge's long-time collaborators on it as producer. I'll keep watching, although I have a hard time believing it'll get picked up. It's just too different from most U.S. TV.

― Austin S (Austin, Still), Friday, 25 March 2005 07:00 (nineteen years ago) link

It's the problem of translation vs. interpretation. Too bad for The Office, Office Space already did it. (xpost) And yet, on its own, I didn't think it was that bad. Not, that is, when you compare it to "Yes, Dear" or "According to Jim" or any of the execrable sitcoms on the WB. Sure, if you compare it to the original, it's a dog, yo.

― EComplex (EComplex), Friday, 25 March 2005 07:07 (nineteen years ago) link

The first episode is a translation. I have hope that they'll venture into reinterpretation later, as the preview hinted.

― Austin S (Austin, Still), Friday, 25 March 2005 07:10 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't care what anyone says, the actress who plays Pam is a sexaroon.

― Tim Schaloob, Friday, 25 March 2005 08:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Too bad she can't act.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 09:09 (nineteen years ago) link

It was good that they stayed true to the original. But I think I figured out what was off about it.

The new show didn't have nearly as much ambient office noise as the original. That added an element of percieved realism in the British version (as well as not knowing any of the British actors) that I enjoyed very much. This one, while staying true to the original, seemed kind of flat and polished in comparison. I think it's the lack of ambient office noise. Still good, but missing that element it seems like just another show.

― Zebra, Alpha Go! (cprek), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:22 (nineteen years ago) link

Zebra, OTM literally and metaphorically. No ambient noise, not filmed with available light under fluorescent tubes, didn't look "documentary." Consequently, it also did "feel" like anything could happen. It felt scripted and safe. Missing Gervais's spark, I think.

― EComplex (EComplex), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Also, Gervais comes off as an asshole, but a sometimes pathetic asshole. Carell comes off as an asshole, but an idiot asshole.

But I will watch the next episode - the post-it note discrimnation exercise looks promising.

..My guess is that the bulk of the American audience will not find the show the least bit funny.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:29 (nineteen years ago) link

this sucked. carell's boss wasn't needy enough.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:39 (nineteen years ago) link

knowing it's going to go its own way is reason enough to keep watching; i watched last night w 3 other ppl who had seen the brit version and we were like "ew is the whole thing just gonna be a cover version? creepy"

pam is ok? wtf it's the GARETH and the TIM who are disappointing. the logic is way off, our gareth (whatever his name is) is changed quite a bit (volunteer sherriff? does that even exist) (erm, can't make fun of nat'l guardsmen these days) but the everyboy has...the exact same haircut? nuh-uh.

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Also it was originally partly a satire of "American" management techniques applied by and to the British.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 25 March 2005 14:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't think it was bad. It has such a high standard to live up to; I think it's difficult to watch the U.S. version and not be thinking, "Oh , this is different... this isn't quite as funny now... etc." even if you want to like it.

Apparently, from what I read the parallels between the first episode last night and the first episode from the original series is intentional; they used the same "teleplay" for both. So I'm interested to see how the next few episodes go. I agree that next week's looks promising, what with the diversity training post-its.

It's still better than 95% of what's on network television, which means most people will hate it.

Also, Zebra's OTM about the ambient office noise.

― sugarpants: the luscious ingenue (sugarpants), Friday, 25 March 2005 15:55 (nineteen years ago) link

I think the 15 minute streaming clip on myspace is brilliant. haven't seen the first show/piolt but if u forget as best u can about the comparison with the uk veers, it's hillarious. totally different to the uk one scriptwise in that section too.

― piscesboy, Friday, 25 March 2005 16:05 (nineteen years ago) link

veers = vers.

oh and

http://www.myspace.com/theoffice

"tolerance...ignorance!"

it's aces!

― piscesboy, Friday, 25 March 2005 16:08 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't think it was that bad at all.. I laughed quite a bit, even! The only things that seemed a bit off to me were: a) how fast-paced it seemed (the original series has quite a bit of just filming people making copies, or on the phone--this one didn't have as much of that) and also b) how fucking awful the receptionist, pam, was. Oh my god, she is the worst actress EVER. HOW WAS SHE CAST?!? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!? I thought the Gareth equivalent wasn't that bad, although he seems a bit more clever than Gareth Keenan. I can't picture "Jim" and "Pam" playing pranks on this guy.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 25 March 2005 17:18 (nineteen years ago) link

All the new Tim guy has to do is be likeable, and he's failing even at that so far.

You know, the American Tim had too much of a sparkle to his eyes. Even when Pam's fiance, Roy, pretty much put him back in his place, he still had this scrappy, but lovable underdog look on his face. The UK Tim would get these soul-crushing looks on his face that would convey just how much his spirit had been grinded down. The American Tim is just downright pluckish!

