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

http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Office/

Why do they think British comedy series' need to be "re-made" for American audiences?

but then didn't they do an american version of the British Coupling which Friends had been a version of to begin with?

ow.

the last good british comedy show was Whatever Happened to The Likely Lads? nearly 30 years ago, no, more than 30 now i guess

Only true if you forget the existence of The Young Ones, Blackadder, A Bit Of Fry & Laurie, The Day Today, Yes Minister, Brass Eye, Not The Nine 'O Clock News, The Armando Iannucci Shows, and Father Ted.

(BTW - the latter was technically British as it was mostly filmed at the London Studios (formerly LWT's South Bank Studios) for the UK-based Channel 4. I think I read somewhere once that RTE, the Irish state broadcaster, refused to broadcast it when C4 was attempting to sell it overseas.)

jeremy's right - the focus group response to the original pilot was so terrible that nbc had to have a long hard think about whether it was worth saving. in the end they retooled both the cast and the writing team pretty dramatically and (i think?) gave gervais and merchant even more input than they already had.

Big Brother, surely? Or am I missing something in TV history?

WTF!!?? Is that really him?

It's really disheartening when someone rattles off a list of 20 British shows that are supposed to be good and only 2 or 3 of them have ever been shown in the US. I can't understand why with a billion satellite stations they can't just beam the British channels over here instead of giving us BBC America.

What I don't get is, if they're following the original exactly and it gets pick up for more than one season, what happens when they get past the Christmas Specials in the story line? They better have some damn good writers lined up or they're screwed...not to mention the fact that the BBC series ends at exactly the right time for those characters.

It just bothers me that the media/entertainment complex assume Americans won't be interested in a show full of British accents. Could this type of coddling be why so many Americans have such an insulated view of the world?

None of this forgives the idea of making an Americanized Father Ted, though. ;-)

So why isn't Larry David giving me money?

Whether it be here or on a different show, Spader needs to be back on television.

Having thought a bit about this last episode, I don't think I like the increasing focus on omgfamous actors. The show used to feel like a proper office with actual people, now it feels like a TV show (if you know what I mean). I really really liked yesterday's episode but there were waaaay too many celebrity cameos (and Kathy Bates) for it to feel real anymore. Maybe that's a deliberate decision by Lieberstein, I don't know.

― 百万个叉烧包 (Autumn Almanac), Friday, May 20, 2011 5:15 PM (Yesterday)

The show hasn't felt real like what you describe since everyone became cartoon exaggerations of their unique quirks.

The cameos are also more of a way to keep people hooked, because I'm sure they're worried about holding viewers now that Michael is gone.

No doubt. Also I see your point about caricatures. Shame it's gone that way, but I still like it despite that.

half the cast were completely cartoony from the start (eg Creed, Kevin, Dwight, MICHAEL. Kelly was rebooted from S2 into a new character, so basically started as a cartoon there.), but played against the flatness of the tone and the comparative realism of some of the others, it didn't affect the overall feel. and I'll take the ongoing exagerration of some of the others if it brings moments like Meredith's cheerful pride at being caught on her "walk of shame."

Yeah that's true, they were cardboard cut-outs and became real from there (by "they" I mean basically every character whose first name is the same as the actor's — Creed, Phyllis, Oscar, Angela &c.)

In the beginning Michael's cartoony-ness was the basis of the show, Dwight's was secondary, and the moments involving the background employees in the office were all there to present a relatable experience. Maybe it's something like yours, or one you heard from a friend, but they all take place in a atmosphere that is believably mundane, and involve actual PEOPLE. Since Michael's cartoony-ness was the epicenter, his character was balanced out by the realness/relate-ability or dry/mundaneness of the other characters. Even Dwight had sensitivity and his shenanigans were in-check and believable. As the balance faded and the anonymity (and mysterious strangeness by some) of the characters went away, they literally became their quirks after initial bits involving them were piled on and shaped them into something singular. Meanwhile the more complex, spotlighted characters were boiled down due to too much reaching for new bits involving their most popular quirks. The show only worked when we still had something to learn about everybody.

an atmosphere*

There was a seriousness that I don't think The Office will ever be able to get back.

