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

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I dont think I ever watched Joe Millionare! ;P But it was shown here yeah.

Our Big Brother blows. All BB blows. And that cute feisty big woman who did the bum slap dance? She's now stick thin and black haired and looks weird.

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 25 March 2005 01:47 (nineteen years ago) link

The clip on myspace is very good. No laugh track.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 25 March 2005 01:54 (nineteen years ago) link

no laff track, all the press i've seen suggests that there's an actually quite funny episode coming up that has no connection to the brit version.

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 25 March 2005 01:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Egads. This is torturous (6 minutes in). May just take some getting used to but the jokes seem so stale and easy.

― Aaron A., Friday, 25 March 2005 02:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Is this the birthday party / redundancy episode?

― you make me feel like a tyrannosaurus rex (deangulberry), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Hitler?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:40 (nineteen years ago) link

So far The Office (US) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Coupling (US). It really makes a difference when you stay true to the original characters.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:41 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost:
I think so. I saw William Demarest do the same broombrush gag in The Lady Eve

I'm liking it so far.

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:42 (nineteen years ago) link

it could go either way at this point - bono joke a GOOD sign

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:44 (nineteen years ago) link

That wasn't that bad.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Carrell's no Gervais, but it's okay.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 02:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Now it seems frantic and overwritten, but I guess you might expect that in episode 1. That girl is hawt.

― Aaron A., Friday, 25 March 2005 02:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Maybe that's it. It just seemed kinda forced.

I was wondering what they would use for the American Gareth's sidejob. Any other time, it would've been the National Guard probably, but not with brigades being sent to Iraq right now.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 03:04 (nineteen years ago) link

bono joke a GOOD sign

"... and God would have to be number four on that list."

I'm still not convinced that this needed to be done, but I think it's as well-done as it could possibly be. I'm thinking that no one else but Carell could reprise the Gervais role and be anywhere close to as good. He's got it -- that terrible mix of asshole and... well, asshole that's so painful that sometimes you can't laugh until the show's over.

(I think that's why both versions tested so low -- people aren't used to watching a comedy on television where thy cringe through the whole thing.)

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 25 March 2005 03:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Too bad, since Ricky Gervais is the executive producer on the U.S. version.

Yeah, but only because he owns the rights and gave them his blessing. He doesn't want anything to do with it, really. There's an interview in Entertainment Weekly where he explains that it would be like David Bowie going into Beck's studio and being like, "You can't put a trumpet in there! This is my song!"

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 25 March 2005 03:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Shows like "The Office" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" are worse than horror films for me. The whole time I'm squeezing the wife's arm with my eyes clenched shut, murmuring "tell me that he's not really going to do that, is he?"

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 25 March 2005 03:55 (nineteen years ago) link

This wasn't too bad. I'll stick to Deadwood tho, thanks.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 25 March 2005 03:59 (nineteen years ago) link

oh my GOD the receptionist, PAM, is FUCKING AWFUL

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 25 March 2005 04:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Everyone is uglier than their English counterpart. I wonder if that was intentional.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm watching this now. It's... very tepid. I can't put my finger on why it seems so mean-spirited, but it does. The UK Office allowed a certain amount of compassion to each character's portrayal. Here, it seems, the characters are just sort of lame people.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:41 (nineteen years ago) link

The Pam girl is like Maggie Gyllenhaal with a personalityectomy.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:44 (nineteen years ago) link

None of the actors are as good. None of the jokes they changed are as good.
"I'm Hitler" is the closest thing I got to a chuckle so far.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:48 (nineteen years ago) link

None of the jokes they didn't change are as good. (the stapler in the jello thing).

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:50 (nineteen years ago) link

the americanized gareth is the worst of 'em.
my mother informs me that beyond the pilot the show will deviate from the UK plotline. i don't know if that's good or bad.

― Ian John50n (orion), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:54 (nineteen years ago) link

"Pam" totally blew the pretend-firing crying thing. She sucks at acting.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 05:54 (nineteen years ago) link

it's shit.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I feel like ... much of the brilliance of the UK show is the staff's subversive recalcitrance toward David Brandt. And, culturally speaking, that works wonderfully. But as an American show the lack of any 'balls' makes the whole deal seem slapped-together. The script: poor.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:02 (nineteen years ago) link

100% OTM

― Aaron A., Friday, 25 March 2005 06:03 (nineteen years ago) link

They just took the BBC script and rewrote anything funny or interesting.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh, one more thing: Altman shoulda directed this. He's the only one that wouldn't've killed it dead. Fuck Ken Kwapis

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Everyone is uglier than their English counterpart.

They found someone uglier than Gareth?

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:07 (nineteen years ago) link

DUDE YES.
The new guy looks like an adult Garbage Pail Kid.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Hell, Mike Judge shoulda written the script. Simply, British humor doesn't translate very well at all. Office Space captured the American office zeitgeist perfectly, and could have made a great TV series.

― Aaron A., Friday, 25 March 2005 06:12 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm not being completely fair. "Pam" is roughly as attractive as "Dawn", but the actress seems way out of her league for the role.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:13 (nineteen years ago) link

The boss and the receptionist are the two most difficult parts, yes? All the new Tim guy has to do is be likeable, and he's failing even at that so far.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:15 (nineteen years ago) link

There's still time to see if, like Ian says, it gets better or worse when they're not lifting plots directly from the UK series anymore. Ky understanding was that there's not going to be a whole lot more of that after the pilot.

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:23 (nineteen years ago) link

I agree. But I'm sure following the pilot this won't have any great appeal.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:26 (nineteen years ago) link

If it doesn't get really good within 3 weeks, it's fucked.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:31 (nineteen years ago) link

Might be fucked anyway.

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:38 (nineteen years ago) link

You know, I never liked Steve Carell as much as the other Daily Show folks anyway. His performance is pitched really off-key for what the humor needs to work properly. If he can't figure the part out, and the new Tim and Dawn characters don't somehow become likeable and believable, it's a lose-lose situation.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 25 March 2005 06:41 (nineteen years ago) link

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

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