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, that's it. Some thing about UK Tim made me indentify with him immediately. US Jim just seems too well adjusted so far.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link

If I don't like the new Tim and Dawn, I don't see the point. Carell's boss as the focal point will get old VERY quickly.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:03 (nineteen years ago) link

If you guys had never seen the original, you'd be falling all over yourselves praising this show.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:50 (nineteen years ago) link

I agree, it's very good on it's own.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link

If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass a-hoppin'.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link

This discussion is crackling like a hickory fire.

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Life's too short to watch shows I would like if I hadn't seen other shows.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Maybe that's why next week's preview seemed so much funnier than last night's episode. It's a new script.

I'd really like to see a German version of "WKRP in Cincinnati".

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link

guys I really didn't even think the preview was funny. I'll watch the next few episodes but I'm not holding out any hopes.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link

aaron you are such a doubting thomas!!

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:25 (nineteen years ago) link

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:31 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't understand why no one thinks the receptionist can act; I thought she was the most realistic person in the whole ensemble. She exudes the same type of easy sincerity as Maura Tierney IMO. (Also she kind of looks like Maura Tierney.) (I am certain the fact that I am totally gay for Maura Tierney has nothing to do with my opinion on this actress.) (Maura Tierney ROWR but Parminder Nagra ROWROOOOOOOOOOO) (I seem to have lost my point.)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:47 (nineteen years ago) link

she gives you a boner /= she can act

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Acting aside, The simple fact that Pam said "You're a jerk!" where Dawn said "You're a sad little man." seems to indicate that the Pam character will be less interesting in the long run. Dawn had a quiet dignity in that situation, Pam just came off as a crybaby wimp.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:52 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, because it's very likely the average Scranton receptionist would choose to call someone a "sad little man" in a moment of extreme emotional distress rather than a "jerk". Are you perhaps forgetting that the characters aren't British?

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:56 (nineteen years ago) link

No no no it was the way she said it.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

According to Maura and Joe it won its ratings slot -- saw the end of the episode here and...eh. Dan's right about how seeing the original colors this, no matter what else.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think it's equivalent either. I didn't expect it to be the same line, but "you're a jerk" didn't have the same resonance.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:02 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm not sure if i would like this if i'd not seen the original... maybe i would think it was kinda interesting but i don't think i'd be falling all over myself. it wasn't very funny. really felt like they were just going through the motions. also carrell is pretty bad here, although i usually like him.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:02 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah i gotta agree with aaron, the moment, the whole scene really, didn't work/came off wrong. it got hella promoted, local news afterwards made a note of it (memo from network); new timeslot new fate though probably, not that thursday's the prime real estate it once was.

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Carell's whole "you've been punked he was my accomplice blah blah". This man is painfully "unfunny" and not in a funny way like Gervais.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:05 (nineteen years ago) link

haha:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/board/nest/17009614

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:08 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, it's funny carell popped up on a daily show rerun from earlier in the week and was much much funnier.

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm now wondering if I've been watching the same British "The Office" as the rest of you because Ricky Gervais is basically on full tilt painful I-don't-know-if-I-should-laugh-or-scream-sto-it-you-gigantic-douchebage mode throughout the entire series, much like Carell is in the American version.

(xpost: That is possibly the best troll ever! Hahahaha!)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

i just think gervais pulls it off a lot better!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

yes, gervais/brent wasn't at ALL a sympathetic character until the final, final episode (the christmas one).

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link

carrell just seems too... i dunno, capable? or self-conscious?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:19 (nineteen years ago) link

self-conscious. that's the crux of it.

― AS AN ACTUAL MODERN DAY SAMURAI I AM DISSOPOINTED IN THIS BURGER I HAD JUST (Aar, Friday, 25 March 2005 20:21 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, it's funny carell popped up on a daily show rerun from earlier in the week and was much much funnier.

Heh, I just saw that too! Hilarious stuff -- mind you, this might all be a question of familiarity as has already been clearly noted. (TS: Alfred Hitchcock's The Office vs. Gus Van Sant's)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think Carell's portrayal is self-aware or sympathetic at all!

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Alfred Hitchcock's The Office

In which Gareth dresses in old lady drag and kills all the temps.

― AS AN ACTUAL MODERN DAY SAMURAI I AM DISSOPOINTED IN THIS BURGER I HAD JUST HAD., Friday, 25 March 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't know ned, i wasn't so crazy about van sant's psycho and i've never seen the original. i have seen psycho ii, iii, and iv though so maybe.

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link

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