Same goes to The Simpsons

So damn true. New Simpsons just makes me sad.

my motto is, when your credibility is shot, start shovelling in the hawtness

(hi cody <3)

spader killed in that ep

still like this show enough to watch

why is there no British version of Prince

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s68P-GS4lyw

what! stupid Ted Turner embedding failure! go eat you dam buffalos! thats why there is no British Prince!!

still like this show enough to watch

otm. It's changed quite a lot but I still love watching it.

my god that was a pointless comment, sorry

I won't say the most recent season was a return to form because a) I hate that phrase and b) it wasn't, but it was an improvement over the slump the show had fallen into the last couple years. I actually DID enjoy watching it again this year...well, from where I picked it up anyway (I didn't see the first half of the season).

my god that was a pointless comment, sorry

nah it's worth noting amidst all the dissatifaction. idgas that it isn't the same show that it was four years ago, it's still funny pretty much every week.

certainly funnier than other nbc mockumentary-style sitcoms i could name

if you are referring to parks & rec you fail as a human being

hm, while I find that within the realm of believability (the fact someone might prefer The Office to P&R—ratings don't lie), the fact that you'll insert your challop into any situation is annoying. Or endearing. I haven't decided.

Park & Rec's ratings are not as good because (a) it's newer and (b) it takes more effort to get into. sales != quality

JAMES SPADER.

awesome.

he's not the new boss though, just the CEO. They really punted on replacing Michael Scott.

u can't ask me to not be excited about james spader

how many threads do we need on this?

Spader as CEO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Spader as Michael tho

what other thread is it on?

The Office (US) — Season 6 thread last updated two hours before this one

oh -- i think this one gets more use. i unsubscribed from that one awhile ago for the reason you mention -- how many office threads do we need?

so awkward

what's awkward is that every week, another thread gets revived.

The Office Season 8: It Kinda Seems Like the Left Side is the Side to Be On

Rewatching the complete series of this, loving James Spader so much.

"I had a one man saturnalia last night to celebrate the finalization of my divorce."

http://38.media.tumblr.com/981d3964c092b684cfc20c7270b049f5/tumblr_mvw2uuSwXh1s6xigeo1_500.jpg

So yeah this show started out ok then got really good til Michael Scott left. I love the episodes immediately following it, the guest star managers and weird Lynchian James Spader stuff. But it's pretty clear that they decided to end the show when Michael left. Maybe they were thinking Ed Helms could save the show but his character is really detestable for that final season. Erin is easily the best part of post-Michael Office. New Jim and New Dwight were cool. Jim's sports thing in Philadelphia is a lame subplot, and the Boom Mic Guy subplot is some Twin Peaks season 2 James Biker-level blah blah blah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AtFy1kGaHc

Craig Robinson rules

Creed Bratton: Hey, coz. Heard you're having money problems.
Michael Scott: No, you didn't.
Creed Bratton: Listen, I got the answer. You declare bankruptcy, all your problems go away.
Creed Bratton: [in confessional] Creed Bratton has never declared bankruptcy. When Creed Bratton gets in trouble, he transfers his debt to
[holds up a fake passport]
Creed Bratton: William Charles Schneider.
Michael Scott: How would that help, Creed? In Monopoly, you go bankrupt, you lose.
Creed Bratton: You don't go by Monopoly, man. That game is *nuts*. Nobody just pick up Get Out of Jail Free cards. Those things cost thousands.
Michael Scott: That is a good point.

Slowly watching the post-Michael seasons now, Erin is the best thing about them by far.

i've gone back to rewatch this series from the start. right now i'm halfway through season 5. imo season 2 is the best. the Michael-Jan stuff is very interesting, the weird power struggles they deal with, and it's funny to watch him fail at both being a competent manager and a lover often at the same time. Jan was a really good character it is a shame what happened, they basically turned her into a crazy ex. the show works best when it just sits back and lets Michael fail and Jan was the best foil for him, the Margaret Dumont to his Groucho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiI4lvRbLkU

when it starts the "Jim's sports company" subplot this show becomes a struggle to get through

James Spader is cool. Catherine Tate is cool but they quickly ran out of things for her character to do. Ed Helms is funny but a mostly absent boss. Ellie Kemper is the funniest part of the last couple of seasons.

Finished up a few days ago, all nine seasons. I should have posted a few times as I went along--hard to sum up after you've finished. (I might do a character rundown in a couple of days.) Briefly: erratic, as you'd expect, but at its best I loved it. Especially Pam and Jim the first two or three seasons--as crazy as this sounds, I think that was about as romantic as any film I've ever seen. And so out of the blue when you don't know anything in advance, and you've decided you have a pretty good idea of what you're about to see.

I never made it past episode one of the British show. It made my skin crawl.

I'm amazed at how much negativity there is towards Pam early in this thread. Thought she was pretty great right from the start.

Apparently this show has become a touchstone for Gen Z, which is really odd, given how little actual office experience any of them have had. It'd be like them really getting into a show about people using rotary phones. (And yeah, obviously the office setting of The Office is all but incidental, but still.)

I think at least once a day for the rest of my life I will randomly blurt out "WUPHF.com!" at some point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfokPqeSNcw

lol

"This is how you make it in this country..."

I bet I've watched that clip 25 times the past month.